A/N: I'm trying to crank out more writing before I leave for holiday so you guys get a good dose of A Sirius Kind of Life before I go away on holiday for two weeks! Shit is stirring in Moldor... =P

Episode 23

News of what had happened in the Navy quarters involving certain most wanted pirates spread like wildfire across Moldor. Security tightened considerably and anyone who had connections to piracy was questioned. Despite Governor Dan's best efforts, the Uru people were the most suspected – thanks to Donatello who let the notion that it was the servants who let the Sirius pirates slip into the quarters to destroy the Navy from the inside.

That day, Governor Dan sat amongst many Navy officials and soldiers as a symposium was held by Donatello in front of the King of Moldor himself, in the Great Hall of the palace.

"My King and fellow Navy men – we've had a serious breach of protocol here in Moldor just a couple of days ago when the Sirius pirates penetrated our Navy quarters in yet another highly criminal attempt to destroy us." Donatello's voice echoed throughout the Great Hall as everyone was silently listening to him.

"They have bested us so many times in the past and they have done so again because we weren't as equipped as we thought we were. The men who were guarding the servant quarters' entrance were defeated without so much a fight and what does that say about us as the Imperial Navy? ...A disgrace, that's what!" Donatello made a flick with his hands and scrunched up his face in anger which Dan thought was put on for the sake of riling everyone up regarding the situation with the Sirius pirates. The sad thing was that everyone was buying what he said, because they didn't know that it was actually Donatello who was administering classified Navy information to pirates that actually had shady intent, unlike the Sirius pirates.

The traitorous Rear Admiral of the Navy continued, "They've injured so many of our men to near death and dared to ransack my quarters."

There was a loud murmur in the hall as everyone was convinced that the Sirius pirates were indeed better off with a noose around their necks in the first instance.

"What's more – the daughter of the late, former Commander who we all know was a traitor – the girl called Mara was involved with these despicable pirates. No doubt that she is one of them now and therefore she can be classified as a pirate too. She is now an enemy and the bounty on her head is increased, and the same with the rest of those scumbags."

The Great Hall now echoed with loud voices calling out for the capture – and death – of the Sirius pirates. All of them, including Mara.

The King of Moldor stood up and walked to Donatello, resting a hand on his shoulder with a look in his face that resembled something like pride. If it wasn't pride, then he agreed with what Donatello had said.

"Rear Admiral Donatello is right – we have to take control of this situation fast before past events repeat itself. These pirates need to be put in their rightful place – in the centre of town with nooses around their necks so that they may atone for their crimes by death! From now on, we shall concentrate our efforts in capturing them – and the girl called Mara. No mercy – let's bring them back to Moldor and silence them forever!"

Shouts of agreement rattled the room and Dan saw a look of satisfaction on Donatello's face. The bastard would be pleased with himself.

He'd gotten away with murder... and so much more. But not for long, Dan thought to himself.

He stood up and exited the hall quietly.

"Son, I hope you and the Sirius pirates can put an end to this madness. For everyone's sake," Dan muttered to himself as he sent a seagull mail, heading straight for the Sirius.

The seagull reached the ship the day after Mara spoke to Morgan and Christopher about the revelation of the journal. They were on their way to Gerome Island where the Captain's meeting was going to be held, when Russell spotted the messenger bird from his lookout post.

"Thomas, seagull mail incoming!" he shouted at the deck, where Thomas and Mara were cleaning.

Thomas handed Mara his mop and did his best seagull call to direct the bird to him. He had an uncanny talent when it came to calling messenger birds.

The large sea bird swooped down on the deck and finally landed on Thomas' arm, receiving affectionate pats as the mail was untied from its foot.

Mara wiped a drop of sweat on her forehead and brushed her hair out of her face with her fingers. She must remember to cut off some of the length of her hair off soon.

"Oh, this mail..." Thomas inspected the cursive writing which spelled out someone's name. He turned towards Eduardo, who was steering the Sirius and called out to him.

Eduardo looked like he had a funny taste in his mouth as he walked over to where Thomas and Mara were. He gave Mara a once over and practically snatched the letter off Thomas' hand.

Mara furrowed her brows, biting her tongue to stop her from telling him to take his manners out of his ass. She shook her head instead and handed Thomas back his broom.

They continued to sweep the deck under the blistering sun while Eduardo read the mail. After a while, he muttered about going to see the Captain and walked off to do so.

Thomas and Mara looked at each other, shrugged and went to return the brooms as they were finished with cleaning the deck for the day.

"Whew, it's a lovely day, but it's so hot!" Thomas exclaimed, rolling up his sleeves further up his arms. "What else do we need to do today?"

Mara dabbed her temples with the front of her loose top and replied, "We've got some laundry to do, since Russell spilled wine all over his bed sheets the other night."

"Oh, yeah. Russell's always doing that sort of stuff," Thomas chuckled as he and Mara collected the stained sheets from the laundry room and took it out to the deck to wash.

Once they were done, they took the sheets to the washing line and starting hanging them to dry. As they were doing so, Mara was reminded of something that was mentioned last night during dinner.

"So, what's all this business about Captain being the Pirate King?" Mara carefully pegged the corner of the bed sheet which was still dripping wet while Thomas pegged other linen that the other crew members had forgotten.

"Oh, well Captain is mostly humble about that title, but he's actually a very important and powerful authority!" Thomas sounded rather proud of this fact and he had a look of admiration as he continued talking to Mara.

"Captain's job as the Pirate King is to keep the balance of the seas – to make sure pirates and the Navy don't start a full blown war. I guess he's keeping the peace, as hard as that is to picture since the Navy and pirates have been enemies for centuries. But Captain's a reputable pirate who won't cause harm to anyone if there isn't the need to... Unless they deserved it, of course."

Mara nodded with understanding. Although Captain was a womanizing, alcohol loving pirate, he was also compassionate and clever – a great leader respected by everyone on the Sirius.

"I wonder what Cecil would do when Captain tells him that he knows about his affiliation with Donatello," Thomas wondered out loud as he passed Mara the last peg to clip on the line.

The Sirius was travelling fast, and it wouldn't be too long until they reach Pirate Island. Who knew what would happen during the meeting – Cecil might become repentant and stop any more contact with Donatello.

Or he may rebel and try to start a war. That was more probable than the first.

"I don't know, Thomas. I hope he'll mend his ways, but I highly doubt it," Mara replied to Thomas after some thought.

Thomas nodded in agreement with furrowed brows.

They put the laundry baskets back and came back out to the deck to finally relax. Eduardo was back at the steering wheel and Mara wanted to ask what the letter was about, but he looked a little bit grumpy and deep in thought, so she decided against it.

"I'll get us some cold water – I'm feeling parched," she told Thomas, who was lying down on the freshly cleaned floor of the deck, enjoying the sunshine. He seemed happy to be baking under the sun, however Mara felt a little dizzy and put it down to dehydration so she walked towards the kitchen.

Drops of sweat rolled down her forehead and she felt the sun's rays on the top of her head, as if it was penetrating her skull and warming up her brain.

Before she knew it, her vision blurred erratically before her legs gave way.

Someone's arms wrapped around her waist to support her, but she didn't know who as she saw darkness and lost consciousness.

"An angel has fallen into my arms!"

Mara was conscious again within a couple of minutes, but she felt weak as she was cradled in someone's arms. Her vision still hadn't returned fully so she couldn't make out who it was yet. His voice sounded familiar though...

"Alan, let go of her!"

That was Thomas' voice.

"I'm not holding her hostage, you greenhorn – can't you see I'm holding her tenderly in my arms?" came the reply.

So it was Alan who caught her. He was always showing up at uncanny moments.

She grunted a weak protest, but Alan only held her tighter and stroked her head much to her dismay.

"Let go of her before I blow your tiny brains out!" she heard Eduardo shout.

Thomas followed suit, "Release Mara and go back to the Rika!"

"Watch how you speak to me, eyepatch! She'll wake up in my arms and she'll realise that I'm her hero... Then she'll join me as the lady of the Rika ship and- Hey!"

She'd finally regained enough strength to push Alan away and used her elbows to crawl away, dragging the lower half of her body like a zombie.

She felt Eduardo lift her up just as her vision blurred again – she only knew it was him because of the way he smelt. Like a combination of the ink which he used to draw maps and fresh linen. She liked that smell, it reminded her of her father – who wasn't her real father but whom she regarded as father anyway in her heart.

He would worry about her if he saw her like this. She really needed to look after herself better – it seemed like she was forever spending time being treated for medical conditions since the day she escaped from hanging in Moldor.

She closed her eyes and fell back into the darkness.

End of Episode 23