The Logs of the TDFS Tindome

Chapter 20: The Hand of Bavör

Our captain decides to come, with his bow and arrows. In black. Sam points out that her (formerly) white blouse is not suitable. Finwë loans her a black shirt.

The time has come. We slip into our boat and start to pull away. There's a faint thump, thump, thump, and the squirrel leaps into the boat, and onto the prow. It's an interesting figurehead. We row silently towards the Hellgrammite.

On the deck of the Hellgrammite, we can see a pirate walking the deck, perhaps on patrol. Eïr whispers to the captain, "You can speak to people without using words, can't you?"

"Oh, yes. Oh. That would be useful." Finwë starts contacting each member of the crew, surprising and disconcerting them one at a time. He does not connect with Teller, but the Marginalis has Mind-Speak, so he can still communicate with the captain. Mandorak floats his viewpoint over to the pirate ship, and up to deck level. He can see two pirates patrolling the deck, and one at the wheel, aft. He informs Finwë through their mental link, and the rest of us learn about the setup through the captain.

We slip closer to the prow. A voice from above asks, "Oy! Who goes there?" We have been spotted. Eïr says something unintelligible up to him. He leans over and asks "Hey—" By then, Bavör has floated the papermancied sleep spell up the side of the ship, and onto the pirate's feet. He loses consciousness, and falls overboard. The other pirate stops, and looks in the direction of his now-missing companion, slack-jawed. We start to row aft.

The other pirate finally says "Naw," and heads towards the prow. We continue to row, and reach our preferred line of entry as he says, "'Orse?" He leans over, and shouts, "'Orse overboard?" The second slip of sleep finds him just as he says, "Man—" He slumps over the railing. The pilot calls out from the wheelhouse, "Jack? What's that? Jack?" He cannot imagine the meaning of "Horse overboard" since there are no horses on board.

Bavör turns away from shoving the paper around, and TKs a rope up, around an upright, and back down again. Immediately, the squirrel races up the line, and we hear a small, high-pitched voice cry, "Follow me!" Did we hear that with our ears? Eïr whispers to Bay, "Watch me. I don't climb very well. Catch me if I fall." She starts to climb, but, since she is preoccupied by running a distraction, she starts to fall. The Brisingalf TKs her up onto the deck perfectly, as if she was lifted in the palm of a giant hand — The Hand of Bavör. Teller follows quietly.

The pilot keeps calling for Jack. He asks the lookout in the crow's nest if he can see Jack. The latter responds that he can't see him. The pilot repots that he was near Horse's position. The penny drops: "'Orse" is Horse, formerly "Horace". They continue to discuss the situation loudly, since neither is allowed to leave his post.

Eïr follows the squirrel belowdecks.

The pilot looks right at Teller and asks, "Horace?" Teller brightly replies, "Aye?"

"Who goes there?"

"I just told you: It's Horse."

"Can you go take care of Jack?"

"Aye." Teller walks firmly to the prow, and pushes "Jack" over the railing. "Splash."

The pilot looks around. "Horse! What'd you just do? Where's Jack?"

"Down below."

"Why'd he do that? How'd he do that? From up there?"

Teller ignores the awkward questions. "He warn't feeling well."

Sam starts up the rope, while Teller heads aft, to sleep the pilot. As Sam struggles, Bay exerts his TK to lift her gently up onto the deck, in The Hand of Bavör, and then levitates himself up the side of the ship, and pauses at the edge of the deck, gripping the rope firmly. He then floats his last sleep-inducing paper up to the crow's nest. He can't see the person up there, so he waves the paper back and forth across the opening.

Belowdecks, the squirrel is clutching at the louvers in a door. It is followed by Eïr, who hesitates, and considers the possibilities for danger. They are all around, but nothing is actual. Mandorak swoops his viewpoint down belowdecks as well. The viewpoint watches through the louvers on the door, and Mandorak can see an armed guy, sitting on a keg, and showing every sign of being on the verge of sleep. Suddenly, he sees ooky stuff, then fur, then blackness, and then he is watching the pirate guard again. Someone must have opened the door.

Above decks, the pilot suddenly sees legs and then a body appear next to him. The figure spins around. As this is happening, he asks, "Who the 'ell are y—"

"Blam!" Sam kicks him in the face. He goes down. Teller, who had waited to see what Sam would do, now sleeps him to keep him down. Sam stands there and shakes.

The fellow in the crow's nest spots the paper floating around, and bats at it. "Oh…" He falls out of the crow's nest, and accelerates toward a hard, loud landing on the deck. Naturally, he is stopped by The Hand of Bavör… Bay reaches out with his TK, breaks his fall silently, and drops him in the water.