After the whole affair was over, Bashoon was, as promised, promoted to Ensign and was assigned to the Endeavor. It had been an enjoyable three months so far for the first Goblin in Realmfleet. Because of her ability to estimate how many people it would take to accomplish a task, especially when it comes to security, she worked under Dalengor and Malak. Bashoon approached Dalengor’s office, as was the usual routine since day one, and rang the door chime. “Come in,” Dalengor responded from inside. Bashoon entered and saw Dalengor at her desk and Malak in a chair in front of the desk.
“Good Morning, Ma’am, Sir,” greeted Bashoon.
“Good Morning, Ensign,” greeted Dalengor as she motioned for Bashoon to sit.
“What’s on the docket for today?” quizzed Bashoon as she sat down.
“Four items,” replied Malak.
“The ship’s criminal element has been busy!” joked Bashoon.
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” assured Dalengor. “Let’s start from the top, as usual.”
“All right, item one,” mused Malak. “Assault on Lieutenant Jargeth and treatment of broken hand.”
“His wife hit him again?” asked Bashoon. “Why do they stay together?”
“Therein is the transition to item two,” explained Dalengor. Bashoon looked over the contents and raised her eyebrows.
“Lewdness in Engineering?” she said. “A Drider and a Troll…oh wow! That explains why Thangred was scalding everything!”
“The same night Marshii informed me of the circumstances surrounding Leyshana’s broken hand,” explained Dalengor, “I found her and Jargeth in a state of…undress by the engine core.”
“Makes for a rather tenuous relationship if it’s built on just that, in my experience,” muttered Malak. “I don’t think I got a good look at item three, but it looks like it was from you, Ensign, a few minutes before you arrived.”
“Ah, yes,” exclaimed Bashoon as she read the contents of item three, “I caught Ensign Melgem scrawling political graffiti on a wall on Deck 5.”
“You told me that that boy’s always riled up about something!” sighed Dalengor. “What was it this time?!”
“He was protesting King Elgrad’s newest suggestion on money standardization,” elaborated Bashoon. “He believes that trying to unite all economies under one currency would devalue goods. He tried to explain this to me, a Goblin! The Captain arrived and is having Ensign Melgem spend the morning camping out in a cell. I cast an illusion spell so the offending graffiti won’t be seen, but Arsha’s recommended that his last assignment on this ship, before he’s reassigned to another ship, is that he spends some time on sanitation duties.”
“An excellent suggestion,” affirmed Dalengor. “Ensign, I want you to make sure he scrubs that wall real good. We’re going to arriving in Frigandor soon, and I don’t want Delga to see it.”
“Understood, Ma’am,” complied Bashoon. At that moment, the ship rocked. “What was that?!” yelped Bashoon. Dalengor called the bridge.
“Captain, any idea what’s going on?!” she asked.
“Unknown at this time,” replied Arsha. “Thangred’s investigating.”
“This is Thangred, reporting,” came the Chief Engineer’s voice. “We just lost Maho-flow link K-7. We need to touch down to make repairs.”
“Captain, aren’t we over an island between the central and northern continents?” asked Dalengor.
“One that’s uninhabited, yes,” confirmed Arsha on the Bridge. “No tech for miles. At this rate, all Thangred can afford is a patch job until we reach Frigandor.”
“I’m having all available engineers assess the damage,” reported Thangred over the comms.
“Good work,” praised Arsha. “Nazay, get us down.”
“Aye, Captain,” confirmed Nazay. He set the ship down onto the island.
“I think I may take this opportunity,” mused Bashoon, “to ensure that Melgem cleans that wall.”
“Good idea, Ensign,” praised Dalengor. “Take a pair of guards with you.”
“Aye, Ma’am,” confirmed Bashoon. She left the office and made her way to the guard post. She made a request and it was approved. A merman with a hydration necklace and a gorgon woman with shades over her eyes were assigned and the three of them headed to the detention area to find blast marks around the door.
“Okay, what could possibly prompt blaster marks around the door?” asked the merman, Lieutenant Raksen.
“Starting with the right questions already,” said the gorgon, Lieutenant Commander Melloo. “Wands out.” The three drew their wands and entered to see the guards knocked out and the bars of a cell broken. They went to check on the guards who had only suffered a mild concussion spell.
“What happened?!” demanded Raksen to the mermaid that was at the desk.
“Melgem had concealed a wand and broke out of his cell, Sir!” moaned the mermaid Lieutenant JG.
“Okay, THAT’S grounds for commission termination!” snarled Raksen. Bashoon opened her communicator.
“Medical team to the brig!” she called. Melloo then opened hers.
“All hands, be advised,” she told the entire ship, “Ensign Melgem has broken out of the brig! He’s armed and dangerous!” The alarm sounded throughout the ship.
“All hands, this is Arsha! Melgem is not to leave this ship!” ordered Arsha as she armored up and teleported her hairpiece into its drawer. She drew her wand as she joined the search across the ship. The alarms blared as the crew scoured the Endeavor for the rogue Ensign. While she searched, she got a call from Shalvey.
“Captain, we have a hail from an unknown source,” she reported. “The caller is a Captain Reb Rojam. She wants to talk to you.”
“Can’t it wait?!” asked Arsha. “I’m in the middle of something now!”
“She said she’s looking for someone who escaped her watch,” explained Shalvey. “A Mr. Calzax Melgem.” Arsha stopped.
“Is this Melgem Captain Rojam’s looking for,” she quizzed, “a Sea Elf?”
“She gave a very perfect description of Ensign Melgem,” elaborated Shalvey.
“Tell her we have a common cause and invite her and whatever crewmates aboard the Endeavor,” ordered Arsha.
Aye, Ma’am,” replied Shalvey. The call ended and Arsha took out her communicator to tell the ship, on a secure channel, that Captain Reb Rojam and her crew were coming aboard to aid in the search. The Captain then arrived. She was a human with red, wavy hair, red eyes, an Under-realm Blood Rose adorning her hair, and was in a mound of red slime. The slime wasn’t a full slime, with a core to command all motor and speech functions. Because it was coreless, it needed a host to survive. Evidently, Captain Reb Rojam was its host. The only parts of her body seen were her bare shoulders and head.
“A PLEASURE to see you, Captain Arsha!” cheered Reb. Her slime brought Arsha close to its flamboyant host and hugged tightly. Arsha managed to wiggle her way out of the slimy embrace. “Oh, I DO hope we can catch that AWFUL Melgem!” cried Reb. “He’s simply DREADFUL! My crew has been searching for him nonstop, with NO rest!”
“Ease yourself, Ma’am,” assured Arsha, “we’ll find him and bring him to justice.”
“Captain!” called a female Vampire Commander. “Thangred and Melandra have engaged him in Main Engineering!”
“On our way!” replied Arsha. She turned to Reb. “This way!” They moved quickly to Main Engineering to see Thangred swinging a giant wrench towards a blue haired, pale Elf, Melgem the Sea Elf, while Melandra stuck to the walls, firing stun blast after stun blast. Melgem was resisting the blasts quite well as he managed to grab the wrench and toss it and Thangred into Melandra. They fell from the wall and Melgem summoned a fist of water, slamming it into the two Engineers and causing severe buffeting to the point of bruising. They managed to pick themselves up and cough out the water. Reb then fired a maximum stun spell, knocking Melgem off his feet.
“By the Ones!” swore Arsha. “That could have killed him!”
“No chance,” countered Reb. “Melgem, from what we researched, was HEAVILY modified in terms of genetics.”
“An escaped super soldier?!” yelped Arsha as security dragged him to a maximum security part of the brig. “What’s he hiding?!”
“We have SIMPLY no idea,” replied Reb. “We’ve been tasked with finding this ATROCIOUS man by Realmfleet. He’s caused a LOT of terror for them.”
“So, how did he break out?” asked Arsha as she dismissed her armor and summoned her hairpiece.
“He’s resistant to a lot of pain,” explained Reb. “The barriers that most cells cast simply CANNOT hold him as they set his nerves on fire.”
“Good grief, who made him that way?!” exclaimed Emily.
“An underground ring of UNSAVORY scientists and mages,” replied Reb. “They were all arrested a while back.”
“Captain,” groaned Thangred as he and Melandra were checked over by the medical team, “Melandra discovered something rather disturbing.”
“It was Melgem who sabotaged Maho-flow link K-7,” reported Melandra. “He damaged more systems when he escaped.”
“Oh dear, it’s simply WORSE than I thought!” cried Reb. “He’s had an UNFORTUNATE hatred for ships. He studies their schematics and targets the systems MOST vulnerable! Hopefully, we can offer our aid to you as you helped us capture that BRUTE!”
“We would greatly appreciate any assistance you can give us,” accepted Arsha as she smiled.
“SPLENDID!” called Reb. “We simply MUST celebrate! Come, I will organize a MAGNIFICENT party!”
“Thank you,” replied Arsha.
The party was as magnificent as Reb boasted. There was music, dancing, food, and other various avenues of entertainment. Arsha had invited Bashoon to sit with her as they drank. “Well, this was an interesting day,” observed Bashoon.
“Didn’t expect anything like this?” asked Arsha.
“I was just expecting to watch over Melgem as he washed graffiti off the wall,” explained Bashoon.
“Graffiti? Of what?” quizzed Arsha.
“He was protesting your dad’s currency standardization policy,” elaborated Bashoon.
“So THAT’S what the fight was about last night,” exclaimed Arsha. “Perhaps I should have asked what went on. Sorry for snapping that time.”
“It’s all right,” assured Bashoon. “I have to say, out of all the adventures I’ve read about or participated in, this has to be the easiest.” She raised her glass. “Here’s to more of them.”
“Hear, hear,” agreed Arsha. They clinked their glasses together and sipped.