«Das a damn lie!»
Gray rolled his eyes.
«An for de others,» Franklen went on, «they was just lyin’ Tagalog Bastards. Flips. Like Nigras back home. Takin’ jobs in de fact’ries from hardworkin’ white men just ’cause they’d work for less.» He looked around and sneered as best he could. «And now these goddamn ’Cats puttin’ on airs like real destroyermen. Real soljers!»
Gray slapped him hard. He couldn’t help himself.
«Like real people, you mean? You don’t even think of ’em like that, do you? You figure you can just have your way with one like one of your farm animals back home. Is that about the size of it?»
Franklen stared at him defiantly. «You’re one to talk.» His tiny eyes squinted around. «All of you, I bet.» They fell at last on Silva. «And you most of all, you ’Cat-lovin’ traitor!»
Gray and Donaghey almost weren’t quick enough to stop Silva from drawing the long bayonet at his side and ramming it into the top of Franklen’s head. Chack stood up, though, and watched Silva’s reaction with interest — as well as that of his sister, who came partly uncoiled from around the victim Pam was tending. With both a shudder and a sense of wonder, he realized their «carrying on» couldn’t be quite entirely a joke after all. Whatever it was, he was certainly getting a major contrast lesson in Silva and Risa’s relationship as opposed to others that were possible.
«We can’t get anywhere with him.» Donaghey sighed emotionlessly. «He just don’t get it.»
«I’ll get through to him,» Silva said softly, resheathing his bayonet and dropping to his knees in the sand. The two ’Cats who’d been holding Al fought his struggnt>a stared across the tent at the intensity of the eyes that glowed back at him from the females. One was filled with a murderous passion and the other. similar, but with a measure of devastation he’d seen only once before. In the belly of Revenge when they took the ship from the Grik and rescued the «provisions» there. He’d never been the sensitive sort and he’d used women like toys himself, but this. He almost felt ashamed to be a man. And to add a measure of icy mercury to his shame and his resolve, it suddenly dawned on him that this was the first time he’d ever seen a Lemurian teenage female seem just like a vulnerable, devastated, teenage girl. He was filled with a smoldering rage like he’d never known. Pam’s frequent glances in his direction weren’t much different from those of the Lemurians.
«I’ll tell you something, Al. I like these ’Cats. A hell of a lot better than I like you. And I do think of ’em as ‘people.’ Hell, maybe even human. They’re a lot more human than you are; that’s a fact. I’ve fought with ’em and worked with ’em and spilled my blood alongside ’em. We’ve helped them and they’ve helped us.» He pointed at the crumpled child. «I don’t recognize her after what you done, but I bet I’ve fought alongside her!» He looked intently at Franklen. «The way I hear it, you never fought alongside anybody. Why don’t you tell us what you’ve done for ‘us humans’ since we got here, Al, ’cause by all accounts, it ain’t much. You supported Kaufman’s mutiny against Mr. Ellis, and look how many died because of that.»
«Pardoned,» Franklen gummed, but Silva went on.
«Let’s see, how many battles have you fought against the Griks that are swoopin’ down? You’ll at least agree they’re worse than ’Cats, won’t you?» There was no response. Dennis started counting on his fingers.
«Well, let’s see. I seen — helped — the ’Cats fight like hell to save Big Sal from a gob as big as the one Mr. Ellis fought through. Which you was in the brig waiting for Captain Kaufman to come back aboard if what I hear is true. Skipped that one, didn’t you? Even stayed in the brig as ‘insubordinate’ the whole time the ship was laid up here and made no effort to give a hand.»
«We were screwed, Silva, you dumb son of a bitch! Just look around yourself! The stupid ’Cats around here wouldn’t talk to us. They didn’t even care about the Griks until it was too late. All they cared about was fightin’ each other.» He spat a gobbet of blood. «Ellis weren’t no officer. He couldn’t get anything sorted out between ’em. And I did too agree to work on the ship.»
«You agreed to work on the ship — for a pardon,» Gray glowered, «because the ship was so shorthanded. Mr. Ellis should’a hung you. Instead, your skipper forgave you and let you loose. Figgers ‘let bygones be bygones and we’re all together now.’ My God, after seeing that field in front of the city how could you think anything else? But you sat out the battle on shore. Again. Even when it started to fall apart and everybody went to fight.»
Silva raised his eyebrows. «So on top of everything else, you really are a coward.» He shook his head. «Except where little girls are concerned. All you could think of, the first time nobody’s really watchin’ you, was grabbin’ up some. child and tearin’ her up like that. What were you gonna do next? You couldn’t have let her live.»
There was a sharp intake of breath and suddenly everyone in the tent knew Silva was right.
«Nah, Silva,» Franklen gushed. «It wasn’t like that! I wouldn’t’a really hurt her. I just wanted a piece — like you got!»
«Silva no have ‘piece,’ you piece of shit!» Her glare moved to encompass her brother as well. «He have friend. We make big joke, scare Chack. Scare Captain too, have big laugh. but we more than friends too.» Now she was talking directly to her brother. «Okay with you, the Captain.» She glanced at Pam. «Or anybody, that’s fine. Not okay?» She blinked sublime unconcern. «Still okay with Risa.»
«Now see,» Franklen whined, «I got no problem with that! That’s what» He was almost dead before Silva and Chack could pull Risa off him and move her back across the tent.
Gray, Donaghey, Laney, and Steele were kneeling over the unconscious form as if deciding what to do with a dead snake, when Silva and Chack returned. Silva didn’t come right out and say «Sorry about that,» but his body language did. He did apologize for «using up all the air so far.»
«Hell. You just said what everybody was thinking,» said Gray. «Make no mistake. This is a trial. He’s admitted what he done, and you pointed out it would have been a lot worse if he hadn’t got caught.»
«Who caught him, anyway?»
«Steele. Sheer luck. He was runnin’ a final check before he went on deck for the party and heard her cries. Damn, he’s got good ears! Franklen had her down in Mahan’s steering engine room to show her the ‘machines.’ Hell, they can’t resist that. It’s like offerin’ ’em candy.»
Silva felt another uncharacteristic twinge of guilt.
«How much of me and Risa ‘carrying on’ mighta, you know, contributed?»
Several faces became unreadable.
«I don’t reckon any,» said Gray at last. «For one thing, nobody really knew what you were up to, and I guess we still don’t. I’d just as soon keep it that way. ‘More than just friends’ can mean anything. Outside this tent, they still won’t know that much.» His eyes bored into Laney’s. «Besides, whatever it was, it sure wasn’t.» He spit on Franklen as the man groaned and began to come to. «Like this.»
«So,» Chack said at last, «what shall we do with this creature?» For the first time in a long time, he didn’t appear to be thinking about Silva when he said the word «creature.» Maybe he’d started to think over what his sister and friend had said — or maybe their «relationship» had finally been put in perspective for him. «We’ve already decided we can’t make an example of him, which is actually a shame. There are more than a few of my people who don’t think of humans as ‘people’ either.»
«That’s changing fast enough. We’ve spilled enough blood together. Besides, most of the ones who feel that way are on the other side of that wall, yonder, or they’ve run off.» Franklen was fully conscious again when Gray finished. «And pretty soon, there’ll be one less of ours who feels like that.»
«Let’s ask the girl,» Laney suddenly blurted. They were the first words he spoke. Donaghey nodded.
«Yeah. Let’s see what she wants to do with
him.» Franklen began to thrash and moan, but the bloody gag went back in his mouth and Chack and Laney held him again. Having made the suggestion, Laney was more than willing to let others carry it out. The last thing he wanted to do, in his heart of hearts, was speak to a teenage rape victim of Franklen, who had awakened and was looking back. «And I want to eat his eyes.»
Donaghey glanced at his watch. «Whatever we do, and whatever she eats, we better get on with it. Sooner or later some officer is going to figure out there’s a hell of a lot of Indians running around without any chiefs to tell ’em what to do.»
«Right,» agreed Gray. «Call ’em in and we’ll sort this out.»
Except for Russ Chapelle and the Lemurian Marines, everyone else managed to squeeze in the tent. They made solicitous comments as they passed by «Blossom,» but had only hard stares for their former shipmate.
«We ain’t gonna have no jury,» Gray said. «The ‘accused’ was caught in the act, admitted what he done, and invited Mr. Steele to ‘get some’ himself. No one has since heard him deny he raped and brutalized one of our young female allies. He is guilty, so I won’t even call for a vote. The only thing we have left to decide is punishment.»
Steele sighed. «We’re kind of in the same boat there. There’s only one punishment for what he did, and he probably would’ve done worse before he was finished.»
«I never figured chiefs had so much power,» Laney whispered. «This ain’t in the book!»
«No, it ain’t,» Gray growled. «There’re lots of things that ain’t in the book. This world we’ve wound up in, for one. But chiefs have always ‘handled’ things.» Gray looked at Donaghey. «And this ain’t the first time we handled somethin’ like this. Sometimes problems just have to go away and Franklen’s turned himself into one of those problems tonight. With all that’s at stake, we can’t dump this on the captain.»
«It will even look better from our point of view,» confirmed Chack, speaking very close to Franklen’s ear, «if news of this. event comes forward over time. It will show your people honor your leader and the alliance, but you also honor a youngling’s virtue enough not to wait until the ‘time is right’ to sort things out.» Blossom bristled at the «youngling,» but Chack blinked reassuringly. «You are still a youngling — I am scarcely beyond that myself — but you are also a Marine.»
«So, how are we gonna do it?» Silva asked, ever practical and to the point. «I’d kinda’ like to get some more dancin’ in before the party winds down.»
«We can’t shoot him, for obvious reasons,» Donaghey mused.
«Easiest thing is to take him down to the water and just throw him in. Let the flashies have him,» said Silva. «Where’d ol’ Al Jolson go? Hell if I know. Musta’ got drunk that night at the propeller party and fell in the water. Yeah, seen him swipin’ everybody’s half-empty seep cups when they was dancin’. Serves the bastard right.»
Gray looked thoughtful. «Say, that’s just how we’ll work it. You’re a fiend, Silva, but you’re a pretty good acting chief so far.»
Throughout this exchange, Franklen was unable to speak, but his eyes had begun to move rapidly back and forth. They were talking about killing him, right in front of him, matter-of-factly, like he wasn’t even there.
«You — You can’t do that!» protested Laney. Franklen leaned against him in relief and began to sob.
«What do you mean?» Gray asked menacingly. Laney gulped, but didn’t look away.
«I mean, kill him, sure. The bastard deserves it. eyes.»
«Don’t worry. We won’t throw him in the water alive, and that girl is sure not gonna eat his eyes. We’ve got rules during these illegal gettogethers, Laney. That’s the thing that makes us different from the Grik and from guys like Al. We’ve got rules of decency, of honor to follow, even when we’re breaking the rules of the Navy. And it’s because we take those rules so seriously that we’re breaking them in the first place. To protect the honor of our Navy, our ships and our people. See?»
«So how are we gonna kill him? We ain’t gonna hang him — not in here,» Silva persisted. «I don’t mean to sound all insensitive, but the bastard’s gotta die, and we prob’ly oughta’ quit sankoin’ along.»
«He’s right,» said Steele. «Let’s get on with it. Lots or volunteers?»
«Oh, for cryin’ out loud,» said Silva in an exasperated voice. «Somebody draws a short straw, or long straw, you gonna make ’em kill him, Frankie? What if he can’t do it? Whoever kills him is gonna have to use their hands. What if they ain’t strong enough? Might as well sell tickets for that.» He turned to Laney.
«Would you like to kill him, Dean?»
Surprised, Laney looked around, then looked at the ground. Anywhere but at the prisoner or his victim. «No, Dennis, as a matter of fact I wouldn’t. Not in cold blood. I’ll do it, but I wouldn’t like to.» He looked up. «I guess I just ain’t the killer you are.»
«Few are,» agreed Silva equably. «Thing is, I shouldn’t have to kill him either, even though, for reasons of my own, I’d really kind of like to. But we all been told a chief ’s job is to lead. Well, we’re all of us chiefs, or acting chiefs or petty officers now, but some are higher than others. I been here before, even if I never got The Hat, but I never could keep it because I didn’t want the responsibility.» He walked over and looked Gray in the eye. «A lot of responsibility comes with that chief’s hat. You got time in grade on everybody. You’re ‘in charge.’ Maybe Frankie outranks you now, but there ain’t no officers here. Right here, right now, you’re it. So lead, Bosun. You either got to pick somebody to do it or you have to do it yourself.»
After a long moment, Gray nodded. «You would’a had The Hat a long time ago, Silva, if you weren’t such a maniac. Come on, we’ll do it together.»
With Laney and Chack still each on an arm, Silva grabbed the burly quartermaster’s mate around the chest. Wide-eyed, he struggled and moaned through his gag.
«I’ll pull this gag and let you have some last words if you’ll keep ’em quiet and decent,» Gray offered. Franklen went slack. Taking this as a sign he agreed, Gray pulled the bloody rag. Instantly, Al began screaming at the top of his lungs. Gray grabbed his head and began to twist and the screams abruptly ceased.
«You hear that kind of weird crackin’ sound, Al? Sounds like it’s right under your skull? Just grunt if you do.» Franklen made a noncommittal sound. In Fitzhugh Gray’s very best Al Jolson voice (which wasn’t half bad) he spoke the real Al Jolson’s signature line: «You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!»
Rasik-Alcas, King and Protector of Aryaal, paced back and forth before the large arched window, his rich, supple gown flowing as he walked. Barely visible in the distance beyond the north wall, bonfires, lighted shipourselfidth="1em»>«Why?» Rasik snapped.
Koratin bowed his head. «I am not sure, lord. Some needed repair, long delayed, is the word I hear. We have few spies among them yet.» Rasik-Alcas began to scold his senior and currently only advisor for taking so long to build a network of informants, but he hesitated. Lord Koratin represented one of the oldest houses in Aryaal, and the creature was politically savvy. He was urbane, vain, and quick to take offense — but fear would prevent him from challenging his new king. For now. Rasik was fairly sure that Koratin harbored firm suspicions as to how Fet-Alcas had died, but for now the Aryaalan noble seemed willing to let the matter stand, and even to help. It made Rasik uncomfortable to rely on Koratin for anything, particularly anything critical to his consolidation of power, but he had no choice. «Perhaps when their repairs are complete, they will go away,» Koratin speculated.
Rasik growled. «Of course they will — to fight the Grik.»
Koratin blinked. «Then that is good! They will be gone from here and things will become as before.» He paused. «We are weakened, true, but we can stand against B’mbaado. In time»
«No!» shouted Rasik. «Don’t you see? As long as they war against the Grik, they will have a presence here! They will never go away as long as the war
continues!»
«Is that so terrible? What if the Grik return?»
«Return?» Rasik snorted. «With what?» He gestured eastward. «Have you not seen the carrion beyond our walls? Mere bones now, but the bones of thousands! It will be generations before those losses are made good.» He shook his head. «No, the Grik menace is gone. They won’t return in our grand-younglings’ lifetimes.»
Koratin was not so sure. He proceeded carefully. «I have heard it said they are not like us — in more ways than are obvious. They breed quickly and their kingdom is vast. Some say they are the Demons of Old, come to harry us again, and what they sent here is but a tithe against what they are capable of.»
«Nonsense! You really should let your females tell stories to your young.» Koratin’s devotion to his younglings was no secret, and he often recited tales to them — and others — in open forum. He enjoyed performing, and while he recognized his own failings, he secretly hoped he could atone to some degree by telling tales of real virtue and clear morals to the young. «You begin to believe your own fables,» Rasik accused. Koratin remained silent. «As long as the sea folk war against the Grik, we won’t be rid of them,» Rasik repeated, returning to the subject at hand. He resumed pacing, deep in thought. Then he stopped. «But what if the war was over?»
«What do you mean, Lord King?»
Rasik’s eyes had become predatory slits. «Tell me, Lord Koratin. Do you think those silly sea folk would have the courage to fight without the iron ships?»
«No, Lord King,» Koratin answered honestly.
«Do you believe they’d even consider carrying on without them?» Koratin felt a chill.
«No, Lord King,» he whispered.
Rasik barked a horrible laugh. «So simple!» he said and resumed his pacing, but forrion in one of the chairs around the wardroom table idly fingering a freshly stripped Grik skull, retrieved from the battlefield, while Juan Marcos and Ray Mertz cleared the dishes left by the dinner party. It had been a fine meal, mostly Americanized local fare, but a few purely native dishes had been presented. Bradford wasn’t accustomed to the unusual Lemurian spices and, for the most part, he just stuck to salt. At least salt hadn’t changed, thank God. His morbid trophy hadn’t elicited the excitement he expected when he flourished it at the beginning of the meal. He’d been politely but firmly asked to place it out of sight until everyone had eaten.
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