NIMBUS AND THE KNIGHTS OF CENFERUM

Chapter 26

— Enough talk; let's go up — Elisis interrupted the male banter, as was her custom.

They immediately ascended to the bridge, and the captain greeted them sarcastically, as always.

— I was just sending a message to the Pilgrim, asking them to send me some knights, as mine were probably dead, not answering the call to war.

Ignoring the comment, Adon asked the captain.

— Where are the pirates? I don't see them!

The captain handed his spyglass to the old knight and pointed to a spot on the horizon almost obscured by clouds.

— Hm, a Bufo like the Brand, it seems they're fleeing, why haven't we caught up? — Adon passed the spyglass to Lonios, who looked and then handed it to Nimbus and Jim.

— If we pursue, we'll stray from the Pilgrim, and, as you well know, she's much slower than us. If we separate, we might become more vulnerable. Unity is strength. If the captain hadn't dismissed the navigators from the ship to take on that role himself, we could have devised a different strategy.

— You're right; we should stay together. A team of navigators would be quite useful — Adon replied.

— Team of navigators? What a joke. In my time, there was no such thing. I'm here. They won't escape for long. I've plotted a course, and we'll intercept them in the next few days.

— What do you mean, captain?

— As you all know, I was appointed captain of this ship because I'm a legend in navigation. We'll catch them; just believe in me.

Everyone fell silent, and the captain spoke again:

— The guard is dismissed for today, but stay alert; we could still be ambushed. — Then he looked at Lonios. — I think you can stay alert, can't you? Clad in those rags you call armor, armed for combat.

— Yes, sir — Sir Adon replied. — Let's go back inside — he nudged Lonios, who still glared angrily at the captain.

As they left, Jim spoke:

— Did you see that the pirate ship was the same model as the Brand, a Bufo?

— Yes, I saw it, it was far, but I could tell. However, it didn't look much like our ship — Nimbus spoke innocently.

— Of course, it wouldn't. Bufo ships are rare nowadays; most of them turned into scrap and were recycled to build better ships.

— But then why are we riding the Brand? And it seems just as good as the Peregrino — once again, Nimbus was being naive.

— Dr. Henry didn't let the Brand be recycled. There are stories that he argued with the Great Leader, saying that the ship could still be current and even better than the ships of the new generations. So, the Great Leader wanted him to prove it, and he came up with a series of improvements. He presented the project to the government, and the budget was less than half of what it would be if the Brand were recycled into a new ship. Still, the Great Leader wanted more and instructed Dr. Henry to make the improvements with only a quarter of the money he had requested to modernize the Brand. But Dr. Henry didn't back down; he took the money and renovated the ship, making it the best in the fleet.

— Wow, I didn't know that story — Nimbus said, imagining the renovation.

— It became so good that it was the only one to escape the pirate fleet, and they say it managed to sink two ships before making its getaway. And Dr. Henry didn't even implement half of the improvements he had presented in the project to the Great Leader.