The Captain's Trial (13-Fin)

Writers: Anaria
Date Posted: 12th June 2011

Characters: Tiernan, Galliet
Description: Tiernan returns to Topaz Sea Hold, and speaks to the Master Seacrafters.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 2, day 13 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Meledei

The Dragon's Talon pulled in to dock at Topaz Sea Hold, and Tiernan
shouted off some quick orders to members of his crew before departing
the ship. "You all can go ashore, but be back here at nightfall," he
commanded. He was to get in touch with the Seacraft Hall, who had sent
several masters out to assess the condition of the Seawing. Their
preliminary reports indicated that Tiernan shouldn't expect to have
her back for at least a month. That would be the amount of time that
it took to find and prepare a replacement mast, and to get it
installed on the ship. While those replacements were being done, the
ship would be drydocked, and would have maintenance done. That would
consist of replacing weak boards, rotted areas, or anything else that
would cause trouble at sea. Hopefully, within a month she'd be good as
new.

In the meanwhile, several members of his crew would likely be given
leave, while others would be assigned to other ships on either a
temporary or permanent basis. And of course, Tiernan would need to
find replacements for both Galliet and Fievan. That wasn't something
that he was looking forward to.

The Captain of the Dragon's Talon had loaned him something nice to
wear while he spoke to the Masters. It didn't fit quite as well as he
would have liked, and there was no hiding the effects of the wind and
the water hitting him in the face. As a result, he still looked tired
and disheveled, regardless of the clothes he wore.

Taking a deep breath, he headed over to where he was to meet the
Masters. His mind was whirling. Would they take away his ship? Would
his crew get reassigned? What would become of Galliet?

~*~

A few candlemarks later, Tiernan was leaving his meeting with the
Masters. He felt drained, almost as much as he had when the storm had
first ended. There'd been endless questions - what he'd done, why he'd
done it, and what he was thinking when he did it. Then there were
questions about what his crew had done, and why they'd done it, and
what he thought they were thinking when they did it.

In the end, they'd left him alone for nearly a candlemark while they
debated it amongst themselves. By the time they finally emerged,
Tiernan was certain that they'd take his ship and his knots over the
whole debacle. He'd paced in circles til he was convinced that there
was a path worn into the floor.

They'd given their decision, he'd thanked them for his time, and he
had left, his head still spinning.

His first stop was to visit Galliet at the healer's. He'd been told
that the man was awake, and was mostly lucid for the first time in
days. He owed him an apology.

When he entered, the man was awake, and was staring off into space.
"Galliet?" Tiernan said to get his attention.

"Hallo, Cap'n," Galliet responded, although not with his typical gusto.

"How are you feeling? Is the pain bad?" Tiernan asked.

Galliet shrugged. "Pain's alright, not sure what I'll do from now,
though," he responded shaking his head.

"I've spoken to some Masters at the Hall already, they say when you
feel up to it, you can go back and teach Carpentry. I know you've
wanted to for some time now," Tiernan said, taking a seat next to the
older man's bed.

"You've spoken to them? I would really like to teach at the Hall, I
appreciate you looking out for me," Galliet said. "What else did they
say? I see you've still got your shoulder knots so it couldn't have
gone too bad?"

"Aye, they determined that I did the best that I could given the
circumstances. I didn't go above and beyond by any means, but they
found nothing to reprimand me over. I'll get the Seawing back when
she's fixed, until then I'm on leave. They said I deserved if given
that I haven't taken any since becoming a Captain," Tiernan said. "So
all in all, I think things went ok. But I don't feel too good about
it."

"My arm isn't your fault," Galliet said quickly. "I know you're
blaming yourself for it, and you need to stop. It was the storm's
fault, and my own fault for not paying more attention."

"I should have went around the storm..." Tiernan said.

"Is that what the Masters said? How upset would they have been if
you'd taken us out of our way to go around the storm, and had the
shipment be late?" Galliet said.

"They would have been mad, but you'd still have your arm, and Fievan
would be alive!" Tiernan thundered, raising his voice in a fashion
that was quite uncommon for the Sea Captain.

"Quit feeling sorry for yourself, because I don't feel sorry for
myself," Galliet responded. "Fievan's loss is unfortunate, but if he'd
been following orders he wouldn't have went over. Honestly, Captain,
there are enough real things in your life to worry over, don't lose
sleep over the things that are past us," Galliet said.

Tiernan took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "I guess you're right..."

"Of course I am. Now stop yammering away at me and get down to the
Weyr so you can see that goldrider that's gotten you so starry eyed
the past few sevendays," Galliet said.

"What... who are you talking about?" Tiernan was too tired to feign
innocence well, and Galliet merely raised an eyebrow in response.
"Alright, alright, you got me. I'll come and visit again soon."

"Tell her how you feel at some point, Tiernan," Galliet said. "Stop
fearing the worst and just see what happens."

"I'll see what I can do," Tiernan said, standing up to leave. Now he
just needed to find his way to Dolphin Cove, and hope that she'd want
to see him.

Last updated on the June 13th 2011

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The Captain's Trial (13-Fin)