"Of course," He replied, easily enough. Ace knew if he gave orders for someone to stay back and defend right off the bat, most folks would resist and some would probably try to get out of it and run to join the combat on the island. He didn't want to give anybody that kind of opportunity. Zeff volunteering had been a welcome to him.

"Which is good, 'cause I dunno how many times I can pull the bait and switch with our crew. Everyone's a lot smarter than my original set of Spades."