"The vegetable boxes on the deck are still in good shape. We can bring them back and use them to plant things in the yard."
Su Li glanced at her. "Don't you think it's a pity?"
"What's there to regret?" Saina turned the dried radishes over. "The ship isn't going anywhere. Anything we bring back can still be used. Better than leaving it there to rust."
Early the next morning, the four of them went to the harbor.
Su Li unloaded the vegetable boxes from the deck one by one, loading them onto a cart along with the hardened old soil inside. Elonore removed the copper plates from the windproof circuits that could still be used.
Elena was in charge of directing them. She stood on the dock leaning on her cane, clutching an inventory list in one hand.
"Keep that set of combat mounting racks from the kitchen. Take it apart and use it as clotheslines."
"That thing weighs a ton." Su Li emerged from the cabin carrying an iron pot on his shoulder.
"If it's heavy, make a few more trips." Elena ticked something off on the list.
Saina rolled up an old apron she had found in a corner of the cabin and sniffed it. It was the one she had worn while cooking aboard the ship all those years ago. The oil stains would never wash out, but the fabric was still sturdy.
She folded the apron and placed it in her basket.
They moved things for two full days.
In the end, Elena hired several workers to cover the Ginkgo from bow to stern with enormous tarps. The gray-green canvas covered the mast, the hull, and the faded ginkgo-leaf insignia.
That evening, a heavy rain fell.
Su Li stood beneath the eaves, looking toward the