Bram Möller's Arc

Chapter 50 of 63

Bram tied off at the far pin and climbed down to the harbor office to file his second-place stamp. A man in a black coat stood at the counter with a folio under his arm. He turned when Bram stepped inside, and Bram knew him from the description Cora had given at the depot. The clockmaker's agent. He had ridden ahead on a faster ship and beaten them here by an hour. "Bram Möller," the agent said. He slid a paper across the counter. "Fresh writ. The second guardian signature on your witness log is challenged. Wendell Frost's mark is under review at the district court. Until the review clears, the indenture claim on Cora Springwick stands active. I am here to take her." Bram read the writ. The agent had filed a challenge that Wendell was not a lawful guardian, only a witness. If the challenge held, Cora's conversion to a court matter dissolved, and the clockmaker could seize her at any harbor before she launched again. "She is my registered crew," Bram said. "She launches with me in an hour." "Not with this writ on the counter." Bram looked at the harbormaster. The harbormaster spread his hands. "I cannot stamp a launch with an active seizure on a crew member. Bring me Frost in person or a judge's ruling. That is what the writ requires." Bram stepped outside. Omondi was already down from the bag with the tool roll. Cora stood behind him, small under the mast lamp, one hand on the owl in her belt. She had heard. "I am not going back," she said. "You are not," Bram said. He turned to Omondi. "Send the hawk to the waystation. I want Wendell here in person by dawn. And Sigrun with him to sign a physician's affidavit that he is fit to appear." "The waystation is six hours by tender," Omondi said. "The agent will file for immediate seizure before then." "Then we stall the counter." Bram went back inside. He set his journal on the wood and opened it to the witness page. "I am filing a delay motion. Guardian in transit. Physician escort confirmed. Under harbor rules, a delay of twelve hours is granted when a named guardian is en route with proof of travel." The harbormaster read the rule Bram had pointed to. He looked at the agent. The agent's jaw set. "Twelve hours," the harbormaster said. He stamped the delay. "After that, I stamp the seizure." Bram walked out with Cora at his elbow. The hawk was already lifting off Omondi's glove, climbing hard for the east. They had bought a night. They had lost the harbor stamp for the leg, and Kesh's pursuit vessel was already loading for the next launch. The winter circuit lead was gone. What Bram had left was twelve hours and a bird in the air.