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Author's Chapter Notes:
down in the hold
Max wandered the deck while Bandit was napping back in their room. Though he originally wanted to go swimming with his friends, he had to admit Shades had a point about his shoulder, as well as the long cut on his leg. The Vandenberg family’s long-time physician looked him over back in Alta— apparently a parting gift to Maximilian before moving on to start a new practice— giving him some antibiotics, just in case, assuring him that he didn’t have any dangerous infections.

While both wounds stung, at least neither got in the way of his movements, though the doctor still cautioned him to take it easy for a while, lest he accidentally reopen either cut.

Shades already spoke enthusiastically about how the long decks were well suited to running laps, in addition to the swimming pool. To say nothing of an open ballroom to train in. Max had already taken a casual stroll from one end to the other and back, figuring this feline friend would probably like to stretch his legs later. Both the sea breeze, and the sweeping view from the main deck, he found quite invigorating.

He was about to turn around and tour the port side, as well, when he spotted something on the horizon behind them.

Even as he squinted at it, already fairly certain he could make out the outline of another ship, one of the Excelsior crew came up to him.

“Um, excuse me,” he asked Max, “but would you be willing to lend us a hand with something?”

“What do you need?” Max replied.

“Well, it might be kinda dangerous,” he admitted. “You are armed, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Because we believe there’s a stowaway onboard,” he explained. “We’re not sure who it is, but several of us have spotted someone sneaking around down there.”

“Has anyone told Maximilian or Mercer?”

“We haven’t told the kid yet,” the man told him, “but we already told the Captain. We, uh, don’t want to alarm the young man. Better to let him know about it after we catch the intruder, don’t you think?”

“Well, I guess…”

Max took one last look out to the stern before turning to follow him, wondering whether his eyes were playing tricks on him, or if that other ship had drawn closer while he wasn’t paying attention.

“Come on,” the man said as he led Max back inside. “The sooner we wrap this up, the sooner we can tell your friend the good news, right?”

Max followed him down below, spotting several other crewmembers prowling around along the way, armed with power pistols, and he took the precaution of drawing his own.

Below the passenger deck were the storage holds, and the swimming pool somewhere to the fore. Down here, the lights were dimmer, and Max could hear the creak and groan of the hull, as well as the hum of machinery. He also sensed the presence of others down here, moving about.

Around the next corner, both of them ground to a halt at the sight of two open crates near the edge of the room, both empty. A little deeper in the hold, they found two women lying face-down on the deck. One with her head bent around at an angle that couldn’t possibly be right. The other having been stabbed in the back.

From their garb, and their armaments, the one thing Max was sure of was that they were pirates. The only other thing he could gather from the first victim’s wide, glazed eyes was even less reassuring.

“Cyexians…”

“That wasn’t part of the plan…” the crewman mumbled. “Mercer’s not gonna like this…”

“What’s wrong?” Max asked, staring at the bodies. “We were supposed to take them alive, weren’t we?”

“That’s not the problem,” the man informed Max, turning his power pistol on him. “Those two were guests, and their Captain’s gonna be pissed if she finds out. It could fuck up the whole deal… I’m afraid you’ve seen too much. Now drop your weapon.”

Max tossed aside his power pistol, still trying to piece together what just happened.

“Good, now step away,” he commanded. As Max stepped away from the fallen weapon, the man reached down for it, keeping his own weapon trained on Max. “You’re comin’ with me, kid, and not one word—”

The ship was jarred by an unexpected impact, sending both of them staggering.

As the crewman struggled to retrieve his own weapon, Max whipped out his laser sword and took him out with a quick sweep of his stun blade, his opponent going down with a panicked yelp.

“Not this time,” Max muttered.

Spotting some rope coiled in the corner, he tied a section of the other end of one of the pipes running overhead to tie up the renegade crewman’s hands, and keep him from going anywhere for the time being.

Then he set out to investigate that mysterious impact, which he noticed no one seemed to be responding to. Since whatever was going on here seemed to involve Mercer’s crew, even Mercer himself, given that man’s words, he sought to avoid them as he made his way back up, trying to come up with a way to warn his friends without tipping their hand to Mercer. To say nothing of watching out for this unknown stowaway, who was already killing people, and apparently still on the loose onboard.

The only thing he was terribly sure of in the midst of all these unpleasant surprises was that something was horribly amiss aboard the Excelsior.