{"id":197,"date":"2015-08-17T14:53:38","date_gmt":"2015-08-17T14:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/?p=197"},"modified":"2015-08-20T00:06:15","modified_gmt":"2015-08-20T00:06:15","slug":"the-isle-of-skald-7-december","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/?p=197","title":{"rendered":"The Isle of Skald, 7 December"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAGEBUCH HAISCHIFF JAGDSCHLO\u00df
\n<\/em>Thingstag, 30. Elfmonat<\/em><\/p>\n

MacTallan has passed this log-book onto me today, with the mutual agreement that I should fill its pages with as many details as I can during the upcoming journey. Upon handing it over, he made warm compliments toward myself as the chronicler of the expedition and praised my ability to let no detail go unobserved. Whereas I have seen the importance of keeping excellent records of everything we see and experience in this changed world, I am sure that I perform a mediocre service at best\u2014but at any rate, I will use this nautical log-book during the journey to make what notes I can. Since I have run out of paper taken from The Waterford School, I will happily exercise this option, but make somewhat shorter notes while at sea. I will endeavor to capture the workings of the ship, details of how we navigate the voyage, and how the men fare in a strange and cramped environment.<\/p>\n

– – –<\/p>\n

TAGEBUCH HAISCHIFF JAGDSCHLO\u00df
\n<\/em>Wodenstag, 1. Jahrende<\/em><\/p>\n

December 1 and the weather has become no colder than it would be in mid-autumn. At least the lack of cold serves us in that it does not impede preparations for the testing of the Jagdschloss<\/em> later this week, and as a further blessing, the last six days have been free of black storms.<\/p>\n

Bennington and I expect to complete the work on the manual by tomorrow, in time for us to have a complete working copy aboard\u2014although I should note that the most relevant parts have already become Gates\u2019 abbreviated course for the men in the basics of piloting. Since Hollins has a young family and cannot be convinced to serve on-board as engineer, Gates will also be using the manual to train some of the men to service the engine\u2014to the extent that two days\u2019 study will allow.<\/p>\n

Thorpe and Bledsoe have cooperated well in the acquisition of supplies for the journey, and we will have as much as we can take on waiting for us to load after we complete our tests.<\/p>\n

– – –<\/p>\n

TAGEBUCH HAISCHIFF JAGDSCHLO\u00df
\n<\/em>Thonarstag, 2. Jahrende<\/em><\/p>\n

Gates has ordered a day of on-board drills and walk-throughs for the men, complete with meals taken on board and confinement to their quarters for the evening, apparently to acclimate them to the experience of serving on a vessel such as the Jagdschloss<\/em>. This leaves those of us still at the Downborough Arms a last quiet day of completing the translations on the manual, studying MacTallan\u2019s maps and charts, and rest.<\/p>\n

After supper Bledsoe related the news that Thompson was found dead earlier this afternoon by a fisherman who had strayed south along the coast in search of a catch. According to the man\u2019s testimony to Bledsoe, he spotted a small boat out in the water, adrift, about a half-mile from the coast. In it, was the body of Thompson, sprawled out on the floor of the little craft. His face was pale and his body slack, and when the fisherman took him up onto his boat, it seemed to him as if he had been poisoned. Not knowing what to do, he brought the body back to town, where Bledsoe identified the dead man.<\/p>\n

I wished then that Bledsoe had thought to at least alert Thorpe, or Bennington\u2014but then again, with all of the business of the preparations for the crossing to Skald, I do not know what either of them would have spared the time to do, except to order that Thompson\u2019s corpse be buried. This is what Bledsoe ordered upon seeing the man: and so that chapter is now completely ended.<\/p>\n

After supper, Bennington offered that a practice among some Society operatives is to wear pendants which, when broken in half, would produce a hidden caplet of poison. In case they were discovered or compromised, suicide was ordered instead of the risk of revealing information under interrogation or torture. Perhaps this is what Thompson decided, finding no hope in striking out from the town into the bleak landscape beyond, and no ability to return.<\/p>\n

– – –<\/p>\n

TAGEBUCH HAISCHIFF JAGDSCHLO\u00df
\n<\/em>Frigstag, 3. Jahrende<\/em><\/p>\n

Gates and full crew completed day of successful tests. Diving ring apparatus appears fully functional; Greenley and Hollins congratulated. Single-screw steam engine seems fully operable, no problems reported. First test dive to 55 feet successful, followed by test dive to 120 feet at 6 arc-minutes per hour. This is as per Bennington\u2019s translation of Knoten<\/em>, about one and one-sixth mile per hour\u2014thus our maximum speed is approximately 7 forward miles per hour.<\/p>\n

All chambers on board have been inspected, with the maximum scrutiny possible, including the engine room, the storage and ballast chambers, the control cabin, crew quarters, and ready room. The ship has a small galley with a gas burner, a WC, with fresh water supplied though clever use of cooling condensed vapor along steam exhaust tubes. We also have two round pods attached to the hull that appear to be covered, windowless lifeboats, accessible via watertight hatches.<\/p>\n

MacTallan estimates arrival at Skald, assuming linear movement at constant speed and time allotted for course corrections, in thirty-six hours\u2019 time.<\/p>\n

– – –<\/p>\n

TAGEBUCH HAISCHIFF JAGDSCHLO\u00df
\n<\/em>Samstag, 4. Jahrende<\/em><\/p>\n

Last of the preparations and tests. Bennington has completed the last of her medical inspections on the men and confirms full health after both dives.<\/p>\n

Bennington shared with me that after translating the technical manual, she concluded H-boat is of Society design, sold to the Saxonian Empire at outset of the War. Society inventors created steam-engine apparatus for diving. This conveys the water from inside the ballast-tanks into the condensation chamber by vibrating coils. Coils focus electrical power from the ship\u2019s \u201camberite piles.\u201d Water inside chamber then separates into vapors that allow the ship to rise or descend.<\/p>\n

Irony of being conveyed in recaptured, repaired Society invention to recover lost, arcane weapon secretly sought by Society not lost on me.<\/p>\n

Received Crane\u2019s latest letter late in the evening from Alona. Too much excitement now; will read it after we have cast off.<\/p>\n

– – –<\/p>\n

TAGEBUCH HAISCHIFF JAGDSCHLO\u00df
\n<\/em>Sonnentag, 5. Jahrende<\/em><\/p>\n

Cast-off ceremony in early morning, with cheers and well-wishes of the entire port town. Bledsoe speech generous but not particularly inspirational. Gates and Thorpe generally confident, no errors on cast-off, ship\u2019s engines sound strong. Total loaded cargo: three weeks\u2019 food, medical supplies, clothing, and small equipment for exploration. Some weapons\u2014Thorpe advises ammunition locked up separately from weapons, and Kilcannon at the watch with the key. Greysham coal reserves of 5 tons will be consumed during the journey, serving meantime as additional ballast.<\/p>\n

Men remember past weeks of training well. High morale at sea thus far. Gates seems confident in men. Duty officers are as follows: Kilcannon as under-captain, discipline over men, general watch. Arasaku: Pilot-at-helm, follows Gates\u2019 commands for rudder. Laray: Depth-officer, controls mechanisms for what we now call the \u201cdiving apparatus,\u201d watches depth gauge. Wright: Co-pilot, follows Gates\u2019 commands for forward velocity. O\u2019Doole and Bell: Engineers, detect breakdowns, ensure correct operation of engines, make at-sea repairs.<\/p>\n

Engines powered all through day and into evening at full speed, depth 30 feet. We have no awareness of waves, storms, or currents while submerged. All is quiet except for the rhythmic churning of the engine screw-shaft. Water-vapor air causes wet surfaces and some difficulty writing in book, but otherwise we are generally comfortable.<\/p>\n

– – –<\/p>\n

TAGEBUCH HAISCHIFF JAGDSCHLO\u00df
\n<\/em>Montag, 6. Jahrende<\/em><\/p>\n

Time is imperceptible in our wet metal tube. Awoke sometime the next morning after fitful sleep. Gates and MacTallan had already conferred: we have stayed relatively on course and now should find ourselves well into the Eastern Sea.<\/p>\n

Some hours passed with no word from Gates, but otherwise quiet. Reviewed nautical map after short meal with rationed water. Alerted in ready chamber by strange noise echoing throughout. Low, thumping sound, each new noise punctuated by several seconds of silence. Men nervous\u2014some heard similar sounds at front of ship, others heard in midsection, then as far back as engine room.<\/p>\n

Sudden lurch to side\u2014men thrown about, myself tossed against bulkhead. A cry came from Bennington in the ready chambers, and out the small porthole there we saw something moving in the deep. A long, reptilian tail swished suddenly against the porthole and the H-boat shuddered again, booming with the sound of the creature\u2019s attack. Gates ordered a hasty surface and the diving apparatus engaged, allowing us a sudden burst of speed. I recalled Crane\u2019s description of the sea creature during the passage to Machlou. Can only imagine that this was one of its cousins. Unlike the wooden boat, however, our iron hull stayed whole.<\/p>\n

Gates ordered craft to remain just under the surface of the water, at a stop. We dared not to breathe for an hour. Thumping sound began to recede and then a cold silence. The air in the cabin had chilled to a frost and we shivered from both fear and cold.<\/p>\n

Bennington mentioned seeing a tubular cupola mechanism in the manual to aid in viewing above surface, but had not labeled it, having found no word for it. Gates located this Sehrohr<\/em> and operated it through a twinned eye-piece tube that descended from the ceiling of the vessel. Shocking scene: Gates described terrible force winds and heavy rains, sheets of water, descending from low, boiling clouds. Peaks of sea rose up to meet the clouds, as if being conducted through invisible funnels. Streaks of sparks, ball lightning, meeting furiously amidst the sky and the surface water. How glad we were then to be protected\u2014and how lucky Crane must have been not to have been swept up by them.<\/p>\n

Bennington then viewed the Sehrohr<\/em> device. For a moment I saw her tremble\u2014I caught her as she fell back in shock, mute, unsteady. \u201cIt cannot be,\u201d I heard her gasp, and I helped her to a ready bunk. \u201cI see energies in the storm.\u201d Me, confused, struggling to settle my own disquiet: \u201cHave you seen these\u2014energies\u2014before?\u201d At this Bennington nodded, her eyes transfixed. Our immediate situation rushed to the fore of my mind; I whispered, \u201cAre we in danger?\u201d Bennington shook her head, but I was not sure if this was a response or an attempt to drive away the images that haunted her. I appointed Kilcannon to attend her, and rejoined Gates and the remainder of the crew in the control cabin.<\/p>\n

Gates demanded an explanation, and seeing that I was unwilling or unable to provide one, concluded that we were not safe at the surface, either. \u201cDeep dive, lads,\u201d he called out, eyes still on me. \u201cHundred and forty feet or we scrape the bottom.\u201d We looked at Thorpe. \u201cGates is captain here,\u201d he said, \u201cand we have already been badly delayed by all of this.\u201d He then left to check on our doctor.<\/p>\n

A whine and a shudder\u2014diving apparatus engaged again, this time at its maximum capacity. Vaguely aware of forward movement but plane of descent steep enough to cause unattached objects to dislodge or roll. Men held on to seats and handles as ship plummeted downward into deep. Tiefenmesser<\/em> reading indicated maximum depth; Gates ordered stop on apparatus.<\/p>\n

[Log entry remains unfinished, account continues on separate page]<\/p>\n

Crane, at this point I was unable to complete this log book entry to its fullest because of what happened after I had left the control room. I wrote this last portion to you from the shores of Skald, on chart-paper that you find wrapped around these log-book entries.<\/p>\n

There in the silence and gloom we heard creaking as H-boat struggled to withstand crushing forces; having retreated to the ready quarters after several minutes of observing the men listening intently to the eerie sounds of the utter depths, I found a small gas lantern and penned the last few paragraphs of the log entry.<\/p>\n

Just then, the H-boat shook violently and I thought in an instant that Gates had doomed us\u2014but instead it was the engine screw from the rear cabin. Smoke floated slowly out from underneath the recessed door, and I could make out O\u2019Doole screaming from behind it. The muffled but unmistakable report from a pistol shot then followed, and I feared the worst, paralyzed at my chair. I heard Thorpe sprint from his quarters, and as I steeled myself to peer astern into the long corridor, I saw Thorpe tear the iron bulkhead door from its very joints.<\/p>\n

The hungry glow of hot flames beyond greeted our captain. Another shot rang out: but our snake-man dodged it in a blur\u2014like a bolt, I tell you\u2014and the bullet careened into a nearby pipe, causing an angry jet of steam to pour into the hold. I could see very little from the smoke and the steam, but Kilcannon sailed past me, shielding his eyes but intent on assisting his leader. I caught the general motions of a struggle and I heard another shot, and then a shout and a painful cry from a man whose voice I recognized\u2014but whose presence was incomprehensible to me.<\/p>\n

Kilcannon emerged first, and motioned to me to enter the galley. Finally remembering myself amidst the shock and urgency of the scene, I made out the outline of a water-bucket under a shelf. Passing Kilcannon the bucket, he retreated back behind the wall of vapor, and the light from the flames subsided. Then, out from the smoke marched Thorpe\u2014dragging a sputtering Thompson, head firmly looped by a mighty arm-hold, stumbling behind Thorpe like a street urchin subdued by an angry constable.<\/p>\n

I gasped, at the time not comprehending Bledsoe\u2019s treachery, which is now obvious to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s sabotaged the engines.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a moment all I could do was stare at Thompson in disbelief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you going to do?\u201d I asked, recognizing a look in Thorpe\u2019s reptilian eyes that I had seen once before.<\/p>\n

Thorpe passed me with Thompson now going limp under his grip, and looked back for a moment. \u201cWhat I ought to have done back at the Cairns.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

I had no choice but to follow Thorpe. As we both approached the control room, Gates appeared, eyes wide from the excitement, questions ready on his lips. Like myself, however, all that the seaman could do is watch Thorpe march the re-captured spy to the hatch at the side of the vessel.<\/p>\n

Bennington and MacTallan exited the crew quarters, joining me there in the corridor as I breathlessly watched what Thorpe would do next.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll never survive at this depth,\u201d observed Bennington. In her voice I heard a cold calculation\u2014not a careful warning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thorpe turned and pulled a lever, and we heard the loud whoosh<\/em> of the first of the lifeboats detach from the craft.<\/p>\n

Gates stepped in. \u201cWhat in Deus\u2019 name, man\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Thorpe stopped him with a glare.<\/p>\n

He then turned the hatch wheel: his arm wrenched the wheel with a mighty strain as he maintained his hold on the now-unconscious Thompson. The hatch opened to the small crawlspace beyond, and Thorpe bundled the man inward. We could see him collapse in a heap as Thorpe replaced the hatch, sealing it watertight by turning the wheel in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor good, this time.\u201d Another pull on the lever, and Thompson was sucked out into the murky void.<\/p>\n

Just then the H-boat shuddered again, and from all around we heard an agonizing creak. Bolts and valves burst from above and near us as the pressure from the pipes overcame the metal that contained it, spewing water and steam.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t move forward, Captain, but we can still surface!\u201d shouted Thorpe in the chaos.<\/p>\n

Gates rushed back into the control chamber. \u201cHe\u2019s right! Diving apparatus to full reverse\u2014TAKE US UP, immediately!\u201d<\/p>\n

Instinctively, we all grasped the nearest safe handle and braced ourselves. The nose of the H-boat began to rise slowly, the hull groaning again as the apparatus answered its helm.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot you three.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somehow finding footing against the rise, Thorpe crossed the corridor and turned the hatch wheel leading to the other lifeboat.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennington, MacTallan, and I looked at each other. What was Thorpe proposing?<\/em><\/p>\n

Bennington looked at Thorpe. \u201cWe\u2019ll make it,\u201d she offered.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, we won\u2019t. You know this as well as I, Doctor. There\u2019s no time for argument.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thinking quickly, I grabbed my pencil, the log-book and the lantern from the ready room. MacTallan and Bennington hurried into the hatchway as quickly as they could, and Thorpe\u2019s arm ushered me in to join them.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne more thing, Rackham,\u201d Thorpe said from behind me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n

He held out the key on its leather strap\u2014the one that he had taken from Thompson back at the Cairns. \u201cYou might need this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond we found the shell-like lifeboat, a little submersible into itself; MacTallan closed a second hatch, and then the little lifeboat door, and sealed us in. A few more seconds and we felt a powerful thrust outward, like a bullet leaving a rifle.<\/p>\n

From somewhere in the deep behind and below us we sensed a dull, sickening thump, and felt a strange bob in the water that disoriented us in our windowless pod. In the dim glow of the gas lantern, I noted the same expression of dread and horror etched on the faces of my compatriots that must have appeared on mine.<\/p>\n

Perhaps an hour passed and we sensed a change in the air inside our boat. We soon heard the pelt of water droplets echoing on the hull: so with a kick, I dislodged the door, detaching it fully to reveal a sunrise horizon, the new sun dappling the waves. Some moments later and we three were able to climb out of the craft and onto its wide, flat roof, providing us with the scene of a wide, forested island looming not far to the east, and the wreckage of the H-boat bobbing up from the dark waves behind us. We now count it destroyed completely; the Jagdschloss<\/em> has been lost with all hands.<\/p>\n

You are able to read this and the log entries I have attached, in sum, because again our miraculous flyers have triumphed again: it is Alia this time who spotted us, having flown low along the water when she saw the glint of the debris and oil from the Jagdschloss<\/em> fanning out on the water\u2019s surface in the morning sun. We met her on the shores of the island, which she has confirmed from her own maps as Skald, after she was able to locate a suitable clearing on which to make a satisfactory but bumpy landing.<\/p>\n

I had tucked your latest letter into the log-book and thus I was able to read it; I am glad to note that back in Greysham I had left the copies of all of my notes, and our correspondence, locked up in my desk at the Arms. I can only hope that these documents are not already taken by the traitor Bledsoe\u2014who, as I see it clearly now, lied to me to conceal Thompson\u2019s presence onboard the H-boat in order to sabotage it. I can only wonder what the spy offered to Bledsoe as a bribe that would be valuable enough to become an accessory to the deaths of so many fine men. In the meantime, since Alia knows well how to access the false bottom of the writing-desk, I have asked her to stop there first and secure my documents. She is clever, and I am confident that she will find a way not to arouse Bledsoe\u2019s suspicions.<\/p>\n

We are now only three, no food, no water, no equipment save what I took in our last moments aboard the submarine. I am sure that you will send supplies with our next flyer\u2019s return trip\u2014but until then, MacTallan, Bennington, and I will forage and sleep under the stars, taking refuge from the storms in whatever meager shelter we can manage to build from the trees. Our first hope is fresh water; there is higher ground on the northern part of the island, and perhaps there we might find a little stream.<\/p>\n

And we have a key\u2014a key to an unknown door with secrets more invisible than the door itself.<\/p>\n

I can only wish that you fare better than we have of late, Crane, in your next adventures with Campbell and his crew, especially now that you are free of Robards. May fortune continue to smile upon you and find its way\u2014somehow\u2014back to us.<\/p>\n

Rackham<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TAGEBUCH HAISCHIFF JAGDSCHLO\u00df Thingstag, 30. Elfmonat MacTallan has passed this log-book onto me today, with the mutual agreement that I should fill its pages with as many details as I can during the upcoming journey. Upon handing it over, he made warm compliments toward myself as the chronicler of the expedition and praised my ability […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=197"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204,"href":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions\/204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.the-epistolary.org\/rackhamandcrane\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}