For the next five days Lewis took Gamoc’s place working on the vehicles in the warehouse. Fingers wanted to put together a cadre of caravan guards, so she offered free fight training for a few days to see what would happen. One hundred eighty six people showed up and Fingers decided to hire all of them. Rollins led the training in true military fashion and due to the rigor after four hours thirty-one of them had dropped out. Rollins and the rangers weeded out another fifty-three over the next two days. Tomas took over their training as the time drew near for the team to move on. Roquette and Derrik had finished enough of their survey to report that the information on the city’s map was ninety three percent accurate. Telini and Gomez spent most of their time in the library. By the time they had left, Lewis had taken apart an engine and a transmission and figured out how to reassemble them without the original computer controls. The assembly was not complete, but he felt reasonably sure that the warehouse crew could handle it. At night they studied maps and planned their trip.

The whole dock area was a graveyard of boats and ships in various states of decay. Some had listed to one side or been run over by larger neighboring ships. A few had sunk to the bottom of the harbor, with nothing visible but superstructures above the water. People on the docks and in rowboats fished in the noisome bay. In the distance, a huge flipper broke the surface and disappeared. A large boat with paddle wheels on both sides flew the flag of the defenders, a shield with crossed swords on a maroon field. Fingers explained that the knights had used steam powered boats such as these to clear several piers for use by the city. At these piers there was an assortment of small sailing ships tied up. Most of them looked to Lewis a little like the junks he had seen in Asia.

Fingers led them to one of these ships and introduced Lewis to a Captain Inu. The man looked fat and powerful at the same time, with lanky hair and beard that hung down onto his stained jerkin. He was only a little shorter than Lewis and had huge arms dangling beside his big belly. He stood like the master of the ship that he was. A small army of laborers was offloading wooden crates and metal boxes. Fingers went to check some of them, taking notes in a notebook, then after some argument over value she handed the captain an envelope. She had five carts full of goods to load, including about a hundred crates, each with four juvenile versions of the flightless birds he had seen coming into the city. The birds were about a foot tall and jostled about in their cages as they were handed down into the hold.

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The passenger cabin was cramped, with ten bunks, a low table, and room for only a couple of people to move around at a time. Everyone stowed their gear and headed back topside.

When they reached the deck Lewis saw an old man, limping and stooped, coming down the dock towards the ship. He was accompanied by a teenage girl; both were dressed in old and tattered clothes. They approached Fingers and spoke to her. She pointed toward Captain Inu. The old man shuffled up the ramp toward the captain. Lewis moved to a position on the right side of Inu and watched the man advance.

“Hello, Captain,” The old man’s voice was raspy and a little breathless. “I need to take my granddaughter to Port Mist. Do you have room for two paying passengers?”

Inu looked at Lewis. “You got any room down there?”

Lewis looked at the old man. “Do you wish to ride with a bunch of soldiers? I understand we are expecting one more, it will be crowded.”

“You have an hour to decide,” The captain said. “Now, you and the little one should move out of the way so you don’t get hurt before we even get underway.”

“What’s your name?” Lewis asked the old man as he retreated down the ramp.

“Tom,” was all the old man said.

Tom and his granddaughter stood off to the side, where they were well out of the way, close together and watchful.

Lewis went down to the dock and made his way to Fingers. “Where is your brother?”

Anger flashed in her eyes. “He is probably sleeping it off in some trash can.”

“Do you think he’ll make it?” Lewis asked.

“How should I know?” She said hotly. “I don’t have time to send for somebody else. If I find him in time I’ll send him overland to Ascore. If he doesn’t make it, do you think you’re alright without a company rep?”

That puzzled him. “What are you worried about?”

“Your team might miss something valuable,” Fingers said. “Or get in trouble without somebody to show you the ropes.”

“You think Fink would keep us out of trouble in Port Mist?” He asked. “You have given us lists and lessons on what’s valuable. We were paying attention, you know.”

She sighed. “I know, I trust you will do your best.”