04
I couldn't have been out for long. I've a confused memory of pain, brightness and then blackness, of being tussled up, stretched out and then hung in blackness. And then left alone. I took my time, slowly gathering my wits and exploring my plight, through a veil of throbbing pain from a point above my left ear.
I found that I was hung hand and foot under the deck beams of a Temtre ship, secured by ropes and attached to hooks hidden in the dark hollows between the beams. They hadn't allowed any slack - I was stretched out, clinched right up to the beams. All I could do was to twist about to survey my surroundings, which hurt my head, so I kept my survey brief.
I was in the ship's engine room. The beams, deck, and bulkheads were black from smoke and charcoal dust. On my right, towards my feet, I caught the glint of polished metal - the ship's steam engine, all iron and brass, in an intricate maze of pipes and shafts. Towards my head I could see the boiler with caged bunkers full of what I took to be charcoal bricks on either side of it. Shafts of pale light dropped through the grate in the deck above, and the lines of pipes to splash small squares of light on the black carpeted deck. There were several more grates on either side of the engine as well. I'd imagine the boiler and steam engine made for a hot place when fired up.
On my left, a couple meters away, two Temtres were playing some sort of card game on a small table lit by an open porthole in the hull. They didn't say much beyond calling out points or plays in the game. Cin was not to be seen. Try as I might, I was unable to come up with even a glimmer of an escape plan. Instead, I hung under the beams pondering, far, far from the first time, how it is I so often find myself, head aching, in these very iffy orbits. All I ever aspired to do was to haul boxes from one planet to the next. The mistakes were certainly mine, though the actual starting points of those mistakes seemed hard to pin down, making it hard to learn from them. This black study probably went on for perhaps a dozen minutes, until a wet tongue licked my nose.
I turned my head to my right and saw Siss clinging, upside down, in the dark hollow of the deck beams next to my face, her black eyes bright with carefree mischief. Of course she wasn't the one tied hand and foot to the beams of a pirate's engine room, but still, if I'm going to constantly find myself tied up hand and foot to the beams of a pirate's engine room or in some other equally unpleasant situation, I'm going to have to adopt that carefree attitude of hers towards life. I glanced back at the card players. They were paying no attention to me, and given the general darkness of the engine room and the fact that my body likely blocked a clear view of Siss, we had a chance.
I looked back at Siss, pointed with my eyes at the ropes that bound my hands and thought very hard about a Simla dragon chewing through them. Siss gave my nose another lick, and quickly shifted several beams over to grasp the rope above my hands with her narrow crocodile mouth and began to quietly chew. It took some time. Though her teeth were sharp, they were made for grasping rather than cutting. Still, I could feel the rope loosen as she severed the strands one by one. I began to hope.
I turned my head to watch the card players and began to make a plan of action. My belts, sword and dagger had been taken, but I seemed to feel that my sissy was still tucked away in the hidden pocket of the spaceer trousers. Pockets are not a feature of Temtre fashion, so having taken my weapons and pouches, they likely considered their work done.
The card game ended in a flurry of action and exclamations. Siss, quickly withdrew up into the shadows between the beams as they glanced at me. I closed my eyes to feign unconsciousness, with the hope that the strands of the frayed rope above my head weren't too evident.
But they must've been, since one of the guards let out a 'What?' and started to stand.
Siss gave a low, hissing growl, and shot under me for the standing guard, knocking him back against the hull.
I gave my bonds a great wrench drawing in my arms and legs. The ropes cut deeper into my wrists but they also started unraveling - giving. Another wrench and my hands were free of the hook, though still tied together. I swung downwards and brought my hands over my head and twisted to reach my hidden pocket.
Siss in the meanwhile had grasped the standing guard with her rear legs and tail and had the sword arm of the second guard in her mouth, and was clawing at him with her fore legs.
Awkwardly pushing through my outer pants I found my little darter. I pulled it out and twisted about to face the guards.
Siss was engaged in a frenzied struggle holding one and trying to prevent both from drawing their swords. 'Get clear, Siss! I'll deal with them!' I yelled.
She barked a laugh, and disengaged, darting up to the ceiling to give me a clear line of fire. Being able to read not only your partner's mind, but your opponent's as well, is a great advantage in a fight.
Even though I was upside down, and the guards were outside my customary range at two meters, I silenced them both with two darts. It appears that, when necessary, I can actually hit something. Seeing the blue dot of the drive beam on your target helps, as does firing when you see it. Siss and I waited in silence to see if the brief uproar attracted any attention from elsewhere in the ship. It didn't.
'Thanks, Siss. Do you think you could grab that fellow's dagger and bring it to me? I'll cut myself down, and then we can go about finding Cin.'
She deftly snatched the handle of the knife out of the unconscious guard's belt and brought it over to me. I curled myself up and cut the ropes around my feet. I then grasped the deck, pulled myself down, and hooking my boots to the rough deck carpet, stood and caught my breath as I cleared the last of the ropes from my hands. 'Great work, Siss. You're a wonder. Can you lead me to Naylea?'
She softly barked a laugh and nodded.
'Right,' I said, and looking about, spied my belts, weapons and tricorne hat hanging in the corner of the charcoal bunkers and forward bulkhead. I took a minute to strap everything back on, fit my battered hat over the painful lump on the side of my head and then said, 'Lead on Siss. Let's fetch Cin and go home.'
She led me up past the big, open framed steam engine. It was too tall to fit under the low deck so it extended up into the deckhouse overhead. I took a ladder up to a catwalk around the cylinder heads that led to a door in the deckhouse. I opened it and Siss swam out, and I followed her to stand blinking in the light. Simla dragons seemed to have a run of the Assembly, so her presence aboard ship was unremarkable. She, at least, seemed totally unconcerned about concealment and with my darter in hand, I wasn't too concerned either. I'd a pounding headache and a willingness to share it.
There was no one in the narrow gangway between the deckhouse or on the roof that I could see. I spent half a minute letting my eyes adjust to the light, while the tail of Siss hung in the air around the corner of the deckhouse waiting for me. Eyes adjusted, I took a deep breath, stood a little straighter, and saying 'Right,' followed the tail around the deckhouse. Before me stretched some 30 meters of a narrow deck with arching beams and a grid overhead, laying down a vague pattern of light squares on the deck and the sides of the deckhouse. Halfway down, two crew members were sewing on a large piece of canvas spread across the deck. Siss didn't hesitate, and I followed her. They looked up and gave me a questioning look as I carefully stepped over the red canvas sail on the deck, pulling myself along using the ship's railing so my claw tips wouldn't damage the canvas. I gave them each a dart as I passed by. I glanced around. Though I heard some talk above me from the upper deck, no one was in sight, so I pushed on.
Siss led straight down the deck to the wide forecastle cabin set across the bow of the ship. There were two crew members -perhaps guards - standing in the gangway between this cabin and the deckhouse. They glanced at me as I rounded the corner. I expended two more darts at point blank range.
Siss had her nose on the forecastle door.
I didn't know what to expect, and we had made no plans, but with Siss's ability to read minds and my darter, I didn't think a plan was necessary. We'd ju
st wing it. I pushed down on the latch and opened the door. It opened noiselessly, sending a shaft of light into the dim room. Siss swam in unconcerned, and I followed. It proved to be a small chart room or antechamber dimly lit by a thick glass skylight overhead. It was empty. Siss was already waiting at the next door. I closed the door behind me and crossed the room.
'Ready?' I whispered.
She gave me a low growl and a wag of her tail that put her nose to the door.
'Right,' I said, opening the door. Siss slipped through as soon as the opening was wide enough and I followed, darter in hand, closing the door behind me.
At the far end of the dim, but ornately decorated cabin, Cin and DeKan were seated at a table set before a curving built-in seat in a corner of the cabin. The table was set with drinking globes, a pot, and covered plates. They both let out exclamations of surprise when Siss swam into their midst to swirl around Cin.
'Why, Siss! What are you doing here?' exclaimed Cin.
Siss growled menacingly, and darted under the table, ready to take a bite out of DeKan's crouch should that prove necessary. DeKan looked down and then laughed, shaking his head, with Cin joining in. Which, I suspect, knowing Siss, was just what she wanted. She was having fun. Anything for a laugh.
'Right, keep a close eye on those jewels, Siss. One wrong move and goodbye future DeKans,' I said from the shadows.
Only then did Cin look across the cabin to see me. Her eyes widened with surprise, and then unguarded delight - a look of delight went straight and true to my heart. She had never been dearer to me, nor I think I to her. It was not that I had come to save her; I don't think she ever considered herself in any danger, but that she had a partner who she didn't have to save.
'Why Captain Canary! It's so good to see you. We were just talking about you! We were negotiating your fate,' she exclaimed, and then growing very serious, she shook her head sadly and said, 'I'm afraid negotiations were not going well. Not well at all.'
'We were so far from agreement that I feared we'd never agree on terms,' added the Clan-king, with a cool smile, quickly recovering from our unexpected intrusion. 'She seemed resigned to accepting a rather unpleasant fate for you.'
'And I'm very glad to hear that,' I replied, stepping into the middle of the cabin to bring him almost within my effective range - without getting too close. 'I'm happy to know she didn't think it necessary to pay the price I suspect you were asking, since, as you can see, she need not. The Temtres are no match for Siss and I.'
He shrugged. 'Perhaps,' he said with a cold smile that clearly indicated that he rather doubted it.
'I have wonderful news, Wil. We were discussing your fate over cha. Real cha. They call it "tay" here, but it is cha. They grow it in the Principalities, so your dream of becoming a cha planter lives on!' said Cin brightly. Like Siss, she was having her fun, and was probably having her fun before we arrived as well. DeKan may've had me tied hand and foot to some deck beams, but he hadn't bothered to bind Cin in any way that I could see. A foolish piece of bravado.
'That's wonderful news, my dear. However, though I hate to interrupt your conversation with the Clan-king, I think we'd best be lifting. There's nothing more to be settled.'
There was an urgent knock on the door behind me. 'Sir, sir!' a muffled voice from beyond the door.
'Enter!' commanded DeKan without so much of a "by your leave" from me. No doubt I cut a very underwhelming figure - rumpled and battered, no sword in hand, and my sissy's potential both unknown to him, and likely unnoticed, since it is small, flat and mostly covered by my hand.
I stepped aside as the door was flung open and large fellow rushed in, sword it hand.
'Sir, the prisoner...' he began, stopping as he caught sight of the prisoner.
I reached out, and almost touching him, gave him a dart. There was a brief flicker of pale blue light in the dark cabin and he pitched forward, his toes still clinging to the carpet. A quick glance back revealed a second crew member in the chart room. I gave him a dart as well as I slammed the door and slid the lock bar into place, without taking my eyes off of DeKan for more than a second or two. DeKan, however, hadn't moved. He was staring at the fallen crewman.
'What did you do? he asked, looking to me, with a rather shocked look that might have been almost, if not quite, fear. 'Is he dead?'
'No, only sleeping. But sleeping only because I chose not to kill him,' I added. A slight lie, as the sissy only held non-lethal darts. 'He'll come to in a while with only a headache.'
'Is that what you did to the others?'
'The fellows you sent to follow us? Yes, we dealt with them in like manner. You see, DeKan, you've bitten the tail of a dangerous dragon. I may look to be an unimpressive dragon, but I command powers - magic, if you will, that can deal with you and your clan. Shipwrecked we may be, but powerless, we're not. I've enjoyed the clan's hospitality, but much of that good will has been lost with your treachery, the ambush, and the blow to the head. But I believe I'm too kindhearted to deal with you,' I said with a smile to Cin. 'So, I'll leave your fate in the hands of my lady. And good luck to you.'
That cheered him up. He suffered no shortage of charm, or self-confidence. Indeed, he didn't seem anywhere near as intimidated as I would have liked by my actions or words. Actually he didn't seem intimidated at all.
He shrugged, and smiled mock-sheepishly. 'Yes. It was extremely ill mannered of me, and for that I apologize.' he said, looking to Cin. 'I have done you a great dishonor. Blame it on my foolhardy eagerness.'
'And foolhardy ego,' she added with a pleasant smile.
He returned the smile, and then turned to me. 'But since there's been no blood shed, I think we can stop playing games, however pleasant they are,' this with a nod to Cin, ' and discuss the terms of your employment.'
'Some blood has been shed,' I replied touching the damp lump on the side of my head. 'And I'm neither playing games nor seeking employment. I'm here to collect Naylea.'
'I'm afraid that is not possible. I simply cannot allow you to leave. This is the island of the Temtres - you will leave on Temtre terms or not leave at all.'
'Sorry, no deal,' I said. 'And now, before the entire clan gathers we need to be lifting off. What do you say, Cin? A dart to keep him quiet and then away?'
Cin nodded and looked to him. 'I'm sorry Kin, but Captain Canary's right. It's time to go.'
DeKan acted with the speed of thought. The table before him flew at me, as he launched himself towards me. Had I not been pointing my sissy at him and had the thought to fire already formed, he would have beat my dart, knocked me back against the bulwark, and had me for a hostage within little more than the blink of an eye. As it was, I fired when he was too close to miss or dodge. He struck me, knocking me painfully back against the bulwark, but he was unable to follow through, as my dart had been true. The table, plates, pots and covered mugs smashed against the forward bulkhead around me. Siss had been sent tumbling as well. Recovering her equilibrium, she growled and glanced at me. "Should I take a bite out of him?" she asked with her eyes.
I pushed his limp body to one side, and said, 'Maybe later, Siss. We'll need him in one piece for a while.'
She growled again, more a matter of form than anything else.
'Such foolish pride,' said Cin, putting away her sissy. But then she sprang into action. 'Let's get him tied up. We must move fast now, before the alarm spreads beyond the Talon Hawk. Cut the hammock down, we'll use the ropes to tie his arms together in back. That'll make him easy to carry. We'll have to take him with us as a hostage.'
'Why? Our darters should see us through any resistance.'
'And they'll search the island for us. He'll not leave until we're found. Perhaps we can use him as leverage?' she said, as she dragged his limp body into position.
It took only a minute to tie his arms together. He'd be unconscious for several hours, so it was only for the convenience of lugging him along.
'There's no point negotiating now.
Dart anyone you see. We need to get clear as fast as possible. Stand him here, in front of the door. Siss, you get out of the line of fire. Litang, open the door,' she ordered. Then holding the limp form of DeKan before her as a shield, she nodded. 'The door.'
I unlatched it and swung it open.
Cin didn't hesitant. She opened fire as soon as she had a target. There were three men in the small chart room, including the ship's first mate armed with a long barreled sidearm. She shot all three as they stood, before they could act, with their Clan-king square in the doorway. She used four darts - one must've hit a badge or buckle, since it exploded in blue light and another fired.
'Right,' she said as the last Temtre slumped. 'Clear a way through. Shoot anyone you see aboard the ship. They'll know.'
I stepped into the small room, and pushed the bodies aside so that Cin could get DeKan to the deck door.
'Stay behind us Siss until we're off the ship. Right, the next door, Litang.'
The door opened on the narrow deck between the deckhouses where I'd darted the two guards. They'd been moved. The deck was empty as I cracked open the door and peered out.
'Clear,' I said, stepping out. I caught a slight shadow move on the deckhouse wall, and dived out, twisting about. I saw a Temtre on the upper deck above the door. I shot him through the grating. Cin was pushing DeKan through the door, when I peered around the corner. There was a small cluster of women around the two sail makers I'd darted, but the gangplank was before them, so I held my fire and searched the deck above. It appeared empty - the ship was either lightly manned, or the crew mostly asleep. A break for us. I grabbed DeKan's other arm and between us we drove his limp body down the deck to the gangplank gate. Two of the women looked up, saw something was wrong, and reached for their daggers. Cin gave each a dart as we rounded the corner and shot down the gangplank.
Though the Clan-king's ship had been anchored in the center of the ship-city, ships were now scarce and the crowd in the streets around it were thin. No one seemed hurrying towards the Talon Hawk, so it appeared that word of trouble on board had not spread beyond the ship, that, or that we were outracing it.
Cin glanced about, and nodded to me, 'The coast is clear. Let's lift.'
We set off for the nearest island edge with Siss now in the lead at a fast trot, our steel toes digging lightly into the matted turf. We zigzagged through the lines of ships, jogging arm in arm with the limp Clan-king, whose legs trailed behind us unmoving, gathering curious glances, but at first, no immediate challenges.
Our darters should keep us safe from anyone armed only with swords and daggers, but the Temtres also had compressed air sidearms and rifles. They weren't worn during the Assembly since it was a family gathering. The swords and daggers were traditional and worn for show. Still, if word spread beyond DeKan's Talon Hawk fast enough, we might come under fire, assuming they were marksmen enough not to hit their king.
Our initial good luck deserted us as we neared the last couple of rows of ships. There some Temtres, who had been following us at a distance, decided to challenge us, calling out for us to stop, they ran forward. Cin turned and silenced them with four shots, but not before a ruckus was raised, drawing more, and bolder responses to our stroll with DeKan. Not that it bothered Cin - she dispensed her darts freely and accurately. We had a dozen Temtre sleeping on their feet in our wake by the time we passed the last line of ships. As I mentioned, Cin didn't need rescuing.
We had, however, not put all resistance behind us. Before us, between us and the cliff, several hundred meters away, we found a gang of a dozen Temtres and several Simla dragons, with more Temtres running towards us in the distance. They stood, swords in hand, led by a massive ship's captain, blocking our way.
'Halt!' he roared. 'What are you doing with the Clan-King?'
I thought Cin would give him and his followers a dart like all the rest, but instead she stopped. 'Cover our rear, Litang. Don't let anyone get close,' she said quietly, and then in a louder voice, 'We're taking DeKan hostage, Captain DinDay. He will not be harmed as long as you, and the rest of the clan go your own way without searching for us or your Clan-king. When the Talon Hawk is the only ship left on the island, we will release him unharmed. I am willing to give you our word, as I did to the Clan-king, that the Clan secrets are safe with us. We bear you no ill will. We know you have secrets to keep, and must do what you can to keep them. But you will have to trust us.'
'Why? And why should I not stop you? And kill you?' roared Captain DinDay, a fierce and powerful clan-chief. We'd heard him speak at the general meeting, the leader of one of the oldest clans and fiercest clans.
Good questions. Cin, however had the answer. 'Because you have no choice and because you can't stop us.'
With my back to DinDay, I didn't see what she did, but I suspect she put his followers asleep with dozen darts. She didn't miss at any range. And I found, that given time, I could hit things as well, picking off several Temtres following in our wake, and giving pause to the rest of them.
'You see, Captain, we've nothing to fear from you. I've only put your followers to sleep. I could've killed them if I cared to. However, in the interest of maintaining the good will of the Temtres, I've refrained from doing so. I'm sure your Simla dragons can attest to the fact that we have no intention of harming your Clan-king or betraying the Clan. We just want our freedom. We have a boat of our own, and we intend to return to it holding your Clan-king until you have gone. Ask them.'
'The Clan-king will be your hostage, only over my dead body!' he roared, ignoring the Simla dragons.
'Let's move, Litang,' she said a second later.
I turned to find DinDay and his followers in a ragged line, all blowing gently in the breeze. We slipped through them. Several Simla dragons, who were watching us silently, did nothing to hinder our escape. It did seem strange since they were known as sentry-serpents in Cimmadar, but I've come to suspect that Simla dragons have a rather large ego and they seemed content to let us humans play this game, especially since they likely knew we had done no more harm to their shipmates than to sleep and still had no intention of betraying the secrets of the Temtres. Either that, or they were males and fools for a pretty Simla dragon?
Siss barked her laugh with that thought, as we reached the cliff and found a trail down to the jungle. We pushed our way into it and started off in the direction of the mountains and our gig, dragging DeKan rather recklessly in our haste.
'Why did you stop to talk?' I asked.
'I wanted our terms known. We don't want them searching the island for us; they still have enough manpower to do a thorough job of it and we've only darts to protect ourselves. It could get, well, messy.'
'Think DeKan as hostage will be enough?'
She gave me a wicked smile. 'I doubt it. I may have to expend some 4mm darts.'
The pirate caliber, 4mm darts, could do more than kill people, they did damage to things as well.