Paul Kater - Bactine

“You can call me Rayko,” the young woman said with a smile. “I really appreciate how good your care is, Mrs. Xhylor.”

“Please, call me Xandree then.”

Rayko smiled and nodded. “I will go and watch the sea.” She walked to the railing and leaned against it, staying well in view of the bridge.

Daniel was sitting a hundred and twenty feet up in a mast, together with Stroro. They were checking how the rigging of the new sails had withstood the ordeal Lidrin had put them through.

“She does not appear to be sick,” the sailor remarked as he peeked down at the woman.

“No, true. Good for her.” Daniel yanked a rope. It held.

“You don’t like her, do you?” Stroro asked.

“I don’t. She is so stuck up, so pampered, so snotty and stubborn.” Daniel pulled another rope. It held too.

“She is a woman.” Stroro displayed all his knowledge about the other gender.

Daniel looked at the man and sighed. “I know.”

“We’re done here,” Stroro said.

“Yeah.” They climbed down and jumped the last stretch down to the deck.

The thuds made Rayko look at the sound. She saw the two men and frowned. “Where did you come from?”

Stroro pointed at the mast. “Up there, miss.” Then he walked off.

Rayko looked up the mast. “Oh.” As she looked down again, there was only Daniel. “That is high.”

Daniel groaned. “I know.”

“Uhm… I gathered that.” Rayko turned towards the water again. She wanted that man to just go away. He annoyed her to no end. And he was far too tall also. There was no beauty in that.

Daniel walked up to her. “Are you feeling well, Miss Dandra ko Galem?”

“Yes. Fine.”

“I mean, the ship was tilting and rolling quite a lot earlier,” Daniel tried.

“I am fine. Thank you.” Why did that man not take a hint? Did she have to swing a club at him to make him leave?

“Very well then. I’ll be seeing you, miss,” Daniel said, glad he could leave. He started for the bridge.

“Not if I can help it,” Rayko muttered into the wind.

Daniel’s enhanced ears caught it. “Stupid stuck-up,” he mumbled. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Ulaman was just coming down.

“Ah, Daniel. Come with me,” the bear-shaped captain said, clapping him on the shoulder. “We are in a very nice area with lots of wildlife in the water. I will explain some to you, and to Miss Dandra ko Galem.”

“Ulaman, I was just-”

“That can wait, Daniel. Come and learn something.” He dragged the security man along, to where he had just been. “Miss Dandra ko Galem, how nice to see you outside.”

“Hello, captain,” said Rayko. “It feels nice to be here.”

“Yes, good, good. There are many animals in the waters here, I thought it would be interesting for you to learn something about them?”

Rayko tried to look at Ulaman without noticing Daniel. Why did he have to be here again, she wondered. “If you would be so kind, captain, I’d be very interested.”

Ulaman was pleased. He pointed out dark spots in the water, which were a kind of rays that lived ninety feet under the surface. “Nasty animals, they are very poisonous. Good thing they live so far down.”

There were eels, dozens of feet long, big round fish that came to the surface and bobbed around after which they simply sank down again.

Rayko and Daniel both laughed at the antics of a species that looked like white seals who jumped up from the water like dolphins or floated around like otters.

Ulaman noticed that both stopped laughing as soon as they noticed the other one was laughing as well and wondered about that.

Then, after a while, their attention was drawn to a large bulk that moved through the water. It looked like a big rock, lacking its habit to sink.

“What is that?” Rayko asked as she pointed at the thing.

“That, Miss Dandra ko Galem, is a Fringy. It is a kind of fish, but it never leaves the surface. Nobody knows where they came from. Nobody knows what they live on. They seem to be fairly gentle, except when they are in the mating season.”

Rayko’s face coloured. “I see.”

They spent another half hour discovering animals. Then Daniel said he was going to make his round again and quickly paced off.

Rayko relaxed a bit as the man left. She wondered why she had become so tensed up with Mr. Zacharias around…

Daniel had laid down for a nap. He was going to do a night watch again. As he woke up he stared through the porthole, looking at the stars. and thought of his sister Cynthia. Now there was a smart kid. Never got married, as far as he knew, free as a bird, like himself. No kids, as far as he knew, just like himself. Maybe he should write to Cynthia someday. There were too many ‘as far as he knews’ in that last thought. From his sister his thoughts crawled over to this brother. Married, two children, and not a single moment of his life unplanned or disorganised.

The man on the bed shook his head slightly. That could not be a life. Life without freedom and adventure, it was unimaginable for him. The idea of being married… to whom, he wondered. He knew hardly any women. Rhonda was not the kind to marry and settle down either. Too much of a free spirit. And the women he had seen in Skarak and the other places he had been were not candidate material for someone like himself. He tried to recall some of them. He grinned at some of the memories. And then somehow the Seigner’s daughter popped into his head and that had all the properties to make his skin crawl. But Bactine skin did not crawl.

As a little worry started gnawing at him, asking if this life was really what he wanted, he got up to shake off that thought. He did not want to deal with that now. There was a night shift waiting for him, and the certainty that the spoilt girl was put away in her bed was a comforting thing. He would not run into her.

The rest of the journey and the tests of the ship went well. Even the cook that had come aboard was feeling better and managed to do his work without too many problems. Draiky however was glad to see him leave.

Daniel did what he could to avoid the Seigner’s daughter and succeeded in that. Ulaman helped, as he understood that there was definitely no chemistry between them, apart from a destructive one.

As the harbour came back into view, Daniel was surprised by a gentle tap on his arm. It was the daughter of the Seigner.

“Excuse me, Mr. Zacharias. I would like to be at the front side of the… ship when we arrive. Do you deem it safe to stand there?”

It took Daniel a few moments to get over his surprise, then he nodded. “We’ll be on our way for at least another hour, miss.”

“I don’t mind, sir,” Rayko said. “It would really please me.”

“In that case I am sure we can find you a safe spot. One moment please, Miss Dandra ko Galem.” Daniel walked off to Bilk and told him where he’d be, taking the Seigner’s daughter to the bow.

“This way, please, miss,” he said upon his return. They walked to the place Daniel had in mind. “I assume you want to see how we come into port?”

“Yes.”

They arrived at a safe place, far away from moving ropes and masts.

“If you wait here for a moment,” Daniel said. He grabbed a large roll and stacked that against the railing. A Bactine body had its advantages.

Rayko looked in disbelief as he lifted the immense stack of rope. It weighed at least two hundred and fifty pounds, she estimated, and he handled it as were it a pillow.

“It is perhaps not the most comfortable seat, but you could sit on it if you get tired. Miss.”

“Thank you, Mr. Zacharias. That is kind of you, but I am sure it won’t be needed.” She even condescended to show him a little smile.