The gap year, p.38
The Gap Year, page 38
“Camp rations again tonight, my dear?” Timais looked up from his pack, holding bread and cheese in one hand, and dried sausage in the other. His face held humorous resignation. “I suppose it’s our only option, so I don’t need to keep asking every time.”
Nephele smiled. “One more day of travel, and then we can buy fresh food in Corinth,” she said. “Until then, we’ll just have to suffer.”
“We still have some daylight left.” Indy looked at the lowering sun, considering. “I might wander around for a bit and stretch my legs, see what there is to smell out there.”
“I’ll come too,” Anna said. “I’m not quite hungry yet, anyway.”
“Just don’t wander too far,” Timais said. “I know you two can take care of yourselves, but this is unfamiliar ground for you.”
“We’ll be careful,” Anna said. “You guys have a nice dinner, and we’ll be back in a while.” She waved goodbye, nodding at the nearest of their group as she joined Indy on her way back toward the road.
“It’s nice not having eyes on my tail for a change,” Indy said once they were out of earshot of the camp.
“Most of them mean well. There’s only one or two that keep giving you looks.” Anna laughed. “Honestly, I’m surprised people didn’t kick up more of a fuss.”
“Who could resist all this?” Indy tossed her ruff, shooting Anna a mockingly smoldering look. “Any reasonable human is already predisposed to like my kind. The talking is just a bonus.”
They picked their way back across the road and down a long slope toward the rocky shoreline off in the distance, Indy trotting from side to side and sniffing at the bushes. She raised her head and scented the sea breeze. “Smells like someone cooking down there.” She nosed toward the ocean. “Grilled fish, maybe?”
“Remember what Timais said.” Anna looked around as they walked, but couldn’t see anyone amid the low shrubs. “We don’t know who might be out there. Actually, hold on a sec.” Indy stopped as Anna reached into her small day-bag and pulled out one of their tiny bee-drones. Alixa, send this drone ahead to see who’s cooking. The fake insect flew up and out as Anna and Indy continued walking.
A few minutes later, Alixa’s voice came over their link. A cargo ship has beached for the night. The crew are ashore cooking dinner. Her synthetic voice paused as the bee-drone fed back more information. Several women and children have joined them from a nearby village, bringing food.
Anna relaxed. “That sounds safe enough.” Her stomach growled. “I’m getting tired of bread and cheese, too. I’ve got some coins on me. I’ll bet we can buy something better off these guys. What do you say?”
Indy turned back toward Anna, drool hanging from her muzzle. “It smells great from here. I’ll let you do the talking, you know what I like.”
The two of them kept walking, and soon they could see the cargo ship their bee-drone had reported. It was different from the warships they’d seen in their drone images of Xerxes’ navy. Instead of being long and narrow with oars along its entire length, this ship was short and wide, with oars only at the front, and a square stern seemingly made to be pulled up on shore when a dock was not available. The square sail was furled for the evening, and the ship was secured by long ropes ending in shore anchors driven deep into the gravel a few dozen yards up the beach.
Anna stopped when she was close enough to be heard. “Ahoy, the ship!”
Ahoy? Indy’s mental voice was amused. Really?
You’re just mad because you don’t know boat words, Anna said.
Several of the crew had looked up at her hail, and one of them, an older man, beckoned her to approach. She and Indy picked their way down the beach, gravel crunching under their feet, until they were near enough to talk easily.
Up close, the older man had a kindly face, though it was seamed from years on deck under the sun. A woman of similar age stood beside him, looking at Anna and Indy as they approached. Around them, the rest of the crew continued their preparations for dinner, hauling more fish down off the deck and cleaning them, or foraging off in the brush further along the shore for firewood. Many women worked among them, dressed as villagers rather than sailors, sorting vegetables from baskets. A few children ran about, playing as their parents worked.
“Hello, sir. I’m Anna.” She extended a hand to shake as soon as she was close enough. “And this is my dog Indy.” She tilted her head to where Indy had sat down calmly beside her.
“My name is Celeas.” The man’s voice was raspy from a lifetime of shouting orders at sea. “I’m the captain. This is my wife Perse. And this—” he smiled at a tall young man who joined them “—is my son Crathis, our first mate.”
“I didn’t know we were expecting anyone but family, Father.” Crathis’ voice was light as he smiled at Anna. “You’re not from Krommyon too? I would’ve remembered you, surely.”
“Krommyon?” Anna looked around, puzzled.
“Our village,” Perse said, no-nonsense. “Can’t see it, but it’s off there a ways.” She pointed down the shore. “When our men sail past, we come down here to meet them. Bring them some fresh greens for dinner, so all their teeth don’t fall out. I’m a sailor’s wife, but that doesn’t mean I like ‘em gummy.”
“Best part of the Piraeus to Isthmia run,” Celeas said. “We make a good profit shuttling back and forth, and get to see our families going both directions, plus the houses here are a lot cheaper than in Athens or Corinth. And it keeps the teeth in our heads.” He bared his front teeth mockingly to his wife. “So, what brings you to our camp, young lady?”
“Well…” Now that they were actually here, Anna felt a little embarrassed. “We’re traveling with friends down to Corinth. But we’ve never been this way before, and wanted to explore a little before dinner. And then Indy smelled your food, and we… I mean I figured I’d come down and see if we could buy something tasty to eat, instead of another night of travel food.”
“We’d be glad to give you whatever you’d like!” Crathis, the handsome first mate, spoke up before his father could. He smiled broadly at Anna, prompting his father to roll his eyes in good-natured derision.
“Son, you’re never going to be a trader if you bargain like that.” Beside him, his wife Perse suppressed a smile. “At least wait for her to make an offer, for Poseidon’s sake!”
Anna quickly worked out a reasonable price for her and Indy to sample the food the sailors and their wives were cooking, and handed it over to Perse for safekeeping. Then Crathis jumped to prepare her food, skewering bits of grilled fish on small slivers of wood that could be carried around without the need for heavy plates.
Nice. Indy smacked open-mouthed on a bit of fish from a skewer Anna held out for her. Just olive oil and salt, but well done. She licked her lips, and Anna held out another skewer. Though you could’ve just batted your eyes at Crathis a few more times, and we’d be eating for free.
Anna colored, glancing aside to where Crathis was returning with his own fish skewers and two more bearing what looked like roasted turnip chunks. He handed one to Anna, and she sampled it tentatively before passing it on to Indy.
“Would you like to see the ship?” Crathis asked. “It’s nothing fancy, but I noticed you looking earlier.”
“Sure.” Anna looked up at the square stern. “How do you get on, though?”
Crathis laughed. “We’re all sailors here.” He pointed to a rope ladder dangling from one side. “The boarding plank’s only for when we’re docked.” He juggled his two fish skewers into the same hand and swarmed up the eight-foot ladder with practiced ease, then turned and beckoned her up.
Anna put her last skewer between her teeth and climbed with both hands, waving Crathis back when she reached the top. She took the skewer out of her mouth and looked out over the railing, out to sea. “Nice view from up here.”
Crathis was looking back down at the beach. “Will your dog be all right down—whoa!” He leapt aside as Indy appeared at the top of the ladder, having made the vertical leap with height to spare.
Please. Indy dropped her jaw in a smile at the surprised Crathis, then padded around the deck, sniffing at bundles and storage lockers. Why climb if you can jump?
“Well, welcome aboard then.” Crathis grinned at Indy, then turned to Anna. “Not too much to see, but the breeze is nicer up on deck. I like to eat up here, myself.” He gestured past the sail to the front of the ship, where a few of the crew lounged on the rowers’ benches, eating their own dinners and passing around a wineskin. “Down below is all storage. Tomorrow we’ll unload at Isthmia, and they’ll cart it across to Corinth, then sail it through the gulf and across the sea, to Kroton and beyond. We don’t see any of that, though. We just take on another load at Isthmia and haul it back to Piraeus for the Athenians.”
He stripped the last bit of fish off his skewers with his teeth, then threw the thin slivers of wood overboard as he chewed. “You were heading to Corinth, you said?” He spread his hands in invitation. “You could always hitch a ride with us.”
Indy laughed over their link. This one is persistent. She looked up from her investigation. But at least he’s polite. And handsome?
Anna laughed, embarrassed. “I’m traveling with a group. We’re going to a meeting of the Greek alliance, to hear about plans to try to fight off the Persian invasion.”
Crathis’ face grew grave. “I’d almost managed to forget we had that hanging over our heads. We heard the news a few weeks ago.” He looked out to sea, letting the breeze blow his hair back over his shoulders. “Even if they don’t get this far, it’ll be terrible for trade. Piracy’s always worst when there’s a war.” He looked back at Anna. “We might just pack up everyone’s families and head south, further around the Peloponnesos for a while. It’s better than worrying.”
Anna stirred. “We should probably get back to our friends.” She checked the sun, which was beginning to set. “I don’t want them thinking we got lost somehow.”
Crathis looked disappointed, but bore it gracefully. “Let me at least pack you a bit more food to take along. You’ve hardly—” He broke off, ear cocked to the wind. “Did you hear that?”
“What?” Anna looked north along the beach, but didn’t see anything but a long, graveled expanse, breaking into shrubby trees a few dozen yards inland.
The other way! Indy was alerting the other direction along the beach. When Anna whipped around, she saw a group of perhaps a dozen men running on the packed ground above the high-water line, approaching fast with weapons in hand.
All around them the alarm went up from the sailors. On the beach, a few of the youngest scurried north with the women and children, disappearing quickly into the trees toward the unseen village of Krommyon. The others snatched up their gear and scrambled up the rope ladder into the ship, rushing around to retrieve weapons and push bags into their storage places.
“Raiders.” Crathis’ father Celeas spoke from a lookout at the rail, slightly winded from the hurried climb up onto the deck. “Probably hauled out on the other side of that spit south of us.” He gestured along the beach at the running men. “Bastards know we can’t sail off until morning, when the wind’ll be with us.” He gave the attackers an assessing look. “Not enough of them to board us, though. We just need to fend them off until the men from the village get here.”
“Some of those kids run like deer.” Crathis clapped his father on the shoulder. “They’ll be there and back in no time.” He turned to address the crew. “Be ready to take cover! I saw bows among them.”
As if hearing his words, three of the attackers knelt, fitted arrows to strings, and began loosing them toward the ship. With so few bowmen, it was not withering fire, but it was enough that the ship’s crew had to keep their heads down.
“Ready at the rails!” Celeas’ harsh voice rang out. “Stay low, but be ready to repel boarders.”
More problems. Indy’s voice came tense over their link. I sent our drone up to look. The boat that dropped this bunch is incoming from the south.
“Crathis!” Anna called into the tense waiting. “Their boat’s coming from the south!”
The young first mate chanced a peek over the rail, and dropped to the deck again, swearing. “Ten more in a longboat, father. They mean to swarm us.”
“Hold steady.” Celeas’ voice was firm as if he’d done this many times before. “We don’t need to beat them, just keep them at bay until we’re relieved. They know it, too. If they don’t overrun us in the first rush, they’ll cut their losses and—”
A pair of iron hooks bit into the wood at the stern gunwale, opposite where the ship’s own rope ladder had been pulled up after the crew. Two more solid clunks announced another pair of boarding ladders on the starboard side, facing the oncoming pirate longboat. The ship rocked at anchor as the ladders took the weight of their attackers.
Wait! Celeas mouthed the words silently to his crew.
Hands appeared at the top of one ladder, but the crewman nearest to it held his short sword at the ready instead of striking at the vulnerable fingers. When a raider’s scowling face thrust up into view, he got a blade in the neck, and fell gurgling into the shallow water. The rest of the crew cheered, and Crathis flashed Anna a fierce grin.
A heavy thud! shook the vessel. Then arrows began sailing up from right beside their ship, arcing high into the sky to fall back, point-first, toward the deck. One of the ship’s crew howled, his leg laid open by the slow but still dangerous missiles, and the rest tried to shrink under cover. Another boarding ladder clanked into place, and the deck tilted to starboard as more weight came onto the attackers’ ropes.
“They’ve got another boat!” Anna spoke out loud, relaying Alixa’s words as she slewed their bee-drone about invisibly high above them. “They’re coming in from the other side!”
Celeas’ tanned face slackened in despair, but his voice sounded as strong as ever. “Hold your blows until you’re sure of a kill!” he called out loudly, seeking to undermine the attackers’ morale. “We only need to hold them off for a few more minutes!”
We need to escape. Now. Indy’s voice sounded tense over their link. Our drone can see the village from here, and they don’t have nearly enough men to take on these pirates. She flashed Anna a look where she huddled up against a supply locker. There are probably thirty more armed men in the second boat. We’re about to be overrun.
But how? The sun had just slipped below the mountains to the west, plunging them into sudden twilight. But even at noon, Anna wouldn’t have been able to see anything from her position flat against the deck. They’re all around us!
The starboard—the right side of the ship, as you face the sea, Indy said. The pirates on that side have fewer men aboard, since half of them attacked from the land to distract us. She belly-crawled across the deck toward Anna. Their boats are narrow. Jump straight over them, into the sea, then use your shield to skim along the surface. It should be able to float you. Just don’t try to stand up. She gathered her haunches under her.
But what about—
Hup! Indy sprang aloft with a grunt, easily clearing the rail and soaring out into the air. A moment later Anna heard a splash. Wait a few seconds, then follow. Indy’s voice sounded bubbly, her collar’s software adding the sound effect to indicate that she was swimming below the surface. It’s the last thing they’ll expect.
Anna squirmed over to the gunwale on knees and elbows, then squeezed between Crathis and his father and braced herself under the rail with her feet on the deck, ready to jump. Ten feet below, a longboat full of pirates looked up at her.
One of them drew his bow in an instant and shot her in the throat.
66
The arrow bounced away from Anna’s neck with a dull rasp, the shield generator at her back doing its work. But the shock of it made her body jerk involuntarily. She lost her grip on the rail and tumbled into the longboat full of pirates with a cry, Crathis’ horrified face receding above her as she fell.
Her back slammed into one of the thwarts, shield engaging to muffle the impact and to keep her back from being broken across it. She rolled forward, sandaled feet splashing down onto the bottom boards. Rough-handed pirates grabbed her from every side, and she shrieked.
Indy!
What’s happening? Indy’s voice sounded breathless, but lacked the bubbling sound effect from before. Are you behind me? Swim around behind the spit before you stand up, and they won’t see you.
They got me! Anna thrashed, but on a boat there were no walls for her shield to push against, no way for her to shove the men aside with pure strength. She was surrounded by the shield, but without any leverage it merely clung to her skin, preventing her from being stabbed or slashed.
I’m coming! Indy shouted. Hold on!
Anna sagged to the bottom of the boat, pirates piled atop her. She thrust her hands upward, but instead of launching the pirates into the air, her shielded arms just slid through their midst. The boat rocked from side to side, unable to apply any lateral force without a firm grounding.
Wait. Anna concentrated, subvocalizing a new command to Alixa. Her shield reshaped itself, smoothing any edges that might offer a hold, extending a thin wedge ahead of her along the bottom of the boat, allowing her to slip forward into the gap. She shoved forward, squeezing under and between the pirates like a watermelon seed, until she slipped over the gunwale and into the water.
Summer or not, the cold seawater hit her like a shock. She twisted around, submerged and disoriented, before she remembered Indy’s earlier advice. She broke the surface, forming her shield into a shallow, invisible pan beneath her, and paddled as hard as she could away from the longboat. I’m out! I’m coming!
She shot forward over the darkening ocean, her shield offering much less resistance than a boat’s hull would have. She could hear shouts behind her, and an arrow punched her low in the back and went skimming off in front of her. But the longboat was held fast to the merchant ship by its boarding ladders, and the attackers couldn’t cut loose and row after her in the middle of the action. In moments, she was hidden intermittently in the troughs between swells as she paddled away, and soon she was out of earshot of the pirates.
