 |
||
|
P |
EPISODE 1: "OVER THE SEAS (part two) " [ PART ONE - Part Two - Part Three - Part four - Part five ]
Every now and then, someone would ask him a question, or an opinion...but mostly, what Johnny Hansa was doing on the bridge of the Thanatos was trying to keep out of the way and waiting to see what would happen. Mostly, what people said to him was “excuse me, sir...” and then he'd step out of the way. His clothes had mostly dried out by that point, although they still smelled like seawater, and had the too-crisp feel of clothes that had gone into salt water. His feet, though, were still damp. He could feel the moisture inside his silver boots, inside his socks. He retreated to a corner of the bridge, where a chair was anchored down and unused at the moment, and then sat down and began unlatching his boots. They were complex things to get off, or would have been if they hadn't been a part of Johnny's life for so many years now. These days, he was as quick with the latches and seals as he would have been with a simple pair of shoe laces. He pulled them off and rested his stockinged feet on the deck with a sigh of relief, stretching his toes. He wanted to take off the wet socks as well, but wasn't quite willing to do that, here on the busy bridge of a CV carrier. He tilted each boot over, and some water sloshed out and puddled on the ground, in front of him. The problem with metal boots was, they weren't likely to absorb the water or let it run out. Normally, they were well enough sealed against his legs that it wasn't an issue...but then, normally he wasn't dumped in the Atlantic ocean for a periood of time. A pair of brown shoes and black trousers appeared in front of Johnny, as he was flexing his toes and his ankles. And a voice said, “I am sorry your feet are wet. Metal boots are no good for that.” Johnny's heart skipped at the familiar voice, with its familiar Russian accent which hadn't grown any thicker or thinner in the passing years. He looked up, and there was wild-haired, heavy-mustached Mister Urich Ivanovich. “Ivan,” Johnny said with a smile, and he came to his feet. “Johnny Hansa,” Ivan did not smile widely, it was not his way, but anyone who knew him could tell when he was pleased. And he was. Small and thin, he was engulfed when Johnny hugged him. He returned the hug tightly. “I am so glad you are well. I heard about the other ship.” Johnny held Ivan's shoulders as they separated, unwilling to let the old man go. It had been too long, but it felt, in some ways, like they hadn't been apart. Nothing about Mister Ivan had changed. Not his fuzzy sweaters, or his sloped posture, or his thin circular glasses. Johnny said quietly, “It was Joe, Ivan. He destroyed that ship.” “I know,” Ivan nodded. “He is...not improved, Johnny, I do not think. It is dangerous. And sad.” “Yeah,” Johnny replied. He sat down and began pulling on his boots again, fastening the clasps. An old hand rested on one shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “You have grown so well,” Ivan said, “And that makes me happy. I am glad to see you again, John.” Johnny finished putting his boots on and stood up. But before he could say anything, Captain Michael Jonah appeared next to them, looking grim. “Four U-Boats surfaced, just ahead of us, spread out to block us off.” “Joe Atomic's got to be on one of them,” Johnny replied, “He couldn't have flown the rest of the way across the Atlantic, just with his pack. I'll --” But someone shouted, from elsewhere on the bridge, “Sir! Movement on one of the subs!” They went to the viewports, where the Captain raised a pair of binoculars. Johnny squinted from beside him. There was movement. The hatch had been opened and people were stepping out. He couldn't make out details, not from this height and this distance... “Four men,” Captain Jonah muttered, handing the binoculars off to Johnny, “One of 'em's Joe Atomic, looks like. A German guard, and maybe the Captain, I can't read rank from here. And someone else. I assume he's the pilot.” Johnny focused the binoculars, and he could feel the knot tightening his stomach. There were two Germans and he paid them no attention. And there was Joe Atomic, wearing his black jacket and his rocket pack..and his fedora, his black hat that he'd always worn. He also had a gun in his hand, and a grin on his face, that manic expression he always seemed to have these days. He stood just behind Will Meany, who looked battered and pained. And although he certainly couldn't see Johnny from this range, or through the bridge windows...he looked right at them, and then he raised the pistol and pressed the muzzle against Will Meany's head. And then he gestured with his other hand, holding it out, palm-up, and twitching his fingers. Come here... it said. Johnny lowered the binoculars. The knot in his stomach had turned to ice. All the noise from the rest of the bridge seemed to just bleed away. Captain Jonah took the binoculars from his hands, and he didn't resist. “Hell,” Jonah said a moment later, after he'd had a look, “What's he think is going to happen? Does he think I'm going to hand him the ship? I don't want the pilot to die, but I'm hardly giving the Nazis a thousand-person ship. Especially not this one. They can just try and --” “He doesn't want the ship at all,” Johnny replied, very quietly, still staring off into the distance. “He just wants me.” Jonah turned to study him. “He doesn't get you either, John,” he replied firmly. “You are as valuable as the ship.” “I'm not letting him shoot that young man in the head,” Johnny said. He turned back toward Mister Ivan. The old man had his hands together. He wasn't wringing them nervously, but he might as well have been. Johnny said, “I've got to go over there.” Mister Ivan hesitated, and then he nodded. “You would not do otherwise. I understand.” “It's suicide for you,” Jonah added. “John, you gotta realize...even if that nutter doesn't do you in...that's four subs just discovered the Thanatos. I'm not letting them get away without a fight. You won't want to be on 'em.” Johnny nodded. “I agree. Do what you need to. I'll do what I have to.” He held out a hand. Michael Jonah, after a grim moment, shook it. He turned and smiled warmly as he could at Mister Ivan. What else could he do? And then, Johnny stepped out of the bridge and took the stairs down, to the deck of the ship. He walked a little distance across the deck, on which sailors were moving. Some of them stopped to watch him. A few just glanced his way. It was a lot like what he'd done some time earlier, going to the middle of an old abandoned runway. But where that had been the start of a pleasant flight...this was nothing so enjoyable. He went to the middle of the great expanse of the carrier. He flexed at the knees, jumped into the air...triggered his boots. They roared and he lifted off. The ship fell away beneath him quickly. He angled and flew along its length for a few moments, and then dove down its side. He headed out over the sea, toward the subs. The warm wind whipped in his face, and the smell of sea-salt was impossible to ignore. As he got closer, he realized that now he could make out Joe Atomic and the others. Joe was still grinning, still holding a gun pressed against Will Meany's head. For one paranoid moment, Johnny worried that he'd pull the trigger, and then the Germans would open fire on him. But even as the paranoid thought went through his mind, he knew that there was no danger of that. Joe would kill him, sure enough...but he'd want to look Johnny square in the eye as he did it. Ah, Joe...what the hell happened to you? Johnny touched down on the top of the U-boat. the whole top of the ship stood tall out of the water. Above him, standing behind the railing on the little platform that was outside the heavy door, the gathered four watched him. “Hello, Johnny!” Joe shouted down to him. “Why don't you come up here, lad? Let's go have ourselves a talk!” “You give me Will Meany first,” Johnny shouted back. “And what, let you fly away with him? No, I don't think so.” Joe laughed. “No, what will happen is that you will go below with these friends of mine. I will fly your young pilot over to the fancy, fancy ship – she looks pretty still, don't she? -- and then we'll go from there. Hey? Other option is that I pull this trigger and splatter his brains on the hull of this sub.” Joe winked. “And that's no big deal, Willy my boy, 'cause when we dive, they'll wash right off.” Johnny hesitated for only a moment. He had a sidearm, sure, but what good would it do? They'd put a shot into Will. So he walked, carefully, to the ladder that led up the side of the tower. And when he finished climbing it and was standing on the small deck with the two Germans, Joe, and Will, he even let the German clap cuffs around his wrists and take the pistol off of him. The second German, a Captain, gave him a strange, sharp glare that caught all of Johnny's attention, for a moment. It hadn't actually been a look of absolute hatred, had it? “Atta boy,” Joe said. He took hold of the long rope that was tied around Will, under his armpits and across his chest. “Take him below.” They shoved Johnny roughly through the small dark door and into the cramped confines of the sub. And as he descended the steep little staircase, trying mightily not to fall, he could hear the roar of Joe Atomic's pack coming to life as he lifted off the sub. Hopefully heading for the Thanatos with Will Meany. Hopefully not about to dump him in the ocean, or drop him onto the big ship's deck from too high up. Or... Suddenly, from above, he heard the sound of the tower door slamming shut and locking, and Johnny stopped in surprise. Surrounded by the cramped control areas of the sub, with German officers bustling about him. The gentleman with Captain's rank came down the staircase. Behind him, the door was sealed. The Captain stopped in front of Johnny. They were about the same height, but the Captain was older. He had short brown hair, beneath his uniform's cap. He wore an iron eagle on his chest. His eyes were sharp, and he seemed to completely absorb Johnny in a split-second. He
said nothing, to Johnny. After a moment's silence, he turned toward
the rest of the bridge and said, in German: “Dive.” # Captain Jonah stood in silence for a little bit. And then, he turned to Mister Ivan, whom he dwarfed, and he said to the old man, “Get below, sir. Lock everything and everyone down.” “I will,” Ivan nodded. “What do you plan to do?” “What I do best,” Jonah said grimly. “Fight. I don't particularly want four German subs getting this good a look at the Thanatos and leaving, if I can help it. Go, Ivan. We haven't much time. As the old man left the bridge, Jonah turned back to the rest of his crew. “Battle stations,” he said, “And sound the alert. I don't care if they're tired and wet...we've got pilots and planes. Get them in the air. And get Radisson up here.” He turned back forward, glaring out the viewports at the subs that lay quite a ways off, past the forward prow of his own ship. And as the crew worked rapidly around him, he said, almost entirely to himself: “Damned if we'll let Rocket Johnny go without a fight...” The alarm klaxons sounded, throughout the ship. The crew, a well-oiled machine, went into action. The
Thanatos prepared for war. TO BE CONCLUDED... << PREVIOUS PAGE | HOME | NEXT PAGE >> [ PART ONE - Part Two - Part Three - Part four - Part five ]
|
|
|
|