The Seascape Tattoo by Larry Niven Read Free Book Online Page B

seem to be something out there. At first she thought she was seeing a single wispy waterspout, then for a moment she wondered if she was seeing three such freaks of weather dancing on the waves.
    No. Tiny streams, though. Like steam rising from a kettle’s spout. And the crackling lightning revealed that the wisps seemed to issue from small black shapes upon the waves. The driving rain made it difficult to make out anything at all, but if she wasn’t mistaken, between the first and second flashes, the objects had moved closer to the Proud Abyss .
    That ruled out any kind of sailing vessels, she reckoned. The wind was blowing in the wrong direction.
    Up in the crow’s nest, First Mate Chastain whistled, pointing out “Starboard!” And the other sailors on late watch crowded to the right side of the ship, more curious than alarmed.
    Tahlia clutched Drasilljah’s hand. The woman she had known her entire life seemed … on point, like a hunting dog.
    â€œWhat do you sense?” Tahlia asked. “Magic?”
    â€œNot magic. No … yes, magic…” She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never felt anything quite like this before.”
    â€œCaptain!” the old woman called. “Captain! On your guard!” Drasilljah turned toward the cabins. “I know not what this is, but I fear that only ill wind blows against the clouds. Come.”
    Tahlia caught one last glimpse before she followed her friend and protector. And that last glimpse revealed three small ships. It was difficult to establish size because of a lack of known objects with which to compare them. And they had no masts. She looked for oars in the water, but couldn’t see them. They seemed to be on fire, although she could see no flame, and would have questioned its presence in this driving rain. But each roof emitted a thin, constant stream of smoke.
    â€œCome!” Drasilljah tugged more urgently now. There was another puff of smoke from the closest vessel, which was now only two arrow flights away. Followed by a dull clap of thunder. Duller, perhaps. More localized, without that sense of everywhere-and-nowhere you had with the child of lightning, when fire was quenched in water.
    Then the night exploded into flame.
    Their trailing ship, the Domino , shuddered and lurched, as her amidships erupted like a volcano. Tahlia’s eyes widened. Never had she seen such a thing. In the light of the spreading blaze (And how it spread! It was like a jellied layer of fire!) she glimpsed the smaller vessels riding the waves, now puffing burst after burst of fire into the night. The Domino erupted again and again, and the sailors crowded against the rails groaned in terror.
    And then … the same thing happened just ahead of them. The Triton ’s side burst , wood arcing up into the sky, splinters and shards of singed wood rained down upon the deck of the Proud Abyss , still smoldering.
    â€œHeaven preserve us! Demon fire!” the captain screamed. Then he called out: “Trim the sails! All passengers below deck!”
    â€œWhat is happening?” Tahlia asked.
    From the beginning of their voyage, Captain Dinos had been a fatherly figure. Now in this moment of trial he seemed to grow taller, even more protective. Tahlia was afraid for him, but also proud and reassured. “Whatever magic they use, they’ve not used it against us, Princess. I think they want you.”
    I think they want you.
    The words reverberated in her head. Their meaning sank in more deeply. As she was pulled to her cabin, the ship lurched up and plunged down again, and at the apex she glimpsed one of the small ships, close enough now to make out the human shapes swarming the deck.
    The pirate craft continued to belch fire. Then one of them exploded, like a pinecone in a bonfire, amid screams of dismay from its crew.
    â€œCome on!” Drasilljah said, and hauled her into the cabin. Her nurse