S. Welles - To Ocean's End

She whispered, “Should we make a run for it?”

“No,” both men whispered back.

“Just be patient,” Mido said. “It’s up to us to defend the stern.”

The seconds ticked by in agonizing slowness. Jessie’s eyes began to adjust to the modest light Le Havre gave off, and she shut her eyes every time the lighthouse beams passed over them. Mido’s food bag made a thunk and they all flinched.

“What was that?” Ted whispered.

Mido reached in and produced an intact glass grenade. He turned to them and grinned.

Whispers in French carried up the ladder. It sounded like they were arguing. Mido quietly and carefully set his paper bag down and faced the ladder. Jessie and Ted followed suit, but Ted tapped her on the shoulder and made her switch places. She complied without arguing. Now was a bad time for objections, even though she wanted to feel like a proper bodyguard. Mido fingered the grenade as if he was searching for the perfect way to grip it.

Yells and the crash of waves erupted at the bow.

“That’s weird,” Mido whispered, “Captain rarely uses his command over water to protect the ship. He’s more inclined to take out his gun.”

“Well we did come back with a bunch of cheeseburgers,” Ted whispered. “That might have something to do with it.”

Mido laughed, then covered his mouth.

The whispering below paused. One heavily-accented voice said, “We know you up there. Stand up nice and slow so we kill you.”

Another said, “Yes. All your goods are belong to us now.” Several men snickered.

Ted said, “‘Are belong’? You call that English?”

“Fuck you,” said the grammatically offensive one. “I speak good English.”

Mido hefted the grenade. “Let’s see how well you scream in English.” He pelted the grenade down the ladder, then pressed himself against the stern. Glass shattered and cries erupted from the skiff. Men yelled to each other in French and Jessie heard a few of them dive into the water. A bit farther off, more voices paddled closer to the Pertinacious as hands slapped the stern ladder. Mido pivoted and waved Jessie over. She put her hands on Ted’s shoulders and leaned past him. “Time to kick some ass, my sea goddess.” He kissed her firmly on the lips, then turned back to the ladder.

For a moment his words and kiss stunned her, and then she regained her grip on reality. She let go of Ted, rolled her wrists and flexed her fingers, and tapped her spiked gloves together, feeling ready to take on the men below.

Two men burst onto the deck. Mido and Ted grappled with them one on one, leaving Jessie with the third assessing the deck with just his head showing. She stood and caught a glimpse of the three skiffs below. Two were empty, one of them sinking. The third got rammed by several dolphins. Smiling, she slipped into invincible mode, then kicked the third man in the face. He joined his swimming comrades as a fourth man came up the ladder, a sword point leading the way. He climbed aboard and squared off with Jessie. She was more than ready for him.

She watched his eyes dart to her shoulder. Her brass knuckles parried the thrust and, like she’d practiced so many times, darted inside his range as she pushed the weapon wide, then executed her favorite five-punch combo: back-fist to the face, hammer to sternum, upper-cut to jaw, sucker punches to stomach, then one last upper-cut as her foe doubled over. The pirate toppled backwards, unconscious.

Swift and deadly, just like she’d been taught. She kicked the dropped sword over the side and rejoined the fray, fists swinging.

I can’t say whether or not having an interruption before I even saw my cheeseburger was an improvement. I wanted absolutely no interruptions, even in a notoriously disruptive port, so I got pissed off all the same and scared the living hell out of the pirates with a water show. Yes, I hated my demon powers, but I hated both burger interruptions and quasi-children more, so a water show it was. Would be interesting to hear what additions to my curse Delilah would have next time I saw her. I rarely used my command over water to defend my ship simply because the rest of the word was better off not knowing I was a supernatural being. The general consensus didn’t share Ed’s and Ted’s enthusiasm for my curse. It’d make the hiring process all that much more difficult. That and I never knew where exactly the line was drawn and I started dipping into demon strength, like at the train station.

On top of that, I didn’t know how to give up the sea life. I liked the consistent motion and adventure, the smell of the sea, her sparkling beauty, raw power, and just how open and free it was. Wouldn’t mind less danger so I’d have fewer friends to cremate, but such was the unnaturally long life I hadn’t entirely chosen.

I kept the southern coast of Turkey in sight off port as we headed to Paphos. We were a handful of hours from the island and several days away from my next lockdown. I’d made Athens a touch-and-go stop, explaining that we’d make Cyprus our next mini vacation. There was minor disappointment from a few crew members, sheer joy from Jessie, and unmasked disgust from Jacobi, who was able to limp around with just a cast and no crutches now.

He could kiss my ass; he would’ve been thrilled if Jessie wasn’t a factor in things. I mentioned that to him. He had nothing intelligent to say to that, so he stormed out of the galley and towards the bow. I gave him a small lead, then silently followed. Cancer waved for the others to let him get up but I held up a hand. “Lemme talk one on one. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“As you wish, Captain.” Cancer scooted back into his spot at the table as Jessie and Mido whipped up a Greek breakfast of strudels and frittata. No clue what a frittata was but the mystery meal smelled great so far.

I headed down the hall and slipped into the cargo hold before the door finished swinging shut, then headed farther in and stopped by a stack of crates that blocked my view of the punching bag. I listened to Jacobi don the spare punching gloves and start beating up the bag, then gave him a few minutes to cool off before rounding the crates. Plenty of time to smooth things out with plenty of ocean to sail.

Jacobi was wobbly on his half-healed leg. He attacked in short bursts and stopped in between to catch his balance, but boy could he still send the bag swinging. I knocked on a wood crate to announce my presence, and his attacks came to a halt. Not sure how short his fuse was today. I didn’t feel like suffering a broken jaw, or worse, for startling him.

He spun towards me, gloves leading the way, but then he did a double-take. He straightened up and steadied the bag with both hands, a glare on his face. “What do you want, Captain?”

“Don’t take that tone with me,” I said in a low voice. I stuck my hands in my coat and wore my dangerous poker face. He’d had a whole month to get over having Jessie aboard. This was getting old.

“Sorry, Captain.” He sounded like he’d tried to mean it but he was still too high on rage. He bowed his head and his nostrils flared with contained fury.

I studied the bearing of his shoulders, the set of his jaw, his balled-up fists, and the shoulder-width placement of his feet for signs that he might lash out at me. I wasn’t afraid of him, even though I’d more than likely lose. I feared very few things without having death as a consequence.

Right now, Jacobi’s ego needed taking down a few notches but I couldn’t do that if he’d explode into fight mode. Once his nostrils stopped flaring and his fingers uncurled a little, I took a step closer. “You need to calm down and grow up. Your attitude is beyond ridiculous. All this piss-poor attitude over having a woman on board… did you lose your balls in Chesapeake? Just grow up.”