Bactine

by Paul Kater

  The people were calm during their evacuation, and that was the biggest help the crew could ask for. The loading of the people and animals took two days and meant hardly any sleep for any of the crew. Also Draiky and Xandree pitched in where they could.

  Ulaman had the three leading people from the island on the bridge and had asked Daniel to be there as well.

  Daniel understood that. Ulaman, being the captain, now was responsible for several thousand heads, wanted to make sure that there was an independent witness who could state that he had done things by the book. Seigner Clelem would insist on that.

  "I hope," said Ulaman, "that your people will be able to find a good place to stay. We're about to sail, and if the winds are with us we can make it to your new home in 3 to 4 days. If there is something you need, or you have a problem, call on me."

  The three people thanked Ulaman and promised that they would keep the hindrance for the crew down to the minimal amount they could muster.

  "We will come and check up on you," Ulaman said. "Everyone of the crew will be taking part in this. We have heard that you have several stoves and furnaces with you to make food, is that right?"

  "Yes, captain. We can make for our own food."

  Everything was in order. The three left the bridge and Ulaman started giving orders through his tube.

  -=-=-

  Skarak was coming back into view. The crew of the Pricosine were shattered but happy and relieved that the move of the people had gone well. As soon as they were in hydger range, Ulaman reported to Clelem about the journey and that all people had been rescued and safely in their new town. Daniel, Lidrin and Xandree were present at the 'conference call'.

  "Excellent work, captain Ulaman," Clelem said. "You have done an outstanding job. My compliments to the crew. They have all deserved a gratification which I will allow for personally."

  Daniel was perplexed. That was a boss one would love to work for. The cheers from the crew, when the word was spread, made it clear that they all thought so.

  After the ship was moored the crew washed up and made themselves presentable, orders of the captain. At the designated hour, everyone reported on deck and then the whole crew, to which Daniel was counted by now, walked off the long, high gangway, carrying their bags. They would be off again for a while as the ship was cleaned, checked and prepared for a new cargo.

  On the quay, to Daniel's amazement, was a carriage. He'd never seen one there.

  Ulaman made them all line up and then walked over to the carriage. After a knock on the door, he came back and stood in line also. Several people who were busy at the docks stopped what they were doing and took a very interested stance.

  The carriage opened. Gaguran Slindris stepped out. He was followed by Seigner Clelem Dandra ko Galem, and after him a young woman exited the carriage.

  Stroro, who stood next to Daniel, whispered: "That's the Seigner's daughter."

  The three came closer. Only Clelem and Gaguran walked up to the line of sailors. The woman kept a distance. Clelem had prepared a short speech in which he cordially thanked the crew for their superb work in saving all the lives of the islanders.

  "The comisar of Skarak, the comisar of Zoroon and also the president of the Ship Owners Society have asked me to convey their gratitude to you." Clelem then nodded to Gaguran, who reached in his pocket and pulled out a leather purse. Each of the people from the crew, including Daniel, were handed a golden and a silver coin. Judging from the response of the other crew members, this represented quite a handsome amount.

  After that little ceremony, Clelem returned to where his offspring was waiting. Daniel had a short time to look at the woman. She was small. Her hair was long, brown and overly fluffy. Her dress, made of something deep red velvet and yellow brocade. She was using a fan for no apparent reason, hiding her face behind it. Clelem gave her his arm and escorted her to the carriage, even though it was only a few dozen feet away.

  Gaguran trailed behind them and entered the carriage last.

  Ulaman thanked everyone for the attention, and congratulated them on the fine bonus. "Enjoy your shore leave, people," he said, quickly taking off his captain's hat as the carriage was moving away.

  -=-=-

  Four people cruised the streets of the lower side of Skarak. Daniel had been picked up by Stroro, Lidrin and Bilk, who would not take no for an answer. There was no need for a no, as there was no question. Daniel was taken out for a night on the town, sailor style.

  They had seen an amazing amount of bars, pubs and similar places already, and now they were on their way to the next one. Lidrin and Stroro were loudly singing a rawdy sailor song. Bilk hummed along, for some reason he had not sung a note the entire evening. Daniel was just laughing at the few words of the song that he understood.

  "Oh, here we have to go. Stop, stop, here, you big thing," Stroro yelled out, disrupting the song.

  They had arrived at the Tub. The outside of the bar was made to look as a barrel, which added to the looks of the place. Daniel doubted that his fellow men were sober enough to notice that. As usual, the alcohol did nothing to Daniel. The Bactine body eliminated all of its effects.

  They moved in, making a lot of noise. It went mostly unnoticed, as the racket inside the Tub was deafening.

  The Tub was made for people who love standing at a bar. Or lying over one. The bar consisted of seven circles, one inside the other. There were openings in three places where people could move to a ring more on the inside, or to the outside.

  Lidrin found them a spot in one of the outer circles where they ordered large glasses of Lativian beers. As they were drinking, the four had a relaxed conversation, whilst shouting their lungs out to overcome the noise around them.

  "Don't you love this place?" Lidrin yelled in Daniel's ear.

  "It looks like fun," Daniel roared back.

  "Nah, the fun still has to start," Lidrin commented.

  The fun did not take long to appear. All over the Tub, dozens of large concrete tubs filled with ice water came out of the walls. To make things look more attractive, each tub was covered in huge amounts of colourful bubbles.

  Many of the people in the bar started yelling and cheering.

  "Better stay close to us," Stroro advised Daniel. "And hold on to the bar. That's important."

  Daniel accepted the advice. Around them, most of the sailors started a wrestling match. Each one was attempting to dunk his colleague in one of the tubs. Each 'hit' was accompanied by loud cheering, after which the wrestling match continued.

  The fun continued for about half an hour, after which there was no water left in any of the tubs. It either seeped from the unfortunate sailors (who did not seem to mind), or was over the floor.

  The tubs were retracted into the wall and the fun bit was over, leaving the sailors to themselves and their stories and drinks.

  Daniel assumed it was safe to let go of the bar. He had noticed that his fellows had done the same, and all others who held on to the bar were left in peace. Apparently it was an unwritten rule in the Tub.

  As Bilk was ordering another round of beers, Daniel caught sight of a young man with a very pale complexion, shabby clothes and an unhealthy overall appearance. Among the big and strong sailors, the man stood out like a sore thumb. His instincts kicked in and after excusing himself for a moment, he moved along the round bar so he would keep the young man in sight.

  The man moved to the far end of the outermost bar where three men were standing. He reached in his pocket and rolled some small stuff on the bar while talking to the men.

  Daniel enhanced his vision, using his electronic eye. "Crap," he whispered. He recognised the drugs that were on the bar as TSD and Rood.

  TSD, officially known as Trero-Sulphur-Dermoxyn, was better known as Toxic Shit you Die of. It was a chemical drug, meant to relax, but often made people die. The drug was made of a selection of waste products. Rood, he knew, was some alien vegetable drug. It put people to sleep as in a coma, and it was u
npredictable when they would come out of it. If at all. And the filth existed even here.

  "Daniel." A hand rested on his shoulder.

  Stroro had come after Daniel. "Don't mess with them, Daniel. They are bad news, you don't want to get involved with them."

  Daniel looked at his sailor friend. "I've dealt with them before. I'm a soldier, Stroro, I have to arrest that man."

  "You can't. You are not here as a soldier, remember than. You are a security man for the Society." Stroro shook Daniel by the shoulder, hoping that he could make the man see sense.

  "Who's a soldier here?" a loud voice rang out. It was better than a switch. Within seconds there was a silence in the Tub that was scary.

  "There is no soldier here," Stroro tried.

  "Oh, right," another voice said. "I heard your mate there say he was a soldier. We don't have soldiers in here, right boys?"

  There was no more reason to talk. The appearance of the Tub changed considerably in the twenty minutes it took for law enforcement to arrive and clear out the bar.

  14. Jailbirds

  The line of carriages painted black and yellow was impressive. Daniel had never seen so many of them in one street. The downside of it was that he was stowed in one of them as an official guest of the Skarak police force.

  As the caravan started to move, Daniel asked Stroro, who was in the same carriage, why the police had taken so long to get there.

  Stroro shrugged. "I think they wait until most of us are somewhat tired of fighting. Makes things easier for them." The snort that he ended with was very meaningful. Sailors who were in a fight did not get tired. They got more energised.

  "Nobody charged us with anything," Daniel continued.

  "They never do," Stroro displayed his experience. "They stick us in the brig, the boss comes to get us out, we promise not do it anymore and we walk."

  "Sounds like that is a contradiction. You did this before, right?"

  "Yeah. Different bar." Stroro grinned. "They know they can't stop us. It's a game between them and us."

  Daniel was not pleased. He'd been in enough trouble already; this bit of joy would not look good on him. The carriage did not look like something strong enough to hold his Bactine body in for long, but a break-out of a police carriage would probably do him even more damage.

  The sailors all seemed quite relaxed under the circumstances. Some of them were already snoring. Stroro was one of them.

  The ride ended. The door swung open and outside, to Daniel's surprise, were just two policemen who watched the group of sailors walk into the building. They all seemed to know the way and located the cells on their own. Some were looking around for their buddies, so they'd be in the same cells for the time being.

  "Daniel. Over here." Bilk waved at him, holding up Stroro. Lidrin was with him also, so Daniel pushed his way through the stream of sailors. "This is a good one. To the side. And quiet."

  Daniel stared as they moved into the cell. He slowly followed. "Want me to close the door?"

  Lidrin shook his head. "Why? Nobody's going to rob us here, we're in the brig."

  Bilk lowered Stroro on one of the beds where the sailor continued his snoring. They were joined by three more sailors, who also picked a bunk to crash on.

  Daniel sank on a bed and looked around, not understanding the proceedings at all.

  "There's water there," Lidrin pointed to a table with some bottles in the corner, "and the piss is outside, to the left."

  Mere minutes later every single one of them, except Daniel, was asleep. The former soldier sat with his back leaning against a wall.

  "Hey you. Everything okay?"

  Daniel looked at the man who stood near the open door. "Yes. I am fine."

  "Good. Just making sure." The man, in official law enforcement uniform, looked Daniel over. "Are you certain? You look a bit strange."

  "I'm fine, really."

  "If you say so. Sleep well."

  Daniel watched the man stroll off. He shook his head and lay down. After a while he fell asleep also.

  The next morning he awoke to the sound of noise. He rose quickly. Around him, sailors were slowly getting to their feet, stretching themselves. One after the other disappeared for a visit to 'the piss', a relieved expression on their face as they returned.

  Outside the cell the name of a ship was called out, and men came from the cell. They assembled near a man in a suit who spoke to them and then the group left the police station without further ado.

  More and more ships names were called, and the cells were emptying rapidly.

  "Pricosine!"

  "Ah. That's us." Stroro hauled himself to his feet. They walked out of the cell, Daniel last, and walked up to Clelem, who stood waiting with Gaguran. They were both dressed to the nines.

  "Ah, gentlemen," their employer said. "It appears you had a good night out. Mr. Zacharias, I see you are settling in quite nicely with the crew."

  "Seigner, I am truly sorry. I-"

  "It is fine, Mr. Zacharias. It is fine."

  Daniel could not believe his ears. Best thing now was to keep his mouth shut and to hope that someone would clarify all this sometime soon.

  Clelem nodded to Gaguran. They turned and walked outside, the sailors in their wake.

  "Have a good day, gentlemen," Clelem said. He nodded and turned to walk to his waiting carriage. As the door opened, Daniel could not restrain himself. "Seigner Dandra ko Galem."

  The man slowly turned. "Ah. Mr. Zacharias."

  Daniel noticed the highly disapproving look on the face of the serving man and ignored it. "I beg your pardon, sir, but can you please clarify the proceedings? I am, to say the least, extremely puzzled."

  Clelem frowned for a moment. He cast a glance inside the carriage, where Daniel spotted the frilly girl again, fan up for protection. "Of course. I should not expect that lot to explain all this to you. Would you mind riding with us? We have more things to do."

  Daniel looked at his attire. "I'm afraid I am not exactly properly dressed, sir," he said.

  "For this time, I will not take offence, Mr. Zacharias. After all, we know what has happened." Clelem Dandra ko Galem got into the carriage. Gaguran stepped in and Daniel followed. He was stared at by the young woman. Two large brown eyes over the rim of the fan, that then quickly looked away, out the carriage.

  Gaguran did his trick with the hydger. Daniel noticed that he had a very small one this time, like an oversized locket.

  "Mr. Zacharias," Clelem said, "the Ship Owners Society is aware of the strain that seafaring folk are living under when away for so long. Therefore it is no more than natural that sailors feel the need to let off steam, so to speak. For that reason, twice a year an establishment in the sailor's district is selected to be redecorated."

  "Redecorated?" Daniel missed something crucial, he was certain of that. He blamed the long and intense night and the short sleep.

  "Indeed. The name of the establishment is mentioned to at least one person of the crew, who will then direct his fellow crewmen there. At a certain point they will start fighting, which will severely damage the interior. As you may have witnessed. This makes the removal of the interior easier for the workmen. The seafaring folk had their brawl and a secure place to sleep, and in the morning we come to collect them."

  Daniel's surprise was growing.

  "The Ship Owners Society has a separate fund for carrying some of the costs that are involved in redecorating the establishment. It can, after all, happen that some of the sailors get a bit carried away in their efforts."

  "But sir, I was the one who started the fight." Daniel felt bad about that.

  "Good for you, Mr. Zacharias. But do you believe that the night would have gone by peacefully if you had not done that?"

  The carriage came to a halt. "I believe we have reached your homestead, Mr. Zacharias. I commend your honesty. Have a good day, sir."

  Daniel left the carriage and said his goodbyes. As the carriage rattled off, he scratched
his head. This was really insane. The ship owners decided what place needed to be patched up and arranged for the sailors to take most of it apart. He grinned and went up to his apartment. After a shower and some breakfast he dropped himself on the bed and was asleep in seconds.

  15. A new trip

  The hydger rattled. Daniel picked it up from the table and recognised Ulaman's sign. "Ulaman, good morning."

  "Hello, Daniel. The ship is ready for new sailing. There have been some alterations to the rudder and we have a new sail. The Seigner wants us to take the ship out for a long test. We will leave in the afternoon."