Paul Kater - Bactine

The bridge almost shook with laughter.

“I think he’s wetting himself over the girl again,” said Ulaman as he rubbed his big hands and threw some more wood into the fire of the heater.

“He’s a lost cause, that mouse. He’ll never have her, and he knows it.” Xandree put on her jacket and walked to the door. She caught Daniel’s wondering expression. “Slindris is infatuated with the Seigner’s daughter. If ever you see them together, keep your eyes open. We have a bet going when he will trip over his tongue.” With that, she left the bridge.

Lidrin grinned. “Watch out with Xandree, Daniel. She has a habit of turning people into her willing servants. And she doesn’t even know it.”

Ulaman grumbled something and went back to his lists.

Two hours later the Pricosine was out of the harbour. The men were working frantically to get all the sails set, to get the ship to speed. Daniel was not allowed to help them; there had been sightings of unknown ships so he had to keep patrolling the length of the ship. He was grateful for his enhanced eye, which outperformed every telescope on the ship.

“Hey, watchman,” a rough voice said behind him.

Daniel grinned as he turned around. “Draiky. Hello to you.” He gladly accepted the mug of hot tea. He had been on board for hours already, looking for ships carrying bad news, and despite his Bactine body, he was getting cold deep inside. He was pleasantly surprised to smell she had spiked his tea somewhat.

The ship’s cook grinned. “Thought you would like that.” The short, plump woman was wrapped in what could be a small grey tent, but it fit her. “Anything scary out there?”

Daniel shook his head. “Nothing yet, unless it is underwater.”

“Oh, plenty of that,” Draiky said, “but they don’t take on ships. Good luck. Talk to you again.” With that she left Daniel to his watch.

After a short break and a nap in the afternoon, Daniel had taken his watch again. Now he returned to the bridge. Darkness had set in already, and the Pricosine sailed in darkness.

Stroro was at the steering wheel, whistling a terrible tune. “Having fun out there?”

“A bundle of laughs,” Daniel grinned. “I am beginning to talk to the birds out there.”

Stroro nodded. “The glowbirds are fascinating. They’re also a pest. When they shit on you, you’ll be glowing for weeks.”

Daniel had seen several glowing patches on the deck. “Would it help to clean that up?”

“No. Save your energy. They shit faster than you can wipe, and you’ll be their preferred target.”

Daniel wondered why they had not seen glowbirds on the first trip. That was, Stroro told him, because the glowbirds did not like the warmer areas. “The happy crappers like it here, where it’s cold.”

After four days of sailing they arrived at the port of Nairit Lagharn, where the grain was unloaded. The port was gigantic, Daniel was more than just impressed by the sheer size of it. The cranes that were used to remove the grain from the cargo bays were capable of such tonnage that they had done the job within a day.

During the unloading, Daniel had a day off. There was no chance of anything happening here. Unfortunately the port of Nairit Lagharn was too far away from a town to go and visit it, so he spent a lot of time in the galley, chatting to Draiky. He liked the plump woman who came to bring him tea at the most impossible hours of his watch.

He learnt that Draiky came from a very violent past. She did not make it a secret that she was lesbian and living together with a woman when ashore. Her family however had not taken well to her revelation and had rejected her. One of her brothers, she told, had beaten her up quite severely too, having her end up in a hospital for a few weeks. That was the last her family had seen of her.

“The folks on board are good for me,” she said, scratching her arm. “They accept me. So I am good for them. I love it here, and I can go to places and bring little things for Ombra.”

Ombra, Daniel knew, was the woman who was waiting for Draiky to return home whenever the cook was away on a voyage. “That’s nice.”

Draiky grinned. “Sometimes she curses me for bringing so much, but I know she likes it.”

Daniel laughed about that. “Do you already know what you will bring her this time?”

The cook shook her head. “No idea. Nothing from here, that’s for sure.”

“Maybe you have a chance when we reach Britna the Red,” Daniel said, getting up.

“Doubt it,” Draiky said, “been there a few times and it’s not worth going ashore. Boring place.” She scratched her arm again.

“You should see a doctor about that,” Daniel pointed at her arm.

“Nah, had it forever. Doctors don’t know what to do against it. I’ll live.”

Daniel wished her a good day and went to the bridge again, hoping to learn a few more things about the planet and the ship.

Four days later they were in the harbour of Britna the Red. Smaller barges, some under sail and some with men pulling long oars, worked to get the silk offloaded. The Pricosine was too large to moor at the quay.

Daniel climbed back on board the Pricosine after visiting the town. As he stepped off the rope-ladder, Bilk grinned widely at him.

“How often did you fall asleep?”

The fame of the town was wide spread, obviously, and Daniel’s experience spread it even wider. “It was bad,” he told Bilk, who nodded in agreement.

“We all know,” said the alien with the strange spotted skin. His expression was clear. They all had tried to convince Daniel that a visit was not worth the trouble.

“I know now also. Next time I’ll listen,” the security man said.

“Better not be so dumb,” a voice behind him said. Xandree grinned. “They will take you for a bragoon one day, you should know that.”

Daniel was not sure what a bragoon was, but coming from Xandree it did not mean much good.

“At least you had a good day to head out,” Bilk said. It was indeed a nice and sunny day.

“True. I’ll go and make a round on the ship,” Daniel said. It was not necessary here in the harbour, but it would not hurt. As he was reaching the stern of the ship, he saw a lone figure sitting there. He stepped off the walker-bike and sauntered over. To his surprise it was Draiky. She seemed to work on something.

Daniel made sure that he was approaching her loudly, as not to startle her. He saw a sketchpad on her knees as she turned around and looked up at him.

“Hi,” she said, and turned back to her sketchpad.

“Hello. Do you mind if I spy on you?”

She grinned loudly. “There must be more worthwhile things or people for you to watch. But I am not stopping you.”

Daniel sat down next to her and looked at the paper. It was a drawing of the nearby ridge of mountains that had a very remarkable shape. And it was an amazing drawing. “You are good, Draiky.”

“Is nothing. Just some scratching to pass the time.” As if it reminded her, she scratched her forearms. As her sleeves were rolled up, because of the nice weather, Daniel saw large yellow and orange spots on her arms.

“That does not look good,” he remarked, trying to make it sound casual.

She shrugged. “Glandrine rash. Rare and untreatable. But you get it at birth, not otherwise. Everyone’s safe from me.” She snickered.

“Glandrine? What’s that?”

“I don’t know the fancy words, Daniel. I just know that everyone who is born on the planet has it. It grows inside us. They say it’s from the water. It’s in our skin and it stops us from getting sick and stuff.”

Daniel nodded. With strange chemical compounds in the water that would dissolve metal, there was bound to be some effect on human bodies too.