Bactine (30 page)

"Our captain was not able to make it, but I think we can trust your judgement, Daniel."

Daniel felt a bit overasked, but they could at least take a look, so he went ahead and followed the instructions the brushing voice had given him. They reached a small pier. It was hewn from natural rock, aeons ago.

"That's it?" Gerolf looked at the vessel.

"That must be it. It's the only boat around," Daniel said. "And it's... small. As promised." He stepped onto the boat. It was in good shape, that was clear, but the thing could probably hold six people. And there would already be four sailing in it.

Tomlin and Gerolf also got on board. "I could use this for the family," Tomlin said. "Once I learn how to sail, that is." There was a slight movement of the boat as Daniel walked around it, and Tomlin grabbed hold of the single mast with both arms.

"Learn to sail, you said?" Daniel grinned. "That'll be the day."

"Tomlin," Gerolf said. "Maybe strange Aldrick knows something."

"Who?" Daniel had never heard that name before.

"That's an idea..." Tomlin said, holding the mast with only one hand now. "He has always something up his sleeve. He could have something for us..."

"Who is strange Aldrick, Tomlin?"

"Maybe we should pay him a visit. I have some time this evening, Gerolf. You?"

"Hello? I am still here, right?" Daniel tapped Tomlin on the shoulder.

"I know, Daniel. Strange Aldrick is an inventor. So far he has not blown up his house, but rumour has it that this is his second one." Tomlin and Gerolf laughed over what had to be some local joke. "We are going to look him up and see if he has something better than this bathtub."

"I'm coming with you," Daniel decided.

"Nope, you're not. Aldrick is strange for a reason, and strangers is one of them. We have to look him up alone. He knows us."

Daniel was not a happy camper with this answer, but he had to trust his friend. He guided the two off the harbour area and then saw them roll away in a carriage. All he had was the promise that Tomlin would get in touch as soon as he knew something.

The next day started in a highly unusual way. Daniel had never had problems with any of his 'neighbours' in the hall where his apartment was, but this day was intent on making that change, it seemed. A lot of screaming and what sounded like fighting woke him up. It was still dark.

For a moment Daniel hoped that the noise had been in a dream, but when something seemed to crash into the front door of his place, that bubble burst. He dragged himself to his feet and went to the door. After listening to the noise that did not relent, and making sure his door was out of the line of combat, he peeked outside. Two men were fighting in the hall, rolling left and right, attempting to punch each others' lights out. From several other apartments, sleepy faces were staring at the scene.

"I hate this," Daniel muttered. He stepped into the hall and grabbed the man who was on top at that moment in the collar and dragged him away from the other one. "What the hell are you doing here, you idiots?" he barked at the two men. The one on the floor was someone who lived in the building, on this floor. His name was Crissom or something like that.

Instead of supplying him with an answer, the man on the floor scrambled to his feet and launched a blow at the surprised man hanging from Daniel's hand. Daniel grabbed the attacker by the shirt and pressed him against the wall.

"Folks, some assistance would be good," he suggested to the people who were looking and not acting. That helped: one of the men in the hall came out and took one of Daniel's captives in some kind of wrench grip. Daniel knew this man only by his nickname, the Bull. He lived up to it.

"Now what's this fight about?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, we all want to know, bunch of imbeciles." Several voices now dared to express their feelings.

The man who was pressed against the wall pointed at the man in the wrench grip. "He started it. He lost the game and now he doesn't want to come true!"

"Okay... what's the game and what's the problem?" The Bull, who had come to help Daniel shook his victim slightly.

The two men held under control explained that the loser had promised, when losing the game of cards they had been playing, to work at the other man's workplace for a day. It was quite a strange deal they had cut, but things were the way they were. The loser claimed that he had not known up front that the ante would be working a day at the shipyard, working on building new boats and ships. "I am not cut out for that kind of work!" he raised to his defence.

"No, you're cut out to take other people's wages," the winner growled, "and running off as soon as there's trouble!" He tried to struggle himself free, but Daniel's grip on him was beyond his might.

"I'll give you all your money back," the loser attempted, "just let me go..." The man's words ended in a whimper.

The man in Daniel's grip growled again. "The money is mine to start with, that won't buy you off, you scum. You'll hold your end of the deal, or I'll-" He attempted another go at the man, in vain.

"Hey, calm down," Daniel said, holding the man back again. "I agree that the loser has to pay up for whatever it was the deal was." He suddenly had a crazy idea. "Bull, can you keep these guys stay put here for a moment? I'm going with them to see to things."

"You're crazy, man, but sure, hand 'm over."

"I'm awake now anyway," Daniel shrugged.

The Bull kept the two men where he wanted them, while Daniel got dressed.

"Right, gentlemen. Let's go," he said as he reappeared. He wore simple grey workman's clothing, nobody would know him except perhaps for his height.

Crissom grunted. The loser refused to say a word. They walked towards the shipyard, which was conveniently located next to the harbour. Crissom's mood seemed to improve as they came closer. "It is easy to get you inside. You're just hired hands for the day," he said, "lemme do the talks."

It was indeed very simple to get onto the shipyard. Nobody asked papers or any form of identification, they were through the gate in a matter of seconds. Daniel and Crissom both held on to the still unwilling card game loser, who by now had shared his name was Purliss. The man actually looked around, curious what all was going on.

"Over here," Crissom said, pointing at a small shack in a wooden fence that allowed access to 'Garmo ko Stirrish Ship Building'.

Daniel grinned. "Is there a way for me to go in and peek around without doing anything else?"

"Oh, sure," said Crissom, "inspectors do that all the time."

Daniel was curious what was going about, so he let Crissom arrange access to the yard for him as well, as he kept Purliss close. "You are going to give it your best, Purliss," he said. "I'll be around and keep an eye on you. Even if you don't see me."

Purliss' enthusiasm was barely able to look out of the gutter, but he followed Crissom without the need for further physical encouragement.

Daniel slipped away between enormous stacks of Polychlon that would be turned into ships. He wandered around over the enormous area, where many men were hauling the large pieces around on carts drawn by small horses. Somewhere on a stack of smaller beams, he found what looked like a crude clipboard with some papers still attached to it. He picked it up and walked around as if he was checking things. Nobody bothered him. In fact, whenever he came near people, they seemed to evade him. Inspectors were treated and loved the same way everywhere, he grinned to himself.

Clipboard in hand, he made his way over the yard to where the ship was being built. It was a smaller one, he saw, with only three masts. It had a very sleek design, the ship was obviously made for speed. Someone was in for some fast trading. He walked off to see the ship more directly from the front side, when he noticed another ship being built 'next door'. He stopped and stared at the high and proud stern that was towering over the fence. A shudder ran down his spine. The ship looked like the twin of the Pricosine.

Daniel looked around. There was no one near him. Hopefully nobody was watching him from some spot. He put the clipboard on a discarded, broken piece of Polychlon and pulled himself up on the fence. The other side was littered with material, with only narrow paths between the piles. If all that had to go into the ship, Daniel thought, it was a miracle that these things actually floated. He jumped back down, picked up the clipboard and made his way over the fence.

The makebelief inspector sauntered over to the immense ship that was half in the water and half supported on blocks of incredible size. This ship and everything that was connected to it surpassed anything he had ever considered big. There were three gangways leading up to it, each to another level. Two went up to hatches further below, and the main gangway led up to the deck. Looking busy, Daniel walked up one of the lower gangways, that got him inside one of the large cargo bays.

The bays were still being built. As Daniel got into the hull, even the floor wasn't entirely finished, so he had to pay attention where he was going. The giant space that was around him left a deep impression with him. He knew that the Pricosine was large, he had patrolled over it many a time, but to see its size this way was stupefying.

After faking some checking, he walked along the bay to the opening where an access door would be. The stairs up were already there, so he boldly walked up and kept going until he reached the upper deck.

The large station where the bridge was going to be was only outlined. A pain jabbed deep inside him. The bridge. Immediately Ulaman, Xandree, Lidrin and all the others were in his head. A flow of powerless rage came and went. Then he froze. A voice was coming from somewhere and it belonged to someone he very much did not want to engage. It was the voice of Clelem Dandra ko Galem.

Daniel scanned the deck and saw a large stack of Polychlon parts, neatly placed. He ran for it and climbed onto it. It was so high that nobody would be able to see him from the deck. He lay on his back for a while, long enough to make his breath calm down and verify there were no people working on the masts who could give him away, even by accident. It then dawned on him that this check was somewhat too late. Luckily there were no people working up high yet.

"I do wonder, my dear husband, why you are insisting on bringing us here at this unholy hour."

Daniel recognised the voice of Clelem's wife Ugidra. Us? He crawled forward and glanced over the edge for a second. Clelem was coming on deck, as was his wife.

"Do not start that litany again, Ugidra," Clelem commented. "This will be the pride of my fleet and I want you to see it."

"Father, you could have asked an artist to make a sketch," Warlem's voice sounded, mixed with sighs and heavy breathing. "It's not even finished yet!" The young man sounded very disappointed.

Daniel grinned at all that, but also wondered about the total lack of thought that seemed to be with the lost crew and the lost ship. Another thought came to him, and as if Warlem was picking up on that, he heard him say: "And why was Rayko allowed to stay in and skip this ordeal..."

"Stop your whining, Warlem," Clelem said in a harsh voice. "You are taking over some day and I want you to toughen up for that. All your poetry and art and what not is making me nauseous, and ashamed that you are in anyway in this family!" The man did not seem to care who could hear him. "This is the Pricosine 2, and it will be better than... just a lot better."

The three people passed the stack that Daniel was hiding on. "It's just another big boat, father, and it's cold and windy here."

"It's a ship. When will you ever learn? Even your sister knows the difference." Clelem started to sound ticked off at his son. "I sometimes seriously wonder if I am insane for thinking you will take over one day, Warlem."

"My sister... my sister... it's not as if you like her any better, father. The way you yelled at her yesterday when she-"

"She has no business showing up so muddy and bedraggled every time she has been away for that stupid game! And now I want you to be silent and pay attention." The man's voice had gone subzero.

Daniel frowned. Clelem had clearly been performing a great act when they had met. This was clearly the real man speaking now. Slowly the family was moving away to another part of the ship. Daniel raised himself up a bit and waited until they were far away, so he could get off the stack of material. Quickly he found his way back to the cargo bay, and from there he left the ship the way he had gotten on it.

Getting off this shipyard was close to impossible, Daniel noticed. There were two men at the gate who checked every last fly that tried to come in. As he made his way back to the fence where he had climbed over, he remembered the clipboard. It was still on the stack of material on the new Pricosine. For several long moments he stood still, debating with himself if he should go back for it. The dark clouds that had been overhead for a while convinced him to leave it there. The clouds then donated a sudden wash of rain that made everyone run for cover. Daniel took that opportunity to quickly go over the fence and run along with people. Many of them were on their way to one of the large sheds that were meant to keep special material safe. Daniel ran towards the other gate that was wide open and unguarded.