“Land ho!” another called in warning, “Breakers at our noon!”
A corporal backed away from the sight. “That’s Forbidden Island!”
“What?” a sec man gasped, spinning in shock.
On the horizon was a long landmass with two live volcanoes. There could be no doubt as to which island that was.
“Nuke me, it is!” Glassman shouted, throwing away his plate. “Emergency stop! Cut all engines!”
The crew rushed to the tasks, and soon the boats were anchored relatively motionless in the waves. Reaching into an equipment box, Glassman pulled out binocs while Mitchum limped to the forward bow.
Illuminated by the silvery moonlight streaming through the rumbling clouds, the men watched as the distant air wag abruptly rose high into the sky, then dropped toward the ground, narrowly rushing over a stone bridge. Cannons roared at their passing, and the air wag disappeared into the darkness beyond.
“Did you see those cannons?” Mitchum growled, fighting a wild mix of emotions. “This must be a pirate base!”
“No,” Glassman corrected, lowering the binocs. “It has to be their main base. This is the home of the pirate fleet!”
“Where are the ships?” a young ensign asked, bewildered.
An older navvy grunted in reply. “Don’t be stupe, ya feeb. Think they’d leave the fleet in plain sight? It’s probably anchored on a nearby atoll where we can’t see them.”
“Which means,” Mitchum said, grinning and cracking his knuckles, “that they can’t see us, either.” For some reason, that seemed important to the sec man.
Just then the island trembled slightly and seconds later a wave lifted the ships yards high, then lowered them undamaged. The navvies paid it no attention.
Just a quake wave, and they rode them out all the time. Nothing to be concerned about.
“Skipper, the outlanders are pirates?” a navvy asked.
“Looks like. Must have been testing out their air wag before starting a war,” Glassman said, tucking the binocs away. “On the other hand, lads, we just found their home dock. We’re rich! Kinnison will make every one of us a baron for finding this!”
“But Ryan escaped! They’re on the island!” Mitchum raged, gesturing with a clenched fist. “We have to land immediately and run them down!”
“Without wags?” Glassman reminded him harshly.
Breathing raggedly, Mitchum said nothing. He had taken a gamble and lost.
“Besides,” a navvy said knowingly, resting a boot on a coil of rope, “they’re dead by now from the rads.”
“Ass, the pirates live here,” Mitchum retorted with a sneer. “So the outlanders will be fine.”
“Mebbe,” the other recanted unwillingly.
Which raised an interesting point for Glassman. The air wag gave the outlanders a ride over the rad pits, but how did the pirates manage to do it every day?
“There’s got to be some kind of safe passage through the craters,” Mitchum stated, obviously following the same train of thought “But how the hell can we find it?”
“First we lift anchor, Glassman said, taking the captain’s chair and settling into place. “Boson, take as back to’ Cascade. Best speed.”
“Aye, aye, sir!” the navvy replied, and got busy at the control board. Soon the engines were thumping alive once more.
“You’re leaving?” Mitchum demanded furiously. “Well, put me on the beach. I’ll stay.”
“Can’t. I need you to help oversee the handling of the slaves. You’ve done it beforemy sailors haven’t,” Glassman said, waving over a young sailor. “Donovan, send off a messenger falcon to Kinnison. Tell him what we’ve found and request the entire fleet. Every ship we’ve got that can carry cannon or Birds.”
“Aye, aye, sir!” the man said, hurrying below-decks at a run.
Mitchum limped closer to the captain. “Slaves?” he asked in confusion.
“All they have,” Glassman answered grimly as the petey began to turn a slow curve in the waves. “And if the ville hasn’t got enough, we’ll also take every citizen and sec man. I’d say a hundred should be enough.”
“Enough for what?” Mitchum asked, frowning.
“To use as a key,” Glassman said cryptically, studying the compass to check their course. Straight ahead, dawn was starting to tint the eastern horizon with rosy light. Behind them, night still ruled in absolute authority.