Samurai Secrets Page 3

‘I wish I knew. But it's like everything about this mission. I'm still confused. I know I'm here for some purpose, but I just can't work out what it is.’

  ‘Does it have to do with Prince Najito? I noticed you remembered his name.’

  ‘Yes. He's part of the picture.’ The captain furrowed his brow. ‘But there's someone else. Someone far more important.’

  ‘Do you mean the princess?’

  Captain Smythe's jaw dropped. ‘Did you say princess?’

  ‘Yes. Princess Akinawa. She thought I was you.’

  ‘That's it!’ The captain's face went white. He held his head in his hands and staggered about, moaning and muttering. ‘It's all coming back. Oh my head. Too much. Too terrible.’

  ‘What's the matter, Dad?’

  ‘XBB005 is suffering traumatic memory overload,’ Skin said.

  ‘That sounds bad.’

  ‘That's where you're wrong,’ Professor Perdu interrupted on the Battle Watch. ‘This is exactly where I want your father to be. It's where he was thirty years ago as BB005. And it's where he must be now if he is to fix what went wrong back then.’

  ‘What do you mean? What happened to Dad then?’

  ‘When your father was here as a Battle Boy, he and Princess Akinawa became close friends. When Najito locked her in the tower, your father made it his mission to rescue her. But before he could, Battle Book 44 kicked into Omega Phase. And then real disaster struck: the tower caught alight. His Operation Controller had to pull him out of the mission. Your father has blamed himself ever since for not saving the princess.’

  ‘And this is his chance to put things right again?’

  ‘Exactly. With a little help from you, of course. Can I rely on you, BB005?’

  ‘What do you think, Prof?’ Napoleon turned to the captain. ‘Come on, Dad. We've got a princess to save.’

  Napoleon and his father climbed out of the mist and steam, leaving Najito and his men laughing like loonies. They hurried through the castle grounds to the palace gates. Pulling on their CamoCapes, they sneaked past the guards. Once safely away, they clambered onto a high rock and looked out over Hakata Bay.

  ‘There's the North Tower,’ Captain Smythe said.

  It sat alone on a rocky outcrop in the middle of the bay, Mongol warships moored all around it. A weak light shone from its top room.

  ‘That's where the princess is, Dad. Najito imprisoned her there.’

  ‘I know. We must get her out. Something terrible is about to happen.’

  No sooner had Captain Smythe spoken than a series of explosions echoed across the bay and huge skyrockets shot from the warships. They slammed into the wooden tower and it burst into flames.

  ‘What are the Mongols doing?’ yelled Napoleon. ‘Their princess is in the tower.’

  ‘Clearly they are not apprised of this fact,’ said Skin. ‘More importantly, however, is the fact that unless immediate action is taken, the tower will totally combust in less than ten minutes.’

  ‘Come on, then.’ Napoleon scrambled down the rock to the water's edge, his father following. ‘Give us those WaterWalkers, Skin. And upgrade them to Run Mode with Boot Boost Assist.’

  Napoleon felt his sandals vibrate. They expanded until they looked like thick skis. So did his father's, and in the next moment they were skipping over the water towards the tower.

  But then the Mongols turned their fire on them. Arrows and spears whizzed past, skyrockets and tetsuhaus exploded all around them.

  ‘We'll never get through to the princess if they keep this up,’ Napoleon shouted.

  At that moment a huge warship loomed in front of them. Skin scanned it at once.

  ‘Water craft identified. It is the flagship of the whole fleet, under the command of Admiral Arakhan.’

  Arakhan was scowling down on them from the deck. A large rocket was also aimed at them, about to be ignited.

  ‘Wait!’ Napoleon shouted to the admiral, his words coming out in Mongolian. ‘Hold your fire. Princess Akinawa is in the tower. Let us through and we will save her for you.’

  Arakhan let them through at once and called a ceasefire. ‘May the gods help you bring her to us. And the great Kublai Khan will forever be in your debt.’

  Napoleon and his father shot across the water and were soon nearing the rocky outcrop on which the tower stood.

  ‘Give us the FingerWinch next, Skin,’ Napoleon yelled, aiming the Helping Hand at the tower.

  A tiny missile with a fine cable attached shot from his finger all the way to the top of the tower. The missile lodged just above the princess's window.

  ‘Activating Winch Facility now,’ said Skin.

  ‘Hang on tight, Dad. We're going up.’

  Napoleon and his father were hauled up the side of the tower, assisted by their Boot Boosters. In a matter of seconds they were climbing through the window of the princess's cell. Smoke was billowing up from below and flames were licking at the floorboards.

  Captain Smythe leaped through the window. ‘Princess Akinawa.’ She was cringing in a corner of the room. He ran to her side at once. ‘I've come back to save you.’

  The princess stared at him. ‘Who are you?’ she asked.

  ‘I'm Hatano. Don't you remember me?’

  ‘I don't understand.’ The princess stared back and forth between Napoleon and his father. ‘I thought he was Hatano.’

  ‘Don't worry about it,’ Napoleon yelled. ‘There isn't time to explain.’

  He dragged the princess to the window. There he pointed his Helping Hand at Arakhan's warship and fired the FingerWinch missile. It lodged itself into the mast just above the main deck. Then Napoleon drew a Kevlar harness from his HoverVest and strapped it onto the princess.

  ‘Help me, Dad,’ he yelled.

  Napoleon and his father lifted Princess Akinawa onto the windowsill and attached her harness to the FingerWinch cable.

  ‘Freedom awaits you, princess,’ said Napoleon, pointing at Arakhan's warship.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, and then turned to Napoleon's father. She peered into his eyes. ‘I don't understand what has happened but I see now that you are telling the truth. Thank you for returning, Hatano. I always believed you would.’

  Captain Smythe tried to say something, but the words stuck in his throat.

  ‘Activate the Flying Fox Facility, Skin,’ Napoleon said. ‘Now!’

  With flames reaching the window, Princess Akinawa slid into the night sky and floated smoothly down to the Mongol ship. When she was safely on board, Napoleon retracted the missile and cable.

  ‘I think it's time we left, too,’ Napoleon said to his father.

  Captain Smythe was still staring down at the warship.

  ‘Dad?’

  The captain looked at him. ‘Yes, of course. I sometimes think it'd be nice to stay, though.’

  A moment later, Professor Perdu's voice came over Napoleon's Battle Watch.

  ‘Well done, BB005. I'm setting up your Exit Beam now.’

  A shaft of light appeared further out in the bay.

  ‘Activate HoverVest, please, Skin,’ Napoleon said.

  ‘Not possible. HoverVest is still in the repair process.’

  ‘So how are we meant to make it to the Exit Beam? It's at least half a kilometre away.’

  ‘Utilise your CamoCapes in Kite Mode with Boot Boost Assist.’

  Captain Smythe eyed the flames licking at his feet. ‘Sounds good to me.’ He flicked back his cape and dived into the air.

  But no sooner had he done so than Skin gave a loud beep. ‘Level 9 Danger Warning. Hold all activity. Urgent reassessment needed before continuing.’

  ‘Too bad, Skin,’ Napoleon yelled. ‘We're locked into this one.’ He leaped from the tower. ‘Wait for me, Dad.’

  By the time Napoleon caught up to his father, he realised what Skin was warning them about. There was a strong head wind, and it was growing stronger all the time.

  ‘Extreme weather alert,’ Skin continued. ‘Super typhoon ap
proaching at rapid speed. Winds in excess of 240 kilometres, waves over six metres high.’

  ‘We'll never make it to the Exit Beam,’ Napoleon yelled. They were already being blown backwards, even though their Boot Boosters were in Level 10 Turbo Mode.

  ‘Incorrect. A typhoon is a circular storm. Recommend utilising that circularity.’

  ‘You mean we ride the wind around in a circle until we come to the beam?’

  ‘Correct, BB005. Please execute action without delay.’

  Napoleon and his father turned at once and let the wind take them with it. They flew back over the burning tower, over the island of Kyushu, then way out to sea, moving in a huge circle.

  It seemed to take forever, the wind blowing harder all the time, the sea raging with mountainous waves. But eventually they saw Hakata Bay again with the Mongol ships being tossed about like toys.

  ‘Exit Beam located,’ said Skin. Napoleon could see it glowing in the night sky. ‘Your estimated speed is 220 kilometres per hour.’

  ‘We are moving like the wind,’ said Captain Smythe. ‘Better not shoot past the beam.’

  ‘Not possible. Target destination now locked. Zeroing in on:

  ‘5

  4’

  Napoleon looked down at Hakata Bay. Kublai Khan's ships were being destroyed. Many were sinking, swamped by the gigantic waves. Others were being thrown onto the rocks.

  ‘3

  2’

  His father was staring down as well, his face tense with worry.

  ‘1.’

  They hit the Exit Beam and vanished in an instant.

  Napoleon sat in his change cubicle, exhausted.

  ‘I think that was the toughest mission I've ever been on,’ he said to Skin.

  ‘Correct, BB005. Activity was at a high level, as were achievements.’

  ‘Yeah, but we still didn't solve the mystery of how Kublai Khan's fleet disappeared.’

  ‘Incorrect, BB005. The answer is at hand. The fleet was destroyed by the super typhoon we encountered. That was the famous kamikaze. The divine wind.’

  ‘What! So Princess Akinawa perished in the typhoon?’

  ‘Negative. A small number of craft survived. Arakhan's warship was one of them.’

  ‘What a relief,’ Napoleon said, and began getting out of Skin. ‘Dad will be so pleased when I tell him.’

  ‘I'm afraid I can't allow that.’ Professor Perdu's voice came over the intercom. ‘You won't be telling your father anything.’

  ‘What do you mean? Where is Dad?’

  ‘He's in a debriefing session at present, but he'll be at home by the time you get there.’

  ‘He's okay, isn't he?’

  ‘Of course. But be warned: he won't have any memory of either his visit to Battle Book 44 or his entire past as a Battle Boy. We will have erased all that information. We were not able to do that before, owing to the nightmare memories he retained from his first visit to Book 44.’

  ‘That was the real mission objective, wasn't it, Prof? To set things up so that you could totally erase my father's memory as a Battle Boy?’

  ‘More or less, BB005.’

  ‘So when I get too old to be a Battle Boy, will you zap my memory, too?’

  ‘Really, BB005, you should know better than to ask such a question. I've told you before: everything in Operation Battle Book is on a need-to-know basis.’

  ‘How did I know you'd say that?’

  When Napoleon arrived home, Captain Smythe was sitting on the verandah. He seemed lost in thought.

  ‘Hi, Dad.’ Napoleon sat down next him his father. ‘You okay?’

  The captain shook himself out of his trance. ‘Top of the world. Although I am rather tired, I must say.’

  ‘Me too.’

  ‘Been into another one of your special books, have you?’

  ‘Yep. It was great.’

  ‘I bet it was.’ Captain Smythe turned and gazed fondly at his son. ‘You'll be a whole year older tomorrow, eh?’

  ‘Yes, Dad,’ Napoleon tried to hide his grin. ‘That's usually what birthdays mean.’

  ‘What a pity we can't turn a year younger every now and then.’

  Napoleon thought about his father's words.

  ‘You know something, Dad? You're right. I see now what you mean.’

  His father winked at him. ‘I thought you might.’

  In no time at all the two of them were lost in their thoughts.

  These electronic editions published in 2011 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd 1 Market Street, Sydney 2000

  Copyright © Charlie Carter 2011

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  Battle Boy 13: Samurai Secrets

  Charlie Carter

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