“Didn’t take nothing coming through the prince’s wall,” said the man.
“But there’s a triple moon above, and yet y’took no harm from the blockade?”
“Nar, we slipped through without a single shot being fired.” The crewman gestured toward the broken mast and rent sails and said, “This ruin? It was from a battle farther south.”
“A Glimmer pirate, right?”
“Yar. The Diablo.”
“Captain Jack’s ship?” asked the man on the pier.
“She be Cap’n Jack’s ship no more. Our own Cap’n Arik shot him dead. They’ll be flying their red devil at half mast till they choose someone to replace the late Cap’n Jack Gray.”
The man on the pier roared in laughter, and the crewman laughed in return.
By this time the gangplank had been lowered, and Arik strode down to report to the master of the sky-harbor, who now approached the Sorrow.
“Captain Arik.”
“Master Branley.”
“Did I hear right?” asked Branley. “You took on the Diablo, Captain Jack’s ship?”
“We did.”
“And Jack Gray is dead?”
“He is.”
“Good,” said the sky-harbormaster. “That’ll be one less wily captain to take down the queen’s ships.”
Arik sighed and said, “I remind you, the Sorrow is an independent Glimmership. I and my crew only nominally yield our allegiance to Queen Amili.”
Branley made a negligent hand gesture. “It is of no matter. What be your cargo?”
“A hold full of Glimmers, including one hundred twenty-seven blues and three violets, one of which is pearl-size.”
The harbormaster whistled. “Then there’ll be no problem whatsoever in finding the materials and the shipwrights to make the Sorrow whole. Where will you be staying?”
Arik said, “I believe the officers and I will be at our usual haunt—the Green Orb—but I think the rest of the crew prefers the Tattered Sail.”
“Captain Arik, with the worth of your cargo, you could easily afford to put your men up in much more elegant quarters. The Tattered Sail, well, it’s no better than a bordello.”
“Ah, but it’s a friendly bordello,” said Arik. “And my crew? They’ve just come through a desperate battle, and surely need shore leave. And so, I think they’ll be taking advantage of all the services found at the Tattered Sail; besides, they’re spoiling for some good old drunken revelry, and you can’t do that at some snobbish place.”
“What about the City Watch. I mean, if your men whoop it up too much, the queen’s men might take it into their heads to send some of your crew to gaol.”
“If any of my men end up in the queen’s cages, well, as you say, I’ll have plenty of funds to bail them out. As to the City Watch itself, it seems they steer clear of the ’Sail.”
Branley shook his head and sighed. “Well, come along, then. We’ll go the queen’s minister, and he’ll write out a slip for the worth of the goods.”
Arik called for Ky to join them, and to bring the cargo manifest, and, together with Branley, they headed for the ministries of Queen Amili.
Over the next week or two, Arik and his officers spent their daylights arranging for repairs and replenishing the ship’s stores and other such, making ready to sail on northward. And during their nights they supped well on good queen’s beef and gravy and fresh-baked bread and fruit and tubers and sweets, and they drank nut-brown ale and blood-red wine and in general treated themselves to the best the Green Orb had to offer, including sleeping between clean silken sheets in broad and soft beds.
And with part of the advance funds received from Minister Fletch, based solely on the Glimmer listing provided by Ky, with more riches to come when the actual contents of the glass boxes had been assayed, they paid the repair crews double wages to make the Sorrow shipshape and airworthy in half the estimated time, with bonuses to all should they manage to better even that tight schedule.
And so, a sevenday passed and then another, with Arik and Trendel and Kane and Ky and Rith inspecting every board, peg, length of line, silken sail, gimbal and cannon, and other gear needed to bring the Sorrow into condition. The ship’s stores were scrutinized with the same rigor—ball and powder, water and food, small casks of rum and the like.
Rith with her control of sound examined every piece of timber for wholeness, rejecting some that looked perfect to the eye, but not to Rith’s ear.
Ky spent her time making certain that the provender was without weevils and other such, though often Rith helped her, creating particularly repellent-to-vermin pitches of sound to rid the ship of rats and mice and even of some insects.
Kane replenished the supply of herbs and simples and potions in the infirmary, for, although he could heal without the aid of them, still medicine had its uses.
Trendel and Arik chose two new rudders, one for the ship and one as a spare, and they oversaw the refurbishing of the entire control system, including lift-stone levitators. And they installed a new flux anchor, with a spare for that as well.
To supplement their warm high-altitude wear, Trendel ordered winter clothing for the entire crew, for he knew not how far north they would go.
And each end of day found them in the Green Orb, reveling in the food and drink offered.
And Ky and Kane, as well as Trendel and Rith, spent their evenings in their quarters making sweet and gentle or wild and passionate love.
Finally, nearly all was ready, and they alerted the crew that they would be leaving within a day or two. And down at the Tattered Sail, the men of the Sorrow held one last merry fling.
And high in the rafters far above, Lyssa, full of essence sipped from the population of Validor but with her light quenched, watched the revelry below, laughing to herself at the antics. She had followed Arik and the others to the Green Orb, but had discovered herself unable to watch Ky and Kane, or Rith and Trendel, make love when she and Arik could not. And so she had come to the Tattered Sail to enjoy the larking about of the crew.
Finally the singing and clogging and brawling and whoring and drinking had wound down to just a remaining few. Most of the crewmen were passed out, lying on tables or under them, though a few yet wagered and rattled dice, while others sipped their drinks and spoke of days past.
Deep in their cups, two of the crewman relived the battle with the Diablo.
Y’know, that damn fallin’ mizzen almost hit me.
Them gunners on Cap’n Jack’s ship, they were good, truly. It’s a wonder we escaped.
Yar, but y’know what?
No, what?
Y’know Glimmer, right?
They both laughed and looked at the crewman who had sky-sailed into the Glimmer net, that crewman passed out and lying under a nearby table, with the townsman Glimmer had been treating slumped against the table above him.
Anyway, Glimmer says that right after Ky came down to the belly guns, a great black bolt shot out of the gut and tore off all the yards and sails on the Diablo’s mainmast.
Do y’believe—?
Shhh. Shhh. Y’know what the queen thinks o’ that.
They both peered around and seeing no lurking eavesdroppers . . .
Wull, speakin’ o’ that, did y’know our Rith leant o’er the taffrail and opened her mouth like she was to sing and all them Diablo crewmen grabbed at their ears.
Ah, I dint know that. But, say, what about th’ cap’n, eh? I mean, there’s ne’er been a shot like he made.
“Yar, and then that Ky was hurt awful bad, yet in nought but a jiffy she were well and it was Kane what had all the hurt.
That, and what about the shadow cloaking us when we snuck through the bonny prince’s very own blockade under the triple moon?
A quiet fellow, sitting in corner shadows, listened and then slipped away and headed for the ministerial offices.
Lyssa followed him out, and as he cut through a dark alleyway, she drained enough of his essence to cause him to laps
e into a deep unconsciousness from which he would not recover for two or three days.
As Lyssa emerged from the alley, she did not recognize a man passing by, for had she paid close heed she would have seen he was the one who had apparently been passed out at a table above Glimmer in the Tattered Sail.
The next morning, an officer of the ministry guard, accompanied by a platoon of queen’s soldiers, arrested Arik, Ky, Trendel, Rith, and Kane and threw them in jail.
As the cell door clanged shut and the lock clacked to, Kane cursed and rattled the bars, and Arik demanded, “What is the charge?”
The officer cocked an eyebrow as if looking down upon vermin. “By ministry order, and by the queen’s own decree, you are charged with the unlawful practice of witchcraft and magic.”
36
Courthouse
(Adkins)
Melissa stood and asked, “But, Toni, you do not believe that Avery generated a false persona to impersonate Arthur Coburn, right?”
“That is correct,” said Toni.
“And what makes you think that Avery did not do such a thing?”
“Because the mentalities of Eric Flannery, Alice Maxon, Caine Easely, Hiroko Kikiro, Timothy Rendell, and Meredith Rodgers had all been taken into Avery’s volatile memory. How he did this, we have not yet managed to resolve, but take them in he did. Not once, but twice: last year at about this time, and five months ago.”
“And you know this how . . . ?”
“Because their brainwaves went flat, all but the autonomic, and their mentalities appeared upon a control-room holo.”
“And what caused this to happen?”
“The lightning strike triggered it, and somehow Avery was able to do it.”
“And what about Arthur Coburn’s mentality? Was it absorbed by Avery, too?”
“It was. Just like all the others, eleven months ago.”
“Right after the lightning strike?”
“Yes.”
“And this is why you believe that Arthur Coburn is alive and well and living in Avery?”
“It is.”
“And you think that even though his body is dead, Arthur is yet alive as a human being?”
“Yes.”
Melissa pondered a moment and then asked, “You say that Avery is suffering from dissociative identity disorder?”
“Objection,” called Mark Perry. “We’ve gone over this.”
“Part of laying the foundation, Judge,” said Melissa.
“Overruled,” said Judge Marshall.
Melissa again posed the question: “You say that Avery is suffering from dissociative identity disorder?”
“Yes.”
“Multiple personalities, right?”
“Yes.”
“Do these personalities interact with one another?”
“Some do, some don’t; some know of one or more of the others, while some think they are the one and only; at times, some identities converse with one another, occasionally several talking together, having a family conversation, if you will.”
“And do they interact with people such as you and me?”
“Again, some do, some don’t.”
“Would you explain, as well as relate it to Avery?”
Toni nodded and turned to face the panel. “As with some D.I.D. patients, when one manifests to the outside world—takes over, so to speak—and shows him- or herself to people such as you or me, quite often the other personalities are absent, cut off, incommunicado, and they “lose time.” It is likely that one or more of the other identities do not know what the manifesting individual has done. And so, when a given personality relinquishes control and another takes over the body, most often the alternate wakes up confused, in places where he or she did not remember going, sometimes in the midst of strangers, sometimes in the midst of or just having had sex, or being intoxicated, or in a strange church and praying for forgiveness; the just-awakened personality can be on a plane, train, bus, boat, or in a car, going to an unknown-to-them destination; this identity has no idea as to what happened during the lost time.
“In some patients, one of the personalities keeps track of everything, and at times that one interferes with or interfaces with one or more of the other identities.
“In Avery’s case of D.I.D., there were three distinct individuals: a primary personality who styled himself as the Dark One; a secondary identity who called himself Arda; and Arthur Coburn, who was the third individual and privy to all that was happening. Furthermore, Arthur coached Arda. It was Arthur’s plan that was put in motion; a plan to free himself without harming the Black Foxes and their alpha team counterparts. It all came about because Arthur David Coburn happened to have Arda embedded in his name.”
Melissa frowned, as if puzzled and asked, “What do you mean that Arthur David Coburn happened to have Arda embedded in his name?”
“The AR of Arthur and the DA of David were the key to him communicating with Arda. And it was Arda who sent the message ‘Help. Prisoner. Arton.’ to Timothy Rendell, for the AR of Arton aided Arthur as well. You see, Arton was Arthur Coburn’s persona in the first Black Fox experiment, and when Arton was slain, his ‘ghost’ was hidden away by the Dark One. Yet the spirit of Arton, a master thief, was held in the same place as Arthur’s mentality, and Arton somehow managed to free Arthur, who then contacted Arda.”
“Your honor,” objected Mark Perry. “Ghosts? Ghosts in a machine? How far fetched can that be?”
Melissa smiled and said, “As you know, Judge Marshall, philosophers often refer to the ‘soul in the body’ as the ‘ghost in the machine.’”
“Aren’t we veering off into metaphysics here?” asked Mark. “Isn’t this a religious discussion?”
“Philosophical, I believe,” said Judge Marshall.
“But relevant in this case,” said Melissa. “You see, your honor, with mentalities, be they human or not, trapped in an artificial intelligence, we have a living example of a ghost in a machine.”
“Living?” said Mark. “Hardly.”
“Your honor, that’s what this hearing is all about,” countered Melissa.
Outside the courthouse, Frankie Roberts looked into the holocam and said, “Well, there you have it: dualism versus physicalism, ghosts in machines, bodies and souls . . . or not. Is this science or instead religion?
“Some would say that science is fact and logic driven, and Avery is certainly that.
“Others would say that it is a religious question, and that religion is not fact driven, is not logical, but is founded instead upon the miracles and the teachings of their redeemers, and things not in conformance are sacrilege, and certainly Avery does not conform.
“Still others would argue that this hearing is about ethics and morality, which are neither based on science nor religion, but are socially driven. And they claim this hearing poses an ethical question of Solomonic proportions to resolve; many would agree with this latter, for the judge must decide whether Avery is a sentient being, is a person or not, and whether or not Arthur Coburn is alive, even though his body is dead. What do you think?
“This is Frankie Roberts of News Holo-4, at the Pima County Courthouse in Tucson, Arizona.”
37
Malagar
(Crew of the Sorrow)
“I think we should wait until tonight to break out,” said Trendel.
Arik nodded in agreement.
“Of course, with the Sorrow now ready to take to the skies,” said Rith, “if we could get word to the crew, then we’d simply need to cast off and be on our way.”
“Anyone have any money left on them?” asked Arik. “They took all I had.”
“Money?” asked Kane.
“To bribe a guard,” said Arik.
“Well,” said Ky, reaching down the front of her jerkin, “since it’s for a good cause . . .” She extracted a gold coin from her bosom bindings.
Kane looked at her in surprise, and she grinned back at him and said, “You never know whe
n a gold piece might come in handy.” She gave the coin to Arik.
“Rith,” said Arik, “that runt of a guard at the far end of the hall, he looks to be the most needy.”
“Right,” said Rith, and she spoke a word and whispered directly into the warder’s ear.
He jerked in surprise and looked about, and all the way at the other end of the corridor Rith gestured for him to approach.
He hesitated, and she gestured again.
Wary, he ambled the length of the hall and stood well back from the cell door.
Arik held up the coin. “I would have you bear a message to one of my crewmen, and there’s another coin in it for you as soon as he appears.”
The guard looked about to see if he were being watched or overheard by others. He stepped closer and said, “I’ll do it for four altogether: two now, and another two when your man appears.”
Arik looked at Ky, and she turned her back and fished out a second gold piece.
Just after the noontide, Chief Bosun Randall appeared, and he handed two golds to the guard. Then he stepped to the cell.
“Cap’n Arik”—he paused to make certain that he wouldn’t be overheard—“me and the crew, we’ll break you out, though it won’t be easy, this place being like a fort and all.”
“That won’t be necessary, Randall,” said Arik. “Here’s what I would have you do.”
When night fell, Lyssa, her light quenched, visited the Sorrow to find it warded by queen’s men. Then she sped to the Green Orb, where she found the note that Randall had scrawled lying face up on Arik’s bed. Then it was off to the Tattered Sail and to Randall’s quarters, now packed with a number of the Sorrow’s crew. She briefly appeared, and since she was full of life essence, she did not more than lightly draw upon theirs. Even so, they fell back from her, crowding into an even smaller space.
Shadowprey: A Black Foxes Adventure Page 17