Conspirator

“You must be doing it wrong, nandi-ji,” Jegari said.

“There is a way to go upwind,” he said. “One is just having a little difficulty.”

“Nandi,” Antaro said, “I have lost an oar off the side.”

“We do still have the other, however,” Jegari said.

“I am going to try going fast, and then turning,” he said. “Maybe we need more speed.”

“Shall I row?” Jegari asked.

“The wind will take us,” Cajeiri said, and turned the bow. The tiller took hold again as the boat gathered speed. More and more speed, as the wind gusted and strained the sail.

“Surely this is fast enough,” Jegari said.

He thought it was, too: the ropes were singing, the way Toby’s big boat could sing when the wind was behind it. He turned, keeping tight control of the boom. But the wind hit the sail, and all that speed faded, so that they were no longer going forward. They had turned, in fact, halfway too far, and the water was even going backward relative to the boat.

Or they were going backward.

“Damn!” he said, one of Bren’s words.

“Are we in trouble, nandi?” Antaro asked.

“I think we are in trouble,” he said. “Jegari, one greatly regrets it, but we need to row: you need to get into the bow and row one side and the other so we do not go in a circle. I shall steer.”

“I shall try, nandi.”

By now nand’ Toby’s boat was much farther away. Worse, nand’ Bren’s boat and the dock looked quite small now.

“The water is all moving,” Jegari said from the stern. “Nandi, one is rowing hard, but the water is taking us with it.”

“Row!” he said to Antaro. “Help Jegari!”

He held to the tiller and tried it this way and that, but it made very little difference—more, when they went sideways in respect to nand’ Toby’s boat; and he began to think that things were getting worse and that if they could steer in any direction at all, they should go that way, so he did, or tried to, but mostly they were going crooked, because of there being only one oar.

They were in serious trouble.

“I am going to try to gather speed again!” he cried. “Give up rowing! I ca

“Do so, nandi!” Jegari cried, and the two of them settled themselves again, tipping the boat this way and that, and then he brought the bow around and hauled hard on the rope, so that the wind caught them.

At some point, when he had the most speed, they had to turn, and they did. They were closer, now, to the opening of the bay, and in front of them, there was no land.

He turned. He did his best. But it was like magic. Even though the wind was pushing them straight ahead, something else was going on with the boat, and they were moving sideways, too.

Ahead was all blue sky and gray water and it just went on and on, out where the shoreline quit.

That was the sea out there. And they were moving toward it.

Something was very wrong with everything he had read about boats. Something was very, very wrong.

Barb was crying again, and the door had the security lock thrown, which meant Toby was locked out in the suite’s sitting room, and not happy about it. He’d gotten mad enough to hit the door—so Algini said—and Barb had shouted back at him that, Jago’s report, accurately rendered in Mosphei’, he should go to hell.

That was just tolerably lovely, was it not?

But it was useless sorting it out at this point. There was weather moving in, so the report wasc it was going to shorten their fishing trip as was, they were missing the tide; and Bren sighed and asked himself whether he should not just leave the situation, take all his staff with him, and go keep his promise to the youngsters, leaving Toby and Barb to scream at each other in front of the servants.

Damn it all, they still might have to get Toby to the plane. Or Barb, if things went on as they were going, and that relationship foundered. He’d happily buy the one-way ticket.

And hell, Bren said to himself, and when he had that last report from Jago, that was enough. They’d wasted enough time. He knocked on Toby’s door—Toby had the outer door locked, and, with Toby not answering, he hailed him aloud, then indecorously, and in front of at least one embarrassed servant, declared his business from outsidethe door.

“Toby? It’s Bren. Do you hear me?”

Silence.

“Look, Toby. I have the aiji’s son, who is in my care, to whom I have made certain promises and I have responsibility for his welfare. Let her stew. Just let it go. Weather’s turning. We’ve already lost time. If we need to get you to the mainland we can do that. We can get you to the airport, if we need to.”

Silence.

“At least answer me, Toby, dammit. I don’t like to conduct business through the door.”

He heard steps, finally, approaching the door.

“Sorry,” Toby said icily, from the other side.

“Look. Just let her blow. I know this mode, forgive me. She’ll have her temper. It’ll run its course.”

“Don’t tell mewhat she’s like! I know her better than you ever did.”

“Fine. I’m sure you do. And ifyou do, get your coat and come on and let’s go fishing for a few hours until the weather turns. My staff can manage. We can put back in tonight and pick her up and she’ll be fine, whole thing forgotten.”

“No.”

“Toby.”

“Don’t tell me how to handle this! I’ve got a kid in the hospital and Barb’s throwing a fit. You’ve got the aiji’s son in your care. I understand. Just go ahead, take the boat out, I’ll get Barb back on this planet, we’ll talk it out, and we’ll all be fine. See you when you get back.”

“Got it,” he said, unhappy—deeply unhappy. He moved away from the door, addressed one of the staff, who had stood by worriedly during that exchange. “Kindly advise the aiji’s son that we are finally ready to leave, nadi-ji. Just that.”

“Yes, nandi.”

He went to his own quarters, back to his bodyguard, to advise them they were finally going, without Toby and Barb. He asked himself whether he ought to trust Toby to keep Barb out of trouble or whether he ought to deprive Tano and Algini yet again of what ought to be a pleasurable outing, to stay behind and keep track of his houseguests.

Hell, no, he said to himself as he passed the door. His staff deserved a little relaxation, and Barb’s vicinityc

He didn’t quite close the door. He heard ru

This one did. And bowed, distressedly, out of breath. “Nandi. No one is there.”

“The young lord, and his companions?”

“We have no idea where they are, nandi. But no one remembers seeing them out and about since breakfast.”

“Go down to the dock, nadi-ji. Immediately. Find them and tell them stay where they are. We shall be right down.” He didn’t panic, he calmed himself with the expectation that, yes, bored youngsters had found a way out of the house, had escaped adult notice, and simply gone down to the dock to wait for the promised trip. All that was safe to do, perfectly safe.

The question was how long they had been waiting. Cajeiri’s capacity for tedium was very, very small.

He went immediately to his bodyguard’s room—they were set up with sound equipment over by the wall—“Nadiin-ji, the young gentleman has gotten bored and gone to the dock.”

Banichi, Jago, and Tano immediately stood up, and Banichi headed for the door without a word said. Algini removed his earpiece and laid it down, then got up.

“Nand’ Toby and his lady are still arguing,” Algini said.

“Let them,” he said. Algini wasn’t fluent in Mosphei’, that Algini had ever let on. Jago was the one who could interpret. Or deliver an emergency message to his brother. Hell with it, he thought. Toby was no help at the moment, having his mind on his fight with Barb. Let Toby worry about himthis round. “We shall just go down to the boat, and if the young gentleman is ready, we shall leave on the last of the tide.”