Chương 569: Chapter Five Hundred and Fifty-Four - Escape Velocity

Deep in the night, I startled awake from a nap that wasn't very satisfying. For one, I'd collapsed on top of my bed while clad in full armor. I'd slept like the dead; hadn't even pulled the covers up -- but now I was sore where my gambeson had dug into my back, and my shoes had smeared grime on my quilt. And for two, there was a burning kernel of stress in my tummy that made me feel a little cramped up and icky. That didn't lead to good sleep. But I had slept, at least a little bit.

Stress could keep me awake, but the battle had taken a lot of energy, and it had been late at night, after a long, full day, and I really needed the nap. Blinking, I reached up and wiped some eye crud away, then vanished it with a bit of Cleaning magic. That was a good sign that I'd slept a bit. It was still dark out, though, at least through the porthole in my room. I'd slept enough, I figured, so I might as well get up on the main deck and see how things had turned out.

I was still tired, but I could push through. This was important, after all. Leaving my room, I checked in on the other bedrooms around mine. Amaryllis wasn't in hers, nor was Caprica, but Awen was cuddled up into a small ball, hugging a pillow, and Calamity was in the kitchen, sitting cross-legged and staring at a magical hot-plate which had a kettle on it.

"Hey," I said.

"Hi," he replied.

"Up already?"

"Can't sleep," I said.

"Hmm," he replied. The silence stretched on for a moment before he groggily raised a hand, slowly pouring warm water into two tin mugs before adding in a tin tea-ball. I filled my own with tea leaves, then I took a sip, the warmth pushing down my throat and banishing a lot of the weariness.

"Thank you," I said.

"No problem, captain," Calamity said with a grin.

"Not really how I expected to be spendin' my New Year's Eve, nya know?" I blinked, my brain grinding slowly through the fog of drowsiness. I counted the days in my head.

"Oh. You're right! It is!" a little bit of pep returned to my smile.

"Happy New Year's Eve!" Calamity laughed.

"Same to you too, Cap'n."

"What'll it be, 759?"

"Think so." I sipped my tea, weighty thoughts momentarily distracted by lighter ones.

"759 years, huh? Counted from what?" He shrugged.

"Dunno, try askin' one of the girls. They're all book-smart." Maybe I would... after I dealt with more important things. Adjusting my captain's hat, I asked, "Any word on the pirates?" Calamity nodded.

"They're still after us. Or they were, last I checked."

"You didn't take a nap?" I asked. I had told as much of the crew as I could to rest a little. The fight had been exciting and loud and my heart had beat fast for twenty minutes afterwards as we made our escape out of ballista range. But after that there wasn't as much to do.

"I'll take one later," he said, but I felt like that was maybe a bit of a lie. Maybe he just didn't need it as much? I could believe that, what with being a hunter and all. That had probably called for a few long nights.

"Okay," I said.

"Make sure you take care of yourself though, alright? Do Catboys like you need as much sleep as, uh, others?"

"We like our naps, but we're not so set on sleeping the same amount every night. Mhm," he replied.

"I'll be on deck in a few. Just wanted to warm up a little first." I nodded, then shuffled over to give him a hug. Calamity froze a little at the contact, but I think he needed it. When I let go, I smiled, then took the mug up with me, sipping from it every so often as the Beaver swayed gently underfoot. I made it to the main deck, then squinted into the night. We'd left most of our running lights off, though there were a few shuttered magical lanterns here and there, where people needed them.

Staring into the night, I tried to spot the pirates, and eventually located them up and above. The ship had a bunch of lights on, including searchlights aimed our way. They were far enough back that the light was diffused, though. I supposed that it was still enough to prevent another tricky maneuver like what we'd done earlier. I watched them for a while, but they never seemed to get closer or farther away. I guess we were both flying about the same speed.

"Captain," Bastion said as he came over. Caprica was with him, walking with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a shawl and a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Heya," I said.

"Any changes?"

"Not particularly. It seems like they've spent the night running repairs. They did lose a fair bit of height over night, but they've been climbing slowly. I'm no expert on airship combat, but I suspect that they're burning a lot of fuel to stay afloat." I nodded along. That was good, right? That meant that we'd done some real damage to them. The fact that they could repair it was... not as cool, but there wasn't much we could do about that. I sipped my tea, then looked at Caprica, who was being a little quiet.

"Want some? It'll warm you up?" This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"No, I'm well. Bastion wrapped me in this to keep me warm," she said. She tucked her head into the blankets a little more, looking very snug.

"We don't need you catching a cold," Bastion said. I giggled, then looked out to the convoy ahead. We were keeping pace with them, and were a bit off to one side of the single-file formation. It looked like things were pretty quiet on that side of things too.

"Under normal circumstances," Bastion started.

"I suspect that the convoy would have held off until morning, then surrendered some of their goods."

"Really?" I asked.

"It's cheaper than fighting and losing one or more ships. That pirate vessel is larger, better armed, and better crewed. It would win in a straight fight against those three. Their best bet is to surrender some of their cargo to the pirates. I think some do it by dropping lower, then tossing the goods overboard. Others are boarded outright."

"I imagine," Caprica began.

"That a ship that tossed junk overboard will not be given a second chance by the same pirate crew if they're encountered again."

"Just so," Bastion said.

"There's a strange sort of... barbaric civility in all this piracy." So weird, but I guess it made sense.

"And what about us? Do you think the convoy might pay their way free now?"

"No," Bastion said.

"We gave them a black eye and a bloody nose. The pirates aren't going to take kindly to that. They'll want revenge now." Darn.

"Is there a way we could convince them not to?" I asked.

"Shoot them some more?" Caprica suggested. Bastion considered it, but then shook his head.

"Other than that, nothing comes to mind. Though by the time the sun rises and they're ready for another battle, we will be closer to our destination. Pirates rarely operate over civilized airspace." We continued to chat as the sky lightened and the sun crested the horizon, painting the sky in pale pinks. Suspended in the rays of the morning sun was the backlit silhouette of the pirate ship, about three kilometers behind us.

The engine Calamity had shot was still smoking, and its props were entirely immobile when I looked at them through a spyglass. The 'skin' of the airship was marked by dozens of patches that hadn't been there before, and yet a lot of holes hadn't been covered up yet. It looked like we'd really done a number on the ship, especially on its port side. There were still tiny figures crawling over the ship's rigging, patching over the holes with cuts of tarp.

I couldn't guess at the mood of the pirates, but I imagined that they were a lot more tired than we were. Making emergency repairs all through the night must have been exhausting, and as much as I didn't like thinking about it too much, we had probably injured a few of them. There had been a lot of spells and bolts flung at the pirates. Some must have struck at or near the crew. The ship was in a rougher state than they'd probably expected, but it was still a fully armed and operational pirate vessel.

That wasn't something to ignore. I read the semaphore signal from the ship ahead. We were increasing our speed by a few knots. So the convoy picked up the pace, going to flank speed, even if it meant maybe taking a risk and burning more fuel. The signals didn't say why. It wasn't like the pirates were speeding up or anything, but I didn't argue. Maybe the other captains knew something I didn't?

I picked up my own flags, sent an affirmative back, then ran over to the helm--currently manned by a sleepy Oda, and pushed the throttle up a bit. We'd only been accelerating for a few minutes when the pirates seemed to catch on that we were once again building more space between us and them. At that point, they picked up the pace a lot. They were going to catch up. The merchant ships of the convoy were just not as fast as the pirates, even with their ship partially damaged. My anxiety began to build.

And then Bastion chuckled. I looked at him, then followed his gaze. Out ahead of us, in the distance, were more ships. Several of them, and as we approached, the thin morning fog began to burn away, and I saw a distant city under the ships. We'd made it to civilization, or close enough to it that things might get a little dicey for the pirates. A yawning Calamity came up onto the deck, squinted around, figured out why I was in a better mood, then shrugged.

"Want me to plant a last couple of arrows in them? It's one long shot... but I bet I can do it one time in five. Won't be long until they're back inside my maximum range."

"That might anger them," I said.

"If they even notice a random arrow striking their ship," Bastion said.

"Yeah, but it'll remind them that we can fight back, and that we're probably a bit tougher than they're used to," Calamity said.

"Hmm..." I thought about it, then shook my head.

"Best not! Let's see about making it to Southerfell. I'm sure the city doesn't appreciate pirates and someone will be willing to help!"