"Theo, shut off invisibility."
"Aye, Aye."
They waited but saw no sign of life on the deck across from them. However, Lucas could see an antenna mounted on the ship's foremast. He drew that to Theo's attention. The moon started to rise. By 9:20, the freighter had sufficient light to see the pirate ship.
"Theo, hoist the jolly lucas."
"Aye, Aye."
"Let's wake them up, Theo. Take out that antenna with the bow sweeper."
Theo didn't bother acknowledging the command. He had been itching to fire this gun for real. The real live cannonball split the top of the foremast in two. A flurry of anxious words came from the freighter and heads appeared at the rail.
"Mathias, raise deck #1's gun port lids. Roll out the cannon and don't forget to aim for the masts."
"Aye, Aye."
The natural creaking of the wooden lids caught the enemy's attention but not as much as the sound of trundling cannon wheels. The flickering matches caused panicky yells.
"Mathias, fire all guns, deck #1."
All the freighter's masts and rigging were blown into the ocean.
"Mathias, return deck #1 guns to stand-by. Reese, raise deck #2's lids, roll out the cannon."
Reese had told Lucas that he didn't want to hurt anyone, but he really wanted to fire his guns. Lucas could tell from the sudden absence of faces at the deck rails, and the sounds of splashes in the water on the far side of the freighter that a second broadside wasn't necessary.
"Reese, fire all guns into the air, deck #2." That command made everyone happy, especially the North Koreans.
"Theo, heave to."
With no sails, the freighter slid slowly to a stop and the Wilizy did as well. Louder splashes indicated that life boats were being deployed on the far side of the ship.
"Theo. Off you go. Check invisibly on the status of the freighter's crew. Search the freighter too for anyone hiding on the ship. We don't want to be ambushed when we're unloading the cargo."
Ten minutes later, the Wilizy was tied to the freighter. The Wilizy crew boarded by swinging from long ropes attached to the Wilizy's masts. All four crew members had an eye patch and a wooden sword. They hadn't had a chance to practice the boarding, so it wasn't surprising that all four missed their marks. Mathias and Reese were holding their ropes too far down and would have crashed into the deck had they not released early and used their slings to land safely. Lucas and Theo had grabbed their ropes too high, so they had swung all the way across the freighter and then back to the Wilizy without connecting. They hung on for a couple of sweeps and dropped down to the deck.
Theo and Lucas did the heavy work of palletizing the cargo. Mathias and Reese followed behind them to enter navigational data, close the pallet lids, and steer the pallets out of the hold and on their way to the Wilizy's home compound. After they had completely emptied the hold, the Wilizy crew returned to their ship.
"Mathias and Reese, cast off the freighter."
"Aye, Aye."
"Theo, resume previous course."
"Aye, Aye."
"Reese, un-hoist the jolly lucas."
"Aye, Aye."
"Theo, prepare for invisibility."
"Aye, Aye."
"Well done, crew! Take us home, Scotty." (It had become boring in the evenings when they ran out of things to do. Lucas had found some old bots of the original series of the antique show called Star Trek. Each boy had his favorite character and they watched the shows so often that the boys could join in with the dialogue. All four boys were convinced that the show was real.)
After gaining altitude, Theo checked their sensors and sent a private mind message to Lucas. That light ship is heading east, Lucas. Looks like it's going fast.
Send a private message to Dad that we have the brain-bands, we're safe, and I'm going to follow the light ship as far as I can. I'm taking oxygen and I'll stay out of range of their weapons.
Private message? You don't want Mom to know about the light ship?
I don't want to be around when she finds out that I followed it to its home port.
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Chapter 40
From Izzy's journals: Sunday, March 11, about 9:30 a.m.
Will and I prepared Will's cell so that it would paint a pretty picture and then we hung around the prison's back door so that we could stay in touch with the ship. We heard the boys' capture of the brain-band cargo through the communication net. Impressive for such young kids. I thought about it a bit. I had been thinking that Lucas was young. He's almost old enough to join the adults in the meetings. When did I start feeling so old? Liset calling me Auntie probably didn't help. I sent congrats messages to all four boys; heard back from three of them. Theo had made the report. Lucas injured?
Mac's voice came through loud and clear. "Franklin and Rick have left the bidders' meeting in Zeballos. They're in Franklin's copter and are heading your way now. Estimate arrival in ten minutes. The Alaska rep left in a hurry. Sore loser, we believe."
"You didn't put drones into the meeting?" I asked.
"We thought it too risky since we didn't know what capabilities the Alaskans had. Besides they weren't necessary. We were going to learn who the winning bidders were soon enough."
"Will and I are going to listen in invisibly on their conversation, so we'll be deep in the prison and out of communication range."
"Everything is ready to go outside. You can set up the inside as soon as Rick and FF leave. When you get up to the ground level, we should be able to talk."
Will and I flew back to the wide, deep mine shaft that Winnie had mentioned. I was collecting my Hansel and Gretel pages on the way. Will wrapped the rubber handle of the Zorro sword inside his shirt and tossed both down. We looked down and the shirt hadn't landed deep enough, so Will flew down and relocated it much lower. He came back saying that the shaft didn't appear to have a bottom.
We flew back to our cells and I collected the rest of the B.C. pages and put them and all of Franklin's files back into his loot holding cell except for his manifesto and Hank's progress reports. I stored those down the tops of my Zorro boots. We decided to keep our distance from FF and Rick because of our smell. Will floated by me to check and told me to close the baffles on my sling completely.
# # # # # # #
Sunday morning.
"I still don't understand why you withdrew Izzy from the bidding, Franklin. Having another bidder that gave you a shut-out bid doesn't make any sense. The North Koreans had declined the invitation to come to Zeballos and both Alaska and Alberta were willing to buy her. Who else would want her?"
"Another player in the field. I know that Alaska wanted her for breeding stock, but why Alberta? You're just going to kill Will. You don't need her to control him."
"Zzyk wanted her. I didn't ask why."
"Well it doesn't matter. She's sold and I received a top price for her."
"Why is this cell door open?"
"It has my retirement fund and the B.C. secrets. I'm going to sell them back to them."
"Retirement fund not as big as you thought it would be?"
"Unexpected costs," Franklin replied.
"Another open cell door?" Rick asked.
"Oh, dear God."
# # # # # # #
Franklin lumbered as fast as he could lumber down to Will's cell. Rick suspected what he wouldn't find, so he examined Izzy's former lodgings, found the condom plug, and took it with him until he could hear Franklin's string of Oh, dear Gods. He was outside a cell. One of the iron bars had come loose at the top. Someone had bent it over far enough that a body could squeeze through.
"This condom was in the lock of Izzy's cell door." Rick held it up so Franklin could see. "It stopped the door from locking properly and that's how she escaped. Why was Izzy in her cell with a condom?"
"Because she's a slut. She had six in her pocket."
"And you let her keep them? And you let her push the
condom into the lock? Only you had the key. Why did you open her cell door?"
Franklin unlocked Will's cell door and walked in. He looked at the rock dust on the floor.
"You stupid old man! Izzy would never...”
"She would. She thanked me for bringing her out of her wicked ways."
"I was wrong. You're a demented old fool."
Franklin came out of the cell and looked into the darkness. "There's no way out of this prison. She must have headed into the bowels of Hell. Stay here, Rick. All is not lost. My God will provide." With that, he lumbered back to the basket elevator. Any more lumbering and Franklin was going to need a forest implant.
Rick walked into Will's cell and looked at the top where the bar had been embedded. Will had chipped away at that rock face with something sharp. Rick hung from the bent bar – yes, a man's weight could pull it down. He saw the rubber blade of Zorro's sword and picked it up. Smelled it. It stank. The whole cell stank.
Additional lights clicked on in the dark hallway. Rick heard FFs pants before he saw him. He waited, tapping the blade against his palm. "What's this, Franklin?"
"Zorro's sword. It was part of Will's costume."
"Where's the hilt?"
"What?"
"The hilt. The handle. The little thingy that Zorro hangs on to when he's carving people up."
"It was attached to the sword."
"It's not now. And it's not in the cell. And there are chip marks like a small knife could have made to release the top of that iron bar. Did you feel inside the rubber handle, Franklin?"
"I've turned on every light in the mine. It's quite extensive, but she couldn't have run far. Not in the pitch black. We can still find her."
"With tracking dogs, perhaps, but we don't have easy access to any. We should just lock the place up and let them starve."
"Foot prints. Let's follow them. My God provided foot prints to follow."
The foot prints led them to the edge of a giant mine shaft. No way past it; no way to see it in the dark; no way not to fall in unless you were crawling. Will and Izzy hadn't been crawling. "Shine your pinky ring light down the shaft, will you Franklin?" Rick did the same but only after taking deep sniffs.
"There's something white way down the shaft. What were Will and Izzy wearing?"
"Black pants, white shirts." Franklin said.
"Do you see any footprints on the other side of this shaft, you old fool?"
"No."
"I guess your God did provide after all. He gave us a big, black mine shaft into the bowels of Hell. Come-on. You're flying me to my copter."
As they went by FF's retirement fund, Rick kept him hustling. "You can come back for that."
Later, as they were stepping into the cage basket, Rick warned FF. "Since you didn't kill Will, I'm not paying you for him. And, don't bother complaining to Zzyk. He'll be severely displeased with you. He was counting on buying Izzy."
# # # # # # #
Franklin returned to the abandoned mine about an hour later. He landed his copter and as he stepped out, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. Unconscious almost immediately, he would have fallen had a shimmering Wolf not been there to catch him. Doc removed his own invisibility too and put the hypodermic needle and the bottle of sedative that FF had hidden in his condo into his jacket pocket. It seemed especially fitting that FF would be captured with what he himself had used to capture Will and Izzy.
The area is still clear of any unwelcome visitors, but Rick might decide to come back too, Mac said into their heads. Let's stuff Franklin into the mine quickly. Izzy, you can open it up now.
Wolf hoisted FF onto his shoulder and as he approached the mine, the first giant iron gate opened wide. As Wolf and Doc walked into the shadow of the entrance, they could see they had clear sailing through to the bird cage, or clear hoisting at least. Izzy and Will were waiting, big smiles on their faces. Doc and Wolf made moves to give them hearty greetings, but Izzy held up a palm and said, "Best not get too close."
While Will transported Franklin to his new lodgings, Izzy led Doc and Wolf into the back office where she scanned their irises. "Everybody else associated with today's operation has already been scanned; we still have to scan the four pirates and Stu but we'll do that before the trial. We're going to let FF stew in the dark for a while."
"A helicopter is about 15-minutes out and it's on course to the mine," Mac's voice interrupted. "Time to go, everyone. Lock the prison up tight, Izzy."
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Chapter 41
From Izzy's journals: Monday morning, March 12.
I had the most delicious shower ever; can't believe how good it is to feel clean again. I was thinking that I should always have a tooth brush with me rather than a foil packet. Check that. Those packets were life savers.
Mac was off the compound today food shopping – her way of sharing the community's work load. So I took the opportunity to have a Wilizy staff meeting. Only the adults. I would have included Lucas too, but Yolanda said that he was sleeping. He had turned up at the compound long after the other boys on the Wilizy/Asia had arrived but Hank and Yolanda didn't seem too perturbed. Hank agreed that we should include him in the adult meetings from now on – he had taken initiative smartly, whatever that means. Yolanda didn't comment so I assumed that she was all right with that.
Hank told the meeting how Mac had helped; said that she was a very effective Battle Commander and we couldn't have won without her. But she had agreed to serve only for this one battle. He told us what she had said about the way she was brought to the compound. That made us all feel rotten. He also said that she could be bossy. Lots of head-nodding on that one. He also repeated what she had said when she analyzed the Wilizy's strengths and weaknesses. She had nailed those. Did we want to ask her to be a permanent Battle Commander for the Wilizy?
They all looked at me. I said that I had gotten along with her well when we were working out all the escape plans and that she had thought of things that I hadn't. She had been sneaky, which I liked, and had worked hard to make sure that we escaped without leaving any nagging questions. Again something I liked. I had been uncertain about her at the very beginning; thought that Zzyk had planted her on us. She seemed to be hiding something.
Lots of people agreed on that. Yollie said that she had been hiding what her real body was like and so I learned about the scene at Bubba's camp for the first time. Nobody knew why she was hiding it. I learned that she was from Saskatchewan because of her football kick at Bubba's camp. Yollie had to tell me about that too. I was beginning to like Mac more and more. Her military background was something that we all had observed as well.
"She's hiding something, perhaps quite a lot, "Yolanda said. “ I don't sense a threat to us. I believe that she's scared of something and wants to live an invisible life. We got in the way of that."
"Probably scared of Wolf," Yollie said. "Has she told you anything that we don't know? Had you seen that body before?" she asked Wolf in her normal blunt manner.
"No to both questions. We're friends. She won't let me get closer to her than that."
"Sounds like you're an unhappy camper," Yollie said.
"Be nice," Yolanda told her.
In the end, we agreed to offer her the position of permanent Battle Commander. The vote was unanimous. I made the motion, actually. It wouldn't affect my job as strategist, and she has the sneaky kind of mind that would work well with mine. We'd be good as a team. The group liked the teams that she had formed. They just wanted her to make one change. Yollie offered to tell her about the change. I'd make the job offer.
I adjourned the meeting. When I had heard Mac's copter landing, I figured I could talk to her right then.
# # # # # # #
I grabbed Yollie on the way out and told her I was going to talk with Mac right now. Yollie had to pick up something first, so we arranged to meet at Mac's copter which she was currently unloading. I offered to help her unloa
d, but Mac said that she'd do it; her responsibility, after all. I noticed that she was back to wearing her dumpy clothes.
"I need a decision," she said after putting down a heavy box and straightening up. I thought she was referring to a decision about her battle commander job, but I was wrong.
"The WZBN message boards are jammed with questions about you and Will. It started with rumours about the two of you being kidnapped. The postings are now in the hundreds and all of them are asking if you're safe. What do you want me to do?"
I didn't see any reason for holding back the information. "Post something about an attempt being made to harm us but nothing came of it and we are safe." I said. "Downplay it if you can. Don't provide any details and try to shut down the chatter about this. That sound OK to you?"
"Yah. You have to put a stop to it, that's for sure."
"I wanted to talk to you about something else. Do you have a minute?"
"A few of these boxes will need refrigeration soon, but sure."
So I told her how happy everyone was with how she had taken charge of the battle and that we had had a meeting about that. We were sorry that we had forced her to come into the compound, and we thought we should invite her properly to join us. Her job with us would be as battle field commander and we hoped she would take the position permanently.
"Are you OK with that?"
I said that I was and I had enjoyed planning our escape from the prison with her.
"I'll have to think about it," she said and turned away to carry on with the unloading.
Yollie galloped up at that point, a jumble of pictures in her hand. "Oh, my God. You'll never believe what I found outside the boys' bedrooms. I collected them up as fast as I could. Couldn't let the boys see these."
"What are they?" I asked in all my innocence.
"Pictures of Mac when she was meeting with Bubba. We can't let the boys see these."
"Let me see," Mac said.
We looked at them together. Yollie shuffled through them, a big mask of concern on her face. Mac climbing out of the copter; Mac in front of the lake and starting to undo her top – what little there was of it; Mac arm in arm with Bubba going towards the woods; Mac climbing into her copter. Lots of Mac flesh showing in all shots. The clothes she was almost wearing didn't leave much to the imagination. Now I knew what they had meant about hiding her real body. There had been no hint of this at all in the business suit I had seen, or in the dumpy clothing that she wore around the compound.