The Farthest Shore (Eden Series Book 3) (8 page)

Tables were set out within the inside lip, on an expanse of pink nacre that turned to cream as it rose gently up into the kitchen in the shell’s interior. Alyster took the huge natural steps that ribbed the triton’s lip and curved upward to the private rooms in the top of the shell.

Inside, the thick-walled shell was smooth and cool as ceramic, but plenty of glass windows let in light. Alyster followed the whorls that led to the private dining area. A girl in the triton’s colors showed him to a table where Lera Vanze, the captain of
Wrack
, was already seated, though he would have noticed her pepper-red hair from across the harbor. She had removed her coat, so he felt free to do the same, and while they were talking, Vinsen Solarcis arrived with the captain of the Dagran ship.

“Captain James Terlow of the merchant navy of Dagre,” Vinsen said, and performed the rest of the introductions while Captain Terlow held out a hand. Alyster took that as a Dagran gesture of greeting, imitated it and found his hand clasped firmly before being shaken. Lera got a kiss on hers. He guessed Vinsen had warned Terlow about her face beforehand, because Terlow seemed not to notice anything out of the ordinary.

“Remarkable place, this.” He’d brought a wicker box with him, and he set it down beside his chair before he looked around. “Makes you wonder about the size of whatever preyed on these shellfish, doesn’t it?”

Alyster had never given that much thought and found he didn’t particularly want to, but Captain Terlow went on to say that in some small thanks for the hospitality of Denalay, he had brought them a few trifles. He opened the wicker box and handed each of them a corked glass bottle in which stood a little scale model of
Enlightenment
, set into blue clay to hold it upright.

“How unusual,” Lera said, holding it up to eye level. Alyster decided he would find out how those were made and then build a better one, whether of
Checkmate
or his next ship. Maybe with a tiny shark’s fin emerging from the waves to show it was a Denalait vessel.

“Well, there are warships and there are bottle ships,” Captain Terlow replied, and they all laughed politely. Alyster would have liked to give him a gift in return, because that had to be some Dagran custom he’d never heard about, but perhaps it would be enough to feast him as their guest.

The food was excellent, as he had expected—watercress soup, crab cakes and a main course of lamb curried with tropical fruit. Over the dessert, Captain Terlow produced maps from his box to discuss the race, which they decided would start at midmorning the next day. Vinsen also wanted to make certain Dagran and Denalait signal flags meant the same thing, in case anyone ran into difficulty and only a ship from another land was in sight. Finally Alyster told them about
Kraken
, and they all agreed to keep a watchful eye out.

“It might be sailing under false colors,” he said.

Captain Terlow said he would like to see the Tureans pull any such tricks in Dagran waters. “
Enlightenment
has cannons,” he said. “Any pirate ship that’s close enough can supply the sawdust merchants.”

I wouldn’t underestimate them if I were you
, Alyster thought but knew better than to say. Besides, it was obvious Terlow had had years more service as a ship’s captain and wouldn’t appreciate warnings from someone green as grass compared to him. So he helped himself to more wine jelly topped with velvety cream, listened to the stories the others told and shared a few of his own. Though when Vinsen pressed him to talk of his mission into the Iron Ocean five years ago, he demurred. They’d technically succeeded, but they had paid a heavy price for it. He had also been horrified to see some of the resources the Tureans commanded and were not at all reluctant to use when they were desperate.

“It’s getting late, don’t you think?” he said, guessing what would happen. Vinsen produced his silver pocket watch and said it was nearly two hours to midnight, at which point Terlow pulled out an even larger gold watch and agreed that yes, that was indeed the time. Lera wished them a good night, and Alyster thought he heard her laughing as she went down the stairs.

He returned to
Checkmate
, greeted the officer of the watch and went down to his cabin. Miri was waiting, which made him feel even better, though she started to say something before she saw the bottle he carried.

“What have you got there?” she said.

Alyster told her and found a place on the sideboard to display it. “Did you need something?”

“Only to thank you before I left. You were kind to me when I needed help, and I’m grateful.”

He didn’t think he had been particularly kind—he distinctly recalled suspecting her, questioning her and making her work for every mouthful she ate—but she seemed generous enough to overlook it. Though she obviously wasn’t going to tell him anything more, much less give in to the attraction he’d seen earlier.

“Keep well, Miri,” he said. “And if I’m ever in Endworld, I’ll visit you.”

Her lips had been curving as if into a smile, but at that, the corners of her mouth sank down.
Did I say something wrong?
he wondered as she slipped past him to the door. “Good night,” she said, and was gone.

He thought of calling her back and asking her to tell him, once and for all, what was wrong. Common sense intervened. She didn’t owe him anything, and if she was leaving the ship, whatever she was hiding was no concern of his.

A flask of coffee was on the table, covered with a quilted warmer, and he poured a cup. He was going to miss her, he realized. He didn’t believe the Unity watched over individuals—just nations, and only one in particular—so he could only hope she would stay out of trouble’s way and return home.

Miri was fully aware she should have left earlier to get a start on her journey. But no, she’d wanted one last moment with Alyster—just the two of them together when he wasn’t in a hurry. Well, a harbor would have flophouses, and she could afford a roof over her head for the night, before she set off the next day.

The ship’s lanterns gave enough light for her to see the gangplank, where a deckhand was busy whittling a piece of wood. She went towards him, but a soft heavy thud stopped her. The sound had come from the prowmost of the huge funnels, and she took a step in that direction, craning her neck to see what it was.

A man stepped out from behind the funnel, and she drew back at once before she saw the tattoo on his face. It was a black triangle, a fin enclosing his left eye, and he wore the grey clothes Seawatch operatives seemed to favor. Alyster called those sharksuits, partly because they were the only garments which could resist the abrasion of a shark’s hide and partly because they were made from sharkskin themselves.

“I have an urgent message for the captain,” he said.

“That way.” Miri pointed to the hatch, and the man went to it. He climbed down the steps but she remained where she was, feeling disquieted for some reason. Frowning, she looked at the empty hatchway. The man had disappeared down it with no indication he had ever been there.

But if he had come to the ship on a shark’s back, how had he avoided leaving water on the deck?

Miri ran sternward to the bell, grabbed the chain hanging down and slammed the clapper. She didn’t know if that was the accepted method of raising an alarm on the ship, but it had the needed effect. The deckhand’s carving clattered down, shouts came from below and the man bolted back up. A long knife in his hand gleamed but the deckhand saw it and pulled a blade of his own.

The man ran to the prow as more of the crew scrambled up through the hatch. Miri only stopped ringing the bell when she saw Alyster among them. The chain had left a line of indentations in her palm as she opened her hand. She followed him to the prow, hoping the man hadn’t had a chance to do anything.

Alyster was giving orders to the first lieutenant in a curt but quiet voice. “Search the ship. Make sure there’s no more of the filth on board and find Dessard. He was on watch.” The man saluted, and the crew split up to search as Miri glanced over the rail.

Water splashed a short distance from them. It was too dark to see anything, but she guessed the man was rowing away. Another deckhand had just finished stringing a bow, and he flipped open a lantern nearby.

“I’m sorry,” she said to Alyster. “I showed him the hatchway before I realized he wasn’t from Seawatch.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He stood at the rail, tenser than the bowstring as the splashes grew quieter.

The deckhand put the tip of an arrow to the lantern’s flame. The point had been wrapped in rags soaked with oil, and it burst into flame. He nocked, drew and loosed.

Footsteps hurried up to them, and Miri glanced around to see another tattooed face, but it was one she recognized. Kovir took in the sight with one look. The burning arrow had vanished into the river’s water, but a second one slammed high into the boat’s hull. Rowing hard, the man didn’t turn to splash water on the flame or yank the arrow out.

Miri felt numb. She guessed he had killed the officer of the watch and might have killed her too, but that was the closest she had ever been to a Turean, to one of her father’s people. And she couldn’t help wondering if he had spared her life because he’d needed to know where the captain was, or because he’d recognized someone who was half-salt.

“Don’t kill him,” Alyster said. “At least not before I’ve had a chance to question him.”

“Yes,” Kovir said, and his face lost the slight intensity of expression that had livened it. His eyes looked blank as stones rubbed smooth in the river’s depths. In the light of the arrow, she saw a fin streak through the waves, heading for the side of the boat.

“You don’t need to watch this,” Alyster said to her.

“I’ve seen worse.”

The man had seen it too, but it was far too late for him by then. The shark rose clear of the water. Its belly slammed into the side of the boat, and its momentum sent the boat flipping over. The arrow was extinguished at once, and she heard nothing more over the river’s rush.

“Make her bring him here,” Alyster said.

Kovir’s tattooed eye twitched, as though he was performing complex calculations in his head and one of the numbers didn’t quite add up. “I’m sorry, Captain, but he’s dead.”

“I needed to question him!”

“He used a knife on her.”

“Is she hurt?” Miri said.

He shook his head. “She’s had worse during mating. But I can only control her to a certain extent, and the pain took her past that.”

Miri supposed that anyone who attacked a shark while in the shark’s element had to be prepared for the consequences, though she would also have preferred to hear whether the man had been sent from
Kraken
and if that ship was lurking beyond the sandbank. The shark might bring the man’s remains back, but those weren’t likely to tell them anything.

“Damn.” Alyster had been resting a hand on the rail, but his fingers curled into a fist. He was even angrier when the first lieutenant told him they had found Dessard, his neck broken.

“Make arrangements to have his body sent to his family,” he said. “And from now on, the watch will be doubled each night.” He turned. “Miri, I’d like to speak to you. In my cabin.”

His tone was hard enough to make her wonder if she would be held responsible for not raising an alarm at once, but when they were in his cabin, he only poured them both cups of coffee. Miri took hers gratefully. The scalding drink was just what she needed after the scare.

“Do you think he came from the
Kraken
?” she said.

“I doubt it.” Rather than sit opposite her as he usually did, he went to the padded bench just under the window and looked out. “There are patrol boats in the harbor at night. He probably rowed in from some village upriver.”

“And he was trying to kill you.”

Alyster shook his head. “I don’t think he wanted me, specifically, dead. His fellow pirates wouldn’t have found that very useful. But the ship…that would be invaluable, worth everything he risked.”

Not for the first time, Miri felt like a foreigner. To her, lives were irreplaceable; machinery and new inventions weren’t. Neither the navy nor the Tureans felt the same, which was probably the one thing they had in common.

“It’s a good thing he didn’t hurt you,” Alyster said.

“Likewise.” She didn’t want to think of what would have happened if she hadn’t seen through him. “I saw he had a tattoo like Kovir’s, except his was a triangle, and that took me in.”

Alyster finished his coffee. “You didn’t have any way to tell he wasn’t from Seawatch—though it’s customary to ask a visitor to stay on deck while you pass the word for the captain.”

Yes, that was what a real member of the crew would have done, rather than trusting the stranger to go belowdecks where half the ship’s complement was sleeping. “Didn’t think of that,” she said ruefully.

“He might not have taken too well to it either, because I’d have known he was a fraud the moment I laid eyes on him.”

“Because his suit was dry?”

“No, the tattoo. As far as I know, only one Seawatch operative has a fin.” The muscles beside his mouth tightened. “As it is, he killed a good officer.”

“Will you delay the start of the race until you can find another man?”

“No. Everything’s set for midmorning tomorrow. Finding a replacement would take too long, and it wouldn’t just be my own crew waiting idle but paid in harbor.”

Miri understood that, and she guessed
Checkmate
was so new that Alyster had more to prove than the captains of the other ships did. “Besides,” she said, “I suppose every crew is chosen with a margin of safety as well, so when you have losses in battle, it doesn’t bring the ship to a complete stop.”

He turned away from the window, his gaze settling on her. “Exactly. No one is irreplaceable.”

“Including the captain?”

“That’s what the first officer’s for. But that’s not what I wanted to speak to you about. I owe you something for raising the alarm, so I’ll arrange your passage back to Endworld. If you don’t mind traveling by ship, I know who’ll be sailing that way and I can get you a berth.”