Silence is Deadly (21 page)

Lazk,
the captain repeated. He jerked a shoulder with satisfaction.
My old friend Bovranulz told me about you, but of course he had no name for you.

Darzek was too dumfounded to speak.

Bovranulz told me a peddler at the OO-Fair would be in desperate need of help and merit it. And though Bovranulz described you with care, the scrutiny of every peddler at the fair would not have identified you with certainty even if there had been time to do so. I had to wait until the trouble developed, and it was complicated by the cursed duke and his amusements. I saw the black-capes chase you, but by the time I reached the docks you’d disappeared. It wasn’t until I saw a sailor behaving with shocking insubordination that I realized what had happened.

Darzek continued to examine the situation warily, determined that his desperate need for an ally should not trap him into a fatal error. He decided to tell the captain only what the black-capes already knew and see how he reacted.

My young daughter was taken by the black-capes,
Darzek said.

The captain’s right hand cupped an exclamation.

My cart, also,
Darzek added.
And my three nabrula. Would it be possible to find out where they were taken? A poor peddler cannot easily replace a cart and nabrula, and a dearly loved daughter is beyond price. I don’t even know what Sajjo could have done to offend them.

The captain regarded him with evident amusement when he spoke of his cart and nabrula, but obviously he considered the daughter a serious matter.
Her name is Sajjo?
he asked. He got to his feet and left the room. When he returned, he again barred the door.

He sat down and leaned forward, and his hands spoke with intense seriousness.
I don’t know where you come from or who sent you or why. But Bovranulz says you are unlike these other outsiders that pollute Storoz, that you are a friend of our people, and I have no choice but to believe him. Too many times my life has depended on him, and he has never failed me. So I believe, and I will do what he asks. He asks that I tell you what the League knows about Storoz.

Darzek shaped a question.
The Sailor’s League?

Yes. Officially we have no interest in the internal affairs of Storoz. In actuality, most of us are Storozians. This island is more than a home to us—it is our birthright. Even if the dukes honor our Free City charters and leave us alone, we cannot ignore the iniquities they perpetrate in the provinces of our fathers and the cruelties they inflict on our relatives. Officially we have no interest, but we take a very active private interest. Through that private interest we have learned much. Do you know that the Duke of OO—a remote ancestor of the present duke—once was King of Storoz?

Darzek signaled an affirmative.

He was Ruler of Storoz and Protector of the Faith—which means that he ruled both in this world and the next. He controlled the government of his people and also their religion. He had another title that few now remember: Keeper of the Winged Beast. The kingship was hereditary, but there was an earlier tradition that the king in his arbitrariness forgot: the kingship once was held by different dukes in turn according to a system no one now remembers except the dukes themselves. The dukes deposed him; but then they could not agree on a plan for rotating the kingship again, so each duke became ruler of his own province, and the office of Protector was taken by the ruler of the mountain province, which always had been the Realm of the Winged Beast. All this you know?

Only a little of it. Please continue.

Do you know that the Protector is attempting to revive the kingship?

Darzek signaled a negative.
But it does not surprise me,
he added.

He is. The dukes are distrustful—even the Protector’s own brother, the Duke of OO, is distrustful. Each would enjoy ruling all of Storoz, but none would enjoy being subservient to another duke. And because the Protector is the Duke of OO’s brother, the others fear that the Protector is plotting to restore OO to the kingship. The Duke of OO fears that the Protector is plotting to take over the kingship himself and again combine the offices of Ruler of Storoz and Protector of the Faith.

The Protector swears that none of this is true. He is dedicated to the principles of the religion he protects, and he would cheerfully surrender his office to a legal king, chosen in the same time-tested and divine manner in which kings were selected in the past.

You said no one but the dukes remembered what that was,
Darzek observed thoughtfully.

Probably no one has ever known except the dukes and the Protector. We know only that the kingship was held by different dukes in turn, and that is the system the Protector would restore. Now all of the dukes are currying favor with the Protector, and his favor has a price—the restoration of the old religion. For long years in Storoz, religion has been a matter of conscience. One worshiped the new or the old or none at all, as one chose. But now the old religion rules in OO. The cursed black-capes terrorize the people and force them through fear to worship the Winged Beast. You have seen it. Some of the other dukes are ready to do the same, as the price of the Protector’s favor.

But you permit black-capes in the Free Cities,
Darzek observed.

The captain scowled.
Of course. Freedom of choice still counts there, and it isn’t freedom if one isn’t free to worship the old as well as the new.
He paused for a moment, and then he continued,
There are these outsiders. I don’t know who they are or what they seek. Do you know?

No. I did not suspect their existence until I saw one in the duke’s carriage today. Does the Duke Merzkion have outsiders as guests?

From time to time.

And—the Duke Fermarz?

From time to time. We don’t know for certain, but we assume that all the dukes have had such visitors. A few have made them guests.

Darzek spoke slowly.
There are two questions: What they seek, and what they offer for it. Since there is talk of reviving the kingship, they may be offering to make their hosts king—in return for certain favors.

And—the favors?

I can answer only that they would be bad for the people of Storoz and bad for people anywhere on this world. Eventually they’d be bad for the duke that granted them, but a duke who wants to be king does not think beyond the kingship.

That is our belief,
the captain said.

If the outsiders have visited all of the dukes, they may be promising more than one duke that they’ll help him become king.

It’s even more complicated than that,
the captain said gloomily.
There is more than one kind of outsider. In addition to yourself, that is.

Darzek stared at him. Then he reflected that members of the different human races probably would have impressed the Kammians as being more than one kind of outsider, and different kinds didn’t necessarily mean outsiders from more than one world.
How different?
he asked.

Their features are entirely different. I have seen them myself. One kind has a strange physical construction around the hack of its head, from one side to the other. The other kind has a small, round opening on each side of its head, high up.

Darzek took a deep breath and wondered why he was accepting that shattering information so calmly. He asked,
Are these different kinds of visitors in contention with each other?

The Duke of OO entertains only the one kind. The Duke Merzkion entertains only the other kind. Beyond that, we know for certain that one kind tried to turn a duke against the other kind.

To Darzek, this information was at least as devastating as a pazul.
Some of the dukes may he making promises to both kinds of visitors, hoping to gain the support of both,
he pointed out.

The captain gestured his agreement. His gloom had deepened.
They are scoundrels cheating one another, and the people of Storoz must pay the winner.

Are there any good dukes?
Darzek asked.
Dukes worthy of the honor of the kingship and able to use power for the benefit of all?

Two. Two out of eleven—or twelve, if we count the Protector. Thus has the blood of our royalty rotted.

I know lands where two out of twelve would he something to he proud of, Darzek told him. You said the dukes feared that the Protector was conspiring to bring the kingship to his brother, the Duke of OO. Is he?

The ancient religion is harsh. Its dicta are cruel and merciless. The Protector believes that harshness and cruelty are purifying and should be applied relentlessly. He hopes to restore the ancient religion to its former high status and thereby revive the ancient glory of Storoz. He is dedicated. If there is an ancient religious canon for the selection of a king, I think he would apply it honestly—and unswervingly.

Then he’s a fanatic,
Darzek suggested.
And incorruptible.

In matters of religion, we know of nothing to indicate that he is not. And since his brother, the Duke of OO, is dedicated to the pursuit of life’s pleasures and the avoidance of its responsibilities, our feeling is that the Protector would not help him become king. He knows as well as we that this would be a catastrophe for the people of Storoz. But if the Duke of OO gains the kingship honestly, certainly the Protector will do nothing to prevent that.

Is there any chance that the dukes might agree to the restoration of the kingship?

There is. They may have agreed to it already.

Darzek leaned back, eyes closed, to consider the effect of this information on his own mission. The problem of a pazul on Kamm had been solved; at least, it had been transferred elsewhere, and the Department of Uncertified Worlds could deal with it on whatever world or worlds were responsible.

This left him two things to work for: The expulsion of the aliens along with all of their hardware, and the rescue of Rok Wllon and any of the missing Synthesis agents who had survived.

I must think deeply about all of this,
Darzek told the captain.
My own mission is to protect your world and its people against the plots of outsiders, and to rescue friends whom the dukes have taken prisoner.

It was the captain’s turn to meditate. Finally he asked,
If a king is chosen, would you be willing to assist us in attempting to make it one of the two capable dukes?

I feel strongly that outsiders should not interfere in the affairs of Kamm,
Darzek said slowly.
I am obliged to do everything I can to prevent these other outsiders from raising a duke of their choice to the kingship, and I can’t in good conscience replace their scheming with my own. But if I succeed, it may leave the way open for your candidate. And if chance placed me in a position to influence the outcome, I wouldn’t hesitate to use it to benefit the People of Kamm.

The captain smiled.
Bovranulz spoke truly. Your principles are not for sale, but I think you would not betray a friend for them. I pledge you my support and also that of the Sailor’s League, of which I also am a captain.

I accept with gratitude.

* * * *

As soon as darkness fell, the captain left for home. He maintained a small dwelling and a mate in a sailor’s village a short distance down the coast from the metropolis. Darzek followed him at a respectful three paces, a common sailor performing a duty for his master. He carried a basket of namafj. The namafj were noticeably overripe, and Darzek huffed all the way, breathing through his mouth.

In the captain’s modest but brightly painted house, Darzek joined him and his mate for their evening meal. Kammian etiquette wisely prohibited conversation when the hands could be better occupied with other matters, and they ate their tastily prepared dishes of sea foods without exchanging a word. As soon as they had finished, the mate cleared the table and discreetly disappeared.

The captain leaned back meditatively. They were waiting for information about Sajjo—where she was, what kind of a guard she was under, whether she could be rescued.

Darzek, after half a day of furious activity and intense nervous strain, felt exhausted. The light, a crude lamp burning namafj oil, had a hypnotic effect on him. He caught himself dozing off, willed himself awake, and finally, it seemed only an instant later, he awakened himself again by almost pitching from his chair. As he straightened up, he discovered to his embarrassment that there were four more captains seated in the room. They had arrived, found him asleep, and waited patiently until he woke up.