Second Wind-Chapter Two

Arrival

        Far above the surface of Toril, the Delkao's Revenge hung silently
among the stars. Scars from old battles long past riddled her hull, but her
crew swore a finer ship had never been built. Two hundred and fifty feet
from stem to stern, she was a formidable match for many of the would-be
pillagers of wildspace. For two days the crew had circled the planet waiting
for their secondary helmsman, Torosa, to return from dirtside and they were
getting restless. Unlike previous stops, there was to be no shore leave, and
cabin fever was beginning to set in. Several altercations had broken out
recently, and while few had come to blows, tensions remained high for those
on board.
        Deck officer Gisel Kalavash paced the Revenge's deck, waiting.
Torosa was due back any minute, and with each step she grew more impatient.
Tall, tan, and heavily muscled, she kept her dark hair cropped short to
match the styles most of the men on her shift favored. More than one man had
made the mistake of confusing her with "one of the guys".
    It was a mistake they never repeated.
        Gisel placed her hands on the side rail and leaned forward, gazing
down to the planet below. She wondered briefly how the new blood would take
to seeing Toril from space for the first time. Her fingers tightened on the
handrail. Well, however he reacted didn't matter as long as Torosa got back
up to the ship soon. She preferred to have the Revenge underway than stuck
in orbit doing nothing. Especially since they were in a hurry to get back to
Spiralspace.
        "Ship off the port side!" cried the lookout.
        Gisel squinted, trying to spot the vessel. She could barely make out
the small dot moving across the starry background. The Hadozee was good. Too
bad he was so damn annoying.
        "Can you identify it?" She shouted up to the crow's nest.
        "Wreckboat. She's approaching,"
        "It's ours. Shuttle crew, prepare the deck!"
        "Ship approaching off the port side!"
        Gisel stopped.
        "Another one?"
        "It's the wreckboat. Recommend we fire weapons,"
        "Damnit Nuarte, it's ours!" Stupid deck ape.
        One of the crewmen handed her the guide rods.
        "Ship approaching fast! She could be a threat! We should take
evasive action!"
        Gisel nearly dropped a guide rod.
        "Get your ass down here now, Nuarte!"
        She watched as Nuarte launched himself form the crow's nest and fell
towards the deck. Just before he hit he spread his limbs, letting the skin
flaps catch the air and turning his freefall into a controlled swoop. He
landed nimbly in front of her.
        "What th' fuck you want, butch?"
        Gisel took a step towards him.
        "What I want is two things from you. First, you curb your language
with me,"
        She grabbed a handful of chest fur and twisted. Nuarte let out a
squeak.
        "Second, because tempers are short around here, you will do your
part by leaving your sense of humor in your cabin.  I don't find it funny,
none of the other watch officers find it funny, and I can guarantee you
Torosa won't find it funny if he has to hear from me how you suggested we
fire on him. Do you understand me?"
        Nuarte nodded vigorously. Slowly Gisel let go of him and turned back
to the approaching wreckboat.
        "Now get back to your post before I write you up,"
        Nuarte stomped back to the mainmast and climbed up to his perch. He
was pissed but Gisel didn't care. One of these days he'd really put his foot
in it and she could only hope she'd be there to see the fireworks.
        Touching the two glowstones together on the guide rods' ends, Gisel
activated the twin light sources and waited for Torosa to align his ship
along the Revenge's keel above the gravity plane. She began signaling the
ship down, correcting Torosa now and then when he began to drift too far
from the landing cradle. Finally the shuttle touched down and four of
Gisel's crew strapped its landing struts to the deck.
        Torosa unlatched the side door and stepped out, followed by a
younger man dressed in a simple robe and carrying a  metal bucket. He looked
very pale and unsteady. Torosa waved to Gisel.
        "Commander, hello again!"
        "Hello yourself, sir. This is our passenger?"
        "It is. Will you have some of your men take his trunk from the
shuttle down to the cargo hold?"
        Certainly. And what is his name, if I may ask?"
        "I'm sorry, I forgot the introduction. Kevved Stytheson, this is
Commander Gisel Kalavash, deck officer, first watch, of the Delkao's
Revenge."
        "Call me Gisel,"
        Kevved took her offered hand.
        "Charmed to meet you, Gisel," he managed weakly. "I'm not feeling
too well so I apologize at my lack of manners,"
        Gisel smiled at him.
        "It's all right Kevved. Spacesickness claims most groundlings. You
seem to be weathering it well enough though.  Much better than your father
did his first time out, or so I've been told," She glanced at Torosa.
        Torosa spoke up.
        "I'll let the captain know we can break orbit. Kevved, I'm turning
you over to Gisel. She'll assign you a crewman to help guide you around the
ship and before too long, you'll get the hang of things around here. For the
rest of the journey consider yourself a passenger. See you around,"
        Torosa made his way to the aft door and disappeared through it.
Gisel turned back to Kevved.
        "So, is this your very first time into space?"
        "Yes,"
        "How'd you like to see what your homeworld looks like from the
stars' point of view?"
        "I'm not sure if I'm up for it,"
        "Come on, it'll be fun. You've got your chuck bucket in case you
start feeling too overwhelmed,"
        Kevved thought it over for a moment,
        "All right,"
        He followed her over to the railing, sneaking a glance at her
backside. She may have had a more masculine haircut than he was used to but
she was still very attractive. Definitely an athletic woman. His gaze
dropped down, past the edge of the ship, to the sparkling blue and white of
Toril miles below.
        "Oh, wow," Kevved breathed, his nausea momentarily forgotten.
        "It's a spectacular view from up here, isn't it?"
        "Some friends of mine insist the world is flat. I wish they could
see this,"
        Suddenly the stars wheeled about and Toril slid from view. Kevved
lost his balance and fell backwards hard against the wooden deck.
        "Careful there! I should have told you about this,"
        "What's happening?" gasped Kevved as his nausea returned. The stars
continued to whirl past.
        "We're leaving orbit. Just concentrate on the deck. There's no real
motion, it's all in your mind,"
        "Ugh, it feels real enough,"
        "Just hold on. We'll straighten out our course soon. You'll be able
to regain your footing then,"
        Finally the stars returned to normal and Kevved felt confident
enough to stand on his own. In the confusion his pail had spilled its
contents onto the deck and now lay on its side nearby.
        "I'm sorry, Gisel. I'll clean it up,"
        "Forget it. I'll get one of the crew to take care of it. I should
get back to work, so we'll get you a guide to show you around. Hey,
Shekkelleh! I would have a favor of you!"
        Kevved watched in trepidation as a large, grey, dragon-like creature
climbed out of the large cargo hold doors and ambled towards them. Its
strides were long and quick as it crossed the distance between them. Kevved
had seen drawings of centaurs before and this creature vaguely resembled
them, albeit a more reptilian version. Huge flanges extended from the top of
its lizard-like head and its long slender hands ended in six fingers, each
tipped with a wicked looking claw. It's thickly muscled tail swung back and
forth eagerly as it bowed to Gisel.
        "What would you ask of me sister-cousin?" it rumbled deeply.
        "Shekkelleh, this is Kevved Stytheson. His line is of Kaba Jalat's
blood-brother, Daul Stytheson, direct descent,"
        "Mmmm...an honored herd member. It is a privilege to meet with you,"

        Kevved swallowed thickly.
        "I ask you to accompany Kevved about the ship. Make him feel
welcome. Consider his blood your blood," said Gisel.
        "I am honored you would ask this sister-cousin. Perhaps the honored
member would care to see his quarters?"
    Shekkelleh waited expectantly.
        It took a moment for Kevved to realize the creature was waiting for
an answer. The way its tail swung back and forth was almost hypnotizing.
"Oh. Sure. Lead the way," said Kevved finally.
        "I would ask you to follow me, taking your place at my left, so that
I may act as your right hand for a time,"  Shekkelleh motioned for Kevved to
follow.
        Gisel smiled as they left. He'd fit in soon, all right. She turned
her attention to the discarded bucket still lying nearby.
        "Nuarte!" she bellowed, "I've got a mess for you to clean up!"


The Second Wind chapters can be found at:
http://www.gwr.com/~eshum/rpg/sj/tales/SecondWind/SecondWind.html