Chapter Thirteen

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Miko and Paul stand at the bow of the ship, the wind whipping their hair and the salty spray misting them occasionally. It’s cold so they have their jackets pulled tightly. “Think we’ll catch them?” Paul asks.

“Hope so,” replies Miko. “If we can at least keep them in sight then we’ll be able to stay on their tail, possibly attempt to rescue them after they make landfall.”

“I’m worried about the girls,” he admits.

Miko can hear it in his voice. “It’s unlikely they will do anything to them,” he assures him for the dozenth time.

“We’re falling behind!” Dave’s voice reaches them from where he’s complaining again to the captain. He’s been an irritant the whole way and the general consensus is they’d all be better off if they just tossed him overboard.

The captain’s voice can be heard in reply, his tone saying he’s had about enough. “We are not falling behind. Now leave me alone!”

Dave glowers at the captain then stalks off to stand by himself near the rail.

Shaking his head, Miko wonders again what James sees in him. Maybe he was different back where they came from?

“Something’s been bothering me,” he says to Paul.

“What?” he asks.

“Back in Cardri, when we were being led away by Lord Colerain, where did all those guys who jumped him come from?” he asks, glancing at him. “I mean, they appeared in just the right spot and fast.”

Paul smiles as he says, “When we knew the girls were being taken to the ship, we spread the word that Gwynne and Daria were being taken. Those of us on the streets have a sort of brotherhood you might say, we look out for each other and take care of our own. The guys you saw had been there for awhile, they just kept their heads low until needed. Didn’t want to tip off anyone something might be up, just in case.”

Nodding, Miko says, “I see.” He certainly understands about the brotherhood those of the streets have.

They stand there continuing to watch the ship ahead of them as the sun drops lower to the horizon. After awhile Illan comes to join them. “The captain says that when it turns dark there’s a possibility of losing them,” he says quietly.

Miko turns a worried expression to him as he asks, “Lose them?”

Nodding, Illan replies, “A definite possibility. But the captain says they’ll most likely stay on this course through the night. That it’s dangerous to alter course unless you are familiar with the waters in the area. Something about hitting a reef. So once dawn comes we should be able to pick them up again.”

“Let’s hope so,” Paul says.

“Never did thank you for what you did for us back there,” Illan tells him.

“Didn’t do it for you guys,” he admits. “I figured you were the only hope Gwynne and Daria had.”

“Still, I appreciate it,” he says as he pats him on the shoulder.

“Where are Jiron and Fifer?” Miko asks.

Nodding his head to the rear of the ship, he says, “In the captain’s cabin, asleep. The Parvati is in there with them.”

“How can they sleep at a time like this?” questions Miko.

“It’s times like these when you get your sleep,” he explains. “So you’ll be rested when you need to be.”

“Maybe,” says Miko.

From the mid section, a bell begins ringing. “Dinner’s ready,” Illan tells them. Leaving their post at the bow, Miko and Paul follow Illan as he goes to get some food. A wooden bowl full of fish and vegetables along with a single cup of ale is all that’s allotted them.

They take their food from the cook and find a place near the stern where they have some shelter from the wind and spray while they eat. Jiron, Fifer, and Qyrll make their appearance as does Meliana and her father. Dave on the other hand takes his food and goes off to eat by himself on the other side of the ship.

When Meliana joins them with her food, she asks, “Have we gained on them any?”

“Not yet,” Miko informs her.

“We don’t exactly want to be noticed by them,” her father says. “It wouldn’t be good.”

“I know,” she says. Ever since they explained to her about the circumstances of James’ arrest and being given to the Empire, she’s held a deep fear for him. She understands her father’s logic, but her heart doesn’t care. She glances toward the fleeing ship and is thankful she can still see it in the fading light of dusk.

They sit there, quiet as each dwells silently on what the future may hold while they finish their meal.

“Captain!” a sailor hollers down from his position up in the rigging. “Vessel aflame!”

“Where away?” the captain hollers back.

“Dead ahead,” he replies.

“James!” Meliana cries as she drops her bowl and rushes to the bow. The others follow quickly. In the darkening gloom ahead of them, a bright orange light can be seen. “Full sails!” they hear the captain yell. The sailors in the rigging above begin unfurling the last of the sails.

“Mr. Bessin!” the captain hollers.

“Aye sir,” his second in command answers.

“Prepare to rescue survivors,” he says.

“Aye, aye sir,” Mr. Bessin replies and then begins barking orders as sailors prepare their dinghy should the need arise.

Their ship quickly gains upon the other and they can see where the sails have all but been consumed by the flames. It’s listing to the side and appears to be taking on water.

“She’s not going to last too much longer,” Meliana’s father says behind them.

“Oh, James,” she breathes as she looks for any sign of him.

A massive explosion from within the hold blasts the deck outward, debris sails through the air and splashes into the sea many yards away.

Bodies can be seen floating in the water among the flotsam, none appear to be alive.

“James!” Dave cries out from his position near the bow.

“Daria! Gwynne!” Paul cries as his voice joins Dave’s.

“Furl the sails!” the captain cries to those in the rigging and the sails begin to be taken in. Slowing down, the ship draws near the wreckage though the captain still maintains a safe distance so as not to suffer the same fate.

A rattle of chains and the anchor drops into the water with a splash. “Mr. Bessin, lower the boat and search for survivors.”

“Aye captain,” he replies.

“Incinerate!” James yells as another seaman erupts in flames. The sphere in his hand is now the size of a softball, a deep glow wells from within due to all the power it has stored.

All across the deck are charred remnants of the crew as well as withered husks from whom James drew the power necessary to maintain the spells. The Ambassador and captain lie among them.

At one point during the battle, the ships crew had taken a spare spar that was stored at the base of the ship’s rail. Using it as a battering ram, they tried to push him off the boat and into the sea.

Crying “Leech by a hundred,” he sucked them dry as they crashed to the deck, the spar hitting the deck and rolling to the side. So much power being absorbed by the sphere had caused it to crackle like static electricity. James begins incinerating crewmen simply to release the pressure. The last thing he wanted was to have it explode in his hand.

Fire rages throughout the ship, most of the crew either lies dead or has jumped over the side. A scream from below rips through the air. The Girls!

Racing for the hatch, he sees black smoke billowing up out of it like a chimney. A quick glance around the ship shows it to be almost completely engulfed in flames. Taking a deep breath, he steps through the hatch and begins making his way down to the hold through the black smoke.

Unable to see, he uses the sound of the girls coughing and crying to guide him. “Over here!” he calls to them. “To me!”

A hand reaches out through the thick smoke and takes hold of his shirt. He looks down and sees little Daria there with several other girls in tow. “Where are the others?” he cries out.

“B…b,” she says then a coughing fit robs her voice.

Taking her by the hand, he leads her to the stairs and says, “Go up on top. I’ll get the others.”

A quick nod of her head and she begins leading the others up the stairs.

Coughing badly now, James pulls off his shirt and uses it to try to filter out the smoke. Helping only slightly, he begins working his way further to the back. “Where are you?” he hollers but there’s no answer.

In the thick smoke, he can barely see anything. A crack from above and a portion of the flaming deck falls in, crashing to the bottom of the holds several yards away. “Girls!” he cries again.

Moving as quickly as he dares, he tries to see through the smoke but his eyes are so red and burning now it’s all a blur. Useless, he keeps them closed, only peering out of them every now and then.

Suddenly, he hears coughing from up ahead. The coughing and crying of a small child. Using the sound as a guide, he comes to the barrels he told the girls to hide behind earlier and finds a small girl lying with her head on the chest of a larger. The older girl looks to be unconscious, the smaller one not much better.

“You okay?” he asks her when reaches their side.

The small girl looks up at him with red rimmed eyes and tries to say something but only breaks into a massive coughing fit.

All around them, the heat from the fire is increasing as more of the ship becomes engulfed.

“Can you crawl?” he asks her.

When the coughing spell lets up a little, she manages to nod.

“Follow me then,” he says. Grabbing the older girl, he gets on his hands and lays her across his back. Moving on all fours with an unconscious girl upon his back, he begins leading the other little girl to the stairs.

At this level, the smoke isn’t nearly as bad, though it is still thick. Glancing back every other step, he makes sure the little one is keeping up.

They make it about halfway to the stairs when he suddenly feels the ship lurch slightly and cold seawater flows across the floor. The hold begins to fill with water. He doesn’t have that much time.

“Come on!” he manages to yell to the girl behind him. He removes the girl from his back and then stands up. The water is now about ankle deep and rising. Picking up the unconscious girl, he carries her toward the stairs, the little one following, holding onto his shirt.

As they reach the stairs and start to climb up, the ship lurches again and begins to tilt. Scenes from Titanic run through his head as he climbs the stairs. Before he makes it to the top, another section of the burning deck caves in and lands upon a small stack of barrels lining one wall. He hopes they aren’t flammable.

Clearing the hatch, he sees an inferno all around him. The girls who had come out before are huddled against one side of the ship. It’s the only area yet to be consumed by the fire and it’s not going to last very much longer.

When he reaches them, he asks, “Is this everyone?” Several heads bob affirmative.

He glances over the side to the water below. Debris has already begun to dot the surface. “Over the side!” he yells.

“I can’t swim!” one girl screams, terrified.

“You got no choice!” he tells her. One of the older girls goes to the rail and jumps over, a couple others follow. Finally he’s left there with the unconscious girl in his arms and the frightened girl who won’t go over. The heat from the fire consuming the ship is beginning to burn his skin. The central mast suddenly cracks and topples over sending sparks and embers flying.

One ember lands in the frightened girl’s hair and James quickly puts down the girl in his arms and brushes it out before it has a chance to catch. He then looks over the side and sees that Gwynne and the others have all managed to find something to grab a hold of to keep from going under.

“Gwynne!” he yells.

She looks up at him.

“One girl can’t swim,” he hollers. “You’ll have to help her!”

She gives him a nod.

Turning to the frightened girl, he says, “You can’t stay here!”

Looking at him with fear in her eyes, she says nothing, just stands there with her bottom lip trembling.

He picks her up and she begins fighting him. Struggling, he manages to get her to the rail and then tosses her over. She lands with a scream and a splash near Gwynne.

Gwynne immediately dives under the water and pulls her up. Helping her, they both grab hold onto the flotsam floating nearby.

Suddenly, the deck under which James is standing gives out with a crack, but doesn’t collapse. Picking up the unconscious girl he jumps over the side and together they hit the water.

The impact knocks the breath out of him and he loses hold of the unconscious girl. Little hands begin reaching for him and help him to the surface. When he breaks through the surface, he looks around in a panic and sees another girl having already rescued the unconscious girl.

“Away from the ship!” he hollers. “We’ve got to get away before it goes down!”

Bam!!!

An immense explosion sends wood and other debris through the air. The ship begins to tilt even more precariously in the water.

“Now!” he yells as they begin kicking and swimming away from the burning wreckage. From behind them, a groan and a crack can be heard as the second mast topples over.

They continue swimming away and soon, the ship upends before sinking completely under the water. Steam and hissing sounds erupt as the flames meet the water. Then, all is quiet.

As the second mast falls, the dinghy with six sailors in it begins moving carefully toward the wreckage. All the while keeping its distance from the raging inferno.

“There she goes!” one sailor hollers as the ship upends and sinks below the surface.

The flaming ship produces a massive amount of steam as its burning carcass enters the sea. When the steam begins to dissipate, Meliana screams, “There!” The others look to where she’s pointing and she sees several forms floating in the water. One of them is waving, trying to gain their attention.

“Is it James?” Miko asks.

“Hard to tell from here,” Illan says. “But I think so.”

“James!” Dave yells from his position by the rail. Waving madly, he looks as if he’s about to have a fit from jubilation.

The dinghy makes its way through the flotsam scattered about the surface of the water as it continuous to head for the survivors. When they draw close, those still on the ship watch as they haul them out of the water. After they’re all in the dinghy, they turn and start returning to the ship.

“It is James!” Meliana exclaims happily. She turns and gives her father a hug and kiss.

“But what happened?” he says to no one in particular.

“James happened,” Jiron tells him. When her father glances at him, he adds, “This is why the Empire wants him so badly.”

“But you said he had been drugged?” he asks.

“True,” replies Jiron. “That’s what we were told.”

“Then, how?” he wonders.

Jiron just shrugs and turns back to watch the dinghy as it returns to the ship. It suddenly alters course and begins returning to the wreckage. Two crewmen of the sunken ship are found hanging onto one of the spars. After they haul them aboard, they return to the ship.

Meliana rushes to the side where they’ll be coming abreast and watches as they draw near. Her eyes and James’ lock for a minute and she’s pleased to see a smile break across his face when he recognizes her. He gives her a wave.

Next to her, Paul waves to the approaching dinghy and shouts, “Gwynne! Daria!”

The girls see him and begin shouting, “Paul! Paul!”

When the dinghy comes to rest against the side of the ship, a rope ladder is let down to them and they begin climbing up. The girls are the first to come up, Paul gives Gwynne and Daria each a hug. The other girls know him as well and in turn give him a hug, several break down and cry.

As James takes his turn in climbing the ladder, Meliana positions her self to greet him. The others know what’s between them and allow her to be the first to greet him. When he finally reaches the top, Dave comes over and nudges her out of the way as he extends a hand down to him.

“Man, I didn’t think to see you again,” he says.

Meliana gets a hurt look on her face and her father’s demeanor turns dark.

“Thanks,” James says to him as he takes his hand and makes it over the rail.

Dave tries to say something else but Meliana rushes past him and gives James a hug. Burying her face in his shoulder, she lets out the pent up fear and frustration she’s felt ever since learning of his fate.

He pats her on the back and says, “Here now, I’m okay, there’s no reason to fret.”

“I was just so scared for you,” she cries.

James looks at the others slightly embarrassed at this display of emotion in front of everyone, though he does rather enjoy it. Dave is giving him an odd look and it doesn’t look like a pleased one.

“What happened?” asks Jiron.

“That’s a long story,” he replies. “Best if we talk about it later.”

The two rescued crewmen climb aboard and begin talking to the captain. Meliana’s father goes and joins in the conversation. After a few words are exchanged, her father says, “Captain?”

“Yes sir,” the captain of the ship replies.

He glances at his daughter and as if the words are painful to say, points to James and says, “Place this man under arrest.”

“Father!” she cries.

“What?” Illan asks as he rounds on her father in disbelief.

Nodding to the rescued crewmen, he says, “He killed the Ambassador and everyone on board except these two sailors. We must take him to the nearest port in the Empire and hand him over to the authorities.”

“But they’ll kill him!” Meliana exclaims. “We can’t!”

“We must!” he shouts at her. He sees the pain in her eyes, the look of betrayal but he has no choice. “We are loyal citizens of the Empire.”

James looks at him and then at his friends. He sighs and says, “I understand.” To his friends he says, “I don’t want any trouble from you while we’re on this ship.” Locking eyes briefly with each of them, he says, “Alright?”

Each in turn gives him a nod. Miko looks outraged and about ready to protest when Illan lays a hand on his shoulder. Giving in to his wishes, he gives James a nod.

“This way,” Mr. Bessin says.

Disengaging from the crying and on the point of hysteria Meliana, he follows Mr. Bessin to one of the cabins and goes inside. The door shuts and he hears a key turn in the lock. At least this is better than where he had just been.

When James is locked away, they gather around her father. “You can’t just hand him over to the Empire’s men,” Dave says. “They’ll kill him.”

“Young man,” her father says, “shut up and get out of my face before I have you thrown overboard.”

“But…” he begins when Fifer comes and escorts him away.

Illan starts to say something, when her father cuts him off and says, “I can’t ruin my house over this. When we arrive at a port in the Empire, I must hand him over. I’m sorry.” He then turns and walks away.

“What are we going to do?” Miko asks him.

“I don’t know,” Illan replies. “We’ll have to wait until he’s off the ship, then we’ll see.”

Meliana’s father keeps James locked up in the cabin with only brief respites out to answer the call of nature and to get some fresh air. It was during one such time when Meliana comes to him with something in her hands. As she draws close, he realizes it’s the ceramic dolphin figurine he had shipped to her during their brief stopover at Maradan when they left Corillian.

He smiles at her and says, “I see you got it.”

“Yes,” she replies with a smile. “You can’t imagine how surprised I was when Miriam came over and gave it to me. How did you know I liked these?”

“I didn’t,” he admits. “I just liked them too, and I wanted you to have something to remember me by.”

She comes close to him and he slips his arm around her. They stand by the rail watching the waves roll by. “What’s going to happen?” she asks him.

“What do you mean?” he replies.

“My father meant what he said,” she tells him. “At the next port we visit in the Empire, he will hand you over to the authorities.”

“I know,” he says. “I harbor him no ill will, he’s just trying to protect his house…and you.”

She lays her head on his shoulder as they stand there in silence, simply enjoying each other’s company.

“James,” an annoying voice interrupts this peaceful scene.

Turning, he sees Dave standing there. “What?” he asks.

“Can I talk to you?”

Sighing, he says, “Sure.” Then to Meliana, he asks, “Will you excuse me for a moment?”

“Of course,” she says though in her heart she wanted to say no.

He and Dave move a little ways from her, the two sailors who are set to watch him follow. Like her father said, the guards are more for show. If James wanted to kill them all there’s little any of them could do about it.

“What?” he asks when they reach a spot of relative privacy.

“Let’s get out of here,” he says. “I know you can do it, they’ve told me enough tales about you.”

“I can’t,” James tells him.

“Why?” he asks. Pointing to Meliana he says, “Is it because of her?”

“Partly,” he admits.

“You and me go way back,” Dave says. “We’ve been friends a long time.”

Holding up his hand to forestall any further comments, he says, “I know, Dave. Your friendship has always meant the most to me. But no matter what, I have to do what I feel is right. You know that.”

True, throughout his friendship with James, he’s always known him for doing what he felt was right. No matter what the consequences were. “Yeah, I know,” he says. “But this could be your life we’re talking about. Not to mention mine. You’re all I have in this crazy world.” He looks into James’ eyes a moment and then says quietly, “I just want to go home.”

“I know you do,” he says. “So do I. But right now we can’t and are simply going to have to do the best we can.”

One of the sailors comes up and says, “It’s time to return to the cabin.”

“Everything will be alright,” he assures his friend.

“I hope so,” he replies.

Meliana comes and walks with him back to the cabin and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before they put him in and lock the door. Once the door is closed, she turns around and sees her father there looking at her. She gives him a look of betrayal and then turns around and goes the opposite direction.

Later that afternoon, they make a course change and land begins to appear on the horizon. Shortly after that, a major port city comes into view ahead of them.

Illan is standing next to Kendrick, Meliana’s father. “So,” he says, “you still plan to hand him over when we dock?”

“Here?” he asks. Shaking his head, he says, “Not here. That’s Westerlyn, a port city still within the borders of Cardri. If I were to take him ashore here and he got away, I wouldn’t very well be able to take him on into the Empire, now would I?”

Illan’s eyes move to his and they lock for a moment before he says, “No, you wouldn’t.”

“There’s some trading we will be doing here before returning to the Empire,” he tells him. “Probably won’t be staying more than the night. Should have our business concluded by then.” He then turns and heads to the other side of the ship to confer with Mr. Bessin.

Illan watches him go and then he turns back to watch Westerlyn approach.