Chapter 14

Cameron was able to secure some clean clothes from George before going up to the Blue Bull. There he booked room for the night and with an extra quad arranged for hot water and a bathtub. Dirty, disheveled, and blood spattered, he was sure he would have gotten the bums rush instead if he hadn't been accompanied by Fredrick. Cleaning up chased much of the accumulated fatigue from the nearly nonstop action of the past 27 or so hours. At quarter to 6 he exited the Blue Bull, found one of the rickshaw porters, and engaged him for the trip to George's home.

Martha's dinner was gastronomically excellent, a pot roast, potatoes, gravy, and peas. The mood of the diners was schizophrenic. For the members of Chandler Jacob's family; trying to deal simultaneously with the loss of several family members and the rescue of several others. For Cameron, Captain Smith, and Captain Jones the primary feeling was the satisfaction of a victory alloyed with concern for the future.

Rachel's mood was primarily one of anticipation mixed with a lot of curiosity since the course of events which led to the moment had been generally, if not explicitly, expected. He was young, approximately her own age, clearly not one of the legendary heroes of whom she had heard like Gerald Jones or Jonas Alexander. Martha had seated Rachel next to Cameron and she spent much of the evening trying to memorize every detail of him without getting caught starring.

Following desert, a fulsome apple pie, Martha shooed the men out of her dinning room and into the parlor. George offered up one of his vintage wines. Cameron stuck to the tea served with dinner while everyone else settled down with a glass. With the general plan laid out the men now started exploring some of the details. Cameron found himself asking, "Since I have to leave for a period of time and we have agreed that George is going to be finding a crew for the Rambling Rose, I guess I want to know how this is going to work? Do we need a written authorization for you to act on my behalf and to have access to my funds?"

"It won't hurt," responded George, "Though we could probably just take it verbally to Paul at the bank and get the same result. Another question that is more important - you have shown a talent for command but can you sail the ship? The answer determines who I recruit for your crew."

"Now there's the rub. My experience isn't applicable to the Rose. The rest is theoretical with no practical underpinning. I would say that I will need a couple of experienced officers to actually run the ship while they train me."

" I think that can be arranged."

The conversation started to run down and Cameron's own fatigue was coming back with a vengeance. George brought the evening to a close by observing, "Mayor Fredrick has scheduled judgment on our erstwhile pirates for 9 AM. I suggest we retire until then." Cameron and the others not staying at George's house took their leave of their hostess and headed out. Captain Jones had come in his own carriage and provided transportation for Captain Smith and Cameron. At the Blue Bull Cameron went to his room and, quite literally, crashed, as he was barely able to get his clothes off before collapsing in bed.

The next morning Cameron woke up about 7 to the noises of other people getting up and about. He dressed in his original clothes that had been cleaned for him by the inn's staff and bundled the borrowed clothes for return to George. The Blue Bull's breakfast fare proved to be simple but hardy, oatmeal and sausages. He arrived at the market place just before 9 to find a crowd already gathered. The town council sat on an elevated platform on one side of the cleared area and Cameron was directed to a bench at the base of the low platform.

Right at 9 the surviving former crew of the Rambling Rose shambled in under the guard of several militiamen. They were herded into a fenced area near the platform. As soon as they were in place Captain Jones used a small wooden mallet to strike a bell hung on one corner of the stage to open proceedings. Mayor Fredrick read the charges in a ringing voice and, turning to the prisoners asked, "Are there any here who dispute these charges!?"

Two men, one Cameron recognized as yesterday's informant, raised their hands. They both told the same story of being recent recruits who had been present but not engaged during the capture of the Speedwell. "Can anyone speak for these men?" asked Fredrick. The former first mate, now sporting a piece of rope to replace his former belt, corroborated their story.

This clearly wasn't really a trial. There were no lawyers or arguments or technicalities to hide behind. The town council was just using this public display to explain their reasoning for the sentences which followed. The three mates and the armorer who were adjudged most responsible were to be held by the city in indentured servitude for 10 years, "You will be the street cleaning detail until relieved of that responsibility," added Fredrick. This brought a ragged cheer at the fringes of the crowd from a bunch Cameron thought might be the town's most frequent drunk and disorderly types. The two new recruits were given 6 months of indenture and, to Cameron's surprise, were assigned back to him. The remainder were sentenced to 5 years of indenture and their terms were assigned to Chandler Jacob in partial recompense for his losses.

It was all over by 9:30. Cameron, George, Jacob, Fredrick, and Paul, also a member of the town council, all repaired to the Blue Bull. They were joined by Martha, Sally, and Rachel. Cameron returned George's clothes. He and George then described their contract for George to take control of the ship, its manning, and authority to use Cameron's funds before Paul and the other witnesses. They sealed the deal with an handshake.

Martha explained that Alice, Lydia, and Sam were still recovering from their ordeal and apologized for not being present. She stepped up and hugged Cameron while thanking him for saving her relatives and ended with an "auntie" kiss. Sally's thanks included a kiss that would have promised a lot more if Rachel and her father weren't standing right there. That lady's public display was a little more proper but ended with her holding his hand and leaning toward the door.

With that hint, the crowd let them depart with Paul. At the bank Cameron went through the process of opening an account with the shells recovered from the Rambling Rose and renting one of the large deposit boxes. The rapier, dagger, and belt knives all went into the box. The business done, Cameron shook Paul's hand with the promise to be back in two weeks. With Paul gone, they entered the portal closet and stepped through to Crossroads.

Megan was waiting for them in a redecorated portal room. Robin's egg blue walls with cream ceiling and trim softened its original starkness. The robodocs still looked stainless steel technical though and that was just about all of the furniture. "You must be Rachel Tutor, I'm Megan Caretaker. Welcome to Crossroads." Cameron noticed that Megan was dressed in an unmistakably medical way, white sneaks, surgical green slacks, and a white lab coat. "Let's get you two checked out. Any injuries or medical issues?" she continued.

"we're both OK," responded Cameron, "Chaos is a mess though. I think both of us need to be thoroughly debriefed by your authorities, the sooner the better."

"Yes, Elizabeth Supervisor has told me a little about what appears to be happening there. She expects to be here to interview you in the morning. In the meantime - returnee protocol is for both of you to get checked out by the medical units. That shouldn't take more than a half hour or so for either of you." Megan opened one of the robodocs for Cameron, "Strip and climb in," she instructed. Rachel watched this evolution with frank interest until the lid closed on him.

Cameron woke when Megan lifted the lid of the robodoc. It was only then that he remembered getting in and the lid shutting out his view of the portal room. He felt great but quickly noticed that the other unit was empty and Rachel was nowhere in sight. Megan noticed his look, and his semi-tumecent cock. She used it as a handle to pull him close and then kissed him, "She's waiting for you," was whispered into his ear. She stepped back and held open a very light, short robe in the Cameron tartan for him to step into. When he belted the robe it turned out to act more as a frame for his stiffening pecker than as a cover since it only came to mid-thigh.