"Sure. When we get a chance."
Jason fell silent again. The hold was quiet except for the sounds of the sea against the ship's hull, the tromping of feet on the deck above, and the occasional skitter of what Kira was pretty certain were rats. She held out, knowing that the further they were at sea if discovered the less chance that the ship would waste time returning to port to get rid of her and Kira. Was there any way to avoid being discovered?
Kira heard someone enter the hold and walk past the crate she was in, pausing at intervals. She guessed that the cargo was being checked to be sure it wasn't shifting due to the rolls of the ship. She realized that her breathing was fast and shallow. She either needed to act now or perhaps die in this crate.
Kira rapped her fist against the inside of the crate twice, then twice again.
The footsteps stopped, then came close to her crate.
A pry bar appeared at one place near the top of the crate. Kira reached for her pistol, then stopped. Think before you use it. What happens if I do? I'm on a ship away from land. Am I ready to kill every person in the crew of this ship? Am I ready to kill even one of them?
She let her hand fall outside of her jacket and waited as the top of the crate was levered open by the pry bar.
A stout woman with a hard expression and the weathered skin of someone who had spent many years at sea glared at Kira and Jason. "Get out. Both of you."
Kira recognized the voice. This was the woman who had been arguing with the dock workers.
She pulled herself out of the crate, then helped Jason out. Jason gave her a questioning look and she shook her head. "Not this time," she said.
The woman looked them over, then pointed to Kira. "Your knife."
Kira pulled the knife from its sheaf and handed it over, then deliberately opened her jacket to show the pistol in its holster.
That earned her an even harder look. "You have that? Why didn't you use it?"
"Because I'm not a fool," Kira said. "I'm also not a killer."
"Hand it over."
Kira removed her shoulder holster, ensuring that the pistol was strapped into the holster, and gave it to the woman.
The woman looked Jason over again. "She's carrying all that and you have no weapons at all?"
Jason replied with a sullen shake of the head.
The first mate went through their packs quickly, then jerked a thumb to indicate which way they should go. "All right. Up on deck. We'll see what the captain wants to do with you."
Determined not to look frightened, Kira went up a steep ladder onto the deck, blinking against the bright sunlight after being in the dark for so long. The Son of Taris turned out to be of only moderate size and square-rigged, sails visible overhead on two masts. Steam-powered ships were becoming more common, but sailing ships similar to this still carried the great majority of seagoing trade. The Son of Taris could have been built at any time in the centuries that made up the history of Dematr.
Kira caught glimpses of men and women in the crew watching with curiosity as she and Jason were marched aft to where a man in a long greatcoat stood watching them grimly. "What have we here, First Mate?" he asked the woman.
"Stowaways, Captain. They were inside one of the crates we loaded at Dorcastle."
The captain gave Kira and Jason a look that measured them and did not appear to be impressed. "Was there any damage to the cargo?"
"No," Kira said. "The casting was not damaged."
"Oh? So you're a master mechanic, then, girl? Quiet until I ask a question of you!" The captain turned to the first mate.
The first mate shook her head. "They pulled out packing, but the contents of the crate were not damaged."
"Lucky for them," the captain said. "Your names?"
Kira almost sagged with relief as she realized that these sailors, making only a brief stop in Dorcastle, did not recognize her and had not seen the posted pictures of Jason. Since this ship was highly unlikely to have a far-talker aboard, the crew might have little knowledge of recent events. "I'm Kara. Kara of Minut. This is J'son of…Cape Henri."
"Cape Henri?" the captain questioned. "I've met few who even know where that is, and never anyone from near there."
"Well…I am," Jason said with a glance at Kira and a surly nod.
"Are you now? You speak oddly enough."
"The girl was carrying this," the first mate told the captain, offering the pistol in its holster.
The captain looked it over like someone examining trade goods for value. "This isn't a cheap copy out of Ringhmon. It's fine work out of Danalee, with the mark of Master Mechanic Alli herself on it. And this holster is well crafted, too, out of Tiae from the finish on the leather. Yes, there's the royal maker's mark. Where did you get both?"
"My mother gave them to me," Kira said.
"And is your mother Master Mechanic Alli?" the captain asked sarcastically. "Or perhaps the Queen of Tiae?"
"No, sir. Neither one," Kira said. She wondered what the captain would have said if she had claimed both Aunt Alli and Queen Sien as friends.
"You were wearing this when the first mate found you? Why didn't you threaten her with it?"
"She asked me the same," Kira said. "I'll give you the same answer. Because I'm not a murderer and I'm not a fool."
The captain gave her a sidelong look. "Why carry a weapon you say you'd never use, girl?"
"I didn't say I'd never use it. If she had come at me with knife or sword, I would have done what I had to. But if I had threatened her and she had called my bluff, I couldn't have killed someone for trying to protect herself."
"Bold words." The captain removed the pistol from its holster, examined it again, then suddenly tossed it to Kira. She caught it in a proper grip without thinking. "It's loaded, is it not? Make it safe."
Kira released the magazine, caught it, pulled back the slide to ensure the chamber was empty, then set the safety. "It's safe."
"Now ready it again."
She had never been one to show off, but sensing a need to impress these sailors Kira twisted the magazine in her free hand, ramming it home in the pistol, her thumb releasing the safety so that the slide could rock forward again and load a bullet. The process took only a couple of seconds, after which Kira paused, the weapon pointed up at the sky, her forefinger straight alongside the trigger guard.
She heard murmuring from the watching crew behind her.
"Safe it again." The captain held out his hand, palm up.
Kira removed the magazine, emptied the chamber, and set the safety again, then returned both clip and pistol to the captain.
"You just passed two tests, girl," the captain said. "You showed that you truly know how to use that weapon, and you showed that you know when not to use it. Anything else?" the captain asked the first mate.
"Her knife," the first mate said, handing it to the captain.
The captain looked it over, a stern frown forming on his stony face. "Where did you get this?"
"Also a gift from my mother," Kira said.
"Your mother is a very generous soul, it seems. A sailor's knife. With the mark of the fellowship on it. Where does this mother of yours sail, girl?"
"She hasn't sailed for a long time," Kira said, realizing the reason for the captain's suspicion. The fellowship was the name pirates called themselves, a very loose and very ill defined grouping that nonetheless had certain shared traditions. One of those traditions honored Jules, revered by all sailors and the most famous pirate in the history of the world, as well as being an ancestor of Kira's mother, and Kira herself. "When she did, it was in the Umbari."
"The Umbari? Does she hail from Syndar?"
"No!"
The vehemence of Kira's reply produced a brief, grim smile from the captain, one that quickly vanished as he looked at her. "And what of you? You sneak aboard my ship and we find a knife on you with the mark. Is it fellowship business you're on?"
"No," Kira said. "I have no ties to the fellowship. My mother g
ave me that knife. That's as far as it goes. And she only preyed on ships of the Empire, Syndar, and the Great Guilds."
"The Great Guilds? So it was twenty years ago that your mother sailed in the Umbari?" the first mate demanded.
"Yes," Kira said. "With the daughter's ships."
"What ship did she sail on?" the captain asked.
"The Pride. With Captain Banda." Which was true enough, though in fact Captain Banda had served under Mari's command.
The captain nodded, his expression staying stern. "You have a good story, and if your mother sailed with Banda on the Pride you have reason for pride yourself. But if I get any hint that you're pursuing the work of the fellowship, you'll be over the side and greeting the fishes no matter how far we are from land. The Son of Taris is an honest ship."
"I understand," Kira said. "We've broken no laws, and intend breaking no laws."
"You've broken a law by stowing away on my ship, girl! Your mother should have told you that when she was handing out such grand toys to you!" The captain's frown shifted to Jason, who Kira unhappily realized when confronted with an authority figure had shifted back into sullenness. "And what of you?"
"I'm with her," Jason mumbled.
The captain shook his head as he looked at Jason. "I am a merciful man, so you two won't be going over the side to take your chances with the sea. Nor will you be locked below and handed over to the authorities at the next port where we make call. I will give you two the chance to earn your passage with honest labor. Do that, and you'll be free to leave at the next port. Oh, one thing more." The captain gave Kira and Jason another stern look. "Whatever else you two are up to, you're both clearly below legal age. While you're on this ship you'll keep your hands and your bodies off each other."
Kira felt her face heating up. "We're not like that."
"See you prove it. First Mate! Take these two in hand and see what you can do with them."
"I'll make sailors of these two," the first mate said, her smile and the tone of her voice nearly making Kira shiver with worry.
"Them?" the captain questioned. "Five crowns you can't."
"Done. Five crowns I can." The first mate smiled at Mari and Jason again. "Shall we begin?"
The first mate walked back and forth a few times, studying Kira and Jason. "You'll need something suitable for work." She pointed forward. "Go."
To Kira's relief, Jason didn't balk but went along without protest, inside an open hatch and down a short ladder to a compartment near the bow lined with bunks. The first mate went to a chest, opened it and began pulling out shirts and trousers similar to those worn by the crew. She tossed one outfit to Kira and another to Jason. "Out of those land clothes and into working gear. Now."
Kira stared at the first mate and pointed at Jason. "Not in front of him."
The first mate raised her eyebrows. "Aren't you the bashful one? We live in close quarters. Get used to it."
Jason didn't say anything, but turned his back to Kira as he began undressing. She turned away from him, grateful that he hadn't taken advantage of the situation.
Kira changed quickly, the heavy, coarse material harsh against her skin. The first mate looked her and Jason over, and held out her hands. "Put all of your belongings into your packs and give them over. The captain will keep them safe until we put you off."
Kira saw no sign of deception in the first mate, so she did as ordered.
The first mate pointed to Jason and the drive from the ship he still had. "All of your belongings," she repeated. "What's that around your neck?"
Chapter 10
Jason maintained a sullen silence, but to Kira's eyes also looked uncertain. They hadn't made up a ready lie to explain why Jason had to wear the drive around his neck, and they certainly couldn't tell the truth about it.
"Now," the first mate insisted, growing angry.
"It contains his father's ashes," Kira suddenly said, making up her explanation as she spoke. "He's oath-bound to keep them with him until he reaches his father's home for proper burial."
"Why didn't you just say that, boy?" the first mate demanded.
"I don't like to talk about my father," Jason mumbled.
"Neither do I about mine, but I'm smart enough to answer questions. I'll not separate you from it, then. The captain told you true. He is an honest man and this is an honest ship. If either one of you steal anything while you're onboard, from ship or shipmate, it'll go very hard on you. Now get back on deck."
Once on deck again, Kira stood, trying not to look nervous. She was acutely aware that Jason was still acting very much the surly teenager. Kira didn't know what was about to happen, but the smiles of anticipation she could see on the gathered crew didn't reassure her in the slightest. There were less than twenty in the crew, ranging from men and women who looked to be barely eighteen to grizzled old sailors who must have already been sailing long before Kira's mother changed the world.
The first mate looked them over again, shaking her head. "All right, then, girl, let's see what you and this boy have in you." She pointed up. "To the mast. See if you can reach the topsail."
Kira followed the gesture with a sinking sensation in her stomach. Maybe it wasn't actually that tall, but faced with climbing it Kira thought the mast seemed incredibly high, the highest sail a small patch against the sky. Someone shoved her toward ropes interwoven into squares, one end of the ropes fastened to the ship's railing and the other end to a small platform high on the mast. "Feet on the ratlines and up the shrouds, girl!"
Kira set her jaw and walked to the ropes, grateful that at least this test didn't involve personal humiliation. She made a clumsy effort of getting up on the rail and onto the ropes while the crew howled with amusement. On the other side of the ship, she saw Jason being shoved toward the identical shrouds and ratlines leading up on that side. Jason, his face set in surly lines, was taking considerably more punishment from the crew's rough-housing than Kira had.
The rope was rough, with sharp fibers sticking out randomly enough that they couldn't be avoided. Kira started up the shrouds cautiously, wincing at the pain in her hands as they gripped the horizontal ratlines. "Move it, girl!" the first mate roared, and two sailors sprang onto the ratlines behind her, racing up and past Kira in a flash, each one dealing a blow to her back as they passed. Kira tamped down her anger and moved faster, trying not to look at the deck and how far below it already was. After what seemed a long climb, she reached the platform, only to find her tormentors grinning and pointing at the smaller set of shrouds leading up the tiny platform serving the topsail.
Kira shot them an ugly look and grabbed the ropes again, pulling herself up and praying she wouldn't look down and freeze with fear. She heard shouts of derision and without thinking looked that way, seeing Jason still only halfway up the first set of ratlines and getting more blows to encourage him. Without realizing what she was doing, Kira let her eyes slide down from there to the deck.
It looked terrifyingly far away and ridiculously small against the sea. Kira felt her hands lock on the ropes as she shuddered with fear. Then a hand punched her shoulder and she looked over at one of the crew. "You're almost there, girl. Why quit now?" he asked in a rough but encouraging voice. "You afraid? Too weak for it? Too young?"
"I'll show you who's weak," Kira growled, her temper driving fear from her for the moment. She went the rest of the way up as fast as she could, reaching the top and hanging there, breathing heavily.
She heard the first mate yelling up at her. "So you made it, girl! Now come on down!"
Kira resisted the urge to yell something insulting back and instead started down, finding the process difficult in its own way. She saw Jason had made it to the first level, looking even angrier than Kira felt. But he started up the next set of ratlines as Kira went back down, already feeling tired by the time she staggered back onto the wooden planks of the deck..
The first mate smiled. "You're ready to race, girl. As soon as you win, you can rest."
>
"Race?" Kira asked. A sailor stood at the base of the shrouds, one foot on a ratline, grinning. "I have to beat her to the top?"
"Her or anyone else. Go."
The next hour was an agony as Kira got more and more tired, her muscles quivering with exhaustion, while the sailors swapped out often enough to stay fresh. Even though Kira got better at climbing and coming down, she couldn't beat the sailors and finally collapsed on the deck, unable even to stand. A bucket of seawater splashed over her and Kira managed to get to her feet, glaring at the first mate, who offered her another bucket with a brush in it. "Enough fun. The deck needs scrubbing. Get to it."
Grabbing the bucket and then almost collapsing under the weight, Kira stumbled past the laughing members of the crew and went to her knees. She pulled out the brush and started scrubbing, wondering how long it would take the ship to reach port and whether she would manage to avoid the temptation to murder the first mate before then. At some point she saw Jason also scrubbing, and coming in for even more abuse because of his attitude.
Kira lost all track of time, knowing nothing but the ache in her body and the pain in her hands and knees. At some point someone shoved her against the gunwale and pushed a cup into her hand. Kira drank the water automatically, and when some hard biscuit was given her chewed slowly, her stomach threatening to revolt at any time. Either the day was drawing to a close or her vision was darkening. Kira couldn't seem to focus on anything well enough to tell. "That's enough," she heard someone say. "We don't want to kill them. Get them below."
Kira was half-carried forward and down the hatch back to the crew's living area. Some hammocks had been slung and Kira was dumped into one. She passed out almost immediately.
When Kira woke she was aware of the sounds of other people sleeping in the compartment, which was now pitch-dark without even a weak lantern to provide light. Her hammock was swaying with the motion of the ship, something that would have been soothing under other circumstances. She heard shallow, pained breathing close by and cautiously extended one hand to feel another hammock. "Jason?" she whispered.