Deep Sea Chapter 9

9.

The Surface

Lady Jan’s instruction was clear; they were to stop the train and terminate the threat. It was a task assigned to the group of assassins.

Leader Bian Feng flexed the stiffness on his body after having spent the last hour in the cramped crew quarters. The quarter could house no more than eight sailors but the Far Eastern warriors were polite to squeeze thirteen of them. The squat muscled warrior was dressed in his usual dark tunic and straight-cut pants with the wooden sandals. A red sash was tied around his waist with a three-pronged hook on the end. On his back was the butterfly ‘dao’ which was equivalent to the length of his forearms. It was sheathed inside the special cloth holding holster. In his hands was the long handle wooden ‘bo’. He had one a white bandanna over his forehead with the imprint of the fierce Dragon. The dragon emblem was also on the heavy silver chain on his neck.

Bian Feng was the leader of the Tiger Warriors of the High Heavenly Gods Clan. He commands a pack of twelve warriors. They were in wait for some time. Their mission was to stay hidden.  Lady Jan had told him the prey will be led to the trap.

Unlike the leader, the warriors do not carry the ‘bo’ but held the bow with the quiver of arrows.

“The metal carriage is before us. We will lower ourselves towards the roof by using the rope.” Bian Feng briefed his warriors. “We will not hold any prisoners.”

The twelve warriors stood there expressionless at their leader for they cared for nothing except to perform their task. The leader gave the order and the warriors rushed to the dirigible open section where the rope ladders were hanging from. The drop was about two hundred feet. The assassins went down like monkeys on the branches. Once they reached the carriage top they crouched ahead and waited for everyone was in position before they moved out in single formation towards the engines. Their objective was to remove the engineers and disable the engines. The warriors moved with ease despite the moving train. They have trained on the tree logs floating on the river for such tasks.

 Three warriors climbed onto the coal wagon to tackle the engineers, while the others went for the first of the seven coaches. The three warriors stood on the heap of coals at the wagon behind the train engine. They fired their arrows at the men working the engine. The train engineer and his aide went down with the arrows embedded in the back of their neck. The warrior trio climbed down from the coal and then took over the train controls.

Kwan Lin was the leader there and took action to stop the train. He pulled at the lever to release the build-up steam in the boiler. He then pulled on the brakes to gradually slow the train. Once the steam was fully released, it will stop turning the turbine to move the train, and with the brake applied the train will slow down. The warrior was not an expert at it but nevertheless, he stopped the train although it was hasty and caused a series of sudden slowed down speed before it stopped.

“Stupid sow!” (It will be damnable to translate it …ha-ha. I may lose my appetite for pork chops.). The young warrior cursed at the engine then asked the other two to stand guard on the rails.

Inside the coach, the young warrior leader named Cheng Tou had his arrow notched on the bow. The first coach targeted then was the dining one. It held eight tables with the fine cutleries laid out. Of the eight tables, four were occupied. The nearest table sat the young couple. The man stood up to voice his protest on being intruded but when he saw the arrow, he reached for his young wife. The warrior shot at the man in the back of the neck with the arrow reaching past it into the ladies’ face. He soon had his second arrow shot at the other occupants. The other warriors have leapfrogged and were using their hands to do the kill. Their methods were swift with the deadly chops or punches to crack the air passages bones at the throat. They hopped from one seat to the next with their deadly moves. The waiter put up a fight with his basic punches learned from the street gangs.

“Come at me, you yellow curs.” The waiter landed a left hook on the warrior who was in front of him. The warrior was caught off guard by the swift punch. The waiter had his fists up but then Cheng Tou had stepped up to challenge the waiter. The later threw a right jab and was to follow with the swinging left hook but he never got to complete it.

Cheng Tou moved in inside with the jab with the left hand to chop at the right arm of the waiter before he moved in with the right chop on the side of the neck. The waiter screamed out but Cheng Tou had turned his body to deliver the series of double punches at the chest. The punches were swift and short in the flow of the arms but each blow broke or ruptured some internal organs. The waiter soon slumped down to his knees.

Lau Ding, the youngest was ever keen to prove himself rushed to the next coach. He rushed in through after he opened the door. He was taken aback by the sight of the long barrel rifle aimed at him. He had seen such weapons on the dirigible. They are deadly and caused instant death.

“Die, you yellow-bellied cur.” The Sergeant Major cursed when he fired the rifle. The stunned warrior was blown back from the impact. The Sergeant Major had then reloaded the rifle while Jones rushed forth with his Whitworth rifle cocked for firing.

“Stay easy, Sergeant Major.” His Lordship told the other. “We are fighting a war here. There is nothing personal.”

“Aye my Lord.” The Sergeant Major replied. “It won’t be.”

The Sergeant Major had lost his only son to these killers when he was posted to the Far Eastern Post some years back. They recovered the body but not the head.  Jones meanwhile had fired on the others in the next coach.

Jones had then rushed back to close the coach door. He was breathing hard.

“They are bloody more in numbers than us.” Jones spoke out in a hoarse voice. Across in the other coach, the Leader Bian Feng had joined the others and took command of his warriors to attack.

“You two go up on the rooftop. You three move to the door. The rest prepare to sneak up on the side.” By then the train had come to a full stop. The warriors jumped to their assignment. The two which went up the top took the open window in a leap and then was seen climbing up to the top. They did it with the ease of the monkey’s movements in the jungle. The three warriors kicked open the door and took their firing stance. The other four had also used the windows as the entries. There they took position to fire at others in the coach. One passenger went down while the other three were shot in the back at the coach. It was followed by the three others who were in the doorway.

“I’ll be darned!’ The Sergeant Major let off the shot from the window but he missed the bowmen. There were three assassins who have taken cover behind the bushes there. In the carriage, His Lordship opened the door for Jones to fire. He brought down one warrior before his Lordship slammed the door shut.

The Depth

During the battle, it was Captain Arthur and Stacy who moved to the rear and out of the coach on the right side. He climbed down and saw the four warriors running half crouched there on the other side. He took aim with the Webley and fired off three shots in succession. Two warriors went down but the other two had jumped for cover.

“Damn!” Captain Arthur cursed out. He was to rush over when he was set upon by the warriors from the train steamer. The arrow landed near his feet before one of the warriors jumped kick him from the top of the coach. The kick landed on his left shoulder and both of them rolled on the ground. The Captain fell on the ground stunned and was then punched by the young warrior.

“Kia!” The warrior screamed out when he delivered the punch at the Captain. The other took the blow face on but he fell from out. He had his share of bar brawls and a few punches won’t dent his face. When the second blow aimed at chopping his neck, the Captain had his left forearm to block it while he slammed his open palm with the spread-out knuckles like that of the tiger paws. His blow was a fierce grab on the warrior's face and then pulled the warrior off his feet. He then tossed the warrior across the ground in anger as if he was tossing a crate of sardines.

Meanwhile another warrior jumped down from the coach. He was notching the second arrow when Stacy rushed at him. She had taken out her dagger and tossed it at the warrior. The warrior went down with the dagger in the heart. Stacy picked up the bow and arrow. She had not seen one before in real.

“Aye that’s a bow. I had used that before I was in the Far East. A good weapon for the silent kill.” The Captain took the bow from Stacy and flexed the taut bowstring. It was then Bian Feng had commanded the other warriors to shoot at the duo who were inspecting the bow. The arrows missed them when the Captain on his instinct pushed Stacy to the rear. They then jumped for cover behind the carriage.

“They can’t fire at us unless they popped their head out.” The Captain told the lady. Two of the warriors had then jumped clear from the coach and rolled on the open ground.

“Jumping Jupes!’ The Captain called out and ran along with the coach. He has a bow but no arrow. Both the Sergeant Major and Jones gave their cover fire for him.

That left three more warriors including Bian Feng alive. The leader realized the odds were against them and called for a retreat. Lord Henry was relieved of that and looked at the darkening skies.

“I think we will be spending the night here. Anyone brought marshmallows for the campfire?”

‘Not necessary, my Lord. I could drive the train. My uncle Freddy taught me once. He rode the lines from …. Gee, I have forgotten the towns. Insignificant then and shall be now.” Jones offered his assistance and soon they were moving on the tracks with the engines operated by Jones towards the port.

They made it by night.