Chapter Six Hundred and Ten

My semaphore conversation with the people at the docks below was a little on the complicated side. I waved the flags this way and that, signalling out one letter at a time, with the occasional special word thrown in, and in reply I had to squint down at someone standing on a small landing next to that I assumed was the old dock’s office.

The person signalling back was... not very good. It was the flag-waving equivalent of discovering someone with a really strong speech impediment. Or maybe it was more appropriate to say that they were like a drunk person?

“What are they saying?” Amaryllis asked.

“Uh, either ‘descend’ or ‘dissent,’” I said. “I think that they’re not very good at this.”

“Let’s assume that they’re giving us permission to dock, then,” Amaryllis said. “We can figure out the rest from there.”

I supposed that made sense. I didn’t like the ‘fast for forgiveness after’ route, but we could hardly stay stuck in midair all morning long.

So, I half-turned and shouted a few orders, and then we were slowly lowering ourselves towards one of the empty berths.

Only the person on the flags said ‘no’ repeatedly, and then signalled ‘two’ a few times. It took some quick back and forths for me to figure out that they wanted us in the second berth, not the first. 

That meant a little shuffling along. Airships were beautiful and graceful and great, but they weren’t exactly the easiest thing to parallel park.

It was hardly the first time we moored the Beaver in a strange port, but I did note that only two people came out to help. The docking facility was relatively modern, which was to say that there were large gantries with pads to hold up the hull which were set on rails that could be adjusted. They had to be for a ship as strangely shaped as the Beaver but with only two guys working below, it took quite a bit of effort to move things into place. I almost sent down some of the crew to help.

It took a good forty minutes just to come down the last free metres, and even then I suspected that not everything was locked into place correctly.

I mentioned as much to the crew. We’d have everyone double-check things before too long because it felt like an important thing to look over. There was an adjustable gangplank platform on wheels that was brought around to the side of the Beaver. It was like scaffolding, with narrow stairs within and hooks to grab onto different sorts of decks. 

We grabbed it and locked it into place, then stretched a gangplank across.

It wasn’t long before a chubby man ran out of the office and jogged over, a hand pressed over his head to keep his mushed-up hat in place. He climbed up the narrow stairs, then came to a panting stop by the edge of the planks. “Permission to come aboard?” he asked.

“Granted,” I said as I came over and gave him a welcoming smile. “Hello. I’m Captain Bunch, of the Beaver Cleaver.”

The man blinked at me, then shrugged. “Hello, ma’am. Ah, I mean captain. Welcome to Howard and Roman’s docking services. Ah, we weren’t expecting you? Oh, forgive me, I’m Howard.”

“I hope that’s okay,” I said. “We’re coming in from the south and had a few things that needed repairs.”

I noticed Howard’s eyes skip upwards to some of the holes in our balloon. “I can see that. Did you run into something nasty out there?”

I wasn’t the most observant out there, but I could tell he was fishing a little. “We did!” I said. “Did you see any big storms to the west of here? About two and a half days ago?” 

Howards paused, then nodded. “I recall a captain coming in from that direction mentioning something of the sort yesterday. Wasn’t that over the sea?”

“Yeah,” I said. “We had a route out to Southerfell, starting in Port Royal. We’ll probably be heading back to Deepmarsh or the Harpy Mountains next. We haven’t quite decided yet.”

“Ah, so you’re independents?” 

I nodded quickly. “Yup! We’re with the Exploration Guild. Anyway, is this berth free?”

“Of course. Ah, that depends for how long? And do you need any other services?” Howard rubbed his hands together.

“I’d say three days? We might need some ground-side storage. And some of the crew might want some shoreleave. Is there a hotel or something nearby? Oh, and we’re going to need some supplies. Wood, some tarp to fix the balloon. Paint. Actually, I’ll leave most of those details to the mechanic, she’ll know best. Are there decent shops around?”

Howard nodded. “There are a few! Most of them are closer to the centre of the city. Closer to the other docks.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “Are there any hotels nearby?”

“Hotels? Yes, I suppose there are a few, most crews stay aboard their ship because... because...” Howard’s words trailed off and he swallowed thickly.

I glanced over my shoulder as Bastion stepped closer. “Captain. Lady Caprica wished to inform you that she’s volunteering herself for the first away team.”

“Haha! A bit tired of the ship?” I asked. “That’s fine. I imagine you’ll be going with her?”

Bastion nodded once. “I will accompany her.”

“Good! Make sure you buy her something nice while you’re out.”

“But her something nice?” he repeated.

“Like... flowers. Or a plushie?”

“I don’t see the relevance.”

I shrugged. “Girls like that kind of thing, I think,” I said before I patted him on the shoulder. “You don’t have to, but it would make Caprica happy, I think.”

“I’ll take it under advisement,” he replied before ducking back and returning to the rear of the ship.

“Sorry about that,” I said to Howard.

“No problem, captain,” he said. “Don’t often see people that strong around.”

“Hm? Oh, I guess not?” I said. “Anyway, we’re looking for three day’s stay, and we might need some help moving heavier materials up onto the Beaver. I saw a crane off to the side?” I gestured at there were was, in fact, a small crane built onto the back of a heavy cart. It looked like it was designed to use handcranks and a lot of pulleys, but that was fine.

“Oh, yes, if you want to use that--”

Howard paused again, and if last time he swallowed dryly, this time he outright blanched. I was a little worried for him, but before I could ask if he was okay I felt two people approaching. It didn’t even take the tail that touched my back for me to know that one was Guinivere. “Captain,” the foxkin woman said. “Once you’re done with the dockmaster here, do you mind sparing us a minute?”

I half-turned, then smiled at Guinevere and Percival. Neither were armed, but they were in all-black, which I supposed was as close to a uniform as the Black Avatars had. “Sure! We were just finishing up here. We’re probably going to split up and have some people stay on the ship to guard it while others head down to the city to see things. Do you think your friends are here?”

“It’s possible. We know where they’ll be if they are here,” Guinevere said. “Percival, do you mind staying on the Beaver?”

“I don’t,” he said. “Though I wouldn’t mind stretching my legs at some point. It’s been a minute since I’ve stepped foot on proper solid ground.”

“I’m sure your land-legs will come back soon enough,” Guinevere said with a chuckle. Her tails flicked around. “I’ll be close by. Let me know who wants to come on our first little excursion, will you, Captain?”

“Yup! No worries!” I said. 

Actually, it might be a little tricky, a lot of the crew would want some time off now that we were in dock. Amaryllis hadn’t handed out pay yet, but that was going to happen soon enough. Ah, oh well! 

“Right, sorry about that,” I said as I turned back to Howard. “Wait, are you okay?”

The man smiled, but it was a little watery. “I’m fine. This ship certainly had a number of, ah, interesting individuals onboard.”

“That’s the Beaver for you,” I said with a shrug. “By the way, do you think it would be possible to have an area around the ship left clear? It’s dangerous to be close. Not for short whiles! Just... if you linger it might be bad for people, so it’s safer if we keep normal people away, you know?”

“Right, of course,” he said. “I have a few people who could be paid to do... security.”

“That sounds nice!” I said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what there is to see in Elkensteel!”

“Ah, there’s plenty. We produce very good steel, hence the name, you know? And... well, you’ll see, I’m sure.”

***