The Voyage of the Minotaur

by Wesley Allison

  “Radley?”

  Lieutenant Staff shifted uncomfortably in his starched white naval uniform upon hearing his first name used so casually, but he gave his report as though nothing was amiss.

  “We should be completely unloaded in the next eight days. Professor Calliere is supervising the assembly of one of the steam tractors at the top of the promontory. It can then be used to haul everything else up the hill on a wagon or a sledge. Quite ingenious really. My concern is more with the construction of the dock. There is just some cargo that can’t come over on the boats. We have to have a dock built that can accommodate a crane that reaches out into the bay far enough for the Minotaur to come abreast.”

  “We start construction on that as soon as the wall is completed,” said Terrence. “Zeah and I will split the men from the wall into two groups. He’ll supervise the construction of the barracks, and I will take care of the dock. The big danger here is the marine reptiles, the sharks, and those quite frankly scary as hell fish. You can’t chase them off the way we did with the land animals. We start working near the water, and we’re going to lose men.”

  “I think this is a job for Zurfina the Magnificent,” said Iolanthe, “if she didn’t go with Augie.”

  “She didn’t,” reported Terrence. “I sent Wizard Labrith with him.”

  “Good,” she said. “I will speak to her today. We will need a solution ready before we start work. Will we have enough lumber?”

  “Yes,” said Zeah. “Lumber production is just ahead of usage. If we keep working at the same pace, we should have a plentiful supply. By the time we finish phase one though, there won’t be any trees left inside the wall.”

  “That’s fine,” said Iolanthe. “The promontory is going to be the dock, the fort and the industrial area. We won’t need many trees. We will need a few though. I’ll go ashore later and mark those to be spared. It sounds as though everything is in order. What are you gentlemen doing now?”

  “I have the bridge,” said Staff.

  “I’m going to take a bath and a nap,” said Terrence.

  “I have to speak to Father Ian about arranging a wedding,” said Zeah.

  Iolanthe looked at him and cocked her eyebrow.

  “Corporal Bratihn has asked Mrs. Kittredge to marry him. It will be the first wedding in the new colony.”

  “See that it is done right,” said Iolanthe. “This has to be a big affair with the whole colony taking part—the perfect event to inaugurate our city.”

  “What will your new city be called?” asked Lieutenant Staff.

  “Port Dechantagne, of course.”

  “Of course,” said Terrence quietly.

  Iolanthe dismissed the three men and walked swiftly to the stern of the ship where Yuah was awaiting her. The dressing maid was wearing a simple grey wool dress over a white linen foundation. Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun, but even its severity didn’t take away from her obvious beauty. Though Iolanthe was accounted one of the most beautiful women in the great city of Brech, she recognized the truth that few did—Yuah was more beautiful. Their difference in wealth, status, and religion obscured the fact, but it was a fact, nonetheless.

  “Did you see Terrence just now?”

  “Yes, Miss.”

  “You’ve been checking up on him, I know.”

  “Yes, Miss.”

  “He doesn’t look very good. Is he… all right?”

  “Yes. I don’t know. I think so.”

  Putting thoughts of her brother and of the relative attractiveness of her dressing maid aside, Iolanthe toured the ship from stem to stern, from the main deck to the lowest deck. There was much to do and she intended to make sure that it was all done and done properly. When an obvious need presented itself, she assigned the task immediately. When a need was less obvious, she gave Yuah a note to remind her about it later. When they reached deck four, Yuah stopped unexpectedly.

  “What is the matter?” asked Iolanthe.

  “This is my deck,” said Yuah. “My cabin is just up on the right.”

  “Yes?”

  “Well, there are too many doors in this hallway. The doorway… here,” she pointed to the second door on the left. “That door shouldn’t be here.”

  Iolanthe smiled. “Excellent.” She walked over and rapped sharply on the door.

  It opened and Senta, Zurfina’s ward, peered out with a puzzled look on her face. Iolanthe was sure that it was the first time during the entire voyage from Brechalon that anyone had knocked on the door.

  “Is your mistress at home?” asked Iolanthe.

  The girl nodded. A moment later she was replaced in the doorway by the sorceress. She had evidently just gotten out of bed, and was clad in an ankle length but completely sheer nightgown. With no shoes on her feet, she was several inches shorter than Iolanthe.

  “Yes?”

  “We have an assignment for you, sorceress,” said Iolanthe. “The creatures in the bay need to be driven away from the area where we are planning to build a dock. They need to be kept permanently away, or at least long enough for the construction to be completed.”

  “I will take care of it,” said the sorceress, and closed the door.

  Iolanthe turned around to look at her dressing maid with an uncharacteristically broad smile upon her face.

  “That was most satisfying,” she said. “Thank you.”

  “Yes, Miss.”

  “I think it’s about time for lunch,” said Iolanthe.

  “If you’ll let me know the menu and the guest list, I’ll contact Mrs. Colbshallow and the wait staff.”

  “I was thinking that you and I could have lunch.”

  Yuah stood looking blankly for a moment, and then placed the palm of her hand against the wall of the corridor as though she were steadying herself in uneven seas.

  “No need to look as though you’re going to pass out,” said Iolanthe.

  “No Miss, It’s just…”

  “Consider it a weak moment.”

  “You don’t have weak moments, Miss.”

  “No, well. You see Yuah, I don’t have any friends here.”

  “You don’t have any friends back home either, Miss.”

  “Thank you for your merciless honesty, Yuah,” said Iolanthe. “Peers then. This is a new world. If I’m going to have any kind of social life at all, I’m going to need a new group with whom to socialize—a new class if you will.”

  “I won’t fit into that class, Miss,” said Yuah. “I’m the wrong religion.”

  “No one is going to care about that anymore.”

  “People will always care, Miss.”

  “People are going to have to change, especially when we start working with the natives. What religion do you suppose they practice?”

  “They worship a pantheon of gods, most of whom have died,” said Yuah.

  “Good heavens. Really? How do you know that?”

  “Your brother told me, Miss.”

  “Well, where did Terrence pick up that tid-bit?”

  “Not Master Terrence, Miss. It was Master Augie. He served here while he was in the army.”

  “Well, yes, of course I know that. He speaks the language. That’s why he’s going to meet with the natives now.”

  Iolanthe and Yuah did end up together at the luncheon table. The repast consisted of cucumber and cress sandwiches and tomato soup. Most of the meal was quiet. There seemed to be very little that the two had in common despite their enormous shared experience. When at last they returned to the topic of the natives, the conversation for both of them relaxed somewhat and they engaged in a bit of idle speculation as to the various parts of the Birmisian lifestyle.

  After dinner both women changed into khaki jungle outfits. These, though they resembled the men’s in color and sturdiness of the material, were still primarily feminine attire with long skirts cut large enough for an appropriate bustle. Iolanthe also belted on a holster with a .45 caliber revolver. Yuah had never used a firearm before and thought
that if she had taken one, it would be more likely that she would discharge it into her own foot than into any threat. They didn’t need to go back topside. The external hatch on deck six opened onto the middle of the temporary staircase, which had been erected on the side of the ship. Here a launch was awaiting them, the sailors who had just come from the shore having been replaced with a fresh group of rowers. Also waiting in the boat was Wizard Suvir Kesi.

  “Good afternoon, ladies.” His accented voice seemed naturally oily. “Do you mind if I accompany you today?”

  “Not at all,” said Iolanthe. “In fact, this is my first trip ashore and I think Yuah would welcome the company of a magic user as much as I would. Have you been ashore already?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I was with Captain Dechantagne this morning as he chased the dinosaurs off the promontory. I made a small contribution myself, and so I had to return to my cabin to replenish my spells. I am once again fully prepared now.”

  The sailors pushed the launch away from the side of the ship and began rowing across the relatively calm water of the bay. Several hundred yards away, Iolanthe could see the smooth back of some enormous reptile sliding through the water as the beast cut the surface to take a breath.

  “Not to worry, Miss Dechantagne,” said Kesi. “That’s not one of the big mouthed fellows. That is what Professor Calliere described to me as a plesiosaur. They have large bodies, but small heads suitable for eating only small fish.”

  “I wasn’t worried,” said Iolanthe.

  “I bloody was,” said Yuah.

  As she said this a fish, a monstrous fish the size of a steam carriage, leapt completely out of the water and fell back with a splash thirty feet from the launch.

  “On the other hand,” said Kesi. “I’m pretty sure whatever was chasing that little minnow has quite a large mouth.”

  It became increasingly difficult to talk as they neared the shore because of the sound of steam engines and power saws. The boat reached the shore and two of the sailors jumped out to secure it to the land. All of the sailors were then ordered to wait as the two women and Kesi met two waiting riflemen. It felt remarkably good to walk on dry land. Dozens of men were working nearby, chopping logs into segments, pulling them to the massive power saw, and slicing them into boards. A large swath of the once beautiful forest had become a wide muddy path, and it was expanding.

  “If we had arrived any later, there wouldn’t be any trees at all to save,” said Iolanthe. “Ribbon, Yuah?”

  Yuah handed her a roll of inch wide red ribbon. Iolanthe started into the woods, working her way up the slope of the land and to the left of where the workmen were. The dressing maid and the wizard followed. After several dozen steps, she came to a particularly majestic redwood. It was about twelve feet in diameter, not the largest tree, but symmetrical and tall. Iolanthe handed the end of the ribbon to Yuah, and then circumnavigated the tree, letting the ribbon unroll off the spool as she went until she returned to the starting spot. Then she took the end from Yuah and tied the ribbon into a neat bow. The red band at eye level would serve as a note to the woodcutters that this tree was to be left undisturbed. The sound of the power saw continued in the background, only occasionally stopping as men adjusted the controls for the types of boards to be cut.

  “That’s a nice tree,” said Kesi. “But why this one. There are plenty that are just as nice.”

  “This one is going to give shade to the port office, which will be right over there,” explained Iolanthe.

  “Do you have the entire city planned out in your head?”

  “Of course not. I have a rough idea about the port. Of course everything can be adjusted as needs be.”

  She continued up the slope followed by Yuah and Kesi, marking one tree in fifty to be saved as she went. When they reached the top of the promontory and the clearing, they could see the men working on the wall several hundred yards away. Calling the structure a wall was doing it a great disservice. It was a fortification, six feet thick, with an outer wall thirty-five feet tall and an inner wall twenty feet tall, and a walkway between them built atop the inner wall. Though they couldn’t be seen from this angle, two lines of sharpened stakes pointed outward, one at fifteen feet in height and the other at thirty. The spikes were spaced four feet apart.

  “Your bother’s design is impressive,” said Kesi.

  “I see now why all the trees are going to be gone,” said Yuah.

  “The trees around here will be cut,” said Iolanthe. “But remember, we’re sitting on the edge of a forest a thousand miles across. There will be no shortage of lumber.”

  Walking the length of the peninsula and tagging each of more than one hundred trees while doing so used the remainder of their afternoon and the remainder of their ribbon as well. Several times Iolanthe noticed Wizard Kesi speaking in low tones to Yuah. When at last she was ready to return to the ship, Iolanthe called the other two to follow her back to the shore.

  “If you don’t mind ladies,” said Kesi. “I’m going to stay here and do a little bit of exploring.”

  “Do be careful,” said Yuah.

  “Don’t worry,” he replied. “I have no intention of becoming a meal for one of the local monstrosities.”

  The two women were dutifully rowed back to the Minotaur without incident and they made their way up to the deck.

  “I noticed that Suvir Kesi spoke quite a bit to you while we were over there,” said Iolanthe.

  “Yes, Miss.”

  “May I ask what he is plotting?”

  “He was wondering if he could call on me.”

  “Really? Can he?”

  “I don’t know how I feel about him,” said Yuah. “Him being a foreigner, and all.”

  “Yes, foreigner.” Iolanthe nodded in understanding.

  The loud whine of the power saw stopped as the men using it made one of their adjustments. At that moment a horrendous roar reverberated through the trees in the distance, followed seconds later by a smattering of gunfire.

  “I hope Master Augie is all right,” said Yuah.

  Iolanthe nodded again. “I have half a wish that Terrence had gone with him.”

  “He’s probably better off on his own. He’s more familiar with this country than anyone in the expedition. Besides, he’s not really alone. He’s got eighty men with him. With rifles.”

  The women retired to their cabins and rested for several hours and then met again, having changed into evening dresses. Iolanthe hosted a dinner, and for the first time, Yuah participated as a guest. It was in fact, an all female party, attended by Egeria Lusk, Padgett Kelloran, and four other women, Mrs. Hollerith, Mrs. Luebking, Mrs. Goeking, and Mrs. Parnorsham, all of whose husbands were ashore, either sleeping in tents or working as part of the all night crew cutting lumber and assembling the protective barrier. Several of the off duty sailors had earlier in the day, indulged in net fishing in the harbor, a pastime that turned out to be remarkably lucrative. Dinner this evening was based around the fruits of this labor. A baked fish, no one seemed to know the exact variety, was served with garlic and onions. Scalloped potatoes and canned fruits rounded out the meal. And of course, afterwards, fortified wine and coffee were served.

  That night, as she lay in bed, Iolanthe tried to listen to the waves hitting the shore. After a while, she could make them out, though they were distant. Much more easily heard were the various sounds of the dinosaurs in the forest—hoots, bellows, honks, and roars. Then the power saw roared into operation again, drowning out all other outside noises.

  In the days that followed, things began to move more quickly. Early the next morning, Zurfina produced a small anchor, which the ship had carried for use on the launches. She claimed to have enchanted the metal so that all creatures would be repelled from it, not so far that they would be chased completely out of the bay, but far enough that it would be safe for people to work in or near the water. The anchor was attached to a rope and tossed out into the water and then the construction of th
e dock was begun.

  Women began going ashore for the first time as well. Some of them worked along with the men, beginning construction of the first barracks, right in the clearing where Captain Dechantagne had watched the tyrannosaurus attack the iguanodons. Construction was quick and by the end of the first day, the first barracks was nearly complete. It was an elevated, pitch-roofed structure twenty-five feet wide and two hundred feet long. The barracks would be divided into twenty by twenty-five foot apartments for families or in some cases assigned roommates. For the soldiers, they would be left as single rooms and filled with bunks. Several extra buildings would be constructed to serve as kitchen, mess hall, bathhouse, laundry, and recreation areas. In all, thirty of the barracks buildings would be needed. The plan was that once the colony began to function as a real community, people would provide their own housing, and the barracks would form the basis of the fort. Some distance away, a row of outhouses was also built.

  Though he had discussed slowing work on construction of the wall, once the women were able to supplement the work force, Captain Dechantagne in fact expanded the work, doubling the number of workers. By evening, the wall was essentially complete. All that remained for the next day was to construct some barricades at each end, where the wall met the sea, so that no one or nothing could get around the wall and into the compound.

  Most agreed that the most enjoyable duty was the special squad of eight women who were assigned to help Professor Calliere. True, they had to tote around a certain amount of equipment, but it was worth it. They unpacked the professor’s gear, which included a large wicker basket, a heater, and a magnificent hot air balloon. The balloon was inflated and the professor sailed off into the sky, staying firmly attached to the ground by a very long rope. From his towering altitude, Calliere sketched out the surrounding countryside. Best of all, his helpers took turns riding with him.

  Iolanthe toured the colony in the morning and in the late afternoon. But she spent most of the mid-day in the company of Lieutenant Staff. She was keenly aware that he was going to be parted from her in a matter of days, and when she thought of this she felt a strange tugging at her insides.