At half an hour before midnight they were standing on the dock by Captain Inu’s ship. The DeLeahs all came to see them off, and Lenon was carrying a large chest on his shoulder. When he handed it to Derrik, the lad set it down with some effort.

Dayen said. “There are a few things in there that we thought might come in handy. Open it when you are under way.”

The box had strange symbols on it, and Naurel laughed when she saw Telini looking at them. “They say only Team Romeo members may open it.”

“What does that mean?” Blair asked, looking very interested.

“It means,” Lenon said seriously. “That you, all of you, should not let anybody else touch it.”

“Yeah,” Michael said. “Leave it on the ship unless you have somewhere safe to store it. If you need to bury it, feel free to do it, but do not forget where you left it.”

Blair and Derrik carried it on board and the DeLeahs wished them happy returns. Once they felt the boat pushed away from the dock, Blair asked for permission to open the chest. They had the passenger compartment to themselves, because Tom and Cheva had decided to stay for a while in Ascore. Blair dragged the chest out from under Lewis’s cot and examined it. There were two clasps where a padlock could be attached and between them on the front of the lid was a small brass shield with a keyhole in it.

“Did they give you a key?” Blair asked.

“No,” Lewis told him. “Is it locked?”

“Dunno,” Blair said, lifting the clasps. The lid opened slowly without assistance, inside there was a cloth that covered up everything. It was neatly tucked in at the edges and a small brass skeleton key with a silver chain for a necklace was lying in the center. Blair handed it to Lewis and he put it on, sliding the key under his shirt.

Gomez pulled the mottled green cloth carefully out of the box and put it up against her face, then handed it to Roquette. Roquette felt it and passed it on. It felt like silk velvet and made Lewis’s hands feel warm wherever it touched his skin. Under the cloth was a large envelope with his initials on it, Telini took removed it and looked at it,

“Note for Jal.” He said and handed it to Lewis.

Lewis thought they looked like kids under a Christmas tree as Gomez reached into the box and pulled out a pistol that had been covered by the envelope. It was a semi-automatic with a scope.

“Thirteen millimeters,” she said in an awed tone as she checked the chamber. “Aye, Madre. That’s like fifty caliber. This thing’s a cannon.”

Small boxes were on each side of where the pistol had been that contained ammo for the hand gun. Six square boxes made up the next layer, the little boxes were made of wood and each had a leather handle on the end that faced up.

Rollins pulled one up and out. “No wonder the chest is so heavy,” He set it down on the deck and opened it, revealing neatly stacked gold coins.

Somebody whistled and everyone else gasped. Soon all the small boxes were on the deck, pulled out by whoever was close enough to grab one. When they were opened, some of them had heavy gold coins inside but the majority in the layer were filled with silver coins. Lewis felt a slight panic as a feeling of responsibility settled on him.

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He took a breath and said. “Hey now, this is money, and it doesn’t belong to us. Let’s catalog it and treat it as classified material, so for God’s sake, do not reveal it to anybody. What’s in those other boxes?”

They all pulled out a box each and laid the contents on the floor. Lewis scanned the items, and saw binoculars, gloves, shoes, daggers, and a computer the size of his wallet.

“Close ‘em,” he said, pausing while they all complied. “I’m going to read whatever is in that envelope before we proceed. Put it all back like it was, by morning we’ll have a clue.”

While they replaced the contents, Lewis laid back and opened the envelope. Inside he found, a map, a letter, and several small envelopes. The letter provided him with instructions for setting up offices in Port Mist and Fort Dilson. The details filled three pages, with four supporting documents. Lewis’ head was spinning from reading all the data and he wondered how the DeLeahs came up with all the names and documents. Next he found a letter labeled ‘contents and disbursement’. It listed the coins as;

Five hundred seventy six gold pieces.

One thousand one hundred fifty two silver pieces.

The list continued with a short description of each item in the chest. Then it stated. ‘We usually lay everything out and draw straws to see who picks in what order, but you can do it by rank or just assign things. Dayel has enclosed her recommendations as to who would be suited to which item. Do as you will. Please see that it all is7 used well. Good luck First Lieutenant Lewis.’

Two of the small envelopes contained currency from Ladzoo. One had a letter extolling, with grand and flowery prose, the virtues of DeLeah ventures. It also made honorable mention of first Lieutenant Lewis and Team Romeo. It was headed. ‘To whomever it may concern, from Sir Trun, ship captain, free state liaison, outreach councilor for the southern fleet, defenders of Andar.’ There was a note written in Michael’s spidery script in the same envelope, which said. ‘Be careful who you show this one to.’ The next envelope contained some credit vouchers to be used in Fort Dillson or any other city controlled by the defenders of Andar.

The next morning after breakfast they returned to their quarters, everyone was curious about what they had seen in the chest. Several voices spoke at once and Lewis held up his hand for quiet.

He addressed them. “OK, I’ve read our orders and I’m ready to hand out these items. Everybody gets a boot knife.”

The knives had double edged blades about three inches long and an inch and a half near the handle, which was flat and looked like it was forged out of one piece of iron. They each came in a flat sheath with leather thongs top and bottom.

Rollins held out the box to each member in turn, he took the last one and said. “There’s a note in here,”

He held out the box to Lewis, who reached in and removed the small paper and read it aloud. ‘These little beauties hold an edge well, are strong enough to use for a pry bar, and are easy to conceal- Dayen.’

Lewis told them. “Dayel suggests that Gomez get the glasses.

Roquette, you get the moccasins.

The computer is for Telini.

Rollins, the binoculars.

Blair, the pistol is for you.

Derrik, she said you should wear the gloves.”

Lewis put the necklace and beret on, and then he noticed that everyone was staring at him. “What?”

“You have a silver bar on your new cover, sir,” Gomez asked him. “Is that for real or did somebody make a mistake?”

“Look,” he told them, shuffling through his papers. “Sir Trun says first lieutenant,” he showed them the letter. “And Lenon closes his letter with the same thing. I don’t understand the procedure, but I kinda think they meant it.”

Lewis was a little troubled by the whole thing, but when he looked around, everybody was smiling except Derrik, who looked confused.

Lewis put his papers back in their envelope and stood up.

He said. “You know as the highest ranking officer in Uncle Sam’s Army at this location, it is in my power and it is my privilege to promote all of the members of Team Romeo one rank, with all privileges and benefits that such advancement implies. The only exception to this will be Mister Derrik who shall advance two ranks to private first class. Telini, please make a note of these proceedings and place it in the chest for future reference, I’ll be on deck if anyone should need me.”