Chapter 2
Admiral Goldstein clenched the helm with both hands. They were covered in sticky sweat when he wheeled one of Caspivur’s most feared flagship, named Majestic Castle, into the right course. A top of the notch vessel it was, with the latest technology on the field of armament with dozens of canons, turrets and a missile launching systems all under the guidance of a highly accurate fire-control radar.
It was only minutes later when their enemy floated in sight. An impressive fleet doomed up at the horizon, with countless of battleships, frigates and destroyers. Goldstein shouted out orders to his officers to prepare for engagement. The ship’s alarm wailed and like a well-oiled machine all personnel immediately sprung to commence their duty.
Goldstein peered to the sides and was pleased to see the rest of his fleet in battle formation too. It made him feel proud and honored. He served with these competent men for years. He had a good feeling about the conduct of this clash that was on the verge of erupting. In case of defeat, the enemy would have free rein to sack his home-town. That was something he could not allow, would not allow. He had to protect his family even if it meant to kill his own compatriots.
“On my signal; Serve them hell and fire.”Goldstein twirled his salt and pepper beard in anxiety when the adversary fleet came in proximity. Just a bit closer…
“FIRE!.” He screamed.
A barrage of roaring bellows was felt throughout the body when one canon after the next blasted with a target in sight.
Goldstein was relieved to see a couple of direct hits whereby the crew of one ship was already compelled to abandon it after a shell had hit the hull just below the waterline. Another ship burned heavily when the wheelhouse cashed a full hit, and pieces flew all over the place.
Now it was their turn.
He saw countless of tiny flickering dots lighting up just before a rain of deadly impacts reached their fleet. Goldstein saw a destroyer who floated next to them eating two shells, right in the middle. The hull cracked in half and like an anchor, it sunk to find his final resting place on the bottom of the sea. Most crew-members didn’t even get the chance to find a lifeboat in time.
Goldstein’s fleet returned the favor after a reload. This exchange of blows went on and on, with deafening explosions and screams of agony everywhere, until a breakthrough was forced when Majestic Castle shattered two large battleships in one cannonade. This lost reduced the enemy's fire-power drastically. Victory was within grasp.
Than the inevitable happened…
Out of nowhere, a nuclear plant-sized hand emerged from the sky and clenched the Majestic Castle in an inescapable grip, whereby its massive fingers imprisoned them from all sides before it was dripped up in the air under the reverberating tremble of a feminine giggle.
+++++
“Hey I was winning!” Lindsy reacted aghast.
Mayumi scooped the impressive battleship out of the shrunken bay and placed it in the palm of her hand.
She scrutinized the cigar-sized ship with her exotic almond-shaped eyes. It swayed back and forth a bit. She smiled when she noticed the throngs of sand grain sailors running about in panic on deck, it amused her.
"Let's make this a fair fight shall we?” Mayumi pulled a shrink ray from her hip-belt and shot the tiny ship which suffered the brunt of it. It shrunk until it was no bigger than a rowboat compared to the rest of the fleet.
She pinched it airborne and placed it back in the waters among his friends. The once imposing flagship was now struggling through the wake waves created by his bigger companion ships. The reach and effectiveness of his firepower were laughable. The only advantage for being that small is that he was harder to get hit, but otherwise than that, the importance and value of his role in battle were negligible.
Missing the decisive firepower of Majestic Castle the tables turned around quickly when Mayumi’s fleet made short work of Lindy’s fleet.
Perplexed, eighteen-year-old Lindsy looked down upon the miniature-bay to see her fleet getting crucified by the fleet of her twenty-two-year-old colleague, Mayumi.
“Your playing that stupid game again?” The two girls both turned around and saw that it was Addison who made her arrival. The young girl took a seat on a bench in the canteen. She crossed her legs and placed the apple-sized city next to her skinny thigh. She leaned back and took a sip from a bottle of coke.
“Where did you get that?” Mayumi looked in puzzlement to the micro city on the couch.
“She shrunk it.” Lindsy answered for her.
“Where did you get the shrink-ray from?” Mayumi asked.
Addison seized her time to take a long sip from the coke, piercing them both with her mischievous eyes while doing so. After she was finished, she let out a small burp.
“I don’t need to justify myself to you.” Addison said darkly. “In fact, you both better justify to me from this point on as your future boss.”
Mayumi and Lindsy both chuckled in delight by this statement.
“When I’m grown-up.” Addison continued. “I will make sure to expand this company’s reach and achieve the biggest slice of market share ever witnessed. And then, the whole world will tremble beneath the might of my descending hand.” She demonstrated when floating her open palm like a UFO towards the micro city next to her lap. Millions of frantic screams remain unheard for the girls when Addison’s hand curtained the city’s streets in pitch darkness.
“No one will tremble before you cutiekins.” An icy-voice broke in. All girls jerked up to see the boss click-clacking in with her high-heeled boots. Mayumi quickly aimed the shrink-ray and shot both fleets, still engaged in a heroic sea-battle, to the mere size of bacteria. Mayumi plunged her index-finger in the water and circled around to create a powerful maelstrom whereby both fleets got sucked in the core relentlessly. She licked the remnants of her finger clean whereby thousands of sailors steeped in a gluey sea of saliva on her tongue before being swallowed to the depths of her all-devouring stomach-juices.
“Your mother called me. She’s worried sick. Again.” Addison’s aunt walked up. Hands on her hips with a look that demanded explanation.
Addison looked up with pouty lips and droopy, big manga-eyes, the way she always did to get in her aunt's favor.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work.
“Don’t give me that face. You're supposed to be in class. What you got there?” She points to the micro city.
“I uuh…”
“Its from section C miss Wiggins. She shrunk it.” Lindsy answered before Addison could.
“YOUR FIRED!” Addison leapt up. Eyes brimmed with fury.
“Your not firing anyone around her cutiekins.” She got reprimanded by her aunt. “ Especially not one of my top sales.” Addison received a meaningful grin from Lindsy.
“But Aunt Cassadee?” Addison whined like a little girl.
“Don’t aunty me young lady. You rush to school, right now before I get in trouble again with my sister. Hand over the shrink ray to Lindsy. And Lindsy, could you be a darling and clean up the mess my niece made?”
Lindsy, drooling-eager for a chance to please her boss happily responded. “Well off course Miss Wiggins. Right away. Can I get the shrink ray please?” She asked in her most customer-friendly smile.
“Choke on it.” Addison placed it hard-handed in Lindsy’s waiting palm.
“Thank you, and the city please?” Lindsy added.
Addison gave a deep sigh. Picked the city from the cough, placed it in Lindsy's hand, but didn’t release her grip just yet. She closed in her lips to Lindsy’s ear. “This." She spat. "has not even started.”
Not impressed by the little girl’s threat, Lindsy jerked the apple-sized city out of Addison’s hand, unknowingly wrecking some catastrophic havoc while doing so.
“Thank you for your contribution.” Lindsy smiled, enlarged the city back to basketball- size and walked off.
Addison spun on her heels to her aunt again. “I was only trying to help.” She looked all sad.
“I know you were sweety.” Aunt Cassadee caressed her cheek. “How about one of the girls take you in tow this saturday afternoon. Would you like that?”
“As long as its not that toplofty vixen.” Addison loured.
Cassadee bellowed with laughter. “Lindsy you mean? In that case, I will make sure to pair you two up.” She tousled Addison’s punky hair.