Chapter 29: Day Seven, None the Safer
…
"I think I'm getting feeling back n—YEOW!"
Nearly half an hour later, Link finally regained feeling in his right foot. It was the last in a battery of issues Nester had found once Link had woken up. The first was the fact that Link, having woke up feeling quite drained, had had to flop onto the deck just to make enough noise to wake Nester up. Even then, he had needed to hit his fist on the floor to let Nester know there was something wrong. Once the lights had gone on, Nester had found Link weak and pale. Link had barely been able to talk at first, busy as he was trying to catch his breath once more. The doctor had scrambled into action when he had identified the stridor in Link's respiration. A cry for help had escaped Nester as he used a manual resuscitator to bring Link's breathing back to normal. This had only lasted for a few moments since Link had returned to breathing normally almost right away. When Flower and Line had rushed in, Nester had ordered them to put Link on the examination table closer to the doorway. He had taken note of Link's poor color and discovered how cold and clammy his skin had felt. At the same time, he had found bruises on Link's neck, shoulders, elbows, and in the middle of his forehead and behind his head peeking out from beneath his hair, these final two being the worst spots of all. Link had started slapping his right thigh once he had felt more control in his limbs. Nester had ordered Line and Flower to pull off Link's undersuit and had been quite amazed to find most of Link's right leg nearly white while his right foot had looked to be turning blue, especially in comparison to his left foot. This had prompted Nester to tell them to put Link in the office chair instead as he had checked Link's pulse and breathing.
Link had begun recovering quickly, regaining his color in the minutes it had taken for Line to find Leynne. Link had explained what had happened to his right leg in the dream while also mentioning the pins and needles sensation in the leg. Nester had tested his tactile sensation by sticking him with a sharpened tongue depressor. Link had been able to just barely feel the tongue depressor on his leg; his foot, however, had presented with no feeling at all. Nester had also discovered that the back of Link's throat had been irritated, which Link had told him had quite likely been the result of the monster in the dream trying to drown him.
"Well," Nester told him as he then watched Link's toes wiggle from running the blunt end of the tongue depressor across the bottom of his foot, "it looks like you're getting circulation back."
"Anything we should be concehned about, doctoh?" Leynne asked.
"You saw how it was when you got here, first officer," Nester said as he stood up to address Leynne. "Basically, if it starts doing that again, come get me." Then he looked back to Link. "Can you lift it now?"
Link braced himself in the chair and raised his foot. "It still feels a little heavy," he said, "but it's better now."
Nester took in a breath and let it out in a long sigh. "Partial drowning, foot amputation, limb ischemia, blunt trauma, and severe hemorrhage," he listed as he stepped to his desk and rested a hip against the edge. He shook his head at Link and Leynne. "And all mostly resolved within an hour. This 'Night' thing sure likes to dish out some punishment, Captain."
"Is theh any indication why this is happening?" Leynne asked. "I find I cannot fathom the connection between imaginary injuries and real symptoms."
Nester crossed his arms and appeared to ponder to himself. "I think—and I cannot stress that enough—that most of these symptoms are being caused by Captain Link's body itself."
Leynne turned to share a look with Flower, who could only shrug in response. "I don't quite undehstand."
"Most of these things that have been occurring can just as easily be caused by the body as it can by real injuries," Nester explained. "The contusions could be a combination of increased blood pressure along with the cells in the capillary walls perceiving the injury and simply falling apart because they don't believe there's anything to connect to." He held up a hand and quickly added, "That, though, is one of the bigger maybes. His breathing problem is laryngospasm, a common response to drowning. The vocal folds close to prevent water from entering the lungs. Obviously enough, this also makes breathing difficult. Once he was awake, the vocal folds started to relax. The irritation at the back of his throat was likely caused by an uptake in breathing to compensate for having his airway closed off."
"And the leg that was allegedly crushed with the foot amputated?" Leynne asked.
"The perceived trauma to the leg included a greater amount of blood loss which, in more extreme circumstances, causes vasoconstriction. His body thought it was bleeding out, so it started contracting most of its branching arteries to help keep most of its blood volume—" He placed his hands on his chest. "—up here in the torso, which would help keep him alive. When the foot was amputated, the body thought that it had to close off those open arteries completely to keep from bleeding out. The perception of being crushed as well as blood loss caused by the amputation forced a reduction of blood to the leg to prevent the same thing. Everything the captain experienced is simply the results of ischemia, the lack of blood to major tissues." He twitched his neck and clicked his tongue. "Quite frankly, Captain, if you hadn't woken up soon, it's possible that the ischemia in your foot would have resulted in tissue death, and I would've needed to remove your foot in reality, too."
"What can I do for it?" Link asked.
Nester frowned as he took another moment to think. "I can only come up with two solutions," he said. "The first one is simple. If you lose another limb like that, wake up immediately so you can get blood flow returned to it. If you wait too long, I just might have to cut it off."
"If prioh stories ah any indication," Leynne said, "The Night is just as likely to finish its machinations befoh Link has a chance." Nester nodded in agreement.
"What's the other solution?" Link asked.
"Use needles and tubes to bypass most of your major arteries and pump blood directly from your central system into your extremities," Nester said with a flat tone. Link opened and closed his mouth for a moment, shocked by the idea.
"That's… ratheh extreme, isn't it?" Leynne asked, his features contorted with disgust.
"Reckless, really, but I've seen it done," Nester replied. "The clinic I practiced at occasionally had crushing injuries that caused some of the smaller arteries in a limb to collapse, and we would use a thin rubber tube to join a pair of needles together to keep circulation going before infarction set in. But that's too drastic, Captain. All the tubing would cause your blood pressure to drop, the needles might cause subdural infection, sepsis, maybe even infection of the arteries… and that's not counting what might happen if you take blunt trauma on top of a blood vessel with a needle in it. It's scary enough to try in a clinic. On this ship? I'd only make that kind of call if you were down to your last limb. There wouldn't be much else of you after that."
Flower, who had gone unnoticed for a while, let out a whistle. "Captain," he said. "If that doesn't scare you into not losing any limbs, I can't think of anything that would."
"Trust me, I'm in complete agreement," Link replied. He stood up, one hand on the nearby desk to keep himself steady. "How's the crew doing?"
"With a couple of exceptions, most of them have coped well with the change in plans," Leynne said.
"What exceptions?" Link asked as he half-limped toward the bed that his gear rested on.
"Cale and Lilly have declined to pahticipate," Leynne said. "It appeahs that both of them have made a sobriety pact 'in the name of knowledge' and ah attempting to readjust themselves to the new schedule. I don't know how Cale intends to last considering his and Line's trips to the library."
"He says it's all willpower," Line spoke up from the doorway.
"Most of the deck crew have taken well," Leynne continued as Link sat on the bed and slowly pulled his trousers on. "But I'm a little concehned about the engine crew. On top of the incident between Geohdie and Beech, being down to a two-man watch has made it difficult foh them to keep each otheh awake."
"Oh, speaking of which," Link said, turning to look at the bed at the far end of the sick bay. "How is he, Doctor?"
"Anesthetized," Nester replied as he followed Link's gaze. "I stitched up most of his lacerations, and he was conscious last night. I put him out with an anesthetic, though. You don't dream on anesthetics, and I didn't want him to flail around if he had a nightmare; some of those sutures are in pretty iffy areas."
"What ah his chances?" Leynne asked.
"It's usually a close fifty-fifty with brain trauma," Nester told him. "He may be fine in a few days, but a secondary injury could take him between now and a few months later. There's really no way to tell until it happens." He looked at Leynne. "How about Beech?"
"Relaxed," Leynne answered. "Confinement hahdly needs to be moh of a punishment; he's receiving the same treatment as the rest of the crew. Though, Captain." Link looked up from belting his trousers. "I do wondeh how long you intend to leave him theh."
"As long as necessary," Link replied.
"And how long is that?"
Link glanced past Leynne. "Mister Flower, would you want to work with an airman who just beat the hell out of another?"
"Not unless I had orders," Flower replied. "Even then, I wouldn't turn my back on him."
Link nodded. "I guarantee the rest of the engine crew think much less of him than that," he then said to Leynne. "And with The Night affecting all of us, how long do you think it'll be until one of them takes a spare timber to his head?"
Leynne looked down at the deck for a moment. "I hadn't considehed that, sih," he said.
"Until they've calmed down, too," Link said, "Beech is safer confined. But you're still right; we can't leave him there with The Night getting to us." Link paused with his hand on his tunic, trying to come up with a solution. "Allow him to eat in the galley. Let the crew get used to him again. And assign an airman to keep an eye on him in case trouble starts."
"I'd like to volunteer, Lieutenant," Flower said.
Leynne gave him a surprised look. "You, Misteh Floweh?" he asked. "You just said you wouldn't tuhn youh back on him."
"That's right," Flower replied. "But I've been listening to you this whole time, too. I don't trust him, but I know it isn't his fault, either. Find me someone else on the day shift that can understand that."
Leynne looked to Link, who only gave a shrug before pulling his tunic over his head. "Very well, Misteh Floweh," he said. "I think breakfast should be ready by now. Would you escoht Misteh Beech to the galley?"
"Aye aye, sir," Flower said, snapping a salute. Leynne's response was a dismissive flick of the wrist, and Flower stepped out immediately.
Link looked at his second-in-command for a moment and realized that he was staring at a man slowly descending into lethargy. "Are you all right, Leynne?" he asked.
Leynne heaved a sigh. "This has been quite a toll on my mind lately," he admitted. "The fact that I can't see Beech potentially being in dangeh concehns me. I feel as if I've missed an impohtant factoh in this ship's operation."
"You feel like your attention's slipping?" Nester asked. "Like you're looking for something right in front of you?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's just standard fatigue. Take a shot and go get some sleep."
"Go ahead," Link said just as Leynne was about to speak up. "I'll be on-deck in a few minutes."
"Yes, sir," Leynne sighed.
…
~~9/24, Expedition Day 42.
~~I got back from the underground river about an hour ago. I'm pretty sure I completely bled out in the dream, but I think I beat that water creature down in the technoworks. Whether that means I beat The Night, well, I suppose we'll have to figure that out. I can't go now because it's eight in the morning and Nester just sent Leynne to bed. I don't wanna leave the crew without either of us, so I'm waiting until Leynne gets up before I go look at the river.
~~The next place will be the mines Leynne's party located up north. I have to say I'm not really looking forward to it.
…
Link stared at the tower in the center of the island as the Conductor drifted toward the east river. He could tell just by the fact that it stood there that he would eventually have to climb it. Although he remembered Line and Gillam showing him the mass of The Night they had encountered, it felt more poignant than before. There could not be any technoworks in there, and that just heightened the sense. How well would The Night guard something with even more mystery than the library and river, two structures which the Obeetans probably buried out of fear? Then… for that matter, why did the Obeetans block off the library and the river and not the tower?
The clouds around them made telling the time of day difficult, but The Night had not yet gotten to disrupting clocks. Once Leynne had gotten up, Link had immediately called Line, Dubbl, and Gillam together to form a shore party. They did not have any barrels for gathering water; that would be taken care of later. For now, Link wanted to see if Janni was correct about the chests the Sorians had left behind.
He glanced down at the island beneath the launch. But it was Gillam who called across the deck, "I think I see the well!"
Link sighed out some of his anxiety and turned toward the stern. "Line, full stop," he said as he strolled along the bulwark toward the pilot's station. "Take us down carefully. We don't need to bounce off the ground again."
"Boy!" Line declared as he shoved the throttle control to the rear. "Doesn't anyone take 'sorry' anymore?!"
"You never apologized," Link told him.
"You didn't get after me for it then!"
Link stepped up to the partition surrounding the pilot's station. "Hey, Line," he said, leaning his torso over the partition.
"What?" Line asked, glaring at Link.
"Carefully." Line reached up in attempt to slap the smile off Link's face, but Link quickly straightened up and out of his reach. Link enjoyed a quick smirk before striding to the transom. "C'mon, Dubbl," he said as he hauled up a sand bag from the deck onto the transom. "Let's drop anchor."
Dubbl gave the sand bag she was picking up a confused look. "It, sand," she told him.
Link gave one shoulder a shrug. "Close enough. Airships can use anything as an anchor."
"Including Captain?"
Link glanced aside at her to find her giving him a flat look. "I'd laugh if someone hadn't tried it before," he said, mirroring her expression.
Dubbl's face twisted to show her disbelief. "Captain, you, too small."
"They wrapped chains around him," Line said as he stepped around the pilot's station bound for the deckhouse.
"Line, The Night doesn't need any more ideas," Link told Line's back. Then he shoved his sandbag over the stern.
"I've got the spare line secured, sir," Gillam called from the starboard side.
"Good," Link replied. "Throw it overboard." He noticed Dubbl picking up the rope net attached to the transom and quickly stepped back to the other side to help. "Dubbl, I want you to come down with me."
"Why?" Dubbl asked as they dropped the net overboard. "Gillam, bigge'."
"Gillam and Line are gonna stay here," Link explained. "If we get into trouble, they can pull us out of the well fast. But I'd rather not go down there alone."
"So we two die?" Dubbl asked.
Link gave her an exasperated look. "It's not gonna be like that. Just trust me."
"You two die," Line said as he stepped back onto the deck with a pair of lanterns in his hands.
"Shut up, Line," Link and Dubbl told him at the same time.
Link and Dubbl descended to the ground and used the spare line Gillam had tied to the launch's bulwark as a means of descending into the well. Link felt some measure of surprise seeing the cavernous river again, having gotten used to the idea that he would only ever see it once. Everything was just as it had been the first time he had descended: shallow, slow-flowing water in the middle of a vault of soft earth. Light was much scarcer due to the storm cloud around the island, so once Link was back on dry ground, he quickly pulled off the lantern dangling from his gun belt and struck a match for it. Dubbl did the same a few moments later while mumbling under her breath in Geltoan; if her walk was anything to go by, she was dismayed at having her work trousers soaked beneath the knees.
Link retraced his steps in the soft earth, moving slowly inward just as he had before. Dubbl quietly followed, her eyes directed to what little else of the underground she could see while the rest of her senses told her where Link was. While she suffered from paranoia driven by the radical change in her sleeping habits, Link could not help feeling a little excited. Everything seemed right to him. He did not even need to see the technoworks to know that The Night had been driven out.
This feeling must have spurred him on faster than he thought because they quickly arrived outside the entrance to the technoworks. This time, there was no blackness to blot out the warm, vivid colors of living rock. Or, at least, that was what Link first thought. No, with certainty, The Night had retreated from this area of technoworks. However, like the technoworks connected to the library, this location had been marred by The Night's activity. The first room, which could not have been any larger than the Conductor's deckhouse, sported black slash marks crisscrossed into an ugly shape on top of a field of flashing red. Link found it a little distressing, but he was also relieved that it only covered the wall opposite the entrance.
A short hallway with a downward slope led Link and Dubbl into the next room. Here, there was only one area where the technoworks had been injured: the spot where the inhuman skeleton had nearly ambushed him. Compared to the first room, however, it was merely a shallow cut in the floor barely surrounded by a soft throb of red light. The chest, in about the same spot near the single cut, sat on a pedestal that barely brought the chest up above his knees.
"Zis blace, boding," Dubbl commented.
"'Boding'?" Link asked as he stepped up to the chest.
"It not be fun," Dubbl told him.
"Oh." He used the toe of one boot to trace the cut in the floor nearby. "Well, trust me: these technoworks aren't any more fun if there's something living in them." He turned and carefully lifted the chest's lid up.
"Zat, what?" Dubbl asked.
Link reached his opposite hand in and retrieved the chest's contents. "A pair of goggles," he told her, holding the goggles up to show her. "They don't look like much, but they kept me from getting killed again."
Dubbl gave the goggles a difficult look, head tilted to one side. "Zis reason we come?" she then asked, turning a skeptical eye to him.
Link sighed. "Yeah, seems a little stupid," he admitted as he stuffed the goggles into a pocket. While closing the chest, he added, "Other than confirming The Night gone, I suppose this looks like a waste of time, but I honestly think these might give me more of a chance."
"You fight ze Night in you' sleep, I unde'stand," Dubbl said, crossing her arms. "But goggles not impless."
"I know," Link said. "It's a little hard to explain. We're done here, though. Let's get back to the Symphony."
…
Link was half-tempted to talk Dubbl into faking a panic if only to entertain Line, but he settled for just packing up the Conductor and returning to the Island Symphony. Their eyes felt like they had to take some time to adjust to the cloudy, day-lit sky until Link realized a few minutes after setting out that noon had passed a long time ago, and the Conductor was returning in the late hours of the afternoon. This was confirmed by the fact that Leynne was standing on the poop deck as they returned, watching over the launch's embarkation. He had on a fresh dress shirt and slacks, and Link nodded his approval of his second-in-command having allowed himself some downtime.
"Link, I'm overdue for my relief," Line whined after the Conductor finally settled onto its supports.
"Then go," Link told him, his tone indicating the obviousness of the action.
With little warning, Line elbowed past Link and mounted the ladder Lwamm had just set against the transom. He slid down the ladder and ran out of the boat deck like any other young man in desperate need to relieve himself. This prompted Gillam to call after him, "You should've gone before we left!"
"Captain," Leynne called out as he stepped into the boat deck. "Good news, I hope?"
"You bet," Link replied. He paused to catch one of the lines Twali had thrown up to him. "The river's clear, so we can get all the water we need."
"Ah," Leynne responded with a nod. "So. Wateh today, rations tomohrow?"
"That's the plan," Link said.
"I cehtainly hope so," Leynne said. "Chief Cale and Ihleen have retuhned to the library. I felt it necessary to send Gold along, but it has left the night shift shoht-handed."
"That's fine," Link called down, forced to raise his voice since he had to cross to the opposite side of the Conductor to drop the securing line to Lwamm. He hustled back across the deck so he could address Leynne further. He leaned his hands on the bulwark and said, "The Night doesn't seem interested in bothering us unless we're asleep, so I think we can afford to be short a man where we need it."
"Of couhse," Leynne replied with a nod. "Nesteh repohted that Geohdie was awake and responsive this aftehnoon. He has little memory of the… attack…" He paused to shake his head. "… but Nesteh does not fohsee any complications foh the time being. I've assigned Hunteh to watch Beech foh dinneh. So fah, otheh than some moments of silent self-loathing, Beech has been calm and collected."
Link finished tossing another line down to Lwamm and returned to the other side of the launch. "Well that's good," he said as he folded his arms and braced them on the bulwark. "How about the crew? Are they comfortable with him?"
"As it appeahs, you weh right. The crew ah not very relaxed with him, but I think the wohd has spread a little betteh regahding the things that can happen to a pehson heh. They haven't at least tried to pummel him."
"And how about the night shift in the engine room?" Link asked as he stood up.
Leynne followed Link toward the launch's stern with his eyes as he said, "Hahley has volunteehed to retuhn to the night shift foh the duration. I've also asked that both shifts at least try to spend some time above-deck to help relieve whateveh tension might remain afteh the incident. Ah—theh is one otheh issue I mean to address."
Link barely heard Leynne as he climbed down. He rounded the Conductor's stern and asked, "Something new?"
"Well, ratheh, something I'd feahed once it became apparent we'd be heh foh some time."
Link nodded at the open doors under the Conductor's bowsprit. "Can we take it outside?"
"Of couhse." Leynne turned and fell into stride beside Link, taking a bit of effort since Link was much shorter. "Ouh poweh generatoh is operating almost at the minimum. It appeahs that the outgoing breeze is insufficient to supply us. Which I happen to find unusual."
Link, upon stepping onto the quarterdeck, took in a deep breath and sighed it out in disbelief. He approached the railing at the front of the deck and turned to address Leynne. "The Night again?"
"Ostensibly," Leynne told him. "If it undehstands ouh electrical system, it likely knows how to stop it. The outbound breeze is the only souhce of atmospheric current."
"Only the regular source," Link reminded him. "It still gets windy up here, too."
"Of couhse. Howeveh, unless the winds pick up against this stohm, we could be looking at a complete loss of poweh in a matteh of houhs, pehhaps a handful of days."
Link nodded. "Do you think you can conserve power by disconnecting the lights on the weather deck?"
"Not by much. And it will leave the deck in the dahk not long befoh the rest of the ship's lighting fails."
Link took in a deep breath again and crossed his arms. "Well, I guess we should prepare for that. Did we ever get rid of that crate of replacement lanterns we picked up on Forge Island?"
Leynne wrinkled his brow. "I'll have to check with Cale, but I don't believe we did."
"Okay, well, we can use those. Someone will have to remember to light and put them out each night."
"Aaaand… wheh ah we supposed to mount them?"
Link pointed as he said, "On each mast, maybe the head of each stairs…" He turned and glanced up at the railing of the poop deck. "We should see if we can bolt the bases down. The forecastle and the bow shouldn't be much trouble, but I don't know any way to put them on the poop deck."
"Especially considering that we left a lahge hole in the middle of the deck," Leynne said with an air of lament.
"Come on, I'll show you about where to put them."
Link turned and strode toward the starboard staircase. Leynne followed along as he asked, "Theh's a specific guide to theih placement?"
"There is if…" Link's thoughts faltered as he started for the starboard mizzen-mast. However, he had cast his eyes across the nearly empty deck and spotted someone near the port bulwark. He judged the Gelto crewman to be Ray, the only one who actually preferred wearing the blue tunic that was the Skyriders' uniform. An uneasiness fell over Link as he watched Ray's head nod. His stride toward the mast slowed for a moment, and then he started toward Ray. Leynne did not realize what Link was watching until he saw Link change directions.
"Ray?" Link called across the deck. For a second, he thought he saw Ray look up at him. Then her head drooped again, so he called out, "Ray!" He felt his heart start to beat in his chest as he grew close enough to tell that she was not standing at the bulwark. She was sitting on the bulwark. With none of the rigging within arm's reach. A chill spread throughout Link's body, and he picked up his pace as he called once more, "Ray!"
"Ray!" Leynne hollered, his voice tense as he realized what Ray was doing. The noise caught attention from Lwamm, who was securing the boat deck's doors, and Twali as she was climbing the steps back up to her post on the poop deck.
Link was halfway across the deck. Ray's head hung, and her shoulders had slumped. Link could only conclude that, if she had not fallen asleep yet, she was close. "Ray!" he snapped, hoping that feigned anger might help jar Ray to awareness again. He was correct; Ray's body gave a slight jerk in response.
And then she began turning away from the ship.
"RAY!" Link hollered before he broke into a run.
"LAYNA!" Leynne immediately called as he tried to run after his commander.
Events slowed to a crawl. Link watched as Ray finally tumbled sideways over the bulwark. Her whole body was limp, leaving Link to suspect that she was in no way aware that she was falling. First, her head and half of her torso disappeared behind the bulwark. Her feet lifted from the deck. By the time the rest of her torso disappeared, her legs flailed into the air as if her body was trying to save itself with its own will. It was so surreal that Link might have stopped to laugh. He could not reach her in time to grab her; her feet, the last part of her he could see, were disappearing too fast. Just a half-second longer to the bulwark, Link placed his feet together and took a flying leap over the bulwark.
Suddenly, Ray was not falling anymore. Link saw her feet approaching so fast that he could think of nothing better to do than wrap his arms around her ankles and hold tight. It was not until Link held her ankles secure to his shoulders that it occurred to him that he had just jumped clear of the bulwark.
In the two seconds it had taken him to realize that both he and Ray were going to fall, someone hooked a hand into the belt holding his tunic tight to his waist. Gravity exerted its control over all things with weight, and his belt came to a sudden stop. Link thought his body was going to fold forward to the point that he would actually kick himself in the face. Ray, with no ability to brace herself for the stop, slipped through Link's grip. Link's mind immediately registered that Ray was falling away again, and his hands snapped forward and wrapped around Ray's left ankle with all their strength.
The jolt from being caught again caused Ray to stir. Her drowsy gaze took a moment to clear itself. Then, once she realized that she was hanging head-first over a maw of dark, swirling clouds and lightning, she let out an ear-splitting scream of utmost fright.
Link flinched, and he felt the anchor holding onto the back of his belt jerk. He called down, "Ray!"
Ray stopped screaming and looked past her chest to see not just Link holding her ankle like a steel trap, but Layna holding Link by his belt with one hand while Leynne had his hands gripped around Layna's opposite forearm. Leynne was pulling back just enough that Layna was able to brace her feet against the deck, saving Link and Ray the pain of potentially swinging and bashing against the hull.
"Ray!" Link called. "It's gonna be all right!"
"Layna," Leynne said through his teeth. "Can you pull them up?"
"'Inu nadlwaylayximak," Layna chanted in response, her voice shaky. "'Inu nadlwaylayximak. 'Inu nadlwaylayximak. 'Inu nadlwaylayximak…"
"Amda Lyayn!" Lwamm hollered as she and Twali rushed toward them. "'Inan nayx midhujak sazalxiym max!?"
"Lwamm, saylotan!" Leynne ordered. "Twali, thaylwocan 'anw robat 'amodhafi!"
"'Anw robat 'amodhafi?" Twali asked while Lwamm took Layna's hand with both of hers.
"'Ak robat 'amodhfi 'imnan saj," Lwamm told Twali.
"Oh!" Twali responded before sprinting to the portside staircase.
"Nad-nadfaysolwan," Ray said in a weak voice, shaking her head. "Nadfaysolwan."
"It's okay," Link told her. "It's okay; I got you." He grunted as a shift from Layna caused his belt to slide lower and press on the belt holding his trousers up, causing the buckle to bite into his waist. "Leynne! What's going on?!"
"One moment, Captain," Leynne replied. "Twali's gone below to open the cahgo dooh."
Link glanced toward the ship and noticed that he was just below eye level with the upper gap between the door and the hull. "Is this the same door that's gonna hit me in the head?" he asked.
"I doubt if she can open it that fast," Leynne said.
Link heard metal squealing and closed his eyes to brace himself. Thunk. "Ow," Link grunted, realizing he had overestimated the pain of the large door striking him just left of the crown of his head. He pushed his head against the door, but it was Layna who turned him so he was out of the way.
Twali continued to open the door. Once it was close enough, Ray grabbed the edge of the door. Then she used the interior frame to shift herself over the door, aided by Layna repositioning her feet on the hull. When Twali finished opening the door, she stepped out onto the door and wrapped her arms around Ray's waist. Then she looked up at Link and nodded. Link was reluctant, but he released Ray's ankle. Both Twali and Ray cried out in surprise as Ray's legs flailed, causing Twali to lose balance and stumble backwards. For a second, Link thought Twali might pitch forward and fall over the edge with Ray. But Twali finally tripped, and both women—WHUMP—fell back into the ship.
Link breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, Layna," he said in a weak voice. "Drop me onto the door."
Instead, he felt himself rising. Link looked up as best as he could, and he nearly bumped into the hull when Layna climbed back onto the deck. He reached a hand out, and Lwamm grabbed it. Although he knew that they were pulling him back on-board, he still reached a foot over the bulwark just to be sure.
