Whatever misgivings Myka (and likely Helena) had regarding working with thieves, she had to admit, they were quite good at what they did. Even if what they did was to render the Time Machine nearly unrecognizable.
The sun rose that morning on a merchant ship out of southern France carrying the rather insipid name Starry Night. The sails were now a patchwork of different colors and consistency of canvas, they flew the French flag, and there was, indeed, a horrid figurehead of a ridiculously busty mermaid now attached to the prow. Barrels of brandy and bales of straw and wool crowded the once pristine deck. All in all, it was a rather horrifying sight.
Myka would own, however, that it was highly unlikely anyone would recognize the ship. When she saw Helena's disgusted glare in the direction of the figurehead on more than one occasion, she just touched Helena's shoulder and reminded her that the offense being visited on her ship was for a larger purpose. It didn't seem to make much difference.
Thus it was that the Starry Night, carrying raw wool and brandy, sailed out of Olhão harbor on its way to Venice.
The journey from Olhão seemed to take far longer than the journey to the Portuguese port and with each day, Myka found herself worrying more for Pete and Artie and becoming less certain of what they would find at the end of their voyage. Despite her discussions with Helena, Myka hadn't counted on the sheer viciousness of their potential enemy, nor the extent of their apparent superiority. With Alfonso's revelations, however, the level of ruthlessness this person or organization was apparently willing to sink to chilled the officer deeply.
She began to brood so much that Helena started once again challenging her to duels just to keep her occupied.
Neither woman, however, truly had their heart in it. The physical exertion was welcome, but they were still very busy being careful with each other, and the bouts lacked much of their previous ferocity. So much so that the crew grew disgusted with them and stopped watching or betting.
Once while cleaning her sabre after a particularly dull match that left both women as ill at ease as before they started, Myka caught Claudia staring at her with a resigned look.
"What?" She asked, rather more sharply than she intended.
Claudia hesitated, then seemed to make a mental gamble. "Look, I get it okay? She's not a Warehouse agent anymore and you think that the Warehouse is everything and I'm not saying you're wrong but how often in this life do you find someone literally willing to take on an entire Spanish galleon – not to mention half a dozen men personally – for you?"
All of this was said without a single pause and in the time it took Myka to translate the statement from Claudia-speak, the younger woman had fled.
And because she was alone, Myka admitted, "only once."
Thus stood matters as the Starry Night rounded the tip of Sicily and sailed north to Venice.