Captain's Log: Day 2
Hammocks sway too and fro as the The Bellarbor braves choppy waters. The gunner lies awake, watching the slumbering crew. Silent and serene, it is near impossible to tell like this if any of them are traitors. Or maybe the pirates are among the sailors trying to navigate the ship through the night.
It might be the rocking of the boat, or maybe it was the shark soup they had eaten for dinner, but something was making the gunner?s stomach turn. Silently, the gunner exits the sleeping quarters and heads down to the infirmary. The surgeon is asleep in a chair by the far wall, embracing a rifle like a child would a stuffed animal. The gunner smirks and turns to leave - but pauses.
?Is someone there?? the gunner asks, ?show yourself at once to your superior.?
After a moment of hesitation, someone appears in the doorframe. She?s pale and has a distant look in her eyes. The gunner recognises her from the banquet the whole crew had attended in the juniors? mess hall: she had blown the crew away with her powerful, melancholic poetry.
?It?s only you? what?s your name again??
?I?m
Kuma,? she says.
?
Kuma,? the gunner repeats, ?what ails you??
?Excuse me??
?You?re standing in the infirmary.?
?Oh.?
Kuma looks around, as if she had barely registered her surroundings until now. ?Just feeling a little seasick.?
The gunner looks her up and down. ?Is it your first time at sea??
?Yes.?
?And did you eat the shark soup??
Kuma nods. ?I found a finger in mine. I think one of the swabbies was playing a prank on me.?
?I think we made a grave mistake when we threw the cook overboard.? The gunner opens several cupboards, looking through them but finding nothing of interest. ?No doubt we?ll all die of food poisoning long before we run the risk of scurvy.?
Kuma forces laughter.
?The sea won?t settle before sunrise, so why don?t you join me for a drink of rum?? When an immediate answer doesn?t come the gunner spins around, staring at the girl. ?Need I remind you
Kuma that turning down an invitation from a senior officer is considered to be incredibly rude??
They stop by storage first to pick up the alcohol, passing a swabbie along the way. Afterwards they head back upstairs. When they arrive in the juniors? mess, they find two of the crew already there. They both greet Kuma warmly, then stiffen when they see the gunner follow her in.
?Friends of yours??
?This is
Lunatic and
Tom,?
Kuma says.
Tom leans back in his seat and gives a half-hearted salute.
Lunatic avoids making eye contact entirely. The gunner walks toward the table, taking a seat beside
Lunatic.
?Fancy joining us for a drink??
The sight of the rum makes
Tom?s face light up. ?If you insist.?
?Only if you pour it in front of me,? says
Lunatic.
The gunner smirks. ?Of course.
Kuma, fetch us some glasses from the kitchen, will you??
Silence elapses.
Tom seems unaffected as he sits and digs the dirt out from under his nails. Then he looks up and stares straight ahead. The gunner follows his line of vision to where
Lunatic is practically trembling in her seat; her teeth are chattering so loudly that the gunner can hear it.
?You were the one who played the accordion at the banquet, right?? the gunner says.
Tom redirects his gaze. ?Yeah. What of it??
?You were good,? the gunner says, ?I play the harmonica myself.?
?You look more like a flute player to me.? He purses his lips and motions playing the instrument with his fingers.
Lunatic gives a nervous cackle.
The gunner raises an eyebrow. ?Something funny there, sailor??
?N-Nothing.?
?Maybe you should all play together some time,?
Kuma says, ?
Lunatic is a really good singer.?
She sets the glasses down on the table and sits down next to
Tom. The gunner can practically feel
Lunatic staring at them as the rum is poured and distributed.
?You?re quite talented yourself,
Kuma,? the gunner says, ?your poetry reading was pretty impressive.?
Tom nods. ?It was powerful stuff.?
?To tell the truth,?
Kuma starts, ?it was written about the crew of the first ship I served on. We were raided by pirates: they stole all the loot and slayed half the crew. Those who weren?t murdered went down with the ship. I managed to escape on a lifeboat with four of the sailors.?
The gunner leans back in his seat. ?Tell me more about this ship you used to work on,
Kuma.?
?What do you want to know??
?Whether it?s actually real or if you?re just trying to earn my sympathy.?
The only sounds to be heard are the waves crashing outside and the persistent chattering of
Lunatic?s teeth.
?O-Of course it?s real.?
?So you lied to me earlier when you told me that this was your first voyage.?
Tom, seemingly unconcerned, simply slouches further in his seat. ?You said that,
Kuma??
?She?s a pirate!?
Lunatic pipes up.
?Hey!?
Kuma raises her hands in defence. ?Don?t just jump to conclusions like that,
Luna??
A bullet pierces
Kuma right between the eyes. She goes cross-eyed before keeling over backwards. The remaining three barely manage to steady the table before she takes it down with her. Red spills over the floor.
?I knew it, I knew she was??
Lunatic cuts off with a squeak. The barrel of the gun is pressed against her temple.
?Start talking or else you?re next,? says the gunner, ?you?ve been shivering like a nervous wreck ever since I got here.?
Her eyes are wide as saucers. ?I suspected
Kuma. I knew she was scum! I wanted to tell you ? I really, really wanted to ? but I couldn?t do it while she was just sitting right there.?
The gunner?s eyes narrow. He glances to
Tom, still cool as a cucumber despite the fact he?s sitting beside
Kuma?s corpse.
?Honest to God, I?m just an ordinary sailor!?
Lunatic?s trembles have escalated, with her chest rising and falling rapidly as if she?s having a panic attack. ?Give me a chance to prove it to you, please, please, please??
Glass shatters and
Lunatic falls face first onto the table. Her untouched drink tumbles over, mixing with the blood weeping from the back of her head, dribbling around her ears, and landing on the pure white tablecloth. A wash of green and the gunner feels the almost forgotten stomachache returning.
It takes a moment for reality to set in. The gunner flinches as another gunshot pierces the air, striking
Tom in the jugular. There is no time to check the wound; the gunner turns around and aims their own weapon at the now broken window behind them.
There is no one there.
Kuma the
Cabin Attendant couldn't keep her stories straight.
Lunatic the
Sailor let her nerves get the best of her.
Tom the
Sailor will never again ridicule a senior officer.
You have 24 hours to decide which of you will walk the plank.