Empires of Faith

Chapter 32: Ardono Bay

7 Ramadan, 1663

The spacious brown ship drifted along the sea like the large white clouds floating in the sky above. It was high noon and the sun was as radiant as ever, shining bright like a lamp. It was a lazy day for Ali and the crew; as if there had ever been much for them to do anyhow. They'd lost their original ship in a second storm and had only retained the second ship which they'd taken from the bandits. Adam had just completed a daily supply check and was reporting the stock to Ali. Meanwhile, Rayhaan was out in the port, managing the controls.

"We have enough food to last us just about another three days," Adam informed Ali. "Assuming nothing gets moldy or spoils."

"Hm," Ali pondered aloud as he rubbed his chin. "How far are we from our destination?"

"Let me check." Adam turned to the large map that was hanging in the captain's quarters. He unpinned it and placed it flat on the table, his eyes scanning it carefully. When he found their previously marked location, he estimated the distance they'd travelled since then, and calculated their new location. From that, he was able to estimate the time and distance it would take to reach their destination. 'We've several weeks to go still."

"Are there any landmarks and inhabited locations we can detour to and restock?"

"I'll check what the map says." He eyed the old paper scrutinizingly. The land areas were all key coded with colors. Red signified lands under Kwaadi control; Green was for the Muslims; Yellow meant Christian lands; White was neutral; Black meant uninhabited and/or dangerous by way of nature; and gray meant unknown or unspecified. There didn't seem to be any large land locations nearby but there were a few islands.

"Do you see any Muslim locations to dock at and restock on supplies possibly?"

"The nearest Muslim lands are approximately six weeks north of here."

"That's nearly the length of our journey home; skip it. Are there are perhaps any white locations?"

"No. We've already passed any such regions as those."

"Hmm. Are there any yellow lands?"

"Christians? There's one about ten days from here."

"Hm. What's it look like?"

"Well they're actually a small chain of islands. Deep yellow though."

"No, we mustn't go there then. Deep yellow means they are certain to be hostile enemies."

"Oh wait, how could I have not noticed this? There is a gray, mountainous island about five days from here."

"Five days? Hm. We can survive that; we'll ration our food supplies a little more carefully to be safe. In Shaa Allah we'll find food and rest in these lands. Take and show this to Rayhaan, have him set course for these lands at once."

"Right." Adam rolled the map up at once and marched above the deck to relay the orders to Rayhaan. Meanwhile, Ali turned and stood from his seat. He walked over towards a shelf on which the prized objective rested. The delicate cactus roses meant to heal the ailing Amir back home. The sole purpose of their entire journey.

Due to their adaptive nature after the changes, the plants required very little water and easily adjusted to having no sunlight for weeks. The one thing they did need, however, was warm weather and low oxygen; requirements the environment of a ship at sea couldn't meet. Ali looked at the plants worriedly. On one of the roses, two petals were already withering away. There would only be three other plants left remaining, and if they too died the entire mission would fail. The roses needed the detour even more than the men. Ali could only hope that they would reach the land, and eventually their destination, in time...