* * * * *
"28 Apr. 1928 (cont.):
We ran from the stateroom as one. When we got to the port bow, we saw pandemonium reigning."
"Closest to us, I saw Herr Martelli reholstering a Colt .45 Model 1911. While Herr Lancer stood to his right, impaling something against the bulkhead with the blade of his sword-cane. Something that, as we trotted closer, immediately became distiguishable as...a foot-long squid!"
"Somehow, Professor Phillips and I managed to make our way through the ever-increasing huddle of sailors to observe Captain Murgatroyd lying on deck. The left side of his neck scarred with strange circular marks."
" 'Rusty!' " exclaimed the professor: 'What in Heaven's name...?' "
"The first mate looked up, a most grim expression on his face."
" 'I was strolling with the skipper, who was about to smoke his customary after-breakfast pipe, and he asked Mr. Lancer if he and Jack would like to join us. They agreed. Jack happened to glance over the side, and noticed a lot of barracuda shoaling just below the surface of the water. The next thing I know, it's raining flying squid! The majority missed us. But, one landed on the skipper's neck. And, another would have landed right smack-dab on Mr. Lancer's face, if not for Jack's marksmanship!' "
"Herr Steele had then yelled for someone to fetch Dr. McGee, while Herr Lancer used his sword-cane to skewer the squid on the captain's neck. Right through one of its own eyes!"
" 'Looks like we'll be having calamari for lunch, today,' Herr Martelli quipped."
" 'That's not funny!' growled the first mate."
"Fortunately, any further dressing down of Herr Lancer's bodyguard was silenced by the swift arrival of Dr. McGee. He examined Captain Murgatroyd for a few seconds. Then, with Herr Martelli's help, they half-carried/half-dragged the captain to the infirmary."
"Everyone waited in the anteroom for the first twenty minutes. Finally, Dr. McGee told everyone the captain had been stabilized, and that they should resume their normal shipboard routines. To which, Herr Steele, as acting captain, nodded in agreement. Clapping his hands in authoritative affirmation of his verbal command for all to return to duty."
"All thought of my earlier converastion with Professor Phillips was forgotten as I finally ate a belated breakfast. I had no sooner finished than Keith Ulu came over to my table and whispered that Dr. McGee wished to see me in the infirmary. I hurriedly complied. And, en route, I met the professor, Herr Lancer, Herr Martelli, and Herr Svensen."
"Herr Steele was already present."
" 'Gentlemen?' he began: 'I have something to show you. Dr. McGee had me look at it first, so I'd have no doubt by the time I summoned the rest of you. Take a look at Captain Murgatroyd."
"He directed us to the cot by which Dr. McGee was standing. When we joined him, we were naturally all quite puzzled. Our puzzlement, however, gradually turned to shock and disbelief when he directed us to look at the captain, himself."
"The venerable merchant mariner had been stripped down to gray boxer shorts, and was now reposed with a bottle of intravenous fluid in his left arm. But, that was not all. It took all of us a minute or two to realize it. Yet, when we did, we nearly gasped in unison."
"The good captain had shrunken by two feet!"
" 'Gott in Himmel!' I exclaimed: 'How...?' "
"The doctor shook his head: 'I don't know. I had no sooner finished dressing his neck wound, after giving him a shot of anti-venin as a routine precaution, and he suddenly collapsed! By the time I carried him over here, his clothes were literally starting to slide off his body!! A quick measure with a yardstick proved that I was not hallucinating. Captain Murgatroyd had shrunken to four feet/nine inches tall!!! And, he's _still_ shrinking. To say I've never seen anything like this is putting it mildly. If the captain's to have any chance at all, gentlemen, we have to end this expedition, immediately(!), and head for the nearest major port."
"I was the only one who did not instinctively protest. Not that it would have done any good if I had protested, as well. For, as acting captain, Herr Steele had the last word on the subject."
"So, we spent the rest of that day getting ready to debark for the U.S. naval station on Midway Island. And, again, I was the only one who did not look crestfallen about it. For my dream about Taranga, and her warnings about the cursed dagger-axe, were still quite vividly ensconced in my mind."
* * * * *
"29 Apr. 1923:
We will not be departing for Midway as originally intended. For, we have been boarded by pirates!"
tbc
Giantess World
