Chapter 38

Felicity gave Samira the antitoxin that night and by the morning her condition had started to improve. She was still unconscious but her vital signs had improved as well as her skin colouring. If a casual observer looked at the young woman, they wouldn't immediately assume that she was dead. For a moment I breathed easier, but only for a moment.

Like always Game World never lets up and we found that out later in the day. I was strolling about the city having a look about, when an alarm rang out coming from the port. Instantly I was off to see what it was all about. When I got there I saw that the Shark had just returned to port and that the vessel was a little worse to wear than it had been when it had sailed that morning. Rushing forward I spotted the captain in a heated discussion with Tagus who'd arrived there just before me.

"What happened here?" I demanded to know the moment I reached them.

The captain of the Shark glanced angrily in my direction and then hesitated. I could see that he wanted to snap at me for interrupting him, but when he realized that it was me, he bit his tongue. I watched closely as the man paused for a moment before taking a deep breath so that he could answer my question.

"We were on patrol," the man told me, lowering his voice and tone as he spoke, "out there as usual when we got attacked. The woman Mueller had ordered us this morning to sail near the big island to see what was going on there. As you probably know there'd been a couple of pirate attacks on the sea in the last couple of days and she wanted to find out who was doing it. Anyway, as we approached the big island, three odd looking vessels came out to intercept us. They had strange sails and they were also being rowed. Suspecting trouble I ordered my gunners to prepare for action. Then bang we got hit with something out of nowhere. It struck near the bow and it punched a hole in it. Then a second one hit the forecastle sending up splinters of wood. Not knowing what kind of weapon they were using and seeing that there were three ships heading for me, I decided to come about and get back here and report."

"Were there any casualties?" I asked the man with concern in my voice.

"Nothing major," the man admitted. "Mostly cuts and scrapes from the splinters that shot up when they hit us."

"Did they pursue you?" I asked as well, interested in hearing his reply.

"For a bit," the man answered. "They chased after us and they were closing fast at one point. In fact I thought they were going to catch us so I decided to try and dissuade them. I brought my stern about just enough to bring my aft ballista into play and I had my gunner open fire. He hit the lead vessel after his third shot. He got lucky and put two projectiles into their bow. When the fire broke out on their ship, they heeled over and stopped their pursuit as did their two accompanying vessels. I think that they hadn't expected us to respond the way we did."

"Good," I muttered thoughtfully, wondering who these strange vessels were. Then I just sighed and told the man to show me the damage that the Shark had received. A moment later Tagus and I were on the Shark following the man forward.

What I saw stopped me short. Immediately I realized what had struck the patrol craft and I knew that we were in trouble. I also knew that neither Tagus nor the ship's captain understood what we were looking at. Saying nothing I walked up to the damage and started poking about. It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for. Reaching into the hole made in the deck of the forecastle, I pulled out a small ball shaped object and held it up. It was made of stone.

"They were throwing rocks at my ship?" the captain asked, looking at me and Tagus in a bewildered manner.

"No," I told him curtly, moving the ball about in my hand as I spoke. "They were firing cannonballs at you. Luckily, you got out of there before they could put a hole in you. If they had, you'd be swimming for home right about now or feeding the fish."

That didn't go over well. The man went white at the suggestion that he could have become fish food that day.

"Tagus," I said turning to my friend, "get the Windrunner ready for sea. I want to see these strange ships this captain is talking about. While you do that, I'll get some troops together."

I left the captain to see to his ship and the repairs that needed to be done to it, and I left Tagus to get the Windrunner ready for sea, hurrying to the keep while the lizard-man took care of things. When I got there I started calling for people. It didn't take long for everyone to show up and to start to ask questions.

"What is it Charles," Rory asked coming down from his bedchamber where he normally spent his days as of late, where he took care of Zahra who wasn't completely healed yet.

"We've got ourselves some trouble," I told him, saying it loud enough for everyone to hear.

"What kind of trouble?" Elsa demanded to know. She'd just arrived and she was in the process of strapping on her sword and scabbard.

"Cannons!" I declared holding up the stone cannonball. "Someone has just shelled the Shark with cannons. The skipper of the Shark didn't know what was hitting him and he decided to pursue discretion over valour. Fortunately, other than a couple of holes in his ship, he hasn't got much to complain about and he has delivered us this warning. Now I'm interested in who attacked him and I'm about to sail on the Windrunner to find out. Who wants to come with me?"

That was a stupid question. They all did. In the end, I left Asana and Caitlin behind to tend to Samira while we were gone. I also sent a guard to get Mai Woo out of the dungeon and to bring her down to the Windrunner. I wanted to talk to her about this and I wasn't in the mood to waste time doing it here. I also told Felicity to get her grav bike down to the Windrunner. I told her I might have use for it. Then I told everybody to suit up and grab their weapons and to meet me down at the port. Twenty minutes later we were leaving port.

My party consisted of the usual suspects; Rory, Kola, Nimue, Felicity, Tobias, Dork, and Goiania. In addition to them and me, Elsa Mueller was with us. We also had Mai Woo with us under guard. Once we cleared the port, I had her brought forward so Elsa and I could ask her a few pointed questions. While we were doing that, I had Rory and Nimue prepare the ballistae for action and I had Felicity get ready to get her bike off the deck if we needed her to do that.

"So slave," I said coldly to the young woman, "I hope you have something to tell me today. I have questions and if you start your whimpering again and protesting and if you start making excuses, I'll just toss you overboard and let you try to swim back to shore with your chains on. I don't think that you'll get too far."

"Yes Master," Mai Woo replied submissively, bowing her head and lowering her eyes as I spoke to her.

"All right then," I stated without hesitation, "I want to know about who on Game World has cannons. One of the patrol craft from Oak Hall was attacked today by cannons firing stone cannonballs. I want to know who it was."

As I spoke I held up the stone projectile and shoved it under the woman's nose. My action took her by surprise and she squealed in response. However when I just held it in front of her she settled down after a moment and then took the object from my hand.

"Cannons," Mai Woo muttered in a half whisper, looking thoughtfully at the object that I'd given her to look at. "There aren't many who've developed gunpowder on Game World much less learned to design and build cannons. I can think of five groups on all of Game World and none of them are near this region."

"Is it possible that someone teleported three ships here from somewhere else on Game World?" I asked bluntly, refusing to believe that some network had gone so far to violate the no firearms rule and teleport armed ships in from another world.

"It's possible but not likely Master," Mai Woo replied softly. "Most of the groups that I know of who do have cannons are technically under the control of the Jade Network and I doubt that my network would shift somebody from one point on Game World to here in an effort to annoy you. After all, we are trying to work with you and not against you."

I snorted at that but said nothing else for a moment or two. Then I turned and asked her a question.

"What do you mean by technically under your network's control?" I demanded to know.

Again Mai Woo lowered her head submissively and hesitated in answering my question. She remained silent for more than a second or two this time and I was about to lay into her when she finally answered me.

"It's like this Master," the woman began in a low, tentative voice. "Centuries ago, my network transported a large number of people from other Earths into a region we call 'Pan-Asia'. Most of these people were what you call Chinese although they know themselves by different names. Some of these people knew the science of making gunpowder and they also understood the principals of metallurgy. Over the years between when they were originally settled and now, they have constructed cannons and they've made gunpowder and they've made use of it in rockets and in other weapons. Technically the people in these regions belong to my network because they are descendants of the people we originally transported here however as in all things contractual, there is some fine print in the understanding between networks that allows another network to recruit a descendant of an original transport person if certain conditions apply."

"Which is probably the case here, isn't it?" I snapped angrily at the young woman.

"Yes Master," Mai Woo responded, bowing her head submissively again. "I fear that you are right. It is possible that one of the groups I am thinking about has been recruited by another network. That network probably felt they weren't getting enough air time and they've done this to spice up their ratings. I'm very sorry about this Master but there is nothing that can be done about this."

I didn't like that response and my face showed it. Mai Woo visibly flinched under my glare and Elsa Mueller sighed openly in response.

"Enough Charles," Elsa told me sternly. "You've spent the last two days scaring the woman and what has it gotten you. I understand that you're pissed off at this situation, but you can't keep taking it out on this woman or the other two prisoners, no matter how culpable they were up to the time they came here. They are no longer responsible for the action of their networks or the other networks or for the behaviour of their viewers and you have to accept that."

"I do accept that," I responded just as sternly back at Elsa, "but I will not accept the stupidity of their system of operations and their history of ineptitude. These people teleported people onto Game World to entertain their viewers at home and when those viewers moved on to more exciting fare, they just abandoned those people to their own devices instead of managing them. This woman that you're defending has just admitted that they even have a clause in their operating agreements that allow another company to come in and steal one of their people out from under their noses and they don't even care about it. It leaves me pissed and angry and in the mood to rant."

"Will it help this situation any?" Elsa asked bluntly.

"No," I told her, sighing with exasperation, "but I know what will help."

"What?" Elsa asked, raising an eyebrow and looking curiously at me.

"Intelligence," I said without hesitation. "I want you, Mai Woo, to go back to your network and to gather up all the intelligence that you can supply me. I want to know who we're up against and just what kind of resources he has to throw at me and which network set this up. If your network wants an exclusive then they can have it. They can have me raiding these bastards and putting them out of business. Do you think you can handle that slave?"

"Yes Master," Mai Woo answered without hesitation, her face brightening for a moment at the thought of going back to her own world. Then it clouded over again and she continued, stammering out the rest of her reply, "If my bosses allow it."

At that second there was a sudden flash of light and Mai Woo was gone.

"You know," Elsa said shaking her head, "you really need to cut back on the whole slave/master thing with that girl. I think she's getting into it too much for her own good. Besides, there are too many ex-slaves around here listening in for you to keep it up much longer. Somebody is going to resent it."

"Probably," I acknowledged with a grin, "and I should stop it before it does get out of hand, however I think it has kept the three networks on edge and cooperative. I know I shouldn't be saying this aloud and that somebody is probably listening in, but I personally think that the networks expect me to act the way that I've been acting and it's the only way they take me seriously. Still for you and Felicity and those who don't know better, I'll try to keep it under control. Now let's see where we are."

As I spoke I pulled out my spy glass and took a look about us. It was mid-afternoon and the sun was up and the sky was clear and we had a nice strong breeze that had us cutting across the inland sea at about eight knots. Currently the horizon was void of any approaching ships and I figured we had an hour or so before we'd run into anyone that we needed to worry about. I handed the spy glass to Elsa and let her have a look. While she was at it I strolled over to Tagus and his helmsman to have a chat.

"How is it going?" I asked the lizard-man in Silurian as I got to him.

"Good for now," Tagus hissed in reply, "although I'm not certain I want to face these ships alone. If we lose the wind or a sail we'll be in real trouble."

"And if we get into trouble my friend," I chuckled in reply, patting him on the shoulder as I did, "I'll get us out of it, with some help from Dork and everyone else. Don't worry Tagus. Things will be okay."

Tagus grunted at that and shook his head and gave his helmsman a knowing look. The big man just shrugged his shoulders in response and flexed his grip on his tiller board. I just smiled and glanced about, taking in the rest of the activity upon the ship. That was when the flash of light appeared again.

"I'm back Master," Mai Woo cried out enthusiastically, glancing about as she materialized upon the deck, looking for where I was standing. Instantly I headed over to where she was standing and when I got there I was joined by Elsa.

"That was quick," Elsa noted before I could even say a word.

"Yes Mistress," Mai Woo replied, bowing her head submissively towards Elsa, "I know but that was because my network managers were already working on the information you wanted when you suggested I go home and ask them for it. Having already done the bulk of the work, I just had to wait for confirmation that the regulators accepted our exclusive rights to this engagement and any future engagements that you have with this group. Anyways I have everything you want to know on this tablet."

Mai Woo handed me another tablet that looked similar to what had been provided to me by Passion Network. I took a quick look at it and saw that the system worked exactly like the other one did. I handed it to Elsa and then turned my attention back to Mai Woo.

"Do you know the essence of what is on that tablet?" I asked her pointedly.

"Yes Master," Mai Woo responded bowing her head. "My employers gave me a briefing while I was waiting for final approval of the deal. The man you are facing is a Wu warlord who is a sixth generation denizen of Game World. The man's name is Wang Chow and he currently rules much of the island of Formosa in the Pan-Asia region. Wang Chow believes that he has a divine destiny to rule all of Pan-Asia and he intends to make it happen regardless of the cost. His ships routinely raid mainland China and are constantly seizing merchant ships in the Great Eastern Sea. It has made him very unpopular with his neighbours but he has become very popular on Jade and Action Networks. I've been told that Onyx Network approached him three days ago with a deal that he accepted without hesitation."