327 Finding Ones Own Answers (2/2)
”You mean, steal it.” Siti scowled.
Gary shrugged. ”Whatever it takes.”
Alani cleared her throat. ”Remian let slip a hint earlier. He said something about parts being cheaper than the entire machine.”
”So we were supposed to buy parts and assemble it?” Juni grunted. ”I'm not confident I can handle something of that level.”
”I'm not confident of sailling a Mastiff all the way to Ashdale either. But that's the job.” Alani pointed out.
”I'm not sure we���ll even make it to Ashdale in a Mastiff. From what I can tell, air piracy is getting rampant around the Midlands. Chances of running into pirates has quadrupled over the past month.” Jamie added.
”Isn't that why you're training in weapons?” Siti asked.
”I've only just started training, and the Mastiff doesn't have any weaponry to begin with! If you want me to rig a ballista onto the deck, I could do it, but I don't think it's going to get us safely to Ashdale. No matter how you look at it, if we meet pirates, we're going to be severely outgunned.” Jamie grimaced. ”No offense to you or your medical training, but I don't think we'd all make it back alive.”
”None taken.” Siti assured her. ”Like you, I am only getting started.”
”So obviously working hard is not the answer.” Alani said. ”We have to work smart.”
”Which means?” Gary prompted.
Alani shook her head. ”Remian didn't give us any clues. He only said to work together and discuss it ourselves.��
”In short, find our own answers.” Gary grimaced. ”I vote we sell the Lockjaw, buy tickets to Ashdale, steal the machine, and book a Deutero flight back.”
”Can't sell the Lockjaw. It's not ours to sell, and sailing it to Ashdale is part of the mission requirement.” Alani pointed out.
”Join a convoy.” Jamie said suddenly. ”Remian didn't say we need to go alone. It's safer in a convoy.”
Alani nodded. ”That would help. But what about the Lockjaw itself?”
”We'll have to modify it for a long trip.” Isabella said firmly. ”We can't afford to spend too much on the modifications, so it will have to be planks-and-netting. Setting aside 6000 lir for parts, 2000 for supplies, and maybe 1000 to buy or bribe our way into a convoy, I'd budget no more than 500 lir on the modifications. Let's keep that little extra for contingencies.”
”We're definitely going to run over budget.” Juni grunted. ”Unless we cut the planks and twine the ropes for the netting ourselves.”
”No time.” Alani shook her head. ”I can ask my neighbors for their old nets. They retired from fishing when they opened their restaurant. But as for planks…”
”Salvage them.” Gary suggested. ”Go to the old battlefield site and look for old airship wrecks. Might even be able to pick up a usable weapon.”
”Or even an intact abovedecks cabin that we could nail onto the Lockjaw.” Isabelle brightened. ”How much time do we have?”
”We need to be back by Monday evening.” Alani grimaced.
”Depending on the convoy we follow back, that means leaving Ashdale sometime on Sunday, preferably Sunday night.” Isabelle calculated. ”Sunday will be exhausting, so we'll want to arrive Saturday evening and rest for a night before going at it on Sunday. That means we'll need to find a convoy that leaves on Saturday morning, or even Friday night. In other words… there's no time for Scavenging if we want to do it this weekend.”
”Then don't.” Gary said straight out. ”Let's go right now. We could be at Dragon Lake before sundown. We could stay at the old base camp like all those Adventurers do, and then tomorrow we'll have at least the morning to scavenge all we can before we have to come back in the evening. After that, we'll have a night to rest before we join the convoy to Ashdale[1].”
[1] This was said on a Thursday morning