Ocean of Dust (18 page)

Despite her exhaustion, she tossed and
turned, catching only a few moments of sleep before waking to shake
out the pins and needles from her limbs. She listened to the
sighing creaks of the ship, and snatches of the men's chatter,
which drifted spookily through gaps in the wall. By the sound of
it, the rain seemed to have stopped. She bit her lip and stroked
her hair. Hopefully Sam could reason with the navigator. Her
stomach fluttered at the thought of what Farq would do to her if
the navigator didn't back down. It grumbled and she uttered a tiny
belch.

"Hello?" she called out. "I have to pee. And
I'm hungry. Hello?"

Someone chuckled from behind her, so close
that she spun around. She squinted at a face in the darkness and
the whites of two eyes.

"They won't let you out," Alice said. "Aww,
is Cook's pet all locked up?"

She cackled.

"Why did they have to lock me up with you?"
Lissa groaned.

"Not so much fun now is it?" Alice said. "No
baking cakes, toadying up to Cook and lying about in the infirmary.
Welcome to real life aboard ship, princess stupid."

Lissa’s eyes had adjusted to the near
darkness, allowing her to scrutinize Alice. Her hair was flat and
matted, and dirt smothered her face and arms. She'd been in here a
long time, and was a pitiful sight. As much as Lissa wanted to
shout and beat her, she just couldn't do it. Alice was having as
wretched a time as she. With a sigh, Lissa turned her back.

Alice continued to taunt her but soon gave
up.

The pressure in Lissa's bladder became too
much. She squatted in a corner, hating every sordid moment,
expecting Alice to make fun of her. How many others had spewed,
peed, or worse, in this hole? Alice probably had several times.
Ew!
She slumped against the wall in the opposite corner.

Lissa.
The rasping whisper made her
jump.

"Alice," she growled. "You're not scaring me
so shut up."

"What?"

Listen to us.

She glanced at Alice, who slouched on a rope
coil, unraveling its end.

You saved me from drowning. I didn't have a
chance to thank you.

We know what you want.

The rope locker vanished, and she stood in
her cramped attic bedroom. She watched her younger self peering
through the tiny window, out over the rooftops to the mountains far
away, her head resting in her hands.

Yes.
She smiled at the memory.
I
want to see the world so badly, but not like this.

A hissing laughter echoed in her mind.
You
will not.

The symbol from the book blazed in the air
before her.

This is your path. Follow it.

She gasped. Her eyes flicked to Alice, who
was staring at her strangely. She obviously didn't see it even
though it was blindingly bright. It faded away.

What does it mean?
The whispers had
gone. Couldn't they just tell her instead of playing games?

She jumped at the rattling of a key in the
lock, and her heart raced.

"I'll be leaving you then," Alice said,
stepping forward. "Maybe they'll let you out before you become an
old woman."

The door opened, and even the dim globelight
was glaringly bright to Lissa's eyes. Nib filled the doorway,
scowling at them both, and she shied away, wary of his cruel
reputation.

"Come with me," he said to Lissa. He pushed
Alice back.

Lissa considered making a smug face at Alice,
but Nib slammed the door and she lost her opportunity. He locked
it, grabbed her arm and pushed her aft into the mess hall. Farq
stood in a shaft of suns-light from the hatch above his head. He
cracked his knuckles as she approached.

"Ah yes, the girl."

Chapter 16 - The Navigator

Nib shoved Lissa forward and she stopped two
feet in front of Farq. Her shoulders slumped, she clenched her
hands at her waist to hide her trembling, and stared at the floor.
From somewhere in the shadows, the Zrak coughed and growled.

"Two thefts in two days," Farq said. "You've
embarrassed the captain, myself and the entire ship. I won't stand
for such insolence."

She felt sick to her stomach, and itched to
turn and run. Alice and the hot, stinky locker sounded like
paradise.

"I'm told the other girl stole the jewelry.
I'll deal with her later, but if I find out you had a hand in
that... As for the navigator's book..."

He slapped her cheek so hard that pain seared
through her jaw and into her skull. Her legs buckled and she
crumpled to the floor. She tasted blood, and cowered, holding her
hands above her head. He stepped over her, one leg on either side
of her body.

"What foolish game do you think you're
playing that made your idiotic mind think you'd get away with
stealing that book?" Spit rained down on her.

"I didn't steal it, sir. I was returning it.
I'm sorry it got damaged. I didn't know there was going to be a
downpour. It's not totally ruined-"

"Silence," he yelled, so loudly the Zrak
growled. He drove his boot into her side. "I don't want your
lies."

Whimpering, she crawled away and clung to a
post. Then she sneaked a glance at his wide eyes and flared nose.
Blood dribbled from the corner of her mouth.

"Nib, tie her to that post and get me the
whips."

"Aye."

"Farq," the navigator said, walking from the
ladder. "A word if you please?"

While the two men whispered, she took a rag
from her pocket and dabbed at her mouth. Her cheek was tender, and
lacerated on the inside where her teeth had bit into her flesh.
Farq stepped toward her. Her heart thumped so loud that she could
hear it in her ears. She dropped the rag and buried her face in the
post.

"If you insist, Oban," Farq said. "Against my
better judgment. This girl is nothing but trouble, mark my words.
It's only a matter of time before she faces my whip."

He turned to yell at the men who had gathered
to watch, and then stormed away toward the ladder.

"Get up, girl," the navigator said, looming
over her.

Her fingers dug into the post and she didn't
move.

"I'm not going to hurt you, for Anjan's
sake," he said.

He sat on the nearest bench and drummed his
fingers on the top. Once they were alone, she got up and stood
before him. There was a long silence.

"Thank you for returning my book," he said
quietly. "I did take it into town, and don't recall seeing it after
I spoke with you."

Her tense shoulders sagged and she exhaled.
"You left it on the bench. I tried to find you-"

"I'm not happy that you nosed around my
cabin."

"I'm sorry."

She fidgeted from one foot to the other,
while he stared at her with his black and purple eyes.

"I was admiring your charts, sir, and your
books. Not that I opened any. I mean, I didn't touch anything, I
promise. Just looked. I flicked through the book, the one with the
numbers. My uncle used to show me maps when I was younger. He
traveled a lot and told me about places, and I saw them on your
charts, which are nothing like his maps. Yours have all those
squiggly lines on them. It must be wonderful to be able to navigate
the ship from all those lines and numbers. I would love to do
that-"

She sucked in a huge breath.
Stop
rambling.

"I see," he said. "You talk too much, little
girl. Let me give you advice."

"About being a navigator? Oh, yes please."
She leaned forward.

A deep frown crossed his gnarled face, and
his dark eyes bore into her.

"Shut up, stop being nosey, and just cook the
dinner. Cease your stupid fantasies. Now leave." His eyes held
hers, until she looked away.

Her whole body deflated. She heaved a sigh
and ambled back to the galley. That was clearly where she
belonged.

There was no sign of Cook or Branda. Smelling
the sick on her arm and the blood crusted on her fingers, she had a
sudden need to wash away the smells of the rope locker. In the
washroom she took her time scrubbing away everything that happened
today. She brushed the tangles from her hair, and once it was dry,
she climbed into her scheepa.

Her mind proved much harder to clean. It
churned over recent events but kept looping back to the whispers.
She thought of them as her friends. They were a lot more talkative
of late, even if they made no sense. They seemed to be pushing her
in a specific direction, one that involved Oban, the navigator, and
his book of numbers. But why, after he had dismissed her so
cruelly? Why had she asked about becoming a navigator? Did she want
that? He had underestimated her. She could prove him wrong, prove
that she could be one. She was sure of it.

* * *

The next day turned out to be their last at
Us-imyan. Only the loading crew was allowed ashore. Cook gave them
a grueling list of chores: clean the ovens, tidy the galley and
take an inventory of the newly loaded supplies; and warned them to
keep out of the storerooms until loading had finished. Lissa
isolated herself and worked in silence. The ship felt confining
after her time on the island. She thought about the stalls, strange
foods and exotic races and how she'd never see them again, but was
thankful she had been allowed ashore at all. Where would the ship
stop next, and would she be allowed off again?

Throughout the day, the ship echoed with the
thud of crates, the rattling of the winches, and shouting of the
crew. Cargo and supplies were lowered into the hold through a wide
rectangular hole in each deck, just forward of the mast. The men
stacked crates and barrels in a deliberate and obviously well
practiced pattern.

In the late afternoon, Cook summoned Lissa to
the small baking room. The air was filled with the scrumptious
aromas of cakes and pies. The old woman handed her a heavy
tray.

"Take this to the command deck, child. Be
quick about it, and don't mess it up again."

Lissa’s stomach fluttered and her hands
sweated profusely as she climbed to the top of the ship, but she
clamped her jaws together, determined to show Farq that she wasn't
a troublemaker. She stepped out into a blast of hot air, and her
hair streamed out behind her. This time, she knew how each officer
liked his gej-juice, and she efficiently and silently delivered a
goblet of iced juice and slice of jherodan nut pie to each man.
Being so close to Farq made her tremble despite the heat, but Farq
accepted his without comment. She snatched up the tray and ran back
down the stairs.

The awkward tray forced her to descend
backward down the ladder belowdecks. She kept her fingertips
lightly on the ropes, adjusting her balance as she went.

The next step gave way under her weight. She
glanced down, gasping to see that she had trodden on Alice's
head.

"Watch where you tread, stupid," Alice
cried.

"I was on the ladder first," she replied.

"I'm not waiting for you," Alice said.
"You're too slow."

She yanked Lissa's leg with both hands,
bringing her tumbling down, cracking one leg against a post, before
smashing into Alice. They both sprawled on the floor, Lissa landing
on top. Alice blew out her breath violently and groaned loudly. The
tray and its contents crashed around them making an awful din.
Juice sprayed from the pitcher but it didn't break.

Lissa rolled off Alice and stood. "What did
you do that for?"

Alice sat up, feeling her body for breaks.
"You squashed me," she wheezed. Then she gave a thin smile. "I
deserved it, I guess."

She extended her arm up toward Lissa.

Lissa blinked twice and narrowed her
eyes.

Alice's smile became a grin. "Come on, you
beat me this time. I was being mean, so it serves me right. Pull me
up, please?"

Lissa nibbled her lip, and then slowly
reached down and took Alice's hand, who yanked so hard, Lissa’s
shoulder popped, and she fell spread-eagled on the floor. Alice
leaped on her back, knees to either side.

"You're so stupid," Alice snarled. She
grabbed a bunch of Lissa's hair close to her scalp and twisted it,
digging her knees into Lissa's sides. "Don't you dare get me locked
up again."

Lissa squealed at the tightness in her neck.
She thrust her hands onto the floor and pushed up, trying to throw
Alice off and squirm free.

"Oy!" a man shouted from across the room.
Heavy footfalls headed their way. "What's going on?"

Alice let go, stood and stamped on the glass
pitcher, shattering it into a thousand pieces, spraying shards of
glass all over Lissa.

"Oops," Alice said, her eyes flaring. "I
think she fell down the ladder," she shouted to the man. "Help,
quickly."

She leaned over Lissa. "I haven't finished
with you yet."

* * *

The next morning, Lissa woke to the sensation
of her scheepa swinging, the globelight overhead also. She wished
that she could have waved goodbye to the island. Shivering in the
pre-dawn chill, she dropped to the floor and hurried to wash and
dress, arriving in the galley just before Branda and Alice, who
followed her inside.

"Vacation's over. Back to work," Cook said,
hands on her hips. She glanced at Lissa and narrowed her eyes. "How
did you get those bruises on your leg?"

"I... I tripped last night. I forgot the ship
was moving again."

Cook's gaze flicked momentarily to Alice.
"Don't be so clumsy in the future."

Alice wore a continual smirk as they prepared
breakfast, but otherwise left Lissa alone. Lissa didn't care - a
smug Alice was easier to deal with. How had she avoided a beating
from Farq for stealing the jewelry? Lissa chewed her lip and
recalled Alice's conversation with Lyndon in the hold. Life was
about to turn dangerous if they were both in league with Farq.

The navigator had stood up for her yesterday
and saved her from a horrific beating. Perhaps she could make him a
friend like the physiker. Maybe he’d allow her to spend more time
with his charts, and she had a lot of questions about the Klynaks
and flux channels. In the afternoon, she took him a peace offering
of a goblet of Imyan fruit wine that had come aboard in several
barrels, and her new recipe for zesty custard-filled buns.