The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (22 page)

The impact knocks the breath out of him and
he loses hold of the unconscious girl. Little hands begin reaching
for him and help him to the surface. When he breaks through the
surface, he looks around in a panic and sees another girl having
already rescued the unconscious girl.

“Away from the ship!” he hollers. “We’ve got
to get away before it goes down!”

Bam!!!

An immense explosion sends wood and other
debris through the air. The ship begins to tilt even more
precariously in the water.

“Now!” he yells as they begin kicking and
swimming away from the burning wreckage. From behind them, a groan
and a crack can be heard as the second mast topples over.

They continue swimming away and soon, the
ship upends before sinking completely under the water. Steam and
hissing sounds erupt as the flames meet the water. Then, all is
quiet.

As the second mast falls, the dinghy with six sailors in it begins
moving carefully toward the wreckage. All the while keeping its
distance from the raging inferno.

“There she goes!” one sailor hollers as the
ship upends and sinks below the surface.

The flaming ship produces a massive amount
of steam as its burning carcass enters the sea. When the steam
begins to dissipate, Meliana screams, “There!” The others look to
where she’s pointing and she sees several forms floating in the
water. One of them is waving, trying to gain their attention.

“Is it James?” Miko asks.

“Hard to tell from here,” Illan says. “But I
think so.”

“James!” Dave yells from his position by the
rail. Waving madly, he looks as if he’s about to have a fit from
jubilation.

The dinghy makes its way through the flotsam
scattered about the surface of the water as it continuous to head
for the survivors. When they draw close, those still on the ship
watch as they haul them out of the water. After they’re all in the
dinghy, they turn and start returning to the ship.

“It is James!” Meliana exclaims happily. She
turns and gives her father a hug and kiss.

“But what happened?” he says to no one in
particular.

“James happened,” Jiron tells him. When her
father glances at him, he adds, “This is why the Empire wants him
so badly.”

“But you said he had been drugged?” he
asks.

“True,” replies Jiron. “That’s what we were
told.”

“Then, how?” he wonders.

Jiron just shrugs and turns back to watch
the dinghy as it returns to the ship. It suddenly alters course and
begins returning to the wreckage. Two crewmen of the sunken ship
are found hanging onto one of the spars. After they haul them
aboard, they return to the ship.

Meliana rushes to the side where they’ll be
coming abreast and watches as they draw near. Her eyes and James’
lock for a minute and she’s pleased to see a smile break across his
face when he recognizes her. He gives her a wave.

Next to her, Paul waves to the approaching
dinghy and shouts, “Gwynne! Daria!”

The girls see him and begin shouting, “Paul!
Paul!”

When the dinghy comes to rest against the
side of the ship, a rope ladder is let down to them and they begin
climbing up. The girls are the first to come up, Paul gives Gwynne
and Daria each a hug. The other girls know him as well and in turn
give him a hug, several break down and cry.

As James takes his turn in climbing the
ladder, Meliana positions her self to greet him. The others know
what’s between them and allow her to be the first to greet him.
When he finally reaches the top, Dave comes over and nudges her out
of the way as he extends a hand down to him.

“Man, I didn’t think to see you again,” he
says.

Meliana gets a hurt look on her face and her
father’s demeanor turns dark.

“Thanks,” James says to him as he takes his
hand and makes it over the rail.

Dave tries to say something else but Meliana
rushes past him and gives James a hug. Burying her face in his
shoulder, she lets out the pent up fear and frustration she’s felt
ever since learning of his fate.

He pats her on the back and says, “Here now,
I’m okay, there’s no reason to fret.”

“I was just so scared for you,” she
cries.

James looks at the others slightly
embarrassed at this display of emotion in front of everyone, though
he does rather enjoy it. Dave is giving him an odd look and it
doesn’t look like a pleased one.

“What happened?” asks Jiron.

“That’s a long story,” he replies. “Best if
we talk about it later.”

The two rescued crewmen climb aboard and
begin talking to the captain. Meliana’s father goes and joins in
the conversation. After a few words are exchanged, her father says,
“Captain?”

“Yes sir,” the captain of the ship
replies.

He glances at his daughter and as if the
words are painful to say, points to James and says, “Place this man
under arrest.”

“Father!” she cries.

“What?” Illan asks as he rounds on her
father in disbelief.

Nodding to the rescued crewmen, he says, “He
killed the Ambassador and everyone on board except these two
sailors. We must take him to the nearest port in the Empire and
hand him over to the authorities.”

“But they’ll kill him!” Meliana exclaims.
“We can’t!”

“We must!” he shouts at her. He sees the
pain in her eyes, the look of betrayal but he has no choice. “We
are loyal citizens of the Empire.”

James looks at him and then at his friends.
He sighs and says, “I understand.” To his friends he says, “I don’t
want any trouble from you while we’re on this ship.” Locking eyes
briefly with each of them, he says, “Alright?”

Each in turn gives him a nod. Miko looks
outraged and about ready to protest when Illan lays a hand on his
shoulder. Giving in to his wishes, he gives James a nod.

“This way,” Mr. Bessin says.

Disengaging from the crying and on the point
of hysteria Meliana, he follows Mr. Bessin to one of the cabins and
goes inside. The door shuts and he hears a key turn in the lock. At
least this is better than where he had just been.

When James is locked away, they gather
around her father. “You can’t just hand him over to the Empire’s
men,” Dave says. “They’ll kill him.”

“Young man,” her father says, “shut up and
get out of my face before I have you thrown overboard.”

“But…” he begins when Fifer comes and
escorts him away.

Illan starts to say something, when her
father cuts him off and says, “I can’t ruin my house over this.
When we arrive at a port in the Empire, I must hand him over. I’m
sorry.” He then turns and walks away.

“What are we going to do?” Miko asks
him.

“I don’t know,” Illan replies. “We’ll have
to wait until he’s off the ship, then we’ll see.”

Meliana’s father keeps James locked up in
the cabin with only brief respites out to answer the call of nature
and to get some fresh air. It was during one such time when Meliana
comes to him with something in her hands. As she draws close, he
realizes it’s the ceramic dolphin figurine he had shipped to her
during their brief stopover at Maradan when they left
Corillian.

He smiles at her and says, “I see you got
it.”

“Yes,” she replies with a smile. “You can’t
imagine how surprised I was when Miriam came over and gave it to
me. How did you know I liked these?”

“I didn’t,” he admits. “I just liked them
too, and I wanted you to have something to remember me by.”

She comes close to him and he slips his arm
around her. They stand by the rail watching the waves roll by.
“What’s going to happen?” she asks him.

“What do you mean?” he replies.

“My father meant what he said,” she tells
him. “At the next port we visit in the Empire, he will hand you
over to the authorities.”

“I know,” he says. “I harbor him no ill
will, he’s just trying to protect his house…and you.”

She lays her head on his shoulder as they
stand there in silence, simply enjoying each other’s company.

“James,” an annoying voice interrupts this
peaceful scene.

Turning, he sees Dave standing there.
“What?” he asks.

“Can I talk to you?”

Sighing, he says, “Sure.” Then to Meliana,
he asks, “Will you excuse me for a moment?”

“Of course,” she says though in her heart
she wanted to say no.

He and Dave move a little ways from her, the
two sailors who are set to watch him follow. Like her father said,
the guards are more for show. If James wanted to kill them all
there’s little any of them could do about it.

“What?” he asks when they reach a spot of
relative privacy.

“Let’s get out of here,” he says. “I know
you can do it, they’ve told me enough tales about you.”

“I can’t,” James tells him.

“Why?” he asks. Pointing to Meliana he says,
“Is it because of her?”

“Partly,” he admits.

“You and me go way back,” Dave says. “We’ve
been friends a long time.”

Holding up his hand to forestall any further
comments, he says, “I know, Dave. Your friendship has always meant
the most to me. But no matter what, I have to do what I feel is
right. You know that.”

True, throughout his friendship with James,
he’s always known him for doing what he felt was right. No matter
what the consequences were. “Yeah, I know,” he says. “But this
could be your life we’re talking about. Not to mention mine. You’re
all I have in this crazy world.” He looks into James’ eyes a moment
and then says quietly, “I just want to go home.”

“I know you do,” he says. “So do I. But
right now we can’t and are simply going to have to do the best we
can.”

One of the sailors comes up and says, “It’s
time to return to the cabin.”

“Everything will be alright,” he assures his
friend.

“I hope so,” he replies.

Meliana comes and walks with him back to the
cabin and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before they put him
in and lock the door. Once the door is closed, she turns around and
sees her father there looking at her. She gives him a look of
betrayal and then turns around and goes the opposite direction.

Later that afternoon, they make a course
change and land begins to appear on the horizon. Shortly after
that, a major port city comes into view ahead of them.

Illan is standing next to Kendrick,
Meliana’s father. “So,” he says, “you still plan to hand him over
when we dock?”

“Here?” he asks. Shaking his head, he says,
“Not here. That’s Westerlyn, a port city still within the borders
of Cardri. If I were to take him ashore here and he got away, I
wouldn’t very well be able to take him on into the Empire, now
would I?”

Illan’s eyes move to his and they lock for a
moment before he says, “No, you wouldn’t.”

“There’s some trading we will be doing here
before returning to the Empire,” he tells him. “Probably won’t be
staying more than the night. Should have our business concluded by
then.” He then turns and heads to the other side of the ship to
confer with Mr. Bessin.

Illan watches him go and then he turns back
to watch Westerlyn approach.

In the late afternoon, the ship comes to
rest at the dock and Kendrick’s sailors begin transferring cargo.
By the time night falls, the cargo for Westerlyn has been
transferred off and the cargo they are acquiring brought aboard.
Their next stop being far into the Empire, Kendrick allows most of
the crew to go ashore, keeping only two on board to watch James. He
and his daughter leave for the evening to find an inn and have a
good dinner, perhaps listen to a bard.

While the ship was unloading, Illan and the
others took Paul and the girls to find a way back to Cardri. They
eventually came across a caravan going in that direction and
arranged passage for them. Fortunately one of the wagons was only
half full and the merchant was more than willing to have them use
that space, for a price.

Miko and Paul exchange goodbyes, Daria
giving him a hug and a kiss. “Some adventure,” Paul says as they
get loaded onto the caravan.

“Yeah,” Miko replies. “At least it all
worked out well.”

“You coming back to Cardri?” he asks
him.

“Maybe,” Miko tells him. “If I do, I’ll be
sure to look you up.”

“You do that,” he says as he takes his place
in the back of the wagon.

The caravan master calls for the wagons to
begin moving and their wagon starts rolling down the road. Miko
watches for a while as they move away, Paul and the girls waving
goodbye to him. He waves back until they’ve rolled out of
sight.

All afternoon, Illan has been contemplating
the words Kendrick said to him. Not just the words but the tone of
voice. That, along with the fact he sent most of his crew away on
shore leave, seems to indicate he wants them to get James off his
ship.

He mentions his observations to Jiron and he
readily agrees. “He doesn’t want the Empire against him, he lives
there. But at the same time he wishes to please his daughter so is
creating a situation for us to get him off without seeming to. He
won’t be considered at fault and James will be free.”

“That’s how I see it too,” he adds.

They have Fifer take Dave into town to keep
him out of the way while they wait nearby on the docks for
everything to become quiet. The two sailors who survived the
destruction of the Ambassador’s ship have gone into town with
Kendrick’s crew and aren’t expected back until late or maybe not
until the following morning.

Illan, Miko, Jiron and Qyrll wait in the
deepening shadows of the dock as the crew from a neighboring ship
disembarks. Once they’ve passed from the dock area, it grows
quiet.

“Now?” Miko asks.

Illan nods his head and they make their way
through the dark and to the gangplank leading up to the ship’s
deck. The two guards posted outside James’ door sees them come
aboard, one of them breaks into a grin. “Can we help you?” he
asks.