Then she steeled herself. Enough cowering. “If you’re going to kill me, do it quickly. Torture is the coward’s way out.”
He didn’t respond.
“Fine, then how about some water?”
He stared at her expressionlessly. She pantomimed pouring something in her throat and wiping her lips. He still stared, unmoving. The other Hroom said something to the first with a gesture of his staff. It had a two-pronged piece of metal at the tip and wires running down the side to a makeshift button. These weapons were hacks, broken-down pieces of equipment modified to continue functioning in the jungle. Tolvern thought about the supplies in the submerged away pod, and knew that she could vastly increase their fighting ability.
If she could somehow keep from being dismembered.
“Try again,” she called down to Nyb Pim. “Tell them. We’re here to help. We’re not with Malthorne. We know the Hroom general. What is his name? Mose Dryz. We want peace between humans and Hroom, and all the rest of it. You know what to say—do what you can.”
“I understand.”
Tolvern was encouraged that their captors let her communicate without punishing her, and more encouraged when Nyb Pim started talking and the others didn’t attack him again. By now, most of the Hroom in the village had appeared and were standing, watching, and listening.
But within a few seconds of Nyb Pim speaking, another Hroom burst out of one of the shacks and snarled at the pilot. Nyb Pim shut up.
The newcomer was a large Hroom, several inches taller than Nyb Pim, who was himself over seven feet. This one had red skin, mottled with purple and lighter pink splotches. He wasn’t an eater, she thought, but those pink spots made her think he once had been.
He towered over the Hroom pilot, who was still sitting on the ground, bound. Nyb Pim had fallen silent, and now the newcomer spoke in an angry tone. Nyb Pim looked down at the ground, not making eye contact. Proper deference from a lower Hroom to an elder, a teacher, or a military leader.
Was this tall one the chief of the whole village? She would take one small risk and find out.
“Ask him if we can have some water,” she told Nyb Pim.
“You are going to get him killed,” Carvalho said.
“We’ll all be killed if we don’t do something. And this one needs to know that Nyb Pim answers to me, and me alone.”
“Enough.” It came from the tall Hroom, and it was in English.
Tolvern sat up straight, shocked. She hadn’t heard one intelligible word since being taken captive.
“Give us water,” she insisted.
“No.”
“What you are doing is cruel. We have caused you no offense. We only defended ourselves when attacked, as anybody would have. We don’t deserve this.” So far, she’d heard two words out of his mouth. Was he even understanding her?
“I have not yet decided if you will live,” he said, answering that question, at least. “Indeed, I believe that I will kill you. The question in my mind is how it shall be accomplished.”
He spoke as well as Nyb Pim, who’d been raised by missionaries. This one had spent many years among humans. A former slave?
As for his claim, Hroom were not given to deception, did not try to bluff to gain an advantage. They were not above torturing their prisoners for information—that ugly trait had apparently evolved independently of human cruelty—but if the Hroom said he would murder them, it wasn’t to get her attention. It was because he meant it.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because humans bring nothing but misery. Because I believe you are lying to me.”
“We didn’t even know you spoke English. Didn’t you hear us talking amongst ourselves? Why would we have said all of that?”
“Deception. It is your way.”
“Ask him, then.” Tolvern pointed at Nyb Pim. “He’ll tell you.”
“Which would only prove that he was already deceived, not that what he would tell me would be the truth.”
“Listen to me. We’re here to help. We came in an away pod. Malthorne’s ships were shooting at us. The pod landed in the swamp where you found us.”
“I saw no pod. Only parachutes. Part of the deception.”
“All you have to do is ask Nyb Pim. We couldn’t have deceived him about that. Think about it. He was in the pod with us. He’ll tell you. We were shot at by Malthorne’s ship.”
Nyb Pim started to speak Hroom. Tolvern could only assume it was agreement with what she’d been saying. But the Hroom leader interrupted at once, and one of their captors jabbed Nyb Pim with a shock spear. He flopped to his side and lay there twitching.
“Stop doing that!” Brockett cried. “You’ll kill him. Captain, tell them. His nervous system has already taken repeated—”
“I know, Brockett. Keep quiet.”
She was thinking. Why didn’t this Hroom want Nyb Pim to talk? The chief hadn’t stopped Tolvern from speaking, so why the pilot? But, wait. He’d allowed Nyb Pim to speak in English. It was only when he launched into Hroom that they attacked him.
“You don’t want the others to hear, do you?” she asked. “They don’t understand English, only Hroom. And you don’t want them to know what we’re saying. Because they might have sympathy for us. And that will make us harder to kill.”
The Hroom glared at her. “This is why our people can never deal with yours. We speak plainly, even when we don’t intend to speak at all. Yet your ways are cloudy to our minds. We know you are trying to destroy us, to enslave us, to weaken us at every step. Yet we cannot stop you.”
He hadn’t killed them yet; Tolvern took comfort in that. He’d ordered Tolvern dragged to the platform, where two guards stood menacingly above her. They threatened to add her to the macabre tableau of victims, but they hadn’t done it yet.
“Then do it,” she said. “If you’re only going to kill us anyway, why are you hesitating?”
“Do you know where you are sitting?” he asked.
“Seems obvious enough. A place where you murder people in cold blood.”
“A temple to Lyam Kar.”
“The god of death?” she asked. If her mouth hadn’t already been dry, it would have become so now.
He gave the wrist turn that was the Hroom equivalent of a shrug. “Perhaps our ancestors with their giant stone temples would not have recognized it as such. But we do what we can given our reduced circumstances.”
“And you tortured and mutilated these people?” she said with a nod at the rotting body parts.
“We dismembered them, as per our custom. But I gave them the right to die from hanging first. Then I cut them apart in the sacrificial manner.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Are you unaware of the nature of this world? What the humans do to us when they capture us? I was a slave for over ten years. It is a cruel, merciless fate. I will not return. I will not see any of my people return. We will die first.”
“Please, listen to me. My name is Jess Tolvern. I am a ship captain. I’m part of the rebellion attempting to end Lord Malthorne’s reign. He is the biggest slaver on this world, and I mean to do him as much damage as possible.”
“So that you can seize his plantations and sugar mills for yourself?”
“No.”
“My village is anxious to see you killed. Most of them are survivors of a terrible massacre a few months ago. Their mates, their offspring—all slaughtered. My own mate was killed by humans.”
“We took no part in that,” Tolvern said.
“We turned to the gods for relief from our pain. Some had visions of Lyam Kar. As soon as we began to offer sacrifices, our fortunes turned.”
“And you believe that killing and maiming brings this god’s aid?”
“From the god of death, yes. He is the one who will lift us to victory.”
“You didn’t answer my question. You believe this?”
He still didn’t answer. Instead, he said, “There are some who urge us to sacrifice in the ol
d way—that is what they expect will be your fate.”
“The old way? Torture first, you mean. Am I right? Then death.”
“Removing the joints of the body, one by one. First, the digits of the feet and hands. Then the hands and feet themselves. To the joints of the arms and legs, and finally, the shoulders and hips. We did this to the dead. Now we will do it to the living. There are ways to prolong life. To give pain along with death as an offering to our god.”
Tolvern found this terrifying, but at the same time, this Hroom leader was clearly unsettled. He had refused to answer her question as to whether or not he believed torture and sacrifice helped. He had brought her here, yet allowed her to plead for her life.
“Please, what is your name?”
“Pez Rykan.”
She hadn’t expected him to answer, but was glad he had. Pez Rykan. The last name was the world where he’d been born: Rykan. Seized by Albion about fifteen years ago, it was largely depopulated now, as it was too hot for human settlement, yet unsuitable for sugar production. A good source of slaves, and nothing more.
“Pez Rykan, what will it hurt you to let us show you the away pod and what we’ve brought you? If what I’m telling you is true, it will change the course of this war.”
“I care nothing for your war.”
“Of your war. You will free the slaves. They will come to you by the thousands.”
He hesitated, and in that moment, she knew that she had him. He still suspected that she was lying. Probably was nearly certain that it was a trap, though he wouldn’t be able to see how it could be. Neither did Tolvern, for that matter. The four strangers had been clinging to a dangerous perch above the lake when discovered. Probably wouldn’t have survived the night, if Pez Rykan hadn’t come. It had been a rescue, as much as a capture.
But there was a chance. His situation was nearly hopeless, hiding feebly in the jungle, and he’d have to take it.
Pez Rykan scaled the platform and said something to the other Hroom. They pulled her to her feet and lifted her off the ground until she was high enough to see eye to eye with the chief. He studied her face, as if miraculously, he would be able to detect deception when no other Hroom could.
“I will give you two choices,” he said. “First, you confess that you are lying. That there is no away pod, no strange weapon or device that will help us in our struggle. If you confess your lies, I will see that you are quickly and mercifully executed. Even this Hroom who has betrayed his people shall enjoy a swift end.”
“And if I don’t? What is my choice?”
“If you persist in your story, I will accept it as the truth. For now. I will give you water and food. I will accompany you to the swamp where you were found. There we will discover the truth of the matter.”
“And then?” she asked.
“If these goods exist, we will recover them, and I will decide what to do with you then. But if you are lying—”
“I’m not.”
“If you are lying, you will still be sacrificed. But in the old way. Joint by joint. You will feel every cut, every pull. So long as we are able, you will stay alive while your body is ripped apart to give honor and sacrifice to our god.”
Chapter Fifteen
Back at the lake the next morning, Tolvern stood on shore with her hands on her hips as their captives searched for the pod. Four Hroom waded through the mud and reeds to where the water grew deep, probing with twelve-foot-long poles. Others hacked branches from one of the fern trees on the edge of the lake to expose its trunk. They’d hauled a thick rope from the village, which they now tied around its base.
Pez Rykan stood on the shore next to Tolvern. “I have warned you. I will not retract my judgment should your vessel fail to appear.”
“You’ll see. This is going to change everything.”
Tolvern felt confident, almost cocky. This was the entire reason she’d come to Hot Barsa, and after several narrow scrapes, she was finally ready to complete her mission. But there was no time to waste. There was a rebellion to foment.
After pronouncing judgment, the Hroom leader had put them in one of the stilt houses and brought them water. Later came food, some sort of cooked tuber and meat dish that was surprisingly edible, though she didn’t want to think about what kind of animal she was eating. They were all in better spirits after that, and ready for a return trip to the lake in the morning.
Nyb Pim remained captive at the Hroom village, but Pez Rykan brought the other three along. Following the previously cut trail, with everyone on foot now, it only took a few hours to reach the lake. Carvalho cut his own pole, and soon joined the Hroom in poking into the lake, looking for the pod. Brockett sat on the riverbank with a pad of paper and a charcoal drawing stick given him by the Hroom, running some sort of calculations about the sugar antidote.
“How far away are the plantations?” Tolvern asked.
Pez Rykan hesitated, as if trying to decide whether to answer. “The nearest estate is a day’s march to the northeast.”
“That close! That’s great news. Is it a big one?”
“Naturally,” the chief said. “It belongs to your king. He has hoarded the richest lands for himself.”
“Lord Malthorne is no king of mine. My king was killed by the Hroom, and when we replace him, we’ll choose a better sort than Malthorne, believe me. Someone honest and just.”
“Does such a human exist?”
“How many slaves on this estate?” she asked, not to be put off by his digs.
“Tens of thousands. Living in misery, worked to death to make the very poison that is killing them.”
“We’ll put an end to that, by God.”
“Unlikely. Dozens of humans and armed sugar eaters guard the estate. Our entire rebellion is a single village in the swamp. How would we manage such a thing?”
Tolvern allowed herself a smile. “Wait until you see what I have. Then you won’t be so glum.” She glanced up at the mottled skin around his neck and face, and found herself wondering. “You were a sugar slave, weren’t you? How did you escape?”
Pez Rykan didn’t answer, but kept staring out at the lake. She thought it was another case of not wanting to answer a direct question and not knowing how to equivocate, but he was staring so fixedly that she followed his gaze. Carvalho and the Hroom had traipsed along the edge of the reeds, stirring up mud. The others had tied off the massive rope, dragged the end into the water, and stood guarding the searchers.
“The devil take me,” Carvalho called back to her. “I cannot find the bloody thing. This is where I was swimming, right out from here, I would swear it.”
“Search in that direction,” she said, pointing.
“It wasn’t there. Look, you can see where we crawled out of the water, here.”
He was right. She’d had a hard time getting an angle on their landing spot from this side of the lake, although the larger parachute was still where they’d left it, and that had provided a rough guide. But now he pointed to the giant lily pads, and she could see one they’d flipped over coming up. It had never righted itself, and the underside had bleached pink in the sun.
“You were indeed lying to me,” Pez Rykan said.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “It was right there.”
“And now you have forced me to keep my promise. You will be sacrificed in the old way.”
“Someone must have moved it!”
“Nobody moved it. You would see where it had come out of the water.”
That was true. There were various tracks out of the water, places where the reeds had bent and broken as if some large animal had dragged itself to shore, but nothing nearly the size of the away pod.
“I don’t know, a helicopter, then. The humans must have spotted us landing, maybe detected us from space. They came down, hooked up chains, and lifted it straight up.”
“Doubtful.”
“You’re right, it’s got to be here. For God’s sake, you’ve got to give us a littl
e more time. Look, I’ll find it myself.”
Without waiting to see if he would stop her, she stripped off her boots and socks and peeled off her jump suit until she stood in her underwear. She slogged through the mud past Carvalho.
When the water began to climb thigh high, she eyed the overturned lily pad and dove in. The last thing she heard before going into the warm water was Carvalho calling out for her to be careful.
She came up with a slimy taste in her mouth. The edge of the away pod should be right beneath her, within reach of where Carvalho and the others were poking around with their poles. But hadn’t it landed on this side? The higher part would be out another fifteen feet or so, in deeper water.
She swam out and prodded around with her feet. Carvalho had felt it right under him. She couldn’t feel anything, but she was also shorter than he was. She kicked up her feet and dove down to find it with her hands. It was dark as ink, and she couldn’t see a thing. Something long and serpentine slid past her in the water, brushing her with its body.
Tolvern swam down until her fingers groped at the mud. Dammit. Not down here. She came up, took a big gulp of air, and went down again. Nothing. Where the hell was it?
When she came up a second time, Carvalho pointed to her left. “You’re over too far. Move that way.”
The Hroom were talking in excited tones, pointing out to the center of the lake. Brockett was on his feet, watching her, but now his attention moved to where the Hroom were gesturing. His eyes widened.
Tolvern didn’t look, afraid that whatever she saw would terrify her into swimming for shore. And then Pez Rykan would seize her for treachery, and that would be the end of them all.
She swam to where Carvalho was pointing. She kicked up her heels and dove. Again her fingers touched the mud, but this time she didn’t come back up. She swam in circles until her lungs burned, growing more and more frustrated, as well as afraid of whatever creature the others had spotted. Then she bumped into something hard and flat. She found the edge and felt along it, and found one of the large hooks they used when loading the pods into their ejection carriages.
Rebellion of Stars (Starship Blackbeard Book 4) Page 11
