AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But you hired me to pilot it, and if I’m the pilot, I’m in command. ”
“No one’s arguing with you, dear. ”
Houjin was back at the hatch, delivering a blow-by-blow of what was going on up top. “The hose is sticking out next to the scope. It’s pretty quiet, but it’s sucking down the air. Can you feel it over there?” he asked in the general direction of the vehicle’s far right end.
Wallace Mumler wasn’t standing there anymore, so he shrugged. Josephine approached it and waved her hand around the vents beside the unlatched hiding spot where the tube was unspooled. She declared, “I can feel it. It’s blowing just fine. Plenty of air’s coming in, and since the hatch is open, I can assume we don’t need to vent anything. ”
Mumler told her, “No, ma’am. The level’s holding fine—and we aren’t moving up or down, so all’s well from that end. Give it another minute or two, and we’ll head back out. ”
“Josie, you said something about Barataria. What’s going on over there?” he asked. He had an idea, but he wanted to hear something certain. Had it already begun? Had Hank Shanks launched an offensive so quickly—taken it from rumor to action in the span of a few hours?
“Pirates,” she confirmed his hopes. “A bunch of them, swarming like bees who’ve had a rock thrown at their hive. They’ve mounted a rally, and they’re raising hell. Maybe they can’t take back the whole bay, but they’re bound and determined to reclaim the big island. ”
“Glad to hear it!” he said with more enthusiasm than he’d meant to.
“Don’t get too excited on their behalf just yet. Word out in the Quarter says they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. ”
He frowned. “Really? You don’t think they can take it back?”
“I don’t have any idea. I know precious little about the bay these days, or the people who inhabit it. Besides, there’s a curfew—hadn’t you heard? The chain of gossip would run a little smoother if the goddamn Texians hadn’t been shutting down the Quarter. ” As she said the part about the goddamn Texians, a strange look crossed her face. Like she was reconsidering something, or reevaluating it. But she continued, “The important thing is, it’s good news for us. ”
“You think?”
“The Rebs at the forts will almost certainly head out to help Texas, so the way downriver will be clearer than it might have been otherwise. Fewer eyes watching, and even if anyone sees us, it’ll take them half of forever to recall their forces. We’ll
be in the middle of the Gulf by the time they can rally any response. ”
Cly turned away from her, revisiting his seat at the captain’s chair. “This is all worth knowing, but there’s been a change of plans. We’re stopping at one of the canals. We’re cutting through it down to the…” He trailed off.
Fang shot Cly a look that no one on earth but the captain could’ve read. The look was fleshed out by a smattering of signing. You’d better lie to her.
And until that moment, Cly hadn’t even realized that this had been his plan all along. It was as if he’d been deluding himself so successfully that the truth hadn’t dawned on him until he was confronted with adjusting it. But this had been the plan, hadn’t it? Ever since he’d first heard that the bay had been taken, and that his fellow unlicensed tradesmen were planning to take it back.
Fang didn’t blink, and didn’t look away.
Cly returned his attention to Josephine and said, a bit too brightly, “Anyway, plans are made to be adjusted, aren’t they? We’ll work it out as we get farther downriver. We’ll have to stop in the canal’s general vicinity to top off our air and fuel supply, anyway. From there, we’ll see how it goes. ”
“Andan, I don’t like—”
He interrupted before she could go on fretting about protocol. “We’re sitting inside an advanced military machine like nothing the world has ever known. This thing is armored from top to bottom, and it’s armed to start a war, or stop one. This is just a detour. Nothing’s going to slow us down. ”
She frowned and gently bit her lower lip, an old habit of hers that Cly had forgotten until he watched her do it again. It made her look younger, or maybe it only reminded him of when they both were young. “If you understood exactly what I’d risked, what I’d compromised to bring this about—”
“It wouldn’t change a thing,” he assured her. “You did such a great job that the rest of this will be smooth sailing. The hard part’s already out of the way. ” He approached her and put his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look up at him.
She did, and she told him, “Maybe you’re right, but we won’t know until it’s over and we’re on board the Valiant. But I hope we get to stand on that deck, so I can turn to you and tell you that you were right all along. Just get us there, Andan. Get this craft to the Gulf. I don’t care what it takes, and we are not taking the canal. ”
“Stop worrying. ” He might’ve said more, but Troost came back down the hatch. Shortly behind him came Deaderick Early, moving slowly but resolutely.
Josephine extricated herself from the almost-embrace and went to her brother, about whom she was still allowed to worry. “Rick, you’re not looking well. ”
“I’m getting stiff as I heal up, that’s all. You worry too much. ”
Cly let out a laugh that sounded like a cough, and changed the subject before she could accuse them of ganging up on her. “Everyone get back to your places. Josephine, find someplace where you can hold on—this thing jumps and dives like an otter. Someone turn off that generator, if we have the air to keep us alert and alive for the next run?”
“All right,” Troost said. He looked less ill, but still not altogether well. He went to the generator switch and turned it off, then pulled the lever to retract the air circulation hose. “Where’s Mumler?” he asked.
“Right here,” Mumler announced himself as he came down the ladder. “Is this everyone?”
