Chapter 49

Of course Big Boy paid me a short visit during my sleep. Five of the ships were being put in place tonight.

"They are similar to the US Coast Guard's Cyclone class patrol boat. Of course they are much faster and require less manpower than the normal crew of thirty. They are also more heavily armed, at least for the main gun.

"We used the Bofors 57mm Mk II as a starting point. However we added a secondary munitions feed so that you can have a few non-fragmentation round for warning use."

"I'm not at all familiar with the gun or its rounds, so maybe you should explain."

"Normally all rounds are pre-fragmented and the fusing can be set for different types of targets, this is controlled as each separate round is fired. I'll admit I didn't go over the details of that system.

We thought for your use it would be advantageous to have rounds that didn't fragment at all, since usually you will be trying to cause surrender and not destruction. The Captain will be able to use the solid rounds to punch holes through the ships but will also be able to engage with the explosive rounds with the flip of a switch, so to speak."

"That's all great about the gun but what about the ship?"

"It is 170 by 25 feet. The interior is now more spacious since the new engines are much smaller even though they are very much more powerful. Of course the former fuel storage space is no longer needed for that purpose either. We have concentrated on giving more and better accomodations for the crews. We made room for a helipad on deck too.

"We have six very powerful ocean going style tugs for you now also. In fact, we have developed a special missile delivered grappling facility. If you have difficulty encouraging surrender, the grappling system can be fired toward the intended victim's bow from a thousand yards away. Our hope is that the tug can merely tow the ship to port then, whether they want to go or not.

"Ports are another thing. We have constructed two already. One is where Guantanamo was on your original earth and the other is at Trinidad-Tobago. Of course you will need to find troops to man them, but the bases are in place and fully supplied. There is also equipment in place for unloading cargo more easily."

"Sounds like you've covered all the bases. What about some nighttime training for our new navy?"

"It is taking place for the first few as you and they sleep." he said, and then I was sleeping for real again.

Jaycee woke me the next morning and it seemed like a real life work day. We did have a very nice breakfast and then we headed to our job. I was getting worn out gathering and moving cargo by now, but since Jahedo and Twako had found a lot of things they liked in the ship, and since they had taken in the saved from slavery girls, I thought it was worth the effort.

This time I felt confident and landed near the freight. Jaycee set down nearby and the men got moving before I even made it out and onto the ground. Eduardo was there to greet me.

"I can hardly believe some of the things I dreamed last night. It seemed I was given a tour of a magic ship and then the workings were being explained to me," he said.

"It was a dream of what is to come. That is to be your ship, and if you'll look out from the shore you will see it."

He was dumbfounded of course and I'm sure it seemed like magic, or witchcraft, to him. Hell, it should, since it was magic or witchcraft to me too.

"As soon as the men are busy we will go take a look, and probably a ride."

He went back to the men and started spitting out instructions. Jaycee joined me and we went looking for Twako. He wasn't hard to find and I asked him to join us for a little conference.

"Our benefactors have decided we needed fast ships to protect our territory. They have provided two this morning and there will be more as soon as we can find crews for them. In a while we will be taking a short trip in one. Would you like to bring a few of your men and come with us?"

"Yes, I have never been on one of the big canoes. I had never seen one until I came with you on this trip. I hope it will be as exciting as the ride in the flying machine," he said, and left to gather a few of his guys.

Jaycee and I got the benefit of a rundown on the ships last night too, and we were anxious to try them too. Soon enough Eduardo joined us and we headed for the beach. There was a Zodiac type boat, including an outboard motor, on the beach waiting for us. Odd though, I hadn't noticed until we needed it.

Of course we got a little wet getting the Zodiac into the water and then our asses into it. The outboard fired up right away though and soon enough we were tied up to the patrol boat and climbing a net type ladder. I headed straight for the control room.

As advertised in my dream lesson, there was one central control type station. It had a nice swiveling seat that resembled and air seat from a big truck. The controls were more of the video-game style arrangement. When Twako joined us and said the Zodiac was stowed, I pressed a button that I knew would start the four twenty-thousand horsepower alien engines.

A large flat panel screen came to life and it appeared to be showing me a satellite's eye view of the gulf. An image of something had a flashing red circle around it and after futzing with the controls I enlarged until I could see it was a sailing ship. Sure enough it looked like it was headed for Cuba. A little more fooling around with the controls told me it was nearly a hundred miles from us. I intended to go get it if that was possible.

Jaycee and I spent about ten minutes each giving the boat a spin. After that we had to cajole Eduardo into giving it a try. Jaycee and I had a conference and decided to take the tug too and she wanted to operate it. I put us beside it and she took Twako and the Indians with her while I went back toward the beach so Eduardo could gather up about twenty of his men, including the Second and Third mates. I let him do the honors in the Zodiac but we had our crew onboard and the Zodiac stowed again in less than half an hour.

Jaycee had already left but the display screen showed me where she was. I headed for her and kept increasing speed until we were catching up. The display told me we were making over sixty knots. I was happy for the truck type seat but I'm not sure anybody else enjoyed the ride as much as I did. Thankfully the sea wasn't too rough.

It took the best part of two hours to catch our intended. Jaycee stayed about three thousand yards behind it but I passed it up by nearly that much and then turned around and headed toward it. Straight toward it, though I wasn't going nearly as fast this time.

It was time to try out the gun when the ship steered to miss us. In what I considered a move much too intelligent for the US Navy, the gun was controlled from the same station. It had its own joystick and all I had to do was move the crosshair onto the part of the ship I wanted to hit.

Since I didn't want to damage the ship, I set the fuse for impact and put a round fifty yards in front of its bow. It hit about where I intended. The explosion and fragmentation raised an impressive geyser in the water and made more noise than the law allowed.

Exactly what I'd feared happened then. Nothing. Apparently the ship's captain thought we'd missed and figured he had a little time before we could reload. The Bofors could fire two hundred and fifty rounds per minute so I gave him five more examples as fast as it would. I guess he didn't believe it. I was trying to figure out what to shoot at that would cause the least damage when the radio called me.

"John, keep them occupied. I'm going to back up toward them and try the grappling thing. Even if it doesn't work I have to see it try," Jaycee said.

"Ok. I'm glad you warned me though since I was about to try shooting someone with a fifty-seven millimeter shot. I doubt I could just wound them."

"Just make damned sure you don't wound me."

The sailing ship was only making about nine knots so it was simple to keep my distance. I fired a few more rounds off to each side, mostly just splashing water on them but not hurting any one or thing. I'm sure it did keep their attention though.