by C. Litka
01
Having guided us to his Halfway Islands, I had no doubt that DeArjen would guide us to the islands of the Dragon-people as well. We sailed through the cloudless and island-less sky of Endless Sea for another 31 rounds before seeing clouds ahead, which usually are the first sign of islands. A watch later, the dim blue shapes of islands themselves began to emerge from the clouds and the hazy light blue-green sky. DeArjen, who had been standing watches on the bridge these last several rounds, fine tuning our course, was certain they were the islands where he'd been castaway. By the end of the round, we were alongside the outermost group of islands - a ten kilometer cloud of small, jungle-clad islands with birds, lizards, big beetles and bright butterflies flying amongst them. Similar clumps of islands, plus specks of small, free ones, floated, blue in the distance.
The slim red-feathered Dragon-people, however, were not yet seen. DeArjen said that they were found in numbers only on the large core cluster of islands, a faint blue smudge in the sky.
We had come to rest on the fringe of this rather granular archipelago to allow the skipper, ValDare, and DeArjen time to discuss our next move from the wing deck of the bridge. As much as I enjoyed the freedom of not being totally responsible for the ship and the lives of its crew, I must admit that at times like this, I missed not being included in the conversation. In Captain KimTara's view, my job began and ended in seeing that the ship had power when she wanted it. Where it went was not my concern and I was not consulted about it, nor had our relationship blossomed to the point were I could invite myself. For all those after dinner hours I spent on the after deck keeping her silent company, I saw no evidence of friendship or sharing of thoughts. I'm not sure why I persisted. This was likely our only voyage together, since I planned to take leave time after this voyage in order to return to the Temtre assembly and I wanted enough time to catch EnVey or some other Temtre ship. I guess it was just old Unity Standard Litang, unwilling not to like someone, despite their best efforts.
At least on a professional level we got along fine. Of course, the fact that the Lora ticked along fine, watch after watch, round after round, meant that she had nothing to kick about. Still, as far as I could see, everyone else got along with her as well. I've known a robot with far more personality than the skipper, but this lack of personality and a serene store of patience seemed to go a long way in insuring the smooth running of her ship.
The confab on the bridge broke up and I heard the warning bell ringing in the engine room from the open skylights - we'd be underway again soon. I stayed on deck. BayLi had the watch and I had long since banished any need to keep an eye on her. Moments later, the propellers whirled to life and I felt the slight tug of inertia as the ship got underway once again.
ValDare joined me at the railing to watch the nearest cluster of islands slip astern.
'DeArjen's Islands?' I asked.
'He says so. However, what we're looking for is a very large group of vine entangled islands, still some ways off. He says we'll need to do some tricky navigating to reach our final destination - some sort of hollow within the tangle of islands.'
'Getting excited?'
'Can't wait to get started. Everyone has been getting a little stir crazy after being cooped up aboard the ship for so long.'
'What sort of reception can we expect from DeArjen's bird-men?' I asked. 'My run-ins with these folk have been brief, and mostly benign. Still, they didn't seem to be folks I'd care to go up against.' I'd never been able to get more than a vague answer to that before. There seemed to be a great deal of secrecy in this expedition, even after we left civilization behind, and even within the expedition itself. DeArjen never talked about his experiences on the island, and what he had told ValDare remained a secret. Even Scholar PinTin was told little more than what I had been, just enough to spark his interest.
He shrugged. 'Your feathered folk seem to be a different tribe than DeArjen's. His showed no telepathic powers. I've questioned him about that. As for our reception, well, he doesn't know himself. I gather that they were treated mostly with indifference. Two of the crew were taken away early on and never seen again. Their fate is unknown. The rest of the crew were likely watched, but left alone, and allowed to build a boat to take them away without any interference at all. So I'm not expecting a hostile reception, though I'm also not expecting to be welcomed with open arms either. I'd be fine with them ignoring our presence.
'The main problem will likely be communication. On account of their beak-lik mouths, DeArjen's crew found that it was impossible to duplicate, with any great accuracy, their speech, so that no more than a primitive, mostly sign language method of communication, was ever developed - a few basic words and playacting. We'll have to see it as it unfolds. With PinTin and his students, we have a better chance of developing a more elaborate system of communication. However, even in the worst case, we're dealing with very primitive people. Their weapons seemed to consist only of bows, arrows, and lances used for hunting. They use neither boats, since they fly, nor much in the way of metal work at all, so they should present absolutely no threat to the Lora Lakes or its crew, even if they violently object to our presence.'
'This cage will not protect us from arrows,' I pointed out, glancing up at an island drifting by half a kilometer off.
He glanced up and laughed. 'True, but I really don't expect it to come to that, Chief. We'll need to be cautious, of course, but we're under no pressing deadline, so we can take our time to establish a good relationship. I truly don't expect trouble. In any event, we can do most of our filming without interfering with their lives. And given their indifference to DeArjen's crew, I don't see that our presence will be very provocative. PinTin's mission is a bit iffier. We'll have to carefully gauge their responses before we allow him and his students off the ship to do their field research. That's why we have DeRaze and his crew along - to look after them.'
That was one of my fears, but I left it unsaid. For the moment.
ValDare didn't add much more. I had a feeling things were still left unsaid, but also that he didn't himself know just what to expect. I didn't press him. We'd all find out, soon enough.