As he moved, Blade looked out across the water. As hard as he strained his eyes, he could see almost nothing except a swirling, gray-white murk, with orange flame flaring up briefly here and there. Once he thought he saw the dim bulk of a ship, distorted and wavering, but he couldn't be sure of that or of anything else he saw in the smoke. It was as if a fogbank had risen from the sea to swallow up the rest of the battle.
Blade was hardly going to complain about that. He would be quite happy if all the rest of both fleets stayed swallowed up in their own smoke for several hours. That would give Kukon time enough to get away, repair some of her damage, sort out her mixed crew, and be ready to flee or fight again.
Blade reached the galley's stern, noticed that the cabins had been shattered by the exploding gun, and looked forward again. The beat of the oars quickened. Now he recognized Dzhai on the foc'sle, supervising a crew working to remount the two disabled guns. He had the axe stuck in his belt now, along with the sword, to leave himself a hand free.
Then a gun boomed in the smoke and a ball whistled low over the sea, skipping off the water in a burst of spray and sailing only feet over Kukon's deck. Blade controlled the urge to duck, looked off to starboard, and swore.
A pirate galley was closing fast on Kukon, racing along in a cloud of foam and spray. She was apparently undamaged except for the loss of her masts, and her guns were all manned. More men were lined up on her deck, ready to board when the moment came. She was closing in to ram Kukon on the already damaged starboard side. Kukon could not move fast enough to escape the blow and she could hardly survive a second ramming, even if she could fight off another boarding party.
Blade stopped swearing. It was a waste of breath. The pirate galley had to be stopped or slowed, and the guns were the only way to do it. Blade ran forward, leaping a gap in the gangway, and reached the foc'sle. The bearded man was yelling at the rowers, and Kukon was already beginning to swing around to meet the enemy bows-on. They wouldn't be able to avoid the ramming that way, but they would make it easier for the bow guns to bear.
Blade ran up to Dzhai and jerked a thumb at the heavy gun. «Loaded?» Dzhai nodded. Blade snatched up a handspike, rammed it under the gun carriage, and began heaving the gun around. Half a dozen men leaped to join him, sweating and swearing. Slowly the gun moved. Finally Blade could look along the barrel straight at the center gun on the foc'sle of the oncoming pirate ship. Her gunners had stopped firing and were lying down on the deck. Apparently they now expected the ramming and the boarders to do all the work.
Blade lit a length of slowmatch and waited, as the enemy ship grew steadily larger. He was only going to get one shot, and he had to make it a good one.
The pirate ship was only two hundred yards away when Blade decided his moment had come. He sprang to one side of the gun, thrusting the match down into the touchhole as he did. The gun went off with an earthquake roar, leaped backward, and crashed halfway through the bulwarks. It hung precariously for a moment, then slipped overboard with a crackling of shattered wood and a tremendous splash.
Seconds later a thundering explosion made Blade spin around. Another second, and an even bigger shock wave knocked him and everybody else on the foc'sle flat on the deck. Blade tasted blood from a split lip and a battered nose, rose to his hands and knees, and looked toward the pirate ship.
A tremendous cloud of smoke was still rising from the spot where she had been. Out of the smoke rained oars, planks, guns, ropes, and human bodies. A charred block of wood clattered down on Kukon's deck and rolled against Blade. A human arm, the hand still wearing a leather glove, struck Dzhai on the back. He picked it up with a sour look and threw it over the side.
Blade had aimed his shot to smash down the length of the enemy's deck, slaughtering rowers and boarders. Instead, his aim and good luck had put his shot squarely into the magazine.
Now the smoke was drifting aside, merging into the general murk hanging over the sea. Blade could see the pirate galley again. The forward third of her hull was blown off clear down to the water line. As he watched, he saw the charred timbers of the bow dip under. Then the water climbed up the deck, the stern rose, and the whole black hull slipped down out of sight. Foam bubbled up for a moment; then there was nothing left but a mass of drifting wreckage and a hundred or so heads, dark against the silver-blue water. Beyond the heads Blade could already see the upthrust gray fins of approaching sharks. Sharks, he'd read, were attracted by vibrations and explosions in the water. There'd certainly been enough of those around here today. Anybody who found himself swimming here and now would be very lucky to get to shore. Blade stood up, helped Dzhai to his feet, then turned to the bearded man and the captain.
Blade noticed that the captain still wore his sword and armor. His face was now gray with fatigue and dirt.
The bearded man turned to the captain and said, «Cap'n-ye ken be w' us effen y' wish. Weel na fight w' ye now.» The man looked up at Blade and Dzhai. Blade nodded. If the captain could be trusted, why not let him come with them? He'd fought well today and they all owed him much. Besides, it was time to bring the killing to an end.
After a moment, Dzhai also nodded. It was the captain who shook his head. «Thank you-gentlemen, may I call you? The offer does you honor. But a man who has survived today's battle will not be in the Emperor's favor. One who has also lost his ship to its rowers will be still less so. And there is my family's fate to consider, as well as my own. You know the ways of His Magnificence.»
The captain drew off his helmet and laid it and his sword down on the deck. «I have sons who should by custom receive these. I ask you to do what you can for them. Farewell, and safe voyaging.» Without another word he turned, climbed onto the bulwarks, and stepped off into the air. The splash as he struck the water sounded unnaturally loud in Blade's ears.
At least the captain's armor would draw him down quickly. The sharks would have no chance at him.
Blade sighed and turned to the other men. «Come on,» he said, with a briskness he did not feel. It had been a very long day, and it was not over yet. «It's time we started on our way out of here.»
«True,» said Dzhai. He reached down to his waist and unbuckled the belt and knife. «Prince Blade, I believe this is yours?»
Chapter 15
The bearded man set a course to the southeast. Heading due south would have taken them away from the battle and the islands of the Strait of Nongai faster, but it would also have taken them straight away from land, out into the Silver Sea. Kukon was afloat for the moment. Before they could safely take her on a long voyage, she would need repairs of a sort they could not give her in the open sea. They would also need fresh water, firewood, and jury masts.
Then there was the matter of sorting out those who had been slave rowers and those who had been free sailors and soldiers. For the moment there were neither slaves nor freemen aboard Kukon, only men fleeing for their lives. If this happy situation didn't last, there would be trouble of a sort best prevented before it got started. Blade, Dzhai, and the bearded man all-agreed on that.
No ship from either side followed Kukon as she limped away from the battle. Perhaps no one noticed her; perhaps no one cared enough to follow. Or perhaps there was no one left alive to either notice or care.
Blade suspected it was the last situation. The rest of the battle had probably been fought as savagely as Kukon's part. If so, there would be neither pirate galleys nor Imperial galleys left afloat-nothing except wreckage and a lot of well-fed sharks.