"Cyber War" Episode 7

[JonPop]

Sir Cusp yelled down from the crows nest, "Captain, there are 2 ships off our stern, about 4 kilometers, trailing."
Captain Pirate yelled up, "Can you see any distinguishing marks?" Cusp, putting the telescope back up to his eye said, " Aye Captain, the lead ship has a white blotch of some sort, under the mast head."
Captain Pirate said, "Yarrr, that be Captain Malbry, those are sharks teeth painted on the prow. He is a ruthless, heartless pirate that I've had run-ins with, before."
He said, "Sir Pegasus, signal the Far Search, we might be blockin' their view."
"Sir Big Al, assemble the men on the main deck. Tink, go inform King Remek, wake him if you have to."

Sir Kdub knocked on Captain JonPops cabin. He heard, "Enter." He pulled open the door and said, "Sir, we have received a message from the Phallic Avenger. Seems two ships are trailing us a few kilometers back. Captain Pirate thinks one of them is the Shark, Captained by the pirate Malbry."

Sir JonPop said, "Be dammed. Two days out and already attracting attention. Thank you Sir Kdub, sound the alarm."

 

[JonPop]

Sir JonPop stood at the railing in front of his cabin, surveying the faces below him on the main deck.

"Gentlemen, we have been in contact with the Phallic Avenger. Captain Pirate's watch, has spotted two ships trailing the Search and the Avenger. Captain Pirate informs me that one of the ships is the "Shark," commanded by the Pirate, Malbry.

When we set off on our voyage, we had been told by other ships captains that the waters in this area had been clear for months. Looks like we just happened to get unlucky.
I am assuming that these pirates think we are cargo vessels or ships loaded with treasure, because of our size and amount of sail, or maybe just curious as to our identity. They might think we are also pirates come to profit these shipping lanes."

Sir JonPop paused as King Arthur leaned over and spoke in his ear. He listened and nodded his head and then loudly said to the Knights and soldiers standing below, "We will drop our main sails and use just the spinnaker to maneuver. We will then turn along with the Avenger and present a broadside to the approaching ships. If they don't drop sail or if they continue to close on us, we will man the cannons and take down their masts and rigging.
With our new rifled cannon and exploding projectiles, we can accomplish this well before they get into range of their own cannon."
"Man your posts!"

The Far Search and the Avenger, both dropped sail and turned 90 degrees to port. The two ships were no more than 100 meters apart, nose to tail. King Arthur was looking through the telescope and said, "They are lowering some sail, but still continuing towards us."
Sir JonPop said, "They are easily within rang now King Arthur, I say lets take out their sails now and then we can continue our mission."
King Arthur said, no, let's wait. I want to see the reaction when they get closer. Even if they were to get into range, their guns will not damage us. If at all possible I would like to identify ourselves, and try to get the word out to the pirate community that we are not ships to be messed with. That we will sink any that try to impede our progress."

Sir JonPop yelled up to Dame Batwoman in the crows nest, "Batwoman, using the notches in the range finder, give me an estimate of how far away the two ships are and their present closing speed." Dame Batwoman yelled back, "Aye, Captain."

 

[CUSP82]

So BW and I are in the crows nest on different ships! Well done.The woman wouldn't be able to keep her hands off me if we were there together! She has often mentioned to me that she'd like to get her hands on me-probably around my neck!

 

[Pirate]

So BW and I are in the crows nest on different ships! Well done.The woman wouldn't be able to keep her hands off me if we were there together! She has often mentioned to me that she'd like to get her hands on me-probably around my neck!

Oh yes. That is certainly the reason for those particular assignments.
Absolutely.
Yup.

 

[Big Tom]

Get this published!

 

[JonPop]

Captain Malbry, scanned the two large ships turned sideways before him and yelled out, "Drop the main sails. lads." He saw that his closing rate was still faster than what he wanted and said, "Furl the spinnaker."

This done, he turned his attention back to the ships. He could see through his telescope, the cannon ports had been opened and estimated over two dozen guns were trained at the Shark.
He decided discretion was needed at this point. He turned to his first officer and said, "Lower the Jolly Roger and run up the white flag."

Captain "Bear" in the trailing ship the "Rooster" yelled up to the watch in the crows nest, "What in the name of Neptune is that Scallywag, Malbry doing?" The reply came, "I don't know Cap'n, they have dropped sail and run up the white flag."
About this time the Rooster received a signal from the Shark, to drop all sail and becalm the ship.
Captain Bear said, "Arrrrgh," but gave the order and the ship started to slow.

 

[JonPop]

Sir Cusp yelled down from the crows nest, "Captain, she's lowered more sail and run up a white flag."
Captain Pirate yelled back, "Aye Sir Cusp, I can see that now that the Shark is closer."

He turned to King Remek and said, "I also recognize that ship behind the Shark as that patched up scow of The Bear. Seems like he's tagged up with Malbry to do a little bottom feeding, waiting for some dregs of loot that might be left over from the Shark's captures."
King Remek said, "Who is the bear, Captain?"
Pirate said, "He is one mean pirate, King. He has been around for many, many years. He has a reputation for killing everyone aboard any ship he can make surrender. But he's fallen on hard times with so many ships blown out from under him that he will scrounge for anyone he can sail with.
He is named the Bear for his long dark hair and beard. He is also the hairiest man I have ever seen with my eyes. His body is covered with black hair, scary to look at and with the disposition of a rabid Black Bear."

King Remek said, "What do you suppose is the reason for the white flag?" Pirate answered, "This is one of his tricks. He'll come in slowly under the flag and when he gets within cannon range, he will turn broadside and start to lower a boat, in full view.

His plan is to lull the Captain of the opposing ship into thinking that he wants to send a truce party to negotiate and have the cannon crews stand down. Then he will open fire and hope to take down the rigging and sails making the ship a sitting duck."
Handing the King the telescope, he said, "If you look closely King, you can see the cannon are extremely elevated." King Remek said, "Yes I see what you are saying. Signal the Far Search with what you have told me."

 

[JonPop]

Sir Bret yelled down, "Hold your positions men and be ready to fire upon command."
King Arthur said to Captain JonPop, "Through the telescope I can see a longboat being swung into position to be lowered."

JonPop said, "This might be the ploy that Captain Pirate warned us about. I can't imagine that even Captain Malbry would be so foolish as to try and take on these two big ships that we have, with our cannon trained on them.
We know that he can't hurt us and it would be good to know his intentions. If he fires, we will sink both craft and not look back." King Arthur said, "Aye, Captain, I agree with your decision."

Captain JonPop said, "Sir Bret, have a signal sent to the Avenger that we will wait until we are either fired upon or the longboat is underway from the Shark. The Avenger has a better angle on the Rooster and if we open up with our cannon, he will take out the Rooster whilst we scuttle the Shark."

First Officer, Sir Bret, saluted and said, "Aye Captain."

 

[JonPop]

Captain Pirate yelled up to Sir Cusp to abandon the crows nest and join the firing party.
He told Sir Pegasus to have the cannoneers turn their guns toward the Rooster and prepare to fire on command.

He turned toward King Remek and said, "You might want to seek the safety of your quarters until this situation is resolved, Sire."
King Remek said, "Not on your life would I miss this Captain. I too am a Knight and in fact was thinking of going down on deck and again trying one of those new long necked cannon we have. I feel I did well when we had our practice firing yesterday, I hit that buoy with my first shot."

Captain Pirate laughed and said, "Aye, the lust for battle runs strong in all of us, doesn't it King?"
King Remek smiled and said, Yes Captain Pirate and I am glad that you gave up your barbarous ways and joined the Knights of the Round Table. Otherwise, this 'situation' as you call it, could have been the two of us facing off at some point. And God forbid that I should ever have to fight you. I do condemn your past, but admire you for the good that you have done with your ill gained loot, with helping rebuild so many villages. Where your heart was black, it is now that of a true Knight and you are truly a brother Knight."
He gave Pirate a warm embrace and descended the stairs to the deck below.

 

[JonPop]

Kaboob, kaboom. The cannons on the Shark opened up.
Captain JonPop said, "Hold Fire, hold fire."

The cannon balls splashed harmlessly no closer than 30 meters from the far search, although one did skip across the water and bounce off the water line of the Far Search.

He turned to King Arthur and Sir Bret and said, laughingly, "He was just puffing up his tail your Highness, now you watch, he'll pull up his sail and run out of here to what he considers a safe distance from our cannon."

As said, Captain Malbry raised his sails and quickly moved back beside the Rooster.
A message came from the Avenger to advise.
Sir JonPop sent back, "To hold fire with all but two cannon." He said, "Send one round across the bow of both ships to show the Pirates that we mean business and that they should never approach us again."

Captain Pirate yelled down, "Aye, King Remek, put a shot across the bow of the Shark, and Sir Calixto, do the same across the bow of the Rooster. Be careful lads, we only want this as a warning."
The Avenger, let loose with two cannon with a deafening roar and large 40 lb projectiles, went skimming across the bow of both ships."

King Arthur was watching this through the telescope and saw that the rounds hit a good half Kilometer past the two ships. He said to Captain JonPop, "If that doesn't make a believer out of Captain Malbry, nothing will. We'll watch now and see if he gets the message."

 

[JonPop]

Captain Malbry saw the puffs of smoke from the Avenger, he heard the screeching of the shell as it passed over the bow of the Shark, he heard the muffled boom, boom of the explosions and the spouts of water.
He turned to his first officer and said, "Holy Mother of Jesus, what was that?" His first officer was standing speechless, ashen faced and smelled like he had fouled himself. He yelled down to his signal man and said, "Ask Captain Bear if he was hit." He turned back and his first officer had left the bridge.

Captain Malbry looked through his scope and saw that Captain Bear was signaling that he wasn't damaged, but wanted to know what that was and that he was leaving, now!

Captain Malbry signaled back, Aye, let's head to safer waters.

Back aboard the Avenger, King Remek and Sir Calixto were doing high fives and bragging about their clean shots.

Captain JonPop signaled, congratulations to the Avenger and to prepare to come alongside and be boarded by the officers of the Far Search.

 

[JonPop]

Captain Malbry, signaled the Rooster and Captain Bear that the Shark was going to back off to just over the horizon and to follow.
He added that they would stay out of sight of the two, what he now considered war ships, until something developed or he could figure out what was their purpose.


A long boat with King Arthur, Captain JonPop and first officer Sir Bret, tied off at the Avenger.
The rope ladder was lowered over the side and they climbed aboard.
They, along with King Remek, Captain Pirate, Sir Big Al and Sir Pegasus, seated themselves at the table.
King Arthur began:

We have determined that the two pirate ships, i.e. the Shark and Rooster, are not an immediate threat.
Sir Vulcan on high watch, observed them trailing with just the tips of their masts visible on the horizon.
We are not shed of them yet, but we must turn our attention to the task that is of immediate importance, the spammers."

He was interrupted by Dame Tink, entering the Kings quarters, breathless and apologetic, saying, "I am so sorry my Lords and Captain Pirate, but I must tell you what I have observed and overheard."

"I had gone below to my room and as I started through the storeroom, I overheard voices coming from behind some stacked crates. Having been taught in sleep training to recognize the spammer language, one person was speaking in this. The other one said, "Stop! You must only speak in English, you will give us away." I heard a third voice say, "Yes, no one must be made aware of our presence."

I stopped and crouched down behind some boxes to continue listening and their voices dropped to where I couldn't make out any more words. I continued in hiding until I heard them leave and climb the stairs. This is when I decided to interrupt you, rather than wait."

 

[JonPop]

Captain Pirate jumped to his feet and said, "If there are spammer spies aboard the Avenger,
they must be aboard the Search, as well."

He turned to King Remek and said, "They must be among the soldiers, as every other person aboard both ships is known to us. I was informed by Captain Slanker that a thorough check was made of each soldier.
Can we summon him to this meeting?"

Captain JonPop stood and said to Tink, "Have you told anyone else of this?"
Dame Tink said, "No sir, I came immediately to the Kings quarters."

"Good. I would also like for Captain Slanker to be summoned."

King Remek reached into a drawer at the table and pulled out a device. He pressed a button but got no responding beep. He said, "Captain Slanker must be occupied or out of range of the transmitter. We will need to take action on this. Any ideas on how we can Ferret these spies out?"

Sir Big Al stood and said, "We must isolate the soldiers and any other personal that we don't know.
This includes the Chef, his assistant and all of the kitchen help. I suggest that the Knights aboard be discreetly informed about what we have learned and start rounding these spammers up."

King Arthur said, "Good idea. I suggest we return to the Far Search and quietly inform our people as well.
Then when we have everyone in place on both ships, we sound the general alarm and call All Hands on Deck." Roll call will make sure that everyone is present. When this is determined,the men will be taken below and caged in the bilge."

 

[JonPop]

Captain JonPop called Sir Waylander into his quarters and said, "While we were aboard the Avenger, we got some disturbing news. It seems, as reported by Dame Tink, that there are spammer spies among the soldiers on the Avenger.
We believe that if the Phallic Avenger is infiltrated, the Far Search most likely is.
Sir Bret is just now, taking aside each Knight to inform them of our plans.
In co ordination with Captain Pirate, we will at a set signal, lower all sails, and sound a general quarters alarm for all hands on deck. You and Sir Bret will conduct a roll call. When it is determined that all hands are present. I mean, ALL hands, The soldiers, cooks and everyone except the Knights and Dame Batwomen, will be escorted under armed guard to the bilge until we can determine if we are also infested.
Discretely go to your quarters and get your personnel log. Then return to the top deck and await the order to furl the sails.
When this is done both here and on the Avenger, the alarm will be sounded. Yourself and Sir Bret are charged with getting every hand accounted for.
The remainder of the Knights will bear arms and make sure that no one escapes."

Sir Waylander said, "This is bad news, Captain. I thought that all the soldiers had been screened by Captain Slanker." Captain JonPop said, "Aye, Dan. I did too."

 

[JonPop]

King Arthur watched through the telescope as the signal came from the Avenger.
He turned to Captain JonPop and said, "It is time Captain."

Captain JonPop yelled down to Sir Bret, to have the sails lowered and the sea anchor deployed.
As this was being done, Sir Waylander sounded the alarm and called for all hands on deck.
Everyone came running, expecting a fight to be ensuing, only to be met by broadsword wielding Knights.
The soldiers were told to get into formation.
Dame Batwoman overlooking all this said, "The chef and kitchen helpers are not among those on deck, Captain.
Sir Bret dispatched Sir Jim and Sir Marty to the galley and kitchen to bring the missing men on deck.

Sir Jim returned with the Chef, who protested that he had several large roasts in the oven and they would be ruined if he couldn't tend to them.
When Sir Marty returned, he said that the kitchen help was nowhere to be found.
Captain JonPop shouted down that a thorough search must be mounted and the missing men located.

All but 3 Knights and Sir Kingpole, set out to search the ship. They went as a group to the bilge and worked their way up.
Meanwhile, Sir Waylander called roll. All were present with the exception of the three kitchen hands.

 

[JonPop]

After the Far Search was swept for the third time, it was decided that the three missing kitchen hands were nowhere on board. The soldiers were taken below to a make-shift brig and placed under heavy guard by Sir Jayhawk, Sir Stud and Sir Marty.

There was much protesting among the soldiers, proclaiming their innocence and loyalty to King Arthur.
They were told that this was just a temporary confinement and as soon as a way was found to ascertain that no spammer spies were among them, they would be released to return to duty.

Captain JonPop, Sir Waylander and Sir Bret, went to the bunks and lockers of the suspected spammers.
There they discovered three melted lap tops and much more.

In the lockers, hidden in rolled up socks, they found containers of strychnine.
A meeting was called with King Arthur and it was surmised that the spammers, having access to the food served to everyone aboard, had planned at some point, to poison everyone.

This news and the disappearance of the three kitchen hands was relayed to the Phallic Avenger.

 

[JonPop]

Captain Pirate watched as the sails on the Far Search were being lowered in co ordination with his own sails.
He heard the alarm bell sounded by Sir Waylander even across the distance that separated the two ships.

Sir Pegasus was sounding their own alarm and men were coming from everywhere, assembling on the main deck below him. When the soldiers were ordered to form into ranks, Sir Big Al begin to call role.
Everyone was accounted for according to Sir Vulcan who went among the soldiers and physically identified each man by name, except for three of the soldiers and one cooks helper.
Sir NP and Sir Unit were dispatched to the kitchen and galley to search for the missing kitchen worker.
Sir Cusp, Dame Tink and Sir Calixto were sent below to locate the missing soldiers.

A signal came from the Far Search that there were three missing men from roll call and a thorough search was underway.

Like the Far Search, the men could not be found aboard the Avenger.
Captain Pirate, Sir Big Al and Sir Pegasus went to the soldiers quarters and begin a search of their possessions. Like the Far Search, they discovered melted lap tops. They also found strychnine concealed in their lockers.

King Remek, again tried to signal Captain Slanker and this time he responded. He was informed of these developments and said he would go to King Arthurs cabin aboard the Far Search and would then transport the officers and King Remek to join him.

 

[JonPop]

Captain Pirate ordered the Knights to remove the men to the bilge and hold them under guard until everything could be sorted out.
He allowed the chef to return to the kitchen to attend to the dinner he had cooking. He complained that he couldn't finish the meal without his helpers.
Captain Pirate asked if any of the Knights would volunteer and Dame Tink said, "Sir, I cooked for my six brothers and Dad when my Mum died from a snake bite. I'll take over for the help." She turned to the chef and said, "You just tell me what you need done and I can do anything as good as those lazy workers you have."

Captain Pirate turned to Sir Pegasus and said, "We are about to be transported to the Far Search, so I am leaving the Avenger in your hands. Keep a sharp eye out for anything suspicious and signal if there is any, I mean any trouble here.
With that, he vanished, along with King Remek and First Officer Big Al.

 

[JonPop]

Captain Slanker sat quietly while all the yelling and accusations were being made around him.
He finally stood and said,

"Yes, somehow spammer spies did slip through the checks we had in place.
What you don't know is, that I was only recently informed that seven bodies had been discovered in a shallow grave outside the Kingdom of PEG. I learned of this after the alert had been sounded by Dame Tink.

We surmise that the seven men were killed and a great effort was made to assume their identities by spammers that closely resembled the men they were replacing.

Those above me, have concluded that at some point in the journey, probably very close to the Transylvania coast, that they would have used the strychnine to kill the entire crew and soldiers. They knew that with the ease of these two ships to sail, that seven men would be enough, with the Avenger in tow with one spammer at the helm, to sail the Far Search to port.
We believe that all of the spammers deleted themselves to avoid interrogation. It is my feeling that you should return the men to duty and continue your voyage".

 

[JonPop]

King Arthur agreed with Captain Slanker and told Sir Bret to have the soldiers and chef's assistant released back to duty.

Dame Batwoman had been filling in for the missing kitchen helpers and between her help and that of the Chef and his assistant, finished preparing a succulent meal of roast beef, potatoes, gravy, assorted vegetables, fresh baked bread and a large salad prepared by Dame Batwoman.
Thanks to the refrigeration units on the ships, fresh produce and meats were now available for their voyage.


Captain Slanker said, "If it is all right with you King Arthur, I'd love to stay for dinner. In your far distant future, the food we have is much different than what you consume in this age. It has been several years since I have had beef and I try, whenever I get a chance, to partake of this delicious, meat. The smell coming from the kitchen is making me quite hungry".

King Arthur said, "Why certainly Captain Slanker, we would be delighted to have you join us. And how about you King Remek and Sir Big Al and Captain Pirate? Care to sample some of our chef's fine cooking?"

Captain Pirate said, over the objections of Sir Big Al, "We would like to stay your Highness, but we must get back to the Avenger to supervise the release of our own soldiers and the welfare of the Avenger. Our own chef has our dinner about ready and I want to see how Dame Tink fared in the kitchen".
King Arthur laughed at this and said, "I understand. Maybe another time?" Captain Pirate bowed and he, King Remek and Sir Big Al, vanished.