The pain brought him back to consciousness. His hands and feet were fastened to the wall. The metal at his wrist dug into him. He tried to stand and lessen the pressure, but the broken toes sent shivers of pain up his leg. His body sagged down against the clamps. An eerie silence hovered in the dark room. Not sure if he was alive or dead in some kind of hell, his mind filled with despair. I’ve done it to myself this time.

It took a few moments for him to realize why everything was quiet. The steam motors were turned off. Napoleon reached his destination.

It was hard to concentrate. Albert sighed, “So tired, I think I’ll sleep some.”

Thump. Bang. Bang. Thump. Thump.

He woke up. This ship must have restarted. Something should be done about the off-balance rotor.

Thump. Bang. Bang. Thump. Thump.

A door slammed shut.

The lock to his prison screeched. His door slammed open.

“Life or death?” Blinded by a bright light, he straightened to attention and balanced on his undamaged foot. A man’s form was silhouetted in the door frame.

“He’s in here, Captain. Looks to be in bad shape.”

A large man entered the room. U.S. Naval Captain Jack Timmons signaled to a seaman to unfasten the clamps. “Well little brother, I see you’re stuck again.”

Released from the wall, Albert sagged into his brother’s arms. “You got my message?”

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Captain Jack laughed. “Which one? My radio man has been inundated with them. Voice messages were relayed every day. The Brits picked up your Morse code ‘To Jack aboard Enterprise from the Aggravation’. Though mystified, their commander knew me and passed it on with date and coordination points. We were prepared.”

“When I discovered the captain’s destination, I remembered your ship was nearby. Did you stop the attack?”

“Piece of cake. My crew stormed the roof and captured the attackers as they were trying to shoot the gun. They couldn’t get it to fire. Your handy work, I assume? We also grabbed the captain. Napoleon has met his Waterloo, again,” he commented with a laugh.

Albert grinned at the bad joke. “I did adjust it a bit.”

“Now, I need to get you to the doctor.” Jack prepared to half-carry him.

“No, wait. That door on the right has my coat and boots. I need them both.”

One of the sailors opened the door and switched on a light. The coat and boots sat against the wall. He grabbed them and saluted the captain.

“Good, now let’s go.”

They walked down the hall, side by side, the muscular captain clutching his thin younger brother.

Albert stopped them from entering the lift. “Not this one. We need to go all the way down. See that other knob, that’s the one you want.”

Arriving in the vast engineering room, Jack glanced around. “Now what?”

“I left some of my devices down here. Look under that stack of papers.”

A sailor pulled out his pipe, derringer, and goggles.

“Anything else?” Jack asked in a sarcastic voice.

“That should do it.”

“Good, let’s get off this ship. Give me a chance to look at your sore thumb.” His hands ran over his brother’s hand and paused at its crooked angle.”

Albert’s face turned white at his touch.

“My doctor on board needs to check this out. But first, there are some questions you need to answer. And I saw one of your flying machines in action. It was incredible. They are now property of the US Navy. Can I try it sometime? Always wanted to fly.”

Albert looked up at his brother through swollen eyes. “Just so you’re not over 250 lbs. Weighing any more than that, you will probably end up looking like me.”

Jack laughed, and while his brother was distracted, pulled the bent thumb back in place. He caught Albert’s slight body from falling off the chair. “You’ve had a rough time. We’ll set you right.”

The tall captain picked him up in his arms. Soldiers formed a protective detail as he carried his limp brother from Napoleon’s ship.