War of the worlds, a furry excerpt
Written by Allen Kitchen, July 1998
All rights reserved.



War of the worlds originally written by HGWells.
"Thunderchild" composed by Jeff Wayne, CBS records.


There were ships of shapes and sizes
scattered all across the bay.
And I thought I heard her calling,
as the steamer pulled away.
The invaders must have seen them,
as across the bay they filed.
Standing firm between them
there lay Thunderchild!


Adam looked out the starboard window of his ship's bridge.  He took a quick 
count of the boats floating in the bay.  Just under a hundred vessels, he thought morosely 
to himself.  All of them heavily overloaded with refugees.  Each ship just like his own.  
No, that wasn't right, he amended.  His ship had lots of refugees on the deck, sure.  But 
there was no other ship like his in this bay. 

	The battleship Thunderchild was a warship; not a rescue vessel or a fishing 
trawler.  And yet here she was, her decks covered with every species imaginable just like 
every other boat in the water.  Every flat surface, every gun, and even the ropes were 
covered with people desperate to escape the carnage on land.  

	They had no destination.  No provisions.  No medicine nor water.  Most on board 
didn't care, just so long as they were well away from the land.  

	He sighed bitterly, not caring who heard him.  Here he was, captain of a 
battleship.  And what was he doing?  Running from a fight with his tail between his legs.  
Granted, it wasn't much of a tail as otters went.  But then, he wasn't the typical otter 
either.  Very few of them had the discipline to join the naval forces, much less take 
command of a warship.  Most other otters were content with less demanding occupations 
further inland around the rivers.

	Course, most other otters were now dead.  That, or prisoners of the invaders. 

	Or worse.

	He turned and looked over the bridge of his ship.  His first mate, Lt. Flinn, was 
busy checking gauges and dials along the front console.  They were preparing to get 
underway and escort this motley fleet of refugees wherever it was they were going.   The 
wolf took orders well, and was an experienced officer.  He was handling all the 
operational details by himself today.  Most of the crew were missing, and presumed dead.

	Adam made a mental note to himself.  Never grant shore leave just before alien 
invaders attack by surprise from outer space.

	Also on the bridge was his wife of 10 years.  Marie.  She was cowering in the 
back, still clutching a shawl around her like a protective blanket.  Her eyes, once bright 
with life and mischief, now were dimmed with shock and horror.  It was still a miracle 
that she'd reached the docks at all, as their home was some hundred miles inland.  

	Adam clenched his eyes tight for a second.  The miracle would have been all the 
sweeter if their son...  He took a quick breath and let it out slowly.  He had a 
responsibility to his wife and crew, and to everyone on all the ships surrounding him.  He 
was tasked to take them to safety, wherever that may be.  There would be time enough to 
think about his son later, he told himself.

	If there was a later.

	"Captain, we have a full head of steam, and can leave the bay whenever you 
wish." his first officer wearily told him, not bothering to snap to attention as he usually 
did.  The gray lupine's uniform was torn and ragged, hanging in shreds in spots.  Oh well, 
Adam thought as he loosened his own collar.  It wasn't everyday aliens butchered your 
planet.  To the pit with proper military bearing.

	"Thank you Flinn.  And what is our weapons status?" he asked, moving away 
from the window and into the center of the bridge to confer with his only surviving 
officer.

	The wolf just snorted.  "I didn't bother to arm them sir." he replied.  "Nothing 
we've hit the humans with has even so much as scratched them.  And we have civilians 
all around us."

	"Exactly.  We have civilians who are depending on us to protect their hides.  I'm 
not about to run around a warzone without cannons Mr. Flinn.  So get them ready, if you 
would please."

	"Sir, with all due respect.  If we have to fight, we'll lose!  Guns or no guns!  The 
humans' fighting machines are centuries more advanced than anything WE have!"

	Adam frowned and glared at his nervous young second in command.

	"Have you made contact with fleet command yet?"

	The wolf paused, and then shook his grayish-white head.

	"No sir, I have not.  But considering the intelligence of the humans, and the 
firepower at their disposal, I'd say it's a safe bet that Naval HQ was one of their first 
targets."

	"Very well, Mr. Flinn." he slowly and steadily said.  "Since we cannot contact any 
other ships or authorities, we must assume that we are the last fragment of government 
left in existence.  And as such, I'll stand and fight to protect these last few survivors with 
my dying breath.  I'll stand and fight with a slingshot if I have to!  Now, get the cannons 
ready to fire if we should need them."

	The wolf nodded twice, and turned to bark an order into the intercom.

	Meanwhile, his doe-eyed wife Marie head stepped out from the shadows and put 
her arm around his waist.  

	"You've spoken to me before" she softly said.  "about the horrors... the horrors of 
war.  Is this what you meant?  Is this what you've been talking about?"

	Adam closed his eyes, and sadly shook his head.  

	"No." he said, voice low and quiet.  "It has never been this bad Marie.  Not once.  
The other times, I could fight bravely.  I could even face death with some peace in my 
heart, because I knew that you and our son..."  His sentenced died in his throat as he 
thought about his son once more.  

	He slowly reached around his wife's side, ignoring the caked dirt and blood on her 
dress.  She settled her head onto his shoulder, and he lowered his head to nestle on top of 
hers.

	"Oh Adam." she choked.  "Please.  Please forgive me.  I... I didn't know what to 
do.  He was inside the house playing.  And I was outside, planting in the pond.  When the 
heatray struck our house, it... it..."

	"Disintegrated." he finished with a nod.  It was old news to him by now.  He'd 
seen ships, factories, and even whole towns leveled by the humans' devilish beam 
weapon.  "Yes, I know.  There isn't anything to forgive, my love.  You couldn't have done 
anything."

	"But I just stayed there!  Cowering in the pond as the tripod walked through the 
remains of our house!  I didn't even try to find Whistle until after it had gone!"

	Adam kissed her gently on the top of the head.  "That's probably what saved your 
life Marie." he gently said, trying to soothe her.  "It never saw you.  If you had left the 
pond, they would have killed you in an instant.  And I would now be making this voyage 
by myself."

	She then suddenly pulled away from him, and stared up into his face with fear-
maddened eyes.

	"But why?" she cried.  Her voice was so loud the neighboring ships could 
probably hear her.   "Why are the humans doing this?  They created us!  Then they 
dropped us off on this world 200 years ago to fend for ourselves!  Now why, after all this 
time, are they slaughtering us like cattle?  Don't we at least deserve to know the reason 
we are being exterminated?"

	Adam slowly shook his head as he held his wife's steady gaze.

	"Do we owe the roaches around our house an explanation when we kill them?"

	"But we aren't roaches!"

	"To the humans who created us, we may be.  I doubt they'll tell us anything, but I 
suspect they finally ruined their Earth so bad they can't live on it anymore.  So now they 
want this world for themselves.  All they have to do is evict us, and take it."

	"Evict?" she wailed.  "They aren't evicting us!  They're murdering us!"

	Adam nodded, and waved his hand toward the boats outside.  "And that's what 
this armada is all about.  It's a desperate grasp for life.  Those lucky enough to have 
gotten on a boat will go someplace safe.  Someplace across the sea where those damned 
tripods can't reach."

	A tear fell down Marie's brown muzzle, reflecting the sunlight as she sadly stared 
up at him.

	"They've traveled across a sea of stars." she slowly began, her voice soft and faint 
once more.  "Do you really think a sea of water is going bother them?  Tell me, my 
husband: just where are we going where we'll be safe from them?"

	Adam just stood there tongue-tied.  Truth be known, he didn't have the slightest 
idea himself.  But it didn't really matter, until now.  Their escape seemed more important 
than their destination.  That is, until his wife's delicate voice gave the problem a special 
urgency.  Just where COULD he take her, and the others?  Was there anyplace anywhere 
on the planet that was safe from the humans?

	He was still staring at her when another voice cried out a different kind of 
urgency.

	"TRIPOD!" Lt. Flinn shouted out, pointing ahead.  "There, in the water!  Ahead of 
us!"

	Adam quickly let go of his wife, and rushed to the frightened wolf's side.

	"What?" he shouted.  "How did it walk around us without being seen?"

	"It didn't!  It's rising up from the water.  It came at us from under the waves!"

	Adam pulled his spyglasses to his face, and searched rapidly for one of the 
silvery-blue three-legged horrors the humans fought in.  For several seconds, his search 
was fruitless.  All he could see was the banks of the bay that surrounded them.  It wasn't 
till he lowered his glasses again that he could see the fighting monster, dead ahead of 
them and the rest of the ragtag fleet.

	The boats in the lead were frantically trying to change course.  They were 
desperately trying to avoid the rising multi-jointed tripod, and the hideous deathray 
swiveling beneath the bulbous garlic-shaped body.  The evil menace was rising up, 
straight out of the water.   The two black discs in front appeared to be looking at the fleet, 
as if picking out its prey. 

	"The thing is blocking the exit to the bay!" the wolf yelled in dismay.  "We're 
trapped!"

	"Oh!" his wife sobbed, sinking to the floor.  "We're doomed!  God has abandoned 
us all!"

	Adam gritted his teeth, and glared at the monstrous machine standing between 
him and freedom.  He stood there, staring at it and feeling that the machine was staring 
back.  He had the oddest feeling it was taunting him; daring him to try and do something.

	Well!  Do something he would!

	Adam grabbed the intercom's mike, and snapped the button on.

	"All hands, this is the captain!" he shouted.  "General Quarters!  Get those 
civilians below deck now!  I repeat, General Quarters!  General Quarters!"

	He turned off the mike and dropped it to the floor while turning toward his 
shocked first officer.

	"Mr. Flinn," he said forcefully.  "You have the helm.  Make ready for emergency 
power on my order, and have the weapons batteries standing by."

	The wolf just stood there shaking in his torn naval uniform.  "Sir," he stammered.  
"you can't be serious."

	"Oh, I'm deadly serious Mr. Flinn.  I think we can take this one."

	"Sir, I think you're wrong!" Flinn protested.  "What makes you think you can win, 
when nobody else has even made them sweat?"

	The otter walked back across the bridge and sat in the captain's chair, staring 
fiercely across the water at the looming deathwagon.

	"I may be wrong, Mr. Flinn." he spoke, grinding his tiny teeth.  "But I'm here!  
And somebody has to do something!  All engines ahead, emergency speed!  All batteries, 
stand by."

	Lt. Flinn's face fell, but he turned around and followed his captain's orders as 
quickly as he could.  Suddenly the ship's bow rose as the Thunderchild raced across the 
waters toward the waiting Goliath!


Moving swiftly through the water
cannon blazing as she came.
Brought a mighty metal warlord
crashing down in sheets of flame!
Sensing victory was nearing,
thinking fortune must have smiled,
people started cheering
"Come on Thunderchild!"



	The ironclad battleship surged forward, churning sea into foam as she roared 
headlong toward the mighty tripod.  It was an impossible mission.  A suicide run!  Only a 
lunatic would rush a human war machine headfirst like this!

	Or a crazy otter with no place else to run!

	"Flinn!" the captain yelled over the roar of the engines and surf.  "Aim for the 
nearest leg!  Full power!"

	The wolf's expression brightened as he began to understand the plan of attack.

	"You mean..."

	"Yes Lt." Adam hissed.  "Ram that son of a gun!  Let's see how well it can fight 
when it can't even stand!"

	Lt. Flinn didn't so much as flinch, but instantly turned the wheel a few times, 
aiming the mighty Thunderchild straight toward the invader.  A small amount of froth 
appeared at his quivering lips as he anticipated the battle.

	Nobody on the planet had ever won a confrontation with these monsters, Adam 
thought.  But then, no-one had ever gotten the chance to cut one off at the knees like he 
was about to do either.  While the tripod was taller and more advanced, it was about the 
same volume as the Thunderchild.  Presumably the same mass.  And Adam was going to 
give the humans a little lesson in remedial Battle Physics!

	The gray warship rushed ahead with all the might her engines could give her.  The 
silvery human machine just stood there, weapon dangling uncertainly beneath it.  The 
machine seemed to be puzzled why the battleship would charge.  Surely its crew knew it 
invited destruction that way.

	The Thunderchild closed the last bit of distance in a flash.  Lt. Flinn howled in 
defiance!  Marie covered her head as best as she could with her arms.  The captain sat in 
his chair, flattening his ears and clenching tight the restraints in anticipation.

	They collided with a titanic boom!  The bow of the Thunderchild warped and 
twisted, her superstructure groaning in protest of the sudden shape change.  Lt. Flinn was 
flung bodily forward and over the helm, headfirst into the plate glass in front of the 
bridge.  Adam only caught a glimpse of the bloody imprint the wolf made before he 
himself crashed against the ship's compass.  

	He couldn't have been unconscious for long, Adam decided as his vision slowly 
returned.  The ship was still rocking from the impact.  It couldn't have been more than a 
few seconds.  

	Adam clutched at the top of the compass case, and pulled his battered body up to 
stand.  He blinked the blood out of his eyes, and looked out the front windshield of the 
bridge, quickly analyzing the battle.

	The tripod was falling over!  It had tried to compensate for the loss of its leg by 
leaning back.  But without 3 legs, it couldn't stay erect.  It was falling, its horrible 
deathray going to the bottom of the bay with it!  They had done it!  The fleet could press 
on!  Everyone could escape now!

	But the otter's joy quickly died as he took in the bow of his ship.  Or rather, where 
the bow of his ship used to be.  A full 40 feet of it was missing.  He could hear the 
screams of the people below decks as the water rushed in, flooding the ship.  Over all the 
noise and violence, he could hear them.  They were sinking fast.

	Everyone could escape now, except them.

	The tripod's metal body finally hit the water, making a huge splash as its alien 
metal quickly displaced the water.  The Thunderchild began to list to Port, leaning faster 
than Adam thought possible.

	"Lt. Flinn!" he yelled.  "Lt. Answer me!"  But there was no reply.  The red stains 
and the cracks on the bulletproof glass excused the wolf from any further duties.

	The otter spun around, gripping the compass for balance on the sloping floor, and 
looked for his wife.  Amid the explosions of the damaged engines, he looked around the 
bridge.  After a few seconds he located her, laying against the back of his captain's chair.  
He sighed in relief, and dropped down on all fours to go to her.

	"Marie, we've got to get out of here." he called out to her.  "The ship is sinking!  
We'll swim over to another boat.  We can make it Marie!"

	Marie didn't move, but laid there unmoving against his chair.  Her head was tilted 
at an odd angle.  Finally, her head lolled over with the tilt of the bridge.  Her neck was 
clearly broken.

	Adam screamed in anguish as he slid along the floor, clutching her lifeless body 
to his.  The ship was now tilted a full 40 degrees, and their bodies came to rest against 
the port wall.  He held her close to him, cradling her like a baby, and wept as he hugged 
her lifeless body.

	"It's alright Marie." he sobbed.  "It's alright.  It's over love.  I forgave you.  Now 
you forgive me.  I'm so sorry... but we'll all be together again.  Soon, my love.  We're 
going to go see Whistle now, you and I.  He's been waiting for us.  Waiting for days.  And 
we're going to be together again Marie, all of us.  You just wait and see."

	Adam closed his eyes as the water began pouring into the bridge.  He laid his 
head next to hers, and spoke to her with his final breath as the sea engulfed them.

	"You just wait..."

	A short moment later, the Thunderchild's stern lifted up out of the water, and the 
valiant vessel and crew began their final voyage down to a watery grave.  

	


Smashing ropes and crashing timbers.
Flashing heatrays pierce the deck.
Dashing hope for our deliverance,
as we watched the sinking wreck!
With the smoke of battle clearing
over waves and graves defiled.
Slowly disappearing.
Farewell Thunderchild!
Slowly...  disappearing...