arrived with a make-shift stretcher and many hands lifted Pers onto it, as softly as a cloud.
'Clear that storeroom two doors down from the galley. It will be our sickbay.' Dore ordered them. The men jumped to the task without question, knowing that in a situation like this Dore held supreme authority with the captain's blessings. For her part, the captain was beginning to cry, and she let Gerbald steady her as they followed Dore and the stretcher bearers down into the cool shade below decks.
****
An hour later Pam called her senior staff together for a meeting on the castle deck. All the fun and excitement of the last few days had drained out of her, and she was left with a bleak sense of foreboding. Her life had started to feel like she was the star of some wacky adventure show, but the sight of Pers lying bleeding on the deck had brought home to her the real desperation of their situation. The truth was she wanted to go curl up in her cabin and wait for it all to be over, but these people had come to rely on her. She had accepted their allegiance and now she had to be strong for them. Physically pulling herself together with a deep breath and unclenching her fists, Captain Pam Miller turned to those gathered around her, all waiting her command.
'How is Pers now?' Pam asked Dore.
'He is sleeping and his breathing is normal. I think it's best we just leave him be and let his body do what it must to heal.'
'Thank you, Dore. That's good.' Pam let out a long whoosh of breath. She was still very worried about her adopted teen-age son but they had done all they could and there were a host of other problems to face this day, all of them deadly dangerous.
She turned to Gerbald, the bosun and Lojtnant Lundkvist. Despite the gravity of the situation, she did allow herself a small smile at their shaven heads and faces, they looked like three cue balls lined up in a row.
'Gentlemen, we had planned to make our attack today. After what happened to Pers, I'm not so sure. We haven't had a very auspicious beginning. Should we wait another day? What do you think?'
The three of them looked at each other and silently elected Lundkvist, their military leader, to speak.
'Well, Captain Pam, I think we should go ahead with our plan. Despite the misfortune, our men are wound up and ready for battle, and we should use that to our advantage. I say we go in today.'
The other two nodded their agreement.
'In addition to that,' Gerbald added, 'I can already feel my hair growing back. If we wait until tomorrow you will have to shave us all over again. I for one prefer to play the part of a hunting wolf, not a sheared sheep.' Gerbald's face was a perfect picture of distaste at the thought of having his head shaved again.
They all shared a quiet laugh, humor so often being the best way to deal with stress. Pam was silently thankful to her old friend for his good cheer in the face of danger. 'All right then, let's do it.' she told them, feeling her resolve grow again. 'Dore, let's get the make-up ready.'
The three men all moaned in unison, dreading further torture at the hands of these formidable Valkyries. Despite their concern for Pers, they made the effort to play their parts, by cackling and rub their hands with threatening glee.
As the men went to round up the crew for their make-up session, Dore motioned for Pam to wait. She produced a folded cloth, one end of which she handed to Pam. Together, they opened it up to reveal a hand-sewn flag.
Pam gasped with delight. It was made from silk, of which there was plentiful variety and supply on their captured Chinese junk. The base was a rich sky-blue and over it was sewn a golden cross, in the Scandinavian style: the flag of Sweden. Behind the cross a black saltire ran from the corners with two gold stars on each band, just like the flag of the United States of Europe. Finally, to Pam's great delight, a gray dodo outlined with black thread occupied the center, complete with a shiny, gold button for an eye.
'Wow!' she exclaimed in English, then switched to German, which Dore was more comfortable using. 'Dore! It's fantastic! How did you manage to do this?' Pam asked her grinning friend, who was a-glow with one of her very rare demonstrations of pride.
'I have some talents beyond the galley, you know. That oaf of a husband of mine was always tearing up his clothes in battle, or while running down some poor creature in the woods; someone had to mend them! If left to his own devices he would go about in nothing but rags. Just look at his hat! I became fairly handy with the needle and thread,' she said in modest tones, although it was plain she was highly pleased with her work, which was perfectly executed.
Pam hugged her, the flag squished between them. 'Thank you, Dore. It's wonderful! We needed something like this; it will help morale. A fine flag for our new colony. Really, you are a wonder!'
Dore took it gently from Pam to fold it neatly up again.
'Today, when the time is right, we will raise it here from this deck,' Pam promised her. 'Then, we will fly it over the colony once it has been freed! Dore, you have outdone yourself, you are the best!' Pam was deeply moved at her friend's clever thoughtfulness, and felt some of the fear that had been building in her throughout the day ease its clutches. 'Now, let's go paint our men yellow.'
Chapter Forty: A Ruse By Any Other Name
Pam and Dore stood before their first unhappy subject, Gerbald, whose sad, hound-dog face was now a rich yellowish orange, not quite what they had in mind, but it would have to do.
'It goes well with his hat.' Dore remarked, enjoying her beloved husband's discomfort.
Pam studied their victim thoughtfully. 'I think a bit more turmeric paste around the ears. Then we'll give him arching eyebrows with the ink and ash paste. He looks more like a
'My people are declaring war on your Federation,' Gerbald grumbled. He had, of course, seen every episode of the classic 1960's version of the show, one of his supreme favorites in the Grantville Library's video preservation archives. He made an effort not to flinch as Pam applied the turmeric they had found amongst the galley's many spices, and had worked into a soupy paste with rice flour and water. She prayed there wouldn't be any rain this afternoon.
'Just be glad I decided not to color you blue and give you some antenna. Look, it's staining nicely,' Pam said, smiling at her handiwork. 'I think it will last a few hours, maybe even a few days!'
Gerbald groaned. 'Must you do more? Am I not heathen looking enough yet?' he pleaded.
'Ha!' Dore interjected 'Why not look like a heathen? You have always lived as one! Those such as you who have turned their back on Our Savior, Jesus Christ, deserve far worse than this bit of discomfort!' Dore's face became the very embodiment of confident self-righteousness. 'Pray The Lord doesn't strike you down at the very sight of you.'
Tuning out his devout wife's pious haranguing, Gerbald sighed deeply as Pam painted a highly realistic Fu Manchu mustache on his long, hang-dog face. It was too bad something couldn't be done to hide his blue eyes but Pam just didn't have that kind of technology available. She shuddered at the thought of trying to maintain a set of contact lenses down-time, since she knew that any pair of glasses in her possession would end up lost or irreparably broken within a few days, those would have been her choice. It was her opinion that the Lord hadn't given her much but she was truly grateful for her excellent vision.
Two hours later Gerbald was not alone in his oddly colored misery, he stood nearly indistinguishable from the crowd of orange-yellow skinned Swedes. Pam laughed, thinking they looked like spear carrying extras wandered away from the set of that goofy old movie
'Time to get dressed!' Pam announced, pointing at the pile of cloth and clothing they had assembled from the foreign goods aboard their prize ship.
The men went to work pulling on colorful silk robes embroidered with glowing scenes of cranes and sunsets. The best of the finery and some sparkling jewelry went on Gerbald, whom they had unanimously elected to be their great and powerful Khan. He was a good choice, with his gift of mimicry and natural penchant for hamming it up Pam thought he was their best chance to carry this charade off. The Great and Powerful Gerbald was to be carried on a beautifully carved palanquin they had found, no doubt belonging to the wealthy merchant who had once been
