“Captain on deck!” Jax shouted.
The small crew of the Widow snapped to attention, falling into a neat line.
Chapter 2
Stand and Deliver
In which we learn of the dubious job our captain has undertaken on our behalf.
Captain Rose Madigan strode across the deck, eyeing her crew while giving them a wide, knowing smile. Although she was nearly a foot shorter than Jax, she somehow seemed taller. She dressed in the same drab brown as the rest of the crew, setting off the woman’s fiery red hair and sea green eyes. The captain was everything Gabriella wasn’t—worldly, charming, and most of all beautiful.
“Stand down, ladies.” The captain smirked. “If I wanted to spend the morning being saluted, I would have stayed in bed with Click.”
The crew relaxed into easy laughter.
“As you’re all aware,” the captain said, “we’ve arrived.”
A general grunt of approval rounded the women.
Dot raised an eyebrow. “Where exactly have we arrived?”
“Guppy,” the captain said.
Gabriella swallowed hard. “Yes?”
“Would you please tell the crew where we are?” the captain commanded.
Gabriella turned to Jayne, who looked on with an amused smile.
“Guppy?” the captain asked.
Fidgeting, Gabriella cleared her throat before she said, “Based on a rough estimate of our longitude and latitude, and our relative position on the navicom, I guess we’re somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean.”
“You guess?” The captain crossed her arms, looking down at Gabriella as if expecting more.
Gabriella could only nod. Give her a sextant or just the stars and she could plot a worldwide course to her heart’s content. Without proper training on Jayne’s crazy contraption, Gabriella’s mathematical mind was useless. There was no way she could be sure the readings were correct. No way could she answer her captain with anything more than just a guess.
The captain crossed the deck with slow, deliberate steps, her boots clapping hollow against the planks. She came to a halt, looming over Gabriella. “Young lady, did I hire you to guess? Or did I hire you to navigate my ship?”
Gabriella lowered her gaze. “Navigate your ship, sir. But Jayne won’t show me how to properly—”
“Don’t blame your incompetence on me, little rich girl.” Jayne scowled.
“But—”
The captain lifted her hand, silencing Gabriella mid-excuse. “I put it to you again. Where are we?”
Gabriella drew a deep breath. “We are currently located in the South Pacific Ocean. Sir.”
The captain’s firm frown shifted into a partial grin. “Good girl.”
Gabriella smiled while her insides uncoiled.
“Big deal,” Jayne said, clearly annoyed by the captain’s show of confidence in Gabriella’s favor. “We’ve been in this area plenty of times.”
“What is work now?” Jax asked. “Are we to return Click to his native soil? Get big reward for saving chastity of entire western culture?”
Laughter rolled across the Widow. The crew enjoyed the jab at the oversized cabin boy.
“Ladies,” the captain said. “I have kept the point and purpose of our employment from you long enough. Magpie? The details, if you please.”
Magpie stepped up to point at the distant shore. “That island you’re all looking at has no name, no known residents, and no clear ownership. It lies between so many borders that it would be impossible to pin down which nation has rightful claim, but the point is moot because most countries aren’t even aware of its existence. It is, however, the last known home of the infamous Doctor Grant Loquacious.” She paused, expecting a response.
Gabriella didn’t recognize the name. She glanced at the others, relieved to see everyone else also looked confused. Except the tinker.
“No,” Jayne said, her eyes widening as she stared across the waters. “It can’t be.” For a moment, her face lit with incomprehensible joy
“I thought you would have heard of him,” the captain said.
The moment Jayne realized she was the subject of scrutiny, the smiled faded to a cool smirk. “Doctor Loco?” She shrugged, insinuating the familiarity she took with the man’s name was nothing. “Sure, I’ve heard of him. Any cogsmith worth her weight has heard of Loco. The tales say he’s nuttier than a fruitcake, and the president himself had the man locked up to preserve the safety of humanity. I heard he could slap together a mechanism like nobody’s business. If he’s on that island, then we’re all in for a treat. A crazy, mad filled treat, granted, but a treat nonetheless.”
“I hate to disappoint you,” the captain said. “He isn’t on the island. At least not anymore.”
“That’s a shame. I would’ve loved to meet the man. I wonder what became of him.”
“From what I’ve been told, the president tried to put him away. For good.”
“Real genius is never truly appreciated.”
“Actually,” Magpie said, “there was some proof that he was linked to Mr. Booth’s attack on our Lincoln’s life last year.”
“That doesn’t sound like him,” Jayne said. “I heard he wasn’t really big on political garbage. Besides, I thought they topped everyone involved with that.”
“Topped?” Gabriella asked.
Jayne pulled an imaginary noose tight around her neck. Her eyes rolled, looking heavenward while her tongue protruded obscenely from her mouth. Gabriella frowned at the garish display.
“Yes,” Magpie agreed. “No one’s been able to find the doctor since, or any trace of his whereabouts. It’s as though the man has vanished from the face of the earth.”
“Now that sounds like him,” Jayne said.
“If world famous doctor is not here,” Jax said, “then why are we?”
“Because,” the captain said, “although the doctor has moved along, we believe he left something behind.”
Jayne’s eyes went wide again. “His lab?”
The captain gave a curt nod.
“Intact?” the tinker asked as her forehead scrunched.
“There’s a good chance,” the captain answered, with another nod.
The tinker rubbed her grease smeared hands together in what Gabriella thought was a most unbecoming manner for a young lady. “Oh my. My, my, my. Captain, you have no idea what this means.”
The captain rolled her eyes. “Yes, Jayne, I rather think I do.”
Jayne swallowed hard enough for Gabriella to hear. The redness in her cheeks and meek look on her face showed that she was remembering her place. The other woman tipped her head to the captain. “Yes, sir. Of course you do.”
“In fact,” the captain said, “we aren’t here just to plunder the missing man’s lab. We’re here for something very specific. We have been hired to locate and return with one of the doctor’s creations. Some kind of artifact.”
“Artifact?” Gabriella echoed.
“What kind of artifact?” Dot asked.
“You