Chapter 39: The Maw of the Serpent Part 4

"Good news and bad news." Cal tried to keep her voice as matter of fact as Henrichs. "The pressure relief valve took a hit and we've lost most of our pressure. We won't be able to replace it until the boiler's cool. I've shut down the fire. We should be able to work on it by tomorrow. Good news is we have plenty of parts, and so far there is no other damage we've detected. We won't know about the engine until we fire it up."
"You've ordered a shut down, and set repair in motion?" Captain Cully's voice sounded strange.
"Should I have checked with you first?" Cal's stomach twisted.
"No, you're the ranking engineer. Do what you need. I don't want to slow you down with asking permission for everything. Get it underway."
"We have no steerage." The Captain looked at Henrichs. "If we drift toward the weeds, I'll need volunteers to row to at least hold us steady."
"Yes, Sir."
"So all we need is a way to fix the rudder."
"I didn't see anything large enough in the parts room." Cal tried to envision how to steer the Peregrine with the materials on hand.
"No, we don't have a spare rudder on board." Captain Cully slumped in his chair. "Even when you get the engine running, there is no guarantee we can steer the ship."
"Permission to look in on Monky." Cal's face hurt suddenly.
"You aren't needed in the engine room?" Henrichs looked at her.
"The men know what they need to do."
"Go ahead, and get the Purser to look at your face while you're there."
Cal climbed up to the Infirmary.
"Monky?" Cal stepped in to see him lying on the bed. What she'd taken for a sheet over his face was a towel.
"Still here." Monky's words slurred. "Check the boiler."
"I'm on it, Sir."
"I'm no officer, I work for a living."
"I've never seen someone as tough as this old buzzard." The Purser came in and checked the towels on Monky's face. He changed them, and Cal bit her lip against gasping at the ruin of his face.
"Tell me what...?" Monky's breathing slowed and evened out.
"He's on about as much morphine as I dare give him." The Purser came over and frowned at her. "Something tells me you weren't exactly taking it easy." He pulled the bandage off her face. "Well you haven't pulled any stitches, but the cut is bleeding again. He coated her cheek with ointment and put a new bandage on. "Come up when you've finished in the engine room and I'll change the bandage. Don't want oil or grease in that cut."
Cal walked down to the door out to the deck and couldn't make her feet cross the threshold. She went to her berth. Screaming in frustration would only pull more on the stitches. She snatched up an empty sketchbook and started drawing her fears. Her left hand wasn't fast enough so she switched to her right and welcomed the ache. She made her nightmares real. The sea serpent snatching up Pentam, Thomas, Sam, Monky, her. In excruciating detail, she drew picture after picture. Her pencil broke and the pieces rolled across the floor.
She picked them up and put them in her satchel, then carried the sketchbook with her out onto the deck, up to the bow, where Pentam leaned against the rail. Cal slung the sketchbook as far as she could into the water.
"What are you doing?" Pentam put his arm around her.
"My nightmares came out of the ocean, I'm giving them back." She looked down. "I know it's ridiculous."
"No, it's brave."
Cal leaned her head against him and stared out over the mat. The dying sun backlit the derelict ships.
"Sailing ships have rudders, right?"
"I guess so, they have to steer too."
"I need to talk to the Captain." Cal kissed Pentam on the cheek and headed for the bridge after a detour through her equipment locker.
"Assistant Engineer Cal, reporting to the Captain," she said to the sailor who stood at the door.
"Go ahead." The sailor pushed the door open and Cal walked in. The Captain stood staring out the window with a glass in his hand.
"Hello, Cal." Captain Cully swirled his glass and took a swallow. "What can I do for you?"
"Sailing ships have rudders?"
"Yes, not as big as ours, a lot of them were wood."
Cal unrolled her panorama of the derelict ships. She put her finger on a ship with its bow sunk down almost to the water. From the stern hung a rudder.
"We fetch the rudder from this ship and use it to jury-rig the Peregrine. It isn't as big as the Peregrine's had to have been, but it will work."
"I suppose it's possible, if we can get there and back without the serpent attacking."
"I may have an idea about that too. The fish flapping on the surface is what attracted the serpent. They follow the birds and catch the ones which disturb the water too much."
"So it follows vibration, won't it attack the boat?" The Captain put his glass down.
"I don't think so. It didn't attack the boat before; it doesn't make the right kind of vibration."
"The work on the rudder could attract it. We're in bad enough shape without losing more men."
"I looked in the spare parts room. Pentam talked about coming back with a harpoon gun. I can build one." The parts and process were laid out in her mind like the schematic from the engine room.
"You're going to build one?" The Captain looked at the paper and ran his finger across the pencilled ship.
"Monky gave me the idea. He said if the boiler blew a valve, it would blow a hull right through the ship."
"Saw the results of a boiler explosion once. I can imagine it would generate that kind of force. Draw out your plan, and what you need. We'll look at it in the light of day." Captain Cully picked up his glass. "Do you like brandy, Cal?"
"I've had it once or twice."
Captain Cully poured brandy into a glass and handed it to her.
"Here's to a dead sea serpent." They clinked glasses and Cal sipped at her glass. The brandy burned down to her stomach and warmed her. When she'd finished, she put the glass down and left the bridge. The sailor at the door saluted her as she passed.