Off Center (The Lament) (20 page)

"Hey,
sounds like Roy is getting lucky tonight, eh, eh?" There was a bit of gentle
laughter then, but most of the people just ate, even though Paul looked up from
his plate and glared at Bill a bit. He didn't speak though.

Pran
fixed the Second Mate with a raised brow and a small vulpine smile. It should make
her look both sexy and a bit predatory at the same time. She'd practiced it at school.

"Actually,
I'm
the one getting lucky." Then she stopped, as the man waved his hand
and sighed.

"Sorry,
not my business. Not my business at all."

Paul
cleared his throat and spoke up, "I hear we might be needed to handle medicines
going into Hilden? We're the closest ship. If the call comes in we'll have to go,
so everyone should stay ready. Given the sound of it that will happen in the middle
of the night. It means a mountain landing, so, weather depending, we might have
to send people in on foot." That got a groan, but no one did more than mutter
about hating mountain work.

Roy
explained it to her, letting his leg bump hers under the table. She pushed back
a bit, since she was the one that was suggesting they do things.

"In
the hills and high mountain regions there are updrafts and strange air currents.
We can't land there directly, and Hilden is about halfway up a decently large hunk
of stone. If we have to go in on an emergency run like that, it will mean going
to get the medicine, then heading back at full speed and trying to take it in on
foot. At least if there's snow, which is what this all means, I bet. If they weren't
close to snowed in, then they'd just send someone in a wagon to the bottom of the
hill for us. They might anyway." He took what seemed to be the last bite of
his food, and then sat, waiting patiently.

Captain
Mina sometimes would just sit for a while and talk to people. Make certain they
had everything they needed and felt like she cared. Today she stood almost immediately
and moved toward the door, turning to call out to Paul.

"What's
the progress on those new foot lockers? Do you have that in motion at all yet?"
She didn't glance at Pran at all, which seemed a little odd.

Paul
did, so she answered, even if it wasn't really addressed to her.

"They
should be ready tomorrow. About one or so? It would be best if the oil was allowed
to soak in longer, but if it gets wiped down about once a month for the first year
with it, that will work too."

That
didn't change Mina's thoughts at all, it seemed so she just barked at Paul a little.

"Check'em.
I'll be monitoring the radio until third shift starts. Bill, you're on relief for
that, so get some sleep."

That
got him to stand and stretch a bit.

"Off
to slumber land then. So you think the call will come in? For the meds?"

Captain
Mina looked at him and nodded. She didn't say anything else and left quickly, as
if it might happen at any moment. Roy stood up then too. He looked troubled now
that the Captain was gone.

"Not
good. If we get a call like that, then it means that things are pretty bad there.
Some kind of fever outbreak or something. I wonder if Doc Millis knows more about
it? They'll keep him in the loop, for something like this." He wasn't trying
to speak to the room, but the man himself heard his name and turned, still eating.

"It
sounds like an air-born fever, spread by droplets in the air. A lot of coughing
and sneezing. My guess is Tigris Fever, but until I see actual samples, I won't
know. I don't think I'll be able to make it in, if it requires a vigorous person
to manage it. We'll have to send someone else in that case." If it was coming
from a younger man she would have suspected they were trying to be lazy.

From
this man it just seemed prudent. Also like it wouldn't work. Hopefully this little
town knew more than they had been told, or they were probably going to all die.
How could they know what medicine to bring, if they didn't know the illness? She
nearly asked, when the Doctor sighed.

Loudly.

"We'll
need to take in a whole medical pack. It will have treatments for the most common
problems that fit the symptoms, as long as none have been missed. Probably even
then, unless this is something new. In that case, well, then we deal with it."
He seemed ready to ramble on then, and most of the ship's hands tried not to look
pained at the idea of a lecture, but Judge Claire stopped him with a gentle look
that indicated she had a question.

It
was really well done. Pran tried to memorize how she did it, because it might come
up later. Brushing at the fuzz on her head absently, she nearly missed what was
said.

"If
you cannot manage the climb, how will you do your job? Won't the people that go
need you?"

The
man nodded.

"A
real problem. If I were younger, I'd simply plan to go myself. They have communications
gear though, don't they? A radio? Perhaps if we use that, I might act from the ship,
and be able to help that way?" He sounded pensive.

It
made sense to her, but Clark glared at the man and stood up, making the table in
front of him shake a tiny bit. People noticed and turned in their seats.

"That's
not a topic for an open room, Doctor." Then he left, grumpily.

Pran
didn't think that anyone would be all that amazed by the radio. She'd spoken over
it herself, and had to figure that everyone sort of knew about it, if only second
hand. Most of the hands didn't linger on the bridge. There was that inconvenient
Captain there for one thing. Most of them seemed to hide during the day, as far
as she could tell. Then, in port, what else was there to do? On the ship they cleaned,
but that would take about four hours, because it was
always
being done. Then
it was time to sit around and kill time. Pran hadn't had a problem with that yet,
but she could see how some might.

Paul
waved to her, "boxes?"

"Sure.
Let me dump my plate. Later, Roy." She smiled at him, which got a wave in return.

It
didn't take too long to get everything into place, because almost everyone was just
sitting and talking about Clark and how weird he was. The officers all left about
then, and while Pran strictly didn't have to, and Mara stayed, since Claire did,
most of the people she cared about left. Including Doc Millis.

When
she'd started to actually think of him as a friend, she wasn't really certain. Before
it came out that he was a creepy killer. Then, a lot of people had killed others,
hadn't they? Did it mean they were all evil? Forever?

What
about just stabbing someone that needed it? Or shooting them to protect someone
else? She smiled, knowing that most people would probably think she were evil if
they really knew about her. Doctor Millis didn't blame her though, did he? Not in
any way that showed. Was that enough to befriend him? He was nice to her, with the
exception of that truth juice he'd given her. Even that was understandable. He just
wanted to know she was really on his side.

It
was hard to keep everything in her head. He was on the wrong side. That was the
ultimate problem, and she had to stick with her other friends, since no matter what
she did, she'd never be one of the Downloads. If they put one
in
her, she'd
be gone. Forever.

That
picked her side for her, didn't it? She had to back the real people against the
machine driven ghosts of the past, because she wanted to live. That was what she
did best, wasn't it? Survive?

Paul
didn't speak to her when they left, until they were well away from the mess hall,
toward the back of the second floor, where the woodworking room was. Then he shook
his head.

"Radios
are controlled technology. Most people don't really need them at home, so they don't
get them, but to prevent people lusting after them, we aren't supposed to spread
the word in that regard. Jealous people make bad and selfish choices."

Pran
nodded, as if she actually understood the idea. In a way she did. It would be amazing
if a Bard could play in one place and be heard in another, wouldn't it? Rather than
have an audience of twelve, she might have, twenty or even fifty listeners. That
would be something, wouldn't it?

"In
here. The sooner we get them out of the way, the better. This isn't a huge place.
I need to get the first oil on them, and then let it soak for the night. Here, let
me do that." She started working, as the man examined the boxes carefully,
as if he were looking at artwork, rather than hastily made boxes with crude carvings
on the top. They weren't bad, but too simple to count as
art
. As soon as
he was done looking at the first one, Pran moved it and started the oil work.

"These
are good. Solid, and prettier than the others we have. Quick too. I think Mina will
be pleased. Except that people are going to argue over who gets to use these, looking
so nice. Can you do repairs too? Or, will you? I have some things. Chairs, the shelves
in the Captain's office, that kind of thing? If you get the time, I mean?"

Pran
thought about it and finally nodded. She wasn't going to stint the Captain. Not
if she could help it. Paul either. They might well both end up being important to
her future, in one way or another. She kept working, and ran over her plans with
the man, since she would have, if she were really doing it.

"So,
after this I should see if Will actually wants me to set up that wagon and gear
for him, for after the trial." She pushed an oily corner of the gray rag into
a crevasse on the top of the chest as Paul grunted.

"I
heard he's one of those techno-cultist. We won't let him go, if that's true."

"Sure,
but he doesn't
know
we know yet. I feel a bit bad, setting this up like it's
real, but if I don't, then he might work out that things aren't going to go his
way. I sort of have to do it." There was a dark undertone to her words that
made her seem a little miserable. It was all fake, but it worked well enough that
Paul patted her shoulder.

"Don't
worry about it. Maybe we're wrong and it's different than we think? Besides, who
better to gain from this? At least with you it isn't someone that hates him. That
would be the case of the village folk move in and loot his things after the trial.
That happens, especially with those that don't have a lot of family around to protect
them."

"Yeah."
She rubbed at the light colored wood, which didn't darken a lot even with the linseed
on it. It didn't smell that great, but it wasn't awful either, just not a pretty
scent. Paul patted her again, so she kept working. There was going to be plenty
of time for her to sit around moping, she guessed. Later, in Morseburg.

She
still had the work on the new footlockers done before seven, so went to see if Will
was actually awake. He was, and also being entertained by Bard Benjamin. He was
playing softly, using decently complex fingerings. He let the string twang a tiny
bit whenever he was supposed to push his left pinky down all the way, but that was
just his style.

His
lazy, lazy style.

The
bearded man in the bed smiled at her, his face looking more pleasant than she'd
seen it before.

"This
Bard mentioned that you've agreed to set that travel gear up for me? I thank you.
I'll give you anything that doesn't fit in the wagon outright. I won't need it.
I'm done with this place, as soon as I can clear my name and travel. The kind Doctor
mentioned that I should be able to, tomorrow. The trial won't be for a day or two
though?"

She
nodded.

"If
that. We may have to take some medicine to a different town. Some kind of plague
or fever has hit them. I know that no one wants your justice to be delayed..."
What would she say if this was all real?

Thankfully,
she didn't have to, since Ben did it for her.

"But
lives have to come first, as frustrating as that can sometimes be." There was
a nod with it and he started to plunk gently, under their words.

Will
looked at her and then Bard Benjamin and struggled a little to sit up. He got it
on his own though, which was important, if he had to run off. If you couldn't sit
up on your own, then you just weren't going to make it very far, were you?

"The
life of one isn't worth the lives of many. I understand that there may be delays.
Still, Bard Pran, if you'd do this for me, it would be very helpful. I... These
people were my friends, for years. My community. Then, with only a few lies, they
all turned on me. So fast. It's like they don't see me as a person at all. I can't
be here now. I'd just leave, but the trial." That had to be done, didn't it?
He glanced at Bard Ben and looked uneasy after a second. "This Judge, some
have a reputation of taking bribes to find people that are innocent guilty... She
isn't like that, is she?"

Ben
looked shocked, as if the idea had never occurred to him at all. It hadn't to Pran,
but she could kind of understand the thought, even if it wasn't true very often.
People would believe their friends innocent, and everyone else a liar, if things
went bad. Any time a Judge had to rule against a person, someone probably wondered
if it were really fair. Unless there was a confession, in public, who would ever
know?