The Darkness at the Edge of Noon: a Thalassia novel Read online

  After she was gone Grady stood and stared at the spot where she had vanished for a long long time. Now they were back to ten.

  “Now, let me see if I have this straight.” Padraig Hansen sat by the fire, his long legs stretched out. “We are supposed to sneak to this island, in the middle of a lake in the far north, in the middle of winter, during this Festival of Blood, to try and brainwash fifteen thousand insane Zzzkntti warriors.” He ticked off each point in the air with the long stem of his pipe, leaving a faint trail of aromatic blue smoke. “We are supposed to do this by setting up a magical device that will play music across the entire island.” He took a deep puff on his pipe. “And we do this all with a system that we are unfamiliar with, in an area that is unknown to us, surrounded by vastly superior hostile forces.” He took the pipe out of his mouth and gave Logan a flat look. “What could possibly go wrong?”

  Megan was frowning. “If this island is in the lake, and it’s winter, why isn’t the lake frozen?”

  “Rhiannon told me that there are hot springs under the lake, just enough to keep it from freezing in winter.” Logan replied. “It’s a pain because we’ll have to figure a way to get across, but it will be a benefit too, because warmer water and colder air cause fog, which we can use as cover.”

  “But why can’t you just use your door in shadow to get us there?” Grady’s brow was furrowed in thought. It was the first time he’d said anything since Tiana had left, four days back.

  “For the same reason I couldn’t get us home from that crazy swampy world where we found Rhiannon. I need to know where I am and where I’m going. That’s also why Rhiannon can’t just drop us on the island in the dead of night.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” The big man mumbled.

  “It’s also why we don’t have to carry pounds of extra gear with us. Once we get there, I can open a door and Rhiannon can pass through all the sound gear. We set it up, turn it on, get it started, whatever, and then we leave. Simple.” Logan gave them all a wide eyed, innocent look.

  “Why carry anything at all, except water and weapons, and maybe dry clothes?” Padraig had a sly grin on his face. “All we need to do is to reach a camp, and ask for our tents and food to be delivered. In the morning we roll everything up, and send it back to Medin. Why complicate things?”

  Logan sat frozen, his jaw hanging open. “I hadn’t thought of that...” He gave a small apologetic laugh. “I’ll take care of THAT as soon as we’re finished here.”

  The tall second-in-command gave his long clay pipe a sad look before he put it away. He had just smoked the last of his tabac.

  Logan handed the man his own small leather tabac pouch. “Here, have some of mine.” He looked at Padraig seriously. “You smoke too much, Padraig. It’s bad for your health.”

  The two men looked at each other, stone faced, for a minute, before they both burst out laughing.

  “Oh, that was rich!” Hansen was wiping the tears from his eyes. “Bad for my health, as he leads us to our dooms.” He filled his pipe and handed the bag back to Logan.

  “No, you keep it. I bit through the stem of my pipe last night during our meeting with Tk’Lat.”

  “Ahhh.” Padraig grinned. “Are we a little tense, maybe?”

  Logan raised an eyebrow in mock astonishment. “No, why?”

  The men were still chuckling when Tanden Barr set his full pack down beside theirs. “Where to now, sir?”

  “Back to the docks just outside the castle walls to hire a boat. We will go up the River Slidr as far as we can. If we can make it as far as the major north range we’ll be good. The rest is, unfortunately, by foot. Probably another three hundred leagues.” Someone in the camp groaned. “We’ve all walked before. We’ll all walk again.” His expression was flat. “Now, take out just the things you will need today; water, weapons, a change of clothes and maybe a snack for the trip. The rest we’ll send back to Medin. Rhiannon can deliver our things when we make camp tonight.”

  Tanden looked at him and growled. “Why didn’t ye say sumpthin sooner?”

  “Did it hurt you?” Then the packs were heavy, Logan gathered.

  Barr frowned. “Naw, but tell us next time, befer we drag our kits halfway through perditions fires.”

  “It’s a deal.” He hefted his much lighter pack over his shoulder. “If you’re all ready? Rhiannon, if you would please, hold onto our things until tonight.” The pile of gear sparkled and vanished. “Grady, douse that fire and let’s be on our way.”

  Logan stood in the stern and watched the gulls fight over the sorry scraps the cook had just thrown over the low stern of the Darter. Built similar to a war boat, the Darter was long and lean, just a bit shorter than her seagoing brethren with a shallower draft to navigate the treacherous waterways. The captain of the boat was a skinny taciturn man, who spoke seldom. Currently he was staring at the filled sails with a sour look on his long weather-beaten face.

  “Something wrong, Captain?” Logan kept his tone neutral.

  “Nah. Just er opposite. Winds blow down from the north in the winter, from the south in the summer. This south wind is unnatural, she be.”

  “The gods must favor us, Captain. We will be at our destination ahead of schedule.”

  “Mebby.” The man growled. “Mebby not. Don’t trust no gods.”

  “Oh I do.” Logan chuckled. “At least one.”

  Sucking his gums, the man just stared upriver and ignored Logan’s comment. The air had a chill brittle smell, and low heavy clouds far astern promised foul weather to come. “Day, mebby two to Crabtree Island. She’s in the middle of this here river, so’s we should be safe enough.” He shot a quick glance at the clouds far behind them. “We’ll ride out the storm there. There’s shelter, of a sort.” Logan frowned at the “...of a sort” comment. He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this.

  The grizzled boat captain was literally biting his fingernails by the time Crabtree Island appeared before them. Behind them the storm clouds boiled, and Logan could make out flashes of lightning. Even his Marines were helping with the sweeps now, desperately trying to increase the speed of the sails.

  “Are we going to make it in time, Captain?” Logan was trying to keep the nervous tone out of his voice.

  The lean man glanced astern. “Barely. There be a rickety old pier there, so after we tie off I’ll have me lads unstep our mast, lay er flat and spread a tarp over the boat so’s she won’t git filled wi water. Yer people can move the gear and supplies into the houses.”

  “Houses?” There was surprise in Logan’s voice.

  “Well,” The seaman rubbed his stubbled chin. “Houses of a sort. They’s got four walls and a roof. They be a bit rundown. If yer lucky the fireplace will still work. It’ll be a cold wait if’n she don’t.”

  “I can imagine.” Logan replied.

  Light was fading, and the temperature was dropping quickly. The first few tentative drops of rain had just landed when the small boat finally tied up at Crabtree Island. Rickety and rundown didn’t begin to describe the sorry conditions of the dock and shelters the men found. Little more than walled lean-tos, the shelters were square, low and had a sturdy door but no windows. Crude flat pallets for sleeping lined one wall, and a sturdy, well scarred table sat in the center, flanked by two low benches. Logan had his men chose the most spacious shelter, with a fireplace of course, for them. The seamen had already picked another. The food they divided equally. The dock was so bad that Logan wondered if they would find both it and their transportation carried away in the storm.

  Tanden Barr brushed by him, and on into the shelter with another large armful of wood. “That’ll be about it, Logan. Grady’s bringing the last of it. We should be good for a couple of days anyway.” The big man dropped the wood in a corner and glanced out the door. “It’s a good thing, too; it’s beginning to spit sleet out there.”

  Grady barged in with a huge armful of wood. “That’s the lot.” He grinned. “Don’t know what them sailor felle
rs will burn. I think we got everything there was not tied down.” A rattling of sleet bounced off the roof, sounding like a handful of pebbles thrown on a wood floor.

  “I suspect that the sailors already had wood stashed in their shelter, that’s why they chose it so quickly. Shut and bar the door, Grady. We’re in for the night.”

  The storm struck with sudden, unrelenting fury. The little shelter shuddered and shook, and about midnight he guessed, Logan had Padraig put a second brace on the door. All the members of the squad huddled in their hard pallets, blankets drawn up tight to chins, waiting for nature’s wrath to abate.

  Logan assumed that it was morning. The fire had burned down, and almost everyone was still asleep, or at least pretending to be. He sighed, and saw his breath. Wrapping a blanket around his shoulders, he got up and moved quietly to the fire, poking it back to life before he fed a few more small branches to it. It flamed up and he stood there for a moment, savoring the warmth.

  “I was hoping that someone else would do that.” Her voice was low and muffled, probably because she had her blanket wrapped up to her nose. It was Maeve.

  “Good morning.” Logan replied quietly, putting their dented tea pot on a hanger over the fire. “Tea?”

  “Is it hot?” Logan could have sworn that her teeth were chattering.

  “It will be.”

  “Good!” She swung her legs out of her palette and onto the floor. “I’m freezing.”

  “It is a bit chilly.” He added some tea to the pot. “I’ll check outside.”

  “Do you have to?” Maeve pulled her long legs back up under her blanket.

  He gave her a wry smile. “The facilities in this lodge are a little crude. I didn’t see any bathrooms, did you?”

  “Oh...” He saw the puff of steam from her breath. “If you have to.” She pulled the blanket over her head.

  Logan quietly removed the two braces and slowly opened the door. “Well. Will you look at that?”

  “Hmmm?” Maeve wiggled out of bed and padded across the floor to him, blanket still wrapped tightly around her. Her blue eyes widened. “Is that ice?” From the top to the bottom, the door frame was covered with a thick translucent sheet of ice. Through it, they could see that it was still black outside. “How?”

  Logan touched the ice with a finger. “Freezing rain. It froze to the door last night, and the heat of the fire freed it from the door, but left it attached to the frame.” He touched it again, gently. “A doorway of ice.” There was awe in his voice.

  “Should we wake the others and show them too?” She reached out a slim finger and touched the icy surface.

  Logan shut the door softly. “No, I think this will be our own little secret.” He caught her eye and smiled. “What do you think?”

  She gave him a shy smile. “I think I’d like that. We can add it to our other little secret.”

  They were still sipping their tea when the others made grumbling noises and crawled out of their palettes.

  “Gotta go.” Grady stumbled toward the hard-to-see door. He had just touched the door handle, when there was a faint tinkling on the other side. “What?” He jerked the door open, and glared out into the darkness. There was a small pile of ice shards at his feet. “Icy.” He stuck his head out. “And it’s snowing.” He wrapped the blanket tighter about himself and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. Logan and Maeve exchanged a long glance. It was still their secret.

  The stormy day passed slowly. They broke their fast, and then a while later had lunch. Everyone napped or cleaned and sharpened their weapons. It was mid-afternoon, he guessed, and Logan was cleaning his own sword when Rhiannon spoke to him.

 

  He looked up in surprise.

 

 

 

  He stood up and turned to face the others.

  “Something has come up. I have to go speak with Rhiannon.”

  “Is there a problem?” Padraig set down the cards he had been dealing on the table.

  “I really don’t know.” Logan glanced at Maeve, but she was just a blanketed form on her pallet. “I don’t know. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He touched his hand to the medallion.

  He was standing in the conference room, and Rhiannon and Selene were both facing him. Their eyes were inscrutable. His throat was suddenly dry. “What can I do for you, ladies?”

  “We made a mistake.” Rhiannon looked nervous. “Selene and I remembered that none of you have the slightest knowledge of how to use the music player.” Logan let out a breath in relief as she reached behind her and picked something up; actually, several somethings. The first was a small crystal cube, indigo blue, about an inch on a side. The second was a larger black cube, about a foot on a side, with a small square depression in the top. The last item was a small, foot high, flat bottomed rock. “This is the player.” She said simply, touching the black cube. She picked up the small square crystal. “This is the Mozart data crystal.” She gave Logan a level look. “There is only one, so treat it gently.” She set it in the square depression atop the black cube. It sank in about half an inch and stopped. “Play. Low volume.” She said quietly. Low rich music filled the room.

  Logan frowned and picked up the rock. The music seemed to be coming from it, but it was, to all appearances, a regular rock. “The music comes out of here?” He looked up at the goddesses.

  “Yes.” Selene answered his question. “This is just a small speaker for small spaces. The units you will be working with are a bit bigger” She held her hand two feet above the conference table.

  “Are they...?”

  “About fifty pounds each.” She answered before he got the question out.

  He looked at the rock. “They’ll be shaped like that, but bigger?”

  “Yes, pretty much.” Selene’s eyes narrowed. “What are you thinking of?”

  “They’re too heavy for women to carry, so maybe you could make up four backpacks for the men. We could put a rock into each pack and still have our hands available if something unforeseen occurs. Then you could deliver the speakers, and we could pick them up and position them where we need them.”

  The two goddesses looked at each other, then both turned back to Logan. “We can do that. It’s a good idea.” Selene stepped closer and her eyes narrowed. “Another thing. Do your best to not let anything happen to Padraig Hansen.” The corners of her lips turned up in a small predatory smile. “I have plans for him.”

  Logan gave her a short bow. “I will do my best, Goddess.”

  She reached out and patted his cheek. “He’s such a good boy.” Laughing she turned to leave.

  Logan never knew how he did it, or even IF he did it. Selene had taken two steps when she whirled suddenly, her left hand rubbing the left side of her derriere.

  “You...” She glared at Logan, who looked back with wide eyed innocence.

  “I didn’t do it” He grinned at the fuming goddess. “It was a good idea, though.”

  “Ohhhhh...” She disappeared in a pop of displaced air.

  “How did you ever?” Rhiannon was having trouble not laughing.

  “Like I told your sister. I didn’t do it. At least I don’t think I did.”

  Nan gave him a speculative look. “Maybe.” She sighed. “Be very careful when you go back, Logan.” She leaned over and kissed him, and he felt her love flow through his veins like a holy fire. There was that taste of strawberry again.

  Sticking the crystal in a pocket, he picked up the black cube and the rock. “Wish me luck.”

  She reached out and touched his cheek, but not in the same way Selene had. “Always, dear one.”

  He blinked, and the rest of the squad jumped.

  “That was quick.” Padraig drawled, putting away his cards. “We thought you’d be
longer.” He gave Logan a knowing smile.

  Logan set the cube, crystal and rock down on the table. “I was given some specific instructions while there, Mister Hansen.” His voice was calm, but his blue eyes were sparkling. “Selene told me specifically to look out for you. She said that she has plans for you. Now you may laugh, if you wish.”

  Grady or Tanden made a rude sound, and one of the women laughed. Padraig Hansen turned red. “Maybe if I just ran...” The tall man looked around with desperate eyes.

  “There is no place that you can run that she can’t find you, Padraig.” He gave the man a pitying look. “None at all.”

  “What’s this?” Max was holding the small crystal cube to his eye. Logan reached out and gently took it out of his hands.

  “This is the one and only copy of the Mozart music that can bring the Zzzkntti back to normal.”

  The boy looked hurt. “I wasn’t going to break it.”

  “I didn’t think you were.” Logan handed it back. “It’s your responsibility now, lad. Take good care of it.”

  Max looked down at the small blue crystal, as if it were the most precious thing in the world, which at that moment, it very well could have been. “What do I do with it?”

  “Set it in the small square hole in the top of the black cube.” The boy complied, with slightly shaking fingers, while the others looked on, mesmerized. “Play, low volume.” Logan said quietly. Beautiful music filled the room, and the other squad members gasped.

  “It’s beautiful.” Megan breathed in.

  Logan took out the crystal and handed it to Max. “Look after this for me.” He murmured, giving the lad a wink.

  “I... I will.” The boy stammered, cradling the small cube to his chest.

  “The sound itself comes out of these things that look like rocks. The ones we will need for the Festival are somewhat bigger.” His glance swung to Bel. “About fifty pounds, to be exact.”

  “What!” The small woman exclaimed excitedly. “There’s no way I can carry fifty pounds.”