A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) (5 page)

I calculated the distance to Marny and then to the entrance to the Anino's dome. I might be able to make it to Marny, but I certainly wasn't going to make the dome.

"Close pass above me, Cap. Closer the better," she said.

"We've got company," Ada said. "Two at twenty meters, more further out."

"Everyone inside," Marny said. "We've got this. That goes for you too, Cap. Don't stop until you're in."

"I can't leave you with this thing," I knew better than to question her in combat, but it felt like she was making a sacrifice I couldn't live with.

"Appreciate that, but this one isn't going to be our problem. Trust me, Cap."

"Roger that," I said.

I focused on Marny's position as I approached. She was moving slowly through the water with her hands in front, arms bent, holding something. At five meters, my HUD picked up the detail that I'd been unable to see. She held a long, narrow sword. I twisted around so I would pass above her face-to-face, wanting to be sure I didn't kick her on the way by. Once past, I arced slightly downward to keep the beast on its original path.

"
AAAAAHHHH
…"

My AI filtered out the rest of Marny's war cry as she held her ground and plunged the blade into the bottom of the passing beast. I slowed and turned to watch. It was a horrific scene, as the beast's entrails spilled out, clouding the sea around her. I felt both the thrill of combat and sadness, knowing this beast had simply been doing what it had to survive.

"Marny, get out of there," Ada said. "You've incoming."

My HUD showed multiple Sephelodons making a beeline for our position, cutting us off from the dome.

Instead of turning in my direction, Marny dove downward and away from the approaching mob. It was a good move as we'd been cut off from the dome anyway. I followed her down another ten meters to the sea floor, taking cover beneath bioluminescent mineral formations.

"You should've kept going," Marny said.

"Right. And you're nuts attacking that thing with just a sword."

"Hardly just a sword," Anino said.

"Tabs, everyone in and safe?" I asked.

"We're in and you need to hunker down. There are at least fifty predators in a frenzy up here. Some of them make our first friend look like a guppy."

"We'll come get you," Anino said.

I switched to a private channel. "You okay, Marny?"

"Aye, Cap. Might have strained my shoulder, but it'll be okay."

"Thank you for coming for me."

"That's what we do, Cap."

We sat at the bottom for another fifteen minutes before a sleek submersible slid into view and came to rest above our position, its aft sporting a blue pressure barrier promising safety. We didn't require any convincing and jetted into the vehicle.

"Welcome aboard," Jonathan said, offering two towels.

I accepted one and pulled my helmet off.

"Thank you," I said.

"That was quite a show, Mr. Hoffen. I might not approve of Phillippe's methods, but his efficacy should not be questioned."

I widened my eyes slightly, an indication to my AI that I wasn't sure what he'd just said. It filled in a definition and I frowned as I considered his words.

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"He's saying this was an audition, Cap," Marny answered for him.

I looked back to Jonathan for confirmation. He simply raised his eyebrows in response.

"Take us back. We're leaving," I said tightly.

"Your anger is understandable and I will certainly take you back as you've requested. But, as irritated as you are and as asinine as Master Anino's behavior was, you should hear him out first."

"What? You're here to calm me down before we get back? All part of the big plan, is it?"

"No. Phillippe will be upset with me for sharing what I have, but he has misread your team. You work on trust and he has broken this trust early in the relationship. I hope that by exposing the deception now I will avert your natural inclination to walk away."

"He put my team at risk. It's not something I'm going to forget."

"As you should not. Please hear him out before you make your decision."

"We'll see," I said.

We rode back to the dome in relative silence, the only sound being the low whine of the motor propelling us through the water.

Yishuv Settlement, Planet
Ophir

"Eliora, are you hurt?" Amon asked, still clutching the rock in one hand and the bloodied corpse of the Ophie he'd brought down on top of her in the other.

"No. Help me, we have to check on the expedition," she said.

Between the two of them, they rolled the body to the side.

"Your leg," Eliora said, noticing that Amon was having difficulty standing.

Amon hobbled back to the mule, supporting himself with the reciprocating pick, which he laid gently in the vehicle's trailer. They couldn't afford to leave any of their equipment on the hillside even in an emergency. He hopped back toward the site where they'd been breaking the iron spire into transportable pieces.

"We can't afford to leave this behind," he said.

"You want to die? There could be more."

"Just help me."

"I hope this was worth it," she said.

"So do I."

By Amon's calculation, they'd gathered at least twelve tonnes of iron. That was more material than the smithy could use in five years, given current production levels. The pace would undoubtedly have to change. The settlement's survival might depend on his ability to adapt to increasing Ophie activity.

Eliora caught up with Amon and slipped under his thick arm, straining to help him into the mule. When he was settled, she handed him her crossbow. She wrapped his leg with a splint and activated foam that would both immobilize and numb the limb until they returned to the settlement.

"Why have we not developed better weapons?" Amon asked, inspecting the crossbow as they bounced down the mountain trail. "This is certainly good for game animals and small predators, but that Ophie wasn't even slowed by it."

"They are too well armored and the iron heads are too heavy, they slow the flight," Eliora answered.

"We've relied on those blaster rifles and are lulled into complacency," Amon said.

"If the main blaster turret hadn't failed, we'd have easily repelled that last attack," she said.

"Can't you see it? Our reliance on those blasters is our weakness. What if the secondary turret had failed too? How many more people would have been lost?"

"What would you have us do?"

"Merrie thinks she can make steel."

Eliora shook her head in confusion. "I don't know what that is."

"Stronger and lighter than iron. We could make longer knives," Amon said.

"You could do that?"

"Maybe."

"I would be careful of bringing 'maybes' up with Captain Gian. There are many in the settlement who have been quick to blame him for the last attack."

The conversation was cut short as they arrived at the main camp. A single Ophie lay dead, cast to the side. Those it had killed, three from the party, had been carefully laid in a wagon.

"Eliora, what of your attacker?" Captain Gian asked as he approached.

"It is dead. Amon crushed its skull," she said.

Gian gave Amon an appraising look. "Well done, blacksmith," he said. "We did not fare as well. We lost Territ and one of the laborers."

"You should know I was only able to kill the Ophie after Eliora hobbled it with her knife."

"Is this right? You attacked an Ophie with a knife?"

"I'd spent my crossbow bolts already and it hadn't fallen. When it attacked Amon, I cut its ankles like we've been trained."

"If only I had ten more like you, Eliora," Gian said. "This better have been worth the price we paid today, blacksmith."

***

"Dad says we need the council's permission to build a full-size furnace," Merrie said. She'd been Amon's constant companion for the last tenday.

"So you've said," he replied.

Amon shoved the long knife back into the fire.

"Your knives are beautiful, Amon," Merrie said, picking up one that Amon had already finished.

"Eliora says they're too heavy," he said.

"I doubt that. She loves her knife."

"Yet if we make them long enough to be practical against the Ophie, they'd be too heavy."

"How much steel would you need to make a real sword?"

"A few kilograms, why? What have you been up to?" It hadn't escaped his notice that Merrie had secreted several kilograms of raw ore.

"I made a small furnace and I've set everything up. I just need help running it," she said.

"Does Merik know?"

"Yes… No… I'm not sure. Besides, he's always saying I need to be more self-reliant."

"You're either a genius or a crazy person," Amon said. "And I don't know the first thing about using steel."

"Yes you do. It's a lot like your work with iron. Look," Merrie handed him the engineering pad. It was one of the few remaining working computerized pads in the settlement, having been handed down from Ozzie to Merrie.

"You shouldn't have this outside," Amon said.

"It wouldn't be if you'd come over to the lab," she said.

Amon looked at his nearly healed leg, still in a cast. Merrie followed his eyes and smiled impishly as if to suggest she'd simply forgotten about his injury.

Merrie leaned over and started a video showing an ancient smith. Amon watched in rapt attention as the smith formed, flattened and folded raw steel repeatedly until, as he explained, it was as strong as it could possibly be. After that, the man shaped it and drew a fuller down the center of the sword, creating a ridge of steel. He spent almost as much time polishing and sharpening. In the end, he'd created a magnificent looking blade, which he demonstrated was capable of cutting through just about anything.

"That folding technique is different, but the rest looks familiar," Amon said.

"See. You already have all of the tools and skills, you just need upgraded materials," she said.

"What do you need from me?"

"The furnace has to be tended. Here. I've created a schedule." She handed him the engineering tablet. On the screen was a long list of instructions that would easily take six or seven hours to complete.

"I'll help, but on one condition," he said.

"Name it."

"You have to transcribe these instructions to paper. I'll not be responsible for damaging this pad. Tell me, how many other inventions are there like this that we've been too proud to look for?"

"Elder Blaken says pride goes before a fall."

"And a haughty spirit before destruction. Merrie, we cannot let our people fall due to ignorance."

"When can you help?"

"Mother is installing the new hinges tomorrow. I might not be able to do much, but she wants me there to direct people."

"What are you doing tonight around 0100?"

"Sleeping?"

"Perfect. I'll let you sleep and wake you when I need help. Guarantee, we'll be done by 0700."

"Where is this furnace of yours?" Amon asked.

"North wall, in the old tannery."

"That place is falling down, you should be careful in there."

"Agreed. But it's filled with bricks and I needed those for the furnace. "

Amon felt a long story coming and needed to head it off. He enjoyed Merrie's company, but he had work to complete. "Fine. 0100 it is. You better go and don't bring that tablet tonight."

She gave Amon a quick hug and ran off. The lingering smell of light perfume caught him off guard. He sighed, wondering what he'd gotten himself into. Merrie was an enigma, full of energy and smart as they came. The perfume, though, that was new.

He hobbled around the smithy and helped Nurit clean up. She'd been polishing gate hinges, while he'd spent the day hammering out a new batch of knives.

"What did Merrie want? You two have sure been spending a lot of time together," Nurit said.

"She's working on a project and is looking for help."

"Still on about that steel furnace? I thought Merik said the council wasn't interested."

"I hadn't heard that. But yes, she's working on a miniature version."

"As long as it doesn't interfere with your work. She's a beautiful young lady and smarter by a meter than most. I'm surprised some lad hasn't caught her eye."

"She intimidates the available men," Amon admitted.

"Not all of them." Nurit smiled.

Amon ignored his mother. "I'm going to help her run a batch tonight. I won't be back until 0700."

"Don't be late, we'll want everyone there."

It was 1230 when Merrie rapped on the window to Amon's bedroom. He woke easily and found his mother sitting in the common room that joined the two bedrooms.

"Be careful tonight and take two sets of the leathers with you," she said, setting down the book she'd been reading.

"I'll see you at the gate in a few hours."

"Amon, tell Merrie I hope her furnace works."

"I will. She'd appreciate knowing you feel that way."

Amon exited the living space into the smithy, grabbed leather aprons and long sleeved gloves and met Merrie on the darkened, cobblestone street.

"Who were you talking to?" Merrie asked.

"Mom."

"What did you tell her?" Merrie asked.

"That we were going to the tannery to run a load through your furnace?" Amon said, making it sound like a question.

"You told her that? What did she say? I thought she hated the idea."

"She said she hopes it works."

"So, she doesn't think it'll work?"

"No, you silly squirmunk. She says the council doesn't like to use the maker-machine for stuff they don't understand. She also thinks you're about the smartest girl she's ever met."

"Hmm."

"What are we in for tonight?" Amon asked, looking to change the subject.

"It isn't very complex. I ground up the hematite boulder you brought back from Ozzie's last trip, sort of a tribute."

"I like that," Amon said.

"When we get there, you'll see another pile. It's partially burned coal coke, like you use in your forging fire," she continued. "We'll stack the coke in layers with the hematite in the furnace."

"Is that it? We just light it up?"

"No. There's a whole process that I'll explain as we go. We'll be busy the entire time," she explained as they entered the old tannery.

Along the back wall of the abandoned building, Amon saw the two meter tall brick furnace Merrie had recently constructed. A narrow hearth at the front was covered by a thick iron plate and a tube protruded from one side. As promised, the piles of hematite and coal sat neatly behind the furnace with a ladder between them.

"It's called a Tatara Furnace. What do you think?"

"You've been really busy. What's that tube?" Amon asked.

"Oxygen supply. There's a fan on the end so we can control the temperature."

"Does Merik know you're doing this?"

"Yes. He caught me borrowing tools and equipment."

"What does he think?"

"He said he was glad I was coming up with my own ideas and chasing them down. However, I'm not sure if he thinks we'll be successful or just wants me out of his hair."

"Is he really short on work? I thought he had more work than he could get done," Amon said.

"He does, but he also thinks we're stuck in our ways and that we need to be trying new things."

"I can see that, but it's hard to explore new ideas when you're busy. I'd think Merik would be really worried about getting things done with Ozzie gone."

"Ozzie's death shook him up. No matter what's going on, Merik has always insisted I spend at least two days each tenday doing my own projects. But, when I showed him this idea, he gave me take the entire tenday to work on it."

"That's different. So, what do I need to do?"

"Scoop hematite ore. The idea is to get carbon out of the coke and into the iron. You'll shovel two scoops hematite, I'll shovel coke on top of that and we'll alternate all the way to the top of the oven. As it heats, it'll slump down and we'll keep adding material in alternating layers until we run out. I think we have four hours of material, but it's my first time so I'm not sure."

***

"I thought you were going to let me sleep," Amon complained. After a long five and a half hours, they'd just run out of hematite.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't want to stop while we still had material. You'll thank me later?" Merrie said.

Amon chuckled, slumping to the ground next to her.

"When will it be finished?" he asked.

"I'll monitor the heat until we burn the entire thing out and I'll keep swiping the dross off. I hope Merik won't be too annoyed. I won't be able to help with the gates for at least two more hours."