The Captain's Trial (1)

Writers: Anaria
Date Posted: 1st June 2011

Characters: Tiernan, Falorgan, Fievan
Description: The Seawing prepares for a storm.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 2, day 8 of Turn 6

It was nearing midday and the sea was calm. Eerily so. There were no
wherries in the air, no dolphins in the water. The winds had gone
still, slowing the Seawing down to a bare crawl. The weather reports
when they'd left Dolphin Cove a sevenday prior had indicated a small
storm, but Tiernan had a bad feeling about things. There was nothing
scholarly about his feeling - it was more gut instinct than anything
that could be solidly defined.

"Captain," one of his deckhands called. "Should we turn around? Or try
to maneuver around it?" Tiernan smiled in amusement. The deckhand was
an apprentice, who they'd picked up at Dolphin Cove. He had struggled
with his seasickness for a few days, and was just now becoming
adjusted to calm seas. He'd need to have a word with the Master who
assigned him to the Seawing about making sure apprentices had at least
one extended trip under their belts before they were to complete the
long trip up north.

"It's not supposed to be that severe, I'm sure we can sail through it.
We have a schedule to keep, and the lack of wind is putting us behind
enough already," Tiernan said. While the supplies they were taking
North weren't perishable, they were important. Gauging by the
conditions, Tiernan assumed they had at least a few candlemarks before
the storm began.

He set out to begin preparing his ship for the worst. "Tie everything
down!" He ordered commandingly. "Last and most important of all,
yourselves." Squirt had already hidden himself in the Captain's Cabin,
and was refusing to come out. That more than anything else was sign of
what was to come. Squirt hated to be stuck inside - since his
Hatching, he'd been permitted to fly around the ship at his leisure.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The sails had been tied down, slowing
their progress even more. Tiernan had gathered all of the maps and
sealed them in a waterproof tube. He would figure out where they were
after it was through.

The apprentice deckhand stood nearby, fidgeting anxiously. "Where were
you born, apprentice?" Tiernan asked.

"Sapphire Meadows, sir," the apprentice replied.

"Sapphire Meadows? So the only boats you saw as a child were
riverboats?" Tiernan said with some amusement.

"Aye, Captain. I had hoped to be assigned to a riverboat. But... I
told the Master that I'd been out to sea..."

"Ah, so now the confession comes out. Well, I can tell you honestly,
if this is your first sevenday out to sea, this storm will likely
cause you to rethink your choice of crafts," Tiernan said.

The apprentice's eyes widened in shock, and he hurried off to busy
himself below decks.

"Bos'n!" Tiernan called out, summoning Boatswain Falorgan.

"Yes Captain?" Falorgan responded quickly.

"All ship's maintenance is up to date? Everything's waxed, tarred and
tallowed?" Tiernan asked.

"Aye Captain. She's as good as she's going to get," Faloran answered.
"I think the storm is going to be far worse than we were told though."

"I agree. The last time I saw the the sky this dark it was a hurricane
near Dolphin Cove. But we were at port then, so it wasn't nearly so
bad," Tiernan said. He'd been at see for hurricanes before, but never
as Captain. "I do hope that we're wrong though."

Tiernan kept his gaze focused on the sky. Dark, angry clouds had
hidden Rukbat from view, and he knew from the rise in humidity, and
the feeling of electricity in the air that the storm would be starting
shortly. Nodding to himself, he did one last walk of the ship. All
non-essential crew were below decks, and absolutely everything that
could be tied down had been.

He stopped at the Mess Hall, where his crew was collected. "Alright,
quiet down, I need to talk to you!" He shouted to be heard over the
ruckus of anxious sailors. "I know most of you have been through this
before, but there are a few new apprentices who've not weathered their
first storm yet. If you go above deck, or return below deck, you are
to check in with the Quartermaster. If you see anyone go overboard,
inform either myself of the Quartermaster immediately. Don't try to
help them yourselves or you might end up overboard with them. When
you're above deck, make sure you're tied down. We don't want anyone
going overboard if we can prevent it. And don't take this as an excuse
to take to drinking too much, we're going to be rotating people up
top, so be ready for your shift."

As is typical, if you see a leak, take care of it to the best of your
ability until the carpenter can have a look and see what he can do.
Understand?"

"Aye aye Captain!" Came a chorus of responses. Tiernan grabbed a
wherhide jacket, which had been coated in order to resist water
better. He pulled on a knit hat and took a deep breath, as he surveyed
his crew.

"Alright, now that that's all gotten cleared up, who's seen my bottle
of rum? I need at least a bit to get me through what is to come!"
Tiernan said with a mischievous grin.

The ship's cook walked over to him and handed him the bottle, which he
took a hearty swig of. "Alright men, let's show this storm what the
crew of the Seawing is made of!"

Last updated on the June 13th 2011

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The Captain's Trial (1)