Skyjackers - Episode 3: The Winds of Justice (Skyjackers: Season One) Read Free Page A

In
fact, Gertrude did know about such things. Quite a lot about them, in fact. For
the past few months, she had been planning a surprise birthday party for
Benedict with his old shipmate Archibald “Greenbeard” McCracken. Gertrude had
instructed Junior’s radioman, Duncan Trice, to keep Greenbeard informed of the
Caine fleet’s movements so he could give Benedict a proper bushwhacking in
honor of the occasion. Now that Benedict had found the radioman out, Gertrude
thought perhaps she’d gone too far.
    “I can’t very well send the traitorous Mr. Trice to the Moonmist ,”
Benedict was saying. “I transferred my own radioman there after that debacle at
Bixbury Manor. I’ve a different punishment in mind for Trice, and I want you to
carry out the sentence.”
    Junior gulped. “What would you have me do, Father?”
    “A radioman’s livelihood is his tongue.”
    Junior’s face went green. “Oh no.”
    “Oh yes, June Bug. It’s about time you got over your
squeamishness. Don’t come back unless it’s with that slimy pink organ betwixt
your fingers.”
    Junior left the cabin in a stupor.
    “Don’t you think that’s on the harsh side of things, dear?”
    “A traitor must be punished in accordance with his crime,
glitter-britches.”
    Gertrude didn’t want to give away the surprise. Benedict was
a hard man to fool, given that he was always suspecting people of things—whether
or not they had anything to hide. She may have been immune to his suspicions,
but the people she’d enlisted to help her were far from it. “Did this Bolliver
chap happen to mention what these transmissions were about?” she asked.
    “That’s the worst part of it,” said Benedict. “Trice has been
relaying our movements to… dare I say the name… Greenbeard. I should’ve known
that old salt was after my fortune.”
    “You’re taking Bolliver at his word, are you? Despite that
he’s new?”
    “I’m taking him at his word for that very reason. That he’s
new in my employ gives him less reason to mislead and more to impress.”
    “Still… don’t you think you ought to check into it a little
further before you go ordering a man’s tongue out?”
    “Junior won’t go through with it,” said Benedict. “He’s weak.
Hasn’t got the stomach for it.”
    “Don’t be hard on him. He’s only a baby.”
    “He’s a young man.”
    “You’re sure about this?”
    “He was a moment ago. Could be now that I’ve given him a
man’s task, he’ll change sex like he did in the womb.”
    “I obviously didn’t mean that,” said Gertrude. “I meant are
you sure Junior won’t go through with it?”
    Benedict shrugged. “Either way, I’ll enjoy watching what
happens.”
    “You sound as sadistic as Misty.”
    “Where do you think she gets it from?”
    Gertrude did not respond. They sat in silence for a time, she
knitting and Benedict plotting. The fleet was at berth in the bay of Kailodos—all
except Vivian’s Dawnhammer , which Benedict had dispatched to retrieve
Misty. The sound of water lapping at the ship’s hull was foreign to them both,
and it served as interference for the tension between them.
    When Misty walked into the cabin covered in dirt and blood,
both Benedict and Gertrude stared at her in disbelief for a moment before
rushing over and throwing their arms around her. Apologies were made. Tears
were shed. Mostly on Benedict’s part.
    “Thank goodness Vivian found you,” Benedict said. “Where is
she? Your sister has saved the day.”
    Misty’s expression darkened. “Vivian? What’s she got to do with
saving me? I hope she’s not taken the credit again for something she didn’t do.
I was apprehended by the handsome and daring Captain Thorpe, who swept me off
my feet and out of my knickers for a lover’s rendezvous.”
    “Young lady,” Benedict shouted. “This is quite unacceptable.”
    “You haven’t let me finish, Father. Thanks to my incredible
resourcefulness, I managed to take a nice meal