The Depth
Lord Henry was upset
when he was refused aboard the ship which will take him to his island. He was
stopped by the Port Authorities that he was not to leave the area.
“Those are the orders
of the Lord Chamberlain Office. We cannot defy it.” The officer told his
Lordship. Lord Henry stood there alone on the pier and looked at the assembled
guards holding his ship. There were three of the newly designed exo-skeleton
machine frames with the operator inside the unit. The unit looked like a human
but it was seven feet in height with the extended limbs. The human operator
stands itself the unit and moved the unit as an extension of its body. Once the
operator was in the unit, it will activate the unit and a chest armour plate
will move to cover the human operator from harm. On the limbs secured greaves
will cover the exposed flesh. The exo-skeleton units were armed with rotary
mini cannons on both their hands with the ammo belt linked to the backpack.
Below the backpack was electrical charge bank. A fully charged unit can last up
to four hours before it send for recharging.
Lord Henry knew his ship
crews were kept under guard at the Officer’s Office.
“Lord Henry, I am also
under order to take you into protective custody. There are some threats to your
well- being.” The Officer told him. “These officers will take you there.”
“Hold your suspenders
on, Officer. I need to pee again.” Lord Henry stepped away to the side of the
pier. There he unzipped his pants.
An hour ago, his
Lordship had arrived at the Pier after a harrowing train ride with Jones at the
steamer engine. The Sergeant Major stepped up to the Corporal to question him
on his ‘tutored’ lessons.
“Aye I did learn from
my Uncle. It was great when you seated on his lap and with his jostling you
side by side.” Jones replied. “Sadly we never rode the real train. He died when
the train he was on derailed. It did however set the record for the City Line
for fastest time.”
“Won’t the jostling on
the legs be considered as sexual intrusion?” Stay cut in. “I once knifed the
man who tried that.”
Jones looked towards
her and smiled.
“You ain’t been ridden
a real horse yet? I doubt so.” Jones turned onto his steamer gauge. “Sergeant
Major, would you be kind to shut the boiler hatch. I don’t want to have boils
on my ride but let me ride to my boils. Pardon the pun, ma’am.”
Stacy was to reach for
her dagger when the Captain stopped her. He then looked at the boiler gauges
and held out his right hand to the Sergeant Major.
“You better stop
feeding her coals. Her gauge tells us she is boiling over.”
“Those are gauges? I
thought they were for the time of the day.” Jones remarked back. “Guess I
better slow down. We are nearing the city.”
Thankfully the rail men
build sturdy tracks and the train ran on iron wheels. It left more than a spark
too much on the lowering of the speed. They made it to the station with the
train puffing like the dragon.
“For Pete’s sake, next
time let me drive.” The Sergeant Major was annoyed at the recklessness of the
Corporal. The Station master nearby looked at the watch and then at them.
“Four in the morning?
Who are you driving Pete at this hour?
Where his driver?” The Station Master motioned to the train. The word
‘Pete the Dragon’ was on the steamer front.
“Pete? Oh, that’s his
name. I think the driver in the coach. He’s taking a peed there.” Lord Henry
added in. “Against regulations, I say.”
Soon they were at the
Pier and they realized the new hazard to the ship. The Captain came up with a
brilliant idea to use a sail boat to row over and board it on the blind side.
Lord Henry was for it but he wanted to rescue his crew. The plan was put into
motion. He was to distract the Officer and the guards. They stopped him when he
was to board.
“My Lord, you must step
too…” The Officer call for caution was
interrupted by the swinging twenty feet length iron beam that was swung by the
hoisting crane. It was Jones as expected who manned it. He had hooked up the
iron beam and awaited the cue. He swung the beam at the three exo-skeletons
before the human operators could react. Meanwhile the Sergeant Major stepped
into the Pier Authority Office where the ten crew members of Lord Henry’s ship
were seated there in the holding cell. The single guard there was groggy from
the late hours of duty looked up at the imposing figure standing there. The
Sergeant Major have not his uniform but his confidence and stance spoke well of
his authority.
“By George, what is
your name? Do you know the punishment for sleeping on sentry duty?” The
Sergeant Major hollered out in his infamous vocal for the regiment. The guard
hastily stood up and raised his right hand to salute.
“I …” The guard realized he was attending to a
civilian and not the frigging NCO but his late awareness was shuttered by the
left hook punch that took out his argument. The Sergeant Major then grabbed the
set of keys on the table and tossed it to the ship crews.
“Get your asses onto
the ship by the double. His Lordship needs the ship sailing now.” The crews
rushed out but the Captain of the ship stopped to ask the Sergeant Major.
“Won’t it be a crime to
break out of the holding cell?” The Captain asked. The sodden officer was still
in his PJ’s and was rewarded with a shove back into the cell.
“It’s for you. Your
cowardice to surrender your ship does not warrant your rescue.” The Sergeant
Major locked the cell door and walked off.
On the pier, the guards
were caught by the swinging beam and then were hit by the machine gun fire from
the aft of the ship. It was Stacy who was firing at them. She and the Captain
had boarded the ship from the blind side. They climbed by the side ladder there
and then made their way to the respective posts. The Captain had fired up the
boilers and then opened up the valves while Stacy did the fire cover. Soon she
saw the incoming ship crews. She sheep herded the guards to the side while the
crews made their way to the ship. Soon they were on and they were adding in
firepower. The Sergeant Major escorted his Lordship as if he was moving to join
a banquet with the other Lords in waiting.
“Jones!” The Sergeant
Major called out. “Move your butt or being grounded.”
It was then seen Jones
jumping from the crane tower into the sea.
“Bloody show nutcase.”
The Sergeant Major sighed. “Thankfully I am from the Highlands. We ain’t
crazy.”
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