Welcome to the third part of the nineteenth installment of -
"A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNTO HEAVEN " By Pepe K.
(Winner of 31 UKE Awards)
Please send all comments to PepeK62 [at] gmail [dot] com
The following story concerns the Toonsters' freshman year of Acme
Looniversity at college level. This tale of mystery and adventure is
best read from the beginning - the other parts are available at
HKUriah's TTA Fanfic site, among others. I suggest you read it from
the start or you'll not know what is transpiring.
All characters portrayed that are not based on those owned by Warner
Brothers; Amblin, MGM, Tezuka, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, & Disney
are created and owned by the author. Andy Fox is courtesy of his player.
The WB Character "Bernice Beauvine" was named by Able DuSable.
This part of the tale is rated R for realistic violence.
This story contains many references to music, some of which you may be
familiar with. It contains and was inspired by the music of Danny Elfman's
film soundtracks. In order to enhance this experience, I've made notations
as to where each specific piece of music fits into the story. If it's
available to you, I'd *strongly* suggest getting the CD or cassette tape,
so that you'll not only read the story, but hear it happen as well. All the
music is available on CD. Most is from
Danny Elfman's Original Motion Picture Soundtracks:
"Planet of the Apes" - (#MCAD-10133),
"Charlotte's Web" - (Sony/Classical #88697-02989-2),
Max Steiner's classic score of "King Kong" (Turner movie Classics & Rhino
Movie Music #R2 75597) and the Music of Sol Kaplan -
The Original Television Soundtrack of "STAR TREK" Volume 2 "From the
Episode "The Doomsday Machine" (Crescendo Records #GNPD 8025)
I'd like to thank HKUriah, Thorne, Dennis Smith, Paul Zook
and Danny Elfman.
This story is dedicated to my Beloved Wife –
-And -
In Memory of over Three Hundred Brave Men who gave their lives
In Defense of their Countries at the Battle of Hampton Roads,
March the Eighth, 1862.
- And for my late Beloved Brother –
JAMES CORNELL KELLOGG
Born January 30th, 1957 –
Died July 11th, 2008
And now – Part 3 of Part 19 of -
"A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNTO HEAVEN" - A Time To Kill
"The U.S.S. CUMBERLAND"
Chapter CXXV
["Now hold on! Buchanan gets badly wounded, but he survives the war'],
Dr. Lord insisted, ["No one will be lost nor left behind here today! Not on my watch!
Do you hear me?!"]
After his fierce declaration, the cowed toons were silent. Calamity wished
he'd studied before he'd opened his big mouth as his host went below. After a
moment, Lord thought softly to Shirley in a fatherly way, as if patting her on the
shoulder.
["Don't cry Shirley. I'll figure a way to get you out of this_The others too.
Be a brave girl now."]
["You promise?"] the loon asked, sniffing her tears back.
["I promise"] he told her. ["If only the two of you weren't getting wounded in the
legs..."]
["What do you mean?"] asked Buster.
["Those uniforms I gave you all are actually body armor. Even the hats are
helmets"] the Doctor explained. ["Since they're designed as Civil War jackets,
they don't cover your legs."]
["So zat's why zey felt heavy"] Fifi thought.
["Looks like we've got company"] Furball announced as the ship began a
turn to port and the city of Norfolk came into view on the eastern shore.
["What company? Who? Where? Why?"] asked Plucky.
["What Plucky is trying to say is that we can't see"], Babs explained, ["Would
somebody please tell us whatever it is?"]
Fifi looked through the eyes of her host and saw the figures of hundreds of
people lining the banks of both sides of the river. It appeared as though the entire
populations of Portsmouth and Norfolk had dropped everything and had run to the
riverbanks to see the Virginia. The people stood silently for the most part, staring at
the monstrous black ironclad as she slowly slipped through the waters.
Young men and boys were scrambling to join the ship, jumping into rowboats
and oysterman's skiffs, climbing onto rafts and poling their way along to follow the
lumbering giant. Little sailboats scooted around the ship.
Everywhere – there were girls waving white handkerchiefs. Finely-dressed ladies
waved to the crew with worried faces. Others bowed their heads in prayer for their
husbands, sons and fathers who were about to go into battle. In the local
churches, the Confederates prayed for their struggling country and for the safe return
of their loved ones. Many of the men on the shore had serious countenances. An
attempt at cheering would have ended in tears. Their hearts were too full for
utterance.
All the people knew that this was a decisive moment for the Confederacy.
If the Virginia broke the enemy blockade, then there was a significant chance
that the new nation would gain the recognition and support of foreign powers
like Britain and France. With their support, the Confederacy might survive.
["Ah'll tell vous what mah host, Docteur Pheeleepz eez theenking"], Fifi
announced in an oddly dispassionate tone, ["Both sides of zee riverbank are
thronged with people. Most ov zem, perhaps attracted by our novel
appearance, and desirous ov witnessing our movements through zee water."]
Fowlmouth and his host watched a group of old men on a nearby wharf
shake their heads at the ironclad.
"Go on with your old metallic coffin!", shouted one, "She will never amount
to anything else!"
["Few, eef any, entertain an exalted idea ov our efficiency"] Fifi continued,
["Many predeect a total failure."]
Buster, who had been quiet since learning his fate, spoke up bravely.
["Maybe not everybody'], he thought, ["My man has realized that this is the day.
That here is to be tried the great experiment of the ram and iron-clad in naval warfare."]
["Lieutenant Wood agrees with the others"], Mary contradicted as the ship
began a slight turn to port, ["From the start we could see that she was slow, not
over five knots. Uh-oh!"]
The ship was not making the turn and was aiming at a jetty, alarming the
man at the wheel and the officers. The helmsman spun the wheel hard to port to
avoid a collision but nothing happened! The crew waited breathlessly. Finally, the
great length of the ship lurched slowly aside under everyone's feet and swung
gradually out of danger.
["This is like trying to steer a dinosaur!"] thought Hamton as his host, the pilot
talked with the other men in the tiny pilot-house.
Mary continued to relay her host's thoughts: ["She steers so badly that, with
her great length, it will take thirty to forty minutes to turn. She's as unmanageable
as a water-logged vessel."]
"What's her speed?" Captain Buchanan called down from behind the
conical pilot-house to the leadsman on the foredeck.
Standing ankle-deep in the river water that ran over the semi-submerged
deck, the crewman threw his lead bob ahead of the ship and paid out the line it
was attached to. The lead struck the bottom and the man watched the ship's nose
pass it - then, hand over hand, he drew it back up, noting how much line had gone
out.
"Six knots, Sir. Our keel is close to the bottom, Captain" he called back.
While Buchanan mused sullenly over this, people on shore gasped at the sight
of the leadsman standing on what to all appearances was thirty feet of water.
"It is de debil ship! Dat man is walkin' on de water!!" they exclaimed.
The captain was not satisfied and ordered Buster's tugboat to take the Virginia in
tow. Guiding the man at the helm, Buster's host slowed his tugboat, bringing it in
close to the Virginia's sharp prow and a crewman dropped a thick hawser rope to
the leadsman, who looped it around the ironclad's bitt. The Beaufort pulled ahead,
steering the sluggish behemoth along the river.
Calamity's host went topside and reported to the captain.
"The machinery is all right, sir. Beyond expectations."
"Very good", Buchanan replied," Report to me on the exact condition of the
engines with the utmost diligence. This is very important! In the event of a collision
- do not wait for the signal to reverse. Do so with full power and without hesitation!
I may be in the heat of battle or wounded, so you are not to wait for orders."
Within him, Shirley was very nearly frightened by the aggressive nature of
her host. She had seldom felt such fierce determination within herself.
"Boatswain - Pipe the hands to dinner" ordered the captain.
As the Bosun's pipe whistled a series of squeaky squeals, the men slowly filed
down the hatches and stairways to the galley to chew on butter-fried hardtack and
coffee, while the officers went forward to the curtained-off ward room.
Fowlmouth found himself seated across from Wakko, as they were served
a picnic of hot biscuits and cold sliced meat.
["What's dis stuff?"] the rooster asked, making a face as his host swallowed
a bite of the cold-cuts.
["Mmm! Cold tongue. Ya like it?"] Wakko smiled as his host daintily ate.
["ACK! Ptooey!"], FM gagged, ["Ya mean we's eatin' beef tongue?!"]
["Yup. Try not to think of Bernice Beauvine while yer eating it."] the Warner kid
grinned sarcastically.
["@%#*&! That Perfecto cheerleader cow?! I wouldn't take no tongue frum
her! Ya dunno where it's been!"] swore Fowlmouth as Wakko chuckled.
["You've got a pretty dirty mouth yerself."]
(Star Trek VOL2, "The Doomsday Machine" "Decker Takes Over" #6)
On deck, the ship's caterer hailed Calamity's host.
"Better get your lunch now, Mister Ramsay. It will be your last chance.
The galley-fires must be put out when the magazines are opened."
["Perhaps this secret attack isn't so secret"] Calamity observed as he
walked down to the gun deck.
What he saw there confirmed the fact. Passing along inside the cramped,
angular casemate he was particularly struck by the countenances of the gun's
crews, as they stood motionless at their posts with ramrods or gun sponges
in their hands, their set lips unsmiling. As he passed down the whitewashed,
slanted-in wall of the armored shield, the scene was eerily lit by the jagged shafts
of sunlight from the grating only seven feet above and by the sickly yellow light of
the caged oil lamps that swung from the ceiling with the swell of the river beneath
them. The vertically slanted strips of white wooden backing and the five rows of
hexagonal nuts holding the bolted iron armor on made it look like draftsman's study
in perspective_ or the sealed walls of a tomb. Only the massive black cannons
and their heavy wooden carriages broke up the scene, the somber men at their
sides seeming like funereal pallbearers around a group of caskets.
Calamity listened to the thoughts of his host: "The appearance of a ship
cleared away for action is nothing new_but these men look pale and determined,
standing straight and stiff, showing their nerves were wrought to a high state of
tension. From the time of leaving the yard I had not reflected much on the deadly
conflict we were to engage in...The appearance of these men, with the surrounding
warlike preparations, brings it all to mind_
Here we are, with an untried, experimental ship_ about to make an attack on a
fleet of the very best material in the U.S. Navy_ ten guns against two hundred –
three hundred men against three thousand_ yet this was our hazardous
enterprise."
Calamity gulped as he realized the danger. As he reached the ward room,
he noticed the Assistant Surgeon, Algernon S. Garret, calmly laying out his surgical
instruments and lint for bandages on the wooden table alongside the food as they
prepared for battle. The sight took away his host's appetite. He descended into the
depths of the engine room with a cold lump in his throat. Ramsay remembered
how his friend had teased him about his new posting to the Virginia.
"Goodbye, Ramsay", he'd said," I shall never see you again. She will prove your
coffin."
Neither Calamity nor his host found anything funny about it now.
Chapter CXXVI ("Charlotte's Web" (2007), #1"Main Titles")
["How could anybody want to fight on a beautiful day like this?"] thought
Babs Bunny as her host stepped out onto the quarterdeck of the U.S.S. Congress.
The salty taste and tangy smell of the sea filled her head as she walked
across the clean wood of the sparkling white, holystoned deck. The cries of
seagulls and the creak of the wooden ship mingled with the sounds of men
laughing and talking. Somewhere, crewmen were repairing caulking with fresh
black tar. The vivid black and white painted ship was warm to the touch as the
sun beat down on it through the cloudless azure blue sky. Overhead rose the
towering masts and spars with furled canvas strung aloft with miles of rope ratlines
and rigging. This was still the Age of Sail – of wooden ships and iron men.
Within her host, Lieutenant Pendergrast, Babs looked out upon the wide
expanse of blue-grey seas at the faraway sandy shores of the bay. To the
northeast was Fort Monroe, a great stone citadel with one hundred and eighty
heavy cannon and manned by the thousands of General McClellan's "Army of the
Potomac". She saw the Union fleet; sixty or more vessels of all shapes and sizes.
There was everything from converted New York ferryboats to tugboats, side-
wheelers and the mighty forty-gunned steam frigates. The pink bunny had a
chance to see again what the U.S.S. Merrimack had looked like before she'd been
put to the torch, as her sister-ships U.S.S. Minnesota and U.S.S. Roanoke stood
rising like prodigious castles over the placid water.
Ahead of the Congress to the west, Babs saw the twenty-four gunned
sloop of war U.S.S. Cumberland riding at anchor next to the point of Newport
News and Camp Butler, another Union fortification mounting eight heavy cannon
and manned by eight thousand of the Federal Army.
How could all these multitudes lose the battle against a single ship?
As onboard the Virginia, the crew of the Congress and Cumberland were
eating their noonday meal, but Bab's host was still quite sated from the party
he'd attended that morning onshore. His friend Acting Captain Joe Smith stood
smiling at his side, along with the ship's former commander. The ship was
preparing to leave for a new post and the thought of leaving the boring task of
blockade duty behind had everyone in a good mood.
"Did the oysters agree with you, Mister Pendergrast?" the handsome
captain asked.
"Aye, that they did Sir! As did the wine" answered the lieutenant.
"That was as fine a military farewell as any since the days of Caesar's legions"
agreed the former captain, whose name was also Smith.
["No relation"] thought Babs to herself as she watched the new Captain
Smith.
Like many of the men, the Captain had a full close-cropped beard. The
popular young officer was the son of Commodore Smith who had been on the
Navy's Ironclad Board that had selected the Monitor's design. A generous man
of good cheer, he was confident in his ship and crew.
"The Ericsson Battery will be here soon", he said, "They‘ll deal with this
old Merrimack soundly."
All this cheer and self-assurance rang hollow, Babs thought, for she knew the
ship was doomed.
A few hundred yards away onboard the U.S.S. Cumberland, Plucky and
his host looked up from the main deck at the colorful spectacle overhead. Saturday
was washday and the crew had strung their wet laundry in the ship's rigging to
dry. In a tradition hundreds of years old, blue clothing hung on the port side and
whites on the starboard. The shirts, pants and underwear flapping in the breeze
looked like the bright flags at a carnival. A ship's boy, barely twelve years old,
skipped about on the smooth white deck, dancing and rattling his tambourine.
With Plucky inside, young Lieutenant George Morris stood smiling as he watched
the powder monkey dance. The mustachioed Morris was in command while his
captain was ashore. At his side, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge stood with the big
man, John Harrington, the Master's Mate. The powder monkey's tambourine
rattled and thumped cheerfully, bringing something to mind_
The sound of rhythmic clapping filled the minds of the Toonsters.
["What in the name of Ziggy Stardust is that?!"] exclaimed Babs.
["Oh, gag me with a spoon, Plucky! Not now!"] Shirley complained uselessly.
["Hey, I'm the Captain and what I say goes! C'mon it's fun!"] the Pluckster said
with relaxed arrogance as the music became the funky disco beat of The
Village People singing in their heads.
["Where can you find pleasure? Search the world for treasure!
Learn science, technology!?
Where can you begin to - make your dreams all come true -
On the land or on the sea?
Where can you learn to fly? Play in sports and skin dive!
Study oceanography?
Sign up for the big band! - Or sit in the grandstand!
When your team and others meet!"]
["Where?!"] added Arnold as his grinning spirit danced within his host.
["In the Navy! Yes, you can sail the seven seas! In the Navy!"]
["Someone like put my mind at ease?"] Shirley remarked sourly.
["In the Navy! Come on now people make a stand_"]
The rousing male chorus died away as Plucky became aware of everyone
else's grim feelings.
Only Arnold continued his carefree singing till he too stopped with a very tiny
embarrassed voice. ["In the Navy! In the Navy!_Can't you_see we need _
a hand?"]
["Your levity is good"], thought the Doctor pointedly to Plucky, ["It helps to
relieve the tension and thoughts of death. You're not scared, are you Plucky?"]
["Naw! A'course not!"] boasted the duck.
["Hm, really? If you had any sense, you'd be scared."] Lord smiled.
["You mean it's not a bad thing - to be afraid, Doc?"] Mary asked.
["Fear is a natural reaction. By being on edge, we are prepared for action.
It heightens our senses and often saves our lives. The trick is, not to stay
fearful and keep hiding – that makes us vulnerable and keeps us from doing
what we need to do. Only a madman or a fool allows himself to be scared
longer than necessary- and only a fool or a madman would feel no fear.
Courage is doing what you have to do – even though you're scared."]
Even Shirley smiled at this. ["So, are you totally scared too,
Sensai?"] she asked.
["Naw, a' course not"] Lord shrugged casually.
Most everyone chuckled at the remark, thinking it was in jest, but Hamton
noticed that Lord wasn't joking.
["Shouldn't you be working on how to get us out of this mess?"]
insisted Plucky.
["_I am"] Lord told him simply, leaving the duck to grumble.
["But I'll need help from everyone"], he continued, ["We need to know what
happens to the hosts of Plucky, Buster, Babs and Shirley. Let's see how well you
studied, folks. What will happen to Buster's host - Commander Parker of the
Beaufort?"]
Buster stood inside Parker in the wheelhouse of his tugboat, thinking.
["Well, we fire the first Confederate shot of the battle, we go in close and take the
surrender of the Congress from her commander –"]
["So we'll come face to face, Buster_"] Babs piped up.
["That shall be our opportunity"], Lord announced, ["When the Beaufort is alongside
the Congress, we'll get Babs aboard somehow. The Beaufort returns to Sewell's
point before the Virginia –"]
["But Pendergrast doesn't get on board the Beaufort – he eludes capture
and gets to shore"] Wakko interrupted, as his host tried to chew a piece of
hardtack.
["If he does, Babs won't be able to get back with us!"] Buster agreed.
["True_but it does give us the chance to get her back to you before Pendergrast
leaves.."] thought the Doctor. ["What else happens then?"]
["When the Federals ashore fire at us_ Buster will get wounded"] Babs
reminded them sadly.
["They'll also get me"] Shirley added with a gulp.
["Then the Beaufort will leave the scene with the wounded men of the Congress"]
Calamity observed, while his host tapped the steam pressure gauge on the
engine.
["The Beaufort has to be the key! It's the only ship to come in close enough to
pick up Babs"] Furball realized.
["Not quite – ze Jamestown also comes alongside zee Congress –"] Fifi argued.
["But the Jamestown doesn't have time to take the wounded men aboard –
she leaves too"] Fowlmouth disputed.
["But vere does dis leave Plucky?"] bickered Arnold.
["Yeah! What about me?_ and what about Shirley?!"] the duck objected.
The Doctor considered.
["Our only chances to recover you will be when our ships are the closest together_
Logically that means when the Cumberland is being rammed by the Virginia, but
that would also be at the point of the most danger – both ships will be firing on
each other from point blank range with heavy cannons and rifles_"]
["That_sounds a little on the dangerous side"], Plucky commented, ["Got
any safer ideas?"]
["Just a darned minute, there!"] Babs interrupted ["That only tells us where
we'll be. How are we gonna shift ourselves? If we change what our hosts do –
we'll end up changing history!"]
["We can't do that! Any little change could ruin the future – our future"]
Buster agreed, as his host thoughtfully swept his mustache with his fingers.
["Would it really wreck *our* future?"] Wakko asked, swallowing.
["We can't take any chances. Even a small alteration might cause an imbalance
between the two universes."] Calamity concurred.
["Then how do we get home? Huh? Huh? I dunno."] Gogo exclaimed, ["My
wackiness quotient is gonna be seeeeeriously depleted with all this dire drama."]
["I need to call home and find out exactly what we can and cannot do,
then we'll know for certain"], the Doctor told them, ["This situation is dangerous, but
you have to admit that by your being placed into these hosts – especially the four
captains – we may learn more than we would have if we'd all been aboard the
Virginia."]
["Maybe yer right _but I'd like rather be totally stupid than face this"]
Shirley said morbidly.
After the Toonsters sighed sadly in unison, Lord spoke with reassurance.
["Don't worry. We'll get home. All of us. I have an idea. Have any of you ever
played the old shell game? Now this is what we're going to do_"]
Chapter CXXVII
"Impossible!" exclaimed Wile E. Coyote.
He stared again at the communications monitor where Dr. Lord's thought –
transmissions were displayed, then threw up his hands and stalked away.
"Highly improbable perhaps – but not impossible" Ralph Wolf concluded.
Wile spun on his heel and exploded, "Stop one continuum entirely while keeping
theirs going?! It can't be done!"
"I'll admit it's a difficult proposition, but if we can apply sufficient power –"
"Even if it were possible – do you have any idea of the risk to history that's
involved? This could destroy both universes! The space-time continuum itself
could be ripped apart!" the coyote stormed.
"Don't be such a fatalist", Ralph said flatly, "It's like editing a song –
you simply pause one track while you let the one you want run to the right place."
Wile raised a shaggy eyebrow and scowled: "I'm a genius – not a
disk-jockey, damnit!"
"Well that's just fascinating, Wile. Thanks for sharing that", the wolf
remarked sarcastically, "Look cousin – if we can just crunch the numbers the right
way, we can do this."
"My dear boy, I'm telling you that it won't work" Wile told him patronizingly.
Egghead Junior politely tugged on the hem of the coyote's white lab coat and
pointed to a chalkboard covered with an immense equation in nuclear, space-time
quantum mechanics that he had silently drawn out while the two canids had been
arguing. Wile and Ralph read the dizzying amount of numbers and symbols –
and at the answer at the bottom corner. Miss Prissy's little boy waited for them
patiently, occasionally blinking his innocent beady eyes.
Wile's mouth finally closed and his long ears hung straight down.
"Apparently, it can work" he commented.
"You know your lips move when you read?" Ralph observed sardonically.
"However – there's just one big problem with this plan!" the super genius pointed
out by tapping on one of the figures scrawled on the blackboard. He then walked
to the Wellesian control panel of the Space-Time Displacement apparatus and
pointed at a setting on the gauges.
"We haven't got enough power to do it."
Ralph's jaw dropped to the floor and Wile slapped him upside the head, causing
it to return to his face. Junior raced to the controls and stood on tip-toe, trying to see
the gauges, but he was too short. Wile provided him with a small step ladder, but
looking at the settings only made the chick's tiny beak frown pathetically. It was
true – the machine's maximum power was too low to achieve their goals.
A small black cloud labeled "Gloom" hovered over the three scientists and
rained on them. Wile put up a tiny umbrella, but Ralph grabbed at it and the two
cousins fought over it briefly, slapping at each other like sissies before Junior blew
the rain cloud away with an electric fan. The canids stopped and stared at the
paper he waved patiently at them.
They then fought briefly over the paper, before the coyote grabbed it.
"Esteemed colleagues - It will be a simple matter to raise the power input
settings to achieve our objectives" Wile E. read.
Before he had time to shake his head at this suggestion, another
message from Doctor Lord filled the monitor screen.
"Changing the power setting will do you no good. The power source is beyond
your reach" it said.
The cloud of "Gloom" returned.
"Fear not– the power will be increased to the required intensity in approximately
two hours, your time. You have *that* long to make the adjustments to the system
crucial to handling the zettatons of power ", Lord continued, " I'll assist you."
This time, all three of the scientist's jaws hit the floor.
"_Oh my god" whispered Wile in disbelief.
"He_he didn't just say what I thought he said_did he?" Ralph stammered.
Egghead Junior's scribbling on the chalkboard was frantic. He finally stopped,
jumping and pointing to the algebraic hieroglyphics.
"H-bomb = Megatons of power = 10^1 Zettaton = Megatons to the 21st
Power = 10^21!!!"
The three experts looked at each other and began opening the control
panels, revealing the guts of the machinery.
"Let's go, we've got alot of work to do" said Wile with determination.
Chapter CXXVIII
On board of the CSS Beaufort, Buster sweated along with his host,
Lieutenant Parker. He knew, as Parker did, what the Virginia's captain's intentions
were. He felt the terrible tension building.
"Mister Foreman, watch the flagship for any signals, especially the new one"
Parker said.
"And which is that, Sir?" the man asked.
"The one Captain Buchanan said he might fly – "Sink Before You Surrender!"
Astern, Buster watched the monstrous Virginia slowly plow the waters
before her. The officers and men who stood on her narrow top deck seemed calm,
despite the impending battle. As the men onboard his own ship joked amongst
themselves, exhibiting a careless insouciance, it only served to reinforce the anxiety
he felt.
["How can they act like they don't care?"] he wondered as he watched them.
But the story was different ashore as the Confederate fleet passed by. By now,
the whole city of Norfolk was in an uproar. Women, children, men on horseback
and on foot were all running towards the river from every conceivable direction,
shouting: "The Merrimac is going down!"
Rebel soldiers and officers were riding down to the riverbanks from as far away as
twelve miles to the message passed from mouth to mouth: "The Virginia is coming
up the river!"
The Virginia's crew received enthusiastic cheers from the excited populace
without a single response. Everything betokened serious business. Standing within
the ship's doctor with the officers on deck, Fifi listened to the people on the shore.
She watched women cry and wave their handkerchiefs as others took up a cheer
she had never heard before.
"Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!" the people roared, their voices echoing across
the river.
As the ship approached the Confederate artillery battery near Craney Island,
the army of men in gray uniforms were cheering lustily and waving their hats. From
the midst of this outcry came a new sound. A nine year old little drummer boy stood
beating out a rhythm on the stretched calfskin of the wooden drum that dwarfed his
small frame. The men's voices stilled for a moment – and then rang across the
waters.
"We are a band of brothers – and native to the soil!
A-fighting for our liberty – with treasure, blood and toil!
And when our rights were threatened – the word spread near and far!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star!
Hurrah! HURRAH!! For Southern Rights, Hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star!"
As the young men sang, Fifi saw another patriot standing closer than the
others. His spectacles showed him to be an older man. He stood stiffly at attention
with his right arm bent in a military salute, his finger-tips fanning his eyebrow, like a
knight about to lower his visor. The patriot saluted the ship as she drew by, deeply
affected, but trying stoically not to show it. A single tear ran down the patriot's
deeply-lined cheek.
Fifi gulped down her own emotions. Her host, the doctor, also felt a lump in
his throat. His boot-heels thudded together and he proudly returned the man's
salute for a long moment. Not until he lowered his hand did the old patriot's arm
relax as he watched the ship pass by.
Standing nearby, Shirley and the Doctor witnessed Captain Buchanan's
commands.
"Mister Jones – have all the workers disembark. This is no place for
civilians."
"Aye aye, Sir" answered the Exec, exiting down the stairs. There he ordered
all the remaining ship-builders off the ship. The small steamer Harmony came
alongside and the last few workmen ducked carefully out though one of the ship's
gun ports.
["Looks like they're happy tuh leave,"] Shirley thought nervously, ["Could I
like, go with em?"]
["You'll get through this"] Lord assured her as the boat pulled away toward
Craney Island.
The captain followed Jones down the hatchway and stood on the stairs.
"All hands forward!" called Jones.
Inside their walls of iron, the solemn eyes of the crew and officers all looked
up. The noonday sun shining through the grating of the roof lit their faces with sharp
squares of light and darkness. The only brightly-lit spot was where Buchanan now
boldly stood. The gaze of all the Virginia's crew, including the Toonsters and Lord,
now rested on the bluff, steely-eyed Captain, who stared down from above and
spoke with a Nelsonian flourish.
"Sailors! In a few minutes you will have the long-awaited opportunity to
show your devotion to your country and our cause! Remember that you are about
to strike for your country and your homes - your wives and your children! The
whole world is watching you today! The Confederacy expects every man to do
his duty! Beat to quarters!"
The ships' drum rolled ominously. The odd sound of a fife joined it. The
crew knew that this was no longer a trial exercise. The Toonsters all gulped at
the danger.
As the drumming continued to echo though the long casemate, the Captain
continued. "Many Confederates have complained that they have not been taken
near enough to the enemy. I assure you all that there shall be no such complaint
this time. I intend to head straight for the Cumberland. Go to your guns" he
commanded them.
The insistent drumbeat was now joined by footsteps on the gun deck as the
crew went to their stations. Quietly, the men secured the guns for action and stood
at the ready. As the other toons went to their officer's stations, Arnold and Hamton
watched the laborious process that would be repeated so many times that day.
Gogo's host Curtis took part as the gun's captain gave the orders.
"Sponge!"
With a hearty grin, Curtis' friend Dunbar moved to the muzzle of the giant black gun
with a lengthy wooden pole, the business end of which was covered in thick
cotton-wool. Dunbar stuck the other end out of the gun port as he thrust the
sponge into the cannon's mouth and down the barrel till it made a satisfactory
thump at the breech. The smiling Canadian then drew it out backwards through
the open port and back into the casemate, moving away to the left and out of the
way of the next man. After the gun's captain had inspected the silken powder
bags and the seven-inch explosive shell, he called out: "Load!"
Another man sealed the breech vent by holding his thick leather gloved fingers over
the hole to prevent a premature explosion, while the dangerous black powder
bags were carefully rammed down the gun barrel by the rammer. The men then
gingerly placed the grooved conical shell into the rifle's mouth and carefully rammed
it in after the gunpowder. The rammer was joined by another man and with a grunt,
they muscled the twisting shell down through the rifling of the gun's tube.
"Run ‘er out!" ordered the captain.
Wordlessly, the gun crew took up the thick ropes of the breeching tackle and
heaved away, pulling the tons of deadly metal towards the open gun port.
As his host strained at the block and tackle, Gogo's mind squeaked:
["HOLY HERNIA! Why don't we just try hoisting Hoppopotamus up
Mount Everest? That'd be easier than this!" Hey Arnold? A lil' help??"]
["Sorry, I'm an officer now. You do der manual labour!"] Arnold ordered,
["Come on girly-bird! Get pumped! Hit it harder! Feel de burn! Yah!"]
The pivot gun's muzzle stuck out through the gunport and the gun crew
relaxed. Arnold's host now moved to the gun's breech and the vent was
uncovered as he slipped a metal tube into it and attached the lanyard. The friction
primer was filled with fulminate of mercury that would explode when the pin was
pulled out of it with the lanyard and the massive gun would go off. The cannon
was ready to fire. All there was to do now was wait. The men stood in silence at
their posts – almost all the guns were ready, except two.
Fowlmouth's and Wakko's hosts had overseen the loading of guns 4
and 5 - but the nine-inch cannon balls were only to be loaded just before firing.
["What're we waitin' for? Let's get this ting loaded!"] fumed the rooster.
["Oh, we can't"], Wakko sighed calmly, ["The buns are still in the oven."]
["What're you talking about? The only buns that're bakin' around here are mine'],
Fowlmouth complained, ["We wound up getting stuck right next to da smokestack –
right over da boilers! _Ah'm gonna end up a Kentucky Fried chicken."]
["Ah like mine "extra crispy"], Wakko quipped, ["Din't ja study at all?"]
["Whadya mean ya limey clown? A' course I did!"]
["Wull then, you know that these are "hot-shot" guns. Look down that hole in
the deck"] the Warner brother told him, ["The cannon balls're getting' heated red hot
in the furnaces, so when we shoot ‘em – Poof! The enemy gets a hot foot."]
["Heh, sorta like shootin' flamin' arrows – only woise, huh?"] FM noticed.
["Hey! Who're you callin' a clown!"] Wakko suddenly realized, ["I hate clowns!"]
["Gee, thanks a lot guys - I don't need reminding!"] thought the far-away
voice of Babs as she looked at her flammable wooden ship.
["Oops_ sorry Babs"] Wakko apologized.
He and Fowlmouth looked at each other's guilty faces, knowing that Babs' ship
was destined to burn.
"Officers? The Captain wants to see you all topside, Sirs" called the Bosun.
Silently, the Virginia's officers climbed the stairs back to the roof. Most of the
Toonsters now joined Shirley and the Doctor as their hosts took them up into the
sunshine and open air once more.
Mary felt as though she were standing on top of a slow-moving train.
She felt the motion of the massive metal fortress beneath her feet and felt the
horrendous heat radiating from the huge blackened iron cylinder of the smokestack.
Glancing up, she saw the top of the stack chugging out billows of black, choking
coal smoke and saw the tiny red glints of sparks and cinders melting and
disappearing as the smoke poured and drifted off behind them. Her host avoided
the heat and bitter fumes by walking around the twelve-foot high chimney toward
the ship's bow. Now that there was nothing to do but wait, she began to notice
more of their surroundings. The river was widening out into the bay of Hampton
Roads, a wide stretch of sea was before them, the cold water a dim bluish-gray.
Miles away to the north was the shoreline, littered with strange dots. Northeast
was a yellow stone island and to the northwest was a spit of pale sandy beach.
Black and white dots seemed to line the shores ahead and there were more to the
west. Mary stared harder at the dots and saw that some were tall and many were
short_ then she realized that these were ships. Black and white sailing frigates
with masts and spars that dwarfed their vast hulls. It was hard to see, but Mary
counted over sixty of them. She knew that this was the Union fleet that the Virginia
and her two tugboats faced. The big frigates were larger than the Virginia and the
ships-of-the-line had as many as fives times her ten guns. The yellow stone
island was Fort Monroe and there was also the batteries at Camp Butler,
Rip Raps and Camp Harrison_
All these ships and fortresses bristled with hundreds of heavy guns and
thousands of men.
Mary gulped and thought ["_We're outnumbered by more than ten to one."]
With his arms crossed, Captain Buchanan explained his plan of attack; first to get
in close and ram the Cumberland, so as to dispatch her quickly and save as much
of their precious gunpowder as they could – they would need it to destroy the rest
of the Federal fleet.
["Like, the Captain may seem totally aggressive, but he's hoping to ram and sink
the fleet rather than shoot everybody'], Shirley told them, ["His own brother is the
Paymaster on the Congress."]
["Most of the officers know about his brother but they don't talk about it out of
respect for him"] Mary confirmed.
["Like, he doesn't talk about it. If his men thought he was soft on the North, he's
afraid of getting carded or that someone might start raggin' on ‘em and narc on him.
So, he's in like this awesome karmic trap! He totally wants to be a good soldier –
but he doesn't wanna kill his old friends in the Union Navy"], the loon explained,
["It's like, a way cosmic dilemma!"]
["Totally"] thought Fifi as her host approached the Captain.
"Sir?", said Doctor Philips skeptically, "Do you really intend to attack the Union fleet
with our untried, experimental vessel?"
"Those ships must be sunk!" Buchanan answered, pointing at the
Cumberland and the Congress.
"But Sir, how are we to measure the success of the Virginia?" the Doctor asked.
"If we sink them – we are a success", said the Captain, "If they sink us
–then we are a true failure."
All of the Toonsters and many of the officers gulped in fear at this.
"Mister Jones, prepare to cast off!" the Captain ordered.
"Prepare to cast off, Aye Sir" Lord's host repeated, walking to the hatchway.
"Very well" Buchanan acknowledged.
Following a series of shouts between the Virginia and the Beaufort, the Captain
commanded: "Cast off!" and the tow line was thrown overboard to be hauled in by
the men on the tugboat's stern. The heavy ironclad slowed a little, but surged
forward under her own power. The rebel monster was loose at last!
Chapter CXXIX
Across Hampton Roads, Plucky was fully enjoying being treated
as the Captain. Like his host, Lieutenant Morris, he stood tall as his brother officer
reported to him.
"Anything unusual, Mister Selfridge?"
"Normal routine this morning, Sir_except that Captain Tucker's rebel squadron
seems to have anchored closer to the Roads. You can see them, sir, just next to
the point of Mulberry Island."
Plucky's host took the brass spyglass that Selfridge offered him and opened
it, looking westward. Within the glassy circle far away, he saw three steamboats;
the Jamestown, the larger Patrick Henry and the smallish Teaser, all riding at
anchor but with smoke flowing from their smokestacks.
"They have steam up", said Morris with a smile, "Perhaps we'll see some
target practice today."
["If only they knew"]Plucky thought.
Just a few hundred yards away, Babs' host was giving a report to his officer.
"Something odd, Captain – those two Frenchie ships have moved down to
the mouth of the Roads" reported Lt. Pendergrast.
"They must be preparing to leave port", concluded Lt. Smith, "They should
have signaled to Fortress Monroe about it. That's the international law."
"They did not report, Sir."
Smith paused, thinking. "_I heard the two French captains visited Norfolk
yesterday."
"Do ye think they know something we don't Sir?"
Back in Acme Acres, Wile Coyote stood on a catwalk above the central cooling
and power tube, tightening a harness and a tether on himself, preparing to be
lowered into it. Ralph Wolf looked anxious.
"Do you know what you're doing?" he asked.
"I always know what I'm doing", the coyote declared, "I'm doing what the Doctor
told me to do. The cooling system's frequency modulation must be altered to
withstand the huge influx of power and it can only be done - manually."
"Shouldn't we let the lil guy do this?," Ralph implored, "No offense, but both
you and I have a reputation for – how shall I say it? – Screwing Up?"
"I am perfectly capable of making this adjustment without blowing us all to
Kingdom Come, thank you very much!", Wile insisted, then muttered under his
breath, "As long as the Doctor hasn't used any Acme products in this design_"
Ralph snapped the tether's safety hook to a electrical crane and stood at
the controls.
"You do realize that you'll be inside the cooling system and close to the Time data
stream, don't you?"
This gave the Coyote pause for reflection but he turned back to his cousin
with a supercilious smirk.
"Of course! But someone has to save our intrepid little band, don't they?" he
grinned arrogantly.
The crane lifted with a jerk and he looked down at the heavy steel hatch
covered in frost and flowing with freezing vapor. Wile gulped nervously.
Back in Hampton Roads, the Toonsters and their hosts gazed out at the face
of their foes – many, many foes. Men they knew personally, sailors they had
served with before the war began. Old friends.
[" My host served aboard the Congress"], thought Wakko sadly, ["She wuz his
floating home for three years_Little did ‘ee think ‘ee should ever raise a hand for her
destruction."]
["Look! Plucky vas right"], noticed Arnold, ["Der ist undervear in dere masts."]
Blue pants and shirts hung on the spars and rigging of the Cumberland like leaves
on a tree, while the white underwear hung to starboard, towards shore. There were
so many_ so many men_ so many guns. With the battle about to begin, the
Toonsters and their hosts grew fearful, but only their thoughts betrayed them. They
felt cold again. Shirley's thoughts chilled them, her voice like that of a terrified toddler.
["_Doc?_Like_I'm way scared."]
There was a pause before Lord answered, as his mind was crowded with
calculations of power conversions and the stress factors of photo-optic cable.
["You'll be okay. Keep calm_Can't talk now– must prepare time machinery."]
Behind his host's bearded face, Lord's eyes glowed solid white as he thought
his instructions back through time to the screen Egghead Junior was reading.
["I hate texting"] he thought.
["There's so many against us"], Calamity thought introspectively, ["And yet
we'll be the winners. Ours is the triumph of new technology over ancient dogma."]
["But at such a terrible cost"] Hamton's guilt-ridden mind muttered.
The Toonsters were sore afraid, but kept their silence, until one brave voice filled
their heads.
["We've got a job to do. Take heart from these men"] Furball told them,
["They're afraid too – but you don't see them showin' it."]
["Furball's right – we'll get through this!"], echoed Buster, ["We can't let our
feelings influence these men or we might change history! We've got to stay
detached."]
Fowlmouth saw lookouts on the ship's bow and bragged ["I ain't afraid!"]
"Keep your eyes skinned for torpedoes!" called Captain Buchanan.
["Scratch that! I'm afraid!"] the chicken recanted.
Within Lieutenant Jones, Lord's white eyes returned to their normal silver and he
resumed his commanding tone.
["All right, now everyone listen and listen hard! You are going into battle for
the first time and there are some rules you must abide by. First; when I give you a
command – you must obey immediately and without question. You life will depend
on that. If I tell you to move – you jump and move fast. Second; Do not panic.
If there's any chances to be taken – I'll take them – Not you. You're All going home
tonight – so don't forget that. Third; If you can see the enemy – they can see you.
Keep your heads down and try not to get shot. Fourth; If you know there's an
explosion coming your way – open your mouth. That will lessen the concussion on
your ear drums. Watch out for flying splinters – they'll kill you as sure as any bullet
will. Last; if you have to shoot, aim for the center and squeeze the trigger, don't jerk
it_ Shoot to kill – because the enemy will do the same to you. Got that?"
["Yavol herr Baron"] thought Arnold amidst the grave silence that followed.
The Toonsters and the men of the Virginia stood anxiously awaiting the battle to
come. The sun beat down on the slimy black iron mountain. The eerie stillness was
palpable.
["_Now I know what ‘deathly quiet' means"] whispered Gogo, regarding
his doomed friend Dunbar.
Chapter CXXX
Ralph Wolf stood waiting at the controls of the crane hanging over
the huge cooling conduits leading into the bowels of Doctor Lord's huge time
machine. The end of the hoists' cable disappeared into the frosty hatchway which
overflowed with frosty vapor, Then there were three sudden tugs on it from below.
Egghead Junior scampered down the ladder to join the wolf as he pushed the
lever that pulled up the cable.
Like an anchor on a chain, the frozen form of Wile E. Coyote rose through
the hatch hanging from his harness on the end of the wire, one hand frozen solid in
the act of tugging on the cable, the other outstretched with a standard screwdriver
in it. Wile's tongue hung out ridiculously, with a couple of metal screws stuck to it.
The ice-covered coyote's pleading eyes looked at them and a strained squeak met
their ears.
"'Lo' orsh!"
Junior looked at Ralph and his sign read "He said ‘blow- torch."
The wolf blinked innocently and asked "Blow torch what?"
He then reached aside knowingly and picked up an acetylene blow torch. Wile's
eyes widened as Ralph ignited the roaring flame and stepped up closer to him.
"I told you so!", the wolf literally sang, "Now this may sting a little_"
On board the Cumberland, Plucky listened to a Union sailor bragging of how bored
he was with blockade duty and how much he hoped the Merrimac would show
herself, and how certainly she would be sunk by their war vessels.
["Pride cometh before a fall"] thought the duck, recalling the many times he'd
heard that himself.
Aboard the Virginia, no floating mines were found and the Captain ordered the
rudder hard to starboard to test the ship's maneuverability. Hamton's host swung
the wrought iron wheel and waited for the ship to respond. For a minute or so,
nothing seemed to be happening and the pilots grew nervous. Then the bow
slowly began to creep to the right. Captain Buchanan could see how difficult
turning the ship would be and ordered her hard to port. The pilot with Hamton inside
swung the wheel the other way as the Captain spoke to Calamity's host.
"Full speed ahead, Mister Ramsey. We must make this attack as quickly as
we can. The rest of their fleet will try to trap us in a crossfire, so we must hurry with
the work before us. Be prepared to ram as I told you" Buchanan announced.
With a nod, the chief engineer called out the order to the helmsman and the
telegraph in the engine room rang up for "Full Ahead". The sweaty, bare-chested
stokers below shoveled more coal into the blazing hot furnaces and the roaring of
the boilers and the shriek of escaping steam increased as black smoke belched
from the towering smokestack. The engines thumped and pulsated like an ancient
iron lung.
["Listen to that_have you ever heard such a brutish engine before?"]
thought Calamity in amazement.
["As a matter of fact, I have"] Lord thought, ominously ending the
conversation.
As the heavy iron ship surged forward towards Newport News, all those on
deck looked upon the face of the enemy. It seemed as though the Yankees had
been caught completely unaware.
["Nothing indicates that we were expected"] observed Mary.
Within Lieutenant Pendergrast, Babs nervously waited on the bridge of the
Congress. What Mary had thought seemed to be true. Babs looked back upon the
memories of her host and found that there had been so many false alarms that
cries of "The Merrimack is coming!" rang hallow. The messengers of such sightings
were referred to as the boy who cried "Wolf!". Babs began to wonder if the men
around her would believe their own eyes.
There was a quiet commotion on deck. Crewmen crowded at the stern.
"Look! The Merrimack is coming down the river!" said one man.
"Be quiet, I want to read my paper" said another.
With a long brass spyglass in his hands, the ship's quartermaster quietly
saluted Pendergrast and said : "I wish you would take the glass and have a look
over there, Sir. I believe that thing is a-comin' down at last."
"Where away?" asked the lieutenant, taking the spyglass.
"Sewell's Point, Sir. You can see the heavy black smoke."
The bunny inside him was as anxious to see it as he was. Squinting through the
monocular tube, Babs saw the dark cloud on the horizon_ and then the squat
black metallic shape that was creating it. As it was nearly seven miles away, it
was hard to see anything more than a dark mass that didn't seem to be moving.
Two other small steamers were with the larger one. The shiny brass scope was
cold in her paws but Babs did not care. The black humped shape of the enemy
vessel was indistinct, but unlike anything her host had ever seen before. The
lieutenant slid the spyglass closed decisively and strode away to tell his captain.
Aboard the Cumberland, a similar scene was taking place. The intrepid
Lieutenant Selfridge was the first to spot it. There was a slight mirage effect
because of the distance so that at first it was not clear if the ironclad was really
coming out. Soon enough, there was no doubt.
"Three vessels approaching. One is the hull of a large vessel shaped like
the roof of a house, with one smokestack, Sir" Acting Master's Mate Charles O'Neil
reported to Lieutenant Morris and the duck within him. "It must be the Merrimack!"
Morris's eyes narrowed with determination as he looked through his
spyglass at the approaching Virginia. It didn't phase him. If the Merrimack
was going to attack – he was ready to spring the trap on her. The Union Navy's
secret plan to defeat the ironclad had been kept fairly well and he was ready,
willing and able to implement it. When the Confederate ship came close enough to
attack – the Cumberland would block the channel while the rest of the Fleet would
close it off behind the Rebels, catching them in the crossfire. Morris saw his chance
to make an end of the South's naval ambitions by showing what the Union Fleet
was really made of.
The more Plucky heard of Morris's daredevilish thoughts, the better he liked
the man. The chance to be a real hero thrilled him to his very core and he began to
feel more and more brave and courageous himself, despite the imminent danger.
"Furl the sails! Cut down that wash! Prepare for action!", barked Morris,
"Signal the Zouave to come alongside! Send word ashore to General Mansfield
and lower the cutters aft."
["Hoist the mizzenmast, you landlubbers! Lower the boom! Clean up the poop
deck!"], thought Plucky, ["Jive the jib! Raise the spanker! Paddle the spankee!
And all that nautical talk!"]
The other Toonsters heard Plucky's zealous jokes and laughed, smiling with
a moment's relief amidst the growing tension.
"Beat to quarters!" ordered Lieutenant Morris.
The ship's chunky drummer boy began to play "the long roll" which silenced
everyone. The Cumberland's patriotic crew instantly went to their work. Down
came the clotheslines, the fresh laundry fluttering to the deck. Bosun's pipes
squealed as the men cleared the decks for action. The Congress shook out her
topsails, the white canvas being loosed by the men aloft standing along the spars
and the men below pulling on miles of raw rope. The ship's magazines were
opened, the powder monkeys carrying the gunpowder bags to double-charge the
ship's huge Dalgren cannons. As the gun crews loaded their weapons, the ships'
Marines loaded their rifles with powder and shot. Some climbed the rigging, with
their Springfields slung over their shoulders, to stand at the mast heads, their guns
cocked and ready. Pistols and cutlasses were handed out, boarding pikes
and axes were made ready. Scabbards sang with the steel sound of swords.
As the warriors prepared for their dreadful work, their captain lowered his
voice and Plucky heard him give a grim command. "Sand the gun deck."
Master's Mate Harrington simply nodded and saluted as he went to carry
out the order. Soon the young ship's boys were at work scattering bucketfuls
of yellow beach sand onto the freshly holy-stoned white planking of the ship's
decks. Plucky was puzzled.
["Hey Doc? They're throwing sand all over the floor. What's that for?"]
The Doctor hesitated, then told them ["That's for the blood."]
["What?!"] asked the shocked Toonsters.
["It's for added traction. The sand soaks up the blood and keeps the men from
slipping in their comrade's blood and gore"] Lord thought grimly.
["_My God_"], thought Babs in horror, ["They're spreading sand here too!"]
The Toonsters all felt their stomachs drop. Some of the officers left the upper deck
of the Virginia in silence, staring back over their shoulders at the enemy ships.
Chapter CXXXI
Aboard the Cumberland and the Congress, the crews lost sight of the ironclad as
she moved out of sight around the bend in the river channel, coming closer. The
men around Babs began to wonder if the fight was coming or not.
"The Rebels is a-feared of us. They jest be putting the Merrimack through her
trials" boasted an old tar, spitting a chaw of tobacco overboard.
Captain Smith turned to Pendergrast. Babs could see the man thinking before he
became once more the bold leader.
"Action Stations, my lads!" said Smith," They may yet make an appearance
that we'll want to be well-prepared for."
["I wish I could warn them"] Babs silently prayed as her host carried out the orders.
["We are merely observers. We cannot change history"] Lord told her.
["I wish there was at least something we could do for ‘em"] Plucky thought.
At that moment, his host Lieutenant Morris looked thoughtfully down the deck
at his men and spoke to the Mate again.
"Mister Harrington, have the crew finish dinner, but keep a weather eye out."
The bosun piped the hands back "to dinner" as Plucky watched them and
thought ["At least they'll get to finish eating."]
["For many of them, it will be their last meal"] Hamton thought unhappily.
Within his host, Wakko was becoming increasingly uncomfortable – and not
quite because of the anxious situation aboard the Virginia.
["Uh_ Doc?_ Um, I ‘ave a problem"] he thought.
["What's wrong Wakko?"]
The Warner kid squirmed and shyly whispered ["_Potty emergency."]
There was a round of snickering from some of the other Toonsters as the Doctor
winced in exasperation ["Oh for heaven's sake! Why didn't you go before we
left?"]
["Sorry. I'd forgotten"], Wakko apologized helplessly, ["What can I do?"]
["You'll just have to wait until your host has the same need"] Lord advised.
["Oh peanuts_I wish ya hadn't mentioned it"] Babs thought as her anxiety
caused her to feel the same pressure.
["Like, my stomach's doing 360's"] whined Shirley.
["Mine too"] moaned Hamton.
["Fermez' le bouche!"], Fifi thought abruptly at Hamton. Instantly aware that
everyone heard her she added, ["Toute la monde!"]
There was a long awkward pause before Fowlmouth quietly wondered.
["What'd she say?"]
["She said ‘Shut up everybody'"] Arnold reported bluntly.
["Ah'm sorry, but all zis whining eez getting on mah nerves and theengz are ‘ard
enough alreadee"] Fifi hastily half apologized, half lied.
["Potty!"] complained Wakko.
The Union tugboat Zouave chugged alongside the Cumberland and Lt. Selfridge
shouted his orders through a tin mouth trumpet.
["That looks like what that singer from the Thirties sang with"], Plucky thought
absently, ["What was his name?"]
Doctor Lord answered ["Bing?"]
["Somebody's at the door!"] Plucky laughed weakly.
The Toonsters all groaned in annoyance and Lord thought dryly ["What are you
trying to do?"]
["Lighten up the otherwise dark mood?"] thought the duck sheepishly.
After a pause, Lord's thought rang ominously as he simply said ["Don't.]
The Zouave left the Cumberland to investigate the approaching steamers,
chugging away to the deeper southern channel. The Virginia too, turned into the
south channel, as she needed more than twenty-two feet of water underneath her.
The two enemies steamed towards each other.
Far behind them, Shirley watched the activity aboard the big Union frigates.
Men kept peering curiously at the Virginia, sticking their heads out of the gun ports.
["Like, I don't get it. They see us, but why aren't they doing anything?"],
she wondered, ["This is totally ridic."]
["The ironclad is almost unknown to this world. They have never seen anything like
this ship in their lives"], Lord answered, his host standing next to hers, ["Let me tell
you all a story of what is known as ‘the shock of armor' _ "]
As the Toonsters stood on or below deck in silence listening to the old skunk, his
words coalesced into visual thoughts and they saw it in their minds.
["Long, long ago there was a proud city. Its citizens had great pride; for they
thought themselves safe behind the strong fortress they had built and were content
to live free of the fear of marauders. They lived well and became rich and thought
themselves invulnerable._Then one day, something strange came out of the forest.
They had never seen the like of it before. At first they laughed at the scaly creature
and scoffed because it seemed so ponderous and ugly. But their mocking laughter
did not stop it – their spears, arrows and swords did not stop it – their cavalry and
ballistas and catapults did not stop it – and when it opened it's crooked jaws –
and breathed fire upon their wooden walls – their fortress did not stop it. _ When
the dragon finally returned to the forest_ the pride – and the city – was gone_
Today, ladies and gentlemen - We – are the dragon."]
Everyone was silent for a while as the vision sobered them.
["Visual thoughts – Far out"], thought Shirley in wonder, ["You'll hafta teach me
that_ like, once we get through this."]
Back at the stern gun, Mary was having a crisis of consciousness. Her host
looked out of the gun port at the Union Fleet.
["Doc?"], she asked hesitantly, ["_I know who I am _ I know who these
men are and I know who we're going to attack_ The question is – are we on the
bad side? Are these men evil?"]
["These men are fighting for the right to live in the way that they choose, just as
those men are. You can see in their minds that this is over states' rights; the right to
choose, the right not to be unfairly taxed, the right of fair trade, the right of domain –
it's not just about slavery"], thought the Doctor, ["From our point of view in the future,
slavery is seen as being evil, but slaves have existed here since the dawn of time.
Habits that are that old are hard to stop. Even today in some rare corners of
Reality – slavery still exists."]
["But are these men evil?_ Are we bad for being part of this - inside them?"]
["Look into your host's mind and heart to find out"], Lord sighed, [" Do you think
they are genuinely evil?"].
The Toonsters all looked at their hosts lives through their memories. They
studied them for many moments, but finally all agreed and thought: ["No."]
["Dey are tough"] Arnold affirmed.
["They are clever and resourceful"] thought Calamity.
["They hafta potty!"] Wakko whined painfully.
["They're good men"] Gogo thought sadly as he watched the sponge man,
Dunbar, who exchanged an encouraging grin with his own host.
["Gogo? You don't sound quite yourself"], Babs wondered, ["You okay?"]
[I dunno_I never watched somebody die before"] the Dodo thought timidly,
["I don't think I want to."]
["That makes two of us"] Babs agreed.
["I'm sorry – "] Doctor Lord began, but then found his host suddenly in action.
Lieutenant Jones had sighted the Zouave through his spyglass.
"Federal tugboat off the starboard bow, Commodore. She's approaching."
"Just a scout vessel. Maintain course for the Cumberland", said Captain
Buchanan, "Mister Ramsey, more speed."
"Aye-aye, Sir" answered Calamity's host.
(Star Trek VOL#2, "The Doomsday Machine" "Light Beams/Tractor Beam" #7)
Suddenly an explosion made the Toonsters jump! After a silent second of rushing
adrenalin ran through their bodies, a louder, closer detonation followed as a shell
exploded above the water just a few hundred yards away! Some of the Virginia's
men rushed to look out of the gun ports, only to be stopped by their officers, who
instead looked out the ports themselves.
["The first Federal shot of the day"] mused Lord calmly.
The shot had come from the Zouave's single Parrot rifle and its thirty-pound
exploding shell had missed the ironclad, throwing up a ragged splash as its hot
shrapnel slammed into the sea.
["I guess this is it?"] thought Babs fearfully.
["No, just a signal to the fleet"] answered Buster as his host gave new orders.
"Quarters" Lieutenant Parker told his men, who began loading their own thirty-two
pounder cannon on the tugboat's bow.
A second shot flashed and rang out from the Zouave, a cloud of white
gunsmoke following the shell as it skidded into the water in the Virginia's path!
"Hold your fire" ordered Captain Buchanan coolly, "We have a more
pressing engagement."
["They're out of range"], Lord declared, ["About two miles away."]
As Calamity's host watched alongside the ship's commanders, the white-winged
sailing craft sprinkling the bay and the long lines of tugs and boats scurried to the
far shore like chickens on the approach of a hovering hawk. Suddenly, huge
volumes of smoke began to pour from the funnels of the frigates Minnesota and
Roanoke at Old Point. Brightly colored signal flags fluttered up and down the masts
of all the ships of the Federal Fleet! "The Merrimack has come down" they said.
The tugboat fired again and missed.
["They've seen us and are getting up steam!"] Calamity exclaimed.
["Relax, they'll never catch us. Those are the Merrimack's sister-ships"] the
Doctor told him, ["The Roanoke's drive shaft is offline."]
["The Minnesota has the same engines as we do, so they can only
match our speed"] the coyote reasoned.
The faraway gun on the Zouave boomed again, missing the Virginia's hull
only by a hundred feet or so, sending an implosion into the water, like a stone
thrown from a high angle.
["Ohhh_potty!"] Wakko bellyached.
"Hold your course" ordered the Captain.
["Like, he's bluffing them"], Shirley reported, ["He knows that he'll scare them off."]
As the ironclad seemed to steer directly towards them, the federal tug bravely stood
it's ground, firing again, but missing by a wide berth.
["Vy doesn't der kapitan fire?"] wondered Arnold, as he and his host
looked out the bow gun port.
Shirley's thoughts were clear. She seemed to have lost her fear, as if she
had seen something new in her inexorable host.
["He's like, saving his gunpowder and_he really doesn't want to cause
more death than he has to. That's why he's attacking the Cumberland first!"],
she explained, ["He just wants tuh sink the ships and make the Fleet surrender.
He's gonna ram the Cumberland and like intimidate the other ships. He doesn't
wanna shoot at his brother's ship, he wants ‘em to surrender and then share a
glass of sherry with him in his own ward room like Commadore Perry did with the
British back at the Battle of Lake Erie. He's like a totally ‘old school' Navy man_"]
["Doc?"], Shirley confessed earnestly, ["He is a good man_he just has to do his
duty."]
The Zouave fired a final shot and then spun around and headed back for
the safety of Newport News.
["Nyeeeeh! Ya missed me!"] jeered Gogo.
A ragged cheer broke from the men, but Lieutenant Simms quickly ordered:
"Silence on board!".
The men feel silent but grinned at each other broadly.
["We called them back, Gogo"] Plucky replied aboard the Cumberland.
["Like, um.. how are things over there, Plucky?"] Shirley wondered nervously.
The duck looked at the men on the gun deck, standing at their guns, waiting.
["Cool_grim, silent_ determined_ To be honest it's pretty scary"] he replied quietly.
["Um_like_ same here"] the loon thought, feeling guilty that they were on
opposite sides, ["The strictest discipline is in force on our gun deck_ uh_No one at
the guns is allowed to talk er some junk_Not even in a whisper_"].
["Uh_sorry I'm not with you"] he thought nervously.
["Me too_totally"] Shirley agreed, forgetting that they were not alone.
["Wackadoo! Plucky actually apologized! Will wonders never cease?"]
Fowlmouth thought in amazement.
["Un-cool, FM"] commented Mary as her host looked out through his gun port.
["Ah dadgummit! I waz just thinkin' it. I didn' say it out loud. Sorry."]
["Thanks a lot!"] grumbled Plucky. Then he added ["I trust you Rebels will
tell me when yer gonna start shooting at me?"]
["It's not their fault that we wound up on the wrong side, Plucky. It was an
accident"] Buster asserted as the Beaufort and the Raleigh drew out ahead
of the Virginia to starboard.
Hamton swallowed another cold lump of guilt.
["Arguing won't help us"], Lord insisted, ["Please let me concentrate on the
task at hand. Now you concentrate on your assignments."]
The Toonsters were feeling increasingly edgy. The only sounds aboard the Virginia
were the hiss and the steady thud-thudding of her steam engine as the ship
moved slowly across the bay at four and a half miles per hour. The tension was
palpable as the agony of waiting for battle continued for the toons and their hosts.
The crew sweated in silence, their drawn faces looking positively grim.
["Potty, potty, potty!"] whimpered Wakko as he squirmed.
Luckily, his nervous host also had the same urge and retired downstairs to the dark
orlop deck and the officer's head. Wakko's sigh of relief trailed off as he opened
what amounted to an outhouse door and saw nothing in the faint lantern-light but
a large chamberpot inside on the floor.
["That's a little too literal"] he thought, nonplussed.
Chapter CXXXII
In the Doctor's underground laboratory, Wile Coyote was
sweating over the twelfth console he'd rewired in the last twenty minutes. The last
of the icicles in his ears had melted as he worked to improve the machine's ability
to control the higher level of power that would soon be coursing through it. The old
heavy gauge wiring had been built to last and it was a hard job to change it out.
High above him on the ceiling's catwalk hung the tethered Ralph Wolf working on
the cable trunking between two of the large electrode diffuser balls.
"Cousin? If we use the impulse control circuits, they'll be fused solid!" Ralph
called down as he twisted his torque wrench, loosening the power lines.
"What about the warp core control circuits?" the coyote reminded him without
looking up from his labors.
"Uh_ yeah, we can cross-connect the controls", the wolf admitted, but then
cautioned him, "But that'll make the machine almost impossible for one man to
handle!"
Wile's gaze and voice didn't waver as he continued his efforts.
"You worry about your miracles, Ralphie. I'll worry about mine. Get to work."
"Yes sir!" Ralph said mockingly, but the next moment there was a great
flash of electrical voltage as the wolf touched the wrong wire! Ralph glowed like a
stop light, then a Christmas tree, then like a lighthouse as the current went through
his body like lightening! Thoroughly Friz frizzled, he hung sizzling by his tether with
an astounded look on his face, his red nose flashing like a strobe light.
"That's what ya get for not listening! The Doctor warned us about the bare
wires" Wile chided him as he continued working with a laser cutting torch. Calling
out over his shoulder he said "Junior? Try the 2G6 circuit."
As the bespectacled chicken nodded amidst a veritable Sargasso sea of
hanging colored wires, Ralph grew impatient with his blinking snout and used his
torque wrench to ratchet it tight, his eyes crossing as he focused on his own nose.
Like a rocket-powered dagger, Commander Winters' SR-71 flew at Mach
three point five over the ridges of a snow-covered mountain range. Though the
polarized greenish visor of his golden space helmet, he saw the frozen tundra
miles below and the blinding sun at ten o'clock behind him. The slight draft of his
pressure suit's air-conditioner whirred softly in his sensitive owl's ears, as did the
roar of the Blackbird's ultra-powerful ramjet engines.
Abruptly, a warning buzzer sounded in the cockpit and the code indicators
began spinning on the black radio discriminator panel. A letter locked into place,
then two more followed by three numerals: "CRM114" – then the radio in his helmet
crackled with a familiar voice.
"Blackbird, this is Dick Strong – do you copy? Over?"
"Affirmative, Detective. This is Blackbird", the snowy owl replied, perplexed,
"Breaking radio silence is highly irregular. What the devil do you mean by
contacting me? You may be giving away my position. Over."
"It couldn't be helped. We have a problem back here and you may be the
only one able to save us in time", the hard-boiled policeman told him, "We need
you to raise the power output of the PMD mainframe immediately! Over."
In a moment of puzzled silence, Winters huge yellow eyes blinked and his beak
hung open a moment in confusion before his head turned quizzically aside.
"Just a moment – did you say the PMD? Over?"
"That's affirm. The power output levels at Point K must be raised to ‘Full'. Over."
"Ha-ha! I think there's been a bit of miss-communication, Richard – because that's
already my mission!", chuckled Winters, "The Doctor gave me that assignment last
night.. I'm nearly over – eh_ I am over Canada now. Over."
Now it was Dick Strong's turn to be surprised, "Last night?? But that's impossible!
How could he have -?"
"Oh come now, old man" the owl reminded him, "You know him better than
that. This is Lord we're discussing. Now then, what's all this fuss about? Over?"
As the black spy plane flew north-northeast, it's pilot was told of the
desperate problem the Toonsters now faced.
Hamton sweated inside his host as he now sat in a chair on a small platform
underneath the Virginia's pilothouse. He was alone looking through the tiny slits in
the bell-like iron cone. These view ports were very small and were widely-spaced
so that he had to be close enough to peep through while he called out directions
to the messengers below, who ran back and forth to the ship's wheel amidships.
Directly below was the breech of the seven-inch bow rifle, with it's gun crew
standing at the ready, Arnold and Gogo among them.
Hamton held onto the cold iron edges of the armor with his sweating palms.
He bit his lip as he concentrated on anything other than his own feelings. He
sought to look out the front eye slit of the conning tower – to do anything rather
than feel guilty. He struggled not to think out loud of the trouble he'd caused and
how he may have jeopardized the entire future by his little scheme to scare
Dr. Lord with Boris the spider. To think out loud now would let everyone know of
what he had done - the terrible thing he'd done. His stomach churning with his
swallowed guilt, the pig was nauseated, but stood still and stolid.
Below him, every man stood on the deck in silence – all but one.
Amid the mounting tension, a young boy of twelve from North Carolina cautiously
approached the captain of his gun. The small powder boy was pale and his
hands trembled, but his little voice was clear and stoic.
"Mister Marmaduke?", he whispered to the midshipman, "I'm likely to be killed
in this fight_ If I am, will you send my money to my father?"
The boy reached up to hand the taller man his money purse. Henry Marmaduke
simply nodded, tucking the leather bag into his jacket and then looked to his gun.
The child blinked and quietly returned to his task of fetching the heavy bags of
gunpowder. Hamton's cheek tightened as he witnessed the little boy's bravery and
felt ashamed for thinking only of himself. The time for sentimentality was over.
Aboard the Cumberland, Plucky Duck was feeling like more of a man than
he had ever been before as he stood within the bold interior of the Captain.
"Swing ship! Heave now, lads! Pull!" Lieutenant Morris barked.
As the circle of sailors pushed the yokes of the capstan round, the great ship
pulled in on her anchor-chains, slowly pivoting the bow of the sloop-of-war around
with the river's current. The crew steadied themselves against the ship's movement
as it swung heavily through the water to port. Morris turned around to face along
the ship's course. Plucky felt like he was riding the deck of the battlewagon like a
surfboard – and all without the slightest pang of seasickness!
The seventeen hundred ton vessel swung to a gentle halt on the swell. Up
swung the gun ports as her eleven broadside cannons were run out and brought
to bear on the oncoming ironclad. With twenty-four heavy guns – the Cumberland
could outgun the Virginia by more than two to one. The trap was set!
["Now I am Captain Pluck"] the duck thought to himself with pride.
Aboard the Congress, Babs stared at the approaching Virginia through the
eyes of her host who gazed at it through his cold brass spyglass. The rabbit
recognized the wooden structure she had seen before in the drydock at Portsmouth
- but it had changed dramatically. This was a glistening black, armored war
machine that moved slowly towards them through the water like a half-submerged
crocodile intent on it's prey. Black smoke erupted from it's smokestack and guns
jutted from it's gun ports, but unlike her own vessel – there was no sign of life. It
seemed they would not be fighting against living men – just a hissing, smoking
soulless robot of destruction. Babs saw it coming and knew what it would do –
and she was afraid.
Her host and the men around him stared at the Virginia. Lieutenant Smith
climbed partway into the rigging to point at the oncoming menace and bold as
brass, he scoffed at the Virginia.
"Well, my hearties!", the captain shouted to his crew, "You see before you
the great Southern bugaboo, got up to fright us out of our wits. Stand to your
guns, and let me assure you that one good broadside from our gallant frigate –
and she is ours!"
"HUZZAH!" cheered the brave men of the Congress.
["What do they think this is? A football game?!"] Babs thought in disbelief.
The crew stared at the Virginia. Every eye was upon her. All hands stood ready.
No one stirred. The silence was awful.
On the hurricane deck of the Virginia, Lieutenant Jones turned to his commander.
"They've capped the T, sir" Jones reported calmly.
"So shall we" replied Captain Buchanan.
Jones (and Dr. Lord within him) took a last glance of the scene of battle and slowly
walked down the steps to the gun deck below. The ship was slowly steaming into
harm's way towards the Cumberland's broadside and approaching the bow of
the Congress about 2,500 feet away. Their single bow rifle now faced nearly fifty
guns. The Captain took a few steps down the stairs but kept his head in the
hatchway so he could see to direct the vessel's course.
Shirley gulped in terror as the Captain decided to remain exposed alone
to the fire of the enemy, making her also exposed, but her fright was overwhelmed
now by the absolute fearlessness displayed by her host.
"Signal ‘Close Action'!" he ordered.
The signalman switched the forward flags, running the red pennant up the flagpole
before the towering smokestack, which hissed and snorted like a chimney on fire.
As the smoking, deadly leviathan slipped silently through the sea toward it's prey,
Franklin Buchanan's fierce determination to win began to defeat Shirley the Loon's
peacefully centered oneness.
["Like what's ‘capping the T' mean?"] she asked.
["It means they've turned their broadside guns at us while we're only bow
onwards"] Lord told her, ["It's one of the oldest naval combat maneuvers.
Now they can rake our entire ship with their broadside guns."]
["So now we're gonna do the same thing, Doc?"] asked Furball.
["They're gonna shoot at us before we can turn at they rate we're going!
This ship is too slow!"] worried Hamton.
["It is kinda like driving in first gear, ain't it?"] agreed Fowlmouth.
["The channel is narrow here, we could easily run aground and be stuck"]
Mary added as her host peered out of his gunport.
["The captain knows all that"], Shirley thought abruptly, ["He's presenting
as little of our ship as a target while we get close enough to ram. He'll set a course
that will keep us out of their line of fire too."]
Down in the lamp-lit Captain's quarters, the ship's doctors prepared for the worst,
laying out bandages, tourniquets, scalpels and surgical probes as they set up their
sickbay. All Fifi could do was to listen to the thoughts of the others and the
changing tones of her friends.
Aboard the Beaufort, Buster could only admire the nerves of steel of his host,
Lieutenant Parker. He tasted the bitter flavor of tobacco as the Captain put a
brand-new cigar in his mouth and coolly gave the order.
"Steer for the Congress. Raise our battle flag. Prepare to open fire."
His Bosun's mate pulled their tri-colored pennant up the mast. It resembled
the French national flag.
"The frogs have joint the Rebs!" shouted a man on the Congress's deck.
"Stand to your guns!" ordered their Captain.
["..Babs?_.I, uh_ sorry_Watch out"] Buster stammered awkwardly.
On the Congress, a frightened Babs understood and gulped as she knew the
moment of truth had arrived.
["_ I love you too_Watch yer tail_"]
Chapter CXXXIII ("The Planets" by Gustav Holst – "Mars, the Bringer of War")
Buster could only stand and watch as his host gave the order.
"Mister Robinson, let's get their attention – Open fire on the Congress."
Jack Robinson, the captain of the gun, looked down the sights of the
massive banded cannon and yelled: "FIRING!"
His gun crew all turned and leaned away, covering their ears as the midshipman
pulled the lanyard and the gun went off with an ear-splitting roar, the recoil bucking
the titanic weapon backwards across the deck with a blast of orange flame! A
three foot ring of fire appeared for a moment and Buster felt the concussion wave
and heat flash smack his chest. It was as though he'd stuck his face into a blast
furnace and then been clonked by a club. His ears rang like a steel bell.
White gunsmoke clouded his eyes and the chemical, rotten-egg smell of gunpowder
filled his nose. Although the shock had jarred him - his host didn't even bat an
eyelash. Parker watched the shell rocket past the Congress's port side by a foot or
so and hit the beach beyond, the resulting explosion throwing a column of sand
into the air.
Buster swore a mighty oath that surprised even Fowlmouth.
["Whoa, not bad, Bustah"], the rooster thought with admiration, ["Now yer even
swearin' like a sailor!"]
["Gentlemen, I will not tolerate bad language in front of the ladies!"] Lord announced.
["Well, how about in back of ‘em?"] quipped Buster.
Before she could hear Buster's joke, Babs heard Lieutenant Smith call out
"Fire as your guns bear!" and the bow cannons on the Congress roared!
["Oh my ears and whiskers!"] yelped Babs as the thunderous reports
slammed her eardrums. A white cloud blew in her face and she coughed as
she breathed in the gunsmoke. The cannon balls narrowly missed the rebel ships,
but it was enough to make the Beaufort fall back.
Shirley watched the shot pass over her ship with wide eyes and felt not the
slightest twinge of fear from her host. Captain Buchanan stared intently on his
intended target as if sighting the great ironclad like a rifle.
"Hold your fire. Full speed ahead! Steer directly for that vessel!" he ordered.
Below in the boiler room, Calamity watched as more steam was urged upon the
clanking, thudding massive engines, their revolving arms turning the giant propeller
shaft, while the stokers poured the coal into the raging furnaces.
Shirley watched as the guns ashore at Camp Butler opened up on the
Virginia, firing in front of the Congress's bow. The cannon balls came whistling in
and struck her with a sharp crack!!_ But lo and behold, the heavy iron projectiles
bounced off – glancing upwards as they struck the angled armor to fall hissing into
the sea! Despite the danger, the loon's mind was focused elsewhere.
["Plucky? Where are you?"]
["Uh, the poop deck? The rear – the after-stern?.. eh – back here!"] he answered.
["Good_ like please stay there, kay?"]
The terrible moment Shirley sensed was upon them. The Cumberland was only
1,500 yards away – well within range. She dreaded her next actions.
Tight-lipped, Captain Buchanan stepped down the hatchway and crouched under
the ironclad's roof to see his forward gun crew waiting.
"Mister Simms – open fire on the Cumberland!" he ordered.
The crew turned to their work as the Lieutenant with Arnold inside crouched to sight
the seven-inch Brooke rifle through the small gun port. His right hand held the
cannon's lanyard as he shouted :"Number One - FIRING!"
Gogo and the other crewmen at the gun's side leaned away, covering their
closer ear. Arnold winced as during the deadly pause that followed, as his host
shut one eye to aim the shot perfectly.
["Oh-"] Arnold managed to think before Simms yanked the lanyard.
The Virginia's bow gun fired with a titanic roar that reverberated up and down the
inside of it's casemate. The shell screamed across the Roads and hit the Union
warship squarely, passing through the starboard-quarter rail. Plucky saw the
white explosion and huge wooden splinters flying into the line of blue-uniformed
Marines who'd been standing there. Nine men tumbled to the deck, impaled with
the broken wooden shrapnel, screaming as they lay there with shredded limbs.
Plucky stood on the perfectly clean white deck and stared_ The flag he stood
next to was now shockingly similar to the colors before him; the pure white deck,
the smart, perfectly blue uniforms – and the streaming red blood which stained
everything. The groans of these men, the first to fall, as they were carried below,
was something new to the rest of the gunners aboard. Plucky had no time to
react as his host shouted: "RETURN FIRE!"
Quickly, the crew of the Cumberland's pivot gun loaded and ran the
cannon out. The gun Buchanan feared most went off with a shocking blast,
but the ten inch shot missed it's mark. Now the gun crews on both ships raced
to fire faster, hoping to stop each other. Gogo and Arnold fought their gun,
struggling to load the deadly weapon and straining to pull it into position. The
Cumberland's crew of Bostonians threw all their might and mane into reloading,
but Simms' crew was ahead of them. Arnold squinted as his host aimed for the
heart of them. The crewmen frantically struggled at breakneck speed, but the
Virginia's gun fired first.
Again, the ironclad's gun jolted back with a sharp report, the casemate filling
with acrid white gunsmoke. The Confederate shell burst in the very midst of the
crew reloading the Cumberland's cannon, striking the gun carriage and knocking the
nine ton weapon off onto the men. This time, there were no screams. The explosion
killed every man there except the young powder monkey and the gun's captain
Kirker, who while holding a handspike to guide the gun's aiming, had both arms
taken off at the shoulder. White-faced, he stared in shock at his completely
disabled gun. Without uttering a groan, he was taken below. Dead and wounded
were everywhere, but no one flinched. They went on loading and firing, taking the
place of some fallen comrade, killed or wounded, as they had been told to do.
As his host sought desperately to turn his ship so that more guns would
bear, Plucky began to jabber nervously.
[" Hey_those guys aren't getting up! There's arms and legs all over the place, but
they're not – Why aren't they coming back_ together? This is – too gross_ it's like
Ren & Stimpy!"] he babbled in horror.
[‘They're dead, son. Concentrate on your mission and you'll be all right."]
Lord told the shocked duck.
["I'm sorry, darlin'_"] gasped Shirley, barely in control.
Master's Mate Harrington called away thirty men to move a gun from the port side
to replace the disabled cannon. The black slanted bow of the Virginia erupted with
flame as Arnold's host fired again. The bursting shell killed most of Harrington's
crew. The head of the Master's Mate rolled across the deck like a bloody billiard
ball.
The Cumberland's captain and the duck within him fought to bring more
guns to bear on their attacker.
"Spring ship to the starboard quarter!" he shouted as his men pulled at the
capstan, but it was no use. The tide was pushing them the wrong way.
Morris's fierce determination out-ruled Plucky's fear as his voice rang out!
"PORT BATTERY – FIRE!!"
Trained as close as possible, the Cumberland's nine-inch guns fired a tremendous
broadside, sending nearly a ton of iron flying into the Virginia! Shirley ducked inside
the hatch as the massive explosion rocked both ships, but the plunging cannon
balls merely bounced off the ironclad's sloping sides and pilot house. Inside the
wrought-iron cone, Hamton's head felt like the clapper of a bell as the pilot-house
rang from the impact. When Shirley peeked outside again, she and the Captain
saw that much of the forward railing had been smashed, but that was all. The
great hulking vessel continued it's steady and unswerving course, it's forward
gun wreaking havoc with every shot.
Chapter CXXXIV ( "King Kong Music Suite" "Main Title" #12)
Within the armor-plated behemoth, Mary and the others could only guess at
what was going on by the smoke and terrible sounds of battle.
["What's happening?"] she wondered, feeling hot fever-like chills.
Amidst the rapidly firing guns, Plucky watched in horror as Morris' men were cut to
pieces. The dead, as they fell, were thrown to the port side of the deck, out of the
way, while the wounded were carried below. The ironclad monster kept on slowly
coming towards them, spewing fire and smoke. Its shells went through the wooden
ship's sides as if they were made of paper, the splinters impaling anyone in their
path. The first and second captains of every forward gun were either killed or
wounded, so Lieutenant Selfridge, with a box of cannon primers in his pocket, ran
from gun to gun, placing the primers in the breech vents and firing the cannons as
fast as the decimated crews could load them.
["We're – we're getting' literally creamed out here!"] Plucky gasped.
By now, though still three or four hundred yards from the Cumberland, the Virginia's
snail-like advance had brought her abreast of the Congress, which had been firing
on her for some time.
Shirley anticipated Buchanan's actions and warned: ["Like, get down, Babs!"]
["Who thinks about dancing at a time like this?"] the bunny questioned.
Within his host, Hunter Davidson, Furball yelled ["Fire in the hole!"]
A stand of grapeshot struck the Congress's gun deck, mowing down a few sailors.
["Oh"], Babs muttered, ["Thanks, but you better watch out yerself, Shirl!"]
Still waiting for action, Wakko stood within his host, looking out the gun port
he was commanding. For a long while only the wide waters of the bay and the
distant shores were visible, till suddenly the port became the frame of the picture of
a great ship. It was the Congress, about one hundred yards away.
["Aww, that's pretty!"] , he thought, ["Hey FM, you ought to see-"]
Suddenly he saw the flashes of thirty-five guns leap at him from the Congress's
gun ports! His host jumped back just as the broadside all struck the Virginia at
once!
["Never mind"] shrugged Wakko.
The noise was terrible, giving everyone a fearful shock, but the solid shot bounced
off the plated sides like so many basketballs. Gogo watched as the crew
muttered in terror, only to be silenced by Arnold's resolute host, Lieutenant Simms.
"Be quiet men", he said calmly, "I have received as heavy a fire in open air."
A call came from amidships; "No damage", and the Virginia's crew gave a mighty
cheer! Their ironclad was truly shotproof. It was a miracle that none of the shot had
entered through the four open gun ports.
"Starboard battery – Prepare to Fire!" called out Lieutenant Jones.
["Wull, time to take the buns out of the oven"] Wakko mused to Fowlmouth.
Together they watched as glowing 9-inch cannon balls were rolled out of the ship's
furnaces below and into iron buckets. The smoking hot shot were hoisted up to the
mouth of the Dahlgren guns as water-soaked wads were rammed in. The loading
men gripped the red-hot cannon balls with huge tongs that fit into the tugs in them.
Using sheer muscle, the loaders gingerly rolled the burning shot down the gun
tubes and backed off as the rammer put another wad in to hold the hot-shot in
place. The two hot-shot guns were then lugged into firing position with more muscle.
["Ohh yer mother's tomato!"], swore Fowlmouth at the exertion, ["I'm gonna
bust a giblet doing this!"]
["Could be worse –"], thought Wakko, ["You could be ramming wet wads."]
The rooster and the Warner kid snickered like sixth graders and FM commented:
["Heh! Heheheheheh! _ You said ‘wads'."]
("King Kong Music Suite" "Jungle Dance" #16)
Their juvenile moment ended as Jones ordered "STARBOARD BATTERY!
FIRE!"
At the command, the Virginia's four-gun broadside belched flame and glowing shot
at the Congress. The effect was terrible. Babs felt the sudden warmth and the next
instant she lay on the deck among her host's fallen comrades. One of the Virginia's
shells had come in through the port hole of gun number seven, struck the gun
carriage and dismounted the gun, killing or wounding the entire sixteen man crew.
Merely knocked down by the others, the bunny's host struggled to stand up while
the men lay around him, swept by the explosion into a bruised and bleeding heap.
Then she heard the type of cry sailors fear most.
"FIRE! THE SHIP'S ON FIRE!"
The rest of the men scrambled back to their guns as the damage control parties
grabbed their fire-axes and began to viciously chop away at the bulkheads to get
to the fire with their hoses. Wounded men tried to crawl away from the flames.
Babs' host grabbed a man by the shoulders and hauled him across the deck, but
safety there was merely temporary. Another shout went up.
"FIRE NEAR THE AFTER MAGAZINE!"
Wondering if they meant People or Cosmopolitan, Babs and her host
hurried to the Captain, Lieutenant Smith, who shouted orders to encourage his
crew.
"We've taken two hot-shot!" Smith said, "If the fire hose can't put it out, the
fire will hit the ship's gunpowder! Get the fire under control!"
As the men raced to cheat death, the Beaufort and the Raleigh returned to make
trouble.
["Sorry Babs"] Buster muttered as his host opened fire again.
One of the Confederate shot hit the Congress's bow, but the Federal ship's return
fire knocked out the Raleigh's only cannon. She could still fight, but the Congress
was now critically damaged.
["Ricky, yer going to have some ‘splaining to do!"] Babs thought angrily at Buster.
Chapter CXXXV
Lieutenant Jones stuck his head up through the hatchway to get a view of the
effect of their broadside on the Congress and the Doctor within him saw the frigate
smoking as the Virginia moved past it. The face of Captain Buchanan was flushed
with emotion, but his eyes were fixed fiercely upon his target. He did not pause to
finish off the stricken prey, as nothing would delay his intended rendezvous with the
Cumberland.
"Turn forty-five degrees port", ordered ‘Old Buck', "Bring us around her bow!"
Jones paused to look, but relayed the order to the helmsman.
["This maneuver might ground us on the mud"] Lord thought to Shirley.
["Damn the mud – Full speed ahead!"] , the Loon answered, ["..Like sorry_ I guess
I'm getting caught up in his aggressive vibes er sum junk. He's like, going to
outgun them while protecting his ship and getting in closer. They have like, almost
no guns at their bow, so he can get the ship in close without getting hurt."]
The ironclad slowly turned her heavy bulk away to go around the
Cumberland's bowsprit while the sloop-of-war kept up her fire. Lord and Shirley
ducked as several shot rattled down her length, punching gashes through
the smokestack, smashing the railings and cutting down the flagstaff.
"Our flag has fallen!" someone shouted inside the casemate.
Wakko was watching his host oversee the re-loading of his cannon, when he
suddenly found himself charging up the main stairway towards the top hatch!
Lieutenant Eggelston crouched in the open hatchway before leaping out onto the
exposed upper deck and running aft at full speed! The crewmen looked up in
surprise as his footsteps resounded over their heads.
["Boy, it's a much better view from up here"] Wakko observed passively.
Ahead, Eggleston saw the fallen flagstaff and ran to pick it up. The ten foot pole
was as thick as his arm and quite heavy, but he swung the Confederate flag up
high, the colors streaming with the breeze. As he struggled to stuff it's broken base
into the holes in the grating, a bullet ricocheted off the armor plate at his feet!
[‘"Z'wounds, Wakko! What do you think you're doing?!"] Dr. Lord yelled
abruptly as his host saw Eggleston under fire on the stern.
["Sorry, I was overcome by patriotism"] the Warner kid shrugged with a grin.
["Wakko Wakkarotti DuPont Warner!! You get your tail back down that hole this
instant!!"] the Doctor shouted sternly.
As musket balls zinged off the armor plating around him, Eggleston stuffed
the broken flagstaff into the grating and ran back to the hatchway, dodging
bullets as he went, as the ship swung under his feet! Wakko was biting his
tongue as he ran down the stairs to safety. His host returned to his gun with a
grin that was returned by everyone who saw him.
["Sorry Doc, it was his idea – not mine"] Wakko apologized.
Lord sighed in relief and thought ["We should have remembered that Eggleston
would do that. Next time give me fair warning."]
Their emotions were quickly forgotten as the heavy ironclad turned hard to the
left and the starboard broadside guns were run out. The ship jerked slowly ahead
as its keel dragged in the mud. Within their hosts, the Toonsters waited in dread
silence until their weapons were pointed at the Cumberland's bow. On the
hurricane deck, Shirley and Lord could see that they had now "capped the T".
"STARBORD BATTERY – FIRE!" shouted Lieutenant Jones.
("King Kong Suite" "The Bronte" #18)
Plucky and his host, the Captain, began to run forward just as the guns went off.
All four shells raked the Cumberland's bow, blasting it into a shambles. The
Cumberland's gunners replied with all they had, but their cheers became vicious
curses as they saw their shot and shell bounce harmlessly off the Virginia's tough
hide like peas from a popgun. Plucky watched the dead men, little more than
reddish barrels of bloody meat, as they were unceremoniously stacked like
cordwood on the deck for later burial. Torn limbs lay on the deck.
["This can't be happening_I don't believe it_"], thought the terrified duck,
["It can't be real!..Cut! _Cut it! Somebody please cut it out!!"]
His host, Lieutenant Morris shouted to the ship's pilot.
"Smith! Turn the ship! Hell and damnation –TURN HER!!"
"We're trying, Captain!" replied A.B. Smith as he pointed, "The tide is
too strong! We can't turn against it!"
Indeed, men on the nearby wharf were struggling to haul the ship around
with a block and tackle, but it was no use. The tide from the James River was
pushing them the wrong direction!
"It's impossible for our vessel to get out of her way" Smith lamented.
Morris and the duck within him grimly clawed and climbed their way to the bowsprit
through shattered wood and smashed bodies. Over the bow he saw the Virginia
about five hundred feet away turning slowly towards them again, looking silent and
still, weird and mysterious, like some devilish and superhuman monster,
or the horrid creation of a nightmare. Now at close range the two warships poured
out a living tide of fire and smoke, of shot and heavy shells. From the Cumberland's
ship's scuppers, streams of crimson gore ran into the sea from the deck like
washwater. Onward came the glistening black monster, looking like a half
-submerged crocodile as she ploughed through the water towards the bow. At her
prow, Plucky saw the iron ram he and Hamton had mounted there, projecting
straight forward somewhat about the water's edge.
"FIRE!" both he and his angry host shouted simultaneously.
The Federals fired as best they could, only to see their projectiles bouncing off her
mailed sides like rubber balls, apparently not making the least impression.
Frightened and furious, Plucky and his host shouted as one!
"Come on, you damned rebels!"
["Plucky it's nothing personal, rilly!"] Shirley apologized uselessly.
["Plucky – get a hold of yourself!"] Buster told him.
Inside the Virginia's iron shell, the Cumberland's ferocious barrage of fire
made a terrible din. The deafening roar of the guns and the sharp crack of the
enemy shot pounding it made everyone's ears ring, but the ship remained
undamaged. Calamity's host had cautiously climbed to the gun deck to witness the
fighting. The coyote flinched fearfully as he watched the Cumberland's shot strike
the sloping sides and be deflected upward to burst harmlessly in the air or roll
noisily down to fall hissing into the water, dashing the spray up into the gun ports.
Looking up, he saw Captain Buchanan still standing where he had been
since the action commenced, in the open hatchway on the hurricane deck, foolishly
exposed, but miraculously unhurt. Buchanan raised his speaking trumpet, his clear
voice shouting across the waters.
"DO YOU - SURRENDER?" he hollered at the Cumberland.
Lieutenant Morris – the Captain of the sloop-of-war had but one answer, and
full-throated, he yelled back at his enemy.
"NEVER!! I'LL SINK ALONG SIDE!! I'LL GO DOWN WITH MY
COLORS FLYING!!!"
"_So be it," Buchanan said reluctantly.
["Like, he was trying to stop the fighting"], Shirley thought sadly, ["Now he has
no choice."]
["He had a choice! He could have stayed loyal to his country!"]
Plucky thought angrily.
["He'd already tried that once – they wouldn't take him back"] replied the loon.
["Plucky Duck – you're taking this too hard"], Lord told him, ["You're an
observer – not a participant."]
["Too hard?! Tell that to the guy who just had his head blown off!"]
["Plucky? Keep cool. We've still got to rescue you"] Hamton reminded him.
["Look out, here comes yer first chance!"] Shirley warned as Buchanan
stepped down to the platform below and called Ramsey to him.
"Full ahead Mister Ramsey! You have your orders", the Captain shouted over
the sounds of battle, "Helmsman – Steer directly for that vessel!"
Calamity's host ran to the down ladder and yelled to his engineers:
"RAMMING SPEED!"
The cranky old engines throttled up, the steady thumping becoming a thrashing
of hissing steam as the drive shaft spun the huge seventeen and a half foot
propeller, dragging the ship's keel out of the muddy bottom and into deeper water.
The monster charged like a rhinoceros, dipping its horn to strike!
Gogo looked painfully at Dunbar, knowing the end was near. If there was
only something he could do! As they prepared to fire the bow gun, the sponge-man
deftly leaped over the breaching tackle with the sponger in his hands and plunged
it down the cannon's throat to swab out the hot metal. Skillfully he pulled it out and
moved cleanly out of the way for the loaders.
Exerting all the will power he could muster, the Dodo spoke, actually causing
his host Curtis to speak aloud.
"Good work Soldier!" Gogo and Curtis cried.
The gun's captain, Lieutenant Simms (and Arnold within him) gave him a moment's
pause, but returned to business. An image became indelibly stamped on Gogo's
memory, as Dunbar stood at ease amidst the violence and gunsmoke with his
sponger at the ready, flashing a big grin at him.
(Star TrekVOL#2, The Doomsday Machine", Kirk Does It Again" #12 )
Chapter CXXXVI
On the deck of the Cumberland, Plucky and his host drew his officer's sword
from its scabbard and brandished the weapon at the oncoming ironclad! He
waved his officer's cocked hat high with the other arm and cheered on his crew!
"The damned cessesh aim to board us! What say ye, men?" he shouted.
"NEVER!!!" roared the men, shaking their fists and hurling insults at their enemies.
"Then give them your answer! BLAST THEM TO HELL!!!" Morris cried.
The Cumberland's guns went off with a thunderous roar and all the armed men on
deck leveled their muskets and pistols at the ironclad's open gun ports. With a
tremendous crash and white clouds of smoke, they fired their side arms and rifles at
the armored beast, their shot and Minie' balls hitting it's sloping sides like a
hailstorm.
At the Virginia's stern, Mary had nothing to do but wait.
["Won't this be an opportunity to get Plucky back aboard?"] she wondered.
["Not yet"] the Doctor answered. ["The power's not high enough"], he said
as his host popped his head up to see if the ship's ramming course was true.
As the thirty-five-hundred ton ironclad moved in at six knots, Richard Curtis
cautiously peered out the bow gun port and Gogo saw a sight he would never
forget – the whole starboard side of the Cumberland was lined with officers and
men with cutlasses and boarding pikes, ready to repel any rebel boarders. The
angry mob shook their fists and weapons ferociously, their furious faces grimacing
with deadly hatred! Gogo saw their heroic captain Morris and Plucky within him,
with his hat off and his sword raised, cheering on his men! The sight of the
moment passed as he and the gun crew ran out their weapon to fire at
point-blank range.
"Look out, men! I am going to ram that ship!" warned Captain Buchanan.
["Stand Fast!"] Lord commanded.
The ironclad monster ploughed her way towards the sloop-of-war's
starboard bow like a unstoppable locomotive. In the engine room, Calamity heard
two rings of the ship's gong, meaning stop engines. Then came three gongs, the
signal to reverse. Either the Captain had gotten excited and ordered the engines
reversed too soon, or else he hoped to have them already reversed before striking
the Cumberland so that the ironclad might back away all the sooner.
Ramsey followed his orders. Pushing the cranky old steam engines into
reverse took a concerted effort with his assistant engineers who had to stand atop
the steam boxes and work the levers and reversing wheels in tandem. It was
difficult work even when they weren't rushed, and now they were in the midst of
combat. Calamity helped to shove the lever, the gears changed and the engines
reversed. Then there was an awful pause as the men waited for the deadly crash.
["What eez happeneeng?"] Fifi asked from the sickbay.
From her vantage point on the stern of the Congress, a shaken Babs tried to
describe what she saw.
["The Merrimack is moving in towards the side of the Cumberland's bow_
the Yankees are shooting with everything they got - but it just bounces off!
The Merrimack's ram is so much lower than the side of the wooden ship_
it's gonna be a train-wreck! _I wanna go home."]
Standing on the Cumberland's bow, Plucky was surprised as the men
calmly waited for the collision and worked their guns right up to the moment of
the inevitable crash.
"Stand by to Repel Boarders!!" he shouted with his host, waving his sword.
Marines and sailors crowded to the ship's rail with cutlasses and muskets!
Arnold and Gogo peeped out of the forward gun ports and saw the side
of the Cumberland looming over them, as hot lead ricocheted off the plating only
inches away. Arnold wanted to cover his eyes, but his host's steady gaze was
un-flinching. He saw a series of timbers floating around the wooden ship,
chained together to prevent mines from hitting it.
Like a sea monster of old, the Virginia crashed through the floating logs to
smash into the Cumberland, forcing it backwards! The ship reeled sideways with
the mortal blow, listing to port and pulling her anchor-chains out of the water as the
ironclad's massive weight drove her back against them!
On the bridge platform below the hatchway, Shirley and Lord heard the
crash and snapping of the timbers as the Virginia's formidable cast-iron ram,
backed by several hundred tons of ironclad propelled at about seven miles per
hour, tore into the Cumberland's starboard side below the water line, striking under
her fore-chains near the bow. Calamity's host was nearly knocked from his feet as
the ship trembled with the impact.
When the Cumberland was hit, Plucky and his host's men fell and rolled
across the deck like bowling pins! Angrily, they let loose their firepower on the
enemy, firing at point-blank range at their attackers. Below decks in the sickbay,
ten wounded men lay groaning in agony on the floor. They suddenly heard the
cracking and breaking of the ship's hull underneath them as the ram punched
through the ship's wooden sides like a knife through ripe cheese. At the same
instant, Lieutenant Simms fired the Virginia's bow gun into the very heart of the
rammed ship! The shell exploded in the sickbay, reducing the wounded men to
shreds like so much strawberry jelly.
The crash into the Cumberland was devastating in it's results. The ram had
made a seven–foot hole in her wide enough to drive in a horse and cart. The water
rushed in with irresistible force, almost instantly flooding the ship's hold. The cracking
and breaking of her timbers told full well how fatal to her the collision was.
Gogo's host Curtis stood to the right of the Virginia's bow rifle as the gun
recoiled backward and the crew prepared to reload. The Dodo watched anxiously
as Arnold's host Lieutenant Simms called out, "Sponge!"
Dunbar, the brave sponge man, leaped over the breeching tackle and threw
his head partially out of the open gun port to obey. A Marine on the Cumberland's
deck who'd been waiting for just such an opportunity squeezed his trigger and fired
his rifle.
Dunbar dropped dead on the deck at Gogo's feet, shot through the head.
His sponge had barely clattered to the floor when his replacement picked it up and
fulfilled the dead man's task. Curtis and the Dodo within him winced in anguish as
they pulled their lifeless friend away from the action behind the gun. Curtis knelt and
cradled his fallen comrade's head a moment while Arnold and his host looked on.
["I'm so sorry, Gogo"] the pit bull whimpered.
["Oh my God, they've killed Dunbar!"], Gogo screamed, ["YOU BASTARDS!!!"]
The body was swiftly taken away to the sickbay, right out of Curtis's hands.
Gogo now noticed the blood of his good friend staining his palms. His hands
clenched into tight fists as he looked up at Arnold with tear-filled eyes full of hatred.
["Of Course you know - This Means War!"] thought the enraged Dodo,
as he and his host returned to their post with deadly purpose.
(Star TrekVOL#2 "The Doomsday Machine", "Violent Shakes" #8)
Chapter CXXXVII
Meanwhile, shouts rang out on the Cumberland's deck amidst the heavy firing.
"We're shipping water forward!"
"They shot up the sickbay!"
"The forward
magazine is flooding!"
"More powder!"
"Pass along the cartridges!"
"Man the pumps! " called Morris and Plucky.
"Water's coming in too fast! It's hopeless!" Lieutenant Selfridge told him.
Morris looked over the side at the ironclad still stuck into the hull of his ship.
He saw his own vessel's weight bearing down on it as the Virginia's propeller
churned the water behind it as it tried to escape.
"Maybe it is for the Merrimack as well," said he.
Now it became painfully evident just why Buchanan had wanted to have the
engines reversed as soon as possible. The Virginia had opened such a hole in her
adversary that the sloop immediately began to list to starboard as the water filled
her. In doing so, she bore down on the ironclad's ram, still inside her, and began
forcing the Virginia down by the bow. Unless Buchanan could get his ship backed
out quickly, the sinking Cumberland could hold her trapped in this position –
perhaps even taking the ironclad down with her!
As Gogo watched from the gun port, he saw the side of the Cumberland
listing towards them.
["The ship's gonna fall on us!"] he thought, panicked.
At the same time, the Commodore's aide, Flag Lieutenant Robert Minor ran
down the Virginia's gun deck, shouting in triumph "We've sunk the Cumberland!"
["What's happening?"] asked Mary again from her position in the stern.
As if in answer, the deck slowly began to tilt forward as the Cumberland began
to pull the Virginia's nose under! The alarmed men looked to their officers in charge.
"Ramsey, get us out of here!" shouted the Captain.
Calamity's host turned to his assistant engineers and ordered: "Full Astern!
Emergency!"
The coyote and the men threw the rusty levers and the old engines thumped
louder. The engines labored till the vessel was shaken in every fiber – but the
ironclad did not move. Instead, Calamity noticed that the deck was starting to
depress visibly toward the bow!
["We've got to break loose! Or else she'll pull us down with her!"] the
coyote warned as the giant pistons and push-rods slammed back and forth.
Suddenly there was a terrific explosion in the center of the ship!
["The boilers have burst! We're gonna blow up!"] Calamity cried.
["Look again, Calamity"], Shirley told him from the deck, ["We just took a shell
in the smokestack, an' it exploded. My ears are totally blitzed now!"]
"The black gang" in the engine room ducked as hot smoking fragments of
shrapnel rained down on the boiler room floor. They coal heavers muttered in alarm,
wondering if they might be sinking. Some of the gun crews looked up with fear as
a large wave washed over the ship's submerging bow and poured into the bow
gun port, splashing Gogo and Arnold's hosts with cold seawater! Then there was
another terrible blast as a further shell from the Cumberland hit just outside the port
and exploded! A man fell, knocked senseless by the shock of the impact. He was
carried below, bleeding from the nose and ears. The Toonsters groaned with
aching ears and throbbing heads.
["Yipe, yipe, yipe, yipe!"] Arnold whined.
["Keep your mouths open. I warned you about the concussion"] Lord reminded
them.
["But then all I get is a lung-full of gun smoke"] Fowlmouth complained.
["Mayday! Mayday! We're sinking! Women and Dodos first!"] Gogo whooped.
["She's gonna carry us down with her!"] Furball cried.
The other toons fussed until Shirley shushed them all.
["Yeah, like you all rilly studied well, I'm sure. Look!"]
The tidal current had caught the length of the Virginia's hull and was pushing
it downriver. With the engines going full astern, the ironclad and the sloop were
twisting backwards; the James River's power pulling the two ships around till both
their starboard sides were nearly facing each other. Almost parallel, the ships'
bows grinded together and bent. The weakened ram that Plucky and Hamton had
badly mounted broke off from the resulting torque with a crackling snap. A fortunate
wave rolled the Federal sloop slightly in its swell and with the tension released –
the Virginia finally backed out. The ram was torn away and remained behind in the
Cumberland.
["Like the wasp, we could sting but once, leaving the sting in the wound"]
mused Calamity.
["I think that's bees"] Furball reminded him.
["We're free!"] , Hamton thought in relief, then admitted, ["Gosh Plucky, I guess we
didn't do such a good job on that ram after all".]
["That's because you were too busy thinking of the smell of your girlfriend's
tail! Filling our minds with "Essence de la Derrière!"] Plucky thought back angrily.
If Hamton had been able to, he'd have burned up, red-faced with rage.
["Hey! RrrrrrrrrRR! Shut up, Plucky!"] he exploded.
["No, you shut up!"] the duck retorted.
["Vous Both Shut Up!!"] Fifi shouted, silencing them.
Plucky was distracted as Lieutenant Selfridge pounded a fist on the rail.
"We should have dropped the anchor on them! We could have dragged them
down with us!" he cried as the Virginia escaped.
With the Confederate ironclad clear of the Cumberland, the Congress
opened up her broadside guns, blasting away at it's stern. Mary shuddered in
shock as the cannon balls smashed down on the iron plating just a few feet
away! The heat flash of the exploding shells nearly scorched her face.
["Incoming! _ Sorry, Mary!"] warned Babs as the gunners plastered the
rebel ship with solid shot.
Mary winced at the deafening blasts and thought back with a sarcastic lilt.
["Mmmph! Thanks a lot, girlfriend."]
On the Cumberland, it was clear to Plucky that the ship was sinking
beneath his webbed feet. Dead and dying men lay around him. The once clean
and beautiful deck was slippery with blood, blackened with gunpowder, shrouded
in smoke and looked like a slaughterhouse. Even as the gunners continued to work
the guns, the ship began to settle beneath them. Even then, with the sloop-of-war
literally sinking under them, the brave men of the Cumberland dragged the dead to
the unengaged side of the ship and returned to their guns, loading and firing as fast
as they could.
"The forward magazine is flooded!" a man called.
"Bring the ammunition from the after-magazine forwards!" shouted Morris and
Plucky "Kill those son-of-a-guns!"
["Ooo, such strong language, Plucky"] mocked Fowlmouth.
["This is the nineteenth century, FM"], the Doctor reminded him, ["It means what
you think it should mean. Good officers didn't swear like sailors."]
Now that the Virginia had backed about twenty feet away, Buchanan
ordered Ramsey to nudge the engines ahead again. Calamity and the others
fought to twist the lever and engage the reversing gears. The cams of the huge
push-rods swung round till they slowly came to a halt - then the cam turned further
unexpectedly– leaving it off-center! The engine's pistons were stuck in mid-stroke!
Ramsey and the men struggled with all their might, straining against the shift-levers,
but it was no use! Calamity was aghast. The ship was unable to move and
helpless!
["It's stuck! The engines are stuck!!"] the coyote cried.
Chapter CXXXVIII
With the engines frozen, the Virginia's guns could not bear and her firing ceased.
The vengeful gunners of the Cumberland fired a tremendous broadside into the
ironclad. One shot struck the muzzle of Midshipman Marmaduke's gun, blowing
two feet of the cannon off. Steel fragments sprayed the gun's crew like buckshot.
Marmaduke was hit and knocked to the deck. Blood spurted from painful wounds
in his arm, but he stood up again to man his gun.
Another shell hit the Virginia's exposed foredeck, severing the ship's anchor
chain on one side, which sent the twelve-foot anchor falling into the seabed.
Relieved of it's weight, the heavy anchor chain whipped back into the ship with a
terrible ripping sound, it's broken iron link flying across the orlop deck over Fifi's head
like a giant horseshoe to wound a man.
The skunkette's host, Doctor Phillips only glanced a moment from the
wounded sailor he was treating. With bare, bloody hands, he removed shrapnel
from a musket ball from the man's arm. Fifi gritted her teeth at the grim business.
["Doc - like, what do we do?! We've got to get this ship moving!"]
Shirley cried, losing her composure.
["We relax and let the men do their jobs. They'll know what to do. We're
here to find out how they did it"] Lord thought firmly.
Below, Calamity could see the problem. As long as the steam pressure
was engaging the piston rods – it was locked. Once the pressure was gone –
the rods could be manipulated. But faster than he could think of it – his host and
the engineers were already doing it. The steam drums hissed sharply as the
pressure was valved off and the already oppressive heat grew worse. Gingerly,
two of the engineers risked death by climbing between the piston rods to move
the giant cams with levers. Sweating bullets, the two groaned and strained to shift
the cam down off its center position. With a titanic effort, they slowly wedged the
universal joint back into a working position. Carefully, they squirmed out from
between the engine's moving parts that could have crushed them both like
eggshells had they slipped. Ramsey and Calamity manned the reversing gear
again and then engaged the steam to the three-foot pistons. The engines hissed –
and finally began to function again. The men drew a deep sigh of relief.
"Helm hard over! Take us alongside" Buchanan ordered.
["The Captain's thinkin' of passing on the rest of this fight. He totally doesn't wanna
kill anymore sailors"], thought Shirley, ["If the ship's gonna sink, he may let it go."]
Aboard the Cumberland, the fighting was desperately personal now.
Delirium seized the crew. They stripped to their trousers, kicked off their shoes
and tied handkerchiefs around their heads. The men were enraged that their heavy
fighting was hardly damaging their enemy. When they began aiming at the
Virginia's ports and scoring hits, the men cheered! They yelled and fought like
demons! The sanded deck was red and slippery with blood of the wounded
and the dying. They were dragged amidships as there was no one and
no time to take them below.
"WE'LL SEE YOU IN HELL, JOHNNY REB!" the men screamed.
"You first, Billy Yank!" men shouted back from the Virginia's gun ports.
"Send the cutter ashore with a line!" Morris called, still trying to save his ship.
From behind the sloop-of-war, a boat was carrying a hawser rope to the nearby
wharf in an effort to pull the Cumberland around. They hoped to either beach the
ship on shore so she wouldn't sink or to bring her broadside guns to bear. They
did not have to wait long. Shirley and the Doctor saw them.
"They're trying to escape to shore, Captain" said Lieutenant Jones.
Captain Buchanan blew out his lower lip in frustration and called out "Return fire!"
Jones went down the stairs and directed the starboard broadside. Calamity
returned to the gun deck as his host met wordlessly with that of the Doctor.
Both opened their mouths as the four broadside guns blasted the air with flame
and hot shot! The coyote winced at the explosion, but Doctor Lord seemed to
breath it in, taking in deep breaths of the acrid gunsmoke, savoring it as if it were
a bakery full of freshly baked bread. Together they watched as the forward
pressure from the guns pulled the lingering smoke out thru the gun ports like a
momentary vacuum. The spurt of smoke followed the fire as the gun recoiled
backward, forming a huge white, donut-shaped smoke-ring, which flew slowly
through the air like an undulating ghost. The ironclad's ports truly looked like
hell mouths from a fire-breathing dragon.
The toons saw Marmaduke's gun with it's dangerously broken muzzle,
amazingly still in action. Marmaduke himself stood clutching his painful bleeding
wounded arm but still ringing out the orders: "Sponge, load, fire". The flames
from the broken gun barrel actually set fire to the wooden gun port and had to be
smothered with sand, leaving it smoking and singed. The midshipman relaxed,
slumping to the deck, as blood streamed from his face.
Just then, the boy who had entrusted him with his money purse now came to
him and said: "Oh, Mister Marmaduke! Mister Marmaduke, you're going to die!
Give me back my money!"
The toons had no time to laugh as they tugged away at their guns, training
and sighting their pieces. The hot-shot gun aft was ready to fire, manned by
Confederate Marines and commanded by Lieutenant Davidson. Looking through
his eyes was Furball, ready to give the order to fire, when suddenly with a terrible
metallic crash the gun muzzle was hit by a shell from the Cumberland. The horrific
explosion set off the cannon, sending the sizzling, glowing shot into the
Cumberland's hull.
One of the gun's crew crumpled to the deck, gored by the detonation.
Louis Waldeck struggled and screamed a moment before dying, but there was no
thought or time for anyone to help him. Furball wanted to turn his head away from
the ugly moment, but his host had to fulfill his duties.
"The muzzle of our gun has been shot away" cried one of the gunners.
"No matter, keep on loading and firing – do the best you can with it," replied
Lieutenant Jones. Then his orders rang out with warning: "Keep away from
the side ports! Don't lean against the shield! Look out for sharpshooters!"
Fowlmouth coughed at the stinking smoky atmosphere of black
powder gunsmoke and coal smoke inside the casemate.
["This is terrible fer my sinuses"] Wakko complained.
["The smokestack has been shot full of holes"], Calamity told them, ["It's cutting
down the draft from the boilers and our speed. The steam pressure isn't as strong
as it was before. The smoke is blowing back in here with us."]
["That's bad enough, but the grease they coated the casemate with is being
set on fire by the heat from the guns and explosions"] the Doctor told them.
["They greased the ship to make the cannon balls slip off?"] Calamity asked.
["A simple solution that worked well. But now the outside of the casemate is literally
frying from one end to the other"] Lord thought, looking at the smoke curling outside
the gun ports.
["Eww! It smells like Weenie Burgers,"] thought Mary.
Despite the heat, smoke and stench, the crew was in high courage and worked
with a will. The crews with the shortened, broken guns, still managed to work them
despite how they set the ports on fire. Buckets of water and sand were hastily
thrown out the ports as soon as the gun had recoiled to quench the flames.
"Pass along the cartridges."
"More powder."
"A shell for number six."
"A wet wad for the hot-shot gun."
"Put out that pipe and don't light it again on peril of your life!"
"There must be women aboard that ship. Men don't scream like that."
The Toonsters listened to the harsh words and stern orders given, but could see
little as the gun deck became entirely enshrouded in smoke. Fowlmouth observed
his gun crew, their faces all so blackened by the grimy gunpowder smoke that
they looked like they wore blackface makeup.
["Hey, what's dis? One a dem ol' banned cartoons?"] wondered the rooster.
["What chu talkin' bout, Fowlmouth?"] Mary asked with attitude.
["Oh nuthin', Mare"] FM thought, rolling his eyes innocently.
As the burning grease's smoke curled into the casemate, he overheard the
exchange of two of his gun crew in the midst of reloading.
"Jack, don't this smell like hell?" John Hunt asked his comrade.
"It certainly does, and I think we'll all be there in a few minutes,"
answered Jack Cronin.
(Star TrekVOL#2 "The Doomsday Machine" "Goodbye Mr. Decker" #10)
Chapter CXXXIX
It was, indeed, hell on the Cumberland. Plucky looked over a scene of carnage
and destruction never to be recalled without horror. The shot and shell from the
Virginia crashed through the wooden sides of the Cumberland as if they were
made of paper, carrying huge splinters with them and dealing death
and destruction on every hand. Plucky's host Lieutenant Morris stood shouting
orders and waving his sword, cheering on his men despite their hopeless
predicament.
"Look out!" they both barked as more shot and shell entered through one
side and passed through the ship carrying everything before them.
Morris called Acting master's Mate O'Neil to his side. "We must pull inshore! "
"We're trying, Mister Morris, but the ship is too waterlogged to move!"
said the Mate, his face and uniform splattered with the blood and brains of
his unfortunate predecessor, Master's Mate Harrington.
"Keep on trying!" Morris/ Plucky cried.
O'Neil saluted as he ran to the capstan where a few men still strained at the
ropes. The few gun crews left alive prepared to fire another broadside as the
water crept up to the gun duck's level just beneath their feet.
["FIRE!"] Plucky raged blindly at the Virginia as another shell exploded,
killing many of one of the gun crews.
Arms and legs were strewn about and the air reeked with the sickly smell of
blood and bowels. The duck watched in horror as a gunner, with both his legs
blown away, took three staggering steps on the bleeding stumps to resolutely pull
the lanyard and fire one last shot at his enemy before falling dead. Another man
lost both arms and was being carried by his comrades to the port side.
"Give ‘em fits!!" he cried painfully, before he too died. Over a hundred men lay dead
or dying. Arms and legs were kicked aside so that the gunners would not trip over
them.
Through it all, not a man flinched. In the entire crew there was not a single
case of cowardice. The gunners stood to their posts as water rose around the gun
carriages. A twelve-year-old powder boy ran splashing through the water up to his
ankles. His stoic, powder-blackened face was only snowy white where the tracks
of his tears trickled down in silence, as he worked hard to keep the guns in action.
Black smoke drew a curtain over the sun, but the crew of the Cumberland
continued to fight her as though there was still hope. They manned each gun until
the rising water covered it. Some still worked the pumps in vain. One of the
Virginia's hot shot from the broken-muzzled gun set the ship on fire, but it was
quickly extinguished. Smoke settled on the deck and over the sea. The cries of the
wounded and the dying sounded across the waters and sea birds screamed in
the distance.
("King Kong Suite" "The Aeroplane" #20)
Plucky's face was tight with hatred for his enemies, a bitter lump in his throat
burned as he swallowed it down. But his pride in his men overwhelmed his anger
and he stood proudly with one foot on the rail and one in the rigging as his
undefeated ship sank beneath his feet. He still waved his sword and said:
"Give them a broadside, boys – as she goes."
There were few guns left serviceable to fire, but fire they did. Lieutenant
Selfridge gathered the remnant of his forward gun division, about thirty men and
with them, hauled a gun that was about to go under back to an open port. They
barely got it in place when a shell burst among them, killing or wounding almost
every one. There was no one left in the first division. Not a gun's crew could be
mustered. All about him lay the blood and mangled corpses of his comrades.
Some of the guns were run in where they had last been fired, spattered with
blood. The rammers, sponges, buckets, and all the accoutrements of the cannon
lay broken and scattered about the splintered deck.
The berth deck finally went underwater and the Cumberland bow began to
slip under. As the wounded saw a watery grave slowly approaching, many of
them were crying pitiably. Only now was it apparent that sending the injured
below had been a horrible mistake. Grasping hands and fingers appeared though
the deck's gratings, the trapped men below desperately trying to escape drowning.
Among them was the ship's un-hurt chaplain, who'd stayed to pray with the
wounded. All of them went down with their ship.
"Save all who can!" shouted Morris/ Plucky.
Only then did the few able-bodied men left abandon the fighting. The wounded
who could walk were taken with them, rushing through the gun ports and jumping
into the sea. The wounded, trapped men's high-pitched screams were horrifying.
One old gunner, an active little fellow named Matthew Tenney, paid no
heed. He rushed to the spar deck where one gun was still clear of the rising sea.
In water up to his ankles, he fired one more defiant shot as the Cumberland went
down, and he with her.
The ship gave a mighty lurch to port! A gun broke loose from its tackle
on the starboard rail and rolled down across the sloping deck like a mad bull,
crushing a sailor who on the verge of escape, leaving him mangled on the deck.
["JUMP PLUCKY! JUMP NOW!"] Shirley and Lord shouted desperately.
Morris stood at the stern as other men jumped clear into the cold water, swimming
towards a small boat that was picking up the shipwrecked crew. Other men
climbed frantically up the ship's rigging. Plucky gazed at the water below.
["Heck of a time to find out that this guy can't swim"] he muttered.
Near the boat, Morris saw O'Neil climbing into it and called to him. Plucky took a
deep breath and jumped! Suddenly the cold green water was all around him, his
boots and heavy uniform dragging him down into the abrupt silence – then
suddenly his body shot to the surface, popping up like a cork.
["Swim Plucky, Swim!"] Shirley cried.
["Oh no duh"] thought the duck as he struck out for the line O'Neil threw to him.
Lieutenant Selfrige was the last to leave, helping the ship's pudgy drummer boy
who could not swim to climb overboard, where he floated on his drum, using it as
a buoy till he was picked up.
Behind them, the Cumberland finally went down by the bow, sliding
down into the depths, taking her dead and wounded with her. Her stern rose high
above the seas as the last bits of air buoyed her up. There was a sickening crash
as the compartments inside broke loose, sending tons of smashed bulkheads
to fall down upon the drowning men! Then after a final tragic pause, the sloop
slid down to the bottom with a great hiss, the sea boiling up as the last of the air
escaped its hold.
Morris and Plucky within him were pulled to safety into the rescue boat.
Soaking wet, they rowed to the Cumberland's masts, which protruded from the
water at an angle of forty degrees, as her hull came to rest on the bottom of
Hampton Roads. If the Federals could take any consolation at all from the
heartbreaking scene of their ship going down, it was that her flag still waved
proudly and defiantly at her top.
Morris, Selfrige, O'Neil and the others rowed in silence as the great ship
met her heroic death. They rowed to where the Stars and Stripes hung over the
mass grave of one hundred and twenty-one brave souls, proud that their flag was
still there. Morris stood up in the boat while the others pulled in the remaining
swimmers. Plucky was moved beyond words, but Captain Morris knew just what
to say.
"Three cheers for the Cumberland, men!" he shouted.
"Hip-hip! HUZZAH! Hip-hip! HUZZAH!" Hip-hip! HUZZAAAAH!!!" they all cheered.
"The Devil take the Merrimack!" said Selfrige, "They've not seen the last of
us!"
(Star Trek Vol#2 "The Doomsday Machine", "Cmdr. Matt Decker" #4)
Slowly the men rowed to shore and Plucky saw the distance widening
between himself and the other toons. He'd still have to escape back to them when
the time came. Nothing seemed real as he sat in the rear seat of the little boat,
numbed by the cold and the reality of the terrible tragedy. He stared at nothing.
Chapter CXL
Mary watched the tragedy from her post at the stern gun ports of the Virginia
as the ship chugged away. She and her host Lieutenant Wood were deeply
moved.
"No ship ever fought more gallantly," he said, "She went down with her
colors flying."
The Virginia fired again, this time at Camp Butler onshore.
As the ironclad moved slowly away up the James River, Lieutenant Eggleston
returned to the hurricane deck to replace the flag that had been shot down again.
This time Doctor Lord didn't say anything to Wakko, as the danger seemed to have
momentarily passed. The Warner kid was surprised to see that all of the ship's
railings and howitzers had been swept away. The ironclad's two boats were all
shot up. One was so damaged that it would never be used again. The ship's iron
plating showed many indentations but was intact. The stem of the bow was
twisted. The smokestack had been shot so full of holes that a flock of crows could
have flown straight through it without much trouble. Wakko secured the broken
flagstaff to a rip in the smokestack, so the battle-scarred Confederate colors
streamed from it with the wind and smoke.
["This is amazing! How did we survive all that?"] Wakko exclaimed.
The other toons and their hosts were relaxing from the terrible fight in grim silence.
Those on the gun deck paused before they began reloading again. They breathed
in the last of the gunsmoke and tasted its bitterness. The casemate was quiet
as the ironclad moved off. Below in the engine room, Calamity pulled back on the
steam throttle and the engines thumped at an easier pace. Fifi bandaged a man's
head from a concussion. Hamton sweated at his post in the pilothouse. He
watched the Captain and Lieutenant Jones speaking quietly.
Pulling up alongside to aid the Virginia was Buster commanding the
Beaufort. His men threw a towline to her bow.
At the bow gun, Arnold sadly watched Gogo as their hosts worked. The
Dodo shook with emotion. The image of Dunbar's smiling face would not leave
him.
The only sounds that echoed through the Toonsters minds were that of
Shirley's thoughts. Her battle-hardened host, the Captain looked with stiffly into the
cold wind blowing over the sea. If he was moved, he would not show it.
But inside of him, the loon quietly cried.
["How will we get Plucky back? What about Babs and Buster?
How can I get through this?"] Shirley wept.
[We'll get home. We'll all get through it"], Lord told her resolutely,
["I promise."]
(Star Trek Vol#2 "The Doomsday Machine", "The Planet Killer" #5)
Aboard the frigate Congress, the men were cheering as they saw the Virginia
going away apparently damaged. Her smokestack was a shambles, leaking
black smoke out at crazy angles. Babs' host, Lieutenant Pendergrast stood at
the stern, looking through a spyglass at the retreating enemy. Lieutenant Smith,
the captain, stood shading his eyes as he watched the distant vessel.
"Looks like the Merrimack's whipped, boys! She's going up the James
to hide at Richmond!" shouted Smith.
"HUZZAH!" "We've won!" The Cumberland's beat her!" Hurrah!!"
cheered the men of the Congress as they saw their ship saved from destruction
and the Union had triumphed over the Rebellion. They cheered again and again.
"Wait!" said Pendergrast, staring at the ironclad.
Babs saw Buster's tugboat taking the Virginia in tow – pulling her bow around
in a wide circle. Babs stared hard. Her mouth slowly opened wide.
Then she and her host both spoke the same chilling words.
"Oh my God__she's turning around_ She's coming back!"
Look for the next Chapters of -
"A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNTO HEAVEN"
coming to you soon.
