Bactine

by Paul Kater

  Before Daniel could respond to that, a few guests came up to Rayko to say good night. She got up, Daniel did so as well but held back a bit. He still was the stranger here, the outsider.

  Clelem came walking to them. "Ah, daughter. I see you did what I asked of you. Very very good. I hope you had a good evening, Mr. Zacharias?"

  "It was a nice evening, Seigner, thank you. I should take my leave now, though," Daniel said.

  "I understand," said Clelem, taking his daughter's arm. "We will go and bid our guests a good evening."

  "Thank you, sir, for the invitation. And for the talk. I'll go change and find my way out, sir."

  Clelem nodded. "Do tell my wife you are leaving, before that, Mr. Zacharias. It would be appreciated."

  "Certainly, sir. Miss Dandro ko Galem..." Daniel nodded and walked off to where he saw Ugidra, Clelem's spouse, where he said goodbye to her. Then he went into the side room where Clelem had so unceremoniously shoved his daughter into his arms. He shook his head. That was behaviour of the man he had never expected. Just before he entered the next room, where his own clothes were, he heard his name.

  "Mr. Zacharias." It was Rayko's voice.

  Surprised he turned. "Miss Dandra ko Galem."

  She stood half in and half hidden behind the opening of the door, her hand resting against its frame. "I just wanted to tell you that it was nice to dance with you. I still hate you, but I thank you. It did save me from worse."

  This confused him. It probably showed from his face, because Rayko added: "No, this is not something my father told me to say. Have a good evening, sir." Then she vanished back into the hall.

  After changing, Daniel went through the hall quickly. He looked for Rayko, but only saw Warlem the poet standing with his parents. The young man winked and waved as Daniel passed.

  On the way home, Daniel tried to figure out what had happened that evening, but fatigue and the drinks made that an impossible task.

  26. Under sail again

  Everyone was on board of the Pricosine, wondering what had happened to Daniel's mind. He was arranging long sticks and pieces of sail, tying everything together with strings.

  "Daniel, you are a good man, but you must have lost your marbles somewhere ashore," Ulaman grumbled. "You are serious with this?"

  "Yes. I am very serious. I tried this on the higher hills a few days ago, and it works. And it doesn't even need much wind."

  Daniel had found information about an ancient tool of war on the planet. It was a war-kite. Using light rods and thin sails, and also a good description with images, he had gotten to work and came out of the experiment with a kite large and strong enough to lift him up in the air. The landing bit was something that still needed some work, but if this thing could help battling pirates, then that would be worth it.

  He secured the contraption and walked over to the bridge, when Stroro came walking next to him.

  "Daniel, tell me something. Is it true that you danced with the Seigner's daughter at his party?"

  Daniel stopped walking for a moment. News surely travelled fast here. "Yes. I danced with her."

  "And the mouse was there to see that?" Stroro's face lit up at the mere thought and it became worse as Daniel nodded. "Man, you are a hero! Wait until the rest hears about that!"

  "Stroro, wait-"

  But the sailor was already off, spreading the latest news. Daniel groaned and went up to the bridge.

  Ulaman was not far behind him. "We're going out tomorrow, Daniel. Earlier if I can help it, but the tables are against us." He patted the book that listed the tides and water flow around the harbour. "So you danced with the Seigner's daughter..."

  Daniel groaned.

  -=-=-

  The next day, early morning, everything was ready. They cast off, the sails were set. Gaguran, the mouse, had been on board to check with Ulaman on certain things. He had ignored Daniel in such a way that it was obvious to everyone. It made Daniel even more the hero than he already was and hated.

  Luckily the crew was busy for the first leg of the journey, as they had to cross through strange currents and fickle winds. After that part there was a calm stretch ahead of them.

  Three days into the journey, Daniel lay in the sunshine, shielded from the breeze. His skin had coloured well; all the blue had gone after the painted-on tan had gone.

  "Daniel?"

  He recognised Xandree's voiced and opened an eye. "Hello. I'm awake."

  Xandree nodded and sat down on a stack of rope next to him. "How are you?"

  "I feel good. Glad to be back here. On the ship, with the crew, away from..."

  She nodded again. "I don't want to worry over you, Daniel. You looked very bad in the hospital. I need some certainty that you are okay. And not in your body, but also in your head. Something bad happened."

  Xandree's simple approach to psychology made Daniel feel good. He sat up and winked at her. "I'm okay, Xandree. Really. I appreciate your concern, though."

  Xandree smiled. "That is good. Remember that you can always talk to me." She got up. "Also about that party."

  "Will you get away from here!" Daniel pretended wanting to slap her, and she quickly walked off, laughing loudly. When was he ever going to hear the last of that...

  -=-=-

  "Daniel, Ulaman wants you on the bridge," Brinno told him in passing.

  "Thank you," Daniel said. He looked at the kite once more, then went to see Ulaman.

  On the bridge, the captain told him that the next day they'd be reaching their first stop, a narrow land strip sticking out into the waters. "It will be a ferrying unload again, Daniel, and the area is known for its load of bandits, so I want you to be very careful. Nobody on the ship without checking credentials."

  Ulaman showed him three seals. "These are okay. People who can come aboard carry one of those. The rest can piss off for all I care."

  Daniel understood that this was serious business: Ulaman's jaw usually tensed up if that was the case. "Do we bring down our landing platform?"

  "No, thank the powers. They have their own platforms. Saves us a lot of work."

  Overnight the sails were taken down. The massive bulk of the ship had enough speed to cross the remaining distance and the next morning the Pricosine was moored to a large floating platform. Many boats waited to get a turn at hooking up. Daniel was amazed about the number he had to send off again as they did not have the right seals, or even none at all. He had his hands full and at the end of the day, as the Pricosine was sailing off again, he was really bushed.

  Over the evening meal, Bilk sat muttering about people getting in the way, and far too many small boxes. Daniel had noticed them too. Black and green boxes, a foot on every side. One of the smaller cargo bays was flooded with them. According to the papers they contained 'parts'. Some of the boxes rattled, as the people who came to collect them carried them down the gangway, so it should be okay.

  The next morning Daniel woke up early. Something had been gnawing at him during the night, and he just had to go and do something about that. He made his way to the smaller cargo area and randomly picked up a black box. He shook it. It rattled. A green box also rattled. After trying some twenty of them, he grabbed one and tore it open. He could close it again easily, there were ribbons around for that.

  The box contained blocks, made of Polychlon. They were children's toys. A grin appeared on Daniel's face as he looked at a few blocks. Apparently they were meant to be stuck together, to make a shape, and it was more difficult than it looked. After a while he was sitting on the floor and trying to make sense of the shapes, ending up with a new and interesting shape every time, but never getting anywhere sensible.

  "Are you practising, to make them with your sons?" a voice said, making him jump.

  "Damn you, Darigyn, may the winds grab you," Daniel cursed as a true sailor. "Man, you almost killed me."

  The sailor's laughter rolled through the cargo bay. "You have problems with the toys of our children, Daniel?" He
kneeled down and quickly stuck the blocks into a nice cube. "See, that is what this one is supposed to look like."

  The two men grinned as Daniel took the cube apart and put the parts in the box again. After wrapping it up, they went up on deck again.

  Later that day, the sailing was smooth and the wind was fair, a small group of men had assembled behind the bridge. Daniel had strapped his kite to his shoulders, two men had ropes in their hands to keep him under control.

  "You are a fool, Daniel," said Ulaman who was looking down from the bridge. "That is what I like so much about you."

  Daniel laughed. "Okay, men. I'm going to step to the side now and raise the kite. Once the wind catches it, I'll go up and I need you to hold me down."

  The ropes the men held were tied to strong studs on the deck, as a safety measure. And with the current wind that was not exaggerated.

  "Don't break your neck, Daniel. The Seigner will kill you." Laughter rose up. Then Daniel carefully stepped to the side. He felt how the wind immediately tugged at the large kite he had on his back. He let the straps go; the kite now was two feet over him and pulled at his shoulders. Staring up, working the toggle-lines, he manoeuvred the kite just a bit more, and he swooped up.

  The men on board hung in the ropes to keep Daniel down. It worked. Daniel was wobbling in the unsteady airwaves, but he was flying, hanging from his kite.

  The people who were not working the ropes cheered.

  "A bit more leeway!" Daniel called out. The men gave him more rope. He rose higher, he was now almost twenty feet up. High enough. With one hand he controlled both lines and reached down to his belt, where he searched for a ball that was supposed to be there. He could not find it.

  "Daniel, more to the left!" someone yelled.

  He looked down, left of his searching hand.

  "DANIEL!!"

  The kite swerved, caught itself in the rigging of the mast and hung there for seconds. Daniel, startled for a moment, reacted not fast enough. As he grabbed for the rigging, the kite fell down. It hit the deck with a loud cracking sound, followed by a ripping one. The fall had not been hard, but it had cracked most of the hollow sticks and also torn up the kite's sail.

  Daniel unhooked the straps and got up.

  "Are you okay?" The sailors looked worried as they ran closer.

  "I'm fine. Nothing happened, just a scratch," Daniel said as he looked at the remains of the war-kite.

  A few sailors quickly went up the rigging to see if that had not suffered from the collision, but Daniel's kite had been far too light to cause a problem on the massive fusillage.

  "You looked good up there, Daniel," said Darigyn. "When we said 'to the left', we meant you should move your kite there."

  Daniel grinned, glad that he had come away unscathed. "Maybe some next attempt."

  "Yeah. Man, you need to learn a lot."

  "About what?" Daniel wondered about Darigyn's remark.

  "You can't solve a children's puzzle, and you can't fly a kite. Your son will be so disappointed!"

  -=-=-

  "Can you make out what that ship is?" Daniel asked Ulaman as he handed back the telescope. His electronic eye still worked, but did not serve him better than a normal eye since the incident that had taken him out of his Bactine body.

  The ship in question had been sailing on a parallel course with them for several hours, keeping a distance that they could not identify it..

  "No. It looks like a small merchant, that wouldn't be strange out here. It's a mere sixty or so leagues to the shore."

  "I'll keep an eye on them anyway," Daniel said.

  An hour later, the shape of the ship had grown. "Ulaman... they are coming closer."

  Ulaman looked through the telescope again. "Yes. It is a merchant. And they seem to have sail problems."

  Daniel looked again and then he noticed the torn main sail. "Do you think they need help?"

  "With problems like that, I am sure they do, Daniel. Lidrin, slow approach." And into the tube Ulaman yelled his commands for several sails to be lowered.

  "Be careful, Ulaman. I don't know if we can trust them."

  "Do you think they're pirates? Sailing in that thing, with a ripped sail?"

  "I would like to know what ripped that sail, captain. There hasn't been a storm. I don't think that sail ripped because a bird flew into it."

  Ulaman rubbed his chin. "Good point. Let's be careful."

  From a safe distance, Ulaman yelled at the other ship's captain. The captain yelled back, and so they learnt that the ship had been attacked by pirates and sustained quite some damage. Any help would be welcome.

  Ulaman and some of the other sailors pointed out to each other the sail, several broken ropes and other misery on the other ship. "Looks like they've been had bad," was the verdict, "we have to help them."

  The two ships came closer together, lines were at the ready to be cast.

  Daniel ran off, leaped up the stairs to the bridge three steps at a time and stared at the map. "Ulaman! Don't!"

  From the insides of the merchant ships, several dozens of men streamed onto the deck and quick as spiders climbed aboard the Pricosine. It was not a fair battle, the crew of the eight-master being outnumbered at least five to one, and all the pirates seasoned in combat.

  Despite the resistance they put up, the crew were taken prisoner and they all were tied up and gagged, left lying on the deck.

  Ulaman was dragged to the side where he could sit up. An athletic man in leather pants and a long blue coat, wearing a captain's cap, leisurely walked up to him. Six thick braids with brown hair swung on his back, his feet were in sturdy brown boots. "You, it seems, were the captain of this ship."

  The gag prevented Ulaman from talking.

  "Yes, my man. I am the captain now. See, I have the hat to prove it. Birkle is the name. Birkle Asciza. You have never heard of me, and that is because nobody knows me. You see, Birkle Asciza leaves no traces. And no witnesses."

  27. Walking the plank

  A massive thud made everyone look, as far as they were able to turn their heads.

  "Ah, look who's here. It's my Bagel." Birkle, the pirate captain, grinned as a large monkey-like animal came walking over. It had just jumped onto the deck. The most remarkable trait of the animal that showed it was not a monkey were its six arms. Or legs. Limbs.

  Daniel knew that Bagel in the local speech of the planet stood for Feather. This Feather did not look like it should be messed with. It looked like sixty pounds of bad luck if you did.

  "Come here, Bagel," the pirate captain said. "You may get to play with these people."

  The monkey walked on its hind legs and sat down not far from Birkle. It looked around, and Daniel was convinced it was intelligent. This, however, did not have to be a good thing.

  Birkle turned back to Ulaman. "You know, former captain, you are in luck. You and your people look strong and healthy. Fortunately, I am looking for people that can do the odd chore for me. In return for their work, they get to live. Of course, it is obvious what happens if they don't work."

  He pulled something from his pocket and threw it to the monkey. It caught it and devoured the thing, an apple-like fruit, in seconds. "I am a strong believer in setting examples, former captain. To make a point, so to speak. Things like that speak to the imagination."

  Some of the pirates yelled very descriptive ideas of how to set an example, roaring with brutal laughter, but a fierce look of their leader made the lot be quiet. He reached into a pocket of his coat and took something. It was a piece of red plastic, Daniel first thought, but as it glistened he decided it had to be a ruby. Birkle placed the ruby on Ulaman's head. "Flat side up, dear former captain, means the example will be dealt with by my little pet here, the Bonto. In a fair fight, of course. Sparkling side up means that the example will be left to the plank."

  Daniel wished he had to wonder what the example would be, but it was plain and obvious. Someone was going to die. He blamed himself for not seei
ng the faulty course of the ship sooner. It was his job to know, to see and to warn Ulaman in time, and he had failed. Frantically he started to squirm, to get out of the ropes that kept him down.

  The pirate looked. "Oh. Look at that. We have a really lively one here." He smiled at Daniel's futile attempts for a while, but Daniel got tired and found it was no use. Birkle snarled something in a dialect Daniel didn't understand. The kick in the kidneys came as a extremely painful surprise. The pirate captain seemed to become impatient. "Come on, former captain..." He slapped Ulaman in the face, making the ruby fall. "Oh. Now that is really too bad..."