Crusade

go of the cable. «Swingin’ free and easy, Mr. Dowden,» he announced.

Spanky sighed with relief and turned to relay the report from the engine room. «Seals are fine, Skipper. No more water coming in than usual.»

«Mahan reports the same,» Riggs said from behind them as he watched Mahan’s signal light with a pair of binoculars. He lowered them to his chest. «Thank God.»

Matt nodded, keeping his hand on the wheel so it wouldn’t betray him. «Thank Him indeed,» he said. «Good work, Mr. McFarlane. Pass the word to all hands: Well done.» He grinned because of one selfish, perverted, racist bastard.

A lot was up to the girl. They’d allowed Pam a few minutes to assemble a bag and without even a glance at Franklen she rushed to the young victim and began a quick, softly murmured examination. As she and Risa began to ask quiet questions, the grim-faced men turned to the prisoner. Chack crouched beside him in the sand, resting his chin on his cutlass guard, staring at him from inches away, his inscrutable eyes somehow radiating malice.

«Pull his gag,» Gray instructed. He looked at Chack. «If he does anything but quietly answer questions, kill him.» He peered hard into Franklen’s eyes. «You got that? You answer questions and keep a civil tongue, you might just survive this night.»

In spite of himself, Franklen snorted and blood bubbled from his shattered nose. The Bosun shrugged and nodded at Donaghey, who yanked out the nasty, bloody rag.

Franklen coughed and spat for several minutes before his spasm subsided enough that he might be understood. Finally he spoke.

«You gonna kill me any-ay, Chee. You ne’er ’iked me.» Black blood and wrecked lips made him almost unintelligible.

«Not so. I thought you were funny as hell. When you’re made-up, you’re not near as ugly. You can act and talk as much like Al Jolson as anybody I ever seen, and you can tell the funny stories like he can. You just wouldn’t leave well enough alone. Hell, a lot of the coolies and Filipino guys got treated like crap for days after one of your shows. Not to mention the mess attendants.» He snorted. «Besides, I got news for you: you can’t whistle and you can’t sing. and your big Hollywood role model — who loaned you the only popularity you ever had — is a Jew!»

«Das a damn lie!»

Gray rolled his eyes.

«An for de others,» Franklen went on, «they was just lyin’ Tagalog Bastards. Flips. Like Nigras back home. Takin’ jobs in de fact’ries from hardworkin’ white men just ’cause they’d work for less.» He looked around and sneered as best he could. «And now these goddamn ’Cats puttin’ on airs like real destroyermen. Real soljers!»

Gray slapped him hard. He couldn’t help himself.

«Like real people, you mean? You don’t even think of ’em like that, do you? You figure you can just have your way with one like one of your farm animals back home. Is that about the size of it?»

Franklen stared at him defiantly. «You’re one to talk.» His tiny eyes squinted around. «All of you, I bet.» They fell at last on Silva. «And you most of all, you ’Cat-lovin’ traitor!»

Gray and Donaghey almost weren’t quick enough to stop Silva from drawing the long bayonet at his side and ramming it into the top of Franklen’s head. Chack stood up, though, and watched Silva’s reaction with interest — as well as that of his sister, who came partly uncoiled from around the victim Pam was tending. With both a shudder and a sense of wonder, he realized their «carrying on» couldn’t be quite entirely a joke after all. Whatever it was, he was certainly getting a major contrast lesson in Silva and Risa’s relationship as opposed to others that were possible.

«We can’t get anywhere with him.» Donaghey sighed emotionlessly. «He just don’t get it.»

«I’ll get through to him,» Silva said softly, resheathing his bayonet and dropping to his knees in the sand. The two ’Cats who’d been holding Al fought his struggnt>a stared across the tent at the intensity of the eyes that glowed back at him from the females. One was filled with a murderous passion and the other. similar, but with a measure of devastation he’d seen only once before. In the belly of Revenge when they took the ship from the Grik and rescued the «provisions» there. He’d never been the sensitive sort and he’d used women like toys himself, but this. He almost felt ashamed to be a man. And to add a measure of icy mercury to his shame and his resolve, it suddenly dawned on him that this was the first time he’d ever seen a Lemurian teenage female seem just like a vulnerable, devastated, teenage girl. He was filled with a smoldering rage like he’d never known. Pam’s frequent glances in his direction weren’t much different from those of the Lemurians.

«I’ll tell you something, Al. I like these ’Cats. A hell of a lot better than I like you. And I do think of ’em as ‘people.’ Hell, maybe even human. They’re a lot more human than you are; that’s a fact. I’ve fought with ’em and worked with ’em and spilled my blood alongside ’em. We’ve helped them and they’ve helped us.» He pointed at the crumpled child. «I don’t recognize her after what you done, but I bet I’ve fought alongside her!» He looked intently at Franklen. «The way I hear it, you never fought alongside anybody. Why don’t you tell us what you’ve done for ‘us humans’ since we got here, Al, ’cause by all accounts, it ain’t much. You supported Kaufman’s mutiny against Mr. Ellis, and look how many died because of that.»

«Pardoned,» Franklen gummed, but Silva went on.

«Let’s see, how many battles have you fought against the Griks that are swoopin’ down? You’ll at least agree they’re worse than ’Cats, won’t you?» There was no response. Dennis started counting on his fingers.

«Well, let’s see. I seen — helped — the ’Cats fight like hell to save Big Sal from a gob as big as the one Mr. Ellis fought through. Which you was in the brig waiting for Captain Kaufman to come back aboard if what I hear is true. Skipped that one, didn’t you? Even stayed in the brig as ‘insubordinate’ the whole time the ship was laid up here and made no effort to give a hand.»

«We were screwed, Silva, you dumb son of a bitch! Just look around yourself! The stupid ’Cats around here wouldn’t talk to us. They didn’t even care about the Griks until it was too late. All they cared about was fightin’ each other.» He spat a gobbet of blood. «Ellis weren’t no officer. He couldn’t get anything sorted out between ’em. And I did too agree to work on the ship.»

«You agreed to work on the ship — for a pardon,» Gray glowered, «because the ship was so shorthanded. Mr. Ellis should’a hung you. Instead, your skipper forgave you and let you loose. Figgers ‘let bygones be bygones and we’re all together now.’ My God, after seeing that field in front of the city how could you think anything else? But you sat out the battle on shore. Again. Even when it started to fall apart and everybody went to fight.»

Silva raised his eyebrows. «So on top of everything else, you really are a coward.» He shook his head. «Except where little girls are concerned. All you could think of, the first time nobody’s really watchin’ you, was grabbin’ up some. child and tearin’ her up like that. What were you gonna do next? You couldn’t have let her live.»

There was a sharp intake of breath and suddenly everyone in the tent knew Silva was right.

«Nah, Silva,» Franklen gushed. «It wasn’t like that! I wouldn’t’a really hurt her. I just wanted a piece — like you got!»

«Silva no have ‘piece,’ you piece of shit!» Her glare moved to encompass her brother as well. «He have friend. We make big joke, scare Chack. Scare Captain too, have big laugh. but we more than friends too.» Now she was talking directly to her brother. «Okay with you, the Captain.» She glanced at Pam. «Or anybody, that’s fine. Not okay?» She blinked sublime unconcern. «Still okay with Risa.»

«Now see,» Franklen whined, «I got no problem with that! That’s what» He was almost dead before Silva and Chack could pull Risa off him and move her back across the tent.

Gray, Donaghey, Laney, and Steele were kneeling over the unconscious form as if deciding what to do with a dead snake, when Silva and Chack returned. Silva didn’t come right out and say «Sorry about that,» but his body language did. He did apologize for «using up all the air so far.»

«Hell. You just said what everybody was thinking,» said Gray. «Make no mistake. This is a trial. He’s admitted what he done, and you pointed out it would have been a lot worse if he hadn’t got caught.»

«Who caught him, anyway?»

«Steele. Sheer luck. He was runnin’ a final check before he went on deck for the party and heard her cries. Damn, he’s got good ears! Franklen had her down in Mahan’s steering engine room to