[Ranma][FanFic] Ruler of the Raging Main - Part 2

[J. Austin Wilde and Bridget Ellen Engman]

SYNOPSIS:

It is the year 1669. The wandering martial artist Ranma Saotome,
his adopted sister Ukyo, the Amazon Warrior Shampoo, and the Lady Akane
of the House of Tendo have been taken as slaves by Portuguese traders in
the Orient. The traders, under the orders of First Mate Manuel Delgado,
mean to sell the girls to the President of the Audencia de Panama, Don
Juan Perez deGuzman, who is rumored to have a fetish for Asian women.

* * *

Ranma and Ukyo stretched out their dilapidated sackcloth blanket
along the outboard bulkhead of the storeroom. Shampoo and Akane did the
same with their blanket along the inboard bulkhead. The blankets were
the most they had for furnishings since they had their manacles removed.
Without them, there was only the rough and often splintered wood of the
deck to sit upon.
Shampoo cast Ranma threatening glances every now and again, just in
case Ranma had forgotten that they were no longer in chains.
Ranma for her part ignored Shampoo, which made the Amazon girl stew
all the more. Akane huffed something about having to share a ratty
blanket with anyone, and was soundly ignored by all. Were it not for the
warm salty breeze drifting through the open porthole, a visitor might
have remarked about how cold it was in the little compartment.
"You try and go to sleep tonight, Ranma," Shampoo intoned after a
bit of stifling silence. "You not wake up."
Ranma rolled her eyes.
"I heard it all before, Shampoo," she told the Amazon in as bored a
tone as she could manage. "You keep talking but you never do anything
about it."
She gave Shampoo a hard look.
"Face it, Shampoo, I've been going easy on you -and you know it."
Ukyo stiffened, ready for a free-for-all brawl to break out. It
hadn't taken long for Akane to catch on to the animosity between Ranma
and Shampoo, and she stepped away from the Amazon.
Shampoo bared her teeth in a feral grin and assumed a fighting
stance. Her violet eyes flashed hatred.
"Shampoo underestimate you once, but it no happen again. This time
Shampoo crush Ranma's neck under Shampoo's foot."
"Talk talk talk," Ranma clucked.
Shampoo charged.

________________________________________________________________________
J. Austin Wilde and Fission Park Press proudly present:

RULER OF THE RAGING MAIN
Part Two:
Close Quarters

J. Austin Wilde, K.B.C.S.
Super Critical Reactor Axe Man,
Fission Park Press.
wild...@flash.net

Chapter One

**Here she comes with her right foot,** Ranma thought idly as
Shampoo charged. **When will she ever learn?**
Ranma didn't have much time for further speculation, as she found
herself busy dodging the vicious left hook where Shampoo's right foot
should have been.
**Okay, so she's a fast learner!** Ranma backpedaled in her mind.
Shampoo pressed the attack, taking full advantage of Ranma's
surprise. Her front kick caught a piece of Ranma's side as the
pig-tailed girl stumbled backwards. Ranma grunted in pain.
"Ran-chan!" Ukyo cried. She rushed up to her, only to be cast aside
with a sweep of Ranma's arm.
"Back off, Ucchan," Ranma barked tersely over her shoulder. She
then leveled her gaze square into Shampoo's burning violet eyes.
"No more playing!" Ranma growled to Shampoo. "You want it rough?!"
Shampoo wasted no time with words, and launched herself at Ranma
with a blistering series of strikes. All of Ranma's efforts were devoted
to fending her off. She lashed and struck at Ranma furiously, spending
her all to kill him or die in the attempt.
Shampoo's ferocity caught Ranma off guard. She was just able to
dodge and spin her way around the tiny compartment to stay out of the
amazon's reach. All she needed was the slightest opening to end the
fight, but Shampoo was relentless in her attacks, and none came. Ukyo
and Akane shrieked in protest as the two combatants threatened to sweep
them up into the maelstrom of blows.
Ranma couldn't believe the intensity Shampoo had mustered against
her, nor the fury or the hatred. The Amazon wasn't giving an inch, not a
single opening to exploit, and it was just a matter of time before she
connected with something big. All Ranma needed was a lucky break, but it
wasn't coming.
A deft crescent kick from Shampoo forced Ranma into the corner of
the compartment, and she prepared to deliver the killing volley. Her
eyes were wild with delight and her smile gleamed ferally.
Ukyo threw herself towards Ranma in an attempt to save him, her
tattered garments tearing as Akane tried to hold her back.
Shampoo's single-minded need to destroy Ranma was her undoing, as
Ranma's knife-edged foot strike to her belly hit home. Even as she
crumpled with an explosion of air from her lungs against Ranma's blow,
she could feel how the pigtailed girl had pulled her kick at the last.
By all rights the blow should have killed her, had Ranma committed fully
to the strike.
Shampoo slumped to the deck, convulsing slightly against the pain
of having the wind knocked out of her. Tears fell from her face to spill
upon the thirsty wood of the deck, though whether they were from the
pain or from the shame of another defeat she did not know. All she knew
was that Ranma had given her the life that should have been his.
**How he hates me to torture me so!** she thought with halting
gasps of unsteady breath.
Ranma's words came to her burning ears worse than any hatred, they
were filled with a concern that Shampoo could only understand as pity.
"Are you okay, Shampoo? I wasn't sure if I pulled my kick enough."
Shampoo looked up at Ranma-chan. For just a moment she saw the
concern in Ranma's blue-grey eyes -before pride and hatred took over.
"Sparing my life was worst mistake you ever make," she replied in a
low growl.
Ranma prepared for more combat.
"You just don't know when you're licked, do you?" She asked. "How
many times do I gotta tell ya, I don't want to fight you, Shampoo! I
don't want to hurt you, and I really don't want to kill you, but if you
keep this up one of us is gonna die." Her tone of voice indicated in no
uncertain terms that the person meeting her untimely end would be
Shampoo.
"Shampoo not fight you right now. Shampoo patient. Shampoo know
when time is right to take revenge for many insults you give her."
Ranma was about to reply when the Bosun threw open the door with a
heavy thud. His eyes bulged in anger as he saw Shampoo on the deck,
clutching her belly painfully.
"<I had the idea something like this would happen,>" he remarked to
them. They looked at him silently, not understanding a word he had said.
"<Unless you want to sleep in the bilge,>" he went on, "<I
recommend that you behave yourselves!>"
They couldn't understand his words, but his intent was clear. Ranma
backed away from Shampoo and rejoined Ukyo. Akane stood alone in the
corner of the compartment. The amazon pulled herself to her feet, and
regained her proud stature.
Bosun Velacruz gave them hard looks, shut the door, and locked it.

Delgado stepped down the ladder from the main deck and into the
passageway where the Bosun stood.
"<Problems?>" he asked.
"<The red-haired one and the purple-haired one were at each other's
throats,>" Velacruz replied.
"<Yes, I remember you mentioning to me about a certain hostility
between them. Were either of them hurt?>"
"<Not seriously, as far as I could see.>"
"<Good... Now what to do about preventing another squabble...?>"
"<Should we put them back in irons?>"
Delgado thought about the idea for a moment before dismissing it
with a wave of his hand.
"<No,>" he said. "<Cristobal would never approve. The root of the
matter is that they are idle. They have been locked up in that storeroom
for the better part of two weeks.>"
He regarded the Bosun. "<Have you completed the duty bill as
ordered?>"
"<Not yet, but I have plenty of work for them.>"
"<Good. Have Father DeGama report to the storeroom to act as
interpreter and put them to work immediately. I don't think I need to
tell you that the red-haired one and the purple-haired one need to be
kept apart when possible, and watched closely when it is not.>"

Chapter Two

"<Enter,>" Captain Cristobal said through the heavy wooden door of
his cabin. Father DeGama stood behind Ranma and Ukyo, and told them that
Cristobal had instructed them to enter. Ranma regarded the frail Jesuit
with a mixture of curiosity and disdain. Genma Saotome had agreed with
the Tokugawas that the Christian religion wasn't welcome in Japan, and
Ranma had always been taught to mistrust them.
"Go on," DeGama said to her. "The Captain has granted his
permission to enter."
Ranma felt Ukyo's elbow nudge her side, and took the hint.
She tugged at the latch, and stepped inside. The Captain's
stateroom was cluttered with dirty clothes, empty bottles, and piles of
parchment, maps, and leather-bound books. The compartment had a stale
air to it, smelling of sour wine, spilled rum, and disease. Cristobal
himself sat in the center of it all, holding court with his clutter.
Ranma's eyes met those of the bearlike man who sat atop a battered
seachest fingering the pages an old Spanish rutter. Cristobal looked
Ranma over wordlessly. Something in the Captain's eyes told Ranma that
he knew there was more to the pigtailed martial artist than he let on.
"<Delgado has these two lovelies as my cabin stewards, eh?>" he
grunted to deGama.
DeGama nodded politely. "<Yes, Captain. Their names are Ranma and
Ukyo Saotome.>"
Cristobal's mouth opened to speak. Instead he began to cough in a
hacking fit that had him blue in the face before it ended. DeGama didn't
seem to make much of it, as if he were used to such outbursts.
"<Start with the laundry,>" Cristobal grunted hoarsely, gesturing
to the piles of stained and smelly togs that littered the small
compartment. "<Then the bottles and other trash -but under no
circumstances are you to touch anything made of paper without my
specific permission. Father deGama, you are to make that absolutely
clear to them.>"
The Jesuit nodded and relayed Cristobal's orders to the two.
"<You will also spend at least one hour every day after their
duties are performed teaching them to speak our language.>" Cristobal
said to the priest. "<I can't have you trailing after them all the time.
There are four of them, and only one of you.>"
DeGama nodded again, and explained this to Ranma and Ukyo.
"Do you understand?" He asked them.
They nodded slowly in acknowledgment.
"Then get to work," DeGama told them. "And mind what you have been
told."
Ranma and Ukyo looked at each other, and then began to collect the
dirty clothes off the deck. Ukyo was rather surprised to learn that one
particularly intimidating pile of laundry was merely concealing some
sort of low hanging bed. Cristobal watched them as they worked, and they
could feel his eyes upon them.
When it looked like they wouldn't need any further supervision, the
Jesuit took his leave of the Captain and went off to gather up Shampoo
and Akane. Ranma was glad to see the man gone. It meant that she could
speak freely to Ukyo.
"Whaddya think?" She asked.
"About what?" Ukyo replied tersely.
"About our situation."
"I hate it."
Ranma agreed with a grunt of exertion as she gathered up her share
of the laundry into a large sack.
"This tub has got to pull into a port somewhere," Ranma said at
length. "I say we bide our time and jump overboard first chance we get."
"And then what?" Ukyo asked with surprising vitriol. "Do you have
any idea where home is?"
"Uhh..." Ranma replied sheepishly. "No... But do you really want to
end up as someone's concubine?"
Ukyo looked at Ranma with desperate eyes. "No, I don't," she
replied. "But how are we ever going to get home?"
"I don't know, Ucchan," Ranma said softly. "But I swear to you that
I won't stop trying until we are. I swear."
The wet sound of Cristobal's snores dispelled the silence that
followed. They turned to see the Captain slowly slouching down the
bulkhead to lie flat on the deck. His snores were periodically broken by
a fit of deeply wrenching coughs that made the man's tremendous girth
shiver and tremble. Then he would settle down again and snore
peacefully.
As Ranma watched Cristobal, her eyes caught a radiant flash of
light from the large clear gemstone dominating the ring he wore. At that
moment she thought she heard the sound of a woman crying. She turned to
look at Ukyo, but her adopted sister was dry-eyed and watching Cristobal
sleep with a bit of horrified fascination.
"Did you hear that?" Ranma asked Ukyo.
"Yes!" Ukyo exclaimed quietly. "I keep waiting for him to stop
breathing every time he starts coughing like that."
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Now it was Ukyo's turn to look puzzled.
"Is something wrong, Ran-chan?"
Ranma shook her head.
"No, it must have been my imagination." She hefted a large sack of
laundry. "Let's get this stuff washed."
Ukyo started to press the issue, but decided against it. Ranma had
that look in her eyes that told her she didn't feel like trying to
explain.

* * *

Shampoo and Akane were led into the tiny ship's galley by Father
deGama. A large cauldron of water threatened to boil over on a poorly
bricked cook stove. The corpulent cook dozed on a three-legged stool,
which slowly slid back and forth across the deck with the pitch and roll
of the ship, and was accompanied by the rattle of an empty bottle that
skittered around the cook's feet.
Shampoo picked up the bottle while sidestepping the sidelong motion
of the cook. She sniffed at it and made a face.
"The cook, he drunk?" She asked deGama.
Father deGama nodded and made the sign of the cross in the air over
the cook. "That he is, and were we months long at sea we would thank the
Lord our God for that fact. Though we are many months from the Atlantic
leg of our voyage, and so are laden with fresh provisions from the ports
we visit along our way to Africa, we are also cursed with this slothful
drunkard who ruins what he touches and drives to spoilage all else in
his stupor. Truly, we pay the dearest penance for our wickedness."
Shampoo saw her opportunity and thrust a thumb to her magnificent
chest. "Shampoo good cook!" She declared. "Shampoo fix meals for men,
let drunkard sleep!"
DeGama began wringing his hands over his well worn crucifix. He
liked the idea of someone replacing the inept cook, but this was a
request he wasn't exactly empowered to grant. This was something for the
Bosun at the very least, and likely Delgado would demand say in the
matter.
"I shall put the matter before the Mate," he replied at length. "In
the meantime..."
He kicked at the cook's stool, sending the drunk headlong against
the aft bulkhead. The cook threw up his hands as he tried clawing his
way to his feet. He snarled obscenities until he realized that he was
cursing a priest, then he fell silent and solemn. Almost penitent.
"<Get up, you miserable heathen!>" deGama yelled. "<Get up on your
feet!>"
The cook regained his composure and scowled for a moment before his
rheumy eyes fell upon Shampoo and Akane.
"<Ahhh Father, you're a man of charity indeed,>" he said greasily.
"<And you are a fool,>" deGama replied. "<These two are to work in
the kitchen as cooks and sculleries. My advice to you is to let them
have the run of the galley while you stay inside your bottle.>"
The cook squinted at him. "<No one cooks in my galley but me.>"
DeGama was about to reply when the clatter of crockery assailed his
ears. Both men turned to see Shampoo throwing a kettle of foul smelling
soup stock out of the porthole. Another kettle was put on the fire, and
vegetables and spices lay out on the small table waiting their turn for
Shampoo's attentions. Akane stood by the door, observing in nervous
silence.
"<That would no longer seem to be the case,>" deGama observed
dryly. "<I would suggest that you stay out of the purple-haired girl's
way. In fact I'm sure I could find another bottle for you to keep you
better occupied.>"
The cook's rheumy eyes brightened. Good booze was hard to come by
so long at sea.
"<Like I said, Father, you're a man of charity indeed.>"
DeGama gave the cook a hard look before leaving the galley.
Shampoo began chopping vegetables and humming sweetly to herself.
Akane stood by the bulkhead and watched her. The cook eyed the two
ladies for a moment before stepping up to Akane.
Akane shrank back from him, repulsed as much by the smell as the
sight of him.
"<What's the matter, missy?>" He said to her in that greasy voice
of his. "<Don't you got something better to do than stand around?>"
Akane's eyes widened. She didn't understand what he said, but the
tone suggested unpleasantries to follow. Shampoo looked over her
shoulder to see what was happening between them.
The cook stamped his foot. "<Get over there and wash something!>"
He barked at her, pointing towards a great pile of dirty pots and pans.
Akane followed his finger over to the mess and grimaced. Still, it
was better than what she thought he was suggesting. Wordlessly she
slipped past him to stare at the towering piles of unwashed crockery.
"<It won't get clean by staring at it!>" The cook barked in her
ear.
The sudden shout startled Akane, who reflexively rocked back her
elbow, striking the cook square on the nose and smashing it flat. He
gave a loud cry as he staggered backwards spurting blood. He ended up
tripping over the stool that was still rolling around on the deck, and
toppling ass over tea kettle to the oily wooden floor. He lay motionless
save for the slow rise and fall of his chest.
Shampoo gave Akane an approving smile.
"Shampoo happy to see rich girl know how to fight," she told Akane.
"It was an accident!" Akane protested. "He startled me." A fear of
being thrown overboard for this misdeed welled up inside her. "Now
they'll kill me for what I did!"
Shampoo shook her head. "I have plan," she said calmly.
Father deGama and the Bosun threw open the door to the galley and
stared at the fallen form of the cook. The Bosun then turned a reddening
gaze towards the two girls, who stood by the stove and tried to look
innocent.
"Explain yourselves!" deGama barked at them.
"Drunk cook trip and fall over stool," Shampoo replied coolly. "He
need go someplace else so we can work." Akane remained silent.
DeGama looked back to the cook, whose legs were still tangled up in
the stool, and translated for the Bosun.
"<Aye,>" Velacruz replied. "<Let's get him below. These two have to
be better cooks than this worthless lout.>"
They gathered up the unconscious cook and carried him out of the
galley. A passing crewman outside the door was gigged to help carry the
man. The door was closed, leaving Shampoo and Akane alone.
"I don't know how to thank you," Akane whispered to Shampoo.
"Shampoo glad to help. But if want to repay Shampoo, then help kill
Ranma."
Akane cocked her head questioningly. "Why do you want to kill
Ranma? Did she steal your husband from you or something?"
Shampoo shook her head. "Ranma not woman. Ranma man. Just look like
woman."
Akane laughed. "His disguise is very convincing, then."
Shampoo growled, somehow sure of the idea that she was being
mocked. "Is no joke. Ranma cursed to have girl body when wet with cold
water. When Ranma wet with hot water, he become man again."
"I'm sorry Shampoo, I'm grateful for what you did, but I just can't
believe what you're telling me. Ranma a man?"
Shampoo screwed up her face in frustration.
"Maybe this change mind," she said.
She scooped her hand into a pail of water by the stove and splashed
herself in the face. She felt herself shrinking into her clothes as her
fur began to stand on end. Transforming still bothered her, and she
wondered if she would ever get used to it.
Akane shrieked as a small purplish cat appeared out of the folds of
Shampoo's clothing. As she looked closer, she could see that somehow the
cat resembled the Chinese girl who had been standing before her only
moments earlier.
Shampoo meowed the feline equivalent of "I told you so," and then
hopped up on the table next to the stove.
"Sh-Shampoo?" Akane asked haltingly, unsure of what her eyes were
telling her.
Shampoo meowed again, and gestured with a paw towards the pot of
water she had put on to boil.
Akane remembered what Shampoo had said about hot water, and took a
little of the steaming water out of the pot with a ladle. She held it
over Shampoo's head and waited.
Shampoo meowed impatiently.
"Wait a minute," Akane replied. "It's too hot, and it might burn
you."
Shampoo meowed again.
"Okay, okay, but don't say I didn't warn you," Akane replied. She
tipped the ladle over onto Shampoo, who hissed in pain.
Suddenly, there was a naked Chinese girl sitting on the table,
rubbing the top of her steaming wet head.
"Shampoo hate being cat more than pain of getting burned," she
replied with a huff. She slipped off the table and began putting her
clothes back on. "Now you believe Shampoo?"
Akane stood and stared, unsure of what to say.

Chapter Three

Ranma made her way down the ladder and into the Middle Hold. Ukyo
followed behind her. There was supposed to be a wash basin they could
use for the laundry, and Ranma remembered there being a large soap cake
from the time they were hiding as stowaways.
They made their way along the dimly lit hold as the ship slowly
pitched in the waves. The wash of the sea along the hull was a constant
rush and roar in their ears.
"Found it," Ukyo announced, holding up the soap cake.
Ranma grunted, gesturing to the wash basin, which sat in a corner
of the hold. The water looked fairly clean, but it was cold as Ranma
splashed her fingers around in it.
Ukyo dumped out the smelly laundry of Captain Cristobal onto the
deck.
"Maybe we should do this outside in the fresh air," she gasped.
"You wanna lug this tub up on deck?" Ranma asked in reply.
"No..." Ukyo said calmly.
"I'll go look for a window to open," Ranma said to her. "That might
help with the smell."
Ukyo's brow furrowed. "You're just trying to get out of the dirty
work, Ran-chan! Just like your dad!"
Ranma pretended not to hear his adopted sister, and searched along
the bulkheads for a porthole.
"Found anything yet?" Ukyo asked sharply. "If not, you had best get
your fanny back here and help me wash!"
Ranma was about to reply when she heard a whimpering sound from
below. She barely caught it over the sound of the sea, but it was there
nonetheless. She stepped quietly down the ladder, ignoring Ukyo's
questions as to where the hell she thought she was running off to now.
The Lower Hold was dark. Only the thin shaft of light from the
ladder well Ranma now occupied served to illuminate the place. A rack
for torches was upon one of the bulkheads, but there was no torch. She
crept down onto the deck and looked around.
The clink of chains sounded in the darkness. She could make out a
large shape struggling to turn around. As she crept towards the shape,
she stepped out of the ladder well, and light once again tried to dispel
the gloom.
There was a large panda bear chained to the stanchions, looking
quite miserable. Ranma's eyes widened in recognition.
"Pop?" She asked quietly.
The panda rumbled miserably.
"Serves you right, you old bastard," Ranma said coldly. She started
back up the ladder well, once again swallowing Genma Saotome in
darkness.
Genma whimpered mournfully for his son to return. Ranma ignored
him. She climbed back up the ladder to find Ukyo looking at her crossly.
"Some how I don't think there were any windows down there," she
said to her.
Ranma stepped up to her and grabbed a sweat stained tunic to wash.
"I found Pop."
Ukyo's eyes widened.
"Down in the bottom of the ship?"
"Yeah," Ranma replied. "Stuck in his panda body and chained up. I
almost felt sorry for him, but then I remembered that this was all his
fault."
"It wasn't *all* his fault," Ukyo suddenly accused.
Ranma gave her a hard look. She began sloshing the water as she
washed the shirt.
"You think it was *my* idea to go to China?" She replied bitterly.
"We were better off Ronin. At least then we had a chance to get back
what we lost. In China we were nothing but three worthless vagabonds,
and I'm surprised Pop didn't try to pimp us out to meet expenses when he
had the chance!"
The water sloshed over the tub and splashed soap up to her
shoulders.
"It's bad enough that he turned us into common thieves," she
finished quietly.
Ukyo sighed sadly. "You don't have to remind me, Ran-chan. Or yell
at me."
Ranma was taken aback.
"I'm sorry, Ucchan."
Ukyo smiled at her. "That's better. Now try to wash the next thing
without soaking me in the process."

* * *

Shampoo stepped back to admire her handiwork. It wasn't half bad,
considering what she had to work with. The storerooms had a decent
variety of vegetables, and Shampoo had found a small reserve of herbs
and spices sitting unused in glass jars in a cubby. Meat was a problem,
as it was all dried or heavily salted, but she did what she could with
it.
She was no fool. If she wanted to secure status and privilege for
herself without selling her body, she had to create a need that only she
could satisfy. So she had pulled out all the stops for this meal. If she
could get the Captain and the gaunt looking Mate's attentions, she was
guaranteed good favor with them. Such favor she could use to her
advantage in eliminating Ranma.
Akane looked up from her last dirty dish and smiled. It actually
felt good to be doing something, to have a purpose rather than standing
around looking lost. She also suspected that whatever respect she had
gained with Shampoo might be lost if she appeared to be unwilling to get
her hands dirty. She needed a friend right now, and Shampoo seemed like
her best bet.
"That smells wonderful," she told the Amazon.
Shampoo beamed. "Shampoo cook better with fresh meat, but is okay."
Akane looked at the meal Shampoo had prepared and sighed wistfully.
The care Shampoo had lavished upon the various dishes, even in the way
she arranged the food on the plates, made it look fabulous. Akane felt a
pang of jealousy in her heart, and a sudden longing to try her own hand
at cooking.
"Could you teach me some day to--" she found herself asking the
Amazon.
"--To cook?" Shampoo finished. "Is no trouble. Shampoo do not mind
if Akane willing to work and listen what Shampoo have to teach her."
"I'll do whatever you say," Akane found herself replying. She
couldn't understand what had come over herself, but the thought of
learning to prepare food as well as Shampoo made her feel giddy inside.
Shampoo raised an eyebrow at her. It was obvious that the Japanese
girl had been rich and privileged before her abduction, that she had
servants who prepared meals. Part of Shampoo balked at the idea. She had
always had a hand in the kitchen, even after she began training in the
arts of war. She wasn't sure if Akane realized that skill came with
experience.
"Shampoo no promise quick results," she added. "Cooking take time
and practice."
"I'll do whatever it takes," Akane replied.
The door opened, and through it stepped the Bosun and Father
deGama. The Jesuit's nostrils flared for a moment in surprise, and his
eyes joined those of the Bosun's as they stared in awe at the feast
Shampoo had prepared. It was food, real food, not the swill and salt
pork that drunken ass Marreiros shoveled out for them.
"<Remind me to keep Carlos out of the galley,>" the Bosun remarked
to deGama.
"<With pleasure,>" deGama enthused.
The Jesuit turned an appreciative eye to Shampoo, who stood proudly
beside her work. "See to it that the best portions of everything find
their way to the officer's mess," he told her. "I'll show you the way."
Then to Akane, "and you hand out the remainder to the crew."
Shampoo spooned out ample helpings of everything onto the fine
china plates she had found unused in a corner cabinet of the galley and
smiled smugly to herself.

* * *

"<Ship on the horizon!>" The lookout cried. "<Three points to
port!>"
Cristobal lurched sleepily onto the deck from his cabin. Delgado
was looking through the spy glass out over the azure sea. As the Captain
approached, Delgado handed him the glass.
"<She's Dutch,>" he said flatly.
Cristobal spotted the mast and the colors flown from it and swore.
"<Making for Malacca, no doubt,>" Cristobal added with a cough.
"<Master at Arms on deck!>" Delgado barked. A sailor jumped-to and
began calling below decks.
"<A bit hasty for that, but understandable,>" Cristobal said, still
watching the Dutch ship. It was bigger than them, and likely better
armed.
Bosun Velacruz came on deck. Delgado turned to him.
"<There's a Dutch barque on the horizon,>" he told him. "<Have the
gunner make ready the two cannons bearing to port, and arm topside.>"
"<Aye, aye, sir!>" Velacruz replied. He started bellowing orders,
and the ship's bell began ringing.
"<They'll never beat their way across the wind to catch us,>"
Cristobal said evenly. "<It's what might be waiting for us in the Strait
of Malacca that bothers me.>"
"<There is Macau,>" Delgado observed. "<We could stand-to there for
a few days, and let the Dutch keep going. Even they won't put off their
profit for long to lie in wait for us.>"
Cristobal grunted. "<Perhaps. There may not be much for us there
except safe haven, but I do not relish the idea of fighting my way
through the Strait against a barque with twice my tonnage and thrice my
guns.>"
He looked out over the water again.
"<Set course for Macau, Mister Delgado.>"
"<Aye, aye, Captain.>"

* * *

Ranma came up on deck at the call to the evening meal. She wasn't
sure what the announcement had been, but once she saw the crew lolling
around on deck cheerfully eating food and joking amongst themselves, she
figured it out. She called down to Ukyo to join her.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"Dinner time," Ranma replied.
Ukyo took a breath of fresh sea air and sighed.
"It's that late?"
"We've been washin' since after lunch."
"I guess there *was* a lot to do..."
Ranma gestured to the line of sailors waiting for second or perhaps
third helpings. "We better get in line," she observed. "Or there won't
be anything left for us."
"Heh, I hadn't thought about that," Ukyo said with a wan smile.
"I'm used to getting fed in that tiny little room they keep us in."
The crew gave them wary looks, but in fear of Delgado and the
Bosun, they let Ranma and Ukyo move to the head of the line.
Akane looked up from the cauldron of stew before her to gaze
straight into Ranma's blue-grey eyes. Her heart skipped a beat.
Wonderment filled her.
**This is a *man*?**
Both looked away uncomfortably from the other.
Ranma felt suddenly nervous about the girl wearing the ragged
kimono. It was true that she was arrogant and condescending, that all
she had ever done when she deigned to speak was put him and Ukyo down.
She was actually sort of cute, but there was something in her eyes that
bothered him. She knew something about him, or at least suspected.
Shampoo must have told her about his curse.
"Here you go," Akane said, not looking at Ranma's face as she
scooped the stew into a bowl for her.
"Thanks, uh..." He hemmed and hawed for a moment, ignoring the
oaths and epithets that came from the sailors behind her. "...I don't
even know your name."
"Akane," she supplied shyly.
"Thanks Akane," she said, and then started wolfing down her food
even as she left the line.
Akane turned back to her work with a slight huff.
**If she *is* a man, she's certainly rude enough...**
She watched Ranma hop up onto a coil of rope and eat. There was an
unconscious grace about her as she perched. She knew Ranma was a great
fighter from watching the battle against Shampoo.
A slow grin slipped across her face. She wondered what Ranma looked
like as a man. As she pondered this, a shadow fell across her. She
returned her attention to the serving line. Ranma's sister, if that was
what she really was -there wasn't much resemblance, was there.
Ukyo smiled graciously and accepted her bowl of stew.
"Did you make this?" She asked.
Akane blushed. "Uh, no, the Chinese girl, Shampoo. She made it."
"Oh, okay. Thanks anyway." Ukyo replied. She stepped lightly across
the deck to join Ranma.
"Shampoo made this," she told her.
"I don't think it's poisoned," Ranma replied. She suddenly had a
dark thought. "But keep an eye on anything that gets served to us, just
in case. I don't know if she'd actually stoop that low, but I don't
wanna find out the hard way."
"No kidding."
Ranma had devoured his stew and pondered going back for more. She
wasn't sure if there was any more, however. The line of sailors was
gone. They were lounging about on the decks or up in the skyladders and
rigging. She also noticed that they were all armed, which wasn't normal
for them.
She nudged Ukyo. "Hey Ucchan."
Ukyo looked at him. "What?"
"Notice anything different about the sailors?"
Ukyo looked around.
"Not really. Wanna tell me what you're getting at, Ran-chan?"
"They're all carrying pistols and swords."
Ukyo didn't seem concerned. "So?"
"I dunno," Ranma shrugged. "I just thought it was a little
strange."
"You have other things to worry about," Ukyo said. "Like getting
all that clean laundry hung up to dry. That was the deal; I wash, you
hang them up, we both put them away."
"I was hopin' you'd forget about that."
Ukyo gave her a wink. "Not on your life, Ran-chan. So get busy."
Ranma got to her feet. "Okay, I'll be down in a minute. I'm gonna
return our bowls to the kitchen."
She swiped Ukyo's bowl with lightning speed and hopped over her
head to bound over the deck towards the afterdeck.
"Hey! Ran-chan, you jerk!" Ukyo called after her. "You just want to
talk to the kimono girl again!"

Ranma stepped through the door into the galley without knocking.
Akane was there, drawing a tin pail of boiling water for the washing of
the dishes. The steam looked very inviting to Ranma, who had been a girl
for weeks now, and wanted his masculinity back.
Shampoo was also there. Their eyes locked for a moment in
challenge. Shampoo backed off, instead glancing towards the large pot of
water on the stove and giving Ranma an evil smile. Akane noticed Ranma
come in, and the subsequent stare down with Shampoo. She wasn't sure if
she should look for some place safe to stand.
"You want?" Shampoo asked Ranma, pointing to the pot.
Ranma looked at the water, steaming hot and ready to change him
back into a man.
"Shampoo happy to give."
Ranma stepped towards the water. Just a few moments as a man, he'd
settle for that. Then he could splash himself with cold water and go
back outside. Just a few moments!
"Shampoo also happy scream for help against strange man," Shampoo
added gleefully. Ranma stopped cold. "Then Ranma go to feed fish. Even
if Shampoo not kill directly, is all same in end."
Ranma looked at Shampoo with a look of hurt and hate.
"Go on Ranma; become man," Shampoo taunted. "Sooner Shampoo have
revenge, sooner she escape ship and go home."
Ranma looked to Akane, who had stepped against the bulkhead so as
to be out of the way if another fight broke out between them. She saw
that Akane knew about his curse, and seemed to be waiting to see if he
would prove it to her. She turned back to Shampoo, her face hardening
with resolve.
"No, Shampoo. I ain't givin' you the pleasure. You want me dead,
you gotta do it yourself."
Shampoo continued to offer him that damned feline smile of hers.
Ranma couldn't stand it anymore. She slammed the two stew bowls
down on the table and stormed out. The wisps of steam from the pot
wafted before his eyes, mocking him.
On the way out she almost stumbled into the soggy mass of Carlos
Marreios, the former ship's cook. The stink of cheap rum was strong on
the man as he lurked outside the door. For a moment a wild rage boiled
in his rhuemy eyes, quelling as he realized that it was the red-haired
slave girl who was before him. Ranma gracefully ducked under the man's
arm and slipped past him to continue on her way.
Marreios heard the voice of the Bosun coming up from below decks,
and shambled off bitterly to return to his new job of repairing old
ropes.
Ranma knew the man was up to something as she ducked past him. He
had murder in his eyes, that was for sure. With luck he'd try to kill
Shampoo, and if Ranma was really lucky, he might even succeed. That
would certainly make life easier on him.
She stopped suddenly.
**What if the guy wanted to kill Akane?**
The thought didn't sit well with her. She spun around to watch the
former cook, but he had already gone. She could see Akane through a
porthole. She appeared to be busy with something in the kitchen, which
made Ranma sigh briefly in relief for no readily apparent reason.
**Gotta keep an eye out for that guy,** Ranma decided.

Chapter Four

The sun was setting as Ranma took down the last of the laundry
under the watchful eyes of both Ukyo and Bosun Velacruz. Ranma handed
the tunic to his sister, who folded it neatly and put it back into the
sacks, themselves clean and freshly dried in the wind. The Bosun
gestured to the ladder that led down to the Captain's cabin when Ukyo
finished. Father deGama joined them after checking on Akane and Shampoo
in the galley.
Ukyo sighed and shouldered one of the sacks. Ranma took up the
other, and together the two of them steadied themselves down the ladder
as the ship rocked in the waves. Ranma noted that the setting sun was in
front of them instead of to the right. They had changed their direction,
but where were they going?
There was a loud burst of laughter from the cabin door. **It had to
be the big guy,** Ranma thought. **The other guy would never laugh that
loud.**
Captain Cristobal was drinking heavily in his cabin. His face was
flushed, perhaps the most color they had ever seen upon it. His meaty
paws lay across a table strewn with glasses, bottles, charts, and
leather bound notebooks. The ring on his finger flashed tiny pale white
streaks of lightning around the room.
Delgado was also in the room. He stood by the door with a glass of
Port in his hand. He seemed to be fixated on the ring that rode upon his
Captain's hand.
"Just set it down there by the door," deGama said to them, pointing
at the sacks of laundry. Ranma and Ukyo set the heavy sacks down on the
deck. They had the feeling they would be putting it all away in the
morning.
"<Father deGama,>" Delgado said suddenly. "<I commend your good
judgment concerning Marreios. Having the purple-haired Chinese girl in
the galley is a welcome change.>"
"<I agree,>" the Bosun replied. "<I haven't seen the Captain
looking so merry in months.>"
"<Indeed,>" deGama said. "<Usually he is a quiet drunk.>"
Delgado's eyes fell upon the table where Cristobal sat. The man
seemed to be fascinated by the flashes of light from the odd jewel set
into his intricately wrought golden ring. Quite suddenly he looked up to
his First Mate and offered up his hand.
"<You'd like this damned thing, wouldn't you?>" Cristobal asked in
a slurred voice.
Ranma watched the light of the ring flash in Delgado's eyes. A
brief smile licked across the Mate's face. He started towards Cristobal.
Cristobal snatched his hand back drunkenly. Delgado stopped in
mid-motion.
"<As if I'd be foolish enough to give it you,>" Cristobal said
sternly. "<If Hell is not already my destination, it surely would be if
I did.>" He looked down to his generous lap. "<Knowing what I know,>" he
finished quietly. His head started to loll down against his chest. A
snore, wet and ragged, slipped past his lips.
Delgado turned to the Bosun and gestured to Ranma and Ukyo. "<Get
these two out of here,>" he ordered.
"<Yessir,>" Velacruz replied.
He was about to put his hands on Ranma and Ukyo when Delgado added,
"<take the red-haired one, leave the other with me for now.>"
The Bosun gave him a questioning look, but didn't argue. Ranma was
shoved out the door without Ukyo. Ranma tried to duck past him, but a
huge hand caught her square behind the neck and squeezed tight.
Ranma choked out a protest. Velacruz eased his grip only slightly.
"Quiet you, and hold still," deGama told her. Ranma did as she was
told. She contemplated places she could put her fists and feet to
maximum effect if the Bosun tried to choke her again.
**What the hell does he want with Ukyo?** She thought desperately.
**I thought they wanted us still virgins?**

Delgado shut the door to the Captain's cabin and looked at Ukyo. He
walked her over to the sleeping Cristobal and pointed to the ring. Next
he pointed to her and then back to the ring. Finally he pointed at her
and then himself.
Ukyo wasn't exactly sure what the gaunt faced Delgado wanted from
her, but it seemed like he wanted her to take Cristobal's ring and give
it to him. **This doesn't make much sense,** she thought to herself.
**If he wants it so badly, why doesn't he do it himself? The man is
passed-out drunk, who could stop him?**
Delgado gave her a stern look and repeated his unspoken
instructions.
Ukyo sighed. **It doesn't look I have much choice.**
She reached for the ring. As her finger touched the golden band,
jolts of fire shot up her arm. She yelped in pain and surprise and
pulled back her hand. Cristobal didn't even stir.
Delgado nodded ruefully. He had hoped a woman might be able to
accomplish what men had failed. He was disappointed, but still hopeful.
Cristobal would die soon; it was a matter of weeks, perhaps days, and
then it would be his. He knew that much about the ring.
Ukyo was still nursing her hand. There were no visible burns, but
her hand still throbbed and ached as if she had placed it into a fire.
She cast accusing eyes to the Mate.
Delgado pointed to the door.

Ranma sighed with relief as he saw Ukyo step out of the cabin
looking angry but intact. She was holding her hand gingerly, which
caused him to cast her a questioning look. Velacruz released his grip on
Ranma entirely, and gave her a shove towards Ukyo and their own
quarters.
Ranma fell in step next to Ukyo.
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you later," she whispered back. **As soon as I figure it
out for myself.**
Akane was sitting down in the storeroom when they arrived. She
looked up at them, Ranma in particular.
"I have something for you," she said to Ranma.
"Oh yeah?" Ranma replied.
Akane shifted her tattered kimono to reveal a small tea kettle that
steamed from its spout. Next to it was a small cup of water, presumably
cold. Ranma's jaw dropped.
"I just want to know if its true," Akane said. "What Shampoo told
me about you."
"That I'm really a man? It's true," Ranma replied.
"Just a minute here," Ukyo broke in. "What else did Shampoo tell
you about us? And by the way, where is she?"
"She's in the kitchen; cooking," Akane answered. "And so far,
that's all she's told me about you."
"Nevermind all that," Ranma said gruffly. "I've got plans for that
hot water." She snatched up the tea kettle from Akane's lap and prepared
to pour the contents over her head.
"You idiot, Ran-chan," Ukyo said to him. "What if someone comes in
while you're a man?"
"Then have that cold water ready to throw on me," she shot back.
She poured just a bit onto her head. It was enough.
Akane watched with fascinated eyes as Ranma began to grow taller,
her hair turn black, and her feminine curves vanish into hard muscles
and stout body. Ranma had an almost orgasmic look of pleasure on his
face.
"Oh that feels good," he said slowly, reveling in his man's voice.
"Are you happy now?" Ukyo asked snidely.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Ranma grinned.
"That is just amazing," Akane breathed. She reached for the cold
water. "Now turn back into a girl."
Ranma backed against the wall, hands out.
"Uh-uh, I just got back to the way I'm supposed to be. I'm not
going back to being a girl until I have to."
Footsteps outside the door made his face fall. Ukyo grabbed the cup
of water out of Akane's hands and splashed Ranma right in the face.
Ranma's yelp shifted to a high alto in mid cry. Shampoo stepped inside
with deGama and Velacruz as escorts. A smile lit up her face as she saw
the wet Ranma wiping water out of her eyes. The door shut behind her.
"You change?" She asked Ranma.
"What do *you* care?" Ukyo snapped.
"Shampoo just curious. Is all."
"Well I've had enough fun for one day," Ranma announced, hoping to
dispel the tension. "I'm going to sleep."
She walked carefully past Shampoo, then on a whim snatched up the
tea kettle, and took it over to her side of the compartment.
"What you do with that?" Shampoo asked.
Ranma grinned. "I just had an idea."
Ukyo smacked her forehead. **Here we go again...**
"Dare I ask, Ran-chan?"
Ranma stuck her tongue out at Ukyo. "Dare."
Ukyo sighed. "Okay Ran-chan, what's your bright idea now?"
"Take a bath. I could sure use one."
"What you talking about?" Shampoo asked incredulously. Ukyo had
decided that she had simply not heard Ranma's reply, and continued to
ignore it.
"A bath?" Akane added. "How? Where?"
"The door ain't locked," Ranma replied smugly. I listened real good
when they let Shampoo in. They never locked the door, they just shut it.
They figure we won't try to open it, or they know we can't go anywhere,
so why bother?"
"What about the crew coming in for us?" Akane asked.
"Are you kidding?" Ranma replied. "They treat us like we've got a
disease or somethin'. That big asshole they call 'Bosun' has them all
scared to even look at us. I can walk right out that door if I want, no
problem. I just gotta be quiet."
Shampoo turned and tried the door. It opened slowly for her, and
she peeked outside. The passageway was empty and dark. The only sounds
were the creaking of the timbers and the steady wash of the waves
against the hull.
"Ranma right," she said softly.
Ranma got to her feet. "See you later, can't wait or the water will
get cold," she said to them.
"What happens if someone comes in to check on us?" Ukyo asked at
last.
"I dunno, tell them I went to take a bath."
She stepped past Shampoo and walked down the passageway forward.
"You crazy, Ranma," Shampoo called quietly after her.
Akane and Ukyo peeked their heads past Shampoo to watch Ranma go.
"Anybody else want to follow him?" Ukyo asked.
Shampoo and Akane shook their heads.
"Didn't think so," Ukyo said. **Ran-chan, you are such a
blockhead...**

Ranma really didn't care if she was caught. She just wanted a bath.
A little quiet time to herself. A chance to think about a way out of
this mess. Another few minutes as a man wouldn't hurt.
She slipped past the drowsy watches on deck and made her way to the
Middle Hold hatch. Up in the forward part of the ship, what they called
the "foc'sle," ruddy light spilled from a porthole as the crew played at
dice and drank some of the rice wine they had brought with them from
Shanghai.
The hold was lit with a small oil lamp. Ranma found the wash tub
they had used for Cristobal's laundry and stripped off her clothes next
to it. The sea air that drifted down from the hatch was tinged with
spray, cooling her nude body as she picked up a rag from the tub, rubbed
it against the soap cake, and then began to scrub herself. The water was
cold, but still soapy, and the scrubbing felt good despite the chill it
gave her.
She heard the rattle of chains from below. Her father, stuck as a
panda, probably to be sold -maybe even eaten. She shuddered at that
thought. She hoped Shampoo would have the decency to tell them before
she tried serving Genma to them one night. Knowing her, the amazon
probably wouldn't until after they had eaten their fill.
As the water ran down her legs and dripped from her breasts into a
puddle at her feet, she wondered if she could actually stand to see her
father slaughtered like some dumb animal and served up for dinner. It
was his fault that they were in this mess, that they had their curses,
that Shampoo wanted to kill them, but she wondered if she could really
be that cold-hearted about her own father. She decided she could not. If
it came down to it, she'd do the honorable thing and kill him herself,
with dignity. It was probably more than he deserved, but Ranma didn't
see any other way she could live with herself.
**The swords!** She thought with a sudden sick horror. **Where did
he put the swords? He wasn't wearing them when I saw him in the
storeroom, what could he have done with them?**
She stumped over to the lamp and gathered it up in her hands. Then
she crept down the ladder into the lower hold. Genma-panda stirred as
the greasy lamp light fell upon him.
He turned to regard his son, naked and female, standing before him.
"Where did you put the swords, old man?" Ranma asked sternly.
Genma growled something.
Ranma screwed up her face in frustration.
"Dammit, why couldn't you have picked a pool to fall in where you
could still talk when you were in your cursed body?!"
Genma shrugged his furry shoulders and grumbled something.
She looked at him for a moment.
"Just nod your head for yes, and shake it for no. Did you have the
swords when you got on the ship?"
Genma sat there for a moment.
"Did you have them when you got on the ship?" Ranma demanded.
The panda nodded his head slowly.
"Did you have them with your pack?"
Genma nodded.
Ranma sighed with relief. "That's better. At least they're still on
the ship. I can find them if I have to."
His father the panda rumbled miserably.
Ranma looked up at Genma. "Don't worry, Pop. If I can, I'll get you
out of here. If not, well I'll promise you a quick honorable death.
It'll be better than what you could expect from these bastards."
Genma whimpered a bit, and then went silent.
It actually hurt to see her father like this. Ranma's eyes
softened. "You eaten recently?"
The panda shook its head sadly.
"I'll see what I can do for you, Pop."
Genma settled down into the foul water of the bilge and rumbled
sadly.
"I gotta go now, see you tomorrow."
The panda growled faintly. Ranma started back up the ladder and
left him once more in darkness. She replaced the lamp and went back to
the wash tub.
She rinsed her body off with the water from the tub and reached for
the kettle. It was still warm, hopefully enough to do the job. She
poured the rest of the kettle over her head. It was just hot enough.
Waves of warmth and pleasure washed over him. It felt great to be a man
once again.
He stretched out muscles weary from working and the cramped
quarters of the storeroom and thought. His fight with Shampoo seemed
like it had happened months ago, but at the same time he felt like it
was only the beginning of his troubles with her. In China he always had
the option of running away rather than doing what was necessary to end
the feud; on this ship he had no where to go and still no desire to kill
her.
He didn't know how he was going to get through this. She was
looking dangerously smug in the galley. As if she knew she was going to
be in favor on the ship, and that even valuable slaves might find
themselves thrown overboard if they weren't careful.
His mind drifted unconsciously to Akane and the former ship's cook.
He knew the man would try to get revenge for being dispossessed. Shampoo
was tough and smart -he'd have to really be careful to get her. Akane on
the other hand looked vulnerable. She might have had an attitude, but
she was definitely the weaker of the two. The cook was a coward, Ranma
had seen it in his cloudy eyes, and the man might decide to salve his
wounded pride with Akane's blood instead of Shampoo's.
He'd stop it if he could. Thoughts flowed into fighting forms. In
the ruddy light of the oil lamp his swift punches and powerful
roundhouse kicks threw shadows across the compartment as he stepped
through the imaginary destruction of the former cook. Yes, it felt good
to be a man again, to feel the power that coursed through his muscles
and his hard masculine frame. His girl form gave him speed and agility,
but that paled in comparison to the power and reach he had as a man. A
lack of reach was what had kept him nearly helpless against a berserk
Shampoo.

Ranma was oblivious to the three young women who watched him from
behind a bale of silk in the Middle Hold, practicing his katas in the
nude.
Ukyo had seen Ranma naked before, despite Genma's attempts to
segregate their baths and keep them apart. She admired his grace and the
way his muscles rippled as he moved. The longing welled up within her
once again, and without Genma's interference, she felt that she might
actually have a chance to soon become more to Ranma than an adopted
sister. They just needed to escape the ship -somehow.
Akane watched Ranma with a guilty thrill as he exercised in mock
combat. There was no doubt that he had skill. Some of his forms even
went beyond the unarmed styles the monks practiced. They looked like
something Kuno would do. With a sword. **Could he be a ronin?** She
thought suddenly. In the dark Ukyo couldn't see the flush on her face.
At first Shampoo had balked at the idea of following Ranma. She had
too much to lose if she wanted any privileged status on board. Finally
it was boredom and even a little curiosity that sent her through the
unlocked door of the stateroom and into the darkened hold. She stayed
back from Ukyo and Akane, there was no sense in having all three of them
bunch up.
There he was, the enemy of her people. The one who had shamed and
humiliated her. The one she was supposed to kill.
Or marry.
She couldn't help but watch him. He was very handsome, and his
reckless personality was disarming. As she watched him quietly she
wondered how it would feel to have those strong arms wrapped around her,
to feel the heat of his bare skin against hers. He would make an
admirable husband -once his ego was reigned in and he comported himself
as befitted the men of the Joketsuzoku.
**No,** she thought ruefully. **Killing him would be easier.** She
took one last look at him before he splashed some cold water in his
face. **For both of us...**

END OF PART TWO

Author's Notes:

1. The Portuguese dominated trade in the Orient for about 50 years
before first losing their colony in Nagasaki when the Tokugawas expelled
them. From this point their influence waned, trade was still possible
with Japan (despite the Shogun's orders), but without a trading base and
local influence they would never approach the early glories of pre-
Tokugawa Japan. The final blow came in 1640 when a Dutch fleet decimated
their trade fleet in the Strait of Malacca (Near modern day Singapore).
This left them with only an isolated colony called Macau on the Chinese
coast. Macau, like Hong Kong was until July of 1997, is an independent
Portuguese state outside of China. It is scheduled to be ceded back to
the Chinese in 1999.

2. I apologize for the delays in putting out Part 2. Lots of things
affected my writing time. Changing jobs was one of them, as was the
preparations for my marriage to Bridget Engman on May 2nd of this year.
We're doing everything ourselves, and between that, the rotating shifts
of my new job, and taking care of our soon to be four year old Rachel,
doesn't leave a whole lot left over. I make no promises as to when Part
3 comes out, I've broken enough of them in the last 2 years of
fanfiction writing.

3. Any historical tidbits pertaining to the late 17th Century are
welcome if you have them to share. They don't need to concern Asia to
receive my interest, although anything after January of 1671 will be
cheerfully irrelevant to the story.

4. Free the Nukes!