Chapter Eighty Eight - Give Me My Nephews

"That still doesn't explain why you are here," Jezmi told him. After they had casually located the Sabine, the two individuals with very different reason for hunting pirates sat in the bar, talking quietly over beer.

Jariden's nose scrunched as he took in the aroma of the disgusting drink. He hadn't smelled anything this bad since his teen years in his home town. His next door neighbour often produced moonshine in a little shed outback, but once it had exploded and this sort of scent was the result. It had lingered for several days. "Sand," The man said after a while. "Don't you think that this moon has excellent sand."

The woman tilted her head, wondering if he was serious, when three teenaged boys burst in, glanced around then headed for a table in the corner, before ducking beneath it. Both Jariden and Jezmi stiffened slightly. Jariden had caught sight of two blue eyes and that strange sensation was welling in the pit of his stomach, whereas Jezmi's vision was blurring after she saw two young boys with silver-white hair flash by her.

"I don't think this is a good hiding place," whispered one boy, his tone was very clear and innocent.

"Do you want to be dragged back to the ship again?" Another said, clearly the older of the three for his voice was that of a young man rather than a boy.

"What's so wrong with exploring anyway?" The third huffed. "It's not our fault that that Pirate is a pervert."

"Well he did try to buy you and Luck," the eldest mentioned.

"I don't understand why," the first boy said. There was a brief silence.

"Stay innocent forever, Luck," the eldest chuckled softly.

"Boys!" Yelled a gravelly voice from outside.

"Ah, shit, the Captain!" The eldest swore.

"It's bad to swear," the voice belonging to Luck stated.

"Shhh, Luck," his brother hushed him. "You know the Captain has ears like a Ingarian Elephant!"

"Get out from over there," the large man with the even larger presence that Jezmi had almost walked into yesterday growled as he entered the bar. The three boys looked downcast as they crawled out from their 'hiding' spot. Jezmi had to stop herself from gathering the twin boys in her arms and hugging them. Jariden was having difficulties not rising up from his seat, grabbing the bright teen and claiming... reclaiming his earring, which shone in the youth's left ear. "Now what did I tell you? Stay onboard the Sabine, it's not safe out here. This is a Pirate outpost, not a holiday resort. Most pirates won't hall your asses to the slave markets, but that doesn't mean none will!"

"Yes, Captain," The three boys said in unison.

"And Zee, I hold you responsible for this," the Captain growled at the oldest boy.

"Wha'!" Zee looked horrified, glancing at each twin either side of him, but they just stared at the floor. "Why?"

"You are the oldest," the Captain stated. "For fucks sake, Zee, you are almost sixteen, you are not a little kid anymore. You should know better than to encourage them! Especially Law!" Out of the three, Law was usually the instigator, Zee wanted to have fun and found what Law wanted was fun. Luck seemed to just tag along. "Now haul your arses back on my ship before I tan them!"

"Yes Captain!" They squealed and fled swiftly.

"You seem to have your hands full there," Jariden raises his hand in silent request for the bartender to bring a third pint to their table.

"You don't know the half of it," the man sighed, accepting the drink as if it was his due and savouring it as if it didn't taste like piss. "My sons have a habit of showing up where they shouldn't be and disappearing from where they should. And when they get together with my second mates kid, all hell breaks loose."

"Your sons?" Jezmi said, in a slightly strangled tone. "Excuse me for saying this, but they don't exactly look like you."

"Take after their mom," the Captain shrugged, the red leather waist coat he wore over a faded T-shirt creaked with the movement.

"Their mom you say," Jezmi continued. "They resemble a little my sister, who happened to disappear pregnant over a decade ago..."

"Well isn't that a coincidence?" The Captain replied, looking her dead in the eye. "Sorry to disappoint, but their mom was a Pirate like this old man. Now if you will excuse me, I need to make sure they got their sorry arses back on the ship."

He drained his drink and got up to leave. "Was?" Jezmi pressed on this one fact.

But the man had nothing more to say to her, instead turning to Jariden and saying; "Thanks for the drink." And with that, he left.

"He lied to me!" Jezmi claimed, infuriated, banging her fists on the table. "Disgusting, cheating scoundrel dared lie to me!"

"Honestly," Jariden made a light attempt to soothe her. "Did you really think he would risk losing his sons, who he raised for nearly thirteen years on a chance encounter with someone who claims that they might be blood related?"

"I am their aunt!" Jezmi was not so easily pacified. "And they are being raised as filthy pirates!"

Jariden shook his head and frowned. "You shouldn't tar all pirates with the same brush. Granted their line of work is... questionable, but I doubt they all chose to be pirates just for a laugh." Seeing her angry pout, he sighed. "When I first went into the glasswares business, I set up a factory with a few artisans, two who I inadvertently poached from another company. That company were, let's say, unhappy that a start up company could take two of their top designers, so sought... well it was revenge really.

"They found a man, who happened to be in dire straights due to his daughter being seriously ill in hospital and he was struggling to pay the hospital fees as well as feed his family. He happened to work for me, but I didn't know him that well, if I had, I might have offered to help him out a bit. Regardless, that other company got to him first and he sold several secrets to that company, including two designs we were due to release. They released them first and suddenly we were sitting on a warehouse of unsellable goods; if we had released them, they would look like copies, no matter that they were of better quality and workmanship. Our reputation would have taken a massive hit before it could be formed. It nearly put my company under, I had to sell the factory and warehouse, let go of most of my employees including that man.

"I don't blame him though. He was desperate and naive and they offered him a ton of money."

"I don't see what your point is," Jezmi scowled, pushing her unfinished drink to the centre of the table.

"Your views are too black and white, Jezmi," Jariden told her. "Just because your nephews are being raised by a man, who happens to be a pirate, doesn't mean that they or he are bad people. Everyone has their own circumstances. Besides, you can clearly tell that he cares for them."

"Family should be raised by family," the stubborn woman insisted, sweeping his views beneath the table as if it were sand traipsed in from outside. With that, she stormed out of the bar, leaving him to settle the tab.

When Jariden caught up with her, he found her arguing with the pirate Captain of the Sabine, causing him to sigh. Granted, he had his own reasons for hunting this ship, but the boy was merely fifteen. There were plenty more opportunities to teach him not to steal from him. His throat became dry as his imagination considered what the boy would look like, teary blue eyes gazing up at him, apologising profusely for his misdemeanours.

"They are my nephews!" Jezmi was shrieking, bitterly, tearing him from his musings.  "We need to discuss your terms for handing them over to their rightful family."

"There is nothing to discuss," the Captain growled. "I suggest you leave before I do something you regret." Jariden attempted to pull her away by her elbow in order that the situation not blow up to be any worse than it already was, but she shook him off.

"Captain!" The boy with the beautiful blue eyes appeared at the entrance to the ship. He gazed down at the man and was sharp to notice his company. His face flushed red as he recognised the man he stole from, but he raised his chin arrogantly as if challenging Jariden. The burning in Jariden's chest increased by several degrees. Oh so you wish to play it that way do you...

"What is it, Zee? You boys better be behaving!"

"Um, we are? Forget that, Captain! Sly says we've got incoming!"

"Incoming?" As if to answer his question, lasers blasted the sand dunes nearby, blowing up one of the smaller air filtration rigs. "Fuck! Get aboard, now!" He yelled at his crew, now completely ignoring Jezmi, who was torn between arguing and running for safety.

Jariden had no such qualms and dragged her along with him. "Now's not the time!" She allowed him to pull her with him for a moment, turning as she heard the Sabine's engines warm up and the ship begin to rise. She cursed before fleeing full speed to her ship, Jariden just about keeping up with her. To his dismay, the freighter, who he had paid passage to tag along with, had already fled. Not that he could blame them, in these circumstances. The hollow ships were nothing but torn up pieces of hot metal now and the Alliance ships were targeting the fleeing pirate ships. The Sabine was no longer anywhere to be seen.

"Get on," Jezmi cried at him, as she jumped into the cockpit of the scout and quickly worked through the launch sequence. She might be pissed off with him, but she wouldn't leave him there to die. He settled on board, barely a second before the scout flew rapidly upward and darted for the atmosphere. Fortunately, as a small fry, they were ignored and were quickly able to make their escape to the Imperial border. But Jezmi could not help but swear nearly all of the way.