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Xiphos sat in the middle of the crew quarters, leaning forward on the couch, her eyes focused on the Relay receiver. She wrung her hat in her hands, twisting it, releasing, and twisting again. Tre sat in a chair across from her. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor through slitted, angry eyes. His ears, however, drooped down, betraying with whom he was really angry.
Cait came aboard, the heavy sea air pulled in with her forceful stride, followed by Billy and Galle.
“What happened?” Cait asked immediately. She didn’t sit down; none of them did. Billy leaned against their dinner table, his arms folded over his chest. Galle paced behind Tre. Cait placed herself on either side of Xiphos and Tre, and conducted her questioning with her hands behind her back.
“We were helping with the triage, and Toby disappeared.” Xiphos didn’t look at Cait.
“Both of you?”
“I was helping with the first aid tent, and Toby ended up at the food tent. I left him there because there were a lot of people there, and I didn’t think anything would happen. I didn’t mean for this to happen-”
“Fine, fine,” Cait said. “Did Tre see any of this?”
Tre’s ears perked when he heard his name. He looked up at Cait and shook his head.
“He was helping dig people out of the rubble,” Xiphos answered for him.
Cait fell silent a moment. “He did not just disappear.”
Xiphos shook her head. “He was taken.”
“That’s a pretty confident answer,” Billy said.
“When we went to find Toby, the people at the food tent said someone had come to get him,” Xiphos said.
“Did they give a description?” Cait asked.
“Tall, human, no hair on his head, kind of looked like a thug,” Xiphos said, her voice getting weaker.
“Oh no,” Billy said, covering his mouth.
Galle looked up from his pacing. “What? What is it?”
“We’ve met this… person before,” Billy said. “He had kidnapped Toby in the first place. He must be getting paid to make sure Toby gets to the Firebrand.”
Galle could only look blank. “He’s being taken to the Firebrand…? I don’t…”
“It is where we kept Tobias from going,” Cait said.
“Where is it? We’ll just go get him,” Galle said.
“We don’t know,” Billy said. “You don’t just go to the Firebrand. You have to get an escort to take someone there.”
“He said Toby never showed up there, but I can’t remember what he said,” Xiphos said.
Cait nodded. “How well do your contacts know of these camps?” She asked Billy.
Billy sighed. “It’s hard to say. We never dealt with them, just pirates. I can see what they think, though.”
Cait nodded again. “Do it.”
Billy left for the helm.
Galle resumed his pacing, stalking a path by the bookshelves. “We don’t have time for this,” he hissed.
“No,” Cait said, drawing both Tre and Xiphos’s startled glare. She paced the back of the crew quarters, holding her chin in thought. She reached the kitchen area and stopped there, drumming her fingers on the counter. “However,” she said, slowly bringing out the words, as if her thoughts were just forming, “the hurricane has slowed our attackers down, just as it has slowed us. We are fast enough to catch up. And, if we must, I have a few favors left I can call in.”
Galle focused his stare on the ground. “We have to go after him now, or we’ll lose him. If they get through the Narwe Canal, we’ll lose them for good.”
“We can slow them down at the Canal,” Cait said. “We know enough people there.”
“It’s a risk we cannot take.”
Xiphos looked up at Cait. “Sir,” she protested. Tre matched Xiphos’s words with a hard stare.
Cait closed her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. She leaned against the kitchen counter. She took a long, deep breath. “We will have to catch up to you,” she said.
Galle froze, his mouth hanging open. “Cait-”
“Tobias is part of my crew-”
“He’s a Continental, a Colony brat,” Galle said.
“And a refugee. And that is even more important than from where his passport was issued.”
“So you’re saying you’re not going to help.” Galle’s ears flattened out.
Cait stood with her hands on her hips. “I must postpone my availability until my crew member is safe. We will join up with you once he is back in our custody.”
“Cait,” Galle said. “Nina is dead-”
“Then she can wait.”
Cait and Galle stopped. The fur on Galle’s neck bristled, his ears slicking back. Xiphos looked up at both of them, and then back at the floor. “The Firebrand sounds like a really bad place. Toby isn’t dead, but if he goes to the Firebrand, it sounds like he could…” She hesitated a moment. “I can’t say I can speak for Nina, but I know she’d want us to get Toby back.”
Galle dropped his eyes. “I- we need-”
Cait walked over to Galle. She pulled him into a brief hug. “We will catch up to you. Do what you can. We will stay in contact. In the meantime, my crew has spoken, and I stand by their decision.” She placed a hand on his shoulder.
Galle gingerly, absently removed Cait’s hand. He turned back to the entrance gallery, and, in silence, left the Rose.
Cait sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Xiphos-”
“Sir, I didn’t mean to lose him. We weren’t thinking about the escort, we were just trying to make sure everyone got helped, and we didn’t even know he had followed us through the storm, and-”
“Xiphos, I will not fault you for losing Tobias, especially while you were helping victims of a hurricane.”
Xiphos closed her mouth, and pulled into herself.
“I need to to get up to the helm and get us on course for… Where did the escort say he was taking Tobias?”
“I can’t remember,” Xiphos said, her voice betraying her complete disgust with herself.
“Then we will take our first lead and go from there.”
[g]
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C’mon Galle, they can’t just leave Toby! Then who will Xiphos have around to hug awkwardly?
That’s totally why Xiphos is making a stand. She’s getting huggy, and Tre’s not having it.
Oh my goodness. I actually laughed out loud.
“Oh my goodness.”
=D