I would never try and own 20,000 leagues under the sea, doesn't mean I can't write up my own ideas on it though.

Summary - Prince Dakkar has lost the war with the British. With only his most faithful followers, he must make many choices.

My take on the origin of Captain Nemo.

Origin of Captain Nemo.

Blood and a dream.

Brooding in the caves sat a tall, thin man with deep set eyes. Prince Dakkar sat by the table that he'd brought here when he was only a child. His father, allowing him the chance to be one with nature, had indulged his only child.

Dakkar felt more tears well up in his eyes as he took in his hands. They were clean, but to Dakkar they were coated in blood, the blood of his people, who'd been under the heel of the British Empire for centuries, the blood of his mother, the wonderful woman who'd shown him what it meant to love and to be loved. He recalled how she'd taken to his wife, the beautiful Parvati, a young noble girl his age, how his mother had noted his love of her from the moment they met.

His father, the man who'd supported and funded his education in Europe, where he found and met many people who taught him the sciences, both practical and theoretical, the ones who'd encouraged him to make his own choices and help him with his own thirst for knowledge.

The father who'd loved Parvati as much as he did, only like the daughter he'd never had.

The Prince's dark eyes filled with more tears as he remembered Parvati, the beautiful, noble, loving woman he'd fallen in love with. He remembered how she too hated the British, encouraged him to fight back, but told him that patience was greater than the sword.

How he wished he'd listened. What had his vengeance brought ? His wife, his parents and his sweet children, his son and daughter were now dead.

What had it brought him ?

Dakkar looked down at Bundelkund, his home had been ravaged by the British who were still looking for him even now.

He stood there, out of sight, brooding.

" What did it ever get me ? Where did my vengeance lead ?"

Dakkar turned away.

As night fell, the prince fell into a fit full sleep.

…..screaming children, mothers begging the soldiers to let them go, to show mercy….

…..men you'd trusted trying to assassinate you, making you carry a Kurpin on you at all times….

…news arrives. The British have your family and torture them in spite of orders to keep them comfortable. It doesn't matter, they're being held prisoner…..

…you arrive just in time to see your son die from his injuries. You lash out, screaming their names, throwing yourself against the hated enemy whose robbed you, not just of your country, but of your family.

You sit in the pool of their blood, your wife and mother have been raped. You can see the signs, tears come to your eyes as you see the injuries.

This is your doing. Your stubborn pride has gotten your children dead. Your parents, the people who'd supported, loved you and encouraged you, are dead. Because of you.

Your wife and children had no part of this, no matter what the murdering British thought.

England still rules India.

A new vision, you are on some sort of platform, with a long deck, with two houses on the deck with a hatch in between. One house looks like an insect's head with compound eyes. The other looks like it has some sort of lens in it.

Some of your men are working on this odd machine as it moves through the sea, they're dressed in clothes that look similar to the clothes of the world, but somehow different.

You go below into the ship, finding it comfortable with its long and wide corridors.

" All stations ready, prepare to submerge." a voice says. Your voice.

You march to the bridge where you witness your crew go to work, they move fast, securing hatchways, making the upper decks watertight. Water bubbles around the viewports of the pilot house….

You are looking through a lens under the sea, the periscope shows a small number of ships on the surface of the sea. You adjust the periscope, and the image in the lens magnifies. You can see it's a convoy of merchant ships, with at least 3 ships escorting them. Is there a war going ? You muse, before shaking your head. No matter, the British will find themselves with less supplies and ships.

You turn to face your second in command. It's Vishwa, your old friend from the mutiny !

" Arm torpedoes, order the hydrophone operators to make the calculations. Depth 40, bow planes, 30. Order the homers to arm the torpedoes." You order your second, giving him the basic depth calculation to help him."

" Yes Captain," Vishwa intones, his face serious, no sign of eagerness but you know the man can be depended on. You turn back to the scope. It isn't long before the torpedoes find their mark and are sunk.

" Down periscope." Vishwar approaches you. " Prepare a diving party. We meet in the airlock in 10 minutes."

" Aye sir."

You turn to the diving operators. " Take us deeper."

You are walking under the sea, wearing a heavy underwater suit and tank, a gun clipped to your shoulder and belt as you walk through the seaweed forest…..

Dakkar woke up, breathing deeply. He remembered the dream, the dream of the submarine and the attack on the ships, the walk through the seaweed forest.

It felt….right.

Two hours later the Prince found himself standing on a beach overlooking a large bay. He looked at the calm sea, imagining the sights beneath the surface.

There I shall build an empire, he thought to himself. Dakkar would be fooling himself if he didn't find the tasks ahead challenging, but he knew they were possible, especially if he had the will to actually go through with it. He no longer saw land as home, so the oceans of the world would provide a new home for him.

Dakkar looked out to sea, then picked up the pack he'd brought with him. Opening it he found a chart of the pacific ocean, looking for the appropriate place to build the machine that would open the door to the new domain.

The British may have been conquerors, but they were diligent explorers. Their charts of the world were second to none. Dakkar may have hated himself for even consulting them, even going so far as to call himself a hypocrite, but he told himself that he would one day use these same charts against the British.

He would need an island, he decided. India was too dangerous, especially with the British looking for him and any foreign product, especially the ones he had in mind would be far too suspicious.

He would need to make workshops, a dockyard facility. Places to test new alloys, new technologies. The Prince frowned, cursing.

" I know I saw it, I saw it….ahh, here it is," he looked closer reading to himself. " On the seventh month we found an island, it was timbered, with a cavern and cave network that lead to the interior surface of the island.

Perfect.

He knew the British would look for him, but would they look for him there ?

He doubted it.