John Ringo - Emerald Sea

“ If they can’t match it, sir,” Herzer said. “I don’t really see that they won’t be able to.”

“Oh, they may figure out how to land them and take off,” Edmund admitted. “But I don’t think they’ll be as good at it as we’ll be. And we’ll keep improving. Because we let people like you, and Jerry and Evan and even Commander Mbeki just figure out what to do. Rather than telling them what to do.”

“You’re talking about initiative,” Rachel interjected.

“Absolutely. It’s something that we support, stress even. It’s something that New Destiny suppresses. In time, I hope to prove to them how wrong they are.”

Herzer waved Koo down and ducked into his station as Nebka’s wings brushed just past his head.

“That’s a center shot for Koo,” he called down to pri-fly from his station at the front of the platform. The cuplike station had been hung off the end of the landing platform by a team under Chief Brooks and it lifted his head and shoulders just over the platform itself.

“General,” the skipper said. “I think these flyers have got the technique down. We’ve launched wyverns, landed wyverns and launched and landed Commander Gramlich. I say we head to sea.”

“Concur,” Duke Edmund said.

“Commander Mbeki, cease flight operations. Helm, come to heading zero-seven-five. Set full sail.”

“Zero-seven-five, aye.”

“Now you’ll see what sailing is all about, General.”

“Looking forward to it, Colonel.”

Herzer was at pri-fly when the ship passed out of the bay and into the open ocean. As soon as it was beyond the protecting arms of the bay, they hit the full swells of the Atlantis and the ship, under full sail, started to corkscrew through the waves.

“Oh, my God,” Jerry gasped, grabbing the handrail at the rear of pri-fly. “We’re supposed to land in this?” From below the squawks and bellows of the wyverns filled the air.

“This isn’t bad,” Commander Mbeki protested. “The seas are only two and a half, maybe three meters.”

As he said that one of the seas first lifted then dropped the stern of the ship and Herzer staggered across and slammed into Duke Edmund.

“Steady, Herzer,” the duke said in a strange voice. Herzer glanced at him and for the first time in his memory saw Edmund Talbot looking strained.

“I’m going to head below,” Talbot said. “I’ll just… I’m going to head below.”

“Very well, General,” the commander replied. “Take care.”

With a nod Edmund headed for the companionway.

“I’m going to check on the wyverns,” Jerry said, staggering across the deck. He slid sideways as a rogue wave pitched the ship to the side and was caught by one of the relief quartermasters who was standing by to take over the wheel. He shook his head and plotted a course for the companionway and after a few false starts made it and started to head below.

By this time, Herzer was feeling the first hint of queasiness and looked appealingly at the commander.

“Gets everyone at first,” Commander Mbeki said, in a kindly voice. “The center of the ship’s where the motion’s the least. And if you have to go, try to do it over the lee side. That’s the side the wind’s not blowing from. And keep it off the decks.”

What had been a light breeze felt like a gale as Herzer staggered across the deck and headed down to the maindeck. He managed to make it halfway up the ship by holding onto the railing on what he’d come to learn was the “starboard” side — in landsmen’s terms the right if you were looking forward in the ship. The wind that had been pleasantly warm seemed to have dropped twenty degrees and he was feeling decidedly chilly. But the motion was less here. His stomach was feeling better. On the other hand, he was starting to shiver and the wind seemed to be cutting to the bone. There was only one choice. He’d run below, get his coat, and head back up here. Maybe he’d just sleep here; he didn’t seem to be in anyone’s way.

Decision made, he crab-walked across the deck, occasionally scuttling from side to side, and made it to the stairs down. He’d taken to going forwards down the stairs but this time he carefully turned around and lowered himself with hands on both railings. Despite that, he slammed into the wall as the ship hit a rogue wave. He staggered down the corridor to his room, grabbed his jacket — noticing in passing that Rachel was in the bottom bunk moaning, with a bucket by the side of the bunk — and was just opposite the officer’s head when he realized he had no more than three seconds before he was going to throw up.

He made it into the head, hung his head over the toilet and began to spew.

It was one of the most miserable times of his life. He seemed to be throwing up far more than he’d eaten. The captain’s chef had cooked a very nice chicken, heavily spiced with thyme, for lunch and he’d eaten more than his share. And it was all coming back to him.

The toilet was operated by pressing down on a foot pedal and then pumping a lever. The lever opened a seal at the bottom of the bowl and the pedal let it pump up salt water to wash the bowl clean. As Herzer slumped down to his knees he made the remarkable discovery that the foot pedal could, in these circumstances, become a knee pedal and the lever was operable from that position.

Over the next few hours he made several other discoveries.

The door of the head was difficult to operate while slithering around on the floor.

The foot/knee pedal could also be operated by hand if you couldn’t even get up the energy to get to your knees.

The underside of the sink was remarkably free of graffiti. He felt he ought to add a manual for future adventurers. Little truisms to hold dear in those special and private moments when you’re looking at the underside of a sink.

Seasickness was one of the most unpleasant experiences in the world.

The man who invented the flush toilet was one of the most important persons ever to live on the face of the earth.

Knee and elbow pads: They’re not just for sword work outs anymore.

No matter how many times you pull the lever, sevens are not going to come up.

After a while, it all tastes like fish anyway.

When all the food was gone, the thyme just kept coming and coming and coming.

It started with what he came to call “the three-second rule.” You had the sudden, intense, knowledge that in three seconds you were going to be seeing the contents of your stomach. You had those three seconds to make a will, pray to the gods that if they got you out of this you were going to lead a straight life from now on, swim for shore or make it to the toilet.

When the three seconds were up the vomiting started. That would go on for what seemed like an eternity, whether you had anything in your stomach to vomit up or not.

When the vomiting was done there was a moment of blessed euphoria. You weren’t vomiting anymore. In fact, you felt almost human. You could wipe your face, wipe up any spills, try to get the door open, and do all the usual things that humans do, like think about whether you were going to die or the ship was going to sink.

Then came the lethargy. Suddenly, it was as if none of your muscles would function. All that you could do was sit on the floor and wait for it to pass. It would, in time; sometimes it seemed like days, but it passed. A few times it was so strong he felt himself stop breathing and had to will each breath with all his remaining might. Then, there was a brief moment when you thought it might be over, a few seconds perhaps ten when you felt really human. And then… the three-second rule came into play.