Mand's head still swam from being pistol-whipped, but the ache was fading gradually.
A boy and a girl guided her over to a bottom cot, where she now lay waiting for the vertigo and nausea to ease, a damp cloth on her head.
"Feeling better?" It was Claire, who sat in the bottom cot across the small aisle. It had been her familiar voice that had been giving orders while Mand was fading in and out of consciousness.
"Little by little," Mand said. "But, being on the open ocean certainly isn't helping."
"Here, I brought you a fresh cloth."
Mand turned her head. It was one of the unfamiliar faces that had tended to her when she was on the floor. It was a girl about Val's age. She was holding out a dripping cloth.
"May I?" the girl asked. She made a motion that she wanted to exchange the fresh cloth with the one currently sitting on Mand's forehead.
"Please, and thank you."
The girl removed the now room temperature damp fabric and replaced it with the fresh cool cloth.
"Sorry, I didn't get your name."
"Hida," the girl smiled.
"Mand."
"I know. Your friend here was calling your name after you passed out."
"What happened to you?" Claire asked. "I thought you and the woman would have been right behind us."
"I think she took a different route," said Mand. "I guess it was a safety measure to keep from being followed."
"And your head?"
"Last ditch effort to escape. I tried to grab the box with the crystal, but she was too fast for me. I paid for the attempt."
Mand reached back to where the pistol had impacted the back of her skull. All she could feel was a giant, painful lump.
"Well at least you tried. There wasn't much I could do. After we left, my "escort" told me he would finish off my father if I tried to make a scene. He looked like he was in bad shape, so I couldn't risk it."
"I don't blame you."
"I take it you two are metalmancers?" Hida asked. Mand noticed a slight lilt in her voice, it sounded similar to an accent that she and Val had encountered in the more southern towns in their travels.
"Yes," said Claire. "And I take it you two are as well."
"I know I am," said Hida. She then motioned to a section of the room that Mand couldn't see. "I believe he is as well."
Mand rolled over to her side, the movement making her wince. Sitting on a chair which sat in front of a small desk crammed into a corner of the room, was a blond boy about her age.
The boy waved when she looked and gave a shy smile.
"He was here when I got here," said Hida. "He understands what you say to him, but he doesn't talk."
Mand pulled herself up so she was sitting upright on the edge of the cot. A wave of nausea rolled over her, but she endured it.
"How long have you been here?" Mand asked once her stomach settled.
"About a week."
"How did they take you?" asked Claire.
"They sailed to our island, Hida began, "And said they were just there to resupply. Started asking around if any of the children were metalmancers. My family was suspicious, so they told me to keep it a secret while our "visitors" were there. I think one of the other families on the island were jealous that my parents had a child with the gift, so they sold me out. The next thing I knew I was being dragged off in the middle of the night. I think my family tried to come after me because I heard fighting and some gunshots just before I was taken below deck. I was tossed in here with the boy, and shortly after, we put out to sea."
"Any idea where they are taking us?"
"No. They bring food once a day, but that's it. They don't answer any questions."
"I might have an idea about that." said Claire.
"Oh?"
"They, or whatever organization these people work for, tried to take me last year. I guess when they failed, they sent a different set of agents to try again."
Claire recounted the incident from last fall and how she had been offered an opportunity to go for additional training.
"It probably works for some," Claire said. "A poor kid from a farming village might take the offer just to get out of town and see the world. Or a family with ambition believes that if their child gets stronger in metalmancy, then the family as a whole will become more powerful. If it doesn't work, they just take us by force. They're collecting us, trying to gather a bunch of us together. Persuasion or force, they don't care how they do it."
"They didn't offer me a thing," said Hida. "They just took me."
"So, that means in the time from last fall to now, they are getting bolder in their tactics. If kids with the gift are starting to go missing in large numbers, there's bound to be outcry. They're under a deadline, or believe they have enough power to beat back any rescue parties. Or both."
"They also have a way to nullify our power." said Mand, thinking back to the crystal.
"And that probably means that they've been at this for some time."
"If they are collecting us, I wonder if they will hit another town."
Claire tapped the wall of the room with a knuckle. A dull metallic noise rang out. "Did you two try an escape?"
Both nodded.
"I tried a few different things while we were in port." Hida said. "From unlocking the door, to unlatching the porthole - nothing worked."
"There's at least three crystals then. Each one of our kidnappers had to be carrying one if they believed it was safe enough to separate. They also have to keep one aboard to ship to keep us from escaping." Claire analyzed. She thought for a moment and then said, ""If we hit another town, I'd like to try something."