We spent a while attacking every ship in sight and emptying whatever treasure chests they had on board, making the most of the pirate life.
Haruhi set up camp in the crow’s nest, using her hawklike eyes to spot ships on the horizon.
“Enemy ahoy! Full speed ahead!” she’d bellow.
We flew a flag with SOS spelled out in skulls, the crew’s roars were like loudspeakers, and our good ship, the Golden Fleece (Haruhi named it) never let any prey escape.
Haruhi had argued in favor of ramming them, but fortunately the galleon possessed no ram, and the best we could do was crash into them sideways. The crew would then throw ropes with grappling hooks to secure the ships together, then pour over the rail with a raucous cry, brandishing sabers and muskets.
Some of the ships we attacked were clearly flying English flags, not Spanish ones, but we didn’t care. As if our motto was “Deceive your allies to deceive the enemy,” we hit everyone and helped ourselves to all the loot in their hold. The sheer weight of our cargo almost sunk the Golden Fleece several times.
We hauled all that coin and the gems back to the nameless island where we made our port. It was getting to be quite a pile. At this rate, we might have to name this place Treasure Island.
Haruhi showed no interest in anything but moolah and sparklies. Even if the ship was laden with spices, she’d just go, “Waste of space.” Then generously spare the lives of the crews, and leave enough water and provisions to complete their voyage. If the ship itself was no longer seaworthy, she even gave them a tow to the nearest harbor. But the upshot of this was that no vessels from any nation were venturing near these waters anymore. Our infamy preceded us.
At the moment, Haruhi was glaring at the horizon through a telescope up on our main mast. Not the captain’s job, but I wasn’t about to complain.
Asahina was (obviously) unsuited for combat, so she mostly kept to the kitchen or the mess hall, happily (if clumsily) toiling away. Nagato was seated with her back to the main mast, reading an extremely old and hefty book.
Finally, Koizumi and I were once again fishing off the port side (for lack of anything better to do). The wind had died away to a calm, and we were immobilized on the glittering blue.
As directionless as the five of us.
The sun was directly overhead, but the air was dry, so it didn’t feel too bad. An improbably comfortable temperature, like we had the AC on. I was starting to wonder just what time of year it was, but finding out wouldn’t really change anything, so I simply locked my eyes on my bite-free line.
We weren’t exactly engaging in a game of chicken to see who’d break the silence first, but for the record, Koizumi lost.
“They’re not biting.”
Nope. I didn’t feel like they ever would.
“Perhaps the fish won’t bite because you think they won’t.”
Maybe not. No clue what you’d even catch in this day and age in these waters.
“Did you bait your line at all? I can’t seem to recall doing that.”
It wasn’t clear if there were hooks on these lines, let alone bait. I had no memory of casting.
“We could pull them up and find out.”
We could. But for some reason, I didn’t feel like it.
“True. Arguably, speculating on the possibilities is a better way to pass the time than actually confirming things. What lies on the ends of these two lines, if anything? A metaphysical quandary.”
Isn’t it about time?
“Yes?”
“What are we doing? How long are these slapdash plays going to continue?”
Koizumi looked at me like it was his first time hearing a myna bird speak.
That bothered me, but my lips kept moving.
“And when did we even find ourselves together here?”
“Well,” Koizumi said, waggling his rod like he was testing a catch. “We’ve long since come unstuck in time. Ever since we got here.”
I reflectively echoed that phrase, sensing a question bubbling to the surface.
“Where is here? Does here mean this sea?”
“No, I meant from the very start. That medieval fantasy world, the countless galactic empires, the sham western town, and all the rest that followed.”
✦ ✦ ✦
