Nubs sat on a crate and watched as Fen put the finishing on the evening meal.

  “Well, you’re a fast learner, I’ll give you that,” Nubs said tasting the food.

  “Thanks.”

  The crew excitedly followed in a line to get their meals. The captain was dining with the crew tonight. She laughed with them as she mingled, giving Nubs a few words and Fen a nod as she took her meal. She waited until everyone else had received their portion before getting in line.

  Fen had been on the ship for a little over a week and was beginning to get a feel for the different groups onboard. There was the few that gathered near Drigs and Ferrul. At least one person in the group was usually giving Nubs, the captain, or Boran a dirty look at any given time.

  Then there was the woman Fen had met during her first day, Mara. She stuck with a few other women that often climbed into the rigging to fix problems. Fen liked them, but they seemed to prefer to keep to themselves apart from Mara. The rest of the crew mixed happily.

  “Enough watching,” Nubs said giving Fen a nudge. “Go sit with people.”

  “I’d rather not,” she said feeling suddenly nervous.

  “Go kid. I’m tired of looking at you back here,” Nubs replied as pushed a bowl in her hands and out from behind the counter.

  Ferrul eyed her as she sheepishly shuffled forward. She avoided his eyes and found Mara waving her over.

  “Wondered when you would venture out from your little hide-hole,” Mara laughed.

  “Yeah, Nubs keeps me busy.”

  “I’m sure he does,” another woman chimed in.

  “Wouldn’t be surprised if he has you making all the meals by yourself before long,” Mara said with a wink.

  “Well, actually…” Fen said motioning to her bowl.

  “No!” Mara laughed. “Don’t let that old fool trick you into all the work. Throw a pot at him if you have to.”

  The group laughed and teased each other as they ate.

  “Seems you’ve found yourself a flock of hens to fly with,” a bitter voice said from behind Fen.

  Drigs looked down at her, nodding towards the other women.

  “Lay off her Drigs,” Mara said pointing her spoon at him.

  “I’m just making conversation with my friend here. It has nothing to do with you,” he said.

  “No luck with a real woman, so you have to try with the kid?” Mara laughed.

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” Drigs sneered. “Haven’t given you hardly a second thought. Besides, not much woman to begin with.”

  “More woman than you’ll even get,” Mara winked at Fen. “I didn’t expect you to have more than one thought anyway.”

  Fen could hear Drigs’ knuckles pop behind her as he made fists.

  “Getting acquainted with our newest shipmate, I see,” Maolen’s voice was perfectly calm as she placed her slender hand on Drigs’ shoulder. Her fingers were long and slender with nails grown to points, almost like claws.

  Drigs coughed and stepped to the side. “Yes, captain,” he said before returning to his seat beside Ferrul.

  “Mara,” Maolen said, turning.

  “Yes, captain?”

  “Boran is concerned we may have a few colonies developing along the hull. Have you noticed anything?”

  “I haven’t captain, but I can take a closer look today, if you’d like.”

  “That would be ideal,” the captain said.

  “Oh, and captain?”

  “Yes, Mara?”

  “Can I take the kid out with me?” Mara asked with a grin.

  Captain Maolen looked at Mara for a moment and began to smile.

  “I suppose that would be fine,” she said before walking towards the stairs.

  “Take me where?” Fen asked.

  The rest of the women were laughing and patting Fen on the shoulder. Mara was grinning.

  “You’ll see. Finish with the old fool and find me on deck.”

  Fen finished her meal quickly and returned to the back room where Nubs was waiting.

  “Seems like you are pretty popular,” he said.

  “Apparently. I guess once I’ve finished cleaning up down here, I’m supposed to help Mara with something.”

  “Is that so?” Nubs laughed. “Well get started on those pots. Let’s not keep her waiting.”

  Nubs didn’t say another word as they began cleaning up after the meal. He laughed occasionally as he scrubbed and stored his half of the bowls. He watched with a smile as Fen finished with her portion of dishes.

  “Go ahead and go topside,” he said waving her off.

  Fen climbed the stairs to the deck. It was a warm morning, and most of the men had shed their shirts as the works throughout the boat. Mara was standing near the primary mast waiting for her.

  “Took you long enough,” she said as she tossed Fen a bundle of rope. “Hold this.”

  Fen watched as Mara began measuring out rope into long rows. She then fashioned loops and knots into nothing that Fen recognized. After a moment she turned to Fen and held it out.

  “Step into the two loops,” said bending down.

  Fen did as instructed, realizing it was type of harness. Mara gave a hard tug upward and Fen was nearly lifted off the ground. She nodded and handed the rope to Fen.

  “Keep pulling on that. Make sure it is secure.”

  Fen did so as Mara secured the other end of the rope to an anchor point on the mast. She then began to create another harness for herself. She gave Fen’s rope a few more tugs, pulling her around.

  “You ready?” she asked as the walked them to the edge of the ship.

  Fen took a step back as Mara climbed up onto the railing. She held her arms out, laughing. She looked back at Fen and smiled before sitting down on the rail and holding out her hand.

  “I’ll help you climb up, come on,” she said.

  Fen gingerly climbed over the rail. She had looked over the edge of the ship numerous times since they had set sail, and it had never bothered her. Now that there was nothing under her feet, Fen felt the world beginning to spin.

  “It’s great, right?” Mara asked. “The rush.”

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  “Yeah…” Fen said quietly, trying to catch her breath.

  Mara shook Fen’s shoulder playfully. “Stop looking down, and look out,” she said.

  Fen slowly lifted her eyes and looked out into the horizon. Something swelled inside of her as she looked across the open sky with nothing in between it and her.

  “There it is. I can see it in your face,” Mara said. “That’s the rush. You ready?”

  “Ready? For wha-” The question was swallowed by a scream as Mara pushed Fen in the back and sent her falling off the edge of the ship.

  The world spun around as Fen fell. Above her the rope grew taunt and she lurched to a halt, swinging towards the electrum encasing the hull. Fen managed get her feet beneath her just as they hit the hull. Above her, Fen heard a yell as Mara dove off the side of the ship. She flipped through the air, spinning just as her rope pulled tight and swung her towards the ship. She landed near Fen, laughing.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” she said in between laughs. “You’ll be begging to come out here soon enough. I guarantee it.”

  Mara walked along the bottom of the ship until she was right beside Fen and handed her a brush.

  “What’s this for?” Fen asked.

  “Ever heard of cloudmites?”

  “They eat electrum, right?”

  “Yeah,” Mara said, inspecting a glowing rune in the electrum more closely before brushing it clean. “They breed or something up here and like to make colonies on ships. We’re going to clean them off.”

  Fen leaned in closer to the ship. It felt like she was bending down to look at the floor, but then she caught a glimpse of the earth far below her and felt everything spin again. She hugged the rope until it stopped.

  “What exactly am I looking for?” she asked.

  “Little silver bugs basically,” Mara said shuffling to a new section.

  Fen looked again at the electrum hull. The various runes glowed a soft blue, though not all of them were lit. Fen noticed a slight flicker to one of the smaller runes. With a deep breath, she took small side steps until she was near   enough to look closely. Crawling beside the rune was tiny, silver creature with shimmering wings.

  “I found one!” Fen called out.

  Mara had moved to another section of ship. “Good now brush it off.”

  Fen ran the brush along the ship, but the mite was still there. It moved around frantically. Fen shuffled again to catch it and tried again, but the cloudmite managed to hang on.

  “They stick hard to the metal,” Mara shouted above her. “Don’t be afraid to get rough.”

  Fen pushed into the brush this time and when she lifted it the mite was gone.

  “Got it!”

  “Good. Where there is one, there is probably another hundred. Keep looking.”

  Fen walked back to the spot she had found the creature. It was getting easier to forget about the fall below her the more she moved around.

  Mara moved along the hull much quicker than Fen, brushing sections and then pushing off the ship to fly to another section. She flipped and twisted as she did, but always landed on her feet.

  “Doesn’t it make you nervous?” Fen asked as she landed beside her.

  “What, that?” she asked point at the ground. “I’ve been doing this since I was younger than you. I love it. I’d rather die falling, than have never flown, anyway.”

  Fen worked along side Mara. With her help, Fen began noticing the mites more easily as they finished the side of the ship.

  “I think caught everything on this side,” Mara said as she inspected another set of runes. “Ready to climb?”

  “I’m ready to have something underneath me.”

  “Don’t get to excited. We still have to do the other side,” Mara laughed.

  Mara followed behind Fen as they slowly climbed up the side of the ship. Fen was sweating by the time they reached the railing. Nubs looked over the edge and held out his hand as she grew close. He gave her a solid pat on the   back as she steadied herself on the deck, laughing.

  “How was it?” he asked, grinning. A few other crewmembers had gathered around.

  “I haven’t decided yet,” Fen answered. Nubs and everyone listening all laughed and nodded.

  “Heard the scream from the storage room,” Nubs said. “Best one I’ve heard in a while.”

  “She did pretty well though,” Mara said as she jumped down from the railing beside Fen. “Anyway, let’s get the other side finished up.”

  Fen followed to the other side and took Mara’s hand to climb up. They stood on top of the rail and looked out. Fen felt the pit of her stomach turn as she looked out.

  “No surprise this time,” Mara said. “Do what I do. Jump, count to three, grab the rope, and turn.”

  Before Fen could reply, Mara leapt off the rail, her hands outstretched. After a moment she grabbed hold of the rope and turned just as the line snapped tight and pulled her in towards the ship.

  “Jump!” she called out from below.

  Fen’s stomach lurched as she looked beyond Mara at the ground far below. The world spun for a minute and Fen closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and jumped.

  Fen opened her eyes and held out her hands for a moment, the air rushing passed her face, before she clung to the rope and turned towards the ship. Above her, the rope drew tight and swung her towards the hull. She landed beside Mara, her heart racing.

  “Not bad,” Mara said. “Only a small yelp that time.”

  “I didn’t know I yelped.”

  “Just a small one,” Mara winked. “Anyway, you start down at the bottom and I’ll work up at bow.”

  The work progressed much faster as Fen grew more comfortable on the side of the ship. One rune was completely covered in mites and took a lot of scrubbing to clean. It was nearly midday by the time they climbed over the edge of the ship. Mara sat on the deck and leaned against the railing.

  “I would kill for a good breeze,” Mara said wiping sweat from her face. Fen nodded as she caught her breath. Another crew member brought them some water.

  Fen turned to Mara to ask about the cloudmites but stopped as she noticed Mara’s expression. Fen followed her gaze to the other side of the ship where a group were yelling and gathering around something.