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the captain liked to maintain, and Ryan knew it. He turned back. Aboard the Queen , she was his boss. And in this case what she was calling him back from was adding the strength of his back and arms to saving her ship.
    â€œI need you…to advise me,” she said. “We’ve had more than one run-in with people who want this cargo, and I’ve seen that you know something about tactics.”
    â€œYou’re the authority on ship-handling,” he said. “I can’t pretend to know nuke about it.”
    â€œWe put our…heads together, then,” she said, managing a wan smile.
    She was triple tough, there was no question. When her ship and crew were on the line, she would do her job and die doing it. For their part, the crew knew it, and responded accordingly.
    Even Ryan and his people knew that. Good, honest bosses were hard to come by.
    â€œI’m fresh out of ideas, now,” he admitted, as another volley came rushing in with a hurricane sound.
    He felt a tremor beneath his feet, accompanied by a thunderous bang from astern. Immediately voices began screaming, “Fire! Fire on the barge!”
    A moment later, Suzan Kenn appeared in the door, her gray-shot brown hair in more than the usual disarray.
    â€œA shell hit the barge right where the lumber meets the cloth bales, Captain!” she exclaimed breathlessly. “She started burning like Billy Jesus right off the mark. The only hope we’ve got of dousing the blaze is turning on the power to the pumps.”
    â€œWe can’t do that,” Trace rapped. “Cut her loose.”
    Suzan blinked. “Captain?”
    â€œAre you sure, Trace?” Arliss asked.
    He was the Mississippi Queen ’s master rigger, which meant he kept the steering linkages in top shape, among other duties. A little guy, somewhere between J.B. and Jak in size, he had a short frizz of graying hair and a beard, prominent ears, and a missing right front incisor.He was the second-best financial mind on board, after the now-deceased Edna, and usually advised the Conoyers in negotiations, a job Edna had been too shy to do well. Like everybody aboard the Queen , he was ace at his job, and Ryan knew that part of his job was to keep his captain’s eye on the bottom line.
    â€œThe price—”
    â€œProbably won’t buy us a new ship, Arliss, and definitely won’t buy a new us. We can’t die for the load.”
    â€œBut Baron Teddy—”
    â€œWill have to—” she winced at a twinge of pain as Mildred adjusted the bandage “—deal with his disappointment. We can send him a nice note from upstream. He knew the risks when he ordered the goods. Cut her loose, Suzan.”
    â€œWait,” Ryan said.
    Everybody looked at him. “You sound like a man with a plan,” Trace told him.
    â€œI don’t know if I’d dignify it by calling it that,” he said. “Yet. Give me a minute to look outside.”
    Suzan started to pull back away from the door as he headed for it. Then she ducked hastily inside at the thud and shudder of another impact.
    Ryan’s nut-sack tightened in anticipation of the following explosion, which didn’t come. He poked his head outside.
    The middle-aged deckhand had not been lying. Great clouds of white smoke were pouring out of the barge. He could see flames leaping to a height he judged to be higher than his head. He doubted their ability to put out the fire, even with power to drive water at good pressurethrough hoses stretched far astern. That wasn’t anything he knew much about, but his gut told him he was right. He trusted it.
    The wind was still blowing out of the east and freshening slightly as the sun headed for the horizon behind the tall weeds of the western shore. There was already a respectable wall of smoke extending across the wide river in that direction.
    The Queen was almost turned clean south. Ryan glanced upriver. As he feared, the