Growth

Crewmen and passengers were scrambling on the port side so Clare walked over to investigate. A shadow crept under the surface of the water, a shadow the length of the tanker. All ten harpoon guns along the side were manned and ready to go.

“What is that?” Clare asked a crewman.

“We don’t know, but we sure as hell will be ready for it,” the crewman answered. “There’s nothing safe under those waves.”

Captain Rogers finally showed up. “Keep steady!” he commanded. “Don’t fire until I give the order.”

The need never arose. The shadow followed along for a few minutes more but steadily drifted away. No one showed any relief until it had completely disappeared in the distance. “Back to work, seadogs! Crisis averted.” Rogers shouted.

Or so it seemed. The sound of metal slamming against metal hit everyone’s ears. The commotion was coming from the cargo end of the deck. The entire metal cage of the dragon, empty, flew over the other containers and onto the deck in front of the frightened crowd. Then the hulking black form of the creature climbed into view. It roared angrily, very angrily, and jumped toward the passengers.

Captain Rogers didn’t have to give an order for the harpoon guns to open fire. All ten fired at once, but all ten missed the incredibly agile beast. The dragon recognized the threats, and attacked the nearest guns, rending the metal with its teeth. Passengers scrambled inside with terrified screams. The commotion drew the dragon’s attention and it left the harpoon turrets to jump into the middle of the mob. Three people were hacked in half with one swing of the tail.

A harpoon fired and struck the dragon’s shoulder. The penetration was deep enough for the gun to activate and reel the creature in away from the innocent lives. It roared and struggled to free itself. The fierce claws hacked the metal cord in half in a single strike. But three more harpoons from starboard and two from the port side struck next. The dragon could not move.

“Well done, men,” Captain Rogers announced. “Hit him with a few more!” Three more harpoons fired off and landed. “Good! Hold it steady, lads! Someone get the nets!”

A harpoon was shaken off, then another. The dragon gained a free hand and removed the rest with its overwhelming strength. The guns became its first priority, and it had the entire starboard side defenseless within a minute.

Clare had run up the stairs and into the captain’s cabin in that time. Butcher was absent. It seemed everyone was. Perhaps that was for the best. She watched as half a crewman was tossed into the water. Abominations indeed.

Captain Rogers was still shouting orders, now standing on the ruined cage with a shining rapier in his hand. The port side guns fired, and all harpoons landed. Clare could not believe that it freed itself yet again moments later. But then the dragon slowed down. It sniffed the air a few times and slowly turned to face the cabin. Its yellow eyes met Clare’s and it jumped to the balcony outside. Clare screamed and ducked under a wide sweep of its arm that decimated the windows and sprinkled glass shards everywhere.

The dragon stuck its head inside. Clare slipped behind an overturned desk but the monster had found her out again in one more sniff. She dodged the following attack by the hairs on her neck, rolling away from the desk in time to see it reduced to splinters. The dragon made an effort to climb inside but sharp claws grabbed it from behind. Butcher had made his move and he flung it from the balcony to the deck below. It landed hard.

Calvin and Raven were waiting for it. While the dragon was dazed from its landing, they got to work. The material of their weapons ignored the toughness of the monster’s hide and its black blood spilled across the deck. It came to its senses and knocked them away before they could deal too damage. They rolled across the hard floor, but were able to get up onto wobbly legs.

The dragon made another unexpected move. It ignored the others and went amongst the cargo containers again. After some rooting around, it flushed some passengers out of hiding, Alice being one of them. The dragon killed even more innocents in its rush to get to her.

But Alfred would have none of that. He exploded from cover and flew right at the dragon’s head with an amazing jump. His hands glimmered. Clare saw metal gauntlets with two long claws on each stretching from the back of Alfred’s hands. His midair attack sliced the dragon’s right eye. That got its attention. It grabbed Alfred before he could land and escape and threw him away. The claws cut Alfred as he left the hand. Butcher made a last second leap and caught Alfred before he could soar overboard. Alice ran to his side.

Nothing was stopping the rampage. Every attack from Raven and Calvin damaged the beast but they just weren’t slowing it down.

Clare spotted something among the ruins of the cabin: a sword. She lifted it and held it arm’s length. The weapon was light and sharp, and had a slight curve. The handle had an intricate design of a row of diamonds going down it. She gave it a practice swing. The blade flew off. The katana was a fake.

But then she saw something else. It was in a glass case in the back of the room. A battle axe, and a very large one at that. She opened the case and lifted it out. Before Primal, she surely would not have been able to lift it, but this was not then. She gave it a few swings before hitting the metal wall with it. It did not break and got stuck in the wall. It would do.

Clare jerked it out and ran to the window. The dragon had Calvin and Raven on the defensive. Alice was still beside Alfred. Butcher was circling the dragon from a distance, waiting to strike but was without opportunity. She spotted Marco as well. He was tinkering with a relatively intact harpoon turret.

The fight moved closer to Clare until the monster was right beneath her. Now or never. Clare jumped from the cabin and brought the axe down square between the monster’s shoulder blades, shattering some of its spines in the process. The power of Clare’s swing with the momentum of the fall and the element of surprise brought the dragon down to all fours. Calvin and Raven dashed in, aiming for the dragon’s eyes. But it recovered quickly, dodging their attacks and flinging Clare away. She landed beside Alice and Alfred.

“Clare!” Alice helped Clare to her feet. Clare noticed that she had taken Alfred’s claws for herself. “Whoa. Where did you get that axe?”

“Found it in the cabin.” Clare pointed to Alice’s hands. “You plan on using those?”

“Fuck yeah.”

“Let’s get it done.”

The women charged into the fray. The dragon whipped its tail at them. The women slid under the attack but Alice kept her claws above her head. When the tail made contact, the claws lopped it right off. It flung across the deck and the dragon roared.

“Boost me!” Clare shouted. Alice threw her hands out, sharp sides away, as Clare jumped. She was lifted to the dragon’s mid-back where she struck with the battle axe. It made the dragon stumble, giving Calvin and Raven a few easy strikes to its torso.

The dragon recovered again and jumped down the deck near the cargo containers to breath. It was losing a good bit of its black blood but was very much still in the fight. It sized up its opponents and clicked its claws together in anticipation. The four slowly advanced on full alert.

Then the Protectors charged. Clare and Alice followed their actions and did the same. The fight became more or less a brawl. They struck the dragon from all directions while trying their fullest to dodge its every attack.

Raven was hit first. The dragon kicked her far across the deck where she slammed into the wall of the bridge. Then Alice was struck by the shortened tail and sent into an open cargo container. It focused on Calvin after that so Clare slipped behind it and climbed onto a container. It really had Calvin on the ropes but he noticed Clare on the high ground and lured the dragon closer to himself.

Clare was ready to strike at any time but the dragon would not stop moving. Butcher solved that problem. He leapt from between containers and kept the dragon’s feet in place. The dragon made to strike at Butcher’s back but a shot was fired. Marco had repaired a turret and hit the dragon in the arm, saving Butcher from a fatal blow.

Then an unexpected sneak attack from Todd! His claws clattered against the top of a container as he ran up and along it and pounced onto the dragon’s head to claw at its remaining eye.

There was no better time. Clare ran along and then jumped off the container, battle axe over her head. It all seemed to happen in slow motion.

Clare soared.

Todd hopped out of the way.

Clare brought the axe down.

The battle axe shattered the monster’s skull and bits of brain spurted out. It let out a kind of grunting noise and then just fell over.

Alice crawled from the container. She saw it dead and immediately ran to Alfred. The old man was a wreck but he was alive. The dragon hide armor did its job for the most part. Anything less and he would surely be dead. Everyone else gathered the injured and deceased. Of the crew of X, five were dead and seven injured. Of the passengers, fifteen had perished. Alfred was the only living casualty.

The crew handled “reassembling” and placing the dead on the deck. The injured crewmen were brought inside with the passengers. They were civilians. Of the group, most lives were lived behind walls with guards in towers around them. This was never supposed to happen. An herbalist stepped up to bandage the survivors with a myriad of herbs she had packed. Clare recognized none of them.

Clare discovered that the young healer named herself Gaia because of her interest in the field. She was older than Clare, maybe around thirty. Her overall size was larger than she and Alice, for she had much more experience in life outside of walls.

“All of the injured will make a full recovery,” she announced to a small gathering of the concerned. “All except for the old Protector. I have to keep a close eye on him. He may pull through, but there is no certainty.”

Alice was about to say something, but kept quiet. She watched as Gaia returned to Alfred’s side and double checked the bandages.

“I’m sorry,” Clare said. She hugged Alice, half expecting her to push her away. But Alice accepted the affection. “He’s a tough guy. I don’t think he’s out of the game.”

“Neither do we,” Raven added. “Protectors can heal much better than normal people. Calvin, why don’t you show them your arrow wound from about a week ago?”

Calvin pulled up his sleeve a little and showed the wound to the women. Nothing. Not even a scratch or scar. “Impressed?” he asked.

“Very,” Clare answered. “He got shot there. I saw the hole myself,” she said to Alice.

Alice nodded. “That’s nice. I’m going to go lay down.” She limped to her cot.

“We heal at an increased rate as well,” Marco said to Clare. “If you get any bumps and bruises, they’ll be gone by tomorrow morning.

Clare was inattentive. She let Alice leave before saying, “She’s tougher than me and off she goes sulking.”

“Tougher than you, huh?”

“I’d say she is. Afraid of heights, quicker to anger, but definitely tougher on the whole.”

“I would have to argue otherwise, Clare,” Calvin said.

“What makes you say that?”

“Little slave goes out into the world, makes a lot of enemies, defeats a deadly dragon… Need I go on?”

“I see what you’re saying but-”

“But nothing. Take the compliment, you little survivor, you.”

“Be that as it may, Alice was there beside me all along. I’m going to see if I can’t cheer her up.”

“Alright. Don’t push too hard. She may just need a little alone time.”

Clare noted Raven’s opinion and sought out Alice. She was not at her bunk as she said she would be. Todd was, just waiting for Alice’s return. Clare had to conduct a search. She checked throughout the superstructure, but to no avail. A thorough search below deck yielded no results either. Clare grew worried. Where else was there to check? That’s when she looked through the lavatories. Soft sobbing could be heard within one. It was against what Clare wanted to do, but she knocked on the stall door inside.

“Is that you, Alice?”

Silence, then “Yeah.”

“Can we talk? Are you decent?”

The stall unlocked. Clare pushed it open. Alice had her feet up on the lid. “Hey,” she muttered.

“Hey. Alfred is probably going to be okay, you know?”

“I know. It’s just that he’s always been this big hero to me and no matter what the situation, he would always get back up and save the day. When that monster tossed him aside like a rag doll and he didn’t get up, I was crushed.”

“And angry, right? You really stuck it to that dragon.”

“Oh my God, I so was and so did.” Alice giggled a little. “I had fun hurting something. That’s messed up.”

Clare smiled. “Yes, you had fun hurting a horrifying force of destruction and death. You’re going to hell.”

Alice giggled again. “See you there. I saw you standing over it with that axe in its head.”

“Well you know what? I had fun doing that, too. We’re a couple of monsters ourselves, aren’t we?”

“We sure are.”

“Let’s get some fresh air.”

“Yeah.”

The women went up on deck and stood off to the side. The remaining crew had a lot of work to get done. Clare and Alice would have helped if they knew a single thing about ship maintenance. It was almost painful watching the crew work overtime. They moved to the cargo area to hide. That’s when Alice pointed out some large screws on the ground.

“What are these doing lying around?”

“And wasn’t the monster cage sitting here?”

“There’s its door right over there. You don’t think…”

“Not a simple breakout?”

“Yeah. Someone released that thing.”

“I think I know who did it,” Clare declared.

“What? Who?”

Clare pointed to a dead body. It was partially hidden beneath the door. “It looks like he was crushed when the monster burst out.”

“He had to have known that it would kill him if it got out.”

“Maybe that didn’t matter to him. I have to tell you something, Alice. Butcher told me that there was a Crusader on board. I guess we found him too late.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Alice grew visibly vexed.

“Butcher told me not to make a big deal out of it.”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have told me. Or any of the Protectors for that matter. Crusaders are out to get us if you remember.”

“I’m sorry.”

Alice sighed. “It’s alright. Just remember we’re with you.”

“I know.”

“Promise.”

“I promise.”

“Alright then. Back to the matter at hand,” Alice continued.

“Yes. What do we do now?”

Butcher came lumbering around. “Oh? What do we have here?” he said.

“Just doing a little investigating,” Clare answered.

Butcher gave her a chilling stare. “Didn’t one big cat ask that you not do that?”

Clare shrugged at Alice. “See?”

“Alright, alright,” Alice said. “But look. That guy must have let the dragon out.”

Butcher saw the man under the door. “I had not noticed him. I was busy working on new sleeping positions.” Butcher flipped the door off of the man.

“Is that the Crusader?” Clare asked.

“I suppose there’s no need to hide it. Yes, that man was the Crusader.”

“So this was a crazy assassination attempt,” Alice said.

“Don’t go pointing fingers, you two. The monster could have escaped on its own and this man could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Coincidence is possible.”

“Unlikely.”

“But still possible. It seems this case is closed either way. No more Crusader, no more suspicions, right?”

“Right,” the women said in unison.

“Then go take a nap or something. It’s what this old cat is going to do.” Butcher resumed his journey to an isolated, sunny area further down the deck.

“Butcher?” Alice called after him.

The jaguar turned.

“Thank you for catching Alfred.”

Butcher gave Alice a single nod, then continued on his way.

“I wonder how old he is,” Alice said. “He was huffing and puffing after his one attack against the monster. I saw it.”

Clare added, “He’s not such a bad animal.”

When the women returned to the others, Gaia needed some more help. Marco was already her assistant but she instructed the women on basic first aid with herbs and some contemporary medical procedures. She even let them do some of the work themselves. They weren’t half bad at it. The assisting took them past lunch time, so they were starving when they got to the mess hall. The atmosphere was solemn in there. Most of the passengers did not have much of an appetite. The crew showed up late and in shifts. They got their food down quickly so that they could get back to work as soon as possible. The ship had not slowed down since the incident. Everything needed to be ready for landfall. Captain Rogers ran a tight shift, but only because he had to.

Day turned to night. Clare and Alice preoccupied themselves with helping Gaia again with Marco. Every patient was already treated but Gaia continued the women’ education. The Protectors left them alone during that time. Calvin and Raven were beside Alfred a lot. There was nothing anyone could do at that point but hope. The rest was up to Alfred.

When Gaia let them go, Alice and Clare immediately went to Alfred’s side with the other two. Marco stood a short distance back. The old man’s breathing was slow but steady. The bleeding seemed to have stopped as well.

Clare did not know Alfred like the others and could not properly empathize. There was one instance back at the saloon in which one of Clare’s coworkers was killed by a lunatic in bed. It seemed to be the only time Ron enacted justice, and had the man killed. The others mourned the loss of their acquaintance, but that’s all she was. An acquaintance. No one knew her past or her favorite things, nor did Ron give them the time to discover them.

So Clare left them to it and went out to see the stars. Todd joined her. The moon was full and even hurt her eyes when she looked right at it. The deck was empty. Everyone had called it a day. Everyone except Captain Rogers. Clare spotted him at the bow. Before she decided to approach him, she examined his demeanor and decided it was best to leave him alone. He looked like Alice when she had wandered off with her thoughts. Butcher went up to him soon anyway. Rogers pet him on the head as they stared at the vast sea together.

“What sad days these are,” Todd said.

“That dragon didn’t exactly help.”

“That Crusader unleased a storm upon us. These are the lengths they will go to carry out their mission. We must be vigilant.”

Clare sighed. “I don’t like the idea of having to look over my shoulder everywhere I go but it seems necessary now, doesn’t it?”

“It does.”

Everyone was quite exhausted the next day. Despite the weariness, Clare could not sleep in. Too much was swirling around in her mind. Today was the day they would reach land, but Alfred was still out. They would have to figure something out. As for Cancun, Clare was very excited, much more excited than everyone else. That made her feel bad.

The others did not join her for breakfast. Captain Rogers did so instead. He was all sweaty again.

“What were you up to this morning?” Clare asked. “Got to work early?”

“Work? I suppose it was work.”

“You suppose? You weren’t fixing the guns or your cabin?”

“I was preoccupied in my cabin, yes.”

The captain was hiding something. Clare looked around the room for any clues. She noticed a young woman kept stealing glances at Captain Rogers. “You were having sex, weren’t you?” Clare blurted out.

Captain Rogers smirked a most mischievous smirk. “Aye, that I was. Life is too short to miss out on such occasional fun. You’re a sharp one, aren’t you?”

“No, you made it easy.” Clare narrowed her eyes. “You wanted me to ask about it.”

Captain Rogers blushed. “Maybe. I am no gentleman.”

“She keeps smiling by the way. Good job.”

“She’d better be. I pulled out all the stops.”

“For a little morning delight?”

“I aim to please.”

Clare went silent and poked at her food.

Captain Rogers set his fork down and put his hands together. “There are other things we can discuss. Why don’t you tell me about yourself? Tell me about Clare.”

“Well there’s not much to tell. As I understand it, my parents sold me into slavery to a man named Ryker. Calvin broke me out of there just over a week ago.” Clare sighed. “Years of the same old, day and night. No man has ever tried to woo me or tell me that they’d take me away from that life. I would have accepted that from any man. But as for Ryker, Calvin gave me an opening so I went and slit his throat in the middle of his own operation.” Clare chuckled. “That was a pretty nutty day.”

“You’ve killed before?” Captain Rogers asked. “You? The little redhead before me?”

“I’m just as surprised as you are. It was just the heat of the moment. And then more recently Alice and I killed a band of slavers. And maybe some Crusaders.”

“You two are just one surprise after the other. Oh, and as for my axe…”

“I’m sorry. I grabbed it in the heat of the moment.”

“Keep it.”

“I don’t-”

“Please. It only takes up space these days.”

“Where did you get it?”

“I’ll give you a hint. Was it able to cut through the dragon’s hide?”

“It belonged to a Protector?”

“Aye, it did. An old friend died with it in his hands during the battle of a lifetime, but not before shoving it into the skulls of the two dragons that dared attack him. What a warrior.”

“Then why give it to me?”

“One, you can lift the damn thing. Two, aren’t you on the road to becoming a Protector? Give the thing purpose again.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s a shame that monster broke my katana though. It may have been a replica but it is the only souvenir from my trip to Japan.”

Clare's eye twitched involuntarily. “Surely it can be fixed?”

“I’m sure it can. But still. It had so much sentimental value and now it’s all scratched up and bent. What a shame.”

“Hey, so, I met your first mate.”

“Amaris. She’s a piece of work, isn’t she?”

“I wouldn’t know. We only talked for a minute. She said said she knows everything about traps.”

“Oh, don’t go worrying about HER!”

Captain Rogers jumped in his seat and Amaris came up from under the table and made herself comfortable beside him. “Part of setting a trap is making sure you are undetectable,” she laughed. “Hello, Clare. So, would you like to study under me as my apprentice?”

“Whatever this is, don’t do it,” Rogers warned.

“I only offered some simple teaching.”

“I've thought about it,” Clare said.

“Don’t do it,” Rogers warned again.

“Let me do whatever the Protectors want me to do for a while and then I'll come back for training."

"You mean it?"

"Yes. It's like you said, I can only get stronger. But right now, I could be a Protector within the week!”

Amaris stood and smiled. "You won't be sorry, dear Clare. Don't forget, now." And with that, she walked off, making sure to give her hips a little extra sway as she went.

Captain Rogers stood with his empty tray. “I have to get back to work. We are expecting to see land at any moment and we are very shorthanded.”

“Good luck.”

Clare finished her meal and sought out Alice at a run but not before grabbing a portion for her friend. She was on one side of Alfred while Marco was on the other and said that the others went off to the mess hall. Clare must have just missed them.

“A thought comes to me,” Alice said as Clare sat beside her.

Clare put the food in Alice’s lap. “Let’s hear it.”

“Why did the monster target us? And don’t tell me it didn’t.”

“No, I think you’re right. You don’t think it was the Primal do you?”

“Maybe. Actually no. The dragon in the swamp would have smelled us if that was it.”

“It was a little preoccupied with dinner though.”

“You think the Crusader did something?”

“Like what?”

“He probably had Primal in him, right?”

“Probably.”

“Now let’s say he taunted the monster before he let it out. The monster then might start holding a grudge against people like him, right?”

Clare shrugged. “I know I would.”

“It’s just a thought. Who really knows?”

“There’s too much we don’t know in this screwy world.”

“I know. Just do what I’m going to try to do.”

“What would that be?”

“Ignore it.”

“I once heard that ignorance is bliss,” Marco said.

“I like the sound of that.” Alice let out a big breath of air. “That’s all I want. Get stronger, get revenge, and then relax. I guess revenge is out of the way now. And getting stronger. Shit, I need new goals. I’m sure your goals are different though… What will you do once you become a Protector?”

Clare set her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I wanted my life to become a distant memory, something that I’ll never think about again. I guess once I’m a Protector, I’ll just do as I’m told. They are sent out into the world so I’ll be able to see and experience all kinds of new things.”

Clare was smiling when she finished the thought but Marco spoke up. “Clare, think about what you just said,” he said.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“You’ll just do as you’re told?”

“Yeah.”

“Clare, you used to do everything you were told in that life that you want to become a distant memory.”

“That’s different.”

“It isn’t.”

“Is so!”

“Is not! The only difference is that your eyes will turn yellow.”

“I’m taking this to Calvin and Raven.”

“Maybe you should,” Alice said. “They’ll prove that you’re doing the right thing.”

Clare stood. “You’d better eat all of that, Alice.”

“I will, I will.” Alice glared at Marco. “You need to quit being a dick.”

Calvin and Raven were not in the mess hall as Clare believed. She went through the entire superstructure once again during her search before she found them on the deck working on one of the harpoon guns. The metal of most of the guns had been bent by the monster’s attacks and needed to be completely replaced. The gun the Protectors were inspecting was just like that. The weather was pleasant and a breeze blowing so the work was not entirely unbearable in the direct sunlight firing down from the cloudless sky.

“Calvin, Raven, I have questions,” Clare called out.

“Everything okay?” Raven asked.

“Tell me what happens when we get to the Great Tree. Do I have to start following orders? Who chooses where to send me to work? And define ‘work’. Do I get any freedom to do what I want?”

“Easy, Clare,” Calvin said.

“I was just talking to Marco and he says it’s no different from what I was doing before!”

Raven gripped Clare’s shoulders. “Clare! Calm yourself. Being a Protector is nothing like being a slave. You don’t have to touch a pickaxe if you don’t want to.” She released Clare and turned to Calvin. “I’m going to tell her everything. Fun surprises be damned.”

Calvin nodded and got back to helping the crew.

“Let’s sit down over there.” Raven brought Clare to the somewhat repaired canopy and the two got comfortable. “Let me start from the approach. We are going to take another boat up the Amazon River. It leads straight to the Great Tree and it’s incredibly easier than trying to fight through the jungle. Our headquarters is like a walled fortress. It is absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to see your face when you first see it, or when you first spot the Great Tree for that matter. Anyway we sail on in there and you’ll see that damn near everyone there is wearing one of these.” Raven patted her armor. “It’s the latest trend. We’ll go to the center of headquarters and that’s where you and Alice and any other recruits will meet the Master. She will have some questions for you. Answer honestly because she’ll know if you’re lying. She always does. If the Master approves, you get to be a Protector!” Raven threw her hands into the air with a big smile.

“Okay, I’m with you so far.”

“Good. So then you get the rest of that day off. The next day you take the Oath of Protection. I forget the words. Master says them and you just repeat. If you disagree at any point, please speak up. Oh, I almost forgot about the Elixir. You’ll feel the effects almost immediately and it will rock your world! Oh, yeah. That was the shit. When that’s over and done with, you’ll have yellow eyes the next time you look in a mirror. But let’s address your worries for a moment. Yes, you’ll have occasional orders that the Master will demand be carried out immediately and yes, they may not be at all pleasant. We are all more or less in the employ of the Master. But here’s something to think about: Reward.”

“Reward?”

“Yes, reward. Innocent lives saved, money, praise, reputation, a rise in rank. There is job satisfaction no matter the task. Being a Protector pays off. Does this not sound good?”

Clare smiled. “It does.”

“And between jobs there is always guaranteed free time. Do you think I’ve been on a job since we met?”

“Well no…”

“You’ll love being a Protector, Clare. But now the bad news… You know how our armor is made of dragon hide?”

“Yeah?”

“Land ho!” A crewman shouted from the radio tower which was apparently also the crow’s nest.

“Awesome!” Raven exclaimed. “Come on, let’s grab our things and figure out how to transport Alfred.” She grabbed Clare’s hand before she could protest and pulled her to her feet. “Start thinking of ideas because I know I haven’t.”

Alice was still at Alfred’s side. “I ate everything,” she told Clare. Calvin showed up a minute later.

“I feel a stretcher is more than enough to get Alfred off the ship and to a hospital,” Calvin started.

“But will moving him around hurt him?” Alice asked.

“That’s a question for Gaia,” Calvin admitted.

They looked around. Gaia was among other patients. Clare went to her and asked her to join their conversation.

“In my unprofessional opinion,” Gaia said, “he can be moved. I really have done all I can for him. His bandages are fresh and my herbs reapplied. I need compensation by the way…”

Calvin handed her a wad of money. “Don’t you ever straighten that stuff out?” Raven asked. Calvin shrugged.

“Oh, that’s more than enough. Thank you.” Gaia put the money away. “A stretcher will work for your friend. Captain Rogers has a lot of stretchers below deck. I guess he felt a disaster like this would occur one day. Or maybe this has happened before.”

“I don’t suppose you’d like to join us?” Alice asked rather abruptly.

“Join you? Oh, I don’t know about that. You are a nice group, but going around with Protectors is just too much for me.”

“I understand.”

“Besides, I’m out of herbs. I have some shopping and gathering to do.”

“You were a big help, Gaia. If you ever need a favor the next time we cross paths…”

“No, no. Your friend’s heap of cash is more than enough.”

“You sure?”

“We aren’t animals with their weird rules about favors. People use money and I like it that way. Now I have to check on the others if you don’t mind.”

“Do what you have to.”

“I like our rules,” Todd muttered.

“It’s been interesting, Alice, Clare, Marco, Protectors, Todd.” Gaia nodded to each and went back to work.