Hilo said, “I look forward to the future, Ven-jen.”
Ven clapped his hands together, then ended the meeting by getting up, going to the wet bar, and pouring two glasses of hoji. “Surely you already know this, Kaul-jen, but within the Mountain clan, you have a bloodthirsty reputation. And your lovely sister is said to be a coldhearted Espenian sympathizer. It just goes to show what sorts of lies people spread about their enemies. I can see for myself that you’re an upstanding and reasonable man, just like your grandfather, someone who’s easy to work with.” He and Hilo drank in recognition of their new alliance.
Ven Sando offered to sail them around some more and host them for lunch, but Shae played the part of the Pillar’s anxious aide by suggesting it was best that they return before anyone in No Peak became concerned by their absence. As the president of K-Star regaled the Kauls with a few more sailing stories, interspersed with the occasional anecdote about the freight shipping industry, Ven Haku steered the Inheritance back to the private dock where the Kauls’ car and driver were waiting.
When the Pillar and his Weather Man were alone together in the moving vehicle again, Shae could no longer contain herself. “Ven Sando might be the most conceited, insufferable boor I’ve ever met,” she exclaimed.
“Does it make you feel sorry for Ayt?” Hilo grinned broadly and stretched his legs out into her side of the seat well, propping his shoes on top of her feet. She kicked them off, as if they were still children bickering over space in the back of Grandda’s car while Lan growled at them from the front to leave each other alone. Hilo threw an arm over his sister’s shoulder. His mood had changed completely from the earlier dark car ride, and the easy friendliness he’d shown to the men on the boat had vanished; his lopsided smile was bright and feral. “Ven and his son put together would be less than half the Pillar that Ayt is. This is how we win, Shae. We get the Mountain to tear itself apart under Ayt’s feet.”
There were times Shae was forced to admit that perhaps Grandda would’ve better appreciated his younger grandson’s qualities if there’d still been a Shotarian occupation force around that needed to be destroyed. She said, “I’ll think of how else we can give the Ven family our support.”
CHAPTER 25
Interception
Maik Kehn steadied himself on the deck of the motorboat as it sped up, throwing white spray into the air as it jumped the swells of the cargo ship’s wake and pulled up alongside the much larger vessel. Kehn did not particularly like being on the water, especially given the cold drizzle of rain flying in his face; he would much rather be on the familiar streets of Janloon—the noisy, dirty streets that he and his Green Bones ruled. But the clans needed to protect and patrol far beyond the city these days—up in the mountains, along the coast, even hundreds of kilometers out to sea. Kehn suspected that he might be the first Horn, at least in his generation, to hijack a ship in international waters. That was part of his job, though, adapting to the enemy’s moves—and he’d learned from Kaul Hilo to always lead from the front.
Juen, his First Fist, fired the grappling hook, which went sailing over the railing of the cargo ship and caught, tethering their motorboat. Unlike some large men, Kehn had no difficulty with Lightness; seizing the taut rope, he swung his feet onto it and ran halfway up its length like a lizard on a thin branch, crossing the last few meters to the ship’s deck in a bound. He landed quietly, talon knife drawn.
Two men armed with handguns were running toward the railing. To his surprise, Kehn sensed jade auras, shrill with hostility and alarm. At the sight of him, they stopped and opened fire. The Horn leapt straight for the guards, releasing tight twin Deflections that cleared his path as he went airborne and landed between them. He clamped onto the barrel of the nearest weapon with his left hand, twisting it away from the gunman with a burst of Strength as he hurled the man on the right backward with a Deflection that sent him crashing across the rain-slicked deck into the nearest metal wall of stacked containers.
Kehn tossed the gun overboard; its former owner drew twin triangle-headed durbh daggers—fighting knives of the Uwiwa Islands—and came at the Horn with vicious, swift stabs. Kehn hooked and controlled the man’s left wrist with his talon knife and caught the blade of the right-hand dagger with his Steeled hand. His opponent reacted instantly, letting go of the weapon and driving his fist into Kehn’s solar plexus with enough Strength that the air went out of Kehn’s lungs with a painful grunt. He felt the telltale flex in his opponent’s jade aura as the man gathered himself to Channel a lethal blow.
Kehn battened his torso with Steel; the durbh blade he’d caught in his hand cut sharp into suddenly unprotected skin. Dropping it, he Channeled first, fast and quick, a nonlethal jab to the heart, just enough to shock. Grabbing a fistful of the man’s shirt, he let out a bellow as he shoved, then yanked forward hard, whiplashing his opponent’s face into a head butt that connected with an audible crack. The Horn dug his shoulder into the limp man’s chest and heaved, sending him over the ship’s railing and tumbling into the white-capped water far below.
Kehn turned around. His Fists, Juen and Iyn, and two Fingers, Lott and Dudo, had leapt to board the ship right behind him, leaving one Finger, Ton, behind to man the motorboat. Iyn was stalking after the second guard as he tried to stumble away from her with a broken leg. As she drew her moon blade, Kehn ordered, “Leave him alive for now.” It occurred to him that he shouldn’t have thrown the other one into the sea; now the man’s jade, even if it was not much, was at the bottom of the ocean. At least it was no longer being worn and used disgracefully by a hired half bone cur.
He strode down the deck of the ship between fifteen-meter-tall walls of red, orange, and blue shipping containers uniformly stacked like his nephew’s building blocks. The three-hundred-meter-long cargo vessel was too large for him to be able to Perceive everyone aboard, but he knew his Fists and Fingers would split up to sweep the ship; they would find and kill any additional barukan guards and round up the crew. Kehn wrapped his hand in the hem of his shirt, putting pressure on it to stop the bleeding as he headed toward the bridge.
Twenty minutes later, the captain and his officers were gathered together in the ship’s dining room. The captain was a man of about forty with a curly orange beard and sideburns—Captain Bamivu eya Kijdiva, according to his nameplate—an Ygutanian, like several of his officers. The crew, which had been rounded up and placed in the mess hall, was mostly Uwiwan. Though Kijdiva acted admirably calm, sweat stood out on his brow and Kehn could Perceive his heart beating much faster than normal. He obviously didn’t know anything about Green Bones and thought his ship had been attacked by pirates who might steal his cargo or harm his crew.
“Don’t worry, no one will be hurt,” Kehn said. Either the man did not understand or was not put at ease by the assurance. “You speak any other languages?” Kehn asked. “Uwiwan? Espenian?”
The captain spoke passable Espenian, which was fortunate as Lott also had a decent grasp on the language, having studied it during his years at the Academy. That seemed to be popular these days; with more foreigners and foreign businesses in Janloon, it was useful even for Fingers to know another language besides Kekonese. Kehn asked Lott to translate. “Tell him we want to see the ship’s registration and freight manifest.”