Chapter 15

“A rocket flare!”

“Yes. Mother says that you are to release it when you hear the bos’n’s whistle from the deck.”

“Now, why in the world would I do that? Won’t I get into tremendous trouble by doing that? I’ll be run through the gauntlet a dozen times for that. No sir, not me. I’ve seen those poor fellows after the whips were through with them.”

“Mother said for me to tell you that nobody will be able to prove who sent up the flare.”

“Perhaps. It sounds reasonable. But why should I do it?”

“It will light up the whole ship for a minute, and everybody will be able to see that Ezkr and Grazoot are in the rigging. The whole ship will be in an uproar. Of course, when it is discovered that somebody has stolen two flares from the store-room, and when a search is conducted, and one flare is found hidden in Ezkr’s trunk, then ... well, you see...”

“Oh, beamish boy!” chortled Green. “Calloo, callay! Go tell your mother she’s the most marvelous woman on this planet--though that’s really not much of a compliment, now I think of it. Oh, wait a minute! About this bos’n’s whistle. Now, why should he be warning me to send up a flare?”

“He won’t. Mother will be blowing it. She’ll be waiting for a signal from me or Azaxu,” Grizquetr said, referring to his younger brother. “We’ll be watching Ezkr and Grazoot, and when they start to climb aloft we’ll notify her. She’ll wait until she thinks they’re about halfway up, then she’ll whistle.”

“That woman has saved my life at least half a dozen times. What would I do without her?”

“That’s what Mother said. She said that she doesn’t know why she went after you when you tried to run away from her--from us--because she has great pride. And she doesn’t have to chase a man to get one; princes have begged her to come live with them. But she did because she loves you, and a good thing, too. Otherwise your stupidity would have killed you ten times over by now.”

“Oh, she did, did she? Well, hah, hum. Yes, well... !”

Thoroughly ashamed of himself, yet angry at Amra for her estimate of him, Green miserably watched Grizquetr climb down the ratlines.

During the next half-hour, time seemed to coagulate, to thicken and harden around him so that he felt as if he were encased in it. The clouds that always came up after sunset formed, and a light drizzle began. It would last for about an hour, he knew, then the clouds would disappear so swiftly that they would give the impression of being yanked away like a tablecloth by some magician over the horizon. But he’d cram a highly nervous lifetime into those minutes, wondering if perhaps there wouldn’t be some unforeseen frustration of Amra’s schedule.

The first webby drops struck his face, and he wondered if perhaps that wouldn’t be what the two would wait for. They’d probably taken the first step up the rigging, but he mustn’t expect her whistle for some time yet. If they were clever they wouldn’t climb up directly beneath him, but would go aft, ascend to the top, then climb over to him. It was true that they’d have to pass others who, like Green, were also stationed aloft on watch. But Ezkr and Grazoot knew the locations of these. So dark was it they could pass within touching distance and not be seen or heard. The wind in the rigging, the creak of masts, the rumble of the great wheels would drown out any slight noise they might make.

The ‘roller did not stop sailing just because the helmsmen could not see. The Bird followed a well-charted route; every permanent obstacle along here had been memorized by helmsmen and officers alike. If anything formidable was expected in their path during the dark period, a course would be set to avoid it. The officers on duty would advise the helmsmen on their steering by means of an ingenious dial on a notched plate. His sensitive fingers, following its flickerings back and forth, and comparing them with the directional notches, would tell him how close to the course they were keeping. The dial itself was fixed to the needle of a compass beneath it.

Green hunched his shoulders beneath his coat and walked around the walls of his nest. He strained his eyes to make out something in the blackness that wrapped him around like a shroud. There was nothing, nothing at all ... No, wait! What was that? A vague outline of a white face?

He stared hard until it disappeared, then he sighed and realized how rigidly he’d been standing there. And of course he’d been open to attack from behind all that time.

No, not really. If he couldn’t see an arm’s length away, neither could the other two.

But they didn’t have to see. They knew the ropes so well that they could grope blindfolded to his nest and there feel him out. A touch of a finger, followed by a thrust of steel. That would be all it would take.