His ears lay back nearly flat against his hair. This was most disturbing news, a betrayal not only of himself, but of the rest of the crew and the ship. Not acceptable. Silence filled his cabin, and Cephaceus grimaced at the letter.

To Whom it may concern:
Please be aware that our ship plans to make port in Fleet for exactly two days. From there we will be heading due south for 2 days, at which point in time we should acquire our newest target. Then we will be heading exactly 54.6 miles to the N NW. I suggest that in order to over take the Lady Copernicus you intercept at 22.3 miles. We will set the ships engines to break down at this point in time. Be aware that our 'captain' will be sailing on water. It should allow for an easy take over, providing that you come in from the air, and from the S SE. We are all prepared and capable of navigating this ship without him, and expect smooth sailing to The West. Our price in this matter is only the compass that allows us to guide the ship, and of course our fair share of the bounty that will have been collected.
Thank you for you cooperation, and for allowing us to be so actively involved in this most crucial portion of your return.
Sincerely
~The officers of the Lady Copernicus.

Rage boiled up within, and the Captain's tail writhed from the back of his chair. He had been planning to make port tomorrow afternoon, which meant that he would still need his air mage until then. The rest of the crew, however, would be dealt with tonight. He set the letter back in his desk drawer where his one faithful officer Bernquist had placed it.

Standing, and allowing the soft leather of his boots to scrape across the floor, Cefus walked to the door and grabbed his coat. With a sigh, he stepped out and headed to the aft bowels.

The coat made a soft swish sound to compliment his steps on the empty passage way. Cafus often made late night rounds of the ship, so no one would think it odd that he were here at this hour, and every now and then he did manage to catch Berny awake. Tonight, it didn't really matter. With a slow stop, he raised his hand and knocked gently on the solid wood door.

A beleaguered chief engineer stood in the doorway shortly. His shabby hair had not been washed yet, and his coveralls were still covered in grease and dirt.
"Captain? To what do I owe this honor at 3 in the morning" The voice was worn, and gave away the fact that the question was more rhetorical than anything else.

"Bernquist, I request your presence in my cabin within the next few moments. The ship has been sailing a bit rougher than usual, and I expect a full report on the shape of the engine room." Cephaceus said in a stern voice, with layers of understanding hiding behind it.

"Aye Captain, I'll be there shortly"

"You'll accompany me back Bernquist" With this the Captain's voice went flat and he turned on his heels and headed back to his cabin.

When they arrived and went in, Cafus reached in his desk and picked up the letter. Shaking his head, he sighed and looked up at the engineer's staunch frame.

"Bernquist, as you seem to have pointed out there is a problem on board My ship. Your name is the only one missing here, so I assume that you were the one who wrote this, that and the fact that you are the Only crew member who calls me anything other than Captain to my face. How bad are the engines, and how awake are you at this blasted hour?"

"Cephaceus I am as awake as I need to be, and from the looks of you, much more alert. The engines will get us into Fleet, and out of it, but they won't give us the 50 some odd miles to the port after. The bastards did some pretty nice damage to the shaft, just enough so that without the letter I wouldn't have noticed it. It'll wear down the seals within two days leaving us sopping wet and unable to move. In short, sitting ducks for whatever army, navy, or pirate wishes to attack." Bernquist was suddenly more alert, as if the drowsiness had been merely a facade. He stood with his arms crossed, looking at the Captain, his Captian with sad and angry eyes.

"I suppose that certain events are going to need to take place, I'll go make the arrangements. You've called an officer's meeting this late before, no one will know anything, although your ears and tail had better be showing a much more normal expression. Usually if the engines are in anything other than perfect condition you're damn near spitting commands at all of us until it's smooth sailing again."

Cephaceus nodded in agreement, and then assumed one of the most turbulent faces he had.
"Better?" The voice was almost a dry hiss, but held more vengeance than either of the men thought possible.

"Yes, Captain, much." With that, he showed himself out of the room.

Cephaceus turned his collar up, a sign of utmost displeasure, and stormed out of the cabin moments later. As he stomped down the hall he began shouting.
"All officers on the Flight deck, immediately, Meeting time NOW!" His voice boomed across the wooden ship, the polished wood resonating the tone at every corner. He stomped on, and then up the stairs. They had heard him, and except for the air mages, all would soon be on the aft upper most deck.

Grumbling men seeped out of doorways, into the hall, most in various states of undress. Slowly they made their way upstairs, unaware of the freak wave that their Captain was going to raise from hell itself.

Cephaceus and Bernicus had already tied themselves to the ship, and concealed the line by the time that the first of the traitors arrived. He waited until they all arrived to begin his speech.

"It has come to my attention that the state of this ship has once again slipped from despicable to atrocious. I do not ask much, simply that you take care of your specific parts of the ship, and that you keep her clean. None of you have been doing this during the past two weeks, and MY ship is showing the suffering that your incompetence has gouged into her very being." His voice was becoming louder, his tail and ears flatter. Slowly, the wave began to build 300 yards from the ship. "How can you disrespect your very life's blood in this manner, moreso, how can you insult yourselves, your families and ME in this manner? What has come over you in these past few weeks that was so important that your basic duties could be neglected like this." The wave was 200 yards off, and nearly 30 feet high. Cephaceus was nearly screaming as his snarling face spat the last sentence. "And what's more, I feel that my crew is slowly loosing respect for me. I have done nothing but what is in the best interest of this crew and this ship. If anyone thinks otherwise, then they are sadly mistaken. It pains me so greatly that there are those foolish enough to think anything otherwise." The wave was 50 yards away and coming fast with ever growing height. "I suppose that any crew who has any ideals of exactly what I might be doing to this ship and this crew should just leave the ship. NOW." The final word brought the wave crashing across the deck. Suddenly, the whole after portion of the deck was under a powerful wave. Caphaceus slammed his fist down onto the deck and the wave silenced, leaving the Lady Copernicus shining clean in the moonlight.

He turned to Bernicus. "I suppose I should log this freak wave" With his voice now calm, Cafus turned and headed towards his cabin once more, this time to dry off and plan tomorrow's unfortunate incident.

Bernicus turned to the captain and shook off the water that was logging all his clothing. "Kayfee, did you Have to get me all soaking wet. We both know that I hate it, and that it makes me smell funny." The voice held a joke, and he had a hard time holding in the laugh.

"I hear that damn chuckle in your voice Bernicus. And that was the most efficient way I could have done it. So you smell like a wet dog, it isn't that bad. Besides, Berny, at least now we get to fix the engine a little more once we hit land." The chuckle wasn't hidden at all. With that both men retired.

The next morning, Cephaceus calmly announced that at the officer meeting the night before there had been a freak accident and many of the crew had been lost overboard. No one seemed overly upset, and in order to 'avoid' another such accident the captain decided to take the ship to the air.

As they made port, Cephaceus told the mages he would be right back after signing the ship in. He invited them to his cabin where a nice lunch had been laid out. Then, as he stepped out, he shut the now airtight door and locked it from the outside. Bernicus came by a short time later, placing the sign: HOT WORK do not open door under any circumstances. By the time the captain got back the next night, they would both be disposed of, and the accident report would be on his desk.