‘Method: Backstitch. Quantity: Twenty-seven,’ Lim’s eyes traveled down the shirt to the sleeve. ‘Method: Star stitch. Material: Same. Color: Same. Break(Five minutes); Action: Check on the kids.’
The rising sun illuminated the bridge in an eerie, gorgeous way. The Ballerina, sailing at a good speed through an undulating sea, was acting like a rocking chair. Something that seemed to please Macha, since his eyes did not stop closing instead of reading the daily lesson. Ivy, was on the corner floor, doing her depth calculations, while Em was steering the ship completely lost in his troubled thoughts.
“Did you finish the chapter, dear?” Lim asked, more to prevent Macha from hitting his forehead on the charts table than out of curiosity.
The boy jumped in fright.“Almost, almost there!” He shifted in his seat and continued reading, with the difficulty of someone who’d never had time to practice. “The dragon lore, dragon Lord-”
A paper ball flew through the room and hit the boy on the head. Lim’s mind calculated the trajectory of the projectile needlessly. At the starting point, there was obviously Ivy, signaling words of discontent. “I cannot talk but I can hear pretty well. Read in silence!”.
“Talk and hear what?” Macha's confusion was obvious and Ivy raised the blackboard with the same written phrase she just signaled. “Oh, all right, sorry Miss Ivy.” The girl hastened to erase the chalk and wrote again making Macha sigh a little. “Fine, fine. No more Miss.”
Ever since Em had brought them down to dive together, Ivy seemed to accept Macha better, though they still didn’t get along. They had minimal contact outside of work, and Macha, who was the type of person who liked to be on good terms with everyone, was getting tired of her attitude.
“Done!” Macha said. “But I have questions.”
“That’s good, dear. That means your brain has worked the lesson.” Lim said.
“Mrs Lim, why were the Golden companies persecuted after the revolution if they were the ones who won it? Wars are supposed to be easy. You win, you win. You lose, you lose.”
‘Year two hundred seventy-two after the fall of the dragon gods. Note: Date based on myths of Hanan - Not conclusive. Rethink: Year seventeen of the reign of Weng-she the Jade King. Famine on the… Famine, war, executions… revolution… death, disease… death, bloodshed… death, death-‘ Lim blinked repeatedly. “Oh, dear. Better ask Em. History is not my expertise.”
“War is simple. What’s complicated is politics. “Em said, trying to hide the desire to talk about the topic. “The revolution was carried out by the working class, the so-called ‘Golden companies’. But who planned it from the beginning were the bourgeois, who had the money but wanted the power held by the king and his nobility. When the revolution got rid of the powerful, the rich put a puppet affined to their interests. And when the common people realized, they already had the Crimson army on top.”
“Is the Dragon Lord that puppet?” asked Macha.
“Aye. But never say that out loud in Hanan if you want to keep your head attached to the body.”
“Good advice.” Macha leaned back in the chair, trying to stretch his back. “Will we do more history tomorrow?”
“Nay. As soon as we enter the Blue Kingdom, we are going to focus on work.”
Macha let out a mischievous smile. The boy did not mind learning, as long as it was something he considered important.
“We are going to practice sign language as well,” said Em. “Ivy cannot be writing on that board forever.”
“All right,” Macha complained, with obvious disappointment. “At least I will learn about sailing.”
“Am I not teaching you about that already?”
“Yes, yes. I meant…” Macha snorted deeply. “I prefer to learn about sailing better than other stuff.” Lim could clearly see that the only reason for his complaints was all sheer laziness.
Em growled. “If you learn to sail, you will be a good sailor. The ‘other stuff’ can open many doors for you. Never underestimate the value of any form of knowledge. Anyway, we are reaching the Wrecks.”
The Captain’s words acted like a charm that infused the two kids with sudden energy. Ivy removed her glasses to look through the window.
'Search(Ivy,vision); Data Not found. - Lim tried to remember. 'Did I Ever know about that?’ Ivy’s amphibious eyes, supposedly designed to see well under and over the surface, had trouble focusing on short sights. The reason for it was a knowledge that, if she ever had it, was lost since Donna’s reset.
“Who is the king of the Blue?” asked Macha.
“The Blue has no king.” Em and Lim replied in unison.
The boy crossed his fingers over the head. “Then why do you call it a kingdom?”
“The last… the one that… ah, I don’t want to talk about it.” Em said, with a tired voice. “Kids, we anchor, you know the drill.”
The two wasted no time in leaving their studies and going out on deck. Em released the controls to approach Lim, dropping to the ground like one of his coal sacks. “I’m so tired,” he said, leaning on the wall.
“I’d be fantastic if you stopped sleeping in the boiling chambers, dear. That dust is not good for your health.”
“I’ll put a hammock outside. There are no mosquitoes in the Blue.” A huge smirk appeared through his mustache. ”Either port crooks or sea dogs.”
Sailing the blue meant safety. A safety that the Captain considered lost since the altercation with the pirates.
“It would be nice if you stop worrying so much about what happened as well.”
“I can’t avoid that. South sea-dogs venturing the waters of the Mamma’Thumbs? Something is wrong, Lim. I can feel it.”
“Whatever it is, we’ll be safe in the Blue, and I’m sure Ced knows what’s going on. He will tell us when we reach the Rigg.“
Em made one of his grunts. ‘I believe you are right, but I will still overthink about it,’ was the meaning of it. It used to amaze her how he could say so much using such a simple form of communication.
Lim would have liked to ask if the gossip in Wei’s tavern affected somehow the piracy truce. If the Kraken had anything to do with it- ‘Security alert. restricted data(Em);’ That was right, she told herself: Em didn’t know Macha slipped about her. He didn’t even know the kid was fully aware of her true nature.
She dug through her data to calculate the chances of that theory by herself. The Kraken Brotherhood were a mercenary gang that used tot bully every corner of North and South. In the North-west cluster, sightseeing of their ships or men were rare even in their headquarters of the Red Island, and during the recent years the red squids had only been seen around the waters of the Sunny islands and the Old Kingdoms.
In the South east, they haven’t sailed the Ring of Commerce for years. Tampraparni had driven them out of their waters long ago, and the rest of the islands were mistrustful towards them. Furthermore, none of the Lords of Piracy would let the squids roam around, nor were they interested in old bounties paid with coins worth nothing in the Ring.
After weighing it for half a second, she decided that although not impossible, the chances that the Kraken’s tentacles had reached the south were negligible.
“Captain. There is a small boat approaching,” Macha shouted from the outside.
Em got up slowly. “When was the last time you took a good breath of fresh air?”
“Two months ago, I think. But I’m fine, oh! wait!” Lim’s complaining didn’t stop him. Em lifted her as if she weighed nothing and wrapped in her blanket, carried her outside.
The sunlight blinded her. “Do You need a hat?“ Asked him. With her hand as a visor, she nodded, and he put her down again in her seat. Macha, with no need of command, had taken her wheelchair and followed, ready to fulfill her needs. “I’ve seen nothing like that.” He said.
Lim looked around. Em had anchored at the entrance of the Hidden bay, not at the docks of the floating city. That meant that they were going to cross over to the Blue Kingdom without spending the night. It was obvious, now that she thought about it, since he had wasted a lot of time in Tampraparni. Still, Em had managed to get there during high tide. The only way, along with Ivy’s help, to cross the barrier of dangers that was the edge of the Blue Kingdom.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Now, the Ballerina, strategically anchored right next to the secret passage, was floating in the middle of an endless sea, only accompanied by a city that also seemed to magically hover over the waves.
“That was once a ship made to fight the Nor’Wes Navy. It was unique.” Said Lim. The rusty siding of a gigantic old hull protruded from behind houseboats and stilt houses.The corpse of an old warship that was once the pride of Jō-Dan and a bitter memory that technology without skill leads to disaster.
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure. What I know is the ship hit the rocks and wrecked. The navy abandoned it and over the years and continuous scrapping incursions, only the hull remained. Others wrecked smaller ships around and, after years, sand piled up.”
“You mean there is an actual island inside there?” asked Macha, impressed. “That explains many things! I was wondering where they get the wood to build all those houses.”
Around the rusty hull that rose like a hill, there was a huddled slum made of countless shanty dwellings and pontoons of boats and floating junk. A somehow functional place with lack of infrastructures, decent makeshift buildings, or any kind of city planning whatsoever.
With the usual awkwardness and amazement of such chaotic sight, Lim dug through her data and found at least thirteen new houses and five newly changed buildings.
“Hey, whose flag is that? it's not among the drawings that Em showed me.” Macha said, wrongly pointing with his finger to the approaching lashed-lug boat.
“Do not use the finger to point, dear. Sea nomads find it offensive.” Lim said.
“Oh, I heard of those people. They roam the waters of the South East, isn’t it?”
“And the waters of the Kingdom as well. They use small boats that can sail the shallows and travel from island to island, living from what the sea can provide.”
“The ones here are definitely not nomads anymore,” Macha said. “How many people live here?”
‘five thousand Tebol nomads, Two thousand Liman nomads, hundred Hanan famil-’ Lim had to blink tightly to put a break on her thoughts. Sometimes it was difficult to have full control of her broken mind. “Thousands I think. But not all are former nomads. The Blue has refugees from all over the world. Whenever there is a war, a famine or a natural disaster, The Kingdom welcomes those in need with open doors.”
“Even Parnis?” Macha asked, incredulously. Lim nodded with a smile and turned her attention to Em, who was showing signs of being overwhelmed. The spyglass in his hand and the approaching flags of the boat drew a chuckle on her that the old captain noticed.
“Is that old Penyu’s boat?” Lim asked.
Em sighed. “Tao-tao is coming to torture me. Let’s do the bartering as fast as possible or I’ll go crazy.”
Em’s words took another giggle out of her. Tao-tao, a Hanan woman turned nomad by marriage, was the matriarch of her clan, the Obol, who were the ones in charge of the Wreck’s trade. The families of the floating city, who lived from the sea and the little they could plant on the hull’s soil, relied on commerce with the islands for everything else. Tao was really old and used to leave the business to her children and grandchildren, but she never wasted the opportunity to annoy poor Em.
Old Penyu made a short hand wave towards the Capitan, who answered the same way. Awee, Penyu’s grandson, jumped into the Ballerina with a smile that showed a white perfect teeth that contrasted with his dark skin. The young man had gained a little weight since the last time, although he still had an enviable athletic body. Awee took Em’s hand and brought it to his forehead while bowing towards him. Em would have whispered something or stared at the boy’s abdomen because he immediately patted his belly and let out a huge laugh.
“Welcome to the Wrecks strangers!” screamed the old Tao from the boat. “We people of the Blue Kingdom will greet you with the kindness and respect of a friend. In us you will find fair traders and welcoming hosts-”
“Are you going to pretend that you don’t know my ship for much longer, old geezer?”
Tao-tao wobbled in anger. “I know a boat that looks like that! Is from a grumpy sailor friend of my husband. But that boat is from the Kingdom! I see no Kingdom flag there!” The old woman pointed to the mast with her little cane.
“Oh.” Em mumbled, raising his eyebrows. “I actually forgot to change flags.”
“Ha! Ottose old pawe here, uh?” Said Tao swiching to her native tongue to speak to her grandson. “You see, Awee? You trade tin komukote tempe saya good deal. Aeh? you do, you do! He senile kan I. You mapawe kan I, iwo!” For an instant, Awee bared his teeth at Lim and bowed his head. He then apologized for his grandmother’s craziness in the nomad language, which Lim vaguely knew.
“All well, all well! Tokelane?” Em waved his hand gently towards the floor and Awee sat crossing his legs.
“My dad is old. Legs pain. Hope you understand.” The nomad said in the common tongue.
“No worries melli Awee. I’ll greet him later.” Em seated in front of the young nomad. “I brought rice and fruits for you this time.”
“Good friend. Melli Em family always give, never want, but it’s Obol’kanan custom and law to exchange, yes? We have seaweed and dry fish for melli Em family.” Awee stopped to greet Ivy effusively, who came from the storeroom with all material needed to cross the shallows.
“Macha dear. I’d like to go inside. It’s getting hot here.” Lim excused herself, receiving in exchange bows and traditional hand-waves of farewell. Macha, who had moved the chair skillfully, ran it aground on the watertight door threshold, needing the help of Ivy.
“If one of these days I piss Ivy off, and she punches me,” whispered the kid once inside. “Please let me have a sailor’s burial.”
Lim, who usually contained her amusement in demurred smiles, couldn’t hold back a laugh this time. “Don’t worry dear, she usually pulls her first punches.”
Macha chuckled. “I think I cannot take even a pulled one.” Lim took off her straw hat and he, like a gentleman, offered to put it away. “Thank you dear. Before you asked about the flag. Which one was it? The green one?”
“Aye! The other one is the Blue Kingdom, although it looks different from the Ballerina’s”
“The green pennant is from the Obol Clan. And the one with two blues and a white circle is the simplified version of the Kingdom. Em uses the more detailed variants of any flags. He doesn’t like the others.”
Macha scratched his head. “Simplified? Like the striped red and yellow from Hanan?”
“Exactly. That one is a cheap version of the three dragons. Not everyone has the money to spend on fancy embroideries.”
“Then, if I was a pirate, I would look for ships with dragons instead of stripes, right?”
The second joke didn’t land as well as the first, and Lim put her lips on a line, making Macha feel uncomfortable.
“Is not that I want to be a pirate… I mean, sure not… Sure, it was just a joke… a joke, yes!” The gibberish babble made Lim smile again.
“Macha, I’ll need your help to enter the Blue.” Em’s entrance saved the kid from his awkwardness. “Ivy will guide us from the water. She will mark the way using two flags. You position yourself on the bow and take two similar ones. Red on the left, white on the right. I need you to precisely raise and low your arms exactly as she does, understand?
“I’ll need your focus to the maximum, son. If you get distracted for a second, we’ll hit the rocks. Aye?”
“Aye, aye Cap’n!” Macha said, appearing to Lim the spitting image of a seasoned sailor.
Em yelled at Rob to start the engine and took the controls. “That was a fast trade,” Lim said.
“The sooner I get away from that hell of a woman, the better. Sorry for the rushing. I promise we will spend more time outside this nut when we reach the Rigg.”
“That sounds nice. I’d like to spend some time in Marie’s library.”
“What for?” Asked Em with his eyes fixed on the outside. His body tensed for the upcoming challenge that was sailing through the dangers.
“I have to refresh the medical formulas. Learn some new cooking recipes.”
Em mumbled in contempt. “What is another word for, wonderful?”
“Ah. How about, marvelous? wondrous?”
“Marvelous sounds great. Marvelous idea Lim.”
“I’d like to practice a bit more of the Tolo language as well. I need to improve it.”
“What?” said Em with a titter. “You cannot improve what it’s already perfect.”
‘Tolo-tongue: deficient level.’ Lim scowled. “Do you think my Tolo is good?”
“Are you joking? It’s great. Not as your Hanan of course, but definitely better than your Hieng-do and Dan’she.”
Lim froze in shock. Her Hanan was good, yes. But she didn’t even remember knowing Dan’she, and her memories brought back a rather shaming knowledge of the Hieng language. She dug deep inside, but nothing conclusive stated. For her, to forget was a premeditated action to make room for other data of greater importance, not a result of the limitations of the human mind. Everything she had lost without her consent was when she broke. When Donna erased the nightmares.
“Dear,” whispered Lim, loud enough the Captain could hear. “I think my memory is failing me. I forget things like an old woman.”
“Well, we both know you’re not as young as you look,” He said, lifting his lips exaggeratedly to make it clear his statement was good-natured.
“I’m serious, Em. I’m a machine. I erase data, not forget it.”
“Hey, hey. Don’t worry,” rushed to say Em kindly. “We will check with Donna when we return to Bandanii. All right?”
“All right,” she answered, her hands busy readjusting the blanket. Em took a risk by looking away from the front, searching for one of her joyful smiles. She thanked him for the support with one of the best. But her lips, as Em’s grouts, could talk with no words. Words no one else could understand. And now, scared and confused, they were screaming for help.