One of the doll-nurses came over to speak with them, her bright and shining face marred by a worried frown. 'We're doing all we can for your friend,' she said in a warm, comforting voice that had probably been programmed into her. 'But you must understand, we're very limited in what we can do. According to our scanners, Mr. Skye is in very bad shape. He was damaged quite severely sometime back, and needs time to heal, time he clearly hasn't been giving himself.'
Finlay scowled. 'How bad was the damage?'
'Quite extensive. Our scanner shows severe trauma to both kidneys, abdominal wall, genitals, and one lung. Not forgetting the extensive head injury.'
Evangeline put a hand to her mouth. The other hand squeezed Finlay's until it ached. Finlay kept his voice calm.
'Will he recover?'
'Given time, and supportive treatment, yes. But we don't have those facilities here. You can speak to him now, if you wish. We've given him a broad spectrum booster shot that will help stabilize him, but there's no telling how long that will last. In the end, there's no substitute for time and rest.'
Finlay nodded his thanks and started forward. The doll put up a hand to stop him. 'One more thing. The tests revealed that Mr. Skye is an esper. He must not use his abilities. One short use on the way here was apparently enough to cause serious damage to the brain tissues. Further use would almost certainly kill him.'
Finlay waited a moment, to make sure she'd finished, then moved forward again, Evangeline at his side. The other nurse doll smiled as they approached the bed and moved away to give them some privacy with the patient. Julian smiled up at Finlay, and then briefly at Evangeline. He was still pale, but color was beginning to come back into his cheeks, and his gaze and his mouth were firm. Finlay didn't smile back.
'You lied to me. You told me the underground medics gave you a clean bill of health.'
Julian's shoulders moved in something that might have been meant as a shrug. 'If I'd told you the truth, you wouldn't have let me come on this mission.'
'What's so important about this mission?' snapped Finlay. 'There would have been other things we could have worked on together.'
'This one was special. Vital to the rebellion. I didn't want to be left behind. I owe you.'
'You don't owe me anything!'
'That's my decision to make, not yours. I thought I was fit enough. Turns out I was wrong. But I'm here now. And I'm feeling a lot better.'
'You're staying right here,' said Finlay. 'In Toystown. They'll look after you till we get back.'
'Nice try. But I can't stay here. When word gets to the bad toys that there's a human in Toystown again, they'll trash this place from one end to the other to get at me. I don't want any dead toys on my conscience.'
'Dammit, I can't take you with us!' said Finlay, knowing he was raising his voice and not giving a damn. 'You'd be a liability to the mission!'
'I can pull my weight,' said Julian coldly. 'I was running missions for the underground when you were still a pampered aristo.'
'You can't use your esp!' said Finlay. 'The nurses say it'll kill you.'
'And what the hell do a couple of dolls know about espers? Odds are they've never even seen one before. No, I'm going with you. Get used to the idea.'
Finlay looked like he was about to explode. Evangeline squeezed his hand hard to remind him she was still there. 'He's right in one thing, Finlay; we can't leave him here. Not if it would leave Toystown at risk. So it looks like we won't be breaking up the winning team after all.'
Finlay sighed and shook his head. 'Doomed. We're all doomed.'
The River lay half a mile outside Toystown's northern boundary. The toys called it the River, because it was the only one in all the world. It meandered through the hills and valleys, branching here and there, but always coming back to itself. It began and ended in the great Forest, in the center of the world that Shannon made. It was wide and deep and dark, and composed of a popular soft drink, sweet and heady and very refreshing. The humans had to try it, but the novelty wore off very quickly.
The six humans had gathered together on the River-bank, studying the transport the toys had provided to take them to Vincent Harker. Evening had fallen, but the light from a long string of paper lanterns was more than enough to illuminate the full-sized, steam-driven paddle steamer. It was fifty feet long, perfect in every detail, and, as always, painted in bright primary colors. Toby was beginning to wish he'd brought sunglasses. The paddle wheels were intimidatingly huge, and looked more than solid and strong enough to last the journey. Most things in Shannon's World were built for show rather than function, but this was the real thing.
Bruin Bear and the Sea Goat were right there with the humans. Finlay had tried halfheartedly to talk them out of it, but in the end none of them had the heart to say no. He was, after all, Bruin Bear. The Sea Goat they could live with.
'This is the good ship Merry Mrs. Trusspot,' said Bruin Bear. 'And no, we didn't name her that. Humans did. Some day I hope to find the human who did it, pin him to a wall, and ask him why in a very determined tone. Like everyone else, the ship is self-aware, but she doesn't say much. She's deeply philosophical, thinks furiously on any subject you can name, and hates being interrupted from her deep and significant musings. Toys used to come and ask her questions concerning the nature of reality and our new reality in particular, but half the time her answers were more disturbing than the questions, so… These days, she keeps herself to herself and lets her crew run things. We use her for our very infrequent longer voyages, and she doesn't seem to mind. I suppose when you're as lost in your thoughts as she is, one place is much the same as any other.'
'She hasn't been in the Forest yet,' said the Sea Goat, darkly. 'That might change her mind.'
'Anyway,' said the Bear, determined not to be distracted from his point, 'she remained strictly neutral during the war against the humans, and I think she feels a bit guilty now. She isn't used to emotions. I think they upset her. Either way, she has volunteered her services to take you to Harker. She's slow, but reliable. She'll get us there.'
'Where's the crew?' said Finlay. 'I don't see anyone…'
'Shiver me timbers and batter me bulkheads,' said a deep voice from above them. They all looked up at the bridge, to see a heavily bearded face peering down at them. There were pretty ribbons in his beard, and he wore a large purple hat with feathers and wax fruit on it. He had earrings. Long dangly ones. He glared down at the humans and adjusted his hat nervously.
'Isn't that just typical of humans? Always in a hurry. Can't a girl take a few moments to make sure she looks her best? Stay where you are, sweeties, I'll come right down. And don't touch anything, darlings. I've only just finished cleaning up around here. I'm Captain of this ship, and don't you forget it.'
The face pulled back and disappeared, and a series of loud thuds from inside the ship indicated that the Captain was descending to join them. The Bear and the Goat shared a significant glance, and then shook their heads. A door flew open onto the deck, and the Captain of the Merry Mrs. Trusspot came hurrying out and headed for the guardrail. He was a pirate Captain, in full traditional dress, all flashing silks and flounced sleeves, and he balanced precariously on two wooden peg legs. On his left shoulder perched a really scruffy-looking parrot, who clung desperately to the Captain's epaulet and studied the humans with a dark and evil eye. He only had the one.
The Captain grabbed the guardrail to steady himself, lifted his chin proudly, and raised his hat to the humans.
'Ahoy there, sweeties. Welcome to the Merry Mrs. Trusspot. Do be sure to use her full name at all times, darlings, or she'll go all sulky and start venting the bilges into the air-conditioning again. Delighted to meet you all. I just know we're going to get along tremendously well, and have a splendid time on our little adventure. Do come aboard, and we'll have a few drinkies and some nibbles, before we shove off. I've made fudge fingers and fairy cakes.'
'Ah har,' said the parrot on his shoulder. 'Pieces of eight, bugger the mate.'
'Shut up!' said the Captain. He swatted at the parrot with a heavily ringed hand, but the bird dodged with the ease of long practice. The Captain glared at it, and the parrot glared right back. The Captain blinked nervously, and looked back at his passengers. 'Come along, sweeties. Never keep a good sherry waiting.'
As one, the humans turned to look at Bruin Bear and the Sea Goat, who both shrugged uncomfortably. 'We did think about warning you in advance,' said the Bear. 'But we couldn't seem to come up with the right words.
