"Hey, Hans." "is that engine fixed yet?" "We can't stay here in the Java Sea the rest of our lives." "Won't be much longer, captain." "Whatever you do, be sure the cargo isn't touched." "Aye, aye, sir." "What is that?" "Hans!" "Sound the alarm!" "All hands on deck." "Hurry, men!" "Hurry!" "Well, Race. ln a couple of hours, we should be sighting Sumatra." "You boys have seen a lot this trip." "l liked Singapore best." "l wish we could have stayed there." "Me too. lt's also my favorite city." "Attention, all ships and planes in the Java Sea area." "Hold it down, fellas." "There's a message coming." "Repeat, all ships and planes in the Java Sea area." "Keep on the watch for a disabled freighter, The Star of Borneo, flying a Dutch flag and carrying a top-secret cargo." "She was last heard from 200 miles due north of the Lingga Archipelago and has been out of radio contact more than 48 hours." "Lingga Archipelago?" "We just passed it, didn't we?" "That's right, Jonny." "You and Hadji better keep a sharp lookout." "Well, what do you know?" "If my eyes don't deceive me we've found The Star of Borneo." "Can you land on her deck?" "Well, it'll be tricky." "But let's give it a try." "Here goes the vertical power." "This should be interesting." "True, and also kind of risky." "Strange, not a person in sight." "Surely somebody heard us land." "Look over there, doctor." "The lifeboats are gone." "This ship is abandoned." "We'd better contact the authorities and let them know." "There's something aboard this ship." "Look." "Could that be a footprint?" "lt could." "Looks like some kind of seagoing dinosaur made it." "A dinosaur?" "On this spooky old freighter?" "Dinosaurs are extinct." "You never can tell where you'll find them." "We'll check the captain's quarters." "Boys, stay close." "You too, Bandit. I don't want some dinosaur stepping on you." "Wow!" "Looks like a hurricane hit this cabin." "Or something worse even." "Every piece of furniture is broken." "Maybe this ship's log says something." "ls that in Dutch?" "Yes. I think I can translate it." "Let's go back a couple of days." "Here we are." ""Developed engine trouble this morning, 200 miles north of the Lingga Archipelago." "While it was being fixed, I first saw the creature as it crawled over the railing." "It was probably brought up out of the sea by a storm which had raged the night before." "I ordered the crew to capture it, but it wasn't easy." "It's a strange and awful thing." "I have never seen the likes of it before." "Almost impossible to describe." "Its body is covered with scales and its huge, glassy eyes seem to indicate it came from an almost unimaginable depth." "It walks upright, and has superhuman strength." "Strong light seems to bother it."" "If it's from the bottom of the sea, I see why light would bother it." ""Finally, we got a net over it but not before it broke the neck of my second mate and hurled three of my crew into the sea." "We got chains around it, and locked it in the aft hold but the crew is in panic and near mutiny." "I have decided to kill this monstrous evil before it destroys this ship, and our precious cargo is at the bottom of the sea."" "What do you suppose this ship is carrying that is so precious?" "The Dutch want to hold on to their empire in this part of the world." "Many of her ships carry highly classified and valuable cargo." "Apparently this was written later the same day." "Listen:" ""Our gruesome enemy may outlive us all, for apparently it is impervious to death." "Bullets have no effect on it." "I emptied a gun directly into its horrible body, but nothing happened." "The monster became so enraged, it broke its chains, and I barely got away in time." "An hour ago, it was prowling below deck, and the men are taking to the lifeboats." "In a moment, I will--"" ""l will" what?" "What does he say?" "That's it. lt ends right there." "Gosh." "The monster must have killed the captain while he was writing." "I hope not, but it certainly seems that way." "What was that?" "The plane!" "It's been smashed to pieces." "That thing must still be aboard." "We've gotta get out of here." "But the lifeboats are gone." "Check the radio room." "Maybe we can get a message out." "Bandit, what's wrong?" "Dad, I saw it!" "I saw the monster!" "Where, Jonny?" "I don't see anything." "It was looking at us from behind the cabin." "Bandit saw it too." "Didn't you, boy?" "See?" "All right, everybody, inside." "Let's find that radio room fast." "Don't worry, Bandit." "Nothing will happen to you that won't happen to us." "That's a happy thought." "Nothing." "The radio's dead." "It figures." "Obviously the thing has been in here too." "In the morning we'll try and build a raft." "The morning?" "What about now?" "It'll soon be dark." "We can't chance getting off this ship at night." "We'll have to find a safe place to bed down." "And let's look for some food." "Our last meal was in Singapore." "And rice and fortune cookies don't last very long." "Let's look in the galley." "Got your gun, Race?" "Yes." "But if bullets have no effect on this monster, what good will it do?" "We have to find a way to defend ourselves." "Yeah." "All we have to fear is monsters themselves." "Any food, Jonny?" "Nothing." "The shelves are bare." "Old Mother Hubbard must've built this ship." "I can't find a bone." "Maybe there's some food in this icebox." "Bandit thinks there's something in there." "Well, there's one way to find out." "Let's open it." "Gosh!" "What the--?" "It's a man!" "He's half frozen." "Oh, you are not dragon." "Who are you?" "We're friends." "Come on out before you freeze to death." "That's a good idea." "Very cold in icebox." "Now, what's this about a dragon?" "You no see dragon?" "We've seen what it can do." "Dragon break loose." "Big fight." "Big fight." "Everybody leave ship. I only one left." "So I hide in icebox." "Dragon terrible." "He kill us all." "Do you know what this secret cargo is?" "Many long boxes in hold." "I don't get good look." "By day, dragon hides among them." "At night, it come out on deck." "But when sun rises, it looks for darkness again." "The ship's log said the same." "The monster seems to be afraid of light." "Not too afraid." "Look what it did to our plane in the day." "An act of desperation, or curiosity." "Its aversion to strong light gives us some weapons." "Torches, if we can find some, or make them." "Use the ship's searchlights." "l wish we could find something to eat." "Crew take everything with them." "Only thing left is fortune cookies and some boiled rice." "Not again." "Seems like everything we've eaten these days has a message in it." "Well, we're in a nice jam." "A monster running loose, our plane is ruined and we're marooned on a ship with a strange cargo." "What'll we do now, doctor?" "No choice but wait." "When we're overdue at Batavia, I'm sure the authorities will send out search planes." "Trouble, sir. I have lost contact with Dr. Quest's plane." "He is long overdue." "Better alert all patrols to look for him at once." "Aye, aye, sir." "Well, how you like rice?" "Fine, Charlie, fine." "You're a good cook." "Thank you, thank you." "For dessert we have fortune cookie." "Hey, listen to my fortune." ""Be careful of unknown danger."" "Mine is not much better." ""There is great evil abroad tonight."" "Gee, maybe there is something to this fortune-cookie stuff." "Maybe he hears the monster's footprints again." "How can anyone hear footprints?" "Some monsters make louder ones than others." "The monster!" "It's right outside the door." "You boys get down behind that table." "If it breaks in, I'll try to stop him with fire." "Dad, the porthole!" "lt's gone!" "Jonny, find a hose and get that fire under control." "I'm going with Race." "That does it." "Turn off the water, Charlie." "I got a glimpse of it. lt looks like a cross between a manticore and a hippocampus." "A cross of what?" "Two mythical monsters with heads of one animal, bodies of another, and tails of reptiles." "I told you." "A dragon." "There's nothing mythical about this monster." "No, but who'll believe us unless we can capture it and get it into port somehow?" "Better we build raft and get off ship right away before we all get killed." "He's right." "That monster will be back." "Are there any acetylene torches aboard?" "Maybe in machine shop." "We'll use those torches as weapons." "Good idea." "Charlie, get the torches." "Dr. Quest, see if there are other weapons in the cabins." "I'll see what I can find in the hold." "I'll go with you, Race." "That thing might be down there." "No, you and Hadji stick close to your dad." "Look for material to build a raft." "Okay, Race." "Search plane calling base." "No sign of Quest plane." "Will continue search." "I'd better have a look behind that door." "What a mess." "That monster must have been here too." "What am I saying?" "He still is here!" "Boy, I hope that door holds for a while." "What happened?" "We heard the monster." "Did you see him?" "l sure did." "I locked him in the paint shop." "I don't know for how long." "Any luck?" "I found this Very pistol and some flares." "We found lots of lumber, and we got the floodlights working." "I find two torches." "And there is lifeline cannon." "Maybe Charlie get shot at dragon." "Good." "We'll start building a raft at dawn." "Why don't you kids go get some sleep?" "Sleep?" "With that thing aboard?" "We would not get a moment's rest." "It won't be light for an hour or so." "Charlie, stay with the boys." "Race and I will stand watch out here." "Okay, Dr. Quest." "Come on, you guys." "Charlie sing you some Chinese lullabies." "Think we can build a strong enough raft?" "It's our only chance, unless we're picked up by a plane before that monster gets loose." "I wish we could bring that creature." "Not a chance, doctor." "We couldn't build a cage strong enough." "The monster!" "It's loose!" "Hit the floodlight, doctor, and grab a torch." "If he comes any closer, try to keep him off with that torch." "Now, doctor!" "Now!" "Charlie, do something!" "It just bounced off." "Bandit, Bandit!" "Come back here!" "He dived into the hold." "We've got to get him." "It will set the ship on fire." "We will be burned alive." "Better to drown in sea." "Sharks, sharks!" "I think I change my mind." "Help, help!" "l am being attacked by ferocious sharks." "Charlie's in trouble." "Give him a hand." "I've got the monster backed off." "Keep splashing, Charlie." "Thank you." "Thank you, honorable ancestors, for saving my life." "I should never have left my homeland." "I should never have gone to sea." "I know better next time." "By the great Buddha, I know better." "The Star of Borneo has been sighted due north of the Lingga Archipelago." "The report says part of her superstructure is on fire." "If anyone is aboard, maybe our planes can effect a rescue." "He's backing away, doctor." "Keep it on him!" "Keep it on him!" "Bandit?" "Here, Bandit." "Where are you, boy?" "Jonny, look." "Coffins!" "Rows and rows of coffins." "This sure is a strange cargo." "Jonny, that one on the end." "It's moving." "Bandit!" "What are you doing in there?" "Come on out of that coffin." "That's sure a dumb place to hide." "Hadji, look. lt's full of yellow bricks." "Some bricks." "Solid gold." "A fortune in gold." "We better tell Dad, monster or no monster." "Keep forcing him back, doctor." "We've got him trapped against the flames." "Hadji, look." "Where is he?" "l hope he's gone. I'm out of fuel." "This tank's almost empty too." "Look up there, Dad." "He's on the mast." "Hit him with the other spotlight, doctor." "We'll try that Very pistol and the flares." "Ready with the Very pistol?" "Let them fly." "Might as well use a beanshooter, Race." "Hey, what's Charlie up to?" "Please, honorable ancestors, make humble Charlie's aim good." "There he goes." "Look out!" "What a high dive." "No sign of it." "l've a hunch it's gone back..." "...to the depths from which it came." "Hope it stays." "Anyway, Hadji got a picture of it." "Oh, yeah, and we found this." "The hold is full of coffins, and the coffins are full of gold bricks." "So that's the mysterious cargo." "Hey!" "Come on, you guys." "We have to put out this fire." "Well, the monster is gone, and we're all okay." "But no one will believe our story." "Yes, they will, doctor." "We have proof, thanks to Hadji." "Let's see the picture." "lt's still in the camera." "Even a picture of it will have great scientific value." "Let me see, Hadji." "Hey, that's a great picture of your thumb." "Good try, anyway, Hadji." "Sorry, Dr. Quest." "It is true." "Haste makes waste." "Well, anyway, we have a ship full of gold." "Where do we go from here?" "Yes, do we stay with ship or drift on raft?" "What is it, Bandit?" "l hope it's not the monster returning." "Not a monster, he hears a plane." "There it is!" "Oh, thank you, thank you, noble ancestors." "You have saved this unworthy one." "Search plane calling base." "Have found The Star of Borneo." "And we're in luck." "We've found Dr. Quest and his party too."