“They’re striking the colors, skipper!” Bill yelled. Sure enough, the heavily-laden, rot-hulled sloop they’d ambushed was lowering its Ludya Principalities flags.
“Good, we’ll be boarding soon! Ship rats, keep your guns on that wheel, and we’ll have a brand new ship soon enough!” [Sky Captain] Vayne shouted as he steered the little ship’s boat to the old sloop. As soon as they’d drawn aside, his ship rats threw lines and hopped across to tie the boat, and the take-over began.
The boat’s mounted musket stayed trained on the bigger ship’s wheel as Vayne’s remaining rats, Bill–the last of his old crew he still had–and he himself quickly boarded and herded the ship’s crew together.
“Gentlemen, thank you for the quick surrender. We be men of fortune, and we’ve had the good fortune to run across you today. Fear not, though. Your quick surrender has saved your lives. Rats, keep your guns on the crew. Bill, guard the helm. Who be the skipper of this fine vessel?”
A man stepped forward, one of only a few on board, and more well-dressed than the others. “I am. The Harpy’s Wing is a courier under the protection of the Prince of Brelven. I must protest this takeover! The prince will–”
Vayne threw his arm over the man’s shoulder. “Sir, sir, you misunderstand. Take me to your cabin, and have one of your ship rats serve us up a meal. We’ll talk it over.” He shoved the man, then guided him back toward the skipper’s cabin.
In the cabin, the man started to protest again. At least, he did until Vayne pulled a pistol on him. “You have a choice for you and your crew. We can sit down for a nice meal here in your cabin and talk about the cargo you be carrying, where you intend to take my ship’s boat when I let you go, and what attention my ship be needing from my ship rats. Or we can start tossing your crew overboard. Which’ll it be?”
The skipper–no, former skipper–of the Harpy’s Wing mulled it over. Then he sat down, looking dejected. “We’re transporting copper ore. Twenty tons of it. It was going to Shimmertower, but you’ll never sell it there.”
“Oh, I think I will. Now, what be your name, skipper?”
“Lenfield,” the former skipper said.
“Well, Lenfield, they won’t be knowing me from you–you’re not flying the Gibson Company flag, so you’re not their man. I’ll be Lenfield for the sale. Then I’ll sail your Harpy’s Wing off to Broken Rock, and we’ll get her refit. They be good at that, there. She’ll have a new name, new lines, and be unrecognizable. Now, what’s special about your little harpy?
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Vayne stared Lenfield in the eye unblinkingly as the former skipper fidgeted and tried to break eye contact. After a minute, he cocked his pistol, and the man returned to locking eyes. As a ship rat brought in food, Lenfield started talking. “The port engine is finicky at ‘Ahead Half’ and above. Many sloops have that problem in one engine or another. It’s best to drop anchor in a strong wind–the rudder catches and flops. She's plenty fast with the wind behind her, though, and she can carry more’n it looks like.”
“Good, good.” Vayne took a bite of hardtack. “You don’t be eating well, do ye? Now, here’s what you’ll be doing. I will cut you loose on the ship’s boat, with enough food and water to make it to Three Peaks–but only there. Of course, you’ll be raising the alarm, and I don’t blame you. I’ll be long gone by the time that happens, but you’ll know I spared your life and those of your crew. Agreed?”
Lenfield stared at the pistol in Vayne’s hand, and Vayne knew the former skipper was weighing his options. At last, he nodded. “Agreed.”
The two men ate in silence. When they finished, Vayne gestured toward the door with his gun. “We’ll be telling your crew now. Up and out we go.”
Back on the Harpy’s Wing’s deck, Vayne stood tall. “Bill, ship rats, the good Skipper Lenfield here has graciously traded us his ship and cargo in return for our boat. Transfer enough food and water to return to Three Peaks and prepare the boat.”
“As for you former ship rats and crewmates aboard the Harpy’s Wing, I have a proposition. If you be joining my crew, I’ll offer a deal. A full share in the treasure we find. I’ll take five shares, and Bill will take three as quartermaster. All you have to do is stay aboard when your skipper departs, follow orders, and forsake your law-abiding lives, and you can be rich.”
As Lenfield’s crew tore itself in two, Vayne allowed his mind to drift to the girl who’d called herself a skipper. He’d been beaten at his moment of triumph–just as he’d had Kerr’s fortune. How had she found the mystmaze, much less navigated it so quickly? And who was the woman in the sling, who’d fought like an expert with only one hand?
It didn’t matter. In that case, he’d have to get lucky to get the treasure–the map fragment he’d won at dice held no more clues. But he could rebuild quickly. He’d done it before, and soon, the Harpy’s Wing would be a proper pirate sloop. One with guns, better engines, and a few contraptions. Then he could hunt his fellow pirates, those who’d taken a pardon, those who’d disappeared.
And anyone who’d served on the Silent Skipper or who’d met someone who’d sailed with Kerr. He’d need them alive, of course.
He’d figure out how to open the treasure room. And he’d retire as the wealthiest pirate since Kerr himself. But first, he’d hunt down that ship, the Hourglass. He’d take her and turn her into a proper pirate–maybe she’d be his flagship, and the Harpy’s Wing would go to a loyal crewmate like Bill. He’d press any ship rats aboard into his crew, of course. But he’d watch the woman and the girl–Twila Tighe–die first.
That he swore.