Splintered Light
Chapter 4.1: Duplicity Revealed?

The shout from the rigging was enough to send the majority of the crewmen aboard the Wave Rider into a frenzy of activity.  Considering the first airship had caught the seagoing vessel by surprise there hadn't been time to prepare for an encounter but, now that there was it was as if everyone had lost their head and nobody knew what to do.  Nobody that was, of course, except Willem Zuider.

The sailor that came nearest to the Goat was Kalvin Flax, a Bear Cat from Lehsunia who had been with the crew for just over two years; Willem reached out and grabbed the man by the front of his tunic.  "Mr. Flax.  Have The Boar signal the new arrival and open dialogue."

Duncan Brown, the Wave Rider's flagger was one of the few men on board not called by his surname.  Most of the crew thought that Willem gave the Pig the nickname so as to differentiate him from Lucas Brown, a Lehsunian Wolf who worked as a laborer and sculler, but in truth the Goat simply never gave much care about the man; Foreman Zuider knew how to sign so the otherwise lazy Boar was all but expendable in his eyes.

Willem continued moving about the top deck, shoving crewmen back to their spots, shouting orders for the seamen to get back to business as usual.  At one point he had to address several gawking men at once, shouting "So it floats on air and not on water-- it's still just a ship you lollygaggers, now GET BACK TA WORK!"

Glancing up toward the sails, the Goat was dismayed to see that, not only was Viktor absent, but the rigging crew wasn't nearly as distracted as those on the deck... all thanks to the Soyrian Lumber Dog who seemed to be doing a fine job of keeping everyone moving.  The Foreman trudged along the deck, grating his teeth and grumbling; originally Nikolay had been slated as a member of the carpentry team considering his background with wood, but for whatever reason the damnable Hare got hold of him instead.  The Husky's success with guiding the riggers was just one more thing for Willem to grouse about.

He didn't have any more time to stay caught up in his own head; with the visiting crewmen from the Joshew disembarking on their strange chain-lift that meant the Bosun was on the move and heading right toward Willem.  The Goat stood to attention, turning to face his superior.  "Aye, sir?"

Rolf wasted no time with pleasantries and got straight to the point; it was one more thing about the Prong Horn that the Goat appreciated.  "Mr. Zuider, Ash-Moon tells me that Captain Jacksoni has requested all officers to meet him in his cuddy once our visitors had--"

A new call from Nikolay shouted down at them from above. "Bosun!  Airship to starboard!  Constant bearing, decreasing range!"

It was a blatant warning; the Wave Rider was drifting along with the current at what was most likely two knots or less with the Joshew keeping pace above it.  If what the Husky was shouting from above was accurate then the second airship was aiming to intercept.  The Foreman bleated out for The Boar.  "I WANT THOSE DAMN FLAGS MOVING... NOW!  Can anyone see a damn ensign?  What flag's she flying?"

Somewhere off to the side, Tobias Severna (the voice was unmistakable) commented "Airships are actually referred to as 'he', just so you know.  It was decided by the--"

Willem wasn't interested in hearing it.  "Stow it, Master Severna-- there'll be time for school lessons later."

Mr. Vopello, the Wave Rider's resident Fox had a spyglass and was ready with a reply once the Prong Horn fell silent.  "UPU, Foreman.  I feel as though they are here to speak with the Joshew."

The first part of the statement was enough for the Goat; the Fox had a habit of adding opinions and 'guesses' in with any of his reports.  Chances were that Salvatore was playing the odds and assuming the purpose of its approach; he was one of those damnable con artist 'seers' from Ilyse so it wouldn't be that much of a reach... completely within his craft to make up a story to go with his observation.  "Mr. Volpello-- find Mr. Lews and get him up on deck.  I'm meeting with the Captain."

The Fox snapped to attention then ran off. "Aye, sir."

The Bosun had taken the intervening moments to first calm his brother, and then speak with Viktor, who had never left the deck.  When the Hare bounded off toward the front of the ship it brought a question to Willem's mind.  "Where's he going?"

Rolf rested a hand on the Goat's shoulder, leading him back toward the Captain's cabin.  "I had Viktor go collect Karl... apparently Alisitair wants everyone-- we have something important to discuss."

Willem didn't much care for surprises but he also realized that he was at the Captain's disposal so he would be patient to wait and find out.  Taking the opportunity to observe the just-visible airship on its approach he reasoned that they would have perhaps ten minutes at most until it was within gun distance... less than that if they had artillery on board.

He hoped whatever the Captain had in mind was worth the distraction... or at least wouldn't take that long to discuss.  Letting out a sigh, the Goat followed after the Bosun.  "It has already been a long day, Sir.  Safe to say it'll be longer yet?"

Rolf smiled back at the Goat.  "Your guess is as good as mine, Willem... but in my experience the more secretive the Captain gets the more 'interesting' his reasons."

The Foreman snorted; that was precisely what he himself was thinking.  The Goat had to stop and wait for the Bosun to dismiss his brother.  "Toby-- why don't you go check on the good Doctor?  I'm thinking she could use a sane point of view after what happened."

Tobias, as usual, was not very helpful.  "After what happened I'm not sure MY point of view is sane."

The Bosun was more firm in his dismissal.  "This is an officers only meeting, Budder-- go spend some time with your girl."

Willem smiled silently to himself when the scientist puffed up with reddened ears; there was something about the otherwise quiet and subdued man that always ended up rubbed the wrong way after interacting with Rolf for any length of time.  Truly, they were brothers.  Once Tobias had left and the two approached the captain's cabin the Goat pressed the Bosun for more information despite realizing that the Prong Horn likely had no more than he.  "Good or bad surprise, do you wager?"

The Prong Horn chuckled as he opened the door to Alistair's cuddy.  "I suppose we shall find out... won't we?"

The Foreman was hoping that exact same thing but was surprised at how quickly the answer was given; seated at the medium-sized table that took up a good portion of the room was Captain Jacksoni and a fetching young Human woman with curly red hair dressed in what appeared to be a very well-fitted nightgown.  Willem remained right where he was, mind stuck without oars in the middle of a calm.  He was an older Goat, but he wasn't dead, and the lady at the table did an excellent job of reminding him of that.  Willem numbly closed the door behind himself.

Rolf was the first to recover from the shock, and did so with a flourish of humor.  "Captain! I had no idea you were entertaining today... and it appears to be a very pleasant visit.  Should the men and I return when everyone is propper?"

Captain Jacksoni was usually the jovial sort who didn't mind the Bosun's occasionally off-beat sense of humor, but the scowl provided by the Tiger immediately stalled Prong Horn's banter, and the following comment shut him up entirely.  "This is Fräulein Emma von Kreideburg... she took shelter over from the North Star and the men from the Joshew would likely kill her if they knew she was here."

Although Doelichian and Wyranese were very similar languages Willem didn't know more than a few words of the foreign country's tongue but he knew a little about their aristocracy.  "Baron Otto von Kriedeburg's daughter?"

The woman, perhaps in her very early twenties still managed to summon up an aristocratic air about her despite being dressed in hardly-proper nightwear.  Remaining seated, she slowly stirred a teacup filled with what the Goat thought smelled like spiced tea.  She addressed him in very clean Mehnzilian with only the faintest hint of a Wyranese accent; she was obviously well-schooled.  "The same, Sir.  I was sent to represent my father's interests aboard the Nordstern during its voyage."

Rolf, who had still not managed to recover from his hoof-in-mouth moment added a comment that even Willem realized was only going to stuff it further down his throat.  "Don't Lords usually send their sons for such a task?"

Despite the uncouth nature of the comment, Lady von Kriedeburg handled the response with courtly grace.  "I am the elder of his two children and my brother is currently in poor health.  He was one of two reasons for our trip in the first place."

Alistair, who had obviously spent far more time with the Human woman than either of them elaborated.  "The Nordstern was tasked with delivering her kid brother to the University in Lehsunia for medical care; one of their physicians there is familiar with his malady.  On the way back they were tasked with delivering an important piece of equipment to Baron von Kreideburg, who is one of the University's few allies in Wyra."

Willem didn't find that surprising, and he made his views known.  "It makes sense after the Univerity laid waste to their navy."

Once again, the young lady showed her poise and tact in her reply.  She spoke as she set down her spoon before taking a sip from her tea.  "A terrible event to be sure, but not all of Wyra agreed with Freiherr O'Dell's decision to invade Lehsunia, hence my father's continued support of the UPU."

A knock at the door signaled more of the officers had arrived.  "Captain?"

Willem recognized Viktor's voice right away and responded accordingly. "This is an Officer's meeting, Hare."

Captain Jacksoni held out a tray of scones to Lady Von Kriedeburg as he spoke.  "It's fine, Willem. I asked for all of the officers who could spare the time to be in attendance and that includes Viktor."

The Hare entered the cabin, nodding respectfully to the Tiger before shooting the Goat a dirty look.  Viktor moved to stand next to Rolf, not saying a thing about the woman present and, in all sense, appeared to be ignoring her completely.  He closed the door behind himself.  "All accounted for, Sir.  First-Mate's staying on-deck to manage things.  Master-at-Arms and Gunner'll be along after they review plans... just in case."

Alistair nodded at the Hare's explanation; it only made sense that Jacques and Karl would take a few extra minutes to prepare; an incoming airship wasn't a standard event and Willem himself would have been more than a little distressed had they not put at least SOME thought into it before surrendering their posts to underlings.  "Thank you, Viktor."

The Rigger simply nodded.  "Sir."

The Captain made introductions.  "Viktor, this is Lady Emma von Kriedeburg .  She is my guest for the time being, and is under my protection.  I have reason to believe that the crew of the Joshew would mean her harm.  Fräulein, this is Viktor.  He serves as chief rigger aboard the Wave Rider.  Also with us are the ship's Bosun, Rolf Severna, and the ship's Foreman, Willem Zuider."

The Human woman nodded in a prim and proper way to each man as he was introduced but otherwise said nothing.  Once the pleasantries were out of the way she looked back to Alistair and spoke candidly as she returned the serving plate to him.  "If there is a second airship then they will be able to vouch for the Nordstern's innocence... we had no spies, thieves, or anyone by the name of 'Alarice' aboard."

Rolf huffed slightly.  "I had no idea the University had more than one airship."

It was a step up from Willem's knowledge, who wasn't even aware of one... but he didn't volunteer that information.  Alistair spoke instead, addressing the Bosun.  "I remember hearing tales about the UPU using airships as mobile gun batteries... very effective in repelling the Wyranese invasion of Lehsunia.  I suppose I always imagined at least half a dozen if they were able to make so great a difference."

The Baron's daughter remained passive during the exchange, sipping from her cup until Alistair had finished saying his piece, and then she made her comment.  "Seven in total.  I was given the honor of being shown six of them.  The seventh was the first airship to fly, and was a prototype to the very vessel that now hovers over us."

Willem wasn't familiar with the word 'prototype', but, then again, there were a lot of words used by the University that went far beyond his understanding; half the time he had reason to believe that they made up their own language-- but he stopped dwelling on that; a more important thought entered his mind.  "So you've been aboard the Joshew, Fräulein?  How well do you know it?"

Alistair served himself up a scone off the plate he'd taken back from the Human woman and he motioned for everyone to join them at the table.  "We have already discussed that... and her experience aboard the Joshew was not much more in depth than our own.  Based on the experiences the Fräulein here had with him  I have reason to believe that the honorable Captain Clarke may be anything but honorable and may have gone rogue."

Emma set down her cup.  "He was not pleased when he heard that the University was sending a Sounding Drum to Wyra."

Rolf flicked an ear.  "And a Sounding Drum is...?"

There was silence at the table for many long moments until the Captain spoke up.  "The explosion that destroyed the North Star-- that was the Sounding Drum."

The Human woman nodded.  "It was, yes.  They broke into the Nordstern's hold and took the detonator.  They were retreating to a safe distance to destroy it it when you arrived... and... well... the rest you know."

Willem began to fit the pieces together in his mind but continued to say nothing.  Either the North Star was a diplomatic ship sent to transport the ailing child of a Wyranese nobleman or it was a clandestine venue for espionage.  If the former were true then the Joshew was captained by a rebel University officer who had no qualms about slaughtering the innocent.  If the latter were the case then the Wave Rider was harboring a woman who could very well be a criminal... a spy... or both.

Any further discussion was disrupted as the door to the cabin was thrown open and Jacques barged in, speaking quickly, assimilating and disseminating information at remarkable speed. "Captain!  The Joshew is leaving with the wind at full speed and the other airship is changing course to intercept!  Hello, m'lady, you must be the Baron's daughter.  Flaggers from the new contact denote that the Joshew was stolen by rogue elements within the--"

Jacques was bodily hefted up and moved to the side of the door as Karl entered into the room like a stampeding bull.  He glanced around as if looking for something right up until his eyes zeroed in on the Human woman; the strong hint of recognition was unmistakable and he blurted out in Wyranese "Emma?  Du lebst!"

Etiquette and courtly grace forgotten, the young woman surged up from her chair and crossed the room in a flash, throwing herself against the Rottweiler as she gave him as big a hug as she could manage despite their size difference.  She cried out, as if a little girl encountering a long-absent family member.  She responded in their native tongue as well. "Seekadett Karl! Gott sei Dank! Sie sind hier!"

The Dog folded around the girl, returning the embrace in what seemed strangely personal and comfortable for the otherwise formal and stand-offish Gunner.  His rumbling voice actually seemed softened and he held her as if she were a little sister. "Nein, meine Kleine.  Ich habe die Marine verlassen.  Es heißt jetzt nur noch Karl."

There was a history between them and a man more interested in relationships might have cared, but Willem was not such a Goat.  "So... back on course then, Captain?"