[Danny]

i just wrote an explanation of the Killer, but then i realised that it contained more beans than i intended to spill at this point... suffice to say, yes, it was a crate of mirrors.

i will post that explanation after chapter 17, when it wouldn't be revealing anything that hasn't been posted yet.

CHAPTER 13

Quiss was the only one there when we reached our crate, and he was asleep. After a short discussion, Yan and me decided to wake him up, and introduce him to Olek, so that he wasn’t afraid when he awoke. He wasn’t easy to wake up. We shook him gently, and eventually he awoke. We kept Olek out of his sight at first.

“Quiss?”

He was sleepy. “What…?”

“We have a new friend here, Quiss…” I waved to Yan to bring Olek into Quiss’s field of vision. Quiss’s reaction was violent, and I later blamed myself for not anticipating it. Quiss threw himself backwards, scrabbling at the crate walls in an attempt to escape. I saw this as further evidence that Quiss had been badly mistreated when he was a slave. For him to have this reaction just by seeing a glukkon, it must have been very bad.

“No, Quiss, it’s okay, he’s a friend, Quiss.” Yan was starting to comfort Quiss, and I followed his lead. “He’s not here to take you back, or to punish you… He’s one of us, Quiss.”

Quiss was pulling away from us, hyperventilating. Olek attempted to help us to comfort him, but of course it only made things worse. I asked Olek to leave us for a while. He seemed a little put out, but understood, and stepped outside.

It took us a long time to calm Quiss, and send him back to sleep. When we did, I asked Yan to keep an eye on him while I stepped outside. I saw Olek sitting asleep, leaning against our crate.

“May I ask who our guest is?”

I turned, to see Vint approaching from the Stern of the ship, carrying an armful of blankets. He dropped the blankets and crouched beside Olek.

“His name’s Olek. He’s a drifter, like us, who’s been stowing away closer to the Bows.”

Vint looked him over. “Any more new arrivals?”

I shook my head. “No, his friends were all killed. He was the only one to make it in here.”

Vint met my eyes. “Ulp isn’t going to be happy with this.”

“It’s not up to him. Where is he, anyway?”

“Rixx went off to explore, and Ulp followed him to make sure he wasn’t turning us in to the crew.”

I sat down, and avoided Vint’s eyes. “That reminds me. Something else happened, while I was taking Yan to see Olek.”

“What?”

“A couple of crewmembers passed us on the overhead walkways. They shot at us, but missed.”

“They knew you were there?” Vint looked concerned.

“I think they were half-expecting us. Stowaways must be a regular problem for them. I don’t think they’re going to do anything about it, though.”

“Why not?”

I picked up a morsel of food from the floor. “It isn’t their problem. They said we’ll be caught when they unload the cargo. That brings me onto something I need to ask you, Vint.”

“What?”

I swallowed a mouthful of something sugary. “Where are we going?”

Vint froze. “I’m not sure.”

“You put us on this boat, and you have no idea where it’s going?” I couldn’t quite believe it, even though I’d half-expected it.

“Anywhere would be better than Cyrcit!”

“Not necessarily. I think I can make a few guesses.”

“Like?”

I brushed the food crumbs from my hands, and held up a finger. “One: Big Cargo Hold. I think we could assume from this that we are heading somewhere far away.”

“Why?”

“If it was somewhere close, they could have a regular freight route. The fact that they need to carry a lot of cargo suggests that the trips aren’t very regular.” I held up a second finger, and some salted meat in the other hand. “Two: Food Supplies. This suggests that we are going somewhere where there isn’t that much food. Between these two facts, I’d guess that we were heading for a frontier: a Military outpost. Probably not even on Mudos. Maybe Pardos or Samdos. That would explain the crates of weapons.”

There was a pause while he took this in. “We don’t want to go there, then, do we?”

“Well, there is a hope.”

“What?”

“The crewmembers mentioned two places that the boat will be calling: Carthag and Verkat. I think they referred to Verkat as the final destination, as they said that the people there would be receiving the cargo. Have you heard of either of those places?”

Vint shook his head.

“I’d guess that this ‘Verkat’ is the Military Outpost that we’re heading for. That would explain the food supplies. Cyrcit is quite far away from any frontiers, so this’ll be a long journey. The crew will need relieving at some point, so the ship will probably dock somewhere else to switch them, or at least to top up their food supplies, at ‘Carthag’, maybe? We’ll have to leave the ship then.”

Vint seemed thoughtful.

“What we need,” he said, “is a journey plan.”

“Where do we get that from?”

Vint said nothing, but looked over my shoulder at the bow of the ship.

“The Command Deck?” I was quite worried at the idea. “That’s where the crew are.”

“It’s the only place we’re going to be able to find out where we are.”

I nodded, reluctantly. “Should we all go?”

Vint frowned. “I’m not sure. You and me, definitely. And maybe Ulp. The others should probably stay here.”

“Will Ulp cooperate? I mean, we’ve already taken a slig on board, against his wishes. He won’t be happy now, as you said yourself.”

“He’d better cooperate.”

CHAPTER 14

We were right. Ulp wasn’t happy.

“First a slig, now a fucking Glukk! Do you want to be turned in or what?”

Yan sighed. “Ulp, just look at him. He’s dressed in rags. If he went to the crew dressed like that, do you really think they’d listen to what he had to say? He’s a Drifter. They’d chuck him overboard.”

“Oh yeah, right, great disguise. Obviously they’d know who it was, so it could spy on us and find stowaways.”

I stood up. “He was unconscious when we found him. He’s not well, and in no condition to spy on anyone.”

All seven of us were together now. Quiss was still asleep, and we’d put him with his back to Olek, so Olek would have time to get out if Quiss awoke. Vint wasn’t taking part in the argument, and neither, surprisingly, were Rixx and Olek.

“Ulven, can’t you see? It isn’t really ill! Glukkons are cunning; they know how to fool us! It was only pretending to be unconscious when you found it, as well.”

Yan stepped right up to Ulp. “For fuck’s sake, Ulp, can’t you hear how stupid you sound? You sound like some paranoid freak!”

Ulp loomed over Yan’s small frame, and seemed to be steeling for a fight, when Vint stood up.

“Ulp, we’ve taken Olek on board, whether you like it or not. Now, Ulven and me are going up to the Command Decks to find a map of the ship’s route. We think it’d be best if you came along.”

Ulp turned to Vint in disbelief. “You’re going to leave Yan on his own to keep an eye on those two? They’ll stab him in the back first chance they get!”

“Ulp, are you coming or not?”

“No, I can’t abandon Yan to these bastards.”

Yan sighed. “Ulp, I’ll be fine. You go along.”

I nodded to Vint. “Come on, forget Ulp. We’ll be fine on our own.” I was trying to use reverse psychology on Ulp, but it had the same effect as dropping a match in the sea. “We’ll have to get tortured and killed without him.”

Vint looked like he was about to argue, but changed his mind. “Yan, do you have those rifles we stole from those guards?”

Yan looked confused, then remembered. He reached into his pack and pulled out two sleek black rifles. One of them still had its handle coated in Quiss’s blood. He handed one to each of us. I was relieved not to get the one with the blood on.

“Okay, we should be back later today. If we aren’t back, there isn’t much you can do about it, but don’t come looking for us, okay?”

The others nodded, Yan looking slightly apprehensive. “Be careful.”

I nodded. “We will.” And we walked out, and set off towards to Bows.