Kragor rolled his eyes and remained silent. Kaytlin returned with drinks and then, a few moments later, meals. Dexter handed her a gold piece, far more than the simple fare was worth, but he had a point to prove. She could not hide her surprise and went away a little less suspicious than before.
After they ate Kragor took a deep breath. Dexter grinned and nodded towards the kitchen. “Alright, but remember I warned ya!” The dwarf said, hopping up off his chair.
As though he was a doomed sailor walking the plank, Kragor trudged towards the kitchen. He expected disaster at any moment. Dexter watched him, part anxious for his friend, part anxious for himself, and part amused. Kragor made a fine example of why a smart man stayed single.
Dexter sipped his ale cautiously, waiting. Kragor disappeared through the door into the kitchen several minutes before the first sound of a pan striking something – Dexter hoped it was the stove or a wall – could be heard. Less than a minute later the door to the kitchen flew open and Jodyne came stomping out of it, her red hair and beard a testimony to her fiery nature.
She stomped up to Dexter and glared at him. “Dexter Silvercloud, what’s this nonsense you’ve got my husband talking about?”
Kragor walked out of the kitchen then, a slight bit unsteady on his feet and a growing welt on his forehead where something cast in iron had crashed into him. Dexter could not help but laugh.
“What’re you for?” Jodyne demanded, hands on her hips. “Think you this is funny, do ya?”
Dexter held up his hands. “No, no, Jodyne, this is what Kragor told me to expect is all, I’m laughing because he was right and I was wrong.”
“You was wrong, was you? What did you say?”
Kragor looked at Dexter pleadingly from behind and was motioning frantically for him to shut up.
“Jodyne, please forgive me, I said you’d given up hope on him and that it was a waste of time,” Dexter said, his tone and expression apologetic. “I said we needed you for our ship, but there was no way you’d be agreeing to it.”
Jodyne glared at him and then turned to Kragor, who tucked his hands into his beard and stared longingly at her. “He don’t deserve me,” Jodyne said.
“Aye, that has the ring of truth to it.”
Jodyne whirled on Dexter. “And you neither!” she said. “You’re the one always pulling him off on one fool adventure or another!”
Dexter had the good grace to look shamed. He reached down to the sack of coins that Kragor had pulled from the loose board on the ant and tossed it on the table. “What you say is true, Jodyne.”
She stared at the bag as though her lethal glare would reveal the contents of it. It had made a resounding and metallic noise when it landed. “That’s some of what we’ve made so far, just the two of us without a crew. We’re putting a crew together now, and we want you on it.”
Jodyne snatched up the bag and opened it, looking inside to satisfy her curiosity. She handed it back to Dexter, amazed, and then turned to look at Kragor. “I’d never turn me back on you,” she said after a moment. Kragor smiled at her, hopefully. “You’re just so thick-skulled at times, it’s hard getting you to know what’s best!”
Kragor nodded and stepped closer to her. Dexter gave him a thumbs up and winked over Jodyne’s back. She stepped closer to him and gave him a hug, earning a round of applause and cheers from the growing crowd of customers and staff. Unfortunately this also brought the attention of Master Twinver and he walked out of his office.
“What’s this about?” He shouted. His eyes fell on Dexter and his cheeks flared red with anger. He moved through the crowd until he stood on the far side of the table from the source of his irritation.
“You,” Jodyne said, turning and pointing her finger at Dexter. Master Twinver’s open mouth issued no sound as the threatening voice boomed out of Jodyne’s mouth. “You’ll not be taking my husband off on any more fool-headed adventures… least not without me there to keep you boys to heel.”
Dexter nodded. “Yes ma’am,” he said. “Now come see what Kragor’s done, you’ll be right proud of him, I promise.”
She peered at him suspiciously then nodded, taking off her apron and tossing it to the inn’s owner. “You’ll be needing a new cook, Master Twinver.”
His mouth opened and closed as he searched for words. The three of them left the inn with him still trying to figure out what just happened.
* * * *
Dexter piloted the ship with as much skill as ever, impressing his new crew as they skirted around asteroids seemingly destined to crush them. When he put them down in the shadowed depression on the asteroid they stared at the Hawk’s Talon, impressed. Even Dexter was speechless and he had seen it only two weeks prior.
Kragor had repaired the hull completely using the spare lumber. A small pile of it was still stocked beside the ship. A proper gangplank, constructed from ground to the deck, offered them a somewhat steep means of access. Dexter could only imagine what sort of repairs had been made on the deck and inside.
“Where’s the rest of the crew,” Jenna asked once they had set down.
“We run lean to maximize profits,” Dexter said, as though there was nothing odd about the thought.
“You can’t fly a trader with only five people!” Jenna said. They size of her eyes showed she thought he was mad.
“I can fly it with just me,” Dexter assured her. “She won’t turn so well, but she’ll fly.”
Jenna closed her eyes and turned away, biting her next words off.
Bekka stared at it and smiled. “I think it’s beautiful.”
Kragor grinned at her praise, knowing it had a ways to go yet, but for all of that, it had come even farther largely due to his hard work.
“You did all this?” Jodyne asked him.
“I helped him,” Dexter said, “but Kragor knew what needed doing and showed me what to do. He’s rigged it up special too, so it needs fewer people but responds better.”
“It looks heavy,” Jenna said.
“Aye,” Kragor said. “I make her about five over. Some extra room and better rigging.”
“Built to dock on land or water?” Bekka asked as they got close and she saw it was not in a dry dock, but rather it had its own landing struts and a flat bottom to it.
Kragor told her it was so, and added that the wings had been changed with a pivoting mount that would allow them to rotate enough aid in a sharper turn. He went on to say that the vertical fin had been lowered somewhat to allow for a lower gravity plane on the vessel. Kragor pointed all of these things out as they approached it, not hiding his pride at how impressed they all were with his accomplishments.
Up on the deck of the ship Dexter took in the sights and saw that again Kragor had outdone himself. A lot of it needed sanding down still, but the broken planks had been fixed and the deck was sound. Kragor led them below, taking the forward stairs down, which had been changed from the space-consuming angled staircase to a circular one. Dexter looked to Kragor and grinned, making the dwarf glow with pride. He pointed to the second door, which was the captain’s room on their right, the starboard side, just before the bridge. Dexter glanced in and nodded. It had a sizeable bunk, a small table with a chair, and a large chest in it.
The bridge was next, which was where the helm rested as well as a large table for meetings and going over charts. Shuttered windows offered a view of the void, or would offer it when they were flying and the shutters were thrown back.
On the other side of the bow companionway was a smaller bedroom with a bunk, a small table that dropped from the wall and used the bunk as a chair, and a chest for personal belongings. Bekka volunteered to take it, stating that she did not need much room and would like to be close to the helm in case she was needed on it. No one could fault her reasoning. She dropped her stuff off while the rest moved on.
Next to Dexter’s room there was another door in front of the spiral staircase. Kragor showed Jodyne into their bedroom, which possessed a bunk large
enough for the two dwarves to sleep comfortably, and similar creature comforts to what Dexter’s cabin had, save it possessed two trunks. Dexter clapped him on the shoulder in good humor, glad to see that his friend had planned for his wife joining them.
Across the hall from the stairway was another small room, this one containing the ship’s head. It looked functional, and Kragor assured them it was, so they moved on.
On most traders there is a hallway and a door into the room Kragor and Jodyne were using. By changing the stairs and moving the door Kragor had freed up several feet of space to use to enlarge one of the cargo holds. Instead of the bedroom it had once been, it now resembled a cargo hold once again, including the trap door in the ceiling allowing cargo to be loaded into it from the main deck. The opposite side of the companionway possessed the other cargo hold, this one every bit as authentic and original as what it had been built like when first commissioned. The only thing of note in the port cargo hold was the light ballista resting in the middle of the room.
Aft of the twin cargo holds, on the port side, lay the sail locker. Beyond it, to the aft, was the aft stairway.
Across from the sail locker lay another room. This one was the largest yet, save for the cargo holds, and had racks and shelves placed throughout it for weapons, armor, and supplies. Jenna surveyed the room for a long moment, long enough for the others to move on while she studied the small collection of weapons Kragor had already placed in the racks.
“I’ll sleep here,” she said.
Dexter and the others turned back. “What? In here?”
“Yes. You want me to be your Armmistress, I ‘spect to be in charge of the weapons on the ship. Makes sense I handle the supplies too. Best way I see of doing that is in making it my room,” she explained.
Dexter nodded and smiled. “Good thinking.”
“Kragor, can you help her out?” Dexter asked, stepping aside so the dwarf could look into the room.
He tugged his beard then nodded. “Aye, I can get a bunk in here quick enough, build a drop table, grab a chest… that hold ya?”
Jenna nodded. “Yes.”
“Right, well, I’ll get started in a minute. Captain, the rest?”
Dexter nodded and let Kragor show him the final four rooms of the vessel. They were under the stern castle now, allowing for taller ceilings in the aft rooms. The first door on the right, which was the port side, was the pantry and galley. Jodyne looked at everything within and nodded that it would do.
The next door was on the back wall and opened into a room some twelve feet deep by twenty four feet wide. Dexter counted ten bunks and matching chests, with the lower a few feet off the ground and the upper closer to six feet up. The ceiling was another six feet up from the top bunk, offering the possibility of additional bedding for up to five more, should the need arise for additional crew.
The final two doors were across from the galley. Each room was roughly the size of the captain’s quarters, if not a bit larger, and each was equipped as a bedroom. Dexter nodded at seeing the staterooms, appreciating his friend’s recognition that they might, at times, be carrying important passengers.
They gathered together again back up on the deck so they could begin to understand their duties before going about them. “Kragor, what’s your best guess at an optimal crew size?”
“Optimal?” The dwarf asked, tugging his beard in his trademark fashion. “If’n we’re all being counted, I’d say we need a couple of deckhands to help with the rigging.”
Dexter nodded. “But you think we can sail her as she is?”
Kragor nodded, “Aye, she’ll sail… but you still be needing some power in the ship to handle tactical speeds. Once we get up in the void we can let the sails take over, getting there’s the trick.”
Dexter turned to Bekka and asked, “Can you put some magic into the ship?”
The half-elf paled at the request, but she nodded. Dexter watched her a moment then figured he would ask her later. “Alright, Kragor you’ve got work to do, anybody not doing anything else please help him. Jenna, inventory the weapons and let me know what else you need. Make sure you and Bekka are both armed as well.”
Dexter glanced down at his own empty waist and grinned foolishly. “Guess I’d best be getting some too!”
He turned to Jodyne and smiled. “Jodyne, tell me what you need for the galley. Kragor, when you get a moment, I need to know how much canvas I need to buy for the sails.”
He paused, studying the three women before asking, “Um, someone knows how to stitch the sails, right?”
Jenna rolled her eyes and very softly muttered something in her native tongue, but said nothing.
Bekka smirked, either at Jenna’s actions and words or at Dexter’s question. “Yes, Captain, I can stitch and show anyone who would like to help,” she said.
Dexter smiled. “Good! Well then, let’s get to work!”
* * * *
Having no charts or plans, Dexter spent much of his time helping Kragor with the remaining work. Bekka approached him after they secured a bunk to Jenna’s room. Dexter told her to follow him and they walked up to the front near the helm.
“It’s a good helm, Captain,” Bekka began. “I charged the ship as best I could and I’m needing some rest now. It’ll be several days of charging before it’ll be ready to fly and, truth be told, I don’t much like the feeling of having my magic drained out of me like that.”
Dexter nodded. “I understand. I’m planning on picking up a battery to help, but that comes last. We’re running low on money and all we’ve got is dry rations for food and no sails yet.”
“Yes Sir,” she said. “I’ll do my best.”
Dexter saw the troubled look on her face and opened his mouth to ask what it was about channeling her magic in the helm that bothered her, but decided now wasn’t the time.
“It’s different for those like me,” she explained.
Dexter fought the urge to jump and wondered if she’d read his mind.
“Wizards and priests learn their power, it’s not natural. Those like me, sorceresses and the like, magic comes natural to us, and to have it drained out of us like that is uncomfortable.”
Dexter bit his lip and nodded. “I can’t say I understand, since I don’t have your gift, but I will say that as soon as we can do it another way we will. That’s all I can promise.”
She nodded. “That will do, Captain. Thank you.”
Dexter paused at the door and turned back. “Bekka, have you and Jenna met before?”
Bekka smiled. “No, she dislikes me because I’m a half-breed. I’m impure, to her. You and even Kragor are better than I am.”
“Because we’re pure?” Dexter asked.
Bekka nodded. “It is the way with elves. Many races feel that way, but none so strongly as elves.”
Dexter nodded, thinking about it. “I’ve only seen a few half elves in my life,” he admitted.
“You’ve only recognized a few, many take pains to disguise themselves.”
“Fair enough,” Dexter admitted. “Being shunned like that must put a lot of hate in a person.”
Bekka smiled. “You keep passing tests, Captain.”
Dexter returned her smile and said, “Get some rest, not much you can do to help right now, I don’t reckon.”
Back in Jenna’s room Kragor worked on building a table that would fold down from the wall. Meanwhile Jenna was doing her best to ignore him. When Dexter entered she turned to face him.
“I need some parchment to write down our supplies and some ink and a quill, or at least some charcoal,” she told him.
Dexter had no chance to hide his surprised look. “You mean to keep track with books?”
“You want it done right?” she asked.
“It’s only us on the ship, I trust you to run it right.”
She shrugged. “You do a lot of trusting.”
“I do,” he admitted, winking at her. “Let me know when it’s a bad idea.”
&n
bsp; She opened her mouth then closed it. At a sudden loss for words she turned back to the weapons and, with her back to him, asked, “What do you need?”
“A decent sword, a couple of knives, and a pistol,” he said, rattling off his standard fare.
She gathered the equipment and handed it to him one item at a time. Dexter set the weapons on her cot when he realized he could not hold them all at once. She handed him a weapon belt with a scabbard on it last. With the belt on he tied the daggers, already in sheaths, to it and slid the sword home. The pistol he tucked through the belt and then tied on the two small sacks containing fire powder and lead balls for shot.
“Arm yourself then join me on the deck, I’d like to see how good you are,” Dexter said.
Jenna looked at the weapons and shrugged. She grabbed a longsword, a dagger, and a pistol. Dexter noted she already had secured a belt around her waist. He made his way up the staircase and onto the deck, followed closely by the elf warrior. He stopped finally and drew his blade, turning to face her.
Jenna drew hers and looked at it, frowning a little. He lunged forward, certain she would not be caught off guard. He was right. She turned his blade aside and countered, striking back at him, which he dodged.
The two fought for several minutes, testing each other out and noting strengths and weaknesses. Jenna was skilled enough with the longsword, but her skill was nothing that left him speechless. She was good enough to kill the average man, Dexter knew, but he had hoped for a little more out of her. Finally, both of them sweating, Dexter held up his hand to signal an end to the fight.
Voidhawk Page 5
