Page 75 of A Flash of Golden Fire

“Officer White,” he said.

Apparently, while I was retrieving my jacket, Captain Martin had informed them of my temporary promotion.

“Hillier. Thank you.”

The captain came next.

“Welcome aboard theLantern,” Hillier said. “Her crew has given over with barely a skirmish.”

“Excellent. You’ve done well.”

Hillier beamed, glowing from the captain’s good favour. I understood how that felt. Hillier then made introductions to the captain of theLantern, a stout, short fellow with scraggly black hair and a fancy mustache.

“Captain Dinesh Martin, this is Captain Hu Zhang. Captain Zhang, Captain Martin of theArrow.” Despite Captain Zhang’s haggard appearance, he pulled himself up and greeted us with a polite and careful grace. He had a heavy Eastern accent, but his English was strong and clear.

Hillier continued. “This is Officer White, Captain Martin’s right-hand man, and Officer Guthrie, our navigator.”

I smiled and gave Captain Zhang a wave, which may not have been the right sort of greeting as Captain Martin frowned and gave a subtle shake of his head.

I raised my eyebrows and shrugged, tucking my hands under my arms.

“Welcome aboard,” Captain Zhang said. “We want no further battle. We have already been picked clean, but you are welcome to anything you can find.”

“Thank you,” Captain Martin said. “I’m sorry that your fortunes have been in decline. But your ship is now my property, and my men will search the vessel for anything we can use.”

“I understand. We will leave you to the task,” he said and wandered over to the tattooed person I’d seen through the spyglass.

Chapter Eleven

Squid

Istuck close to Captain Martin, as I’d been instructed. He put Guthrie in charge of the intensive looting, and he and I wandered the deck as he pointed out differences between theLanternand theArrow, both in size and the amount of battle readiness. There were fresh gouges in the wood of the deck and scorch marks in various places. One of the deck rails had been broken in half in a previous encounter. TheLanternand its crew had seen better days.

A tap on my shoulder caused me to turn.

Standing before me was the long-haired person with the face tattoos that I’d seen in the spyglass.

“Hello,” I said, my gaze assessing them from a closer angle. They looked even more intriguing from this distance.

“Hello. Officer White?”

“Yes.”

“And this is Captain Martin? Of theArrow?”

“Aye, that’s him.”

“Can I help you?” Captain Martin asked.

The young fellow—for he looked no older than I—glanced back and forth between us before answering.

“I’m hoping you can, sir. My name is Squid.”

“Squid?” Captain Martin repeated as I became even more fascinated.

He gestured vaguely at his face. “Because of the ink. And—” He gestured to the rest of himself. “—my shape.”

“Ah, well I’m pleased to meet you, Squid,” Captain Martin said.