Panache and the Great Hunt for the Acryli-Beast

[mkmound]

What I get a spin-off story. Well Panache hasn't cleared rights yet but I'm mildly interested. If he includes my love interest.

What?? The Acryli-beast is your love interest???

[McMurdo]

What?? The Acryli-beast is your love interest???

Only if he gets it drunk.

[ccga3359]

Only if he gets it drunk.

I'll have you know that I've never needed to get any animal drunk! What am I saying?

[Panache]

Panache and the Great Hunt for the Acryli-Beast

A Victorian Tale of Horror told in Chapters

Chapter 25

I stood on the narrow ledge desperately scanning the night sky for the zeppelin. I could hear the mighty engines of the Saltire, but she was all but hidden from sight due to the storm’s ferocity. To my horror the terrible screeching roar of the Acryli-Beast resounded through the cave. The monster was almost upon my hiding spot! As I looked down the sheer cliff face I thought of Bram Stoker’s protagonist Jonathan Harker who declared when caught in a similar set of circumstances:

“At Least God’s mercy is better than that of these monsters, and the precipice is steep and high. At its foot a man may sleep- as a man.”

My salvation came in the sudden appearance overhead of the great dark shape of my airship. Todd had brought her perilously close to the mountain’s zenith to attempt my rescue. A spotlight from the dirigible pinpointed my location and a rope ladder descended from the command gondola. It swayed some 5 or 6 feet from the edge of the icy shelf where I stood. Another louder, closer cry from the beast gave me no other option but to leap for this lifeline. My fingers barely managed to catch hold of the second-to-last rung. Slowly the ladder was drawn upward as I clung on tightly for dear life.

Finally I was pulled close enough to the gondola for two sets of strong hands to pull me inside. Mr. BEEDEE and Mr. Mender helped stand me to my feet.

“Welcome Aboard Captain!“ they said in unison. “I am very grateful to be back”, I said looking around and seeing the smiling faces of Todd, David, McMurdo and the two musicians (as well as the very disappointed countenance of Jake the reporter). I was alarmed to note that there was one crewman missing. “Where is Mr. Splash?” I asked.
Mr. BEEDEE and Mr. Mender looked at each other.

“We weren’t able to locate the Maple Leaf, The storm grew too strong, Mr. BEEDEE and I turned back to the Saltire. We barely made it” said Mr. Mender with tears in his eyes.

“Mr. Splash refused to give up the search. He pressed on and we haven’t been able to raise him on the wireless since” sobbed Mr. Mender.

“Todd, gain us some altitude and turn us about! Set course for due South, best possible speed. We are going to find Mr. Splash and the Maple Leaf!” I commanded. With a “Ja Kaptain!” Todd set to work.

“What about the Acryli-Beast?“ asked David.

“What about my story? No pelt. No gruesome death. Do you call this a satisfying conclusion? What about my story? What about my readers? “ accused Jake.

“The Hunt is over! I will just be glad to return home and tell the tale” I said.

McMurdo pointed at our Starboard window with a trembling finger, “Captain, that may be easier said than done. You may have abandoned the hunt but I don’t think that the Acryli-Beast has!”

On our bridge eyes looked to Starboard.

“Mein Gott! Unglaubliche!” cried Todd.

“Bloody Hell!” screamed David.

“Oh no” I whispered to myself in horror.

A large white shimmering form glided past the gondola! The Acryli-Beast had not given up on its quarry and had taken its hunt to the air. With a screeching roar it slashed at the fabric of the zeppelin’s outer hull with it’s dagger like claws.

“BATTLESTATIONS!” I ordered.

The violinist touched a button, red lights flashed and the klaxon alarms sounded all through the Satire. Ensigns Mender and BEEDEE followed David up into the interior of the ship. My crew of muscians rushed to their stations and as they did so began to play and sing Orff’s O Fortuna from Carmina Burana:

“velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem….”

“ALL GUN BATTERIES - FIRE AT WILL!” I commanded over ship’s intercom system.

The rat-tat-tat of the Vickers guns sounded throughout the ship and the flashes from the fiery trails of the tracer bullets illuminated the outside of the zeppelin’s hull, as our gunners tried to target the flying menace. The Acryli-Beast moved with tremendous speed and, despite my crew’s best efforts, was able to avoid the deadly barrage. It streaked back and forth across the airship slashing here and there with its deadly claws. At best, the hail of gunfire kept the creature temporarily at bay and mostly away from the zeppelin’s delicate hull. It was only a matter of time before the Acryli-Beast hit a vital spot and brought the Saltire down. The raging storm made the use of our fighter aircraft impossible as the Sparrowhawks would be ripped to shreds in the gale before they could be even launched.

“That Monster is going to tear the ship apart looking for you!” exclaimed McMurdo.

“What do you suggest? That I hurl myself out of the ship and sacrifice myself to that monster flying squirrel?” I answered angrily.

Jake beamed ecstatically. “That would be a most noble gesture Sir, and if I might add on a literary level, most satisfying! Just think how it will read with the valiant (but stupid) airship Captain being pounced on and devoured midair!”

“Would you SHUT UP Jake! Why I ought to…” I began, but then a cunning plan crept in to my mind. “Jake, perhaps you are right and we need to give this beastie exactly what it wants. To the bomb bay McMurdo!” I exclaimed. Jake followed the two of us as we ran through the zeppelin. Quickly we made our way amidships to David at his bombardier’s station.

“Captain Panache is going to throw himself to the Acryli-Beast!” Jake exclaimed happily.

“Sounds good to me” David said with a grin.

I began taking off my kilt and the rest of my garments.

“I appreciate your respect for your kilt, but shouldn’t you keep your clothing on so the Acryli-Beast recognizes you?” asked Jake.

Shivering in the cold I handed McMurdo my clothes “Put these on that bomb.” I instructed him, pointing to the first gray fin-tailed cylinder on the rack. David gave me a very puzzled look. I grinned at him.

“David, let’s blow something up!” I said.

Understanding dawned in the eyes of my fellow Moderator.

“Set the bomb to go off five seconds after release.”

“That isn’t enough time. The bomb will go off too close to the ship!” David complained.

“That monster is flying too near us. We will only have a couple of seconds at best before it discovers the ruse.”

“I still think it would be a better plan if you threw yourself out of the zeppelin…” Jake grumbled.

McMurdo finished dressing the bomb as best he could with my clothing as David made some adjustments at the weapon’s nose. I called over the intercom “ALL HANDS BRACE YOURSELF FOR TURBULENCE!” Giving the speaking tube to Jake I instructed him to make himself useful for once and find out from the bridge when the Acryli-Beast started its next pass underneath the airship. David took his place at his controls and we waited for the word from Todd. The guns still sounded. Our musician crew played and sang the furious conclusion to Orff’s ode to Dame Fortune, a vibrant and defiant counterpoint to the howling of wind and beast in the stormy arctic night.

“Hac in hora
sine mora…”

From the intercom Jake yelled “It’s coming!“

“corde pulsum tangite
quod per sortem…”

“Now David!” I ordered

“Bombs away!” cried David as the disguised bomb fell away down through the open bomb hatch. Through which we could see the sleek white form of the Acryli-Beast diving toward it with a triumphant cry.

“sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!”

With this crescendo of music the creature grabbed the bomb just as it detonated!

[Panache]

Panache and the Great Hunt for the Acryli-Beast

A Victorian Tale of Horror told in Chapters

Chapter 25 (continued)


The huge explosion rocked the ship and threw David, Jake and myself to the starboard side of the Bomb Bay. (Curiously McMurdo standing toward the back of the chamber was thrown in the opposite direction where he was knocked unconscious when he struck a metal support.)

Miraculously the Saltire held together and we survived the blast.

More wondrous still, after the ringing in our ears had gone we found to our astonishment that the howling wind had ceased. Looking down through the open hatch we saw that the storm had magically abated and that now a gentle swirling current bore the individual shimmering iridescent hairs of the Acryli-Beast to fill the air. The stars shown brightly above us in the now clear sky and their light was reflected and refracted in the great prism made up of the millions of individual strands of the Acryli-Beast’s fur. The air shimmered and glowed with the brilliant spectral colors. Our zeppelin floated within a vast rainbow of indescribable beauty.

The glory of the Aurora Borealis had returned.

Standing naked in the bomb bay of my mighty airship I smiled and said half to myself and half to the others, “That went well”. Leaving David and Jake to take McMurdo to the Sickbay, I headed for the bridge. I made a quick stop by my cabin for another kilted outfit as I felt it best to set a good example in discouraging casual nudity amongst the crew. When I arrived there Mr. Mender greeted me with the glad news that Mr. Splash was alive and had radioed his position at the wreck of the Maple Leaf. Todd handed me his zeppelin commander's hat with a smile. I took it and placed it on my head at a jaunty angle and I settled into my Captain’s chair. “Set course for our wayward Mr. Splash and those rapscallions of the SOKS Todd” said I. “Ja Kaptain!” he responded and busied himself at the helm. David, Jake, and Mr. BEEDEE joined us at the bridge. Mr. BEEDEE carried his set of bagpipes and looked to me for approval. I nodded. With this our piper began to play the beautiful tune Highland Cathedral.

It was then I thought to myself that there are few instances of transcendent beauty in our lives, and those that we are lucky enough to come upon seldom last long. Fortunate were we happy adventurers who could share this one perfect moment, and in our memories it would remain forever.

Majestically the Saltire sailed Southward through the shimmering lights of the Aura Borealis to the noble and stirring music of the pipes.

To be Concluded

[davedove]

“ALL GUN BATTERIES - FIRE AT WILL!” I commanded over ship’s intercom system.

I wonder what poor Will has done to make everyone so upset at him. People are always firing at him.

I made a quick stop by my cabin for another kilted outfit as I felt it best to set a good example in discouraging casual nudity amongst the crew.

Well, you're just no fun at all.