Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (red queen free ebook txt) 📗

to the point. I plan to break my people out of Serpent Tooth Prison and I need able seamen to navigate the ships.” He paused, expecting some form of outburst but everyone was either cowed by Mardon’s earlier words or stunned by his own sudden announcement. He continued, “We’ll be taking the three Lukasi ships. Caldori flags or not, you all know which ships I’m referring to. Upon completion, one of those ships will belong to the Wharfsider community with Mardon retaining owner shares, the other will be managed by Captain Rigel but owner shares go to the Guild.” Kinsman directed his attention to Captain Rigel, “We’ll negotiate further afterward, sir.” The noise the Captain made in response was something between a laugh and a grunt. Kinsman turned his attention back to the room, “Of course the current owners will resist, but considering the fact that they are the source of the Apex, the Guild considers their interests to be forfeit.” He paused again, but only for a moment, “I’m sure you’ve all realized that this accounts for two ships, but not the third. This is because the third will be scuttled and run aground against the rocks of the north side of the prison island.” This announcement brought a subdued buzz from the group. Mardon only needed to clear his throat and all fell silent.

Kinsman continued, “Prior to this, on that ship, the Lukasi flag will be raised to its full height. It shall be left there as a clear message.” No one made a sound as he paused again. “As soon as we’ve finished our discussion here, my people will raid a house in the Dregs that we know is involved in the Apex trade. Afterward, we'll position ourselves around one of the few remaining warehouses used by the Lukasi drug merchants, and at a time we shall agree upon, we will raid that warehouse and kill everyone inside. We will then systematically do the same with the two remaining warehouses, drawing closer to the boardwalk as we move from one to the next. During these raids what we’ll need from the Wharfsider community is for you to secure the boardwalk and the waters surrounding the Lukasi ships. If anyone should escape the warehouses, they shouldn’t be allowed to warn those aboard the ships.” He let those words sink in for a moment then resumed his summation, “With the warehouses emptied and occupants killed, we’ll converge on the ships and board them on foot from the pier and up over the rail from longboats on the water’s side.” He turned to Mardon, “You’ll be given first choice of ship. If you haven’t done so already, you’ll need to have made that decision before we loose the ships of their moorings,  unless you’re coming along for the whole trip. In any case, you’ll need to decide before we reach the prison. Once the poorest ship is identified, that’ll be the one scuttled.” He paused and searched the faces of the men and asked, “Are there any questions so far?” A few of the men cast a glance toward Mardon, hesitant as to whether they should speak. Kinsman emphasized, “I’m asking. Is anything unclear so far?” Silas risked a question, “How many longboats will you want in the water? For stopping anyone from getting a warning through, and for putting Wharfsiders alongside the Lukasi ships?” Kinsman shrugged, “You’d know the answer to that better than I would. I’d say six. That’d give you the ability to spread out around the docks, and give you two longboats per ship when it came time to board them, but you might have a better idea.” Kinsman turned to Mardon, “I’ll handle the warehouses. I’ll trust you and you’re people to secure the boardwalk and the bay.” Mardon gave him a confident nod. One of the other Wharfsiders spoke, “If we see someone runnin’ on the boardwalk, how’ll we know if we needta stop ‘em? They might jes’ be people runnin’ ta get away from the fightin’.” Cooper shrugged, “Again. I leave that to your judgement. If a warning gets to the ships, we’ll be facing a prepared enemy rather than a surprised one. It’s my intent that I and my Guild associates will initiate the takeover of the ships. If they’re unprepared, we can kill several of them before they even know they’re under attack. If they’re warned it certainly won’t happen that way.” Mardon interjected, “We can’t simply kill everyone that comes running out onto the boardwalk. When the sun comes up again we will still be neighbors with the Waterfront community.” Kinsman recognized the discussion was running off course and spoke quickly, “I wasn’t suggesting that everyone on the boardwalk should be killed. I simply want to prevent those on board the ships from receiving any warning. If you see people come running out, turn them away, subdue them, tie them up… let the City Watch sort them out in the morning. If all goes according to plan, there’ll be plenty of empty prison cells awaiting Lukasi survivors by that time; but if a man comes running out, wild-eyed, with weapon drawn and blood on his clothes, I’d say it’s safe to guess what he’s running from.” This comment brought a reserved collective chuckle from several men. One of the men spoke from the back of the room, “Why’re we wastin’ a good ship?” Kinsman sighed, “I have a few interconnected reasons for this. If I were to say that I wanted to expose the Lukasi traders and make Apex look like an attack on the populace, and that we are all simply well-meaning citizens defending our city, would that be a good enough answer for you?” It took a moment for the man to sift through the words to find the meaning but in the end he smiled and asked, “So, we’re gonna look like heroes?” Rukle almost snorted, and muttered “Yeah. And tomorrow the bards’ll be singing your