Destroyermen its-1

by Taylor Anderson

  Keje and Adar, Naga, and a dozen guardsmen accompanied him. Despite the wonder that nearly forced a grin when he gained the deck, and the pleased curiosity he displayed when piped aboard by Gray's hastily assembled side party, Nakja-Mur wasn't happy.

  "You are breaking me!" he growled when the captain met him with a salute. Matt blinked questioningly like Chack had taught him to do.

  "Breaking you, my lord? I thought here, just as on the great sea Homes, the High Chief was the steward of the people's surplus—to be spent for the safety and benefit of all." Chack had quickly trotted up to join them and he translated the captain's words. Keje and Adar's subtle blinks of amusement indicated they no longer needed Chack's help.

  "Of course you're breaking me! It's my duty to be a good steward, as you say, but it's also my duty to see the surplus wisely spent!" He looked about, speechless, and seized upon the sight of the paint kegs lining the pier. "There, do you see? Do you realize that's half a season's production of paint base? Do you have any idea what that costs?"

  Matt shook his head. "You agreed that Walker should have anything Baalkpan could offer in the way of provisions and supplies if we would help you prepare for the Grik."

  "Yes, but . . . paint?!" Adar leaned over and spoke into his ear. "Yes, of course I know iron rusts, but . . ." He stopped, and looking around again, he shook his head. "I apologize. They said your ship was iron, but I only now truly realized it. But, come, what difference does a little rust make?"

  "My Brother," interrupted Keje, "once rust takes hold of iron it is not easily discouraged. That's one reason it's rarely used at sea. By us, at any rate."

  "Well, but what of the scores of workers toiling northeast of the city, pounding a hole into the earth! What's the meaning of that?"

  "Fuel, my lord. As we discussed. Walker must have . . . I believe you call it `gish,' for fuel. Without it she can't move. She can't fight."

  "But gish is plentiful in the north, in the coastal marshes. It bubbles from the ground, it pools, it reeks! It's of little use to any but seam sealers and makers of rope. New holes need not be made to take it up!"

  "I'm afraid so. Walker needs more gish than can easily be imagined, and there must be a ready source close by."

  "The People use wind to good effect," Nakja-Mur grumped.

  "No doubt. So do the Grik. But Walker's much faster than either— that's one reason she fights so well. To do that she needs gish, and lots of it. I told you all this," Matt said with some frustration.

  "He doesn't know, my friend. He hasn't seen," soothed Keje. "He looks out for his people." He grinned. "And your ship is costing far more than the Grik yet have."

  "He can pay now, with treasure, or later with blood," Matt snapped.

  "He knows. He just doesn't like it. Believe me, on the whole, he's pleased. He's had many complaints, however, not least about the training your Marine person started. These land folk don't have strong bodies and are not used to the exertion required of warriors."

  "Sergeant Alden knows the best warrior skills of our people, at least as far as land tactics are concerned. Lieutenant Shinya knows swordsmanship, and his methods are quicker and more lethal than yours." Gray suppressed a snort. He still thought Shinya belonged in the chain locker.

  "True, but since Nakja-Mur decreed that all should learn rudimentary warrior skills, some ask why they must learn to fight when their treasure is paying you to do it for them."

  Matt shook his head. "That wasn't the deal. I said we'd train them and help them fight. We won't fight the Grik alone."

  "He knows."

  Nakja-Mur spoke and Chack translated once again. "Two flasher-fishers arrived this morning with news of three Grik ships, nosing about in the strait. They didn't believe they were seen, but the Grik have never been so close. We're not ready to fight and I fear we will never be. All these preparations you make—the paint!—do not seem to make us more ready to fight!"

  "We'll fight them first, if we must, until your people are ready. That was the plan from the start. But to fight, my ship must be ready!"

  Off in the distance, they heard the low rumble of thunder.

  "What will you do about the Grik in the strait?"

  "If they enter the bay, we'll destroy them. If they linger nearby until we have fuel, we'll hunt them down and destroy them. You have my word.

  But you must talk sense to these complainers!"

  Nakja-Mur looked steadily at him for a moment, then jerked his head downward in a Lemurian nod. The distant thunder continued to build, but it was drowned out by the number four boiler blowing tubes. They all looked aft and skyward as the soot settled on the deck and those working there.

  "Goddamn snipes!" bellowed Gray, striding purposefully toward the aft fireroom hatch. "There's wet paint up here!" Captain Reddy stifled a grin. The thunderous drone rose a little higher in his consciousness.

  "Maybe the High Chief of Baalkpan would like to tour the ship?" he said, but tilted his head, listening. With a start, his eyes widened in recognition and he glanced at the crow's nest. Empty, of course. Garrett was on the fire-control platform, however, and he'd heard it too. Their eyes met as realization dawned. The general alarm began to sound.

  "General quarters! General quarters! This is no drill!" came Larry Dowden's voice over the speaker. "Captain to the bridge!"

  Matt darted from the midst of the Lemurian delegation, ran through the chaos of the weather deck, and clattered up the ladder to the bridge.

  With no one to tell them different, the Lemurians followed after him.

  Men and 'Cats scampered everywhere, some purposefully, others less so, and Nakja-Mur was nearly sent sprawling by an ordnance striker carrying ammunition belts as he rocketed up from the companionway.

  "What's happening?!" he angrily demanded.

  "Something interesting, certainly," Adar replied.

  Matt was gasping by the time he reached the fire-control platform. He snatched the binoculars someone offered and began scanning the sky.

  "There, sir. Aft, bearing one two oh! Coming right up the bay from the strait! It's . . . it's an aircraft!"

  "Agreed!" Matt snapped. "But what's it doing here and whose is it?

  Stand by all machine guns, Mr. Garrett, but hold your fire!"

  They waited tensely, the men exchanging nervous glances while the clattery radial engine drone slowly grew more pronounced. Chack and Keje had joined them.

  "What is that flying thing?" Keje's voice held an edge.

  "Airplane," Matt murmured absently.

  Keje glanced at the defensive preparations under way. "And I thought the Grik were a strange menace," he muttered. "You will fight this aarplane? It will attack?" Keje cast a quick glance at Big Sal, moored helplessly to the pier. He'd never heard of a flying creature large enough to threaten people, but he'd seen coast raptors snatch fish from the water, and he suspected how vulnerable they would be to something as big as what he saw now. Obviously, by their actions, the destroyermen believed it might be dangerous. "Will it attack?" he asked again, more insistently.

  Matt lowered the binoculars and a small, wondering smile played across his features. "I don't think so," he said, and added as an aside to Lieutenant Garrett, "PBY."

  The plane grew larger, and the sun glinted dully off the dingy blue paint as it banked over the bay. The wings waggled a little, as if the pilot was unfamiliar with the controls—or maybe not. Only one engine was running. The big seaplane thundered low over the water, just a little higher than the small boats' masts. Sheets went flying, and there were many near-collisions as the unearthly monstrosity lumbered by. Matt couldn't help but grin at the startled antics of the fishermen. All the Lemurians on the pier or the destroyer stopped what they were doing and clustered uncertainly together.

  The pilot plainly saw them now; he banked the plane harder and then steadied up, aiming for a clear patch of water off Walker's starboard side.

  The big rudder kicked rapidly back and forth to compensate for
the uneven thrust of the single engine. Wing-tip floats came down and the bullnose with the Plexiglas turret seemed to sniff tentatively at the water. The blue roundels with the white star and red dot stood out against the salt streaks and the stained, off-color paint. It was the most beautiful thing Matt had ever seen. With a great splashing thump, the flying boat struck the water, and its forward progress was almost immediately arrested by the unskilled or underpowered arrival. It wallowed to a stop as the pilot cut power, then increased it. The noise of the port engine was tremendous as the plane gathered speed in their direction.

  Nakja-Mur had joined them. "What is that dreadful thing?" he demanded in a shrill voice.

  "I suspect it's a friend of ours," Matt replied when Chack translated.

  The pilot cut the engine about fifty yards away, and the noise abruptly lessened as the propeller wound down. Matt felt the relief around him.

  "Prepare to fend off!" he shouted as the plane drifted closer. "Launch the whaleboat!" In less than a minute, the boat slid down the falls and slapped into the water. As they watched, a windscreen on the side of the pitching aircraft's cockpit slid back and a grinning, bearded face emerged.

  "Another Amer-i-caan!" Nakja-Mur exclaimed. "One that flies! Flies!"

  He was silent for a moment of sheer amazement, then turned to Matt and grinned. "I suppose I will have to feed that thing as well?"

  "How many more . . . unusual friends are you expecting, Cap-i-taan Reddy?" Keje quietly asked. Big Sal 's "captain" was staring at the PBY with open wonder, but it was a serious question.

  "I wasn't expecting this one. C'mon, let's meet our mystery aviator."

  Lieutenant Benjamin Mallory's entire lower body felt numb and tingly from the long hours in the thinly padded metal seat of the shuddering aircraft. He had difficulty with his feet on the rungs as he ascended to the deck. He couldn't stop grinning, though. An hour before, he'd shut down the starboard engine and feathered its prop to stretch their fuel enough to reach this very bay. It was their final hope. They'd checked Menjangan, and pushed all the way to Alor before turning back. If Walker hadn't been at Balikpapan, he, Perry, and Ed would have been doomed, at best, to a lingering, miserable existence of solitude and privation without hope of rescue. More likely, some unfamiliar denizen would have quickly saved them the trouble. The sight of the old four-stacker nestled snugly against the pier amid the bustle of native people and shipping brought tears to Mallory's eyes. The smoke curling lazily from her aft funnel and the proud flag over her deck convinced him that, whatever the situation, Walker was here voluntarily and therefore they were safe.

  He made it to the deck with the help of eager hands and threw a shaky salute at the flag, and another at Captain Reddy. He was startled by the sight of the . . . natives, but not like he would have been a few weeks before.

  "Lieutenant Benjamin Mallory, United States Army Air Corps. I request permission to come aboard, sir." He took a wobbly step to make room for those behind him as they also gained the deck.

  "Ed Palmer, Signalman, glad to be back aboard, sir," said the second man, his voice hoarse with emotion. The blond-headed signalman from Oklahoma had expected to remain on Mahan only until they reached Perth. His inclusion in the unlucky destroyer's odyssey had taken a toll.

  The third was a dark-haired man in ragged khakis who looked vaguely familiar. "Lieutenant jay-gee Perry Brister, request perm—"

  "Brister! You're engineering officer on Mahan—you all came from Mahan! Where is she?" Matt demanded.

  "We don't know, sir," Mallory replied. "The last we saw, she was off the west coast of Sumatra."

  "Sumatra? My God. What was Jim Ellis thinking?"

  All three men shook their heads together. "Not Mr. Ellis, sir," Brister said.

  "Right," confirmed Mallory. The aviator's grin was gone. "Captain Reddy, it's a long story and you need to hear it now." He gestured at himself and the others. "Could we have some cold water? Or . . . maybe even a Coke?"

  "Certainly. Let's carry this conversation to the wardroom and you can tell me all about it after some refreshment." He turned to Dowden as the exec approached. "Is Mr. McFarlane back aboard? No? Then pass the word for Mr. Bradford—he returned from the well site this morning, did he not?" Dowden nodded. "Very well. Ask him, Mr. Letts, Mr. Tolsen, and Mr. Garrett to join us in the wardroom. Better ask Lieutenant Tucker and Lieutenant Shinya as well."

  "Sir, Lieutenant Shinya and Sergeant Alden are drilling the militia."

  Matt nodded. "Of course." He glanced at the Lemurians. He'd practically forgotten they were there. For a moment he contemplated excusing himself, but realized that if he did, they might suspect he was keeping secrets. That might not be best. They knew something important was going on; after all, it wasn't every day a PBY flew into Baalkpan and landed in the bay. "Our guests may accompany us, if they please, but space in the wardroom's limited. They'll have to leave their escorts behind." He spoke to Dowden, but his words were for Keje. They implied that this needed to remain an upper-level meeting. Keje understood, and spoke to Nakja-Mur.

  Carafes of iced tea were on the wardroom table when they filed in.

  Like Keje and Adar had been, Nakja-Mur and Naga were unfamiliar with human chairs, but watching Keje's more experienced motions, they managed to make themselves relatively comfortable. Of more interest to them was the egalitarian way the Americans gathered around the same table and drank from the same carafes. Lemurians prided themselves on their social tolerance, and they knew the Americans operated within a system of strict official stratification. For the first time, Nakja-Mur and Naga saw that the American hierarchy had more to do with tradition and institutional discipline than with a concept that anyone, even their captain, was intrinsically superior. Somehow, in spite of their surprise, they were strangely comforted.

  They sat for a long moment, drinking, while an oscillating fan stirred the tepid air. The Lemurians drained their tea with relish and then waited patiently while the haggard newcomers rehydrated themselves. Finally, Mallory wiped his mouth and cleared his throat.

  "My God, sir, that was welcome. We only carried a little water, to save on weight. Enough to last a few more days, but . . . Anyway, thanks, sir.

  Your ship was a sight for sore eyes!"

  "Thank you, Lieutenant. Seeing that plane was pretty exciting for us.

  But what about Mahan? Where the hell is she and what happened?"

  The three men glanced at each other, then haltingly, together, told how Kaufman took over the ship. Matt and the other humans listened in stunned amazement. They just couldn't believe it. Not only was it blatant mutiny, but under the circumstances it was insane. Brister told how Jim tried to take Kaufman's gun away, and he saw the rage on Matt's face when he told him Jim had been shot.

  "He didn't kill him, sir," he hastened to add. "In fact, I think it was more an accident than anything." He almost smiled. "I heard Mr. Ellis was beating the shit out of him, if you'll pardon the expression. But Kaufman did shoot him. In the leg." There was a pause while the lieutenant's words sank in around the table.

  "Go on," Matt ordered harshly.

  They told how the mutiny had proceeded, and of Kaufman's obsession with Ceylon. Jim Ellis lapsed into fever and they put into Tjilatjap for fuel—only Tjilatjap wasn't there, and they told of the horrors they saw.

  Keje stiffened in his seat. "Chill-chaap? This Amer-i-caan speaks of

  Chill-chaap?" Larry Dowden had excused himself, and now he hurried back in with a chart that showed South Java and the waters nearby. Nakja-Mur and the Sky Priest fairly bristled at the way he spread the chart across the table, condensation rings and all, but Keje and Adar had prepared them somewhat, so they didn't cry out in protest. Brister was looking at Keje when he put his finger on the South Java port of Tjilatjap. "Here, sir," he said.

  "Gone," muttered Keje. "Chill-chaap is gone." He spoke to the other Lemurians in his own tongue. Nakja-Mur rose to his feet and shouted something at Keje, then continued shouting a
t everyone in the compartment. "He is . . . excited," explained Keje in a subdued tone, barely audible over Nakja-Mur's rant.

  "Well, tell . . . ask him to control himself! We must hear what else these men have to say!"

  "I will try, Cap-i-taan. But forgive him . . . us. Chill-chaap is nearly as large as Baalkpan. It was one of the oldest colonies, and the only one on Jaa-va that remained friendly to us. Many thousands of people—our people—lived there." Keje turned to Nakja-Mur and spoke in soothing tones. Slowly, the High Chief of Baalkpan eased into his seat. But his rage had only been contained, not extinguished. A moody, uncomfortable silence filled the compartment, and the quiet, after Nakja-Mur's outburst, was particularly profound.

  "Lieutenant Brister," Matt prompted.

  "Sir," continued Brister after a last look at their guests. "Tjilatchap, or Chill-chaap, is gone. Nothing left alive. And it looked like the people there were eaten, and not just by scavengers."

  "My God," gasped Sandra.

  "Yes," Keje growled. "Did I not tell you? We are mere prey to them." He looked at the nurse. "You asked once why we threw them into the sea." He shook his head.

  Brister cleared his throat and resumed his tale. With Mallory's help he brought them through the storm and the discovery of the plane. Then he spoke of the monsters.

  "Grik," Keje snarled.

  "How many ships?" Matt asked.

  "Three, sir."

  Matt looked at Keje. "They can't have been the same ones we tangled with. It was at least two weeks later and hundreds of miles apart!" He turned back to Mallory. "What happened then?"

  Ben described the hair-raising effort to get the plane off the beach.

  Between the three of them again, they told how they ultimately fought clear of the "monsters" and finally flew back to Mahan.

  "They just left you?" Bradford asked incredulously. "Without a boat?"

  "Yeah. Even if we'd changed our minds, it wouldn't have done any good. We had plenty of motivation. Those creatures—I've never seen anything like 'em, sir. They were . . . pretty scary."