She saw Adak Rourke standing in the doorway, scratching his head, looking slightly nonplussed, not much the worse for wear, and not terribly surprised at his visitor's appearance. Perhaps she was being unimaginative in her assessment of the possibilities of this place.
20
Oh, Lordee, thought Johnny, kidnapping's come back into vogue! This is ridiculous. 'And so,' he said aloud, 'just how many d'you think you can cram in my copter?’
Zing Chi smiled with pleasant malevolence. 'You will call for others.’
At that point, Loncie snorted, Pablo guffawed and Johnny just grinned.
‘Man, you're looking at the sole and only copter available in this or any other Petaybean hemisphere. And I only got so much fuel left in the tanks. So stop waving that thing at me like it could argue the case for you.’
Cita noticed that it was hard to see the men, for the light had gradually faded while they stood talking.
Youngling, you are safe? Coaxtl's nimbly voice was like a warm blanket.
‘Yes,' she answered, automatically looking around to spot her friend.
At the edge of the ring of armed workers she could dimly make out the shadowy form of the boy she had seen earlier from the copter. Beside him, a pair of eyes shone. Cita knew it was Coaxtl. Then she saw the next pair of eyes, lower down, and the outline of a pair of smaller tufted ears. Another pair of eyes was beside
Coaxtl's then, and, coming from the darkness, another and another and another.
She was about to tug at Captain Johnny's sleeve to point out what she saw when someone screamed and all at once, several other people did too.
‘Quiet!' Zing Chi hollered. 'Quiet, you morons! What is the matter with you?' He strode into the crowd and smacked the first screamer he met. But when he raised his hand to smack the next, a tall man, Zing Chi's head tilted back as his gaze travelled up and up and up, into the snarling face of a standing polar bear. The crowd suddenly grew much more dense as the hundred or so workers shrank towards the copter and the ring of Petaybean snow lions and polar bears, wolverines and wolves, and other large animals stalked slowly forward.
Zing Chi retreated until he came up against Johnny. Johnny had taken the opportunity to draw his sidearm and now he gave Cita an enquiring glance.
Just then Coaxtl's voice spoke in her head. None will hurt you, Youngling. But these ones are a plague to the Home and we have come to see that they go no further.
Cita pulled Johnny's shoulder down and whispered this information in his ear.
Johnny covered Zing Chi and said, 'If those weed-whips of yours will burn, I suggest you build a fire. These critters don't like fire very much.’
‘I guess you don't want to tell them the bad news, eh, Captain Johnny?' asked Pablo. 'What bad news?' Zing Chi asked. 'We only told you what cures people make on this planet. Animals have their own remedies. A polar bear that hasn't mated for a while, for instance…’
Aboard the pirate ship
Yana was lying on her bunk listening to Namid give Diego and Bunny an astronomy lesson. Bunny soaked up everything Namid had to say but Diego made a pain of himself, playing teaching assistant. Marmie was asleep.
The door to their cramped quarters opened and Dinah O'Neill poked her head in. 'Yana, could we talk?’
‘What about?' Yana asked cautiously. Was this the part where the pirates got her off alone and tortured her?
Dinah smiled sweetly. 'Just a little girl-to-girl stuff. I thought you might want to. I've been down to see your planet. I think I may have seen your husband.’
Yana was on her feet and at the door so quickly she almost ran Dinah down.
‘What did Sean say?' she asked, recklessly grabbing the smaller woman's arm. 'How on earth could he meet your demands?' Surely Sean's loyalty to Petaybee was more urgent than even his love for her and their unborn child.
Dinah gave her a secretive feline smile. 'I didn't exactly talk to him.’
‘But you did see him?’
‘Nice-looking guy who turns into a seal?’
How had she learnt Sean's secret? Well, since the wedding, a slightly more open secret. Yana nodded. 'That would be Sean.’
‘Oh yes, I saw him - quite a lot of him actually. How does he do that?’
For a change Dinah was not accompanied by Megenda or any other heavies. Yana toyed with the idea of overpowering her, but curiosity about what Dinah had seen on Petaybee made her decide to wait. Besides, once she overpowered Dinah, then what? Take on the rest of the pirates? She could hold Dinah hostage but pirates like Louchard weren't known for their unswerving devotion to their friends.
Dinah led her into a tiny room which boasted a desk and a double bed. Yana raised an eyebrow.
‘I didn't realize Namid was so serious about the divorce when I brought him aboard. I thought I could get him to reconsider. What did you think? I take turns with the crew?’
Yana said nothing but the eyebrow stayed aloft.
‘You did, didn't you?' Dinah seemed amused, but there had been an edge to her query.
‘What you do in bed is none of my business and I don't think that's why you wanted to talk to me. What's on your mind?’
‘Now, Yana’
‘I prefer Colonel Maddock-Shongili, if you don't mind.’
‘Heavens, there's no need to be so stuffy. You're coadministrator of a whole planet now. That makes you a politician. I'm a privateer. So you see, we have a lot in common.’
‘If you only brought me here to insult me, I'd like to return to my nice, convivial cell please.’
‘You aren't making this easy…' Dinah said.
‘Gee, I'm sorry. I didn't know I was supposed to.’
‘I thought you wanted to return to your planet. I'm just trying to tell you that there might be a way, but it'll be tricky.’
‘Getting Louchard to agree?’
‘Believe it or not, the Captain will be easier to convince than the crew. If it was up to Megenda, you'd all be spaced. You have no idea the personnel problems one has trying to obtain crewmen who are rough enough to do the job but still controllable. It can be a real nightmare.’
‘I'm sure you didn't ask me here to tell me how hard it is to get good help these days, Dinah. Will you get to the fraggin' point?’
Dinah dropped her confidential air, and became very businesslike. 'The fraggin' point, Colonel Maddock-Shongili, is that under certain circumstances I can use my influence to return you to the planet. One of those circumstances is that you must personally guarantee my safety and that of my crew, when and if we release you.’
‘I certainly won't be able to arrange for your guarantee unless I am free to do so,' Yana said acerbically. 'What else?’
‘I have business in a place called Tanana Bay. I've obtained an aerial map which leaves a lot to be desired…’
‘How? Sean didn't just give it to you!’
‘No, a cunning old devil named Adak pointed it out’
‘Adak is Bunny's uncle. You didn't hurt him?’
Dinah shrugged. 'Megenda had to give him a love tap but he was standing in the door of a Nabatira Cube that seemed to be functioning as an immigration office. He was alert and watching your spouse's bare ass sink into the river when last I saw him. He's fine. But the map is too damned indistinct - no roads, no towns, no names. We'll need a guide to the settlement and I also want to find one of those - whaddayacallems? Communion caves?’
‘Wouldn't you prefer the one at McGee's Pass perhaps, or Savoy, to view the fruits of your previous efforts?’