Warp Token 2 Update

2k words

**

By the time she cleaned maybe a one-by-one meter square of floor, she came up with a master plan.

She scurried up to the nearest man-thing (not Otto), her bucket sloshing in her paw, and jabbed him with the end of her mop. “Hey, man-thing! Rat is not interested in manual labor, you do instead.”

“Got promoted from cleanin’ duty a long time ago,” the man replied gruffly. “Ain’t no way I’m goin’ back to-.”

“I’ll give you a bunch of gold,” she preempted him, and pulled a bag of coins from her cloak.

“Say no more!” the man replied in a jolly voice. His eyes literally gleamed when he saw how much cash was in the bag. He took her mop and bucket with so much vigour she nearly tripped over, the Skaven cackling to herself as the man mopped away.

Free to peruse the area without the restrictions of a job, Skyseeker moseyed over to examine the pipes and machines. Sailors were coming and going, carrying sacks over shoudlers or braids of rope to the storerooms located at the very aft of this section. She felt a sense of imbalance as the ship adjusted course a little.

“Hey!” Otto called from across the hold, interrupting her explorations. “Skaven, what are you doing?”

“Dilly dallying,” she answered simply.

“You’re are supposed to be cleaning, don’t tell me you’re done already.”

“I am cleaning! Or rather, that one is.” She pointed.

He looked over and saw the sailor she’d hired. “Ralf, what in Sigmar’s name are you doing? Why are you doing the Skaven’s job?”

“She just gave me two week’s wages, Otto,” he replied. “I’d clean the entire deck if she told me to.”

“You bribed Ralf?” Otto asked, directing his attention back to Skyseeker.

“Skaven prefers term: contractually hired. Don’t expect superannuation bonus, Ralf! And there will be tax if you do bad job.”

“Gods preserve me,” Otto sighed. “Have it your way Skaven, Ralf does your job, but you must do Ralf’s job instead. Go to the storeroom at the fore and roll the kegs of spirits down here.”

“Okay!” She went and got the attention of another sailor. “You! Go to room-store and roll kegs here-here! Take this bunch of gold.”

The man rushed off to do her bidding without a word.

“Will! Where are you going?” Otto called. “I told the Skaven to get the kegs.”

“Three hundred gold pieces for a bit off back-breaking? Count me in,” Will replied, then rushed off around the corner.

“Listen here, Skaven, you can’t just bribe everyone else to do your work for you.”

“Otto I will pay you five hundred gold to shut your hole and get off my tail.”

“I run a tight shift down here,” Otto grumbled. “My crew is the heart that keeps the ship afloat, and I am a true son of Sigmar, you can’t buy me.”

“Seven hundred?” Skyseeker suggested, putting on a sweet voice. She dangled a jingling bag of coins before his snout, waving it back and forth like she was attempting to hypnotize him.

To his credit, Otto’s willpower was slower to crumble, and more expensive, but what use did she have for yellow coins? With a dramatic sigh, he swiped the bag from her waiting paw.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “Begone then, if you have no urge to put any effort in.”

“Actually, Skaven will stay-stay.”

“What…?” he sighed.

“I like it down here! Sloshing water on walls for ambience, almost complete darkness, and many-many hunky humans to gawk at. Skaven will hang around for while.”

“Very well, just stay out of everyone’s way” He turned around.

“Wait! Skaven needs seating arrangements.”

“There are no stools down here, so good luck with that.”

“Otto gets me one,” she declared, and produced another bag of coins.

Otto’s left eye experienced a violent twitch. He took it, now utterly defeated. “There’re sacks of flour in that room over there. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Skyseeker pulled a bag out into the main working area, dragging it across the rotting wood, as it was too heavy to carry. She set up in the corner and laid back, placing her paws contentedly behind her head as she watched her human slaves do her work.

The flour was soft behind her head, but it also smelled. Curious, she ripped open a part of the cloth with a claw, watching a white power seep out. She licked some of it off her finger without the slightest hesitation. The taste wasn’t exactly gourmand, but neither were the rations that Roderick gave her, and she was ravenously hungry.

Nobody came to bother her either, her orders to not be disturbed were being followed to the letter. Everything was coming up Skaven.

Right as she was considering a power-nap, the door flung open, and it wasn’t one of her new hires. Captain Von Kessel in his stupid puffy clothes had come to see what all the fuss was about, perhaps expecting to find her suffering under Otto’s strict shift regimen.

When he saw her relaxing in the corner, her snout and fingers covered in flour, she didn’t know whether to laugh or deposit herself overboard in retreat.

“What is the meaning of this?” Von Kessel asked, directing the question to Otto, who straightened to attention like everyone else present (Except Skyseeker). “I sent the rat here to help, and I see it stuffing its fface with our stores? Explain yourself, Otto.”

“Skaven’s on my five-minute break!” she chimed. “Been hardly working all day! Wait, I meant working hard!”

The Captain was about to snap back something, when he saw two men hide their hands behind their backs. “You two, show me what you have there.”

Reluctantly, her two slaves Will and Ralf showed him the bags of coins. They’d been exchanging coins when Von Kessel had barged in.

“Where did you get those?” Von Kessel demanded. “Certainly not from the purser.”

The two men, not reluctantly, pointed in her direction. Skyseeker had taken another taste of flour, having thought she was in the clear, and froze mid-lick when all present turned to look at her.

“Did you… bribe my men? Von Kessel asked.

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Skyseeker complained. “It is called employing.”

“I sent you down here to work, rodent,” Kessel shot back. “Not laze about.”

“Actually,” Skyseeker started, raising a finger. “Work is being done, just not by me-me.”

“And you all,” Kessel continued, addressing the sailors. “Taking gold from a filthy Skaven. Have any of you no honour? You shame Sigmar by letting this thing do as it pleases.”

“One thing about man-things, Kessel-man, is that they can be bought. Looks lie you were wrong!” she pointed out. “Perchance if you paid man-things more, they would not be so easily purchased.”

If looks could kill, Skyseeker would be dead on the spot. The room went so quiet she could hear her own heartbeat. Speaking up against the Captain was one thing, but doing it in front of tens of his crew? That was bound to cause trouble, especially when outnumbered.

And yet not a single human spoke up to defend his Captain. One of them gave a thoughtful tilt of the head. Maybe she was onto something – after all, she was fairly sure these people’s pay as as pitiable as their working conditions.

“I will not stand for this, rat,” Von Kessel sneered. He turned to leave, clutching his needle sword in a clenched fist. “Just because you’re Roderick’s pet, does not mean you get to talk to me, like you would to him. You’ve made a terrible decision this day.”

-xXx-

His cabin was the biggest private space on the wolfship, but even then, his five companions were practically rubbing shoulders. There was a perfectly usable table strewn with navigation charts just outside, but ears were everywhere on the ship, and only the cabin’s walls were thick enough for privacy.

It was unnatural to meet in secret aboard a ship he’d served on for almost three years, but then again, his ship was the focal point of the unnatural recently. Things were about to go back to normal, he counted on it.

“Thank you all for coming on short notice,” Von Kessel began. “I know the days are busy, so I will be brief before any of you are missed.”

“It’s not like you to call secret meetings, Cap,” Lothar mused. He was a thin man, but he was lightning quick with any sword, and was his second in command.

“Where’s Otto?” the nightshift manager, Goswin, asked. “He’s usually here for these, ain’t he?”

“I’ve learned some interesting things about Otto’s loyalties of late,” Von Kessel explained. “He won’t be joining us. This matter I’ve called you here for concerns the Skaven.”

Looks of disgust passed through the room. That was good, he’d picked them well.

“What about it?” asked their fourth, Raban, one of his senior officers. He had a voice like a foghorn, but he was smart enough to pick up on the secrecy.

“I’ve thought long and hard about this,” Von Kessel began, glancing at his elite in turn. “This ship has suffered many hardships, but the threat our Skaven ‘ally’ has posed to us is far more damaging than any cannon. Skaven are the enemy, they use deception and cunning to kill anyone who isn’t a rat. We’ve already discussed one consequence of having it on board,” he added, gesturing at them. “One of my most trusted shift managers has stooped to taking bribes from it to lay off work, and as far as I can see, his entire shift is compromised.”

“It’s not just Otto,” Lothar added. “The cook, he thinks the rat’s cute, and most of the gunner’s think nothing of it, as if the rat was one of our own.”

“Thank you, Lothar,” Von Kessel said, giving him a nod. “No doubt the rest of you likely know one or two crewmen who think the Skaven as a friend. Goswin, how many of your shift having nothing but praise for the Skaven?”

“More than I’d like to admit,” Goswin replied. “Maybe a dozen, two at most.”

“Two dozen,” Von Kessel repeated. “Next week, it could be three. Next month it’ll be four. Given time, there will be no one left among the crew to remember who our true enemy is, and nothing can stop it from doing whatever it likes. If we bring this Skaven to the Empire, this thing will disease the heart of our homeland, and then all will truly be lost.”

“You suggesting we take it out?” Raban asked, ever a man of action.

“Not suggesting,” Lothar answered. “The rat must die, before too many of the crew turn over to its side.”

“You sound like you’re trying to prevent a mutiny,” Goswin pondered. “But no true sons of Sigmar would follow a Skaven… would they?”

“It has already earned the trust of Wilfred,” Von Kessel said. “And he is supposed to be more enlightened than any of us. We cannot take the chance of letting this disease spread further than it already is.”

“I can’t see this happening easily,” Raban added. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for cleaning out rats, but how can we? The Skaven has friends in the crew, yes, but I doubt the Wizard will stand by and let us kill it. Then there’s Roderick. He’d kill for that rat, I can tell.”

“You bring up good points,” Von Kessel said. “But we won’t have to worry about Roderick or Wilfred or anyone. In just a few days, we will be making port in Lyonesse for a supply run. I will leave a few men to stay behind, people I know and trust, including Lothar and you, Goswin. I will personally go with Roderick and Wilfred into port, give you a window to get rid of it.”

“How are we going to separate them all?” Goswin asked. “Roderick never leaves its side, for one thing.”

“They won’t risk letting the Skaven out in broad daylight,” Von Kessel answered. “That is why after a convenient loss of speed, we will dock when the sun is highest. They’ll tell the rat it’s safer on the ship.”

“But won’t Roderick want to stay behind with it?” Raban asked.

“I will arrange a meeting with the Lyonen Duke for a welcoming feast, which won’t be a problem, I’ve frequented his city many times in the past. He’ll want Wilfred in attendance, and Roderick too, once I happen to mention when a fine Reiklander he used to be. With them occupied, the Skaven should be easy to get alone.”

“Why am I here, exactly?” the last of their number asked, silent up to this moment. Thilo was quiet by nature, because he was one of the lookouts, where good eyes took precedence over a voice. “I’m not an assassin or anything.”

“You’re our eyes, of course,” Von Kessel replied. “You are to keep each of us updated on the Skaven’s moves. Roderick’s as well, and Wilfred’s for that matter. If any of them don’t follow our plan, it’s your job to warn us ahead of time. If we can’t get the Skaven alone, it’s up to you to call this whole thing off.”

He let them digest that for a minute, then resumed.

“I cannot stress how dangerous this will be,” he said. “There’s no telling what Wilfred or Roderick will do if they catch wind of our plan, but having a very pissed off wizard in our midst will not end well. Everyone here must agree if we want to move forward with this.”

“Count me in,” Lothar said, and his convenient promptness helped the others along.

“I’m in,” Raban added.

“And me,” Thilo said.

“Me too,” Goswin said.

“Good. We’ll convene tomorrow morning to discuss finer details. For now, return to your posts, we’ve taken long enough as it is. And remember,” he warned. “None of this leaves this cabin. Any of this leaks to one of the compromised, we very well may have a mutiny.”