The Worlds of the Sheaf

Embarkation - Part 3

     "Status," snapped Saturn, striding onto the bridge.

     Prup Chull and Tana Antallan glanced at each other, each looking for a clue from the other as to how to respond. The conflict of wills between the wizard and the Captain had been a matter of hot debate and some amusement among the lower ranks for months now.

     Saturn insisted on acting as though he were really the commanding officer. So far as he was concerned, Phil Strong, the appointed Captain, was only a figurehead, placed there for political reasons to keep the Beltharans happy. For the most part the lower ranks could watch with amusement as they butted heads, but what did they do when Saturn began giving orders as though he were in command?

     'Report!' he'd said. Not 'What's going on, guys?'. 'Report. The imperious command of a superior to a subordinate when, in fact, the three of them were supposed to be equals. All civilians under military command. Ah well, the moon trog thought with a mental shrug. He's only asked for a status report. It's not as if he's ordered us to turn back home or something. Until he does something openly mutinous, best to humour him by doing as he asks.

     "We are continuing to decelerate," he said, therefore. "We are about half an hour from coming to a standstill, so far as we can tell."

     How could you tell how fast you were moving when there was nothing outside the ship to measure your speed against? All they could do was turn the ship around in mid flight, spend as long slowing down as they'd spent speeding up and hope for the best. They'd discussed all this many times before, there was no need to bring it up again.

     The wizard nodded, understanding the dilemma. "See anything in the helmets?" he demanded.

     Tana Antallan was wearing one of the Helmets of Farsensing, with the visor up, and now he lowered the visor to concentrate on the images it was feeding directly into his brain. "Nothing, my friend," he said, "but these artifacts have only a limited range. We are surrounded by hundreds of millions of miles of emptiness. Without guidance, we might search forever and not find the portal."

     "Then it's as well we have a guide," said the Captain as he entered the bridge, casting the wizard a withering glance as he headed for the centre seat. Haskar entered behind him, one of the two felisians captured in Lexandria Valley. The Captain waved him to one of the side seats and the felisian sat with a wary glance at the other men, clearly wondering how he, a captured enemy, would be received by them. Saturn had met him already, of course, but the shae and the moon trog merely regarded him with curiosity.

     Tana Antallan noted with interest that he'd been made to wear tight fitting clothes with lots of buttons and buckles. If he wanted to turn into his cat form, it would take him some time to undress first. It was a way of keeping him under control that avoided the necessity for cumbersome and shameful manacles. Both he and they could pretend that he was just another member of the crew. Plus, of course, manacles would have aroused the interest and curiosity of the crew.

     The door opened again and the last member of the bridge crew entered. Karog Gunlubber, the trog priest of Caratheodory. He had been chosen to be the ship's clerical bridge officer. Not because he was the most senior cleric aboard, that honour went to Drenn Pietar, the priest of Samnos, a veteran of many battles and campaigns. It was because Karog was the one with the most space experience. Also, as a follower of the God of Numbers, and therefore a supremely able mental arithmetician, he was the ship's navigator, responsible for calculating the ship's position and motion and working out any course corrections that might be necessary.

     Prup Chull repeated the status report for the benefit of the new arrivals, and all five of the bridge officers donned their Helmets of Farsensing to verify the moon trog's statement that there was nothing in the immediate area. "Alright," said Strong, removing his helmet again and turning to the felisian. "So where's the portal?"