1.66 - New Tactics
It took six
hours for us to finish cleaning Tawa’s apartment. Enyolo didn’t come, Velphi
was rather heavy handed and Nastas complained the entire time. Still, the
apartment is clean. Everyone has headed back to the ship or hotel
accommodations they secured on Tortuga except the lucky few of us remaining for
a planning session.
“So, who’s
the boss,” Edan asks as he sips from a glass of water.
Tawa
swallows a bite of the cold and spicy noodle dish he served us. “A woman named
Yana is the leader of their group. She’s done a brief stint in prison and is
fond of neon tattoos so she’s really easy to spot when it’s dark.”
“I don’t
see what her fashions sense has to do with the plan,” Nastas interrupts, still irritated.
“Oh, I
can,” Nastas fumbles over his words, clearly uncomfortable.
“Let him
finish. I’m sure he had more to tell us than just what she likes to wear,” I
give him a nod.
“Yeah, it’s
not as if you can be long winded,” Edan stares down Nastas.
“Thank
you,” Tawa regathers his composure. “Yana has recently taken control of the
group. Previously they primarily worked in smuggling drugs and people. Since she’s
taken control, they’ve began a life of true piracy. Attacking ships and deals
seemingly at random. They don’t have a preferred broker of jobs; so, word of
mouth, hacked emails, stolen ship manifestos and anything else they can get
their hands on is how they choose jobs. But, it looks like she’s been planning
something big, as they’ve taken control of a large warehouse where they’ve been
storing goods.”
Tawa gives
the command and a projector shines down on the tabled displaying an exterior
view of the warehouse. He swipes through cameras that he had taken control of,
giving us a view of the layout and items inside. He’s strange, Edan didn’t lie
about that. He also wasn’t lying when he said Tawa does good work.
“This is
too much of a risk. There are no less than twenty people inside of that
warehouse,” Nastas crosses his arms. “I propose we cut our losses now. The
client will be disappointed but it will not hurt our reputation as a crew. He
was aware of the risks involved when he chose to work with the kidnapers
instead of the authorities.”
“We’re just
going to let Phil lose his job and his son because it might be dangerous,” I
ask Nastas.
“Who is
Phil,” He asks both confused and enraged.
“The
client,” Edan chimes in.
“You are a
guest on The Pariah,” Nastas raises his voice, “you have no say in how we
conduct our business or dealings. It would behoove you to remember your place,”
Nastas drops the long winded persona as he speaks to me.
“You’ve got
a place for me? Put me in it. But, you’re going to have to do more than
talking.”
“Are you
asking me for a fight?”
“I didn’t
ask you for anything. I never will. But if it’s a fight you want, I’m sure we
could arrange something.”
Edan places
a hand on my shoulder to calm me before speaking to Nastas. “I understand you
have your reservations. We don’t deal with drug dealers and human smugglers
because they’re dangerous. More dangerous than what we usually do. I’m not
going to ask you to participate in the raid, because there will be a raid. I’m
only going to ask you to fence the goods,” Nastas is fuming but doesn’t respond
to Edan. “Oh, one more thing. At the end of the day, this is my ship, my crew
and you may be the first mate, but Efrem is my brother. It doesn’t matter if
you think he oversteps his boundaries or doesn’t talk to you nicely. If you
have a problem with him, then you have a problem with me. If you have concerns,
voice them. Now, or forever hold your peace.”
I’ve never
seen Edan like this before. It’s almost as if he really is the captain of a
ship, not just someone flying through the skies and pretending to be a smuggler
or pirate for fun. I’m glad he defended me even if I didn’t need it.
“I will not
partake in the raid and I shall voice my concerns to you privately, not in
front outsiders,” Nastas speaks to Edan before standing. “Tawa, I apologize if
I have offended you or your home. I shall leave now. Farewell.”
Tawa makes
a strange sound somewhere between a grunt and sigh as he gives Nastas a strange
wave goodbye. “I don’t read social situations well, but even I can tell that
didn’t seem good. Do you two need a moment?”
“No,” Edan
laughs and takes another sip of his water.
“You sure,
because that was tense,” Tawa asks.
“We’re
good,” I chime in.
“Do you
have a plan,” Tawa asks moving along.
“I got
nothing, it’ll probably end in a full blown fight, which I don’t do. I also
don’t do killing,” Edan shrugs.
“I’m sure
we can get some non-lethal rounds from somewhere. It’ll be easy if we can get
one or two people inside. Then we bottle neck them out the front door and pick
them off from there. The easiest way to do that would have two people
infiltrate, and kick start some shock and awe. Smoke, loud bangs and flashes.”
“This is
some real military dog behavior,” Edan laughs.
Tawa hesitantly laughs along with Edan, still unsure of the mood. The situation is a lot less tense as we go over the finer details of the plan. We’re hoping to run it with just Edan, Enyolo, Velphi and myself at the warehouse while Tawa hacks their electronics from his home. Tawa seems really eager to participate after meeting the rest of the crew for the first time. I don’t think he was joking when he said he rarely has any visitors. I’m glad we can help him feel better, but I’m concerned about Nastas. I got the feeling he didn’t like me when we first met, but he’s really making it known. I don’t care if he doesn’t like me, he isn’t the first. My concern is that he may do something to Edan or something that puts him in danger.
0 comments :
Post a Comment