Captain Disaster; Chapter Two

Chapter Two:

 

 

     He looked up at the clear blue sky and was grateful to be on the water, in his new boat, and headed for he knew not where.  He would go wherever the boat took him.  It had been five long years since his previous boat, the Fish Factory, had been seized by 18^th century pirates.  What they were doing roaming the ocean in the 21^st century was a complete mystery to him.  Before that, he’d had even more bad luck.  He was captaining The Beast of the Seas, a luxury cruise ship.  He had worked his butt off to get to that point, and on her first cruise, to the tropical Caribbean, the ship had struck an iceberg and sank.  How does that happen?  It was 85 degrees out!   After that ill-fated voyage his master’s license had been suspended and he’d decided to risk operating a charter fishing boat without one.  He’d gotten in terrible trouble from the Coast Guard when they had discovered he was operating the charter boat without the license; he had that suspended after The Beast of the Seas incident and had been heavily fined.  It had taken him until now to pay off the fines and for him to purchase a new boat, albeit only a 12 foot rowboat, that he named Number One.  Because of his license trouble, he didn’t want to risk having his request to be registered turned down, so he had skipped it.  He had brought his fishing pole, for he had decided to test his luck angling.  He knew he was taking a chance by not registering Number One but he missed being on the water too much to stop just because he was breaking the law. 

 

 

     The name Number One had come to him after he realized this new boat was Number One in his heart.  He had the outboard motor cranked up to the max and the boat seemed to be flying.  True, it wasn’t The Beast of the Seas, or even the Fish Factory, but damn it, Captain Courageous was back!  He was hugging the coastline in case a Coast Guard ship made an appearance, in which case he would quickly head for the shore and beach the sucker.  There was no way he could afford to pay another fine.  He opened a beer and sat back to enjoy the feeling of once again being on the water.

 

 

     This was the spot.  Captain Courageous cast out his line, took off his shirt, opened another beer, and sat back to enjoy this heavenly feeling.  After searching for over two hours he’d found this spot.  Soon there came a tug on his line.  He pulled up on his pole to set the hook and began the real the fish in.  Man, was this b***h ever heavy!  It was all he could do to crank the reel.  It must be huge.  The tip of his fishing pole was in the water, and his arms were hurting from the exertion of reeling the fish in.  Suddenly the boat started moving.  The fish was pulling him!  Courageous was sweating with the strain of just trying to hang on.  Then he had an idea.  He could use the anchor to hold the boat in place while he struggled to reel the sucker in. 

 

 

     The only problem was, to throw the anchor overboard he’d have to let go of the pole with one hand.  He waited until the fish he’d hooked seemed to be taking a break and let go with his left hand, grabbed the anchor, and was just starting to lift it, when the fish gave a mighty pull, and his pole was jerked out of his hand, over the side, and started sinking.  As his pole was headed over the side Courageous dropped the anchor without thinking, and made a desperate lunge to grab it.  The anchor then dropped to the floor of the boat, where it busted a hole and disappeared quickly, on its long voyage to the bottom.  Apparently the wood that made up the boat was almost rotted through.  Captain Courageous had not only lost his fishing pole, but much more worrisome, a geyser of water was shooting up through the hole made by the anchor and the boat was rapidly filling up.  He was sinking.  In what seemed to be almost instantaneous to him, the boat sank beneath him and he was afloat in the ice-cold water.

 

 

     After he’d been in the water for a few minutes he saw a large boat appear.  He waved his arms frantically, and screamed for help.  The boat had seen him and as it got closer, he saw that it was bigger than a boat, it was a ship, a Coast Guard ship.  It circled him and a lifeboat soon had come to his rescue.  He was pulled into the lifeboat, and wrapped in a warm blanket.  It sure felt good after being in the icy water.  A member of his rescue team asked him if he was alright, what had happened, and then what his name was.  Courageous replied that he thought he was fine, explained he had been fishing alone, and then gave his name.

 

 

     He was soon pulled on board the Coast Guard ship, and was approached by the captain.

 

     “Welcome aboard!  My name is Captain Harry Over.  I’d say you were extremely lucky that we happened along when we did.  We were on our way in when we just happened upon you.”

 

     “Yes, you could say I was lucky.”  It was about time he had some luck!  “Thank you so much for fishing me out of the drink.”

 

     Just then the Captain was called off top the side to talk with the same man who’d spoken to Courageous in the lifeboat.  Courageous saw the man telling the Captain something, and the Captain glance his direction and walking slowly back towards him.

 

     “Ah, Mr. Courageous, we have a small problem.  It seems when Fredericks ran you name through our computer system it came back saying you have a warrant out on you saying if we should catch you on the water again, we’re to arrest you.

 

 

     He was actually inside of prison.  He, Captain S.. Paul Courageous was really here.  He hadn’t believed it until the cold steel had slammed behind him.  He was locked up in the old Gray-Bar Hotel.  How did he ever end up here?  This place was for vicious, ruthless criminals who didn’t care about anybody but themselves.  But he wasn’t like that.  True, he had thought only of himself when he decided to captain a boat without a license, but having his own boat to command was all he’d ever wanted to do.  Three times he’d been cited, once for negligence, the last two times for not having a master’s license, and upon getting the third the judge had decided enough was enough, and that maybe a prison sentence would drive home the seriousness of his actions.  Now he was starting that jail sentence. 

 

 

     The warden had instituted a work program by which a prisoner might reduce his or her sentence by volunteering to help out around the prison.  He’d leapt at the chance and his first day behind bars would be spent painting the isolation cells, which were located on an island, surrounded by a small lake on the prison grounds.  In order to reach the island the prisoners would need to take a boat ride.  And because he’d been a boat captain, Courageous had volunteered to head up the small group of prisoners who had volunteered also.  The warden had agreed.  They were taken down under guard to the lake shore where a 14 foot wooden boat, with a 75-Horsepower outboard motor attached, was located.  It would take them out to the island.

 

 

     Courageous was once again in charge of a boat, albeit a small boat with a crew of criminals.  He told a prisoner,

 

     “Start the engine and head for the island, if you please.”

 

     He yelled at the men to, “Hang on and sit down.”

 

     The prisoner charged with operating the motor replied, “Oh yeah, loser?  Just who the hell are you to be giving orders?”

 

     Courageous could sense a power struggle.  These men needed a firm hand in order to maintain discipline.  He was used to unruly crew members and knew how to keep them in line.  “You’ll do what you’re told, mister!”

 

     “Oh, and just who’s going to make me, jerk-weed?”

 

     “I’m warning you.  I’ll tolerate no discussion or complaining aboard a boat captained by me.  I’m in command!”  It was then he saw the hate in the prisoners’ eyes and he began to wilt.  Maybe he had talked too tough.

 

     The prisoner, whose name was King, retorted, “You scare the living crap out of me, loser!  Maybe you are tougher than you look.”

 

     Suddenly, Courageous’ head snapped back and a stream of blood shot from his punched nose.

 

     “Ooops!  I’m sorry, there chief, my hand slipped!”

 

     That brought riotous laughter from the other inmates.

 

     Courageous started to respond, “Oh, that’s oka"” when the prisoner’s other hand “slipped”, right into his midsection.

 

     “Ooops, it slipped again!” laughed the prisoner.

 

     Courageous felt pain shoot through him and struggled to catch his breath.  He was wondering what he should do now, when one of the prison guards snapped,

 

     “King, that’s enough!  Give the captain some respect.”

 

     “Oh, a captain is he?  Please excuse me, loser!  I wasn’t aware we had such authority aboard.”

 

     Courageous was terrified.  His first day in the slammer, and he’d already made an enemy; a big, mean enemy.  His thoughts quickly changed from being terrified of King to one of fear when the other prisoners let out a collective scream of panic, and he saw why.  He had been so terrified of King he had forgotten to tell him to let off on the accelerator.  The wooden boat ran across the small sand beach and became airborne, slamming into the grass slope which gently rose from the water up to the isolation cells, tossing prisoners out right and left, and causing the propeller to come apart in a shower of sparks. 

 

 

     They eventually came to a stop when the boat crashed into the isolation cells, setting isolated prisoners free from their darkness.

 

 

     The prisoners were all okay; those who had managed to stay in the boat had only minor injuries; the prison guards who had come along to watch them were luckily all okay, and the prisoners who had either fallen out of the boat or been set free from the isolation cells had been rounded up and returned to their cells.  Paul Courageous sat before the warden, who said angrily,

 

     “The boat is completely destroyed, along with the outboard motor.  We’ve decided your sentence will be increased so you can work off the amount due.  Let’s see, at a dollar a day it will take you, it will take you…oh, forget it!  Suffice it to say you’ll be our guest for a long, long time.”

 

     Courageous couldn’t believe this!  “Would you mind if I asked you something?  How come you have such a powerful motor on such a small boat?”

 

     The warden answered, “Because, if some of our guards are taking the boat across to the isolation cells and there’s a sudden riot at the prison, those guards are going to be needed and have to be able to speed back here,”

 

     “Well, the accident is not really my fault then.”

 

     The warden answered, somewhat sarcastically, “If you weren’t quite so damn stupid, the boat wouldn’t have taken off like some sort of out-of-control rocket sled!”

 

     “Isn’t there some other way to work off the debt?” Courageous whined.

 

     “No, and speaking of work, you best get to it."

 

The End