High Seas Series: The Wilson O'Toole

The WILSON arrived and Min maneuvered her alongside The JONATHON and began swinging fake cargo back and forth between the two ships, inside the crates were the children destined to ride on The WILSON. All the injured children and the mutilated children were transferred to The WILSON and then they contacted the harbor authorities that they would sail at 1000 hours the next day.

The two ships slunk out of the harbor unnoticed and proceeded out to sea. They cranked up their engine rooms and drove the ships at 24 knots until they were 200 miles off the coast. They then slowed down to allow Doc Ben and his Medics to attend the damaged children.

It was surprising that sparks were NOT seen emitting from the Hospital Surgery as they tackled those children who had been purposely mutilated! The boys stood out in the passageway until Min shooed them away. They were all fascinated by the string of the most imaginative profanity they had ever heard! To say that Doc and his Medics were angry was the understatement of all their young lives! It would not have surprised anyone to find the tiles on the deck curled up and singed!

It took Doc three days to do his best and he felt it was not enough. He was up in the Radio Shack speaking with specialists all across America on how to help these children. Many packed their bags immediately and promised to meet The WILSON in Lihue.

The children’s plight reached the newspapers and the delivery service had to put on extra trucks to bring the packages out to O’Toole House. Many of them were merely addressed, “HURT CHILD, LIHUE, KAUAI, HAWAII”!

The outpouring of concern brought people from as far away as the mainland to help care for the children. Many of them would leave with a new son or daughter, sometimes both!

Little Kenny discovered a little girl who had both of her feet removed. He helped her all he could, even though he was but a tiny child himself. Both Big Kenny and Tatsu were worried that the connection between the two children was unbreakable. They wondered if they were capable of raising a little girl, they both recognized that they were gay and would it even be allowed.

It was and they did!

Now their little bungalow had two children in it, Soseto Kene Machinko-Tatsu was the newest child of Kenny and Tatsu! One of the pediatric orthopedists, who had come to help from The Medical University of Texas, devised a prosthetic device so the child would be able to walk. When he learned that Kenny would be attending that school after he completed his undergraduate degree, he promised himself that he would sponsor the young man when he arrived.

The sudden influx of children had Andy tearing his hair out to find places for them, all available spaces in the Causey Hotels were full. It was this overflow that precipitated the worst crisis O’Toole House was ever to face. The slavers were plotting an attack on them! They planned on harvesting the rich pickings at Lihue.

It was operatives of ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) who first got wind of the plot. There was a historic connection between ONI and O’Toole House and several senior officers of that organization had retired and were helping out at O’Toole House. When they first got word to Min of what was going on, a message was sent to The PATRICK, which was operating in the South Pacific Islands. It was Kenny who sent the message and, as soon as he had a confirmation that Captain Pat had received it, he went charging into Min’s office, demanding an explanation!

He and Tatsu listened to what Min had to say, but, they were not satisfied and decided to act on their own. At noon meal, Kenny stood on his chair and announced there would be a mass meeting at the Prince Tahuli Center at three o’clock that day. They were in danger and they needed to help protect everyone!

By 2:30 there were most of the three thousand children being cared for by O’Toole House standing in the auditorium at The Prince Tahuli Welcome Center. There was standing room only and both Min Tangimora and Matt Unger were standing in the back of the room listening, with smiles and looks of pride on their faces as Kenny and Tatsu took charge.

Kenny read the ONI message out loud and asked for suggestions. It was decided to form Companies that would elect their own officers. Almost every one, except for the very smallest of children, had qualified with some sort of firearm and many of the older teens, both boys and girls, were qualified small boat skippers.

By the next morning, there were several small boats, crewed by those living at O’Toole House. They were armed with 50 mm machine guns and 3” rocket launchers. Six companies of young teens were assigned to guard the grounds of O’Toole House and they were similarly armed.

Captains Min Tangimora and Matt Unger volunteered to take their ships out to the mouth of the harbor and stand guard. Both Captains promised to be “armed to the teeth”!

Several days later, sixty sailors from Midway Island showed up, all armed for World War III! The sailors’ Commanding Officer, Navy Lieutenant Billy Low, announced, “I was a boy here, the O’Tooles had snatched me off a slave ship and raised me. They saw to it that I could go to Annapolis and become a Naval Officer! Now, it’s payback time! HOO-RAH!”

Help came trickling in from all over, even places they least expected, the State of Hawaii! Two Companies of Hawaii National Guards showed up with all their equipment! Lihue was becoming an armed camp.

The Coasties sent three patrol boats and crews fully armed to assist in guarding the harbor entrance and they had a Cutter standing by to assist the small boats.

There wasn’t much more they could do, except wait for the slavers to arrive. The sad thing was, there was no official recognition from Washington and the United States Government that citizens of their country were being threatened. What the ONI and Coast Guard were doing was all “off the books”! The sailors from Midway, were using their own leave time to help protect O’Toole House and the children living there.

There were “graduates” from O’Toole House serving in both houses of Congress and they were starting to ask uncomfortable questions of the President, wanting to know why American Citizens were being threatened and the government was ignoring the situation.

The situation continued into the summer season and tourists from the mainland brought stories home from their vacations about the brave orphans of Lihue who were being threatened by foreign pirates. The government began to squirm when major news services picked up the story and scathing editorials appeared in big city newspapers.

The time finally came and several small ships were seen hanging off the breakwater at the entrance to the harbor. They didn’t do anything, it was as if they were patrolling the harbor entrance. Several large yachts joined the ships and a helicopter was seen circling around them. There was no question that they were slavers, they carried the stink of death with them and those on the shore recognized it immediately.

The tension on shore was tremendous, one thing did happen that gave them some joy, Kenny received a message from Captain Pat, The PATRICK was on its way home, running both engines wide open. A company of Tonga Warriors were aboard, a gift from King Tahuli!

For now, it was a Mexican standoff, the entire island of Kauai was an armed camp and those on the boats could see National Guardsmen manning large field pieces on the beach, pointed directly at them.

Several “infiltrators” were captured and, by the time the boys turned them over to the National Guard, they were all gibbering like monkeys! None of them would ever be sane again!

Every day there were more boats and ships standing off Nawiliwili Harbor. Most of them sported an American flag on their halyard, so the Coast Guard could not legally interfere with them. However, the Coasties were not above intimidating them. Coast Guard Sailors lined the rails of their ship, carrying rifles pointed directly at the flotilla of small ships.

It was into this mess that The PATRICK arrived, running at All Ahead Full through the mass of small boats and ships. Many were capsized and the Mako sharks, numerous in Hawaiian waters, had a feast. The PATRICK raced into Nawiliwili Harbor at full speed and Captain Pat slammed his ship into Full Astern, bringing her to a stop exactly at her mooring buoy.

The children he brought with him would have made the mountains themselves weep, the mutilations were beyond description. A few news reporters made the attempt, but, it was useless. It was the photos they sent with their reports that made the impact on the public. Outrage was already running high and, as the pictures made the front pages of the nation’s leading newspapers, there was an upwelling of anger and rage. Every plane from the mainland was booked solid, mostly of men who had once been soldiers or sailors themselves.

Lihue had become an armed camp! The children at O’Toole House delighted the influx of new Daddies, grey haired Grandfathers sitting on the lawn and playing with children who had lost everything, including their hands or feet. Those old men held their tears back until after the children had tired and went down for their afternoon naps. THEN, the demand for tissues exceeded the ability to deliver them!

The night finally came when the slavers felt they were strong enough to take on those at O’Toole House. They did not reckon, however, on the desperation of the teen boys and girls living there, nor did they realize the loyalty of the residents of that island.

When the invaders hit the beach, they were met with a wall of anger so furious, few of the slavers survived and none escaped! The men and boys of Lihue were armed with everything from 50 mm machine guns and 3” rocket launchers, to .22 rifles and small pistols they had brought from home. The latter were illegal in Hawaii, but they were brought out from various hiding places and used with deadly efficiency.

The local islanders had hidden their fishing boats around the west side of the island at Hanalei Bay, near Princeville. Still others had laid in wait at the small island of Niihau, to the west of Kauai. When the criminals attempted to flee, they were met with a solid wall of fishing boats. Their crews were armed with rifles and flare pistols, even oyster rakes and garden hoes!

The bloodshed was tremendous, although few of the islanders were injured and none were killed. The slavers experienced losses of whole crews! Kauai was a peaceful island, with little trouble, so the County Jail was small, with only a few cells. The few slavers who survived, the jail held them all! None of their boats or ships survived, wreckage was washing on the local beaches for months after the attack!

The morning after the attack, the only sound heard was that of children playing on the lawns and play areas of O’Toole House and Casey Plantation Hotels! Little Sammy and Sose were disturbed that their Daddies were holding them tight and crying. Little Sose wiped her Daddy Tatsu’s tears and asked him, “Why cry you Papa?” All Tatsu could do was cry harder.

It would take several weeks for the adults and older teens to recover from the attack, and even longer before they could sleep the whole night through without getting up and checking on their own children or those living in the dorms

Back on the Mainland, it was a different story. Both Houses of Congress passed legislation making the enslavement of any person a felony and, if the slave was a child under the age of twenty-one, the penalty was death, otherwise, life imprisonment was the sole punishment allowed.

There was a mass exodus of small ships and yachts from the coastal cities on the Mainland headed mostly for Mexico and points further south!

With their most lucrative market now closed to them, the only place the slavers could sell their captives was to the wealthy of countries far away from America. The poor nations of Latin America and places in the far east became the only source of slaves, particularly children.

A few countries in the far east and middle east tolerated slavery and a few of the very wealthy could flaunt the laws of their own countries and keep a few slaves for their own devious pleasures. The slave trade was, for the most part, dead!

Min had taken The PATRICK back out to complete the circuit of medical assistance to the Pacific Islanders and Pat was juggling what they were going to do with The JONATHON and The WILSON. Kenny and Tatsu were busy with their classes at the local branch of the University and Jolly Adams was promoted to Chief Radioman.

Jolly was tending the radio on the afternoon watch (1200 to 1600 hours) when a frantic call came in, “O’Toole House, O’Toole House, this is Scotti Wilkson of Spirits Bay, New Zealand. Please respond, O’Toole House, please respond. OVER.”

Jolly answered immediately, “Scotti Wilkson, Scotti Wilkson in New Zealand, this is O’Toole House Chief Radioman Jolly Adams responding to your call, OVER.”

The caller responded, “Thanks to The Great God, I am a sheep rancher and I pulled six boys out of the surf near here. They have been badly beaten and the only words of English they have spoken is, ‘O’Toole House, America’. They appear to be Malaysians and the oldest looks to be twelve or thirteen years, the youngest is a baby the oldest boy is carrying! Over.”

Jolly blew the general alarm!

Min Tangimora was the first to arrive and Jolly briefed him, he then handed the mic to him. Min replied, “Scotti Wilkson, Scotti of New Zealand, this is Captain Min Tangimora of O’Toole House. We have our Medical Rescue ship currently at Kingston, Norfolk Island. I would estimate it to be about four days for them to get to you. Can you hold on for that amount of time? OVER.”

The man chuckled and sent, “Yes, the boys are not seriously hurt and my wife has them all in the tub right now, pouring warm water over their heads. We will wait for your ship to arrive, we know of your good work and look forward to working with you fellows. Scotti OUT.”

Min got immediately on the horn to the Patrick and asked for Pat himself. He related to what had passed between him and the man in New Zealand and Pat said that they would depart immediately for Spirits Bay.

Pat headed for the bridge of the PATRICK and began preparations for getting underway. As soon as the engines were started, he ordered the anchor upped and, after notifying the Constable at Kingston of their departure and the reason, they went charging out of the small bay and headed south through the Tasman Sea at All Ahead Emergency! The PATRICK came up to speed, her diesels thundering as they labored to respond to the Captain’s demands.

They had a new Doctor on board, Phillip Rogers. He had been out of Medical School just long enough to complete his residency. For him, it was like coming home, he had been a rescued boy, saved from a life of slavery by the old sailing ship, The Mary Joyce and Captain Wilson O’Toole. He remembered Patrick as a teen boy, about his own age at the time.

The two men had enjoyed each other as they had sailed south from Kauai, renewing their friendship of long ago. Both were married and had young children and Pat was happy to learn that Phil planned on staying with O’Toole House for as long as they would let him. He warned Phil that the boys they were headed to pick up had probably been sexually molested and hurt by their “owners” and that he was going to see some diseases and conditions not even in his textbooks.

Phil looked Pat in the eyes and said, “Patrick Wilson O’Toole, there is NOTHING that can scare me, if I save even one child from going through what I did, my life is a success!”

The PATRICK went charging south at her maximum speed, the seas were a bit rough, but nobody complained, except the engines! They were howling like frightened banshees, but everyone was soon used to the sound and they didn’t even hear them.

On the morning of the fifth day out of Kingston, Cape Reinga came over the horizon. The Wilson Sheep Station was at Te Haupa on Rarengarenga Harbor. Scotti Wilson said he would bring the boys out on his launch as it was unlikely The PATRICK could enter the shallow bay.

Pat found the place on his charts and raced The Patrick down the West Coast of Cape Reinga. They anchored out in the entrance to the harbor and blew the ship’s horn several times.

They saw a small motor launch come towards them with a man and woman in it and the heads of several small children. As the launch got closer, Pat was sure it was Rancher Scotti Wilkson and his wife. He could count five dark haired children and the tallest one was holding a bundle tightly to his chest.

The launch motored up to the ladder and the woman climbed up and asked for Captain O’Toole. Pat and Doc Phil hurried down to meet her and introduced themselves to her.

She said, “The children are very frightened and they fear we are giving them back to the people they escaped from. Despite our assurances, they are scared to death. Do you have any boys on board who could come down and assure them that they are all safe?”

Pat replied, “Yes, we have, how about the boy you guys spoke to, Chance Fishingspear? He is from Tonga and is on loan to us from his Uncle, The King of Tonga.” The woman’s eyes went wide, she knew their own natives, The Maori People, were also Polynesians and were related to those of Tonga. She told them that Chance would be ideal. He waved at Chance, who was up in the Radio Shack and the tall young man came immediately, with his usual wide smile on his face.

As soon as Chance understood the problem, he hopped down in the launch and first hugged the oldest boy. He whispered something in the boy’s ear and they could see his eyes fly wide open. He then began to cry as he grasped Chance like a man drowning in a sea of sharks.

He handed the baby to Chance and climbed up the ladder, leaning over to retrieve the wrapped bundle of a baby. He stood before Pat, almost at attention and said in, what was his very best English, “Capting, Sor, me Elshia, boy teen. Me has sixteen yars un theses boys me protect bad mens from. Please, Capting Sor, uses needs come you, Please Sor safe usins bads mens from.”

Pat was wise in the needs of frightened children and he wrapped his arms around the boy in a protective circle and just held him. The boy broke down in tears and Pat let him cry it out before he held out his hands to the boys remaining in the launch.

When Pat nodded, Doc Phil held out his hands to the boys still in the launch, they piled on him, clinging in fear they would be rejected. Chance followed them up the ladder and held the boys who were clinging to Doc, it was many minutes before they were able to get the children up to the Hospital Deck.

Chance stayed with Doc as he checked the boys over, holding the smaller boys’ hands as this strange white man ran his hands over their bodies. They feared he was just another bad man touching them, but they soon discovered he was nothing of the sort. He put soothing ointments on their scrapes and bruises and there was an old man, white haired, with a wrinkled face next to the Doctor (an old Navy Medic) who helped each boy into undershorts and colorful walking shorts and a light shirt.

There was a pile of rubber sandals that they could choose from and, when they were all dressed, there was a plate of sweet treats freshly baked in the galley, just for them.

Pat invited the Wilksons to stay for lunch and they watched as the new boys ate an amazing amount of food. They all knew that the boys were afraid that was their last meal, it would take a while to gain their trust.

Pat was concerned about where the boys came from, but the Wilksons were unable to help him. They left as their own children were waiting for them back at the sheep station. Pat ordered the PATRICK to get underway, their next stop would be Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

By the time they arrived at their next destination, the new boys were all settled in and Pat had discovered what had happened to them. He was NOT in a good mood!

Pat was stomping all over his Bridge, none of the boys of his crewed feared him, but his anger was so great, they stayed clear of his stomping. Finally, he called for Chance and told him to contact Captain Min and ask him to meet them at Honiara on Guadalcanal.

Chance called up and shouted that Captain Min wanted to speak with him. The two men spoke for nearly an hour over the radio, before Min rang the General Alarm. The WILSON would steam out of Lihue Harbor at daybreak of the next day, with her engines crammed to the stops.

Those gathered on the shore to say goodbye, heard the engine blowers whine in protest and black smoke roar out the stacks until the engines came up to temperature. The throttles would remain in that position for the next sixteen days!

Min was not reckless, but what Pat had told him was boiling his blood. The Malays had always been a slaving group of people, but, as far as he was concerned, history be damned, He had loaded all the rocket launchers they had, even the few six inchers they had begged from the National Guard.

The six inch rocket launchers were supposed to be mounted on wheels, but he had the welders among the boys install mounts on the upper decks and forecastle deck to hold the huge launching tubes.

As they raced across the ocean towards Guadalcanal, Min and Pat plotted via radio on how they were going to handle the problem.

Chance Fishingspear had befriended the rescued boys and, in particular, Elisha. Elisha was 16 years old and Chance was 16, and the bond between them was growing. The baby that Elisha had brought was his baby brother, their mother and father had been brutally murdered by the slavers.

By the time Min had caught up to The PATRICK in Guadalcanal, Elisha and Chance had become a couple and Elisha’s enemies were also Chance’s enemies! Elisha worried that, perhaps this new Captain would disapprove, but Chance told him all about the O’Toole Family and what they did. Despite this, however, Elisha vowed to run, if he was going to be persecuted.

Chance knew what had happened to Elisha, the beatings by his own father and the punishment imposed by the mullah. He held onto Elisha’s hand as they both watched the approaching ship.

As The WILSON came over the horizon, Elisha began packing his few possessions and made ready to run yet again. Chance stuck at Elisha’s side, knowing what his surprise was going to be. Elisha was in overload now and Chance was sure he was going to go “over the edge” when he discovered who and what was crewing the huge freighter.

The PATRICK was anchored out in the harbor and The WILSON dropped her hook right next to The PATRICK. Chance grinned when he pointed up at the main deck of The WILSON, which towered over the little PATRICK.

Elisha stammered as he stared, “…bbbbuuut tttthey aaare jjust bboyyyyys lllike uuus!”

Chance hugged Elisha and said, “Yeah, just like us. You are my mate for so long as I live and many of those boys are just like us. They will rejoice that we have found each other!”

Min had the launch lowered into the water and he came over to The PATRICK, bringing several boys with him. He went into conference with Pat and the boys mingled with the boys on The PATRICK.

Chance knew several of them and he hollered, “Mingo, Cholla, come meet my partner, Elisha!” Elisha turned a bit shy and hid his face on Chance’s shoulder. He knew he was being foolish, but he didn’t want these new boys see him crying. All the boys knew what Elisha was going through, so they remained silent until he had recovered his emotions.

From that moment on, Elisha began to come out of his shell, the boys found him to be a friend, he had a wicked sense of humor and was not above a practical joke. His only hang up was in protecting his baby brother and, in that, he was a tiger indeed. In fact, that soon became his nickname, TIGER!

Elisha was intelligent and had the benefit of advanced schooling, as his father was an important businessman in Kuala Lumpur. Chance brought him to Captains Min and Pat and Elisha showed them on a map just where the pirate base was and where the slave holding pens were located.

After the meeting with the two Captains, Elisha made Chance promise that, if anything should happen to him, Chance would take care of little Moab in his place. Chance promised he would do that, but he promised himself that nothing was going to happen to Elisha!

When Chance discovered that Elisha had volunteered to lead a raiding party to the slave pens, he convinced Captain Pat that he should go also. Pat knew what was behind Chance’s request and was worried, after all, Chance was cousin to King Tahuli of Tonga! There was no dissuading Chance, so he placed both boys in his own squad.

The slavers had taken over the small town of Salang on Tioman Island off the east coast of Malaysia. The town was nestled in a small cove on the west coast of the small island and the slave barracks were on the hill just above the town. There was a long pier that jutted out into the bay and the pirate leader had a large house near the foot of the pier. The sailors were housed in several large buildings nearby.

The two Captains planned on The PATRICK entering the bay as exactly what she was supposed to be, a health care vessel. Min would bring The WILSON in, up close during the night and they would attack just at dawn of the next day. The slave pens were far enough away from the town, that they would not be injured.

The PATRICK sailed into the harbor, bold as brass and dropped her hook in the middle of the small bay. The pirates were suspicious, but the Malaysian central government had sent out a message that The PATRICK was there to care for the natives and that there were doctors on board.

The government was complicit with the pirates, but they could not turn down an offer of free medical help without creating suspicions in the international community.

In order to control the number of visitors on The PATRICK, Pat had the launch put in the water and had it manned with the biggest and strongest members of the crew. He told Boats to not let more than five members of the community in the launch and any one time and that only one boatload was to be allowed on The PATRICK at a time.

The very first boat load of patients were six, teen boys. The youngest looked to be about thirteen and the rest ranged up to about eighteen years old. They all had terrible scars on their arms and backs and they jumped whenever anyone said anything to them.

Doc took the youngest boy first and, what he saw sent him into a frenzy of anger, the marks on the boy’ back were whip marks! He leaned over and whispered to the Medic, “Get Cap’n Pat, NOW!”

All of the boys showed signs of terrible abuse and, when Doc started examining the youngest teen, he found him bleeding from his rectum. Doc Phil had been around the game for a while and he had been a rescued boy himself back when both he and Pat were teenagers! He recognized what he was seeing and, despite all his experience, he gathered the youngster up in his arms and held him.

The boy, whispered his name to the strange white man who was holding him, “Me Tokalu, Me ‘fraid, Master kill me if Me tell! Yu Me fix, Me go work more.”

Doc gritted his teeth and looked up, he had not noticed that Pat had come into the compartment and heard what the child had said.

Pat looked at the boy and then at Phil and just nodded his head. Doc said out loud, “All you boys are safe here, you do not need to go back to your Master, we will protect you and care for you and give you a new home, where you shall not be forced to do things you do not wish to do!”

At that, all six boys began to cry and the oldest, who said his name was Josiah, said, “Plis Masters, we do what yu want, we no stand hurts more.”

The old Navy Medic could take no more, he had seen thirty years in the Navy before being forced to retire and he had hoped working with the O’Tooles would be easier than dodging bullets on some sand hill in the Middle East! He held Josiah’s hands in his own wrinkled and gnarled hands as he said to the boy, “Son, they will have to go through me to hurt you again and that just ain’t gonna happen!”

The boy’s eyes lit up and he said, “Me son, yu?”

Terry O’Donal looked at Pat, who was grinning, and he replied, “Son, if ye want me ta’ be yore Papa, then ya’ stick right here an’ I’m gonna protect ya fer the rest o’yer life!” The other five boys were crying and Doc called for all the off-duty Medics to report to sickbay immediately!

By lunch, all six boys had disappeared into the bowels of The PATRICK, along with another twenty boys before someone on shore got wise and stopped them from seeking treatment on the ship.

Pat figured the “cat was out of the bag” and got on the radio to Min and had him move The WILSON into the bay, with her rocket launchers all mounted and manned!

Elisha did not know any of the new boys, but he had already learned that he was safe on board The PATRICK and he spoke to all the boys who had finally gotten on board. They then told Captain Pat that there were over a hundred more boys imprisoned up in the slave barracks and that many more of them had been hurt.

Pat and Min were NOT happy campers!

A fat man, dressed in elaborate robes came out in a boat, rowed by young boys, and asked to come on board. Pat allowed him to climb the rope ladder, they had taken in the accommodation gangway, and the man started to scream and shout about stolen property. It was obvious he meant the boys they had down below decks, resting on the first clean beds they had ever known.

While the man was screaming at Pat, Boats slipped over the side and he dropped into the boat. Boats was a giant of a man and the boys sitting at the oars were plainly intimidated by him. They did not know that he was as kind and gentle a man as ever existed. He sat beside them and spoke softly, “Boys, we gots a place fer ya’ on board our ship and also that ship over there.”

He was pointing at The WILSON and her rocket launchers were all pointed towards the shore. He continued, “Iffin ya’ wants, yus all climb up this here ladder and follow the boy who is wait’n fer ya’ up there.”

About that time, Jolly leaned over the side, his bright red hair looking like a red flag, and he waved at Boats and hollered, “Come on guys, we got hot food in the galley fer ya’!”

While the boys on the oars did not speak English very well, they recognized the words hot and food. They had been fed nothing but cold slave mush since they had been enslaved. The rush up the rope ladder looked like a giant caterpillar and the boys went hand over hand up to the main deck!

As soon as the boys were out of sight, Pat told the man to get off his ship, he was making his decks dirty! The fat man snarled at Pat and shook his fist as he headed back down the ladder, without even looking down.

As soon as he made the boat, the crew pulled the rope ladder up and one of them dropped some steel scrap from the main deck down into the boat alongside. The scrap went through the hull of the boat and it began to sink. They all watched as the fat man had to swim back to the shore.

Chance Fishingspear spoke the Malay Language and he gathered the former slave boys and told them of The PATRICK and The WILSON and what they did. Chance was as big a man as his Uncle, King Tahuli, and he suddenly had a mass of frightened boys hanging on him.

The crew learned of the new boys and, within minutes, every new boy had a friend to show him around The PATRICK, where the mess deck was and how to use the showers and toilets.

Friendships and more were established that morning and Medic Terry O’Donal, who had spent his entire life as a single man, suddenly had two new, teenaged sons at sixty years of age! Pat let him have one of the staterooms and all three of them crowded into the small compartment.

Both Pat and Min knew they had to do something about those slave barracks up on the hill, but they worried that the slavers were warned now and, worse, they might do something to harm the boys still being held.

Chance insisted that he lead the war party. Pat was worried that some harm might come to the Tongan Prince, but Chance was adamant! Chance, like his Uncle, was a large man and all the boys looked up to him and, since he spoke their language, it really was the best choice.

Thus began a non-war, that night, Chance led a party of twenty teenage boys up the hill, where the locked slave barracks stood. There was not a soul around and the barracks were silent.

They checked all the doors and all were securely locked. They pried the hasp off the door of the first barracks and carefully opened the door. The place was silent and empty!

In the second building, they found the fat man, who had been out to The Patrick earlier in the day. He was swinging from a rope thrown over the roof joist, his eyes were bulged out and his tongue had already turned black.

He was very dead.

It was not until they reached the last building, that they found the place stuffed with boys of all ages. They pulled seventy boys out of that building and led them down the hill to where both The PATRICK and The WILSON had their small boats lined up to ferry the boys out to the ships.

The boys all moved silently, they listened intently to Chance’s instructions as they piled into the boats and waited quietly for their turn to climb the ladder onto the ship they had been assigned to.

As they were climbing up into The WILSON, the buildings up on the hill exploded into a fiery mass with small explosions as combustibles inside the buildings caught fire. The boys all shook their fists at the fire and seemed happy that they were being destroyed.

The next morning, the man, who all the boys called the “Pasha”, was seen getting into a power boat on the beach and he headed out of the bay in the direction of the main island alone. His right-hand man, the fat man, was already dead.

The two ships stayed for a few more days, sitting in the calm waters of the bay as the Docs repaired broken boy bodies, they did not lose a single boy and it was not long before they were outside, in the sunshine playing on the protected areas of the main deck.