Part 6 (1/2)
Her arm muscles suddenly swelled, and Sterling screamed once as his spine snapped. Topaz drew her sword and cut his throat in one swift motion, stepping quickly back to avoid the jetting blood. Sterling fell limply to the floor and lay still.
”That's one for you, my husband,” said Topaz quietly. She looked slowly around her, and the surrounding crowd fell back, unable to meet her burning gaze. Even Gaunt looked away. Topaz smiled briefly and made her way undisputed out of the Redlance tavern.
The silence held while she climbed the stairs and opened the door, but the moment the door closed behind her, the crowd returned to its original noisy and boisterous mood. The roar of sound returned, only slightly muted by what had been witnessed. Gaunt gestured to two of his men, and they dragged away Sterling's body and then returned for the two bodyguards. A serving wench set about cleaning up the blood with a bucket and mop. Blackjack emerged from the door behind the bar and made his way over to join Gaunt.
”Thanks for not telling her I was here.”
”She didn't ask me,” said Gaunt.
”If she had, would you have told her?”
Gaunt shrugged. ”Right now, I don't think there's anyone in this city who could deny that woman anything.”
Blackjack nodded slowly. ”I think you may be right, Gaunt. You may well be right.”
A dozen city Watchmen were waiting for Topaz when she left the Redlance tavern. She stopped outside the door, and glanced quickly about her. The Watchmen had fanned out to cut off all the exits. Topaz looked at the man in charge, and nodded resignedly.
”h.e.l.lo, John. Looking for someone?”
”Port Director Steel still needs you,” said John Silver, the starport duty esper. ”In fact, he needs you urgently.”
”That fat old thief can wait,” said Topaz shortly.
”No, he can't; he's running out of time.”
”Then get somebody else.”
”It has to be you, Investigator.”
Topaz scowled, and searched Silver's face for some sign of weakness. Instead, she saw only a weariness and a calm sense of duty that sat oddly on his youthful features. He wore a set of thick, superbly cut furs topped by the scarlet cloak of the esper, but they couldn't disguise his lean muscular frame. He wore a simple short-sword on his hip in a well-worn scabbard. Silver had been a pirate before coming to Mistworld, and Topaz knew that if it came to a fight she'd have to kill him to stop him. And she wasn't sure she could do that. Silver had brought both her and Gunn into the city Watch, and given them both a reason for living when they both needed one badly. He was the nearest thing Topaz had to a friend.
”How did you find me?” she asked finally, more for something to say than because she really cared.
”You left quite a trail,” said Silver. ”Including four wrecked taverns and more than sixty injured people.
They're still trying to get one man down from a chandelier in the Green Man.”
”I'm close, John,” said Topaz urgently. ”I'm so close to finding the man who killed Michael. I can't let you stop me. I daren't let the trail get cold.”
”You're needed at the starport, Investigator. There's something strange aboard theBalefire . Steel thinks it could be a threat to the whole of Mistport, and you know he doesn't panic easily. You must come back with us, Topaz.”
”Or?”
”There's a warrant for your arrest. You've upset several prominent people in the course of this evening, and they all want your head. As yet the warrant isn't signed. If you agree to help Steel, it won't be.”
”You think I give a d.a.m.n about your warrant?”
”Don't throw your life away for no good reason, Topaz. Michael wouldn't have wanted that.”
”I swore him the oath of vengeance. The mercenary's oath.”
”This job shouldn't take you long, Topaz. A few hours at most. In the meantime, if you'll tell me your lead I'll have these men track it down for you.”
Topaz looked around at the silent Watchmen. ”And if I don't go back willingly, you'll have me dragged.
Is that it?”
”Pretty much,” said John Silver. ”That's why I came with them. You just might be able to take out all these Watchmen, but you wouldn't kill me.”
”Are you sure of that?”
”No. But then, where's the fun in being sure?”
He laughed cheerfully, and after a moment Topaz smiled in reply.
”I'm looking for a starport security man called Taylor,” she said finally. ”He's a Hadenman, and he knows who killed Michael.”
”Shouldn't take us long to find him,” said Silver confidently. ”By the time you're finished with Steel, we'll have him waiting for you.”
”I hope so,” said Topaz, ”Because if you let him slip through your fingers, John, I may kill you, friend or no.”
She walked away into the swirling mists, and after a moment Silver and the Watch followed her back to the starport.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
Starlight Director Steel waited impatiently by the main landing pad, scowling at the night's cold and gnawing hungrily at a sweetmeat. The sun had been down a good hour and more, and the night chill was growing steadily worse. It was going to be a hard winter. Steel chewed slowly, savouring the rich flavour of the confection, and stamped his feet on the snow to keep them warm. He always felt the cold worst in his feet. TheBalefire towered high above him, a mountain of gleaming steel beside which the slender control tower with its bright electric lights seemed nothing more than a garish toy. There was no wind, and the mists hung heavily across the landing field, m.u.f.fling everything in a featureless grey blanket. And out of the mists came Investigator Topaz.
Her face was grim and brooding, and she came stalking out of the fog with a long, impatient stride that was all the more intimidating because it was entirely unselfconscious. Steel studied her thoughtfully as she approached him, and began to wonder if perhaps he'd made the wrong decision. He respected and he feared Topaz, but he hadn't a single clue as to what went on behind those cold, implacable eyes. From what he'd been hearing, she'd spent most of the day and evening blazing a b.l.o.o.d.y trail through the seamier side of Thieves Quarter, in search of the man who'd killed her husband. Steel admired her for it; he wouldn't have entered that part of Thieves Quarter without a disrupter in each hand and an army of Watchmen to back him up. And yet the Topaz he remembered from three years earlier had always been cold and unemotional, letting nothing get between her and her work, and it was that impartial Investigator's skill he needed now.
He frowned slightly as he watched her draw near. She was supposed to have been wounded fighting the Hob hounds, but you couldn't tell from looking at her. If she felt any trace of pain or weakness, it didn't show in her face or in her bearing. Part of her Investigator's training, Steel supposed. He looked again at her face, and smiled slightly. Topaz didn't look at all happy about being called away from her vengeance.
Steel felt no regrets. He needed her help, her Investigator's cunning. He bowed politely to Topaz as she finally came to a halt before him, and she nodded curtly in return before turning away to stare up at the Balefire .
The ma.s.sive stars.h.i.+p brooded sullenly on its pad, the vast burnished hull glowing ruddy from the surrounding torches before disappearing into the mists. Jagged holes pockmarked the stem and stern, and one whole section lay broken open to the mercy of the bitter cold. A central vane had been stripped of its covering, the naked steel struts pitted and corroded like ancient bones. It was a wonder theBalefire had held together long enough to reach Mistworld. Steel scowled, and took another bite of sweetmeat.
He distrusted wonders.
”How long before we can go aboard, Director?”
The dry, harsh voice startled him, and Steel had to swallow quickly to empty his mouth before answering.
”Depends on the Captain. He knows we're here.”
”Why send for me, Steel? There must be others in the Watch with more experience than me.”
”You're different,” said Steel flatly. ”You used to be an Investigator.”