“He’s heading this way,” Ang said. “He must have seen us. The sun’s lighting up our sails as it rises.”
“Still happy to have me aboard, sir?” Jules muttered to Captain Mak.
He looked at the approaching Mechanic ship for a moment longer before answering. “Yes.”
“We can’t outrun him,” Ang said. “They don’t need wind. They don’t even have sails. Those ships are faster than we are even when we’re running straight out before a strong wind. On a reach like this he’ll be on us by mid-morning at the latest.”
Jules leaned close to Mak. “Drop me off in the small boat. Once they have me, they’ll leave you alone.”
“No.” Mak looked at the others. “If he keeps coming, we’ll meet him together. One ship. One crew.”
“Sir,” Jules said. “I’m begging you. Give me up.”
He shook his head. “I lost one girl because I stopped trying too soon. I won’t do that again.”
“This won’t bring back your daughter, Captain!”
“No. But I won’t give up before I have to.” He met her eyes with his. “A girl who’d walk a gauntlet should understand that. She’s still here, isn’t she?”
“You don’t have to walk it with me, Captain.”
“Yes, I do. If you’ll let me, Jeri, I’ll stand beside you against them.”
“And if I won’t let you?”
“I’ll be there anyway.” Mak called down to the deck. “We’re going to be intercepted by a Mechanics Guild ship! Make sure there’s nothing they can find that could cause us trouble.”
She stopped Mak before he could go down the mast with the others. “Captain. You know what they’ll find when they board us.”
He gazed back at her again, pain and resolve deep in his eyes. “If they do, they’ll have a fight.”
“No. You can’t win that fight. Ang, Liv, you, you’ll all die. For nothing. Because the Mechanics will have me anyway.”
“What would you have me do, Jeri?”
“Let me decide.”
“Jeri-”
“Blazes, Captain, I have nothing left in this life! Except possibly the right to decide how it ends! Give me that! If you care for me at all, give me that!” She saw him wavering. “That’s the greatest gift you can give me. And I know it’ll be a hard one for you. But give me that, sir. Please. Let me decide.”
“Jeri, you can’t give up,” Mak said, looking at her with a pleading expression.
“Who said I want to give up? I don’t quit, remember? Trust me. Give me a chance. I got out of the legion orphan home. I got out of Jacksport. And I got out of Saraston. Give me the chance to get out of this, without seeing you all die.”
“And you walked the gauntlet.” Mak nodded. “All right, Jeri. If this is the end, I’ll give you the right to decide how it goes. And the chance to make something else of it.”
Chapter Six
The Mechanic ship overtook them as easily as a young man striding to catch a man hobbling with a broken leg. Jules stood with the rest of the crew as the strange vessel came even with the Sun Queen. The Queen was about forty lances long from the tip of the bowsprit to the stern, among the larger sailing ships on the Sea of Bakre, but the Mechanic ship seemed to be more than twice that, looking to be about one hundred lances long. A few wooden accents gleamed in the sunlight, but everything else about the ship seemed to be metal, gray or white by nature, or painted those colors. Instead of tall wooden masts, two stubby metal spires with metal supports rose amidships and a bit farther aft. Two big tubes also rose up from the deck, smoke coming out of their tops. Above the deck, buildings seemed to have been stacked on, rising in layers for three stories. On the front, another tube rested, this one level, behind a big metal shield.
Jules had seen similar ships in the harbor at Landfall. The Mechanics Guild had four metal ships like this, it was said. She knew the tube on the front was some sort of weapon, a much bigger version of those the Mechanics carried to kill anyone who opposed them.
A hail carried across the water from the Mechanic ship, unnaturally loud. “Furl your sails and await a search party!”
“Get the sails in,” Mak told the crew. “Mechanics don’t repeat orders. If we don’t obey they’ll sink the ship.”
Jules helped bring in the sails and the Sun Queen coasted to a halt, rocking on the swells. The Mechanic ship easily matched her speed changes even though no means of propelling the craft was visible.
She watched a long boat being lowered by the Mechanics, figures in dark jackets crowding it, the angular shapes of their weapons visible at this distance.
“Jeri,” Liv whispered. “There’s a hiding place-”
“No,” Jules said. “I’m going to face this. If it ends here, it ends here.”
“But the daughter of your-”
“If she’s all that special, maybe she’ll finally do something for me!”
The Mechanics came up the rope and wood ladder that the Sun Queen put over the side, a device that for unknown reasons was called a Jaykob Ladder. But then most things on ships, like the catheads, had names that no one knew the reason for.
Jules watched, feeling curiously detached from everything, as Mak greeted the Mechanics with stiff formality. She could only imagine how he felt to be speaking with those of the same Guild that had stolen his daughter.
“Line the crew up,” one of the Mechanics ordered in a loud voice.
Jules joined the line, refusing to come to attention, standing with her arms crossed as the Mechanics spread out and started looking over everyone.
One of the male Mechanics, a middle-aged man with a paunch on him, stopped in front of Jules, staring at her. He pulled out an all-too-familiar sheet of paper, looking from Jules to the picture on it. “Hey, look what I found,” he called to the others.
Two other Mechanics came over, looking from the paper to Jules. “Sure looks like her,” one said. “What’s your name, common?”
“Jeri. Jeri of Landfall.”
“I bet. Hey, Gin, look at this girl. Is it her?”
A female Mechanic walked up to them, also comparing the image on the paper to Jules. “Yeah, that’s her. The report from Kelsi’s was right.”
The report from Kelsi’s. Someone had betrayed her. Had it been Captain Erin, after all? The Mechanics were known to have a means of sending messages over long distances apparently with no delay, though no one knew what that means was. But they must have used it this time.
“Do we shoot her?” another Mechanic asked.
“Why? Because a Mage said she’s dangerous? We take her back to the ship so Senior Mechanic Liz can decide what to do with her.”
“Gin’s right,” the first Mechanic said. “We don’t decide this. Come on, girl. You’re taking a boat ride.”
Jules saw Captain Mak step forward as if unable to stop himself, and saw two of the Mechanic weapons leveled at him. “Captain!” she yelled. “Don’t! You agreed!”
“But, Jeri…!” Liv called, her face working with grief.
“If it’s really true, I’ll be fine. Let me walk this one!”
The Mechanics had been waiting, listening, with the relaxed attitude of people who didn’t think any danger could threaten them. One of the Mechanics pointed to his ship as he spoke loudly to the crew. “We’re faster than you, and that gun on the bow can blow this ship to splinters. Don’t give us an excuse for target practice.”
“Maybe we should kill a few just to remind them,” another suggested.
“Give it a rest,” a third said. “Get in the boat, common,” he told Jules.
“Jeri,” Mak called. “Good luck!”
“Thank you!” she shouted back before descending the ladder into the Mechanics’ boat.
The Mechanics hauling the oars looked younger than those lounging in the seats. They reminded her of the officer trainee she had once been. Jules sat alone in the bow, the Mechanics facing her, feeling occasional spray strike her back as the boat made its way back
to the Mechanic ship. The fact that she’d been allowed to decide to come with the Mechanics without the crew starting a hopeless fight was a very cold comfort at the moment.
“Hey,” one of the women Mechanics said. “Did any of you geniuses check her for weapons?”
The female Mechanic named Gin leaned forward, yanking at the bottom of Jules’ shirt. “A dagger and a sailor’s knife. On a rope belt. See that? They can’t even make enough leather to keep themselves clothed.”
“Leather belts are expensive,” Jules said.
One of the male Mechanics leaned forward as well, casually slapping her. “Shut up unless we ask you a question.”
She wanted to hit him back. Pull out her dagger and make this a last, glorious fight. But that would be giving up. She wouldn’t do that.
Her choice.
“Yes, sir,” Jules said, the side of her face stinging. I can take this.
He slapped her again. “What did I say?”
“Unless you ask a question,” Jules said. I can take this.
A third slap. “Unless who asks a question?”
“You, Sir Mechanic.” Someday I’m going to kill you.
“You got it right that time,” he said, smiling. “See?” he told the other Mechanics. “They can learn.”
Mechanic Gin took Jules’ knives, stuffing both into one of the big pockets on the outside of her dark jacket. She and the other Mechanics began talking in low voices about some work they were doing on the ship, ignoring Jules. Occasional unfamiliar and incomprehensible words came her way when the noise of the oars subsided for brief intervals. “Condensate…recirc pump…wiring…generator…voltage…”
Jules watched them, staying silent, feeling the tingle on her face from the slaps, imagining the many ways she would choose from someday to kill the male Mechanic who’d done that.
As the boat reached the side of the Mechanic ship, she faced another rope and wooden plank ladder leading up. Jules went up it, wishing she were wearing her Imperial uniform boots instead of bare feet. All of the Mechanics wore stout work boots as if they were part of some uniform, leaving Jules feeling once again like the orphan without the things more fortunate people enjoyed.
The deck was metal, cold and hard to feet accustomed to the warmer and softer feel of wood. She had little time to marvel as rough hands shoved her toward a doorway with rounded edges on all four sides, then inside the metal structure on this level, into a passageway with metal on all sides, some sort of tubes and cables that weren’t rope snaking along supports overhead. Glass fixtures glowed with a strange, steady light that brightly illuminated the inside. It all felt alien, something not of this world.
Maybe the boasts of Mechanic Karl hadn’t just been empty words. Could a ship like this actually go from one star to another?
She was shoved along a short distance to another door, through it into a room perhaps three lances on a side. A large table dominated the room, metal chairs scattered about. Jules was pushed into a chair against one wall, the Mechanics standing around as if waiting for someone.
A woman with the unmistakable air of command walked in, pausing only a moment to look at Jules. She sat down, the other Mechanics following suit.
Lady Mechanic Gin spoke respectfully to the new woman. “The information relayed from that tavern keeper in Kelsi’s was accurate. We found her on that ship.”
A tavern keeper. One of the eyes of the Mechanics among the common people, taking small sums of money to betray their fellow commons. At least Jules knew that Erin hadn’t broken her word.
The new woman eyed the paper, then Jules. “Is this you?”
That was a question. Jules decided that if she was going to have any chance of getting out of this she’d have to be honest when she could. “Yes.”
“Yes, what, common?”
“Yes, Lady Mechanic.”
“Yes, Lady Senior Mechanic,” the woman said with a glare.
“Yes, Lady Senior Mechanic,” Jules repeated. What was a Senior Mechanic? Apparently that was the title for the Mechanics who bossed around other Mechanics.
“Why does the Emperor want you?”
“Because of the prophecy the Mage made in Jacksport, Lady Senior Mechanic.” She heard derisive snickers from the other Mechanics at her mention of the Mage.
The Senior Mechanic leaned back, her eyes on Jules. “Tell me what it said.”
Jules met that gaze. “That someday a daughter of my line would overthrow the Great Guilds and free the world.” That wasn’t the whole thing, but the Senior Mechanic hadn’t asked for everything the prophecy had said.
“Great Guilds,” another Mechanic complained. “Why haven’t we wiped out that saying?”
The Senior Mechanic ignored him. “Not your daughter? A daughter of your line?”
“Yes, Lady Senior Mechanic.”
“Why would a Mage say that to you?”
Jules hesitated, not certain how to answer that. “He was looking at me, Lady Senior Mechanic. That’s all I know.”
“How many children do you already have?”
“None, Lady Senior Mechanic.”
“You’re not pregnant?”
“No, Lady Senior Mechanic,” Jules said, feeling her face warming at the intrusive question. She’d never imagined so many people caring about her physical condition, nor how unpleasant it would be to have them all wondering if she was expecting a child yet.
Another Mechanic laughed. “I guess she didn’t start as early as most common girls.”
The Senior Mechanic kept her eyes on Jules as if trying to read her truthfulness. “Why didn’t that Mage kill you?”
“I ran, Lady Senior Mechanic.”
“She’s got some common sense,” Lady Mechanic Gin said.
The Senior Mechanic snorted, looking around her at the other Mechanics. “The Mages are worried about a baby who’s going to be born to a baby that hasn’t even been conceived yet.”
“Are they? Or is this all some sort of theater to convince us that they’re worried about that?” the Mechanic named Nat wondered.
“Why would they do that?”
“Maybe to get us to waste time chasing her?” Nat suggested.
“That’d hardly be worth the amount of effort the Mages are putting into this,” the Senior Mechanic said.
“She doesn’t even have the kid yet,” Gin said. “Why are we bothering with her?”
“If this baby is going to be so special, maybe we should make sure it’s part Mechanic,” Nat said, grinning. “I’ll bet a lot of guys aboard would enjoy contributing to the effort.”
“I would, too,” another one of the men said, though some others looked uncomfortable or unhappy.
Jules sat, rigid, as the meaning of that hit home.
“It’s against Guild rules,” the female Mechanic named Gin said, her words short and sharp.
“She’s a common, Gin.”
“Rape is rape, Nat. It’s against Guild rules.”
“What? You’d turn us in?” another man complained. “You think the Guild Masters would care? They’d probably reward us.”
“They’d reward you with the inside of one of the new cells at Longfalls,” the woman Senior Mechanic said. “Drop it.”
“But she’s just-”
“We’re not Mages,” a third male Mechanic interrupted. “We don’t do that.”
“We’re not supposed to,” a fourth male Mechanic mumbled, looking discontented. “That doesn’t mean some don’t do it anyway.”
“Are you going to press charges against anyone?” Mechanic Nat demanded of Gin and the other men.
“I might,” the Senior Mechanic said, instantly ending the argument. She looked at Jules again. “It’s not just the Mages. The Emperor wants this girl. Do you know why he wants you, common?”
Jules met her eyes. “To take over the prophecy, making it part of the Imperial family line.”
“You don’t want that?”
“No. The only way the Emperor wi
ll have me is if he does the same thing those other Mechanics were just talking about doing.”
“Speak with respect or you might still get that.”
She managed to answer in a level voice. “Yes, Lady Senior Mechanic.”
The Senior Mechanic studied Jules again, her eyes thoughtful. “You’ve got spirit, but you’ve also got brains. How did you do on the Mechanic tests?”
Jules hesitated. “I don’t know what a Mechanic test is, Lady Senior Mechanic.”
“They’re given in all the schools! How could you be ignorant of them?”
A male Mechanic, one of those who had objected to the idea of raping her, spoke to Jules. “Where did you go to school when you were growing up?”
“I was in the legion orphan home in Landfall, Sir Mechanic.”
He gestured to the other Mechanics. “One of the orphan homes. We don’t test there.”
“Why not?” the female Mechanic named Gin asked.
The Senior Mechanic answered. “There didn’t seem a high probability of finding good candidates in that setting. But maybe the Guild should revisit that decision. We may have missed an opportunity with this one.”
One of the other male Mechanics eyed Jules. Was it her imagination that she saw some sympathy in those eyes? “The Emperor is devoting a lot of resources to looking for her. That’s good for us, right? It’ll keep him too busy to give us any more trouble about new towns being founded outside his control. And the Mages are so busy looking for her they’re not interfering with anything we want to do. As long as she’s alive, she’s doing us a service. As long as she’s free, the Mages and the Empire will be devoting resources to catching her.”
“The Emperor might take over those new towns to try to get her,” Lady Mechanic Gin pointed out. “We need to get Guild Halls built in those locations before the Imperials try to move in.”
“Why not just hand her over to the Emperor?” another Mechanic said. “As a trade for him doing as we say? If he believes in this Mage garbage, and apparently he does like the other commons, he’ll be preoccupied trying to get as many kids out of her as he can. And if the Mages know he has her, they’ll start making serious trouble for him and the Empire because they want her dead before she has any kids.”
Pirate of the Prophecy Page 12
