“Right. Just like you decided to cut your beard all by yourself, isn't that right? Nothing more than that.”
Naomi laughed. “Ah, I missed hanging out with you all every day, virtual reality or not.”
Shane smiled, then looked over at Bryan. “Unfortunately, we don't.”
“That's a pity. What are you stuck with?”
Shane quickly gave him a rundown.
“That's what it always is, isn't it?” Naomi said. “Someone just happens to forget to mention something, and they expect you to go along with it without any questions asked.
“That's what I though,” Shane said. “I didn't like it either.”
“You're not the only one,” Kelvin said. “You sure you guys don't want to come back? Because we can trust you not to jerk us around.”
“We'll pass for now, thanks. Unless things change dramatically,” Bryan said.
Shane decided to pursue that line of thought. “But if they did change, would you be willing to come back?”
“What are you planning on, fighting a one man war against the guild?”
“Well technically it would be three men and one women,” Bailey said.
“Look at you being pedantic.”
“I try.”
Bryan smiled. “OK. To be honest, if there were changes then yes, I'd be willing to come back.”
“I would too,” Naomi said. “But right now I really don't see them happening. There's been too many changes, and it's wishful thinking to believe that things can just go back to the way things were.”
“I think that too,” Kelvin said. “But there's no reason why we can't make it into something different that'll be a lot more open for other people.”
“What are you thinking, another alliance attempt?”
“I don't know what we're thinking to be honest,” Shane said. “But I don't want to just give up either. The world was too much fun to just let it go. And in some ways it's still fun. It's challenging. I know it might not be for everyone, but there's still things I like about it.”
“Well then, I'll wish you luck, at least,” Bryan said. “And I think I might have an idea about how you can get out of your current mess.”
“Really?”
He shrugged. “Maybe it'll work, maybe not. There's no telling if you don't try.”
Shane listened with interest as Bryan detailed the plan.
Log in
The group met up in Kromus the next evening. Shane noticed their guide kept her face concealed. Come to think of it, she hadn't said her name either. Was that just a coincidence, or was she so concerned about her anonymity that she wouldn't even trust her allies with that information?
At any rate, they had a mission to accomplish. Shane found a secluded spot in the safe zone where they couldn't be spied on and detailed the plan to others.
“That's going to be a tough one,” Gordon said.
“But it's possible, yes? Alex showed me the manifest before we left. There's nothing in there that we absolutely can't afford to lose. I mean, we don't want to just throw away the cargo, but we might not have a choice. Unless there's another reason why we have to get it back to port.”
Gordon didn't respond.
“There's another reason for that, isn't there?” Shane said. “We're smuggling something important for them. Fine. That's not a big deal, expect for the fact that we're going to be sailing a huge ship that we can't even disguise. They'll know we're aboard, and once they board us they'll tear it apart.”
“We don't have a choice.”
“Then what's so important that we can't afford to lose?”
Gordon paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “Fine. You're persistent, aren't you?”
“Because I don't like stumbling around without a plan, and I can't make one if I don't have all the information. So what is it?”
“It's a prototype mechanism, or rather, the blueprints for one. The guild that discovered it found it in the mountains northwest of Arnel, but they had no use for it. Our friends had a connection with them, though, and they took some interest in it as well. And they were willing to share it with us as long as we got it back safely.”
“If it's plans-”
“They're inside the ship,” their guide said. “As soon as we go to retrieve them the guild is going to follow us. Even if we go back to the station they'll continue to follow us all the way back to Beylan.”
“Any chance of us being able to get out into the wilds and get aboard a ship in one of the isolated bays?” Kelvin said. He was one of the few others not on watch duty.
“Then they'll have a chance to kill us,” Gordon said. “And that's not even accounting for all the wild animals and monsters out there.”
“I'd rather not take my chances with that,” Shane agreed.
He thought about Bryan's suggestion some more. Abandoning the cargo seemed like the best option at this point, but if what their guide said was true they might have no choice but to sail the ship out into the open ocean. Their only other choice was to grab the blueprint, go back to Beylan by rail and then somehow hope the enemy wasn't able to follow them back to their headquarters. Even if they tried to lay low for a few days the Iron Guild had more than enough members to keep spies looking for them around the clock.
He thought about just leaving the city without what they came for, but the other members of Rho didn't seem like they were willing to do that, and Shane wouldn't compromise the mission like that. If they were going to try then they needed as many hands as possible, because if they failed there was no escaping the aftermath.
But as he thought a possibility popped into his head, and Shane began wondering if it might be worth trying. They had to get the blueprint, and they needed to get out of the city without being followed, or at least without the enemy being able to identify them. The railway would be difficult, and the sea lane still very dangerous, but…
“I have an idea,” he said. “But we're going to need to get to the telegraph office. We need to get a message back to HQ.”
“You think you have a workable plan?” Gordon asked.
“I think it's crazy, truth be told,” Shane said. “I also think it might be our only shot at pulling this off.”
Chapter Nine
The eyes were upon them. Dozens. Scores. Even a single pair was enough to tip off the enemy and send them swarming toward the ship. They couldn't do anything as long as it remained in the harbor safe zone, but after it departed…
Brandon tried to ignore the feeling as they went to work prepping the vessel for departure, but his unease only grew. If they had to flee from pursuing ships he wasn't sure he liked their chances. They'd be sailing aboard a cargo vessel, built for lugging goods rather than speed or agility. He hadn't seen the engines, but he imagined that even powerful ones would have trouble moving this much bulk, especially with a full hold.
They weren't going to be able to fight off the enemy unless they got very lucky either, because the ship only carried a single gun mounted on a swivel turret at the stern of the ship. That at least meant they could shoot at their pursuers while fleeing, but it was a steam cannon. Every shot fired would siphon off precious steam power from the boiler, energy that the engines needed.
And to top it off they had to go through a single narrow channel heading southeast and then turning southwest before leading out into the open ocean. If they somehow made it through they'd have room to maneuver, but that mean covering a large amount of distance while exposed to enemy attack. Brandon suspected that the enemy would have already telegraphed their comrades in Beylan and would send more ships to blockade the end of the channel.
He didn't know what the blueprint was for, but they tended to be valuable enough to risk entire fleets. If the Iron Guild knew about it then they'd almost certainly do everything in their power to get their hands on it. Brandon and the rest of the crew might be in for a very long night.
They did have a plan, but he wasn't sure it would work. Shane tried to
seem confident, but Brandon had been around him long enough to see through the ruse. He had serious misgivings about their chances of success, that much was clear. But he still insisted on the plan.
And that unsettled him the most. To chose such a risky path knowing very well that a single mistake could lead to catastrophe spoke volumes about their current situation. Shane insisted on the plan because it was their best chance of succeeding. And the fact that they were essentially pinning their hopes on nothing more than a gamble made it even more clear.
“Engine room says they're ready,” Kelvin called to him from further toward the stern.
Brandon gave him a thumbs up and began to untie the ropes holding them at the dock. They had two miles to get out of the harbor and get up to speed. He was sure that the enemy would follow them out, maybe at a distance at first, but if they were using the standard patrol cutter they'd be able to catch up fairly quickly.
Would they try to sink them, or would the guild troops try to board them and recover the blueprint? The cargo ship had plenty of space for enemy ships to pull alongside, and while getting from one moving ship to another was dangerous, it wasn't impossible. A skilled helmsman could keep their ship even with an enemy, and the faster vessels had the initiative. The larger ship couldn't outrun them, so the patrol cutters only needed to maintain a constant speed to stay even with the cargo vessel.
Brandon glanced up at the crow's nest on top of the pilothouse, where he had placed the steam rifle and his ammunition belt. By some stroke of luck he had selected a weapon with a rudimentary telescopic scope, allowing him to snipe. He hadn't shot very much from moving vessels, but at least it gave them a way to strike back.
“That's the last one!” he called down to Kelvin.
“Last one for me as well,” his comrade replied with another thumbs up. Kelvin faced the pilothouse and made a hand-signal toward it. “Let's just hope they can get along up there.”
“Why, do you really think they're going to fight?”
“I get the impression that Shane isn't terribly happy with Gordon's leadership, and there might be a little conflict about how he's helming the ship. But what do I know?”
“Should one of us go up there?” Brandon said. “I get why he might feel that way, but now really isn't the time to do something like that.”
He saw the funnels belch black smoke and heard the engines rumbling. The ship slowly pulled away from the dock and headed out of the harbor. They'd be in open water soon enough.
“I don't think it should be too much of a problem, but you know what? I'll head up to make sure,” Kelvin said. “I'm the navigator, so I should be up there anyhow. You've got your own things to worry about.”
Brandon glanced toward the docks, wondering how many of them would be following them out. Keeping their lights off would give them a bit of concealment in the dark, but it was hard to completely hide a large vessel like this.
“I guess I'd better get to my post too,” he said.
At the very least he needed to get to a position where he could track the enemy. And who knew what he might be able to do with a lucky shot in the right place? At this point that kind of gamble was as good as any.
“This is completely crazy,” Gordon said, standing at the helm as the cargo ship pulled out of the harbor.
Shane shrugged. “Yeah, no kidding. But if we want to get away without tipping them off this is the only practical way I can think of.”
“We're going to have to replace the cargo.”
“We're willing to take a loss,” their guide said, “but we need to get something back.”
“This should be worth that cost. The blueprint, I mean. What's it for?”
“A prototype.”
“I know that. I mean, what is the prototype for?”
“That's secret.”
Shane groaned. “You know, keeping secrets like this from the rest of the group causes problems, especially when we have to come up with another plan. And you know why that is? Because no one knows what the heck is going on.”
“Information needs to be kept safe,” Gordon argued.
“Yes, yes it does. That I agree with. But there's a certain point where keeping secrets doesn't do anything to hurt your and ends up hurting your cause. And do you really not trust us at this point? We've had more than enough time to sell you out.”
“I get what you're saying. I don't like it any better than you do, but it pays to be careful. That's the only way Rho has managed to avoid the Iron Guild's attention for this long.”
“It might also be why you haven't been able to do much good,” Shane pointed out. “All the knowledge in the world does you little good if you're the only ones that know it. And we're just a small guild at this point.”
“There are others,” the woman in the hood said.
Shane glanced at her. “You know, you haven't bothered to tell us your name or show your face. Is there a reason for that?”
“To keep prying eyes away.”
“The rest of us did that by using our face-masks. Not by pulling our entire hoods over our heads. How do we even know that you're actually affiliated with our contact?”
“She checks out,” Gordon said.
“And once again I have no way of knowing that, because no one bothers to tell me any of these important little details. I'm wondering why I got sent on this mission if you don't even trust us with that. Or why Kelvin and Brandon came along, for that matter.”
Gordon shrugged. “I thought it was unusual too. And I wouldn't have sent new members on a mission like this. But Alex overruled me because you're all experienced players, and he seems to trust you.”
“At least there's someone,” he grumbled.
“Be fair, you haven't been in the guild for very long. Can you really blame us for being wary? One wrong move is going to bring the Iron Guild smashing down on us.”
“No. No, I suppose not,” Shane said. “If-”
The sound of the pilothouse door opening distracted him. Shane glanced over his shoulder to see Kelvin step in.
“Come to join us?” he said.
“Yeah, boiler crew is set, Brandon is on lookout duty, and I guess that leaves me up here doing navigator stuff.”
“We're going to try to stick to the southern shore of the channel,” Gordon said.
“Right, but make sure we don't get hemmed in too badly. Otherwise this isn't going to work. We don't want to screw up our escape route,” Kelvin said. “I assume that you're going to be the one helming the ship.”
“I will be.”
“It's fine,” Shane said. “I'm here as the backup helmsman, in case something goes wrong.”
He didn't like the way the pilothouse had been designed, at least for their purposes tonight. It had tall, wide windows, and even with most of the lights turned off it would be easy to spot their outlines. A sniper might be able to pick them off with a good shot. Shane knew it would be difficult, but the mere possibility unsettled him.
Everything about this mission seemed to be going wrong, but Shane didn't want to wonder if it could possibly get worse. He wasn't terribly superstitious, but even that seemed like tempting fate to him.
At this point he could only hope their gamble would pay off.
Brandon watched the enemy ships approach through his scope, keeping their distance as the cargo vessel moved through the safe zone surrounding the harbor and into relatively open water. Would they attack in the exclusion zone, or would they wait to pounce once they were completely vulnerable?
As far as he was concerned, they'd probably wait. If Brandon put himself in the place of the enemy commander then he'd probably think they could bide their time. They had at least four ships, and even if they didn't want to risk sinking their vessel the enemy had more than enough speed to do whatever they wanted.
He imagined they'd herd the ship toward one of the shorelines, trying to hem them in so they couldn't maneuver. Once they had the cargo ship trapped the Iron Guild troops would
probably board them.
Or they might try to sneak boarding parties riding smaller boats, because getting too close might pose a serious danger. If the cargo ship swerved it was big enough to do serious damage with its sheer bulk, though it would harm itself in the process. But did the enemy commander want to gamble with that when faced with a desperate foe?
It all depended on what they knew, Brandon mused. If they just thought they were intercepting a smuggler they might be less inclined to take risk. A single shipment wasn't enough to lose one or more ships over, even a large one like this. Even the quantity of goods this vessel could bring in was a mere trickle in the grand scheme of the market.
But if the enemy knew they had the blueprint…
He didn't need to know what it was for to know that the Iron Guild would do anything to get their hands on it. The free crafting system allowed players to explore almost infinite possibilities, but blueprints could help to focus that imagination in a direction that might not have occurred to them. And it gave them workable plans the could use immediately, while the free crafting system often necessitated hours of experimentation, and often resulted in several failures before anything productive was discovered.
That probably meant the enemy would be careful. They wouldn't want to risk hitting the ship with gunfire, especially if it might be carrying something volatile in the hold. And with their superior speed, they didn't need to shoot it up. They had the initiative, and they could use it to dictate the battle. In the enemy's mind the only real danger was the possibility of being rammed by a desperate crew.
Brandon looked through the scope again and then checked to make sure his weapon was ready. It might not be much against a ship, but he'd do everything he could to make the enemy's job more difficult.
Now they just needed to wait.
Kelvin didn't need binoculars to see how many enemy ships were following them. But as he looked down at the map and then cross-referenced it with the one in his guidebook he noticed something unusual.
“They're not following us closely. And we're past the exclusion zone line,” he said. “There's got to be a reason for that.”
Rising Tide: A LitRPG Novel (Age of Steam Book 1) Page 9
