by C. Litka
02
This first introduction to Daedora was mostly devoted to the business of finding a ship for me. KaRaya and DeVere took me on a quick tour of the town, one of her old stomping grounds, and then on to a boarding house for traders and travelers just outside the harbor town proper to settle in. Leaving DeVere behind, to play some cards in town, KaRaya, Hissi and I hired a small, electric, propeller-driven bumboat to cruise around the islands to give KaRaya an idea of what was available in the way of ships and shipping that might be suitable for old Wil Litang. Something safe and predictable.
It wasn't KaRaya that found something safe and predictable - I did. And it didn't take me long either. We'd only just left the inner harbor and began to cruise along the outer edge of the island where the larger ships docked, when I saw the ship I wanted to sign on to.
'That one,' I said pointing towards a large white ship in the distance, tied up along one of spider leg quays. It looked to be a freight/passenger liner, nearly a 100 meters long, built of steel. Unlike the Temtres' wooden ships or the rather primitive Bird of Passage, this ship looked thoroughly modern. Indeed, even from this distance it appeared have antennas for radio, and radar disks as well. It was built along the boxy lines of an ocean vessel - a long rectangular box, angling to a ship's bow forward with three large, enclosed drive fans aft, one center mounted, the other two on short wings, along with various steering rudders. The forward half of the hull had four grated, sheltered walkways that gave access to passenger cabins and it had a large promenade deck on the upper deck under grating as well. Amidships it had a raised, two story bridge structure, and then two cargo holds ending with a single story deck house over the engine room. There was a collier alongside the ship discharging black-cake into the ship's bunkers along with several lighters bearing the logos of local catering and supply companies.
'That Tourist Line monstrosity? You don't want that one,' said KaRaya, sadly shaking her head.
'Why not?
'A Saraime & Desra Line freight liner is just too boring.'
'Why?'
'It just goes around and around in a never ending scheduled circuit, calling on the same dozen or so major islands. Around and around you'd go. It'd be like sailing on the hand of a clock. So very tedious.'
'The very type of tediousness that I'm looking for. I don't want excitement. I miss being bored. Besides, I won't be bored because I'll have a new trade to learn and master. So is being bored your only objection?'
She shrugged. 'Well, I dare say it'd take you forever to move up in the ranks, especially since you'd likely have to start as a stoker again, if there's even a stoker's berth open.'
'I'm sure there are plenty of berths in the catering department and such...'
'I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that, Wilitang.'
'I don't care what you have to pretend, Raya. She looks like a modern, safe, and indeed boring berth. Well worth looking into. Steer alongside, let's see if we can find someone to talk to who might have an idea if there are any berths available.'
She gave me a sad look, but swung our boat about and headed in towards the big white freight liner, the Telrai Peaks out of Deadora.
The collier was just pulling away as we arrived, so we pulled alongside the still open fueling port. In its dim recesses I saw one of the engineers, watching a couple of the black hole crew clean up the odd cake bricks that had drifted free of the conveyer chute.
'Greetings, chief,' I called out cheerfully, deciding it wouldn't hurt to give him a promotion if it wasn't the chief. 'Do you have a minute?'
'Depends,' he replied, turning to the port and giving us the eye.
For a chief engineer, that was downright civil, so I proceeded. 'I'm looking for a berth, and I was wondering if you know if there are any openings aboard?'
'What can 'ya do?'
'I've been running a gyro-barge engine room and I'm looking for a place in your department, but I'm willing to sign on in just about any capacity.'
'Stoker?'
'If necessary. Besides running a steam engine, I know something about electrical equipment, so I'm thinking I might be a little more valuable than a stoker. But I'm willing to start as a stoker. I've done it before.'
'Have you seen the postings?'
'No. We've just arrived up from Daeri, and we're just out looking at what might be available when I saw the Telrai Peaks and liked the look of your ship, chief. I convinced Captain KaRaya here, to come alongside. Any berths available?'
'Might be. So you were running a gyro-barge engine.'
'Aye, a Tanjer & Rosse 25 and before that I was stoking and oiling a Din'tra-Marca 200. Plus, as I said, I've some experience with electrical systems.'
'We run turbines, not cylinder steam.'
That sounded promising. It sounded modern. 'Electric drive propellers?'
'Aye.'
'And you have a berth open?'
'Aye,' he allowed. 'Fourth oiler, is the title, but it's a general hand position. Could be tending the turbine, or the stoking conveyer, wherever the watch officer needs ya.'
'Sounds like just what I'm looking for. How would I go about applying for the berth?'
'I'm sure it's listed on the exchange,' said KaRaya.
'Aye,' allowed the chief, giving us a long look before adding, 'Still, tie up and come aboard and I'll show you around. We'll see what you know. It'll save time. Where does the Simla dragon fit in all this?'
'She's my companion.'
'His keeper,' said KaRaya as she tossed the Chief a line to haul us close.
'So she's part of the deal?'
'Aye, but she been with me since she was hatched and has seen enough engine rooms to know what to stay clear of.'
He considered her, and nodded, so we tied up the boat and climbed aboard.
'My name's Wil Litang. My friend here is Captain KaRaya, and the Simla is known as Hissi.'
'AvenDar,' he said by way of introduction. 'Follow me, I'll show you around.'
He then proceeded briskly, but proudly, show off his engine room. It reminded me in some ways of the Starry Shore's, save that the platforms were orientated along the long length of the ship, not at right angles to it. It boasted twin boilers and twin main turbine generators that powered the electric motors that drove the ship and supplied its electric requirements. They were set alongside each other, secured in a web of girders on either side of the center line of the ship and were surrounded by a series of platforms. In addition, there was a smaller boiler/generator that was now running to provide power for the ship in harbor, plus two large banks of batteries, and all the auxiliary equipment - the steam condensers and pumps, the conveyers that fed the boiler's hot boxes, plus the electrical transformers and regulators related to the drive engines and the ship's power.
I felt instantly comfortable exploring Chief AvenDar's domain and could identify and ask informed questions concerning the machinery I saw. I made a good enough impression that the chief described the job I'd be doing as 4th oiler, and after I expressed my desire to sign on, took me up to see the Telrai Peak's captain.
'What have we here, chief?' the captain asked, looking up from his paperwork as we stepped into his large office with a knock on his open door. The captain was standing at his tall desk.
'A prospective 4th oiler, Skipper.'
'Which one of the lot?' he asked, taking us all in. If he was surprised to see a Simla dragon, he didn't show it.
'The fine-feathered fellow here, Wilitang. The Simla, Hissi, comes with him. Captain KaRaya was showing him about the anchorage. This is Captain MarDen.'
We greeted the captain.
'Captain,' he nodded to KaRaya, and then turning to me, asked, 'So you want to be a 4th oiler, do you?'
'I'd be more than happy to start as 4th oiler. But I want to learn the trade, sir. I think I've a good grounding in it, but there's a whole lot more to learn. I'm eager to learn.'
'What'd you do before getting this wild idea of becoming a 4th oiler?'
'He was running a gyro-barge engine,' offered the chief.
'For a couple of hundred rounds,' I added. Not that you needed a whole lot more to know how to run a Tanjer & Rosse 25.
'And before that?'
Ah, yes. The question. I hesitated, undecided on what to say. I hadn't really given it much thought. I hadn't expected to be in this position this soon.
'Yes?'
I shrugged and smiled, 'Actually, Captain MarDen, before that I was a ship's captain for ten thousand rounds. A freighter out of some very distant islands. Islands further away that you'd imagine. We sailed the airless outer-sea, beyond, what I gather you call, the endless seas. Being unfamiliar with navigation amongst these islands, and having to learn a new trade, I decided that I knew more about engines and electricity than I did about navigating these islands. Though I see you have radios and radar, so perhaps I can learn that too. Still, after ten thousand rounds of dealing with chief engineers, I think, perhaps, I'd like to become one myself.'
The captain stared at me for a while, and then said, 'And you expect me to believe that?'
'Well, sir, perhaps I can convince you...' I replied, and launched into my standard explanation, substituting islands for planets and the inner outer space of the Tenth Star for the Nine Star Nebula, and including a brief explanation of how I came to meet KaRaya, and our subsequent adventures.
'...And so here I am. Telling the truth is simply easier than coming up with lies, and while I don't expect everyone to believe me - I may well come across as the Saraime's biggest liar - the truth does save me from having to come up with excuses why I don't know this or that, or what any child would know.'
'He's telling the truth, captain,' said KaRaya. 'Show 'em your pockets, Wil.'
I laughed and put my hands in my jacket pockets, and then my trousers. 'These are what we use instead of belt pouches in the islands I come from. I gather they've not been invented here,' I said, pulling out some coins just to show them that they're used the same way as belt pouches.
The captain gave me a long measuring look. 'Still want him, chief?'
'Aye. Crazy or not, he knows enough to work in the hole.'
'And he's sober as well,' chimed in KaRaya to seal the deal.
'We sail first watch next round. Can you settle your affairs and be aboard?'
'Yes sir, though I must mention that Hissi will be accompanying me, won't you?'
She gave a short bark, what I've always taken as a yes.
'So the Simla comes with the deal?'
'We've been together since she hatched. We're a team.'
She barked another short yes.
'Her rations come out of your pay.'
'Fair enough, sir.'
'Have Purser sign him on and get him settled,' he said to Chief AvenDar.
'Thank you, Sir,' I said, and by the time we returned to our boat, I was a 4th oiler of the Telrai Peaks of the Saraime & Desra, or "Tourist" Line, since all the ships were named after the famous sights of the various islands.
'See, Raya, what a little good karma has gotten us?' I said as we slowly raised steam and puttered away to get my scant things. 'You have Vere and I have the Telrai Peaks.'
Perhaps the thought of parting after all the rounds we spent together made her sad, since she said, 'Well, we'll have to see if it's good karma or not.'
'I'm sure it is, Sister. If we keep our wits about us.'
'If we kept our wits about us all the time, we wouldn't need karma.'
'It never hurts...'
There was little to do but to arrange for a drop box at MinDo's Pub where we could send or leave letters to be picked up when we were in Daedora, and say a sad good-bye and good luck to KaRaya and DeVere.
I boarded my ship, before the early sleep watch, and was on watch as the Telrai Peaks carefully steered clear of the quay after taking on her passengers. Once clear of the islands, we set course for Tyrina, our next port of call, the first in my new life as a wide-sky sailor.
Part Five - Voyage of the Lora Lakes
Chapter 23 1,879 Rounds