Tunnel Rat

Chapter 96: Scavengers

Leviathan raced for the safety of the harbor. This didn't mean the ship was fast, just that there was a hope it made it to safety instead of getting caught. She was built to explore the depths, not to race across the waves. Leviathan looked like a giant metal sausage with some extra bits added on as an afterthought. A large propeller was churning the sea behind her, powered by steam boilers. Up on her top deck, a square sail had been raised, adding to her speed as long as the ship could travel in the wind’s direction. The wind was behind her, but it was dropping fast as she rounded the headland and headed into the bay.

The propeller by itself wasn't going to let them outrace the giant eel chasing them. Pirates and warships she could avoid. But not an apex predator of the deep. The crew just prayed they could beat the huge dragonsnake that was chasing them. If they lost this race, they'd be another hulk laying on the bottom of the bay, their loot waiting for someone to claim it. The irony of that wasn't lost on Whale, the captain. She and her crew had just made the most successful scavenging run in generations, but it was all going to be for nothing if that oversized worm caught up with them.

The dwarven scavengers that crewed the large submersible were doing their best to keep the wind in the sail. At the rear, another group was bringing up a cannon from a hold. Leviathan had guns along her sides, but only small six-pounders. They worked just fine for taking out most monsters they ran into, and could do huge damage to a ship at close range. Several of Leviathan's adversaries had only known they were in a fight after the hull of their ship exploded from a broadside fired from beneath them.

The massive brass 16-pounder that was being raised on a winch had only recently been looted from another ship. It was the scavenging of The Iron Queen that had riled up the local predator they were running from. The Queen had been laying in a graveyard of broken ships for hundreds of years. Whether the dragonsnake was a guardian, or it was just bad luck, looting the old ship had disturbed its brood. Killing one of its offspring had woken up the huge one that was sleeping in the muck of the sea bottom.

A soot-covered mechanic popped out of a hatch; the braids of her greased beard tucked into her coveralls to keep it from getting caught in machinery. Every young mechanic was told the stories of careless dwarves who 'took a header' into the gears when her beard got caught. It was a messy way to die. Whale turned to her. "How are we looking, Barnacle?"

Barnacle glanced at their pursuer and spat in its general direction, then answered. "Well, the boilers are holding, but we've pushed them up past the red zone. They'll hold for now, but if one of them goes, we won't be worrying about a snake anymore. I'm more worried about the propeller. It's not made to run this hard, for this long. If it starts to wobble, it'll break in half for sure and strand us. If that happens, best we can do is turn and toss a broadside at the beastie. I've got all the gunners on the starboard side ready to shoot. And it looks like little Narwhale wants to try out her new toy. A good shot with that sixteen-pounder might do it."

Whale looked over to where her daughter was doing what she could to mount the large brass cannon she'd stolen from the Queen. 'A dowry'. she'd declared when Whale had yelled at her for loading the pair of cannons along with the other treasure. She might never find the husband she was looking for, but it looked like that dowry might come in handy anyway. If the barrel wasn't clogged, and if the beast gave her a shot. Shooting a snake wasn't like shooting at a ship.

Pike pointed past the snake. "Captain, we have a ship coming up behind us. Hellaciously fast too! That sucker is using a mage wind or I’m a one-legged gobbo." Whale squinted and agreed with Pike. The grey sail on the small sloop was full of wind that wasn't hitting their own sail. The smaller boat was leaping across the waves, gaining on both Leviathan and her foe.

The crew of Leviathan watched with disbelief as the lone sailor at the tiller steered alongside the huge beast, and then raced past it, surprising the snake as it sped past. Then it did the same to their own ship. The lone human guiding it waved to the dwarven scavengers, and then pointed across the bay to the docks before putting his ship directly in front of the huge metal submersible. Immediately wind filled Leviathan's sail and the ship picked up speed, opening up the distance between it and the snake.

"Stay in his wake! He's using his own mage wind to push us along. Don't lose the wind!"

The two ships moved steadily towards the docks, the smaller ship increasing its lead, but the mage wind didn't fall off.

Narwhale and her crew continued to work on mounting the scavenged cannon. "I'm not liking how we have it set up, we'll get a shot out of her, but make sure you aren't behind it. If that carriage breaks, the guns going to make a trip backwards. How’s the barrel looking Piranha?"

With a last blow from spanner, Piranha uncoupled the rear-end of the gun and swung it clear. Foul water and a dead crab poured out. "She's clogged further up, Nar. I told you we didn't have her clean, get me something to poke at that clog a bit and wipe her out good."

Narwhale shook her head, red curls that matched her beard flying around. "No time. The clog is probably mud. It'll blow clear. Put a double load of powder in her and load one of the balls. She'll either fire, or she won't." The other scavengers nodded. They weren't fussy about things like old fuddy-duddy engineers who had to measure 10 times before they turned a screw. Scavengers made their own luck. Granted, a lot of it might be bad luck, but that was better than no luck at all!

The small sloop veered off, its captain pointing at an area of the docks Leviathan should head to. The area had burned recently, and was clear of docks, and warehouses. Whale spoke into a large box attached to the mast: "Sharkey, tell the navigator to hit that beach at an angle, and see if we can’t slew her around so we can fire a broadside. That thing doesn't look like its scared of following us ashore. But as soon as we hit, I want everyone but gunners to abandon ship with the loot and weapons. Get the shinies to safety. Gunners follow after the broadside. Don't leave anyone on board, get the hell inland where we can fight it."

Leviathan hit what was left of the docks hard, crushing the underwater posts that had survived the fire, leaving jagged stumps. Her double hull was punctured in several spots. Not a problem since she wasn't going to be going back to the sea for some time. The iron hulled ship slid up onto land, turning slightly and presenting one side at the onrushing dragonsnake. Gun ports opened and eight cannons loaded with six-pound balls took aim.

The noise was like rolling thunder. Gunners wore protective gear to preserve their hearing, but still went deaf after a few battles. They compensated with sign language, strong drink, and cute little beardlings. They got lucky. One shot hit the snake dead on, shattering ribs and leaving a hole that leaked greenish ichor. Another grazed it, tearing a furrow through muscle and scales. Two out of six on a moving target was excellent shooting. The gunners were already arguing about whose shot had hit as they abandoned ship.

The dragonsnake was thrown backward by the six-pounder to its chest, falling onto the splintered posts that tore at its hide. The scavenger crew left the ship by anyway possible, running up into the cleared area of the burn carrying large bags and chests of loot from The Iron Queen, along with crossbows, axes, and any weapon they could grab. Whale was counting heads, but came up three short. At the end of Leviathan, she saw her daughter, red hair flying in the wind, yelling at Barnacle and Piranha. The two dwarves jumped down to the ground and ran, angry but following orders. Narwhale was the youngest of the crew, but she was also the captain’s daughter.

The huge eel reared up and roared its displeasure at being wounded by such tiny creatures. Narwhale lit the fuse and cursed at the thing. She figured that she should jump for safety, but she was probably going to die anyway, and wanted to see if she hit. The cannon made a noise that cannons weren't supposed to make. A mass of mud and dead fish exploded from the barrel, and the sixteen-pound ball sailed through the air, impacting the snake between its eyes.

If the barrel had been clear, and the powder dry, it might have killed it. Instead, the snake had a pounding headache and was even angrier, if that was possible. The snake rammed Leviathan, aiming for the end when the bright tube had spat fire. Narwhale found herself flying through the air. A second time the snake hit the ship, its huge head knocking the brass sixteen pounder free of its carriage and flying through the air end over end.

Narwhale landed hard on the ground, and sat up just as she saw her dowry about to crush her. Something wrapped around her waist and jerked her violently aside as the cannon rolled past. She was thrown like a sack of flour and landed in a heap between two pairs of armored legs. Someone patted her on the head and said, "Nice shot for a Scavenger. Right between the eyes. I'd always hear you lot were to drunk to shoot straight. You just needed a little more BOOM." A bottle of alcohol was thrust into her hands and she drank, clearing her head. A dwarven man with a crazed look in his eyes was next to her. "You did your part, now let the professionals show you how it’s done."

Nar took another swig of whiskey as she watched two dwarves in shiny, mechanical armor start lumbering towards the snake. An ogre was calmly walking along with a harpoon in one hand, and eating a whole turkey with the other. As she watched, some crazed idiot ran in close, and threw a glowing harpoon at the sea monster.

Finishing the whiskey, she yelled for Barnacle and Piranha and started walking to her cannon. The damned engineers could just sod-off. She was going to kill the thing herself!