Escape
Edwin jumped off the rowboat before it was even more than 2/3 up the side of the ship, climbing the side of the ship and running for the stern, his hands covered in blue flame already. Amy was close behind, pulling bags of reagents out of her dress, tossing them into his hands.
Edwin clapped his hands together, the blue flames became an inferno, and he directed the massive pillar of flame directly behind the ship, which began to speed up more and more as he continued to focus the raging torrent of fire.
"What's he doing? Why are we speeding up?" Miller asked, as he joined Amy.
"Recipe Twenty Seven, the Inferno Engine." Amy answered. "We've gotten vessels larger than this up to sixty knots before."
"Miller, I think I just remembered who Edwin Waters is." Mr. Robson said suddenly, as he watched the raging fire at the back of the boat, and island that was quickly receding from view. "The Imperial Pyromancer, Sir Edwin Waters."
"Indeed he is." Amy said, smiling. "That's the main reason I didn't just go to the Navy, you know."
"Of course. Couldn't have the Navy find out the Imperial Pyromancer was missing." Mr. Robson said with a nod.
Amy motioned for Captain Miller and Mr. Robson to follow her as she went below deck, leaving Edwin to keep the ship going at a steady pace, while the helmsman made adjustments to stay on course. Once below deck and in the Captain's Cabin, Amy pulled off her hair, revealing much shorter blonde hair beneath the flowing brown locks of her wig. Captain Miller recognized her instantly once the wig was off and he could see the white pattern in her blonde hair, it was Chemical Amy, no doubt about it.
"I apologize for the deception, but I couldn't risk being spotted. I'm Amy Waters yes, but I'm also the head of the Imperial Chemical Weapons Division. Some say I'm the most hated woman in the world, but lest you consider killing me, the Navy knows which ship I left on."
"Miss Waters, you are a paying customer. Who you are is of no concern to us." Captain Miller responded. "I've transported war criminals, Gods, serial killers, you name it."
"Chemical Amy might be the worst one we've transported so far, though." Mr. Robson said with a bow.
"Oh please, my supposed evil is much over exaggerated." Amy said with a laugh. "I merely make the weapons, it's up to the Imperial Army on what they do with them. I'm no more guilty than a gunsmith is."
After she finished talking, Amy put the brown wig back on, tapping it a few times until it stuck in place. She held a finger up to her lips and just winked as a sailor walked in.
"We should be clear of this archipelago within a couple hours, Captain. Mister Edwin said he'll come down to talk with you all then."
Shortly after, Amy's 2 children ran in behind the sailor, looking very excited.
"Mommy! Daddy's here!" The two of them yelled. "We found him!"
"Yes, we did." Amy said, giving her two young children a hug, as they practically shook with excitement. "Don't bother your father right now, he's very busy. He'll come see you later, okay?"
Amy gave each of her kids a kiss on the head, and ushered them out of the room and back to Beatrice. When she turned back around, she could see Captain Miller and Robson had much more serious looks on their face, and she nodded, closing the door.
"You want to know why I revealed who I am." She said.
Miller nodded, but said nothing.
"You can keep the money Sirene gave you, as the ICWD will be paying you handsomely for this. Now that I know your ship is special, I would like to purchase your services. Permanently."
Miller and Robson glanced at each other, before Miller spoke.
"Doing what, exactly?"
"Transporting base ingredients for poison gas, chemical weapons, and anything else the ICWD needs. Manifests will be specific to the gram, and all shipments will be loaded and sealed by our local agents. All you need to do is deliver it to the Military Docks at Port Nautitus or Point Thoryn, depending on the cargo. Anything else you wish to load on the ships will be quite up to you, but no passengers." Amy answered, placing her hands on the table, and smiling.
"Rates?" Robson asked immediately.
"One hundred thousand Imperial Dollars per voyage."
"We'll have to think this over." Miller said.
"Of course, take your time." Amy answered, reaching into her dress and pulling out a vial. "I wish I got to try this on the mermaids, though. Too bad they were so helpful."
"What's that?" Robson asked, eyeing the vial full of liquid.
"My newest creation, it turns into a gas when exposed to air. The effects are... well, that's classified."
"She's not evil, she says." Miller replied, crossing his arms. "Listen to yourself. You were willing to unleash a poison gas on two mermaids if they weren't helpful. What is it about the Empire that makes even the most reasonable people abandon all of their morals?"
"I must agree. Experimenting on a pair of mermaids who were purposely getting our attention? What's wrong with you, Amy?" Robson added, shaking his head.
"I'm not part of the lucky ones who can use magic, so I must make do." Amy answered sternly, putting away the vial. "What would a mage have done in those circumstances?"
Miller nodded, understanding. "Of course."
"Not all of my discoveries are weapons. Remember how Edwin yelled about recipe twenty-seven? It's a type of powder I discovered that greatly magnifies magical flames, making even the weakest fire mage into a force of nature. When given to the most powerful fire mage of this generation, you get the Inferno Engine. I'm also in the middle of something that might save millions of lives from starvation, if we can get rid of the side effects"
"Really?" Miller asked, leaning forward.
"It improves crop yields significantly if used by a creation mage so don't mistake me for some kind of war maniac. The problem right now is it makes the crops quite lethal to elves and dwarves."
"I think we got the wrong first impression, Robson." Miller said. "She's not a murderer, she's just a mad scientist."
Robson nodded in response, but Amy just sighed.
"I can't argue with that, I suppose."
Amy continued to explain to Miller and Robson some of her less war focused discoveries and inventions over the course of the following two hours. She said to them that while the chemical weapons were no doubt her most well known ones, they were by no means her favourite ones, as she much rather preferred that no wars be fought. Eventually, they felt the ship starting to slow down, and Edwin entered the room, with a big bushy beard.