The Bright Black Sea (118 page)

She smiled without looking at me. 'Jealous?'

'Not at all. I'm delighted. You two make a formidable
pair. And a formidable pair is what's needed.'

'We do, and he is dashing,' she replied giving me a
challenging look, adding with a wicked smile, 'I like dashing
fellows – for a change of pace.'

'A little variety never hurts. But I suppose I
shouldn't tease my would-be-empress. That could be dangerous.
Speaking of which, I was impressed by your little coup. Uncle Hawk
didn't look too pleased. Was that planned or an improvisation of
the moment?'

She smiled, rather grimly. 'Uncle Hawk wasn't too
pleased, but he set out to place me on the Cloud Throne as the
Empress of Cimmadar, and if I'm to be the Empress, I needed to act
the part, play the role, and best do it right from the
beginning.'

'It's a role you were indeed born to.'

'You think so Wil?' she said with a sidelong glance
and a sly smile.

'I know so.'

'And yet, somehow, it never seems to deter you, does
it?'

'That was before,' I said, and catching her knowing
smile, added, 'And besides, you're not yet on the throne. But
getting back to your coup, why did you do it? I gather Vinden
called the shots during you mother's day and expected to continue
to do so.'

'He did, but I decided otherwise,' she replied.
'Uncle Hawk had told me many good things about the daring and
competence of this Captain DarQue, and seeing him, I decided that
by giving him full responsibility for the campaign under me, I'd
kill several birds with one stone. First I hoped to insure his
loyalty, and by doing so, I'd win the loyalty of his sailors as
well. I am, after all, an outsider. We need to make this an
internal squabble, not an invasion from the outside. And secondly,
by appointing DarQue my second in command I hope to make it clear
I'm of Cimmadar and for Cimmadar.'

'I don't envy the spot you've put him in. I gather he
and Prince Imvoy were brothers in arms in the old days.'

She shrugged. 'Which means they'll work things out
and work well together.'

'Well, DarQue didn't seem to mind his promotion.'

'Nor did you, when I hired you.'

'True. Hopefully he'll be more reliably
biddable.'

'He'd better be, and you'd better be too. Remember
here I'm the Empress, and I don't intend to suffer fools
gladly.'

'You never did. But now I'll have to watch my
tongue.'

'If you intend to keep it, you will,' she replied and
continued, 'I'm sure Uncle Hawk will be a great hand at politics
and palace intrigue when the time comes, and in Vyn and Ten I have
very competent military people on my staff, so I didn't need him
issuing commands to my navy as well.'

'Do you know how we're to go about it? Capturing the
throne and all that?'

'Our first objective will be Cimmadar's space station
located in the shell-reef, several months of travel away. It's
Cimmadar's link to the Neb. Once we've secured it, we'll sail into
the Pela for Cimmadar itself, a journey of another two months, or
so I understand.'

'What do you have planned for the
Raven
? It's
not a very handy craft in the islands, as you well know.'

'We'll use the
Raven
mostly as a supply and
support ship, though in the initial campaign for the space station,
it may have a much more active role, since it is our largest,
fastest, space ship and will be operating in its native
environment. After capturing the space station, we may modify its
cargo holds to transport soldiers and such. And there's talk of
adding temporary wings and small rockets or propellers to it to
make it more manageable in the islands. I'd imagine it will often
be an independent command, running troops and supplies between the
space station and captured bases and such, which suits your
disinclination for bloodshed, and disinclination to follow orders
when they don't suit you as well. Then, when this is all over, I
plan to use the
Raven
as part of Cimmadar's small fleet of
drift traders. You can remain her captain for as long as you want.
That way you'll have served me, as promised, and still be able to
follow your dream of growing cha whenever.'

I considered that for a moment and nodded. 'Yes.,
That will suit me fine. Thank you.'

04

My work varied. I spent some watches instructing the
Cimmadarian gunners on the use of the
Indomitable
's modern
weapon control and tracking system. They previously used
individually mounted and fired rocket launchers and cannons, so the
concept of a central fire command – directed by radar – was a new
concept. For one watch, I stood in a long line of sailors tossing
small missiles to the next fellow in the line which flowed from a
container, across the quay and gangplank, and down into the
Indomitable
's magazine. I slept when I was tired, ate in the
commissary, which was serving a mix of synth food fresh greens and
thin strips of unidentified meat supplied by the hunting parties
that went out each round. I didn't care to ask what it was. The
hunting parties were using those small semi-open boats that had
been tied up to DarQue's old ship, the
Guardian
, to range
through the nearby islands, hunting for meat on the hoof, claw or
wing. My new Cimmadar mates said that hunting parties are one of
the most eagerly anticipated, if dangerous, duties which life in
the Cimmadar navy offered, short of battle.

Work eventually tapered off, for us outsiders,
anyway, as the equipment and supplies we brought in were installed
and stored aboard the
Indomitable
as we awaited the
Raven
's second coming. The focus of work now shifted to
refurbishing the old
Guardian
, and since we outsiders didn't
have much expertise (or interest) in refurbishing the rather
primitive vessel, we spent our time acquainting ourselves with
everyday life in the Pela. One important skill to be mastered was
walking on the weightless surfaces of these small islands. You
could, of course, just swim across the landscape, using your hands
to pull yourself along, but that meant that your hands weren't free
to do other things, like defend yourself from predators, and you
had to be more focused on your next handhold than on what was
happening around you, or in the sky above.

Min, Vynnia, Tenry, and I, along with Ben Ton and
Racken, another of Vinden's crew, set out to master this skill
under the watchful eyes of an elegantly tall Cim female sub-captain
by the name of Tri'n and a big, wide, tough looking Cim sergeant by
the name of XinDi. We went well armed. You always went well armed
in the Pela. I now wore a standard darter whenever I wasn't
sleeping and hung it close at hand when I was. Ben and Racken
carried 4mm pirate pieces, the rest of us, standard-gage 2mm
darters, while the Cimmadarians were armed with long barreled
rifles that fired explosive shells.

We strapped a set of articulated steel claws on to
the toes our boots, which, if we set our feet down correctly, would
send the curved, talon-like blades into the turf, rough moss or
underbrush of the islands to provide just enough grip to keep us
precariously attached to the floating island. We walked carefully,
digging one foot in before tearing or sliding the other foot out of
the tough moss. The claws were set by shuffling back a little with
each step, a process not too unlike the shuffling gait we use with
our magnetic boots. In addition, we carried a walking stick with a
hook on the bottom for additional stability, and a small grappling
hook and line on our belt, to use if we should carelessly break
free of the surface. The Cim wear flexible, sandal-like
magnet-soled shoes that allows their longer, and more articulated
feet and talon tipped toes the freedom to grab the surface while
walking, without the need for artificial claws.

It was cool, bright and clear when we gingerly
stepped off of the metal walkway and started to cautiously walk
along the paths cut through the maze of tree and vine roots that
led from the entrance to the Redoubt to the row of ships anchored
alongside the island.

It took practice to get the hooks properly gripping
the underbrush or turf, wiggle the trailing foot free without
undoing the other one. The walking sticks came in handy, and at
first, a helping hand to pull you back to the island again. We set
out to circle the island, avoiding the bare rocks, though the
Cimmadarians could handle those as well. By the time we'd walked
halfway around the island to reach a wide meadow covered in springy
moss and sprinkled with small wild flowers and drifts of thin,
reed-like plants, we'd begun to get the hang of it.

The air on this outer edge of the Pela was cool, and
after our struggles with walking, refreshing. Birds, flying
feathered snakes and lizards darted or undulated overhead, making
shrill calls and bright songs. Bright butterflies flirted and large
beetles buzzed by us. The horizon, which was always just the edge
of the island, changed with almost every step. We were crossing the
meadow, concentrating on setting our feet properly, when the sound
of a distant bugle drifted to us in the breeze. Instantly our two
guides froze and looked skywards. Tri'n spied it first, pointing to
a mere speck in the milky sky.

'Pardon me, Empress,' she said, her language
translated by our com links, and snapped a brief order to XinDi.
'Carry the Empress to safety, sergeant,' she commanded, pointing to
the dark green tree tops of a small forest peeking over the near
horizon.

He gave her a startled look.

'Now.' snapped Tri'n with an abrupt, commanding
gesture.

XinDi quickly gave a slight bow, looked at Min for a
moment before mumbling inarticulately and deftly snatched her off
her feet. Laying her over his shoulder, he took off at a loping
gallop, skimming the moss with low, long strides, very fast and
very sure.

'There is no danger,' said Tri'n, turning to the rest
of us, and seeing our, well, mild disbelief, added. 'Just a prudent
precaution. The Admiral would have my life if I didn't take every
precaution with the Empress. Now if you'll follow XinDi – as fast
as you can without flying off – we'll take cover in the fist-tree
forest in case the dragon comes this way.'

That said, she unslung her rifle and herded us along
as we took off for the forest at our best, fast walking pace. I
suspect we learned more about navigating the floating islands in
those two minutes than we had in the hour before. It's amazing how
a dragon focuses one's mind, even if there is no danger.

It seemed to have been a more close run affair than
Tri'n had us believing. We'd only reached the edge of the fist-tree
forest and started pushing and pulling our way through the thicket
of vines under the thick, gnarled branches of the umbrella shaped
fist-trees that grow between the tall, swaying fern-top trees when
a vague shadow crossed over us. It had to be flying pretty
Neb-blasted low to cast even a vague shadow in the omni-directional
light of the Pela.

Looking up, I saw, through the wide openings in the
fist-tree branches, a flash of blue and green as a large
lizard-dragon settled into the swaying top of a fist-tree just
ahead – not twenty meters up. It swung its long neck back to look
down at us, rather crossly, no doubt keenly disappointed to have
missed us in the meadow, and shifted itself around to face us. I
didn't think the branches between us and the dragon would offer
much of a determent should it decide to lunch on us. Neb, it only
needed to extend its neck and it'd be halfway down to us.

Vynnia and Tenry, Ben and Racken had their darters in
hand as soon as we pulled up panting. I didn't bother, deciding
mine wasn't needed. Even a large dragon was out of my effective
range at twenty meters. Min and XinDi were deeper in the forest,
protected by a rocky outcropping. They also had their weapons
out.

'Don't fire!' Tri'n ordered. 'We're safe now, she'll
leave us alone if we let her alone,. She glared around at all of us
to make sure we were following her orders.

I thought she was being wildly optimistic again – the
dragon didn't strike me like it was ready to leave us alone. Still,
even with a lethal darter, I wasn't going to start anything with
this large, keenly disappointed, lizard-style dragon. I, at any
rate, was happy to leave it alone.

This was the first I'd seen a dragon this close up,
and I couldn't help but notice all the details – it had a long tail
covered with wide feathers blue, fading to green trimmed in yellows
and reds. It had four feather-fringed limbs that ended in large,
talon tipped claws. All four limbs had a downy membrane connected
to its body that, with its limbs extended, it used like wings to
travel in the air. Its head had a feather crown, with two large,
shiny black eyes and a wide, long mouth equipped with the usual
abundance of teeth mounted on a long neck. It was watching us
closely with its cold black eyes. Its body was covered in a
shimmering coat of downy feathers that varied from a light blue
belly to a dark green back, with streaks of orange and reds.

And, as I mentioned, it didn't strike me as if it was
ready to abandon its snack just yet. The Fist-trees we'd taken
cover under have a very thick trunk which, about twenty meters up,
branches into half a dozen or more thick, gnarled branches, that
spread out like fingers or the spokes of an umbrella. The smaller
branches are thin and willowy, with long and knife-like leaves. The
openings between large branches might to be narrow enough to block
a direct lunge at us at the trunk, but as they spread out, the
openings got bigger and the branches smaller. It could, I felt, get
at us if it had a mind to. Why, with its long neck, it didn't have
to get all that much closer to grab one of us.