by Jason Tesar
“Tell me what you know about a man named Bahari,” Adair said as he took a sip of wine, ignoring the stains on the side of his glass.
Gursha grunted and scratched his chin before his eyes lit up.
“A merchant. Hasn’t been doing well lately, especially this year with the bad growing season and all. He’s in pretty deep with Quartus. Last I heard … took a shipment to Nucotu. Hopin’ to get paid better up there.”
Adair liked what he was hearing so far. “When is he due to return?”
“Should’ve been back a few days ago. Missed his deadline, from what I hear.”
“And why do you think that is?” questioned Adair.
“Don’t know. Haven’t heard nothin’.” Gursha’s eyebrows wrinkled as he tried to think of where these questions were leading. “Didn’t have nothin’ to do with it,” he said defensively.
“With what?”
“Well,” he paused. “You say he’s missin’, maybe you think I did sumthin’.”
“I didn’t say he was missing,” Adair corrected. “You did.”
Gursha opened his mouth to defend himself, but promptly closed it when he realized that he had nothing to say.
Adair was amused at how easy it was to get this man where he wanted him. “In your professional opinion, why would a man like Bahari not meet his deadline? And think carefully about your answer.”
Gursha looked down at the table while he considered the question. Adair knew that this man had all kinds of information in his head. Most of the time, he didn’t even realize it. You don’t run a local pub without coming in contact with all sorts of people who like to tell stories. But the best way to get information from Gursha was to make him feel as though he was constantly on the verge of losing his precious second income. Fear tended to make this confused man think clearly.
Gursha finally answered. “He was doin’ better ‘till this year. Was close to having his debts paid off. Things turned bad. Maybe he ran away.” He smiled as the words came out, pleased with his conclusion.
“However,” Adair countered. “He’s got a wife. And you just said he was close to paying off his debts. He wouldn’t just leave with the prospect of getting paid more in Nucotu.” This line of questioning was really irrelevant. What Adair needed to find out was where Bahari was when he was attacked, without revealing any information of his own.
Gursha returned to his thoughts with a look of determination on his face. Adair thought he looked like he needed a push in the right direction. “What are some other reasons that a man might disappear?”
“Two things,” Gursha responded. “If he got in trouble …” His speech trailed off as the thought got away from him and then returned in another form. “He could’ve been drunk, crashed his boat. ‘Course, he wasn’t a big drinker.” He paused in mid-thought, still staring at the table. “If he was tryin’ to get back on time … probably wouldn’t stop to sleep. Could’ve fallen asleep and wrecked on the reef. People do that all the time.”
Adair’s attention perked up at this news. “Why is that?”
“Well, if he was comin’ from Nucotu, he should’ve stopped early before passin’ by the reef. But if he was in a hurry, he could’ve tried to go right ahead through the night.”
Adair smiled as Gursha said these words and pulled a bag of coins out of his cloak, setting it on the table. Gursha was visibly relieved to hear the sound of coins clinking together. Obviously, he was worried that his information wasn’t valuable to Adair.
“Do you have a map that I can look at?” asked Adair.
Gursha’s chair creaked as he leaned back and grabbed a piece of parchment from the shelf, disturbing a layer of dust that seemed to have been accumulating for years. Everything was at arm’s length in the tiny room. “Here you go,” he said, laying the old map in front of Adair.
Adair unrolled it and set his glass in one corner to keep it from rolling back. After inspecting the portion of the map that showed the western shoreline of Bastul, he stood up and lifted his glass, emptying it in one last gulp. He set the glass down again and slid the map back across the table.
“Thank you, Gursha. It’s always a pleasure.” Adair took the bag of coins off the table and tossed them to the fat man, who was still sitting. Gursha snatched the bag from the air with unexpected agility.
Adair looked at the tavern owner and waited until he had full eye contact. “As always, I was never here, and we never talked about any of this.”
“Talked about what?” said Gursha, his sense of humor the only thing about him that was finely tuned.
“Precisely,” Adair said, and couldn’t help smiling.
Gursha grunted as he rose from his chair and showed Adair to the door. When Adair stepped outside, Gursha glanced nervously up and down the street before shutting and locking the door.
~
The early morning air was cool on Adair’s face and the lurching of the ocean mesmerizing. He realized how easy it would have been for Bahari to fall asleep trying to make it back to Bastul to meet his deadline. The normal shipping routes between the coast and the reef were used regularly, and situations like Bahari’s didn’t occur often. Bahari was certainly attacked by someone, but it probably didn’t happen on the eastern side of the reef. If Bahari had missed the turn just before the northern tip of the reef, he would have ended up on its western side. There were many strange stories about that part of the sea, folklore mostly, told by drunken fishermen who didn’t have much credibility to begin with. However entertaining the stories of sea serpents might be, it was common knowledge to stay away from that side of the reef. It was also dangerous to sail in that water for no other reason than the presence of sharp coral that could sink a boat in a matter of minutes.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. And that was where he was headed. There wasn’t much hope of finding any useful information, but he had to follow through with checking out the area. After all, it was the only clue he had to go on. Who knew how long it would take Saba to determine the source of the arrowhead, or if he ever would? By then the trail might be cold.
As soon as he had left Gursha’s house, Adair went straight to the docks and boarded a small and fast patrol boat, taking a few soldiers with him. If he did manage to run across the people who attacked Bahari, he would need to be able to maneuver quickly, and it would help to have experienced soldiers with him. He knew he should be at home, in bed next to Maeryn. But on nights like these, his mind would race and he would lie awake for hours only to watch the sun rise. This way, at least he was doing something about the situation.
After a few hours of heading north along the shore, the sun began to rise. It peeked over the mountains to the east, only a bright orange sliver at first. The ripples on the water picked up the color and suddenly the whole ocean seemed to glow around them. Within a few minutes, the sun had risen enough to be seen in its entirety above the mountains. The light quickly changed to a pale yellow that illuminated the whole sky, and the orange glow disappeared.
As the morning drew on, Adair considered the consequences of leaving so suddenly. He had left a message for the commissioner to watch over things for the day until he returned. But Thaddius wasn’t a soldier, just an elected official who dealt with the social issues that the governor didn’t want to deal with, or wasn’t able to because of a military absence. Adair held the position of colonel in Orudan military, but as with all colonels, he also ruled over a city and was charged with its protection. Adair found the dual responsibilities taxing and leaned heavily on Thaddius to handle most of the decisions that were not specifically military in nature. He was confident that the city would be in great hands for the duration of his short trip, but he was now starting to consider how dangerous this excursion might really be.
“Colonel,” one of the soldiers called to him from the main deck, breaking the silence. He came across the main deck and climbed the short ladder to the navigational deck where Adair sat under a canopy. “Sir, if you don�
��t mind me asking, what are we doing out here?”
The soldier was close to Adair’s own average height, with dark brown hair. He had a fierce look in his eyes and it was obvious that he was asking not out of a sense of fear, but curiosity. And he was trying not to offend his superior by questioning his reasons.
“I am investigating the death of an acquaintance. He was attacked out near the reef where we are headed.”
After a moment of silence, one of the other soldiers spoke up. “What do you hope to find? If it was pirates, there won’t be any sign of them by the time we get there.”
Adair smiled. “This acquaintance had an arrow embedded in his leg. Pirates don’t use arrows. They are not trained in the military arts. Usually, they are commoners who rely on surprise to overtake their victims. These men were soldiers. And if they were not our own men, I would like to know what rogue soldiers are sailing through the waters of the Empire.”
~
The sun was directly overhead, beating down on the small crew when they reached the northern end of the reef. They were making excellent time, and as the swift boat made its way around the tip and began heading southwest, Adair’s senses began to tingle with anticipation. He wasn’t sure what he would find out here on the ocean, if anything. Part of him expected to sail around for hours, not seeing anything that would give him a clue as to what might have happened. Another part of him, the part that got excited in dangerous situations, expected to meet confrontation. He was prepared if that was to be the case.
Much to his disappointment, the minutes turned into hours, and still there was no sign of what he was looking for, whatever that might be. He watched clouds roll in from the north, covering the sky in a thin veil of gray. The sun slowly crept west and eventually slipped behind the horizon, turning the sky from pale gray to a brilliant purple. Adair had just come to the decision that this trip was a failure and was about to give the order to turn the boat around when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He scanned the southern horizon, trying to find what had grabbed his attention, but now there was nothing except for a smooth ocean surface.
“Keep your eyes open for anything unusual,” he called to the men at the bow.
A few seconds later, he saw it again, but it was only visible when he didn’t look straight at it. It was a disturbance on the surface of the water—an area where the reflected light from the sunset danced a little differently than it did in the surrounding water. Being a reef area, there were shallow spots everywhere around them, but something was different about this. It wasn’t just a sandbar or a coral shelf.
“What is that?” one of the soldiers asked.
“I’m not sure, but head straight for it,” Adair answered, hoping that he’d gotten lucky.
Are my eyes deceiving me? he wondered. It seemed as if something was there on the water, but he couldn’t make out any distinct shape. The men on his boat busied themselves with adjusting the sails to make the change in direction, trying to take full advantage of the wind coming from the west. As their sails bulged once again, something inside Adair told him that this was what he was looking for, and with every second he was getting closer.
He was just starting to detect an outline in the shimmering water when it began to change. A dark area grew on the eastern side of the shimmer. The darkness seemed to emerge from nowhere and finally detached itself, moving to the left.
A ship! Then another appeared on the right side of the shimmer. Suddenly, his eyes found their focus and it all made sense to him. The ships were emerging from behind a structure on the surface of the water. The pale light in the western sky was growing darker with every second, but now that Adair was able to make sense of what he was seeing, more and more details were becoming visible. It was a circular structure with polished metal walls that reflected the surrounding water, giving the illusion that nothing was there. The camouflaging effect was stunning, and it wasn’t until the second ship emerged from behind the wall that Adair was able to understand what he was seeing.
The two black ships, which had been moving in opposite directions away from the structure, turned north simultaneously, heading straight for Adair’s small vessel. It only took a few seconds for everyone to realize that they were not equipped to handle this fight.
“Colonel?” one of his men asked, sensing danger.
“Head for the reef. We’re small enough to maneuver around obstacles, and this boat doesn’t run deep. If they try to follow us, they won’t make it out alive.”
One of the men pushed on the rudder, and the small boat carved a sharp turn to the port side and headed for the reef. The others jumped into action, trimming the mainsail to keep the westerly wind. The larger boats moved from their intended flanking positions to a direct chase and they were closing in fast, but Adair already saw what he had come to find. These people were doing something out here that they wished to keep a secret. Judging by what they did to Bahari, they were obviously willing to kill for it. But now Adair knew of their presence. He couldn’t hide the smile on his face, and soon the other men were grinning as well with admiration for their superior.
As soon as I get to Bastul, I’ll bring the fleet back and find out what they’re hiding.
As their small vessel entered the shallow water of the reef area, they slowed just enough to maneuver through the sharp coral while still maintaining their lead. The pursuing ships, which dwarfed Adair’s boat, came to a stop as they neared the reef. Adair exhaled a deep breath, relieved to be a safe distance away and protected by the coral. Turning his attention back to the difficult task of navigation, he heard a sharp cracking noise from behind.
All the men turned to look back at the large, black boats that had positioned themselves with their starboard sides facing the reef. Their silhouettes were barely visible against the sky. Halfway between them and their pursuers, something landed on the surface of the water. Adair squinted just as it skimmed past the prow, leaving a wake on the mottled ocean surface that quickly faded from view.
An unsettled feeling began to grow in his stomach and his heart began to race as he realized his pursuers had projectile capability. The sunset was almost gone now, and within a few minutes there would not be enough light to navigate the dangerous reef. Just as the thought came to him, he noticed the water in front of the boat getting lighter.
“Hard starboard!” he yelled.
The boat pitched and swerved to the right. Adair almost lost his footing, grabbing the railing for balance.
Another sharp crack sounded as the crew struggled to adjust the sails, hoping to maintain their momentum. Adair turned to see a splash on the rippled surface of the water as another projectile came skipping toward them. Judging by the angle, it was aimed more accurately than the first.
“Brace yourselves!” As the words left his mouth, the middle of their tiny boat erupted in a shower of saltwater and splinters. The jolt knocked Adair off his feet and he slid across the deck as the boat rolled to the port side and began to fill with water. He clawed at the wood decking to get a handhold, his eyes settling on the body of one of his crew only a few yards away. The man’s midsection was almost completely missing. It looked as though the projectile had gone straight through him on its way through their boat.
Adair pulled himself to his feet and scanned the boat, trying to get a sense of the damage. Water poured across the deck, and the weight was rolling the ship back to its starboard side. The remaining soldiers were jumping overboard, abandoning the ship, which had nearly torn in half and was sinking fast.
Adair ran to the nearest port railing and dove over the side. The other men were already a short distance away and splashing so loud that he could follow them by sound alone. He began to swim east with a steady pace that he could maintain for a long time. The most important thing is to keep moving, he told himself. It took only minutes to catch up to the others. They had slowed considerably after using up their energy with panicked strokes. As Adair closed in on the men, he risked a
look behind, but the light was gone from the western sky and nothing could be seen. Even their sinking boat was only a slightly darker blot on the water.
Shouting voices came across the water from the direction of the enemy ships and Adair’s heart dropped. He had hoped they would be satisfied with sinking his ship, but it sounded as though he and his men were being pursued.
“Ahh!” one of his men grunted.
“Try to stay on the surface as much as possible,” Adair instructed. “The water is shallow, but we should still be able to get over the coral if we’re careful.” He tried his best to sound confident for the men, but he was out of his realm of experience. He really wasn’t sure how close the coral grew to the surface, but his advice sounded good, and at this moment, keeping the men from despair was important.
Adair flipped over on his back and began to swim with a backstroke to keep his body on the surface and his eyes on their pursuers. Then he noticed an orange light hovering over the water behind them. A lantern! The flickering glow illuminated what appeared to be six men rowing and several others standing. Whatever hope Adair had of escaping these men had just ended. The rowboat was much too fast for panicked swimmers. We’re not going to make it!
“We’ve got to split up,” he called to the others. No one acknowledged him. He repeated his words a little louder, but all they could hear was their own splashing. Adair decided not to risk yelling any louder to the men and veered to the left, taking his own advice instead. He quickly lost sight and sound of the other men, but the orange light continued to move forward. Adair adjusted his own course even more to stay out of the light, turning directly to the north.
“Stop where you are!” The words came across the water to him, and for a brief second he thought he had been sighted. Then he heard shouts, followed by complete silence.
I’ve just lost my crew!
He quickened his pace and continued to swim north. The minutes passed slowly and Adair began to grow tired. After fighting fatigue for as long as he could, he slowed to an easier pace. The glow of the lantern had disappeared. He wasn’t sure how long he had been swimming, but he couldn’t keep this up forever. Gradually, the sky lightened and he turned to see the moon rising over the eastern horizon. As it climbed higher in the sky, the concealing darkness vanished.
