She paused and then nodded. “That is true.”

  “So, we make a good team then?”

  She hesitated a bit before saying, “Team… yes, we work faster together than apart.”

  “Now we’re talking! We’re team mates, and that means we ought to-“

  “Rosh, you seen Kragor?” Jodyne said, interrupting the large man as she climbed up the staircase onto the deck.

  “What? No!” He snapped, scowling at her. “We’re busy here, can’t you see that?”

  Ignoring the man, she turned to Keshira, “You seen him, Keshira?”

  “I have not seen him for many hours, Jodyne,” the pleasure golem said.

  Jodyne frowned then turned and looked about. She saw Dexter up on the forecastle and started towards him. Seeing her expression, Dexter figured he should move her way and save as much time as possible. He had more than enough experience at being on Jodyne’s angry side.

  “What’ve you done with Kragor?” Jodyne asked, an unpleasant expression on her face.

  “I’ve not seen him since I left your table,” Dexter explained defensively. Captain of the ‘Hawk or not, he still found himself intimidated by Jodyne when she was feeling feisty.

  She frowned. “He ain’t off fixing something or other?”

  Dexter shook his head. “’Fraid not. What’s he done wrong this time?”

  Jodyne’s look melted Dexter’s mischievous grin from his face. “I sent him to fetch me up another barrel o’ meat but the damn fool’s been gone more than an hour now.”

  Dexter frowned, his mood turning serious. Kragor had been known to dodge his wife before, but usually with Dexter and with the help of some ale to drown their troubles. Those times were long past, since they had reconditioned the Voidhawk and set sail on her. He nodded at length and glanced at Rosh and Keshira, who were both listening intently.

  “Search the ship, Kragor’s missing,” he told them.

  He turned to Jodyne and motioned for her to lead the way. With a firm set to her jaw she turned and headed back towards the spiral staircase that led below. Rosh and Keshira spread out but followed, looking as they went.

  On the cargo deck Dexter and Jodyne waited while Rosh and Keshira both looked through the crew quarters that Xander and Rosh were sharing and the two staterooms. Finding nothing in the aft of the ship Dexter knocked on Jenna’s door next.

  “Jenna, it’s Dexter,” he said, announcing his presence.

  The door opened partway and Jenna said, “how many times do you need telling you’ve the run of the ship, you can… oh, what’s wrong?”

  The seriousness of the situation helped Dexter keep from chuckling at her surprise. Jenna saw the small gathering behind him and excused herself for a moment. She returned a moment later, silk sash wrapped and tied around her body in such a way to provide enough modesty to frustrate the likes of Rosh, but to prevent much from being left to the imagination. She was buckling on her weapons belt as she shut the door behind her and joined them in the hallway.

  “Any chance you’re hiding Kragor in there?” Rosh asked her, ogling what she had on display.

  She rolled her eyes and turned to Dexter and Jodyne. “What happened? Can’t you find him?”

  Jodyne shook her head but did not speak. Her jaw set tight with frustration and emotion she refused to show. Dexter shook his head as well, but spoke. “Nay, we’ve only looked up top and in the aft thus far, but Jodyne poked her head up front earlier, I’m guessing.”

  The cook nodded her head. Dexter frowned. “He was supposed to be fetching a barrel from the stowage.”

  “Fool dwarf probably tripped and hit his head,” Rosh muttered.

  “You’re the fool,” Jodyne snapped at him.

  “What, he runs into plenty of things,” the large man said defensively. He glanced nervously at Jodyne, knowing well her deadly accuracy with anything she chose to pick up and throw.

  “Aye, but his skull’s too thick to put him down,” she said.

  Rosh blinked and then chuckled a little. “Aye, you’ve the right of that.”

  Dexter chuckled as well, but it was Jenna who spoke up. “Let’s check below decks then, seems that’s the next place to go.”

  “It’s on the way to the front, we might as well,” Dexter agreed.

  They filed forward, pausing only to check in the sail locker before coming up to the double sized doors on opposing sides of the companionway that led into the cargo holds. When they entered the starboard cargo hold Jodyne pointed to the open trap door in the floor.

  “That’s how it was when I came to check on him,” she said, her voice subdued. “I called his name and looked down in there, but he didn’t respond.”

  “Didn’t you go down and look?” Rosh asked.

  Before Jodyne could answer Dexter stepped forward and peered into the darkness of their hold. He grunted and squatted down, trying to peer inside himself.

  “Captain,” Jenna said, her fingers brushing his shoulder lightly as they rested on it.

  He glanced up at her, then looked at her fingers. Her touch was reassuring, but under the circumstances it seemed inappropriate. He cleared his throat meaningfully and she removed it, smiling briefly at him as though they shared a private joke.

  “What is it?” he asked, turning to glance back into the hold.

  “There’s something… odd,” she said. Her nostrils flared as she knelt down beside him and stuck her head into the hold to look around. “A strange odor, I’ve not smelled it before.”

  “I don’t smell nothing,” Rosh muttered.

  “You’re a human,” Jenna snapped at him. “You’d have trouble smelling yourself if you made a mess in your pants.”

  “I’m a what?” he said, confused by why being human was bad.

  “This ain’t helping Kragor none,” Dexter said, silencing the two of them.

  “Captain,” Keshira said, breaking her silence and stepping forward. “Let me go.”

  “Why?” Dexter asked her.

  She hesitated, opening her mouth a few times before finally speaking out her reasoning. “I am stronger and faster; if something is wrong I will survive longer,” she explained. “And if I do not, it is better I die than you.”

  Dexter frowned. “My thanks, but you’re all my crew, my responsibility. I’ll be the one sticking his neck out.”

  The Captain turned then and climbed down the steep staircase into the hold, stooping his head when he reached the bottom to avoid cracking his skull against the timbers that supported the floor above. “Someone pass me a lightstone,” he muttered, realizing he had forgotten to bring one with him.

  A few moments passed and Dexter heard footsteps as one was fetched. He peered around the steerage hold while he waited, trying to force his eyes to pierce the gloom. He thought he heard something at one point, but when nothing further developed he dismissed it.

  Jenna landing lightly behind him made his heart jump in his chest, however. He cursed softly at her and saw the smile on her face. She held up a stick that had a glowing crystal tied to the end of it. It shed enough light to chase away the shadows for half a dozen feet or so.

  “What are you doing?” Dexter snapped.

  “Bringing you some light, Sir,” she replied smartly.

  Dexter scowled and glanced past her at the trapdoor, then realized it would be useless to try and order her away. He turned instead and moved deeper into the hold, looking for some sign of Kragor’s passage.

  He found a knocked over barrel and the shattered remains of another. “Jenna!” He hissed, pointing to the broken barrel.

  She nodded and moved off to the side, stepping around a pile of spare lumber they had tied together for emergency repairs. Smoothly she drew her weapons, then let out a gasp of surprise.

  Dexter scrambled over the long timbers, drawing his long sword in the process. He hesitated in surprise when he saw a flicker of energy leap up and down the blade, shedding a faint light of its own. His hesitation and distraction cost him though. He came down on a tentacle and stumbled into Jenna, sending her off balance as well.

  The tentacle he tripped on wrapped around his legs and tripped him further, sending him crashing to the hull. He tried to roll free but was held up by the thing around his calves. He hacked at it, feeling the energy that coursed from the blade and into the tentacle channel back through his legs.

  Jenna rolled out of harm’s way, or so she thought. She bounced off a crate, stunning her and bruising her shoulder. Another tentacle wrapped around her arm, pulling her off balance and making her drop her short sword. She kicked at the tentacle, doing no damage but granting her enough momentum to twist around and hew at it with her sword.

  Jenna’s first swing cut into the leathery hide but did not sever it. It yanked at her, surprising her with its strength, and pulled her across the uneven flooring. She could only grit her teeth as her side and legs were scraped against the wood. She looked up when the momentum slowed and saw a mottled brown shape detach itself from the floor. She saw six tentacles attached to it, with one of them having hold of her, and in the midst of the triangular shaped creature a circular orifice rimmed with tiny teeth, something that reminded her of a leech.

  She smelled the puff of gas almost instantly, and recognized it as a much stronger version of what she had smelled in the cargo hold above. She held her breath and struggled, but it was too late; she had already inhaled enough of it to affect her. A slow paralysis gripped at her, numbing her skin and then her extremities. Her sword managed to sever the tentacle that held her, but before she could lift it again it fell from nerveless fingers.

  “Dexter!” She gasped, reached out for him as he was being pulled toward the creature as well.

  Dexter hacked at the tentacle again, being ready for the shock this time, and lurched to his feet when it recoiled from him. He saw Jenna ahead and faintly heard her cry, which caused him a rush of adrenaline fueled by anger. He lunged towards her and stumbled, seeing what the creature had left behind. Kragor lay on the decking, limp and unmoving.

  Another tentacle swept in, slapping him in the side and knocking him off balance. He turned, growling in rage, and swung at it, realizing too late the strange odor that had surrounded him. He disregarded it as his sword severed the tentacle, the electrical effect from the blade causing the dismembered tip to spasm and contort for several seconds.

  He tried to advance on the stowaway but found his legs not obeying him. His ankle turned on the first step, and his other leg refused to move fast enough to catch him as he teetered and fell. He looked up and watched another tentacle approach him. It came in slower, obviously cautious of the weapon that had caused it such pain. Dexter was unable to react to it, other than to watch it approach and wrap itself around his torso. It pulled him back towards the sucking orifice, with Dexter furiously struggling as a prisoner inside his own body.

  “What was that?” Rosh asked, looking at the others. “You hear something?”

  “Captain!” Keshira said, diving through the open trapdoor.

  Rosh recoiled back, surprised, then looked to Jodyne. She looked back, equally confused. Rosh shrugged and moved down the stairs as quickly as possible, his tall frame cramped in the hold. He pulled a dagger from his belt, wishing he had thought to bring his sword. A glance at the low ceiling made him realize how pointless his massive sword would be. Likewise he had no pistol at hand.

  Keshira brushed aside barrels and crates as she moved like an elemental force through the hold. She reached her destination and grabbed on to the tentacle that was wrapped around Dexter. Using her great strength she dug her fingers into it and pulled, tearing it apart slowly and stopping the advance Dexter made towards the creature.

  With Dexter safe she turned to Jenna, who already lay in front of the thing that had stowed away. She grabbed a hold of Jenna’s legs and pulled the helpless elf back, easily ignoring the puff of gas that enveloped her. A tentacle wrapped around her arm and another around her leg, pulling at her. The pleasure golem bent towards it, then regained her balance and pulled back. It slid across the decking towards her, then tried to release her from its sinuous arms.

  Keshira grabbed hold of the one around her arm, pulling on it and dragging it closer to her. It slid alongside Jenna, who was oblivious by that point, and then was within range of the fury of the pleasure golem. Keshira’s fingers dug into its body, pulling it up and throwing it against a box. She pounded her other fist into it, pummeling the boneless body of the creature mercilessly.

  “Keshira!” Rosh said, coming upon the scene and trying to get her to stop. The creature she was battering was obviously beyond any hope of defending itself.

  She pounded it for another minute, stopping only when it tore in half. The gore of its entrails stained her and the hold. She looked at it and then turned to Rosh, who was shaking his head and holding on to the pile of lumber to keep from falling.

  “Are you hurt?” she asked him.

  Rosh shook his head, almost losing his balance as he did so. Speaking slowly and carefully he said, “No… sleepy.”

  “Go back, I will get the others,” Keshira told him, turning already and gently picking up Dexter.

  Keshira had to wait while Rosh struggled to climb back up the stairs. Jodyne, of all people, helped from above by pulling his arms once he made it to the stairs. Once Rosh collapsed on the deck and fought the effects of the cloud, Keshira deposited Dexter’s unconscious form before returning to bring up the others.

  Kragor’s body was still and pale, with little warmth remaining in it. Jodyne collapsed next to it and felt desperately for breath and then a pulse in dwarf’s neck. She threw her arms around her husband and clung fiercely to him while her body shuddered with grief. There was no signs of life to be found.

  With less than a skeleton crew to run the ship, Bekka let the ship float aimlessly in the void. She hurried down to lend her first aid skills, but was frustrated and unable to do much. Even Xander was pressed into service, but while his knowledge of arcane things was considerable, he had little to offer by means of restoring health. Necromancy, he asserted, was not an interest of his.

  Rosh came back around first, being the least exposed to the noxious fumes the creature released. Still unsteady, he was nevertheless able to stand by the time that Dexter and Jenna began to awaken. Both were nauseas and had little in the way of a sense of balance for some time, but regardless of that, Dexter insisted almost immediately on learning of the fate of Kragor.

  With Bekka’s help, he staggered to the hold where Kragor’s body lay still on the decking. Jodyne sat next to him, arranging his clothing and beard so that he would be looked upon respectfully in the afterlife. She looked up as Dexter came in then looked back, only her stubborn will keeping her grief stricken eyes from spilling tears that would not stop.

  Dexter collapsed to his knees beside Kragor’s body and took his friend’s cold hand in his own. Tears ran from his own eyes, but he blinked them away mostly and bowed his head respectfully. Finally, after many minutes had passed, Dexter looked up into the dwarf’s face and nodded to him.

  “Rest well, my friend,” he whispered. “We will miss you.”

  Jodyne sniffed and Dexter rose unsteadily to his feet. He turned and staggered back to the door of the hold, where Jenna was watching with tears of her own streaming down her face. Keshira and Rosh were nearby as well, though everyone was respectfully silent.

  “Why do you grieve?” Keshira asked, breaking the silence.

  Jenna looked at the pleasure golem and smiled sadly. “We were elf and dwarf, so we bickered.”

  She turned to Jodyne, who glanced at her and then looked away. “Kragor was loyal and skilled. He served the ship and crew well, and though we argued often, he was my friend. I think he would say the same of me, though I did not do him the justice of showing my nature.”

  Jodyne looked up at her again and nodded, then had to look away to blink away fresh tears. Keshira remained silent as she pondered what Jenna had said.

  “His spirit will always be with us,” Dexter said consolingly. “My heart is heavy now, but it is brighter for having known Kragor so well and so long.”

  “Jodyne, what would you have us do with him?” Dexter asked her softly.

  She shivered for a moment but quickly gained control of herself. “This ship was his home, Dexter, and having us together beside him made him happiest.”

  She paused and took a deep breath, pausing only to brush an imaginary strand of hair from Kragor’s cheek. “He loved sailing the void, give his body to it, so he can sail forever.”

  Dexter nodded and motioned for Keshira to pick him up. He did not trust his voice, so he was surprised when she correctly interpreted him and stepped forward to gather up the fallen dwarf in her arms. She was surprisingly gentle as she picked him up and then led them all out to the main deck.

  Atop the stern castle she waited. The rest filed in and stood quietly. The collective mood was understandably somber. Dexter looked to Jodyne, wondering if she had any final words to share. She stared at her husband’s body mutely, however.

  It was Xander who broke the silence. “Captain, I have a simple spell I could use to help preserve his body…”

  Dexter’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then he looked to Jodyne. “I don’t ‘spect Kragor’d be wanting any magic put on him, thanks all the same.”

  Jodyne nodded appreciatively and Xander stepped back. “It’s just a small spell,” he muttered to himself, though it was easily overhead by others nearby.

  Dexter, if he heard the wizard, ignored him. He turned back to Jodyne. “Jodyne, is there anything you’d like to say or do?”

  The dwarf took a deep breath and stroked her beard. She closed her eyes and let it out, then shook her head. Staring at Kragor’s body she whispered something in dwarven to him, then turned to Dexter. “Let him go, Dexter.”

  The captain nodded and turned to Keshira. He opened his mouth but could not make the words come out. Keshira leaned over the railing anyhow, having received Dexter’s command through the bond she had with him. Kragor’s body dropped to the gravity plane of the Voidhawk and bobbed up and down a few times until it settled on it. Then it slowly drifted away from the ship, floating in the same way that the debris and space junk they came across did.