30. Where Flish went wrong

 

The next day Daniel tried to think of something constructive to do. Something that would take his mind off the ghosts that were haunting him, and growing into obsessions. He had to get away from the monsters that made him feel powerless. Useless.

He was aware that the problem was inside his head, so, he deducted, he should try and fill that head with other things. But what?

In an impulse he picked up his hydger to call Tomlin. Maybe his friend had an idea. Or a job. He flipped the device open. The sound the cover made triggered something with him; it made him think of a remark Huajo had made about Flish. Flish, the mythical figure that the fat man had compared him to.

Yes, that could be something. Why shouldn't he find out more about this mythical character Flish? He was here, on this planet, so he could just as well learn a bit more about it in his time off. Clelem had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Daniel anymore. Huajo had other things on his mind also, so what else was there to do?

As Daniel had plenty of time, he was making quite a fuss about his attire. He laughed at himself, ridiculing himself about it. He recalled how Rhonda and he had laughed these clothes, so long ago on star base. Rhonda. Where would she be now...

After assuring everything was in order, he went out. In the elevator he met a few people that were living in the same building. He had never had much contact with them, but whenever they met, they exchanged social politenesses.

Once outside, Daniel made his way to the library. It was an ancient place, with books equally ancient, many of them even older. The smell of old leather, fading ink and yellow paper greeted him as he entered the large hall. He had been there a few times before, and Daniel had learnt to appreciate the scent and the feel of the heavy books.

One of the librarians helped him find his way around the mythological section, where he pulled a few books from shelves. "Here you go, sir. These volumes should get you started nicely."

Daniel hauled the books to an available table and hoped the thud they made did not get him thrown out. Nobody seemed to mind, though. He opened the first book and started going through the index, locating the only chapter on Flish quickly.

As he was slowly progressing through the chapter, the book was written in the planet's own language, someone sat down opposite him at the table. He was almost through a paragraph, so he did not want to look up. That would mean losing track of the tale, and it was fascinating in that Flish had been a boatsman. Also Daniel did not want to lose the battle with the language.

When finally he peeked over, he saw senator Sygra Dirrit ko Asac sitting at the table. "Oh. Senator. Good morning."

"Good morning to you, Mr... Zachaiis?" The thin man already had his face set for apology.

"Zacharias, but you were close," Daniel smiled. "Such a nice surprise."

The senator nodded. "The pleasure is mine, sir. I was not aware that you were interested in that mythology."

Daniel grinned and told him what he had heard about Flish from Huajo.

"Ah. I see. Yes, Mr. Zacharias, in that light I can see how people can arrive at that idea." Sygra smiled.

"Do you know more about Flish?" Daniel asked.

"Not very much. It is not my... philosophy. Mine is not so related to things of the water."

Daniel had never given religion much thought. Not for himself, and not here on the planet. Now he understood that he had been neglecting something. Ignoring something, to say the very least.

Sygra took the seat next to Daniel and looked over the page he had been reading.

As the senator skimmed over the page, Daniel frowned. There was a remarkable smell coming from the man's clothes, and he suddenly remembered smelling that also when he had first met the senator, at that wretched party. Senator or not, Daniel mused, he had a horrible taste in cologne.

"Yes, indeed," Sygra nodded. "This page almost sums up what I know about Flish. He was the son of a storm god, as it says here. He wanted to lay down the storms, to make life easier for mankind. He succeeded for quite a long time. But of course, the other gods for weather did not appreciate Flish's attempts to undermine their work, so they worked together and that became the downfall of Flish."

Daniel frowned. "Somewhere this comparison does not work for me, sir. I am not trying to lay down storms."

Sygra laughed silently. "You are here to counter pirates, aren't you? Don't you think that pirates are a storm in their own way? And what about the Ship Owner Society, Mr. Zacharias? Don't you agree that they are in the position to dictate the weather on the seas?"

Daniel frowned again. He was not convinced yet. After all, it were the pirates that made the storms. Weren't they? Was there something the senator knew and did not tell him?

Sygra took a small locket, his hydger, that hung from his neck and looked inside it. "Oh. I am very sorry, Mr. Zacharias, but I have to end this enjoyable meeting. My presence is required elsewhere." The man got to his feet. "I wish you well, sir, and I am looking forward to meeting you again."

Daniel shook the senator's hand and watched him leave. He returned to the book, but his thoughts were not with the page. He had new things to think about. New ghosts were preparing themselves.

-=-=-

As he sipped his sturt, the hydger started rattling. Daniel put the cup down. The screen showed a black triangle and no name. The black triangle again. "Who are you and what do you want?" he chanced. He did not feel like being polite; the cloaked person had not been that either.

"My name is not important." The brushing sound was with the voice again. It was the mysterious person. "I am sorry our last meeting ended so rudely. I call concerning the capturing of the Pricosine."

This was news. "Talk. I am listening."

A waiter came and put up a privacy screen around the table.

"The deal is simple. I have a ship for you. It is small. You find people to sail it. Maybe you can find the people from the Pricosine." The brushing noise made it hard to understand the already distorted voice.

"What is this to you? Why are you after all this?" Daniel wanted to know.

"I have reasons. What do you say? Do you want the ship?" The stranger was not willing to open up. The offer was interesting, though. Daniel was dying to do something.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't. But you can. I assure you this."

"Our meeting hardly gave me reason to, you know."

There was a short silence on the end of the stranger. "I apologised for this. This is a business offer. I supply a ship. You supply a crew. Yes or no?"

"Yes." Daniel had to say it. He had to.

"Good. How long do you need to find people?"

"I don't know. A few days at least. How many people do I need to sail the boat?"

"Three. I will contact you again." The black triangle disappeared, the conversation had ended.

Daniel stared at the round display in disbelief. What was going on here, and how had he gotten into this? It was obvious he needed help now. He went through his contacts.

"Daniel, good afternoon. What's the matter, old friend?" Tomlin Barker was cheerful.

Daniel told him what had happened.

"Oh. Wow. That's quite a lot to handle, you old space rat. Never thought you would be able to ride yourself into this kind of operations." The face of his friend showed surprise and concern. "So you need three people who can do sea-things. I may know someone. Can you come to my house this evening? Around dinner time? I know you want to get going as soon as you can, but I have things at hand here, and I need to make some calls."

"I'll be there," Daniel said. "And Tomlin... Thank you. I know I am stepping out of line, dropping this on you. It's my mess, not yours."

"Shut up, Daniel. We help each other, okay? You get your butt to my house tonight and we'll talk further."

Daniel sighed as the display went grey. At least that was something. Now who the hell was this stranger? He had offered a ship. So it almost had to be a ship owner. Someone who hated Clelem, probably. But also someone who was concerned about the people on the ship. It had to be Huajo. Or perhaps the president of the Society, or someone who acted for him.

As the waiter took away the privacy screen, Daniel ordered a drink. He needed one.

-=-=-

Daniel hopped out of the carriage that had taken him to Tomlin's house and quickly walked up to the reception building. He wasn't sure if he could get in. His doubt was confirmed; his ring did not open the door. It did notify someone inside.

Tomlin himself opened the door. "Daniel, good to see you. Come in." The man did not smile. He took Daniel to a small study.

"I called around, Daniel. It's hard to find some folks that want to play with us, but-"

"Us?" Daniel was surprised about that, even while he had hoped for it.

"Yes. Us. I did manage to find a few people that will help. One of them is a former soldier who also lives here. A friend of mine, I helped him get a place here, so he owes me something. There's also an older captain who wants to kick some butt. Do you think that works?"

"Hmm. The stranger said we need three people to sail the boat. The captain will be fine, but a soldier? And I take it that you count yourself in as well?"

Tomlin nodded. "Yes. And I don't take a no on that. It is best I can do, Daniel. The captain knows boats, and you know something too. If you yell at Gerolf and me, we can do this."

Daniel appreciated everything Tomlin was doing, but he did not have a great feeling about the makeshift crew. Given the situation, however, there was little else to go from. "Let's give it a shot."

"Great. Now come, say hello to the family, join us for dinner and try to put your worries aside, at least for the evening."

After dinner, the children had been sent to bed, Daniel asked Tomlin and his wife Nadinka about Flish.

Tomlin laughed. "Good grief, Daniel, what are you getting yourself into? Becoming a real sailor here, including their beliefs?"

Nadinka wasn't so loud. "Do accept my apology for my husband's rudeness, Daniel. I think it is admirable for you to venture out and learn about the different religions and belief systems on our planet."

Tomlin looked at his wife. "I am sorry, my dear Nadinka. I forgot myself."

Nadinka smiled at him. "As you do so often. Daniel, how did you learn about Flish?"

Daniel told her that he had met Huajo Dogom ko Tzuy, who had mentioned the figure, and how he had met the senator in the library who had explained more about Flish.

"You know senator Dirrit ko Asac?" Tomlin and Nadinka were amazed. "You do get around, Daniel."

"Seigner Dogom ko Tzuy is a good man," Nadinka added. "He knows the senator very well, they are both doing many good things for their communities."

"Yes," Tomlin added, "just too bad about the rumours."

"What rumours?" Daniel asked.

"Maybe we should not-" Tomlin frowned at Nadinka.

"We should, Tomlin. You see, Daniel, there are rumours that the senator is... rather weak when it comes to resisting certain substances."

Something crawled around in Daniel's stomach. "Substances?" He was not sure if he wanted to hear this.

"Drugs, Daniel. Not the heavy stuff, but still." Tomlin sighed. "Of course, they are only rumours. For all we know they are only brought into the world by people who want to harm him. That's often how it goes with public figures, right?"

"Yes, that is true." Daniel remembered the funny smell which he had dismissed as a bad cologne earlier that day.

"He is a great man, Daniel, and I almost envy you for knowing him personally," Tomlin said. He picked up the bottle with local cognac. "Care for another?"

"No, thank you Tomlin. Really, I should be getting back."

"Okay, Daniel, suit yourself. You can sleep here if you want. We have plenty of space," Tomlin said, but Daniel wanted to go home, to his own little part of the planet.

Tomlin and Nadinka waited in the door of the reception building until Daniel's carriage was out of view, taken up by the darkness.