by Glen Cook
The sparks betrayed their hiding place. But as men started toward them others nearer the airship sent up a howl of panic.
The lantern Soup threw had blown its reservoir. A merry fire was popping and crackling as it crawled toward the gas bladders. Would-be airship pirates fled. Some of the bolder tried to keep the burning oil contained. Those stalking toward Soup and Spud turned back.
Soup sent the second lantern arcing into the crowd. Meantime, Spud set a safer fire which sent up billows of dark smoke. "This is what I had in mind," he said. "Not attempted suicide."
"Yeah? Let's get out of here. We don't want to get rounded up with that lot. Too much explaining, I figure."
Avoiding capture, though, proved easier said than done. First, several very angry, determined, and perseverant gnarly men got onto their trail. Then soldiers popped up everywhere, sooner than expected.
The guilty officers, nervously alert, had heard the first uproar. They had decided to cover up. Three hundred soldiers were in the yards with orders to take no prisoners.
Unlike the pirates, Soup and Spud did not try to escape, only to evade. They lay low during the worst howl and clang. When it waned and the troops were feeling smug, they spied around and found a noncom known to themselves and Rider.
"Baracas," Soup called. "Over here." He stepped from the shadows skirting a mooring mast, into light where he could be recognized. Spud followed.
"You guys? What're you doing here?"
"Foiling an airship theft."
The soldier frowned. "That what was going on?"
"We rushed in on the courier from the Twelfth's camp on the Saverne side ... " Soup shut up. Spud had gouged him.
The soldier, baffled, shrugged and said, "Stay close to me or you might get gutted with the rest. We'll let the tribunes sort you out later."
"That was the idea," Soup admitted.
The troops had the fires out. They were collecting bodies. Not a few wore imperial uniforms. The gnarly men and easterners were fierce when cornered. Soup counted a score of the squat men and nearly as many Orientals. Spud observed, "This ought to break Shai Khe's back. He'll have to do his own dirty work now."
"How many got away?" Soup asked Baracas.
"None. That we know of."
Soup chuckled. "That'll get Shai Khe's goat. Can you imagine what he could have done with that airship? And his powers? He could have held the City hostage."
"Who the hell is this Shy Key?" Baracas asked.
"A villain with enough wealth to make your officers blind while forty men steal an imperial warship."
Baracas took them to the leading centurion of his maniple, who immediately kicked the question of their presence up to the tribune level.
They found officers gathered, discussing the excitement in secretive voices, when Baracas brought them to headquarters, near the yard gates. A sour-faced subaltern demanded, "What do you want, Baracas?"
"Sir, these men were mixing it up with the foreigners trying to steal the Grand Phantom, and I thought ... "
"They were in there? What're they doing here? You had orders ... "
"They're Rider's men, sir. They were trying to stop that gang."
A half dozen heads jerked around. Faces went pale. Someone muttered, "If the Protector is mixed up in this ... "
A tribune moved closer. He snapped, "You! Baracas, is it? Why haven't you executed your orders?"
"Sir, they're Rider's ... "
"'Is Rider your superior officer? Kill them."
Soup grinned. "Now we know who'll be first to hang."
And Spud, "You do it, Baracas, and I'll bet you your pension you don't make it to sundown yourself."
Baracas grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him. He whispered, "Shut up! You want to get out of this alive?" The soldier was no fool. He had seen the lay of things.
Unfortunately, the tribune had too. He drew a dagger. "Take them!"
Soup told Spud, "Brother, in this thing there's no end to the heads that need busted." He snatched up a camp stool.
Spud produced a knife taken from a fallen easterner. The officers closed in carefully. Those who knew the reputations of Rider and his men hung back, knowing a lot of people were going to get hurt.
Suddenly, darkness descended.
XXI
Rider stepped over the fallen tribune, knelt beside Spud, held an open phial beside his nose. He told Su-Cha, "Get the rest of these men tied."
Spud revived swearing and swinging. Rider plucked his fist out of the air. "Easy, Omar."
"Rider! How'd you get here?"
"Might ask you the same thing," Su-Cha chirruped. "You're supposed to be buried under a ruin on the HurmIslands."
Soup reiterated Spud's behavior and question.
Su-Cha said, "We were thinking about rescuing you in a couple days. All that brainwork wasted."
"How come you're here, Rider?" Spud asked.
"We were tracking a creature that killed the chief of the King's Shadows. The trail passed near the military yards. We saw smoke. We arrived in time to see you being brought in here. Once the situation became clear, I used a knockout spell. Hurry, Su-Cha."
"We know why Shai Khe was in the area, now. And by now he must suspect his plan has gone sour. Let's find him before he gets away again. Omar. This soldier, Baracas. Do you trust him to keep this lot under arrest?"
"He knows what would happen to him if he didn't."
"Put him in charge, then. We have to go."
Minutes later they departed the military yards. Baracas came behind, leading the prisoners. All had been stripped of togas and badges of rank. They seemed a well-kept chain of convicts. Baracas headed for the Citadel.
Rider headed toward the waterfront, along the yard fence.
"Look there," Soup said. "One of our eastern friends got away."
A man had dropped over the fence. He spotted them hastening toward him. His eyes got big. He whirled and ran.
Soup whooped and charged after him. Rider followed in a deceptive lope that ate ground fast. Over his shoulder, he told Su-Cha, "Get upstairs and follow him."
The imp stopped laboring to keep up. Soon he was a bird circling high above.
Rider snagged Soup's shoulder. "Let him lose us now."
Puffing, Soup glowered. "I'm not finished with those guys."
"He won't lead us while he can see us. If he loses us he'll run to his master."
And so it proved. Touching Rider through the web, Su-Cha reported their quarry moving more cautiously, watching his backtrail, yet now traveling with obvious purpose. Rider said, "Keep a sharp watch. Shai Khe will have sentries out."
That, too, proved true. But Rider's crowd kept them from reporting. They left a half dozen snoring thugs behind.
"This is the place," Rider said, staring at the blank face of a brick warehouse. Su-Cha circled above. "This time let's not let him get away." He dipped into his pockets, passed out what appeared to be green hens' eggs. He assigned posts around the warehouse. "Don't challenge him," he said. "If he comes your way, throw that, yell, and get under cover."
"What are they?" Spud asked.
Rider might not have heard. "Move out. I'll keep track through the web. I'm going inside on the count of a hundred."
The door through which the would-be airship pirate had fled stood ajar. Rider gave it a minute examination. It was as safe as it seemed. He slipped inside.
The warehouse was dark and seemed empty. The scurry of mice sent hollow clackings tumbling into the distance and back. Shai Khe was fond of dark places.
He slipped a green egg into each hand and advanced slowly. His eyes adjusted. Enough exterior light leaked in to permit navigation.
He heard a voice raised somewhere below, then the sounds of men moving hurriedly.
The fugitive had reported. His master was about to make his exit.
Rider ran, hunting a descending stairway.
He was too eager. He failed to notice a black silk trip line at ankle level. Hi
s toe hooked it.
He pitched forward, twisting. He hurled the egg in his right hand so he would not crush it when he broke his fall. He managed that in adequate silence, but the breaking egg sounded like a bottle smashing against pavement.
The sound was heard. Orders barked in an eastern tongue. Feet hammered on the steps. Rider ghosted into the concealment of a pillar. Three men pitched out of a shadow he had not recognized as a doorway. He flung his second egg.
It broke against a man's chest. The man flopped down immediately. The man behind him took three steps before collapsing. The third, to one side, halted in consternation. Rider leapt, felled him with one powerful punch.
Through the shadowed door and downstairs he loped—directly into a pair of guards with drawn blades.
He could not stop. It was too late. He flung himself through the air. His shout froze them for a second. A boot connected with a chin. A fist hammered the crown of a skull. Rider hit the floor and rolled, looking for more resistance.
A vast cellar surrounded him, dank and rank. There wasn't a soul to be seen.
A faint noise caught his ear. He hurried forward to a narrow canal leading into one wall of the basement. Shai Khe was escaping through the sewers!
The sound came again. It was the creak of an oar in an oarlock.
Rider extended himself through the web. The sewers were not well known to him. He traced them in his proximity. They formed a maze. He tried pinpointing Shai Khe, had no luck. The easterner used some clever sorcery to blind the web to his presence.
Had Rider had the proper tools he could have raised a spirit to set tracking Shai Khe, but he did not have the tools. The easterner had evaded him again.
Or had he? There was the thing Rider had been tracking when the uproar at the yards diverted him. Did Shai Khe's invisibility extend to it? It must be with its master.
He reached out, tugged at the web, took it in mental fingers, wove a net that would capture the whereabouts of the killing creature. And there it was! Moving away slowly, underground ...
Rider raced upstairs, through the warehouse, into the bright street, touching his men as he went. They gathered quickly. "Shai Khe escaped into the sewers, but I'm tracking him through the web. Follow me."
His lope was deceptive. Soon even Chaz was puffing and straining.
Rider slowed till everyone caught up. He beckoned Su-Cha down. The imp perched on a balcony railing. Rider said, "Shai Khe is almost directly beneath us here. There is an outflow into the Bridge a few hundred yards away. There's nowhere else he can go."
"We going to jump him?" Chaz puffed.
"Yes. And don't hesitate an instant. He'll be ready. Don't take any needless risks, either." He loped off again. People paused to admire his swift, easy grace. He reached the outflow well before he expected Shai Khe.
The others joined him.
The outflow debouched between wharves. Small grain ships were tied up alongside each. Rider subjected them to a swift visual examination, saw nothing suspicious. He sent Soup and Spud aboard the nearest vessel on the right side, left Preacher and Chaz above the outflow, took Greystone aboard the vessel to the left. The masters of both ships protested.
A boat shot from the sewer mouth.
Eggs hailed against it. Rider hurled a grapnel appropriated aboard his ship. In a moment he was hauling the boat in. The sea breeze began to disperse the green mist hiding it.
"Where the hell is he?" Chaz shouted.
Shai Khe was not aboard.
The boat contained only an unconscious, shaggy, monkey-like thing slightly smaller than Su-Cha.
"Somewhere enjoying his joke at our expense," Rider said. He did not hide his disappointment.
XXII
Chaz tossed the shaggy assassin down onto the worktable in the laboratory. "What is it?" he asked Caracene. She chewed her lip for a moment. "A khando. Their forebears were human. They lived in a city in the jungle in the east. One of their sorcerers overstepped himself a thousand years ago. A few generations later they had degenerated into near animals. They are just intelligent enough to be useful to Shai Khe."
"Well. A straight answer."
Rider completed a quick examination of the suite. The woman had done no damage. "You men get some rest. I'll look into the matter of Polybos House."
"What about our friends in the closet?" Preacher asked.
"Feed them. And the khando when it wakens. By which time I suggest you have it caged."
Su-Cha snickered. He was studying the khando intently. Rider anticipated some devilment.
"I wonder if it could lead us to Shai Khe if we turned it loose," Chaz said.
"It might. And he'll be looking for that." Rider finished replenishing his pockets with oddities. "I'll be back soon. Try to restrain your propensities for finding trouble." He went to the door.
Behind him, Chaz growled, "Don't even think about it, runt. You shift into one of those, I'll break two necks just to make sure I get the right one."
"Always bullying. Do they send barbarians to school for that? One of these days ... wham!"
The others began bickering about who had to feed the prisoners.
Rider smiled. They were handling the troublesome situation well.
King Belledon grumbled, "You took your good sweet time getting here." "I had a chance to capture Shai Khe. It didn't work out, though. He had one more bolt hole than I could plug. You heard what happened in the yards?"
"Yes. I've been in a state of siege here. The Shadows have done everything but try to break in."
"Did Polybos House have anything to say?"
"Nothing. Neither accusations nor offers of pardon reach him. The more time passes, the more he seems in dread, though."
"His master does not have an easy way with followers who get themselves captured. Let me have a look at him."
House was isolated in a sitting room that could be entered by but one door. One of Belledon's nephews guarded that. The King carried the only key.
Rider did not recognize the bony human caricature called Polybos House. But House recognized him, and retreated in terror. Rider observed, "You judge all humanity by yourself." He settled into the room's one chair, stared at the prisoner. "Are you ready to talk?"
"He would kill me."
"Maybe. But won't he do that anyway? Isn't that what you expected from the beginning? And thought you could evade?"
House did not reply.
Rider was sure he had touched the truth, though. "Tell me about the Devil's Eyes."
House looked blank.
Rider said, "There is no way the King can overlook your treason. But you can get out of this with your skin if you help us take Shai Khe."
Still nothing.
"I don't understand this unreasoning fear of the man." He began tapping the fingernails of his right hand against the arm of his chair. When House still did not respond, he said, "I don't want to resort to a truth-drawing."
"There is no hope against him," House said. "He has half the world at his command. He has half of Shasesserre."
"He has very little of the City. I have taken it away. If he doesn't run soon ... " Rider shifted subject. "Who were the most important men scheduled for assassination?"
Nothing.
There was a vaguely sagey, sweet smell in the air now. House began to look sleepy.
"General Partricus?" Rider asked. "His province is the east. I'd think Shai Khe would find him especially interesting. He returned to the City the other day. And he is a man beyond temptation or fear. If he hadn't those qualities he would not have received the eastern command."
Shasesserre, unlike some empires, was blessed with many devoted commanders.
House's eyes were almost shut. He nodded feebly. Then he started, glared at Rider suspiciously. Rider continued tapping his chair. House's eyes drifted shut.
Silent as death, Rider stalked closer. The sweet sage smell grew stronger. House began to snore.
Rider waited several minutes before bre
aking the seal on a small phial. He let House breathe the vapors that came forth. House wakened, but his eyes remained glazed.
Rider performed a series of small magics. House became as stiff as a wooden statue.
Rider asked questions. House answered in a low, slow, flat voice, very literally. Rider had to phrase himself carefully to obtain answers filled with sense.
Even then he was not sure he had learned anything of value.
Polybos House had used the King's Shadows to advance Shai Khe's cause, but was not in the know in the easterner's organization. House mentioned names, but none were news to Rider. Every one had been in the book left by Vlazos. Those scheduled for assassination were no surprise either.
"The Devil's Eyes." Rider kept returning to that. And getting nothing, no matter how he phrased his question.
Maybe there was no connection. Just random thoughts from the mind of a dying man.
Rider brought the King into the room. "I've gotten what little there is to be had. Keep him out of the way."
"You got nothing useful?"
"Very little. Shai Khe remains the key. I have to find him. Till I do we all have to stay alert. He'll keep trying."
XXIII
"So what do we do now?" Chaz asked. "He's outguessed us right down the line."
"He is here to eliminate men who threaten his imperialist dream. I've looked over the list of candidates for assassination. I want one of you to attach yourselves to each of the most likely. Excepting you, Su-Cha. I want you to shift again and fly around looking for places that might hide an airship."
"Come on!" Su-Cha protested. "You know how much energy shifting takes? You know how much a bird has to eat to keep going? My bones still ache from the last time. And I lost ten pounds. When you're my size you can't afford to lose ten pounds." He spun on Chaz, source of a volcanic, rumbling, mocking chuckle.
But it was Preacher who sank the spurs with a scriptural quotation about shirkers and malingerers.
"How does a guy get any respect around here?" Su-Cha demanded. "Without wearing a skirt? I'm the only one who's contributed anything in this business. But do I get any appreciation? Oh, no! What I hear is a chorus of disdain from a bunch of losers."