A tin of kerosene sitting in a bottom drawermade Kali pause. A slow smile curved her lips. That certainlyincreased the possibilities. Another drawer offered a bunch offunnels and strainers of various sizes. They must fill the ship’srunning lamps down there.
Kali tapped the shotgun thoughtfully. “If Icould find some kind of pressurized tank…the flash gold could beturned into an ignition system. It’s an energy source, after all.”While she muttered to herself, she rifled through the rest of thedrawers. “Piping, hm. I could make a pump to pressurize a tank withair…like with my spud launcher.” She snorted, imagining herselfracing through the corridors, pelting pirates with potatoes. Thisnew weapon would have to be a little more inimical. She grabbed ascrewdriver and started disassembling the shotgun’s firingmechanism.
Minutes ticked past as she hunkered over thetable, sweat dribbling into her eyes and dropping from her chin. Ithad to be over a hundred degrees in the boiler room. Still, she’drather be there than in Sparwood’s cabin.
Muffled grunts came from between theboilers, and Kali jumped. She’d forgotten about her prisoner. Withher new project in hand, she rushed over to check on him. He wasstill bound, though he looked like he’d been trying to saw hisropes off using the corner of the coal bin.
He gaped at Kali when she came into sight.Actually he gaped at the shotgun in her hands. It still had thesame body, but the two salvaged tanks attached under the barrelwere definite upgrades. One held kerosene and the other pressurizedair. A slender tube fed the flammable liquid into and through thebarrel. The flash gold flake was tucked out of sight, inside themuzzle, but she’d imprinted it with a command to ignite thekerosene when the trigger was pulled.
“Whuf iff it?” the piratedemanded, his words almost indistinguishable through the gag Kalihad stuffed into his mouth.
Kali doubted her weapon would work on thefirst attempt-given the way the day’s luck had gone, she might evenblow herself up-but she pulled the trigger, figuring she had to tryit eventually anyway. And wouldn’t it be great if it worked withthis stunted vegetable looking on?
The weapon issued a soft gurgle as liquidtraveled from the tank and through the gun. Though she had takensome care to hide the flash gold from view, streaks of yellowlightning escaped, coursing along the weapon, creating a rivetingdisplay. Kali rolled her eyes. The stuff always seemed to want tosteal the show.
Then the fuel ignited.
Kali had been expecting a flame-that was thewhole point of the design, after all-but the three-foot-long,six-inch-wide inferno that whooshed out of the barrel surprised herwith its size and power. She nearly dropped the gun. Even with theflame shooting out of the end, heat crackled in the air, beatingagainst her hands and face, and she eyed the wooden stock withconcern. It ought to be all right, for the short term. Shehoped.
“What is it, you ask?”Kali said, trying to cover her surprise with nonchalant words. “Ihaven’t thought of a name yet. Got any ideas?”
“Shit,” the pirate said,sort of. The gag made elocution difficult.
“That won’t impress anyoneat the patent office.”
The air buzzed around the weapon, andlightning continued to dance, streaking along the outside of theshotgun shaft to mingle with the flame. The stink of burningkerosene arose, and Kali wondered if she should have made a switchthat could modulate the amount of fuel sent to the flame. Ah, well.Next time. If nothing else, this ought to scare some pirates. Shelet go of the trigger, and the flame died out.
Thus armed, Kali jogged for the ladderleading to the upper decks of the ship.
“Whar…goin’?” the piratetried to call through the gag.
“To put a wrench inCudgel’s wheel.”
Kali clanked her way up the ladder, the gunbumping and tangling in the rungs, the leg iron adding weight toher ankle.
“Perhaps not the bestweapon for stealth,” she muttered.
Nonetheless, she made it to the top andmanaged to juggle her gear long enough to ease the hatch open andpeer out. She didn’t see any feet in the narrow door-filledcorridor above, but the hatch blocked half of her view. Shelistened. Muffled voices came from somewhere nearby, someone’scabin most likely, but no footsteps thudded toward her, so shehoped that meant the corridor was empty. From her point of view,she couldn’t see the steps or ladder that ought to lead to the opendeck up top. All of the doors in view were shut, including one atthe far end.
If Kali could find the navigation areawithout anyone spotting her, maybe she could surprise whoevermanned those controls and take over the ship before anyone knewwhat was happening. Except that she feared a ship like this,designed like a naval vessel, would have its navigation bridgeabove decks where lots of people could see it. Well, it was themiddle of the night. Maybe the crew would be sleeping or down inthe city, enjoying their ill-gotten earnings on gambling andwomen.
Kali lifted the hatch the rest of the wayand climbed out.
“You!” a pirate barkedfrom narrow stairs that had been hidden from view by the hatch. Hecharged her, a cutlass raised overhead.
Kali cursed in her mother’s tongue andwhipped the modified shotgun up, pulling the trigger.
This time, with the weapon already primed,the flames leapt to life immediately. The pirate ran right intothem. They poured against his chest, incinerating clothing andsearing flesh. He screamed, an ear-piercing cry of pure agony.
Kali pulled her weapon to the side andreleased the trigger, half because she couldn’t hold those flameson a man, and half because she was afraid she’d catch the woodencorridor on fire. The pirate’s scream only grew louder. Knowing sheneeded to quiet him, she slammed the butt of the shotgun into hishead. It was cruel to beat a man already so wounded, and she hatedthat she had to do it, but she couldn’t have him carrying on,alerting the entire ship. The pirate crumpled to the deck,clutching his chest, and sobbing. The air stank of burning flesh,and Kali’s stomach roiled. Frustrated with her lack of options, shepushed him so that he fell through the open hatch and into theboiler room below. There was a lock on the hatch, and she threw itinto place. It blocked out the man’s sobs, but she would neverforget the sight of his flesh and muscle being burned off beforeher eyes.
“What have I made?” she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. Sheshould have found a way to make more buckshot for the gun. It’d bea more merciful way to kill someone. Even a pirate didn’tdeserve-
A door in the corridor flew open, and abarefoot man stumbled out, gun belt clenched between his teethwhile he fumbled to fasten his trousers.
No time for self-doubt. Kali stood, foot onthe closed hatch, and aimed the weapon at him. Cruel or not, it wasthe only one she had.
The pirate stared at her-no, at the strangegun in her hands-and didn’t immediately run toward her. She thumbedthe flames on again, judging him far enough away that he’d feel theheat without being burned. Fire leapt from the end of the barrelwith surprising flair. Narrow streams twisted and twined in theair, shifting intensity and direction, like dancers on a stage.Watching it gave Kali a chill, as there was no mundane explanationfor that. The flake of flash gold had to be affecting it, as if ithad a mind of its own and was taking artistic license. Showingoff.
After a long, stunned second, the piratestumbled back, his belt falling from his mouth.
“Go back inside yourcabin,” Kali said, “and don’t come out until the sun’sup.”
She had no idea what she looked like afterthe rough night, but he stared at her, mouth agape, as if he’d seenthe Grim Reaper. Then he lunged back inside and slammed the doorshut.
“That’s a better solutionthan maiming people,” Kali said, then shut her mouth, because therewas a tremor in her voice. Her hands were shaking too.
Somewhere above her, people shouted. Thewhole ship had to have been roused by that man’s scream. Kali wassurprised pirates weren’t already charging down the stairs to gether. Sneaking to navigation was out of the question now, and shefeared she wouldn’t have much time to come up with a plan beforeshe found herself in a firefight.