ACCUSATIONS

“I have never been treated so disgracefully in all my life!”

We were down below the main deck in the dining area known as the crew’s mess, which seemed an accurate description of the substances they served in place of normal food. The benches and the long wooden table were bolted to the floor, the ship rolling as it traveled through the storm raging outside. Captain Yardley and several of his crewmen sat on one side of the table, while my grandfather, flanked by Mr. Stephens and Catherwood, were sitting on the other. My three half-blood friends were braced against the wall behind them.

Je’kyll was sitting on the end next to me, Rune and Dame Kerry behind us. The Koncava sat against the wall with her head over a stained, wooden bucket, and even though Je’kyll and I tried convincing her to go back to the passenger cabins, she only shook her head and remained where she was.

Now, as the ship dipped down into a trough and back up again, my grandfather leaned forward with both of his empty hands flat on the table. “Neither have I, sir. A ship’s captain ready to give up a young man without even a quibble? What did you think, that I would just stand by and let him be kidnapped?”

“Did you think bringing a firearm aboard my ship would have no repercussions? The moment we reach New York, the Port Authorities shall be notified-”

“Begging your pardon,” Drog said, interrupting, “but it’s one of your lads what gave me the gun. He told me you weren’t gonna put up a fight because you aren’t a brave soul.”

“We wouldn’t have given up Jon until we were dead,” Baroda growled.

Dame Kerry called out, “I like your guts-” The last word ended in retching as she put her face over the bucket again.

“Gentlemales,” Je’kyll called out, everyone looking our direction as he continued, “while we can continue to argue this point, there is a more pressing concern to consider. How did this Captain Ivy find us in the first place?”

“We are using a commonly employed shipping lane,” Captain Yardley retorted. “Doubtless they were making a sweep, and we happened to be unlucky enough for the ship to find us. What I want to know is why your half-breed lurker there is trying to implicate a member of my crew for something he obviously did.”

“I’m no liar,” Drog shot back, his eyes narrowing as his fists clenched. “It was an older human, not one of these young pups you’ve got working while you sit on your arse.”

“None of us would lie to Mr. Goldspear,” Goro added.

“All of you Orku lie at the drop of a hat,” Captain Yardley threw back at him. “I would not trust one of you any farther than I could hang you.”

My grandfather had his hand on the revolver in his coat pocket as a male voice said in a sharp tone, “Captain Yardley, before you dig yourself any deeper, sir, I was the one who was ordered to give the revolver to Mr. Goldspear.”

We turned to see the first mate, a grey bearded man with a pot belly, duck his head as he walked into the room. Captain Yardley gaped at him. “You gave him the pistol?” The older man nodded, and the captain said, “On what authority?”

I realized the first mate had a second revolver in his hand. “On authority of Mr. Vanderbilt, who owns this ship.”

“Cornelius Vanderbilt?” My grandfather asked. “The Union millionaire?”

The first mate shook his head. “Not him, sir, but his son, the one they call Corneal. When he got wind of the kidnapping attempt on Mr. Goldspear’s grandson, and that the strangest airship anyone’s ever seen was spotted near Glasgow, he put both of them together and messaged me to do whatever it took to keep Jonathan out of harm’s way. Including arming Mr. Goldspear.”

Captain Yardley was growing pale. “But the safety of the ship, the crew and passengers…”

He trailed off as the first mate shook his head. “Mr. Vanderbilt said young Jonathan’s safety had to come first. Told me if he arrived in one piece, there’s a hefty bonus in it for everyone.”

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“But… why was I not told any of this?”

The first officer hesitated. “He ordered me not to. Called you a ‘chicken heart’ and told me that, if it looked like we were going to be boarded, to take command and arm both the crew and whoever I could of the passengers to fend off any kidnapping attempts.”

Captain Yardley’s face became flushed. “How dare he? That man is no Vanderbilt; he is a never-do-well man of four outs: out of wit, out of credit, out of money, and out of manners.” He turned towards my grandfather. “His father had him committed for insanity.”

“I heard the story from Corneal’s own lips,” my grandfather said, his face relaxing as he took his hand away from his pocket. “When he was younger, Corneal sailed as a deckhand aboard one of my trading ships traveling around Cape Horn, heading for San Francisco. He took his wages there and lost them to gambling, eventually embarrassing his father so badly that the commodore thought Corneal to be mentally unstable. Once he got himself free of the institution, Corneal eventually came over to England on another of my ships, then charmed his way into meeting me.” Grandfather chuckled. “Never-do-well actually sums him up, captain. I am surprised Corneal has not gambled away your ship.”

“He has a business partner,” Captain Yardley admitted, the flush leaving his face as he took several deep breaths. “The male is an Eldarion from the Olde Norse Empire, a Master Aran.”

“Aran the Spider?” I glanced back at Rune as he raised his snow-white eyebrows for a moment. “He’s close to the Olde Norse emperor, Ja.”

“Aran’s the Eldarion who Emperor Sargon uses to turn humans into monsters for the Ragnarök games,” Dame Kerry said.

She looked pale and I asked, “Are you better?”

Je’kyll got up and walked over to the galley where the cook was standing, as Dame Kerry grimaced. “There’s nothing left in my bloody stomach, if that’s what you mean.”

“Men into monsters? You cannot be serious,” Captain Yardley said to her as expressions of disquiet grew on the faces of most everyone else, including mine. “The creation of such things was outlawed during the Enlightenment. Cromwell crushed the last holdouts in the seventeenth century, as did the rest of the civilized world.”

Rune snorted. “Ja, you keep believing that. The empire regulates it, but there’s still a few cults dedicated to the old Norse gods that practice those rituals, don’t ya know.”

“Likewise in the British empire,” my grandfather remarked, “as well as in France and the German Confederation. The government keeps knowledge of them quiet and actively roots them out. Fortunately, the younger Eldarions do not go in for such things anymore, and the cults are fading as the older Eldarions who keep them going die off.”

“I know nothing of monsters,” Captain Yardley said. “I only know that Master Aran is in New York arranging trade between the Vanderbilt corporate interests and the Olde Norse Empire. In fact, he has become a bridge between the Commodore and his son, the elder Vanderbilt seeing Master Aran as a positive influence.”

Je’kyll came back over and crouched down next to Dame Kerry, giving her a glass bottle labeled, ‘Crystallized Ginger’, and whispering instructions as my grandfather said, “So, it looks like I have Corneal to thank for Jonathan’s safety. Any chance of meeting him in New York so I can do so in person?”

“Actually, sir,” the First Mate said, “he said to tell you that the expedition’s being put up at the Glenham hotel while all your luggage and gear is transferred over to a different ship, one more heavily armed.”

Captain Yardley stiffened. “I was contracted to take the expedition all the way to Campeche City.”

The older man sighed. “Captain, we should talk about this in your cabin-”

“No, we will speak of it now. My contract specifically states that-”

“You don’t have a contract, sir. Not anymore. He said that once we reach New York, Mr. Vanderbilt’s going to give you the chance to resign, with a glowing letter of recommendation, but if you fight him, you’ll be, ah, ‘out on your arse’, is how he put it.”

Captain Yardley’s face turned so red with his blood vessels popping out, I wondered if something would burst. “Out on my arse? We will see about that,” he snarled as he struggled to get off the bench. Then he stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

The First Mate made an apologetic gesture with his hands. “Sorry about that, sir. Once the captain realizes Mr. Vanderbilt’s not going to talk to him, he should calm down.” He sighed again. “Captain Yardley’s a good man. But he’s swimming in waters deeper than he can handle, if you catch my meaning, sir.”

“I do, indeed. Now, do you think we will have any more trouble with air pirates, or anything else?”

He shook his head. “Don’t think so, sir. I’ve already changed our course, so if she follows the route Captain Yardley registered in Glasgow, she’ll never spot us. Plus, once the storm lets up and the Terramagica messaging unit’s not blocked by lightning, the Union’s got a small airship of their own that will lock onto our signal and escort us. Mr. Vanderbilt says they’ve been working on a secret engine they’re itching to try out in actual combat.”

“Just keep us on a course that avoids any more unpleasantness, and we will all be content.”

The First Mate touched two fingers to his brow. “I’ll do my best, sir.

He was as good as his word. Once we passed through the storm, the Union airship, a sloop modified with pontoons resembling the ones on the Wendy’s Revenge, met us on the following morning. We had no further trouble all the way to the docks of New York.

Poor Captain Yardley did not calm down, I fear, but raised such a fuss to the Maritime Board that an investigation was scheduled to be launched… until he died under mysterious circumstances and the matter was dropped. However, The Sun, a New York newspaper, picked up on the story (after discovering Corneal was involved), and the subsequent scandal precipitated a decline in the young man’s fortunes soon after.