Final Voyage of the Remora

by Richard S. Tuttle

  "This fog that you will create," Haditha asked Kalina, "can it be detected by the Federation mages?"

  "I am not totally sure," admitted Kalina. "If I keep it localized, I think we should be alright. It does not create loud vibrations, but I suppose if someone was monitoring for it specifically, they could detect it."

  "And how much energy does it require to maintain?" asked Haditha.

  "It is tiring over a long period of time," answered Kalina.

  "You will have at least two and a half days of sailing within sight of the cliffs before you reach the fleet," declared Haditha. "Can you maintain it for that long?"

  "I was not planning on keeping it up over night," frowned Kalina. "I would create it at dawn and drop it after dusk. I do not think I could maintain it the whole time. You sound concerned with our plan, Haditha. Why?"

  "None of you have sailed the Needle before," explained the water witch. "Two and a half days is the minimum time it would take to sail to the fleet once you come within sight of the Cliffs of Ranool, but one cannot always expect ideal conditions. The Needle is twenty leagues of extremely protected waters. Gomery could sail through the Needle in eight hours with a good wind, but if the cliffs block the wind, you could languish there for days. With cliffs to both the north and the south, there are many days without sufficient wind to sail though the Needle. You will also have another sixty leagues before you get to the Needle where winds out of the south would leave you drifting aimlessly."

  "You do not paint a nice picture of this voyage," frowned the captain.

  "The last sixty leagues won't be so bad," retorted the water witch. "Suicide Point will only block winds out of the east for that leg of the journey. So you see, Kalina, there is a reason why I asked how long you can hold the spell of fog. Not only might you need to hold it much longer than you thought, but Gomery can't see in the fog, and his sails may be limp long enough for him to lose his bearing. If that happens, you could end up slamming into the Cliffs of Ranool."

  "What are you suggesting we do?" frowned Kalina.

  "Turn around," Haditha stated. "Your plan is not feasible. Turn around and save the lives of these men."

  Kalina's eyes narrowed as she stared at the water witch. Haditha turned away and stared out at the sea. For several minutes no one spoke.

  "I could use a cup of tea, Captain Gomery," Kalina said, breaking the silence. "Would you be kind enough to get me one?"

  The captain nodded silently and walked away. As soon as he was out of earshot, Kalina spoke softly.

  "I do not know what you are up to, Haditha," Kalina said accusingly, "but I do not believe you are telling us the truth. The Needle is over twenty-five leagues in width. It is wider than it is long. While the cliffs would certainly block some of the winds from the north or south, they would not block enough of the winds to cause the ship to languish. You are painting a picture much bleaker than reality. Why?"

  "You have never sailed the Needle," retorted the water witch.

  "I have flown through it," countered Kalina, "and I know about winds as you never could. Why the deception?"

  Haditha's eyes started to water, and she turned away from Kalina. The Knight of Alcea heard the water witch sobbing as she waited patiently for the answer to her question.

  "I don't want him to die," she sobbed. "I have never had someone care for me as he does. Don't you understand? He loves me for what is inside of me, not because of some magical lure."

  "You have never had a man in love with you before?" Kalina asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "Hundreds," sighed Haditha. "Maybe thousands, but this is not the same. The others had no choice in the matter. Gomery is not like them. I will not let him die. Let him off the ship, and I will help you."

  "While I understand your feelings," Kalina replied compassionately, "Captain Gomery is here because he wants to be. No one is forcing him to do anything. If he wishes to leave he may, but what can you do to help us?"

  "I can get you through the Needle," answered Haditha. "You do not need Gomery to accomplish that. I will still need you to create the fog, but I can move this ship faster than the wind can."

  Captain Gomery returned with a cup of cold tea for Kalina, and the water witch turned away so that he wouldn't see that she had been crying. The captain looked at the two women with suspicion. He knew that Kalina would never think of sending the captain of a ship for a cup of tea. She was much too refined for that. He knew that he had been sent away so that the women could talk, but nothing was being said, and he was curious.

  "Have you two solved the problem of how we are going to accomplish this mission?" he asked.

  Kalina glanced at Haditha before speaking. "I think we have a plan that will work," she said, "but it requires you to leave the ship. Are you willing to hand the Remora over to someone else to see this mission completed?"

  Captain Gomery's brow creased heavily, but he nodded. "I will do whatever it takes to see this mission completed," he said hesitantly, "but I would like to know the reason. Am I such a poor captain that I have disappointed you?"

  "Far from it, Captain Gomery," Kalina responded. "You have been an admirable captain in every respect."

  "Then why?" he asked.

  Kalina remained silent, even as the captain's eyes bored into her. Eventually the captain's eyes fell on Haditha's back. He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

  "Why, Haditha?" he asked softly. "If I have offended you, I apologize with all my heart. At least tell me what I have done to deserve this."

  "You have not offended her," interjected Kalina. "Haditha has volunteered to take your place as captain of the Remora. Her only condition is that you be put ashore."

  "Replace me?" balked the captain. "No. If you want Chanz to take over, I have no problem with that, but not Haditha. She should have already returned to the Endless Swamp. I will not turn over the Remora to her. I refuse."

  Haditha whirled around to face the captain. Her eyes were swollen with tears, but her face was full of anger. "You refuse?" she scowled. "How dare you refuse? I have been handling ships long before you were born. You would turn the Remora over to your mate, but I am not good enough? I had thought better of you."

  "You can have my ship at any time," retorted the captain, "except this time. It is not your skills that I doubt. It is your desire to take my place in what you think is a suicide mission. I love you, Haditha, and I will not abandon you. If you are taking this ship through the Needle, I am going to be on it."

  "You will die!" screamed the water witch.

  "I would rather die by your side than live without you," smiled the captain. "I am not leaving this ship."

  "You're a fool!" shouted the water witch.

  "I know," the captain grinned as he hugged Haditha, "but I am a happy fool. How do we get through the Needle?"

  Haditha returned the captain's hug as she cried. Several long minutes passed as Kalina turned and stared at the sea. Eventually, Haditha broke the embrace and wiped her eyes.

  "Have the ship turned to the northwest," ordered the water witch. "As soon as she is on course, lower the sails."

  "All of the sails?" questioned the captain.

  "All of them," nodded Haditha. "Then I want the masts removed."

  "Remove the masts?" gasped the captain.

  "Remove the masts," repeated the water witch. "Even without the sails, the Federation would see the masts on the horizon. Remember that they are searching for the Remora. I want as low a profile as we can possibly get. The longer we delay the need for fog, the easier it will be on Kalina."

  "I am not the only one who can tire from the exertion of magic," warned Kalina. "Without the masts, only you will be able to move the Remora. You can't keep that up for two and a half days."

  "As I said before," grinned the water witch, "I can move this ship faster than the wind can. If you have people on land who are planning to rescue any survivors, you should contact them immediately. By tomorrow night, we will be
in the Sea of Tears."

  * * *

  Squirt flew high over the desert as she searched for the Knights of Alcea. The Sands of Eternity was an endless wasteland of dunes and troughs, and the fairy grew frustrated in her failure to find Garth and the others. Eventually she decided to return to Aranak and start the search over again. She was two-thirds of the way to the Pyres when her senses went on alert. Circling around over a high dune, Squirt finally saw Bitsy shooting skyward from below.

  "Where did you come from?" asked Squirt. "I have been searching for hours."

  "We are underground," answered Bitsy, "and the winds on the surface are horrendous. Follow me."

  Bitsy dove for the ground and the other fairy followed. Squirt gazed at the dune and saw nothing but sand at first, but eventually her eyes detected a small tornado of sand dancing in the trough. She watched Bitsy dodge the tornado and disappear into the side of the dune. Banking steeply the fairy assigned to Captain Gomery followed Bitsy's move. As soon as she cleared the tornado, she saw the hideout. A long deep trench had been cut into the side of the dune, and pieces of wood were reinforcing the ceiling and sides. The fairy soared into the darkness and landed on Garth's shoulder. The Knight of Alcea sighed wearily and shoved his shovel into the sand.

  "What news do you bring, Squirt?" he asked.

  "The Remora will attack tomorrow night," announced the fairy. "I have been sent to gather Bitsy and Button. Their services will be required onboard."

  "Tomorrow night?" echoed Garth. "That is sooner than we had expected."

  "It is the water witch," reported Squirt. "She had the masts removed from the Remora, and she is guiding the ship now. It is moving much faster than ever before."

  "I wonder how Kalina managed to get Haditha to help?" asked Tedi.

  "That is not important right now," Garth replied. "We have to finish this hideaway and get staged at the Pyres. We do not have much time."

  "We are practically done here," stated Tedi. "All that is left is the face of the dune. That shouldn't take more than four hours to conceal."

  Garth looked at the collection of doors they had dragged from Aranak and nodded. The doors were meant to create a front wall for the hideout. The doors would be placed at an angle across the opening and then sand would be cascaded over them to obscure the opening to the hideout. Garth agreed that four hours was probably a good estimate.

  "Bitsy," Garth ordered, "you need to go to Aranak and alert Morro and Natia of the change in plans. In addition to the supplies they are bringing for here, tell them to bring all of the horses. We will be leaving for the Pyres as soon as they arrive. Tell them to hurry."

  "Do I return here?" asked Bitsy. "Or do I head for the Remora?"

  "Return here," commanded Garth. "While you are gone, Button and Squirt will help us put the door panels in place. Then the three of you can head for the Remora together."

  * * *

  The night was dark, and the air was still as the mastless ship skimmed across the waters of the Needle. Captain Gomery had given the crew leave to sleep, but most of the men were awake and on deck. The stars shone brightly overheard, but the lights that most interested the crew and passengers of the Remora were the lights atop the cliffs and the occasional lights of other vessels trying to navigate the Needle in a slack wind.

  Captain Gomery stood at the bow with Kalina on one side of him and Haditha on the other. The water witch appeared to be in a trance as she concentrated on guiding the ship through the channel while staying as far away as possible from the other ships. While the Remora would be practically invisible to those high up on the cliffs, there was a chance that one of the other ships would notice the mastless ship speeding through the channel, even though the Remora ran without lights of any kind.

  "This would be easier if the other ships picked one side or the other to make their transit," stated Kalina. "I can't imagine how much energy this maneuvering is requiring of Haditha."

  "They can't just choose a side with these winds," replied Captain Gomery. "They must tack to make any forward motion at all, and that requires them to zigzag across the channel in order to get through the Needle."

  "It will get worse come dawn," Haditha said, making her first verbal statement in hours. "You will need to start creating your fog pretty soon and then we will not even be able to see the lights of the other ships to avoid them."

  "True," nodded Captain Gomery, "but they will also be less likely to see us. They cannot send out an alarm if they can't see us."

  "I was concerned more about ramming one of them in the fog," frowned the water witch. "Your keel is still cracked if I am not mistaken."

  "You are not mistaken," the captain confirmed with concern. "That would be the end of us for sure."

  "Perhaps," commented Haditha, "but we are traveling at a fairly good speed. If we hit a ship of less bulk, we may survive it intact. Our hull is skimming across the surface of the water. The danger would come when we slow down, and the Remora settles deeper into the sea. Any damage to the hull would then become apparent."

  "Perhaps we should concentrate on not hitting any other ships," suggested Kalina. "Captain Gomery, inform the warriors that they are to sink any vessel that we collide with. If someone does get close enough to see us, I do not want any alarms sent out. The Remora must survive long enough to complete this mission."

  The captain nodded and left. Kalina stared across the dark expanse of water and focused on the tiny lights of the other ships. She mentally tried to imagine where the zigzagging ships might be when they got closer to them, but she could not. Some of the ships appeared to tack completely across the channel before reversing while others utilized a narrower scope.

  "They are not predictable," Haditha stated as if she had heard Kalina's thoughts. "Every captain has his own style of maneuvering. You had better start creating the fog. Dawn will be upon us shortly, and I do not want to be spotted by those up on the cliffs. They are our greatest danger. Their catapults could easily sink us even through the fog if they suspected that we were down here."

  "They would not be able to see us," frowned Kalina. "How could they sink us?"

  "They use a zone method of defense," explained the water witch. "There are thousands of catapults up on the cliffs, and each has a zone that they are responsible for. It was set up specifically to provide for a defense against an enemy fleet trying to sneak in under the cover of darkness. Given the warning of an intruder, all of the catapults will fire and every ship in the Needle will be sunk."

  "Including their own?" asked Kalina as she began to cast the spell that created the fog.

  "Including their own," nodded Haditha. "It is an ancient defense that goes back to the days of the pirates of Ur. Tyronia used to be a great seafaring nation in the olden days. They used to send their ships into the Sea of Tears and prey upon the rich cargo ships that sailed between the ports of what is now the Federation. The first test of the Baroukan catapults put an end to the seafaring days of Ur. Not a single Tyronian sailor survived the attack. The Tyronian maritime industry suffered a total collapse. Today they fancy themselves as one of the horse countries, but even there they are a mere shadow of the true horse countries."

  The fog thickened and spewed forth from the bow of the Remora. Within moments it grew so dense that Kalina could no longer see the stern of the Remora.

  "How far out will the fogbank extend?" asked Haditha.

  "About a league in each direction," answered Kalina. "Do you need it out further?"

  "That should be sufficient," Haditha replied. "Hopefully the other ships will change course to avoid it."

  The two female mages stood in the bow for a long time in silence as Haditha guided the Remora and Kalina reinforced the fog. The speed of the ship required Kalina to expend more energy creating the continual fog than she had planned for as the ship sped through the portion of the fog preceding the ship.

  "Can you cast it further forward?" Haditha asked a couple of hours later. "You seem to be
tiring already."

  "I can project it further ahead," answered Kalina, "but I would have to guess which direction you will take the ship. If I guess incorrectly, I would have just wasted energy."

  "I understand," Haditha nodded as she turned the Remora slightly to starboard. "I will try to maintain this course for the next hour or two. Go ahead and spread the fog forward and then take a break so that you are rested."

  "Are you that sure of where we are?" asked Kalina. "We are sailing a little blind."

  "I know exactly where we are," smiled Haditha. "I have chosen this current course because I know it is free of submerged rocks for at least two hours. All we have to worry about are the other ships, and there haven't been that many of them."

  Kalina smiled and nodded. She increased the flow of the fog and sent it out before the bow of the ship. Thick billows of fog rolled forward and it became hard to see more than a few dozen paces as the Remora sailed into the heavy cloud. A while later, Captain Gomery reappeared at the bow. He brought two cups of cold tea with him and handed them to the mages. Haditha was almost done with her cup of tea when she dropped it on the deck and waved her arms wildly to port. The Remora lurched in response, but not quite quick enough to avoid the collision. The Remora sideswiped another ship with a jarring jolt that shook the entire ship. Shouts of alarm bellowed forth from the other vessel, but the only sounds coming from the Remora were the snaps of bowstrings.

  The Rangers and the elves peered intently into the fog as they sent arrows into the crew of the other vessel. Karl Gree threw two jars of fire glue onto the deck of the other ship, and it burst into flames. Within seconds the only sounds remaining were the cracklings of the beams of the burning ship. In less than a minute, the burning ship was invisible to the crew of the Remora, as the fog swallowed it.

  Chapter 45

  Blaze of Glory

  "You should be able to release the fog now," Haditha said to Kalina. "It is dark enough that we should no longer need it."