"Can't we do some creepy sea-witchy thing to let them know we'll kill them if they ditch us?" Elaine asked. "Or something?" She frowned. "Lang has a point. Rosemary can't say no to anybody."

Judith consider the problem. "Fucking Navy," she muttered, in much the same tone as Barbara. "We'll see what effect haltin' the mark has on this lot. If they see I can do it to someone else they'll know I can do it to them. But I'm not leadin' a mutiny just for the captain bein' an arsehole with a crew of similar, Lang."

Lang frowned. "Make Ashon pretend he's her husband. Pick another of ours to be her..." She frowned. "Big brother doesn't quite work. I'll be Matt's. They usaully don't pick off at taken women because they don't want to be killed. Make sure Rosemary doesn't go off alone, but knowing her and Ashon, that shouldn't be a problem. Stick close to other people. Don't go off alone with Starling."

She glared back at Judith. "Why? You have the power and ability. Why stand around grousing that he's an arsehole when you can do something about it?"

"Why do you get to be Matt's and I don't get to be Starling's?" Elaine asked, looking a bit sour at that. "He can turn his hands into bear paws."

"Starling needs to watch himself too," Judith said to Elaine. "He's small and to this lot small means young. There's enough of us here that we can stick with our own kind and not have to mingle with these ones."

She cut a hand under her jaw. "Enough of that, Lang. One, we're not gonner be here that long, gods willing; two, this is an Imperial privateer, we're an Imperial crew, and if we turn on 'em with no cause there's not gonner be a safe place anywhere in the Empire for us. And three, as much as I hate it, you can't smite people for bein' arseholes or you'd run out of people real damn fast."

Lang simply crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Fine, captain. But we'd be safer the other way." She said. "But I'll keep quiet about it." She looked back to Elaine. "You get to stick by your papa. And Starling is small. And if you were his, you'd be tempted, and knowing this lot, you don't want any of them to see that you know what to do with a man, bear claws or not."

Elaine snorted. "But it's all right for you?" she asked Barbara."I'm just pointing to the double standard here." She gave Judith a pained look.

"Duly noted, Lang," Judith said dryly. "But if one of these fools gets too friendly, you have my permission to pop a cap in his arse and let me sort it out for you. Only if they get friendly, not if they whistle at your tits. Same for you, El, except you do whatever you can manage. Go for the eyes. They're mostly liquid and people generally forget everything else pretty quickly."

"I'm not sixteen and can pretend to be a docile married woman." Lang replied, and nodded at Judith. "I see." She replied, looking instantly cheered. "Just let them try it. Do we need to do anything before we go after the mark? Can you tell anything more about the ship?"

"They're tallfolk," Elaine pointed out. "Half their sixteen year olds are docile married women." She made a face at Barbara, then nodded at Judith. "Yes, Captain," she replied. "Um. At least we're free of the ghost?"