After 6 hours of sleep I'm warm, and more importantly dry at last. Whilst I could probably do with going back to bed for another couple of hours, that's not going to be possible if I'm to get to Tulbranich in time to rendevous with Bleys. One thing I'd forgotten in making the run from Xiangshu, is how tiring hell riding with two ships can be, not in the least because I had to be on deck the whole time inorder to ensure we maintained visual contact with Captain Lee's junk. It also meant that rather than taking a little over 7 hours it took the best part of 11 to cross the intervening shadow to Caijing.
As with my previous arrival, we were met about 10 miles out from the city by the local equivalent of customs and excise, who were completely mystified as to how I'd managed to leave the city and return with two completely different styles of cargo laden ship, especially a cargo that would command premium rates.
Having arranged to have both junks berthed along side the Endevour, and with the customs situation sorted the customs cutter departed, leaving me to placate the Captains and their crews.
Once we'd tied up along side and cargo unloading had commenced I transferred my gear to the Endeavor, then called Vialle. Palrity could look after things whilst I got some much needed sleep.
If I'd previously thought Hellriding with two ships was hard; doing it with three is even more taxing. The worst part is that because I need to be able to maintain visual contact with both the junks I'm forced to limit the severity of the covering storm, which exposes the crews of all vessels to the disconcerting manifestations of the shadow's we're traversing. This has a tendency to upset them, although it's mitigated on the Endeavor both by my presence and their greater experience of the phenomenom. The upside is, that whilst I have to be on deck all the time, I'm not quite as cold and wet. Having my made to measure wet weather gear, and a heavy woolen sweater helped no end. I could of course have reverted to wearing my hightech armour but decide that the crew had enough to contend with.
Given the degree of concentration required I'm limiting my self to 6 hours of hellriding followed by 8 hours of recuperation.
I awoke this afternoon to find the girl from the brig curled up on a blanket under Palrity's hammock. Having relieved myself, changed my underwear, and grabbed a hot meal from the galley I went on deck to find Palrity.
As I climbed the stairs to the stern castle the captain moved in my direction. "Since when you you give orders on my ship?"
"I don't - generally. If this is about the girl I was just coming to find out what was going on. I haven't even had a chance to eat my lunch yet."
"It is. Miss Delaman stormed into my cabin about an hour after you'd retired and demanded, on your authority, that I release the girl from the brig."
"And you didn't think to check?"
"Of course I did, but Miss Delaman pointed out that you're not known for you're forgiving nature, especially when your tired, and I've seen something of what you can do when somebody really anoys you, so thought better of it. So what are you going to do about her."
"Palrity or the girl?"
"Both"
"I don't know yet. I think I'm going to eat my lunch and leave her to stew for a bit." I moved to the balustrade, swung my leg over the top and hooked my foot around one of the spindles. As I ate I brought the pattern to mind and began to slide us through shadow, well there was no point in hanging around just because I was eating.
Palrity had the sense to wait until I'd finished my lunch and returned to the cabin before doing likewise and skulking in behind me. I ignored her forcing her to make the first move.
"Aren't you going the say anything? I was expecting a lecture at the least , or even getting my hide tanned as you put it, not this. I apologize for using yor name to get her out of the brig, but it was degrading her being in there like that, they were all leering at her and torturing her with what they were going to do to her."
"I'll accept you apology for using my name, but don't ever do it again. So what are you going to do with her? She's not staying in here."
"Sorry I don't understand. I'm not going to do anything with her and I don't see why she can't stay where she is."
"Let me spell it out for you then. You got her out of the brig so now she's your responsibility. As to why she can't stay here, because I say so."
"But. I thought..."
"No Palrity you didn't. I could quite easily have stopped the Captain throwing her in there in the first place, but it wasn't my place to do so. He's still the Captain, even if I determine where we go and when. As Captain it's down to him to maintain order and discerline, manage the crew, and see to the safety of the ship. In freeing the girl you overstepped the mark. Now you're going to have to deal with the consequences." She turned and fled, slamming the cabin door behind her, tears welling in her eyes.
A small corresponding sob came from under where Palrity's hammock was. The girl was siting up knees pulled up against herself, rocking. I guessed she'd heard me lecturing Palrity.
"Oh shut the fuck up will you, or you'll find yourself in a whore house in Tulbranich."
By the time I returned to the deck in wet weather gear I'd calmed down enough to focus propery on the task at hand, getting all three ships to Xiangshu with as much expediancy as possible. My one recompense was that the crew had now learnt that my appearance in this garb meant they were about to get wet, and immediately set about rigging the ship for storm running, so by the time I'd manoeuvered us into a suitable storm the ship was fully prepared.
When I returned to my cabin a little after midnight, Palrity, her hammock and the girl were no longer present. In the morning I shall make an effort to determine where she has gone and what has become of the girl. As of now I'm going to get some much needed sleep.
In reviewing my first entry of this leg of the trip I notice I failed to make any reference regarding the loading of the strip, rod, bar, sheet, and ingot metal, and uncut gems that formed the bulk of the payment for the timber. Half of the steel and brass and the majority of the copper I distributed between the two junks, loading remainder plus the small quantity of stainless and aluminium on the Endeavor. Fourty percent of the gems each went to Captain Han and Captain Lee as these would form the majority of the bonus for the crews of the two junks. The remainder I gave to Captain Alexander as his will be the last ship I return to it's home port I have far more time to acquire the necessary valuables to ensure the crew have a healthy bonus and make good on my promise; although the part renumeration via the weapons provided has improved the attitude of the crew to my presence.
On the down side, 8 of them appear to have gone missing at various points since we left Alto Mento. Whilst we may have lost 8 of our original crew we appear to have gained 4 new crew, 2 stowaway's, and 3 young ladies. Whilst 2 of the latter seem to have a particular attachment to certain of the hands, they appear not to be above being shared and whilst not completely happy with the arrangement accept the need as a necesary expedient of being able to return with the selected members of the crew. The other young lady, who appears to have not only found a niche in the galley, but also as the crew councillor, although her councilling style is not one a modern psychologist would recognise. What is most interesting is that all three of these hail from my own shadow. Two of them being on board I can partly understand, but why the yound lady who inhabits the galley would exchange her 21st centuary life for a life on an 18th centuary sailing ship is beyond me.
Whilst the first mate is in paticular not happy with the turn of events, the Captain, at least with my intervention is prepared to allow things to continue, at least on a trial basis. Any repetition of the fight which brought the whole situation to our attention is likely result in all three being thrown overboard. One thing that the captain did insist upon, and which I was unable to disuade him of, is that all three should take a bath. Since the ship does not have bathing facilities, an empty barrel was placed on the deck and three quarters filled with sea water. Each was made to strip off and climb in the barrel, whilst their clothes were washed by one of the others. Once soaped and cleaned, they were then helped out of the barrel and given a blanket to wrap themselves in until their clothes dried. The two chinese girls found this a particular trial, but Miss Meryle Carol didn't mind in the least.
Of the 4 new crew, two are from HongKong, one is from Caijing, and one from my shadow. Given the situation we found ourselves in in HongKong, I felt it necessary to read the minds of both the two that had come aboard. Neither worked for Chung, but both took the opportunity to get aboard to find a new life away from the persecution they suffered. Neither is in the least perturbed that they will never see their home city again.
The addition to the crew from my shadow is another odd ball. He appears to have travelled around the world, grabbing rides on sailing ships of various descriptions where he can, and filling in with whatever other jobs he can between opportunities. The fact that he comes with his own tool kit and is an above average carpenter seems to be what got him on board. To him this is just another opportunity to sail tall ships. I have yet to decide whether I'm going to return him or Miss Carol to their home shadow.
The last addition to the crew is also
responsible for one of the two stoways, the stowaway in question being
his 14 year old daughter. Whilst having him on board even if it is just
as a lowly deck hand is not a problem as long as he pulls his weight,
the presence of his daughter complicates matters. Stowaways are
generally not treated kindly, either being thrown overboard, killed
then thrown overboard, beaten then put to work in irons, or put in
irons and sold at the next available opportunity.
The fact that this particular stowaway is a 14 year old girl, and that
her father is part of the crew has placed the Captain in a difficult
position. The limit of his action so far is to force her to take a bath
in the same manner as the other girls, although he had to have her
father restrained as a result. He is yet to receive the 5 lashes
metered out as a result of his actions. The Captain is in two minds
about what
to do next, either sell her at our next port of call, or throw her and
her father overboard. I think that he may have also considered throwing
her to the crew but if he has he's not said as such, and I think he
knows what my reaction my be if he tried to do so. In the meantime he
had her thrown in the brig, albeit without clothes.
The other stowaway hasn't escaped so lightly. Both the captain and I initially judged him to be in his late teens or early twenties. Since he chose both to put up a fight when cornered resulting in my having to taser him rather than risk injury to either myself of the crew, and then not to tell us anything when questioned, the captain had him tied to the wheel and flogged until he deigned to enlighten us. Given this information I've since been forced to read his mind and do a certain amount of memory alteration. It seems he managed to slip aboard during the confusion as we left Hong Kong, everyone was to busy trying to manage the rigging and avoid being hit by rocket fire to notice him. It was his intention to determine where the weapons came from, then somehow force me to return the ship laden with weapons back to Hong Kong, where he'd set himeself up as the next Dragon Head. Since my memory adjustment, he just wants to serve out his time on the crew, then go find a job as a farm labourer when we return. The Captain and mate view him a too much of a timebomb to have around for any longer than necessary.
It was much later than I intended it to be when I awoke this morning. Pushing on for that extra couple of hours last night had obviosuly taken more out of me than I'd expected. Having dealt with the usual necessities, I went in search of Palrity, finding her not on deck, but below decks in her hammock which had been hung adjacent to the brig. The girl was back inside, although this time she wore the dress she'd had on when she'd been in my cabin, and had acquired a blanket to sleep in. Palrity glared at me as I approached. I resisted the urge to slap her down mentally.
"I've warned you before about doing that. Next time I'll use the opportunity to trigger that engram. I'm sure it'll go down really well with the crew."
She bit off a sharp retort. I smiled. "Your learning. I find your solution most interesting, but there is no need for you to suffer on her account. I doubt anything would happen to her without me being informed, and if you're worried about her being fed, you can just as easily bring her food from the comfort of our cabin."
"Your cabin you mean. You made that abundantly clear yesterday."
"I see. You know where to find me if you need anything. We should make Xiangshu by midday then some decisions will have to be made. Most likely Captain Alexander will want to put her and her father ashore, but that'll leave him crew short. If he wants to stay on board then he'll have to pay for her passage, something he most likely can't afford. Assuming we make port and can off load the cargo and sail in the morning then with a fair wind we should make Tulbranich in about 3 days Ambertime. She's good looking enough, and being exotic means she would earn a decent living at the Velvet Rest, but that decision's down to her father and what he wants to do."
Palrity flew off her hammock.. "Bitch, you heartless bitch"
I avoided her attack quite easily, grabbed her wrists and twisted her arms so that they were wrapped about her with me behind her. I waited until she ceased struggling, and the tireade of insults and tears quietened.
"I'm none of those things, I'm just being pragmatic. There are far worse things in life and at least if she stays at the Velvet Rest she'll be well cared for. As for her father, he'd have to find another job, it would just add too many complications for him to be around her. But we haven't got that far yet. I suggest you find out if she's got any useful skills? Given her father was taken on as a deck hand and stowed her away I doubt if she can read or write."
"I can too. I was schooled 3 days a week, and I'm better than most of the full time students, except those doing the advanced mathematics, although the teachers say I should be at their level in 6 months or so. I can divide billions by primes in my head quicker than the best abacus users and faster than it can be entered into a computer."
I looked at her. "So why are you stowing away on this ship? With those skills you'd have an academic future in research mapped out for you in my world."
"Because we had no choice. Slaves don't get a choice in my world. Next birthday my schooling would stop and I'd be put to work on the plantations, and once the day's work was done I'd probably find I had extra duties. All the young pretty girls get extra duties. It's why my mother killed herself. If your ship hadn't appeared when it did I'd be dead now and so would my father. And if I'm right in my understanding of what you've been saying then I'd rather kill myself than have my body used so you can earn a living."
"My living has nothing to do with the
Velvet Rest. All the women that work at the
Velvet Rest work for the house in return for which they get board and
lodgings, clothes, and their medical bills paid. The house also makes a
provision for their retirement. With recent changes they also get an
allowance based on how successful they are. What you need to understand
is that you're never going back to your own world, and where you end up
depends on your father and the Captain.
What
you've said may change a few things,
I can't say for sure, but you're options are limited an as options
stand you're going to end up on a world whose technology level is
significantly
less than what you're used to therefore the options open to you as a
career are significantly limited."
"You're words don't change anything. I will kill myself rather than be forced to sell my body. Why does the next port matter? Why can't we go somewhere else?"
"Because who stays on board and under what circumstances is down to the Captain, and Captains don't like stowaways on board, and most are superstitous and don't like women on board at all, even if they are paying passengers, and neither you nor your father have any means to pay for your passage."
"I'll pay for her passage"
"To where, to what end, and with what Palrity?"
"I've got money, and you owe me. You dragged me out of school to save your friends neck, and now ou're dragging me across shadow so.. And I saved the Captains neck in Hongkong"
"I seem to recal you wanted to go see the Amber Pattern in return for that help. However, I conceede you do have a point, I am dragging you across shadow, and as you can't acquire your own funds whilst I'm doing that you're probably due some form of stipend, although that would mean you'd have to pay for your own board and lodgings, clothes including ball gowns, and other sundries"
She glared at me again in an obvious sulk. "Stay here if you wish, but the cabin is for the two of us. Now I'm going to get something to eat then get us moving again otherwise we're not going make port by midday."
We sailed as I hoped on the late morning tide, having off loaded the steel and copper at a considerable profit, allowing the crews of the junks to earn their bonuses, and me to load a mixed cargo of oak and larch to fill out the holds of the Endeavor.
Palrity has chosen to remain in the hold next to the brig and the situation with the girl is still unresolved. Captain Alexander was all for putting her ashore in Xiangshu, but I assured him that if he did so her father would jump ship in response leaving the crew another man down. I also told him of the discussion I'd had in relation to putting her ashore in Tulbranich, and the reservations I now had in regard to that option. He was none too pleased. I said I didn't like it any more than he did. There was another option but it was his decision. He could put her to work in the Galley, which would help relieve the pressure on Miss Carol and free up another hand. He said he'd think about it.
In the mean time we make progress towards Tullbranich, and unecumbered by having to move 3 ships we're making better time than I envisaged.
Assuiming nothing untoward happens I've got about 4 more hours of Hellriding to do to bring us into Tulbranich waters. If Bleys is sticking to his original timetable then he won't be here for five days Ambertime, which will leave us with a little R&R time. If I'd stuck to my original plans then we'd be about 2/3 of the way to Calderar by now and I'd not have made the rendezvous in time. At least this way I get a few days off and can line up potential cargos ahead of schedule.
I didn't quite make it here before night fall, and felt it a little unfair on Molly to impose on the Velvet Rest without prior warning, so Palrity and I shall sleep on board ship tonight. Having informed the Captain we'd be here a few days he wants to make a few repairs, nothing that couldn't wait but he'd rather have them done rather than not. For most of the crew that means 3 days shore leave.
Although I'm sleeping on-board ship tonight, I did manage to get to the Velvet Rest primarily to ensure that Captain Alexander got a room at a preferential rate. In taking him there I was taking something of a chance as I had no idea how far Molly had got with her expansion plans. As it was she kicked several of the girls out of their quarters in the new wing to provide him with a room, rather than turn down the business.
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