'Ye-yes sir! Much prettier!'
'GOD BLESS YOU FOR AN HONEST MAN!' roared Colin over the storm. 'YOU GET TO
LIVE!' And he threw the man headlong into the raging sea, a hundred yards if it was an inch.
How sweet. I mean, really. It was sweet.
If you are wondering why, during all this, the Atlanteans and Laestrygonians did not unleash horrific magic upon us all, or blast us with space-age weapons from some futuristic parallel dimension, or even unlimber their deck-guns and blow a hole into our ship, the reason (as far as I can tell) is that Vanity saved us.
The Silvery Ship was skipping like a wild dolphin from wave-crest to wave-crest, and the sleek black ships were darting like dark sharks in her wake. But the moment we crossed the invisible line (invisible to all but me) separating the waters of the other sphere from the waters of Earth, the ward blocking our powers was crossed, and the green stone hanging around Vanity's neck began to glow. It was beneath her shirt, and only I saw it, I, whose vision was not stopped by merely three-dimensional surfaces.
It was glowing when she and I, wrapped in Colin's arms, fell through her secret trapdoor and landed on that mattress. It was glowing when Colin tried to molest her and she slapped him, and he went bounding like a super ninja movie hero on wires up out of the hold to battle the Atlanteans.
Before another word was spoken, Vanity, without bothering to stir from the mattress, clasped both hands to her bosom and bent her head, concentrating. The Silvery Ship skipped back across the ward, shutting down my powers; I went blind. I could hear the noise of rushing waters, and felt the bucking and leaping of the deck beneath me, and that was all.
Then, on again. The Silvery Ship was once more in the waters of Earth, and our pursuit, streaming fans of spray rushing from them as they passed the speed of sound, came bearing down on us. But, at the moment, the ward was between them and us. They were still in the waters of the other place.
Vanity did something. I saw lines of energy fold and sway; the intersection of the two universes quivered. Beyond that, I was not sure what it was she did.
Vanity said, 'When they cross, their powers will shut off. I just did to them what Echidna showed me how to do.'
'Will it slow down their ships... ?'
'I cannot do that without slowing down this one. I can make the gunpowder forget how to burn when it crosses from one jurisdiction to the next.'
'How?'
'It is all based on attention. I can feel something look us over when we cross the line. It is something that makes objects act the way they are supposed to. The something gets confused when you cross things from one jurisdiction to another. It does not know which laws to apply.
During that moment of confusion, I can make the decision for it.'
'Jurisdiction... ?'
'Um. Dreamscapes? Universes? What do you call a set of laws of nature?'
'Continuum. Can't the Atlanteans do the same thing?'
'If they have a stone like this, I suppose. And they would have to get in the first shot. Watch me.
Did it work?'
'I can't tell. What am I looking for?'
'Are the bad guys using guns or casting spells?'
'No.' I peered through the walls. I could see Colin and Quentin in the distance.
'Then it worked. Do you think they can beat us just with normal weapons?'
Guess what the answer to that one was.
Five minutes later, we were all up on deck. Victor dropped down out of the sky, his chain mail crackling with ozone, and Quentin faded into view, twisting the gold ring on his finger. The storm was behind us, slowly shrinking backwards over the horizon, and we were skimming along the water surface under the moonlight.
Off our port and starboard stern, like arrows with fletch-ing made of white foam, came the black ships of the Atlanteans.
Colin said, 'They are gaining, Leader. I suggest we let them catch up and we trash more of them.' He was panting and shining with sweat and rainwater, happy as a player who has crushed an opposing team after a hard game. His eyes danced. He needed only a bottle of champagne to pour over his head to make the picture complete.
Even Victor seemed in good spirits. He stood on the stem, hands clasped behind him, watching the moonlit pursuit with a tiny smile on his lips. 'Leader, I suggest not. We must assume that Mavors the god of war is somewhere among them, and we have no experience to tell us how to overcome his powers.'
