New Dawn
Chapter 7

The Freedom set sail with the captured Argoni in tow. Lucia had plans for thenaval vessel, but first she had to get it as far away from the island ofCarooine as possible. And there was the problem. Whilst Bettie, Kabi, and evenBenho had managed to cobble together a patch for one of the Freedom's engines, it was unlikely tolast, and the second engine was well beyond their capacity to repair. Thecaptain sighed, put the matter out of her mind for a moment, and concentratedon the task at hand. With Maicee and Lean both in the medical bay, Bettie wasgiving the rest of the crew an update on all that had happened, including thedisarming of the bombs that had been on board. Reaching the end of her report,the first officer stepped back, and Lucia nodded.

“Right.Now, the first thing that is to be understood is that whilst I am still yourcaptain, KabiOnn here will be the commander of this vessel as long as he'saboard. That means you pay him the same heed as you do me.”

“Yes, Captain,”murmured the crew. They had witnessed Kabi's skills and were impressed.

“Excellent,”said Lucia. “I want to get as far from Carooine as we possibly can, so attendto your duties. Bettie, stay here; I wish to speak with you.”

Kabi andBenho also remained seated, and little Niku, pleased to have her makeshiftfamily back for the time being, scampered over the table and sat in the crookof Benho's elbow.

“You needto know more details of the mission,” Lucia told her first officer, once therest of the crew were out of earshot.

Bettielooked on curiously as Lucia and Kabi explained the situation.

“So, let meget this straight,” she said, after listening for a while. “Princess Ausannehas been kidnapped, this little furry creature is her messenger, and we've gota data disk that contains something that the Supreme Emperor wants to get hishands on.” She raised her eyes to the heavens. “Fantastic,” she addedsarcastically.

Kabismiled. “I'd like to tell you more about the data disk, but I can't.” Heshrugged. “You'll have to trust me. It contains something that could bringdeath and disaster to all of Archeonis.”

“Okay,”Bettie said slowly, obviously not quite buying Kabi's story but having nochoice but to do as she was asked.

“Our firstpriority is to get this data disk back to Britannia,” Lucia said. “But we'retaking the long way, for two reasons.”

“The longway?” Bettie asked.

“We'll betravelling through the Lawless Sea.” Lucia glared at her first officer, daringher to challenge this, and when she didn't, continued: “Firstly, because I wantto replace out if the princess is still being held there. And secondly, becausewe'll be far less likely to run into the Imperial Navy there. And given thatwe've currently got one of their vessels under tow, that seems like a goodthing.”

Niku washopping up and down, her tiny claws digging into a grimacing Benho's leg. “Doyou think the princess is still alive?” she squeaked excitedly.

“We canonly hope,” said Kabi.

Maiceeopened his eyes, blinking in the bright lights of the medical bay. His body wasstill soaked with sweat, the remnant of the nightmare he'd just had. Or had itbeen a dream? He had no idea.

He'd beenwalking through a garden, lush and green, when he’d come upon a large pond. Bythe water, a little girl was playing, happily splashing. Watching over her wasa woman, tall and beautiful, with a baby in her arms. He'd opened his mouth tocall to her, the word ‘mother’ springing unbidden from his lips. But as he saidthe word, the air suddenly became freezing cold, ice forming on the hands ofthe little girl. The child had looked up at him, horror in her eyes as the icecrept along her limbs, freezing her until she fainted.

And thenhe'd woken up. He rubbed his face with his hands, looking around. He was in themedical bay—that much was clear, though he remembered nothing from beforeexcept hitting the floor. He assumed he'd been successful in dismantling thebomb, however, since apparently he had all his arms and legs. And even my fingers, he thought,wiggling them.

“You'reawake?”

Falornicame into the small bunk room, her smile cheerful, happy to see Maicee lookingbetter.

“Couldn'tsleep,” said Maicee, not wanting to explain about his dream. “Why don't youcome sit with me for a few minutes, talk to me? Maybe it'll help me go back tosleep.”

“Are yousaying I'm boring?” Falorni joked, but she perched on the edge of his bunk.“What would you like to talk about then, Doctor?”

Maiceeshrugged. “I don't know.” He paused. “How about you tell me how come you're apirate?”

Falornigave him a sad smile. “It's not always a nice story, but I'll try.” She took adeep breath and closed her eyes to remember.

“My hometown was a small sea port on the coast of Americani,” she began. “When I wasthirteen, the town was sacked by pirates. My parents were killed, and I wascaptured.”

AlreadyMaicee was regretting asking the question. He hadn't wanted to cause the girlany pain. But he sat and listened quietly.

“I was soldto a brothel. A couple of years later, Lucia raided the brothel, and I wasfreed. But I didn't have anywhere to go. The captain refused to let me joinher, saying I was too young. So instead she sent me to a nursing academy, whereI learned my skills. Once I graduated, I came back and asked to join her again.This time she agreed, since she was in need of a medic at the time. And ... well,that's pretty much it, really.”

Opening hereyes, she saw Maicee looking at her with pity.

“It was thepast,” she told him gently. “I'd like to forget it, but it's not possible. Soinstead I accept it and look towards the future. With the grace of the Gods,life will be better.”

Maiceeswallowed. And here he'd been sulking because he'd given up a position inCarooine's hospital. His life hadn't always been easy, but it had been a hellof a lot easier than Falorni's had been.

“And whatabout you?” Falorni asked, changing the tone and smiling. “How come you gave upa cosy position in Carooine to come travel with pirates?”

He laughed.“It sounds a little crazy, I'll admit.” He hesitated, trying to put hisreasoning into words that explained what he was doing without giving away toomuch information. “I am seeking my roots and a forgotten past,” he saidfinally.

“That canbe a good thing,” Falorni said. “At least you have a family to return to.”

Maiceeclosed his eyes, feeling weariness overcome him. “I'm not so sure about that,”he murmured, drifting into sleep and trying not to remember his nightmare.

Falornistroked his arm. The skin was so smooth. And then she shook her head. Thedoctor was once more asleep. Getting up, she quietly left him to his dreams.

Lucianodded in satisfaction. That was one problem taken care of. Lean had awoken inthe medical bay and insisted on speaking with the captain. But it was onlyafter Benho had agreed that the woman was fit enough, as long as she didn'toverwork herself, that Lucia had listened to what the engineer had to say.

“I'm theonly one here who can fix those engines,” she said. “And it's the only way thatI can try and make amends. You have my word, Captain, that I shall do whatevernecessary to see you on your way.”

Lucia eyedthe engineer speculatively for a moment. It was true that she owed the girl'sfather a lot and was willing to let Lean live. And Lean seemed to have acceptedthat, though the ship was already underway, she was not going to be travellingfar with them. Finally, she nodded.

“You may goto the engine room.”

But she wasno fool. There was a reason she was captain of one of the most successfulpirate vessels in Archeonis, after all. She was willing to trust the girl, butonly so far. When she returned to the bridge, she sent her first officer tokeep a close eye on Lean.

And it wasBettie who heard the girl's quiet sobs as her oily hands fumbled to fix theengines. For a brief moment, the first officer felt a stab of pity. Then sheremembered all that had happened. She fingered the trigger on her bolt blaster.She couldn't help but think that the captain had made a mistake trusting Leanagain, and she hoped that the girl would do something stupid enough that wouldallow her to pull her weapon and shoot her. Then there'd be no problemsanymore.

The smallboat carrying Lean and a collection of supplies was already disappearing intothe distance. No one watched. No one had the heart to. The engineer wouldsurvive—it was only a few hours to the closest land, and she had food, plus ahandful of credits that had been owed to her. Lucia hoped she'd go on to asuccessful life but knew that, more likely than not, she'd end up a gambler ora whore, like all unwanted women did.

“Statusupdate!” barked Bettie.

The ship'sdefence and navigation officers had installed a remote-access control systemonto the Argoni, meaning that theship was no longer under tow and could move under its own power. Everyone hadgathered on the bridge, ostensibly to witness the Argoni moving under her own steam, but mostly because a cloud ofheaviness had hung over the Freedomsince Lean's departure, and they were huddling together for human comfort.

The accesscontrol system working, Lucia quickly briefed her crew, and finally the Freedom was ready to move at her fullcruising speed. The captain gave the order, and the ship's engines beganrumbling under her feet.

“I forgot,”Bettie said, pulling something out of her pocket whilst the others attended totheir duties. “Professor Lock-Tmy had a letter for you.”

She handedover the slim envelope, and Maicee and Benho made a move to see what waswritten, sure that the letter must be about them. Falorni put out a hand tostop them.

“Lock-Tmyis the captain's grandfather,” she whispered to them in warning.

Maiceeraised his eyebrows and looked at Benho. Seriously? The more they learnt aboutLucia, the more interesting she became.

“Smallworld,” Benho whispered.

“I guessso,” said Maicee.

Luciaripped the seal off the envelope and quickly scanned the letter's contents.Then she smiled, folded the paper, returned it to its envelope, and slid itinto her belt pocket.

“Set coordinatesfor Britannia by way of the Lawless Sea,” she ordered.

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

The shipgradually began to turn, leaving a sweeping curve of wake behind it. Tostarboard, the Argoni mimicked the Freedom's movements.

“Mygrandfather told me to take good care of both of you,” said Lucia, coming overto Maicee and Benho. She was well aware of all that had just happened; her eyesand ears missed nothing that occurred on her bridge.

But Maiceewas too busy looking out at the horizon, where just out of sight CarooineIsland lay. He wondered if he'd ever see it again.

The sunburned down onto the decks of the Freedom,its heat relentless and stinging. It had been a full day since the vessel hadfinally left the waters of Carooine, and now they were on the edges of theLawless Sea. Lucia stared out at the deep blue waters, the colour brighter andmore beautiful than any other hue she'd ever seen. She nodded. Here was as gooda place as any.

The fewsoldiers who had remained on the Argonihad been locked into the ship's safety chambers below decks. Now Lucia allowedher crew to free the men and set them out in the lifeboats of the Argoni. The ship itself she needed; itwas part of her plan. The men, however, she could do without. They were navalmen, and they'd probably make it. She wasn't cruel—she had given them supplies.But on the Lawless Sea, there were no guarantees. Bounty hunters, pirates,mercenaries, all plied their trade out here, and it was survival of thefittest. Still, she'd have been a fool to release the soldiers any closer toland. The last thing she needed was an alert put out for the Freedom and Argoni travelling together. No, that would ruin everything.

Once thelifeboats were bobbing gently in the waves, Lucia waved her hand. The engines ofthe Freedom powered up, and bothcruisers began to pull away, leaving behind them a string of curses andswearing from the abandoned soldiers. The captain shrugged. There was littleroom for compassion in piracy, though she tried to be fair. It was all part ofthe game.

Grinning atKabi, who was rolling his eyes at Maicee's attempt to perform some kind ofacrobatic trick, Lucia scanned her hand and went back to her bridge. There wereplans to put into action.

For hispart, Kabi was trying very hard to teach Maicee the art of unarmed combat. WithBenho ensconced in his cabin with the beautiful Sa-li, Maicee was at a looseend on board the Freedom, and, Kabithought, he could use a little training. It might—no, almost definitely would—comein handy. Unarmed combat really didn't seem to be the young doctor's forte,though, as Falorni's giggles only proved. The young nurse was basking on theside of the deck and watching Maicee's somewhat comical attempts at defensivemanoeuvres.

“Here,”said Kabi. “Try this.”

Hedemonstrated a simple defensive move that twisted his body to avoid what couldhave been a fatal strike to the liver. Maicee watched and tried to emulate themovement but only ended up in a hysterical heap on the salt-stained deck.

“Focus,”Kabi said, striding over to pull his young charge up by the scruff of his neck.“Look, I know that you're well-versed in the use of a bolt blaster, but ablaster has limited ammunition. And there may be times when you simply don'thave a weapon at all. By learning basic martial arts, your body will becomeyour weapon. Do you understand?”

Maiceeyawned. “I understand,” he said, getting into position for the next attack.

He wastired. So tired he could barely see straight. Since that first nightmare, thedreams had continued to haunt him, coming even when he tried to nap. He hadn'thad a full night's sleep in what felt like forever. Plus, physical trainingjust wasn't his thing. He'd never been trained like this before, and themorning's practice bouts had already left his muscles screaming and his bodyaching. But he continued, not sure why he was continuing, but simply doing asKabi asked of him.

Falorni hida small, pitying smile as she saw Maicee get thrown to the deck again. The manwinced in pain, rubbing his shoulder as he got up, cursing the sun-bleachedplanks of the Freedom's deck. Takinga deep, focussing breath, he studied Kabi's movements, trying to figure out howhe should attack the man next. But it was in vain. None of his attacks thus farhad come even close to touching Kabi's robe, let alone any part of his body. Hegroaned as once more he was thrown to the deck.

“Kabi, isthis really necessary?” he asked as he got up for the millionth time. “I mean,it's kind of painful, and, well, I'm not going to be a soldier or anything, amI?”

Kabi lookedat the boy. He was sweating, his body marked with painful welts where he'd hitthe deck again and again. Kabi didn't like doing this, but he knew withabsolute certainty that it was necessary.

“Pain isthe best teacher that there is,” he said calmly. “Learn from it, and you willsuffer less in the long run.” He moved his body into a defensive posture again,adding almost as an afterthought: “And believe it or not, war will come lookingfor you, though you don't want to participate in it. Therefore, you must be asprepared as possible. Come at me again.”

Maiceegritted his teeth and bent his body, moving his centre of gravity lower. Therewas so much that he didn't understand. Not the least of which was what the hellhad happened in his mind the night he'd disarmed that bomb. But as always, Kabiwouldn't answer his questions. He just recommended patience and fed Maicee theinformation he needed drop by drop. Shaking the sweat out of his eyes, Maiceeadded the fact that war would come looking for him to the long list of otherthings that he didn't understand and was supposed to trust Kabi on. Thinking ofthis made him angry, and his assault on Kabi was ferocious, though ill thoughtout. His powerful punch was easily evaded by the older man and resulted inMaicee’s again tumbling to the floor.

“No, no,”Kabi said, his shadow blocking the sun from Maicee's eyes. “Do not rely onbrute force. Use a little innovation.”

Maicee'seyes narrowed, but he got up from the deck. Useyour brain, he told himself. Yourbody might not be strong, but your brain is. He watched Kabi, waiting foran opening, but saw none. Then you'llneed to create your own opening, he schooled himself. Circling around toKabi's left, the older man not even bothering to turn to face him, Maiceeraised his hand as though to chop, and Kabi twirled and lifted his arm to blockthe shot. But that was just the bait. Grinning inside himself, Maicee twistedand redirected his hand, extending his leg at the same time to sweep around andknock Kabi off his feet.

“Not bad,”said Kabi, staring down at Maicee, who was lying on the deck again, headspinning and not entirely sure what had gone wrong. “You are thinking in theright direction. But, if you'd allow me to give you a little advice, perhapsyou should refrain from signalling your every movement with your facialexpression unless you know your enemy to be blind.”

What does that even mean? Maicee thought to himself,struggling to get up on his hands and knees.

“Why don'tyou fight back?” Benho yelled from across the deck.

He'd justcome out for a breath of fresh air and had seen his friend get knocked to thedeck. He'd pinpointed the problem immediately. Maicee had a horrible tendencyto look in the direction that he planned on hitting or kicking, which gave thegame away to his opponent.

“Why don'tyou come over here and give it a try?” Maicee retorted, his head stillswimming. “It's not as easy as it looks, you know?”

“Not a badidea,” said Benho, sauntering over. “If you don't mind, Kabi? I've missed myworkouts and could use a little exercise.”

“Thoughtyou'd be getting enough exercise below decks with Sa-li,” commented Maicee,dragging himself up and shakily walking to where Falorni sat.

“I don'tmind at all, Ben,” Kabi said. “Let's see what you've got.”

As hisfriend removed his cloak and shirt, Maicee could see that his back was ripplingwith muscles.

“You havetrained your body well,” Kabi said approvingly.

Benhoshrugged, both proud of his physique and slightly embarrassed by thecompliment. “Survival is important,” he said. “Especially for an orphan likeme.” And he gave an easy smile.

“Watch themcarefully,” Falorni whispered to Maicee, handing him a towel on which to wipedown his sweat-stained body. “You will learn much from watching.”

“You'retrained in combat too?” Maicee asked, surprised.

Falornirolled her eyes. “Of course. I'm a crew member on a pirate ship, remember?”

Chastenedand feeling foolish, Maicee rubbed his face dry, then sat down on the deck towatch the two men fight. First they circled each other, each gauging the otherfor weak points, movements that might give away an injury or offer an openinglater in the fight. Then, in a flash, Benho sprang forward, his arm extending,his fist aimed directly at Kabi's abdomen. Kabi performed the same twistingmovement that he'd demonstrated earlier to Maicee and avoided the fist, thoughit scraped his skin a little.

The olderman offered an uppercut that should have hit Benho square on the jaw, but theyounger man's delicate footwork allowed him to avoid contact. Benho then spun,giving a wide, sweeping kick that Kabi blocked with his forearm. Maicee staredin wonder at their fluid movements. It was almost as though they were dancingin the hot sunshine, the deck of the Freedomtheir ballroom, time standing still as they engaged each other in battle.

SoonBenho's face was dripping with sweat, and his breath was coming in labouredgasps. Kabi smiled. The fight would be over soon, and it would be his. Hefeinted a swift kick, which Benho took to be real and avoided, but realisinghis mistake, the younger man dropped back into a defensive posture. InstantlyKabi disappeared from sight, and before Benho realised what was happening, theman was standing behind him, a hand to his throat. Struggling, Benho opened hismouth, but Kabi's hand on his windpipe meant that he couldn't utter a word.

“You are agood fighter,” Kabi observed, letting Benho go, so that he could drop to theground, gasping. “But your style is too aggressive. It is draining your energytoo quickly. Remember that you may be fighting an unknown opponent and shouldkeep a reserve of energy just in case. Otherwise it could be your last fight.”

Benhonodded, still in awe of Kabi's speed and strength and still in need of moreair.

“Maicee,you can learn from this,” Kabi said. “Often a good way to fight a strong butinexperienced opponent is to allow him to use up his energy and wait for anopportunity to strike.”

“Thoughyou'll need to survive the initial onslaught first,” whispered Falorni with achuckle.

“Ben, Iwant you to attend these unarmed combat sessions with Maicee. You should learnmore defensive techniques, rather than being forever on the attack.”

Finallyable to take a full breath, Benho nodded. “It will be my pleasure,” he said.Fire burned in his eyes, though he was still smiling. “And I assure you, Kabi,that one day I will defeat you.”

Kabi bowedhis head in acknowledgement and then laughed. “I shall look forward to that dayvery much,” he said.

Lucialooked out over the bridge. It’d been two days since they had released the Argoni's soldiers, and still nothing. Itwas like sailing in a graveyard. But there was something out here, somethingdangerous. She shivered a little; she could sense it.

“Captain,radar signal.”

“What isit?” She snapped to attention.

“Somethingbig, but it's not moving. From the looks of it, it could be a dreadnought.”

“Power backengines on both ships,” she said. “We'll be waiting at our current position fora while.” And with that, she turned and left the bridge.

She foundKabi drilling the boys in combat techniques, as he always seemed to be doingthese days. Benho and Maicee looked bruised and tired.

“What isit?” the older man asked distractedly.

“We'vepicked up a signal. Most likely a dreadnought,” said Lucia.

The two of them shared a glance, and then bothbegan to smile.

“Let's talkabout this plan of yours,” said Kabi, putting a hand on Lucia's shoulder andsteering her away, out of earshot of the boys.

LordHansola sat in his cabin, a small blue-green flame burning on the tip of hisindex finger. Gently he blew a breath over it, watching it flicker and dance.In his mind, a small boy was watching him, grinning at the hypnotic flame.

“Don't youburn, my little Benny-boy, darling,” a sweet, feminine voice called out to himin his reverie.

The boy wasstaring hard at the flame, his chubby fingers reaching out to try and grasp theshining, flickering temptation. But as soon as his hand began to close aroundthe flame, it extinguished. Hansola was rewarded with a deep chuckle that camestraight from the boy's belly, and it melted his heart.

A knock onthe cabin door broke his thoughts, and he shook his head in irritation. Heintensely disliked being disturbed, and he instantly decided that he wouldpunish whoever was knocking in the most unthinkable way possible if the messagehe carried wasn't important.

“Come in,”he said, voice like iron.

A young manentered the cabin, saluted, and waited to be spoken to.

“Speak,”said Hansola, impatiently.

“It's theprincess, sir. She's creating trouble, asking to see you again and again.”

Hansolawaved the soldier away, irritated. “I will be there in a while,” he said.

Theprincess was getting on his last nerve. She was a chess piece and nothing more,though he needed her if he was going to exact his revenge. But, he told himself, if thiscontinues, then I am going to have her killed as soon as I am done with her.

Blowing outthe flame on his finger, he pushed his chair out from the desk and stood. Hewas still thinking of imaginative ways to kill the young princess when hereached the interrogation room. Idly considering placing small metal hooksinside her skin and then escorting her to the ship's magnetic resonator madehim smile as he opened the door.

“Switch offthe camera and the microphone,” he ordered, closing the door behind him.

He watcheduntil the small camera in the corner of the room blinked red rather than green,then nodded and turned to face the princess. Ausanne was lying on her bed, robeopen in all the right places to make her seem appealing. But he knew that shewas simply trying to manipulate him.

“What isit?” he asked.

“I am sovery bored,” the young princess pouted.

And, asstrange as it may seem, she truly was. The princess was no fool, and once shehad found out that helping Hansola, or at least tolerating him, was her onlymethod of survival, she had somewhat buckled down. That did not, however, meanthat she wasn't constantly looking for another route to save her from her fate.But there’s only so long that one can beterrified for, she mused. And she was bored. Locked in this cabin with noone to talk to and nothing to do.

“And whatdo you suggest that I do, little princess?” asked Hansola. “Allow you to wanderat will through my ship and create havoc?” He shook his head. “We have had thisdiscussion, and I'm sure you understand that it is in both our interests at themoment that you pretend to be my prisoner, so behave like one. The plan is inplace, and I assure you that you shall very soon have your freedom.”

Ausannesulked even further. “This plan of yours is taking entirely too long. Youwouldn't happen to be toying with me, would you?” She eyed the Magi Lordcarefully. “No matter what the consequences, if I can't trust you, I shan't beleading you anywhere.”

“I havewithheld nothing from you. I have revealed my plan, my hatred, and yet youdoubt me,” said Hansola, his voice soft and menacing.

“It couldall be a ruse,” began Ausanne.

But beforeshe could finish, his hand was around her throat.

“Listencarefully, little princess,” he hissed, his face so close to hers that shecould smell his lunch on his breath. “If I wanted to, I could kill you here andnow in a way so painful that you can't even imagine it in your worstnightmares. You are useful; I grant you that. And leading me to the rebel basewill help me no end. But, and remember this.” He glared deep into her eyes. “Ifnecessary, I can always replace the base myself and destroy it.”

He let hergo and stepped back.

“But thatis not what I want,” he continued, voice more even now. “I want to join forceswith you against the Supreme Emperor, and we will both get what we want.However, make no mistake, Princess, I can and will do this with or withoutyou.”

Ausanneshivered a little, pulling her robe closer around her. It seemed like thetemperature in the tiny cabin had dropped as Hansola spoke.

“Iunderstand,” she said quietly. “And you have my apologies.”

He was theenemy of her enemy, she knew, but that still did not make him an ally. She tooka deep breath and changed tactics.

“It's justthat it's been so long since I was captured, Lord Hansola. Do you not thinkthat maybe I could go on deck for some fresh air? It is so stifling down here.”

Angerglowed once again in Hansola's eyes, and Ausanne regretted her words even asthey left her mouth. But he was prevented from answering her by the beep of thecom on his wrist. He looked down at the small screen and frowned. Then withouta word, he strode out of Ausanne's cabin, leaving her staring open-mouthed atthe closed door.

“Now,what,” Hansola mused as he carefully locked the door behind him, “could theAdmiral possibly be doing here?”