//------------------------------// // Boarding // Story: Adrift // by Jazzaman //------------------------------// The ocean’s vastness was nothing new to Nova. Having grown up on a coastal town, the teal unicorn mare was used to boarding and disembarking boats and ships. However, something struck her as odd tonight. The sea was not as she expected; it was unnaturally calm, and the late night fog rising from the water coupled with the storm that had been prepared by the local weather pegasi to shower that night, did little to comfort her—she, along with two other ponies, a unicorn stallion who went by the name Star blazer, and an Earth pony mare named Rose stem. The trio had been chosen to investigate a ship that had been discovered in the waters off the coast of Balitmare. From its time of discovering, the ship had not responded to messages sent out by the coast guard and was slowly drifting into busy shipping lanes. The Coast guard had quickly ruled out the possibility of pirates, as even pirates weren't dense enough to sail into the path of other ships, leaving only the possibility that the ship was a drifter. So, Nova, Star blazer, and Rose stem had been tasked to go out, board the ship, and sail it back to port where it would be assessed, then most likely scrapped. Nova was sitting in the galley below decks aboard the tiny recovery vessel they had been assigned. It was old, and it creaked and the hull leaked and the gyro would get stuck here and there, but it did its job, which was to float ponies from point A to point B. If it were up to the crew, though, the rust bucket would have been torched for scrap years ago. Nova was the navigator, and a good one at that. Ask her and she could tell you just about every single reef, sandbar or shallow waterbed from here to as far north as Fillydelphia. Star blazer was the Captain, or at least that’s what he’d have you believe. In truth, he was simply ‘the pony who drives the boat’. However, no matter which ship he sailed, he always piloted them as if it were his own, shouting orders and remaining stoic, yet powerful in times of crisis. Rose stem was a jack of all trades when it came to ships. She did everything that the others couldn't, or in most cases, wouldn't do. As a result, her creamy white coat had dulled to a more greyish-black after years of battling with temperamental engines and leaky pipes. Her pink mane however, seemed to retain it shine, no matter how much her oil-to-hair ratio seemed to increase. The small boat rocked slowly from side to side as Nova scaled the steep stairs from below decks to the bridge. The bridge was more like a room than an actual bridge, the only differences were the rows of windows, and the captain's wheel and navigation table. “How long”? Nova questioned, her voice retaining the slightest hint of worry. She wasn’t scared of the drifting boat itself, but she had never been on a recovery mission before, and was rather wary at what they might find aboard... like spiders; just thinking about them sent a shiver up her spine. “Bout’ three minutes,” Star blazer respond, his strong accent still prevalent, even after living in Equestria for so many years. “So what's the deal with this drifter? I kinda zoned out during the rundown,” Nova admitted sheepishly. Star blazer sighed and turned to face her. “The Coast Guard spotted the ship earlier this afternoon; it was drifting with the currents and wasn’t responding to radio transmissions or previous attempts with a signal light,” he answered flatly. “So...?” Nova said, drawing out the ‘o’. “So,” star blazer started, “we go aboard and see what the issue is. Worse case scenario, there’s no crew. If the ship can still move under its own power, then we sail it back to port, If not... Rose works her magic.” As if saying her name made her appear, Rose popped her head from around a doorway, her entrance made clear by the jangle of her toolbelt, her face was covered in grease and she held a spanner between her teeth. “You calleth’d?” she said, her cheery voice slurred around the tool in her jaws. “No,” Star Blazer responded in an annoyed tone. “But since you're up here, you might as well stay.” Rose sat back with a pointed look and returned the spanner to her tool belt. “I never planned on going.” Star blazer rolled his eyes. “Problem solved then.” “We’ll be there in a few minutes.” Nova intervened wisely. “Have you got all your tools your gonna need? I don’t want you having to walk back and forth between ships.” “More like between a ship and a bathtub toy,” Star Blazer muttered. Rose gave her hips an energetic shake, earning a metallic clanking from the many tools on her belt. She grinned. “Yep!” Nova chuckled. “You didn’t even look.” “I didn’t have to,” Rose replied with a little smirk. “I can feel them.” “Tune in next week for episode two of the tool whisperer,” Star Blazer said with sideways leer. Rose glared playfully at him. “Shut up and steer or you’ll plough us into a reef.” “Not a chance,” Nova added. “There’s no reefs within fifty miles of us.” She stated matter-of-factly Star Blazer let out a long breath. “I forgot your brain’s a compass.” He looked back out the window. “I’m trapped on a floating bath toy with the tool whisperer and the pony shaped compass,” he grumbled in a playful manner. “Maybe next they'll be...” He trailed off, eyes picking out a silhouette in the distance. The two mares followed his gaze out the window and their eyes fell upon a massive black shadow looming behind the blanket of fog pushed down to the sea level by the cool winds from the north. As their little boat chugged nearer, the fog parted to reveal the bow of a large bulk cargo ship, Its hull was painted a dirty, dark green, however you would be forgiven if you had thought it was brown or grey; decades of rust had accumulated over the hull and the paint had been mostly lost at the waterline. The scupper holes cut periodically along the length of the deck left long gray streaks below them from years of water running down the side of the hull. Painted just below the deck on the curve of the bow the was name of the ship in faded, white letters. ‘Everfree’. As they approached, Star blazer killed the engine and their small vessel drifted silently towards the towering ship, bearing for the mooring rings and ladder mounting the rusted hull. Nova’s eyes scoured the hull of the ship as they drifted silently closer. The air was dead silent apart from the quiet licking of the water against the hull of their recovery vessel as it sliced through the smooth surface. From here, the fog obscured the view of the superstructure and stern, giving her very little view of the ship itself. Their vessel gently bumped the hull of the Everfree, filling the silent air with the sound of steel on steel. At the moment of impact, the lights upon the recovery vessel flickered once, then went out. Rose squealed, and the other two ponies in the cabin turned and looked at her with amused smiles. Rose looked up at the dead light ceiling, her expression changing from surprise to one of annoyance. “Damn things are on the blink again,” she stated, trying to regain her professional appearance. “Must have knocked some wires loose with that bump.” Star blazer just grumbled in acknowledgement. “Lets get to work,” he said as he opened the creaky door to deck and mounted the first metal rung on the side of the Everfree, leaving the semi-safety of the smaller vessel. Rose tied their ship off to the moorings, then started after him. Nova hesitantly stepped out onto the deck, staring up as the hull stretched away and over their little boat. The rusty anchor hung from its chain just below the deck, still, menacing. A small shiver ran up her spine and she swallowed the knot building in her throat. She didn’t like the look of the ship one bit. It just felt wrong. She reached a hoof out and wrapped it around the metal rung to begin her ascent. From the point her hoof touched the rusty piece of steel, a chill ran up her leg to her shoulder, then spread through her entire body and right down to her bones themselves. She quickly shrugged it off as nothing more than a chill on the wind. The climb up to the deck of the rusted ship took longer than it should have. No matter how she tried, Nova just couldn’t shake the feeling that this entire ship was... off. It had begun to rain by the time she crested the ladder and dropped down to the deck beside her companions. Nova looked skyward with a disapproving scowl. “Really now?” she said exasperatedly to the clouds. Star Blazer looked around the expansive deck of the cargo ship, its only interesting features being the rust that covered nearly every surface and the cargo crane that was affixed to the starboard side of the ship. It hung overhead like a set of gallows, the chains hanging from the pulley at the end of the swinging arm jangling quietly in the soft breeze. Nova blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing straight. “You can’t tell me this ship traveled here under its own power.” Rose shifted her stance. “It does seem a little... old.” Star blazer flicked his tail. “Well, it’s here, and we’re standing on the deck.”He said tapping his hoof on the deck to confirm his statement. He paused and lowered his voice. “It had to get here somehow.” Nova took a few cautious steps forward, her hoofsteps tapping eerily on the steel deck. “Well this is... interesting.” She turned to rose. “I don’t know if we’re going to be able to get this thing running if the engine room looks as bad as the rest of the ship.” Rose looked genuinely insulted. “Nova... this is me you’re talking to.” “Still though,” Star Blazer said in a gruff tone. “I don’t want to stay here for a month while you pound rusty parts with a wrench. We might have to head back and get a full crew.” Rose nodded slowly. “Possibly. though I still want to have a look before—” There was a metallic groan from the chain spool mechanism a little to the left. “What was that?” she asked, ears perked as her eyes darted around the deck.” Nova turned towards the giant, rusty spool set in the deck. “I’m pretty sure it was the anchor spool.” She took a step forward. “What do you expect?” Star Blazer asked with a half-shrug. “It’s old.” He squinted at Nova. “Don’t screw with it, Nova.” Nova looked at the large spool, examining the old and rusted locking mechanism.. “This thing is—” A loud crack filled the air as one of the teeth snapped free, and Nova jumped back like the spool had been a snake trying to bite her. Steel screamed as the rust broke and flaked away, the entire spool unwound slightly as the anchor dropped a few feet below, out of sight. “Nova...” Rose asked slowly. “What did you do?” “I-I didn’t do anything,” she stammered. Something vital snapped and the whole spool churned into a blurred mass as it spun out, the chain slipping through the hawse in the deck railing. Flakes of rust and sheared metal flew like shrapnel as the chain zipped the short distance across the deck, unwinding from the spool with the sounds of a zipper, only deeper and much, much louder. Nova pinched her eyes shut against the flying debris of rust, still backing away. There was a quarter second of perfect silence, then a deafening crash from over the side of the deck, then it went dead quiet. The three ponies on deck exchanged horrified looks, then raced to the railing. What was left of their puny vessel sat below. Most of the main structure had been destroyed, bridge included. Lodged much farther down in the ship, was the massive anchor of the Everfree. “No way,” Rose whispered, horror struck. The chain still connected to the spool snapped with a loud ‘ping’, and the rest of the chain snaked from the side of the railing, pouring down like a steel waterfall on the remnants of the recovery vessel. The combined weight of the anchor and chain was too much for the hapless little ship, and it pitched dangerously to the right a few second before it capsized. “Well...” Star blazer said, voice dead of emotion. “I’m glad that wasn’t my ship...” “What are the chances of that?” Rose balked. Nova’s jaw trembled slightly as watched the underside of their vessel bob silently in the water, bubbling around the sides. There was a rush of air from under the water the plashed up to the surface, then the ship slipped under, slowly disappearing into the dark waters. With one last splash, the captain’s wheel popped out of the water and settled to float below the ladder, bobbing slightly in the waves. “Well I guess we’re not heading back to shore on that thing,” Nova said dejectedly. Rose laughed, but it was forced and tense. “Well, Star... You always said you’d love to see the day when they put that old bucket out of service... It’s out.” It was ten minutes or so before any of them formed another rational thought. It was Star Blazer who jarred them all back from semi-consciousness. “Well, I guess we’re taking this tub back to shore; let’s find a way to get this ship moving.” Rose jumped into action and motioned for them to follow. They made their way across the deck of the ship, towards the superstructure near the stern. They came to a bulkhead door at the base of the towering structure, and Nova tried to with doubt that it would open. She had been right. “It’s locked,” she said, looking back at them both. “Pshaw.” Rose pranced forward and produced one of the many tools from her belt. Ten seconds later and she had the wheel turned and the door squeaked open on hinges that had forgotten what oil was. Star blazer looked to Rose with a smile. “Ah, Rose, you're better than a set of keys any day.” Nova failed to praise Rose’s mechanical prowess as she stared into the dark hallway beyond the rusted bulkhead door. The smell of stale, dusty air filled her nostrils, and the occasional distant clang and groan of some unknown piece of metal settling far down in the dark, dank hallway echoed from beyond. None of the lights were on, and the prospect that this ship could have a crew was quickly dying in her mind’s eye. “Okay, we’ve got work to do,” Star blazer said, his authoritative tone returning. “Rose, I need you to go down to the engine room and see if its still functional.” “On it boss!” Rose gave a cheesy salute. “Nova and I will search for a working radio. Meet us at the bridge when your done,” Star blazer finished. Rose gave an affirmative nod before rushing through the door into the bowels of the ship.