And yet we were all green here—fresh out of training, practically—and the area itself was supposedly 'kosher,' almost safe. This is where rookies like me are supposed to be broken in. So how in the world did half a hundred Earth Kingdom saboteurs end up here?
The thought came, colder and far more rational than the last, and I immediately shared it with the XO.
"Now that you mention it… If this had happened near Ba Sing Se, I wouldn't be surprised. But here…" The man's eyes gleamed dangerously.
"This whole situation smells bad," I said. "I'd even say it stinks."
"We'll figure it out," Tandao promised. "Skipper," the sailor turned to the second officer—also experienced, but an unusually quiet type. Over the entire voyage, we'd exchanged maybe a dozen words at most, "is the second engine room free?"
"We can clear it," the skipper nodded, "if the captain permits."
"What do you need it for, Tandao?"
"Oh, nothing special," the man grinned darkly. "We've got two captured benders, and one is more than enough for a proper conversation in a cell. As for the other… we can have a little talk right here."
I paused for a moment. It wasn't hard to guess what kind of "talk" he had in mind. Some bleeding-heart idealist or outright liberal would probably start shouting about prisoners' rights, mercy, and all that humanitarian crap. But…
"Permission granted. And I intend to be present for your… talk ."
I was neither a bleeding-heart nor any kind of liberal, and these "partisans" had been cutting down sleeping men. My men. The ones entrusted to me. And for every one of them, I would rip the bastard apart—tear everything out of him and shove it right back in.
"Are you certain, Captain? It won't be a pleasant sight."
"It's awfully convenient that their group found a brand-new ship with an untested crew. I need to know whether that was coincidence—or if someone helped make it happen."
"You don't necessarily need to…"
I raised a hand, cutting him off. I already knew what he was going to say.
"Maybe not. But… whether I like it or not, I need to learn how to 'talk' to people like this properly."
Tandao nodded, accepting my reasoning.
"What should we do with the dead?" the skipper asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Our own—lay them out and prepare them for transport home. The carrion—overboard. Put the prisoners in irons and have them scrub the deck. The bender in the stocks—keep him under constant watch; assign two of ours to guard him. Make sure there isn't a single grain of earth anywhere near him. If he so much as twitches… cut off his hands and feet and cauterise the stumps. He'll still be able to answer the interrogator's questions without them."
"Harsh," the second officer remarked.
"This is war, not a gentleman's duel. They came to slaughter sleeping men like murderers, not fight like warriors. I'll treat them accordingly. Prepare the room, Tandao, Vasin. I'll be in my cabin."
"Yes, Captain," the officers replied in unison.
It was going to be a very unpleasant day—but there was no avoiding it.
***
The young man left the cabin, where he had been discussing the situation with his officers, and thus did not hear the rest of the conversation.
"So, what do you think of him?"
"Too early to say. But if he keeps this up, in five years we might just get a new Dragon. Dragon of the East… has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
"Maybe. If he doesn't break—or get killed first."
"Well, that's why we've been assigned to him. To make sure he doesn't break and doesn't die. Heh… still, what potential—took down three benders, captured two of them alive, and distracted the fourth. Speaking of benders—do you think the admiral arranged for the boy to get a taste of blood, or is there really a leak somewhere?"
"Old Chan's a hard man, but he wouldn't set his own son up like that. He'd sooner have sent him to the front instead. We'll need to find out who tipped off the earth-diggers about the ship's position."
"And explain just how reckless that decision was."
The two officers shared a knowing grin in the dim light of the cabin. Everything that needed to be said had been said.
Now came the work.
***
The "second engine room" was, in essence, a mix between a storage space and a repair workshop—intended for fixing minor equipment issues during a voyage. It was here that the sailors and engineers had recently disassembled and lubricated the catapult mechanism.
With a bit of skill, it also allowed access to the boiler and power plant itself—though it was typically used only during full maintenance or in emergencies. It also contained a wide assortment of tools—and the exhaust pipe with its shutter passed through here. There was also a variety of tools here, and an exhaust pipe with a damper ran through the compartment. Previously, I'd assumed it was meant for cleaning the boiler chamber where the fuel was burned (and was also quietly used by the watch to warm up cold meals—what can you do, people never change; we sometimes set pots of sausages on pipes carrying superheated steam ourselves). But Tandao revealed another purpose of that damper.
It turned the pipe into a first-rate roasting oven.
The prisoner was dragged in and strapped to a table. After checking the restraints, the XO dismissed the men who had brought him. The room was left with just the three of us—him, me, and our future source of information.
"Are you sure, Captain? This won't be pretty," the officer said again.
"Yes. I'm sure."
Though, judging by my own feelings, I wasn't so sure at all.
"Well then… let's begin."
Tandao dumped a jug of seawater over the earthbender's head.