Chapter #9: Conjecture
"Well…it was working…seems that after I came to get you, the circuitry blew," Danny scrubs at the back of his neck, "ecto-energy is…unpredictable."
"How did you even do it in the first place?" one of the technicians stares in wonder at the pile of melted wires by the radar screen.
"I have no idea," he admits, "I just…the specter deflector is wired to pick up ghost frequencies, so…I figured we might be able to use it to make sure Vortex or someone doesn't sneak up on us…I…I don't think I could do it again."
"And you're certain something was on the screen?"
"Yeah. I could make out their ghost shield with the binoculars," he nods. He and Sam had worked to create a more believable story until sunrise, while he fiddled with the wiring and circuitry enough before frying them to debunk any attempts to re-create it, "I couldn't see much else, though, they were too far away."
"And you're certain they're pirates?" the Captain asks skeptically.
"A small, lightweight boat sailing without lights in the middle of the night while making for an adrift cruise liner?"
"It…is suspicious…" he admits, "But why did they stop?"
"I don't know," Danny shrugs, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, "There was another, smaller blip on the radar. My guess? They can't move when they have the shield in place. It's probably an older, less-portable model. They picked up a ghost on their sensors and had to wait it out. By the time it left, they were still too far out to make it here before daybreak."
"It's all still conjecture," the captain sighs.
"Do you have weapons on board?"
"We have a few sailors, myself included, authorized to carry weapons."
"Would they be enough to defend the ship from…say…a crew carrying AK-47s, RPGs, and other automatic or explosive weapons?"
"…no."
"That's what modern-day pirates are using," Sam interjects, "And we have no escort vessels. No one knows we're stranded out here, let alone where we are."
"And you want us to set out in the rescue rafts? You realize that the signal beacons may or may not be working, and that we don't have enough to unload everyone, right?"
"Excluding the crew, how many could you unload?" Danny asks quietly.
He clenches his jaw, "Nearly all passengers," he whispers, "I'd want each boat to have at least one crew member, though, for safety and navigation. We can't decide between passengers–"
"I'd stay," Danny interrupts, "I've been in worse situations."
"I'd stay too," Sam adds, silencing a look from her boyfriend, "Danny and I can handle any situation thrown at us. As he said, we've dealt with worse."
"Like what?" the captain frowns.
"Being trapped in the ghost zone, separated, nearly killed, and organizing a jailbreak," Danny begins, "Fighting the King of Ghosts, keeping my mortal enemy from killing my dad and marrying my mom, being tortured by that enemy, then escaping, and going back to school the next day only to be shoved into a locker again…do I need to continue?"
"He definitely gave you the short list," Sam whispers, "We've been doing this for more than four years now. Trust me, Danny and I know how to survive."
"…do your parents know?" Al asks quietly, much more subdued than he was earlier that morning.
"About the ghost-hunting? Only since yesterday, but they knew something about the time we were stranded in the ghost zone," she replies, "It was a class trip, and when a class of students goes into the Ghost Zone and doesn't come out…parents notice. But they don't know the extent of it."
"The extent of it?" he presses.
"Danny…" she sighs, and he promptly removes his shirt.
"I tell anybody who asks when I go swimming it was a car crash," he turns slowly, allowing them to see all of the marks, "I can make them heal up and go away faster with some of the tech in the lab, but…"
"…it doesn't get rid of them entirely," she finishes, her fingers brushing the one that crosses his left collarbone, ending over his heart, "…this one was from the field trip, and so was…" she traces a smaller one that curves around his side and crosses his stomach, "…this one…there are more, but those were the biggest ones. Mrs. Fenton thought he was dead. I can still hear her sobbing over the radio when I think about it."
"Sam…" he whispers.
"Either way, we've probably seen more combat than nearly anyone on this ship," she turns to face them, and Danny pulls his shirt back over his head, "We can stay behind. I would suggest we unload families first; we don't want anyone getting separated."
"We'd still be leaving some passengers behind–" The captain argues.
"Ask for volunteers," she suggests, "That way, you don't have to choose. It'll show no bias, no favoritism."
"We don't know if the beacons are working–"
"We want to minimize potential hostages," she replies, "Can you honestly say that they'd be safer here with pirates?"
"We have food here," he argues, "Water…"
"But we can't move," she replies, "We're dead in the water. If they're in the boats, they can at least find some land, or run into another ship. We can't communicate with anyone right now. The rescue boats are the only option!"
"If they're pirates, they'll be holding us for a ransom. They'll contact the government and do it quickly. If that's the case, we can rescue those on the rafts. Either they save us or we save them. Seas have currents, typical patterns. They'll be able to find them even if the beacons aren't working," Danny explains.
"It still seems risky…" he scratches at his beard.
"It's up to you, Captain."
-BREAK-
"Frozen!" a man snorts, punching at the ice with the heel of his boot, "Saltwater?!"
"If you can get it cold enough," another replies dryly, tying back his shoulder-length dreadlocks, "You need to calm down, Ross, that ship isn't going anywhere."
The blond-haired man runs a hand through his spiky hair, his face red, "Don't tell me what to do, Burgess!"
"He's right," Another man growls from inside, "shut up and calm down. We can't go right now anyway."
"Stupid ghost," Ross hisses, scratching at the patchy scruff on his jaw, "it froze us in place!"
The man from inside hops up to the deck, stretching; he's surprisingly young, "Yeah, a bit unusual, but it isn't the first time we've had a run-in with the local spooks. First one with ice-powers, but…"
"What do they usually do?"
"Make a lot of noise, mostly," he shrugs, his sweat making his dark hair curl at the tips, "There've been a few who tried to drag men under–"
"Some who've succeeded," Burgess adds.
"I once had one try to strangle me…"
"This isn't funny, Ramirez!" Ross spits.
"It's all true," he lifts his hands defensively, "One sucked the life from the last newbie we had on board. He was just a shriveled little husk by the end."
"It's why now, at the sign of any spectral activity, we activate the shield," a new voice explains calmly, "They're right, Ross, you need to calm down."
"Y-yes, Captain Kovich."
Kovich smiles, his brown eyes abnormally cold, "Good. We'll start heading in around twilight. We'll sneak on board and split into two groups. One will take the captain's quarters, while the other will find the patron. We know he and his rich little friends are all on board. Fate pushed them into our path today, gentlemen," he smiles, "and any little hiccups are for our own benefit," he pulls a quarter from his pocket, flipping it into the air, smiling as it lands on heads, "She's still smiling on us, boys. My lady luck still sails on this demon's sea."
A/N: Yay! Chapter #9! Introducing Ross, Burgess, Ramirez, and Kovich! There are a few other cremembers, but they're the important ones. The others are just…grunts…for now. We'll see if I feel the need to flesh out any of the others. Anyway, don't expect me to update tomorrow or Friday, as I'll be busy with work. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Also: There are some more links to sketches in my profile. (I thought I'd added the link for Sam's parents, but apparently, I hadn't. This has been fixed.) I've uploaded sketches of our piratical friends, link on my profile, and in the description will be little bios to tell you what I probably won't be mentioning in the story.