this?”
Xandree shrugged. “This man says he has the right to be on board and verify the contents of all compartments. Ulaman asked him for identification which the man refuses.”
“Does this happen often?”
“No.”
Daniel did not wait for an invitation: he went over and stood next to Ulaman, towering over the two. “Good morning, Ulaman. What is the matter here?”
“Daniel. Why are you here?”
“Bad night, nothing important.”
The man in beige glared up at the security man. “And who are you?”
“Daniel Zacharias, in charge of security on this ship. And you are?”
“My name is not important,” the beige suit snapped at him. “I have orders to check the ship.”
“Orders from whom?”
“That is none of your business.” The beige suit assumed a very hostile stance, as if he wanted to box Daniel off the ship.
“Daniel, stand down,” Ulaman said, “this has nothing to do with you, I am sure.”
“This man here wants business on the ship, captain, and I am here to safeguard it. So it is my business. If he can’t show evidence why he is here, he has no business here.”
Ulaman looked at the man in beige. “Mr. Zacharias is right. I command you to leave the ship, before you will be forcefully removed. Sir.”
“You would not dare,” the beige suit hissed.
“Do you want to find out?” Daniel said as he took off his coat. He put his hand on the shoulder of the man and pushed down ever so gently.
The man resisted the pressure, but he was no match for Bactine and enhanced muscles. He pulled his shoulder from Daniel’s hand and stepped back. “You will regret this, mister. Your size does not impress me, nor does your strength. You will be sorry.” The man turned and paced off, leaving the ship.
Ulaman’s face showed relief and also worry. “I am not sure if we did the right thing, Daniel.”
“If something goes wrong, blame me. I physically challenged the man, Ulaman. It’s my job.”
They went into the galley where Xandree made some strong sturt, the coffee replacement.
Daniel again evaded the question about his presence. He blamed it on some insomnia biting his heels, which was accepted as a valid reason. “And a good thing your insomnia happened this morning,” Xandree commented.
They sat and talked while the morning was unfolding. Suddenly Ulaman’s hydger started its noise. He took it, frowned at the display and went outside to take the call, leaving Xandree and Daniel wondering. When he came back, he said: “The Seigner wants to see me. He is sending the mouse over to pick me up.”
“Do you know why?” Daniel asked the captain. “Anything to do with the incident this morning?”
“He did not say. He did not look or sound annoyed, but then, he is very good at that. We’ll see.”
“Call me if you need help, Ulaman,” said Daniel.
“I will.”
When the mouse, Mr. Gaguran Slindris, arrived, several crewmen had come aboard to do maintenance on the ship. They all stood at the railing, watching Ulaman walk off with the Seigner’s serving man to where a carriage would be waiting.
The crewmen had already heard about the mysterious visitor that had left in ill spirits and the guessing game was on, of course. Everything from a secret inspector to a spy was brought up as a possible option. The crew was finally chased off to work by Xandree. Daniel grinned to see how her mere presence had a big influence on the crew. One word from her was worth a hundred light-hearted threats from Ulaman.
Daniel excused himself and headed up to the silent bridge. He walked around it, watching the area from up there. Inside he watched the maps and the ship’s logs, written in Xandree’s tiny hand.
The incident of the morning worried him. The early morning presence of Huajo Dogom ko Tzuy worried him also. The way his thought dragged him back to Rhonda worried him most. Not at ease with himself he stumbled down the stairs to the deck and went to find Xandree. “Do you have a moment?”
“Of course. What’s eating away at you?” The woman had an uncanny eye for that.
Daniel told her about meeting Huajo early that morning.
Xandree looked at Daniel for a while before speaking. “Seigner Dogom ko Tzuy often is out there. He is an insomniac. The ghost winds alone know how he survives without sleeping normally. He is also troubled by the pain in his bones. Everyone knows about him. And Daniel… if you need to talk about the other thing, you can talk to me too.”
“What other thing?”
“The reason you did not sleep this night. You always sleep. There is something that kept you from it, and that is a worry. It is not good to carry your worry around. Talk about it, to get it out of your way.” She looked Daniel in the eye. “Your secret is safe with me. If you want to talk.”
Daniel nodded. “You are right. There is something that’s bothering me.” He sighed. “I may take you up on your offer. Thank you.”
Xandree nodded. “I’ll be here to listen, Daniel.”
19. Under sail again
Ulaman and Xandree had almost had to beat Daniel off the ship in the days that the Pricosine was being loaded up. Daniel had become paranoid for a while, with the encounter of the beige suit.
Ulaman had explained that he’d had a good talk with the Seigner. It had nothing to do with the stranger; instead they had discussed Daniel and his work. “The Seigner seems satisfied with you, Daniel. You will be stuck with us for a while longer. He said he will confer with the president of the Society if they should bring in more people like you.”
Daniel was relieved to hear that Clelem had not mentioned a thing about the incidents around his daughter being on board.
“Bring up the gangway!” Ulaman yelled into his tube. “We’re leaving!”
The crew worked their routine, and soon the Pricosine’s bow pointed towards the wide open ocean again. Daniel stood at the bow, enjoying the freedom. The wind bashed at his head and took all the troubled thinking away from him. They were heading for the city of Cathru with a load of wheat, half a cargo bay filled with jugs of wine and a stack of large chests containing household merchandise.
The first day went by with the only thing worth mentioning being fabulous progress. The Pricosine was cutting through the water at phenomenal speeds. Compared to a shuttle, Daniel considered, this meant nothing, but the thrill of seeing the water speed by, seeing the water’s wildlife rush by, that was something you could never experience in space.
At the end of the second day, Ulaman called Daniel up to the bridge. “I should tell you that overnight we are entering the part of the ocean that gives us most trouble. The pirates are very active here, so sleep quickly and be awake.”
This was not the news Daniel hoped for, but he was glad he was prepared. He thanked the skipper and went to lie down. He was up and dressed long before dusk. He was wearing his military uniform, which was loaded with material he might need for combat. He’d had to become creative: the chemical substances from the water had rendered most of his normal weapons useless.
He was walking the watch, Brinno walking with him. The sailor’s trained eyes were scary. “Daniel, there.” Brinno pointed to the far distance where the faintest of light was. “Another ship.”
“Pirates?”
“No. They don’t attack at night.”
“Right. Good to know.”
Pirates attacked when a large ship was cornering a difficult strait with a treacherous current, Daniel learnt.
