The Pirates of Time [Part Two]

(Refer to this post to read part one of The Pirates of Time. Thanks for reading!)
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"I can't see in this hole," I yelled over the noise of the engine. Something thumped the roof of my ship and I hit a wall. Panic threatened to swallow me again. Genius clung to the headrest of my seat and said, "Caaalm down, and think about you oppptions, your options."
"My options?"
"Yess, your lights, your lights, you dummy," he squawked, knocking me on the head for the second time that day. Of course! My headlights! Hadn't I been driving a regular car for four years already? Why hadn't I thought of that? I flicked on the lights that adorned the outside of the Redeemer and the darkness was immediately illuminated. I sighed in relief. This was much better. And such a simple solution! I needed to learn to calm down and think of my options when a problem arose, like Genius said. Most of the solutions weren't as complicated as I thought they were.
     I carefully followed the twists and turns of the dark tunnel. How extensive was this hole? Where did it lead? Blind dirt bugs slammed into my windshield as we sped along, making a splat as they hit the glass.
     The tunnel soon widened into a cavern and I pulled back on the throttle, causing the ship to slow to an idle. There I sat as before me a new challenge was presented: Two gaping holes from floor to ceiling of the cavern loomed in front of me, one leading to the right and one leading to the left. Which one should I take? My heart sank. I had come so far. What if I made the wrong choice? Well, I knew one thing. Sitting there and mourning the possibility of making a wrong decision wouldn't help me make any decision at all. I needed to calm down and reevaluate. I pulled out my pad of paper and looked over my notes. Before, when trying to determine which hole to plunge into, I had looked for clues. Maybe there would be more clues around these tunnels!
     I gently eased the ship to a rest on the ground before shutting off the engine and hopping out. I began to search the cavern, particularly the space around the two gaping options. I stood in the mouth of one tunnel and a sound caught my ears: a very faint and distant sound. The whirring sound of an engine! I noticed that fresh dirt had fallen from the walls of this tunnel, also - an indication that their crafty ship had sped through here not long ago. I hurried back to the Redeemer, re-started the engine, and rushed after Time's captors with renewed zeal.
     Through twists and turns and ups and downs of the dark tunnel I sped. I began to wonder where we were but at last Genius squawked above the din of the engine. "Weee're gettin' close, gettin' close."
     The tunnel straightened for a stretch and I caught sight of two dull, yellow lights ahead of us, In their glow I made out the faint motion of a propeller on the back of a wooden ship and another propeller spinning from the mast like a helicopter.
     "After them!" I yelled to no one in particular, and pushed the throttle forward as far as I could. The pirates' ship was moving at a slower pace than mine, and it wasn't long before I finally sped close enough to see into the ship. I could see at the front two huge claws, like mole hands made of metal, that were rapidly scrapping at a wall of dirt ahead of us. The giant propellers whirred and I could see men rushing about on board of the flying ship. One man held a brass telescope to his eye and yelled at the sight of my ship, "They've caught up! Hurry me maties, work, work, work! Heave! Agh, that blasted parrot. Told 'er where we were I bet ya anything." He spat on the propeller sending saliva spinning through the air. "Pull out the guns and sharpen yer swords! We won't go down without a fight."
     Men rushed to and fro, pulling cannons to the sides of the helicopter mole ship.
     "We got a problem cap'n," a man called. "All the cannons face out to wall."
     "Turn them around ye dummy!" the man who had seen us through the eyeglass called. "Turn them to the back and fire!"
      The men spun the cannons around and laid them on the back of the ship facing us. Stuffing them with gun powder, they lit a fuse and BOOM went the cannons. I jerked in fear, sending the gear upward, the metal balls missing me entirely. This wouldn't be good.
     "What do I do?" I cried out anxiously. "Okay, what have I learned? Stay calm and make a plan. Think through this. What do I have to fight them with?" I didn't have time to think. The men were already stuffing cannonballs and gunpowder into the rusty cannons. I pulled up at the last minute as BOOM they flew past me again. This time they skimmed my wing but not enough damage was done to inhibit my flying much. "What do I have, what do I have?"
     "The swwwordd!" Squawked Genius. Of course! The sword with the jeweled hilt that these nasty pirates had left in my ceiling!
     "But what about the cannons?" I asked aloud. "I can't fight cannons with a sword."
BOOM went the third round of cannonballs but I was ready for them. I shoved the throttle down, skimming the ground as the cannonballs sailed above me and exploded farther down the tunnel. I could do this until they got smart. Oops. I thought too soon. They just got smart. I watched as the men stuffed the cannons and then angled one to aim upward and one to aim downward. Uh-oh.

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*Stay tuned for Part Three!