Trickshot noticed rapid movement off to oneside. She turned that way and spotted something zipping along the water at highspeed. “What is that?” At first she thought it was a speed boat asit was moving along at some ninety knots! But it wasn’t a sleek power boat. Itlooked to be a large, wooden hulled lifeboat some 30 feet long and 6 feet wide.They are usually barely capable of 15 knots! They went closer and the high-speed lifeboatsuddenly slowed to a halt. In the boat was a dozen members of theWillawaw’s crew. “How is everyone?” Bob asked. “Anyone hurt?” “No,” came the answer from a sailor. “Anyword on the captain?” Bob shook his head. “No but I’m sure he’sall right. They need him to steer the ship.” A figure popped up in the water. “Hello!”The woman said. She was wearing a suit of a silvery metal that went all the wayup to her neck but stopped short of her head. In her right hand she held alarge helmet. The woman placed her helmet on the deck. She seemed to be aregular human but as she pulled herself up into the boat it became clear thatwas wrong. From the waist down she had the tail of a seal. But instead of beingmade of flesh the tail was a silvery metal. It spoke of some very sophisticatedtechnology and precision engineering. “What are you?” “I’m unique,” She quipped. “You’re going to have to be more specific,”Bob answered. “I’m Bob and this is the Sea Watch.” “My name is Dr Miranda Nichols,” sheresponded. “With the MIT Robotics/cybernetics Department.” “What the hell are you wearing?” Mishaasked. Moonshine closely examined the woman and hersuit. “Artificial gills and a biomorphic underwater propulsion system.Impressive.” “Thank you,” She responded. “I’ve beenworking on this for over three years.” “Would it be inappropriate to mentionProject Starlight.” “She’s involved in it?” Strela askedsilently. “She IS the project,” the nanitesadded. “The Lieutenant in on the line,” Mishacommented to Strela, Stealth and Silvermane. “She’s added the doctor’s work toour ‘Don’t let Maelstrom get’ list.” “That’s a given,” Stealth joked. “What are you doing here in Penobscot bay?”Bob asked. “Testing my suit under real conditions andnot that sterile pool at the university,” She responded. Misha picked up her helmet for a moment andexamined it. But as he looked at it the Nanites did a complete examination.Telling him, Stealth, Strela and Silvermane the full details of the helmet. “Impressive!” She pointed to the lifeboat. “I need to getthese people to safety.” “Please keep away from the Sea Wolves,”Moonshine warned. “If they got wind of this suit they’d kill you in a heartbeatand steal it.” “We’ll be listening in on Marine Channel64,” Misha said. She did a flip and disappeared underwater. Amoment later the boat took off at highspeed. Propelled by its unusual powersource. In moments the boat was a distant image. “You’re tracking her,” Bob said calmly. Itwas a statement not a question. “Of course,” Misha responded. “She’s sure to look for any bug you plantedin her helmet,” Orca commented. Misha laughed “She’s welcome to try,” thefox answered. “There isn’t any bug.” “We just added a small subroutine to hercommunications.” “That’s not nice,” Orca said harshly. The fox shook his head. “No it’s not but ifshe gets kidnapped I’m the one who’s going to wind up having to rescue her. Butonce this is all over we’ll remove the routine and leave her be.” ******************** “Sergeant Hernandez just contacted us,” thelieutenant said over the radio. “He was just contacted by Geimhreadh.” “Who?” Strela asked. “The Ice Age spirit you confronted lastyear,” the officer responded. “It seems he has found our missing ship.According to Geimhreadh it grounded on the north side of the island.” “Oh wonderful,” Stealth commented. “This isa complication we do not need. That explains all that bad weather.” “Can you get the sergeant on the line?”Misha asked. “Negative,” came the answer. “He’s in themiddle of a firefight.” “Can you patch us through to the island?”Misha asked. There were several clicks. “I’ve got theisland on the line. Main lodge.” “Hello. This is Misha,” the fox said.“Sergeant Hernandez asked us to help.” “This is Philip Ferguson,” a voice said overthe radio. “I’m here with my wife Sarah.” “What happened?” Strela asked. “The ferry has beached here,”Philip explained. “And it’s been hijacked.” “We can’t be sure what’s happening but it’sdefinitely not in friendly hands,” Misha commented. “What does Geimhreadh think of all this?” Stealthasked. “He’s a bit confused and having a hard timetelling who is causing the trouble. Seems all humans look alike to him,” the lioncommented with a laugh. “What’s happening now?” Misha asked. “There was a major firefight going ononboard earlier,” the lion answered. “But it’s been quiet for a while.” “What can we do to help?” The lioness asked.“None of us are supers.” “I suggest just staying out of their way,”Misha responded. “Let us deal with them.” “There is a teleport unit there?” Strelaasked. “Yes,” the lion answered. “Here at thelodge.” “We can go there and then travel overland tothe ship!” Stealth commented. “We’ll catch them by surprise.” “Usually Geimhreadh blocks the teleport butsince it’s an emergency I’m sure he will let you through,” the lion said. “Great!” Stealth responded. “Word of advice,” the lion commented. “Dresswarmly. It’s winter here. It’s always winter here. And with unwanted intrudershe has REALLY cranked up the winter. We have a full-blown BLIZZARD going now.The conditions here are arctic. Literally.” “Thanks for the warning!” Misha responded. “Have any of you been to the island?” Silvermaneasked. The Sea Watch shook their heads. “No. Wewere advised to keep clear,” Bob explained. “And to be honest we’ve been toobusy with the damn Sea Wolves.” “We did explore the edges,” Nor’easter added.“To define where the boundary lines are.” “I was supposed to meet them today,” Bobexplained. “One of the reasons I was on the ferry. I even had a speechmemorized.” “It was a nice speech,” Moonshine said andsmiled. “You rehearsed it enough.” “Well,” Misha commented. “Seems you’ll getto give that speech.” “You were the ones who fought him the lasttime?” Bob asked. Misha and Stealth nodded their heads. “What is this spirit like?” Orca asked. “He was actually a pretty mellow person oncewe were able to talk to him,” Stealth answered. “Very confused by the 8,000 years of changethat happened while he was asleep,” Misha added. Strela laughed. “All these changes in thelast 100 years has everyone confused.” ***********
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