Jason Halstead - Voidhawk

“It means spying.”

“I know that!” Dexter snapped, then softened his tone. “I was just surprised is all. What did you do to deserve that?”

“Wrong place, wrong time,” she said.

Dexter laughed. “That I can believe.”

“Look, thanks for the help, I owe you one. That don’t mean I’m going to be laying with you though.”

Dexter chuckled and grinned. “I like you.”

“So did he,” she said, nodding towards the unconscious ruffian.

“Not like that!” Dexter said, rolling his eyes. “I meant I think you and I are going to get along just fine.”

“What do you mean? I’m stuck in here until they decide to stage a mock trial and then execute me.”

“What’s your name?” Dexter asked her, speaking a little more quietly.

She eyed him warily for a moment then relented. “Jenna.”

“Just Jenna?”

“For now, yes, just Jenna.”

Dexter nodded. “Alright, Just Jenna, how would you like a job?”

“A job?” Jenna quipped, laughing.

Dexter liked the sound of her laughter, even when it was scornful and directed at him. It was musical. “Aye, a job. I can get you out of here and I’m offering you a job.”

She laughed again. “You can’t even get yourself out of here, what makes you think you can get me out.”

“I used to work for the Federation,” Dexter began.

“Used to? How’s that help?”

“’Used to’ means up until they let me go in two days I’m on their payroll,” Dexter explained. “There was some miscommunication that ended me up in here.”

“Miscommunication?” Jenna asked, pressing for more but talking as softly as he to minimize the eavesdropping.

Dexter shrugged. “Yeah, had they really known what I was doing I’d probably be dead or missing some body parts.”

Jenna looked at him for a long minute then laughed again, this time not at his expense. “Okay, go on.”

“You’re a political prisoner, that means they’ll leave you in here for ages until they need you to act as a lesson, then they’ll parade you around, make up some charges, and publicly execute you.”

Jenna shrugged. “That’s what I said, you’re not impressing me.”

“Know how the execute people here? Disemboweling is a favorite, stretching on the rack is another, or the crowd favorite, drawing and quartering,” Dexter said, trying to drive home his point.

The elven woman just shrugged again, showing no real concern about the means of her potential demise. “So how can you get me out?”

“For someone like you they’ll release you into the custody of a citizen with a clean record as long as he pays bail.”

“You don’t have a clean record, remember?”

He chuckled. “No, not anymore… but my first mate does.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed suspiciously. “Your first mate? That make you a…”

Dexter nodded, looking around meaningfully. She understood, he didn’t want anyone else knowing. “Aye, I’ve got a ship nearby. Once I’m out of here I’ll come back and secure your release, if you’ll sail with me.”

“I’m not a whore to be bought and paid for,” Jenna said, her voice quiet but possessing a dangerous tone.

Dexter held up his hands. “No worry, Just Jenna, I’m not after that. I need some deckhands and an Armsmaster. If you’re half as good with a blade as you are with your fists, you fit the bill.”

Jenna smirked, an expression that looked mysterious and comical at the same time on her delicate cheek. “I’m better,” she stated. “Sounds like you don’t have a full crew yet.”

Dexter waved her concern away. “Just picking up a few more to round us out a little better is all.”

“I’ll think on it,” she said, squatting down and resting her back against the wall.

Dexter slid down as well, then looked around at the shadowy forms of the other prisoners in the murky half light. “Don’t think too long, I’ll be gone soon enough and so will the offer.”

The next day and a half proved almost more than Dexter could bear. Nearly finished with his jail term, he longed to be out and working on getting the Hawk’s Talon ready to fly again. Not only that, but the elf continued to stick close to him, talking occasionally though sharing nothing more of herself. He had never been happier to see his friend than when two guards opened up the cell door and Kragor stood waiting with them. Dexter grinned and turned to Jenna. She regarded the dwarf, muttering something in elvish that Dexter knew was derogatory. She returned her gaze to Dexter and nodded. Another man stood and cleared his throat, stepping closer to Dexter. Slim and a few inches shorter than Dexter, the man had hair closely shorn to his head beneath the cowl of a hood that kept his face shadowed.

He hissed in a surprisingly soft voice, “I’ve heard what you’ve spoken of and I would offer my services as well.”

Dexter’s bounced between Jenna and the other prisoner. “Who are you and what are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about. I can help you… I’m an experienced helmsman and if you don’t take me, I’ll tell the Feds what you were really up to that got you tossed in here.”

Dexter’s eyes widened and his fists clenched at his sides. Jenna glared at the man, staring daggers into him, but under the watchful eyes of the guard they said and did nothing.

“Dexter Silvercloud, get your arse out here or you can rot in there till the rats eat the flesh from your bones!” One of the guards called into the cell.

Dexter stared at the man a moment longer, then nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He turned and walked to the guards, who waited until he was out of the cell before shutting the door on those behind him.

“I’d like to secure the release of those two prisoners,” Dexter said, pointing at Jenna and the mysterious prisoner.

“You hit your head in there? You’ve got a record!” The guard that had spoken before said.

Dexter sighed, rolled his eyes, and looked at Kragor. The dwarf nodded and spoke, “I’d like to secure the release of those two prisoners.”

“Can he do that?” The other guard asked.

The first guard shrugged. “Come up top to sign the paperwork.”

“Go and get it,” Dexter said. The guard ignored him, however, so he looked to Kragor again.

“Go get it,” the dwarf parroted, clearly annoyed.

“I head back up them stairs I ain’t coming back down here today,” the guard said.

“What’s their bond?” Kragor asked.

“5 gold for the eunuch, and 50 for the elf.”

“50 gold?” Dexter protested. He knew they had inflated the prices to line their own pockets, but that was a ludicrous amount. Not only that, but he had no idea where he was going to get 50 gold.

“Here,” Kragor said, reaching into a pouch at his belt and counting out 55 gold coins.

Dexter stared at him, stunned. He looked at the guard who smiled smugly. He counted the coins and then tested a couple with his teeth before motioning for the other guard to open the door and let the other two prisoners out. The stepped out of the cell quickly and fell in behind Dexter.

“Right, you’re free to go,” the guard said.

“What about my things?” Dexter protested.

“Don’t I have to sign something?” Kragor asked, confused.

“Your things were part of your issue from the Federation, they belong to us, not you,” the guard said to Dexter, sneering.

“Now get out of here and hope I don’t see you again!”

Dexter hesitated a moment then nodded, walking down the passage towards the stairs and the fresh air of freedom.

* * * *

“What can you tell me to keep me from spilling your blood here and now?” Dexter said after he had slammed the nearly bald man into the wall of an alley not far from the Federation prisons.