"Is bringing her necessary?" Fleta whispered as she walked next to Dan.

  "We might need her there, she could help us with things we don't know yet," Dan said as he peeked at Nulara who walked just a few steps behind them. The native had an expression of utter disbelief and amazement while they walked through the ship to the bridge.

  "This- this is a ship?" Nulara said as they passed by an open-air cafe. The tables outside were arranged in an organized pattern.

  "Yes!" Dan answered in a spirited tone, his conversation with Fleta forgotten. "Do you like it? This here is a French-themed cafe. Unfortunately, Darnal isn't here, or you would have tasted some of the best croissants in your life. Oh, wait here a second."

  Saying that, Dan ran inside, and just as expected, there were still some leftover croissants from that day's batch. Taking back 4 of them, he hurried to the trio waiting for him, just to be met by Marcus' disapproving frown and Fleta's sigh.

  "Here take this," He gave one to Nulara before handing the other two to Fleta and Marcus, who accepted them, if reluctantly. "They are cold and maybe a bit stale, but better than nothing right? So tell me what you think?"

  "It's so good!" Nulara said as she looked at half the croissant she had, then back at the cafe, as if wanting to get some more.

  "I know right!" Dan matched her enthusiasm, almost laughing as he saw her expression. People's reactions to his ship and what she could offer were one of the things that made him keep going, one of the things he loved the most about his job.

  "You know that there's a ship full of pirate slavers just around the corner, right?" Fleta said when she found the chance to interject.

  "That couldn't have wasted much time," Dan replied in a bit of embarrassment. He might have lost control there, but could you blame him? That little episode was the only part of all that had happened that felt real. Of all the events they went through, the interaction between him and Nulara was the closest thing to normality, his past reality, since all this started.

  "Don't get me wrong," Fleta said as she peeked at him briefly, "I like you way better like this. Ever since we got here, you have been a shell of how you usually are. I know you feel responsible for what happened, and for us, but we are all adults here, we can take care of ourselves. Don't let it stress you too much."

  Dan froze midstep for a second. It would be a lie to say that he was at his best since the transfer, or whatever it could be called, but who would be in such a situation? He thought that he was doing quite well, but it might not have looked like that from the outside.

  "Thanks for that," Dan replied.

  Smack!

  He was about to say something else when he was smacked on the head lightly by Fleta.

  "What was that for?" He questioned in confusion.

  "For giving her my chocolate bar," Fleta said without even missing a beat, "Those were my favourite, the last we have in this world, and you gave her one! I'll never forgive you."

  Dan didn't know what to say, he understood where she came from, but still.

  "I'm sorry. But look at the bright side, we are in a new world, I'm sure they have their own great sweets!"

  As they walked, Dan let Fleta and Nulara lead the way before falling back beside Marcus. The chief security officer was a few steps behind them with his hand close to his handgun and his eyes fixed on their guest.

  "So," he started, "What can you tell me about those you found to work as guards?"

  He had been meaning to ask him about that for a while now. The only one he knew from those he gathered was Old Raily, and that was a shock, to say the least.

  "They are mostly friends or family of the crew," Marcus started after thinking for a bit. "There is George, who's a friend of Arnold. He was a soldier and volunteered to join once I asked if anyone wanted to. A good addition to the team to be honest, he seems level-headed and knows how to follow orders, I'm happy with him. Not as much with the second one though.

  "Leonard, Kathy's boyfriend. He used to be a personal trainer, and in his own words, he knows some martial arts. He seems like a happy-go-lucky guy and I don't know if he has that much confidence in himself or if he is just as airheaded as he looks. Fortunately, his body isn't the only thing he has, he also seems to be familiar with weapons, a major plus for any of those helping us."

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Dan nodded as he listened, Arnold and Kathy were coincidentally both deckhands. Dan didn't know much about the people they brought with them, but he trusted their judgment.

  "Next is Hank," Marcus lowered his voice a bit as he looked at the two ahead, "He is Fleta's brother, who used to work as a mechanic. He doesn't have as much going for him as the other two, but he has a fascination with firearms and was ready to join. And you know, beggars can't be choosers."

  "Finally, there was a face I didn't expect to see, Old Raily. He seemed to be having some kind of argument with his wife before leaving her side and coming to join us. It was only then that I found out that the old man was a war veteran. I had my concerns about the old man's capabilities, but he didn't take no for an answer."

  "We need all the help we can get," Dan sighed. He then hesitated before continuing with a whisper, "What are your thoughts about our situation? With the guys and all."

  "Honestly," Marcus massaged his forehead, "I'm not happy with what we have. The Voyager is big. Four people can hardly patrol it and keep it safe. Not to mention the added problem of magic and all the bullshit that might entail. Hopefully the guns are going to be enough to tilt the scale on our side. I will also see about having the deckhands join us. The more people we have armed the better."

  "We'll see about that later," Dan approved.

  Soon after, they made it to the bridge. Dan noticed Nulara shrinking into herself as almost all the eyes in the bridge focused on her. Dan patted her reassuringly as he scanned the place before his eyes fell on Keith, the first officer. She, Freddie and Robert were standing together and discussing something. He wanted to ask about the pirate ship, but something else caught his attention. Only the crew members were in the bridge, their families weren't there

  "Robert." He turned to his right hand man, "Where is everyone? Did you send them away?"

  "Yes," Robert nodded, "Keeping them around wouldn't have been good for any of us, I've given them some of the suites closest to here."

  "That's good. You did well." After that, Dan turned to his first officer. Trying to understand the situation.

  "Keith, tell me what has happened."

  "Okay," Keith took a quick glance at Nulara before answering, "When Robert radioed you, I had just noticed them. They had entered the range of my detection and since then, they haven't moved much, they seem to be just sitting in the open."

  "So they entered your range then stopped?" Marcus questioned, still behind Nulara with his hand close to his handgun, "Does that mean.."

  "Yes," Keith finished for him, "I think that they might have detected us, or at least they are being cautious of the mass of random fog on the sea."

  "Which way are they?" Dan asked as he headed to the helm.

  "They are almost directly to our port," Keith answered.

  "Roger that." Dan took in his role as he started the maneuver, "Port 90."

  "Port 90!" Robert repeated after him as people moved around, keeping their eyes trained in case anything went wrong.

  The ship's propellers started spinning with one pushing to the stern and the other ahead, at the same time, the bow's thrusters pushed the ship to the left, helping the propellers at the back turn the ship to the left. Once the Voyager was facing the pirate ship, Dan stopped all the thrusters and propellers, bringing the ship to a stop.

  Straight ahead beyond the bow, a ship could be seen. Just as Arnold had said, it was a wooden sailing ship that was painted black. At that moment, it seemed to be just waiting there with its sails furled.

  "It seems that they are really those pirates," Fleta said as she put her hand on the trembling Nulara's shoulder.

  "Pirates?" Robert asked in confusion.

  Fleta explained briefly what they got from Nulara and what they knew about the black sailship. Her words dropped the people into deep silence. The existence of slavery didn't bode well for them. Seeing how the natives of the world were treated made them question what would happen to them if they got caught one day.

  "The screens are still off?" Dan wondered aloud, his eyes wandering to the many screens on the bridge, before questioning the ship's electrician again about the task he had handed him, "Dex, there was nothing off on your side? No short circuits or anything?"

  "Nope," Dex answered lightly, his ponytail swinging as he shook his head, "Everything seems to be alright, there's even current going through the lines. I don't know how it all went down, but it's most likely some magic fuckery at work."

  "The binoculars it is," Dan murmured, the ship had a set of strong long-range cameras installed all around, sending a live feed straight to the screens in the bridge. But with them not working, they still had the binoculars and the telescopes to work with.

  Using the binoculars that were always on the bridge, Dan turned to the sailship and took a closer look. What he saw made his blood turn cold. On the deck of the black sailship, a group of people were standing together while arguing. It wasn't clear what they were saying, but from how they were facing the Voyager and kept looking towards them, Dan could guess what they were arguing about.

  "I think they know that we are here," Dan said as he put down the binoculars, "They most likely aren't sure because of the fog, but seem to be arguing over it."

  "So what does that mean?" Old Raily asked, patting his AKM. Dan would be lying to say that he wasn't surprised to know that the old guy was a military veteran. "Now we have a bunch of pirates after us? How are we supposed to deal with that?"

  "I'm all for taking risks. Especially in our current situation," Dan said, his eyes fixed on the far away ship. He turned to give his crew a glance, his eyes stopping on Jackie and Dex a bit before continuing, "but this is way beyond what we signed up for. A group of pirates isn't a ship we could ask for directions. I say we retreat. Let's put some distance between us before considering what to do next.

  "Everyone, prepare to get moving."

  "Aye aye captain," the crew replied.

  "Keith, keep an eye on them," he ordered his first mate.

  They moved in silence for what felt like ages, but was only 10 minutes when Dan checked. Dan noticed how the people around started relaxing the more time passed without the pirates appearing.

  'Fortunately, it ended well...'

  Just as he was reconsidering his choice, Keith suddenly shouted:

  "They are after us!"

  The whole bridge froze.

  1st review 5 reviews!