Tunnel Rat

Chapter 337: Troublemaker

After the Battle of the Eels, as the events of the day were being called, the seas were quiet and the town seething with excitement and chaos. The fishing fleet moored at their docks and unloaded their catch, followed by Captain Pike's ship arriving with his latest catch, towing a large eel behind the boat. Boat Crusher, a level 22 Elite Eel had made the poor decision to attack the Captain's boat. Pike had been delighted at the turn of events. Usually, he had to hunt the monsters, having them come to him was a treat, as was the prospect of a full belly for the next week. While the Ogre sat guarding the docks and grilling eel steaks, some of his crew scoured the town inquiring about a missing sailor who'd gone overboard. No one had seen or heard from Milo after that attack, but one pirate made drunken claims about seeing a man running across the waves ahead of the eel invasion. No one took him seriously, but the news was relayed to Pike's ears. "Well, if he walks back, he walks back. Hell of a guy to go fishing with, that's for sure. He's great bait."

The remaining scavenger ships were busy clearing the large wreckage from the bay, salvaging metal and equipment, and tossing the rest back. Roving gangs of female dwarves looked for anything valuable in the surf, finding parts of machinery, broken diving suits, torn sails, and sunken cannons. The piles of flotsam and jetsam were sold cheaply for rum money to the dozen pawnshops that operated in the dock area. Mates from the remaining ships were buying up the usable pieces and leaving the piles of junk that would eventually be broken down further and recast into usable parts.

Squint organized the townsfolk, and with the help of the gangs he commanded, swept the area clean of usable wood while the pirates were licking their wounds, telling lies, and drinking after the battle. There were a few arguments and a few deaths before things got settled. Usable wood that washed ashore each day was hauled away by the townsfolk. There was never enough wood in the city to build businesses and houses. Between eels and cannonballs, most of the pirate ships had been reduced to small wreckage or sunk into the bay.

Captain Mako showed up with the rest of the Shark Clan, yelling at anyone and everyone, demanding to know what had happened to her ship. The front third of the Silver Shark was in shallow water and the Sharks towed it to land with lines, pulleys, and muscle power, leaving the wreckage mostly in the surf. Half of the crew had made it to land and survived, an unusually high percentage considering the amount of firepower raining down on the ship and hungry eels looking to kill anything with two legs. A guard was put on the wreckage and the rest of the Sharks retreated to the casino they had built in what had formerly been a laundry and bath house. The sharks purchased any diving suit available and began searching the shallow parts of the bay for the remaining wreckage of their ship. Other scavengers were told to stay out of the area, on threat of death. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. The Sharks took casualties and most of their diving suits were destroyed.

Mako wasn't happy with what they were finding. Neither were her crew when they had to report to her. "Not finding the back end, Captain. She was always heavy in the back, balanced by the ballast we carried up front. If she broke up, the back could have been thrown deeper and gone off the ledge into deep water. We have an idea where that part went over, but no suits to get down that far, and we'd need a crane to bring her up."

Mako had ground her teeth at that last sentence. Only the Orca had the cranes and power to bring something up from the deep. They also had deep-sea suits that could search for the missing third of the Silver Shark. She retreated to the Casino and sent out a messenger to the Orca.

Business was booming tonight. The quick and the lucky who braved the murky waters of the bay had found a rich harvest from the ruined ships sitting on the bottom. Everyone knew that a ship sent to the bottom belonged to whoever could salvage it first. Granted, former owners might protest, sometimes with the barrel of a pistol or cannon, so getting in quickly and grabbing the goods before sailing away was a preferred tactic.

The Great Clans who still had intact ships had their pick of the crews marooned in the city. The Orca, Barracuda, Hammerhead, and Stingray clans took on the skilled sailors they needed and then told the rest to piss off. They also kept their deck guns loaded with grapeshot and a triple watch for the next few weeks. Strong drink and the lack of a ship had led to trouble before when a mob of stubborn dwarven women would decide they could take a ship by force.

Two dozen pirates turned their back on the sea and spent their remaining money on sturdy picks and guild fees. The Miner's Guild was always happy to take on new members. There was a need for metal in the town, and the miners needed to dig it out of the rock. The pirates with the least skills or the most love for the high seas banded together elected a new captain, and constructed crude boats and rafts from the wreckage, heading to other ports.

A half dozen of the best scavengers and gunners found they didn't have to pay for their drinks in town. Hard women wearing the tattoo of the Whale Clan would invite them to drink a few flagons with them, and even though the Whales were also without a ship, all those women approached signed up when a position in Captain Whale's crew was offered. Confirmation of the rumor that the Whales were working with an Engineering clan was all that it took. It was the rumors of the rebuilding Leviathan and the loot from the Iron Queen that had drawn them to Shadowport in the first place.

Captain Annie received an invitation to dine with Captain Mako at the Casino. She accepted and showed up in all of her finery, pondering why Mako was suddenly getting polite. The leader of the Shark Clan seemed determined to have a quiet meal, eating at a table that overlooked the gaming and card tables below. Annie brought up the battle twice, seeing Mako flinch slightly each time. Mako immediately turned the conversation back to the surprising theme of the Great Clans working together toward a common goal.

"Things are happening, and not everyone is fishing in the same pool. We need to get Whale up here and explain her plans. There's a half-built drydock and we know they want to rebuild Leviathan, but what about after that? This could be the Scavenger base we've always wanted. A place with no laws but our own, pulling in pirates from the seven seas and sending them back out on the ships we build. And that's just a start. But it needs to come from you, Annie. Whale will listen to you, I'm just a hardworking gal with a newer clan. But I'm willing to host the meeting for all the clans here. Free food and booze for the crews and a meeting of the Captains to plan out how we all get rich."

Annie took a long pull of ale and looked around. The place was certainly impressive when you looked at it sober. After acquiring the building through dubious means, the Sharks had spent a fortune to turn it into a casino. The decking was polished and stained dark to match the custom woodwork and molding. It still looked like a weathered building from the outside, but inside it was a palace with bars, billiard tables, card tables, and many ways to lose money throwing dice. Mako had big plans for Shadowport, and the Golden Trove Casino was the start. The loss of the Silver Shark had to be a hard setback, and an embarrassing one, but Mako seemed determined to move past that. Of course, only a fool believed anything that came out of her mouth.

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"So, you think we can quit arguing long enough to form some grand alliance of the Clans we have here?"

"Aye, for a start, and that will attract the other Great Clans. We can own this town. It's what I've been working for all along. I've made a start at acquiring land and taking control of the docks. Took a lot of pushback on that, some from the damned spanner boys. We need Captain Whale to whip them into shape and put a stop to that nonsense."

What Annie hated about Mako was that she always layered her lies with what you wanted to hear. Shadowport would make an ideal Scavenger base. The bay dropped off steeply and deep water was just offshore, letting even the largest of ships dock here. The shipyards would be protected from attack, and the mines could be expanded to provide the raw materials to build and repair their steamships.

And if you believed the rumor about Whale finding the Iron Queen, what better place to rebuild the biggest Scavenger ship of all time? Just the hint of that was driving people crazy. It didn't help that Whale had most of her girls downstairs working with an Engineering clan. While Scavengers could build their ships given tools and materials, all of the biggest ships required at least a squad of Engineers. And those roving bands of spanner boys charged a pretty penny for their services and were always in demand. And somehow, Whale had allied with an entire clan of them.

And not just any clan. The Deeprock Clan had survived all the long centuries and showed up in the middle of a battle to save the day with guns blazing and crazed last-minute plans. They were still young, with handsome beards, formidable magi-tech armor and weapons, and best of all, crazy as elves at a flower-sniffing festival. Most Engineers got more and more conservative as they aged, becoming stuffy and boring. But not this group. They had a love of high explosives and made plans on the fly. Blowing up a World Boss, an Ancient Hydra, and Leviathan had endeared them to Whale's group. Hell, little Narwhale had announced her betrothal to one of them when he showed up with a pocket full of high explosives. Their first date had been blowing up Leviathan together. It just didn't get more romantic than that. Annie didn't believe in romance and would have scoffed at the story if she hadn't seen Stompy going through the last couple of weeks with stars in her eyes and a belly full of French toast.

All of those things lent Mako's yarn some credibility. "You might have a point, Mako. Certainly couldn't hurt to have a blow-out party and have the crews mix it up a bit. Especially if you're paying."

Mako twitched again, a small thing but Annie had played enough cards with her to see her tells. She wondered how much loot had been on the Silver Shark.

"Sure, sure. My clan doesn't mind hosting. Just part of co-operating with each other more. Speaking of which, I'm wondering if you and your ship might be willing to help with a small project?"

"Oh, something like salvaging the parts of your ship that you can't find? Is something valuable in that missing lower half? Your control circuits for the boilers? A map to a lost island full of treasure? Or maybe a heavy chest of gold and gems?"

Mako ground her teeth, a habit Annie had seen before when the other captain was frustrated. "Doesn't matter. I'll pay standard salvage rates in cash up front, and 10% of found coin, treasure, and bar stock. but I want to start within two days, tomorrow preferably. It doesn't help either of us if some other heavy salvage ship shows up, and you know word will get out with all the wrecks at the bottom of this bay and the eel population cut down. I'm giving you a chance to make some easy coin here, Annie, and cement our working relationship going forward."

Annie smiled, she'd found out Mako's real reason behind tonight's dinner. Now it was just down to haggling over the price of her help. 10% was chump change and she'd get 25% out of Mako or she was a guppy. But before either could talk again, applause broke out from the gaming floor. Dozens of people were sitting around one of the poker tables watching a game. One person stood, looking disgusted, and stalked off to the bar while the other raked in the sizable pot. Looking at the piles of chips in front of him made Mako nervous. A lot of those golden chips were 10s and 25s. She watched as the pile's owner neatly stacked them with shiny, alabaster claws. She saw the pit boss glance at the girl running the table and then up at Mako. They had a troublemaker.

"Sit and drink, Annie, I have to help out on the floor. A casino is like a ship, sometimes only the Captain can sort things out." Annie nodded, this would be entertaining at least, and the booze was free.

Mako made her way down the stairs to the floor and pushed through the crowd. Her dealer was tossing out the cards for another round. Besides the dealer, six people were playing cards at the high-stakes table. Two were Sharks, dressed like crew from other ships, there to help the house fleece the sheep. A third Shark was playing for the house, wearing her oversized tophat and monocle, along with three legitimate players. Two of those were Captain Goldtooth, now a captain without a ship, and Mary the Mussel, second mate of the Barracuda. But it was the last player who had scored big to a round of applause.

It was a ratkin, but one like Mako had never seen before. The rats that came to the Casino were lower-level thugs running with the gangs, or bumpkin miners from one of the hollows. They came for the free cheese and left their money at the tables. This one was smartly dressed in formal black pants, a white shirt, thin black suspenders, and a snappy silver bow tie. His sleek fur was brushed to a high shine and his small perfect claws looked like old ivory. Behind him stood a valet, supplied by the casino, who held his staff and long ivory robe. His inquisitive eyes were hidden behind old-fashioned, tinted spectacles making his expression hard to read.

Mako greeted the table with a smile. "Welcome to my Casino. So happy you all could come out tonight." That brought smiles from most and a grumble from Mary the Mussel, who only had a short stack of chips left in front of her.

The ratkin smiled broadly. "Thank you. The feelings of happiness are reciprocated. I am Professor Tallsqueak from The Tower of Strife. This is a fine Casino with entertaining games of chance. It has been great fun learning these new games. Generally, learning new things in life is a costly affair, but I am happy to say that tonight has been profitable. Very profitable."

By the pile of chips in front of him, Mako was sure the Professor wasn't leaving much of his entertainment to chance. This one bore watching. That was too much money to be allowed to walk out of her Casino.