‘That’s easy,’ Cherry said. ‘I’ll just take us back to my ship and we can contact them for you.’
‘That isn’t necessary,’ Annalie said hastily. ‘I really just need to get my hands on a shell, then I can call them and get them to come and pick me up. Maybe if you dropped me somewhere, and lent me some money to get another shell—’
‘I don’t have any money,’ Cherry said. ‘Or even any ID. I really think we’d be better off going back to my ship.’
‘There’s no time,’ Annalie said desperately. ‘I’ve got to warn my friends not to rendezvous with the pirates before it’s too late.’
‘Then we can stop in at the nearest port and I’ll make contact with my ship that way,’ Cherry said reasonably. ‘We’ll make landfall in Gantua—it’s probably safer there. And I can get us both the help we need.’
Annalie reluctantly nodded her agreement. She was going to need Cherry’s help for just a little longer; once she’d contacted the others, she would simply escape again.
They puttered on over the quiet sea, moving eastward. Cherry seemed to know which way he was going. ‘You should try to get some rest,’ he suggested at one point. But Annalie didn’t dare. She wanted to make sure she was awake and ready when they finally did reach port.
The hours passed. The dark bulk of Brundisi slipped by, dotted with only a very few lights. The engine droned on. Then more lights began to appear on the shore, more boats on the water. ‘I think,’ Cherry said at last, ‘we’re in Gantua.’
Annalie sat up a little straighter. Now for the next part in her escape plan. Not that she actually had a plan of any kind.
As the sun rose, they came upon a port town. ‘This looks like a good place to stop,’ Cherry said.
It was not a big town. It sat at the mouth of a river, and Annalie guessed the town was a staging point for goods that arrived by sea and then were sent inland by river. Even so, it had a rather sleepy look to it. She hoped that meant it would be easier for her to slip away unnoticed.
There were a number of boats anchored in the harbour, none of them Admiralty. Cherry drove past them all and came to a stop directly in front of the harbourmaster’s office, shrugging back into his uniform jacket. Annalie followed him slowly. Should she make a run for it? But no—if she did that, she had no way of contacting the others. Better to stick with Cherry for now and get help.
‘Good morning,’ Cherry said to the woman at the front desk. ‘Do you speak Duxish?’
She stared at him for a moment in surprise, then said, ‘A little.’
‘My name is Lieutenant Cherry and I was kidnapped in Dio by pirates. I managed to escape, along with my friend here, and I need help to get back to my ship.’
The woman blinked at him a moment longer, then got down to business. ‘What is your name please?’
Annalie stood and listened while Cherry started spouting details: name, rank, number. She was jolted when he named his ship: the Triumph. Annalie’s boarding school, Triumph College, was the battleship’s feeder school. She had been aboard the ship once; it had been an impressive and intimidating experience. Funny to think that she and Cherry might have walked past each other without knowing it.
But it was not the Triumph that she’d seen in port in Dio. It had been another, smaller ship.
‘What was the Triumph doing in Dio?’ she asked, hoping she sounded innocent, while the harbourmaster made a call on her shell.
‘It wasn’t,’ Cherry said. ‘I was on secondment to another ship, the Raptor. They wouldn’t send the Triumph to a place like that.’
Annalie nodded and said nothing more.
The harbourmaster returned. ‘I have notified the Admiralty,’ she said. ‘They are sending someone straight away.’ She looked at Annalie. ‘Did you wish to make a complaint about what happened to you in Dio? I can contact the police.’
‘I really just want to try and call my family,’ Annalie said.
‘But you should file a complaint with the authorities,’ the harbourmaster said.
‘All I need is access to a shell,’ Annalie said.
The harbourmaster looked at Cherry. Cherry looked back at her non-committally.
‘Please,’ Annalie said.
The harbourmaster nodded, and placed a shell on the counter.
Annalie called her own number. It was answered on the first ring.
‘Hello?’
‘Will, it’s me.’
‘Annalie!’ Will shouted. ‘Where are you? What’s going on?’
‘Listen to me, you mustn’t go and meet those pirates. I got away from them—I escaped.’
‘Seriously? How?’
‘Long story,’ Annalie said, aware that Cherry and the harbourmaster were both listening. ‘I need you to come and get me.’
‘Where are you?’
‘Gantua,’ Annalie said, and named the town.
‘Good,’ Will said. ‘I never want to go back to Brundisi as long as I live.’
‘When do you think you can get here?’ she asked.
‘I’m not exactly sure,’ Will said. ‘But sit tight. We’ll be there as soon as we can. Are you safe?’
‘Pretty safe,’ Annalie said. ‘I’m with an Admiralty officer. We escaped together.’
‘What?’ squeaked Will. ‘Is that a joke?’
‘Nope. And his ship is coming to pick him up too, so it’ll be fun to see who gets here first,’ Annalie said, trying to sound light and cheery.
‘Oh, man,’ Will said. ‘Okay. Whose shell is that? Can we call you back on it?’
‘Probably not,’ Annalie said, still trying to sound cheerful. ‘I’ll update you if anything changes.’
‘Okay,’ Will said. ‘We’re coming.’
He hung up.
‘They’re coming,’ Annalie said simply, and handed back the shell.
Courtesy of the harbourmaster, arrangements were made so Cherry could access his creditstream. ‘Come on, I’ll buy you breakfast,’ he said.
They wandered into town, looking for somewhere to eat. Annalie felt newly awkward with him now. While they’d been locked in the room together, she had been able to see him as just another traveller like herself, a boy discovering the world from the deck of
