The Lost Star's Sea

by C. Litka

  02

  It had taken seven rounds to equip the Complacent Dragon for the expedition. The Pela Committee had the expedition designed even before the Complacent Dragon arrived. Botts had been printing items for it almost as soon as they learned of the islands. The project swung into high gear as soon as The Hermitage's passenger guests departed. We assembled four large radar drones to greatly extend the search radius of the ship once we reached the island's estimated position. We also assembled several hundred tiny radio beacons that we'd leave behind each round, to track air currents and hopefully provide a radio-crumb trail home. A lab/command center was installed in the cargo hold that could monitor Botts's survey in real time and analyze the samples it collected.

  The remainder of the hold was filled with consumable supplies - from food to rockets, plus plenty of spare parts for an extended voyage in an Endless Sky. The cases of scanned books we were to return to the Principalities were piled into two spare cabins. I installed an advanced radar unit and an auto-pilot system that would allow Botts, or the Committee, to pilot the ship from anywhere aboard.

  Captain LyeCarr and his crew were eager volunteers, along with CrisJarka, a well known and highly regarded scholar of early Saraime history, who would be Botts' liaison and lab manager aboard the ship when Botts was off exploring.

  So it was seven rounds after her arrival, that the Complacent Dragon put The Hermitage astern, and with her course set, spun up her propellers for the Outward Islands and the Principalities beyond.

  Shipboard routine settled into a rather typical Laezan mode, which is to say that other than Captain LyeCarr being in charge of the ship, everything else was done as a community. LyeCarr, who enjoyed his meals, was delighted to discover that Naylea was an excellent chef, and had made certain that the already well stock galley had every ingredient she thought she'd need. And I used my considerable charm to get her to program her signature entrees from our castaway days into the ship's synth-galley as well, since once she, Py, and likely Trin, left us in the Dontas, we'd be relying on it a lot more. I'm happy to report that the Complacent Dragon's synth-galley was not connected to the ship's sanitary system, but relied on rice and dried beans for its organic matter.

  Besides pitching in for meals, everyone, except the dragons, stood watches on the bridge.

  'We don't want to grow fatter and slacker than we are already,' said LyeCarr when Botts pointed out that it could steer the ship alone for the entire voyage. He did however allow Botts to steer from the wardroom during the main meal so we could all enjoy it together. Indeed, we added a second watchperson on the bridge. Trin, of course, was an experienced wide-sky navigator and Naylea had learned the trade as an advocate working in the SaraDals. With next to nothing to do as an engineer, I took the opportunity to sail the wide-sky from the bridge and Py volunteered because he was looking ahead to when he and Trin would take to the road together. Nothing had been said about their plans, perhaps because it wouldn't seem proper, but if they wanted to travel the islands, they could do so, and earn coins, as sailors. Trin could easily find a bridge berth, while Py - well, I told him that if he didn't mind shoveling black-cake, he'd find plenty of work leading wayward stokers to the Way feeding the boiler. CrisJarka felt it prudent to take lessons as well, since there would be only be six or seven of us continuing on to DeAnjen's Islands. So we all were taught how to steer and keep the ship on the course set by the gyroscope and photo-electric bug-eye. We also had to keep an eye on the sky. Serratas did not always show up on radar unless they included either a lot of debris or rain, so the watch officer needed to keep an eye on the sky, looking for any irregularities - a darker smudge or shimmering of the sky that might indicate a storm. The endless sea was cloudless, so any variance in the uniform pale blue-green sky was of some concern.

  We quickly settled into a pattern of standing our watches on the bridge, preparing and then enjoying fine meals squeezed into the ship's wardroom while Botts conned the ship. And we played games - the dragons insisted on that. And we talked. Defere was a true fine-feathered barbarian - a native of one of the Aeracarta Islands, so we had a chance to learn a bit of the history and culture of those far ranging people. Bomtrand was a native of a drift world, and had many old spaceer stories to tell as well. CrisJarka was rather quiet, but always willing to talk about the ancient history of the Saraime. And of course, there was LyeCarr, who, unlike Trin, was full of stories of desperate danger and adventure from their Academy years to the years of the bitterly fought counterrevolution - their close calls and near successes that eventually whittled down the forces of the old regime to the three hundred or so we found on Redoubt Island. With Botts on board, I could still talk with my old shipmates and both Naylea and I could send and receive radio-packets to and from friends and family.

  So the watches slipped by, and with them, the rounds, largely unnoticed, save in the ship's log - watch, meal, talk and games, sleep, meal, talk, watch? And the empty sky slipped by as well, also unnoticed, league after league until we neared the Outward Islands.