Bermuda Voyagers Ii: In Search of the U.S.S. Cyclops

By Leslie Bond

A fiction Book that tells the facts about the lost ship USS Cyclops, then adds the fiction side of the story using the crew members, and the ultimate fate of the ship, and the it's crew.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514437377

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Leslie Bond.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015921182

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5144-3740-7

                Softcover        978-1-5144-3738-4

                eBook            978-1-5144-3737-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 02/10/2016

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter I The Invitation

Chapter II Reunited Again

Chapter III The Unexpected Guest

Chapter IV Cyclops: Legacy Of The Past

Chapter V Conspiracy Or Mutiny?

Chapter VI Flight Back In Time

Chapter VII Barbados And Beyond

Chapter VIII The Boat Ride

Chapter IX Arrival Of The Cyclops

Chapter X Last Port Of Call

Chapter XI The Cyclops Leaves Barbados

Chapter XII Mutiny To Sabatoge

Chapter XIII Battle At Sea

Chapter XIV Unwelcomed Mutineers

Chapter XV Through The Gate To Home

Chapter XVI Three Years Later – Mystery Solved

"My Thanks to my lovely wife;

Abigail Bond and Roger St. John, and also the editor of the book; Christine Leccese."

INTRODUCTION

I T’S BEEN MANY years since Colonel Darrell Holt and I, Colonel Leslie Bond, have been settled in from our last long flight into the Bermuda Triangle. We were mysteriously drawn up into a strange time gate known as The Fangs of Fire.

In 1982 we flew on a search and rescue mission in search of a ship at sea that was supposedly sending out an SOS. We strapped ourselves into a B-17 flying fortress of WWII to accompany other Confederate Air Force pilots and some short-range escorts from the Civil Air Patrol. We all ventured out across the vastness of the dark open sea waters only to find ourselves stranded in the year 2050 AD. Years later we managed to fly back home to our own dimension of time in a futuristic Star Fighter known as The Black Knight. We traveled through the now familiar time gate The Fangs of Fire.

CHAPTER I

The Invitation

T HE PAST FLIGHT that Colonel Holt and I, Colonel Bond, experienced in 1982 was far behind us. The year was 2002. One day, out of the blue, I received a letter in my mailbox that was an invitation to attend a twenty-year reunion in celebration of our safe, but untimely return home . The reunion was being hosted by the Confederate Air Force (CAF) Wing in Florida.

I thought that was a little peculiar because I hadn’t seen or heard from very many people of the CAF Squadron in quite a few years. As a matter of fact, it had been about twenty years since I’ve been back there at all. So, I thought to myself— why now? – what’s the big idea of looking for me now after all these years without even one letter from those people? – what do they want now? Anyway, it was sure a surprise to me to say the least. Oh yeah, I had heard from a few of them now and then over the phone, but I hadn’t heard from the CAF Squadron, as a whole, for a long time.

I was thinking that it would be nice to go to the reunion and see my old pilot buddies. I would even ask my wife, Abby, to go with me – that is, if she would even let me go!!! Yeah, I’m still married to the woman, and I’ll never forget how I met her and how we both survived our return home from Omegas, from the future in 2050 AD – back through the time gate, back into the nineteenth century.

And I’ll never forget my flying buddy, Darrell Holt. I hadn’t seen or heard from him for years. When I looked back, it really didn’t seem that long ago. So, why not – I decided that Abby and I would head up to the twenty-year reunion and talk about the good old days of the early 1980’s. What would it hurt? So we confirmed our reservations and began loading up the Antonov. The Antonov is an airplane I bought from Russia. It is a lot of airplane for the U.S. dollars that we paid for it. It’s a tail dragger passenger plane with one antique radial engine on the nose – I’ve always loved old airplanes. Just to hear the rumble of the engine always gives me a good sensation of being in total control. My Dad was a mechanic on large field engines that pumped natural gas down the main lines from California to the East Coast. He worked in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico with El Paso Natural Gas Company. That’s probably how I inherited the feeling of loving a smooth running engine. My Mom, a dedicated woman and mother to my family, kept that feeling alive within him in a special way because it kept food on the table and shoes on our feet. Jasper and Loretta, my parents, supported me in many ways, and I will always love and appreciate them for that.

My aircraft has always been a dream bird to me and, although cruising in it on long trips is much slower than a jet, it is worth the beautiful view of the green grass from the air.

My wife would sometimes sit with me in front in the cockpit, but she usually liked to ride in the cabin area where it’s not quite so noisy.

I taught her how to basically fly the plane and to land it just in case she ever had to. She definitely enjoys flying as much as I do. So, what it all boiled down to was that we were going to load up our aircraft and fly her to our CAF reunion.

The next morning was a very beautiful one in the Spring of 2002. We got out of bed just as the sun began to rise and shine through our eastern bedroom window.

We lived on a small ranch in Southeastern New Mexico and had a few cows and chickens on our land. Along with a wood burning stove, it was a very comfortable place for us, and we enjoyed it very much.

Outside the house we had a pretty good-sized airplane hangar – well, maybe a pretty good sized barn. Inside the airplane hangar/barn stood a pretty good-sized antique airplane – Antonov.

There she sat, with the bales of hay, and she was ready to fly to the great State of Florida.

As Abby cooked us some bacon and eggs and brewed up the coffee, I began topping off the fuel tank with air gas and began my pre-flight inspection of the plane.

I had done all my trip planning the night before as far as check points to be flown, and the weather forecast ahead of us. So, basically, all I had to do was to load our suitcase into the plane, check the oil, kick the tires and call the flight service station to file my flight plan. We would check the weather along one route once again to see if it had changed since the late night before. Then we would be on our way.

We owned 15 acres of land and we had one long dirt runway which was laid out corner to corner to our ranch land fence, or from the northeast to the southwest. The reason for this was that the wind generally would blow from the southwest in this part of the country and that the runway was just long enough for the Antonov to clear the bared wire fence fifteen acres to the other end of the runway. Well, we usually had 50 to 100 feet of ground roll to spare, just in case we had a blowout or engine failure on take off. Yeah, right, like we could stop Antonov in 100 feet!!! That would be a miracle. Oh well, we could probably jump the barbed wire fence, then bounce land on the desert ground just on the other side. It might be a little rough if the mesquite bushes and cactus thorns got a hold of the main landing gear tires, but at least we would be able to set the airplane down in one piece – and we would make it out in one piece – and that’s saying a lot if we were ever in that situation.

Are you ready to go Abby? I asked anxiously.

Almost, Les, just gotta comb my hair, and I’ll be right there, Abby replied as she turned to grab her portable mirror off of the dresser.

Abby still had her long black hair and beautiful smile and I thought she was more beautiful than when I first met her twenty years ago. Myself, well, I try to keep myself slim and trim as I possibly can. After all, a pilot needs to stay in the best shape that he can. I do that also to keep my wife happy. But I know she’d love me anyway, even if I did put on some weight, because I feel the same way about her.

I was waiting for Abby at the edge of our yard, which was where the plane was packed. I had just towed it out of the hangar/barn.

Abby shut the door to our house behind her and walked up to me with her beautiful black hair blowing in the early morning breeze. She kissed me on the cheek, turned and walked up the boarding stairs through the cabin entrance.

Well, are you planning on flying the plane by remote control, or are you coming with me? Abby asked as she stood in the cabin entrance a few feet above the ground.

Yeah, I’ll be right behind you just as soon as I remove the wheel chocks, I replied, with a trusting smile and wink of my eye.

Okay, I’ll be waiting for you Mr. Bond and, don’t worry, I can strap myself in, replied Abby with a smile as she steadily made her way up to the crew cabin area.

I pulled the wheel chocks, threw them out of the way, then made my way to the cockpit entrance.