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A.B.s at table to make her feel at home. Indeed, the women spent much time fussing over her as they
might over a revered elder. Liasine Nimzhian seemed to fall into a trance even before the dinner began.
"So long..." she cooed as she sat at the head table in the mess. "This seems wonderfully _elegant_ to
me. It's been years since I ate human food ... Bread! And so much news! I do not believe all I have
missed."
"Your story must be extraordinary," the captain said.
She drew herself up proudly. "I have lived on our island for twelve years now. The first years were
good, but after my Yeshova died ... mostly work." She leaned toward the captain. "You're following in
the path of Baker and Shulago. You are going to circumnavigate."
"That we are," the captain said.
"That explains Ser Salap and his wonderful interest in Martha's Island. Who else would go this far
out of the way, to visit such a lonely place? Well, for you all, then, I have a story to tell. It is about
secrets, and the death of the only living thing I have come to know and to love, besides my husband.
"Tomorrow, I will show you where it all happened, and tonight and tomorrow, perhaps I can explain
why."
After the meal, we returned to the quarterdeck, to sit under the double oxbow and listen to Ser
Nimzhian's story.
"When I joined the Baker and Shulago expedition, I was an agro -- a farming specialist. I had
learned how to care for terrestrial crops, without disturbing the ecos and bringing on a defensive
response ... Something rarely seen now, I suspect, but common enough then. My sponsor was Yeshova,
the man who would become my husband. Yeshova." She lingered on the name in silence for a moment,
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smiling softly. "He thought I could teach Baker and Shulago a thing or two about specialization in ecos
populations.
"We put to sea with two ships, the _Hanno_ and the _Himilco._ They were smaller than this one,
and less well prepared. Baker and Shulago may be heroes and martyrs to many now. I've only just
learned they never returned ... That only Chuki made it back in the smaller ship." She paused and drew
several deep breaths, as if to calm herself. With one hand to her neck, absently stroking the brown and
wrinkled skin there, she gathered her thoughts. "Not so long ago, it seems. My life has taken on a certain
sameness the past few years.
"You know of our journey from Athenai to the northern continent, where no ecos grows, and from
there to Hsia. We sailed along the western coast of Hsia, then south to the Cook Straits, and found a
passage ... discovering six more zones on the Cook Islands, small, simple ecoi really, compared to
Elizabeth's Land and Hsia.
"We captured specimens, dissected them, and wherever we went, the ecoi were curious. I was
personally sampled thirty-three times." She lifted her arms to show us tiny pockmarks, some as large as
thumbprints. She also pointed out pocks on her neck and lifted her robe to show several on her ankles
and legs. "We followed the eastern coast of Efhraia's land to the southernmost point, which we named
Cape Manu, after our navigator. We rounded Cape Manu and returned to the Darwin Sea, rather than
face icebound winter seas to the east."
She looked up at her audience, face drawn with memories. "It was a difficult journey. We lost seven
to accidents ... My brother among them. We could not fight the Westers south of the Shaft Island group.
We could not cross in that direction ... We were running out of food. We put into the Shaft Islands.
Shulago did not want to return to Jakarta, though it was only six hundred miles away at the time ... There
were small farm towns in the Shaft Islands. We visited them. We were lucky to get enough supplies to go
on."
"All the islanders died during the famine of 26," Salap said.
Nimzhian looked vague, as if this bit of history did not have any real meaning for her. Then she
mustered what she thought would be a polite response. "I'm sorry. They were nice people, very eager to
hear our stories. They thought Baker and Shulago were heroes. They thought we were _all_ heroes. But
we were just tired and hungry."
Nimzhian seemed reluctant to continue.
"You sailed north ... so Chuki's journals say," the captain prodded.
Nimzhian rubbed her hands together as if to warm them. "Baker and Shulago had an argument," she
said. "They always seemed like angry monkeys in too small a cage. Yet they always insisted on living
aboard the same boat. They wanted to keep watch on each other.
"Baker wanted to head west, around Cape Magellan, but Shulago insisted it was the wrong season,
that the westerlies would kill us. He may have been right. Eventually, we sailed north, to make the
passage west between Tasman and Elizabeth's Land. My husband was arguing with Baker continuously
by then. We found Martha's Island by accident ... Yeshova thought we could profitably spend years
studying there. Well, we got our wish."
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