Off Center (The Lament) (13 page)

After
all, time travel didn't exist. So if he was claiming that, he was lying, wasn't
he?

The
man took a breath and looked at The Lament through the trees.

"Later
on that part. It was a while ago. How do we play this?" He waved to the ship.
It was enough for her to get the idea.

"Um...
Well." Pran didn't have a good lie for him, so just decided not to, since that
was actually working pretty well so far. "Try to say very little and speak
like I am as well as you can. Your accent is weird. Don't make a lot of eye contact,
and be very polite and humble. Yes, sir. Very good ma'am. That kind of thing. Offer
to scrub the floors and toilets, do the laundry or whatever is needed. They'll stick
me with the laundry, so if you can get on that duty, we can use it as a time to
meet and prepare for whatever is coming next. It's a pain, and no one wants to do
it. It's sort of fun when we're up in the air though. The room is on the bottom
deck and has a metal grating for a floor, so you can see how high up you are. You
aren't afraid of heights, are you?"

"Nope.
I'm not afraid of hard work either." He said it as if the words had meaning,
so she nodded, as if she understood. It was part of not seeming like an idiot after
all, seeming to understand things.

"Good.
So, remember the plan. Let me do most of the talking, but if they ask you questions,
mumble a bit, hide your accent and be so humble people want to hit you."

That
got Zeke to smile and look down at the ground in front of him, practicing already.
He followed her, but she stopped him at the door, speaking before he could stiffen
up or get edgy.

"Wait
for me here, Zeke." Pran spoke loudly enough that it was obvious she was performing
for an audience, which the man understood almost instantly. "No one is allowed
on the ship without the Captain's permission."

That
wasn't a real thing, but she acted like it was anyway, and went inside to see about
wrangling someone around to help her. Clark met her almost inside the front door,
standing about twenty feet down the hall. The door was still open behind her, so
she waved him away frantically. She couldn't speak without being heard, and didn't
let her feet slow, but she knew her eyes were wide. If the first thing that Zeke
saw was a giant Guardian standing there, inspecting him, he was going to be a bit
suspicious. For his part Clark flickered in the air and vanished, only to appear
about fifteen seconds later in front of the armory, letting himself in to hide.

Pran
went up the wooden interior stairs to the main bridge, feeling a bit like a kid
that was called up in front of the class to perform for the first time at school.
She'd been on the bridge before, but only a few times. When she got there, the Captain
looked at her coolly.

"Yes,
Bard Pran? We haven't forgotten that you and the other Bard are needed in the village
later. Roy has been put in place as your driver. We have the others getting the
sledge out for you."

She
grinned and looked down herself, having recently mentioned that ploy to someone
else.

"Oh,
thank you ma'am, that's very kind. I... Well, this is a little awkward, but I found
a man that might be a good fit here, at least until we reach a larger port. He was
traveling to find work, since his village didn't have anything for him. He says
that he'll work hard, and help with the laundry." She tried to sell the man
in a way that would seem real, since there were three others on the bridge and anyone,
including the Captain, might be in with the techno-cultists.

Though,
come to think of it, as long as Zeke hadn't been lying to her, he might not just
be that at all, but something stranger.

Captain
Mina stood and stretched, her hands going over her short salt and pepper colored
hair.

"I'll
give him an interview, but no promises. We do have a few open billets however. Most
don't want to work as hard as a ship's hand has to however. Let's go and see?"

Pran
half expected to be put to watching the new spy herself, having to hold his hand
as she drained bits of information from him. That didn't happen at all, and Bill,
the Second Mate was called for using his personal bell ring, which had him along
and at the front of The Lament fast enough that he actually beat the Captain there
and was interviewing the man himself already. Mina didn't even bother interrupting,
just looking at him, for a bit and shrugging, as Bill did all the hard work.

"So,
you know that you aren't going to be Captain in a day, right? You'd have to Apprentice
first and that takes years. Normally done by the young. As a ship's hand you pretty
much just do what you're told and try to stay out of trouble as much as possible.
If you want the job, and the Captain agrees, then you get base pay, and the lowest
percentage. Until you last six months. Then you get a step up, which is livable.
The winter is the hardest time for us, since most things that travel do it by air,
so it isn't the slow season, like on a farm. You ready for that?"

Zeke
didn't look up, but nodded, and kept his voice low and polite. Pran didn't think
she could have done better herself, and she'd been trained for it.

"Yes
sir. I'm ready to work, sir."

That
got a nod from the Captain, which Bill saw.

"All
right then. I'll be putting you with Apprentice Roy for now. You do what he says.
He's a boy, but smart and better than half way through his training, which means
a lot on a ship. That trouble you, taking direction from a kid?" He waited
his blurry looking eyes looking over his spider veined red nose. Searching the new
man for any sign of resistance.

"No,
sir. Sounds fine, sir."

The
other man smiled a tiny bit, and turned to the Captain. "If he can keep that
attitude up, and works hard, he'll fit in well. Probably be a keeper even. Provided
the work matches the desire to impress us."

Mina
nodded.

"Fine.
Welcome aboard. Bill, see he gets a room and put in with Roy, back in engineering.
We won't be going up today, unless there's another blow coming in, so arrange for
everyone to head into town later, to see the show, if they want to go. If not, remind
them that this is their free time. I want everyone to be weather aware. Sober too.
This can change fast, so stay alert." That was for the Second, no doubt.

He
didn't seem to think it was an insult at least, and just moved off at a quick walk,
taking the new man along with him. The Captain stood next to her, looking off into
the woods for a bit, then she stepped away from the craft, her hands empty, and
waved for Pran to join her.

"See
that line in the clouds? Just back of the tree line to the North and West?"
She pointed, so that it was clear what she meant.

There
was indeed a line, made up of slightly darker clouds, ones that were moving slowly.

"Yes,
ma'am. Does it mean snow, do you think?"

The
woman shook her head a bit.

"No,
I don't think so. Freezing rain or hail, most likely. It's colder now, but that
looks a bit too dark for snow. As long as the wind doesn't come up, rain or snow
aren't a problem. Ice on the balloon is. If that happens we'll either have to leave
the area until it lifts in a day or two, or we'll have to deflate, so we can try
to cover the fabric. Either way means that someone will be stuck here. At least
if the Guardians don't come with us. I was told that this new man is like the others?
In with those Techno-freaks?" She didn't seem scared at all, just a bit wary.

Pran
couldn't know if she was on their side or not, but had a feeling that she knew,
already, so lying wouldn't work.

"I
don't think they're freaks, ma'am. Just people with different ideas. Zeke seems
to be a good enough person so far. He
is
one of them. A military sort, I
think." She didn't want to say too much, or make it seem like she was doing
one thing or another. It was a bit of a pain, she realized, but by telling everyone
the one story, for the most part, she thought she might make it. "I promised
to see about getting the new man in to see the prisoner in the sick room. Only when
he's off duty. He promised to put in full work and earn his place here."

Waiting,
Pran figured that the woman would council her to pay attention to the man, or something
along those lines, but instead she just gestured at the sky again.

"I'm
not in love with this layover. I can see that we need to let the Judge do her job,
but the weather here is being unreasonable for this time of year. I've rarely seen
snow this early, even this far North. Your new Master is going to think you don't
want the job, if we wait too long to get you there. I'll keep Jacques updated since
he knows her personally, and you can get in touch with her over the radio, if this
lasts too much longer. I don't want you to lose out on that. It's a good Apprentice
spot."

That
was a bit of an understatement. It was the very best Apprentice spot. So much so
that she wasn't certain the offer was real. Captain Jacques however was the High
Councilor of the Airship fleet. Also Captain Mina's husband. How that worked out,
she didn't know, but no one had bothered confiding in her either, yet. Amazing,
considering that she'd been around for nearly two weeks, and everything. It was
like they didn't like her or something.

Pran
had to fight a tense giggle at those thoughts, and made herself not be internally
sarcastic. Captain Mina was a good person, she thought, who helped people when she
could. Even if it meant taking risks. She'd taken one on Pran after all, hadn't
she? Just now, letting a known spy come aboard. She didn't have to do that, but
did, because Pran had an idea. Maybe she did like her after all?

"I
should get with Bard Benjamin and make certain we have everything ready for the
show. Are we leaving about six?" She didn't want to be pushy, but going by
sledge sounded slow to her, and a half a kilometer, while not far at all, wasn't
exactly a few moments away either.

"Six-twenty.
That will get you there in time and let us all eat first here. So you have about
an hour or so." She looked at her big brass colored watch, which was in a pocket
on the front of her tunic. It was a plain thing, with a tan leather jacket over
it, for warmth. It made the woman seem official, but also like a working person,
which was probably the point.

Then
she was dismissed to go and do that, so she ran, trying to figure out where Ben
might be. It turned out he was in the mess hall, having gotten them an early supper.
It was real food too, not just crusts of bread and some hard cheese. It probably
meant the cook thought she was going to be sleeping with the Bard sooner or later.

Pran
looked at the woman through the open door, and figured she was probably correct.
The lady was a bit plain and sturdy of build, rather than lithe, but she wasn't
ugly and if she was willing to spread her legs, most young men would probably take
advantage of that. Benjamin was gaily dressed and had some light make-up on already,
so looked pretty good. A fact that probably wasn't lost on him.

He
looked up and smiled, pushing a full plate of food at her from across the table.
He waved for her to sit and took several bites of braised beef in gravy. It smelled
good.

"Sit,
please. I was worried someone had stolen you away before the show. We don't have
a lot of time to get ready. Are you doing your make-up like you did last time? I
have to give you that it was pretty striking and it might play well with the people
here, since they've all seen you already. I think you should go with red though,
rather than orange this time. Maybe a green trim to it?" He might have been
teasing, since what he was talking about had been a disguise. The one that she'd
shaved her head for, and she'd painted half her face a solid color to throw people
off the scent.

This
time she didn't really need to do that, but Bard Benjamin wasn't really wrong either.
They were being paid, if with wood planks, and these people deserved a whole show
for that, didn't they? Make-up was a bother, but the little extra touches could
make or break a performance. She didn't have fine clothing to wear, so going with
that might just work.

"That
seems like a plan. I don't have anything to wear. A skirt or dress would be good,
since they all seem to think I'm a boy there. I guess I could go naked and paint
my entire body, but that sounds a bit cold." She deadpanned the words, since
she was a bit body shy, and figured that Ben knew that, but he played along, making
it hard to tell if he were being serious or not.

"Hold
that back for a bit. For one thing we'll need more paint and at least six hours
to get it ready. That could be impressive, if we do the designs right. We'll probably
want someplace a little less..."

"Country?"
She added the words and took a bite of her food, not feeling hungry yet, but knowing
that it was time to eat. It was still good. Warm and tasty.

"I
was going to go with
small
. I heard that the place only has about two hundred
people? Given the weather we might end up playing to about six, then. If that. It
might as well be a private show, really. Well, we're paid to play the songs and
tell the stories, not get upset that it's only to a few people." Then the man
ate as if it were the most important thing in the world or something.