“Can we carry weight over and above us?” Herzer interjected. “We can have some of the salt beef and pork cooked before we leave. Load it in bags and we can carry our own food. It won’t be enough for more than getting there, but it will tide them over. Surely we can find something when we get there.”
“What about water?” Jerry temporized.
“There’s a spring marked on the main island that’s by where we’re going,” Edmund replied.
“These islands are nearly deserted,” Jerry said. “When it comes to wyverns getting fed, you don’t want to go with if.”
“Get Joanna up here,” Talbot said. “I want her input.”
The dragon, when the problem was presented to her, was unsure and unhappy.
“I’m not sure we can catch enough fish to matter,” she admitted. “You’re talking about a lot of fish.” She looked over the side and then turned to the rail. Tapping it open she slid over into the water.
“All sails aback,” the skipper yelled. “Bring her into the wind.”
Herzer ran to the ladder to pri-fly and when that wasn’t high enough scrambled up the shrouds to the crow’s nest on the mainmast. He could see the dragon’s form in the clear water. She had submerged and was coursing along the reefs that were visible deep below the ship. Suddenly she lunged to the side and snapped at something, swimming rapidly with her sinuous, snakelike sculling. She appeared to catch whatever she was hunting and moved on. He realized that she was holding her breath for a long time and wondered if that was a normal function of dragons. Finally, she surfaced and sculled over to the side of the ship.
“If these Ber Islands are anything like here, no problem,” she said happily, working her tongue at a morsel stuck in her teeth. “With your permission, Skipper, I’m going to do a bit more foraging. Sushi’s not so bad with enough salt water and salt beef as an alternative.”
Talbot looked at the sky and nodded. “Jerry, get the wyverns up. See if they can do the same. If they can find enough food here for their midmorning snack, we’ll load as heavily as we can with rations, a few of the nets and other things we brought and then head over to the Ber Islands.”
“Will do, sir,” the warrant said. “I’m not sure about getting them in the water, though.”
In the event it turned out to be not too hard. Once the riders dove over the side, fighting the strong current, the dragons followed. They also quickly learned the technique of fishing from watching Joanna and before long they were darting throughout the reefs, picking off the large fish that dotted it.
“We’re in the islanders’ fishing area,” Herzer pointed out, looking over the side longingly at the water. “I’m not sure they’ll appreciate us eating out all the big fish.”
“They’ll eat better with the nets,” Talbot said with a shrug. “I’m sure they won’t begrudge us a few grouper.”
“Is that what they are?”
“Probably, from what I can see. Grouper and big hogfish. Hogfish is good eating; I wish we could get them to bring a few back alive.”
“Permission to go over the side, sir?” Herzer asked. “I’m sorry, but the water looks awfully inviting.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
After jockeying his ship back and forth the skipper had dropped the anchor and the Richard now floated in the current. Most of the riders were back on board. The few who were not were holding onto a rope let out over the stern.
“Come below,” Talbot said after a moment’s thought. “Do you think you can hold onto one of the dragons in the water?”
“I’m not sure,” Herzer admitted. “And I know I can’t hold my breath for as long as they do.”
“Well, I’ll show you something for that.”
Talbot led him to his cabin and opened the box from Sheida. He took from it a rolled up plastic bag and shook it out.
“This is a swimming mask,” he said, putting it over his face. The plastic immediately shrunk so that he should have been strangling, but he continued to talk and breathe, albeit with a muffled tone. “It brings oxygen from the water to you, filters out carbon dioxide and exits it when you breathe. When you’re underwater it converts your words to mer code speech and will translate it for you as well as the delphino language. The important thing to know is don’t hold your breath,” he continued, stripping the bag off.
“When you’re coming up your lungs will expand from the pressure drop and if you hold your breath you’ll blow out your lungs. Just breathe naturally.”
Herzer took the bag somewhat reluctantly and slipped it over his head. It was an unnatural feeling as it smoothed down but he noticed right away that he could breathe normally.
“How long will it last?” he asked, pulling it back off.
“It’s charged for sixteen hours,” Edmund replied, pointing at an almost unnoticeable dot of dark plastic on the edge. “But it can recharge from the Net, slowly. And if you’re underwater when it runs out of charge it has a high priority for power. You won’t run out. And if you do, you just swim up to the surface and head for land; the mer tend to spend their time near the shore. The other reason that’s important is that what you’re breathing is nearly pure oxygen. If you go too deep, oxygen becomes toxic. Don’t go extremely deep.”
“Okay,” Herzer said. “Let’s try it.”
“One last thing,” Edmund added, pulling a small block of plastic from the bottom of the box. He thumbed it and it sprang into the shape of a pair of fins. “Some purists still used these before the Fall; they’re swimming fins. Kick your legs in a scissor motion. They’ll help with the current.”
Herzer went to his cabin and changed, aware that he’d hardly seen Rachel over the last few days, then headed up to the deck, holding the mask and fins. He put both on and dove over the side.
As advertised he had no more trouble breathing in the surprisingly warm water than in the air. He took some rapid breaths and found that the mask hardly interfered at all. Given that oxygen in the water was far too disperse for him simply to be sucking it in, he wasn’t sure what the mask was doing, but it worked. He had drifted backwards in the current and he quickly kicked his way over to the rope. He could see the dragons hunting below him quite clearly and picked out the shape of Chauncey.
He surfaced and grinned at Vickie who was eyeing him askance.
“Blood Lords are always prepared,” he said.
“Yeah, I can see that,” she grumbled.
“I’m going to down and try to catch Chauncey, any suggestions?”
“Yeah, don’t try to ride a dragon bareback,” Koo replied. “But if you do, you can probably hang on to his neck. It’s the best bet.”
Herzer looked down again and watched the dragons for a moment before heading out. The wyverns had their wings half folded into a v and they were moving quite fast through the water with short, powerful strokes. They were fast enough that it was clear the reef fish stood little chance unless they made it into shelter. The dragons would hunt for a couple of minutes then ascend to the surface, blowing hard.
He waited until Chauncey surfaced to the rear of the ship and kicked towards him rapidly.
“Ho, Chaunce,” he said as he approached the floating dragon. He wanted the wyvern well aware that it was a rider approaching and not lunch. They both were being carried in the current and it was relatively easy to approach from the front. He grabbed at the wing-root so he wouldn’t be carried past, then slithered onto the back of the beast.
Chauncey didn’t seem to mind but Herzer quickly found that dragon skin was slippery when wet. He had just managed to get his arms around the wyvern’s massive neck when it submerged.