Ocean of Dust (34 page)

Locking her focus on Branda, she plunged into
the fight that filled the deck. Swords and polearms swung in all
directions, so close she felt the rushes of air against her face.
She threw herself between one man's legs, and then rolled aside as
a sword smashed into the deck. Her ear burned and she clapped her
hand to her head. Her ear was still there, but soaked in blood. She
tensed, wanting to curl into a ball, but she had to free Branda.
She sucked in a breath, ducked a blade swishing above her head and
continued blundering through the crowd, crouching low. A halberd
stabbed in front of her at knee height, obviously intended to trip
her. It caught her mid stride, so she tucked her head down and
somersaulted over it. She landed badly and tumbled to the floor at
Branda's feet.

"Quick, turn your-" A hand spun Lissa hard
against the rail.

The navigator hunched over her clenching a
wicked-looking knife.

"Let me go," she squealed. She tried to pull
away but his grip was firm.

"Stop struggling," he snapped and turned her
around.

Her skin crawled. Was he going to stab her in
the back? She dropped to a crouch, twisting to break free. He
sidestepped, kicked her feet from under her and put his knee in her
back.

"Hold still, you stupid girl."

The icy blade ran over her wrists. She
cringed and her chest seemed about to explode. Above the roar of
the battle, Branda screamed. Then Lissa’s bonds fell away and he
let go. She crawled to safety and then wheeled to face him.

"Why didn't you say you were trying to help
me?" she cried, rubbing her wrists.

"What else-?" He sighed. "I'm not one of
Farq's murderers."

"I don't know who is who anymore. Please help
me free Branda."

While he slit her bonds, Lissa surveyed the
destruction around them. The fight had centered on Tarba and Yat,
who still guarded the prone Nib. Bodies lay strewn about the deck
in pools of blood, but the melee continued around them, men
slipping and sliding on the slick boards. The physiker moved around
the outside, dragging the wounded aside.

"Who winning?" Branda said.

The navigator shrugged. "We've got to stop
this madness and get to the captain before Farq."

"I've an idea," Lissa said, and pulled Branda
toward the ladder leading up to the winch platform that held the
weapon.

It was unguarded, and they climbed up without
anyone noticing. The navigator remained below. Lissa searched for a
half empty urn of explosive powder, one light enough for her to
lift. She tipped it up to the end of the open pipe and purple
powder poured out, but her hands shook so much that most of it
spilled onto the deck. She growled and shifted her grip on the
awkward-shaped urn.

"Let me help," Pete said, appearing at her
side.

She spun around, tipping powder all over his
and Branda's feet.

"Watch it." He took the urn and continued
pouring its contents into the pipe.

"You haven't spoken to me in a moon-cycle,"
she snapped, "and now you choose to show up. Where were you when
Farq imprisoned me?"

"Which one of the many times?" He
grinned.

"Any of them. All of them. How about after
the mutiny?" She put her hands on her hips. "I suppose you were too
busy making friends with these thugs? Who'd want to be friends with
a girl, is that it? Why did you get mixed up with them?"

She knew she was overreacting but couldn't
stop herself.

He stared at her, his mouth wide, and then he
glanced at Branda who scowled at him. "Where did all that anger
come from? You think I'm on Farq's side? I'm hurt."

"Aren't you?"

"How can you say that?" His shoulders
slumped. "I just do what I'm told."

"What Farq tells you, you mean? What about
the captain?" She took hold of the pipe. "Help me turn this
thing."

He set down the urn. "You think I could stop
them on my own?"

"You could have tried."

"I didn't know what they were doing. How was
I to know Farq was gonna kill so many?"

"Stop argue," Branda cried.

They swiveled the weapon and angled the pipe
toward the men below. Only a few remained on their feet, panting
and swinging wildly at each other.

"I'm sorry," Lissa said. "I'm really glad
you're here now." She patted his arm.

He shied away. "You're done being angry? Just
like that?"

"I'm sorry. I had to let all that out."

"What're we doing anyway?" His grin returned.
He pointed at the purple powder dribbling out of the end of the
down-turned pipe. "Is it supposed to do that?"

"I've probably wrecked it with the salt
anyway. I've another idea. Grab an urn."

Between the three of them, they hurled two of
the ceramic urns off the winch platform. They shattered on impact,
enveloping the main deck with a purple cloud. The men faltered,
coughing and cursing, and tried to brush the stuff from their
clothes and hair. Seemingly forgetting their own differences, they
advanced in unison towards the ladder.

Branda hid behind her. Pete tensed but
remained at her side.

Lissa’s mind raced. She knew she had one
chance to make them listen to her, so she picked up an open sack of
sweet-crystals and dangled it over the railing in front of her.

"Throw down your weapons and surrender to
Yat, right now," she yelled.

"Stop," Lyndon screamed, and dashed out from
behind a water barrel, waving his hands above his head. "Get that
away from here. If you spill that on the deck, we'll all die."

He dropped to his knees and cowered.

The men paused. They glanced at Lyndon and
then at Lissa. Her arms were already sagging with the weight of the
sack. Weapons clattered to the deck and they clawed at their purple
clothes as if they were covered in poisonous crawlies.

"Don't listen to those stupid kids," Nib
cried. "Seize them."

"Boy's right," one man said. "You saw what
this stuff did to the island."

"She's gonna burn the ship down."

"No she won't," Nib said. "It's a bluff."

"I'll do it," she said. ”Farq’s going to come
back and kill me anyway, so I’ve got nothing to lose.”

She stood tall and looked each man in the
eye. This was her moment. She would save the ship, they would go
back for the captain, and Farq would know what it was like to be
locked up. A thrill tingled through her body. Her racing heart
slowed and she sucked in a deep breath.

Yat and Tarba seized the opportunity to round
up the dithering crew at sword point. The men leaped at the chance
to pull off their stained shirts and recover their breath. Lissa
was surprised how easily the fight had gone out of them. Tarba tied
Nib's hands behind him and marched him forward to the rope
locker.

"Looks like they believed your bluff," Pete
whispered.

She stared back at him.

"Wait, you were bluffing, right?"

"Was I?" She winked, and carefully placed the
sweet-crystal sack in a corner. Then she slipped one arm around him
and the other around Branda. "You all right?"

Branda nodded.

"Good job, Liss," Pete said. He squirmed from
her grasp and slid down the ladder.

Lissa looked around the deck. A couple of the
boys scrubbed the deck, washing away the ghastly paste of grey
dust, powder and fresh blood. The men chattered excitedly about the
fight and glanced often in her direction. She wished she could have
seen herself, hands on hips, standing above them all as they
worked. When she and Branda climbed back down, the men nodded at
her and let her pass. She yawned. The day had been long and tiring.
Her muscles ached and it hurt to swallow. Branda looked as though
she might fall asleep where she stood. Lissa blinked repeatedly and
shook her head, trying to wake herself up. She wanted to see it
through to the end.

The physiker beckoned them over, and he
checked them for cuts and bruises.

"Nothing is ever boring with you, girl," he
said, chuckling.

"How long will it take to reach the captain?"
she asked.

"Long enough for you to get a good night's
sleep. You're exhausted, both of you."

“What if Farq gets to the captain first?”

“We’d better pray that he doesn’t,” he
replied. “Now both of you go and sleep.”

"You go," she said, giving Branda a gentle
push toward the hatch. "I'm not sleeping until the captain is
safe."

He chuckled again.

"Admirable, but unlikely." He gestured to the
infirmary. "Then take a nap. I promise to wake you."

Chapter 29 - The Final Battle

Gentle hands shook Lissa awake. It only
seemed like a moment ago that she had lay down. She blinked into
the light of the globe that Branda held.

"The navigator's asking for you," Pete said,
coming into view. "We've reached the cove where your cave is. You'd
better not keep him waiting."

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and rolled
off the infirmary bed, landing with her bare feet on the cold deck.
The sky outside the stern windows was a pre-dawn grey.
Anjan,
please let Coy, Jancid and the captain still be alive.

"I always thought you wanted to be one of the
boys," Pete said, and gave a mischievous grin.

Her clothes were crumpled and covered in dust
and purple stains. She hated to imagine what her face looked like.
Coy's cap lay on the floor, so she picked it up and set it on her
head. She caught Branda staring at her clothes as if seeing them
for the first time.

"Why would she want to be snotty boy?" Branda
said.

Lissa poked her tongue out at Pete. "I need
to wash my face. I feel disgusting. Tell Oban I'll be right
there."

His eyes widened. "You call the navigator by
his first name? Do you have Jalak-brew with the captain in the
afternoons too?" He grinned. "I bet you're a spy pretending to be a
galley girl."

She headed for the washbasin in the corner of
the room. "Maybe I am, so you'd better be nice to me and
Branda."

"Yes ma'am."

The sky had lightened considerably when she
joined the navigator at the rail. The chill air gave her goose
bumps. Labago shone brightly enough for her to see the waves of
dust break silently over the rocks.

"Where's this cave of yours?" the navigator
asked.

She pointed to a dark outline that marked the
boulder-strewn headland. "It's very small so I don't think you'll
see it from here."

"In the trees," someone shouted from the
command deck. "There's a light in the trees."

"Where?" The navigator bustled along the rail
for a better view.

"I see it," she cried, peering at a point of
yellow light that bobbed along inside the forest.

"Is that the captain, or Farq and his men?"
he muttered.

Lissa squirmed, trying to get a better look.
"I hope we aren't too late."

The navigator addressed Tarba, "Get that boat
ready with a shore party. We've got to find the captain. Fast."

"Let me go," she said. "I know exactly where
the cave is, and I've been in that forest. I'm the only one here
who knows the lay of the land. The captain might even be looking
for me."

A bulbous vein pulsed on his forehead while
he studied her, mouth askew.

"Take her," he told Tarba.

Yat moved forward. "Smart one, she is. Got it
all figured out, I reckon."

He collected three volunteers and handed them
weapons. They hurried down the rope ladder to the last of the
ship's boats waiting below. She followed Tarba and Yat down. The
boat was full. How did they plan to bring back the captain and
others?

The men rowed hard toward the shore. She sat
in the prow, scanning for the bobbing light, but it had vanished,
and nothing moved on the beach or along the edge of the forest. As
they approached the shore she spotted the tiny crack that led to
the cave, but there was no firelight within. Had the captain left,
or had Farq found him? The boat pitched up onto the red sand and
stuck fast.

"I'll stay here," Yat said, as the men leaped
out. "We can't afford to lose another boat. Girl, Tarba's in
charge, do what he says, and stay out of trouble."

Tarba headed directly for the shelter of the
rocks. His three men followed and Lissa trudged along at the rear.
Multiple prints in the sand headed to and from the cave. Most led
toward the forest, but two others headed straight down the beach to
the ocean, and she recognized one as her own small feet. Tarba
silently jerked his head toward the cave entrance. She nodded and
slipped inside to find it empty, except for a pile of ashes,
Jherodan nut husks and the empty shells of the beach crawlies. She
unearthed a rusty blade and showed it to him.

"We only had a couple of knives," she
whispered. "The captain wouldn't have left one behind."

He nodded and fingered the short, blonde
ponytail that marked him as one of the ship's officers.

"Well, someone's in the forest," he said.
"Let's hope it's the captain hiding, but if we find some of Farq's
men-"

His men hissed at him and they both hurried
outside to hear shouts emanating from the forest. Metal scraped on
metal as Tarba and his men drew their swords, and then hurried
across the deep sand. Her eyes flicked around the lonely, dark
beach and she ran after them. She wasn't going to be left on the
island a second time.

As they neared the trees, Tarba gestured left
and right with his sword. "Spread out."

A lantern shone brightly about a hundred feet
into the trees. They approached it cautiously, crouching low and
watching for dry twigs beneath their feet, until they came across a
small clearing. They hunkered down in the undergrowth.

Farq had the captain in a neck-hold and held
a knife to his throat. Next to him, Sam, the crew chief, had
Jancid's arms twisted behind his back. The white-haired sailor
gritted his teeth and winced every time Sam pulled his arm.