Yes

"Hi C-captain!" Even if he hadn't recognized Tyler's slightly thinner face from where he sat perched on the Mizzen mast, there could be no mistaking the slight stutter in the welcome.

"Good evening Tyler." Then out of curiosity "Were you waiting for me?"

"That, and we thought we should have someone on watch, just in case." Brenan smiled, this was exactly the type of crew he wanted. Most ships didn't bother keeping watch when they were in a secure port, but with Sasha on board and the Veertor agents looking for her, who was to say which ports were secure anymore.

"Good." Brenan smiled, "Anything I should know about?"

"It's b-been quiet since you l-l-left. D-Davy's crew did a g-good job on the rigging." Tyler added "I've b-been all over and h-haven't found any lines that need replacing." Brenan knew he was correct because he made the same evaluation the first afternoon he had on his ship, but he liked Tyler's initiative."

"That's good to know. I'll send Kyle up to take over, you come below decks as soon as he comes up." By now Brenan had climbed the gangplank. "You were right to be cautious, let's take a few more precautions." Brenan lifted the gangplank from the pier with a impressive show of strength. "No point in making it any easier for anyone trying to get on board."

"Not much." Agreed Tyler without even a hint of a stutter.

Satisfied with the safety of his ship, Brenan climbed quietly below deck to find Harry and Kyle teaching Julien and James the correct way to hang their hammocks and stow them when they weren't being used. Sasha and Michaels were drinking tea and discussing the worst food they'd ever eaten while at sea. The gunner was trying to convince the others that he had known a cook who could soften shoe leather in lye and spice it up so it tasted just like beef.

"Let's hope we never have to try that. I've got good news." The six were startled by Brenan's comment, but quickly gathered around to hear what he had to say.

"We got a cargo coming in tomorrow, fruits and vegetables bound for Telnon." Brenan watched Sasha's face as he announced the destination wondering if she would object to sailing directly to the Veertor empire, but if she had any resrvations they did not show in her face. "It's a good paying run, and it will let us get our hands dirty as we learn." He paused to let the news of the quick job brighten their day before he continued with the downside. "I had to agree to sail as soon as posible, so now we have a problem. Red and her niece aren't supposed to arrive here for two or three days I need someone to ride across the island and let her know she needs to meet us off Blue Water Point." He directed his attention to James and Julien "I assume you two can both ride?"

"Yes Captain," James replied, "I can ride well enough, but Julien is a wizzard." Brenan thought that Julien would be the likely candidate - but had learned that asking seldom hurt.

"OK, Julien get a good night's sleep tonight, because tomorrow you're going to ride out to Red's place with a note for her. As soon as she can I want her to take you and Cindy in her boat and sail East, I'll give you directions to her cottage and a rough chart that shows a couple good rendevous spots. Any questions or suggestions?" James raised his hand carefully.

"I've got a good hand for maps Captain. I can make the rough chart for you if you show me where you want to meet." Brenan nodded.

"Good, come into my room, you can work on my table." Before he turned away Brenan added "Kyle, go relieve your brother and explain what's going on. I'll send someone else up to replace you in a couple hours."

It took very little time for Brenan to realize that the 'rough' chart that James was penning was a near perfect duplicate of his worn map. His pen strokes were precise and confident and he had an excellent eye, James had not lied about his ability as a cartographer - Brenan wondered if Julien was as good with his sword as his brother was with the pen.

It took Brenan longer to pen his letter to Red than he had expected. He knew what he wanted to say, but every time he tried to put it on paper the words sounded either too curt, or too conversational. In the end he settled for too curt. He was afterall her captain and these were orders, any feelings that he had for Red only confused the message. In the end he folded his letter with James' chart and placed them both in a resealable envelope reasonably comfortable with the results.

By this time Sasha had finished baking fresh bisquits to go with a dinner of boiled salt pork, potatos and cabbage. The crew applauded her efforts and and Brenan felt a profound sense of well being as joined most of his crew eating up on deck watching the sun set. Tyler and Castillo both, he noticed chose to eat downstairs with Sasha to keep her company.

"Good night everyone, busy day tomorrow. We have cargo to load, I have some more supplies to get and we'll sail on the evening tide. So get some sleep."

Brenan headed for his cabin aware that he didn't know how they were going to work out the sleeping arrangements, and decided he didn't care all that much. Closing the door he settled into his wide captain sized bunk with a contented sigh. After his past two nights of sleeping first out under the stars and then on the floor of Red's cottage, sleep came easily.

He awoke sometime latter with a quiet knocking on his cabin door.