Rover of the Sands
Rules are rules and you are an officer on a ship, the First Officer in fact. Whether you like it or not, you’ve got to go see McCann.
Back outside, the wind has reached a punishing pitch and you resent having to make your way almost to the prow, where Captain McCann’s above-decks quarters are located. Your feet know the way even as you are blinded by the storm. You reach the thick oak door with its three iron hinges, the only metal to be found anywhere onboard. The hinges are easily avoided, because as always, they are glowing red hot. You bang loudly three times and the door opens quickly.
“Dammit, Hogan, the storm is outside, not in my room. No need to wake the dead.”
“I apologize, Captain. I won’t take much of your time. It’s just that there’s been an Apparition. Well, two really, if Slugger really saw something too.”
“What then?” Crisp and to the point, like always. McCann’s slate-blue eyes look right at you.
“Slugger told me in the cantina that he had, as he put it, ‘seen something’. He was very adamant, yet at the same time he would barely discuss it. I went into the commissary thinking maybe it was rats or something. But then I saw it too. Or at least, I think I did.”
“What? What did you see?”
“A hag. Like in an old myth. A monster to be sure, but the whole thing was over in an instant.”
“A hag, you say? Did you notice her hair?”
“Yes, I seem to remember that very clearly actually. It was long and snarled and gray. Or maybe even green. Probably pretty standard fare as Apparitions go. I bet Slugger saw a giant floating keg or maybe a…”
“Hogan.”
“Yes, Sir?”
“You will not tell anyone about this vision. Not Slugger O’Toole, not Viola, not anyone. Don’t even let the wind hear you speak of it. Don’t ever mention it in my presence again.”
“Sir?”
“Thank you Hogan. That will be all. Go home to your wife.”
“Gladly Sir. Good night, Sir.”
Back outside, the wind has reached a punishing pitch and you resent having to make your way almost to the prow, where Captain McCann’s above-decks quarters are located. Your feet know the way even as you are blinded by the storm. You reach the thick oak door with its three iron hinges, the only metal to be found anywhere onboard. The hinges are easily avoided, because as always, they are glowing red hot. You bang loudly three times and the door opens quickly.
“Dammit, Hogan, the storm is outside, not in my room. No need to wake the dead.”
“I apologize, Captain. I won’t take much of your time. It’s just that there’s been an Apparition. Well, two really, if Slugger really saw something too.”
“What then?” Crisp and to the point, like always. McCann’s slate-blue eyes look right at you.
“Slugger told me in the cantina that he had, as he put it, ‘seen something’. He was very adamant, yet at the same time he would barely discuss it. I went into the commissary thinking maybe it was rats or something. But then I saw it too. Or at least, I think I did.”
“What? What did you see?”
“A hag. Like in an old myth. A monster to be sure, but the whole thing was over in an instant.”
“A hag, you say? Did you notice her hair?”
“Yes, I seem to remember that very clearly actually. It was long and snarled and gray. Or maybe even green. Probably pretty standard fare as Apparitions go. I bet Slugger saw a giant floating keg or maybe a…”
“Hogan.”
“Yes, Sir?”
“You will not tell anyone about this vision. Not Slugger O’Toole, not Viola, not anyone. Don’t even let the wind hear you speak of it. Don’t ever mention it in my presence again.”
“Sir?”
“Thank you Hogan. That will be all. Go home to your wife.”
“Gladly Sir. Good night, Sir.”