Alcides had woken early, as he did most mornings. He rarely needed a wake up call. Sleeping was for the weak or tired. Yea, that's it, the tired. Sleep is for the tired. Even the strong get tired. Or so he'd heard.<br/><br/>The sun was just peaking over the horizon, sending its rays running across the surface of the water.<br/><br/>His first stop was the galley. The galley was the seafarer's version of what landlubbers called mess halls. Aboard ship, it was referred to as the galley; the place you eat your meals. Mr. Javian was busy in the kitchen preparing foodstuff for a meal. Alcides gave up greeting the head cook long ago. The old man just preferred to be angry all the time. Alcides was fine with that as long as he knew his place. The<span style="font-style: italic">Baron</span>helped himself to a cup of coffee, added a few drops of cream and a teaspoon of sugar; stirred it up and took the first sip. He smacked his lips, smiled and hummed a few bars as he headed out of the galley.<br/><br/>Alcides sipped at the coffee as he headed to sick bay. He wanted to check on the status of the injured crewmembers. Five men were injured during the last engagement. Chief Pompano had lost his left hand to a saber slash. The doc had bandaged him up, but he had spent the night in sick bay.<br/><br/>Mr. Demophon entered the treatment area to see a medic going over some records. She had her nose buried in the documents until the Bosun entered. Kalli smiled at Alcides, pushed her glasses up on her nose. "You checkin up on da boys, Mr. Demophon?" The young medic spoke with an odd accent. Alcides was unfamiliar with the twang. It may have come from the City of Ra. He wasn't all that familiar with the dialects.<br/><br/>"Aye," Alcides responded promptly. "Doc around?"<br/><br/>Kalli nodded her head with her lips puckered. "She fell to sleep in dere wid<span style="font-style: italic">Couture</span>, da old guy." Kalli pointed to a room off the way where operations were performed. "You can wake her if you want?" She suggested. He hesitated, "Or not. You can go in and see dem, but dey all sleepin now." She pointed to the bay where those patients too weak to return to their quarters slept.<br/><br/>"OK, thanks, Kalli," Alcides walked through the bay door after peering in at Dr. Uskose. Sure enough the young woman had her head on old man Couture's thigh, out cold.<span style="font-style: italic">She must be exhausted,'</span>Al thought to himself, watching the doctor sleeping in an awkward position.<br/><br/>There were twenty beds in the room, ten on each side. Five of the beds had occupants. The first bed on the right held Chief Pompano, one of the Gun battery NCOs on the port division. Alcides would ask the Doctor later if the veteran pirate would get a prosthetic to replace the missing hand.<br/><br/>Next to the Gun Chief, Alcides found Crewman Klendaro sleeping with a large bandage wrapped around her head. The right leg from the knee down was currently missing. The Bosun could see the outline of her limbs through the white blanket and sheet. She lost the limb in one of the first volleys that impacted upon the<span style="font-style: italic">Ocean Horizon.</span><br/><br/>The third pirate in sick bay was Oliver Gordon Whitehead, someone whom the Bosun had taken a partiality to early on during his tenure aboard ship. Whitehead was one of those fellows who seems to know everyone and knows how to get whatever you need. He firmly gripped the gift of gab and could talk to a wall. Whitehead worked in the starboard storeroom for the Quartermaster. Today, Mr. O. G. Whitehead indeed had a white head as it too was wrapped in hospital gauze. Prognosis was grim for the gregarious quartermaster's mate. Shrapnel from an explosion  had lodged itself in his forehead. The doctor had a great difficulty removing the piece of twisted metal.<br/><br/>The fourth member of the sick bay contingent was a mousy woman named Helena Falmouth. Helena was serving as bosun's mate, assisting Mr. Alcides Demophon with looking after the ship. When Alcides approached her bed, she stirred and looked up at him. In a whispered voice she spoke, "Hello Mister Demophon."<br/><br/>"Get some sleep, Miss Falmouth," Demophon responded to her in hushed tones. He patted her hand, admiring her strength. She had been tossed into a bulkhead, broke three vertebrae and five ribs. The doctor was unsure, but there was a chance she would never walk again. As soon as he patted her hand, she fell back into a deep slee.<br/><br/>Finally, Alcides came across  Trenchen Cutler, a gunner in the port division. He was standing near Chief Pompano when that first volley struck the<span style="font-style: italic">Ocean Horizon</span>. A piece of shrapnel plunged into his left eye, breaking the bone high on the cheek and below his temple. It missed his brain by three millimeters, but he would be blind in that one eye for the rest of his life. There was no  saving it. He felt bad for Mr. Cutler, but he felt bad for everyone in Sick bay this morning. None of them had the common cold or even the flu.<br/><br/>When he finished his visit to the sick bay, he made his way back to the engine room. Along hte way, he passed Klouví sulking his way into the galley. Alcides looked around to see if Shipmaster Pykes was around, but he did not see her.<span style="font-style: italic">'She must not be up yet,'</span>Al thought to himself as he sipped his coffee continuing down the corridor to the rear of the ship.<br/><br/>Eventually, Alcides made his way to the engine room. Chief Grobbin, the Senior Maintenance technician was not on duty yet Crewman Lunderhorn was the senior man in the engine room. He chatted with the Bosun briefly about the drive system. It was purring like a kitten, taking no damage during the last encounter. Alcides was very pleased with what he found. Overall, the engine crew who worked for Chief Grobbin were all very efficient lads who worked well together. They were professional about their jobs and performed it very well. One thing the<span style="font-style: italic">Ocean Horizon</span>did not have to worry about was its propulsion system.<br/>After completing his inspection of the ship's operating system, he made his way to the bridge. He would pass on an update to the officer of the watch and then to Fletch, when he saw him at breakfast back in the galley. Yes, he would need to return the coffee cup.