Dexter glanced down at his own mostly empty plate after everyone had nodded or looked away, then he picked it up and took it over to where Jodyne was watching from the kitchen. She offered him a matronly smile before he left the galley.
Jenna caught up with him shortly, just as he knew she would. He was studying some new star charts provided by the elders when she shut the door to the bridge behind her. “Sorry Captain,” she said after taking a deep breath. “Thanks for stopping me from killing him… I think.”
Dexter glanced up at her. “Mighty sure of yourself.”
Jenna frowned. “Dex, he’s big and strong but you know I could take him.”
Dexter shook his head. “You been looking at him lately? I mean, really looking? Been two weeks since he was all but a corpse and that don’t just go away from most men.”
“You telling me you come back from the dead now too?”
He smiled. “Felt like it a few times maybe, but never nothing like that. He had both feet in the grave and his neck in the hangman’s noose.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that kinda thing makes most men take a step back. Not Rosh, first thing he does when we get back to the ‘Hawk was damn near eat a hole through the hull! He came out of that tower skin on bones, now he’s bigger than he ever was.”
Jenna chewed on her lip while Dexter talked. She was silent a long moment before nodding. “You’re right,” she admitted.
“That’s why I’m the Captain,” he said with a smile that earned him an eye roll.
“Bigger means slower,” she pointed out. “I can still take him.”
Dexter shrugged. “Something different about him,” he warned. “Keep an eye out and be careful is all I’m asking.”
“All right,” she said, though from the look on her face he knew it was with some difficulty. “Now about the elders—”
“Rosh wants nothing to do with them,” Dexter said.
“We’re to be taking Rosh’s orders now then?” She said flippantly.
“Mind your tongue,” he said, his own tone a mix of humor and irritation. “And don’t interrupt me. Willa will follow Rosh in this, and I’d bet my next haul on Jodyne having no love for helping elves.”
Jenna stared at him, her look one of confusion.
“It’s my boat,” he thought aloud, “but I’m not for risking my crew on something with long odds like this. Especially not when they aren’t caring much for it.”
She stared at him, the muscles in her jaw twitching, but all she would do was nod to him. Dexter stared at her for a long minute then sighed. “All right, out with it then. What is it?”
“What about what got us here in the first place?” She asked. “That half-elf, Zhirt? Fort Prudence? That was a fool’s run if ever there was.”
Dexter grunted and found a particularly interesting point on one of the new charts to focus on for a few moments. He tried, and failed, to come up with a good rationalization for the job she referred to. “All right, you made your point.”
Almost before his mouth closed the words burst from her mouth. “Dex, Most of them want to do it! Most of us, I mean. Bailynn’s free of her curse thanks to the elders. Xander wants to see and learn as much as he can about them. Logan feels it’s the right thing to do. Bekka would fly the ‘Hawk straight into that sun above us if you asked her too.”
“Jodyne? Rosh? Willa?”
“Jodyne will do what you ask of her,” Jenna said. “She may not care much for elves on principle, but she’s smart enough to look past her upbringing.”
Dexter grunted. Jodyne was the least of his concerns.
“Willa just does what Rosh wants, especially now. She lost him and got him back, it changed things for her.”
“So what about Rosh then? He’s got no love for elves either. Don’t make sense, since they saved him and all, but there’s a headache waiting for the man that tries to figure him out.”
Jenna nodded. “He’ll do what you ask of him though, he owes you. You gave up just about anything you could have had to bring him back.”
Dexter pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Maybe,” he offered after a few moments. “Thing is, he didn’t ask for help. Don’t think he could ask for that sort of thing.”
Jenna looked shocked at Dexter’s line of thought. She shook her head and said, “Why would he choose death over life?”
Dexter shrugged. “Not saying he would. Just that there’s no way of knowing with that man. ‘Specially when pride’s involved.”
“It’s a long ways to get out of Elven space, especially without any friends,” she said, switching the topic away from Rosh.
The Captain grunted. “’Hawk’s fixed up,” he mused, stalling for time to think. “Them elven ships took some work tearing out enough wood to make into beams, but Willa’s got a head for it.”
“Captain, you’re stalling,” Jenna pointed out.
Dexter scowled at her. He was stalling and he knew it. The elders were still groggy and weak, but even at that he’d seen them do things that left no doubt what would happen should he raise his hand against them. They wanted their fleet returned and figured that the Voidhawk was the best ship and crew to do it. Dexter didn’t disagree with either their high opinion of his ship or crew, but he wasn’t so sure he agreed that the ‘Hawk should do it.
“Being Captain says I can do that,” He muttered.
“Dex,” Jenna said, her voice dropping to a softer tone, “we’ve been through this before. Maybe this isn’t the safest job, but there’s not a one of us that could handle a life filled with safe.”
“Go order the deck be swabbed or something,” Dexter grumbled. Jenna opened her mouth to protest again but he gave her a stern look and waved his hand, shooing her away. She stamped her foot in exasperation before leaving him to his own thoughts.
“Don’t see what good being rewarded with first choice of merchant business does us,” Dexter muttered after she’d left. “We don’t like safe,” he added, raising his voice in a horrible impersonation of Jenna’s.
“I heard that!” She called from the other side of the bridge door.
Dexter’s fist and his lip curled simultaneously in irritation. He cast about for something to throw and then decided to try something else instead. “You’ll be hearing yourself ordered to scrub the head for a month, you don’t find somewhere else to be!”
He thought he heard a hint of feminine laughter but couldn’t be certain. The silence that followed let him assume he was safe to brood in peace. With a sigh he leaned over the table and studied the charts anew. What he was really searching for was a reason to give him direction. Something that jumped out and demanded he search for the elder’s missing fleet or say the hell with them and try to make his way back through the elven controlled void.
* * * *
Rosh grunted as he pulled the thick rope that helped turn the mainsail to catch the solar wind. Normally it was a job best done by two people, though between him and Keshira they often made it look like child’s play. This time Rosh did it alone, coiling it on the deck after he had uncoiled the length of it to inspect it for any signs of wear. He’d stopped muttering under his breath at the pointless order several minutes ago, now he was just brooding silently.
“Need a hand?” Logan asked, walking up to him from behind.
Rosh ignored him for a long moment, then finally glanced at the priest. “Don’t think the Captain would take kindly to that.”
Logan blinked, confused, then nodded. “You think he’s punishing you?”
The large warrior grunted again. He opened his mouth to spit out something that cast Jenna in a poor light but decided instead to keep it for himself. The priest was an okay guy, Rosh figured. Problem with a priest was that even if he knew where Logan’s loyalties were he still wouldn’t really know.
“You and Willa getting on okay?” Logan asked a few moments later.
Rosh nearly dropped the thick rope at the question. Annoyed, he g
ripped it harder and yanked on it, pulling nearly twice as much as he needed. He coiled it twice, causing his arms and shoulders to bulge under the weight of it, then dropped it on the pile. “What’s on your mind, Logan?” He asked, turning to face him.
“Something’s been eating at you these past few weeks. Maybe even before we came here,” he said without pretense. “Confident man like you we all took heart in, somebody solid and stable at our backs. I’m not the only one to notice, I just thought that maybe I’d see if you wanted to talk about it some.”
Rosh looked at him, angry for a moment, then amused, in a bitter sort of way. “Talk about my problems?” He laughed. “Maybe you can be a shepherd to this flock of sheep, but don’t come preaching to me. I got no use for religion, yours nor no one else’s.”
They locked gazes for a long moment, Rosh trying to stare him down. Logan showed no signs of assertiveness to the large warrior, he wore only a calm expression. Finally, just after Rosh began to feel silly for challenging the man, Logan spoke. “My faith is my own, Rosh. Others can share it or not, as they wish. I’m here because the void has cast us together in this. We’re accomplices by fate, and perhaps even friends. In another life mayhaps we’d never cross paths, but instead we’re here.”
Rosh stared at him, wondering what the man’s point was. He seldom remembered hearing Logan talk so much, but Rosh had to admit he had also seldom paid enough attention to the man to care. “Great, you do your job, I’ll do mine,” Rosh said, turning back to the rope. “Things’ll be fine.”
“It can change a man, coming that close to dying,” Logan continued as though he had not heard him.
Rosh spun on him, arms already stretching out for him. Logan had stepped back, keeping himself out of range. Rosh glared at him instead. “Bet you ain’t never come so close to dying as you is right now,” he grumbled threateningly.
Logan shook his head slowly, but maintained a calm expression even though his smile faded. “You’re wrong, Rosh.”
With nothing more to say, Logan turned and walked away. Rosh stared at him, eyes narrowed suspiciously. He remembered back to a time not long after Logan had joined them, on his native planet. They had been stranded on the ground waiting for the ‘Hawk to be shored up enough to survive taking off. He remembered Logan jumping from the deck to the ground and recovering quicker than any man had any right to. No harm done to him for it either. Something no regular man had any right to.
Rosh scowled and turned away, trying to dismiss the nosy preacher. He jumped a little when he saw Willa walking towards him, cradling her amputated arm as she often did when she was uneasy. He felt a wave of relief wash over him, then it disappeared when he realized she probably wanted to ask questions too. Everybody wanted to know what had happened and why he was acting funny. What they didn’t get is that he wanted to know too.
“Hi,” she said softly, coming to a stop and leaning against the mast.
Rosh grunted a reply, then started pulling on the rope again because he didn’t know what to say or do for her.
The silence stretched out between them long enough to go from awkward to nearly forgotten. Finally Willa sighed and pushed herself away from the mast. She turned to leave then stopped, her body tense. Rosh glanced at her and knew something was coming. He braced himself, wishing she would just leave. Not because he didn’t want her there or didn’t like her; he wanted her to leave because he didn’t know how to do anything else for her.
“Maybe I ain’t as smart as you or the others,” she said, turning back to face him as she did so. Rosh steeled himself as he stared into her hurt and angry face. “Maybe I ain’t seen as much or been as many places. Maybe I ain’t nothing more than just a…a…a stupid dirthugger you guys felt sorry for and picked up. Whatever. It don’t matter!”
“Willa,” Rosh said, trying to stop her. He had no idea what she was talking about but he knew he didn’t want it to go on, for her sake or his.
“No! Don’t you Willa me!” She snapped at him. “I got no learning and not much for a trade; I got one hand and don’t know how to swing a sword or aim a pistol. But you know what, Rosh? I got enough sense in my stupid dirthugger head to know when I got a good thing. Way I see it, maybe that makes me smarter than you after all.”
Rosh stared at her, lips parted in surprise. She turned smartly and stomped off, heading to the plank and down off the Voidhawk into the elven city. He kept staring, his task forgotten, and wondered what had gotten into her. He hadn’t done her any wrong. He’d been trying to protect her, in fact. Why couldn’t she see that?
“Women,” Rosh muttered, glancing down at the rope in his hands and realizing he was almost done. His stomach lurched a little, reminding him that his earlier meal had been cut short. Not that it would have mattered, he was always hungry these days.
* * * *
The following day Dexter made his way back down the many roads and stairs from the palace of the elders. The elven port city, once and now again known as Dasnari, was bustling with renewed life. Reawakened elves had returned to their homes and shops, putting things to order and reclaiming them from the powerful magic that had put everything in stasis. Much of the starsilver remained, and Dexter could make no sense of why some of it returned to wood and flesh while other places stayed. What mattered most, from a practical point of view, was that their gardens and even food stores were returned and useful once more.
Dexter also lost track of the number of times he was offered a drink or a small token of appreciation from the elves for his part in restoring their sun and breaking their curse. It was with some relief that he finally passed a final motionless elven sentinel statue and reached the docks.
Crossing the threshold of the gangplank that led onto the Voidhawk, Dexter saw Kragor standing there, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He kept glancing at the sack tied to Dexter’s waist.
Dexter smiled haughtily at the dwarf, then turned away as Xander hurried across the deck towards him.
“Changed your mind?” Xander asked once he had gotten close.
Dexter glanced at the wizard but gave him no other sign of acknowledgement. He looked around and saw Keshira and Bailynn on deck as well, but the others were out of sight. “Gather the crew, we’ve got a job.”
Xander grinned and nodded approvingly, then hurried to the stairs to pass the word on. Keshira and Bailynn made their way over, but Dexter refused to make more than small talk with them until the others arrived. One or two at a time they filtered up until all but Willa and Bekka were there.
“Where’s the others?” Dexter asked.
“In town, shopping or something,” Logan answered.
“Shopping?” Dexter tone and raised eyebrow shared his thoughts on the subject. “Damned elves been sleeping for thousands of years, you’d think they’d have something better to do.”
“Captain, would you like me to go and find them?” Keshira asked pleasantly.
Dexter shook his head. “They’ll be back soon enough. We leave tomorrow.”
“Where for?” Xander asked, though his question was echoed in the faces of the rest of the crew.
“We’ll find that fleet then be done with this,” he said.
An oath hardly fit for mixed company, even among sailors, burst from Rosh’s mouth. Everybody looked at him, surprised by his vehemence. “Don’t see why that’s a problem,” Dexter said. “Gives you a chance to stay on top of being the elven hero and all.”
Rosh’s glare stole the humor from the quip. Dexter took it in stride, having grown accustomed to the increasingly foul mood of the increasingly large man, and turned the subject aside with talk of preparations for their voyage. A few more questions were asked about details, but Dexter had none he wished to share. In a few minutes the crew scattered and began preparing the ship to launch the next day.
“What changed your mind?” Jenna asked Dexter that night, after everything had been readied for departure the following day. The crew had settled in for a final night of p
eace and quiet… or for other relaxing activities.
Slightly winded but very relaxed, Dexter shrugged and jostled Jenna’s head in the process. She slapped his stomach lightly, then rubbed it affectionately.
“It’s a straight job,” he said after thinking about it. “No tricks, no challenges, no quests. We go, do the thing, then we go our way.”
“We go our way?” She asked, picking her head up to look at him. “We’re not coming back here?”
“Why should we? Sooner we’re out of this mess, the better.”
“This mess? This mess is where I came from!” She said, frowning.
“Thought it was what you left behind?” Dexter challenged. He saw Jenna’s eyes widen, but rather than try to push a confrontation he switched the topic. “They paid up front, lucky for them I’m an honest thief.”
She frowned again at his self-deprecation. “How much did they give you?”
“Don’t be getting no ideas now, I reckon we’ve made enough enemies.”
Jenna gasped, then slapped his stomach again. “I didn’t mean we should take it and run! I want to see the elders bring peace and order back to-“
Dexter’s laughter finally interrupted her. She realized he had been poking fun at her all along, and that prompted yet another swat on his bare flesh. “We got enough to fix up the ‘Hawk once we get free and clear,” he said once he’d stopped laughing. “Maybe set us up good to take our pick of jobs too.”
“We’re fully stocked,” Jenna said, settling back against him and drumming her fingers against his chest thoughtfully. “Enough fire powder to last even Rosh a lifetime playing with those new elven long-pistols. Do we really need that much?”
Dexter sighed, his thoughts turning serious. He glanced at the door out of paranoid habit then admitted, “Truth is that without them elven ships running cover for us, we got no chance of making ourselves scarce. By now there’s a hundred elven ships waiting for us to come out.”
Jenna nodded, showing no surprise at his words.
“How we going to get free of here to go and find them then?” She asked.
Voidhawk: The Elder Race Page 12