Holy Ship!

Written by Natalie Jenkins

It was a dark and stormy night, the wind so strong that the rain fell sideways from the sky.

Owen sat shivering in his car, waiting impatiently to drive aboard ‘The Spirit of Tasmania’. The trailer hooked up to the back of the car contained all the items the Taipan team would need to set up for the Agfest field day.

‘Wow,’ Owen thought. ‘If I’d known how miserable it was going to be, I would have said no way to ferrying all this stuff across the sea!’

He finally made it onboard and parked, stepping out of the car to stretch his legs. As he did, the ship rocked heavily from side to side, creaking loudly.

‘Is that normal?’ asked Owen.

‘Don’t worry, mate,’ said one of the crew. ‘The storm’s just a bit rough out there tonight!’

As the ship took off from the mainland, Owen walked over to gaze out at the dark ocean. The waves were massive, almost coming over the side of the ship, and Owen quickly began to feel a bit seasick.

‘Look out!’ someone yelled.

Owen turned around to see the crew member waving his arms frantically as the trailer full of field day items rolled across the deck straight towards Owen.

Jumping out of the way just in time, Owen watched in dismay as the trailer flipped straight over the side of the ship and down into the dark ocean below.

‘Oh no!’ he thought. ‘We’ve lost everything! There’s no way to get that trailer back now, the field days are ruined!’ He hung his head in dismay for a moment, before his Taipan training kicked in. ‘Of course! I just need to call in the big guns!’

Pulling out his Taipan branded satellite phone, Owen pushed the big red button on the top and waited.

Nothing.

Frowning, Owen pushed it again.

Still nothing.

Pushing the button insistently, Owen jumped as the phone crackled and a voice came through the speaker.

‘All right, all right, we get it! We’re on our way! Now stop pushing the darn button!’

‘Where are you?’ asked Owen.

Suddenly, a loud whooshing noise came from overhead, drowning out all other sounds.

‘Look up!’ said the voice.

Owen did, and above him hovered a massive helicopter, bigger than any he had ever seen before. Two figures dressed head to toe in black rappelled down like a SWAT team and landed on the deck, pulling off their masks to reveal Neil and Amy.

‘Nice ride,’ said Owen. ‘But how is a helicopter going to help me get the trailer out of the ocean?’

‘You’ll see,’ said Neil. ‘We brought our new secret weapon.’ He pointed up at the helicopter as two doors opened on its belly and a massive magnet, the size of a small elephant, descended toward the sea.

‘A bit lower, Sammy!’ yelled Amy, and Owen looked up to see Sammy give a thumbs up from the pilot’s seat.

‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ said Neil, wiping a tear from his eye. ‘R&D have been working on that baby for months and she’s finally finished!’

The giant magnet lowered further and with a loud bang the trailer flew up out of the ocean and attached itself to the plate. Sammy swung the trailer up and back over the side of the ship, placing it back in its original position. Owen watched as water spilled out of its crevices and cringed at the thought of all the wet merchandise.

‘Taipan to the rescue once again!’ said Amy.

As the magnet swung back, it accidentally attached itself to the side of the massive metal ship.

‘Oops!’ said Neil. ‘Unstick her, Sammy! It’s time to get out of here!’

‘Um, yeah, about that…,’ said Sammy. ‘Looks like the release button has malfunctioned!’

The group watched as the helicopter hovered above them, attached to the ship like a dog on a leash.

‘Bring her down to land, Sammy!’ yelled Amy. She turned to look at Owen with a grin. ‘I guess we’ll be joining you on your voyage!’

‘Oh, no…,’ said Owen. ‘Oh, yeah!’ said Neil. He stepped forward and swung an arm around Owen’s shoulders. ‘Do you think they have karaoke on this ship?’