C.N. - Chapter 83

I'm posting for G here after he wrote this.

Wow we've been gone for awhile (I think I say this every time we go on an unplanned hiatus, which is more times than I'd prefer)... Hope you enjoy this!

“Well,” Dennis stopped in his tracks, “the hatch to the main deck, right where we left it.” He pointed to the circular door in the ceiling.

“Do you hear anything coming through from up there?” Theo whispered.

Dennis climbed up a few rungs of the iron ladder directly beneath the hatch and pressed his ear as close to the metal as possible. “Nothing,” he whispered back.

“What if the Dragon’s henchmen are waiting right on the other side?” Theo whispered more urgently.

“HELLO? MR. DRAGON’S HENCHMEN? ARE YOU WAITING ON THE OTHER SIDE READY TO AMBUSH US?” Dennis yelled at the hatch. His voice bounced off the ceiling and reverberated up and down the hallway for a few meters before disappearing.

“Dennis! Are you crazy? What did you do that for?” Theo hissed as she dragged him down from the ladder and cupped her hand over his mouth.

Dennis removed Theo’s hand from her mouth and said, “Well, Charlie and I had a conversation earlier while we were trying to look for you where we deduced that henchmen employed by evil villains are generally not very intelligent. So I was hoping that they’d fall for me asking them whether they’re behind there waiting to ambush us and tell us themselves.”

Theo slapped her forehead in exasperation and incredulity. “Words cannot express my feelings towards you two right now.” She said. 

We were silent for a few moments. All around us there was silence save the perpetual humming of machinery.

“So, judging from the silence, I see two clear possibilities,” Dennis broke the silence, “either there are no henchmen on the other side of the hatch, or there are henchmen on the other side of the hatch but didn’t fall for my trick, which would make them exceptionally intelligent henchmen, don’t you think, Charlie?”

“In any James Bond movie the henchmen would surely have fallen for that trick.” I concurred.

“Indeed, my bet is on the first possibility.” Dennis concluded.

“Really, guys?” Theo raised her eyebrows.

“I don’t see why not,” I said, “but just on the safe side, why don’t you try again? If there are indeed henchmen on the other side of the hatch, and they didn’t fall for your trick on the first try, maybe they will fall for it this time out of frustration that we’re taking too long to walk into their trap.”

Before Theo could clasp her hand over Dennis’ mouth again, he yelled at the top of his lungs, “HELLO? MR. DRAGON’S HENCHMEN? ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE NOT WAITING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS HATCH WITH THE INTENT TO AMBUSH US?”

I laid my hand on Theo’s before she could stop Dennis from yelling further, “Trust me, I think this time it’s going to work.” Theo looked at me with a mixture of puzzlement, disbelief and awe, a look I’m beginning to realize that I get a lot from her.

Dennis continued, “I’M SPEAKING HONESTLY HERE FOR MYSELF AND MY FRIENDS WITH ME, WE’VE HAD ENOUGH SURPRISES IN THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS AND WE’D REALLY APPRECIATE IT, IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE WAITING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS HATCH WITH THE INTENT TO AMBUSH US, THAT YOU DECLARE YOUR PRESENCE SO WE DON’T BE SURPRISED WHEN WE GO THROUGH AND BUMP INTO YOU GOOD FOLKS.”

Just like last time, Dennis’ voice traveled a short distance up and down the corridor and disappeared.

“Wait a minute,” Theo grabbed both our arms, “why is there no echo?”

“What echo?” Dennis asked, puzzled.

“This corridor is extremely long, we should hear a very sustained echo whenever we make any noise,” Theo said. She stamped her foot. A low rumbling crept along the metal floor of the corridor and disappeared abruptly after a few seconds.

“You’re right,” I said, “The sound is being suppressed.”

“That’s it!” Theo exclaimed, “This must be some sort of stealth technology at work, just like the one on Laura’s hovercraft.”

“You mean on the flyasaurus?” Dennis added.

“That’s why everything’s been so silent around us. Someone must have activated stealth mode on the interior of the submarine.” Theo continued.

“Stealth mode.” Dennis and I echoed at Theo’s brilliant realization.

We pressed close together, listening to the silence.

“Well, now’s a good time as ever, let’s go through.” Dennis swiftly mounted the ladder, twisted the circular latch, and pushed upwards before anyone can object.

White light spilled onto us. I squinted. Dennis climbed up first, helped Theo through, and then me. There were no henchmen waiting to ambush us after all, we had entered through the floor of another deserted corridor, this one bathed in bright light. It looked like the interior of the Starship Enterprise, white and porcelain. 

On the side of the corridor right in front of us was a pressurized door with a porthole fixed at eye-level. Creeping up to the glass, we peeked through, Theo on the left, Dennis in the middle and me on the right.

Theo’s jaw dropped wide open. Dennis looked like he was seeing the most beautiful thing he had ever encountered in his life. We gazed through the porthole at the sight on the other side of the glass. Laura, Wolfgang, Heathcliff, Laura’s henchmen, some of Mr. Dragon’s Henchmen, even Mr. Virus (covered from head to toe in what seems to be a buttery, creamy substance), they were all there. It was total chaos, kitchen utensils, pots and pans, chef’s hats, food and people were flying everywhere.

With delight, I exclaimed, “It’s a food fight!”