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.
31. Action, where are you?
A good rest. That was what Daniel decided he’d had when he woke up. The talk with Tomlin and his wife, the evening away, it had done him well. The meal had been so copious that he decided to skip breakfast. Instead, he went outside and set off for a long walk. Tomlin had done what he could, getting people together. Now there was nothing to do that waiting for the mystery man to call again, and that would be through the hydger. As long as he had that thing with him, he would be fine.
With a newspaper under his arm, he had picked that up at a small stall, Daniel strolled along the waterline. He kept his back to the harbour. The sight of it was something he did not want to inflict on himself, there were too many memories there that were just waiting to jump him.
Instead, he looked at the water, and occasionally tried to figure out patterns in the cobblestone path he was walking over. A sudden thought made him grin. How old was this path? Would Flish have walked over it? It surprised him how many of his thoughts were revolving around this character.
Daniel reached a bench where he sat down. He opened the newspaper and looked through it. In the first days after his return to Skarak, there had been reports about the Pricosine being captured, and some articles had gone on a wild goose chase about the destiny of its sailors. Now there was nothing. How quickly people forgot and moved on, he thought. Same thing everywhere.
A smile curled his lips when suddenly he thought of Troy. How would he be doing on the planet of shit? Would he still be there? Or would he have found a way to leave that place already? And sergeant O’Shaughnessy? Burt?
Daniel took the hydger and started to fiddle with it, until he had the relay address for messages to the star base. He then frowned. “Don’t tell me…” He could not recall Burt’s address to receive messages. “Oh, bloody crap.” He did remember the address for Rhonda. Slowly he worked on getting the message into the machine.
’Hello Rhonda. How are you? Things here are definitely strange. Got thrown off a pirate ship. I want to write to Burt. Can you send me his address please, I lost it. I am very sorry that you left so quickly after patching me up, I really need to thank you. Again. Love, Daniel.’
He read the message again. He deleted one of the last two words. Then he sent the message. When it was gone he cursed himself for removing that one word.
Daniel put away the device, folded up the newspaper and continued his walk along the water. He tried to think of alternatives to saving the Pricosine crew, ignoring strongly the fact that they might already be dead. He tried to think of former comrades of the military who might be able to help. Because he had to do something.
He ended up in a restaurant he had not seen before. It was a small place, near the outskirts of Skarak. From where he sat, he had a beautiful view over the water. As the restaurant was small, the staff there ran out of free tables quickly.
“Excuse me, sir,” a waiter asked Daniel, “would you mind sharing your table?”
Daniel saw a charming lady waiting behind the man. “Oh, not at all. I’d be glad to share.”
“Thank you, sir. You are truly a gentleman,” the lady said as the waiter sat her down. She wore a simple, light blue dress. Her skin was very pale and a lot of it was visible from her shoulders down. Her dark hair was pinned up except for a few curls that seemed to have escaped the pins.
“I’d feel terrible, knowing that a lady had been kept waiting when there are seats available here,” Daniel
