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Splintered Light Chapter 4.4: Farewells and Salutations

Out of the entire command crew that had taken part in the meeting aboard the Wave Rider, Max was perhaps the only one of the four who was not put in chains. Perhaps that was due to the fact that, as the Engineer, he was only a Junior Officer. More likely, however, was because he was the only one of the four who had not willingly acted against the wishes of the University. Yes, despite how much the Dog hated being ignorant, there was something to be said for plausible deniability. Then again, with his eyes suddenly opened to the atrocities he'd helped commit, Max realized that he had a lot for which he would have to account.

Although he and Ruslan Borovich were both released back to the Joshew the majority of the crewmen who came asking for information ignored the Snow Leopard; not only was he not really a member of the crew but he was also a noble... and an eccentric one at that. The condition of subtlety and non-disclosure was fresh in his mind as Max was forced to evade and redirect the questions directed at him as he gathered his personal effects; the Shepherd was permitted to accept a position aboard the Wave Rider but he kept feeling like he was betraying the men of the airship.

"What's going on? Where's the Captain?"

That was the most common question. He kept his reply simple. "There's a command change and the Captain is heading back to land aboard the Albatross II."

"Where are you going?"

It was probably the second most-asked question but it was much easier to explain with mostly truthful words. "Captain Lazarus has his own engineer and the captain of the Wave Rider offered me a contract to join their crew."

In actuality, Max wasn't quite ready to go back to the University. Based on the council discussion it seemed as though they were willing to forgive him his trespasses but the Dog felt that he needed more time to digest what he'd learned about what he'd helped accomplish during the time he had been manipulated by Captain Clarke and the rest of the commanders. He put together his duffle bag and made his way to the lift; Captain Jacksoni had given him twenty minutes which was generous, but there wasn't a lot of it left.

The final question he was asked was from one of the lift crew, a young Marmot named Benny. It was also the first time it had come up. "What's the new captain like?"

It was both the hardest and easiest to answer. "He's a good man."

Max truly and honestly wanted what he said to be true; in the short time he'd had with Jessen Lazarus the Coyote seemed to be genuine and honorable but, then again, so had Captain Clarke. With nothing else to be said, the Shepherd nodded to Benny, who nodded back and hit the wench control, sending Max down to join the crew of the Wave Rider. The moment was bitter-sweet for a number of reasons but, as of that moment, the only thing the Shepherd focused on was making sure that the transition went smoothly; no matter what he was committed to making his new position work.

Despite the decent pace at which the lift descended the trip down to the Wave Rider still left the Dog with far too long a time to be alone with his thoughts. Unerringly, those thoughts immediately struck on a comparison between his past Captain and his new one. Captain Clarke had been a Coyote without naval experience commanding a UPU airship; Captain Jacksoni was a Tiger without naval experience who owned and operated a private Ilysean vessel. Captain Clarke was a Lehsunian-born middle-class scholar with what had apparently been a carefully veiled hatred of all things Wyra; Captain Jacksoni was a business-class merchant's son who, despite being Ilysean was still willing to come to the aid of an endangered Wyranese vessel.

It was strange for the Shepherd to think about how highly he'd thought of his prior captain as early as that morning and how quickly that had shifted. The experience made him wonder if perhaps Captain Jacksoni would ultimately let him down too; it was frightening to think how often that had happened to him in his lift. Heroes, it seemed, were only as good as the facades they wore and behind the crumbling legends and carefully placed masks they were just as fallible and just as mundane as any other. Yet, he reasoned, there were many good reasons to avoid being jaded; life was too hard to give up on hope. With that thought in mind the Dog paused on the lift, which had finally reached the Wave Rider's deck.

He was met by Rolf Severna, to whom he'd already been introduced at the hearing. The Bosun gave him a once-over with his eyes before nodding in approval. They stood there looking at one another for several moments before Max provided the courtesy question. "Permission to come aboard, sir?"

The Prong Horn smirked. "This isn't a military ship, Mr. Rusck. Get the lead out."

It was a phrase Max hadn't heard in a long time, mostly because it was a fairly low-born Lehsunian saying and the Shepherd hadn't been around anyone other than scholars and university employees in years; it made him smile. "Yes, sir."

Without another word the Bosun simply motioned him to follow and started off across deck. It had been a good year or more since Max had traversed the deck of a seagoing vessel, not just because of his position aboard an airship, but because not a lot of sailing ships had need of a Dog trained in machinery. Then again, the Wave Rider was a wind-powered steamer, not unlike some of the ships Max had trained aboard when learning his craft. Although he didn't make it a point to discuss on a regular basis, Max had learned how to be a sailor before he'd earned a spot in the University's hallowed halls.

Those had been difficult years, being one of the few low-born, sponsored students of the venerated house of learning. He'd been picked on often enough in the beginning... right up until he'd proven his worth by coming out among the top of his class after the first season of study. It was almost humorous how quickly the other students wanted to be his friends at that point. Max shook the thoughts from his head as Rolf led him to where Captain Jacksoni and the Wave Rider's Tribal Jackal First Mate stood by the artillery battery. The two officers had been talking but they both fell silent at Max's approach.

Judging by their silent, observational expressions the Shepherd figured they were waiting on him to initiate the greeting. He did so first to the Captain, and then to the First Mate. "Maximilian Rusck, reporting for duty, Captain Jacksoni. Oani, hama."

Max didn't have a full working understanding of the Tribal tongue but, having spent the first part of his life in Vallara it was impossible not to pick up a little with his home town so close to the Tribal Lands. His greeting elicited an ear flick from the First Mate but nothing more. Captain Jacksoni, however, was much more outgoing. "It's a pleasure to have you aboard, Mr. Rusck. You were spoken of quite highly by Mr. Clarke."

The comment was strange for a number of reasons. Not only was it odd to think that the Tiger and Coyote had enough time to casually discuss crew rosters, but to hear of his prior commander spoken of as 'Mister' rather than 'Captain' had its own level of oddity. Not completely sure how to respond to the statement, Max stuck with as neutral a reply as possible. "Thank you, sir. I try my best."

Rather than a quick meet-and-greet, the Shepherd was surprised when his new Captain pressed the conversation further. "If I understand correctly, you served aboard sea vessels before transferring to the Joshew, yes?"

"Yes sir."

The Captain and First Mate exchanged a glance that suggested there was more to their acknowledgement of his answer but Captain Jacksoni didn't provide him time to consider it any further as the next question came up. "Why the change?"

It was a personal question, but hardly unreasonable considering the fact that Max was going to be working for the Tiger. The Dog kept his response simple and to the point, but honest. "I've always loved the idea of travel. Originally I was hired as a sailor out of Newport working cabotage aboard a steamer for an Ilysean business."

Captain Jacksoni nodded thoughtfully, stroking the underside of his muzzle like a Human might stroke his beard. "I see... and yet you ended up on an airship? That must have been quite a change for you."

Max shrugged. "The principle is the same, just a little more complex. Ever since the UPU unveiled their first airship I was excited about getting a chance to work on one and the Joshew was that chance."

The Bosun raised an eyebrow, arms crossing over his chest. "The FIRST one? I heard that the first airship exploded in the middle of Newport on the day it was revealed."

The Shepherd nodded. "Yes, sir. It did-- I was there in the audience."

Mr. Severna's arms uncrossed and he leaned on the railing next to him. "A lot of people who were there didn't survive. You're one lucky Dog."

Max smiled, leaning down to give his thigh a hard smack with his paw, eliciting a loud, metallic clang. "I could have been luckier... but, fortunately I was a UPU student so the Water Scholars did everything they could to help."

The Captain's eyes focused directly on Max's leg. "You have a prosthetic? You move so well with it I hadn't noticed."

The Shepherd rubbed his leg, feeling the thick metal plate beneath his leggings. "A brick shattered my femur and left my leg hanging by flesh. The lower leg is mine and the insides are mine, but they had to piece it together with a plate around it. Scholars thought that I might get to have the plate taken off some day but... well... yeah-- luckier than most, but not THAT lucky."

First Mate Ash-Moon cracked a wry grin. "Shi-Lal."

Max knew the word 'shi' was metal so he could guess at the second one. "Metal Leg?"

The Jackal flicked an ear, his grin still in place; the Shepherd had a feeling his guess had been correct. The smirk spread to Captain Jacksoni. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Rusck. I would love to speak with you further but we are already behind schedule. Ash-Moon?"

"Rohn?"

Although Max didn't know if there was a word for 'Captain' in the Tribal tongue he DID know that 'Rohn' meant 'father', which, the Shepherd considered, could have been a suitable approximation considering the fact that a Captain was in charge of the crew as if it were a family and was responsible for the care and safety of his crew. He pushed the errant thought aside as Captain Jacksoni responded. "Take Mr. Rusck and find Mr. Zuider-- I'd like the Foreman to introduce our new Junior Engineer to the Chief."

The Jackal bowed his head and stepped away from the Tiger, then walked past Max, addressing him in Tribal. "Sui ehm, Shi-Lal."

The Shepherd followed after the Tribesman. "I only speak a little Tribal."

Ash-Moon gave a faint, derisive snort. "Then you will learn more."

* * * * * *

The Wave Rider's Foreman, an old, grizzled Goat by the name of Willem Zuider turned out to be just as difficult to talk to as Ash-Moon, but the Foreman didn't have the good-humored idiosyncrasies to go with it. Max spoke the least amount he could during his tour of the areas below deck and the Goat only did a fraction more. "So now you've seen your bunk and the mess hall. Over there's the Engine Room."

Max flicked an ear as the Foreman squeezed past him in the thin hallway. He called after the departing Goat. "So... that's it?"

Foreman Zuider kept the farewell brief. "I'm in charge of the above-deck. You can figure it out from here."

The Shepherd made a quick detour back to his assigned bunk; it was a small cabin with two beds and, even though he hadn't yet met his room mate, based on the pleasant aroma in the closed quarters Max was able to ascertain that at least whomever it was had an awareness of olfactory sensibility. The Foreman had mentioned something about a Fox and, although the Dog was not one to stereotype, his usual experience with Vulipines suggested that they took care of themselves, including scent-- the information checked out. With little further thought to it Max headed back toward where his guide had indicated the Engine Room to be housed.

Captain Jacksoni had denoted that the Chief Engineer was Somus Veridius, a Dragon. Again, Max was not the kind of Dog to stereotype but in his experience most Dragons shied away from advanced technology and the kind of engines used on steamers were some of the top of what the University had created. Regardless, if someone like Alistair Jacksoni (who, by all accounts seemed to be astute and capable) wanted a Dragon for an Engineer then chances were that Somus Veridius would be worthy of the position.

Stopping just outside the door marked 'ENGINE ROOM', Max straightened out his doublet and smoothed down his jacket before reaching for the handle. Before his paw could touch it, however, the door opened and the Dog was standing face-to-face with a Dragon. Max had seen Dragons before, of course, but hadn't spent a lot of time interacting with them. He decided to treat him just like any other coworker. "I'm Maximilian Rusck, the new Junior Engineer. You're the Chief, I'm guessing?"

Fortunately it seemed Somus had a sense of humor. "It's a good guess if you know the Chief Engineer is a Dragon-- I'm the only one on board."

Max fired right back. "The only Dragon, or the only Chief Engineer?"

Chief Veridius about-faced, flicking the door open further with his tail as he wandered back into the engine room with a chuckle. "Yes."

Despite the close quarters and cramped work space, getting along with Somus Veridius turned out to be far easier than the Dog would have imagined. Surprisingly, Max and his new 'boss' had a lot in common; although they went to different campuses of the UPU they had very similar class schedules and both held a great love for mechanisms and engineering. As four years Max's senior, Somus was already working aboard freighters and with advanced engines when the Dog was just starting his training; Max resolved to learn as much from the Dragon as he could.

From there they transitioned to talking about Ilysean steam ships and, ultimately, the Wave Rider itself. Max was astounded at the Dragon's width and depth of knowledge, but was even more surprised when the Chief acknowledged he didn't know something the Dog had talked about, and then spent an equal amount of time learning from him! Max had always had respect for someone who was not too stuck-up or self important to learn. A lot had happened between leaving the UPU aboard the Joshew and, so it seemed, it had all led Max up to that moment-- the moment when he realized that he might not have obtained what he wanted, but he was certainly willing to concede the point that what he did get would be good for him.