The Night of the Swarm (Chathrand Voyage 4) by Robert V.S. Redick Read Free Book Online Page B

death alone can be the result. And speaking of death, three mutineers remain at liberty among the
crew. It would be better if you dispensed with them, rather than I.’
    ‘That matter is decided for now,’ said Rose. ‘I have suspended their punishment. There were mitigating factors.’
    Ott shook his head. ‘For certain crimes there is no atonement. You will hang them.’
    Rose erupted to his feet. ‘What are you proposing? To hang a pregnant girl from the crosstrees? To hang the quartermaster who saw us across the Nelluroq alive?’
    ‘You condemned them yourself,’ said Ott. ‘And haven’t I heard you tell your officers that they must never issue a command they’re not willing to enforce? What is
the difficulty? The girl Marila is nothing: a stowaway who fell in with Pathkendle’s gang, and spread her legs for one of them. Fiffengurt’s skills are redundant, as long as
you’re alive. And Mr Druffle is a tippling buffoon.’
    ‘He claims he was too drunk to know that he’d been brought to a gathering of mutineers,’ said Rose.
    ‘Is that one of your mitigating factors? Go ahead, extend that reasoning to the entire crew. Amnesty for drunkards. Pickle yourself before you challenge my command.’
    Rose’s mouth twisted. The spymaster looked caught between amusement and outrage. ‘You can’t have gone soft?’ he demanded. ‘You, Nilus Rose? The man I watched
strangling Pazel Pathkendle in the liquor vault? You, who sent a boatload of men ashore to pick apples, then sailed away and abandoned them at the approach of a hostile ship?’
    ‘My hand was forced. As you would know if you had not been imprisoned.’
    ‘But I
was
imprisoned, Rose – and once freed, I dealt with those who had imprisoned me, and rid the ship of them.’
    ‘That remains to be seen.’
    ‘You’re splitting hairs, now,’ said Ott. ‘Some of the crawlies fled into Masalym. Others we killed. They are gone, neutralised. That is how one deals with enemies, unless
one prefers to be dealt with.’
    He looked out through the curtains again. ‘I remember when you tossed a man from this window,’ he said. ‘Mr Aken, the honest company man, the quiet one. You could hear the
wheels turning in his mind, you said, and for all I know you spoke the truth. But listen once and for ever, Captain: the wheels in
your
head are loud as grinding stones. You will not deceive
me. When you feign madness, I know it. Just as I do when true madness directs your steps. Your plan to abandon ship was not one of the latter cases. You were deliberate. You had better tell me
why.’
    ‘Go rot in the Pits.’
    Not a flicker of response passed over Ott’s face. He waited, looking out over the sea.
    ‘You can’t sail this vessel,’ said Rose. ‘Elkstem can choose a heading, and Fiffengurt trim the sails, but neither can manage eight hundred men. Who’s going to keep
them working as a team, as a family? Haddismal, at spear point? Uskins, who nearly put the ship at the bottom of the sea? You?’
    ‘What is the danger you haven’t spoken of, Captain?’
    ‘You know the danger,’ said Rose. ‘There’s a she-devil of a sorceress bearing down on Masalym, in a vessel packed with dlömic warriors. Macadra, she’s called.
Arunis’ rival, the one who stayed behind when he crossed the Ruling Sea and set about teaching us to destroy each other. With your expert help, of course.’
    ‘Stick to the point,’ said Ott.
    ‘The point, bastard, is that she wants the mucking Nilstone, and we can’t assume she’ll believe it when they tell her Arunis took it away over the mountains. And even if she
does believe, she may still want this ship. Pitfire, she may want
us
: human beings, to torture or take apart. Or breed. We were their slaves, once, and could be again.’
    ‘What is the danger, Rose?’
    ‘Gods below, man! Isn’t that enough?’
    ‘We stand a fine chance of evading pursuit,’ said Ott. ‘Something else weighs against our chances.