Startup 95: Retirement

Everyone locked their eyes on Silk, the room quiet enough to let the sound of the waves echo from the docks. The pale half-drow stared at the paper, opening and closing her mouth like a fish gasping for water. She put the paper down, smoothed it out, coughed into her fist, and asked for a glass of water. Anything to cover the fact that she could not speak the words written upon the page, not since Naomi had created the zone of truth.

Naomi crossed her arms, a triumphant smile fighting to break through her stoic facade. They’d gotten the slippery bitch, caught her in a lie.

Careful, Dame. This shindig ain’t over yet.

“Are you having difficulty with the first sentence?” Naomi asked, “If so, just skip ahead to the next line.”

Silk looked down, reading through the list of events. Her own testimony, summarized and agreed to by all observers.

“Cogward and Silk had anal sex.” Silk said, “Silk did mmm consent to anal sex.”

Silk deliberately lowered her voice and slurred over part of her sentence, unable to voice the word didn’t, but perfectly able to feign an unwillingness to speak loudly. She began to reach her stride, picking her words carefully.

“Cog made the encounter happen more quickly, while Silk appeared pained and upset.”

“I’m sorry, Silk.” Naomi said, an edge creeping into her voice, “You and the jury already agreed upon the appropriate wording. I need you to read the words exactly as they are written, to remove ambiguity.”

“Ambiguity?” Rawna shouted from the side, “My girl has been hurt and you are forcing her to relive it! Come here Silk, it’s ok.”

A few of the girls nodded. Hekla even shouted “stop it” and stood, her hand on the sap she kept on her belt.

“She seemed perfectly happy to do so until I made it magically impossible to lie!” Naomi snapped back. “If she was honest before, she should have no difficulty at all reading the summary.”

“How can we believe that is what your spell did?” Rawna pointed out. “You could just be saying that!”

“I will not stand here and be interrogated!” Silk said, though whatever she was about to say next caught in her throat.

The half drow stood, pulling herself away from Rawna’s arms and stalking towards the door into the the girls’ rooms. Two of the other girls moved to block Naomi from stopping her; the dwarven lass even slapped her.

Then a deafening bang rang through the small room, and a plume of dust exploded from the wall next to the door Silk was headed for.

“Stop being stupid.” Rowe said calmly. “We find truth first.”

••••••••••

We followed the granny along the edge of the cliff, looking out occasionally at the massive storm wall maybe half a mile off the shore. Looking down at the waters, they were a beautifully clear blue with no signs of the algae bloom that covered the rest of the inland sea, and waves that looked just about perfect for surfing.

The island itself was almost comedically picturesque, with flowers, fruit, and palm trees everywhere I looked. It didn’t look like a forbidden temple. It looked like a vacation destination.

“I suppose you’ll be wanting a pearl?” The old woman said over her shoulder, clambering over a few rocks with practiced ease. “They all do.”

“Well o’course!” Sandara said, “The Voyage would be a damn fool thing to do without a prize at the end.”

That actually made the old woman laugh.

“Yes, but young men with something to prove do strange things.” She said. “I agree, the pearls do add a certain something to the process. A good addition by Besmara once she decided to acknowledge what we were doing.”

“I bloody knew it wasn’t her idea.” Sandara muttered under her breath.

I wasn’t certain if that conversation was about to devolve into a religious schism, so I decided to finally ask the obvious first question. I had a moment; Sandara was clambering up a rock face with levitation. I’d just skipped the whole process and Leaped to the top next to the old lady.

“So, may I know your name?” I said, “I’m Emrys M’Dair, Captain of the Enterprise. That’s Sandara Quinn, she’s my sailing master and ship cleric.”

“Laharra Seaspray, Captain of the Queen’s March.” She said absently. “So, ye need a sailing master? Can’t sail worth a damn yourself but still fancy yourself a captain?”

Secret Knowledge Nobility check failed

Nobility? So she’s important. I figured that, but it's nice to have it basically confirmed.

I shrugged.

“I’d be better off flying if I didn’t need to bring a crew along.” I said, “I’m not too proud to admit that I’m probably the worst actual sailor on my crew. Except Filli, maybe.”

Admittedly everyone else is so good at sailing mostly because of Worthy Crew giving them free ranks in Profession (Sailor), but I’m not my own minion so… yeah. I’m actively making things worse if I try to step in.

She snorted.

“Well I can’t argue with that.” She said. “Not many go with the air path. Manamana was terribly surprised. He doesn’t usually bother patrolling unless he’s hungry, lazy git.”

“So we just got lucky that he didn’t show up for a few hours?” I said, my heart sinking.

“No, we attacked from the angle where the guardian could afford to be a lazy git.” Sandara said, finally catching up. “So, do you really not have anything better to do than watch fools risk their lives?”

“It’s more interesting than another round of cards.” Laharra said. “Everyone here knows how everyone else cheats, so we all have to play more or less honestly. What’s the fun in that?”

“You could do it drunk?” Sandara suggested.

“Yeah, but then Benbo wins every hand.” Laharra explained. “He had to stop drinking a few years back. Every time he grows back a new liver, it gave out faster. Eventually he took the hint.”

“Captain Benbo is here?” Sandara said with mild surprise. “I thought he went missing?”

“Yeah, and he prefers people keep thinking that.” Laharra said. “Especially the lads he still owes money.”

“I can respect that.” I said.

We walked and talked until we reached a massive blocky stone building surrounded by old homes made from weathered wood and stone, which overlooked several dozen docks. Despite the large number of docks, only the Queen’s March was moored.

“Is that the temple?” Sandara asked, “Bit pokey, isn’t it?”

“Didn’t I hear someone mention that Besmarans have a prohibition on settling on land?” I said, “I can’t imagine the builders had a lot of practice making temples.”

Laharra smiled at that.

“Technically it’s just the antechamber.” She explained, “It’s built over the cave with the real temple; that’s been here long before Taldane folks arrived. Long before.”

She jabbed her cane, which I’d never once seen her support her weight with, at Sandara.

Taldane is the older empire Cheliax was part of. Like… Rome or something. Wait. Oh, she probably just means white people.

There were maybe thirty people in the whole settlement, and most of them were elderly. I saw at least one wrinkled old chelish man, probably around 80, walk past us towards the sea carrying a surfboard and wearing nothing but sandals. Nobody paid him any mind.

The only young looking person I saw relaxing was an elf playing some variant of hog lob with a pair of octogenarians. Then again, she had visible crows feet as an elf, so she might predate the island chain itself. Everyone else who looked below sixty was running around, cooking, cleaning, repairing an old shack, or otherwise visibly being staff at what I was rapidly recognizing as a retirement home.

Laharra insisted we take our boots off before we entered the temple. The interior was a black void compared to the bright sun outside, and very sparse. There were only two sources of light; the crack under the door Laharra immediately closed behind us, and a shimmering pink glow at the far end of the chamber.

The walls were lined with doors, but I could only see them at the edge of my darkvision. The effect for someone darkblind would probably be very disorienting. An endless void with only two points of reference.

“You stay here, M’Dair.” Laharra said, “You took the Voyage, so you’re allowed this far. Just wait, we will be back before long. Come along, Quinn. Let’s see which of these pearls was made for you.”

••••••••••

Syl’s team stayed low, peeking down as the crew of the Hippocampus managed wave after wave of Karkinoi. They were professionals, and the enemy was sporadic, so it didn’t seem likely that the two groups would wipe one another out. A shame. That would have been convenient.

At the same time, Syl felt a pang of distant sympathy for whichever officer was left in command of the Hippocampus. He was managing a siege for an entirely indeterminate amount of time, with likely little or no idea when his captain would be returning. He probably thought it was soon, but he’d slowly be forced to wonder if she would be coming back at all.

It wasn’t a pleasant line of logic, and Syl knew it well.

She tried stroking Sosima’s hair. Mother had done that when Syl was young. It didn’t ever make Syl feel better, but Syl was perfectly aware that she was strange. That didn’t last long. For one thing, her fingers got stuck in Sosima’s long, strangely blood-free hair. For another, the Chelish woman gently took her by the wrist and pushed the hand away once she was ready to straighten her back.

Sosima tore off one of the cleaner shirts from one of the elves and cleaned her face and hands. The shirt was clean because the corpse’s upper body was basically pristine. The femoral artery had been severed by what Syl suspected to be tearing jaws. Efficient; the blood flowed downward out of the stump of the leg, leaving the upper body drained of blood. Syl noted the strategy for later. Any artery was potentially lethal, but aiming lower might have faster results.

“So… what do we do now?” Conchobar asked. “I’m glad Sosima is safe, but we’re trapped here.”

Syl glanced over at the small clean patch of the arch’s peak where the gnome and two Tengu had tacitly decided to huddle together. Sosima had tightened her jaw when she noticed, and made no attempt to engage with anyone but Syl.

Was that shame at what she did? Anger they are staying away from her? Or is it just that they are her lessers?

“We wait. We are in a very defensible position, and haven’t finished one of our main objectives.” Syl said. “Mariana got the engine back to the Enterprise, and she knows where we are. So does Dierdre. So does Shishe. Once they are able, at least one of them will come back. Any one of them can establish a line of communication to Emrys, and we work from there.”

Sosima let out a faint snort.

“The most important job, with the most resources invested, and I’ve managed to bungle it.” She said, “Thank you. I’m very lucky you decided to come along for your robbery.”

Syl looked at Sosima with confusion. That didn’t make sense.

“Did something happen to the corpse?” She asked, concerned.

“Hmm?” Sosima said, “No, we never really touched it. Why?”

“Then you didn’t fail.” Syl said. “Hopefully Shishe and Deirdre are alright, but even if something happened to them Shishe is the only one who would actually be killed by such an ordeal, if I recall correctly. Unless her goddess fixes her, I suppose. That sounds like something a god could do.”

Sosima snorted.

“You have a very narrow definition of failure.” She said. “I wouldn’t be given near this gentle a reception in the Navy.”

“Yes, well. You managed the unexpected threat adequately.” Syl said. “You weren’t in any danger when we arrived. You’d have been in essentially the same situation we are all in now.”

Sosima stared at Syl silently for about five seconds before looking out at the water. Nearly two seconds longer than Syl had been told was the point most found prolonged eye contact uncomfortable. She usually broke before the two second mark, because her white eyes could unsettle people. It was strange for someone as socially apt as Sosima to break such an easy rule.

“I am very glad that you arrived when you did.” Sosima said, her voice very gentle. “I’m much safer with you here.”

••••••••••

The girls all stared at Rowe in abject terror. Naomi felt irrationally irritated at them. It seemed patently obvious to her that they were in no real danger. If Rowe actually wanted anyone dead they’d be dead, and the building would probably be on fire.

Sorry, but that’s me, Dame.

Making me irritated?

No, keeping you from panicking. Not as bad as they are, but I’m lending you a bit more than knowledge right now. Just don’t forget what it’s like to be a scared civilian. They’ll always need someone to keep them calm.

Naomi took a deep breath and looked through the group. Perhaps it was because of her stone flesh, but Tuya seemed calmer than most. Her white hands were folded tightly together.

“Tuya.” Naomi called. “Come over here.”

“Don’t tell her anything!” Rawna growled. “You two! Get out of my establishment.”

Naomi looked at Rawna with cold disdain, and the woman stopped talking. She turned back to Rawna, and quietly placed another touch of truth on Rawna.

“You can feel it, yes?” Naomi said quietly. “You can sense what it does? Milo says that the magic is obvious if someone knows what they are looking for.”

“I…” Tuya started to speak, but the words didn’t come out initially. “I can not lie. May I leave?”

Hekla drew her sap and started to stalk towards Naomi. Cog, arms still bound, stood and looked at Hekla calmly while he interposed himself between her and Naomi. He didn’t raise his arm. He just silently made it clear that there was a line she could not cross.

“Do you think that being touched like this would convince the other girls?” Naomi asked, “I swear, I just want to get the truth out.”

“It… should.” Tuya said quietly. “I… don’t want it to be true. What you’re saying about Silk.”

Naomi blinked.

“What, you’d rather she have really been raped?” Naomi asked.

A strangled negative failed to escape Tuya’s mouth. A few of the other girls were starting to notice the conversation happening. The rest were mostly staring at Rowe or the standoff between Cog and Hekla.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to her, and I don’t want her to have lied!” She wailed. “I want to trust her! She’s my- ! She’s always- ! Rawna trusts her! We are supposed to be a family!”

She’s my friend, she’s always looked out for me. That’s what you wanted to say, but you couldn’t.

“I’m sorry.” Naomi said. “This whole thing is awful, but I’m not going to let her lie about my friend.”

“He… he was nice to me.” Tuya said. “Even if I didn’t want to talk about all the things he wanted to hear. I don’t want him to have done something bad either. Can’t there have been some kind of misunderstanding?”

Naomi frowned.

“Do you really think that’s likely?” She said. “Would it be out of character for her to lie about something like this if she had something to gain?”

“Of… Damnation!” Tuya said, spitting the curse when the magic clamped down another attempt at self deception. “No, no she is exactly the kind of person who would lie like this.”

Silk looked at Tuya as if she’d been slapped. Rawna narrowed her eyes, then looked between Silk, Tuya, and the other girls, who looked on average a lot less sure of themselves. Rawna abruptly pushed Silk away and slapped her, the sound ringing through the room.

“How dare you!” Rawna roared. “You could have gotten us all killed! If these people had been even slightly more vengeful, they would have never stopped at a trial! They’d have torn you apart! They’d have torn us all apart! You know what pirates are like!”

“But you told me-“ Silk murmured in utter confusion.

“OUT!” Rawna screamed, drowning out the confused half drow’s words. “GET OUT OF HERE! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU DARKEN MY DOOR AGAIN! I HOPE YOU ROT! I HOPE YOU DIE BROKEN ON SOME SHORE, THE SAME FATE YOU COURTED FOR ALL THESE POOR GIRLS!”

Silk tried a few more times to speak, but Naomi could only make out part of what she was attempting to say with Milo’s help. Rawna couldn’t afford to let the girls hear that she’d been the mastermind, not from a mouth that could only speak truth. Silk eventually scrambled away, rushing out the front door in tears.

Naomi turned towards Rawna, eyes blazing, Milo’s power thrumming beneath her skin. It was as if the power wanted to be used, wanted to reveal the slime covering this woman’s tongue.

Don’t, Dame. She’s ready for it. You hit her now, and you’re giving her a weapon.

Rawna met Naomi’s eyes, and she realized Milo was right. The Madame didn’t have a trace of fear in her gaze.

I’d give her credibility. She probably already has an idea. Something half true she can say when she “can’t lie.”

“I hope there won’t be any similar fiascos in the future.” Naomi said, “I’d hate for things to deteriorate.”

“Of course not.” Rawna said. “Silk is gone. The problem is dealt with.”

Naomi didn’t dignify that with an answer. She unbound Cog’s wrists, and headed for the front door. Milo might help her track Silk, wherever she’d gone. It was only when she was outside in the rain that Naomi processed that Hekla was trailing after her like a lost puppy.

Naomi’s gun was covered, but if she drew it in this rain it would probably only last one or two shots before the powder was soaked. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the big hobgoblin woman.

“What do you want?” Naomi asked.

“Silk is out here.” Hekla said. “It’s dangerous alone. I don’t know where she went. I thought you might. You seem to know things.”

The woman spoke in a rumbling, not terribly feminine voice. She shrugged awkwardly, as if to ask why they were standing in the rain.

Naomi nodded quietly, and looked up and down the street. The world grew distant as she allowed Milo greater control of her mind. He saw what she did not know to see, what she would never note as important. For a moment, it felt as if she were in the place she always felt him watching her from.

Then abruptly she was back to herself, though her feet were already carrying her down the street. Her hands reached into her pocket to pull out a cigar, which she put back before she could get it soaked with rainwater.

Alright, Dame. That’s as much as is safe for now. I’m gonna need you to ask the hob a few questions. I might have enough to go off of.