New Homeport Island (45 page)

reassured his captain gave Dave a twinge of the heart as well as
 an erection.    
Dave looked around the ocean with that just eaten
 satisfaction and noticed there were definite patterns to the water,
 there was apparently a shallow water ridge he was betting was
 the chain of the islands. He announced, “Okay see where the
 water is choppy and where it is smooth? I want us to follow the
 smooth water to the next island in the chain.” George asked,
“Isn’t that just the wind?” Dave replied, “It’s a course…follow
 it.” Atrisia snapped, “Aye sir.” and everyone repeated it after
 her.
As the days passed the fishing remained successful enough
 and they began rationing. They used the branches and twigs for
 fuel to distill the water and the Captain had taken some aside for
 a sextant. They had been so long without electricity that living in
 the dark and being water logged was something they became
 accustomed to. Sun bathing became their pass time. It was a way
 of briefly experiencing dryness.
In the islands history it was about at that time Hudlow was
 forming his hooligans to put down what had become a social
 tyranny of elitism on the militant side of the island. Deckly and
Brosuer had a rivalry based on their social groups that at the
 time seemed to be based on a lot of things, but in retrospect it
 boiled down to chiefs and officers, referred to as khaki because
 of the color of their uniform, versus the E-6 and below referred
 to as blue shirt’s for the same reason with some chiefs landing in
 the blue shirt category.
The majority of Hudlow’s followers wandered a certain
 section of the beach and spent their time in a delirium of fantasy,
 dragons and sorcerers, kings and presidents, fairies and
 mermaids, unicorns and rainbow bridges, were common themes.

They discovered magical things like plants that grow and
 rations left out for them like dogs. They knew with the
‘winningest’ football coach gone the game had changed.
Hudlow started making up new games like trivia and hide
 and seek; and eventually whack a mole. One day Hudlow
 walked up with his whack a mole scepter in hand and
 announced, “Okay, I’m the king now” Everyone looked at him
 dismayed and Gillis ran up to calm him before violence broke
 out again and Clarkson yelled, “Shut the fuck up you idiot!” As
Gillis approach Hudlow signaled for him to stop be didn’t and
Hudlow said as he approached, “By order of the king…” and
Gillis rushed at him so Hudlow cudgeled him in the head and
Gillis went down, Hudlow continued his announcement, “…I’m
 the king now.”
They broke into fights trying to subdue Hudlow and his
‘Merry men’ as he called them. They pleaded with him to see
 how crazy he had become, “Hudlow you’re out of your mind,
 and we’re the navy!” Clarkson yelled. Hudlow replied, “Since
 when? Did you do something ‘navy’ that stopped the ship from
 sinking?” Clarkson replied in anguish, “None of that could have
 been foreseen!” Hudlow retorted, “Ya, you and the rest of the
 navy right. Okay, I’m the king now.” Hauldbalm said, “Hudlow!
What are you planning on doing with McCree?” Hudlow said,
“She has to work like everyone else.” Hauldbalm asked, “At
 what?” Hudlow replied, “More stills, another fishing boat with
 more nets and eventually a boat to get us outta here in case the
 one we’ve heard about fails.” Hauldbalm was surprised and
 apologetically asked, “Nothing about giving blow jobs?”
Hudlow replied, “In a pig’s eye.”  Then Gillis was carried off
 and Ebony asked, “Then why a king?” and Hudlow responded,
“So you do what I say.” to which chief Dotz interjected, “Why

you?” and Hudlow smiled and said, “Because I’m the king…no
 more questions. Everyone rest.” They were stunned, no one
 knew what the hell he was thinking, but then the second waves
 of attackers came and Hudlow and his hooligans took them out
 as well. Monica and Francesco walked up afterward and Hudlow
 took a fighting stance and the said, “Ahh…king Hudlow, where
 do you want us? We think this probably will work better.”
Hudlow replied while pointing to his hooligans, “Go over
 there, but stay out of the fight until I know I can trust you.” They
 nodded and said okay and sat next to Chris Marcy, who greeted
 them with a, “Hey guys!” This exchange of violence and
 individuals and groups joining Hudlow’s monarchy went on for
 days.
The Woodenpeg had been following patches of calm water
 all the while. The sun had been setting fast but on the fourth day
 after the storm the captain was on the deck on watched it set on
 the starboard side. They had been headed south. The plan when
 they left new homeport island was not their own; but, it was to
 head northeast.  
Artimus stroked the till to port until his heading was now
 headed north, he trimmed in the triangular sheet of the sail until
 it was no longer filling from behind but like an airplanes wing it
 was using the Bernoulli principle.  
As Atrisia came up from below Dave said, “Hold this
 course.” and Atrisia took the till. The watch rotations had gone
 fairly smoothly which was a bit ironic since the destroyers watch
 rotation made it seem as though everyone had retired, and were
 still doing the job just for fun.
The storm clouds had dissipated, and a streak of white
 stratus cloud was drawn across the sky. If that cloud had eye’s it
 would have since a wary crew upon a stout ship, headed into the

unknown. The ship was lost within an island chain and headed
 to another spit of land uninhabited by man, that would be its
 next stop on the journey we call life.                  
             
Chapter Fifteen
Recompense  
Three years later, on New Homeport Island the tower
 construction had been completed, but due to a storm the upper
 section had collapsed and we were repairing it. The hill top
 cistern had also been completed with the aid of the balloon
 crane.
The farm was flush with sorghum and the leeches were
 cultivated. Bread production had increased to full sized loaves
 but the quality suffered so they were reduced back to the size of
 two hands side by side.
King Hudlow continued to rule over the former militants on
 what we now referred to as the lower island. We on the upper
 island had established reliable systems of survival and
 entertainment. We were rebuilding our tower and its collapse
 was a slow disintegration we actually sat back laughing and
 cheering wondering how much would come down and what
 changes to make to the design.
We were planning a stone building to use as a ‘temple’
 which would be a hospital, a school, and a vacation resort. In
 order to learn this type of stone building we were creating stone
 homes. In cutting and chipping away stone more lime stone was
 revealed and we need not stop until unable to make cement.

We had made a cobblestone road from the tower to our
 town, which was once just our camp. The perspective from our
 hot air balloon had shown us all the potential for the island and
 we still relied upon the tower to chart the weather. In truth it
 seems we became complacent, we just accepted our new home.
We had our own society and culture, something about
 becoming accustomed to a shadow puppet theater rather than
 television had really changed the way we thought about a lot of
 things. With the ocarina and drums music had been written that
 absolutely replaced electric guitars and scratching vinyl sounds.
We were inspired by the beautiful amongst us and felt
 protected by the intelligent. In Hudlow’s kingdom of the lower
 island they seemed to feel both protected and inspired by their
 king, perhaps even loved.  
Every full moon and new moon which we tracked on our
 sundials almanac circle was cause for a celebration. We
 launched our paper lanterns in the hopes it would reach
 someone. They were marked with our story and a plea for
 rescue.
King Hudlow was brought to tears because he understood
 attempting to get help by a hot air balloon that we had made on
 the island was little more than a ridiculous way to die.
The ranching of the boar had become stable and leather
 scraps were sewn together with leather bindings. We had
 reserved a section of trees and plants to ensure we didn’t run out
 of wood; even if we ran low on everything but fresh water.
Our island way of life included the segmented sleep that
 our one time corpsman, now the king’s royal aid, had preached
 for. She also advocated the drinking of urine which since, fresh
 water was being made, we took to be just a bizarre fetish of hers.
We expected her to be a hygienist of all sorts, personal hygiene,

food hygiene, guarding against trench foot with a particular
 focus on our feet, instead she seemed to trend in the other
 direction, ‘dirt don’t hurt.’ She believed she had magical powers
 and referred to herself as the king’s sorceress. Simply put the
 king ‘discouraged’ this saying, ‘they’ll just think you’re crazy
 you stupid bitch’ resulting in her developing mysterious ways.
What had been the enlisted club was now a sports arena, no
 gatherings of that size were allowed without the king or his
 royal guard present. To refer to them as his ‘merry men’ was, by
 the edict of the king, a request to be regaled with stories of ‘the
 one time.’
At sea the sail rippled in the breeze and snapped as though
 it were a flag in gale force winds. ‘Flag Dave’ was just upon the
 horizon.  Dave wore his re-commissioning pennant of a
 dungaree sleeve around his neck; they had gone from island to
 island throughout the nearby island chain. He felt he had earned
 the title ‘Adventurous soul’ but to the best of anyone’s
 knowledge there was no such title.  
Atrisia’s feminine masculinity had been amplified by their
 experiences and watching Smity turn into a whining bitch. Cabin
 boy was ‘of age’ now and was no longer afraid to ask for what
 he wanted, nor afraid to go out and get it. Eric became lord of
 the tree houses, and George admitted he was just in it for the
 pussy, which he rarely got. Mike found god on one of those
 islands, he found that ‘a rewarding life is rewardingly
 led’…which only made sense to him and possibly an old world
 pirate chaplain.
They dashed brazenly across the sea as if to challenge
 angels to grow up and be men, in their stolen boat with their
 stolen fate. Atrisia sprung forward leaning in and with all the

excitement of a sixteen year old boy seeing bare female breasts
 for the first time, pointed and yelled, “Is that a tower!!!???”  
Dave swung around and heard a karate movie sound effect
 as he turned, which inspired the kung fu look on his face. Once
 the island was fully visible over the rolling waves they noticed
 the hot air balloon which was still somewhat inflated. With the
 net crossed the top; we found it becomes tangled if not handled
 right so we used the regular crane to tie supporting lines to it.
Dave lung forward and yelled out with a ferocity, “Land
Ho!!” something he had never voiced and after years of
 navigating an island chain devoid of any human presence they
 had given up on the practice entirely.  
Cabin boy asked excitedly, “I wonder if they have public
 nudity?” Artimus smiled back at him ecstatic with glee and said,
“That one island sure did.” Atrisia said, “I just can’t wait to see
 a roll of toilet paper…and tampons.” Eric interjected, “Me too.”  
As they headed in, they reminisced about all the islands
 they had seen and how very different from each other each was
 though they didn’t realize it at the time. It seemed as though
 each had its own spirit which solicited its own mood. It was as if
 some were Mariachi band and others were punk rock, at least
 one was a La Bamba rendition.
Artimus laughed and asked, “You remember that one island
 with the trees?” and they all laughed. Atira asked George, “Who
 did you think those trees were again?” George didn’t even wince
 but Smity interjected, “Our white ancestors.” Eric asked, “How
‘bout the one with the berries.” Mike groaned, “We were sick
 for a week!” George said, “The boar were good.” Wildly smiled
 widely and grabbed Dave in a loving embrace and said, “Ya,
 your my hero.” Smity interjected, “Ya, once again thank you for

saving my life.” Dave kissed Wildly and looked over at Smity
 and replied, “Just don’t let it happen again.”
They started sing “Born to be an American”, but couldn’t
 remember the lyrics. It became a murmur of hums with some
 odd words thrown it. So Dave started singing a song he could
 remember… “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce,
 cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame bun.” and they broke out
 into a chorus until Dave rang in with the, “At McDonald’s it’s
 big mac time for you!”
As the boat closed in it was noticed. King Hudlow of the
 lower island, the senate and governor of the island republic were
 waiting on the shore. King Hudlow entourage were carrying
 stick and the King carried his ‘heavy scepter’ The hunters from
 the republic were ready in the background with slings and
 arrows as well as spears.
Once they were close enough we heard their chorus, the
 senate looked at the monarchy and the monarchy return the look
 of confusion. As governor I signaled our hunters to fall back and
King Hudlow had his entourage reduce the size of their
 gathering as well as drop their sticks. He however started
 smacking his scepter in his palm.
The Woodenpeg ran hard a ground into the sand, and her
 crew deliriously happy leapt from her decks. The Captain began
 to speak with, “We are so glad to see you we were stranded…”
Atrisia interjected, “Where’s the bathroom?” and Artimus
 continued, “...on an island we built this boat and anything you
 might have…a phone, maybe another boat? We need to get
 back.” Ludlow raised one eye brow and looked at the way he
 was dressed then at his tan and asked in a strange slur of dialect,
“Get back where?”  Atriums replied, “Oh, umm America”

Athena was instantly angered but stopped herself from
 saying anything and nudged me. Hudlow’s cudgel started
 twirling under his hand with a rotational swing. I mimicked
Hudlow’s accent and asked, “Is this all your crew?” George
 responded, “Ya, it’s a small boat.” Hudlow again with the same
 accent replied, “No one left on an island then?” Artimus said
 with exhaustion, “We’ve been on many islands in this area and
 there is no one.”
Hudlow turned to me and said free of an accent, “I want the
 captain.” I replied, “He’s yours, after an interview we may give
 you all of them.” Hudlow turned and said, “My merry men, take
 the captain.” Atrisia erupted, “Bathroom! Do you speak
English? Bathroom!”
I looked at her and calmly said, “Wells we have a bathroom
 for you alright.” She snickered, “Well…good, I mean oh shit!”
Smity collapse into tears muttering to himself, “It’s the same
 island, it’s the same island.” Wildly said, “And we just said
 there is no one back on any island.” I looked at Wildly and he
 chocked a little, then he blurted out, “As fucked up as this going
 to sound, the captain and I are romantically involved;
Permission to go with him?” I replied, “Check with the kings
 guard over there.” and pointed at some of the lingering merry
 men. Scott Strutsman was there and he replied, “A lot of weird
 shit Lyon, but ya, we’ll take him. Glad you got your boat back.”
I responded, “Thanks dude.”
We took the thieves Johann, Wells, Smity, Milson, and
Elper into custody and brought them to the courtyard.  
Johann took one look around and started trembling; I stood
 with the senate behind me. Johann demanded, “I’m a god damn
 senior chief Lyon!” I replied, “And, I am the governor and
 behind me stands the senate.” He was holding back the tears as