Helliconia Summer - Brian W. Aldiss [346]
One reason had caused the shrewd Ice Captain, in his younger days, to establish an outpost at Osoilima, and that reason loomed over them as the Lady tied up. It towered three hundred feet above the crests of the brassims which flourished hereabouts. It dominated the surrounding jungle, it lorded it over the wide river, it pondered on its reflection in the water. And it drew pilgrims from the fourteen corners of Campannlat, eager for reverence – and ice. It was the Osoilima Stone.
The local manager, a grey-haired man with a broad Dimariam accent, by name Grengo Pallos, came aboard and shook his employer’s hand warmly. He helped Div Muntras supervise passenger disembarkation. As phagors unloaded some bales of goods marked OSOILIMA, Pallos returned to the Ice Captain.
‘Only three passengers?’
‘Pilgrims. How’s trade?’
‘Not good. Have you nothing more for me?’
‘Nothing. They’ve grown lazy in Matrassyl. Upheavals at court. Bad for trade.’
‘So I hear. Spears and money never rattle together. Bad about the queen. Still, if we unite with Oldorando, it may encourage more pilgrims here. Hard times, Krillio, when even the devout say it’s too hot to travel. Where will it all end, I ask myself. You’re retiring at the right time.’
The Ice Captain drew Pallos aside. ‘I’ve got a special case here, and I don’t know what to make of him. He’s sick, his name’s BillishOwpin. He claims to have come from another world. Maybe he’s mad, but what he has to say is very interesting, if you can take it in. He thinks he’s dying. But I say he’s not. Could your old woman give him some special attention?’
‘As good as done. We’ll discuss the cost of accommodation in the morning.’
So Billy Xiao Pin was helped ashore. Also ashore went the young lady, by name AbathVasidol, who was getting a free cruise down to Ottassol. Her mother, an old friend of the captain’s, by name of Metty-Vasidol, kept a house on the outskirts of Matrassyl.
After the two traders had had a drink, they went to see Billy, now installed in the modest establishment ruled over by Pallos’s wife.
He was feeling better. He had been scrubbed down the backbone with a block of Lordryardry ice, a sovereign remedy for all ills. The fever had gone, he was no longer coughing or sneezing – as they left Matrassyl, his allergy vanished. The captain told him he was not going to die.
‘I shall die soon. Captain, but I am grateful for your kindness, all the same,’ said Billy. After the horrors of Matrassyl, it was bliss to be in the care of the Ice Captain.
‘You won’t die. It was that filthy volcano, Mount Rustyjonnick, pouring out its poison. Everyone in Matrassyl fell sick. Same symptoms as you – weepy eyes, sore throat, fever. You are fine now, fit to be on your feet. Never give in.’
Billy coughed weakly. ‘You might be right. My life may have been prolonged by sickness. I shall surely die of helico virus, since I have no immunity to it, but the volcano may have postponed that fate for a week or two. So I must make the most of life and freedom. Help me to stand up.’
In no time, he was walking about the room, laughing, stretching his arms.
Muntras and the manager’s wife stood by, smiling at him. ‘What a relief, what a relief!’ said Billy, ‘I was beginning to hate your world, Captain. I thought Matrassyl was going to be the death of me.’
‘It’s not a bad place when you get to know it.’
‘But religious!’
Muntras said, ‘Where you have mankind and phagors together, you will have religion. The clash of two unknowns generates that kind of thing.’
The wisdom of this remark impressed Billy, but Pallos’s wife ignored it and took a firm grip on his upper arm.
‘Why, you’re fine,’ she said. ‘I’ll wash you, and you’ll feel completely fit again. Then we’ll get some scoff into you, that’s what you need.’
Muntras said, ‘Yes, and I’ve another remedy for you, Billyish. I’ll send in this pleasant young lady, Abath, daughter of an old friend of mine. Very nice willing girl.