The Walrus and the Warwolf coaaod-4

by Hugh Cook

  Drake poked amongst the casks and cases, looking for something to eat. The air was heavy with the smells of onions, smoked seal, hams, dried fish, herbs and spices. He cut himself a bit of ham. Chewed it slowly.Perhaps Tor means to get me killed.

  King Tor was strange. Sometimes he seemed to have perfect confidence in Drake. Other times, doubt ruled his mind, demanding that he set Drake tests.

  Maybe he's one of these people who's not sure of his own mind. Maybe. He's not much of a leader, perhaps.

  Jon Arabin never changed his mind like that.. Yet, even so, circumstances had brought about a change in Drake's relationship to Arabin. There was every chance he might end up as an enemy.

  And Slagger Mulps . . . man, I've got to make friends with him. Now that's crazy. Wild.Yet not impossible.

  The lamp flickered, and went put. Drake stood in the darkness, trying to orientate himself. Where was his bed of sacks? With hands extended like the feelers of an insect, he began to explore the night. Barked his shin against a crate, and hissed. Something hissed back at him. What?! Oh – only the cat, of course . . .

  Drake found the mess of sacking where he was to sleep, and settled himself down. Brooding on his future. To become a friend of the Walrus? An enemy of the Warwolf? It was all too possible.

  He lamented the instability of human relationships.

  Life would be so much easier – and so much safer! – if one kept the same set of friends and enemies for a lifetime. At least he could be sure of Heth. Blood, that's the stuff. Family.

  He bitterly regretted being parted from Heth. He wished he was back on the good ship Tarik. Would he see Heth again? Why, of course he would. At journey's end . . .

  Drake heard a thump of boots coming down the com-panionway. Suppressed laughter. Who was that? Not Whale Mike, by the sound of it. Smaller people. Two of them? Maybe three.'Gragh!' said a gutteral voice.Then hawked. Then spat.'The grimby cludge keeps a lantern lit, mostly.''Andranovory?'We'll manage.'

  A tight, confident, well-controlled voice. Clear. Sharp. Ish Ulpin? Possibly . . . Sounds of collision. 'Malskok!' A chuckle.

  'Oh, An'vory, man! You're so much fun when you're happy!'

  That, unless Drake was very much mistaken, was Bucks Cat.

  'Here's a cask,' said Andranovory. Muffled fumbling. Happy splash of liquor running into – a crock? Bottle? Mug? 'A toastA clink of mugs in the night.'A toast to what?' said Bucks Cat.

  'Victory,' said Ish Ulpin. 'We'll play this Menator's games for now, but when we're ready . . .''Throats open,' said Andranovory.

  'Oh man, oh yes,' crooned Bucks Cat. 'I'll slice the little one myself. Imagine – him as king?'All three laughed.

  Drake began to sweat. He knew exactly who those three were talking of. Just his luck! He remembered how Bucks Cat and Ish Ulpin had forced him into the sea, a horizon away from Stokos. They were true killers. They would abolish him without a moment's hesitation. If they caught him.

  Someone touched Drake. On the buttock. He almost screamed. Then realized it was only the cat. The cat began to crawl onto him. Ugh! What's the difference between a cat and a rat? More fur and a thicker tail, that's all. . .

  'There must be stronger stuff than this,' said Andranovory.

  'Sure to be,' agreed Ish Ulpin. 'But we'd have Ockle's luck searching by dark.'Ockle? Ockle's luck? What the hell did that mean?

  'Oh man,' said Bucks Cat, with a chuckle. 'I thought you would've worked it out by now. The stove's still hot. One is, anyway.'

  Movements in the dark. What? Hiss of – pain? Anger? Someone finding a hot stove the hard way, maybe. Sound of cloth tearing. For what? To wrap around fingers for handling a hot stove, perhaps. Protest of metal. A stove door? Opening? Gleam of red coals. Flare of flame. A twist of cloth bursting into light. Flames rising to reveal-

  'The lantern,' said Ish Ulpin, as the twist of cloth in Andranovory' s fingers burnt itself out. T've found the lantern. Give me another light, I'll get it going.'The lantern would reveal everything.

  Drake grabbed the cat – which could not have been psychic after all, or it would have understood its danger.He flung it through the night.

  A scream. A shout. A prolonged yowl. A furious seething hissing and spitting. Several obscenities.' Hey!' said a familiar voice.' What going on down there?''We'rejustleaving,' said Ish Ulpin.

  'Oh, you leave all right,' said Whale Mike, clambering down into his private domain. 'Who this?''Let go of my beard!''Oh! An'vory! Walrus, he speak to you three times already. You drink too much. You drinking now, that not so? You stay out of here. And what you do my cat? She not happy. I hear that.''Your crazy cat attacked us,' said Ish Ulpin.

  'That not so,' said Whale Mike. 'That cat not stupid. You step on her, maybe. Who this?''This is me, Bucks Cat.'

  'So you've got all three names now,' said Ish Ulpin. 'There's nobody else down here. If you want to play the child and tell the Walrus, you know what names to give him.'

  'This not child stuff,' said Whale Mike. 'This serious. There only so much food, only so much drink. We got long way travel.'

  'You talk like a sheep-shagging schoolmaster,' grumbled Andranovory.

  'What you know about schoolmaster?' said Whale Mike. 'You from Lorp. They got no school there. This serious matter.'

  'Okay, okay, it's serious,' said Bucks Cat. 'We got the message. How about letting go before you break my arm?'Mike obliged.

  Ish Ulpin, Bucks Cat and Andranovory quit the hold in a hurry. Whale Mike lit the lantern from the stove, nodded at Drake, then tempted his cat into his arms for comfort.'What they do to my cat?' he said.

  'Andranevory got hold of it,' said Drake. 'He was going to push it into the stove.'

  'Oh, that just like An'vory,' said Whale Mike. 'He not so good. He drink too much.'

  'But the cat fought back,' said Drake. 'Man, that's a beautiful cat you got there. I love cats.'

  'That good,' said Whale Mike, stroking his cat and kissing it once again. 'That mean you smart. All smartest people like cats. Not like dogs. That dog, that stupid animal for stupid people.''Verily,' said Drake.

  And, before he slept, he helped Mike slander dogs at length and in detail, and praise the race of cats to the very heavens.

  At dawn, the Walrus put to sea. Towards noon, Drake stumbled onto the deck in company with Whale Mike. The Greaters were but a smudge on the far horizon. But, much closer, visible in every detail, was the unlovely Andranovory. Who gaped at Drake.

  'Hoy,' said Andranovory. 'That's – that's-' 'This my friend,' said Whale Mike. 'We go see Slagger Mulps.''You – I – hey, boys! – there's-'

  Andranovory swayed on his feet. He was drunk -hence his incoherence. There were ragged red cat-scratches on his right-hand cheek.'Come,' said Whale Mike. 'This way. Come.'

  And Drake, very shortly, was shown into the captain's cabin, which was set in the poop of the ship.

  On the Walrus everything was dirt, filth and disorder. Her crew was not even in the habit of coiling ropes properly. The captain's cabin made a startling constrast to this general disorder, for it was neat, whitewashed and scrupulously clean. That Drake noted at first glance.

  Then noted no more, for a sickening fear seized his senses, and he thought he would faint. His heart leaped like a frog trying to jump out of a water-barrel. His mouth tasted worse than it had when he had addressed the pirate's general assembly. He felt giddy.

  Slagger Mulps sat behind a desk where charts were spread out. He looked at Drake, then looked at Whale Mike.'Leave,' said Mulps.'Okay,' said Mike cheerfully.

  And withdrew his head and shoulders from the cabin, closing the door after him. Mulps watched Drake, saying nothing.

  'I – I suppose you want some explanation, man,' said Drake. 'It was Menator sent me here. Lord Menator. He dared me aboard. I think he means to kill me by this dare. I think he means to kill you, too, aye, given time. Kill both of us. That's what this voyage is for. To be the death of us.''Why should he do that?' said Mulps.

  'For
empire, man,' said Drake. 'We're both lusting after leadership. Aye. Me to be king on Stokos. You to be admiral. That speaks ambition. Hence danger to Menator. He knows as much, so kills while the killing's easy.'

  'I've thought as much myself,' said Slagger Mulps. 'The danger is to both of us. That makes us friends – perhaps. But … if you will sail with us, then you must swear yourself to secrecy.''Secrecy?' said Drake. 'About what?'

  'Why, about the secrets of this voyage south, of course.'Drake thought. He had little choice. But-'I'll not swear,' said Drake, 'if your secret touches on

  the lives of King Tor or Jon Arabin.'T thought you enemy with Arabin,' said Mulps. 'You

  spoke against his speaking at assembly. That hardly leaves

  you friends.'

  'Aye,' said Drake, 'but we've not yet come to blood. I want to leave some hope between us for the future.' Slagger Mulps considered this.

  There was much bad blood between Walrus and Warwolf. Could he afford to have Drake Douay aboard when Drake still had residual loyalties to Jon Arabin?

  'What would happen,' said Slagger Mulps, 'if it came to a fight between Walrus and Warwolf?'

  'Man,' said Drake, 'that's nothing to do with the voyage here. All I ask is to share your dangers, aye. At journey's end, I'll be back with King Tor. I'll say good words for you with the king. That's worth having, isn't it?

  'But I'll say this – I've got some fair thoughts left for

  Jon Arabin, but I've none left for one of his crew. That's Sully Yot I'm talking of, the wart-faced one. He tried to kill me – killed my dog while trying. He turned against my king. That's treason, man – to speak against the king.

  'While shouting filth, he said hard words about another fellow I could mention. Not to be too subtle – yourself. Man, I know I spoke bad words in a worse temper when we first met. But since then – you know yourself I've sworn to marry Tor's daughter. I've pledged my flesh to an ogre. Whatever words I've spoken, I've no prejudice. My actions prove that.

  'Man, I say this – you're as human as any other. Aye. Green hair, green eyes, the works. And I say this, too – if by one chance in a thousand million we clashed with Arabin on this voyage south, I'd fight for you and yours. At least till Sully Yot was dead at my feet.'

  Drake ended his speech. Stood there. Trembling. Slagger Mulps stared at him. Broken loose by the ship's motion, a slim piece of sharpened graphite slid across the charts, fell off the table and broke as it hit the whitewashed floorboards.

  'You speak well,' said the Walrus. 'I tell you this. The secrets of this voyage touch not on the lives of Arabin or Tor. So swear to keep our secrets.'

  Drake consented to place his hand on a virgin's breech-cloth – an article which Slagger Mulps regarded with superstitious awe – and swear himself to secrecy.'Now all can be revealed,' said Mulps.Drake bated his breath and waited for revelation.

  'We run to Narba first,' said Mulps, in a conspiratorial whisper, 'there to sell a cargo of seal furs.'Drake snorted, and breathed easy.'Is that all? Is that the ship's secret?'

  'If it were known we were engaged in honest trade,' said Slagger Mulps, 'it would shame us for thrice five generations.'

  'Aagh, Jon Arabin runs for pearls, and makes no secret of it,' said Drake.

  'Yes – but the pearl run reeks of danger. That's different from braining baby seals and ripping their bodies naked.'

  There was, Drake had to admit, a difference. But he could not help thinking the secret ridiculous. Surely there was more to know.

  'What special plan have you for capturing a monster?' said Drake. 'They're fearsome fierce, these monsters of the Swarms.'

  'Courage will serve us,' said the Walrus, blandly. 'We'll have men killed in the attempt, doubtless, but we'll win through in the end. You'll have your opportunity to cover yourself with glory.'

  Drake, at that moment, would rather have covered himself with a blanket. He had not slept very well the night before. As nervous tension ebbed away, he felt weak with fatigue. But there was one thing he needed before he could really relax: a safe-conduct pass or its equivalent.

  'Man,' said Drake, 'as maybe you know, I've tangled with a few of your men in the past. They're more likely enemies than friends. So I'd like you to get your men to swear to my safety.'The Walrus laughed.

  'I'm not your mother,' he said. 'You'll have to stand up for yourself. That's a test of your worth – to make peace with the crew.'

  'Another test!' said Drake. 'These tests will be the death of me!'

  'Mayhap,' said Slagger Mulps. 'But that's your problem, not mine. Now out – I've got to chart the details of our trip to the terror-lands, aye, the terror-lands of the Deep South.'

  Out on deck, Drake looked around for Whale Mike, who was nowhere in sight. In his hold, doubtless. Drake hastened there – but was intercepted by Andranovory.

  'You!' said Andranovory, swaying.

  'What do you want?' said Drake.'This!' said Andranovory.

  And punched Drake in the gut. Hard. Drake took the blow easily, and punched back. His fist sank into Andranovory's belly as if the man were made of marsh-mallow. The black-bearded brute grunted in surprise, and sat down on the deck in a hurry.

  Drake was about to put in the boot when he saw he had spectators. Bucks Cat and Ish Ulpin were watching him.'Drake!' said Ish Ulpin. 'Over here!'

  Reluctantly, Drake went toward Ish Ulpin. The lean, pale man looked as if he never saw the sun. Big black Bucks Cat stood beside him, grinning as merrily as the knife-scar on his throat.

  'Whale Mike tells us you're sailing south with us,' said Ish Ulpin.'Aye,' said Drake.

  'We hear tell that the Warwolf tangled with Swarms and such on her last voyage south.' 'That's true,' said Drake.

  'Then sit down, man. Take a seat – aye, there on the rope, that's comfortable enough. Tell us about it.''And why would you want to hear?' said Drake.

  'Why? Well, we'll be tangling with such soon enough, won't we now? It's nice to know what we're up against.'

  Drake realized that Ish Ulpin really did want to know. On inquiry, he found that nobody aboard had been further south than Narba. The waters of the Drangsturm Gulf were, to the crew of the Walrus, largely an unknown quantity. So Drake settled himself, and began to tell his tales.

  Drake was a good story-teller. Under pressure – with a life to lose if he failed to interest – he became an even better story-teller. Others of the crew gathered round to listen.

  One tale led to another, and thus, as the days went by and the ship cruised steadily south, Drake got to know the crew well. Bucks Cat – who proved to be boisterous, good-humoured, intelligent, and perhaps the most competent sailor aboard. Ish Ulpin – who, as Drake had suspected, was a dangerous man, too careless with himself to value others.

  Tiki Slooze, a feeble, querulous man who reminded Drake of Jez Glane. Rolf Thelemite, an intense character who claimed to be from the fabled islands of Rovac (claiming, too, that his blade was firelight steel from Stokos – though he never let anyone see it). Simp Fiche, whom Drake had met before – he lived for rape and torture.

  And others. Ching Quail, Trudy Haze, Praul Galana, Morton Seligman, and close to three dozen more.

  Drake found himself popular. Except with Andranovory. But that drunken bully was scarcely loved by the rest of the crew. Nor was he a match for Drake in a fight.

  So far, so good. But what happens when we get to the terror-lands? What happens when we get to the Deep South?

  Drake expected at least some men to jump ship when the Walrus reached Narba. But, though all the men got shore leave, none fled. All, it seemed, were ready to brave the terrors of the lands beyond Drangsturm. To do battle with the monsters of the Swarms. To dare the horrors of creatures worse than nightmare. And Drake?

  He was fearful. Yet was proud. And fiercely ambitious. He had to survive this test. To win the hand of King Tor's daughter. To win the throne of Stokos. And prove himself equal to the heroes of the Walrus, who faced the prospect of absolu
te horror with calm – almost, indeed, with indifference. Who would have thought they could be so brave?

  They're brave, perhaps, because they think no Swarms exist. Aye. But they do. I've seen them, clear enough. The Neversh – chest to chest. And the other monsters, crowded on the shore.

  As the Walrus braved south, Drake developed a nervous tic. He slept poorly – woken often by nightmares. He got acid indigestion. Under the stress of fear, he became irritable, short-tempered. Then at last, by night, he saw the flames of Drangsturm reflected from clouds on the horizon.

  Come morning, the Walrus anchored by a small offshore island. A day's sailing – or less – would take them to the shores of terror beyond the protection of Drangsturm.

  'What island be this?' said Drake, staring at massive low-slung buildings on the island.

  'This is Burntos,' said Bucks Cat. 'Landguard troopers are garrisoned here. They hold the island against any monsters of the Swarms which fly this way.'

  'It's a low, barren, ugly place,' said Drake. 'What do we want here? We've food, water – everything but women. Have they a brothel ashore?'

  'Not that I know of,' said Bucks Cat. 'But with luck, they've got a monster they can sell us.''Sell us?'said Drake.'But of course. We need a monster to show to Menator.' 'But – but – but we-'

  Bucks Cat slapped his thighs, and threw back his head and laughed uproariously.'Oh man!' he said. 'Are you innocent!'' What' s the j oke?' called Praul Galana.

  'This young hero here,' said Bucks Cat, pointing at Drake, 'he really thought we were going to hunt the terror-lands f or a monster. Oh man! That' s rich!'

  Bucks Cat laughed till tears ran down his face, and others laughed with him.

  'But,' said Drake, starting to get angry, 'the day we left Knock, I spoke with the Walrus. He told me true that we were hunting monsters. Aye. He spoke of death and glory.'

  'Well, man,' said Bucks Cat, recovering himself a little, 'helikesajoketoo.'