Rank & Opportunity - Retro Arrival

If you'd seen one port you'd seen them all. They were dirty and smelly centre's of commerce, and manned by men imbued of both and imbibed on cheap rum. What the tide carried away, the tide returned, and garbage of all foul sorts bloated and churned in the never-ending flux of filthy water; agitating and breaking down the debris and waste until it was one with the water, inseparable from the port and part of the very air itself.

Absolutely rank and full of opportunity.

A woman of indeterminate years yet still suffused with youth stood down on the edge of the waterfront. She was dressed in resplendent colours with a distinctive feathered hat and fine duster which hid none of her comely features. Her neck was craned upwards as she conferred with a venerable man above who had the attitude of one who was much too busy to be so engaged.

"Two Half Hitches? Why don't they simply call it One Whole Hitch? But no, I cannot tie that knot either. And honestly, Captain, I'm not looking to tie any knot with anyone. I merely seek passage aboard your vessel if you are indeed destined for Arcadia as the harbourmaster gave me to understand." Her voice was cultured with hints of something darker lurking beneath, as if it were all a facade.

"Indeed we are bound for Arcadia; aren't a secret. Aren't a secret neither we don't ferry freeloaders or stow aways." The Captain smacked the railing as if that ended things.

"You needn't even know I'm aboard at all if that suits you more agreeable, Captain."

"I'd not be one for missing a lass dressed as you are. We aren't often seeing crushed velvet in that shade of periwinkle. And is that a bloody peacock plume in your hat?"

"Well spotted, Captain. The accoutrement is all I have left from my previous life; the one I'm eager to put behind me."

"And a ring on each finger, I see." The captain's eyes were in fact drawn to the rings with their occasional sparkle of red or green.

"They are investments for the life I mean to make of myself in Arcadia. Money already spent as it were. However…" And the dark haired woman made a show of looking left and right to insure there was no danger of being overheard. She moved a little ways farther along the waterfront, smoothly hoisted herself atop a series of crates and climbed higher onto the next in the stack. She beckoned the captain move too along the railing of the ship and when he begrudgingly obliged, they were much closer, separated by no more than three metres and little height. She leaned forward, perched precariously upon the edge of the topmost crate.

A man working nearby called out harshly from the dock, "Get down from there, Miss!"

"Mind your own work, Sailor!" The woman chided without looking to see who had called out. She crooked her finger at the Captain and leaned in just a spot further. "If you'd prefer to keep me safe and secure in your personal cabin for the length of the voyage, I'm certain I would be most grateful."

The captain did not look particularly convinced that this woman's gratitude would mean a single pot to piss in.

The woman cocked her head to the side, dismayed that her suggestive suggestion had been poorly received. Unless… "And by gratitude I mean we can crack Jenny's teacup for six weeks. Ah you know that one, do you? No tricks, no cheat; I'll pay my fare in flesh to you directly, in private. But I'm no brasser, good sir. I won't be passed among your crew and I won't be accepting any money from you, unless at the conclusion of our transaction you find yourself to have received far more benefit from me than did I from you. It's been known to happen between man and woman, but I won't be arbiter to your pleasures. But I will be wanting a certain level of comfort for the duration. And in return we have some fun with one another - behind closed doors of course. I wouldn't want that sort of reputation proceeding me to Ostiarium."

The captain scratched his beard, looked her up and down; concentrating his focus on her wide-set bosom, the top of which was made visible by her low neckline. "Just to make sure we are clear; you're saying we…"

"We can fuck," the woman finished. "But I will do so as your interim lover, not as a vulgar bunter. With dignity, Captain."

He scratched his beard again. "With dignity…hmmm….well I guess I could give that a go. But could we maybe…"

"…with Dignity, Captain."

"Alright then, lass…erm…Ma'am. We have an accord. Go round to the gangway and I'll…"

"No need, Captain." She took a few steps back, ran and leapt, catching hold of the handrail around the open deck area, and pulled herself up with ease; like a member of a pirate boarding party. "Will you be wanting my genuine name, Captain? Or shall we keep things tongue-in-cheek?" Her eyebrows bounced coltishly.

"No names," The Captain said. "If you're in a spot of trouble, which I'm beginning to think you are, don't want nothing to tie me to you or you to me. Just the dignified stuff in private, if that's good with you Ma'am."

"I couldn't agree more. However, if your crew takes notice perhaps it would be best to tell them I'm a family relation and scowl, yes like that, and that they aren't even to look at me. And what's the name of your ship, Captain?"

"Not saying I believe you don't know already, but she's the Cloud Hopper." There was a note of pride in his voice. "Not her official registry, mind you."

And that was how Melandra Avalloc came to be in Ostiarium. She had not seen many of those clouds over the six weeks voyage. She had not seen much of anything more than the inside of the Captain's cabin and more of the Captain than she'd have liked. But that was the price she paid for prolonging her anonymity while reinforcing the same reputation she was dodging. And she had plunked down similar bottom lines before for much less. And the Captain it turned out had not been a brute or everlastingly loving, so her dignity remained in tact, more or less. Arcadia was the new world; Arcadia was the future. Arcadia was worth an arm and a leg and a few shags here and there.