"Is that a threat, Mister Marrow?"
Mariana measured Marrow with her eyes. He did not seem clumsy, like men of his size often were when it came to swordplay. His movements were agile and quick, his muscles were formidable, he was all around not a person to be messed with at all.
"What is a threat, Captain Adams? Is it him bringing a strange woman aboard after she has tried to kill him? Or -"
"Leave her be, Johnny," someone said. "Brandon knows what he is doing. I sailed with them back in the days when you were a regular sailor and a bottom-feeder."
Mariana realized that she knew the speaker.
It was Andy, an old friend from her original pirate days. Andy was an albino male of Sennite descent, probably a southerner, but no one knew exactly where his origins were. His no-nonsense attitude and his steadfastness were certainly southern virtues.
Andy had always liked Mariana, he had taught her a lot of things, like where to stab a person to commit a completely silent murder. He had taken her under his wing and been thoroughly sorry when Mariana had decided to become a landlubber again.
"Andy, you haven't greeted me yet." She smiled at him. "It is not like you to hide in the shadows like this."
"Cap'n, there is a massive ship on the horizon and we will have to break some bones to get through the skulls of those men. I think that we can wait until after the battle to tell each other how we have fared…"
Mariana agreed that this was wise, there was still the problem of getting the Good Wife to submit to be searched and Daniel was nowhere to be seen.
"He should be here by now."
All of a sudden, she felt terror as she looked out towards the vastness of the blue surrounding them. She realized that they were on their own, and if the crew of the Good Wife would not accept their proposal, if there would be trouble, they would have nowhere to run.
It was both agoraphobic and claustrophobic to be stuck aboard a ship in the middle of the ocean, both the horror of the wide open space and the anxiety-inducing feeling of a closed, contained space were present. Mariana felt fear squeezing her ribcage like it was about to crush her like a bug.
"He should be here…"
"Captain, you can't wait forever. Give us the order!"
"TAKE HER! HOLD YOUR FIRE!"
With her sails unfurled, Nimi Tähän sailed towards the enemy vessel, furiously plowing the sea as the wind behind them got stronger, more demanding. The salty spray from the ocean below ensured that once again, Captain Mariana failed to keep her braided hairdo intact, and instead, she chose to put on a hat.
The Good Wife was not as fast as Nimi Tähän. She couldn't turn with the nimble accuracy of a smaller ship, and neither did she fire her load at Daniel's vessel, instead turning as slowly as possible in an angle that suggested willingness to negotiate.
By now, the two ships were close enough that flag signals could be exchanged. Mariana told the men to give the signal of being willing to negotiate.
The flags got up, but the response was mixed, they got a white flag in response, and then a pink one. No one knew what this was supposed to mean, since the original meaning of the pink one had been "over our dead bodies" and in modern flag speech, it was a request to hold on. In any case, the pirates aboard the Nimi Tähän were puzzled and Mariana told them that this was exactly what she had wanted to avoid.
"They are playing some games with us," Marrow said. "Wicked head games."
As much as Mariana loved Wolfe, she had to agree, and it was a wise idea to say it out loud. Just to assure this one belligerent baldhead that she was on Daniel's side, not Wolfe's…
She tried to harden her heart. She couldn't start having sympathies towards her old crew, not right now, when everything - including the fate of the entire universe - was at stake.
They received another white flag.
They slid closer and closer towards the Good Wife.
Mariana squinted as she looked at the enemy ship in the bright sunlight. There was something wrong, but it was hard to tell just what it was from a mere silhouette.
BANG!
The cannons ripped into the air and into the side of the Dainty. Tearing through the wood of the ship, the impact even rocked them a little and Mariana found herself sheltered by Andy - and, surprisingly, Marrow. The two men had put their bodies between her and the eventual next round of shots.
"YOU CAN'T FIRE BACK!" Mariana yelled. "We can't risk sinking the dice! Hold your FIRE! WE BOARD HER!"
Despite the roars of the cannons, the Dainty pulled closer to the Good Wife, taking a lot of damage as she did so.
Mariana couldn't just hide behind her men any longer.
"Give up! GIVE UP, I said!" she screamed and jumped up.
"Captain -"
"STOP!" Wolfe roared.
Now Mariana could see him.
The former first mate had undergone quite a transformation. He was looking like a proper captain now, in a long, black coat and with a fancy hat.
He was a clean pirate, not at all like his grimy underlings; those fellows were a special breed of men, those who shaved on the high seas and made sure that their armpits did not smell like the livestock they sailed with.
Mariana stared at him.
She saw him raise his hand. The cannons stopped their violent fire, the pirates aboard the Good Wife were still for a moment.
"Stop," Wolfe repeated.
The ships were now side by side. It was easy to hear what was being said on the other vessel. The hostility seemed to come to an end.
Mariana expected to hear some rude words from her former crew.