10. Sailing

Sailing was a new experience for Daniel. He had never been out on the water before, and to be on such an enormous ship was totally new for him as well. As there was not much for him to do, he had conferred with Ulaman about helping the crew with chores. Ulaman was glad that Daniel offered that. Every little bit helped, after all, and there were always small things that were left undone because of the large amount of big things that needed doing.

Daniel learnt a lot about the ship and the way of sailing. He even was allowed, under supervision of Stroro, to climb all the way up in the rigging. Supervision of Stroro also meant that Daniel had to use safety-hooks to secure himself. He was not allowed, Stroro said, to fall down on the deck and kill himself, because that would make a mess. As Daniel proposed to just fall in the water instead, Stroro advised against that. "You'll fall to your death just as easily from this height. You don't seem to know how hard water is." The former soldier did not know, indeed, but he trusted Stroro's words. So he used the hooks.

They had been at sea for a few days already, when Darigyn asked Daniel if he could help. Darigyn was a big strong man, bald, covered in tattoos and skin like weathered leather. "There's some rigging that needs fixing, maybe you want to try," the sailor said. Daniel was game. Everything was new.

The two sat in the shade of one of the masts and Daniel tried to do what Darigyn did. It looked simple but was quite a tricky task.

"What is this material?" Daniel asked. The ropes that made the rigging was no ordinary rope. He had seen and felt that.

"This is Aramid," Darigyn explained. "That is also what the sails are made of. Very strong, durable. Hard to break."

"And hard to fix when it's broken," Daniel added.

Darigyn nodded as his hands moved on to the next piece that needed patching up.

"And what stuff is the boat made of? I have read that old Earth clippers were made of wood, but this is no wood. And it's not metal either."

"Ship. Not boat. The Pricosine is a ship. Okay?"

Oops. "Okay. What stuff is this ship made of, then?" Daniel had no idea that the difference between boats and ships was so sensitive with the people that worked on them.

Darigyn nodded. "It's called Polychlon. Fake wood, some people say. Wood and metal do not live long in this water. Polychlon does."

"Wood and metal?" Daniel frowned. "Why's that?" It now occurred to him that he had not seen any metal on the ship, indeed.

Darigyn shrugged, which meant that a lot of body mass was moving. "I don't know, I just sail here. It's something with chemistry in the water and things like that."

Daniel could not blame the sailor for that. It was not his job to know and explain about chemistry. Later that day he repaired to the bridge and found Ulaman there, staring at the maps of the sea strait they were traversing.

"Hello, Daniel," Ulaman said, looking up for a moment. "How was the repair work?"

"Harder than I had expected," Daniel admitted. "But we got a good deal done. Darigyn put a claim on me for the next time."

Lindris, at the steering wheel, laughed. "You have a friend for life, Daniel."

"How are your hands?" the captain asked.

"No problem, they're fine." Daniel told Ulaman about the surgery he'd had.

"Oh. I see. You're different then. Well, that's fine. We have Bilk also, and he's fine. We're all fine," the captain said. He reached for the tube and yelled that the crew should set a gaff rigged sail on masts two, three and six, working sail on the seven and eight, and no sail on the rest. "We're going too fast."

Daniel stared at the paper. He was not new to navigational maps and understood most of what he saw, except for where Ulaman had added some notes by hand. "Too fast for what? Isn't getting there fast good?"

The captain looked at him and laughed. "Almost correct, landlubber. First objective however is to get there. Look here." The big finger pointed at a mark the captain had drawn himself just before. "This is where we are." The finger moved and ended on top of a blotch. "That is where we are going. Did you notice something special?"

"You moved your finger between these two blotches."

"Correct. These blotches are island. Rocks. There is a sandbank between them, and if we hit that with the low tide, we get stuck, damage the ship and we're buggered up." Ulaman tapped the mark that was the Pricosine. "We're making too much speed, so we would hit the sandbank on the last bit of low tide. What we have to do is slow down enough so we pass through the islands a few hours later. That's all."

Daniel nodded. It made a lot of sense, once you knew what to look for. He had another look at the map. "Ah, right. I see why you're not taking the detour around the islands." He had seen the array of dots that lay around both islands, they probably meant spikes that were sticking up. No way the Pricosine could pass through that without tearing up the hull.

"Daniel Zacharias, you amaze me. You may make a decent sailor yet if you stay on board for a few years." Ulaman laughed, pulled open a drawer from the table and brought out two glasses and a bottle with something blue. He poured two healthy dollops and handed a glass to Daniel. "I like you, Daniel Zacharias!"

They threw the booze back. Ulaman wiped his mouth. Daniel was not sure if he should try to make it outside before exploding. The fire died away fast though. Slowly Daniel put the glass down.

"Damn the water ghost," Ulaman said, "you drank it all?"

Daniel nodded, not sure if his vocal chords had survived the ordeal. "Looks like it," he tried. His voice was still there.

"You are such an idiot, Daniel Zacharias. But a good one. Next time ask what's in it." Ulaman laughed again, and Lidrin joined in. Even Daniel launched a grin.

The action of setting less sail had worked perfectly. Daniel stood all the way at the front of the Pricosine, the wind in his face, as the ship sailed through the gulley between the two islands. It was a magnificent view. Majestic.

The rest of the journey the Pricosine pushed on under light sail, making the most of the wind. As they approached their goal, all sails were lowered. Ulaman and the crew were masters of their trade, Daniel saw. They knew exactly when to do it, to make the giant ship slow down. The bow cut through the water for half a day, and by the time the speed had dropped to a near crawl, they were only a few miles away from the island. At the end of the day, the Pricosine was moored to a makeshift quay and several large cranes, all hand-powered, started their work on emptying the belly of the sea giant. It took four whole days of continuous work before it was done.

As they were on the journey back to Skarak harbour, Daniel sighted a few ships, far away. Ulaman had offered him a telescope, but his electronic eye outperformed the tube many times. Still he could not make out anything of the ships passing, but at this distance there was nothing to fear. The trip was calm and fast as now the Pricosine was empty and wanted to fly through the waters.

As soon as they were in reach, Daniel contacted Seigner Clelem, reporting about the trip, the two distant ships and the lack of something more to report. Clelem seemed satisfied.

Back in the harbour, Ulaman was met by Gaguran Slindris and the two left in a carriage. Xandree, Ulaman's wife, knew that they were meeting Seigner Clelem. "They usually talk after a voyage," she said, "although it is strange that they do after this. This voyage was nothing special."

"Except for me being with you," Daniel pointed out.

"Should not make the difference," Xandree shrugged. "Care to come help with the laundry?" She was so practical.

Daniel was helping Darigyn roll the cordage into neat coils when Ulaman returned to the ship. The captain stomped up the gangway. "Not good," Darigyn predicted. Daniel wisely did not ask anything as the bear-shaped man made his way over the deck and down to his quarters.

The security man was in his cabin, after a shower, when someone pounded on the door. "Hey, landlubber, do you have plans for the evening?" It was the voice of the captain.

"No, not really," Daniel said as he opened the door.

"Perfect. You're coming with us then. Xandree and I are going into town, for a hearty meal and some light entertainment." The deep rolling laughter of the man told Daniel enough.