While Jenna and Jodyne rifled through the ships stores, Dexter visited the bridge and studied the star charts that Duballin’s ship possessed. He made note of several of them he was unfamiliar with, taking them and shoving them into a leather scroll case. A few others that he was familiar with had some additional points of interest on them that he committed to memory. The only other item of interest was a locked strongbox in the bridge, but even after breaking the lock he found little that appealed to him save some letters to family and friends that spoke of Duballin’s journey and his various exploits for Emperor and country.
They made their way back to the Voidhawk, Dexter calling Keshira over to help move the heavier items from ship to ship. Dexter joined Kragor in watching their captives, both speculating softly to themselves about what might happen to the surviving elves. Duballin passed in and out of consciousness from the pain of his broken arm and other injuries, making his presence more of an amusement than a threat to the old friends.
When they finished, they forced the elves back aboard the scout ship, making the survivors carry their wounded leader. The corpses of the elves that littered the deck of the Voidhawk were similarly hoisted onto the deck of the scout ship, again at the discomfort of the elven sailors that had been captured. Sometime later they finally untied the ropes binding the two ships and pushed the scout ship free of the Voidhawk. With only four elves remaining, and one of them wounded, the elven ship limped away slowly.
Dexter gave the orders and brought the ship around to the derelict fighter that was flying through space. They carefully pulled up alongside it so that Jenna could board it and look for supplies. She acquired two undamaged casks of powder and, carefully handing each of the five glass flasks over singly, the alchemist’s fire still aboard the ship. With the volatile nature of it largely contained, Kragor went to work stripping the living wood of the fighter apart and storing it in the steerage section of the Voidhawk to use repairing the damage to the ship from the fight.
“Hell of a day, Captain,” Jenna said as the Voidhawk began to sail away from the scene of the battle and return to cruising speed.
“Aye, good fight,” Rosh agreed, nodding his head in praise as he finished tying down a line.
Dexter just chuckled. “I should replace Bekka on the helm. Rosh, we need to get you trained on that pretty quick here, methinks.”
A thump from below broke his concentration. It was followed by the roar of an angry dwarf. Dexter hurried down the aft stairs, followed by the other two, and chuckled when he saw a fuming dwarf holding the door to the cargo bay shut that they had locked the strange woman in.
“Rosh, you’ve got some work to do,” Dexter said with a chuckle, heading past Kragor and up the companionway towards the bridge.
“Me? But… what am I going to do with her?” Rosh asked, baffled as to how to proceed.
Kragor grunted, glaring at him until he came over and helped him secure the door. Jenna giggled and headed aft to her cabin, intent on inventorying their new weapons. Already the large ballista sat on the stern castle, waiting for Kragor to secure it to the hull. The other ballista in the other hold was scheduled to make its way to the forecastle at the first opportunity as well. Dexter was through running unarmed, he figured he would deal with the Federation when he had to, until then, the Voidhawk was no longer toothless.
Chapter 5: Missing Pieces
“Damn it, girl, I’m not your foe!” Rosh roared, pushing the young woman coming at him away from furiously.
She spun away, then continued spinning and launched herself at him anew. Rosh bled from dozens of scratches on his arms already. The large man caught her and crushed her to him, immobilizing her arms so that he only had to deal with her snapping mouth. He dropped to the floor and fell on top of her, further trapping her so that she could not rock her head towards him in an attempt to bite out his throat.
“You gonna settle down and realize you can’t hurt me?” Rosh asked her as she continued to squirm beneath him. Her growl and renewed wiggling was her reply.
“She’s not right,” Bekka said from the doorway to the hold.
Rosh glanced up, then grunted as she managed to drive her knee between his legs. His crossed eyes caused Bekka and Jenna to laugh at his expense.
“What do you mean, she ain’t right?” Rosh demanded, fighting against the painful feeling from his groin to his chest that tried to rob him of air.
“There’s magic about her. Strong,” Bekka said, adding the last as she studied her from afar.
“That why she’s so strong?”
Bekka nodded. “I think, until it’s gone, that’s why she’s mad too.”
Jenna’s grin faded as she listened to Bekka’s observation. She glanced at the dark haired young woman critically, then stepped away. “Rosh, leave her locked up for now, I think I know something about her.”
Rosh grunted and managed to keep her subdued while he climbed to his feet. In a move that was filled with strength and empty of gentility, he launched her across the cargo hold and dashed to the door that the women had only just vacated. He slammed it shut behind him and had barely barred it shut when she crashed into it from the other side, clawing and hammering against the solid wood.
He looked at Bekka and Jenna and grinned. “She’s fast.”
Bekka smirked while Jenna just rolled her eyes. The elf turned away and headed towards the aft stairs. “Hurry up, I have an idea,” she called behind her.
Rosh glanced at Bekka, who only shrugged, and they both followed the arms mistress to the deck of the ship. On the deck she went to Keshira, who was manning the rigging sufficiently on her own while the Voidhawk sailed through space at cruising speeds.
“Keshira, do you still have the items from Duballin that Dexter gave you for safekeeping?” Jenna asked her.
Keshira paused and nodded. She had changed into fresh clothing to replace those tattered in the intense fighting with the elven wasp. She reached into a pocket and pulled forth the pouch and the ring that the elven captain had worn.
Bekka’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the ring. She nodded after a moment. “I sense the same magic about the ring that is merged with the girl.”
“What’s that mean?” Rosh asked, staring threateningly at the ring.
“I need to study them both more to know,” she said, reaching out and taking it from Keshira.
“Well get to it,” Rosh urged. “Captain ain’t going to be letting her take up air and space much more if she ain’t getting friendly with us.”
“I think you’re the only one that wants her friendly, Rosh,” Bekka said with a wink.
Rosh had the decency to adopt an offended look on his face as he muttered, “That ain’t what I was meaning.”
Laughing, Bekka walked away toward her quarters where she could study the ring in private.
Rosh found Jenna looking at him, an amused expression on her face. He scowled and walked off, heading towards the stern castle and the ballista mounted upon it. Jenna laughed as well, glad for the break from her thoughts, then went about her own business.
* * * *
“Rosh!”
Rosh came awake instantly, rolling out of his bunk and reaching for his sword. He saw Dexter standing in the doorway as he girded it about his waist. “Captain?”
“She’s making a ruckus and tearing up my cargo bay, you figure out what to do with her yet?” Dexter asked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder towards the cargo bay where, faintly, the sound of thudding and scratching could be made out.
“Well, um… sort of,” Rosh said, looking down that way. “Bekka’s got this ring-”