My Strange Adventure at Sea

by James Rumpel

Part 1 appears in this issue.

conclusion

Thirty-two of the original forty-man crew survived to reach the island. Many were injured. All were afraid, except for Hook.

“Ye all be scared of nothin’. This island is like any other. At low tide, we will return to The Marauder and gather supplies. There be plenty of material to make repairs. We will be sailin’ again in no time. Let’s set up camp while we wait for the tide to go out.”

Some of the sailors grumbled, but they all accepted their captain’s orders.

While the men were beginning to gather firewood and look for food, Hook made his way over to me.

“Well, ye seem to have a tale to tell now, don’t ye? You just better be hopin’ the crew don’t come to thinkin’ that ye be the reason for our ill luck.”

I started to reply but, before I could say a word, screams erupted from the jungle. The sailors who had gone looking for wood emerged from the underbrush, screaming as they sprinted toward Hook.

I watched a bolt of lightning come out of the thick vegetation, traveling horizontally along the ground and striking one of the men in the back. He screamed as he fell to the ground, his body engulfed in fire.

Fear turned to horror as a metal man stepped onto the beach. He stood over seven feet tall and appeared to be made of silver from head to toe. He wore no clothing but carried an odd-looking pistol. The strange creature fired again, causing another sailor to burst into flame. The attacker continued to walk toward the beach, taking long rhythmic strides.

“Don’t run, ye fools,” shouted Hook. “Yer sittin’ ducks.”

Hook drew his sword and advanced on the assailant. Even with his peg leg, he closed on the creature quickly. Three or four of his men obeyed his command. They drew their weapons and turned to face the metal man. The rest were too panicked to do anything but run.

I followed Hook, mesmerized by his bravery. It was time for me to be more than a bystander. I had no weapon or means of helping aside from serving as cannon fodder.

By the time Hook reached his deadly foe, two more sailors lay on the ground, struck down by deadly bolts. One sailor had managed to get close enough to the monster to strike it with his sword. The blade clanged loudly but did no damage. With one swing of its arm, the metal giant sent the sailor flying. Soon after, the pirate burst into flame, hit by the weapon’s lightning.

Hook took advantage of the opening and closed in. The monster swung its arm, knocking the sword from Hook’s hand. The next swing would surely be fatal. I did the only thing I could do. I threw my quill. I had played many a game of darts at a pub near Oxford. I wish I could expound about the brilliance of my throw and how it immediately honed in on its target. Instead, the feathered pen fluttered in the air, looping once before falling harmlessly to the ground. However, the motion caught the attention of the metal man’s glowing eyes. It stopped its attack on Hook for the briefest of moments.

That slight pause was enough time for the captain to swing his hook at the behemoth. The sharp point of Hook’s substitute hand wedged into a slight gap where the creature’s head connected to its neck. Tiny bits of fire, like a burning fuse, erupted from the metal man. A crackling sound was followed by a series of strange tones. The creature’s eyes went dark. What had, moments ago, been a deadly adversary was now a motionless silver statue.

Hook pried his faux hand from the monster’s neck. He intently watched the creature, waiting to see if it sprang back to life. After a sufficient amount of time had passed, he turned to me. “Let’s get rid of this thing ’fore it comes back to life.”

Four of the remaining sailors helped me carry the lifeless metal man to the water. We had hoped to toss it far into the sea, but it was too heavy. We walked as far into the waves as we could and dropped it. It sank, partially burying itself in the loose sand.

“Maybe Capt’n Hook could keep it as an anchor,” I quipped.

None of the other sailors saw the humor of my joke.

When we returned to Hook, he was already making his way toward the jungle. “Come along,” he ordered. “We be needin’ to find where that monstrosity came from.”

The crew had finally reached its breaking point. None of the twenty remaining pirates made a move to follow. “We’re not goin’ in there.”

“Then rot on the beach, fer all I care,” shouted Hook. Without looking back, he continued onward.

I found myself walking beside him. I had no reason to stay. Hook provided me more protection and camaraderie than all of the remaining sailors combined. After all, I had a story to record. If only my father could see me now, I thought.

* * *

The trail of the metal man was easy to follow. The captain and I followed a succession of trampled bushes and shrubs. We, eventually, emerged to find ourselves in an unnatural clearing.

I jumped and let out a little squeal at the sight of two more metal men. Before I could turn and run, Hook grabbed me by the collar. “Look,” he said, “their eyes be black and they’re not movin’.”

I realized he was right but also discovered another sight just as terrifying. A massive saucer-shaped object occupied the center of the clearing. It was the size of a large galleon though much of it was covered with vines and other plant growth. The jungle was attempting to reclaim this area.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I have nary a clue,” responded Hook. “I have never seen anything like this in all me travels.”

We stood there for quite some time, discussing our predicament and hazarding guesses as to the nature of the metal men and the odd structure. I was about to suggest that we return to the beach when a loud hissing sound interrupted me.

We turned to see a portion of the saucer slide to one side. To our great shock and consternation, a strange-looking creature emerged. It was roughly the shape of a man and the size of a young child. Its head appeared far too large for the rest of its green-skinned body. What looked like a white gown covered its torso. It had thin legs and arms, which ended with oversized feet and hands. Most disturbing was its face. Large eyes, the size and shape of lemons sat above a tiny slit-like mouth. I could see no ears or nose, though there were a few unidentifiable holes located in odd places on its head.

I resisted the urge to run. This was a story I had to see through to the end.

To my surprise, the creature spoke. “I apologize for any mistakes in me speech. I’ve monitored your conversation to try an’ program me universal translator, but it be nearly as though ya’ be speakin’ two different languages. I hope you can understand me.”

Hook seemed unaffected by the amazing sight before him. “I understand ye well enough. I know ye sent them monsters to kill me.”

The creature held its empty hands in front of its body. “I am sorry for that. My... constructed men... were programmed to protect me. My ship crashed fifteen of your planet’s years ago. I have been marooned on this island for a long time. All but one of my guards had exhausted their internal fuel supply. I see that ye have destroyed the last.”

“We had to. It would have killed us if we didn’t.” I did not want this creature to retaliate for what we had done to its guard.

“I understand,” said the little green man. “It might be for the better that you did so. With me guards in place, I never got to meet any of the intelligent beings on this planet. I couldn’t change their orders. I be a doctor, not a computer programmer.”

I stared at the odd creature, confused.

“I couldn’t get them to not attack visitors,” he explained. “But, now that I be talkin’ with ye, maybe you can help me. I need fuel to power my... radio communication signal. It has taken me a long time, but I believe I have finally repaired the signal. Unfortunately, I no longer have the fuel to power it. I want to contact my people and have them come to rescue me.”

“Ye seem to have enough wood here to make a fire.” Hook, like me, apparently had no idea what type of fuel the creature needed.

“I don’t need fire. I need something very different. It is a type of metal, shiny and yellow. My ship can change it into the energy I need.”

“You need gold?” I asked.

“If that is what you call it.”

I waited to see how Hook would react. The creature was asking for the treasure that Hook and his men had given so much to acquire. To my surprise, Hook remained calm.

“I may have some of what ye’ need. But it be costin’ you a fair price to obtain.”

The tiny creature stared at Hook. “I promise, I can pay quite well.”

They moved to a position where I could not overhear them and began their negotiations.

* * *

That evening, at low tide, Hook and the few remaining sailors returned to The Marauder and retrieved the chests of gold.

“This will do nicely. Wait here,” said the creature. With remarkable strength, the tiny man carried both of the chests into his ship.

About three hours later, a strange sound drew my attention skyward. Five or six saucers, similar to the one in the clearing, but smaller, settled to the ground on the beach and within the clearing. Lights of every describable color flickered and flashed in no discernible pattern.

I nearly fainted from fear when a number of the silver men emerged from the flying ships. It was only after they walked past me, ignoring my presence, that I found myself able to breathe again. I watched as the metal monstrosities and several tiny green beings carried objects back and forth between the marooned ship and the newly arrived saucers.

Soon, one of the small creatures approached me and asked me to accompany him to the beach. The gigantic silver man standing next to him made it very easy for me to decide to do as directed. To my utter amazement, I saw The Marauder floating, fully repaired, a short distance from shore. The tiny man pointed toward the sole remaining lifeboat and told me to take it to the ship. One other remaining sailor, the one whose broken arm I had tried to stabilize earlier, sat in the dingy.

“I’ll row you out,” he said, flexing his two now healthy arms.

I sat quietly in the small boat as we made our way out to The Marauder. So much had happened, too much to completely comprehend. I did have one question that no one seemed to be able to answer. Where was Hook?

* * *

A month later, I had nearly finished writing this account of the amazing events. I was sitting in my rented room working on the manuscript when I was interrupted by a loud knock.

I opened the door and was greeted by a stranger, though there was something familiar about him.

“It is good to see ya, lad,” he said. Then he winked at me with a deep blue right eye. “I just came to be tellin’ ya that you need not worry about givin’ me a percentage of the profits from yer book. I made out well enough from our little adventure.”

I stared at the man before me. Could this really be Captain Hook? He had two perfectly good eyes as well as complete sets of both pairs of limbs. He smiled at me with teeth the color of pearls.

“What? How?” I stammered like a drunkard.

“As ye can see, the little green man on Bone Island kept the promises he had made me. I be healthier than I’ve ever been.”

“You do look well,” I said, amazed at my ability for understatement.

“I be thinkin’ of settin’ sail again soon. I was wonderin’ if ye might be willin’ to join me crew? Ye seem to be good luck.”

I surprised myself with how quickly I answered. “I would be happy to accompany you, Captain Hook.”

He smiled and extended his right hand. “Very good. Oh, and call me Captain Barlow.”