The Ace of Skulls

Three

On the western side of the Hookhollows, in the depths of the Forest of Aulen, lay Timberjack Falls. At that spot, several rivers gathered into one great flood before plunging into a horseshoe-shaped valley hundreds of feet below. The base of the valley was shrouded in mist, and the noise was never-ending. Birds winged in groups through the red winter evening, silhouetted against churning walls of water.

At the top of the falls there was a town, divided among three forested islands connected by arched bridges with gates set at their midpoints. Mansions hid among the evergreens. In the narrow, cobbled streets where the shops and markets clustered, lamps were being lit. The only noise to be heard over the rumble of the falls were the cries of water birds which made their home here, or the sound of a motorised carriage as it rattled along the winding lanes.

The Broken Anchor sat on the island nearest the lip of the falls. It was the only island of the three with a public landing-pad for aircraft, and the only point of entry for visitors passing through the town. That third island was where all the unseemly commerce of freebooters and merchants took place, out of sight of the rich folk across the bridges; and the Broken Anchor was the hub of it.

‘Three Dukes,’ Frey said, laying his cards on the table in a fan.

The other players cursed and tutted. Frey’s opponent, a burly man with a port-wine birthmark on his neck, tossed his cards down in disgusted resignation. Frey scooped up the pile of money that lay between them, careful to keep his satisfaction off his face.

‘Getting all the luck tonight, aren’t I?’ he commented innocently.

‘Luck’s only gonna get you so far,’ muttered a pinch-faced man whom Frey had been bluffing off the pot all game.

Frey gave a helpless little shrug, calculated to annoy, as if he just couldn’t help winning no matter what he did. He pushed away from the table. ‘Sitting this next one out, fellers,’ he said. ‘Never play a hand after a big win, that’s what someone told me once.’

The man he’d just beaten shook his head in anger, robbed of his chance for immediate revenge. Let him stew awhile, Frey thought. A frustrated man was apt to do something stupid.

He took a swig of grog and tipped his chair back, surveying the bar with the kingly air of a satisfied man. The gas lights were low, woodworm-ridden ceiling beams mere shadows in the tobacco haze. The room rang with shouts and laughter. Harmless drunks jostled with dangerous strangers. Just his kind of dive.

We did it. We took that freighter down. And it was just as loaded as the whispermonger promised.

Frey could hardly believe they’d pulled it off without any of the crew getting hurt. Despite their close shave in the clouds, all they’d suffered was a few bullet-holes in the Ketty Jay’s hull. In return, they’d come away with a haul of trinkets and artefacts which would see them right for a good while, once they flogged them to a fence. And that was after he’d deducted what he needed for tonight’s little investment. All in all, it was the kind of success that warmed a man’s heart.

His crew were sat round a table on the other side of the bar, visible in glimpses through the press of bodies. Some were deep in conversation, some were raucously drunk. Harkins and Jez looked like they’d rather not be there at all, but they’d made the effort for the sake of their companions. It had become a tradition to celebrate together after a score, and Frey didn’t want anyone left out.

Even Silo had joined them, drawing unfriendly stares from people nearby. Murthians were a slave race ruled by the Samarlans. Many Vards still remembered them as enemies from the Aerium Wars; others considered them potential spies for their masters. In the past, it had been sensible for Silo to keep out of sight. But he was no one’s slave these days, and he refused to hide in the Ketty Jay’s engine room any more. It had caused a scrap or two over the last few months, but Frey’s crew didn’t shy from a good scrap, and anyone who messed with their first mate ended up regretting it.

Frey watched them across the bar while a new hand was dealt without him. Malvery was drunkenly explaining something to Crake, who’d leaned close and was nodding gravely. Frey could guess what the subject was. The civil war, as ever. Awakeners versus the Coalition. Those who sided with Vardia’s dominant — and only — religion versus those who sided with the Archduke. All over the land, people were fighting and dying for their god or their country. Frey thought both were pretty absurd things to die for.

The crew of the Ketty Jay might have been instrumental in starting the war, but Frey was doing his level best to ensure they didn’t get tangled up in it. They owed nothing to either side, as far as Frey could see. It wasn’t their fight.

Malvery and Crake would disagree. Malvery was a patriot — he even had a medal from the First Aerium War — and Crake had a misplaced sense of civic duty that probably stemmed from being born with a silver spoon in his arse. Both of them had been grumbling about profiteering from the war when they should be fighting the Awakeners. Frey had patiently explained that they were fighting Awakeners by depriving them of their valuables, but his paper-thin veneer of morality didn’t fool anyone. They were pirates, at the end of the day. Frey was alright with that.

Jez was sitting at the end of the table, talking to no one. Her gaze darted about the room like that of a wary animal; her whole body was tensed. She’d never been the sociable sort, but these days she could barely handle crowds at all.

Frey worried about her. The crew had been able to accept a half-Mane in their midst because she only flipped out on rare occasions. The rest of the time, she’d just been. . well, just Jez. And they all used to like Jez. But now it was different. Now she unsettled everybody. He noted Harkins’ petrified glances, and the way the crew unconsciously moved along the table to be further away from her. They sensed the change in her.

He hated to admit it, but Jez — loyal, reliable Jez — was becoming a problem.

Her head snapped around and she stared at him, right into his eyes, across the width of the room. Frey’s blood ran cold.

As if she heard what I was thinking.

‘Oi! Are you playing this hand or not, Mr Lucky?’

It was the angry man with the port-wine birthmark whose money Frey had just taken. Frey turned back to the table, grateful for the distraction. He coughed into his fist, took a swig of grog, and waved them on. ‘I’m in,’ he said. ‘Deal.’

The cards came out, three for each player. Frey peeked at his cards. Two Dukes and an Ace of Crosses. A good hand, a very good hand. He bet big. Port-Wine and Pinch-Face matched him, while the last player dropped out.

The middle cards were dealt, three face up and three face down. Frey felt a flutter of excitement as he spotted the Duke of Fangs. The thought of beating Port-Wine with Three Dukes twice in a row was too much to resist.

He was first to pick up. He took the Duke. Port-Wine took the Four of Wings, and Pinch-Face took one of the face-down mystery cards.

Frey bet big again. He knew Port-Wine would match it. That man had too much pride to fold, and it was going to cost him.

Port-Wine more than matched him. He pushed all his money in.

Oh, damn, now he’s made me think he’s got something.

Pinch-Face dropped out, as Frey had known he would. He was easily intimidated. But now Frey had Port-Wine to deal with. What could he possibly have that could beat Frey’s Three Dukes? All he could think of was that Port-Wine had picked up three fours in his original hand, and added a fourth, but the odds against that were ridiculous.

He just wants to beat me. He wants to see me fold.

Frey pushed his money in too. ‘Show ’em,’ he said.

Port-Wine laid down his cards. Frey felt a little bit sick.

Four fours.

Port-Wine leered smugly. He knew before Frey showed his cards that he had the hand sewn up. Frey thought of all the money on the table, and resisted the urge to punch his opponent.

‘Reckon you need another Duke,’ said Port-Wine, running his finger through the air above the two face-down cards on the table. ‘You think it’s one of these?’

‘It ain’t,’ said Pinch-Face. He flipped over a card from his own discarded hand. ‘I had it.’

‘Well,’ said Port-Wine. ‘That just leaves the Ace of Skulls.’

The Ace of Skulls. The most dangerous card in Rake. It could turn a winning hand to shit or make a losing hand unbeatable. Frey reached out, let his hand hover over the cards, as if he could sense through his palm which of them could save him.

Probably none, he thought. He flipped a card.

‘Oh, look,’ he said with a smile.

Port-Wine had to be physically restrained by the other players. Frey gathered up the money on the table and left before the urge to gloat got him shot. His impoverished opponent was still yelling abuse when Frey was intercepted by a tall man with waxed black hair, polished leathers and a shoulder cloak.

Frey raised an eyebrow at the stranger’s attire. He took care of himself far too well to belong in a place like this. ‘Reckon you’re Pelaru’s man.’

‘I’ve come to ensure his payment arrives safely,’ came the reply. ‘There’s transport outside.’

‘Right you are,’ said Frey. He looked over at the table where his crew were carousing. ‘Silo! Jez! Doc! We’re going! The rest of you. . I dunno, amuse yourselves.’

Ashua raised a mug to him. ‘We’ll manage!’ she shouted.

The three he’d called got to their feet. As they walked over, the men and women in the crowded bar drew away from Jez like oil from a drop of soapy water.

‘Pinn? Artis Pinn?’

Ashua looked up at the two shambling drunks who’d just materialised at the edge of the table. They were gawping at the Ketty Jay’s outflyer with something akin to awe in their eyes.

‘Did I hear someone say you was Pinn?’ asked one of them.

Pinn looked around the table, unsure whether he was in some kind of trouble. Nobody else knew either. ‘Might be,’ he said neutrally.

‘Artis Pinn the pilot? The man who beat Gidley Sleen in that race at the Rushes? Who brought his craft down out of the sky with no engines and lived to tell about it?’

Ashua felt Harkins go tense next to her.

‘Yeah!’ said Pinn, brightly. ‘Yeah, that was me!’

‘We’d be honoured if you’d come join us for an ale,’ the other drunkard gasped.

Pinn beamed, his tiny eyes almost disappearing in his chubby cheeks. ‘Why not?’ he said magnanimously. He squeezed his short, round body from out behind the table. ‘ ’Scuse me, everyone,’ he said. ‘Some fans want to say hello.’ He disappeared into the sweat and heat and murk.

Ashua turned to Harkins. His narrow, hangdog face had gone a strange shade of purple.

‘Didn’t you do that, not Pinn?’ she asked him.

‘Yes!’ Harkins fairly screamed it, before his voice wobbled back to normal pitch. ‘Yes, that was me! But I. . I had to fly under his name. . It was. . I mean. .’

Harkins gave up speaking. He looked like he was about to strangle on his own neck veins.

‘Why didn’t you stand up for yourself, then?’ Ashua asked.

‘Oho!’ said Crake, who’d been watching with wine-addled amusement over the rim of his cup. ‘Now that’s quite a question to ask our Mr Harkins.’

‘I. . you. . I mean. . It’s not as simple as that, now, is it?’ The ears of his battered pilot’s cap flapped about his unshaven cheeks as he waved about in agitation.

‘Why not?’

He seemed stumped. ‘It’s. . er. . I don’t know! I just can’t! I never could, alright?’

‘He never could,’ Crake agreed, nodding sagely.

Ashua blew out her lips to show what she thought of that. ‘How’d he get to be such a good pilot when he’s such a chickenshit?’

‘I’m not a chickenshit!’ said Harkins.

‘You sort of are,’ Crake commiserated, and took another mouthful of wine.

‘Yeah,’ said Ashua. ‘What about that time when Pinn burped behind you and you jumped so high you fell down the stairs in the cargo hold?’ Crake had broken apart laughing before she was halfway through the sentence.

‘But he pushed me!’ Harkins whined, a protest so pathetic that nobody believed it now or then.

‘I heard,’ said Ashua, then took a gulp of rum because she’d momentarily forgotten what she’d heard. ‘I heard that you were a pilot for the Navy in both Aerium Wars. That you shot down dozens of Sammies. Didn’t you?’

‘It was different then,’ Harkins mumbled.

‘How was it different?’ Ashua asked. The Ketty Jay’s crew were usually a closemouthed lot, but she was drunk enough to be nosy.

Harkins squirmed. He didn’t like to be on the spot. ‘I. . er. . it’s. . well, I suppose. .’

‘Come on, it must be something,’ she said. ‘What was different back then? What did life in the Navy have that life on the Ketty Jay doesn’t?’ She tried to think of the most obvious thing. ‘Discipline?’ she guessed.

Crake snapped his fingers and pointed at her. ‘Discipline,’ he said, as if she’d just solved a puzzle.

‘Discipline. .’ Harkins said thoughtfully. ‘Er. . yes, actually. I mean. . you know, getting up at the same time every day, I sort of liked that. Train with your squad, everybody together. Nobody in the spotlight, nobody better than anyone else.’ A little smile broke out on his face. ‘And people like Pinn. . They’d never let someone like him in. I mean, they would at first, but the sergeant would knock all that stupid cockiness out of him. He’d stick to formation or he’d be cleaning latrines! Back then we were a team; you cheered your teammates on instead of trying to steal all the glory. And when you were out there on a mission together, I mean, they had your life in their hands, and you had theirs in yours, and it was. . I don’t know, it was just. .’ He shrugged. ‘Safe. Not like safe safe, I mean, we were at war, right? But safe like home. Everything in its place and you knew what you had to do and you knew who everyone was and they knew you.’

He took a quick sip from his flagon and nodded to himself. ‘Yeah. Safe. That’s what it was.’

Crake was staring at Ashua in amazement. ‘You know he’s never spoken that much about anything, ever?’

‘Maybe you never bothered asking?’ she said cheerily. She felt rather pleased with herself. No one paid attention to Harkins, except Pinn, who tormented him. Ashua had an affinity for outsiders and underdogs, especially when she’d had a few.

She slapped Harkins on the shoulder and for once he didn’t flinch. ‘Harkins, your idea of happiness sounds like my worst nightmare, but I’ll drink to it anyway.’

They all raised their mugs, and afterwards Harkins looked a little bewildered. But he was smiling, and none of them saw that too often.

She left Harkins with Crake and went to relieve herself, swaying a little as she wound her way through the crowded room. She was feeling good, still on a high from last night’s victory, and there was nothing to concern her in the future. Life on the Ketty Jay had turned out better than expected. She’d bargained her way on board in order to evade her enemies, but she’d always intended to leave when the moment was right. These days, she wondered if she really wanted to.

They were a good lot, in all. She was fond of Malvery and liked Crake, and the others were a decent bunch too, even the Cap’n. She’d pegged him as a bit of a sleaze when they first met, but to her surprise he hadn’t made any advances on her since she’d joined. In fact, she’d warmed to him as a person, against her better instincts.

Careful, she told herself. Don’t get too attached to this crew. You know what’ll happen, sooner or later. What always happens.

Ashua was used to looking out for herself. It was how she’d survived as an orphan child on the bomb-torn streets of Rabban. She made alliances when it suited her and ducked out when things got rough. The only one she’d ever put her trust in was Maddeus Brink, a dissolute aristocrat and drug dealer who’d adopted her in a fit of drunken charity. He’d been like a father to her for many years until, with characteristic callousness, he exiled her from his home and sent her out on her own again.

She learned her lesson from that.

Maddeus, she thought, and a heavy sadness came upon her. Maddeus, rotting in the heat of Shasiith, his poisoned blood killing him slowly as he passed his last weeks in a narcotic haze. Was he dead now? Perhaps. But he’d made his wishes clear, and she had enough respect for him to keep away. Besides, he’d sent her out of Shasiith for her own safety; she wasn’t foolish enough to go back.

Respectable ladies might have found the toilet of the Broken Anchor disgusting, but it took a lot to disgust Ashua. When she was done, she pushed her way out and back into the noisy bar.

‘Ashua Vode?’ said a voice by her side.

She had her pistol out and pressed into the man’s belly in half a heartbeat. Being recognised was rarely good, in her experience.

She didn’t know him. He had a plain, nondescript face, folded and rucked with middle age. But it was his scent that alarmed her. A smoky, woody blend of spices and blossoms. The kind of smell that often clung to rich Samarlan merchants.

It was a smell from Shasiith, from her past. And that meant trouble.

‘I’m no enemy, Miss Vode,’ said the man, calmly. She was standing close to him, her body concealing the weapon in her hand. The other patrons of the bar were oblivious.

‘I’ll decide that,’ she said.

‘I bring news. Jakeley Screed is dead.’

‘That’s a lie.’

‘I assure you it’s not.’

‘Then who are you?’

‘My name is Bargo Ocken. You remember Dager Toyle, of course?’

‘Of course. I also remember that Screed killed him. What’s he to you?’

‘I’m his replacement.’

Ashua stared into his eyes. ‘So you say.’

‘Miss Vode,’ he said levelly. ‘If I wanted to kill you, there are better ways than approaching you in a crowded bar. I don’t work for Screed. I work for the people who killed him.’

She sized him up. He was Vardic, educated, probably from minor nobility by his accent. If the softness of his belly was anything to go by, he wasn’t much of a physical threat.

She put the gun away. Ocken let out a little breath of relief. It was the only sign that he’d been tense at all.

‘Over here,’ he said, gesturing towards a small table tucked in the corner. She followed him, and made him wait while she checked the table and chairs for concealed weapons. Danger had sobered her up fast.

‘You’re very suspicious,’ he observed.

‘So would you be,’ she said. ‘Sit.’

They settled themselves. She regarded him in the dim light of the gas lamps. Night had fallen over the town now, and the windows were dark. She could feel a slight tremor though her legs: the thundering falls nearby.

‘How did he die?’ she asked, as quietly as she could over the noise in the bar.

‘Our people caught up with him. You don’t need to worry about him any more.’

‘The others?’ Ocken gave her a blank look. ‘The others that worked for Dager Toyle,’ she elaborated.

‘I hope you don’t expect me to name names.’

‘Are they all dead?’

‘Not all.’

She drummed her fingers restlessly, thinking over the implications of Ocken’s news, wondering whether to believe him. It had been Screed she’d been hiding from when Frey first encountered her, skulking in a den of drug addicts. Her hired muscle proved to be a useless defence. If Screed had found her before Frey, she’d be dead by now.

‘What do you want with me?’ she asked.

‘I want to resume our relationship,’ said Ocken. ‘Toyle might be dead, but the organisation is not. Cut off a limb’ — he spread his arms as if to say: Here I am — ‘and it grows again.’

She sat back in her chair, never taking her gaze from him. ‘I’ve got a new thing now,’ she said.

‘Yes, the Ketty Jay. I hear they’re doing moderately well these days. Don’t worry. It rather suits our purpose that you stay on the crew. Look on us as, well, something on the side. Insurance. In case it all goes wrong somewhere down the line.’

Ashua thought about that for a time, but in the end she shook her head. ‘You let me down before. Screed wouldn’t have been after me if you hadn’t screwed up.’

‘We understand. You deserve compensation for what you’ve been through. That’s why we intend to treble your retainer.’

That was enough to give her pause. Money had never been the guiding force in Ashua’s life, but it was a lot of money to someone who’d never had much.

‘First payment up front?’ she asked.

‘Naturally. And subsequent payments every quarter-year, for as long as we need you. And as long as you provide what we want.’

Tempting. A little insurance never hurt anyone. And after all, what did she know about what the future held? She might be kicked off the Ketty Jay tomorrow, and then where would she be? She knew from experience that it was naïve to rely on others. They all let you down in the end.

She leaned forward across the table. ‘Keep talking,’ she said, and Ocken smiled.