Island in the Sea of Time

by S. M. Stirling

  He led her and the others up the village street to the earth platform. It was about five feet high, a rectangle thirty feet by fifty, made of the same clay loam as the earth around. The sides sloped inward, smoothed and coated with colored stucco in patterns that looked abstract until she saw past the alien iconography to the shapes of men, animals, and birds. They went up turf steps to a platform that held buildings larger and more ornate than the village, but of the same basic style. The exposed wood was carved and painted in a floridly baroque style. Damn, but those animals look like something out of Dr. Seuss, she thought. Cooking hearths stood beneath gazebo-like roofs. Stone gutters led water away, keeping the surface dry; there were ornamental plantings.

  Ruling-class housing, she thought. Or possibly the equivalent of a church. A place where power resided, at least. “Ma’am.”

  That was Trudeau, his face looking pale and ill in the fading light. That reminded her that the enemy would probably be much better at sneaking around in the dark than most of her command. “Let’s get some floods set up here,” she called over her shoulder. “Mr. Trudeau?”

  He was an upperclassman, near graduation; a slender dark blue-eyed young man, Maine-born of French Canadian stock.

  “Ma’am, I’ve, uh, found where some of the Bentley’s crew went.”

  She began to suspect as he led her over to one of the hearths. The bones were unmistakably human, and the dental work in the skulls equally certainly of the twentieth century. The meat on the spits and in the pots��� The smell was thick, like pork stewing or roasting, horribly appetizing. She swallowed heavily once; behind her came the sound of retching.

  “Arrange a burial detail, Mr. Trudeau,” she said. “But not until I give the word. There was something else?”

  Lights blinked on as the equipment was carried up from the village. Trudeau turned away, obviously relieved. “This way, ma’am.”

  Like the village, the settlement on the platform was laid out on either side of a street. At one end was an open space, trampled hard and set down into the soil. Wooden scaffolds set with stone and painted figures held hoops at either end; in a weird way, it reminded her of a basketball court. At the other end was a wooden platform, smoothly pegged together. Its front was carved in the likeness of a cross-legged man wearing a jaguar mask and holding a rope in either hand. That led around the sides of the slab, to carved images of bound prisoners on either side. Behind the slab in turn stood a roofed cage, with a single door that could be securely fastened. The senior cadet led her toward it.

  “It took a bit of looking, ma’am,” he said. “And we were sort of, you know, shook up. But here it is.”

  They entered the cage, flashlights probing. Insects fluttered in and out of the beams. “Over here by the back.”

  The bars of the cage were hard wood, notched into a single huge undecorated foundation beam on each side. Part of their surface had grown soft and punky with rot, and doubtless they would have been replaced soon. In the meantime they had a surface soft enough to scratch. The shaky letters on one of them spelled one word: Upstream.

  Behind her, Ian Arnstein spoke softly: “At least it’s not ‘Croatan.’ Some of them were alive, then. One at least.”

  “And I know just which one, Professor,” Alston said.

  Deep in a fissure of the wood, metal gleamed. She went to one knee and dug carefully with the point of her tanto knife. The wood was hard below the weathered layer, but in a few seconds the metal popped free and she scooped it up. A plain golden ring, sized for a woman’s hand. A wedding ring. She held it up and shone the flashlight on the inner surface.

  “Martha Cofflin’s,” she said, and knelt silent for a moment, long black fingers curling about it. Then she rose and spoke briskly: “Trudeau, maintain your perimeter.” With the handset in her grasp, she gave further orders: “Mr. Ortiz, please relieve all perimeter guards and workin’ parties in succession. I want them all to come and see something up here.” It was a good thing to know your enemy.

  “So, does this count as our first fight?” Doreen said, tight-lipped.

  “We’re not fighting, we’re just discussing,” Ian hissed back.

  The expeditionary force had built up the hearths from stored firewood-except the ones where that had been cooking-and put a line of watchfires along their perimeter. Doubtless the eyes of the village’s inhabitants saw that, where they huddled in the jungle and swamp that bordered the inland edge of their fields, and also the harsher brilliance of portable electric lights. Insects buzzed about; the stores of mosquito repellent were already running low, and huge bright tropical moths plunged into the fires. Despite the shock of what they’d seen, the camp was no longer funeral-quiet. Food was cooking, stored rations, fish and duck caught on the trip up the river, cornmeal and vegetables from the huts. For a while he’d thought he would never want to eat again, but the smell set his stomach rumbling. It had turned very slightly cooler, with a breeze from the river, as the sections assembled below the earth platform. The Arnsteins fell silent with the rest as Captain Alston stood to address them.

  “You’ve all seen what was going on here,” she said.

  A snarling mutter went through the ranks below. More angry than afraid, Ian decided. Evidently Captain Alston knew them better than he did��� which was, after all, her specialty.

  “We have definite proof that Ms. Cofflin, at least, was still alive yesterday and was taken upriver toward these��� people’s main town. I intend to follow and rescue her. Because I really don’t approve of Americans being tortured, killed, and eaten. These people need to be taught a good, hard lasting lesson along those lines.”

  The mutter grew into an angry cheer, guttural and full of menace. Alston nodded. “Good. Keep eager. Just remember that the difference between a real military force and a bunch of savages is discipline. We’ve got it, they don’t, and that’s why we’re going to go up that river tomorrow and kick cannibal butt.”

  The next cheer was more like a roar. Alston cut it off with a chopping gesture of her hand. “So eat hearty and get a good night’s sleep; you’ll need your strength tomorrow. Dismissed.”

  “Where were we?” Doreen said, as the ranks broke, their noise louder and more cheerful.

  “Ah��� I think we were about to have a totally useless argument,” Ian said.

  “Yup, that sounds right,” Doreen said. They met each other’s eyes and laughed.

  “It’s not as if the captain would lay on a boat to take you back to the Eagle, anyway,” he sighed. “Still, I wish you hadn’t insisted.”

  “We’re a team,” Doreen said. They began walking toward their quarters. “How’d you put it��� Speakers-to-Savages?”

  A burst of laughter came from the next hearthfire down. “A little touch of Harry in the night,” Ian quoted. Doreen chuckled. Most of the sections assigned to huts had kept the fires going at a low level even after their cooking was done, despite the heat and the insects it attracted. The flames were heartening, he supposed; ancestral memories.

  “Odd to think we’re actually going to be fighting a battle like Agincourt,” she said. “Swords and spears and all��� Hi, Marian.”

  Alston sank down a little way from the fire that burned in its clay bowl before their hut, nodding reply to their greetings. “Fo’ Christ’s sake don’t offer me another cup of that goddam sassafras tea, Doreen,” she said. “I’m going to be up often enough tonight as it is.” Her teeth showed white against the darkness, and her eyes; otherwise she almost vanished.

  “Wait until you’re my age,” Ian grumbled. “Every bloody night.”

  “You should try being pregnant,” Alston said, topping him neatly.

  He blinked. Yes, she was once, wasn’t she? Twice. Odd to think of it. Odd to think of her as a mother, too.

  “Aren’t you going to reassure us?” he asked.

  “I might, if you were going to be anywhere near the action,” she said. “Assumin’ there is action. I’d prefer
to bargain Martha out and go.” She paused, arms around her knees and chin on them. “Well, no, that’s not quite right. I’d prefer to drop napalm an’ cluster bombs on them. As it is, I’d rather not fight. Too much chance of our hostages bein’ hurt, for starters.”

  “What do you think our chances are?” Doreen asked.

  “Mmmm, pretty good,” she replied. Little flames licked in the dark irises as she stared into the flames. “Cortez conquered Mexico at longer odds. I-we-could probably do the same.”

  “You think so?” Ian said, surprised.

  She nodded slowly, with the faraway look of deep thought. Alston wasn’t what he’d consider well read in history, but she had a good working knowledge of those parts of it that interested her.

  “Cortez conquered Indians with Indians,” she said. “He could do it because he came from a more��� advanced military an’ political tradition. Weapons didn’t-won’t-wouldn’t have-mattered much. They outthought the locals as much as they outfought them.”

  “I see what you mean,” Ian said thoughtfully. “That was Machiavelli’s home century, near enough. Montezuma spent his time worrying about whether Cortez was the Feathered Serpent come back again, while good old Hernan was analyzing how the Mexica hegemony worked and taking it apart. We could probably learn the languages, find out who’s enemy to who, and-”

  “Exactly,” Alston said. “We’ve got more of a technical edge than the Spaniards did, too. The only thing Cortez had that I envy was experienced troops to start with. Ours are green, ‘specially at this hand-to-hand style of fightin’. That’s the only thing that worries me, and that not much.”

  Doreen looked alarmed, and sounded it. “Surely you’re not thinking of conquering this country!”

  Alston showed her teeth. “What, live here in this rotting sauna, and get stuck rulin’ these lunatics? I’d rather juggle live squid in a laundromat. Thought you knew me better than to think that’s what I want, Doreen.”

  The fire had died down; many of the others were out, and the huts filled with sleep. Not to mention snores, Ian thought. He’d noticed that the young needed sleep less and got it more easily.

  “What do you want, if you don’t mind me asking?” he said, curious. As soon as the words were out he half wished them back. On the other hand, curiosity was one itch he’d never been able to resist scratching, and he doubted he ever would.

  “Want?” She shrugged. “What does anyone want? A job doing something important, and doing it well, and enjoying doing it. To have good friends, and deserve them. Love too, of course.” Her smile grew gentle. “Can’t complain on any of those counts, now.”

  Doreen’s hand sought Ian’s. “Things must have been, um, difficult for you, before the Event.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Alston said judiciously. “Unless you’d call havin’ any chance of a decent personal life destroyed by lying politicians who pander to the bigotry of a bunch of dimwit redneck peckerwood jackasses ‘difficult.’ Difficult.” She snorted. “Thus do we protect our sacred family values.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Oh, no problem.” She rose, and grinned again. “Got nothin’ to complain about now that I’m making the rules��� although they give you privileges I don’t get, you lucky civilians, you.”

  After their goodbyes the two looked at each other. “She’s right, you know,” Ian said, straight-faced. “It would be unfriendly and ungrateful not to.”

  Still holding hands, they went into the hut. And besides, Ian thought, tomorrow we may die. Quite literally.

  “What would you have done if they were all dead?” Swindapa asked.

  The alien night pressed down around her; despite the heat she shivered slightly. They were sitting at the edge of the earthen platform, looking down at the village. Out on the water two more lights went like stars and glittered in the river, where boats guarded against surprise. Trees cut off the horizon on every hand, black against the frosted multitude of stars. Those glimmered in the water, bright and many. Even the smells of water and earth were different, strange in a way that the Island was not, scents like spoiled bread and yeast and brewing beer. She looked up. Moon Woman’s home floated huge and yellow near the horizon, casting a soul-path across the ripples.

  All this world is Your daughter, Swindapa thought. So You are always with me. Her hand reached out and touched the captain’s. Fingers clenched, infinitely soothing; so much could be allowed, here where none could see. How good it would be to lay arms around each other in comfort! This place was like the things the Sun People believed about Night Ones; like a dream of Barrow Woman, clutching at the souls of the dead.

  “I would have turned around and gone back, if they’d all been killed,” the captain said, her voice equally soft.

  “Not taken revenge?” Swindapa asked.

  Almost invisible, the dark head shook. “Not worth the risk of lives,” she said. “As long as Martha’s alive, yes, we keep goin’.”

  “Many more may die than one, though, if there’s a fight.”

  A soft chuckle. “That’s not the same thing. We don’t��� abandon our own, not while I’m in charge.”

  Swindapa nodded. “That’s a good law,” she said, and sighed.

  The fingers tightened on hers. “I know you want to see your home again,” the other woman said. “This��� we may not be able to, this fall. The storm season is coming.”

  “I know,” Swindapa said, keeping the shiver of longing out of her voice. Her mother, brothers, sisters, uncles. And the Iraiina. They must be put back. “I know. I know you had to do this, too.”

  The fingers squeezed hers gratefully. She touched them to her cheek. The journey will come when it comes, she thought. There was a rightness to going and returning in the same season. But oh, the time seemed long!

  Morning broke hot and fierce, the dawn coming up like thunder out of the jungle to the. east and clouds that piled on the edge of the world, turning their black heights to crimson and burning gold. Alston finished stretching and watched. Mist lay on the river, drawn by the increasing heat. Tendrils of it drifted between the great trees, as twisted as the vines and lianas that laced them together. I really do prefer the temperate zone, she thought.

  “We’d better get under way as soon as Toffler reports,” she said to Lieutenant Hendriksson; she and Lieutenant Ortiz followed their commander’s gaze and nodded. “I don’t like the look of those clouds.”

  The village swarmed with cadets and sailors making ready. The ultralight was drawn up, Toffler overseeing as fuel was pumped into the tanks from cans brought along.

  “Full gear today,” she went on. “And be ready for-”

  Voices broke in, shouting-a group of the perimeter guards were hustling someone along. Not a local; he was dressed in the tattered remains of shorts and T-shirt. He stumbled and jerked as one of the cadets behind him prodded at him with a spearpoint. Alston frowned; then her face relaxed for a moment into carnivore anticipation as she saw the man had only one hand. Hers twitched to take the long hilt of the katana.

  Finish the job, she thought. Then, scolding herself: Of course not. We’ll take him home, give him a fair trial, and hang him right next to his sister, if we can. Still���

  David Lisketter stumbled to a halt before her. He was plastered in mud, his thin face blotched with insect bites that also covered much of his body. The green-yellow eyes were staring behind smeared spectacles. At last they blinked and focused somewhat.

  “Captain��� Alston,” he said.

  “David Lisketter,” she said. “You are under arrest for robbery, assault with intent to kill, complicity in first-degree murder, and kidnapping. Oh, yes, and high treason, too.”

  He straightened. “All right,” he mumbled. “But Pamela, they’ve got Pamela, and Ms. Cofflin too. I saw.”

  “Saw what?”

  “Canoes, big double canoes, two of them.”

  Alston made a motion with her hand. “Get the Arnsteins.” />
  The cadets pushed him into the shade, and someone brought food and water. He wolfed the dry cassava bread and drank in gulping heaves. Ian and Doreen came up and hovered. Lisketter’s account of the attack on the Bentley was disjointed; he’d seen only glimpses as he swam downstream and hauled himself out among the trees.

  “They wouldn’t listen,” he said, again and again. “I tried the Mayan words from the dictionary, and I thought they recognized a few-‘east,’ ‘sea,’ a few-but they kept talking so fast. And then they grabbed me, grabbed all of us, and they kept pointing to my eyes and shining lights in them and they wouldn’t let go. I had to shoot, I had to!”

  Ian Arnstein leaned forward, face gone keen. “Your eyes are the same color as your sister’s, aren’t they?”

  Lisketter peered at him. “Yes, yes,” he said.

  Ian hurried off to the hut where he’d slept, and came back with something in his hands. It was a wooden mask, of a face halfway between human and jaguar, the eyes inlaid with some polished stone. He held it up beside the one-handed man. The eyes of the living man were a shade of amber-green almost identical to the jade insets.

  “I think we have something here,” Alston said. She clapped Ian on the back. “Congratulations, Professor.”

  “What��� what happened to the others?” Lisketter asked.

  “The locals ate them,” Alston said. Lisketter bent over abruptly and lost the food he’d just swallowed.

  “Get him cleaned up, and handcuff him.”

  “Ma’am? What about the village?”

  “Load everythin’ we can use,” she said. Her eyes swept over the buildings. “Then torch it.”

  “Why haven’t they tried to stop us, Captain?” Lieutenant Ortiz asked, bringing his boat alongside. “They’ve got a lot of those canoes, and they did attack the schooner.”

  Alston nodded; she liked junior officers who tried to puzzle things out. “The Bentley was sitting still. We’re moving without oars, making a funny sound, and we’ve got Toffler’s ultralight flying overhead. At a guess, they’re spooked. They’ll fight eventually, though, when we get to their capital.”