Story Part 39 (Patreon)

Carlotta frowned as she watched her mate secure the lines at the bow. Felicity Dragon was already docked, and hardly a hand could be seen onboard. Gabriela must have beat her to Gull Cove quite handily. On the other side of the quay, the Peregrine’s Talonwas tied up, and there was plenty of activity around her. She was a true beauty, with qualities rarely found in the same vessel: large, fast, and maneuverable, and with a relatively shallow draft for a vessel of her size, allowing her to put in in ports that were too shallow for her peers. “She has no peer,” Carlotta mused aloud. “Captain?” asked second mate Mara. “Oh, Nothing,” Carlotta said, her daydream shattered. “I should go meet them,”  she added, “Get the ship in order, and join us by the Talon.” “Aye, aye!” said Mara, as Carlotta turned to disembark.

Carlotta took a deep breath as she approached the Peregrine Talon. As she suspected, Gabriela was talking with Milisandia. She had probably already ingratiated herself with the legendary captain who came out of early retirement for this mission. “Ah, there’s the overstuffed peacock! Finally!” Gabriela had always called her that, but this time, the words were coming from Milisandia. Carlotta stiffened her lips to hide how offended she was. This was going to be a long mission.

With a small curtsey, she presented herself to Milisandia. “Oooh, the manners on this one!” the senior captain said, adjusting the strap of her eyepatch. “You can just salute, you know.” Carlotta saluted, and Milisandia cracked up, and turned to Gabriela. “You weren’t kidding about this one. I hope she’s better at sea than at first impressions.”

“I have to admit, when we were told to meet you at your residence, I assumed it was in Portodorado, until I opened the sealed orders,” Carlotta said. Milisandia turned toward her again, looking her up and down. “I’m retired. I don’t want to set foot in the City of Admirals—they’d want me to advise them, or worse yet, be one of them. I’m done playing that game, and they really had to convince me to do one more mission. But, anything for the Confetti of the Coast, eh?” She laughed at her own weak wordplay, then her face turned serious. “Let’s get down to business. We’ve already reviewed the personnel we had before you arrived, and a lot of the positions have been filled. But we still have some openings, let’s see who you’ve brought.”