“Now that I can do,” Jerricho said, with a smile. He quickly headed to the small kitchen area. It always amazed him how such a fully stocked kitchen could be in such a tiny area. But ships, particularly ones like this, where they had to feed more men than normal, every inch you had was premium space. He rummaged around the kitchen, found what he needed, and put on a pot. By the time it was done dripping, he poured two cups and headed back up to the captain.
The captain stood calmly, staring out into the ocean ahead.
Jerricho held up his mug for him. “Don’t know if it’s strong enough for you,” he said.
“Caffeine is caffeine,” he said. He rotated his head and winced.
“How is the injury?”
“Ah, I’ll be fine,” he said, “just a stupid injury. I’m madder at myself than anything.”
“That’s easy to see.” As they stood here in the silence, a strange noise was heard along one of the railings. Jerricho looked at the captain, frowned, and then glared into the area making the noise.
“You know we did a full search,” the captain said, “but it’s a pretty decent-size ship, if somebody wanted to hide.”
At that, Jerricho immediately pulled his handgun from his holster and slipped around to the side. “You stay here,” he said. “I’ll go check.”
“I’m all for that,” he said. “And, if somebody is there, make sure you take him out.”
“If they’ve got answers, we have a few questions.”
“The only question I want answered is how long until I’m home,” he said.
Jerricho almost laughed at the captain’s grumbling because it was obvious by a light in his eye that he thought this was a great lark. He’d been through a bunch of experiences in his life, and things had calmed down to the point that this was now fun again. But it was only fun if it ended well.
With that in his mind, Jerricho slipped around the side of the steering cabin and along the ship’s edge; he couldn’t exactly pinpoint where the noise had come from, and definitely lots of creaking could be heard as the waves splashed up on the side of the boat. But that troubling sound wasn’t a consistent noise, and it’s the first he’d heard, even though he’d been up for as long as he had. And the captain didn’t appear to know what it was either.
Nothing was sliding around on the deck, and, if something had banged around, there had to be a reason or a force that banged it. And Jerricho wanted to know just what that was. It also made him suspicious that, on a boat this size, they hadn’t found anybody else.
Why would every pirate have been on deck?
Jerricho shrugged, not sure, and came upon three lifeboats strung alongside the ship, hanging on the outside of the hull. He would think that they had been checked first, but one could never really know. He slipped underneath and around, checking on the chains holding them all tight. They were on a hoist system that could be unclipped and dropped into the ocean, in case of a bad storm, if the main ship were taking on water and if they needed to be rescued. He slipped from one to the other, checking that nothing was in between these lifeboats. Then he came back around and lifted the corner of the first of one. It was empty underneath, although it was hard to see.
Using his flashlight, he crept up to the next one, loosened it carefully, and, when he heard a soft noise on the inside, he immediately jammed his gun underneath and warned whoever it was to come out, with his hands up. He pulled back the canvas covering, and, sure enough, a stranger stared at him, rage on his face. Jerricho nodded slowly. “Up,” he said, “get up.”
The pirate slowly crept forward, and, even as he tried to get over the edge of the main ship and back on its deck, he turned, knife in hand, intent on sending Jerricho flying with a leg kick. But Jerricho evaded and slammed his gun hard into his temple and, as he groaned and caved forward slightly, Jerricho gave him a hard left to the groin, followed with a right to the jaw. The pirate went down. Jerricho pocketed his knife, dragged him back around to where the captain was, who took one look at him, came over roaring, raging, and kicked him hard several times.
Jerricho calmed down the captain, and he said, “Remember? We want to ask him questions.”
The captain gave him a hard look. “And then we toss him overboard,” he snapped. “I’m not giving this guy one more moment of life after he killed my men.”
Jerricho looked at the pirate and asked the captain, “Do you recognize him?”
He nodded. “He’s their leader.”
“Well,” Jerricho said, “that’s really good timing then.” He looked around for something to tie him up with, when the captain walked over, snagged a chunk of rope, and gave it to him. Jerricho quickly tied up the unconscious pirate’s ankles, legs, and wrists, and then tied them together. He wouldn’t go anywhere, short of a sharp knife. At that, Jerricho grabbed a bucket of seawater as it splashed over on the lower deck, came racing back, and threw it at the man.
He groaned and opened his eyes. Soon he tried to jump to his feet, only to tumbled backward. And then he swore in a violent rip of colorful language that Jerricho didn’t need a translator to decipher.
The captain walked over and kicked him again, hard. And the pirate again swore at him in that same language.
“What did he say?” Jerricho asked.
“You don’t need an exact translation,” he said. “Basically, on his mother’s grave, he would skin you alive and feed you to the fish.”
“Colorful,” Jerricho said, looking down at him. “Can you ask him some questions?”
“Sure,” he said, “but only because I’m anticipating throwing the asshole overboard.”
“I hear you, but I don’t want him killed unless he attacks.”
“He has already attacked,” the captain said in a hard voice. “This you give me,” he said. “It’s my men he killed.”
Knowing that he was up against an impasse, Jerricho nodded slowly. “In my world, we don’t kill an unarmed man.”
The captain snorted. “He killed two unarmed men,” he said. “They both had wives. They both had children.”
Jerricho winced because he understood the rage eating at the captain. He still had to go home and explain to the wives of his crewmen. Jerricho nodded, walked over to the pirate, checked him from top to bottom to make sure he had no other weapons, and then pulled out a plastic bag from his back pocket. The captain whistled. The bag was filled with a lot of money that neither expected to see. He handed it to the captain. “Can I trust you to split this between the two men’s families?”
The captain looked at him in surprise, and tears were in his eyes, when he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “That is appropriate.” He immediately pocketed the money, glaring at the pirate, swearing at him again. Then the captain walked over, bent, clenched his hand around his captive’s throat, and gave him a hell of a talking to. Finally he sat back, looked at Jerricho, and asked, “What do you want to know?”
“Who was buying the women?”
He quickly asked the questions, and things just weren’t any easier. Buyers were people from all over the world but mostly done by local agents. The pirates would take the women to safe points, where they would travel outward.