by Glen Cook
"There's one idea we do need to get spread around," Else said. "The notion that the people in charge know what they're doing."
"This is why I like Hecht," Bechter said. "He's all over fitted up with positive thinking."
Ghort said, "Great idea, Pipe. But a little late." He pointed. A pillar of gray signal smoke leaned southward against the morning sky, way downriver. "Calzirans have entered the river. There's going to be a fight"
This made no sense to Else. How did a mob of fishermen, badly armed peasants, and small-time merchant seamen talk themselves into attacking the seat of an empire in full expectation of looting it? There had to be more to this than was obvious.
Two thousand veterans from amongst the squatters had been recruited and formed into small companies, each commanded by a member of the Brotherhood. Local volunteers and troops the Five Families had brought in from outside added another two thousand men. Else was sure four thousand would not be adequate.
He told Ghort, "These people are insane."
Ghort grunted agreement. "Did you have any idea it would be like this when you decided to come here?"
"No. The stories don't have anything to do with reality."
"No shit. If I'd known what it was really like… These Calziran thugs wouldn't have Pinkus Ghort to bang around on. I didn't get into this racket on account of the opportunities for fighting."
Else did not think many soldiers did like the fighting. Mercenaries ended up where they were, doing what they did, because there was nothing else they could do. They were like prostitutes, that way.
If you chose survival you did what you had to do to survive. Morality, ethics, and charity were luxuries enjoyed only by those rich enough to indulge in them.
"Where the hell are you, Pipe?" Ghort demanded. "Pluck your head out of your ass and let's eyeball the situation."
"You know why we get to stop them in the Memorium?" Else asked.
"Shit, yeah. So that anything that goes wrong will be some dumb mercenary's fault. Meaning you and me, boy. We're carrying the sins of the Patriarch and the Five Families on our shoulders. And we'll be in the wrong whatever the fuck we do."
Gervase Saluda eased up beside Else. "Am I catching all the implications, Hecht? You believe the Patriarch is manipulating things so you and this Ghort creature will take the blame for anything that goes wrong?"
Ghort responded, "And wouldn't you try the same stunt if Pipe didn't work for you? Shit. Pipe. Look. Them pricks are at the boom already."
A log and chain boom had been stretched across the Teragi two miles downriver. It was supposed to fix the pirate fleet for artillery on both banks. Unfortunately, demilitarization left Brothe only a handful of war engines. Most were lightweight and held by people unwilling to surrender them to the corporate good. Just six wheeled ballistae had been collected.
A greasy ball of smoke and fire boiled up over the boom.
Else asked, "What do you think, Sergeant Bechter?"
"I think some major sorcery just happened. I think the bad guys have cut the boom. I think that means we're in trouble."
Arriving news soon suggested that Redfearn Bechter was psychic. Except that his sorcery had been an explosion aboard a boat deliberately driven into the boom.
There might be a thousand vessels in the stampede headed upriver.
Before long a messenger announced, "They've started landing on the north bank, just below the Blendine Bridge."
The Blendine was the first bridge encountered by vessels coming up the Teragi. It stood less than two hundred yards downstream from the Castella dollas Pontellas. Its arches rose high enough that ships could pass below if they unstepped their masts and proceeded under oars. They were wide enough to allow the passage of warships headed for the Castella. Militia armed with javelins, cheap crossbows, boulders, and blocks of building stone, were stationed on that bridge.
But the north shore, below the bridge, was undefended. The pirates attacked the bridge from there. They crossed over against resistance that surprised Else, under withering fire from the Castella. Decimated, sometimes stunned by the horror, the Calzirans plunged into the expanse of monuments, fountains, triumphal arches, and little plazas known as the Memorium, where the earliest and most ferocious fighting was expected to occur. Where the success or failure of the raid might be determined.
Brothe's leading defenders had expected the pirates to come ashore on the south bank, at the downstream end of the Memorium, then attack eastward to isolate Krois and the Castella dollas Pontellas while seizing the bridges over the Teragi to keep help from coming from the north. The pirates could then turn to systematic plunder.
By beaching on the north bank and storming the Blendine Bridge the pirates avoided having to fight through 80 percent of the Memorium, where they would have been treated cruelly in ambushes and cross fires designed to exploit their lack of experience and discipline.
Pinkus Ghort observed, "This isn't no mob gone crazy, Pipe. People on the other side knows what's going on. We're about to get slapped around like a couple teenaged whores."
"There's order and planning, anyway. The pirates may just be here for the plunder but I'm thinking somebody is more ambitious."
Redfearn Bechter generally kept his own counsel. He preferred to do God's work quietly. If you asked the Sergeant, he would tell you God was like a tailor. A gentle entity who preferred to carry on the business of the world with minimal fuss. Bechter observed, "We're screwed if we don't decide right now that this is bigger than just some Praman fishermen trying to steal anything that isn't nailed down. There's an evil genius at work."
Else sighed. "What do you think, Pinkus? Stand tough south and up here, but let them do what they want in between?"
Saluda protested, "That would push them into the heavily populated part of the city."
"Which is where they want to go. Right? So, if we let them, without making them kill us first, we stay alive to fight. Where they aren't. Right?"
Ghort snorted. "Their boats! Shit! Eis and Aaron! You're a fucking evil genius yourself, Pipe."
"Only if they're stupid enough to leave them on the north bank. They do, we only have to fight them on the bridges when they try to get back."
"Heh-heh!" Ghort said. "Let's get the word spread. You know what'll happen, don't you, Pipe? The Brotherhood will harvest the glory."
"That's probably best. They can stand fast against a mob of panicky pirates. Gervase, if you want to make a contribution, how about you run over to Hanbros's Arch, find Godel Joyce, and tell him not to put up a real fight because we want the bad guys headed toward the ruins of the Senate. Don't tell him anything else. Pinkus. Go see Moglia. Tell him to keep them from turning downriver. That's all he's got to do. It shouldn't be hard. Meanwhile, I'll slide over to the Castella. Bechter?"
"Right behind you, sir. How long before the pirates catch on?"
"Long enough to make it too late, I hope." Else was not optimistic, though. So many boats. Far more boats than anyone had imagined the Calzirans would bring.
Paludan Bruglioni and those few bold servants willing to help a Bruglioni followed Else to the Castella dollas Pontellas.
Grade Drocker himself led a company across the Rustige Bridge, above Krois, then attacked the beached and moored Calziran boats and ships. Drocker exploited his vestigial powers to confuse and panic the guards protecting the fleet — mostly boats so small they could have carried no more than five men. The guards were the Calziran sick and injured and elderly.
During a lull Else stared across the Teragi. He saw no sign of anything happening there. Closer, the Brotherhood began barricading the Blendine Bridge to fix the returning pirates for archers on the Castella battlements.
Sergeant Bechter observed, “They'll be here soon."
"They should be. Yes."
Drocker had not brought enough men to fortify the bridge and overwhelm the boat guards, both. Not quickly enough. Sheer numbers of boats and raiders slowed the attack. Drocker seemed una
ble to do anything useful once resistance stiffened. Scarcely a hundred of the smaller, beached vessels had been fired or holed when Drocker approached Else.
"We're already having trouble… holding the bridge. I have to go … help. Keep after it here. Concentrate on the… biggest boats. That will bother them… more. They'll do… stupid things. Oh. And keep an eye out… for a woman."
"Sir? A woman?"
"Somewhere in this mess… there's a woman sometimes known… as Starkden. A witch. She's here… with the fleet… amongst the boats. Otherwise, my power… would be adequate. Catch her. Take her alive. She has much… to answer for to… the Brotherhood of War."
"Sir, this isn't a situation I've faced before. How do I catch a witch if she doesn't want to be caught?"
"She will be badly stunned… now. I hit her hard. But that won't… last. Don't waste time. And don't forget to… drag her along if we can't hold… the bridge." Drocker had less trouble talking these days. His health had improved over the last year.
"Yes, sir."
"Catch her and… we'll win this easily, Hecht. Once they know… we control the source of their… good fortune. And know that… the Collegium will be waking up… any minute."
"Yes, sir." Else wondered why the Collegium was not involved already. Had the Calziran sorcerers managed to neutralize them somehow?
Drocker hurried off toward the Blendine Bridge. Else finally relaxed. Although Drocker was unaware that Else was responsible for crippling him, Else never felt comfortable around the man.
Bechter observed, "That ain't a man with much personality, but he's loaded up on willpower."
"Oh, he's got plenty of personality. All snake."
"Hey. That's the Special Office. They recruit people worse than the ones they hunt. So they only sign reptiles."
"Let's find this witch. Anybody know what we're looking for?"
Bechter said, "Amazingly enough, everybody in the Brotherhood does." He described a swarthy woman in her fifties who could have been Paludan Bruglioni's sister or mother — or any fortune-teller on the streets of Brothe.
Else said as much.
"Which explains why she comes and goes as she pleases all around the Mother Sea."
"Who does she work for?" Else was puzzled. He had not heard of Starkden before the events in Runch. She seemed to have a fabulous reputation on this side of the water.
"Interesting question, Captain. She appears to be an independent contractor. Look, we're in the middle of a fight. You want to have a conversation, drop back there with the masked man and his sidekick." Bechter meant Paludan and Gervase, who was back from his mission. They were not inclined to become directly involved in the rough work. "I've got unbelievers to punish."
"And a witch to find." A Praman witch, apparently.
The resistance offered by the boat guards declined as the strongest succumbed. The most easily panicked launched their boats or ran away. Calzirans across the river shrieked at those on me north bank to bring the damned boats over.
Else's wrist began to ache. His amulet had lain dormant for so long that he had forgotten it. Almost.
He dealt with a weak attack by a Calziran trio who appeared to consist of three generations of the same family, all injured in previous fighting. He dispatched them without emotion.
"Good on you," Bechter said. "Now you're getting to work."
"Let's just slash the rigging. I don't think we'll get much chance to start any more fires."
The pirates initiated a spirited effort to clear the Blendine Bridge. Lesser forces rushed the bridges above Krois and the Castella, too.
"We have smoke down there," Bechter said. "Not a good omen in a city."
Else eyed the smoke. Anna Mozilla's house lay in that direction, though farther away.
Else said, "There's a crowd on the towpath by that dhow flying the red pennon." They had damaged the majority of the beached craft now. "Would that mean they think there's something to protect on board?"
"I'd bet Oh, for a company of Aparionese crossbowmen about now. We could rip that crowd apart without getting close."
The ship with the red pennon was one of a hundred larger craft that had not been hauled out of the water. Those were tied up downstream from the majority, side by side, in places forming ranks of as many as eight vessels. The shoreward ships were tied up to the flood wall where it ran along the river's edge, making the bank a set of sheer stone faces stepping back from the water at intervals, providing a narrow towpath and landing, whatever the water level. The south bank was built up similarly starting at the foot of the Blendine Bridge and running upriver. The decision to build that way must have had something to do with the curve of the stream.
Else told Bechter, "We can't break through that mob. There're too many of them. You distract them. I'll go around. Gervase. You and Paludan stick with the sergeant." The Bruglioni group had not scurried away, but they did make a point of hanging way back.
"Around, Hecht? How?" „
Bechter was talking to the air.
Else dodged between fishing craft. That put him out of sight. He shed mail and clothing, slipped down into the fetid brown river. The water was colder than he expected.
Swimming while carrying weapons was not easy. But you learned how in the Sha-lug schools. A soldier had to be able to take the fight anywhere.
He went under, swam with the current, surfaced behind the outermost ship in the first moored rank, then worked his way toward his target, a dingy coastal trader. One of the biggest Calziran ships, it was small compared to war galleys Else had seen crossing over from Dreanger.
He rested against the dhow's hull briefly, listened, heard only the creak of timbers and groan of strained rope.
Boarding proved difficult. Even amidships, where the vessel had the lowest freeboard, the rail was too high to reach. There were no ready handholds, either.
Else pushed his knife into the caulk and tar between strakes, above his head. He drove it deeper with palm blows, then relaxed, focused, surged. In a violent, one-handed pull-up he launched himself high enough to get his other hand over the gunwale. He let his sword fall, grabbed hold, and continued onward.
He rolled over the rail, recovered his weapons, looked for opposition. No one came at him. Redfearn Bechter had everyone's attention ashore.
Else dashed aft, severed the after mooring lines, then scampered forward. The dhow's stern began to swing out into the current.
As Else cut a forward mooring line, he realized that he had not thought this out. He would not be able to steer the ship as it turned end for end, descending the Teragi.
His amulet began to irritate him. It had not while he was in the water.
Pirates started yelling. Some began clambering across me ships moored inshore.
One more line to cut
A Calziran with more courage than brains flung himself across the widening gap between the dhow and its nearest neighbor. He landed on loose rope, fell, broke something. Else heard bone snap. The pirate barked in pain.
Three more heroes followed the first. One leapt and landed successfully. The next came down on the rail and, miraculously, balanced there, arms flailing, for as long as it took the third to fall short and snag his leg as he tried to avoid getting wet.
Sergeant Bechter scattered the distracted pirates on shore. Then he and his men scattered themselves.
The barricade on the Blendine Bridge was leaking desperate pirates.
Else severed that final mooring line, then removed his unwanted shipmates. They were fishermen. They should be able to swim.
The dhow finished its turn end for end. It smashed violently into the flank of a moored ship. Timbers groaned and snapped. Bits of rigging tumbled down. Else hustled around making sure his dhow did not become entangled with the other.
The cycle repeated itself, less violently. Else was no sailor. How was he going to steer this thing? A ship had to have steerage way on in order to be steered. Meaning it had to be moving in relation t
o the water, not just moving.
There was a more immediate problem, though. The sorceress. Starkden. Who had to know who he was. Because she had tried to kill him in Runch. Which made no sense if she was a true Praman fighter.
The ship was not big enough to have decks and cabins and whatnot, except back aft where there was a platform on which the steersman could ply his trade. There was nothing to cover, anyway. The pirates had brought a lot of empty space they hoped to fill with booty.
There was a sort of hovel under the steersman's platform. Else found the woman hidden there, delirious. He dragged her into the light. She was a stranger. Nevertheless, he thought she seemed familiar.
She was short, stout, unwrinkled, dark, dressed nothing like her pirates. And bald. Her clothing consisted of brightly dyed cotton like clothing favored by fortune-tellers.
Why the shaved head? That had to mean something. He could not recall anyone in the soothsayer racket shaving, then wearing a wig to hide it. For wear a wig she did. Else found it while looking for something to use as a gag and bonds.
It seemed like a good idea to get a sorceress thoroughly restrained while she was too groggy to disagree.
A gaggle of pirates chased the ship along the riverbank. And several boats that had fled earlier had discovered courage enough to join the chase.
Not good. He was alone, cold, and saddled with a dangerous prisoner, with enemies chasing him. Suppose he lured a few in, let them board, disarmed them, and made them work ship?
Daring, yes, but overly optimistic.
His wrist throbbed. The amulet was not responding to Starkden as it had Grade Drocker when the sorcerer tried to kill him. The pain was tolerable. The amulet was responding to presence rather than level of threat. It raised scarcely a tickle around Drocker, nowadays.
The pursuit on shore ended when the pirate rabble collided with a band of militia armed with crossbows they had had little practice rearming. Incompetence battled incompetence. Those able to project their incompetence at longer range seized the advantage by default
The pursuit on the river never closed in tight. Every Calziran wanted someone else to make the first move.
