Once they got out of the hallway, they made their way to the cockpit. Various pirates milled around, some holding items and some looking through boxes. Fortunately, she didn't see any of her things being pilfered through. Maybe they hadn't found it. If they weren't expecting a passenger, they might have not even bothered to look in the room she was supposed to occupy.

"You raided us just three days ago." She could hear Dave protest rather loudly, not that she blamed him. "We agreed to one raid a week, Jaeger! Not that I could trust you to keep any agreements."

"Of course you can't! I'm a no-good scoundrel of a pirate! And that's Captain Y-ah-jer to you! I don't know why you keep insisting that it's Ya-ger, you silly wooden legged pilot! Besides, three days ago was last week. This is a new one!"

The man speaking certainly didn't sound like someone who would be named Jaeger. He didn't have a trace of an Aleman accent. But she couldn't identify it either. It was like he took Espanese, Aleman, and Paradisan and mashed them all together. If he wasn't a pirate captain, she'd be interested in asking him about where he was raised to get that sort of accent.

"Because that's how it's always pronounced, you dumb idiot!" That was definitely Claire. "No one pronounces it the way you do! Or spells it that way! I'm surprised the Alemanians haven't hunted you down for crimes against the "Glory Land" or whatever they're calling it at the moment."

"I am Captain Yager of the fearsome crew of the Steel Eagle! I'm not bound by any laws, legal or language! But enough talk! Tell me what you're really hauling, toot suit, or I'll keelhaul you one at a time until you do. Well, maybe not the lovely Mizzus Heather."

Sarah was left wondering how one keelhauled someone on an airship and how he managed to pronounce Heather as "Ever" and think that was okay. She also wished she could see what was going on. At the moment, all she could see was the front of the pirate holding her. He cleared his throat.

Captain Yager let out a sigh. "How many times have I told you, Toledo (pronounced Too-ley-do), I don't understand a single syllabalic word you utter! And I understand Espanes-y just fine!"

Toledo sighed. "Found girl. Bert hurt. She did it." He held her out for a moment before he realized he needed to turn her around so that the captain could actually see her face.

Captain Yager looked like he was a century behind in fashion, at least with the way his clothes were style. She could tell his overcoat was made out of modern material along with his trousers. The boots had buckles on them, but it looked like they were glued on. He had a sword in his left hand and a pistol in his belt without a holster of any type. How did he not shoot himself in the foot?

"Are you sure?" The pirate captain got uncomfortable close to her. "I bet this girly-girl couldn't harm an itsy-bitsy fly even if she wanted to. She's too...how do I say it? Ni-cey."

Sarah glanced over his shoulder nervously to the others. They were all tied up and sitting on the floor, although Claire seemed to be the most restrained of them all. Perhaps she had put up the most fight. She kicked out her foot a little and then nodded. Mel, who was sitting next to her glasses askew, shook his head. Heather tried to give her a reassuring smile while Ash seemed to be watching Toledo and Yager more than her. Dave had a rather annoyed look on his face.

She decided against kicking him unless it felt necessary. At the moment, he was being a gentleman. He clapped his hands together.

"Put her downward, Toledo. She can't scamper off somewhere with all of us lot around. Besides, that is no way to treat a mizz lady! We're pirates, not barbarians."

"Yes." Toledo let go of her, allowing Sarah to just fall to the ground. She landed on her feet, but her knees felt the impact.

"More gentler next time, ja-non?" Yager came over and brushed imaginary dirt off her shoulders and skirt. "So, my newest frienda, what is your sig-nature? Come now, don't be shyness."

"Sarah Hidalgo...captain, sir." Was that how one addressed a pirate?

"Please-and-gracias, Captain Yager will be fine, my young frienda! So, tell me, Sarah..."

"Oh, so you can get that name, but I'm still Claire-eh! It's like you mess it up on purpose! I'm starting to think you don't like me very much, Jaeger."

Sarah wasn't sure if Claire was trying to draw his attention or if she was really steamed about the whole name thing. Maybe a bit of both. Yager waved her off.

"Silento, wrench monkey! Can't you see I'm trying to have the conversation with the mizz lady? I'd slap you silly if I didn't have to worry about hurting my hand. You have a very hard jaw, Claireh. Did you know that?" He shook his head. "Anyways, you are from Espan, correct-no?"

"No. I'm from Liba. My dad's side of the family was from Espan, but that was quite a few generations ago." She knew her last name would probably cause a bit of confusion. "Do you want my money? I don't have that much on me, to be honest..."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Not to worry, that is all right. We are not after your money-nero. Just the real cargo. They..." Yager gestured the crew with his other hand. "Would never make such a long trip just to deliver paper. At least, they would take mucho more paper than that. If you tell me where it is, then we'll skedaddle like field mouses running from a combine."

"That's all they were carrying." She told him honestly. "As far as I know, at least. I didn't look over their manifest or anything."

"Ah, of course! The manifest! Mizzus Heather is nothing if not organized!"

Yager stepped away from the group, taking Sarah with him. She had a feeling if she tried to twist out from underneath his hand, he would restrain her in some manner. They traveled over to the desk. The pirate captain removed his hand and started opening drawers. He pulled out a clipboard.

"Here it is!" He shoved it into Sarah's hands. "Now, read it for me, please-gracias."

"Can't...can't you read?" Sarah found herself asking before realizing her mistake and covering her mouth with the clipboard.

"Of course I can read! I just like the sound of your voice. It's nearly as spectacularous as my own, if I do say so myself, which I do." Now, he had his hands on both of her shoulders. "Remember, speak clearly and loudly, so everyone can hear you."

She chanced a glance at the others. Dave nodded. Well, she had nothing to lose. Sarah cleared her throat a bit. She hated reading out loud because she had a hard time projecting her voice and her nerves usually got the better of her.

"Half a shipment of paper due to be delivered to Lum, Paradis as soon as possible. Other half will be picked up at a later date."

"I wonder why that is." Yager leered over at the crew. "Halfa shipment now and then later. I would hypothesynthesize that the haul was maybe too big, but your hold isn't even halfa full. Tell me, my frienda Sarah, what does that mean?"

"Only half of the shipment was ready?" That probably wasn’t the correct reason.

"Perhaps, but..." Yager pushed her forward a bit to get her to start walking back toward the crew. "Heather would've marked it as two instead of just one halfa. No, I think they only took halfa because they did not want to exceedrite a certain amount, so they wouldn’t be put in a different, much more expensive taxriff bracket. I wonder what would've pushed them over the tippy-top."

It took a moment for the implications to sink in. Despite his butchering of at least two languages, Captain Yager had a knack for finding things. He also had a knack for quick reflexes, as he restrained her as panic kicked in and she surged forward.

"Do not fear, my young frienda. As valuable cargo, you will be treated as..." He let out a muffled keen as her shoe hit the inside of his shin. After that, he readjusted his grip so he was putting pressure on her neck without choking her. "Stop with the worming!" He pushed on her neck, causing her head to turn painfully.

She lashed out her foot once again, this time catching the fold of his knee. He yelped as he fell, taking her with him and landed on top of her. Sarah tried to roll out from under him but he kept her pinned.

"Toledo, don't just stand there like a bump on a frog! Get some rope!"

Ash suddenly sprang up and rammed into Toledo, nearly taking the other man down. The cockpit suddenly came to life, with both Heather and Claire getting up to attempt to fend off approaching pirates from Ash, Mel scrambling to his feet in order to get out of the way, and Dave having trouble standing up before simply rolling out of the way of feet and such.

Despite being bound, Ash withstood against Toledo, mostly because he didn't let any of his blows fall on him. Every time the man threw a punch, he expertly ducked out of the way. It reminded Sarah of a boxing match she once saw, minus the punching. But the ducking and weaving was certainly there. Seeing the others spurred into action inspired her own struggle.

"Enough!" Yager declared from above her. There was a loud bang and then her ears rang. Heat covered the left side of her face. She was aware of someone speaking but she couldn't make out the words. It was like someone had removed all her hearing.

Yager pulled her up from the floor and her wrists were bound behind her back. He ruffled her hair and spoke though she didn't pick up any useful sounds. The rest were each restrained by a pirate though Ash took about three to hold back. Someone must've gotten a hit on him, since his lip was bleeding and it looked like he might have a black eye forming. Mel stepped forward a bit and said something before looking at her. Yager nodded and the pirate holding Mel cut the ropes around his wrists

Once he had come over to them, Yager transferred Sarah to Mel's grasp. He certainly had a doctor's touch, clinical but gentle. She felt his fingers on the side of her face that was still warm. He turned her face to face him.

"Sa- n yo- me?"

Well, at least some sound was returning. With tears in her eyes (when had that started?), she shook her head.

"What!? I can't understand you!"

Mel shook his head and turned the pirate captain. "She- Hear- ome -ck- oon."

"Goo-. Will- pamny- ship?" Yager questioned before he started dragging Sarah along. "I thin- ep- Etch-leon."

Whatever Yager had said about the ship (she assumed) sent Dave into a frenzy. She was glad she couldn't hear mostly because she knew what kind of words he was currently yelling at the pirate captain. He simply slapped his face as he walked by and pointed to his bad leg. Mel rushed to catch up with them.

It took Sarah a bit to piece together what had probably happened. The loud bang was a gunshot. She knew what that sounded like. And the pirate captain had gone and shot it right near her ear. That would explain the heat she felt too. No wonder her father had told her not to stand too close to anyone shooting a pistol even if they were just target shooting.

They walked out the door and into what she could only conclude was the bay of the Steel Eagle. She could hear footfalls, but the voices were still too muffled for her to make out much. Yager clapped her on the shoulder and started leading her somewhere. Toledo came with Mel although she noticed he didn't have to drag the ship doctor. Mel looked worried, not that she blamed him.

Soon, they came to what looked like a closet. They were both shoved in and the door was locked. Mel came over and checked her over again.

"Can you-- me-ow?"

"It's a bit better," she replied. "But not, I still can't fully understand you!"

He nodded and sat back, motioning for her to do the same. Sarah felt like she didn't have much of a choice and proceeded to do so. This was turning out to be quite an ordeal. Where were the pirates taking them? What did they intend to do with her?

Would she ever make it to Lum in one piece?