Kaelis flopped onto the hardwood deck as the ship performed a gentle turn. Regaining her balance, she climbed to her feet and stumbled over to Sheah, who was standing at the railing and reviewing a stack of files attached to a clipboard.

  “Oh, hello there, sleepy head!” Sheah teased upon noticing her approaching comrade. “Did you have fun last night?”

  Kaelis marched towards her and reached out a hand without breaking stride.

  “Ah, no, don’t touch!” squealed Sheah, clutching her glasses and recoiling.

  Kaelis grabbed Sheah by the arm and wheeled her around. “Problem,” she declared, promptly dragging her teammate towards the bridge.

  As the pair spilled into the wheelhouse, Jira turned in her driver’s seat and shot Kaelis a smirk. “Xelon, sleepy hea—”

  “Not now.” Kaelis rushed to the back hatch and peered out past the stern. The plume of dirt was still encroaching, growing larger by the second. “Lenses,” Kaelis directed at Sheah, extending her palm. Sheah slackened, distracted, only then noticing the dust cloud for herself. Kaelis had to snap her fingers to regain her attention. Focusing back up, Sheah quickly grabbed the binoculars off the wall and slapped them into Kaelis's hand like a surgeon.

  Kaelis peered through the lenses, studying the ship at the base of the cloud. Even from that distance she could tell it was large—larger than the Redland Runner by half, if not more. The thing was a dark, dingy mass clearly assembled from scraps of other landships, held together by a layer of jagged, angular spikes coating its hull like a cactus. No self-respecting adventurer would ever be caught dead riding that kind of monstrosity. That could only mean one thing…

  “We’re bein’ hunted,” Kaelis warned.

  “What?!” Sheah clutched at her face, her body hunching with dread. “No. How? We left so early, there is no way they could have found us!”

  “What are you talkin’ about?” asked Kaelis.

  “Is that… not an Expeditioner ship?”

  Kaelis shook her head, confused why she’d even think that. “Pirates.”

  “Oh, pirates. Oh… Oh no!” Sheah locked onto the two packs neatly stuffed into the corner of the room. “The loot!!” she cried, rushing over to the bags and cradling them in her arms like a protective parent. “Captain, get us out of here!”

  “Ezsarr,” cursed Jira, glancing at Kaelis through the rearview mirror. “What’s the ship?”

  Kaelis looked back through the binoculars and studied the hull of the pirate vessel. Painted across the bow in sloppy white streaks was a barely legible moniker. “The Dead Ringer,” she answered.

  Jira narrowed her eyes. “The Vulture…” she growled before ripping the intercom receiver from its cradle. “Dez, we have pirates on approach. Chimera-type, side cannons. Get ready!”

  Down in the engine room, Dez shot straight out of his chair. After performing a short, bewildered prance, he tucked his saxophone away and rushed over to a nearby cabinet. He threw open the doors. Inside, resting beside his rows of trusted tools, was a two-foot long cylindrical gas canister. Confidence curled across his face.

  “Alright, Red. Let's show ‘em what you can do.”

  Outside, the hills of the wasteland grew higher and denser, squeezing the road, trapping the Redland Runner between waves of rocky slopes. Gradually, the ground off the port side gradually sank into the earth, giving way to a deep, craterous quarry. A series of old mining towers, inlaid into the rock, stretched down to the floor of the chasm hundreds of feet below.

  “Oh, great,” Kaelis moaned, watching their maneuvering space shrink around them.

  Sheah wrapped the bags of loot around her torso, cinching the straps as tight as they could go. “We can’t afford to lose another haul!” she fretted.

  “I’m on the gun!” Kaelis sprang from the bridge and bolted towards the stubby artillery turret mounted to the middle-front of the deck. She jumped onto the iron platform at its base and grabbed hold of its handles. Working to wrangle its unwieldy weight, she lurched the cannon into position.

  Sheah stood behind Jira and clutched her hand on the back of the driver’s seat. She watched with pale-faced terror as the Dead Ringer grew ever larger through the rear window.

  Just then, the bandit ship jerked, veering off. It swiftly disappeared, sinking out of view behind the row of hills.

  “What in the…?” Sheah mumbled, taken aback. She shot a confused look at her captain. “They’re fleeing.”

  Jira scowled and shook her head. She peered through the windows, scanning the passing hillsides. “Hold onto something.”

  “Pardon?”

  Vrooom!—Just then, the snarl of an engine erupted out beside them. The Dead Ringer violently reappeared, exploding over a rocky slope. It screamed through the air and slammed down onto the road, cutting off the Redland Runner at high speed.

  Jira, already prepared for it, swung the wheel, diverting the ship close to the edge of the cliffs. Sheah screamed and clutched the back of Jira’s chair as the Redland Runner weaved and leveled out, narrowly avoiding a crippling collision with the imposing pirate vessel.

  The Dead Ringer pulled up beside the smaller landship, matching its speed. A quartet of cannons slid through a set of narrow ports and took aim at the Redland Runner’s hull. On the deck of the bandit ship appeared a handful of raggedly dressed crewmen, clad in mismatched scraps of clothing and armor collected from their various conquests. They peered rapaciously down at their prey.

  A figure then parted their way through the crowd of miscreants—a sturdy, hawkish woman with swathes of tattoos sweeping across the shaved sides of her head. Her long coat, festooned with eclectic pieces of flamboyant armor, billowed in the wind as she smugly studied her latest victim. A wiry, goat-faced first officer scampered up to the woman and slapped a radio receiver in her hand. She shooed him away and brought the mic up to her mouth. Harsh feedback blared through a set of onboard speakers.

  Kaelis grabbed her throbbing head, recoiling at the noise.

  “This is Vulture Divarra of the Dead Ringer,” the pirate captain declared. “Today you’ve been chosen to pay tribute for passing through these lands. You will cut your engines and turn over your possessions to us. If you refuse, we’ll be forced to separate them from you, along with your ship and your lives. You have thirty seconds.”

  Jira adjusted the mic output on the dashboard and brought the receiver to her lips. “Still digging in the dirt for scraps, Rinoya?” she taunted, her voice pulsing through the external speakers.

  A sneering smile crept onto the pirate captain’s face. “I’ll be gods-damned,” she laughed. “I know that voice! If it ain’t Jira the Knife! Crew, you remember Jira, don’t ya?” Her band of misfits nodded with vengeful grins. “For a minute there I was worried I'd never get to run into ya again. I thought you were dead.”

  “Not yet.”

  “Yeah? Well, I bet you wish you were, rather than be drivin’ around in this pathetic rattler.”

  Sheah glowered, her face flushing. She firmly thrust out her hand. “Give me the radio,” she commanded.

  Glancing at Sheah with great reluctance, Jira dropped the receiver into her palm.

  Sheah primly cleared her throat and raised the radio to her lips. “You are now speaking to the owner of this rattler,” she chastised. “I’ll have you know that what you are doing here is a criminal act, and is in direct violation of a number of Imperial laws. I demand that you disengage, lest we be forced to report you to—”

  “That’s enough.” Jira disconnected the speaker.

  “Hey!”

  “Time’s up,” the Vulture announced, a delighted spite in her voice. She dropped the receiver in her officer’s hand and glared down at the small ship. “Open fire.”

  Jira switched the dial on the radio console and yelled into the mic. “Dez, now!”

  Downstairs, Dez threw a needle onto a record. The blaring sounds of high energy jazz burst through the engine room. “Alright. Let’s kick the beat!” he declared as he yanked the emergency brake lever.

  The Redland Runner slammed to a complete stop. The Dead Ringer bolted forward, passing ahead of the ship just as its four side cannons let loose a concussive volley. The shots swiftly missed their target, soaring across the canyon and plummeting into the quarry towers below.

  Jira kicked the Redland Runner back into gear and throttled it up to speed, tailing behind the now completely exposed pirate vessel.

  “Fire!” she charged.

  Kaelis took aim and yanked back on the cannon’s lever. A mighty shot rang out from the barrel. It rocketed into the Dead Ringer, exploding open its aft cannon port with a shower of sparks and fire. The pirate vessel heaved back, its wheels lifting off the road, knocking Vulture Divarra and her crew off their feet.

  The Dead Ringer reeled and then restabilized, its thick wheels slamming back onto the earth. It revved its engines loudly in retaliation. Performing a heated swerve, the bandit ship slammed into the Redland Runner, forcing it to the canyon’s very edge, chunks of cliff crumbling beneath its tires.

  The engine room rocked with the impact. Dez, steel canister in hand, stumbled just as he moved to insert the tube into its port. Losing his balance, he tipped over, barely catching himself on the railing. The canister flung from his grasp and tumbled down to the ground floor below. Dez watched powerlessly as the tube rolled across the ground and lodged itself deep underneath the machinery.

  He pursed his lips, his mustache bristling. “Ain’t that just classic.”

  Back aboard the Dead Ringer, Vulture Divarra surged back onto her feet. She shot a hateful glare at the Redland Runner and watched as it toiled against the pirate vessel’s strength, its side wheels balancing precariously on the precipice. She turned her attention to the sizable hole smoldering at the rear of her landship, a seething ire coloring her face.

  “Wesli!” she screamed. “Status report!”

  Her first officer nervously conferred with a buck-toothed goon before running up to submit his report. “One of the aft cannons is completely destroyed, and another is badly damaged!” he announced. “We need a sec to reload the other two.”

  “Forget the cannons!” the Vulture sneered. “Nobody hurts my ship. Those miserable shitheads… I wanna see them bleed!” With a raised arm, she rallied her crew towards her and pointed a damning finger down towards the Redland Runner. “Boarding action!” she commanded.

  Three hulking marauders stepped forward, snarling with dangerous intent. They approached the edge of the deck, preparing to jump. As they did, the Dead Ringer swung around, easing up on its ramming.

  The Redland Runner jerked back onto the road.

  Hopping down to the engine room floor, Dez lowered onto his knees and meticulously maneuvered his arm through the mass of pipes, reaching out towards the trapped canister. Suddenly, the entire ship violently swayed. Dez faltered, falling forward, dinging his forearm against a heating pipe. With a loud yelp, he snapped his arm back out of the machinery, grimacing at the sting of the searing metal. He quickly examined the wound—thankfully it was just a minor burn.

  The engine room rocked and simmered again, jostling the canister. Loosened, the tube rolled back, sinking deeper into the mass of pipes. Too slow to stop it, Dez let out an aggravated grumble, watching as it settled just beyond his reach.

  Back up top, Jira tracked the Dead Ringer as it reduced its speed, orienting itself alongside the Redland Runner. Feathering the gas, she sped and slowed sporadically, trying to shake them off. But the bandit ship kept pace, unphased by her maneuvering, staying firmly locked onto their starboard hull.

  Kaelis jumped off the gun and forced back its loading mechanism. The slot sprang open, ejecting a large brass casing onto the ground with a metallic clang. She then threw open a steel box strapped to the deck, filled to the brim with artillery shells the length of her forearm, and reached in to grab another round. As the ship rocked back and forth, Kaelis began to reel, overcome by the effects of her massive hangover. Vision swirling, she propped herself against the cannon, holding back the growing urge to vomit.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  The three pirate marauders lined themselves up on the edge of their ship. Snidely sneering, they drew their pistols. They all took aim at Kaelis, who sat immobile, exposed beside the cannon—an easy target.

  Sheah looked on with growing dread as the pirates focused their weapons. Leaping into action, she bolted from the bridge and down the stairs to the deck, sprinting towards Kaelis at full speed.

  “Kaelis, look out!” she cried.

  Grabbing Kaelis by the scruff of her turtleneck, Sheah hauled her behind the turret’s thick metal base just as the pirates opened fire.

  Blam blam blam!—A deluge of bullets peppered the deck. The two women hunkered down, huddling close as small chunks of wood burst around them.

  At last, the gunfire settled. “Whoa,” Kaelis breathed. She glanced at her rescuer. “Thanks, Boss.” Rubbing her eyes, she pulled out her revolver and cocked back the hammer. “Some morning, huh?”

  The pirates holstered their weapons, their ammo spent.

  Unfurling herself from cover, Sheah peeked out and examined the deck, aghast at the cluster of fresh bullet holes spattering the floorboards. “My ship!” she cried.

  Kaelis sucked in a steadying breath and swung out from behind the cannon, her pistol leveled at the three marauders. She fired off a shot. It cracked through the air, hitting nothing. She cocked back the hammer and fired again. The bullet harmlessly whizzed by the middle pirate’s ear. Kaelis pouted as the marauder just pointed at her and gruffly laughed.

  “Get down there!” barked the Vulture, shoving the man angrily. The marauder boldly nodded and tensed his legs. With a great war cry he lunged forward, jumping feetfirst towards the Redland Runner.

  Kaelis took aim and squeezed the trigger.

  Blam!—The plunging pirate squealed as the round struck him straight in the torso. His body flailing, falling limp, he slammed straight into the railing before being devoured by the narrow gap between the ships.

  Kaelis exhaled, grimacing at the man’s painful fate, a bit shocked that she’d even hit him. The remaining two marauders exchanged horrified looks before roaring in retaliation. They leapt from their ship and slammed down onto the deck of the Redland Runner with a hefty thud, pulling out blades and thick steel shields. Kaelis fired her remaining shots at them, her bullets panging off the metal of their armor. Throwing her emptied gun into her holster, she emerged from cover to face them.

  Sheah scrambled to her feet. She rushed towards the ammo box, attempting to load a fresh round into the cannon.

  “Forget about the cannon!” urged Kaelis. “Get below deck!”

  “But what about you?”

  “I’ll be fine. Go, save the loot.”

  Sheah looked back and forth between Kaelis and the galley hatch. Finally, she reluctantly acquiesced. She dashed over to the hatch and gave Kaelis a strong nod as she stepped onto the stairway. “Good luck,” she said. Kaelis tossed back a confident wink. With that, Sheah disappeared below deck, locking the hatch behind her.

  Kaelis ripped her shortsword from its sheath and marched out to the middle of the deck. She raised up her blade and took a fighting stance, wordlessly staring down the two marauders.

  Launching to it, one of the pirates unleashed a ghastly shriek and lunged at Kaelis, wildly swinging a large, serrated knife. Kaelis deflected his opening blow and hopped away. Angling her blade, she stabbed. The pirate parried and retaliated. The two quickly became locked in the staccato rhythm of combat.

  Ignoring the two fighters, the second pirate stormed over to the galley hatch. She forcefully tugged at its handle. The lock held firm. Growling angrily, she ripped a hatchet from her belt and began to hack away at the wood.

  Jira watched from the bridge, apprehensively eyeing the fracas on the deck. Just then, her attention was diverted towards a spot in the distance. Her eyes swelled with worry. Coming up fast was a sharp turn in the road, with a sheer drop-off beyond it. Unless she could somehow get the ship ahead of the Dead Ringer, they would be forced over the cliff and into the chasm.

  “Dez, we need a boost!” she yelled into the radio.

  Jira’s voice rang out through the engine room intercom. Dez grimaced upon hearing her troubled tone. Grunting, he worked to worm his way deeper into the machinery, his outstretched fingers just a hair away from finally reaching the canister.

  “Dez, hello!” Sheah suddenly called, trampling loudly down the stairs.

  “Yah!” Startled, Dez let out a yelp, once again smacking his hand against a pipe. He yanked it out of the machinery, waving it around to dull the sting. “Tssh—angels above…” he muttered to himself. “Uh, hey there, Ms. Ziedler. How are things goin’ topside?”

  Sheah bit her lip. “Well, um, they could be better,” she admitted, removing her bags. “I’m going to hide these down here, is that alright?”

  “Sure thing.” Dez pointed towards his closet of tools. “Can you toss me a wrench?”

  “Any wrench in particular?”

  “The longest one.”

  Sheah grabbed the appropriate tool from the cabinet and handed it down to him from the catwalk.

  “Thanks. Alright, in a sec I’m gonna throw you a thing,” he said, crouching down to the ground. “I need you to plug it into the wall over there. When the Captain gives the order, push that big button next to it. Okay?”

  Sheah nervously nodded. “Yes. Got it.”

  Dez stuck the wrench between the pipes. He fiddled it around, adjusting the angle, until finally he got a hold of the canister. Little by little, he began to roll it out towards him.

  Outside, the cliff’s edge was rapidly approaching, unbeknownst to Kaelis and the pirate, who remained locked in their struggle. Kaelis took a swing at the marauder, only for him to parry her blow. She dodged back as he lunged in response. The two combatants battled their way across the deck, heading towards the stairs to the bridge.

  Jira stared straight ahead, unblinking, tracking the gorge as it grew steadily closer. She was starting to grow seriously worried. “Now, Dez!” she cried.

  Dez twisted his wrench. With one last tug he freed the canister from its steely prison. “Heads up!” he called, grabbing hold of the tube and lobbing it up towards Sheah.

  Sheah nabbed it out of the air with both arms, fumbling with it slightly. She sprinted over to the console and plugged in the bottle, clamping it in place with the pull of a lever.

  Jira screamed into the radio, bracing herself, mere seconds separating the Redland Runner from a disastrous plunge. “Now!”

  Sheah slapped the button next to the slot.

  FAROOOOM!

  In an instant, the room erupted into a cacophony of noise and movement as the engines kicked into overdrive. The ship rocketed forward with a tremendous burst of speed. Dez and Sheah stumbled backwards, thrown off their feet by the explosive force.

  As the ship hurtled ahead, Kaelis and the two pirates cried out, falling to the deck. They grabbed hold of what they could, clinging on while the wind rippled across their faces.

  Breaking free of the Dead Ringer’s shadow, the Redland Runner zoomed past the bandit craft, squeezing onto the road just in time to avoid plunging over the cliffs. Careening around the curving path, the ship erupted out of the quarry’s rocky hills and into an open, arid field. A few moments later, with its booster consumed, it simmered back to a normal speed. The pirate vessel bellowed out behind them, following in hot pursuit.

  Kaelis climbed to her feet and gripped her windswept head in pain. She looked over at the pirate beside her. The two stared at each other for a dizzy moment. Blinking away his daze, the pirate abruptly snapped back to action. He let out a snarl and leapt at Kaelis, swinging his knife. She managed to dodge before returning a swipe of her own. The two resumed their scrap. They fought their way up the stairs, exchanging frantic swipes of steel as they moved onto the upper deck.

  Jira turned her head with alarm, tracking the two combatants as they passed by the bridge's window and carried on towards the stern. Quickly checking that the fields ahead were flat and clear, Jira cranked back a lever, activating the cruise control.

  As Kaelis parried a furious swing from the pirate, her head suddenly started to swirl, her dizziness returning with a vengeance. Overcome, she stumbled and tripped, falling over onto her back, choking down her own vomit. Her defense broken, she looked up in terror, fruitlessly swinging her sword as it grew heavier in her hand. Jeering, the marauder loomed over her, raising his blade for the killing blow.

  Suddenly, the pirate’s knife stuttered, stayed by a strong hand wrapped around his wrist. Stunned, the man swiveled around to find Jira standing behind him with a vicious scowl on her face. Giving the pirate’s arm a forceful twist, she rended his knife into her own hand. The man let out a high-pitched squeal. Grabbing him by the scruff of his collar, Jira dragged him over to the railing and, with the slightest of efforts, flung him over the side of the ship. He shrieked as he flailed over the edge, disappearing from view.

  Growling, Jira stomped over to the top of the stairs, eying the remaining pirate still hacking away at the hatch. She flipped the marauder’s knife over, gripping it by the tip, and flung it straight towards her. The blade twirled through the air before plunging deep into the base of her neck. The pirate let out a shrill, breathless cry before instantly collapsing into a limp pile.

  Jira stormed back into the driver’s seat and undid the cruise lever, taking control of the ship once more. “Pirates…” she rumbled.

  Kaelis lay on the deck beside the bridge, a mixture of happy relief and stunned awe on her face—what just happened? Her befuddlement was cut short as a hail of bullets began to pummel the deck around her. Letting out a quick cry, she scrambled to her feet and dove behind the steel walls of the wheelhouse.

  Vulture Divarra stood at the bow of her ship as it trailed closely behind the Redland Runner, firing an ornate pistol down onto its bridge. She furiously squeezed the trigger until the last of her ammo was spent. Snarling, she threw the gun behind her, smacking her first officer square in the chest. “That’s enough!” she declared. “Prepare the forward cannons!”

  The first officer brayed into his radio. Moments later, two hatches at the front of the Dead Ringer opened and a pair of slender cannons slid through them. Inside the ship, a gaggle of pirates started loading the guns with high-explosive rounds.

  “Uh, Captain…” sputtered Kaelis, staring back at the cannons aiming straight for them.

  Jira turned in her seat and anxiously glared at the guns. She gripped the helm tightly—at this range, the pirates had them. There was no dodging the shot.

  The Vulture threw her hands on her hips and beamed with the joy of imminent victory. “Finally got you, Jira Sirroza,” she sneered. Pointing a hateful finger at the Redland Runner, she gave the order. “Forward cannons, fir—!”

  BRRRRRM!

  Just then, out of nowhere, a deep and piercing horn rang through the air, reverberating off the rocky ridges. The crews of both ships recoiled at the tremendous sound.

  The Vulture glared out into the distance, disgusted, appalled. “No…” she sputtered angrily, her face contorting with disbelief. “That’s… No fair!”

  Kaelis threw herself towards the window, astonishedly pressing her hands against the glass. “No way!” she exclaimed. “It—it can’t be!…”

  It was. From behind a patch of distant hills emerged a colossus of a landship, larger than the pirate vessel eight times over. It was a striking behemoth, shining and sleek, top of the line, painted a trademark viridian. As it thundered towards the two ships, flowing over the uneven terrain on a dozen massive wheels, its countless details began to sharpen into view. Emblazoned glossily across its hull were two titles: ‘Verloren Industries’, and below it, in fine calligraphy: National Treasure.

  A single one of the warship’s many titanic deck cannons laboriously lurched into position, taking aim at the pirate vessel. It fired without warning, kicking out a thunderous sound and sending a round hurtling towards the bandit ship like a bolt of lightning. The Dead Ringer sharply swerved as the ground beside it erupted into a fountain of dirt and rock, leaving behind a deep, smoldering crater.

  A booming voice blared out over a distant speaker. “This is Admiral Erlok Handler of the National Treasure,” the voice proclaimed. “All pirate activity is to cease immediately. This is your final warning.” A second massive cannon jolted to life and began to track the bandit vessel, aiming to strike it directly.

  The Vulture glowered at the warship, fuming, clenching her fists in rage.

  “Captain, m—maybe we should go,” her first officer sheepishly suggested.

  Vulture Divarra grit her teeth and growled, her face glowing red. “…Arg! Fine!!” she screamed, stamping her feet. Whirling around, she snarled at her defeated crew. “What are you idiots doing?! Get us out of here!”

  The Dead Ringer edged away from the Redland Runner and sharply swung around. Peeling off at full speed, it retreated from the two ships, careening angrily back into the wasteland.

  The tension lifting from her shoulders, Jira eased the Redland Runner to a full stop before turning her attention to the capital ship. She and Kaelis scrambled out of the bridge and planted themselves at the railing, staring out at the colossal warship as it grew steadily closer.

  “Wow… I can’t believe it! That’s… It’s really…” Kaelis stammered, trailing off with awe.

  A few moments later, Sheah sprang out of the deck hatch. She glanced around frantically, assessing the situation. The very second she caught sight of their savior, her eyes sharpened with ire. “Verloren…” she seethed.

  “Huh, really?” Dez popped out of the hatch behind her, his forearms slathered in hasty bandages. “Well ain’t that a lucky break!” he cheered. Climbing out of the stairway, he followed behind Sheah, and together the pair trotted off to join their companions on the upper deck.

  “Members of the Expeditioners Union,” boomed the voice from the warship once more, “you are most welcome for our services today. Be sure to remember the good work of Verloren Industries when considering all your future landship needs. We wish you a pleasant day!”

  “Is that the actual National Treasure?!” exclaimed Dez. Sidling up to his teammates, he threw his fists on his hips and marveled at the passing landship. “Angels above, what a beaut. Don’t think I've seen a ship that big out here since the war.”

  “I ain’t seen a ship that big, period,” said Kaelis. “Not in person, at least.”

  Craning their necks, the team studied the National Treasure as it rumbled by, the ground quaking lightly beneath their feet. Even from a distance, the ship towered over the Redland Runner. Dozens of heavy cannons carpeted its bilevel decks, surrounded by various cranes and excavation equipment. A massive singular cannon, far larger than all the rest, was affixed to the warship’s bow, its barrel nearly a third as long as the Redland Runner itself. Rushing through the vessel, visible through the smattering of ports and windows lining its hull, were hundreds of hurried workers, all absorbed in their various tasks, ignoring the expeditioner landship outright.

  Sheah folded her arms, glaring out at the Verloren ship with absolute disgust. “Such a brutish, inelegant thing,” she grumbled.

  Dez stroked his mustache, a puzzled look on his face. “Hold on, what’s the Verloren flagship doin’ all the way out here?” he questioned. “Wonder what they’re up to.”

  “Hm,” grunted Jira.

  “Ah, who cares,” said Kaelis. “Just glad we ran into ‘em. Ain’t nobody stand a chance goin’ up against that thing. You see the size of that forward cannon they’re packing?”

  “It’s really quite a machine…” mused Dez.

  “Those Verloren guys get all the best stuff…”

  Jira nodded. “Hm…”

  As the trio continued to gush about the Verloren ship and its gaggle of features, they slowly wandered off, heading towards the galley. Sheah did not follow. She remained on the deck, alone. Moving to the stern, she tracked the National Treasure as it trailed off into the distance, heading northeast towards the Dremasean hills. She leaned against the railing, an uneasy thought swirling through her mind.

  What were they doing out here?