A Cat, a Champion, and Korea Ahead

October began with thinning fog and Korea somewhere ahead. The sea in the Korea Strait is calm, the air cool, and Busan is due tomorrow if the traffic and berth agree. I have become fond of that sort of qualification. At sea, a plan can be perfectly sensible while still acknowledging that several other parties have a vote.

Container followed me to the forward viewing point and sat against my boot. There was a small, definite warmth through the leather, set against the cool air on my face. I looked into the loosening mist while she settled herself without fuss. For once, neither of us appeared to require anything more from the other than remaining in roughly the same place.

Priya joined us after watch with the Scrabble standings folded under one arm. She remains champion, and apparently the documentary evidence now accompanies her on outdoor visits. She also brought two mugs of tea and the good biscuits from Shanghai. The combination was entirely characteristic: proof of superiority, something warm to drink and a practical demonstration that she had thought of me.

This, I have decided, is friendship at sea: being beaten repeatedly at a board game, supervised while cleaning bird mess from a satellite terminal, and trusted with the better biscuits. It is not a definition I could have supplied before coming aboard. Standing there with the cat against my foot and Priya beside me, I found it suited the circumstances very well. Korea could remain somewhere ahead for a little longer. There was no need to hurry this part.