The Crystal Seas

Chapter EIGHTEEN

A war-trained yulon in good condition could easily tow twenty men at a good clip all night. The one waiting in the depths of the harbor had been hard worked, but it could easily tow a dozen men and women and one inert body twenty miles offshore by dawn.

An hour after dawn Blade stuck his head up through the crest of a swell and saw Sea Fox's white-painted mast on the horizon. An hour after that, they were aboard her and pumping stimulants into the unconscious but still-living Durkas. And before nightfall, Durkas was conscious, full of Truth-Finder, and pouring out all he knew of Duke Tymgur's plans.

That was quite a lot. Blade suspected that Krodrus would find his report most interesting.

Krodrus did.

The Autocrat for Finance would have found it even more interesting if he had been able to confront Stipors with the full tale in open council. However, word had apparently reached Stipors that his dealings with Duke Tymgur were about to see the light of day. His choices had then become very simple-try to kill Blade or flee at once. He had chosen to flee. In fact he had fled two days before Sea Fox picked up Blade and his prisoner off the coast of Nurn.

This balked Krodrus of having his colleague tried and executed for treason. But it did solve one problem literally overnight. With Stipors no longer concerned in the matter, the execution of the Conciliators was quietly dropped. In fact, they were all pardoned and released the day after Blade's return. The proclamation of pardon had to be rather weasel-worded, of course. Blade's mission was still a closely guarded secret. But at least there was no more danger of Svera's losing her head.

There was some danger of Captain Foyn's deciding that Blade would make a perfect son-in-law and heir. The fact that Blade was obviously a man who would rise high in the Sea Cities, whatever his origins, didn't help matters. Blade had to find a way to avoid saying yes, no, or maybe without giving any hint of why. He knew that his time in this dimension must be drawing to a close. But there was still one large item of unfinished business before he could go home with a clear mind-Duke Tymgur. So he was as eager to speak to Krodrus as he had been after his return from the Reefs of Clan Gnyr.

This time he didn't have to wait.

Neither Krodrus's officer nor the man himself had changed much. But the little Autocrat's expression was harried. It was obvious that Blade's discovery had brought him no real peace of mind.

«You have done marvels,» he said to Blade. «You and all those who helped you. But I cannot see that you have solved our problem. Duke Tymgur still lives. We have weakened him both here and in Nurn, but a man such as he can always find other trusted stewards, other traitors in the Sea Cities and elsewhere.»

«Not if what we have learned is revealed to-all concerned,» said Blade.

Krodrus shrugged his narrow shoulders. «How can that be? There is still too much hatred built up from centuries of war. And even if such a revelation would cause no trouble among us, it would not weaken Tymgur's power in Nurn. That power is so great that I think he could push the Empire into a war of conquest. We cannot stand against it. Not now. We have-both-lost too many ships, too many fighters in the past few months.»

«Suppose there were no Duke Tymgur?»

«Eh?»

«One kills a yulon most easily by cutting off its head. A conspiracy can be killed the same way.»

«Yulons have only one head, Blade. Conspiracies-«

«Conspiracies differ, I know. But this one has only one head. Duke Tymgur has been careful not to let any of his supporters become over-mighty in their own right. Kill him, and the danger from his faction ceases. There are none among it with the skill and power to rebuild it, at least not before Tymgur's enemies move in. Perhaps even the Emperor himself would take a hand in that case. He is weak, but not fond of over-mighty subjects.»

Krodrus made a vague noise that suggested he was considering the matter. After a short silence he shook his head. «How could you chop off this-head? Tymgur's seat we know is a castle with a garrison of at least a thousand. We could hardly surprise and take it in time to catch the Duke. And even if we could, to raid the coast of Nurn would bring instant war with the Empire. All the nobles would rally around Tymgur. Even the Emperor's hand would be forced.»

«I wasn't thinking of a raid on his castle.»

«No?»

«The. Duke travels from Mestron to his castle and back again by sea. A ship at sea is a much easier prey to a surprise attack than a castle. And a ship at sea can be made to disappear much more easily than a castle, as well. If Duke Tymgur vanishes from the face of the sea as though the Goddess had whisked him away-«

«I see,» said Krodrus. There was an uncertain smile on his face. Then it became firmer. «Very well. How is this to be done?»

Blade pulled out a map of the coast of Nurn and began to explain.

He had the plan well worked out and Krodrus was a good listener. Furthermore, he was a man who did not delay making up his mind when there was a vital decision to be made. When Blade had finished, Krodrus nodded.

«It shall be done as you wish, and you shall have everything you need. I confess I would not have thought of it myself. But one doubt remains. If so many Fishmen-excuse me, so many Sea Masters-are involved with so many of our people, how can we keep the secret of the peace between the two peoples?»

«We can't,» said Blade flatly. «It would be a waste of time to even try. But if Tymgur is dead and gone, it won't matter any more. Even if the Emperor decides on war against the two peoples, he will not plunge Nurn into it the way Tymgur would. There will be several years at least for trust to grow, for plans to be made, for new warriors to be trained.» Several years which I shall not see, Blade added to himself. As much as I would like to.

Krodrus was silent for a very long time. «Then so be it,» he said. «We seem to worship one Goddess, although under different names. Perhaps in truth we are one people or once were. If so, I am sure she will bless this undertaking and all that flows from it.»

The idea that Sea Masters and Talgarans had a common origin was one that had also occurred to Blade. But the reasoning that lay behind that idea was not something he could explain to Krodrus, even if he wanted to.

«Perhaps you are right,» was all he said.

Nineteen days had passed. Again Blade was off the coast of Nurn. In fact he was only a few miles offshore from the cove where he had arrived in this dimension. But instead of fighting a yulon, now he was riding one. In fact, he was sitting astride its neck, just behind the small head. He prodded the base of the skull with a stone-pointed goad, and the creature lifted its head still higher. Blade stared at the southern horizon, toward Mestron.

Coming over that horizon was a ship with a single sail — a green sail with a black bull's head on it.

For once a simple idea had also been simple to carry out. It had involved a good deal of work and planning, of course. But it hadn't been hard to explain it to any of the people involved-Sea Masters or Talgarans.

Duke Tymgur's yacht never went more than twenty miles offshore. It didn't need to. The land dropped off sharply into the sea along the coast of Nurn, with deep water only a mile or two offshore. Water more than deep enough to hide a yulon-or for that matter six yulons, or a hundred.

So Blade set up a patrol line off the coast. Six yulons, each with three Sea Masters and three Talgarans and everything they needed to remain on station for days or even weeks. Both Sea Masters and Talgarans were more than tough enough to stand it. The only problem had been persuading the Talgarans to mount the yulons. But the spectacle of Alanyra herself leading one of them around like a house pet had solved that problem.

Eighty miles offshore, Green Mistress sailed back and forth. Aboard her were extra food and weapons, Captain Foyn, Oknyr, and more warriors of both people. Hopefully she was far enough out that no one would connect her with what was about to happen.

As Blade had told Krodrus, there was no hope of keeping the alliance secret now. But so far there was peace among the two peoples. And the secret would certainly last until Duke Tymgur was no longer around. That sail was approaching fast. The Duke had two more hours to live, if he was lucky.

Blade reminded himself not to get his hopes up too high too soon, and used the goad again. The yulon lowered its head into the water once again. Blade let go of its neck and swam down fifty feet to where Alanyra waited, astride the neck of a second yulon. Fifty feet farther down were the remaining four and their fighting teams-six yulons, thirty-six picked fighting men and women. That would probably be enough, with surprise on their side. If there had been time to get more men in from Green Mistress-But there had been no time. Oknyr would not like being left out of this fight, but there was no helping that.

As if she had read his thoughts, Alanyra smiled and said, «Oknyr would like to be here.»

«I am sure of it. He loves a good fight too much. Perhaps too much for his own good. We don't want a long battle now. I don't care how much honor and glory there might be in one. We're after Duke Tymgur, not honor and glory.» Alanyra looked hurt at the implied rebuke to Oknyr. Blade smiled to take the sting out of his words, and went on. «Besides, Oknyr already has enough honor and glory to last him the next several lives. He should give us younger fighters a chance, not hog all the glory.»

«You have glory beyond all other men, Blade,» said Alanyra. «You are the Stranger sent by the Goddess.» Blade looked away. The expression of worship on Alanyra's face and in her voice made him uncomfortable. Then he looked up toward the surface. There was enough of a breeze to kick up small waves and make the crystal seas a little less transparent. They would not need to drop down too deeply, to escape being seen. They could even have used one of the Ship-Killers, if Oknyr had been willing. But the Orderer of Battles was not yet willing to let Talgarans use the Sea Masters' most potent weapon and risk its secrets getting out. The trust was growing, but as yet it was far from complete.

Once more there was no point in wishing for what they did not have. Thirty-six men and six yulons with surprise on their side should do the job. And even without surprise- As Blade had said to Krodrus the morning they sailed, «If Tymgur dies, we can afford to lose every man on this mission. If he lives, every man who dies will have died in vain.» Blade did not want to die in vain, and neither did any of the others.

He swam back over to Alanyra again and motioned downward. «Time to take our stations, Lady.»

«So soon?»

«We can take no chances of being seen too soon.»

«A yulon can overtake any ship, Blade.»

«In time, yes. But this close to land, Tymgur could run his yacht ashore before we could catch him. He would lose the ship and every man aboard, perhaps, but he would do that to save his own skin.»

«He would that.» She swam free of her yulon, arched her body gracefully, then signaled to the four teams below. Blade repeated the signal to the team on the surface. Minutes later, all six were two hundred feet down. Blade alone remained close to the surface. There was small risk of one man being noticed, and someone had to keep a lookout in case Tymgur's ship changed course at the last moment.

It did not. The big galley came driving on as straight as though it had been running on rails, the oars throwing up silver foam on either side. It came on until Blade could begin to make out individual figures on its deck. Not faces yet, but he did not need to. The Duke's personal banner was flying from the masthead. The Duke was on board.

Blade waited until the yacht's bow was looming above him like a wall. Then he plunged down, stroking furiously away from those churning oars, arrowing down into the depths. The sleek shapes of the yulons appeared. Blade flipped end-over-end and gave the signal. Faint and ghostly, cheers came up from below.

With those ghost cheers still in his ears, Blade turned and led the way back to the surface, to the battle.