The navigator (25 page)

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On and on Boat sailed and still the damaged oars held. Wesley kept looking back at the three Planemen following them. If they stopped for two hours, he could have put a splint on the oars, he said, but everyone knew that they couldn't halt and risk another attack from the Planes. Cati spent most of her time in the crow's nest. When she was on deck, she kept looking into people's faces and wondering which one of them had opened the stopcock. She even wondered about Dr. Diamond, then felt ashamed for doing so.

Besides, she liked being in the crow's nest. She brought up some blankets to keep her warm and sat all day huddled in them, watching for danger and for the Great Machine in the north, although she had no idea

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what it might look like. And then there were the strange things she saw. A great iceberg, dirty white on top and a deep sea-green where it met the water, which sailed past them like a stately palace of ice. There were plenty of ice floes as well--growlers, Wesley called them--and once she saw one float past with a great white bear standing on it, looking as through it was the most normal thing in the world to be floating on a big piece of ice in the freezing, inhospitable ocean. Then there were the whales: small ones that swam alongside Boat, and the huge ones she saw in the distance, their backs looking like blue-black mountains as they surfaced.

On the fourth day since the attack Cati climbed the mast as usual. She could see Wesley at the wheel and the little girl standing in place at the bow. Far below her, tendrils of smoke curled out from under Dr. Diamond's door and were snatched away by the icy wind. Mervyn was crouched behind the wheelhouse, watching the Plane-men. Cati couldn't see Chancellor or her father. She hauled herself into the crow's nest, the skin of her face stinging from the ice particles carried by the wind, particles that had scoured every exposed surface on Boat until they shone as if they had been polished daily.

Cati scanned the sea around the ship but it was empty. Then she looked toward the horizon. For a moment she thought she saw something--a tiny black tendril right on the limit of her vision that seemed to curl upward. She rubbed her eyes but it had disappeared. She was about to call down to Wesley when she realized why she

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couldn't see the horizon anymore. It was obscured by a black cloud, which, even as she watched, grew larger, seeming to race toward them. As it did so, the register of the wind seemed to alter, going from a steady roar to a vicious whistling sound. By the troubled look on Wesley's face, Cati knew that he had already seen the cloud.

All afternoon the black cloud built on the horizon and Wesley stayed in the wheelhouse in worried debate with the others. When Cati came down to eat, she asked Dr. Diamond if anything had been decided.

"There are a few choices, none of them good," he said, scanning the horizon. He looked peculiar, as he was wearing a pair of heated ice goggles of his own invention. "We can keep going as we are and hope that the storm blows the Planemen off course. Or we can turn back and ride in front of the storm, and with luck keep the oars intact. The problem with that is that we have to go under the Planemen."

The seas continued to build. The bow of Boat rose and plunged, sending sheets of icy spray high into the air. Wesley slowed the craft a little, and bit by bit, the Plane-men got closer, although you could see that they were having difficulty controlling the planes in the high wind. Mervyn and Uel were both crouched in the sheltered spot behind the wheelhouse now, the magno crossbows following every movement of the planes.

"They can't hold them off forever," Chancellor said.

"True enough," replied Wesley.

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Night fell. But it wasn't night the way Cati knew it. As they went farther north, it seemed that the sun didn't set properly, so it was never completely dark. Dr. Diamond said it was always like that in the far north, but Cati preferred it when night was dark and day was light. When the storm finally struck, no one could see anything anyway. One minute they were cresting the waves, the next the sky seemed to be blotted out and Cati had to close her ears against the terrifying shriek of the wind as the sea seemed to rise around them, mountainous and boiling.

Cati ran to the wheelhouse. Uel and Mervyn ran in behind her, for to stay on the deck was to be swept overboard.

"Where's the little girl?" Cati asked, having to shout to make herself heard above the noise of the storm.

"It's all right," Uel shouted back. "I saw her go below."

Cati had to hold on to the door frame to stop herself being thrown to the floor. Down below she couldn't see the deck for boiling, seething water. Wesley's face was taut with concentration as he fought to control the wheel. Through the window Cati could see rank upon rank of vast, white-crested waves advancing on them. Boat took an age to climb each one before plunging down the other side with dizzying speed. Dr. Diamond stayed on the left-hand side of the wheelhouse where the damaged oars were, peering anxiously though the spray and angry foam in an attempt to see how the oars were faring.

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"Don't fret, Doctor," Wesley said with a tight grin. "I'll know about it if them oars snap."

On through the dark, tempestuous night Boat sailed, and still the oars held. And each time they thought that the storm could get no worse, the wind blew stronger, the waves grew bigger, and the wind shrieked still louder.

The Sub-Commandant took Dr. Diamond aside. "The oars can't possibly hold," Cati heard him say.

"If they go, then there will be three oars working on one side and five on the other," Dr. Diamond said. "Wesley won't be able to steer straight."

"We have to take the oars off the other side so that there are three on each--" the Sub-Commandant said, but before they could act, they were interrupted by a gasp from Cati and a curse from Wesley. In the distance, and bearing down on them with the speed of an express train, was the biggest wave any of them had ever seen. Cati thought it was like a mountain of water, vast and threatening with icy spume like lightning flying in great sheets from its leading edge. In a moment it was on them and the oars beat frantically as Boat began to climb what seemed to be a sheer cliff of water. Up and up they went, Boat tipping further and further backward until it seemed to Cati that they would tumble down and be lost in the boiling water. And still they climbed. Then, they were at the very top, teetering on the crest of the wave for what seemed like eternity.

They almost made it, but just at the very moment that

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Boat tilted forward for the race down the other side of the wave, there was a loud crack, followed closely by another. The damaged oars had snapped. Boat's bow dropped and it slewed around so that it was racing in a diagonal line across the back of the wave. The side with the broken oars rose higher and higher into the air as the craft tilted onto its side. Cati was thrown against the wheelhouse door. A locker full of maps and charts fell open and the contents rolled about the floor. As the tilt got worse, the chart table snapped its moorings and followed the charts, striking Cati a heavy blow on the leg. Just when it seemed that Boat could not tip over any further without capsizing, Wesley gained control again and Boat straightened--just in time to face the next wave.

"I can't hold it like this for long," he gasped. The wheel shuddered with every stroke of the oars and his shoulders were knotted with effort.

"Someone will have to disconnect the other oars," the Sub-Commandant said.

"It would be suicide to go out on deck," said Chancellor. "You'd never reach the engine hatch."

"True enough," Wesley said.

"What about under the deck?" asked Dr. Diamond.

"No good. You wouldn't fit in the space." Another wave hit the bow of Boat and Wesley wrestled with the wheel, beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. He managed to correct Boat's course and turned back to the others.

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"You wouldn't fit," he added, "but she would." He inclined his head toward Cati. "It's fair and tight, but she'd get in there all right."

"I don't like it," the Sub-Commandant said. "The linkages are powerful. If Cati gets caught in one ..."

"We've no choice," said Dr. Diamond gently.

"The girl wouldn't be strong enough," Chancellor said.

"She'll have to be," said Wesley. "I can't hold Boat much longer."

"The magno motor is powerful, but perhaps we can cut it for a moment or two from the wheelhouse," suggested Dr. Diamond.

"Dangerous--" the Sub-Commandant began.

"Stop it!" snapped Cati. "Stop talking as if I'm not here. If the job has to be done and I'm the only one who will fit, then tell me what to do and I'll do it."

Dr. Diamond gave her a long, considering look. The Sub-Commandant shook his head but said nothing.

"Right," said Cati, "how do I get to the motor?"

Wesley tapped the floor behind him with his foot. "Uel and Mervyn," he said, "lift them boards." The two boys sprang forward and started to pull up the floorboards.

"I have a plan," Dr. Diamond said. "It will take you about five minutes to get to the motor. The two forward blades are attached by a hook. We'll turn the engine off for exactly two minutes so that you can unhook them."

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"How will I know the time?" Cati asked. Dr. Diamond produced two identical hourglasses from his pocket.

"The Harsh haven't been able to make sand run backward yet," he said. "When the motor stops, turn this on its end."

"You damn well better hurry," Wesley said, and she could hear the strain in his voice. "Crawl straight and crawl quick."

The Sub-Commandant helped Cati down into the dank hole revealed by the lifted planks. When the time came to release her hands, he did not let go and she had to gently break his grip. With a quick smile she ducked into the dark space.

There was only just enough room. The underside of the deck grazed her head and she couldn't straighten up enough to crawl so she had to wriggle. Filthy, cold bilge water swirled around and within a minute her clothes were soaked. As Cati began to crawl under the exposed deck, she could feel the wood above her head thrumming with the power of the storm. And each time a wave struck she was thrown sideways against the unforgiving beams that supported the deck. The only thing that made it bearable was the faint glow of magno from the engine compartment ahead.

Dr. Diamond had said five minutes, but it felt like half a lifetime before she reached the motor and was able to stand up. Cati could see the magno core of the motor, contained in a kind of brass case, open on top. To each side there were five levers. On the left side the levers were

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attached to five oars, and they moved smoothly, like a rower's arms and elbows, but to the other side only three of the oars worked properly. The other two had splintered stubs of oar attached to them. Just as Cati registered this, the engine stopped. She froze. They should have given her more time. Wesley must not be able to hold it anymore. The motion of Boat changed immediately, the rising and falling movement being replaced by wild corkscrewing.

Cati knew she was wasting time. She took the hourglass from her pocket and placed it upside down beside the motor. She saw straightaway that the link between the oar and the lever was a giant hook and eye arrangement. She grasped the hook on the front left oar and heaved on it. It didn't budge. She tried again. The sand is running through the glass far too quickly! she thought. She also realized that if the motor started with her arm in it, the arm would be crushed. Desperately Cati pulled at the hook. The sand was half gone and she hadn't even got one oar off. She shifted her grip to the lever and pulled. Still nothing. She moved the lever around a bit and then realized that if she pushed it down, it seemed to go without resistance. She pushed down and down, and then there was a creak of protest and the oar came loose.

There was still time for the other one. Cati grasped the lever with confidence this time, but it wouldn't move. Scrambling to her feet, she looked down at it. The metal below the lever seemed to have corroded and jammed it. Frantically she looked around. There was a monkey wrench

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hanging from a peg above the motor. She grabbed it and hammered with all her might at the lever. It shifted, but the sand was almost gone, the last few grains trickling into the bottom of the hourglass. She grabbed the lever and it moved downward, not smoothly, but moving. It was almost free, but as it moved the last centimeter, the motor started again. Instinctively, Cati thrust the wrench into the motor. The lever, which was descending like an axe, stopped. She pushed and it came free. She snatched her hand back, and just as she did so, the strong brass wrench snapped like a twig and the lever plunged through the space where her hand had been seconds earlier.

Cati lay back against the ribs of the little vessel. She could feel it start to rise and fall again. Her heart was pounding. Owen would be impressed with her, she thought, then felt the return of a dull ache. Owen would never know.

The journey back to the wheelhouse seemed longer. When she reached the other end, filthy and exhausted, the Sub-Commandant lifted her out of the hole and held her for a moment.

Dr. Diamond beamed. "You did very well."

"Sorry about that," Wesley said. "I couldn't hold her anymore. We had to start the motor again."

"That's all right," Cati said with a weak grin, remembering the sound that the wrench had made when it snapped.

The Sub-Commandant said nothing but rested his hand on her shoulder