by J P Nelson
The middle section of G-deck was also full of hydroponics, but these units were growing various vegetables, experimentally, to see which ones would be best for the big voyage … which would not begin for a year or two … the way I understood it. First was to find the Kelshinua, the ship with my momma’s name on it.
The back section was separated by another bulkhead. Wesney showed me an open area saying, “This is going to be our dairy.”
“Huh?”
He pointed around and explained, “There will be two levels of ramps and ledges for goats to do their thing. They will be milked and cheese and butter will be made. Over here, this area is going to be partitioned off for … what is the matter?”
I was shaking my head, “Wesney, this is all great, but it’s too much to take in all at one time. I’m overwhelmed.”
“Which part?”
With hands wide I glanced at the floor, walls, ceiling, “All of it.”
That’s when I saw the door behind some crates. Looking to Wesney I was apprehensive, “The rudder should be on the other side of that wall … is it another …?”
Wesney wrinkled his lips, then said, “It is like the front, only this is where the Marines will stay.”
“A whole company?”
He nodded, “Three full platoons plus their own command cadre; one hundred thirty personnel.”
I put up my hands again, “Can we go by the galley now? You can explain it all to me then.”
His face lit up and he led me to the galley. Wesney always gets excited when he can explain things. I still don’t understand most of what he said. My first big question is, how they get the water in there in the first place, and it’s all fresh water. As to the extra space that doesn’t radiate magic, how does it work and how can you trust it?
Thankfully, I don’t need to understand it. It just works.
I let my gaze go to the bowsprit figurehead … that beautiful elf woman with the flowing tunic, feathers flowing off of her shoulders to each side until they faded into the hull … it made me catch my breath. Giving careful study, I wondered at the way the tunic seemed to shape way down the front of the stem, tapering its way under and past the waterline. It was a mottled gray material, very similar to my dagger. Yup … ver-r-r-ry similar.
There’s so much more, but I’ll just have to cover it as we go.
As I stepped upon the gangway to embark the Lohra Lai, I knew I was in for a long and interesting ride.
Chapter 75
WHEN WE SUBDUED the Chikried and rescued those fifty-three young girls, we learned over half had been brought aboard from varied small ports along southern Aeshea, nineteen of them from the Sian town of Yhonder. It’s nothing compared to the port-city of N’Ville, but it’s Sian’s main connection with the trade ships of the Argos Ocean and is growing. But here is the kicker, for me on a personal level, anyway … of the nineteen, fourteen girls came down by a small caravan from the young mountain mining town of Hagers, eleven of which were brought from Gevard and surrounding area.
When the girls from Gevard saw me, half of them started screaming. It made me step back and look around to see what was wrong. Two of the girls spoke the Longish tongue, which is Wesney’s native tongue, and he learned one of the men who caught them was an elf who looked a whole lot like me.
My first thought was, ‘My twin …after all this time, a reference to my twin brother.’ On the other hand, I didn’t like what I heard, that he had helped to capture these girls, and the things he had done to them. Then I thought about some of my dreams. Sometimes the one who looked just like me turned out to be L’Sol. I tried to shake it out of my head.
Wesney finally convinced them I wasn’t the same … and after all, all elves looked alike. Well, that’s what he told them. He said to me from the aside, “It is the only thing I could say to really help calm them down about you.”
My response was, “Thanks a lot,” but I did understand. Humans just aren’t that observationally perceptive. You can’t really blame them for a species defect.
Jha’Ley offered the Foljur Council to transport the group of girls taken in Yhonder back to Yhonder … that doesn’t sound right to say, does it? Do you ever wonder who comes up with these names? The Lohri was headed there, anyway.
During the journey I got to talk with the girls, but always in the company of someone else. Even though Wesney convinced most of them I wasn’t the guy, a couple were six and seven and no amount of words was going to change their mind. I wanted to know everything I could about this elf.
There wasn’t much to say, really, he was a scout for the group, but a man named Lexin had been in charge. One girl remembered the reason they were taken was in penance for her father keeping books and scrolls hidden, when written words were now against the law. Her father had been made to watch his wife and daughter get raped, then he was burned, then the girl was put into a wagon. She had no idea what happened to her mother.
Damn!
So what was going to happen to the girl, I wondered? Was there a name for the elf? She didn’t remember. I got the idea she wasn’t going home to Gevard.
There was a girl from the Hagers group who did not come from Gevard, but from a small farm community to the east and mature for her thirteen years of age … of course, up there they often got married at that age. As I was about to turn away she came up and took hold of my sleeve.
I turned and saw she had a pleading, defeated look about her, “Sir, sir … I’m Dorna.”
She looked rough, like the rest of them. I couldn’t help notice she had a well-grown ample figure about her. No doubt she must have really had it rough. Dorna looked to be, or at least had been, a fighter with lots of spirit. Rape is never about sex, it’s about control, violence, and domination … not necessarily in that order. She would be the kind these men would feast over. Then when broken, she would be discarded like a used rag.
“Yes, Dorna?”
“I can … I can tell you about the ones … the men … who brought us down from Hagers …”
Right then, right at that moment I was wrapped in thoughts of Lexin and … and the one who looked like me. I wasn’t concerned about the others. I thought to myself, ‘Shaels, that isn’t right …’ and instantly rebuked myself. What was wrong with me? One moment I’m running across the rooftops to save a little girl I don’t even know, then the next …
I could see her looking into my face, reading me. With a withdrawing sob she asked, “Do you not want to know …” she started backing away, “… do you not care?”
That cut to the core and jolted me from my own thoughts, “Yes! Yes, I care. Come here and sit down and tell me.”
So we sat at a table and I poured her some tea. G’Tabb was there and he came and sat with us. He’s a powerfully comforting presence, that G’Tabb. And he was already popular with the girls, what with his many stories and grandfatherly attendance.
She talked and we listened. A couple of the others took courage in Dorna’s talking and joined us, adding their own comments. It was little enough we learned, but the talking was good for them.
The group leader from Hagers insisted on being called Sensei, whatever that means, and being treated like royalty. The girls explained he did nothing around camp except drink cheap ale and smoke Ashley Weed. Dorna saw him sometimes take a tube out of his tunic and sniff something white up his nose.
She said, “He never could talk in big sentences. All he wanted to talk about was how he was a world champion … and we should be proud to … to … to do it with him …” she faltered.
Resa, a girl of only eleven years added, “Because he was a world champion.”
I was curious, “World champion of what?”
Dorla thought a moment and replied, “He never told us.”
A third girl commented, “They were all world champions.”
“Oh?! All of them?”
Resa said, “That’s what they said. One boy, he had to be sixteen, maybe, kept swinging a long skinny st
ick around and over his head and all around and everything. He was such an idjit.”
“Does he have a name?”
Dorla hurriedly replied, “They called him Kreso. We got into a fight once. He hid.”
“He hid? Did the sensei guy fight?”
Resa exaggerated a rolling eye look, “My gods no. He was with Sissy-Krissy hiding.”
I wanted to chuckle, but didn’t know if this was a good time. They were all very serious and pawpaw, as G’Tabb called himself to the girls, was all serious too. He made it look easy.
“Did Kreso …” I looked to each of the girls, “… did he …?”
Dorla nodded for the group, “All of us. Sensei said to him it was good training …” She sobbed and covered her eyes. The girl was not having it easy. It made me want to reach out and hold her, comfort her and let her know it would be alright.
Resa offered, “Mister Sheets didn’t touch us …”
I asked, “Who is Mister Sheets?”
Dorla replied, “He’s as tall as you, but bald … and, and lots more muscles than Sensei.” She looked to Resa with scorn, “He didn’t touch, but he turned his eyes away when that bastard did … he was even in the same tent and just, just put his hand over his eyes … he could have stopped him if he wanted to …”
I leaned back and raised my eyebrows and exchanged looks with G’Tabb. Sheets sounded like a weakfish.
I thought, ‘World champions? Any world championship they had couldn’t be worth much. And who said they were world champions in the first place?’
It didn’t get any tougher than Dahruban, and as far as I know, nobody like what these girls were describing had come through the ranks. Of course, I had been gone for a while, but still … nobody of the coliseum or pits would hide from a fight, even the worst of them.
“Can anyone tell us what this Sensei looks like?”
Dorla said, “He’s tall, as tall as Bosun Caroll …”
Resa added, “… but skinny, and he wears short hair with a long skinny braid down his back …”
Dorla again, “… and when his shirt is off, you can see a tattoo on his chest.”
I scrunched my eyebrows and turned my head a bit, “A tattoo on his chest?” I’m thinking, ‘Lots of men have tattoos.’
Resa was uncomfortable, “It was a picture of him with his foot in the air right there …” she pointed to my left chest.”
Dorla tossed her hair with indignation, “I saw it a lot.”
Resa looked at her emphatically, “We all did.”
I had to get out of there. Back up on main-deck G’Tabb came up beside me and offered me a swig from his personal flask.
We were quiet for a minute, then in a friendly voice he said, “I mind you to be careful.”
“What do you mean?”
“That Dorla is a victim, but she is a long way from innocent.”
I turned to give him a stare as he added, “She has a bit of a crush on you. She is trying to use the incident to lay a trap for you.”
“A trap …?”
He had a hand up, “I am not saying it ill of her, it is probably the way of her folk. But this has messed her young mind and she has a bridle and saddle ready to snatch you up with.”
I was just looking at him as he continued, “It is not love, and it is dangerous. She means you for a husband, mostly for protection. I have seen it happen … wa-a-ay too many times.”
There was an edge to my voice I didn’t intend. If he caught up on it, he didn’t let on, “Wouldn’t your mind be messed up if you had been repeated raped … night by night … until …” I closed my eyes tightly and felt my head tremble as I growled under my breath.
G’Tabb was calm and slow to answer, “I do not know, son, it has never happened to me. One cannot know anything like that until they have actually gone through it. But I know it messes the mind of most. That Resa, now …” he winked with a knowing eye, “… she had it just as badly. But she is going to be fine. She will carry the memory, mind you, but she will not let it hurt her. She might even use it to make something good of her life.”
He clapped me on the shoulder and said, “I hear you like chess. I got a private cabin …” he chuckled, “… until such time comes I can bring the wife aboard. Knock on my door any time.”
The only people who knew the story of how Jha’Ley, G’Tabb and Caroll came across the Lohra Lai were … Jha’Ley, G’Tabb and Caroll. The ship came from an island not even on the Kelshinua Map southeast of Lh’Gohria. When they eased her into port at Var’Tann, they had six more hands with them.
Sich, Nein, Hatho, Jurn, Kint and Tii were of the Jhuosai species found only on Ziu’saht Isle, discovered by Jha’Ley, G’Tabb and Caroll. They look human in all regards except they are under five feet tall and have hands where feet should be … on normal humans, that is. Jhuosai are incredibly agile, great with their hands … sorry, I couldn’t resist … and very smart. The history of them and how they came to be is a tale in itself, but as a separate species they aren’t more than around six hundred years old.
Anyway, the voyage to Sian was more than a few days, so I got to know a lot of the current crew in that time.
Jha’Ley liked to handle the wheel and I liked being up there too. On the starboard-side of the wheel was a pedestal with a spherical, floating compass with a glass cover. On the port-side was a similar pedestal with a different kind of sphere inside.
I asked Jha’Ley, “What is that for?”
He smiled at me and replied, “I do not know. But it looks pretty, does it not?”
The wood was of black oak, and the sphere looked to be polished black granite with a light blue marbling all through it. I put my hand over it to touch it and it suddenly moved, “Who-o-oah!”
Jha’Ley was startled and said, “Do that again … it has never moved before.”
I had stepped back, “Do what?”
“Whatever you did?”
I just looked at him, then put my hand over it again. It felt cool and warm at the same time. Once more it moved a bit, rolling in its resting place. We just looked at each other. I had the strangest feeling the orb wanted me to pet it. Nuh-uh. I stepped back again.
Jha’Ley said, “That is another in a long list of things I want my friend to check out.”
“Your friend?”
He grinned, “Yes, a wizard named Arristahn. He specializes in ocean magic. Do you know him?”
“Um-m-m … no sir, never heard of him.”
The two of us had many fine conversations, and at Wesney’s urging, I told Jha’Ley I was Greybeard’s son. It was just the two of us in his cabin when I made the reveal, kind of a private thing. To say the least, he was speechless … for a moment.
A slow grin crossed his face as he said, “Of all the … that would make you my uncle … no … my great-uncle.”
We spent the night talking, he and I. I felt completely at ease communicating with Jann Raul Jha’Ley, which I didn’t expect.
I explained everything I knew about Roveir and much of my own history. He in turn gave me his, the basics of it, anyway. He didn’t go into thoughts of Liam at Castle N’Jiun, however, not that night.
We had no history, nothing to look back on and say, “Remember when?” but we had a foundation to build upon. And although we were of relation, I had no problem knowing this was his ship. I asked for no favors, and he offered none. But it was a nice thought thinking I had some family.
He was warmly enthusiastic, “Mom and pop will love meeting you.” He added with a tilt of his head, “I guess the venture to find the Kelshinua has a really personal meaning for you?”
I nodded, “Absolutely … absolutely …”
Working with Wesney was interesting. My official position was physician’s mate, which meant I was his assistant. I learned a lot and he was an excellent teacher.
“You have to remember, Wolf, those abilities you have are fantastic, but I think you should keep them as a reserve. From what all you have told me,
you do not know what you are doing …” he threw his hands up in pause, “… not that you do not know power wise, but you know only basics of the body. It is a science, see? And as you learn this, you will be able to do your own thing even better.”
Hey, it made good sense to me. As he taught me things, he asked me how I did what I did. You know what, I never realized how much I was taking for granted. He also put across the importance of a proper diagnosis.
“Imagine, Wolf, someone is wounded with a poisoned weapon of some kind. If you did not know of the poison, would your healing neutralize the effects as you closed the wound … or maybe even accelerate it?”
I was stunned. With a dumb look on my face I replied, “You know? I never thought about it.”
Looking back to when Puffer was bitten by the snake, I took care of the poison, but I knew it was there. What would happen? The dark side was a scary thought.
With Wesney, we worked on just how much I could do, and how much of it I could do. He also brought up the subject of my dreams, “Do you want to talk about them? It might could help.”
I thought about it for a second or two. We were in quarters and I looked to my wall and said, “Not really,” then looking at him I added, “thanks, but … not really.”
With that he nodded understanding, then rolled into his covers and went to sleep.
I liked G’Tabb, who said little but was like everyone’s grandpap. He was the ship’s steward, which basically meant he was in charge of food supplies, beverages and was the banker.
Telroy was the sailing master and acting first officer, although he didn’t want the latter position. I got the idea it was temporary and he was filling in for the time being. He was a very pleasant man who got along well with everyone and was highly respected by all. If Jha’Ley had a best mate, it was Telroy.
My first impression of Bosun Caroll was of this big, muscular man with the thick Lh’Gohrian accent, of being in control, and being able to break a common man like a twig. I still have that impression. He is a no-nonsense man, but he is also gentle. There is no priest, so-to-speak, on ship. Caroll, however, fills the role of spiritual advisor with the whole crew.
