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By the light he could see five more ships sliding out of the slots in the lip of the shelf. The enemy was attempting to get every vessel out before they all burned. Doubtless the air was swarming with small boats also trying to escape.
At that moment the other Zalarapamtran ships were illumined by the increasing flames. They were coming down swiftly, and they were being steered toward the outer parts of the city. A few minutes passed and then new fires broke ouf on their trail. They had dropped firebombs on the periphery.
Suddenly one of the Booragangahn ships leaving the dock began to burn. A Zalarapamtran had sailed above it and dropped a firebomb on it. The ship continued on out from the city, as the flaming vessel dropped and then broke in two and the two parts fell together down the face of the mountain.
Namalee suddenly gripped Ishmael's arm and pointed to starboard. Ishmael looked and saw ten tiny objects in the moonlight.
"They must be Booragangahn whaling ships or warships returning," she said.
"Time to cut and run," he said. "We've done what damage we can to the city." He spoke to the first mate, who transmitted his order. In a short time, a small bladder to which was attached a signal-bomb was released from the Roolanga. Presently the white glow spread out a thousand feet above them. And the vessels above the city turned toward the Roolanga. The Roolanga continued on its course toward the approaching enemy ships. The moonlight was strong enough for Ishmael to see the two dozen warboats released from the ships. These were swift, streamlined vessels, each holding about eight men. They would attempt to intercept and board the Roolanga while the mother ships would attempt to lightly ram her. The business of ramming was a delicate and precarious one, because too heavy an impact would break up both vessels and too light an impact would result in some damage to both but also in the escape of the intended victim. And if the enemy did not succeed in its ramming, the boarders would be at the mercy of the boarded.
Meanwhile, the boats had launched the other harpoons, and these boats were swung inward against the sides of the ship, and the crew cut holes in the skins and climbed through.
The mother ship had dropped also as its antagonist dropped, but it did not fall swiftly enough, and it sailed just above the Roolanga, the bottom of its hull missing the top of the Roolanga's. Its huge rudder did strike against the Roolanga near the bridge and tear out a huge hole in the hull. But at the same time its own rudder was severely damaged.
The Roolanga continued on her course and sailed between two enemy ships which almost collided after missing her. More boats attached themselves to the Roolanga, but the archers aboard shot the boarders, and the survivors scrambled back to their boats. There was no sense in their continuing to fight if the mother ships could not ram the Roolanga.
The enemy vessels turned to sail close-hauled while the Roolanga continued to beat to the wind. Presently, as time and the moon smiled down upon the Zalarapamtrans, the Roolanga turned and ran free. The others of the fleet were strung out behind the flagship for a mile. The enemy ships that had left the city turned again and quartered, but they had little chance of catching the Zalarapamtrans for a long time. The approaching fleet, having signaled the others with their firefly lanterns, changed course to intercept the enemy.
Even though the invaders were more heavily laden, bearing a cargo of firebombs which they had not had a chance to drop, they had a head start. Whether or not they could keep it was up to the fortunes of war and the wind. Ishmael did not give the order to unload the bombs and so enable them to run faster. He thought that the bombs might be used, and he was studying their possibilities.
The night wore on. The moon sank over the western horizon and blackness returned, relieved only by the ru
By then the damages to the hull had been repaired. And the ships had sailed three times through red-brit clouds and scooped up great quantities to increase the galley's stores and to feed the bladder-animals. The additional gas enabled the Zalarapamtran fleet to rise to a height of about twelve miles. The Booragangahns followed suit and then, as they slowly decreased the distance between them and the invaders with agonizing slowness, they also increased their altitude. At the end of the second day, they were about six thousand feet higher than the pursued.
However, since the air was thi
The first mate commented that they would be overtaken before the next sun arose. "I am pla
Poonjakee's prediction was not quite accurate, but it was close enough. The Booragangahns did not catch up with them before the night was ended. An hour after the red sun came up, their lead ship was over the rear ship of the Zalarapamtrans. By then Ishmael had transmitted orders that all his ships should reduce sail so they could sail in side by side. The maneuver was executed swiftly enough, but the line was more ragged than he wished.
A moment after the ships had gotten into the formation ordered, and just after the enemy flagship was above its chosen antagonist, Ishmael got word of a new development.
The sailor who reported was scared. Not because of the impending battle, however, but because of what he saw dead ahead.
Ishmael turned and saw the vast purplish mass floating many miles ahead.
"That is the Purple Beast of the Stinging Death?" he said. "You are sure?"
"That is it," Namalee said, speaking for the sailor. She too was wide-eyed and pale-ski
That the enemy had also seen it was evident. The flagship abandoned its position above the other ship and retreated, reducing sail to do so.
"It is probably the Beast that killed my people," Namalee said.
She was guessing, but the creature could well be the same one. They were extremely rare, fortunately for humankind, and they did not move swiftly, if the lore of the Zalarapamtrans could be trusted. They often descended to the ground and fed on the creatures there. This one may have been doing so recently, because it was only about six thousand feet high, though rising.
Ishmael stood for a long time in thought. Poonjakee paced back and forth, looking sidewise at Ishmael and undoubtedly wondering why he did not order a change of course.
"The Booragangahns lured the Beast to Zalarapamtra," Ishmael said. "They were playing a very dangerous game, since the Beast, despite its immense size and weight, can be swift. It can propel itself by means of explosions, you say?"
"Yes, Joognaja," Poonjakee said. "Moreover, the kahamwoodoo can modify parts of its body to act as sails. It is as if it had a thousand and a thousand sails. And if it gets close enough to a ship, its tendrils shoot out and catch onto the ship, and it pulls the ship to it and then the tendrils seize the crew, and..."