“Well, well, ’twas my idea to trade, so by rights I think I should go first, but I’ll waive all that.” He waved an arm to indicate his generosity. “Yes, so far as I know they are all alive, save the three kzin who was here. Now, my question is, who was the kzin who untied ye two kits and ran off to the tower wi’ye?”
Would it be a betrayal of Bengar to tell of him? I suppose that the question was a probe of my reliability, and he already had an idea of the answer. It might be worth getting Silver’s trust. If I was going to lie to him it would be on something important. The noise from inside had died down, and two of the crew had come out and were standing nearby, listening to the exchange between Silver and me.
“It was a former member of K’zarr’s crew who was marooned here many years ago by you.” I decided to give the very minimum information.
“Well, well, well. Must be that Bengar survived, which is a great credit to him, so it be, a great credit. And how is me old shipmate? And ’twas not me marooned him, never agreed wi’ maroonin’ kzin or man.”
“No, you’d rather just kill them,” I said hotly. I felt like telling him that I’d heard him from the meat-locker, but if we were trading information, I’d be a fool to give him any for nothing. I should have kept that back, but I was angry.
“The dead ’uns don’t bite, ’tes true,” Silver agreed easily. He didn’t seem to feel any shame at this, but then, he wouldn’t.
“Where are my friends?” I demanded.
“Well as to that, I has to say I doesn’t know exactly, but I rather suspicions they be occupying that there tower,” Silver answered promptly enough, with a gesture in the direction of the tower.
“Why are they there?” I demanded.
“Ah, I think it be my turn, ain’t it? Fair’s fair, dooty’s dooty, as I’m sure ye will agree. And my question is: has me old friend Bengar found out how to use those there discs to get from one place to another, because ye vanished, and I knows that’s what they does, because K’zarr hisself said that any living thing placed on them went away. And I’m thinking they must be some sort o’ transport system like, an’ old Bengar must ha’ found out how to use them. Would I ha’ the rights of it?”
“Yes,” I answered shortly. I felt an inclination to amplify the answer as if I were talking to Marthar, but I bit it back. The less the old villain knew the better. “How did my friends come to be in the tower or wherever they are?”
“Well, as to that, ’twas their work, and their error. For they set out to attack us where we was, near to the red lander, d’ye see. And damned near did for us, so they did, comin’ when half the scum was drunk, which was my fault for letting them have the rum, d’ye see. But then, if I’d had no rum for them, they’d ha’ mutinied for sure. I’d ha’ had to kill half o’ them meself. Well, S’maak-Captain, he saved me the trouble, so he did. But those of us what got away reasoned that there’d be few left in this here wreckage, d’ye see, an’ maybe we could get our revenge on the smaller group. And the swabs what lived in the green lander, they comes out to help us when they saw it were easy enough and that S’maak-Captain weren’t there to defend it. For they’re nearly as frightened o’ that S’maak as they are o’ me, ye may lay to that. Anyway, we sort of swapped places as a result o’ ye marauding kzin, and they humans too. Near nobody left here, there was. Three kzin, all gone now. But then your party took down five of us, five damned drunkards. Happened the day after ye drew that there smiling face in the sand. Or night, if we be keepin’ ship’s time.”
I began to have hopes. If Bengar landed at his old place, and he and Marthar went by the discs to the tower, they would meet up with the others. At least there was a good chance of it going that way. And with the weapons, our side would outgun the pirates. There was not much chance for me, of course, although Marthar would rescue me if she could, I had no doubt of it.
“Ask your next question,” I said grimly. Some more of the crew had come out and were studying both Silver and me.
Silver looked at me thoughtfully. I had no idea what was going on in that great head, but there was no doubt he was a very clever creature. He must have reasoned as I did, that my party now had the upper hand. We had taken the Valiant from him, we could get there and back and he couldn’t. But it wasn’t an occasion to boast about it.
“Ah, Peter, Peter, ye’ve bested old Silver, nary a doubt of it. Bested by a couple o’ kits, I’ve been. Never hear the end of it, I won’t. Ivery bar in the swirl-rift, they’ll be laughin’ at old Silver, so they will. And that Marthar, she be a kit-and-a-half, so she be. Well, we be distant relatives, her an’ me, in a manner o’ speakin’, so ’tis not so surprisin’.”
“And now I suppose you’re going to kill me,” I said, standing up with what courage I could muster.
“Why should I do that?” he asked with apparent surprise. “No, I admires ye. Ye seized the opportunities as they came, so ye did, the pair o’ ye. ’Twould be a shameful thing to harm ye now, a stain on old Silver’s honor. No, ye be safe wi’ me, I promise ye.”
There was a growl from some of the crew.
“Your honor didn’t stop you bugging me, didn’t stop you trying to kill us all,” I told him with contempt.
He looked at me. “Sit down again, Peter,” he gestured. “You’re young, and you’re proud, and I respects ye for it, d’ye see? But a kzin can take his pride in things ye’d not yet know about, and a man likewise, I’ve no doubt. There’s them as takes their pride in bein’ an obedient servant, no question, an’ then there’s others what doesn’t. I takes me pride in other things than obedience, so I does. ’Tes a harsh, cold universe, and there be many ways o’ livin’ in it. Ye’d do well not to judge until ye’ve tried more an’ learned more.”
I sat down, my mind in a whirl. Silver was a monster, I had no doubt at all. But I felt my hatred for him weaken; I was no longer able to despise him quite so much. But I didn’t imagine for a moment that I could trust him, either.
One of the crew men broke in. “The man-kit has bested ye right enough, Silver, wi’ yon kzinrett. And ye might ha’ destroyed the boat wi’ her in it, but ye didn’t. And why not, we asks us? Maybe ’tis that she is a distant relative, maybe? Just whose side are ye on now, Silver?”
Silver looked at him. He was the big brown-striped one Marthar had been carried by when they caught us.
“Ah, Rraangar, ye ha’ no sort o’ brain, ha ye? Destroy the on’y link wi’ the mother ship? Not I, not so stupid. Better to capture it in due time, and have it for ourselves. I’d ha’ no trouble takin’ down an enemy, as many know, as ye should know yourself. Many a good Hero’s gone before now, some to the battle pits, some by the board to black space, and some wi’ my wtsai in their bellies.”
“Then take down the man-kit, Silver, or gi’ him to us for a snack. It’s long since I had monkey-meat. Prove you’re not lyin’.” The brown-furred kzin was obstinate.
Another broke in. “Do it, Silver, for this is one o’ the pair took down Gra-Prompyh, the pair what got the pad from Skel, the pair what ha’ done much o’ the harm we suffers from. First and last, we’ve split upon those two, an’ ef ye hands him over then maybe we’ll say no more on it.”
I stood again. “Kill me as you please, I don’t fear you!” I cried. “But one thing I’ll say and no more: if you spare me, bygones are bygones and when you are in the dock for piracy, I’ll speak for you and save you all I can. Kill another and do yourselves no good, or spare me and keep a witness who might save you all from death.”
I stopped, for I was out of breath, and to my wonder, not one of them moved, but all stood staring at me like as many sheep. And while they were still staring, I broke out again. “And now, Silver, I believe you more than any other here, and if things go to the worst for me, I’ll take it kindly if you will tell Marthar the way I took it.”
The only kzin I knew were those at home, who were used to living with humans, and who to some extent we had come to understand. I realized I knew very littl
e of the psychology of these savage and predatory pirates.
“I’ll bear it in mind,” said Silver with an accent so curious I could not decide if he was laughing at me or had been affected by my courage.
“I’ll put one to that,” Rraangar cried out. “It were this one what knew the Dog and t’other what took him down. So here goes!” And with that he drew his wtsai and his jaws opened in a roar to the killing gape.
“Avast there!” cried Silver. “Who are you, Rraangar? Maybe ye thought ye was Captain here, perhaps? By the powers, but I’ll teach ye better! Cross me and you’ll go where many has gone before.” He stood and took up his huge cutlass. “There’s never a Hero nor human looked me in the eyes and seen a good day afterwards, and ye may lay to that.”
Rraangar paused, but a hoarse murmur rose from the others.
“Rraangar’s right,” said one.
“I bin fooled before by you, Silver, and by a few more, but I’ll not be fooled again, so I won’t,” said another.
“Did any o’ ye want to have it out wi’ me,” roared Silver, leaning forward. “Him that wants shall get it. Ha’ I lived these years and a son of a sthondat speak t’ me o’ folly? Ye know the way, ye’re all Heroes o’ fortune, by your account. Well, I’m ready. Take wtsai or cutlass, him that dares, and I’ll see the color of yer liver, aye, and so will all t’others here.”
Not one of them moved.
“Ahh, that’s your sort, is it?” Silver sneered at them. “Well, all so brave when there’s a gang o’ ye and not so much alone. Not much worth to fight, you ain’t. I’m Captain here by election. I’m Cap’n here because I’m the best here by a couple o’ parsecs. Ye won’t fight as a Hero o’ fortune, then, by thunder, you will obey, and ye may lay to that! I like this man-kit, he be more of a Hero that any pair o’ sthondats here, and what I say is this: let me see him will lay a paw to ’im, that’s what I says.”
There was a long pause after this. I stood up with my heart hammering away, but with a little hope in it. Silver leaned back against the hull, his eyes on the crew, full of contempt, as calm as ever. Yet his eyes kept wandering over them, and he kept half an eye on the tail of the crew. They on their part drew gradually away together, towards the door into the wreck and the low hiss of their whispering was like a stream. One by one they would look up, but it was upon Silver that their glances fell briefly.
“Ye seem to have a lot to say,” Silver called out to them. “Pipe up, and let me hear it too, or lay to.”
“By your leave, Cap’n, you bin free wi’ the rules; maybe you’ll kindly keep an eye on the rest. This crew is dissatisfied, so it is, an’ it has its rights, like other crews. I grants that ye be the Cap’n at present, but I claim my rights, and steps away for a council.” And with a salute, the kzin stepped into the door to the wrecked lander. One after another, the rest followed his example, saluting and making some sort of apology. “Accordin’ to rules,” one said. “Crew council, sir,” said another. And they left Silver and me outside in the sunshine.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Now lookee here, Peter Cartwright,” Silver said in what was a barely audible whisper. “You’re within half a step of death, and what’s a long sight worse, of torture. They’re going to throw me off. But, mark you, I stand by ye through thick and thin. I didn’t mean to, no, not ’til you spoke up. I wouldn’t ha’ given ye over to them, not to be played with, but I wouldn’t have kept you alive either. I were not too happy wi’ being bested, I tell you; but I see you are the right sort. I said to meself, you stand by Peter and Peter will stand by you, Silver, so I said. You’re his last card, and by the living thunder, Silver, he is yours! Back to back, says I. You save your witness, Silver, and he will save your ears.”
I began to understand. “You mean all is lost?”
“Aye, indeed I do. Ship gone, treasure gone, ears gone, and that’s the size of it. And as for that council, well, they’re fools, mark me, outright fools and cowards. I’ll save your life from them, if so be as I can, but tit for tat, you save Silver.”
“What I can do, that I’ll do,” I said.
“It’s a bargain!” he cried. “You speak up plucky, and by thunder I’ve a chance.”
He stood up and stretched.
“I’ve one last question for ye, though I doubts I shall get an answer. ’Tes this: That Orion, he gave me this, when we was pulling back from the tower. Why did he do that, d’ye think?” He held up Skel’s memo pad.
I looked at it in puzzlement. “I’ve no idea,” I said truthfully. He tossed it thoughtfully and caught it again.
“Hmm. Well, maybe I have my own ideas on that. Understand me, Peter,” he said. “I’ve a head on my shoulders, I has, and a good ’un. I’m on Orion’s side now. I know you has a way of getting to the ship. How you managed it all, I don’t know, because Vaarth was there and he should ha’ taken you all down, easy as winking, but he didn’t. Well, I never believed much in him, for sure. No, mark me, I know when a game’s lost, so I do, and I know one who’s staunch and true. Ah, you and young Marthar and me, why, we might have done a power of good together!” He reached into a pouch and pulled out a bottle of cognac.
“Will ye taste, messmate?” he asked, and when I had refused: “Well, I’ll take a dram meself, Peter. I need a caulker, for there’s trouble on hand, to be sure.” And he took another swallow of the brandy, shaking his great red-golden head as someone looking forward to the worst.
The council of pirates had lasted some time when one of them came out, looked at us briefly and then returned.
“There’s a cold wind coming,” Silver said, and his fur fluffed up.
They came out of the door, one by one, sideways, then coming upright, gathering. I saw the sunlight gleam of a bare blade. The others were watching him as he held a bottle in one hand and the wtsai in the other, kneeling down as he did something. Then he rose to his feet and the whole party came towards us.
“Here they come,” said I and turned away, for I did not want them to think I was spying on them.
“Well, let ’em come, Peter, let ’em come,” Silver said cheerfully. “I’ve still a shot in my locker.”
The group came up slowly, seven of them, and all the others pushed one member forward. In any other circumstances it would have been comical to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set one foot in front of the other, but holding a clenched paw in front of him.
“Step up, Hero,” Silver called to him. “I won’t eat you. Hand it over. I knows the rules, I do. I won’t hurt a depytation.”
Thus encouraged, the pirate stepped up more briskly and passed something to Silver, trying to drop it into his paw, but Silver carefully taking it in his claws. Silver looked at what had been given to him.
“Ah, the death claw. I thought so. And whose claw was this, afore it got dipped, that’s what I’d like to know. Were it one of those poor kzin what we killed here? Ah, I sees it were. Not a pirate claw then. Not one of the fraternity. Ah, but you didn’t ought to take a claw off someone who died for loyalty, d’ye see, ’cos if ye does that, then the one what takes it is the one what dies. And I thought you said you knows the rules as I does, d’ye see. And the rules is that I’m still yer Cap’n until I hears yer grievances, an’ this here death claw ain’t worth a biscuit. So yer grievances please, an’ after that we’ll see.”
“Oh, don’t you be under any misapprehension, we’re all square, we are,” answered a pirate. “First, you’ve made a hash of this cruise—you’ll be a bold kzin to say no to that. Second, you let the enemy come and get us and now they hold the tower where the treasure is. And third, you lost us the ship, which is the end of things, or so it seems to the council. And then fourth, you didn’t shoot the pinnace when you had the chance. And fifth, there’s this here man-kit.”
“Is that all?” asked Silver quietly.
“Enough,” growled the kzin. “We’ll all die for this an’ all your bungling. Whether it be the ARM, or the Patriarch, or Lord Vaemar-
Riit, they’re all after us now.”
“Well now, lookee here, I’ll answer these p’ints one by one, one after another. So I made a hash of the cruise, did I? Ye all know what I wanted. I wanted no reason for S’maak-Captain and the others to have a single suspicion of us until we took them by surprise. But who was it looked mutinous afore we even landed? Though I did everything to be helpful and to keep them happy, who was it wanted to get their claws on the treasure as soon as we were in orbit? Not me, as I recall. But you, Rraangar, and you, Sraurr, ye announced yer intentions by the way ye cursed every order ye got, and snarled at any who looked to obey them. And so S’maak struck first, or leastaways he would ha’ done, had I not turned the ship against him. Oh, he knew, he did. And I fathomed he did, else the red lander would ha’ been destroyed and everyone aboard it. An’ if we’d done it my way, why we’d be aboard and countin’ the treasure by now, so we would have been. But no, and who crossed me? Who gave S’maak the idea that we was a risk? I think it was you, Rraangar, Sraurr and pretty much every damned one of ye. And ye have the insolence to stand for Cap’n over me, you that sank the lot of us! By the powers, this tops the stiffest yarn to nothing.”
Silver paused, and I could see by the faces that the words had much effect.
“That’s for number one,” Silver remarked, snarling; his vehemence had loosened his temper. “Why, I give ye my word I’m sick to speak with ye for ye’ve neither sense nor memory, and I leave it to fancy to speculate where yer mothers and Sires were that let ye come into space. Heroes of fortune? I reckon vegetable growers is more your trade.”
Rraangar snarled. “Go on to the others, Silver,”
“Oh, the others. Well, I let the enemy take us down, did I? And who was it ordered a watch, and who was on watch when they came? Someone drunk, I’ll be bound. Ye can’t hold yer liquor, not one of ye, and ye can’t think of the morrow, misty hells, ye can’t think o’ ten minutes hence, not one of ye. And ye can’t obey orders from them as can think ahead, ye useless swabs. And ye think ’twas me lost you the ship? Well ’twas me got it for ye in the first place, so I did, else ye’d ha’ been crisped meat while still in the lander, so ye would. And I’m the on’y one could get it back, I’ll ask ye to remember. Oh, and ye’d ha’ me destroy the pinnace, which is the on’y way back to the ship, ye half-witted swabs. Aye, the enemy has it an’ we don’t, which is bad, but nowhere near as bad as neither of us havin’ it. And for why? Because there’s a consort coming, so there be, a sister ship to the Valiant; and that brings us to the last point, the man-kit here. Where will we be, think ye, if the consort arrives, or if they choose to get the new Valiant to make a few more landers? Why, they takes the treasure, and they leaves, but not afore they take us all out from space. And what’s to stop them doing that? Why, think you little Marthar would let them destroy her pet here? I’m after thinkin’ that she would not. But if they thought we had ate him, then she’d be egging them on for vengeance, as though our race—as though the Riit Clan—ever needed any egging. Ha’ ye never heard of a hostage? No, ’tis too hard and complicated an idea for ye to get your heads around, I daresay. Waste of time with Heroes, but not with humans.” He spat on the ground before them with contempt. “And lost ye the ship, have I? Well, maybe I have an idea of how to get it back, and maybe I haven’t, but I reckon my chances a little better than yours, Rraangar, just a little better. For ye can’t program worth a damn, can ye? And then there’s this.” He threw Skel’s memo pad, or more accurately, K’zarr’s memo pad, on the ground before them. They gaped at it. Then they started to talk excitedly.