Chapter 4: Storm

[Solomoriah]

Before the Captain could reply, Chief Engineer Green broke in. "Sir, let me mention that this man here," indicating Will, "pointed a handgun at Mister Lars."

"Oh, yes, I do recall that you acquired Mister Brandon's weapon," replied the Captain. "For the safety of my crew as well as the other passengers, I must insist you turn it over to me." Captain Pelton held out his hand, smiling calmly.

[Mak]

Following their interview with Pelton, Artie bids Will a warm good night -- again -- and heads to his stateroom for some shut-eye. He can understand why the captain would be inclined to treat Will and him like a pair of errant schoolboys, but the fact was that the saboteurs -- the known saboteurs, thinks Artie, correcting himself -- were crew members and that by all appearances it was only through sheer damn luck that the ship wasn't sinking into the Atlantic right now. Under the circumstances the active intervention of passengers like themselves was something to be appreciated, one would think.

Back in his stateroom, Artie takes off his jacket and shoes and lays down. He's feeling too tired to change into his pyjamas, but he intends to shortly. All that excitement... and still, the mystery of the chanting head was unresolved. He closes his eyes and listens for the increasingly familiar deep voice...

[rredmond]

Before the Captain could reply, Chief Engineer Green broke in. "Sir, let me mention that this man here," indicating Will, "pointed a handgun at Mister Lars."

"Oh, yes, I do recall that you acquired Mister Brandon's weapon," replied the Captain. "For the safety of my crew as well as the other passengers, I must insist you turn it over to me." Captain Pelton held out his hand, smiling calmly.

OOC: Dang, but surprised I was able to hang onto it this long.

IC: "Of course Captain, the safey is on," Will says as he hands over the gun, "glad I could put it to good us in the lounge, but happy to be rid of it." Anything behind the smile? Is it just grandfatherly as is the captain's nature. Will returns to his room as well at the end of the discussion.

[Solomoriah]

Back in his stateroom, Artie takes off his jacket and shoes and lays down. He's feeling too tired to change into his pyjamas, but he intends to shortly. All that excitement... and still, the mystery of the chanting head was unresolved. He closes his eyes and listens for the increasingly familiar deep voice...

Artie walked into the lounge. For a moment, the bright sunshine flooding the windows blinded him, but then his vision cleared and saw that the lounge was nearly vacant, all the furnishings having been removed. The carpet was spotless, without any trace of the blood of the previous night.

Then Artie realized he wasn't alone. A large man, broad shouldered and powerfully built, stood looking out over the forward rail where the night before the Captain's table had been. He wore a dark suit of fine material, but his deep blond hair was thick and wild. "Come in, forgotten son," he said without turning. "Look at what awaits you."

Artie walked forward, looking out at the view ahead. Morgana was still over the ocean, but ahead lay a coastline. He could see broad valleys covered in grass and sparse trees, spread like a carpet between craggy brown mountains. Forested areas hugged the foothills of those mountains, and a wide river split the valley, draining into a large bay with several small but inviting-looking islands.

What Artie did not see was any sign of habitation. This was not England, nor the United States, so far as he could guess. Artie felt a strange, though unsupported, conviction that the ship was facing west.

Turning to the large man, Artie was startled to see that, rather than a man's face, he wore the visage of a lion. The large man smiled, at once friendly and fierce. "Yes, you are right," he replied to Artie's unasked question, "mine is one of the voices you have heard before."

"Is this the lost son?" came another voice, also deep, but harsh and strident, from behind Artie. "Truly the blood is weak."

Turning around, Artie saw a large man with dark skin, wearing the garb of an African warrior and the head of a bull. The lion-man replied, "You find him unsuitable?"

"He neither toils nor fights," replied the bull-man, contemptuously.

"He is a musician," replied the lion-man. "Such were not without honor among the People."

"Honor, perhaps," said the bull-man, unconvinced. "But honor alone will not serve him now."

"We shall see."

"Yes, brother, we shall."

Artie awoke with a start. It was all a dream? he thought. Of course it was, he tried to reassure himself.

[Solomoriah]

On his way back to the engine room, Lars encountered Chief Engineer Green in the tank room. "Here now, son, what have you been up to? Didn't I assign you to the engine room? Well, I can see that you have been hard at work, so perhaps I can overlook an unplanned break, but we'd both best get to it now. It's a long way back to England on one engine."

[Mak]

Artie looks out the window, then at his watch, to check the time. If the day has dawned, he heads out to freshen up in the W.C. and then comes back to go in search of Dr. Burton. He has some questions to ask the professor.

[Rosisha]

Rosisha nods, "Very true." He laughs, "Sorry but after the storm, the bomb, and nearly being shot, I needed a moment of calmness." He picks up his tools, "But I am ready to get back into this mess. This is what I'm thinking... {{{ at this point Lars will begin to talk about ways to repair the engines or bypass broken parts. Since this is far more technical then I personally know, I'm just talking about it in abstract here! }}} ... Thus, we can get full power back." He smiles charmingly and waits for Greens response.

While talking he will be working: cleaning, fixing, removing damaged parts to replace with fresh parts, and also cataloging the damage for reference. He also doesn't want to lecture, this would be a more jointed engineering discussion, trying to understand and repair the engines TOGETHER! Team work yay! Also, this gives Simon the opportunity to learn more about the engines for future reports to Ireland.

Finally, as they get past the "How we are going to fix the engines" and into the "fixing the engines" mood, Simon will ask after the radio, "If we could get the radio back, we could have a ship come out and meet us! It could bring us spare parts, and we could hoist them up with a rope. Maybe make a big bag with the cargo nets..." he begins to think up technical solutions that could involve relief from a boat. "But it might just be easier to come in for a landing in the Republic of Ireland if it is closer. Plenty of good manufacturers we could get engine parts from."