The Ill-mannered Door (humorous sci-fi)

39.2: Valley of the Monuments

The Esmerelda suddenly zipped between two of the tall monuments from roughly the northeast, moving at a good clip toward the portal that was at least a few kilometers off to the west of where we waited.

The king's plan had hidden us brilliantly, and those onboard the Esmerelda had no idea that we were waiting for them! The less brilliant part, however, was that we also didn't see them approaching and we lost valuable moments unfurling the sails and getting after them.

Muriel's silver cube, which had proven excellent for opening portals to other worlds and keeping us aloft, didn't provide much in the way of forward propulsion. So, despite that amazing piece of technology, we were largely left dependent on the whims of the wind.

As we began to move away from the large butte that was preventing us from using the strong wind that was propelling the Esmerelda, Derek emerged from his nap below decks. After taking in the scene of us slowly pulling away from the butte, he ran to where the king and I stood at the front of the ship.

He shouted, "What's the deal, Barry? She's getting away!"

The king began, "Yes, we're--"

"I try to get a little sleep," Derek said, narrowing his eyes at us, "figuring that I'm leaving things in the hands of competent people. But no! And what are we doing so close to this butte?"

The king looked at me and raised his eyebrows in a way that suggested that I answer this one, but a quick shake of my head told him he was quite on his own.

"We were hiding behind the butte... to surprise the queen," the king sputtered.

"Oh yeah, I'll bet she's surprised. I know I am... Surprised at just how little actual thought went into this little plan of yours. Did you think about the fact that the wind doesn't flow through solid rock, and that we might need that wind to, you know, move us?"

"Err, well..." the king began, but then quickly added, "It was Thomas' idea!"

Derek seemed about to give both of us a good tongue-lashing, but suddenly turned and ran back the way he had come when the Bounty cleared the butte and caught the same wind that the Esmerelda was using to get away from us.

"Look, we've cleared the butte and we've got a strong, favorable wind. We'll catch her!" the king shouted after Derek as he ran below decks and soon reemerged with his two prized duffle bags.

"Barry, get back to the helmsman and get him to steal their wind or whatever it is you people do!" Derek said as he returned to the front of the ship and set down his bags.

The king moved off at what approximated a fast walk, at least for him.

"And move it, Barry! She's losing us!"

The king began to pump his arms furiously as he moved his out of shape bulk toward the rear, but it made no noticeable difference in his velocity.

"I don't believe he's able to move any faster," I commented.

"Yeah? What about you, Thomas?" Derek said, rounding on me. "Real lot of help you've been. How about you just keep your great ideas to yourself and stay out of my way, eh?"

I must admit that his rebuke stung, though I figured it was bred out of the stress of the situation and knew very well that stress can bring out the worst in people. Part of me also felt that perhaps I deserved it to some degree, and I honestly wondered if I had been more of a hindrance than a help during this journey of ours. I vowed to myself that I would endeavor to be more help going forward.

I stepped aside and watched as Derek unzipped one of his duffles and pulled out his high tech rifle. He brought it up to his shoulder, took aim, and fired at the Esmerelda. The shot went right through one of her sails, leaving a charred hole, but didn't seem to have much of an effect. Well, other than to get the attention of those aboard the Esmerelda, who had been completely unaware of our presence. They were quite aware now though, and I could see them running about in the distance and heard the faint shouting of orders.

Without warning, there was a tremendous boom and flash from the rear of the queen's ship, then a cloud of smoke, followed quickly by a whizzing sound as something flew past us. I had seen enough films in my day to have my wits about me, so I dropped quickly to the deck and shouted at Derek, "They're firing on us!"

"Yeah, thanks for the tip, Thomas," Derek remarked as he took a knee behind the gunwale at the front of the ship and began laying down fire toward the cannon ports at the rear of the Esmerelda.

There was another boom as a second cannon fired in response, sending another cannonball whizzing over our heads.

Crack! Came the report behind us as a shudder ran through the deck.

I shouted, "We're hit!"

"Working on it!" Derek snapped and fired another blast. There came a distant scream and the cannons fell silent, at least for the moment.

Barry, it seemed, had been successful at relaying the message to the helmsman, or perhaps the hole that Derek had put in one of the sails did have some effect. Whatever it was, we were gaining on the queen's ship.

The king, as if hearing my thoughts, shouted from the upper deck at the rear, "We're gaining on her!"

I let out a loud whoop in response, causing Derek to throw me a disapproving look.

There came a great rushing sound then, and a bright flash of light just before I turned to see the swirling maelstrom of the portal to Verlan Beta open before the queen's approaching ship. They were close to the portal, and though we were gaining quickly, we would be too late.

I pointed toward the portal and shouted at Derek, "We're too late, she's getting away!"