Shogun (The Asian Saga Chronology) (169 page)

Dell'Aqua had used all his diplomatic skill but Kiyama had been adamant and had refused to commit himself or change his position.  Then, this morning, when he had gone to Kiyama to tell him that, through God's will, the Ingeles was neutralized, there had been a glimmer of hope.

"I've considered what you said," Kiyama had told him.  "I will not ally myself with Toranaga.  Between now and the battle I will watch both contenders very carefully.  At the correct time I will choose.  And now I consent to let the barbarian go . . . not because of what you've told me but because of the Lady Mariko, to honor her . . . and because the Anjin-san is
samurai
. . ."

Ferriera was still staring back at him.  "Isn't the Ingeles still a threat?"

"Have a safe journey, Captain-General, and Godspeed.  Pilot, I'm taking you to your galley—Are you all right?"

"It's . . . my head it's . . . I think the explosion. . . . You're really letting me go?  Why?"

"Because the Lady Maria, the Lady Mariko, asked us to protect you."  Dell'Aqua started off again.

"But that's no reason!  You wouldn't do that just because she asked you."

"I agree," Ferriera said.  Then he called out, "Eminence, why not tell him the whole truth?"

Dell'Aqua did not stop.  Blackthorne began to follow but he did not turn his back to the ship, still expecting treachery.  "Doesn't make sense.  You know I'm going to destroy you.  I'll take your Black Ship."

Ferriera laughed scornfully.  "With what, Ingeles? 
You have no ship!
"

"What do you mean?"

"You have no ship.  She's dead.  If she wasn't, I'd never let you go, whatever his Eminence threatened."

"It's not true . . ."

Through the fog in his head Blackthorne heard Ferriera say it again and laugh louder, and add something about an accident and the Hand of God and your ship's burned to her spine, so you'll never harm
my
ship now, though you're still heretic and enemy, and still a threat to the Faith.  Then he saw Rodrigues clearly, pity on his face, and the lips spelled out, Yes, it's true, Ingeles.

"It's not true, can't be true."

Then the Inquisitor priest was saying from a million leagues away, "I received a message this morning from Father Alvito.  It seems an earthquake caused a tidal wave, the wave . . ."

But Blackthorne was not listening.  His mind was crying out, Your ship's dead, you've let her down, your ship's dead, you've no ship no ship no ship. . . .

"It's not true!  You're lying, my ship's in a safe harbor and guarded by four thousand men.  She's safe!"

Someone said, "But not from God," and then the Inquisitor was talking again, "The tidal wave heeled your ship.  They say that oil lamps on deck were upset and the fire spread.  Your ship's gutted. . . . "

"Lies!  What about the deck watch?  There's always a deck watch!  It's impossible," he shouted, but he knew that somehow the price for his life had been his ship.

"You're beached, Ingeles," Ferriera was goading him.  "You're marooned.  You're here forever, you'll never get passage on one of our ships.  You're beached forever. . . ."

It went on and on and he was drowning.  Then his eyes cleared.  He heard the cry of the gulls and smelled the stink of the shore and saw Ferriera, he saw his enemy and knew it was all a lie to drive him mad.  He knew it absolutely and that the priests were part of the plot.  "God take you to hell!" he shouted and rushed at Ferriera, his sword raised high.  But only in his dream was it a rush.  Hands caught him easily and took his swords away and set him walking between two Grays, through all the others, until he was at the companionway of the galley and they gave him back his swords and let him go.

It was difficult for him to see or to hear, his brain hardly working now in the pain, but he was certain it was all a trick to drive him mad and that it would succeed if he did not make a great effort.  Help me, he prayed, someone help me, then Yabu was beside him and Vinck and his vassals and he could not distinguish the languages.  They guided him aboard, Kiri there somewhere and Sazuko, a child crying in a maid's arms, the remnants of the Browns' garrison crowding the deck, rowers and seamen.

Smell of sweat, fear sweat.  Yabu was talking at him.  And Vinck.  It took a long time to concentrate.  "Pilot, why in Christ's name did they let you go?"

"I . . . they . . ."  He could not say the words.

Then somehow he found himself on the quarterdeck and Yabu was ordering the Captain-san to put to sea before Ishido changed his mind about letting them all leave, and before the Grays on the dock changed their minds about permitting the galley to go, telling the captain full speed for Nagasaki . . . Kiri saying, so sorry, Yabu-sama, please first Yedo, we must go to Yedo. . . .

The oars of the shallow draft vessel eased off the wharf, against the tide and against the wind, and went out into the stream, gulls crying in the wake, and Blackthorne pulled himself out of his daze enough to say coherently, "No.  So sorry.  Go Yokohama.  Must Yokohama."

"First get men at Nagasaki, Anjin-san, understand?  Important.  First men!  Have plan," Yabu said.

"No.  Go Yokohama.  My ship . . . my ship danger."

"What danger?" Yabu demanded.

"Christians say . . . say fire!"

"What!!"

"For the love of Christ, Pilot, what's amiss?" Vinck cried out.

Blackthorne pointed shakily toward the lorcha.  "They told me . . . they told me
Erasmus
is lost, Johann.  Our ship's lost . . . fired."  Then he burst out, "Oh, God, let it all be a lie!"

BOOK

SIX

CHAPTER 60

He stood in the shallows and looked out at the charred skeleton of his ship aground and heeled over, awash in the small surf, seventy yards seaward, masts gone, decks gone, everything gone, except for the keel and the ribs of her chest that jutted to the sky.

"The monkeys tried to beach her," Vinck said sullenly.

"No.  The tide took her there."

"For Christ's sweet sake, why say that, Pilot?  If you've a God-cursed fire and you're near the God-cursed shore you beach her to fight it there!  Jesus, even these piss-arsed bastards know that!"  Vinck spat on the sand.  "Monkeys!  You should never've left her to them.  What're we going to do now?  How we going to get home?  You should've left her at Yedo safe, an' us safe, with our eters."

The whine in Vinck's voice irritated Blackthorne.  Everything about Vinck irritated him now.  Three times in the last week he had almost told his vassals to knife Vinck quietly and throw him overboard to put him out of his misery when the weeping and bewailing and accusations had become too much.  But he had always curbed his temper and gone aloft or below to seek out Yabu.  Near Yabu, Vinck made no sound, petrified of him, and rightly.  Aboard it had been easy to contain himself.  Here, shamed before his ship's nakedness, it was not easy.

"Perhaps they beached her, Johann," he said, weary unto death.

"You bet the muck-eating bastards beached her!  But they didn't put out the fire, God curse them all to hell!  Should never've let Jappos on her, stinking, piss-arsed monkeys. . . ."

Blackthorne shut his ears and concentrated on the galley.  She was moored downwind to the wharf, a few hundred paces away, by Yokohama village.  The lean-tos of the Musket Regiment were still scattered about the foreshore and foothills, men drilling, hurrying, a pall of anxiety over all of them.  It was a warm sunny day with a fair wind blowing.  His nose caught a scent of mimosa perfume.  He could see Kiri and Lady Sazuko in conversation under orange sunshades on the forepoop and he wondered if the perfume came from them.  Then he watched Yabu and Naga walking up and down the wharf, Naga talking and Yabu listening, both very tense.  Then he saw them look across at him.  He sensed their restlessness.

When the galley had rounded the point two hours ago, Yabu had said, "Why go look closer, Anjin-san?  Ship dead,
neh?
  All finished.  Go Yedo!  Get ready for war.  No time now."

"So sorry—stop here.  Must look close.  Please."

"Go Yedo!  Ship dead—finished. 
Neh?
"

"You want, you go.  I swim."

"Wait.  Ship dead,
neh?
"

"So sorry, please stop.  Little time.  Then Yedo."

At length Yabu had agreed and they had docked and Naga had met them.  "So sorry, Anjin-san. 
Neh?
"  Naga had said, his eyes bleary from sleeplessness.

"Yes, so sorry.  Please what happen?"

"So sorry, don't know.  Not
honto
.  I was not here, understand?  I was ordered Mishima few days.  When come back, men say earthquake at night—all happen at night, understand?  You understand 'earthquake,' Anjin-san?"

"Understand.  Yes.  Please continue."

"So little earthquake.  At night.  Some men say tidal wave arrive, some say not tidal wave but just one big wave, storm wave.  There was a storm that night,
neh?
  Little
tai-fun
.  You understand '
tai-fun
'?"

"Yes."

"Ah, so sorry.  Very dark night.  They say big wave come.  They say oil lamps on deck break.  Ship catch fire,
neh?
  Everything fire, quick, very—"

"But guards, Naga-san?  Where deck men?"

"Very dark.  Fire very quick, understand?  So sorry. 
Shigata ga nai, neh?
" he added hopefully.

"Where deck men, Naga-san?  I leave guard. 
Neh?
"

"When I returned one day later, very sorry,
neh?
  Ship finished, still burning there in shallows—near shore.  Ship finished.  I get all men from ship and all shore patrol of that night.  I ask them to report.  No one is sure what happened.  " Naga's face darkened.  "I order them to salvage—to bring everything possible, understand?  Everything.  All up there now in camp."  He pointed to the plateau.  "Under guard.  My guards.  Then I put them to death and rushed back to Mishima to report to Lord Toranaga."

"All of them?  All to death?"

"Yes—they failed in their duty."

"What Lord Toranaga say?"

"Very angry.  Very right to be angry,
neh?
  I offer seppuku.  Lord Toranaga refuse permission.  Eeeeee!  Lord Toranaga very angry, Anjin-san."  Naga waved a nervous hand around the foreshore.  "Whole regiment in disgrace, Anjin-san.  Everyone.  All chief officers here in disgrace, Anjin-san.  Sent to Mishima.  Fifty-eight seppuku already."

Blackthorne had thought about that number and he wanted to shriek, five thousand or fifty thousand can't repay the loss of my ship!  "Bad," his mouth was saying.  "Yes, very bad."

"Yes.  Better go Yedo.  Today.  War today, tomorrow, next day.  Sorry."

Then Naga had spoken intently with Yabu for a few moments, and Blackthorne, dull-witted, hating the foul-sounding words, hating Naga and Yabu and all of them, could barely follow him though he saw Yabu's unease increase.  Naga turned again to him with an embarrassed finality.  "So sorry, Anjin-san.  Nothing more I could do. 
Honto
,
neh?
"

Blackthorne had forced himself to nod. "
Honto
. 
Domo
, Naga-san. 
Shigata ga nai
."  He had made some excuse and left them to walk down to his ship, to be alone, no longer trusting himself to contain his insane rage, knowing that there was nothing he could do, that he would never know any more of the truth, that whatever the truth he had lost his ship, that the priests had somehow managed to pay men, or cajole men, or threaten them into this filthy desecration.  He had fled from Yabu and Naga, walking slowly and erect, but before he could escape the wharf, Vinck had rushed after him and begged not to be left behind.  Seeing the man's abject cringing fear, he had agreed and allowed him to follow.  But he had closed his mind to him.

Then, suddenly, down by the shore, they had come on the grisly remains of the heads.  More than a hundred, hidden from the wharf by dunes and stuck on spears.  Seabirds rose up in a white shrieking cloud as they approached, and settled back to continue ravaging and quarreling once they had hurried past.

Now he was studying the hulk of his ship, one thought obsessing him:  Mariko had seen the truth and had whispered the truth to Kiyama or to the priests:  'Without his ship the Anjin-san's helpless against the Church.  I ask you to leave him alive, just kill the ship. . . .'

He could hear her saying it.  She was right.  It was such a simple solution to the Catholics' problem.  Yes.  But any one of them could have thought of the same thing.  And how did they breach the four thousand men?  Whom did they bribe?  How?

It doesn't matter who.  Or how.  They've won.

God help me, without my ship I'm dead.  I can't help Toranaga and his war will swallow us up.

"Poor ship," he said.  "Forgive me—so sad to die so uselessly.  After all those leagues."

"Eh?" Vinck said.

"Nothing," he said.  Poor ship, forgive me.  It was never my bargain with her or anyone.  Poor Mariko.  Forgive her too.

"What did you say, Pilot?"

"Nothing.  I was just thinking out loud."

"You said something.  I heard you say something, for Christ's sake!"

"For Christ's sake, shut up!"

"Eh?  Shut up, is it?  We're marooned with these piss eaters for the rest of our lives!  Eh?"

"Yes!"

"We're to grovel to these God-cursed heathen shit-heads for the rest of our muck-eating lives and how long'll that be when all they talk about's war war war?  Eh?"

"Yes."

"Yes, is it?"  Vinck's whole body trembling, and Blackthorne readied.  "It's your fault.  You said to come to the Japans and we come and how many died coming here?  You're to blame!"

"Yes.  Sorry, but you're right!"

"Sorry are you, Pilot?  How're we going to get home?  That's your God-cursed job, to get us home!  How you going to do that?  Eh?"

"I don't know.  Another of our ships'll get here, Johann.  We've just got to wait anoth—"