by John Norman
I saw Tasdron smile. He had not failed to notice that Peggy had glanced, terrified, earlier, to Callimachus. He now realized that one of his girls, Peggy, was, in effect, the helpless love slave of Callimachus. I do not think that this displeased him. Indeed, such information can be of great use in managing a girl.
Aemilianus, puzzled, lowered the point of his sword. He looked at us.
“We mean you no harm,” I told him.
“This is not a trap?” asked Aemilianus.
“No,” I told him.
“Callisthenes,” said Callimachus, turning to the captain of Port Cos, “is it your intention to strike me with your sword?”
“No,” said Callisthenes. “Of course not.”
“Then put up your sword,” said Callimachus.
Callisthenes sheathed his sword. A moment later the sword of Aemilianus, too, rested in its sheath.
“Come and sit at the table,” said Tasdron. “We have much to discuss.”
We all, then, sat about the table.
“Fix your silk,” said Tasdron to Peggy, “and go to the side of the room. Kneel there. If we need anything, you will be summoned.”
“Yes, Master,” she said.
“Do you wish her, instead, to remove her silk, and to lick and serve you, as we eat and talk?” inquired Tasdron of Aemilianus.
This sort of thing is sometimes done at Gorean suppers. Each male has a naked slave girl who is in attendance on him during the supper. She licks and kisses him, and fetches for him, and may even put food in his mouth. It is not unpleasant to be served by a naked, collared beauty in this fashion.
“We are not to be all so served, I gather,” said Aemilianus.
“I do not think that would be wise,” said Tasdron.
“Then I shall myself, of course, forgo the pleasure,” said he.
“That is best,” admitted Tasdron, “for there are serious things of which to speak.”
I smiled to myself. It was true that slave girls were often distractive. It is difficult for a man to keep his mind or his hands off them. They are, of course, imbonded, easily the most desirable of women.
“How much does she know?” asked Aemilianus.
“Very little,” said Tasdron.
“Keep her ignorant,” said Aemilianus.
“Of course,” said Tasdron.
I looked to Peggy, at the side of the room, several feet away. She had now closed her silk. She moved slightly, and there was a sound of the bells. Then she knelt very still, that she not attract attention to herself.
“Speak softly,” said Tasdron.
“Very well,” said Callisthenes.
“Very well,” said Aemilianus.
Peggy was very beautiful. She could not overhear our conversations. She would be kept in ignorance. She was a slave.
Chapter 29 - THE SEA GATE;I AM AGAIN WITHIN THE HOLDINGS OF POLICRATES
“Had we the support of others, in fuller extent, we could carry this project through,” said Callimachus. “As it is, I fear we must fail.”
The deck of the low river galley shifted beneath our feet, as the ship nosed through the inlet waters toward the secluded stronghold of Policrates. It lies some two pasangs from the river itself.
“Your original plan,” said Callimachus, “was an excellent one, but, now, in its alteration, I fear we must fail.”
Callimachus and I stood on the foredeck of the galley. I wore the mask which I had worn while pretending to be the courier of Ragnar Voskjard. I knew the signs and countersigns for entry into the stronghold through the sea gate. These had been given to me that I could convey them to Ragnar Voskjard, that he might use them in his entry into the stronghold.
It had been my plan to gather sufficient ships, primarily from Port Cos and Ar’s Station, to simulate the fleet of Ragnar Voskjard, who would be expected by Policrates. It would have seemed simple enough, then, to have brought enough men into the stronghold, posing as the men of Ragnar Voskjard, to take Policrates by surprise. He himself had never met Ragnar Voskjard, nor had Voskjard met Policrates. The plan, indeed, was bold, but it had seemed to me sound, Callimachus, who was experienced in matters of war, had liked the plan, and had concurred. Glyco and Tasdron, neither of whom could be taken as rash fellows, had been taken by the plan. Interestingly enough, it had been the warriors, Callisthenes and Aemilianus, who had tended to regard the plan as dangerous and barren. Callisthenes, in particular had been outspoken against it.
It was now near the twentieth Ahn, the Gorean midnight. The sky was cloudy. The three moons were high over the trees, bordering the shadowy inlet. I could see the high, dark walls of the stronghold of Policrates in the distance, with its lofty sea gate, with its heavy latticework of iron.
“The fleet of Ragnar Voskjard,” had said Callisthenes, “can never join with the fleet of Policrates. It will be prevented from doing so by the chain.”
“Why, then,” had asked Glyco, “are you so concerned that the topaz never reach Policrates?”
“The matter was important to the Merchant Council,” said Callisthenes. “I merely do my duty. Some of them are uncertain of the effectiveness of the chain.”
“And I am one of them,” said Glyco.
“That is known to me,” said Callisthenes.
“Has the chain now been placed?” asked Glyco.
“Yes,” said Callisthenes. “It is now in place.”
“This work was done in secrecy, was it not?” I asked. I had not heard of it in Victoria, nor had Callimachus or Tasdron.
“Supposedly,” said Callisthenes, “though its existence is now doubtless known to the western towns.”
“It was forged in Cos, in a thousand lengths,” said Glyco, “and brought overland, around the delta, and on galleys east from Turmus. Its mountings and pylons were mostly done at night. It lies west of Port Cos, that we may be protected from the pirates.”
“It would also allow Port Cos to control traffic on the river from the west,” pointed out Tasdron, irritably.
“We are under pressure from Cos,” said Glyco. “I am not personally in favor of the chain. As a merchant I think a freer trade lies in our best interest. Too the chain will not make Port Cos popular with her sister cities.”
“That is certain,” said Tasdron. “Victoria, hitherto at least, has been primarily Cosian in her sympathies.”
“We of Ar’s Station would not have mounted such a chain,” said Aemilianus, unnecessarily in my opinion.
“Possibly you do not have the vision or the resources,” said Callisthenes.
“Our concerns, Captains,” said Callimachus, “must now be with ourselves and our immediate dangers, not with the politics of Cos and Ar.”
“Politics?” inquired Callisthenes. “Cos and Ar are at war.”
“Neither Ar nor Ar’s Station, Captain,” said Aemilianus, “are at war with Port Cos.”
“That is true,” said Tasdron, hurriedly. It was true. The typical colonizing situation among Gorean polities tends to resemble classical colonization, and not the typical colonization of nation states, in which the colony, in effect, is held subject to alien domination. When a Gorean city founds a colony, usually as a result of internal overpopulation or political dissension, the potential colonists, typically, even before leaving the mother city, develop their own charter, constitution and laws. Most importantly, from the Gorean point of view, when the colony is founded, it will have its own Home Stone. The Home Stone of Port Cos, significantly, was not the Home Stone of Cos. Ar’s Station, on the other hand, did not have its own Home Stone, but its Home Stone remained that of Ar. This is not to deny, of course, that the colony will not normally have a close tie with the mother city. It usually will. There are too many bonds, cultural and historical, between them, for this not to be the case.
“The chain was inordinately expensive,” said Glyco, “and, I am certain, it will prove ultimately ineffective.”
“It was forged in Cos,” said Callisthenes.
“We sha
ll be expected, in the long run, to bear its expense,” said Glyco.
“That is possibly true,” said Callisthenes, “but then, too, it is we who will be the direct recipient of its benefits.”
“If there are any benefits,” said Glyco, glumly.
“Surely Port Cos will find some benefits in being spared the predations of pirates,” said Callisthenes.
“The chain will surely be ineffective,” said Glyco. “That is why I came to Victoria, to seek out Callimachus, that he might, in these dark times, with the topaz in transit, lend us his council, and his blade.”
“The topaz, given the existence of the chain,” said Calliethenes, “is now meaningless, though, to be sure, I am charged with the attempt to intercept it, a charge in which I have, thanks to our young friend here, failed.” Callisthenes glanced meaningfully at me. “To have actually delivered the topaz to Policrates,” he said, “was little short of an act of idiocy.”
I shrugged. “You have heard my plan,” I said, “that we muster ships and, under the cover of darkness, posing as the fleet of Ragnar Voskjard, enter and take the stronghold of Policrates.”
“It is a foolish plan,” said Callisthenes. “You would surely be discovered. Spies abound. The pirates are well informed, I am certain.”
“Only we in this room know of this possibility,” I said.
“Discuss your plan with Aemilianus,” suggested Callisthenes. “The pirates of the eastern Vosk are more your concern than mine. The chain will keep the pirates of the western Vosk out of the waters of Port Cos.”
“I do not wish to risk several ships and hundreds of men in such an unusual venture,” said Aemilianus. “Besides, how do I know this is not a pirate trick to lure the fleet of Ar’s Station into an ambush in cramped waters?”
“You have my word on it,” said Callimachus, “the word of a warrior.”
“Perhaps you, too, have been fooled,” said Aemilianus. “I must think of the security of my men and my ships.” Aemilianus looked at me. “Are you of Ar?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
“Are you of the Warriors?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
Aemilianus spread his hands. “How then,” he asked the others, “in so great a matter, can I trust him?”
“You must do so,” urged Tasdron.
“Do so,” urged Glyco.
“Why should you undertake such risks?” Aemilianus asked me.
“There is a girl, a slave, I want in the stronghold of Policrates,” I said.
“You would undergo these risks, these dangers,” he asked, “for a girl?”
“I desire her,” I said. “I want to own her.”
“Is that all?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Too,” I said, “I have scores to settle with pirates.” Twice I had been demeaned by pirates, once in the tavern of Tasdron, and once in the Pirate’s Chain, the tavern of Hibron.
“We are not interested,” said Aemilianus. “I am sorry.”
“His plan is bold,” said Callimachus. “It is brilliant.”
“I am sorry,” said Aemilianus.
“The plan is not only dangerous,” said Callisthenes, “and I would not risk men or ships of Port Cos in such a rash scheme, but it is, at least as far as preventing the gathering of the river pirates goes, unnecessary. The chain will keep the pirates of the west to the west of Port Cos.”
“The chain will be ineffective,” reiterated Glyco, miserably.
“It will be quite effective,” said Callisthenes.
“A chain can be forged, a chain can be cut,” I said.
“The chain is patrolled, of course,” said Callisthenes. “Too, should there be any massing of pirate ships, we can meet them with the fleet of Port Cos.”
“What do you think, Callimachus?” asked Glyco. He was not, of course, of the warriors.
“With all due respect, my friend, Callisthenes,” said Callimachus, “I must concur with Glyco, for his judgment in this matter seems sound.”
“He is of the merchants,” said Callisthenes.
“He is a man of shrewd and practical judgment,” said Callimachus. “And, in my opinion, his fears are well founded.”
“With the chain in place,” said Callisthenes, “we need fear nothing.”
“Placing the chain,” said Callimachus, “is unimaginatively defensive. It will be impossible to defend its length against determined attacks. Do not permit it to lull you into a false sense of security.”
“If there is to be an attack at the chain,” said Aemilianus, “I am willing to lend you ships from Ar’s Station, to strengthen your defenses.”
“We can handle our own affairs in Port Cos,” said Callisthenes. “The ships of Ar’s Station are not welcome in the waters of Port Cos.”
“There is no drop of water in this river,” said Aemilianus, quietly, “which we of Ar’s Station may not put beneath the keels of our fleet.”
“You will do so at your own risk, my dear Captain,” said Callisthenes, grimly.
“Our projects are doomed,” moaned Tasdron.
“Captain, Callisthenes,” said I, “surely the pirates, as you yourself have suggested, are well informed.”
“It seems they know anything that occurs on the river,” he admitted.
“If that be the case,” I said, “surely the forging of the chain, or at least its transport to Turmus, and later to Port Cos, and the time and effort spent in preparing its mountings, joining the lengths, and setting the chain in place, must have been known to the pirates.”
“Supposedly this was done in secrecy,” said Callisthenes, “but I think there is little doubt they must have understood what was being done. Indeed, I have heard that there are rumors of the work in various of the western towns, in Turmus and Ven, in Tetrapoli and Tafa.”
“Indeed,” smiled Glyco. “We have even received a protest from Ven in the council.”
“On the assumption that the pirates understood what was occurring,” I said to Callisthenes, “does it not seem strange to you that they made no effort to interfere with the placing of the chain?”
“It was guarded, of course,” said Callisthenes.
“But no effort, even a small one, or one in force or desperation, by steel or by guile, was made to prevent its placing?”
“None, at least to my knowledge,” said Callisthenes.
“You yourself are presumably well informed,” I said.
“I trust so,” said Callisthenes.
“Does this lack of opposition or interference on the part of pirates as powerful and well organized as those of Ragnar Voskjard not seem puzzling to you?”
“Yes,” said Callisthenes.
“What would you conclude from this lack of interest or action on their part?” I asked.
“I do not know,” said Callisthenes, angrily.
“The conclusion is clear,” said Glyco.
“And what do you conclude?” inquired Callisthenes.
“That they do not fear it,” said Glyco, “that they do not regard it as a threat to themselves.”
Callisthenes scowled at the portly merchant.
“If that is their belief, they are, in my opinion, surely mistaken,” said Callisthenes.
“Do you truly think a chain will stop the fleet of Ragnar Voskjard?” asked Callimachus.
“Surely,” said Callisthenes, “the chain and, too, of course, the vessels of Port Cos.”
“We know,” said Tasdron, “that the topaz was brought to Victoria. It was doubtless brought as a pledge of Ragnar Voskjard to Policrates. It signifies, in effect, the agreement of Ragnar Voskjard to join forces with Policrates. I do not doubt that the fleet of Ragnar Voskjard, in a short time, will follow the topaz.”
“Aiii!” whispered Glyco.
“Voskjard may be on the move now,” said Callimachus. “At this very moment his forces may be moving east on the river.”
“Policrates is expecting their arrival,” I said. “That I know. Indeed, it is that
which gave plausibility to my plan.”
“The chain will stop them,” said Callisthenes. “The chain must stop them!”
“I must return immediately to Port Cos,” said Glyco. “Voskjard must be met at the chain.”
We rose, all, to our feet.
“But what of the stronghold of Policrates?” I asked. “Would you leave such an enemy at your back?”
“It would take ten thousand men to storm that stronghold,” said Callisthenes.
“Five hundred, entered, through the sea gate, could take it,” I said.
“Your plan is the plan of a fool,” said Callisthenes.
“I have been within the stronghold,” I said. “I know it. I tell you it could be so taken.”
“I will not risk a large number of men in this,” said Callisthenes, “but I will tell you what I might do. I will give you twenty men, if so many will volunteer, and if Aemilianus, of Ar’s Station, will similarly supply another twenty. Then, if, truly, you can enter the sea gate, and can hold it, set a beacon at the gate. We can then send supporting forces through the narrow waters to the wall. I have some two hundred men in Victoria and Aemilianus, as my intelligence sources indicate, a comparable number.”
“There will be presumably some four or five hundred men in the holding,” I said. “You would ask some forty men to stand against them, holding the sea gate for perhaps two Ahn?”
“Surely,” said Callisthenes.
“It is not just the sea gate,” I said, “and the wall near it, and the tower housing the windlass, but the walks about the walled cove within, and the entry to the main stronghold.”
“It would be difficult,” said Callisthenes.
“Our men would be spread too thinly, Jason,” said Callimachus. “You must forget the matter.”
“It is sometimes surprising,” said Callisthenes, regarding me, smiling, “what a few men, determined and skilled, can accomplish.”
“Ragnar Voskjard,” I said, “would come with a fleet, not one or two ships, and forty men.”