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her head against her arm. Blessedly, the rope began to move, pulled up by several of the sailors above. When she was high enough, an enormous man with his black hair in dreadlocks reached down and grabbed her under her arms, then dumped her onto the deck. The last spores on her clothing died as the silver in this ship’... |
anyway. Scrubbing as Huck whispered encouragement in her ear. She worked well into the night, until—numb with fatigue—she finally curled up in one corner of the deck and fell asleep. Tress awoke the next day with a face full of hair. She felt stiff, like a washrag that was long overdue for a turn in the laundry. She un... |
soon as their replacements arrive.” “And…what watch am I?” Tress asked softly. “Captain says you’re third watch,” Laggart said, then smiled as he left. Eventually second watch was called, and the sailors exchanged places. Tress waited, groggy and stiff. And she waited. And waited. One might say she was quite the waitre... |
the name of their vessel, Tress thought. And they left one sailor alive. Something was strange about this ship. “I’ve been wanting to gargle my shirts!” I said, walking past. I pointed at her with both hands and winked. “But I ate them last week.” Tress cocked her head, watching me wander away. As she did, Huck scamper... |
around. Regardless of local linguistics, parents eventually start naming their kids Doug. I once spent ten years on a planet where the only sapient life was a group of pancakelike beings that expressed themselves through flatulence. And I kid you not—one was named Doug. Though admittedly it had a very distinctive smell... |
built using a different scale from the rest of humanity. One could imagine that the Shards, after creating him, had said, “Maybe we went a little far in places,” and decided to cut ten percent off all other humans to conserve resources. Fort was holding up a ceramic cannonball that was small in his hands. His fingers o... |
be sad for killing someone after trying to rob them. These pirates are outlaws now, Tress.” “Doesn’t sound fair,” she said. “The king would hang the quartermaster even if he didn’t fire the cannon?” “The law is clear. Felony murder rule, to be precise. Commit a crime and someone dies? That’s murder. Even if you weren’t... |
So, feeling like she was entering the dragon’s den, Tress entered the room. Fort looked her up and down, rubbing his chin with thick fingers. Finally, he tapped the back of his board and words appeared for her. You have a name? “Tress, sir.” And are you truly a royal inspector? “I…” Tress swallowed. “No. The coat doesn... |
read lips. I, like many hearing people, once assumed this was the magical solution for people navigating the hearing world. But in case you haven’t heard—pun intended—reading lips doesn’t work like it does in stories. It’s a messy business, full of guesswork, and is extremely taxing. Even for experts. Fort used to rely... |
get back to duty.” Fort rubbed his chin, then scratched at his dreadlocked head. Then he took something from below the counter and set it out for her: a pocket watch. “Finally,” Salay said, slipping it off the counter and hurrying out. Fort inspected the earrings one at a time, smiling. It was true that he had no use f... |
which—to hear them talk—was an existence full of drudgery. Many an off-duty sailor in the tavern had been assigned scrubbing duty before, so Tress knew that pitch on the boards would seal them and fill the gaps—plus it made them far less slippery. And you always scrubbed across planks, never along them, so you didn’t w... |
something to go poof, send the ball flying.” Spores? They used spores to fire the cannons? She carried the keg more gingerly as they started up the steps. “Normally,” the Doug said, “this would be old Weev’s job, seein’ as how it involves spores and all.” “Weev? Is he the ship’s sprouter?” “He was.” The Doug’s expressi... |
tips?” “There’s a funnel, some goggles, and a mask. Other than that…try not to worry. This ain’t the most dangerous type of spores. You should be fine.” Many perils could fit between the sounds in “should be.” But Tress was alive because the crew had resisted tossing her overboard when the captain had demanded. It seem... |
three or four of them inside. She quickly pulled the pouches out and reset the device. As she returned to her work, her hands trembled even more. Her mind raced so fast, it would soon need a new set of tires. She could see it. She knew what had happened. The cannonmaster was in charge of loading, aiming, and firing the... |
to ask more questions, but it felt like too much of an imposition. These people had spared her. Who was she to be making demands of them? So instead she said, “You all seem to be adjusting well to being pirates.” “Adjusting well? What kinda talk is that?” Ann leaned forward. “You want to know why, don’t you? How we end... |
everyone wants to keep their innards in’r innards. You don’t punch a fellow when you first meet him, ’cuz you don’t wanna get punched each time you meet someone. The king knows this. So long as he gives pirates a reason not to go all the way, they’ll hedge. “Besides, who wouldn’t rather have a chase than a battle? The ... |
she found a man dressed in a sharp suit of a cut she’d never before seen. It was somehow less ostentatious but more elegant than the uniforms the duke and Charlie had worn. Pure black, with pressed lines and no buttons on the front. He had jet-black hair, and features that looked too sharp to be real. Like he was a pai... |
well,” Ulaam said, putting the eye away. “Perhaps another time. Use the salve; there is no prank involved. I’m probably the least dangerous thing on this ship.” “You literally eat people, Ulaam,” Ann said. “Dead ones. My! How dangerous! Like the mighty worm of the earth or the bacteria of decomposition. They are my col... |
attack?” “No, no. See, you sent me away, so I figured I’d go sneak some food. I’d already eaten, but you never can have too much, right? I was down in the hold where—I’ll have you know—there’s nothing really accessible without nibbling through sacks. And people hate when we nibble through sacks. If they hate it so much... |
you heard the way they tromp around on the deck? I was trying to sleep last night, and I’d swear they have lead in their shoes. It…” He trailed off, noticing her glaring at him. “Oooooohhhhh. Rat. Right, right. Got it.” He hopped off her shoulder and scuttled over to the gunwale, then scrambled along it in the shadows ... |
a raven from my contact in Kingsport. The remnants of the ship we sank have been found, but there were no survivors, just a single corpse. That man we left alive appears to have rejected my bountiful generosity and done me the insult of dying from wounds we didn’t realize he had.” “She said that?” Tress whispered. “Tho... |
Yeah, you’re probably right. You…look morose though.” “Not morose,” Tress said. “Merely distracted.” “Why?” “Because,” she said, “I’ve just figured out a way for us to escape this ship.” Captain Crow soon emerged from her cabin, leaving Laggart to strut across to the bow while she climbed up to the quarterdeck. Tress w... |
“I appreciate my life,” Tress whispered, her eyes down. “But?” “But that ship carried my family, Captain. I loved them.” “You’re a royal inspector. Why were you traveling with your family?” “That?” Tress scoffed. “An inspector left this coat at a tavern we stopped by, and I started wearing it because it made my family ... |
left Tress groaning, tears leaking from her eyes as she curled up in a puddle of soapy water. Crow sauntered off, whistling casually and screwing closed the top on her canteen. She was, it might be noted, a perfect example of why the word jerk needs so many off-color synonyms. One could exhaust all available options, i... |
way that only someone very similar could be. Salay also had an instinct for what people were feeling, and she’d noted Tress’s dedication to her scrubbing. A woman who did such a simple duty with exactness…well, in Salay’s experience that sort of thing scaled upward. Same way you would be more likely to lend your best f... |
all done this,” Tress said softly. “Becoming…what you have.” “It’s a fair question,” Salay replied. “I guess we all have our own reasons. For me, it was either this or give up sailing. Maybe I should have done that. It’s just…there’s something about standing on a ship, holding the wheel. Something special. Moons, I sou... |
trust me. Oh, Fort says to go see him for food.” I winked. “I need to go nibble on my toes for a bit. They taste like fate.” Tress tried to ignore the offer, but soon Huck came bouncing up to her. “Hey. You hungry? I’m hungry. We gonna go try to get some food or what?” With a sigh, Tress let him climb onto her shoulder... |
Tress. Easy as that. So keep your tongue and LET IT DROP. He punctuated that by putting the board down and turning away from her. So much for warning the crew about the captain’s plans. She forced herself to eat her last bite of the meal, then slipped out of the quartermaster’s office. She lethargically walked back ont... |
badly, but his pain—though poignant to her—wasn’t something she could immediately prevent. The people of this crew were different. “Maybe if I can help the crew,” Tress said, “they’ll take me to the Midnight Sea to get Charlie.” “They’re pirates.” “They’re a family,” Tress said. A plan started to form. A way she could ... |
impose. She’d hated how the duke bullied Charlie. She’d hated how the inspectors bullied the dockworkers. And she hated it more here, facing down a woman who thought she could do whatever she wanted, to whomever she wanted. “You don’t have a ship’s sprouter,” Tress said. Captain Crow froze at the door to her cabin. “He... |
sprung. Crow removed the key from her ring and handed it to Tress. “This will be yours now, girl.” Tress took it, but had not missed that the ring held a second key identical to this one. Crow pushed through the door, and Tress glanced down the hall to where several Dougs were watching and whispering to one another. Wh... |
“Yes.” “Then I’m in.” Crow smiled. It would have been less unnatural to see those shining teeth and curling lips on an actual crow. “I’ll send Ulaam to brief you. But before you grow too fond of your new accommodations, be sure to have a look at the floor.” The captain sauntered off, taking a swig from her canteen. Tre... |
herself that she would find a way. If she could help this crew, and they weren’t willing to take her to the Midnight Sea in return, maybe they could still help her in some other way? Like gathering money for the ransom? That made her feel sick. She didn’t want to rob people to save Charlie. In that moment, holding the ... |
with the Sorceress. In fact, he probably did know better. Frightening, how infrequently he lets that influence what he actually decides to do.” Tress felt a start that drove away thoughts of sleep. “The Sorceress?” “Hmmmm? Yes, what did you think happened to him? He puts on a brave front, pretending to be just an ordin... |
spores.” Tress nodded. They were at the prow of the ship, on the upper deck, near the forward cannon. Tress hadn’t been surprised to find Ann here—the lanky carpenter often hung around the cannon, shooting it glances like a teenager with a crush. However, Tress had been surprised to see Fort sitting on deck this mornin... |
hadn’t left these people. She realized that only one member of the crew likely had experience with the Sorceress personally—but all of them had information that could help her. “There are twenty-five pouches here,” she said, finishing. “So I need to make fifteen more.” “Without blowing off your face this time,” Ann sai... |
we have to negotiate every time, Fort?” Tress asked. “Can’t we just chat like friends?” But the negotiation is the fun part! he wrote. It’s what tells me about you. What you’re willing to give up, what you value. Come on. Doesn’t it excite you to try to find the best deal? “I…don’t really know.” What will you tell me t... |
her ignorance was disturbing. Like a fish trying very hard to jump out of its tank in order to escape, she’d been trying to solve a problem before stopping to wonder if she even understood her situation. Look, if this Charlie was kept for ransom, he’s likely a nobleman. Right? “Yes,” Tress whispered. That lot don’t car... |
Tress looked toward Crow. And then, Tress took the singular step that separated her from people in most stories. The act, it might be said, that defined her as a hero. She did something so incredible, I can barely express its majesty. I should consider this more, Tress thought to herself, and not jump to conclusions. P... |
in her room. From there she went looking for me. Now, normally this would also have been a shining example of common sense on her part. Everyone can use a little more Wit in their lives. Except me. I could stand to lose a pound or two. Unfortunately, I wasn’t exactly in the best state of mind during this voyage. She fo... |
going on. The Sorceress was cruel like that. Sure, turning a man into a simpleton is fun—but true torture lies in letting him remain just aware enough to be horrified. That sensate part of me scrambled to find some way to help. Ulaam had been useless, of course. That’s the problem with immortals—they get used to sittin... |
intelligent, Huck,” Tress said. “You can handle a common cat.” “Sure. Yeah. No problem. But Tress...I don’t know. It’s always watching. Prowling. Cats are supposed to sleep twenty-six hours a day. How can I use my intelligence, how can I plan, knowing it’s watching?” After a few minutes, he seemed to relax. He nodded t... |
But I certainly wouldn’t mind if you decided—of your own free will—to head someplace less exciting…” Tress tried to imagine it. A land full of talking rats? It sounded exotic and interesting. The twelve seas were a strange and incredible place, full of wonders. Huck kept talking, telling her about life as a rat. And th... |
Huck admitted. “But I feel like you’re way too relaxed about holding them.” Perhaps she was. But danger is like icy water; you can get used to it if you take it slowly. She tucked the little box of spores safely back in its hidden compartment. She’d have to see if Ulaam knew— She jumped as the bell rang up above. Three... |
Finally, he pulled a wet firing stick from the bucket of water at his station. He touched it to the firing pan, setting off the zephyr spores with a raucous explosion. The ball soared directly at the fleeing ship. This was no warning shot; it would be another “accidental” direct hit—intended to sink, not frighten. Tres... |
whistle and a crash as a cannonball hit the Crow’s Song right at the prow, where spores met wood. Dougs shouted and went scrambling. Ann cursed something incredibly vile relating to what comes out of the business end of a seagull. “Damn fine shooting,” Laggart muttered. “Hit us first shot? They’ve got quite the cannonm... |
pegs on the inside of the door. She didn’t see anything like the box the sprouter had used on the other ship. Weev, it should be noted, was a purist. He preferred the classical tools of the trade, not the modern ones. “Any of these look right?” Tress asked. “Oh!” Ann said. “That one with the flat side, like a plate. An... |
stupid, she closed the box—but not before a number of those inside had died also. She took a few deep breaths. Then, forcing herself to keep trying, she put some water on the wood first—then opened the box. Leaning back and shielding her face, she sprinkled a few spores onto the water. It was a commendable execution of... |
As roseite crystals began to grow around the edges of the shield, Tress grabbed the trowel and pushed them away. She was able to angle them to grow toward the sides of the hole, like using mortar that grew as she directed. Wind in the sails made the ship rock backward, lifting the prow. Tress barely got the crystals to... |
the captain of a captured ship falls to me, does it not?” The Dougs kept their weapons trained on the merchant vessel, but none spoke. They knew someone was very likely to be shot in the next few minutes, and didn’t want to seem like they were volunteering. Crow turned to face Salay straight on, musket held in a loose ... |
belt. With a quivering hand, he pointed it across the gap between ships toward Crow. Again, everyone froze. Everyone but Captain Crow herself. She stared down that barrel with indifference. “Smocke!” the merchant captain yelled. “Don’t be a lunatic, man! You’ll get us all killed!” The man, Smocke, stood up—stained with... |
said. “You don’t need two.” “And how many do you have?” Ulaam grinned. “Touché.” “To say what?” “No, it means you have successfully rebutted me.” He stood up, shaking his head. “Regardless, your moons are home to a group of voracious entities known as aethers. Though the true aethers on other worlds have a symbiosis wi... |
like Crow do tend to be well acquainted with tragedy. It makes you wonder who the true monster is: the killer, or the society that created them?” Tress nodded. “That was a trick question,” Ulaam said. “The true monster is the one in that drawer next to you. I gave it seven different faces.” Tress glanced at the drawer ... |
has happened to the captain?” “Yes,” Ulaam said. “But temporary, in this case.” “But what do they do?” “They create midnight aether,” Ulaam said. “Also called Midnight Essence: a blob of goo that will imitate a nearby object or entity. The aether stays under your control for as long as you sustain it. It is more practi... |
thoughtful mind of hers. Then it clicked. “A talking animal?” she guessed. I flopped to the ground, letting out a relieved sigh. I was soon lost in thought, trying to decide if cobblers were also good at making desserts, or if that was merely a coincidence. “Ah!” Ulaam said, clapping his hands—then cringing at the soun... |
over to the bed and knelt beside it, at eye level with the rat. “You,” she said, “are going to tell me everything you know about the Sorceress. Or else.” “Or else what?” he squeaked. “Or else”—she took a deep breath, nervous, as she’d never made a threat as dire as this in her life—“I will stop talking to you.” “…You w... |
not a lot I can say. You have to find a way to circumvent the curse. Like…assume you asked that friend, ‘How do I undo your curse?’ once you know there is a curse. That friend won’t be able to tell you. “But say you told your friend a story about someone else who was cured of their curse, and asked, ‘What do you think?... |
state at the moment was distress. “Well?” Salay asked. Tress didn’t have a lot of experience with lying, but paradoxically, the ones who are most successful at it are those who don’t do it very often. So when Tress remained quiet but stepped back and gestured for Salay to come in, it was exactly the right thing to do. ... |
an inspector.” Salay narrowed her eyes. “Yeah? And what about what you did to the cannonballs?” Tress froze. “Aha!” Salay said. “You didn’t expect me to know about that, did you? I watched Laggart’s reaction when that ship didn’t sink today. He wanted to kill those people, though I haven’t figured out why. I do know yo... |
will.” She wasn’t certain what any of them could do against someone like Crow, but it would be good to talk about the things she’d discovered. “Great,” Salay said. “Meeting is in the quartermaster’s room after second evening mess, when night watch is called.” She started toward the door, then hesitated. “Please don’t a... |
then brought out the little box full of midnight spores. “Tress…” Huck said. “What are you doing?” “I’m completely out of my element, Huck,” she said. “I’m just a girl with a fondness for cups. I have no special training, no special experience. I can’t outmaneuver Crow unless I use the resources I have.” She held up th... |
enlarging like an inflating balloon. In seconds the puddle of goo—though it had begun as three tiny spores—was as large as a person’s fist. There it stopped growing, blessedly, though it continued to writhe and distort. For a moment a tiny face appeared— stretching out of the black pus. Then it melted back in. Offer, a... |
if she touched it, she knew, but she was stronger in this shape than common spores. Mere proximity wouldn’t harm her. She reached the captain’s cabin, which occupied the space directly underneath the quarterdeck. She definitely shouldn’t have been able to squeeze under that tiny gap between door and deck, but she did. ... |
margins, in what she assumed was Crow’s handwriting, were notes. A way to be rid of them, finally? the note said. A way to banish the spores from my blood? Curious. Midnight Tress focused on the text. Stupid words. Stupid sawdust-in-the-eyes words. Why? She should find something to bite, something that bled warmth and ... |
dry as parchment. After that she lay on the wet mattress, wheezing. If she had been that dehydrated normally, she would undoubtedly have died, but this was no normal effect. Timely application of liquid reversed the process, reinflating her twig arms as the burning in her mouth and throat faded. She slumped back, enjoy... |
suspicious, Fort wrote, how you almost immediately ended up as ship’s sprouter. “Right?” Salay said. “She’s not afraid of spores.” “I’m very afraid of spores,” Tress corrected. “And she could have fled the ship at Shimmerbay,” Salay said, “but chose to remain so she could keep an eye on Crow. She admitted as much to me... |
for them to get what they wanted. So instead she changed the subject. She reached into her satchel and took out a cannonball. “I took this,” she said, “from a secret compartment in one of Laggart’s gunnery barrels.” Salay looked to the other two and pointedly folded her arms, as if to say, See? Fort took the cannonball... |
you?” “Just lucky,” Tress said, then tried to move on quickly. “Look, I’m worried the captain will try to sink more ships. Swapping the cannonballs helped prevent more deaths today, but I think she wants to murder at least one more crew to get you all on board. I mean, metaphorically on board. With her plan. Since, you... |
“We’ll do that. You get her to sail the Crimson. If she agrees to it, I’m confident I can get the Dougs to go along with the idea too. Most of them are as upset at the killings as we are.” Then, in a whispered tone, Salay added, “Just remember our deal. Put in a good word for us with the king. Convince him we didn’t wa... |
People generally don’t know what they want, though they almost uniformly hate being told what it should be. Plus, Tress had lived her entire life feeling she shouldn’t ask for the things she wanted. “I left my island to see the world,” she said. “People often say that about becoming a sailor,” Crow said. “It’s a pretty... |
even among pirates. “Who,” Crow said, “did you think would take you on this impossible mission?” “Well,” Tress said, “I only really know the crew of one ship right now. I was kind of hoping—” She was interrupted by another bout of laughter. She had expected this one. She’d provoked it on purpose. Because she was growin... |
to get him to go away, and then it became a habit. Two potatoes. Each day. This continued until the lesser servants were instead served something different for dinner: cornbread with lard. And the tosher hated cornbread. He waited for the potatoes to return, but they never did. One day, while doing his daily work—after... |
potatoes thing, eh?” “Um…yes?” the tosher called up, then regretted opening his mouth. “Funny,” the king explained, his voice echoing, “I had to stop buying potatoes even before the crop died. Once you took two, everyone wanted two. Because of the increased demand, potatoes became too expensive. We stopped being able t... |
But why are we sailing the Crimson? What in the world could make you want that to happen?” “Oh!” Tress said. “Right. Well, that’s what I found out when I was spying on the captain. She plans to visit a dragon and make him heal her.” “Xisis,” Ulaam said. “She plans to bargain with Xisis?” “Yes, and so I persuaded her to... |
She’d managed to set the Crow’s Song on a course toward a safe reconciliation for everyone except herself. Surely her conscience would let her flee now. The ship would stop at port to take on water before sailing the Crimson, and she had to find a way off the ship there. Then she could get on with her real quest, and l... |
found Crow at her desk, holding an exquisite porcelain cup with a floral motif painted across the side. The captain sipped at it and waved toward the seat across the small desk. Tress sat, noticing—but trying not to stare at—the book she’d read earlier. Crow idly tapped it with an index finger as she stared out her por... |
pirate. So are you, though you make a terrible one. Too merciful. Looking to protect random merchant ships when you should be worried about yourself.” Tress fell silent, her breath catching. Crow took another sip of her tea. “Yes, I know about the cannonballs,” she said. Why beat around the bush when there were so many... |
into a thousand colors. You haven’t witnessed the full grandeur of a rainbow until you’ve watched one explode in rings on the Verdant Sea, haloing a moon big enough to swallow the sky. Naturally, aethers grow with the rain, springing up behind those ribbons of water. It’s as if some celestial being is drawing lines on ... |
an appropriate pirate activity, so she was glad she was able to get the door shut before she fully lost control. “Whoa,” Huck said. He scampered up onto the footboard of the bed. “Hey, Tress. What’s wrong? What happened?” “I…I…” She shook her head and gasped for breath, unable to speak. It was all suddenly too much. Pe... |
There were a bunch of them, and Fort smiled a lot and used his hands to talk, instead of the board. I wonder if the other islands have groups like that and I never noticed. “Anyway, the city didn’t fly the royal flag. Isn’t that interesting? I know we’re at the border of the Emerald Sea, but still. The king has always ... |
that—in all likelihood—she wouldn’t ever be going home either. “Does it seem like things were better when you were younger?” Huck asked. “Did life really make more sense then?” “Yeah,” Tress whispered. “I remember…calm nights, watching the spores fall from the moon. Lukewarm cups of honey tea. The thrill of baking some... |
scraps and scrawled notes, cluttered with collected tidbits and half-finished ideas. The sort of mental detritus that those unacquainted with genius often attribute to unfettered brilliance. In truth, there was no pattern to such a mess other than the subtle chaos of frustration. Signs of a mind stretching beyond its l... |
roseite. That roseite, in turn, had wax on the inside—which allowed it to contain, but not touch, a charge of water. The silver tip pushed through the zephyr spores, killing a small number of them but leaving most unharmed, and then touched the roseite sphere—which cracked from the pressure of the silver. Water flooded... |
added by the original creator—gave her the last piece she needed. Reference my schematic for flares, which iterates on this design. Moon of meanings… Flare guns. The first few steps had already been taken. All Tress had to do was— A knock came at the door. Such a little interruption. A polite one, of the type Tress ass... |
you start cooking for evening mess…” She trailed off as she heard the bell on deck ring out a warning. That wasn’t the three heavy strikes indicating another ship had been spotted. But neither was it the call to mess, which was a constant ringing. It was two strikes, then quiet, then two strikes. “What’s that?” she ask... |
is intimidated by how insane things are out here on the seas, and is trying to fit in.” Fort rubbed his chin, but didn’t write anything else. She knew he was thinking about her supposed role as a King’s Mask, and how she wasn’t nearly as frightened of spores as she should have been. And again, it wasn’t that. She was a... |
Crow swooped down to the main deck, then slammed herself into her cabin. Laggart hurried down the steps, nearly stumbling in his haste, then quickly covered the slip by shouting for the Dougs to get back to work. In minutes, they were sailing a leisurely course along the border. Fort excused himself to go scrub some po... |
block the silver’s influence.” He pushed a wad into the cannon and rammed it into place with a rod. “This rag fills up the bore of the cannon,” he explained, “keeps the explosion from going around the ball—and puts the full force on the shot.” He slid a cannonball down the front of the cannon. It thumped into place. “C... |
cannon. Even with this brief delay at the border, she knew her time was short. Depending on where the dragon’s den was in the Crimson Sea, she had anywhere between a few hours and a few weeks to plan. A solution occurred to her only a moment later. She pushed the cannon forward, as she’d seen Laggart do. Then she smile... |
think?” Ann asked. “Any guesses?” “No. I…did ask Fort, and he said he thought you must have been a slave or something when you were a child. He thinks firing guns is about controlling your surroundings. Having access to power.” “Huh,” Ann said, settling onto a box of extra cannonballs. “And he’s normally so good at fig... |
into the cannonade crews. Lasted twenty-four days! Right up until…” Ann looked at her. “Did you know cannonballs can bounce? It was the most lunatic thing. Still think I’m the only cadet in the militia who ever managed to shoot her own sergeant…when he was behind her…inside the barracks.” “Wow,” Tress said. Ann sighed,... |
anymore. Surrender means death to us. Anyway, you should be able to get one from Fort.” Ann excused herself after that—tears of joy aren’t exactly a good match with an unprotected part of the ship. Tress settled down, thinking about people and how the holes in them could be filled by such simple things, like time, or a... |
need to avoid basic breads. Old flour has a bad taste, but it won’t make us sick. So we need something where taste won’t be too noticeable. Kulunut bread should be workable—and we can steam it.” He took her at her word, continuing to mash. Over the next hour, Tress found herself falling back into old routines. How many... |
and she wasn’t generally one to demand trades or payments from friends. Yet she’d watched how he interacted with others. Fort wasn’t a selfish man. He’d not only been the one to haul her up that first day, he’d given her food when she needed it. He always seemed to have what people needed, quietly providing medicine, s... |
have other work to do.” The crew will get suspicious if two meals are bad and one is incredible. “So the food is incredible, is it?” she said. He froze, then grinned again. I underestimated you. “Hopefully that’s catching,” she said. “You’re a resourceful man, Fort. You can come up with an excuse to put off the crew. T... |
promised more, but are going to let me take credit with the Dougs? He winked at her. I’m going to brag about this catch for three pages! Now, hurry up. I want to try one of those pies. Cutting apart a spore-filled flare while distracted wasn’t the best of ideas—but admittedly Tress hadn’t decided to be distracted. It h... |
flare for the timer—she wondered. Each of those preachers had acted like they had the answer, like there was one purpose in life. All life. She understood the inclination. A single answer would certainly make things tidier. Two plus two is four. Water boils at a specific temperature. Also, the purpose of life is to lea... |
down it, but didn’t pull the trigger—which would inject water into the barrel and launch the projectile. Testing this sort of thing in her quarters didn’t seem healthy. But how could she test it? She needed to be able to hit something solid to break the water cartridge, so she couldn’t simply fire it out the porthole. ... |
too, wasn’t she? Except this little vine wasn’t dangerous. So…no, she didn’t feel afraid. Not at the moment. When she’d used the midnight spores, she’d been attached to the creation. Curiously, she felt something similar at that moment with the vine. A Connection. She thought she could feel it searching. It was empty, ... |
doing—like pagans praying to a sculpted mud figure—we make of our memories the gods which judge our current lives. I love this. Memory may not be the heart of what makes us human, but it’s at least a vital organ. Nevertheless, we must take care not to let the bliss of the present fade when compared to supposedly better... |
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