They'd barely entered the strip of forest that separated their settlement from the shore when they encountered Gladys and Susan running back to the settlement, their eyes wide with fear. Harold instantly thought about the settlers they'd killed. Had they returned to the New World? Were they looking for revenge?
"We saw a ship!" cried Susan. Gladys tried to add something, but couldn't; she was short of breath.
"Calm down! What ship? Where?" asked Dave.
"How am I supposed to know what kind of ship it is," snapped Susan. "It's headed for the shore and there are people on it."
"Of course there are people on it," said Dave. "Ships don't sail by themselves."
Susan turned red with anger. Harold stepped in quickly, before things got out of hand.
"Sorry you girls had a shock," he said. "Now, try to take it easy. Go back home and we'll go on and investigate - right, Dave? Then we'll return and tell you what we found out. Go on, now."
But Susan and Gladys weren't to be dismissed so easily. They started speaking, interrupting each other in their excitement.
"It looks like one of those Viking boats in movies. It has - "
"No it doesn't. It has a triangular sail, not square. It hasn't got - "
"Never mind what it hasn't got. What it has is at least a dozen people on board. And some - "
"A dozen MEN, not people."
"Men are not people?"
"That wasn't my point. I meant - "
"Girls," Dave said. "Girls. Girls!"
"Stop calling us girls," Susan snapped. "We're over sixty. I am sixty five. But you wouldn't know, would you? You always forget my birthday."
Harold moaned and covered his face with his hands.
"What's wrong with you?" Gladys asked him crossly.
It took a while before everyone calmed down, and Susan and Gladys let themselves be persuaded into returning to the settlement.
"And don't forget to put the fire out," Dave told them.
"Put it out? It's a royal pain to get it going again!"
"We don't want those people, pardon me, those men to see the smoke," Harold said.
Susan and Gladys felt a little stupid they hadn't thought of that, and they finally agreed to return to the settlement and await news there. Dave and Harold jogged along the path that led through the forest and to the beach, slowing down only when the trees got sparser. They reached the treeline, and hid behind neighboring tree trunks.
Their wives had been right. There was a ship offshore, and it was headed toward land. It was quite close, not more than a quarter of a mile away, and they could see plenty of activity on board. Like Gladys had said, it had a single mast carrying a huge lateen sail that was being taken in by the crew. It was obvious the ship was coming in to land.
"Oh Jesus," Harold said. "They're armed. That feller standing in the bows has a spear."
"He doesn't. He's just holding onto the mainstay, the line that runs between the bow and the mast. But I wouldn't be surprised if they really were armed."
"Look, it's turning. It's carrying a flag! Can you see it?"
"Not very clearly. But it seems familiar."
"Familiar? You've seen someone flying a flag before? I don't think you've told me about it." Harold was tempted to add 'either', but he bit his tongue in time. This wasn't the right moment to begin recriminations.
"Of course I haven't, here. I meant back home. It's - by God, I've got it. It's the symbol from the flag of Queensland. A crown in the center of a cross."
They were both silent for a moment. Then Harold said:
"You're right. Do you think this means what I think it means?"
"It means governor Deacon wants to pay you a visit."
"Oh God. If he sees our settlement, we're sunk."
They both watched the longboat approach the shore with increasing horror. Then Dave said:
"When they land, you've got to show yourself. Take off all your clothes first, you're not supposed to have any yet. Tell them you and Gladys have just arrived, and that she doesn't fancy showing herself naked to strange men. Tell them everything's fine, tell them whatever it takes to make them go away."
Harold uttered a soft, bitter laugh.
"Don't be stupid," he said.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"This. Look here."
When Dave did, Harold slid the rabbit-skin briefs he was wearing off one buttock. It was very pale, in shocking contrast with the rest of his sunburnt skin.
Dave nodded.
"You're right," he said. "That's rock-solid proof you've been here for a while."
"We both look like we've been here for a while," Harold said.
It was true. Their skin was burned brown and they had long, unkempt beards and hair. They had calluses on their hands and feet, and their nails were dirty and chipped and cracked. Anyone with an IQ higher than room temperature would instantly see they'd been living in the New World for quite a while.
They watched the vessel come closer and closer. Harold thought he could recognize Deacon. He was standing next to the man holding the headstay, which Harold had mistaken for a spear. He desperately tried to think of something that would prevent disaster.
He couldn't.
Suddenly, there was a lot commotion aboard the boat. Harold heard a shout and froze with fright, convinced the crew had spotted him and Dave. Deacon retreated hurriedly from the bows, and a man carrying a long pole rushed to take his place.
"Is that a musket?" Dave asked hoarsely.
"No. It's a pole. Look, there's another! They're - Dave, we're saved. They've run into a reef or a rock. We've never swam out that far, but we've seen a few around, remember?"
"By God, it looks you're right. They're trying to push the boat away from the rocks. I hope they fail."
"I hope they don't. If that boat sinks, they'll all come ashore. And then we'll be sunk, too. In a worse way than them."
"Jesus! They've hit."
The longboat's mast tilted crazily to one side and there was a chorus of screams and shouts from the men aboard. Harold felt his knees start to tremble. A part of him wanted to run and hide. Another part wanted to run to the water's edge to see if he could help the unlucky sailors. He forced himself to stay put behind his tree, cautiously peering out with one eye.
The drama offshore had a happy ending. Amidst much shouting, the hull was pushed off the invisible reef. For quite a while the boat wallowed in the shallows, not more than a hundred meters from the shore. A conference seemed to be taking place on board: Harold thought he could make out Deacon's raised voice.
At long last, the crew dispersed and began turning the boat away from the shore. Both Harold and Dave watched with burning eyes, afraid to blink lest they miss something important, and trembling with tension.
Luck was on their side that day. When the bows were pointing towards the open sea, the ship's sail was unfurled and it became clear that it was sailing away.
"Saved," muttered Dave. "For the moment, anyway. But I bet they'll be back."
"You think so?"
"It looks like Henry is taking his governor's duties very seriously. There could have been only one reason behind his showing up here."
"He's checking on people," Harold said. "He's making sure everyone's where he wants them to be."
"You know, I think it's our fault, in a way."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"We told him we want to merge, remember? We wanted to know whether that was okay."
"He said it was."
"Yes. And once we've officially merged into a single colony, he'll have a colony spot vacant. That's why he's going to show a lot of extra interest in how we're getting on. I think we can expect another visit from our governor in the not-so-distant future."
"Bloody hell."
"He's sure to sail along the coast to the spot he's marked for me."
"He will, damn him. The bloody busybody. How did he manage to get himself a bloody ship so quickly? Ships take time to build. And that sail. It was crude, but it was a proper sail, from woven fabric."
"He's likely been running a settlement for around two years," Dave said. "That's a long time. Enough to set up a weaver, and build a boat."
"He hasn't been running it for two years. He only took over from Jane Leary barely a month ago."
"Whatever. Let's not split hairs. He's got a boat, and he seems determined to monitor our activity."
"You've got to get going straight away," Harold said.
"You want everyone here right away?"
Harold shook his head.
"Your group will have to start from Yule Point, like Deacon wants you to."
"And walk all the way here? Without clothes, without any food or water?"
"That's right."
"But Susan and myself, we're already here. What do we do about that? Remove our implants and start over?"
Harold thought about it for a short while.
"Maybe we don't need to go that far," he said eventually. "What I think you could do is try and meet Sean halfway. You and Susan could take along a couple of baskets of provisions, and some water."
"Halfway is still a long way."
"Around fifty kilometers. It can be done in a single day if both groups start out early enough. And it will be actually easier for you to find each other when it's dark. Take flint and tinder and some ready-made torches with you and light them up at nightfall. There won't be anyone else in the area waving a flaming torch around, that's for sure. Sean and his gang should spot you easily."
"That's an idea."
"It's not an idea, it's the only way to proceed, and we must do it right away. Let's go home and tell the girls."
As they were turning to go home, Dave said:
"Look. It seems that bastard's turning south."
"He's going to check out Yule Point. You'd better make sure he doesn't see you running along the shore when you go to meet Sean."
"It's going to take him a couple of days to get there."
"Maybe less. Dave, two days here amounts to a few hours back home, have you forgotten? Come on, we don't have any time to waste."
They started running.
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