Part 67 (1/2)

'Uskins!' snapped Taliktrum. 'Living creatures are not to be referred to as things things. And you in particular must learn to keep your mouth shut. Nothing but foolishness comes out of it.'

'Mr Taliktrum,' said Elkstem nervously, 'they may have flashed that signal already.'

Taliktrum looked at him, startled. The crowd was abruptly tense.

'He's right,' said Alyash. 'What good's a watchtower if it's not quick with its warnings? And even if the mainland can't spot its signal light, there must be boats on the Gulf that can. And they'll relay the message to that city, if it's really there.'

'No,' muttered Felthrup.

'They could be weighing anchor even now!' said an ixchel at Taliktrum's side.

'And our men are in no shape for a fight,' added Uskins.

'Fight?' cried Bolutu. 'My dear sirs, you do not grasp the situation at all! We are a secure and confident people. No power in Alifros need give Bali Adro a moment's fear. We do not attack strangers who arrive on our doorstep! Why should we? Go and get your water, gentlemen! No one is going to take your s.h.i.+p away.'

'Listen to him!' shouted someone, and the crowd rumbled agreement.

'No, no, no,' said Felthrup, who was now practically writhing on Thasha's shoulder.

'Can't you keep that rat quiet?' Alyash snapped at Thasha.

Thasha returned his stare with loathing. 'What's the matter, Felthrup? Don't listen to him. Go ahead, speak up.'

All eyes turned to the rat. Felthrup opened his mouth to speak - but his brain was working too quickly, and his nerves got the better of him. He began to sniff hard and fast, like a monk at his breathing exercises. Then he gasped aloud.

'Grease,' he said. 'Cookfires. Last night's dinner!'

Alyash made a sound of contempt.

'I don't smell a blary thing,' said Elkstem.

'You ain't a rat, are ye?' said Fiffengurt. 'They can stand on a roof and smell a bean in the bas.e.m.e.nt. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if those smells fetched across the water.'

'No!' wailed Felthrup. 'I can't smell anything! anything! Wake up, wake up!' Wake up, wake up!'

He began to squeal pitifully and rub his snout with his paws. Thasha cradled him, whispering soothing words, but he only grew worse, convulsing with dry heaves. He spoke no more, and with a look of concern Thasha bore him away.

Myett whispered something urgently into Taliktrum's ear. He nodded, as though the thought had occurred to him already.

'Mr Elkstem,' he said, 'plot a course through the inlet. We shall go and get our water - quickly - unless there is some coherent coherent objection?' objection?'

A roar of approval from the men. Pazel and Hercol exchanged a look. In the swordsman's eyes Pazel saw a reflection of his own unease. Felthrup had an extraordinary way of thinking. His nerves had betrayed him the same way in Simja, when he guessed Ott's trick with Pacu. Some deep part of him seemed to grasp things before he could explain them, even to himself.

But what choice did they have? Without water, the men would soon be more delirious than Felthrup. And then they would start to die.

Mr Fiffengurt took a tally: of the sixteen officers charged with record keeping, eleven reckoned the date to be 20 Ilbrin of the year 941.13 He sent a request to Captain Rose to make the date official: He sent a request to Captain Rose to make the date official: Without that we agree on the date, sir, I fear the men's hearts will go evermore adrift Without that we agree on the date, sir, I fear the men's hearts will go evermore adrift. Rose agreed at once, and the date of the IMS Chathrand Chathrand 's entrance into the Gulf of Masal was fixed for all time. 's entrance into the Gulf of Masal was fixed for all time.

Fiffengurt a.s.sumed that the day would be remembered for the meeting of two worlds so long divided, and in a sense he was right. It was in any case a day no one aboard was ever able to forget.

They cleared the inlet with nine fathoms to spare. On the leeward side Cape Lasung formed a broad sandy hook, with a number of small, rocky islands cl.u.s.tered near the point commanded by the Tower of Narybir. Several of these inner isles had stone houses and fortifications. But no voices hailed them, from tower or village, and the channel-markers Bolutu had predicted could not be found.

'Where's the fis.h.i.+ng fleet?' said Pazel.

'Out on the Gulf, obviously,' said Mr Uskins, as though glad to be addressing someone of lower status than himself. 'Still bringing in the night's catch.'

'Every last boat?' said Pazel dubiously.

'How many do you imagine they have?' said Uskins. 'Even by Ormali standards this hardly represents a--Look there! A s.h.i.+p! s.h.i.+p on the starboard quarter! What did I tell you, Muketch?'

He had indeed spotted a vessel on the Gulf. But it was no fis.h.i.+ng boat. It was a strange, slender brig, eight or ten miles off, appearing and disappearing behind the islands. Telescopes revealed three similar vessels at a greater distance.

They were not making for the Cape. All four were sailing due east - and swiftly, by their spread of sail. Those sails were tattered, however, and one of the brigs had lost its mizzenmast. Strangest of all, Mr Bolutu could make no sense of their blazing red pennants, which were not the colours of Bali Adro. 'The world is vast,' he said, shaking his head.

Perhaps, but the village at the foot of Narybir was tiny. It was hard to imagine danger of any kind lurking in that clutch of meagre cottages, listing fences, crumbling barns. Only the stonework - the mighty tower, the low wall above the water-line, a jetty protecting the fis.h.i.+ng harbour - suggested that the outpost had any connection to an Empire.

And still there was no one to be seen. No voices answered their shouts and horns and whistles. Bolutu suggested they fire a cannon in greeting, but Taliktrum forbade it. None of the brigs had yet altered course, and he wished to keep it that way. Why announce their presence to every s.h.i.+p in the Gulf?

'You will get your water and return with all possible speed,' he told Mr Fiffengurt. 'But do not forget the hostages. Attempt any betrayal, and the lives of your people are forfeit.'

They lost depth rapidly. Three miles from the village Fiffengurt brought them up short. 'Furl the mains, Mr Alyash, and heave to. We've not come thousands of miles to split our keel on a blary sandbar.'

Fiffengurt pointed at the jetty. 'We'll load our water there. It's a bit outside the village, but at least it's solid stone. Mr Fegin, we shall bring the water on board with the sixty-foot yawl. See to the placement of casks in her hold, and put a cargo lift together. And for Rin's sake brace her main yard stoutly. When they're full those casks will weigh two thousand pounds apiece.'

'Oppo, Cap - Mr Fiffengurt, sir,' stammered Fegin.

'And have the carpenter get started on a wagon, for moving the casks about on sh.o.r.e.'

'Sir, that is pointless labour!' said Bolutu, laughing. 'There are surely wagons in the village. And these are sea-faring folk. They will come out in the hundreds to help fellow sailors in need.'

'All right,' said Fiffengurt, 'don't have him build it just yet, Fegin. But let the plans be drawn up all the same. Meanwhile we shall launch the pilot boat, and go looking for these timid folk.'

The pilot boat could carry twelve. Six of those, at Taliktrum's insistence, were Turachs. Besides Bolutu, Fiffengurt also asked Hercol, Pazel and Thasha to come ash.o.r.e, for no clear reason except that he trusted them. The last member of the landing party, Alyash, he included for the opposite reason: because he didn't trust Ott's man to be left alone on the s.h.i.+p.

'In some ways,' added Fiffengurt quietly to Pazel as the Turachs rowed for sh.o.r.e, 'the ixchel made our lives easier. The most dangerous men on Chathrand Chathrand are all locked in her forecastle.' are all locked in her forecastle.'

Except for one, thought Pazel, looking back at the gargantuan, battle-scarred s.h.i.+p. Taliktrum had ordered a search for Arunis, deck by deck, but somehow the mage had eluded them. What's he hiding for? Did he find out, somehow, about Bolutu's allies? Could they be closer than we think? What's he hiding for? Did he find out, somehow, about Bolutu's allies? Could they be closer than we think?

The jetty began at the foot of the tower, and was built of the same red stone. It swept in a graceful curve out into the Gulf, shattering the waves from the inlet, and leaving the water within its embrace almost becalmed. Stairs descended to the water in three places, and at one of these they moored the boat. From there, it was a short, awkward jump onto the weedy stairs.

As he climbed Pazel felt terribly dizzy. The very stillness of the jetty was to blame, he knew: after months at sea only constant motion felt natural. They'd be gone again before he got his land-legs.

His comprehension didn't stop him from slipping, however. He might have tumbled right off the wet stones if Thasha's arm hadn't shot out to catch him. Her eyes snapped to his own, and for a moment the Thasha he knew rose within them. She gave him a slight, teasing smile, her parched skin wrinkling. He felt more relief at the sight of that smile than he had to be saved from falling. But even as they stepped onto the jetty the haunted look was creeping back over her face. He clasped her hand, tightly. Stay with me, he thought.

They reached the top of the jetty. Pazel looked up at the soaring tower, its bone-like barrenness, the hundreds of narrow windows gaping darkly overhead. Then one of the soldiers cried out in surprise and pointed.

Four humans stood watching them, where the jetty met the sh.o.r.e. Two men, two women. All four naked. They were lean, sun-darkened, their hair long and tangled. They were motionless as deer.