* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Chapters 4, 5 & 6 have not been proof read yet! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Plan The two women stared at each other wide-eyed. "Africa?" Jane said, "Does he think we'll just go to Africa with him?" She tried to sound angry, but fear and confusion made her voice tremble. Biannka placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I have been thinking about an idea." She half whispered and looked dubious, "It might not work and it could be quite dangerous!" Jane assured her: "Lay it on me, Biannka. Right now the best plan I have heard is going to fucking Senegal with a mad sex- offender. I am open to all suggestions." Biannka laid it on her. It was bold and ingenious, and it was assured to piss Lomax off big time if it did not work. But it might actually work, Jane realized. The biggest problem was avoiding getting caught preparing it. "Even presuming the healing pump can compensate for moving the cargo around." Jane said, "and we don't tip over, we'll probably need an hours worth of work. He'll hear or feel or both." "So we'll have to make sure that he does not." Biannka stated. 'Easy for you to say' Jane thought, 'you are not the one who is going to have to entertain him are you? But of course." she admitted to herself, ".it wont be me either, will it? He'll pick Cathy or Malu or even the child, if he hasn't already had her!" Her heart aced at the thought of her gentle lover in the grips of that predator. Aloud she said: "I'll talk to the others. Lets get this course plotted." When Biannka passed her to get the charts, Jane put a hand on her arm and said: "If you get us out of this, the job as second mate of Neptunia is yours for life." The older woman smiled: "Thank you, captain! I'll hold you to that!" By four in the afternoon, Jane had talked to everybody and the plan had formed. Cathy had gotten the biggest steaks out of the pantry and was preparing a real feast with wine, two courses and massive amounts of food. They were betting that he had not had a decent meal in quite a while and would eat and drink too much. He probably would not be daft enough to get drunk or anything, but even delayed reactions would help. For whatever reason Malu and Shirlynn were in the passenger's quarters, talking too loud and not exactly in their own voices. On the bridge Isi was attempting to have a conversation with Lomax. He had requested her presence, apparently believing that the others would behave as long at he had a hostage. In a way he was even right. Ultimately, the plan could not commence if they were not all together for it. Jane was in the engine-room running a complete check on the healing pump from hydraulic pressure to manual override. It was working at peek efficiency and should be able (as was its function) to shift ballast fast enough to compensate for the movement of the cargo, thus keeping them level in the water. Biannka was checking the cargo. She banged her fist against the sides of the crates. They were large wooden crates of a very sturdy build and weighed about 1.200 pounds each. Stacked two and two, there was less than 7 inches between the top one and the main deck (which of course was the ceiling down here). It seemed perfect. Naturally, a million things could still go wrong: He could hear or feel her working on the crates, in which case he would probably bash her head in. Or he could decide not to go look for them, in which case they would look really stupid, with their trap all set and lying in hiding. They'd just have to hope for the best, she guessed. When dinner came they were as ready as they were ever going to be. Lomax ate more than any of them had ever seen one man consume - admittedly most of them did not have much of a reference, but still. On top of that he drank more than an entire bottle of wine. When dinner was done, if anything, he just appeared refreshed. "That." Lomax said and smacked his lips, "was one of the best meals I've ever had! I almost feel like making the cook happy in return, but that will have to wait a little." He rose and reached out to Maul, who stood and took the offered hand. "We don't want to be disturbed!" He said, as he pulled Malu out of the room, "You behave now!" They had known that this was coming and had agreed that whoever got picked would have to entertain him for at least an hour, to give Biannka time to set the trap. They had not discussed what to do if she got picked herself (she was the only crewmember who had the nessary prowess with the forklift to even attempt the reshuffle of the crates) -past forty and not beautiful by any conventional standard, the chances that he would pick her were considered slim at best. Even Shirlynn was taken into confidence, everyone hoping that she would not be the one picked (though after their talk, Jane felt almost sure that Lomax had already licked that particular pot of honey). Biannka rose the second the door shut behind Lomax and his victim of the hour: "I will need someone to call the distances." she said and left without waiting for the election. Isi jumped from her seat and followed Biannka saying that she would handle it. The remaining three began clearing the table more to pass the time than anything else. The minute the door closed, Malu changed. She pulled away from him and sat down on the bunk, straightening her back to show off a pair of very nice, well-formed breasts. Her attitude was that of a person who was in complete control and indeed that was how she felt. Among women she often felt immature and daft, but here she was on her home-turf. Men, she had always felt, were her special area of expertise! "I was hoping you would pick me." she said and curled one of her light red locks around her index finger. Lomax had gone to the corner for a beer but jerked his head up and looked over at her at that. She smiled: "We have been out for weeks! A girl gets urges, you know?!" Malu claimed and removed her T-shirt. She was wearing her best underwear, a dark brown and flimsy thing that was exactly the right shade for her fair skin. When she looked up again Lomax was staring wide- eyed at her ample breasts and she knew that she had him right where she wanted him. Basically she had never met a man who would not rather receive than take, and apparently Lomax was no exception. If you could pretend to give it up freely and maybe even like it, you could make them do anything. Anyway they 'had' been at sea for 10 days and a girl 'did' get urges. The guy was build like an Olympic athlete and wanted to get down - she was all with that. Lomax was shedding the ridicules costume and moving to the bed. When he got there, he almost stabbed her in the throat with his all but fully erect dick and took a large swig from his beer. Things were moving way too fast - it would never take an hour that way - and she would get no release. She slipped sideways away from his meat-dagger and stood. "Can I have a beer too? I am a little dry." she said, already moving for the corner with the beer. He made a 'suit yourself gesture' and pouted a little. She smiled back at him: "Why don't you lay down and get comfortable?" Still clearly feeling put down he did. His erection had dwindled a little. Opening her beer Malu eyed it worriedly; she liked her meat strong and big and was not impressed yet. Still, it was what she had to work with, so it would have to do. She drank form her beer and put it down on the floor at the end of the bunk and knelt. His feet were less than clean. There was nothing on board that he could have used for shoes and he had walked around barefoot all day. She skipped over his feet and planted a wet kiss on his left ankle. At that exact time she felt and faintly heard the movement of the forklift in the cargo area. Naturally she was expecting it, waiting for it even, but she could not believe that he did not register it! She increased her pace a little and kissed her way up his right and left leg faster than she would have normally done. Apparently what she did do was good enough for him. When she reached his crotch, he was back at full mast. He was quite long, but not as thick as Malu liked them. A lightly pungent smell rose from him and Malu quickly jumped to her feet and ran to the sink by the door. He eyed her suspiciously as she wetted a towel and returned to the bunk. She gave him the basic rubdown; cock-head, testicles and asshole. Then she sniffed experimentally, threw the towel away, smiled up at him and planted a big kiss on the purple head. She then widened her mouth and took him in. She was immediately forgiven for her tardiness. He moaned and jerked his hips from the word go. She sucked him directly into her mouth and played with the cock-head with her tongue. Then she almost let him out, released suction and teased him lightly with her teeth. Sucking him in again she bobbed her head hard and fast like a sprint. When that almost had him cumming, she let him fall out and licked his shaft and balls while she masturbated him with slow deliberate stokes. She alternated like this for minutes on end, until finally he was breathing hard and getting more persisting in his movements. She grabbed the base of his cock hard enough to get his attention: "If I lets you come in my mouth," she said, "will you be able to get it up again soon?" He nodded quickly and enthusiastically, closed his eyes and tilted his head back again. She would have chanced it anyway. There was no way that she could spend an hour with the guy if he could only come once. In her experience all men could be 'resurrected' within 5-10 minutes if they had not worked to get off. Needless to say, her statistical evidence for this assumption was somewhat tainted; she had never tried it on anyone older than 29! She took him as deep as she could and did another short sprint. This time when he started jerking, she let him come. His semen had a nice, almost sweet taste to it. Malu was a natural come-lover, but even she had never had anything like it. It went down like chocolate-cream. He lay still for a while and she just drank from her beer and enjoyed the sheer massiveness of his beauty. When she lit a cigarette he opened his eyes and smiled at her. They shared the cigarette in silence. She let her hand play lightly on his colossal thigh and even before the cigarette was gone, he was more or less ready again. What would really have got her going at that point was a long-lasting, rough cunt-licking, but her female instincts told her that Lomax was not that kind of a guy. Instead she pushed him down on his back and sat on his cock - locking it between his stomach and her sex. She then proceeded to grate her clitoris against the entire length of his cock. Adjusting the angle a little she covered him with her abundant juices (sucking cock would always get her wet) and resumed the rubbing. Keeping their sexes together she lowered her lips to his and they kissed. One deep kiss was all he got. He badly needed to brush his teeth and kissed too roughly for her tastes. Instead she placed the palms of her hands on his massive chest, rose from his cock and caught it with her vagina when it tilted upwards. She pushed down on it and sighed deeply as it penetrated her. This was exactly what she had needed. She ground her pelvis against his and felt him banging roughly against her uterus. Rising and falling she soon found a good rhythm. Her inner lips were unusually large and meaty and every time she rose on his dick she felt them dragging along his shaft. She had had that sensation before of course, but the length of his dick made it especially wild. Now totally lost in the moment, her movements got less deliberate and faster. Digging her sharp and strong nails into his chest she almost drew blood. Her pace was now controlled solely by her oncoming orgasm. Despite his impressive length she almost lost contact with him twice. Then it hit her. She thrust herself down at him hard once, went totally rigid and screamed. Her cunt-muscles worked up and down his shaft while she came and came, but having just spewed his load, he held back. Finally she relaxed her steel- grip on his chest and sunk off him onto the bunk. She had no idea how long they had been at it, but even before she went into overdrive, she felt the movement in the cargo bay stopping. She was sure that it had been at least 5 minutes since the last trip of the forklift. It was time to move. She took a swig of the beer and lit another cigarette. One drag she took, and then she gave it to Lomax and lay with her right arm and leg across him, caressing his chest. "That was great!" she whispered in his ear. "I don't know what you fancy, but I would really love for you to finish up in my ass if you like!" A sudden stiffness told her, that she had his undivided attention. "You would? Great." She said. Then the gamble: "Only I have to clear out the canal, if you know what I mean. There is a hose in the other bathroom. I would be 5 minutes tops!" He did and said nothing for maybe 10 seconds during which she fought to act and breathe normally. Then he nodded: "Hurry up then." She rose and quickly slipped into panties and T-shirt, blew him a kiss and went unhurried (she hoped) out the door. The trip down the stairs and along the corridor was one of the longest she had ever made. She did not dare to run, lest she fell, but finally reached door to the cargo bay. Inside the entire gang was waiting. "Are you OK?" Jane asked even as she pulled her through a tight crevice between two stacks of crates. Malu told her that she was fine and joined the others by the outer hull. Quickly activating the forklift Biannka backed the stack of two crates back towards the group. When the crates were level with the other crates she stopped and almost, but not quite lowered the stack. Then she turned of the forklift. They had to hope that Lomax would not notice the discrepancy of half an inch in height. There would not be time for both turning the forklift on 'and' raising the stack. The trap was set. There were 5 feet from the wall to the row of crates; just enough to accommodate the forklift. At this end of the passage the crates were stacked against the wall and at the other end it narrowed in to just a couple of inches from the outer hull. On the other side the crates were stacked in the same fashion, creating a narrow corridor by the door that widened out further down the 45 feet long cargo bay. In this fashion they had created an area up front that could not be surveyed from the door or by moving less than halfway down the corridor. They were hoping that Lomax would walk down this corridor, allowing them to box him in with the two massive crates on the forklift. "How long do you think?" Cathy whispered to Malu, who was shivering next to her. "He 'really' wanted me back." Malu said and in the darkness Cathy could hear her smiling "can't be long now." Exactly on cue there was the loud bang of a door being hit with the improvised club. Lomax also yelled something threatening but he was still too far away for them to make sense of his threats. "OK" Jane whispered to Shirlynn who had been put in charge of the tape recorder, "Turn on and let go!" Malu and Shirlynn had produced a tape recording that was basically human noise. It was designed to convince Lomax that there really was somebody at the end of the passage. Shirlynn hit 'play' and let go of the small square recorder. A length of sting went from it to the top of the last most crate. The recorder swung downward and outward until it ended up outside the narrow passage where, hopefully, it would sound to Lomax like several woman discussing. They all held their breath. Lomax was slowly and methodically making his way down the corridor checking quarter by quarter, storage room by storage room. All the while he was banging his stick and yelling obscenities. When he finally reached the cargo bay, he was so mad, that all the finer points of their plan were void. The door flew open and he stormed down the corridor. It all went so fast that he had reached the end and found the cassette recorder before Biannka even had time to react. An angry roar and the sound of the recorder shattering accompanied the sudden rumble for the forklift as Biannka finally threw the switch and accelerated the heavy crates. Lomax had less than two seconds to register the situation and react on it. He was 30 feet away from the rapidly diminishing gap and still he almost made it! Had Biannka reacted half a second slower, he would have gotten through. Instead he crashed against the side of the two crates with his entire weight, actually tipping them and the forklift backwards. The top crate touched the roof and tipped back down. Biannka immediately released the fork placing the crates firmly on the deck. Roaring Lomax crashed into the crates again, but even he could not move the 2.400 pounds of sturdy wooden crates; there just was a kind of a wet 'thud'. With that he suddenly fell silent. The woman did not dare to move - the gigantic pressure of the past 10 hours was taking its toll and they simply did not dare to believe that their tormentor had been contained. Cathy was the first to snap out of it. "Somebody should be on the bridge!" she said. Jane nodded and found Isi's eyes in the semi darkness. "Isi, please take the helm." Jane said. Isi moved for the door immediately, but Jane caught her arm, "Under the main access-panel of the radio two fuses are missing. Replace them, and put out a general distress call." Isi gave the briefest nod and hurried away. At the same time Biannka killed the engine of the forklift. In the sudden silence they could hear Lomax moving around in his improvised cage. Now and then he banged his stick against crates or hull, but already appeared resigned to his fate. Biannka got off the forklift and put a hand on Jane's shoulder. On Biannka's other side Cathy put her arm around her and pulled Shirlynn into the huddle. Soon a group-hug developed. They were still hugging when the first blow hit. The noise was incredible. It resonated around the steel- hull of the Neptunia and was still there when the second blow hit. Jane and Biannka looked at each other. "I don't think that Lomax wants to go to France." Biannka said. Jane stared at her in incomprehension for a second, then she said: "But how? With what?" She looked at nothing, thinking hard. Then, "Jesus! The old loading hatch." They all looked at her. "He is banging the old loading hatch. Is probably using the batten!" Jane explained, "But it doesn't make sense! It is welded shut. There is no way he could." At that time she was cut short by a sudden freezing sensation by her feet. She looked down at them, but her overworked nerves did not allow her to identify what she saw. "Captain," Biannka said in a slow and insisting voice, "would the old hatch be below sea level with this load?" Jane looked up at her and down at her feet and finally back up at Biannka. "Jesus, Mary and Josef!" Jane whispered, "He is sinking my ship!" She flung herself at the crates that separated her from Lomax and screamed: "You are sinking my ship, you insane psychopath! We'll all die!" Biannka grabbed her by the shoulders and moved her toward the door. Shirlynn, Cathy and Malu were right behind them. The water was rising rapidly in the cargo bay but had not yet spilled over into the main corridor yet. Malu quickly closed and locked the door. It was not designed to withstand pressure and was not watertight. It would not buy them much time. "Get to the main deck." she called to the three youngsters, taking control where the captain could not, "If he gets through that hatch I want you to make damn sure that he doesn't get back on board. Clubber him if you must!" They rushed away immediately, Cathy hesitating to cast one quick worried glance at Jane. Biannka knelt by Jane's side: "I have to go to Isidora now. Can I leave you here?" she said clearly worried about the younger woman. Jane made a hand gesture indicating that she would be fine. Biannka was not so sure, but had no time to discuss it and rushed away to the bridge. Jane remained on the floor, staring wide-eyed at nothing, trying to get her mind around their impossible situation. A little later a huge groaning noise indicated that the superhuman giant had finally broken open the antiquated hatch. Biannka reached the bridge in a short time and found Isi at the helm looking worried. "What is going on down there." Isi asked, "She's gone all sluggish and is responding weirdly to the rudder." Biannka did not answer immediately. "Isidora," she said, "Did you place that distress call? Please say you didn't!" "I didn't. I had no time! Haven't even replaced the fuses." Isi's brow furrowed, "Bin, what the fuck is going on?" Biannka moved to the controls and quickly turned all emergency pumps on. Then she activated the ballast pumps, shedding all possible ballast-water in order to raise the boat in the water. It would probably not bring the old hatch out of the water, but it had to do. "He's banged a hole in the starboard bow. We are taking water into the cargo bay." Biannka explained, "That's the point about the distress call. If he gets out, we might have to kill him! Can't have people come looking for him after that." At precisely that moment a long groaning noise was heard all thorough the ship. Lomax was in the water! On the main deck Shirlynn, Malu and Cathy were ready for him. Shirlynn was holding the sorry remains of the stool that Lomax tore apart; the other two held boathooks at the ready. He was naked again when he slipped into the water. The second he emerged Shirlynn lost her nerve and threw the busted up stool at him. It flew well over and past him, doing no damage. He ignored them and swam directly for the life raft, which the Neptunia was still dragging. Cathy and Malu raced him to the ropes. As he reached the raft they were already frantically cutting at the ropes. He slipped into the raft and strangely just sat there watching them as them cut him loose. Once free the life raft quickly fell behind the Neptunia, which was still under power. Absurdly Lomax got up to the canvas and waved at three women on the main deck. Malu felt a crazy urge to wave back at him, but fought it down. Soon the life raft was just an orange speck on the horizon. Lomax had left them. ************ Epilogue They did not sink. Dumping ballast and pumping water out of the cargo bay eventually raised the hatch above the waterline. After that they were able to pull the hatch shut and batten it down. It was not watertight anymore, but the pumps were easily able to combat the light trickle. The pumps were designed to operate constantly, but taking no chances Jane Street called in their position and the situation with the hatch the next day. She stated that cargo had shifted in rough weather and caused the damage. Even when the Neptunia was in dry dock in France and the workers insisted that 'no way could cargo do that', Jane and her crew were adamant. It seemed even stranger when the captain insisted that the hatch be replaced with solid steel plates, which was more than four times as expensive as unbending and welding the hatch. No one ever called Shirlynn 'Rich kid' again and when her mother forgave her and called her home, she stayed on the Neptunia for two extra trips and got off in Canada. More than a year went by before she showed up back at her mothers. But that is an entirely different story. When the Neptunia disappeared on the horizon, Lomax zipped the canvas, lay back and was soon drifting off to sleep. A new ship would come along soon. One always did. 42