Chapter 17: Port

Brooklyn rubbed her rounding belly lovingly as she sat on a couch in Jack's living room. She missed Warren dearly and, although she knew intellectually that it wasn't possible, there were times she thought the baby might be missing him as well.

She would often talk to her belly, telling her baby stories about Warren. She wanted Warren to be part of everything even if he wasn't there. She knew that there was no point, there was no way the baby understood what she was saying. Still, she couldn't stop herself.

The thing was, she spoke about him more for herself than for her baby. She couldn't help but worry about him being halfway across the world doing who knew what and purposefully looking for trouble. She wasn't going to demand he come home, not yet anyway. Still, she wanted dearly to see him again.

She had taken to spending all of her time at Jack's house. She had practically moved in. Jack was getting better but he still needed someone to look after him. She was happy to do that. It kept her mind off of Warren.

“Brook?”

She looked up as Maddie came in with a food tray. She had a sad look on her face.

“He's not eating.” she said unhappily. “He got kind of mad at me, actually.”

Brooklyn couldn't help but smile. “I'll consider that a good thing. Let me have it, I'll give it a try.”

She stood up, took the food from Maddie, and climbed upstairs to Jack's room. When she knocked, she received no answer but wasn't all that surprised.

Lately, Jack had become rather moody and restless. Brooklyn was sure that was good, it showed he had the energy to get unhappy. Still, she wished that stubborn and uncooperative wasn't the mood he had chosen to recover on.

“Jack?” she called out when he didn't respond to the second knock. There was still no answer.

So she simply opened the door.

Jack was standing, really standing, and slipping a shirt over his head.

“Jack, you're up!” Brooklyn cried happily as she stepped inside. She set his food tray down and went to his side. “You're getting dressed on your own.”

“Don't make such a big deal of it.” he grumbled unhappily as he adjusted his clothes and dragged a hand through his hair. “And I need you to arrange a flight for me.”

“A flight?” Brooklyn repeated, confused. “You need to be somewhere?”

“Yes.” he looked at her straight in the eye and Brooklyn was pleased to see the old, familiar Jack looking at her. “You know where Tina and the others are at the moment, I assume?”

“Uh, yes, but-”

“Good.” he cut her off and stepped around her to grab his socks and shoes. “Get me a flight out to them immediately.”

“Slow down, Jack.” Brooklyn said quickly. “You just got up. What's the rush?”

“The rush is that I finally realized that my stubborn daughter is hunting down Ozera.” he said gruffly.

“Jack, you knew that months ago.” Brooklyn couldn't help but point out.

Which was true, Jack thought. However, it had taken until just this morning for that to truly register with him. He was so far gone it had taken months to figure out that Tina, the one thing he loved more than MCRC was hunting down his enemy and that made him angry enough at himself that he found the energy to stand and get dressed.

Of course she was though. She was a good, faithful daughter. She wouldn't stop until she either got Ozera or he got her.

Which was what was driving Jack to stand up now. Ozera had taken MCRC from him, there was no way he was going to let him take Tina too.

XXXXXXXXXX

It took a while for them to decide between rushing into town on the boat or hiking over land to get there. While the boat provided the safer option, it also put Ozera on alert that they were there.

Tina argued that Ozera already knew they were coming so why not go in guns blazing.

It was Dallas that provided the counter argument that Ozera didn't have to know they were there, it would just make their job harder. It made more sense to sneak into town, to try to stay quiet. Ozera knew they were coming, he didn't know they knew he was coming. That was their advantage.

Tina reminded him that it was quite a hike from where they were to that port town and that Ozera might very well be gone by the time they got there.

Eventually, it was decided that they would travel the boat closer to town, sticking close to the shallows, and then they would go by foot once they spotted the own. Ilia was unhappy about leaving the Eden behind but they had no choice.

Kai, as Dallas began driving away from the cliff they had stopped by, demanded that Joe stay behind with the Eden.

Joe had not been at all happy to hear that and they argued about it for a while. Tina chose to ignore them. It kept them busy and out of her hair until they decided to get her opinion.

Everyone else was preparing to go ashore. They were putting on real clothes, shoes, passing out weapons. Dallas was the only one who brought a gun, which he was keeping in its case for now. Everyone else had knives or, in Warren's case, a pair of brass knuckles. Tina asked where he got them, mostly out of envy, and he promised to get her a pair once they got back to Paradise Falls.

In just a few hours, the boat slid to a halt a few miles from the town. Dallas anchored the boat in the shade of the surrounding forest, well out of sight.

“Tina.” Joe turned to her unhappily as they prepared to leave the boat.

“Tell her she's not coming.” Kai told Tina as they both faced her.

“Would you rather leave her alone and defenseless on the boat?” Tina asked him.

He glared. Of course he wouldn’t. He would rather her not be there at all.

“Then get going.” she ordered. “We're going to start walking. Don't worry about Joe. We'll take care of her.”

Coming as close to frowning as he ever got, Kai began pulling off his clothes but keeping them in his arms. Tina saw the slits of his gills form before he jumped off of the boat, his legs already starting to shimmer as his scales appeared.

“Joe, you stay close to us.” Tina told her. “I don't want to hear it from him if you do get hurt.”

“I'm not going to be stupid about it.” Joe promised.

Together, they all jumped into the water. There was no dock here, they had no choice but to swim to shore. The boat was to be left behind. There was nothing valuable on board and Ilia had possession of the keys. If they were lucky, it would still be here and in one piece when they returned.

Either way, Tina didn't care. She was focusing on Ozera and the fact that she was so close. She was willing to sacrifice the boat for a chance at him.

The hike through the hot and humid jungle was a long one. Being wet from the swim over did nothing to improve the experience. They were soon being eaten by bugs and sweating profusely. It was uncomfortable but Tina had experienced worse. She didn't give the environment any mind.

XXXXXXXXXX

Under the waves, already far ahead of his companions, Kai's powerful fin was propelling him quickly in the water. He would arrive at the port before they did. That was the plan. He was supposed to be on watch for Ozera's submarine. If it was already there, he was supposed to go back and tell them, which was why he brought his clothes with him. If it hadn't yet arrived, he was supposed to just wait for it.

As he swam closer, he caught sight of the building first. The lights from the windows illuminated the surrounding water quite well. The second thing he saw was the kraken, still swimming in circles in its cage. He hoped that, before this was over, he could set the poor creature free.

What he did not see was the submarine nor did he see any signs that it had been there. The ocean floor looked as undisturbed as it had been a few hours ago.

He swam around the base, making sure to stay low and out of sight. He kept his ears trained for any sound of the approaching submarine. From experience he knew that, underwater, it wasn't at all a quite machine. He would have no trouble noticing its approach.

He put his clothes on the ocean floor and settled down amongst the stone stilts to wait.

XXXXXXXXXX

It took over an hour to reach the port. It wasn't at all an enjoyable hike. They spent it mostly in silence, only talking when whoever was in front, it was usually Tina, was calling out a warning about a lose rock or a steep step or something like that.

When they finally did reach the town, their clothes had dried of the ocean water but were now clinging to their sweaty bodies. It was uncomfortable and hot but worth it.

The town was more like a city. This kind of place would be easy to slip into unnoticed and they did. Unfortunately, its size meant they would have a harder time locating the entrance to the underwater dock. Kai had described a long tube that led into the land itself. It had to come up somewhere in town, the only question was where.

“Well, it has to be a building that not everyone is a allowed into.” Joe said as they walked down the crowded main street. “But I imagine it would still be pretty close to the water.”

“And what makes you say that?” Warren asked.

“The further from the water it is, the longer the tube would have to be.” she explained. “It would be easier to have the building closer.”

“Makes sense.” Tina said as she led the way. “Let's split up and look for it. We'll meet at that street corner in an hour whether we find it or not.”

They all nodded and split up. Warren went off with Joe, Dallas with Ilia, and Crispin continued on with Tina.

“Where would you build your secret base entrance?” he asked her.

“I wouldn't have a secret base.” she said. “Mine would be obvious and taunting.”

Crispin chuckled silently. Of course it would be. Tina wasn't one for subtlety and subterfuge, she was too honest for that. She would rather dare anyone who wanted to to come at her and take them all on.

That also meant that she wasn't good at detecting subtlety so it fell mostly to Crispin to keep an eye out for anything unusual.

They walked up and down through the buildings closer to the docks in the northern part of the town. They went mostly unnoticed by holding hands and pretending to be a loving couple out for a day's stroll.

The hour passed without a single sign of anything and they were forced to returned to the aforementioned street corner with nothing to show for their time.

They arrived second, Ilia and Dallas were already there but Warren and Joe hadn't shown up yet.

“You couldn't find anything either?” Dallas asked as they met up.

Tina shook her head. “The part we checked is clean.”

“Damn.” Ilia cursed, crossing her arms. “Got any other ideas, captain?”

“I suppose we start asking around with the locals.” Tina looked around at the busy people around them.

“And if it gets back to Ozera?” Dallas asked.

“Then it gets back to Ozera.” Tina shrugged. “There's not much we can do about that.”

“How about you wait for us before you go making big decisions like that.” Joe said to them as she and Warren approached.

“We don't have much of a decision if that's our only choice.” Tina said even as she noticed the smile on their faces. “What? Did you two find something?”

“Joe did.” Warren grinned down at her.

“Don't sell yourself short, you noticed it.” she praised. “I simply made the connection.”

“Maybe you'd like to let me in on it?” Tina suggested, already getting annoyed at them.

“Well, we were checking out the southern part of the town when Warren noticed that there was this guy pacing up and down this same street.” Joe explained.

“So, Joe suggested we watch him.” Warren picked up. “For a while, he just paced.”

“Then this second guy showed up,” Joe interjected, “and the pacing guy let him into this one building like he was standing guard so I had Warren sneak around and...”

“I couldn't see inside,” he continued for her, “but I could hear through the walls the sound of this big machine whirring. I told Joe and she figured that that was probably our building. So, just to check, she had me climb up onto the adjoining building and look inside through the upper story windows.”

“And?” Tina asked when they both stopped talking.

“And nothing.” Joe shrugged. “Warren couldn't really see inside, the windows were too dirty. But this town doesn't have much in the way of a booming industrial industry seeing as they only serve themselves so my best guess is that this is the building we're looking for.”

“Good enough for me.” Tina said as there was no other options for them. “Let's go check it out.”

Joe and Warren led the way through town towards the building they had found.

As they got closer, Tina understood why Joe suggested they watch him in the first place. Whereas in the rest of the town, there were a great many people walking around and living their lives, the closer they got, the fewer people they spotted.

By the time they reached the street with the pacing man,there was no one at all on the road. They had to stand behind one of the adjacent buildings to watch him. Tina couldn't hear any machinery but they were still far enough away that she didn't really expect to.

“How many do you think there are?” Ilia asked.

“Dallas, get up high and check it out.” Tina commanded.

The sniper nodded, picked up the case that held his rifle and scope, and turned to find his way up to get a better look.

“Ilia, go with him.” Tina commanded.

“Why me?” she asked.

“Because our phones don't work out here and I need someone to come back and tell us what he sees and because its not like I can use you in a fight and because I said so. Now go.”

“You could have stopped after the fighting thing.” Ilia grumbled but she got up and followed Dallas away.

They stayed quiet for a long time, just watching the building. The pacing guy just continued to walk up and down. He obviously wasn't a good guard or he would have noticed them. Then again, he probably never had to deal with people like them before.

While they waited for Ilia to return, Tina began formulating how they were going to get in. The easiest way in would be to send Crispin first. Unfortunately, if their opponents were equipped with guns, they could get a shot off before he opened his mouth. And, even if they weren't, if Ozera was expecting them Tina wouldn't be surprised if they all had wax in their ears.

In that case, sending in Crispin first would accomplish very little.

With Dallas gone, that left only Tina, Warren, and Crispin able to fight. Depending on how many that were inside, sending Crispin in might be the only choice they had.

Ilia came back some time later, she looked hot and unhappy.

“Do you know how many roofs I just climbed?” she whispered vehemently as she kneeled next to Tina.

“I hope it was for a good reason.” Tina smiled unsympathetically.

“Dallas said he saw five.” she relayed with a frown at her. “He says he can get maybe one from where he is but in this place everyone will hear the shot and also he sees this big elevator looking thing inside.”

“There are probably more people on the base itself.” Warren said.

Tina nodded. “But we can take five. Ilia, you stay here and watch Joe. Crispin, you take out the guard.”

Crispin nodded, stood up, and vanished behind the building.

Tina stayed where she was and kept her eye on the pacing man.

It didn't take long.

His pacing took him just past a thin alley and Crispin was on him.

Crispin's hand slipped around his throat, his lips went to his ear, Tina could barely make out his lips moving, then the guard was down. It looked like her worry about wax in their ears was unfounded.

Tina stood up even as Crispin was dragging him into the alley and out of sight.

She stepped out ahead of the others, Ilia and Joe stayed behind, and joined up with Crispin.

“Nice work.” she admired the gently sleeping man.

He nodded and looked at the entrance to the building. The door was shut tight, they had no way of knowing where the five men inside were standing or how well they were armed.

Better to play it cautious and let them come out.

Tina had the others line up on either side of the door then pulled it open and stayed out of its way.

From here, Tina could hear the whir of machines that Warren spoke of. It wasn't all that smooth but, judging from the sound, it was powerful. The people in side were silent and the air was tense as she could practically visualize them looking at the suddenly open door in confusion.

It took only a few seconds before the first man poked his head out from inside.

He didn't even have a chance to look around. Warren grabbed him by the neck and dragged him from the doorway and tossed him at Crispin. A gentle word later and he, too, was sleeping deeply.

Tina wasn't paying them any mind, there was a clamor being raised inside about what was happening. Tina heard the clicking sound of guns cocking and was glad she had erred on the side of caution.

She lifted her hands and put her fingers in her ears. A moment later, Warren did the same. She didn't need to cover her ears, it was a sign that the others should and an order to Crispin.

Crispin smiled, got closer to the door, and took a deep breath.

Warren was already backing away, humming so that the sound of his own voice would drown out Crispin's command.

“Drop!” he called out.

A moment later, Tina heard the clatter of metal hitting the floor and the thud of the bodies that followed it.

She unplugged ears and peered inside.

There were five people inside, meaning Dallas hadn't seen them all, and they were all looking at the ground they had been forced to in confusion.

Warren was reeling behind them, Crispin's voice had effected him anyway and he was trying to throw off the power of it.

While he fought against that, Tina and Crispin ran inside.

Tina pulled the guns out of the way of the men's hands while Crispin ran around the large metal elevator like device and grabbed some rope.

By the time Warren was pulling himself to his feet and coming inside, shaking his head, Crispin and Tina already had the six men inside tied to a support beam of the structure.

“How you feeling?” Tina asked him.

“I think his voice wore of before I could fight it off.” he smiled apologetically.

“Go get Ilia and Joe, tell them they can come in.” Tina told him. “Dallas will probably already be on his way.”

Warren nodded and left the room.

“Shall I put them to sleep, too?” Crispin asked.

“Might as well.” Tina shrugged. “I'll have Warren get the other two and bring them in so we can tie them all up together.”

Instead of crying out the order for anyone to hear, Crispin went around to each man and put them to sleep individually.

Tina crossed her arms, pleased. Seven men down and not a shot fired, not bad.

She turned her eyes to the big elevator thing that took up most of the room. The machinery sounds were coming from the generator that powered it that was set off towards the back of the room.

From what she could see, the elevator would drop down into the ground then follow the tubing out and to the underwater dock.