"Captain" We sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar today without much incident. We had to take it slow so we didn't collide with the ships in the shipping channels. The Spanish and Italian navies did a good job keeping the looky-loos back from our path. Finally out in the open ocean, we could open her back up to full speed. Once again we plowed through the ocean like a runaway comet slicing open the sea like Moses. Somewhere off the North Coast of Spain we slowed down and joined up with a low slung freighter. A troop of fresh Pirates clambered aboard, apparently replacements for the men we had lost in the raid. The new Pirates greeted our current crew warmly, excited to be part of this deadly voyage. They offloaded fresh supplies from their ship onto ours, including a great number of weapons. It seemed like an entire Pirate Army had invaded our ship. We quickly ran out of cabin space for them, so they began erecting makeshift campsites right on the floor of the Palace. "With these men, we can invade any city," explained Xyllan to Carrie, a wild look in his eye. "No power can stand against us. We zap them, and then take over the city. All the countries of the world will tremble before us. First we will destroy London, and then New York." Carrie gleamed at him. "Do you trust these men? Have you worked with them before?" "Some of them. These are not your trained Marines, so they are a bit rowdy and wild. That's the kind of chaos we want to bring to the civilized masses." I had resumed my post up in the control room. It didn't take longer than an hour after we finished loading before I heard shouting and screaming coming from the cafe area. It still hurt too much to strap my shotgun on my back or my sword around my waist but I still carried it with me. I made sure it was loaded before I ran down to the cafe. The new pirates were arguing over something. I cringed when I spotted Julia in the center of the altercation, being yanked both ways by the men. "I saw her first," snarled one in a French accent. "She's mine." "You let her go, she's my trophy," said a German. Both seemed gruff and burly, plastered with tattoos and piercings, long tangled hair draped over their shoulders. Julia screamed and struggled to escape, kicking at the men's legs. "Leave her the fuck alone," I cried, pumping the gun to load a cartridge in the chamber. The men stopped their bickering and turned to face me. "Who the hell are you," cried the Frenchman, grasping Julia tightly. "Let the girl go," I repeated, aiming the weapon his their general direction.  "He's da Captain of this ship, you better listen to him," warned Julia. "You? Captain?" A few of the men laughed at me. Okay, well, with my loose white billowy shirt and pants over the bandages I probably looked more like an effeminate zombie than a Captain. I raised the gun to my chest and looked down the site. "As an Officer of this ship, it is my right to have each and every one of you run off the plank. Who wants to go first? You? You?" The pirates backed up a step. Julia finally broke free and ran behind me. "Shoot them! Shoot them!" I continued, waving her off, "You men will behave yourselves aboard this ship. Any rapes, murders, or tortures of any kind will result in your expulsion from this ship. Do any of you care to question my authority? Good. Now clean up this mess or I'll confine you to the brig." We don't have a brig. Yet. Surprisingly, the Pirates didn't immediately charge me and beat me up. My entire body shook with adrenaline and fear as I turned to escort Julia back to the safety of the control room. Misty had been resting in our cabin, but she must have just returned or heard something, because she stood not 10 feet behind me. She grabbed Julia's hand and escorted her back to the center. Xyllan came up to me and put a hand on my chest. "Well 'Captain,'" he hissed, "threatening my men are we? You had better keep your wenches under control, because these men know no rules but the fist and the sword, and they take what they want. For you own safety I suggest you find more secure quarters. These men don't like orders, and they don't like people who overstep their authority. Watch your back." "Keep your men under control," yelled Misty, but Xyllan ignored her as he walked away. Back in the control room, Carrie seemed oblivious to everything. She pored over maps and charts, as well as financial statements and complex transactions. "Dammit to Hell," she cursed. "Mother fuckers!" I didn't respond, figuring why rile her up more than necessary. I heard her get on the phone and begin to yell and scream to someone on the other end. "What do you mean, seized? I trusted you! I am not a goddamn terrorist, how dare they put me on a blacklist. We run a clean operation here. And what do you mean, everything? What about the gold? Dammit! You're supposed to protect me!" She threw the satellite phone, almost hitting someone, and started pounding on her desk with her fists, her face bright red and somewhat sweaty. She turned to me. "Ross, we've got to move this thing. They're starting to grab my assets. I'm not out there moving them like I should be. The whole financial structure of this operation is unraveling. Some of our biggest contributors have cut deals and ratted me out. We've got to make them pay. No more delays, no more supplies. We've got to hit them where it hurts the most. Let's burn some fucking rubber." "She can't take much more," I replied. "Any faster and we could shear off a propeller or melt the entire matrix. We've also come way too close to colliding with other ships. At this pace, we could destroy everything if we're not careful." "Then fucking be careful but fucking move this pile of shit. I'll be in my cabin making calls if anyone needs me." She gathered up her satellite phone which hadn't broken and started off carrying a laptop.  "Hey Carrie," I asked as she passed. "When you're off the bridge, am I actually in charge here? Of the ship? You've never made that clear." Carrie looked at me and at the control room and huffed. "Sure, whatever. What does that kid call you? Captain? Go for it. As long as you stick to the plan. Just don't cross me. Even Captains can walk the plank. Now don't bother me any more." I guess that's as official as these things get around here. Julia clapped quietly and gave me a thumbs-up. Rod rolled his eyes and shook his head. So a little while ago the four of us huddled in our cabin. I had commandeered a small table and chairs so we didn't have to sit on the floor. Our door was solid enough, but not built to stop bullets. We had no other escape from our room. I began thinking about how I had gotten trapped and almost killed in my dorm at Kastle Klingon, and I didn't want to be in that situation, but this was about the only place where I felt we couldn't be overhead. We had been teaching Julia the basics of Poker, with an old beat-up deck I had found. We used uncooked beans as our chips. While we played, we could talk. "I think it's best we all stay in this room from now on," said Rod. "I've collected enough blankets to make a bed on the floor. We'll use my room to store stuff." Julia seemed excited at the prospect of Rod sleeping over. "Settle down," I chided her. "He's just here to sleep. Nothing else." "Dat's okay," she replied, beaming at Rod. "I'll make sure he's comfortable." Rod thanked her politely but I sighed. She treats the man like a rock star or celebrity. Maybe I'm a little jealous some times. Rod continued. "I also think that we need to start sleeping in shifts, in case anyone wants to start some trouble. What do you say I take first, then Alex, then Misty?" Julia interjected, "me! I want a shift. Please?" "You can share my shift," offered Misty. "We can keep each other company." "Oh, okay, Miss Misty." She gave Rod some puppy dog eyes, hoping he would ask her as well but he concentrated on his cards and ignored her. "I better hit the hay if I'm taking last shift," Misty said, yawning widely. "Do you want me to leave this out for you," I asked, pointing at the laptop. "I'm typing up my blog during my shift. Hey, why don't you write something in it?" Misty seemed shocked. "Me? What would I write?" I shrugged. "I don't know. Anything. Just finish where I leave off, then hit this and my buddy Iap will publish it for us." Misty agreed. So if she writes anything, it will be here: Hi. This is Alex's friend Misty. I haven't done this before so bear with me. It's been pretty quiet tonight. We think most of those pirate types have been partying it up over in the dreadful Palace. Hopefully we've been all but forgotten. I don't know if anyone out there reads this, or if Alex just likes to write things down. If so, I urge you consider this carefully. If you are anywhere in or near London, I suggest you evacuate immediately. I can't say what may happen, but it will be exceedingly unpleasant. Please use all haste to remove yourself from that area. Well I don't have much else to say except that Alex has been a great friend, and I really appreciate what he's done for me. I know he's made some terrible mistakes in his past, but these experiences have brought out a new side in him, much more responsible and mature. Not that anyone can really escape a Chinese labor camp unchanged. So if you read this, please take the proper precautions, and God bless all of you.   Posted: Monday, November 24, 2008 @ 10:45 PM

Sea Pizza Instead of heading back to my room, I wanted to go over to the control room to check on what Carrie was up to. Aside from her strange visit, I had no idea what was going on. As we walked, I noticed that the Palace had undergone a bit of transformation. Gone were the casino games and sex couches. Most of the floor lay bare with only lighting standing up. The movie wall still projected exterior views and some Hollywood films, but the Pirate crew was mostly settled in one corner either laying around or working out in and around the boxing ring. As I entered the control room, a couple people stopped and applauded, although Carrie just glared at me from her desk. She looked more disheveled than usual, her hair matted and unkempt, and her unpleasant scent filled the room. They had replaced some of the busted windows with boards, plastic sheets, or cardboard, making the control center look like a kid's play fort. "Look at this," Carrie cried, pulling up the exterior views. All around us floated ships of every size. "I've had to reduce our speed in half to avoid them. And here." In the sky, hundreds of planes surrounded us, some private single-engine planes, some modern fighter jets. "What's going on," I asked. "Where are we?" "We're in the Mediterranean," replied Rod, showing me our route on the monitor. "We crossed through the canal last night. This morning, during our maintenance halt, a couple helicopters approached us, from news organizations. Apparently no government has told the press about us, simply crediting all our activity to East African Pirate activity. We decided to leave the helicopters alone, and then when we fired up the SMD and shot off like a cannon, all the European and North African news stations began featuring us prominently." He called up grainy video of us ripping through the Sea, with our enormous rooster tail and huge cloud of steam behind us. Another feature I had all but ignored was our huge tsunami-like wake we generated near full speed. It had already crashed up on beaches and overturned small watercraft. I watched the incredible television reports. They chased us with planes, speculating about who we were and what we wanted. Nobody knew anything, although once word came out about the wake, hundreds of surfers ran out to catch "The wave of a lifetime." Thousands of people in boats came out to catch a glimpse of us. So many that we were in serious danger of a collision. At full speed we covered a mile every fourteen seconds, and we could only turn a few degrees per mile without capsizing. The thick crowd forced our speed down to less than 100 knots. "That's it," Carrie growled. "I'm going to blast them. Then the won't come so close." She reached for the controls that created the zombifying zap. "Hold on," I said weakly. "Why not just alert the local navies? They could create a path for us, if we promise not to attack them. If you zap them, they might start laying out even more stuff to slow us down. If we collide with something it could rip a hole through our hull and sink us. Besides, look at all the coverage we're getting. The whole world is looking at us right now. You don't want the whole world turning against us by killing a ton of civilians. We could clear out the entire sea, but they might set up a line across the Strait of Gibraltar to stop us from escaping. We're not in the open ocean right now...there's no where to go. If they trap us here we'd have to go ashore at some point to get food. We'd be very vulnerable at that point." Carrie considered for a moment, then withdrew her hand from the controls. She kicked a cart of food over, sending the meal flying across the floor. "I hate this fucking food," she screamed. Julia set down her Gameboy and started cleaning up the mess. "You," shouted Carrie, pointing at the girl. "What the fuck are you doing? I sick of this Asian shit. Can you make anything else?" Julia cowered on the floor. "Yes, Queen Carrie. I can make whatever you want." "Good. I want a goddamn pizza. Pepperoni. No Asian shit. You got it? Move it." Julia bowed, quickly gathered up the rest of the mess, and trotted off to the kitchen. "I better check on her," said Misty, rising to her feet. "Sit the fuck down," Carrie yelled back. "I want you to record something. Someone get me a fucking camera. You're perfect for this Nguyen, with your English accent. You make everything sound official." Misty sat back down with a dark look on her face. She clicked angrily on her console. Carrie hurriedly typed up a script for Misty to read, then sent it over. Misty read it over, sniffing at a few passages. "You want me to read this straight?" "If you would," replied Carrie. "You're now the face of the Clan of the Wise. Congratulations." "Great." Down on the Palace floor, they brought in some lighting and a camera. They set up a smaller version of the huge flag as a backdrop. A couple of the prostitute women came up to the control room to apply makeup to Misty. Now up to this moment I had never seen her with makeup. After they applied the dark eyeliner, rouge, eye shadow, lipstick, and base, she looked like someone out of a movie set, simply stunning. They then dressed her in the finest Pirate Chic we had, pink and red flowing shirts and scarves, and gave her hair a bit of bounce. While this process occurred, Rod helped me get down to the kitchen to check on Julia. We found her crying in the corner. "What's wrong? Did someone hurt you? Was it Bo?" She mumbled in Tagalog for a minute, then translated. "We don't have the right dough, we don't have pepperoni, we don't have mozzarella. I can't make a pizza out of this crap." She bawled loudly. I tried to comfort her the best I could. Carrie would tan her hide if she didn't produce pizza. Rod spoke, "you know, we're right off the coast of Sicily. Why don't we just order some bloody pizza?" I stood up, speechless. "That is...brilliant! Some of those mob guys we have speak Italian. I'll find them and help us get an order in. We'll have to stop the boat and pick it up of course." They sat Misty down to check her look in the camera. "Make her boobs bigger," ordered Carrie, peering at the monitor. A man walked up to Misty. "Don't you touch me," she spat, then adjusted herself as best she could. "I know a good doctor," commented Carrie, holding her own chest. "I like mine fine, thank you very much," replied Misty crisply. "Now let's get this thing over with." I approached the Pirate crew slowly. Xyllan sat up from his massage table, where a scantily clad woman rubbed his back. "You think you're Captain now," he called to me. I held up my hands. "Hey, that's just what a kid says. Do you listen to kids now?" "What do you want? We're busy." He and his friends rose and surrounded us, fingering their weapons. We had always kept a certain distance on the ship. "I need a translator. Italian. Maybe someone Sicilian." Xyllan laughed at me. "Why should we help you?" "It's for Carrie," I said. "She needs something off the Island." Xyllan shrugged. "So let her deal with it. Unless we're boarding a ship, we do nothing." "How does pizza and Italian wine sound," suggested Rod. That caught Xyllan's attention. "I'd rather have Italian women. Can you do that?" "Give us a translator and we'll see what we can do." We grabbed the translator and made all the arrangements. I returned to Carrie. "We should stop the boat so there's not so much background noise." Carrie agreed, and I slowed the boat, and sent it on a new course, a small detour. Finally Misty was ready. I went up to her to give her some encouragement, but then whispered, "stall as long as you can. For Julia. I'll give you an all-clear." She nodded. The cameraman pointed at Misty to go. "Hello. This is Misty Nguyen, speaking from the--hey I don't want use my real name. I might have relatives watching." They argued about the name for about 5 minutes. I watched the external cameras closely. "...I represent the Wise Clan. I mean Clan of the Wise--do you really want to say this here?" Fortunately Carrie is a much higher believer in incompetence than in subtle delay. She yelled at Misty to get it right. "Okay, I'm ready now. Our demands our simple. Create a lane for us through the Med--I'm sorry, I really have to hit the loo. And can someone bring me a water? It's quite hot under this lights." "Fine," glowered Carrie. "Take ten and make sure you're ready when you get back. I should have just done this myself." Misty returned after a long while, but of course had mussed her hair and makeup a bit. I thought Carrie would explode. I finally spotted what I wanted to on the monitors, and signalled to Rod. In a few minutes the operation was complete, and I signalled to Misty. "I must warn the governments of the world to not approach the Queen Carrie One, or suffer the most dreadful results. If your government chooses to become our preferred partner, we'll share our new life-giving technology with you. Any governments who oppose us will be destroyed. This is Susie Cho, and I wish you all well." "Finally," gasped Carrie, hopping off her chair. "Now where is my goddamn pizza?" As on cue, Julie jumped out of the kitchen, presenting Carrie with a thick, succulent pizza pie, dripping with cheese and sauce and the finest Italian Pepperoni. Carrie devoured it like a madwomen. "Oh my god this is the best pizza ever. That girl is a genius!" Xyllan walked over, eating his own piece. "What the fuck..." Carrie scanned the Palace. Everyone had pizza. The whole entire Pirate crew was served pizza and had started in on a few large bottles of Italian wine. "Ross! I know Julia didn't cook all that." She took a few more bites. "Oh fuck it. This is so good, I don't care right now. Let's get this boat moving again." After changing out of her getup, Misty approached me. "How did you do that? How did you get all that pizza here?" "We ordered take-out. I stole one of Carrie's credit cards. It cost like $200 per pie to be sailed out here. Let me tell you, when the delivery boat pulled up, it was all I could do to not jump off and take a ride back out of here." "Why didn't you," she asked. "Because you look so damn sexy today, I just had to stay." I winked at her. "Yeah, right. You with all your bandages, you look like a bloody zombie. Now go get some rest, you might need your strength later." I kissed her and finally headed back to my cabin. I guess everyone has started going a bit stir crazy in this tin can, and the pizza was just the thing to get everyone to relax a bit. Posted: Sunday, November 23, 2008 @ 11:29 PM

Strange Dream I had the weirdest dream last night. They had given me something to help me sleep through the night, but I guess it made me pretty delirious. Someone started shaking me and saying "Alex, Alex, wake up." The lights in the Palace had been dimmed so we could sleep. I tried opening my eyes, but I could only make out a faint shape next to me. "Misty? Is that you?" The figure seemed to be swathed in some kind of headscarf and body dress like a burqa or something. I couldn't ready see the face under the hood. "Ssh. Listen to me Alex. I need to speak to you." Now I knew I was dreaming. I heard the distinct tone of Ellie's voice. I reached out and felt the figure. Definitely a woman. And for some strange reason I smelled a wave of alcohol. It reminded me of the day Ellie and I met, in a bar down in San Fransisco. I had just lost my job and I was drowning my sorrows in a bottle of Jack Daniels, when this incredibly beautiful woman sits down next to me and asks if she could share the bottle. The night ended at my apartment and the rest is shall we say "history." I was shaken again. "Huh? Wha? Leave me alone, I'm trying to sleep." Stupid drunk nurses. I made a half-hearted attempt to roll over, dreaming about my days with Ellie. A cold hand slapped me in the face. "Wake the fuck up," came the voice of Ellie. I groaned loudly. What the hell? This was not a good dream so far. I just wanted to sleep. "Time's running out, Alex. We've got to find a way to destroy the Matrix. We can't allow Carrie to destroy the rest of the world's economy and governments." I lay there for a while. I thought about the time Ellie and I went backpacking in the Sierras. I felt the cool breezes blowing through the fragrant pine trees, the strong sun on our backs. I remembered how we laid a blanket out and did what came naturally. I wondered if I would ever have that opportunity with Misty. Ahh, Misty. So different from Ellie. No she doesn't have the knock-out body that Ellie does, or the drop-dead good looks, but she has a quiet honesty about her that I really appreciate. I always know where I stand with her, and we communicate really well. Ellie always seemed mysterious and distant, and frankly she's pretty frightening. Misty's just like-- "Dammit Alex, what the hell did they give you? Listen to me if you can, I need to get out of here. I found a way off this boat. Up in the airfoil machinery. There's a loose hatch up there. If we're really heading for London, then I have an escape plan. When I send you a message, head for hatch C-21. Bring only what you can carry, but make sure everyone has a bottle of strong liquor with them. You heard me right. Liquor, something strong. OK, I gotta go. Good luck." I swear I felt something on my hand, then a squeeze. This morning they came to change my dressings, not a pleasant experience. The doctor came and pronounced me fit enough to get out of bed, although I would still need to check in a couple times a day to change the dressings. Every movement felt painful, but they finally were able to remove the morphine drip. I told Misty about my crazy dream. "So, dreaming about Ellie," she said in a mock-jealous voice. "Why don't you dream about me? And what the hell is the liquor about? Was Ellie a drunk or something?" "Yeah, at times," I admitted. "She did have a penchant for stiff drinks and partying. Crazy, isn't it?" Misty helped me get dressed into some loose-fitting pirate garb, something that wouldn't scratch my burns. I felt a bit weak but I could walk on my own. "Julia made you a special 'Captains Breakfast'" she told me. The memories of the dream fading away into the mists of the night, I raised my hand to scratch my head and I saw it. As plain as day, not in my handwriting, on the palm on my right hand were the letters "C-21." What the hell? Was it some drunk nurse messing with my head? Did I somehow write this? I quickly rubbed it off, and didn't mention it to anyone. There's no way Ellie could be alive on this boat. It's just not possible. Posted: Sunday, November 23, 2008 @ 11:01 AM

Julia Suncatcher I work up around dinner time, feeling a little better. I think the nurses adjusted my drip down a bit. I'm feeling achy and scratchy, but I think some of the swelling is going down. From beyond the curtains I heard a clatter, then came Julia's voice: "You get out of the way. This is for Captain Ross." She shoved her way into my bedside and closed the curtain. Her face beamed with exhilaration.  She had started calling me "Captain" a couple days ago when she realized that I actually steer the ship, whereas Queen Carrie always seemed too busy with something or other to help with anything. So Julia dubbed me "Captain" and vociferously argued with anyone who dared challenge her. In her half-Tagalog dialect (Taglish I guess) it sounded more like "Cap-i-tan Wass". I've tried to translate her words as best I can, but I may throw in a few that don't translate well. "I cooked you a special hapúnan [dinner], just for the Captain." She rolled the cart right up to my bed. I could instantly smell the savory aroma of the meats and vegetables. I suddenly realized how hungry I was. I'd been in this bed, almost unconscious for two days. She uncovered a couple of the dishes. "You will enjoy," she says, not as a question or statement, more like an order. I would describe the food she prepares as something of a cross between Thai and Mexican food, at least the Americanized versions of those. One dish was a pork stir fry, scented with garlic and tomatoes, some kind of shrimp fried rice, a vegetable-laden soup, and for desert a custard pie. She gave me the names of all the things but I'd have to grab her and have her type in the dish name since it all had Tagalog names I don't recognize. She sat patiently while I ate. I felt an uncomfortable silence between us. I'd only known her a little over a week, so I didn't expect miracles, but she wasn't like a puppy we adopted. Our intention was to get her back to her home at some point. "Where's Misty," I asked her. "Oh, Miss Misty is very busy. Queen Carrie is working her non-stop while you rest. She sent me here to take care of you. You're a very brave Captain. I will take care of you." "Do you like...'Miss'...Misty?" Her face lit up. "Oh yes, very much. She reminds me of Manang [eldest sister] who took care of me after my parents died. She treats me well and never yells or hits. But Captain, if I may say, you must make her a proper woman. Mohammad would not approve of this arrangement. You are good people, you do not want this sin." "Oh." Oh. Never considered Julia might be a Muslim. "It's too late for me," she said, eyes downcast. "I have been shamed. I am unclean. I shall burn in the fires of Hell for all eternity." "Hey, hey, don't say that. You're just a kid. I'm sure whatever happened to you wasn't your fault. Hey, look up, look at me. You're life isn't over, it's barely begun. We all have our burdens to bear. If your god is anything like mine, he's given you burdens to make you stronger, not to punish you. And I think that in the end, it doesn't matter how big or terrible your burden is, it's what you do with it. Does that make any sense?" She looked around the bed. "I don't know, Captain. Let's not talk of this. It makes my brain hurt." I laid back a bit, feeling the satisfied rumblings from my belly. "So tell me about this Bo. How old is he? Where's he from?" She suddenly brightened, talking about how idiotic and annoying Bo was, and providing me a complete analysis of the situation in excruciating detail. I think I finally dozed off after a while, but she had cleaned up all the food and tidied my bed by the time I awoke. She left a couple snacks on a metal table. I really hope we can do something for her, she seems so eager and smart, it would be a great shame for her life to be thrown away. Posted: Saturday, November 22, 2008 @ 9:47 PM

Recovering As you can probably tell, I'm not dead. The morphine dispenser only allows a maximum dosage, so I guess I'll never know if Carrie tried to kill me or just shut me up. I guess if she really wanted to kill me she could have smothered me with a pillow after knocking me out. Still, I must have been out for a couple of hours. Shortly after I came to, Misty poked her head through the curtains, then came in, followed by Julia. The both wore huge smiles on their faces. She strode over and gently kissed me, and I squeezed Julia's hand. They pulled over some stools. "How are you," Misty asked. "You've been out a long time." "Yeah," I replied, trying to get my eyes focused and my head to not spin. "I'm good. Don't feel much of anything." "Good," she replied. "I was so worried. Carrie actually raided a hospital supply ship to get you all this stuff. She even abducted doctors and nurses. God, it's been such a mess these last couple days. We've lost so many people, and guess who had to help remove the bloody bodies? Ugh." I patted her hand, then looked at Julia. "How are you holding up, kid? Cookie giving you trouble?" Julia frowned. "I can handle Cookie. Like Miss Misty says, it's not been good. All these dead people. We put them all on the lift, then we had to drag them out and over the rail. People crying and screaming. I couldn't eat after that. This place is so stupid. I hate it here. But I'm gonna cook you something special once you get out. Hey, you know that kid Bo? He keeps bugging me. He's like following me around and stuff, and keeps asking me stuff. I was like talking to Joy and she said he liked me but I said 'eww' and 'why' cause he's a little weird and--" I held up my hand. "Okay, okay. Slow down, I can barely keep up. I need to talk to Misty for a minute, then you can tell me everything about Bo." The curtains moved and Rod poked his bandaged head through. "Is he alive," he asked. Misty waved him in, giving him a quick one-arm hug. His right arm lay in a sling, and bandages wrapped his wrists and head. His face looked covered with bruises including some dark shiners. He walked with a pronounced limp. "What the hell happened? Are you all right," I asked, staring at the man who looked like he just went 12 rounds with the heavyweight champ. "Yes, indeed. It was a helluva thing." He found a folding chair and sat opposite Misty and Julia. "I kept running the defensive grid, trying to keep those blokes off the deck. Then I heard the Klaxon. In a flash I jumped into the supply room, found some quick ties, and bound my hands and feet together. When I came to, it felt like someone had hit me with a hammer." "Wow. Do you remember anything?" Rod breathed for a moment. "I remember incredible pain, like a migraine only ten times worse. I saw stars in my vision, heard a screech in my ears. Then came this overwhelming rage. I don't remember much after that. I felt myself struggling, then I stopped and the feeling vanished. I guess I had thrashed around and around. My shoulder was partially dislocated, my head had banged on the floor, but the ties saved me I suspect. Every muscle in my body feels sore and strained. I'm probably lucky I didn't do more damage. It took the better part of the day before they found me, but I think I blacked out from the pain and utter exhaustion." I shook my head. Apparently it is possible to survive being zapped. I wonder if that's how Ellie has escaped detection, if she's still on the boat. By now she would have been zapped dozens of times, so if she is still hiding out, she must be in terrible shape. "Hey, Rod, can you grab Julia for a minute? Maybe you can help her with this Bo situation. I need some time with Misty." "No problems, mate," he beckoned to Julia. "Hey, maybe you can beat up Bo for me," Julia added, following him out. Misty smiled at me. "I'm so glad you made it. The doctor says you should be up in day or so. You'll still need treatment, but the swelling and blistering is going down. You should make a full recovery without much scarring if any. You got really lucky." "We all got lucky. Any word on who did this?" Misty shook her head. "No ideas. Carrie has locked up those rooms tight and assigned guards. She's not going to let this happen again. After we dumped all the bodies, we got the Drive back online, and spent the rest of the day zapping and sinking every pirate ship we could find. We then went by Somalia and zapped the pirate city. We could see them killing each other on the beach. It was quite horrible." "God. And now where are we headed?" Misty grimaced. "That's the rub. We sort of blasted our way through the Suez Canal, pretty much threatening Egypt with annihilation, and now we're ripping up the Mediterranean. I had this scary chat with Carrie yesterday morning, I think maybe that's what set her off." "Oh yeah? What did she say?" "Well, Julia and I had just grabbed some tea and biscuits, and Carrie walks up to me: "You're British, right?" asked Carrie out of the blue. She knows full well who I am and where I come from. "Uh, yes. Born and raised. My folks are from Korea though." "Huh. So, England's pretty rich. You have those...crown jewels, right?" She munched on a bagel, dropping crumbs everywhere. "Yes. Those are for the King or Queen's coronation ceremony." I eyed her warily. "I knew I always liked England. Once of the few places in the world that's had Queens. So if I were to take those jewels, I could be crowned Queen. As Queen of England, I could dissolve Parliament, and then go on to conquer the rest of the world." I stared at the loony woman for a moment. "I don't think England would stand for such an affront. We repelled many an invader before. I don't think we'd just hand you the crown. Without our Monarch, we have nothing. The Queen is the soul of our nation. We could never abide by having a Yankee commoner as our Queen." "Hmm. I think England is about to learn a thing or two about real power. They seem to have forgotten over the years. Get up in the control room, and start plotting a course." "Wow," was all I could say. "We're heading for England?" "Yes, and I'm highly unpleased," she replied in her British twang. "That monster will not step a foot on British soil, so help me God. Now Alex, you need your rest, and I need to get back before someone accidentally destroys the ship. I can't fight this evil alone. We've got to stop this madwoman somehow." I laid my head back down and Misty kissed me. She tried a small smile but I could see the weight of this constant stress weighing on her face. Ever since the day we met back in Kastle Klingon, I have seen her grow stronger and more capable of dealing with things, but now that her home was in peril, I wondered how much more she could take. I said a quick prayer for her, typed up my blog entry on the laptop she left me, and then hit the morphine switch so I could rest without so much pain. Posted: Saturday, November 22, 2008 @ 2:13 PM

Carrie Park Talks I'm laying in a makeshift sick ward cut out of one corner of the Palace. A morphine drip seeps medicine into my arm, calming the agonizing pain of my burns. Fortunately I hadn't gotten scalded too deeply, so most of my wounds are superficial, like a severe suntan. Still, it hurts like hell. This morning, I woke up, groggy and a bit loopy. I could feel the vibrations of the Singularity Matrix Drive pulsing through the floor, and the gentle sway of the boat. From the frequency I deduced that we were cruising again somewhere near maximum speed. I sensed a presence next to my bed and opened my eyes. To my surprise Carrie hovered over my bed. "Hey," she said. "You awake? Can you hear me?" I nodded a little bit. Carrie pulled up a stool to sit next to me. For just a moment, when I first opened my eyes, I might have caught a look of concern on her face, but it had been replaced with a dark mask. "I just wanted too...I just wanted to say..." She seemed to struggle for words, and pushed back a lock of her fake golden hair. "Um, what you did the other day, well, it really was phenomenal. I just wanted to thank you for saving the boat. You and Rod are real heroes." "Did Rod make it," I asked, realizing I hadn't seen him return to the Palace before we zapped the invaders. "Yeah, he's banged up, back over there behind some curtains. He should be good to go in a few hours, I'm sure he'll stop by." She pointed in a general direction, but they had hung privacy curtains around all the beds. "I gotta run, but--" I don't know why, but my heavily bandaged hand shot out and stopped her from rising. "Hold on, I want to talk to you about something. Close the curtains some more." Carrie nodded, "okay, just a for minute." She looked around and closed the curtains, then scooted the stool over so we could talk quietly. I don't know what came over me. I think it was mostly due to the morphine, but also partially due to how close I had come to death. I needed to say some things. "Carrie, you know, this whole thing. It's not too let to get out. It's never too late." She scowled at me and shook her head. "Alex, you know I can't stop. There are people--" I snatched her hand and held it, and looked straight into her eyes. "Carrie, I don't know if I've ever said this. I wish I had, a long time ago, when you were in a bed like this. I am so sorry for what happened to you. I know I wasn't the one who started it, but I was there and I could have, I should have stopped it." Carrie frowned and tried to pull away. "Alex, I--" "Please," I begged, "hear me out. We've been working together for the better part of two years, and we went to school together for a long time. We grew up together. I remember you from third grade, you were a real nice girl back then. I might have had a little kid crush on you even. Then something changed. You grew distant, mean, and started getting in trouble a lot. You picked on me a lot, made fun of me and my friends. Then in High School, you kinda blew up big, and began getting teased a lot. People knew to stay away from you, you always seemed to be in a bad mood. God, I wish I had gotten to know you better back then. Maybe I could have said something to help you or something. "I just want to say that what happened to you, the accident, all the surgeries, losing your uterus and spleen and guts, the rehab, you know, it was a terrible thing to do to you, and you definite didn't deserve any of it. I think back to how you were way before, growing up, and now I realize something terrible must have happened, even before the accident. Something made you really mean and unfriendly, and I don't think you started out that way. Whatever it is, I'm so sorry about it. I really think you deserved better." Carrie stared at the floor, memories flooding into her head, the hint of tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Goddammit Alex. God fucking dammit. What the fuck? You...you want some kind of forgiveness or something? You and your fucking asshole friends who turned me into this...freak? Look at me! You think I can live a 'normal' life? You think that saying sorry will make everything better? You think you have any idea at all what I've been through, what I've had to endure, what a complete fucking shit hole my life was?" I tried to sit up a bit. "No...I don't. I didn't know, back then how could I? How could anyone? I know you've suffered more than anyone should. Carrie, back then, we were scared to talk to you, because you'd bite our heads off. No one visited your hospital room for the same reason. I just want to say that this path you're on, that we're on, is only going to lead to more pain and suffering, for everyone. Some country will get pissed enough that they'll finally drop a bomb or a nuke on us. No good can come of this. You've got more money than you'll ever need. You could just call this off, and live our your life in peace. No one has to suffer anymore. You've got the power now to make it all stop." Carrie sighed. "You know there's no place on Earth that will take me in. Not even Al Qaeda. I've got to see this through. You have no idea what's going on around us, the people involved. I've got all kinds of mobsters and crime families backing me, as well as some rogue governments who want to take a step up in the world. My only shot is to take control, to win. I can't escape this thing, it's too big. If I step out now, they'd hunt me to the ends of the Earth. I'd never be safe, never have a normal life." "You could change your appearance and hide somewhere. I'm not saying it would be easy. But thousands of people have died already, and thousands more will keep dying while we continue. You are probably the smartest person on Earth. We have this brilliant technology sitting next to us. Instead of using it to take over the Earth, we could use the power for good. We could eliminate poverty and hunger. We could clean up the environment. And you could be the catalyst for all of this. Somehow I don't think running a murderous pirate ship was what you really wanted for your life, at least back in grade school. I know you've had so much taken away from you. I know you've suffered a great deal. But as someone who was once your friend, I'm asking you to reconsider what you're doing. It's never too late to change." Carrie stared for a minute, contemplating I don't know what. Then a hard look crossed her face and she glared at me. "My chance to change vanished the moment you idiots caused the wreck. I'm not stupid Shelly White any more, maybe I never was. That stupid girl died a long time ago, forgotten and buried. Now I'm Carrie Park, and I'm going to take over the world and rule it my way. Enough chit-chat, Ross, I think you need a nice, long sleep. See you on the other side." She grabbed my morphine drip and shot a good dose into me. I passed out before she even passed through the curtain, not know if I'd ever wake up again. Posted: Saturday, November 22, 2008 @ 11:31 AM

Sabotage We've had no Ellie sightings since she apparently entered our cabin. We've found no bloody rotting corpses or any trace of her whatsoever. It still doesn't mean that everyone isn't on edge. Xyllan has sent out steady patrols to keep searching the ship for her. I've beginning to hear few rumors as well, about Carrie's organization "The Clan of the Wise." Apparently they don't consider small-time piracy much of a proof of her power. They have devised some serious objectives that need to be met. First she disappointed them with the technical delays, and now with the random cruising around the oceans. Misty and I sat at our controls, monitoring the ship's progress and the state of the SMD. We had gradually tuned the system to push over 220 knots. A huge black cloud of steam followed us everywhere, clearly marking our position to even the most primitive of satellites. Julia sat in a corner of the control room, playing a handheld game or reading an electronic book. She'd steal a peek at Rod every once in a while. As I watched, a number of indicators shot into the red. "Shut it down, shut it down," I shouted, typing away and clicking on the shutdown procedure. We had never made an emergency stop before. "Deploy air brakes!" The entire room went black, and people began screaming. I could feel the entire ship lurching towards the bow, groaning with the sudden loss of power. We had no cameras, no telemetry, and no contact with the Singularity Matrix. A great feeling of dread came over me. If we had lost containment, the entire ship could blow sky-high. This was definitely not part of a normal shutdown. Either some major power conduit had failed, or someone had deliberated sabotaged the ship. "Alex! Alex," called Misty. Someone flicked a lighter so I could see just a bit. I grabbed Misty, then we found Julia and Rod. The ship shuddered and lurched, throwing us off our feet, and sending equipment flying. The entire Palace filled with screams and shouting. Julia began crying, calling for her momma. In the din of the panic I shouted in Misty's ear. "I've got to make sure we keep containment or we're all dead! I'm heading back to the engine room." "Alex, you'll burn up! We were just at 110%, it will take hours to cool off. You can't do it." "I have to, I don't have a choice. We have some fire suits. All I need to do is get to the Matrix control box." "Damn it Alex, send someone else. We can't lose you. Not now!" She clutched me and her eyes pleaded with me. "Get back to the cabin if you can. I'll meet you there. Please, Misty, I don't have a choice. The fate of the Earth could be at stake." "Oh God, Oh God. I know, I know. Just be careful. Take this laptop, if it doesn't melt you might need it." She hugged me fiercely. "And Alex, if anything should happen, I want you to know...I love you so much." I was speechless for a second. "Misty...I...I love you too. Everything will be fine. Take care of Julia, I think I'm really starting to like that kid." "Okay, just be careful." We kissed for a moment, then I grabbed the laptop, put it in a nearby backpack, and left them, not knowing if I'd ever see them again. Making my way through the panicked throng proved difficult. I had no idea where Carrie was, and no one seemed to be in charge. Only a couple tiny lights here and there lit the place. Fortunately no one seemed to disturb me. The ship continued to buck and shimmy, listing a bit to the left, probably due to a stuck rudder or control surface. I felt the bow plunge back into the ocean, losing its hydrofoil speed, and once again we all were thrown onto the floor. I picked myself up and staggered past the piles of gaming machines and lounge chairs strewn about. The people who recognized me in the darkness begged for information but I just pushed past. The clock could be ticking on the demise of the entire human race. I pushed thru the thick bulkhead door. A wave of heat hit me as soon as it opened. I closed it behind me, feeling my way through the passage way leading down to the Matrix. I found a small room that contained the fire equipment. I grabbed a helmet with a built-in LED light. I used that light to turn on a few more that I removed and clipped to my arms. I quickly slipped on the suit and made my way out towards the Matrix. Every step seemed to bring more and more heat. Sweat began to form on my brow and slide down my face. I came to another bulkhead door, but even touching this door proved too painful. I ran back to the fire room and retried an axe. I used the axe to turn the wheel of the door. A puff of boiling hot steam assailed me as the door swung open. I could barely breath. I couldn't even guess at the temperature...maybe 150 at least. It felt like an oven. I stepped in, feeling the heat penetrating the asbestos soles of the boots I had donned. I searched for the Matrix control room. Searing heat seeped through the seams of the suit, cooking me alive. I finally found the room, only a scant few meters from the core of the Matrix. I could hear the rumblings of the steam still firing through the system, cooling it down bit by bit. I found a connection to plug the laptop in. The keys felt a bit melty, but the damn thing actually worked. In a few moments I downloaded the telemetry. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The containment field held, although for how long I couldn't say. A backup system still supplied the critical power that held the tiny singularity away from the walls of the Matrix. I threw the laptop back into the bag, and ran back towards safety. Just as I closed the door to the engine room, the walls seemed to lurch, and a moment later a metallic grinding sound filled the room. I began pulling off the heavy protective gear. Some of it literally smoked. I could feel parts of my skin start to blister, but that grinding sound couldn't have been good. I had to find a way to restore the electrical power. Without it we were blind and defenseless. Until the inner control room cooled down, we couldn't use the Matrix to zap enemies. We were essentially sitting ducks. As I made my way back towards the Palace, I ran into Rod in the hallway. "Where's Misty and Julia? What the hell's going on," I demanded. "It's a bloody riot in there," Rod spat. "I got them to safety, then came to help. Christ, you look like shit." "Ok, okay...you're sure they're safe?" "No one's completely safe, but they've barricaded the door best they could." I heard a boomy sound reverberate through the halls. "What the fuck is that?" "That's the other thing, I think we're under bloody attack! We think some ship has come alongside. This is a goddamn cluster-fuck, that's what it is." "It's a fucking setup, that's what it is." For damn sure. This was no coincidence. Was this Ellie's doing? Carrie's? The ship fails right smack in the middle of the most Pirate-infested waters in the world. "We've got to get this damn ship functional. Where the hell is the damage? I think if we just get the power back, we'll be fine." We found a cooler room to sit in. Flipping open the half-melted laptop, I pored through boat schematics. "Here, there's a small transformer room, between the Palace and the top deck. This is where I'd cut the power. Everything is routed through here. Unless the APU's have been damaged, we should be fine," "That's where we'll go," responded Rod, as were heard more sharp reports and a bit of shouting. We ran back to the bulkhead containing the Palace, then crawled along gangways and service ladders all around the thick wall. We noticed a small haze of smoke as we approached the transformer room, and smelled the acrid burn of ozone. Something definitely had blown here. We also received a wisp of gunpowder. Now we could hear the rat-a-tat of automatic weapons, and the occasional concussion of an RPG or some kind of grenade. The transformer room seemed intact but full of smoke. A few lights lit up. "We still have power, it's just terminated here!" "Ah, here's the bugger," said Rod. "Someone threw a bloody wrench into the transformer. We just need to grab it and reset. Go on, now, go grab that wrench." I looked at him like a crazy person. "I could get electrocuted! You do it!" "Ross, there's no power. Just grab it!" Tentatively I crawled between the large transformer stacks. Once in reach of the wrench, I quickly reached out and snatched it. It still felt warm, and the ends had melted a bit. I threw the wrench on the ground. "Fucking hell!" "Ok, Ross, now let's hit the power." He pulled all the levers in the room down, into their reset position. "On three, lift them back up. Ready? One...two...three!" Click, click, click, click. On the last switch, the lights came back on, the air condition started blowing, and the network rebooted. I quickly opened the laptop and searched for information. It took an awful five minutes before all the ship's systems came back online. Matrix containment: nominal. Ship integrity holding. Intruder Alert: all decks. Code Red. The Klaxon started sounding, a new tone I hadn't heard before, battle stations I guess. We whipped up a screen of the external cams. A small ship lay next to ours, but a swarm of men emerged from it. They definitely weren't Marines of any kind, they were dark-skinned men wearing no more than tatters but carrying rifles and knives. On the top deck of QC1, a bunch of bodies lay scattered across the surface, obviously our men from their gaily colored outfits. I switched to a view of the Palace. A few of them had fought their way in, but a fierce battle raged across the floor. One by one the intruders slipped through the door. "We're getting beaten," I yelled. I looked at some other views. Some invaders were trying to force their way into the cabin section, where Misty huddled. "This shit has to stop. Rod, you got any idea how to get the Fire Control System up?" "Lemme try." I handed him the laptop and he played around for a minute. "Here we go. What do you want?" "Fire at their ship. Let 'em know we're not rolling over." Up on the deck, a hatch opened, and a set of missiles poked out of the deck. They turned and faced the attacking ship. "Fire!" I commanded. "Exocets away!" Two missiles fired up and shot off their launch, impacting the hostile ship almost immediately, exploding in a huge plume of fire and smoke. Our ship shook with the impact, and the men on the deck were thrown off their feet. Another impact tore through the other ship, and it began listing away from us. "Direct hit!" cried Rod. "Blimey fuckers!" "What else we got," I asked. "They're jumping off their ship onto ours." Rod flipped through the controls. "Ahh, here we go." Another part of the deck opened up, and a machine gun on a turret popped up. "Oh yeah," I breathed. "Rake the fuckers." The gun burst to life, spraying the deck indiscriminately with bursts of leaden fire. In moments, not a thing moved. I pointed to one of the monitors. "Shit, they've broken through to the Cabins. I gotta go. You keep taking them out when you see them." "Good luck, Ross. Give them my best." I patted Rod on the shoulder. After studying the schematics for a minute, I found a route around the outside perimeter of the Palace over to the Cabins. I retrieved my shotgun and sword from where I stashed them, and began the long crawl towards the bow of the boat. I heard continual gunfire, shouts, and screams of pain. The pain from my burns continued to increase in intensity, until I could barely control screaming from the pain. Tears flowed down my face, but I gritted my teeth and kept going. Little by little I made my way past the Palace. I finally emerged into the cabin section, on the opposite side of the Cabin as Misty. I ran down the hall, turned a corner, and faced Carrie and Xyllan. The huge man raised his weapon at me. "Get down!" I dropped as Xyllan fired. Behind me, two enemy Pirates dropped to the ground. Xyllan grabbed me by the shoulder and yanked me to my feet. I screamed in pain from the burns. "Hold it," ordered Carrie, pushing Xyllan back. "Alex, you got us back up?" "Yeah," I said, doubling over in pain. "And I'm hurt bad." "Who's running things now?" "Rod's back up in the transformer room. It had been sabotaged. Listen, I got to get to Misty. Can you help me? Please." I stood crouched over, panting in pain, hating to ask Carrie for anything. "Okay, sure," agreed Carrie to my surprise. "Come on, let's go. We may need her, you look you're about to die. Someone needs to operate this thing." We turned a few corners, slid down a staircase, and arrived at our door. "Misty, it's me," I called. In a moment I heard the barricade come down and the door lock unlatch. "Alex! You made it!" She almost hugged me but Carrie held her off. "He's burned," she explained. "He's going to need help. But we need to get back to the control room and zap these guys. Let's go!" We scooted down the hall and Xyllan stopped at a room. He ducked inside and brought out three shotguns. He handed one to Carrie, one to Misty, and one to Julia, whom I doubt has ever held a gun. "Just point and shoot," he told her. She shied away from him as much as possible, but aimed the gun at his back once he started walking. I waved her off, although it might be completely justified. As we approached the Palace, the scene didn't look good. Almost two dozen enemy pirates had infiltrated the Palace, and scores of dead people lay everywhere. We snuck in, out of the line of fire, and crawled into the control room, still a jumble of electronics. Bullet holes puckered the walls, and the glass walls had been all but disintegrated, covering the floors with masses of sharp rubble. Misty found some functional equipment, and brought up the Matrix protocols. "Whenever you're ready," she said. Carrie looked around. "Still too many of them." "Even with the bulkhead doors open, it won't affect us that much," I mumbled, feeling faint. "We won't zombify." "Do it," Carrie commanded. Misty pressed the button. The Klaxon sounded, the dreaded countdown. The enemy pirates starting firing with reckless abandon. The clock counted down to zero-- "Ow! Ow!" Misty shook my shoulder. The floor spun beneath me and I couldn't focus my eyes. Even a mild zap is extremely confusing. "How long has it been?" "Look," she said, pointing across the Palace. The enemy had turned to face the bulkhead door. Another enemy pirate jumped through the door and launched himself on the nearest pirate, ripping at his throat and beating him senseless. The other pirates froze, then fired at the zombie, who wouldn't stop until his heart and head burst. Another and another zombie jumped in, attacking anyone within reach. They tried to fight them off, but the frenzied attack caught them off guard. They threw down their weapons and ran. Our men jumped out from their cover and blasted them, cutting them to ribbons. Once the enemy perished, we concentrated on the zombies pouring in, cutting them up one by one. After a while it was all over. Blackness enveloped my vision, and I collapsed. Now I'm resting in a corner of the Palace converted to a hospital ward. I'm typing up what I can remember from the attack. They just gave another sedative...I post again when I can. Posted: Thursday, November 20, 2008 @ 11:22 PM