“…and that’s how I met those northerners, and it’s why I’m helping them.” Manisha finished telling her tale to Rohan on the small patio behind the tavern, void of sneaky ears that may have had an interest in their conversation.
“So… let me get this straight,” Rohan said after giving himself time for reflection. “Your son ran into a bunch of outsiders, who were actually northern terrorists. And two of those three happen to be related to your son. And ‘cause of that, you choose to go to a group of secluded islands that ain’t no one been to in hundreds of years so that the war all the way up north gets a little closer to ending?”
“Precisely.” Manisha nodded.
Rohan frowned, burying his face in his hands.
“Lord, if you exist, just get me outta this alive.” he groaned.
“You oughta tell your crew about it, Cap,” Manisha’s tone was more serious and mature after giving hima moment to grieve. “Don’t force no one who don’t wanna go.”
“I know,” Rohan sighed, dropping his arms to his sides. “I’ll tell ‘em right before we leave. That way if any one of ‘em tells the paleskins, we’ll be long gone by the time they catch up.”
“Thanks for working with me,” Manisha smiled. “I’ll repay you for all this. Somehow, I promise.”
“You can repay me by getting me back home in one piece after all’s said and done.” Rohan scoffed as he held out his hand.
“Sounds like a deal.” Manisha smiled, taking his hand and shaking it.
--
Rohan’s crew and their unexpected companions convened the next morning aboard the Serenity’s Song. The air was dewy from the sea moisture filling the small bay making up the port of the town they were stopped in. All 60 or so of Rohan’s crew stood attentively on the top deck as they awaited their captain’s announcement. All of them were curious to know why the south’s greatest living seawoman had joined them, and on top of that, who her unusual guests were.
“For a short time, Manisha will be offering her services to us. I think we all know how great her skills are, but the price we pay for keeping her in our company ain’t small,” Rohan said with a voice that could yell orders from one end of the ship to the other during the roughest of storms. “It’ll involve going far beyond where any southerner has ever been. We will sail into the exclusion zone, and way past it, to where paleskin eyes cannot find us!”
The number of gasps among the crowd was not few. All of them had great trust and respect for their captain, but this announcement from his mouth was almost unfathomable. He was a man who strictly kept to the code of the sea. Some of them had been under his employment for over a decade and not one of them had seen him commit so grand of a deviation from his ideals before.
“To where? There ain’t no land beyond the continent!” a concerned sailor cried.
“How will we deal with our supplies? How far will we go?” another worried seaman frowned.
“Your concerns are heard!” Rohan spoke with great compassion and understanding. “This price we pay for Manisha’s services is very high. This will be a trip of at least two months, and by the calculations of the woman herself, it could even take up to four if there is any bad weather—no doubt there will be. We won’t be able to re-supply, and if everyone here were to embark on this voyage, not everyone will return. That is the sad reality of our profession. So, in an effort to conserve resources, and more importantly to keep your safety in high regard, anyone who wishes to stay behind will be permitted to do so. I will give you 10 minutes to do so. But for those who choose to stay, rest assured Manisha and I will do our best to see to your needs.”
The man had expected about a third or so of the sailors to leave the ship. They had families to return to, and reputations to keep in the face of the Titanian regime. However, only two bodies stirred.
“Someone’s gotta unmoor this lady.” one of the two volunteers declared, wrapping an arm around the shoulders of his companion.
“She ain’t gonna move herself, Captain.” the second of the two men came forward. “We’ll stay behind so y’all can get goin’.”
“Just you two?” Manisha stepped up beside the captain. “I’m letting y’all know that this journey will be the most dangerous any of y’all will ever take. I’m being serious.”
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Two people came forward, and that was just to unmoor Serenity’s Song? Manisha mused. These fellas must love their captain more than anything.
“We ain’t letting the captain go by himself if that’s what you’re saying, navigator!” a sailor exclaimed.
“Captain Rohan’s journey is our journey!” another proclaimed.
“A way to resist the paleskins, that only people like us can do? Hell yeah, we’re all for it!” another cheered.
Rohan frowned, hiding the pride he had in his stalwart crew. But he was their captain, at the end of the day. He had to prioritize their safety. He had to handpick a dozen or so additional crew members to walk off the ship, those whose larger frames and builds would necessitate having to use up more resources. The ones who were chosen took it as a sign of esteem and left the ship without complaint. There were now 32 people on board, including Manisha’s guest and the captain.
Serenity’s Song shortly after unmoored and headed east-northeast. Four hours later, they arrived at a line of buoys that encircled the entire south that stretched 250 nautical miles off the coast of south Yeupis. A loud buzzing noise in the air was very apparent—the sound of hundreds of drones floating just on the other side of the buoys.
Manisha strutted to the bow of Serenity’s Song, a grin plastered on her face. She had switched out of her salwar kameez into a looser clothing more suitable for the sea consisting of a loose short-sleeved shirt and a skirt. All eyes were on her due to both her reputation, and rather unbeknownst to her, her looks as well.
“I reckon it’s about time I tell y’all exactly where we’re headed,” she said as she leaned against the railing, admiring limitless bounds of the Global Ocean, its waves lapping at the hull of the ship below. After a few moments given to ensure her voice was heard, she then turned around. “The islands where outsider feet have not stepped in centuries. The Shimajima."
At this point, gasps were no stranger to her. Practically anything she said or did would elicit them, but it was never anything like at that moment. She sensed apprehension in the gazes of many sailors, but they had already made their choice even before the Serenity had set sail. This would be the second time she could not just talk herself into getting her way, the first time having been just that previous day in which Anwen decided to unleash destruction onto the port of Chitran to ensure passage. Ivan quickly came to her aid, as it would help his case if he personally explained why he enlisted Manisha’s help in getting him and his young friends to the islands, which had led to everyone on the ship being there at that moment. He explained his, Anwen and Stefan’s roles in the war against the Titanians, and why this voyage was so crucial to their mission. He was sure to emphasize how this war could potentially lead to a liberated south Yeupis, as well as improved relations with the northerners, and how this war would eventually involve them in one way or another.
“My friends and I won’t be freeloaders,” Ivan ended his address. “And we can start by proving that right now. You see that handsome lad over there?”
He pointed to Stefan who was standing behind the crowd of crewmates beside Anwen and Ilias, the three of them bearing the same exact dumbfounded look on their visages.
They really are all family, Manisha noted, trying her best not to erupt in a fit of laughter in that important moment.
“Him and I are going to get you over this line of floating things, and way clear of it. Captain, how far does this zone extend?”
“Erm, a league,” Rohan confirmed, slightly taken aback by his sudden inquiry. “It isn’t far. But the paleskins set it up that way with the assumption that those drones will take care of stragglers in just a few strikes. They can’t travel beyond this zone, but… are ya sure you can handle it, fella?”
Ivan’s gaze locked with Stefan’s, and a smirk crept over his lips.
“Does anyone else have a better shot at doing it, Captain?”
“I… suppose not.” Rohan admitted.
“Alright, let’s get this thing started.” Ivan chuckled, moving to the centre of the boat. He requested the captain himself take the wheel, and Stefan followed his lead to the mast of the ship. With unspoken intentions, sparks of Reserve exited their respective palms as they touched the giant wooden pole, rapidly crawling up its entire length as the Reserve engulfed it. The sails on the ship became taut from the energy of Reserve, despite there being little wind. Every southerner gazed at the spectacle in awe, but none were as bewildered as Ilias.
“Did Dad ever do anything as cool as that?” the boy asked, his gaze fixed on the phenomenon.
“I… can’t say I ever saw it happen.” Anwen answered bluntly and honestly. If asked, she would’ve agreed that the sight before her was beautiful, but ennui was gradually beginning to take a hold of her.
“Full speed ahead, Captain!” Ivan said, as both his and Stefan’s hands remained on the mast, pumping out powerful doses of Reserve into it, enabling it to move at speeds so great yet so controlled that not a single sailor could’ve fathomed it.
“Hold on to something, y’all!” Manisha ordered in a gleeful fashion as Serenity’s Song whizzed over the buoy line. With each turn of Rohan’s hands, the ship easily dodged the repetitive but deadly strikes from the Titanian drones. While the sailors were all cautious and even fearful as the strikes penetrated the water all around them, it seemed that only Manisha was having the time of her life. Only she understood both how powerful yet vulnerable the Titanians and their tools could be. After all, she had witnessed its full extent, the whole spectrum. Something that not even the northerners onboard could say they had experienced.
As the crew saw the outer line of buoys while approaching the outside edge of the exclusion zone, Stefan and Ivan gave each other thoughtful smirks. The power only they possessed on that vessel was working in their favor. And soon enough, they would be over the line, and a step closer to freedom.