Beside the Rock and Cloud

by Pete Draper

  “We’re not spies.”

  “Why do you have slaves aboard?” Trench Coat nudged Samia’s skirt with his toe, revealing the brand of House Otep. “We all know slavery is illegal in Levac. We don’t have labour camps like they do in Rockland, the punishment for slaving is death.”

  Carilyo gulped. Before he could come up with an answer, a bag was placed over his head, then a fist smacked his stomach.

  I Know Everything

  He couldn’t see anything but the powerful green light which screamed right in his eyes. Moving was hopeless, his arms were chained tight to the metal bar on the desk. Carilyo looked around, at least he tried to.

  “Is anyone there?” He wanted to place a hand over his face to block out the light. Closing them only made a white dot appear in the dark. His alcohol withdrawal was giving him a banging headache too.

  “Seems you’re in a bit of a predicament, Mr D’Silva.”

  Shifting his ass in the uncomfortable chair, Carilyo leaned his head to one side, then the other, trying to get a look at who was talking. He couldn’t see a damned thing. “How do you know my name?”

  The smell of pipe smoke floated through the air, the thin strand of it seeped right through to Carilyo’s nostrils, forcing a cough. The man chuckled gently. “Ha ha ha. I’m Chief Investigator of the Imperial Intelligence. It’s my business to know… everything.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Ah, the first sensible question.” The light was moved from his eyes a little; it took a while for Carilyo to regain focus though. He could make out the figure of the stick-thin man in his trench coat.

  Trench Coat had a deep voice for a man so thin. “There are many things I want. I want a nice hot bath at the end of a long day, I want a holiday home by the sea, I want a pretty wife and some children. My business with you, however, has nothing to do with what I want.”

  Carilyo’s eyebrows raised as far as they could. “I… I don’t understand.”

  “We might as well be acquainted; it’s going to be a long night for both of us after all. The name’s Lorix.”

  With a heavy breath, Carilyo closed his streaming eyes tight. This was going to be a painful encounter, he could sense it. “Where is my sister? Is she alright?” He looked around, feeling a sudden sense of panic that she wasn’t sitting next to him.

  “She’ll be fine,” Lorix said. He lit the intricate pipe with a strange flaming contraption, then took a puff. Lifting his head, he blew smoke around the room, creating a swirling grey cloud. “I was told she was the brains of the operation, that she was the one I should deal with. Yet she spoke so quickly, it was almost…” he took a long exhale, “Unintelligible.”

  “What have you done with her?” Carilyo demanded, trying to move his bound hands.

  “We had to gag her and put her in the chest over there. See, she just wouldn’t shut up. I had no idea what she was saying.”

  A muffled sound and a few bangs came from within the crate in the corner. The lid didn’t move. Carilyo recognised the carvings on the crate. It was their crate, the one Varleo stole in Kataly.

  “Cassi!” Carilyo yelled. “Please let her out.” He placed his palms together.

  “Don’t tell me what to do.” Lorix pointed, blowing thick smoke in Carilyo’s face until the latter coughed. “Not even Empress Auria tells me what to do. I answer only to myself, and the Grand Duke.”

  “She is my sister, I’m sorry if she spoke out of turn.”

  “Enough about her for now.” Lorix waved a hand. A thin stream of smog flittered throughout the room; it was all Carilyo could smell.

  “So, did you see anything interesting?” Lorix’ eyebrow raised. He was so skinny; his limbs were like twigs. “I’m afraid you won’t get the chance to report back to the folks in the Tetrahedron.”

  “What are you talking about, we are not spies. I haven’t seen anything. I thought you knew everything.”

  “Oh, I do.” Lorix bit a fingernail, spitting the nail out onto the floor. A streak of blood leaked on his finger. “But if you’re not spies, why was your sister…” he blew out more smoke, “Snooping around?” Lorix tapped his chin with a finger.

  “She was… curious,” Carilyo said. “She likes bright things; she always had an eye for jewellery.”

  Lorix snorted, then took another drag. “She’s the clever one? Yet she thought there would be precious jewels to buy inside the facilities of the Imperial Intelligence.” He thought a little longer, then burst out laughing, yawning with a groan when he was done.

  “I don’t know what she was thinking, but we’re not spies. We are in transport.”

  “Transport,” Lorix jeered. “You’re smugglers.” He stroked his chin. “So Carilyo D’Silva, where are you headed?”

  “Argosa,” Carilyo answered. “Please let us go, we are no threat to the empire. Neither are those slaves. I am not trading them; they are to be set free.”

  “Such a noble act,” Lorix said. “Though I’m not sure all of your intentions on this journey have been so noble now have they? I heard about your little transaction with the Storr-el-Stark not so long ago. Oh, I do enjoy a bottle of that, they let me ship a crate of it in… from time to time.” Lorix looked off in thought. “I could send you to Traki with those two slaves. Maybe I should hand you and your sister over to a prisjagar, those Rocklanders are particularly precious about the strong stuff. They’ll make an honest man of you up in Coratta.”

  “Please, no.”

  “Whoa-oh-oh-oh, I’m breaking rocks in Coratta,” Lorix sang softly to himself, staring into space as though Carilyo wasn’t there. With closed eyes, he took another drag from the pipe. “Oh, the pos-si-bi-li-ties.” The merrily spoken word bounced throughout Lorix’ mouth. With the pipe placed on the desk, he rubbed his hands together with a look of glee on his face. “Maybe I’ll watch you hang, then send your sister over to the Golden Empire. She’d live out her life as someone’s bed slave, or maybe one of House Otep’s cage dancers.”

  The chest thumped a couple more times. A muffled groan came from within.

  “Please leave Cassi out of this, she wasn’t involved with the slaves. It was all my idea. They deserve a better life than being the property of House Otep.”

  “You think I care?” Lorix lit his pipe again. “I know you’re not spies. But I could watch you hang either way.” His eyes rolled around in thought. “I tell you what, let’s have some sssport.”

  “What do you mean?” Carilyo groaned.

  Lorix placed a finger between his front teeth, thinking. When he removed it, it pointed at Carilyo.

  “A hunt, we love a hunt in Levac.” Lorix raised and pointed the finger several times. He pointed at the chest, “Your sister,” then prodded his own chest with a thumb, “Against my best Commander.” Lorix turned his head a little during every word. “How does that sound?” He rolled his palm over, as though he was making an offer.

  “I like it, but my sister does not sail. It must be me. And what if I win?”

  “Even better, Cassi the Captain it is then.” Lorix slapped the table, then pointed at Carilyo again. “If you win, you and all your crew go free, off you go to Argosa.” Lorix’ cheeks raised into a creased smile. “You lose, and you hang. And that sister of yours goes off to Traki; providing she survives the hunt, that is.”

  “But why are you doing this?”

  “I ask the questions.” Lorix pushed up to his feet. He exhaled more smoke through his nostrils. “Anyway, there are two reasons. One, it’ll be fun, and two. Well, that’s none of your business. But…” Lorix tapped the side of his nose, then pointed at Carilyo with a smile, “You’ll find out tomorrow.”

  “You can stay here until morning.” Lorix tossed Carilyo the keys, which bounced on the desk towards him. “I’ll lock you in.”

  As Carilyo unlocked his wrists, the door slammed and locked behind him.

  He opened the chest, Cassi stopped struggling when she saw her brother. Her hands were bound behind her
back and her mouth was gagged.

  “I’m sorry Cassi.” He removed the gag.

  “What’s happening? Are they letting us go?” She looked around while her eyes adjusted.

  The Hunt

  “So, you understand the rules?” Lorix asked. “Around the rocks at Green Point, then around the other two rocks until you’re back here. If you can make it, that is.” His eyebrows raised insultingly.

  Two of Lorix’ cronies gripped Carilyo by the arms. His hands were tied behind his back with rope so coarse it scraped at his skin. A noose hung from the tree off the edge of the Imperial Shipyard; it would be a classic Levacian short rope hanging.

  Carilyo tried not to look at the rope swaying in the wind, but it was right in the corner of his eye. It wouldn’t stop moving either. Aside from the warships bobbing up and down, everything was still.

  “Yes.” Cassi gulped. “I understand.” Carilyo had never seen his sister look so anxious. To make matters worse, neither of them had slept well. Her hair was all ruffled; her hungover eyes were bloodshot, ghastly dark clouds formed beneath them.

  The Levacian Commander was handsome, his shiny brown hair was brushed from one side to the other, not a single hair was out of place; he was impeccably clean-shaven. He slid some strange cylindrical gold weapon onto one arm. The gold wrapped around his arm like the legs of an octopus. He turned something around his wrist, and the tentacles’ grip tightened.

  He was giving instructions to the three rows of twelve Levacian sailors. Each man and woman stood at ease in red uniforms with a black epaulette over their shoulder, some had black bandoliers filled with vials of a blue liquid. Apart from the Commander, they all wore black berets with a badge of the Levacian flag over their left eye: the red background with five gold stripes crossing diagonally.

  Carilyo’s eyes narrowed nervously. This lot mean business.

  “Wait,” he said. It was his only hope, the crew’s only hope, Cassi’s only hope. “Since it’s my life which hangs in the balance; I choose the route. It’s only fair.” His eyes were stern; he managed to suppress the constant shaking in his hands.

  “Alright, let’s hear it.” Lorix puffed air from his nose as though he was listening to a child. He took a paper bag out of his deep pocket. Shuffling around in it, he popped some sort of sweet in his mouth as though he was a child waiting for the main event at the Ancestor’s Day celebrations.

  Carilyo knew the seas around here well. He chose a route with plenty of reefs for Cassi to try to avoid. He hoped he’d taught her well enough, though teaching was half the problem, maybe less. He hoped she’d learned.

  “Can I choose your ship too?” Carilyo looked at the different imperial vessels. Beside a couple of nippy-looking ships with triangular red sails was a huge transport carrier, large enough to carry two, maybe three battalions, it had the words RES Union on the side. That would never catch the Howling Dragon.

  Lorix shook his head just once, Carilyo almost thought he saw a smile. It was worth a try.

  Lorix reached into his pocket again. With a sound of a chain scraping, he produced a pocket watch. He pressed a button on the side and the front flipped up. “Commander Lowell,” Lorix said without looking up from his watch, “Give them a head start. Ten minutes. Then you may, mmm… pursue.”

  Carilyo cringed; even with twenty minutes, that thing was still quick enough to catch up.

  “May I wish my sister luck, and say goodbye?” Carilyo pleaded. Cassi was having a conference with Murta, Roxy and Hermo near the Howling Dragon.

  “Not a chance.” Lorix shot a sideways glance at Carilyo through narrow eyes.

  “But why?” Carilyo watched as Cassi clambered aboard the Howling Dragon. When she reached the top of the ramp, she gave her brother a sad wave, which he couldn’t return with his bound hands. All he could do was nod at her whilst trying to lift his frown.

  “Like I said last night, I ask the questions.” Lorix’ lips smacked as he sucked on the sweet.

  The Howling Dragon floated away. Beside it was the Imperial ship which was to pursue. RES Wrath was painted on the side in red, the Levacian flag covered each sail; the gold stripes glowed like flames against the red. The triangular sails looked much more streamlined than those of the Howling Dragon.

  In the centre of the deck was something covered by a huge white sheet, must’ve been ten feet tall and just as wide.

  “How do you rate her chances, big brother?” Lorix asked. He rolled the ball over his teeth, making it rattle; Carilyo could smell the aniseed from where he was standing.

  “She’ll do fine, she’s a D’Silva after all. Cassi will be back here in no time.”

  “Ha ha ha.” Lorix tipped his head back and cackled. “You Katalians and your family names, you sure crack me up. Do you really think you’re better because of who your papa was?”

  “Yes,” Carilyo said through gritted teeth. Lorix laughed some more, as did his two henchmen; one wheezed like his lungs were full of smoke.

  Boots clicked on the stone. Lowell marched over, crunching tiny stones beneath his feet. A smug grin filled his face.

  “How long?” Lowell turned his piercing eyes from Carilyo to Lorix. The yellow trim of his uniform glowed brightly against the red.

  “I’ll tell you when it’s time Commander.” Lorix didn’t remove the watch from his pocket.

  Lowell watched the Howling Dragon impatiently. His crew marched to their ship, taking up positions on board.

  “This is a perfect test for the Grand Duke’s new weapons,” Lowell said casually.

  “Of course, now we get to use them against a… moving target.” Lorix removed the pipe from a pocket, along with the strange mechanism for lighting it; a long tube poked out from the square box. “Let’s see how that ship of yours deals with this. Maybe your sister can use that D’Silva name as a shield,” Lorix sneered. “You know, those Shades in Coraltin sure did crap themselves when they saw the Royal Empress’ Ship Wrath open fire on them.”

  Men and women surrounded the white sheet on the RES Wrath. It was peeled away from one side. Sunlight rolled around the tip of the cylinder; a gigantic gold weapon was unveiled from beneath. A blue square gleamed from one side. The huge gold cylinder stood on a raised section in the middle of the ship, just beneath the boom of the mainsail. The rows of black gears it stood on cranked, the head of the weapon turned.

  “What is that?” Carilyo’s eyes whitened, realising what Cassi meant about the gold glowing blue.

  “That piqued your interest eh?” Lorix’ lip curled into a proud smile as he chuckled. “This is the Grand Duke’s cannon; it’ll blow your daddy’s ship into a million pieces.” He sucked smoke from his pipe, swirling it around his mouth. “A shame really, she’s a pretty girl, that sister of yours.”

  “Cassi.” He looked up to the sky. “Please Papa, watch over her. Guide her the best you can.”

  Lorix’ skinny fingers slithered into his pocket like worms. Retrieving the watch, he clicked the button on the side, and the face opened. His head slowly lowered until he was looking at it.

  He eyed Lowell with a grin, “Time to go.”

  Cassi couldn’t see what was behind from the quarterdeck; one of the Levacians was watching from the crow’s nest. She was sure Lorix would have a nasty surprise up his sleeve.

  Worst of all, she was still hungover. Why do people drink? Her head was swimming and pounding at the same time; her eyes were burning.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t have cut Barolos loose,” Luco said. His glum face was more melancholy than usual.

  “Never mind maybe we shouldn’t haves,” Murta said. He stood tall beside her. “Cassee can do this.” Normally having Murta beside her would fill Cassi with confidence but for some reason, today it didn’t. Maybe it was always Carilyo who did that. She’d never been on the ship without him, now she had to sail it away from the hunting Levacians, while he was still ashore.

  “I can do this,” Cassi tried to convince herself, but was less encourage
d after saying it. Their ship must have been quick to give the Howling Dragon a ten minute head start.

  They followed the path Carilyo had set, southeast towards the rock and around it, then west around the next two. The first rock was coming into view a long way off, light shimmered from the bulging waves which had bounced off it.

  “They’re coming!” Drax called from above.

  It gained several ship lengths in no time.

  Cassi looked back, but all she saw was the door to her chamber. Not seeing the enemy ship made her all the more nervous.

  Her heart pounded. Every wave that rocked into the hull felt like the strike of a gong in her chest. How she wished she could sit in Gianlo’s chair and watch Carilyo deal with this one. Cassi had never felt less confident; the crew’s lives were in her hands. A bunch of them had climbed the rigging to get a look at what they were up against.

  “What’s that?” Hermo asked. His arm shivered and shrank when he pointed. “That gold thing on their ship; the light on the side is brighter than the sun.”

  “I’ve never seen anythin’ like it,” Tumas said. “Looks fuckin’ dangerous to me. I didn’t sign up for this.”

  “Well you’re on board now, better help out, if you want to get through this,” Cassi said.

  “I’ve seen it before,” Murta said. “In Coraltin. Only that’s much bigger. Alls I can say is; I hope yous can sail faster than them Cap’in.”

  “What does it do?” Cassi asked. The last thing she needed right now was Murta not being strong for her.

  The Rocklander shrivelled like an autumn leaf, his shoulders slumped, suddenly he looked two feet shorter. “Yous don’t want to know.” His eyes turned from predator to prey.

  Cassi’s spine shuddered. She tried to focus on the sea and the ship, but all she could see was the glowing blue light from last night.

  “Block out all the other noise,” Cassi repeated Carilyo’s words, trying to say them in his voice like he was there. “There is nothing but you and the sea.” She closed her eyes, trying to feel the waves, trying to feel the changes in them; to sense where the reefs might lie ahead.