‘No!’
‘Well, same kind of thing. All traitors are forced to walk down that tunnel; therefore, anyone who walks down there is a traitor. Not exactly sound logic, but there it is,’ Blue explained.
‘Welcome to Abantos,’ Zhe whispered with a grimace.
‘Yeah, what a place,’ Simon agreed staring at those beams, unable to not look just as all those scurrying by couldn’t help but look.
‘Anything we should know yet?’ The Captain's voice came over the comm. into the, once again, silent control room. The idea of swinging bodies seemed to have stalled all conversation, especially once the dots had been connected and each realised that they themselves would be seen as traitors to the ruling Abanitians.
‘Don’t get caught?’ Simon hazarded to chuckles from Ben and Duncan.
‘I already got that one, Doc.’
‘It’s all looking as you’d expect down there, Captain. No massing of Troopers nor any posses out for your head, from what we can see.’
‘Just a lot of scared people and more than any one place’s share of undesirables,’ Zhe chimed in.
‘Well, keep us posted, especially if any of those posses turn up!’ Ben signed off in his usual jovial tone, seemingly heedless of the danger they were all in.
‘Undesirables, huh?’ Blue commented lightly.
‘Yeah… is there a better word for them?’ Zhe asked slowly, feeling she had done something she oughtn’t have but not quite sure what.
‘No, no, I think the Guild hit the nail on the head with that one,’ Blue responded in the same tone as that in which his original comment had been made before he fixed his entire concentration on the screens in front of him, leaving the other two at a loss as to what had just transpired.
***
‘I was just wondering…’ Duncan started from the front of their own little posse.
‘Well, don’t keep us in suspense,’ Ben chided as he walked nonchalantly down the centre of the passages, looking for all the world like he belonged there and was completely at ease.
‘Do we count among these undesirables?’ Duncan finished flashing a grin.
‘Well now, that is an interesting thought,’ Ben continued in the same musing, idle tone as his second.
Sophie merely rolled her eyes at their antics, knowing it was just their way of dealing with everything, even if it did seem as though they only did it to drive her mad. She tried to focus her attention on being vigilant. She was always yelling at the rest of the crew to be more vigilant when part of a boarding party, but it was more difficult than it looked without a dozen screens to help you focus, she thought wryly.
Ash, on the other hand, had no qualms about being vigilant and was more vocal about his displeasure at their antics. ‘Can’t you two stop that?’ he growled. ‘I swear if you two go off on another Creek Fall tangent!’ Ash didn’t finish with what he’d actually do, but there was definitely a threat implied.
‘Now, Ash, even he can’t make a Creek Fall work here,’ Duncan consoled Ash, jabbing a thumb in Ben’s general direction.
‘Is that a challenge I hear there?’ Ben asked.
‘Idiots!’ Ash grunted.
‘Not from me, but that smattering of folk over there don’t look too friendly and may even be the challenging kind,’ Duncan commented lightly, not changing his manner or direction but just tipping his head to the right slightly, where they had a little following in the adjacent passages.
‘Hmm. Blue?’
‘Pickpockets, we reckon, Captain.’
‘Travelling in more than pairs?’ Duncan asked. ‘Pick pocketing was more of a solitary activity than a group one last time I was here.’
‘Well, there were only two of them just now, but it looks like some friends have joined the party,’ Blue responded.
‘Captain?’ Duncan deferred the decision.
‘Just keep walking; we don’t want any trouble, so let’s not take it to them just yet. Keep an eye on them, Blue, especially if any break off. We don’t want news of our arrival getting there ahead of us.’
‘Aye Captain,’ Blue acknowledged before signing off.
‘Perhaps if we weren’t wandering down the centre of the passageways, we wouldn’t get so much interest,’ Ash suggested with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
‘Yes, because skulking around in the shadows never looks suspicious,’ Sophie shot back scathingly.
‘Who said anything about skulking?’ Ash muttered belligerently.
‘Let’s just keep our eyes and ears open,’ Ben cut in before a real argument could develop. ‘Dunc, how are we doing?’
‘Things change, Ben, but I’m pretty sure we’re on track.’
‘Any hangers on?’
‘Not from behind; we’ve taken a meandering enough route that no one’s stayed behind and no one should be able to guess our true course,’ Duncan reported.
‘Not that you seem to be taking much notice, but it’s going to look suspicious if we just keep wandering around like this,’ Ash spoke up again, but with much less sarcasm this time.
‘Aha! Just the place,’ Ben announced loudly a few moments after Ash’s comments. Ben clapped Duncan on the back as he passed by, and walked straight into a tavern, leaving the others to follow and to try to not look as confused as they felt.
‘Next time you want to eat, perhaps choose somewhere closer,’ Duncan suggested amiably, as they chose a table with a good vantage point for the whole bar. Between the four of them, they could see all the major exits and most of the place without having to obviously look around.
‘But this is the place we talked about, isn’t it?’ Ben countered, fully aware that they were being listened to and watched very closely.
‘Well, I wouldn’t swear to it,’ Duncan replied.
‘Hmm.’ Ben looked about thoughtfully. ‘Ah well, even if it isn’t, it’s still good.’
‘Not quite as subtle as I was hoping for, but it’ll do,’ Ash muttered more to himself than the rest of the table, once he had realised that Ben had actually taken his advice.
‘And now we eat!’ Ben declared with a grin.
‘You know, I’m not sure that this was a too-successful idea,’ Sophie commented around a spoonful of stew.
‘The stew’s off then?’ Duncan asked through a grin.
‘I was referring to the amount of interest we’ve garnered since coming in here, but now you mention it, it does have a funny taste,’ she replied.
‘Just what kind of attention are we talking about?’ Ben asked, he had thought he was being more than a little paranoid, but if Sophie was seeing it too, then there might be more substance to his suspicions.
‘Well they’ve only been coming in in dribs and drabs, but I’m pretty sure now that the whole of that wall are watching us, as well as the barkeep and he’s getting more than a bit fidgety over there.’
‘And you didn’t think to mention this sooner?’ Ash demanded.
‘Ash,’ Ben warned.
‘I thought we were fast becoming the entertainment in here, but I was rather hoping that it was a case of “strangers in town”, and not “let’s get together and kill them”,’ Duncan added.
‘Blue, Zhe, what’s it been looking like out front?’ Ben asked.
‘Nothing much happening, Captain; we’ve been watching the area as best we can, but the feeds are patchy around there. There’s been no sizable movement at any rate,’ Blue reported.
‘Dunc, which ward’re we in?’
‘Seventeen; it used to be controlled by Firenze back in the day, making it one of the safer areas, if you will.’
‘You see any of his markings on our travels?’ Ben questioned as he continued eating and smiling as though nothing was wrong, and, with a quick nudge under the table, the others followed suit.
‘Well… now that you mention it,
I’m not sure I did,’ Duncan conceded after some thought.
‘Then whose ward is this now?’ Ash voiced aloud the question they were all thinking.
‘Blue, Zhe, you got anything on this one? An F in flames would be a really good omen right now.’ Ben turned his queries to the open comm. line.
‘The only ones of those have black strikes through them,’ Zhe responded this time.
‘How many strikes?’ Ben asked after a pregnant pause.
‘Three forward with one backward through the others.’
‘That’s not good, is it,’ Ash stated rather than asked in the silence that followed Zhe’s communication.
‘Thanks, Zhe.’ Ben acknowledged Zhe’s information while ignoring Ash.
‘When do those signs change, Zhe? How far until we get out of this ward?’ Duncan asked.
‘And, more to the point, who controls that one?’ Sophie put in with a pointed look at Duncan.
‘I’m not sure, hang on a minute.’
‘Ah, I think we may have just run out of time to find out,’ Ben commented casually, leaning back in his chair in an exaggerated manner.
‘Looks like the first act of tonight’s entertainment is about to commence, ladies and gentlemen,’ Duncan added with a grin.
‘Ash, would you like to open the floor show?’ Ben asked, sweeping his arm out towards the main area of the tavern. ‘I know you’ve got to have brought at least a couple of grenades.’
‘Hmph, with you two around, you can never have enough of them,’ Ash grumbled, but couldn’t quite hide his grin; finally, the interesting stuff was going to happen. ‘We are deep enough, right?’ he asked suddenly, remembering his conversation with Simon, and only realising how paranoid he sounded when both Ben and Duncan gave him odd looks. ‘Yeah, well, I’ve had enough of you two trying to sink subs I’m on and I don’t want that extended to the cities I’m in too,’ he huffed.
‘We’ll be fine, Ash; the structural integrity here is sound, right, Blue?’
‘Sure it is; now get on with it or sinking cities are going to be the least of your problems,’ Blue groused down the comm.
Ash nodded, dropped his left hand down from where it was lying on the table, reached around to the back of his belt, grabbed a grenade and released the pin just as the latest addition to the tavern decided to make his presence known.
‘Well, lookee here…’ he began as he strutted over to their table, with his thumbs hanging from his belt in what he thought was probably a dignified but lazily threatening manner. Unfortunately for him, those opening three words were as far as he got into what was an obviously well-practised speech before Ash let loose the grenade and all hell broke loose.
‘Ah, now, Ash, don’t you have a heart? You couldn’t have let him at least make it to his ridiculously overblown threats first?’ Duncan asked through the dust and debris as they opened fire into the tavern.
‘Cut him off in his prime, you did,’ Ben added, grinning.
‘And they were sure to be good ones too; I mean, did you see the size of his hat?’ Duncan continued.
‘Definitely some overcompensating going on there!’ Ben agreed.
‘I hate to interrupt, but we’re no closer to getting out of here than we were before the grenade!’ Sophie shouted over the sound of the gunfire to make herself heard.
‘I think she wants you to use another grenade, Ash,’ Duncan yelled across.
‘Right you are!’ Ash threw another grenade into the mêlée before Sophie could object.
‘Move!’ Ben roared, pushing Sophie forward towards the door in the wake of the chaos of the second grenade.
‘Better?’ Duncan asked sweetly as he joined them behind the bar.
‘Just concentrate on the fight,’ Sophie growled back, returning fire herself.
‘They’re going to be ready for the next one, Dunc,’ Ben warned.
‘I know, but we were never going to make it with just two.’
‘Blue, Zhe, what’s it look like out in the passage? And how’re we doing on the next ward?’ Ben shouted into the comm.
‘Reinforcements are on their way, but you’ve probably got about three minutes till they get to you.’
‘Three minutes: oh, that’s oceans of time,’ Duncan commented lightly.
‘How about where we’re headed?’
‘Come out the front and take the first right, then the second left and then right again immediately. That’ll get you out, but I’m not sure into what; there are no markings there,’ Zhe told them.
‘Right, Ash, double it up; on the count of three, we move.’ Ben looked to each of his crew for confirmation they heard before making the count. ‘One, two… three!’
Ash lobbed two grenades overhead as the four of them turned and made a mad dash for the entry way, firing over their shoulders and just making the passage as the grenades went off behind them. ‘Go!’ Ben bellowed as they raced along the route Zhe had provided them.
‘Hey now, I’ve got a question: any one heard of that old expression “out of the frying pan and into the fire”?’ Duncan asked as they skidded to a halt some distance into the new ward.
‘Just full of optimism aren’t you,’ Sophie commented, leaning on the wall as she caught her breath from their full sprint.
‘This one doesn’t seem too bad though,’ Ben declared as he cast an eye over the passages, careful not to linger on the shadows over to their left: it would seem their pickpocket friends had followed them. ‘Zhe, Blue, we got any more info on this one?’
‘Not much, Captain, it’s only a few passages wide from what we can tell, then the markings start up again five passages to your right,’ Blue explained; his frustration at the lack of information available was palpable.
‘It looks like a no man’s land,’ Zhe added.
‘Let’s keep moving then,’ Ben decided, moving off to the right. ‘Dunc, you got your bearings yet?’
‘Yeah, we’ve got Wards Twenty-one, Twenty-two and possibly Twenty-six to cross, and then we should make it into Kristoff’s territory.’
‘They’ll know we’re coming now for sure, after that mess back there,’ Ash told them.
‘He’s right, Ben; any chance of an unexpected arrival has been blown,’ Duncan agreed.
‘Then it would be terribly bad manners to keep them waiting,’ Ben declared.
‘Of course, it would be,’ Sophie muttered sarcastically, setting off after Ben, who had lost much of the casualness of their previous trek and was striding off.
Chapter Nineteen
Fahlen paced the breadth of his office, and, being a rather large office, it afforded him the space to build up speed and pour his frustrations into the carpet. While he had greatly enjoyed needling the chancellor, he had to admit, privately, that he had no idea on how to catch this Benjamin Daniels. Abantos was the likely port for the pirate and a Republic presence had not been maintained there in decades; to even risk entering would be suicide, and, while he gave no thought to the men’s lives that would be lost in such an endeavour, he knew that success was near impossible. But Carrington would demand action. He had to be seen to be doing something. Perhaps a fleet dispatched to patrol the waters they did control between Abantos and the Colonies would suffice.
‘Minister?’ Fahlen’s hapless clerk interrupted his thoughts with that irritatingly high voice he always seemed to adopt around Fahlen.
‘What is it?’ Fahlen demanded impatiently.
‘The chancellor is on the line for you, sir,’ squeaked the clerk.
Had he not been in the presence of his useless clerk, Fahlen would have groaned; that was all he needed, the chancellor breathing down his neck about this.
‘And you’ve kept him waiting!’ he thundered at the clerk instead. ‘Put him through directly!’ he commanded, sweeping back behind his desk, ready to accept the visual c
ommuniqué with the utmost dignity; he could not let the chancellor see his concerns over this issue.
‘Chancellor Carrington,’ he said in greeting as the chancellor appeared on the screen.
‘Fahlen,’ the chancellor responded shortly.
‘This is indeed an honour, chancellor, especially so soon after having the pleasure of your company at Jigs Day.’
‘Cut the grovelling, Fahlen.’ Carrington was in no mood to tolerate Fahlen’s petty games and sly insinuations. ‘I want an update on how you intend to straighten out this mess.’
‘Chancellor, it has been but a scant few hours…’
‘I didn’t ask for your excuses!’ Carrington cut across Fahlen’s platitudes. ‘What are you doing about Daniels?’ he demanded.
‘I am about to instruct the fleet to increase their patrols in the Republic-controlled waters at the edge of Abantos, with strict orders to recover the disks, chancellor.’
‘And Daniels?’ the chancellor pressed, showing far more interest in the man than the potentially destructive information he was carrying.
‘Why, naturally, I am planning his execution and that of all who sail with him. Traitors to the Republic must be punished after all, Chancellor.’
‘Indeed, quite so. Carry on Fahlen.’
‘Chancellor.’ Fahlen gave a slow inclination of his head in deference. ‘The Republic stands.’
‘The Republic stands,’ Carrington repeated before terminating the communiqué, still obviously caught up in his thoughts and forgetting that in the Republic you can never let your guard down, even with your own ministers.
With the chancellor pacified for the moment with that fool plan, which had little chance of success, Fahlen took the opportunity to consider their highly interesting conversation. Daniels had the power to destroy them all with the disks he carried, yet the chancellor of the Republic, who would suffer most if the information came to light, was more concerned with the man himself. Fahlen leaned back in his chair, staring at the spot where the chancellor’s face had just been. Who is Benjamin Daniels? That was the key to this, Fahlen decided. The question of how to catch him suddenly became a secondary focus. Fahlen reached for the Daniels’ manila folder, which still sat atop his desk. That rat Nathan had taunted him with the name of Admiral Greyson; where did he fit in? It was time to increase the pressure on these exemplary citizens of the Republic, Fahlen decided grimly, starting with that bumbling fool Devonport and then the very interesting Admiral Greyson.
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