I’m not
ready to take over,” Suvrin argued.
“And I’m too
old to come back,” I countered. “And the only other
qualified person is in a coma.” Lady was not, literally, in a
coma, but, practically speaking, the effect was the same. She had
nothing to contribute.
Suvrin grumbled under his breath.
“Sleepy picked you. She thought you could handle it.
She’s been giving you opportunities to get a feel for the
job.” Sleepy was a big part of the problem. Her death, so
sudden and cruel, had stricken everyone. Most of us were still in a
daze.
I said, “We take too much time here; we’ll give the
Children of the Dead too much time to think. We don’t want
them looking at how bad the numbers thing has gone since
they’ve been on our side of the glittering plain.”
A moment of self-loathing followed. That was exactly the sort of
thinking I found repugnant in the Company’s employers.
Suvrin reflected briefly. “We can’t spend time
grieving, can we? We have to go ahead. Or call it off.”
“No decision there. Go ahead. I’ve tried to get
messages to Aridatha Singh. He seems like a good man, willing to
put Taglios first. He might be willing to spare the city some
pain.”
“If you can convince him that the Great General
isn’t going to eat us alive. The way Tobo tells it, Mogaba
isn’t particularly worried.”
“He will be. Once we get settled in here I just might take
the girls general hunting.”
Suvrin still showed some of that pudgy, baby-fat look he had
always had. He needed to get busy and develop the hardened,
piratical look of a Captain.
He yielded to his hidden desires. “All right. I’ll
be the Captain. But I reserve the right to quit.”
“Excellent. I’ll spread the word, then I’ll go
smack Mogaba around.” My hatred for the Great General was no
longer virulent, though. It was more like a bad habit these
days.
“I’m the Captain now, right? Completely in
charge?”
“Yeah.” Spoken with a twinge of suspicion.
“My first directive as Captain, then, is that you should
stop putting yourself at risk.”
“Huh? What? But . . . ”
“Croaker, you’re the only one left who can keep the
Annals. You’re the only one left who can read most of
them.
You didn’t finish teaching me and you haven’t
trained anyone else. I don’t intend to lose our connection
with our heritage. Not at this last stage. Therefore, henceforth,
you’re not going anywhere that’ll put you at
risk.”
“You sonofabitch. You jobbed me. You can’t do
that.”
“I’m the Captain. Sure I can. I just did. I’ll
have you restrained if that’s what it takes.”
“You won’t have to.” Because I buy into the
whole Company mystique, like a religion. Because I cannot defy
orders just because I do not like them. Ha-ha. How long would it
take to find a way to weasel around this if I felt a genuine need?
“But I wanted Mogaba.”
“We’ll catch him for you. Then you can skin him or
whatever you want.”
I went out and spread the word that we had a new Captain and
that the officers should attend him. Then I looked for Arkana, who
was off somewhere wasting a valuable part of her life sleeping.
As I stumbled around, shivering because things unseen were
everywhere in the night, I realized that Suvrin, unwittingly, had
given me orders of critical importance. If I kept running around,
getting into the middle of everything, and I got myself killed for
my trouble, more than the Annals would die with me. So would the
little plan I had worked out for fulfilling our commitment to
Shivetya.
I had not shared that with anyone, and would not unless I was
convinced I was dying.
Words never spoken cannot be overheard by sleeping
Goddesses.
I’m not
ready to take over,” Suvrin argued.
“And I’m too
old to come back,” I countered. “And the only other
qualified person is in a coma.” Lady was not, literally, in a
coma, but, practically speaking, the effect was the same. She had
nothing to contribute.
Suvrin grumbled under his breath.
“Sleepy picked you. She thought you could handle it.
She’s been giving you opportunities to get a feel for the
job.” Sleepy was a big part of the problem. Her death, so
sudden and cruel, had stricken everyone. Most of us were still in a
daze.
I said, “We take too much time here; we’ll give the
Children of the Dead too much time to think. We don’t want
them looking at how bad the numbers thing has gone since
they’ve been on our side of the glittering plain.”
A moment of self-loathing followed. That was exactly the sort of
thinking I found repugnant in the Company’s employers.
Suvrin reflected briefly. “We can’t spend time
grieving, can we? We have to go ahead. Or call it off.”
“No decision there. Go ahead. I’ve tried to get
messages to Aridatha Singh. He seems like a good man, willing to
put Taglios first. He might be willing to spare the city some
pain.”
“If you can convince him that the Great General
isn’t going to eat us alive. The way Tobo tells it, Mogaba
isn’t particularly worried.”
“He will be. Once we get settled in here I just might take
the girls general hunting.”
Suvrin still showed some of that pudgy, baby-fat look he had
always had. He needed to get busy and develop the hardened,
piratical look of a Captain.
He yielded to his hidden desires. “All right. I’ll
be the Captain. But I reserve the right to quit.”
“Excellent. I’ll spread the word, then I’ll go
smack Mogaba around.” My hatred for the Great General was no
longer virulent, though. It was more like a bad habit these
days.
“I’m the Captain now, right? Completely in
charge?”
“Yeah.” Spoken with a twinge of suspicion.
“My first directive as Captain, then, is that you should
stop putting yourself at risk.”
“Huh? What? But . . . ”
“Croaker, you’re the only one left who can keep the
Annals. You’re the only one left who can read most of
them.
You didn’t finish teaching me and you haven’t
trained anyone else. I don’t intend to lose our connection
with our heritage. Not at this last stage. Therefore, henceforth,
you’re not going anywhere that’ll put you at
risk.”
“You sonofabitch. You jobbed me. You can’t do
that.”
“I’m the Captain. Sure I can. I just did. I’ll
have you restrained if that’s what it takes.”
“You won’t have to.” Because I buy into the
whole Company mystique, like a religion. Because I cannot defy
orders just because I do not like them. Ha-ha. How long would it
take to find a way to weasel around this if I felt a genuine need?
“But I wanted Mogaba.”
“We’ll catch him for you. Then you can skin him or
whatever you want.”
I went out and spread the word that we had a new Captain and
that the officers should attend him. Then I looked for Arkana, who
was off somewhere wasting a valuable part of her life sleeping.
As I stumbled around, shivering because things unseen were
everywhere in the night, I realized that Suvrin, unwittingly, had
given me orders of critical importance. If I kept running around,
getting into the middle of everything, and I got myself killed for
my trouble, more than the Annals would die with me. So would the
little plan I had worked out for fulfilling our commitment to
Shivetya.
I had not shared that with anyone, and would not unless I was
convinced I was dying.
Words never spoken cannot be overheard by sleeping
Goddesses.