Seafaring on Jord

by Allan Joyal

  “Ship emerging from behind an island to our starboard!” Lenoir shouted.

  We all turned to look over the starboard bow. The island was still some distance away, but we could see the mast of a galley in the waters just to the left of the island.

  “We need to tack to port,” Ushcail said. “Run out an extra triangle sail in back of the main sail to catch a bit more wind. We’ll try to tire out the new galley and then tack back to hit the entrance to the Gullet.”

  I jumped to the ropes and began loosening the ones that secured the boom. Hadlor grabbed the boom and looked at me. “I’ll shout when you need to tighten it back down.”

  We could feel the ship heel over as the ship began to turn to port. Lucis was working with Jessop to set up the additional sail.

  “Bring the tiller amidships again,” Ushcail called. “And hurry on the sail.”

  Hadlor stopped and wrapped his arms around the boom. “Now Kaven! Get the boom secured.”

  I had to duck my head to find a clear belaying pin. The boom swung back and forth a bit as I hunched my shoulders and tightened the ropes holding it on place.

  “The galley behind us has started rowing,” Panalope said worriedly.

  “The one ahead of us is raising sail and tacking to starboard,” Lucis said. “It looks like they plan on trying to keep up with us.”

  Ushcail stepped over by me and put a hand on my shoulder. “Can you sleep during the day?” he asked.

  “What?” I asked.

  “We aren’t going to be able to find a place to anchor before the sun goes down,” Ushcail said. “And with the galleys after us we’ll need to be extra vigilant once the sun goes down.”

  “But galleys don’t run at night,” I said in a very confused tone.

  “Normally that would be true, but tonight the moon will be bright and its very clear that the Seres will do anything to capture this ship. I expect one or more of those galleys to try to keep moving at night in an effort to capture us,” Ushcail said.

  “What the!” Hadlor called out. “Captain, there is another galley, this one off our port bow. They have just raised their sail and appear to be trying to run ahead of us.”

  “Jessop, can you see how well crewed that galley is?” Ushcail called out.

  “Can’t see the crew yet. I can’t even be sure about the sail. It might actually be sea foam from a wave behind the ship,” Jessop called back testily.

  “Get some sleep,” Ushcail told me. “Pan, I’ll take the tiller, I need you to get some rest with Kaven. We’ll need you handling the tiller tonight when we try to lose these galleys.”

  “Me?” Panalope asked as she walked over to join me. “And where do we sleep. It’s too bright to sleep on the deck where we usually sleep.”

  “There are a couple of hammocks in the hold. It won’t be comfortable, but you can use them,” Jessop said.

  “Now you tell us?” I asked. “We’ve been sleeping on the deck since we started.”

  Jessop just laughed. “And you slept well. However, this time you need darkness so get to the hold. We’ll need your energy on the sails and Pan is going to be needed on the tiller.”

  “Won’t you need sleep as well?” I asked worried as my wife began climbing down into the hold.

  “We’ll get some,” Ushcail said. “Just stop worrying and get some sleep. The trailing galleys won’t catch us unless the breeze dies and the one ahead of us is far enough to the north to be unable to tack and catch us by surprise.”

  “But,” I tried to protest.

  “I’m going to kick you there if you don’t get in the hold and rest,” Lucis snarled. “You need the rest and the longer you argue the longer it will be until you get the rest you need.”

  The frown Lucis gave me inspired me to move to the ladder and start climbing into the hold. My fellow sailor moved to watch me as I descended into the shadows. He did not turn away until my foot was on the boards of the hold and I had released the ladder.

  “Now stay down until someone comes and gets you,” Lucis ordered before striding off towards the bow of the ship.

  “I feel like a prisoner,” I muttered.

  “Not really,” Panalope said. “You’re the youngest of the crew and have a lot of energy when you are rested. They just know they’ll need the energy later. Now I have got the hammocks set up, so why not choose one and rest.”

  I turned to gaze into the shadows. I could see a pair of nets slung from curved hooks that were built into the ceiling of the hold. “Those?”

  “I’m guessing they were here the whole time and you never noticed. It wasn’t like you spent much time in the hold,” Panalope said.

  One of the nets swayed towards me as Gypsy rolled with a swell. I grabbed it and scrambled over a pile of iron bars to swing my body into its webbing. Once I was in it the hammock seemed to settle down. It occasionally would sway when the ship rolled but most of the time, I just hung below the ceiling wrapped up in a net of rope.

  “Kaven,” I heard Panalope whisper. “Why are there so many ships after us?”

  I sighed. “I didn’t think my plan through. Gypsy or another ship like her is a threat to the Seres. Look at how few crew we have. A galley like the ones pursuing us has at least fifty men at the oars at all times. They probably leave an island carrying over seventy men. That helps keep a lot of pressure off the Seres. They can use positions on the galleys to punish criminals.”

  “Just criminals?” Panalope asked. “I don’t remember my father doing that with any of his galleys.”

  “Your father wanted highly motivated crews,” I replied. “If I remember correctly he even offered the crew a very small percentage of any profits as an incentive. But the Seres mostly run galleys for raids and defense. They want angry men willing to kill. Criminals work for them.”

  “I’m surprised the criminals don’t take over,” Panalope said.

  “It happens,” we heard Hadlor say from above. “Now get some rest. Ushcail is planning a tack in a few hours and we’ll want you back on deck when we perform it.”

  “Fine,” I replied. I closed my eyes and allowed the rocking of the hammock to gently bring my mind to a halt so I could slumber.

  It seemed like I had just barely fallen asleep when a hand touched my leg. “Ushcail says he needs you,” I heard Lenoir say as a fought to open my eyes.

  I had somehow tangled my right leg in the hammock’s netting, but once I managed to get my arms up, I found a way to reach my foot and work it through the ropes. Panalope was cursing softly as she tried to get an arm free.

  “Need help?” I asked as I dropped to the floor.

  “Go,” Panalope snapped. “I’ll follow in a moment.”

  I rushed over to the ladder and began to ascend up to the deck. Above I could hear Jessop shouting. “Those fools are going to try to cut through Old Xebec’s Gap.”

  “Through what?” I asked as my head rose up high enough that I could see the deck. Hadlor, Lucis and Jessop were watching something off the port bow.

  The next thing I noticed was that the position of the sun was wrong. If I had merely slept for a couple of hours it should have been hanging off the port bow, but now it was astern of the ship.

  “Did we turn?” I asked as Lucis and Hadlor turned to look at me. They waited for me to put my feet on the deck before pointing into the distance off the port bow.

  “Two more galleys appeared out of the west just as the wind shifted,” Hadlor told me. “We tacked to starboard to make sure they could not cut us off.”

  “Sailed?” I asked as I walked over to the railing. I looked out and could see that these two galleys did not have sails visible. The farther one appeared to be tacking away from us so that it could avoid a large stone that rose up out of the ocean. The other one was headed almost directly at the stone.

  “Kaven!” Ushcail shouted. “Get to the bow and be ready to handle a tack to port. If we want to run the Gullet we need to turn soon.”

  I looked to sta
rboard and noticed that the ship which had been there when I went below had fallen behind us. The other two ships were now fading into the distance.

  “Just the three ships still after us?” I asked as I headed to the bow.

  “Lucis, Jessop, get some sleep,” Ushcail called out. “Oh, Kaven, once we tack, you’ll be on the sails with your wife on the tiller. Hadlor and I will find some shade on the deck and try to catch some sleep.”

  “But the galleys?” I asked.

  “None are going to be in position to cause a problem. The one to starboard should break off soon. They tried to catch us with their oars and failed and the breeze is weakening enough that Gypsy will pull away. The closer one to port is going to rip her bottom out in Old Xebec’s Gap,” Jessop said with a cackle.

  I had made my way to the bow where the lines securing the foresail were tied off. Hadlor joined me and we began loosening the lines.

  “This is a simple tack,” Ushcail said when he joined us. “We don’t need to move the mainsail. I just need the ship to make a slight turn to port and for the foresail to be set to catch as much wind as possible. This should keep us ahead of the pursuing galleys.”

  “What about additional ones appearing in front of us?” I asked.

  “I expect only one or two more,” Ushcail said. “One when we pass the northernmost of the Brethren and another near the Gullet. There are probably at least four in the main passage though.”

  “Four?” I asked.

  “It would take four to make it impossible for us to get through it,” Ushcail said. “And the merfolk were very clear with their warning. So, they must know of several ships waiting in ambush.”

  “Makes sense,” Hadlor said. “And we’re ready to start the tack.”

  “Pan!” Ushcail shouted. “This is not a big turn. Don’t push the tiller too far and be ready to bring it back to amidships in a hurry. Start giving us a turn to port.”

  Gypsy began to lean to starboard as the tiller caught the water and began to push the ship into the turn. I grabbed the first lines and then had to duck down as Hadlor reached over my head to grab a second set of lines.

  “Move!” Hadlor shouted. “This has to be fast.”

  I scurried to the port side of the ship. The sail fluttered for just a moment and then filled up nearly tearing the ropes I was holding out of my hands. I checked the angle and then started tying off the lines.

  “Good job,” Ushcail said from just a stern of me. I turned to see him adjusting some of the lines that secured the mainsail in place.

  “Rudder amidships,” Hadlor shouted.

  Gypsy stopped leaning and I was able to brace myself against the breeze. The ship to our starboard was now visibly falling behind. The one still visible to port was trying to increase their speed, but I could hear shouts of alarm coming from someone at the bow.

  “Idiots,” Ushcail said. “This time of year, no galley is going to make it through that gap.”

  “I don’t see why not,” Panalope called out.

  The galley stopped. We could see all the rowers thrown forward out of their seats. The front of the galley seemed to collapse backwards.

  “Oh,” Panalope said. “Hidden rocks?”

  “There is an underwater ridge,” Ushcail said. “You can clear it during a storm, but that’s about the only time. Any other time the rocks rip the ship apart.”

  “So, do we have anything to worry about?” I asked as I looked around at a now empty ocean.

  “We are in a deep channel,” Ushcail said. “If I turned at the right spot we should pass close to a couple of the Brethren sentinel pillars, but we’ll remain in the channel.”

  “Could a galley ambush us near the pillars?” I asked.

  “Probably not,” Ushcail said. “Approaching them from the south is tricky and there is no real place to anchor while waiting in ambush. But do keep an eye out. The galley that went around Xebec’s Gap should show up on our stern before the sun goes down.”

  “When do we wake you?” Panalope asked. “And Kaven get back here. We need to review what the goal is.”

  “The goal is to get to Martinyx,” I said. “Preferably far enough ahead of any galleys that we won’t need to worry about getting attacked when we leave.”

  “Oh, they’ll either dock and try to argue with the farmers or they’ll head back out into open waters,” Ushcail said. “The council on Martinyx won’t allow the Seres to run their galleys within their waters.”

  “They can prevent it?” I asked dubiously.

  Ushcail laughed. “They still have the old harbor guard catapults from the time the empire still visited. Any ship that tries to linger around without permission will be fired upon, and the gunners are very good.”

  “They practice quite a bit,” Hadlor said. “Don’t worry for now. It’s when the sun touches the horizon that we’ll have to start worrying.”

  “Why?” Panalope asked.

  “Because it is possible that one of the Seres has a galley hidden out there and we’ll not see it before we ram it,” Hadlor said. “But I find that unlikely. This channel is not very popular because of the distances involved. There are no good harbors within two days rowing of where we are right now. And the nearest ones by sail are to the southeast. We’re traveling southwest.”

  “Which means that we won’t be getting any closer to the harbors you mentioned. And galleys prefer to dock at night,” I said with a nod.

  “We’ll make a sailor out of you yet,” Ushcail said with a laugh. “So just watch for ships and shifting winds. Try to keep this course if you can.”

  “I’ll make sure Kaven keeps us on course,” Panalope said.

  Ushcail and Hadlor both started laughing. Then Ushcail headed into the small cabin build just under the stern as Hadlor found a shaded spot in front of the mast. They lay down to sleep as I stood near my wife and watched the waves.

  Chapter 34: Through the Gullet

  The sun was still a finger or so above the horizon when Ushcail emerged from his cabin. Pan and I were lounging on the railing by the tiller. Ropes made sure that the ship did not change course as we watched the one galley pursuing us. It had emerged from a bank of fog off our port side as the ship passed through what seemed to be a forest of stone pillars.

  “Just the one ship?” Ushcail said after slowly scanning the horizon.

  “So far,” Panalope said. “We saw the one that had run around that Xebec’s Gap place, but they quickly turned to cross our wake. That one showed up a short time ago, but they appear content to just shadow us.”

  Ushcail nodded. “Kaven, get to the bow. We will probably have to tack several times before the sun goes down.”

  “You going to run the Gullet at night?” Hadlor asked as he rose to his feet. The man held a hand over his eyes as he gazed over the water. “Hey isn’t that Sere Molnam’s ship?”

  Panalope looked over her shoulder at the ship as I moved to head to the bow. “They haven’t introduced themselves,” she said.

  The galley seemed to dive into the water. The bow dropped and the stern rose. A huge bright orange ball rose up into the air and headed our way.

  I gasped and grabbed for the railing. Hadlor gave a snort. “Yeah, its Molnam’s. I see they aren’t any more accurate than they were six years ago.”

  “Kaven, Hadlor, we want to tack to starboard!” Ushcail shouted. He stomped on the deck. “Jessop we’ll need you.”

  Hadlor and I ran to the lines for the foresail. “Who’s Molnam?” I asked as we prepared to tack.

  “Pan, we’re tacking starboard just a little, get the tiller turned so we can adjust the sails!” Ushcail shouted.

  Hadlor and I began the dance of adjusting the lines holding the foresail in place. The turn was gentle, but I could see that our new route would have Gypsy pass very close to a couple of the pillars.

  “Molnam is a Sere holding one of the few decent sized rocks in the northern part of the Brethren,” Hadlor said as he started to tie off the li
nes.

  “I was going to ask about that, the Brethren?” I interrupted.

  Hadlor snorted. “This area of the ocean. There are a huge number of islands and stone pillars here. Many are like the pillars we are sailing through, but some are large enough to support farms and more. It’s a densely packed part of the ocean and most of the captains call the various islands the Brethren.”

  I just nodded. It sounded like someone just wanted to name the area in order to make it seem special. “How do you know the ship is Molnam’s?”

  “That catapult. Molnam’s island is one of the few places where the fire gourd can be harvested in quantity. They drain gourds and carefully render the juice to make a very sticky substance that can be spread over rocks. It’s also very flammable so they can use it to launch those fire rocks,” Hadlor said.

  I looked back at the pursuing galley. It had adjusted its heading and another flaming sphere rose up from the ship. This time I could immediately see that it was going to fall well short of Gypsy.

  “They can’t hit us,” I said with a sigh as Gypsy settled into its new heading.

  “Molnam doesn’t really want his crew to score hits. The fire might burn the ship and he wants to capture them. His island has no trees of any kind,” Hadlor said.

  “Molnam?” we heard Lucis ask from the hatch to the hold. “Did that old dodderer send his ship out to try to intimidate us?”

  “We’re already out of their range,” Ushcail said. “But it is clear that just about every Sere knows that Gypsy exists.”

  “But why are they all out looking for us. When I first proposed this idea to Marrisey and showed him the design, not one Sere showed much interest. Several scolded Marrisey for using good wood to build Gypsy,” I pointed out.

  “I’m sure that what happened at Isla Magestica got out. There were at least two merchant galleys in the harbor. I also expect at least one galley visited Oerste and heard about our visit. That would be enough to make the Seres panic,” Jessop said as he joined us on the deck.

  “Pan!” Ushcail shouted. “We’re getting close to the entrance to the Gullet and the current and tides are in our favor. However, you’ll have to be very careful in following my commands. We’ll need to tack several times to get centered in the current and then again in the Gullet to avoid some of the rocks. Are you ready?”