Water Sleeps

86

“Is anybody at all still up topside?” I demanded. I had settled down for a short nap when the timing had seemed appropriate and that had turned into a long nap that might have become a permanent nap had not so many people been around to keep me from drifting too far away. I dreamed while I was out, I knew that, but I remembered none of it.

The smell of Kina remained strong in my nostrils, so I knew where I must have gone, though.

One-Eye was seated beside me, apparently assisting me with my snoring. A worried Goblin appeared, checking to make certain his best friend did not drift too far into sleep. Beyond me, Mother Gota had become engrossed in a protracted debate with the white crow. That must have been a classic dialog to disinterested listeners.

Goblin murmured, “From now on, don’t make any sudden movements, Sleepy. Always look around you. Always make sure that you’re not going to damage any of our friends.”

I heard Tobo talking rapidly, softly, in a businesslike voice. I could not distinguish his words. Somewhere Uncle Doj rattled away, too. “What’s happening?”

“We’ve started waking them up. It’s not as complicated as we feared it might be but it takes time and care, and the people we bring out aren’t going to be any use to us after they waken if you had any plans along those lines. One-Eye worked it all out before he collapsed.” The little wizard sounded grimmer suddenly.

“Collapsed? One-Eye collapsed? Was it just exhaustion?” I hoped.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to know. Yet. For now, I’m just going to let him rest. Right down on the edge of the stasis. Or even into it if I think that’s necessary. Once his body regains its strength, I’ll bring him out and see how bad it really was.” He did not sound optimistic.

I said, “If we had to we could leave him here, in stasis, till we could give him proper treatment.” Which reminded me. “You’re not just getting everyone up, are you? There’s no way we can nurse and feed the whole crowd.” Surely the Captured would not be able to take care of themselves after fifteen years of just sitting around, stasis or not. They might even be as weak and unskilled as babies and have to learn everything all over again.

“No, Sleepy. We’re going to do five people. That’s all.”

“Uhm. Good. Hey! Where the heck did the standard go?

It was right over there. I’m the Standardbearer. I have to keep track-”

“I had it moved over by the gap to the stair. So somebody going that way can take it upstairs. Will you quit fussing? That’s Sahra’s specialty.”

“Speaking of Sahra- Tobo! Where do you think you’re going?” While I was talking with Goblin, the boy had slipped past and headed up the cave.

“I was just gonna go see what’s up there.”

“No. You’re just gonna stay right here and help your uncle and Goblin take care of your father, the Captain and the Lieutenant.”

He gave me a black look. Despite everything, he still had those moments when he was just a boy. He put on a pouty face that made me grin.

Willow Swan came up behind me. “I’ve got a problem, Sleepy.”

“Which would be?”

“I can’t find Cordy. Cordy Mather. Not anywhere.”

From the corner of my eye I noted that the Radisha had overheard. She rose slowly from a squat in front of her brother, looked our way. She said nothing nor did anything otherwise that might betray an interest. It was not common knowledge that she and Mather had enjoyed an intimate relationship.

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“You did bring him down here?”

“Absolutely.”

I grunted. There was one other absentee whose nonpresence I had been willing to ignore until some rational excuse for her disappearance arose. The shapeshifter Lisa Bowalk, unable to shed the guise of a black panther, had gone up onto the plain as a prisoner but was not now to be found among the dead above or the Captured down below.

Lisa Bowalk had been possessed of a towering hatred for the Company, and particularly for One-Eye because it was One-Eye’s fault that she had become trapped in the feline shape. I had to ask. “What about the panther, Willow? It’s not around here anywhere, either.”

“What panther? Oh. I remember. I don’t know.” He was looking around like he thought he might spot his old friend Mather hiding behind a stalagmite. “I remember we had to leave her upstairs because we couldn’t get her cage around the first turn in the stair. I mean, it would have gone if Catcher and I didn’t have anything else to mess with, but we couldn’t manage it and the rest of the string both. So Catcher decided to leave the cage up there for later. I don’t know what happened when later came. I don’t remember much of anything that happened after we came down here. Maybe One-Eye should give me another dose of that memory spell.” He tugged on and twisted the ends of his hair, girl-style, and stared down the slope. “I know I left Cordy right down there, just a little above Blade, where it seemed like the floor would be more comfortable.”

“Right down there” was the downhill edge of the clot of seven dead men. There had to be a connection. “Goblin, what’s the story? Are we going to wake these people up or not?” Me, ignoring everything he had said earlier.

Goblin responded with a sneer that turned into one of his big toad grins. “I’ve already got Murgen out.”

“But I wanted him down here where I could ask questions.”

“I mean I’ve got him out of stasis., bimbo-brain. He’s right over there. I’m working on the Captain and Lady now. Tobo and Doj have been doing prelims on Thai Dei and the Prahbrindrah Drah.”

Exactly according to my expectations. With the latter two men included entirely for political reasons. Neither was likely to contribute much to the Company’s glory or survival.

I moved down to where Murgen lay snoring. The echoing racket and the melting ice webs were the only changes I saw. I squatted. “Anybody think to bring blankets down?” I had not. I am what you would have to call disorganized when it comes to present-tense operations. It had not occurred to me to bring spare clothing or blankets or gear. But I sure can plan bloodshed and general mayhem real well.

There were treasure chambers down here somewhere, though. I had glimpsed several in my dreams. There might be something useful there if we could find them.

My stomach growled. I was getting hungry. The rumble reminded me that it would not be long before our situation became desperate.

Murgen’s eyes opened. He tried to form an expression, a smile for Sahra, but the effort was too much for him. His gaze shifted to me. A whisper struggled through his lips. “The Books. Get... the Daughter...” His eyes closed again.

It was true. The Captured were not going to jump up and dance tarantellas when they were liberated.

Murgen’s message was clear. The Books of the Dead were down here. Something had to be done before the Daughter of Night got another chance to begin copying them. And I had no doubt that she would manage that, despite Soulcatcher. She had Kina backing her up.

“I’ll take care of it.” I did not have a ghost of a notion how I would manage that, though.