Grigory's Gadget

by E. A. Hennessy

  “Enough!” he shouted.

  “That's right, enough!” A third pirate appeared. This pirate was older, with scarred tan skin and black hair that was turning gray. The pinky and ring finger of his left hand were missing, as was half of the middle finger on his right. His eyes were large, and Nikolai thought he saw a kindness in them.

  “Pavel,” Alexi said. His face flushed red and he lowered his pistol.

  “Stop acting tough, Alexi,” Pavel said. “This old man hasn't done anything wrong, let him be. The captain is almost ready to leave.” Pavel then regarded the group of friends. “Recruiting, are we?”

  “Pavel, this bunch says they have no valuables,” Fyodr said. “They look pretty valuable to me.”

  “So, try not to damage them.” Pavel smirked. “Let's go. The captain is waiting.”

  Pavel's presence seemed to pacify Alexi and Fyodr, who watched silently as the friends gathered their things. Nikolai and Demyan packed quickly then joined the girls in their cabin to help them. Anya, having already packed her bags, stood in the doorway and glowered at the pirates.

  “Zoya, what do we do?” Lilia whispered as she fastened her suitcase.

  “I don't know,” Zoya admitted. “They have guns and swords. I've got wrenches and screwdrivers. I don't think we stand a chance.”

  Nikolai watched as Zoya dug out her gloves. Her shaking hands knocked her gadget out of the bag. It rolled halfway to the door before she caught it. Fyodr and Pavel weren’t looking, but Alexi saw it and looked at Zoya coolly.

  “It's nothing,” Zoya muttered quickly, fumbling to hide the object.

  “Put that away and hurry up,” Alexi replied. “We don't have all night.” Zoya exchanged a concerned look with Nikolai as they finished packing and stood.

  “Alright!” Pavel announced with a smile. “Let's go introduce you to your captain!”

  “Well, what have we here?” a middle-aged man bellowed as Zoya and her friends reached the main deck of the ship. “New recruits!” He wore an array of mismatched and mottled, though grandiose, clothing that Zoya assumed he'd collected through years of pillaging. His light brown hair was neatly-trimmed, and his eyes were a piercing blue. His right leg was missing from the knee down, and in its place stood a prosthetic leg made of wood and brass, which shone just above the top of his boot.

  “I'm Captain Edmund Sokoll the Savage!” he boomed. “Happy to have you!” The captain gestured to his men, who shoved their captives into a line for his inspection.

  “Thought you were going to Mirgorod?” the captain asked as he looked over his new recruits. “Change of plans! For the best, trust me.” The captain let out a hardy laugh. He paused and observed Zoya's hair.

  “Interesting color,” he remarked. “Afraid we don't keep hair dye on the ship.”

  “It's my natural color,” Zoya replied, fidgeting with her braid. Captain Sokoll squinted at her and nodded.

  “And what do you do, Violet?” he asked, grinning.

  “I'm an engineer, sir.” She looked the captain in the eye and said, “And my name is Zoya.”

  “Did she say engineer?” Pavel asked. “Perfect! Tonia needs more help in the boiler room.”

  Zoya's face flushed. “Well, I’m still a student,” she said. “I'm not licensed yet.”

  “Poppycock!” the captain shouted. “A license is just a new way to pay the government money! We need your skills. What of the rest of you? What do you do?”

  “I can sew and solder,” Anya said. Demyan, Nikolai, and Lilia exchanged worried glances. Captain Sokoll watched them and waited.

  “We study archeology,” Demyan said, gesturing to Nikolai.

  “I study history and literature,” Lilia added.

  “Well, we'll find plenty of use for you,” the captain said with a smile. “We always need more hands on deck.” He gestured to his men again, who pushed the recruits toward a rope ladder connecting the passenger ship to a smaller pirate ship below. As she crossed the deck, Zoya saw that many of the ship's guards lay dead on the deck. Other members of the ship's crew nursed superficial wounds.

  “They'll be fine,” Pavel said. “Trust me, we did this ship a favor by taking out the guards. Everyone else will make it safely to Mirgorod.” He paused and then clarified. “Well, if they don't make it safely, it won't be our fault.”

  Anya shivered in the cold as the pirates moved their confiscated goods on to their ship. Pavel stood guard over the recruits by the ship's center smokestack. Anya noted how different the pirate ship was from the larger passenger ship. The smaller ship had two wooden masts carrying white sails and a small set of paddle wheels on the port and starboard sides. Toward the bow of the ship the deck was raised to house the captain's cabin. Toward the stern, the deck was raised for the saloon and galley. The pilot house perched above that. A black flag waved atop the mainmast, emblazoned with a white skull surrounded by a violet ring. Its colors glowed in the moonlight.

  “She's called the Ocean's Legend,” Pavel said. “She's a good ship, sturdy. Though she isn't quite as comfortable in this cold.” Pavel shivered, hugging his jacket tight. Anya noticed it was far too thin for the frigid weather.

  “What are you going to do with us?” Lilia asked, her voice shaking. Tears rimmed her eyes.

  “Oh, we’ll put you to work,” Pavel explained cheerily. “Swab the decks mostly; maybe help cook if you're any good at that.” He turned to smile at Lilia, but his smile fell as he looked at her face.

  “Oh, none of that, dear!” he said sweetly, putting his hand on her shoulder. “It'll feel like home on this ship in no time!”

  “We don't want our home to be a ship!” Nikolai said. “We were on our way to Mirgorod. That's where we want our home to be!”

  “Why did you take us?” Anya asked. “Why us, specifically?”

  “You’re young,” Pavel replied. “You’re healthy. Which is more than can be said of most people on that ship. And you’ve got some fight in you, which is always welcome on a pirate ship, so long as you follow the captain’s orders.”

  “What if we don’t?” Zoya asked. “What if we don’t want to be a part of your crew?”

  “Too bad,” Alexi spat as he walked up to them. “You are part of our crew now. Best get used to that. The captain doesn’t take kindly to those suggesting mutiny.”

  “Now, Alexi,” Captain Sokoll said as he approached. “That's no way to talk to our new friends. I'm sure they need time to adjust. Pavel, show them to their cabin.” Pavel nodded and gestured for the group to follow him. Anya watched Alexi as she passed him. He was staring at the captain with raised eyebrows. When he caught Anya’s eye, his expression changed to a scowl and he walked away.

  They walked toward the stern of the ship and into the saloon. A burst of warm air greeted them, filled with the scent of bread, salted meat, and ale. They followed Pavel to the left, down a narrow staircase below deck.

  A hallway stretched before them with cabins on the right and portholes on the left. Pavel showed the group into the first tiny room. It was windowless and filled with crates.

  “It doesn't look like much,” Pavel admitted with a shrug. “No doors on the cabins, that’s by order of the captain. We've got some extra hammocks you can hang to sleep in and maybe a cot somewhere too.” He glanced at the friends' suitcases, which they were still carrying.

  “Looks like you over packed,” he said and chuckled. “The captain seems to be in a generous mood lately. He may let you keep the things you absolutely need. Anything else we will sell at the next trading town. It'll earn you some respect with the captain if you give up your valuables willingly.” Pavel eyed Anya’s fingers, which wore several rings. Anya clasped her hands nervously.

  “These aren’t worth anything,” she said. Her voice shook. “Just little things I made myself out of copper. The stones aren’t special or precious.”

  “Copper is quite valuable,” Pavel said, shrugging. “You have until we get to the next trading town to decide if you’ll
give them up willingly or not. I'll go get those hammocks for you.” With that, he politely nodded and walked away.

  Anya stared at her rings. She wore five, though only three truly mattered to her. She’d made two of them with wire and small pieces of gravel in honor of her father and brother. They had died in a huge cave-in in the Lodninsk mines. She’d made the third ring with two beads from a necklace that belonged to her mother, who had died from the plague.

  With a nervous sigh, Anya placed her suitcases along the side of the room and sat down on a crate.

  “We were just kidnapped by pirates,” Zoya said, her eyes wide. “We actually were just kidnapped by pirates.”

  “This is just our luck,” Nikolai said, leaning against a crate. “Of course this happened to us. Why not?”

  “Stop it.” Anya sighed in frustration. “We can't start this woe-is-me act again. We'll get through this like we've gotten through everything else.”

  Lilia buried her head in her arms and sobbed. Zoya put an arm around her.

  “It'll be ok,” she cooed. “We'll be ok. Like Anya said, we'll get through this. We always do.”

  “This isn't the same!” Lilia shouted, raising her tear-streaked face. “How can you think this is the same?”

  “I knew we should have taken the airship,” Nikolai grumbled. Demyan jabbed his friend in the ribs. Nikolai glared in response.

  “You know why we didn't take the airship,” Demyan hissed at him.

  “No, you're probably right,” Lilia said, wiping her face dry. “If we’d taken the airship, we'd still be on our way to Mirgorod.”

  “Lilia, we understand why we couldn't take the airship,” Anya assured her. She glared at Nikolai, who sighed and looked away. As angry as he was, Anya knew he understood. They were all there at the hospital when Lilia's father and brother had died. They'd made it out of the zeppelin crash alive, but later succumbed to their wounds.

  “You know,” Demyan said after a few awkward minutes of silence. “Pavel said something about this ship not being comfortable in the cold.”

  “Yeah, I've noticed there's no heat in this room,” Anya said with a shiver.

  Demyan nodded with a laugh. “Well, yes, true. But, I think that also means we're heading someplace warmer now. That is to say, this is farther north than they normally sail.”

  “That makes sense,” Anya said. “So at least we'll be warm, even if we're not in Mirgorod.”

  “Wait,” Zoya said, standing and checking that no one was outside the door. “If we're heading some place warmer, we're probably still going in the general direction of Mirgorod.” She looked at her friends, waiting. When she was met with only blank stares, she sighed.

  Lowering her voice to a near-whisper, she said, “We can play along, be part of this crew for now. Then, at some southern trading town, we can escape. Find some other passage to Mirgorod!”

  “I'm a bad liar, Zoya,” Lilia said. “Actually, so are you.”

  “We're all pretty terrible liars,” Demyan said.

  “So don't say anything,” Zoya replied. “We keep our heads down and do as we're told. We're used to that, right?”

  “No way,” Nikolai said. “That’s a ridiculous suggestion.”

  “Do you have a better plan?” Anya asked.

  “This plan will get us arrested, or killed,” Nikolai replied. “What if a navy ship attacks this one? Do you think they’ll believe us and spare us if we explain we were kidnapped?”

  “Maybe,” Lilia said. “We still have our documents.”

  “The pirates are going to take our things any minute now,” Nikolai said. “Pavel’s trying to ease our nerves, to pacify us, but they are pirates. They steal and they kill. How do you expect to play along with that?”

  “Nikolai, honestly,” Anya said. “Do you have a better plan?” She studied his face. Nikolai pursed his lips and squinted his eyes before throwing his hands in the air.

  “No, no I don’t.”

  “Good,” Anya said with a smile. “So, we have a plan.”

  “What plan?” Pavel asked, appearing in the doorway with a handful of fabric.

  “We figured out where each of us will sleep,” Anya said quickly. “There's only room for four hammocks to hang in here, so Nikolai is sleeping on the floor.” Nikolai glared at Anya and opened his mouth to protest. Before he could, Pavel chortled loudly.

  “Well, good thing I found that cot, then.” Pavel handed the fabric to Demyan and Zoya, then lifted a folded cot into the room.

  “I hope you'll be able to get some sleep tonight,” Pavel said. “I know the first night can be hard especially in this weather.”

  Pavel stepped out briefly as the friends tied up their hammocks. He returned with a handful of wool blankets.

  “Breakfast will be served at sunrise,” he said. “One of the crew will come by to make sure you’re awake.” Pavel glanced at the walls of the room with a frown. “Sad to say, we only have bland food. Stale bread and tough meat. But we have some decent tea, and we always get the finest ale!” He snickered and headed upstairs.

  “So much for being bad at lying,” Anya said proudly with a wink.

  “Yes, good job,” Zoya said, staring out the doorway. “Does anyone else find it odd how kindly Pavel is treating us?”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Demyan said.

  “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,” Anya said. “He's treating us nicely so we cooperate. And let's make sure we do just that. Who knows how vicious these pirates might become if we don't.”

  The friends nodded as they sat down and bundled themselves up for the long, cold night ahead.

  Zoya and her friends were unable to sleep that night. They each huddled under the blankets, their coats thrown on top for extra warmth. They were used to being cold in Lodninsk. Some nights a roaring fire wouldn't keep the biting cold at bay. However, the cold was the least of their worries.

  For the first hour, they simply sat in the room, watching the doorway and listening. Wind whistled, waves crashed, and the wood of the ship creaked. Somewhere below deck, the steam engines hissed and puffed. A few pirates snored loudly down the hall.

  Zoya’s eyelids became heavier and heavier, and she lay back and tried to sleep. She heard Nikolai toss and turn on his cot, which creaked and groaned with every movement. Zoya had finally dozed off, albeit fitfully, when there was a knock at the door.

  “Wake up,” Fyodr grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Breakfast.”

  The friends sat at their own little table in the saloon alongside Pavel. The warmth of the room was a relief after their chilly night. The saloon was packed full with the crew, except for Fyodr, who had continued outside to man the wheel. As the crew had filed into the saloon, many members acknowledged their new mates with a smile or a handshake. They met Lev, with a gray braided beard, and Ira, who had short platinum hair. Olya and Oleg were fraternal twins who looked identical, their only distinguishing feature being that Olya was missing her left hand, while Oleg was missing his right. They each wore brass prosthetics. Zoya thought she saw the metal fingers moving, but convinced herself it was a trick.

  Samuil, tall and muscular, glared at the friends when he entered the room, huffing as he passed by. Pavel stood and whispered in his ear. The man flashed a quick smile and muttered a rushed introduction before continuing on his way.

  “Don't mind him,” Pavel said. “He's always worried about running out of food, but we have enough. He'll warm up to you.”

  “I hear this is our new engineer,” a dark-skinned woman announced as she patted Zoya on the shoulder. Her hair was piled high atop her head and braided tightly with golden ribbons. “I'm Tonia. I'm in charge of the boiler room.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Zoya said, cautiously extending her hand.

  “So formal,” Tonia said, shaking Zoya's hand. “Best get them some ale, Pavel! They need to relax.”

  “Food first,” Pavel replied. Tonia nodded and walked away. More members of the cr
ew filed in, skipping introductions as they hurried to get their meal.

  Pavel wasn't lying about the food. The bread was hard as a rock, and the meat so tough that the dulled knives they had barely cut through it. Zoya was starving after the long and eventful day and night, and ate as quickly as she could. The tea was decent, as Pavel had told them, and hot.

  “Crew!” the captain shouted after everyone had gotten their plates of food. “I say we should raise a toast to welcome our new mates!” There was a roar of agreement as the crew raised their cups. Zoya exchanged a glance with Demyan and smiled awkwardly at the warm reception.

  “Well someone doesn't seem so happy about kidnapping us,” Nikolai whispered to Demyan, gesturing toward Alexi. Zoya followed his gaze. Alexi sat with his arms folded and a sour expression on his face, staring out a window. Before anyone else could see what Nikolai was talking about, Captain Sokoll nudged Alexi, who then raised his cup.

  “Welcome aboard the Ocean's Legend! Demyan, Nikolai, Lilia, Anya, and Zoya!” The crew cheered and drank to their new crewmates.

  “Seems like they're happy to have us,” Anya remarked, tilting her head.

  “Except Alexi,” Nikolai replied.

  Across the room, Alexi stood and walked toward the door. Nikolai stood to follow him.

  “What are you doing?” Demyan asked with a knowing look.

  “Don't get us in trouble the first day we're here,” Zoya told him. Then she mouthed the words, Remember the plan.

  “Don't mind Alexi,” Pavel said, lightly grabbing Nikolai's arm. “He's a troubled boy, is all.”

  Nikolai sat back down, still staring out the door.

  “Now,” Pavel said, gesturing to Oleg. “Time to celebrate! Drink up, my friends. It will ease your nerves and drive off the cold.” Oleg walked over with cups of ale for the friends.

  “It's barely eight in the morning,” Zoya whispered to Demyan. Demyan shrugged and took the cup of ale offered to him.