Chapter 19

I followed Adin into the cabin and sat down next to her at the dinette. I knew that something big was bothering my wife, and thought that keeping quiet would be the best course of action. We sat quietly for a full ten minutes, as Adin worked at formulating just what she wanted to say. It was because of the difficulty that my wife was having, that I knew this was bigger than big, and a very serious matter.

Finally she sat up straight, cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Kade, you know that I love you with all of my being, and that having your child, under normal circumstances would delight me to no end, right?"

I nodded, worried now, but kept my mouth shut knowing that Adin's statement was only the prelude to what she wanted to say.

"Arrggg! This is so hard! Look, Kade, I don't think that we should have this baby right now! Damn it, we are on the verge of an all out magical war! With only the two of us against all of them, we can't have me sidelined with a big belly. Kade, you can't fight them all by yourself. Don't get me wrong my husband! I want this baby more than anything but not at the cost of losing you. There, I've said my piece as your wife, but as your slave I will do whatever you say. Just know this Kade Mohr, this slave and wife loves you with all of her heart!"

I sat in open mouthed shock! My brain was locked up along with my vocal cords.

"Kade? Say something, you're scaring me."

"Err ... I need to think about this, a lot. All of my life I have considered abortion an abomination; but ... and this is a big BUT ... your argument has great merit. I REALLY need to think about this."

Adin began to shrink right before my eyes and she asked with a small child's voice, "Are you mad at me, Master?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and opened my arms wide toward my wife. She launched herself into my arms and hugged me fiercely all the while shuddering with silent sobs.

"Now, now sweetheart ... I'm not mad at you, it's just that this whole thing just came at me out of left field. That's all." I said as I rubbed her back and then kissed the top of her head. I then continued, "For the time being we are on our honeymoon, and we are going to have some fun. Therefore you are going to clean up, get dressed and then come up on deck. Is that clear? This is a time for us to forget all of the things that are back at home, and just enjoy life."

As I said those things I looked Adin right in the eyes and asked, "Got that?"

Adin saw that I was dead serious and gave a small shudder as she answered, "Yes, Master."

"Good girl, now go get ready."

Adin behaved like a small child, unsure of herself she walked slowly and kept turning back to see if I was still watching her until we heard Erik yell!

"Kade, I need you up here, the wind is changing!"

I shooed Adin along with hand motions and called back to Erik, "Be right there!"

Once on deck I was told to haul in from the 'wing and wing' set of the sails to a 'reach' configuration, as the wind was shifting to our port beam and freshening. Once that was done Rum Runner healed over a bit.

Adin had never been sailing before and gave out with a scream as the boat healed over. She popped out of the companionway with a terrified look, and asked if we were sinking. Erik very calmly explained that sailing vessels leaned over as a matter of course in their operation, and that there was nothing to worry about. Still, Adin came to me for a hug of reassurance.

We stood there for a while, as the wind got stronger and Rum Runner took on a deeper heel, almost putting her starboard rails into the water.

It's a wonderful experience to stand on the deck of a schooner, with the wind in ones face, and the splashing sounds of the sea all around. When there is a fresh wind, a sail boat is not quiet! The wind whistles through the rigging, setting up a sort of harmonic vibration, and anything loose will bang around. Added to that are the sounds the boat makes with the bow cutting through the waves, as well as the sounds of the water swooshing in and out of the scuppers when the boat is as deeply heeled over as we were.

As I stood there on that deck, in the bright sun with my sweet wife in my arms, I could feel all of my cares drift away. It was a wondrous feeling!

I looked around trying to absorb everything. Then I caught sight of Erik—he was standing with spread legs and his head held back in a state of euphoria. His smile could not have been any bigger, as he turned the helm from side to side, keeping his beloved schooner on course.

I tapped Adin on the shoulder and pointed at our captain. I could feel the tension leave her body as it had mine and I knew that we would, at least, have this time to just be us, simple people, not the repositories of great magic.

For the next two and a half hours we just sat on the cabin roof enjoying life. Occasionally I would be ordered to trim sail, but I would then return to my wife as quickly as possible. That idyllic time lasted for three hours. At that point Erik began to issue order after order as we turned into a small natural harbor, lowered sail and dropped anchor.

I had hoped that we would spend our time alone while at the island but that was not to be for there was another vessel riding at anchor, a rather large trawler type cabin cruiser.

Almost immediately I began to get a bad feeling in my stomach, but there was work to be done and Erik was a stickler for proper seamanship—lines had to be coiled and the sails needed to be secured and so on and so forth.

While we were putting the Rum Runner to rights Adin was just lying on the top of the cabin, sunning herself. Suddenly she sat up with a very concerned expression on her face.

"Kade, there is something wrong over there on the other boat!" she said softly but with a cold certainty. "They don't want us here but don't know exactly what to do about us."

I looked up at the other boat and did a scan. There were four persons aboard, men—nasty men with malevolence directed toward us. Suddenly their attention left us and centered on their radio.

My concentration was broken when Erik came up to me and asked, "You folks ready to do some snorkeling? We should be able to catch something for dinner."

I just looked at Erik blankly but Adin came to my rescue, saying, "Could we just eat dinner from the stores that you brought on board and go snorkeling tomorrow? We've been working quite hard and need some time to decompress, if you get my drift."

"No that's fine Mrs. Mohr, how about soup and sandwiches?"

Adin got excited and asked could we have tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches? I haven't had that since I was a little girl."

"Hahahah ... that's just what I planned on. Would you like the grilled cheese with or without sliced tomatoes?"

Adin bounced on the balls of her feet and clapped her hands as she said, "Oh... with, please, that's my favorite."

"Okay then. Coming right up." said the big man as he headed below deck.

"Thanks, honey, Erik interrupted my scan and I missed what those people were thinking about. Did you get anything from them?"

Adin thought for a moment then shook her head in the negative, saying, "No they're not English speakers and I don't know their language so all I got was feelings."

"They are speaking Russian and I got more than a feeling! They want us out of here, now! I think that there is someone big coming in on another boat and witnesses would be a problem for them."

Just then the sounds of a very powerful engine rolled into the harbor. I looked up to see a huge ocean racing 'cigarette' type boat dropping off of plane as it powered down in preparation to enter the harbor.

It only took five minutes for the new boat to enter the harbor, raft with the cabin cruiser, off load two men, and then leave. As soon as the big racer was clear of the harbor it went to full power, rose to full plane and headed out to sea at full speed.

It didn't make it!

When the boat was about a quarter of a mile out of the harbor it blew up! The explosion was so large and violent that there was no fire just a lot of debris, eventually falling out of the sky.

Erik burst out of the companionway and ran to us; it was amazing how fast the huge man could move.

"What the hell was that explosion?" he asked with a concerned expression.

I told him what had happened while Adin watched the cabin cruiser.

"They're coming and they have weapons!" said Adin flatly.

I entered Erik's mind and ordered him to go below and lie on the deck. He got a blank look and did as ordered.

When I looked away from Erik as he descended the companionway. I saw a rigid inflatable racing across the harbor with three men, bringing what looked like AK-47s to bear.

I cast a covering ward, to shield my powers from other magic workers. Then, with the wave of my hand, I lifted the small boat a hundred and fifty feet into the air turning it upside down as it rose. The three men fell screaming to the water. One of the men fired his AK reflexively, killing the other two men, then died himself as he impacted the water, as hitting the water from such a height is like hitting concrete. Next, I sent the small boat flying, motor first, into the superstructure of the cabin cruiser. The side of the larger vessel, near were the controls were, gave way from the weight of the large outboard. The extreme impact caused the fuel tank to rupture and the motor to disintegrate. The hot metal parts ignited an explosive fire. The three remaining men ran for their lives onto the fantail of the boat.

I let them think that they were safe for a few seconds and then lifted all three men high into the air, much higher than I had lifted the boat. I found it laughable that those that live by the gun think that a gun will fix any problem—one of the Russians pulled out his side arm and started shooting all around trying to get free of my power. I dropped him.

Again, hitting the water from such a height is like hitting concrete. The poor fellow hit the water and lay face down without moving. My next act was to move the remaining miscreants toward us while slowly reducing their height.

Once the men were in talking distance I asked, "Do you speak English?"