Part 42 (2/2)
”See? It thinks I'm in Ankh-Morpork! It cost Sybil three hundred dollars and it can't even keep track of where I am.”
He flicked his cigar b.u.t.t away and stood up.
”I'd better get down there,” he said. ”After all, I am am the boss.” the boss.”
He slithered his way down the dune and strolled toward Carrot, who salaamed to him.
”A salute would do, captain, thanks all the same.”
”Sorry, sir. I think I got a bit carried away.”
”Why've you made them strip off?”
”Makes them a bit of a laughingstock when they return, sir. A blow to their pride.” He leaned closer and whispered, ”I've let their commander keep his clothes on, though. It doesn't do to show up the officers.”
”Really?” said Vimes.
”And some want to join us, sir. There's Goriff's lad and a few others. They were just dragooned into the army yesterday. They don't even know why they're fighting. So I said they could.”
Vimes took the captain aside. ”Er...I don't remember suggesting that any of the prisoners joined us,” he said quietly.
”Well, sir...I thought, what with our army approaching, and since quite a lot of these lads are from various corners of the empire and don't like the Klatchians any more than we do, I thought that a flying column of guerrilla fighters-”
”We aren't soldiers!”
”Er, I thought we were were soldiers-” soldiers-”
”Yes, yes, all right. In a way way...but really we're coppers, like we've always been. We don't kill people unless-”
Ahmed? Everyone's slightly on edge when he's around, he worries people, he gets information from all over the place, he seems to go where he pleases, and he's always around when there's trouble-d.a.m.n d.a.m.n d.a.m.n d.a.m.n...
He ran through the crowd until he reached Jabbar, who was watching Carrot with the usual puzzled smile that Carrot caused in innocent bystanders.
”Tree dace,” said Vimes. ”Three days. That's seventy-two hours!”
”Yes, offendi?” said Jabbar. It was the voice of someone who recognized dawn, noon and sunset, and just let everything in between happen whenever it liked.
”So why's he called 71-hour Ahmed? What's so special about the extra hour?”
Jabbar grinned nervously.
”Did he do do something after seventy-one hours?” said Vimes. something after seventy-one hours?” said Vimes.
Jabbar folded his arms. ”I will not say.”
”He told you to keep us here?”
”Yes.”
”But not to kill us.”
”Oh, I would not kill my friend Sir Sam Mule-”
”And don't give me all that eyeball rubbish,” said Vimes. ”He wanted time to get somewhere and do something, right?”
”I will not say.”
”You don't need to,” said Vimes. ”Because we are leaving leaving. And if you kill us...well, probably you can. But 71-hour Ahmed would not like that, I expect.”
Jabbar looked like a man making a difficult decision.
”He will be coming back!” he said. ”Tomorrow! No problem!”
”I'm not waiting! And I don't think he wants me killed, Jabbar. He wants me alive. Carrot?”
Carrot hurried over. ”Yes, sir?”
Vimes was aware that Jabbar was staring at him in horror.
”We've lost Ahmed,” he said. ”Even Angua can't pick up his trail with the sand blowing all over the place. We've got no place here. We're not needed needed here.” here.”
”But we are are, sir!” Carrot burst out. ”We could help the desert tribes-”
”Oh, you want to stay and fight?” said Vimes. ”Against the Klatchians?”
”Against the bad bad Klatchians, sir.” Klatchians, sir.”
”Ah, well, that's the trick, isn't it? When one of them comes screaming at you waving a sword, how do you spot his moral character? Well, you can stay if you like and fight for the good name of Ankh-Morpork. It should be a pretty short fight. But I'm off. Jenkins probably hasn't got afloat again. Okay, Jabbar?”
The D'reg was staring at the desert sand between his feet.
”You know where he is now, don't you?” Vimes prompted.
”Yes.”
”Tell me.”
”No. I swore to him.”
”But D'regs are oath-breakers. Everyone knows that.”
Jabbar gave Vimes a grin. ”Oh, oaths oaths. Stupid things. I gave him my word word.”
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