suddenly, as I heard the mind of Nick calling out for help. He and I had always shared a "private frequency", and he was in horrible pain..... and NOT on "Sailing Master"! No wonder the business with sari! He'd NEVER do that! Not MY so... er, First Mate. Amy had been so shocked as well; now it all made sense.

I took off at a run (tough for me right now... more likely a lurch) to the oil bunkers just midships. Opening the main tank, I grabbed a no-spark lamp and peered down... into the terrified eyes of Nick, his face just below the oil line. By this time, Ruby had arrived, along with most everyone else, including... "Nick". Ruby did a double-take, and tackled him as he tried to escape up the stairs. WB and Jaden held his legs, while sari somehow managed to grab 'his' family jewels and twist/squeeze.

Getting Nick out of the tank, I assigned Amy and myya to get him to first aid, then a warm, gentle tub. I listened to his lungs first, and no oil had gotten in. He said he hadn't swallowed any, though it was a close thing.

All of us grabbed the imposter and forced him onto the deck. Shortly the rest had joined the group, all of us looking down at him shackled to the deck.

I gave sari a boost of encouragement, and told her to take over.

"Who the fuck are you?? Why are you here? What's the purpose of impersonating Nick? AND WHY WERE YOU SO MEAN TO ME?????"

Each of the questions was accompanied with a whiplash. He did not answer, though.

Ruby whispered in sari's ear, and stepped back. sari grabbed a belaying pin, and bent over his knees. "Ready to answer?" Only silence.

Two seconds later, sari had swung the pin with both hands, overhead. He howled as his first knee was shattered. He still refused to answer, though.

I told Amy to do a quick search of his clothes and room, while the animal lost his second knee. She returned with a small radio, some papers describing in Portugese how to set a bomb on the ship, and written orders when it was to be done, and how to fake the First Mate. These were friends of the Pirates we had destroyed and captured; the ones whose reward-money was now paying for operations of the Dungeon and of "Sailing Master".

The fellow soon had two destroyed elbows. Shackles weren't needed any more. Checking the papers, the attack was set for the next day; delayed and delayed because of my lack of appearance aboard. Might just have to THANK Adlick instead.

I moved over to control, and checked position on the GPS. We were way the heck outside the 100 mile limit of any country, so-called 'international waters'.

It also put me in a position. A ship's captain is one of the few absolute Masters of Men left in the world. Outside national waters, he WAS the law.

Well, it's a tough job, but someone has to do it. Shit.

I told Amy to sail for the nearest sandbar or shoal. The rest of us set up a quick Naval trial, and charges of mutuny and attempted murder, not to mention ungentlemenly behavior, were soon declared. Guilty say all, though the decision was still mine.

We dropped the gangplank on the end of the small sandbar, and Amy used power instead of sail to keep the ship stable. Nick was assisted to the deck, and Alura was assigned to keep him calm.

In front of the crew, I raised my Captain's Weapon, and shot him three times in the heart, with two 'coup de' grace' rounds in the skull. I kicked him off my gangplank before he dirtied it further, and we backed away from the grusome sight. I sat myself on the aft rail, facing aft, while Amy and the rest went over the ship to find the bombs and tracking radios; they all went in the drink, of course. I then chose a fresh direction to head, and put Sailing Master on auto-pilot, top speed. Every stealth and protective device I'd had installed was turned on: it's not 'are you paranoid', but rather, 'are you paranoid enough!'

Nick was apologizing for what had happened to Sari; she took him below. Ruby was working on calming down most of the rest, who'd never seen a Firing Squad before.

I sat on the aft rail, looking back into the sea. Crying softly for what I'd 'had' to do.

And crying for my son, Nick, who'd nearly paid the price for my carelessness.