The Conversion Bureau: Eleven

The Conversion Bureau: Eleven

By General_H

Chapter 1

“COME ON, MOVE!” Yelled Daniel.

“There’s no need to yell Dan, we are way away from any kind of danger.”

“Shut up and get on the boat, kid.”

“Don’t bother the chief Jimmy. He has a lot on his hands trying to sort us all out. Just have a seat.”

James took a seat next to one of the few windows. Buried just next to the waterline, the crew’s quarters, according to Rob, would provide excellent protection against potions and projectiles as well as small amounts of magic.

“God bless whoever built this boat.” Said Victor wistfully, sprawling over a seat.

“Come on guys, we all have work to do!” Boomed Daniel as he checked over all the supplies.

“Dan, lighten up a little. Let’s be grateful we are here.”

“That doesn’t mean we don’t have to do anything Kath.”

James smiled as he listened to the babble of the crew. Tethering the boom quietly, he felt happy for the first time since Seattle. He was doing the same things, and with the same people, after all.  James, being quick and light, was in charge of all things knots. Keeping the sail and the wiggly bits of the boat working at their best was his top priority. He had little other things to do, for the constant array of knots to tie with left little room for else. But he had done all he needed to do for the hour.

The hustle and bustle went on for another few minutes, and then the crew assembled in the ‘living room’ of the ship.

“Alright guys, just shut up for a bit. When I have finished this goddam speech we will depart from where we are now, which is Avacha bay, Kamchatka. We are going to travel the length of the Okhotsk into Russia, hopefully confusing the ponies for some time. We will then travel across Siberia, stopping at villages and cities along the way to find supplies. We’re then going to grab a chopper or something from Murmansk and then fly to Station Nord in Greenland. We should be able to establish a safe place to live there. Any questions?”

“That place is so cold! How are we going to survive, especially without Electricity and such?”

“We’ll find a way Chris. We can take extremes that those prissy little ponies can’t, even with their magic. And plus, they are probably expecting us to go southwards to Australia or New Zealand.”

“How long will this trip take?”

“Dunno James. Not a clue. Now, let’s get moving!”

James smiled. “That was the first time he had ever called me by name.” Dan was always a serious, no-nonsense person.  “I had no Idea he would ever regard me as a member of the crew, let alone call me by name.” He was snapped back to reality by Dan barking instructions to the crew as the boat left the shore.

“Alright chaps, we’re going to disappear in a couple of minutes. When I push this beautiful button, No damn pony will be able to touch us with their blasted magic or potions.” Said Chris, a tad smugly.

“What does it do?”

“It makes it bloody hard to breathe, Alice. I’d stay down here if I were you.”

“All below decks! James, slip the knots now!”

“I’m on it Dan.”

James raced up the stairs to the surface of the boat and began to slip the knots that held the mast, the boom and other sailing apparatus. Slipping the knots allowed one to do them up in less than half the time then if it had been done from scratch whilst basically undoing them.

“Disappear in 30 seconds.”

James was working furiously, green eyes alight, slipping knots up and down the mast and keeping out of the way of the now berserk boom.

“Hurry up!”

“Sorry Dan.”

“Don’t be sorry, it never did anyone good.”

James doubted that was true, but no-one argued with Dan. He slipped the last knot and ran below, closing the hatch & improvised airlock.

“Alright chaps, let’s disappear before those ponies get us eh?

Chris pushed the blue button. There was a creaking sound and then a whooshing as the boat drifted downward.

“Engine going?”

“Engine is fine, Dan.”

“Nitrogen levels at 76.3%, Oxygen at 22.7%”

“Can’t do much better than that, Kath”

“We are now 200 metres below sea level.”

“Let’s see those bastards try to catch us now.”

As if on cue the boat made a gargantuan noise.

“What the bloody hell was that?”

“What’s going on?”

The crew was aghast, except for Trent.

“Relax, it’s just pressure. 250 metres below sea level now. Speed of 45 kilometres per hour.”

The crew milled about their business, performing their jobs when needed. James was staring out of a porthole when Victor came and sat next to him.

“You can’t see much out there Jimmy, the sea is too cold.”

“Why does that make it hard to see then?”

“Because it’s shivering you dim wit. All the vibrations make the image hazy.” He then burst into laughter, his high pitched cackle bouncing around the ship. The crew sniggered. No-one could keep a straight face when Victor laughed, it was contagious.

“Really witty Vic.” James said dryly.

“I know. I’m going to become a comedian when we get to Nord.”

James snorted. It was going to be a long trip…