by Ben White
Sola went below to check the galley. Miya smiled, then grinned as she slid her hands over the wood of her ship's wheel. She'd taken the Black Swan out into the open ocean before, of course, but never like this. They'd never gone on an adventure together, and in a little romantic part of her mind Miya felt that her ship was just as excited as she was.
"Any luck?" Miya asked, as Sola emerged from below.
"There are some biscuits and a few bananas and apples, as well as some limes," he said. "Perhaps enough for a day or two."
"Oh, throw me up an apple!"
Sola did so, Miya catching and biting into it almost in one motion.
"They're not super-fresh but not bad either," she said, through her mouthful. "I've been meaning to stock up a bit."
"There are several small barrels of water, fortunately."
"Of course! You can't sail without lots of water!" said Miya, neglecting to mention that the main reason for the water had been to wash the salt out of her hair after swimming. "So, we probably need to take on supplies, right? Or, oh, hey, why don't you fish?"
"Fish?"
"Yeah! Catch us some breakfast! You're great at fishing, right?"
"I don't know these waters. What kind of fish are there?"
"Oh, sweetfish and nunfish and yellowspots, and canary blues, maybe even duckfins if we're lucky," said Miya, starting to feel hungry as she thought of her father's fried lemon duckfin.
"I don't know those names. How are they called?"
"Called?"
"Brought to the surface."
"Huh?"
Sola frowned a moment. "Around my village there are fish called oashi. To catch them, you wait in your canoe and touch the surface of the water very gently, like so."
Sola made a very precise, light gesture, tapping rhythmically with two fingers.
"And that makes the fish come to you?"
"Yes. They think it's insects walking on the surface of the water."
"Oh, so this is like in lagoons or something, where the water's calm?"
"Yes."
"How about in the ocean?"
"Usually I catch some oashi, cut them open, and use them as bait."
"So you use your spear to catch fish? Just your spear?"
"Yes."
"It kind of sounds like it might take a long time."
"Fishing is no pastime for those without patience."
"Tell me about it," said Miya, who'd never had much love for fishing, to her mother's disappointment.
"If we could stop for several days then perhaps I could learn the habits and calls of fish around here. But we don't have the time."
"No ... huh. I guess we have to stop somewhere and get supplies, then."
They looked at each other, then Miya locked the wheel and they went into her cabin. She lit a lamp while Sola spread a chart onto her desk, then they studied it together.
"Here," said Miya, after a moment. "Biscuit Cove on Biscuit Island, I've heard it's a busy port where a lot of ships from outside the archipelago stop, so it must be perfect for resupplying. Plus it's not totally out of our way ... heading there might add half a day to our travel time, but that's fine."
Sola was silent, frowning slightly.
"What? Something wrong?" Miya asked.
"I know of this island," he said, after a moment. "Not by name, but as an 'outside place'."
"So what, is it bad or something?"
"I don't know, I've never been there and have never met anyone who has." Sola shook his head. "Perhaps this is a bad habit of mine. To distrust anywhere outside of the islands."
"But you trust Clover Island, right?"
Sola nodded. "As I said, a bad habit."
"Well, anyway," said Miya, tapping Biscuit Island on the chart, "I think this is our best ... although wait a second ..." Miya looked at the chart for a few moments, then up at Sola. "What if we just made a break for the Diamond Isles? It's not that far, even if we had to eat just biscuits for a few days I'm sure we could make it!"
"With that plan we would run out of supplies here," said Sola, indicating a point on the map, "and then starve to death here," he said, indicating a point a little further on, around halfway to the Diamond Isles.
"Oh," said Miya. "Well ... harrumph. Really?"
"No. I was exaggerating. We would probably make it to the isles. But we would be hungry and thirsty and not in good shape."
"Right ... and we need to be in our best condition in case we get into a fight," said Miya, eyes gleaming. "Okay, Biscuit Cove it is!"
"I do have one concern," said Sola. "This island is not so far from my home, from the northern islands. If Badger Pete—"
Miya was shaking her head. "No, it's on the other side of the Trinket Chain. Pete'd never get his warships through there, the water's too shallow. Only something like a sloop could get through safely."
"You've been there?"
"I've been around that area," Miya said. She huffed a bit. "Dad never let me actually sail into the chain itself, he said there was too big a risk of hitting a rock."
Sola nodded. He was looking at the chart again.
"Is it possible that Badger Pete took his ships around the chain?" he asked. "It ends not far north of Na'alofa—"
"No," said Miya firmly. "I'm sure he wouldn't have. The only islands on the eastern side of the chain are Biscuit and Paradise, and I'm pretty sure no one lives on Paradise Island. Biscuit Cove is meant to be a pretty busy port, too, so it'd probably cause him some trouble to capture it." Miya thought for a moment. "I'm trying to think of the right term to use here, Mum taught me—oh, risk-reward ratio! The risk-reward ratio isn't favourable."
"Your reasoning is remarkably sound," said Sola.
"Hey, I can be sensible sometimes! I'm allowed to be sensible!"
Sola smiled. "I'll chart the course."
*
"Miya. Ship."
Miya snorted and woke, blinking.
"Huh?"
"There's a ship to the north. Perhaps one of Badger Pete's."
Miya jumped out of bed and grabbed her sword belt, buckling it on as she followed Sola to the deck. He handed her the spyglass and pointed, and she quickly found the ship, which was anchored off a tiny island. It was a frigate, but a small one—not much bigger than a brig. The flag it flew was a muted yellow.
"It's flying Highland colours," she said. "Hmm."
"Some of the ships that attacked my home flew that flag."
"Yes, I remember you telling Dad."
Miya chewed her lip as she examined the distant frigate.
"There's no reason for a Highland ship to be here," she said, after a moment. "The only place in the archipelago they trade with is Star Island, and that's way down south. If it was flying Algernian or free colours then maybe, but Highland? That's really suspicious." Miya thought for a few seconds, then shook her head. "It's gotta be one of Pete's ships, sailing under false colours. But what's it doing out here on its own?"
"Perhaps a scout?" Sola suggested.
"But why send such a big, slow ship to act as a scout? It doesn't make sense." Miya's frown grew deeper and deeper as she stared at the ship and tried to figure out what it was doing here, until finally she growled in frustration. "Well, who cares, anyway! That's the enemy out there, Sola. That's the important thing. It doesn't matter why they're here, just that they're here."
"Do you think they've spotted us?"
"I'm pretty sure they haven't," said Miya. "I mean they're not attacking us, right?"
"That's good. Let's change course and avoid them," said Sola. Miya was looking through the spyglass, examining the distant ship once more.
"Yeah, that is good," she said, as she lowered the spyglass and handed it to Sola. "This is a chance to stick a thorn in Badger Pete's side."
"I thought we were trying to get to the Diamond Isles as quickly as possible?" said Sola, as Miya went and put down the anchor. "Also, sneaking aboard an enemy ship is very dangerous."
"You did
it. And on a bigger ship than that, I bet."
"It was about the same size."
"Well, whatever ... listen, that ship has twelve cannons on this side, at least two at the front, more than likely twelve on the other side. That means a big powder keg. If I sneak aboard and blow that keg it'd almost certainly sink it."
"That seems needlessly destructive."
"Sola, these are the bad guys! If I can sink that ship that means one less frigate for the Black Navy to take care of!"
"What of those aboard? There may be northern islanders imprisoned on that ship."
"Oh. Oh, yeah."
Miya took the spyglass from Sola and raised it again.
"Well," she said, as she examined the ship, "maybe I could free them. Put them aboard the lifeboats, we're pretty close to Ta'asi, right? It's just on the other side of the chain, right? To the north-west? Do you think we're close enough for lifeboats to get there?"
"Yes."
"Okay then, good."
Miya handed the spyglass back to Sola.
"Furl the sails and mind the ship while I'm gone," she said, as she unhooked the dinghy and let it drop into the water. "Maybe keep an eye on me with the spyglass."
"Miya—"
Miya turned to fix Sola with a hard eye.
"Yes?" she said.
Sola looked at a sister for a moment, then down at her wrist.
"If you get into trouble, blow into the shell I gave you. It makes a loud noise."
"Really?" Miya stood up and flicked the shell into her hand, raised it to her mouth.
"Don't!" Sola stepped forward and grabbed Miya's wrist, gently but firmly pushing her hand down. "It's loud. They would hear us."
"Wow. Okay. Um, thanks," said Miya.
"Ula Se means 'noisy shell'. It is an accurate name."
"I'll take your word for it. Hopefully I won't need it."
"Yes. But if I hear the shell, I will come as quickly as I can."
Miya checked her sword and knife, then jumped down into the dinghy.
"Thank you," she said, looking up at Sola. "I'll be back."
"I'll be here."
Miya paused a moment, then said, "Why aren't you doing more to try to convince me not to go? You don't think it's a good idea, right?"
"I do not."
"Then why aren't you trying to stop me?"
"Is there anything I could say?" Sola asked. "Anything that would stop you from going?"
"No," said Miya. "Probably not."
Sola shrugged. Miya smiled reassuringly at him, then pushed off against the side of the Swan, took up the oars, and started paddling towards the distant ship.
Propelled by excited anticipation and focused on making her oar strokes as quiet and efficient as possible, it seemed like no time at all before Miya found herself nearing the ship. She brought herself in as fast as she could, braking hard as she neared the hull, bringing the dinghy to a stop with just a slight bump against the side of the ship, just under the lifeboats at the stern. Although she could hear voices coming from the main deck, she guessed (and hoped) that she could climb up here without being seen.
After waiting for a few seconds, listening carefully for footsteps on the deck above and hearing none, Miya retrieved a small grappling hook and rope from the storage box under her seat. She looked up, swung the hook in a tight circle, judged the distance then let it loose. Miya flinched as the hook clattered against the ship's rails but pulled it tight, feeling a little thrill as it caught. She tied the end of the rope to the dinghy, made sure the hook was securely jammed against the ship's railings, took a quick, deep breath, then gripped the rope and pulled herself up. Bracing her feet against the side of the ship, being careful not to disturb the nearby lifeboats, Miya easily climbed up and pulled herself over the railing, dropping onto the deck in a low crouch. She took a breath, then tied the hook around the railing using a quick, strong knot her father had taught her when she was six. That done, she took stock of her surroundings. She was on the stern deck, near the wheel. There was nobody around, but the voices on the main deck were clear. Eyes wide, breathing measured, and listening for anything the slightest bit out of place, Miya lowered herself to her stomach and crawled slowly to the edge of the deck.
"—not your turn. Peebo, you ain't thrown for a bit, take 'em up."
"Nah."
"G'wan with ye, think ye're cursed or some nonsense?"
"Nah."
"Jake then, throw us a good'un."
Miya risked peering over the edge of the deck to get a look at the crew. There were five of them sat in a circle, perched on crates or barrels, all intently focused on some kind of dice game. None of them were northern islanders—Miya guessed them to be either Highlanders or Algernian, or maybe from the Diamond Isles. She watched them a moment, then looked past them. There was a large hatch just behind where they were sitting, which would lead to the ship's hold. Beyond that was a staircase leading up to the forecastle deck, and beside that a door. Pushing her luck a little and counting on the crew's focus on their game, Miya poked her head out further, looking down. Aside from the staircase leading down to the main deck, there was a door—that'll lead below, Miya thought.
Very aware of the beating of her heart, Miya shuffled back again, hiding herself once more. She listened to the conversation below for a few moments, hoping to hear something useful, but all she learned was that Peebo was down two and six and not happy about it, and that Jake was the dirty bilge rat son of a scum-eating scurvy dog. Suddenly a roar went up from the pirates—a particularly good throw, Miya thought, as she took advantage of the noise and distraction to pull herself forward, swinging over the edge of the deck, hanging by her fingers for just an instant before dropping to the deck below, the thud of her boots against the wood drowned by the pirates' laughing and cheering. The door leading below was directly in front of Miya, and she held her breath as she tried it. Relief flooded through her as it opened easily and quietly—she slipped into the internal corridor quickly and closed the door behind, then allowed herself to breathe again.
That, she thought, was really exciting. Now, where am I?
The light here was dim, a single hooded lamp providing the only light, and Miya gave her eyes a few seconds to adjust. She was standing in a narrow corridor, with closed doors on either side and a steep staircase leading down at the end. Miya crept past the closed doors, listening for any movement or voices as she made her way to the stairs. As she'd expected, these led down to the gun deck, which was split into two wide corridors on either side of the ship, cannons stowed and hatches closed for now, cannonballs and canisters stacked neatly and secured well. Miya found herself impressed by the state of the guns and the deck; obviously the captain of this ship maintained good discipline. In between the two 'gun alley' corridors was a long, thin room, with no obvious doors on this deck; part of the ship's hold, Miya figured. She took another staircase down and was greeted with the sounds of sleep—snoring, snorting, and the creaking of hammocks. The crew deck. From the stairs was a long corridor that seemed to open up at the end (from where she was standing the light was too dim to see clearly), with many doors set on either side along its length. Crew cabins, Miya thought. And at the end there'll be hammocks and lots of sleeping crew. Where's the powder keg? Did I miss a staircase? Miya made her way along the corridor, down as far as she dared, confirming her guess that it opened out into a larger area containing a lot of hammocks and a lot of snoring pirates.
No, Miya thought, as she looked closer, those aren't pirates.
"Rats," she said, very quietly. Most of the people sleeping in the hammocks were northern islanders—dozens of them. What had seemed to be a simple plan when she was back on her ship talking with Sola now seemed more like an impossibility. Even if I find the keg, she thought, I can't blow it up with these northern islanders on board, and I don't think I can rescue them all without alerting the 'real' crew—
Miya started a little. The real crew. Of course, they're on board as we
ll. If I blow the keg they could go down with the ship, I'd have to make sure they could escape too ...
With a sigh, Miya realised that she hadn't thought this one through at all. Probably Sola COULD have talked me out of it, she thought, as she started towards the steep staircase once more. Well, no sense in crying about it now, maybe I could sabotage something instead. If I could get to the rudder or maybe the masts—
Miya nearly yelped out loud when she almost walked into someone, putting her own hand over her mouth to stop herself. Panic turned to relief when she realised it was a northern islander.
"Oh thank goodness," she whispered, lowering her hand. "I didn't see you there for a moment—oh, so you all do that you-can't-see-me-I'm-standing-still thing? I thought it was just Sola's trick. Huh. Oh, anyway, I'm not here to attack you or anything, I'm a friend. Well, I was planning on blowing the powder keg, but then I realised there are like heaps of northern islanders on the ship, like too many to rescue, and also even though the 'real' crew are pirates I don't actually want to put them in any danger either, so I kind of figured that wouldn't be such a good thing to do. Oh, my name's Miya Black, by the way, I'm from Clover Island."
The northern islander stared at her a moment, then opened his mouth to shout:
"INTRUDER! INTRUDER ON BOARD!"
Miya's jaw dropped. She was too shocked to do anything for a second, then her survival instincts noticed she wasn't giving any instructions and told her legs to start working. She ran past the northern islander and towards the stairs as doors started to open around her and sleepy crew emerged, weapons at the ready. Miya dodged around one pirate and ducked under the clumsy grab of another before making it to the stairs, taking them two at a time and emerging onto the gun deck. She headed for the next set of stairs going up but was met with five pirates coming down, so she turned tail and ran for the stairs on the other end of the gun deck. These were clear and she flew up them, grabbing a lamp as she passed and throwing it down hard behind herself. It smashed and spread flaming oil onto the stairs, black smoke following Miya as she rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a pirate who looked almost as surprised as she was.