John Ringo - Council Wars 02 - Emerald Sea

by Emerald Sea(lit)

  "Vick, let Herzer do landing control," Jerry said. "We all need to learn, but I don't think right now is the best time."

  "Agreed," Vickie replied, massaging her shoulder. "Those flags really get to you after a while. How do you do it, Herzer?"

  Herzer frowned at her, puzzled for a moment, then laughed.

  "Vickie, once you've trained to hold a shield and sword up for four hours, straight, this is nothing," he said, flexing his shoulders slightly. It was apparent that they were corded with muscle.

  "Time to start working out." Jerry chuckled. "Okay, I'm going to take Shep up. You stay here and watch the landing. When Koo takes off, go get Yazov and you follow Koo. As each of us lands we watch the next person's landing."

  * * *

  By evening the riders were covered in sweat and the dragons had started to lose their interest in the game. When Koo had to be waved off twice and Nebka nearly dumped on the second wave off Jerry called the training.

  "Skipper," Jerry said climbing the ladder down to the quarterdeck, "we're going to pack it in for the day. I think we've gotten all the training the dragons are up for today."

  "Agreed Warrant," Colonel Chang said. "Good job."

  "Thank you, sir," Jerry replied with a tired grin. He had stripped off his helmet and his hair was dripping with sweat despite the cool wind from the north. "With your permission we'll launch a dragon for top cover tomorrow around dawn and start working out scouting mission methods. We also need to start working out a signaling system."

  "There are various things to figure out," the skipper replied with a thoughtful frown. "I'd like to come up with a way to recover them at night, and we still need to work out a way for them to effectively attack ships, that sort of thing. I think we'll have a dinner meeting this evening. Before then, get yourself cleaned up and get some rest."

  "Yes, sir," the warrant officer said, saluting. "Permission to leave the bridge?"

  "Granted," the skipper replied.

  * * *

  "Dragon returning off the port beam," the lookout called.

  "He's signaling," the communications midshipman added, looking through his binoculars. "Two figure eights on the dip." He consulted a table and nodded to himself. "That's 'group of delphinos.' "

  "Bearing looks to be about one-seven-zero," Commander Mbeki amplified as the dragon flapped nearer. "Eight of them."

  "Probably just dolphins," the skipper said. "But at least the signaling system works."

  "Herzer's preparing to launch with Warrant Officer Riadou," Mbeki said. "I'm heading up to pri-fly."

  "This should be interesting," the skipper said and smiled at the chuckles it elicited.

  * * *

  Herzer hadn't been on a dragon since the first flight but he found his position on Shep easily enough. The extended rein system was confusing at first but he soon found his holds. The reins had been extended so that Jerry had his own set behind Herzer and could take over if needed.

  "Just let me handle the takeoff," Riadou said. "I tested this out with Vickie and we shouldn't have trouble. But stay away from motions until we're airborne and I tell you you can take over."

  "Okay," Herzer said.

  The wyvern hopped to the launch platform and grabbed the launching baulk automatically. The wyverns had come to enjoy the takeoffs, at least the first few of the day. It was a good game until it became tiring.

  Herzer gripped the straps and looked at the launching officer. The position had been taken over by one of the ship's petty officers since there were insufficient riders to man it. The PO caught both their eyes and their thumbs up, then hit the release.

  Herzer had pointed his face forward and gasped as the wyvern was hurtled forward and suddenly they were in the air.

  "What a rush!" he yelled with a laugh.

  "That it is," Jerry said. "Almost makes up for the landings."

  Jerry got the wyvern up to about seven hundred meters and then turned the controls over to Herzer.

  "Now just follow my commands," Jerry said. "I know you can sort of control the dragon, but the next time you're up by yourself you've got to get it back on the ship. And that takes a bit more control than your first time."

  "Will do."

  They worked through various flight contours. Level flight, slow spirals up, slow spirals down. Finally Jerry signaled for landing and waited until the ship turned into the wind.

  "Try to line it up on the ship," Jerry said, signaling to the LSO and getting a wave in return.

  "Got it," Herzer said, signaling in turn. He watched the motions of the LSO and grimaced. "I feel like I'm going to overshoot."

  "Watch the LSO," Jerry said. "Don't think. Let the LSO do the thinking for you."

  Herzer tried to control the dragon but he realized he was all over the sky. "I'm not up to this. Yet."

  "True," Jerry replied. "My dragon."

  Herzer let go of the reins and watched the landing. Jerry's handling of Shep was much smoother and in no time they thumped to the deck.

  "I'm going to need a lot more time in the air," Herzer said as they dismounted and the grooms took Shep below. He realized he was sweating even though he had done practically nothing. The landing had been physically debilitating.

  "Yep, you are," Jerry said. "And that's going to be hard to arrange what with everything going on. I hope by the time we get to the Isles you'll be qualified."

  * * *

  As they sailed south it had become warmer and today it was, arguably, hot. Herzer thought about that as he mounted Chauncey and looked over the side. The water was a deep, cerulean blue, like liquid oxygen. The good news was that if he had to dump, the water was at least going to be warm.

  But he put that out of his mind as he gave a thumbs up to the launching officer and looked forward.

  He had gotten used to launchings at this point and paid much more attention to the dragon than the launching. Chauncey took the air easily, though, and he directed him into a spiral up and to the right.

  "Just get up and into landing position," Jerry had told him, so he spiraled the dragon upward until he had good altitude and directed it to the pattern.

  Vickie was being recovered from a recon mission so he waited for her to land, Chauncey gliding at near stall speed on the light winds. He realized that the dragons were becoming more trained to the landings and was considering that aspect when he realized it was his turn to land. He turned on final and waved to the LSO, getting a wave in return. He checked the telltale on the masthead and prepared to correct for the wind being slightly off the starboard side. Joanna had gone for a swim and she was sculling along on her back, watching his approach. On the other hand, it looked like everyone in the ship had fallen out to watch the landing. The crew had gotten used to dragon-flights, but Herzer figured that the first time for a newbie was an event.

  He put that out of his mind, too, and watched the directions from the LSO. Again, Chauncey seemed to anticipate some of his commands, as if he had gotten used to the orders as well. But, while this helped, it was still a bastard to make the landing.

  He saw that cargo nets had been rigged to the rear and sides of the platform and that the recovery team was standing by. Although that was standard procedure as well, it made him chuckle faintly. If he overshot or dumped it, it was going to be heartily embarrassing.

  He automatically corrected as he entered the dead air behind the sails and then he was on final. At what seemed well past the last moment, the LSO waved at the deck and Herzer pulled back simultaneously on all four reins, dropping Chauncey onto the deck like a rock.

  He sat there, panting, and ignored the cheers, just quivering in reaction.

  "Four line," Jerry said, patting him on the leg. "But not bad. Hop her over to the catapult."

  "You mean I have to do that again?" Herzer gasped as the cargo nets were lifted up and out of the way.

  "Welcome to maritime aviation," Jerry replied with a chuckle.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Herze
r did three more landings then switched from Chauncey to Donal. He stripped off the leather helmet the sailmaker had constructed as the wyvern was brought up from below and watched Koo coming in for a landing.

  "Herzer," Jerry called as the wyvern was hopping down the ramp. "Vickie's on sweep. I want you to go up with her. You need to get some experience with unpowered flight."

  Herzer forbore to mention that he'd already had some on the way because he knew what the warrant was talking about. Figuring out how to stress the dragons as little as possible was as important in its own way as learning to land on the ship.

  Herzer approached his new mount cautiously and let it get to know him. Like horses the dragons tended to get used to one rider, but since Treviano had decided he wasn't up to landing on the carrier, Donal had been switched around extensively and it took the new rider phlegmatically.

  Herzer mounted, hopped the wyvern onto the launch platform and again had the tremendous rush of the launching. He then pointed the dragon into a slow, upward spiral towards the distant dot of Yazov high above and forward.

  It took nearly thirty minutes for him to reach her altitude and when he got there he discovered that Vickie had found a thermal and was coasting in a circle. Donal managed to insert himself into her vortex and followed the pattern of the other wyvern more or less automatically.

  The dragon-riders had a complex set of hand signals that amounted to one-handed sign language and, rather than shout across the distance, Vickie made a querying sign.

  Herzer thought long and hard and managed to dredge up the sign for "training" to which Vickie motioned an assent. She pointed down and to the east of the ship and off in the distance he could see a group of whales moving southward. Looking around he saw that the sea was patched with life. There was a large school of baitfish to the southwest that was being harried by birds and what looked to be much larger fish. He pointed to that and motioned at the wyvern with the sign for food but Vickie just shrugged. The ship had onboard facilities for catching fish, a large seine net that could be laid out by the ship's boats as well as harpoons for larger game, but she clearly thought it a waste of time.

  Very far off to the left there was a smudge of land that was probably the coast. It occurred to Herzer, for the first time, that despite the fact that they were paralleling the coast, they weren't staying close in-shore and he didn't know why. He was sure Commander Mbeki could tell him when he landed, assuming he remembered to ask. In the same direction there was a band of water that was a subtly different color than that which the ship was in.

  Finally he just paid attention to the flying. Donal was gliding well, maintaining altitude with only occasional flaps of his wings and breathing easily. Herzer had already noticed that when the dragons tired they tended to heat up and breathe much more heavily. Donal was still cool to the touch and exhibiting no signs of trouble.

  The ship had passed under their constant circle and Vickie made a gesture to the south so they dropped out of the thermal and glided in the wake of the ship. She was looking from side to side and finally found what she was looking for in a group of vultures that were coasting upward. The thermal was off the path of the ship, southeast of its present position, but not far from where it would pass. They banked gently in the direction of the vultures and before they had lost more than five hundred meters they entered the new thermal and spiraled upward on easy flaps of the dragon's wings.

  This pattern continued for, by Herzer's estimate, another three hours until a flag at the mainmast of the ship commanded both of them to return. The ship turned towards the wind, which was from the northwest, and they made an easy landing, Herzer going first.

  "Well, that was interesting," Herzer said as he climbed off Donal and let him be led below. The sun was starting to set in the west and the deck of the ship was already shadowed, which was why they had called in the sweep riders.

  "Anything to see?" Commander Mbeki asked.

  "Not unless you count fish and whales," Vickie answered.

  "Big school of fish in towards land," Herzer amplified. "Can I ask a question?"

  "Go ahead," the commander replied.

  "Why are we so far out?"

  "There's a big current, called the Stream, that hooks around Flora and heads up the coast. It's like a river in the ocean. If we stayed in it, we'd take twice as long to go south; it was worth sailing out to the east to avoid it. When we reach the Isles we'll have to sail back into it since the mer's last reported position was on the western edge of the Isles where the Stream passes between Flora and the Isles."

  "I think I saw it," Herzer said. "The water was different looking."

  "Probably where the school was," the commander offered. "The migrating fish on the coast tend to follow the edge of the Stream. Plankton get caught in the eddies, there's more growth potential in the interface of different temperature waters, and lines of seaweed build up there and provide shelter."

  "How much longer to get to the Isles, sir?" Jerry asked.

  "Well, if we don't have to get off course to launch dragons all the time, about another two days," the commander said with a grin. He looked up at the sky where high clouds had started to cross the sun and frowned. "That's assuming the weather holds and we don't have to heave to."

  * * *

  Herzer slumped into the chair in the wardroom and dragged his helmet off, rubbing at his sweaty head. He'd thought about getting a shower but he was just too bone weary at the moment.

  The door opened up and a steward stuck his head through. It was a new one, a tall, lanky fellow who looked both young and old. Herzer was sure he wouldn't be able to place his age in the right century.

  "Get you anything, sir?" the steward asked.

  "God, would you?" Herzer grinned. "I thought sword work was hard but riding those damned things is harder than it looks. Water? Maybe some tea?"

  "Coming right up," the steward said. "Maybe a bite to eat? There's some cold pork and some ship's crackers I can get my hands on."

  "That'd be great," Herzer said, leaning back as the steward left.

  The man was back in no time and true to his word he brought both water and herbal tea as well as a platter with meat and crackers.

  "Thanks," Herzer said, taking a long pull of the slightly metallic-tasting water and then a bite of cracker. "Join me?"

  "Not done, sir," the steward said, but then picked up one of the crackers and took a bite. "Mostly."

  Herzer chuckled and took another swig of water.

  "You're new."

  "The other guy busted his ankle on a ladder, sir." The steward frowned. "I'm Seaman Annibale."

  "Got a first name, Seaman Annibale?" Herzer asked.

  "Joel, sir."

  "Ever flown on a dragon?"

  "No, sir," Joel answered. "I used to be a sailor before the Fall. And after, but as a fisherman then."

  "So what the hell are you doing as a steward?" Herzer frowned.

  "You know, sir, everyone asks me that," Joel grinned. "I suppose I ought to go find the idiot that did it and thank him one dark night." He paused for a moment and then shrugged. "You're with the general's party, right, sir?"

  "Yeah," Herzer replied and then stuck out his hand. "Herzer Herrick."

  "Really?" Joel said, smiling. "The Herzer Herrick?"

  "Oh, gods," Herzer groaned.

  "I mean, I've been reading this book..."

  "Oh, gods..." Herzer groaned again. "Not you, too?"

  "I mean, the guy's not a particularly good writer..."

  "So I've heard," Herzer replied. "And if I ever track him down..."

  "Did you really kill fifteen guys?" Joel asked, sitting down.

  "Not there," Herzer said then grimaced. "Look, the book was way overblown, okay? I just did my job."

  "But that's where you got the hook, right?" Joel asked.

  "Yes, that's where I got the hook. But it was six riders, okay? Not fifteen. And Bast got most of them. And, yeah, we were outnumbered, but the Changed did
n't cover the valley 'like a rippling wave.' There were... a few hundred. Look, you ever been in a fight, I mean, where people are trying to kill you?"

  "Yeah," Joel answered, soberly. "And I've seen a few dead bodies in my time."

  "Ever had a friend killed before your eyes?" Herzer asked, not waiting for a reply. "Look, it's just butchery, okay? It happens to be butchery I'm good at. I don't know what that says about me except... I'm good at staying alive. A lot of people that day, and other days, that were just as good as me bought the farm. Sometimes it just seems like luck. But if you've been there, you know that."