Dexter peered into the void, trying to catch sight of the vessels against the backdrop of stars and planets so distant they were little more white dots. He turned to see Tasha watching him. She turned and nodded, looking off the port bow. Dexter followed her gaze, studying the scenery for nearly a full minute before he picked out the movement.
“That’s a ways off,” he said. “You sure they know we’re even here?”
“Can’t say when they showed up, but they been holding their position relative to us.”
“Where’s the other one?” Jenna asked. “Keshira said there were two?”
“It was heading off, chance encounter, I think.”
Dexter frowned. Chance encounters were often anything but. “Well let’s get this over with, head their way and signal a parley.”
“Sir?” Tasha asked. Jenna caught Dexter’s eye and smiled.
He nodded. “You’re going to play deaf you should wear your helm.”
“Aye, Captain,” Tasha answered stiffly. She turned and called out the orders to bring the Hawk to port a few degrees. Short on crew, she hurried to a chest lashed to the deck and pulled out the white flag that could be used to signal a truce, surrender, or a desire to talk.
They sailed another hour with the distant ship growing larger. “Maybe they don’t see us,” Jenna suggested.
“They know we’re here, they’re playing dumb,” he said. “Smugglers or bandits. Maybe even slavers.”
“This close to the Feds?”
“You forgetting the type of folks we ran into in the heart of the Federation?”
Jenna frowned. “All right. What makes you think we can catch them?”
“We been drawing closer. Might take time, but we’re far enough out they know we’ll catch them. They’ll have to turn and talk to us.”
“Talk? Or fight?”
Dexter shrugged. “Seems like there’s less and less of a difference.”
Jenna sighed. “This used to be a lot more fun.”
“It’s still fun, you just grew up enough to be worried.”
The elf queen rolled her eyes, pulling a fresh grin from Dexter. She smiled a moment later. “Damn you, Captain. After we get Jia back I’m not sure having you on the ‘Hawk is going to be a good influence!”
Dexter cut his chuckle short and pointed at the ship they followed. It was turning to face them. “Seems they couldn’t pretend no more.”
“Shall we ready for battle?” Tasha asked.
“Might be prudent, just don’t get too jumpy.”
Tasha nodded and called out orders to ready the crew, then she hurried below to don her armor. Jenna scowled, drawing a chuckle from Dexter. “She’s all right, just anxious. Got another half hour till they get close enough to worry about.”
Tasha returned after only a few moments, clad in her gleaming golden armor. The remainder of the time passed in anxious boredom. Even Xander showed signs of frustration when he showed up and had to wait.
The wait was over when the ship came to a stop with their curved prow facing the Voidhawk. An ornate carving on the bow named the ship, Scimitar. The name served it well, given the sweeping blade-like designs of the ships maneuvering sails.
Dexter stared across to the forecastle as three figures walked across it to face him. It was closer to a hundred feet than fifty, allowing Dexter to see that two of them were men and the third was a woman. “What business have you, Voidhawk?” A voice carried across the distance with such force Dexter cast a startled look at his crew.
“Magic,” Xander muttered. He reached into a pocket and rifled around, pulling out three pouches before finding a tiny chest that made him happy. He slipped the pouches back into the pocket of his robe. Dexter stared at the man’s actions and, more importantly, at the smooth pocket that couldn’t possibly hold the volume he’d just shoved into it.
Xander ignored him for a moment longer. He opened the miniscule chest and chanted while circling a finger over it. A moment later he thrust the chest towards Dexter. “Here, rub this cream on your lips.”
“You want me to paint my lips?”
Xander frowned. “It’s not colored.”
Jenna cackled behind him, earning a glare. Dexter dipped his finger into the waxy looking substance and pulled his finger out. He stared at a moment, then rubbed it on his lips. He gasped at the tingle it imparted, then fought the urge to wipe it off. “Tickles,” He muttered, his voice so loud it sent Jenna and Tasha stumbling backwards in surprise. Even Xander, who was prepared, flinched at the noise.
“Captain, the parley?” Xander said, pointing towards the Scimitar.
Dexter turned, clamping his mouth shut before he could say anything else that would carry to the edge of their joined atmospheres. “Bound for Port Freedom,” Dexter called back. “Ships that cross winds in the void without plan or purpose are bound by the wayfarer’s code to share news or trade.”
“Fair enough, what news have you?”
Dexter frowned. He bit back the mutter he’d intended, not wanting it to be shared abroad. “Was hoping you might have something useful. We ran into a Federation warship a day or so past, Ora’s Bounty. Prior to that it was New Winds, an elven ship.”
“We’ve had no such encounters, we’re bound for Port Freedom and our business is our own.”
“That’s fair. Have you a name, Captain?”
“Aye, don’t you?”
Dexter ground his teeth in frustration. He growled, keeping his lips clamped shut. “I do, Captain Silvercloud.”
Dexter watched the three react to his announcement. His name didn’t seem that big a deal to him, but a moment later the woman stepped forward and, cupping her hands to her mouth, called out, “Captain Dexter Silvercloud?”
Her voice tugged at Dexter, taking him back to a smoky bar made smokier by a scantily clad beauty with a fondness for smokesticks. The same woman that offered him a job to carry cargo without the Federation’s awareness to a destination that he was never meant to reach.
“Aye,” he called back. “And I believe you owe me twenty five hundred gold.”
Dexter couldn’t be certain, but he thought he saw the woman aboard the bow of the Scimitar laugh. That or she was asking the ship’s captain to fire their weapons on him. She raised her hands to her mouth again to satisfy his curiosity. “Why don’t you come aboard and we can talk about it?”
Dexter glanced at the narrow-eyed Jenna first, then the remaining officers he had on deck. “Come abroad to port.”
Dexter turned, gesturing for Tasha to enforce his own orders. He reached up to his lips then glanced at Dexter, concerned.
Dexter shoved his hand in another pocket and removed a silk handkerchief. He handed it over so Dexter could wipe his lips clean of the magical balm. He whistled experimentally and was pleased to see no one clutching their ear drums in pain.
“Who is she?” Jenna asked as soon as she was certain his voice was back to normal.
Dexter raised an inquiring eyebrow, but his wife refused to back down. “Remember that run through the Devil’s Breath we took?”
“Our first job?” She asked.
“Aye.”
“The one where we were betrayed and captured by bandits?”
Dexter shrugged. “You always remember the bad parts. We found Rosh there too!”
“And where’s he at now?”
The Captain sighed. They had no idea where Rosh had sailed off to after he’d stormed away from them years ago. Truth be told, it had lessened the tension on the ship when he’d gone and made life a little easier, if less exciting. “Optimism, that’s what you need. A healthy dose of it too, methinks. Look, what’s done is done. We cut our teeth and learned a thing or two. Showed others we’re not to be trifled with. That’s how a reputation is earned.”
“So is raping and pillaging,” Jenna muttered.
“You’re still rooting for the right side here, aren’t you?”
Jenna sighed. “I’m sorry, it’s hard for me to let go.”
&n
bsp; Dexter knew what she didn’t say. It was hard for her to let go of being in control. She’d been privy to everything, as Empress. He was amazed they’d gotten free of the place as easily as they had. Between the knowledge he and Jenna possessed of the inner workings of the Elven Empire, only their speed and relative stealth had ensured their escape.
“Xander, we’ll be needing one of these shiny disc things again. Big enough for me, Jenna, and yourself.”
“Captain!” Tasha protested. “I insist on being there to offer my protection!”
Dexter grinned and assured them, “Won’t be needed...I’ve got a plan.”
Jenna groaned and even Xander’s cheeks paled. Dexter’s smile never wavered as he explained what he wanted Tasha to do.
Chapter 9
“Heard some fanciful tales about you, Captain.”
“I’m a fanciful guy,” Dexter quipped.
“So they claim. Is it also true that your first mate is your wife?” Lady Brendera asked. Dexter hadn’t gotten around to finding out what right she had to claim the title of Lady.
“Aye, Jenna Silvercloud, my wife and First Mate,” Dexter introduced her. “And this is Xander, my wizard.”
Lady Brendera offered a curtsy, her silken skirts parting to reveal just as much lean thigh as Dexter remembered from years long past. “You’re Highness.”
Jenna’s eye narrowed for a heartbeat, then she nodded. “I’m just the First Mate on the ‘Hawk now. We’ve retired from nobility.”
Brendera straightened. “So it is true. And you gave it up?”
Jenna shrugged. “There are more important things.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Captain Silvercloud, you continue to amaze me.”
“I mean to do so again,” Dexter said. “It’s regarding that twenty five hundred gold…”
“I contracted the job, you were to be paid by someone else when it was delivered!” She protested.
“It was delivered all right,” Dexter said. “Right to the bandits you wanted to have it. They was waiting for us in the Devil’s Breath, like you’d figured, and they took us clean. We’d be dead or working as slaves somewhere if your friends hadn’t mistreated one of their own.”
“And yet here you are.”
“Here we are,” Dexter echoed. “And I’m willing to forego payment in exchange for a favor. Problem is, I expect I should be talking to the Captain of this ship, not you.”
“No, you’ll speak with me,” Lady Brendera insisted. “I own the ship.”
Dexter let his eyes shift to the Scimitar’s captain. The man nodded a quick assent. “All right, then. Here’s what I’d like. Passage for the three of us to Port Freedom. With the elves still controlling things there—”
She interrupted Dexter to mutter, “Not for much longer!”
Dexter cocked his head before continuing. “Haven’t heard of anything to the contrary, but if something’s in the wind it’s that much more important we be there sooner, rather than later. We’d like to avoid any imperial entanglements the Voidhawk might cause. Do that and I’ll wash the slate clean.”
Brendera pulled a smokestick out of the satchel at her side and flicked a flame to its tip. The Scimitar’s captain scowled at the flame, but said nothing to stop her. She puffed on it and exhaled the smoke slowly. “Quite the fee for such short passage. Is there a bounty on your heads?”
Dexter chuckled. “None that we know of. Had a pleasant chat with Captain Tellurim of the elven warship, New Winds, just the other day. We drank some brandy and parted on good enough terms.”
She smoked silently for a moment longer then nodded. “Very well, Captain, so long as you’re willing to keep yourselves confined to a single room.”
“Confined? You’ve a fine ship here, hard to believe you’ve no extra room.”
“My ship, my rules,” she said with a steel in her voice.
Dexter nodded. “So it is. All right then, but I’ve some important appointments on Port Freedom to reach, let’s be on with it.”
“Of course. Captain Twinfell, could you see to it that our guests are shown to a room?” Captain Twinfell nodded and turned to bellow orders to one of sailors nearby. A few moments later Dexter, Jenna, and Xander were shown to a small private room with a single bed. Dexter turned to request extra blankets or something to make up a pallet on the floor when the door was shut behind them.
“That was who gave you the job to smuggle firepowder across the Federation?” Jenna turned on Dexter.
“Didn’t have any other offers.”
She rolled her eyes and muttered, “Men!”
Xander looked away, then found he was staring at a wall. He turned around a few more times before sighing himself. A chest and a small bed was all the room had for furniture. It was going to be a long three days.
* * * *
Three days later Dexter felt the Scimitar shift into tactical speeds. Within an hour it turned, then continued to make course corrections as the eternal seconds ticked past. At long last Dexter felt the shudder of the ship setting down.
“Was the ‘Hawk ever this rough?” Dexter asked, shaking his head.
“Not this bad, but it’s better now,” Jenna said.
Xander nodded. “I’ve always wondered about that, I know the elders did something to the ‘Hawk, was that part of it?”
Dexter offered the wizard a teasing smile. “They’ve helped her out a bit here and there, but it’s easy to forget what it’s like being on a human ship after all this time.”
“The Voidhawk is a human ship,” Xander pointed out.
Jenna chuckled. “The Hawk’s Talons was a human ship. The Voidhawk was part human, part dwarven. And now, between the elders and Celia, it’s got a fair bit of elven in it too.”
“Kind of like it’s crew,” Dexter added with pride.
“And elves are known for the smooth sailing of their ships,” Jenna pointed out.
“I like it,” the wizard said. “Disruptions make it difficult to stay focused on important tasks.”
“Aye,” Dexter agreed, “but at times it’d be nice to know when something’s happening without needed to be told.” The Captain shrugged it away. “No matter, we’ve landed and I expect they’ll be sending for us shortly.”
Shortly turned into soon, and from there into sometime today. Eventually, several hours later, the door opened to reveal Lady Brendera and two swarthy looking men with curved swords at their sides. No doubt they were armed in keeping with the ship’s namesake.
“Captain, we’ve arrived at Port Freedom.”
“Aye, some time ago, by my reckoning,” Dexter responded. He led his wife and Xander out behind Lady Brendera and down the companionway. “Had time enough to get all of your cargo off?”
“What cargo?” She inquired innocently. “I’m a partner in a few shipping interests, Mr. Silvercloud, but this voyage was a bit of a gamble. I’ve had a tip that there might be some lucrative opportunities to be had in the very near future.”
Dexter let his eyebrow raise. “Seems odd, you sharing that with a potential competitor.”
Brendera glanced at Jenna dismissively before letting her gaze linger on Dexter. “I’m always in the market for new…partners.”
Dexter heard Jenna’s breath rush through her nose. As much fun as it would have been to watch her pound Lady Brendera into the deck, Dexter knew better. “Business with you seems like the kind of excitement I’d get playing cards with a blindfold on. We’re even up now, I’ll leave that as it stands and thank you for the passage.”
“Pity,” she said with a sulking swell of her lips. “But just as well, it seems you’ve been tamed.”
Dexter smirked. He waited until they’d climbed the stairs to the main deck before he said, “Not tamed, I’ve moved on to higher stakes tables. They don’t use blindfolds there. Sometimes they don’t even bother with the cards.”
Brendera spun about, her eyes narrowed and her lips parted in outrage. Dexter kept moving, heading to the g
angplank that led to the docks of Port Freedom. “Take care how you speak to a Lady, Captain Silvercloud,” she called after him. “I’ve a long memory and a lot of alliances. In fact, here are some of them now.”
Dexter had already seen the crowd of city guards moving towards them down the dock. He turned his head to glare at Brendera and was rewarded with the sight of her smug smile.
“These aren’t elves!” Jenna hissed loud enough for Dexter to hear. Even Xander leaned in, having missed what she’d said.
He turned and looked about the docks, noting the variety of vessels at the port. While not the majority, several were of elven design and clearly part of the Elven Navy. “Elf ships here, so where are the elves that sailed them?”
Dexter stepped onto the dock and moved towards the patrol of four guards that approached them. They were outnumbered but if Jenna could still fight half as well as she’d done in the past, he had little to worry about. The pistols on the hips of the guards, on the other hand, gave him pause. A bullet from one of those had little concern for a man or woman’s skill with a sword.
“Dexter Silvercloud?” The lead guard addressed him.
Dexter studied the man, noting he stood the same height and seemed a bit thicker than the Captain did. That and the neatly trimmed beard made Dexter decide to play along. “Aye, is there a problem, guardsman?”
“No problem, yet,” he said. Dexter was all but certain he heard some of the other guards chuckle beneath their breath. “We’re here as escorts. If you’ll fall in with us?”
Dexter looked to Jenna and Xander. The wizard looked openly nervous while Jenna’s expression was calm. Dexter could see the uncertainty in her eyes. She smiled and nodded, placing her trust in him. He turned back to the guard. “I’m pleased to be met so soon. Lead the way.”
The guards rearranged, allowing two to lead the small group while the other two trailed behind. It had been more than six years since Dexter had last visited Port Freedom but the city looked much the same. The path they took was familiar as well, leading them to the offices of the city guard. Or, as it was called on Port Freedom, the sheriff’s office.
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