Off Center (The Lament) (25 page)

Finding
that out might be important some day, but she had some time. First they had to get
the medical pack...

Actually
first, if she wasn't needed, she had some wood to plane and cut. It was going to
take a while, so if she had the chance she should take it. Then, later, she needed
to get with the Doctor about what to do in Hilden. It was reason for them to talk
after all.

A
real one even.

She
whistled a bit, as she went to get some lunch. She'd missed breakfast and was feeling
it. After that, well, there was always so much to do. She was just glad that Claire
hadn't thought to ask about her own childhood. She'd done some things that might
have had her locked up for a very long time, if anyone living knew about them.

Luckily,
other than her, they didn't.

It
was oddly nerve wracking, trying to get to the mountain town of Hilden in time.
Especially for Pran. It took most of a day and a bit just to get to Marshal, the
outpost that had the medicine pack they needed, and then they had to wait for special
dispensation to come from the High Council in order to get it, they were told, several
times by a rather stern seeming fellow. The thing itself wasn't very impressive,
being in a plain wooden box that was painted white and red. It was about seven feet
long, and had four handles sticking out of it, like sticks, one on each corner.
They were made of metal and banded into place, which made it all seem sturdy enough,
but a bit too official for her taste.

She
went with Clark, Mara and Bill to get it, so was standing there when the warehouse
manager came over.

He
had a nicely trimmed beard and was fit looking enough, wearing warm clothing that
was trimmed with fur. Over all it was a functional style of dress, but with a few
ribbons it could have been perked up into something she could have worn, in the
right conditions, Pran decided. That was about the only thing good about the man
though, and he let them know that by speaking down to them almost instantly.

"You
will not touch that pack until the clearance arrives! You Guardians always think
that your issues overrule common sense and procedure, and I won't have it!"
He brandished a clip board at them, and made a special point of waving it at her.
Probably because she was the smallest person in black, which meant the safest. She
also wasn't armed, in particular.

That
meant safe too, no doubt.

The
others didn't speak fast enough, so she spread her hands and raised them, palm up.
It was a very helpless and weak look, but the man relaxed, just a bit, and actually
stood back a half step, not understanding why that was.

"Ah,
well, that will be coming in a moment I'm sure. This is for the town of Hilden?
They have some kind of fever or plague. I don't suppose you have direct contact
with the High Council from here however?" She had no clue how that worked,
but it would let the man inform her, no doubt.

He
managed to sound angry still, and made two steps toward her, bringing himself into
arm's reach of her. On the good side he didn't try to touch her, just use his nearly
six foot frame to loom over her, looking down. Pran made herself smile, waiting.

"Most
assuredly I do! The fast coach will be by in the morning and we can send word off
to them. We'll have an answer inside two weeks."

Mara's
face went dark, as if she were about to argue the point with the man, and Clark
was so stoic that it was hard to tell what he was going to do, but she waved a hand
casually at the female Guardian and then walked to the banded chest, laying a hand
on the top of it, to signal ownership. Hopefully it would play on the man's mind,
without him noticing it.

"In
two weeks, everyone in Hilden will most likely be dead, sir. I... Sorry, what did
you say your name was?"

"I
didn't. Morten Hough. Council Warehouse Manager." The man sighed and shook
his head. "I suppose that you're going to yell at me about how lives outweigh
paperwork and demand that I release this to you even without permission?"

Pran
shrugged.

"No,
I'll just ask you this, Manager Hough...
Do
lives outweigh paperwork? Do
you think the Council will back you in this, if you let Hilden, the dying town,
have these life saving medicines? If not, then we'll understand, and go away. It's
up to you however. Their lives rest on your shoulders." She nearly reached
out and touched his shoulders, but realized that might seem a bit too flirtatious,
so she tapped the clipboard gently once. "The power of life and death is right
there, in your hands. It's a heavy thing, isn't it? Dragging on you, when
you
have to make the call. There's no time to be wrong either. What you say here is
the only grace that those people are going to get."

Pran
didn't move for a bit, but did try to look politely encouraging, even as Mara was
clearly getting ready to set upon the man and just take the box without waiting
for even a radio signal to get through. After all, if worse truly came to it, they
could take Morten Hough to The Lament and let him talk to whoever was needed to
make it all work. They might lose several hours that way, but it wouldn't be two
weeks.

Morten
Hough made a very unpleasant noise then, sounding very much like he was trying not
to soil himself. It was a drawn out groan, and lasted nearly ten seconds. A very
long time for something like that. Too long, if it had been done on stage, Pran
decided. She was put into a mood for comedy by the end, which didn't fit the scene
at all.

"Fine!
I demand you sign for it, to prove you were here! All of you. I-"

Pran
nodded, "done. Where do we put our names?"

That
got him to hurry along, and they were halfway out of the warehouse, walking with
the middling heavy box of medical supplies before she heard the man mutter behind
them.

"
Apprentice
Bard?" Morten said it loudly enough that Mara grunted and winked over her shoulder.

"If
it makes you feel any better, she
is
the High Bard Councilor's Apprentice."

There
was a soft and muttered "oh" and he didn't call for them to stop at all,
so they made best time back to The Lament. It was instructive, at least to Pran.

The
box didn't feel that heavy, but she had to carry it high, bending her arms, just
to match Bill on the other side of the thing. Mara was on her side, and only a bit
taller than she was, so it wasn't so bad that way, but Clark, on the other side
had to walk half bent over. It was two Kilometers back to the airship, and they
hadn't taken time to get a wagon out, which meant they were on foot. The ground
was soft under them in places, but had stone near the depot, which made Bill and
her stumble occasionally.

Her
hands hurt by the time they were halfway to their destination. This was on flat
ground too, not walking up a mountain. Finally Bill called out.

"Set
'er down for a bit? My hands are like to cramp up."

The
Guardians both looked at him as if he were sub-human, but Pran didn't. She just
nodded and shook her own hands out as soon as she could.

"We'll
need something to help with that on the trip into Hilden. My hands have been cramping
for ten minutes. I can rig a carry strap that will go over our shoulders? It might
help a bit. Probably chafe at the neck, but-"

Clark
grunted, his deep voice sounding smooth in the dim twilight.

"You
have about a day to get something around. Good thinking. The less resting we have
to do, the faster they get what they need. For now we don't have that. Can you two
manage for the next Kilometer?"

Pran
spoke for them both, since it was clear, looking at his face, that Bill didn't really
think he could take the pain.

"We
will. Don't worry about us. We can do it." For this part. Bill wasn't going
with them up a mountain, she decided. Not because he was too weak, but because he
just gave up too easily.

Really,
if he'd been around, she would have picked
Zeke
as the other person on the
team. Mission accomplishment. The man might not be on their side, but if he needed
to get up a mountain side, he would, no matter what. It was a driven kind of thing,
but one that Pran could understand.

They
didn't have him though, and Paul, the First Mate, was down with a bum leg for the
time being. So who did that leave that might make it? She was thinking about it
when Bill nearly dropped his side, a quarter of a Kilometer further on.

"Sorry,
my hands stopped working." He cursed a bit, using more colorful language than
was strictly proper, unless you'd been mortally wounded, but other than being entertaining,
it meant they were sort of stuck for a bit.

Except,
she was there, along with two Guardians. They didn't do stuck well, did they?

Clark
growled at her, his voice sounding nearly angry for once. That was a rare enough
thing that it got her attention, and Bill's, she thought.

"Pran,
get up here and take my position. Bill... Keep up." There was actually disdain
in his voice for the man, which wasn't really fair. He was only a ship's mate, not
a Guardian, after all. They worked hard, but this was a special situation.

Still,
she jogged into place, putting her hands on the warm and slightly damp metal bar
where Clark had been holding the thing, as he moved to the back and lifted, doing
the work of two people. Then he started to call out commands. He was bossy that
way, but it worked pretty well.

"Half
meter steps. Left foot first. Left, right, left." Then he kept calling it out,
speeding up a bit as they went, as Bill jogged a little to keep up. The older man
wasn't happy at all, it was clear, but his misery seemed to be turned inward, rather
than out. When they got back to the white expanse of the airship, shining softly
in the moonlight, they didn't slow, going around to the back end, so they could
get the medicine pack inside. Bill opened the doors for them, but left almost immediately,
once they had it tied down into place. Then Mara ran off, vanishing like the guardians
did, moving so unexpectedly that Pran didn't see where she was until she caught
a glimpse, all the way across the room. They were in the large goods area, so the
space was vast. It was only that the inside door was closed, really, that let Pran
see what the Female Guardian was up to.

Clark
sighed.

"We
need to replace Bill for the actual trip. Can you get those straps you were talking
about? That will make it easier. One for each of us. Do you think your friend Roy
is up to it? We'll be colder. This time of year there will be snow on the mountains.
We need warm clothing and some food, water skins, all that. We need to have it,
but also travel light." He left her, wandering off then, probably to go and
get all that around. For her part, she felt at a loss for a moment, then shrugged,
knowing that no one would be able to see her at all.

Then
she went to engineering.

It
was a large, hot and fairly loud place. Not deafening, but the metal parts clicked
and clanked, and the small spaces between things meant that she had to call out,
trying to make herself heard.

"Roy?"

She
said it three times before the young man with his monkey face popped out from under
a bit of equipment, holding a large silver wrench.

"Pran?
Is something up? We're about to take off, I was just checking the oil seals on the
bearing housings, for the main propeller. It's tight, but constant inspection and
repair leads to a running ship." That bit was said as if an actual saying,
rather than him just sharing a fact with her.

She
looked around and then wiped a bit of sweat from her brow. It really
was
warm in this part of the vessel, she noticed, even though there was no open flame
at all.

"Clark
wants you for the carry team, going up the Mountain. Bill isn't going to work. Can
you do it?"

He
looked at her from the deck, which was dark stained wood in this area and seemed
to be considering it.

"Can
you?"

"Probably.
I'm going to make some straps, so that we won't have to lift with our hands the
whole time. It's going to hurt and we can't stop, even if we can't go on."

After
a bit there was a soft chuckle and he scrambled out from under the long metal rectangle
he was under.

"Well,
with an invitation like that, who could refuse? I'll do it. As long as the Captain
is fine with it, I mean. I don't really get to leave the ship without permission."

Pran
looked at him, but then nodded. He had an actual job here after all, unlike her.
Of course he had rules to follow. She would too, once she got to Bard Clarice.

"I'll
go and set that up. Thanks. Bill... I think he feels bad about not being able to
do it, so, try not to brag too much about it. We don't want to make him feel bad."
She was joking, since no sane person would want to do what they were going to try,
but the boy smiled a bit sadly and nodded anyway, as if it were a real issue.