CHAPTER XVIII
After they had crossed from raft to raft and from scow to scow, they found that their path led up to the deck of one of the houseboats.
Zei said: "Should we not throw down more of these gangplanks?"
"No. It'd only stop 'em a minute, and would show where we've gone."
"There seem to be but few abroad this night."
"Dinner time," said Barnevelt.
They wound their way from houseboat to houseboat. An adolescent Krishnan brushed by them, giving them hardly a glance, and vanished through the nearest door, whence came the sound of scolding.
They continued on, over decks and across gangplanks and up and down ladders, until they came to a big roofed-over hulk without signs of life aboard. It had once been a merchant-man from the Va'andao Sea, but now looked more like the conventional pictures of Noah's Ark.
They made the circuit of the deck, finding no more ways leading from this ship to any other. It lay in fact at the extreme north end of the Sunqaro settlement, and beyond it the only craft were scattered derelicts not connected with the "city." Barnevelt looked northward and in the fading light thought he could just see the tattered sail of the rendezvous raft on the horizon. Almost in line with it, the nose of a big derelict that was slowly sinking by the stern thrust up through the vine, a darker pyramid against the dark northern sky.
"This seems to be the bottom of the bag," he said. "What sort of ship is this, anyhow?"
The barnlike superstructure that had been built up on deck had no windows, but three doors: a small one on each side and a large one at one end. All three were closed with padlocks.
Barnevelt settled down to work on the door on the northeast side, where he would be out of sight of the settlement. The lock was a stout one, and he had nothing to pick it with even if he had known how to pick locks. The iron straps to which the lock was attached were nailed to the door and the door frame and so could not be unscrewed with his knife blade. With a stout enough instrument he could have pried them loose, but any attempt to do so with knife or sword would, he was sure, merely break a good blade.
As he ran his fingers over the door, however, he became aware of a roughness in the strap that ran from the door frame to the lock. By looking closely and gouging with his thumbnails he made out that the strap was badly rusted— so much so that he could pry flakes of rust off with his bare hands.
The simplest way, then, might be the most effective. He heaved on the strap until it bent outward enough to let him slide the fingers of both hands between it and the door. Then, with a firm grip upon it, he put one foot against the door and heaved. His muscles stood out with the strain.
With a faint crunch the weakened strap gave way. Barnevelt staggered back and would have fallen over the side had not Zei, with a squeak of alarm, caught his arm.
A minute later they were inside. It was pitch-dark save for the triple moonbeams that came through the open door, which was not enough light to tell them what they had gotten into. Barnevelt tripped over something solid and swore under his breath. He should have thought to bring a candle or the equivalent; but one couldn't think of everything…
That gave him an idea. He felt along the wall, sometimes bumping into things, and before long came to a bracket holding a small oil-lamp. After much fumbling with his pocket lighter he got the lamp lit, then quickly closed the door lest the light betray them.
This hulk was used for stores, piled in orderly fashion on the deck: barrels of pitch, nails, and other things; lumber, ropes of various sizes flemished down in neat cylindrical piles, spars, canvas, and oars. A big hatch lay open in the middle of the deck, and by stooping Barnevelt could see that the deck below was also lined with barrels, piles of firewood, bags, and so on.
"Interesting," he said, "but I don't see how it'll help us."
"At least," said Zei, "we have a place to hide."
"I'm not so sure. If Zakkomir gets away they'll comb the whole settlement. Even if he doesn't, they'll know there were two more of us. Matter of fact, some people saw us on our way here. I told Chask to meet us on the edge of the Sunqar…"
"Who's Chask?"
"My boatswain. I hope he got away when the ructions started. But even if he does show up at the rendezvous tomorrow, you couldn't expect him to stick around long once the sun was up."
"You know not if he escaped?"
"No. If there were a small boat we could steal, now . . ."
"I saw none as we came, and 'tis said that to thrust such a craft through the vine were a thing impossible."
Barnevelt grunted. "Maybe so, but you'd be surprised what impossible things people do when they have to. I'll look."
He slipped out the door and made another circuit of the deck, peering off into the moonlight for a sign of a dinghy. None did he see; nothing but houseboats, the weed growing up to their sides. While he was about it, he took a good look at the ship's superstructure to make sure no light showed through from inside. Light did show faintly along the bottom crack of the southwest door.
Back inside, he uncoiled some rope and laid it along the sill of the southwest door, meanwhile telling Zei of his failure.
She said: "Could you not build a raft from these many stuffs and staples?"
"In six ten-nights, with a set of tools, maybe. Say, what were the pirates talking about when that one from Qirib— forget his name—spoke of using you as the key to the wealth of the Zogha?"
"That must have been ere I came in."
"So it was. This fellow seemed to have an alternative proposition he wanted to argue, but Sheafase shut him up, I suppose so as not to spill their plans in front of me."
"That would be the Qiribo arch-pirate, who is (or rather was) one 'Urgan, not long since a respected commercial of Ghulinde. Taking ill the way his goodwife spent his money, as under our statutes she had a right to do, he fled to the Sunqar. The true inwardness of his plan I know not, save that from hints they dropped before me I think 'twas to liave Sheafase place me under his malefic mental suasion, declaring me true ruler of Qirib, seizing the kingdom, and dandling me before the people as a puppet their true rapacious plans to hide. Had not you and Zakkomir intervened, they might indeed have executed such chicane, for many Sunqaruma are from Qirib and so could give their enterprise the feeble surface tint of lawfulness. But how came you and Zakkomir hither?"
Barnevelt brought her up to date on events in Ghulinde, omitting to mention that to persuade him to come the queen had had to threaten his partner with hot pincers. He felt that that detail might take the fine romantic edge off her admiration.
He concluded: "… and so we got in by pretending to be Mejrou Qurardena couriers. My name is now Sn- Goz-zan." Damn, he knew he'd get his aliases mixed up.
"And who's the Earthman whom you sought to fetch forth in the chest? Methought he was but a common pirate, unworthy of such pains."
"Long story. Tell you some day, if we live through this."
"Live or die, 'twill be a famous feat," she said. "Our tame bard shall make an epic of it, in heroic heptameters. A versatile wight you must be, Lord Snyol. From the mountains of Nyamadze you come to the seas, and from the polar snows to this steaming tropic. From skids you take to ships…"
"Ohe!" You've given me an idea."
Barnevelt jumped up and began examining the piles of lumber. After a while he settled on a width and thickness of board as suitable and dragged out several lengths of that size.
"Should be about two meters long," he mused. "They'd better be right the first time, too."
He looked around for a work-bench with tools, but such work was evidently done elsewhere in the settlement. Finally he fell to whittling with his knife.