Eimose clutched his hands behind his back and continued his rapid pacing on the metal deck of the ship.

“Seriously man, you have to calm down or you're going to wear a hole through the floor,” Jeringy said while slouched against a railing. “You’re only giving us all anxiety and not actually doing anything.”

“Why am I out here? I should be in there with them!” Eimose angrily shouted, pointing at the Captain’s cabin where the heads of the boat were meeting.

“I know you’re upset but we need to have time to discuss what our next course of action is,” Regal piped up. “The Piranhas are a secretive group and we don’t even know where their headquarters are otherwise we would have attacked them a long time ago.”

“Which is why we need to leave now before their trail gets cold!”

Eimose wanted to yell and scream and punch at something. Why wasn’t anyone listening to him? First of all, it was their fault for forcing him to hand over his bag in the first place. Secondly, he technically only had about twelve days left until he had to hand over the Efficiency that didn’t exist and wasting his time arguing with people wasn’t elongating that time whatsoever. Thirdly, that bag was left under his protection, tasked to him by a man who was most definitely dead after what Eimose saw happened to Headquarter 3, and he needed it to find out what he needed to do in Onto. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets to prevent his fist from flying.

“So where did you learn those medical procedures?” Jeringy asked, trying to lighten the tension in the air.

“That was a basic first aid. Everyone should know it.” Eimose said through gritted teeth.

“Yeah we all know how to set up bandages and put patches on cuts and stuff, but what you did was pretty awesome. I mean, you stitched up gods-know-how-many bullet wounds and helped set two broken limbs, which is more than just ‘basic first aid.’ What’s your secret superhero?” Regal questioned.

“I was taught.”

“Ooh! By who?” Regal and Jeringy asked in unison.

“No one special.”

Eimose needed them to shut up so he could figure out how he was going to get his bag back. His best option was to somehow steal a small boat and guess as to where the Piranha’s base was. Truth be told, he hadn’t laid eyes on any of them besides the one he’d shot, so he didn’t know how big their crew was or what they had in their arsenal. Based on the injured he aided, they had weapons ranging from the barbaric bow and arrow to a missile launcher that had done quite a number on the back upper deck. He had no idea who they made it on the boat in the first place or how they escaped since he’d seen no boat or ship around them as he ran around the perimeter of the boat when he’d discovered they’d taken the bag. The very fact that GreenHouse didn’t know these bandits existed was alarming, or at least he suspected they didn’t know since Scouts were constantly updated about all threats to the societal norm even if it didn’t relate to them, and he’d never even heard a whisper about Piranhas until now.

He heard the door of the Captain’s quarters open and watched with expecting eyes as Lin, Brit, and three others he couldn’t identify strolled out with grim faces. Eimose almost burst into questions but Brit gave him a look that shut his mouth.

“All personnel to center deck immediately. If you’re not here in two minutes we’re throwing you off the boat.” The loudspeaker announced, followed by a rush to get to the deck.

It only took one minute and twelve seconds for everyone to be assembled and then Lin stood on a makeshift stage made of crates and addressed everyone.

“The Piranhas have attacked us once too many. I have alerted the other vessels in the area of this recent attack, and one other has been hit as well, their casualties numerous. We have allowed these scum to steal from us for far too long and it is time to retaliate. We will be sending three reconnaissance crew immediately to find their base’s location. When we receive that information we will have the aid of any ship that so chooses to join us. Brit and your team will man the seaward side of the river, Gino and your team man the civil side, while Prew and your team will look for any evidence in the surrounding area. For all those left on the ship gather every weapon you can and prepare for battle. Dismissed.”

Everyone scrambled to do as they were told, the three teams assigned to recon holding back. Eimose assumed he was on Brit’s team and planned to do so until someone forcibly kicked him out.

“Alright, we’re taking motor number 2,” Brit began, addressing Regal, Peringy, and Eimose. “You get a small bag to carry. Be sure to pack weapons and a day’s worth of clothes. Eimose, a word.”

Regal and Jeringy left, racing to see who could get to their cabin faster, leaving Brit and Eimose alone.

“What’s in the bag?” Brit asked sternly.

“Tracking supplies and personal belongings.”

“Don’t bullshit me, I know who you are, Scout. What’s in the bag?”

“If you know who I am why haven’t you done anything about it?”

“I will if I need to, but if there’s even the slightest chance you can lead us to the Efficiency I’ll take it. Last time I’ll ask, what’s in the bag?” Brit rested his hand on the butt of his gun to prove to Eimose he was completely serious.

“I can only tell you that someone trusted me to keep it safe and risked their lives doing it, so I need it back.”

Brit studied Eimose’s face for a bit and then visibly relaxed, hand falling off his weapon.

“That’s the first honest thing you’ve said since we’ve met,” Brit confessed. “You’ll be given a gun that can only send enough currents into a hostile to temporarily paralyze, so don’t you dare think about turning against us. The only reason you’re alive is that I know I can kill you faster than you can kill me. Go to the room and ask to borrow some of Regal’s clothes since he’s about your size. We regroup in ten minutes.”

Brit walked away presumably to talk to Lin so Eimose left to the cabin to scrounge together a bag using other people’s things. Regal was kind enough to give him two sets of clothes to borrow and they all walked to the lower deck to get their smaller water vessel. Brit had already beat them there and somehow had a bag ready despite Eimose not seeing him visit the room once to get his supplies.

The first group left first, leaving a small wake heading towards the waters the ship had already traversed. Eimose watched them fade off into the red fog and hoped that his group would be the one to find the hideout first. He knew the Captain had given strict orders as to what the plan was, but Eimose needed to find the bag and get away from these bandits. Despite their easy-going nature, he would need to escape from them eventually and this situation may provide the perfect one. If he saw no window of opportunity to ditch the other three he wouldn’t take it, but if even the slightest chance arose he would be leaving them behind to pursue his greater mission on his own.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Brit’s team loaded the boat and started the engine and then slide out into the murky waters. It only took two minutes of travel before the larger boat had all but vanished behind them and they were completely surrounded by red mist, the only sounds heard were their occasional chatter (supplied by Regal and Jeringy arguing), and the engine purring quietly behind them. Eimose was unnerved by not being able to see further than fifty feet ahead of him but Brit seemed at ease for the moment so he figured he didn’t need to remain paranoid.

Time seemed to ebb by slower than usual as their mission didn’t require them to travel to a specific location and instead find one. Brit would occasionally turn the engine off and they would just glide along the water, listening as carefully as they could for any voices or sounds of boat engines to indicate a base nearby. Eimose suggested that they head towards the shore to get within better earshot, but Brit countered with the fact that they had to cover both sides of the shore at once. They would first scale the length of the river and if that proved no results than they would double-back along one shoreline and then again with the other. Eimose hoped it didn’t come down to that since this was incredibly boring and the entertainment of Regal and Jeringy’s conversations had begun dwindling down into nonsense, like whose weapon was longer despite them both having the same model caliber.

Brit cut the engine and informed everyone that they would start taking sleeping shift since they’d made no progress in the past six hours and everyone hadn’t fully recovered from the attack. The two younger men fell asleep almost immediately and Eimose’s eyes were drooping shut.

“Sleep. You’re no use to us if you’re going to collapse.” Brit said dryly. “I’ve got this.”

Eimose was too tired to fight the man so he laid down on the little metal surface still left on the boat and sleep overtook him almost instantly.

It felt as if he had just laid down when someone was nudging his shoulder urgently.

“Wake up, we hear something,” Regal whispered, his gun already out and at the ready.

The others were crouched low and also had their weapons out, making Eimose feel vulnerable. Although Brit had told him he’d be getting a gun, he hadn’t actually followed through on the promise. As if reading his mind, Brit plunged his hand into his bag and drew out a gun and threw it at Eimose, who nearly dropped it in the water before safely cupping it in his palms.

The voices were faint, meaning they were coming from the shore somewhere and deeming it safe for Brit to set the engine to the lowest setting that let out an almost imperceivable hum. It was a slow moving trip but the boat gently rocked when it scraped against the sandy shore. After laying low for a few minutes to make sure the voices they’d heard hadn’t heard them, the four stealthily jumped out of the water and cautiously walked towards the sounds.

“How much longer is this going to take?” A voice whined from a good distance ahead of them.

“Why do you keep asking me that. I don’t fucking know!”

“Don’t you have a friend who works in electrics?”

“Oh my gods, how could I have forgotten my friend who works in electronics. Let me just buzz them here so they can let us know when they’ll be done fixing the power. Oh wait, we have no power! Wait, maybe I’ll just use my hidden telepathy skill I just realized I had and talk to them.”

“No need for that much sass…”

“There is very much a need for that much sass ‘cuz that was the fourth time you asked that question and I’ve been standing next to you the entire time. Seriously, do us all a favor and shut the fuck up.”

Muffled laughter followed along with some words of encouragement to the speaker, indicating that there was a good group forming ahead. Eimose was tempted to call out to them so that it could create a distraction and he would have the possibility of getting away, but he would most likely get caught in the crossfire and he still didn’t have his bag back yet.

“Is this enough evidence?” Jeringy whispered to Brit who just nodded and motioned for them to head back to the boat.

“Tiny, what was that story you told us about what happened to the base?”

“An immortal!” A small voice cried out, clearly from a younger girl. “This person with a skull respirator carried me all the way from Pon’s here in a minute and then started destroying everything!”

Eimose froze. He recalled the skull respirator quite clearly since he’d teased the Efficiency for wearing it ages ago. Granted there may be another person with bad taste who’d painted a skull on their respirator, but if there was one thing Eimose had learned in the past month it was that coincidences just didn’t happen. Could the Efficiency really be alive? If it was, how did it escape and why was it here?

“I can’t wait for Pon to get back and tell us his side of the story.” A voice said, amused. “Tell us again the full story so we can rub it in his face. I want the smallest details.”

“It was totally badass,” the smaller voice elaborated. “ Pon shot it point-blank and it just got up and dusted itself off. He was so scared that he spent the rest of his bullets on it! Anyways, they kept talking about some bag they needed to get and Que ended up giving up the location since it had picked me and threatened to kill me. It carried me in its arms all the way over here, and then just ripped that door off like it was nothing. Do I need to remind you that they only had one arm? I’m swooning.”

Ripples of laughter rose from the growing group as the smaller girl pretended to faint. At least that’s what it looked like from Eimose’s perspective. The figures were all very blurry but he could make out about two dozen people now that his eyes had adjusted to the amount of fog around him. He was so absorbed in focusing on what the girl was talking about that he nearly jumped out of his skin what a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

“What are you doing? Get back on the boat.” Brit hissed.

“Wait, I think the Efficiency is in there.” Eimose tried. “I overheard them talking about someone who took a round of bullets to the head and walked away unscathed. Plus they were wearing a skull respirator. Ring any bells?”

Brit gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes.

“Of course I do. I owe that robot a good beating for taking that away from me. Painted it myself. Do you have any proof besides your word of mouth?”

“But there’s a high chance its the Efficiency. If we could ju--”

“No,” Brit said curtly, cutting Eimose off. “We’re regrouping and coming back with an army. I’m not going to risk getting rid of the Piranhas once and for all because of a bounty.”

“But if the Eff--”

“No, and that’s final. Get in the boat.”

Brit was already holding his gun so all he had to do was point it at Eimose and he moved towards the water. He doubted Brit would actually shoot him since it would alert the enemy to their position but Eimose would prefer to not get shot anytime soon. Doing as he was told he loaded himself on the boat and Brit pushed them off, keeping their engine at a creeping hum. The voices faded into the distance and Eimose wondered how long the return trip would be now that they wouldn’t have to keep stopping to test the waters and listen for sounds.

Their boat came to a sudden halt although they could hear the slow engine working. A look of panic flashed across Brit’s face and Eimose felt fear stab him in the gut.

“Draw your weapons!”

Brit called out, but it was too late.

A massive jolt from below the boat pushed everyone overboard and overturned their water vessel. Eimose broke through the black waters trying his best to tread at the water and figure out what had just happened when he was looking at the muzzle of a gun and the tip of an arrow pointed at his head. Some sort of metal cans had risen from the water and now had people with weapons standing on them, looking over at the people attempting to stay afloat.

“It seems like we have some sea-goers here.” A man dressed in blue and green leathers spoke up. “We don’t take kindly to you folk. We’re going to have a little fun, aren’t we men?”

The men and women with the weapons cheered, sending waves of despair through Eimose’s body. It seemed like his life now was just a compilation of which life-threatening episode he had to deal with first, and this one just topped the list.