"It's that girl, what's her name? The one who came with Yohiromaki," Sallina said.
She stood with Jasper and Sharpy on the fore deck of the Reliant. She shouted above the sound of the ship crashing through the waves. The wind hummed between the ropes and hissed across the sails. She gripped the ship's starboard rail with one hand and pointed with the other. Two hundred paces away across the water was the Endeavor. The big ship's sails were spread full up to the top of her tall masts, and it was leaning towards them with its deck shining in the morning sun.
Sharpy squinted at a figure leaning against the Endeavor's port rail, looking back at them. "No," he said, "I think its that little woman from Sax, Anapitra. The one with those big brown eyes and the long straight nose."
Jasper frowned and shook his head. Sallina and Sharpy waited for him to speak. The figure on the Endeavor moved slowly forward, keeping one hand upon the rail.
"No, it's that Chiin girl," Jasper said, "Look, she's leaning over. She's seasick."
"Anapitra gets seasick all the time," Sharpy said.
Sallina laughed. "She gets seasick all the time, and she's a sailor?"
Sharpy shrugged his shoulders. "Not as strange as those Chiin sailors who couldn't swim."
"Yes it is," Sallina said, "In the one case, you have people thinking it's not worth learning to swim, because there's no way you can swim your way out of the ocean, and in the other case, the case of being seasick, you're feeling awful all the time, which is something you can't ignore."
Sharpy stared at the Endeavor for a while. He shook his head. "I don't think we can agree on a definition for the word strange that will be clear enough to decide which is more strange: sailors who can't swim or sailors who get seasick."
Sallina smiled.
Otis was walking by with a coil of rope over his shoulder. He stopped and looked at the three of them.
Jasper pointed at the Endeavor. "Who is that walking along the port rail?"
Otis looked across the water at the other ship. "A pregnant woman."
He kept walking. Sallina, Jasper, and Sharpy stared after him.
"Is he kidding?" Sallina said.
"I don't know," Sharpy said, "He's a master at the game of Whosit."
It was the second day of their voyage from Independence Island to Cloghlogan. The date was the third of September. The wind blew steadily out of the west. The sky was clear and bright. The sailors of both ships raised as much sail as the masts could hold. The Reliant and the Endeavor raced across the waves. By mid-afternoon, the Endeavor was one thousand paces ahead of the Reliant. The Endeavor slowed down and waited for the Reliant to catch up. The sailors threw a wide plank across the space between the two ships, and strung two ropes above the plank to act as hand-holds. Sally Benton came across from the Endeavor staring down at the plank and the water.
She went down below to check on Dan and Garibaldi.
Baat walked across the plank from the Reliant to the Endeavor. He stood on the Endeavor's deck for a while talking to Chimeg and Boli. Sallina watched them through the ship's shrouds. Since his return to the Reliant, Baat had hardly spoken. He nodded to Sallina and said, "Good Morning," but he did not stop to chat with her. The sailors had thanked him for saving Dan in the waves. On their first day's sailing they cheered him just as they had cheered Garibaldi after he saved Sharpy. But none of their thanks or praise made Baat smile.
Chimeg hugged Baat. Baat did not hug her back. Boli stood nearby, his hands by his side, looking up at Baat with his eyes wide. Baat knelt down and put his hand on Boli's shoulder. He said a few words. The boy looked down at the deck, shook his head, and clasped his hands together. Baat stood up. He and Chimeg stared at one another. She turned her head and looked towards the Reliant. She waved at Sallina. Sallina waved back.
Boli took two steps forward and hugged Baat's waist. He held on and closed his eyes. Baat put his hand upon Boli's head and stroked his hair.
Sallina heard the sound of Sally Benton's breathing coming up the stairs behind her. She turned and smiled. Sally walked across the deck and stood in front of Sallina. She held a leather bag in front of her.
"Good afternoon, Miss Sallina."
"Good afternoon. How is the patient?"
"He is lonely. I would like you to read to him."
"I offered to read to him yesterday," Sallina said, "But he told me to go away because he was cranky and tired."
"Ask him four times a day," Sally said, "He'll say yes sooner or later. He's miserable about something, I don't know what, and it's not helping that he's telling everyone to leave him alone. He needs some company."
Sallina nodded. "I'll ask him four times a day."
"Good," Sally said. She looked down at her bag. "And Garibaldi is doing fine."
"Yes, he seems to be getting better."
Sally leaned close to Sallina. "But let him rest more, dear girl. You can hug him and kiss him when his leg is better. But for now, he's supposed to be resting."
Sallina blushed. "Oh. Okay, I'll let him rest."
Sally pinched Sallina's cheek. "Good girl."
Sally turned and moved towards the plank.
Sallina said, "That girl from Chiin, is she pregnant?"
Sally stopped an looked back. "Why yes, she is. How did you know?"
"Otis said she was. We were playing Whosit this morning, and he said she was pregnant."
"Really?" Sally said. "She's not even showing yet. Surely he must have known already?" She shook her head. "That old devil. Either way, he's right. She is pregnant, and she has been quite sick because of it."
Sally stepped onto the plank. She walked back to the Endeavor holding a rope in one hand and her bag in the other. When she was on deck, Baat held Boli's hands, nodded to Chimeg, and stepped onto the plank. He walked quickly to the Reliant without holding the ropes and without looking down.
Sallina smiled at Baat as he walked past. He stopped and said, "Boli thanks you for making him free. Chimeg thanks you too."
The sailors pulled the plank back onto the Endeavor and untied the guard ropes.
"Ten degrees to port!" Harry shouted from the aft deck. "Full sail!"
"They are both welcome," Sallina said, "I wish you were happier about it all. But you seem miserable."
Baat stared at her. His eyes were the same height has hers. He looked up at the sails and took a deep breath. "I do not know words in your language. I do not want to be here. I do not want to be with people who know what I did."
"What did you do? You saved Dan, didn't you?"
Baat waved one hand, and made a sharp sound. It was a sound she had heard people making in Kublaminsk. It was an angry sound.
"What did you do that you don't like?" Sallina said.
"I think bad thoughts about Dan, starting when I come on this boat. I am bad to him. All the time until I see him with arrow in his back. That time I see that he was always the one that we hate, but the one that keeps us safe." Baat clenched a fist and struck the ship's rail. Two sailors stopped what they were doing and looked at him. He put his hands in his pockets.
"I will never be like him," Baat said quietly, "I will never be like my father, or Yohiromaki. I have anger." He put his hand upon his stomach. "Inside my stomach. I have hate." He clenched his fist again. "I will always be like a child. Always afraid."
Sallina stared at him. She thought Baat had good reason to be angry at the world. She did not see why he should be ashamed about being angry.
Harry shouted from the aft deck. "Baat!" He held out a telescope and pointed to the top of the main mast. "Up in the crow's nest until sun-down!"
"Yes sir!" Baat said. He ran up the steps to the aft deck and took the telescope from Harry.
Sallina watched Baat climb the shrouds. The telescope hung from his wrist by its leather strap. He climbed slowly, but he did not seem to be afraid. The crow's nest was a little platform near the top of the main mast. There was always someone sitting up there during the day, watching for land and other ships. There was a sailor up there now, waiting for Baat to come and take his place.
"Sallina."
Sallina looked away from the crow's nest. Jasper stood in front of her.
"Yes?"
"Dan wants to speak to you."
"Oh," Sallina said. "I'll go to him."
A little while later, Sallina knocked on Dan's door. She held three books in her hands. She had chosen them from the ship's library because she thought Dan might like them.
"Come in, Sallina."
Sallina entered the infirmary. Dan's infirmary was more crowded than Sally Benton's. There were two bunk beds and a metal operating table, just like Sally's infirmary, and a metal sink in the corner. But Dan had filled the walls around the bunk beds and above the operating table with book shelves that had glass doors. The book shelves were mostly filled with books, but there were metal tools also, shiny and clean, and rubber hoses and glass beakers and funnels.
Dan was lying on the bottom bunk with his eyes closed. He looked pale and tired.
Sallina sat down on a stool beside his bed. "What can I do for you?"
Dan opened his eyes. "Sally Benton recommended that I let you read to me."
Sallina nodded. She held up the three books. "I don't know if you have read these already. Here's one I'd like to read. It's called The Psychology of Time Travel, which I think sounds rather intriguing."
Dan looked up and frowned. "That's my book. Where did you find it?" He reached out for it. Sallina put it in his hands. It was a large book, maybe five hundred pages. Dan opened the front cover and looked inside. He closed it again and put it beside him on the bed.
"What else?" he said.
Sallina looked at the two remaining books. "How about this one, The Windmills, by Torque Edwards. He was a wizard. This is the story of him growing up in Weiland and meeting a black orc called Dreadmanifold."
Dan nodded. "That's a good one. You should read it."
Sallina nodded. She picked up the third book. "This one is called White Bear. It's the story of a boy raised by a polar bear."
Dan said nothing for a few seconds. "Okay, let's hear that one."
Sallina opened the book and began to read. "It was in the seventh year of the cycle of the Red Sun that Little Fishbone was borne. His mother held him up in the dim light of their ice-house, and smiled."
Sallina read for half an hour. When she stopped, Dan seemed to be asleep. His eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly. She waited for a while, watching him, then she stood up.
Dan opened his eyes. "Just one minute," he said.
Sallina leaned against the operating table with the two books in her hands.
Dan looked at her. "There's going to be a trial. I'm accusing you and Baat of breaking orders. I think you'll get away with it. But Baat won't."
Sallina frowned. She looked down at the books.
"He'll be flogged for what he did," Dan said. He closed his eyes. "He deserves it, and he knows it too. So when it happens, spare me your anger, resentment and bitterness at the unfairness of the world, and the cruelty of old men. I'm too tired to deal with it." He opened his eyes again. "And I like you, Sallina, so it tires me out to have you hating me."
Sallina opened her mouth, but said nothing. Baat was going to be flogged? Dan wanted him flogged? Dan didn't want her to be mad at him? How could he expect her to not be mad at him? Baat was her friend.
She looked at the old man lying in the bed, watching her. He might be dying. What good would it do to be angry at him for doing what he thought was the best thing to do? Why was it so important that she thought he was cruel? She loved Dan, even though he was old and hard and cruel. When he was standing in the waves and she saw the arrow sticking out of his back, she had screamed. She did not want him to die. She wanted him to get well again. She wanted to see his unpleasant, confident smile again, and know that he was strong.
She breathed out. "Dan, I will not be angry at you. You do what you think is right. I admire you and love you. I want you to get better."
Dan nodded and closed his eyes. "Thanks, Miss. I'll sleep now."
Sallina walked to the door and let herself out.
Soon after breakfast on the fourth of September, Baat and Sallina sat next to one another on a bench in the center of the Reliant's common room. The common room was at the front of the ship, beneath the fore deck. It was eight paces long. At the front end, which was the end that Sallina and Baat were facing, the room was only four paces wide. At the back end, behind Sallina and Baat, it was ten paces wide, and it was in this wide space behind them that twenty of the Reliant's crew were standing, sitting, and squatting. None of them spoke.
At the narrow end of the room was a desk. Harry sat behind the desk and looked at Baat. On the desk was a black notebook, a pencil, a hand-written letter, and a large red book. The notebook was open. To Harry's right sat the Captain. To his left sat Otis.
"Baat son of Sukh, please stand," Harry said.
Baat stood up.
"Baat," Harry said, "You are accused by Dan Milatos, surgeon of this ship, of Insubordination of the Second Degree."
Harry stared at Baat. The ship pitched into a wave. Water landed on the deck above them. The sky was cloudy outside, with darker clouds on their way. The Captain had said before breakfast that there was a storm coming. Five of the crew were up on deck sailing the ship.
"Do you understand what you're accused of?" Harry said.
"Yes," Baat said.
Otis leaned over and whispered to Harry. Harry nodded.
"I'll read from the law book." Harry pushed the notebook away and pulled the large red book towards him. He opened it at a page marked by a piece of red cloth. He put the red cloth on the desk. He cleared his throat. With his finger on the letters in the book, he read out loud.
"Insubordination of the Second Degree is refusal to obey an order in such a way that the lives of other members of the crew are engendered."
The Captain leaned over and whispered in Harry's ear. Harry frowned. He moved his finger back to the place he had started. "I'm sorry, I read that wrong. I'll read it again." He took a deep breath. "Insubordination of the Second Degree is refusal to obey an order in such a way that the lives of other crew members are endangered."
Harry looked up at Baat. "Do you understand?"
"Yes," Baat said. "I understand."
Harry closed the book. He looked at the red piece of cloth. He had forgotten to put it back in the book. He put the piece of cloth on top of the book and pushed the book away from him slowly. He looked at Baat. "I, Harry Senequel, am quartermaster of the Reliant, elected by the crew to judge the law on this ship. Do you agree that you are a member of the Reliant's crew?"
"Yes," Baat said.
"Are you over the age of sixteen?"
"Yes," Baat said.
Harry picked up the hand-written letter. "Here is Dan's testimony." He read from the letter. "I hereby testify under pain of perjury. On the afternoon of the first of September, I was hiding in a cave with Baat son of Sukh, two crew members, and two friends of the crew. I ordered Baat to remain in the cave. He attempted to leave the cave. There were armed men outside looking for us. If these men had found us, they would have used force to capture us and make us slaves. If Baat had gone outside, I believe the armed men would have seen him and discovered our hiding place. I knocked Baat unconscious to stop him from leaving. His disobedience put the lives of his fellow crew members in danger."
Harry looked up at Baat. "We assume you are innocent of any wrong-doing until we have proved that you are guilty. Knowing this, how do you plead, Baat son of Sukh. Do you plead guilty or not guilty?"
Sallina held her breath. The crew was absolutely quiet. Harry leaned forward. The Captain sat with his arms crossed, watching Baat. Otis scratched his chin.
"I am guilty," Baat said.
Harry nodded. "I hear that you plea guilty. I will decide your punishment." He looked down at the letter from Dan. He looked at the Captain and then Otis. He looked at Baat. "When you tried to leave the hiding place, did you know that there were people outside looking for you?"
"Dan told me this," Baat said, "But I was thinking he was lying."
Harry looked down. "You didn't answer my question," he said. "Did you know you were endangering your fellows?"
Baat looked at Sallina and at Harry. "Please say again."
"Did you know people were looking for you?"
Baat folded his arms. He rested his chin upon his chest. The ship struck another wave and water splashed above them.
"No," Baat said, "I am not knowing. I am not go out if I think I make danger for us."
Harry made some marks in his notebook with his pencil. Sallina did not know if Harry was writing or just drawing circles. After a while he looked up. "If I was outside, looking for you, and I saw the cave, I'd look inside, no matter if I saw anyone hanging around or not. Do you think the armed men could see the cave?"
Baat stared ahead for a while. "No."
"If you went out, do you think they would of seen you?"
"Yes," Baat said, "At night we find out they are on beach. I think they see me if I go out. It was good for Dan to stop me."
Harry nodded. He made more marks in his notebook. "The law book says that the punishment for Insubordination of the Second Degree shall be between one and ten lashes with the long whip." He leaned forward and looked at Baat. Baat stood with his chin high, staring straight ahead.
"I sentence you," Harry said.
Sallina clasped her hands together. The sailors stared at Harry. The Captain stared at Baat.
"To one lash with the long whip, at four bells today, on the main mast. I'll deliver the stroke myself."
The sailors whispered among themselves. A few of them frowned and nodded. Harry looked around. "Does anyone have anything to say about this judgment for the ship's record?"
Nobody said anything.
"I declare this trial closed. You may sit down, Baat."
Baat sat down.
Harry looked at Sallina. He asked her to stand up, and asked her the same questions he had asked Baat. When Harry asked her if she was a member of the Reliant's crew, she said, "No."
Harry said, "Dan Milatos accuses you of Insubordination of the Fifth Degree. You disobeyed an order, and so made it more difficult for other crew members to obey their own orders." Harry picked up Dan's letter. "Dan says he ordered you to let go of a rope so he could pull it up. You didn't let go of the rope. Instead, you held onto it and Dan had to drop the rope. Because you didn't let him have the rope, he had to climb down without it, which is more difficult than climbing down with a rope."
Some of the sailors spoke to one another. They seemed irritated by something. Sallina did not know what they were saying. Were they angry at her for holding onto the rope? She held her hands together in front of her and stared down at them. She had thought she was so clever at the time, when she held onto the rope. Now she was ashamed.
"Quiet in the court," the Captain said.
"Sallina," Harry said, "You are not a member of the Reliant's crew. The Captain tells me that you agreed with him that you would obey orders. You and he must decide what to do about Dan's accusations. As quartermaster, I cannot hold a trial for you because you are not a crew member. I do not have authority over you. I cannot punish you. I dismiss the charges against you from my court. I declare this trial closed. You are free to go."
He bent over his notebook and began to write in it. The Captain stood up. The sailors talked among themselves. Sallina sat down. She looked at Baat. He looked at her. She wondered if he was frightened. His sentence was only one lash, but one was more than enough, she was sure.
"What is happening for you?" Baat said.
"Nothing," she said.
Baat smiled. "I am happy for you."
"Thank you," Sallina said. "I am sorry that you will be hit with the whip."
Baat folded his arms and looked straight ahead. "Not be sorry. I am son of Sukh."
At mid-morning, the crew of the Reliant gathered upon the main deck. The Endeavor was several thousand paces away across the water. The sky was cloudy. A cool wind was blowing one way and another. The sails flapped and the masts creaked. Darker clouds moved towards them from the west. In the distance, Sallina saw rain falling, and every now and then a flash of lightning.
On the aft deck there was a bell beside the ship's wheel. This was the ship's bell. The Captain struck the ship's bell four times with a hammer. The crew went quiet.
"The quartermaster has sentenced Baat, son of Sukh, to one lash with the long whip," the Captain said. He spoke loudly, so they could hear him above the sound of water splashing against the front of the ship and the wind humming in the rigging. "Baat, son of Sukh, are you here?"
Baat stepped forward and stood next to the main mast. "I am here." Harry and Otis stood beside him. Harry held the same, long, leather whip Sallina had seen him carrying in Prudence Harbor.
"Strip to the waist," the Captain said. "And permit yourself to be tied to the main mast."
Baat's shirt was already unbuttoned. He pulled it off and handed it to Otis. He turned his back upon the aft deck and put his arms around the base of the main mast. The base of the main mast was so thick that Baat's arms reached only half way around. The muscles stood out on his back and arms. His skin was smooth and tanned. Baat's muscles were not as large as Garibaldi's, but Sallina still thought his back was beautiful. And Harry was about to strike Baat's beautiful back with a whip. Would Baat have a scar for the rest of his life?
Otis tied a piece of rope around Baat's left hand. He took the rope around the other side of the mast, up over a peg that was just above the height of his head, and around to Baat's right hand. He tied the rope to Baat's right hand, and made it tight by wrapping the rope around the peg. When he was finished, Sallina understood that if Baat did not want to stand up on his own two feet, the rope would hold him up so Harry could still whip him.
Garibaldi leaned upon a crutch beside her. She held his hand. She bit her lip. She was frightened. She did not want to watch Baat being whipped, but the Captain had ordered all the crew to stand on deck and watch. That was what they always did. The only people who did not have to watch were the look-out in the crow's nest, and anyone who was sick or injured. Dan and Garibaldi did not have to come up and watch. Dan was down in his infirmary. Garibaldi came up because Baat wanted him to be there.
Baat pressed his cheek against the smooth, polished wood of the mast. He closed his eyes. Otis held up a short piece of wood. He pressed the piece of wood to Baat's lips. Baat shook his head.
"Trust me, lad," Otis said, "you'll be glad of it."
Baat looked at the piece of wood. He opened his mouth. Otis put the wood between Baat's teeth and Baat bit down on it.
Otis looked up at the Captain. "The convicted is ready, Captain."
The Captain nodded. He looked at Harry. "You may proceed, quartermaster."
Harry walked five paces from Baat and turned around. He uncoiled his whip slowly. He looked at Baat's back. He took a half-step forward. A few of the crew whispered to one another. The Captain turned the ship's wheel slightly. A sail flapped.
"Baat, son of Sukh," Harry said, "I have sentenced you to one lash with the long whip." Harry flicked his whip and it lay itself out across the deck between himself and Baat.
Harry waited. Sallina did not know what he was waiting for.
"One!" Otis shouted, and his voice rang out across the deck.
Harry drew his whip up off the deck with a smooth backward movement of one arm. The whip stretched out behind him and almost touched the rail of the aft deck. He thrust his arm forward and the whip followed.
Smack!
The tip of the whip struck Baat's back, just to one side. Baat's body jerked. His eyes opened wide. He must have tried to scream, but the only sound that came out was a kind of grunt, because he had Otis's piece of wood between his teeth. There was a long, red mark on his back.
Otis shouted, "Sentence complete!"
"Very good, Otis," the Captain said, "Set the convicted man free."