The Adventurous Ero Path of a Sailor

Jack was up in an instant. There were few moments when Abigail was being deadly serious and this was one of them. Before he followed the brunette out of the bridge, he turned to look back at Stephanie.

"Sorry, Steph," he said with a cheeky smile. "We'll have to get back to this conversation."

She giggled. "It's okay, Jack." She gave him one last look before turning back to her workstation. "You know, it's true what they say about you. All of it."

He didn't have time to ponder that for very long as he quickly descended the stairs out of the bridge. Abigail was waiting for him at the bottom.

"What's up? Anything going on?" he asked her as she gestured toward the stern of the ship.

"I just got word from Lt. Commander Ravencross. The search that you ordered from the ships has turned up three intruders in the stores of the ship. He's had them apprehended and requested that all the commanders meet with him at once."

Jack picked up a little more speed in his stride. "Let's get moving at once then."

The both of them hurried along the railing until they came to the stern where some of the small boats were hung for immediate use. One of them was held up with chains against either end of the boat and a small engine hung off the rear for quick transportation.

With the help of some of the nearby crew, Jack and Abigail got into the small craft and had it lowered into the ocean waters below. Starting the engine, Jack began to steer them in the direction of the Valiant.

"Did Luke say if they were Occitanian?" Jack asked as they neared the light cruiser.

She shook her head. "It sounds like he hasn't questioned them yet. But if there's three of them and three missing Occitanians from Quiller's Cove, it kind of adds up, don't you think?"

Jack nodded. What was worst of all was that they went undetected for three days. That gave them a whole lot of time to do an unknown amount of sabotaging to the ship. Jack just hoped that they got them before they got up to anything too nefarious.

Soon enough the small boat managed to pull against the side of the Valiant where there was a small dock on the ship's starboard side hull. Tying up the craft, Jack stepped out first and helped Abigail next. The two of them made their way up the stairs and found Lt. Cory Renner waiting for them at the top near the railing. Jack gave a crisp salute to the newest division commander of the Valiant, having just promoted him before they left Quiller's Cove.

"Cory, good to see you. Where is Luke?" he asked.

"He's got the men secured down on the first deck's main messroom, sir. I've already sent Lt. Commander Carter from the Tiger down just a few minutes before," said Cory.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Abigail with a smile. Jack pointed the way to the superstructure and after a few minutes, they emerged in the mess room.

It almost looked like a one-sided standoff was taking place inside the mess. Lt. Commander Ravencross was sitting in the chair closest to the door, watching each of his three prisoners closely while holding his service pistol in his lap. Vicky Carter was standing a few feet from him, eyeing each of their prey in turn with a disapproving look and crossed arms. In front of them stood three men dressed in Javan naval uniforms but their faces wore blank expressions.

Jack looked over each man in turn. They were all quite on the tall side, not usual for the Occitanian people who had renown for being one of the larger height races. The one right in the middle was the tallest, with dark hair and rapidly blinking eyes that suggested to Jack his nervousness at the situation.

To Jack's right, the men on the end also had dark hair but he had considerably more weight and looked to have skipped a few weeks of the mandatory naval physical training sessions.

Lastly, the man on the left had more auburn colored hair. He simply stared straight ahead, making full eye contact with the wall in front of him. Each of the man wore a pair of wrist restraints to prevent them from trying anything.

Jack stepped right up to Luke who managed to step out of his chair. "Is this them?"

"Aye, sir. They were found down in the storage compartments. They had sneaked into one of the open containers for our dry food supplies when discovered by the men. Managed to eat enough of it too, although I'd say most of it was eaten by that man on the right there."

Jack watched the man on the right flinch at being disrespected but he did nothing more.

"Who are they?" asked Jack.

"We don't know," answered Luke. "They refuse to give me names or ranks. Refuse to talk at all to be honest. They stole those uniforms from the crate of spares we have in an attempt to fit in but they were missing all the accouterments of a real sailor that they were easy to pick out."

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