How many years had it been since that day of the two vessels sinking? First the S.S. Louisiana, then the vessel I served on, the H.M.S. Britannic. What I'm about to tell ya, weather you believe me or not, if of how I found the truth of those two tragedies and what lead me to this life of piracy. I was a sailor once- Not saying that I still am, just....I once severed his Majesty, in his Navy, under the Command of Captain Johnathan Wheat, now I suspect that you already had heard the tail of the mystery orders, a boiler explosion, so I'll skip all of that, and go to the ending. After that whole event of mystery, years after the great war, all my former mates let go of it, laid it to rest like those two vessels, but not I. No, it never sat well with me it did, that American ship engineer, P.O. 2 Zipper, so I kept looking for answers, after those families and those children lost their lives, somehow I felt obliged to find their fates, and it cost me the life I loved, sailing the world for his Majesty. I thought my investigative days were over, but when the treaty to end all wars was signed, when in the America's all manner of strong drink was outlawed, I found myself with that chance to give some sort of justice those lives lost, and of all places, on the docks of a London port. I had been looking for work when I saw a sign for able hands, a call went out to raise the Louisiana and Britannic from the bloody depths of which they lied. At first, I was august, let the dead sleep I thought, but then as I was about to turn and go the other way, I saw a face, an American face that I knew, that of the Louisiana's Captain, 'Dale' was all I knew him by, a dead man who was joining the recovery crew, so I figured that if the dead won't sleep, nor will I, and followed. I kept low, to myself, we were on a ship with no name, bad luck that was, but curious as well. The man in charge of the operation went by the title and name of 'Professor Norton Nimnul' and it was financed by some other, who's name I never heard, but everyone in the upper ranks simply called 'Fat Cat' there were others, but I never heard their names, as I was more focused on that dead man. We went to the sight of the Britannic first, told it was closer, and a team of Snorks met us there and low and behold, again, I knew one of them, former Naval Snorks team leader Allstar Seaworthy, something deep inside me stirred, telling me that things weren't right. I kept close eyes on Allstar throughout recovery operation. Oh, it took two weeks, the Snorks....they work best under the waves after all, and longer then others on land. On that last day, the bow of the Britannic rose from the depths, they had placed massive air balloons that were special made, air canisters that would release the gas and raise the ship to the surface once more. When it did raise, Professor Nimnul ordered all onboard to stay, said he had a crew to inspect it to see how stable it was, it reminded me of the mission all those years ago looking for the Louisiana, his crew went over and within the hour came back with an all clear, nonsense, to inspect a ship with that kind of damage would have taken longer. Either way, another vessel, again with no name, came to tow it back to port. Another three weeks and we were at where the Louisiana sank, it would be longer to bring her up from the shores, this is where I would finally make my move.
The Snorks did their job again, same as the last, and brought up the vessel, Nimnul once again ordered his special team to inspect the vessel, but due to weather truing on us, we thought we'd head to shore, but instead were shocked to be told that we were to stay until another nameless vessel was to arrive and tow the Louisiana back to port. We were fortunate that the storms were in the distance, but the sea around us swirled and swelled, one night I saw Dale move about the decks, I finally had a chance to follow and if possible, confront him, and what luck, he went to the cargo hold, the most empty part of it. I was slow in my movement so he would not hear me, but when he came to the furthest point, boxed in, I finally made my move, *"I see Dead men do tell tails....Captain Dale of the S.S. Louisiana!"* He didn't react, he just stood there with his back to me, after what felt like a century or two finally spoke, "I've known you were watching me the whole time, Jack Russell." This threw me back, "Then you know why I've followed you?" He stayed silent for a moment, then softly said, "Yes, answers. I heard you were revealed of your duties after the great war." "Aye, looking for what the Hell happened all those years ago." "Huh....'Hell' what an interesting choice of words." He slowly turned to look at me, seeing my pistol leveled at him, I continued, "I met that sailor, Zipper, I ventured to that Western town where the Mousekewitz family lived, New York and Yorkshire, back to the Florida keys and.....they found that boy, Fievel, dead in one of those lifeboats....and I remember that letter, 'under your care'-" "He was under my care, and if you did read, or was read too, my letters, then you'd know the weather was turning, like it is now, and not too long after we departed the Louisiana he became ill, we waited out the storm, he got worse....there's only so much one can do while on a lifeboat and in the middle of the ocean, the only blessing was P.O. 3 Gadget's design for those boats, got us to our destination quicker." "And that's another thing, your coordinates, there's nothing there." "Misdirection, do you remember, 'keys and lock' odd combination, is it not?" I thought about it for a moment, and remembered our wading, "The....Florida keys?" "Yes, and from there the locks of England and Scotland." "What? Why in the Hell would you put a sick-" "He wasn't sick at the time, then became sick, as well I knew not that he was going on that cursed venture, if I had, I would have told his father to leave his family home. He died next to me, and as much I tried to show a face of courage, in his last state, asking where his sister was....I tried to show a strong face, but it broke me, in his disillusioned state, thought my tears were raindrops seeping through." "For what? What reason did all of these people have to suffer?" Again, silence, then, "The Lazarus project." I thought for a moment, then Dale, "I know your shipmate Chester copied those plans, he wasn't as concealed as you all thought, Bobby determined, quite right, that the prints was for a structure, Philip determined, again correctly, those numbers were a chemical formula, you see those tubes on the Snorks heads may double as hearing while on land, they head everything, regardless of how quite all of you were." "But....none of you said anything?" From behind me, "We were no threat to us Seaman Russell." A voice that sounded so familiar, I slowly turned around and to my shock was a young man, though....I tried to shake it off but it was Captain Wheat, younger....somehow? He continued, "Russell....please, for the love of God, lower your weapon Sailor." Must have been old habits when a former commanding officer gives an order, but against my instinct, I did. Wheat, "Russell....I know Green- Philip, and I know West- Uh, old habits, but Chester....are dead." I nodded, "Aye, but not from anything 'normal' or the great war....they were murdered, Chester had copies of those prints, I know and those were the only things missing, the others we sailed with, said to let it go, just a Sailor story to be proud to be part of, but I couldn't, wouldn't-" Turning to Dale, "And you're suppose too be dead." Dale slowly nodded, I turned to my former Captain with tears forming in my eyes and continued, "John....men are dead, others say random, but I know better, but this, all of this....I don't understand....any of this?" So my former officer and Dale told me the whole story.
Dale, "It all started with the Smurfs, they had a man, Human, wizard, named Gargamel, who had at one time sought to turn them into gold, then all of the sudden, wanted to eat them. One of the Smurfs, Brainy, started to question exactly what he wanted, and what that was, was a combination of both.....hiring a detective team with dog, Brainy infiltrated Garamel's castle, Brainy and one of the team members he had hired, Velma Dinkley, found documents and research on Smurf berries....do you know-" "I've heard of them, yes." "Though a wizard, he was also a botanist, so too was Velma, and Brainy dabbled in it, together they discovered that Garamels' research uncovered that Smurf berries had so many municipal properties, even lengthening one's life....however, there were a few problem, one being that Smurf berries only grew in one place, which lead to the other being that land belonged to the Smurfs." "So....I've often heard that the Smurf people can live for over a thousand years." 'The berries are what keeps them alive that long, though....we're not sure how." "So this Garamel, did want to turn them into gold....metaphorically at least, and....eat them?" "The Smurfs kept the berries to themselves, and Garamel was old, dying, however like a predator, he thought that if he were to eat the Smurfs, some of that which transfers to the Smurfs biology, would transfer to him, through digestion. Weather he was right or not, was never thankfully known, as the team Brainy hired help stop him, if they had not Garamel was prepared to commit a massive genocide to have a claim on those berries, he would have gotten away with it too, if wasn't for those meddling kids and their dumb dog too....but not...entirely dumb." "What do you mean?" "Another team member, Norville 'Shaggy' Rogers, had a dog he named Scooby-doo, The dog had gotten into a bag of smurf berries, and somehow....altered him, giving him the ability to talk...to some degree....and lengthen his life. As time went on, the group made a deal with Papa Smurf, if they shared the berries, lengthening their lifespans also, they would work to unlock what Garmel was doing, unnerved by the revelation of Garmel's plans, Papa Smurf considered that he had no choice, so the team named themselves, 'The Mystery gang' dedicated to this mystery and with the help of Brainy, unlocked his secrets. Garmel had discovered that the berries were some type of new breed of plant, those flowers you saw were juvenile smurf flowers, before they bore fruit. He developed a greenhouse that could perfectly simulate the environment of what smurf berries needed, and one document relieved that he managed to get a hold of one berry, and spent years studying it, and traveling to see if it could grew anywhere else." "Can they?" "Yes, like with sugar and coffee, and so many other things, the Caribbeans, and a higher yield and better quality. The greenhouse could even grow them faster trapping in water, cycling it, wuith each cycle making a better higher yield smurf berry....but Garmel had only one berry, and it was not enough for pollination, he needed more, and he needed money. What was uncovered by that Mystery team was a secret organization, of politicians and despots, criminals and fat cats. The two agents, Bernard and Ms. Bianca, they were sent on a mission to rescue a little girl named Penny, who was being held captive in Louisiana by a woman named Madam Medusa. On the surface she had convinced one of her colleagues that she was looking for treasure, a gem of eminence wealth, having Penny scrap up long forgotten pirate treasure in a sea cave before it flooded. It was uncovered later that she was an associate of Garmel's, how they met, I do not know, but she was helping fund raise for his research and the chance of longer life. And others soon followed, they called themselves the 'Followers of Lazarus' and had plans to live.....possibly forever, we're not sure, it seems the smurf berries effects each species differently, like Scooby-Doo talking, but longer life, and in some case youth, seem to be the only shared side effect." "And other effects?" "Another side-effect happened when a research group, under the disguise of 'chemical research' were secretly studying smurf berries for this organization, and accidentally altered a rat and four turtles. And some species, humans particularly, can heal faster and be more resistant to diseases, which is where the group had a hitch. Eventually the Followers of Lazarus split into two factions, a disagreement, though....I will say a 'peaceful' one, had one side believe that the smurf berries should be used for only the elites, and just let those they deemed 'lesser' live a short life, the other, with more politicians, thought to use the berries to cure various illnesses, for their own gain in wealth and votes. Think of it, being 50 years, but physically 20....they also considered lacing water and food with it, so to expand their research, or, passing laws to force people to take a type of elixir they designed the smurf berries to be created as." "So....which do you belong to?" Wheat; "Neither Jack. We belong to a separate entity altogether." Dale; "To keep ourselves secrete, we go by various names, mine was the Rescue Rangers, Bernard and Ms. Bianca recruited their organization into it, we brought those four turtles and rat into our ranks as their own, with plans to one day unify under one banner....but....the resources aren't there. We need to still stay small, in divided groups, blocking the Followers of Lazarus every move." Wheat; "That's why we needed to take those damaged lifeboats, it had Smurf residue on it, something a scientist can recover, that metal box, had many vials of that elixir." "To stop people from living longer?" "No Jack, to give them a choice whether they want to or not. We're trying to isolate what makes the berries cause people to live longer, age slower, and separate the healing factors, so if not long live someone wants, at least a chance to live better, without sickness or at least a better chance of overcoming them, you remember the Spanish flu." "I do....but...the Louisiana, why were those people there then, did a sea mine actually sink it....or did-" Dale held his hand up, took a breath and told his tale.
"I've been part of this fractured organization for so many years, not the original mind you Jack, probably the third, I was recruited years ago when still a 2nd Lieutenant, by a Farggle named 'Traveling' Matt. He told his Nephew, his people, he was going to see the world, that was true but also misleading. He had met the Smurfs when they uncovered Garmel's organization, the Smurfs were exploring locations to build their own greenhouse, and entered a cave in hope to see if the smurf berries could grow there. From what I know, what Matt told me, the conversation started out ordinary, two cultures meeting, sharing, but lead to Brainy having a revelation, Matt wanted to see the world, they needed locations to grow their own elixir facilities, one benefited the other, but needed funding. Mat would travel and ended up in a small tavern with an up and coming comedian, Jerry Mouse. Matt had found him hilarious and would tell others of his routine. Eventually, Jerry had heard of Matt's praise of him and sought to thank him as it was helping his career. Traveling was a by-chance encounter again, he had remember the Fraggle, and the two spent the night talking at a booth in a restaurant, which turned into two days, then a week, then Matt recruited Jerry, Jerry was fascinated by these Smurf berries, and wanted to see what effects it would have on him. A month later the two arrived at the Smurf village and met the Mystery gang. Jerry talked to Papa Smurf, and after a long conversation, though I do not know how long, Papa Smurf made the decision to allow Jerry to taste the berries elixir. Jerry at first felt nothing and decided to try everything. He set himself on fire, to the protest of all, and....lived. He threw himself off a cliff, and lived, and then setup a boulderer and was smashed and like putty, he was flat then back to his original shape again. He had to get another of his friends, a cat named Tom, and to everyone's surprise, also had the same side effects. The two would create a slap-stick duo tour, the audience thought it was tricks and misdirect, but wasn't, both Tom and Jerry were astonished and made money off this act, that they portioned some for our research, but this is where the limitation came in, apparently the elixir might make long life and youth permanent, as far as we can tell, but the some for some species side effects were not, so every so often they would need more to continue their act, while also playing spy and like 'Traveling' Matt, finding members of the Followers of Lazarus. In their travels, the duo would preform at a sea port, of which I was stationed at, and followed a Lazarus member to a point that they could not get access too, a Naval base. I was in a bar doing what Sailors had done for centuries, drinking and nothing more. The two saw me, young, career starting out, and preformed an act that I stayed for, and then surprised when they wanted to spend time with me, saying they loved to hear sailor stories, of which I had plenty. As the night drew to a close and no ears to peer into our conversation, that's when they presented me with the elixir, and explained to me what they needed, being information. It took me a long time to have what they said to sink into my mind, but I agreed to keep a tab on a Lt. Commander by the name of Don Karnage, who was about to be promoted to Captain. For five days I managed to keep an eye on him, and quickly found that he was indeed up to no good. Another week, and I discovered he was hiring some random captains for various cargo's. On the seventh night, I finally managed to sneak into an area of a warehouse and see what he was having Captains load up, and there, I saw boxes upon boxes of elixirs, similar to what I was shown. Going further, I found papers and records, Lt. Commander Karnage had invested into a candy factory ran by a man named 'Wonka' and was making a candy he had named 'Gummibears' using the smurf berries, they were experimenting on children. More records relived test done on a gorup of bears, giving them speech and the ability to bounce. It was being shipped over to England, operated by a Duke named 'Sigmund Igthorn'. I was at a lost, I couldn't let this go on but couldn't leave my post." Wheat, "And that is where I came in."
"I was sent to the America's to pick up cargo of importance, yes it was important, no, it was not for his- 'her' Majesty at the time. 2nd Lieutenant Dale approached me and talked to me of why I was there, and if I'd like to go into town and see a comedy duo, I had a orders....but weeks at sea tired me. I found American beer rather disgusting, but the two literal cat & mouse duo was hilarious to say the least. Before I had to report back the three wanted to talk to me and show me something on interest. Being in a similar situation of 'seeing something' I was on my guard, but when a vial of strange elixir was taken out and explained to me, when Dale showed me copies of the documents of child 'research' I was horrified and refused to believe that's what I was doing, so I left, went to my ship, and.....two weeks into my return trip, curiosity got the better of me and I opened one of the crates....it was true. Back in England, I was met by Duke Igthorn, thanked me for the delivery, and as a reward and a surprise, promoted me and told me not to tell anyone of this, I instantly knew that he meant the shipment, not the promotion.....I knew then those Americans weren't lying. The next time I had leave, I sneaked into a records room, found shipping documents, found that Wonka factory, it was all blocked off by a large wall, the villagers were too afraid to talk to people, as many went missing. So I recruited some shipmates of mine who....were removed from the Naval service due to...uh, 'ill-behaved' behavior, that involved sneaking into peoples homes when they weren't there. They looked at the factories walls and said wait till night when the moon isn't out, fortunately it was that very night when we climbed over the walls. We had found a ground floor window that one of my old friends cut the glass and we slowly made our way into the factory. There we went up some stairs and into what....I can only describe as 'whimsical' it was like a sunny field, colors and a river of chocolate, and orange men. They were the missing people, turned by that elixir, it was a research facility trying to see how far they could take these smurf berries, and it seemed in a 'negative' manner. We found the bears they studied on, a room full of children, and not just from England either. Some came from a far off land, one small boy who was frightened and in tars as he stayed in one corner the cage he was in, in broken English, kept speaking of a 'child catcher' a man that caught them, sanctioned by the King of their land, two more children in full English, being that themselves, brother and sister, begged us to release them and the others, but we couldn't, then at the top of a series of stairs, the child catcher cried to us, 'Enjoying yourself are we?' In one hand a net, and the other a hook, what that hook was for, I suspected it was more then for catching children. He attacked us, killing one of my mates, then another man, I heard the child catcher call his name, 'Mr. Slugworth' came from behind a corner and attacked us. Then a figure entered the room in purple, Mr. Wonka, and with a dozen of those deformed humans, ordered to attack us, we managed to run pass Mr. Slugworth, and up the stairs and to a factory floor, we managed to get outside, but the gates were locked, no keys, then from the sky, a dirigible, the children's father, a woman, and their grandfather had come to rescue them. We saw our chance and fought back with what we had, the father threw a bottle of liquid that ignited and caught a section of the factory on fire, I convinced my surviving friend to go back down and save the children, though of ill-repute, he wasn't a monster, unlike those who ran the factory. We went back down, and to our surprise, we found two mice opening the cages, Bernard and Ms. Bianca, we freed the children and fled. The children were safe and me and my mate were outside the factory walls, the two mice explained who they were and what they were doing, one child wrote a letter that got to their organization. I told them to go to America and find Tom & Jerry, gave them a letter and they obliged. Months past, Igthorn was irritated and ill-tempered ever since the factory fire, I wish I had found and grabbed something to tie him to that Hellhole he help with, but fortunately never found out that I had a hand in its demise. I had a return letter from Dale, he said he would look further into it and another year past before I met those two mice, Dale, and Tom & Jerry again, this time in London, and this is where I was fully brought into their organization, since my letter they uncovered more facilities and members of the Followers of Lazarus, more documents and overheard plans. The group had split and those wanting to force this elixir unto the populace were going to do so with war and plagues. After all, what better way of manipulating the people, then through fears of sickness and hard times? So we formed, officially right there."
On the top deck, at the mid-section. Nimnul and me faced each other, I could tell he was trying to hold back his anger, trying to seem 'civil' when he spoke, "Long life Jack....youth....and imagine what else could have been unlocked." I thought about that and told him, "Oh, mate....that reminds me of something my father once said to me, a long time ago." "What's that?" "I once asked him if he thought he could live a thousand years, like Methuselah, and he told me, 'Jack....he didn't live that long, just a few years short of it, but remember this son, it's not living forever, its living with yourself, forever'. You see there are some that deserve to live long, but don't want too, and other who want to live long, but don't deserve it. Long life, long youth....yes, I'll take that....but not like how you're doing it, cures for illness is fine, but....one hundred years, one thousand, seeing nations raise and fall, and a world chance while you don't, that's not how the sea currents work mate." "But think of it, all the knowlage gained, all the skills one would have." "It's not 'you' doing that, that's the problem, it's you, and 'everyone' else doing the same to get ahead in life....like the bible says, 'the day will come when one-hundred will be young' but today is not that day, and tomorrow isn't looking like it will be either, not with the likes of you and these followers around." "Might as well, we have people everywhere, and you'll never find a safe port again, maybe for you a short life would be merciful, compared to going centuries looking behind you." "Now there is some intellect from an intellectual." "I'm not going down with this ship, I'm not the Captain, I'll continue, century after century, expand my knowlage-" "And when it's all discovered, and you still have centuries left....what else? No mate, live and learn all you can, then pass it on to the next, do not look for immortality in a realm of mortality....not the Captain you say? ....WELL! I suppose I've just been promoted!" "On a sinking vessel?" "It's just a ship mate, there are plenty on the ocean....but....like the days of old, a Captain must go down with the ship, however, nowhere in there dose it say I have to die with it....but to make sure you do die, well....Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, we all go to Hell together." I just stood there as the vessel sank next to the other that was sunk, the anger in Numnil's face turned to panic, then fear, as mortality sank into him. Another explosion and it hit him in the head, killing him. I stayed with the ship as long as I could, until I was on the surface of the sea, then....a sailing ship, a schooner, sailed by and threw me a line.
How many years had it been since that day of the two vessels sinking?
First the S.S. Louisiana, then the vessel I served on, the H.M.S. Britannic. What I'm about to tell ya, weather you believe me or not, if of how I found the truth of those two tragedies and what lead me to this life of piracy.
I was a sailor once- Not saying that I still am, just....I once severed his Majesty, in his Navy, under the Command of Captain Johnathan Wheat, now I suspect that you already had heard the tail of the mystery orders, a boiler explosion, so I'll skip all of that, and go to the ending.
After that whole event of mystery, years after the great war, all my former mates let go of it, laid it to rest like those two vessels, but not I. No, it never sat well with me it did, that American ship engineer, P.O. 2 Zipper, so I kept looking for answers, after those families and those children lost their lives, somehow I felt obliged to find their fates, and it cost me the life I loved, sailing the world for his Majesty. I thought my investigative days were over, but when the treaty to end all wars was signed, when in the America's all manner of strong drink was outlawed, I found myself with that chance to give some sort of justice those lives lost, and of all places, on the docks of a London port.
I had been looking for work when I saw a sign for able hands, a call went out to raise the Louisiana and Britannic from the bloody depths of which they lied. At first, I was august, let the dead sleep I thought, but then as I was about to turn and go the other way, I saw a face, an American face that I knew, that of the Louisiana's Captain, 'Dale' was all I knew him by, a dead man who was joining the recovery crew, so I figured that if the dead won't sleep, nor will I, and followed.
I kept low, to myself, we were on a ship with no name, bad luck that was, but curious as well. The man in charge of the operation went by the title and name of 'Professor Norton Nimnul' and it was financed by some other, who's name I never heard, but everyone in the upper ranks simply called 'Fat Cat' there were others, but I never heard their names, as I was more focused on that dead man.
We went to the sight of the Britannic first, told it was closer, and a team of Snorks met us there and low and behold, again, I knew one of them, former Naval Snorks team leader Allstar Seaworthy, something deep inside me stirred, telling me that things weren't right. I kept close eyes on Allstar throughout recovery operation. Oh, it took two weeks, the Snorks....they work best under the waves after all, and longer then others on land. On that last day, the bow of the Britannic rose from the depths, they had placed massive air balloons that were special made, air canisters that would release the gas and raise the ship to the surface once more.
When it did raise, Professor Nimnul ordered all onboard to stay, said he had a crew to inspect it to see how stable it was, it reminded me of the mission all those years ago looking for the Louisiana, his crew went over and within the hour came back with an all clear, nonsense, to inspect a ship with that kind of damage would have taken longer. Either way, another vessel, again with no name, came to tow it back to port.
Another three weeks and we were at where the Louisiana sank, it would be longer to bring her up from the shores, this is where I would finally make my move.
The Snorks did their job again, same as the last, and brought up the vessel, Nimnul once again ordered his special team to inspect the vessel, but due to weather truing on us, we thought we'd head to shore, but instead were shocked to be told that we were to stay until another nameless vessel was to arrive and tow the Louisiana back to port. We were fortunate that the storms were in the distance, but the sea around us swirled and swelled, one night I saw Dale move about the decks, I finally had a chance to follow and if possible, confront him, and what luck, he went to the cargo hold, the most empty part of it.
I was slow in my movement so he would not hear me, but when he came to the furthest point, boxed in, I finally made my move, *"I see Dead men do tell tails....Captain Dale of the S.S. Louisiana!"* He didn't react, he just stood there with his back to me, after what felt like a century or two finally spoke, "I've known you were watching me the whole time, Jack Russell." This threw me back, "Then you know why I've followed you?" He stayed silent for a moment, then softly said, "Yes, answers. I heard you were revealed of your duties after the great war."
"Aye, looking for what the Hell happened all those years ago."
"Huh....'Hell' what an interesting choice of words." He slowly turned to look at me, seeing my pistol leveled at him, I continued, "I met that sailor, Zipper, I ventured to that Western town where the Mousekewitz family lived, New York and Yorkshire, back to the Florida keys and.....they found that boy, Fievel, dead in one of those lifeboats....and I remember that letter, 'under your care'-"
"He was under my care, and if you did read, or was read too, my letters, then you'd know the weather was turning, like it is now, and not too long after we departed the Louisiana he became ill, we waited out the storm, he got worse....there's only so much one can do while on a lifeboat and in the middle of the ocean, the only blessing was P.O. 3 Gadget's design for those boats, got us to our destination quicker."
"And that's another thing, your coordinates, there's nothing there."
"Misdirection, do you remember, 'keys and lock' odd combination, is it not?"
I thought about it for a moment, and remembered our wading, "The....Florida keys?"
"Yes, and from there the locks of England and Scotland."
"What? Why in the Hell would you put a sick-"
"He wasn't sick at the time, then became sick, as well I knew not that he was going on that cursed venture, if I had, I would have told his father to leave his family home. He died next to me, and as much I tried to show a face of courage, in his last state, asking where his sister was....I tried to show a strong face, but it broke me, in his disillusioned state, thought my tears were raindrops seeping through."
"For what? What reason did all of these people have to suffer?"
Again, silence, then, "The Lazarus project." I thought for a moment, then Dale, "I know your shipmate Chester copied those plans, he wasn't as concealed as you all thought, Bobby determined, quite right, that the prints was for a structure, Philip determined, again correctly, those numbers were a chemical formula, you see those tubes on the Snorks heads may double as hearing while on land, they head everything, regardless of how quite all of you were."
"But....none of you said anything?" From behind me, "We were no threat to us Seaman Russell." A voice that sounded so familiar, I slowly turned around and to my shock was a young man, though....I tried to shake it off but it was Captain Wheat, younger....somehow? He continued, "Russell....please, for the love of God, lower your weapon Sailor." Must have been old habits when a former commanding officer gives an order, but against my instinct, I did. Wheat, "Russell....I know Green- Philip, and I know West- Uh, old habits, but Chester....are dead." I nodded, "Aye, but not from anything 'normal' or the great war....they were murdered, Chester had copies of those prints, I know and those were the only things missing, the others we sailed with, said to let it go, just a Sailor story to be proud to be part of, but I couldn't, wouldn't-" Turning to Dale, "And you're suppose too be dead." Dale slowly nodded, I turned to my former Captain with tears forming in my eyes and continued, "John....men are dead, others say random, but I know better, but this, all of this....I don't understand....any of this?"
So my former officer and Dale told me the whole story.
Dale, "It all started with the Smurfs, they had a man, Human, wizard, named Gargamel, who had at one time sought to turn them into gold, then all of the sudden, wanted to eat them. One of the Smurfs, Brainy, started to question exactly what he wanted, and what that was, was a combination of both.....hiring a detective team with dog, Brainy infiltrated Garamel's castle, Brainy and one of the team members he had hired, Velma Dinkley, found documents and research on Smurf berries....do you know-"
"I've heard of them, yes."
"Though a wizard, he was also a botanist, so too was Velma, and Brainy dabbled in it, together they discovered that Garamels' research uncovered that Smurf berries had so many municipal properties, even lengthening one's life....however, there were a few problem, one being that Smurf berries only grew in one place, which lead to the other being that land belonged to the Smurfs."
"So....I've often heard that the Smurf people can live for over a thousand years."
'The berries are what keeps them alive that long, though....we're not sure how."
"So this Garamel, did want to turn them into gold....metaphorically at least, and....eat them?"
"The Smurfs kept the berries to themselves, and Garamel was old, dying, however like a predator, he thought that if he were to eat the Smurfs, some of that which transfers to the Smurfs biology, would transfer to him, through digestion. Weather he was right or not, was never thankfully known, as the team Brainy hired help stop him, if they had not Garamel was prepared to commit a massive genocide to have a claim on those berries, he would have gotten away with it too, if wasn't for those meddling kids and their dumb dog too....but not...entirely dumb."
"What do you mean?"
"Another team member, Norville 'Shaggy' Rogers, had a dog he named Scooby-doo, The dog had gotten into a bag of smurf berries, and somehow....altered him, giving him the ability to talk...to some degree....and lengthen his life. As time went on, the group made a deal with Papa Smurf, if they shared the berries, lengthening their lifespans also, they would work to unlock what Garmel was doing, unnerved by the revelation of Garmel's plans, Papa Smurf considered that he had no choice, so the team named themselves, 'The Mystery gang' dedicated to this mystery and with the help of Brainy, unlocked his secrets. Garmel had discovered that the berries were some type of new breed of plant, those flowers you saw were juvenile smurf flowers, before they bore fruit. He developed a greenhouse that could perfectly simulate the environment of what smurf berries needed, and one document relieved that he managed to get a hold of one berry, and spent years studying it, and traveling to see if it could grew anywhere else."
"Can they?"
"Yes, like with sugar and coffee, and so many other things, the Caribbeans, and a higher yield and better quality. The greenhouse could even grow them faster trapping in water, cycling it, wuith each cycle making a better higher yield smurf berry....but Garmel had only one berry, and it was not enough for pollination, he needed more, and he needed money. What was uncovered by that Mystery team was a secret organization, of politicians and despots, criminals and fat cats. The two agents, Bernard and Ms. Bianca, they were sent on a mission to rescue a little girl named Penny, who was being held captive in Louisiana by a woman named Madam Medusa. On the surface she had convinced one of her colleagues that she was looking for treasure, a gem of eminence wealth, having Penny scrap up long forgotten pirate treasure in a sea cave before it flooded. It was uncovered later that she was an associate of Garmel's, how they met, I do not know, but she was helping fund raise for his research and the chance of longer life. And others soon followed, they called themselves the 'Followers of Lazarus' and had plans to live.....possibly forever, we're not sure, it seems the smurf berries effects each species differently, like Scooby-Doo talking, but longer life, and in some case youth, seem to be the only shared side effect."
"And other effects?"
"Another side-effect happened when a research group, under the disguise of 'chemical research' were secretly studying smurf berries for this organization, and accidentally altered a rat and four turtles. And some species, humans particularly, can heal faster and be more resistant to diseases, which is where the group had a hitch. Eventually the Followers of Lazarus split into two factions, a disagreement, though....I will say a 'peaceful' one, had one side believe that the smurf berries should be used for only the elites, and just let those they deemed 'lesser' live a short life, the other, with more politicians, thought to use the berries to cure various illnesses, for their own gain in wealth and votes. Think of it, being 50 years, but physically 20....they also considered lacing water and food with it, so to expand their research, or, passing laws to force people to take a type of elixir they designed the smurf berries to be created as."
"So....which do you belong to?"
Wheat; "Neither Jack. We belong to a separate entity altogether."
Dale; "To keep ourselves secrete, we go by various names, mine was the Rescue Rangers, Bernard and Ms. Bianca recruited their organization into it, we brought those four turtles and rat into our ranks as their own, with plans to one day unify under one banner....but....the resources aren't there. We need to still stay small, in divided groups, blocking the Followers of Lazarus every move."
Wheat; "That's why we needed to take those damaged lifeboats, it had Smurf residue on it, something a scientist can recover, that metal box, had many vials of that elixir."
"To stop people from living longer?"
"No Jack, to give them a choice whether they want to or not. We're trying to isolate what makes the berries cause people to live longer, age slower, and separate the healing factors, so if not long live someone wants, at least a chance to live better, without sickness or at least a better chance of overcoming them, you remember the Spanish flu."
"I do....but...the Louisiana, why were those people there then, did a sea mine actually sink it....or did-" Dale held his hand up, took a breath and told his tale.
"I've been part of this fractured organization for so many years, not the original mind you Jack, probably the third, I was recruited years ago when still a 2nd Lieutenant, by a Farggle named 'Traveling' Matt. He told his Nephew, his people, he was going to see the world, that was true but also misleading. He had met the Smurfs when they uncovered Garmel's organization, the Smurfs were exploring locations to build their own greenhouse, and entered a cave in hope to see if the smurf berries could grow there. From what I know, what Matt told me, the conversation started out ordinary, two cultures meeting, sharing, but lead to Brainy having a revelation, Matt wanted to see the world, they needed locations to grow their own elixir facilities, one benefited the other, but needed funding. Mat would travel and ended up in a small tavern with an up and coming comedian, Jerry Mouse. Matt had found him hilarious and would tell others of his routine. Eventually, Jerry had heard of Matt's praise of him and sought to thank him as it was helping his career. Traveling was a by-chance encounter again, he had remember the Fraggle, and the two spent the night talking at a booth in a restaurant, which turned into two days, then a week, then Matt recruited Jerry, Jerry was fascinated by these Smurf berries, and wanted to see what effects it would have on him.
A month later the two arrived at the Smurf village and met the Mystery gang. Jerry talked to Papa Smurf, and after a long conversation, though I do not know how long, Papa Smurf made the decision to allow Jerry to taste the berries elixir. Jerry at first felt nothing and decided to try everything. He set himself on fire, to the protest of all, and....lived. He threw himself off a cliff, and lived, and then setup a boulderer and was smashed and like putty, he was flat then back to his original shape again. He had to get another of his friends, a cat named Tom, and to everyone's surprise, also had the same side effects. The two would create a slap-stick duo tour, the audience thought it was tricks and misdirect, but wasn't, both Tom and Jerry were astonished and made money off this act, that they portioned some for our research, but this is where the limitation came in, apparently the elixir might make long life and youth permanent, as far as we can tell, but the some for some species side effects were not, so every so often they would need more to continue their act, while also playing spy and like 'Traveling' Matt, finding members of the Followers of Lazarus.
In their travels, the duo would preform at a sea port, of which I was stationed at, and followed a Lazarus member to a point that they could not get access too, a Naval base. I was in a bar doing what Sailors had done for centuries, drinking and nothing more. The two saw me, young, career starting out, and preformed an act that I stayed for, and then surprised when they wanted to spend time with me, saying they loved to hear sailor stories, of which I had plenty. As the night drew to a close and no ears to peer into our conversation, that's when they presented me with the elixir, and explained to me what they needed, being information. It took me a long time to have what they said to sink into my mind, but I agreed to keep a tab on a Lt. Commander by the name of Don Karnage, who was about to be promoted to Captain.
For five days I managed to keep an eye on him, and quickly found that he was indeed up to no good. Another week, and I discovered he was hiring some random captains for various cargo's. On the seventh night, I finally managed to sneak into an area of a warehouse and see what he was having Captains load up, and there, I saw boxes upon boxes of elixirs, similar to what I was shown. Going further, I found papers and records, Lt. Commander Karnage had invested into a candy factory ran by a man named 'Wonka' and was making a candy he had named 'Gummibears' using the smurf berries, they were experimenting on children. More records relived test done on a gorup of bears, giving them speech and the ability to bounce. It was being shipped over to England, operated by a Duke named 'Sigmund Igthorn'. I was at a lost, I couldn't let this go on but couldn't leave my post."
Wheat, "And that is where I came in."
"I was sent to the America's to pick up cargo of importance, yes it was important, no, it was not for his- 'her' Majesty at the time. 2nd Lieutenant Dale approached me and talked to me of why I was there, and if I'd like to go into town and see a comedy duo, I had a orders....but weeks at sea tired me. I found American beer rather disgusting, but the two literal cat & mouse duo was hilarious to say the least. Before I had to report back the three wanted to talk to me and show me something on interest. Being in a similar situation of 'seeing something' I was on my guard, but when a vial of strange elixir was taken out and explained to me, when Dale showed me copies of the documents of child 'research' I was horrified and refused to believe that's what I was doing, so I left, went to my ship, and.....two weeks into my return trip, curiosity got the better of me and I opened one of the crates....it was true.
Back in England, I was met by Duke Igthorn, thanked me for the delivery, and as a reward and a surprise, promoted me and told me not to tell anyone of this, I instantly knew that he meant the shipment, not the promotion.....I knew then those Americans weren't lying. The next time I had leave, I sneaked into a records room, found shipping documents, found that Wonka factory, it was all blocked off by a large wall, the villagers were too afraid to talk to people, as many went missing. So I recruited some shipmates of mine who....were removed from the Naval service due to...uh, 'ill-behaved' behavior, that involved sneaking into peoples homes when they weren't there. They looked at the factories walls and said wait till night when the moon isn't out, fortunately it was that very night when we climbed over the walls. We had found a ground floor window that one of my old friends cut the glass and we slowly made our way into the factory.
There we went up some stairs and into what....I can only describe as 'whimsical' it was like a sunny field, colors and a river of chocolate, and orange men. They were the missing people, turned by that elixir, it was a research facility trying to see how far they could take these smurf berries, and it seemed in a 'negative' manner. We found the bears they studied on, a room full of children, and not just from England either. Some came from a far off land, one small boy who was frightened and in tars as he stayed in one corner the cage he was in, in broken English, kept speaking of a 'child catcher' a man that caught them, sanctioned by the King of their land, two more children in full English, being that themselves, brother and sister, begged us to release them and the others, but we couldn't, then at the top of a series of stairs, the child catcher cried to us, 'Enjoying yourself are we?' In one hand a net, and the other a hook, what that hook was for, I suspected it was more then for catching children. He attacked us, killing one of my mates, then another man, I heard the child catcher call his name, 'Mr. Slugworth' came from behind a corner and attacked us. Then a figure entered the room in purple, Mr. Wonka, and with a dozen of those deformed humans, ordered to attack us, we managed to run pass Mr. Slugworth, and up the stairs and to a factory floor, we managed to get outside, but the gates were locked, no keys, then from the sky, a dirigible, the children's father, a woman, and their grandfather had come to rescue them. We saw our chance and fought back with what we had, the father threw a bottle of liquid that ignited and caught a section of the factory on fire, I convinced my surviving friend to go back down and save the children, though of ill-repute, he wasn't a monster, unlike those who ran the factory. We went back down, and to our surprise, we found two mice opening the cages, Bernard and Ms. Bianca, we freed the children and fled. The children were safe and me and my mate were outside the factory walls, the two mice explained who they were and what they were doing, one child wrote a letter that got to their organization. I told them to go to America and find Tom & Jerry, gave them a letter and they obliged.
Months past, Igthorn was irritated and ill-tempered ever since the factory fire, I wish I had found and grabbed something to tie him to that Hellhole he help with, but fortunately never found out that I had a hand in its demise. I had a return letter from Dale, he said he would look further into it and another year past before I met those two mice, Dale, and Tom & Jerry again, this time in London, and this is where I was fully brought into their organization, since my letter they uncovered more facilities and members of the Followers of Lazarus, more documents and overheard plans. The group had split and those wanting to force this elixir unto the populace were going to do so with war and plagues. After all, what better way of manipulating the people, then through fears of sickness and hard times?
So we formed, officially right there."
On the top deck, at the mid-section.
Nimnul and me faced each other, I could tell he was trying to hold back his anger, trying to seem 'civil' when he spoke, "Long life Jack....youth....and imagine what else could have been unlocked." I thought about that and told him, "Oh, mate....that reminds me of something my father once said to me, a long time ago."
"What's that?"
"I once asked him if he thought he could live a thousand years, like Methuselah, and he told me, 'Jack....he didn't live that long, just a few years short of it, but remember this son, it's not living forever, its living with yourself, forever'. You see there are some that deserve to live long, but don't want too, and other who want to live long, but don't deserve it. Long life, long youth....yes, I'll take that....but not like how you're doing it, cures for illness is fine, but....one hundred years, one thousand, seeing nations raise and fall, and a world chance while you don't, that's not how the sea currents work mate."
"But think of it, all the knowlage gained, all the skills one would have."
"It's not 'you' doing that, that's the problem, it's you, and 'everyone' else doing the same to get ahead in life....like the bible says, 'the day will come when one-hundred will be young' but today is not that day, and tomorrow isn't looking like it will be either, not with the likes of you and these followers around."
"Might as well, we have people everywhere, and you'll never find a safe port again, maybe for you a short life would be merciful, compared to going centuries looking behind you."
"Now there is some intellect from an intellectual."
"I'm not going down with this ship, I'm not the Captain, I'll continue, century after century, expand my knowlage-"
"And when it's all discovered, and you still have centuries left....what else? No mate, live and learn all you can, then pass it on to the next, do not look for immortality in a realm of mortality....not the Captain you say? ....WELL! I suppose I've just been promoted!"
"On a sinking vessel?"
"It's just a ship mate, there are plenty on the ocean....but....like the days of old, a Captain must go down with the ship, however, nowhere in there dose it say I have to die with it....but to make sure you do die, well....Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, we all go to Hell together." I just stood there as the vessel sank next to the other that was sunk, the anger in Numnil's face turned to panic, then fear, as mortality sank into him. Another explosion and it hit him in the head, killing him. I stayed with the ship as long as I could, until I was on the surface of the sea, then....a sailing ship, a schooner, sailed by and threw me a line.