The Pirates of Pacta Servanda (Pillars of Reality Book 4) (20 page)

“They listen to me,” Mari said, not sure how the full truth would be received. “Because I listen to them.”

“She’s insane!” Senior Mechanic Denz yelled, ducking back behind the other guards to shield himself from Bev. “She thinks she’s the daughter of Jules!”

“She is the daughter,” Mage Asha said. “It has been seen.”

The commons among the
Pride
’s crew turned shocked glances toward the sailors from the
Lady
who were aboard. Those sailors hoisted their fists high and shouted answers to the unspoken questions. “It is her!” “She’s the one!” “The daughter has come at last!”

Mari braced herself for the reaction from the Mechanics, but instead of mockery and contempt she saw thoughtfulness changing to admiration and looks of shared amusement. What did that mean?

“Smart,” Master Mechanic Lukas murmured.

She finally got it. These other Mechanics thought that Mari was working a scam on the Mages and the commons, posing so successfully as the legendary daughter that she could get them to do as she wanted.

“What’s your plan?” Lukas asked.

“To set Mechanics free,” Mari said, determined not to disclose too much while people who were certain not to join her, like the guards and Senior Mechanic Denz, were in earshot. “Free to do new things, to innovate, to change. Learn what we can from the Mages and accept what skills they can bring. And give the commons freedom. Why are Mechanics ruling the commons? We’re engineers. Let the commons rule themselves and come to us for the technology and the tools they need.”

“If the commons rule themselves,” one of the passengers said in a worried voice, “everything could go to blazes.”

“It’s already been going to blazes,” Mechanic Ken commented. “There are almost always wars and raids and attacks going on, and look at Tiae. The Guild has always claimed it can rule the commons, but the Guild ended up abandoning Tiae. That’s not a sign of superior strength or wisdom.”

“It’s Tiae that makes me believe her the most,” another Mechanic said. “That and my experience with far-talkers. I was on a task force working on the portable far-talkers being constructed now. We were told to use the same design, but some of the components being turned out either don’t work or are bigger, heavier, and less efficient than they’re supposed to be. Something is being allowed to change, but only in one direction, and that’s downhill.”

Captain Banda pointed back to the stern cabin. “One-half of that used to house a far-talker. But over time the big far-talkers have been pulled off most Mechanics Guild ships to be used for parts to try to keep the far-talkers on a few other ships and those in the Guild Halls still working.

“I’ve been like the rest of you,” Banda continued. “Trying to do my best, trying to do my job, but coming under suspicion by the Guild because I wasn’t willing to watch everything fall apart without saying or trying something. I’ll admit I’ve had it easier than many of you. Once the big far-talkers came off of these ships we gained a degree of freedom from the Guild whenever we went to sea. But we always had to come back into port sometime. And you are all examples of what is happening: how any dissent, any questioning, is taken as disloyalty. Too many Mechanics are disappearing, too many are being arrested and sent off to exile, while the rest of us wait for an alternative that we don’t think exists.”

Banda pointed to Mari. “Now we’ve got an alternative. I’d rather die trying to make something work than die in a prison cell because I wasn’t
allowed
to try. This Master Mechanic has given me a choice. When is the last time you were offered a choice? When is the last time you were treated with respect? Master Mechanic Mari treated me better as her prisoner than the Senior Mechanics have treated me. I’m going to follow Master Mechanic Mari.”

“Me, too,” said Senior Mechanic Gina, stepping forward. “You’re going to need someone who understands administrative functions. I can help.”

“We don’t need the Senior Mechanics running everything!” an angry voice rose among the passengers.

“I don’t want to run anything!” Gina insisted. “I want to help things run. You need administrative talent. It’s like the grease that keeps a machine moving. The problem with the Mechanics Guild isn’t because the grease is part of the system, it’s because the grease has decided it’s the reason for the machine’s existence.”

Mari saw Alain give her a slight nod. Both Banda and Gina were telling the truth. And with that she realized how to resolve her worries about whether anyone else was being truthful. “Stay next to me,” she told Alain in a low voice, then spoke loudly again. “Welcome to both of you,” she said to the captain and the senior mechanic. “For everyone else who wants to stay, I would like you to come up here, one by one, and tell me you want to work with me.”

“No vows of obedience?” a sarcastic voice called.

“No. Just say you want to work with me. We’ll start with the crew.”

Unsurprisingly, all of the commons and the Mechanics among the
Pride
’s crew agreed, as did all but one of the Apprentices. That boy came close to Mari and Banda to speak quietly. “Mechanic Captain, sir, I truly want to stay with you, but my parents and my little sister live in the Guild Hall at Amandan. If I am seen to be a traitor to the Guild—”

* * * *

“I wouldn’t ask you to risk your family,” Mari said.

“But we need a stronger reason for your refusal,” Banda added. “Something that will protect you.” His voice rose. “I am surprised,” he said, his tone growing colder. “I expected better of you than blind loyalty to the Guild. Go, then. You belong among those who think as you do.”

The Apprentice quickly hid a relieved smile, tried to look abashed but determined, and walked to stand next to the net cage holding the guards.

Then came the Mechanics who had been passengers. The first several came up without incident, but then a woman approached. “I wish to work with you,” she said in a businesslike manner.

Alain’s hand came up in a warding gesture. “She is lying.”

The female Mechanic flicked a quick glance at Alain. Mari saw a knife appear in her hand with shocking suddenness, then the female Mechanic lunged at her from only a lance away.

Mari had barely begun to shift position in an attempt to meet the attack, knowing that she had too little time to save herself, when she heard a gasp of exertion from Alain. A section of deck just forward of Mari’s toes vanished, leaving an opening gaping down to the next deck below. Her attacker, unable to react in time, stepped onto open air and fell forward through the opening.

The female Mechanic swung the knife at Mari as she fell, coming close enough to her that Mari easily felt the wind of the knife’s passage.

Mari stepped back into a defensive crouch, pivoting enough to grab hold of Alain as he slumped with exhaustion. She heard the impact of the female Mechanic on the deck below, accompanied by a sound like a broomstick snapping and a cry of pain. A moment later the opening was gone, the deck as solid as ever, and Mari was trying to keep Alain from collapsing while everyone stared at her.

Asha moved to help hold Alain, freeing Mari to stand upright again. Mari looked around at the shocked expressions and somehow managed to speak in a clear voice despite the pounding of her heart as adrenaline belatedly tried to shock her system into readiness for the already-passed emergency. “You just saw two reasons why I keep Mages with me. They can tell when someone lies. And they can do that.”

She pointed at the deck where the opening had briefly existed.

Captain Banda shook his head like one coming out of a dream. “Mechanic Deni. Take a couple of our people, and one of Master Mechanic Mari’s people, down and take custody of that viper. Mind the knife, but she shouldn’t give you much trouble. That was the sound of a leg breaking, unless I’m much mistaken.”

“Is he hurt?” Mechanic Ken pointed at Alain as Mechanic Deni led her group down to the next deck.

“He used up his strength to manage that spell,” Mari said. “He’s all right, but worn out in an instant’s time.”

“Then it’s not…magic? It requires energy?”

“Yes,” Mari said, not wanting to explain any more while the former guards and Senior Mechanic Denz could hear.

Mechanic Deni came back up the nearest ladder, she and her helpers hauling along a very angry female Mechanic whose arms had been trussed. The would-be killer’s legs were still free, but it wasn’t hard to see why. A shard of bone protruded from her trousers and blood dripped from her pants leg.

Mari looked over and spotted the healer Cas, who had come across from the
Gray Lady
and was standing with Mechanic Rob. “Help her out,” Mari ordered.

The female Mechanic was being held down by of the
Pride
’s crew and was swearing steadily, screaming nonstop obscenities at Mechanic Deni and Mari. As healer Cas knelt by the injured woman’s leg, Deni threw out one arm, grabbing a long, hard belaying pin from its stand. She brought the pin against the injured Mechanic’s head hard enough to knock her out and cease the yelling. “You might want to check her for a concussion, too,” Deni told Cas as the stunned healer looked on.

Deni noticed Mari looking at her. “Sorry, Master Mechanic, but she got on my nerves. If someone is going to swear in front of a sailor, they should be creative and fluent. This one just kept repeating the same old things in a very uninspired way. It offended my sailor’s sense of the art of obscenity.”

“All…right,” Mari said. She was secretly grateful that Deni had silenced the woman, but didn’t feel that she should openly admit to it.

“Remind me not to swear in front of the sailors anymore,” Mari heard Alli murmur to Calu.

“Let’s get this done,” Mari said, gesturing to the next passenger in line.

The process proceeded without any problems until near the end, when the turn came of a personable young Mechanic. He walked up to Mari with a smile on his face, declaring “I want to work with you” with enthusiasm.

But Mage Asha, and Alain who had recovered somewhat by then, both halted him. “He lies,” Asha said, the passionless voice with which she voiced the statement making it sound even more damning.

The Mechanic’s smile faded, but he shook his head as Bev, Calu and some other Mechanics closed in on him. “No. Really. I mean it.”

“He lies,” Asha repeated.

“Let’s search him,” Calu suggested.

It was Mechanic Ken who found a small concealed pocket on the inside of the young man’s Mechanic jacket. He extracted a folded piece of paper, looked it over with his eyebrows rising, then passed it to Mari.

She scanned the document quickly. “This is a letter from the Guild Master introducing you to the Guild Hall Supervisor at Edinton. The Guild Master says you’re a very capable undercover agent for the Guild.” Mari looked at the young man. “Did you think your eagerness to work with me so you could spy on me would fool my Mages?”

His smile completely gone now, the young man didn’t resist as he was shoved over to join the former guards.

The last couple of Mechanics passed without any problem. Mari looked over to see three of the passengers still standing some distance away. “The choice is yours,” Mari said. “But you won’t get a second chance today. If you are certain that you want to remain with the Guild, then go join that group.”

None of the three appeared enthusiastic as they walked to join the former guards. Mari suspected their reasons were similar to that of the Apprentice. But she didn’t want to question them for fear of seeming to try to bully them into changing their minds.

“Twenty-seven leaving us, then,” Captain Banda observed. “We’ll have to give up two of the boats from the
Pride
.” Banda didn’t look happy at giving up two of the four boats hanging from davits aft.

“Make it happen, please, Captain,” Mari directed.

The crew went to work with considerable enthusiasm, showing every sign of being eager to be free of the former guards and Senior Mechanic Denz. Both the
Pride
and the
Gray Lady
brought in most of their sails so that their speed was cut to something safe for launching boats. By early afternoon the boats had been stocked with food and water and lowered to the waves, and those who wished to remain loyal to the Guild descended a rope ladder into them. The would-be assassin with the broken leg was let down by rope, once again awake and cursing loudly until the crew “accidentally” dropped her the last lance-length into the boat. “You have the necessary navigational instruments,” Captain Banda called down to the Apprentice from his crew. “And directions back to Julesport. You should make it easily in a little more than a week’s time, assuming the wind holds.”

Mari looked down on the boats. The faces turned up toward her were hard, angry, and hostile, but she still felt badly about setting people adrift in the ocean. “They really will be all right?” she asked Captain Banda.

“The only worry they should face is sunburn,” Banda said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Or if the fools refuse to listen to Apprentice Tan. But even Senior Mechanic Denz knows that sailing east is going to bring them ashore somewhere in the Confederation. He’ll want to go back to Julesport, though, mark my words.”

“He’s not going to want to wash ashore someplace where he’d be at the mercy of the commons,” Calu agreed. “What if he decides to head for Edinton?”

“Trying to beat against these winds in those boats? Maybe two weeks. He could do it, but they’ll have to stretch their food and water very carefully.”

“Good,” Mari said. “Let’s get going, then.”

“Where to?” Captain Banda asked.

“For now, keep heading for Edinton.” She called across the water to the
Gray Lady
. “We’re going to speed up! Stay with us!”

* * * *

Not long later Mari sat on the deck, in the inner circle of several rows making up most of those aboard the
Pride
. Next to her was Alain, and right behind Alain was Asha. Clustered close by were the rest of Mari’s original group, Mechanics Alli, Calu, Dav, and Bev. Only Mage Dav, still aboard the
Gray Lady
, was not present.