| Chapter Sixteen - Bruised Dignity |
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I opened my eyes in the semi darkness and considered the ceiling of our bridge, noticing a malformed lump of brass which would need manipulating back into shape. Upon turning to see how the captain fared, I became aware of a similar lump on the back of my head, which currently seemed to have a tiny blacksmith hammering his anvil inside it. The Captain, like myself, was lying on his back, his pipe jutting from the corner of his mouth at a comical angle, its ash deposited in a small pile next to his ear. Sadeian abruptly sat upright and raising an eyebrow at its appearance, hastilty pocketed his pipe, as I shakily rose to my feet. "Hmm, a much improved landing my boy" he commented while rising to his feet, a disapproving frown etched upon his features. "Well, at least hiding the ship is taken care of" I retorted defensively. At this point the inherent humour of our situation dawned on his both and we began to laugh first ironically, and then uncontrollably for a good ten minutes, after which my sides pained me almost as much as my head.
"Lets ensure that its our just our dignity which is damaged shall we?" enquired a red faced Captain, wiping a tear from his eye. Re-lighting the lantern, we inspected the interior of the ship for damage, finding none and then turning our attention to the precious cargo we carried, the Captain pausing briefly to straighten a portrait of Admiral Nelson. We scruitinised every single crate, wanting to ensure that our merchandise would be of a high enough standard to acquire us a good reputation with the underground traders that we would doubtlessly being meeting during our stay here. Once again, all goods were intact and ready for sale, at which point the Captain visibly relaxed and I felt a little less foolish. I inwardly marvelled at the range of goods we had transported, everything which would be desirable in this foreign land was here, Fred had supplied us well. Whilst loading our packs and discussing our approach in Calcutta, we discussed the less than graceful landing at some length, and agreed upon suitable modifications to our landing algorithm to account for the varying foreign terrains that we might encounter on our future travels. Finishing our discussion, we hefted our packs onto our shoulders and activated the hold steps, which appeared to have suffered no ill effects, smoothly lowering to the ground and allowing the heat of the local air rush inside. The Captain led the way, turning slightly to look back up at myself and our cargo. "All things considered, I'd say we rather got away with that didnt we?" he quipped, flashing me one of his trademark grins. "Hmmm, I, um... wouldnt be too sure about that, old chap" I uttered as we alighted, nodding forwards, as the scene that faced me was causing a large, cold lump to collect and in the pit of my stomach. "What on earth do you....." The Captains smile faded as he turned and too witnessed the 20 or so rifles pointed at our chests... |
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