Page 63 of Blow Me Down
Chapter 16
Oh, better far to live and die
Under the brave black flag I fly....
—Ibid, Act I
“You can’t be serious about leaving.”
Corbin pulled on his pants and boots, pausing to look around for the black shirt he’d worn in order to avoid being seen. “You can’t be serious about staying,” he countered, having found the shirt.
I watched him don it, giving myself a moment or two to admire the play of muscles in his shoulders and back as he did so. He might not be a blond bodybuilder, he might not be handsome enough to drop a woman at twenty paces, but he sent my blood boiling every time I saw him. “Me staying does not entail a four-hour sail in the wee small hours of the morning. Aren’t you tired?”
“Yes.” He stood and looked down at where I lay on the bed, crumpled and exhausted and extremely sated. My limbs felt boneless. “You look like a woman who has been well loved.”
I gave him a long, slow smile. “I am a woman who has been well loved. So well loved that I think you turned my legs to jelly. Corbin… gah. I want to beg you not to leave, but I don’t want you to stay, either. Bart would gut you the instant he saw you.”
“We’ve been over this twice in the last half hour, sweetheart.” He bent to give me another of those kisses that made my toes curl with delight. “The blockade has to go forward. You, however, don’t have to be a part of it.”
“And for the third time, I’m going to be with my crew, bringing the blockade to a swift and successful end,” I pointed out, propping myself up on an elbow.
“Corbin, what if you talked to Bart? Would it be possible for him to cancel the whole thing?”
“Not if it’s part of the scenario, and I don’t see how it can be anything but integral to it. Too much is at stake,” he said, giving me another kiss before swinging a leg over the windowsill. “I’ve got to go, love. The sun will be up in a few hours, and I need to make it to my ship without anyone seeing me.”
“Hang on, Corbin—I never got to ask you about how I go about getting supplies through the blockade.”
He gave me an unreadable look. “You’ll need to go to one of the supply ships and requisition what you need.”
“Okay.”
“You are aware that you will only be able to get the most basic of supplies? If you think you’ll negate the purpose of the blockade, you’re in for a disappointment.”
“I understand,” I said evenly. “I know it bothers you that I’m going to be supplying the people you’re trying to starve out, but I’m not going to let you hurt them, Corbin.”
He sighed. “I’m not trying to harm the people of Turtle, Amy. As far as the game goes, I’m trying to help them.”
I fought an eye roll at that ridiculous statement. Corbin swung his second leg out the window.
“Wait,” I said, sliding out of bed despite the fact that I was naked. “What should I do about Renata?”
He paused, cocking an eyebrow at me. “What about her?”
“I told you I thought she’d been reading my letter from you, and she searched my room. And also she… well, she feels different from the others, if you know what I mean. She’s said some things that, now that I think about it, are kind of odd.”
“Hmm.” His brows pulled together for a moment. “Renata is the mentor for Turtle’s Back. I put one on each island—mentors are put into the program to help the newbies, guiding them to crews, jobs, that sort of thing. Mentors can flip back and forth between colloquial language and modern language, depending on the situation.”
“Oh,” I said, a tiny bit disappointed. I liked Renata and was very grateful for everything she’d done for me, but the idea that she could be the mysterious Paul who had trapped us here was very tempting.
“However…” He frowned again, shaking his head a little. “She shouldn’t be inquisitive enough to search your things. That’s outside the programming. It’s not out of the question that Paul has corrupted her file, however, and is using her character. Keep an eye on her, Amy. Make a note of anything she does or says that doesn’t ring true. If the situation warrants it, we’ll take a harder look at her.”
He jumped out of the window when voices from the square could be heard, giving me a heated look before disappearing into the blackness. My heart twisted at the sight of his shadow blending into those of the trees, the faint remaining moonlight casting an odd silvery tint to everything.
I stayed at the window for a while, resting my cheek against the cool wood of the window frame while I tried to sort out my tangled thoughts. The fact that Ihadtangled thoughts annoyed me—I was a methodical, organized person, and I expected my brain to follow suit. But ever since I’d woken up to find myself in this pirate world, control had slipped from my fingers, and I seemed to be unable to regain it.
“Stop making such a big deal about it, brain,” I lectured myself as I got washed up and dressed. “There are just two points that should be concerning you—
finding Paul and ending the blockade quickly. Well, all right, there’s finding a home for Bas once we do find a way out, so that’s three. And I really want to make sure that the retirement fund for Renata’s ladies is going to work, not to mention I need to inventory and reorganize Tara’s shop so it’s more profitable… gah. Too many things. All that really matters is getting out of here, and standing around talking to yourself isn’t going to help, Amy, so get a move on.”
