Chapter 8

The sun was rising over the island, it was great to watch with the wind blowing over me. I had stationed myself on my bridge in order to be better ready for an intercept. After leaving the restaurant last night we obtained the necessary supplies. Once returning aboard we plotted a course to intercept. I hadn't slept, I wasn't tired for some reason. Instead, I had carefully guided us to an intercept location. It was a nice morning, I had taken the opportunity to sit on the side of my bridge, legs hanging over the superstructure. I needed to run some calculations now that the sunlight was just over the island, I could start. Having already recorded today's conditions for the first part of my log, I set to work.

"This is where you are" I heard Rangitaiki's voice. I turned to see her entering the bridge area. The higher sun illuminating more of the bridge.

"Aye, I haven't felt th' need to sleep" I replied quickly jotting down some final numbers before closing my log.

"Nerves?" she asked coming to stand beside me, leaning on the bridge wall.

"Nae, just don't feel tired" I replied. "Mibbe it has to dae wi' what our plan is?" A plan that neither of us had committed to in words. I was ready to do it, and I guessed Rangitaiki was willing, but until that final confirmation or committing to the action I couldn't say.

"Huh, not what I expected" was her reply. With that, she looked over the island watching the birds and sea animals as they played oblivious to my slow cruising. We sat in comfortable silence watching the animals. A couple of small fishing boats passed by, their crews alternatively waving or gawking at us. I so far hadn't detected anything on my radar yet, my guess is that the fishing boats were too small for my sets to detect. Not that it mattered in this case, it was unlikely they could warn the Sea Lilly. "Do you have a plan?" Rangitaiki's question caught me off, guard.

"Aye, hav wan, an' th' outline of another," I told her. It was true, though neither was particularly safe.

"What are they?"

"Th' first wan, is using ma guns to get them to stop. From there we, I, can then board them. At 'at point, a fight is likely to unfold, but I can win. Once capturing th' ship, we can either tow it or have th' crew sail th' ship wi' us back to Toricva. Alternatively, we can issue orders from here an' have them sail wi' us back to Toricva." I explained the first plan I had. Rangitaiki didn't seem satisfied with that, she looked back out to sea, brow furrowing a bit. "Th' second plan is simply to use ma hull to physically prevent them from reaching shore. With how much I weigh, they literally canne force me out of th' way. From thir we force them to Torvica an' hope that there is some form of coast guard that can help us then." This got a more positive response, with her lip biting in a contemplative gesture as she bit it.

After some time she responded "Lets try the second one. I know you are probably nervous about that after the last ship we encountered, but that should leave us with the least amount of legal problems overall." I hadn't thought of legal issues, that had been left up to the diplomats in London. Though now that I was in this place, which didn't seem to have a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northen Ireland, it was something I needed to consider more.

"Aye, we'll go wi' at wan then." I responded. The last factor is the tipping point. I just hoped whatever I had felt wouldn't happen again, as I wasn't sure if I could resist that primal call for action. Having decided on a course of action, I swung my legs back over onto the bridge and slid onto the ground. "Wi' 'at settled, wan of us needs to get a meal ready. We have a big day and food is necessary for the proper operation of a vessel!" I declared.

"Agreed, I'll do it. No offense Javelin, but your not the best cook yet, and besides its probably better for you to remain on watch right now" Rangitaiki (). I couldn't help but agree. I hadn't had much practice, and on the way to Torvica, I hadn't had the best luck trying to prepare some sort of meal. Though I hopped to practice with the cookbook we had obtained yesterday. though with the mission at hand, it would be better if I stayed at watch. I turned to face forward out to sea in the direction I expected the ship to come from.

"Oh, Rangitaiki, are ye sure aboot this corse of action?" I asked her turning to see she was off the bridge about to head down. her lip upturned, and her eyes grew distant, clearly involved in great thought. "Thir's still time to leave. I'm no' so worried aboot maself, but ye have a lot more options than I do. If ye stick with me ye will probably lose a lot of paths in life. I jus' want t' make sure this is something ye want to do." This was met with further contemplation.

Finally, she answered: "It is. I can't really put it into words, but don't worry Javelin, I'm with you to the end!" with that she disappeared out of sight. In truth that didn't satisfy me. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I still didn't feel sure, like she was holding back. However, I could tell that she was not going to allow further conversation about it at the time. I let out a sigh and looked forward again, leaning on the side. I quickly shelved my concerns about Rangitaiki and focused on the watch. I had remembered to grab my javelin from the officer's quarter I was using as my room, but had not remembered to grab binoculars. This left me with just what I could see with my eyes, range finders which were not the most suited for the task, and my sensors.

That didn't matter as nothing happened. No ships passed by or entered radar range, no mysterious feeling. Just the wind and waves, carrying the animals about their day. I wasn't sure how fast time was passing, but it might as well have been stopped. I did check the chart I had brought with me. I needed to be sure we were off Barter's Bay, which it appeared we were. With that done I went back to watching the waters.

As time passed I couldn't help but find myself cursing the group we had gotten our information from. Not because they had shared it, but because they didn't give time. Due to that once we had loaded up on supplies I set course for Barter's Bay. Now that we were here, early it appeared, there wasn't much to do. The boredom was getting to me. If I could actually sail and maneuver, rather than slowly make ovialer patters off the coast, that would be different.

"I decided to bring up something light" Rangitaiki's voice broke me from my near trance. I had focused on searching so much I hadn't even noticed how long had passed. The sun was much further into the sky.

"Oh thank ye" I replied. She had just brought up some toast with fruit for a side. I took it from her, setting my javelin aside. I looked out to sea while eating. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Rangitaki step up next to me on the railing. "Ye don't have to say here," I told her between bites.

"No, its better than being below" she shook her head "Besides you've been here on watch long enough, let me take over. I looked at her directly and saw a determined gaze with her equipped with binoculars.

"Aye, ye can take over, I'll be over here jus' in case" I told her walking over to the table out here. I quickly scarfed down the food that I was given. Trying to keep my hair out of my food. From sidelong glances, Rangitaiki had taken to this well. she had a pair of binoculars, and was scanning the horizon at intervals. Unlike me, she had made sure her hair was braided and unable to blow into her eyes. I finished quickly and rejoined Rangitaiki at the side. I wasn't really keeping watch as much as keeping her company. I watched the ocean go past, setting the air blow over me.

"What is your long-term plan here Javelin?" Rangitaiki asked me.

"Who knows, I was hoping 'at we could-" I started. However, I got a reading on my radar, causing me to stop and look in that direction. Rangitaiki, reading my reaction, raised her binoculars and looked.

"Its still a ways oot" I told her. She lowered her binoculars, sheepishly.

"I'm still not used to the fact you can see over the horizon" she replied. I nodded in response and adjusted my course and speed for a better intercept course.

"Understandable, ye've never delt wi' radar before" I told her. With that, we fell into a comfortable science watching the horizon. From what I could tell the ship wasn't particularly large, possibly under 100 ft. The course hadn't changed, though we were approaching rather fast comparatively speaking.

"I see a sailing ship" Rangitaiki called, her binoculars raised. I concentrated and looked using my rangefinders. The ship was low to the water, a fast design for what it was intended for. With two masts, with a snow rig set. Unlike last time the ship didn't seem to be alarmed by our presence. I couldn't make out the people on deck very well, but there wasn't a general hubbub.

"Is it th' wan we're after?" I asked her. she had been able to read the description of the different ships on the poster, and this had been one of them.

"Yes" came the reply. I took a deep breath and changed course. I planned to head towards them. Passing them initially before looping back around to come up next to them. This would minimize the chances of running the ship over and give me plenty of room to maneuver.

"Watch them Rangitaiki, if they mak any sudden moves let me ken" I told her. This received a nod in response. That meant I could focus on the maneuver and myself. I was starting to get nervous something bad. The first part went well, according to Rangitikei we only got some looks as we passed. I steadied my nerves as I started the next maneuver. Once I camp up alongside the ship, I was going to have a lot of difficulties. I shot a glance at Rangitaiki, and saw she was focused on watching the other ship. However, she seemed set and determined to carry this though. I took that as all the sign I needed and continued with my plan.

Once the turn was completed I focused on my speed and course. I had to make sure to come up along the ship and mark her pace. I would not intentionally hit her, as I had the slaver, and I had to make sure of that. None of my previous war time experience prepared me for this, so I needed to focus.

"You've got this Javelin!" Rangitaiki's voice startled me. I shot her a quick look and she gave my a reassuring smile, the wind over the bridge making her look like a daring captain, despite the braid. I nodded in response, I nodded in response, if she had this much confidence in me, then I could do it.

I shifted my focus back to the Sea Lilly. We were now rapidly approaching her, and it appeared that the crew were paying us more attention. With more action on the deck and pointing. I shifted my focus onto my speed, the entire plan called for me to keep them from reaching shore. So as we approached I slowed, as quick as I could, threw my hull into full back. As soon as we matched their speed I started forward momentum again carefully matching speed.

"They not sure what to make of it" Rangitaiki reported to me. I nodded in reponse, the moanuvers taking up my entire focus. Now that we were parallel to the Sea Lily, the hard part came. I now had to use my much larger and heavier hull to nudge them away from the shore, and towards Torvica. If I messed up, it would be a repeat of the slaver. Gently I started to turn, hoping to lightly touch the Sea Lily's hull. ever so lowly my hull shifted and bumped the bow of the Sea Lily. I held my breath as we started to slowly shift their course.

The yelling from the Sea Lily, increased, as the ship came about to match our course. I watched as the ship slowly leveled off as I completed the turn. With this, the snow was now pointed south towards Toricva. I now started to focus more on what was going on. The crew on the Sea Lily, were yelling angrily at us, with lots of pointing and gesturing at us. Those not focused on us were rapidly climbing the masts and checking the rig. I hadn't noticed at the time, but some of the booms had been hit and damaged.

"Javelin, should we reply to them?" Rangitaiki asked me.

" 'at ye mean? oh, 'at ur they saying?" I asked realizing what she mean.

"They are asking what we are doing" she replied "yelling that we are delaying them."

"Hmm" I wasn't sure how to reply. Then a thought came to me "How weel do ye understand me?"

"MMmm pretty well, though I had a hard time at first" came her reply. that brought a smile to my face.

"Alright, let's see if this works," I told her before yelling "We're 'ere to clype an' peep, ov'r aye skirl in search o' tatties an' neeps 'n a massive clapshot" I called to them. It was essentially gibberish and heavily reliant on my accent, but it should confuse them for a while. It appeared to have the desired effect as the men on the stern near the wheel were looking at one another.

"What was that?" Rangitaiki asked me, confusion flitting over her.

"Gibberish, don't worry aboot it" I responded. It appeared to have the desired effect as some fo the crew looked at one another. Which was helping overall in keeping them from trying to come up with an effective countermeasure to this. his meant that all we had to do now was keep heading in this direction. unless they could escape. They did still have their anchor, and could theoretically drop it. However, they made no action to do so.

As such we slowly made our way southward to Torvica. I made sure to watch their action without fully revealing myself to them. It was slow going, though a great boost to saving fuel by not having to run fast. In time it was Rangitaiki's turn at watch. I headed to the internal component of the bridge, the map room, and just sort of existed. There wasn't really anything for me to do, and I was on edge enough I didn't want to sleep. If something happened I need to be nearby to help Rangitaiki. Time seemed to crawl ahead, but soon enough it was my turn again, and I switched places with Rangitaiki. This continued for the day, and in the late afternoon, I was on watch again, as we started to approach Torvica.

I was starting to get anxious, I had hoped we would run into some vessel of authority by now, but so far we hadn't. I stole a quick glance at the Sea Lily then back at the horizon. I really hoped we ran into one soon. Something entered my range of view. I pulled my binoculars up to take a look. I didn't recognize the flag, but the ship seemed to be some sort of revenue cutter. I hoped that was it.

"Rangitaiki!" I called attempting to focus my binoculars to get a better look, "What is that vessel?". At my call, she had popped up from below and raced over. I bit my cheek waiting for her answer.

"It's the cutter service in Versi!" she cried, relief flooding her voice,. I let myself finally calm down a bit.

"Cane ye hail them or someant?" I asked looking back at the Sea Lilly's masts.

"I can try" uncertainty hovered around "Oh! I don't think we have to" I shifted to quickly look at the cutter. There was a series of flags displayed I didn't recognize.

"Whit does it say?" I asked, ending my attempt to decipher it.

"They are asking us to stand by for inspection and boarding" came the reply. I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. that made everything so much easier. Instantly I stopped the engines. As my hull started to slow, I turned my attention to the Sea Lilly, as the last thing I wanted was for them to get away now. They didn't appear to have seen the cutter incoming, but it was best to keep it that way. I looked at the hooks made from the cable. Perhaps I should hook the Sea Lilly to keep it from escaping.

Now as they realized something was happening the crew on the Sea Lilly became active. I quickly looked up and saw that the cutter was getting closer. I had an idea. My hull was still moving forward with momentum. I grabbed the hook and threw it at the railing on the Sea Lilly. At the same time, I slammed my wheel over hard. It took a few seconds before I could feel the response, but gradually my hull moved left. as that occurred the hook caught on the railing and I pulled tightly. bracing myself along the side of my bridge, and hoped it would be tight enough that they couldn't pull it off.

"What are you doing?" Rangitaiki cried behind me.

"An Idea" I replied, looking at the cutter quickly followed by the Sea Lilly. There was activity on both vessels, with more cries of alarm seeming to come from the Sea Lilly. As I watched t cutter changed course and headed for the Sea Lilly. At that moment I felt a tug on the cable I was holding. I quick glance told me that the Sea Lilly's crew was trying to get the hook off. I wasn't fully prepared for it and I started to be pulled over.

"Javelin!" I felt Rangitaiki wrap her arms around me to assist.

"Its okay, they jou' surprised me!" I replied, pulling back and quickly righting myself.

"Oh" with that she moved beside me and we watched as the Sea Lilly was boarded and sized. It was all done very quickly and efficiently. once that was done I loosened up on the line so the hook could be removed. one of the people from the cutter got back on and the cutter started over to where my hull was drifting. As the cutter got closer I got a better look at the person.

"Earnest Smith!"

"Javalin and Rangitaiki!" It was the head of the city guard in charge of catching pirates, slavers, and smugglers. "What are you doing out here?"

"I cuid ask ye the same" I replied. However, his expression made it clear he wouldn't go first. I decided to bend the truth a bit just in case they would get upset for not informing them. "We were up north when we came across her" I indicated the Sea Lilly "an' Rangitaiki recognized her from the poster, so we…, er gently assisted her south in hope of finding the proper authorities"

"Yes, we are actually quite glad you showed up when you did" Rangitaiki piped up. Earnest looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well we had heard a rumor that the Flower ring might be receiving a shipment today, so we decided to head out" Earnest explained, "you've saved us a lot of problems today, once we are done processing the ship you will be eligible for the reward." Rangitaiki and I both smile at one another at that. "Can I just say you have a pretty interesting ship" Earnest added.

"Um Aye, very experimental" I replied. I was not nervous about being out in the open like this "If that's all could ye get my hook freed up an' we will be on oor way" He nodded and shouted an order, and the hook was tossed overboard. I quickly reeled it in, while starting the engines. Rangitaiki and I waved as we slowly left the cutter