PLASTIC ISLAND - PAINTING PARTY

 

  THE $BILLION DOLLAR WHALE - KULO LUNA

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The adventures of John Storm and the Elizabeth Swann. John Storm is an ocean adventurer and conservationist. The Elizabeth Swann is a fast solar powered boat. During a race around the world, news of the sinking of a pirate whaling ship reaches John Storm and his mate Dan Hawk. They decide to abandon the race and try and save the whale.

 

 

 

(Original Book Chapter 36) – Plastic Island - 20 S, 1600 E

 

 

 

THE CORAL SEA <<<

 

 

The crew of the Jonah were exhausted from a night of chase, monitoring their radar and fish finders constantly, the anxiety of almost catching up to the giant whale taking its toll, until Shui finally ordered the night shift below for a few hours well deserved rest. The day watch took over with instructions to maintain course and not lose a bearing on Kulo Luna.

Shui headed down into the shared quarters, clambering into his bunk and almost immediately succumbing to a deep sleep. His shipmates followed suit. They'd left Stang Lee at the helm. Soon there was a chorus of snoring and sighs blending with the throaty throb of the ship's diesel engine.

While the 2nd mate was intent on chasing Kulo Luna, he was not keeping a watchful eye out to the west, though there was a blip now on his radar screen that should have aroused his curiosity somewhat more, he dismissed it as just another vessel in the vast ocean, especially as it was most obviously not after the same quarry as it was heading east. Stang succumbed to dozing at the wheel.

The blip was Captain Frank Paine aboard the 'Ocean Shepherd'. Captain Paine is a veteran activist trained by Greenpeace, then Sea Shepherd, well versed in ocean chases and the occasional skirmish. Along with many other sailors who were following this story, he had been listening to Steve Green's broadcasts and had decided to board the Jonah with his crew and leave a message for the pirates.

"Oi Jack," said Captain Paine to his co-pilot, you ready with those paint cans?"

"Ready and eager Captain," said Jack motioning to a canvas bag with a big smile on his face. Captain Paine eyed the Jonah as the whaler came into sight. He throttled down to contain the noise as much as he could without losing momentum. They were still gaining on the pirate ship and came alongside. The crew of the Ocean Shepherd rallied on deck holding ropes with grappling hooks at their ends, and soft mooring fenders, dangling over the side.

Captain Paine signaled to his crew softly to throw their hooks. "Now." Four men swung their hooks expertly catching hold of Jonah's safety rails. They heaved the two ships together, easing off as the hulls came into contact with the mooring fenders, with a soft thud and a metallic graunch as the hulls inevitably rubbed against each other's paintwork. The men tied off their ropes.

Over went the Captain followed by Jack and two other shipmates. A fifth crew member threw the canvas bag with the paints in it to Jack, who caught it beautifully and gave his shipmate the thumbs up in appreciation of a good throw.

Captain Paine headed to the wheelhouse, softly padding up the steps, followed by another crew member. He slowly eased the door handle open and rushed the 2nd mate before he had a chance to shout any warning. The Captain clamped his hand over the 2nd mate's mouth as he knocked him to the the deck with a solid blow to the back of his neck. Stang Lee was out for the count.

"That's him out for a bit, said Captain Paine. You take the wheel, I'll tell Jack to get going." The Captain nimbly passed through the door and climbed down the steps to where Jack and the other crew members were waiting.

"Okay Jack, get painting." Jack pulled out a can of white paint and began scrawling a message on the side of the deckhouse. It read:

 

 

"WE ARE WHALE KILLORS"

 

 

Then Jack pulled out a can of blue paint and drew a whale, then a can of red paint to draw a blood-red sea. His shipmates began laughing. "Schhhhh," whispered Jack. The hulls of the two ships graunched again, louder than before, despite the fenders.

Down below Shui Razor awoke, listening intently. He knew something was wrong. He checked the cabin clock and realised he'd only been asleep for 55 minutes. A bit bewildered Shui stumbled to his feet, when he heard a grinding noise coming from the side of the whaling ship. Now wide awake, Shui rustled up his shipmates.

"Quickly, get up and follow me, shouted Shui with a note of urgency in his voice." The Japanese crew were alive again instantly. They knew that tone and they knew it meant trouble. They rushed up onto the deck and almost ran straight into Jack still with a paint can in his hand. They could smell the cellulose paint and then spotted the graffiti.

"Get the bastards," shouted Shui, and a fight broke out. Although Captain Paine was more than capable of handling himself from years of bare knuckle fights while in dock, he was no match for Shui. Shui dealt the Captain a series of hard fist pumps to the body in quick succession, followed by a kick to the chest that sent the old sea dog sprawling. Shui rushed to pick up the Captain and lifted him to his feet, then with a rush of anger and adrenaline hoisted the Captain above his head holding him there for a second to enjoy the moment, then throwing him overboard.

Several of the fighting sailors from both teams could not help themselves, but looked over the side and noticed that the Captain appeared to be floating high in the water, almost sitting on the sea. Shui charged in again to help out his side, picking up Jack this time and throwing him overboard. Once again the fighting sailors stopped for a moment to look over the side and this time noticed that Jack was sitting upright on the water. This was impossible of course.

Puzzled, the Japanese team overpowered the last two Ocean Shepherd crew, and chucked them over the side into the water. They wanted to see if they'd float high, and indeed they did. But they could not imagine how this could be possible. Shui fetched a lantern and shone it into the water, blinding the sailors who were half in and half out of the water. Shui wondered if this was some kind of miracle, when Jack got up and started walking on the seawater.

Shui and his crew were stunned. Were they being punished from above. Not one of them had a religious bone in their body, but sometimes things happen that make you wonder if there is a spiritual dimension peeking into our world. Rather than investigate further, the whaling captain thought better to 'get the heck out of here.' He rushed up and into the deck house, re-started the stalled engines and powered south-east.

All was well for a few hundred meters, then the fishing vessel slowed as the engine strained and finally stalled. Something big was holding them back. Was it the Kraken? Having witnessed the walking on water miracle, the possibility of such a mythical creature surfacing from the depths to drag them under seemed more real. That was until one of the crew noticed a net in the water heading back to the Ocean Shepherd.

Shui rushed to the stern. The pirate crew threw a rope ladder over the side, that Shui scrambled down with a flashlight. The net led to ropes that went under the hull. He could just see that the propeller was tangled up in netting and rope. Shui dived into the water, swimming under the hull, past the rudder to the propeller, where he took out his knife and began cutting the ropes. He soon ran out of breath and swam to the surface for a huge intake of air, almost getting himself tangled up in the process.

 

After a few deep breaths, down he went again, pulling himself through the netting, and then sawing at the gnarled netting around the propeller for all he was worth.

 

Again he braved the netting, cutting a path back to the surface - gasping for breath.

 

Stang Lee was now awake and looking over the stern. "Fire her up" yelled Shui, as he climbed the rope ladder.

 

Stang leapt up the gangway to the wheelhouse and hit the start button. The diesel sprang into life, spitting out the unburned fuel from stalling, with a cloud of smoke.

 

Jonah motored away from the Ocean Shepherd, as Shui gloated from the stern. But then he noticed that some of the Shepherd's crew were struggling in the netting.

 

 

 

 

 

"Turn us around." Shui insists they go back to lend the Ocean Shepherd crew a hand.

 

 

 

 

"Stang, stop and turn us around," ordered Shui.

 

"You going soft skipper"

 

"We can't leave sailors in distress, no matter they are our enemies - and can't spell."

 

Stang steered the Jonah alongside the Ocean Shepherd.

 

"Not too close," shouted Shui from the transom.

 

The crew of the Ocean Shepherd were in trouble, not having equipped themselves with knives. Knives were dangerous.

 

Shui, a superb swimmer, dived into the water. He headed for Frank Paine.

 

Frank stayed calm, trapped by the rope, but calm. Shui swam over, cutting through the netting as he went. Jack and the other crew members could not believe it. Their target was rescuing them.

 

The other pirates just watched, mouths agape. When Stang Lee went to jump overboard to help, Shui stopped  him, "stay there Stang, we may need you on the wheel. Can you get me the electrical cutters?"

 

Shui went to work on the nets trapping Captain Paine. "That's a good knife you have there mate."

 

"That it is." Shui looked as though he was cutting through the nets like butter. In reality it was hard work.

 

Soon the Captain was free. "Climb onboard, and get to the helm," said Shui.

 

He need not have mentioned, Frank Paine was eager to recover his vessel.

 

Stang Lee shouted, "skip, here's the cutters." Stang threw them carefully, so that Shui could catch them.

 

Shui worked his way to another sailor caught in the nets who was going under. He sheathed his knife and used the electrical cutters. They sliced the nets up even quicker than his knife. "Hold on." Soon the second sailor was free. Shui gave him the cutters. "Free your crewmate."

 

Shui swam to the propellers of the Ocean Shepherd. One was free, the other was tangled. Shui took another couple of deep breaths and dived under the hull.

 

Minutes passed, with all the sailors straining for signs of the brave pirate. Then Shui burst to the surface, gasping for breath.

 

He clambered up the rope ladder to board Jonah, pondering the quandary they had created.

 

"Thank you," shouted the rescued sailors from the Ocean Shepherd.

 

"Not a problem, except we've lost our advantage. Will you give us an hour," Shui offered.

 

"That we will. Have two," said Captain Paine. And all the crew of the Shepherd clapped as Jonah motored off into the distance.

 

"Keep the cutters," shouted Stang. They all laughed.

 

MEDIA HOUNDS >>>

 


 

 

 

SCENE

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION

 

   

 

Prologue

Shard Protest

51° 30' N, 0° 7' 5.1312'' W

Chapter 1

Arctic Melt

580 W, 750 N

Chapter 4

Sydney Australia

330 S, 1510 E

Chapter 6

Bat Cave

330 20’S, 1520 E

Chapter 8

Whale Sanctuary

200 N, 1600 W

Chapter 10

Pirates

330 N, 1290 E

Chapter 13

Solar Race

200 N, 1600 W

Chapter 14

Darwin to Adelaide

130 S, 1310 E – 350 S, 1380 E

Chapter 15

Six Pack

200 N, 1600 W

Chapter 16

Whaling Chase

240 N, 1410 E

Chapter 20

Empty Ocean

200  N, 1600 E  (middle of Pacific)

Chapter 24

Billion Dollar Whale

250 N, 1250 E

Chapter 26

Rash Move

140 N, 1800 E

Chapter 27

Off Course

150 N, 1550 E

Chapter 28

Shark Attack

100 N, 1650 E

Chapter 29

Sick Whale

100 N, 1650 E

Chapter 30

Medical SOS

100 N, 1650 E

Chapter 31

Whale Nurse

100 N, 1650 E

Chapter 33

Storm Clouds

150 S, 1550 E

Chapter 34

The Coral Sea

150 S, 1570 E

Chapter 36

Plastic Island

20 S, 1600

Chapter 39

Media Hounds

170 S, 1780E

Chapter 40

Breach of Contract

200 S, 1520 E

Chapter 42

Fraser Island

250 S, 1530 E

Chapter 43

Congratulations

250 S, 1530 E

 

 

 

 

 

GRAPHIC NOVEL

 

The graphic novel translation omits many of the above chapters (in grey) entirely, and condenses others, aiming for a dramatic visual read.

 

 

SCENE

DESCRIPTION

-

 

   

-

Scene 1

Climate Change (optional)

1st Chapter

Scene 2

Sydney Australia

Scene 3

Bat Cave

Scene 4

Aleutian Islands

Scene 5

Pirates

-

-

-

Scene 6

Solar Boat Race

2nd Chapter

Scene 7

Darwin to Adelaide

Scene 8

Six Pack

-

-

-

Scene 9

Whaling Chase

3rd Chapter

Scene 10

Empty Ocean

Scene 11

$Billion Dollar Whale

Scene 12

Rash Move

-

-

-

Scene 13

Off Course

4th Chapter

Scene 14

Shark Attack

Scene 15

Sick Whale

Scene 16

Medical SOS

Scene 17

Whale Nurse

-

-

-

Scene 18

Storm Clouds

5th Chapter

Scene 19

The Coral Sea

Scene 20

Plastic Island

Scene 21

Media Hounds

Scene 22

Breach of Contract (optional)

Scene 23

Fraser Island

Scene 24

Congratulations

 

 

 

 

This story is a modern Moby Dick, the twist being that there is a happy ending for everyone involved with the $Billion Dollar Whale, even the whalers. Herman Melville would have approved.

 

 

 

 

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