Pelli didn’t linger. She took ship immediately and ordered their former course resumed.
Weevan-Jirst was displeased, and showed his irritation when they stood together at the helm.
“We should have made them tell us.”
“What are we,” she retorted, “marauders? Anyway, we don’t need a steer from them; we have our sorcery to help us follow the orcs.”
“So why did we waste time stopping there?”
“To gather intelligence.”
“We gained precious little in that respect.”
“I disagree. We confirmed that we were on the right trail, and learned about the Wolverines’ tangle with…” She shot him a glance. “… members of your race.”
If her aide found the reference objectionable in any way he didn’t show it. “You could have pushed them harder. We might have learnt more.”
“Did you see the graves back there? And the number of them? It wasn’t the right time for an interrogation.”
“It was exactly the right time, while they were weakened by grief.”
“I thought otherwise.”
“Because they’re elves? Your own kind?”
“No. I give no more weight to my own race than any other,” she replied steadfastly. “Any more than I would hold you to account for the wrongdoings of some goblins.”
He made a kind of low clucking with his bony jaw, the goblin equivalent of tutting or an exasperated sigh. “The fact remains,” he hissed, “that we are conducting ourselves with less than single-minded purpose.”
“I think you mean ruthlessness. As I said, I don’t see that as an honourable way for the Corps to behave, and I wouldn’t want to be part of it if it did.”
“Then perhaps you should consider your position as commander of this mission.”
“The one best placed to determine that is our leader.”
“Unless I, as second-in-command, judge you incompetent.”
“You’ve already made that point. I prefer Karrell Revers’ counsel.”
“As you please.”
“And I’m overdue reporting to him. So if you’ll excuse me…” Without waiting for an answer she turned on her heel and walked away.
When Pelli got to her cabin she locked the door, something she didn’t normally bother with. Then she took out the crystal she commonly used to contact Karrell Revers. In moments, following the appropriate incantations, it was glowing in the palm of her hand.
The image of a mature human’s face appeared on the crystal’s surface. He spoke without preamble. “ It’s been too long since your last report. What’s happening?”
“Events move apace here. Reporting hasn’t been my first priority.” She wasn’t in the mood to apologise.
Revers looked as though he was going to rebuke her for that. He contented himself with, “ So tell me now.”
“We’re in hot pursuit of the Wolverines. And I’m sure the sorceress can’t be far away.”
“Have you actually engaged with either yet?”
“Not since our confrontation on the dwarfs’ isle.”
“Which you could have won if you’d used the full potential of your weaponry.”
“I didn’t feel it was appropriate. There were innocents present.”
“And orcs.”
“Yes, but-”
“And perhaps your sympathies for them could have stayed your hand?”
“No. I mean, you know I’m in favour of giving them the benefit of the doubt. My belief is that they’re being manipulated. But that doesn’t in any way compromise my-”
“We seem to have this conversation endlessly. Your one and only aim should be to retrieve the instrumentalities, both the original and duplicate sets. Any other consideration is secondary. Compassion for orcs certainly is.”
The crystal’s magic was such that his words were audible both in her mind and, less loudly, in the cabin. It was something she always found a little disconcerting. “I can get the instrumentalities back,” she replied, “and if things are handled properly, without too much blood being spilt. Surely that’s a better outcome for the Corps?”
“The only outcome that counts is gaining the artefacts. I think you’re close to failing in that.”
“So why did you give me this job in the first place?”
“Because I believed you were capable of it, or at least that you’d grow into it.”
“My chances would be greater if my leadership wasn’t being undermined.”
“What do you mean?”
“Weevan-Jirst. Did you order him to scrutinise my actions? And to relieve me of my command if he saw fit?”
“Pelli, you must understand that-”
“Did you?”
“There has to be a contingency plan for every mission. You are unproven. I needed to know our objective would be achieved, whatever the cost.”
“So you instructed my second-in-command to spy on me.”
“To keep a watchful eye on you. Just that.”
“And to take over this mission if he didn’t like what he saw.”
“The Corps and our calling are bigger than any individual, Pelli. I make no apology for trying to ensure the success of this venture.”
“I gave my loyalty to you, and to the Corps. Is this how you repay me?”
“There would be no threat to your command if you acted decisively.”
“By which you mean taking no heed of casualties among the blameless.”
“Civilian losses are regrettable, but they’re trivial in light of the havoc the instrumentalities can cause in the wrong hands.”
“I can’t regard the death of innocents as unimportant. That’s not what I thought the Corps was about.”
“If you don’t know our sole purpose by now perhaps there is a basis for questioning your judgement.”
“It seems you’re determined to believe that.”
“No, I think I’ve given you more than enough chances to prove yourself. But we’ve got to the stage where there’s nothing more to say. I want to talk with Weevan-Jirst.”
Seeing no point in arguing further, Pelli simply replied, “All right.”
She left the cabin, slipping the crystal into her pocket. But she didn’t seek out her second-in-command. Instead she made for a quiet part of the ship and went to the rail.
She took out the crystal, holding it in her clenched fist and not looking at it. It was true there were other ways of communicating with Karrell Revers, but they involved invocations only she knew, and there was no way she was going to divulge them. The crystal was the simplest, most direct channel.
There was a moment of hesitation then, a realisation of the gravity of what she was about to do.
She looked around to see if anyone was watching. Then she dropped the crystal overboard.
The band was worried about Stryke.
He was in a frame of mind that mixed despair with flashes of belligerence. They left him to brood in the ruins of the deserted village.
At Coilla’s instigation several scouting parties were sent out to comb the island. No one thought anything would come of it, but it was better than doing nothing. As it was comparatively small, the island didn’t take long to search, and the scouts were soon back. They had nothing significant to report.
Calthmon had led one of the parties to explore the opposite side of the island. He had an observation. “There are other islands, just off this one. Three or four of ’em.”
Pepperdyne had the map, loaned to him without protest by Stryke. He consulted it. “Yes, we knew that. They’re here on the chart. A way off, according to this.”
Calthmon shook his head. “Nah. You could hit the nearest with an arrow. Water between’s shallow, too. I reckon we could walk it.”
“I was worried that this map might not be very accurate. What’s over there? Could you see?”
“Nothing. They’re just rocky. Barren.”
“Doesn’t help us much, does it?” Jup said.
“So what do we do?” Haskeer asked. “We can’t just sit on our arses waiting for Stryke to pull himself together.”
“Damned if I know.”
“Couldn’t we go back to the elves’ island?” Spurral suggested.