by Paul Kater
"Of course. What's eating away at you?" The woman had an uncanny eye for that.
Daniel told her about meeting Huajo early that morning.
Xandree looked at Daniel for a while before speaking. "Seigner Dogom ko Tzuy often is out there. He is an insomniac. The ghost winds alone know how he survives without sleeping normally. He is also troubled by the pain in his bones. Everyone knows about him. And Daniel... if you need to talk about the other thing, you can talk to me too."
"What other thing?"
"The reason you did not sleep this night. You always sleep. There is something that kept you from it, and that is a worry. It is not good to carry your worry around. Talk about it, to get it out of your way." She looked Daniel in the eye. "Your secret is safe with me. If you want to talk."
Daniel nodded. "You are right. There is something that's bothering me." He sighed. "I may take you up on your offer. Thank you."
Xandree nodded. "I'll be here to listen, Daniel."
19. Under sail again
Ulaman and Xandree had almost had to beat Daniel off the ship in the days that the Pricosine was being loaded up. Daniel had become paranoid for a while, with the encounter of the beige suit.
Ulaman had explained that he'd had a good talk with the Seigner. It had nothing to do with the stranger; instead they had discussed Daniel and his work. "The Seigner seems satisfied with you, Daniel. You will be stuck with us for a while longer. He said he will confer with the president of the Society if they should bring in more people like you."
Daniel was relieved to hear that Clelem had not mentioned a thing about the incidents around his daughter being on board.
"Bring up the gangway!" Ulaman yelled into his tube. "We're leaving!"
The crew worked their routine, and soon the Pricosine's bow pointed towards the wide open ocean again. Daniel stood at the bow, enjoying the freedom. The wind bashed at his head and took all the troubled thinking away from him. They were heading for the city of Cathru with a load of wheat, half a cargo bay filled with jugs of wine and a stack of large chests containing household merchandise.
The first day went by with the only thing worth mentioning being fabulous progress. The Pricosine was cutting through the water at phenomenal speeds. Compared to a shuttle, Daniel considered, this meant nothing, but the thrill of seeing the water speed by, seeing the water's wildlife rush by, that was something you could never experience in space.
At the end of the second day, Ulaman called Daniel up to the bridge. "I should tell you that overnight we are entering the part of the ocean that gives us most trouble. The pirates are very active here, so sleep quickly and be awake."
This was not the news Daniel hoped for, but he was glad he was prepared. He thanked the skipper and went to lie down. He was up and dressed long before dusk. He was wearing his military uniform, which was loaded with material he might need for combat. He'd had to become creative: the chemical substances from the water had rendered most of his normal weapons useless.
He was walking the watch, Brinno walking with him. The sailor's trained eyes were scary. "Daniel, there." Brinno pointed to the far distance where the faintest of light was. "Another ship."
"Pirates?"
"No. They don't attack at night."
"Right. Good to know."
Pirates attacked when a large ship was cornering a difficult strait with a treacherous current, Daniel learnt. He was not sure where the ship suddenly came from; it could have fallen from the skies for all he knew. The cries from the crew were clear enough though. As the Pricosine came out of the strait, the short grey ship was upon them. Its sails had the colour of the water and from its bow protruded a kind of ram that approached the hull of the Pricosine at speed.
Lidrin, on the bridge, cursed his entire vocabulary out loud as he tried to turn the giant ship in an attempt to make the damage as small as possible. Avoiding the ram, he knew, would be impossible. This was all he could do.
Daniel ran to where the pirate ship would reach the Pricosine first, blessing his enhanced body for making it a quick trip. As he reached the spot, the ram dug itself into the hull, making the large ship shudder. Several sailors toppled over as the impact was harder than was expected. Daniel spotted men up in the assailant ship's masts, swinging blocks on ropes, throwing them over to the rigging over his head. The men swung over to the Pricosine, uttering loud screams. The first one to land on the deck was close to Daniel and had every reason to regret that. Daniel drove his armoured fist into the man's chest and did not even take the time to watch his victim fall.
A total of thirteen men swung over from the pirate ship. Daniel noticed that there was a small positive thing about their attacked: it was focussed on one spot, so there was no need to protect the whole ship. It also delivered the problem however that the attack was fierce and massive.
The sailors fought well. Daniel however made all the difference. Even when one of the pirates, who had landed high up in a mast, threw down handsful of some strange dust that made the sailors sneeze and gasp for air, Daniel continued the battle. His body simply shut off the intake of external substances and functioned on the air in the pockets of his arms and legs.
He grabbed a piece of rope and flung it upwards. It hit the pirate in the stomach. The man's descent to deck was fast and ended hard. Only three pirates remained, and they made their way back to their ship. Daniel watched them go. Going after them was an option, but he was curious what they were going to do. The battle was won, after all.
The pirates quickly released a kind of bolt at the front of their ship which unlocked the ram. The current that came from the strait immediately pushed them away from the Pricosine and seconds later the gap was already larger than a man would be able to jump.
Daniel turned and looked at the state of the men who had fought so well. Nine of them were wounded but able to walk. Ulaman, who had left the bridge, was covered in red spots, clearly coming from the now dead pirate that lay at his feet. The other men were not injured at all, as by some miracle.
As they started to tend to the wounded, a loud noise, as the tearing of wood, made Daniel look up. He walked to the side of the ship and was just in time to see the remains of the ram fall into the water. It had left a large, gaping hole in the hull, just above the waterline.
"Ulaman, we have a problem," he said.
The captain agreed. "We have to do something about this. If we leave this the way it is, the scum only has to wait for heavy weather and they can fish us up for ransom. Or worse."
"Will we have that chance?"
"In this area the weather is almost as unpredictable as-" the captain looked for Xandree "-a woman."
"That bad," Daniel understood. His mind was already running. "We're to fix that. Have Bilk and Stroro bring hammers and nails or whatever you use to fix up a ship."
"Daniel, don't be a fool, we have not enough material on board to fix a hole that big."
"Just you wait." Daniel ran off and made his way into the cargo bay that held the large Polychlon chests and trunks. He methodically started to tear up four of them that would supply the largest pieces. He hauled them up and dropped them onto the deck, where Ulaman stared.
"Where did you- Don't tell me-"
"Don't ask, Ulaman."
The men put together two pieces of plating that should be large enough to cover the hole. As one group went below deck, making space in the cargo bay so they could reach the opening from the inside, Ulaman arranged for a life boat to be lowered.
One man was up in the mast, keeping an eye out for the pirates, but they were not to be seen. Daniel and Brinno lowered themselves into the life boat and waited for the second plate to be lowered towards them. They manoeuvred the boat to the opening and started to close it from the outside.
A wave hit the life boat as Daniel was reaching out to make the last connection, which threw him off balance and into the water. Brinno helped him scramble into the boat and they laughed, despite the situation.
&nb
sp; It did not take them long to close the hole from the outside, and as Daniel had changed into dry clothes again, the men who had worked on the inside had also done their best there.
Ulaman had gone in also, and assessed the situation. "We can't go on like this. I dare only hope we make it back home with that patch." So the ship was turned, the route around the strait was plotted as there was no way they would be able to sail up the stream, and they started the journey back.
As they were going, Daniel was extra alert for another attack. Another of those, with the ship damaged like this, and several men down, would be a terrible thing. There also was a continuous watch in the cargo bay to see if they were taking in water. Buckets were already in place for that occasion. At one time during the trip back, the life boat was lowered again, as the outside patch was loosening because of the constant beating it got from the water. By then they had reached relative safety though, being not too far from shore.
Pirates would not attempt anything here, Ulaman assured Daniel who remained vigilant despite that. The fact they had never done it so far did not mean they never would. Nothing happened, though.
"After the night we're almost back," the captain said. "Half a day at best then. The Seigner will not be happy we failed to deliver the cargo, but at least the ship's not gone under."
That was something to be grateful for, Daniel agreed.
Towards the evening Daniel felt sick. It felt like a fever was spreading inside him and he could not explain it. The people around him noticed that he was doing poorly also and commented on it, suggesting he should hit his bunk. He agreed eagerly and staggered down to his cabin, tumbling onto the bed.
Not much later Xandree and Ulaman came down to see him. Xandree had tea with her, and her small medical kit. The tea was the best she had to offer though, nothing in her kit seemed to be the cure for Daniel's situation.
Ulaman thought it was the fact he had fallen into the sea. "Those chemicals do rotten things, Daniel. You should be okay in a few days."
"I hope so. Don't like this a bit," the ex-soldier muttered. The tea made things more bearable for him, and Draiky the cook made it her personal mission to supply him with copious amounts of it, sitting by his bed and talking with him if he was not sleeping.
As he drifted in and out of sleep, the Pricosine reached port. Daniel was aware of people coming into his cabin and lifting him out on a stretcher. As they were carrying him up the stairs, Stroro's voice warning someone to be careful or else, he passed out again.
"Mr. Zacharias? Can you hear me?" The voice was gentle and female.
"Yes, I can." Daniel was quite certain. He opened his eyes slowly and stared at a friendly face with brown eyes and a white cap in tucked back dark hair. Beyond the face everything was white.
"Wonderful, Mr. Zacharias. Good to have you with us," the nurse smiled.
Daniel was not so sure about that, but probably she was more coherent than he was.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Zacharias?"
"Somewhat better. Not so hot," he determined. "A bit numb too."
The nurse looked away from him. He tried to follow her gaze and discovered that he couldn't. It was as if his head was held down by something, like an anvil. "I am in a hospital, aren't I?"
"Yes," said the nurse, her attention back with him. "You are taken care of as well as we are able to, sir."
Somehow this did not fill Daniel with a lot of confidence. "What's wrong with me?"
Another voice, male, spoke. The owner of that, a balding man with a short white beard, bent over him. "You are packed in ice, Mr. Zacharias. We have to admit that we are not all certain with respect to the cause of your affliction. It may have to do with the rather unusual substance your body is made of, so we have contacted your seniors in order to determine a treatment."
Daniel slowly blinked. He noticed how sluggish it was. "Don't give me the medical careful routine, doctor. Please, what is going on?" He did not feel like politeness now.
"To put it bluntly, sir, you seem to be falling apart."
20. Bactine
Daniel heard the words. Somehow they left him as cold has his ice-covered body was.
"It looks that keeping you in ice is slowing down the process, sir." The doctor looked at him. "I am sorry, sir, you asked for this information."
Daniel hoped he nodded. "I know. What are my chances?"
"We are not certain."
"Let me in, you runt, I know him! And I'm here on business!"
Daniel's heart jumped. Seconds later it did so again: Rhonda's face appeared in his view.
"Gods, you look like crap," she greeted him. Her face was hard. She started to push ice to the side and examined Daniel.
Daniel waited for her to say something, but she remained silent during the time she was looking him over.
"I need to talk to people, Daniel. I'll be back soon. I promise." Rhonda looked at him, this time in an emotional way he had never thought possible for her. She touched his forehead, then she left, taking the doctor with her.
The nurse started packing the ice onto him again, and the lights faded.
-=-=-
"Daniel? Daniel, can you hear me? Give him some more. Daniel?"
He crawled out of the grey fog. "I hear you." Slowly his eyesight came back. "Hey, you."
Rhonda stood watching him. "Hey yourself. I heard what a mess you got yourself in. You never grow up, do you? Playing pirate and going for a swim."
"Seems that's needed to get you back here," he tried to grin. There was no feedback from his face whether the attempt had succeeded.
"You're an idiot. Daniel, I need to talk to you and please listen carefully. It's getting harder to keep you awake."
At least she did not say 'alive', Daniel thought.
"We think to know what is happening to you, Daniel. Your friends from the boat said-"
"Ship" Daniel said.
"What? Oh, stop that. Your friends from the... ship said that you all were sprayed by something that made everyone sneeze. I assume you sealed yourself from it, because I found some of that stuff inside your Bactine parts, or what is remaining of them. It looks as if that stuff combined with the ocean water here is severely..."
"Daniel? Are you with us?"
"What? Oh. Yes." Daniel had not noticed that he had been unconscious again.
"Damn that stuff," Rhonda said. "I'll have to be quick. The stuff of the pirates and the ocean water degrades and finally dissolves the Bactine. We have to operate on you or you'll die. We can't take you back to the star base for a new Bactine transplant. It is too far away, and also it's never been done before. Daniel... stay with us... We are going to operate on you..."
-=-=-
There was pain. Not a deep and screaming pain, but a dull and throbbing one. It was everywhere. Daniel groaned softly and wished he hadn't. It triggered some more pain, in his throat.
"Mr. Zacharias? Are you awake? Try and move a finger, sir, if you can hear me. Don't try to speak, that will be too painful."
"Okay." Argh, she was right. He moved a finger.
"That is wonderful, Mr. Zacharias. Very good. Now, just relax. I am going to remove the covers and put more oil on your body, sir. It will help the recovery."
While Daniel still was working on the meaning of her words, he felt a rush of cool air flowing over him.
"Keep your eyes closed, sir, please. I will start with your face." Gentle, soft hands and fingers touched his face, and a warm slick sensation spread over his face. The dull pain seemed to yield to whatever it was the woman did.
Slowly and skilfully she worked his whole face, his shoulders and his chest, down to his abdomen. "I am now going to oil your private area, sir. Don't worry, I will be gentle."
Daniel, halfway dozing, wondered about her remark. His genitals had disappeared as he had been put inside the Bactine body and-... His mind froze for a moment as the feelings that rushed up to his brain told him something that could not be. Then another sensation, one he
had not had for a long time, told him something else.
"Oh," the woman said. "Not to worry, sir, that happens at times.."
Daniel had an erection. The impossibility of this puzzled him so much that he did not even felt how the woman oiled his legs and covered him again. She said something.
"What? I beg your pardon... I did not hear you."
"You will be feeling better soon, sir. I'm taking my leave now, another nurse will come to sit with you."