by Jamie Davis
“Yes, ma’am. About that. We know the basic direction we must travel, but without a proper reckoning of our course, we’re afraid we’ll miss the coast and sail past the mainland out into the endless western sea.”
Cari realized none of the remaining crew knew how to navigate the ship as the captain did.
“Let me come up on deck and see the crew. I think we should show them I’m alive anyway. Then I’ll come back here and see what charts and navigational tools this raider captain had at his disposal.”
“The crew will be happy to know you’re on the mend, Cap’n,” Mr. Bowcott said.
“I’ll be right up after I finish dressing.”
“Yes, of course. Percy, come along, lad. Let’s leave the cap’n her privacy.”
Cari marveled at how she’d ended up as the captain in this whole affair. She wanted to hand off the job to Mr. Bowcott. He clearly didn’t want it, though, and if he couldn’t navigate the ship, he didn’t have the necessary skills anyway.
Speaking of skills, Cari needed to attend to her own. She’d leveled up during the fighting, so she pulled up her stats for a quick review.
Name: Cari Dix
Class: Duelist
Level: 8
Attributes:
Brawn: 12 — +2 to hit/damage
Wisdom: 8
Luck: 10 — +1 to all saving throws
Speed: 18 — +5 defense
Charm: 14 — +3 personal reaction
Health: 64/80
Skills: Two-weapon combat, Acrobatic dodge — 2, Multi-foe tactics — 2, Feint — 2, Taunt, Bladesmith — Master, Prescience, Seamanship, Navigation.
Experience: 36,900/38,400
Attribute points: 2
Skill points: 1
Even with the healing potion they’d administered to her, Cari still wasn’t fully healed, which explained the pain in her side. She’d have to get something to eat. She wondered if Cookie had survived the skirmish. It would be nice to have some of his stew.
Cari looked over her attribute scores, trying to work out in her mind where she’d best utilize her two available points. Given that so much depended upon her ability to lead and navigate this ship, she decided to place her two points in wisdom.
She also decided to increase her navigation skill to level two since she was expected to bring this ship into port safely.
That done, Cari pulled on her boots and waistcoat, grabbed her hat, and headed for the quarterdeck — both to see the crew in action and for them to see her up and about. Appearances were important, so she moved with care to avoid wincing when she twisted her torso to ascend the steep ship’s stairs. They needed to observe a captain who was whole and capable. It was hard enough being a young woman in the role.
A cheer erupted from the crew when she stepped out into the bright sunshine on deck. She smiled and waved before turning to climb up to the quarterdeck. There were signs of damage, especially on the starboard side, where she could still see charred wood from the ship’s proximity to the burning Bonnie Beth.
Approaching the helm where Mr. Bowcott and Mr. Dawkins stood watching the young helmsman keep them on course, Cari smiled at the deadly serious stare on the face of the man at the wheel. It was an important job and essential to keeping them moving in the right direction.
She knew she was expected to say something. Unable to come up with anything else, Cari simply said, “Things seem well in hand, Mr. Bowcott and Mr. Dawkins. Good work.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“How many are we? How many made it across from the Bonnie Beth?”
“Thirty-two, counting yourself and the girl we found here aboard the Bloodletter.”
Cari scowled. “I don’t care for that name. Do either of you?”
“It is your ship to name,” Mr. Dawkins said after a glance at Mr. Bowcott. “You ordered its taking. Your actions saved the day and most of us. We can rename her if you want.”
Cari longed to argue their account of what she’d done but knew it wasn’t the time and place to do that. She wanted the name on the ship changed, though, and they’d given her the right to do so.
After a little thought, a name came to mind.
“Vengeance. We’ll call her the Vengeance since we took her in revenge for sinking our own ship. Let the crew know.”
“Excellent choice, ma’am,” Mr. Bowcott said. “I think the crew will like that very much.”
“Make it so, then.”
Cari shielded her eyes and tried to gauge the angle of the sun. It looked to be one or two in the afternoon. She’d have to come back and take a reading to determine their approximate position, provided she could find a sextant somewhere in the captain’s cabin.
If only they’d been able to save the Bonnie Beth’s excellent charts and progress logs. Then she’d at least have a starting point from which to work. No use worrying about what was done. She had to look forward to the future.
“I’ll be in my cabin if you need me. I’m going to locate the Vengeance’s logs and navigational charts and put together a plan for us. For now, hold this course until further notice.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am. Holding course,” the helmsman replied.
Cari nodded and returned to her cabin, once again moving with care and striving to hide her injuries as she descended back to the lower decks.
Unlike the precision and order she’d seen in Captain McShea’s cabin, the built-in drawers holding the raider captain’s charts had no organization to them at all. They did have a few markings on them with notations in a flourishing script. It took her some studying to parse out the notes, comparing them with entries in the ship’s log. When she did, she found each marked a ship captured or sunk, or a coastal community raided.
The captain’s sextant lay in a box next to the chart cabinet. It was a cruder model than the fine instrument she’d used on the Bonnie Beth, but it would serve its purpose well enough.
She went upstairs to take her readings on the quarterdeck, and then returned to the cabin to spread out the charts and designate the ship’s supposed location based on the last known mark the raider captain had made. Once the chart was marked, she moved to transfer the daily notation to the ship’s log.
While shuffling through the captain’s logbook, Cari discovered a letter from another raider captain.
Jacobus,
Our benefactor has additional orders for us following your successful raid to intercept the family on their voyage. Return to Cairn Island to retrieve the message from our agent and deliver a package north with further instructions about the surviving heir.
Desmond Thorne
Master of the Tigershark
That name, Cairn Island… Cari had seen it on the charts while examining them.
Finding the chart she needed was easier now that she’d reorganized the drawers, so it didn’t take Cari long to locate the place on the map in the middle of “Raider” territory and stab her finger down on it. The island chain containing Cairn Island lay only four days’ travel south. Based on the positions marked on the main chart, it was likely the captain had been headed back to the islands when he crossed the path of the Bonnie Beth.
Cari reread the note. It mentioned an heir, a family voyage, and raised many questions in her mind. The heir in the note probably referred to Prince Timron. Who was the inside agent mentioned, though? Could one of the three dragoons with Rodrigo and the Prince be a traitor?
With so many questions and no real answers, Cari had a tough decision to make and she didn’t want to make it alone. She opened the cabin door to see Percy waiting outside in the passageway.
“Good, you’re here. Please ask Mr. Bowcott and Mr. Dawkins to come here. There is an important matter we must discuss. Also advise the helmsman to come about to a south-southwest heading.”
Percy repeated the instructions back to her for verification as he’d been taught and then scampered off to deliver his new captain’s orders.
Cari returned to the seat behind her
desk and reviewed the message one more time. She had to be sure about her decision because she was about to test the resolve of her new crew as well as their loyalty to the Empress and the Imperial Family.
Quest accepted: Retrieve the orders from Desmond Thorne.
Chapter 26
Cari gauged the sun’s angle again. If her navigational calculations were correct, they’d arrive at Cairn Island soon. It should be the large landmass ahead, the biggest of the islands they’d passed so far.
The black-and-red checkered flag flew from the mainmast again. The crew had originally taken it down when they’d seized the ship. She’d had them run it back up the mast as soon as they entered raider waters.
They were all raiders now, and they flew the flag signaling to other ships around them of their allegiance to no one and nothing other than profiteering from the misfortune of others.
The whole crew had surprised her as they gave a resounding cheer when she’d asked them to help save the last heir to the Crystal Throne. Now, they’d assumed the role of a raider crew returning from a successful cruise up and down the coast of the Empire to the north.
All of her shipmates were armed with cutlasses, axes, or pikes, as raiders would be when sailing into a port filled with potential rivals. Cari gazed out from the quarterdeck as they passed another raider ship heading out to sea.
The captain waved at them then stopped when Cari waved back. Clearly, he didn’t expect her to be the one in charge.
She wasn’t sure how exactly she was going to pull this off. First, she had to find Captain Desmond Thorne and his ship, the Tigershark. Then, she figured she’d play it by ear.
“Mr. Bowcott, I’m relying on your knowledge of the raiders for this to work. They have to recognize this ship and know I’m not the captain it left with.”
“There’s a great deal of turnover, as you might expect, in a den of thieves, Cap’n. These raiders never stay with the same vessel very long and often jump ship in harbor when a new captain defeats the old one in personal combat.”
“But I wasn’t a member of the original crew.”
“I don’t think it matters. You did defeat the original captain and took control of the vessel known as the Bloodletter. That makes you the captain in their eyes. At least, I think it should.”
“Mr. Bowcott. In the future, leave the expression of any doubts out of these conversations. I’d like to think my plan is good enough to stand on its own two feet.”
The first mate chuckled. “Aye, aye, ma’am.”
They rounded the headland of the big island, revealing a sheltered harbor in the lee of the cliffs.
“Helmsman, bring the Vengeance about and take her into the harbor. Bosun Dawkins, prepare to lower a boat with a crew to take me ashore.”
“Aye, Cap’n.”
The crew bustled about, taking in sail to slow them as they drifted on a light breeze into the harbor. Soon, they dropped anchor in a crystal-clear blue lagoon. Cari watched the anchor drag along until it snagged on a rocky outcrop jutting from the sandy bottom.
The bosun barked orders, and the crew complied by removing one of the long boats from its rack in the center of the main deck and lowering it over the side. Two men and two women climbed over the rail of the Vengeance, their cutlasses shoved in their belts.
Percy came up and stood next to her. He had a long dirk tucked into his waistband.
“Where do you think you’re going, mister?”
“No captain would go ashore without their ship’s boy or girl along to assist them and run errands. You need me to keep up the story you’re going to tell.”
“The boy’s not wrong, miss,” Mr. Bowcott said. “It might be nice having someone around no one will pay much attention to. He’s resourceful when it’s needed.”
“That is true, Mr. Bowcott. Alright, Mr. McShea, over the side with you.”
Percy beamed a smile reaching from ear to ear, and then disappeared over the side to join the others.
“If all goes well, I should be back in a few hours. If trouble starts or I don’t return in a day, set sail and make your best time to Tandon on the course I marked. You’re to deliver that sealed message I gave you to the Duke there in person. Got that?”
“Yes, ma’am. Your orders are clear.”
“Don’t be a hero and come to rescue me, Elrod,” Cari said, using the first mate’s given name. “I’ll be alright no matter what. You have to deliver that message if I don’t return. The fate of the Empire may rest upon it.”
The first mate didn’t answer aloud, merely nodding instead. She didn’t want to press the issue. Her father had told her once that a leader never gave an order they knew would be disobeyed. She had a sneaking suspicion Mr. Bowcott was already planning a rescue for her if she didn’t come back.
Cari wondered what the great Hal Dix would do in this situation. She decided she didn’t care. This was her life and her role to play.
Now, it was time for her debut. She smiled about the name she’d chosen for herself.
The Dread Raider Cari was about to land on Cairn Island.
The air in the tavern swirled with smoke, the haze obscuring the details in a room filled with dozens of people, most of them raiders from one of the warships in the harbor. The dockworker who’d helped tie off their small boat told her she’d likely find Captain Thorne here.
She had no idea who she sought since the man on the docks had been unable to provide a decent description. She stopped a man stumbling past her in the tavern common room with a tug on his arm.
“Hey, leggo. I gotta go pee.”
“Point out Captain Thorne to me, and you can go do your business.”
“Over there. In the red fez.”
Cari followed the man’s pointing arm and spotted the man to whom he referred.
She dropped her hand from the raider’s arm, and the man stumbled out the door. Judging from the stench outside as she’d walked in, she figured the patrons here didn’t wander very far when nature called.
“Percy, stay close. This is a lot rougher than I thought.”
“Don’t worry, ma’am. I’ve got your back.”
Neither the quaver in his voice nor the way he stood wide-eyed behind her with a white-knuckled grip on his dirk hid his nervousness. Still, despite his anxiety, Percy followed his captain across the tavern’s common room until she stood across a table from the man in the red fez.
“You Captain Desmond Thorne, master of the Tigershark?”
“I am. Who wants to know?”
“I’m Captain Cari Dix. Master of the former Bloodletter, now called Vengeance. I want the message and the bounty named in this letter.”
Cari dropped the letter from Thorne to the former captain of the Vengeance.
Captain Thorne unfolded the letter, scanned it, and dropped it back on the table, pushing it towards Cari with his fingertips.
“This is a private matter. You’re lucky I don’t kill you just for having it. What happened to Captain Holley?”
“He decided to run into the end of my sword several times until he died.” She reached out and pushed the letter back across the table. “You know the code. I inherited his ship. That means I get his open jobs. I want in on this one.”
One of Thorne’s crewmen on Cari’s right swaggered over towards her. “What did you say your name was?”
“Captain Cari Dix.”
“What? Like the fairy-tale princess? Who’s supposed to be afraid of you?”
Cari didn’t miss a beat.
She spun in place, executing a perfect roundhouse kick. She caught the unsuspecting raider in the jaw with her boot’s heel.
The blow launched the man backward into a group of his comrades, knocking a few of them down, too.
A group of others surged forward.
“Hold!”
Captain Thorne’s bellowed order stopped his crew in their tracks.
“My apologies for my man’s disrespect, Captain Dix. I do appreciate you taking t
he initiative in disciplining him appropriately. Perhaps we should take this matter to a private room. The subject is, as you know, one of a delicate nature.”
“I think that is a splendid idea, Captain Thorne. Is there a room here we can use, or would you like to return to my ship with me and talk there? I inherited an excellent collection of the finest wines from across the Empire.”
“We’ll meet here. There’s a room upstairs. Have your boy bring up a tray of drinks for us while I go and get the key to the room.”
Cari led Percy to the bar and ordered a bottle of red wine and two glasses, leaving the cabin boy to bring it up when the bartender retrieved the bottle from the tavern’s cellar.
Captain Thorne held up his hand, showing a black iron key, and turned towards the stairs. Cari followed him upstairs and then down a long hallway, stopping at the first door on the right.
He opened the door and gestured inside. “After you, Captain Dix.”
Cari entered the room and sat at the round table, her back to the corner so she could watch the door.
Captain Thorne chuckled and took the seat opposite her.
“So, Captain Thorne, what’s the big secret? I earned the right to be in on this job. I expect to be let in.”
“First, call me Desmond. Second, I’m not the one you need to talk with. When Jacobus didn’t show, I gave the job to someone else. Another ship already left with the assassin on board earlier today.”
“Then why did you call me up here?” Cari asked, trying to hide her surprise at the mention of an assassin. “You could have said that downstairs.”
“Because, Cari — you don’t mind if I call you Cari, do you?”
Cari shook her head, trying to understand what the other captain was getting at.
Desmond stood and closed the door, then turned the key in the lock from the inside and placed it in his pocket.
“Because, Cari, Jacobus was a friend of mine, and I wanted to take a little personal pleasure out on the person who killed him before I turn you over to my crew.”