The Legend of the Red Specter (The Adventures of the Red Specter Book 1)

by M. A. Wisniewski

"Oh, but listen to me. Where are my manners? I haven't introduced myself, have I? I tell you, lack of sleep does all sorts of things to a guy," said Benny, theatrically slapping his palm to his forehead.

  "But, on the other hand, maybe it doesn't matter so much."

  Benny favored her with another grin, stretching ear-to-ear across the span of his huge jaws, silver and gold reflecting the harsh glare of the electric lights, practically blinding her. "You know who I am, girl?"

  "You're Benny the Shark?" Joy replied, before it occurred to her that maybe saying ‘Mr. Fang Ben Li’ might be a lot more respectful and appropriate. But it was impossible to think of him any other way when he was baring his teeth at her like that. It just popped out.

  But he didn't seem to mind at all. "Yeah, that's right," he said. "Tell me, you know why they call me that?"

  Joy blinked. The answer seemed so obvious, she had to wonder if wasn't some kind of trick question. If there was, she couldn't figure it out.

  "Because of your teeth?" she ventured.

  The horrible teeth flashed at her. "That's what everybody thinks, Ms..." he said, trailing off a bit.

  "Fan," she said, without thinking. Was there a point in trying to give a fake name? She could see that backfiring on her really easily. "Fan Joy Song."

  "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Fan," he said, all exaggerated politeness. "Now, where was I? Teeth—that's right. People see these teeth, and, of course, they think that's where the name came from. But that’s backwards, see? The name came first, and the teeth came later. And the story behind that—well, it’s something else. At least, I think so."

  Benny paused, lost in contemplation. "Well, you know what? Since we're all stuck here waiting for your friends to arrive, why don't I tell you about it? You see, it's my favorite story, but all these guys have already heard it a bunch of times. I don't often get to tell it to somebody new. You'll indulge me, won't you?"

  Waiting for her friends to arrive? Joy had a sick sinking feeling in her stomach. Did he mean the girls? They hadn’t made it? Had all of this been for nothing? But—it seemed an odd way to phrase the girls’ recapture, if that was what he meant. Something felt off. And would the head of the Triads really come out personally at… whatever ungodly hour it was now, just for the girls? Maybe it was something else. Joy clung to the notion like a lifeline. But who could it be? Her ‘friends?’ She didn’t have any friends. None left in Dodona, anyway. Maybe… the Kovidhian church? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? She was dying to ask, but she didn’t dare mention it. So far nobody had mentioned the girls. Until she was one hundred percent sure they were safe, she couldn’t say or do anything that might draw attention to them. The smart thing was to play along.

  "Sure thing," said Joy. "I'm not going anywhere."

  It was a pretty lame joke, but Benny chuckled at it anyway. Then he started in on his story.

  "So, way, way back—a bunch of years ago, before I got big, before the Great War, I was just a regular sailor. Roaming the seas, busting my back, drinking away my pay—traveling everywhere, but going nowhere, just like every other dumb scallywag on the sea. Well, one fine morning I wake up after a night that I mostly don't remember, and I find myself on a ship I don't recognize. Turns out it's a pirate ship what needed new crew, and I'm one of them. Now, I don't remember agreeing to that. Maybe I did, and maybe I didn't. But my new crew, they're serious that I'm staying, so that's that.

  "And you know what? I really took to it. Sure, there can be some long, lean times when pickings are slim, but when you do get a fat kill? Split even. Everybody gets their fair share. Way better than the insult you get from the paymaster working regular crews.

  "And we were doing well. Made a name for ourselves, got a reputation. We got too big. Got too much attention. Got a tip that led us to the fattest merchant vessel we ever heard of, running with no escort, loaded down with goods. Sounds too good to be true, right? We thought so too, but the prize was so juicy, we had to check it out. We tailed them for days.

  “We're looking for concealed gunports, signs of extra hands, soldiers, catapults. But there's nothing. And the whole time we're watching them, we're also looking around ourselves. Maybe there are other ships lying in wait for us. But no, there's nothing like that. We spend a couple days chewing the fat, and then we decide to go for it. Open, clear water, with that big, fat junk just plodding along low in the water, slow and helpless.

  "We make our move. We tack around on an intercept course, closer and closer. No problems catching them. We do things like normal. Fire a shot across their bow, make a signal for them to stand down. They do what they’re told. Everything goes like normal, but the whole time we're moving in, my guts are roiling.

  “Something's wrong. I know it, I can feel it, but I can't say what, so I don't say anything, chalk it up to nerves. Finally, we pull up alongsides, hooks ready, and by now I can see their crew, and then I know something is wrong. They don't have any weapons. They're not preparing to fight. They don't have their hands up. They're not trying to hide. They're just... watching.

  “They're not angry, and maybe some of them look a little scared, but it's wrong. It's the wrong kind of fear. It's not us they're scared of. I should have said something then. Maybe it would've helped. Probably not. I wasn't the captain, back then, and it was too late anyway.

  "Because right then, as soon as the first hook goes over, the doors to the cargo bay fly open—big, heavy doors on that hatch, and they damn near fly off their hinges—and something comes out, something we never expected to see, not in a million years. You know what it was? Can you even guess?"

  Joy could only shake her head. Despite everything, she couldn't resist a good story.

  "A dragon. A god-damned, true-to-life, actual dragon climbs out of the hold. We’re all stunned, staring like idiots, blinded by the flashes of sunlight off its harness--they like shiny things, you know, so they get jewelry. Medals for winning battles, and they never take ‘em off. And this one's got a whole bunch of them. Decked out like a pimp, and they're all polished up—even though it spent days in the hold, they're gleaming like something in a display case. We try to run. Drop all the hooks, try to push off. But it just rears up and cranes its neck until it's right over us, and then everyone on the dragon ship starts yelling, all panicked-like, and they start helping us push off. And I got a second to think, 'Why would they do that?’ and I see that ugly green mouth start to open up overhead, and I do the smartest thing I've ever done: I jump overboard.

  "I hit the water, go under, and the world above goes bright orange. I try to put some good distance between me and the boats before I come up for air, and when I do, my old ship has gone up like a candle. The men who aren't dead are leaping overboard, trying to put themselves out, only it isn't working.

  “You get it? That dragon fire—calling it fire is... Well, it doesn't really give you the right idea. It's more like... blazing puke. Gobs and gobs of this blazing, white-hot vomit that sticks to everything and won't go out. Shove it underwater and the water starts boiling. Otherwise, it bobs on the surface, and now the ocean is on fire. And once it gets on you, even a little bit—that's it. All over except for the screaming. I heard a lot of screaming.”

  Joy shuddered. Working in Intelligence during the war, she'd been privy to a lot of the research recovered by Kallistrate biologists and chemists on the old Albion dragons. They had two separate venom sacs in their bodies, each with a different chemical, each of which led to a tube that terminated in opposite points in the dragon's forked tongue.

  Each type of venom was poisonous by itself, but the true terror happened when they mixed together, which usually happened a few yards away from the dragon's snout, as the streams crossed and mixed with the air. The resulting chemical reaction produced the most terrifying and lethal substance known to mankind: Dragon-fire. Benny's old crew must have really been causing a big stir for the Empire to bother sending an actual dragon after them, hidden in a regular boat, ins
tead of one of their specialized dragon carriers.

  Benny continued with his story. "So I start swimming away from the fire—no plan, just get away—and the 'merchant' ship is doing the same. They've actually got oars out, getting as clear away from the fire as they can. And then the dragon climbs all the way out, dives overboard—damn near capsizes his own ship—I could see those poor bastards getting tossed around on deck, clinging to the rigging and the rails. And it swims out to the other ships. Now, they've got more time to make a break for it, and for a second, I think maybe they've got a chance, but I didn't count on how far that monster can spit. Turns out it’s a long way, and once a ship's got that slimy tar on it, it's done for. Can't be put out, crew can't work--it's all over. But that wasn't enough for the dragon. It keeps on swimming until it finally catches the burning ships, and then it starts playing.

  "That's what they do, you know? They're smart, so they like to play. Climb up the side of the boats and start breaking things. Rip at their guts, smash it all to splinters. And they don't eat people, but they'll play with them, as well. Chomp down, thrash around, see how far it can toss a man. Listen to all the amusing noises.

  "It just went on like that, ship by ship, crew by crew, until that whole part of the sea is just a charnel house, mangled bodies and scraps of wood bobbing about on bloody waters, surrounded by sheets of flame. You know, I don't know if Hell exists, but if it does, I know exactly what it looks like.

  "But anyway, after a good long time the dragon decides it's had enough fun and heads back to its ship. I've had a chance to get a way’s away from everything else, and it's not exactly being methodical, so it either doesn't see me, or it can't be bothered to come after me. It climbs back on its ship, and they sail away, while I head back into that mess, looking for some flotsam that isn't on fire, something big enough to let me take a break from treading water, and see how many of us are left.

  “Turns out it's not many, but there’s a few tough bastards who aren’t dead yet. I found a crate of soap to cling to. Lanke Mountain Snow Detergent. Stenciled on the side of the barrel. I'll never forget it. No idea why we had that in the hold. Must've been a weak haul to have bothered stealing that, But it’s there, and it’s floating, though it must’ve been leaking a little, ‘cause there’s suds everywhere. I was thinking to myself—at least I won't die without taking a bath first.

  "We just floated there for hours, not saying much, except does anybody see a ship coming? At least the fire might attract attention, right? Except no ship comes along, and eventually, those weird, unnatural flames finally did go out. Too bad for us. Turns out they were the only things keeping the sharks away.

  "We were floating in in a giant pool of meat and blood.

  “Sharks will smell that for hundreds of miles, and so they did, coming in, circling closer, and then it started—the frenzy.”

  Benny paused and took a sip of his tea. "You ever seen a feeding frenzy? It’s insane. The water churns up, looks like it’s boiling, only in the middle of if all are these dark forms, grey fins slicing through the froth—a whole gang of maniacs with knives, going nuts. And they keep going, on and on, as long as there's meat.

  “And there was plenty of meat in those waters.

  "They went for the corpses first. Easier pickings, I guess. Gave us some hope that maybe they’d leave us alone. But the corpses were all around us, and the frenzy was relentless. You'd see the froth spread, surround some poor bastard, and then it'd happen--some random bite, tail slap, anything to draw blood, and that'd be it. A dozen of those beasties on him at once, ripping him to shreds in an instant. The others tried all sorts of things, huddling in groups, punching and kicking at any shark that got close. But Kovidh help you if you got the slightest cut, because then your mates would be shoving you away from them. You were shark bait now. But they only delayed the inevitable. Hour by hour, one by one, I saw my crew disappear. But I wasn't worried. Not anymore. And do you know why?"

  Joy shook her head. Benny grinned again.

  "Because, this whole time, I'd had sharks coming by me, one by one. I was on the edge of everything. None of those sharks were in their frenzy. They were just gliding along, nice and cool. They'd come up, so close I could see their eyes, these pools of black, and I'd stare deep into them. And each time, I got this weird jolt, deep inside me, but it wasn't fear. And each time the sharks would circle about, let me get a good look at 'em, sometimes even come up and bump me with those broad snouts of theirs. But I didn't panic, didn't punch or kick, and each time, they would turn around and swim away. This happened over and over, all throughout the day and into the evening, the sharks spared me even as they devoured everything else.

  “And finally, after staring eye-to-eye with a dozen sharks, I realized what it was I was feeling, every time we made contact. I was thinking, 'I know this guy.' Recognition. That's what it was. None of them had come out to eat me. They were just saying hello.”

  Benny stared at her. "You believe in past lives, Ms. Fan?"

  Joy was startled at the question. "Um, well... I'm a Kovidhian. And I know the church says that we all go through that cycle, on the Great Wheel. But you're supposed to forget your old lives when you're reborn, so nobody could ever really say for sure... I guess I haven't thought about it much?"

  "Yeah, that's what most people say," said Benny. "That's how I was, too. Never thought about it. Until that day. That's when I learned the truth about myself."

  Joy saw where this was going. "You think you were a shark in a past life?"

  "Oh, I don't think I was a shark," said Benny. "I know I was. I knew it that day. The stars came out, the feeding went on. But I'm not worried any more. I'm hanging on my crate in the middle of the wide ocean, gently rocking in time with the waves.

  “I gaze out in the distance and it's a flat line in every direction. And then I get this feeling, like I'm expanding, until I'm so big that I'm the size of the whole sky, and then I come back down, but I'm not in my body any more. I'm in the water. I'm in with the sharks, swimming with them, and I am one of them. I cut through the water like it’s not even there. All my senses are dialed up like you wouldn't believe. I can see for miles, and I can feel things through my skin, electric tingles that tell me where everything is. And the smells—that was the best. My nostrils filled up with all these spicy scents coming from everywhere, but one dominates—the scent of blood.

  “The hunger takes me. My stomach is this empty pit driving me onward, commanding me to fill it, irresistible. So I do—I follow my nose along with all my brethren to the only source of food—ungainly flailing creatures. I take a bite and, let me tell you, no meal I've had before or since tasted so fine as that one—not even bone marrow. I eat and eat but my hunger never goes, and I know this has always been true, and always will be. It's my nature to always be hungry, to never be full, and that is what makes every meal the finest. I lose all sense of time or purpose. My only thought is to keep feeding until the meat is gone. And finally, that happens. I smell the change. All my kin sense it. Without the meat to bind us, our kinship is over.

  “All my brothers drift away, no time wasted on goodbyes. We’re not a sentimental folk, my people. They vanish off into the darkness of the sea, on their never-ending quest for more meat. And I find myself back in my old body, clinging to a crate of detergent, completely alone.

  Benny paused and gazed off into the distance, savoring his favorite memory for a bit, before wrapping things up. "Anyway, I was marooned in a shipping lane, so I didn't have to wait long before I was able to bum a ride off another merchant ship. I was broke, all my old mates were gone, but I didn't care. I was different, from there on out. I knew who I was—who I really was, and there's a power in that. From then on, anytime I felt lost, confused, I knew to go back to being a shark. I even found people to help with that, get me to that state. And that's how I built my business and became the man I am today. And that's why people call me Benny the Shark."

  Joy stared at him, not sure
what to say. If his story had been meant to scare her, it had totally worked.

  He flashed his teeth at her again. "You don't have to believe me. I don't mind. I wouldn't believe me either, except I was there, and it happened. Particularly the bit about the other sharks passing me up as food. If somebody else told me that, I'd call them the biggest liar on the planet."

  "Oh, that part doesn't bug me," said Joy. "I just figured they didn't like the soap."

  It popped out of her mouth before she had a chance to think it through. Or think at all. Every eye turned to her. Suddenly the warehouse was very, very quiet.

  Benny's grin stayed plastered on his face. "What was that now? What did you mean by that?"

  "Nothing," said Joy, "I didn't say anything. Nothing worth mentioning."

  Unpleasant visions ran through Joy's mind, flashbacks to the Temple of Mithras, and the murderous levels of rage directed at her from the supposedly kindly priests there when she'd dared to point out the leaky pipe feeding into their miraculous weeping statue. She did not want to provoke that kind of reaction from someone who could literally murder her.

  "Nooo, I definitely heard something," said Benny. "And I've got pretty good hearing. Don't think I imagined anything. You guys all heard it, right?"

  All of the Triad goons murmured assent. Yang did so with distinct enthusiasm, eyes glittering. Benny turned back to her.

  "I definitely heard something about soap, and I'd like to know what you meant by that," said Benny. "I insist."

  Dammit, why did she always do this? Why couldn't she just keep her big mouth shut for once? Nobody ever wanted to hear it. Maybe she could minimize it somehow?

  "Um... Well, it's not really important. Just a silly thought that popped up in my silly ol' head." She saw a twitch of irritation on Benny's eyebrow, and plowed ahead. "I just thought... it just occurred to me, that you said you were floating on a crate of detergent, and it was leaking into the water. And, you know, soap doesn't taste very good, right? So, maybe the sharks saw you, or smelled you, and thought, 'meat. But then, when they got close, were all like, 'Ew, soap,' and swam away. Just a thought. Probably totally wrong. I'm usually wrong. Wrong-way Joy. That's what they call me. That's..."