A loud and powerful voice blasted out in all three helmsmen’s minds, more profoundly than a deep-void klaxon roaring directly in front of them.

Against their will, the three helmsmen froze. Their bodies were unable to even twitch. Jishin’s brain felt like it was in a vice. His eyes were starting to water from the pressure. He could still breathe, but anything else was out of the question.

When the command had come, the senior helmsman had been standing on two feet with both hands on the broken wing of an attack ship. Zurui and Amnaki weren’t quite so fortunate. Both had been caught between steps, and their unbalanced bodies tipped over with arms and legs sticking out at unnatural angles. Without choice, all three stayed that way, paralyzed, waiting for the stroke of death to follow...

“Oh shit! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! You can move! I didn’t break any of you... did I? Gods, I broke them, didn’t I?” The voice hurriedly spoke again in their minds, this time much less sure of itself. The controlling force and pressure in their brains immediately released.

That was only the beginning of Jishin realizing that the Fates and all the gods must be crazy!

*****

Sensing their thoughts and with no clue what was going on, Josh quickly read his interface notification.

New Mind-Attunement skill created.

Command: Invest 500 units of Essence with the Intent to control the actions of another spirit being of equal or lower Cultivation strength. Attempting to Command spirit beings of greater Cultivation strength and Attunement will have variable results. Increase your Cultivation to increase this Mind-Attuned skill.

Check your status for details.

Josh had also seen three trails of violet-colored Essence track out from the center of his mind toward the helmsmen’s, until he had hurriedly released the unprovoked attack in embarrassment.

The Clone had been right again. Mind Attunement wasn’t merely supportive. Skills could be gleaned from it.

Quickly checking his interface, Josh noted he was down 1500 Essence since his fight with Dezain. The new skill, it seemed, took five hundred per target.

Physical Health Status:

15000/15000 Spherical Cultivation units

Free Essence:

40500/36002 → 34502 Spherical Cultivation units

It also gave Josh some ideas for another Mind-Attuned skill he might be able to create... but that was for later. Right now, the helmsmen were calling out from below and he needed to salvage some respect for all four of them from this debacle.

“Begging your pardon, your lordship! We intend you and yours no harm!”

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The leader, Jishin, was speaking from a kneeling position with one hand extended like Romeo calling to Juliet on her balcony. The other two were prostrated. Their bodies quivering and foreheads touching the ground.

Josh cringed at seeing how far his first impression had slid from powerful statesmen deserving of respect to petty dictators taking candy from children.

How am I going to fix this?

Josh jumped from the platform and started trying to help them up to their feet. “That was my bad! Really, I apologize! Please get up. We’re all men here... sorry... so sorry!”

Still terrified, the two prostrate men only put their hands over their heads, lying flatter to the ground like dogs that knew they’d get beat when their master was in a particular mood.

Josh pulled his hands back and sat at eye level with Jishin. Even him, a man six inches taller and outweighing Josh by eighty pounds, was scared. Again, Josh tried to think of a way to remedy the current situation.

He just couldn’t...

Since returning to the Hegemon-4, his stress level had been as thick as Tammy Faye Bakker’s pancake makeup and now this... Three tough-as-nails pirate captains so terrified of him Josh couldn’t even get them off the floor!

It would be funny if... oh hell! It’s comical already, isn’t it?

Josh chuckled at that thought. Then he chuckled again, which turned into a growing laugh. His humor quickly devolved into a full-on belly laugh at the pure ridiculousness of the whole situation.

Josh gasped between laughs and shook an index finger at the three cowering in front of him. “Nelson Mandela, I am not!”

How ludicrous was it that Sen had sent him to deal with the political aspects of invading and blowing up a city-sized ship under the command of a Viking society of space pirates!?

Josh’s laughs continued.

After what seemed like an hour, but was only really about twenty seconds, Josh got a hold of himself. He looked at the stone-silent faces of the three men before him. Seeing that their expressions had changed from the fear of being smote by a callous despot to the pure Saw I-VI terror of being locked in a cage with an insane, homicidal lunatic, Josh curbed his manic enthusiasm. Or rather—he tried to.

Josh pointed at their expressions and started laughing all over again until the tears began to leak from his eyes.

Eventually, all good things must come to an end.

Like the cartoon character who started to scream as he fell from an impossible height and ran out of breath while still falling to unknown depths and started to read War and Peace while waiting for the bottom to finally show up... the three helmsmen in front of Josh could only be petrified in fear of a man who had apologized profusely and was now sitting on his bum in front of them, laugh-crying for just—so long.

When Josh came back to himself, all three had already joined him sitting on the ground.

“I really am sorry, fellas, but it’s been a really long couple of months and, gods, I needed that!” He bobbed his head and looked all three in the eyes.

All three looked ready to get down to business. It was obvious having their nerves completely seared numb by an unprovoked mental assault and then being forced to endure his lunatic emotional display had cut down on their need for small talk.

Still smiling, Josh addressed Jishin and got down to business himself. “My friends and I will be leaving momentarily. How can I help you three before we do that?”

With the dry swallow of a man who realized the only way out was through, Jishin dipped his head in respect and spoke. “Apologies for disturbin’ yer lordship’s... business aboard. I’m Jishin Shiruba, the most senior helmsman of this Brigantine. During conflict, the Kaizuko charter demands the administrative command, that be us three helmsmen, attempt to negotiate for the return of any captured battle leaders. Are you and yours willing to return Danshoku Dezain to us for the Kotei’s ransom?”

Hearing Dezain mentioned, Josh’s face hardened a bit at the reminder of the detestable acts that had brought him here. He pointed over his shoulder in the direction he had come from.

“If you mean that fecalith that was beating my friend to death. No...” Josh raised his eyes under his brows and then spit to the side to get the bad taste from just thinking about the human waste stain out of his mouth. “He’ll be coming with us for the rest of his short and miserable life. I don’t expect him to survive the experience.”

The tension left all three of the helmsmen at the same time.

Josh noted with approval that they really hadn’t wanted their commander back, they just needed to go through the motions to meet the pro-forma requirements of their job.

“If that is the case, milord, we surrender the ship and request asylum with the Hegemon-4 from the heretic you have captured. Until such’a time, Kotei Stuado can ransom us and the Brigantine back.”

The unmistakable tolling of Karma’s bell towers started to ring in Josh’s mind as Jishin said his next sentence.

“There is also the issue of your captive Dezain’s true master—a particularly nasty energy drainer known as Kyon Shi. He’s a risen undead affiliated with the Savoy Corporation who is en route as we speak. Lastly there is the issue of the fate of five thousand souls from the Caravel that was destroyed in the dustup with the Hegemon-4. Those who survive are our clansmen, and they will be dead in forty-one micro-gyras unless you help us save them, your lordship.”

With brows unconsciously furrowed at how quickly his plans for the rest of the day had been turned upside down. Josh said the most sensible thing he could think of.

“Wha-what?”

A second later, Josh’s brain reengaged, and he started asking very pointed questions. Questions Jishin was all too happy to answer.