“Cut us into it?” Twila tilted her head and stared at the pirate. “We have the ship and the crew, and we already know where he’ll be. If anything, we’re cutting you into our plan.”
Rackham laughed and took a long, long draw from his mug, emptying it. “I don’t think you have a plan. I think Lady Fortune is all that let you cross my path, and you’re trying to profit from her luck. No, you two don’t have anything to offer me. I’m done here.”
He stood up to leave and set a coin on the table. Twila looked back and forth between him and Rosie. There had to be a way to keep him at the table.
To her surprise, though, Rosie had a grin on her face. “Mister Rackham, sit back down. We do have something you want. But first, let us buy you and drink so you can hear Twila out on what she needs. We’ve got a crewmate who needs saving, and we can’t leave until she’s free.”
“Ah, more reasonable. Barkeep! Another for me!” Rackham sat back down and put his feet up on the table. “Tell me about your little rescue mission, girlies.”
Twila nodded and opened her mouth before Rosie shot her a look. She nodded again. “One of our crewmates is going to get caught by the Gibson Company tomorrow—er, the day after. We’re trying to figure out how to get her back before they get up to Fort Blackstone because our ship can’t attack it. She’ll be here, in the tavern, when she’s caught. We’re going to ambush the Marines and get her back. Then we’ll sail to Broken Rock and…hunt down Vayne.”
The beer arrived. Rackham drank from his stein but stopped before he finished. “Alright. Any why should I help you rats with that?”
“Because we have Vayne’s map,” Rosie said without hesitating. “The whole map.”
The pirate barely got his head around to spit beer into the tavern’s wall. “How do you know about the map?” He whispered.
Twila grinned. “That’s our business. We’ll let you see it if you help us, though. You can even take notes if you can write.”
Rackham held up his mug. “Agreed. Smooth skies.”
“Uh, swift engines?” Rosie guessed. She held up her watered ale, and they slammed their drinks together.
“Since we’re allies now, rats, I’m James Rackham, formerly of the Endeavor.” He drank the rest of his beer. “Now, pay, and let’s see this ship of yours.”
----------------------------------------
“Why is he here?” Carter pointed a thumb at Rackham. The pirate rocked back and forth as he lay in a hammock, tossing a knife up in the air and catching it. “He’s sea scum. I don’t trust him, and we can do this alone. Besides, you-know-what is too big of a secret to let just anyone in on. You can trust us, of course. But you don’t even know him.”
Twila rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Carter was right. Rackham couldn’t know about [Anton’s Pocket Watch] and the Silver Engine. “Get in here,” she said, grabbing Carter’s hand and dragging him into her cabin.
“Oh? Finally made an impression on you, have I? It’s been a long time since the skywright’s shop back home, but I’m up for a date any time.”
“No!” She glared at him. “We need a plan to hide our hops from Rackham. Get Rosie.”
“Alright, alright." Carter disappeared, returning only a few seconds later with the one-eyed Rosie.
“Alright, Rackham’s with us. He might have some good ideas for winning a fight with the Marines. But we need to make sure he’s not aware when we hop. Either forward or backward. How do we do that?” Twila asked.
“That’s easy. We hop at night both times,” Rosie said. “After he’s asleep. Or if he doesn’t sleep, we get him drunk.”
“No! We can’t delay our hops anymore. We’ve already wasted two. We only have a few more chances to save Auntie Charlie,” Twila said.
“No, Twi, I think Rosie’s right here,” Carter interrupted. He started counting on his fingers, flicking them up and down as he did. “It’ll be a bit riskier. We’ll have to take care of ourselves and the Hourglass for a few hours after we get Charlie, but we wouldn’t lose any hops.”
“Alright. We hop at night, then. Someone’s going to have to stay up to do it,” Twila said.
“Not me,” Rosie yawned. Carter shook his head rapidly.
“Fine. I guess it’s me,” Twila said.
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“Skipper, can we talk to you?”
“Privately?”
Twila hoisted herself up from where she was tinkering with Old Bitch’s Kid. Sam and Ellie were waiting for her in the rat’s nest. They scooted over as best they could, jostling each other to make room for their skipper. Eventually, Sam ended up half on top of Ellie.
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“Sorry, Sis.”
“I’d push you off, but then I’d have to do your work.”
“Stop, you two. What do you need?” Twila crossed her arms over her chest. Even with the two ex-pirate rats crammed on one side, the rat’s nest wasn’t big enough for three kids.
“You tell her, Ellie!”
“Okay,” Ellie said. “Rackham. Why’s he here? He’s nothing but trouble. Even Vayne could barely keep him under control. Why do you think he wasn’t with the ship in the cave? He’s a loose cannon on the deck, crashing into stuff without a purpose.”
Twila nodded slowly. “He’s here because Vayne’s still out there. He’s probably looking for a way to the treasure, and Rackham knows Vayne well.”
“Yeah, sure, but don’t trust him. He’ll absolutely betray you.” Sam said. “And he might not have betrayed Vayne yet, either. He’s the slipperiest pirate from the Endeavor, including Vayne himself. But he’s never crossed Vayne before—at least not while we were with him. I’m not saying he won’t be useful. But be careful.”
“I will,” Twila promised, crossing her heart. “We have a plan, and we might even be able to get rid of him when we’re done. We could, uh, leave him in the past and hop away. If he doesn’t know what hopping does, he might not notice.”
Ellie nodded as Sam started to climb back up into the hold. “Whatever you do, just don’t underestimate Rackham. If you give him half a chance, he’ll take the Hourglass and cut you loose on some abandoned island.” She climbed away and disappeared.
Twila shrugged. Then she got back to work on Old Bitch’s Kid.
----------------------------------------
Rosie tiptoed onto the deck and scurried over to where Twila stood on the helm. She yawned, and Twila echoed her a moment later. “He’s finally asleep,” the one-eyed ship rat said.
“How much booze did you have to give him?”
“You don’t want to know. Let’s just get out of here, okay, Twi?” Rosie gestured at the ship’s wheel. [Anton’s Pocket Watch] was already in its slot.
“Alright. Keep an eye on him. He should be out, but just in case…” Twila took a deep breath.
Then she pushed the pocket watch in. Ticks filled the air, and her vision went purple. The ship stopped moving for a moment while the condenser shoved myst into the boiler. Then her vision cleared, and she pushed the Hourglass back to ‘Ahead Half.’
“All good down below. Mister Rackham has no idea what’s going on,” Rosie whispered from the stairs. “He’s too drunk to do more than roll out of his hammock, even if he was awake.”
“Good. Get below and make sure the engines don’t overwork. I’m not worried since the refit, but eyes help.”
“You sure, Twila? I could use some sleep.”
“Yes, I’m sure.” Twila cocked her head. Something didn’t sound right. It sounded like too many engines. She looked behind and above. Then she started shouting. “All ship rats and passengers, man your weapons! Prepare for a fight! Rosie, get them moving!”
A familiar-looking airship plunged down at them, cannons out.
[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level .91 (Myst 1/12, Hit Points 1/2)]
[Head - Empty]
[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]
[Chest - Platejack Coat (lvl. 2) Plated Coat (passive) +1 Hit Point]
[Waist - Apprentice Mystgineer’s Bandolier (lvl. 1) Deep Pockets (passive) - Equip an additional Gizmo]
[Legs - Canvas Overalls (lvl. 0)]
[Gizmo #1 - Loaded Dice (lv. 2) - Roll the Bones (active, 1 myst/roll) - gain a random myst enhancement; Skill - Trickery]
[Gizmo #2 - Anton’s Pocket Watch (lvl. 4) Redo (active, 5 myst/5 seconds) - redo the last five seconds of time, with knowledge of what’s happening (1 minute to reset); Skill - Piloting]
[Gizmo #3 - Nola’s Embrace (lvl 2) Unknown Effect]
[Gizmo (Belt) - Mystwork Lantern (lvl. 2): Mystlight (active, 25% failure chance, 1 myst/attempt) - start the light; Adjustable Light Aura (sustained, .5-2 myst/tick) - light a variable area; Skill - Perception]
[Myst Battery - Condensing Battery Mk. 2 (lvl. 1) Myst Storage (passive) - 12 myst maximum, requires condenser to refill; Condense Myst (passive) - Condenses 1 myst/6 ticks]
[Weapon/Pair - Anton’s Paired Pistols (lvl. 2) Smoothbore Myst-Shot (active, 1 cartridge/shot) - fire a ray of heated myst; Rapid Shots (active, 2 myst/shot) - fire twice/tick; Skill - Marksman]
[Weapon #2 - Heatblade (lvl. 2) Heat (active, 1 myst/tick) - cause the blade’s edge to superheat; Skill - Acrobatics]
[Weapon/Pair - Empty]
[Skill #1 - Trickery 2]
[Skill #2 - Perception 2]
[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]
[Skill #4 - Marksman 2]
[Skill #5 - Acrobatics 2]