They would need to find a way to corner it somewhere, and that would likely mean giving chase. Jerry squared her shoulders and pushed the engines harder. Vibrations shook through the ship, ricocheting up through her boots and into her legs. She felt them in her hands against the wheel as she steered, right along with Azar as they would if they were flying Yarrow. Fuck she missed that ship.

  She needed her home back.

  Urusla pushed between them, leaning against the dash to see out the front, as if that would tell her exactly where the other vessel was. It wasn’t within range for them to see it yet, but they would come up on it quickly since the other ship was coming their direction.

  “Azar, remember that run-in we had when we were on our way to Crasmere?”

  “The time with the cargo vessel or the one with the dart?”

  “The dart,” Jerry confirmed. “You remember the tactic?”

  “Like it was yesterday.” Azar had a glint in his eye, the excitement of doing something finally catching up with them.

  Jerry grinned at him. Ursula turned on her. “What are you doing with my ship?”

  “Watch and see.” Jerry grabbed the communicator and called out to the rest of the crew. “Battle ready, now!”

  Jerry waited to see what would happen, though she suspected the crew wouldn’t know much of what to do. They hadn’t been properly trained from what she could tell. Jerry glanced at Sacha and Yafe. “Will you two go check?”

  “Check what?” Ursula screeched, but Yafe and Sacha were already dipping belowdecks as they had been told.

  Jerry shook her head. “To make sure you have properly trained your crew on what to do. If we want to steal a ship, then we need to work together as a team.”

  “They’re my team, not yours.”

  “I don’t think they’re yours, either.” Jerry mouthed off. “Shut up and let us work.”

  Azar turned them starboard. Jerry set the cannons ready to fire, only to realize they had none in reserves. She would argue with Ursula on that one later. For now, she needed a backup plan that still might net them something. They moved into place, where the other vessel would run directly into them, and she put Calluna down, keeping her hovering just over the water.

  Jerry’s heart pattered hard as she faced Azar with wide eyes. “Get a weapon. We’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.”

  “What?”

  “There’s no cannons.”

  “Shit,” he mumbled as he spun on his toes to do as he was told.

  Jerry worked fast, ignoring Ursula hovering over her shoulder. She and Azar raced through the wheelhouse as they prepared and played dead in the water. Yafe’s sweet voice came over the communications.

  “Uh…Cap? They don’t know what they’re doing.”

  Jerry raced over and slapped her hand down on the dash. “No cannons. We’re on to the back-up plan. Get everyone up here so we can play hide-and-seek.”

  Yafe didn’t answer, but Jerry trusted that she understood what was happening and would do exactly as she had asked. That was what a good crew should do, one that worked together, one that lived together, one that stole and thrived together. Jerry sent Ursula a quick glare over her shoulder as she slid a pistol into the holster at her hip.

  “There’s no bullets,” Ursula murmured quietly, as if she was finally recognizing the problems they were about to face.

  “What?” Jerry’s eyes went wide. She hated using weapons if she didn’t have to, especially guns, but to not even have that as an option to defend herself was another story.

  Ursula pursed her lips together and raised her chin defiantly. “I sold the ammunition for credits to purchase vestigen.”

  Jerry stared at her in awe. That should have been something discussed prior to their leaving, but Jerry had been in a rush, and Ursula had been less than forthcoming about what happened while Jerry and the others had been marooned. They were going into an ambush with nothing on their side except excitement, anticipation, and perhaps numbers.

  “We’re going to get back to harbor and have a serious talk about this.” Jerry pointed a finger at Ursula and stepped her way out of the wheelhouse and onto the open deck. Azar followed her. The ship was coming right for them, and she could finally see it if she raised her hand over her eyes to shield the sun and squinted.

  “Not much longer now, Cap,” Azar stated.

  “No, not much longer.” The excitement and anticipation that she’d had when they first saw the ship came surging back, and Jerry could barely contain herself to take action. The rest of the crew filtered out and onto the deck slowly. Yafe instructed them to crouch close to the wheelhouse or right along the edge of the ship and behind the wall to stay hidden.

  If they were going to play dead, they didn’t need anyone revealing their numbers. Jerry was already working through plans to train up this crew. She wasn’t going to want to take anyone with her who didn’t know what they were doing or had a sense of belonging and family among them. They weren’t a charity house. The crew was expected to work.

  The ship came closer, and Jerry held as still as possible. She nodded to Yafe who went into the wheelhouse, no doubt to put out the call for assistance so the other vessel would stop to help them. They shouldn’t be marked as a pirating vessel since the ship was legally owned and operated—well, it used to be operated.

  Jerry swallowed hard as she waited to see what was going to happen. Yafe stayed in the wheelhouse while she and Azar stood outside and watched. The ship was in clear view now. It was a sleek small vessel that could probably carry about twenty crew regularly. She had hoped it was slightly smaller, but this would have to do for now.

  Clenching her fists, Jerry said, “Think she’ll do?”

  “Do we have another choice?”

  They didn’t. They both knew it. She had information on Blaise’s whereabouts that week, which mean they would have to get to him swiftly before he moved again. Pirates rarely stayed in one place for long. Jerry had managed to avoid that issue since she also ran a legal business from both her ships, although Ursula had fucked that plan up royally. Finding those connections was not what Jerry wanted to focus on. At least they would have some income from Miriam and the new market she had created.

  “Cap, they’re coming,” Azar stated firmly, drawing Jerry’s attention back to the problem at hand.

  They were close enough to potentially see Jerry and Azar should they step out of the wheelhouse. Jerry raised her hands and wildly moved them, trying to get their attention and state without speaking that they really did need help.

  The ship slowed, but it was still coming in so fast. Jerry’s stomach tightened, her gut telling her that they weren’t going to stop. She stayed put for another thirty seconds before cursing and racing toward the wheelhouse. She shouted orders as she went.

  “Stay down. Azar!”

  Jerry thrust her hand out to wrench open the door to the wheelhouse, but by the time she got to the dash and the wheel to hit the thruster, the ship was already turning and speeding around them. How the fuck had they been made?

  She hit the thruster hard just as Azar slid into place behind the second wheel. Yafe stepped back to give them the space to fly as they needed. Jerry didn’t bother with maneuvering as she flew as fast and straight as possible to make up some of the distance, but it was next to impossible. She knew they wouldn’t be able to catch up. Calluna didn’t have the thruster power to manage it.

  They sputtered behind the other ship. Jerry slammed her palm against the wheel. “Fuck!”

  Ursula unwisely stepped forward, her hands on her hips and moving her skirts to reveal her thick thigh. “I told you we’ve been struggling.”

  “Don’t start with me.” Jerry pointed a finger directly at her. “This crew is untrained. This crew is nothing more than a fucking charity case, and you are nothing better than a head on a platter. You’ve done nothing to train them, teach them, and the only reason this ship is still here today is because you still had funds—my credits mind you—to live off freely.”

  Sacha stepped inside, her eyes widening at the tension she found. Jerry didn’t even give her a full look as she pinned Ursula with the entirety of her fury.

  “You aren’t worthy of the title captain. You’re not worth anything to me anymore. I should throw you off this damn ship right here and now.”

  Ursula’s lips parted as if she was going to say something, but Jerry held up her hand to silence her.

  “I don’t want to hear anything from you. If I so much as hear one fucking word out of your mouth, I will likely do something I might regret. Might, because at this moment, I’m pretty sure it’d feel damn good to watch you sink into the waters.”

  Yafe stepped forward as if she was going to stop Jerry from doing just that, but Jerry jerked around and out of Yafe’s reach. She was beyond angry. Ursula’s lack of everything had put them in jeopardy and now Jerry had even less hope that they’d be able to get a ship in time to find Yarrow and get back on their feet.

  “You’re dismissed,” Jerry spat. “Get the fuck out of my wheelhouse before I take action you’ll regret.”

  Ursula was stunned. She stood there for a few seconds, likely debating what to even say, but eventually, she turned and climbed the ladder down to the lower decks. Jerry spun on her toes, put her hands on her hips, and stared out at the water as they flew toward Raegina. She eased up on the thruster to take them back to regular speeds so they wouldn’t overburden the engines.

  “Azar, when we reach the slip, I want a full evaluation of Calluna. Everything that’s wrong with her, I want to know about it. Use whatever crew you have to in order to get it done tonight. Yafe and Sacha, you evaluate the crew. Tell me what the fuck they can do. I’m sick of knowing what they can’t.”

  Silence was her only answer, but she knew they had heard her, and she knew she was asking a lot of them but what had just happened was embarrassing.

  “You two can start now. Don’t let them in unless they can tell you who the captain of this ship is.”

  “Yes, Cap,” Sacha and Yafe stated together.

  As soon as they were out the door and topside, Jerry slapped the wheel hard, the shock of pain reverberating up through her arm and into her shoulder from how hard she had hit it.

  “Fuck.”

  CHAPTER 12

  They limped into port, Jerry ducking her head for their flight of shame. It had been stupid of her to try and hijack someone in Raegina’s seas. The authorities could come after her any second, and everything she had long fought for would be at risk. Rolling her shoulders and her neck, Jerry settled Calluna into their silo and let out a sigh.

  Everyone had abandoned her in the wheelhouse, so she could lick her wounds in solace. Yafe had stopped by once, telling her that Ursula had been hiding out in her cabin the rest of the flight home. Jerry had snorted but had thought good. She didn’t have the brainpower to deal with that disaster yet.

  Once Calluna was settled, Jerry stepped away from the dash, a sense of dread in her stomach. She had calmed considerably since they trudged back to port, but she still couldn’t help but realize that she would have managed to stay much calmer, plan better, if only her brain had been working the way it used to. She hated that she couldn’t even begin to think like she used to.

  No matter how much they had searched for a cure, all they had found were stopgaps. There was no way to fix the virus. She was doomed to live with the pain that was this craving every second of her life for the rest of her life. Stepping onto the top rung of the ladder, Jerry took her time going belowdecks until she found herself standing in front of the captain’s cabin. She almost went inside, but at the last minute, she stopped.

  She wasn’t able to deal with anyone yet. Not in any fashion that would allow her crew to stay alive should she get ahold of them. Bypassing Ursula’s cabin, Jerry made her way to the galley, finding her main crew—the only people she trusted perhaps—and waving them into the hall.

  “I want you to start everything we talked about, immediately. I won’t stand for what happened today to repeat itself.”

  “Aye, Cap.”

  “I’m going to be out. I’ll be back with more medicine and hopefully a plan to figure this mess out.”

  Yafe looked as though she was going to protest, but Jerry just shook her head. She didn’t have time for it. Jerry stalked out of the corridor, down a level, and to her own cabin. She grabbed her jacket and discarded most of her weapons—not all, because she never left without all, but if the authorities were to find her with a gun, she would be sent straight back to Joab before she could speak one word of defense.

  Jerry didn’t even bother to check herself in the mirror in her small washroom. She knew she looked like shit. From that morning in the carriage, to the windblown disaster of an attempted steal, to her anger at the entire situation, there was nothing that would make her look good.

  Her first stop as she traversed the cobblestone streets was to the proprietor’s building, where Mortimer Blair held offices. She’d been there so many times throughout the last year, that she practically had it memorized. Her plan of staying dead was all going to be damned to hell because her people needed to eat and she needed the papers to prove she had legal business in Raegina in order to cover for pirating.

  Swinging through the door, Jerry narrowed her gaze as she looked around. There were far less proprietors than the last time she had been. The new phase of the virus must be hitting harder than she’d thought, though she hadn’t paid any attention to the news information being broadcast. Not that it was reliable.

  The small desk that sat at the center was usually her first stop, but it was completely empty. Jerry brushed aside the idiotic idea that perhaps Ursula could take over working there just to get off Calluna—and no longer captain any ship that she would no doubt run aground.

  “Jeraldine?” Morty’s usually boisterous voice had a hint of surprise to it.

  Jerry swung around, finding him in the entrance to the hall that would lead to small rooms they could do private business in. Jerry softened her gaze, needing his help more than to piss him off. She bowed her head slightly in a sign of respect for his position over hers. “The one and the only.”

  “I thought you were dead.”

  “So did I.” Jerry walked in closer, but he stepped back as if he was afraid of her. She cocked her head to the side in a question.

  “Do you have the new strain?”

  “No, sir. I’ve been marooned on an island for the last two months.” That little fib wouldn’t kill her. “I didn’t even know about the new strain until I returned.”

  Morty’s puffy cheeks relaxed, and he jerked his head up at her. “You’re lucky then.”

  “Seems it.” Jerry kept her hands at her sides. “I’ve been informed by my colleague that she reneged on the contract we had discussed.”

  Morty’s eyes darted around the room, and with the jerk of his head toward the back rooms, Jerry followed him. He was a short pudgy man, well-off, and more often than not he wanted to have a personal hand in his dealings, which was why it was rare that Jerry didn’t find him at the office. She preferred dealing with him straight to dealing with one of his lackeys.

  As soon as the door closed to the small room, Jerry leaned over the table. “I apologize for anything she did without my express permission. I would not have squandered our contract had I been here.”

  “But you weren’t here,” Morty stated, his words harsh.

  “Not by choice. I took a secondary job to Potelia, and on my way back, we were hit by a band of pirates on Wench’s Dream.”

  Morty’s nose turned up at that, and she knew that instant that he had heard of that particular ship. She was curious what he knew of it but wasn’t sure yet she wanted to press.

  “They left me and my crew marooned on a small island. It was only by luck that we were discovered by a medical vessel. He still has Yarrow.”

  “I know of Captain Blaise Lotchski,” Morty started, anger lacing his words. “I’ve dealt with him many times throughout the years. My condolences to your lost ship.”

  “I have one remaining vessel,” Jerry started. “And she is more than capable of handling the contract we previously had, if it is still an open contract for the taking.”

  “Salt is not in as high demand anymore.”

  Jerry frowned. She knew it wasn’t. With the massive death of people, the government had resorted to throwing them into the oceans instead of burying them, fearing the virus would still live on after death. While there had first been an uptick in the prices, they had sunk shortly thereafter.

  “I can only give you half of what we previously agreed upon.”

  She didn’t want to agree to that, but what other choice did she have? Legal work was so hard to come by with captains vying for the same jobs, and equally with the prices on everything plummeting. Jerry hadn’t been able to take a good surveillance of what was viable and what wasn’t. She had been out of the loop and so focused on surviving and finding her next fix of vestigen that she had little option for anything else. And no one wanted to hire an ex-convict.

  “Deal.” They shook on it. “But I’m also in need of a secondary ship. Would you happen to know of any for purchase? I’m looking for something small, to rival Yarrow since she’s no longer in my possession.”

  She would die before she told him what her plans were with the new ship. Morty raised an eyebrow at her, folding his hands over his potbelly that had definitely lost roundness. She wondered if it was from stress or from the lack of credits to pay for his previously lavish diet.

  “I do have a small vessel in my possession I would sell to you—and only you,” he added at the last minute.

  Jerry understood what he meant. He didn’t want Ursula to be flying his ship, a sentiment she very much agreed with. “How much are we talking?”

 

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