The night passed as uneventful as Captain Nabila predicted. The night crew handed over the helm to Mat while the Captain finished getting dressed, she arrived at the helm, jacket over her shoulder with a hunk of bread wedged into her gob.

'I got it Mat, you go get some sleep. I'll holla you if it all goes tits up.' The Captain noticed Effie and Hamish both going back and forth across the deck. Hamish was shirtless and running, Effie wore a tight fitting singlet and was moving at the same pace as Hamish however she was on her hands and feet crab walking.

They continued for another ten minutes eventually Hamish stop to take a breath, the second Effie saw her brother had given up, she collapsed to the floor in a beet red sweaty mess.

Hamish leaned against the wooden rail at the side raising his arms up to fill his lungs just that little be more. He looked up at the helm and found the eye of Captain Nabila already watching him. She blinked. 'Morning!' She waved, 'try not to get too much sweat on the deck love!' He gave her a thumbs up.

They washed up, changed and brought to the helm various tattered maps of the Black Isle.

'Newest map we have on record is about three hundred years old.' Effie unrolled them flat on to the table.

The Black Isle was only a couple of miles in area but many years ago, it was as a key port before the modernization of sailing technology. It served as a pit stop between the Nall and the formerly prosperous continent that became known as the Frozen Wastes.

Free from the jurisdiction of any government or police force, it was a mecca for illicit trade and vice. As the Frozen Waste fell to ruin, the port was used less and less frequently. As far as the civilized world knew, The Black Isle was abandoned centuries ago.

'I think they would use this structure.' She pointed the a square situated on the northern edge of a cove.

'If I wanted the see every boat coming in, that's where it'd want to be.' Captain Nabila thought a loud holding her own chin. 'Would there be any defenses?'

Effie shook her head 'Nothing in recorded history.'

'Most of the recorded history of this island from, what I recall, is about the activities perpetrated on the island, rather than details about the island itself.' Hamish had extensive knowledge of the history of Olorian and Olorian trade routes through his training.

'I don't feel comfortable sailing up to the middle of the cove' Nabila raised her hands to amplify her words. 'Morning sunshine, just here for a quick invasion, please don't cannon us to death, cheers!' She leaned back to the table. 'We have a cannon down is the hold that might still work, but I don't fancy my chances.'

'I don't think that would be a solid tactic.' Effie agreed.

'It would be the quickest way to the structure.' Hamish thought aloud. 'But if they have basic defenses, we'll sink like a sack of spuds.'

'Cove like that, I'm guessing they'd have cannons here, and here at the very least.' Nablia pointed to either side of the cove's entrance on the map.

The three debated around the table, the afternoon sun beat down on them as they sailed further and further away from the continent of Nall.

After an hour, Hamish walked away from the table at the hull and made his way to the bow of the ship. Planning was difficult, once everyone had their own solution and the road to compromise was always a long one.

Hamish found it was easier to move a boulder with a quill than it was to convince someone that their plan had flaws and it might not necessarily be the best course of action.

He wanted to scout the coast of The Black Isle from the ship, to find another place to dock, failing that, dock in the cove.

Effie wanted to brush off the cannon and dock in the cove right away, it was the quickest path but also the most dangerous.

Captain Nabila wanted to avoid her ship going into the cove. She was the most tactical when it came to nautical strategies and was convinced that if they sailed into the cove and their was any defenses in place, the ship would be splinters by the time it reached the dock.

Her idea was to use explosives planted on the other side of the island as a distraction to clear the cove of any manned defenses. She wanted a lot of explosives and for them to be spaced out to create the illusion of a genuine fracas.

Hamish sighed, rubbing between his eyes, pulled out and lit his pipe to unfog his brain. He'd been through planning a hundred times before, this time was more laborious than the other times.

With his usual group of The Protectorate, he knew how his friends would react and, after a decade of working together, could quite often guess the kinds of proposals each person would suggest.

With Effie, he'd known his sister his entire life but they hadn't ran together since he was a teenager and she'd been working for The Contractors, she would have picked up an entirely new playbook on the way. He hadn't known Captain Nabila until the previous day, she was a mystery, at least for now.

A small sandy furred catfolk girl joined him in the designated smoking area. She was only about four foot tall. She wore studded leather shorts with a matching tank top, gauntlets and not much else.

She bounded up and sat on the wooden barrier, one leg over the edge, the other over the scarlet wood off the bow.

'y'doin alrigh up there?' she asked nodding to the helm.

'It's like pulling teeth.' Hamish extended his hand. 'Hamish. You're the lookout right?'

She shook his hard firmly. 'Ai, am Yuko. Yous all got a plan yet?'

Hamish shook his head and explained the delicate situation. Yuko scrunched her face. 'Could yers row tut cove?'

'Row?'

'Ai, dare's a row boat doon the hull. Capin has a shite loada gunpodwer in at the mo. Yuko explained. 'Take dat shite oot an fuckin row the cove, it'sa wee fucker so unless they got some kinda fuckin sniper cannon they'll ney hit yous.'

Hamish was dumbstruck. 'Come to the helm.'

'Am aving a fuckin fag pal.' Yuko put her hand to shut down the suggestion. 'Give me a mo or two, ya inpatient bastard.'

A moment later she tossed what remained of her rolly off the side of the ship and made her way to the helm with Hamish.

'Hey Captain, you have a row boat?' Hamish asked walking up to the table.

Nabila scrunched her face. 'No.'

'Ye you fuckin do.' Yuko spoke up. 'It's in d'hull wi ya gunpowder innit.'

Nabila's eyes lit up. 'We do have the row boat! We can go in the cove in all stealthy like.' She looked at Hamish and Effie

'That could work, I mean, my armor isn't the quietest but better than having a full boat in the cove.' Effie nodded her head.

'I could lend a quiet hand, Yuko can be quite graceful when she needs to be.' Nabila suggested. 'She's a scrapper too, she'll be able to handle herself if it gets hairy.'

'Fuckin' funny clogs ain't yous.' Yuko nodded to the Captain. 'but Ai, I can knack'a cunt when I needs't' The group ironed out the details of the plan and The Gimel continued sailing it's course.

That evening, Big Liz and a few other crew dug out the row boat from the hull. Yuko and Mat went over it making sure it was still sea worthy. They left it to dry on the main deck overnight after a quick coat of sealant.