“Roshelle, what are you-”
Rosh slammed the cross guard of his sword into the man’s face, then turned and drove his fist into the stomach of the other man, doubling him over. He brought the pommel of his sword down on the back of his head, dropping him to the ground.
“Roshelle?” Bekka whispered.
Rosh grunted. “Call me Rosh,” he said.
“Roshelle’s a girl’s name,” she said, smiling benignly and trying to indicate that she understood.
Rosh misunderstood her. He turned and glared, making her shrink back. “I’ll show you proof I ain’t no girl!”
Dexter laid his hand on his shoulder, having to reach up some to do so, and turned him away. “Rosh, she meant no harm.”
“Aye, I just meant I understood,” Bekka said, coming to her own defense. Rosh grunted and turned, heading off again. Bekka sent Dexter a grateful smile while Jenna rolled her eyes.
The next people they encountered were a couple of off duty pirates celebrating with a skin of ale. Not their first either, from the looks of things. One of them sat up straighter when Rosh stepped into the room and spoke up, “Hey, Rosh, was it your mother or father that was an ogre?”
The other one burst into drunken laughter. Roshelle ground his teeth together and turned to look at Dexter and the others. The man sat up a little when he noticed them. “What’s this? Why you moving prisoners? Thought you was too thick-skulled to be trusted with that?”
“Why ain’t they tied up?” The other man asked, taking notice too.
“They joined us,” Rosh lied, “I’m showing them around.”
“That don’t seem right to me, we ain’t letting no women round here ‘less they do the rounds, eh?”
Rosh moved closer to him as they talked and now was close enough to spring into action and plunge his sword into the pirate, silencing him. The other one sputtered and fell backwards out of his chair, trying to get away. Rosh left his sword quivering in the pirate’s chest and stepped on the leg of the one trying to escape, pinning him to the floor. He leaned down quickly as the pirate opened his mouth to cry out an alarm. With a powerful twist of his arms a sickening pop filled the room and the pirate’s body twitched and then lay still on the floor.
“Gods,” Dexter whispered, awed at the sudden and powerful violence the man was capable of.
Rosh glared at the man impaled on his sword. “I ain’t the son of no ogre,” he spat. He yanked his sword free of the wall and the pirate’s ribcage, sending his body to the ground and his soul to the underworld.
“Come on, we’re almost there,” Rosh said, turning and leading away again.
Dexter looked to the others, who mirrored his amazement and apprehension. He wondered just how smart it may have been to invite this brute of a man to join his crew. He knew he would deal with that later, if need be. For now they needed to escape first.
One hallway, a small open deck, and then another two rooms later and they were on the outer decking that skirted the outside of the ramshackle base. Rosh turned to the right there sat the Voidhawk with half a dozen men unloading the cargo from it and carrying it into the base. Docked next to it was the Maiden’s Bane, the only ship they knew of that could give them a serious chase.
“What’s your plan?” Kragor asked.
Dexter grinned, wondering how much time they had before they were discovered. Things had gone remarkably smooth for them so far. “Sabotage, my friend. Just make sure you pick me up.”
“Pick you up?” Kragor asked, confused.
“Keep going, Rosh, get to my ship and cast off, Kragor’s in charge of it till I get back,” Dexter said, stepping to the side and letting the others pass him.
“What madness is this?” Jenna asked, hesitating.
“Go,” he ordered, not having time to explain it. Frustrated, she followed after Kragor.
“He’s mad and daft both, lass,” Kragor said for the benefit of Jenna. “I’m just not sure which one is worse in him.”
Dexter followed a ladder that led up to one of the base’s existing bombards and frowned when he saw no barrels of powder. Instead it was gathered in bags. He picked up a heavy sack in each hand and hoisted them, with considerable effort, so each one rested on a shoulder. This served to hide his face from anyone not directly in front of him.
He managed to get back down the ladder without falling and then hurried over to the Maiden’s Bane. He walked up the ramp uncontested, and crossed directly to the door leading into the Bosun’s locker. In the middle of the room the main mast ran through the deck and to the cargo deck below. He used his teeth to tear a hole in one bag, spilling the fire powder out of it. He spat it out and dropped the bag, then tore a smaller hole in the second bag. He propped it on his shoulder and walked out, pausing to grab a sword and an unloaded pistol off the rack.
He walked quickly towards the stern, happy to see the two men on the forecastle were busy talking and not paying attention to him. The powder fell from the bag in a line connecting him to the first bag at the base of the main mast. A few moments later and he arrived at the mizzen mast, where the other bag of powder soon rested. He ducked through a door and stepped into the room containing the charts and the helm.
Dexter heard a commotion in the distance and cast a quick glance out the door. The fight for his ship was underway, he had to hurry. He grabbed as many of the charts as he could, rolling them up and shoving them into a leather case.
He knelt down beside the bag of powder and jammed the barrel of his pistol in through the hole he had made. Tipping the pistol up, he moved quickly to the middle of the Maiden’s Bane and prepared for his sabotage. He stopped when he heard a yell from above; he had been spotted.
An answering shout came from the gangplank that led up to the deck. Dexter spun and cursed. Escape towards the pirate base was not an option. He turned again, looking towards the open void. He glanced back and saw the pirate slowing as he approached. He could hear more pounding on the planks and rushing from the crew quarters below the bow.
Dexter knelt down and laid his pistol on the deck, then cocked the hammer back and pulled the trigger. The hammer descended and drove a spark from the flintlock into the barrel, which contained only some loosely packed powder. Rather than exploding behind wadding and driving a ball out the barrel, it flared hotly and shot fire out the front of it. The fire caught the trail of powder he had left earlier, sending a line of flame shooting in both directions.
Dexter turned and ran, leaping over the railing at the edge even as he heard the first crack of a shot. The bullet missed, slamming instead into the railing now below and behind him. A moment later the ship shuddered, rocked by the explosion. Less than three seconds after that a second explosion followed, shattering the base of the main mast and driving it at an angle through the roof of the ship. The mizzen mast fell inwards, towards the pirate base, and crashed into the decking surrounding the base, leading to the dock the Maiden’s Bane was moored at.
Dexter floated for a moment then plunged towards the ship’s gravity plane. He plummeted through it, then fought the vertigo of suddenly having his gravity reversed. He bobbed up and down in the plane, moving away from the ship with the inertia of his initial jump. Each time he crossed the plane there was an extra push away from the ship as well, which was how ships made it possible to keep small rocks and space debris from causing damage, by repelling them along their gravity plane. Dexter glanced back over his shoulder and saw one of the pirates on the forecastle gestured at him. Drevin stepped up to the rail and stared out at him, his face a mask of fury. He shouted orders for whoever was nearby to shoot him down and drew his own pistol, taking aim.
Dexter gulped and twisted his body, managing to flip so that his feet faced the ship and he lay prone. Drevin fired, his bullet ripping through Dexter’s pants and making him grimace in pain as it tore a bloody furrow in his outer thigh. Another man stepped up and fired as well, sending his slug soundly into Dexter’s bottom.
Salvat
ion came in the form of the Voidhawk. With Bekka at the helm and the others manning the rigging they sailed into view and took time away from their guidance of the vessel to fire their re-acquired pistols at the pirates. The pirates ducked for cover, allowing the Voidhawk to sail up beside Dexter and for Rosh to toss a rope overboard for him.
On board his own ship again, Dexter limped behind cover and shouted orders to get them away as fast as possible. He heard a few more pistols fired, then nothing. He stuck his head back out and watched as they cleared the atmosphere of the pirate base, ending the transmission of sound. Cursing, he ducked low and remembered that while air and sound would not pass through the void, objects still would. Objects such as the slugs fired from pistols.
Or bombards. His mouth went dry as he saw one of the bombards on the base being cranked around to point at them. He realized it was the one he had stolen the powder from, if only he’d thought to steal the rest of it.
“Hard to port and down!” Dexter yelped.
Kragor glanced at him, furry brows cocked in surprise. He relayed the specific orders to the crew to enact them without missing a beat. The massive ball of lead sailed barely over the Voidhawk’s decking. Ere it could be reloaded, they had put enough distance from the base to make the odds of a hit unlikely, at best.
Out of range of the bandits’ bombards, they felt only a moment of concern when other ships undocked and came after them. With the Maiden’s Bane crippled none of the others could match the speed of Voidhawk under full sail and in less than an hour they gave up the chase.
“You’d better get that looked at, captain,” Jenna said to him as he limped around on the deck inspecting the minimal damage done by the skirmish and escape.
Dexter shrugged. “I’m fine,” he muttered, worrying about their future now that they were safe.
“You’ve been shot in the arse,” she pointed out.
“I’m milking it.” He changed the subject, worrying about it would do him no good since Bekka, their healer, was manning the helm at a time when they needed every inch of distance they could get. “How are our stores?”
Jenna scowled at him, knowing he needed tending to, but decided to go along with him for the moment. “They got the bombards off, but we managed to keep a few barrels of the fire powder. All of our other stores remain, plus we can add a few things we took off the pirates we killed.”
“How many’s ‘a few’?” he asked. “And what ‘things’ did we inherit?”
“Four barrels,” she answered, “one more pistol, two short swords, four daggers, and a hatchet.”
Dexter nodded. “How’s Rosh?”
“He’s big,” Jenna said matter-of-factly
“I mean how’s he settling in?”
“Kragor took him below, beyond that I don’t know,” she admitted.
“Alright, if he needs anything, weapons or such, let him have it.” Dexter stopped his limping walk and put his hand against the deck railing to steady himself.
“Captain?” Jenna asked, concerned.
Dexter looked at her, surprised. “That’s the most you’ve called me captain since we’ve met,” he pointed out.
Jenna shrugged. “Maybe you’re earning it. I think you need to lay down though, you’re not looking good.”
“I got shot in the ass, how’m I suppose to look?”
Jenna hid her smile by glancing away, then turned back at him. “Alright, if you say so.”
“If I say wha-“
Jenna’s hand had swung around, the bag of coins she held in it connecting with the back and side of his head. Dexter’s words turned into an explosion of air as he collapsed heavily to the deck. “Sorry, Captain,” Jenna said softly.
She bent over him and put her hands under the arms of the unconscious man, dragging him along the deck and then down the stairs to her cabin. As soon as she saw Kragor and Rosh she called them over, making them help her carry him to his cabin.
“What happened?” Kragor demanded.
“He collapsed,” Jenna said, leaving out the part where she caused it.
“I’ll get Bekka!” Kragor said, turning to head up the passageway.
“No, we need the speed and distance, I’ll check him out first,” Jenna said.
“You’re a healer?” The dwarf asked suspiciously.
Jenna glared at the stumpy first mate. “I know enough, now quit wasting time!”
Grumbling under his breath about the flighty nature of elves, they dumped Dexter in his cabin on his bed. Jenna then shooed the other two out the door and shut it behind her. Sighing, she turned back around and stared at the prone form of the man.
“I’ve got you alone and in bed, now what?” She wondered aloud, albeit softly. She chuckled and moved to him, untying and lowering his breeches. She could only smile at what she knew would be his embarrassment if he knew what she was doing.
She admired the muscles of his legs and the apparent firmness of his butt, once she had wiped the blood free. His wound still bled, but given there was a lead bullet imbedded in his right cheek, it was understandable why. She was glad he was out cold because the pain of what she had to do would not be a pleasant thing to bear.
Several minutes later she held the slightly deformed shot up between her blood covered fingers and shook her head. It had gone in fairly deep, but luckily had not hit bone. He would be sore for a while, if he let it heal naturally, but he should make a full recovery she figured.
His pride, on the other hand, might take even longer to return to normal.
Chapter 3: Keshira
“Now what, Dex?” Kragor asked his captain as they made their way out of a bar where they finished their most recent job.
“We divvy up the pay and have ourselves a good time,” Dexter said, grinning. It had been three successful jobs for them, following the double cross and run in with the pirates. Of course that had been successful too, Dexter figured, because Rosh had joined his crew and he seemed to be worth his weight in gold.
“I’m for liking that,” Rosh said, towering over the others.
Dexter chuckled and led the way back to the docks, where the Voidhawk lay moored to a pier. They were at Grafton, a large port on a small moon above Wallick, a planet covered nearly entirely in water. With water so readily available, a large amount of it had been transported up to the moon, filling in some craters and making life that much easier to support on the overgrown asteroid. With lakes came a ready place for void ships to land, since the majority were modified versions of planet-bound ships.
Back on the Voidhawk Dexter pulled out the bag of coins that the refugees had paid him. The last job had been a mercy run as much as anything. A group of slaves on Rayner, a large planet known for near constant warfare, had contacted him in hopes of buying his services. They needed to be smuggled off of the planet, and they had managed to scrounge up what amounted to a small fortune between them.
Rosh and Jenna had proved invaluable. Jenna orchestrated the diversion of the wealthy patrician’s guards while Rosh used his strength and skill to great effect in dispatching the few remaining guards and other impediments. The escaped slaves were loaded up, a dozen of them, and ferried off the planet to Grafton.
Dexter divided up the pay amongst them, wondering what he was going to do with his share, other than replacing used materials on the ship. “I’ll buy the first round,” Dexter offered, drawing a round of cheers from his crew.
“You for trusting the ‘Hawk to be here unguarded?” Kragor asked before they left.
Dexter glanced around, noting many Federation soldiers regularly patrolled the docks. He nodded. “Aye, I think she’ll be fine for a few hours.”
Kragor stroked his beard then shrugged and headed for the plank to the dock. Dexter, grinning, was right behind him as he gestured for the others to head out. They followed gladly, ending up at a nearby tavern called Skyharbor.
The food was a welcome change of pace from the type of fair they were accustomed to on the Voidhawk, even though
Jodyne made as fine a meal as could be made with the materials at hand. The ale was welcome as well, giving them all a chance to unwind and relax.
After dinner Rosh let himself be pulled away by the arms of a woman skilled at parting a man from his money. Kragor and Dexter shared a chuckle as he grinned stupidly and disappeared through a door.
Dexter noted the sudden silence in his friend and caught the tail end of a glare from Jodyne. He stifled his own laugh out of respect for the man. The grin, however, remained.
Kragor finished his ale and bid the others farewell. He escorted his wife out of the tavern as chivalrously as he dared, leaving Dexter alone with Bekka and Jenna. Dexter let the amusement fade slowly and turned to behold his remaining crewmembers. Suddenly he felt uncomfortable, though he did not know why.
“Another round?” Dexter asked after draining the last of his ale.
“My thanks, Captain, but I will pass,” Bekka said. “I should get back to the ship as well.”
“We’re off the ship and relaxing, there’ll be no ranks here,” Dexter said, frowning.
“Alright, then I’m going to head back to the ‘Hawk, Dexter,” Bekka said with an amused smile.
Dex threw his hands up in the air good-naturedly and laughed. Bekka bid them farewell and then left. The captain of the Voidhawk turned to Jenna and raised and eyebrow.
“How about you?”
“Well, if we’re equals off the ‘Hawk,” the elven woman said, her lips curling up in a smile that looked dangerous. “Then what are your plans for the evening?”
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