I ran down the deck and hopped onto the nearest pirate barge. A corsair on board raised his rifle to stop me, but I gunned him down and made him drop it. I pounded across the wooden deck, already splintering as torpedoes went off below me, and jumped onto another dhow just as the vessel behind me went down to the bottom. A pirate came at me with a swinging sword, but I ducked the blow and put three slugs in his chest. I looked up and saw the Japanese gunning pirates on the galleon, and figured that must be the Bey’s palace, and that would be were Natasha was being kept.

The deck rocked under me as another torpedo cracked into dhow I stood on. I looked back at the Japanese subs and waved a fist. “You mugs trying to kill me?” I asked as the boat start sinking. I clambered up the main mast and found a long yard of rope. “Okay, Miles,” I whispered. “Do your Errol Flynn.” I grabbed the yard of rope with both hands and kicked off from the mask. The rope swung away from the galleon, but I put my weight behind it and it wrapped around the mast and went the other way. I let go when there was wood and not water below me and hit the deck of the galleon hard.

When I stood up I found fire, water, and screaming, fighting men all around. The livestock the Bey carried with him had gotten loose, and chickens and pigs floated in the sea or ran screaming across the deck. Pirates fought hand to hand with the League of Blood boarders and the reddening waters filled with corpses, some smaller than others. A burly corsair came at from behind, a Kris blade poised. I shot the blade from his hand.

“Where is the princess?” I demanded. “Tell me!”

“That damned princess is not royalty!” the pirate shouted. “Her empire has fallen! She is nothing to us!”

So the pirates had found the Princess’s little secret-the fact that White Russia was dead and gone and never coming back. The whole point in the pirate’s capture of Natasha was to hold her for ransom and get the big bucks they needed. Once they found out, I wondered if they decided to take out their anger on her.

“She’s something to me!” I pulled back the hammer on both of my automatics. “Where is she?”

“The Bey’s quarters, just inside,” the corsair muttered. “Please, grant me a good death.”

“What is it with you types and honor?” I turned away from the unarmed Malay. “Don’t you mugs know the world don’t work that way?” I kicked open and nearby door and ran inside. The narrow hallways of the galleon swarmed with armed corsairs, and I ducked into a small alcove was they charged past. I held my breath and held my guns high, hoping they wouldn’t find me. Turns out someone else did.

“Miles!” I spun around and saw the Princess. Her nightgown was torn and wet, but she was unharmed and still beautiful. I kissed her, couldn’t help it, and she kissed me back. “You came back!”

“Hey, Princess,” I whispered. “You can’t get rid of me that easy. I’m here to rescue you, and I brought some particularly vicious allies.” The pirates ran past us onto the deck, where they were all struck down in a single spray of machine gunfire.

“Not friends?” she asked. We left our alcove and started running down the hall, looking for another way out.

“Not quite,” I agreed. “Say, Princess, how have these sea rats been treating you?”

She shrugged. “They are an odd bunch. They remind me very much of the stuffy aristocrats back in Moscow, who would never shut up about their glorious actions in Crimea or some other old war. Us nobles are cut from the same cloth.”

“Don’t go saying that,” I said. “You’re a good person, that Bey of Blades is a monster.”

“Not quite,” Natasha repeated my own words. “He is a very sad man, and he cares so much for his people. They used to truly rule the waves, and every freighter from here to the Philippines paid them tribute or faced their wrath. Now these are the only boats the Orang Laut pirates have left.”

“Well, that’s fine with me,” I said. “Long as we can get out and get home without him seeing us.”

We dashed along the narrow hallway and crouched in the entrance to a large room, the Bey’s room. He paced the wooden chamber, surrounded by concubines, bodyguards and pirates. He spoke in hushed tones to his followers, and waved the Kris knives he carried in each hand in the direction of the battle outside. It was clear he wanted to go and fight with his men, but his courtiers wanted him to stay.

Suddenly he stopped. He raised one of the Kris knives and turned in our direction. He grasped the long dagger by its blade and before I could move a muscle to stop him, he hurled the Kris. It slammed into the wooden wall right next to my hat brim, and something told me the Bey of Blades could have pierced my skull if he wanted to. I wasn’t going to give him the chance to change his mind.

“Other way,” I told Princess Natasha. “Now!” She ran down the hall and I followed, my automatics blazing in my hand at the corsairs that followed me. I killed two the bastards and then let the guns fall to my side, turned around and ran. We made it outside and straight into the leveled guns of the League of Blood.

Admiral Hishinuma stood watching us from behind the firing line of his soldiers. I looked at the Arisaka rifles and raised my hands. “Good timing, Admiral,” I said. “I got the dame, so let’s get out of here. You can drop us back off at the Shanghai harbor and continue your mad war alone.”

The Admiral stepped forward, and I saw he was dragged Oswald Green along with him. He the kid had his hands and legs bound, and he struggled as best he could. “Mr. Flynn! The League of Blood, they want to take the Princess! I heard some of them talking and they tied me up!” Eddie the Yeti rolled out next to Oswald, also tied up. The little Yeti howled and whined just like his master, until a swift kick from Hishinuma’s black boots silenced both of them.

“Leave him alone!” I shouted. I drew both of my guns and fired at Hishinuma, but he ducked behind his soldiers. I had pulled the trigger ten times before I realized no bullets were coming out. “Hell of a time,” I cursed. I holstered the pistols, squared my shoulders and made each hand into a fist. “Well, Hishinuma, what about your honor?”

“Honor is good.” Admiral Hishinuma stepped forward and rammed his rifle butte into my chest. I doubled over and he cracked the rifle against my jaw. “But victory is better.” He pointed his rifle at the Princess. “Madame, you will come with us. If not I will kill the man, then the boy, and then the white ape.”

“Don’t hurt them!” Princess Natasha cried. “I will go with you.”

“Good. Her ransom will fund the League of Blood and bring much glory to Emperor Hirohito!” Hishinuma took off his monocle and polished it with his black uniform. “And as for you and your child, I will leave you to the mercy of the Bey of Blades.” He brought his rifle butte down one more time, this time on my head. My head bounced between the deck and the rifle butte until it broke, and I broke with it.

I woke up lying in a bed with silken sheets. The floor rocked under me and it wasn’t because I didn’t have my sea legs. When I finally sat up and got the world to stop spinning, I had a look around. I was in a small chamber behind a couple of silken screens, and the sounds of wounded men, women and children echoed around me. I sat up and rubbed my head, then reached for my hip flask. It was gone, so I settled for a smoke.

With the cigarette burning in my mouth, I pushed the screen door aside and had a look around. Oswald had been leaning against the screen, Eddie the Yeti curled up next to him. He turned around and grinned at me. “Mr. Flynn! Mr. Flynn! You’re all right!”

“I’m jakey-jake, kiddo,” I muttered, rubbing my head. “It will take more than a few bangs of the noodle to get me to see sense and stop living, apparently. Where are we?”

“You are in my kingdom.” I looked up and saw the Bey of Blades sitting on his throne at the far end of the room. His throne room was now a hospital, with makeshift cots filling the vast wooden hall. Healers did their best to bandage rooms and pull out bullets, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. The Bey leaned forward on his throne, scratching his chin through his veil. “I am not sure why I did not toss you off the deck as soon as the Japanese left.”

“Well, you got me,” I answered.

“I think it’s because its not a bad guy,” Oswald said. The Bey and I both stared at him. “I mean, I thought you were mean at first, like Fu Manchu or something, but then have all these people depending on you, and you seemed to be nice to the Princess, and you let us live. I don’t think you’re that bad.”

“Perhaps you are right, little one.” The Bey reclined on his throne. “But perhaps not. I so wanted to drive a Kris through that fake Princess’s pretty face when she told me no ransom would be coming.”

“But you didn’t,” Oswald said.

“No, I didn’t. Because I saw a kinship between us. She is a princess without an empire, and I a king whose empire is crumbling around him.” He gestured at the wounded. “Two thirds of my fleet is gone. We will sail back to Malacca, and try the waters there, but most boats are too fast and too well armed for us to take.”

“Maybe you could try something else besides piracy,” Oswald suggested.

“Piracy has been our way forever!” the Bey of Blades shouted. “We will not change it. No, we will leave. I will set you adrift near Shanghai, and you can catch a ride on a passing boat.”

“Hold on a second,” I said, raising a hand. “We have still have to square with the League of Blood and get the Princess back. I don’t know how we can pull that off, but I’ll be damned if I run from a fight.”

“You will, but I won’t.” The Bey waved his hand. “My people have been hurt enough today. The Japanese have her now. They will her treat well.”

“Yeah, until they realize that her being royalty doesn’t mean squat.” I crossed my arms. “I’ll bet you my life they won’t treat her as nice as you did after that. They see themselves with a king, a kingdom, and they just want to expand. They don’t give a damn for losers like her.”

“How dare you presume to tell me what to do!” the Bey drew a Kris from the side of his throne. “I should gut you where you stand!”

“Go on and try it, pal.” I reloaded my pistols swiftly and aimed them at him. “What do you say we play your little game? I kill you, your men have to help get the Princess back. You kill me, you drop the boy off and make sure he gets back safe. What do you say?”

“So be it!” The Bey of Blades planted a dagger in the deck. The other pirates in the room gasped, even the wounded rolled over to stare at the spectacle.

Oswald looked at me with wide eyes. “Mr. Flynn! He’ll kill you!”

“Maybe,” I said. “But it’s the only chance we got. Now stand back. I don’t want you catching a blade meant for me.”

Oswald gulped but did as he was asked, carrying Eddie the Yeti to the sidelines. I took one of my pistols and placed it before me, then sank to my knees. The Bey caressed the edge of his Kris knife.

“So,” I said. “What did you do with my hip flask?”

“I threw it overboard,” the Bey said. “The Prophet disdains alcohol.”

“That so?” I asked. “How is he on letting an innocent woman die?”

I could tell he was scowling under his veil. “You can’t tell me to do anything.”

“I’m not telling. I’m asking.” I held out a hand above the pistol. His arms tensed. The tip of the Kris looked very sharp. “I’m asking you, honored Bey of Blades, where is your honor?”

I dived for my pistol as he through his Kris. I brought my automatic up just as the dagger hissed through air towards me. I aimed and pulled the trigger, and the Kris stuck deep into the wood right in front of me. My bullet hit the Bey’s turban and took it off, carrying the veil with it. The Bey touched his naked face. He was a young man, pitiably young, probably just out of his teens, and his face was free of any beard.

“Well?” I asked. “Where is your honor?”

He nodded. “I see your point, infidel. You are willing to die for this woman, and you would have killed me for the same reason.” He grabbed his turban and wound it around his head. “And if a man such as you is willing to die for her, and she is worth saving. I and my strongest warriors will accompany you against the Japanese.”

I grinned. “Well, I guess even in this day and age, there’s still some use for the old ways.”

“Excuse me,” Oswald asked. “Um, how are you going to get down there? The League of Blood has a big base on the ocean floor. How are we supposed to get down there?”

The Bey of Blades drew a pair of Kris knives from the cases at the side of his throne and slid them into his silken sash. “We have ways.”

“A bathysphere?” I asked. “We’re going to the bottom of the sea in some rusted out hollow wrecking ball?” We stood in the interior hold of the great galleon, the flagship of the Bey’s fleet, and stared at the jewel of his empire. It was a large metal ball, big enough for four or five men to squeeze inside and still have elbow room. There was a small porthole on the door on the front, but otherwise there were no holes at all.

“Have you no better ideas, infidel?” the Bey of Blades asked. “Perhaps you could hold your breath and swim to Station Sakura.”

“Yeah, well at least then we know what we’re getting ourselves into. I don’t know how this thing works.”

“Simple.” The Bey tugged at the metal chain that stuck out from the top of the bathysphere. It was connected to a winch next to the galleon, and the deck below the bathysphere had been hacked away. “The chain is lowered into the water. When a lever inside the bathysphere is pressed, it sends a single and my men will bring us up.”

“Simple,” I repeated. “Supposing the chain gets broken? Or we break into the wrong place? Or this rig springs a leak? Then how simple is it?” I shook my head. “But yeah, you’re right. It’s a long shot, but it’s our only shot.”

“We can follow the waves left by the submarines to their launching station,” the Bey explained. “Already we are sailing towards Station Sakura. If the ship is sunk, we are doomed. But then again, there are many ways we could be doomed.”

“Ain’t there always?” I asked. I walked over to Oswald and Eddie as they Bey and three of his best men got into the bathysphere. Oswald was watching the bathysphere with wide eyes, and his little hands were clasped tightly.

“Mr. Flynn, are you really going down in that?” he asked. “It’s all rusty, and it looks really dangerous!”

“So it does,” I agreed. “But this is the only way to bust out the Princess.”

“Do you love her, Mr. Flynn?” he asked.

“I said that earlier, but don’t go telling her that. But yeah, she’s a class dame and I don’t want her getting hurt. And she’s done wrong in the past, and not just turning you over to that crazy Mongolian. When she was living it up in Russia, her loyal subjects spent half their time freezing and starving and the other going on Pogroms while she lived it up in Moscow. But she feels bad for it, and wants to do good.” I smiled slightly at Oswald. “And I feel the same way.”

“But what did you do that was wrong?” Oswald asked. “You always do what’s right, and you do it well.”

The muddy fields of France flashed before my eyes. “Not always,” I said as I turned away. “Stay here and stay dry, kiddo. I’ll be back for you, with a princess on my arm.” I ducked low into the bathysphere, joining the Bey and his pirates. I waved to Oswald and he waved back, as the Bey slammed the metal door of the bathysphere shut. I saw him waving back through the tinted glass of the porthole, and then the Bey yanked the lever and we sank under the waves.

We went pretty fast, leaving a small trail of bubbles as we descended. My eyes looked out at the open water and the sea floor, and Station Sakura looming there below us. The giant squids and submarines were in place, and I felt like a first-rate chump for every agreeing to this crazy gambit. We’d catch a torpedo long before we hit Station Sakura, and the squids would snap us up as an evening meal. To make matters worse, the top of the bathysphere started leaking just enough for a single drop of salt water to splash on the brim of my fedora. It was like a rain drop, but felt like an executioner’s axe.

“Hey, Bey boy,” I asked. “What’s to stop those submarines from blowing us right out of the water.”

“God’s will.” The Bey of Blades smiled calmly. “It is in his hands now.”

I was less than thrilled. One of the submarines opened fire on us, sending a sleek torpedo straight towards our metal wrecking ball. I held my breath as the torpedo got closer. I could have reached my hand out of the porthole and patted the torpedo as it whizzed by. I breathed and then looked down. We were getting closer to the Sakura Station, and had sunk to about its level. The galleon above us kept on going forward, and I realized how we were going to gain entrance.

“Damn,” I had time to whisper before the bathysphere slammed into the side of the Sakura Station. The heavy metal of the ball ripped through the light steel of the Sakura Station, but held so that the bathysphere was half out of the water and half inside the underwater base. Luckily, the door was in the half that pointed inwards.

The Bey of Blades drew a pair of Kris knives. He men prepared their rifles, knives, swords and pistols, while I whipped out my two automatics. “My friends,” the Bey said. “I know my reign has brought little glory to the Orang Laut. But today, let us fight with honor and stain our blades with the League of Blood.”

“Amen,” I said. The Bey kicked open the bathysphere door. It swung open and then we were inside, running into the narrow hallway just as a squad of League of Blood rifleman arrived to send us back. The Bathysphere had cracked the sides of the Sakura Station and water was leaking in. If it wasn’t plugged fast, the whole station could be flooded.

But we weren’t too worried about right then. The Japanese soldiers dropped to their knees and leveled their bayoneted rifles, their black uniforms dripping in the flooding chamber. With a brazen battle cry to God and the sea, the Bey of Blades and his pirates fell upon them. Their blades whirred with inhuman ferocity, stabbing, hacking and shredding the Japanese soldiers. I joined in, kicking, punching and blasting away with my automatics. The Japanese had us outnumbered and outgunned, but we had desperation and madness on our side, always good allies. Soon their blood mixed with the water, and we were knee deep in the mixture.

“Okay,” I said. “Command center’s probably in the middle. Let’s head that way and kill these League of Blood bums as they come.”

We started down the hallway, working our way inwards. The interior of the Sakura Station was the same gray steel as the outside, not even carpet for the corrugated iron walkways. A few windows let us see the waters outside but besides microphones above each doorway and the occasional Japanese propaganda poster, they windows were the only things to break the monotony.

At first the microphones screamed orders in Japanese, but then I heard it switch to English. It was Admiral Hishinuma, and he was taunting us. “You cannot stand against the might of the emperor! Sea rat scum! See how you fall before the blades and bullets of our warriors!”

Another large detachment of League of Blood soldiers met us at the next corridor entrance. They had a Type 96 machine gun set up in the hallway, and we ducked back the dodge the rapid spray of machine gun fire. The Japanese soldiers used the cover well and ran forward, bayonets poised.

“Jump them!” I shouted, popping out from behind the wall and firing with both of my automatics. I timed the shots, ducking under the stabs of bayonets and putting their bodies between me and the machine gun. The Bey’s men charged forward, but wasn’t so lucky. He got right to the front of the Type 96 before the machine gun blasted him to shreds. But even as he died, he hurled his Kris and drove it through the neck of the gunner. My pistol killed the loader and the rest of the crew, and we stood alone in the corpse-filled corridor.

“Onward!” the Bey of Blades cried. We ran towards the next corridor. The portholes behind us suddenly shattered and water poured in.

“What the hell?” I asked. “They trying to drown us? Or drown themselves?”

“Now you will die an ignoble death!” Admiral Hishinuma shouted. “Devoured by our underwater allies, the numerous and vile Carnivorous Giant Isopods.”

I’m no Ivan T. Sanderson, and I had never of isopods. But the way Hishinuma said it didn’t sound good, and I got a an eyeful of them soon enough. The little buggers came swarming in with the water, swimming speedily towards us. They looked like large bugs, with a rounded shell, dozens of clicking legs, a pair of large mandibles and beady eyes and antennae to match. At least three score of the little bugs came out to welcome us.

I got the feeling they weren’t exactly friendly when they swarmed around one of the Bey’s men. The poor fellow stuck out with his Kris and managed to skewer a few of the Giant Isopods as they dragged him down. The bugs burrowed straight into his flesh, ripping him apart. He floated there in the water as more Isopods crawled over him.

“Stomp those oversized bugs!” I shouted. I gunned the Isopods down as they swam towards me. I was soaked to my skin and bleeding from the grazes of League of Blood bullets and bayonets, but I owed myself better than to be killed by Giant Isopods. I hastily reloaded my .45s and fired at the incoming Isopods. My bullets cracked easily through their thick shells, splattering their yellowish innards into the shallow water. I lashed out with my feet, crushing the little monsters before their mandibles could get a good grip on my leg.

The Bey of Blades and the last surviving pirate fought on as well, shooting the Isopods and skewering them with thrown Kris knives. Soon the waters were deep yellow, but all of us had countless bites on our legs and arms and the swarms of Isopods weren’t stopping.

“Run!” the Bey cried. “We will face these creatures later!”

I didn’t know if the Isopods could be outrun, but I lowered my pistols, turned tail and fled. The carnivorous isopods came after us on the spreading waves of water, some of them crawling along on the steel floor while others let themselves be carried along by the flooding ocean. I ignored them and focused on putting one foot in front of the other as fast as I could.

We came to a large set of double doors. I shot out the locks and kicked them inwards, then stepped to the side. The pirate next to me wasn’t so lucky and caught a pair of slugs in the chest. He fell backwards and to be consumed by the isopods that spilled into the room. I looked around the large chamber and realized this was the control room, a the nerve center of the Sakura Station all under a large curved panel of clear glass. A small army of League of Blood soldiers were inside, some were technicians working on control panels, while others were guards now dealing with the Isopods, and me and the Bey.

I dived behind one of the control panel to avoid their fist salvo. Sparks cracked above me as I stood up and fired with one pistol. I jumped to another piece of cover and ducked down, reloading as I looked around. The Bey of Blades hurled a flurry of throwing daggers, killing the riflemen before they could draw a bead on him.

“Miles!” It was a familiar voice, the Princess. I popped out from hiding place and saw Admiral Hishinuma standing behind her, a Nambu pistol in each hand. He clattered away at me as I ducked down.

“You cannot win!” he shouted, as more Isopods and water poured into the control room. The panels smoked and exploded as the water hit them, and the glass window above us cracked and leaked. The water spilled down on him and the Princess, but Hishinuma ignored it. “The Emperor will live forever and rule the eternal seas! The League of Blood will see him victorious!”

“Goddamn it,” I muttered. “And I thought that Mongolian freak Sternberg was bad.” I leaned out from my hiding space and threw lead at the Admiral, blasting one of the Nambu pistols from his hand. He drew his sword and kicked the Princess away.

“I will gut her!” he cried, raising his katana. “She will die!”

He prepared to bring down the sword, when another blade was pressed against his throat. The Bey of Blades appeared behind him, pushing a Kris into his back. “Your days our over, Admiral,” the Bey said. “This will all be underwater, a submerged graveyard for your insane dreams.”

The Admiral looked up at the cracking ceiling above him and nodded. “Yes, you are correct.” His voice wavered weakly, and I realized he was crying. “Please, let me commit seppuku and join my ancestors with sum honor.”

“Very well,” the Bey of Blades stepped back. “You may take your own life.”

Admiral Hishinuma drew his katana. He looked up one more time at the ceiling. Most of the other technicians and soldiers had fled the room, some dragged down by the Isopods and devoured. One of the giant squids floated above the ceiling, looming over us like some great orange cloud. A strange smile came across the Admiral’s face.

“Yes,” he said. “I will go with glory to the land of the ancestors!” He threw his katana upwards. It slammed into the large crack and forced the glass apart. A huge torrent of water crashed down on the Admiral, followed by the glass dome and the ocean. I ran forward, grabbing the Princess and pulling her away just as the Bey leapt from the Admiral’s side. A huge wave of water and glass fell on him, and in seconds the entire control room was halfway submerged.

“Princess!” I called, holding tightly to her thin waist as the waters churned around us. “Tell me you can swim!”

“A little!” She answered.

“Well, now’s the time to learn!” I dived under the water and started swimming towards the exit. Princess Natasha kept one hand on my arm and used the other to paddle. Isopods floated around us, and I saw the Bey of Blades swiftly stroking his way through the water. An Orang Laut such as he could swim before they could walk. He had no trouble.

But what started giving us trouble was the giant squid. I swam upwards to the celing of the hallway and grabbed a mouthful of air, and then something dragged me under. I thought it was the Princess, but she couldn’t be that strong. I looked back and saw the giant squid, trying to yank me to my death. My guns were useless underwater, and I kicked and punched at the thick tentacle wrapped around my leg, but it did not come free.

I opened my mouth to scream as panic filled me and water rushed in. The Bey saw my distress and swam towards me, a Kris knife in each hand. He hacked down with each blade and the tentacle fell away from my leg. I floated up, grabbed a brief bit of air, and then kept on swimming.

We headed down the hallway, corpses, guns, Isopods and other flotsam and jetsam spinning around us. The Bey and I carried the Princess between us, and she used her long legs to kick as well. The three of us went forward through the narrow hallways, until we reached the Bathysphere. I thanked the Bey’s God that he had remembered to close the door.

He swiftly opened it, yanked us in, and slammed it shut before too much water could join us. I leaned against the back of the bathysphere, spat water out of my mouth and coughed. After a while, my coughs became a hacking laugh.

“What’s so funny, Miles?” Natasha asked.

“You crazy dame,” I muttered. “We’re even! You let that Mongolian kidnap Oswald, and I let that crazy Japanese admiral kidnap you!” I grinned. “We’re even.”

Natasha smiled. “That’s very nice, but I’d really like to get to the surface. My Lord Bey, can this metal ball of yours move?”

“Not by itself,” the Bey said. “And not if the galleon above it was destroyed by a Japanese torpedo.” He yanked the lever and a few seconds passed when I wondered if his fear wasn’t true. But then we lifted up from the Sakura Station, letting more water splash in as we left. We floated upwards through the water as several submarines sped away from the Sakura Station.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the League of Blood,” I muttered. “Those crazy coots are gonna take over Japan, and then God help us all.”

“He will, Miles Flynn, he will.” The Bey crossed his hands. “Empires rise and fall, but God always looks out for his people.”

Princess Natasha smiled at me. “Or at least, somebody does.”

The Bey of Blades dropped us off at the Shanghai docks. The remains of his fleet steamed into the harbor, blending in with the maze of masts and ships that made up the docks, so none of the local authorities could spot the notorious pirates. Oswald, Princess Natasha, Eddie the Yeti, and myself hopped off the galleon onto the wooden dock. It felt good not to have the ground rock under my feet, or water coming in at the walls.

“Thank your helping us, Bey of Blades,” Oswald said. “And if you ever need help or money or anything, go to San Francisco and find Winston’s Dry Goods and the Green family. We’ll help you, I promise.”

The Bey grinned. “I doubt we will travel as far as San Francisco, but I’ll keep that in mine. Take care of yourself, little one, and take care of the detective at your side.”

“Ah, I don’t deserve his attention.” I grinned. “See you around, Bey.” We shook hands and he stepped back onto the galleon. I could tell he was smiling under his veil, and as he shouted orders in Malay and set the Orang Laut armada off to sea once more, I smiled a little too.

We walked away from the docks and headed down the seaside streets. An opened-topped automobile screeched to a halt in front of us, a bearded Cossack named Boris sitting at the driver’s seat. “Take us to the Imperial Club, Boris.” Princess Natasha sat in the plush passenger seat while Oswald and I took the back. “I am in need of a drink.”

“Sister, you ain’t the only one,” I agreed. “Add a fresh change of dry clothes, a good night’s sleep, and a bottle of Yeti milk to make Eddie stop whining and I’ll everything I want in the world.”

“Really? Oswald asked. He was soothing the hungry Yeti, and I knew he’d feed the little guy to bursting when we reached the Imperial Club.

I looked up at Natasha and smiled. “Almost everything.” And the engine of the automobile roared, speeding us down to the Imperial Club, and whatever crazy business life was gonna throw at us next.

-The End-