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Author's Chapter Notes:
springing the trap
Sure enough, the seventh day dawned, and still no electricity, also as Mercer’s messenger warned, leaving more questions than answers about whether or not the two pirate crews really were conspiring against them.

All of them aware that there was only about three or four days’ worth of food left, and attempting to stretch it any further would only weaken them, softening them up for the kill. Even the knowledge that neither enemy was surely in any better shape themselves only served to reinforce their own desperation. The growing certainty that this situation’s own unsustainability would force change, and soon.

And with that, the dire knowledge that they could not afford to be a spectator in the events to come.

“Are you ready?” Roxy asked the room, radio in one hand, battery pack in the other.

They all nodded.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Maximilian told them. “Though I still feel like I’m walking into a trap.”

“That’s because we are,” Roxy warned him. “Stay mindful of that. Sometimes the only way to deal with a trap is to spring it. The most important thing is to not walk into it blindly.

“This is our last and best chance to flush Mercer out of his stronghold without trashing the bridge,” the bounty hunter reminded them. “It could still be a trick, but I don’t think he can hide from us for too much longer without losing face with his own crew, and risking a mutiny.”

“So basically, he has to show himself if Maximilian does, too,” Max summed up.

“We have to push for his appearance until he agrees to it,” Roxy coached the Young Master, “then they will hold him to it for us. After all, they’ve been going out there all this time, taking all the risks for him. Now it’s his turn.”

“If he still wants to be their captain…” Maximilian nodded, understanding her point all too well.

“At this point, we have a choice between risking everything, or accepting a slow, lingering death,” Shades reaffirmed. “Let’s make this count.”

“And if we can thin out the competition,” Justin pointed out, “there’ll be a lot more food to go around.”

“We’re not killing anyone we don’t have to,” Max told him.

“I’m just sayin’…”

“Speak for yourself,” Roxy commented, “but try to take Mercer alive, if you can. Most importantly, you two be sure to watch our backs while we’re dealing with him. No telling how many men he’s got left, or if the other pirates are in on it.”

Max and Justin nodded.

“Sebastian, when we leave, you should take the cat and hole up in one of the other rooms,” she recommended. “We’re taking an awful risk, leaving this place unguarded, but if it allows us to take back either the bridge or the engine room, this is probably the first place the other side will strike. For as long as we can, we should keep up at least the appearance of this room being fortified. If we should fail, you’ll probably have a better chance with the lifeboats than with either of these pirate crews.”

The butler nodded slowly, turning a tad pale in spite of himself at that grim prospect.

“It’s not going to come to that,” Maximilian assured him, “because we’re taking back our ship.”

He turned to Roxy, holding out his hand.

The bounty hunter looked him in the eye for a long moment before she slid the battery pack home and handed him the radio.

Switching it on, he left the frequency dial alone, as Shades and Roxy insisted, figuring that Mercer already set it to whatever channel he was using on his end. Several short beeps as the unit activated, followed by a faint hiss of static. Working some moisture back into his mouth, he prepared to begin the most important negotiation of his life.

“Mercer?” Surprising even himself with the clarity of his own voice. He waited through a long moment of that crackling silence before he tried again. “Mercer, this is Maximilian Vandenberg. I believe you already know why I’m calling.”

Another long pause.

“Mercer?” the Young Master demanded, “If you’re there, answer me.”

“Don’t push it,” Shades advised him. “He might only be listening at intervals to save battery power or something.”

Sure enough, after waiting a few more minutes, his next hail was answered by the same voice they talked to the night before.

“So you finally changed your mind, did you?”

“That has yet to be decided,” Maximilian replied, “but I told you before, I’ll only talk to Mercer.”

“So you said…”

There was a long pause, during which all of them began to wonder if Mercer was going to renege, or if something else had occurred that they were unaware of. A mutiny against him, perhaps.

“I take it you’re calling me because you wish to negotiate a truce,” Mercer’s voice finally responded.

“Perhaps,” Maximilian told him, “though I wouldn’t go so far as to say I want to. As long as the Cyexians control the engine room, we’re both in trouble.”

“Good to see that you understand the reality of our situation,” Mercer said. “I know we got off on the wrong foot the other day, but do understand that that was business. Unlike your old friend Freedan, or even Sloan, I assure you it was never anything personal. And I don’t know what happened between your friends and Striker, but that’s her affair, not mine. I was just trying to conclude our deal and get her off this ship.”

“When someone tries to kill you,” Maximilian informed him, “it’s hard to take it any other way but personally.”

“This is an awkward situation we’re in…” Mercer confessed. “You do realize that ‘no witnesses’ is just good business sense when you’re a smuggler, right? But if we were to become partners, there would be no more need for hostilities, correct? Wherever we go next, we would split the haul fifty-fifty. Even your friends get a cut. Anyone strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Striker is an ally too good to pass up…”

“I’ll consider it.”

“We’re running out of time,” Mercer reminded him. “What would it take to seal the deal?”

“Exactly what I told your henchman,” Maximilian answered: “I want to talk to you, face to face. Not on a radio, where someone else might be listening. In neutral territory, and no traps.”

“About what I expected,” Mercer admitted. “The Cyexian has counseled you well… Now here are my terms. We meet where we started, in the Excelsior Ballroom. We each bring two people. Bring whoever you wish, but I won’t meet you unless the bounty hunter is one of them. She is to keep her hands in plain sight at all times, or else we’ll regard it as a trick. Take it or leave it.”

There was a long, tense, pause before Roxy nodded her assent.

“Very well,” Maximilian agreed. “I’ll meet you in the ballroom. Bring any two crewmembers of your choosing. I’ll bring Roxy, and the one with the sunglasses. We meet immediately.”

“Agreed.” Mercer sounded quite pleased with himself, though he added: “I am tempted to ask you to bring your double instead, but I take it I can trust you to show yourself for real?”

“It wouldn’t be much of a deal if I didn’t shake on it myself,” the Young Master shot back, “and I could never look my crew in the eye again if I had to hide behind someone else. I’ll be there, Mercer.”

“Then we meet immediately,” Mercer concluded. “If you delay too long, the deal’s off.”

And Mercer went silent.

“Keeping up the pressure to the end,” Roxy observed. “Shrewd negotiator, even when he’s cornered…”

Figuring that was all he had to say to them, Maximilian only waited a few seconds before he switched off, but kept the radio on him, in case anything else came up.

Seeing that they had little time to spare, Max and Justin moved quickly, but quietly, as they checked out the hallway and the neighboring rooms to make sure no one was eavesdropping, or lying in wait to waylay them, then returned to their home base.

Max knocked on the door four times, and they opened it.

That confirmed, Maximilian, Roxy and Shades set out in earnest to confront Mercer. Though it was a short walk from the VIP Quarters to the Excelsior Ballroom, the fact that they encountered no one made it more harrowing than any ambush they could have encountered. Even the ballroom entrance on their side was unguarded as they walked in, looking almost exactly as they left it six days ago, down to the upturned furniture and the corpses still littering the floor from their previous battle.

Mercer stood by the far entrance, flanked by two of his men, neither of whom any of them recognized anyway.

“So you actually showed yourself…” Mercer grinned.

“I could say the same of you.”

Though Maximilian expected the rest of Mercer’s posse to be lurking just beyond that door, waiting for them to lower their guard before ambushing them, he simply focused on breathing steady, as Shades suggested, walking just one step ahead of his bodyguards.

Just as Shades tried to keep his own breathing level and even, even as he wondered just what kind of trap they were about to spring.

Tried to keep as cool as Roxy maintained, despite having to approach with both hands held out before her, empty and palms-up.

“Then let’s get down to business,” Mercer proposed.

“Let’s.” Maximilian nodded.

“As you know, members of Striker’s crew have taken control of the engine room,” Mercer recapped. “They’ve sabotaged the engines, broken the ship’s intercom system, and now they’ve cut off the power supply. If we allow them to keep this up, it will be the end of all of us. Our best chance is to join forces, as I don’t believe either of us can do it alone without taking severe casualties.”

“I agree,” Maximilian replied, though he was getting a similar vibe to his pointless brunch conversation with him at the beginning of this mess, “but what’s to keep you from turning against us once they’re out of the way?”

“I see you’ve decided to stop beating around the bush,” Mercer commented. “I told you before, what happened last time was just business. We’re here to renegotiate that business, and I’m willing to bring you in as a full partner in our operation, in exchange for your help with this.”

“You mean, become smugglers?”

“You make it sound like a bad thing.” Mercer shrugged. “If you’d been half as many places as I have, you’d already know the laws are different everyplace you go anyway. If we find the right buyer, this cargo is worth a small fortune.”

“So just what kind of cargo are you really carrying anyway, Mercer?” Roxy demanded.

“I’d be more than happy to show you, once our little pest problem is taken care of,” Mercer offered, frowning slightly, “but keep in mind, we have no way to know if we can trust you, even if Vandenberg agrees. More than anything, I want you off this ship when we reach land.”

“No deal,” Maximilian spoke up before the bounty hunter could. “I was foolish enough to take you at your word the first time. This time I want to know what we’re hauling. And Roxy saved us from Striker when you were about to hand us over to her. I don’t sell out my allies.”

Mercer’s frown deepened progressively over these last couple exchanges, shifting into an open scowl of suspicion at the Young Master’s unexpected resolve and conviction, in such sharp contrast to their last confrontation only days ago.

“You son of a bitch…” he muttered, stepping back abruptly, as if from a dangerous animal. Recalling Max’s toe-to-toe duel with Striker all to well. “You did send your double, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” Maximilian shot back, noting that Mercer seemed to be upset about something more than just the impasse in his bargain. “Max is… back at our quarters…”

“You’re a terrible liar, boy,” Mercer observed. “Whichever Max you are. Now tell me, just what the hell are you up to?”

“I could also ask you the same,” Maximilian pointed out, though he still stepped back in spite of himself, unable to shake the image of more men lying in wait behind Mercer’s door.

Before this tense confrontation could become any more so, that moment of terse silence was punctuated by the sound of shouting and shooting somewhere out on deck.

“Captain!” a familiar voice crackled on Mercer’s radio, the same voice they had parlayed with before, “It’s the Cyexians! They’re attacking the sail rig!”

“Those two-faced, backstabbing cunts…” Mercer muttered, reaching for his own radio to respond.

But Roxy wasted no time, hitting the deck and whipping out her disrupter rifle. Gunning down both of Mercer’s flanks before either could draw. She was about to take a shot at him, as well, as he made a frantic dive through the door, but sure enough, he had a couple of his crew hiding back there, and they popped out to cover him.

Shades and Maximilian scrambled for cover behind overturned tables, and Roxy rolled to the right to cover herself, as well.

“Dammit! Where the hell are they?” the bounty hunter demanded, noting the absence of cover fire from their own door.

“Don’t tell me…” Shades gasped, the words of Mercer’s second and their implications sinking in, along with an educated guess about what Justin and Max were probably doing right now.