Off Center (The Lament)

by Power, P. S.

  Pran tried to think and finally nodded to herself in the dark. It was them, she knew, but there had to be a process for things like this. One that she just didn't know, it never having come up before. So she asked.

  "I've been sleeping across the door, with it locked all night. I'll let you in, but how do I check to make certain it's you? We don't have any code words or secret information that only we would know."

  There was silence for a minute, but instead of calling her stupid, Mara laughed.

  "Good! Arm yourself, then unlock the door and move back. We won't open it until you say to. If we try, shoot us."

  That took about a minute, and Claire tried to come in, which Pran noticed when the wall lamp was lit.

  She waited at the door lock.

  "Go into the other room and bar it, or lock it, until I say otherwise." It made sense, but she blushed, realizing that a "not-quite" Apprentice Bard had no real call to be ordering a full Judge to do anything at all.

  Surprisingly she just did it. As soon as the door clicked the woman called out.

  "Locked in."

  Then she unlocked the door, moved back about ten feet and kneeled, pointing the rifle.

  "Ready. I have the rifle aimed at the door. Come in, slowly."

  She held her breath, but realized that was stupid. Even knowing that it was Clark and Mara she half expected to be rushed anyway, but the wooden barrier opened very calmly and not fast at all. Mara came in first, her hands empty. Clark was behind her however, armed with his kinetic pistol. It was pointed at the floor, since unlike her little rabbit gun, it could and very well might if aimed the wrong way, take them out of the sky.

  Once inside, Mara shut the door.

  Pran looked at them closely, as if she really needed to examine them and nodded. "It's clear in here, but check again, just in case. Judge Claire? It's Guardians Mara and Clark. I'm confirming that." She sounded strong, even though the words were a little stupid. Then, what was she supposed to say? The bedroom door opened, and the Guardians moved efficiently, searching the whole thing, not leaving any space unopened, just in case. They even looked under the woman's bed. When it was cleared, Clark smiled at her, looking at the slightly skewed pillows on the floor.

  "Excellent, Pran. Will you stay here and guard the Judge? We don't know where the man is, but she might be a target, if he's desperate enough. The hands are searching the ship too, but we'll have to go over it ourselves, just in case they miss something or are in collusion with him."

  "Right." She held the rifle, as if she really expected to have to fight in the next few minutes. She certainly felt that way, so it wasn't that hard to make seem realistic.

  When they left she locked the door again and looked back at the Judge.

  "You might as well get some more sleep. If the man is still on board, he won't be easily coming here. Not through this door."

  The woman nodded, and turned off the lights for them, but Pran didn't go back to sleep herself, sitting there with her eyes open, holding the rifle. Her job was to protect Claire right now, and she had to do it right. Even knowing about the escape plan. After all, what if that had been fake? The real plan might be to kidnap a Judge or something, or even try to take an airship. She didn't know why, but it was possible, she guessed. So holding her mind as alert as she knew how, Pran waited, ready to fight at any moment.

  She nearly shot the door when a knock came, two hours later.

  "Judge Claire? The Guardians said to tell you that the ship is clear." It was obviously Paul, the First Mate.

  She shook her head in the dark, anyway.

  "They need to come and tell me in person, Paul. Just in case some wild eyed Butcher has you at knife point or something. Sorry to be untrusting, but the door doesn't open without them here." She got ready for the man to argue or something, but he didn't. There wasn't even a chuckle.

  "Right-oh. I'll pass that along to them. Say, do you have the new crew man in there? Or does Claire?"

  "What? Zeke? No. Why?" She nearly stammered the words, but clarified, not even bothering to try and sound innocent about it, since it was shocking enough to be asked. "I mean, why would we have him in here?"

  "Well, he's good looking enough..."

  Pran thought about it and made herself shrug, still in the dark.

  "I suppose so. And here I was just thinking how much he reminds me of you. But no. We're alone in here. Clark and Mara already checked the rooms."

  "Got it. I just can't find him. Any ideas?"

  "Well, he knows where the wood shop is? I can't think why he'd be there. That or the horse stalls. He might have gone to check the horses. He seems to like them."

  The voice that came sounded a little troubled, "I already checked. Well, keep an ear out. I'll let the Guardians know what you said."

  Then things were silent again for a long time, with only the hum of the engines. Until daylight came she sat in the dark. About then Claire came out and stretched, actually getting down on the floor to do it, taking about half an hour, she invited Pran to join her, which seemed like a fine idea, though she did keep the rifle near.

  Seeing that, Claire stared at her, using her whole focus. It was a horrible idea really, since she had to know that Pran was just being paranoid, but the woman asked anyway, that being part of her nature, it seemed.

  "Do you truly expect a problem? Will Butcher didn't seem healthy enough to be a real threat. Am I wrong to think that?"

  Shrugging she straightened her legs and stretched forward, grabbing her toes. It pulled at the back of her calves, but didn't really hurt too much. She wasn't that stiff anymore. A week before she'd barely been able to move, but she was healing now.

  "How would I know? I don't think so, but what if there's some other threat that we haven't accounted for? Or, I don't know. Really, this is all about making Mara and Clark feel like I'm doing a good enough job that one of them doesn't have to be in here, so they can go and do whatever else they need to. That's all." She held the stretch then, letting her body go all the way to her legs. Claire did the same and when they both sat up, the other woman seemed serene again.

  "That makes sense. Stand and to the left?"

  They finished and were into meditation practice by the time Clark came back. He knocked and she had the Judge go and lock herself back in her bedroom again, moving to take a new position, across the room and to the left before the man came in. He looked at her directly, not surprised at all by the change in location from earlier. It just made sense to him.

  Then he closed the door and called out for Claire.

  "All clear."

  The door opened almost instantly, as if her hand had been on the lock and handle at the same time. Then the white robed woman walked out, her slipper covered feet barely making a sound at all. She hadn't been wearing them before, for the stretching, so Pran noticed them. They were made of a white, very soft looking material that seemed more like heavy cloth than leather. She didn't get a good look at them, not really. The woman came out and sat on her feet.

  "May I have an update, Guardian?" It was a very formal way of saying it, but, Pran realized, it was a pretty formal situation.

  "William Butcher seems to have escaped. We aren't certain if he had help, or if he took Ezekiel, the new ship's hand, prisoner. They aren't on The Lament however, so we're in a quandary. If we turn around it will be more than a half day lost, in an emergency situation. I recommend we keep on our current course. I told Captain Mina as much. What do you think?"

  There was silence, but the woman finally let some words come out, about three minutes later.

  "We know that the man is a techno-cultist, and not guilty of the crime of which he was originally accused. While he might be guilty of other things, this has not been proven at this point. Having illegal technology is a crime, but one that is mainly handled by having it removed, with no more than a fine for repeat offenders. I cannot see risking the lives of sick people to recoup him at this time. We know that Ezekiel was on
e of his people, but isn't accused of any crimes either. Pran, what do you think?"

  That shocked her enough that she blinked. Really, she thought they were supposed to be faking their parts in this, and claiming something very different. Had that all been just to keep her entertained? She nodded though, thinking through it all carefully.

  "We need to see to the current situation first. Losing time here might be too dangerous to the sick people. After that, we should try to follow them. I still don't think they'll go back to their base, but they might head that direction. If they take Will's wagon from the woods, then that will slow them down a lot. The horses don't have saddles. They have enough goods to survive for a while but not all winter. I think. That's if they don't do something else." She would have, but they weren't her.

  That got a nod from the woman.

  "Very well. Do you know how they escaped, Bard Pran?" It was direct question and one that had that "Judge's focus" behind it. She stood in front of the woman, still holding the rifle and shook her head.

  "Not exactly. I could make some guesses, but I was here with you all night, guarding the door. Past that, everything I have is mainly a guess." That, she thought, was all true and the woman nodded, agreeing.

  "Truth. Guardian?" That came as a surprise to Pran, since she hadn't realized that Clark or Mara would be suspected at all. Apparently everyone was going to be questioned.

  "No. I could make some guesses as well, and they'd probably be the same as Pran's."

  "Also the truth. I'll need to interview everyone else. If we have anyone working against our efforts on the craft we need to know about it. This way I can clear everyone, if there is a further investigation."

  That meant bringing everyone to her, one at a time. Pran noticed that Bill, the Second Mate was hard to find, and looked a bit angry, glaring at her when he and Mara came in. He didn't even wait to confess, clearly trying to throw himself on the mercy of the Judge from the start.

  "I took a jug of Pran's apple jack and changed the ledger so it wouldn't show. I was planning to pay her back, just, quiet like, so no one would know about it." He looked worried, but Claire regarded him with a blank expression.

  "Truth. Do you know anything about the escape or where the new crewman, Zeke, may have gone?" her regard was intense and the man squirmed a bit.

  "No..."

  "Lie. What do you know?"

  "I... Well, it isn't a big thing, but the new man mentioned heading to the south west of here. Going to the dry country. He didn't say why, but it sounded to me like he might have people there. I don't know that though, for certain."

  "Truth."

  The Judge was standing there looking at him blankly.

  "You've admitted to theft, which is a minimum of a month in a camp. This will be processed and-"

  There was a soft groan from the man and Clark looked at her, as if to signal something. She had no clue what however. He had stolen and gotten caught. That was a real crime too. Stealing from her. Still, she looked at Claire and spoke, her voice gentle enough, trying to copy what the Judge normally did, mainly for practice.

  "He did mention paying me back and that was the truth, wasn't it?"

  "Yes. That does not excuse a crime however."

  "I see. Still, he's valuable here and in a camp he'll just be doing menial labor. Should we remove him from The Lament right now? They might need him."

  Claire blinked and looked at her.

  "You have an alternative punishment in mind?"

  She didn't. Really, she shouldn't have to either. It wasn't her job to protect the man, but she sighed and nodded.

  "Three months mucking out the stalls here, whatever that is? He can keep the alcohol, but has to pay for it, in coin or trade, before I leave." It didn't really seem like enough, but Clark looked at the Judge, as if he felt that it was about right.

  Then, she realized, he was a giant softy, wasn't he? Taking in stray girls and being kind to slow men and drunkards like he was always doing. It had worked out in her case, so she could let a spot of theft go, for his sake.

  The Judge bowed slightly her hands coming up in front of herself slightly.

  "Very well. Do you agree to this modification of the standard punishment Bill? You will clean out the horse stalls here, for three months on a daily basis, and make full restitution to Pran for the goods you took without permission."

  He nodded, his eyes relaxing a good bit.

  "Yes, your honor."

  "Very well. Please bring in the next person."

  That, it turned out wasn't the only confession of wrong doing from the crew. Two of them, a man and a woman, confessed to having lied about their names when they'd signed on, but not anything else, and that wasn't a crime, though it did mean they were questioned pretty hard for a while.

  One of the men confessed to having drilled a hole in the shower wall, so that he could watch the ladies shower. That was news to her, but thankfully it was the shower on the other side of the ship, so it didn't apply to her at all. He, however, wasn't let off and had to serve two months in a camp for it. That did not make him happy, and he tried to just leave, but Clark and Mara tossed him into one of the cells, so he couldn't escape too easily.

  Not that it was really needed, but they didn't want the man to forget they were thousands of feet up in the air and try to run out, in his fear and anger.

  That didn't seem to be that big of a crime to her, just looking at people, but when the Captain was told she stiffened and growled a bit.

  "The slimy rotter! Yes, I'll have him off my ship for that. We have a mixed crew and no one will want to serve with us if we let that kind of crap happen. Word gets around, and it's hard enough to keep good hands on board." She seemed more angry about that than the theft her Second Mate had committed which just got a snort and an offer to let Pran beat the man.

  Of course, that shower room was the one that the Captain used, so it might have been that causing her to take it more seriously. They were just grabbing people, but the Doctor was nowhere to be found. He had to be cleared however, since technically he was the one that was supposed to have been watching Will Butcher, more or less.

  Bard Benjamin was cleared quickly enough, even though he'd seen the men leaving. He just hadn't thought anything of it.

  "The new fellow was helping the other one walk, and when I saw them, he just waved a bit and kept going. I don't know, I just figured it was what was supposed to be happening. Going to shower or the bathroom, or even a meal in the dining room. I mean, the man is a prisoner, but he didn't seem to be escaping really. I guess I should have stopped them, but... I really didn't know." He shrugged, looking innocent.

  Which he was. Claire even said so, breaking her trance enough to smile at him a bit.

  Then they had to find the Doctor, who came in seeming... Very sleepy. His eyes drooped and he looked older. Like he'd been worn down by the events. Subdued somehow.

  Drugged.

  In order no doubt to get past Claire. It wasn't a bad plan, if one that was a little obvious. The Judge just looked at him and snorted.

  "Did you help Will Butcher escape?"

  The old man smile sweetly, and shook his head just a bit, seeming decrepit and like he were about to nod off.

  "Not directly. I... wasn't watching him like I should have been. I didn't ask for guards either." Whatever he was on didn't make him stupid and he stopped there.

  "Truth. The compound you're using to hide your guilt is very good Doctor, but not good enough. However, that statement is correct. Why are you using drugs to hide from that?"

  The man wrinkled his face up a bit, seeming happy.

  "I'm not. Not at all. But I'm old and have done more than one thing I don't want you to know about. It's worth a shot?"

  "Ah. Well, I won't ask, since it isn't relevant to the current case and you aren't offering. Keep that in mind next time? It will save you having to dose yourself like this. It makes you seem very guilty. Of something. Now my curiosity is
up."

  She seemed slightly angry and it wasn't until the old man left the room and the door was shut and locked that she took several deep breaths and shook her head.

  "I don't know what he was on, but it worked perfectly. I couldn't tell if he was lying or not at all. If he stood in front of a panel of Judges, not one would know if he spoke the truth or a lie. Luckily the effects showed in him strongly enough, but a lower dosage would probably work as well, and not be as obvious. We need to find out what he used and make certain it remains a secret. If it is."

  She seemed honestly worried about it, but Pran was simply glad that it wasn't her problem. After all, if the man could lie about things, that simply meant he wasn't going to be telling on her. As far as he knew, she was the wonderful traitor to her own people that had facilitated the escape of one of his people. Hopefully that meant they were friends now.

  Maybe she could cement it by suggesting what Claire had just said. A smaller amount of the drug to help evade detection? That could be passed along without too much harm, no doubt.

  They even had a reason to get together and chat, since they had medicine to deliver and those people really needed help. So far, if nothing else, the Doctor had always seemed serious in that regard. He helped people.

  True, he also stole their bodies and possibly lives, but he was probably a bit stuck there, wasn't he? As a Download, he had to be what he was, or not have a body. It wasn't good or fair to take from others, but he hadn't been caught doing it yet, and really, he might not have been responsible for that anyway, as far as he went, personally.

  Finding that out might be important some day, but she had some time. First they had to get the medical pack...

  Actually first, if she wasn't needed, she had some wood to plane and cut. It was going to take a while, so if she had the chance she should take it. Then, later, she needed to get with the Doctor about what to do in Hilden. It was reason for them to talk after all.

  A real one even.

  She whistled a bit, as she went to get some lunch. She'd missed breakfast and was feeling it. After that, well, there was always so much to do. She was just glad that Claire hadn't thought to ask about her own childhood. She'd done some things that might have had her locked up for a very long time, if anyone living knew about them.