The Dance
The galley was the largest open chamber on the ship with a
flat open deck. The Vulture sat directly behind Captain Wallace reeking foul
odors. He seemed poised to strike and kill like a giant cobra. "Where is
she?", he groaned . "They're bringing her up now", answered
Captain Wallace, forcing away any show of fear. He had actually practiced
looking and sounding ugly in front of a mirror in the head before coming down.
He never felt or looked more stupid in his life he thought. "Let's have
some damned music Hereshoff!", he shouted in the nastiest voice he could
muster. "She'll be out in a minute Captain", Hereshoff replied.
"The music's ready for her now." Hereshoff had dug up a recording of
some old exotic oriental music from heaven knows where. He was resourceful. You
could hear Ravenna's loud protests as she was brought down the passageway and into the galley. "Shut
up" you damned ****", again as mean as he could make it sound.
"Dance to the music. You can dance can't you!", Captain Wallace
shouted and nodded to Hereshoff to start the recording. A very loud beating
drum began to vibrate the very bulkhead it seemed and the Vulture let out a
sound that could have meant he was pleased.
"There. There you are dear. Show us your dance that we
might spare you for our entertainment". Captain Wallace hoped he sounded
believable. Ravenna looked his way. She had reddened considerably. She caught
his message entirely. Could she dance? She was a woman. Of course she could
dance. Something else was going on here though. She'd play it by ear.
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