Salt
26 March 2010
In the actual nature of the universe, Harold Lowe was fairly sure few things had come together quite like this particular trip had. He was also utterly unsurprised by it -- it seemed, often, that just when the universe had seemed unfair or somehow particularly unkind, things would click together to put it back on course.
Plus, this wasn't the first time he and Maia had run away together for a trip.
The last time, they had done so to alleviate the worries of chain of command issues. They'd also, appropriately, wanted some time to just be, and breathe, after the zombie outbreak. Harry had wanted to get his head together more, and few places ever felt quite so right as the deck of a boat at sea.
This was not all so different. The only difference, really, was that it was two sets of people heading out, instead of just the original pair. Both pairs, though, clearly needed to get away for a little vacation -- Maia and Harry needed to go and ride the waves. And the young married couple needed to go and heal.
It was a beautiful day. Harry figured they would set sail in the evening; make for South. The almanac suggested it would be decent sailing when they hit the trades, and even though tonight promised to be cold, it was still warm aboard Te Maru.
The ketch had seen some outfitting and upgrading since she was commandeered by Harry and Maia. She had more sail area, for one; Harry had extended her bow into an elegant bowsprit, not long, but allowing a flying jib and one extra staysail. He'd re-weighted her keel, too, to make up for the change in her balance.
The amenities had mostly been stripped -- she didn't need a television, for one. No one even broadcast steadily in Rhy'Din. Her galley/salon area was enlarged by removing the extraneous, and an extra bench for sitting was fit on the other side of the charting station. Mostly, though, she had been modified to carry light cargo. She still had an engine, but only one now instead of twin diesels. Given the difficulty in finding fuel in Rhy'Din, it was usually only cut on long enough to charge the batteries so the vessel would have light. Her water tanks had been enlarged only slightly, and she had an onboard filtration system for fresh water that was operated, laboriously, by handpump. It was a jury-rigged pump, but at least provided a backup to the ever-useful rain water.
By early afternoon, Te Maru had been modified again.
Harry was rather glad that Harold had married a man who could improvise. While Scotty was quiet and mostly seemed to be moving in shadows, he was impressively quick to pick up on how the ketch's electrical system worked, and what all was required to give her heat and light and power.
They had showed up in the early morning, and Harry had breakfast waiting -- several breakfast sandwiches, some fruit, some pastries. Harold Lee had been sent to pick up food supplies at the Market after eating, and Scotty had made a list, as well as a list of things that he wanted or needed from their room at the Red Dragon. Maia was off, for the time being, getting the last of their own supplies -- coils of rope, some fishing gear, ammunition, weapons. The usual sort of things. Emergency rations. Lowe and d'Thalia lived a life that was based on preparation for possible trouble, and it was just natural to consider these things.
By the time Harold or Maia would get back, Te Maru would have no real need of her generator aside on the rarest of occasions. Scotty had, as he'd quietly explained, replaced their current batteries with ones that would last about ten times as long under much heavier usage, and were far quicker to recharge. Called them... split-di-something.
The part that made Harry's eyebrows rocket up was that they were not much bigger than a man's thumbnail.
Entirely pleased with having yet more dead-weight trimmed from the vessel, Harry turned to making sure that they made ample use of the space. He dragged out a larger refrigeration unit one of his savvy employees had rebuilt, and promptly helped Scotty install it in the cargo hold. Figuring, rightly, they could store food on the way outbound in it, and bring food back as well.
There were still more things to do. Packing everything in, naturally. Making sure everything from stem to stern and masthead to keel was perfectly in order. But with the easy precision of years of practice, Harry worked on it and was confident they'd be able to leave this evening.
Back to the world of salt.
26 March 2010
In the actual nature of the universe, Harold Lowe was fairly sure few things had come together quite like this particular trip had. He was also utterly unsurprised by it -- it seemed, often, that just when the universe had seemed unfair or somehow particularly unkind, things would click together to put it back on course.
Plus, this wasn't the first time he and Maia had run away together for a trip.
The last time, they had done so to alleviate the worries of chain of command issues. They'd also, appropriately, wanted some time to just be, and breathe, after the zombie outbreak. Harry had wanted to get his head together more, and few places ever felt quite so right as the deck of a boat at sea.
This was not all so different. The only difference, really, was that it was two sets of people heading out, instead of just the original pair. Both pairs, though, clearly needed to get away for a little vacation -- Maia and Harry needed to go and ride the waves. And the young married couple needed to go and heal.
It was a beautiful day. Harry figured they would set sail in the evening; make for South. The almanac suggested it would be decent sailing when they hit the trades, and even though tonight promised to be cold, it was still warm aboard Te Maru.
The ketch had seen some outfitting and upgrading since she was commandeered by Harry and Maia. She had more sail area, for one; Harry had extended her bow into an elegant bowsprit, not long, but allowing a flying jib and one extra staysail. He'd re-weighted her keel, too, to make up for the change in her balance.
The amenities had mostly been stripped -- she didn't need a television, for one. No one even broadcast steadily in Rhy'Din. Her galley/salon area was enlarged by removing the extraneous, and an extra bench for sitting was fit on the other side of the charting station. Mostly, though, she had been modified to carry light cargo. She still had an engine, but only one now instead of twin diesels. Given the difficulty in finding fuel in Rhy'Din, it was usually only cut on long enough to charge the batteries so the vessel would have light. Her water tanks had been enlarged only slightly, and she had an onboard filtration system for fresh water that was operated, laboriously, by handpump. It was a jury-rigged pump, but at least provided a backup to the ever-useful rain water.
By early afternoon, Te Maru had been modified again.
Harry was rather glad that Harold had married a man who could improvise. While Scotty was quiet and mostly seemed to be moving in shadows, he was impressively quick to pick up on how the ketch's electrical system worked, and what all was required to give her heat and light and power.
They had showed up in the early morning, and Harry had breakfast waiting -- several breakfast sandwiches, some fruit, some pastries. Harold Lee had been sent to pick up food supplies at the Market after eating, and Scotty had made a list, as well as a list of things that he wanted or needed from their room at the Red Dragon. Maia was off, for the time being, getting the last of their own supplies -- coils of rope, some fishing gear, ammunition, weapons. The usual sort of things. Emergency rations. Lowe and d'Thalia lived a life that was based on preparation for possible trouble, and it was just natural to consider these things.
By the time Harold or Maia would get back, Te Maru would have no real need of her generator aside on the rarest of occasions. Scotty had, as he'd quietly explained, replaced their current batteries with ones that would last about ten times as long under much heavier usage, and were far quicker to recharge. Called them... split-di-something.
The part that made Harry's eyebrows rocket up was that they were not much bigger than a man's thumbnail.
Entirely pleased with having yet more dead-weight trimmed from the vessel, Harry turned to making sure that they made ample use of the space. He dragged out a larger refrigeration unit one of his savvy employees had rebuilt, and promptly helped Scotty install it in the cargo hold. Figuring, rightly, they could store food on the way outbound in it, and bring food back as well.
There were still more things to do. Packing everything in, naturally. Making sure everything from stem to stern and masthead to keel was perfectly in order. But with the easy precision of years of practice, Harry worked on it and was confident they'd be able to leave this evening.
Back to the world of salt.