Sleep was an easier thing to envision than to accomplish, Piper soon realized. After turning this way and that, pulling her thin, scratchy blankets close or tossing them to the side, she resigned herself to staring at the ceiling of her cabin in the darkness. Her earlier indignation had fled her heart, and left in its wake a solemn gloom. Her mind whirred, flicking through her experiences aboard the Lockjawe like a motion picture only to be disturbed by the humming of the ship. Doubting that such noise paired with the rocking of the vessel was doing much to aid her insomnia either, she believed that the only comparable distraction to be Olivian's snoring. This, Piper surmised, must sound as close as one could imitate to a bear choking to death on the bone of a moose.
She sighed and swung her legs over the edge of her bunk. Careful to move as quietly as possible so as to not wake her cabin-mates, she clambered down the side and landed lightly on the balls of her feet. Pausing but a moment to ensure that her movements had not disturbed Emeline's sleep, Piper silently glided out through the cabin door as silent as a ghost. Her feet guided her troubled mind throughout the labyrinthian ship without a thought to where exactly she was destined, though with a mind to caution her steps as she had not yet grown used to the ups and downs of the sea. Within minutes, Piper found herself ascending the stairway to the main deck, illuminated by the pale light of the moon.
Stepping out into the night, Piper noticed that several sailors, whose features could not be identified, moved leisurely about.
Must be a sort of night watch She presumed. Making her way to the bulwark of the ship, Piper gazed at the twinkling lights so far above her head. She recalled a number of times as a little girl how her mother had taken her out of their little home late in the evening if they had managed to stay awake long enough for the moon to rise. Her mother would point out the constellations that she knew of, and Piper would reach up towards them with a grasping hand. Although no magic nor science was yet able to ascertain how far away those twinkling lights were, Piper vividly remembered how she would have very much liked to touch them herself and hold them in her hands. That, she figured, was when her love of the sky first bloomed.
And then it all went to ashes when her mother gave her up.
Piper bitterly turned her eyes down to the turbulent black waves, illuminated only by the broken reflection of the stars above.
Can't blame anybody but myself She thought, as she had told herself countless times before.
Piper shivered as the frigid ocean breeze salted her face and chilled her bones as she stayed as long as she could bear it in her thin, uniformed nightclothes. Eventually Piper managed to tear her gaze from the view, shaking her head.
No use dwelling on any of that now, just have to do what I can here so I can get off this ship as soon as possible
A yawn prompted Piper to make her way back across the deck and to the stairway below. Hardly paying attention as she deftly navigated the narrow halls back to her cabin, the dark coupled with her sudden drowsiness caused her to nearly stumble directly into the figure that blocked her way through the passage, only recognizing that her path was barred after the man's chest came within an inch of her face.
"What are you doing out of your quarters?" The voice warbled sharply.
Piper stepped back, puzzled. She recalled the voice vaguely.
"Well? I haven't all night, Raddendale."
Great, he remembers my name Piper thought, as she recognized the voice of that belonging to the birdlike officer who acted as Tartan's right hand.
"I was just heading to the latrine, the sea has made me nauseous." She lied.
"A valiant attempt for excuse, Raddendale, but the head is abaft of Cabin #17, not amidships - but you'd know that even after a day as a swab, wouldn't you?" He chastised pointedly.
Ash take this man Piper swore to herself as she gritted her teeth, deciding to change tack.
"Right. Well it has only been a day at work, and it is difficult to see in this dark."
The officer scoffed. "You may have earned respect as an experienced soldier - rightly so perhaps - though I doubt you could ascertain the broadside of a ship if you were hanging from the gunwale. However, whatever you may have earned is tarnished by your personal lack of honor."
"My lack of-" Piper was taken aback, the altercation reminding her altogether too much of her interaction with Captain Tartan.
"You understand me perfectly fine," He squalked, pointing a bony finger sharply at the center of Piper's chest, "return to your cabin and count this as a warning." He jotted something down that Piper couldn't see on a clipboard before shoving quickly past her in a flurry.
Piper stood another moment or so, watching the officer march down the long hall into the darkness of the ship, dumbfounded more than anything else by the interaction. Sighing and unfurling her hair, she turned back to her original course and made her way back to the confines of her cabin, only to be caught offguard as she came face to face with Emeline upon opening the door. Piper was about to voice a question, but her bunkmate raised a single finger to her lips to signal silence. She pointed to the hall, and Piper returned to the cooridor followed by Emeline.
"I'm having some trouble sleeping, same for you?" Emeline whispered in the shadows.
"I was, and just scolded for being outside the cabin." Piper replied.
"I was wondering if we could speak in private?"
Emeline did not wait for a reply as she began walking hurriedly in the opposite direction in which Piper had come. Piper gave no more thought to it than one of mild annoyance before she quickly followed behind. After a moment the pair arrived at the female head. Emeline made her way to the wash basin, where she allowed the water to run over her hands before rubbing them on her face. Piper closed the door behind them.
"I am not on the best of terms with just about anybody aboard, so I hope to get back quickly." Piper stated pointedly. Emeline did not take her face from the mirror as she replied.
"It is about the reports Captain Tartan discussed at supper."
"What of them?" Piper queried with irritation, "It was already made clear enough to me that any matters of importance are none of my concern."
"The Captain told us that we are sailing West as part of a recovery assignment. Apparently there were a number of ships that sailed out on a different assignment and never returned."
Piper took a step closer, analyzing the information she had been given. "Could've been any number of dangers. 'Further West, closer to death' is what I've heard." But Emeline was already shaking her head.
"Pirate's have tried and failed, our ships are too thick to breach and too tall to board. Our navigators are top notch - aside from Mid-Islanders who have been at it their entire lives, our advancements are more than enough to match their natural skill. They couldn't have wandered off course, so what is it then?"
Emeline turned to Piper suddenly, scanning her face for a conclusion she herself had already drawn.
Piper turned over the possibilities in her head, her military experience taking over despite her newfound position in the Navy. She hesitated at the answer she reached.
"It…could have been some creature."
Emeline smiled but did not laugh.
"It very well could be, assuming there was one strong enough and of a mind to crush or burrow through half a foot of reinforced iron. But it isn't."
"What then?" Piper questioned, startled at the fierceness in her friend's eyes.
"There have been correspondence with one of the missing ships. Crackled voices over radio waves, emergency signals as far out as the Fourlands Sea."
Piper shook her head in disbelief. "And how did you come to know all of this? Tartan just casually mention it at supper?"
"No," Emeline responded, returning her gaze to her reflection in the basin, "my sister did."
"Your…?" Piper was completely lost. Emeline hurried to explain.
"I told you that before my transfer, I worked for the Capital's intelligence division. My elder sister Theodora has worked in the Capital far longer than myself, and gave me warning before my departure. She says the signals prove that the ships are still out there and still afloat with men aboard to communicate. Hence why we are being sent for recovery."
Piper reanalyzed the situation grimly. "A mutiny, then."
Emeline's silence confirmed that she had reached the correct answer, as far as the Division of Central Intelligence was concerned.
"Why tell me at all?" Piper asked genuinely, "There's no possible sway I could hold."
Finally, Emeline smiled.
"I suppose I couldn't keep it weighing on my chest any longer."
She strolled towards Piper and laid her hands on her shoulders.
"And if we are going to be sailing towards a mutinied ship likely set as a trap, what friend would I be to not warn those I can trust of the danger?"
Emeline rubbed her shoulder gently before strolling past her and back into the hall. Piper stood a moment, shocked at the genuinity she had been shown. She thought about all she had learned and made a mental note before stowing it away in the back of her mind.
There is little I can do about the matter, anyhow Piper told herself.
Despite the fact, she felt as if she had been given a gift.
She decided she would find what else she could, should the opportunity arise, and returned herself to bed.