Mitchell Graham - [Fifth Ring 03] - The Ancient Legacy(V1.0)

by Mitchell Graham

"You're very strange."

  The Guardian said nothing.

  "I have another question. For the last several months

  I've been having dreams about Mathew Lewin. Is it possi­ble he is still alive?"

  "I cannot tell you that," the Guardian replied.

  "I suppose it's a silly thing to ask," she said. "They identified his body years ago, but every now and then I get the strangest feeling. It's not like it was when he had his ring. I could always tell it was him when he put it on. This is different. Could there be any other people with rings such as mine?"

  "No other people possess the rings."

  Teanna frowned. There was something in the way the Guardian answered Teanna's question that caused her to go on. "Three were destroyed," she said, counting to her­self. "One is in Alor Satar and I hold two of them. That makes six. You told me there were eight."

  "That is true."

  "Then there are two unaccounted for."

  The Guardian's gaze became unfocused for a second. "Only one ring is unaccounted for, Princess."

  "That's impossible. I just added them up. There are two left."

  "Your statement was flawed."

  "My state ... I don't understand. I asked if there were any other people with rings and you said no. If only one ring is unaccounted for, then someone has to have it."

  "Correct."

  Teanna took a deep breath and counted to five men­tally. "All right, who is it?"

  "Shakira."

  Teanna's mouth dropped open. "The Orlock queen? That's impossible!" She got to her feet so abruptly she knocked her chair over in the process.

  The Guardian simply stared back at her.

  "How could the Orlocks have one of the rings?" she asked.

  "They have had it in their possession for three millennia."

  "But it can't work for them. They're not people."

  "The Orlocks are not people as you use the word, but the ring can and does work for them."

  Teanna was so taken aback by the news, she found it difficult to think clearly. "Then why haven't they used it to destroy us?"

  "It is not within my program to speculate on the crea­tures' motives. I can only tell you the ring they possess be­came active a little over four years ago."

  "Four years ago? I don't understand. What happened four years ago?"

  "You created the opportunity for them."

  10

  On Board the Revenge

  When Mathew sent his signal to Elton Fikes, Mathew's goal was only to keep his men alive. He had no doubt that the Daedalus was capable of sinking one or both of the Vargothan vessels. Not only did his crew know how the cannons worked, they knew how to use them. His problem was getting his men out of the trap they had sailed into.

  The Daedalus was now at anchor in a bay with enemy ships on either side of her. Moreover, despite the superior firepower the Daedalus possessed, the Vargothans were far from helpless. Not only did they have four catapults that could pound a ship into submission in a matter of minutes, their people outnumbered those on the Daedalus three to one. In a close action, that would count for a great deal. If the Revenge and the Maitland succeeded in getting their crews under the elevation of the Daedalus's guns, its advan­tage would be nullified.

  Mathew and Fikes stood near the rail on the Revenge's quarterdeck and watched as a barge tied alongside the ship. It was late afternoon and the sun was a red ball above the hilltops surrounding the bay. For the last two days Mathew had been supervising the transfer of cannons from the Daedalus to the enemy ships. It was slow work and the job was only half complete. Once Fikes had calmed down and examined their situation objectively, he understood why Mathew had agreed to the transfer.

  "Another two days and we can get out of here," Fikes said.

  Mathew glanced up at the sky. "The weather is picking up a bit, I think."

  Fikes looked up and then back at the barge crew. "Careful there!" he bellowed. The men were in the pro­cess of securing one of the cannons to a boom. "If the seas continue running like this, it'll be hell bringing anything across tomorrow."

  Mathew nodded, turned the farsighter toward the inlet and began examining the base of the hills.

  Not receiving a response to his last comment, Fikes turned to him. "What are you thinking, Thaddeus?"

  "We've had fog the last two nights," Mathew said. "It looks like the same tonight."

  "What good will that do us? If we try to make a run for it, we'll still have to fight our way past them, plus they now they have half our cannons."

  Mathew swung the farsighter around and examined the Daedalus for a moment. "Our friends have one guard boat in the water. With four men, I could swim across and sur­prise them before they raise the alarm." .

  "What about the rest of our people?" Fikes asked. "We'd still have four men on board."

  "They can go over the side, cut the rudder, and swim to shore. It doesn't look like more than a half mile. We'd pick them up on the other side of that point at the north end of the harbor."

  "I don't know, Thaddeus. It's risky." Mathew started to reply but stopped as the topsails of a sloop became visible. A ship was rounding the point near the entrance to the harbor. With his farsighter trained on the approaching sloop, he could see it was flying Var­gothan colors, and from the amount of sail, it was carrying it was obvious that her commander was in a hurry.

  The sloop dropped anchor about a hundred yards off the Revenge's stern and immediately lowered a boat into the water. Mathew could see the men at the oars pulling over the waves. Judging from the gold braid on his cloak, their captain was seated in the stern. As soon as they were alongside, he jumped for the chains and clambered up onto the deck. He took in Mathew and Fikes with a single glance but made no effort to introduce himself.

  The first officer of the Revenge, accompanied by a bo­sun's mate and an honors party, came hurrying up the port rail to meet him. The sloop captain and first officer shook hands and moved to the opposite side of the deck to speak with one another. After a few seconds the first officer sig­naled for the bosun's mate to join them. Mathew couldn't hear them, but he saw the mate salute and promptly disap­pear down the companionway. The governor appeared a moment later.

  Mathew and Fikes watched the goings-on with increas­ing interest. When the meeting was concluded, the first of­ficer, the governor, and the sloop captain all shook hands, then the sloop captain returned to his boat. Interestingly, he made for LaCora's Maitland instead of heading back to his ship.

  News to deliver, Mathew thought. "Here it comes," Fikes said under his breath as the gov­ernor and his first officer walked toward them.

  "Well, gentlemen, it appears we've had a piece of good luck after all," Holt said. "It seems we won't have to go out and find Delain. His majesty is coming to us."

  Mathew felt his stomach sink. "May I ask how you know this?"

  "That man you were both trying so hard not to notice is the captain of that sloop yonder. He's just brought me news that a plan we set in motion some months ago has fi­nally borne fruit."

  "So Delain is simply going to sail in here and surren­der?" Mathew said.

  "Something to that effect," Holt replied. "The surren­der part may come later. I'm indifferent on that point. At any rate, he won't sail out of this bay again."

  "Why would he do something so foolish?" Elton Fikes asked.

  "Because we've given him sufficient motivation. To be­gin with, Delain thinks there is only one ship here—ours. And due to certain reports we've allowed to fall into his hands, he thinks we were forced to put in here to repair damage to our mizzenmast from the storm earlier this week. The fool is rushing here under full sail."

  Mathew folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the rail, waiting for the rest of the explanation. He had met Delain before, and the king was nobody's fool.

  "He also has a personal interest in me in particular," the governor went on.

  "How so, excellency?" Fikes asked.
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br />   "I recently had cause to crucify the Duchess Elita and her family ... to set an example for citizens who were slow in paying their taxes. The duchess had been spreading dissen­sion among the good people of Sheeley Province. She and Delain were related ... cousins or something, I was told."

  "You crucified a woman?" Fikes said, taken aback.

  Holt adjusted the sleeve of his shirt. "People die in wars all the time, Mr. Fikes. It made an effective example to the population."

  "Elita had four children." Mathew said.

  The governor took a deep breath. "Yes, that was most unfortunate . .. they took an unconscionably long time to die."

  It took every bit of control Mathew possessed to keep him from putting a sword through the governor's heart. The situation had just changed—markedly. It was no longer a matter of escape. Unless he did something, De-lain and his men would be blown to pieces once they en­tered the bay.

  "This doesn't change our deal, Holt," Mathew said. "Frankly, I don't care if you destroy Delain here or there. It's no concern of mine. After we get this last gun set up, I'd like to exercise your crews again. They haven't had much time to practice, and I don't think you'd want to put a shot through your own hull in the middle of a battle."

  The governor smiled. "Very generous of you, Lane. I'd like you to stay on board and take personal charge of the situation. Mr. Fikes can go across to the Maitland and help Captain LaCora."

  Mathew shrugged. "Just so long as I get the Daedalus when this is over."

  Fikes waited until they were alone again then turned to Mathew, his face white. "Making war is one thing, but crucifying women and children. .. and he stands there talking about it like he was discussing the weather."

  "There are all kinds of monsters in the world, Elton," Mathew replied quietly.

  "Were you serious about what you said a moment ago?"

  "If we can get underway quickly enough, we'll try to intercept Delain and warn him."

  "Good man," Fikes said. He shook his head and looked down at the water. "I'll take four men and head over to the Maitland. I'd appreciate it if you'd remember to pick us up when this is over."

  Mathew put his hand on Fikes's shoulder. "Just be off that ship by first light."

  "This won't be easy," Fikes said. "The Vargothans aren't going to sit by while you rake them."

  "I know," Mathew said. "Perhaps it's a good thing I for­got to teach them the finer points of hitting a moving tar­get in rough seas."

  Fikes blinked and stared at his friend for a second. "Such as shooting on the up roll?"

  "Or about recoil, and swabbing out. There may have been one or two other things I neglected to mention. Memory fails me."

  The expression on Fikes's face was one of astonish­ment. "You've been planning this?"

  "It may have crossed my mind. As I say—" Fikes laughed. "Memory fails you; yes, I know."

  At approximately four o'clock in the morning,.as the mid­dle watch was ending, Mathew pushed himself out of his bunk. Andreas Holt had been kind enough to assign him a cabin near the bow of the ship. When he got on deck, he saw that the harbor was shrouded in fog. The air felt damp and cool on his skin. Across the water he could hear the ship's bell on the Maitland ring out eight times. Her rig­ging was little more than a ghostly gray outline. Brown and Caukins were waiting for him amidships with two other crewmen from the Daedalus. The men were smok­ing pipes and talking quietly.

  Since the Revenge was riding at anchor, there was no one manning the wheel. The only person on watch was a master's mate. Mathew waved and walked over to join him.

  "Lucky to draw the morning watch, or do you have friends in high places?"

  The man laughed. "Friends in high places," he said. "It ain't so bad."

  Brown and Caukins sauntered over to join them.

  "Couldn't sleep, Mr. Lane?" Brown asked.

  Mathew shrugged. "I thought I'd take a turn around and deck and make sure everything is in order."

  "I hear we're going into battle this mornin'," the mas­ter's mate said. "We're finally gonna try these cannon you've given us. They sure do make a racket."

  "And a bigger hole," Caukins observed.

  The master's mate chuckled. "All you Felizians must be light sleepers. Here come two more of your men. Got a regular church social today."

  The master's mate never got a chance to say another word. Caukins's dagger plunged into his back, the blow traveling upward and puncturing his lung. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound escaped his lips. Caukins clamped a hand over the man's mouth and held it there un­til the sailor's knees gave way. After several seconds he died. Brown and Caukins carried him to the starboard rail and dropped him over the side. In the stillness of the early morning the splash seemed unnaturally loud. Mathew and the rest of the men joined them, and using the boarding nets, they climbed silently down into the waters of the

  North Sea.

  With the position of the Daedalus fixed in his mind, Mathew started swimming. During the night the seas had picked up again and were running at better than four feet. It took less then five minutes for his breathing to become labored. Blowing salt spray stung his eyes and made it dif­ficult to see clearly. To his annoyance, Brown didn't ap­pear to be struggling at all. The big coxswain flashed him a smile and kept swimming.

  Mathew heard the splash of the guard boat's oars be­fore he saw it. Disembodied voices from its crew reached him across the water. The Vargothans might not be sailors, but they had taken the right step in putting a boat into the water. As an added precaution, they had separated the Daedalus's senior officers from the crew. The only one left on board was Glyndon Pruett, who had almost no ex­perience in battle.

  Mathew signaled for his men to stop. He had made a point of observing the guard boat the previous day and knew it contained only four men. His people would have to be especially careful. One false move would raise the alarm to the other ships. He motioned everyone closer.

  "There are four of them," he said, keeping his voice low. "It will take about two minutes for them to complete their pass around the ship . . . perhaps a little more with the seas picking up. Brown, you and Caukins wait until they've gone around the bowsprit, then move to the inside of the Daedalus. Go for the two in the stern as they pass.

  Bowling, Maddox, and I will be on the outside of the boat and we'll take the men at the bow. Is everyone clear?" All the sailors nodded. "Move quietly, men."

  "What about the anchor, Mr. Lane?" asked Brown. "Too risky. Sound will travel in this fog. As soon as we're on board we'll cut the cable and get underway as quickly as possible."

  "Beggin' your pardon, sir," Bowling said, wiping spray from his face, "but if that land breeze continues to blow like this, the fog's gonna start breakin' up by first light. I come from a town just north of here."

  "Do you?" Mathew said, surprised. He had no idea there were other Elgarians beside himself among the crew. "Aye, sir. And Maddox here's from Sturga." Mathew looked at Maddox, who responded with a toothless grin.

  "I've been there," Mathew said. Maddox's grin got even wider. "All right, lads, let's go."

  They all started forward, then froze in place as a spill of yellow light from a lantern in the guard boat's bow briefly lit the water. It disappeared around the ship and the oars' splash receded in the distance. Having a light would make surprising them more difficult. Not daring to risk the sound of his own voice, Mathew motioned for Bowl­ing and Maddox to move away from him, then used hand signals to indicate that he wanted them to go under the surface once the boat came back around. They nodded. The wait seemed interminable.

  Mathew removed the knife from his belt, put it between his teeth, and continued to tread water. A strong undertow was trying to pull him away from the ship and he had to fight against it. Chill and damp, the fog floated just above the surface of the water. Occasional breaks appeared and were gone again moments later.

  For the tenth time in as many minutes, he reviewed the plan in his mind. Gi
ven the circumstances and the need for silence, he knew there was no way to coordinate their tim­ing. But Brown had a good head on his shoulders, and from what he'd seen of Caukins, he would do well, too. Bowling and Maddox were another matter. Both were top-men, and he had no idea how they would react once things started to heat up. Topmen had their own way of doing things.

  The sound of someone laughing in the guard boat in­terrupted his thoughts. A watery light followed as the Var-gothans pulled around the Daedalus's stern.

  He waited several seconds, took three deep breaths, and ducked under the surface. His own buoyancy tried to push him back up and the salt made his eyes burn. Just when he thought his lungs were ready to burst, a dark shape slid past his head. Mathew kicked his legs and broke the surface of the water, only to be thumped on the head by one of the oars. Colored lights exploded in front of his eyes and a startled exclamation came from inside the boat. Mathew grabbed hold of the oar with his left hand, thrust himself partially out of the water, and threw his knife with the other. The surprised sailor fell over side­ways, dead. He felt the boat lurch as Brown and Caukins came over the top of the gunwale from the opposite side. Caukins seized the nearest sailor by his hair, yanked backward and cut his throat. The second man died of a broken neck courtesy of Brown. Bowling and Maddox dragged the last sailor out of the boat and held him under­water until he stopped kicking. It was over as quickly as it had begun.

  Mathew took a few seconds to clear his head and looked at the eastern horizon. The fog made it difficult to tell, but the sky looked lighter to the east. He motioned for Brown and Caukins to go up into the ship. Maddox slid over the side and swam toward the anchor cable, while Bowling went for the stern. Thus far everyone was acquitting themselves well. Mathew used the boarding nets to climb up.

  The moment he set foot on deck of the Daedalus, he knew something was wrong. There was no sign of anyone. When he'd left a day ago, there were sixty-five men there. On the opposite side of the deck, Brown faced him and turned his palms up. Mathew looked at Caukins, who shook his head, equally puzzled. At that hour of the morn­ing a number of people should have been up and about. Many would have slung hammocks on deck because of the milder conditions.