Another few beats passed. It was just past fullbright before they had a chance to be called into the purser’s room. The purser emerged and pulled a group of platoonmates into his office. “Moseme, Tomel, Fayn, Yuesell, Moro; come on in.” The latch of the door clicked heavily as they shambled into the cabin. Inside, it was standing room only.

He flipped through a lectern on his holding a massive ledger. There were at least a dozen inkwells about, dry and featherless. Holding a small quill pen he made scratches over the paper, checking off the names he had completed from the prior round. This aging gentleman’s mind was clearly in a lag, filled with numbers and accounts.

“Fayn, Moro. You both will receive full pay for your Novice grade. 3,268 Karats for your six weeks of training, as well as an additional 422 for your provisional grade, totaling 3,690 Karats. Taxes have already been deducted from this amount.”

Both of them were accustomed to the military pay system of Argentis, but had never had this much money of their own at any given time. They were barely entering their adult lives. This pay was equal to; several thousand loaves of bread, or three grads rent for a single-family home of four bedrooms in the capital, or a gradly lease for a two-masted aeroship of their own.

The accountant weighed out the necessary gema to make up 3,690 carats of weight on a scale, removed the weights, and then equaled the scale to make two piles; one for Albe, and the other for Temora. The remaining three people in the room were now aware that the two of them were carrying a substantial wealth on their person. The military did have a locker system for them in the storage hold, but that too had its risks.

Once the actuary was finished, he placed the assorted-sized gemin into their relative sacks. They were not at all a burden, but were heavy for money. Like a small sack of dry rice or beans. Both of the fresh soldiers bowed to the man to thank them for the payment, and stood back to allow the others to approach.

“Tomel, Yuesell. You both will receive sixty percent pay for your grade of Novice. That would be... 1,960 Karats for your six weeks.” Both of them looked at each other. Price Tomel’s eyes were lost in the scales as the stones were being measured out. Seemed like he was surprised to see money from this process at all. Mr. Yuesell was decades older compared to the rest of the platoon and was married. He respectably accepted the payment as if it was a gift. For him, the opportunity to be here meant a great deal.

“Moseme. You... hmmm... Hold on.” That certainly wasn’t a good sign. Cole already knew what was coming. The fact that his pay was being discussed at all was more news to him than he expected. “It looks like you have over eighty-five percent in garnishments on your record. Let me take a look at this.” Cocole pressed his thumbs into his brow, squatting down toward the floor. Not out of distress, but rather embarrassment. Nobody needed to know about this other than him.

“Let me make a deal with you Mr. Moseme.”

“Okay, I’ll hear it out... what can I do.”

“One of your garnishments is for asylum fees, which compared to your other debts are negligible. That can be stuck off today. You have a tax levy from your first year here which I’m not even sure is legal for them to try to collect. I’ll take that off too. That will bring the garnishment down to eighty percent... best I can do.” He pursed his lips tightly as he made the arrangements.

“I... uh... thank you. I don’t know what to say.”

“Just try not to incur any further debts Mr. Moseme. With an eighty percent garnishment, you get 652 Karats for six weeks.” Cocole was elated to see there be any value given at all. “If you stay in the military for four years, your debts will be entirely cleared. After two years your taxes will be paid, and you’ll have the option to restructure payments. You’a be making better pay anyway.” Cocole’s debt was in excess of a quarter million Karats.

“Four years.” Temora mouthed in a whisper audible to everyone in the small room.

“I did not imagine his debt be to that extent.” Albe too was surprised to hear it from the record.

Cocole extended his reach to claim his well-earned parcel. It wasn’t much, but with his food and lodging covered; he had nothing basic needs to spend it on. However, Cocole had plans for the money regardless. “This I think might be enough if I find the right place. Think I could take out a small loan from you, friend.” He met Albe eye to eye, with the purser glaring him down.

“We can discuss it when we get lodged. I don’t even know where we are going to sleep.” Albe smiled in the way that was unique to his bloodline. His father made the same high-lipped, toothy expression.

The purser excused the five soldiers from the room, while simultaneously cycling in five more bodies. Price and Mr. Yuesell quickly broke off to find their bunks leaving the three of them outside with the remaining soldiers from the platoon.

“We should go find a good place to set up. I hear nobody wants to be on the lower deck. Probably good on us to check there first.” Albe approached the steep stairs and ascended a single flight, followed by Cole, then Temora.

This was an astute observation made by the experienced soldiers onboard. The most likely deck of the ship to be hit by cannon fire was the leapover deck, as it contained a majority of the aeroship’s operational capacity; including the magazines which give it the ability to return fire. Below that was the hold. While the hold was an easy target, it had a bulk of the hull structure which armored it well. Also, crewmen were not permitted to sleep there even if they wanted to.

The upper and middle gun decks were protected primarily by the ship’s nacelle struts and steel back plate. These nacelles were specifically engineered to counteract fire from main guns, and had glacis-angled metal armor designed to redirect cannonball impacts around the ship. Aside from this, countering an enemy’s capacity to return fire was secondary to disabling the ship’s ability to maneuver or remain aloft.

Strategically speaking, the most likely place that a soldier had permission to sleep that was going to be targeted by main guns, was the lower gun deck. Interestingly, the officers were housed in the least likely place to take fire. Atop the quarter-deck, in the grand cabin.

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Albe directed them toward the middle third of the ship, close to the wedges holding in the middle mast. “I gave it mind while we were waiting. We should bunk here.” Albe was already making himself at home in the bunks here, and unpacking his belongings.

“This is dangerous for us though right?” Cocole was far from cowardly, but he saw the writing on the rafters, so to speak. Temora similarly questioned his eagerness to settle on a choice before getting any feedback, and stood steering him down in an inquisitive posture; deserving of an explanation.

“At dead stern, we have the lavatories which would make us all miserable. Before brightset, all of the upper decks were packed.” Expanding his arms he gestured around himself widely. There were a total of seven bodies in the lower gun deck. “We put ourselves next to the mast. We have this tree to protect us.” He slapped the barkless former trunk that was now the middle mast.

“We have a bit of a walk to the top deck sure, but we’re close enough to the steward to get our rations first. In exchange, we are slightly more likely to die during an attack.”

The other two looked at each other, and then toward Albe in agreement. Because of the way the beds were installed around the mast, they were tucked around it from all sides with an open void in the middle. Perfect for storage. The area around the mast was some of the thickest wood on the ship which provided great cover. On the floor was an emergency scuttle which led to the deck below.

Bunks on the vessel were stacked three high with an arm's length between each level. A little cramped, but it was meant to accommodate as many soldiers as possible. The decks were less than a man and a half high. The tallest of the soldiers had to dodge the lower hanging beams on occasion. The three of them were just the right height for this bunkset to be ideal.

Argentis’ military formation hierarchy encouraged team solidarity. Six men were needed to man each main gun. Fire teams would swap sides, and not every canon would be operated in unison. This meant two bunksets, each with three men, were constructed between each cannon emplacement. The center column of the ship, which was not being used for lifting cargo, had extra bunkspace. This is where the three of them were stationed.

Each bunk, unlike the compartments on the campus, had large lockers attached to the bed frame for each bunk level. They had almost three times the interior space than the trunk she was accustomed to, but it was all from depth. A smaller adult could probably fit inside it entirely. She contemplated momentarily if she could fit her superior Serra into the locker, and deemed it likely.

Temora put her rucksack deep into the locker and locked it with its provided simple latch; operable by anyone. This prevented its shutter from being opened by sudden changes in the direction of gravity. She was proud to have found a way to secure her gemin in the rucksack without it spilling into the inside of her bag.

During the rest of the evening, they made themselves at home in the bunk area, as less fortunate soldiers were running out of places to shack into. On these military aeros, there were just more than enough beds to hold everyone. Not every person would be paired with crewmates they knew or would be comfortable with. Further signifying the importance of being first to a site. It gave you the appearance of being coordinated, and thus dependable.

Every member of the crew had to assist in bringing the sails up through the grates with hoists from the leapover deck. This had to happen anytime a ship would be parked in port for more than a few nights. Rarely would the Port Authority be satisfied with the sails being lowered when a ship was parked at home. The risk of wind knocking the ship into the aeroina was too great.

Thankfully, the large sails were folded on top of floatskids. Lifting them through the decks was painless. Taking less time than it took to polish off the bowl of stir-fried rice they were inconveniently served just before. There were 24 sails in total. Getting them back into place on the mast was a more laborious task, and would take all night.

Albe, Cocole, and Temora went to the top deck where the sails were being hoisted into place. Temora knew the mechanics of operating the rigging for these sails, but had never done so in practice. She had never tied off lines, nor manipulated the position of any sail. Fresh to the skies, she still had to learn the ropes.

Albe sailed with his father across the skyways prior to his settlement in Argentis. Cole had voyaged with his parents as a young boy, but had further experience doing dock work for spare karats. Of the three, Cocole was by far the most practiced in the jobs needed on an aeroship. It was his time to teach the others a thing or two; for once.

It was not long after they went up to the top deck when the sirens sounded. As this happened, one at a time everyone hunkered to sit on the deck floor. Albe and Temora were confused, with Cocole pulling them by the hand toward the floorboards. “They’ll turn the lanterns on for us.” He projected clearly. “See.”

His index finger followed a group of men running between predetermined positions lighting oil lanterns. These lanterns had large lenses to focus the light that they produced. Columnated beams crossed the deck in the direction that they were pointed.

After a moment, the area around them flashed into darkness. For half a step, pedestrians on the docks also paused walking to prevent getting startled by the change. "Having us sit is a safety thing." Cole clarified to the unaired people on deck. That part wasn't in the training, but Temora had seen them do so before; most people had. She knew she was supposed to, but it did not come to her mind when the sirens sounded.

Now that the source was dark, she could barely see the pedestrians on the streets. Only those next to the windows of the shops and restaurants were visible. The ritzier establishments had gem lighting, which bled out to illuminate the street. The Port Authority's officers had lanterns on them as well, which were now alight.

Artificial and analog lighting weren't the only sources that she could see. Many of the higher-ranking military and government personnel possessed gemin which all passively radiated colored light, making them difficult to conceal. Most prominently, adherents of the daynist religion had necklaces that contained wire-wrapped white gemin stones. These were the brightest light-emitting objects that she could see. Temora made a mental note to try to get one herself.

A few of the crewmates also had these necklaces. Enough, that they were an entire secondary set of mobile lights. Given Argentis' vast military resources, they could probably get a white gemin into the hands of every soldier. However, a number of them were being snapped up by the growing daynist religion. Not to mention, also for the white gemin's magical properties; which could treat and mend wounds. They had better places to be than as a source of light.

"It's easier to see up here than I thought it would be." Temora, smiling, glanced over to Cole who was helping up Albe from his squatted position.

"I thought so too." Cocole the jinx of cosmic coincidence spoke, just as a large contraption was opened behind him; on top of the stern deck, above the grand cabin. This contraption was three mirrored parabolic dishes, each with a white gem at its center. The parabolic dishes were covered with mirrored blinds which when opened, bathed the entire deck with blinding gemlight.

Long shadows streamed across the deck floor, as soldiers eclipsed the standing floodlight. In the far distance, another could be seen coming to life, and then a third. In total, the six ships that would make up their fleet could be seen across the disk-shaped platforms of the aeroina. Their gemlight made them shining beacons in the night. In the sky, even the twinklers became a little harder to see.

Almost everyone on board was surprised by this. Such a device would have cost the military more than a deck full of cannons. This was a device that they had not heard of, nor had considered. Nobody was trained to use it, other than the captain of the ship who was standing directly behind the device. Its blinding light gave her an appropriate silhouette.

She turned to about-face in a single step, signing off with a salute. Not a word came from her. No other communication than the implied acknowledgment they should be thankful for the improved conditions. Good thing for the captain, the crew was so grateful they heckled her playfully as she returned to her quarters.