The day was warm and breezy, making the coastal waters a little choppy, but it was easy sailing. They weren't due to dock at another port until the next morning. Calli was on deck, dressed in her heavy wasteland armor, trying to work off her nervous energy by practicing her moves. Sweat poured from her body and streamed into her eyes.

The crew, especially Jack, were always intrigued by her quick, graceful movements and precise aim. Today she had a knife in each hand, switching back and forth, lunging and ducking, weaving and slicing in a precision ballet of danger. Suddenly she snapped into a crouch, the knives whipping from her hands, slamming one after the other into the weaving target hung for her benefit.

She had opted to go without her helmet. She rose from her crouch, pushing back the short hair and strode over to pull the knives from the dead center of the target. With a quick movement she severed the ropes holding the target and took it with her. In the room she shared with Jack she shed the armor, carefully cleaning and checking it before putting it away.

She took a quick bath before putting on the loose, tough seaman's garb all the men wore, placing the knives in the sheaths at the belt. Even here she didn't go unarmed. Jack was still on duty for another 4 hours and her restless desire was building. She decided to go help Carl prepare the evening meal.

Suddenly an alarm went up. A ship had been spotted on the horizon. All hands immediately went to alert. Calli hurried to her room and donned the light armor that was her favorite battle apparel. It might just be another trader, or a fisher vessel, but the men knew the dangers on the open seas and took no chances.

Jack was in the glass enclosed control room studying the ship through field glasses when Calli came in. Aaron had taken over at the helm. Jack lowered his glasses and looked at Calli.

"Go get your missile launcher. Hurry!", he said urgently. Calli didn't ask questions but hastened from the room. Jack was in charge here. She heard him yell down to the men to get the sails down.

She returned in just a few minutes hoisting the heavy launcher with practiced ease. Jack was again watching the ship and surrounding sea. The windows in the control room had been opened. Jack ordered, " Aaron, turn the ship. When I tell you, head out of here as fast as possible. Kick in the engines. That's the Jolly Roger out there." Aaron turned the Tradewind to run from the Jolly Roger.

"We can't outrun that ship, Captain.", he said.

"I know. Calli, over here. See that swell off her port quarter? Can you hit it?" Calli oriented on the point he had indicated.

"Sure. Just give the word."

"Now.", he said.

Calli fired. "Again!" She let another missile go.

The sea erupted around the Jolly Roger. The beast rose from the sea with only the sound of the water rushing from its huge form.

"Blast the ship. Hit her cannons.", Jack ordered. Calli took careful aim and fired again and again. Even as the huge beast rose to tower over the vessel the ship's main defenses shattered in an impressive display of smoke and debris, the shrapnel and splinters slamming into the sea grate further enraging it.

"Full speed, Aaron! Get us out of here.", Jack urged.

Calli watched fascinated as the writhing tentacles wrapped around the doomed ship. The roar of weapons and screams of men mixed with the cracking of timbers and rending of wood and steel. The Tradewind sped from the scene as the ship broke and slithered into the sea in the grasp of the gigantic beast. The seas boiled red with the blood of beast and man. Calli shuddered. She hoped they never had to battle one of those things.

The ocean was calm around them as Jack slowed the Tradewind and got her back on course.

"We were lucky.", he said. "Those were the toughest pirates on the sea. We'd have taken heavy losses fighting them."

"It wasn't just luck, Jack.", Calli objected. "You saw our best chance and you took it. It was your leadership that saved us." Jack grinned delightedly at her praise.

Calli put away the missile launcher and went below to help Carl finish the meal. She felt excited and energized but the overpowering restless urges were gone. She felt herself again. They would be at Baton Rouge in a few days so she felt relieved to realize she was back to normal. She was looking forward to seeing Aileen and Brent. Maybe she'd even find time to visit Caleb.

The week in Baton Rouge went by quickly without any serious incidents, if you didn't count the thieves that tried to hold her up on the path to Caleb's place. She had netted a few caps and a good shotgun from the encounter, and a devil hog had seemed pleased to find easy feasting in its path. Caleb was happy to see her and she had spent a pleasant night with him, exchanging wilderness stories. She left him the shotgun and 2 boxes of shells in exchange for some herbs and instructions on their uses.

She stopped at the little village up in the mountains. The people were happy to see her since she was a fully qualified doctor. The village medicine woman did a good job keeping the people healthy with her herbs and spells, but there were some things medicines were better at taking care of. Calli traded her meds for a large, rather tame male bird and 4 fat female birds. The residents helped secure the heavy crate to her pack. The crowded animals weren't going to be happy for a while, but Calli had plans for them. She knew how good they tasted when the medicine woman told her the colorful birds were called chickens.

Joe and Mattie would be just the people to raise them. They could sell the eggs and meat after the flock was large enough. Calli would get a small percentage of course. It would be very profitable eventually. Jack wasn't surprised when she showed up on the dock with live animals on her back.

Aileen went dancing with them in the evening. She drew a lot of male attention. Calli noticed that this didn't please Jack very much. His mother was better so Aileen and Brent returned with them to the Tradewind. Calli was glad. She would get to spend time with her sister and her son. The passenger room was no longer available for passengers. It had become Aileen and Brent's room. Calli and Jack made sure it was pleasantly furnished. The crew adored her and the boy. They didn't want for anything. Aileen missed being with Jack when Calli was aboard, but accepted that was the way it was. She was second wife. After all, she had Jack to herself three weeks at a time when Calli was in the wasteland. She was happy.

The rest of the summer was relatively uneventful. There were no major battles to contend with. The Enclave had gone to ground and reduced their presence in the wasteland. Calli hadn't been able to get a good line on where they had their main camp, although rumors had it in an abandoned vault. She wasn't trying very hard to find them as she was busy with her enterprises.

At least it probably wasn't vault 87 as they had completely sealed that vault and the entrances were guarded by Little Lamplighters. That underground city had matured as the children grew older. After Calli had returned some of their residents from the slaver camp she had decimated in the process she proceeded to convince the mayor their culture of children only was unsustainable. It had taken a few years but they had discontinued the practice of kicking out residents when they reached their 16th birthday. The now fully mature adults were still willing to take in orphans from the wasteland though and Calli had taken several children there over the years. It wasn't surprising she was considered a savior to the small town.

The summer days were getting shorter when Calli said goodbye to Jack at the dock. He would be back in three weeks. She was looking forward to taking her yearly 2 month long journey with him to the south. She had missed seeing Aileen who had stayed in Baton Rouge this last trip. Jack's mother had had a set back and Aileen was staying with her to help with the chores. She sent a note to Calli to express her disappointment that she couldn't see her in person and how much she looked forward to seeing her in a few weeks when Calli came south. In the meantime she was sure Calli would be happy to know she was taking up her interrupted studies. Jack's mother was helping her with advanced math and science. She was also very good with history.

Calli didn't know then how glad she would be that Aileen had elected to help out Jack's mother. She and Brent would be safe in Baton Rouge when the tragedy changed their lives.