by R N Skye
With Roger and Ari were off running errands Shane queried the instructor for any information it had on ocean travel and navigation. More fairly simple glyph structures were brought to his attention. The first was a world map that showed his position in relation to the islands and continents of the world. “How does this work, does a glyph of some sort look down from the sky and show the location to the machine?” Shane queried the instructor.
“The Elios set into motion many large rocks referred to as asteroids in the heavens above the world. Upon them are glyphs that allow information to be gathered and distributed over every part of Eliom. This allows for Instructors to remain connected to the Arc and to follow students at all times. The glyph structure that you are viewing is strictly an output for the information already available.”
Feeling that he was once again on the verge of something practical Shane queried the instructor on how to make screens like it did whenever he need to view something. The glyphs were displayed and Shane quickly retrieved his notebook and went to work.
Next to the large wheel that controlled the rudder was large table used for charts and maps. Using mastery he used his glyphs to produce a large brass metal plate nearly the size of the table. He had to use the lightness glyphs to levitate it and place it on the table. As soon as it was in position he stuck it fast with the glue glyphs. When it was fastened he began to inscribe the glyphs as directed by the instructor and soon he not only had the navigation view screen he had a device that could see through fog and at night.
Next he was concerned about the speed and the wind. He didn’t know much about sailing but he did know enough that if the wind wasn’t blowing the way you wanted it to it made for slow travel. What he needed was a propulsion system. As he went through the different water propulsion enchantments he followed a tangent and was reading about self-pumping water pipes. He read the glyphs and was pleasantly surprised at the simplicity. All he needed were two massive pipes that would suck the water in one side and push it out the other.
Using mastery so that he didn’t need a substrate he engineered two four hands in diameter four cubit tall steel pipes. He then etched the water pump glyphs on them and added several large sun glyphs in case they needed extra power. He then placed a variable for stop, slow, medium, and full, for both forward and backwards; the next step was how to make a control. Locating an open space on the navigation plate he used the scribe and made a control line for each pipe with the circle in the middle where the stop position would be and he marked and glyphed a control for the different speeds for both forward and reverse. The tough part would be how to attach the pipes.
Once he had a way to lift the boat he needed to test his modified pipes or thrusters. Using the lighter than air glyphs he levitated them across the water and attached them to a nearby semi submerged piling. With one end of the pipes facing skyward halfway submerged; the inflow end facing down. He added lumen to all of the glyphs on the pipes and the navigation and control panels. Slowly he pushed the control circle along its lines to the slow forward position. The pipes immediately shot water nearly six cubits into the air. Pushing the controller to medium position the water was now shooting thirty to forty cubits into the air. With a grin Shane pushed them to the max and the water shot a towering column of water well over one hundred cubits high. He hurriedly put them in the stop position and hurried to switch the pipes so that he could test them in reverse; the reverse testing provided the same results.
Once he had the pipes off the piling and on the dock he set about raising the ship so he could attach the thrusters. One task led to another and he ended up having to place glyphs that would make the boat lighter than air and with accompanying painstaking task of finding a way to keep it level on all axes as well as equally distribute the weight. This also meant another control on the navigation panel of which he was running out of room.
At last he levitated the boat out of the water and examined the hull to see where the best location would be to attach the thrusters. Not sure of the best location he finally chose a location that would place a thruster on each side of the keel located in the spot between where the two masts were positioned up top; hoping that that was the strongest part of the structure.
After lowering the boat back into the water Shane began to straighten up. As he went below he found all sorts of signs of vermin and trash. He mastered a large metal barrel etched on the fire glyphs and put it on deck. As he filled it with trash the refuse incinerated almost immediately. By the time had the next load to put in the barrel there were barely even ashes left. Eventually he had all of the trash burned and off of the boat, all he had to do is start washing the place.
He went to the lowest deck and lifted up an access board to discover that the bilge area was full of putrid water locating the bilge pumped he gave it a few trial pumps but decided that the hand method would take a long time to clear the bilge. He decided that he would use the same principle as he had on the propulsion pipes and he detached the hose from the manual pump and put glyphs on the end that he was going to stick into the filthy water setting it so that it would pump whenever it got wet. Soon the rancid water was being pumped out of the boat.
Shane then got a bucket and began rinsing off each deck washing away the leavings from mice, birds, and rats. For most of the afternoon he scoured every inch that he could reach until it looked clean and vermin free.
Putting away the equipment he noticed that it was getting dark. Not wanting a repeat of what had occurred at the hotel, to prevent anyone from sneaking up on him he set a glue trap on the gang plank before moving on to his next project of creating some light crystals.
Once he had s sufficient pile of the light crystals he began attaching them to various locations throughout the boat putting all the exterior controls in the cabin near the wheelhouse and the cabin controls.
After installing lighting in the cabins and the hold, as he was coming topside he heard a tumultuous outburst of laughing and swearing. Carefully he peeked out from the lower deck and saw Roger and Ari on the pier next to a large cart full of provisions and equipment chuckling at the same pair of sailors that had assisted in the unloading of the wagon the previous evening at the hotel.
The two hired men were loaded down with boxes and had walked on to the glue trap and were effectively displaying the range of their four letter vocabulary while stuck firmly to the gang plank.
Not wanting them to fall when they were suddenly released Shane hailed them and warned them that they needed to stand steady he was going to release them.
As soon as the sailors were able to, they quickly climbed aboard. “Sorry about that,” apologized Shane helping them place their burdens on the deck.
Under Rogers’s direction the sailors, Ari and Shane began to place items in the various cabins stores and the galley.
Ari looked around the boat as any captain would and gave an approving nod. “The boat looks good, Shane, I can see you’ve been busy today. This place was a disaster, now it actually looks livable. Nice work.”
“Thanks, it needed to be done. Wait until you see what ‘other’ improvements I have worked on.” He added enthusiastically.
“As soon as we get these supplies and gear on board you can give us the grand tour. Nice job with the lights by the way.”
When the last of the gear and supplies were on board Shane noticed that in one of the cabins his personal items from the hotel were among them. He went back up on deck to see Roger thanking the two sailors with a handful of money; soon the two young men hurried off into the evening.
With the hired loading crew gone Shane greeted the older men with a thank you for getting his things. He then led them to the wheelhouse which was located near the stern and slightly higher than the main deck with windows around the front and the sides. He deactivated all the lights except for two very dim lights in the Wheel area and then activated the navigation table.
With appreciative looks, Roger and Ari surveyed the large panel of
the many glyphs and screens. As Shane began to explain the different functions they were equally impressed at the ability that they had to pinpoint their location on a scale as small as the marina to an area as large as their current hemisphere. He also explained how they could identify every ship in the harbor and beyond. Next he showed them how to zoom, in and out so that they could navigate tight areas even the docks and small rivers at night and a smaller screen that showed water depth and current flow. He then showed them the visual screen that they could use to view actual events on boats as well as land masses from afar no matter the weather. For fun he zoomed in on the hotel where they had stayed the night before and caught a glimpse of the two sailors that they had just paid walk past.
“Now the best for last,” Shane said. “Maybe it’s just me, but after today I’d feel a lot safer anchored somewhere out of the marina and the harbor, perhaps somewhere in a cove further out in the bay. If I told you that we could do that without wind or rowing would you be open to it?”
Roger shrugged and Ari finally said, “After what I’ve seen you do I think you’ve earned my trust, Ok, why not.”
Shane activated the bright lights on the mast so that they illuminated the area around the ship for a good thirty cubits. Roger and Ari cast off the lines and pulled in the fenders. When they returned to the wheelhouse he moved the thrust controls to just barely into the slow area of reverse and the sloop slowly slid backwards away from the slip. Once he was backed away he turned the wheel hard to the starboard and put the thrusters to stop and the boat coasted as it slowly moved the stern to the right and the bow moved to the left. As an experiment he found that he could reverse the port thruster and have the starboard thruster move forward and the ship almost pivoted in place. Once the bow was clear of the slip Shane spun the wheel to port and set the thrust to slow forward. With a slight nudge the boat began to move forward and Shane added a bit more wheel to port in order to keep the sloop straight as it headed out into the bay.
Looking down at the navigation panel he adjusted a set of dots and the world position screen zoomed in and little white dots began to show up in relation to them.
“What are those,” asked Ari.
“Those are other boats and objects in the water in our immediate area. The red dot in the center is us.” Shane killed the mast lights and the area was suddenly very dark except for the dim lights of the wheelhouse and the navigation panel. “There,” said Shane proudly. We can see them but they can’t see us.”
“I’m glad he’s on our side,” Roger commented in amazement.
As they headed slowly out into the bay and away from the hundreds of small craft anchored throughout the marina and the harbor, Shane showed Ari and Roger how to use the thrusters and the Navigation table and its features. Shane increased the speed slightly just nudging the controls past the slow mark and they were soon making good time towards a wide open portion of the bay. A few minutes later they were far enough out that Shane scanned the bay for a suitable location to anchor for the night.
Once the boat was securely anchored Ari suggested that they get some sleep and they would get started first thing in the morning. Ari gave out a watch schedule saying that he would take first watch and get Roger up for second and Shane could take third.
The next morning arrived with a slight breeze and a cloudless sky. As his watch was coming to an end Shane went to the galley and began looking for what would make a good breakfast. While he found a can of roasters and a large roasters pot to brew it in, the stove was a small wood burning model with a cast iron top and there was no firewood. Not to be deflected Shane soon had the appropriate glyphs engraved on the stove top converting it to a modern artifact style appliance. Before long the Rosters pot was peculating and a pan of bacon was frying. He did find a broken artifact bread toaster; with a few moments of study he soon replaced the broken glyphs infuse it with lumen and was making toast. He was just about ready to turn the bacon when Roger entered the galley.
“Shane my friend,” he said in greeting as he breathed in deeply the aromas of the fresh roasters and the bacon. “You sure know how to start a day.” But you are still on watch so let me get the breakfast.”
Marveling at the man’s ever agreeable morning attitude Shane gladly handed the spatula over to the cheerful Roger. Taking a mug of roasters with him he went topside to see what the bay looked like from the day time. Looking about he could see the Cliffs Port marina looking small in the distance. As he glanced about he already saw large teams of rowers in their dinghies pulling several commercial ships from the harbor while the tide was high. Thinking of his thrusters Shane was soon daydreaming on ways to power larger craft.
His thought were interrupted as Ari came up from below and stood by him; evidently he too had stopped by the galley as he had his own steaming mug. “Nice day,” was all he said.
Not feeling much like conversation himself Shane only nodded and took a sip from his mug savoring the rich mix of bitter and toasted flavors.
“As soon as we eat we need to get going. I’m hoping that with the calm weather and your enchantments we will be to where we need to be by early evening. As the one with the most experience on a boat I’m going to assume the role as Captain. What that means, Shane, is what I say goes. I may say something that doesn’t make a bit of sense but you need to listen and do what I say when I say. The ocean can be a very dangerous and unforgiving place. The only margin of survival is responding quickly to emergencies as they arise. I’ve already had this conversation with Roger and it is acceptable with him. You are a smart man, Shane, your magetech skills obviously are more advance than mine ever were, but I hope you understand that on the water I have a lot of wisdom and experience gathered over the years that make what I do know very effective.”
Shane listened to Ari and nodded in agreement and with a smile said, “Aye Captain.”
“Additionally as Roger is also an experienced sailor, I have asked him to be the acting first; meaning that if something happens to me you listen to him. Lastly you are the technical expert on the boat regarding your enhancements, that means you have to be available to fix anything that breaks and to teach Roger and I how to operate all the magic that you have installed. Unless something happens to your improvements we won’t even need to use the sails. Roger has agreed to take all the cooking details; I’ll take care of any maintenance although I may direct you and Roger to assist me from time to time. We will maintain a rotating watch so that will make for some long days if we don’t locate the island right away. I’ll assign the watch on a daily basis depending on what we are up against from day to day. Since I took first watch last night I’m pretty fresh so I’ll take the first day watch, Roger second and you third. Since you have the afternoon watch I may relieve you and have you man the navigation if it looks like we may run into a crown naval patrol. If things are slow whoever is on watch will man both the helm and the nav. Understood?”
“Aye,” said Shane.
“Final Item,” Ari continued. See if there is any way we can go invisible like you did with that tarp. Otherwise we will be limited to night time operations. If the island is where I think it is we will be there fairly quickly and the sooner we get there the sooner we get Ava and get out.”
After breakfast they pulled in the anchor lines and Ari slowly increased the thruster outputs. By the time it was up to medium the wind coming across the bow was blowing anything not tied down as well as causing the sails to start to billow loose. Ari quickly decelerated and Roger and Shane set about securing anything that they anticipated might blow away as well as securing the sails so that the wind from their magical acceleration would not cause them to blow loose or deploy. Soon they were back up to medium speed and while a little bumpy as the entered the open ocean they were making good time.
Once a course was set Ari began scrolling around the navigation screens looking at what might be likely locations for the island. As Ari zoomed out he could see Jehhet harbor and the many dots that
represented the water craft in the area. As he moved the map out he began to notice a pattern of several ships headed in the direction of the area of where he suspected the island was located. Drawing an imaginary line he headed for a group of about five islands.
Shane went to work on the invisibility issue and was soon placing glyphs all over the boat including the masts. When he activated them Roger nearly fell over board from the disorientation and it looked like the three men were standing in midair. Shane stopped the enchantment and began the fine tuning.
Ari hollered from the helm that next time he was to give a warning before any more testing.
The second round was more successful as the boat became invisible from the outside only. Those in the wheelhouse could still see out the windows but the ship was undetectable from without. Additionally as long as the doors and hatches were shut you could see everything inside but remained unseen from outside.
The next issue was the wake and the displaced water. Shane found that by using glyphs to lift the boat slightly out of the water the wake and the displacement lessened but he could only go ‘so’ high because of the thrusters needed to stay well beneath the surface of the water. Growling to himself he thought about the rowers that he had seen earlier towing the large ships that morning. What if he built a set of thrusters that where below the water and only a tow rope existed to make the wake?
The idea soon had him alone in his cabin with his notebook conversing with his instructor. Before long he moved his project topside and he began making a duplicate set of thrusters. In addition he made a third larger and longer pipe and set cones which he welded on the ends of the third pipe. He then welded the thruster pipes to the sides. Next how to steer, he thought to himself.