Marauder (Oregon Files 15)

“I’m going to take Murph to the infirmary for my own assessment,” Julia said.

“Are you going to be all right?” Sylvia said, taking Mark’s hand.

“Don’t worry,” Mark said. “We’ve got the best medical bay on water.”

Sylvia was uneasy about letting her brother out of her sight, but she could see he was in good hands.

“Come on,” Eric said. “I’ll take you to the Magic Shop. Then we’ll find you a cabin.”

He took her to a corridor where they got on a tram car, surprising her yet again with the technology on this ship. They were whisked toward the stern.

“What is the Magic Shop?” she asked.

“It’s the place where we make fake IDs, uniforms, makeup and wigs, props, and any other disguises and gadgets we need for our operations. It’s run by Kevin Nixon, who is an award-winning special effects expert and makeup artist from Hollywood.”

“What are your operations?”

“We take on difficult jobs that our government can’t do itself. Secret jobs, the type where they don’t want publicity. We’re kind of the last resort. If we can’t do it, it probably can’t be done.”

“So you’re spies. I knew it. My brother is a spy.”

Eric shrugged. “More like special ops.”

“Whatever you call it, I had no idea he worked in such an amazing place with such talented people.”

“I’m glad I could finally meet his sister. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Was I what you were expecting?”

“Exactly.”

Their eyes locked for a moment, and then Eric adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses and looked away with flushed cheeks. She’d have to grill Mark later about why he’d never introduced her to his charmingly awkward best friend before.

The tram came to a stop and Eric led her down a series of plush halls more suited to a luxury yacht than a cargo ship. Then they entered a large room crammed with racks of clothing, storage bins and shelves full of props, several mannequins outfitted with military uniforms in various stages of tailoring, and four swivel chairs set in front of a wall of mirrors.

A slim man with a thick brown beard was tinkering with a prosthetic leg propped on the counter. He was sucking on a lollipop and so intent on his work that he hadn’t noticed them come in.

“Kevin,” Eric said, “the Chairman told us to see you.”

Kevin jerked his head around and nearly knocked over the artificial leg.

“Jeez,” he said, grabbing his chest. “What are you? Ninjas?”

“Kevin Nixon, this is Sylvia Chang. She’s Murph’s sister.”

“And yes, Eric, the Chairman told me to expect you.” Kevin turned to Sylvia. “I hope Murph gets better soon.”

“Thanks. That’s why we’re here, if you’re not too busy.”

“No, I was just making some adjustments to the Chairman’s combat leg.”

“He lost his real one in a ship battle a long time ago,” Eric said.

It looked more advanced than any prosthesis Sylvia had ever seen, but before she could ask about it Kevin put it aside and said, “How can I help?”

She told him about the people she saw on the trimaran and the logo she’d spotted on the crate.

“Let’s start with the logo. That’ll be easier to figure out than the faces.” He took out a laptop and pulled up a drawing app. “What did it look like?”