Back to Part 048 Notes

There’s a lot going on here. Cait has to officiate a spat between Xiphos and Auburn, make sure her brother isn’t about to do something stupid, and, of course, see that her guests are taken care of, even if they’re not really welcome.

With Xiphos, Cait is at once perturbed and supportive. Xiphos admittedly doesn’t know how to do the job Cait expects of her, and perhaps Cait thought trial by fire may be the best teaching method. That being said, Cait is still interested in seeing Xiphos succeed, so when time comes to dispense advice Cait is happy to do so. In this case, it’s all about respect. Show respect, and get it back.

That’s the idea, at least.

As for Galle, well, I think I said everything in this section that I need to say.

Frankie’s a character who’s been giving me trouble since I first introduced her. She was much different in my head than she’s becoming on paper (or screen, if you like). She’s a character I had a name for first, and then a character. She’s always been a girl with a strange air about her. Here Xiphos notices a strangeness about her speech. We’ll touch more on her in later sections, though.

Still, there’s something about Frankie that makes Xiphos turn off her attitude, or perhaps Cait’s advice is sinking in, or both. She’s kind to the injured girl, curious about her path to her current situation, even helpful. And it seems all of this built up to a realization on her part. She delivers her last line almost out of obligation, as if she realized, “oh, I’m being too nice, time to lay it down.” So Xiphos will be nice to you, no doubt, but she won’t rescue you. She’s already used that one up.

As always, questions and comments and so on.

[g]

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Back to Part 048 Notes

Back to Part 048

Cait stopped in the doorway of the crew quarters just in time to catch Xiphos in full pursuit of Auburn. The human stomped down the from guest quarters, entering from the other side of the room, her face red. Xiphos stalked behind her, her ears slicked back on her head.

“Why?” Auburn asked, her question weighted down with ice.

“Because it needs to be done,” Xiphos said after her.

Cait held her hands behind her back and let the battle unfold in front of her.

“Not interested,” Auburn said. She sat down on the couch, her arms folded over her chest, and she stared up at Xiphos.

“It’s not a request,” Xiphos said.

“Hmm.” Auburn didn’t break her lock with Xiphos’s eyes.

“Miss Nash,” Cait finally said. Both Auburn and Xiphos jumped.

“Sir,” Auburn stammered, pulling herself up to her feet.

“Have you been ordered to do something?”

“Yes, sir,” Auburn said. Her face grew redder.

“How is your progress?”

“Just starting, sir,” Auburn said.

Cait nodded. “Do not let me stop you.”

Auburn nodded again and sprinted up the steps to the guest quarters.

Xiphos watched from behind Cait, her hands on her hips.

“Why was that an issue, Helmsman?” Cait asked, turning to Xiphos. The girl shrank into herself, her ears dropping.

“She just didn’t want to do it, sir,” Xiphos said.

“Follow me to my office.” Cait started back to the bridge. “Am I correct in guessing little respect was shown when you issued her her task?”

Xiphos was silent a moment, her head bowed slightly in thought. “She doesn’t like me.”

“That’s not a requirement of being an officer, Helmsman. What is important, however, is that she respects you.”

Xiphos said nothing to this. They stepped on to the bridge. Cait opened her office and ushered the helmsman in. She closed the door behind her.

Xiphos sat down in a chair. She slumped and sighed. “I don’t know how to make her respect me, sir.”

Cait poured some tea from a pot. She handed a cup to Xiphos. “You have not shown Auburn you trust her, nor that you respect her. Both are important.”

Xiphos stared down at her tea. Cait sat down in her own chair behind her desk. She took a sip of her tea and watched her helmsman a moment.

“Xiphos,” she said. “Stop thinking the worst of yourself. I am not angry. But you can do better.” She took another sip. “Finish your tea and then go repair your relationship with Auburn.”

“But… I don’t know how to do that, sir.”

“You can start by helping her clean the guest rooms. You do not have to talk to one another, just work together to finish.”

Xiphos set her tea cup on Cait’s desk and stood. “Sir.” And she left Cait alone.

Cait sipped her tea, allowing for the distraction another moment before she was interrupted by a knock on her door. Tre waited in the frame.

“Yes, dear?”

Tre motioned for her to join him on the bridge. He handed her the Relay mic.

“This is Cait.”

“What are you doing?”

“Hello, Galle,” Cait said flatly.

“Do you realize you’re heading into pirate territory?”

“It is where our hunch has taken us.” Out of the corner of her eye, Lake came into sight on the bridge. Tre looked at him, and exhaled sharply though his broad nose. Lake seemed to hesitate to come any further.

“You’re mad,” Galle said. Cait could pick out more fear than irritation in his voice.

“I have an able pirate hunter with me, as well as our temporary guests, who have safely navigated these waters for years, they assure me.” She looked hard at Lake, who caught her gaze and gave her a forceful nod, as if harder were more true.

“Even so, Cait,” Galle said. “Be careful. I’m not interested in finding your boat abandoned. Mum and Dad would be quite cross with you if you got sold into slavery.”

Cait cracked a smile. “They wouldn’t bother.”

“I wanted to tell you we that we’re in striking distance of the mystery ship.”

“Galle-”

“If all goes well, we’ll have taken the map back by tomorrow evening.”

“Galle, do not board that ship. They are dangerous.” Cait gripped the mic and held her breath.

“We’ve been training for this moment for months now, Cait. We’re ready.”

“Galle, please. Call La Patrolo. Call Jing. They are far better able to handle that situation.”

“Cait. We’re ready. We’ll call you when we get the map.”

Cait swallowed hard. She hesitated, then said, “Have you given thanks to Nibiru lately?”

“Yes,” Galle said. “The whole lot of us has thanked a couple of different gods. We’re not taking chances here.”

“What about offerings to the Ancestors?”

There was a pause on the other end. “Nooo… I’ll get on that right away. I haven’t said ‘hi’ to them in a while.”

Cait closed her eyes. “Please, Galle, if you get in over your head, there is no shame in retreat.”

“We’ll be careful, Caitie.” There was another pause. “Thanks for your concern. We’ll be in touch.”

“We will be waiting,” Cait said. She handed the receiver back to Tre. He took it from her, but took her hand a little further up. Cait sighed and looked down at him. “We must have faith, dear.”

He nodded, but watched her, still holding her hand. She reached out and patted him on his head. “Faith. Do let me know when they call again.”

Tre nodded. He returned to work.

“And you,” Cait said, turning to Lake. He watched the scene, hands behind his back, his jaw drawn tight.

“I wanted to let you know that Frankie is awake, and in a few hours we can be prepared to depart,” Lake said.

“That is some welcomed good news,” Cait said. She started to the infirmary. Lake followed. “You must be aware, however, that we now suddenly need your expertise.”

Lake grinned. “Conveniently so.”

“However, when we are finished, when we have satisfied our quest, if you will, we part ways. Understood?” Cait stopped, and stood face to face with Lake. The pirate nodded. “Good.” She turned back to the infirmary.

Jace arrive just before they did. Frankie sat on the infirmary’s examination table as Billy took her blood pressure. Jace stepped in and immediately pulled Frankie into a big hug. Frankie hugged back, straining as Jace squeezed harder. “Ow, stitches,” she finally said in a raspy whisper. Jace released her, and then pulled her into a side hug, her arm around her shoulders. Billy looked mildly annoyed as he tried to work.

Cait stood back to stay out of the way of the reunion. Burian caught Frankie’s eye, and she brightened.

“Burian!” He stepped forward and hugged the girl, though not as hard as Jace had. The girl’s tail wagged behind her. They talked happily, Burian, Jace, and Frankie. Lake filled her in on the events of the last day, how she got on board, how Toby had given her blood. Frankie looked up at both of them, her face bright against her tired, recovering body. Cait couldn’t help but smile, while trying to ignore that the pirates in front of her were so desperately happy to see their young crew mate well.

Auburn and Toby entered together, hand in hand. Toby was covered with the dust of whatever he had been making, and Cait noticed a little had made its way on to Auburn. Xiphos was just a little behind.

“She’s okay?” Auburn asked.

Cait nodded. “It appears so. Thank Nibiru.”

Auburn nodded.

“How are you progressing on your task, Auburn?” Cait asked.

“Still working, sir. The first room is done.”

“I will need to steal Xiphos away from you, then. Can you manage?”

Auburn shrugged. “Yeah, it’ll just take longer.”

“We will manage. Please, back to work. I suspect we will all be able to celebrate young Frankie’s health tonight at dinner.”

Auburn nodded and left Toby, letting go of his hand at the last minute.

“You too, dear,” she said down to Toby. “It looks as if you have been a little distracted.” She gave him a small smile.

Toby laughed nervously. “It won’t happen again?”

Cait waved Toby on.

“Sir?” Xiphos said, stepping forward.

“Get Frankie settled in to the first finished guest room. She will need rest, but I suspect she will get more outside the fish bowl of the infirmary.” Cait stepped towards the infirmary, and a moment later, she helped Frankie out to Xiphos. The cat carefully took the girl, draping her arm around her shoulders.

“Hello,” Frankie said. “You’re Xiphos?”

“Yes,” she said, starting the walk towards Frankie new room.

There was something odd about the way Frankie spoke. She used causal speech, but it was almost as if to Xiphos that Frankie wasn’t quite comfortable with throwing words around.

“I’m Frankie,” she said. She wasn’t so much injured as she was still weak, and the walk progressed smoothly. “Billy’s nice,” she said.

“Yeah, I like him a lot.” Xiphos thought a moment, slowly guiding her charge to her room. “Can I ask you something?”

“Alright.”

“How did you end up with Burian Lake?”

Xiphos felt Frankie shrug. “He found me.”

Xiphos slid the door open to Frankie’s quarters. She carefully sat the girl down on her bed. “It’s not much, but it’s bigger than what I have,” Xiphos said, hands on her hips. She looked around the room. She showed Frankie how to turn on the lights and the air controls, and how to call for them on the intercom. Frankie nodded appreciatively. She carefully stretched herself out on her bed. Xiphos started to leave her, but then turned back. Frankie’s ears perked.

“I’m not rescuing you if you get kidnapped,” Xiphos said. She left Frankie to her quarters.

[g]

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Back to Part 048

Back to Part 047 Notes – Forward to Part 049 Notes

So Cait brings Billy in. We get to see something of his life: a very quiet town in New Douglas (in a sort of abandoned, zombie-movie like state when Cait gets there. It’s very quiet*), a life in Beiland, a wife he used to have, and he’s desperately trying to reclaim the life he used to have, even if it means following the Beiish immigrants to a different part of the Commonwealth.

Beiland, now Beiguo, used to be part of the Latanian empire. The Lats claimed it a few centuries before, and very recently had to hand it back to Lingguo. It had its own culture and way of life, and a mix of Lats, Beilanders, and Linguoren. Billy was born in Beiland, as we covered back somewhere in the early 20s, but the Linians in charge of the hand over kicked out all those who wouldn’t change their allegiance from Lat to Linguo. The Linians called the Lat loyalists “colonists.”

So, world history. Billy can’t go home, or at least he can’t go to the home he once knew. Combined with a lackluster practice in a small town, Cait was actually a welcomed surprise. There’s a lot going on there between them, a respect for the captain and a lack of automatic respect for the Family Molyneux.

That’s all I got for now. As always, questions and comments and so on.

[g]

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Back to Part 047 Notes – Forward to Part 049 Notes

*Oddly, when I first see a location, it rarely has people in it. They’re always big and empty.

** In my own titling system, the one that’s basically a short word or phrase to remind me quickly what the section is about. This section is called Cait and The Doctor. If it helps, imagine Billy being played by Christopher Eccleston.

Back to Part 047 – Forward to Part 049

Five Years Earlier

Fog descended on the port town of Richmond, in the Dominion of New Douglas, just as the Rose arrived. It seemed to drive the population of the town indoors, leaving the stone streets empty. Not that Cait minded; it made for a pleasant walk, foghorns blaring and all.

Her destination was a decidedly Continental-looking street about half a mile from the port. Down its narrow passage, between buildings that came right up to their property lines, buildings that looked older than they were, was a squat little cottage. It had clearly been there since before the city had expanded around it. There was even a picketed fence and a gate that had been permanently propped open. Paint was starting to peel from its ageing wood. There was a large picture window in the side of the cottage, with “Richmond Clinic” written in both Latanian and Beiish. And below, “Dr. Wong and Dr. Ng.” Cait pushed the little cottage door open.

There was no one inside, though the lights were on. The receptionist station sat empty, the waiting room likewise. A little cast-iron bell attached to the door announced Cait’s arrival. She peeked down the hall that led away from the waiting area, spotting examination rooms in what had likely been a study or a parlor.

“Just a moment!” Someone said from further back in the cottage. A human dressed in a white coat hurried from the back. “Pardon me. I forgot the receptionist went home early. How can I…?” He stopped when he looked up at Cait.

「Doctor McGuire,」Cait said in Beiish.

「To what do I owe the pleasure of the company of a Molyneux?」He asked. 「Caithryn, I believe.」
He spoke perfect Beiish, though not without an accent. It was however, Cait noted, a very polished accent.

「Quite frankly, Doctor, I have come to hire you away.」

Billy cocked his head. “Well, he said,” back in Latanian. “Please, step into my office. We apparently have a lot to talk about.”

He led Cait up a narrow flight of steps to an equally narrow office. He pulled out a chair in front of his desk, and sat down in his own only after Cait had taken her seat.

“You’re attempting to recruit me,” the doctor said.

“I am starting my own venture and a doctor such as yourself would very much be welcome.” Cait took a moment to survey the doctor’s office. He had his diplomas up, of course, and various commendations from from the Latanian Navy. On his desk he kept a picture of himself and a woman, human, with brown hair. They seemed to be on holiday, arms around each other, mugging for the camera. “My sister has spoken very well of you, Doctor McGuire.”

The doctor furrowed his brow. “Which one is that again? There’s so many of you, I get you mixed up.”

“Jing,” Cait answered. “On the HMS Fairingray.”

“Ah,” the doctor said. “Jing. She was an impressive captain.”

“She still is,” Cait nodded.

“And so now you’ve come to recruit me.” Doctor McGuire leaned forward on his desk. “I’m afraid… Captain,” he noted the COS Captain’s patch on Cait’s coat, “that I have my life and my work cut out for me here.”

“The pay would not be exceptional,” unfazed by the doctor’s tepid rejection. “But it would also be far from modest. You would have your own practice, Doctor. The sick bay and your bunk would be yours, rent free, for as long as you served on board.”

“Not charging for a sick bay?” The doctor asked.

“It is a counter-intuitive practice to charge one for one’s required service,” Cait said.

The doctor sat back, mulling the idea over in his mind.

“Your own practice,” Cait said again. She let her eyes wander the walls of the room, past the diplomas to pictures of what Cait recognized as the harbor in Beiland. “It would be small, just the crew, but I would hazard a guess that it is bigger than your current practice. I did not see your name on the window.”

To this, the doctor said nothing.

“I do not offer adventure,” Cait continued. “Rather, we will sail to every legal port our cargo demands of us. It is very likely Beiguo will be on the list.”

“Beiguo.” The doctor sat up. “They kicked all us colonists out, didn’t you hear? Beiland isn’t my home anymore.”

“And neither is this.” Cait kept her tone neutral, just stating facts. “I believe you have found this substitution to be lacking.”

The doctor stood. “Captain, I believe you have given me a lot to think about. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a clinic to run.”

Cait stood. The doctor ushered her to the door.

“Forgive me,” Cait said, stopping in the reception area. “I have spoken out of turn. I am not, however, interested in giving up quite yet.”

The doctor stood in the doorway that separated the waiting room from the examination rooms. “I have a lot to think about, Captain.”

“Perhaps, then, as a friendly gesture you could join myself and my first mate for a pint. I believe she has already scouted out a promising pub or two.”

“The Bacon Eaters is really the only place worth going to,” the doctor said. “But at least in that respect you have spoken the magic words. I’ll meet you two there around nine.”

“Excellent. And please feel free to bring your wife,” Cait said.

“My…”

Cait nodded to the wedding ring on the doctor’s finger.

The doctor looked down at the band, pressing his thumb against it under his hand. “No,” he said. “No wife.”

Cait faltered, her Molyneux composure cracking for just an instant. She sagged, and then almost instantly stood up straight. “Doctor, my apologies. I again spoke out of turn.”

“Well,” the doctor said. “You can make it up to me when you buy my drinks tonight.”

“Of course,” Cait said. The doctor stuck out his hand, and Cait gave it a hearty shake. “Nine o’clock, Doctor?”

“Please, it’s Billy,” he said. “And I’ll see you there.”

[g]

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Back to Part 047 – Forward to Part 049

Back to Part 046 Notes – Forward to Part 048 Notes

To recap, Toby and Auburn have a moment, Xiphos is accidentally a little creepy, Burian Lake explains himself, and Cait is hearing the voices again.

When I had originally envisioned Lake explaining himself, he mentions that he got the idea of the rumor from a book he read, and that the name is stronger than himself, and Xiphos responds, “hey, I read that book, too!” and the high five across the table.

No, really.

The Princess Bride aside, while Xiphos does occasionally jump into one of her original roles of always being the one to ask the obvious question or hang a lampshade on it, this is super out of character for her, which is evident based on the question she asks Lake. She’s thinking about not being dead, not what Lake read years ago. And besides, Billy can pick up the slack when she can’t.

So Lake is who he is because of rumors. He’s an illusion. As he himself explained to Patel back in Part 32: He’s a figment of people’s imagination. I wouldn’t call Lake a fraud, because he did handily pacify the Information Trader thug early on in the story, but as Jace said, he doesn’t like violence. The idea of Burian Lake is much more scary than real Burian Lake.

So yeah, I’m sure I’ve plundered from eight or nine different thing unintentionally, but there it is. We’ll get to see him in action, I assure you. Just, you know, no raping and slaughtering.

Sorry.

[g]

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Back to Part 046 Notes – Forward to Part 048 Notes

Back to Part 046 – Forward to Part 048

It was late when Toby hobbled down to the crew quarters. Where the needle had been in his arm still ached, and he had to walk slowly to combat the dizziness the lack of blood caused him. But Billy seemed to think the girl would be alright, and if Toby had learned anything on this boat, it was that Billy was usually right about those things. Now, he looked forward to sleep, and pushed himself forward, one step at a time, closer and closer to his bunk.

Auburn sat on the couch, alone in the low emergency lighting. She stared down at the Relay receiver, fidgeting with her hands. She looked as tired as Toby felt. She looked up as he stumbled into the room, her eyes brightening behind her brown hair. He flopped down on the couch next to her, put his arms around her and nuzzled in to her shoulder.

“They wouldn’t let me come see you,” Auburn said, putting her arm around Toby. “Also, did you pass out or something?”

“Shut up,” Toby said weakly.

Auburn smiled. “Did you pass out?”

Toby closed his eyes. “There was a lot of blood.”

“Hmm.” Auburn kissed the top of his head. “There’s a girl in there, right? Is she okay?”

“Yeah,” Toby said, dreamily.

“And she came with Burian Lake?”

“Mm mmm.”

“And every seems okay with Burian Lake being on the ship?”

“Yes.”

Auburn let her head fall back against the couch. “Okay then.” She closed her eyes, and within a moment, both of them were asleep.

Xiphos, mostly by accident, watched the whole conversation from just outside the crew quarters, standing in the shadows. She leaned forward a little when they felt silent, and tried to listen to their breathing. Maybe they were asleep. Maybe-

“Whatcha doin’, creeper?” Billy stood behind her, hands behind his back, looking over her shoulder.

Xiphos slapped her hands over her mouth and stifled a scream. She turned to Billy, her hands balled into fists, straight down at her sides.

“What are you doing?” She asked sharply, whispering as loud as she could.

“Didn’t I just ask you that?” Billy cocked his head.

“I was coming down to get something to drink and they were, like, having a moment, and I didn’t want to interrupt, okay?”

“Sure,” Billy said. “Anyways, Cait wants Officer Pervy on the bridge, so get up there.”

Xiphos pointed a finger in Billy’s face. He just laughed and slapped her on the back, pushing her towards the bridge.

“So when did you become jealous of Auburn?”

“Oh, I hate you so much.” Xiphos narrowed her eyes, walking ahead of Billy.

“Am I right?”

“I am not jealous of Auburn. AND BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING I’m not jealous of Toby, either.”

“Mm hmm.”

“What?” Xiphos spun around, letting Billy catch up with her.

“I was just agreeing,” Billy said innocently. “So which one do you plan on stealing?”

“We are so in a fight right now.”

They stepped on to the bridge, and Xiphos could see the fight between Cait and Captain Lake already in progress. Cait stood on one side of the bridge, right outside her office, her arms folded across her chest. Tre stood by her, looking as if he was trying to edge further and further in front of her. He mirrored Cait’s stance, his eyeing Lake with sharp concentration. Captain Lake and his partner stood on the other. All attention turned to Xiphos and Billy as they entered, and it seemed to make the tiger, Lake’s partner, relax, as if the brief distraction was stopping the fight entirely.

“Oh, hello,” Captain Lake said. “We met earlier, but we were never introduced.” He took a sheet of paper out of his pocket. “You must be Ensign… She Fos?” He looked Jace, who rolled her eyes.

“It’s Zy Fis, sir,” the Xiphos. Lake stuck out his hand, and Xiphos reluctantly shook it.

“A pleasure,” Lake said. “Cait was just telling me how we were going to work together.”

“I was just telling you that you would help us find Logan Vu, and then I would wash my hands of you,” Cait said, her ears back in attack position, her voice sharp. “Secondly, while you are on this boat, you will call me ‘captain’.”

Lake smiled, as if he were watching a Relay Program. “Understood!”

Xiphos fidgeted as the tension in the room became too thick to breathe. She raised her hand. “So, uhm, I have a question. Why aren’t we dead yet?”

“Yeah, She Fos makes a good point,” Billy said. “Aren’t you THE Burian Lake? The pillaging, raping, killing Burian Lake?”

Jace snorted. Cait seemed to mirror Jace’s reaction, rolling her eyes and looking away.

Lake, still smiling, nodded. “Burian Lake isn’t real,” he said.

“Oh, well,” Billy said. “If you put it like that…”

“Burian Lake is the collective fear of governments and people and sailors and merchants. Burian Lake, simply put, is a rumor. All it took were a few really well put together raids with my partner here,” he motioned to Jace, “and the rest worked itself out. A boat sinks due to captain error, but the captain was drunk at the wheel and doesn’t want to admit it, so he blames pirates. I get on the Relay and say, ‘Hey, Burian Lake here, I sank his ship’. Repeat for a decade, and Burian Lake is the scariest person in the world. He also happens to share a name with me. Good taste, I bet.”

“So you never killed anyone?” Xiphos asked.

“I’ve rarely seems him shoot a gun, even,” Jace said. “Doesn’t like violence.”

“It’s so much easier to tell someone I’m Burian Lake than it is to kill them. Usually they bring me what I want and I tell them they were lucky.”

“Not a single person?” Cait asked.

“Once a guy died from a heart attack,” Lake said, his smile fading. “That was awful. But, nope. Any kills to my name were done by much scarier pirates. I do have a Sword of One Thousand Lost Souls, though. Got it after I caught wind of the rumors.” He beamed proudly. Cait narrowed her eyes.

Outside the eye of the Rose, dawn was starting to break. In the distance, the Kelonio flashed code at her. Billy caught it out of the corner of his eye. “They’re worried about us,” he said. “Does our signaler work? I could send a message back.”

“Should,” Lake said. “Jace’s work never leaves a boat entirely stranded.”

Billy set to work at the helm, readying a light signaler just above the eye. He turned back to Cait. “So, what am I telling them?”

“The truth,” Cait said. “The Travelers are on the mystery boat, and we are helping the crew of the boat they were previously on with a medical emergency. If they ask, we are having minor technical trouble and we should be up and running soon.” She gave Lake a quizzical look. Billy began tapping away on the light’s shutter key.

“Yeah. Right. My partner, Jace, can help you out with that.”

Jace stepped forward and nodded to Cait.

“Xiphos, you and…”

“It’s just Jace, sir,” she said, reading Cait’s hesitation.

“You go with Jace and get us back online.”

“Sir.” Xiphos followed Jace off the bridge.

“And what are our plans, Burian?” Cait asked.

“The Prime Meridian,” he said. “If Vu is going anywhere, she would go there. Lots of people there to decode a map like the one she has.”

“The once we are up and running, I want you to get us there.” Cait turned to the hatch and started to exit the bridge.

“So did you mean that, about killing me?” Lake followed her, but kept a respectable distance.

“This is not a conversation we are having now,” Cait said. She walked down the hall, a strong, purposeful stride, but more importantly, away from Lake. For a moment, Lake stood awkwardly in the middle of the bridge.

“Sit down,” Billy said. He wrote down code from the Kelonio on a scrap of paper. “You and I have a lot to talk about.”

Cait ended up at the cargo bay, up on the third deck, watching down. The docking ring stood open in the floor close to the engines, and light from Lake’s ship poured up. Jace and Xiphos emerged from the docked boat, both carrying little lanterns, and then opened up the engines. Cait nodded, if only to check off an item on a list in her mind. Their voices filtered up to her, Jace’s confident though somewhat monotonous tone mixed in with short, excited bursts from Xiphos. These two bounced back and forth for a moment, and then a third joined them.

Cait strained to listen, trying to pick out its owner, but it was talked over by an fourth voice, and then a fifth, until half a dozen voices spoke over Jace and Xiphos. Cait’s head started hurting, a stabbing pain in the front of her skull. She winced, holding her head, gripping the guard rail on the walkway. She closed her eyes, but white light strained through, and she felt faint, and there was a hand on her back-

“Cait?”

Everything stopped. The migraine subsided, and she cautiously straightened up. Billy stood next to her, his hand still on her back. He watched her through worried eyes, and Cait felt ashamed for making him feel as such.

“I-” She started, but couldn’t quite make out the rest.

“We’re going to the infirmary,” Billy said. Steering her with one muscular arm, he guided her to the infirmary. Cait didn’t fight it.

[g]

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Back to Part 046 – Forward to Part 048

Back to Part 045 Notes – Forward to Part 047 Notes

Welcome aboard La Ambicio, the home of what used to be the crew of the Rose, and then some. What Bertrand is starting to slowly realize is becoming a theme in this story (like I planned it or something): he can’t go back. He can’t go back to the Rose, can’t go back to the way life used to be. He and Sal, and the rest of Cait’s former crew, are stuck with Logan, or with a new life of piracy. And like Tami, these are things neither Sal nor Bertrand are interested in.

Eaton Fyfe kind of takes center stage in this section. He is the boss after all. He more or less lays out their plan here: figure out this map and then act on it. Getting to the Sandtribe territory is their first step, well, you know, after getting permission.

I’m going to point you back to Part 27, where Fyfe makes a quiet appearance, albeit in name only. I’m pointing you here because of the footnotes on the page, which imply Fyfe was/is a business man, he had some alleged and confirmed connections to pirates in business, and then, after he got caught, he disappeared. Turns out, he found Logan.

And finally, Patel and Tami. I’m not sure I need to say anything here, except give Erin a shout out of helping me get straight on this section, and figure out what the argument the Travelers have was really trying to do.

So, yeah, as always any questions or comments you have are totally welcome.

[g]

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Back to Part 045 Notes – Forward to Part 047 Notes

Back to Part 045 – Forward to Part 047

The Travelers were given a moment to hug the floor of the ship they were now on. Two humans stood by patiently, waiting with blankets draped over their arms, occasionally giving the other a glance that seemed to communicate a whole range of things. The man was maybe in his thirties, trim and clean-shaven. The woman next to him was older, graying at the temples. She was clean cut like the man, but had a stare that seemed to say her mind was elsewhere. Following one of their glances, they both swept down and covered the Travelers with the blankets.

“Welcome to La Ambicio, captained by Logan Vu, COS registered,” the first human said, in a patient, practiced tone. “I’m Bertrand, and my assistant Sal and I are here to help.”

“Bertrand?” Patel asked. Bertrand ignored the quizzical tone in his voice.

“We’re tasked in making sure you two get clean, dry clothes, get your quarters set up, and get off to a few meetings. We’re very busy, but none the less, you two are expected to ask for anything you need from us.”

Bertrand and Sal steered the two Travelers through narrow corridors. Crew ran past them in both directions, nodding to their new comrades, but having little time for much else. They rounded a corner, coming to a larger room, either side blocked off with screens accompanied by a rack of clothes each. Sal took Tami, and Bertrand Patel, and each got the Travelers dressed in warm, dry clothes. Almost magically, either of the crew assisting the Travelers held out the ball of dripping wet clothes, and another crew member appeared and took the clothes away, presumably to be washed.

And with that, the Travelers were on the move again.

“You were on the Rose,” Bertrand said, quietly.

“Yes,” Patel said. “Nice folks.”

“We had been, once.” Bertrand grew quiet for a moment. “Did they ever talk about us?”

Sal sighed. “No, of course not.”

“I dunno,” Patel said thoughtfully. “Which one of you is ‘The Ugliness’?”

Bertrand frowned. Sal only shook her head. “They’d never take us back. Not after what we did to them. Funny how a mutiny will do that.”

Tami hung back, looking at the the corners and cracks of the corridors they traveled. Her ears twitched at Sal’s remark.

“Well,” Bertrand said, stopping at a door. “This is you guys. Good luck.” He opened the door the Travelers, and closed it behind them.

The map was finally removed from Tami’s shaking grip when they entered a little, surprisingly sparse conference room in a quiet corner of the ship. The Travelers were sat down at the table in the room, and the map was given to a slender man at the end of room. He smiled to the assistant that handed it to him, thanking her by name.

The man was cat of some sort. He kept his headfur cut close to his head and wore a pair of wire-rimmed glasses on his muzzle. His fur, just a hint of orange in a mostly tan coat, complimenting his simple button down shirt and blue denim pants. He turned in his conference chair to cross his leg over the other, and revealed that he wore no shoes. An assistant brought him a glass of water and, again, he accepted with grace and warmth. Just before he took a sip, he seemed to notice the Travelers for the first time.

“My god, where are my manners?” He waved his hand to the Travelers, looking at his assistant. “Jes, please make sure these two are comfortable. Do you two need anything? Tami and Patel, right? Water? Perhaps we could arrange a meal after this. I’m sure you both are hungry. No? Jes, bring some water in, I’m sure they’d appreciate it.”

Jes left the room, and the man spread the map out on the table. “I’m Eaton Fyfe, by the way.” He stood from his chair and shook both their hands. He clasped their hands, one at a time in both of his, looking in to their eyes and smiling. “Thank you both for the work you’ve done to get this map. It’s a huge boon to us, you know. I’m sure you knew, that’s why the map is here.”

Fyfe returned his attention to the map. He placed his hands on his hips. “Now comes the fun part. What does it mean? Why this map? What is it hiding from us?”

Tami and Patel both looked on at Fyfe, neither quite sure what to say. Patel hesitated, and then very carefully asked, “How could a map hide something, Mr. Fyfe?”

“Eaton. You two are one of us now. No more of this ‘Mr. Fyfe’ stuff, okay?” He gave Patel another warm smile, and Patel’s face flushed.

“Yes. Sure.”

“If this map weren’t hiding something, we’d already know what we were looking for. We’d have already found it.”

Jes came back into the room with a pitcher of water and two clean glasses. Logan slipped in behind her.

“What is it, exactly?” Patel asked. Logan squeaked. Jes spilled a little water from the pitcher, and scrambled to mop it up. Patel looked at both of them, and slowly it dawned on him he might not be allowed to ask questions. Fyfe merely looked at him.

“That is the answer that’s worth its weight in gold. How familiar are you two with the Sandtribe?”

Tami hesitantly raised her hand. “I met one of them once when I was Traveling.”

“Quiet, right?”

“Very. Nice, but quiet.”

“And that’s part of their mystery. They like to be quiet. They hid for thousands of years, you know. Do you know what happened when they brought the first two Relay towers online? They hit the crosstalk of hundreds, if not thousands of Sandtribers. Literally, thousands of them. The Sandtribe had the Relay before it was called “The Relay.” And they didn’t steal it.” This made Fyfe smile. “That’s the best part of the mystery. They didn’t steal the Relay. Somehow, some where in their isolationist territory, they figured out the technology for international radio and data communications, and they did so decades before us.”

Fyfe pointed to the Sandtribe territory, a vast desert on the Lat continent. “So we’re headed there. Except, we’re not, because we need their permissions, or we’re in a bag of hurt. So it may take a while.” He moved back to them, extending his hand out, and giving them the ‘time’s up’ signal. “In the meantime, Logan has proved to be a gracious host. I’m sure she’d be happy to accommodate you however you please.” With a quick, but warm goodbye, the Travelers were shuffled out of the conference room.

Logan stood outside the closed door with the Travelers for a moment. “That’s the boss,” she said. “You’re lucky. He’s taken a liking to you right away. Some people on this boat would’ve killed to have that tiny conversation you just had.”

Patel nodded, his eyes wide. Tami slid her hands into her pockets and looked elsewhere.

Logan informed them their rooms would be ready in an hour, and in the meantime pointed them to the crew lounge, where they could get the Relay, play some darts or Shah, and get some drinks. And then she skirted away to do captainly things.

Patel grinned as they walked along the hallway of the impossibly large ship. A crew member rushed by them, pinning himself flat against the wall and sliding past with practiced precision.

“He seems nice,” Patel said.

“Stay the fuck away from me,” Tami said, her eyes narrow slits.

“What-”

“Shut up, you murdering scumbag.”

Patel stopped in the narrow hallway, looking like a hurt child.

“Oh, come on,” Tami said. Her ears pressed against her head. “I should have never let you talk me in to this. Now I’m keeping company with mutineers and murders and pirates.”

“You helped,” Patel said, almost singing it.

“I didn’t stab a defenseless kid.” Tami said, nearly shouting. She pulled herself back.

“Look, Jace was holding a gun to my head-”

“You killed Frankie too?! God fucking dammit.”

“I had no choice.”

“Fuck you,” Tami turned and walked away.

“Tami-”

“We’re not friends. Don’t talk to me anymore.” She turned and powered her way down the hall.

“That may be,” Patel said following her, “but you forced my hand every time.”

Tami drew her shoulders up, pushing ahead a little faster than before.

“You were always the one to make the first move. You didn’t need to hurt Xiphos, but you did. You didn’t need to grab Frankie, but you did. Every time you threw something in our path and I had to clean it up.”

The fox took a deep breath. A tear welled in her eye, but she didn’t dare wipe it away with Patel right behind her.

“Nina didn’t need to die,” he said, dropping his voice, closing in behind her. “But you certainly helped make sure she did.”

With that, Tami made a break for the intersection of the hall. She didn’t dare run, just continued on her way, as though Patel had said nothing. She turned the corner that led her away from the crew lounge, getting lost in the ship.

Patel smiled and started towards the lounge. A beer sounded good.

[g]

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Back to Part 045 – Forward to Part 047

Back to Part 044 Notes – Forward to Part 046

Hey! It’s that guy! I’ve been giddy about posting this section for a while now. It’s a big reveal, and this is more or less the way I wanted it to happen. I know some of you had your suspicions, and I’m curious to hear how they panned out, if you were right or not.

The other big reveal is that Logan is somehow involved, and on the mystery boat. But I don’t think most of you are surprised by that. She’s been skulking around for a while now.

And Frankie? She’ll be fine. If Billy says so, then it’s true.

There was going to be an argument between Auburn and Toby about Xiphos, and where Toby’s loyalties lie, but I didn’t think it fit, nor was it needed. Toby’s loyal to both of them for different reasons, Auburn because of the Firebrand and being in a relationship with her, and Xiphos because, well, she saved his life. But Toby’s not interested in getting into this argument, and it would have only served as an exposition of something that was already obvious: there’s bad feelings between Auburn and Xiphos, even if it’s mostly a one way street from the latter to the former.

I hate that I’ve reduced Frank to a throw-away line in the beginning. I’ve had a scene in mind that takes place on the Firebrand, right before Auburn boards the Rose. Frank is telling her he’s going home with the Sandtribe ship that showed up to the rescue. Auburn isn’t happy, but understands. They both trade Relay codes, and he disappears into the Sandtribe ship.

I never included it in the sections before and up to this one because I never could find a place to put it. I may yet try. We have plenty of time left with Auburn before I kill her off. Maybe it’ll end up as a cut scene in one of these commentaries.

Anyways, that’s all for this week. As always any questions or comments you have are totally welcome.

[g]

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Back to Part 044 Notes – Forward to Part 046

Back to Part 044 – Forward to Part 046

Toby had been making attempts to clean the dishes for the better part of an hour. Each start was met with a poke, and he’d turn around to entertain for a while, and then back at the dishes. This time, his tail was pulled. He dropped the plate he had been scrubbing off and on again into the sink and turned around.

“I’m booooored,” Auburn said. She leaned on the counter across from him, arms down at her sides.

Toby sighed. “Do something.”

“Like what?”

“You can help me with the dishes…”

Auburn sighed loudly. “That sounds like something you’d do on shift. I am not on shift. What’d you normally do before I got here?”

Toby dropped his eyes away, and hugged himself. “Well, usually I’d hang out with Nina…”

“Oh,” Auburn said, quietly.

“There’s books,” Toby offered, recovering the conversation.

“No.”

“You could play Shah.”

“No!”

Toby hugged himself tighter. “Cards?”

“N-maybe.”

He turned away. “I’m sorry.” He planted his hands on the lip of the sink and stared into the water. “I don’t really have much to give you.”

Auburn stepped forward. She pulled him close, nuzzling into the soft fur on his head. “No, I’m sorry. I should feel lucky for being here.” She kissed his ear.

Toby leaned back into the hug. “I’m sorry Frank couldn’t be here. You’d probably have more fun.”

The human shrugged. “But he’s happy now, which is awesome. He got to go home to his own people. I don’t think he ever though that’d happen.” She leaned forward and kissed Toby’s muzzle. “You should get back to work. Also, have you seen my room yet?”

The fur on Toby’s face grew noticeably redder. “Yeah.”

“You should come check it out when you’re done.”

Toby turned around. “Is it different?”

Auburn only giggled at him. She playfully hit him on the shoulder and left him alone in the kitchen.

Alone, he made quick work of the dishes, the weight of the day slowly working its way off his shoulders.

The intercom clicked on. “Attention, everyone.” It was Cait. “We have answered a ship’s distress call. Please prepare for incoming wounded. Tre, greet them at the docking port. Auburn, you’re with Billy.” Just before the intercom clicked off, Toby heard in the background, “Why’s Auburn get to be with Bi-”

Toby dried his hands and headed to the bridge.

Xiphos manned the helm, but had turned her chair to face Cait, who made herself busy preparing for their guests. Xiphos scowled, her arms folded tightly over her chest.

“If you would like to return to your old position you certainly may,” Cait said. She leaned over Xiphos, checking a display that said “docking ring.” All indicators said that it was “in progress,” whatever that meant. Toby tried to remember if he had seen a docking ring at all on the Rose.

“I know first aid,” Xiphos said firmly, as if this was a forgotten fact.

“Auburn has shown she does as well. She is also an organiser, and that is something we could use if there are multiple wounded on this ship.” Cait turned to look down at Xiphos. “If it pleases you, we could arrange a change of position, and Auburn could take the helm.”

Xiphos turned around and poked at her screens a bit. Her ears flattened against her head. After a moment, she turned to Toby. “What?”

“I don’t know what to do,” he said. He straightened up when he spoke to her, just as he had seen Auburn do, and made forced, brief eye contact.

Xiphos, to Toby’s surprise, said, “ohhh. Good point. I dunno. Boil water?” She looked for Cait from her chair. “Captain?”

Cait had slipped into her office for a moment. She returned and said, “If you want to help, you could-” She stopped suddenly. Her ears perked and swiveled around on her head, searching. Xiphos did the same. They were listening, and Toby strained to hear what Cait’s subconscious already had.

“Helmsman, what happened to our engines?” Cait asked slowly. Xiphos pulled a monitor up to her and rapidly paged through the displays. She froze on one page, two bright red indicators flashed at her.

“I don’t know-”

“Get them back online.”

“Captain,” Xiphos said, panic poorly concealed in her voice. “Systems are shutting down all over the ship.”

The helm shut down, its screens squeezing down to a thin line, and then blinking away. The light went out, and they were left only in emergency lighting.

“Xiphos…” Cait folded her arms.

Xiphos jumped out of her chair and flung open a panel on the wall. She started flipping breaker switches. The lights flickered, and then sputtered out again. “Maybe it’s the other ship.”

“That is silly,” Cait said flatly. “More likely, it is-”

An alarm cut her off. Cait groaned. She grabbed Toby by the arm and pulled him over to a locker. She reached in and handed him a hand gun. “The loud end points at what you want to die. Only point it at what you want to die. Understood?”

“What am I-?” Toby started.

“What’s going on?” Xiphos asked, leaving her switches. Her eyes got wider as she saw Toby’s gun. Cait pulled a gun of her own from the locker.

“Keep trying. It seems our guests aren’t interested in only our services.” She pushed Toby against the wall on one side of the door. Xiphos tried the switches again, but got no results. She huddled up behind Toby.

“Are we going to die?” She asked softly. Cait rolled her eyes.

“No. I am not interested in dying.” She closed the hatch to the bridge and screwed the locks shut, just in time to catch the faint pinging of one of their guests sprinting towards them. There was a pause, and then what sounded like tools being applied to the hatch. Cait pushed herself against the wall, gun drawn, and she waited. Toby looked back at Xiphos, who trembled where she stood, a tear welling up in her eye. He reached back and took her hand in his.

There was a loud crack, the sound of metal snapping, and the hatch slammed open. The guest came into the room screaming. Cait stepped forward with a carefully timed charge, crashing into the guest and knocking him hard to the floor. She pointed her gun down the hall to the bridge, and then back down to him. She narrowed her eyes, tilting her head so she could see him face.

The intruder shook his head. He stared into the barrel of the gun, then followed it up to its owner.

“Hey… hey, Cait,” he said.

Cait’s eyes grew wide. She stood up straight and threw her gun down at the intruder’s head. “Goddammit, Burian! What the hell do you think you are doing?”

Toby’s gun fell the the floor with a hard clank as he put everything together in his head. It took him a moment to realize he was gawking, and he closed his mouth.

Captain Burian Lake stood, and then hunched over a little, holding his side. “We needed a doctor,” he said, offering Cait a sheepish smile.

“We were entirely willing to offer a doctor.”

Captain Lake thought a moment. “Oh, right, you can just ask people for help. I’m not used to that.” He winced.

Cait slapped him. “Ass,” she said. “You can forget-” She looked at where he was holding his side. “You are bleeding.”

Captain Lake nodded. He rubbed the cheek that Cait had slapped. “That’s not what I’m here for.” Cait ushered him out the hatch. “There’s this girl…”

Toby and Xiphos were left alone on the bridge. She was shaking harder than before, her eyes fixed on where Cait and Burian Lake had been standing. Toby squeezed her hand. “I think we’re okay.” He gave her a relieved smile.

“Shut up,” she said. She crossed the bridge and sat down at the helm, shaking her fear away. She still had Toby’s hand, and Toby shuffled reluctantly behind her. He tugged his hand.

“Uhm… I should go see if I can help.”

Xiphos broke out of a concentrated trance. “Yeah…” She let go.

Toby wandered into the guest quarters. Little drops of blood made a trail to the infirmary. He stood back, not really interested in finding the source. Tre emerged, a fresh bandage on his head, and he strode over to Toby. Without so much as asking, he picked Toby up and carried him into the infirmary.

The medical table was pushed against the wall. There was a girl on the table, probably his age, unconscious, her fur a sickly pale. Her blood-stained shirt had been pulled up to reveal her abdomen, and fresh stitches poked out of her blood-matted fur. Billy directed Tre to put Toby down on a makeshift med table. He grabbed the boy’s arm and tied a tube around it. And then, before Toby realized what was happening, Billy slid an IV needle into his arm. Toby cried out, more in surprise than anything, and blood started to flow from his arm.

“Sorry,” Billy said. “You have her type.”

“Look at it this way, kiddo,” Captain Lake said. He stood just over Toby’s shoulder. “You just saved her life.”

“And with that, everyone needs to leave,” Billy said. “The girl needs rest, and I’m sure Toby has a few new trust issues he needs to work out.”

Cait and Tre, and Captain Lake and his associate, a pretty tiger, Toby noticed, all left them alone. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. A little machine gently took his blood and passed it over to the girl, an IV also in her arm.

“It’s just like Nina…” he said, just short of whimpering.

Billy patted the boy’s shoulder. “Thankfully, it’s not this time.”

—-

Captain Lake and his partner sat down at one of the tables in the guest quarters. Tre stood by the hatch to the bridge, his eyes narrowed at both of them. Cait was the last to enter, and Captain Lake’s partner stood, a gesture Cait moments later deciphered as a show of respect. Captain Lake remained seated.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you,” Cait said. She stood in the middle of the room, hitting him with a stare that could have broken glass.

“Mutual interest,” Lake said simply. His partner sat down, looking over at him.

“There is a lot of money to be made in bringing your limp body to the nearest Navy outpost.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Lake said. “It sounds like you’ve met our Traveler friends before. I can only guess that if that were true, you’d want to track them down as much as we do.”

Cait scowled again. “I am perfectly capable of doing so without your help. Secondly, I do not trust you.”

Lake nodded. “That’s fair. But I think we could benefit from one another’s help.”

Cait stared harder. Tre mimicked her from over her shoulder. “Get off my boat,” she said.

“I’m not leaving without my crew.”

“Then you may take her with you.”

“I can’t let that happen,” Billy said, coming in from the infirmary. “She’s in no condition to be moved.”

“Not helping, Billy,” Cait said.

“She stays until she’s better.”

Lake, looking into Cait’s eyes, said, “We’re stuck with each other. At least let me share the information I have.” Cait said nothing.

Lake continued. “We had to do some quick digging when we realized we were being followed, but we did manage to get some names from the crew list. Some of them have actually been spotted in known pirate areas. There’s the captain, a something Vu, but she’s fairly new… to… the scene.” He realized Cait, Tre and Billy were all staring now.

“Captain… Vu?” Cait asked. Her stare softened.

Lake nodded.

“What is the first name?”

“I can’t remember.”

“TRY.”

Lake traded a confused glance with his parter. She stood and bowed to Cait. “Jace Norton-Li, sir.” Billy’s eyes grew wide out of recognition. “I believe the name was ‘Logan’.”

Cait unfolded her arms. “Well,” she said. “I do believe you have our attention, Captain Lake.”

[g]

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Back to Part 044 – Forward to Part 046