Prisoner's Hope (The Seafort Saga Book 3) Page 19

  “You mean the Captain’s tired.”

  Alexi helped me to the fallen log, where I dropped with a sigh. “Enough bickering! Ten minutes.”

  Alexi eyed me dubiously.

  The rest of the morning was lost in a haze of misery. We halted again, twice at Alexi’s suggestion and once, reluctantly, at my own. At length we reached a rocky terrain, open land that burst from the vast sea of vegetation stretching from Plantation Road south to the sea. Walking was easier here, though now we had to traverse hills that only looked gentle from afar.

  A mile ahead the forest resumed.

  “Let’s stop for lunch,” I said.

  “We haven’t gone five miles,” Tolliver objected. “Even if we walk another five before dark, at this rate we’ll be three days reaching the road.”

  I grunted. “We’ll do better this afternoon. Break out the Q-rations.” The speech left me panting.

  He dropped his bundle, untied it. “I could set up the tent, sir. Would you wait here with Mr. Tamarov and the radio while I go for help?”

  I was tempted. “No,” I said at last. “Better we stick together.”

  “You’re not able—”

  “Until we know what’s happened at Centraltown we won’t split up.” I downed the cup of water Alexi gave me.

  A few moments later Tolliver popped the lid of a Q-ration and set it on the log in front of me. I waited while air seeped into the slow-release chemicals packed between the inner and outer wrap. Two minutes later the meal was heated; I peeled off the lid and fell to.

  Alexi squatted beside me with a troubled mien. “Mr. Seafort, are you sure about going on?”

  I nodded. “I have to get back, find what they want me to do.”

  He whispered, “Mr. Tolliver—I don’t know how to...I wish he’d leave you alone.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” The day a Captain couldn’t handle a middy he’d better look to retirement.

  A few minutes later I struggled to my feet. We started out slowly, Alexi and Tolliver carrying the supply packs as before. When I’d bent to take one, Alexi snatched it from under my hand and turned away without a word, adjusting it around his shoulder. I let it be.

  When dark finally came I was close to collapse, sweat streaming down my face. I overrode their suggestions—by now even Tolliver was anxious for me to rest—and insisted that we go a bit farther by flashlight. We did so, ducking under the persistent boughs. We finally came upon a glade with enough open space to set up the tent, where only tall grasses impeded our efforts. I tried to help; Tolliver asked me curtly to get out of the way and let them finish. After, I forced down a tin of rations and fell on my bed.

  In the dim light of morning Tolliver did his best to dress quietly, but I woke anyway. I sat, fumbled with my shirt, and got to my knees. I waited until Tolliver left the tent before I tried to stand.

  I hung on to the tent pole until I was sure my legs had stopped trembling, then thrust aside the flap and went outside. A heavy mist lay about; the ground was cold and damp.

  “Coffee, sir?” Tolliver’s tone was civil.

  “Please.” I sat on a rock that protruded through the grasses. I inhaled the aroma of the steaming cup.

  “Shall I wake Mr. Tamarov?”

  The thought of another day’s walk curdled my stomach. “Yes, you’d better.” I sipped at my coffee, marshaling my reserves for the day’s ordeal.

  A few moments later Alexi crouched beside me, cup in hand. He studied my face. “Are you feverish?”

  “I’m fine.” The claim sounded absurd, even to me.

  “You can’t make it through another day like yesterday.”

  “I’ll be all right.” I watched Tolliver dismantle the tent.

  “It took you two minutes to stand up this mor—”

  “Alexi, don’t argue!”

  He blanched. “I—I’m sorry.” He hurried to help Tolliver.

  I labored for two hours, leaning on Alexi, then on Tolliver, wretched in the drizzle that had begun soon after we left the clearing. When I stopped to catch my breath I was beset by a fit of coughing that swelled until it tore at my chest and throat. When the mists cleared I found myself on my knees, hanging on to a low branch.

  “We’ll have to carry him.” Tolliver’s voice was flat.

  “Can we rig a stretcher?”

  “I’ll see what I can find in our gear.”

  I hadn’t the breath to object. I slumped against the bough while Tolliver pulled tent poles from his bundles and tied the poly-mil tent fabric across them.

  “Help him onto it, Mr. Tamarov.”

  “I’m all—”

  “You’d better get in, Mr. Seafort.” Alexi held my eye until I nodded reluctantly. Arm across his shoulder, I tottered to the makeshift litter. I lay on my back, cold and wet; Alexi folded my jacket under my head as a pillow. I grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry.”

  He smiled hesitantly. “We can carry you.”

  “About barking at you this morning.”

  He shrugged. I searched his face for rebuke, found only worry.

  “Alexi, walk out with Tolliver. Leave me and get help.”

  “No.” He nodded to Tolliver, picked up his end of the stretcher. I turned away, ashamed.

  Eventually I slept; when I woke I was lying on the ground. Alexi sat nearby. I swallowed; my throat was raw. “Where’s Tolliver?”

  Alexi looked up, studied my face. “We found a stream. He’s refilling our water bottles.”

  “Help me sit.” He did so. “I can walk.”

  “Please don’t try, Mr. Seafort.”

  “You can’t go on carrying me.”

  “It’s not so hard.” He looked at his hands. “A few blisters, but I can live with those.” He shook his head to still my objection. “It’s easier, now that we’ve dumped most of the supplies. All we’ve got is the radio, another night’s Q-rations, and the water.”

  I stirred angrily. “Who decided that?”

  “Mr. Tolliver suggested it, and I agreed.” He chewed his lip. “I don’t know who’s in charge. You’re sick, I can’t remember a thing, and he’s just a middy.”

  I smiled weakly. “A mess. I’m in charge, unless he tries to relieve me.”

  The voice came from behind my head. “I’ve considered it.” I turned. Tolliver stared down, a water bottle in each arm.

  “I wouldn’t try, Midshipman.” My tone was cold.

  A twisted smile. “I will, if you become incoherent. Not before.” I wondered if it was a threat.

  Alexi cleared his throat. “Please stop, both of you.” His glance appealed from one to the other. “We’re wasting daylight.”

  Tolliver grunted, handed Alexi one of the water bottles. He stooped to his end of the litter. “Come on, then.”

  Gripping the sides of the litter, I watched the leafy canopy drift overhead. I closed my eyes; when next I opened them the gray sky had begun to darken. Half dreaming, I tried to focus on the trees and shrubs floating past my head.

  “We’d better quit soon,” Alexi panted.

  “Not yet.” Tolliver, at the front of the litter, trudged on, eyes down.

  “Then I’ve got to rewrap my hand.”

  Tolliver swore under his breath as he lowered the litter. “Hurry up.” He waited impatiently while Alexi retied the handkerchief around his palm. Tolliver’s eyes drifted down to mine. “We’ve got only an hour of daylight left, and I don’t think we made our ten miles. If we can’t reach the road tomorrow, we may not have strength to carry you.”

  “Tomorrow I’ll walk awhile.”

  “Don’t make me laugh.” He turned away in disgust.

  When next I woke, a fire crackled nearby. Alexi lay on his air mattress, jacket thrown over his shoulders. His breathing was slow and regular. Tolliver, in shirtsleeves, huddled on the far side of the firepit, hands thrust between his legs for warmth. I adjusted my jacket, lay for a while, slept again.

  Alexi shook me gently. “Would you like some coffee before
we start?”

  I nodded, blinking in the early light, watching Alexi busy himself with the pot. The night chill was still on us; I pulled my jacket over my shoulders and adjusted it across my feet. A moment later I struggled to sit, aware that my jacket couldn’t possibly cover both my feet and arms. I sorted out my covers.

  “It’s mine.” Tolliver stared down at me.

  “How did it—who—?”

  “You needed warmth.”

  The image of Edgar Tolliver huddling next to the fire, bare-shirted in the cold night air, caused me to redden in mortification. “Thank you,” I said gruffly.

  He smiled briefly. “At Academy I learned to give my all, not my clothes.”

  “I’m surprised you care if I live.”

  His tone was sardonic. “I’d be called before a Board of Inquiry if you didn’t.”

  While they sorted the gear I managed to get to my feet unaided, and went into the brush to relieve myself. When I got back to the clearing I had no objection to using the litter. As they readied themselves I keyed the radio. Orbit Station didn’t answer. Neither did Centraltown.

  I clutched the stretcher while they swung me into position. “How much farther, do you think?”

  Tolliver shrugged. “Who knows? The road is somewhere ahead. Five miles? Fifteen?”

  Alexi said, “We’ve had no dinner, no breakfast. Our next meal will see the last of our Q-rations.”

  “Then hope we find the road.” Tolliver.

  When we finally stopped to rest Alexi sat, rocking, hand clutched between his knees.

  “Let me see.”

  “I’m all right.”

  “Do as I say.” My tone brooked no argument. Reluctantly he extended his hand, unwrapping the cloth. Red and swollen, his fingers oozed where the blisters had broken.

  “Lord God.” I rolled myself off the litter.

  Tolliver tossed aside his empty Q-ration. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “I’ll walk.”

  “You’re weak as a kitten.”

  “It’s just bronchitis. I’ll manage.”

  He stood. “Seafort, sometimes you’re an idiot.”

  I rolled to my knees, tried not to stagger as I got to my feet. “Three demerits!”

  “Shove your demerits up your arse!” He faced me, hands on hips. “You can’t walk! If you try, none of us will make it. And if we do, what will we find? Maybe the Navy’s gone with the rest of Centraltown. Do you think I give a damn about your frazzing demerits?”

  I moved toward him, legs unsteady. “And duty?” I panted. “Your oath? Honor?”

  His fists clenched. “I’m trying to get you out of here alive! If that isn’t duty, what is?” His words hissed. “You destroyed me, Seafort! I should have let you execute me. I have no career, no future, and I’m still trying to save you!” His voice caught, and he spun away. “Let me be, damn you!”

  After a moment I said softly, “Leave the litter behind. Our jackets too, and everything but the water and the radio. I’ll lean against each of you in turn. We’ll walk until we reach the road. If I can’t make it, I’ll have you go on ahead.”

  Tolliver nodded, unable to speak.

  “My hand’s not that—”

  “I’ll lean on you, Alexi. Don’t argue, save your strength.”

  To my shame, I hadn’t strength to walk, even leaning heavily on Alexi. So, arms draped across their shoulders, I let them half carry, half drag me through the brush, forcing my feet to cooperate, working to ease their load. My lungs labored but I was determined not to stop. In any event, I wasn’t sure I had the breath to call for a rest.

  The sun moved inexorably to the horizon. Our stops became more frequent. Afraid I couldn’t stand again if I sat, I sagged against a tree, my legs stiffened to keep from falling.

  Alexi was disconsolate. “It’ll be dark soon.”

  I managed to speak. “Keep going.”

  “We can’t walk all—”

  “There’ll be moonlight. We’ll keep on until we get to the road or...” I left the thought unfinished.

  My bravura faded with the light. As darkness came I stumbled more frequently, supported only by the determination of my comrades. At length I signaled a halt. “Water.” It came out a croak. Greedily I poured the life-giving liquid down my throat until I drained the bottle. “Where’s the other canteen? Alexi, aren’t you thirsty?”

  Tolliver’s face glistened in the light of Hope Nation’s two moons. “We finished it a long time ago.”

  “Christ, I’m sorry.” I hadn’t thought to offer them a drop.

  “Maybe there’ll be another stream,” he said. And maybe not. I balled my fists, cursing my selfishness. Their strength, not mine, was our hope.

  “We’d better get going.” Alexi’s voice was strained.

  For the next hour we struggled through unrelenting brush. Hacking coughs reduced me to helplessness. I began to watch for an open space for them to leave me.

  By now, they carried most of my weight; I clung to their shoulders with failing strength. Giving up any effort to walk restored a modicum of energy, and with it clarity of thought. I said carefully, “I’ll rest when we find a clearing.” I winced as thorns raked my side.

  “I’ll stay with you.”

  “No. Go with Tolliver. Bring help.”

  Alexi shook his head.

  “You will. Tolliver, this is an order.” I stopped to suck for air. “When we find a clearing you go on with Alexi. Try to mark the trail. Get help. Acknowledge.”

  Tolliver was breathing hard. “Aye aye, sir, acknowledged.”

  “I won’t leave you!” Alexi’s voice held a note of desperation.

  “Alexi...my father. He’s in Cardiff. Wales. I want you to give him a message.”

  “He’s delirious.”

  “Shut up, Tolliver.” I panted. “Tell him—”

  “I won’t be seeing your father, Mr. Seafort. Not until you take me there.”

  I fought to remain calm. “I want you to tell Father...”

  Finally Alexi’s voice came, hesitant. “What?”

  I thought for a long time, fighting exhaustion. At length I said, “Tell him...I tried.”

  Alexi bit off a moan. I swallowed, seeking a peace that eluded me. No matter. I had to reach a clearing, force him to leave before he changed his mind. It was the last gift I could offer.

  I swallowed, and was overcome by a fit of coughing. Alexi and Tolliver waited for me to recover. By great effort I brought my breathing under control. We staggered on. Our eyes were accustomed to the pale reflections of Major and Minor; we thrust through remorseless tangles of undergrowth. Beyond, the light seemed brighter. I lunged at it, my heart jumping. Yes, definitely more moonlight ahead. A clearing, or what would suffice. An excuse to send them on their way.

  I gasped, “I’ll sit there, where it’s light.”

  “Let me stay,” Alexi said plaintively.

  “No.” A croak.

  “I’m nothing without you, don’t you understand? You have my memories!”

  My hand clutched at his arm, exacting his submission. “Get to Cardiff for me. You must.” The low branches gave way to heavy brush and shoulder-high grass. We were in the clearing. A hundred feet ahead dark trees loomed again in the moonlight. “Set me down.”

  Tolliver said, “We’ll lean you against that tree.”

  A few more steps. Surely I could manage that. “All right.” I let them carry me toward the trees. The grasses parted, and the terrain plunged into a culvert.

  Beyond was Plantation Road.

  12

  I LAY SHIVERING IN the night air, my head in Alexi’s lap. We talked, voices low, while Tolliver crouched by the roadside near his flimsy barricade of dead branches and brush. My breathing consumed more and more effort. Alexi wiped my head with his bandaged hand; Annie brought me a cool compress. I shoved her away; she held my arm down, wiped my brow. “You real sick now, Nicky. We be tak’n care of you.”

  “I de
serted you.”

  “It don’ matter. We work it out nudder time. You be still.” She bent over, kissed my cheek. Alexi squeezed my hand.

  Dark. Dreams. The endless shadow of Lord God’s disfavor. Chest heaving, I drifted from my friends, toward night.

  “How is he?”

  “I don’t know. Sleeping, maybe. Christ, why doesn’t someone come?”

  “Don’t blaspheme,” I whispered.

  A moment’s pause. “I’m sorry, Mr. Seafort.”

  “Very well.”

  I slept.

  Sometime later I woke to a bright light shining in my face. I twisted away, but the roadside skewed dizzily and I lay still.

  “There’s room for him behind the cab.”

  “Pick him up, he’s in no condition to help.”

  “Of course I am,” I mumbled, but got no answer. After a time I found myself stretched out behind the driver’s seat of the hauler. It resembled a middy’s bunk. I giggled.

  I woke to full daylight, on clean sheets, in a soft bed, and breathing through a mask that blocked my vision. Sarah Branstead looked up from a holo. “You’re back.”

  I considered it. “You’re a hallucination.” My voice was muffled.

  She smiled. “I don’t think so.”

  I reached for the mask. She caught my hand. “Don’t. Dr. Avery has you on vapormeds and you need every drop.”

  I studied her. “This is real?”

  She laughed. “Yes. Your young friend told me you were talking with someone else at times.”

  “Annie.”

  “Your wife?”

  “She’s in Centraltown.” With horror I struggled to sit up, fell back against the pillows. “What happened? Is she all right?”

  “A great meteor hit near Centraltown. Horrid casualties. They think the fish dropped it.”

  Lord God, no.

  I felt my pulse pounding. “What’s the matter with me?”

  “Pneumonia. We almost lost you last night.”

  Father. Cardiff. I looked away. “My lieu—Alexi. How is he?”

  “He’s in the kitchen with Elena, eating for both of you. He’ll be back shortly.”

  Thank you, Lord.

  “And your Mr. Tolliver is asleep upstairs.” A soft knock at the door; she beckoned someone in.

  The boy sounded shy. “Hello, Captain Seafort.” He approached the bed.