Frey checked he had all his arms and legs. ‘Don’t think so.’
There was a faint yell. Silo looked towards the rubble that had filled the corridor. Frey followed his gaze.
‘Hey!’ It was Malvery. Had it not been, Frey probably wouldn’t have heard him, but the doctor’s bellow could wake the dead.
‘Doc!’ Frey cried. ‘You okay?’
‘Cap’n! We’re fine over here. Cuts and bruises. Silo with you?’
‘He’s okay.’
‘Okay!’
The conversation faltered. The dust was settling, and now Frey could see the section of ceiling and wall which had collapsed into the corridor. Frey and Silo had been lagging behind, guarding the rear of the retreating group. Frey stared at the tons of rubble in front of him, and thought how lucky they were that nobody had been beneath it.
‘Wait there!’ cried Malvery. Frey glimpsed him momentarily through a gap in the rubble. ‘We’re going to get Bess to dig through to you!’
Silo grabbed Frey’s shoulder and shook his head. He pointed up at the ceiling. ‘Ain’t a good plan, Cap’n.’
Frey caught on. ‘Silo says no!’ he cried. ‘The roof could come down on you.’
Malvery considered that for a moment. ‘I expect that’d hurt quite a bit,’ he said.
‘Go on to the Ketty Jay. We’ll find another way round.’
‘You sure?’
‘You’ve got the treasure with you?’
‘Safe and sound.’
‘Get it on board. We’ll get there as fast as we can.’
‘Right-o.’
‘And Malvery? If they start shelling us again, you tell Jez to get her airborne and get you out of there.’
‘Without you, Cap’n?’
‘Yeah.’
‘I’d rather choke on my own shit,’ Malvery replied cheerily. ‘See you on board.’
Frey shook his head to clear it of the ringing. It was about as effective as he’d expected. At least his hearing was getting less muffled with time.
He picked up his revolver from the ground where it had fallen, and thumbed in the direction they’d come. ‘That way, I suppose.’
They hurried back down the corridor and through a doorway, into a crude kitchen. They could see an exterior window, but even though it had been smashed by the explosion it was too small to get through. Frey led the way into a simple eating-hall with benches and a fireplace. He stayed close to the exterior wall, hoping for a door, but room after room confounded him. Eventually, they came out into another corridor, like the one they had left.
‘Damn it, how hard can it be to get out of a building?’ he complained, and that was when they ran into Orkmund.
