Two weeks passed peacefully, which Oliver found pleasant- and not unexpected. In the wide expanse of the sea, it wasn't uncommon to go days or even weeks without seeing another ship... especially as Captain Sterling made it a point to avoid the most traveled routes.

And it seemed his caution had worked for them, as the only unexpected development...

"Dad!"

Oliver sighed as he pulled back from kissing Polina, glad that their current 'distraction' hadn't progressed further before being interrupted- something that had already happened once, to much embarrassment on his part...

"Jal, what did I say about knocking?" He asked, turning towards the young girl in the doorway. While he was tempted to chastise her for calling him 'dad', as no decision had been made... he hesitated. He knew that, should they not choose to adopt the girl, her constantly calling him dad would end with her being hurt. But if he did correct her, and then ended up agreeing, it would confuse things...

And, admittedly, he didn't really like the feeling he got at seeing her wounded look the one time he did try to stop her from calling him that. He didn't know how to describe it, other than... uncomfortable. And sad.

"I'm supposed to knock and wait for you to tell me to come in..." The young Devil pouted momentarily, before her excitement surged forth once more. "But it's important this time! The Captain asked me to come get you; he said the islands were coming up and that we needed to be ready!"

Polina, still blushing from the unexpected interruption, hopped up from the bed with a chuckle. "Ok, Jal, you run ahead and let them know that we're right behind you."

"Yes mom!" Jal chirped brightly, throwing her arms around Poli in a quick hug- though carefully, as they had already experienced how horns could complicate the simple gesture... Thankfully, Oliver's healing spell handled the minor injury without a problem.

Hesitating for a second, Jal lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I also heard the Captain say something else... I don't think he meant for me to hear."

The pair shared a look before refocusing on the girl, and Poli was the one to ask. "What did you hear?"

"He said...'I'll ask him what he wants us to do'..." Jal muttered, arms tightening around the woman the that would hopefully agree to be her mom. "He was talking to Mr. Ram... I don't know who he was talking about, though. But you asked me to tell you if I saw or heard anything weird, so..."

"You did good, kid." Oliver smiled, reaching out to ruffle her hair. "Just keep doing like Poli tells you, ok? But don't do anything that will get you in trouble while trying to help us..."

"Now, you run on ahead. We'll be there in a minute."

"Ok dad!" Jal smiled bright, leaning towards him- clearly resisting the urge to hug him as well- before turning and hurrying out of the cabin.

"I still don't like it, Poli..." Oliver sighed. "It feels like we're using her to spy on everyone."

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"No, hon. It's not like that." Poli quickly disagreed as she started to gear up. "I told her specifically not to spy on anyone, just to tell me if she heard or saw something... and even you agreed that they were more likely to let something slip in front of a kid. Which they did."

"True." He nodded, stretching as he stood up from the bed. "And it looks like you were on to something. How did you pick up on that anyway? I haven't really noticed anything."

"Because they already know how perceptive you are!" Polina laughed. "After you figured out that they were ex-military so easily, the Captain got extra cautious about everything he says or does around you. They probably expect you to be able to piece everything together in a blink and then just demand answers if they gave you any clues at all... so, anytime you come around, he clams up."

"That still doesn't tell me how you picked up on it." Oliver huffed.

"Aw, you're not struggling with main character syndrome, are you?" Poli chuckled, patting his cheek. "Don't forget, I was a cop. I have experience investigating things."

"Ok, ok!" Oliver laughed, pulling her into his arms. "Will my beautiful, and brilliant, ex-cop girlfriend please tell me how you figured out that Sterling wasn't the real boss?"

Though she blushed from the compliment, a coy smile flashed across her face. "Oh, it wasn't that big of a deal; I just paid attention."

A loud peel of laughter erupted from her as Oliver rolled his eyes. "Ok, it was a little more than that. Basically, it started when I heard some weird noises in another cabin one night... a cabin that is supposed to be empty."

She shrugged her shoulders, pushing away from him gently to finish grabbing her guns. "From there, I just watched. It was kinda obvious, once I was looking. The cooks would deliver food to the room when they thought we weren't around or paying attention... And then there is the newest member of the crew, a complete rookie, apparently... Who visits that cabin regularly, though no one else on the crew does..."

"They took on a newbie?" Oliver asked in surprise. "But, if this job is going to be as dangerous as they expect, why would the Captain take on someone new? Trying to train and integrate a newbie..."

"It lines up with what he said; 'I'll ask him what he wants us to do'?" Poli pointed out. "That implies that there is someone on board that can either tell the Captain what to do, or whose opinion the Captain values- other than Ram, who he was already talking to."

"Add in that they have a young and inexperienced rookie, which neither of us can imagine them taking on right before a dangerous mission... and my guess is that this 'rookie' is actually someone important- important enough that the Captain listens to them."

Oliver sighed, shaking his head- he wanted a nice, straight forward job... and definitely not these layers of misdirection surrounding a mysterious 'cargo'. "Ok, so let's break it down..."

"The Captain listens to them, and possibly follows their orders... That means they are likely to be either high ranking military- like an Admiral or something- a noble, or a representative of the King."

"We can take Admiral off the list." Poli added. "The guy is way too young to have earned a rank like that- unless there is some serious nepotism going on."

"So, a noble? Or here representing the King?" Oliver asked with a thoughtful look.

Poli shrugged. "He could just be a guard, and the real 'boss' is hiding in the cabin... I haven't gotten a close enough look at him to really judge; they seem to always have him working as far from the two of us as possible, and I don't have a good excuse to approach him."

Oliver sighed again- he really did just want a nice, straight forward pirate adventure. "So, do I pull my usual blunt approach? Or do we just ignore it? Because, honestly, I'm not sure I care who is in charge. I just want to do the job and maybe loot some more stuff; that jeweled sword sold pretty well in the auction, and I could use a few more sales like that... Not that there was much else worth selling on that ship, though maybe I can try selling a few cannons next time?"

"Maybe just let it slide for now?" Poli shrugged. "Unless a reason comes up for us to push it, I don't see the point; It was mostly just the habits I developed as a cop that led me to picking up on all of this anyway..."

"Fair enough." Oliver slung his trusty FAL across his back. "Well, let's not keep them waiting..."

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