Grigory's Gadget

by E. A. Hennessy

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I just want to chat with him,” Nikolai said, wresting his arm free and walking toward the door.

  “I'll follow him,” Anya said, standing. “Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.” Pavel just laughed and took a swig of ale.

  “But it's freezing out,” Lilia complained to Zoya.

  “Hey!” Nikolai shouted over the whistling wind as he followed Alexi outside. Anya hurried after him. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as the cold air hit her. Alexi turned around, looking annoyed when he spotted Nikolai.

  “Why are you being such a brute toward us?” Nikolai asked him.

  “I don't know what you're talking about,” Alexi replied with a shrug.

  “I saw you,” Nikolai said. “You didn't want to toast to welcome us; you were glaring at us. All you've done is glare and insult us all day. Honestly, you’re the only one behaving the way I thought a pirate would behave. But why? Why is the entire crew so thrilled to have us on board except you? You're the one who kidnapped us!”

  Alexi laughed. “Kidnapped,” he huffed. “Don't be melodramatic.”

  “What exactly would you call it?” Nikolai's voice rose in annoyance.

  “Nikolai, stop,” Anya said as she caught up to him.

  “Listen to your girlfriend,” Alexi spat.

  “She's not my girl—” Nikolai stopped mid-sentence, overcome with his frustration. He shivered, regretting not taking his coat with him.

  “Nikolai,” Anya said. “Just go back inside. Please.” Nikolai threw his hands up and walked back to the saloon.

  “At least one of you has some common sense,” Alexi mumbled. He turned to walk toward the pilot house.

  “What is your problem with us though?” Anya asked him. She folded her arms, partially in reproof, partially due to the cold. Alexi stopped and turned around.

  “Nikolai has a point. Everyone else seems really happy to have us,” Anya explained, teeth chattering, “and they’ve been nothing but nice.”

  “Yes,” Alexi responded simply. “And don't you find that odd?” Before Anya could ask what he meant, he entered the pilot house and closed the door.

  At the end of the night, Zoya and her friends sat in their hammocks. Once again, they found themselves unable to go to sleep. Demyan was the exception. Curled into a ball in his hammock, he snored softly.

  “I hope he feels better tomorrow,” Zoya said.

  “I'm sure he'll be fine,” Nikolai replied. “I think we'll all be fine as long as we stay away from Alexi.”

  “What did he say to you?” Lilia asked, looking to Anya. Anya was staring off into space, fiddling with one of the rings on her fingers.

  “Anya, aether-head,” Lilia cooed. “Come back to us.” Anya snapped back, looking at her friends.

  “What?”

  “I asked what Alexi said to you, after Nikolai came back inside?”

  “Nothing, really,” Anya replied.

  Nikolai turned toward her, brows furrowed. “No, he said something. I know that look. That's the one you always got when you were in trouble with an aide at the orphanage.”

  “He's right,” Lilia said. Then she tilted her head and eyed Nikolai. “Since when are you so observant?”

  “I'm always observant,” Nikolai said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Maybe you're just too unobservant to notice.” He stuck his tongue out.

  Lilia turned back to Anya. “So, what did he say that's bothering you so much?”

  “He thinks it's odd that everyone is being so nice to us,” Anya said at last.

  “Oh, that's just because he's an unpleasant idiot!” Nikolai shouted. Zoya smacked him in the arm, bringing a finger to her mouth. Nikolai grimaced, looking out the door. Zoya listened. Above the sounds of the waves and creaking wood, loud snores echoed through the ship.

  “Everyone's asleep,” Nikolai whispered. “It's fine.”

  Zoya regarded Anya. “I don't know though. It is odd, isn't it? Why are they being so nice to us?”

  “Because we're part of the crew,” Lilia said, wringing her hands. “Why would they be mean to us?”

  “You’re right,” Nikolai said. “The plan is working. I think we're doing perfectly fine. We’ll keep our heads down, do as we're told, and hope we don’t get arrested. Eventually we'll find our way to Mirgorod.”

  Zoya lay back in her hammock, shutting her eyes to try and sleep. She rolled to face the corner and pulled out her gadget.

  Moonlight shone through the porthole across the hall, illuminating the cabin with a pale blue glow. Zoya lifted the gadget and watched it sparkle in the dim light. She turned it over and over in her hands idly as her mind raced. Are we going to be ok? Will we make it to Mirgorod? Is it strange that the pirates are nice to us, or are Lilia and Nikolai right? How long are we going to be on this ship?

  Demyan shifted in his hammock, rolling over to face the room. Zoya put her gadget down and closed her eyes, listening. She heard Demyan get up and tiptoe out of the room then tucked the gadget back into her suitcase and followed him.

  As Zoya exited the cabin, she saw Demyan climb the stairs to the saloon. Zoya waited until he was out of sight then followed, careful to make her steps soft. Her effort was in vain; every other step creaked loudly as she shifted her weight onto it.

  Demyan was alone in the saloon. He sat at a table watching as Zoya entered.

  “I can leave if you want to be alone,” she said.

  “No, I was counting on you following me.” He smiled, and Zoya returned it as she joined him at the table.

  “You know me too well,” she said.

  “I wanted the chance to apologize,” Demyan said. “All of this…it's overwhelming in and of itself. And then I got seasick.”

  “It's ok,” Zoya told him, grabbing his hand. “We all have our bad moments. And if it takes being kidnapped by pirates and getting sick for you to have yours, I'd say that's pretty good.”

  Demyan laughed. “It is really absurd,” he said.

  Zoya agreed and felt a wave of relief as she laughed. Then she turned serious again. “That's why we need to stick together. That means playing tough in front of the pirates. And it means making sure we don't take our anger or frustration out on each other.”

  “Agreed,” Demyan said. “We're a team. You, me, and the others.” He stood and walked around to Zoya, hugging her and planting a kiss on her forehead.

  “I love you,” he said.

  Zoya grasped Demyan's face softly in her hands, then brought him close for a kiss.

  “I love you, too,” she said.

  The next morning, Fyodr jolted everyone awake by pounding on the door frame.

  “Wake up, you're needed on the main deck.”

  “What's wrong?” Zoya asked, rubbing her eyes as she climbed down from her hammock.

  “Move it,” Fyodr grumbled. “Quickly. Don't keep the captain waiting!” The friends exchanged nervous glances as they bundled up and followed Fyodr up the stairs.

  “I'm worried,” Lilia whispered to Zoya. “This doesn't seem good.”

  “I'm sure it's fine,” Zoya lied.

  As they emerged from the saloon, Lilia saw that the sun was just rising over the ocean. The air was warmer, suggesting the temperature might rise above freezing later in the day. Almost the entire crew of the ship was standing around on the main deck, with Captain Sokoll at the center.

  “What's going on?” Demyan asked. The captain looked past him toward Fyodr and simply nodded. Without warning, Fyodr roughly shoved Nikolai toward the center of the ship.

  “Hey, what—” Nikolai started.

  “Can you catch?” Fyodr asked. He was holding a cutlass in each hand.

  “I—Yes, I can,” Nikolai replied, glancing around. Fyodr tossed one of the swords to Nikolai, who clumsily caught it by the hilt.

  “Whoa,” Demyan protested. “What do you think you're doing?”

  “Time we put you all to the test,” C
aptain Sokoll said. “We let gave you time to settle in, now we need to see what you're made of!”

  “I'll start easy,” Fyodr said, circling Nikolai. Nikolai hesitantly assumed a fighting stance, staring at Fyodr with wide eyes. He gulped.

  “Nikolai's never handled a sword before,” Demyan whispered to his friends. “Unless you count one time in the archeology laboratory, but that was to analyze the metal content of a five-hundred-year-old broken blade.”

  Fyodr lunged at Nikolai, who barely reacted in time to parry the blow. He stumbled, turned, and nearly lost his balance. Fyodr laughed and continued to circle Nikolai, lackadaisically twirling his sword in the air.

  Fyodr lunged again, this time swinging the sword overhead and immediately following with a blow to Nikolai’s side. Again Nikolai clumsily blocked the attacks, this time falling to one knee. He hurriedly got back to his feet.

  “Not too promising,” Fyodr said to the crew. They laughed in reply.

  “Leave him alone!” Zoya shouted, stepping forward.

  “If he can't prove his worth,” Alexi replied, “we'll be sure to leave him alone. Marooned, on a deserted island!”

  Samuil, who sat next to him, guffawed and clapped his hands. “That's right, boy!”

  Taking advantage of the pirates' gloating and threatening, Nikolai charged. Fyodr blocked the strike effortlessly, shoving Nikolai backwards and knocking him over. The sword flew out of Nikolai's hand and landed a few feet away near his friends.

  Without hesitation, Lilia picked up the sword and pointed it toward Fyodr.

  “Think you can do better?” he asked with a smirk. Lilia didn't respond, but simply stared him down from across the deck.

  “Let's see,” Fyodr said, walking toward her nonchalantly. Lilia moved so as to keep facing him, but did not step away. Fyodr lunged, and she spun around and elbowed him in the back.

  Fyodr, stunned, stumbled forward before turning back around.

  “Clever,” he said. Before he could resume his stance, Lilia thrust her sword toward him. She delivered a flurry of blows, chopping and stabbing continuously, driving Fyodr back toward the railing of the ship.

  Just before he reached the edge, Alexi appeared and deflected Lilia's blow, sending her twirling backwards. She leapt back, resumed her fighting stance and eyed the two men.

  “That's not fair,” she protested, breathing heavily.

  “Pirates,” Fyodr stated, lunging forward again. Lilia tried desperately to fend them off, but she slipped on a patch of ice and fell as they surrounded her. Before she could stand up, Alexi held his sword to her throat.

  From the edge of the main deck, Captain Sokoll clapped. A moment later, the rest of the crew joined in.

  “Very good!” the captain proclaimed. “Good to see you have some experience!” Alexi put his sword down and extend his hand to help Lilia up. Lilia watched him warily as she stood.

  “So this was a test?” she asked. She crossed the deck to rejoin her friends, breathing heavily.

  “I thought you said you took dance lessons,” Nikolai said, raising an eyebrow.

  “That was code,” Lilia said. “Civilians aren't supposed to have experience with weaponry. Better safe than sorry.”

  Nikolai and Demyan glanced at Zoya and Anya.

  “And you two,” Demyan said, getting defensive. “Did you take these 'dance' lessons as well?” Zoya and Anya nodded.

  “Why didn't anyone tell us about them?” Demyan protested. Zoya blushed, looking away.

  “Well, well!” the captain exclaimed while approaching the group. “You three will be very handy, then.” He gestured to the girls then looked at the boys. “And you can teach these two how to fight starting today.”

  “Wait,” Zoya said. “Come in handy? For what?”

  Captain Sokoll pointed past the bow of the ship. Beyond, the ocean flowed into a wide channel framed by two land masses.

  “That's the Starzapad Strait,” he explained. “Lots of merchant vessels pass through there from the Glavny Strait and Olen Sea. A golden opportunity for you. Now get to work!” The crew cheered and then dispersed, resuming their chores.

  “You just had to show off,” Nikolai mocked after the captain walked away.

  “They're going to force us to be pirates,” Lilia said staring out at the Strait.

  “I guess they have room for more loot,” Demyan said. He patted Zoya on the back. “Have fun with your thieving. Nikolai and I will be relaxing below deck, decidedly not committing crimes with a death sentence.”

  “Your empathy is touching,” Zoya replied. “But you heard the captain. We're going to have to teach you to fight. In a single day, no less.”

  “I guess we should go grab some more swords,” Anya said. “You boys have a rough day ahead of you.” She smiled wickedly and headed inside.

  As the morning promised, the day was a particularly warm one. Ice melted off the shrouds and sails, dripping and trickling onto the deck below. Zoya and her friends, still bundled in their coats, began to sweat as they practiced their swordplay.

  “Stop slouching!” Anya called to Demyan. He responded with an exasperated sigh.

  “I'm still a little seasick,” he said. Anya feigned a pout and lunged at him. Demyan stumbled aside, slashing flimsily with his sword.

  “Let him take a break,” Nikolai shouted. He lifted his own sword and pointed it at Anya, who happily engaged with him.

  Zoya and Lilia stood to the side, practicing their stances and familiarizing themselves with the swords.

  “These are heavier than Isaak's,” Lilia said.

  “And in worse shape,” Zoya replied, noting the nicks and rust on her blade. “But I guess that's to be expected on a pirate ship.”

  Zoya and Lilia engaged in a mock battle, slowly at first then picking up speed.

  “Alright, I'm taking a break,” Anya called to them. “Nikolai, spar with Lilia for a bit.” Nikolai and Lilia obliged, laughing as Nikolai exhibited wild hand gestures and twisted facial expressions as he lunged and parried.

  “This is fun,” Anya told Zoya as they leaned against the railing.

  “Yeah, it is,” Zoya admitted.

  “Until we have to fight for real,” Demyan added, bracing himself on the railing beside Zoya.

  “Zoya!” Tonia emerged from the saloon. “Take a break from swordplay. You're needed in the boiler room.”

  “Is something wrong?” Zoya asked as she sheathed her sword.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” Tonia replied. “Just need the man power.”

  Zoya nodded and followed Tonia below deck, stopping in her cabin to grab her goggles and gloves. As she did, she bumped the gadget out of her suitcase. It rolled across the floor and stopped near the doorway. Before Zoya could fetch it, Alexi appeared and snatched it up.

  He rushed into the room with the gadget, his eyes wild.

  “Put this away!” he demanded in a hushed tone. “Now!”

  “Ok,” Zoya replied, grabbing the gadget. “Sorry.” She stared at Alexi, hugging the gadget to her chest. What in the world is going on?

  “Bury it,” Alexi told her, his hushed voice frantic. “You hear me? Bury it and don't let anyone see it.”

  “Yes, fine, ok,” Zoya stammered. She turned to put the gadget back in her suitcase, but looked up as Alexi rushed out of the room.

  “Hey, wait a second!” she called after him. She looked out of the doorway and saw him run up to the saloon. With a frustrated sigh, she reentered the room. She stopped after wrapping her grandmother’s gadget in a blouse. Her hands shook.

  Why was he blowing a gasket over this gadget? Protect it and it will protect you. What did you mean by that, Grandmother? What is this thing? She shoved the gadget to the bottom of her bag. Then she collapsed onto the floor, closing her eyes and directing her attention inward. Her breathing was shallow, and she shuddered with every rapid beat of her heart. Tears filled her eyes as she covered her face with her hands.

  It's alright. We'll be alright
. She repeated the thought like a mantra, letting her lips mouth the words.

  I'm sure it's nothing. We'll be alright.

  A few moments passed before Zoya calmed down. Just overwhelmed. We are trapped on a pirate ship after all. We'll figure it out. We'll be fine. She wiped her eyes, grabbed her goggles and gloves, and stood. She passed a small closet in the hall that contained spare swords and knives. She grabbed a knife and stuck it in her boot before continuing to the boiler room.

  The sun approached the horizon by the time Lilia decided to take a break from swordplay. She realized she had missed the rush of the dance, the feel of heavy metal and wood in her hand, and the sense of power and strength. At times while she practiced, she could hear Isaak's voice taunting her in good humor.

  Watch your footwork! You move your feet so quickly, but your sword moves through molasses! Keep your head up! Not that far up!

  She missed Isaak. It pained her to remember the last time they had seen him. She, Zoya, and Anya had escaped into the alley as the soldiers arrived. They had lingered by the door, listening to the interrogation for as long as they'd dared. As they ran away, they could hear the screams of a woman and a child and then of Isaak himself. It was a wonder they'd made it back to the apartment, tears frozen around their eyes.

  Lilia pushed the memory from her mind and entered the saloon.

  “Did the captain dismiss you from your swordplay?” Pavel asked happily when he saw her.

  Lilia’s face flushed. “Well, no, he didn’t. I was hoping I could take a break to help cook.” She stood by the doorway and fidgeted with her hands.

  Pavel smiled. “Start preparing the broth. I’ll go ask the captain if you may assist me with dinner preparations.”

  “Will that be alright?” Lilia asked. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

  “Don’t worry, my dear. I won’t get you in trouble. Next time, though, ask the captain before taking a break.” Pavel clasped Lilia’s shoulder and winked then strolled toward the captain’s cabin.

  Lilia started the fire on the stove and grabbed a pot to fill with the salty stock. She stirred idly and took deep breaths to calm herself. Pavel entered the saloon a moment later.