by Andre Norton
“Good friend,” Tam-sin smiled a little unsteadily. Follan was not a man easy to fathom but that he had done this for her, that was enough to give near kin-kindness. “Say what you will, but perhaps not the truth.”
She unfastened the kilt, to stand bare of body save for a belt which held the long-bladed knife Kilwar had given her at their choosing. Then she swung to the sea and, cupping her hands about her mouth, she sent forth a high ringing call. Three times did she so call, and at the third she saw the distant form leap above the waves for an instant and knew that she had been heard and answered.
Content for so much, Tam-sin slid into the embrace of the sea, choosing well her moment that she might not be crushed between wave and rock, and began to swim. She was not far beyond the rocks when those she had summoned flanked her on either side, their round, bluish bodies only half seen. She flung out a hand to each, felt that hand seized in a gentle but firm grip by mouths which were armed with wicked teeth, but whose weapons would never be turned on one who had the secret of their calling. Now she was drawn forward at a speed no swimmer, not even the sea-born of the keeps could equal. She needed no ship to reach the Reefs with these at her service.
VII
At intervals Tam-sin swam by herself but the loxsas still flanked her, ready to offer help when she tired. That weak sunlight was gone and the sky, whenever she arose to the surface for a sighting, bore the deep purplish red of the afterglow. The water world through which she now headed was as known to the Tam-sin part of her as her own room in the Hive of the dreamers from which the other person in her had come. Though there were dark bulks which plowed these ways, yet none would turn toward her with the loxsas on watch.
Those were of high intelligence, but of a thinking pattern so alien to her own that it was a difficult effort to contact them. So the messages of such communication were necessarily very limited. They knew where she would go, the why was not needed for they would ask no explanation of her.
The moon arose and once more she was towed by her finned companions. Then, out of the waters, whirled two more of their kind swiftly and efficiently taking their places to offer her the same aid.
She was hungry and thirsty, but the needs of her body could be set aside for now. Let her but reach the Reefs and she could relax the inflexible will which kept rein on the loxsas and carried her along.
Time ceased to have any real meaning. Tam-sin felt as if she had so traveled for hours without number. Then she sighted, during a surfacing, the dark bulk of a ship. For a single wild moment she thought perhaps this was the ghost vessel, until she heard the sound of a gong ring across the water and knew that it must be one of those set on guard by the Sea People.
At this moment she had no desire to seek out any ship save the ominous one which drifted in the billows of the fog. Should she chance to be picked up by Kilwar’s own vessel there was good chance of being taken into custody by those among the crew who might be Rhuys’s men. For she never doubted that he had his spies on board. And, were she to hail the battleships of either Lochack and Lochriss, the result might well be the same in the end. Therefore, she must head for the Reef itself and there await a chance to find the ghostly sea trap which had taken Kilwar’s party.
The loxsas angled left now, drawing her away from proximity with the ship. And they swam underwater, where at night they could not be detected. There arose rocks high before them, and the girl knew she had reached the roots of that wall whose jaggered crest formed the surface Reefs. Getting the loxsas to loose their hold she swam slowly toward that and, sought hand-and footholds to raise her out of the waves and into the night air which was so frosty cold on her bare skin that she gave a gasp as she crept up the jaggered surface. Huddling below the crest line where the movement of her body might well reveal her to some keen-eyed watcher, she breathed deeply to loose the action of her gills and return once again to that of her lungs.
From this point she could see lights on three ships. They were apparently riding at anchor well off the danger of the Reef. There was no mist and she began to wonder if the ghost vessel itself had something to do with that as a cloak for the evil which undoubtedly inhabited it.
Her eyes could not serve her now, she must seek with that other talent, search out through the cloak of the night for the mind to which she could link. There was a faint in-and-out pattern which she caught first, but did not attempt to clarify. That was loxsas’ thoughts and of no value to her. Farther, wider, she must spread her net, hoping to catch in it the faintest flicker of Kilwar to guide her. But it would seem that she could not find…
She had pushed near to the limit such a seeking could go if it were unfed by linkage. Then she tightened her hands into fists, her head whipped left, to the north. Again she summoned the full of her power and sent it probing in that direction.
Not true linkage, no. It was like finding only an end of a raveling thread when one sought the whole piece of weaving. But there was enough to assure her that in that direction lay her field of search. So heartened, Tam-sin slipped once more into the water, her sea guard closing in about her without her call.
Her escort had grown to six now. The loxsas had a vast curiosity, especially about men. It was well known that they often accompanied Sea People at a distance, merely, it would seem, to watch their actions. That they came so close to her was because she had used the old summoning. Now they sped along beside her, and her sea ears caught the faintest traces of their shrill cries which, as their thoughts, sped in and out of her own range of consciousness. Their sleek bodies, twice as long as her own, made a formidable ring of defense, but that they would serve her so once her goal was found, that she knew could not happen.
Since they swam now below the surface and towed her at the speed they could easily maintain, Tam-sin left her transport to her companions and centered all her mind upon picking up and holding that trace which had lured her in this direction.
It was not a true linkage, that she already knew. Rather it was closer to seeing a thin shadow in place of the substance of a man. But she knew that she was not mistaken, some form of contact with Kilwar endured.
Only that grew no stronger as they went, though she had expected it would. And in that she was disappointed. Finally she loosed her ties with the loxsas and swam to the surface. About her…
Her heart raced with mingled triumph and apprehension. The mist lay heavy, a rolling fog. It hid the surface of the sea so that she could not tell now east, west, north, or south. The loxsas who had last borne her company raised their snouts free from the waves and faced ahead. She strove once more for communication and got a faint reassurance. The fog did not baffle the sea creatures—here was a man-made thing there.
That could only be the ghost ship! With all her will Tam-sin sent forth her desire—to come beside the thing hidden in the mist. But, to her astonishment, for the first time the creatures refused their help.
She could sense their protest even though she could not hear their supersonic voices, nor meet them squarely thought to thought. Whatever swung with the roll of wave within the fog frightened them.
Just as it frightened her. Yet she would not yield to that fear and she swam resolutely ahead, aware that the loxsas, upset, flashed around her at a distance, striving to herd her back to what they considered less dangerous territory.
It was only the strength of her will which made them reluctantly give way. Now they no longer flanked her, rather drifted back, following her at a distance which grew the greater as she kept determinedly on. Their breed feared nothing in the sea as she well knew. So that this present uneasiness of theirs was a warning of what she deliberately took the wild chance to face.
Here the fog was so thick that it seemed a wall to ward her off. She dropped below the surface where she could not see it. Ahead, ahead was a trail of phosphorescence outlining what could only be the keel of a ship. That phosphorescence was a warning in itself, for it was born from the shells of those creatures who lived best on wood long
washed by salt waves. And for so many to gather in one place meant that this ship had been far too long at sea… no attention given to the cleaning of its hull.
Tam-sin headed directly for the source of the wan light. She knew that the loxsas had dropped completely behind and her all thought was for how she might win aboard. Unless there remained some line dropped along the side she might not be able to win to the deck.
Surfacing one more she raised her head, treading water, one hand against the weed-grown side of the derelict. As far as she could see there was no rope or trailing line here. The anchor chain?
She paddled toward the stern and there she saw it, heard it, too, rasping along the wood it had already polished bare of weed and shell. The anchor was gone, but the chain still hung as if weighted, near enough so that Tam-sin managed a push upward to hook a hand in a half-open link.
It was a difficult climb and one which left her breathless. However, she reached the opening where the chain fed in. That was too small for even her slight-boned figure to use, so she sought for a hold above and, gasping with effort, at least swung over a splintered rail onto the deck. The mist hid all from view except for perhaps an arm’s-length away. She crouched to listen, with her ears, not her mind.
VIII
There was life here, she could sense it. But it was as alien as that of the loxsas, overlying and near smothering the traces of Kilwar which she sought. Of one thing was Tam-sin sure, she would not find anything in the common cabins and passages of the wallowing vessel. The searches which had been made there had not been slighted. There was naught left for any seeker to find.
Yet something brooded here…
The girl’s bare feet were silent on the deck as she crept forward, her knife ready in her hand. To draw that was only instinct for she was sure that what lurked in hiding was nothing one could overcome by any blade, no matter how skillfully wielded.
Not in the ship, then where?
The curdling of the fog cloaked near all the deck save that which was immediately about her. Though she listened, all she could hear was the slap of waves against the vessel’s side, the scrape of the anchor chain rubbing ever back and forth like a pendulum.
There was something in the mist, close to the deck. Very slowly Tam-sin edged toward that shadow. This could only be the edge of that hatch so battened down and sealed. With her left hand resting on it, slipping over the web of ropings that kept it secure, she made the circuit of the wide square. This was the only place they had not searched, those who had been drawn into the trap of the ghost ship.
Because the lashings were taut and looked undisturbed, because of the seal, none boarding the derelict had given it a second thought. But it was the only place left to hide whatever made the derelict a menace.
Tam-sin had reached the seal. It was near as wide as her palm, and, through the wan light which seemed a part of the fog itself, she could indeed see that impression of the House which Starrex ruled in the real world.
Tam-sin sank to her knees. The deck was runneled with damp, perhaps condensed from the fog. And there was a cold which made her shiver. But she raised the seal where it crossed the final knotting of the ropes and gave it a hard tug.
It seemed to her that something in the crisscross of ropes had yielded to her grasp. She pulled again, harder. The seal slipped free and rope ends fell away, far too easily. This had not been truly sealed after all, merely the appearance of being so had been craftily given.
She worked hurriedly, throwing off the latchings of the hatch. Whether she would have the strength to raise the cover was another problem. It was divided into two leaves, which split down the middle. Putting her knife between her teeth for safekeeping, the girl hooked fingers in that center crack and heaved with all her might.
She nearly lost her balance as the half she worried at arose swiftly as if it were far lighter than she had thought it, or as if she had activated some spring to aid in the opening. From the void below burst a light: pale, greenish, and wholly unpleasant. And with the light there arose a stench, the foul like of which she had never been forced to inhale before.
Choking with nausea Tam-sin fell back, waiting for whatever horror might then dare to show. But there was nothing save the light and the smell. With one hand over her nose to ward off all she could of the latter, Tam-sin once more approached the half-open hatch.
She made herself look down, though all her sensitive’s warnings, every fiber of her body, opposed that act.
What she saw she could not first understand, the horror of it was too great. But she forced herself to study the contents of the hold below, catalogue them with her mind.
Immediately below the center break of the hatch was a long box or coffer. And in that lay a man. At his head rested a globe of light from which spread the greenish illuminance. But…
On either side of the open coffer were tumbled… bodies! Tam-sin pressed her hand, knuckles hard against her lips, so stifling a scream. Some sprawling there must have been old, the skin was only parchment stretched over bone, husks of what had once been men. But slumped against that open coffer, close by the head was Kilwar! And with him his liegemen, beyond those three others which must be some of those Pihuys had sent on board, though they had a curious sunken and wasted look and she was sure they were dead.
Kilwar! Her seeking thought probed into mind of the limp body. No, not dead!
But how could she get him free of that pestilent prison?
The ropes which had lashed down the hatch! She caught at the fog-wet lengths, striving to knot the longer together. The meaning of what she had uncovered she did not know, but that there might be very little time left for Kilwar, of that she was sure.
Tam-sin made fast her rope to the nearest deck rail, testing each knot as she came back along her improvised ladder to the edge of the hatch.
She had to face now what was the greatest test of all: she must descend herself into that charnel house and seek to rouse Kilwar, and his men, if those still lived. And it took all her resolution to climb over and work her way down the ropes.
It was when she stood over the Sea Lord that she realized whatever power this terrifying trap was rousing. For that was the sensation she caught, something horribly sated stirred from a gluttoned sleep. She would be caught in turn… only the fact that it had feasted well had so far served her.
Reaching down she caught at Kilwar’s sword. It was far heavier than her knife and she drew it awkwardly, not being schooled in the use of such a weapon. The light, that was growing stronger. She glanced to the globe, saw a swirling deep inside.
There was… life!
The globe…
Something closed upon her, wrapped her around as if to smother, driving air from her lungs, leaving only the nauseating stench which made her retch. It would… take… her!
She dug fingers into Kilwar’s shoulder, shook him. There was still a spark of life flickering in him, of that she was sure. He must awaken, help himself. For she now faced a power which far outreached any she had fronted, in dreams or out.
“Kilwar!” Tam-sin shrieked his name, felt him stir feebly. She could not pull him nearer to the rope; he was too heavy for her as a dead weight. Instead he toppled a little toward her, driving her back against the side of the coffer. For the first time she saw directly the face of the man within it. Saw and knew…
Kas! Was he dead, drained of life force as the others here, or did he sleep?
The globe pulsated with light. A vast, arrogant confidence spread from it to her. This thing had never known defeat, it had gathered its victims as It chose and none could stand against it.
Tam-sin drew upon that part of her which was dreamer, Tide-Singer. The thing was not man as she knew it, but something far beyond any classification her knowledge could offer her. Only to find Kas lying here… in a queer way that steadied and strengthened that part of her which had never been defeated either.
It was the globe which fed, fed the man it guarded or itself? There w
as no sign of corruption about Kas’s body. She thought she even saw his breast rise and fall in a very shallow breathing.
The globe…
That which abode within it was growing stronger—ready to overpower her. Tam-sin reversed the sword she still held. Though the sharp-toothed edges cut painfully into her flesh, she raised it high, and brought the pommel down on the globe.
That did not shatter as she had hoped, though under her blow the light whirled malignantly and she swayed under return blow of willed force. A second time she struck at the bubble, blood from her scored hands making the blade slippery in her grip.
It would not break. And in another breath, perhaps two, she would be overtaken by its power. What…
Once more Tam-sin reversed the weapon, the blood flowing down her wrists. She had only a second left, and a wild guess which was only that. Holding the sword as best she could, she aimed the point straight down, into the breast of the man in the coffer, realizing that she had no other choice.
IX
There was a howling screech which did not burst from Tam-sin’s throat, mainly because she could not at that moment make a sound. All sense failed her under a vicious blow. She reeled and fell among the tangle of bodies, clinging desperately to the spark of life within her.
The howling was a torture to her ears. And there was surge of light as blinding. She moaned feebly. No longer could she muster any strength, she could only endure as best she might.
There was movement beside her.
The thing in the coffer, she had not known in that back lash of power whether she had struck true or not. No, no, and no!
Somehow Tam-sin drew on her last dregs of strength. She struggled up, loathing what lay beneath, about her. The light it no longer seared her tearing eyes. It was flickering in the globe, as if it, too, now fought extinction.