Doork

…

The month of sick leave finally ended for Link, and he was thankful that his and Line's scheduled shore work rotation had come at the end of it. As much as he liked working on the Grand Sails (in spite of the number of times things went bad for him), he found relief in shore work.

Shore work was a new plan implemented the year before. The main Skyriders office was usually manned by workers living on the island, but there were occasions in the past where it would have been helpful to have a few airmen on hand just in case something related to sailing or the docks came up. Such as an incident when one klutzy worker had tried to move a landed junk from the office's front lawn and, instead, smashed it through the glass atrium. A few times, some of the goods that had come in on airships had been taken to the supply depot when they should have been earmarked to go directly to the office, and most of the office workers were not built to handle large crates or barrels. So the fleet captains had decided that some of their airmen could be rotated off of an airship for three weeks each. This was mostly to let them rest from the constant workings of an airship, but it was hardly meant to be a complete rest from work. Airmen on shore work had to fill out daily reports of major events around the office (some of them had had fun with this aspect, littering reports with office gossip just to keep themselves entertained), participate in skill-building courses in the evenings to help keep their knowledge of airships sharp, and help with the occasional problem whenever it arose.

Of course, Link and Line were not alone in their shore work. Two other airmen had been rotated from the Dazzling Storm, an armed brig, to pick up jobs that they could not take care of. However, due to Link being the only one who could read and write with any proficiency (Line and the other two could read, but Line's handwriting was horrible, and the other two airmen were amazingly incapable of spelling), he often found himself busy with the daily reports. On top of those were the courses which had to be done in the early evenings, when business would be winding down but the other airmen on the island had not gone to the local taverns yet. Because Link had to stay up late to write the reports, the evenings often ended with him so exhausted that he could barely find his way to his own room despite being in the same building.

One particular night found Link working especially late. This was due to an incident that morning, where an airman working at the supply depot had decided to start a fistfight with a barrel of grog. At least, that was how the airman at the duty station had reported it; Link had had to spend the afternoon chasing down other members of the supply depot to get the whole story for the report he needed to fill out at the end of the day. After he had found out that the airman had actually been using the grog barrel as a form of stress relief, he had had to track down the doctor who had seen to the airman's injuries. Then Link had needed to find the airman's superior in order to put the airman's punishment on the daily record. By the time Link had had all the facts, Line had shown up to remind him of the course they had needed to attend. Afterwards, Line had agreed to stay with Link while he finished his report.

In the candle-lit office which the shore work airmen had to occupy to make themselves available for emergencies, Link finished his last statement with an awkwardly-placed period. He let out a loud yawn. "Okay, Line," he moaned. "I'm done."

"Geez, it's about time," Line replied, the feet of his reclined chair clacking to the floor. "It's gotta be almost morning by now."

"I told you it was gonna take a while," Link responded as he slowly stood up. His legs hurt from all the walking he had had to do. And, thanks to the report needing as much of his time as possible, his stomach felt like it would cave in any moment without the dinner he had had to skip. "At least it's done."

"Man, that's just ridiculous!" Line stood up from his chair and crossed the room to the desk Link used. "Why couldn't anyone else do this?"

"Because no one can write like me, I guess," Link said. His hand slid under the form he had just filled out, but then he stopped and thought. "I think I'll file this tomorrow; it's not like it's gonna go anywhere."

"I think you should burn it," Line said as they moved to the exit.

"I'd just have to write it again."

"We're ten, Link. This can't be good for us."

"What are you whining about? You sleep in anyway."

"Yeah, but I'm not nearly stupid enough to—gohf!"

"Ugh!" Both boys stopped at the doorway after Link, halfway out the door ahead of Line, turned straight into Line. "Oh, sorry."

"What was that?"

"Candle."

"Huh?"

"We need the candle."

Line turned back to the desk. "Oh, right." He retrieved the candle and followed Link into the hallway, sure to keep the candle to one side where Link would not block its light. "All I'm saying is I'm not dumb enough to just waste time like that. I sleep in because we're always working on the Grand Sails. I know this isn't supposed to be shore leave, but come on! I like sleeping in my own bed. It's not a berth that sways with the ship. I'm just trying to catch up all the hours I lose when we're sailing."

"You're supposed to unlock all the perimeter doors in the morning, remember? That's why I gave you that key."

Line blew a short raspberry. "Big deal. Unlock the front, unlock the back, unlock the side, unlock the storage shed."

"The front door has to be open during business hours."

"Link, no one gets here that early!"

"How do you know? You sleep through it!"

"Boys!" a voice from behind called out, startling them both. They turned to see one of the Dazzling Storm's airmen approaching with a lantern. "It's eyes out right now. Shut up and go to bed."

"Gladly," Line replied in an irate tone. The airman shook his head and turned to go to the office. "Big deal. It's not like we were gonna go anywhere else."

"Come on, Line," Link groaned as he continued down the hallway.

"Just because he comes off a ship built around a gun," Line continued as he followed Link. "Don't those guys seem a little stuck-up to you?"

Link shrugged his indifference. "Probably the effects of being on an airship with guns."

"The Grand Sails has guns, and we don't act like that."

"That's because we have other reasons to act like that."

"What's that mean?" Link and Line stopped at their quarters. Link did not respond while he fished in his trouser pocket for their key. When Line saw the confused look on Link's face, he asked, "What is it?"

"My key's missing," Link said, checking the other pocket. "I was sure I had it here."

"Sure you didn't leave it in the office?"

Link shook his head. "No, I always put it in my trouser pocket. It didn't have a reason to be out." After a few more minutes of searching, he groaned and said, "We'll have to use your key."

Line's face changed to an expression of concern. "Uh… Link, I didn't think I ever got a key."

"We've been living together for the past three years, but you never got a key?"

Line shrugged. "I thought someone just forgot, but I never said anything." Then he snapped his fingers. "But don't worry. I've got an idea. Just wait here."

"Yeouch!" Link shouted when, after having the candleholder shoved into his hands, his thumb touched the melted wax at the bottom. He was about to complain, but Line was already jogging down the hallway. Link wrinkled his face in annoyance and checked his pockets again. He realized something and checked his back pocket. By the time he pulled out his key, he remembered that he had left the key in there so it would not get confused with the notes he had had to make and get thrown away. He looked back down the hallway, but he realized that he was too tired to chase Line. Besides, he would be back to find the door unlocked anyway.

Link unlocked the door and stepped inside. Their quarters were barely larger than the quarters they shared with six other airmen on the Grand Sails, but it was nice to have some room to themselves. Their beds were on either side of the door. This made it easier for a superior to smash the door into Link's bed while shouting at Line to get up. It must have been the reason; Captain Alfonzo had done it enough times that it could not be a coincidence. Each of them had a writing desk at the foot of their beds. Link's desk had a few sheets of paper, an old pen and ink well, and a hole in one side where Line had demonstrated how tough the desks were supposed to be. Line's desk looked little better than a card table that someone had vomited on. Two beat-up, wooden dressers broke up the empty space on the far side of the room.

Link did not worry himself with undressing. He blew out the candle, put the candleholder on his desk, and flopped onto the bed. He idly shoved the door and decided to just leave it open a bit so Line would see. He was asleep in seconds.

BOOOOOOM! Link jolted awake and became aware enough to see what looked suspiciously like a metal-clad prow reflecting light from outside. He realized how impossible this was until he noticed that someone had made a large hole in the far wall, completely destroying both dressers in the process. Dust settled over everything, and Link could see Line sprawled over the side of a "hammerhead" junk.

Link groaned and dropped back onto the bed. He would panic about it in the morning.