"I hope I've made myself clear Captain Haytham. You have half an hour to comply or we will open fire."
Abrar's fingers drummed against his desk as the radio began to hiss. He clicked off the receiver; letting the hum of the ship's engines and rhythmic creaking of her hull fill his ears, scratching his chin as he thought.
Shifting his gaze to the communication console, he skimmed over the freshly printed report.
Royal Zephri Republic... Princess... accompanied by... should be considered... arrest on sight... substantial reward...
A neat summary of all the information the captain of the Touphan Man-of-war had just finished bellowing at him. A description of the two fugitives, the officials who should be contacted upon their apprehension, an outline of the penalty for harboring them.
Abrar glanced up through the stern windows of his cabin. The flotilla could be seen approaching at an angle from the left most side; picking up speed to bring their forward guns into range.
He had heard about some sort of excitement at the capital, but nothing concrete before his ship left port. Whatever had occurred couldn't bode well if three Touphan warships were so deep inside Zephri waters.
The lights flickered briefly in the room. Abrar swiveled his chair back towards his desk; the otherwise neat surface was currently occupied with crew rotation schedules, cargo manifests, and the map against which he had been reviewing the charted course. Finally he glanced at the clock face installed in the right corner; then radioed for Zheng, his quartermaster.
By now the crew would most definitely have spotted the approaching vessels, and Zheng had no doubt been busy keeping them from lollygagging while the ship was this close to the Storm Belt. It was risky trying to use the easterlies to hasten the journey to the Western Passage; But the time a ship could save was often worth that risk. Still, the booming thunder of the permanent storm served as a healthy reminder to remain vigilant.
Zheng opened the door and ducked as he entered. He was almost as wide as the main mast, and had to squeeze through the frame. His dark hair was tied back into a neat ponytail, a goatee covered up some of his sharp features. The smell of the waves followed Zheng in as he shut the door and strode to the captain's desk.
"Captain."
"Mister He. Did you see our two last-minute passengers on your way up to me?"
"Aye sir, they spotted the Touphan flotilla same time as the rest of the crew. Headed below deck a few minutes ago."
"Zheng, I want you to bring our two... guests, to my cabin. Then I need you to instruct the engine room and crew to prepare the Drake for a launch."
"Aye-aye sir." Zheng took an about face and left.
This time when he shut the door, a small mass of feathers and scales stirred in her bed. The reptile unfurled itself and yawned, turning to look at Abrar.
"I'm sorry for the rude awakening Zirak. But you were going to be disturbed sooner or later given the predicament we're in."
The storm drake squawked at him, swaying from the ceiling on the left side of the cabin, just above Abrar's own bed. Standing up, she stretched her wings before gliding onto Abrar's desk.
Zirak was about the size of a small house cat. She deftly maneuvered her way toward Abrar over the bottles of ink and tools laid across the desk. Her wings folded up against the sides of her legs. The larger, front pair stuck out slightly; The shorter, rear pair sat almost flush with her hind legs. The feathers a mix of teal, emerald and blue. Her body was covered in down of a matching color palette, with the addition of streaks of copper running down either side of her body like flashes of lightning from neck to tail.
Reaching the edge of the desk, Zirak crouched and began wiggling her haunches, tail swaying as the feathers at its tip spread out in preparation to jump. Hopping onto Abrar's lap, she craned her neck to look up at him. Her face was scaly, the familiar mix of blue and green hues accompanied by more flecks of copper that became dominant towards her snout. Zirak pressed her wide, diamond shaped head up against Abrar's chest and he pet her as he thought aloud.
"What are we going to do old friend? I doubt the Touphan will refrain from hassling us if we did weigh anchor. Not that I want to give into the demands of those mongrels, but still...
"Any explanation I could offer will fall on deaf ears. That captain is convinced his target is on board, and he sounds ready to drag us all back in chains to his commander and make some kinda example out of us no doubt. Aiding and abetting an enemy of the state, what nonsense!"
The storm drake chirped in agreement.
"And I had just begun to believe we would have a nice, simple voyage down to Port Jeera. Cash out with an easy delivery, give the crew some shore leave..."
Abrar scratched the sides of the lizard's head as Zirak looked up at him. "Am I losing my edge?"
There was a knock and then the cabin door swung open, three figures shuffled in. Accompanying Zheng was an older man with a gray mane, his long face covered by deeply ingrained lines. Following close behind the man was a young woman. She was tall, and her face was mostly hidden behind a veil. She immediately began taking in the room with piercing emerald eyes.
"Thank you Zheng, when you're finished with your preparations, come on back up here."
"Preparations for what?" The old man asked, approaching the captain's desk. The sounds of excitement outside became muddled as the door shut once more.
"We can touch on that shortly, Mister Muneer Imtiaz." Abrar replied, sliding forward the pages of the report he had just received. "I'd appreciate it if you could get straight to answering some questions, and I didn't have to go through the rigmarole of hearing you try to convince me that Princess Iman and yourself aren't the quarry of that flotilla out there."
"Are you going to hand us over?"
"No, I have no love for the Touphan. But I want to know why three of their warships are bearing down on us? Why is a member of the Zephyr royal family smuggling herself off to the Third Nation on my ship?"
Muneer glanced at the princess. Iman nodded and stepped closer to the desk.
"There had been rumors for sometime now," she began, "that the Touphan Empire was making plans to invade the Zephri Republic."
"The Republic holds one of the greatest navies on Asman. I know the Touphan like to think highly of themselves and their military, but surely they can't be that conceited. That would be ridiculous."
"Our spies reported that the Touphan had made arrangements with a large Sydoni clan to make up for their lack of naval prowess. Even then, our generals believed the Republic would be more than able to fend off any attempted incursions.
"Last night however, we received intelligence from trusted agents that the Touphan had been slowly planting dissidents across key positions within forts and our fleet. And that they had finally managed to install the last of such sympathetic agents within the capital.
"From what these informants relayed to us, the Touphan planned to cripple the Republic and then make their move while we tried to manage the chaos from within."
"We had no way to know for sure whom we could trust," Muneer stepped closer "and as the incumbent head of the Royal Zephri Republic, it was of the utmost importance that we prevented Princess Iman from falling into the hands of the Touphan. Keep them from trying to legitimize their claim to the Republic."
Zirak hissed; Abrar had continued to pet her as Muneer and Iman elaborated the situation to him, and apparently he had squeezed his companion a hair too tightly at the end of their explanation. He set the storm drake onto the table as he leaned back in his chair. "Surely the Third Nation and Kingdom of Roomal wouldn't stand for such a drastic shift in power?" Abrar asked.
Muneer eyed Zirak as they approached Princess Iman and began sniffing at her. The Princess seemed to relax a little, a few strands of copper draping themselves across her forehead as she dropped her shoulders and extended a slightly uncurled fist towards the raptor while responding. "Ah, they would if they knew what we know. But the Touphan have been clever. Even we were relatively unaware of their greater motives until a day or two ago.
"That all explains one of my Whys?" Abrar gestured at his two companions, "Now what of the second, why are you two smuggling yourselves down to the Third Nation?"
This time Muneer answered, "The intelligence we told you about, that tipped us off to the Touphan's long-term plans; we are carrying that with us. If we can get it in front of our friends in the Third Nation's parliament, and they can subsequently present it to the Kingdom of Roomal's delegation; We might be able to pressure the Touphan Empire under the terms of the Hemisphere Treaty to back down, before they've gotten a chance to dig their claws into the Royal Zephri Republic too deeply."
"At least we were hoping to." Iman said, looking up from petting Zirak. "But as is apparent, we were tracked somehow. We knew there was a slim chance that smuggling ourselves off like this would actually work out, but we had still hoped... we took the proper precautions..." The Princess sighed heavily and stopped petting the storm drake, who squawked in disappointment.
"We'll try and take some of the heat off of you Captain Haytham," she continued after composing herself. "You should feign ignorance that we were ever onboard. Have one of your crew, maybe Mister He, discover us and then turn us in. There's no need to damn your ship and crew if you're going to get searched anyway."
"I wouldn't resign yourself to defeat just yet Princess." Abrar said, pushing his chair back as he stood. "Not while there's still a chance for us to make it out of this predicament."
"But how?" Asked Muneer. "Surely we're within range of their guns now, they'll sink you if you try and make a run for it!"
"If we were going to try and make for the Western Passage, yes they would." A knock interrupted Abrar.
"We're ready to launch now Captain!" shouted Zheng as he opened the door.
"Excellent timing Mister He." replied Abrar. "As I was saying, we're not going to attempt to outrun them. We're going to forgo having to deal with them entirely." Abrar stretched out his arm to Zirak. She promptly jumped on it and then climbed up to drape herself across his shoulders. Abrar moved around his desk to the open door, motioning for his companions to follow. Before exiting the cabin he grabbed a three cornered hat hanging on a peg beside the door, then left the room.
The Princess and her warden followed close behind the captain. Abrar donned his hat, securing its neck strap, as he strode across the deck with Zheng matching his pace. What noises had been muffled from within the cabin now greeted the party on full blast.
Crew members ran from one end the ship to the other. Orders shouted and responses howled back. Radios crackled with reports of the status below deck. The billowing sails were now tightly furled, cargo and guns across the deck had been tied down and secured, and the engines which had earlier been humming, now rumbled in anticipation. Unsettlingly close, thunder boomed and lightning flashed within the Storm Belt as the winds picked up.
Every crewmate scrambling about had a body harness on, with a cable attached to the back that looped up into a holster on their left leg. Some who were apparently finished with their assigned tasks were clipping their cables to rails that lined sections of the ship, bracing themselves for the launch. A woman approached Abrar with four more harnesses, he thanked her before she ran off to return to her other duties. Abrar handed out the equipment to his companions and then began donning his harness.
"Captain, I don't understand? Even if you launch we won't lose the Touphan. They'll sink us before we gain any speed!" Muneer said as he threaded his legs through the hoops of his harness.
"Ah, but we're not trying to lose them!" Abrar tugged on the straps to ensure his harness was snug. He turned to Zheng who had just finished donning his own, "Zheng, you'll have to man the helm. Adjust our heading to take us into the Belt, and get ready to charge the hull on my mark. Keep your personal radio on channel two and put in your earpiece, Zirak and I will be giving you directions shortly."
Zheng clasped Abrar's arm in his own, "You two remember not to be too dramatic with your timing," he laughed. Zirak chirped in response and Zheng scratched her under the chin before heading off to take the wheel.
"Are you mad??!?! You'd rather kill us all?!" shouted Muneer, following Abrar to the bow. The Drake turned toward the storm. No sooner had she changed heading when the boom of Touphan gunfire rang out behind her, shells splashed frighteningly close to the starboard side.
"I would be if I planned on taking us in without securing myself, which I'd recommend you two do as well if you plan on staying up here with me." Abrar clipped his safety cable to a rail that curved just behind the bow. He extended his arms and Zirak hopped into his hands, he pet her as the wind picked up.
Muneer pleaded with the Princess to at least take shelter below deck, but she waved away his concerns and turned back to Abrar. "What are you planning?" she shouted over the wind.
"You know seeing storm drakes are good luck for sailors, but do you know why? It's because they can cut straight through the Storm Belt. Zirak can tell where the lightning is going to strike. All we have to do is follow her lead." Abrar threw Zirak to the wind. She stretched open her wings, flapping a few times before soaring away in front of the ship.
"Captured storm drakes always lead ships astray though," Iman clipped herself to a rail behind Abrar and Muneer followed suit.
"Ah, but Zirak isn't some pet; She's a member of the crew! And she hasn't failed us yet."
"You've done this before?"
"When we get through this your Highness, I'll be more than happy to regale you with those stories."
Abrar gripped the railing with one hand and brought his radio receiver to his face with the other. The princess and Muneer braced themselves just behind him.
"Now Zheng!" the captain shouted.
Zheng pulled a lever next to the wheel, and a buzzing sound emanated through the ship as as the Drake shuddered and began to rise from the water. Her engines roared, no longer submerged and she picked up speed to catch up with Zirak. Shells splashed just under the keel as the Touphan ships scrambled to adjust their guns. The flotilla's flagship had already began to furl its sails and follow behind the Drake.
"They're not letting up," Muneer looked back to see the Touphan ships beginning to take flight as well.
"All the more fun!" Abrar shouted back.
Thick grey clouds in the ever-storm swirled only a few hundred meters away. Thunder boomed in challenge as the ship flew closer and closer. Lightning flashing like fangs ready to crush the Drake to atoms.
Zirak had flown ahead and found a flock of storm drakes about to make their way into the Belt. She squawked at the leader, who moved aside and let her take the head position. The Drake maneuvered to follow behind.
Within moments Zirak's flock was swallowed up by the clouds, then the ship a few seconds later. Wind screamed at the new arrivals and thick sheets of rain pelted everyone above deck. A gust ripped away Iman's veil as she tried to squint and make out where Zirak could be amongst the storm clouds.
Abrar's eyes had never left his flying friend however. Even through the rain he kept his gaze glued on Zirak and her flock.
"PORT!" Abrar screamed into his receiver. No sooner had Zheng swung the ship to the left than lightning flashed down to their right, where the Drake would have been. The boom of thunder shook everyone. Zirak banked right and the ship followed, narrowly avoiding another bolt that crashed down from the storm.
The crew held on, trying to stay upright as the ship swung violently from side to side. On and on it went, Zirak and her flock weaving in between the bolts of lightning; The Drake narrowly following their path as Abrar relayed directions. Muneer clung to Iman's side, helping keep her upright as the ship shook and the wind battered the hull. The princess couldn't tell how long it had been since they entered, but there seemed to be no end to broiling clouds and deafening thunder.
Abrar managed to stand tall; deftly shifting his weight from foot to foot, making it seem like he had somehow willed a solid patch of land underneath him. He watched anxiously in between some commands as unlucky members of Zirak's flock were struck by lightning and plummeted to the sea below. Rain blurred his vision, and Haytham nearly lost the flock; narrowly catching a change in course and belting it into his radio. Zheng noted how uncomfortably close the lightning had come to striking the Drake. Both he and Haytham knew that they couldn't afford to spend much longer testing the Storm Belt's ire.
Slowly, Zirak and her flock started to shrink in Abrar's vision. He yelled over his radio at Zheng to get the engines ready for one last push on his mark. The flock turned into a point amongst the clouds and then, they were gone.
"NOW!" shouted Abrar. Zheng threw back a lever and the Drake's engines roared. She charged forward suddenly as lighting thundered down behind the ship. Everyone was thrown backwards save for Zheng and Abrar.
The ship broke through a gray wall of clouds and finally, the skies were peaceful. The Storm Belt roared in frustration behind them as they flew further and further away from its maw. "Take us down Mister He" Abrar said into his receiver as he unhooked himself from the rail. He took off his hat and shook out the water that had collected in its folds. Everyone was soaked through and through.
Abrar lent a hand to Iman and Muneer, pulling them up onto their feet as all three of them took stock of the situation. Crew members were helping each other up, and checking on the cargo. A few had begun to climb the mast to unfurl the sails. Slowly the ship began to drift back towards the sea until it landed with a gentle splash. Zheng handed the helm off, and made his way to the bow where Muneer was giving an earful to Abrar as Iman laughed.
Muneer had so many complaints he could barely finish a thought. "That was the most reckless. The princess! The princess could, could have been.. Do, do you have any idea how close some of those bolts were?!?!"
"Cutting it a bit close there at the end Captain?" Zheng asked through a grin, cutting Muneer off.
"Well Mister He, no trip through the Belt is complete without a singed hair or two. And I didn't want to deprive our guests of such a souvenir" Abrar chuckled back. He pat Zheng's shoulder "Good work as always."
The captain took off his jacket and offered it to Iman. "I don't imagine sopping wet clothing is befitting of royalty. And I don't want Mister Imtiaz here to chew off my ear about that on top of apparently, almost killing us all." Iman thanked Abrar and draped the jacket around her shoulders.
They all heard a flutter behind them and turned to see Zirak perched on the rail. She chirped at them, and they could see the flock of storm drakes in the distance dispersing.
"If it isn't the lady of the hour!" Abrar exclaimed. He cupped the raptor's face in his hands and scratched the sides of her head as she cooed. "You have earned a large meal and an uninterrupted nap for the rest of our voyage ma'am," he continued as he scooped up Zirak.
"You have my thanks as well Zirak," Iman bent down so her face was level with the storm drake's. Zirak squawked back in response and the princess laughed softly. She stood back up to face Abrar, "Do you think the Touphan will have made it through? I know they have experimental navigation devices but I doubt they are nearly as good as Zirak here," she asked as she pat the storm drake.
"You have impeccable timing your highness," Abrar replied, pointing towards the rear of the ship. The group turned to watch as a Touphan Man-of-war limped out from the dark clouds alone. The ship almost immediately plummeted to the sea and began to list to the right. They could all barely make out the scrambling figures of the crew, desperate to keep their ship from sinking. The Storm Belt had not left her unscathed. Deep grooves could be seen bitten out of the hull and one of the masts had been shattered and lay across the deck.
"I think its quite safe to say they won't be bothering us for some time" Abrar chuckled. "Now then, I believe we should be able to make good time getting to port Jeera. And then escort you two to your audience in front of the Third Nation parliament."