High Seas Series
The Explorers
Book Two
Chapter 02
Charles W Bird
[email protected]
This story is a fictional account of a period that begins after The Carson Family and their many ships had settled in Australia and helped civilization to cling to life after much of the world had suffered from Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and chronicles what happens to that family, who had saved many youngsters from death or a life so horrible, death would have been welcomed.. While the story is completely fictional, actual names, characters, places and incidents that might coincide with actions, places, people or events have been changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty or are the product of my imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The actual shipboard processes, however, are based upon experiences of the author.
This story is copyrighted and may not be reproduced by any means without my express, written permission.
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From Chapter 1; Those who were proficient at mind-speak knew their days of pulling the “wool” over their parents’ eyes were over, but the sheer joy in knowing an absolute love made up for it. New couples among the newly rescued youngsters were immediately apparent. No more would they have to endure the guessing game of does XXXX like me or not!
THE NEW HOMELAND
They had not detected any minds as they passed by North America and they would not learn that many had survived on that continent and were thriving, until future voyages. The Isthmus of Panama was broken open and they cautiously made their way through where once The Panama Canal had once been. Upon arrival back in Australia, the added people were absorbed into the population. With mind-talk, there was no language barrier and the local schools took in the new youngsters with hardly a burp.
The Carson family was again growing as they welcomed new boys and girls into their midst. It seemed that the boys were the most proficient and powerful mind-speakers and a few could even make simple contact with some of the animals. Dogs were the easiest, but dolphins and horses could also understand what the boys were sending.
The girls would not gain proficiency in the gift of mind-speak for yet another generation and would never be as proficient or as powerful as their brothers.
As the adult men became more proficient with mind-speak, they discovered that some of their trading partners were somewhat less than honest. Many of the traders in the area were descended from long ago Arabs who had sailed wind driven ships from the Arabian lands, bringing their culture and religion with them. Their culture saw no evil in cheating non-believers, or even killing them for that matter.
Those who cheated others soon found themselves on the “short end of the stick” as these newcomers saw through their deceits as if they were reading minds and mentally conversing with others of their kind. It would be many years before the Arab Traders discovered their worst fears were correct.
The Carsons and their extended family were becoming a huge entity, already they were the dominate power in the region and their businesses incorporated all the shipping and maritime commerce from the Koreas to the South Pole. About the only maritime enterprise they had not gulped up was fishing. With mind-speak, they were able to determine just who the honest traders were and those were asked to join them. The dishonest traders soon withered up and went out of business.
Unlike many of their former competitors, they treated every customer with scrupulous honesty and they had never attempted to take advantage of a situation for profit, even though they were the largest corporation remaining in business. In doing this, trade increased as did their profits.
The Carsons had originally been Americans and they remained committed to the ideals that had originated in that land, but The United States of America was now a wasteland of radioactive debris and they were now totally committed to their foster country of Australia and its peoples.
They were now engaged in developing the southwestern part of the country. It was a land of many resources but little water, and they had plans to make the area fruitful and an economic powerhouse. To that end, they had begun a project on the Onslow Peninsula many years earlier. The project had been delayed to allow for the infrastructure to be developed, but now, they were ready to steam full power ahead.
Unlike Darwin, there was plenty of room for expansion and they had just completed two new graving docks and workshops were going up as fast as their workmen could bolt the steel beams together. They had been the first to employ the native Aborigines in any numbers and those peoples’ relationship with the Carsons was total and unqualified.
Australian National Steel had opened a huge open pit mine at Mindaroo Station and the furnaces of the new smelter had just been fired up. Cast Iron for the making of steel was a matter of days away. The electric reduction furnaces that were adjacent to the smelter were waiting for the first raw iron ingots to be made into the high tensile steel that was used in ship construction.
The school system that the Carsons had built up, originally to supply Merchant Mariners for their ships, had expanded and now included Industrial Courses for both workmen and their supervisors.
Randolf (Randy) Carson was, himself, a product of his family’s schools and had been appointed Manager of the iron and steel works. Like all members of his family, he was a “hands on” manager and he was in coveralls and a hard hat that day as the furnace bung was opened when the first pour was to be made.
The Floor Supervisor, Gordon Walking Rock, the scion of a longtime Aborigine Family who had been among the first of his people to join the CROCKYDALE Warriors and was also a product of Carson Schools, personally managed the very first tap of iron. He first poured several small ingots, the first one was to go to Darwin and the Carson Museum. The second was destined to sit on the desk of T4’s desk. Tommy Carson the Fourth had led the battle to get the mine and smelter up and running.
It would be several days before steel would be coming out the back end of the Reducing Plant, but the shipbuilding crews were already waiting for the first load of rolled plate to be delivered to the Building Ways from the rolling mill. The first Vessel to be built would be the Ocean Tug, CROCKYDALE WARRIOR.
The “WARRIOR” was patterned after the giant tugs that had once been common before the Great Crash and would be the largest tug in service in the present day world. Weighing in at 2,250 tons and 190 feet long, she would be powered by four huge marine diesel engines and twin screws connected through hydraulic couplings. The GUIN Steel Division was nearly finished building up the engines for the behemoth tug.
Within days of mill startup, the keel was laid for the “WARRIOR” and the ship construction crews began putting to use the knowledge they had gained over three years of grueling schoolwork up in Darwin. Joseph Wandering Tree was the night shift foreman and Adam Hollowstone ran the day shift. They were both Aborigine men and were also cousins.
The cousins were the final proof to the Tribes that their people were totally accepted by the Carsons. That acceptance was flowing through the entire nation and, while there were still a few “hold outs”, the discrimination of the past was just that, the past!
While work on the tug was proceeding at a furious pace, the rolling mill was turning out steel beams for export, primarily to the Carsons’ export partners in Singapore.
Singapore had, early on, been a partner to the Carson Shipping Company when they had first fled from their homes in North America. Because of this, companies like Gaiun Steel, companies in Singapore were sharing in the economic boom.
Those companies who had become part of the Carson Family of companies were made aware of the “special” abilities of their young men. Soon, there were young men as Special Assistants to the sales staff. Those companies who cheated their customers and the slick traders of the region found themselves out of work.
GROWING PAINS
Orders came pouring in for new ships and, soon both the two new graving docks were booked solid. In the midst of all this activity, it was noticed that the weather patterns were changing.
Much of Australia was desert, although there was geological evidence that those deserts had once been verdant grasslands. The rainy season was becoming prolonged and once dry washes frequently had small streams running in them. A few were running all year long.
The immediate result of the increased rainfall was an upsurge of freshwater crocodiles. Badly affected was the new city of Onslow. The creatures were parading down the streets at night, searching for food. The crocs being carnivores’, the residents’ children began to disappear! A call for help was sent out for the CROCKYDALE Warriors immediately.
It was fortunate that dried, salted crocodile meat was considered a delicacy among many of the Asian people, there was a glut of such meat and the traders, sensing a bonanza, began shipping the meat to markets throughout Southeast Asia. Hundreds of Aborigines, who had been part-time employees, suddenly found themselves begging for a day off!
Mind Speak had always been part of the Aborigine lore and now it was becoming a reality. Their boys were discovering mind speak abilities daily. In some villages, there was a permanent purple cloud that hung over their village from all the mindspeak.
While their Shamans had known of the ability and a few could practice it in a limited way, their boy children were rapidly becoming experts. Some were so powerful that they could mind speak with boys as far away as Darwin and Sydney. It would not be long before they could reach the South Pacific Iaslands.
This was something new to the Abo Boys and, like young boys everywhere, they were constantly straining their limits. A whole new world was opening up to them.
Young Tommy Carson 5 (TC5) and Robbie Throwing Rock had been friends for as long as either of them could remember. Each boy was a powerful mind speaker and their few childhood arguments shattered the peace for miles around them.
As they were about to leave their teenage years behind them, they came up with a plan. They recruited a few of their mind speaking buddies, who had capabilities similar to their own and began “plotting and planning”.
They wanted to go back to North America and find a place where they could go ashore and make a thorough search for survivors. They knew the West coast was pretty badly damaged, but the Gulf Coast and the East Coast had not been thoroughly explored for survivors.
Both boys had attempted mind-couple, but they just did not have the power, even when coupled, to reach out to the interior of North America, although they had already reached the southern coast.
Both boys knew that they had to have a reasonable plan laid out to put before their Grandfathers, otherwise it had no chance of support. To that end, they enlisted the aid of ten more boys.
Tommy’s Grandfather, also named Tommy Carson (T3) was Chairman of the Board of the Carson Companies and Robby’s Grandfather was High Chief of The Great Stone Band, the Aborigine Band that cared for the Great Sacred Stone that they all believed was the last refuge of the souls of all Aborigines who had died.
What the boys did not know was that their Grandfathers were on to them and had agreed to encourage them in their project.
PLANS AND SHIPS
The boys worked and slaved over their plans and lists for almost two years before they felt sufficiently confident to approach their Grandfathers.
They had collected and recopied maps, carefully logged every contact they thought they had detected in North America and had made lists of equipment, supplies and trade goods they thought they might need.
Lastly, they sketched a ship as they wanted a special type of ship that had a large wet-well, heavy duty cargo elevators, a large, fully equipped infirmary, a dining area to feed as many rescues as they had beds for, a galley and hotel like accommodations for unhurt refugees.
Robby wanted a landing pad and six military style helicopters, each equipped with rescue equipment and plenty of fire power.
At the last minute, they added powered landing craft and large, multipurpose all-terrain trucks. They put the entire package together and headed for Darwin with six of their most powerful mind speakers in tow.
They knew that their Grandfathers would make changes to their plans, but they felt pretty confident that they would agree to help them. What they did not know was the draftsman they used for making the final drawings was feeding information to their Grandfathers.
They were full of confidence as they headed north to meet with their Grandfathers.
They had an appointment to meet with, what they thought was just their Grandfathers; instead the whole Board of Directors was sitting around the table.
After they untangled their tongues from their teeth, Tommy and Robby spread their drawings and plans out on the table. Their companions were cautious in saying anything until comments were flying back and forth between T-5 and Robby and all the members of the Board. Wild and some not so wild ideas were discussed and more than a few of them became incorporated in the project.
After a whole day of discussions, both Tommy and Robby began to see where their plans were headed and, the last comment from Great Grandfather Tommy Carson was, “Lets go look at a ship”! In that instant, the boys knew then that they were gonna go sailing! Victory was theirs!
The Boy Gang was taken out to a motor launch and they all piled in with their two Grandfathers. The Cox’n headed the boat out to the anchorage, where several strange looking vessels was moored.
The ships were brand new, but they looked more like a shoe box than a ship. They were rectangular with a funny looking bow and had a heavy lift helicopter parked on each main deck.
When they had scrambled on board the nearest vessel, they discovered a complete hospital and berthing for 250 people in addition to the crew. The mess deck was huge. The young men were trying to take it all in and the two Grandfathers told them to go explore and see if it would fit their needs.
They did not yet realize that the ship had been constructed specially for them and that there were three more of them at anchor in the same nest.
There was a “skeleton” crew onboard and they answered the questions that the young men had, including the fact that there were another three ships just like that one! Plus another huge passenger ship that could accommodate and thousand unhurt passengers!
The boys were floored when they were told that all five ships were fully crewed and ready to go. It was then that Tommy and Robby “smelled a rat” Tommy looked at his Great Grandfather and said, “You knew all along, somebody squealed and you built these ships just for us!”
T3 and High Chief Robby grinned and admitted that the draftsman had kept them informed and that the entire board felt it was a worthwhile project.
T3 then said, “You guys gotta get crews together, we will get the Medical Personnel arranged and will assign you a tanker to accompany you on your trip. You gotta get some Warriors and all their gear, but, I gotta warn you, the word is already out and CROCKYDALE Warriors are already drawing lots to see who is gonna go with you”!
They toured the three other ships and found that they were all identical. They would need to identify one of the ships as the Flag Ship and give them all names.
They would later add a fuel ship (oiler) to the fleet. As they toured the ships, they began hearing shouts in their minds. The Warriors were all lined up on the pier. They had already decided who was going to go and they were formed up in four companies, with their Captains standing out in from, ready to report to whoever was going to be the Fleet Commodore!
As far as Robbie Throwing Rock was concerned, Tommy was going to be the Fleet Commodore, he was gonna be the Chief Warrior! That was the way it was, too!
SAILING DAY
They had named their small fleet, “THE RESCUERS” and the flag ship was named, RESCUE COMMANDER”, the other three ships were “RECLAIMER”, “RESPITE”, and “RETURNER”. The fleet tanker was named the “RESCUE OILER”. It took them four years to get ready, supplies for the ships were in short supply and the crews had to be trained. All the ships were brand new and had never been sailed before any anyone.
They planned on sailing west from Onslow and slipping around the Cape of Good Hope before heading North West to North America. None of the ships were race horses, about their best speed was 13 knots. It was the long way around, but it afforded them the possibility of additional rescues.
They hit the coast of Africa and followed it around to The Cape. They had mind speak teams on the flag ship, RESCUE COMMANDER, and they kept 24 hour surveillance, searching for any whisper that might suggest there were survivors.
No matter how hard they pushed, they could not detect any human life. Every once in a while, they would encounter savage creatures that might have once been human, but whatever they were now was not anything they wanted to come face to face with now.
That, however, did not stop them from trying and, in stretching their minds in link with each other made them even stronger. The radio operators were doing much the same and, every once in a while, the signal meter would quiver and they would try every trick they knew or had ever heard about, but they did not get a response that they could understand. It all sounded like gibberish to them.
The fleet plodded across the Atlantic Ocean, headed north-west for the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada. They intended to sail into the Great Lakes and search for survivors in Canada and the former American States in the Great Lakes Region.
They had timed their departure so that they would reach the St. Lawrence Seaway early in the summer, with no ice breaker service they figured the lakes would be frozen over until late spring or early summer.
THE “FUN” BEGINS
They finally arrived off Halifax, Nova Scotia and, to their astonishment, they encountered fishing boats! There was no radio working, but they mind spoke to several fishing boat skippers and they were assured of a welcome at their Capital of New Brunswick. When the fishermen discovered there were doctors on board all the ships, they all pleaded for help.
The fleet hove to in the sheltered waters of Northumberland Strait and began treating injuries. They found that the fishing boat crews were mostly young boys like themselves and that they had limited mindspeak.
The doctors were in tears as they treated injuries that had either not been treated at all, or had been poorly treated as the Fisher folk had no doctors, no medicines and only primitive bandages. There were a number of new families begun during that stop. The boys’ parents made no attempt to restrain their children as they saw the advantage of family ties with these newcomers.
Robby and Tommy had become very close on the voyage and nobody knew that they had become a couple until they were seen with a young boy and girl and the two were calling them, “PAPA”! The children’s birth father was skipper on one of the fishing boats and had been treated in the ship’s hospital for gangrene of a poorly treated wound. The man had not survived. Their mother had died in childbirth.
The children, Pierre and Marie had been discovered by the two young men, crying in the passageway outside the hospital hatch.
Robbie frightened the children at first, they had never seen a black man before and he had native Aborigine tattoos on his face. His kind nature, however had soon won them over and there were several new bunks installed in the Fleet Commander’s stateroom that same afternoon!
When it finally came time to sail, nobody bothered with a census, but the galley crews estimated that the fleet had grown by about one hundred youngsters! Tommy wasn’t concerned as they had planned on acquiring more people; that was the purpose of the voyage.
As they rounded Cape Gaspé and headed towards Quebec, two teen boys were discovered hiding in an engine room storage locker on the Flagship. On oiler had discovered them and he sent his helper to get Chief Engineer Andy Franke.
The two youngsters were certain they were going to be put ashore and they were shivering in fright as Chief Andy held them. The boys were radiating fright like a furnace.
Andy had recently lost his wife to cancer and their children were all grown and had gone their own ways. He debated with himself, but it was a losing battle.
Another bunk was brought out of storage. The two youngsters had never slept apart, however, they were not brothers, merely friends since infancy. They were afraid that they would be separated, but the Chief was a powerful mind speaker and it took no effort on his part to discover that the boys were a young couple, still developing.
The boys were shocked when they heard in their own minds, “T’aint no problem, just don’t keep me awake at night with no squeakin’ springs!”
The two boys had an aptitude for the Engine Room and were soon seen in the Engine Room Log Office, keeping the records for their new Papa!
QUEBEC AND BEYOND
Quebec had been heavily bombed and the radiation meters warned them against landing there. Montreal was even worse and they found no sign of life until they reached Kingston, where the waterway entered Lake Ontario at Kingston Pass.
Toronto lay in glowing ruins and that was as far as they could go. The old ship channel into Lake Erie was filled with wrecked ships.
They sent work parties in the launches to Cleveland and Detroit, but they found no living people in either place.
They did detect mind speak in a small village of Harmony, near Cleveland, but was some kind of religious settlement and they were sent away. They did, however, collect a few youngsters who had escaped from their parents’ control and followed the rescue party until they were sure that they could not be sent back.
They had no land transportation with them, other than a horse drawn ambulance. The horses were glad of some exercise, but they were met with suspicion and rifles in the small villages they visited.
They hated to backtrack, but they had sailed as far as they could go, they would have to turn around and sail down the coast of New England. Darkness caught them once again and they anchored in mid-channel off Montreal.
Etienne and Stephan, the two boys Chief Andy had taken in came to speak with them. Etienne said, “Papa our cousins Jaime and William live near here, may we please go and try to find them?”
Andy replied, “Do you want me to come with you?” David replied, “No, Papa, John, the oiler, is coming with us. He is almost as young as us and an adult might scare our cousins. They is country folk ‘n theys don’t get much outsiders where theys live.
Andy called for Oiler John and handed the young man three pistols. He said, “John, I don’t want you to be forced to use these, but, by all that is Holy, don’t you hesitate if any one of you is threatened. OK?”
As soon as they left the ship, John handed a pistol to each of the boys, telling them to follow his lead if they had to use them. Etienne led the way and it was near midnight when they approached their cousins’ farm.
They saw lights on in the kitchen, so they knocked on the door. Their two cousins, Jaime and Willie peeked out the glass and saw Etienne standing there. Jaime screamed and threw the door open, tears were flooding down both boys’ faces.
When they got the youngsters calmed down they learned that raiders had hit them just at dark and had killed both their parents and their baby sister.
John took charge and asked, “Where are your folks’ bodies?” Willie replied, “Theys took em, theys cannibals, sir.” That was about all John could handle, he turned to Etienne and Stephan, saying, “Gather up whatever you boys need and let’s get the Hell outta here before them damned ghouls come back for dessert!”
The boys threw some clothes and their personal treasures into their carry-sacks and John led them down the trail they had arrived on. He heard some commotion behind them and he fired his pistol in the direction of the noise.
They heard a scream in the darkness, but they never slowed down. By the time they got back to the ship, they were all winded, but John would not let them stop until they were all safely aboard the ship and four CROCKYDALE WARRIORS were standing at the gangway with their rifles pointed towards the rickety pier.
A gang of men came to a screeching stop at the foot of the gangway and, as soon as they saw the rifles pointed directly at them, they dove off the pier and began swimming towards shore. The Warriors were all Aborigines and were as black as midnight. They also stood nearly seven feet tall and it was obvious that they knew how to use their rifles!
Etienne and Stephan quickly told all the boys who and what the Warriors were and the new boys were a little shy around them, until they all hit the galley. There, the cooks had set out fresh pastries and a pitcher of milk. The coffee maker had been freshly brewed and John had a cup of coffee, but the younger boys had all been in a milk free diet, so they refilled their mugs several time before they were satisfied.
Jamie and Willie just assumed they were going to stay with their cousins, but John had other ideas. He said, to the two new refugees, “Guys, I done lost all my family, I had four brothers growing up n’ theys all been kilt. Will you boys be my younger brothers?”
He opened up his arms and both Jaime and Willy lunged into John’s arms. John was only a few years older than the two boys, but he would raise them to manhood and, eventually, they all became Ship Engineers. They would make great effort to always sail on the same ship with their older brother and, mostly, they were successful.
THE EAST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA
They regained the North Atlantic Ocean and headed south along the coast of Maine. The coast line was desolate and deserted until they reached Cape Cod. There, they saw pillars of smoke rising above some homes near the beach.
Tommy ordered the fleet to pull in the sheltered bay behind the Cape. They had bypassed Boston completely, they could see the entire city was in ruins and there was no sign of life. There was, however human activity at Plymouth.
Tommy ordered the launches to be put in the water and then he got on the loud hailer. He announced who they were and why they were there. He ended his announcement by telling anyone who could hear him that they were Americans from Australia and they had doctors and a hospital onboard each ship and that they would treat anyone in need at no cost.
Soon there was a trickle of people coming out of the beach, waving shirts and pieces of cloth to attract their attention.
The ship’s launches raced to the beach and hauled sick and injured people to their respective ships. There were several young women who were in the first stages of giving birth and they were rushed in first.
Dr. Dennis Frie was the head obstetrician and he was beside himself. The women coming to him were all very young and had no pre-natal care at all.
Before the week was out, the poor doctor was a mental wreck. He had not lost a single mother OR their babies, but it had been a near thing for several of them.
As the new mothers recovered from their ordeal, they began to ask questions of the boys who seemed to be always around. Some had been recently rescued, while others were from Australia.
They were shocked to learn that it was the boys who were in charge and even more shocked when they learned that the Co-Commander of the entire expedition was black. One girl asked, “Aren’t all black people slaves? That is what they are among our people.” That bit of news made the rounds like wildfire!
Tommy and Robby both knew they had a job to do. They went ashore with a whole company of CROCKYDALE Warriors, half of whom were Aborigine and the other half were white. Robby took command of the Warriors and they marched into the town.
Robby had finally attained his adult stature and stood just a fraction under seven feet tall. His hands and feet were enormous and his muscles frequently ripped his shirt sleeves.
They had a mission and they all were angry as hell! They were all mind-speakers and they poured out a message calling to all the people of Plymouth, “WE WILL NOT ALLOW OUR AFRICAN BROTHERS TO BE ENSLAVED, ALL WHO HEAR US AND HAVE BLACK SKINS AND WE HAVE WHITE SKINS, WE ARE ALL BROTHERS! COME TO US, COME JOIN US, WE WILL TAKE YOU TO FREEDOM!”
The poured out their message with such power that the air above the formation crackled in static discharge and was glowing purple! Soon, two little Negro boys peered around the corner of an adjacent warehouse. They looked to be about 10 years old and they were shaking like leaves in a high wind.
Tommy spotted the boys first and knelt down so that he was eye level with them and spoke out loud, “Come to me, little ones, we will protect you and you will not be slaves any longer!”
The little boys ran to Tommy and folded themselves into his arms. That began an avalanche of boys and not all of them were black. There were some oriental boys among the runners as well as a few Indians. There was a surprise also as some of the boys were white!
The Warriors opened up a hole in their formation and Robby motioned all the boys to take shelter in the hole. The Warriors created a circle of Warriors around the children and their rifles were pointed outwards.
Tommy announced both vocally and mentally that they would not stand for slavery and, until every slave was released and brought to them for medical treatment, no more local citizens will be treated by our doctors!
In those few minutes, a legend was created, “These Warriors would not stand for slavery”! That legend was to spread like wildfire all along the coast of North America.
The Warriors began patrolling the streets of Plymouth, usually in groups of three. There were both White Warriors, Black Warriors and a few Yellow Warriors in each team and their mere presence was enough for most slave owners to quickly give up their slaves. They had never seen such huge, powerful men and they sure as hell did not want to tangle with any of them!
It wasn’t enough that the Warriors all tended to be about seven feet tall, all the Aborigine Warriors had heavy, ropey tattoos on their faces, denoting their various families and tribes, giving them a nightmare quality!
To the town’s people, those black Warriors presented a visage from Hell itself and they would learn only later what the children had known all along, that they were gentle and caring human men.
As the Warriors returned to their various ships, they were carrying at least two children in their arms, without regard to the color of their skins! This same scene would be repeated often as they sailed south, along the coast of North America and westward along the Southern Coast.
They next slipped into Long Island Sound and discovered a thriving community at New Haven. The villagers welcomed the ships and offered them the use of the village pier.
Only two of their vessels could tie up, so the rest anchored out in the bay. They did not encounter the slavery problem like they had further north and the village had a resident doctor. The doctor, Ben Hammond, asked if he could bring some of his most serious cases aboard for treatment and X-rays.
It would be three weeks before they could continue their voyage and every time a Warrior or crew member went ashore, he or she came back with passengers!
All the villagers were reasonably healthy, but many of the youngsters suffered from vitamin deficiencies and lack of love. Warriors and crew members would go ashore for some solid land time and would return with their shoulders loaded up and a trail of boys and a few girls, who were hoping to be noticed.
It was fortunate that provision had been made for extra bunks in the Crew Quarters and Officers’ staterooms!
It was in New Haven that Robby Throwing Rock found his oldest son. The boy had no family name and was known only a Gabriel. Everyone just called him, “Gabe”. He was a black negro boy who thought he was 15 years old. He was as tall as Robby and proved to be a powerful mind speaker.
Gabe followed Robby to the ship like a puppy dog, Robby was grinning to himself as he headed up the gangway. He turned and looked down to the boy and said, “Well, come on, son, it’s time for supper!”
That was all the encouragement the boy needed and he was up the gangway in a flash, wearing an ear to ear grin! He sat next to Robby in the mess, eating foods he had no idea what they were, but they tasted good and he was allowed to eat all he wanted.
Robby learned that Gabe had been living on the streets with a group of boys, trying to survive with no parents. He asked Gabe, How many boys are there?” Gabe replied by flashing his hands three times, so Robby supposed that there were thirty boys living together somewhere.
After the meal, Robby took Gabe to his stateroom and handed him several towels, a wash cloth and bar of soap, saying that he would be right back with some new, clean clothes. When Robby returned, he heard Gabe singing in the shower, the boy had a rich baritone voice that sent shivers down his spine, it was that beautiful a voice.
Robby turn around while Gabe got dressed and that “clinched” the deal. He had a still slightly damp boy wrapped around his neck. The boy had been “testing” him!
Gabe burst out in song and people stood in the passageway in awe of what they heard. The joyful sound rolled out of the boy and was heard even out on deck. When Robby and Gabe stepped out into the passageway, there was a crowd waiting for them and shouts of “More, More” were heard.
Robby and Gabe went ashore in search of Gabe’s companions. Robby was horrified at where they were living. Gabe stood outside the tumbled down warehouse and sang a song that he had composed himself, “Come To Me”. Boys came flowing out of the old building like a river.
The song was something that Gabe had created himself and would become the standard call to bring children to the ships as their voyage progressed. Many of the smaller children would call Gabe, “Mr. Come To Me”. It was a title that both Gabe and Robby loved and each time the ships pulled into a port, Gabe was singing his song over the loud hailer!
Their next port of call would be Stamford and it would be there that Gabe would become a Warrior as well as a caller of children.
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TBC
[email protected]
This story is a fictional account of a period that begins after The Carson Family and their many ships had settled in Australia and helped civilization to cling to life after much of the world had suffered from Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and chronicles what happens to that family, who had saved many youngsters from death or a life so horrible, death would have been welcomed.. While the story is completely fictional, actual names, characters, places and incidents that might coincide with actions, places, people or events have been changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty or are the product of my imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The actual shipboard processes, however, are based upon experiences of the author.
This story is copyrighted and may not be reproduced by any means without my express, written permission.
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From Chapter 1; Those who were proficient at mind-speak knew their days of pulling the “wool” over their parents’ eyes were over, but the sheer joy in knowing an absolute love made up for it. New couples among the newly rescued youngsters were immediately apparent. No more would they have to endure the guessing game of does XXXX like me or not!
THE NEW HOMELAND
They had not detected any minds as they passed by North America and they would not learn that many had survived on that continent and were thriving, until future voyages. The Isthmus of Panama was broken open and they cautiously made their way through where once The Panama Canal had once been. Upon arrival back in Australia, the added people were absorbed into the population. With mind-talk, there was no language barrier and the local schools took in the new youngsters with hardly a burp.
The Carson family was again growing as they welcomed new boys and girls into their midst. It seemed that the boys were the most proficient and powerful mind-speakers and a few could even make simple contact with some of the animals. Dogs were the easiest, but dolphins and horses could also understand what the boys were sending.
The girls would not gain proficiency in the gift of mind-speak for yet another generation and would never be as proficient or as powerful as their brothers.
As the adult men became more proficient with mind-speak, they discovered that some of their trading partners were somewhat less than honest. Many of the traders in the area were descended from long ago Arabs who had sailed wind driven ships from the Arabian lands, bringing their culture and religion with them. Their culture saw no evil in cheating non-believers, or even killing them for that matter.
Those who cheated others soon found themselves on the “short end of the stick” as these newcomers saw through their deceits as if they were reading minds and mentally conversing with others of their kind. It would be many years before the Arab Traders discovered their worst fears were correct.
The Carsons and their extended family were becoming a huge entity, already they were the dominate power in the region and their businesses incorporated all the shipping and maritime commerce from the Koreas to the South Pole. About the only maritime enterprise they had not gulped up was fishing. With mind-speak, they were able to determine just who the honest traders were and those were asked to join them. The dishonest traders soon withered up and went out of business.
Unlike many of their former competitors, they treated every customer with scrupulous honesty and they had never attempted to take advantage of a situation for profit, even though they were the largest corporation remaining in business. In doing this, trade increased as did their profits.
The Carsons had originally been Americans and they remained committed to the ideals that had originated in that land, but The United States of America was now a wasteland of radioactive debris and they were now totally committed to their foster country of Australia and its peoples.
They were now engaged in developing the southwestern part of the country. It was a land of many resources but little water, and they had plans to make the area fruitful and an economic powerhouse. To that end, they had begun a project on the Onslow Peninsula many years earlier. The project had been delayed to allow for the infrastructure to be developed, but now, they were ready to steam full power ahead.
Unlike Darwin, there was plenty of room for expansion and they had just completed two new graving docks and workshops were going up as fast as their workmen could bolt the steel beams together. They had been the first to employ the native Aborigines in any numbers and those peoples’ relationship with the Carsons was total and unqualified.
Australian National Steel had opened a huge open pit mine at Mindaroo Station and the furnaces of the new smelter had just been fired up. Cast Iron for the making of steel was a matter of days away. The electric reduction furnaces that were adjacent to the smelter were waiting for the first raw iron ingots to be made into the high tensile steel that was used in ship construction.
The school system that the Carsons had built up, originally to supply Merchant Mariners for their ships, had expanded and now included Industrial Courses for both workmen and their supervisors.
Randolf (Randy) Carson was, himself, a product of his family’s schools and had been appointed Manager of the iron and steel works. Like all members of his family, he was a “hands on” manager and he was in coveralls and a hard hat that day as the furnace bung was opened when the first pour was to be made.
The Floor Supervisor, Gordon Walking Rock, the scion of a longtime Aborigine Family who had been among the first of his people to join the CROCKYDALE Warriors and was also a product of Carson Schools, personally managed the very first tap of iron. He first poured several small ingots, the first one was to go to Darwin and the Carson Museum. The second was destined to sit on the desk of T4’s desk. Tommy Carson the Fourth had led the battle to get the mine and smelter up and running.
It would be several days before steel would be coming out the back end of the Reducing Plant, but the shipbuilding crews were already waiting for the first load of rolled plate to be delivered to the Building Ways from the rolling mill. The first Vessel to be built would be the Ocean Tug, CROCKYDALE WARRIOR.
The “WARRIOR” was patterned after the giant tugs that had once been common before the Great Crash and would be the largest tug in service in the present day world. Weighing in at 2,250 tons and 190 feet long, she would be powered by four huge marine diesel engines and twin screws connected through hydraulic couplings. The GUIN Steel Division was nearly finished building up the engines for the behemoth tug.
Within days of mill startup, the keel was laid for the “WARRIOR” and the ship construction crews began putting to use the knowledge they had gained over three years of grueling schoolwork up in Darwin. Joseph Wandering Tree was the night shift foreman and Adam Hollowstone ran the day shift. They were both Aborigine men and were also cousins.
The cousins were the final proof to the Tribes that their people were totally accepted by the Carsons. That acceptance was flowing through the entire nation and, while there were still a few “hold outs”, the discrimination of the past was just that, the past!
While work on the tug was proceeding at a furious pace, the rolling mill was turning out steel beams for export, primarily to the Carsons’ export partners in Singapore.
Singapore had, early on, been a partner to the Carson Shipping Company when they had first fled from their homes in North America. Because of this, companies like Gaiun Steel, companies in Singapore were sharing in the economic boom.
Those companies who had become part of the Carson Family of companies were made aware of the “special” abilities of their young men. Soon, there were young men as Special Assistants to the sales staff. Those companies who cheated their customers and the slick traders of the region found themselves out of work.
GROWING PAINS
Orders came pouring in for new ships and, soon both the two new graving docks were booked solid. In the midst of all this activity, it was noticed that the weather patterns were changing.
Much of Australia was desert, although there was geological evidence that those deserts had once been verdant grasslands. The rainy season was becoming prolonged and once dry washes frequently had small streams running in them. A few were running all year long.
The immediate result of the increased rainfall was an upsurge of freshwater crocodiles. Badly affected was the new city of Onslow. The creatures were parading down the streets at night, searching for food. The crocs being carnivores’, the residents’ children began to disappear! A call for help was sent out for the CROCKYDALE Warriors immediately.
It was fortunate that dried, salted crocodile meat was considered a delicacy among many of the Asian people, there was a glut of such meat and the traders, sensing a bonanza, began shipping the meat to markets throughout Southeast Asia. Hundreds of Aborigines, who had been part-time employees, suddenly found themselves begging for a day off!
Mind Speak had always been part of the Aborigine lore and now it was becoming a reality. Their boys were discovering mind speak abilities daily. In some villages, there was a permanent purple cloud that hung over their village from all the mindspeak.
While their Shamans had known of the ability and a few could practice it in a limited way, their boy children were rapidly becoming experts. Some were so powerful that they could mind speak with boys as far away as Darwin and Sydney. It would not be long before they could reach the South Pacific Iaslands.
This was something new to the Abo Boys and, like young boys everywhere, they were constantly straining their limits. A whole new world was opening up to them.
Young Tommy Carson 5 (TC5) and Robbie Throwing Rock had been friends for as long as either of them could remember. Each boy was a powerful mind speaker and their few childhood arguments shattered the peace for miles around them.
As they were about to leave their teenage years behind them, they came up with a plan. They recruited a few of their mind speaking buddies, who had capabilities similar to their own and began “plotting and planning”.
They wanted to go back to North America and find a place where they could go ashore and make a thorough search for survivors. They knew the West coast was pretty badly damaged, but the Gulf Coast and the East Coast had not been thoroughly explored for survivors.
Both boys had attempted mind-couple, but they just did not have the power, even when coupled, to reach out to the interior of North America, although they had already reached the southern coast.
Both boys knew that they had to have a reasonable plan laid out to put before their Grandfathers, otherwise it had no chance of support. To that end, they enlisted the aid of ten more boys.
Tommy’s Grandfather, also named Tommy Carson (T3) was Chairman of the Board of the Carson Companies and Robby’s Grandfather was High Chief of The Great Stone Band, the Aborigine Band that cared for the Great Sacred Stone that they all believed was the last refuge of the souls of all Aborigines who had died.
What the boys did not know was that their Grandfathers were on to them and had agreed to encourage them in their project.
PLANS AND SHIPS
The boys worked and slaved over their plans and lists for almost two years before they felt sufficiently confident to approach their Grandfathers.
They had collected and recopied maps, carefully logged every contact they thought they had detected in North America and had made lists of equipment, supplies and trade goods they thought they might need.
Lastly, they sketched a ship as they wanted a special type of ship that had a large wet-well, heavy duty cargo elevators, a large, fully equipped infirmary, a dining area to feed as many rescues as they had beds for, a galley and hotel like accommodations for unhurt refugees.
Robby wanted a landing pad and six military style helicopters, each equipped with rescue equipment and plenty of fire power.
At the last minute, they added powered landing craft and large, multipurpose all-terrain trucks. They put the entire package together and headed for Darwin with six of their most powerful mind speakers in tow.
They knew that their Grandfathers would make changes to their plans, but they felt pretty confident that they would agree to help them. What they did not know was the draftsman they used for making the final drawings was feeding information to their Grandfathers.
They were full of confidence as they headed north to meet with their Grandfathers.
They had an appointment to meet with, what they thought was just their Grandfathers; instead the whole Board of Directors was sitting around the table.
After they untangled their tongues from their teeth, Tommy and Robby spread their drawings and plans out on the table. Their companions were cautious in saying anything until comments were flying back and forth between T-5 and Robby and all the members of the Board. Wild and some not so wild ideas were discussed and more than a few of them became incorporated in the project.
After a whole day of discussions, both Tommy and Robby began to see where their plans were headed and, the last comment from Great Grandfather Tommy Carson was, “Lets go look at a ship”! In that instant, the boys knew then that they were gonna go sailing! Victory was theirs!
The Boy Gang was taken out to a motor launch and they all piled in with their two Grandfathers. The Cox’n headed the boat out to the anchorage, where several strange looking vessels was moored.
The ships were brand new, but they looked more like a shoe box than a ship. They were rectangular with a funny looking bow and had a heavy lift helicopter parked on each main deck.
When they had scrambled on board the nearest vessel, they discovered a complete hospital and berthing for 250 people in addition to the crew. The mess deck was huge. The young men were trying to take it all in and the two Grandfathers told them to go explore and see if it would fit their needs.
They did not yet realize that the ship had been constructed specially for them and that there were three more of them at anchor in the same nest.
There was a “skeleton” crew onboard and they answered the questions that the young men had, including the fact that there were another three ships just like that one! Plus another huge passenger ship that could accommodate and thousand unhurt passengers!
The boys were floored when they were told that all five ships were fully crewed and ready to go. It was then that Tommy and Robby “smelled a rat” Tommy looked at his Great Grandfather and said, “You knew all along, somebody squealed and you built these ships just for us!”
T3 and High Chief Robby grinned and admitted that the draftsman had kept them informed and that the entire board felt it was a worthwhile project.
T3 then said, “You guys gotta get crews together, we will get the Medical Personnel arranged and will assign you a tanker to accompany you on your trip. You gotta get some Warriors and all their gear, but, I gotta warn you, the word is already out and CROCKYDALE Warriors are already drawing lots to see who is gonna go with you”!
They toured the three other ships and found that they were all identical. They would need to identify one of the ships as the Flag Ship and give them all names.
They would later add a fuel ship (oiler) to the fleet. As they toured the ships, they began hearing shouts in their minds. The Warriors were all lined up on the pier. They had already decided who was going to go and they were formed up in four companies, with their Captains standing out in from, ready to report to whoever was going to be the Fleet Commodore!
As far as Robbie Throwing Rock was concerned, Tommy was going to be the Fleet Commodore, he was gonna be the Chief Warrior! That was the way it was, too!
SAILING DAY
They had named their small fleet, “THE RESCUERS” and the flag ship was named, RESCUE COMMANDER”, the other three ships were “RECLAIMER”, “RESPITE”, and “RETURNER”. The fleet tanker was named the “RESCUE OILER”. It took them four years to get ready, supplies for the ships were in short supply and the crews had to be trained. All the ships were brand new and had never been sailed before any anyone.
They planned on sailing west from Onslow and slipping around the Cape of Good Hope before heading North West to North America. None of the ships were race horses, about their best speed was 13 knots. It was the long way around, but it afforded them the possibility of additional rescues.
They hit the coast of Africa and followed it around to The Cape. They had mind speak teams on the flag ship, RESCUE COMMANDER, and they kept 24 hour surveillance, searching for any whisper that might suggest there were survivors.
No matter how hard they pushed, they could not detect any human life. Every once in a while, they would encounter savage creatures that might have once been human, but whatever they were now was not anything they wanted to come face to face with now.
That, however, did not stop them from trying and, in stretching their minds in link with each other made them even stronger. The radio operators were doing much the same and, every once in a while, the signal meter would quiver and they would try every trick they knew or had ever heard about, but they did not get a response that they could understand. It all sounded like gibberish to them.
The fleet plodded across the Atlantic Ocean, headed north-west for the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada. They intended to sail into the Great Lakes and search for survivors in Canada and the former American States in the Great Lakes Region.
They had timed their departure so that they would reach the St. Lawrence Seaway early in the summer, with no ice breaker service they figured the lakes would be frozen over until late spring or early summer.
THE “FUN” BEGINS
They finally arrived off Halifax, Nova Scotia and, to their astonishment, they encountered fishing boats! There was no radio working, but they mind spoke to several fishing boat skippers and they were assured of a welcome at their Capital of New Brunswick. When the fishermen discovered there were doctors on board all the ships, they all pleaded for help.
The fleet hove to in the sheltered waters of Northumberland Strait and began treating injuries. They found that the fishing boat crews were mostly young boys like themselves and that they had limited mindspeak.
The doctors were in tears as they treated injuries that had either not been treated at all, or had been poorly treated as the Fisher folk had no doctors, no medicines and only primitive bandages. There were a number of new families begun during that stop. The boys’ parents made no attempt to restrain their children as they saw the advantage of family ties with these newcomers.
Robby and Tommy had become very close on the voyage and nobody knew that they had become a couple until they were seen with a young boy and girl and the two were calling them, “PAPA”! The children’s birth father was skipper on one of the fishing boats and had been treated in the ship’s hospital for gangrene of a poorly treated wound. The man had not survived. Their mother had died in childbirth.
The children, Pierre and Marie had been discovered by the two young men, crying in the passageway outside the hospital hatch.
Robbie frightened the children at first, they had never seen a black man before and he had native Aborigine tattoos on his face. His kind nature, however had soon won them over and there were several new bunks installed in the Fleet Commander’s stateroom that same afternoon!
When it finally came time to sail, nobody bothered with a census, but the galley crews estimated that the fleet had grown by about one hundred youngsters! Tommy wasn’t concerned as they had planned on acquiring more people; that was the purpose of the voyage.
As they rounded Cape Gaspé and headed towards Quebec, two teen boys were discovered hiding in an engine room storage locker on the Flagship. On oiler had discovered them and he sent his helper to get Chief Engineer Andy Franke.
The two youngsters were certain they were going to be put ashore and they were shivering in fright as Chief Andy held them. The boys were radiating fright like a furnace.
Andy had recently lost his wife to cancer and their children were all grown and had gone their own ways. He debated with himself, but it was a losing battle.
Another bunk was brought out of storage. The two youngsters had never slept apart, however, they were not brothers, merely friends since infancy. They were afraid that they would be separated, but the Chief was a powerful mind speaker and it took no effort on his part to discover that the boys were a young couple, still developing.
The boys were shocked when they heard in their own minds, “T’aint no problem, just don’t keep me awake at night with no squeakin’ springs!”
The two boys had an aptitude for the Engine Room and were soon seen in the Engine Room Log Office, keeping the records for their new Papa!
QUEBEC AND BEYOND
Quebec had been heavily bombed and the radiation meters warned them against landing there. Montreal was even worse and they found no sign of life until they reached Kingston, where the waterway entered Lake Ontario at Kingston Pass.
Toronto lay in glowing ruins and that was as far as they could go. The old ship channel into Lake Erie was filled with wrecked ships.
They sent work parties in the launches to Cleveland and Detroit, but they found no living people in either place.
They did detect mind speak in a small village of Harmony, near Cleveland, but was some kind of religious settlement and they were sent away. They did, however, collect a few youngsters who had escaped from their parents’ control and followed the rescue party until they were sure that they could not be sent back.
They had no land transportation with them, other than a horse drawn ambulance. The horses were glad of some exercise, but they were met with suspicion and rifles in the small villages they visited.
They hated to backtrack, but they had sailed as far as they could go, they would have to turn around and sail down the coast of New England. Darkness caught them once again and they anchored in mid-channel off Montreal.
Etienne and Stephan, the two boys Chief Andy had taken in came to speak with them. Etienne said, “Papa our cousins Jaime and William live near here, may we please go and try to find them?”
Andy replied, “Do you want me to come with you?” David replied, “No, Papa, John, the oiler, is coming with us. He is almost as young as us and an adult might scare our cousins. They is country folk ‘n theys don’t get much outsiders where theys live.
Andy called for Oiler John and handed the young man three pistols. He said, “John, I don’t want you to be forced to use these, but, by all that is Holy, don’t you hesitate if any one of you is threatened. OK?”
As soon as they left the ship, John handed a pistol to each of the boys, telling them to follow his lead if they had to use them. Etienne led the way and it was near midnight when they approached their cousins’ farm.
They saw lights on in the kitchen, so they knocked on the door. Their two cousins, Jaime and Willie peeked out the glass and saw Etienne standing there. Jaime screamed and threw the door open, tears were flooding down both boys’ faces.
When they got the youngsters calmed down they learned that raiders had hit them just at dark and had killed both their parents and their baby sister.
John took charge and asked, “Where are your folks’ bodies?” Willie replied, “Theys took em, theys cannibals, sir.” That was about all John could handle, he turned to Etienne and Stephan, saying, “Gather up whatever you boys need and let’s get the Hell outta here before them damned ghouls come back for dessert!”
The boys threw some clothes and their personal treasures into their carry-sacks and John led them down the trail they had arrived on. He heard some commotion behind them and he fired his pistol in the direction of the noise.
They heard a scream in the darkness, but they never slowed down. By the time they got back to the ship, they were all winded, but John would not let them stop until they were all safely aboard the ship and four CROCKYDALE WARRIORS were standing at the gangway with their rifles pointed towards the rickety pier.
A gang of men came to a screeching stop at the foot of the gangway and, as soon as they saw the rifles pointed directly at them, they dove off the pier and began swimming towards shore. The Warriors were all Aborigines and were as black as midnight. They also stood nearly seven feet tall and it was obvious that they knew how to use their rifles!
Etienne and Stephan quickly told all the boys who and what the Warriors were and the new boys were a little shy around them, until they all hit the galley. There, the cooks had set out fresh pastries and a pitcher of milk. The coffee maker had been freshly brewed and John had a cup of coffee, but the younger boys had all been in a milk free diet, so they refilled their mugs several time before they were satisfied.
Jamie and Willie just assumed they were going to stay with their cousins, but John had other ideas. He said, to the two new refugees, “Guys, I done lost all my family, I had four brothers growing up n’ theys all been kilt. Will you boys be my younger brothers?”
He opened up his arms and both Jaime and Willy lunged into John’s arms. John was only a few years older than the two boys, but he would raise them to manhood and, eventually, they all became Ship Engineers. They would make great effort to always sail on the same ship with their older brother and, mostly, they were successful.
THE EAST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA
They regained the North Atlantic Ocean and headed south along the coast of Maine. The coast line was desolate and deserted until they reached Cape Cod. There, they saw pillars of smoke rising above some homes near the beach.
Tommy ordered the fleet to pull in the sheltered bay behind the Cape. They had bypassed Boston completely, they could see the entire city was in ruins and there was no sign of life. There was, however human activity at Plymouth.
Tommy ordered the launches to be put in the water and then he got on the loud hailer. He announced who they were and why they were there. He ended his announcement by telling anyone who could hear him that they were Americans from Australia and they had doctors and a hospital onboard each ship and that they would treat anyone in need at no cost.
Soon there was a trickle of people coming out of the beach, waving shirts and pieces of cloth to attract their attention.
The ship’s launches raced to the beach and hauled sick and injured people to their respective ships. There were several young women who were in the first stages of giving birth and they were rushed in first.
Dr. Dennis Frie was the head obstetrician and he was beside himself. The women coming to him were all very young and had no pre-natal care at all.
Before the week was out, the poor doctor was a mental wreck. He had not lost a single mother OR their babies, but it had been a near thing for several of them.
As the new mothers recovered from their ordeal, they began to ask questions of the boys who seemed to be always around. Some had been recently rescued, while others were from Australia.
They were shocked to learn that it was the boys who were in charge and even more shocked when they learned that the Co-Commander of the entire expedition was black. One girl asked, “Aren’t all black people slaves? That is what they are among our people.” That bit of news made the rounds like wildfire!
Tommy and Robby both knew they had a job to do. They went ashore with a whole company of CROCKYDALE Warriors, half of whom were Aborigine and the other half were white. Robby took command of the Warriors and they marched into the town.
Robby had finally attained his adult stature and stood just a fraction under seven feet tall. His hands and feet were enormous and his muscles frequently ripped his shirt sleeves.
They had a mission and they all were angry as hell! They were all mind-speakers and they poured out a message calling to all the people of Plymouth, “WE WILL NOT ALLOW OUR AFRICAN BROTHERS TO BE ENSLAVED, ALL WHO HEAR US AND HAVE BLACK SKINS AND WE HAVE WHITE SKINS, WE ARE ALL BROTHERS! COME TO US, COME JOIN US, WE WILL TAKE YOU TO FREEDOM!”
The poured out their message with such power that the air above the formation crackled in static discharge and was glowing purple! Soon, two little Negro boys peered around the corner of an adjacent warehouse. They looked to be about 10 years old and they were shaking like leaves in a high wind.
Tommy spotted the boys first and knelt down so that he was eye level with them and spoke out loud, “Come to me, little ones, we will protect you and you will not be slaves any longer!”
The little boys ran to Tommy and folded themselves into his arms. That began an avalanche of boys and not all of them were black. There were some oriental boys among the runners as well as a few Indians. There was a surprise also as some of the boys were white!
The Warriors opened up a hole in their formation and Robby motioned all the boys to take shelter in the hole. The Warriors created a circle of Warriors around the children and their rifles were pointed outwards.
Tommy announced both vocally and mentally that they would not stand for slavery and, until every slave was released and brought to them for medical treatment, no more local citizens will be treated by our doctors!
In those few minutes, a legend was created, “These Warriors would not stand for slavery”! That legend was to spread like wildfire all along the coast of North America.
The Warriors began patrolling the streets of Plymouth, usually in groups of three. There were both White Warriors, Black Warriors and a few Yellow Warriors in each team and their mere presence was enough for most slave owners to quickly give up their slaves. They had never seen such huge, powerful men and they sure as hell did not want to tangle with any of them!
It wasn’t enough that the Warriors all tended to be about seven feet tall, all the Aborigine Warriors had heavy, ropey tattoos on their faces, denoting their various families and tribes, giving them a nightmare quality!
To the town’s people, those black Warriors presented a visage from Hell itself and they would learn only later what the children had known all along, that they were gentle and caring human men.
As the Warriors returned to their various ships, they were carrying at least two children in their arms, without regard to the color of their skins! This same scene would be repeated often as they sailed south, along the coast of North America and westward along the Southern Coast.
They next slipped into Long Island Sound and discovered a thriving community at New Haven. The villagers welcomed the ships and offered them the use of the village pier.
Only two of their vessels could tie up, so the rest anchored out in the bay. They did not encounter the slavery problem like they had further north and the village had a resident doctor. The doctor, Ben Hammond, asked if he could bring some of his most serious cases aboard for treatment and X-rays.
It would be three weeks before they could continue their voyage and every time a Warrior or crew member went ashore, he or she came back with passengers!
All the villagers were reasonably healthy, but many of the youngsters suffered from vitamin deficiencies and lack of love. Warriors and crew members would go ashore for some solid land time and would return with their shoulders loaded up and a trail of boys and a few girls, who were hoping to be noticed.
It was fortunate that provision had been made for extra bunks in the Crew Quarters and Officers’ staterooms!
It was in New Haven that Robby Throwing Rock found his oldest son. The boy had no family name and was known only a Gabriel. Everyone just called him, “Gabe”. He was a black negro boy who thought he was 15 years old. He was as tall as Robby and proved to be a powerful mind speaker.
Gabe followed Robby to the ship like a puppy dog, Robby was grinning to himself as he headed up the gangway. He turned and looked down to the boy and said, “Well, come on, son, it’s time for supper!”
That was all the encouragement the boy needed and he was up the gangway in a flash, wearing an ear to ear grin! He sat next to Robby in the mess, eating foods he had no idea what they were, but they tasted good and he was allowed to eat all he wanted.
Robby learned that Gabe had been living on the streets with a group of boys, trying to survive with no parents. He asked Gabe, How many boys are there?” Gabe replied by flashing his hands three times, so Robby supposed that there were thirty boys living together somewhere.
After the meal, Robby took Gabe to his stateroom and handed him several towels, a wash cloth and bar of soap, saying that he would be right back with some new, clean clothes. When Robby returned, he heard Gabe singing in the shower, the boy had a rich baritone voice that sent shivers down his spine, it was that beautiful a voice.
Robby turn around while Gabe got dressed and that “clinched” the deal. He had a still slightly damp boy wrapped around his neck. The boy had been “testing” him!
Gabe burst out in song and people stood in the passageway in awe of what they heard. The joyful sound rolled out of the boy and was heard even out on deck. When Robby and Gabe stepped out into the passageway, there was a crowd waiting for them and shouts of “More, More” were heard.
Robby and Gabe went ashore in search of Gabe’s companions. Robby was horrified at where they were living. Gabe stood outside the tumbled down warehouse and sang a song that he had composed himself, “Come To Me”. Boys came flowing out of the old building like a river.
The song was something that Gabe had created himself and would become the standard call to bring children to the ships as their voyage progressed. Many of the smaller children would call Gabe, “Mr. Come To Me”. It was a title that both Gabe and Robby loved and each time the ships pulled into a port, Gabe was singing his song over the loud hailer!
Their next port of call would be Stamford and it would be there that Gabe would become a Warrior as well as a caller of children.
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TBC