Deep Seas Chapter 31

31.

The Surface

“Au revoir.” Lord Henry looked to the sky where the French have taken to fly back to their borders. The Squadron of Sopwith has flown overheads to oversee the invasion fleet took to the open sea. They were under orders not to engage.

Lord Henry looked back at the letter from the Senior Adviser. It was worded to state that their noble intentions were misread and the conflict occurred. However, they will withdraw and do their trade liaisons on another day.

“Blasphemy! I never understood how they can a war to trade-in seconds.” Lord Henry cursed out.

“It’s a matter of negotiation.” Lord Chamberlain Gibbons replied. “Nothing is set in stone and even then if it was, the mallet could shatter it. So be contented that we are not fighting on.”

“What of the damage at Bale and Devan?” Lord Henry asked. “Do we get compensated?”

“None but we saved lives.” Lord Chamberlain replied. “And once again, we are united from the North to the South.”

“Aye, a battle won but we still lose at the war.” Lord Henry looked to his men. “Our food supply remains low. We need to get food for our people.”

“Eventually, Lord Henry. First, we take on the Dragons. Will Sea King win today?”

“I hope so.” Lord Henry replied.

The Depth

“Hold depth at a hundred feet.” Senior Captain Cheng Ha called out. He had picked up the lady en-route to Little Jaws.

“Why do you ask that we battle here?” The Senior Captain asked the lady.

“This is their stronghold and here the sea is deep. We will have rooms to move in.” Lady Jan replied. She then saw the movement across the bow.

“The old serpent has come to view the battle too. It will be a good sign for us.” Lady Jan motioned to the serpent seen from the bridge of the Mother Dragon. At over a hundred and twenty feet in length with a sleek scaled body that breathed over eight feet across, the serpent was a splendor to be sighted by the Senior Captain. Without any warning, he saw then the harpoon from the portside was shot towards the serpent.

“Who gave the order to shoot?” Senior Captain Cheng Ha roared out. The question was relayed down the hull and reached the sailor who fired the harpoon.

“I made …. A mistake.” The harpoon shaved the serpent on its upper fin. It annoyed the serpent that it was attacked. The fin sprouted blood and soon the bleeding left a trail in its swim.

“Fool! You will bring in the sharks.” The words were out of the Senior Captain when he saw the school of huge sharks swimming towards them. “Take positions. We have the predators coming at us.”

Sea Dragon Two and Three were to the stern of the Mother Dragon in a straight line. Sea Dragon Two Captain saw the school of sharks approaching the submersible.

“Battle stations.” The Captain of the Sea Dragon Two called out. “I want the cannons loaded.”

“Captain, we have sight of the Sea King. It’s to our port side.” The sailor called out.

“You fool! That is a serpent. And its…. Huge.” The captain of the Sea Dragon Two was overwhelmed by the size of the serpent. “Fire at it. Distract the sharks.”

The eight harpoons on the port side went out at the serpent. All of it missed the serpent which swam below into the depth but the sharks have arrived. It was a school of ten huge sharks from fifteen to over twenty feet.

“Turn to starboard.” The order was given by the Captain of Sea Dragon Two. The submersible turned then and it was hit by the fore three harpoons released by the Sea King. The Sea King had arrived then and saw the opportunity to attack. The twelve feet length harpoons bored into the double metallic hull as if it was paper wafer. The three breaks in the hull caused the seawater to surge into the submersible.

“Abandon ship.” The call went out on Sea Dragon Two. The Captain himself stood knee-deep in the rising seawater trying to organize the evacuation. They have trained in the past but it was on shallow levels. There at the depth of a hundred feet, the sailors on the abandoned ship panicked when they tried to open the hatches.

“We have sharks out there.” One called out but he was soon silenced by the others. “We have to leave or die here.”

“We will take our chances out there.” The hatches were blown open and the sailors swam out. The issue was during the attack by the harpoons, some of the sailors were wounded and their bleeding soon attracted the sharks. The school of sharks swam towards the feeling of sailors.

“Help our friends.” It was Sea Dragon Three which had arrived. “Fire at the sharks.”

Sea Dragon Three harpoons fired out and impacted on three sharks. The harpoons caused the situation worse with the wounded sharks adding to the blood scent. The sea there became a feasting ground with sailors and sharks.

“Watch out for the ….” The Sea Dragon Three captain warning was cut off when the submersible was hit by the harpoons from the Sea King. Like its sister ship, the harpoons impacted on the hull and created mayhem on board.

“Blow the ballast! We need to surface.” The Sea Dragon Three Captain called out. His sailors were more organized and went into a position to raise the submersible. Some sailors went to try to mend the tears on the hull but the seawater rushing in then had created more tears in the hull body.

Meanwhile, the Mother Dragon ahead was unaware of the fate of its smaller escorts. Senior Captain Cheng Ha looked at the sea canyon ahead. He was only alerted when he saw the schools of predators moving to the aft of the submersible.

“Turn to starboard. Check on the other dragons. Senior Captain Cheng Ha called out. He then saw the commotion at the rear and spied the Sea King on his starboard.

“Fire at the Sea King.” The explosives tip harpoons were fired from the front bow. The four harpoons there leveled towards the Sea King. The later was not aware of the Mother Dragon. It was saved by a huge twenty footer shark that intersected on the harpoons. Two of the harpoons impacted on the shark and caused a reaction on the other two harpoons explosive. The explosions caused a ripple in the sea and it impacted on Sea King.

“Whoo…” Captain Arthur felt the explosion. “What was that?”

“Explosion on the port side. I think it’s the Mother Dragon.” First Officer Kenneth called out. “Taking evasive action.”

“Signal the Nemo to engage.” Captain Arthur called out. The signal went out in a series of lights and the Nemo to the aft of the Sea King went into action. The small craft sailed towards the Mother Dragon. It caught up with them later and then it crossed the bow of the Mother Dragon. When it was there, it released the dark ink which was its only weapon against the predator. The Nemo had carried double its weight in the dark ink and soon darkened the view of the Mother Dragon.

“We are blind.” The sailor manning the steer on the Mother Dragon called out.

The Nemo then steered away but it was not prepared to be ram by the serpent who had seen the attack. In the feeble mind of the serpent, it assumed the Nemo was a Box Jelly and it took to attack it.

“We are being….” The seawater gushed in through the thinner hull of the Nemo. It was not built to withstand such impact and then craft sank when the seawater filled up the interior.

“Nemo is down.” The First Officer called from the periscope. “It’s the serpent that hit it.”

“Forget the serpent. We will attack the Mother Dragon while it's blind.” Captain Arthur called out. “Steer to starboard and then ready the harpoons.”

“Fire at will.” Captain Arthur saw the Mother Dragon moving across its bow. The next salvo of harpoons went out but only one harpoon impacted on it. The Sea King was jolted by the serpent which had swum above the bow and dislodged the Sea King in its direction.

“We got a hit.” First Officer Kenneth called out. “She is springing a leak.”

The impact of the single harpoon had hit the stern of Mother Dragon.

“Fire the portside harpoons.” Senior Captain Cheng Ha called out. The eight harpoons went out in an arc formation. Five of the harpoons impacted on the Sea King and caused it to tilt backward.

“We are hit.” First Officer Kenneth called out. “Lock those compartments.”

“Captain, we may need to surface.”