A Christmas Storm
Part 3
Fiona shook her head and looked at the other two. “Did you...”
Benson nodded quickly, his excitement evident. “Yes, captain.”
Chief Rajan nodded more slowly. “I heard. Do you think we can trust them?”
Fiona looked back at the creatures bobbing in the water, as though waiting for an answer. “I can only see one way to find out,” she said slowly.
Her communicator beeped. “Captain,” Lieutenant Henry said, “We heard a message from our...visitors through the comm system.”
“We heard it too,” Fiona said. She took a deep breath. “I will go ashore at their invitation.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Henry said. His tone made it clear that he didn’t.
“We’ve come this far,” Fiona said quietly. “If we turn down this chance to find out more we may never have another. But I won’t ask anyone else to take the risk. Please have one of the boats prepared for lowering. Keep the ship at alert until you hear from me. If you don’t hear within three hours you are to take over to command and act as you see fit.”
“Aye aye,” Henry said. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, “Good luck, captain.”
“Thank you,” Fiona said. “Look after the crew for me.”
“Captain,” Lieutenant Newton’s voice came over the comm circuit. “Shall I assign an armed escort to go ashore with you?”
Fiona considered it for a moment, but her instincts exclaimed against it. “I appreciate the thought,” she said. “But if they have no hostile intention it will only look as though we were suspicious, and might provoke the very response we want to avoid.”
“And if they do have hostile intentions?” Newton said.
“Any escort we send will be thoroughly outnumbered by our...hosts,” Fiona said. “I will not order anyone to go with me just so that they have a chance of killing before they are killed themselves. I would rather take no weapons and rely on not looking a threat.”
There was a pause on the comm circuit. “I would like it to be noted in the ship’s log that I advised you otherwise,” Lieutenant Newton said.
“Make it so,” Fiona said. “I appreciate your concern, lieutenant. If anything does go wrong, it will be up to you to help Lieutenant Henry get the ship and crew out of danger without escalating the situation. That is your priority.”
“Understood.”
Fiona sighed as Lieutenant Newton cut the circuit, and turned to head towards where one of the small boats was being prepared for lowering.
“Captain.” She turned back to Chief Rajan, opening her mouth to silence further objections. But Rajan spoke quickly. “Sailor Benson and I wish to volunteer to accompany you.” She shrugged. “I heard what you said about not taking an armed escort, but the lieutenant was right that you shouldn’t go alone.”
Fiona looked from one to the other. “It could be dangerous,” she said.
Benson spoke eagerly. “But it’s a chance to do something hardly anyone else has,” he said. “You said we might never have a chance like this again. Please, captain. I understand the risk, but I want to go.”
Fiona eyed him curiously. Benson did seem to have an odd affinity for these creatures. Perhaps it would be useful to take him. And Chief Rajan’s solid, practical presence would certainly be reassuring.
“Very well,” she said to them. “But no weapons. Come on.”
***
The sea was calmer here among the islands, but from the small boat the waves seemed higher. Fiona felt a little queasy as she sat on the hard seat of the boat, watching as Chief Rajan steered towards the beach, surrounded by their escort of Seakin.
They grounded gently on the pebbly beach, and Fiona felt the two sailors looking at her. She hoped they believed that her shivering was due to the cold wind rather than the possibilities they were facing.
“Follow me,” she said, and stepped ashore.
In the light of the great beacon fire, the Seakin that had spoken before moved forward to greet her, long body close to the ground and moving on four legs, and holding the communication device in one of its’ forelimbs- Fiona wasn’t sure if they could be called arms.
“Welcome,” the Seakin said, lowering its’ head in a sort of bow. Fiona bowed her own head in response, almost without thinking about it. She heard the two sailors pulling the boat further up the beach behind her, and found herself hoping they wouldn’t need to leave in a hurry. All around her the creatures were hauling themselves out of the water and up the beach, heading for where the lower of the two fires illuminated a dark gap in the cliff.
“Come.” The Seakin indicated the flow of bodies up the beach. “Join us inside as we wait for the end of the darkness, and we can talk further.”
Fiona looked up to the dark cave mouth behind the fire. It could be a trap. But nothing she had argued before had changed.
“I would be honoured,” she said to the Seakin. The creature bowed again and turned to lead the way up the beach.
“Comm the ship,” Fiona said to Chief Rajan. “Tell them what's happening, and say we expect to be here some time- probably until morning, by the sound of it. They can stand down from alert status but keep an enhanced watch. Then follow us up. Benson, you're with me. Watch our backs and let me know if you become aware of anything that feels off.”
The two sailors acknowledged her orders and Fiona set off up the beach, Benson at her heels.
Standing the ship down from alert would mean increasing the time before they could respond to threats, but would allow the crew to get some rest. Fiona was willing to make that trade for the sake of the crew- and besides, a better rested crew would perform better in an emergency, and there was no saying how long they would be here.
Loose pebbles crunched beneath her feet as she turned to glance back at the ship. Henry and Newton would get the rest of the crew out, if she didn’t return. Whatever their reservations about her personally, she knew she could trust them to do that. With a deep breath she turned back to the fire and the dark cave mouth.
Inside, sheltered from the wind, it was strangely quiet. Fiona’s footsteps echoed as she blindly followed the passage, hoping she would not trip over the creatures around her. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom she was able to make out a faint luminescence on the rocky walls and low roof, enough to find her way. She hunched over slightly to avoid banging her head, and stifled a chuckle as she heard a soft thud followed by Rajan muttering a curse.
The passage went on. Fiona became aware of a low sound, almost like singing, filtering back to them from deeper into the cave. Or perhaps behind- it was hard to tell in the gloom. The sound seemed wistful, perhaps sad, and yet she felt again that sense of anticipation she had noticed before.
Rajan leaned forward to speak in her ear. “Captain? Our comms are picking up some sort of static, or interference, from the rock around us. If we go much deeper we’ll lose contact with the ship.
Fiona could hear the reluctance in Rajan’s voice, and wondered why she herself did not feel the same fear at being essentially alone.
“Tell the ship that’s what’s happening,” she said. “They have their orders.” She heard Rajan speaking quietly into her comm. A minute later the chief spoke again. “Contact lost.”
They were on their own.
The low singing ahead of them was getting steadily louder. Just as Fiona was starting to wonder whether the tunnel ahead of them was getting brighter, they turned a corner and she stopped short.
Blinking in the sudden dazzle, she looked around the cavern they had reached. It was huge, big enough to fit her entire ship with room to spare. Stalactites glittered in the ceiling, and water dripped from many of them. Channels in the rocky floor gathered the waters into a shallow lake along one side, and the water disappeared into a fissure in the rock. Fiona supposed the underground stream had once carved the passage they had arrived by, but had long since found another path or been diverted.
In contrast to the passageway, the cavern was full of light. Upwards-pointing lamps around the walls were reflected by both the lake and by the walls themselves. Not only the glistening stalactites, but veins in the rock which seemed full of some kind of crystal. In different places the light was the clear white of midday, or the soft gold of sunset, or the green of fresh leaves, or rose pink, or every hue of the rainbow.
The cavern was also full of Seakin. Fiona almost shrank back as they all turned to look as the humans emerged into the light. She heard Rajan behind her breathing heavily, and could practically feel her tension.
She glanced sideways at Benson, who was gazing around the cavern in rapt wonder. Something about his expression made her smile, reminding her of a child seeing a longed-for wish come true.
The Seakin who had led them there had turned to face her. Fiona bowed her head again.
“We apologise for intruding,” she said. “Our ship was seeking shelter from the storm. We had no intention of disturbing your...your gathering.”
“In general we keep our distance from humans,” the one who had led them there replied. “When your kind first arrived we learned to communicate, but chose to stay out of the way, to minimise the risk of conflict between our peoples. But on this night...”
The creature made a movement that Fiona somehow recognised as a shrug. “On this night, the longest of the year, our people travel to...special places, like this cavern, and keep vigil. It is a tradition that goes back to our most ancient ancestors, a night of waiting, a ritual and a story-song to remind us that at the darkest, bleakest times must end."
Fiona almost gasped. There was a power behind those words, a quiet certainty, that seemed somehow stronger and more real than even the rock which surrounded her. She had never felt anything like that, and yet there was something in it which seemed faintly familiar.
“On this night, we welcome any who make the journey to join us,” the creature continued. “You and those with you are welcome to join us, if you wish, in keeping watch through the night. We ask only that whether you stay or leave, you do so in peace.”
Fiona saw Benson look at her, his face making it clear that he would be more than happy to stay. She glanced at Rajan, who met her eyes without expression.
“We thank you for your welcome,” Fiona said, turning back to the Seakin. “We would be glad to stay.”
