Abney Park's The Wrath Of Fate (10 page)

and Himself As An Adult

Dear Mr. Brown,

One day I’ll be you and

Although I’m only eight now,

You need to hear my rules.

Never stop playing

Never stop dreaming and

And be careful not to

Turn into someone we’d hate.

Dear little boy,

I’m doing my best up here but

It’s a thankless job and

Nobody feels the same.

You work long hours

Watch your credit rating

Pay your taxes and

Prepare to die

Hey, Mr. Brown,

That can’t be what life is like!

I’ve watched some movies,

And I’ve read some books

Life should be exciting

And sometimes scary but

What you’re describing doesn’t

Seem worth the time

Hey little boy,

I think you were always right

I’ve dropped that worthless life and

I’m moving on

Life should be adventure

I’m stealing back my soul

I’ve lost too many years now

I’m awake

NEW PLANS

“Seriously, what the hell was that?” said Daniel as he strode into the map room. Most of the crew, Dr. Calgori, and myself had assembled to talk about our rescue from the previous day.

“That was bloody brilliant, is what it was!” replied the salty giant, Mongrel, once again mopping under his eye patch with a dirty rag, but grinning from ear to ear. “It was like a good round’o piracy, but instead of stealing from people, we was stealing
people
back for dem’selves!” Then he pause, with a concerned look. “Not that I’d know what piracy was like. I was just imagining what it
must
be like, I guess.” And he nervously looked at his feet.

“It was drunken, emotional, rashness,” said the Doctor “But I also agree with Mongrel, it was brilliant. It would appear the man we borrowed from the future has leadership skills, as well as piloting skills. I set him to learn to pilot the
Ophelia
and nothing more. Yet before you know it, he’s barking orders and you’re all following them, much to the benefit of mankind!”

“You’re over stating what happened,” said Daniel dryly. “The crew was following orders from him, because the last captain was also our pilot.”

“We’ll see,” said Calgori. “In the meantime, I think he should take over captain’s duties. We don’t currently have a captain, and the crew seems eager to follow him. Plus, he carries a broader knowledge of history than any of us. We need someone in charge with a bird’s eye-view of what will happen over the next hundred years.”

Daniel opened his mouth again to object, but Calgori interrupted him “No, this wouldn’t be following standard procedure. But I dare say we are not, in fact, following any laws but our own at the moment. If you press gang a ship full of pirates and criminals, you’ll end up with a ship run by pirates and criminals! Who among us would care to return to Victorian England at this point and offer up our ship’s log, outlining our theft, and drunken attacks on what would have otherwise been a profitable enterprise for the English crown for the next hundred years?”

No one had a response.

“At this point, I think we are now on our own agenda. Robert, will you do us the honor of captaining this vessel?” Calgori asked.

“I will!” I said, and the crew cheered! Well, some of them made enthusiastic noises, if I remember correctly. Daniel certainly did not.

“So then what do we do now? Are we to be employed with escorting the Maasai on the quest to overthrow slave ships?” Tanner said.

“We could. But no, I think we have a greater duty.” Doctor Calgori replied, “Throughout time, there have been incredible injustices to mankind, by mankind. Right up until our glorious age, mankind never stopped inflicting terrors on itself. And unless I’m greatly mistaken, our new Captain, Robert, can probably tell us of a few that happened after our time.” Here he paused for me to speak.

“It’s true,” I said “ Every decade seems to have its world wars, and some of them have eclipsed anything you have ever seen. We’ve had government planned nation-wide starvation, and genocide…and that’s just off the top of my head”

“I feel we have a machine now that, for the first time since the dawn of man, can actually UNDO the things mankind has done wrong,” the doctor continued. “It won’t be easy, rulers do not easily change their mind by persuasion, so I’m afraid we’ll have to stop them by force.”

Daniel interrupted, “But a captain should have…” He was interrupted by Dr. Calgori dramatically collapsing into his cane and said, “This would be easier if I hadn’t gotten so damned old! I feel so tired now. Kristina, can you help me to my cabin? Robert, speak with Daniel. Think up our next move! Let’s right the wrongs of history…Together!” He trailed off in a coughing fit, as Kristina helped him out of the room.

Daniel protested, but less now than before, and it was not long before he was starting to get excited about this new mission. The more we made plans, the more excited he got. He was a proper military man, but he was also an
American
army officer, who I am guessing was imprisoned after being caught on a covert mission. He seemed glad to no longer be pressed-ganged into service for another country. We didn’t stop our enthusiastic planning until just before sunrise.

Kristina told me later that as she helped the Doctor into bed, she asked him why he so surprisingly pushed for me as the captain.

“When I first created this vessel,” he said, “It was for
science.
I didn’t care how that science was applied after I had finished, I just wanted to achieve it, and I couldn’t achieve it without military funding. But the more I heard of how they planned to use this vessel, the more I realized I had to get it out of their hands, or at least change the plan. Daniel was likely to be next-in-line to command it, and he’s a good man, but his nature is to follow the orders and objectives laid out to him at the start of a mission by a superior.”

And then he took a more apologetic tone. “But with Robert as Captain there seems little chance that this vessel will continue on its original mission. He was not a pirate, so I didn’t see him using it for personal gain. My impression was that he was motivated more for the sake of earning the title of ‘hero’ then anything else. That seemed the least dangerous motivator for a new captain.”

“I’m surprised how well you seem to know Robert, after such a short time.” Kristina then asked while helping the doctor into his bunk, “But are you saying you did something to the old captain?”

“Of course I did!” he answered with mock pride, “Well, I put things into motion that ended him. People are easy to motivate, and motivating pirates towards revenge is particularly easy.”

The doctor laid his gray fragile head on the rough pillow, “And I feel no guilt. If he hadn’t made so many enemies in the short time he’d been captain, he wouldn’t have been so easy to dispatch.” He closed his eyes, and mumbled, “Imagine the damage he would have done if the world’s most powerful weapon had been left in his hands.”

THE BATTLE OF ARCOT

To hear history books tell the story, the Battle of Arcot was a heroic example of an underdog, Robert Clive, fighting against insurmountable odds. By “using his clever wit”, he “overcomes insurmountable odds and saves the day”. In truth, the odds were grossly in his favor. Robert Clive took more than the city of Arcot with more than five thousand soldiers, easily defeating a part-time militia, seizing food, supplies, wells, and enslaving the city in the name of the East India Company. By holding the city of Arcot, the British Crown divided the forces of Chanda Sahib, which would weaken India’s defenses against this conquering nation. Ultimately this would prove to be the fall of India as an independent nation for next one hundred years to come.