Story of fiction and fantasy and science fiction

[LostNFound]

Galia was naturally ever so sensitive to the plight of her new charges and the ever-loving soul that she was talked soothingly to the pigs. She sat amongst those who were incredibly fearful, oblivious to the sight of their weeping, maggot and pus-filled open wounds and the dreadful smells that emanated from them. Megan had caught up to Bob by this stage and they held each other for the longest time. There was no need for words.

Timoth was a nurse to the sick pigs. He would lay himself down next to the ailing pigs as Megan and the rest of the animal rescue team nursed the pigs around the clock and grunt reassuringly to them. There was one little pig that Galia had christened ‘Eliphal’. She had decided to name her Eliphal for the miracle that she was. It was touch and go for Eliphal in the first 72 hours of her arrival for she had contracted pneumonia. However, Timoth had never left her side. He was her constant companion. He kept her warm with his massive body and constantly licked her. Once Eliphal had turned a corner, she never left Timoth’s side. She could be seen following him on his rounds to the other sick pigs, tugging playfully at his curly tail. Timoth never seemed to mind though. He was as patient with her as he was loyal.

The previous spring harvests on the farm had yielded scores of almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, hemp seed and quinoa and Megan now put this bountiful harvest to good use for the baby piglets. Two of the mother pigs hadn’t made it through the previous night, sadly, despite the team’s best efforts, they had died of septic shock not long after giving birth to the piglets and now Megan and Galia were their surrogate mothers.

Bob Comet warmed his old aching bones by the fireside. Nearby, 18 orphan piglets in blankets lay snug and toasty warm. They all snored gently, small round bellies full of the special rich milk formula. Megan carefully set the tray down on the table next to Bob. “A cup of warm spicy chai for you Bob” inquired Megan gently. But Bob had dozed off into noddyland and didn’t respond. She placed a loving hand on his shoulder and patted it. The punishing feeding schedule for piglets had finally caught up with Bob. Megan was feeling rather weary herself but the babies were due for another feed in two hours and so Megan sat opposite him, politely waiting for him to wake up.

“Oh dear…did I fall asleep?” Bob enquired of Megan when he had finally awoken from a fragmented dream. He looked around him, a little disoriented. Just for a moment he thought he was back at home with his wife. “I just thought I’d let you know that Eliphal didn’t want to come inside when I called to her Bob” said Megan, trying to suppress a yawn. “You know how close pigs like to be with each other Bob and she has taken a shine to Timoth. So I got Ellie a heating pad so that she could stay warm.” “I am sure that between Ellie and Timoth that they will keep each other warm” responded Bob, still a little sleepy from his nap. He half-yawned in response to Megan’s yawn.

Bob knew intimately what it was like to sleep with a piglet. He had spent 20 years as a pig farmer and each time he had an orphan piglet, he had taken them to bed with him to keep them warm. Bob’s time as a pig farmer had been over for him for close to 18 years now. His pigs had lived an idyllic life on the farm, some would even say humane but in the last couple of years of breeding the pigs, he grew to hate the lifestyle he was caught up in. He had always regarded himself as a compassionate and loving person but now he had begun to question just what it meant to be compassionate and loving. In all good conscience, what right did he have to take another beings life?

These beings could fetch and carry balls, come when called, do funny tricks and had personalities as unique as our own. They were as conscious as we were. His travels to the slaughterhouses became more torturous with each weekly trip for he had developed closeness to each of the pigs. He had noticed how stressed the pigs became when they knew that one of them was missing. He could no longer suppress the feelings of grief he felt with each pig that went to the slaughterhouse and when the last pig was gone, he stopped farming completely and became an animal rights activist. This was how he had come to know Megan’s mother.

[LostNFound]

Once the hot chai’s had been drunk and the fire stoked Megan spoke. “I’m very curious about how you talked Angus into giving you the pigs Bob. I mean, he threatened us with a gun and I’m not sure what he would have done to us if Timoth hadn’t knocked him over and sat on him.” “Well I…” He faltered. “Megan, what is your heart’s desire? He said quickly.” His eyes twinkled and he leaned forward to hear her better. She was silent for what seemed an age whilst she thought about it but Bob was a good listener and he sat and stroked one very small piglet on his lap who had come for some love and affection whilst he waited. When she finally spoke she admitted. “I have so many Bob. Where do you want me to start?” The young girl quietly asked. She smiled and cooed at the piglet that was now nestled under Bob’s arm. “Of all the things your heart desire’s what is the greatest desire of all you have?” Megan’s brow furrowed. She had asked herself the same question so many times but now she had been asked by someone else, it became crystal clear.

“My heart’s greatest desire” began Megan tremulously “is to be reunited with my whole family. I want to feel my mama’s and my papa’s arms around me. I want them to tell me how much they love me and how proud they are of me. I am being kept from my whole family because of what my mama and my papa have to do out there to bring peace to the world. But it goes further than that Bobby Bear” she said fondly to him. I realise from what my mama told me that every family on this planet is being separated from each other through one way or another.’ When mama said that absolutely everything in society has been set up so that we can’t do anything the way nature intended it to be for us as a family, it rang true to me but it wasn't until my mama and papa went away that it hit me very hard in my heart and I knew then it was the absolute truth.”

Megan went over to Bob and kneeled before him. “So that is my heart’s greatest desire Bobby Bear that the family be our greatest source of strength and that we be together always. But not just for human families Bob, for the animal families as well.” Bob patted her head. He murmured to her. “You are such a good girl Megan. Your mama would be very proud of you if she could hear you speak now.” He wiped a tear from his cheek. “You know something young Megan; I forget how old you really are when you speak that way. When I went down to see Angus the pig farmer, I talked with him about my life story whilst he tended to the pigs. I shared my own entire pig story with him. I then asked him the same question I asked you.” What is your heart’s greatest desire?”

“It took Angus some time to think about it. He didn’t answer the question straight away because he was too afraid of the answer. He was afraid of what his wife might think of him, he was afraid of what might happen in the future and he was afraid of having to let go of everything he had worked for. But I’m a patient man Megan and I stayed with him and helped him with the pigs whilst he thought about it. One morning whilst we were worming the pigs together, I noticed that Angus was shaking. I put my arm around his shoulder and then he grabbed me by both shoulders and held me very tightly. "It was then he revealed to me that he wanted to be a potter. He had always wanted to be a potter. He loved working with clay and he wanted to make clay sculptures, make clay pots and create living walls out of clay. “He was so shocked by his confession to me; it shook him to the core of his very being. However, his father's legacy was still with him, he was still trying to please his father, despite his father having died years ago. He felt racked with guilt and shame to be giving up a livelihood his father had passed on."

"I told him to take the rest of the day off to think about what he really wanted in life. I promised I would look after the pigs for him while he had a chance to sort himself out. He told me later that evening that you coming along was the best thing to ever happen to him Megan and he decided that evening, there and then, that he would give up pig farming."

"It was only because his father had been a pig farmer Megan that he had followed in his footsteps. It hadn’t been Angus's dream; it had been his father's dream. He hated pig farming, he hated what he had to do to the pigs, he hated how diseased and unhappy the pigs were, he hated himself for having to do something he didn’t like doing. All these years he had kept his heart's desires buried under the burden of having to support his family. ‘Some may think it a selfish thing to follow his dream when he has a family to support but what would be even more selfish would be to deprive his own soul of being able to fulfill its highest potential and the whole world of his gifts and talents.” Megan nodded and Bob continued.

“Angus then took me to his garage. In there, underneath a canvas, lay all the pottery work he had made as a teenager. I took one look and realised just how gifted and talented he really was. His father had never encouraged him to take classes because he couldn’t see the point in Angus going any further with his pottery, he would take over the family business on the farm and that was that in his eyes. “I know a bunch of people in the city who are talented artists and potters and so I persuaded him and his family to take some of his work to the city so that he could show them his work and spend time with people who truly loved what they did for a living. I then brought my team in to rescue our sweet pigs. The last thing I heard from Angus before leaving with the pigs for Paradise was that he was returning home to pursue a life working with pottery. One major art gallery he showed his work to, loved his work so much that they paid him an advance to showcase his artwork at the gallery. So Angus became a potter and we saved the pigs.” Megan’s heart was full of Joy as one of the little piglets crawled into her lap and snuggled down to snore.

[LostNFound]

6 THE FREIGHTER CAPTAIN

William, Jonathan and the animals had now safely made it down out of the mountains thanks to their Sasquatch brothers and sisters. It was an incredible sight to see all the animals and people side-by-side, walking at a peaceful amble throughout the land, for the number of humans and animal brothers and sisters had now swelled to the thousands. The animals with their superior sense of sight and smell had followed the deep water aquifers as they made their way down to the sea. Jonathan and William would often consult with the winged creatures that flew ahead so everyone would know where and when it was appropriate to rest. Such was the diversity of creatures and humans, there were many food and shelter supplies needed. Luckily, the dreaming network was alive and well and William could call upon the many that were required to assist in bringing the supplies together.

On a stormy afternoon when the eternal flame of the sky was dimmed by dark clouds, William, Jonathan and the animals continued their journey to Paradise across the oceans. They had climbed aboard a huge freight ship. It was owned by an old seafaring man who was fond of animals.
Tom Hartwell was his name. He was a wily old rascal who knew the seas as well as one could know the back of their hand. He knew that the penalty for transporting the types of animals he was stewarding across the oceans could mean the death penalty for him but the old salt dog knew what was at stake for all because he had been tuned into the dreaming network, long before most. So, he had decided that he would take the risk.

William, who had spoken on behalf of all, had appealed to the old seafarer, for he had reminded him of a long lost son that had been lost to war but not to a father’s heart. Tom sniffed the air, looked at the sea and thought that today would be a good day for travel. When he had been a young lad, Polynesians had taught him how to navigate by the stars and the waves. He had traversed the world with them. Even under the blackest skies, he could sense how close he was to the land by the saltiness of the briny water and which way the waves swirled upon the ocean waters. Even though he had the most modern navigation equipment on his vessel, he didn’t trust the modern equipment and he still used the ancient ways to guide him.

Jonathan and William were tired but they couldn’t rest until they had given many directions and had helped their human crew to ensure that bedding and the appropriate food would be available for all their animal and human friends. Some animals needed secure holdings for they didn’t have sea legs and couldn’t support themselves. These dear friends were guided down into the bowels of the ship where they could hunker down. Large crates doubled as beds, the tree-dwelling animals were appointed hammocks and some rested on steel perches. It was here that Jonathan laid himself down to rest whilst William and the others roamed the ship freely, curious about their new surroundings and the wonders of the sea.

It was an extremely uneventful trip, apart from the odd seasickness experienced by both human and animals alike. It was if as the sea was somehow in cahoots with this motley crew. The waters had remained calm and strangely quiet. Tom was extremely happy with the times they were making and as they sped towards their first destination, a feeling of exhilaration arose within him for no one had stopped his freighter or had tried to hijack it. He had not seen another ship the entire time. Four days after the ship had left its destination, the ship began to drawn closer to land again and the word spread on the super dreaming network highway that the ship was docking offshore. Many beings – human and animals were very keen to join the ship on its journey. It was an odd flotilla that made its way out to meet the ship and all were in high excitement. If you had been left onshore, you would have strained to have made out the fantastic cacophony of sounds carried by the sea breezes to your ears.

They were about 10 kilometers away from the nearest land mass and their first port of call when Alessandra and her partner Nico first spotted the pod of dolphins heading toward their ship. She was heavy with child and glowed with a dewy happiness at the thought of the dolphins being so near. As Tom gave the orders to his crew to drop the anchor as the freight ship now grew closer to shore, the dolphins moved to the starboard side of the ship where Alessandra was standing. The prescient being that he was, William sensed that Alessandra was going to go into childbirth very soon and that the dolphins had come to act as doulas for Alessandra. He now rushed to her side and announced to her urgently. “Alessandra, the dolphins are here to help you bring your child into the world. It is your time to give birth to your child very soon. I have put out a satellite call to the houseboat that is close by our ship so that you will have every comfort and you will be able to give birth in the waters with the dolphins should you wish to. Will you come with me?” Alessandra’s eyes lit up, she nodded in astonishment to William and gripped Nico’s hand. “I will” she said. They slowly walked to where the lifeboats were hanging and as Will lowered it to where they stood; she felt warmth gushing between her legs. Her waters had broken.

[LostNFound]

The lifeboat was lowered into the water containing the three. The houseboat awaited them below. As Alessandra climbed on board the houseboat, she experienced her first wave of childbirth pangs. She grew very excited. The dolphins drew close and called out to her and each other. She shed her clothing and Nico helped lower her slowly down the ladder into the clear green waters. As soon as Nico had cradled her in his arms, she had another birth pang and now, a mother dolphin approached her belly. She sent out a soothing sonar wave and all that Alessandra felt was waves of bliss coursing through her body. With the next wave of contractions, she felt the urge to push and the baby’s head began to crown. As effortlessly as she had conceived her baby, the child came out with another push and swam up through the waters and into her mother’s arms.

The new family were warmly welcomed by a kindly old woman named Dot. She was a lively character who loved people and possessed a very big heart. She had answered the call immediately when Tom had put the call out to assist Alessandra. She fussed over and bustled around the family like they were her own. Nico was completely taken with this grandmotherly woman and her warmth and kindnesses to Alessandra. He was so grateful that his child had a start to life in such good company. The baby quietly suckled whilst Dot made Alessandra an herbal tea that would help her expel the placenta in readiness for it to be wrapped and salted. Nico politely asked where she lived. "Been livin' on this here boat for a long time darlin" she cheerfully cackled as she answered Nico's polite question. "Been the last thirty eight years of this fortunate life" she exclaimed with happiness.

Whilst Dot told her story, she cooked them a hearty meal. Alessandra, now cozily wrapped in blankets, euphoric after giving birth, sat dreamily as she listened on. Dot had been a professional nurse in the maternity ward of a hospital but had given away her profession when she had contracted bowel cancer. "The last time I been and visited an oncologist Nico, they done told me that I only had months to live. The cancer had spread so far through this here body that I was told that I was beyond help but instead of just waitin' to die, I decided to get going on the dreams I had of livin' on a houseboat. And since then Nico, I've never ever looked back. That was thirty eight and something years ago. What saved my life was being able to fulfill my greatest passion, a life on the water." She chuckled to herself for she had traversed many a great river and had learned a thing or two about riding the seas.

All of the Maritime security staff now hired to protect the world’s oceans in the year 2125 had been hired by private prison corporations. Government contract arrangements with these Private prison corporations dominated almost a third of the working population these days and the Private prison corporations grew wealthy off the backs of innocent people; innocent people who had been incarcerated for having the temerity to refuse mandatory brain implants and who were now indefinitely detained without trial and without any hope of a trial by the corrupt legal system, now the equivalent of the old KGB. The Emperor knew there was a problem with the greed of the private prison corps but they were greasing his palm left right and centre. The Emperor was stockpiling and amassing his own small fortune and he needed for it to continue if he was to retire a multi-billionaire. However, just like a leech when it gets completely bloated with blood and eventually falls off its host, the Private corporations grew so rich, fat and bloated that they were just about ready to drop off too. They were careless, indiscreet, inattentive and even reckless in their bidding to amass wealth and this would eventually be their downfall.

When the Maritime security staff first heard about the cause for Paradise through their sisters and brothers, at great risk, they created diversions and loopholes for those who were risking life and limb for freedom. They constantly sabotaged and disobeyed the laws to help these people and animals. They all knew Tom and loved him for his work. Tom knew that the Maritime security were on his side for they were completely sympathetic to the cause for Paradise but he didn’t want to push his luck and so he stayed out of the port he was venturing towards and alerted Maritime to his presence. If any of the emperor’s men saw his ship, he would be a dead man walking so he dropped his anchor 2 kilometers from the shore in the dead of the night. He knew that it wouldn’t be long before various water craft would reach him. Dot had been tied to the Freighter while Alessandra had her child and she made sure that she and Nico and the baby got back aboard safely before she untied and headed straight into the port. She too was under the watchful protection of the Maritime security and knew she would be safe as she entered the port.

Tom had named his good ship Bess and as the new family made their way into the hold of Bess to settle in for the rest of the night, a sense of excitement grew around the next adventure at sea. Tom gave the order to his crew to start the engines and they headed towards the open sea again for their next adventure. The good ship Bess was now rising and dipping through the large swells surrounding her but Tom was confident that they would soon pass through the small storm that was rolling across the deep ocean blue and he whistled a soft tune to himself as he and two other crew members steered the ship. Meanwhile down in the hold, passengers were wretched. There was one little passenger who didn’t seem to mind the rocking and rolling of the boat. Batty was very much at home in the darkness and as he hung from the rafters, he watched the scene below him, his sharp bat smell telling him which of the animals were seasick. Many of the animals were trying to sleep their way through the storm and Jonathon and William were kept busy with handing out water, the dangers of dehydration were always present when an animal lost too much fluid.

[LostNFound]

7 THE LAST BASTION

Otto Slovak had taken command of The Last Bastion after its last encounter with whale poachers in the North Pacific. The previous captain did not have enough experience with the poachers and had taken a hit in the bow with yet another torpedo from the sick psychopaths. The ship almost sank before limping back to the port of Nome Alaska. The captain was relieved of his command and the three sailors that had been killed during the attack were replaced. Otto was given the ship and it was dragged to the Anchorage ship yards for repairs. Neptune’s Navy fleet did not have many ships and the repairs were cheap by any standards but it kept the old gal afloat and in operation. Once the ship left dry dock, Otto took her out for trial runs and found that she was still weak in the hull from all the torpedo’s she had taken and the damage was only patched but she could still float. Otto’s exec officer was a very young man but he knew what he was doing and in fact had saved the ship when the other captain did not know what to do. Devlin had been on the water for 11 of his 18 years of life and his adopted father was a Captain of one of those old nuclear cruisers that the US Navy had up until that force was replaced with Neptune’s Navy and the Maritime Security forces. Devlin’s adopted father had been killed just 3 years prior by an attack from the whale poachers. He was piloting one of the old Coast Guard boats at the time and it was completely destroyed with torpedos. Devlin was the only survivor and everyone called it a miracle. No one could ever catch the bastards that did it because no one knew that that ship had sunk also, and here he was guarding the waters where the poachers were prevalent with an old scow that could fall apart if someone farted to big. The other 10 crewman were at least competent and each one knew what the others did so he at least had a tight crew. The ship had been outfitted with two 5”x38 guns and two forward torpedo launchers so he felt somewhat secure if they were to be attacked by the poachers. However He and Devlin had inspected the bow plates and knew that they could not withstand much more without falling apart. The north seas were and could be very dangerous this time of year so he had asked for assignments to the lower seas and was given the go ahead.

They had just crossed the 172 degree 45’ longitude south by 13 degree 32’ latitude south when a freak storm overtook them. They managed to ride it out and entered calmer seas when they ran into a large patch of plastic debris. The ride through the storm was rough and the ship came close to capsizing. The waves were somewhere around 70 feet and the ship would climb one and then crash down on the back side. The next wave came almost too soon and the ship took a brutal pounding. Otto was very worried that the bow hull would collapse from the pounding they were receiving. Everyone’s nerves seemed to be shattered during the rough ride and when the calmer seas prevailed, everyone relaxed. Otto saw the plastic island but the ship could not be steered around it in time and glided into it. Otto had called the engine room to tell Leif to change course but that was too late so he told him to stop. Leif did not answer but Otto heard the engines shut down. The ship seemed to come to a stop quicker than normal.

Leif finally called on the intercom and told him that the screws stopped spinning and it almost caused the engines to blow before he could get them shut down. “Captain, we may have damage to the screws and the shafts are so damn hot they look almost red. I am inspecting the engines right now and will let you know if there is any damage.” The intercom went quiet and Otto walked out on the exterior bridge and looked over the side. The eeriness of it gave him the willies. The Plastic junk was thick and it did not seem to be moving. Here they were in the middle of the ocean and nothing was moving. How could that be he thought. He went back inside and called for Devlin to come to the Bridge by ship wide com. The answer was silence. He called again and this time Devlin answered. “Captain I think you should come to the forward storage compartment.” Otto swore, he had a feeling that this was not going to be good news. They had been heading for Paradise to deal with some poachers and he began to wonder it they would ever make it now.

He hurried down to the forward storage compartment and as he dropped down to the third deck passage way he met Devlin. The boy was soaked and dripping water from his clothes. Otto looked past him down the passageway and saw the watertight door closed, it had been dogged down but he could see water on the deck plates. He could see water through the glass port on the door and it was slowly rising, “SHIT, he exclaimed, what the hell happened?” Devlin was moving toward the ladder to get above and said “We need to send an SOS right now; I don’t know how much longer this baby is going to float. The forward hull has a fairly big crack in it and that compartment is flooded. I don’t think that hatch is going to hold too much longer so we need to lock all watertight hatches down between here and midships. Once the water floods the compartments halfway there this ship is going down just like the titanic did if you remember reading about that disaster?” Otto moved to him and told him to “start locking down every thing and get the crew to help. We need to get Leif and Hanz out of the engine room and get all up on the main deck. Get the captain’s skiff ready for launch and put as much in it for survival as you and the men can, I am going to the Bridge and put out the SOS. Let’s hope to heaven there is someone within distance that will hear and can get here before we sink.” Devlin took off and Otto climbed up to the main deck and once out he closed the hatch and dogged it down.

As Otto climbed through the hatch and shut it he almost fell toward the bow. He looked and noticed the bow was lower in the water. He thought maybe his imagination was running amuck but when he turned and looked aft he could see the difference. He ran to the ladders that led up to the bridge and climbed as fast as he could. Once he entered he went directly to the radio shack and began to send the SOS signals out. At least the radio still works he thought. Something shifted and he fell forward but grabbed the side of the desk and pulled himself back. He heard a faint voice on the radio but static was making it unreadable. He dialed the knob to try and get it clearer and all of a sudden it was and he heard Tom Hartwell telling him to repeat his message. Otto knew Tom and was so glad that he might be in the vicinity. He repeated his message and gave the coordinance of their location. He said that they may not have much time and were preparing to abandon ship. He then told about the island of plastic crap and no ship should enter it. He and his crew would try and get clear of it to the south. The static overtook the radio and the ship shifted again. This time he looked out toward the bow and could see the plastic crap crawling up on the main deck. He grabbed some charts and what he knew to be important for survival and headed toward the Captains skiff.

As he approached the skiff he was glad to see his entire crew. Devlin and two others were swinging the boom out with the skiff attached and were starting to lower the boat into the water or plastic crap. The boat was equipped with oars and they were going to need them to get clear of the plastic junk. To turn over a motor in this stuff was completely stupid. The skiff was almost down and they were preparing to move to get in when the ship shifted again and this time the stern came up into the air. It had cleared the surface by about 5 feet and felt like it was rising at a faster rate. Devlin cut the cables that connected the skiff to the boom and the boat dropped into the plastic. All the men hurried and got aboard and Otto was telling them to get the boat away from the ship or they would be dragged under with it. Everybody grabbed an oar and pushed the plastic aside and began to row the skiff as fast as they could. When they pushed the plastic away they could see green water. They were about 20 feet away from the ship when they heard the creaking and moaning of the midships. The paddled faster but the plastic seemed to be fighting them. 40 feet away the bow of the ship went completely under and the stern rose up. The men were frantically paddling and watching at the same time. Devlin knew that the ship was going to slide almost straight down and saw that it was very close to doing just that. They managed to get around 50 feet away when the whole stern rose up almost straight and slid in a fluid motion into the deep blue depths of the pacific ocean. The plastic that was closest went under with it and the men felt the pull which made them paddle harder. They watched in horror as the plastic around them sucked toward where the ship had just submerged. Otto looked and saw that the edge of the plastic junk was still a good hundred or two hundred yards away from them. Devlin and Leif were at the stern and had swept the plastic away enough to start the motor which shot the boat away from the wake enough so they did not have to struggle anymore. However, they had to shut it down for fear of more of the plastic getting entangled in the props. The strain of rowing against the pull of the sinking ship had exhausted the men so they all sat in the boat getting their strength back. Otto told them that he had reached a nearby ship with the SOS and was making its way to their position. “She is in the middle of that storm we suffered through so she is coming up from the south.”

[LostNFound]

“We need to paddle our way out of this junk yard, God I can’t believe that we humans have created this crap. How are you all feeling?” Devlin spoke for the men and said that they were feeling better now that the sea wasn’t pulling them anymore toward the sunken ship. “We can paddle our way toward that edge to get into clear water and hopefully that ship you reached will be here soon. I checked the distance to Paradise from our position and we do not have enough fuel to make it in this skiff. Our food and water supply is limited to 3 days only and Paradise by my reckoning is at least 2 weeks away by this boats standards. There may be land closer and the hope of reaching some place sooner is all we have other than that ship you reached.” Otto acknowledged Devlin’s SITREP and told the crew that they could rely on that ship showing up aside from some freak accident. He knew the captain and the man was known for his reliability. He would get to them; they just had to get out of this mess of plastic and perhaps wait it out as they headed south to meet the Freighter. “How many flares do we have?” He asked Devlin. “We have 4 left sir, seems that no one thought to replenish the skiff after the last time it was used.” Otto stared into the south and spoke to the men, “Okay let’s get out of this crap, Leif you have the compass and Devlin you grab the rudder. If it appears to thin out we will try the motor but I don’t want it getting fouled up.

On the good ship BESS; Tom was riding out the storm. The Radio was cackling with static when Tom heard the fading in and out of someone calling an SOS. He moved to the bridge radio and dialed the frequency knob to get a better signal. The static cleared for a short space and he heard Otto Slovak’s voice loud and clear calling out an SOS. The coordinance numbers were dropping off and then coming back in. He picked up the mic and began calling back and asking Otto to come again with his coordinance. Bess was taking water over her bow as she navigated the huge waves. The up and down motion was playing havoc with his passengers he was sure but all he could do at this moment was hold course to get past this storm. The radio continued to cackle in and out but all of sudden there was a clear patch and Tom managed to converse with Otto clearly and get the coordinance. Otto sounded relieved but Tom could hear the urgency in his voice and told him that he was changing his course and headed his way. “We should reach you in a few hours so hold on the best you can.” He heard Otto say something and then the radio cut out again into static and he could not get it back. He rang the engine room and told Jock Warner to change course and gave him the coordinance. “We must stay on this forward movement for just awhile longer until this storm moves away. I will tell you when to shift toward the Northeast so hang on for now. Jock acknowledged and Tom continued his battle to keep the ship from overturning.

Sven Lowell the executive officer for Tom came onto the bridge, he was soaking wet from checking on the cargo containers that was secure on the main deck. As he moved to the forward area of the bridge Tom told him that one of Neptune’s Navy’s fleet, “The Last Bastion” was in trouble and they would be changing course to rendezvous with them to rescue its crew. “The Last Bastion was an old girl who had taken one too many hits in its time from torpedoes fired by whaling poachers and it had weakened her bow. Her Captain has sent out a distress call and says that the ship is taking on water through the bow. I know this is out of our way but we have never refused help to anyone out here.” Sven shook his head but asked the question of whether or not they would have enough fuel to steam north and then back to Paradise? “These co ordinances look to be taking us at least a hundred miles off course which could cause us to be stranded before we can reach Paradise.” Tom knew the risk but he would not ever leave someone stranded even if he might be stranded himself, besides he had a good radio and could always call the Maritime security for assistance.

BESS held strong through the storm and an hour later was beginning to move into calmer, quiet waters. She changed course and powered full steam to the ailing ship but BESS’s troubles were not over, she was entering a zone that was filled with plastic debris. Tom gave the order to full stop before entering that hazardous area. It was hard to see the sinking vessel for the floating debris that surrounded it. Tom had to think quickly. He needed someone to get to the top of the mast and take a look. He thought hard. What creature did they have on this ship that was light enough to climb to the top of one of the masts but intelligent enough to be able to detect a sinking ship in all this rubble?

He directed the crew to stand by with life boats and keep a sharp eye for anyone in the water. He then stood and took himself down into the hold of the ship. 10 minutes later, a little lemur with excellent vision and a natural sailor was sent to the top of one of three masts to locate the sinking ship or any men in the water. The smart little lemur screeched and William interpreted.

The rowboat was spotted by the little lemur. It contained all 12 crew members of The Last Bastion. Johansson Graythorn was sitting in the bow of the skiff with a pair of powerful binoculars when he saw the ship steam over the horizon. He called to Otto who was taking inventory of their limited supplies. “Captain, there is a ship heading for us, it just crossed the horizon and now appears to be slowing, could this be that captain you told us about?” Otto moved forward and took the glass from Johansson and looked at the ship. “That surely looks like Tom’s ship, every body get to paddling we still have around 50 yards to get out of this mess.” He looked again and the freighter had slowed to a full stop. It was hanging around 400 yards away from the plastic island. “Okay lets go he is going to stay well away from this junk so it is up to us to get beyond it” Something blocked the sunlight and the men turned around and saw the whale as it breeched the surface. Oh Shit, was all that Otto had time for when the big blue slammed back into the water.

[LostNFound]

The 50 tonne blue whale had come from deep down in the water to gain the momentum it needed to breech. The little lemurs screech of instructions became shrieks of excitement, the whale was breaching right up behind the rowboat. The shrieks of excitement turned to shrieks of consternation, for all he could see was a large wall of water from the impact of 50 tonnes of blue whale hitting the water. Meanwhile, the rowboat was sucked beneath the waters. Plastic bottles and debris flew threw the air and the island was cleared. The rowboat was not the only thing to be sucked into the water by the reentry of the whale. The waters were a roiling mass where the 50 tonne behemoth had sounded and displaced the surface and Otto and his eleven other ship mates were also plunged into the cool dark waters.

As Otto quickly descended, he found himself close to the leviathan. Fearful and yet fascinated, he could see its belly. It was lined and barnacled. Lungs full to bursting; he kicked his way back up to the top and at last broke the surface. Devlin was not as lucky as Otto; his head hit the rowboat as it rose to meet him with a sickening thud. All went black. He was catapulted into the water and disappeared. Other heads had now bobbed to the surface and were attempting to turn the rowboat over that had popped back upside down. A swift headcount by Otto revealed that Devlin was missing. Otto took one sharp deep breath and duck dove back into the water to see if he could find Devlin. Otto’s eyes burned with the seawater but the desire to find his friend was greater than the pain. The waters were now calm and clear and he could see Devlin slowly drifting up to the surface at a distance some 30 meters away. He was face down, wearing a lifejacket and he wasn’t moving. It was a bad sign. Otto’s adrenaline kicked in and he now swam furiously towards Devlin.

On the freighter’s mast the little lemur was carrying on with continuous screeches and shrieks. Will read the words that the crew was in the water and trying to turn the skiff back over, he could only count 10 as one had gone under. Tom was yelling at the men around the lifeboat to get it into the water immediately. The lifeboat hit the surface and three men jumped into the water and got aboard very quickly. The motor started and the boats bow jumped up and forward as it turned sharply and headed directly toward the men and the capsized skiff. When the lifeboat reached the 100 yard mark from the survivors the plastic debris could be see floating and bobbing in sparse patches. Tim harden was steering the boat and told the other two to keep a close eye on the debris, “I don’t want to foul the prop up” The two men acknowledged and both were looking over the port and starboard sides of the bow as they slowly approached the survivors. The wake of the whale’s sounding had left patches of clear water and Tim was navigating those as best as he could.

Otto reached Devlin and pulled him to the surface as best he could. He was looking up and could see the mass plastic floating just above. He hit the bottom of the junk and could not make it move so he could get Devlin to the surface. He turned himself around and started to kick with his feet. He knew that he was running out of air and he dare not think that Devlin’s head injury could be fatal. He knew that Devlin could not drown. The kicking motion was wearing him out and his air was just about gone when the big blue slid by him and once more breeched the water. He and Devlin were dragged up with the whale as she left the surface and then began to fall back. Otto took a huge breath of air as he and Devlin flew up above the junk. The 50 tonnes of blue slammed back into the ocean as she sounded again. He had a tight grip on Devlin’s chest as they both fell back into the water that was clear of the debris. The big blue had created a sort of hole in the water as she went under and Otto was afraid that he and Devlin would be dragged back under also. He took another deep breath expecting to be dragged down at least 30 feet. Preparing to force air into Devlin both men were covered with the water again. He still pulled Devlin close and was going to breathe air into his lungs when something grabbed him and pulled him to the surface. All he could do was gasp for more air as his head cleared the surface. Devlin’s head was lolling over to one side and he propped it up. It was then that he saw the back fins of the Dolphins circling around him and Devlin.

Johansson was yelling at him. He was disoriented at first and finally moved his head around and saw his crew setting atop the capsized skiff. They were about 50 feet from him so he started to dog paddle with his loose arm toward the boat. His strength was depleted and his effort was not getting him to move much. Holding onto Devlin was keeping him from making any headway. The water was clear around them but he began to fail from fatigue and the cold. He started to tell Johansson that he could not make it when he and Devlin began to move through the water. He rose with Devlin in his arm and then became aware of the Dolphins supporting him and Devlin as they moved toward the capsized boat.

Tim and his crew were making slow progress toward the survivors and had cut their distance down to around 50 yards when the big blue whale breeched about 50 or 60 feet from the capsized boat. They watched as two men came up with her and were flung to the side as she twisted and fell back into the water. Both men hit the water and went back under with the sounding of the big blue. The wall of water spread out and hit the capsized boat and knocked some of the men off of it. By the time it reached Tim and his crew the lifeboat road over the top and back down into the calm. The ripples spread out in rings and they all could see the plastic crap being broke up somewhat. Tim pulled the bull horn up and spoke to the men on the floating hull. “Are there any injured and what about those two men that came up with that big blue?” He saw one man waving and he could just barely hear him saying that they were all okay except for the captain and Devlin. He looked through his binoculars and saw the two men in the water all of a sudden pop back up and they seemed to be struggling to make it toward the Hull where the others were. The next thing he saw made him laugh with joy. The two men began to rise out of the water and swiftly move like a speed boat toward the capsized boat. He knew it was Dolphins because he had been saved the same way once and from that time on he made friends with those folks. He even learned how to talk with them. He watched the two men arrive at the boat and the men on it helped drag both men up onto the hull. They were within 30 feet when Will, that young man that was with the animals, was all of sudden standing on the boat. He watched him pick up one of the men that appeared to be injured very badly and then just disappear. It was the strangest thing he had ever seen but he knew that the folks on the ship were different. He had heard about wonderful things happening in Paradise where they were heading and magical things happening on the main land of America. The lifeboat reached the hull and all the men got on board. They all helped turn the boat around and grabbed the paddles that were available and began to paddle their way out of the plastic crap. The stuff had been broken up somewhat with the big blue breeching and as they moved closer to the edge where they could be in clear water they saw the blue whale breach again through the plastic and it seemed that she was doing her best to break up the island of junk.

[LostNFound]

8 DEVLIN

When Devlin was born his mother was an aquatic marine biologist and had him in the water with the Dolphins. This birth was the same as Hava’s only a few years before her birth. Hanna Walker worked for the Naval Oceanographic research center in San Diego and spent her time studying Dolphins for the Navy. The Navy at that time were experimenting with dolphins to make them some sort of weapon. The Navy wanted her and a team of other scientists to create Human soldiers that could live under the water like the dolphins. She rebelled against the idea of creating war machines but kept doing her studies to keep close to the dolphins. She wanted to create something that would save them and then one of the scientists actually came up with a formula to make a potion that could be digested by a human to make them grow gills like the dolphins. Nathan Reitz had only created enough of the potion for one test trial so one night she worked late in the lab and took the potion herself. She then destroyed the research and left the facility. Her husband was a captain and his ship was on the other side of the world. He had been gone for two months and she had become pregnant with child. She did not tell him at the time and was waiting for him to communicate with her. The act of destroying the formula and all research and taking the only prototype was treasonous and she knew they would kill her and the child that was growing in her belly.

She reached their home and packed what she thought she would need and made here way to Brazil in South America. She knew that she could not contact her husband because both of them would be killed then. She left a letter in a place where she knew he would find it, explaining all that she had accomplished and told him to not look for her. She told him that she loved him and always would and told him about the child. She then said that she would some how find him in the future when things had possible calmed down from what she had done. She disappeared into the wilds of Brazil along the eastern coast and when it was time to have her baby, a close family of villagers rowed her out into the warm waters off the coast where a large school of Dolphins could be seen and she climbed into the water. The Dolphins seemed to read her mind and feelings and gathered around her as she began to birth her child. The dolphins pulled her under the surface and she discovered she could breathe under the water. The time she spent in her pregnancy had produced the results of her taking the potion and she grew gills. She became very concerned that her baby would drown at birth but the dolphins were playing and would not let her surface. The baby flowed smoothly from the birth canal and she held him close. She then noticed that he was breathing comfortably and he also had gills. Her joy was overwhelming and one rather big dolphin came close and she could hear in her mind that she wanted to take the baby for a ride. She gently held him out and the mother dolphin moved under him and he rested on her back. The baby naturally grabbed a hold of her fin and off she went. Hanna watched with glee as the mother moved around and baby Devlin hung on. It appeared that he was laughing with joy.

After the birth and welcome by the dolphins the mother brought the baby back and he held out his arms and moved to Hanna. She pushed her way to the surface and heard a cacophony of screeches and crying from the villagers. They pulled her and the baby into the boat and wrapped them in blankets. She lived in the village while Devlin grew until he was close to seven years. He would go out into the ocean with her and they would spend hours and sometimes days with the dolphins.

Forrest Walker did not get home to San Diego until a year after Hanna had disappeared. He had been notified and then questioned and even interrogated. The NIS threatened him a number of times but being a captain on a nuclear cruiser helped somewhat. When he finally did get back to his home he had to hide out because he was being watched night and day. It was July of 2018 and he was going to retire from the Navy the very next year. He had spent time reminiscing about Hanna and their life together and knew that she would try to leave a message of some kind to tell her side of the story. The NIS told him that she had murdered 5 scientists and absconded with very high top secret research and branded her a murderer and traitor. He could not believe that so he spent days wandering around the house thinking of where he might find a message from her. When he first came home and walked through the door the place was a mess. Some one else had already been looking for anything they might find. It took him a month to clean the place up to just be able to set comfortably. His mind was lost and he could not seem to do anything except drink and once in awhile eat something.

He had been home for 3 months when something clicked in his brain and he wandered out to the green house in the back yard. He looked around before entering to see if anyone might be watching him. There was an enclosed shed attached to the greenhouse and he entered into it. He knew that he could be watched and surveyed from anywhere but thought to make sure that he was not doing something suspicious. He flipped the light on in the shed and moved to the empty flower pots that were stacked at the back wall. He started to pick them up one at a time and examine the bottoms. It was the 7th one he picked up that had a small patch of tape on the bottom. He carefully peeled the tape away and found the hand written letter that had been neatly folded into a small enough form to be taped to the bottom of the pot. When he opened the letter up and read it his eyes watered up. He found out that he was a father. He found out just exactly what had caused his wife to do what she did and he was given a ray of hope of seeing her again although he did not know when that might be. After the reading he took out his lighter that he always carried for emergencies and burned the letter into one of the pots. Once he was sure there was not anything that could be read or reconstructed, he took some potting soil and filled the pot and moved it out into the greenhouse and transplanted a small tomato plant into it. He then turned the water on and watered the entire greenhouse before going back to the house. The next day he filed his resignation with the Navy department. He spent a week getting all his affairs in order and put the house up for sale. Two weeks later he received his discharge papers with paper work to fill out for his measly pension. One day after that he got an offer on the house and within 1 month he had to move. He packed what he thought to be necessary and wrote a note to the new owners that everything in the house was theirs. Three days earlier he had bought a one way ticket to Anchorage Alaska and was going to join a new company calling itself Neptune’s Navy. He walked out and never looked back.

The next year, Washington DC was nuked and a puny politician was able to take control of the country calling himself the new emperor. Hanna and Devlin were still in Brazil and Forrest was captaining a small ship that was big enough for a 15 man crew. The job was to patrol the waters to guard against whale poachers. Forrest kept his mind occupied doing this job and had success in keeping the poachers under control. Five years later a small gift arrived on the front door of his cabin that he owned out side of Anchorage. Forrest was just sitting down to eat his dinner when a knock on the back door startled him. Very few people would knock on that door and this time of day was very odd for that to happen. He pulled his small pistol from its holster that he wore all the time these days and moved to the rear door. He stopped and asked who was there? He did not hear an answer but another knock resounded. He slowly moved to the side window of a bump out and peered through the curtain. Standing at the door was a small boy with a day pack on his back. He had a warm jacket on and a watch cap on his head. Forrest was confused at first but his wits took hold and he went to the door and opened it.

The little boy looked up at him and smiled. “My name is Devlin and I have a message for you.” Forrest stared and asked “where did you come from boy?” The boy just looked at him with the smile and said “I come from Brazil.” Forrest looked in astonishment and finally unlocked the screen door and opened it. “Come in here and tell me where your parents are at this time of the evening.” The boy turned and looked into the back yard, “here is my mother and you are my father.” Forrest looked up and a bundled up woman stood just beyond the bright light. She had a scarf wrapped around her lower face and he could not see her very well. He pushed the screen door open further and said “If you two need a place to stay for the night and some warm food you are more than……….Wait what did you just say?” The woman spoke and said “Forrest, are you going to keep us out here all night?” Something welled up in Forrest; he had not heard that voice for 8 long years. “Hanna, is that really you?” “Yes my love it is really me and this young man is your son.” “Now if it pleases you may we come in, it is quite cold out here and we are hungry. Forrest fell out of the door and rushed to Hanna and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her back toward the house and gathered the little boy and held him close as he tried to back peddle to the house. He had tears running from his eyes and they threatened to freeze in the cold night air. Hanna pushed him and said “let’s get inside before we all freeze to death and I don’t want anyone seeing us here.”

Once inside Forrest made more food and they all sat down to eat. The conversation was scarce while they ate and then they moved to the fireplace in the living area. “Where have you been all these years?” “We have lived in South America.” The conversation lasted way into the night and Devlin had fallen asleep on the rather large couch close to the fireplace. Forrest had fetched some blankets and a pillow and stoked the fire and he and Hanna moved into the open kitchen area and talked about all the things each of them had been doing and had done in the past 8 or so years. They both had worn themselves out and finally they got up and climbed the stairs and went to bed. The next mid morning when they woke it was a wonder that they both smelled the coffee and breakfast cooking. Forrest rolled out of the bed and dressed himself and headed toward the kitchen area. On the steps he watched as the boy was cutting up the fixings to add to a giant omelet. He watched him cut mushrooms and peppers and dice the onions and garlic. He then saw the boy expertly break the eggs and get them started while he was putting the bread in the toasters, Forrest thought, this young boy could be a great chef some day. He spoke from the balcony and said “I am sorry there is no meat; I stopped eating that a few years ago although my crew eats fish and fowl.” Devlin turned and said “That’s okay Mother and I do not eat meat either, is she up yet, this stuff is going to be ready shortly and the coffee is ready to drink if you want some.” Forrest turned to go and see if Hanna was up but she was standing in the doorway to the bedroom and smiling. “My little chef, I have to tell you that I eat like a queen when there is food to be cooked.”

Breakfast was a delight and once again the conversation was full of memories. Devlin cleaned up the dishes and poured more coffee for everyone and then went to the area were the televid was and began watching. Forrest had watched the boy perform the basics of cooking and cleaning and was amazed that such a young boy could do things that most adults could not or would not do unless forced. “Hanna, how is it that Devlin can do all of this already in his youth.” Hanna told him that Devlin had grown up so far in a village where all the people were very loving and these simple tasks of life were always taught to the children from early on. He then asked Hanna how they had found him and how they had traveled to get here. She looked at him with a smile and said that she had friends in the water that found you and told us. “As for getting here that took some time but we traveled by boat.” Forrest finally said that he had to go back to work the next day and asked if she and Devlin had any thing they needed to be moved in. Hanna did not reply about that but did say that she must not be seen by anyone at the moment. “I am still being searched for even after the past 7 years and if I am spotted here they, The Government, would just as soon kill me and anyone else that might be associated with me. I am not sure that you are still being watched but I would not bet my life on it and I don’t think you should either.”

Forrest had seen the signs of being followed and had even noticed the long coats, as he called them, hanging around in the places where he hung out mostly. Down at the docks there always seemed to be one of those black cars parked somewhere close to the ship. The old coast guard cutter was mostly his home and these two days that he had off was few and far between for him in these times. “So we have to keep you hidden for now.” Hanna looked at him and said “Forrest, I am not going to be able to stay, I will not jeopardize you and Devlin.” Forrest looked at her with a surprise on his face and looked over at Devlin. “What do mean me and Devlin?” She looked over at Devlin also and said “I have to leave him here with you; it has become quite dangerous for him to be with me any longer. The Government does not know that I ever had a child so he should be safe with you. You can say that you are watching him for awhile for a friend that has to be somewhere or something. Take him on your ship and make him a cabin boy, he is very good on the sea and as you have seen he could be a cook for your crew.” Forrest did not know what to say, his mind was reeling with feelings of losing her again. She could see his hurt and trepidation of her going away again. She reached over and put her hands on his face and came close and kissed him. “Forrest, I will always love you but we fell away from each other when I made that decision to stop the Navy from killing Dolphins and creating super soldiers mixed with them.” “You don’t have to leave, I can find another job or not and we can find a place to live that cannot be found by the long coats.”

[LostNFound]

“No Forrest both of us know that these people will never give up, I took something from them that made them loose face and the Emperor knows about it and he will never give up either. I have something to show you” and with that she stood and pulled a scarf away from her throat. Forrest gasped as he saw the gill slits on both sides of her throat. “How……” “I took the only experimental potion that was created and destroyed there research. The one scientist, Nathan Reitz that created the stuff was killed in a car accident the next day and he took the formulas with him to his grave. That is why they branded me a murderer. The traitor part I could accept because I did take a very secret project.” So by the time I arrived in South America the changes to my body were happening. I had our son in the ocean and the dolphins knew. I could breathe under water and when Devlin came out he could also breathe underwater. He was born with gills and the dolphins adopted him as one of them.”

Forrest and Hanna spent the rest of that day talking and relaxing. Devlin watched the Televid and saw all the bad things that were happening around the world. The year 2024 had become quite the nightmare and the police/military state was in full bloom. The next morning Forrest awoke and Hanna was not in the bed. He hurriedly got up and rushed down to the Kitchen area. Devlin was making breakfast and the coffee was hot. He asked where Hanna had got off to. “She went back home.” “Where is Home?” Devlin turned around from the stove and said “the ocean.” Forrest had to sit down. Devlin had stirred the eggs again and pour a cup of coffee for his father and brought it to the table. After fetching the plate of eggs and some fresh fruit, he sat down and began to eat. Forrest pushed his food around on the plate and had tears in his eyes. “Mama told me to say this to you father, you must not call me your son and you must never tell anyone that I have gills like the fish. I am supposed to call you Captain and if anyone asks me where I come from I am suppose to tell them that my Father and Mother are in one of the skirmishes in the Middle East and you are watching me until they return.” Forrest acknowledged what he would have to do. Hanna had born and raised the child for 7 years and now he would have to take over and raise him until he was his own man. He finally began to eat and after breakfast he told Devlin to grab some warm clothes and bring his pack. He also said “always keep the neck warmer or that Turtle neck sweater on to cover your gills. Today I will introduce you to my crew as our new cabin boy and tell them that you will be with us until your parents come back from the skirmish in the Middle East.”

For the next 5 years Devlin grew and learned everything about the ship. He was the cook and the crew grew to love him as one of their own. At 12 years old he stood close to 5’-6” tall and the men thought he was going to be a giant when he reached his manhood age. One day Forrest told his crew that Devlin’s parents had been killed by the so called insurgents of the country they were fighting in. He also told them that he intended to adopt Devlin as his son. The Crew had already adopted him as one of their own and was very happy that Forrest was going to become an adopted father to him. The process took almost a year to complete the adoption because there were no records of the people and their deaths and definitely none about a child. Forrest had to make up his own papers and forge signatures and finally he was rewarded with becoming the adopted father. The ship pulled into the port of Nome one day and the entire crew went ashore and celebrated.

In the year 2032 on the 30th of May, the good ship Yuma was cruising in the lower North seas guarding against poachers that had been spotted in the waters. The whales were running thick in pods this time of the year and Forrest and his crew were the only ones this far south. Devlin had just turned 15 and was on watch. He was the first one to spot the poachers and they were running one of the old Navy destroyers that had been rigged with the big harpoon on the bow and he could see the torpedo tubes on the sides. He gave the all hands on deck warning and relayed the information to the bridge through the onboard intercom. Forrest and his exec Yanse Hoffman both looked through the binoculars and saw the ship approaching a pod of whales. They knew that there were females that were pregnant and these poachers did not care. All they wanted was the blubber and other parts that would net them plenty of money. Forrest gave the go ahead to the engine room “all ahead full, bring us to 25 degrees North by 45 minutes North West and pursue. The ships General quarter’s alarms sounded and she turned into the head wind and made way toward the poachers.

On board the poacher’s vessel Captain Yang sounded his own alarm and told the crew to prepare the torpedos. He had loaded a full compliment of them just before they left port that morning. That gave him 6 fully loaded tubes. He watched the smaller Coast guard ship head directly toward his ship. He gave the order to swing to the starboard and switch back toward the port as they reached a broadside of the cutter. He meant to sink this bastard and then take his fill of the whales. The Destroyer was faster in the water with its bigger engines but the cutter could maneuver quicker. So when Forrest realized what the poacher was doing he swung the cutter into their turn to keep his bow in line with any torpedo that could be launched his way. The only thing he did not know was how many they had. When Yang saw the cutter start to turn into him he told the engine room promptly to swing to the port and then told the torpedo crews to be ready to fire. The destroyer swung around quicker than Forrest thought they could and then he saw the torpedoes in the water headed straight for his ship.

The cutter was still turning when the first torpedo hit the bow. He saw Devlin thrown over the side and screamed “NO” he then ordered the front gun crew to fire and the forward double 5”x 38’s pumped two rounds out and toward the destroyer. The second torpedo hit amidships and a large hole was blown in the side. The gun crew pumped two more rounds toward the destroyer and they both made contact on the forward bow. When they hit, the torpedo’s that were still on board blew up and the entire front bow from midships blew into the air with fire and roiling black smoke. Forrest watched from the smoking bridge, as it was on fire, the entire destroyer’s front half raise and shatter into pieces. Then he saw the middle of the ship explode into one big fireball and new that it was going down and pretty quick. The third torpedo that had been launched made contact on the stern of the Yuma and blew half of it up. Forrest gave the abandon ship order and made his way toward the side. He meant to jump and just as he did another explosion happened from the engines below and a large piece of steel caught him in the side as he fell into the water. When he hit the water everything went black. He went under and then opened his eyes one last time and saw Devlin swimming toward him. He thought he saw Hanna also but then he expired and left the corporeal world.

Devlin stopped his fathers decent but realized that his spirit was no longer residing in the fleshy body. His mother came up along side and held him while they let Forrest go and the body descended to the deep. The ship sank quickly and the entire crew went to Davy Jones locker. The Destroyer also blew into pieces and sank even more quickly. There were no survivors on that ship either. Hanna took Devlin to a place just off shore and told him to wait with the family for about a day before crawling up on shore at a certain place where he would be found. He did so and when he was found he was taken to a hospital and treated for shock and extreme thermal exposure. He was afraid that they would see his gills so when the first doctor began to exam him he did see the gills and Devlin told him to not mention that fact to anyone. The doctor was a good man and part of a patriot movement so he kept the secret and helped Devlin get through the few days he was in the hospital and then released him. The news wires were full of the incident at sea but no one really knew what had happened so they made up their own stories. Two weeks later he hired on with the Last Bastion and then there was the incident with poachers again and he saved the ship and then Otto Slovak became the Captain and he was made the Executive officer.

Will stood on the main deck of Bess and watched as Tim and his crew skipped through the water toward the survivors. It seemed that a crowd of folks were watching the progress. The animals below had settled down from the pounding that the ship took in the storm and were all resting calmly now. Will sensed that something was not quite right out in the plastic junk yard. He reached into the dream net and linked to the dreamtime where he found Nick. Nick told him that a young man by the name of Devlin had been seriously hurt when a boat had capsized. Nick then showed him a scene of the happening. Will looked on as if he was watching a video. He saw the whale shoot up from her deep sound to breech again through the plastic junk on the surface. He could see through her eyes and caught site of the boat as she shot closer to the surface. She was going to breech within a few yards of the rear of it. The scene seemed to be happening in slow motion as she shot through the surface. He fell back into an outside view and watched the boat and the men flip up into the air as the whale slammed back into the water. The boats bow went down as the stern rose up and then he saw the young man being hit on the side of his head with the railing of the boat. He was flung over the other crew members and thrown about 30 feet further before he hit the Plastic junk and then sunk below the surface. He saw another man swimming under the surface toward the injured one and watched all the scenes unfold till both men had made it back to the capsized boat.

Nick turned to him and said “That young mans destiny is in your hands from this point, He is very important to happenings in Paradise and the children need him to be there in their future. He is not the same as those other men. He is part of the sea. You must retrieve him and bring him to a dream healing center to overcome the damage to his head by that boat. The scene had disappeared as Nick spoke and Will found himself once again standing on the deck and watching the rescue attempt being made by Tim and the other two men. He saw the men get into the water and help the two that had been delivered by the Dolphins, climb aboard the hull of the capsized boat. He saw Tim’s boat getting closer to retrieve the survivors and knew at that moment that the Young man was not going to stay on this plane if he had to wait for Tim to get back to the ship.

William turned sideways and entered the universe. It was instantaneous that he came to the opening on the Hull of the boat and stepped through into the corporeal world. He picked up the young man and turned sideways again and stepped out onto the deck of the ship. He carried the man to the doorway leading to sickbay and hurried him to the compartment. The doctor that was there was preparing the sickbay to receive the survivors so when Will carried the young man in he hurried over and helped Will place him on one of the beds. He asked “where are the others?” “On their way” was all that Will said and then looked at the doctor as the man un-wrapped the neck scarf and saw the gills. “You will forget these and not say anything.” The doctor’s face went blank and he tended to Devlin’s head wound.

[LostNFound]

9 THE ORCHARDS AND VEGETABLES

Montgomery and Kalista had both been orphaned at the early age of 3 years and had been raised by a care home until they turned 10. Their parents had died in a car accident while they were on a mission for the Patriot underground. The STATE had come and taken them both and dumped them into a care home. Most of the adults were caring people but some were very mean and Montgomery and Kalista both knew that these people were hurting from pain they had received when they were young. They were born together as twins and both could read each others mind almost at birth. Within 3 months after birth they had formed a perfect communication with each other and they understood perfectly what their parents and the other people were saying. At 7 months they could read their parents minds and all the other people that came within close proximity.

At 2 years they had been walking and talking since they turned 1 year. Paul and Kathleen their parents were amazed and scared at the same time. They did not want the STATE officials knowing just how intelligent their children were so they kept them away from others as best they could. Both children knew what their parents thought and how frightened they were for them so they kept any signs of their intelligence buried when they had to be in the public.

One night, just after they had turned 3 years old, two men, a woman and a small child that was just a little older than they were, showed up at the house, in North Oskegan Wisconsin. The little girl could converse with them by telepathy and they all talked about what was happening in the world. The two men and the woman told their parents that they were needed for a very important mission and the woman and her daughter would watch the children while Paul and Kathleen were on the mission. Montgomery read the thoughts and learned that one of the men was a young lieutenant in the ARMY and he was a brilliant scientists and creator. The woman was his wife and the girl who was called Eryne, was their daughter. They were keeping that very secret. Eryne told them what was happening and to not worry. The woman whose name was Jamie was also in the ARMY and she was also a brilliant scientist. Their parents were gone for two days and returned safely. The kids got to know each other and Jamie had even conversed with them by telepathy. Montgomery and Kalista loved these people and when they left there seemed to be an empty place in their hearts.

Two weeks later, the other man showed up again and asked them to complete the mission they started a few weeks back. He said he would watch the children. Paul and Kathleen seemed a bit reluctant with that but they were true patriots to the cause so they placed the children in the hands of the man and left. Montgomery and Kalista both knew the truth of the man and knew what he was going to do as soon as their parents left. He stayed around for a few hours just to make sure that their parents would not come back to soon and told the children that he was going to go to the grocery store and get some diner for them. He never came back and the children spent 3 days by them selves before the STATE people showed up and packed them and what ever they might have up and took them to the Care Center. They spent a very rough few months adjusting to the environment and finally two Sisters that worked the Center took them under their wings and kept them safe.

When they turned 5 years old, both of them had been planting in a small garden behind their domiciliary. What ever they planted grew very quickly and it all tasted so exquisite that other children began to gather with them in the garden and Montgomery and Kalista showed them how to plant and what to do with the seeds they were given. The garden grew in size and more of them had to be created to keep from overgrowing the yards. Every one ate of the fruits and the groups of children kept growing. Some would get to old for the care center and be put out while others would be adopted by people that wanted children. The rules for age at the center were, once a child became 12 years of age they were given enough to survive for a period of 3 months on the outside and taken to a halfway house and left to their own.

On the 10th birthday of Montgomery and Kalista May, 30 2032 a man named Bill and his wife Carolyne showed up at the center and started the process of adopting them. Two weeks later they were sitting in an old gas powered van headed towards the south. It took almost 3 days for them to get to the State of Georgia and then they proceeded to take back roads until they reached a place that looked like a large gate. Bill pulled the van through it and stopped. He got out and closed the gate and they drove through an old junk yard until they reached an old garage. The children were wondering what was going to happen to them when Bill drove into that garage and they saw a swirling cloud of dust or so they thought. Bill drove right into it and they found themselves driving into a barren grass field. Bill drove the Van for awhile until they came to what looked like the beginning construction of an air field. There was one old plane sitting off to the side and a few buildings in the distance to the west of them. They had passed an old barn and Bill drove up to a little shack of some sort and told everyone they were home.