Free The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock by Timothy L. Cerepaka

because they still were the main
providers of food and he wasn't stupid enough to risk one of his
fishermen until they had a more stable food supply.
    The speculations went on for the rest of the day.
Kinker did not partake in them much, mostly because they seemed
pointless to him. He had no control over Malock's choices and he
didn't see how speculating about who would be part of the first
expedition would help anything. He just listened to the fishing
crew as they worked and to the rest of the sailors at mealtimes
endlessly speculate over who would and who wouldn't be picked.
    The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Kinker was
surprised to see so many sailors already up and about. Usually only
the fishing crew was up this early, but as he and the other
fishermen emerged from the hatch, the reason became obvious: There
was a piece of paper nailed to the mainmast at eye height, which
was undoubtedly the list of Malock's picks for the first
expedition. That explained why some sailors were walking away with
their heads down while others were high-fiving their friends as
they returned to work.
    “Want to see who's on the list, Kinks?” said
Jenur.
    “I suppose it wouldn't hurt,” said Kinker with a
shrug.
    The entire fishing crew came along with them, even
though they were supposed to be hauling in the trawl at this time.
They quickly reached the mainmast, but due to the large amount of
sailors still standing around it, it was impossible for them all to
get close enough to read the list.
    So Jenur slipped through the crowd and returned a
few seconds later. “None of us are on the list.”
    “What?” said Gino. “You must be mistaken. Surely
there's at least one of us on the list?”
    “None,” said Jenur. “Not you, not me, not Kinks, not
any of us. Guess I was right when I said that Malock wasn't dumb
enough to risk one of us. We're just too special.”
    “Besides, Gino, the Captain did say that everyone
would get a chance to go onto the island eventually,” Deddio said,
slapping the aquarian on the back in his usual upbeat manner. “So
maybe you won't get to go there on the first expedition, but
perhaps on the next ones you will.”
    Gino didn't look at all happy about it, but he
nodded and said, “Eh, well, maybe you're right, Ded. Still, that
means another couple of days, at the most, on this god-forsaken
wreck of a ship. I'm gonna go crazy if I have to stay on here any
longer than that.”
    Kinker shrugged. “Perhaps we should get back to
work, now that we know who isn't going to be on the expedition. The
trawl isn't going to pull itself out of the water, after all.”
    So the rest of the day went by as normal, although
the sailors who were part of the expedition seemed to take great
pride in being chosen. In particular, a woman named Kocas Iknor
bragged about how she had obviously been chosen for her great
skills as a hunter, skills that she had developed back on her home
island in the Friana Archipelago. She seemed to think this endeared
the others to her, but whenever she wasn't around, the other
sailors cracked a lot of inappropriate jokes about her. Kinker
should know because he cracked a few himself.
    As the Iron Wind continued to sail south,
Ikadori Island gradually came into view until eventually everyone
could see it. By the time they could, however, it was early evening
and getting colder, forcing Kinker to pull his pea coat more
tightly around his body. He didn't actually get to see the island,
not even when they anchored, because by the time they reached it,
the sun had set and night came on like a thief (or so it seemed to
him). He wondered if the God of the Sun had decided to end the day
early for some reason.
    It was only in the morning that Kinker saw Ikadori
Island for the first time. After breakfast, he and Jenur joined
another group of sailors to the port, which was the side facing the
island. Jenur leaned against, almost over, the bulwarks, while
Kinker stood by her, trying not to get in