Tom rushed over to the broken shrimp cleaning stand that had stood tall just a few moments ago and began to dig through the rubble, his hands working quickly to free his friend. He removed a thick sheet of tin and looked down at Lee. The dock workers eyes were closed, deep groans were emitting from his mouth as he rolled back and forth on the ground. It looked like he was in a lot of pain.
“Lee, are you okay? Is anything broken?” asked Tom as he reached in and pulled the man to a sitting position, waiting for Lee to get a grip on his surroundings. The dock worker let out a few ridged coughs and cleared his throat. His head was no doubt still spinning from the massive explosion that had just occurred. Lee finally looked up at Tom, his eyes distant.
“What was that? What happened to the ship? What happened?” He said sounding a bit dazed.
Tom turned and looked down the dock at the burning, twisted boat. The thing was now sinking slowly into the port. It looked like it had been drilled straight through with a hammerhead missile. Both sides of the ship were completely blown away as if someone had taken a giant ramrod and forced it through the steel. The sound of hissing pipes could be heard from inside the main hull as it filled with seawater. It was hard to believe this contortion of metal and wood had ever been a ship, and Tom could tell that it wasn’t going to be leaving the shore anytime soon. Their plans were ruined.
“Lee, the ship doesn’t look like it’s going to be going anywhere for awhile… It’s amazing you survived the explosion like you did. You were really close to the thing when it went off. We were running to tell you that Shark Inc. might know about us and the star map. This only proves that they do; there must have been a spy or something. We were going to tell you to be careful, but it looks like it’s too late for that now.” Tom shook his head with disgust at all the mess around the shipping yard. There were pieces of the S.S. O’Mally sticking out of the cement dock while other pieces were adrift in the ocean.
Lee was at a loss for words. Everything he had worked so hard for had blown up in only a few seconds. One second it was there and the next it was a ball of fire. He lifted a shaky hand and rubbed the bottom of his scruffy jaw. His whole body felt like it had been run over by a heavy-duty tank. He gazed down at his trembling arms; blood was now seeping out of the many scratches and cuts he had obtained from the collision with the shrimp shack. Nothing appeared to be broken, though. His legs were a little bruised, but all in all, he was still in one piece.
“This is horrible, Tom… absolutely horrible,” said Lee. “How are we going to get to the island now? I worked so hard…” he trailed off.
“I know, I know. But it’s okay now. You’re safe–” Lee cut him off.
“No, it’s not okay, Tom. I worked on preparing that ship for one whole month; for one whole month I delayed other projects! All my time; all my strength went into making everything perfect for the voyage to that stupid island… and now it’s all gone… it took weeks to prepare, and someone destroyed it in seconds.”
Tom stepped back and let the dock worker stew over the chaos. Lee had every right to be upset by the setback.
“What were you doing when we arrived? It looked like you were going back to the ship for something. Did you know about the bomb?” asked Tom.
Lee let out a harsh laugh as if seeing a funny side to the tragic event.
“No. My foreman, Frank, had just mentioned someone coming by to check the engine room awhile ago, but no one is supposed to be in there. I was just going to check the engine room and then… it blew up. I would guess that whoever did this to us knew what he was doing. He must have placed the explosives right next to the fuel tanks in the hull. That was some explosion that occurred! I bet the whole northern half of Aggerton City heard it!”
“You’re probably right about where he put the bomb. That would explain why the thing is now resting on the ocean floor.” Tom said as he considered that the petrol must have enhanced the explosion and caused the sides of the ship to pop like a balloon. Tom turned and watched as Marten slowly approached. He was grabbing at his sides. He had started at a run toward the pier, like Tom, which had faded into a jog and he was finally, slowly, limping toward the end of the pier like a wounded animal.
“It’s a good thing you guys came when you did,” said Lee who was watching Marten as well. “I wouldn’t have been able to pull myself out of that wreckage.” He gritted his teeth as he tried to come to his feet, which proved to be difficult because he was pretty heavily bruised and aching all over. Tom reached out and helped him stand.
“Now we have to contact Runt and tell him about the bad news. I really thought today was going to be very different,” said Tom as he helped walk the bruised dock worker out of the debris of the demolished shrimp stand.
They waited patiently for Marten to arrive behind them. When he finally caught up to the place where they were on the dock he was completely sweaty and out of breath.
“What… happened… here? What… did you… do? Was any of the… crew… onboard… when it exploded?” asked Marten between breaths.
Lee shook his head.
“No, the crew is safe. I got a letter from Runt telling me that the trip might be delayed for another hour, or even a day.” Lee said and noticed a flicker of jealousy at the mention of a letter from their boss. Lee rolled his eyes and continued. “So, I sent them all home until we know what’s going on. Everyone should be safe. We got lucky today.”
“Lucky!” yelled Marten suddenly with a renewed energy that seemed to spring from a burst of indignation. “You call all this mess lucky? It’s a good thing those workers weren’t on that boat when it exploded! We would have lawsuits all over the place. Their families would have sucked our company dry with all the compensation pay; we would owe millions of dollars. It would have been tragic, simply tragic. Someone has to be accountable here, Lee. Do you have any idea who might have done this? You didn’t do this, did you?” Marten’s face was turning bright red which was nothing in comparison to the shade of crimson Lee’s face took on at the accusation.
“Why on earth would I blow something up that I have been working on for weeks? I was informed by my foreman, Frank, that someone came by to check the engine room. But I never scheduled someone to check the engines. Frank just led him to the ships engines and he must have planted a bomb while he was down there–”
Marten interjected quickly, the veins in his neck were bulging and his tone held a mean sarcasm. “You think he planted a bomb?” He turned to the smoldering ship in the harbor and pointed dramatically. “Well that certainly looks to me like the aftermath of a bomb! How could you let this happen, Lee!? We trusted you to look after the affairs of the ship and you let someone go and blow it up!”
Lee balled his hands into hard, round fists as his face became flat and mean. “You know nothing about the complexities of running a crew. You have no idea how it is, having to be responsible for every seemingly insignificant detail, making sure every worker is doing their fair share and to the best of their abilities. Having to know where they are at all times, and only being able to be in one place at once. I’m responsible, that’s why I was in charge of this. Runt would never trust you to be in charge of anything this important!” Marten’s face grew redder, if it were possible. Lee had struck a chord with his last sentence.
“He trusted me enough to put me in charge of examining the star map!”
“And look what you did! You tried to destroy it!” Lee spat back.
Tom could feel the tension rising and knew someone was going to swing a punch soon if something wasn’t done. He quickly stepped between the two men and held his hands out to separate them.
“Marten, calm down this isn’t–”
“Oh shut up, Tom, we’re not some of your students getting into a fight over a girl at school,” barked Lee loudly from behind. “We don’t need you to fight our battles. I’ve done nothing wrong here. I did my very best in preparing this ship for departure today. If Marten wants a fight with me, we’ll fight. I’ll beat the living crap out of him. What can the fat man do besides eat and complain?”
Marten’s face became one of complete rage and without another word, he pushed Tom out of the way and charged at the dock worker with a manic growl but Lee was prepared and swung his fist toward the fat man with all his strength. The both of them toppled over onto the ground, throwing wild punches at each other. Tom watched impatiently as they kicked and yelled angrily. The whole scene looked completely pathetic. Here they were, standing on a desolate dock on the outskirts of Aggerton City, fighting with each other over a wrong that was done to them by someone else’s hand entirely.
Tom scrambled over to the quarrelling men and, placing a foot on Marten’s back, kicked him off of Lee. The chubby man rolled a few times before lying flat on his back and looking skyward, panting heavily. Lee sat up and rubbed his neck where Marten had just been trying to get his chubby, but short, fingers around.
“You’re not like high school students? You’re right, you’re worse! You’re acting like children! None of us is to blame for this mess yet we’re sitting here punishing each other for what someone else has done to us! The real criminal is still out there, and we don’t need to be a man short because one of us has killed him off!”
Marten and Lee both looked surprised at Tom’s outburst. They had never seen him speak with authority before. He had always been a quiet, well mannered man.
“I suppose you’re right, Tom…” said Marten, returning to his usual pompous self. He lifted himself into a seated position and his hands came to the black tie around his neck as he began to adjust it. “We are acting like kids. We should know better. I’ll be the bigger man here; I apologize! It won’t happen again!”
Lee looked at the fat man blankly. He rolled his eyes heavily.
“WE are acting like kids? You’re the one getting on my case about the ship exploding. You’re the kid here, not me!”
Tom, sensing another brawl, interjected quickly.
“Let’s just figure something out, besides yelling at each other. This whole arguing thing is not cutting it.” He turned to Marten and held out his hand expectantly. “Let me see your cell phone.”
The fat man looked reluctant.
“Why do you want my phone?”
Tom threw up his arms in frustration and motioned to all the burning debris around the dock. He looked sardonically back down at Marten.
“Why do you think I need the cell phone, Marten? Could it be that our ship was just obliterated right before our eyes? Could it be that we no longer have solid plans for departure? Could it be that another company might get to the island before us?”
Marten shifted uneasily on the ground at Tom’s unkind words.
“You don’t need to be so rude, Tom. It was just a question.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone and handed it to Tom. Tom took it from him and walked down the dock, his mind still brewing with annoyance and frustration. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the letter that Runt had left him. He opened it and dialed the number written at the bottom of the yellow page. The speaker rang and after a few moments of no one picking up, it went to Runt’s voice mail.
“Hi, you have reached Runt F. Presto. I cannot come to the phone right now. I am probably busy with–”
Tom hung up. He lifted a hand and ran it through his brown hair and, letting out a heavy sigh, he turned around. Lee and Marten were now coming to their feet. They were in the process of brushing themselves off when he spoke to them.
“It looks like we might have to wait for a response!”
“Who did you call?” asked Lee.
Tom looked down at the phone.
“I called Runt to see if there is anything he wants us to do here before we go.” He looked back up and frowned. “I can’t get a hold of him.”
Marten laughed slightly.
“Runt is always leaving his phone around. He probably left it in the office again. He does that with me sometimes.”
“What do we know?” asked Lee.
Tom shrugged.
“I don’t know what Runt wants. He has been planning for this trip for a long time. Now it’s… over, I guess. Someone else will get the prize and the fame; and we will get the shaft!”
“Do you still have the star map with you, Tom?” asked Lee quickly. There was some concern in his voice.
“Yes. I have it with me.”
“Then all isn’t lost,” Marten chimed in. “We can still be the first. Shark Inc. doesn’t have the directions. No one does but us!”
Tom ignored the optimism and looked at the ground. He really wanted to leave today and find the island, now it seemed that they would have to wait another month or so before the next time came around. There has to be some way to get going again, thought Tom. We have to leave today!
The company went silent, giving Tom the opportunity to turn around and look at the peaceful shore, studying it for a bit. He was about to speak up again when he spotted a lone figure biking along the boardwalk near the docks. The man was dressed in a black suit and appeared to be pedaling quickly. Tom watched as the reflectors on the bikes pedals shimmered in the morning sunlight. The man turned onto dock 49 and headed straight for the company.
“What in the blazes is that man doing?” asked Marten as he walked up to Tom.
“It looks like a biker. We get them out here every so often,” said Lee with a yawn, stretching his sore limbs. “They ride out here to see the sun come up over the sea. It’s common to see them going up and down the boardwalk.”
Tom turned to the both of them and smiled. He spoke with excitement.
“It’s Runt. He’s here!”
Marten was amazed at the news.
“On a bike? Runt came on a bike… and in a nice suit too. What is he thinking? ”
This information surprised even Lee; the dock worker had only seen the president of Scar Co. drive a fancy car. It was definitely a change from the usual meetings they had in the past. There had to be something behind it all.
Runt stood up on the bike pedals and waved to everyone. He called out as he got closer to them and slowed the bike down.
“It’s good to see that everyone is all right and accounted for. I have some terrible news!”
Runt stopped the bike right in front of the men and got off, putting down the kick stand and walking over to the small company. His face was beaded with sweat and dirt. He looked as if he had just biked a marathon.
“Runt, why the devil did you take a bike? This is so unorthodox for you. What happened? What is going on?” asked Marten pressingly.
Runt frowned.
“A lot is going on. I came as quickly as I could. I met with Mr. Edmonds at Shark Inc. I asked him a few probing questions to see how much he knew about the map. Apparently he already knows about our trip to the island. He was very straight forward with me on that matter. He told me that he plans to be the first on the island. No doubt he had been doing some snooping around; probably got his drones to do information gathering. My guess is that he got his regional manager ‘Ruler’ to do the dirty work for him!”
“That is just like Ruler and Mr. Edmonds! They would send spies to find out our business; they’re sneaky little snakes. Why don’t they make their own discoveries instead of stealing others? It’s appalling to even think about!” Marten paused; he looked over to the bike. “Why did you come by bike, Runt?”
Runt shook his head with frustration.
“I took a bike because someone had slashed my tires while I was in the meeting with Mr. Edmonds. It was a childish thing to do, but I think that they hired someone to do it. I bought this sturdy thing off a man at the bus station. He thought I was crazy but I had to get here as quickly as possible just in case something went wrong. Did you all get my letters I sent?”
Everyone nodded, except for Marten.
“I sent you those letters because I wanted you to be aware of the problem we face. I didn’t want delays to occur today, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. When Shark Inc. plans sabotages they go all out. We have to be careful, and we have to leave for the island now! I think Mr. Edmonds is planning to go as well to find the island. We need to call the crew!” Runt shifted his gaze from the company. He looked out over the port with puzzlement. A few things were still burning. “Where did my ship get off to? Did someone steal it?”
The company looked at each other and then at the debris covering the dock and distant beach. The small group became very still and uneasy so Tom decided to speak up.
“Well, Runt, you’re not going to believe this but your ship sort of blew up and sank to the bottom of the port. We think it might have been the same people at Shark Inc. that did it; although we aren’t entirely certain about that…”
“It was them, Runt,” said Marten with determination. “I know it was them! They would do something like this.”
Runt looked like someone had punched him in the gut. He stared at the empty dock with a hollow expression. He shook his head with amazement.
“Oh my, goodness! What a tragedy! My boat gone; sunk in the sea? I feel by the time we get everything worked out again it will be over. Mr. Edmonds will have made our discovery. If we were to be the first we needed to leave now; that or at least within the week.”
“There’s got to be a way for us to still go. Shark Inc. can prepare all they want but they still don’t have the map. I have that on me right now,” said Tom. “There’s got to be another ship, Runt. Don’t you have one?”
“No, I don’t,” said Runt softly. “My ships are either out to sea or being loaded with something else. Oh… not to mention a few are having repairs done. It would be impossible to set anything up at this point. I have other investments to look after as well!”
The company became quiet, their minds stirring with a hundred different thoughts.
“I think I can help…” said Lee reluctantly.
Everyone looked over to the dock worker.
“How can you help?” asked Runt firmly. “What can you do? Do you have a boat ready for us?”
Lee shook his head.
“No, I don’t have a boat ready for us, but I do know someone who does; my uncle Tash. He lives in South Bay by the docks there. He has been shipping things over the three seas for some time. He could whip something together for a small company like us if we asked. We could be gone by the end of this week if everything goes well, probably not with a massive crew like we planned. It would only be us and whoever he would want to bring with him. But the main point is that we would be the first on the island.”
“That is amazing, Lee! I never knew you had an uncle in the shipping business. What does he move?” asked Runt.
Lee shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m not entirely sure what he moves. But this I do know; he is successful at what he does. He owns a very big mansion by the seashore. Maybe you have heard of it, the place is called the ‘Fantas Estate’. It’s one of the biggest houses in the Aggerton City
“Okay, I like the sound of this. Do you think you can talk to him and get things set up for us? You can tell him that Scar Co. will happily reimburse him for any cost that it might take to get things ready,” said Runt.
Lee nodded his head.
“I can do that. But I can’t promise that he will want to actually do this... I haven’t seen my uncle in a long time. There have been a few… run-ins with my family in the past.”
“Run-ins?” asked Marten skeptically. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, there are two sides to the Fantas family. There’s the rich side and then there is the not-so-rich side. I am a ‘Foldings’ and I land in the category of the latter. Uncle Tash doesn’t like the poor side because the Foldings always ask him for money and favors... it’s kind of bad…”
“How bad?” asked Tom. He was growing a little suspicious of Lee’s family. The dock worker was making it sound like there were some serious issues yet to be sorted out between them and Tom thought it sounded a bit shady.
“Nothing too bad, Tom… not like you’d think… its fine, really…” Lee paused and looked down at the ground. “I can try and see. I mean I can go over to my uncles and ask him if he will sponsor this trip. It might be a long shot, but it’s also the best chance we’ve got.”
Tom was going to ask another question about the family business when Runt jumped in, his voice sounding excited.
“Great! Wonderful! It’s settled. We will try Lee’s idea for now,” Runt pointed at Marten. “I want you to go with Lee, here, and talk to Mr. Fantas on my behalf. Tell him that we are a well known company that can repay him should he go along with this investment. Try and convince him, Marten! Use that charm of yours!”
Lee and Tom laughed at the word “charm”. Marten couldn’t charm anything; they didn’t know how he was expected to charm a wealthy business man.
Marten didn’t seem to notice the chuckling. He was looking smug at Runt’s praise. He nodded his head and grabbed Lee by the shoulder, drawing him in close.
“We will do our best to secure a ride with Mr. Fantas. Everything will be taken care of. You can count on me, Runt.”
“Good. While you’re gone, Tom and I will go to the insurance agency. I need to know whether they cover bomb explosions on loading ships. I don’t want to lose one of my ships over something like this.”
“Did you need a ride then? We’ve got my car.”
“No, that won’t be necessary Marten I want the two of you to the Fantas place as soon as possible. We’ll catch a ride with a taxi. I saw one on the boardwalk on my way in. The man was just resting behind the wheel, probably been driving all night. We’ll wake him. You go with Lee.”
Lee gave his uncles address to the president of Scar Co. and the group split up, heading for their separate destinations. Lee and Marten left in the car, and Tom and Runt walked over to the taxi.
All was not yet lost.
Authors Note: I really enjoyed this chapter and I hope you do too. We’ll post again next week on Friday at 4 PM MST. Thanks again!
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