Chapter 21

                                    

                                          
"I'll relieve Tonya," the captain said as he poured himself a cup of tea.
                          
Well, not poured, Clarissa reflected. The captain was holding a turkey baster over what looked like an old-timey water skin, inflating it with tea. It was as strange a sight as anything she had seen on this voyage full of oddities.
                          
She and everyone else in the room were sitting around one of the tables, carefully snacking on a plate of biscuits Leslie provided. The plate was current in a slow spin, about two inches off the table, and the food tucked into a small sheet of burlap that had been tacked around the plate.
                          
"Imagine you'll want to scout for other ships," Mercy said, moving to stand up.
                          
"I'll take the controls on the top deck. I don't expect any trouble on this side of the Ruins. Frankly doubt we'll see another ship before we reach Idlewind," the captain said as he capped the water-skin. "But this voyage has involved more surprises than I'm comfortable with. Think I'd rather see the next one coming."
                          
"So you can decide at your leisure what kind of shot to load the Banshee with?" Mercy asked.
                          
"Exactly," the captain said. He attached the water-skin to his belt, reached over the table, and took a biscuit. "I'll call if I see anything, but unless Corsairs took to ambushing ships on the far side of the Ruins, where ships never go, we should see open skies until Idlewind."
                          
"Sounds good, captain. Stay warm out there," Mercy said.
                          
The captain stepped out the door and moved towards the bridge, out of sight.
                          
Clarissa turned back to the table where Yannick and Leslie were staring intently at a group of four blocks set in the air between them. Yannick has another block in his hand, and he reached out with it, and carefully set another block out to join the others.
                          
"What are you playing?" Clarissa asked.
                          
Leslie took a block out of the bag and extended it to Clarissa. "Old Wayfarer game called Ba'Tal. We take turns adding blocks to a shape, and the person to ruin it by knocking the blocks away loses."
                          
Clarissa took the blocks and looked them over. They were well-sanded wooden squares, simple and unadorned. While she looked, a meaty finger appeared at the top of the bag and pointed down. "It's your turn," Leslie said.
                          
Clarissa nodded and took out a block. "Anywhere on it?" She asked.
                          
"Anywhere," Yannick agreed.
                          
Clarissa extended the block to the stack and tried to put another block to meet the end of the row. But she tapped the group with her block and sent them drifting towards Leslie. 
                          
"Trick is to leave the block as close as you can without actually touching the rest," Leslie said as he scooped up the blocks Clarissa had knocked away. 
                          
Clarissa nodded and left her block in the air. "Shall we start over?"
                          
Yannick nodded and set a block next to hers. Leslie went next, and in a succession of a dozen quick turns were well on their way to building a strange, twisting edifice. As Clarissa tried to add a block into a small crevice, she was startled when Tonya stepped inside and sat down.
                          
"So, since we're off duty, who wants to drink?" Tonya asked.
                          
"We have tea," Mercy said, and she set the last glass beside Tonya. "If you want something stronger, you'll have to wait until we reach Idlewind."
                          
"Mercy just ain't fond of drinking games," Tonya explained, emphasizing her point by prodding Clarissa in the ribs just as she was trying to set her block. She knocked their drifting edifice hard enough that it broke in half and spun about as pieces broke off and drifted away.