Chapter 69: Crash Course In Future Sailing

Arc 2 of 3

…

"Okay, everyone," Link said to the crew gathered on the deck. "We've maybe got a day to make sure everyone knows their job, so we're getting started now. I've probably already told you your assignments, but I just want to make sure everyone else gets it. Dubbl, Cale, Leynne… Twali… Lwamm, Layna… and Biluf, I want you standing on the starboard side." Cale was the only one to move; Dubbl's translation had stopped mid-sentence, and Leynne just frowned. Link rolled his eyes. "On the right side." As they moved, he continued, "Sello, Lawrence, Harley, Lidago, Helo, on the left side. Oh, Helo, could you pick up Sello?" Link waited until they had moved before stepping in between them with Irleen hovering over his shoulder. "Take a look around. For the next few days, these people will be the people you work with. As much as they are keeping your butts in the air, you're also working to keep them in the air as well. I'm going to need every one of you to get used to speaking my language, so listen the best you can. By the time we reach the sky kingdom, I want to be able to get this ship moving the way I need it to move. You—" Link pointed to Cale, Leynne, and the Gelto. "—will have most of your duties focusing on piloting, rigging sails, and navigation. The rest of you—" Link indicated Sello, Lawrence, Harley, and the Gorons. "—will be seeing to the ship's engine and ballast mechanics. Now, I have no idea what Sello's done to the engine, so I'll be coming down to inspect it with you guys later. In the meantime, go down below and take some time to get familiar with the ship's layout. I want to be able to tell you where to go without having to tell you how to get there."

He turned to the starboard group as the others walked to the hatch. "I'm going to make this as easy as possible," he told them. "First, the Gelto. I don't want any of you climbing up and jumping off the masts anymore."

Dubbl interrupted her translation to ask, "What? Why?"

"It's too easy to fall off an airship rocking side to side with the wind," Link said. "Plus, it scares me. Find a safer way to climb down."

Dubbl glanced at her companions before striding forward. She stood face to face with Link (for someone who stood half a head taller than him) and spoke in a low voice, "I not can tell zem zat. It zei' job."

Link sighed. "I know," he said. "But it won't be their job if they fall over the side. That's a long time to think about mistakes."

"Zey no fools, Kyabtin," she replied. "Zey can take ca' of zemself."

Link glanced past her, and then he gave the starboard main mast a quick look. "Okay," he relented, "but not in the Sky Lines. Those winds are very intense, and I'd hate to lose one of them like that."

Dubbl appeared to think for a moment. Then she nodded. "Zey can do zat."

"Thank you." He waited for her to return to the group before continuing. "Second, because we don't have a very large crew, we'll have to set up shifts so that everyone gets an equal amount of sleep between work. I'll figure out the shifts later, but it'll be a little tricky since half the deck crew doesn't speak Hylian. Third. Everyone will need to learn most of the jobs on the deck, again because we don't have a large crew. It's not hard; lookout, helm and navigation, and manipulating the sails will be the majority of your duties. At night, we'll need someone to set up lanterns so that other ships can see us. Since the sails… wou…" Link trailed off as he looked at the mast to his left, the starboard fore-mast. He sighed and said, "Dubbl, Leynne. Seeing as how you two probably designed the rigging, would you'd like to demonstrate how to raise and lower the sails?"

"You make it sound as if you can't," Leynne commented.

"Yeah, that's mostly because I don't know what that is," Link said, pointing to the side of the mast.

"The winch?" Leynne asked. "It seemed ratheh straight fohwahd to me."

"Good, you can demonstrate," Link told him.

Leynne traded a shrug with Dubbl. "Well," he said as he stepped up to the winch. "Once we detehmined how we would ohganize the sails, we had to figuh out a method of raising and lowering the sails on a mast that was no longeh stationary." He gave the outer wheel of the winch a tug and flipped a handle into existence. He kept a hand pressed down on the handle as he talked. "The exterioh spool locks into place wheneveh the handle is folded. Unlocked, it has to be handled cahfully." He used his free hand to point up at the sail. "In addition to the weight of the sail, the boom had been fitted with an exterioh sheath and five spiraled, coiled springs each on the inside. The springs tighten when the sail is raised, and they want to release when the sail is lowehed. This causes the sheath to rotate, and the sail wraps around it. Obsehve." Leynne slowly turned the winch, and it was clear from his movements that he was trying to do it carefully. Link looked up and watched as the sail lowered and rolled itself around the boom, just as Leynne had said. The sail wound until just a small part of the peak stood. Leynne then folded the handle back into place. "We had to do it this way because theh was no way to attach the halyahds to the deck oh the mast if the booms and gaffs weh to be mobile. Having to manipulate lines foh all of these pahts would be too much."

Link nodded. "Yeah, I suppose it takes out the need to coordinate with crewmates. But is it as easy to hoist?"

"Of couhse," Leynne said, pulling the handle out again. Link observed, with a small air of humor, that Leynne had to put more effort into pulling the sail back into place. When Leynne finished, he was huffing as he slapped the handle back into the lock. "Uh… evidently… it's… ha, not quite as easy."

"In an emergency," Link told him, "another airman can always jump the halyards. With those two ropes exposed like that, it would be easy to haul down on them. Just as long as the other airman doesn't wrap his hands into one of your winches."

"Cehtainly," Leynne agreed, resting his hands on his knees. "I… I might… also see to… whew, uh… finding a way to… maybe…" He started gesturing at the halyards. "Uh… weigh those lines down. Oh… oh something."

"Well, fortunately, we won't have to do it often," Link said. "Square rigs have to be raised and lowered depending on whether you're running on wind or an engine. Gaff rigs can be left up in either situation since most ships use them to steer in either condition. The only time we'll ever have to lower them is when we dock."

"How come?" Cale asked.

"Crosswinds," Link said. "No one knows why, but prevailing winds push away from the larger islands. Most docks are built so ships can approach parallel to the island's edge. It's not usually a problem for square-rigged sails, but an airship with gaff-rigged sails has to either turn the sails and force the ship to go into irons or lower the sails. Either way, those are the best ways to keep a ship from capsizing."

"I see," Leynne said, wiping off his brow. "Noted."

"Cale, give the other sail a try," Link said, jerking a thumb at the port fore sail.

"Okay," Cale said with a nod.

"Dubbl," Link continued, "have the rest of the Gelto lower and raise one sail each. Make sure they understand how the sails work."

"Aye, Kyabtin," Dubbl replied. She turned to the Gelto and waved them along. "Tayrosani!"

Link glanced at Cale before he turned to speak to Leynne. "It looks like some of my experience isn't quite useful now, huh?" he asked.

Leynne shook his head. "I've been trying not to think like that," he said. "While we've constructed a vessel that may have a few unohthodox items, we'll still need you to command us. But…" He hesitated a moment before giving an agreeing nod. "It appeahs that you might not be the best candidate to teach Cale and the Gelto about the ship's functions. I've doubts about Aihman Gold knowing about them as well."

"Yeah," Link agreed with a nod. "Would you and Dubbl make sure the girls know what they need to do?"

"Actually, as the gihls ah the ones who rigged the sails in the fihst place," Leynne said, "I would imagine that the only people who need to wohry about training on the sails would be Cale and Gold. It's the same situation with the controls foh the fohwahd sails and the outeh spahs."

"So, they just need to know the helm and navigation and how to post lanterns."

"I would imagine so. I actually ratheh expected theh to be moh to the job."

Link nodded. "Arranging cargo and… probably managing supplies and spare parts. That, I'll probably have to do myself; I've been doing that for most of my time as an airman."

"Okay," Leynne said with a nod.

"Soooo… go ahead and double-check that they know the sails, then show them the helm. It'll probably be about noon by the time you're done, sooo… maybe see what you can do about lunch. And, when you get the chance, have someone relieve Gold so you can go over everything with him, too."

"Okay," Leynne said. "What will you be doing?"

"I'll be below looking at the engine with the rest of the crew. I just hope Sello didn't take too many creative liberties."

"I imagine that he could write a book on creative libehties," Leynne said as Link walked away.

Uncommon to most vessels Link knew, the stairways to the decks below had been built on either side of the ship. They had been built forward of the fore-masts just on the inside of the bulwark. Link descended into the starboard hatch down a tall set of stairs, probably designed to accommodate the Goron crewmembers. The first deck he came to was the cargo hold, which received an approving nod. To his immediate right was a wall with a pair of doors. He stepped off the stairs and glanced inside to find that the berth deck was right where he would expect it. Someone had nailed a sign to the aisle divider right in front of the doors with an arrow pointing to starboard. Link took this to be meant for the male crewmembers since the sign was written in Geltoan. And looked more like a lengthy warning than a sign saying "Gelto over here". He would have to ask Dubbl to translate the sign later.

The deck below brought Link to a small galley. Forward of this, he discovered a short hallway leading to six small, private quarters, each furnished with a bunk, a desk, and a chair. He peeked in on all of them and decided that he would have to tell Leynne and Dubbl that they can claim one since they were his chiefs. He would make mention of it to Sello as well, although he wondered if Sello would remember it later.

He stepped back out into the galley to find Lawrence reading text on the outside of a ration package. Lawrence looked up. "Oi, Cap'n."

Link nodded at him. "Lawrence. Have you found your way around yet?"

Lawrence shrugged. "I figured the four places I go'a know is the engine room, the galley, the shi'er, 'n me bunk."

"Yeah, that's about the size of it as an engineer," Link told him. "So, did you find the engine room?"

"Jus' back o' 'ere," Lawrence said, pointing to a door behind him. "Quick question, if ya don' mind."

"No, I don't mind."

Lawrence showed Link the package. "Dry rations?" he asked.

"Yeah," Link said with a nod. "Makes dry poop. We have a head at the front of the ship and a sick closet somewhere aft. We don't want feces sticking to the insides of either, or else it'll start stinking up the ship."

"So the solution's t'… wha', give us all constipation?"

"Well, it's-it's not literally 'dry'. Not as much… stuff that makes your poop moist. If I wanted to make you guys constipated, it would be easier to feed you something more appropriate for Gorons."

Lawrence sniffed and put the package back in the crate next to him. "Go' it."

Link indicated the door behind him. "Let's have a look at that engine room."

Lawrence nodded and led Link through the door. He found that the engine room was actually a lot larger than expected. Probably occupying two decks in height, the engine itself looked like someone had taken a number of metal blocks and welded them together. Link saw that a pair of large tanks had been mounted to the bulkheads on either side of the engine, each containing water if the crudely-painted label on the side was to be believed. Wooden bins set in front of the tanks were full of coal and open on one side for easy access. A single pipe led from the top of the engine into the deckhead above (and, likely, to whatever was meant to provide heat to the ballast system) while four others went through the bulkheads on either side, which Link took to be exhaust pipes and probably purge pipes like on a steam train. No sort of visible conveyor system told Link that the engine was meant to be fed by manual labor, but wherever that function was intended to be carried out was not apparent from the engine's exterior design. The floor Link stood on was a wooden walkway spanning the width of the room. Most of the walkway kept crates and boulders (probably the Gorons' food supply) on top with a waist-high wall. Two spots on the wall had been left open so that crew had access to ladders on either side of the door.

"It doesn't sound like it's on," Link told Lawrence.

"Nah, Cap'n, I don' think it is. Prob'ly 'cause our chief's unconscious."

"Where is he?"

Lawrence held up a hand with his thumb pointed down. "Go' 'imself a li'l nook righ' under us."

Link shook his head and stepped to the portside ladder. "Well, let's see if he'll start it up. We're gonna need it to start heating up the ballast tanks so we can gain more height."

"Question," Lawrence said as Link started down. "Is we jus' gonna work down 'ere this w'ole time?"

"In shifts," Link said with a nod as he climbed down. "Almost every station on a ship has to be manned at all times. The only time a station can be left alone is when we're docked, although I don't know about the engine room just yet. Don't worry; you won't be trapped in here forever."

"Tha's good," Lawrence said as he followed Link down. "Won' be long 'til this room starts smellin' like stale drunk."

"Maybe we can find something to freshen the air." Link touched the deck and glanced to one side. "So that's where the couch went."

The couch, with its loose leather upholstery marred by a strange, green stain on the right arm, had been tucked away under the walkway. So had Sello, left unconscious with his face pressed into the couch's backrest and a flask balanced on his hip. On either side of the couch were crates of different brands of alcohol, not one of them open yet. Link could only imagine that his drunken engineer had been too unconscious to break into them yet.

So Link leaned forward and shook his shoulder, causing the flask to fall to the deck. "Hey, Sello," he said. "Wake up."

"Yeah, Harley 'n I's already drawin' the schedule for tha' duty," Lawrence said after dropping past the last few rungs to the deck.

Sello groaned and rolled to look up. "I zed cheese, not pillows," he told the deckhead.

"Come on, Sello," Link said. "We need you to start up your…" He gave the metal behemoth behind him a strange look. "… engine."

"Bwahf!" was Sello's response, although it was not clear if that was his intended response or if he just randomly felt the need to bark like a dog. "Find me a collar, and I can go ta da lake."

Link sighed and placed a hand over his face. "Come on, Sello," he said. "Focus."

"M'a firin' ma syrup," Sello coughed as he used a hand to search the deck for his flask. When he located it, he put the empty flask to his lips. Frowning, he gave it an irate look before placing the mouthpiece to his nose and inhaling as strong as possible. "Aw, butt."

Lawrence snorted. "Me boss, Cap'n?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Link groaned as Sello put a hand into the cushions.

Sello pulled a bottle from underneath himself and shook it. Then he used a thumb to pop the cork off and took a large drink. "Aaaaah," Sello sighed. Then he looked at Link. "You rang, Green?"

"I need you to start up your engine," Link said. "And don't call me 'Green'."

"Kay, Purple." Sello turned and sat up. His first attempt to stand dropped him back to the couch. His second attempt met with success, and he remained standing for a moment as if he was trying to get used to the position. Link would not be surprised, considering the amount of time Sello probably spent sprawled across whatever mostly-horizontal surface he could find. Sello walked with strange gait over to the engine. He opened up a large door in front of the engine, a door large enough to fit a Goron. Although, to say it was a door denied it depth; what Sello had opened was the cube composing the foremost section of the engine. He stepped around it and into the engine itself. Link and Lawrence traded looks before both of them moved aside to find Sello. The dim light filtering in through the door above only offered a view of a vaguely orange-colored, humanoid mass bumbling around the inside. When he stepped back outside, the label-less bottle appeared a little emptier. He walked to the closest coal bin and poured the rest of his bottle on top of it. Then he threw the bottle toward one of the water tanks (missing it), grabbed a shovel, and started hurling piles of coal into the engine, causing a number of pieces to fly in different directions on the outside as well.

"Don' mind sayin' I ain' been lookin' forward t' this par'," Lawrence told Link in a low voice.

"Well, if it doesn't work," Link told him, "all we have to do is slowly let Loft Steam out and hope we find somewhere soft to land."

"Can' cater t' me, Cap'n. I 'eard wha' 'e did t' tha' boa' in 'Ovela."

Sello finished making a mess, having relieved the large bin of a third of its reserve. He jammed the shovel into the top of the bin and returned to the door, removing a tool from his belt. There were a couple of metal scrapes before the interior suddenly lit with flame, causing Sello to jump backwards. "Bad fire!" he shouted in an indignant tone. Then he stepped out and shoved the door closed.

"The man's gonna kill us," Lawrence said in a flat tone. Link withheld his impulse to agree, and the effort caused him to smile instead.

Sello manipulated what appeared to be a few latches over the opening on the side of the door before moving to a series of levers on that same side of the engine. First, he jumped up and grabbed the highest lever on the side of the box he had just closed. He pulled it down as far as it would go and then back, resulting in a heavy bang sounding off the inside of the engine. Then he reached for another lever on a dedicated panel just in front of him and jerked back on it hard. From his position on the opposite side of the room, Link saw a panel flop open on top of the engine for a moment before slamming closed again.

Chun. Chun. Chun. Chun. Chun chun chun chun chun… A heavy throb which reminded Link of the Seventeen's locomotive sounded from behind Sello's engine. The deck was also vibrating beneath his feet in time with the engine. Other than the noise and shaking, there was no indication of whether the engine was working or not. Sello did not have any gauges to look at, only levers that did not even have labels. Not that Sello could probably concentrate long enough to make some in the first place.

"Now wha'?" Lawrence asked over the noise.

"Hope the hull can take it," Link replied. "Get the rest of the engine room crew together and tell them what you've seen Sello doing. It's not likely we'll need to constantly start and stop this engine, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure everyone knows how to do it."

"Yeah, bu' I see a problem with tha'," Lawrence said. "'Ow do we know 'e knew wha' 'e was doin'?"

"He built it," Link said, unable to hold back a grin. "It may be weird, but it works. Now we just need to make sure we can control it."

"If ya say so," Lawrence said. Link turned to watch him stride to the door behind the nearer ladder.

Then Link climbed up the ladder back to the walkway. It occurred to him that the room was a little brighter as he looked back across the engine to examine it. That was when he noticed a string of electric lights hanging from the deckhead, now completely visible. Link was intrigued; this was the first he knew of an airship having a steam-powered generator onboard. His first thought as to how Sello pulled that off was immediately dismissed by the reminder of the elaborate devices that had once inhabited Sello's volcano.

He stepped through the door to the galley and closed it behind him. When he turned back around, he realized that part of the deck crew was loitering in the galley.

This realization was punctuated by Leynne asking, "What the hell's that noise? Is that the engine?"

"Yeah," Link replied. He gave a shrug. "Would you expect Sello to do anything subtle?"

Leynne chuckled in response. "No, I suppose not. I hope you don't mind, but I decided that half of us could use a break to get something to eat." He lifted his ration pack to help illustrate his intentions.

"No, that's fine," Link said. "Who's up on deck?"

"Uuuh…" Leynne droned, glancing at the other occupants. "I-I'm afraid I haven't had the time to leahn all the Gelto's names."

"I don't suppose you intend to assign all the Gelto to a single shift," Cale spoke up.

Link did not answer right away as he tried to determine who was not present. Cale and Leynne were both here, which meant that Gold was the only Hylian up on deck. As for the Gelto, he recognized Lwamm and Biluf, so Dubbl, Twali, and Layna were also up there. "I'm not sure yet," Link admitted. "We have… six, seven, ei—eight deck crew. I'd divide it into four airmen to one of two shifts, but it would mean that a Gelto or two won't have a translator on duty with them. And I can't assign all the non-Hylian-speaking Gelto to one shift; I'd have no way to translate my orders."

"Ah we suah none of the otheh Gelto speak Hylian?" Cale asked.

Link looked at Lwamm and Biluf. Lwamm looked up from examining a piece of jerky to meet his gaze. "Biluf," she said, nudging her companion with an elbow. "'Inbilunak Kyabtin nayx coy'ayton wubunik."

Bilun's response was a wide-eyed look at Link. "'Itab Giltiyn Dubbl than nadlwazhidak," she told Lwamm. "'Inmatikak Xili'anay 'anik max?"

"Na'," Lwamm said.

They both stared at Link, waiting for him to say something. However, after a moment, Link just turned back to Cale and said, "Yeah, I don't think so. Not these two."

"This would be easieh if we had anotheh Gelto on boahd who could speak Hylian," Leynne said. "But maybe Dubbl and I can come up with an altehnative. Maybe a few hand signs."

Link nodded. "Yeah, that would work. In the Sky Lines, it's easier to use hand signs, especially when no one's close enough to talk to."

"We'll try to wohk something out lateh."

"How else do you plan to divide the crew?" Cale asked.

"Well," Link said, "each shift should have a pilot and a lookout. Leynne, you'll be one of them, of course. And I think Gold should be on the other shift."

"Agreed," Leynne said.

"Each shift should also have a pair of handymen, so to speak," Link said. "I'm not sure if the Gelto would be good candidates… but I think I have it. Dubbl will be on the shift with Gold and two of the Gelto; one of them will be lookout. Cale, you can be the lookout on Leynne's shift, and the remaining Gelto will see to the deck."

"Wheah's the lookout's station?" Cale asked.

"We've got a crow's nest, right?" Link asked.

Leynne put on a nervous look. "Uh… actually, I hadn't considehed the idea," he admitted. "I believed that, since the pilot's station was at the front of the ship, a crow's nest was pointless."

"Oh, you did, huh?" Link said. He took a moment to think. "Okay… okay, I think we can work something out. The poop deck is high enough on the ship, so we could simply post the lookout there. But would it be possible to put together a crow's nest in the near future?"

Leynne shook his head. "I can't be suh. I don't think theh's a place to build one at the top of any masts; the construction might intehfeh with the operation of the mast it's attached to."

"Okay, that's fine," Link said. "Maybe something to think about later on."

…

Link spent the afternoon looking through the ship some more before returning to the weather deck. His next stop was the forecastle so he could look at the helm. And what a helm it was. Leynne had decided to mount a pair of wheels to a single post, making it possible for two people to steer the ship in a situation where a tight turn might be needed. He had also set up a panel against the rail dividing the forecastle from an unpleasant drop to the weather deck. The panel bore controls for the engine, all of them labeled levers indicating "propeller" (which he took to refer to the act of engaging the propeller to the engine), throttle control, and ballast control. But, as Link had suspected, Leynne had not put in a warning system for the ballast like what the Island Sonata had had. It was not a comforting sign, and he decided to address the situation the next opportunity he could.

Leynne had replaced Gold at the helm. Link turned and asked him, "How does it handle?"

"Really, it's hahd to say," Leynne replied.

"Yeah, I know. We need to be moving in the first place. So let's get moving."

Leynne turned to look at the panel. "We have a wind from the right side now. Not too strong, though."

"Are we still facing north?"

At this, Leynne looked at the post in between the wheels, where he had mounted a compass. "Northwest a bit, actually."

"Okay then," Link said. "Engage the engine. Let's see what she's got."

"Got it." Leynne turned back to the panel and placed one hand on the propeller control while his other hand remained on the wheel. He squeezed the handle and shoved the lever forward. Link watched the lever fight him a moment, rattling his hand before it finally settled into position. Leynne then eased the throttle control in the same direction. "I hope I connected all of this right," he commented to Link. "I'd hate to think I couldn't tell which paht of Sello's engine was the throttle control foh the propelleh."

"I don't think anyone would fault you for that," Link replied.

"If I did this right, the wind indicatoh should falsely indicate wind coming from ahead."

Link nodded, impressed with Leynne's device. "How are you getting the wind information?"

"When the Symphony fihst lifted from the ground, I got undehneath and put in a simple wind vane. I felt it would be unaffected by the aihship's geometry down theh."

"You're right, it probably won't."

"The direction the vane points is reflected in this gauge." Leynne pointed out the gauge by tapping a finger on the glass cover. He glanced forward for a moment, and then back at the gauge. "Come on…"

Link watched the gauge's needle pointing toward the port side, finding that the direction corresponded to the ship's directions as they were looking back at the ship from the forecastle. The needle seemed a little unsure at first until it began moving toward the top. He felt a breeze off the bow. Then the breeze grew into a considerable wind, causing Link to check that his hat was snug. When he looked back, he saw that the needle was pointing at the stern, meaning that the wind was coming off the bow.

"It works," Link told him.

Leynne looked back at the gauge. "That it does," he agreed.

"Congratulations, Leynne."

Leynne gave a single, silent laugh. "What couhse then?"

"Due north," Link said. "And go ahead and keep us at this speed for now. We need to avoid the storm, but we don't want to overshoot Autumn Island."

Leynne glanced up at the sky above. "Oh, right," he mumbled. "Of couhse."

"You've shown Gold the controls, right?"

"Yes, I believe he has the gist of it."

"Good. I'll finish drawing up the shift rotation, and then I'll have him relieve you in about… five hours? Will that be all right?"

Leynne nodded. "Yeah, I think I can do that."

"Okay. Carry on, then." Link then stepped down from the forecastle and crossed the deck. He looked up at Cale standing on the poop deck, arms crossed and resting on the rail in front of him. He took a moment to think about his own experiences with having to stand watch in a crow's nest and decided that Cale's predisposition toward seasickness might not be served well being at the highest point of the vessel. He grinned and stepped up to the door leading into the aftcastle.

Link was not sure what he was expecting when he opened the door. So he was a little surprised when he found himself in the captain's cabin of the Horizon's Eye once again. He found a large bed on the right side, set within an alcove as if to hide it. At the foot of the bed was a metal footlocker, and an upright wardrobe took up the remaining third of the port bulkhead. At the center of the room was a large table with a number of wide, thin drawers on the side facing port. Link stepped forward and found that the surface of the table was made of cork. Between the table and the window sat a desk probably much larger than Link required. It was definitely larger than the one he had used on the Island Sonata, with intricate knot designs on the front and a rich, lustrous finish to its entire surface. He had been supplied with a pen set and a selection of ink wells, all of them anchored to the desk with brass plates. The chair behind it had a high back, carved with what looked like tree roots around the edge of a velvet cushion. Next, he stepped over to the closet on the left side and opened the door to find a private toilet lit by a single electric light. He located a brass switch on the outside of the door and used it to turn off the light. Outside the toilet, against the wall they shared, was a short wine rack. As Link stepped closer to it, he found that it had been designed to hold bottles in place no matter what. One bottle occupied the far-right slot on top. Link took this bottle out and examined the card dangling from the neck.

—Link,

—I don't know if this is appropriate for the first commander of an airship, but it was the best I could find. It's twenty-year-old wine from a vineyard outside of Aboda Village.

—Leynne

Link smiled to himself. Technically, he probably should not be drinking wine at his age, but he decided to save it for a special occasion. He would have to make sure that Sello did not find out about it.

"What's that?" Link glanced back at the door as Irleen fluttered in.

"A bottle of wine from Leynne," he replied. He replaced the bottle and stepped over to the desk. "Where've you been?"

"Just looking around below," she said as she settled down on the desk. "I came up on deck, and the wind started blowing me back this direction. I've never had such a problem with flying before, but I'm guessing that I should stick with you if I wanna go out on deck."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah." She moved over to the desk pad. "Hey, what's this?"

"What?" Link asked.

"There's something under this pad."

Link leaned over and found the corner of a piece of paper protruding from under the desk pad. He pulled it out and found that it was a note.

"'—Surprise under your bed.' Huh?" Link glanced at the bed. That was when he noticed that the pillows had been laid against the wall.

Set there to cover up a large lump under the sheets.

"What is it?" Irleen asked as she fluttered closer.

"I'm not sure," Link answered, stepping closer as well. He reached forward and pulled one of the pillows away. The blanket behind it fell away on its own.

"Good mohning, Captain."

"Yikes!" Link shouted, jumping backwards at the sight of Dholit's face.