Ash Ketchum: Battle of the Ampere

Ch. 41 My Enemy's Enemy

It took Calem even less time to climb up than it had me.  He was strong enough that he wasn't using his legs but swinging them back and forth as he grasped the rope hand over hand and pulled himself up.  He stopped when he was next to me.  He looked at me clinging to the side of the boat.  "You look like a spider," he said. 

"I feel like one," I said.

He looked up.  "Anyone top side?" 

"No. But there's a camera."

"Have you tried putting it out?"

"I was waiting for you," I said.  "Give me a second."  I climbed back up and peered over the side again, then, still wearing my cloak, flung myself over on top of the deck.  Sidling up against the interior wall, I quickly strole beneath the camera, then climbed up, grabbed it, and pulsed.  The red light on top of it went out.

I leaned back over the rail.  "It's out."

"Good," he said.  "Serena's on her way up."

I looked over the side.  "You can see her?"

"No.  I can feel her on the rope."

He climbed the rest of the way up the rope, then grabbed the railing and pulled himself over.

"Let's pull her up," he said.

We both grabbed the rope and began pulling. Serena suddenly came into view. We lifted her all the way to the railing. "Thanks," she said, panting.

Calem grabbed on to her and pulled her up and over the side. Then we threw the rope back down.

A minute later we felt the rope tense. All three of us grabbed it and quickly pulled. Korrina practically flew up. When she was a few feet from the railing Calem grabbed her and pulled her over as well, then we tossed the rope back down.

"Clemont knows to tie the pack to the rope, right?"

Calem nodded. "I reminded him."

We felt the rope tense, and we quickly pulled. The rope was so light that it almost felt like there wasn't anything on it.

"I see the pack," Korrina said. We quickly pulled the explosives up and over the side. Calem untied the pack and threw the over. It was nearly a minute before we felt it tense.

"Let's pull," I said.  With all four of us pulling, we lifted Clemont up in just five minutes.  When he got to the top he looked pale and terrified, and he grabbed on to the railing as if for his life.  Calem and I each grabbed one of his arms from him and pulled him over. 

"That was horrible," he said. 

"The fun's just beginning," Calem said.

We took off our cloaks and threw them over the side of the boat, then Calem pulled the pack on him over his shoulder.

"We need a key," Clemont said.

"Let's try the door first," I said.  "Just in case they left it unlocked."

We found the door where Dodds's plans said it would be. As we expected, it was locked.  There was another camera near the door so I climbed the wall next to it and put it out as well.

"You guys wait here," I said. "Serena and I will find a key."

We walked around the back of the boat. We saw a pair of shoes sticking out from behind a tender. Then we saw an expulsion of smoke.

"Someone's sneaking a cigarette," Serena whispered.

We walked up to him. Smoking was against the Galactic code, and the young Italian sailor was horrified to see us.