Steph Swainston - No Present Like Time

“Curfew? There’s a curfew? Why?”

“Because of an Insect that’s loose. It’s killed eighty people so far. The Senate and Gio have divided the town into sectors and they’re searching systematically, even sewers and attics, but they can’t find it. One Insect is causing more trouble than all the swarms of Lowespass. See those posters over there? They warn people to stay indoors.” He nodded toward some sheets of paper pasted on a board at the end of the library. “They carry a picture of the latest victim. But the fact that Capharnai have discovered The Joy Of Insects isn’t the only reason for the curfew. Thieves are roaming the streets. Gangs.”

“Gio’s men are desperadoes,” I agreed.

Cinna belched quietly and chuckled. “Not us. Them. The citizens.”

“But Tris had no crime six months ago.”

Across the square the rabble’s voices rose in a raucous cheer and Cinna took advantage of the noise to say, “It’s your fault!”

“Sh!”

“Mist Ata bought up all the spices, didn’t she? Now they’ve nothing to preserve food. So a lot of the Capharnai’s stores have gone rotten, it’s winter soon and some food supplies are running low. Prices are steep-The Price Of Spice is like scolopendium, Messenger. The Senate has unconditionally banned trade with the Fourlands and they’re endeavoring to ration everything except bread and fish. Well, all I know is they’re muttering because Gio’s nine hundred men have to eat and they’ve no choice but to feed us. Those drunks you saw Being Moved On have made themselves a nuisance here all day.”

“I didn’t know Capharnaum had drunks.”

“It does now. Those men were the merchants Mist paid. I know, because they hassled me for rum as we were rolling the kegs up here. I don’t know how I’m supposed to look like a pusher or a captain if I have to sleep in the outdoors…”

“Keep to the point.”

“Well, Mist gave them so many riches they don’t have to work anymore. Their money is time, and she gave them years of time so now they’re idle. I hope she profited from those peppercorns and pickles, the Entrepreneur Of Misrule, like myself.” He rubbed his plump hands together. “They’re not used to rum but they’ve found a taste for it. They drink it like wine. Because they’re armed, they’re Creating Trouble. It just goes to show that the only Truly International Language is drugs.”

I began to understand. I prompted, “They’re armed? They’ll be armed with the swords and halberds we sold them?”

Cinna nodded. “Yes, I think so. I was told that the Senate tried to buy up all the weapons from the townspeople to give to their patrols but they clearly didn’t get them all because I hear there were armed robberies-at storehouses and the market. Also, young men keep soliciting to buy swords from us. It seems they’ve become quite a status symbol. Capharnai have never seen quality steel before; it’s worth its weight in gold. And of course men have to protect themselves from the Insect.”

“Shit.”

“The Senate is discussing imposing taxes to pay the patrols.” Cinna appraised the Wheel brooch on my patched coat. “Gio is waiting for you and Serein. Gio wondered if Stormy Petrel had gone down in the storm. Of course, he reckoned without Mist’s marvelous seamanship. He was thinking about his next move. He told Senator Vendace that we would leave Capharnaum, but he doesn’t really mean to. He’s safe here; the Senate is In His Pocket.”

Cinna put a special emphasis on Gio’s name. He was obviously firmly under the fencing master’s influence. Nine hundred men following Gio, I thought. They outnumber us more than three to one. Still, that’s better odds than against the Insects. “If I have to stain my hands with blood, I must admit this rabble is less daunting than the swarms.”

Cinna gaped. “You think it’s just Gio? No, Comet. God, sometimes I believe all you have to do to be immortal is out-arrogance each other.”

“Spit it out.”

“Gio has won over the Senate and he’s prepared to lead all Capharnaum against you when you land.” He went on, “Everyone here hates you, and Gio has been planning. When Petrel sails into harbor she’ll be surrounded, you’ll be seized. There are twenty thousand people in this town.

“Vendace was wary because of the disastrous effects of your visit. But Gio’s rhetoric quite convinced him. You should’ve tried making long speeches in the Senate.” Cinna smirked. “Gio’s here for the same reasons and on the same terms as the original settlers-to leave the Empire and San. Vendace thought he had found a Kindred Spirit. Gio offered to help hunt the Insect and being desperate they welcomed him with open arms. His interpreters are at home with their old lingo. The Senate didn’t like the look of us tars as much. They’ve been discussing it for three days but they haven’t made a decision yet.”

I wished for another stint in the Senate. If Gio can sway their opinion simply by talking to them, I thought how much better I could be when it was my turn. Gio may have had two weeks to work on their hearts and minds, but I’d love a verbal battle with him.

Cinna sniggered. “They are so naïve. Myself and three colleagues could control this town in a year without drawing a sword or promising immortality-Ulp!” I pressed my ice pick to his throat. He gulped: I expected his eyes to pop in like a frog’s. I couldn’t bear the thought that he could turn Capharnaum into a slum worse than East Bank Hacilith. I hissed, “You bastard, if you ever bring drugs to Tris, if you even think of peddling here, I swear I’ll kill you. If you hide your tracks I’ll trace them, because I know every link in a larger world than you could ever comprehend. You’ll beg to be sent to the Front. You will beg for the wheel. I will have you keelhauled from bow to stern of the Petrel -”

“No!”

“You could do with losing some weight. The same goes for if you tell Gio I’ve been here.”

Cinna wiggled his shoulders, trying to pull away from the pick dimpling his neck. “Please, Comet. I’m a businessman and San’s humble servant. I shall always give a truthful account and say nothing to Gio. In the meantime I’ve arranged to stay on board Pavonine …It’s the safest place to be.”

“Coward,” I mouthed. I licked salt off my lips.

“Look at you grin. You’re enjoying this! Mad Eszai. If Petrel lands, Gio will kill you. If you turn tail and run home, you’ll starve on the journey. I wonder what San will think when his Circle breaks for Four Immortals At Once? Bet that’d give him a headache.”

I prodded him with the axe. “Where’s Gio now? Does he stay on Pavonine ?”

Cinna shook his head; the blond hairs on his chin wagged. He pointed up, across the mosaic, to a concertina-shuttered lit window above the Senate House. “See the end room? Right on the corner past the last column? That’s the bedroom of the apartment that Vendace gave him. All the senators have rooms up there. It’s very plush,” he added, with a quiet admiration of Gio’s achievement. “Now tell me, Messenger, isn’t that a useful piece of information?”

“It certainly is.”

Cinna glanced at the firelight and the rebels singing drunkenly. He pressed a note into my hand. “Please let me go. I respect Mist. I’d like to help her, the little I can. It’s tough to find a way through the surf. I wrote down the details of our approach to the beacon and the position and condition of Pavonine. Please give it to her.”

Midnight on the open sea. The attendant hush of an imminent downpour. I flew circuits over the correct position but couldn’t sight Stormy Petrel through the rain clouds. A weak glow backlit them; I homed in on it and descended. Mist had festooned every surface, cable and yard with lanterns showing me where to land. Petrel ’s lights blazed on a yellow ring of water in the impenetrable night. She looked like a party yacht, but she yawed and rolled madly.