"That's scary."
"Better believe."
"They're going to be disappointed in us. I'm the only one left who takes the traditions seriously."
"Horseapples, Croaker. Spit and polish and beating the drum for the olden days ain't all there is to it. I got to go find that little geek Goblin and see if he can stop pouting long enough for us to do a layout on how we work this scow if it gets hit. Hell. The pirates know everything that's going on up here. Maybe our reputation will scare them into letting us slide through."
"Think so?" It sounded like a nice idea.
"No. Frogface! Get over here. Acts like a damned kid, getting into things. Frogface, I want you to stick with Croaker. You do what he tells you just like if he was me. Got it? You don't and I'll paddle your butt."
For all its talents, the imp had the mind of a five-year-old. With an attention span to match. It told One-Eye it would behave and help me, but I did not expect that to be easy.
I went down to the wharf and accepted thirty-two recruits into our brotherhood of arms. Mogaba was so pleased I thought he might hug me.
They were a damned impressive thirty-two men, every one a monster and quick and lithe as a cat. If they were the mongrel children of the men who had served in Gea-Xle, what must those old-timers have been like?
First thing after I swore them in, Mogaba asked if it was all right if his caste brothers did guard duty aboard the other boats. So they could tell their sons that they had followed the hadj as far as the Third Cataract.
"Sure. Why not?" Mogaba and his boys had my head spinning. For the first time since I got stiffed with the job, I really felt like I was the Captain.
The gang dispersed to get their gear and to spread the good news.
I noted the master of the barge watching from up forward. He was wearing a big poo-eating grin.
Things were going just dandy for his crowd. They thought they had us by the short hairs and broken to the bridle.
"Hey, Croaker. Here comes your prodigal girlfriend."
"You too, Pup? I ought to toss you in the river." If I could run the imp down. He had the energy of a five-year-old, too. I spotted her by the commotion she caused. Or the lack of it. Where she passed men paused to look and sigh and shake their heads wistfully. It did not occur to them to whistle, catcall, or make crude remarks. I looked around and picked a victim. "Murgen!"
Murgen ambled over. "What do you need?"
"When Lady gets here show her her quarters. The attached room is for her guests."
"I thought... "
"Don't think. Just do." I made myself scarce. I was not yet ready for the inevitable battle.
Chapter Nineteen: THE RIVER
Night on the river. A moon splattering the dark mirror of water. A stillness at times almost supernatural, then the cacophony of a festival in helclass="underline" crocodiles grunting, fifty kinds of frogs singing, birds hooting and squawking, hippos snorting; the gods only knew what all.
And bugs buzzing. The bugs were almost as bad as they had been in the jungle. They would get worse once we entered the wetlands farther south. The river was said to flow imperceptibly through a swamp ten to eighty miles wide and three hundred miles long. Here the west bank was still tame. The east was three-quarters wild. The people we saw watching from boats in the mouths of sloughs and creeks were as poorly tamed as their land.
I was assured that they, living in the shadow of the city, were harmless. When they came whooping out it was to hawk crocodile hides and parrot-feather cloaks. On impulse I bought one of the cloaks, the biggest and most outrageously colorful one available. It must have weighed sixty pounds. Wearing it I became the very image of a savage chieftain.
Mogaba examined the cloak and pronounced it a wise buy. He told me it would shed darts and arrows better than armor of steel.
Some of the Nar bought croc hides to toughen their shields.
Goblin got a wild hair and bought him a couple of preserved croc heads. One was so big it looked like it had been lopped off a dragon. While I was seated up top contemplating the nighttime river, wondering about crows, he was up forward mounting his monster purchase as a figurehead. I supposed he had some drama up his sleeve.
He came to me with the smaller head. "I want to fit you out to wear this."
"You what?"
"I want to fit you out to wear this. So when the pirates come you can strut around up here in your feather coat breathing fire like some mythological beast."
"That's a great gimmick. I really like it. In fact, I love it. Why don't we see if we can't get some dope like Big Bucket to try it."
"But—"
"You don't think I'm going to stand up there and let people snipe at me, do you?"
"You'll have plenty of protection from me and One-Eye."
"Yeah? Then my prayers are answered at last. For years I've wanted nothing more than protection from you and One-Eye. ‘Preserve me, O sainted fathers of the Company!' I've cried a thousand times. Yea, ten thousand times have I called—"
Sputtering, he cut me off and changed the subject. He squeaked, "Those people your girlfriend brought aboard—"
"Next fool who calls Lady my girlfriend gets to throw a saddle on a croc and see if they can be broken. You get my drift?"
"Yeah. You got your feelings hurt on account of reality is catching up with you."
I kept my mouth shut, but just barely.
"Bad news, those two are, Croaker." He whispered in the no-breath whisper we use when we are creeping past enemy sentries. "There's big mojo brewing down in their cabin."
He was trying to make himself useful. He had been overshadowed since the appearance of Frogface. So I did not tell him I was on to that already and had had me a thought or two about what could be done.
A fish jumped up and skipped across the water to get away from some predator. For his effort he got his reward: some night bird snagged him on the bounce.
I grunted. Should I let Goblin know how much I knew and suspected? Or should I just go on looking dumb while setting the moment up? Building a mystique had become important now that the Company was on the grow. It should work for a while. The old hands should not suspect me of taking as cynical and pragmatic an approach to command as I planned.
I listened to Goblin's outpouring of fact, suspicion, and speculation. Little that he said was new. What was new only more thoroughly framed the picture I had. I told him, "I think it's time you came up with the masterpiece of your life, Goblin. Something plain, direct, and powerful, that you can cut loose in a second."
He turned on the famous Goblin grin. "I'm way ahead of you, Croaker. I've got a couple of things in the works that are going to amaze people when I use them."
"Good." I had a feeling One-Eye was in for a shock somewhere down the line.
The journey to the Third Cataract takes a minimum two weeks because the current does not exceed a slow walk. Adding pirate trouble could make the trip last forever.
By the end of our fourth day the barge was as defensible as possible. Timber shields protected the main deck. Their lower ends projected over the water to make boarding from boats difficult. None of the embrasures in that shielding were big enough for a man to weasel through. The guys had put together four ballistae for each side. Thanks to One-Eye's foresight we had the makings for firebombs by the score, and ready bombs in well-protected nests atop the deckhouse. The three brothers from Beryl built us a dolphin, which is a fish-shaped weight attached to a long chain. It is swung out on a boom and dropped through the bottoms of boats. My favorite engine, though, was thought up by Patience, a former caravan guard.
A springboard would slap the base of a cartridge filled with poisonous darts, throwing a hail of missiles. The poison needed only the tiniest cut to cause quick paralysis. The engine's one shortcoming was that it was immobile. You had to wait for your target to cross your aim.