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Subject: {ASSM} Joanna and the Sea Devil (Part 4, Final)  By Katzmarek  (Hist, Slow, Rom Teen)
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Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 03:10:02 -0400
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<1st attachment, "Joanna and the Sea Devil4.txt" begin>

JOANNA AND THE SEA DEVIL (Part 4)

   By KATZMAREK(c)

   The after gun crew of the Seeteufel waited until the vessel turned and
they had a clear field of fire.  Firing over their own stern-quarter they
risked blowing away the shrouds of the mizzen mast.  When they had an
uninterrupted view of the French patrol boat they opened fire.  The 88mm
Krupp gun cracked, brown smoke erupted from the muzzle, and they all looked
to see where the shell went.

   Capitaine Krusenbourg of the RFS Chasseur saw the flash from the rear of
the German sailing ship and held his breath.  An enormous geyser erupted
from the sea some 150 metres to starboard of them, too close for comfort.
He ordered the helm to be swung to port to place him as near as possible
dead astern of the German.  He'd decided that was the safest position for
his ship until he could get within range for his 3 pounder guns.

   Steam was escaping through the ventilators of the patrol boat, from the
faulty port engine.  It shrouded the boat in a grey haze, merging with the
sea foam being thrown up by the pitching vessel.  Von Seydlitz's
range-takers found it hard to spot the little ship.

   The Seeteufel continued to turn, trying to open the arcs so her forward
gun could bear as well.  The German Skipper knew he was beyond the range of
the Frenchman's guns, and within range of his bigger armament, and had no
intention of letting the enemy vessel get any closer.

   But Krusenbourg was running into trouble.  His much-abused port engine
was failing and he was running low on boiler feedwater.  He felt the
torpedo boat start to slow.  He shouted frantically at his engineer, but
the man just shrugged, he was unable to perform miracles.

   Wallowing in the German's wake, he saw the raider come around until both
her guns were bearing on his vessel.  With two bright flashes, the
Seeteufel fired her guns almost simultaneously.

   Krusenbourg heard the moan of a shell pass over his ship.  The bridge
crew ducked instinctively.  The forward gun crew of their vessel couldn't
contain themselves.  With a whoomph they fired at the distant German. 
Krusenbourg thought they seemed bemused, as if they were surprised the
ancient gun fired.  Suffice to say, the French shell landed well-short of
the German ship.

   The Seeteufel continued to circle the Frenchman.  The Chasseur tried to
keep end on to the sailing ship, to present as smaller target as possible.
Krusenbourg threw away his service cap in frustration, his ship was slowing
still and he knew he couldn't close the German for the benefit of his gun
crews.

   Von Seydlitz and Theo Seekt watched the torpedo boat with an air of
clinical professionalism.  They gave out their orders quietly and calmly
and watched his signalmen march off smartly with their messages.  They were
a well-drilled team, and he took pride in the way the crew were working.

   "She is hurt, Captain," Theo told his skipper.

   "I do not think we have got that close to her.  Perhaps it's a bluff?"

   "A strange one, sir.

   "Hmm, circle around, I think.  Make sure we stay away from her bows in
case they launch torpedoes."

   The Seeteufel fired another salvo.  This time the shells fell closer to
the French ship, deluging it with water and splinters.  The Patrol boat
fired back but were again out of range.

   Still Krusenbourg wouldn't give up.  Again he tried to turn towards the
German and close the range but his speed had dropped to under 10 knots. 
The Seeteufel, at her full motoring speed of 16 knots, carefully remained
out of the Frenchman's reach.

   Suddenly, the Chasseur shuddered as a shell landed alongside her stern.
Some of the after gun crew were blown over the side, plates were sprung,
buckled and bent below the waterline and the aft compartments began to
flood.

   Grimly Krusenbourg held on, and still his guns fired at the German as
well as they could.  His crew, he saw, were performing magnificently.  They
set about their tasks with grim determination and spirit, he thought them
heroes all.

   Finally, with the ship visibly listing and down at the stern, another
shell plunged into the Chasseur amidships and exploded in her boiler room.
The patrol boat erupted in steam and smoke, it crashed over on her port
beam then slowly righted herself.  Krusenbourg, hanging onto the bridge
rail saw there were men in the water.

   'Crack,' someone fired the forward gun insolently.  The French skipper
couldn't see his ship past the first funnel, so shrouded as she was in a
grey/brown blanket.  The ship lurched, Krusenbourg saw the bow begin to
rise, then slowly she rolled onto her starboard side.  This time she didn't
right herself but capsized completely.

   "She's gone, sir," remarked Theo to his captain.

   "Good," von Seydlitz replied.  He didn't feel triumphant.  He'd secretly
hoped the Frenchman would turn back, but it had kept coming at him.  He
knew he'd no other option but it gave him no satisfaction.  "Let's get out
of here," he told Theo.

   ---------------------------------

   On the beach, to Rupert, Joanna and Hiram, the silence was deafening. 
The rumbling from in the distance had abruptly stopped.  As the day
stretched into the afternoon, it became obvious no-one was coming back for
them.

   The two men began constructing an additional shelter for Hiram.  Few
words were spoken, it was clear what was needed to be done.

   That night Joanna lay in her lover's arms while Hiram snored lustily a
short distance away.  She woke up sometime during the night to find Rupert,
his back to her, sobbing.  She held him a little tighter.

   -------------------------------------

   Two days later some Marquesan fishermen found 5 sailors floating on
wreckage drifting to the East of Hatutu.  They were dehydrated and
suffering from exposure.  The fishermen took them to the Mission on Eiao
and the news was immediately radioed to Papeete.  The small mail steamer
set out from Nuku Hiva to collect them.

   A signal was sent to Sussex speeding towards Tahiti for coal.  The
rescued sailors were able to tell them the direction Seeteufel took after
sinking the Chasseur.  The Japanese cruiser Takasago had just departed Suva
and hurried to intercept.  Von Seydlitz, however, had waited until he was
out of sight and turned North.  The net would be empty.

   A new energy was generated around the Naval base at Papeete.  The loss
of the Chasseur had shocked the Navy and worked sped up on the
Dupetit-Trouars to get her ready for sea.  Admiral Michelet vowed that the
shells that sunk the Seeteufel would be French.

   -----------------------------------------

   The day dawned hot and humid.  Instead of blue skys, the atmosphere was
leaden with an impending storm.  Hiram and Rupert gazed at the horizon from
the beach at Hatutu like two old Salts.

   "Storm!" Rupert said.

   "Yep," replied Hiram, "better get ourselves inland."

   "There's rising ground and good shelter about 200 metres that way,"
Rupert pointed, "I found Native campsite.  I think Marquesans had same
idea."

   "You've got this place surveyed good."

   Rupert shrugged, "not much else to do but look around."

   "And fish?"

   "Ja, of course."

   By the time Rupert, Hiram and Joanna had got their belongings inland to
the fishermen's campsite the wind had begun to rise.  Quickly they set
about making a shelter with matting lashed together around a grotto formed
by an enormous slab of Basalt rock.  Huddled together, they waited for the
storm to unleash its full fury.

   ------------------------------------

   Meanwhile, some 400 kilometres to the East of Christmas Island, the
Seeteufel came across some easy pickings.  It was the SS Mary B, a British
flagged tramp steamer engaged in the copra trade.  The diminuative Mary B
was owned by her Master, her crew owned shares in the cargo.  The ship was
old, slow and didn't carry any radio.

   Von Seydlitz gave the crew 10 minutes to take to their life boats then
sunk her with gunfire.  Through Theo, he gave the drifting crew directions
to Christmas Island, then headed East, then North again.

   HMS Connaught Castle was a former passenger steamer of 3,200 Gross
Registered Tons.  She'd been enlisted in the Royal Navy as an Armed
Merchant Cruiser to assist in patrol and escort work.  The Conaught Castle
was chosen partly because she was new and had a respectable speed thanks to
her steam turbine propulsion.  The Navy armed her with four 4 inch guns. 
one each on foredeck and afterdeck and two mounted in the waist of the
vessel.  This gave her a broadside of three guns, because the remaining gun
couldn't be fired over the deck because of the intervening mainmast.

   The ship was a day out of Christmas Island, having called to provision,
when she spotted a strange ship to the south.  She radioed her position and
explained she was investigating an undentified vessel.  Her radio operator
kept broadcasting more information as the Connaught Castle quickly began to
overtake the vessel.

   'Strange vessel is a sailing ship of three masts.  It appears to be
under auxiliary power with sails taken in and heading ENE magnetic.  Vessel
seems unable or unwilling to answer repeated radio calls for her to hove
to. Am using Morse lamp.'

   At Papeete, Captain Debenham of HMS Sussex had no doubt it was the
Seeteufel.  He immediately put to sea and suggested the Edinburgh Castle
use her speed advantage to herd the German South.

   Von Seydlitz was keeping watch on the rapidly approaching steamer with
growing alarm.  Still flying the Swedish flag, he read her repeated
messages, by radio and Morse lamp, and had no doubt the steamer was an
armed auxiliary.

   "Conference!" he told his Officers.

   "It is a British Royal Mail Steamer," Theo explained, "Castle Line."

   "It's 'dazzle painted'," said another Officer, "like their AMCs."

   "Are we outgunned?"

   "Their AMCs have three or four guns, 4 inchers," Theo continued, "I
think they slightly outrange us."

   "We can't get into a gunfight with her," the Engineer said, aghast, "our
hull will be perforated by even a near miss."

   "I agree," von Seydlitz said, "then we must rely on the element of
doubt. Theo, send a message to her identifying ourselves as the SV Viggen,
then hove to.  I want torpedoes loaded and ready to fire.  I want the gun
crews at their stations.  Point blank, Gentleman, we will fight her point
blank, like the sailing ships of old."

   "Sir, is this wise?" asked the Engineer.

   "No, but can you give me four more knots?" The engineer shook his head,
"then I don't have any other idea at the moment."

   'SV Viggen,' the Morse lamp flashed from the Seeteufel, 'Stockholm, in
ballast to Honolulu.'

   'Hove to,' the Connaught Castle signalled, 'and be prepared for
inspection.'

   The Seetuefel came into the wind and stopped her engines.  The gun crews
crept into their disguised positions and loaded the two Krupp 88s. 
Silently the Germans watched with growing tension as the the British
Auxilliary approached.

   "Engines dead slow," called von Seydlitz, "I want some steerage way."
The only way he could aim his beam torpedo was by turning the ship.  Von
Seydlitz remembered the incident with the Northampton and didn't want to be
caught like that again, unable to maneuvre.

   Debenham read the stream of signals from the chatty operator of the
Connaught Castle with growing unease.  'Vessel has stopped, am preparing to
carry out inspection.'

   "Inspection?" he told his Exec in frustration, "don't inspect the
bastard, shoot him!  Why doesn't that man do as he's told?  Crowd him
South, for Christ's sake."

   At the same time, Theo Seekt and von Seydlitz watched the steamer come
to a halt.  They saw the AMC had her guns manned and bearing on the
Seeteufel.  Both ships were rolling in the swell.  Seeteufel was slowly
moving, ostensibly to keep her nose into the wind but, in reality, von
Seydlitz was trying to aim his beam tube at the Englishman.

   'We protest,' von Seydlitz signalled, 'this interference in the right of
free passage of a Neutral vessel.'

   'Free passage,' the Britisher sent back, 'in that the Neutral does not
carry the contraband of an enemy nation.'

   "Keep him talking," von Seydlitz told Theo, "keep him guessing."

   'We are in ballast,' Theo signalled, 'and have never carried Government
or private goods for the Central Powers.'

   'Notwithstanding, I'm obliged and empowered by His Majesty's Government
to inspect the papers of any Neutral suspected of breeching the Hague
Convention.'

   The Connaught Castle's signaller was growing tired, her Captain
exasperated.  "Lower the boat!" he ordered, "and tell that Swede to drop a
ladder!"

   "Wait until that boat's rowed out from their ship," von Seydlitz said,
"everything ready?"

   "Yes, sir.  We have a clean shot."

   The German Skipper nodded.  "Wait for my signal.  They may hesitate to
fire with their boat in the way.  That's our best chance." He counted down
the seconds.  "Theo, another signal, now, if you please."

   "What shall I say?"

   "Anything, make something up."

   'British boat, come to midships ladder.'

   "Brilliant!" von Seydlitz smiled.  He waited a few more seconds while
the boat with the boarding party made for the non-existant midships ladder.
"Fire one!" the Skipper said, "load tube and pressurise, fire two when
ready.  Drop masks, fire guns.  Raise the flag, now Theo!"

   Everything happened in quick succession.  The boat's crew were surprised
by a sudden burst of bubbles from alongside the sailing ship.  Something
passed underneath them.  Perhaps the sharpest of them had figured out what
was happening before a burst of machine gun fire emptied the rowing boat of
its crew.

   The gun crews of the British ship watched in fascination as the masks on
the sailing ship fell away to reveal naval guns already swivelling in their
direction.  They had just recovered from this surprise when their ship
shuddered and a plume of water and smoke erupted below the passenger
saloon.

   A quick-witted gun captain on the British ship's foredeck ordered his
crew to fire.  The shell, on a flat trajectory, whistled over the deck of
the Seeteufel and burst in the sea.  Their midships gun had been swamped
with water and debris and the crew thrown off their feet.  The after gun
crew finally fired at the stern of the fleeing German.  That shot missed
also.

   The Krupp 88s fired in reply and, at point blank at the tall mercantile
hull of the Auxilliary, could hardly miss.  Both shells struck forward,
disabling her gun.  Von Seydlitz turned for the benefit of his torpedo crew
and launched another fish.  That struck the ship forward, also, shattering
her hull below the waterline.

   The Connaught Castle began to list to starboard.  The midships gun crew
recovered sufficiently to bring their weapon into action.  On the gradually
sloping deck, the crew managed to aim with a degree of deliberation.  This
time, the shell struck home, landing on the after deck of the Seeteufel,
just astern of her mizzen mast.

   The ship whipped with the impact, shrapnel and wood-shards shrieked in a
deadly hail over the rear deck of the German raider.  Everyone lay
flattened to the deck, the wounded and unwounded, until the fire-party
chief began to kick his crew into action.

   Von Seydlitz and Theo picked themselves off the deck where they were
thrown, and briefly examined each other for injury.  Looking aft, they saw
that the helm had gone and was replaced with dense smoke.  Below was an
emergency wheel in a compartment above the rudder.  The German Skipper
ordered some men down there to regain control of the ship.  A team was
organised to shout orders down from topside.

   Only when the Connaught Castle was a smudge of smoke on the horizon did
the German Officers begin to congratulate themselves.  It had been a good
fight, they thought, and, all things considered, got out of it a lot
lighter than they feared.

   Two men had been killed outright, both stationed on the after deck.  Of
the 6 wounded, 1 was expected to die of his wounds.  It saddened von
Seydlitz, but it could've been a lot worse, a lot worse indeed.  He thanked
the men for their professionalism and dedication then went down below to
speak to the wounded.

   Despite frantic efforts at counter-flooding by the crew of the British
Auxiliary, the ship broke its back just forward of the saloon some two
hours after being torpedoed.  In that time, the radio operator, the Marconi
set running on batteries, broadcast a precise description of their attacker
and its weapons to Debenham hurrying up in the Sussex.  It would be a good
8 hours before the cruiser reached the AMC's position.  By then, however,
the Connaught Castle would be at the bottom of the Pacific.

   ---------------------------------------

   Joanna was in wonder how this tranqil island could suddenly become wild
and frightening.  The wind screamed overhead and roared through the trees
that thrashed alarmingly in reponse.  Rain thundered on the frail walls of
their storm shelter sending in a driving mist as the heavy droplets smashed
themselves against the woven matting.  Their clothes were soaking wet.  She
shivered against Rupert in cold and in fear.

   Hiram bent to make running repairs to a loose lashing.  He dared to take
a peek outside, then recoiled, shaking the water from his face.

   "Sure's wild out there," he said over the noise.

   Joanna wondered whether this was the end of everything.  She tried to
think of the good times, of her and Rupert in each other's arms, of his
strong body and of her locked together with him.  She thought of those
evenings when they made love spontaneously, when they communicated their
thoughts with a touch or an expression.  She thought of Rupert strolling up
the beach with an armful of fish, bare-chested and in those brief shorts.
Despite their current predicament, she smiled and hugged her lover a little
more fiercely.

   The wind dropped all of a sudden.  The men looked at each other.  "The
eye's passing," Hiram said casually, Rupert nodded.  "Say, Hiram continued,
"do you think your ship will be back?"

   The German shook his head, "no," he replied, "is gone, must keep moving,
hide in ocean.  Is too dangerous to come back."

   "Who thought of a sailing ship?" he asked, shaking his head, "I guess
it's romantic and all that, but.."

   "Many Neutrals still use sail," Rupert explained, "Scandinavia, the
Dutch.  Is good disguise."

   "I just think it's cheating," Hiram told him, "I don't like it.  Like
them submarines.  It don't give anyone a chance."

   Rupert shrugged.  "The British have Germany under blockade," he said,
"is no different.  Both sides try to starve the other.  The British started
commerce war by driving German merchantmen off the ocean in first weeks. 
With stalemate in France, is no other way to break deadlock."

   "I guess so," Hiram considered, rubbing his chin, "still..."

   The following night the storm abated.  The morning broke clear and warm.
But for the debris on the beach, the uprooted and broken trees, and the
rivers of dirty brown water rushing at points along the beach to the sea,
it was as if nothing had happened.

   The castaways began to restore the remnants of their campsite in the
bush.  Around mid-morning, however, canoes were spotted coming around the
point.  The Marquesans were on a scavenging expedition after the storm.

   "Come you two," Hiram said, "we're going home!"

   "No!" Rupert said, shaking his head firmly, "will be prisoner!"

   "Well, ok then," Hiram said after a lengthy pause, "then I guess it's us
two, Joanna."

   Joanna looked wildly from Hiram to Rupert, now fleeing into the bush. 
She knew what her decision was going to be, she only needed Hiram's
assurance he'd say nothing.

   Her choice hadn't been hard at all.  She'd often envisaged this moment.
The time when she'd be forced to decide on rescue and the comforts of
civilisation and home.  To live in security while her heart dwelt on an
isolated island in the middle of the Pacific.

   "I'm staying too," she told Hiram.

   "Dammit, Joanna, you can't..."

   "I can," she said firmly, "and I need you to tell them this island's
uninhabited."

   "I can't..."

   "I'm not leaving!  Not without Rupert!"

   "Aw shit...  What am I going to tell your folks?"

   "Tell them I'm fine.  That I'm being well looked after." She grinned at
him before speeding off into hiding.

   --------------------------------------

   Debenham arrived at the site of the sinking of the Connaught Castle and
picked up the survivors.  Otherwise the sea was empty.

   Meanwhile, the Seeteufel, her stern badly damaged and her shells
depleted, made for South America, choosing internment over surrender.  She
dodged Arthur's cruiser squadron by a day and arrived in Santiago in Chile
a week later.  There, the crew went ashore to await the end of the war
while the sailing ship was tied up and put under guard by Chilean
Authorities.

   Debenham followed her there, stayed 24 hours, as was permitted under the
laws of Neutrality, and met the German Officers.  He found he liked von
Seydlitz.  The two, as career Officers, had a great deal in common.

   Poor old Admiral Michelet did get the Dupetit-Trouars to sea, but only
after the Seeteufel was safe in Chile.  He steamed aimlessly about for some
days, laid a reef at the site of the sinking of the Chasseur, then headed
back to port to wait for peace.  In any event, the flagship's only other
voyage was to the breakers yard in Singapore in 1920, along with Linois.

   Meanwhile, Robert and Margaret Begg travelled back to Los Angeles after
being deposited in Chile by the Dutch freighter.  There, they continually
harrassed the US Naval authorities to mount an expedition to rescue their
daughter.  The Navy was adamant, however, they had rather more important
tasks for their ships and would get around to it when they had time.

   Hiram arrived home some 6 months later to be called up into the Navy. 
He was able to assure the Beggs that Joanna was in good hands.  He was able
to arrange supplies to be left for them on Hatutu, thanks to the Missionary
Brothers, and even suggested Joanna was under their care.  Margaret
accepted this assurance.  It had an element of truth in any case.

   ---------------------------------------------

   The Armistice was declared on November the 11th 1918 and the news
broadcast around the World.  Several days later, Brother Paul travelled to
Hatutu to inform Joanna and Rupert.  He also checked up on their daughter,
Lottie Margaret Sachsenburger.

   It troubled him that he couldn't baptise the child because her parents
were living out of wedlock.  He'd broached the subject before but Joanna
had wanted her family there for the marriage.

   Rupert had steadily improved their home, with the assistance of some
building supplies from the Jesuits.  It could now withstand the tropical
storms, had two floors and a balcony from which they had majestic views of
the beach.

   Brother Paul saw that Joanna was pregnant again and tutted.  He asked
them again to come and live at the Mission on Eiao but they refused. 
Eventually, he deposited the supplies and left, shaking his head.

   Joanna and Rupert walked back to their home with mixed feelings. 
No-longer need they fear the arrival of the French Colonial Authorities. 
They didn't have to hide when they spotted a steamship or wait anxiously
for the canoes from Eiao to discharge before walking down the beach, in
case a Uniformed Officer climbed out of the boat.  They were free, now, but
that freedom meant they would need to make choices.

   There was nothing to stop them regaining civilisation, now.  They could
sail from this place, legitimise themselves and their small family, and
live openly in Germany, America, wherever.  But did they want to?

   Life, although far from easy on this small island, had given them the
freedom to do whatever they wanted, whenever, without neighbours or family
to tell them they couldn't.  Clothes, for instance, had been optional, and
they frequently went naked.  They made love whenever the urge took them and
Joanna delighted in playing with Rupert's balls during dinner.

   Occasionally visitors came, Brother Paul or some Marquesan fishermen,
and they enjoyed the company for a while and enjoyed it when they left.

   The crunch came in late December 1918 when a small American steamer
anchored in the bay under the cliffs.  They knew who was aboard even before
the ship lowered its boat.

   Margaret and Robert Begg greeted their Granddaughter for the first time.
The girl's Grandmother sniffed back tears in a not unexpected fashion.  She
glowered at the guilty pair before accepting Joanna into her arms for a
hug.

   They had stopped at Eiao on the way and uplifted the Priest, Brother
Paul.  In short order they had a ceremony on the beach in front of the
house.  Afterwards, the Priest baptised their daughter.

   They returned to America but a year later were back on Hatutu.  There,
Rupert constructed an artesian well powered by a windmill.  With the water
problem solved, they successfully populated the island with 6 of their
offspring.

   Some years later, in partnership with a French couple, they established
a resort on Hatutu, for those Westerners seeking adventure and isolation.
   KATZMAREK(C)

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