Rescue Subfleet

Usually there are thirty in a single subfleet. The numbers can go up or down a few, but if all the boats are out at once that's 22 on crew plus a minimum of five to keep the base operations running.   I joined To Reach as a dispatcher, but once they accepted me I had to learn all the roles. We don't stay in any one position permanently. For one thing, it's too easy to start making mistakes when you're used to doing a particular job. For another, it's hard on the spirit to do this kind of work. When I'm at the airwave set, I hear things that scare me. After a while it's a relief to take a turn with the administrative tedium. The times I've gone out on a rescue mission have gone well, but I know I've just been lucky.

Our smallest boat is a single-crew, single-passenger hybrid. It's the one boat I've never crewed because if I ever tried freesailing, someone would have to rescue me. The next largest are both the same, two-crew minimum with capacity to carry ten. Second largest carries fifty, but at that size needs eight crew. Our largest is conduit only. It's a modified cargo carrier that can fit a hundred and fifty. Because it doesn't sail it only requires four crew to operate, but if it's full we need to have at least five to help with the passengers. You don't just pour crowds of stressed people onto a boat and ignore them for the next four hours.

This is something that I think only other Eihlarians will understand. Everyone has their own reasons for joining the fleet, but mine is for the Water Seekers. A thousand years ago they came to our island to save people in danger, and every year we remember that. Growing up, I knew I could never be a Water Seeker myself, but I still wanted to rescue people who need help.