William could feel Charles tense next to him and he gripped his friend’s wrist. This was not the time to fight some racist idiot. Instead, Charles let a smile slide over his face. “Yes, we do work really hard, very hard in fact.” William’s eyes grew wide as he realized what Charles was doing. He tugged at his friends arm, but Charles yanked his arm free.

  The Asian man nodded, “Yes, that’s why I so glad captain let you stay aboard Blacky.”

  “You are very glad aren’t you? In fact, you’re so glad that we don’t need to work today. You don’t want to lose your faithful hard working Blacky.” Charles wove a delicate but forceful scent of pheromones and pushed it towards the Asian man. William felt sick to his stomach watching the biochemical’s work so influentially upon another human being. He took a step back not wanting to see, or be a part of this. It was wrong.

  The Asian man smiled, “Blacky I want give you day off. Tell captain that I say so. And get head line at Galley today. You go now, leave.” Charles nodded curtly and turned on his heel and stalked back the way they had come.

  William rushed after his friend, catching up to him in the main throughway. He grabbed Charles by his shoulder and spun him around. “What the hell was that?”

  Charles glared at him and spat, “What the hell was what, William?”

  William looked up at the taller man in disbelief. “You know exactly what. Did you forget that I can feel what you did back there? It was wrong and you know it!”

  Charles grimaced, his hatred written plainly on his features, but William knew that the hatred was not directed at him. “You don’t know what’s going on, do you? I had every right to do it and be justified to keep on doing it!”

  “Charles, this isn’t like you. I don’t…what’s going on?” William pleaded with his eyes and voice.

  “William, you have been a good friend and solid companion. I’m still alive thanks to you.” He glanced back at the engine room as he continued. “But these people are not worthy of your pity or remorse, or any moral considerations what so ever.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” William had no idea what Charles was talking about.

  The tall black man looked down on his friend, “William I know what’s going on here.”

  “Then explain it to me. Tell me what’s gotten into you. I told you not to worry about what Nicolas said about what happened.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Let me stop you right there. First, it is way too soon for you to dictate to me what I should and should not worry about. Second, none of what has happened since we’ve been dragged onboard has felt right. Haven’t you noticed that something strange is going on here?”

  William shook his head, “No, I mean, I know things have been a little rough with these guys. But we’re technically stowaways.”

  “No, we’re not.” Charles sighed and pushed William into a small alcove off the main throughway. “Listen; first of all, we are more like refugees than stowaways. As soon as they pulled us out of the water and we told them we were Americans, they should have radioed back to their control and got a message to the US Embassy there, we do have an Embassy in China. Once that was done the Embassy would have sent a helicopter or air transportation to get all of us checked out and began our reintegration process back to the States. That obviously didn’t happen.”

  William nodded his head, “You think these guys might be into… what? Human trafficking? You think they might be slavers?”

  “Have you checked every one of their containers?” Charles had a steady stare in his eyes. “The only reason why we are still here is because of Ansuya, Amanda, and Katherine. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they had arranged a buyer for one, if not all three, a few hours after we came onboard. None of these people deserve your pity or respect William.”

  William put his hand on Charles shoulder, “And what about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “The power we wield is a gift that you have never abused before, no matter the target. Back there, I saw something that I never would have thought I’d see. It doesn’t matter who these people are. What matters is how we live and how we walk through our time on this earth. What someone else has done should never be used as justification of wrong doings on our part. You helped teach me that.”

  Charles looked as if he was going to argue that point. He worked his jaw before nodding his head. “You’re right, it was wrong. I shouldn’t let pirates and slavers dictate how I behave.” He nodded to himself, “It won’t happen again. We have too much power as it is, I won’t abuse it and then justify it because of someone else. I won’t leave this ship tainted by what they have done.”

  William nodded, “I’m glad. Now shall we go enjoy our shift off?”

  “Sure, you heard the man I’m his favorite worker.” He smiled and putting an arm on his friend’s shoulder they walked down the throughway till they got to the first hatch and William led them through. “But make no mistake, these guys will pay for what they’ve done. Their ship won’t leave whatever port they set into, I swear it.” He was deadly quiet as he said that last part.

  William heard the tone and inflection of his friend’s voice. If it came down to it, he would sink this ship himself. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. If these people were stupid enough to try and sell or trade any of them, well, they’d get more than they bargained for.

  “William, don’t breathe a word of this to anyone except when you know you are in private. I’m fairly sure they are watching us. They won’t harm us till they make the sale. If we start acting different then they’ll know something’s up and they might try to kill us before we can escape.”

  “We need to figure out how we’ll get Ansuya and Amanda out of here with them still unconscious.”

  “The sooner they wake up the better, but we’ll have to assume they are going to remain unconscious for the time being. Come on, let’s get back to our hole.”