Tales from the Captain’s Table Read Online Free Page A

of an engineer could do that—no, I am taken with such blatant violation of Pelagian law.”
    Riker glanced at Picard. His silent stare felt like an accusation.
    Then Riker looked into his glass. “Exigent circumstances.”
    “Or barroom blarney?” offered Cap, evidently trying to be helpful.
    “If you prefer to think so,” Riker said, content to let the others form their own opinions about that. “But regardless, violations like this one are far more serious if one gets caught.”
    Klag chortled. “True.”
    Picard’s hard stare softened into a grin. “Anyhow…?”
    “Anyhow,” Riker said, and continued.
     
    The other ship very quickly drew to within grappling distance, as though propelled by supernatural forces.
    And she was, at least from the perspective of the locals. Canvas sails were no match for the maneuvering thrusters of a Sovereign -class starship’s captain’s yacht. As I watched the large, mustachioed Pelagian freebooter who stood on the deck of the wooden Enterprise, twirling a grappling line over his head—I recognized him only then as our Trill security officer Ranul Keru—I hoped that Deanna and the rest of my rescuers were using whatever energy was necessary to keep their power usage shielded from the monitoring stations on the main southern islands.
    They’ve got to be doing that, I realized. After all, they might simply have flown into orbit and beamed me directly to safety. But had they done that, the Pelagian authorities would have detected it—and the Federation would have suddenly found itself embroiled in an embarrassing diplomatic incident.
    I also realized that the yacht’s crew probably couldn’t use the transporter even if they had wanted to; using their shields to avoid detection by the authorities would have used far too much power for that to be possible.
    So we’re reduced to an old-fashioned battle on the high seas , I thought just before Captain Torr’ghaff surprised me by slicing the ropes that had bound my wrists behind me.
    “Why?” I asked.
    “No one should die like a helpless feedbeast bound for the spit, heh. Should we challenge the woman who boards us now, that is your likely fate, heh.”
    “Have you not seen the flag that flies over her mast, Urr’hilf?” shouted one of the other pirates, a scruffy, dark-skinned man. “We are being boarded by Arr’ghenn, the Pirate Queen, heh. Have you not seen her on the deck, eha?”
    I looked again. Standing beside Keru, dressed in pirate finery that could only be described as regal—in an outlaw sort of way—stood my turquoise-skinned bride. A handful of other pirates stood nearby, cutlasses and pistols at the ready, resembling a potentate’s honor guard more than a band of merry cutthroats.
    Thank God somebody, probably Keru, I thought, seems to be on top of the local pirate legends.
     
    Now Klag threw his head back and laughed. “Your Betazoid mate,” Klag said. “A pirate chieftainess?”
    “That’s right. Would I lie to you?”
    Klag shrugged. “While telling a story, Riker, I would be disappointed if you didn’t. Continue.”
     
    As the Enterprise moved in alongside Captain Torr’ghaff’s ship, I was glad to see that the Calypso II ’s newly installed holoemitters were working flawlessly. Torr’ghaff’s men edged toward the banisters, cutlasses and other weapons at the ready, but I was heartened to see that Deanna and her crew were standing fast, with none of their own weaponry brandished.
    That didn’t make Keru and the others any less imposing, however. Keru was stripped to the waist and looking every bit as hirsute and tall as Torr’ghaff, though he was considerably more muscular. He stood in front of Deanna, and as they neared, shouted over to the pirate ship.
    “The Queen of the Nine Seas, Arr’ghenn, greets you and wishes to declare amicry for the evening.”
    For some reason, my universal translator failed to tell me what “ amicry ” was, so I asked the pirate next to