Chap. 240 On The Wharf

 

Chap. 240 On The Wharf

Raventh, hovering within meters of the surface of the wharf, felt the weight of the load of lightwood beneath him vanish.

It's down.

Good. Quick releasing now K'ndar flipped the quick release on the harness and the cargo straps released from the netting on the load.

"Well done, dragonrider! Load is down!" he heard a woman's voice call out. A crowd of cargo handlers stood far back in order to stay clear of Raventh's wings.

"I'll be back in a moment!" he said, concentrating on Raventh's wings clearing the spars of the ship tied to the wharf.

Without a word between them, Raventh climbed into the sky, his wingbeats powering him out of the hover.

They landed nearby a team of horses. The horses tossed their heads, whinnying nervously.

Beautiful work, Raventh. It's not easy hovering that close to the ground and so close to a ship.

It was too easy. I'm Raventh!!

Of COURSE you are, I had no doubt. Once I'm off and shorten the cargo straps, find a spot not so close to the horses. They're afraid.

He gave the dragon a gentle slap on the shoulder, then dismounted. After he secured the straps, he gave Raventh the all clear. The dragon shuffled away and then launched, heading inland.

He heard a familiar voice behind him.

"That was lovely work there, K'ndar. You and your dragon could easily find work as wharf hands."

He turned to meet Captain Disko's eyes.

"Thank you sir, although I don't think we'll take you up on the job offer. Thank you, too, for the loan of the lightwood. The canvas was cleaned up before I wrapped it around the wood," he said.

"You're welcome, K'ndar." Disko looked up at the sky, calculating.

"Come to the ship?" he asked.

"Of course, but please, not aboard!"

Disko laughed.

"Aye, I remember your problem! You and the sea don't see eye to eye!"

"It's not my eyes that's the problem, Captain."

Disko roared.

"Pity you didn't come earlier, we're about to leave. I've a full hold and a few supercargo, bound for Harper Hall up to Fort Sea Hold," the man said.

K'ndar sighed. "Oh, well. Maybe next time, what?"

They stopped on the solid basalt wharf where the Serengeti was tied. He immediately appreciated the solidity of the rock. The Serengeti was rising and falling with the swell. She tugged at her cables, resenting their bondage.

Just seeing it go up and down makes me queasy, he thought.

The crew had secured a line to the load of lightwood and stood back, one signaling the First Mate on the deck. "Haul away!" she called, her voice clear and bright, and the crew at the windlass winched the load into the air. K'ndar kept a sharp eye on the boom-the last time he'd seen it in action, a block had broken. But this was a far lighter load, and, it appeared, a brand new block.

Disko watched in silent appraisal until the load was lowered onto the deck. Then he said,

"K'ndar, however much you can get of that smanglue, I'll be happy to pay you whatever you ask."

K'ndar grinned. "It worked, eh?"

"Worked? Like a solid bet, sir, like a walkover in a one horse race. We hunted down every leak in the hold, dusted them, just as you said and it swelled up so fast we had to step back. First Mate got some on her boots, you know, and the vinegar, that worked, too. Then we headed west, with the trade wind in our teeth, so we had to tack and tack about, got high seas coming right up to our dolphin striker, all the while, she's deadhead and lively as a colt, and not so much as wet spot in 'er hold. Oh, there were some, I admit, but they were new ones, which you must expect with a ship as new as Serengeti. Even then it weren't but a few minutes, pour what we had left of the powder and woof, it's sealed."

He dusted imaginary dust off his hands. "Aye, mate, worked well, and I don't care what Landing asks for it, smanglue is worth it. I've already got folks what want to talk to you about buying some."

K'ndar shrugged, not too sure what some of the man's argot was, but from the sound of it, sounded positive.

"I'm not the agent, Captain, but I'll be more than happy to let Landing know. But first, sir, I'm here to see Harve, is he aboard?"

Captain Disko smiled, turned and put his fingers his lips to make a piercing whistle in a specific tune.

"I always wanted to learn how to whistle like that," K'ndar said.

Disko laughed. "Practice, lad, practice."

"Coming!" he heard Harve's voice coming from the ship.

Within a few moments, the teen appeared.

"K'ndar!! Welcome to Nerat again! A good Turnover to you!" he cried.

He turned to the First Mate.

"Permission to go ashore, Firstie?"

She nodded. "Aye, but don't go far, Harve. We weigh on the tide."

"Aye, ma'am." Harve smiled and ran down the gangway to the wharf.

"Hello, Harve!" K'ndar said. He shook the teen's hand. It was rough and callused. All seamen had hands like that, he thought. How the boy had blossomed, he thought, now that he was back in his element.

"Good Turnover to you, K'ndar! What did you make of that skull?"

K'ndar grinned. "Harve, thank you...and you, Captain Disko," he said, turning his head to make sure the captain knew he was included. "It wasn't a skull."

"What?"

"No. It was, if you can imagine, a JAW."

Disko and Harve gawped.

"A...jaw? Like, a jaw?" Harve said, touching his own.

K'ndar laughed. "Like a jaw, from a creature we have no idea what it looks like, what it is, or where it lives. That's what I've got to do when I get back to work, try to figure out what it is."

"That huge thing was just a PART of something bigger?"

"That's what it appears. Also, well..here. Let me show you something."

He pulled out the datalink and hoped against hope that he could make it work.

"A datalink!" Harve said, in a wistful tone.

"Harve told me about this thing. I've never seen one," Disko said.

He turned it on. Disko and Harve hovered behind him, looking over his shoulder at the screen.

Concentrating on the instructions Jansen, Landing's computer tech had given him, he called up the video on the jaw.

It worked. The jaw filled the screen. He made it a bit smaller. I'm glad I did this, he thought, it makes it so much easier to show them rather than try to describe the jaw. Her new instruction book had helped a lot, too.

"That's it!"

"Yes."

"It's a lot cleaner there."

"True. It took a lot of bugs and some elbow grease, but yes, it's drying nicely. We're going to put it in the museum when it's completely dried out. It still stinks, but not as bad, now that the flesh is cleaned off."

"What's a museum?"

"It's in the works, right now. It's a place where artifacts from the ancients will be displayed so everyone on Pern can someday come and see them. Things like the original datalink, the binoculars, and things we're learning from exploration of Pern. Things like this jaw, that you brought up from the deep. It's completely unknown to the database. Not even the Ancients knew about it."

They looked at the picture of the jaw.

"Woof, those teeth. That thing is just so bizarre," Harve said.

"I've never seen anything like it,"Disko said, "how can it be a jaw?"

K'ndar grinned. He sensed that the cargo handlers were now clustered behind him, trying to get a look at the screen. He raised the datalink higher, so they could see.

"Briefly, see the cone?" he indicated the central cone of the jaw. "This thing was a carnivore. That cone is where the food entered a stomach..if it had one."

He remembered how it had taken quite an effort to reset the jaws. But it had been important to do so, not only for the video, but to clarify how the trip worked.

"You can see bristles along the top. On both sides, the limbs? With those long teeth? Okay, now watch this."

Again, hoping he'd done it right-Jansen had loaded the video, a process he had no idea how to do, but did know, now, how to make it work. He made sure the audio was activated.

"See D'nis there, with the stick? Now he's going to touch those bristles on the cone's rim."

A stick reached out and poked the bristles.

The two limbs snapped shut with an audible snap.

SHARDS!! someone shouted.

"Woof, imagine being in between them teeth!"

"Go right through you, looks like."

Wow, he thought, such a wonderful thing, this datalink, showing a 'video' makes it so much easier than trying to describe it snapping shut.

"Want to see that again?" he said, grinning.

The chorus of ayes was almost deafening.

After three more replays, First Mate called out, "Come on, you louts, enough of this, we've work to do if we want to make the tide."

Disko looked at her briefly, knowing he wasn't one of the 'louts'. She grinned.

The crew members knew better than to complain. They headed for the ship, all of them talking about the jaw snapping shut.

Harve turned, about to follow them. "Thank you for showing that to me, K'ndar," he said. His voice had a wistful tone.

"Aye, thank you, K'ndar, that was amazing. I don't think I'd want to go walking into that thing's jaws anytime," Disko said.

K'ndar looked at Disko.

"Sir, begging your pardon, but may I have just a few minutes of Harve's time? I won't keep him long, I know you're wanting to cast off."

Disko looked at the sun, and then the pendant on the masthead. K'ndar could see the friend Disko was now Captain Disko, the man who knew the tide waits for no one.

"Of course, K'ndar. Let me know what Landing says about the smanglue, please?"

"Yes, sir. I'll talk to them and be in touch soon," he said, relishing the upcoming moment.

Disko boarded his ship.

"Okay, Harve, I know you're getting ready to leave, so I'll be quick with this. Here. Here's an instruction manual for you."

He pulled it from his pocket and handed it to Harve.

The teen took it and opened it.

"Instruction? Thank you, I think?" he said. A notebook already filled in? Like a school book?

"You're welcome. Now, here, look at this datalink. See this little icon? This is how you call someone. Say you want to talk to me? You touch the screen, here, and say, "K'ndar of Landing" and I will answer. Same thing, if I want to talk to you, I'll touch it and say "Harve of Serengeti and that's what you will hear. You'll touch this icon and you will be able to talk to me.

And if you want to see the jaw 'video' again, you just touch this one, see that little picture of the jaw? You touch that and it will move again. If you get confused-I know I was, and still am, but just look through the manual, it will teach you. I wish I'd known they existed, but now I do."

Harve looked bewildered, but deep in his eyes, K'ndar could see a growing excitement.

"Why...why are you telling me this?" the teen said.

K'ndar closed the datalink cover and handed it to Harve.

"Because this is for you. Happy Turnover, Harve."