by Lian Tanner
He really was astonishingly clever, thought Sharkey. His words, his voice, the look on his face – it was so convincing.
And all the time, Brother Thrawn’s eyes burned with hatred.
‘Very well,’ said Brother Poosk. ‘I will do my best.’ He turned his nondescript expression to Sharkey. ‘What is your name, boy?’
Rain murmured,‘It is Sharkey.’
‘A savage name for a savage boy,’ said Poosk. ‘Dear me, how I hate to think of my niece in his company.’ Those mild eyes inspected Rain. ‘I hope none of the savagery rubbed off on her. Her little brother would be so upset.’
‘No, Uncle,’ said Rain, staring at her hands. ‘It did not rub off.’
‘Good,’ said Brother Poosk. ‘Now—’ he turned back to Sharkey ‘—Brother Thrawn would like to know what you and the demon were doing above the quarry. You might as well tell him. If you do not, my niece will. Family is so important, is it not, Sharkey? Hmm?’
He stepped closer, his head tilted to one side.‘Where is your family, by the way? Were they in the quarry? Did you see them cutting rocks, I wonder? It looks like hard work, I know, but really it builds character, and no one can argue with that, can they? Mind you, Admiral Deeps does not need any character-building. Such a fine leader. It must have been hard to lose her, dear me, yes. And harder still to carry on without her. Such a responsibility . . .’
Sharkey wasn’t sure how it happened, but there was something about that quiet voice that sidled past his defences. He found himself nodding. After all, Adm’ral Deeps was a fine leader. And it had been hard to lose her.Where was the harm in admitting such a thing?
But once he had agreed with that, it was difficult to stop. And when Brother Poosk said kindly, ‘I suppose you came to the quarry with some thought of rescuing your fellows, did you not?’ Sharkey croaked, ‘Aye.’
‘Of course you did,’ cried Poosk. ‘Any loyal person would have done the same. But loyalty is not enough, is it? It takes courage to walk into the lion’s den.’
Sharkey didn’t know what a lion’s den was, but he agreed with the rest of it. ‘Aye,’ he said again.
‘I expect you had a plan,’ said Poosk. He looked over his shoulder to where Brother Thrawn seethed in his chair. ‘A brave, clever boy like this would have had a plan, dear leader.’
Sharkey saw the trap and knew without a doubt that he mustn’t say another word, no matter how harmless it seemed. But there was that quiet voice again, sneaking into the cracks, crawling into the spaces between who Sharkey was and who he wanted to be.
‘Or perhaps there was no plan when you got here,’ murmured Poosk. ‘But then something came to you. Some little weakness you saw? Something you could exploit? Why, all those people are relying on you, Sharkey.Waiting for you to save them. And you are not going to let them down. That is not the sort of boy you are, I can see it in your face. The determination. The courage.The cleverness—’
It’s true, thought Sharkey. I’m NOT going to let them down. I’m going to get out of here, and then—
‘Then what?’ asked Poosk.
To his horror, Sharkey realised he’d spoken his thoughts aloud.‘And then— And then—’ he stuttered.
‘There is a plan, is there not?’ asked Poosk. ‘Or perhaps just the beginnings of one? A loose end that we have not caught? A hole in the careful fabric that Brother Thrawn has woven? I wonder what it is, hmm?’
Sharkey clamped his lips together, determined not to give anything away. But the nondescript little man kept talking at him, and talking and talking, and before long, he found himself nodding again.
He felt like a fish on the end of a line, being dragged along with a hook in its mouth, and no way of saving itself. He was sure he’d eventually let something slip. Something important. Or else Rain would do it. She’d told her uncle pretty much everything else. It was only a matter of time before she remembered Poddy’s message about the tunnel.
I have to stop this, thought Sharkey. I have to stop it in its tracks. Now!
Except he could think of only one way to stop that mild voice, and he didn’t want to do it. He opened his mouth – and shut it again. Say it, he told himself. But he couldn’t. His whole life had been about self-preservation, and the habit was too strong to break.
But then Rain said, ‘Uncle—’ and Sharkey was sure she was going to say something about the tunnel. In desperation, he thought, What would Petrel do?
The answer was obvious. Sharkey dragged in a ragged breath and, before he could change his mind, said, ‘And then I’m going to kill you.’
He saw the shock in Rain’s eyes as he stammered, ‘I— I didn’t realise at first. I thought Brother Thrawn was running things. But it’s not. It’s you. So it’s you I have to kill. Then everything will fall apart and my people’ll be able to escape.’
Brother Poosk folded his hands on his chest and twiddled his thumbs. All pretence was gone now, and his hard little eyes bored into Sharkey’s. ‘My my,’ he said. ‘What a clever little savage it is. Or did you tell him, Rain?’
The girl’s face grew white with horror.‘No, Uncle! I said nothing, I promise. He is just – clever.’
‘I see. And do you admire this clever boy, niece? Have you developed a fondness for him?’
‘No, Uncle.’
‘Good, good. Because we cannot keep him, can we? Not when he goes around saying this sort of thing.’ He smiled. ‘What do you suggest we do with him?’
Rain ducked her head and whispered. ‘I am sure you will think of something, Uncle.’
‘I am sure I will,’ said Poosk.‘Now let me see—’
He bustled across the room, mumbling to himself. Sharkey wondered if the little man was going to kill him now or later. He hoped it was later. He hoped that Poosk wouldn’t question Rain any further, wouldn’t find out about the tunnel. If it remained a secret, the Sunkers might eventually find their own way of distracting the guards and the dogs.They might escape without Sharkey’s help.
They’d better be able to, he thought. I haven’t been much use so far. I haven’t saved Poddy. I haven’t saved anyone, not even myself.
But he hadn’t betrayed anyone either, and that was something to cling to.
He took a deep breath, wishing he could say goodbye to Poddy. I’m scared, he thought.
Behind him, Poosk said, ‘Ah, here we are. A nice bit of silk left over from Brother Thrawn’s undershirt. Just the thing.’
And before Sharkey knew it, a piece of cloth had been thrust into his mouth, and another piece tied tight around it.
‘Now, how is he going to die, I wonder?’ Poosk scratched his chin and turned to Brother Thrawn. ‘Dear leader, I await your advice.’
Thrawn glared. But Poosk nodded vigorously, as if his leader had replied, and said, ‘An excellent idea. Killed while attempting to escape! What could be more appropriate? The boy gets one pathetic chance at freedom and dies in the attempt.’
He swung around. ‘What do you think, niece? You helped capture him, after all.You should have a say in his exit. Killed while escaping, yes?’
‘Yes, Uncle,’ whispered Rain.
Sharkey thought he heard a quiet hmmm, and Poosk’s eyes narrowed. ‘You are not singing, are you?’
‘N-no, Uncle.’
‘You know Brother Thrawn cannot abide singing.’
‘Yes, Uncle.’
‘Now, where were we? Ah, the escape attempt—’
‘Uncle,’ whispered Rain.
Sharkey’s heart jolted. Had his sacrifice been for nothing? Had Rain remembered the tunnel at last?
But if she had, she wasn’t saying so. ‘Uncle. I was wondering about Br— about my brother.’
‘What about him? He is to be whipped tomorrow morning, after the demon and its fellows are executed.’
‘Yes, I-I know. But since I helped capture the savage boy—’ Rain didn’t so much as look at Sharkey, ‘—I thought maybe Brother Thrawn might let my brother off. Just this once.’
Poosk sniffed.‘A dangerous precedent.What do you think, Brother Thrawn? Are we feeling merciful? Are we feeling kind?’
A low growl escaped from Thrawn’s lips. Poosk smiled delightedly. ‘We are? Well then, Rain, your request is granted. Consider yourself and your brother exceptionally lucky.’
‘I do, Uncle.And thank you.’
‘Well, don’t just stand there simpering, girl. Go and tell those guards to come back. Brother Thrawn wants a word with them.’
As Rain hurried to the door, Sharkey braced himself. Behind the gag, his breath came in short, painful gasps. Now?Will they kill me now?
But when the guards shuffled back into the room, Poosk merely said, ‘Brother Thrawn wants the savage thrown into the punishment hole. And you are to release the young Initiate while you are there. Our dear leader has forgiven him, because of the heroism of his sister.’
Sharkey trembled with relief. But as the men untied him from the chair and marched him out of the room, he knew that the relief would not last. Sooner or later they would come for him. And then they would kill him.
THE PUNISHMENT HOLE
Something was haunting the Oyster.
It started as a whisper, seeping out of the bulkheads whenever the rattling in the pipes died down for a moment or two. ‘Albie’s lying . . . Albie’s lying . . .’
From Braid to Grease Alley it went, and back again, with the same words over and over.
‘Albie’s lying . . .’
It was more effective than any pipe message, and more puzzling. No one could tell where it came from or who it was. Some folk, listening carefully, swore that the voice belonged to First Officer Orca, which was a frightening thing considering how long Orca had been dead.
Others said it was Dolph, Orca’s daughter. But that was impossible, because Dolph and a few others were still barricaded on the bridge and refusing to come out.
Soon, the same conversation was springing up all over the ship.
‘So if it’s not Orca and it’s not Dolph, who is it?’
‘Must be a haunt.’
‘Or maybe it’s the ship itself, growing a voice!’
No one speculated on the message itself – at least not out loud, not where one of Albie’s cronies might hear them. But they all wondered what the whisper would say next. And before long, they had an answer.
‘Albie’s lying,’ said the whisper. ‘The cap’n’s alive, and so’s Krill.’
That set the crew a-buzzing! They’d heard more or less the same thing from the bridge, before Albie’s folk had started the constant rattling in the pipes. But this wasn’t just Dolph or Squid banging out a message. This was a haunt – or the ship itself! And while it was true that folk wanted strong leadership, they didn’t like being lied to, not one bit. In every corner of the Oyster, they started asking the questions that should have been asked two weeks ago.
An infuriated Albie tried to find the source of the whispers, but was no more successful than anyone else. So he summoned most of his mutineers down to Grease Alley for new orders.
It was his first and only mistake, but it was enough. In Braid, a large group of young Officers took advantage of the situation to demand that First Officer Hump and Second Officer Weddell be released, along with the other ranking prisoners. And when the few remaining mutineers refused, the Officers overpowered them and threw them down the Commons ladderway with their jackets tied over their heads.
In Dufftown, the Cooks who had blockaded themselves in the galley gathered round the burners with hope in their eyes for the first time in days. And before ten minutes had passed, they’d rolled up their sleeves and agreed that if Krill truly was alive, they were going to do something about it.
Even in Grease Alley, which was the centre of Albie’s power, folk began to question whether they wanted him running the whole ship, which is what would happen if they headed south without the captain or Krill.
‘He’s the best possible Chief Engineer,’ they whispered, looking over their shoulders to make sure they couldn’t be overheard. ‘But he’s a bit too quick with his fists to make a good cap’n.’
By this time, Albie and his mutineers were cracking heads as enthusiastically as they’d done in the old days. But they were too late. The whispers had done their damage.
And there was more to come. In the secret tunnels that ran throughout the ship, previously known only to Mister Smoke, Missus Slink and Petrel, Third Officer Dolph wiped the rust from her face, took a swig of water from a lidded cup and started whispering again.
‘Alive . . . they’re alive . . . Petrel and Fin too . . . they’re all alive, north of here . . .’
The punishment hole was set in the middle of a courtyard, with a solid wooden cover on top of it, and an iron grating beneath the cover. The guards raised the grating and pushed Sharkey down a set of narrow stone steps. The smell that rose to meet him was old and terrible.
‘Hey, Initiate!’ shouted one of the guards from the top of the steps. ‘Get up here. Thanks to your sister, you have escaped punishment.’
There was a scuffling sound from one corner, and Bran appeared, blinking in the light. His robes were crumpled and filthy; his face was streaked with tears.
‘Hurry up,’ said the man. ‘And do not get into trouble again. I doubt Brother Thrawn will be so merciful a second time.’
Bran scrambled up the steps. The grating clanged shut and the wooden cover was drawn over it. Total darkness descended.
Sharkey stood at the bottom of the steps, listening. He was used to confined spaces and darkness, and although the punishment hole was obviously meant to frighten him, it didn’t. Or at least, it didn’t make him any more afraid than he already was.
He heard the slow trickle of water, and a skittering sound that made him think of small animals. And something else. A movement. A breath.
Poddy.
He couldn’t speak because of the gag, and his hands were still tied behind his back. But he managed to grunt.
‘Sharkey, is that you?’ came a whisper.
He grunted again, and next thing he knew a familiar hand was pulling the gag away from his mouth. He drew the foul air into his lungs, and whispered,‘Poddy! You all right?’
‘Aye, mostly.’
‘Can you untie my hands?’
It took Poddy a while to get the knots undone, but Sharkey stood patiently while she fumbled at them. Except for the stink, he could almost imagine they were in Claw, with the lights off and Cuttle napping under the chart table.
Sunkers weren’t much given to shows of emotion, but when the ropes fell from Sharkey’s wrists at last, he threw his arms around Poddy, and they hugged each other fiercely. Then they felt their way along the wall, running their hands over damp stones, until they came to a corner.The skittering sound grew louder.
‘Careful,’ said Poddy.‘Don’t tread on the rats.’
‘Rats?’ said Sharkey.‘Not Mister Smo—’ He paused, realising that his cousin wouldn’t know who he was talking about. ‘I mean, not Adm’ral Cray?’
‘Nay, these ones don’t talk. Bran was scared of ’em at first, but he got used to ’em. Sharkey, what’s happening? Where’s Claw? They told us you were dead, and we believed ’em until I talked to Adm’ral Cray.’
Sharkey let out a breath, and began to tell Poddy everything that had happened since she’d been captured. He left out nothing except his own death sentence.
When he finished, Poddy hissed through her teeth. ‘I never thought Rain’d do something so nasty.’
‘I reckon she did it to save Bran from a whipping,’ said Sharkey.
‘Still, she shouldn’t have.This is all her fault.’
The old Sharkey would have agreed with her, so he’d come out of it looking nice and shiny. The new one said, ‘Nay, Poddy. I mucked things up. I should’ve thought more carefully before I sent Mister – Adm’ral Cray with that message.’
The foul air moved as Poddy shook her head. ‘It gave us hope, knowing you were out
there. And we need a bit of hope. Specially me, right now. With this—’ For the first time, her voice wobbled. ‘This whipping on its way.’
‘You don’t want to be whipped, Pod? I can hardly believe it!’
The wobble turned to a snort of reluctant laughter. ‘We’d best work out how we’re going to escape, then,’ continued Sharkey. ‘I suppose you’ve tried that grate.’
‘It’s bolted from above. Bran and I both tried it. He didn’t want to, not at first. He thought he deserved to be down here. But I talked to him and after a bit he changed his mind.’
‘What about the walls?’
‘They’re solid all round.There’s a waste hole in the floor, right in the middle, but it’s too small to climb through.’
‘Hmm,’ said Sharkey, trying to sound as if he had a few ideas. But the only ideas he had were bad ones, about what was coming. Killed while escaping. He couldn’t tell Poddy about it – if she knew the guards were going to kill him, she’d try to stop them. And then she’d be killed too.
What would Petrel do?
‘Tell you what,’ he said. ‘Those guards’re gunna come back for me at some stage. Don’t know when, but old Thrawn wants to – to ask me some more questions, because he didn’t have time earlier. So when they come for me, I’m gunna kick up a fuss, and you’re gunna make a run for it.’
‘Not without you.’
‘Aye, without me. Cos you see—’ Sharkey was thinking on his feet, twisting things around, the way he had done so often in the past. But it wasn’t to make himself look good, not this time. ‘Cos you see, it’s – it’s easier for me to escape if I know you’re away already. If I have to think about you, that’ll hold me back.’
Silence from Poddy.Then slowly she said,‘I suppose that makes sense.’
‘Course it does, Pod. And once you’re out of here, head south—’
As best he could, he described the bay where Cuttle and Gilly were waiting with Claw. With any luck, Missus Slink would’ve reached the Oyster and fixed the telegraph, in which case the ship might be there too. With a bit more luck, Petrel, Fin, Krill and the silver child would’ve escaped, and maybe even the rest of the Sunkers. And they’d all head south and meet up. All except Sharkey.