When Blackthorne had first come to his senses, the cellar was in complete darkness. The screams were filling the pit and he thought that he was dead and in the choking depths of hell. He felt himself being sucked down into muck that was clammy and flesh-crawling beyond measure, and he had cried out and flailed in panic, unable to breathe, until, after an eternity, he had heard, “It’s all right, Pilot, you’re not dead, it’s all right. Wake up, wake up, for the love of Christ, it’s not hell but it might just as well be. Oh, Blessed Lord Jesus, help us all.”
When he was fully conscious they had told him about Pieterzoon and the barrels of seawater.
“Oh, Lord Jesus, get us out of here!” someone whimpered.
“What’re they doing to poor old Pieterzoon? What’re they doing to him? Oh, God help us. I can’t stand the screams!”
“Oh, Lord, let the poor man die. Let him die.”
“Christ God, stop the screams! Please stop the screams!”
The pit and Pieterzoon’s screams had measured them all, had forced them to look within themselves. And no man had liked what he had seen.
The darkness makes it worse, Blackthorne had thought.
It had been an endless night, in the pit.
With the gloaming the cries had vanished. When dawn trickled down to them they had seen the forgotten samurai.
“What’re we going to do about him?” van Nekk had asked.
“I don’t know. He looks as frightened as we are,” Blackthorne said, his heart pumping.
“He’d better not start anything, by God.”
“Oh, Lord Jesus, get me out of here—” Croocq’s voice started to crescendo. “Helllp!”
Van Nekk, who was near him, shook him and gentled him. “It’s all right, lad. We’re in God’s hands. He’s watching over us.”
“Look at my arm,” Maetsukker moaned. The wound had festered already.
Blackthorne stood shakily. “We’ll all be raving lunatics in a day or two if we don’t get out of here,” he said to no one in particular.
“There’s almost no water,” van Nekk said.
“We’ll ration what there is. Some now—some at noon. With luck, there’ll be enough for three turns. God curse all flies!”
So he had found the cup and had given them a ration, and now he was sipping his, trying to make it last.
“What about him—the Japaner?” Spillbergen said. The Captain-General had fared better than most during the night because he had shut his ears to the screams with a little mud, and, being next to the water barrel, had cautiously slaked his thirst. “What are we going to do about him?”
“He should have some water,” van Nekk said.
“The pox on that,” Sonk said. “I say he gets none.”
They all voted on it and it was agreed he got none.
“I don’t agree,” Blackthorne said.
“You don’t agree to anything we say,” Jan Roper said. “He’s the enemy. He’s a heathen devil and he almost killed you.”
“You’ve almost killed me. Half a dozen times. If your musket had fired at Santa Magdellana, you’d have blown my head off.”
“I wasn’t aiming at you. I was aiming at stinking Satanists.”
“They were unarmed priests. And there was plenty of time.”
“I wasn’t aiming at you.”
“You’ve almost killed me a dozen times, with your God-cursed anger, your God-cursed bigotry, and your God-cursed stupidity.”
“Blasphemy’s a mortal sin. Taking His name in vain is a sin. We’re in His hands, not yours. You’re not a king and this isn’t a ship. You’re not our keep—”
“But you will do what I say!”
Jan Roper looked round the cellar, seeking support in vain. “Do what you want,” he said sullenly.
“I will.”
The samurai was as parched as they, but he shook his head to the offered cup. Blackthorne hesitated, put the cup to the samurai’s swollen lips, but the man smashed the cup away, spilling the water, and said something harshly. Blackthrone readied to parry the following blow. But it never came. The man made no further move, just looked away into space.
“He’s mad. They’re all mad,” Spillbergen said.
“There’s more water for us. Good,” Jan Roper said. “Let him go to the hell he deserves.”
“What’s your name? Namu?” Blackthorne asked. He said it again in different ways but the samurai appeared not to hear.
They left him alone. But they watched him as if he were a scorpion. He did not watch them back. Blackthorne was certain the man was trying to decide on something, but he had no idea what it could be.
What’s on his mind, Blackthorne asked himself. Why should he refuse water? Why was he left here? Was that a mistake by Omi? Unlikely. By plan? Unlikely. Could we use him to get out? Unlikely. The whole world’s unlikely except it’s likely we’re going to stay here until they let us out . . . if they let us out. And if they let us out, what next? What happened to Pieterzoon?
The flies swarmed with the heat of the day.
Oh, God, I wish I could lie down—wish I could get into that bath—they wouldn’t have to carry me there now. I never realized how important a bath is. That old blind man with the steel fingers! I could use him for an hour or two.
What a waste! All our ships and men and effort for this. A total failure. Well, almost. Some of us are still alive.
“Pilot!” Van Nekk was shaking him. “You were asleep. It’s him—he’s been bowing to you for a minute or more.” He motioned to the samurai who knelt, head bowed in front of him.
Blackthorne rubbed the exhaustion out of his eyes. He made an effort and bowed back.
“Hai?” he asked curtly, remembering the Japanese word for “yes.”
The samurai took hold of the sash of his shredded kimono and wrapped it around his neck. Still kneeling, he gave one end to Blackthorne and the other to Sonk, bowed his head, and motioned them to pull it tight.
“He’s afraid we’ll strangle him,” Sonk said.
“Christ Jesus, I think that’s what he wants us to do.” Blackthorne let the sash fall and shook his head. “Kinjiru,” he said, thinking how useful that word was. How do you say to a man who doesn’t speak your language that it’s against your code to commit murder, to kill an unarmed man, that you’re not executioners, that suicide is damned before God?
The samurai asked again, clearly begging him, but again Blackthorne shook his head. “Kinjiru.” The man looked around wildly. Suddenly he was on his feet and he had shoved his head deep into the latrine bucket to try to drown himself. Jan Roper and Sonk immediately pulled him out, choking and struggling.
“Let him go,” Blackthorne ordered. They obeyed. He pointed at the latrine. “Samurai, if that’s what you want, go ahead!”
The man was retching, but he understood. He looked at the foul bucket and knew that he did not have the strength to hold his head there long enough. In abject misery the samurai went back to his place by the wall.
“Jesus,” someone muttered.
Blackthorne dipped half a cup of water from the barrel, got to his feet, his joints stiff, went over to the Japanese and offered it. The samurai looked past the cup.
“I wonder how long he can hold out,” Blackthorne said.
“Forever,” Jan Roper said. “They’re animals. They’re not human.”
“For Christ’s sake, how much longer will they keep us here?” Ginsel asked.