Chenda and the Airship Brofman (24 page)

“I think I love flying,” Chenda said.

Candice opened one eye and glared at the younger woman. “I have long suspected you were insane,” she quipped. “At least we are done flying without an airship now.”

Verdu collapsed his monowing and packed the shimmering wad of fabric into a mesh bag, which he attached to the flight back pack. Fenimore was helping to fit his flight pack on to Captain Endicott's back. He was about to snap in the wing when the captain held up his hand. “Just a moment,” he said. He strode over to Candice's side and knelt down.

“Candice, darling, please be careful.” He kissed her on the forehead and she placed a hand on his cheek. He picked up her flight coat and said, “I'll keep this safe for you until you come back, okay?”

“Yes, thank you. I'll do my best,” she replied. “Until we meet again.”

“Until we meet again, hopefully very soon.”

Endicott turned to Verdu and Fenimore. He put a hand on each man's shoulder and said, “Take care of each other, my boys. And take care of them.”

He dropped his hands and signaled for Fenimore to set the wing in place. There was a soft whirring sound as the pack hummed to life. Endicott grasped the coat and collapsed monowing in one hand and hopped up onto the rail. Captain Endicott looked back once at Candice, then leaped into the air. He was up and swirling away in an instant.

Chenda dashed to the railing and watched as the captain circled upward to the
Brofman
. The
Tjalk
was picking up speed, and in just a few minutes, Chenda lost the airship to the clouds. The sun, nearly set, distorted on the horizon and threw long shadows across the deck.  Chenda settled onto the cushions with a sigh.

“I want to fly back up some day,” she said wistfully to Verdu. “That looks like such fun.”

“Bleck!” Candice groaned from the floor. “I'd rather eat dirt!”

Verdu smiled at Chenda, “I will happily arrange such a flight, dear lady.”

“I can't remember the last time I was a passenger on an actual sailing vessel,” Fenimore said. “I have no idea what to do with myself now that I'm not a part of the crew. This is very strange.”

“Welcome to my everyday,” Chenda replied, slapping the cushion next to her. “Sit. Be useless like me.”

The crew of the
Tjalk
was busily resetting the sails and the rigging. They seemed indifferent to the new people on their ship. Pointedly uninterested was more the case. Chenda began to wonder if Captain Taboda instructed his crew to be aloof. She whispered her thoughts to Verdu, who sat nearby.

“It's likely,” he said. “I suspect that the
Tjalk
has some run-ins with Tugrulian patrols from time to time. The crew can't talk about what they don't see. These sailors have been conditioned to ignore a lot, I suspect.”

Chenda thought on that for a while, as she watched the final brilliance of the sunset over the stern. She lounged with her three companions in the steamy evening. A few early stars shone overhead as the moon slowly started to rise. Verdu began to sing, softly, and mostly to himself. Candice's natural coloring returned quickly in the relaxed atmosphere.

“Shouldn't I be tense right now?” Chenda asked Candice. “I mean, we have reached another no-turning-back point, I think. Tomorrow promises a certain amount of danger, and I have no clue what I am supposed to be doing once I get into the Empire. Why am I so calm?”

Candice looked thoughtfully at her young friend. “You passed the point of no return ages ago. Probably before we met. Likely, it was the moment you opened Edison's letter. I've never met anyone as single minded as you. But strangely, your mind is also vastly open – perhaps not open so much as accepting. You let fate pull you along. I think your peace tonight comes from your faith in fate. Look around you. Your faith is strong enough to pull us all along with you. Besides, worry is something that can keep you busy all day, but in the end, it won't move you one inch closer to your goal. I think your head and your heart are just fine were they are.”

Captain Taboda arrived among Chenda's little group with a platter of food and several mugs which he laid out before them. “Eat, and I vill tell you vhat is to come.”

“Thank you,” Chenda said as everyone gathered around the sampling of unusual foods. Chenda watched as Verdu smiled slightly at the dishes before him. She followed his lead and ate with one hand.

“Ve sail tonight - due east. By da morning ve will be sailing up de Xaa-Jair. De mouth of dat stinking river is about 30 miles north of Kotal. About one mile into de Xaa-Jair River vill be a dock. Ve von't be stopping, but you can jump off as ve sail past. Dat should be just as de sun begin to rise. Be ready. I have a few gahment for you vomen. Dees -  dey will need to disguise der fair skin. Da dock vill be empty, or almost, so der shouldn't be any trouble for you. You vill need to go due south very quickly. Sight onto a mountain dat looks like a lizard head, vant to bite da sky. Der is cave entrance at de base of de mountain. Inside you vill find a group of vomen. Say dat you have been sent by me, and ask for Ahy-Me. Once you are alone vith her, vere no one vill overhear you, tell her 'de river is rising and stars are bright.' She vill know dat I send you for sure, and she vill help you.”

“The river is rising and the stars are bright.” Verdu said. “I've got it. Thank you.”

“I vill leave you now to enjoy your evening. My crew, apart from the vatch, vill remain below tonight, for der safety. I know you understand. You can not say vat you have not seen, no?”

“Of course,” Chenda replied. “We all understand.”

He turned without further delay and went below.

“At least it's a beautiful night.” Fenimore conceded. He looked at Verdu. “But I can't say I trust Taboda at all. First watch you?”

“Second watch you,” he replied.

Fenimore finished eating and reclined even further onto the cushions and settled down to get ready to sleep. “After tonight, we may be unable to get any good rest for some time,” he said to Chenda and Candice. “I think you should try to get some sleep.”

Chenda leaned back and turned onto her side, facing Candice. “Tomorrow,” she said.

“Tomorrow,” Candice murmured as she closed her eyes.

The air temperature dropped during the night, and Chenda found herself in a Verdu and Candice sandwich when she woke up. While they slept, each had instinctively scooted closer to the next warmest thing around and huddled against it. She lifted her head and saw Fenimore leaning against the mast, his back to her.

“Psst! Fen!” she whispered. “Help a girl up?”

Fenimore turned and looked at Chenda's predicament, grinning. “Gee, I don't know. You look all warm and comfy there,” he whispered.

Chenda pouted, and Fenimore extended a hand to her. She grabbed his wrist and he easily pulled her up from between her slumbering neighbors. She stood up next to him for a moment then shivered in the cold. Fenimore found her discarded flight coat and wrapped it around her.

“Thanks. How much longer?” she asked.

“The sky is lightening, and I can see some details of the coastline. The
Tjalk's
crew are up in the rigging already, so I am guessing that they are going to trim some sail here as we enter the mouth of the Xaa-Jair. So, not long at all.”

“Should we wake the others?”

“Oh, we can wait a minute or two.” Fenimore took the platter that Taboda had brought them the night before, offering the leftovers to Chenda. “Breakfast?”

“Mmm..." she said. “I really liked the... what was that green stuff?”

“No clue. But I hate to waste it when I have no idea what the next meal will be, or when.” He took a few morsels and popped them in his mouth, and Chenda followed. The taste was alien to her, but not disagreeable. After a few minutes, the two had cleared the platter.

The sky continued to lighten, and soon, the Tugrulian Coast was clearly visible in the distance. The only word that Chenda could think of to describe the land was
bony
. It was as if some giant sea creature had died, and its chalky white bones lay in the water, limbs twisted in odd angles and poking up through the surf. The sun and waves had bleached and eroded the rock into millions of giant ivory ribs. Landing a small ship in the Tugrulian Empire along this stretch of coast would be impossible. Having to beach a vessel here would mean certain death, dashed against the columns of rocks.

Chenda reached down and patted Verdu on his calf. “Wake up and tell me what I'm looking at.”

Verdu stretched and was on his knees quickly, turning his eyes to where Chenda was gazing. He groaned. “It's the Tugrulian Empire. It looks like the region called Reforcho Sahil. We are very close now.” He leaned over and tapped Candice on the shoulder “Wake up. We're almost there.”

Candice rolled onto her back and sighed. “OK,” she said in muted tones.

Taboda came up onto the deck with several colorful garments in his arms. “Good day!” the little man greeted. “I trust you are vell? Good! It's about time you get off my ship!” He handed the clothes to Verdu. “Dress dem! Quickly. Quickly!”

He scurried off, shouting commands to his men in the sails. The speed and direction of the
Tjalk
changed, and the ship began to dash toward the coastline.

“Chenda,” Verdu said handing various clothes to her. “Candice,” he said, giving the rest of the clothes to the professor. Turning back to Chenda, he helped her pull on a shapeless dress tinted bright orchid. He grabbed the next article, a heavy veil with a gauzy eye slit, and covered her head with it, wrapping it intricately around her neck and shoulders. Lastly he took a wide scarf and bound it around Chenda's waist, again tying it with great complexity. Verdu moved on to adjust Candice's gown. Chenda turned to face Fenimore.

“Well, how do I look?”

“Tugrulian. Unrecognizable. Frumpy.” He thought a moment more. “That's pretty good, I guess. Best we could hope for.”

Fenimore took a small tin out of his pocket and opened it up. He scooped out a waxy reddish-brown paste and rubbed it between his hands, then smeared it all over his face, neck and forearms. In moment's time, he went from the fair poster boy of Kite's Republic to a candidate for Verdu's identical twin. Other than his sand colored hair, Fenimore looked rather Tugrulian. Fenimore pulled a long strip of cloth out of his pocket and started to cover his head, finishing by looping several long wraps down his back.

Verdu finished helping Candice into her clothes, then checked Fenimore's appearance. “Not bad,” he said, smoothing some of the dye on Fenimore's face with his own hands. “How long did Kingston say this stain would last?”

“A few days, but I have plenty more to do touch-ups if I need to.” Fenimore grinned. Verdu grinned in response. It was like watching a man smile into a mirror.

Taboda whistled from the bow of the ship and pointed into the distance. The
Tjalk
was entering a narrow river mouth, and in the distance, Chenda could see a few spindly docks jutting out into the river.

Verdu pushed the women toward the railing. “Let's get ready to jump. Fen, you first, then Candice and Chenda. I will go last. Hit the dock running and make room for the person behind you. The last thing we want is to hit the water. Nasty what's in there.” Verdu shuddered.

Taboda gave a series of shrill whistles to his crew. High up in the rigging, several sails lost their tension and flapped uselessly. The
Tjalk
quickly lost speed.

“UP! Up on the rail. Hurry now!” Verdu instructed. Everyone hopped up. “Spread out, and we'll have a better chance of it.” Fenimore danced up the narrow ship's rail like a tightrope walker, and Chenda scooted along toward the bow as well. Although the
Tjalk
had slowed considerably, the narrow dock was coming up impossibly fast.

“Fen! Be ready!” Verdu shouted. The dock was just a few hundred feet from the bow of the ship now. Chenda could smell a foul, brackish aroma growing around her. The river stank of dead fish and marshy stagnant water.

“And.... GO!” Verdu roared.

Fenimore jumped high and far, landing squarely in the middle of the bleached boards. He let his momentum carry him several feet down the dock at a quick run.

“Chenda!” Verdu yelled, and she sprang away from the
Tjalk
. When she hit the dock, her legs tangled in her bulky dress and she sprawled across the planking, the wind knocked out of her.

“Candice!” The professor jumped and tried to step over her young friend, but was hobbled by her skirts as well. Verdu looked at the tangle of arms and legs on the dock and waited for the last possible second to jump. He landed hard on one foot and slid off the side of the dock. As he fell, he caught a rough board with one hand and dangled helplessly. Fenimore appeared in an instant, grasping Verdu's wrist and lifting him back onto the dock.

Captain Taboda, now waving from the ship's rail, bellowed at the party on the dock. “Tugrul Aquaba! Joide du carda Va!” He laughed heartily, then whistled to his crew. The
Tjalk's
sails snapped taut and once again filled with the bright morning's gusty wind. The small ship drifted away from the shore and charged up the Xaa-Jair River.

Verdu picked himself up from the weathered dock, and snorted. He shook his head in the direction of the fleeing
Tjalk
.