Free Salt by Colin F. Barnes

“You’ll regret this, Graves,” she said. “You’ll burn in hell with him.” She pointed to Jim.
    “Bloody hell. What’s with all the burning?” Graves said.
    Together they watched Faust’s group disperse.
    “You’re bleeding, old man,” Graves said, pointing to Jim’s cheek.
    Jim dabbed a hand at it and winced. Someone had scratched him deep.
    Duncan approached, still carrying the gaff hook. “You okay, Dad?”
    “I’m fine. Just need to clean this up. Let’s get inside.”
    “Good idea, Captain,” Graves said. “I need to have a word with you.”
    Shaley and Tyson, grinning from the fight, stayed outside and kept watch like obedient dogs.

    ***

    “I’m telling you for the final time, Graves. Frank’s going nowhere. Attempted murder isn’t something I can easily forget. Besides, he’s scared out of his tiny mind. He doesn’t want to leave.”
    Jim stood opposite Marcus Graves in his bridge office. Marcus had taken Jim’s seat as though the office were his. Jim remained standing, not wanting to be at the other’s level. He pushed against the Band-Aid across his cheek. The cut was sore but had stopped bleeding.
    “That’s all crap, about his wife,” Graves said. “There’s no American threatening him.”
    “So why else did he come after me? On your orders, perhaps?”
    “Don’t be a twat, Jim. You think I’d send an idiot like Frank after you? If I wanted you dead, I’d do it myself.”
    Jim flinched at the threat. He was starting to get more than a little pissed off with people thinking he was expendable. “If it wasn’t for me, this flotilla would have self-destructed months ago. I’ve kept this place together, given us all a life. And if you forgot, I was elected to this position.”
    “Who are you trying to convince here, eh? You or me?”
    “What is it you want, Graves? I’ve got better things to do than waste my time with the likes of you.”
    “Easy, sunshine, let’s keep things respectful, shall we? No need to get all excited. Think of your heart. Take a seat.”
    “Like I said. Just tell me what you want.”
    “I want Frank back.”
    “Why? You said yourself you chucked him out of your little gang.”
    Marcus gave a little smile at the taunt. “My little gang has need of him for something, but it doesn’t need to trouble you. Here’s the deal. You give me Frank, and I’ll make sure Faust is… dealt with. She and her flock will no longer be an issue here.”
    “And why would you do that? It’s certainly not for saving my arse,” Jim said, scrutinising Graves, trying to figure out the man’s motivations. The way he lounged back all casual on Jim’s chair made Jim want to kick the legs out from beneath him and watch him fall.
    “Mutiny is in the air, Jim. That fracas today, that’s just the beginning. Both you and I, despite being polar opposites, know that if we’re all to survive, this flotilla has to function, it has to stay united… even if it means making a few sacrifices along the way.”
    “That’s not how it should be done,” Jim said.
    “You don’t think it’s worth crushing a few bad apples for the greater good?”
    Jim’s first reaction was to say no, but then he thought back to each of those volunteers sent away. He’d sacrificed them for the greater good. What was so wrong with doing the same with Faust and the troublemakers? Hadn’t he already set a precedent in his own mind as to what was acceptable?
    “You know it is,” Graves said as though he could read Jim’s mind.
    Jim sat down and sighed. “So what do you have in mind?”
    “I suggest that you accidentally leave the brig unattended one night, the key at hand, and my boys will remove Frank to a safe place, and Faust… to a not-so-safe place.”
    Jim mulled it over. Letting Frank out seemed crazy, considering the guy attempted to murder him. “I need some answers and assurances,” Jim said.
    “That’s fair enough. What you got in mind?”
    “I need to know what was