Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 117
  Boarded by pirates today, curse the lot of them.  Balcon's crew was in top form, and drove them off quickly and efficiently, with they aid of the deck hands.  Injuries were minor--gave that new man some real work on which to cut his

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teeth, but didn't risk the lives of any of my people as far as I can see.  They say he's coming along just fine.

   Navigation says we're losing speed--not that we're in any danger of falling behind schedule, but we aren't going to keep our strong lead on it if things don't pick up again.  Well, a good first half improves things, even if the second half loses a mite.
Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 129
  That fellow Darius proved his worth today in an unusual way.  There was a disturbance in the mss hall--apparently some of the men think that the latest rumors about the ship starting to lose time are my efforts to get out of paying bonuses.  They were arguing about whether I should guarantee them extra pay now while we're ahead.  Of course, they should realize that I'm not made of diktar, and anything could go wrong from here to Sardic--even from here to Durnmist, as we're in the longest stretch of open uncivilized water any ship dares to cross, and many have been lost within it.  Those as have been with me know that I've never been stingy on bonuses.  Besides, it's good for them if the trip is short--they get the same pay if the trip takes a hundred days or a thousand.  I feed'em the whole time they're on the ship, and if they do reasonably well, soon as we get back to port they can sign up for the next run.  So the faster we make our run, the sooner they can see another payday.

  Anyway, they were grumbling about it, and according to the medic Pieter who was serving soup at the time, Darius was there having a sop and some broth.  At first he moved away from the commotion, but as it grew, he chewed them up one side and down the other--spunk, that, as there's not a man among'em who probably couldn't toss him over the gunnel with one hand while slappin' his face with the other.  But he told'em that they'd agreed to a deal, and should keep it; and that if they didn't like it, they could surely get off at the next port.  I made a point of thanking him--never had to thank a stowaway before that I recall--during dinner.  I imagine he's saved me a bit of trouble.  I certainly don't need my security people and my deck hands smashing each other up.  There are undoubtedly plenty of hazards ahead which can do that well enough.

Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 158
  I thought things were going a bit to quietly.  Today I got suckered by a faked distress signal, and two of my security people are the worse off for it.

  I'm not one to pass up a ship in distress; I've been there myself more than once, and can tell you that help has sometimes come in the nick of time.  I can't say I blame those who do ignore distress flags, what with the number of pirate fakes being near as great as the number or true troubled ships, but I can't agree with them.  The sea is a rough enough place as it is, without cutting our own throats by ignoring ships adrift.  I notice that few of these same captains will fail to investigate a valuable derelict, even though there are as many pirates using that ploy as there this one.  The day I find myself more concerned with lining my pockets that with whether another sailor needs my help is the day I give up the sea.  Needless to say, we investigated.

  Fearing that she might be aground, I drew in no closer than about three hundred yards.  I wanted a security team to row over and investigate the situation before I risked anyone else.  Balcon assigned his best man, Brown, to lead the mission.  He wanted the cannon ready, and stayed behind to give the orders on that.  Brown took Walt; and from the deck crew he took Thomas and David.  He also took Darius, that stowaway I assigned to medical.  Seems that he's been taking a few pointers on the use of a bow from Brown (and that man can shoot the warts off a baby's buttocks), and the security people felt they should have a medic to assess the situation, and better to take one that had some chance of defending himself.  So they rowed over, and we waited.

  Well, it was a few minutes; we knew there was trouble when we heard the first explosion.  Someone had fired a pistol over there.  It was several minutes before we the first cannon fired, and we knew it was bad news.  Balcon gave the order to return fire, and Rob started plotting the escape path to get out as quickly as possible.

  Brown's story goes like this.  There was a rope ladder hanging from the gunnel when they got there, so he led the way.  He ordered Darius to stay in the boat.  Once he, Walt, Thomas, and David reached the deck, they began spreading out to explore.  Abruptly they were ambushed.  They fought their way back to the gunnel, but Walt took a slug from a pistol, and Brown had to get him out.  David made the ladder first, and was headed down rapidly; but some pirate hacked through one of the ropes at the top, and he nearly fell.  Swinging back and forth, he managed to get down to the boat, and began moving it out a bit.  Darius fired an arrow at the pirate trying to bring down the ladder, and he disappeared from view.  Thomas leapt over the gunnel some distance away, and David was headed to pick him up.  But Brown reached the gunnel with Walt slung over his shoulder.  He could see immediately that the ladder would be of no use at all, so he dumped Walt into the brine, and then turned back to get a pirate off his back.  He hoped that everyone else had made the boat, but wasn't really in a position to jump himself.  He had heard cannon fire both on the pirate ship and from ours, which was not good, But he wasn't quite desperate enough to go over the gunnel backwards, not knowing where the boat was below him, and he wasn't crazy enough to turn his back on the battle in progress.  So it was a couple minutes--and a nasty gash in his left arm--before he was able to disable his opponent and leap over the gunnel.

  By the time he hit the water, the others had all made it to the boat, and pulled Walt in also.  Someone extended an oar and pulled him to the gunnel, and David and Thomas had them moving as fast as a rowboat of five passengers can move on two oars almost before he had pulled himself inside.  Rob must have seen them, because he shouted for the main masts to be unfurled, and the ship began moving forward.  The pirates meanwhile were trying to tack, to turn themselves about to follow; and we were unfurling all sails as quickly as the short-handed deck crew could manage.

  The rowboat met us on the way--David and Rob had figured their directions very well--and Darius grabbed the rope ladder we had lowered, while Brown held on to his legs to keep him from getting yanked from the boat.  Darius had already stopped Walt's bleeding, and bandaged up Brown's arm--Evan says that Walt wouldn't have made it but for Darien's good work.  But Thomas grabbed the ladder, and David grabbed Walt.  By the time David was half way up the ladder, Thomas had the trailing ends secured to the thwarts--which was good, because we were picking up speed, and the little boat was beginning to bang against the hull even as Darius climbed the ladder.  Brown was next, and finally Thomas reached the rail, and began hauling up the boat with the help of a couple other deck hands.  Darius and Brown helped get Walt to the kitchen so the Doctor could get a look at him.  He's going to be all right, but he's also going to be off duty for a few days.

Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 186
  The pirates of the Syndic have been worse than ever on this run, else my luck has been ill-fated.  This was the third time we encountered pirates since we left Emerald, and this time they nearly overran us.  We've got five men disabled for at least a few days, and a fair amount of damage to the rigging and the sails; fortunately, there's nothing wrong with her as can't be patched simply enough, and we've no dead of our own, only a few pirate bodies

  On that count, it appears our stowaway may have a few talents of which we were unaware.  There was one pirate stumbled up from the crew quarters with blood pouring from his midsection; I haven't confirmed it, but the rumors are that Darius put a ball into him, although where the lad got a gun no one has guessed.  It is clear that a moment after a gun was fired, Darius showed up behind another pirate threatening one of the engineers (who had been caught in bed--quite a number of crewmen were awakened by pirates bursting in, it was that much a surprise), and slugged the man with his walking stick, then killed the fallen pirate with his own cutlass, charging off to join the fray; however, by the time he reached the deck, the sense of his position got him, and he began treating the fallen, patching up a few lesser injuries, then hauling one of the deck hands down to the kitchen, where the doctor was able to keep him alive (prognosis is positive, as Evan would say).  Balcon and Brown were able to drive the other pirates off the deck and over the gunnels, back to the brine, and the deck hands mopped up the dead.  Maybe they'll think twice about attacking a ship of the Great Circle Trading Company in the future.

Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 196
  We spotted one of the ships of the Broggams today.  They rarely run this far north, which has me concerned as to whether it is them or us off course.  Donald assures me that it's them; but as chief navigator, I would expect as much.  Still, he hasn't steered us wrong for many ventures--certainly had I not some confidence in him, he wouldn't be chief navigator on my ship.  Regardless, although we've slowed a bit across the Syndic, we're still moving at a good speed.
Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 209
  We reached Durnmist today; that's good time, about three weeks ahead of schedule, but I've done better.

  Of course, most of the crew is off the ship, engaging in various forms of drunkenness and debauchery; just as long as they all are ready for duty by noon tomorrow, and there are no problems with the local authorities, I don't see that I should interfere.

  Apparently, Darius is responsible for those pirates a few weeks back. Tonight he showed up with three hundred fifty diktar from the sale of a cutlass he picked up from one of the slain.  I've locked it in the strongbox, and made a note in the books.

Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 231
  We've had a long run to Tempest, and lost some of our lead time; but we're still a a couple weeks ahead, and things seem to be going smoothly here.
Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 246
  Tristar is closed; volcanic activity is running high.  This will cost quite a bit, but I can make up some of it on the rest of the run, if things go well.  I've got extra ore and food, but Moon of Korg will be interested in both of th
Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 262
  We are in Haven, and there was some trouble.  Several muggers jumped Brown.  They chose the wrong victim, as he tore them to bits; but they injured him severely, and Evan and his team worked for several hours patching him up.  He's going to be laid up again for a few days.  I did tease Balcon about giving his lieutenant all the dangerous jobs; he smiled, and said that the difference between him and Brown was that he wouldn't have been hurt.  But he's pretty concerned about the man, clearly.  I spoke with the authorities, and they already have collected the several beaten muggers whose mistake was clearly written on their bodies.  We're free to continue.
Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 264
  We passed the Alison James today; she's tacking her way against the wind toward Haven, if I read her aright.  That's a rough run, and I question why the company keeps it, but I suppose that there is a demand for supplies from the northern cities in the south, and delivery can be managed if you stay out of the main current and catch the right winds.
Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 277
  Today we dropped anchor in Moon of Korg; again the men are ashore, and I'm not unhappy, being a little more than three weeks ahead of schedule.  Everything is running smoothly here, and I was able to find buyers and markets for my extra supplies, as well as a source for my shortfalls.  Tristar is frequently closed, so I've learned who the better contacts are here.
Captain's Log
Captain John
Mary Piper
Tenth Voyage
Day 300
  We've finished the run, and have returned to Sardic.  It was a long last run, but we're still about two weeks ahead.  That's well within the normal run time, but I'll pay a bonus to most of the crew as an incentive to return.  My new papers say the next run will be in ten days--they are very pleased to have me in early, as they've moved on a load to ship immediately, and the Tori Tanner is late from New Tempest.  It looks like most of the crew is staying on, but I'm sure there'll be some new people.  Darius has already expressed interest in staying aboard--in fact, it appears that he withdrew his entire pay, invested most of it in precious gems, and delivered it for me to lock up.  I don't know how comfortable I am with five thousand four hundred ninety five diktar in assorted gems in my lock box, but it's the company policy that I keep the valuables of any crew member who wishes to have them available.  Of course, they'd be safer with the company in Sardic, but I suppose if it's all you know that you own in the world, you probably want to have it close at hand.  I've promised him an opening in medical, if there is one, or to find him a job in another department if the department head approves him.
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