Mirage Chapter 1

March 22, 1862 Mobile Alabama           Seagulls cackled and the waves crashed majestically against the sugar white beaches as the sun peeked above the horizon, mariners prepared their boats for fishing while the smell of the ocean filled their nostrils. The fog horn blew acting as an alarm clock to the fishermen in Mobile bay, arising from their beds a cold chill swept over them as the frigid morning sea breeze blew against their skin.  The war had put everyone in a state of gloom due to the many lives which were lost, fishing the ocean provided an escape from the sorrow which filled the air. Even the sorrow of relatives lost could not hinder the southern fighting spirit, they were determined to win the war at any cost. The blockade which the yankees used to attempt to strangle the southern ports infuriated the mariners fiercly.                                  A young officer named Captain Hank Dollard sailed into port on the C.S.S Birmingham, he was only a captain temporarily. Ever since the real captain fell overboard and drowned Luitenant Dollard was forced to take over as commander of the vessel, Hank was a good looking young man of average height and a native of Mobile. Captain Dollard and the C.S.S. Birmingham primarily served as a blockade runner, smuggling supplies and goods past the union blockade in the dead of night. The young officer had been so successful at his duty that he was personally requested by Admiral Tom Yates of the C.S.N. , Captain Dollard was told to report to his office in Mobile that morning and was running a little late. The entire harbour stared in awe at the C.S.S. Birmingham as it majestically sailed into port, the sails whipping back and forth and the cannons glistening in the morning sun was a sight to behold.          Captain Dollard was in a hurry to get to Admiral Yates's office, his leather boots thumped loudly against the docks as he raced toward the admiral's office. Every second felt as if an hour to admiral Yates, he had a very impatient personality but knowing the importance of the mission he knew he need'nt lose his temper. Back and forth the admiral paced across his office window overlooking the bay, the sight of Captain Dollard running toward his office brought slight relief to the weary commander. Captain Dollard busted into the admiral's office saying                                   " Captain Hank Dollard reporting for duty sir! "                 " At eeze captain. " replied the admiral in his obvious southern accent.                                 " Thank you sir. You wanted to see me? "                        " Yes Captain but first won't you sit down. "                                Captain Dollard slowly crouched down into the Admiral's comfortable office chair and soon felt a feeling of relaxation sweeping over him, he had been at sea for three months and his burning desire to walk opon land was now fullfilled. The admiral stroked his flowing black beard and stared opon Captain Dollard with a look of intense sincerity, from this moment Hank knew the Admiral had an important reason for sending for him.                             " Captain, you are probably wondering why I sent for you so I will explain it to you the best I can. "                      " Go right ahead sir. "         " Your mission that I am assigning you to could decide the course of the entire war, you are to escort a shipment of kerosene from Arabia to Mobile. "             Captain Dollard laughed aloud and out of his mouth spewed the coffee he was drinking after hearing the words of Admiral Yates, he was expecting to be sent on a mission to run supplies across the yankee blockade, not to sail to Arabia.        " With all due respect sir, what reason would the cofederate states navy have for sailing all the way to Arabia to pick up a shipment of kerosene oil when there are much closer ports which would carry plenty of it in stock ? " The Admiral laughed as he continued.                        " Perhaps I should not attempt to hide the truth from you captain, my orders are to reveal to you nothing but I feel that I have no other choice. Seven months ago a scientist from Georgia attended a meeting of the world's top scientists, one british scientist named Dr. James Carrington claimed to have developed a weapon that is so deadly one could destroy the entire human race if they knew the secret of his deadly element. He at first proposed to reveal to every country in the world the secret of his formula intending to end all wars because of the sheer damage that can be done with it, the man even proved to the scientific community his weapon's destructive potential by destroying an entire forest with an object the size of a bean. The scientific community dissmissed him as a crackpot but the Georgian scientist believed the weapon had potential to help the confederacy arise victorious in our bloody scuffle with the yankees, Dr. Carrington fled to Arabia with his weapon in fear of the british government imprisoning him. The scientist just recently performed the first successful experiment with a larger version of his revolutionary destruction mechanism, since Dr. Carrington and his weapon are secluded so deep into the heart of Arabia we cannot transport it by land. That's where you and the C.S.S Birmingham come in.                                 " How's that sir ? "                   " Have you ever heard of the ghost river of Arabia captain ? "                            " Has a gator ever heard of a swamp sir. "    " Ha ha, I do admire your since of humor captain. But this is no joking matter, the Javari river is said to be cursed because every ship that has attempted to sail up it's waters has never returned and no one who has ever discovered it survived the journey on their way to reveal it's location. You are to sail up the Javari river and reindevous with Dr.Carrington and his men will load the weapons onto the Birmingham, after that you are to return to Mobile and deliver it here. The weapons will be disquised as kerosene oil, then smuggled to Boston and Chicago where they'll wipe them yankee cities off the face of the earth. The whole plan is titled Operation death angel  The war is going well for us now captain, but south cannot fight forever with a blockade sufficating it's ports and only a small navy to fight it with. These weapons are our only hope. "                                      " You said weapons sir, does that mean I am escorting a large quantity of them ? "                                           " I have already told you more than I should, this mission is so top secret that even President Davis knows nothing of it. I am asking you captain to not let any of the words I have said leave this room, if my superiors knew that I have revealed to you these facts I would perhaps be executed. Yankee spies are everywhere, and if they were to get there hands on this amazing weapon it would mean death for the Confederacy. "                            " I'm up to the challenge sir, when do I shove off ? "        " As soon as possible, the life of the Confederacy is in your hands. "                        " I won't let you down sir. "      " Don't worry about letting me down captain, worry about letting your country down. This leather purse I am giving you now contains the important details for operation death angel that I have not told you, it was intended for my eyes only but I feel that you will need it to make contact with Doctor Carrington. God be with you captain.  "                               As Captain Dollard slowly walked out the door Admiral Yates gave out a heavy sigh, he wondered when the violence of war would end for man. How long should the world fight brother against brother, how long should mothers send their children to be slaughtered for the greed of their nation's leaders. How long would war be the answer for everything, would men continue their path of bloodshed and eventually destroy the human race altogether. Tom Yates had been a minister before the war between the states begun and had a horror of bloodshed, he constantly pondered ideals and solutions for the world's problems. Reverend Yates was a thinker, in his imagination he would try to comprehend a world without violence.                               A world of peace and solitude, where mankind of every race and toungue could coexist without so much as a hint of malice towards one another." There must be a solution to this madness! " the former reverend thought to himself. The sound of cannons thundering and rifiles popping haunted him deeply, Admiral Yates was very content with his desk job in Mobile. A slight nervousness arose in his soul as the C.S.S. Birmingham slowly drifted out to sea, what would happen if the weapon fell into the hands of the union armies and operation death angel was used against large southern cities ? Would Atlanta, Richmond, and New Orleans be wiped off the face of the earth, who knows.                  A Mobile newspaper was lying on the admiral's oak desk, the healine was " Three high ranking Confederate generals assassinated ". As Admiral Yates read the full story it revealed that a tall man wearing a long black trench coat had been spotted barging into the offices of high ranking southern officers and shooting them with a deranger pistol, when the admiral read the names of the officers a chilling thought ran through his mind like a flow of ice water. Every officer who was assassinated was involved with him during the planning of operation death angel, they all spent months together in top secret locations making the arrangments with Dr. Carrington and taking care of all the details of the campaign. " What if I am next ? " he thought to himself. He thought that the yankees must know everything about operation death angel by know, the murderer could only be a union spy attempting to sabotage the mission.                                        The former minister''s moment in thought was brought to an end by a slight tapping sound on top of the roof of his office, there was'nt a drop of rain outside. The Admiral was very puzzled for a few minutes but then turned back to sit in his chair, a loud banging noise was then heard just outside the front door. Then a loud pounding knock thundered through room and the admiral swiftly answered, as he opened the door a masked figure in a long black trench coat appeared. A slight chill ran down the admiral's spine assuming this mysterious visitor was a yankee assassin, still he made an attempt to communicate with him.          " You want to see me ? " asked Admiral Yates nervously                                     The figure said nothing in return, but violently shoved the Admiral into his office chair. Then the mysterious masked man asked him a question in what to the admiral's somewhat relief was a southern accent.                      " Tell me admiral, what was Captain Dollard's reason for paying you a visit ? "       " I was ordered by my superiors to assign him to a special mission in Arabia. "   " Tell me, what do you know about operation death angel ? Don't worry I'm no yankee. " As the man said this he removed his mask and Admiral Yates immediatley recognized him from his meetings with the naval intelligence, the admiral was quite frieghtened at first but after the man revealed his identity he felt it was safe to tell him the truth.                             " It is a campaign to destroy major union cities with a special weapon developed by a british scientist named Dr.James Carrington, it's the most top secret project of the war. "                                    " So what does Captain Dollard know about operation death angel ? " asked the masked stranger.                    " He knows nothing, I simply gave him the cover story. "    " That is all I need to know. "          Then suddenly the man produced a deranger pistol from his coat pocket, a look of absolute terror covered the face of Admiral Yates.                       " No! No!!!!!!! " he cried pleading for his life.                   " I'm sorry Tom, but you know to much information . "                  As the masked man uttered those words a loud pop was heard and a lead ball ripped through the admiral's chest, one last gasp for breath Tom Yates made in his final moments on earth. The shot was heard all throughout the wharf and people from all around witnessed the tall dark figure climbing swiftly on the rooftops to make his escape, the fishermen opened the door of the admiral's office to behold a terrible seen. Admiral Yates lying on the floor in a blood-soaked uniform uttering his final words,                                   " Captain Dollard, you must warn Captain Dollard!! "          The fishermen could not make anything out of what the admiral was trying to say but they deeply mourned his loss. Admiral Yates was a very popular man in Mobile, the mystery of  his murder would go unsolved forever. Meanwhile Captain Dollard was sailing aboard the C.S.S. Birmingham not knowing what had become of his superior officer. A strong wind ripped into the sails of Birmingham, the violent waves slapped relentlessly at her bough. Ropes tugged and pullies spun wildy as the sailors rushed to obey every command, the voice of Luitenant Thad Connor echoed through the salty air of the Gulf of Mexico.                    " So what's to be our next voyage skipper ? "                   " We're sailing to Arabia Thad. "  Captain Dollard answered.                                    " Arabia ? What's our business in Arabia ? "                       " The Admiral told me, it's top secret you know. I was well aquainted with Tom before the war when he was a minister, I have never seen him more serious about something in my life. I have a feeling that I should keep my mouth shut about the whole matter, he gave me this here leather pouch maked top secret that contains all the details and instructions of our mission. I should perhaps retire to my quarters now and store it in a safe place. "                                       Captain Dollard swiftly went below deck to his cabin, he gracefully fell onto his wooden desk chair. The first order of business was to locate the Javari river delta on the map, then a thought hit the young naval officer like the weight of a thousand bricks. He had no idea where the Javari river was even located, it was not shown anywhere on the map. Personally Captain Dollard had always dissmissed the Javari river as a thing of legend and fisherman's yarn, sailors were very superstitious and could hardly be given credibility. The legend of the ghost river of Arabia began when in 1816 a british man wandering alone in Arabia without water discovered a river mightier than the Mississippi and longer than the Amazon, he followed it to the ocean and walked up the coast until he reached civilization.                      Everyone told him it was only a mirage and no such river existed, except one Dutch mariner who believed his story. The two discovered the mouth of the ghost river and sailed up it in the merchant's vessel, only to never be seen again. Men who were left behind at the Javari river delta went to get help and when they returned to the spot where the mouth of the river was located there was no river mouth, nothing was seen except rugged coastline. The mouth of the river would appear and dissappear from time to time, every ship that sailed up it vanished forever. Rumor had gotten around that the Javari river delta had been spotted once again pouring into the red sea, now all the captain had to do was find the delta before it dissappears again.           Captain Dollard carefully opened the leather pouch given to him by Admiral Yates in Mobile, it contained a small map and a stack of paper bound together. As he unfolded the map it showed Arabia and the exact location of the Javari river delta marked in red, the stack of paper was tightly bound together with strings and wrapped in a brown paper bag material. Swiftly the captain cut the strings with his knife and ripped off the wrapping, the paper document was titled " Operation Death Angel "                    

Author's Note

please excuse grammar problems, misspellings, etc.

Reviews

[ByJ.T.Rogers]

There were a few things. In the second paragraph "Captain Dollard slowly flopped down in the Admiral's comfortable office chair " When you say flopped, it gives the imprison of disrespect and laziness to me. if you were to just say he slowly sat down it sound more like what a Captain would do.
Then the Admiral telling the whole plan to a masked man right after Captain Dollard leaves, even if the guy has a southern accent, it is unbelievable for some one of his rank. If he was torture for a day that's believable or if you explained he is woosey that got his rank because he knew people that's believable too. If the masked man had overhead it from the attic, being if he had not known before, that's better too.
Last; 5 paragraphs down Captain Dollard says ,in a nut shell, there mission was a secret but the secrets in the bag? If you plan on having some one steal the bag later then just have them still the bag, don't give out big hints like this.
besides those three things I thought it was worth the read, well written, a good story line and I look forward to reading the new chapters as they come.
**J.T.**
95/100