Chapter 3: Getting To Know Gonzales folded his jacket and rested his friend's head on it. He surveyed the damage done to the ship as well as himself and Pedro. He reasoned that the ship was probably going to stay afloat for a while yet, the fires weren't that bad and would probably would burn themselves out in less that an hour. He then got to work on healing Pedro's wounds; this was deduced using his advanced medical skills that Pedro ought to be tended to first because unlike Gonzales was not conscious. Gonzales thought that Pedro probably had a broken arm and leg (they probably aren't meant to be at the angle they were at). He had just begun to set this right when the ship rocked slightly but suddenly enough for Gonzales to suspect trouble. "What now?" Gonzales looked out of what remained of the window, and saw the lifeboat that had escaped only minutes before, hooking itself to the ship and drawing them nearer. "Blast" he muttered, "these guys just don't give up" Gonzales grabbed his cutlass, and readied himself for what would very likely be a difficult battle. Then two men dropped onto the deck, the boards creaked as the pair landed hard. Gonzales looked the two over and realised a couple of strange things. Number one they looked dumber and goofier than your average Black pirate. One was tall and lanky; the other was short, fat and had a cigar in his mouth. But the strangest thing was ... "No weapons?" Gonzales said bitterly to the two, but still kept up his guard just in case. "Why would we need them?" replied the tall one. "You do know we come in peace, don't you?" said the short one getting a little worried about the cutlass pointed at their throats. This is when Gonzales lost his patience. "YOU COME HERE EXPECTING ME TO BE PIECEFUL AFTER YOU HAVE ATTACKED US IN COLD BLOOD? BECAUSE OF YOU MY FRIEND IS LYING IN A POOL OF HIS OWN BLOOD" "'Ang on a mo, what makes you think we're on their side?" the tall one said defensively. "Yeah" added the small one "just because we come from the enemies ship doesn't make us the enemy. Oh and for the record we were prisoners on that ship, whoever it was" "You expect me to believe that? And even if I did believe it, what makes you think that qualifies you to be trustworthy?" replied Gonzales, through gritted teeth. "I'm not sayin' you should trust us, just to give us a chance to prove we're trustworthy" said the small one. "I, suppose that is acceptable." Said Gonzales, lowering his sword a little. "Do you need a hand with any thing? What I mean is, you said that your friend was hurt, so you tend to him and yourself and we will handle everything else." Said the big one. "Alright then. Just beware, one wrong move and ill cut both your throats and throw your carcasses overboard." "Well, we'll just bear that in mind" "Just who are you two anyway?" inquired Gonzales. "I'm glad you asked," Said the little one, "my name is Izmael, builder extraordinaire. BA-BAAM." "And I am Babham, got a problem with your engine then I'm yer man." Added the taller one. "Izmael and Babham huh? Well get to it then, Breakfast at first light." Izmael and Babham got to work immediately on the ship. Izmael started on the deck and hull, first he replaced all the seriously damaged planks of wood, and then he cleaned and treated some others. Babham got to work on the engine, or at least as best as he could whilst the thing was still on, Gonzales had wanted to get as far away as humanly possible from the crash site of the Phantom fighter. Gonzales continued to heal himself and Pedro, using Sacri crystals to heal as much as possible and making splints for Pedro's broken bones with pieces of wood Izmael had deemed too damaged to be usable anymore. Three hours passes and before the trio knew it light crept up from over the horizon. Gonzales had just finished healing the minor cuts on himself and Pedro using Sacri crystals when a mouth-watering smell wafted up from somewhere on the ship. He put the remaining crystals back in their storage box and followed his nose down below deck. When he got down the steps he saw Izmael and Babham sat around a small fire with a frying pan over it. A number of sausages were sizzling gently on it. "I'm low on raw materials so we're using up crates of things that are nearly finished" Izmael told Gonzales. "Though I'm not sure this old things going to hold together much longer without a serious overhaul. Sometime really soon" He added. "Oh and the engines seem ok from what I could get to while its still running, but it could go at anytime without a proper service." Said Babham "What do you mean by 'A proper service'?" asked Gonzales "Well if it were up to me I'd take the whole thing apart to see what needs repairing or replacing. You could get another engine but for something this old it would have to be custom made and they cost a bomb. The fact that there is no longer a point where the deck finishes and the engine starts is also a problem." "Fine we'll stop somewhere along the way to Nasrad to make all the necessary repairs" said Gonzales, still with more than a hint of apathy towards the newcomers. Footsteps were heard coming slowly down the steps to the hold where the three were talking. It was Pedro. "Ahh sausages that's grand that is." He said as soon as he saw the fire. "PEDRO, you're alright. Shouted Gonzales. "Sure am" replied Pedro as he took more than his fair share of sausages. "It's gonna take more than a cannon ball to the face to take me out of the picture." "Err quite, anyway these are Izmael and Babham" "I'm sure they're very nice." "I didn't mean the sausages." "Oh, yeah, Sorry, the names Pedro" he said to the duo. At this he took their hands and shook vigorously, with his good hand of course. "You have no idea where they're from do you?" asked Gonzales in a hushed voice. "Haven't a clue, but I would hazard a guess at that ship we were fighting. How did we do anyway?" "Hey, we were prisoners not crew members" retaliated Babham "Just who was that anyway? I mean he was all 'Look at me I'm big and strong. See me pick on puny ships with big cannons. All by myself. Mwa ha ha ha' " Gonzales and Pedro stared at them dumbfounded "You have no idea who that was?" "Nope" "Even though he had captured you?" "Still nope" "Should we have" inquired Babham "I dunno. He's only the worst Black Pirate who ever lived" Said Gonzales mockingly. "What does he do, hmm lets see. He attacks ships no matter who they are medical, humanitarian even other Black Pirates. He ransacks towns, burns some to the ground, publicly executes anyone who tries to stand up to him, captures anyone who may be useful to him. Once he's finished with ships that he has plundered he destroys them with any remaining crew on board. They even say that if any of his own crew are suspected of hiding something from him then they'll take a long walk off a short plank." "Bad was he then?" asked Babham "Still is, he has friends who will pick him up and help him along in no time at all. His ship will still be ok just needs a new engine and it'll be right on our tails." "So we won did we?" Pedro tried again. "Just who is 'he' anyway? You've still not told us his name." Said Izmael getting a little impatient and ignoring Pedro's question. "Abe Gillst." Replied Gonzales and Pedro in unison. "Who?" "Abe Gillst that's his name." "Oh...Not very piratey is it?" "No I suppose not." They all sat in silence for a few minutes. "So since we're all here now I might as well show you this." Said Izmael. At this he stood up and walked over to a pile of discarded wood and fished around for something. "Damn, where's it got to? Aha here it is." He moved some shards out of the way and blew on a large section of wood (for effect). It was obviously a section of the ships hull. "I bet you guys had no idea that this old bucket of bolts had a name." Said Izmael and he handed the board to Gonzales. Pedro peered over his friends shoulder curiously. "Let's have a look at this then. So this old bucket of bolts called 'The Light of Progress'" he read. "Not a bad name, I could probably think of something better but there's no sense in changing it now." Said Gonzales "Right then now that that's all sorted how about landing somewhere to make repairs. We could put that name back on the hull if you want us to." "Okay then, any ideas on where to go?" asked Gonzales "Well I believe there's an island not far from the South Dannel Straight. Friendly people, lots of resources" answered Babham "I think its called Geriva" "Geriva it is then" And at this the 'Light of Progress' sped up towards the South Dannel Straight and the port town of Geriva. No one noticed the small object tailing behind them.