The morning saw Rhys cooking himself a fresh breakfast in the galley. He’d bought a few fresh ingredients from a market next to the docks on the way back yesterday. Ten bits for bacon and eggs that would last a few days seemed reasonable against his bulk purchase of crystal.

He was just finishing up when Zaxx told him that someone was approaching the ship’s boarding hatch. Thanking the voice in his head, Rhys rose to go and meet their first visitor.

Once he was a few steps away, he glanced back to see the plate and cutlery he’d used sink into the table and disappear. They would no doubt be reemerging in the correct spot in the cupboard, clean and ready to be used once more.

Having the eldritch entity possessing his ship do the dishes was something Rhys would never have considered. Zaxx had simply started doing it on the way here. The first time that Rhys had walked away for a moment and returned to an empty table had been confusing and more than a little concerning.

Interestingly, there seemed to be an area around Rhys that Zaxx couldn’t influence, which was why he waited for the artificer turned captain to leave before cleaning up.

Putting his musing to one side, Rhys carried on to the intersection and turned to the hatch, hearing a distant knocking sound as he approached. Rhys waited a few moments, so he didn’t arrive too soon before opening the outer hatch and greeting the man waiting for him.

Short and rotund, the man had a flush to his cheeks despite the clement weather, his groomed moustache quivering as he looked up at Rhys’s arrival.

‘Good morning, Captain Hunt?’ The man made the title into a question, so Rhys nodded and pulled his shirt to one side to reveal the captain’s medallion he wore.

‘Excellent, my name is Byron. I’m here to arrange for the pickup and delivery of a small number of things. There are supplies to be collected and food and crystals to be delivered, is that correct?’

‘Yes, that’s correct,’ Rhys confirmed.

‘Good, good, if you could please confirm the quantities as well, I will then signal for the delivery and collection to commence.’ Byron had a piece of paper mounted onto a small strip of ironwood that he passed over to Rhys.

Rhys looked over the manifest for the delivery and collection, everything seemed to be in order, but he’d still check the deliveries as they came in. He doubted a respectable place like this would try to cheat him, but mistakes happened, and it was a good habit to get into.

Rhys had spent quite a bit of time reading up on what to do as a cloudship captain before getting the Endeavour. It was still a thrill to put that academic knowledge to use. On Arn Gol, he’d been far too excited to appreciate what was happening.

Now, it was hitting him that he was taking deliveries of cargo for delivery. This was really happening.

‘Yes, this is all correct. However, I’ll wait until it is loaded to sign my part if that’s okay?’ Rhys said, trying to treat this like it was one of his customers at the artificer shop.

‘Of course, Captain. Whatever you wish,’ Byron said, giving him a nod as he took back the manifest. ‘I believe the crystals need to be paid for. Would you like to do so now, or afterwards?’

‘Now is fine. Here is the agreed-upon cost,’ Rhys said, pulling out the coins needed and passing them to Byron, who scribbled a quick receipt out and passed it to Rhys in exchange for the coins.

With the verbal confirmation for the manifest, Byron headed back to gather the workers he’d brought. Sealing the hatch, Rhys headed to the cargo bay and opened the door at the base of the ship.

The cradle he’d landed in had a slip that came up to the hatch but also had a second platform underneath the cradle for exactly this situation.

Getting the winch ready, Rhys spotted some dockworkers dragging several rune marked carts down towards the Endeavour. Sights like this were what had first inspired him to become an artificer. There was something inherently magical about watching a person be able to drag a cart loaded with several hundred kilos with only a little effort.

Winding down the winch, Rhys waited for the first pallet to be hooked up and started to crank it up. Sadly, he was not the most athletic of people, so the crank was both hard work and slow.

‘Would you like me to operate the crank for you?’ Zaxx whispered into Rhys’s mind, making the artificer jump a little.

He started to say no but instead considered the burn in his shoulders and arm. Last time, the workers had come inside and operated the machinery for him. He was definitely missing that now.

He was torn between expediency and safety, but in the end, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to manage all this on his own.

‘Fine, but keep it subtle. We can’t afford to make people suspicious,’ Rhys said in a little more than a breathy whisper, trusting that Zaxx could hear and understand his panted words.

‘Of course. They will have no chance of observing my efforts directly with their organic senses.’ Zaxx sounded a little insulted, but Rhys had a feeling that Zaxx had misunderstood what he was trying to tell him.

However, Rhys had no opportunity to elaborate as the crank for the winch started turning smoothly, bringing the pallet the rest of the way with ease.

‘If you could send down one of the supplies pallets from Arn Gol, we’ll load it straight on,’ one of the workers called up to him, gesturing at the empty cart.

‘Sure, one moment,’ Rhys said, giving them a thumbs-up as he swung the pallet that was already loaded over to the left side of the bay.

He hadn’t considered this part at all. He’d assumed that the workers would be coming in to do the moving and loading. The six pallets of supplies were still along the left wall where he’d left them.

Thankfully, the winch was on the ceiling and was designed to be moved around the cargo bay to pick up and deposit the heavy loads. Unfortunately, only three of the six pallets would be reachable by the winch. The whole mechanism moved on a set of cloud quartz rails that were built into the ceiling using ironwood brackets and sap.

Before Rhys could worry further, the three pallets out of the range of the winch started to sink into the ship’s floor. Despite knowing it was Zaxx in action, Rhys still broke out in a nervous sweat.

To make matters worse, Zaxx moved the winch along the rails to the first pallet, so all Rhys needed to do was lower it and attach it. Intellectually, Rhys knew that none of the workers below them could see a thing, but it still scared him to see Zaxx acting so openly.

Pushing his concern down as much as he could, Rhys lowered the winch and headed over to attach it to the pallet. Hooking it on, he wiped the sweat from his brow and jogged back to the winch, cranking the pallet up and off the deck.

Once the pallet was picked up, the winch moved by itself to the open hatch. With it in position, Rhys lowered the pallet down to the waiting workers. Once it was in place, they unhooked the pallet and swapped over the carts.

They repeated the process several times, Rhys getting quicker with the whole thing as he practised operating the winch. Part of him wondered if that was due to him or if Zaxx was slowly picking up speed to simulate it.

Pushing such thoughts aside, Rhys focused on the task at hand. He could consider things like that when he wasn’t busy pretending that he could do all of this on his own.

‘Thank you for your help, Captain. I’ll meet you at the boarding slip to sign the manifest if that suits?’ Byron said, pitching his voice loud enough to reach Rhys up in the cargo hold.

Nodding and waving to acknowledge him, Rhys closed up the cargo hatch and got everything back into its proper place. Once he was satisfied, he made his way back up to the hatch, where Byron was waiting.

‘Here we go, Captain,’ Byron said, passing him the manifest once more. The official help out a serviceable silverpoint pen a moment later, which Rhys used to sign his name on the document. ‘Excellent, thank you for your cooperation.’

‘Not at all, thank you for the timely delivery,’ Rhys said, giving Byron a wide smile. It mainly was relief at this part being over, but the other man didn’t know that.

‘Fair winds, Captain,’ Byron said, bidding him farewell as he left to rejoin the workers and the cargo they’d offloaded.

‘I look forward to using this crystal you’ve bought. Did you have a specific upgrade in mind?’ Zaxx said as Rhys shut the hatch and sealed it up. Rhys had mentioned that he wanted to get one of the upgrades that Zaxx had offered, and it seemed that the eldritch entity was equally eager to put one in place.

‘I was thinking of the engines first of all. I need to see what is there again to make a full decision. Am I right in saying that we need privacy to do the upgrade?’ Rhys said, talking out loud as he made his way up to the deck of the Endeavour.

‘A safe assumption to make. Shall I show you the options?’

‘We’ll stop halfway and upgrade then, assuming it won’t take too long?’ Rhys asked, looking up at the ceiling as he waited for an answer.

‘No, a matter of moments is all. It will be quite visible, so seclusion is likely a good choice. Future upgrades will take longer, but the current options are minor in comparison.’

‘Right. It should be interesting,’ Rhys said, looking forward to seeing Zaxx in action again. Part of him dislike the thought of getting Zaxx to alter the ship, but the artificer in him couldn’t help but do it. He felt akin to a child, poking at something he didn’t understand because of the pretty lights and a reward.

Sighing, Rhys made his way to the helm and started everything up. It was time to head back to Arn Gol.