Bactine (34 page)

They climbed. They flew on for an hour. And the islands came in sight.

"Do you think they are hiding out there?" Daniel asked the skipper.

"It is one of the options, Daniel. One of the six I have at hand. They're based on reports of other survivors. Unfortunately, they too can only guess where the pirates really are. But they have to be around here." The skipper dragged his finger around an area on the map that was too large for Daniel's taste.

With some tricky manoeuvring, the crew managed to sail the airship around the islands. From the air, Daniel was certain, they should easily be able to spot ships as large as the Pricosine, and also the smaller merchant ship the pirates had used to raid them. But there were no ships to spot.

"Where to next, skipper?" Daniel asked, disappointment on his face.

A crashing sound made everyone look to Aldrick who stared at his feet. The hilt of his sword had fallen off and dropped on the bottom of the airship, which Daniel had named Flish.

"Is your family heirloom falling apart?" Phorlis asked, who had gotten in shape by then.

The skipper shook his head. "The chemicals of the water. They reach up to here."

Daniel felt unpleasant by that news: they were over three hundred feet over the water's surface.

The skipper told them the new course. Aldrick searched the layer of wind that was most favourable, which took them down to a mere ninety feet high. Abnezer and Daniel rigged the sails, assisted by Tomlin and Phorlis. At speed they left the islands.

"How good are we on your extra lift gas, Aldrick?" Daniel asked.

"That is all still fine, Mr. Zacharias," the inventor said after tapping a glass vial that was contained in a Polychlon mantel. Daniel had seen him do that often but had no idea what to look for.

They had reached the second spot which was an option. It was as deserted as the islands, and they had proceeded to spot number three, which was a tremendous rock formation that rose up from the sea to astounding heights.

"Good. We're going to need that perhaps," Daniel said. "Are you okay, Aldrick? You've been here for a while already again."

"I can manage, Mr. Zacharias," the inventor said, but Daniel called Tomlin and asked if he could take over. There was something in the way Aldrick was moving his feet Daniel did not like.

As Aldrick was lying down, the high rocks were coming into view. The skipper's calculation had been perfect: they were approaching the rock formation with the sun in their back, so the pirates, if they were there, would not see them until the last moment.

Tension on board rose, again, as they scanned the area. But as with the previous two places, there were no pirates.

"This is not going to work," Aldrick said as he massaged his sore feet. "There are a million places where they can hide!" Abnezer and Phorlis tended to agree with him.

"Only thousands," Daniel grumbled, "and we're going to search each one of them until we find the rats." That earnt him some unfriendly looks, but he didn't care. "You can get off right here if you want. Just swim that way for a week, or hitch a ride on a Fringy, and you'll be fine."

The crew had been flying for six days already, and slowly there were situations developing and things happening that started to chew on people's nerves.

"People, come on. We have searched half the spots now," Tomlin said, "three more and we call it off, okay? You all knew this was going to be tough. It is tough. Deal with it, or, as Daniel said, get out now."

There were grumbles, but nobody wanted out.

The skipper told the sailor men what course to take and the sails were set. Tomlin added lift to the balloons to take them over the pointy rocks, and the flight went on.

"We're off to the coast now," the skipper said. "We're going there as it is an option, although a strange one. It's close by."

Close by proved to be relative. It was already approaching dusk as they sailed along the coastline. Daniel sat on the side of the airship that looked out over the ocean, the colours of the setting sun was setting the water on fire. He thought of Rhonda and of the strange short visit of Ombra Hozteng.

"Daniel?"

He turned his head towards Abnezer who looked out over the bow."Yes?"

"I see boats."

Daniel got up and stood next to Abnezer. He saw boats too. At least he saw parts of boats. He alerted the crew who readied themselves for battle. Several had Polychlon sticks with hooks. Aldrick held one also, as his sword had ceased to be. The inventor did keep to the back of the airship, as Daniel had told him. The man was precious in flying the airship, he should be kept away from fighting as much as possible.

Daniel took his special suitcase from under a bench. Tomlin stood next to him, his eyes glistening as Daniel opened the box.

"Oh my God," said Tomlin. "You took that with you? Did they know?"

"I think they knew," said Daniel as he hooked several of the appliances to his belt and handed some to Tomlin. "I guess they wanted me gone rather than count their bombs and artillery. I just hope the things still work."

Tomlin nodded. He was very aware of the problems the water caused.

"This is the real thing, folks," Daniel said. "If this isn't, we're going home. Aldrick, take us in low. We'll jump off and then you get the hell out of here until you see us wave. Or if you don't see any of us anymore. Then go home. At least you know where the pirate's nest is then."

"Yes. Daniel." It was the first time Aldrick called Daniel by his first name. This was not the moment to be courteous. "Be careful. I don't want to go home alone."

Everyone put an improvised mask over their nose and mouth. Abnezer was handing out sticks that they had brought with them. It was not the best thing to fight with, but better than nothing.

Daniel and Tomlin stood at the bow, each holding two grenades, the security switches already off.

The airship's slant wings almost touched the water as it sailed towards the strip of beach where people were walking back and forth from a stranded ship to a cave and back. They were obviously carrying goods. There were a few people on the narrow strip of beach who did not seem to work. Those probably were pirates supervising whatever was going on.

"Please, let that be them," Daniel whispered. Then he cautioned the others. "Hit the deck!" He flung a grenade and aimed it towards the pirates. The thing exploded with a shock wave that made all people on the beach tumble and eat sand and gravel. Two of the pirates got the full blast of the grenade and got ripped to shreds by it. The grenade had become unstable very quickly.

Tomlin threw one of the sonic grenades also, causing more unrest and devastation and taking out a few more pirates.

They did not wait any longer. The airship had almost no speed anymore so they jumped, sticks at the ready, as dozens of pirates with whips and handsful of powder came running from several caves.

The men from the airship ran straight towards the pirates who flung the coughing powder at them, before grabbing their weapons. The masks worked, and the pirates, surprised that their preferred defence failed so gloriously, faced retribution from five very angry men.

Daniel and Tomlin fired their weapons as fast as they could, killing handsful of pirates in less than two minutes. They had enormous advantages: the pirates had not expected this attack, and they had never done battle against men with advanced automatic weapons.

Daniel fought a pirate off, who tried to use a club against him. The club hit him full on the arm, but the Glandrine skin seemed to resist most of the blow. Daniel shot the pirate and fired at will at all the others he got in sight. Most of the fighting and shooting would be his share and Tomlin's, as they had the main fire-power. As long as it lasted.

The skipper, Phorliss and Abnezer, sticks in their hands, headed for the people that had fallen down near the ship. "Pricosine!" they shouted, "Pricosine! Over here!" It was a strange battle cry, but Daniel had suggested they'd shout the name of the ship. That would be something the sailors would recognise. The three men lashed out at the pirates that got in their way.

Several enslaved sailors got up. "Yes! Pricosine!" The skipper and Abnezer handed out the sticks they carried, and the prisoners turned against the remaining pirates who still fought like maniacs.

A large shape suddenly stormed through the ranks of fighting people, hitting at everyone it passed, taking down several of them with vicious blows.

Daniel saw it go and recognised it. "Watch out over there! That's the Bonto! It's dangerous!" He aimed and fired, but at that moment his handgun had decided it hated the chemical environment.

The Bonto charged towards the skipper. Abnezer took a swing at it with a stick, hitting it full in the head. The impact made the stick fly from his hands and the beast rammed the skipper who went down like a sack of salt.

Tomlin managed a good shot, taking the gamble he might hit the wrong target. The Bonto staggered on for a few more feet, then it collapsed.

Abnezer cursed and picked up the skipper, half carrying him and half dragging the unconscious man through the water, to get him away from the fighting on the narrow strip of beach. He knew they would need the skipper to get back home. Leaving him on the beach, with a Bonto that might wake up again, was not an option.

Phorliss and many of the Pricosine crew were bashing away at the pirates, who were forced to withdraw into their cave. In the first minutes of the attack, their numbers had dwindled like brave snowflakes in a scorching desert.

"Down, everyone!" Tomlin screamed as he tossed his last grenade after the pirates.

The device did not explode to its full extent, but still a respectable amount of rock came down, sealing off most of the cave's exit.

A strange silence spread over the beach. Daniel and Tomlin quickly assessed the situation. Phorlis and three sailors lay dead in the sand, as did many pirates. Many of the sailors were hurt, either from the fight or from bad treatment.

"Daniel..."

Daniel recognised the voice. "Ulaman."

The captain looked awful. He missed a hand, there was a rag around his head that was meant to be a bandage. The pirates had gotten to him badly. The man staggered towards Daniel but fell down after a few steps. Some sailors hurried forward to help him up.

Daniel was there too, to lift the fallen bear. "We're here to take you home," he said. "Tomlin, go and signal Aldrick."

Aldrick had not gone far. With only little sail, the only way available was up, so he was able to set down the airship quickly. The rescued sailors, most of them from the Pricosine, some came from other ships, boarded the boat. The attack force followed, as Daniel and Tomlin secured their safety with what means they had. Sticks and stones. The pirate's cave however was still closed, there was no danger coming from there yet, and the Bonto had not moved yet either.

The soldiers jumped on board, after which the airship rose into the air. Slower than usual, but it worked. Daniel stared at the massacre they had left on the beach, a last grenade in his hand. He saw the small merchant ship that had started all this.

He flicked off the security and threw the grenade at the ship. Nothing happened; the grenade had been affected already. After a curse he turned and worked on the sails, as the others from the crew were taking care of the wounded.

-=-=-

They had been flying for a few hours already, following the coastline. After making sure everything was in order, Daniel had looked for Draiky and talked to her. He had told her about Ombra's visit. It seemed to bring power back to the woman.

"She really came to see you? For me?"

"Yes." Daniel told her about the unfortunate short visit and the strange end, but Draiky seemed to miss most of that. For her it was important only that Ombra had done something.

Daniel smiled and let Draiky bask in the surprise. It made him feel good. He went round to see who else they had on board. He found most of his friends, but walked around again in search of Bilk, the alien. Finally he kneeled down with Ulaman and Xandree to ask.

They filled him in about how Bilk had tried to fight himself free and met his end that way. They also told him how a several others of the crew had been killed, just to set an example, to crush morale and anyone's desire to try an escape or revolt.

"This man, Birkle, is very good at breaking people, Daniel," Ulaman said. "I have yet to see someone who can be as cruel as he is. He actually whipped his ape for not killing someone slowly enough."

Daniel shuddered. It made him feel sick, but also even more glad that he had done all what he had, to save his friends. He looked around the airship and his heart cringed. The state these people were in was awful.

He went back aft and checked with Tomlin and the skipper, who was too stubborn to stay unconscious. The man was already working on where they were and how long it would take them to get back to Skarak.