Fate of the Free Lands

by Jack Campbell

  “We will fight, Sir Senior Mechanic,” Jules said.

  He looked her over as if skeptical of her words. “I understand that you’ve been loaned two revolvers. How many cartridges remain for them?”

  “I’ve had to use two since my last meeting,” Jules said. “I still have twenty-eight cartridges.”

  “Oh? I hope that means at least one more Mage is dead.”

  “I killed three that night, Sir Senior Mechanic.”

  One of the Senior Mechanic’s eyebrows raised skeptically. “Three Mages with two bullets?”

  “I stabbed two of the Mages,” Jules said. “I had to use the two shots to kill the third.”

  “I’m glad that you’re working for our Guild,” the Senior Mechanic said. “But we want to give you something to help counterbalance the support of the Mages for the Empire’s actions. And something that will make it clear how much support we’re throwing your way.” Walking back behind the desk, he picked up a long, heavy bag and set it on top of the desk. Untying the line holding the top closed, the senior mechanic drew out a Mechanic weapon. Not a revolver, but one of the long weapons. “This is a rifle. Watch how this is done.” He picked up a cartridge that looked like those for the revolvers, but perhaps twice as long. Setting the cartridge in a groove on one side of the weapon, he slid the cartridge in until it disappeared. “Load cartridges until it’s full. Like this. To shoot, you pull down this part,” he swung down a lever on the bottom, “and pull it back up. Do it each time. This,” he added, pointing to a small, flat piece of metal, “is the safety. Push it like this and you can’t fire the weapon.”

  “Fire?” Jules asked, surprised by the word.

  The senior mechanic looked annoyed. “I meant shoot the weapon. Move the safety like this and you can shoot again. Keep the safety on unless you’re ready to use the weapon. Did you get all of that?”

  “Yes, Sir Senior Mechanic,” Jules said.

  “Doris!” the senior mechanic called. One of the Mechanics who’d brought Jules and had been waiting outside came into the room. The senior mechanic pushed the rifle at the Mechanic. “Show this common how to hold the rifle and aim it.”

  “Yes, Sir Senior Mechanic,” the Mechanic said. She checked the setting of the safety, then raised the weapon in both hands, the back end against her shoulder. “This is how you hold it. Make sure the butt rests firmly against your shoulder. If you don’t, it’ll hurt. You’ve got two sights, here and here. Line them up on the target.” Mechanic Doris held the weapon out to Jules. “Show me.”

  “Yes, Lady Mechanic,” Jules said, amazed that she was being allowed to touch the weapon. She placed her hands as the Mechanic had done, raising the weapon.

  “Hard against your shoulder,” Mechanic Doris said, grabbing the rifle and pushing it back hard enough to stagger Jules. “Try aiming.”

  Jules looked along the long barrel just as she had seen Mechanic Doris doing, seeing the two sights line up.

  “Rifles have longer range than pistols,” the senior mechanic said. “These are insurance for the Guild that you’ll win, and something to stiffen the spines of gullible commons facing the superstitious threat of Mages. Unload that,” he told Doris.

  Once she’d done so, the senior mechanic pushed the rifle back into the long bag. “There are four rifles in here, along with ten cartridges for each. Use them wisely. On the bottom are two more revolvers and a box of cartridges for them.”

  “Don’t try to use rifle cartridges in the revolvers, or revolver cartridges in the rifles,” Mechanic Doris said. “They’re not the same.”

  “Yes, Lady Mechanic,” Jules said, stunned that the Mechanics were providing her with such an arsenal of Mechanic weapons. They must want her to win very badly, or else lacked confidence in her, or wanted to make sure the fight cost the Mages no matter what happened. Maybe all of those reasons were true.

  “Five weeks,” the senior mechanic said. “We understand you’re calling yourself the Empress of the west.”

  “No, Sir Senior Mechanic, I am not calling myself that,” Jules said. “There will be no empress or emperors in the west. I’ve been called an empress only on the seas of this world.”

  “Really?” The senior mechanic gave her another long look. “As long as you get the job done, you can give yourself any common title you want.” He gave her a brusque wave-off, turning away.

  Jules approached the bag on the desk warily, not surprised at how heavy it was to lift. With the long rifles inside, it was also awkward to carry, especially through the passages inside the ship. None of the Mechanics offered to help, of course.

  Once outside on deck again, Jules paused to look grimly down the ladder to the boat. Getting it down safely would be a major problem, especially if she overstrained her body.

  Help came from an unexpected source. “Get over here, apprentices.” One of the Mechanics watching Jules beckoned to two boys whose jackets differed from those of the Mechanics. “Fasten that line to that bag and lower it into the boat after this common gets down into it.”

  “She doesn’t need help, Ken,” Mechanic Doris said.

  “The Guild wants her to have that stuff,” Mechanic Ken said. “Which means the Guild wants us to make sure she gets it into that boat. This isn’t about how much fun you’d have watching her try to make it down that ladder.”

  Lady Mechanic Doris shrugged and leaned against the metal side of the structure rising from the deck of the ship. The two apprentices hastened over, tying a stout line to the bag. Jules watched, worried about how strong the result would be, but apparently Mechanics did a decent job of teaching knot-tying to their trainees.

  Before heading down, she faced Mechanic Ken. “Thank you, Sir Mechanic.”

  It was his turn to shrug. “I didn’t do it for you.”

  She made her way down the ladder, wondering why Mechanics who acted decently toward a common always felt the need to disavow what they’d done.

  And yet, Jules thought as she caught the bag being lowered to her, the Mechanics had given her an awesome number of their weapons to use against the Empire and the Mages. For all their contempt of her, they also needed her.

  The boat had barely cleared the side of the Mechanic ship before the ship began moving ahead, going faster at such a rate that the stern wake rocked the Sun Queen’s boat when it hit. By the time the boat made it back to the Sun Queen, the Mechanic ship was well on its way back to Caer Lyn.

  Jules supervised hauling the bag aboard, terrified of losing it. “Conference,” she said to Ang and Liv, then nodded to Ian as well. “In my cabin.”

  Ang picked up the bag, displaying surprise at how heavy it was, but had no trouble hauling it into the stern cabin. Jules pulled out the chart, slapping it onto the table. “The Mechanics say we have five weeks before the Empire hits Dor’s Castle. We have to alert every settlement in the west to send any ships and men and women they can spare, and we need to do it fast.”

  Ang and Liv were momentarily speechless, but Ian frowned at the chart. “Do the Mechanics know how much the Empire is bringing to the fight? How many legionaries, how many ships?”

  “No,” Jules said. She paused, trying to decide whether to tell the others about the Mages.

  No. Not yet. They were already rattled by the news of the Imperial plans.

  “Five weeks,” Ang said, shaking his head. “We can’t do it with one ship. By the time we made it around the entire sea, and south through the Strait of Gulls, the Emperor’s forces would already be at Dor’s.”

  “Ang,” Liv said, “are there any ships in port at Caer Lyn who’d help? Someone we can count on?”

  “Caer Lyn has gotten too hot for pirates to drop anchor,” Ang said. “But…Prosper is in port. I saw her.”

  “We can count on Captain Aravind,” Jules said. “Sun Queen can take the south settlements. I can write a message that Captain Aravind can take around to settlements on the northern shores of the sea and…” She saw the skeptical looks on the others. �
��Why wouldn’t that work?”

  “Who’d believe him?” Liv said. “Who’d believe he’s really coming from you? And even if they believe him, would they send forces if you’re not there to urge them on?”

  Jules ran one hand through her hair, staring down at the chart. “All right, then. Give me another idea. We know there’s not enough time for me to go everywhere.”

  A long pause as everyone considered the problem, abruptly broken by Ian. “I could take the message around. A personal representative of Captain Jules. Wouldn’t that make a difference?”

  “It might,” Ang said. “But how does anyone know you are who you claim to be?”

  “I’m not sure it’s a good idea anyway,” Jules said, reluctance rising in her at the proposal. “For you to be gone from the ship so long,” she said to Ian. “And you’ll be going through waters where the Imperials might catch you.”

  “If what the Mechanics said is true,” Ian said, “then the Imperial warships that have been searching for you will be withdrawing to Landfall to prepare for the attack on the free settlements. Jules, I can do this.”

  “I know you can. I just…” She glanced at Liv and Ang, who were giving her level looks that clearly conveyed a message. “I…it’ll be dangerous.”

  “Aren’t we planning on all meeting at Dor’s Castle to fight an attack by the Imperial fleet and legionaries?” Ian asked. “That’s going to be a little dangerous, too, I think.”

  “But…”

  Ang nodded at Ian. “Cap’n, I think your man has the right of it.”

  “He’s not my man!” She clenched her fist, trying to come up with reasons why it was a bad idea and instead realizing what could make it work. “He’ll have one of the Mechanic revolvers with him. Every common knows the only common entrusted with those weapons is me or someone working with me. If he has the revolver, people will believe him.” Jules slammed a fist down on the chart, knowing this was her only halfway decent option and hating it. “That’s what we’ll do! We need to get word to Prosper and get that ship out here as fast as possible. Ang, take care of that. Liv, help him. Ian, get your things ready to transfer to Prosper. I’ll write a message for you to carry along with you.”

  Ang and Ian began to go, but Liv stood firm. “What’s in the bag, Captain?”

  Jules glowered at her. “Mechanic weapons. Six more Mechanic weapons. Those should help inspire settlements to send aid to Dor’s. Any more questions?”

  “No, Captain.” They left her alone. Jules stared at the chart, unhappy at the idea of Ian leaving and realizing she never had mentioned the Mages.

  Should she tell anyone about them?

  * * *

  Ang made it into Caer Lyn that afternoon, running an extra risk. By evening Prosper and the small ship of their trade contact had come out to meet Sun Queen.

  As the swords, crossbows, spears, shields, and armor that had been purchased with the profits from the lumber sales were transferred to the Sun Queen and lowered into the cargo hold, Jules brought Ian into her cabin.

  “Here’s the letter I wrote,” she said, handing him the envelope. “Let the leaders of each settlement read it, and try to get them to commit to sending help to defend Dor’s Castle.”

  Ian opened the envelope, looking over the letter. “All right. You make your plea well. Your handwriting is still terrible, though.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Signed, Jules of Julesport.” Ian looked at her. “You’re not signing it the woman of the prophecy?”

  “They all know who I am, and I don’t want to be known just as that,” Jules said. “Let me give you one of the Mechanic revolvers. With that, you can protect yourself better, and people will know you’re my representative. No other commons have had Mechanics weapons but those working with me.”

  “Yes, you said that before.”

  “I want to be sure you remember it. Take off your belt,” Jules said as she got out a second revolver and its holder. “The Mechanics call this a holster,” she added as she slid it onto Ian’s belt. “See how you can tie it closed? That’s important. You don’t want it falling out.” Her mind preoccupied with worries, she threaded his belt back on, fastening it in front for him and not really noticing his surprised look at her. “Here’s how the weapon works. Well, no common knows how the weapon works, but this what we do to shoot it. These are for aiming, like with a crossbow, and this is the trigger, also like on a crossbow.”

  She opened the weapon, dropping the cartridges onto the table. “Each of these is worth the same as a jewel of that size. Don’t waste them. Each only works once. See how they go in? You pull the trigger, nice and easy, and just like a crossbow you don’t want to jerk it, and see this goes back and then whams forward and the revolver shoots. It’s going to feel like… Remember in training when they fired crossbows at shields we were holding so we’d know how that shock felt? It’s kind of like that. A real kick. And, see, this turns when you pull the trigger, so the next cartridge is lined up. That’s really all there is to it, except the same rules as with a loaded crossbow.”

  He’d been watching, listening, eyes intent. Ian nodded. “Don’t point it at anyone you don’t want to shoot at, and keep your finger off the trigger until you want to shoot someone. It’s heavy for its size, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. Oh, sometimes the cartridges don’t work. I don’t know why that is, but if you try to shoot and nothing happens, just try to shoot again.” She looked it over as Ian gingerly lowered the weapon into its holster, biting her lip, trying to think what else to say. “If any Mechanics see you with this weapon, they might get upset and worried. Tell them that the weapon was loaned to Captain Jules by Lady Senior Mechanic Guild Master Grace so we can carry out an important task for the Mechanics Guild. That should prevent any Mechanics from attacking you. At the very worst they might take you into custody while they use whatever device they have to talk across long distances to check with Grace.”

  “Got it.” Ian frowning, concentrating. “The weapon was loaned to Captain Jules by Lady Mechanic—”

  “Lady Senior Mechanic.”

  “Lady Senior Mechanic Guild Master Grace so we can do an important task for the Mechanics Guild.”

  “That’s it.” She hesitated, feeling a need to say more, but unsure of what that should be. “Thank you for volunteering for this. You know how important it is.”

  “I’m glad that I can help,” Ian said. He hesitated as well, began to say something, but stopped, his eyes on her.

  He might die, or she might die, before they could meet again. She knew that, and so did he.

  She didn’t know which of them moved first, maybe they both did at the same time, but they leaned in and their lips met for a long moment.

  Pulling back, Ian stared at her. “I guess I should get going.”

  “Yes.” Jules said, her heart pounding. She led them out onto the deck, walking past members of the crew resting after bringing aboard and stowing the weapons. “Go to Marida’s first, Ian, then work your way west. Also try to tell any ships you encounter along the way, but be careful not to get too close to any that might be Imperial decoy ships hunting for me. If any Mages come after you, use that revolver. It will kill them. When you’ve finished coming down the west coast of the sea, come back east to Dor’s Castle. I should be back there by then after visiting the southern settlements like Gull Haven and Julesport.”

  “I won’t take more than a month,” Ian said. They reached the gap in the railing, the Jaykob ladder leading down to the boat from the Prosper waiting for him. “All right. Um, I’ll get it done.”

  “Thank you,” Jules said again, feeling the force of unsaid words pushing against her throat. She wanted to kiss him again, but something held her back.

  Another moment of hesitation, then Ian nodded to her and started down the ladder.

  She watched him go, feeling something of herself going with him, her mouth opening to speak but then closing again.

  “Girl, say somet
hing,” Liv murmured from close beside Jules.

  Jules looked at her helplessly. “Liv, everyone I’ve ever loved has been taken from me. If I admit it, if I say it, will he be taken from me, too?”

  “If you already have those feelings, then anything fate holds is already fixed. You can still do what you feel you should.”

  “But what do I say?”

  “If he doesn’t come back,” Liv said, “what will you wish you’d said right now?”

  Jules stared down at Ian. She quickly leaned out, calling. “Ian!”’

  He looked up at her.

  “Ian, do your best not to get killed!” Jules told him. “You…you’re the finest man I’ve ever known, and I don’t want to face the future without you!”

  One foot still on the Jaykob ladder, Ian stared up at her, a smiling forming on his face. “I’ll see you at Dor’s Castle in less than a month!”

  “You’d better!” She settled back on her feet as Ian climbed into the boat, watching as it began heading back to the Prosper. Finally turning, Jules discovered that what seemed to be the entire crew was looking at her with a variety of grins and amused expressions. “What’s so funny?” she yelled at them. “Why is everyone standing around gawking and listening in to private conversations, when there is work to be done?”

  In the night, the three ships separated. The small one headed back to Caer Lyn, the Prosper sailed north, and the Sun Queen sailed south.

  Jules stood on the quarterdeck, looking aft over the sea, as the Prosper’s sails faded from sight.

  * * *

  They stopped at Dor’s only long enough to offload the arms and armor, take on more food and water, and warn Dor.

  “Five weeks?” Dor stared at her in horror. “That’s all the time left?”

  “It was five weeks when we left the Sharr Isles,” Jules said. “Now we’re closer to four weeks. How’s your wall?”

  “Close to done.” Dor collapsed into one of Jules’ chairs, staring at one bulkhead of the stern cabin. “It will be done in time. But I don’t have enough men and women to hold it.”

  “Leave that to me. All of the settlements in the free lands are being told, and asked to send help here.”