by John Ringo
“And what happens if one of your riders decides they don’t like the mission?” Chang asked.
“It’s… never come up, sir,” Jerry admitted.
“I’m going to send a long memo to Atlantis Command,” Chang said. “That’s for sure. Until further notice, Mr. Riadou, your new rank is warrant officer first class. I don’t know what you’ve been being paid but that’s also your pay-grade, starting now. If it’s more than you’ve been being paid, you just got a raise. If it’s less, we’ll figure something out. Flight pay, maybe. Choose one of your riders as your senior noncommissioned officer. The rest will be given the rank of sergeant. Do you have any questions?”
“No, sir,” Jerry replied.
“You should. You’re now under military law and discipline. That’s a far cry from being a civilian. I can have your riders flogged or hanged for failure to obey an order. So can General Talbot. For that matter, you’ll have to obey orders from Lieutenant Herrick, here, since he’s a commissioned officer and outranks you. I’ll have a copy of the regulations sent to your barracks.”
“What about Joanna?” Talbot asked.
“She’ll get a rank of commander,” Chang said after a moment. “She’ll be equal in rank to my XO but outrank everyone else on the ship except you or me. In general, she’ll have full control of the dragons and their riders. She’ll also be responsible for their actions. Will that be a problem?”
“Unlikely,” Edmund replied. “But she’s got a very specific pay structure. It’s in my orders.”
“Understood,” Chang said. “Now, to the mission. As Mr. Riadou noted, we’ve got a dual priority, getting the dragons trained in and handling the diplomatic mission. Comments?”
“Getting to the islands is the highest priority,” Edmund replied. “Dragon training cannot interfere with that to any great extent.”
Chang sighed and shook his head. “More or less the point that I’d come to. Well, we’ll just have to handle it.” There was a knock at the door and it opened almost immediately to reveal a brown-haired young man with a distant expression. He stopped, startled, at the group in the crowded room and looked at the commander behind the desk.
“Sorry, I’ll come back,” he muttered, starting to leave the room.
“You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago,” Chang sighed. “Come in, Evan. Evan is…” He paused and looked Duke Talbot with a puzzled expression. “We’re not sure exactly what to call Evan. Generally we just refer to him as a ship’s designer, but he’s more like an efficiency expert.”
“I like to think of myself as a systems designer,” Evan said with a smile that relieved his puzzled countenance. “About that, there’s a change I want to make to the feeding system on the Richard…”
“Evan, we have to have the things in place long enough to write doctrine, you know,” Chang replied. He had an amused expression on his face as if this were a long-running complaint.
“I know, Shar, but I think I can cut one crewmember…”
“Tell it to me later, Evan, there’s something more important at the moment.” Chang turned to Jerry with a gesture. “This is Warrant Officer Riadou. He’s the senior dragon-rider of the first dragon-flight we’ve received. You should get him dialed in on the facilities on the Richard as soon as possible. Jerry Riadou, Evan Mayerle.”
“Okay,” Evan said, holding out his hand. “Does that mean we actually have wyverns to work with?”
“And a greater dragon,” Chang said with a nod. “You hadn’t heard?”
“Uh, no,” Evan replied. “We’ll have to break down the stalls on the hangar deck and—”
“Take it up with the XO,” Chang said, cutting him off. “We’re sailing on the morning tide. I’ll be out in no more than an hour. Pass that on to the XO, will you Mr. Riadou?”
“Will do, sir,” Jerry said. “Should I move my people out to the ship?”
“There’s no way I can think of to get the dragons to the ship without them flying out, so the first thing we’re going to have to do in the morning is fly them on. What do you think?”
“I’ll go out to the ship, make sure that everything is arranged and that I’m familiar with the system and then come back on shore?”
“That’s right,” the skipper replied with a chuckle. “I want to see you this evening so stay on the ship until I arrive.”
“Yes, sir,” Jerry said.
“This is the Navy, Warrant Officer,” the skipper replied with a smile. “When you get an order you say ‘aye, aye, sir.’ ”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Jerry replied. “Should I go now?”
“And the term is ‘by your leave’ or ‘by your permission.’ ” Chang sighed. “Yes, go. You too, Evan. I’ll see you both on board.”
When the two had left Chang shook his head and looked at Duke Talbot.
“Is it just me, or is everyone having to make this up as they go along?”
“Everyone is.” Talbot chuckled with the rest. “Daneh is having to half-train doctors, Herzer constantly has to make soldiers out of straw and mud. Everyone is.”
“Do you have any idea how complex a large ship is?” Chang asked. “Just gathering the necessary materials for it to go to sea is mind-boggling. Enough food and water for a hundred days, for thirty-six dragons? Not to mention the two hundred and twenty-five crew members, twenty officers and warrant officers, dragon-riders, passengers. On that subject, water is at a premium on-board. There is a ration of one gallon a day per person and it is not adjustable. There are saltwater showers and you can have thirty seconds of secondary water for washing the salt off. Don’t drink it; it’s not potable. We have a low-power steam engine for powered support and it produces the shower water, but there’s only so much. The cabins are small and tight; there’s no room for much gear. And the food ranges in quality from poor to very bad.”
“So much for a pleasure cruise to the islands,” Rachel said with a laugh. “It’s better than things were right after the Fall, Skipper.”
“That it is,” Chang said with a nod. “Speaking of gear, this was ported over. Or formed here, I’m not sure which.”
He reached behind his desk and pulled out a gray plastic box, setting it on his desk. It was apparently seamless.
“I can’t open it,” he added in a less than amused tone. “I have no idea what it contains.”
Talbot placed his hand on the top of the box and it opened down an invisible seam on the top. Inside were four transparent bags, some mixed items on the bottom and a sealed envelope. Talbot pulled out the envelope and broke the seal, then shrugged at the contents.
“More instructions from Sheida,” he said, folding it and putting it back in the envelope. Chang was visibly annoyed that he was not made privy to the communication but Talbot ignored him. “Breath-masks for working underwater and suggested trade materials,” he added, closing the box. “Could you have this sent out to the ship, Skipper?”
“Of course, General,” the officer replied. “Will there be anything else?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Talbot said. “It would probably make sense for us to go out to the ship as soon as possible.”
“I’ll make arrangements,” Chang replied, gesturing at the box. “That way your luggage can come with you.”
“Thank you,” Edmund said with a broad grin. “Now?”
“Horace!”
CHAPTER TEN
Herzer shook his head at the sight of the massive ship.
“They’ve only got a couple of hundred people to man it?” he asked.
The ship was nearly eighty meters long with three masts, the rearmost and highest of which stretched forty meters in the air. Sails were furled in every direction and Herzer had a hard time sorting them out. There were some that looked like they dropped down from crosspieces on the masts, but others were twisted around sloping ropes or something on the front.
The ship also looked awfully odd because where more masts should have been at the rear, there was a large platfor
m. In fact, the wheel and deck that he’d expect to be at the rear was entirely missing. It might be under the platform, but if so it was well hidden. And a large, cantilevered platform angled out forward on the near side of the ship. And the whole ship was painted a dull gray, which Herzer found strange.
The group was being rowed out to the ship in one of the many small boats in the harbor. This one was rowed by two people, a man and a brawny female who seemed to be in charge. The boat was one of many headed to or from the ship and as they approached they could see a group of seamen lifting pallets onto the ship from one of the lighters alongside. Next to it was another lighter that had snaked four hoses over the side. It had a small steam engine going and was apparently pumping something aboard ship.
As they approached the ship a set of stairs with a floating platform was lowered over the side and the two oarsmen pulled the boat up to it.
Herzer had been surprised when Duke Edmund had had them board in reverse order of seniority but he understood now as the duke was the first to hop from the craft onto the platform and rapidly ascend the stairs. Herzer followed Daneh out of the boat and up the stairs. He was trailed, in order, by Vickie, Rachel and one of the other dragon-riders, the latter of which was carrying the featureless gray box. From the top of the stairs came an odd sound, like very high-pitched whistling. He got to the top of the stairs just in time to see the duke drop his salute and hear a leather-lunged petty officer bellow: “Overjay Command, Arriving!”
At the top of the stairs there was a double line of sailors and the blue-uniformed soldiers that he had seen at the Navy base. The sailors were in their day uniforms but the soldiers were turned out in armor, which was well polished, and boarding pikes, which were held vertically at attention.
Edmund had briefed them on the way out so Herzer first saluted the rear of the ship, where the UFS Navy flag, a diamondback rattler on an orange field, was flying, then the officer greeting them.
“Permission to come aboard, sir?”
“Permission granted,” the Navy commander replied, returning the salute. He was wearing the same undress uniform as the sailors, blue trousers and off-white shirt, but wore a broad brimmed hat, turned up at one side, on which were fixed the two vertical silver bars of a commander. He was nearly as tall as Herzer but much thinner and he held out his hand with a friendly grin. “You’re going to have as much trouble moving around this ship as I do.”
He turned to the duke and waved towards the rear of the ship as the petty officer in charge of the greeting party ordered it to stand down and fall out.
“I’m Commander Owen Mbeki, executive officer,” the commander said.
“I’m Edmund Talbot, obviously,” the duke said with a smile. “My wife Doctor Daneh Ghorbani who is acting as my cultural attaché, Lieutenant Herzer Herrick my military attaché and aide, my daughter Rachel Ghorbani, Daneh’s aide, Staff Sergeant Vickie Toweeoo, senior NCO of the dragon contingent.”
“Charmed, I’m sure,” the commander replied, shaking their hands. “I’ll show you to your staterooms, General. Sergeant Toweeoo and the other dragon-riders are quartered by their beasts.” He waved to the leather-lunged petty officer and gestured at the two riders. “Have someone relieve this poor man of the baggage, Chief Brooks, and show them the dragon facilities. Then round up Evan and that dragon warrant.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” the CPO said.
Once on the deck it was clear that the overhang, what was apparently a dragon landing platform, covered a good third of the ship. The commander led them towards a gangway that was actually under the shade of the platform and gestured above.
“That thing’s going to be a bloody nuisance, General,” the commander noted. “Not only does it mean losing a mast, perhaps two, with the concomitant loss of speed, but it’s got a huge sail area. Maneuvering this tub is a stone bitch.”
“What do you think about it?” Talbot asked. “Are the dragons worth it?”
“We’ll have to see, won’t we, sir?” the commander said with a tone of amusement. “From what I understand they don’t have much of a means of attacking anything below them. At the moment I’d have to say no. On the other hand, preparing for them has given us this lovely huge ship to play with and if they don’t work out we can simply add a couple of masts and have a real fighting ship at our fingers.”
He led them down the short flight of stairs to the next deck. The top of the opening to the passageway was covered in padding and painted bright yellow and black.
“Watch your head,” he said, ducking in example. “Especially you, Lieutenant. Turn to face the ladder, please; it’s safer that way.”
The corridor beyond was low and narrow. There were two crewmen, a male and a female, coming from the opposite direction and both of them flattened themselves against the wall as the party passed.
“Sorry about this,” Daneh muttered.
“Not a problem, ma’am,” the female crewman murmured while the male gave Rachel a raised eyebrow.
“Moving protocols,” the commander said as he pushed aside a curtain and entered a room to the right of the corridor. “When you’re moving in a corridor, the junior gives way to the senior. Since that means I only have to stand aside for the captain I think it’s a lovely deal.” He pointed to two bunks along the side of the tiny cabin. “I’m not sure about arrangements. We’re a mixed crew but we have separate bunking for males and females. There’s this cabin and the master cabin, which is designated for the use of Duke Talbot since it’s large enough for meetings. Either the two ladies can bunk in here, or the lieutenant and Mistress Daneh’s aide share, or, I suppose, the duke could give up his cabin to the ladies and bunk in here. There’s also a large cabin in the dragon-rider’s area but I’d prefer to set that aside for the riders if you don’t mind. Or one of them could bunk with the riders.”
Edmund looked at Rachel and raised an eyebrow to which the girl shrugged.
“I’ve been living, one way or another, with Herzer most of my life; I don’t have an issue with rooming with him.”
“I could bunk with the riders,” Herzer said at almost the same time.
“No, I want you to work with them but I’ll want you handy as well,” Edmund said, rubbing his beard. “Bunk here. If there are issues, deal with them.”
Herzer shrugged and went into the room, tossing his gear on the top bunk. It had a low wooden railing on the outside and the cushion was made of some relatively soft padding; he wasn’t sure what. It wasn’t straw or feathers, of that he was sure. There was just enough room for him to turn around, with his head bent, in the small cabin. Climbing into the bunk was going to be an interesting operation. His gear, not much of it, just one bag, went at the foot of the bunk, which gave him about a hundred ninety centimeters to work with. Given that he was two hundred ten centimeters in height, it was going to be cramped. He’d just have to prop his feet on the bag.
“And just down the corridor,” Mbeki said, this time opening a door into a room, “we have Duke Edmund’s cabin.”
The room, while low, was relatively spacious. Besides a large bed it had a table large enough to handle six people, eight if they crowded. There was also a fairly large window made of thick glass, and a few meters of open floor space.
“You’re on the port side of the ship here, just forward of the captain’s cabin,” the commander said. “My cabin is right across the corridor. Wardroom is just down from the aide’s cabin on the port side. The rest of the officers’ quarters are forward of the companionway.”
“This will do well,” Duke Edmund said. “Put that over there,” he continued, gesturing to the seaman who had been following them.
“Duke Edmund,” Herzer said. “I’d like to look up Jerry and get a look at the dragon quarters.”
“Warrant Officer Riadou is supposed to be meeting with the captain soon…” Mbeki said.
“I’d like Herzer to attend that,” Talbot interrupted. “Herzer’s going to be my liaison with the dragon-riders. I
’d like him in on discussions of their use.”
“Very well,” the commander said, nonplussed. “Seaman, show Lieutenant Herzer to the captain’s dayroom.”
Herzer followed the seaman though a bewildering series of corridors to a door guarded by a sentry.
“Lieutenant Herzer to see the captain, orders of the duke,” the seaman said, stepping aside.
The guard looked the lieutenant over and raised an eyebrow. “Blood Lord?”
Herzer leaned forward until his nose was an inch from the sentry and nodded.
“Blood Lord. There is one captain. There are two lieutenants. I’m the other one. And if you give me a look like that again I’ll wipe the floor with you. I don’t take lip from privates. Especially ones with newly issued armor and who haven’t seen shit to make them salty. Do I make my point?”
The sentry flexed a jaw muscle and nodded. “Yes, sir,” he said, then knocked on the door.
“What?” Chang called from the interior.
“A Blood Lord lieutenant to see you, sir,” the guard said.
“Let him in.”
Herzer marched in and saluted the captain, who was bent over a table, head nearly touching Evan’s, both of them poring over a schematic, presumably of the ship.
“Message from Duke Edmund?” the skipper asked.
“Actually, sir, he sent me to… look in on the meeting, sir. I’ll just stay out of the way.”
The skipper stared at him flatly for a moment, then shrugged. “No, if you have anything to contribute, feel free. We’ve only been working on this project for a year. I’m sure you have all sorts of useful suggestions.”
“I’m much more likely to ask questions, sir,” the lieutenant said. “But I intend to avoid even that.”
“Questions are good,” Evan said. “Doing something like this is all about questions. Like, what’s going to happen to the handling of the ship when thirty-six wyverns are coming and going all the time?”
“Something we’ll have to find out,” the skipper said. “Right now, I’m wondering if we can even get them on and off.”