by C. Litka
02
I had to hope he was right about everything. I was, however, confident that he was right about the skipper. Not only did she seem capable, but since she turned out to be the daughter of one of the firm's major stockholders and the cousin of another, everyone was willing to go out of their way to be of service to her. She considered every possible circumstance and prepared the ship to face them.
ValDare, the son of another major stockholder, had as much pull as KimTara herself, so between them they quickly installed the expedition's supplies and crew aboard the Lora Lakes, and left nothing that could possibly be needed behind. And yet, I couldn't shake that "here we go again" feeling, especially after meeting some of ValDare's dragon hunters. Hissi, who is pretty easygoing, hated them on sight, and wouldn't go near them without growling a low, threatening warning. The fact that they hunted and killed dragons - and Hissi being a dragon - might go a long way to explaining her dislike. Dragon hunting for sport and feathers, while not illegal, was not considered very ethical by many people of the Saraime, especially if it included hunting the greater dragons. Though it must be admitted, that the greater dragons had no qualms about lunching on humans, and that was used to justify the sport. Still, I rather doubt the dragons hunt humans for mere sport. We were snacks. In any event, I must admit that I was leery of them myself. They had had an air about them of being as ruthless as their prey, and the remote islands they hunted in. I'd met their kind before in Hawker Vinden's employment. Still they were, I gather, well-known and respected hunting guides, and they had been hired to handle the heavy work of setting up camps and assisting the photographers and scholars of the expedition in their field work. They were, I suppose, just the type of crew you'd need in the wild islands.
Four rounds after our arrival I was leaning on the after railing of the Lora Lakes's crew deck idly watching our new, young second mate direct the stowing of the dragon hunter's long boat on the after deck when the skipper appeared alongside me. I straightened up and greeted her with a nod, 'Captain'.
'Chief,' she acknowledged and watched her second mate work in silence.
We'd been watching the second mate work for a while - I was certain we were making him uneasy - when I said to her, 'I've rather abandoned any effort to make small talk with you, not out of ill will, but rather in deference to what I believe you'd prefer.'
'I have no preference. Talk if you care to. Just see to your job, and there will be no ill will between us.'
'Ah, yes. Good. Still, I've been fortunate in serving aboard ships where the crew members were long serving, loyal to the ship and shipmates. We were all friends. I would hope we'll become a ship like that.'
'I will settle for efficient.'
'Yes. Of course. Still, I was referring to our relationship in particular. Beyond duty and loyalty, I hope we might become friends as well.'
'I will settle for an efficient relationship.'
'Right,' I said, but continued, perhaps just to see if I could get a rise out of her. 'But I've found that disagreements within the context of friendship are far less divisive and disruptive.'
'You expect disagreements between us?'
'Maybe. I'm a little leery of what your cousin is up to. I dislike all the mystery.'
'You don't trust Dare?'
'I don't know him well enough to judge. But it seems strange he should take this project on himself...'
'Did I hear my name mentioned?'
We turned to see him approaching us with an easy smile. But then, he always wears an easy smile.
No point dodging the question. 'I was questioning why you're doing this project yourself, especially since you're making yourself unavailable to your company for a hundred rounds or more.'
'Because it's my pet project. My chance to make a mark in my field, both as a scholar and as a producer.'
'Right,' I said, deciding it was wisest not to further pursue the question.
'We're set to sail within the next watch. I need to set a course. It's time to reveal what you're up to, while we still have time to jump ship,' said KimTara.
Which was the first joke I heard her utter. If it was one.
He laughed. 'Fair enough, Tara. Still, I didn't want it bantered about. Keep this just between the three of us. Right?'
'Aye,' I nodded.
He didn't bother to wait on the skipper's reply. 'As I hinted before, the islands old DeArjen found himself and crew shipwrecked in appeared to be home to an undiscovered race of people. People out of legends. While they are similar, in some respects, to our broad-feathered brothers and sisters, they differ significantly. They're fully feathered, with more bird-like heads, and use their extra-long arms to fly and soar like dragons.'
'And you believe this nonsense, cousin?'
'Yes, my dear cousin, because the people he described match the description of "The Dragon-people" or "Scarlet Guard of the Dragon Kings" of an old Desra Island legend. This particular legend was written in pre-Principality times and refers to events further back into the mythical age when the Dragon Kings ruled Desra. The fragments of the old text I've turned up mention that the Dragon Kings had these non-dragon warriors that seem to match the description of the people of DeArjen's islands. DeArjen has always been a sailor, and is a native of Krizar, so I can't believe he'd be familiar with ancient pre-Principality Desra texts, a manuscript, I might add, that took me hundreds of rounds to dig up myself. Besides, what purpose would it serve to take me on some wild dragon chase? I'm convinced I'm on to something - a living legend, in fact.'
His description of these strange natives struck a cord of memory that in turn, set alarm bells clamoring in my head. I'd met red feathered people before, and they had indeed seemed to be associated with the mysterious Dragon Kings or something like them. My experiences with the tall red feathered beings could all too easily be made to fit the idea of auxiliary aides to these unseen, but widely rumored, dragon rulers of the Pela.
'These natives, are they very tall and thin with red feathers covering their entire bodies, beak-like mouths, wide set eyes like those of a bird's, and tall, feather-tufted ears?'
He turned to me, astounded. 'How did you know all that? I never mentioned red feathers. Who did you hear that from? DeArjen?'
'You mentioned the Scarlet Guard, cousin,' said the Captain.
He ignored her, and before I could reply, he added, 'Or have you seen them?'
'If that's what they look like, I have.'
'You've been to DeArjen's islands?'
I shook my head, thinking hard. 'No. I saw only one, once and very briefly.'
I decided not mention our second encounter with them and their apparent association with the massive, if well worn, white ship. I've made it a point to keep everything associated with the Temtre's Blade Island as vague as possible in my "old spaceer tales" and I didn't want to compromise it now. Nor did I want to claim to have seen the ships of the Dragon King, when in fact I had no idea just what we had been dealing with.
And given ValDare's business - half research, half entertainment, I'd have to be very careful about what I said, unless I cared to become even more famous or infamous than I was already. If I had been more discreet in the past, I'd not be here - and if the red feathered beings were involved, I'd rather not have been here. A planet astern, but a lesson hopefully learned.
'Where and when?'
'A couple thousand rounds ago. On a little tumbleweed of an island likely beyond the Endless Outer Sky-sea just after I'd been shipwrecked. Though come to think about it, I can't be sure even about that, since, like old DeArjen, I've been tossed here and there by serratas. It could've been on this side of the Endless Sea, and so perhaps I may have been near DeArjen's island. Who knows? In any event, the red feathered being I saw carried a long spear and wore only a single jewel around its neck and it was such a powerful telepath, that it paralyzed me and seemed able to draw my memories right out of my mind. If we're talking about the same beings, I don't think you'll want to
deal with them. It didn't harm me, but I was totally in its power, no doubt of that.'
ValDare looked puzzled. 'DeArjen never mentioned anything like that. They were just ordinary island natives for the most part, which, by the way, is why I have Raz and his crew along. They're used to dealing with those types of peoples.'
'Trust me, if these are the same beings I encountered, they're not going to be able to deal with them.'
He shook his head. 'I rather doubt DeArjen would care to return to the island if the people were like that. Perhaps they're not the same after all.'
'Did he mention if they had a jewel about their throat. It almost seemed like a third eye, black and shiny'
He gave me a startled, sharp look, but recovered, 'He made no mention of his fellows wearing any jewels like that around their necks. And they dressed in dragon scale armor. And since he, and most of his crew survived their stay with them, I don't think they're all that unfriendly. Most of the rest of the crew, who survived the initial shipwreck, were killed in the course of their long journey home by the dragons, lizards and big birds of the wild islands they came across rather than by these bird-people.'
I shrugged. 'I suppose neither one precludes the other... We'll find out, I guess.'
'That's the spirit, Chief. It will be another wonderful tale to tell - when you can tell it,' he added.
'I don't need another tale to tell. I'm already far too well known for my unbelievable lies already. Given your business, I'm thinking it would be wise to keep my mouth shut if I hope to live a normal life.'
'Oh, I think we can come to an understanding. I'll have plenty of time to take a measure of your stories, Chief. And if I find them believable, I'm sure we can work something out that will keep you from the spotlight, if that's what you like.'
I shook my head. 'My best defense is that I can't prove anything, I've nothing to prove my tales true.' Which was a minor lie. I still had my darters and com link and nearly indestructible clothing, but I'd put them away in my locked chest several thousand rounds ago, and no one in my present life knew of them. If things got iffy on DeArjen's island, I'd be bringing them out again, but until then, they'd remain my secret.
'The thing is, Chief, I already believe you. I'm a historian. Believe it or not, I'm a recognized expert in the pre-Principality Myths and Legends Period - history before history began. Because I have a great deal of coins in the bank, I can bring some of the old myths and ancient legends into popular view with my production company. But I assure you, I'm not just a showman, I'm a scholar. I know that our ancient ancestors came here from somewhere else during the Myths and Legends Period. And I know that they brought their own, even more ancient legends with them. What you told my old professor fits too comfortably into certain aspects of our myths to be coincidence. Like DeArjen's story, it's too close to obscure legends to be pure invention. I'll respect your wishes about keeping you out of the picture, if that's really what you want, but I'll want to know the true history of the Myths and Legends period, and I've a very strong hunch you know it.'
I gave him a searching look. He seemed sincere enough. Perhaps... but only after I was certain of him. 'I assure you, I know nothing about your Myths and Legends Period. What I do know has very little bearing on the Saraime and would likely only make you and me look like fools.'
He laughed, 'Oh I'll risk that. You can't achieve greatness without risking looking the fool.'
He was, however, making sure he wasn't running those risks unnecessarily.
Throughout this exchange, KimTara had been staring at me. However, what she thought of all this was locked behind those pale blue eyes and guarded face.
He went over last minute details with the skipper and left. After ValDare had gone off, I turned to her, 'Well, what do you think?'
'About what?'
'Can we trust that your cousin knows what he's doing? Is he telling us the whole truth? I find it curious that he's taking personal charge of this expedition, given how long it's going to take him away from managing his business.'
'We grew up together. He exaggerates, but I did look after him. He was very mischievous. We can trust him. To a point. He is still mischievous. He wasn't entirely joking when he said he wanted me along to get him out of trouble, which suggests he expects trouble of some sort. I doubt we know the whole truth. The Val's are not known for their free spending ways. We will need to keep an eye on him - and on his crew,' she said in one of her longest speeches ever, adding, 'Inform me of any further concerns.'
'Aye.'