Outlanders 18 sargasso p.., p.29
Outlanders 18 Sargasso Plunder, page 29
Kane listened to the calm certainty in the old man's voice. When he'd first met Qiang, Kane had been impressed. The old man was ruthless, but he backed it with complete fearlessness.
"Yes," Falzone answered. "But you need to understand me, too. If you don't help me save my daughter, if she is lost, we don't have a deal."
"That is not acceptable," Qiang said sharply. "Getting my troops into that area is going to be a hardship for me. Financially, I am risking much, and I am stripping away my own defenses to provide even this small chance for your daughter."
"I don't give a fuck," Falzone said. "My daughter is at risk, and if you can't live with that, neither can I."
"Surely," Qiang said evenly, "you can see that you can't deal with Baron Cobalt after this."
"If you can't help me," Falzone said, "then I'm asking help from the wrong man, and that's an ace on the line. Cobaltville still has the blasters I need to stand against the Wiy Tukay worshipers. If I can't depend on you for this, I don't need you."
Captain Rong breathed in shallowly, but said nothing.
"I can stand against you, Qiang," Falzone said, "that's why you haven't taken a harder stance against me. I can duck and hide in these islands and chill anybody you send after me for a long time. And you still won't know where the Lost Valley goods are. I'm entering into this deal because there's a chance to save my daughter, not because I've suddenly become enamored of you."
Captain Rong cleared his throat delicately.
Falzone spun on the man. "If you got something caught in your throat, get outside and take care of it."
"Captain Rong believes you should not be so indelicate with me," Qiang said amid the hiss and pop of the radio.
"This is a fucking indelicate situation," Falzone said. "I'm going to lay my cards on the table so you can get a good look at them."
"Agreed," Qiang stated. "A most honorable way of doing business."
"From the way I hear it, honor isn't exactly your strong suit," Falzone said, "but you're greedy enough to buy into this. And it'll be a chance to strike back at Baron Cobalt."
"Agreed," Qiang said. "Since we are both being up front about our motivations."
"How soon can you have support teams in the area?" Falzone asked
"That answer," Qiang replied, "will surprise you. Men under my command in those territories recently came into possession of a man named Donald Bry."
The announcement surprised Kane.
"I knew from their questioning of him that someone was about to make a move against you. So I have been preparing for a while. I have been told I can have ships and airplanes there within thirty hours." "Rescuing the girl," Kane said, "is going to be left up to us."
Falzone glanced up at Kane.
Only the crackle of white noise echoed inside the captain's quarters for a moment.
"I know your voice," Qiang said.
"We've met," Kane replied. "Down in Autarkic a while back. I came in with Christensen on Sloop John B."
"Kane," Qiang stated. "I remember you. You slew Ambika."
"Mebbe." The woman warrior's body had never been recovered. "But I want you to know we're going to ramrod the rescue operation."
"I have men capable of—" Qiang began.
"No," Falzone said "Kane works this end of the salvage."
A moment passed. "As you wish, but once the battle is joined with the Cobaltville forces, should it come to that, my men will act as they see fit."
"That's fine," Falzone said "And once my daughter is out of there alive, we have a deal."
"Kane," Qiang said in a cold voice, "you should know that my bargain with Mr. Falzone rests squarely on your shoulders. If you should fail him, you will also fail me. And in this endeavor, Mr. Falzone's wrath—even though his daughter is involved—will in no way match mine."
"Sure," Kane said, "but if your people fuck this up by jumping the gun on us, trust me when I say that I'll hold you accountable."
Qiang made no response.
"And I want Donald Bry," Kane went on.
"Why?"
"Because he has information I need."
"Was he working for you when he came into these territories?" Qiang asked.
"No."
"Then what is he to you?"
"Information. I want to know who all the players are."
"Very well. Captain Rong?"
"Yes, Lord Qiang?" the captain responded.
"See to it that your prisoner is transferred into Mr. Falzone's custody."
"At once, Lord Qiang."
"Mr. Falzone," Qiang said, "I wish you good fortune on the rescue of your daughter. I have found it to be most...unpleasant to lose family."
"Thank you," Falzone replied. Qiang ended the radio communication.
TWO OF CAPTAIN RONG'S crewmen brought Donald Bry up onto the deck. The little man showed hard wear, and a scruffiness Kane had never seen in him. Bry didn't look too relieved to see Kane waiting on him. The crewmen took Bry's cuffs off and left him with Kane.
"We're going to need to talk," Kane stated.
Bry nodded but didn't say anything.
"You may contact my ship," Captain Rong told Falzone, "if you need anything. And all the coordinating efforts will be done through me."
"That's fine," Falzone said.
"I have three daughters myself, Mr. Falzone," Captain Rong said. "My son serves as my cabin boy so that we can spend time together and I can further his training. I teach him the things a warrior and a sailor needs to learn Family is very important to me. I would not see you lose your daughter." He offered his hand.
Falzone took the Tong captain's hand and shook it. He didn't speak.
Kane waited until Falzone was clear of the deck, then motioned Bry over the side. Kane dropped into the longboat beside Grant.
Captain Rong leaned on the railing, looking back at them. The dragon on the prow clawed the waves that broke across it.
"You got an idea of how we're supposed to pull this off?" Grant whispered.
"Yeah," Kane said. "At least, I've got the beginnings of an idea."
Chapter 32
"That's Kane?" Mac Olney asked.
Brigid watched Kane step out of the minisub onto the docks fronting the cave mouth leading into Tyler Falzone's island. "Yes," she replied.
"He's not as big as I thought he would be from the way you described him," Olney stated.
Brigid let the statement pass without comment. She'd never described Kane physically. Cool winds blew in from the ocean and the crash of waves underscored her conversation with Olney. The coarse, sour smell of burned buildings and death lingered over the island.
Falzone's guards watched over Brigid and Olney, but they weren't overbearing. When the foundation ship had arrived at the island, they'd immediately surrendered, trusting Falzone's mercy and Kane's presence at Brigid's insistence. They'd been there for the past twenty-eight hours, sequestered to a holding area while awaiting Falzone's arrival from the salvage site where he'd been. During that time, Brigid had also been aware that the Magistrates who'd attacked the island were increasing their lead.
During that time, she'd also spoken with Kane over the radio, explaining how she'd come to be with the Heimdall Foundation people and learning that Kane now had possession of Donald Bry from the Chinese.
A sudden excited squeal rang out below. Domi broke from her guards and ran to Grant, who caught her up in his arms and laughed out loud.
"You don't seem as excited to see your friends as Domi does," Olney observed.
"I'm glad they're here," Brigid said, "but I'm more reserved than Domi is."
Olney nodded but didn't say anything.
Brigid waited, watching as Kane moved toward her. He was totally focused, his blue-gray eyes looking stormy. He stepped up into the cave with her. "We need to talk, Baptiste." He glanced at Olney and dismissed the foundation man. "You can bring your new friend if you want."
Brigid barely curbed a heated response.
"Not overly friendly, is he?" Olney asked.
"No," Brigid responded. "Not even on a good day." She watched Kane's broad back as he ascended the metal staircase inside the lookout cave. She wondered how much of his shortness was due to the pressures he was under now, and how much was due to the fact that Olney was with her.
"Mebbe Falzone needs to rethink who he's going to send after his little girl," Olney said.
Brigid turned to the foundation man. "No. If there's any person I'd trust to get that little girl out of this situation, it's Kane. Don't make any mistakes about that." She left him standing there, not really understanding why she'd defended Kane so brusquely.
KANE SAT inside the wag he and Grant had brought from the Cerberus redoubt. He held the radio handset that connected him to Lakesh, watching the faces around him
Donald Bry sat farthest away, his gaze resting uncomfortably on the burned-out shells of the homes around them Since he'd been returned to them, Bry had only answered Kane's questions, offering no defense for his actions and only as much explanation as he could get away with.
Domi sat beside Grant, her attention riveted on the big man. Falzone conferred with his men only a short distance away, but Teresa was nowhere to be found. Discovering that her daughter was in enemy hands had been a lot for her to handle, and Kane supposed it was only natural that the woman placed part of the blame on Falzone.
And Brigid sat close to the foundation man, Mac Olney. Or maybe, Kane irritably conceded, the foundation man sat close to her. They'd been talking quietly among themselves, which bothered Kane on a level he wasn't ready to admit to even to himself.
"Lakesh," Kane called over the radio.
"I'm here, friend Kane. I've been expecting you to call." Despite the fact that his machinations had been found out, Lakesh didn't sound overly defensive. The old man sounded tired. He really hadn't been happy to find out Kane had helped engineer the deal between Falzone and Wei Qiang.
"You were the one who boobied the files Falzone traded to Baron Cobalt," Kane accused.
"Yes," Lakesh admitted. "After we found out about the salvage operation in the Northwest Territories, I couldn't allow it to go unchecked. I had Bry set himself up with some of the comp prog suppliers that networked with Falzone's traders, and began trading files back to Falzone that I knew he would be able to trade to Baron Cobalt. I built the viruses that affected Cobaltville's comps."
"Intending to set the Magistrates loose on Remar and other people Falzone had been using to trade through."
"Yes. The fact that you and Grant were caught in the cross fire at the gaudy came as a surprise to me. I had no way of knowing. My intention was to slow Falzone's trading with Baron Cobalt and get Bry inside Falzone's salvaging to get a better understanding of what it is Baron Cobalt searches for so desperately there," Lakesh went on. "Bry would have been able to keep an eye on developments there for us."
"You don't know what Baron Cobalt is searching for?" Kane asked.
"No, I don't. I'd hoped Bry would have been able to uncover that."
Kane didn't know whether to believe the man about that or not. Lakesh had a history of playing things close to the vest, and was always guileless until he'd been found out.
"Why did you fake Bry's attack on you?" Brigid demanded.
"All of you," Lakesh said, "involved yourselves in this. With Kane and Grant in the area, it seemed more possible that the Heimdall Foundation's ability to get him inside Falzone's camp would work. However, if you happened to see Bry there, you needed to be convinced that he had become a traitor to our cause and treat him accordingly."
"To your cause, you mean," Grant growled.
Lakesh ignored the comment. "Of course, I'd no way of knowing the Tong would capture Bry. And friend Bry, if you are there, I am glad that no harm has come to you."
Bry only shook his head.
"You knew the Magistrates were following us," Kane said. "Yes, though I didn't know any of them would go to these lengths."
"This would have ran more simply if you'd have let us know what was going on," Kane said.
"Would they indeed, friend Kane?" Lakesh sounded more sarcastic then, but his words lacked their usual sting. "Baron Cobalt has even taken precautions to make sure the other barons haven't learned of his search among the ruins of Seattle and the second Silicon Valley that existed pre-skydark. If I had not precipitated these events in the manner that I chose, had I not added the catalyst of the computer programs with viruses in them that elicited Baron Cobalt's decision to treat Tyler Falzone as an enemy rather than a trader, we would have learned nothing."
"You've still learned nothing if you don't know what Cobalt's after," Kane said. "You succeeded in getting over half the ville here chilled, and now there's a little girl's life on the line because of it."
"Events could have just as easily worked out the way I had engineered them," Lakesh said.
Kane curbed his anger and focused on the present situation. Lakesh had his way of looking at things and there would be no persuading him that he'd acted in any way wrongly. "I want Mallet's ship, Lakesh. Get it found and get back to me."
There was a momentary pause. "What will you do when I find his ship, friend Kane?"
"I'm going to rescue that little girl," Kane replied.
"And what happens after that? Will you stay there, or will you return?"
Kane paused, suddenly aware that he had no ready answer. "Find the ship." He broke the radio connection and glanced at Brigid, who was talking quietly with Mac Olney again. Maybe they all had new roads open to them
"I SEE THE SHIP," Brigid stated calmly, staring through her field glasses on Starseeker's prow deck. Nearly a mile away, Mallet's ship crested a wave, riding high, then slipping down the other side until only the tall masts showed. The other ships were spread around it.
For the past two days, Falzone had gathered ships from different islands, putting the word out that Cobaltville Magistrates had invaded his home and taken his daughter. At first the response from the other islands was muted. None of the people there wanted to involve themselves too much. But they'd come at last. Fourteen ships sailed in the ragtag convoy navigated by Lakesh from the Cerberus redoubt.
From the reports the few survivors at Falzone's island had given, there were no more than a half-dozen Wiy Tukay ships. But Brigid knew they were sailing into battle. She could tell from the way Mallet's course had changed that he was receiving directions from someone else, and that someone else bad to be heading up the assault force coming from Cobaltville.
Lakesh had confirmed the arrival of the Magistrate troops, as well, tracking them from Cobaltville. With that information, Lakesh had triangulated a course that would bring Falzone's people and Qiang's navy to the meeting place, shaving nearly a day off the Tong's travel time.
Kane's plan called for engaging Mallet's ship before it reached the rendezvous point. The first thing Mallet would do would be to remove the young girl from the ship.
And if the girl was turned over to the ground troops, there was little chance they would be able to rescue her.
"Why didn't Kane ask you to be one of his party?" Mac Olney stood beside her, his eyes locked on to the uneven horizon where the Wiy Tukay ships sailed.
"Because he knows that I'm nowhere near the warrior he and Grant and Domi are," Brigid answered.
"And you're comfortable with that distinction?"
Brigid glanced at the foundation man, trying to figure out how she felt about him. "Yes. It's a fair assessment."
"Ah, but Brigid Baptiste," Olney said with a slight smile, "you strike me as every inch the warrior maid."
"Flattery isn't something that I approve of."
"Perhaps not, but it does sound nice, doesn't it? And coming in with Wimmer after the fight with the Chinese Tong members was no easy thing."
"Kane also left me here to coordinate the ships," Brigid said.
"I'm glad you feel that way." Olney loosened the shotgun in the shoulder scabbard. "I thought perhaps he was a bit jealous of my relationship with you."
"We," Brigid said clearly, "don't have a relationship." The thought, though, wasn't totally off-putting. Kane had been wrapped up in planning the various stages of the rescue operation and outfitting the ships, much of it done on the way. Olney's humor during that time had been very much appreciated.
"The lack of a relationship could be quickly remedied," Olney said. "Unless you find me just totally unappealing."
Brigid foundered for a moment, not quite sure how to respond.
Then Falzone joined them, his face anxious. He'd come aboard Starseeker so his own ships wouldn't be seen. Star- seeker still flew the Heimdall Foundation flag, and Kane's plan was that Mallet would believe the foundation ship was out for revenge.
"They're only five miles out from the coastline according to the latest reading your friend Lakesh has," Falzone said, peering out at the other ship. He'd been manning the comm station, coordinating the other ships, as well as the Tong. It was still questionable whether the Tong would arrive in time.
"Does Kane know?" Brigid asked.
"Yes. He's making his move now." Falzone breathed out harshly. "I should be with him."
"Your place is here," Brigid said. "Your people will follow you better if they see you. Kane explained that." Kane had also privately told Brigid that Falzone's presence during the rescue mission could complicate things due to the man's emotional involvement. She'd agreed.
"I know." Falzone watched the Wiy Tukay ships like a hawk. "But I can't help feeling I should be there."
"You can do more here," Brigid said. "How long until Mallet reaches the coast at his present speed?"
"Fifteen, twenty minutes. The Cobaltville troops are already in place."
"What about the Tong?"
"Lakesh says they're still a question, but Captain Rong tells me he already has planes in the air. As soon as Kane is in place, they'll begin their approach."
"Falzone," a man yelled from the comm station. Brigid, Olney and Falzone all looked back.
