Dectra Chain Book Summary
After jumping to the new redoubt, the group decide its time to give Man who's eyes see more a new name, simply because its too long to shout out during a fire fight. They settle on Donfil More which is a combination of the names Don and Phil Everly, and the last word in his name.
Once recovered from the jump, they head out into the redoubt to explore as they usually do. They come across a startling discovery. There is a SECOND gateway located inside the redoubt. This one is restricted to B-19 personnel or higher. The most frightening aspect of this gateway is the fact that it was actually being used as they entered the control chamber. Who or what was using the gateway may never be known.
They find a locker located in the other control room. Inside they find a space suit, personal belongings, a handgun, and a jacket with the picture of a three headed dog on the back. They consider using it and following who ever jumped, but in the end decide to leave the redoubt and explore.
Once J.B. opens the door, freezing sea water rushes in. It turns out that the entrance is located below the high tide line. Fortunately for the group, a pocket of air, trapped at the top of a stairwell keeps the water from finishing them off. The gears for the door are broken so the main entrance is permanently open. Once the tide lowers, the group is able to leave the redoubt and begin a long and difficult climb to the top of the cliff the redoubt is located on.
At the top, they discover a second entrance to the redoubt. Opening it, Ryan finds himself facing a mutie wielding a shot gun. The mutie doesn't stand a chance and is killed quickly. They find the mutie has lived in this redoubt for years, but there is still plenty of food and goods for the group to use.
The next day they leave the redoubt to do some exploring. They discover that it is located on an island, about five miles off the shore of the mainland. It is part of the Acadia National Park, Ile Au Haut redoubt. With this new knowledge, they scour the shoreline for anything that may be of use in building a raft that will help them reach the coast of Maine. They find drums, wood and rope and build a raft.
In the morning they finally head to the mainland. One the way they are attacked by a huge mutie shark, and everyone is dumped into the drink. They barely manage to make it back to the raft and with their combined firepower are able to kill the shark. Finally they reach the shoreline.
They head inland and eventually come across the nuked ruins of a small town called Consequence. It was destroyed during the war, but they are able to locate a stone mansion that survived relatively unscathed. During the night, the mutant descendents of the original survivors attack. They are some of the most hideous mutations Ryan and his friends have ever seen. After a brief fight, the mutants are beaten off and they return to their caves.
The encounter with the mutants left the group a little more than nervous. They head towards the town of Claggartsville, hoping that it may have survived the war. Just after noon, they encounter a pair of fur clad men who are cooking meat over an open fire. Initially they try to talk to the pair, but communication is impossible as the primitives appear to be speaking in either Polish or German. They are eventually able to get the pair to leave peacefully. As evening descends they spot the town of Claggartsville.
A three man patrol is encountered. They are informed to head into the ville and go straight to the Rising Fluke to register. They are welcome to stay as long as they are willing to look for work. If they have not found work within three days, they will be forced to leave. The party is surprised that they talk in such an odd manner, as if the entire ville had been transported from the 1600's.
Once they arrive at the Rising Fluke, they are greeted by the owner Jedediah Hernando Rodriguez. He has the entire party sign the registry which is dated October 1st. After signing in, they are fed and this is where they first hear of the Captain of the Salvation, and how they should steer clear of the ship. The party decides to head to their room and get some much needed rest.
During breakfast they learn that a huge portion of the ville's economy is from the whaling ships that make the harbor their home. They decide to go out and explore the ville. Doc Tanner would fit right in with his mannerisms and way of speaking. The general reaction they get from the townsfolk regarding Ryan and J.B. is fear, and the two women are openly admired. Jak and Donfil receive most of the attention. Jak scares the hell out of one of the men after he attempted to be friendly to his blind daughter. The man was enraged at Jak's attempt and threatened him. Jak didn't attack the man, as he didn't need to. After the unpleasant encounter they reach the docs where they spot the Salvation. After that, they return to the inn.
Here Ryan demands to know more about the ship and its captain, Prya Quadde. His demands get the attention of a man named Jonas Clegg. He ends up getting into a knife fight and butchers the man. Quadde show's up and he meets the ugly woman face to face. She wants to know why he killed her second mate, and Ryan show's absolutely no fear for her what so ever. She leaves and promises that they will meet again, and under different terms. After the encounter, they retire to their room and plan to leave as soon as possible.
During the next day, Donfil manages to win over some of the townsfolk when he gets involved in a harpoon throwing contest. His aim is the best that any of the people have seen, and several sea captains offer him huge shares to try and get them on board their whaling vessels. Ryan spots Captain Quadde watching the display of skill. They decide its best if they return to the Rising Fluke.
During the meal they notice at least a dozen of the crew from the Salvation are in the room. Ryan and the rest agree that staying behind will be dangerous, so they plan to leave as soon as possible. Ryan and Donfil stay together as the rest of the friends head up to their room. Donfil knows something isn't right, but they still stay behind and have a drink with the owner of the inn. As to be expected, Donfil's feelings were correct as the drinks were laced with a drug. Both he and Ryan succumb to the drugs effects.
Krysty, sensing things are not right, brings the others with her and they head downstairs. They are immediately surrounded by the villes sec men and are taken captive. J edediah Hernando Rodriguez apologizes to them and informs them that they will be treated well until they accept their fate and go to work in the ville. They learn that Ryan and Donfil are now part of Quadde's crew.
It is late in the afternoon of the next day when Ryan and Donfil are released from their holding cell onboard the Salvation. They know that they are helplessly outnumbered and are many miles out to sea. Trying to escape would surely cost both men their lives. Pyra comes to gloat. She offers Donfil fifteen percent of the take in Jack because of his superior skill with the harpoon. Ryan wants to know why she simply doesn’t' kill him outright. She plans to break him and use him as her personal stud since he killed Clegg, who, it turns out, had that job.
They learn the only reason she has never been killed is that there are no other captains who are as good as she is when it comes to hunting whales. She brings in a great deal of Jack for the ville.
All things considered, both Ryan and Donfil are accepted by the crew. The fact that Ryan killed the second mate, Jonas Clegg, helps as he was greatly disliked by the crew in general. They also meet the first mate, Cyrus Ogg.
A powerful chem storm hits at nightfall. While securing the rigging, Ryan saves a man named Johnny Flynn from certain death as he loses his grip and falls from the rigging. This starts a friendship between Ryan and Johnny. Once the storm is over, Ogg informs the Captain that one of the men stayed below, to afraid to help secure the ship. She sends Ryan down to retrieve him, giving him two minutes to return or she would send men down to bring both up. He encounters the man and is able to sucker him into believing that Ryan is his friend. He cold cocks him, breaking the mans nose and returns to the main deck. The man is then stripped and shackled to the deck and as his punishment is to stay there for the rest of the night and the next day.
Late that night Ryan gets up to relieve himself and spots Quadde raping the man. As he figured, she killed the man during the act. His cold corpse is discovered the next morning.
The man is buried at sea, with Quadde delivering a eulogy for him. The body is dumped unceremoniously overboard. Here they meet the man named Jehu,. He warns them cryptically that death is usually the end result in a coupling with the Captain.
After the burial, Quadde orders both Ryan and Donfil into the riggings to search for whales.
Krysty learns from Rodriguez that another vessel, named the Phoenix will be leaving at dusk the next day. She also learns that Pyra Quadde usually haunts the whaling grounds around Grand Banks. A plan to escape is born.
A couple of days have passed and both Donfil and Ryan have been fully accepted into the crew. Ryan constantly volunteers for whale spotting duty as he enjoys the solitude it offers. Donfil has really taken a liking to the life of a whaler and Ryan is quite certain that if they survive the journey that Donfil will not be going with them.
Finally a whale is spotted and everyone is ordered into the whaling boats. The chase is long and hard, but with Donfil's expert hand at throwing the harpoon, the whale is finally caught and killed, but not before it swallows a sailor named Jacob Lusk. The whale carcass is returned to the Salvation and they immediately get to work on butchering it before the sea going predators get to it. Amazingly enough, the man swallowed is still alive, though badly burned by the whales stomach acids and blind. He chooses to end his own life by diving into the sea.
As the whale is broken down, another ship is spotted on the horizon.
A plan was formed. Both Krysty and Lori go to the washroom behind the inn. There, they kill two of the sec men and secure the weapons. Returning to the inn, Krysty sends Lori up ahead to the room and encounters Jedediah Hernando Rodriguez. He begs for his life, but Krysty still kills him for his betrayal. The companions make their escape and head to the docks. Here they locate the Phoenix and board it, forcing the owner Captain Decon to head out to see on an intercept course with the Salvation. Decon, not a stupid man by nature, knows he really has no choice but to follow J.B. and Krysty's orders.
The other ship that was spotted was the Bartleby, controlled by Captain Delano. Prya isn't pleased to see him in what she considers to be her own personal whaling grounds, but listens to his request none the less. It turns out that the captain lost his brothers to the deep and wishes to get Quadde's help in trying to find them. She flat out refuses. He curses her and the ships part ways.
The Bartleby and the Phoenix pass each other. Here the friends learn the location of the Salvation. By this time they have won over the crew and the Captain.
Several days have passed and not a single whale has been spotted. Pyra is getting quite restless and makes her intentions known to Ryan. He tells Donfil he'll likely kill her if she tries.
Finally, all the whale meat has been processed and is stored away in the ships hold. On the horizon, the mast of another ship is spotted. They are quite sure that it is the Bartleby, searching for the missing crewmen. In the afternoon another Chem storm hits, and at the same time a pod of whales are spotted. Quadde orders the whaling boats to be lowered. When her first mate, Ogg questions her, he loses a few teeth for it. One boat is lowered and is immediately lost to the waves. The ship is dangerously close to the shoreline.
After the storm passes and the repairs begin, she corners Ryan and his friend Johnny Flynn. She orders Flynn below and takes Ryan aside. She tells him all about her plans and what she wants to do with him. Using techniques taught to him by Krysty, he is able to block out most of what she says. Flynn stays behind and tells her to back off and leave Ryan alone. She savagely beats him for it. She then orders him to clean his blood of the deck in half an hour or he will be flogged to death. Turning away, she tells Ryan to show up in her cabin just after the last meal is over.
Ryan talks to Flynn. Learns that most men on board don't know how to swim. The reason is that if you get lost in the Atlantic, its better to drown quickly then to slowly starve or dehydrate, or to be killed by one of the many sea predators. He asks Ryan if he will take his chances in the Atlantic, or if he will try to kill Quadde.
Just after the last meal has been taken, eight men come for Ryan. Four guard Donfil to prevent him from helping Ryan, and the other four, including Flynn, escort Ryan to Quadde's cabin. Flynn, determined to help Ryan, stole a blaster from the ships weapons locker. He tells her to leave Ryan alone. He attempts to fire the weapon only to discover that it was stored unloaded. Quadde stuffs the barrel of her hand blaster into his mouth and blows his brains out.
At the same time, the Phoenix comes along side the Salvation and the companions board. Pandemonium ensues. A man named Brandt, holding a ten gauge scatter gun, slips in Flynn's blood, pulls the trigger of the weapon. The shot nearly cuts the second mate, Walsh, in half. Walsh is thrown into Quadde, causing her to lose her weapon. Ryan grabs a dirty needle and jabs it deep into Brandt's eye, then uses a Razor to cut his throat. The crazy, Jehu, tries to stop Ryan, but recieves a bad cut on his arm, and is shot in the back by Quadde, as she tries to shoot Ryan.
On deck, Ryan spots seven dead and two wounded. The ship has been taken by his friends. He warns them about Ogg and Quadde, and that both are to be killed. Somehow, both Ogg and Quadde are able to get off the ship and make their way to the shoreline.
After weighing their options, Ryan decides that it is best if they track down Quadde and Ogg and finish the fight once and for all. After they are dead, they can make their way to the Redoubt and jump out. Its at this time that Donfil informs Ryan that he really does intend to stay behind. They all say their heartfelt good-byes and leave him behind with Captain Decon and the two ships.
The paddle towards shore. They nearly have trouble with a patch of mutie seaweed, but get through and continue to hunt for Quadde and Ogg. They encounter the pair in a small cove. Here, Ryan uses both surprise and a harpoon to kill Quadde and then shoots Ogg once through the face. The pair dead, they make their way to the gateway and jump out.
A total of 12 days passed in this novel (9 spent on the Atlantic).
End of Dectra Chain.