Chapter 22

The women stayed outside because the inside of the shop was small. The girl was right. There were thousands of maps. Many must be just multiple copies but there had to be some of different areas.

The old man presented me with a chart but it was similar to the Captain's. "Do you have any showing depth, water hazards, hills and valleys?"

"I have Milord but they are large and expensive."

"I believe you and I share a love of maps. I'd like to see the best you have."

A smile blossomed on the man's face and he brought out his pride and joys. One large one even had the location of wrecks. I traced the route the Captain pointed out to me but was careful not to touch the map. "What would happen if a large ship took that route to Drassic?"

"Why, you would run aground in three areas. That is why all the wrecks are along that route. This is the way I would take." The man traced a different route and said, "The trading ships go this way."

"Would you be willing to sell me this beautiful map?"

"Everything in my shop is for sale."

After I bought the map I said, "I collect maps. Would you show me what you have of other areas of the world."

"That's a lot Milord."

"I have the time and the money."

There was a small room off of the main one. This room had beautiful wood racks to support the maps so they lay flat. Some were even under glass and glass was expensive. After just a few examples I said, "What would you value the contents of this room?"

"Why Milord, I have no idea."

"Think of a figure if all this is for sale."

"Why, it would have to be perhaps sixty drak but nobody would pay that."

"Does sixty drak include the racks and cases?"

There was a pause and then he said, "Yes, it does. I would have no need of them after the sale of the contents."

"Then I'll pay that sum."

"You would, but — "

"But what?"

"I would be robbed of the money."

"Because you live in this city?"

"Yes."

"What if I gave you passage to a safer city?"

"What about the rest of my maps?"

"You can take them with you."

"My grandchildren are here."

"If they're surviving now they should survive if you are gone."

"That's true, and I could give them some of my wealth."

"If you give them a lot they will be robbed."

"What about the rest of my property?"

"I offered to pay for these maps and carry you and your other maps to a safer city. I'll extend this to some of your property but sixty drak will purchase a lot."

"I'll bring but four chests besides my maps."

"No wives?"

"I outlived them and they were too demanding. I had to do this or that all the time."

"Do you wish the payment now or later."

"Now! Please."

"Fine, but you could get robbed while giving the money out."

The man thought for a moment and said, "You're right. Will you give me twelve drak now and the rest later?"

"I'm an honest man or as honest as I can be. I'll not cheat you, especially if you are being honest with me." I gave the man a dozen one drak coins and he frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"A copper drak is dangerous to have. Do you have silver? Gold is better."

I only had six drak in gold and two in silver with me.

"I have eight but I can have the rest soon. Please take this and when you get back I will have bundled up my possessions and brought you the balance."

I was tenuously still talking to those on the ship and they were seeing me easily in this room. The portal was being readied. The old man took the money and after looking at me worriedly and then his property he left to make his deliveries.

Barely a minute had passed when the portal appeared. The furniture was moved first by the crew and put on the deck of our ship. When there was room, the larger pieces were moved into position and pulled and pushed through. The medallions' use was all second nature now.

We had finished cleaning out the room and even removed what luggage that was now surplus from the ladies hands. Empty chests came back along with the remainder of the money I owed in silver and gold.

The man came back but didn't see the condition of the back room. He did see the chests. I handed him a pouch with four more drak in gold. "Thank you Milord, but where did the chests come from?"

"I asked others to bring them. We will put your charts into them while you give out the rest of your money. I think only to speed our journey."

There was another look and the man said, "If a Lord wishes to pack my charts, he may."

When the man ran off we filled the chests and sent them back to the ships. The remainder of the shop had little of value. We took turns and went back to the ship to eat.

I was summoned back along with the ladies so we were present when the man arrived. He had a cut over his eyebrow and walked with a limp. His stripped shop bothered him and I quickly said, "Your property was sent ahead with mine." I opened a chest with the remainder of his gold and silver.

The man fondled the metal and I asked, "What happened to you?"

"My son knows that I'm selling out and hit me to gain more money. I honestly said I had none because I went to him last."

"That's too bad. What about this shop itself?"

"I pay a fee to use it."

"Then there is only the need to pay the rent that is owing if there is any."

"I pay in advance and I will lose now."

"Look at your chest. You lose very little."

"You're right, Milord."

"Let's get your property and we'll be on our way."

The man looked around and came to the same conclusion we had and left but not before locking the door. We walked into a seedy area once more and acquired a following of hungry men and women. We entered his home and soon learned that the trunks the man wanted were actually hidden not just under the floor but behind a false wall in a hidden basement room.

"Will you help me get this up the ladder?"

"I will help. Is this all you want?"

"Some clothes perhaps."

"Let's get them first."

The man collected his clothes and a few keepsakes and put them into a hide bag. This was left on the floor and the man went down the ladder.

I brought the bag down and the man asked, "Why did you bring this down here?"

"Recently, I found some magic articles and found a way to use some of them." The man now was so frightened I felt he would soil himself. "I'm not a priest or even like them. I will not harm you, steal your property or hinder your free movements. I just mentioned this so that I can open a portal and send your cargo to our ship."

The man didn't move and I called mentally to open the portal. It took a minute and the man still hadn't moved. His eyes got big when the portal opened and then bigger as the crew took the chests and the hide bag.

"We can leave from here or walk out of town and go through a portal. I prefer to not let the crowd know that we came in and never came out."

It took quite a while for the man to come to his senses. "You — you are not from the Church?"

"The Church and I have unresolved issues. As far as I know the Church has done nothing good except gather knowledge. They haven't released that knowledge to the rest of us and that I hate. They take children and warp them to their own ends. They feel that nobody can practice magic other than the Church."

"They will kill you."

"They have tried but I have been the one to do the killing so far."

"You are the one they seek?"

"So the Church did send a message here to find me. I'll bring you into danger and if you stay here the Church will put you to the question."

"Don't leave me here!"

"My word was to carry you and your goods to safety as well as pay you for your charts. I will keep my word."

"We can go at once, Milord."

Everything was put back and the portal extinguished. When we left, there were even more people around the house. The AK's came out now. They knew we were here probably. We stepped out of the building with the rifles and the crowd stepped back but not further. I switched to full auto and stitched the wall of a building in front of us and the crowd dispersed very quickly. We did too.

When we got to the better streets, we still had a crowd behind us but they hung well back. Later we saw a group of soldiers in front of us. This time we took to an alley and I called out for a portal as quick as possible.

One appeared quicker than usual and the man and the ladies went through holding hands to make use of the medallion. I fired a few shots in the air to slow down the steps coming out way then I too went through. The portal disappeared right behind me.

Dale stood before me and said, "We're ready to leave, my King."

"Let's go, Captain."

The old man was speechless. I said to him, "We're going to use your charts to get through the islands. I can drop you off at Drassic or any place along our route to Shreff in Mendab. I'd also like to offer you a job. You make fine maps and I need people to make more and do it my way. The pay will be fair and you get both food and lodging." The man was still stunned so I added, "You can think on what I offer and answer later. You're welcome to just stay in Mendab if that is your wish." With no other reply I put two of the younger girls in charge of him so he could get a meal and a bed.

The Niña took point and cast the lead lines quite often. The Skussa had a deeper draught and did the same thing further behind and a little to port. A long spar was used to let the line be drawn in quickly. It looked like an outsized fishing pole. This duty was tiring and had to be rotated often.

Two hours later we passed the city of Crottis but this could not easily be avoided. The other channels were just too shallow. The fort could do nothing but ships came out. The Croona was among them and I thought about how the captain tried to rob us. I brought out the sniper rifle and started putting bullets through his mainmast. The wind still propelled the ship and the master now worked frantically to avoid us. A second later the mast collapsed onto the deck. After a good look at the Croona and then us, none tried to come close.

We were going slowly and the ships that left Crottis could take alternate routes to get around us. This could only mean that they were searching for help. I studied the charts and there were a few islands close to the deep channel that could mount a cannon. Putting a ship against us was possible too. With pirates all about, there was not much I would put past the denizens of this area.

It took a few hours for the map-maker to calm down enough to talk to us. He was a wealth of information about this area. We found a rocky island with some places to land. Cannon had at one time been stationed here but had been removed years ago. More of this type were ahead of us. I camped on the summit of one of those islands and scanned the area with the spotting scope until it got too dark.

Battery power for our glasses wasn't good with the generator out of fuel. The generator did have a twelve volt battery though, and this was used to assist us for now.

Fires were made around the small island but we stayed away from them. In fact, my mirror and other mirrors were used to cast the light out into the dark. Fires were on the ships so watchers could see that we were vigilant. They picked a time just before dawn to try to sneak up on us. You would have thought that we knew this and pick a time just after midnight.

There were seven boats with sixty men in all. They made two landings in poor places away from the fires and the ships. We used the walkie talkies for communication and we were ready. I was backup and looked for priests but there didn't seem to be any standing out by issuing orders.

We had lots of grenades with us and threw four before firing the AK's. The men were so shocked that one died and only two were even wounded. We had all the old jewellery and it was now used on those we captured.

Tonno could still shoot one handed and walked around the captives. He was in charge of finding information. He was quite successful in the Bejek way of doing this. Only the two wounded men died. One man's intransigence meant he wanted to suffer and die more than anything else. I didn't like torture but it was an accepted practice here. It was not much of an excuse but being a nice guy was stupid when we faced the odds we did.

The map-maker learned a lot more about this area and it was recorded accordingly. We also learned about alternate routes through the islands and where we should expect traps to be set for us. The Church had offered a fabulous reward for me and I figured grandmothers would be ready to use their crutches on me to get the money.

There was news from Mendab but it was all old. The priests were sowing disinformation by saying that I used magic to kill a hundred Habstner soldiers that had come at King Willas' plea for assistance. I raped their women and children before butchering them all. I had murdered the king and his son in their sleep and taken the crown.

I didn't think the attackers even believed this but there were a lot of people in Bejek or Earth that liked to have others do the thinking for them.

We cleaned up then took the boats the attackers came in and towed them behind the Vecta. With the prisoners now cooperative, we treated them well.

The first trap was simple. There were two chains that stretched across a narrow area of the channel. Usually traders paid a tax and were allowed to continue. Our ships would be stopped by the one chain while the other was stretched behind us to cut off possibility of retreat. Then the cannon would be pushed into position to hammer us.

What we found out was that the channel on the other side of the rightmost island was deep enough for us. With a lot of prodding from Tonno we found that we could hammer the offence just as easily.

It was getting dark because a storm was coming. Near mid afternoon we approached the trap. And I couldn't see anything even with the scope. We took the alternate route and cannon fire erupted from the shore. The Niña was small enough to use its oars to get it out of range. The range was long anyway.

We dropped anchor in the channel where we would not be hit by any but the largest cannons. We talked to our prisoners but they could not help. The opposition was keeping all of their options covered.

It started to rain and we used the opportunity to fill our water tanks. Near midnight I saw lightning in the distance but it was too far away to hear yet. We were in danger again because of the silver. We got two boats ready and we started to leave when I had an epiphany.

I had a hurried talk to the guys and went back to the ship. The prisoners were questioned again and they seemed to cooperate. We carried the silver to the inhabited island. There was a place that we could land with difficulty and probably wasn't guarded. It was also dark and raining so they would be hard pressed to see us anyway.

The island must have five hundred men now. It usually had a quarter of that. There were camps on the land and many boats tied up at the shore or to the docks. Our night glasses allowed us to avoid the worse spots until we got to where the powder was stored. This was in three locations and the only doors were well guarded but the back of the buildings were not monitored. The silver was separated into three masses and this was buried near the foundations as deep as we could with a silver wire leading to the air.

On the way back to the ship we found four small cashes of powder that were used to feed the artillery batteries that attacked us. There was close to a hundred men here and we might have killed them all but that was not my purpose. There were some guards stationed here even in the rain and they had to go. When it looked reasonably safe, four grenades went into four ammunition carts and we ran for our lives. It sounded like it was one explosion.

We had groggy men jump up to fight but they couldn't find anybody.

The storm took its time coming and arrived near mid morning. The lighting up to this time looked natural but from a certain point, it started to home in on the island. The second strike set off one of the powder bunkers and a minute later the second one went. The first two were hit repeatedly then the lightning finally hit the third bunker.

A half hour later the lightning hit the water behind us and then the island we were going to put the silver on originally but the ship was spared. It took me a moment to understand that the island was hit seven times in all and there had to be some silver there.

That prospect had to wait because we manned the boats and attacked the inhabited island. Taking the camp that had fired at us yesterday was easy and we had no casualties. There were few people anyway. There was little powder available to them and they had fled. We had brought our own supply.

The captured cannons were pushed and pulled by horses and people until we got near the walls of the city. We were close and soon broke the wall down in spots. Men charged out and died as they came. They could not shoot from the walls without being hit by accurate rifle fire.

Four hours after we stared out in our boats we saw a surrender flag in the city. A delegation of three men came out.

Like it was in the books I read. We were polite. They wanted their city spared any more casualties and I wanted information.

A priest was in the city now and I wanted him or the city would burn. It was now that what the priests had said would benefit me. They claimed I was ruthless so I acted that way.

I wanted the double chain across the channel as a memento even though the two strands would weigh tonnes. All the cannon in the city had to be dragged out here so we could pass safely. We inspected the destroyed bunkers in the daylight and recovered our silver. The explosions had gone upward instead of pushing the foundations aside.