Episode CXXXIX - Bless This Ship

Three weeks could be a long time.  So much could happen during such a span, so much could change, and yet, it seemed to Ellis, that the more you crammed into it, the less time it actually felt.  This had been the shortest three weeks of Ellis' life.  It had hurried by in a flurry of fervent activity as everyone pulled together to get the steam barge ship shape as soon as possible.  The vessel had had to be scraped clean of rust and patched up where the corrosion had been too much.  All its considerably pipework had to be cleaned and checked for leaks.  The steam engine had to be emptied of fuel and water, resealed and then filled and tested several times.  Masts were made for her out of old support pillars from the more dilapidated parts of Varokh Vehr, carefully inserted into the decks and rigged with silk bedsheets in lieu of sailcloth so that they might have a back-up if any of the steamworks failed.  She was repainted, polished, made to gleam and it all took hours!

The time had also flown by in a flurry of equally fervent kisses, as Ellis spent his free time with Siren, catching up on months of being apart and making up for the tension of their own uncertain relationship before that.  It seemed that now they had advanced to a new stage, there was so much more to say than there had ever been before.  Siren spoke more of her childhood, of her years running across the oceans and her guilt about her mother, whilst Ellis spoke of what he remembered of Earth, the patchwork identity he now doubted was genuine.  Together they tried to make each other a little bit more whole, first with words, then with looks and finally with tender caresses, long, luxurious kisses, nights together in the dark.

Yes, it was the shortest three weeks of Ellis' life by far, and as they began to draw to an end, he found himself wishing they never would.

But the steam barge was nearing completion and above them the world was straining under the yoke of Lakhma and his/her minions, and Ellis knew that they had to leave and face that danger once more if they wanted to end it.  To stay where they were would only be selfishness - and most likely a temporary one.  They couldn't hide in the Blood Forts forever.

Siren, as the most skilled sailor, something even Harker acknowledged, had been allowed the rank of captain aboard the steam barge and it was also her honour to give the overhauled vessel a new name, since Lord Blood Dragon had forgotten whatever it used to be called.  She sat up late the night before the launch, not sleeping, just pondering names and even when Ellis called her back to bed in the small hours of the morning, she just lay there, eyes open, thinking.

The morning of the launch was tense, nervy, bubbling with excitements: fear, trepidation, eagerness, a sense of the new and the old all coming together at once.  Ellis could hardly eat his breakfast, instead feeling the fluttering sensation in his stomach as something almost prophetic, although for good or ill he could not have said.

The entire crew gathered at the dock straight after they had eaten and gathered the last of their meagre possessions and what supplies Lord Blood Dragon had left to offer.  Somehow this most irregular assortment of pirates, philosophers, adventurers and anomalies managed to seem almost military in their sudden sense of order and decorum, lined up along the dock beside the restored Steam Barge, the last few packs and parcels piled neatly nearby.  It was Lord Blood Dragon who spoke to them first, as was befitting his noble status and rights as owner and, in a way, patron, of the newly refurbished vessel.

"There ith much I could thay," he began, his thin, high voice holding a little more gravitas than usual, despite the impediment of his vampiric teeth, "much that could inthpire you all, thtir you on to gweat deeds and hewoic valour.  There ith much that could be intimated, paththed on, endowed; much withdom to be bethtowed.  In thort, there ith much hot air I could wathte.

"But that ith not why we are here, and not why we put tho much effort into fixthing thith thip, and tho, I've thaid enough alweady.  I give you, inthtead, your Captain.  I give you Thiren!"

There was a light flutter of applause as Siren stepped forward and Lord Blood Dragon took a step to the side, out of the limelight, his dark eyes seeming proud to gaze upon the strong young woman before him, though he had known her but a few weeks.  Siren herself looked slightly nervous, slightly abashed, as she came to a stop before the Steam Barge and turned, ever so slowly, to face her crew.  Ellis watched with baited breath, feeling her nerves within his chest as if they shared one body, clenching his fists with the strain of it.  But he need not have worried.  The anxiety in Siren's face passed as fleetingly as a shadow over the sun, as a rain cloud on a summers day.  Her eyes became steely, but her smile was warm as she stared to speak.

"Blood Dragon is right.  There is no time today for speech-making, but there is one duty which must be undertaken before we set sail.  This vessel, this barge, this ship needs a name.  I have thought long and hard about what best to call it, to send us through the dark passageways of this world towards our destination and what we hope... what we pray will be a new daylight for all of Shadow.  I have thought of the past and of the future, of my own demons, and of all of yours, and of the hopes we hold dear to us.  In the end I have chosen two names, one for myself and one for the world.  After my mother, I have named her Beata, and I hope that she will forgive me for all that I put between us before the end.  And with that same thought in mind is the second name, a word I hope this vessel will help bring about in all our lives and in the lives of those who live above us, hiding in fear from the monster which haunts our skies.  For them and for you and for myself I have named her Absolution."

There was a moment of silence as Siren finished and she herself took a step back, as if unsure she had said the right thing, but then there was a clap from one end of the line of crewmen - Ellis thought it might have come from the Former Baron - and suddenly applause was rippling back and forth among them all.  Siren smiled again then, a look of simple relief, before her expression hardened just a fraction and she clapped her hands, twice, loudly.

"Okay, okay," she said, her voice rising over the gentle buzz, "enough now.  We can't delay here any longer.  Load up the last few pieces of cargo and then let's prepare to make way!"

The orderliness broke into the seeming chaos of everyone going everywhere and doing everything.  Everyone had a role, or a place, however, and things were going more smoothly than they appeared.  Ellis was given some crates to load onto the barge, but, after he had shifted the first one, he found Siren standing beside him, looking a little lost.  She was in charge, of course, so that mean that her role was overseeing things, but it seemed that, with everything going well, she had nothing in particular to do and there was a look on her face when Ellis glanced at her that told him she wanted to talk.

He put the crate he was carrying down on the deck, stepped over towards her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"That was a good speech."

"Yeah," Siren replied with a nervous laugh, "great for someone who started by saying that it wasn't the time for speeches."

"There are speeches and there are speeches.  It was the right time for those words.  We're all excited, but we're nervous too.  We know that what comes next is mostly unknown and dangerous.  We're going to try and go up against a god, after all.  It's not going to be easy.  The crew needed the encouragement.  I needed the encouragement too and... I think you needed it for yourself as well."

Siren said nothing, just gazed into his eyes for a moment, as if reading something there.

"About your mother..." he began.

"It was self-indulgent, wasn't it?"

"No, no.  Not at all!  I think it was the right thing to do as well.  It showed the crew that you're human - something you sometimes forget about - and... well I never knew your mother and I'm not sure I know the whole story of what happened between you, but... I think she must be proud of you now, wherever she is.  She would be honoured by your choice."

"I hope so," Siren replied doubtfully.

Ellis leaned in, gave her a gentle hug and a kiss before he pulled away.

"I have work to do, Captain," he said with a smile, "and I think so do you."

"Thank you, Ellis," she replied, "I love you too."

It took another twenty minutes to load the remaining cargo and prepare the ship to weigh anchor and begin its long journey through the underground canals of Shadow, but only ten minutes after that they were on their way, the hypostatick lamps at the Blood Forts' dock a distant speck in the endless gloom.  The Beata Absolution had set sail at last, the first vessel of its kind to plough the waters beneath the ancient city world for hundreds of years.  But whilst it seemed that there was only darkness and the unknown ahead, there was a sense aboard that small ship that they were heading towards something unseen as well, a secret thing, hidden deep in the hearts of those who possess it: hope.

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