Chapter 15

The next three days were uneventful as we made our way towards the Hercules’ last known location. Taking a cue from their captain, the crew gave us a wide berth. When we did interact, I made a point of referring to Zack as Zakarariah or Leftenan so he didn’t take any flak. Zack was officially our translator, but I had found that most of the sailors could speak at least some English or Japanese. They just didn’t care to speak it to me.

“They don’t mean to be rude, exactly,” said Zack.

“The heck they don’t,” I grumbled. “I bet they’re just like Zhang!”

“You don’t want them to overhear you,” said Zack, reproachfully. “Whatever O’Connor said, there’s no reason to dig a deeper hole.”

“There’s nobody around, why shouldn’t I say the truth?” There wasn’t much privacy to be had on a ship of this size, but we had managed to carve out a section of deck towards the rear. The recovery equipment didn’t need much tending while it was safely stowed away, and finding out we were doing magic practice made them happy to give us room. More of the superstitions, I supposed. It had taken me half a day to get my sea legs, but by then I was able to tough it out with Zack and O’Connor.

“You can’t avoid it, so get used to it,” declared O’Connor, relaxing in a deck chair he’d scared up somewhere, plugging away on his laptop. He wore a loud Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts, making him look far less imposing. “I doubt they’re even worried about bad luck like Zhang. The whole dang world’s just grade school with adults, and for some people, Wizards have cooties.”

It was nice that he could relax, at least. No, stop it, O’Connor doesn’t deserve it. He’s doing his job, just like you’re doing yours. You’re just grumpy.

“There has to be more to it than that,” I said.

“Nope, don’t read too much into it,” he replied. “It’s cooties, mixed with us being military. Honestly, it’s smart of them; ships pressed into service tend to get the raw deal. It’s why I was fine letting them dislike us; they were never going to be friendly. Then again, that means we need to mind our P’s and Q’s going forward. There’s a lot of ‘accidents’ that can happen when you’re hundreds of miles from civilization.”

Zack’s eyes flew open. “You really think they’d…”

O’Connor shrugged. “Captain Zhang’s been pressed into service by the Malaysian government by a request from the Anti-Demonic League on behalf of the Wizard Corps, and not by his own choosing. Push comes to shove, he’s going to choose his men and ship over us. It’s why you shouldn’t trust anybody in a different command.”

“Aren’t you and Zakariah in different commands?” I pointed out.

He lowered his sunglasses, boring into me with his steely eyes. “Did I ever say he should trust me? I’m always consistent.”

Zack threw his head back, sighing with frustration. “You have a really dim view of people.”

He flashed me a cocksure grin. “Sure do, but it’s kept me in one piece. Human nature doesn’t change. Now, let’s focus on something we can do something about, like the weather.” O’Connor lurched out of his chair, walking over to where Zack and I stood near the railing. He peered through a set of binoculars, which had become a familiar sight during the voyage. He was searching the sky for another cloud for me to affect. He didn’t have much luck; it was a gorgeous day.

“Alright, that one over there,” he said, pointing to a wispy little thing near the horizon. “I want some shade. Bring it on over.”

“I could just make a fresh cloud myself,” I said, wiping the sweat from my brow. I had flouted the uniform requirements with some shorts and a tank top, but the breeze was all that kept things reasonable. “Lord knows there’s plenty of moisture for me to play with.”

“Yes, but I want that one,” he said. “Zakariah, how fast would you say we’re going now?”

Zack popped his finger in his mouth and felt the breeze. He furrowed his brow in concentration, making a cute face. At least, I thought it was. “About ten knots.”

“Then you’d better hurry up, Cadet. That’s just about out of range for you.”

I nodded. At least O’Connor thought highly of me. That had been clear from the start, and I couldn’t bring myself to believe it was a game the spook was playing with me. He wouldn’t have given me this job, or come out by himself, if it was a lie. I wasn’t about to let him down.

The atmosphere ‘listened’ to me, for lack of a better word. When I really focused on Stormbringer, it was almost like the weather whispered back. I’d spoken with a few wizards who felt like their magic spoke to them; heck, I knew a boy at school whose magic had turned itself into a disobedient shadow. They were usually… special, somehow, though. Probably best I don’t really mention it; I’d sound like a nutter.

Still, I was always at least a little aware of what was going on around me, even indoors. It felt like the weather patterns around me are like an overly attentive servant, ready to obey my every whim, even when that whim was just to share in my feelings. Depleting my energy made my orders less forceful, so they didn’t travel as far, or at all. Big effects were easy; I could make them happen by mistake.

O’Connor had intuited that during my first day of training with him (or Mr. Maki had given him good advice), so he had never asked for big displays of power up close. No, he wanted to see how far away I could shout and be ‘heard’ by the weather, and he kept giving me oddly specific tasks to do.

The cloud almost seemed to push back as I beckoned it close. No, there’s nothing to bring over, stop it. I’ll fall apart.

I figured that O’Connor wouldn’t mind having more shade, so I pulled in more moisture to it, plumping it up. Once it had some ‘body,’ I adjusted the atmospheric pressure around it, giving it a path of low-pressure zones that it flowed into as the path of least resistance.

I was even slicker with sweat by the time I’d brought the cloud over.

“Well done,” O’Connor said, settling back into his seat. “Now keep it there for fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen—” I sputtered. “What if a real storm shows up and I’m too tired to stop it?”

“I’m not worried about that, Cadet,” he said, closing his eyes. “You’ll figure it out.”

“I can’t tell if he’s a good teacher or an awful one,” whispered Zack. Well, whispered was relative; he wouldn’t be audible to the catnapping wizard over the roar of the engine or the wind.

“He definitely keeps me on my toes,” I whispered back.

“Well, the lessons should be over soon,” he replied at a regular volume. “Captain Zhang said we’d arrive today.”

“Oh? Nice of him to tell me,” I mumbled, before I closed my eyes to focus on my task. It was almost relaxing, like there was nothing but me, the sky, and the sea. Very Zen.

I was bored to tears inside of a minute. “Hey Zack, have you heard any good stories lately?”

He started; he’d been leaning on the guard railing, looking off into the distance. “Good stories?”

“You know, about your family, or your friends. You can’t play the guy card again, you must keep up with your mum, at least.”

“You love gossiping, don’t you?” he asked.

“I’m not a gossip,” I said, feeling defensive. “I just like knowing what’s going on with everyone.”

He smirked at me. “I don’t have a dictionary handy, but I’m pretty sure that’s in the definition.”

“Okay, then if I am a gossip, do you have any to share? I think you’re caught up on the Coopers now.” It had only taken me three days.

“I told Mum I was going out to sea again,” he replied. “I fibbed a bit about where I was going, yeah? She’s still sure I’m going to wash overboard if I set foot on a boat. She always worries, but that’s mothers for you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tell me about it.”

“That isn’t the story,” he said. “She was watching the news, and another small plane crashed in a sudden storm near the Spratlys.”

“What was it doing out there?”

“Some pilot coming out of Taiwan didn’t get the memo that it wasn’t worth shaving some time off his flight,” he said. “There’s something going on out here. I just hope we’re in and out before it comes knocking.”

“Not the gossip I was hoping for,” I said. “I was more thinking stories about your sister, or something like that to take my mind off things.”

He shrugged. “Sorry, all out of those. It’s a—”

“Don’t say it,” I warned.

“Guy thing,” he finished, looking proud of himself.

Maybe I shouldn’t have made a little raincloud right over his head, but I just called it more training.