Off Center (The Lament) (12 page)

"Ah,
well, isn't that the same for all of us? I mean, not
me
, though I'm on enough
drugs at the moment to keep a small cow awake for the day." It didn't make
that much sense, but that was a danger of improvisation. The man looked at her curiously
though, so she went on. He even stopped for a bit, and noticed the bag she was carrying.
She nodded at it awkwardly. "Don't worry, I'm not jumping ship. I found a man
in the woods that got caught traveling, and needs some gear. He might be working
with us. I don't know what he can do, but we can't just leave him in the snow. I
was out all night, with Guardian Mara? We couldn't sleep, so had to take drugs to
keep us up."

"Oh?
Why did she take a young girl out into that kind of weather? Was there anything
that couldn't have waited a day that needed doing?" He didn't seem angry, just
curious. It could be suspicious, or, she knew from having been around for a whole
ten or eleven days, he might just have been bored. It happened on the ship, since
there was only so much work to do.

"Not
a bit. We just got caught out, and ended up doing an inventory all day. Say, can
you get with the Captain and set up any trade goods we might have for a barter session
tonight? Or with the First Mate. Whoever handles that sort of thing. The Headman
of Pumpkin Hollow asked about that yesterday. They're pretty well set goods wise,
so may have some things to trade that we'd want. Or not. I don't know a lot about
things like that. And I'm rambling now. I blame the drugs." She smiled widely,
showing even white teeth, and the man reached out and put his hand on her arm.

He
didn't let go, but she understood that he was just flirting with her a bit. They
hadn't been by a town with any prostitutes in a while and he was probably wondering
if the new Bard was a bit less picky than Mara was.

"That
would be the Second Mate, and yes, I can see what we have in the hold that might
work. Just don't let yourself fall too far into things like that. Drug or drink.
Trust me when I tell you that a life without those things will be better for you
than one with. Look at me, if you need an example. I should be a Captain by now,
or at least a lazy First, at my age. I'm only Second on The Lament because Mara
is my cousin. Anyone else would have 'forgotten' me at some town or another long
ago, instead of collecting me from their drunk tank. I'll end the lecture now. You're
collecting a new hire for us? I suppose we could let Apprentice Roy show him the
ropes. He needs to have practice training someone anyway." He wandered off
then, but looked back at her and smiled a bit sadly.

Pran
took a deep breath and set off, her feet stirring up the muddy ground that wasn't
frozen yet near the base of the ship. It wasn't snowing, but there were heavy white
clouds above and the glare was killing her eyes as she walked back to the little
hut. She fell into a trance, trying to work out where the man would be, certain
that it wouldn't be where she left him at all. Her rifle was in her right hand,
and she circled around and came through the woods. This meant she was behind the
little pine bough structure, which was a bit messier looking now, with the snow
on it having been disturbed.

She
almost missed the bit of oil cloth that wasn't completely buried, since it blended
with the snow that was covering most of it, and couldn't remember if the lump had
been there next to the edge of the log that made up the back of the structure or
not, the night before. It didn't move or anything, but she figured that this was
new, and that her new friend Zeke would be under it. Possibly ready to kill her.
She pointed her own weapon, knowing that if it came to a fight, she was dead already,
not just eventually, like Mara figured.

"Zeke?
We need to get the other cloth too. I have clothing for you, and the Captain seems
willing to take you on. I told them you were traveling, but you'll need some story
about why that was. Maybe to find work or something?" She waited, but nothing
happened. For a bit she wondered if he'd simply left, but she tried again anyway,
standing well back. "Ezekiel? We don't have a lot of time. Or, well, really
you have all day, but
I
have a show in the village tonight. So..."

The
lump on the ground, near the log, stood up suddenly, throwing snow off. The man
spun, and noticed the rifle. He did, as she'd suspected, have a fire-arm out, but
he didn't point it at her, but the ground, like the Guardians did. She copied that,
since they were supposed to be friends.

"I'm
slipping. That should have thrown you off. What were you, before? Back in the day?
Special Forces? A ninja?" He smiled as if that were a joke, and Pran made herself
shrug, deciding that she couldn't pull off any of what he seemed to be saying at
all. You had to actually know about something in order to fake being it.

Back
in the day? She was clearly too young to have been more than she seemed, wasn't
she? Instead of burying herself in a story that would fall apart in about ten minutes,
she took a deep breath and got ready to shoot the man. If she could hit him first,
it might work to distract him.

Then
she told the truth.

 "No,
I'm really just an Apprentice Bard. I used to live at an orphanage. I don't even
understand the rest of what you said, but that isn't my job. You can fill me in
on that part later. But in
secret
, since otherwise there's no point in doing
this at all."

She
waited but the man just put his weapon away, back in the little leather carrying
pouch that was under his fine green heavy jacket and shook the snow off of the cloth
he was using. He started to try and fold it by himself, but that never worked well,
Pran knew, so she carefully leaned her rifle, with the safety on, against the log
and put the canvas sack down next to it, touching, so that it wouldn't fall down
to easily. They worked in silence, but it didn't take long to get the other oil
slick out and folded.

Brushing
a bit of snow from his boot the man, who could use a shave, she noticed again, gave
a look that she could only assume was meant to be sly.

"I
didn't know that we had anyone that wasn't converted working with us. How did that
happen?"

"Bribes."
She said it naturally, and didn't really know where the idea had come from at all.
No one in her life had ever even mentioned the idea, outside of an old play or two
in school. She didn't even know what anyone could have done that with, since she
didn't have any money at all. What was she supposed to say if the man asked about
that? She nearly blurted the rest of it, again, pretty much just going with the
truth, not having anything else to go with. "I got into trouble at art school.
I was the top student, but I made a mistake and the school council kicked me out.
On the day before graduation. I was left on the street with nothing, hoping that
I could find some drunk man willing to stick it in me for a few coins so I wouldn't
have to sleep on the streets forever. The Guardians and the Judge on The Lament
found me fighting with a drunk rapist in an alley. He was raping a townswoman. That
got me a place on the ship, and I was approached there. In exchange for helping
you, I got my position as a Bard back. I don't know how, but it came from the top.
Anything else, and you'll have to explain it to me, but that's why."

She
didn't hold her breath, but moved to her rifle, just in case that story was too
dumb for the man to believe. He noticed her doing it and tensed, his hand slowly
moving toward his own weapon. Pran picked up the bag instead, and moved back to
hand it to him.

"It
might be a little big, but it will fit. Take and put your things in the sack. Everything
on you that might not fit in. I don't know what you people are thinking walking
around like that." She waved, meaning his jacket, but the man snorted, pulling
it off quickly and laying it in the snow, so that the inside of it was facing upward.
Then he dumped the sack onto it, making a jumble of ships gray clothing come out.

The
man didn't seem to want to give up his weapons at all, but she didn't mention that,
just watching him strip. He went all the way to the skin, but in pieces, which surprised
her a little bit. His underwear had to be changed out too, since it was strange
and long, meant for cold weather no doubt, but he did it without blinking, right
in front of her. It left his male parts dangling for a bit, and she found herself
blushing. That at least got the man to dress more quickly. It was either do that,
or suffer the cold.

He
packed the sack carefully, placing his weapons in the bottom of it, but keeping
a knife that he had, which got her to shake her head.

"No,
I don't even know what the
handle
of that thing is made of. That stands out.
The ship isn't dangerous or anything. Even the Guardians aren't, as long as you
kind of avoid them a bit. They know to look for your type now, so might catch on,
if you talk too much around them. The others not so much. Remember though, avoid
the Judge. If you can't, then try to tell the truth as much as possible around her.
It's better for you to come clean and tell them everything, than to lie and get
caught. Better for you not to have to at all though, so keep that in mind?"
She thought it sounded reasonable and so, it seemed, did the much more normal looking
man in front of her, since he slung the bag over his shoulder and took a step, but
then stopped.

"Or
should we bury this? I hate to lose the gear, but mission accomplishment is the
primary task." He stared at her closely, meaning it was a test of her goodwill
no doubt.

For
her part she nodded.

"That's
good thinking really. It's half and half, really as to the answer. If you give up
the weapons, then you won't have any on the ship. You have to have permission to
carry them and as a low level helper or whatever they call what you'll be doing,
that isn't likely to happen a lot. On the other hand, if you get caught with them,
we're both going to be captured, most likely. That would be annoying. It's up to
you. I can see costs and benefits both ways." She really needed to take more
drugs, she decided, since the tension of this was starting to hit her. She was trying
to think like a person in her supposed position would, but that was hard to do,
given that she didn't know what it all was really.

For
the time being, sticking with the truth seemed to be about the best idea. Or riding
it as closely as she could. There was the whole part of things where she was supposed
to be working for the enemy after all.

"We
can hide it under this log. How long will the airship be in the area, do you think?"

Zeke
was still watching her closely, as if expecting a trick or a trap. Like she'd do
that to her new friend?

Tilting
her head to buy a little time, she thought out loud.

"We're
here until the trial takes place. Will Butcher, your friend, I'm willing to bet,
was accused of touching a little village girl. He's sick and can't stand trial for
it right now. The Doctor on The Lament, Doctor Millis, is caring for him. I'm supposed
to be helping with that, since being useful is my thing. It lets me go almost anywhere
I need to. Plus, I'd rather not be out on the streets again, so it doesn't hurt
to know how to do a lot of things. I found the room under Will's place earlier.
That's why I figured someone would be along and managed to lose Guardian Mara. I
told her that I went to use a bush and stumbled on you shivering down the road,
half naked." She shrugged and picked up her air rifle, waiting to see what
the man would do with his bag.

"I
see. Can you get me in to see the sick man?" While he spoke the man tucked
the sack under the log and then buried it in branches and snow. It wasn't well hidden
really, since he was hurrying.

Sloppy
of him, but probably not a real issue at all. No one would be there to look at it.
If it snowed again it wouldn't show at all. That seemed likely too, given the chill
in the air and the heavy cloud cover that showed through the evergreen trees above
her.

"As
soon as he can talk, I probably can. It will need to be when you're off work. If
you seem lazy, Captain Mina will just kick you off. She'll help people, but you
have to pull your weight, plus a bit, if you want to secure a position, and anyone
that's coming out of the cold like you are would be doing that, don't you think?"

The
man nodded. He wasn't very large, only a few inches taller than she was, but had
a fit look to him. Sort of like a Guardian, she realized. Except that he moved too
predictably.

"You
have a point. You aren't half bad at this, are you? Are you sure you aren't from
back when I am? Most of the people here that I've met have been pretty innocent
seeming. It's why we were told not to worry about the clothing or gear, since no
one would recognize it and just think it was a different style from someplace else.
It's not that different." He walked then, coming up alongside Pran as she headed
back to the ship.

"Except
that we don't have machine milled clothing, do we? Fire-arms either.
This,
is an air-rifle. Most won't even have anything like that. When people go armed,
they carry a truncheon or stick, for the most part. It doesn't come up that often
for most people. Really, most of the problems lately have been because of you lot.
When did you say you were from?" It was a very funny way of saying things,
but he'd mentioned something like that twice now. She was supposed to get information,
wasn't she? Hopefully he wasn't just having a game with her for fun. Playing with
the little Bard girl that was too stupid to know better. He didn't seem to be, but
that didn't mean anything.