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The Voyage to Vanuatu (Silverknight and DuskyPrincess)

DuskyPrincess

DuskyPrincess

Planetoid
Joined
Oct 25, 2018
Whitby was (is) a small fishing town on the northeastern coast of England. In the age of steam and science, when the interiors of the America and the Great Pacific were to be mapped and laid wide open, it was a very unpresupposing sort of town. It was certainly the last town that anyone's destiny, grand or small, was expected to be launched. And yet, on September 1, 1865, as the last vestiges of an English summer began to fade in the small English port, it would launch the destiny of one Marcus Justinius. Marcus had received a note instructing him to go to a small boarding house run by a very elderly lady by the name of Sarah Jonahby. A room had been reserved for him. And on the morning of September first, at precisely nine in the morning, an agent of the solicitor would meet Marcus in the drawing room of the Jonahby boarding house.

Our story begins at 8:30 a.m., where Mrs. Jonahby has served young Marcus a cup of coffee and then left him to his thoughts in the drawing room, waiting for said agent.
 
Marcus got to his feet as he finished preparing for his meeting that day. He knew that he had been told that he was going to meet with Mrs. Jonahby. He wasn't sure what to expect completely from the meeting but he knew that it was important. He put on his best sunday clothes, as he put on a nice pair of blank pants and a white dress shirt as well. The young man looked the role of an adventurer. He had just gotten out of college, where he had studied the classics, navigation among other things. He wasn't sure what to do in the future for his life, but he figured that things would work out for him as he advanced. Marcus was a bit taller than the average person, he was in great shape, toned but pretty lean at the same time. he had sharp blue eyes and short dark hair that was a bit on the messy side of things.

He took the cup of coffee and drank on it as he sat there. He was curious about the plans that she had. He knew he was meeting a solicitor, but he didn't expect much out of this. He figured that this would be something rather simple and basic. He tapped his fingers on the table as he was rather impatient at that moment in time. He felt a strange nervous energy that morning, and had for a while. He took the coffee and took a sup of it. It was pretty strong stuff and would of woken him up if he had been tired, and not filled with nervous energy. "Now, thank you for the coffee, ma'am," he said making sure to thank Mrs. Jonahby.
 
"My pleasure, Mister Justinius," the elderly lady replied, beaming as she always did when a member of the younger generation displayed politeness.

Mrs. Jonahby had no sooner left the room than she immediately returned, escorting a very thin, medium height man. The man was almost non descript in his plainness. He had the sort of face that immediately blended in the crowd as soon as soon as you passed. It was the sort that every pickpocket and other ruffian aspired to, because it was the last face anyone connected to a crime, even if you saw the face commit it/

"Well, I'll leave you two to your business," Mrs. Jonahby said, leaving the room. The nondescript man stared silently at Marcus for a few minutes, before producing a tan envelope. "Marcus Justinius?" the nondescript man asked, in an almost bored voice.
 
Marcus nodded his head as he looked at Mrs. Jonahby, "Yes, thank you again for the tea," He said as he looked at her and then he looked at the other man who came into the room. This man was a John Doe of John Does. He would so easily blend into any place of course, and that put him a bit at unease. Something about him was a dime a dozen and kind of made him feel a bit more defensive. He sat calmly though, not showing any emotion on his face as he looked at the man coming into this room. He was going to share information that was most likely extremely important. "Yes, that is me sir," he said as he looked at her, "ready to get this business done with so you can move along with you day," he commented to her. He was sure based on the tone that this person wanted to get this all done fast and on with their day.
 
"For you, sir," the nondescript man said, handing Justin the envelope. "A pleasant day to you," the nondescript man added, before taking his leave.

Inside the envelope was a note that read

Mr. Justinius,

Fortune and adventure await you, if you have the nerve. Be at the docks at midnight tonight. Four ladies of the Orient will meet you there. If you are there a minute after midnight, all will be lost.

The one who knows
 
The letter caused a great deal of excitement in the young man. He had to get ready, but he also had to make sure that he showed up on time as well. Marcus went and got his things and the things he would need, his clothes in one bag and his books and other things in another bag. He figured that he could fit it all in the bags. He was both excited and curious, was this for real, was this something that would change his future or a prank. The no-nonsense tone of the man who gave him the letter told him that it was something. He made sure his best books were inside of the book as well as tools he used or could use. He made sure he was a prepared for adventure as he could be in that moment. He decided to head up early as well to not be late.

Plus for him to be on time was to be early. It was how he was raised, one had to be at least five minutes early if one was even on time. He approached the deck and then he sat down on a wooden bench as he would wait here at the dock looking at the water, as the moon raised over it. He could see the beautiful waves in the sea washing in and out of the deck. It was a good night to start an adventure. He stood up, he had on a nice pair of black slacks on as well as a good blue dress shirt and a black coat on as he could feel the wind drifting from the ocean, which always made it feel a bit colder than it was. He looked around figuring he had a couple of minutes before midnight came around.
 
The fog had slowly begun rolling into the docks earlier in the evening, and by midnight, it had become so thick, you couldn't see your hand in front of your own face. A light approached Marcus, revealing itself to be a lantern held my a petite figure. A light, airy soprano said from the fog, "Watashi to issho ni kite kudasai ," while a hand gestured for Marcus to follow the owner of the voice. The mysterious figure, still carrying the lantern, turned and began walking away.
 
Marcus was looked around as the fog came into the area. he stood up as he looked around for a moment, his eyes scanning but unable to see anything. As his eye tried to see anything but he heard the voice and he knew it was from a woman.Marcus cleared his mind as he thought about it. He remembered the words of the letter about ladies helping him out with the start of the adventure. Plus what did he have to learn. In for a penny, in for a pound as they said. He followed the lantern as he figured that he should follow along. He was sure that this was going to be a interesting night. He was sure that this was what the letter was telling him about. The words were not English and was from a woman. He had nothing really to lose as he walked. He was curious what the fog was hiding.
 
The figure led Marcus to a row boat, where another figure, barely visible in the fog, awaited. The figure that had led Marcus to the boat handed the lantern to the other figure in the boat, before climbing in itself. Then the figure gestured for Marcus to join it in the rowboat.
 
Marcus took a deep breath as he followed the woman, he figured that this was part of the test, to show patients and follow this woman to wherever she was going, at the moment his guess would be some boat at shore. Maybe to impress him to work for that ship, or maybe something else. He would just have to figure it out as it came to him. he moved after the woman walking quickly to the boat and slipping into it, as he put his hand on the side giving himself a bit of a good hold on the boat as he sat still. He figured that she wouldn't know what he was saying, so being quiet seemed the ideal at the moment and paying attention to as much as he could around himself.
 
The figure who had guided Marcus to the boat said something in a low voice, too soft to overhear, to the other figure. The other figure nodded and turned around, hanging the lantern on a bar at the other end of the boat. The first figure did something where was sitting at, and the sound of a steam engine coming to life could be heard. The fog cleared enough to show the woman was leaning over some kind of control board. The boat slowly spun, then chugged out into the fog covered waters beyond the moored fishing boats around them.
 
This was interesting, the situation was more and more curious as he had no clue what was up. Marcus was rather curious as he rode and then he looked at the fog for a moment. He trusted that these people were not evil or anything. That they knew what they were doing. He was so curious as what the destination of this small boat was, as he was sure that it would be interesting. This was a great start to an adventure store,t his he was sure more than anything would be the adventure story the letter promised. He adventure story that he greatly wanted to have this adventure, he wanted to be something better than some simple person who did the same thing everyone else did.
 
The boat "put-putted" through the fog and, if the mysterious figure driving it was worried about colliding with another vessel, either they hid it well, or the fog was thick enough to hide their emotions.

Finally, the boat came to a stop in the middle of the open water. Neither of the two figures moved, as if they were waiting for something.

Suddenly, the boat began rocking as a large steel tube emerged from the sea. The two figures in the boat held on to the sides, but otherwise remained calm.

A light appeared at the top of the tube, showing it to be perhaps seven or eight foot high. A third figure, enshrouded by the fog (save for the light), shouted down in a soprano voice,

"Kare o mitsukemashita ka?"

The figure who had met Marcus at the dock shouted back, "Watashitachi wa kare to issho ni imasu. Jōsha suru kyoka?"

The voice at the top of the tower shouted back, "Fuyo sa reta kyoka." Then tossed down a rope.

The other figure in the boat, who had been silent the entire time, grabbed the rope and pulled the boat along the tower. Getting closer to the tower showed it to be made of welded plated, with rungs leading up to the top. Once the silent figure had secured the boat, she began climbing te rungs.

The remaining figure waited for the other figure to reach the top, then disappear into the tube. The figure then turned to Marcus and said, "Ashimoto ni ki o tsukete" before climbing up the rungs itself.
 
Marcus was more than a bit curious, but there was so much to be curious about, that he didn't really pay attention enough to the sound of the voices or the movement of the women who happened to be with him on the boat. He looked ahead as he saw something, and grabbed hold of the side of the boat as he felt it suddenly start to shake and rattle under himself. Something was up as he looked up to see the metal tube above him. He had no clue what it was, the fog was to thick to tell in detail, but the metal side made him wonder if it was some steam boat perhaps, they had been making those some what recently, over in america they had those ironclad warships and such. This was pretty crazy, a she just watched, the women at work. Three women all from overseas, it told him this had to be what the letter was referring too.

He kept his balance as the boat was pulled up out of the water along the metal side of this metal frame or tower. He wasn't sure what he was going to be working at but this was interesting. He got up as he looked at at the figured that disappeared. He figured that he would need to follow the others into this tub, he watched the figure as they worked their way up. He watched carefully as he paid careful attention as he then took a deep breath and started to follow the others up following the path that he had seen the woman before him take. He wasn't sure of it,but he was just going to go with his gut and take this slowly and carefully as he worked his way up to that spot they disappeared into the tube at. He figured a door or hatch had to be there.
 
At the top of the tower, the silent figure waited for Marcus to ascend to the top. At the top of the tube/tower, there was a circular hatch that opened to another ladder, leading to inside the tube. Unlike the outside, the inside was well lit, but with strange glowing bulbs. There was an iron ladder, welded to the inside of the tube, leading down into the well lit interior. The walls were covered with pipes of various sizes heading in different directions.

At the bottom of the ladder one could see a corridor/hallway that headed in to two different directions. Also at the bottom of the ladder was a a young Asian woman, wearing form fitting gray overalls, with the name 'Yuna' stitched in yellow over her right breast pocket. The woman in question smiled up at Marcus, saying, "Sore wa daijōbudesu. Orite kudasai," as she motioned for him to climb down inside the tube.
 
Marcus looked down for a moment, his eyes looking at the inside of the metal tube, this place as interesting for sure. It was advanced and impressive to look around the inside from where he happened to be standing. He looked down the tube seeing the lights and knew that this was creating its own electricity a fact that told him that the ship was very advanced. Far more than a common fishing boat or any normal ship that was still using wood and well using oil lamps to give light to those who happened to be on most ships. Only advance ships that were mostly even government ships had stuff like this in them. He looked down and saw the beautiful woman and heard her as she motioned him to climb down inside the tube.

He turned and closed the hatch and then slipped down working his way down the latter quickly as he got to the floor and then turned to the beautiful woman. He saw the name on her outfit. He gave her a warm and friendly smile. "Now, Miss Yuna, thank you for guiding me out to this wonderful ship," he said with a smile as he figured that she didn't under stand his words as they seemed to speak different languages. he gave her a slight bow out of respect, taking the young woman's hand. He raised it and gave the very top of her hand a kiss. Before standing up and looking at the two directions that went off from the point that he was standing at. He wasn't sure which one to take as he looked in both direction sure that there was a lot of mysterious behind this ship or what he thought was some type of advance ship at the moment.
 
Marcus tried to close the hatch behind him, obviously forgetting for a moment the figure still behind him. The figure said gruffly in its soprano voice, "Kon'nichiwa! Watashi wa mada koko! ni imasu!"

When Marcus stood and kissed Yana's hand, effectively blocking the other figure's descent, the other figure said, "Nabigētā! Kare to ichatsuku koto o yamete, anata no gimu ni modotte kudasai!"

Yana giggled, retrieving her hand from Marcus, before replying to the figure above Marcus, "Gomen'nasai, shirei-kan." Yana gave Marcus a shy smile and a little bow of her head before heading down one of the corridors.

Above Marcus on the ladder, the figure had removed her cloak, revealing a slightly older Asian woman. Like Yana, this woman was also wearing gray form fitting overalls, but with the name Koharu on her right breast pocket, and with her name sewn in silver, not yellow. The other woman's hair had been done up in a bun, but she shook it free. Smiling down at Marcus, she asked, "Watashi o shitsubō sa sete mo yoroshīdesu ka" while motioning for Marcus to step away from the bottom of the ladder.
 
Marcus looked at her as she stood not sure what the things meant but he figured that he had to thank this woman. He heard the sound from above him. He forgot that she was still out there. He blushed a fair bit from his mistake as he forgot and felt like a idiot for doing so. He took a step forward away from the latter and into the ship itself just a bit as to give the cloaked figure, before she saw that is was another beautiful woman. He noticed the difference in the name, the silver and all. He looked at her as he had taken his step back. Two beautiful women on this ship with him. That wasn't a bad thing. He figured they spoke the same language, an Asian language that he didn't know obviously. He waited for the woman to get down to where he was. He was glad he didn't know how to close the hatch in the first place.

He smiled. "Hello, Koharu, it is a pleasure to meet you, your home is really impressive," he said as he figured that she might not understand him, but he should compliment her on her ship. It was impressive, looking around as he had, he had seen things that were far beyond anything he would normally see in a ship. That this ship was something special was obvious to him. He looked at the woman as he gave her room to move once down as he was impressed by the women and the ship. He figured that the women worked on the ship, the fact the overalls were common told him that they were part of the same crew and worked together.
 
Koharu smiled at the sound of her name, then pointed at Marcus and said, "Kochira e dōzo." She turned and started walking down the corridor, then motioned for Marcus to follow her.
 
Marcus nodded his head as he followed. He was sure that this place was going to take a bit to get used to and that he was going to have to find ways to communicate with these lovely ladies as he walked down the corridor, his eyes scanning everything from the wires to the lights as he was by his very nature a curious man. He kept his hands in his pockets as he walked. He could feel his heart beating a bit faster, walking behind a beautiful woman was part of that cause, but also being at the start of a mysterious adventure was a cause for that as well.
 
Koharu led Marcus down a corridor, through large hatches, obviously designed to be closed and keep compartments watertight. She stopped outside one compartment where another Asian woman in gray overalls, this one with the name Hinata in red on her right breast pocket, was kneeling in front of a pipe, a huge wrench in her hands. The woman had her hair in a long ponytail, with a couple of grease streaks across her face. She looked up and gave Marcus a shy smile and looked as if she were about to say something when Koharu interrupted her with a question.

"Watashitachi wa 1-jikan de kōkai suru junbi ga dekite imasu ka?" she asked.

"Hai shirei-kan," Hinata said with a nod of her head.

Koharu nodded, then headed down the corridor, gesturing for Marcus to follow her.
 
Marcus looked in the compartment as he looked at the beautiful woman, Hinata by her name he saw working hard to keep this ship most likely going. he figured that she worked on keeping the ship at one hundred percent. He was sure when he saw the same sexy uniform that this ship was manned by these women who were in charge of keeping it going well. He gave her a smile as he looked at her and then smiled. "Hello Miss Hinata, it is nice to meet you," he said before he turned and followed Koharu. He figured that she was leding him to either the person in charge of the boat or one of the others that he had seen earlier that day. He had seen three females outside, and he was sure that Hinata wasn't one of them which would make her perhaps the fourth female the letter referenced to him.
 
"Mōsuguda," Koharu told Marcus as she led him to a compartment with a ladder leading downward. She started climbing downward, expecting Marcus to follow.

On the next level, she led him, stopping outside a compartment with another Asian woman in gray overalls with the name Niko in blue on her right breast pocket. Niko had spectacles on and was reading something in a book with Oriental letters. She looked up over her glasses with a serious look and asked, "Kore wa mākasudesu ka?"

Koharu nodded, at which point Niko added, "Watashi ga kare o shiraberu koto ga dekiru toki ni watashi ni shirasete," before returning to her book.

Koharu motioned for Marcus to follow her as they continued moving.
 
Marcus followed as he was sure that they were heading somewhere important. he followed to the next level as he saw another woman, the fourth beautiful asian woman standing. He noted her name as Niko and he figured that she was going to be able to maybe tactics or navigation. he figured that each one of these four had a different role, and the color of their names most likely told about what their functions on the ship happened to be. he smiled as he looked at her before she had returned to her book. He followed Koharu as she walked on. He couldn't believe his luck to be on a boat like this in his life. As he walked he was more curious who was in charge of the boat as he figured they had a good eye for beautiful women at least and money to have a ship like this.
 
Finally Koharu led Marcus to a large double compartment. The outer compartment looked to be a study of sorts, with a writing desk, books, and some simple yet elegant furniture. The inner compartment had a large, style bed, with a washroom to one side.

The wall of the outer compartment was dominated by a large, curved glass, with switches and a large red button at the bottom. Near the red button was a handwritten note that read

PRESS ME WHEN YOU ARE READY TO BEGIN

Koharu made a small bow to Marcus, said "Watashi wa anata ni sore o makasemasu" and left Marcus to himself, closing the compartment door behind her.
 
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