As promised, when they docked at B'tik the following morning, Fann took Eeth and Eden to find his cousin, Leif. Leif owned a speedboat that would be perfect for transporting them to the wharf being built at the northern end of Taktaw. Surely, there they would be able to get their hands on enough cryonic acid to see them safely back to Coruscant. Not that Eden was particularly eager to return; the truth was, he was enjoying all these new experiences, even if Eeth was a little harder on him than he would have liked.
Leif was dubious about lending them the speedboat. "Thing is," he said, "I was actually going to go to the wharf myself. Young Elis's parents want me to take him there. He's going to start an apprenticeship. I can't take two more. The boat won't hold more than two adults, at least not for a trip across the open sea."
"What if we took Elis?" asked Eeth. "I don't know how old and heavy he is, but Eden here is only eleven. That would be one adult and two youngsters."
Leif eyed Eeth and Eden critically.
"I think he knows what he's doing," Fann said. "He certainly knows his stuff with machines, and he's strong. The captain would have hired him on the spot if he'd wanted to."
"We'll pay in advance," Eeth said.
There was a little more haggling, but in the end, things were settled. Fann returned to the ship, and Leif sent his wife to fetch Elis and took Eeth and Eden to show them the boat. It was small, but Eeth could see that it was both sturdy and fast, and in good shape as well. It was probably their best bet to make it to the wharf fast.
Elis turned out to be a slender boy of around fourteen, with surprisingly blonde hair and deep brown skin. He had a bag slung across his shoulder. "Hiya," he said, grinning at them both. "So you're going to take me to the wharf, are you?"
"Yes," Eeth said. "I am Eeth; this is my business partner's son, Eden. We're from Coruscant, but our ship got stranded here. We want to make some purchases for our repairs at the wharf."
"Alright," said Elis cheerfully. "Let's leave then. I just managed to convince my mother to say goodbye to me at home. If we don't get away fast, she'll come running to the harbour after all."
Eden grinned. He had liked the kids he'd met so far, and Elis seemed to be just as likeable. The boat, however… He eyed it sceptically. It was about four and a half meters long and half as wide. Fuck, seriously? He looked from Elis, who jumped in with the ease of someone who had done so all his life, to Eeth. "You sure this thing will float with all of us in it?" he queried, adjusting his pack.
"Oh, yes," said Eeth matter-of-factly. "But it might be a rough ride at times, especially when we leave the shore, which we will have to do occasionally to cut across the bays. We will have to distribute our weight evenly. I will show both of you where to sit and you will stay put there. Leif told me it might just about be possible to arrive at the wharf by nightfall, but only if we take no more than a brief break, the sea is calm and the tides are good. We have no use for antics."
Elis had been riding boats all his life, although Leif had never before allowed him on his speedboat. Still, he knew what to do. "No antics," he agreed. "Come on, Eden. Jump in. Aim for the middle of the boat. And keep your balance."
Antics were the last thing on Eden's mind right now. He nodded once at Eeth, then looked where Elis was gesturing. Okay, it did not look all that steady to him, but he knew Eeth wouldn't lie to him. It was with that in mind, and the look on Elis's face, that he closed his good eye and jumped in. He used the Force to land flat as if he were bracing for an attack, his lowered position probably looking a little strange given that the other two were seated either side of him. He stood, but not too quickly, and then he sat.
Eeth stowed all their luggage away into a waterproof box and delegated Elis and Eden to seats at the stern of the boat while he took the wheel.
"I know this is going to be boring," he said, more to Eden than to Elis, "but I still expect you to stay seated when at all possible. The less any of you move around, the faster I can go. And hold tight."
While he started up the engine, Elis tossed Eden a waterproof jacket. "Here," he said. "You wouldn't believe it, but once we get going, it's going to get really cold from the spray and the wind."
"Thanks," Eden said, accepting the jacket, and pulled it on. He watched as Eeth stowed their packs. His lightsaber was in that, and he hoped it would be safe. He did not know if Eeth had his on himself or not. He hoped the man did as they didn't know this ocean or what was in it. That thought prompted a glance into the water. He half expected to see something pop up and was about to ask about the likelihood of predators when Eeth hit the engine and they were off. Like a shot! The smile on Eden's face grew wide. "Wahhhooo!" This was freaking AWESOME.
"Eeth, please, man, you gotta lemme drive?" he practically begged as they launched over a wave. His form of address was entirely informal, and it did make the Temple-raised padawan wince a little, but then again they were meant to be undercover.
"No, definitely not," Eeth yelled to be heard over the din of the motor and the waves. "If we want to make this trip by nightfall, we have no time for experiments. And this is not as easy as it looks."
"Spoilsport," the boy yelled back at Eeth. His expression was still elated as they bounced over another small swell.
"He's right," Elis said to Eden, watching Eeth who, to his slight surprise, seemed to know exactly what he was doing, hitting the waves at the right angle not to catch water and steering clear of rocks. "D'you suppose he'd let me drive, though?"
Eden looked to Elis when he asked about driving and shrugged. The guy looked like he could be a few years older than himself, perhaps fourteen or so, but he couldn't be sure. "He might, although if he's not gonna let me, I doubt he'll let you either." It was an honest answer; from what little he knew of Eeth, he did not like his chances.
"Hey," Elis called to the front. "Can I drive, then? I know how to drive a boat, and I'm fourteen already!"
Eeth was currently busy swerving round a swarm of rather large fish, or possibly mammals. He considered the request briefly, but only very briefly. "No!" he called back. "Leif made it my job to get you to the wharf, not the other way around. Besides, the boat would get too heavy in the back and too light in front."
Elis huffed. "He's probably right again," he admitted to Eden in an undertone. "I just need to grow more, but nothing I do or eat seems to make my body hurry up."
"I'm familiar with that problem," Eden replied with a huff that was partially for effect, but mostly due to having hit a wave and the boat bouncing him on the seat. He was glad his ass wasn't sore. This would have been pure torture if it was. He looked at Eeth. The man was huge compared to him. He wondered if that was because Zabrak were naturally more prone to build muscle, or if it was his supremely disciplined personality. He thought about asking, but then they hit another wave, and he ducked just in time to miss catching a face full of water. "Whoa, this is freaking awesome. If we make it to the other side, can you let me drive then?" he shouted. It was a long shot, but this just looked like SO much fun!
"No!" shouted Eeth. Eden was eleven, he had no clue how to operate a speedboat, and it would take at least several hours to teach him the basics. There was no way they were going to have that kind of time to spare.
"Do you say anything other than 'NO?" Eden complained.
Eeth chose to ignore this comment. Of course he said other things than 'no'. Right now, though, he had to focus on driving the boat and that was more difficult than it looked. The problem was, he realised as they made their way across rough seas, sometimes nearly losing sight of the island as they cut across bays, he had no decent navigation equipment. He had a satellite picture and knew where they had started and where they were supposed to go, but it was difficult to match the coastline with his map. It was all covered in tropical forests, with no discernible settlements. After having driven for an hour, he had only a vague idea how much headway they had made, and after two hours, all that was left was guesswork. This was annoying; usually, Eeth prided himself on always knowing where they were. He decided to take a break around lunchtime and find out their whereabouts. That way, he would be able to tell whether they would make it to the wharf by nightfall or whether they had rather seek a campsite somewhere and continue in the morning. They needed the break anyway; there was no room to move on the boat and even Eeth found the ride tedious after several hours.
By the time they stopped for a break, Eden was also feeling sick of the ride. It had been awesome at first, but given that all they were allowed to do was sit there and bounce around in the boat, it did get old after a while. Eeth drove the boat up into the sand, and they all jumped out. Eden leapt from the boat to the sandy shore, using the Force to steady his landing. Due to the fact that he only had eyesight in one eye, his depth perception could be off. He had learned from a young age not to trust his eyes when it came to stuff like this. He glanced back to Elis who had just jumped and landed next to him. "We've got food in our packs. Paris is a pretty good cook, have you met him before?" he asked the teen. Eden wasn't sure what experiences Elis had, but he was curious to know.
Elis nodded. "Yeah, he's a distant relation, like most of the people on that ship," he said. "Maybe I'll join them when I'm older. My dad said I'd better get a little bigger and learn about machines first, though, or I'd end up sweeping the deck and peeling potatoes the whole time."
"Or worse, cleaning grease off parts. I had to do that. It sucked," replied Eden. The latter was said in a stage whisper, but Eeth did not rise to his bait.
Eeth, in the meantime, was scanning their surroundings. To the north, the landscape rose to a high hill from which water was streaming, joining the sea to their south. "I shall climb the hill and see where we are and how far we have to go," he told the boys, "You stay here. If there is any kind of problem, Eden can comm me."
Neither boy took issue with these instructions, both giving a nod in reply. When Eeth had left, Eden asked Elis where he thought the best place to eat was and followed him to the base of a huge palm tree. It was not far from the boat, as neither of them wanted to let it out of their sight should something unforeseen happen. The last thing they wanted was to be stranded here. "Here," Eden said, tossing the teen a wrapped sandwich. "It will be great; I'm sure Paris could make a bantha turd taste à la carte."
"Thanks," said Elis, lying back and propping himself up on one elbow to eat his sandwich. "That Eeth – do you think he'll let us drive if we really insist? My father nearly always gives in if you ask him really nicely. Leif doesn't, though. He's a real hardass. Luckily, he's just my mother's third cousin or so."
"Doubt it, Eeth can be a pain in the ass." Literally. The latter he kept to himself for the moment. Eden knew that some colonies did not believe in corporal punishment and he did not want to offend anyone. He took a huge bite of his sandwich; it was delicious, and he finished it fast. He eyed Eeth's portion hungrily. He wouldn't eat it on him, of course, but the thought crossed his mind. Eden grinned as he watched the boat pitch and roll. Driving it did look like fun, he had to admit that, and he didn't blame Elis for wanting to try it.
Elis glanced at the hill. It was overgrown by trees; from the beach, it was impossible to see Eeth and the reverse was probably true as well. "Tell you what," he said. "We wait till we see Eeth at the top. Then we know how long it took him to get there and can estimate how long the descent will take. And while he comes down, we go for a quick ride in the boat. I know how to drive one. Besides, he only told us to stay here. And we will. We won't go out of sight of the beach or anything." The truth was, Leif had never ever allowed him to drive his speedboat, but Eden and Eeth did not need to know that. Besides, Elis did indeed have plenty of experience driving slower boats.
Despite his less than stellar behaviour since being under Eeth's care, Eden wasn't a reckless personality. He contemplated Elis's suggestion for a while, his expression thoughtful. It would be fun, he knew that, and maybe if he agreed, Elis just might let him have a go at it? Now that was worth the risk. Besides, Elis was right: Eeth was out of sight. But whether or not he would hear them from that distance was a risk, and then there was his sense of the Force, not that he could tell Elis that. Well, he knew a bit about shielding and concealment, and he was well-versed for an eleven-year-old. This might work. "It's a risk. If he catches us, shit is going to be trumps," he said, waiting to gauge the teen's reaction to that news.
Elis shrugged. "I suppose so," he said. "The question is, would it be so bad that it wouldn't be worth the risk?"
Eden had to think about that. From what little he knew of Eeth, yes, it would be so bad! New knight or not, no, it wasn't worth the risk! Then again, he was unsure of how Eeth would handle it, should he catch out a local. Elis was not a Jedi or a padawan; he was a local teenager. Perhaps that was the boon that would spare them, should they be busted? Eden wasn't sure, and his expression said as much. "You can really drive that thing? And, you would be willing to give me a shot at it?" he queried, weighing up their options.
"Yeah, if we kept away from the rocks and you promised not to go too fast," said Elis. "I've never capsized, but I don't want this to be the first time either. This is a fairly light boat, after all. But there are hardly any waves in the bay. What could possibly go wrong?"
Eeth could catch us, that is what could go wrong, Eden thought, but he did not say as much. Instead, he stood and brushed off his pants - he was entirely sick to death of sand – and squinted up towards the hill where Eeth was nowhere to be seen nor sensed. "You seem to know what you're doing, and I have to admit that if we make this fast, there is little chance we will get caught." He thought for another moment then tapped his finger against his chin. "Yes, I think it's worth it."
According to his commlink It took Eeth another twenty minutes to reach the top of the hill, that gave them at least half an hour, clear.
At the top of the hill were trees, too. Elis had been wondering how Eeth had been planning to see anything from up there. But when they had finished their lunch and taken a dip in the sea, they noticed one of the trees shaking violently. "He's climbing one of the banyaran trees?" Elis said, impressed. "He must be mightily fit. How did he learn it? Are there even trees on Coruscant?"
Eden did not have Elis's sight, so when the teen pointed out what he saw he immediately turned his senses to Eeth. "Yeah, he works out." He wished he had a readymade reply to how Eeth had such skills, but he did not. Thinking fast, the boy kept up his casual expression and shrugged. "Who knows what that guy does in his spare time. Eeth fits the 'eccentric uncle' schema, I have to be honest." He hoped that did not deviate too far from their story to be believable.
Fortunately for Eden, Elis let the matter drop; he was too busy watching the hilltop intently. "He's coming down," said Elis. "C'mon. Let's go as long as we have time. And don't worry about the noise; among the trees, he won't hear anything but the birds."
Eden nodded. He glanced up towards the hill, unable to make out more than a fuzzy horizon line with his poor eyesight. His gaze darted back to Elis, and again he hesitated; if Eeth caught him doing this, he was probably not going to be pleased. He'd said no, after all. Then again, he could hardly let Elis go alone, that would surely be considered irresponsible. Still, he was mindful of the fact that his lightsaber was back on the beach, which prompted a question as Elis untied the anchor. "Is there anything that can kill us in this ocean?"
Elis laughed. "Not this close to the beach," he said. "Too shallow for goar-sharks. Besides, they don't attack boats, only swimmers. C'mon."
Eden was mollified that they were not going to be eaten by sea monsters and confident that Eeth's Force presence was still and out of range. So they pushed the boat into the water, waded in behind it and jumped aboard.
Elis started the ignition and carefully turned the boat until the bow was pointing outwards. He knew not to accelerate too much at first; they were too close to shore, and he needed to get used to the boat. However, once they were safely away from the beach, he went for top speed, and they discovered that that was even faster than Eeth had gone. "Woohoo!" they both yelled as Elis drove a long curve toward the southern edge of the bay while the water sprayed behind them.
Eden's smile was so big that he inhaled a mouthful of sea spray and didn't even care that it burned as it came out his nostrils. This was so much more fun than before. They were getting a meter or more of air at some points, and it was thrilling. "I wanna try, please, c'mon," Eden begged when they had been at this for five minutes. Eeth would never let him, and it looked like so much fun.
"Alright," said Elis readily, slowing down. "But don't go as fast as I did. And be careful when we switch places. And don't go too near the beach, or to the northern end of the bay. There must be rocks out there. You can see it because there's foam; it's where the waves break." He showed Eden how to accelerate, brake and steer and then crawled to the stern of the boat.
Eden nodded his head curtly at each instruction. When Elis started to crawl to the other side, he did the same, making sure to keep the weight even as he had been told. Unlike Elis, Eden had ready access to the Force, something he used here to compensate for his lack of navigational savvy. When he sensed danger, he switched direction; it was far more reliable than his poor eyesight. This was the most fun the kid had had in, well, in forever! Their boat skimmed the waves, gaining a little air even though he kept his speed to an acceptable level. He could have gone much faster, he knew, but that was not something he'd be able to explain to Elis. After about five minutes of this, he slowed and checked the gauges, as a thought occurred to him. "How much fuel will we need and, I hope Eeth won't notice the small amount missing? Is the gauge built like that?" he questioned.
In truth, Elis had no idea how this boat operated; he hadn't even thought of fuel. "Oh, I'm sure it will be alright," he said bracingly.
Eden didn't like the sound of that, not that he telegraphed as much in his expression. He glanced at the dials and gadgets, his own limited experience with starships providing diddly squat here. He scratched his head. "C'mon let's swap and get back, I don't want to risk using up so much fuel that Eeth notices, or worse, we get stranded here." Of course, his priorities there were reversed: he'd far rather be stranded here than have Eeth find out they had taken it upon themselves to have a bit of fun without his permission. He set the engine to idle. "If I cause him too much trouble, he might just decide not to bring me along next time, and I love coming on these trips with him," the boy explained and squinted up at the hill where they had last seen Eeth. He could sense that the man was still at quite a distance, but that was the extent of it; he just wasn't well enough acquainted with Eeth's Force signature to pinpoint his exact location, something else that made the kid uneasy.
Meanwhile, Eeth hurried down the slope. From his lookout position in the tree, he had managed to identify their position and found that they had not made as good time as he had hoped. They really needed to get going. And even then, it might not be enough. Since nightfall came early in these parts, they might still have to set up camp somewhere. He could have easily driven the boat by night, of course, drawing on his sense of the Force, but that would have been impossible to explain away.
At that point, Elis discovered a problem: He had no experience landing the boat onto the beach, like Eeth had done. Several times, he miscalculated the speed that he needed in order to achieve this. He came in too slowly, not wanting to damage the boat, with the result that the waves carried it back into the bay. Noticing Eden's nervous glances towards the fringe of the forest, he revved up the engine, flinching slightly at the noise. This time, the boat was practically rammed into the sand, so hard that it would prove difficult to get it out again; and what was worse, the new landing site was several meters away from the old one, the traces of which could easily be seen.
"Quick, maybe he won't notice," Elis whispered to Eden, hastily turning off the engine and jumping from the boat.
"He IS going to notice; we have to try and fix this." Eden could, of course, move the boat using the Force, but that would give them away. He started pulling and pushing, doing his best to dislodge it but to little effect. "C'mon, help me out here." Unfortunately, the boat was really freaking lodged in there! And there was going to be no moving it.
Eeth was coming down the hill fast. One of the reasons for this was a vague sense that something was off. Besides, he knew the terrain by now, and he was impatient to get going again. Thus, it was only a minute later that he emerged from the woods onto the beach. He took in the scene and made a few educated guesses. And frowned.
"What," he asked icily, striding up to the boat, "do you think you are doing?"
Having been wholly focused on dislodging their boat, Eden had not sensed Eeth's presence until the last moment. He grabbed Elis by the shirt and tried to pull him around, but it was too late. Eden was a dreadful liar, he really was. "We were, just… messing with the boat. It looked like it was drifting off from where you anchored it, and… Sure enough!" he told the man, once again trying to dislodge it from the bank with little success; Elis had really lodged it in there, and there was no way it was coming out, and no way that story was going to fly. Eden realised that and gave a deflated sigh. Maybe Elis could come up with something better?
"Well, the thing is," Elis submitted, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could while such a supremely ominous look was directed at him, "the boat was drifting off, so I jumped in and drove it back onto the beach."
"Which is why both of you were desperately trying to shift it?" Eeth asked coolly. He knew perfectly well that, for the boat to be lodged into the sand like this, it would not have sufficed to jump in and steer it back from a few meters' distance. Besides, both boys acted exceedingly guilty. "Your story is not plausible," he informed them. "I would advise you to come clean, now."
Elis looked at Eden helplessly. He did not know Eeth and had no idea what was the best course of action here.
The best course of action was ultimately going to be the most difficult to follow, Eden knew, but if the look on Eeth's face was anything to go by, he considered himself lucky to have been given a second chance to explain. Elis had given it a decent enough shot, but it was not going to be enough to fool Eeth. He looked at the man, whose expression was ominous, and wrinkled his nose. What was it with this guy and his supremely inconvenient timing?
Eden took a small step back, subconsciously keeping himself out of reach. Rationally he knew that this would not save him, but he was an eleven-year-old Jedi padawan about to confess to disobedience on a mission, to the most unforgiving of babysitters. "Ah, Uncle Eeth. You see, we were eating lunch and we decided that, since Elis knew how to drive, and you were going to be a while up there, that, that…" Come on, spit it out, he silently coached himself. He swallowed. "That we would go for a bit of a ride in the boat." Both hands came up, and Eden took another step back. "Look, man, it was just around this little area, we didn't go near the rocks or do anything reckless." He had purposefully chosen that word as recklessness was probably up there with disobedience for an apprentice, especially a very young apprentice. His master would have handed him his ass, had he tried something like this; he had no idea what he had been thinking.
It had, of course, crossed his mind to incorporate Elis' story into his own, to say that they had noticed the boat moving, come to the rescue and got carried away. However, he'd already lied once, and he did not like to lie; he was dreadful at it! Besides, Eeth had an uncanny ability to sniff out bullshit; it was quite impressive, given that they lacked a formal training bond. He would have to ask him about that later, uh, if he survived. Right now, he had bigger issues than a lousy poker face.
"Right," Eeth said, the expression on his face thunderous. He had no idea what had got into Eden to keep disobeying and neglecting his duties like this, but he was going to have to give the boy yet another very good incentive not to do it again. Not now, though; they simply lacked the time for that, and besides, Elis was around. Not that Eeth was happy with Elis, but the boy was not his concern.
Nonetheless, he thought he'd better make sure there was no more trouble during the rest of the trip. Therefore, he pulled out his paddle and ordered: "Bend over, both of you. I will make clear to you how absolutely unacceptable your behaviour was. If you remember this during the rest of the ride, maybe you will just manage to keep out of trouble until tonight. Eden, we will discuss this more thoroughly in private."
Elis stared at him, wide-eyed. It was not that he was new to corporal punishment as such; if this had been Leif, he would have entirely expected to be put across the man's knee. He had just not reckoned with Eeth making it his business to punish him, nor did he have any idea why the man was carrying a paddle with him during a speeder boat ride! "I don't think you should be doing that," he objected. "You are not even a relative or anything!"
"Your father put me in charge of you during this trip," Eeth said, stony-faced. "Apparently, he did not foresee that it would take you no more than half a day to create trouble. If you object to being punished by me, though, very well. I will inform your family when we return and leave it to them to deal with you."
Elis' eyes went wide. His father would be absolutely pissed if he heard about this! "No, that won't be necessary. Sir," he said hastily. With a pained look on his face, he bent forward.
Okay, so any hopes Eden had clung to that Elis' presence was going to spare them both went to hell in a handbasket. His eyes widened at receiving the order to bend over, unknowingly mirroring the teen's expression, but unlike Elis, Eden did not say a word. He simply turned to face the boat, put his hands on the bow – it wasn't like it was going anywhere! – and braced himself. If his ass clenched up any tighter, you could bounce a coin off it. How they were expected to sit for the rest of this trip while bouncing around on a hard seat was beyond him, as was the question how he had managed to get himself into this situation! He stared at his hands, his breathing quickening as he heard Elis acquiesce. Neither of them were going to enjoy the rest of this boat ride.
Eeth was fully aware that both boys were going to have to sit on their paddled bottoms for the rest of the trip. He wanted to make this uncomfortable, but not excruciating. He also wanted to make short work of this. Therefore, he dealt out twelve fast swats to each of the boys, at medium force - first Elis, then Eden.
Elis only just managed to keep still while he received his paddling. He could tell that Eeth did not swat him as hard as he might have, but Force, did it sting! He hissed through clenched teeth, and by the time the paddling was over, his eyes were bright with tears. Slowly and stiffly, he righted himself, only to witness Eden's turn. Embarrassed, he looked the other way, wanting to grant the boy a minimum of privacy.
Eden winced in sympathy at hearing each smack connect with his friend's ass. It wasn't the gunshot sound he had anticipated, though, and for that, he was thankful, although judging from the hisses coming from Elis, it was hurting plenty. Sure enough, he clenched even tighter as he sensed Eeth's presence behind him, then let out a hiss of pain himself; it stung and burned at the same time. Okay, so it wasn't the teeth-rattling extravaganza he had gotten last time, not even close, but it still stung like nothing else. He tried to move his hips forward into the boat, but it didn't make any difference; Eeth must have adjusted and it still nailed him just as hard. He bounced on his toes for the next few, and by the time Eeth was done with him, he was sniffling quietly. He stood slowly and quickly swiped at his nose and eyes with his sleeve. Elis wasn't crying, and he did not want to look like a baby, little as he could hide the fact that he was in pain. "Ow," he complained, rubbing at the seat of his trousers and giving Eeth as hard a look as he could muster.
"I think," Eeth said quietly and sternly, "this is not the right occasion to give me an attitude. And we will talk more about why that is. For now, we need to get the boat back into the water. We might not make it by nightfall as it is, and Leif absolutely forbade me to drive at night. Thus, if we even want a chance to reach the wharf tonight, we need to get going."
For the first time since they were busted, Eden registered Eeth's words; they were going to talk more about this later? He absolutely did not want to rehash this with Eeth!
It turned out that the boat was nearly impossible to move. In the end, Eeth used the Force to push it out from the sand although he tried to make it appear as if it was their combined strength that did it. He definitely did not want to wait until the tide came in! He held the boat while the boys jumped in, then climbed in himself. Having had no time for lunch, he ate his sandwich while steering one-handed.
Once they were boarded, and on their way, Eden's mind was on little more than finding a comfortable position that didn't exacerbate the state of his ass. It was near impossible, of course, especially at the rate they were bumping around in the boat. He took off his jacket and stuffed it under his ass, but then he got cold.
Thankfully, they entered calmer waters after an hour or so, which gave both boys a reprieve. It also made the conversation less of an effort as they didn't have to shout to be heard. Eden was still not happy with Eeth. Sure, he had earned that, and then some, but he didn't care! Could he get away with nothing? What sort of a new knight was this guy, anyway? They had just been having a little fun. The more he thought, the more annoyed he became, not just with Eeth but also with himself. He was not behaving in a way that Jay would approve of.
They made fairly good speed that afternoon, but as the sun was setting and the wharf still nowhere in sight, Eeth was forced to concede that they would need to set camp overnight and complete their trip early next morning. He had promised Leif not to drive at night, after all. Therefore, he steered the boat closer to the coast, slowing down in order to watch out for rocks, and looked for a landing site. The coast was rocky here and had high cliffs. He had to drive on until the sun had nearly sunk below the horizon until he finally came to a cleft in the cliffs, giving way to a beach that rose high enough not to be flooded by the rising tide. There was also a small stream of sweet water and what appeared to be a cave. Eeth decided not to run the boat into the beach this time for fear of damaging it on the rocks. Instead, he brought it close to a large rock, climbed off and towed it to a tree. The sea was calm, and the boat had bumpers; it would not take damage.
Eden jumped out to help, but he didn't know what he was doing. Elis was more useful when it came to the boat, and so he focused on getting their packs onto the beach without getting them drenched. He stood on the pebbly shore, dusting sand from his clothing. He was starting to hate the sand, although the heat at this time of day was comfortable. Force, it felt good to be off his ass. It wasn't hurting so much now, but that trip had been the most uncomfortable he had endured in a long time. They did not have any food left as Paris had only made them enough to last the day, but they did have energy bars and a few ration sticks, not that this was at all that tasty. Eden looked around the shore up to the cave Eeth had pointed out earlier and wondered if there was anything edible around here.
Eeth went to check out the cave and found that it was dry, not very deep and had a sandy floor that would make sleeping there quite pleasant. He found a few blankets and emergency rations in the boat and brought them up to the cave. By this time, darkness had fallen. Fortunately, the planet had three moons with the result that there was usually a minimum of light – not enough to really see where one was going, but enough not to bump into large objects or into each other.
Eeth and Eden had brought torches, and Eeth lit one now. "Are we likely to find anything edible in the forest?" he asked Elis. "Else we will have to make do with biscuits and energy bars."
"The northern part of the island is full of goya palms," Elis replied. "Goyas are a kind of large nut. Tasty and nourishing. We often pluck them when we're on fishing trips. Oh, and there should be fishing rods in the boat. We could go nighttime-fishing."
Eeth decided that Elis and Eden should try to catch some fish. He himself would go up the cliffs and look for goya palms, and on his way back he would bring firewood. "And no more nonsense," he told both boys sternly. "I really mean it."
Eden just looked at him. Was he serious? Apparently so, and the look on his face prompted an answer. "Yes, Sir."
He headed back to the boat with Elis and started rummaging around for fishing poles. He'd never done this before and had no idea what to do. So, when Elis started fishing, Eden did his best to copy him.
Elis realised that Eden had no clue how to do this and showed him. Eden's torch helped; it attracted a number of fish. By the time Eeth was back with an armful of goya nuts and a bag of firewood, they had caught three fish. Elis and Eeth prepared them quickly. Elis had found a crust of salt on one of the cliffs that they used for seasoning. Eeth lit a fire in the mouth of their cave and they grilled the fish above it. Elis then showed them how to crack open the goya nuts and extract the flesh.
Eden had a go at opening one of the nuts himself which left him spitting out the odd bit of husk, but for the most part, he was successful.
It was a quite good meal, all things considered, and there was no need for energy bars. Eeth was glad of it because they would probably need to spend at least one more night out in the wild.
"How much longer until we reach the harbour?" Eden asked, curious to know how close they were and how much longer they would have to sit in the boat the following day.
"No more than two hours, possibly only one," replied Eeth. "We will leave as soon as it gets light. That way, if we are lucky and find our cryonic acid, we can start on the return trip tomorrow and be back at B'tik. the day after tomorrow. Then, it will depend on when the next ship comes by."
"Ask Leif if he'll take you to Auwago in the speedboat," Elis advised. "He makes the trip once a week anyway, and if he gets a bit of payment, he might schedule it accordingly."
Eeth nodded. He just hoped they would have some credits left after having paid for the cryonic acid!
Two hours: that was better than Eden had thought and welcome news. He nodded at Elis' suggestion. If they could afford a ride back in the speedboat it would be good since having to work that trip back on a long-haul boat was not at all appealing.
Eden finished his dinner first and then sat quietly. He was full as a boot, because despite Eeth's unyielding personality, Eden got the feeling that he somehow understood what it was like to be hungry all the time.
When he had finished his meal as well, Elis took the fishing rods to the boat and went to clean up the dishes in the sea. He was distinctly wary of Eeth by now.
Eeth made use of the opportunity to say to Eden: "You are not getting out of having a serious talk about your disobedience. The only reason I have waited this long was because I did not want Elis to be around. Most likely, we will be on our own tomorrow."
"Don't you think I've suffered enough? My master is going to go to town on me when he finds out about this as it is," Eden replied in a semi-sulking tone. He had had high hopes that Eeth would forget about that "talk".
"Yes, and I am sure he would be exceedingly unhappy with me if I let this slide," Eeth said drily. And that was that. He was not the type to forget about things, nor was he going to neglect what he definitely considered his duty.
Thankfully, the nights never became very cool around here, and the few blankets they had sufficed. Elis had brought an armload of dry palm leaves to sleep on, which was actually quite comfortable.
Eden sprawled out on his pile of leaves and pulled the blanket around himself. It was a clear night. The air smelled of salt and wood smoke from the fire; a combination that he found oddly relaxing. He lay there for a while thinking about his master and the failing negotiations in Antaeus. He also thought about the continued punishment Eeth had promised him for his ill-advised decision to drive the boat. The boy huffed and rolled over to face the cave wall; he was far from thrilled but nor did he have a valid argument to get himself out of it. Well, he would simply have to come up with something tomorrow.
