circumstances seemed to disprove that, but Calder couldn’t rule it out yet. Maybe Tommison would greet Navigator reinforcements with musket-fire.
Finally, something strange could have happened. And strange on the Aion Sea meant strange indeed. Elders could be wearing their bodies like husks, or a rogue Kameira could have driven their ship into the island in a rage.
There was one commonality in all of those scenarios: they all held the potential for a fight.
Petal had proven herself reliable in combat before, but she hated it. Calder tried to respect her wishes whenever possible. He really did need Foster on the cannons, just in case, and Jerri…enthusiastic as she was, and as much as she enjoyed the thrill of danger, she was hopeless with a sword. Adequate with a firearm, but nothing more.
And he couldn’t bear to risk her.
Shuffles fluttered up to the deck, saw what was happening, and laughed. Then it lumbered back down below, presumably to go back to sleep.
Calder chose to take that as a good omen.
With the crew assigned, Calder marched over to help Urzaia with the longboat, only to find Jerri standing between him and the cook. Her earrings flashed emerald in the sunlight, seeming to blaze with green fire, and her eyes flickered with fire of their own.
“I’m not staying on the ship,” she declared.
“Sorry, Jerri, I’m too busy to talk. I’m helping Urzaia with the boat.”
She shot a skeptical glance at the Champion, who was lifting a longboat one-handed without use of the ropes.
Urzaia shot her a beaming gap-tooth smile. “Do not worry, Jyrine! I can handle this myself.”
Calder wondered if he could get away with docking Urzaia’s pay.
“I know we’ll be in danger, but I accept the risks,” Jerri went on.
Calder weighed his options and decided to appeal to the gravity of the situation. “I will not increase risk for the rest of the crew. Taking along someone who cannot hold her weight in battle puts us all in danger.”
Her face contorted as she wrestled with herself, trying to come up with an argument against her uselessness in combat.
Andel stepped up to Calder’s side, adjusting his white hat. “I agree with the captain, Miss Tessella. You won’t be of any help to us, so it would make no sense to take you along. My apologies.”
She glared at him, jaw tightening as she searched for something to say.
Calder was about to apologize and promise to make it up to her on his return when Urzaia called out. “I will look out for her, Captain!”
Jerri looked as though the sun had risen again.
Calder turned to Urzaia, who was holding the longboat by its prow one-handed, lowering it down long-ways into the water. “You think she should come ashore with us, Urzaia?”
Carefully, the Champion continued lowering the boat, leaning over the railing to get it closer to the water before he let it fall with a loud splash.
“She wants to, yes? Then let her come! It could be an adventure, and there might be no bloodshed at all. Either way, she will have fun, I think.”
Jerri ran over to him, and without a word, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.
Calder tried and failed to find a further objection.
With Urzaia looking out for her, she’d be as safe as she would if she remained on the ship. Maybe safer, depending on what they found. Besides, he wasn’t certain they were running into danger.
“Fine with me,” he said at last. “But let’s not waste any more daylight. Lower the ladder, Urzaia.”
If not for their prior experience with roaming islands, they would have beached their longboat right next to The Reliable.
One end of the island would be the ‘mouth.’ If the island had tried to swallow the ship and failed for some reason, then landing close to The Reliable would have been like tickling the lips of a sleeping predator.
It would have been easier to walk along the beach, but Calder wanted to avoid as little contact with the sand as possible.
There wasn’t supposed to be a beach.
Instead, they marched through the jungle, keeping the beach in sight and taking the long way to the crashed Navigator ship.
The beach was thin, which was only unusual in that roaming islands usually didn’t have beaches at all, but the vegetation was so thick that it was difficult for them to push through.
Well, difficult for all of them except Urzaia.
They adapted by following the Champion, who swept through the bushes and low trees as though through a