Helliconia Summer - Brian W. Aldiss [355]
‘Why, what’s the matter? I thought this was your last trip?’
‘Oh, I shall be back … I live only just across the sea …’
‘But you are always terrified of pirates.’
Muntras took a deep breath. ‘I will tell you the truth, and keep it under your palm. I have a case of plague on board. I should have declared it to the port authorities but I didn’t, being anxious to get home, I cannot let you on board. Definitely. It would endanger your life.’
‘Mm.’ CaraBansity wrapped a meaty fist round his chin, looking at Muntras from under his brow. ‘In my trade, I’m familiar with disease and probably immune to it. For the sake of the Great Exaggerator, I’ll take the risk.’
‘No, sorry. You’re too good a friend to lose. I will see you again soon when I’m in less of a hurry, and we’ll drink ourselves under the table …’ Talking in a distracted manner, he shook CaraBansity’s hand and almost ran from him. Pounding up the ship’s gangplank, he called out to his son and anyone else aboard that they were going to sail immediately.
CaraBansity stood on the quay, watching until the Ice Captain disappeared below decks. He then turned slowly on his heel and began walking away.
At a certain point into the lanes, he stopped short, snapped his fingers, and began to laugh. He thought that he had solved the minor mystery. To celebrate a further success to deuteroscopy, he turned into the next court and walked into a tavern where he was not known.
‘A half-Exaggerator,’ he ordered. A treat for himself, a reward. People gave themselves away with talk without knowing it, for the underlying reason that they hated the feeling of guilt and therefore betrayed themselves. With that understanding, he recalled what Muntras had said in the sedan.
‘Into the palace dungeons …’ ‘Very likely.’ ‘Very likely’ means neither yes nor no. Of course. The Ice Captain had rescued SartoriIrvrash from the king and was smuggling him to safety into Dimariam. The matter was too dangerous for Muntras to tell even SartoriIrvrash’s friend in Ottassol …
Sipping the fuming drink, he let his mind wander over the possibilities which this secret knowledge opened up.
In his long and colourful career, Ice Captain Muntras had had to play some tricks on friend and enemy alike. Many mistrusted him; yet towards Billy he felt strong paternal affection, reinforced perhaps by the difficulties he experienced with his own son, the weak-minded Div. Muntras liked Billy’s helplessness and valued the store of startling knowledge which seemed so much a part of Billy. Billy was indeed a herald from another world; Muntras did not doubt it. He was determined to protect the strange creature from all comers.
But before setting sail for his homeland of Dimariam, he had a small piece of business to attend to. His leisurely journey down the Takissa had not made Muntras forget his promise to the queen. At his main wharf in Ottassol, he summoned to his office one of his captains, the man who sailed the coastal trader Lordryardry Lubber, and laid MyrdemInggala’s letter before him.
‘You’re bound for Randonan, yes?’
‘As far as Ordelay.’
‘Then you will deliver this document to the Borlienese general, Hanra TolramKetinet, of the Second Army. You are personally responsible for putting it into the general’s hands. Understand?’
At the main wharf, the Ice Captain transferred Billy onto the fine oceangoing Lordryardry Queen, the pride of his fleet. The ship was capable of transporting 200 tons of finest block ice. Now, on its homeward journey, it carried cargoes of timber and grain. Together with an excited Billy and a sullen Div.
A favouring breeze filled the sails until the cordage strained and sang. The prow swung southwards like the needle of a magnet, pointing to distant Hespagorat.
The shores of Hespagorat, together with the doleful animals which inhabited them, were familiar sights to everyone aboard the Earth Observation Station. They were watched with extra attention as the fragile wooden ship bearing