At least a day had passed since Kincade had seen or heard from the cabin boy. But he used that day, he had hoped on that day, to have a plan, wanting to waste no more time. He had to share his dream and set the actions in motion. And acting affirmed to himself and the watching sea that Kincade was free. He just needed friends and fellows to join him to be his crew. He could not take this ship alone. Yes, the help of this captured crew would be needed to take this ship back. But to kill Wallace, that task would be his, and it was long overdue.

John yelped as he was thrown through the doorway, landing on all fours; he quickly got up and edged over to Kincade. The boy's eyes were locked on the doors opening, waiting and shivering. The boy did not even notice that his left knee had been skinned and was bleeding. A few more seconds passed, and Walters entered the room.

"Give me your arm," Walters demanded of Kincade, who had been standing at a workbench with his arm resting on the surface, obscured from Walters's direct view. Kincade turned his back fully to Walters and discreetly removed a thin rectangle from between his own arm and the underside of a cuff.

"Why? It's not time. Why should I," Kincade said.

"Because I will shove a blade into your kidney. If'n you don't." Walters explained, ignoring John.

"Well, you asked nicely, so…" Kincade turned, arm outstretched. Walters took the Kincade's arm in Walters's other hand. He produced a key that he placed into the keyhole and turned it several times.

"You turned that anti-clockwise. That is not right. You have to go clockwise." Kincade said.

"Nope, Captain Wallace wants people to be motivated to keep me happy," Walters grabbed Kincade's jaw, turning his face to the light.

"That scar…" Walters's voice trailed off. "Wallace broke you, didn't he?" Walters asked the room. Kincade remains quiet, arms by his side.

Walters continued, "Yesss, he did. You don't have it in you to have killed my brother, do you." Walters asked and answered to himself and turned, leaving the room.

John stepped to Kincade's side and looked up at him; Kincade noticed that John had been provided with a cuff of his own, and now, like him, if he does not do precisely what he is told, he will be forced to watch as the thing cuts off his own hand. The boy looked at Kincade and then back to the open door.

"You will have to kill him too," John said; the tone of his voice gave no hint of doubt nor the tone of a young boy.

"I am not a pirate!" Kincade said back to the boy.

"I'd say you have found yourself a long way down that path," John said, not breaking his glare at the door.

"Well, I am simply not. And I see those legal pirates have also given you one of these." Kincade said, raising his arm.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Yeah, that Walters guy put them on everyone. Then the big red idiot said they should have a short recharge time, so they must go around to everyone four times a day. Don't see what they get for that…." John said.

"We have no sleep and a desire to be free. It is not only smart but barbaric if the crew is a few minutes late or we mutiny. They just need to hold up in a cabin and wait. And after a few hours, people stop being a problem, and the fear of the others ramps up as they see the crew fall one by one and only half the hands as they started," Kincade responded.

"That will be why the real crew has been put on a four-hour sleep work rotation," said John.

"Rotation? A big word for someone so young and of your station in life, my friend," Kincade responded.

"Just a word, aye eh gov," John replied.

"John, how did you get on this ship?" Kincade asked.

"Like everyone does. My family up in died, leaving me on the street. I had no place to go or money to eat on my own. One day, I was begging at the dock and saw a crew line ready to board. And I followed them on, signed the articles, and took my berth," John replied. Kincade pushed out his lower lip and lifted a shoulder.

"You signed your contract and took your bed. That's what a normal person would say, John. You used terms that only a long-term sailor would use," Kincade responded.

"John, who is your father?" Kincade asked.

"He was a… bricklayer," John responded.

"Is he on the ship, John," Kincade asked as John looked down to the deck and his feet.

"John, is he alive? John, he can help me get us free." Kincade continued. John dropped to the ground and sobbed.

"No. That redhead Walters killed him." John said, transforming the sobs into an angry scowl.

"I will see him dead either swinging from the rigging." John continued, and for the next twenty minutes, Kincade held John as he openly sobbed.

In time, the two of them calmed. Kincade returned to the day's tasks, placing his hand on a valve wheel almost thirty centimeters across and spinning it to the right. He tapped the collection of gauges when one of them did not indicate an expected level or move quite as fast as it should. Finally, after an hour or so, Kincade finally looked at John, stood up, held his arm up, and looked directly at the underside of the cuff and forearm.

"I know how these work, and I can release people from them," Kincade said.

"No. You can't." John replied. "No one can. That is why they rule the waves and the sky." John continued as if reciting a phrase from the good book, hoping to convince a priest that he knew the right words.

"If you help me convince the others to mutiny with me, we will be free men, free to deal with these … real pirates as we will it." Kincade offered the hint of a plan. John lifted his head and looked directly into Kincade's eyes. Kincade looked into the boy through his eyes and saw the same thing he had seen in so many eyes in the past year: hate for the circumstances of life.

"And what would you need to make that happen?" John asked.

"This is the plan at the end of the next watch. The whole crew is to raise up as one, and once it is done. Then…" Kincade trailed off, and the bell rang.

"They will need proof you can do what you say," John replied.

"Well, lad, come here." Kincade took the cuff on John's arm and slipped a small rectangle of steel between the gap between the cuff and John; unlike Kincade, the cuff was loose on him, and he had to pull it to fit flush against his arm. Kincade ran a long, thin rod with a hooked end under the cuff, and we a few twists and a sharp pull down. The device clicked faster and faster until the ticks ran into a continuous single tone. John's eyes opened wide, and he pulled away from Kincade, who held him solidly close.

"Hold John. Trust me." Kincade said as the cuff on John's arm ticked, then at a reduced pace, ticked again and opened.

"Yes." Free of his bondage to the fear of the device's terrible outcome, John and I whooped for the joy of the moment.

"Quite, lad. It can put that key in the whole and twist and turn. But it is broken for good," Kincade said. Then, with a gentle click, he closed the cuff again around the boy's arm.

"Now tell the crew the end of the next watch. Four more bells, and we are free. Raise up as one, and it is done," Kincade said and patted the boy on the back as he shooed him from the cabin.

"Prove to them that the cuff can be removed and tell them they are in greater numbers than the pirates that hold their ship," Kincade said.

"I need you to sneak around and contact the highest-ranking officers left alive. I want you to tell them I want to organize to take back this ship," Kincade said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You think you can do that for me, John?"

"Aye, Sir. No problems with that," John replied.

"Then go to them and let them know we intend to start something. Don't get caught," Kincade added needlessly.