The navigator (30 page)

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ever seen. Cari focused on the back of the sleigh. There were two people in it. Suddenly she felt her heart jump. She could barely speak.

"Wesley ... W-Wesley ...," she stammered, "it's Owen and Pieta!" Wesley grabbed the binoculars.

"You're right, girl," he said, "and they're headed straight toward Johnston."

It was true. Even without the binoculars Cati could see that Johnston's raft had beached itself on the icy margin where the lake met the sea and that the sleigh was heading straight toward it.

"Owen!" she shouted. "Owen, look out!" Wesley joined her in jumping and waving, then Dr. Diamond and the Sub-Commandant, but it was to no avail. Their voices were shrill and tiny against the monumental howl of the Puissance.

"Quick, boys," Wesley said. "Let's get that boat into the water." He ran over to Uel and Mervyn, who were struggling with a rusted davit as they tried to lower the little boat.

"They're nearly past. They'll escape!" Cati shouted. She could tell that Johnston hadn't seen the sleigh yet.

Then time flickered again, and on this occasion it was not helpful. Johnston turned in time to see the sleigh, and it was obvious that Pieta and Owen had not seen him yet. Johnston grabbed a magno gun from the raft and leveled it at the sleigh, ready to blast its occupants as it swept past. Cati watched, not able to tear her eyes away.

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Then suddenly three long, loud siren blasts split the skies. Cati looked up. The Grim Captain had sounded his siren in warning. Pieta and Owen heard it, or at least the dogs did, for the sleigh skidded to one side and came to a halt, just out of range of the deadly gun.

Behind, Cati heard the light splash of the boat slipping into the water.

All that day Owen and Pieta had seen the whirling column of the Puissance get larger and larger, until now it seemed to fill the sky. Owen could not take his eyes off it, could not look anywhere else, the howling mass of it riven with bolts of lightning. And, like Cati, he caught sight of moments in time, half-glimpsed images of shining seas that emptied and turned into desert in an instant, planets flaring up and shrinking to dull, cold ashes. Pieta spoke to him several times, but he ignored her, mesmerized by the sight of time being undone.

And so they came to the edge of land, the dogs wild-eyed with exertion but still leaping onward, driven on by the great red-eyed Arcana. The sleigh reached the sea and turned smoothly without dropping speed to follow the line of the shore. Breakers crashed on the shingle beach and huge chunks of ice crashed and growled. Owen could see to his right the ice bridge that the Long Woman had talked about, a sinister-looking structure, although elegant, one single curve of ice, solid to the sea floor, for otherwise the Harsh could not cross the open water. It was his only way in as well, for he knew that he could not

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force himself to cross the angry sea. Yet the Harsh guarded the bridge. And even if he crossed, he did not have the Mortmain. And even if he did have it, he didn't know what to do with it.

They swept around the shore. Ahead of them Owen could see the mouth of a fast-flowing river rounding a point, a natural harbor formed in its crook. Owen found that he had picked up the reins, which had lain unused for the entire journey, so sure was Arcana of his leadership. But now the black dog seemed to hesitate and check his stride.

"Something's wrong," said Owen. As he spoke, he heard three siren blasts, long and loud and sorrowful. Arcana came to an abrupt halt and stood staring ahead, lips curled back. Owen followed the dog's eyes and saw Johnston.

If they had gone another thirty meters, they would have been sitting targets, Owen realized. Then Pieta was out of the sleigh, her magno whip in her hand. There was a flicker and to his astonishment Pieta was back in the sleigh, climbing out again. He heard Johnston laugh a heavy, sneering laugh.

"You see what the Harsh have done to time, lad?" Johnston said. "Another while and it'll all be sucked in."

"Pretty Rat come to put time right," said Passionara, and Mariacallas cackled with laughter. Arcana growled and took a step forward. The two men jumped back, almost tripping over each other in their haste.

"Good doggy, good doggy," Mariacallas said nervously.

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Arcana's red eyes bored into him. But Johnston did not seem concerned by the dogs. He kept his eyes on the whip in Pieta's hand.

"Let us past!" Pieta said. Owen looked over Johnston's shoulder and saw the source of the siren blasts.

A massive ship stood off the coast. A ship with holes in it and a bridge that tilted to one side. A ship that he would have thought derelict except for several small figures on her deck. And then, rising and falling on the waves, Owen saw a small boat coming toward them.

Just then, one of the people it carried stood up and waved. Cati? he thought. It couldn't be Cati--she was many miles away. But something in his heart told Owen that it was Cati. He could see that the boat was headed for the pier, and knew that was where they needed to be.

He looked up again. Johnston had taken another step forward. Both weapons were still at the limit of their range, but Johnston was edging forward, and Owen knew that the magno gun would come into range before the whip. Johnston knew it too. He moved forward in a stalking motion, keeping low to the ground. Passionara and Mariacallas followed. Pieta tightened her grip on the whip. Owen felt a cold, clear anger flood over him. All he wanted to do, he thought, was see a friendly face again. He was fed up with being thrown around the place and tied up by Johnston. Even Pieta's grim companionship was too much sometimes. He stood up in the sleigh and brought the reins down hard on the dog's backs.

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"Arcana, go!" he shouted. The dogs exploded forward. Owen was thrown backward and landed on his back. Pieta, caught by surprise, just about managed to grab on to the sleigh and was dragged behind it as it flew straight toward Johnston. There was nothing the man could do except dive out of the way. Arcana, in passing, made a lunge for Mariacallas. With a frightened yelp the man leapt headfirst into a snowdrift. And as Pieta was dragged behind the sleigh she managed to free one hand and catch Passionara around the legs with the whip. Passionara tumbled head over heels high into the sky, until he too landed in the snowdrift, right beside Maria-callas.

Owen could see that the boat had docked. Wesley and Mervyn stood on the dock, beckoning to him, and as he watched, Cati joined them. He could see the Sub-Commandant holding the boat against the quay. For a moment he thought that the dog team was going to charge straight over the edge of the quay, but at the last moment they swerved sideways and came to a dead halt. Owen jumped out and ran over to Cati and Wesley.

"I can't believe it, I--"

"No time for sentimental stuff," said Wesley gruffly. "Get your backside into that boat or Johnston will have us." The big man had recovered and was charging in their direction.

"I can't," Owen said, "I can't." His mouth felt dry. His stomach lurched as he stared at the seething water below him.

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"Come on!" Wesley shouted, but Owen could not move. All seemed lost until the little girl, who had been sitting unobserved in the bow of the boat, stepped ashore. She took Owen by the hand and led him to the edge of the dock and together they stepped into the boat. The Sub-Commandant and Dr. Diamond exchanged a glance.

As they rowed back to the ship, Owen quickly tried to tell them what had happened--Johnston's yard, the Q-car, Pieta, the Long Woman. There was too much. And then Wesley shoved an oar in Owen's hand and told him to stop gabbing and start fending off the ice growlers that were starting to threaten the little boat.

As they approached the ship Cati whispered to Owen, "Are you still mad at me?"

He shook his head. "No. You still mad at me?"

She looked at him for a moment. "Don't know," she said. "I'll have to think about it." She turned away, but not before Owen saw the smile on her face.

Owen stood up and looked back at the land. He could see the ice runner speeding up the hill behind the pier. When it reached the top it stopped and he heard a distant howling. He raised an arm in salute. The howling intensified briefly, then the dogs leapt forward and the sleigh disappeared over the crest of the hill.

Then they were up beside the ship and all hands were needed. The Grim Captain had turned his ship to give them shelter, but the ice clanged against the hull and threatened the boat again and again. It took a long time

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to get everyone on board and hoist the boat. But as soon as they did, the ship started to move, painfully at first, then building up speed. Owen looked down at the water as though seeing it for the first time.

"How did I do that?"

"You had some help," Cati said.

"That little girl ... ?" They looked around but could not see her.

Time was flickering more and more now. Added to that, day and night were passing with bewildering speed. Owen felt he was in an old black and white film that flickered and jumped as he watched it. The ship went faster and faster, crashing through the waves, heading straight for the island. There was so much juddering and banging that Cati was sure that bits of the ship would fall off. And then she realized that they
were
falling off. First a bit of plate, then a piece of handrail, then one whole chunk of the leaning bridge fell into the water. But still they sped.

"Listen to me," Dr. Diamond said urgently. "I calculate from the angles of diminution and the various defined, though highly mobile, interstices of the Puissance vortex that the source of it is approximately 293.44 meters below sea level."

"What's he saying?" Wesley asked impatiently.

"It means that we have to get down to the source of the vortex, right down in the middle of the island," said Cati.

"Not we," Owen said, surprising even himself, "me. I

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am the one who has to reach the source. I am the Navigator."

They all turned to look at him. Nobody said anything for a moment. Then the Sub-Commandant took the Mortmain carefully from his coat and handed it to Owen.

"This is yours, then, and your father's before you," he said, meeting Owen's eye for a moment before stepping back.

"Land ahoy!" shouted Mervyn. They were in the lee of the island. The ship slowed and all eyes were drawn upward to the towering Puissance, the vortex spinning with almost diabolic speed now. The Sub-Commandant was the first to tear his eyes away. He saw that the island was a crag growing out of the ocean, the top of an underground mountain perhaps with a crater at the summit, like a volcano. It was into this crater that the Puissance disappeared. At the foot of the island was a little stone jetty, and stone steps led upward.

"That's where we need to be," the Sub-Commandant said.

"Let's get the leaky tub into the water, then!" shouted Wesley over the roar of the Puissance.

As they struggled with the rusted davits again, no one noticed Johnston's raft halfway between the island and the shore, Passionara and Mariacallas rowing furiously. By the time they were in their own boat and rowing for shore, Johnston had almost reached the island.

The water was still choppy and the currents were

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strong, and they had battled for several minutes in silence before Cati looked around worriedly.

"Where's the little girl?" she said. "We've left her behind."

"I think she'll be all right," Dr. Diamond said. "Look!"

They turned and saw her. She was standing on the bridge beside the Grim Captain and his hand rested on her shoulder.

"That was the thing that he wanted," the Sub-Commandant said, "the thing he wouldn't ask for."

"A bit of company," Wesley said, and sniffed.

"Or forgiveness," Dr. Diamond said quietly. "Do you not see it, Wesley? He was not always known as the Grim Captain. In the mists of time his name was Smith."

"What?" Wesley gasped. "The man who did abandon the Raggies? And me on his boat. I should've--"

"Perhaps, Wesley," Dr. Diamond said gently, "but when he put the children into an open boat and abandoned them all those years ago, he lost the only thing he truly loved."

"His daughter," the Sub-Commandant said. "For she sneaked onto the boat when he wasn't looking and was lost along with all the other children. For centuries he has wandered the seas seeking her, and now she is found."

As they watched, the Grim Captain caught the little girl under the arms and lifted her. She reached up for the siren and pulled it three times. The Grim Captain set her

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down. He looked down on the little boat, raised one hand, and touched the peak of his cap. Then the ship turned and started to steam away, picking up speed as it went. By the time they had reached the pier and scrambled onto dry land it was almost lost in the night.

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If I'm not mistaken," Dr. Diamond said, "then the objects that resemble stone beehives at the top of the steps are in fact entrances."

"Entrances to what?" growled Wesley.

"To the home of the Harsh. But also to the source of the Puissance."

"I'm damn well worried about something," Wesley said. "We haven't seen any of them Harsh yet."

"They'll be waiting," the Sub-Commandant said grimly. Pieta loosened the magno whip at her belt.

"Best get going, then," Wesley said. Owen checked that he still had the Mortmain in his pocket. Wesley told Uel and Mervyn to stay with the boat, for what he described as the unlikely event of them returning.