The Demons of Constantinople

by Eric Flint

  Tomorrow they would send a boat in to offer terms of surrender. Those terms would be different from what they had planned. It wouldn’t be Andronikos who would rule in Constantinople, but it would be under the direct control of Genoa. Which made a counterattack by the Venetians a bit more likely.

  Not that it was ever unlikely.

  Location: Crassus Dock, Constantinople

  Time: Sunset, July 15, 1373

  As the sun set, Jane Kraken surfaced next to the dock. And immediately her phone started ringing.

  Everyone was mad at her and all she had done was follow her instructions. It was most unfair.

  “I don’t answer to you!” she shouted, and hung up. Jane’s built-in phone was a part of her body and that meant that it was under her control. So she didn’t have to listen to anyone through it, because the only person she had to listen to didn’t come equipped with an internal radio communications system. As it happened, Aurelia didn’t even own a phone. They were incredibly expensive and she had used all the money she had available to build Jane’s body.

  Fortunately for everyone, Aurelia was in the warehouse and it took her only a couple of minutes to get to the docks and tell Jane to stay there. Then she climbed down the ladder on the side of the pier and stepped on Jane’s wet hull. “Open up, Jane. I’m not mad at you, but I need to come in.”

  Once in her chair, Aurelia said, “It’s not your fault, Jane. They didn’t realize that your phone wouldn’t work when you were underwater and they’re embarrassed. Besides, the Genoese got here early, so we really needed you. Now, let’s get your mines aboard and ready.”

  Jane didn’t have airlocks or a pressure hull. Instead she had air tight hatches walls and chambers. As she got deeper, some of the chambers filled with water, forcing more air into the dry chamber where Aurelia sat. So her internal air pressure naturally balanced the external water pressure. That also meant that when she was on the surface there was a fair amount of dry—or at least dryish—space that would fill up with water as she got deeper.

  It was into some of that space that the mines were loaded. They were placed right above her beak and under her four upper tentacles. Even under water Aurelia could twist around and lean over the railing to adjust the timers. So, for the next few minutes, they loaded wooden mines with glue soaked rags on one side and a stick to hold them by on the other into the rear flood compartment. The front flood compartment remained empty.

  Then, instead of climbing out like her parents had ordered her to, Aurelia closed the hatch and told Jane to dive. Jane dove, and any hope of radio communication was lost.

  Joe Kraken, still in his barge body, headed out to try and keep tabs on them. Pucorl didn’t object. They knew that Roger was captured, but they didn’t know much more because all his goods had been seized by the Genoese, including his phone and rifle. Everything but the Sword of Themis, which was lying on the sea bottom, off the coast of Constantinople, in water somewhere around twenty meters deep, maybe more—which was considerably deeper than was considered safe for Aurelia by the twenty-firsters.

  But Aurelia wasn’t at all sure that she agreed. After all, pearl divers went more than ten meters deep and they didn’t get the bends. “But first things first,” Aurelia said. “We need to go sink some Genoese ships.”

  Joe had speakers on the bottom of his hull, and Jane’s external microphone was underwater at the moment, so Joe tried talking to her. It worked, but not well. Neither Joe or Jane had much in the way of digital enhancement and what they did have was made partly by craftsmen in the mortal world and partly in the little shop in Pucorl’s lands. Mostly they were analog, using their kraken natures and the devices built into them by the humans. And while squid can hear, they don’t come with ears, so hearing works differently.

  All of which meant that Joe and Jane could talk if they were close enough to each other, but not all that well. With a bit of practice, and using the bottom of Joe’s hull to flash supporting color patterns, they managed to get a direction on the Genoese fleet.

  Then Joe had to wait out of crossbow range while Jane and Aurelia went in.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Aurelia looked at the screens. They were in front of her, but one looked out to the port and the other to starboard. Neither looked forward. A squid’s eyes are placed more like a cow’s than a human’s, but they are exceptionally big, so even at night they could see the hulls of the Genoese fleet.

  Aurelia saw that they were under their first target and twisted around. She set the clockwork timer and said, “Soon now,” to the tiny fire demon in the mine. “And be ready to go home, because it’s going to be wet down here after you’re through.”

  Then she carefully lowered the mine into the water-filled compartment and waited until Jane got a tentacle on the rod.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Jane grabbed the mine by feel and, using her left top tentacle, stuck it to the bottom of a ship.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  A demon built into an oar-assembly heard the thunk and almost jerked its oar in response. But the sound was different than the drum and coming from the wrong direction. So it merely twitched in its doze.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “Fast as you can, Jane, let’s get back to where Joe is waiting, then surface.”

  Jane squirted water out her jet, sucked more in, and repeated the process, using her tentacles and the direction of the jet for guidance. She got up to a considerable speed and flicked under Joe, slapping his hull for the fun of it.

  Then she surfaced on the other side of him. They waited, because Aurelia had set the timer for fifteen minutes, and it had only taken five for them to get here.

  Finally, she felt it. A dull thump, and a moment later a dull sound through the air as a geyser shot out of the ship they had mined.

  Then there was shouting and screaming in the distance and Aurelia said, “Well, that works. Let’s go do it again.”

  Which they did, four more times, while Joe went back to shore for more mines.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Aurelia and Jane actively avoided the flagship of the Genoese fleet while sinking the first five, but when they got back to the rendezvous with Joe, he reported that the Genoese were getting ready to attack the city. They learned that from Clausewitz, who was on the flagship in the admiral’s cabin, listening to everything that was going on and reporting back to Sun Tzu in Roger’s computer in Constantinople.

  Joe said, “Bertrand thinks they can probably beat off the attack, but with considerable loss to shipping. Emperor John is less confident, especially after the poor showing the navy made today. He’s considering surrendering, and disavowing your actions. But don’t you worry, Jane. You can come live in my harbor off Pucorl’s lands.”

  Jane wasn’t completely opposed to that possibility, but didn’t want it forced on her. Besides, that wouldn’t help Aurelia anyway, and it certainly wouldn’t help her family’s shipping interests.

  “Which ship is the admiral on, Joe?” Aurelia asked.

  Joe told them, adding that Clausewitz and probably Roger were on that one too, so Bertrand didn’t want it hit.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Heading back to the fleet, Aurelia said, “Jane, take us to the bottom of the flagship. We are going to sink it.”

  “But the general—”

  “I know what the general said, but neither of us belongs to him, and he won’t be the one losing thousands of solidi worth of ships and goods.”

  “You’re the boss. But they are going to be pissed if Roger dies.”

  “Fine. We will get far enough away to be safe, and go right back after it blows. We’ll try to find Roger. And even if we don’t, we can say we tried.”

  Aurelia was feeling a little guilty about her decision. She knew the story of the twenty-firsters and Roger’s self-sacrifice in returning the Sword of Themis. She didn’t relish the role of the grubby merchant’s daughter who sacrificed the hero for thirty pieces of silver. She sighed. “Look, we’ve already killed
shiploads of people tonight. I’ll be sorry if Roger dies, but that’s war.”

  “It’s no skin off my tentacles,” Jane said, taking a mine from the rack and tentacling it to Aurelia for setting.

  Still feeling guilty, Aurelia set it for three minutes.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Jane placed the mine and swam for it. Not back to Joe, but out into the Marmara. Aurelia had set the time a bit too short. They were still running for it when the thump cracked a seam and water started leaking in. In spite of the leak, Jane immediately turned around and headed back for the flagship, diving as she went and trying to see.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Roger heard the sound of the mine being placed. So did Clausewitz, and neither of them were in a position to do much about it. Roger had manacles around his ankles leading to a ring next to a rower’s bench. Clausewitz was in the admiral’s cabin, and it was only his demon-enhanced electronic hearing that let him hear.

  BOOM!

  The exploding mine broke the back of the galley, and most of the strength of the ship was centered there. It took minutes for it to happen, but the galley started to sink.

  Roger wasn’t aware of most of that. He and the rest of the captured were concentrated near the center of the galley, and that was precisely where the mine was placed. What was left of the oarsman’s bench where Roger was chained was gone. All that was left was the manacles and about forty pounds of chain.

  The quarrel had been removed and his leg had been bandaged, but he was still suffering badly from the wound—to which were now added several more from flying wood splinters. None of those woods were fatal or even very serious, but by now he was suffering from shock. He sank into the water filling his half of the galley. He managed to hold his breath, more out of an instinct for self-preservation than any real hope. But he was going down fast, and was in no condition to swim anywhere.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Jane saw lots and lots of tasty snacks, but she wasn’t in a position to determine which ones she was allowed to eat. It was a safe bet that she wasn’t allowed to eat the ones in chains, but she couldn’t be sure all the humans on her side were in chains. She could have spent an enjoyable time looking for tidbits she could snack on, but Aurelia—the spoilsport—was insistent on finding Roger.

  They searched and then saw a body floating deeper than most of them and sinking fast. It might be Roger. The size was right, and if they looked deeper they could come back up to catch the ones they missed.

  Maybe.

  So she dove as steeply as she dared. They were still leaking, but the leak wasn’t affected. Because they weren’t an ordinary submarine, they had natural pressure. The pressure inside the sub was the same as it was outside. In effect, they were operating more like a scuba diver than a submarine.

  They were gaining on the drowning man. Jane tilted to port and dropped even faster, as water started slipping over the rim of Aurelia’s cabin area. It was Roger. Jane was sure now. Eyes the size of dinner plates are useful to have when you’re operating in the deeps.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Roger didn't know anything except that he needed to inhale. Needed to inhale more than he had ever needed anything. It felt like he was being crushed, because he was being crushed.

  Then something wrapped around his arm and jerked it, right where a splinter had penetrated, and he screamed.

  Well, started to scream. Air didn’t go out. Water came in. And that hurt so much he forgot all about the arm. Waterboarding makes you feel like you’re drowning. Roger was drowning.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The thing that Jane’s tentacle deposited on the rim of her cabin area was cold and blue.

  And not breathing.

  Aurelia didn’t know much about CPR, but over the months of building the Jane, she had gotten the basic life saving course. Jane knew even less, so Aurelia instructed. Jane squeezed and water shot out of Roger’s mouth. Jane also broke one of his lower ribs and bruised both kidneys. Aurelia had to tell Jane to loosen and tighten rhythmically, but after a few moments Roger started to breathe weakly.

  They were deep now, and Aurelia told Jane, “Take us up, but slowly.”

  Location: New Flagship of the Genoese Fleet

  Time: Sometime After Sunset, July 15, 1373

  Captain Giorgio Cabrini, the new admiral of the Genoese fleet saw the flagship sink. And he knew with absolute faith that if he stayed here, his was going to be the next galley sunk by the Byzantine magic.

  His guess was that it was somehow being done by that strange boat that was between the fleet and the docks. What he knew about it was that it was supposedly enchanted by a kraken, and the property of either another demon or of the wizards amongst the French delegation. He suspected that the wizards were aboard it, calling the kraken’s fellow sea monsters from Neptune’s realm.

  If that were true, and they could sink it, that would end the battle and probably the war. The problem was, he didn’t think they could do it. Otherwise it would have stayed safe in Constantinople.

  Besides, nothing was stopping it from running and staying out of their range. No. His choices were retreat or die.

  Giorgio was not the least bit suicidal.

  “Signal the fleet. We will rally at Kadıköy harbor.” Kadıköy was barely out of the south end of the Bosporus in the Sea of Marmara, but on the Ottoman side. At least if they were attacked there, they had a good chance of getting to shore.

  Location: The Jane, Six Fathoms Deep

  Time: 8:35 PM, July 15, 1373

  “What happened?” Roger asked. He was not in great shape. His arms were hanging over the railing that separated the Jane’s cabin section from her flotation chambers, and those chambers were mostly full of water.

  “We saved you from drowning,” Aurelia said defensively, and it all came back to Roger.

  “Yes. After you sank the ship I was on. How many others did you save?”

  “One. You. It’s not like there’s a lot of room.”

  That was true. The Jane’s cabin section was about the size of the pilot’s area on a small airplane. Much of the space within the Jane was designed to slowly fill with water as she dove. Which explained why he was here, hanging off the railing behind her seat.

  He considered, ignoring the pain in his leg. “Fifteen of Bertrand’s men, another ten Byzantine officers. Plus another two hundred Genoese mercenaries. You’re certainly effective,” he said with a grimace. Then he thought of it. Themis’ sword. It wasn’t far away and he could feel it. He had owned it for a while, and like the one ring of Sauron, even after you give it up it doesn’t entirely give you up. He could feel its presence to their left and down.

  “We need to get Themis’ sword.”

  “And how do you propose we find it?”

  “It’s that way.” He pointed.

  “Themis can wait.” It was Jane who spoke. “I have a crack in my roof and I am going to leak until it’s fixed. We need to get back to Constantinople and get me and you repaired.”

  “But will we be able to find our way back?”

  “I will. You . . . ? That’s up to Aurelia.”

  “Right. Jane, take us back to the docks on a slow lift. We don’t want to get the bends.”

  Chapter 20—Betrayal

  Location: Crassus Docks, Constantinople

  Time: 9:37 PM, July 15, 1373

  Aurelia sat on the hull of the Jane with a bucket of glue and several sheets of cloth. Everyone wanted to talk to her. Mostly yell at her, for one reason or another. But first things first. Jane needed repairs. Jane’s hard shell was layer after layer of waterproof glue, and sheet after sheet of cloth. The glue sealed the cloth, and the cloth gave structure to the glue. It was what the twenty-firsters called “composite materials,” but it really wasn’t all that different from using straw to make bricks. So Aurelia took a rag and dried the crack, and then carefully took a bandage of cloth dipped in glue and spread it evenly along the crack.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

 
“What was she thinking?” complained Sidonia, Aurelia’s mother.

  Wilber wondered the same thing for different reasons. Clearly, to Sidonia, the key issue was the impropriety of a woman going into battle of any sort. To Wilber, it was about blowing up the ship Roger was on—Roger and all the other friends they had lost. Fifteen of Bertrand’s men at arms, each carrying a demon-lock rifle had been on that ship and Roger was the only one that Aurelia had saved.

  Deep in a corner of his mind, Wilber knew perfectly well that he was being unreasonable. That she had been right on the merits of the argument, and Bertrand du Guesclin was thinking with his heart, not his head, when he failed to order that the flag ship be targeted first. But that was deep inside his head.

  In the here and now, he was pissed over the people who had died. And that anger was only made worse by the fact that in an even deeper corner of his mind, he’d been scared to death for Aurelia the whole time she was out there re-enacting The Hunt for Red October. Well, more-or-less. Allowing for kraken power instead of nuclear power.

  Aurelia was becoming more twenty-firster women’s lib than the twenty-firsters were.

  “Everyone settle down,” Roger said. “She was right. And you all know it, or would if you weren’t letting your emotions override your brains. Bertrand, nothing would have stopped the attack on Constantinople better than what she did. The invasion is off, at least for now. And don’t imagine that we would have lost fewer people if they had landed their army on the docks of Constantinople. Aurelia is a true hero of the Byzantine Empire. Right up there with Horatio at the bridge.” He shook his head and laughed. “Even if I ended up playing Sancho to her Don Quixote.”

  Wilber knew Roger was right, so he kept his mouth shut.

  Location: Tavern in Constantinople.

  Time: Midmorning, July 16, 1373

  The big beefy man with a short beard turned to face the scoffing crowd. “I saw it,” he said. “I saw the kraken and the girl riding on his back.”

  Rumors had been spreading all through the night and morning.