The Octonauts and the Pirate Ship Predicament (complete)

Chapter Eleven

"Right engineer, time to get down to your new duties," Hector said with a satisfied smile. Tweak glared at him, wishing she could escape Kan's steel-like grip and chase after her friends. "Nut's workshop is now yours. Start on the designs for the new ship. If you refuse to cooperate, you know we have ways of encouraging you."

Tweak sighed as Kan began to hustle her back towards the stairs leading down deep into the depths of the ship. "You won't win, you know. My crew will realise that you're frauds, and they will come to rescue me."

"Tweak, we are your crew now," said Annabel with mock friendliness, slinging an arm too tightly around Tweak's shoulders. Tweak, with her hands secured behind her back by Kan, could only scowl and try to shrug her off. Annabel put a paw over her mouth. "Oh I'm sorry, did Miss Princess not like that? Maybe when you're a proper engineer for a pirate crew, you'll learn."

The rabbit rolled her eyes, but had no time to say any more before Kan shoved her harshly in the back, down the first few stairs, until she was down out of sight.

"Well I don't think much of her," commented Annabel.

"She is an excellent engineer, and has designs better than any I have ever seen," said Hector matter-of-factly. "Barnacles showed me her workshop."

"Good for her," Annabel said dryly. "Hopefully good for our ship as well."

"Um -" came a quiet cough from behind Hector, and the cat spun around on his heel to glare at the engineer. "What?!"

"I just thought - since the rabbit has my workshop now, where am I going to sleep?" Nut asked timidly.

Hector laughed, and it wasn't a nice laugh. "Oh, I think you'll find that your services are no longer required on this ship."

Nut's eyes widened. "But -"

"You heard. We have a competent engineer now," Annabel said in a sing-song voice. "Twick, or Twert, or whatever her name is."

"We'll of course allow you to keep certain possessions," said Hector, smiling benevolently, like he was doing Nut a great favour by allowing this. "But we really have no room to keep you on this ship. Maybe you could go to your great friends the Octonauts? I heard that they're on the lookout for an engineer."

Annabel cackled at this. Hector smiled appreciatively at her, before turning and shoving a helmet and oxygen pack at Nut. "Here. Take this."

"Please -" Nut pleaded, his eyes wide, like he couldn't believe what was happening to him.

"Put it on," Hector ordered, his voice like iron.

"Please..."

"Put it on!"

Miserably, Nut fastened the helmet collar around his neck, and pulled the oxygen tank over his scrawny shoulders, before activating the helmet. It seemed to weigh him down; he was even more hunched over than he normally seemed. His head looked very small inside the large bubble helmet.

"See? We've even given you a method of breathing underwater. How nice are we?" commented Annabel, tapping the bubble of the helmet with her knuckles of one paw, making Nut wince.

"Now get off my ship," Hector said icily.

"Please..." Nut said, for a final, hopeless attempt.

"Get - off - my - ship!" At every word, Hector punctuated it with a light shove which sent Nut closer to the edge. At the last word, Annabel stepped in and gave a fake smile of sympathy to the frightened engineer.

"I'm really going to miss you, Nut. But the Captain's right, you just have to go." And she pushed Nut hard with one paw so that he lost balance, and toppled with a cry down to the water below. They heard a splash, then nothing.