Chap. 129 Finally, the Site

Chap. 129  Finally, the Site

At last, they were at the coast.

Unlike the eastern coast, this one had no sandy beaches. The surf beat on rocks, reminding K'ndar of the southern coast of Southern, with its rough surf tearing at the rocks.

The Sea Dragon lay at anchor just off one of the few spots where a boat could put in. 

"I've been waiting for three days for you," Captain Sheila said, crossly. D'nis and Rahman were in the cramped space that served as her office.

"It takes time, Captain, to properly survey," D'nis said, wondering at her tone.

"Aye, I suppose, although I have no idea how you landsman do such a thing. No matter, we managed to do a bit of it ourselves, beating up and down the coast looking for a spot for your telescope, Rahman."

"And?" Rahman said.

"We've located a nice little cove, turns inland a ways, gets one's ship out of the wind. It's ten kilometers west of here.  You'll need to look it over, but from a seaman's point of view, it might work. The cove is deep enough to warp your scope over to land without too much trouble."

Rahman looked relieved.

"Any flat land?"

"Aye, quite a bit, from the looks of it.  I know naught about building telescopes, but it could be a twin to the site where the first one is. Save this one has a much better landing site for boats. Might even be water there, the dolphins tell us they can taste the fresh water, so I'm betting there's a stream there, emptying into the sea."

"That's good news, Captain. I'll have to bring my engineer to look it over, but I trust you to know what you're saying."

"I do. I took the liberty of bringing your engineer along from the observatory. She's below right now-she didn't travel well. Guess the food didn't agree with her," she said. " Seasick, I guess," she said, amusement in her eyes. "She's had a good long look at the site, seems to be pretty happy but I can't say if it was to be off the ship or with the site."

She bit her tongue to keep from laughing. It was only ten days, two weeks max journey from the observatory on the eastern island to the site, how can you be sick that long? But some folks just weren't seafarers. Not like me, she thought, born and bred to it.

"She's left a whole sheaf of notes and plans for you. I believe she would like to go home," she said, indicating a notebook and papers on her desk.

"Didn't find anything suitable inland?" she asked D'nis.

D'nis shook his head. "No. There's not much on either island save trees, rocks, and tunnel snakes, just as the oldtimers said."

"Trees? Big enough for masts?" she said, always looking for good wood for her ship.

"Aye, same species as you find on Northern," he said, "that and little ones, the softwood, willows, that will trip you up and don't come higher than one's hips. But I don't see how one would be able to harvest the trees. Getting to the trees isn't easy. It's utter wilderness inland, not a path, not a clearing for kilometers. There were spots even our dragons couldn't land," he said.

Disappointed, she shrugged. "Ah, no matter. I've gotten used to dealing with that miserly woodcrafter at Tillek. You'd swear he'd birthed lumber, as much as he charges for good wood. But I'll admit, he knows how to cure the stuff. I've not had too much trouble with his spars and masts. And his crew definitely knows how to turn raw wood into the things that make a ship."

"So do you, Captain, I hear you built this ship," D'nis said.

She smiled. It softened her features, making her look almost friendly. She reached up and patted one of the timbers serving as the low ceiling of the office. "Aye, I did," she said.

Realizing she was revealing herself a little too much, she said, "Right, then," reassuming her air of authority.

"So, Rahman, what are your plans?" she said.

"Well, Captain, I'd like to go see that site."

"I'm only here at this spot because it was where your team was scheduled  to meet us. My crew is ready, we can up anchor and be on our way.  It's only a few kilometers. Once we get there, if you approve the site, we can start offloading some of the cargo. The weather should hold for at least a week."

Rahman nodded, anxious, now, to see the site. "With your permission, I'd like to stay aboard, and release the survey team and their dragons. They've got quite a bit of stuff to turn into Landing, and I imagine they're fairly eager to see their families and own beds," he said.

"Aye, that's true, Rahman, although it's never a task to work with you," D'nis said.

"Goes for me, sir, as well. You're always welcome aboard my ship." She patted the timber again, without thinking.

"Do you have any kit to bring aboard?"

Rahman laughed. "Aye, I carry it with me all the time. I'd anticipated doing just this.  Wouldn’t be my first sea journey."

"You'll release my stepfather as well, I assume? I'm sure my mum is anxious to see him."

Rahman and D'nis exchanged glances. "Um…your stepfather?"

"T'ovar, did you forget?" she asked, teasing.

"Captain, I fired T'ovar over a month ago. Haven't seen him since."

"Fired him?"

"Aye," Rahman said, still pissed. "This might sound harsh, but he didn't contribute a thing to the team. Showed up late if at all, did NO work, and the last day was the breaking point. Came in drunk, claiming to have been sick all night, then threatened me when I told him to leave. He seemed about to assault me."

She looked less shocked than they would have expected.

She shook her head. "Not as harsh as you'd think, sir.  Doesn't surprise me much, honestly. T'ovar doesn't have the best work ethic, if you will.  We all assumed he was with your team, D'nis, out on his dragon doing…doing whatever a survey entails."

"No, captain, I can assure you, we've not seen hide nor hair of him since Rahman sent him packing," D'nis said.

"Nor has he been back at Observatory," Rahman said, "we assumed, too, that he was back at Tillek."

"As far as I know, he's not been there, either." She shrugged. It wouldn't be the first time T'ovar had been run off. 

Ah, well.

"He's not my problem, sirs, I have plenty of those all my own," she said, without a twinge of regret at her words.  

"Aye, then, Captain, thank you for meeting us," D'nis said, feeling a bit of disloyalty to Rahman.

But the astronomer was already envisioning starting the Second Observatory Project.

"Sir, are you sure you want to release us? We can take you back to Observatory. I feel as if I'm abandoning you," he asked the old man. He really did want to be relieved of duty but…it was duty.

Rahman laughed. "Nay, D'nis, it is I, abandoning you. I've been dreaming of a site forever, it seems. I'll be fine. I would ask, though, that you ask my engineer if she'd like to stay aboard or go home. I'd like her to stay, but I…I don't really need her, and I would feel dreadful inflicting more seasickness on her," he said.

"Thank you, then, and we'd be glad to give her a lift home," D'nis said.  "Good day, Captain," he said.

D'nis went up, onto the deck. Rahman's engineer was standing at the rail. The moment she saw him, she ran to him.

"Please, sir, I beg of you, please, take me back to observatory? I can't stand being on this ship, I've been sick for two weeks."

D'nis patted her arm. She looked thin and, well, sick. Some of the crew overheard her and snickered. 

"I've left Rahman all my notes, he doesn't need me, please, sir?"

"It's fine. Rahman already has released you. He asked that we take you back to Observatory. If you'll collect your kit, it will mean one more boat trip to where our dragons are, and then we'll take you home."

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The Captain, alone in her office once again, shook her head at the news of T'ovar's absence.

She wasn't surprised, although she wondered how her mother was doing.

Mum. What in the world did you see in T'ovar? Other than, he was a man? To replace Dad? There was no replacing Dad.  T'ovar never took Dad's place in our family. He was just…the dragonman in mum's bed.

Losing Dad-it killed a part of my heart. It killed all of your heart, didn't it, Mum?  I guess, when we grieve, we do stupid things to try and make the pain go away.   

She remembered her father, his rough hands guiding her  little girl's hands, as he led her throughout his beloved Stalwart, placing her hands on each line, each block, every chain, telling her what it did. "Learn this, my girl, so that you can lay your hand on each line in the dark, in the gales, in the rains, without having to think."

Dad. A seaman, born and bred. Like me. Gone forever, and yet right here, right behind me, unseen, but…here. Dad. Laughing in that deep voice, like something from the bottom of the sea. And then, he's gone. I loved you, Dad.

I guess, when we love too deeply, we can't ever find a way out of the pain. I never loved that deeply.

Oh, wait. I have. I do. Her.  My ship. I love my Sea Dragon. I'm safe in her, like in a wooden womb. She is everything to me. She is my world. I love her.

She's mine and I'm hers. Maybe it's why I never married, nor even had a bed partner. She is mine and I am hers, and it would kill me to lose her. Life wouldn't be living without her.  I will die with you someday, my ship, I will.

The ship creaked in agreement.