Ash met them coming back up, supporting Dave. The pilot’s face was bloody, but he was still conscious. His fake leg was missing and some of the blood from his stained his shirt. He stopped once he saw the situation.

“Herr Letterman, I don’t think I have to tell you that it’s in your best interest to surrender.” The lead agent stated. “If not your own, then those of your crewmates.”

“I can’t let go of him or he’ll fall.” Ash insisted as he shifted when Dave nearly stumbled from taking a hop-forward. “If you let me put him down someone, I will surrender. Though you might want to go check on those other two agents. I left the pirates with them and they weren’t in a good mood.”

Sarah wondered what the agents would do. After all, if two of them went down there to help their fellow agents, it would leave the remaining one way outnumbered. Even if he had a gun, they would be able to overwhelm him. They had the advantage of numbers.

“>” He ordered one of the agents. “>”

As the agent started to head down to the basement, the sniper came down the stairs. His posture was relaxed, but she had a feeling he could aim and shoot his rifle if any of them made a wrong move. He paused where he still had the high ground.

“>” The sniper asked. “>?” Three shots rang out. “>”

Sarah’s gaze immediately snapped to Ash’s. He might could make a run for it if he put Dave down. Dave would no doubt rather be on the ground than Ash get killed. She jerked her head to the side a couple of times, trying to tell him to leave. Hopefully, he would understand what she was trying to say. A hand settled on top of her head. She froze under it. It was the one that spoke to them.

“>” He pushed down on the top of her head, forcing her face up a bit. “>”

Sarah finally got the courage to pull herself away. The agent didn’t react to her movement. Ash looked to the sniper and placed himself between the sniper and Dave. He understood that she was worried about the sniper, but not why. The agent came up from downstairs with his pistol in hand. He simply nodded to the lead agent.

“Well Kapitan, it looks like you will need new crew members. That is if you make it out alive, which I very much doubt.”

Yager said some kind of curse. Of course in usual Yager fashioned, he mixed several interesting words to form it. Soon, the other two agents, clearly rough for the wear, came back up. The lead agent issued orders. “

P

“>”

Ash hesitantly transferred Dave over to one of the agents. The sniper took custody of Yager, twisting one of his arms behind his back so he wouldn’t give him any trouble. They left the cane where it was. The lead agent grabbed Sarah’s coat collar and handled her that way. She could slip out if she needed too, but something told her that it was an unwise idea at the moment. Why did they need her? The lead agent seemed to speak perfectly good Aboloanian, even if he had an accent and sometimes said Alemanian words occasionally.

“Can I have my leg back at least?” Dave questioned as he hopped along. “It’s not like I can move very fast with it when I don’t have my cane. Having one leg left to stand on isn’t all that great.”

“If you cooperate, perhaps we will.” The lead agent pulled on her coat as the rounded the corner located on the bottom of the stairs. Yager stumbled off the last step and let out a gasp as he caught himself with his injured foot.

“What happened to your foot, Kapitan?” The lead agent questioned as he opened the door. The smell of blood hit Sarah and made her gag. The one holding her stretched out his arm, pushing her away from him. But he still heled gaze with Yager. “A mutiny attempt gone bad?”

“Nein. An esca-pey prisoner shot moi.”

Sarah was too busy trying to keep her lunch to react. But she had a feeling that he was glaring at her. The agent that had Dave took him into the room while the one that had here waited patiently for her to stop gagging. Sniper pushed Yager on in. Once Sarah was pulled into the room, she nearly tripped over something.

“Don’t look down!” Dave exclaimed as she nearly did. “Or in the upper right corner. Or along the back wall.”

His warning told her what she had nearly tripped on. A wave of nausea traveled through her once again. Yes, they had been pirates, but a body was a body, something she would rather not see from anyone.

“>” The Sniper pushed Yager into a chair in the middle of the room, probably the one that Dave had been in. Dave was set against the wall, where he slumped to the ground. Sweat dripped down his face, mixing with the blood that had dried. The lead agent walked up to Yager, still gripping her collar.

“Kapitan Yager…” He struggled to get his name out. “We know you are working with the one known as Recke as a supplier. What kind of supplies?”

“Usa your imaganaccion.”

The Sniper struck him, causing him to spit out some blood. He didn’t look all that phased though. The lead agent paced around him, dragging Sarah with him. She wondered if now would be a good time to slip out of her coat. The door was open, but the agent was busy moving the bodies and she doubted she could get to it. But maybe they would let her sit at least instead of being led around like a disobedient puppy.

“You don’t respect any form of an authority besides your own, do you? Let’s try a different question. What’s the code you and Recke use? I know what we found in the false cigar means something.”

“Everyting means someting. Itz called symbosisism.”

Then the agent looked to her. Was that her purpose here? To translate Yagerisms?

“He means symbolism.” She replied as she tried to pull away. “At least, I think that’s what he’s trying to say. “Can you let go of me, please? I’m just going to go over to Dave.” While Sarah was no medic, she was pretty sure she could tell if something was seriously wrong with him.

“No, we need you here to translate. But perhaps…”

He guided her to stand beside the Sniper, who merely grunted in response. She had a feeling he was a many of few words.

“Stay right there.” The lead agent ordered. “My freund here has a very long reach and is not as forgiving as I am. I don’t believe I need to say anything more.”

As it turned out, Yager could speak Alemanian, but it was as colorful as the way he spoke Aboloanian. Even Sarah struggled to understand him at times. But he remained defiant, refusing to give the agents any real answers, no matter how many times they hit him or where they did. The lead agent crossed his arms and sighed.

“>”

“I am a pirata!” He declared proudly in Aboloanian, wincing afterward. His face had taken most of the abuse. “I obey nein rules weather they be of nationales, governmentals, nautrals, scienca, or language!”

“You do realize that when they talk about natural law that they don’t mean an actual written law?” Dave spoke up from the place where he sat. “Same with grammar. Even Ash knows that without having gone to school.”

“Still applies.” He snapped back. But Sarah could tell the gears were turning in his head. Maybe he hadn’t known that, not that it helped him in this situation.

The lead agent shook his head. “>”

Whatever he wanted with that wouldn’t be good. He nodded and left, leaving the three of them with the remaining two Alemanian agents.

“I will give you time to think about being more cooperative, Kapitan. There’s a few more things I want to clear up with the pilot.”

The agent on standby went and hoisted Dave up, bringing him over to the lead agent. Dave seemed a bit better than before, though she could tell he was exhausted. He leaned on the agent supporting him a bit more than he leaned on Ash earlier. But he was still ready for a fight.

“I’ve told you I don’t know what the thing inside the cigar meant.” He spat. “If you expect a different answer to the same question, then don’t bother asking it.”

“I think we’ve moved on past that with you. I’m still trying to understand your motives in agreeing to carry such a thing. There was a long period where you could’ve dumped it and be done with it.”

“Believe me, I was tempted. But then we couldn’t go back to Aleman while she was still running around. We have enough trouble with the law there, we don’t need trouble from the outlaws.” Sarah was pleased that she knew him well enough to guess his reasoning either. “I’ll be honest, I don’t like the Alemanian government all that much, so I didn’t feel the need to turn it in either.”

“The feeling is mutual, about the Aboloanin government that is.” The agent pointed to where his leg should’ve been. “An accident while flying?”

“Back from my short-lived military career. There was a training accident with one of the planes and…” Dave gestured at himself. “You can see the results. Now you know why I’m piloting a private cargo ship and not a military plane. Though I’ll admit that I wouldn’t have reenlisted once my time came up, so I might’ve ended up here anyway. I’m surprised you didn’t know. You seem to know who we are.”

“Basic information and vague details, like your relationship with him.” He indicated Yager, who seemed to be taking the respite to catch his breath. “Or whatever you call it. So were you the one that shot his foot?”

Dave shook his head. “No. It was Ash, our cook. He was aiming for someone else and missed.

Yager’s head shot up and he nearly said something but chose to keep quiet, probably for the first time in his life. She supposed he didn’t have a reason to reveal it was her. If anything, it would be embarrassing to admit that a “rabbit” had been the one to injure him.

“Do you think he would like to finish the job? Or maybe you would. After all, it’s unfair that he’s a pirate with all of his limbs while you’re missing a leg from serving your country.”

“I’m not envious about his limb. And Ash isn’t that type of person. So we’ll pass on whatever sick little game you have planned.”

The Sniper returned with the blade and handed it to him. He looked at the edge. “Sharp enough. Go get the medic. We’ll need his services soon.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what the agent was implying. Even Yager seemed to understand and attempted to struggle out of the chair. The lead agent held the blade to his throat, which stopped him.

“I’m afraid, Kapitan Yager, that your career is about to come to a screeching halt.”