“A pretty high-ranking hand, judging from that suit of yours,” Jules said.
“That’s true. I was expected to continue seeking promotion, but even if I never got another I was set for life. If I played the game right.”
“Why did you come out here? Did you make a mistake?” Jules asked.
“No.” Hachi grimaced. “I stopped caring. The game gets more and more complicated the higher you rise in the Imperial bureaucracy. Did you know that? But the stakes, how much the results matter, keep getting smaller. I saw men and women whose talents and intelligence couldn’t be denied, whose responsibilities were vast, and they were bending their efforts to complex plots aimed at getting an office with a better view of a garden, or obtaining funds to add a new bath fixture that their rivals would envy.”
Jules frowned at him. “How does important stuff get done?”
“By people who aren’t playing the game, who aren’t concerned with the trappings of high office, who just do their job.” Hachi shrugged again. “And no one knows their names, and the rewards go to those who spend their efforts playing games. I decided I didn’t like either choice.”
“Why not?”
“I wanted to do things that mattered, and I wanted people to notice.” Hachi’s smile turned rueful. “I’m not very virtuous. I just wanted something better for me.”
“At least you’re honest,” Jules said, returning her gaze to the north.
“Am I? How do you know I’m telling you the truth?”
“Maybe I don’t care whether or not you’re telling the truth,” she said. “It doesn’t matter to me.”
He laughed. “You’re as hard as they say. What are you looking for?”
Jules pointed along the river. “I knew a group of people who went west through a pass in the Northern Ramparts. They’d been told of wide plains beyond. I’m wondering if this river comes from there, whether whatever town they’ve built is along its banks and if someday they’ll come downriver and meet the people here.”
“Were those the slaves you rescued from Sandurin?” Hachi asked.
“I helped get them out of Sandurin,” Jules said.
“So that town that may be somewhere up this river owes itself to you, and so does this town. Didn’t you say the Mechanics wanted to simply destroy it?”
“They did.”
Hachi sighed. “You make new homes for others, but can never have a home for yourself.”
“My home is the sea,” Jules said.
“Then why are you looking inland?”
“Because I want to.”
He didn’t answer for a moment. “Part of me thinks you’d have been very good at the bureaucratic games,” Hachi finally said. “But most of me thinks you’d have lost your temper and started killing people who were in your way.”
“Only if they deserved it,” Jules said. She turned to look south and felt a moment of happiness as she spotted masts. “That’s probably the Sun Queen. I’ll have to cut this conversation short.”
“I have a feeling you were about done with it anyway,” Hachi said as Jules started back down toward the town.
* * *
The Sun Queen had just enough room to tie up at the end of the pier. Jules went aboard, forcing a smile. If the crew who’d lured out the Imperial ship saw her mood, they might think she was unhappy with them. “You guys did a perfect job. By the time that sloop came back we were ready for it.”
“You captured it.” Ang nodded his approval. “Was it hard?”
“Harder on the Imperials than on us.” Seeing Keli, Jules called to him. “Keli, there’s need of your skills ashore. The town healers and those from the other ships would be glad for you to join them.”
“That much work, is it?” Keli made a face. “I’ll get my bag and see what I can do to help.”
Liv smiled at her. “So you did it. And lived to tell the tale.”
“That’s right,” Jules said.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.”
“Jules, or Captain Jules if I must, if there’s anything—”
“There’s nothing,” Jules said. “I did what I had to do. That’s all.”
Liv eyed her, finally nodding in reluctant acceptance. “All right. Cori will be happy to know she’s no longer a decoy. What’s the name of this place, anyway?”
“The name?” Jules realized she and the others had simply been referring to it as the town. “I need to find out.”
She found Lars and Erin talking near one of the buildings under construction. Some of the laborers brought along to build the town were at work on the outside. “There didn’t seem to be any reason not to let them keep doing their jobs,” Lars said. “I don’t think most of them have figured out their bosses will be changing.”
“Did any of those laborers mention the name of this town?”
“The name?” Erin yelled to the workers. “What’s the name of the town?”
They paused in their labors, looking at each other. “It doesn’t have a name,” one of them finally said as the others nodded in agreement. “There was supposed to be a ceremony and the name given. I guess that would’ve happened when we got enough of the buildings done.”
“You must call it something,” Lars said.
“The Western Port,” another of the workers said. “That’s what everyone says.”
“Western Port has the advantage of being a correct description.” Lars grinned at Erin and Jules. “It’s a port, and it’s farther west than any place except maybe Altis.”
“And it celebrates none of us,” Erin said. “Putting one of our names on this place would be an insult on top of injury to the Empire.”
“This isn’t Julesport,” Jules said.
“Julesport?”
“I’m going to found that city someday. But this isn’t it.”
“Oh, good,” Erin said in the tone of someone humoring a friend. “Because calling this place by that name might provoke the Emperor into doing something a lot of people would end up regretting.”
“I’m fine with Western Port,” Jules said. “If the people who live here ever want to change it, they can do that.”
As they spoke, Hachi walked up with a large metal ring holding several keys. “I located this in the commander’s residence,” he said. “Perhaps it’s time we found out what’s in that stronghouse.”
“Hold on,” Erin said. “You,” she called to a passing laborer, “lend me that axe.” Hefting the tool, she grinned at the other captains. “Just in case one of the locks is sticking.”
The stronghouse they’d discovered was attached to the commander’s residence, but mostly buried and accessible only via the residence basement through a heavy door reinforced with metal straps. The door and its lock had been impressive enough that they’d decided to wait until they found the key rather than try to force it.
Picking up and lighting two lanterns in the residence, Jules, Erin, Lars, and Hachi went down to the basement where the door was set into one wall. Hachi examined the keys, finally selecting the largest and putting it in the lock.
The key didn’t turn when he first tried it, but Hachi bent to apply more force and it slowly rotated until a loud click sounded from the lock. Lars helped him push open the door, revealing a room large enough to hold all of them, the walls made up of heavy timbers. Two shelves ran across the back, the lower one holding a single moderately-sized money chest. One the floor another, larger chest rested.
“Let’s start small,” Hachi suggested, applying different keys to the lock on the lesser chest until he found the right one. As he opened it, Erin raised a lantern to illuminate the contents.
“Not bad!” Lars cried. “That’s a good amount of silver, and some gold eagles as well.”
“Not bad,” Erin agreed. “Let’s see what’s in the big one.”
But none of the keys Hachi tried fit that chest.
“Could the right key still be hidden?” Jules asked him.
Ha
chi shook his head, frowning down at the larger chest. “I checked everywhere I could get to. I found these keys in a hidden compartment. If there’s another compartment, we might have to tear the building down to find it.”
“There’s an easier way,” Erin said. She put down the lantern she’d been holding and gripped the axe with both hands. “Stand back or bear the consequences.”
A half-dozen powerful blows of the axe produced splinters but little else. “That’s a good chest,” Hachi said.
“Let’s take it in turns until we break it,” Lars suggested.
Somewhere around the twentieth blow of the axe it bit through. Several more blows were required until the wood around the lock broke. Using the axe blade as a wedge and its handle as a lever, they pried the chest open, the lid finally popping up and slamming back.
Jules raised her lantern to see inside, her breath catching.
No one said anything for several moments until the silence was broken by a low whistle from Lars.
“That’s nice, that is,” Erin said.
Hachi bent down to reach into the piles of Imperial gold coins, the eagles stamped on them gleaming in the lantern light. “Yes. Very nice.”
“Why would they have that much money here?” Lars wondered.
“Bribes?” Erin guessed. “Maybe they planned to pay off the Mechanics if they showed up?”
“That’s possible,” Hachi said, “but I don’t think so.” He pointed to the smaller chest. “That’s probably the money sent with the commander. The smaller coins, and the fact that Colonel Dar’n had a key to it, means it was probably meant for pay for the legionaries and other expenses of the town. But this…” He smiled at the trove of gold coins. “No key. I think that’s our answer.”
“How?” Jules asked.
“Imperial princes, and high-level officials, have been known to acquire substantial wealth through means contrary to the laws of the Empire,” Hachi said. “I wouldn’t know anything about that, of course.”
“Of course,” Erin said.
“But that creates a problem if the Emperor decides someone is stealing from him and starts looking for the loot. The best way for the prince or official to protect themselves at that point is to hide their ill-gotten gains.”
Lars nodded. “Like in a town that most people in the Empire don’t even know exists.”
“Yes.” Hachi let some of the gold trickle through his fingers, the coins making tiny sweet chiming sounds as they fell back into the chest. “Order an upstanding officer like the late colonel to take this chest along, say it’s all authorized and proper, and plan to collect it back when the investigators have moved on.”
Jules looked at the coins, realizing she’d been worried that Ian’s father had been part of something illegal. “You don’t think Colonel Dar’n knew what was in the chest or where it came from?”
Hachi shook his head. “No. Keeping him ignorant of the contents would allow the colonel to deny with all sincerity that he knew anything and prevent him from potentially passing information to other hands of the Emperor.” He looked at Jules. “Unless you think he was the sort to be bribed.”
“No,” Jules said, relieved by Hachi’s explanation. “I think you’re right.”
Erin leaned closer to look at the coins shining in the light of the lanterns. “Splitting that four ways will make a mighty sum for each of our ships.”
“What about splitting it five ways?” Jules asked.
“Five ways?” Erin eyed her, suspicious. “Did you promise something to another without telling the rest of us?”
“No.” Jules pointed upwards. “I’m thinking of the town. If they have this in their treasury, they’ll be able to buy the goods and materials they need to expand, and that’ll bring merchants here.”
Lars frowned unhappily. “It’s not like the town played any role in defeating the legionaries.”
“Shouldn’t the pay go to those who earned it?” Erin added.
But Hachi gave Jules an approving look. “I agree with Captain Jules. A fifth share of this money would be a big investment in this town, an investment that could pay substantial reward to us in the future.”
“It could pay us substantial reward now,” Lars said.
“It will,” Hachi said. “We need to count this, but a fifth share for each of our ships is going to be impressive. We could take it all, but then we’d be like a farmer selling not just his crop but all of his seed for next year. He’d gain a bigger reward today, but tomorrow he’d have nothing.”
Silence fell again as Erin and Lars thought.
“They’d owe us,” Erin finally said. “I want them to know that. I want preferential treatment here from this point forward.”
“That’s fair,” Hachi said.
“I agree,” Jules said.
“And that also means,” Erin said, “that we need someone in charge here when we leave that we can trust with this. Someone who won’t take it and head back to the Empire to have themselves the party of a lifetime.”
“That’d be some party,” Jules said. “But you’re right about that.”
“If the rest of you agree,” Lars said, frowning again, “I can’t justify holding out. But my agreement for a five-way split is only if we find someone to take over here that all four of us think can be trusted.”
That was a high hurdle to cross, Jules thought, but she couldn’t argue with the reasoning behind it. “All right. We need to move ahead with getting this town organized for after we leave, anyway.”
* * *
That afternoon, a meeting was called in the square near the former home of Colonel Dar’n. Imperial citizens and officials were in one group, the laborers who were indentured servants in another. Sailors from the four pirate ships were gathered on the outside of the square to both listen in and keep an eye on the citizens and laborers.
Hachi had been chosen to present the radical new ideas to everyone, since he was most accustomed to thinking in political terms. “Anyone who wishes to return to the Empire will be taken there and put ashore on the coast. But anyone who wants to be free can stay. You have a choice. To remain servants of the Emperor, or become men and women who decide your own destinies. From this day onward, Western Port will be a free town. And all who stay here will be free,” he added, looking at the indentured laborers.
The laborers stared back at him, some gap-mouthed with surprise or disbelief.
“You are speaking nonsense,” the surviving senior Imperial official cried. “There are no towns that do not answer to the Emperor’s command!”
“What of Altis?” Hachi asked. He let the resulting silence last for a few moments before continuing. “Yes. A free city has been in existence for as long as the Empire. You’ve been taught not to think of it. But it exists. If Altis can rule itself, why can’t this town? Why can’t you have a voice in the decisions made by your leaders?”
Jules watched, unhappy and uneasy as the Imperial citizens and even a few of the laborers reacted with confusion and reluctance to the choices they were being given.
“You have to remember,” Hachi told her once the meeting was over and everyone had been given time to make up their minds, “that those sent here would have been carefully chosen. The Empire ruled out those with minds of their own, or laborers who might be natural leaders and foster revolt or escape. We have a singularly placid herd of people here. That so many have reacted positively is surprising.”
“So many of the indentured laborers, you mean,” Jules said. “Do you think any of the citizens will stay?”
“I think,” Hachi said, “that even those citizens inclined to stay were smart enough not to make their choice known in public, where loyal servants of the Empire could make note of it. Give them a few days, and let them make their choices in private, and even some of our legionary prisoners might decide to stay and start new lives.”
“How would we protect their families back in the Empire from retaliation?” Erin asked.
“We can provide them cover for their decisions. Perhaps those who return can be told those who remained died while attempting escape. Or we can announce anyone remaining has been enslaved to serve the awful pirates.”
“I didn’t see any good candidates to lead this town stepping forward,” Lars said. “None I’d entrust with gold.”
“I didn’t either,” Hachi said. “But we have a few days to see if any of the citizens prove capable of that and willing to take the role. Captain Jules and I will keep working toward that end.”
Jules shrugged. “Hopefully. There are times when the immense nature of my dreams collides with the overwhelming force of how things are. I need to get used to that.”
* * *
Night had fallen. Jules, restless, had checked on the prisoners and their guards before heading back toward the pier.
A burst of sound from inside a partially-finished building caught her attention.
Jules pushed open the door to find about a dozen pirates sprawled about. The smell of wine filled the air, and several empty bottles lay on their sides. A wooden case holding more unopened bottles sat in the center of the room, a candle burning next to it. With only that light to illuminate the room she couldn’t make out faces well, but thought she recognized all of the pirates as being off the Storm Runner and the Storm Queen.
And they were all clearly drunk.
Silence had fallen when Jules entered, but the partiers quickly recovered from their surprise.
One of the pirates hoisted a bottle. “Have a drink!”
Jules shook her head. “That case of wine is loot. It hasn’t been shared out among the ships and their crews. You’re stealing from your shipmates.”
“Those are hard words,” a male pirate said, his voice slightly slurred from drinking. “We’re only taking our share early, that’s all.”
“Lay off the drinking and get back to your ships,” Jules said.
“You ain’t our captain,” a woman said, grinning. “We don’t have to take orders from you.”
“Then I’ll tell your captains what you’re up to and they can deal with you,” Jules said, beginning to turn back to the door.
Explorer of the Endless Sea Page 19