Chapter 11: Knights of the sea
Dinky woke up, trying to move, only to find out she couldn’t move at all. Opening her eyes, looking around, she found herself in a room, her hooves tied together with duct tape, her mouth was also covered with duct tape, making her unable to scream or call out for help, her 2 friends and Fletcher weren’t in the room.
“I think she’s awake.” An unknown voice greeted her ears, seeing 2 ponies dressed in dark grey hoodies walking in, their faces concealed by white masks.
The foal couldn’t help but whimper scared, backing up against the wall, her heart soared as the ponies looked at her.
“Don’t be scared little one, you won’t be harmed as long as the princess complies to our demands.” One of them said in an evil tone.
It scared her even more, faintly, she could see a shadow moving behind the 2 ponies, becoming a silhouette of a pony. Suddenly, the 2 ponies twitched, blood flowed down their necks and they collapsed.
The silhouette came closer to her, it was a pony dressed in a starry-patterned hooded cloak, black sap-silk, it’s face concealed by a black iron mask. “Shh, don’t be scared, I’m here to get you out.” The pony had a comforting yet distorted voice, making it unable to hear if it was a mare or a stallion, cutting the duct tape with a knife.
For some reason, Dinky couldn’t help but think that this could be a member of the Dark Horse squad Fletcher had told about. “Thank you! Wait, where are my friends?” She asked in panic.
“Don’t worry, my comrades are getting them out as we speak.” The pony assured her.
“How’s your status? Respond!” The radio on one of the dead ponies buzzed. “We send a team to investigate!”
“We must get out before they arrive!” Dinky exclaimed in fear.
“I got this covered, it’s too late for them.” Her savior was calm as the sounds of several hooves came from the doorway.
“W-why?”
“They forgot the first rule of survival.” There was an explosion and blood splattered on the walls. “A real hunter always watches where he steps.” The Dark Horse member said, his distorted voice made it difficult to hear out any emotion. “Follow me.” Dinky didn’t hesitate to do so, just wanting to be out of here.
As Blau Streifen opened his eyes, he found himself restrained in a room, 2 masked ponies where next to him, placing what appeared to be metal walls on the normal walls. “Let’s see how those Dark Horse clowns want to go through this!” one of them taunted.
“Looks like our friend has woken up. Forget about hoping that somepony will save you, nopony will get through here!” The other one yelled at him. The young colt tried to stay brave but fear controlled him, causing him to gulp as his sister and friend were nowhere to be seen.
A strange noise invaded his ears, seeing how the metal wall behind the 2 ponies started to glow, like someone using a torch on it. Then it exploded, causing his ears to ring, closing his eyes from the flash.
Slowly opening them, he saw that the 2 ponies had been killed by the explosion, the wall had a hole, another pony wearing a Black iron mask and a fuel tank on its back came through the hole.
“I hope I didn’t scare you too much with my firework.” The pony said, cutting Blau’s restrains. “Don’t worry about your sister and friend, they’re safe.”
While being worried for his sister and Dinky, the young colt could only ask, “How did you do that?”
His helper chuckled. “When you mix fuel, metal oxide and metal powder in just the right way, it burns at 2000 degrees Celsius. Hot enough to cut through nearly any barrier known to pony. Throw some C4 into the mix, and you've got one Tartarus of a combination.”
“I believe you that.”
The young girl stirred in her sleep, feeling she was not able to move anything. Opening her eyes, she realized that she was tied up in a room with only one window to her right, several masked ponies in another room next to her. “We deployed barbed wire in the doorway and barricaded the door and windows, there is no way those Dark Horse guys get in without us noticing!” One of them exclaimed in triumph.
A faint drill sound echoed in her ears, before several explosions occurred in the room where the ponies were, causing her ears to ring and closing her eyes from the flashes.
As the ringing stopped, Katja slowly opened her ears, the group of masked ponies were lying dead on the ground, another pony swinged through the window, wearing a black iron mask.
“Don’t worry, I’m here to help. My comrades are freeing your brother and friend at the moment.” The pony explained, cutting her free.
“Thank you. What was that?” She asked.
“Cluster Charge, very effective in clearing rooms.” the pony explained with a chuckle. “My personal favorite in clearing rooms.”
She followed the pony to what appeared to be a living room, 2 more ponies came out of a room to her right and left respectively, her brother and Dinky following them.
The masked ponies have each other greeting gestures. “We found them save and sound. Let’s get out of here.” One of them said, the kids hugged each other, glad that they would be out of here.
Then, a very slow and heavy breathing sound, greeted their ears, making them wonder from where it was coming.
“Bomber!” One of the Dark Horse members yelled as a white masked pony having bulky attire consisting of heavy body armor strapped with explosives and flashing red and blue lights, came from behind.
“You won’t leave this place alive!” It yelled, pressing a detonator, the explosives glowed red, making a beeping sound, the kids covered themselves as protection from the blast.
The 3 friends got torn out of her sleep by a loud explosion that almost caused them to fall of the bed but Fletcher caught them with his magic. “I got you!” He placed Dinky on his back and collected his weapons as William ran in.
“The ship's sinking! We've got to go, now!” They moved out as water started to flood into the ship. Water bursts in, making them lose balance and pipes on the walls began to burst.
Just as they made it outside, the ship tilted to the side, capsizing. They all five fell overboard, the children screamed as they hit the water. The impact was hard enough to stun them, yet they felt how a magic aura surrounded them and pulled them up. The kids gasped for air at the surface.
“I've got you, children!” It was Fletcher who had clutched what appeared to be debris of the ship.
Dinky looked around and regretted it. Around them were corpses, the ship was burning, it exploded in a giant fireball. Some crewmen were still on the ship, burning, jumping into the water but died as they did so. “Oh my...” She was shocked. But then, she realized that someone was missing. “Where's William?! Is he...”
“I don't know. I lost him out of my sight as I pulled you up.”
“N-no...” she cried into his fur.
The siblings started to mourn him too, they could only hope he died without suffering.
But then, the filly spotted something into the distance. Dinky couldn’t see what it was exactly, but it appeared to be responsible to the sinking of the ship and headed right towards them. “T-they want to finish us off! We're done for!” She panicked, not wanting to die, her 2 friends trembled in fear.
“Something is telling me it's the contrary.” Fletcher stayed calm as it came closer, he wasn’t an expert in naval warfare but knew that such maneuvers meant a ship crew was about to save castaways.
The ship, that was he assumed was supposed to be one, stopped right next to them, lifebuoys got thrown into the water.
They wasted to time to grab them, getting pulled onboard the ship. A man in a coat made a gesture to get in, pointing to a ladder.
They got in, noticing how tightly it was in the ship, realizing it was a U-boat of the German navy, the man that had pointed at the ladder was the captain of it, having a beard, green eyes and black hair. “Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?” He asked with concern as the children were shivering.
“E-except being cold, I’m fine.” Dinky replied.
The Captain led them through his ship to the infirmary, the other crew members looked at the castaways with pity as they walked past.
In the infirmary, the combat medic, a young man with blond hair and brown eyes checked them, relieved that they were just undercooled. “Get some blankets and some hot chocolates.” the doctor ordered, which the captain obeyed.
Fletcher could tell that this was because of the cold water, shivering a bit too, noticing that Katja seemed uncomfortable about it. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I-I…just have nothing to…change…” She said with a shaken voice, being also colt from her wet clothes.
Fray understood what she meant, having to undress would be pretty embarrassing and awkward for her. But he had an idea as the Captain came back with some towels, another crewman carried hot chocolates.
After getting dried, Fletcher said to the young girl, “Don’t worry, I know a spell that can help you.” His horn lit up and his aura surrounded Katja, after a few seconds, her clothes were completely dry. “A drying spell I have learned.” He smiled proudly.
“Thank you. Why do you have this spell?” She asked surprised and grateful.
“Well, during my time in the war, we sometimes infiltrated enemy navy bases by swimming to the shore and the drying spell was very useful to avoid traces.” He explained.
The hot chocolates were very refreshing and warming for all of them, enjoying every sip.
“I’m glad to see that you all are alright. I’m Captain Lars Steinhaus, commander of this U-boat and I apologize for putting you into danger.” The officer was very sorry, yet seemed not surprised at all about talking, magic casting ponies.
“And we thank you for saving us, Captain.” The young children were very grateful before starting to yawn as it was still night.
“You are very welcome, children. Catch some sleep, you can have my cabin.” Lars offered, leading them to his cabin, it looked very fancy, a shelf with some books, a carpet and 2 beds, one most likely for his second-in command.
“Goodnight.” He said, closing gently the door.
Dinky and Fletcher shared one bed, the siblings the other. They fell asleep with relieved sighs, glad that they were still alive. Fletcher knew that rest came first, questions and introduction could wait until tomorrow.
In the morning, the group awoke, having slept pretty well, despite the incident. “Good morning, Fletcher.” Dinky greeted him with a smile, looking on the watch on the wall. It was 8 AM. They all wondered if this was correct due being at sea.
The door opened and the Captain with some crew members walking in, bringing them bread and juice for breakfast. “Good morning, I hope you could rest well.” The Captain said with a voice that showed how sorry he felt for them.
“Thank you, Captain.” His guests enjoyed their breakfast to the fullest.
After having finished, Captain Steinhaus asked politely, “May I ask what your names are?”
The stallion took the word. “I’m Fletcher Fray and those are Dinky Hooves, Katja and Blau Streifen.” He then told the captain and his men why they were here and what his task was.
“I’m terribly sorry to hear that, Children. You already have been through a lot.” The officer sounded guilty and regretting. “Yet…It is true what I have heard.”
“What do you mean?” the filly asked confused.
“Well, your presence is well known in Africa, I may be a U-boat Captain but even I heard about you four.” Lars explained.
It sounded stupid to ask but the young colt couldn’t help himself. “Why did you rescue us?”
“I am abattle-hardened veteran but still could never live with myself letting children drown in the cold sea. As for you Mr. Fray, can’t leave their only possibility to get home behind, can I?” He asked him.
“I guess you have a point. We all owe you something.” The Eternal Knight was grateful.
“You owe me nothing, it’s a matter of honor and respect of the maritime law, regardless what the admiral orders.” His guests could tell that he was a good-hearted and sympathetic sea veteran. “Anyway, what about a tour of the boat for the start of the day?” He offered with a smile.
“I wouldn’t mind that, sounds interesting.” Dinky grinned.
“Sounds like a good idea.” Her 2 friends said in union, also grinning.
“Sure, why not.” Fray also didn’t mind it.
“Okay, Boatswain Weber, get to it.” Lars ordered an officer next to him, having brown hair with matching eyes.
“Yes, sir. Follow me.” Weber saluted and the guests did as told.
The man led them to a storage room where several long cylinders were stored. “Here, we’re maintain and store the torpedoes.” He explained the other crew members greeted them friendly.
“Come on, follow me.” Weber pointed to a door in the wall to their right. “That’s the bathroom for the entire crew. We actually got a second one but that’s full of provisions.”
“Well, sometimes you have to sacrifice something to gain a better thing.” Fray commented on it.
Right next to it was a small bench, making it look like a small living room. “Here’s the chief petty officer’s quarters. My second home. And the war room is right next to it.”
“You have it really cozy here.” Blau Streifen liked it.
“Indeed. This is the radio room and hydrophone shack.” Weber told the guests as he came to a ladder, the same they had used to get in. “The control room, the boat’s command post.” He posed proudly against the periscope before moving through a small hatch, Fletcher banged his horn on it due the narrowness. “You okay?” The Boatswain asked with concern.
“No worries. I don't think anyone built this to accommodate a unicorn.” The stallion replied as he moved through without hitting his horn, coming to several bunks, 2 crewmembers were sleeping.
“Wake up, you two. We’ve got company.” The man said and they woke up, smiling at their guests.
“Good morning.” They greeted friendly.
“Morning.” Katja replied politely.
“This is where the petty officers bunk. 12 men sleep here. It means two men have to share a bunk. One sleeps while the other’s on duty. And if you don’t mind, could you stay still for a moment, so my friend can take your measurements? For life vests and escape sets, safety first.”
None of them minded it, better safe than sorry.
Weber led them to the end of the corridor to a steel door. “This is our galley.” Then he pointed to the door. “And here’s Hannes, our ghost.”
“Who?” Dinky asked confused.
The navy soldier opened the door and the loud sound of engines greeted their ears, seeing the engine room and another man in officer uniform checking them, having his back to them. “Well, Hannes. Everything in order?” Weber yelled due the noise, Hannes turned around, having green eyes and blond hair, smiling at his comrade.
“Ah, before I forget, the Captain has planned a practice drill for today, so don’t be scared when the alarm goes off.” Weber warned.
“Thanks for the information.” Fletcher replied, the kids nodded.
They helped the crew to carry supplies around, seeing it as a way to repay them for being saved from drowning.
In the command room, a young officer asked, “Permission to come up?”
“Yes.” One of the officers keeping watch on the tower replied and the crewman climbed the ladder up.
“Alarm!” The same officer yelled, causing the crewman to fall the ladder down. “Stand by, main vents!” The crew did as told, waiting no time, their guests knew what would come know. “Starboard exhaust valve! All men forward!”
The crew members sprinted to their posts. “Come on! Come on! Up! Up! Up! Faster, faster! Keep going! I wanna see steam out of your butts! In case you didn’t know, it’s an alarm! You’re not a pleasure cruise! Get into diving positions!” One officer yelled orders to the men.
The stallion and children also went into position, better get to know the routine.
As the U-boat dived into the water, one of the officers started to grin. “April, April. Practice makes perfect. Don’t get rusty.”
“Practice drill.” Weber laughed.
“Take her down. Let’s see how the valves and seals hold up.” One officer said to the Chief Engineer who gave the order further.
“Bow plans down 15, stern up 10.”
Fletcher and the kids looked on the depth gauge, the green area ended at 90 meters, the yellow area was from 100 to 160 meters and the red area ended at 260 meters. The needle was at 90 meters.
“The shipyard rates a boat to 90 meters. But of course, we can go deeper.” Weber explained to his guest, a groan echoed through the boat, causing the kids to hug Fletcher for comforting as they got nervous.
“Of course, there’s a limit. We can only take so pressure before the boat…” He pressed his hands together. “…will be crushed.” This made Dinky hope the crew knew what they were doing as the needle reached 120 meters in the yellow area.
“Check hull valves.” The officer ordered.
Weber leaned over to Fletcher as the groaning continued. “The pressure.”
“Yeah, sure.” It made even him a bit nervous.
“Deeper.” The crew got ordered by their superior. “140 meters. She must take this depth. 150. 160 meters.” The officer watched the depth gauge before a deep groan caused him to flinch.
The Chief engineer grinned at him, tipping his cap. “That’ll do for now. Surface.”
The children let out a relieved sigh after this was over, not expecting that it would be so exiting.
After the drill, they continued to carry supplies to where they needed, Dinky noticed a crewmember writing a letter in his bunk. “Your friend?” She asked friendly.
The man, having brown hair and green eyes replied, “Yes. I’m engaged with a French woman. Unofficially.” He showed her and her friends a picture, showing a young woman smiling.
“She looks very nice. What’s wrong?” The filly asked upon seeing that the German was worried.
“She’s pregnant. If the Resistance ever finds out that she has a German baby…I’ve told her, but…She wants to have it.”
The unicorn understood what he meant. “I see. A difficult time but still congratulations, Mr.…”
The man smiled. “Thomas, Dinky and thank you. If you don’t mind me asking, Mr. Fray, do you have a girlfriend?”
“Well, yes but not in a romantically way, just friends. White Wolf, a Pegasus mare, caring but can be very unpleasant if you harm somepony close to her. I couldn’t ask for a better friend than her and Midnight Blade. Good luck with your fiancée, Thomas.”
“Thank you.”
At noon, Fletcher, Dinky, Katja and Blau got invited to lunch by the Captain. “I hope you don’t mind the sauerkraut, due having a long shelf life and being source of vitamins B, C, and K, it’s very good for long sea journeys like we do.”
“It’s fine, we’re happy to have something in our stomachs.” Katja took a bite of her bread, enjoying her meal despite the sour taste of the cabbage, her brother couldn’t complain, enjoying it too, Dinky and Fletcher were no exception.
The radio hat the daily news, praising the navy for sinking several British ships, causing Steinhaus to comment, “So we are bleeding the enemy, aren’t we?”
“Takes a sharp knife to bleed a whole country dry. Especially if it's Britain.” Fletcher added, the navy members all looked at him. “What? Have you seen how rainy it is in Britain?” They continued to look for a minute before laughing.
The news changed to a taunting speech of the Führer about the Prime Minister.
“Our masters in Berlin spend all their time finding Churchill clever new nicknames. What’s their latest creation?” Lars thought for a moment. “Drunken pig. Fat-ball. Paralytic. I must say, for a drunken paralytic, he’s putting up a damn good fight.”
“Boars tend to do that. One thing they are is territorial. Even the fat ones.” Fletcher took a sip of his drink.
“You’ll see. We’ll cut the swine to shreds. That is my firm belief.” The 1st Watch Officer said, being a by-the-book officer.
The Captain leaned over. “Listen to me, smart guy. He’s a long way from shreds, Mr. Churchill. I’d like to know how many of his ships are getting through us right now, while we sit on our behinds waiting for orders. Our patrol planes, where are they? Answer that one, Herr Goering. The British has plenty of them.”
He took a sip of his tee. “Talking big is he’s good for, that fat slob.” He sounded disappointed, showing also he was openly against the Führer’s believe, and embittered and cynical about the war. “Big heroes. Nothing but hot air. All of them.”
The Führer could be heard talking about how the Germans had been always superior against everyone else, which confused the young unicorn. “I don't get why some ponies or people have to think they're supreme. What's wrong with just being good at different things. If you're good at everything...what else is there to learn?”
“One of the many things you'll never hear answered on that damn radio.” Steinhaus replied before he smiled. “Music we need. Think our number one might put on a record on for us?” He asked, looking at the 1st Watch officer.
The young officer stood up to turn on the music. “The ‘Tipperary’ song, if you have no objections!” Lars called out then chuckled with his fellow officers and the music started to play.
As the crew started to sing, the Eternal Knight and children joined them, enjoying the song, the 1st Watch officer came back with an unpleasant expression. “A simple record won’t make you into the king of England, number one.” Lars said to him.
“I'm sure I heard some ponies singing something like this in Shireland.” Fray commented as the song was somehow familiar to him.
After the song was over, the 4 guests stayed with the officers in the chief petty officer’s quarters as the day was quiet, Fray noticed that the Chief Engineer was looking at some photos. “Must be snowing back home.” He mumbled as the Captain took a look.
“Very funny. It’s been years since I’ve seen snow.” Lars grinned at it.
“Can I look?” Fletcher asked politely the Chief Engineer.
“Sure.” He gave him the photo, it showed the Oberleutnant with a woman in the snow during what appeared to be a skiing vacation.
“Your wife?” The stallion asked, having to smile at the photo, the German nodded.
The kids smiled at it too. “That reminds me of something. Once Pipsqueak got his tongue stuck on a pole, fortunately, I and Tootsie could help him with a bowl of warm water and a towel to get him free painlessly.” Dinky told them all.
“Poor little guy, I had how uncomfortable this is, happened to me once.” Blau Streifen commented.
“We are en route to La Rochelle, our home port. I recommend you 4 get of board once we arrive.” The Captain said to his guests.
“A good idea, Captain Steinbach.” Fletcher agreed, the children would be safer that way.
“Please, as my guests you don’t have to be so formal to me, Lars is just fine.”
“Say, Fletcher do you know, Mau-Mau?” Dinky asked with glee.
He grinned. “Of course I do, I love that card game!”
And so in the cabin of Steinhaus, they played cards to pass the time, having fun.
While playing, they overheard how the crew chatted about their plans once they would return home, the men looked forward it.
“Now hear this. La Rochelle’s out. Sorry. We’ve orders to a new port of destination. La Spezia. That’s an Italian naval base in the Mediterranean. First we’ll pick up fuel and supplies at Vigo in Spain. That’s all.” Steinhaus informed via the intercom.
Now the group could hear how the crew complained about it, that their Christmas was ruined.
“I feel sorry for them, they really earned a break.” The young colt commented with sympathy.
“Sadly, this happens a lot during war times. I can’t count how many times I had got crushed my earned breaks during the civil war.” Fletcher knew that feeling only too well.
As the evening ruled the sky, the Captain watched the sunset, his guests joined them. “You wanted to see us?” Fletcher asked as he leaned in the railing, enjoying the sunset with the children.
“Yes. When we reach Vigo, you go ashore, Fletcher. You all and the Chief. I’ve already made the decision. I’ve got to find me a replacement for the chief. Our agents will smuggle you out of Spain somehow. Dressed up as gypsies for instance. It’s all been settled. It’s easier to get a group out than a single man. We have agents that bring you out. I really believe the chief needs a break. He must go home.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.” The 3 friends thanked the veteran.
He smiled warmly. “Your welcome. Being onboard a U-boat is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the military and I don’t want to engager your lives longer than necessary. The sooner you get ashore, the better.”
As they got back into the U-boat, Fletcher talked with Thomas. “We leave when the U-boat reaches Virgo. If you like, we can deliver your mail for you.”
“Yeah, that would be great!” Thomas gave Fletcher his letters. “There’s quite a bunch of them here.”
“Well, it’s quite a romance, isn’t it?” Fletcher asked with a slight smile, it had been the idea of the children, Thomas nodded in response.
As the U-boat reached Vigo in the late evening, it had become night, the crew led it’s guests to the SS Weser, an interned German merchant ship.
As the doors got opened, the stallion and his young friends, as well as the crew was quite surprised to see an opulent dinner prepared for them in an elegant dining room.
The crew of the Weser warmly greeted them. “Gentlemen. Three cheers on our gallant U-boat men.” The Weser’s Captain said as he walked up to Fletcher who stood next to Lars, shaking his hoof. “You are most welcome, captain lieutenant. I guess you have an interest in the Green Knight, since you’re well-made costume looks like him?”
It was awkward for the unicorn, Blau Streifen suppressed a giggle. “No, no. Please. Not me, this is the commander.” He pointed to Lars.
“My apologies, sir. I…A pleasure to have you onboard the Weser, captain lieutenant.” Lars and the Weser’s captain did a handshake. “A hero. I’m delighted to be so honored.” He turned to his men. “Gentleman, here they stand, our heroes of the deep. The Grey Wolves.” He shook the hands of the U-Boat crew. “Our humble ship is honored, on a momentous occasion such as this is. Captain, lead the way.”
He led Steinbach to the table, the other members of the Weser’s screw shook hands with the rest of the U-boat crew. “Welcome onboard.”
“Nice clean tugboat you have here.” The Chief Engineer commented.
“So here are we, captain. As you can see, we’ve done what we can in our modest way. I hope it’s to your taste. Quite a table. Just like home. Fresh bread, cakes from the ship’s bakery, a bit of fruit, fresh sausage, our chef’s specialty. Well, we’re waiting to hear your news. Can’t imagine what it means to us.” The captain of the merchant ship wanted to know.
“It isn’t easy here, despite what people say. It’s very frustrating. Sure, there’s plenty to eat. Fuel supply’s no problem. Torpedoes are tricky though. Very tricky. Never mind. You’re all set up.” He assured Steinbach. “The Spaniards tolerate us, but you couldn’t call them enthusiastic.” He told Lars before offering biscuits. “Christmas Stollen. Now, tell us, how many ships have you sunk? Now, let’s see. I guess about…”
A crewman brought the champagne, interrupting the conversation. “Oh, champagne. How forgetful of me. Take a glass. Gentlemen, raise your glasses. Drink to our heroes. We’re proud of you. To the German U-boat service, and to our beloved…” One of his men cleared his throat. “Oh, yes. We’re not exactly at home, if you understand what you mean. Toast. All the best.” They all clinked classes, the children had lemonade instead. “And now, plenty for everyone. Come on.”
Fletcher enjoyed some bread and fruits, the kids enjoyed the cake.
“Now tell us all about it, captain. Continue. We’re bursting with curiosity. And who are your friends?” The Captain of the Weser asked.
“Castaways we saved. As for the hunt…This time we very nearly had it.” Steinbach replied in an emotionless voice, felling uncomfortable about it.
“See, gentlemen, that’s the stuff heroes are made of.” The commander of the Weser told his men, as a man wearing a brown coat with matching hat walked it.
“Herr Hambrecht, we’ve been expecting you. Captain, over here. Hello. Representative of our naval attaché here.” The Weser Captain introduced him to Lars.
“Hello, Captain. I have news for you from Berlin.” The envoy gave him an envelope. “First, the documents for the breakthrough. And then…” he reached for a note, “this came for you.”
Lars read it, not happy about what it said. “Chief. Fletcher, Children.” They knew what he meant, joining him. “We are going for some fresh air.” The U-Boat Captain said to his hosts.
Outside he informed the Chief and guests. “Denied. Our request has been denied, Chief. There’s no replacement.” Lars hated it to disappoint him.
“I guess it’s just well. Who knows what kind of idiot they’d sent you. One of those newfound warriors who’s all wind and smoke.” Weber saw it from the bright side.
“Could be right.” Lars replied at Weber’s word, it might be better that way.
“What about us?” Katja wanted to know.
Steinbach had an unpleasant expression. “Well, you can go offshore by HQ but since Spain is neutral, you have to go offshore either on German soil or one of its allies. Which means, you also have to stay. I’m sorry.” He told them with regret.
The young friends let out a sigh. “And I thought we could see a bit of Spain.” Dinky was a bit sad, then smiled weakly. “But on the bright side, we can enjoy your company a bit longer.”
“Indeed.” The veteran replied, hoping everything would go well.
After that, Fletcher and the children helped to carry the supply onboard the U-boat. “Hurry up, get this chart table cleared. I can’t navigate on bananas.” The navigator demanded as bananas covered his work place.
The guests followed the Chief Engineer to Thomas, stopping at the depth controls. “Are you crazy? Get that fruit out of here. Move it! The depth controls must stay free.”
As they moved on, the Engineer asked a crewman, “Is that a Christmas tree?”
“What do you think it is, camouflage for the bridge?” His comrade countered.
“We’re staying onboard. We’re sorry, Thomas.” Fletcher gave the letters back, regretting it to disappoint him.
Thomas said nothing, he just nodded sad.
They then watched as the captain looked at the map, analyzing the enemy defenses. “Seven miles from coast to coast. Bit narrow, huh? Here, the British dockyards. The only ones the British have in the western Mediterranean. So they are very heavily defended. The place will be crawling with patrol boats. Anything that floats will be in the water. And this is where we have to go. That’s the situation.” He turned to his men. “We’ll move in under darkness. On the surface. We’ll see if we can slip through their cordon. As near to Gibraltar as we can get.” He stroked his beard, thinking.
“Then we dive and let ourselves drift through. A simple trick, we allow the surface current to pull us through the strait. Quiet as a shadow and we burn less fuel.”
“Clever trick, Captain.” Fletcher commented due his experience, liking it.
“Glad to hear it. Since it’s getting late, you and your young friends should catch some sleep, but have the escape gear ready, just in case.”
The colt saluted playfully. “Yes, sir!”
And so, it begun in the cover if the night. While the children were sleeping peacefully, Fletcher couldn’t fall asleep, being afraid how he could get them out of here if the U-boat got discovered and attacked.
The Captain and the navigator stayed on the bridge to give orders. Lars looked through his binoculars, seeing many British ships. “That’s half the British fleet out there.” His navigator spotted a destroyer in the distance but he was heading away.
“That’s good.” He then spotted another destroyer heading in their direction. “Right full rudder! All ahead full! Be quick!” He shouted down to his men. “Damn! Damn!” Lars cursed before calling out, “Navigator.” He pointed into the distance. “Gibraltar.” The coast was in sight, everything went well so far.
Fletcher watched nervously the watch, it was 11PM now. Maybe, I worry too much, if everything is going well so far, it means we almost made it.
“Alarm!” Steinbach exclaimed down as a British fighter plane opened fire on the U-boat.
An explosion tore the children out of their sleep. While startled by it, they wasted no time to get their escape gear on, Fletcher too.
“Don’t dive! The captain’s still on top! Don’t dive!” One crewmember yelled.
“Navigator wounded!” Another yelled, Fray rushed into the control room, seeing that the navigator was bleeding from his left shoulder, helping he medic to treat him.
“Stand by escape gear! Ready to abandon ship!” Lars ordered. “Both engines, maximum power! Hard, starboard!”
Explosions were all around the U-boat as it came under heavy fire. “Faster! Faster!” Steinbach yelled down.
“Chief to captain, we have to stop port engine!”
“Maintain full power, chief! All the power you got! All the power you got!”
“What is he doing?” Katja asked one crewmember.
“Due south. Heading directly for the African coastline.”
Realizing that the enemy fire was too much, Lars cursed, “Damn it! Damn it!” There was only one possibility left. “Flood!”
“Ready to dive! All hands forward!” The 1st Watch officer yelled, the kids wasted no time to get into position.
The crew followed the orders of the captain.
“Bow planes are in action!”
“Switch to manual!”
“The bow plane is jammed! It's on a dive! Two crewmembers tried to turn it without success, even the Knight tried it with all his strength, in vain.
“All engines stop!” An officer ordered. “All men go aft! All hands aft! All hands aft!” The crew did as told, the kids were still in shock from the explosions above.
“Auxiliary pumps out of action!”
“With air!” The Chief Engineer turned the circular handle by the officer's orders. It had no effect.
“We're still going down.” Fletcher started to sweat.
“We've got to lose some weight!” The Captain said to the engineer.
“Pump out 1000 liters!” the officer added. But the problems became more.
“Main ballast pump out of action!” a crewman reported.
"Permission to blow?” The Chief asked Lars.
“Both engines hard to stern full!”
“Hard to stern full.” the crewman repeated as he pulled the switches.
“No effect.” The needle of the depth gauge was now in the yellow area.
“Blow!” The captain shouted, the Crew engineer did as told.
“Stay put. Now. Now! Stay put now!” The officer pleaded in Despair, sweating as the depth gauge was almost in the red area.
“For Luna's sake, come on!” The Knight pleaded in Despair, trembling, sweating.
“Oh, god!” the officer exclaimed, as the depth gauge reached the red area. “We can't hold the boat."
Dinky, Blau, Katja and Fletcher flinched by a bang, as the pressure was high. More bangs followed.
“My god.” Lars was shocked upon seeing the depth gauge.
“By Luna's moon.” Even Fletcher Fray was shocked as he saw how deep they were.
The U-boat hit something hard, causing them to fall over and the lights went out, Blau Streifen caught Dinky out of instinct, both blushed as he helped her up.
The Captain breathed slowly yet heavily. “A shovelful sand. The merciful God's left a shovelful of sand to keep us up.”
A small light filled the corridors. "Fletcher, are you alright?” Dinky asked as she and her friends came in, using her horn as flashlight.
“I'm fine.” He lit his horn up to look at the depth gauge. His expression was horrified.
“Oh my...” Dinky's horn went out, her face became pale as well as her friends as they saw it too.
280 meters.