The Dimernesti nodded, somehow understanding what was going on in Maquesta's mind. She ran to the aft of the ship and dived over, hardly making a splash as her form cut through the water.
"Lendle, can you make the oars stop-without turning off your machine? Perhaps just raise them up out of the water so we don't go anywhere?" Maquesta looked into his bright eyes, hoping she wasn't about to make another mistake. "I'm afraid if you turn it off, you might not get it started again."
"Oh, it will work from now on, Maquesta Kar-Thon." Lendle was beaming with pride. "When you directed us to set up a winch and pulley on the aft deck to pull up the morkoth's cage, I had to take the big winch out of my oar engine. It seems I had a few too many parts in the engine, because when I closed it back up, and turned it on, it started right away. Of course, there is the matter of a little smoke."
"So you have a winch set up?"
"Oh, yes, Vartan and I did that while you were… busy underwater."
"And it looks like we're going to need that winch and pulley!" Fritzen was calling from the aft deck. "I'll need some help with the crank. Tailonna says the morkoth is still caged!"
Several long minutes later, Tailonna's head cleared the water. "I've hooked up the cable. And it looks as if the morkoth is decidedly unhappy about all of this."
As she climbed on deck, the sea elf explained that she'd had to chase away a veritable army of crabs that were hard at work trying to free the morkoth. The steel bars were tougher than their claws, and all the experience had done was make the little crustaceans grumpy, she added.
It took shifts of three men, taking turns working the crank, to pull up the cage. As its top broke through the water, Maquesta ordered the men to look away. She dashed to the hold and retrieved one of the old sails that she had stored in the event her new ones needed repairs.
Tailonna drew the material about the cage, so the morkoth could not look out of the bars and hypnotize any of the men. She left only a small hole, just large enough to slip fish through to feed the beast. And the hole had a flap of material attached to it, so when the creature wasn't eating, it would not even be able to see a speck of sky.
"Reminds me of an orange parrot my mother had," Fritzen mused. "The little bird was so loud that she had to completely cover the cage every night. She used a white sheet, and when I was a child I would have nightmares about the ghost in the kitchen."
"I dare say the morkoth is more annoying than a bird," Maq quipped.
"I'm not sure you could convince my mother of that."
"At least you still have a mother."
"Somewhere," Fritzen answered.
The cage secured to the aft section of the ship, Maquesta nodded to Lendle to put his oar engine into its highest gear. All of the crew had assembled on the deck to watch the gnome's machine at work. They anxiously stared over the sides, looking at the oars that hovered just above the water. Finally, the oars began to move, their oarlocks creaking. Slowly at first, then gathering speed and power.
The crew broke into spontaneous applause, and Lendle's blush could be seen even through the soot on his face.
During most of the next day, Lendle tended the engine as if it were a newborn baby, emerging from the cargo hold only to take an occasional bite to eat, and forcing Vartan to stand in as chef. The Perechon was making better time than ever before-and was also making more noise than Maquesta would have believed possible. She made a mental note to ask Lendle-after they arrived in Lacynos-if he could make the oar machine work quietly. She didn't want to ask him now and risk him doing something to stop it from functioning.
Maquesta and Fritzen stood by the helm, listening to the odd collection of sounds and watching the sun drop toward the horizon. It was the evening of the second day that the oar engine had been in use, and the Perechon, within less than a dozen hours, would be approaching the entrance to Horned Bay-its prize captive in tow, and more than a half day short of Attat's deadline.
Chapter 16
Clanking, wheezing, and belching gouts of black smoke, the Perechon pulled into Lacynos's bay shortly after dawn the next day, beating Lord Attat's deadline. Sailors on the wharf looked up in amazement at the wounded ship that was sailing smoothly but loudly.
Maquesta directed Lendle to cut his oar engine, and the ship coasted into the fetid waters in time for the crew to see a minotaur crewman throw the entrails of some large animal over the side of a schooner. Maq turned up her nose in disgust and was thankful that within a few hours Melas and the Perechon would be out of Lacynos-forever as far as she was concerned. She doubted the minotaur lord would put up any argument to keep the Perechon when he spotted the ship's condition and lack of a mizzenmast. Fritzen asked about making repairs in the port, but Maq only scowled.
"As soon as we have my father and Ilyatha has his daughter, we're leaving. We can find another port a few days away. Maybe it won't have as good facilities, but I'm sure the hospitality will be better," Maquesta told him.
Bas-Ohn Koraf stood near the bow. Maquesta could tell the minotaur had sunk into a deep state of depression. Before sunset his freedom would be taken from him, though she was hopeful Attat would allow her to purchase him with some of the morkoth's gems. Then there would be the matter of her father getting used to a minotaur crewman. That might be difficult after everything Attat had done to him, but she had come to rely too much on Kof to simply dismiss the minotaur first mate.
Once the Perechon was safely anchored, Maq sent Vartan and Fritzen to shore in the longboat-with a message for Lord Attat. He was to come to the wharf, bringing Melas and Sando along with him. The message further detailed that Maq would meet him on the deck of the Perechon, at which time the morkoth would be turned over to his care, ending her obligation to the minotaur lord. An exchange of prisoners, she viewed it.
Maq had no idea how the minotaur lord intended to get the morkoth from the harbor to his palace, since she thought the creature would die when taken out of seawater, but that was not something Maq intended to worry about. She'd kept her part of the bargain, and she didn't care what Attat intended to do with the beast.
She waved as Fritzen and Vartan eased the longboat toward the docks, then began pacing, anxiously awaiting the return of her father. She had so much to tell him. Tell him! Of course! She raced belowdecks to where Ilyatha hid from the sun's bright rays.
"Ilyatha," Maquesta gushed, "have you been able to contact your daughter? Is Sando all right?"
The shadowperson's face showed a hint of a smile. "My daughter is alive, though she is still in that hateful stone prison in the garden. The sun's rays are creeping toward her even now. But I have reassured her that she will not have long to wait. We will be together and free."
"And then the Perechon will carry you as close to your home as possible," Maq offered.
Maquesta was happy for Ilyatha, but needed to be reassured herself. "Can you touch my father's mind? Can you tell him that he will be back on the deck of the Perechon soon?"
The shadowperson shook his head slowly. "I can contact Sando from this distance only because she, too, is a telepath. And throughout our journey I was able to contact the ki-rin because he has a strong and magical mind-one far more developed than my own. My ability to reach those who are not so gifted is limited."
"But you knew we were escaping from Lord Attat's," Maq began. "You were able to…"