23 En Route:
"Leave it to Gilder to get himself into a mess." Vyse chuckled. "And in Glacia of all places."
In his Captain's quarters, he was making a few last minute arrangements. Fortunately, with Enrique vacationing on Crescent Isle, Vyse was able to pass temporary leadership of the island over to the young Emperor. His responsibilities freed up, Vyse was able to do what he did best, save the day.
He had chosen a small, select crew so that all duties aboard the Delphinus could be taken care of with ease while not substantially weakening the force on Crescent Isle. Pinta and Marco had anxiously accepted, while only after a few harsh words from Don would Khazim accompany Vyse's crew. Memories of Khazim's sardi stuffed sardis made Vyse give Urala a winning grin while asking the cook to accompany him for the journey. He was shocked when the normally timid girl smiled back and gave a firm "no thank you." Vyse had cut his losses and snagged a promise from Urala to prepare a month's worth of pot stickers, seaweed salad and inarizushi for the Delphinus' travels. Brabham and Fina finished off the crew nicely.
The young Captain gripped the hilt of his cutlass and struck an offensive stance. The blade gleamed from Fina's habit of polishing and tidying his belongings. Vyse noted that it was probably due a sharpening. He tucked the cutlass back into his belt and gathered the last few necessities into a travel sack. He glanced at the locked drawer in his desk and back at the sack. Vyse took the key from his pocket and opened the drawer, slipping Aika's diary into his travel sack. He was ready.
Down at the docks, the gruff sailor from the Claudia, Rodney, was waiting for Vyse. Rodney gave a curt salute before breaking into a swarthy grin.
"Hallo, Cap'in," Rodney greeted.
"What's the game plan?" Vyse asked.
"Search an' rescue, simple enough," Rodney replied. "The Claudia'll lead you to where Cap'in Gilder is an' then we start removing debris from the cave in. Miss Clara's already there, she demands hot chocolate."
Vyse laughed. "Is there anything else?"
"Got a sickly lad on board the Claudia," Rodney said. "Name's Leo. With Miss Fina's permission we dropped him off here in one o' Crescent Isle's spare rooms. The boy's just not cut out for Glacia's weather."
"Alright." Vyse nodded. "Let's head out."
"Aye, aye." Rodney grinned as he raced over to the Claudia.
Pinta greeted Vyse aboard the Delphinus immediately. The young Captain wasted little time before he was barking out orders for his crew. Brabham headed down to the engine room, Khazim took to pacing by a cannon, Pinta perched himself in the lookout and the rest of the small crew met around the steering wheel.
"Marco, take the wheel," Vyse commanded.
"But what about you?" Marco asked. "I thought you'd be steering."
Vyse chuckled. "I heard that you're pretty good at manning the wheel on your own," he replied. "Besides, I need to figure out how we're going to rescue Gilder."
"We've got the moonstone cannon," Marco said. "Why not use that?"
"Gilder's already stuck in a cave in," Vyse said. "That cannon might do more damage than help."
"Makes sense." Marco nodded.
As the engines rumbled to life, the boy cranked the wheel of the Delphinus left. The Valuan ship headed away from Crescent Isle and followed the Claudia South.
Vyse inhaled the salty air and noticed through the view port a school of sky sardis scatter as the Delphinus cut past it. The Captain headed towards the engine room with Fina right behind him.
"I'm going to talk to Brabham for a bit," Vyse informed the Silvite. "It's loud in the engine room; you might not want to come along for it."
Fina nodded. "Maybe I'll go to the Captain's quarters and tidy things up a bit. I'll help unpack your things for you."
"Thank you," Vyse said.
"Sure," Fina replied. With a smile, the girl turned around and walked off.
The rumbling of the engine became louder as Vyse neared the engine room. He thought to knock on the door, but figured he wouldn't be heard anyway.
Brabham was hunched over a two-stroke exhaust valve, eyeing it critically. Vyse tapped the old man on the shoulder. Brabham looked up to meet his Captain's grin with one of his own.
"Captain," Brabham called out over the roar of the engine. "What can I do for you?"
"I was thinking about what we're going to have to do to rescue Gilder." Vyse motioned to the door. "Let's talk outside."
Brabham nodded and the two left the engine room.
"What's on your mind?" the old man asked.
"Well, I know we can't just go blasting into the cave in with the moonstone cannon," Vyse began. "That will definitely cause more damage than good. I was thinking something along the lines of attaching large chunks of debris to the Delphinus with ropes and using the ship's engine to dislodge it. Do you think that would be possible?"
Brabham stroked his beard for a moment.
"The engine's certainly strong enough," he murmured. "I think it'll probably all depend on what the sight looks like when we get there."
"You think that some of the larger debris may be holding up the rest of it?" Vyse asked.
"That is a possibility," Brabham replied.
"Do we have anything onboard the Delphinus to build makeshift supports if that's the case?" Vyse wondered.
"Unless you thought to bring some, we might be forced to use something like the cots in the crew quarters," Brabham said.
"As long as it will work." Vyse nodded.
"Well, I should probably get back to the engines," Brabham said.
"You're right," Vyse replied. "Thanks for your help."
"Anytime, Captain." Brabham chuckled as he headed back into the engine room.
Vyse whistled as he strolled through the ship, reclaiming his sea legs. Pinta caught up with him and kept the Captain company while he made his rounds. Marco was both competent and confident enough behind the wheel, Brabham was doing what he did best and Khazim was busy polishing the cannons. It was clear sailing and all Vyse had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride, but the young Captain couldn't help but worry that they would reach Glacia in time to help Gilder.
As the sun began to dip below the horizon, the moons glowed in their full beauty. Supper would be soon and Vyse could only hope that Urala's food would hold up to Fina reheating it.
Vyse met up with Marco by the steering wheel and took over for the boy.
"Is something wrong?" Marco asked.
"Not at all," Vyse replied. "But I figured since you've been working so hard, you deserved to eat first. Grab Khazim and Pinta and the three of you eat supper. Afterwards, Brabham, Fina and I will eat."
"Aye, aye!" The boy saluted and ran off.
Vyse firmly gripped the wheel and guided the Delphinus after the Claudia. After years of dreaming of his own ship, it pleased him at how natural it felt beneath his fingers.
Falling back into old habits was easy and the time flying the Delphinus seemed to breeze by. It felt like mere moments when a relaxed and fed Marco returned to his post.
"Time for dinner, Captain," Marco said as he reclaimed the wheel.
"Thanks, Marco," Vyse replied.
"No problem," Marco said.
Vyse headed towards the Captain's quarters. If he was lucky, Fina would still be there and they could walk to the dining area together. He knocked before opening the door.
Fina was perched on his bed with Aika's diary in her lap. A frown was on her lips.
"Fina, it's time for supper," Vyse said.
Fina glanced up from the diary and her thoughts were displayed on her features.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Vyse asked.
"I just thought that since she was my friend too, I deserved to read it," Fina began. "I didn't realize."
"It's bizarre, isn't it?" Vyse walked over to the bed and sat next to Fina.
Fina propped her head lightly against Vyse's shoulder.
"Why are you doing this, Vyse?" she asked.
"Doing what?" He wrapped an arm around her and squeezed.
Fina lifted her head away from him. "I care for you. A lot," she admitted. "But are you here like this because you want to be, or because you're trying to fulfill Aika's wish?"
Vyse dropped his arm. "Truthfully, I don't know," he confessed. "It's not that I don't like you. I do, but, I don't know."
Fina drew his face to hers with a hand. Her lips grazed both of Vyse's cheeks softly before reaching his mouth. When she pulled away, there were tears in her eyes.
"You're hurt," Fina whispered. "Heal. And when you do, come to me because you want me, not because of anything Aika wrote."
Vyse pulled the Silvite into a hug. "Thank you," he murmured. "Thank you."