Interesting News

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 11th May 2008

Characters: Rahona, Eliste
Description: Rahona comes to visit Eliste and tells her about the extra crew.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 9, day 26 of Turn 4

It was afternoon before Rahona got the chance to go ashore and knock on the door of the room Reitha assured her Ellina was occupying.
"Ellina?" she called. "It's Rahona."

"Come in, Rahona." Eliste's soft voice called out. As Rahona entered, Eliste turned a smile to her, setting aside the small quilt she had been working upon. Reitha had been right, visitors had come once the riverboat had docked. Eliste had to admit she enjoyed the company. "How are you?"

"How am _I_?" Rahona repeated with a laugh as she entered the room.
"I'm fine. How are _you_ is more to the point. And how is your baby?"

"Everything is well now." Eliste let her hand rest upon her belly. She was showing now, and there was no hiding her situation. "I haven't had any contractions in a while, though the healer still refuses to let me do anything. He's being cautious." Not that Eliste was complaining about his caution. As much as she disliked being unable to walk or do things on her own, she wasn't about to risk her baby for her convenience. "People have been very kind to me here."

"They're very kind people - and really they're riverboat people, even though they live ashore here." Rahona settled herself in one of the comfortable chairs beside the bed. "Are you still bored?" she asked with the sympathy of one who couldn't imagine staying in bed one day, let alone being confined to it for any amount of time.

"Most of the time, no." Eliste indicated the piles of fabric, two on the small table, one upon her lap. "I keep myself busy, though I must admit I have to take breaks occasionally. Jardon has cleaned a wheeled chair and I am able to go outside, if confined to the chair.
It's refreshing."

"Vaheri's grandson, Jardon?" Rahona said in surprise, though it wasn't unreasonable for the young woman to make friends outside the Sungazer crew. Jardon was a nice young man, though, just like Nico - and Nico was _crew_.

"Yes. He's visited me a couple of times. The first time was when Vaheri came, bearing gifts." Ah, fabric, a weakness of Eliste's though she had never bought any without her husband's permission. He had allowed her, because it meant she could make quilts to sell at a profit. "He's very nice."

"Oh, Ellina! You think everybody's very nice," Rahona laughed. "Don't you ever think - 'What a dimglow'? Though I suppose even if you did you wouldn't tell me."

Eliste didn't laugh, but let her gaze drop. "I don't think everyone is nice." Helvar wasn't nice. Helvar was...was...there was no word for him. No word horrible enough to describe what he was.

"Well I've never heard you say a bad word about anybody," Rahona pointed out. "So, Jardon's been visiting ..."

"Oh, yes, he's come a few times." Eliste was glad she had changed the subject. Thinking about Helvar made fear and depression slide over her far too quickly. She'd rather not think of him at all. If she had her way, she would erase him from her memory completely - but, unfortunately, such a thing was not possible. "He cleaned up an old wheeled chair so that I could take trips outside." Those trips had been short the first day or two, but had started getting progressively longer and longer. The healer had checked on her, but the ability to go outside seemed to have merely relaxed her, so he had encouraged her to continue, as long as she was careful and didn't try to get out or back there by herself.

"That's good news. If only we had a healer on the Sungzaer more often you could come back aboard and sit on the balcony and get plenty of 'outside' time."

A wistful expression crossed over Eliste's features. "That would be lovely." She could watch the river rushing past, the shore as it crept while the engines of the riverboat chugged it along, humming their lullabye to the crew and passengers. It surprised her how much she missed that considering how little time she had truly spent on that boat. "Well, they have been very good to me here. I have no cause for complaint."

"Perhaps when your baby is safely here. I know Lineal would be happy to have you both as passengers and I'd love to have a very new baby to cuddle again."

Eliste lowered her gaze. "When the baby is old enough to travel...yes, I will be a passenger again. I'll be heading to the sea port."
Heading away, far, far away. She just wished she didn't have to.

"What's for you at the seaport?" Rahona asked bluntly.

Freedom. Freedom from Helvar and the fear that gripped her whenever she thought too much about him. Eliste didn't say that, however, "I don't know yet." It was partially true. She would take a ship...somewhere. She wasn't sure where. All she was sure of that the more distance between her and her husband, the better, even though it made her heart ache to leave her newfound friends.

Rahona frowned. "You left Emerald Falls and headed downstream and you didn't know what was there for you? No family or - or anybody?"

Eliste's smile was small and lacked sincerity. "Sometimes one does what one must." She took a deep breath and let it out. "Please tell me about what has been going on at the Sungazer. Have you been getting any interesting passengers?"

"None that have caused the excitement among the men that you did," the older woman said with a laugh. "And nothing as exciting as the master vintner's wife a while back who had her babe _on_ the Sungazer. The only thing that's happening - or about to - is that we're getting a lot of extra crew for four months."

Eliste wished Rahona would stop going on about the men. Eliste didn't think she had caused a stir at all, save for Nico. He seemed determined to get her attention and she just wasn't sure how to handle that situation. Extra crew sounded interesting, though. "Why are you getting extra crew?"

"The Moonflower - you might have seen her at the seaport since she's a day ahead of us - is going in for an overhaul and we're taking on some of their crew. Men and women and whole families. For four months.
It'll be ... interesting."

"I haven't seen another riverboat, that I can remember." Of course, by the time she had gotten to the seaport, Eliste had been put on bedrest and hadn't come out of her room. "How will it be interesting?"

"Some of our crew will stay here for a while - I don't think we will since the children haven't been aboard that long - and we'll get new people. Not family. People we don't know." Rahona looked thoughtful.
"I used to live in a huge Weyr, hundreds of people, some I would never know, but now I just know the Sungazer's crew and people here at the waypoint. It's a big change to suddenly have new people among us."

Eliste could understand that. Change could be good or bad, or even both at the same time. It had been a big change for her to be on the riverboat, but she had found enjoyment in it. "It will only be for a few months."

"Yes, but an _interesting_ few months. I hope there's at least one girl Lihona's age. She and Linli miss their cousin."

"Their cousin?"

"About their age. She and her mother are on another riverboat now.
The three girls were inseparable. If it hadn't been for the mischief they would have been too adorable for words."

"Why did she go to another riverboat?"

Rahona frowned. "Men. A man. Isn't it always a man?"

Eliste's gaze dropped to her lap and decided to change the subject. "So...when do the new crewmembers arrive?"

"Next month, when we reach the seaport again. I'll be able to tell you all about them when we come back through here."

"Do you know any of them?" Eliste wondered what they would be like.
Those of the Sungazer had been so wonderful and kind. What of these other people? She wondered if they were used to people like her, people seeking an escape from situations in which they were no longer safe. Part of her was curious, yet part of her hoped that she didn't meet any of them. What if they were not so understanding of situations like her own? What if they were more like the men she had met at Emerald Falls, where the husband was always right and their women took whatever they were given without complaint? What if Helvar had been asking around about her and given a description? Would they recognise her from it?

"_I_ don't. I'm too new to the river life myself. And Lineal was away for so long. But most people are saying the the Moonflower crew are a good match for us, whatever that means. Nobody seems worried - most are excited. Some of our crew will be spending the whole four months here, at the waypoint, to make room for the Moonflower folk."

"Oh?" Eliste's eyebrows raised at that bit of news. "Who will be staying?"

"Hmm. I don't know, exactly, though Lineal said they were people who wanted to. Nobody was being put ashore who didn't want to spend four months here."

Eliste wondered if Fog or Nico would be staying. Perhaps the girls?
Maybe she could have some quilting friends. She supposed that Rahona was not one of the ones who would be staying. "I hope all goes well with it then."

"There's bound to be a few problems, but hopefully nothing that can't be sorted out."

Last updated on the May 18th 2008

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