Dexter took in the bridge, his hands clasped into fists. Finally he took a deep breath and let it out, nodding his head. “Alright, wave the white flag.”
“Bekka, let’s go,” he said, laying his hand gently on her shoulder.
She stood up, staring at him with a great sadness in her eyes. She glanced away and walked out of the bridge. Dexter paused, admiring again the bridge of the Voidhawk, his first real ship, and sighed. A moment later he left the bridge behind him and went up the spiral staircase to the deck.
The Maiden’s Bane pulled up alongside and lines were tossed and secured. Several gruff looking crew members swarmed onto the deck, weapons raised and pointed at Dexter and his crew. Relieved of their weapons and bound with ties behind their backs they stood in silence waiting. The captain of the Maiden’s Bane crossed over. He paused long enough to admire Jenna before stepping in front of Dexter.
“Thanks for getting it past the Feds, you did us a favor,” he said, chuckling a little.
“I don’t suppose your name is Drevin,” Dexter asked.
“As a fact it is,” he said, grinning. “But this don’t count as on time or early delivery.”
“I thought she agreed to the fee too easily,” Dexter mumbled.
“Aye, that’ll teach ya to be getting greedy.”
“The pot has called the kettle black,” Bekka spoke up, unable to restrain herself.
Drevin walked over to her and without any warning backhanded her across the face, splitting her lip and making her cry out. He hit her again when she straightened, then turned back to Dexter.
“Taking women for crew ain’t the way o’ things, but my boys and I appreciate it all the same,” he said with a lecherous grin. He pointed to the Maiden’s Bane and said, “Throw ‘em in the hold, then stow their gear.”
“The ship, Captain?” Asked a scarred pirate.
“It’s in good shape, leave the cargo and have Karl pilot it back. Pick a dozen men for the rigging too,” he said, already heading back to the Maiden’s Bane.
Jenna looked at Dexter, jaw clenched. He shook his head slightly, making her close her eyes and take a deep breath before releasing it. Then they were poked and pushed towards the Maiden’s Bane, where they were imprisoned in a hold converted to a brig.
They felt the Maiden’s Bane slow down and change directions several times, then finally dock. They were led out of the cell and onto the deck, confirming they were indeed docked at a floating collection of lumber.
It did not resemble a ship or even a group of ships, it looked more like a sawmill ate a forest and vomited up the remains, randomly placing wooden planks and beams all over the place. Some portions of it were open to the void, while others were enclosed. Only the docking areas showed any semblance of a pattern, with ramps extending out from the mass to allow the pirate ships to dock.
Also present were several heavy weapons, from ballista to catapults and jettison to even a few bombards. A slow realization dawned on Dexter but he kept his mouth shut until they were alone in a cell on the pirate base.
“I’m thinking we brought them a couple of bombards for their base here,” he shared.
“Blast, ye’re right!” Kragor said, smacking himself in the forehead. “That’s just the size for them boxes.”
Jenna nodded, agreeing with the captain. Bekka and Jodyn just looked on, not knowing one way or another, nor seeing how it made a difference considering their situation.
Dexter opened his mouth to speak again, but the door into the room opened and a man ducked his head and stepped in. All of them stared at him, momentarily speechless. He stood well over six feet tall and looked thick enough and strong enough to be able to tear the base apart with his bare hands.
“What are you?” Dexter asked.
“What?” he asked, his voice the timbre and pitch expected from so large a man. “I’m your guard, Rosh.” The ‘o’ was a hard vowel, making Dexter think of a roach when he said his name even though the giant of a man was a fairly decent looking guy.
“Are you half-giant?” Dexter asked, thinking how ironic it would be if he were considering the joke he made with his former employer about his first mate being a fire breathing half-giant.
“No, I’m human,” he said, scowling. “Just big.”
“I’ll say!” Dexter agreed, before turning to look at the others.
Bekka stepped forward. “What are they going to do to us?”
Rosh stared at her for a long moment. A slow grin crossed his face. Ignoring her question he asked her, “You’re a woman! Why’d you shave your head?”
“I find it’s better to not be judged by my appearance,” she responded.
Rosh nodded, “Good idea.” He shrugged apologetically. “The women’ll be raped, then killed. The men just killed. Don’t think we got anyone that likes boys here.”
“Why wait? Why not just be done with us on the ship?” Dexter asked.
“In case you had any surprises on board. Magic or something, ya know,” he explained.
“The guard on the other ship would not talk with us, how come you are?” Bekka asked him.
“I don’t get out much, too damn big for the ships, they says, so I’m stuck here,” he explained, sounding grateful for her question and her interest. “I’ve talked to everyone ‘round here, nothing else to do.”
“How much you make here, Rosh?” Dexter asked, a glimmer of an idea coming to him.
“Four gold a month, why?”
“You seem bored,” Dexter said, shrugging.
Rosh stared at him for a long minute, then nodded. “Maybe I am and maybe I’m not, what’s it to you?”
“Big strong man like you, I could use you,” Dexter said after a moment.
“Ha! I’m not into laying with men,” Rosh said, turning back to Bekka.
“That’s good, neither am I.”
Rosh returned his attention to him. “What you asking for then?”
“Like I said, I could use a strong man that knows his way around a ship and with a sword, my crew is a little short right now.”
Rosh chuckled. “Seems to me you’ve got too much crew since the only thing you’re Captaining is that there cage!”
“Aye, that’s the truth of it,” Dexter admitted, looking to Kragor and Jenna. They both returned his gaze and shook their heads. “But that’s where you come in.”
“You’re mad,” he said, shaking his head. “I got it good here, I ain’t letting you out.”
Dexter pushed himself up against the bars and spoke softly, “four gold a month… I’m willing to give you six percent of whatever our take is, how long would it take you to make that here?”
A crafty look passed over the man’s face as he considered the offer. His eyes narrowed and Dexter thought he saw his lips moving slightly. Was he counting? Dexter bit back his smile and made a mental note to invite Rosh to a friendly game of cards if things worked out well.
“And you’d be on a ship, traveling to different ports in the void, seeing new things and new people,” Dexter pressed.
“And women?” Rosh asked.
“Not like here, you want a woman you have to woo her on your own or buy her services,” he stated.
“Never could take something that wasn’t given freely. But you ain’t got no ship!”
“So let us out and help us get ours back!” Dexter said, letting some of his desperation bleed through. “The Voidhawk, my ship, is ready and waiting, we just need to get on it and we can be off and away! With your help we’ll have no trouble getting away.”
Rosh thought about it for a minute then shook his head. “You been caught once, you’ll just get caught again.”
“I got a plan for that too,” Dexter confided in him.
“You’re mad,” Rosh said again.
“Maybe a little,” Dexter admitted, “but that’s why it’ll work!”
Rosh thought about it and then shrugged. “Ah hell, I’m bored with this work. Six percent… what’s that work out to?”
“We make 100 gold, you get 6 pieces. We make 1000, your cut is 60. Depends on how good we do — all of us, even you,” Dexter’s explained. “You’ll be helping us then?”