Battle stations! Snap felt his heart pound at the word. His head reeled. Even before Captain Gideon’s voice faded from whatever magical device carried it, the energy had already infected the ship.
The crew rushed to fulfill their duties, and they didn’t look flustered or confused as he no doubt did. They rushed to weapons and pounded through doors in the way of them and their duties. No one screamed. No one panicked.
Snap didn’t do the first, but he was starting to do the second. He looked around. Just a few steps away was his bunk. Even though he’d gotten to know it for such a short time, he was starting to like it. It would just have to wait for more important matters.
But where would he go? He never had a battle station! He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to fight. However, he was part of the Yellow Rose’s crew now. He’d have to do his part. What if his part was to stay here out of the way? But what if they found him here and threw him overboard for cowardice? His thoughts raced as he tried to figure out a solution.
It came in the form of a hoof to the head. “Calm down, Snap!” Nebula commanded him.
Pain and his friend’s voice anchored him. Cold Snap focused on him. Nebula looked nervous, but he kept a lid on it, if only barely.
“Where do we go?” he asked.
The unicorn pursed his lips in thought. Then his eyes widened. “Where we went last time! The wheelhouse!”
Together, they raced to the crew quarters door, into the stairwell, and up to the reinforced door leading to that critical nexus. They heaved the heavy steel door open and stumbled inside. They found a beehive of activity.
The crew were scattered around their instruments and tables as before, but they didn’t look as confident as before. They appeared flummoxed and kept glancing at the figures at the central table.
Captain Gideon hunched over the table, somehow holding a conversation with Midshipmare Blue, the zebra mate, and the brass tube simultaneously. His claws clenched a pair of spyglasses that had been bound together in a frame.
“Crow’s nest! Find out where that shot came from!”
Gray feathers whirled as the griffon turned to the rest of the crew. “And double boiler detail for whoever let a ship get within firing range!”
The entire command crew looked around in puzzled confusion. One griffon with arrows on her uniform patch spoke up. “Captain, there’s nothing around us at all. We don’t”-
Thump! A reverberating shudder hit the ship. Snap felt his teeth grind from the vibrations. The captain clutched his table. “Damnation! Don’t stand there and tell me there’s nothing out there. We are under attack!”
Another thump hit. This time it was softer, but not by much. It was so hard to tell where it was coming from. The rain started coming down heavier, not a blustering gale, but a heavy shower.
The Rose took another hit, but this time, it rocked. The arrowed griffon officer frowned. Captain, that’s not shot. That feels like, um, soft?”
She said it so hesitantly, yet the suggestion sparked a light in Captain Gideon’s eyes. He rushed to the brass tubes. “All crew! Put your eyes on the waterline. We may have an unorthodox attacker.”
The entire wheelhouse crew peered through the windows at the water below. Several of the deck crew walked to the railing and looked around in confusion. Everyone was quiet, and the atmosphere was so tense that it was liable to snap at any moment.
Cold Snap crept towards the window and stood on an unoccupied table to see over the gathered crew.
Another strike, but nothing! Everyone waited for the next hit and frantically searched for whatever took offense to the Yellow Rose.
Frustrated mutters filled the air as the seconds ticked by.
“There it is!” someone shouted.
On the main deck, several of the crew fled the rail as a mighty fin sliced the water. It towered over the deck railing and was nearly as wide as a pony. Its diamond profile trailed seawater on its plunge into the ocean. Then, in a terrifying display of speed, the fin whipped around and slapped the ship.
Thoonk! The ship shuddered under the blow. The fin disappeared.
Snap breathed in amazement. That thing was huge, and it was only the fin! The creature it was attached to had to be massive.
Captain Gideon breathed in relief. “Hammer bunyip. They’re uncommon, but territorial, doubly so in mating season. We are in shallow waters not far from an archipelago. We must have passed over its nest. It will tire of us soon enough.”
The crew breathed a sigh of relief, but they stuck around the window watching for the elusive creature. The captain peeled away and returned to his table.
“Captain, what makes them aggressive?” Nebula asked.
The captain blinked and finally recognized the two intruders on his command post. “What do you think you’re doing here? Why aren’t you at your posts?”
“Um, we don’t have one, captain.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“My fault, captain. The mate assigned them to quarters in battle. I was supposed to tell them,” Midshipmare Blue said.
The look on the captain’s face could only be described as “scathing”. Nevertheless, he looked back at Nebula. “They are not aggressive. They are territorial. Outside their little realm, they don’t care one whit about anything. Trespass though, and they’ll beat on a ship like it’s doing now. Only most ships are not as durable as this one. They’re not aggressive unless they get injured. Then they are completely unpredictable. Fortunately, when we’re underway like”-
He broke off, his eyes growing wide before he rushed to his brass tube. “Engineer! Emergency stop! Disengage those screws!”
A scant five seconds later, the ever-present vibrations in the ship slowed, but not before a blood-chilling screech echoed through the hull.
The damage was done. The entire ship fell into a grave silence as everyone waited for what came next. Another wail cut the ship. Then the hammer fell.
Snap lurched as the Yellow Rose heaved sideways. A furious shudder rocked the ship. The groan echoing through the ship was incredible, like an enormous fist slamming a bell. The sea grew calm for an instant, then a wave formed off the starboard bow, and the ship took another blow, this one making Snap’s teeth chatter.
This strike was different. It seemed to have more weight behind it, and it carried enough force to make the ship’s riveted plates groan in protest. It also seemed less fleshy sounding than the fin earlier. By then, the wave was gone, and the crew were rushing back to their duties.
Captain Gideon lived in the thick of it. He hunched before the brass tree and shouted into his tube. “Engineer! Get the screws going post haste. We can’t make it any more angry. All speed!”
A few painful seconds later, the ship’s natural rumble returned, and Snap could feel her powerful engines surging her forward.
The captain spoke again. “Lookout, keep the creature in sight. Give the creature’s bearing’s to the helm!”
A brief “aye, sir” was all he got.
A wave formed off the port side. The lookout’s voice spilled out next to the wooden wheel where the helmsmare furiously hauled on the only normal looking thing in this entire ship.
The bunyip struck again, but this time, it slid off the angled hull rather than deal a resounding strike. The wail of the injured creature made up for that relief.
It came again. This time, the helmsmare couldn’t move enough. Snap felt pain in his nose, and suddenly realized he was on the floor. He struggled to his hooves and stumbled to the side wall. Maybe he’d have some place to brace himself and not get trampled by the wheelhouse crew.
“Can we outrun it, Captain?” Snap asked over the din.
The griffon looked at him. For once, his immaculate feathers were disheveled. His uniform had popped a button at some point, and it looked like he’d picked up a dark stain across the sleeves like on a common sailor’s shirt. “Only once it tires. It probably can’t keep this up for an hour. We can steam at this pace for days.”
Another hard hit thumped the ship like a drum. Something shrieked, something metallic. An Abyssinian tom sat rigid at his station, his paw clenching a cup with a wire to his ear. “We’re taking water, captain! Starboard aft near the Number Two powder magazine.”
The captain whirled at the news. “How much? What about the boilers?”
The Abyssinian's eyes narrowed before he answered. “Slow leak. Unsecured coal bunk door. All adjacent rooms sealed and holding.”
Captain Gideon’s eyes hardened. Then, he reached for a third tube. “It’s time this game ends. Gunner, do you have a target?”
Snap felt sweat trace down his face. They were taking water. They were in the middle of the sea and taking on water. Had this angry monster done what ships and guns couldn’t and hurt the demon ship?
“No’ a chance, Cap’n. It moves too much for the turrets an’ too close. We don’t have the gun dekkl’nation.”
“What about the fire tanks?”
The gunnery captain did not hesitate. “Nay, cap’n. If it came out the wa’er, it would only disperse the fuel. If we could get it ta surface, the deck sweeps could hit the bastard.”
“Somehow, I doubt it will be so amenable,” Captain Gideon muttered.
Another shudder, thankfully a weaker one this time, jarred the ship. Midshipmare Blue looked up from her table. “Is there something that could get its attention? I mean get it focused on something other than the ship?”
The captain ran his claws through his crest as his face contorted with the effort of thinking. “Perhaps. Some salts claim they dislike certain scents or colors. None of them are consistent though.”
Like a rabbit, Midshipmare Blue dashed to the captain’s table. “Tell us what we need, sir, and we will move Tartarus to make it happen!”
A scattered cheer backed her claim. The captain smiled at their display of loyalty. “Supposedly they”-
Then the ship listed to port violently enough that it threw Cold Snap to his hooves again.
“Damnation! The beast’s seized us!” the captain bellowed.
Snap caught a glimpse outside and saw a single massive flipper thrashing the water violently. Another fin rested on the deck, and the creature raised its head high. It rested on a whip-like neck that raised it high enough to peer at Snap with its cold, glassy eyes. Its head was pear shaped, with the narrow end of the pear morphing into a parted jaw.
Seawater dripped from its fangs, ran down its scaly hide in rivulets, and sprayed from its nostrils with every huff. It leaned in closer to the wheelhouse. Its nose flared as it sniffed at the crew inside. It also put more weight on the deck. The ship leaned even further.
“Gunnery! Get that off my deck and on my plate before it capsizes us!” Captain Gideon shouted into his tube.
“Workin’ onni!” the garbled voice came through.
Another groan and worked its way through the ship’s metal as the turrets creaked towards the bunyip. Just a few more seconds, and the monster would be obliterated!
Crumph! The guns fired. The guns missed. The bunyip didn’t collapse into the sea from whence it came. It threw more weight on the deck to flee the cannons’ vicious shock. Captain Gideon threw off his coat. “Mate, you have the helm.”
Then, he bounded to the balcony door, threw it open, leapt into flight. The young griffon was in his prime. His wings beat the air smoothly and powerfully. He wheeled and turned to buzz the bunyip’s face. The creature flinched back, but not enough.
The captain whirled for another pass. This time, his claws jerked one of his pistols from its holster. He passed within feet of the bunyip’s face, and his pistol belched fire and smoke directly into the animal’s nose.
Snap couldn’t tell if the shot connected, but it did distract the animal from the Rose. It heaved off the ship, and the only thing keeping Snap off the floor again was preemptively leaning into a wall. The first mate was not so lucky. The zebra stallion stumbled into a wall, bounced, and collapsed limply on the floor.
“Oh, buck,” Midshipmare Blue muttered.
Outside, the bunyip whirled its head to track the gray blur zipping around it. When it tired, the captain would fire a shot into the creature’s massive body. That deadly mouth snapped at him, but Captain Gideon easily dodged the strike.
Somehow, the captain fired again and again. Three! Four! The bunyip uttered its piercing yips with every blast of smoke and fire, but it did not release the Rose.
Five! Six! Captain Gideon soared above the bunyip’s waving head and snapped his pistol in half. Red glimmers cascaded in the gloomy glow as the griffon’s claws worked furiously on the weapon. Scant seconds later, he slammed the two halves together and circled behind the enraged beast.
The gun flashed. This time, the bunyip noticed and whirled its head impossibly fast, and only lightning reflexes saved the captain from a deadly bite. As it turned, Cold Snap could see the bunyip’s back. Three massive gashes oozed down the ragged scales. Bits of scale and flesh clung to the ragged wounds, and pink tinged the sea-green hide.
“Gunner, you wanted that thing still? Well, here’s your wish!” Midshipmare Blue shouted into Captain Gideon’s tube.
“Right ‘way! Er, where’s the mate?” the gunnery captain asked.
Snap instinctively looked at the unconscious zebra sprawled on the floor where he fell.
The mare stomped her hoof. “Not important right now. You wanted to use your new toy? Then prove we didn’t waste our money!”
Possibilities started working through Snap’s mind. What possible surprises could this ship still possess? It had defied everything he could have imagined to be possible and treated it as absolutely mundane.
“Thankee, ma’rm! We’re already lined up!”
The ship shifted again under the persistent enemy’s grip. Snap gripped a ledge by an open window and mustered all his focus into making it through the next few minutes. What came after that was later’s problem.
Grunts and curses sounded from the captain’s table as Midshipmare Blue clung to it like a shipwrecked sailor. “Just shoot it already!”
And “already” might not be fast enough. The bunyip had forgotten about the ship and turned all its ferocity on the flying menace around its head. It snapped viciously and turned its head to follow the dodging, wheeling, aerobatic griffon. It flinched with every pop of the pistol, but the captain may as well have been hurling sand at the leviathan.
Something creaked outside. Snap snapped his focus onto a low steel box mounted just outside the wheelhouse. A large brass tube protruded from a slot cut in the box. The whole thing looked like a miniature version of the big guns in their big turrets. After seeing those incredible weapons in action, this thing looked rather...unimpressive.
In a bellow of frustration, the bunyip heaved off the ship and extended its neck to bite the griffon menace out of the sky. It towered over the water like a scaled colossus as seawater and thickening rain poured down its body.
The brass gun fired. Not once, not twice, but over and over in an endless chatter. White smoke wreathed the wheelhouse.
Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut!
With the creature’s immense bulk suddenly removed, the ship rocked side to side, turning the gunner’s precise aim into a wild spray. Captain Gideon just barely missed getting cut in half by the curved fangs by rolling to the side at the last instant.
The bunyip crashed back into the water, raising a splash that showered the wheelhouse. Captain Gideon swerved side to side, reloading his pistols and watching for the creature’s return.
Midshipmare Blue pounded on the command table. “You missed every shot! That thing’s half our size and you missed it completely!”
“Trae hittin’ anything when yer slung around like a fol’s toy!” the gunnery captain shot back.
Tense seconds passed before the magic box spoke again. “Reloaded,” the gunnery captain said.
And not a second too soon. The sea boiled, and that was all the warning the gray captain had before fangs and fury tore at him. He didn’t roll or dodge at the last second. Instead, he hammered his wings and climbed above the creature’s reach, if only barely.
Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut!
The creature’s scales rippled under the impact, raising a spray of water and blood. The bunyip shrieked in pain, but the shots never seemed to hit anywhere vital, and the bunyip seemed to be working itself into an agonized frenzy.
It coiled on itself and slipped beneath the sea’s rising caps. Once again, the sea was quiet. Meanwhile, Cold Snap’s heart pounded so hard he was sure the rest of the crew could hear it. The entire command crew sat silently. The only thing that broke the silence was the gunnery captain’s brogue. “Reloaded.”
That snapped Midshipmare Blue back to the present. “If I had to guess, gunner, you landed four shots. You’re too slow. Affix the steam port.”
“But, bu’ mah barrels!” he pleaded.
“Damn your barrels and don’t spare the ammunition. Either it dies or…”
She didn’t need to finish.
Captain Gideon was flagging. His wings kept him aloft, but they were slowing and starting to jerk him erratically. He whirled and scanned every foaming sea spray, ready for the bunyip’s fatal charge. He climbed higher, but would it be enough?
Add to that, the winds were picking up and starting to batter him. He spent nearly as much energy fighting the gusts as he did gravity. He stilled for a moment and looked at his prized ship, wondering if the leviathan had retreated or simply regrouped. Even from this distance, Snap could see the exhaustion in the young captain’s eyes.
That’s when the bunyip struck. It rocketed out of the water, its fangs ready to bite. Captain Gideon saw it. He had to, and he wasn’t nearly high enough. His leaden wings pumped for all they were worth, but it wasn’t enough. The massive maw nearly surrounded the griffon.
Tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut.
Snap felt the deck vibrate underneath him. White smoke completely obfuscated the battle. And all of it had somehow come from that little gun. What about the captain though?
The wind ripped the smoke aside like a ragged curtain, exposing the carnage.
The bunyip’s head lolled to the side. It didn’t strike. It didn’t howl. It simply rested there as if frozen in time. Then it slowly wobbled and toppled. It was as if Snap had let a feather fall and it was now riding the air.
The last rays of sunlight caught the creature’s magnificent scales, a contiguous suit of armor that proved resilient to the captain’s pistols. Light glinted all across their wet surface except for one ragged hole on the back of the bunyip’s neck. Blood wept and frothed around the hole as mighty lungs tried clinging to life.
The Yellow Rose had triumphed again. But what about her captain?
Water sprayed as the carcass’s head slammed into the water. Its jaw hung limply and gradually slipped beneath the waves.
A cold fist surrounded Cold Snap’s heart. So that was it? The Yellow Rose’s infamous, almost legendary, captain fell not in the fray of battle, but in the belly of the beast?
“Come on, you bastard, sir,” Midshipmare Blue muttered as she scanned the slowly stilling corpse.
Sunlight faded almost entirely. Everything lay shrouded in choppy seas and gloom. Snap could just make out the still-floating bunyip’s mass. Morale plummeted by the second as the rest of the crew accepted that they’d seen the last of their decisive captain.
All except for Midshipmare Blue. The mate, though awake, was still confused. Midshipmare Blue kept a firm hoof on the room’s atmosphere and insisted the search go on just a little longer.
“Put the lamps on,” she said dispassionately, as if she had finally selected her breakfast pastry.
Moments later, the sea around them was awash in amber light. Had Snap not seen it, he would have thought it late afternoon. The ironclad’s lamps put out far more than the lamps back home. Now, he could clearly see the water crashing over the bunyip’s still body. Not much except for the area around the spine remained above water.
Splash. Splash. Splash. With the weather turning foul, the sea was an ever-changing scene. It was impossible to stay focused on a single point with every point moving. As such, he found his attention wandering to the only constant object out there.
His hoof shot forward before his mind had words to give. He gaped for a split second, trying to make sure he’d seen it. He had! “Look on the body!”
One of the sailors heard him and swiveled a lamp to clearly illuminate the fallen beast. Light fell over it and caused its soft blue scales to glimmer again except for the ragged hole in its neck and a small patch on its side.
Said patch shifted in the sudden light, and then it stood on wobbly legs. Captain Gideon stood there, dripping, but triumphant over the leviathan. He raised a foreleg, claws clenched tightly as he stretched.
The entire wheelhouse exploded into cheers and celebration. Midshipmare Blue breathed in relief and slumped against the captain’s desk. She ordered the boat to be lowered, and in a few minutes, exhausted griffon stood in his wheelhouse. He was short a pistol, but still very much alive.
He slumped against his table, a fresh coat identical to his other draped over his back. He looked over the crew, the ship, and the gathering gloom. “Put us underway, and patch the ship.”
That was all he said before he stepped out of the wheelhouse and silence reigned once more. Like that, the spell was broken. The crew rushed back to their duties with a vigor, and the ship rumbled to life once more.
The Rose had survived. Certainly, she was battered, taking on water, and bent in places, but she still powered through the night. As he looked over the damage wrought in a single harrowing hour, Cold Snap suspected that his life was about to get very busy over the next few days.