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Tolshi the helmsman climbs out of the hatchway to the stern hold and he hurries over to the captain’s side. He reports that the ship is holed below the waterline, close to the rudder, and that she is fast taking in water. Jenkshi inspects the damage for himself and immediately sets his crew to work at patching up the damage. They do their best with the materials available but still The Azan continues to take on water. Jenkshi estimates that the ship will stay afloat no more than three hours unless proper repairs are carried out, and he orders Tolshi to set a course for Dlash-da Ralzuha—the nearest port.

You voice your fear that Shadakine pirates may already occupy this port, but Jenkshi laughs when he hears this.

‘If you knew Dlash-da Ralzuha like I do, you’d know we have no cause to worry about running foul of any buccaneers there. It’s a slum port. A rubbish dump. Its name means “Junkyard of the Ralzuha” and it certainly lives up to its name.’

Your first glimpse of Dlash-da Ralzuha confirms everything Jenkshi has said about it. Its rust-red hovels and stinking shacks are grouped haphazardly around the rim of a natural stone harbour formed by a semicircle of black volcanic rocks. Flocks of vultures hover in the skies, swooping to feed occasionally on rafts of rotting debris which litter the shoreline.

It is late in the afternoon and The Azan is listing alarmingly to starboard when at last she enters the stench-filled harbour of Dlash-da Ralzuha. It seems that the whole population of this derelict little port turns out to greet your arrival. For the natives it is something of a special occasion, for so rarely do ships ever visit their squalid harbour.

Despite their wretched living conditions, the poverty-stricken tribal natives of Dlash-da Ralzuha give The Azan a warm welcome, and they seem genuinely eager to help Jenkshi and his crew with the repair of the ship’s hull. Grooja, the port’s oldest man and tribal leader, provides Jenkshi with fifty native men to help with the unloading of the cargo in order that the damaged section of the hull can be raised above the waterline. The captain sets them to work and he estimates that adequate repairs could be made overnight to enable the ship to sail on the first high tide tomorrow. The crew are pleased to hear this news. None of them want to stay in Dlash-da Ralzuha a minute longer than is absolutely necessary.

Turn to 69.