The Atlantic Via Bathtub CH 13

Meanwhile in the bridge Charles and John were making little headway in getting Sir Eric's son to do anything for them.1

Telling Ericsson, as they had discovered his name was, that they would kill him didn't seem to work, so Charles was about to try a new tack.2

'Hey Eric, if ya don't tell Ericsson to fly where we tell him to, we'll kill him!' he yelled.3

'So kill him, it'll get you nowhere,' yelled Sir Eric through the door.4

Ericsson stiffened slightly at his fathers words.5

'See, he says he doesn't care if you die, besides the fact that it'll get us nowhere,' Charles clarified for him.6

'You can't kill me, or you'll all die,' said Ericsson stubbornly.7

'Yes, and if we don't kill you, you'll spend the rest of your days stuck in here flying this blimp for a man who doesn't care much for his own son.'8

'That's not true!' snapped Ericsson.9

'Isn't it?' Charles asked, then turning to the door he yelled. 'What reason has your son for not doing what we say?'10

'He'll be punished if he obeys you!' thundered Sir Eric.11

'What? You'll make him sit in here for the rest of his days, flying your private collection of tubs round everywhere?' asked Charles sarcastically.12

'That isn't punishment, that is a privilege!' yelled Sir Eric.13

'Is it? Oh, privileges have changed somewhat since I was young,' mumbled to Charles to himself, and then yelled, 'So what is punishment then? Gets feed spam for the rest of his days?'14

'To eat spam is an honour, one my son is proud to do!'15

At this Ericsson poked his finger in his mouth and made gagging noises.16

'I think your son disagrees with you on the matter of spam.'17

'Of course he doesn't! He is a Lagson!' yelled Sir Eric.18

'Well what is punishment then?' asked Charles exasperated.19

'That is none of your business,' yelled a now very annoyed Sir Eric.20

'Oooo, none of my business eh? Right, you ask him Ericsson, it can't be to bad, as one can't get much worse then being called Ericsson, eating spam everyday, and stuck in this room flying a blimp all day,' said Charles.21

'I mightn't want to know,' said Ericsson stubbornly.22

'Oh don't give me that, I can see it in your face, you're dying to know what he'd do to you.'23

Ericsson appeared torn in indecision. 'Oh alright! You win, I do want to know,' he snapped, to his father he yelled, 'What sort of punishment?'24

'The very painful sort!' thundered Sir Eric.25

'Ooo, so he's going to hurt the only person who can fly this thing a lot eh? And that'll mean you won't be able to fly it, which means that unless his idea of very painful means a few whacks with a cane, or he has someone else to fly this thing, he's just threatening you. And if there is someone else who can fly this ship, a theory supported by the fact that he doesn't mind if we kill you, then he really doesn't need you that much, if at all. It's just cheaper to get ones son to believe he's doing his father a great service, and have him fly the ship 24/7, and bung him on medication to keep him awake. Charming, just charming,' said Charles snidely.26

Ericsson looked troubled by the thought. Obviously being stuck at the control of an 800 metre long airship al his life hadn't done much to improve his; "thinking out all the angles" capability, if he hadn't given any thought to such matters. That or Sir Eric was one heck of a brain washer if he could get his son to go this long without wondering just why he was doing it.27

'Is there anyone else who can fly the Sutherway, father?' called Ericsson.28

There was a seconds silence from behind the door before Sir Eric yelled back, 'No. No one but you can fly the great Sutherway.'29

'Is that so? You don't seem to care a huge deal about your one and only pilot then,' yelled back Ericsson.30

There was even longer silence from behind the door. 'Ah, but I do care, a lot... About you...'31

'Riiight, that is really obvious in you voice Dad,' said Ericsson, his voice dripping with sarcasm.32

The silence behind the door lasted ages this time, as presumably Sir Eric though over what he was going to do, and they found out pretty soon. 'Get the cutting tools! I want this door open!' roared an enraged Sir Eric.33

'Okay, now we're getting somewhere. So whatcha gonna do now Ericsson?' Charles asked him.34

Ericsson thought a moment before answering. 'How 'bout fly this lump of trash into the an iceberg?'35

Charles looked somewhat surprised at the suggestion. 'I guess that's an idea, what about you? You wanna come with us?'36

'Possibly, I don't know how well I can walk, I might hinder you somewhat.'37

'Nah, won't be a prob. Though getting down to the second deck past all those guys might be a challenge,' he said doubtfully.38

'What about that door over there,' said John, for the first time in some time, he pointed to the door which lead to the stairwell.39

'Yes, that is the emergency exit, it leads straight to the second floor flight deck,' said Ericsson as his fingers flew over controls, adjusting settings faster then Charles thought possible.40

Charles felt the airship tilt forward slightly as he said, 'Flight deck eh? That will be handy, wonder why Baldwin didn't say anything about it.'41

'Baldwin? He is helping you guys?' asked Ericsson in surprise.42

'Ah, yes, he is,' said Charles slightly taken aback by Ericson's tone. 'Is there something wrong with that?'43

'Old Baldwin helping eh? Well why didn't you say so earlier! If Baldwin is doing something, it must be alright,' said Ericsson happily.44

'Oh... You mean if I'd mentioned him earlier, I wouldn't have had to waste precious minutes arguing with you and your father trying to get you to fly where we wanted?'45

'Ah, I guess. Yeah.'46

'Well that's great isn't it,' muttered Charles waving his hands round in an annoyed fashion.47

Grrwaank!48

They spun to look at the door, from whence the sound came from. 'Err, looks like we better hurry. They've got their door cutters out,' said Charles, 'Can you jam the controls so they can't change course?'49

'Ah, should be able to,' said Ericsson still staring at the door, the cutters blade had appeared through it, and looked to be making fast work of the door.50

'Methinks hurrying might be a good idea?' suggested Charles.51

'Yes. Yes good idea,' said Ericsson, dragging his eyes away from the door.52

After a few moments he asked, 'Anyone got anything large and heavy? Or small and sharp.'53

'No, I don't think so...' said Charles.54

'Wait, you have the knife you got from the tool box!' exclaimed John.55

'Oh yes, forgot about that.' Charles pulled the knife from the sheath which was hanging on his belt. 'Can't believe I didn't see that...' he said under his breath. He handed the knife to Ericsson, who'd by this time pulled the drip out of his arm, and was kneeling by the control desk, with one of the side panels off.56

John looked through the hole which Ericsson was fiddling with gears from, it was a a maze in there, gears running gears, pulleys trailing down into the darkness below the desk. He had no idea how Ericsson knew which gear did what.57

Charles stared at the door, the cutter was halfway down one side now. 'I hope your not going to be long Ericsson, 'cause we don't have much time left.' 58

'I know!' snapped Ericsson, 'If I can cut the right pulley, then it'll freeze the steering, but cut the wrong one, and the steering goes haywire. And if the steering goes in this, the chances that we'll make it from here down to the second floor are quite slim.' 59

'I see...'60

'I think it's this one...' There was the ping as Ericsson cut the pulley, the giant airship jolted.61

'Wha–'62

'Don't worry, it'll be fine,' said Ericsson, as he screwed the cover back in place. 'The steering is now dead, the only way they can fix it is by getting out side and moving the rudders by hand, or sticking another pulley in, and that'll take a couple of hours at least. Which is to long, 'cause we hit the water in twenty minutes.' 63

'Twenty minutes?! That all?' exclaimed Charles, somewhat alarmed.64

'Yes, so run.'65

They all ran for the stairwell. Ericsson going somewhat slower, not being used to running.66

Charles opened the door and ushered them through. 'Come on, come on.'67

John dashed past him, Ericsson shortly after, Charles stepped through the door and slammed it behind him, just in time, there was a crash and the main door fell open.68

Charles didn't wait to hear what they talked about, he bolted down the stairs after the others.69

Pete and Baldwin had finally gotten Bootle loaded onto the attack zeppelin. They'd had a little trouble when a solider asked what they were doing, but Baldwin had talked his way out of it, and in the end gotten the solider to help them. Pete had to admire Baldwin's way of dealing with people, they just seemed to do what he wanted, most of the time.70

'That's loaded, now we should go get John and Charles, before they get themselves killed,' said Pete, as he walked down the loading ramp of the zeppelin.71

'Zat iz probably a good idea. I felt zee airzip lurch, zo I don't know vat zey are doing, but it feelz bad,' Baldwin said, 'But firzt.' He turned and walked round the zeppelin to the solider who had helped them. 'Get ziz zeppelin ready to launch, Zir Eric might need to make a hazty exit.'72

'Yes Sir,' said the solider, and set about preparing the zeppelin for launch.73

Baldwin walked back to Pete and led the way to the emergency exit stairwell. They walked as quickly as they could, with out drawing to much attention to themselves. Not that anyone would pay them to much attention, the klaxons blaring, and strobe lights flashing, everyone was rushing. 74

They reached the stairwell doors. Baldwin was about to open them, when someone from inside opened them, and three figures spilt out.75

It took Pete a moment to work out who they were, John, Charles, and someone he'd never seen before.76

'Run,' said Charles as he scrambled to his feet.77

'Ericzon?' Baldwin stared in surprise at Ericsson.78

'Yup, it's me, heard you were helping these folk out, and had to join the fun, plus it's getting supremely dull sitting up there,' said Ericsson happily.79

'Hate to break the reunion people, but we have most of Eric's army behind us by now I should think. So if you don't mind, could we sort of, like, leave now?' said Charles, hopping from one foot to another impatiently.80

'Yes, that might be a good idea,' said Ericsson, as he stared round the room. 'I've never been here before, all this time on this zeppelin, and I've pretty much only been in one room.'81

'Come on, come on, come on!' snapped Charles.82

There was the sound of footsteps and yelling from inside the stairwell.83

They all stared at each other a moment, then as one, turned and ran.84

Through the stairwell burst a furious Sir Eric, followed by his army. 'Stop them!' bellowed Sir Eric, as he tore after them, half his army in tow.85

Charles stared in surprise as Baldwin over took him, his short little dumpy legs working like pistons, hammering away at an unbelievable speed. He looked him, Ericsson was holding his pace quite well, he'd never run before, but his adrenaline was pumping. A wide grin was spread over his face, he looked like he could die happy.86

Another thing Charles noticed was that Sir Eric and his gang didn't seem to be falling behind. 'Where's the zeppelin you got?' yelled Charles to Pete.87

'The other end of the ship,' Pete yelled back.88

'You just had to get the zeppelin at the other end of the ship didn't you? Not challenging enough to only have to run a twenty metres to the closest ship? Had to go the other end eh?' gasped Charles between breaths.89

'I wasn't expecting you to bring Sir Eric's entire army after you!' returned Pete.90

'Well what did you expect me to do? I had to get someone cheesed off to get Ericsson working for us!' Yelled Charles.91

'Bu–' Pete didn't finish, a dozen soldiers, headed by Hexter himself poured out of the elevator ahead of them, each was armed, and looked ready to kill.92

A look of horror masked Pete's face as the soldiers raised their guns to fire.93

'Oh bugger...'94

'Hold your fire!' Sir Eric thundered. 'You'll hit me, you fools!'95

The soldier ahead looked confused by the command, unable to see how they would hit Sir Eric from shooting at these people in front of them.96

Hexter drew his sword, the other soldiers followed suit.97

'Um, Pete, what are we going to do?' asked Charles.98

Before Pete could answer, he saw Baldwin reach the soldiers ahead, he skidded to a halt beside them. It puzzled Pete for a moment why they didn't attack him, then he realised that the soldiers hadn't actually seen Baldwin with them, and would think he was still on their side.99

Baldwin said something to Hexter that Pete couldn't hear, but from the panicked look on the soldiers faces, it can't have been an invitation to a tea party.100

'Go round the other side of the lift!' Pete called to the others. And changed direction, to skirt round the opposite side of the lift to the soldiers. Who were no longer paying them any attention, but arguing among themselves. One threw down his sword and sprinted toward the nearest attack zeppelin, which fortunately was not the one which Bootle was aboard. Soon the rest were following, all except Hexter, who with an enraged look on his face, was advancing on the escapees.101

Pete and his crew were now only 100 metres from the attack zeppelin, but with Hexter in front, and half of Sir Eric's army behind. It did not look good but for two things. Baldwin, and the zeppelin they were going to use was ready for launch.102

Pete saw Baldwin creep up behind Hexter, who, so intent upon his prey, had forgotten that bad things happen to people who don't watch their backs.103

Baldwin was holding one of the soldiers rifles by the barrel, and as he drew close behind Hexter, he swung the rifle, aiming straight for Hexter's head, there was clunk. Baldwin looked surprised, Hexter was now facing him, with his sword up, he grinned evilly at Baldwin. 'Thought you'd catch me unawares eh?'104

They stared at each other, judging each other skills, weighing up moves.105

Hexter, from his cocky grin obviously thought he had the upper hand. He pulled his sword away, then charged.106

Baldwin ducked to avoid Hexter sword, then moving with surprising agility he side stepped and brought his gun up and around, just as Hexter charged again, Hexter felt the gun barrel sticking into his stomach, and he looked down, his smile faded as Baldwin snarled, 'I never like you anyvay.' and pulled the trigger.107

Blam!108

John spun at the sound, they had just past the two fighters. He saw Hexter slump to the ground, and Baldwin stand, and run after them, with the enraged Sir Eric very close behind him.109

Charles reached the zeppelin and flew up the ramp and into the relative safety inside, he spun to watch the ramp. 'Come on people!' he yelled.110

John arrived next, the surprisingly Ericsson, Pete was close behind them all, the ploughed up the ramp and into the zeppelin.111

'How do we launch it?' asked Charles.112

'Just pull that lever, and the connecter cables will be cut, and you fly out through the doors.' explained Ericsson, he paused a moment before saying, 'I'll fly.'113

'Good good. John, go with him to the cockpit, and stay there,' said Pete, then turned to watch outside. 'Come on Baldwin! You can do it!'114

Baldwin was now a mere ten metres away, but Sir Eric was a mere eleven metres away.115

Baldwin strained every muscle in his body, sweat pored down his face as he pounded those last few metres. He hit the ramp at a sprint.116

Charles jerked the lever back, severing the mooring ropes, it also activated a mechanism which started to pull the ramp in.117

The movement in the ramp was not such a good thing for Baldwin, he stumbled and fell flat on his face.118

Sir Eric reached the ramp and with a flying leap landed on it, he grabbed the side of the ramp to stop himself falling, then started to claw his way up.119

'You treacherous little twerp!' he screamed, his face bright red from anger and running, he pulled himself further up the ramp. 'I take you in, give you a job, feed you, and this is how you repay me?'120

There was a grinding sound as the ramp mechanism strained to take the weight of two large people.121

With a mad scramble Baldwin clambered into the zeppelin just as the ramp collapsed. It swung down, with Sir Eric still clinging to it, it slammed into the ground, the jolt knocking the enraged Sir Eric off, he fell with an almighty thump to the deck of the Sutherway.122

With the weight no longer on the ramp, it was able to pull its self shut, with a little protesting from closing mechanism.123

From the windows of the small attack zeppelin, Pete could see Sir Eric rolling on the deck, his right arm clearly broken. His soldiers rushing around, rushed around like chickens with their heads cut off.124

From the cockpit Ericsson skilfully steered the zeppelin through the doors in the side, and out into open night sky.