Sky Pirates

by Liesel Schwarz

“So I’ve heard,” she said.

  “And I found Heller, Atticus and Fat Paul.”

  “They’re alive?” Elle’s face lit up. “What about the others?”

  “Well, the doc found another ship and left. The Aeternae got Finn and the boys in Engineering. Elias has decided to go home to his family. Seems that the Aeternae were so caught up in raiding the other ships that they let the gliders slip away. Heller and the guys made it to Pattaya where they took a boat to Bangkok.” Dashwood shook his head. “You got to hand it to Heller, he’s a clever bugger. He left messages for me in all the places I might turn up, and we found one another straightaway.”

  “And what places might that be, Captain?” Elle said.

  Dashwood laughed. “Ha, now that would be telling. All I can say is that lady luck has been smiling on me. Ask me what I did.”

  Elle sat back against the pillows. “What did you do?”

  “I found us a ship. She’s not much to look at, but she’s sturdy. A solid sixty-foot junk with a good set of canvas balloons on her. Heller and the guys should just be enough to crew her. Won her in a game of dominoes. I thought I’d call her the Oracle’s Revenge.” Dashwood was grinning in that boyish way that did strange things to her.

  “Oh,” Elle said, unsure of what else to say.

  “Heller’s piloting her here. He should arrive in a day or so.”

  “That’s wonderful news, Logan,” Elle said, genuinely happy for him.

  He sat forward and took her good hand in his. “I could do with a good pilot and navvy,” he said. “Come with us. Let’s get out of here. Leave the temples and the monsters behind and just go. Once we’ve hauled a bit of freight and made a bit of money, we can refit her. Make her pretty.”

  “I have to go on,” she said softly.

  “I figured you might say that,” he said.

  Elle took a deep breath. “Logan, I want to go with you. But if I don’t do this, I will never be able to move on with my life. I will never be able to give you an honest answer.”

  “I know,” he said.

  Elle sighed. “Let’s pretend things were different. Say you and I were married and you got stuck somewhere between two worlds. You wouldn’t want me to give up on you, would you?”

  He shrugged. “I might, if all was lost.”

  “And if I were the one who was lost? Would you give up on me, if you knew there was even the slightest hope that I might be saved?”

  “I suppose not,” he said.

  “Then will you help me find the temple? If only to prove that he is gone, so I may move on?”

  He was quiet for a long time before he spoke. “Yes. I will help you find the temple of Angkor Wat. It goes against every gut feeling I have, but for you, Eleanor, I will do it.”

  “But what about your new ship?”

  “Heller has orders to wait. He will wait for you, as I will.” Dashwood straightened the sheets over her. “Hari will be here tomorrow. He says the best time to find the apsara is by moonlight.”

  “Thank you,” she said. The two words seemed so inadequate for the gift he had just given her, but it was all she could say.

  She dragged herself up, throwing her feet round so her toes touched the ground. She was wearing a linen tunic made of the same fabric as the sheets. “Where are my clothes?” she said.

  Dashwood gently swung her back round so she was lying down again. “Silly girl. You are in no state to be running off anywhere just yet.”

  “I need to get this over with,” Elle said.

  Dashwood shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous. In case you’ve forgotten, Hari and I both promised that we would do this thing with you, didn’t we.”

  “Yes, but—”

  Dashwood leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Tomorrow you are going to get this Shadow business out of your system once and for all. I give you my word on that, if it’s the last thing I do. I even got you a pith helmet for the trip. It’s in my things at the hostel.”

  She stared at him, nonplussed. “You’re staying at a hostel?”

  “Hari is too.”

  He turned to leave.

  “Logan,” Elle said.

  He turned back and looked at her, his face dark against the lamplight.

  “You saved my arm. And my life, if the doctor is to be believed. Thank you for that. I really do owe you more than I could ever repay.”

  In reply, he just smiled. “Get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  CHAPTER 28

  The oxcart rocked as it trundled along on the rough dirt track. Hari sat perched on the driver’s bench in front. Next to him was a young lad of about sixteen or so who held the reigns of the cart with the unflustered confidence of someone who drove oxcarts every day.

  “This cart belongs to my cousin. He says we must bring it and his son back here safely before sunset,” Hari said. He smiled over his shoulder at Elle and Dashwood, who were sitting in the back.

  Elle’s arm was in a cotton sling strapped close to her body. She was doing her best to be brave, but every now and then she would flinch as the cart went over a particularly bad bump or turned swiftly in the road.

  “If the cart has to go back, how exactly are we getting home, Hari?” Dashwood said with a tinge of concern.

  “We walk,” the monk replied simply.

  “Oh great,” Dashwood said. “Not another trek though the jungle at night. Haven’t we done enough of those already?”

  Hari ignored him, keeping his back turned.

  “Are you all right?” Dashwood asked Elle as she flinched once more.

  She smiled at him. “A little sore, but otherwise just fine. That dog really had sharp teeth, didn’t he?”

  “I’ll say,” Dashwood said. “You’re lucky you still have your arm.”

  Around them, the villagers of Siem Reap were going about their business. Men and women dressed in brightly colored Khmer sampot strolled down the streets. Some of them carried high-pointed umbrellas, which they used to keep the sun out of their eyes.

  At some point, the son of Hari’s cousin stopped the cart in order to allow a small herd of elephants to pass on the way to the river for their afternoon swim. Their herders, skinny boys perched up on the haunches of the beasts and armed with elephant prods, were in high spirits and singing to the elephants. In return, the animals raised their trunks and flapped their ears, seemingly as excited about the prospect of a cool swim after a hot day in the plantations.

  Apart from the few curious looks that two foreigners in the back of an oxcart elicited, no one bothered them.

  After a while, the village road gave way to jungle track, which carried on for a few more miles and then eventually ran out.

  The son of Hari’s cousin brought the cart to a halt. The oxen snorted and swished their tails, warding off the flies that buzzed around them in the afternoon heat.

  Hari hopped off the front of the wagon and straightened his robes. “This is how far the cart can go. We walk from here.”

  Elle and Dashwood slid off the back and joined him, studying the dense jungle before them.

  “Are you sure this is right?” Elle said.

  “Ah, yes. You will see,” Hari said. He started walking along what could have been a faint footpath, which was little more than an indentation in the foliage.

  “All right. So it’s back into the creepy bushes then,” Dashwood said. He glanced at Elle. “Are you sure you don’t have any more monsters up your sleeves?”

  She laughed. “Not as far as I know.”

  “It’s not far,” Hari said. Elle could just see the odd flash of saffron and maroon as he moved through the undergrowth.

  Dashwood walked ahead of her, a canvas knapsack casually flung over his shoulder. As he walked, he slashed at vines or in a fluid motion with a rather sharp-looking machete he had brought with him. Elle also could not help but notice the brace of new pistols he wore on his belt. Bangkok had indeed been kind to him. This made her happy. Goodness knows, she had caus
ed him enough unhappiness.

  Elle looked up from her reverie. Dashwood and Hari were both gone. All around her was silence and green jungle. She felt her heart constrict with fear. Suddenly the cold claustrophobia she had felt just before the hound had reappeared enveloped her. Her sweat-slicked skin was suddenly covered in goose bumps, and the cold tickle of apprehension at the back of her neck was growing stronger by the minute. It was here. Watching her, waiting for the moment she was alone so it could finish off what it had come to do. She was sure of it.

  “Dashwood! Hari!” she called, not caring how panicked she sounded.

  “Over here!” came the muffled answer.

  Elle plunged through the jungle in the direction of the sound, not caring about the vines and branches that clawed at her as she ran.

  Then, quite abruptly, the jungle gave way and she stumbled into open ground.

  Elle stopped and stared in amazement, her sudden panic completely forgotten.

  Before her, the landscape opened up. A vast square lake or moat spread before them. The water was covered in what looked like thousands of water lilies, their heads turned to the setting sun. To the side, a wide walkway lined with multiheaded cobras led into what looked like a massive stone complex. And in the center, five exquisitely carved towers rose up from the foliage jungle—bravely standing against the encroachment of greenery. The fine carved stone shone in the light of the setting sun, and in the soft light it looked as if the whole place floated on the serene waters that surrounded it.

  She was here. They had found Angkor Wat.

  “Good grief, it’s massive.” Elle spoke the first words that popped into her head.

  The graceful arches of the carved towers rose up as high as any building Elle had ever seen in London. Maybe even St Paul’s Cathedral. The walkway was possibly half a mile long.

  Hari chuckled. “Quite hard to lose, you see. So not really lost. Just a little forgotten.”

  Elle stepped on to the walkway and looked back at them. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go and find the fabled lady.”

  Once through the walkway, Elle stared at the complex in dismay.

  “This is even bigger than it looked from the outside,” Dashwood said. “And look at all those carvings. They’re everywhere.” He pointed up at the bas-reliefs that lined the walls.

  There were pictures of soldiers marching alongside elephants and longhorned cattle. There were exquisitely dressed ladies dancing. To the side were giant monsters with sharp teeth and snakes with seven heads.

  Dashwood was right, Elle thought in dismay. She had not bargained on the stone carving of the apsara being hidden among so many others.

  “It’s going to take us a long time to find her,” Elle said as she studied the growing shadows. “And sunset is upon us.” She paused then looked at the monk. “Hari, what are we going to do?”

  Hari just gazed at her with his usual serenity. “There are three things that cannot be hidden. They are the sun, the moon and the truth,” he said.

  “Oh, Hari, now is not the time for riddles,” Elle said. She was exceedingly fond of her friend, but she was starting to understand why people got so irritated with the Oracles. Puzzling out obscure bouts of mysticism was no fun when one was in a hurry.

  Hari inclined his head. “Follow your heart. This is the truth of this place. You cannot find the queen of the apsaras unless she wishes to be found.”

  “I guess we’re going to need these then.” Dashwood pulled three small portable spark lamps from his knapsack and handed them out.

  “Let’s stay together, there’s no way of telling what might be lurking inside these ruins,” Elle said. She had not quite shrugged off the terrible feeling of dread that had come over her on the way here, and she was not about to take any chances.

  Night in the jungle came quickly. Dashwood, Elle and Hari walked slowly among the ruins, their spark lamps casting an eerie glow in the growing gloom.

  “Just look at that,” Dashwood said as he cast his light across a bas-relief that spread the entire length of a corridor.

  Hari peered at the carving. “It is the legend of the churning of the sea of milk.” He pointed at the figures. “The battle between good and evil, the separation of light and shadow. Of immortality, and also the birth of the apsaras.”

  Elle stared at the ancient figures in fascination. They looked as if they had been carved there just yesterday. She cast her light on the rows and rows of graceful dancers, suspended in the stone.

  Follow usssss …

  The sound was a faint whisper, nothing more than the rustle of leaves.

  Follow us … we will show you the way …

  “Did you hear that?” Elle said.

  “Hear what?” Dashwood’s hand went to the hilt of one of his pistols.

  “Shh. There it is again,” Elle said.

  Follow us …

  Dashwood shook his head. “Nope, can’t hear anything. Are you sure?”

  Elle put her finger to her lips and studied the figures. Was it her imagination or had the stone carvings moved? All the apsaras appeared to be facing the same way, pointing in one direction.

  “It’s this way,” Elle said.

  Around her, the roots of giant cassia trees spilled from the rock as if they had been poured and then set in thick molten strands.

  Follow … follow … you do not have far to go now … the voices whispered.

  Elle turned a corner and the light from her lamp disturbed a group of bats. They poured out of the darkness in a high-pitched cloud of clicks and cheeps and squeaks. Elle ducked and put her good arm over her head as the percussion of a thousand leathery wings passed over her.

  Dashwood let out a rather unmanly yelp and ducked behind a pillar.

  When the bats had passed, Elle shone the light on him and looked at him with scorn.

  “What?” He shrugged. “I hate bats,” he said.

  “And that from the man who made me eat a spider,” Elle said.

  Hari just shook his head. “We should respect all living things. This is why I do not eat any meat,” he said.

  Hurry … hurry … the moon is rising. You do not have much time … the voices interrupted them.

  Elle closed her eyes and concentrated on the whispers.

  This way … keep walking … not far to go now …

  “We need to go through there,” Elle said. She gestured at the dark entrance from which the cloud of bats spewed out a few moments before.

  “Man, I hate bats,” Dashwood said.

  “We need to hurry,” Elle said.

  They rounded the corner and walked along another corridor.

  Almost there …

  Silver light spilled over the ruins, beaming down between the arches and columns as the moon rose up over the edge of the treetops. Elle turned off her spark lamp for it was no longer needed, and stared in amazement.

  The end of the corridor was awash with soft, white light. And there, on a large block of solid sandstone, was a carving of a beautiful young woman smiling serenely. Unlike the myriad of other carvings, this apsara stood on her own. The light spilled over the curves of her body as she posed elegantly as an ancient courtier middance.

  Her high breasts and narrow waist were perfectly proportioned. Even her delicate belly button could be seen carefully etched into the stone. From the waist down, the apsara was dressed in a gilded sampot made from the finest silk. Her upper arms and ankles were adorned with finely wrought cuffs and bangles. Around her neck was a wide, flat collar of gold filigree, worked into an intricate pattern that spread out across her chest and shoulders. Around her wrists were rows of large pearls.

  Her long hair, spreading out behind her in thick, lustrous waves, was dressed with fine jewels and flowers. On her head rested a conical headdress that pointed up to the sky. It too was made of gold and encrusted with jewels.

  As Elle approached, the features of the carving appeared to move slightly.

  In the back of her
mind a thousand other apsara were all whispering at the same time in great excitement.

  She’s here … She’s here … Go to her now … Go to her before it’s too late …

  Elle stopped before the carving, unsure what to do next.

  With the delicate scrape of stone upon stone, the apsara inclined her head slightly. Her arms moved from their dancing pose into the sampeah: palms pressed together as if in prayer, the traditional greeting of the Khmer people.

  “Joom Reab Sou.” The carving spoke the words of greeting. Her voice was soft and gentle and the words washed over Elle like the sound of rain upon a roof.

  Gingerly, Elle lifted her injured arm out of its sling and pressed her palms together in the way Hari had shown her. “Joom Reab Sou,” she said, returning the greeting with the highest amount of respect she could.

  The carving smiled, apparently pleased with this.

  Elle smiled back, but kept her head bowed. Inside her chest, her heart was thumping hard against her ribs. She had found the queen of the apsaras.

  CHAPTER 29

  Slowly, the apsara lowered her hands from the greeting pose and brought them round in a perfect arc so that one was over her midriff, palm facing inward with the fingers extended; the other she raised up to shoulder height with the palm out and the fingers extended far back. She cocked her head at Elle in a pose that was impossibly graceful. A moment in dance, frozen for eternity.

  “Who is it that seeks me out?” the apsara said.

  “Me,” Elle said. “I have come from very far to speak with you, oh, Great One,” she added, just in case.

  “And what is it that you seek?”

  “I wish to ask you for answers. I am told you can tell me what I most ardently wish to know,” Elle said.

  The apsara turned her blank eyes to Elle. The stone was so finely polished that the spheres of her eyes glowed like opals in the moonlight. “Those who have questions do not always wish to hear the answers. Those who have the answers often wish they did not know the questions.”

  “That may be so,” Elle said. “But my question is a simple one. It is a question I have carried with me for a very long time.”