Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe Read online

  "We've got good Arcanian elm for the decking. There's a layer of elm timber for the supports, and naturally we use the stretched shed flesh of the dragon for the hull and inner walls. All of the clamps used to hold the shed flesh to the body of the dragon are covered in special caissons of steel and padding, and every two years we come in and treat the new shedding flesh. We know it's time to shed its skin because the green skin of the orlop deck turns milky white. At that point, we've got thirty days to treat that skin in dry dock, after it turns white. If it takes longer than thirty days to reach dry dock, the whole ship slides off the dragon with its shedding skin and it escapes into the depths of the sea. The navy tries hard not to let that happen much.

  "When we're through we have a ship that heals its own walls. We've only been using them for twenty years or so. Our versions of the dragonships of the line are the biggest and fastest of all the dragonships on the high seas."

  "Are dragonships faster than other ships of the line?" Halcyon could barely contain his enthusiasm as the vessel got closer and closer.

  "Fast. Most first-raters can do six knots cruising speed and eleven knots when the wind pushes them hard. Sink me if the Sanguine cruises at eight knots and on a good day races along at fifteen knots. It almost seems like we're flying when we go that fast. I've seen her hit those speeds several times and it's as if we're on a cloud. There aren't many privateers that can outrun her and we can come into the wind better than any normal ship of the line."

  "I know I have a lot of catching up to do. Until last year I was going to go into the army." Halcyon suddenly filled with dread at his new posting.

  "Don't worry about not knowing everything there is to know about sailing. You're fifth-class because you have to learn a few things yet about command," Dart said. "Someday you'll know everything and be the commander of your own ship of the line."

  Surehand continued, "The ship carries sixty-nine thousand square feet of sail on thirty-two different sail configurations. You'll learn each and every one of them as all new midshipwizards do sail duty for their first year of service.

  "There are one hundred blast-tubes and twenty double tubes on the three decks. Second Officer Master Andool Griffon loves her blast-tubes better than her life, so don't touch one of her tubes until she gives you leave. She's the best blast-tube officer in the fleet and Captain Olden comes from a blast-tube background as well.

  "Wait a minute. It just struck me, sink me if it didn't. You're the seventh son of a seventh son. Are you a better spellcaster because of it?"

  "I don't usually talk about that much, because I haven't really figured out all the things I can do with my magic. I've only been a spellcaster for eight months now. I seem to be uncommonly good at air magics. At the academy, I was the strongest with sea spells as well. Aside from that I don't know what else to say, except for one silly thing." Blithe looked down at his sea chest, embarrassed again.

  "What's that, Midshipwizard, speak up, man, no need to be red-faced, we're serving together, man," Dart spoke in a friendly manner to his new friend.

  "Rope seems to like me." Blithe said this last in a soft, embarrassed voice.

  "You're kidding me, you're a rope speaker?" Dart was clearly amazed. "There aren't ten of those in the entire western fleet. Your fortune's made, Hal. Rope speakers are worth their weight in gold. They can tell when a rigging is about to break. They can make rigging stronger and order it to untangle itself when it fouls. Oh, the captain is going to be wild for you.

  "I'm an earth wizard myself and a more useless spellcaster on a ship I can't imagine. I do fairly well at the blast-tubes because of my earth skills, but everywhere else that a midshipwizard should be doing well, I do horribly. It's gotten me written up several times, because I'm so fumble-fingered with the everyday spells of the ship. I struggle with every sea spell Lieutenant Commander Giantson tries to teach me."

  "What's life like on board the Sanguine?" Halcyon asked.

  "We are nothing if not regular on board ship. Every Airday afternoon all the midshipwizards take blast-pike practice. Helping with that practice is Marine Corporal Darkwater, a very large and impressive woman. She takes far too much pleasure in volunteering her unusually skilled services in the fine art of blast-pike use."

  "A woman marine?" There was wonder in Blithe's question. It was clear he couldn't imagine a woman with the rough-and-tumble marines, who were the first sea troops in every battle and known for their deadly ferocity.

  "Oh, I know what you're thinking." Dart smirked. "Wait until you see our good marine corporal. She's what one would call a special case, physically and literally, but never call her that to her face. She loves practicing with men, not because she's interested at all in the opposite sex. No, I think you will find that she greatly enjoys defeating men, especially men larger and stronger than she is. Unfortunately for you, there aren't many men like that on ship. She's one of ten females in the crew, with Master Andool Griffon the highest-ranking female and Corporal Darkwater the lowest ranker."

  "Unfortunately for me, why do you say that?" Halcyon asked.

  "Well, I noticed when you got on board that you are a tall fellow. Six foot two or three, I would guess," Dart said.

  "And you would be right, so?" Blithe said, not having the slightest idea what Dart was talking about right now.

  "Our good Corporal Darkwater is just under six feet tall," Dart said, clearly enjoying himself with the description. "She's going to ask, some might even say sweetly request, to be pitted against you next Airday, just because you are new and you are taller than she is."

  "I'll acquit myself well, what does it matter if she's up against me?" Halcyon was growing more and more confused.

  "Men, put your backs into it," Dart ordered. "The ship's getting ready to leave the harbor."

  "How in the world do you know that?" Blithe asked.

  "Listen." Dart cupped his ear with his hand.

  Blithe did the same thing and he could hear a chantey being sung somewhere on the deck of the Sanguine.

  Whiskey-o, Johnny-o

  Rise her up from the depths below

  Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey-o

  Up the anchor from the sea must go

  John rise her up from down below

  "When they sing that chantey they're taking up anchors," Dart remarked. "We have one of the best chanters in the fleet in our crew. I know you've been around ships all your life, you being a Blithe and all, but you're going to hear some new chanteys from this fellow, I'll tell you right now. There's nothing like a skilled chanter to keep a crew working hard and happy. The whiskey-o chantey pulls up our anchors but it works just as well for rowing and I think we need to get a move on." Surehand broke into the chantey. It was one Blithe had never heard before.

  Now whiskey is the life of man

  Always was since the world began

  The sailors started rowing faster to the beat of the chantey. They all joined in on the refrain.

  Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey-o

  Much faster the oars must row

  John help us move this boat we row

  Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey-o

  The oars hit the water faster, following the beat of the chantey. Surehand's tenor rang out over the boat and the rowing men.

  Now whiskey gave me a broken nose

  And whiskey made me pawn me clothes

  The sailors started in again, rowing their hearts out, and the jolly boat fairly flew over the bay. They were past all the other ships of the line now and in the distance the Sanguine started twisting around, responding to the leaving tide as its two anchors lifted up off the floor of the bay.

  Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey-o

  Much faster the oars must row

  John help us move this boat we row

  Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey-o

  Surehand was even louder with the next verse.

  I thought I heard Mr. Blithe say

  I treats me crew in a decent way

  Even working as har
d as they were, the men all broke out into smiles, turning their heads back to see Halcyon's reaction as their chantey changed words a bit from the normal. Even Halcyon broke into the refrain of the chantey then with his own strong baritone.

  Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey-o

  Much faster the oars must row

  John help us move this boat we row

  Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey-o

  Then they stopped singing and stopped rowing.

  "Why did you stop?" Blithe asked.

  "Because we've arrived," Dart said, raising his hand into the air and gesturing toward the Sanguine.

  Blithe turned to see the side of the Sanguine filling his vision. The dragonskin hull was a glossy deep green. The blast-tube ports filled his vision from stem to stern. Halcyon didn't know what to expect from this new ship of his, but he had a large family of navy men wanting him to do his best and he wasn't going to let them down as long as he breathed.

  "Go ahead. You go up the ratline first. There will be an officer there to take your papers. Luck to you, Midshipwizard Blithe." Surehand saluted his friend and held the ropes and metal that made the ratline ladder for him as Halcyon went to join the crew of the Sanguine.

  his majesty's articles of war: article ii

  If any letter of message from any enemy or rebel be conveyed to any officer, mariner, or soldier or other in the fleet, and the said officer, mariner, or soldier, or other as aforesaid, shall not, within twelve hours, having opportunity so to do, acquaint his superior or a commanding officer, or if any superior officer being acquainted therewith shall not in convenient time reveal the same to the commander-in-chief of the squadron, every such person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court-martial, shall be punished with death, or such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offense shall deserve, and the court-martial shall impose.

  The ratline ladder took him across the green expanse of the creature's back onto a narrow set of stairs to the main deck. The outer skin of the creature showed many ropy veins, and the pulse of blood beat clearly through the scaly flesh of the sea dragon. The oddity of climbing an actual dragon was completely lost on Halcyon as he rushed to get on deck and be about the business of becoming a real seaman. As he arrived on the main deck, naval pipes sounded, telling the crew a new midshipwizard was on deck.

  Being piped aboard was a new experience for Blithe. His chest puffed with pride as the young naval officer heard the pipes sound for him for the first time. I get only three short blasts as a midshipwizard, he thought to himself, but they are all mine, and he was proud of every shrill note.

  He saluted the piper and then the first officer. Hundreds of men were about the wide deck and working in the rigging of the sails. The intensity of the frantic action didn't distract the conscientious Blithe from saluting the officer on deck.

  "Permission to come on board, sir?" Halcyon asked.

  "Permission granted. Midshipwizard Fifth Class Halcyon Blithe, I presume. I am Lieutenant Commander Dire Wily, the first officer of the Sanguine. Welcome aboard."

  The officer introducing himself to Halcyon was huge. Standing almost seven feet tall, Dire Wily displayed a monstrous power in his muscular arms, axe-handle-broad shoulders, and massive legs. He paced around Halcyon, looking him up and down. He glanced at and quickly handed back the orders Blithe gave him. Wily had a huge scar from his right eye to his chin, and his dark blue eyes seemed to read the very soul of Blithe, making the young man very uncomfortable as he withstood the inspection.

  The officer had the white hair of a wizard, but it was bristly short. Most wizards allowed their hair to grow long as a personal display of their magical power. In Arcania, it was said, the whiter the hair and the longer that hair, the more powerful the wizard.

  Even Officer Wily's voice held a massive power few men could equal.

  "Ah, Surehand, never mind the jolly boat, your rowers can handle stowing it away. I want you to hear this as well," the first officer said, positioning himself in front of Halcyon Blithe and waiting for the other midshipwizard to get on board.

  Dart came abreast of Blithe and stood at attention as well.

  "I call what I'm about to say 'the Speech.' I give it to all new men coming to serve on the dragonship Sanguine. It won't hurt you, Surehand, to hear it again." Commander Wily moved back and forth in front of the two midshipwizards as he spoke. There was something almost tigerishly powerful about the man, as if at any second he could spring on a foe and rip them apart with his bare hands.

  Blithe, standing ramrod straight, knew he should be paying strict attention to the words of the second-in-command, but his mind was moving in a thousand different directions. Even with his eyes riveted to the front, there was so much to see of the Sanguine. The excited midshipwizard could barely contain himself. The hundreds of distractions of the ship made it impossible to listen to his superior officer with any degree of concentration.

  "The Maleen Empire is awesomely powerful, and their deadly fleets move wherever they wish along any country's coasts. Their mainland armies have been nearly unstoppable." The commander's words came down like hammer blows on both of the midshipwizards, each forceful word blasting out a warning about Arcania's deadly enemy. "The men and women of our island country are in a losing fight for their very lives. Daily Arcanian forces meet fleets twice our size. Battling to the death has become the Arcanian way of life. Every ship we desperately manage to destroy is one less to reach the shores of Arcania, but that's not happening often enough."

  Halcyon stood at attention, forced to stand still while this officer tried to warn him. The midshipwizard ached to become a part of the action of the ship. Even at attention with his head and eyes locked forward, he could see so many interesting things happening on the dragonship. Men were luffing the sails. Blast-tube crews worked on massive tubes, sliding them in and out of tube ports—he couldn't wait to help with that. Sailors and marines ran back and forth on the main deck, preparing the ship to leave, and soon he hoped to be giving the orders for that to happen.

  First Officer Wily continued, "I've been on five other dragon-ships of the line in the last ten years, and had them shot out from under me in battle. If it weren't for the foolhardy bravery of other ships wisely fleeing those battles, I would have died. Those ships stopped to collect me; when I got on board each one of them I thanked them and shouted at them as well for their unnecessarily risking their ships." Officer Wily was glaring at them; his tone and body language showed him filled with some type of anger.

  The two midshipwizards had no way of telling why the man in front of them showed such rage.

  "Yes, I yelled at them because they stopped to save men when they had an entire crew on their own ship to save." Wily was roaring at them now. "We expect you to be brave. The king doesn't expect you to be foolish." Officer Wily got louder and his words were moving.

  Other men, working around the deck, stopped to take in what he was saying. Many of those sailors and marines showed concerned expressions on their faces. None of them wanted to die at sea fighting unbeatable odds. The same thought flashed through all of their minds as the first officer spoke: Could the Maleen forces be that undefeatable?

  Dire Wily continued, "Arcanian ships have run from battles. Who can fight terrible odds, I ask you now? The Arcanian navies are undoubtedly the bravest in the world. The national navies of Toman and Drusan gave up and they had thought themselves brave defenders of their homelands. Their ships now serve in the fleets of Maleen. Country after country has fallen to the forces of those powerful Maleen armies and navies." Placing his hat on his head, the first officer drew his huge sword.

  Blithe, no expert on weapons, thought the first officer's sword seemed thicker and longer than the normal navy saber. He knew for sure he didn't like it pointed at his face. He ached to take a step backward, but he was at attention and would stay that way until ordered otherwise.

  The tip of the weapon pointed right between Blithe's eyes, the
big blade never wavering an inch, presented an impressive display of arm and wrist strength.

  "Midshipwizard Blithe, you must ask yourself what you would do when facing death. Your enemy is powerful and more experienced. Blithe, are you paying attention!"

  He wasn't paying attention, but naturally he couldn't admit that. Halcyon shouted back, "My enemy is more powerful and more experienced than myself, I heard that, sir!"

  From the quarterdeck, a slow, calming voice spoke down to the three on the main deck. The words almost floated individually and each one had its own impact. "First Officer Wily, please stop scaring the new crew member and come up here, if you would." There was an odd deliberate tone to the voice, as if it had all the time in the world to do anything it pleased.

  Blithe's fast-beating heart immediately slowed down. Even at attention, he felt instantly better.

  "Aye, aye, Captain," Wily said as he sheathed his sword with blinding speed. "The king and this crew expect its officers to know when to fight and when to retreat from battles. See that you remember my words. Midshipwizard Surehand, show Blithe to his wardroom. Carry on, that is all."

  "Aye, aye, sir." Both midshipwizards saluted and left the main deck.

  Halcyon Blithe's glances marked everything.

  He'd never been on a dragonship.

  Everything was so green, from the hull to the walls of the forecastle and quarterdeck. The white elm of the decking made the dragon's stretched flesh even brighter green in the midshipwizard's eyes. Standing and gawking at the many tasks up and down and all around his position, Halcyon was too slow to move for his guide. Surehand had to pull Blithe down the stairs into the middle blast-tube deck.

  As they went down into the darkness, Dart looked behind to make sure no one followed. "You are the luckiest officer on the dragonship Sanguine today; sink me if it isn't so."