July 9, 2016
Undisclosed Location North of
the Arctic Circle
USGC Polar Night
Dear Kids,
We had a real breakthrough. I
can really talk to Artie. He’s about 400 years old (young for a sea monster).
He said there are two great and horrible sea monsters, they have only been in
the North for a little while and they have enslaved the lesser monsters. One he
said has a hard, hard shell – like our ships – and knows about us (that is
humans). The other he couldn’t describe except to say it was more terrible.
Even being near it could hurt your mind.
I reported this to the
Captain, she looked right at me and said one word, “Nemo.”
“Huh?” I answered.
“Did you ever read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mr. Mannes?”
“Sure, Jules Verne, the Nautilus,
Captain Nemo. What does that have to do with anything?”
“It’s real. The novel was a
leaked intelligence report, Mycroft Holmes had the brilliant idea to label it
fiction so no one would believe it.”
“Mycroft Holmes?” I muttered
quizzically.
“Sherlock Holmes’ brother,
head of MI-5, yes that’s all real too. Later! Nemo is still out there. We
haven’t heard much from Nemo for about 50 years, but that psychotic genius is
still out there.”
“Wouldn’t he be like 200
years old?” I asked.
“He’s an evil genius who
hates humanity and invented stuff 150 years ago that we still haven’t figured
out. Or maybe it’s his son. Who knows? But your description fits him
perfectly.”
She turned to the
intelligence officer, “Get on the growler and find out what the polar bears
know.”
“Is that a communications
network,” I asked.
“No, we can talk to the polar
bears. They know everything going on up here,” she turned to the XO, “Get the
Canadians on the horn. If we are fighting the Nautiilus, we are going to need
some help.”
Things were silent for a moment
and the Captain looked at us and spoke gravely, “Commence Operation Finding
Nemo!”
-------
July
11, 2016
Undisclosed Location North of the Arctic Circle
USGC
Polar Night
“All
hands, this is Captain Mastronati. For the past several days we have been
tracking the Nautilus. We have found her. With our Canadian allies we will
bring her to battle. Captain Nemo has terrorized the world's oceans for over a
century. But now, he has suborned the sea monsters we monitor and is not merely
threatening maritime traffic, but humanity itself. This will be a hard fight.
Nemo is a deadly foe with unknown technologies. Nonetheless, having served with
you for two years in these dark waters, I will say that there is no crew I
would rather have under my command for this mission. We may pay a heavy price,
but we will be victorious. We are the Coast Guard, our mission is to keep the
waters safe and our motto is semper paratus - always ready! If that means
sailing into a storm to save drowning sailors: we are always ready. If that
means charting unknown waters, we are always ready. And if it means a fight, we
are always ready! SEMPER PARATUS!”
The
ship's bridge and corridors echoed the Captain's call. Then the Polar Night sat
quietly in the ice, waiting.
“Sir, it’s the growler! The
polar bears have a precise sector,” the bridge intelligence officer said.
“Go silent, still engines,
direct max passive sonars in his direction! Get the Inspector MacKenzie on the
horn.”
“Sir, the polar bears have a
message for Mr. Mannes.”
She gestured and I took the handset,
I deep soft voice, with a hint of growl said, “Los osos blancos, son cremosos!”
“You gave the polar bears my
background file?” I said in surprise. The barest hint of a grin passed over the
Captain’s face.
“Inspector MacKenzie here. We
are tracking him and will engage momentarily! Squadron aboot!” A voice came
over the speaker.
“Excellent,” the Captain
replied. “Remember the plan. You force him to surface. He can break through the
ice, but he’ll be stuck. Then we will neutralize the Nautilus with our main
guns.”
“Don’t worry! The Mounties
always get their man!” MacKenzie said politely.
“Um, Captain,” something was
bothering me. “There is another sea monster out there. Something that Artie was
even more afraid of than the Nautilus. We need to get intelligence on this. If
you just destroy the Nautilus…”
“Mr. Mannes,” she turned to
me, I was ready to get chewed out. “You are correct. We’ll disable the Nautilus
and then board. Prepare two assault teams and a team of divers. Full armament!”
We watched the SonScape.
“Kind of neat that you use
maple leafs to identify the Canadian ships. They are really fast,” I observed.
“Those aren’t
visualizations,” Lopez explained. “The maple leaf is a special
super-hydrodynamic design. They are the fastest thing underwater. But they
don’t have much firepower. The can harass the Nautilus. They’ll do some
superficial damage that forces her to the surface. Then, the fireworks start!”
Lopez was pulling on arctic
assault gear and examining her assault rifle. Suddenly, I was very, very
scared.