The matter-of-fact way she said that got a wry grin from Faris, kicking at an old memory. At least Ashe wasn't calling them degenerate, lecherous, pirate-y pirates, eh?

"You'll have to trust to luck on that," he said, and it was with an effort that he hid his reluctance to put his boots into the scummy grey water. Not that he hadn't been to the bilges dozens of times in his life, but he tried to put on something he cared for less before he put his feet into the noisome waters, if he had the chance. No help for that now, though.

Down here, he could feel the movement of water against hull through his feet. No matter what world it was, it seemed the nature of the ocean was the same. "Keep your hand on the railing. You don't want to take a tumble," he advised. "Wherever they're stowed, they might need to be wrung out."