Chapter 17: Secrets in the Mist

The next day Jake did his normal work out with his sword, then had breakfast with Catherine and Cali. Cali was a bundle of energy this morning. She asked Jake if he would teach how to use a sword when the two came on deck while he was doing his forms. He told her maybe when she was older. She seemed to accept that well. He had thought she might pout. He would have at her age. He thought he could remember doing so actually.

At breakfast, he watched as Cali fed Grace from her fork and then used it to feed herself. He would have told her not to, but Catherine placed her hand on his and signaled for him not to. The three of them and the two eels went up to the bridge. From their morning position reading they would reach the Teeth just after ten that morning. Jake gave the orders and the Convoy spread out. He could see the young girl was getting bored with waiting. Catherine suggested that she take Cali to see what the other children were doing. Cali thought that was a great idea.

When Jake informed her that he would need Grace later, Cali made a funny face. She finally agreed when he said she could keep Grace with her until they reached the Teeth. She gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek before she bounced off the bridge with Catherine.

Just after nine the Teeth could be seen on the horizon with a glass. Jake went up to the bow and took a good look. He altered their course to take them right to the mouth. They hadn’t been off by much. The crew’s energy doubled as the Teeth came in sight. Catherine pulled both his arms around her in the bow of the ship as they watched the Teeth grow closer. At ten he ordered the convoy to slow as they neared the mouth of the Teeth.

At 10:22 the convoy reached the mouth and stopped. They turned into the wind and held their position. The Bulldog signaled asking if they needed anything. Then when told no, they wished them luck and turned to start their patrol. Perry informed them he was going to loop the Teeth clockwise. If they need assistance he could be there in a few hours. As the Bulldog pulled away, Jake received the news he had been dreading. His buoy couldn’t be spotted.

When he was here as the Commander of the Bulldog, he had taken a sighting on the buoy. He had a very good idea where it had been. He went and got Grace from Cali. The young girl begged to go with him. He refused, saying she could join him once he had found what they were looking for.

“You mean the Karenna,” She smirked.

“Yep, I mean the Karenna. My marker has blown away or lost its lift gas. I need to find the Karenna without it. It is going to be a very boring task. You’ll have more fun here on the Val with your cousins.”

“Ok, but promise you’ll take good care of Gracey. I don’t want you to lose her in the mist.” She frowned hard at him at the thought of him losing Grace in the mist.

“I promise. I don’t want that either,” he reassured the young girl. She gave Grace a kiss on the head and told her to go to Jake. Grace took her usual place on his arm. “Grace and I will see you soon,” he told her.

He wasn’t entirely surprised to find Catherine and Rebecka in the launch when he got there. He had traded launches with Bowman the night before. He wanted to use an open hull for this. The Val’s launch was fully enclosed for the comfort of its elite clientele. As he approached shaking his head, Catherine said, “I don’t care what excuse you give. I’m going with you. You might as well accept that.”

Jake looked to her uncle and said, “What do you have to say about this?”

Tomas smiled, then said, “Forty years of marriage have taught when I have no chance of winning. When that is the case, it’s better to just keep your mouth shut. Smile and say yes dear. I found it’s less painful that way. I can assure you this is one of those times.”

Jake nodded once then turned to Catherine and said with a smile, “Yes dear. Of course, dear. I wouldn’t have left without you, dear. Dear, I do hope you brought a warm overcoat. The mist can be quite chilly.”

Tomas and B chuckled at his overuse of the word dear. Catherine at first smiled. The smiled faded with each added dear. Now she was frowning at him. “You say one more dear to me, and I’ll ... I don’t know what I’ll do but you won’t like it. I will promise you that Dear,” she threatened in the sweetest voice.

Jake couldn’t help it. He tried, but it slipped out anyway. “Yes, dear.” Tomas let out a great laugh. B just snickered. Catherine tried to frown, but a smile crept onto her face. Jake climbed aboard. He took the controls. “Pat, Paul, let’s get this show on the road as they say.”

The two men gave an aye, Sir, then started hoisting the launch’s sail. Jake lifted the launch off the deck and waved to the gathered crowd. He flew them over the rail, then nosed the launch into a dive towards the mouth of the Teeth. He leveled off and slowed as they approached. He positioned the launch over the right-hand tooth. Then used his compass to take a reading. He aligned the launch and headed in the direction the buoy should be in. they flew about twenty feet over the mist until he judged they had gone about far enough. Then he used the compass to take a reading on the left tooth. He moved the launch a bit further. Then took his reading again. He moved them around over the mist until he had the launch where the reading said the buoy should be.

With one last set of readings with the compass, he nodded his head and lowered the launch into the mist. The mist seemed especially thick today. He had trouble seeing much past the end of the launch. Pat pulled out a long pole and held it in front of the launch. It made them look like a mythical air jouster. But it would keep them from hitting the wall. Hopefully. The came down in a valley with no walls in sight. Jake decided forward was the way to try first and moved the launch forward slowly.

They found the wall of the valley in under a minute. It loomed out of the mist in front of Pat’s pole. Jake turned them and followed the wall while the others looked for the pin or line that had anchored the buoy. After twenty minutes, they still hadn’t found any sign. Jake turned them around and headed back the other way. He headed back faster than before. Pat had used his pole to make a large scratch on the stone. They soon found his mark and slowed. Again, they looked and again found nothing. Jake turned around and went back to Pat’s mark.

Jake turned the launch and pointed it away from the mark on the wall. He moved the launch slowly forward until the far wall came in view. Pat used the pole and placed a long mark on the rocks. Jake put the wall to his right and everyone started looking as they followed the wall. They kept looking until noon. This wasn’t getting them any closer to the Karenna, Jake decided, and took the launch up out of the mist. They were a long way from where he knew they needed to be.

He flew back to mouth. Then dropped into the mist. He easily found the Raven and landed on her deck. Jake got out and walked the deck with Grace floating over his shoulder. When he returned, he said, “Grace take us to the other ship. Lead us to the Karenna.” She took to the mist as the launch rose off the deck. Gail joined her floating near the Raven as Jake maneuvered the launch into the Mouth of the Teeth. Grace took her usual place off their Port-side and Gail took the starboard side. Grace was just ahead of the launch, but Gail was even with Catherine in the center of the launch

As they moved forward Grace picked up speed. Soon they were moving quickly through the canyons of the teeth. Jake followed the eel faster and faster. Soon he was hopelessly lost. Still they followed Grace. Jake almost shouted for joy when he saw the huge shadow in front of them. Grace flew right into the enormous cave. Jake smiled as the twins turned on the large light. There below them sat the Karenna. His passengers didn’t restrain their joy. The twins gave each other a fist bump and yelled, “Way to go Grace.”

Paul added, “When we get back you get a nice big dinner roll.”

Pat said, “Hell, I’ll give you a dozen. You wonderful eel you.”

Catherine had yelled out her joy. Then moved to stand next to Jake. She wrapped her arms around him and said, “You found it. I knew you would.” Jake leaned over and kissed her.

He backed the launch out of the cave. Then set it down near the entrance on the left side. The twins hurried out and started getting one of the buoys and the tools to launch them. When they had everything, they needed, he lifted off and crossed to the right side. The women helped with getting the buoy set. Jake drove the anchor pin deep in the rock. Then they attached the line and filled the buoy. Soon it was floating up out of the mist pulling tight against the anchor pin.

Jake grinned at the two women and said, “Right now, I would bet there is a lot of celebrating going on aboard a few airships up there.”

Catherine snorted, “No bet. I know there is.” She gave him a kiss and the three of them boarded the launch.

They flew over and retrieved the twins and their tools, then made their way across the canyon. It was much farther than they had expected. When they reached the wall, the twins hopped out and set up the last buoy. They grabbed the heavy sledge Jake had used and double teamed the pin. They had it sunk deep in the rock in no time. Jake had dragged the buoy case out and over to where they worked. All five watched the last buoy lift off and rise through the mist. When it pulled tight on the anchor pin, they grinned at each other. Once the tools and everyone were loaded in the launch, Jake had Pat fly them up and out of the mist.

When they cleared the mist, six airships were descending to the buoys. The launches from each ship were already airborne and on their way to join them. Jake called over the wind and Pat headed for the twin buoys. Then dove into the mist when he neared them. Pat maneuvered the launch inside the cave and landed on the deck near the bridge. Paul was shining his light at the ships name. Queen Karenna stood out boldly on the bridge structure under Paul’s beam. Jake helped Catherine off the launch. Then nodded to Pat. The launch backed up. then turned and flew out of the cave.

Jake and Catherine stood in the gloom holding each other. Catherine was shaking as he held her. “Are you cold or just so excited you’re shaking?” he asked.

“Excited. We’re here. we’re really here on the Karenna. Oh Jake, this is so amazing.” She turned in his arms and the two kissed.

They were still kissing when the light from Gran’s launch found them. The two pulled apart and grinned. Gran’s launch landed a few feet from them. Gran yelled, “Quit standing around there’s work to be done. Come help unload these lights. Then we can start bringing in the airships.”

Jake and Catherine laughed. They helped to unload the lights and stands. Jake and three of the men pulled the large battery packs out. Jake set the first light up to shine on the ships name. He stood back to admire his work, and the others broke out in a loud cheer. All the launches were now down and soon the unloading of more lights was underway. Lights and battery packs were set every two hundred feet back toward the mouth of the cave. Jake hoped they would soon be able to turn on the ship’s deck lights. If they couldn’t, they would have to deploy large solar buoys to power the lights to work by. He didn’t want to announce to world where they were for any longer than they had to.

Pat was back with the first load from the Val. It should be the only load. Catherine’s family and friends were on the launch. Along with more of the lights. Pat landed near the light Jake had set up, and the passengers offloaded. Then the twins moved the launch back down the ship to unload the lights where they were needed. Jake took Catherine by the hand and led her over near the light and her family and friends. Bruce was standing there grinning like a mad man at his father. Jake was sure his face had a similar grin.

Jake turned Catherine so they were standing in front of the gathered group. He smiled at her and went to one knee. He pulled out the carved box and opened it. Her eyes went wide as she saw the ring. She was saying yes repeatedly before he even asked. “I think you have to wait for me to say the words before you can say yes,” he told her. She just grinned and waited for him to get the words out. She wasn’t very patient though. She bounced like Cali had last night. “Catherine Bedford, would you give me the great honor of being my wife. I...”

He never got to finish his practiced proposal. She screamed, “Yes, Yes, Oh Jake. Of course, I’ll marry you.” He removed the ring from the box and placed it on her finger. She had tears running down her face when he looked up into her eyes. He stood and was bombarded with kisses all over his face. Each one was punctuated with an I love you.

Jake grabbed and pulled her into a tight hug to prevent her third trip of kisses around his face. Instead, she gave him one of her soul stealing kisses that made the rest of the world disappear. The loud clapping and cheers brought them back to the world. Jake turned and said, “She said yes.” That caused everyone to laugh. The next few minutes were a blur for Jake. Everyone shook his hand and congratulated the two them. Catherine refused to budge from his side. Jake thought that was a good thing. He liked her right where she was.

Paul ended the little celebration. “Congratulation sir. The Airships are hovering just over us waiting to come in. who do you want where?” he asked.

Catherine said, “Before we can decide that, we need to see if we can get the large doors open. One is for Scouts. The other is for cargo. Both stretch to the bottom of the ship. It will be much easier to unload if we can use the cargo hold.” Jake arched an eyebrow. “I studied the blueprints,” she explained.

“Everyone grab a hand light. Let’s go see what condition our lady here is in,” Jake said. Then led everyone to a stack of supplies and retrieved one of the hand lights. Catherine stayed tucked under his arm, and explained she wouldn’t need one yet. She planned to stay with him for the moment.

Before he cracked the hatch to the bridge’s structure, Jake whistled and gathered all the captains near. “Ladies and Gentlemen, you’ve all earned this. Let’s open the Karenna and see what shape she is in.” He turned and cranked the lever. The door opened without a squeak. Everyone followed him inside. He went to the bridge and stared out at mist through her thick glass on the bridge. After over a minute he turned and made his way to the stairs that led down into the lower parts of the ship.

He had studied the plans for the Karenna as well. He knew he needed to go down two decks to reach one that had access to the cargo hold. The group traveled through the ancient ship. Some stopping to shine their lights through doorways. Jake paid no attention to any of the side rooms and quickly made his way to the cargo hold access. This hatch too, was latched tight. It was the eighth one he had to open. Unlike the others this was a large double hatch. It opened just as easily as the others had. Pat shined his light on the second half of the hatch and got it opened. Then he swung the door wide.

Jake found the controls for the cargo hatch right where they should be. On a walkway, up a ladder from the hatch they had entered. There was no power to the controls though. He had known this would be the case. The Karenna also had a mechanical crank and pulley system that could be used to open and close the doors. Jake silently thanked the designers for their thoughtfulness. Paul crossed at one end and began to release the latches that held the doors closed. Pat went the other direction and did the same. The two met in the middle on the far catwalk. They waved to Jake, signaling the door was unlocked. Jake was standing next to the giant wheel. When the two signaled, he gripped it hard and put his weight on it. The next thing he knew he was lying on the catwalk looking up at the wheel.

Catherine leaned over and offered him a hand up. He could tell she was trying hard not to laugh. He stood up and she moved around him to the wheel. She began pulling and the wheel moved easily. She grinned as the door slowly started to recede into their side of the roof above. “Don’t worry, love. It only needs a woman’s touch. Not a big strong man like you.” She lost the fight and started laughing.

Jake shook his head and turned and watched as the door above opened. He marveled at how quietly it moved. He knew the ship was made entirely out of Dithorium. He just hadn’t realized they meant everything on the ship. Even after centuries in this cave the door moved as easily as it had the it was made. He went and relieved Catherine on the wheel. He gave it a hard tug and watched as the wheel spun halfway around. He soon got a good rhythm going and the door moved at a faster pace. Up above someone setup a light that shone down into the hold. Its brighter and wider beams revealed more of the cavernous area. They would have no problem getting the Val or any of the other ships down here.

Patrick came and took over for Jake on the wheel. Jake and Catherine made their way down to the bottom of the hold. He was surprised to find the hold so empty, then remembered they had tried to lose as much weight as possible. He was sure they had unloaded whatever had been in the hold to do so. Gran asked, “Who do you want down here first?”

Jake was trying to decide when Catherine answered. “The Val. She has all our cleaning supplies as well as a lot of other supplies. Once we get her unloaded then we can bring in the smaller ships to unload. With the booms on the Val, it shouldn’t take too long.”

“We’ll bring the other ships in and set them down on the main deck. Then move them in here once the Val is unloaded and out of the way,” Jake added.

There was only one problem with their plan. It turned out the Valkyrie was too large to fit inside the hold. By several feet in fact. Nathan expertly positioned her over the edge of the hold, and they lowered the cargo down using the booms onboard the Val.

Bridget had come over the rail on a rope. As soon as the Val was stationary over the deck. she yelled for Bookend and made her way below decks with a large hand light in each hand. she had a satchel over her shoulder and a very serious look on her face. She marched to the closest hatch and pulled open. Then disappeared down the stairs, yelling again for Paul.

Jake discovered he was needed nowhere. He found it best to stand on the deck where he could be easily found. People came and asked him something then went off with his answer. Any task he tried to assist with was always interrupted. Once the airships had set down on the Karenna’s deck, the children were employed as runners. They darted around taking messages everywhere. It was pure chaos. It was organized chaos, but chaos nonetheless. One of the clan boys ran up and said the buoys were retrieved and stowed. The boy was gone before Jake could say anything.

At five thirty the power came up on the Karenna. Jake learned this when the deck lights were turned on. He turned to see the light of the bridge glowing brightly. Paul waved to him. Then he disappeared from view. The Val had been unloaded and the Song and Miss Martha were now down in the hold unloading their cargo. The Shoe was sitting forward near the bow. She was barely touching the deck using her lift sacks to keep most of the weight off the deck. All the other ships were doing the same thing. Only enough weight to keep them from moving was allowed to rest on the Karenna’s deck.