No, there was no reason to believe the nocturnal ruckus was due to anything out of the ordinary. Even if word eventually reached Massul fel-Stuovic or Corfu it would take time to raise the alarm up at the underground installation. Unless Bamaputra’s allies had the use of a communicator. Even if they did, it would take a while to wake someone like Antal who had the power to make decisions.
His attention was drawn to an alien shape emerging from belowdecks nearby. Moonlight glanced off a sword wet with blood. Seeing the look on his face, Elfa hastened over to reassure him.
“Little enough killing there has been. We surprised them in their hammocks. The traitors Kilpit and Mousokka were in Ta-hoding’s cabin. Among those who remained true there was some sentiment for butchering them all, but Hunnar, sweet-tongued devil that he is, insisted that those who rebelled had been swayed as much by the difficulties of the long journey as by this merchant Corfu’s offer and that they might be reinstated as crew once again. Until we can be sure of them each will be watched over by one whose fealty is not in doubt. Those who offered no resistance and have expressed remorse will be given this opportunity. Myself, I think my mate too compassionate, but we need every hand we can get.” She gestured toward the mainmast, where sailors were braving the frigid wind as they fought to set sail.
Others wrestled to bring in the ice anchors while Ta-hoding supervised the hasty splicing of the severed steering cables. Ethan ran to watch. September joined them a moment later, breathing hard.
“You didn’t surprise them,” Ethan said accusingly.
“Sometimes your target ain’t as cooperative as you’d like. That’s the real world for you, feller-me-lad.” Behind the survival suit’s visor his eyes shone like tiny echoes of Tran-ky-ky’s moons. “We were lucky to do as well as we did. The bastards had beamers.
“One of ’em was off in a bathroom and got away before we could run him to ground. He’s the one who saw us coming and raised the alarm. The rest of ’em divided into two groups. We took the first bunch easy enough but the others stood their ground well. I’m still not sure we got them all. But we did get these. Here.” He tossed something small and silvery to Ethan. A beamer. Ethan clutched the illegal weapon gratefully.
“Older model.” September grinned. “Bamaputra doesn’t trust his Tran allies all that much, it seems. Not that it ain’t an efficient killer.” He displayed his own captured handgun. “Both of ’em about half-charged. Use it only as a last resort.”
Ethan nodded briskly and clipped the gun to his belt. He was no soldier, but he’d done plenty of fighting this past year and the beamer was simple enough for a child to use. Or a primitive alien unfamiliar with advanced technology. You pointed it at a target and pulled the trigger as often as necessary until the charge ran out. He could be at least as accurate as any of Corfu’s Tran.
The icerigger lurched, nearly throwing his feet out from under him. Ta-hoding turned away from the stern and moved to take the wheel.
“What do you think, Captain?” September asked him.
Ta-hoding hardly had time to reply. He was testing the wheel, supervising the storing of the ice anchors, and trying to set sail in an effective pattern. Shouts continued to come from over the stern, were relayed to him by another sailor straddling the aft rail.
“The steering will hold for a while, friend Skua, but not in a strong wind or at high speed. We’ll push it for all its worth and when it snaps again we’ll have to stop and re-splice it, but not a moment before.”
“You’ll get no argument on that from me.” Then his eyes widened and he let out a warning bellow.
His beamer seemed to go off in Ethan’s face, leaving spots dancing before his retinas. When he turned it was to see a Yingyapin soldier falling away from the rail, his face fried, skin and fur burning where the beamer had struck. As Ethan picked himself off the deck September stomped over to the rail and peered over the side, making satisfied noises.
“You enjoy killing, don’t you, Skua?” He brushed at his survival suit.
The giant turned on him. “No, young feller-me-lad, you’ve got it all wrong. I don’t enjoy killing at all. What I do delight in is confounding my enemies. That’s always been part of my makeup and always will be.”
The icerigger groaned and Ethan stumbled again. Several of the mainsails had been let out and now a pair of foresails filled with wind. Ta-hoding handled the wheel as delicately as a lady’s ankle bracelet, making full use of the ship’s adjustable spars as he edged it away from the dock. The first glow of morning was kissing the top of the mainmast with molten gold.
They were on their way.
It seemed to Ethan that every plank, every nail and bolt creaked and groaned as the captain guided his vessel out onto the ice. Ta-hoding was trying to steer the ship with wind and spars in order to spare the crudely spliced steering cables as much strain as possible. September beckoned to Ethan to join him at the railing.
A small armed mob was gathering on the dock. There were no beamers in evidence. The arrows and spears they hurled at the retreating ship fell well short as Ta-hoding brought the icerigger’s bow around, aiming for the harbor entrance.
A few of Massul’s troops chivaned out onto the ice, more for show than anything else. They posed no real threat to the Slanderscree. They would make a rush, toss a spear or small axe, then fold their dan against their sides and wheel sharply to right or left to keep out of range of those on the icerigger. One bowman ventured too close and caught a couple of crossbow bolts for his trouble. That put an end to any incipient thoughts of pursuit on the part of their former guards.
They were beginning to move toward the open sea and still there was no sign of reaction from up on the mountainside. Ethan wondered how Massul would react to a thorough explanation of what Bamaputra and his people were up to. Would he believe that his patron humans intended not to help him so much as to cause the deaths of thousands of his own kind so they could then steal his world? That he would be an emperor in name only, lording it over a few sad remnants of a once proud and independent race?
And what of Corfu? What good would it be to possess a trade monopoly when most of your potential customers were dead?
Not that it mattered. Even if they could convince both Tran of the truth, Bamaputra would simply dump them in favor of more cooperative substitutes. There are always those among any race to whom promises are more important than truth. In any event he doubted he’d be given the chance to try.
Ta-hoding was spinning the wheel, heedless now of the potential strain on the spliced cables and shouting at his sailors to back sail. Ethan frowned. Back sail was the last order he expected the captain to be giving. He rushed toward the bow, September leaping from the quarterdeck to join him and landing so hard Ethan thought his huge friend would crash through to the living quarters beneath. The tough wood held.
Then they were standing side by side looking over the bow as the Slanderscree, which had just been starting to accelerate, slowed to a halt.
Shining in the rising sun and blocking the entire mouth of the harbor was a metal barrier composed of giant X-shapes made from construction beams. These were attached to a long thick metal tube like so many crosses strung on a post. Each X rested on a pair of metal skates not unlike those which supported the icerigger. The entire massive gate was hinged to a point of land just west of the city. Steady light shining behind windows of real glass hinted at an independent power supply. Even at a distance Ethan could see masses of armed Tran gathering on the rocky peninsula to protect the gate station.