Chapter 631: Three Hours to Horror |
“Which brings us to the first problem,” Triss said.
“And that would be?” Luke asked.
“The entrances into the city are limited. Every minute we waste here reduces the number of openings still available.”
“What do you mean limited?” Layla asked. “Limited how?”
“Once a ship passes through one of the entrances, that entry seals itself a few minutes later,” Triss said. “And it never opens again.”
“I see,” Eleanor said. “That alone would not be enough to stop us if they all closed, but then we’d have to scale the wall and move through the city without a ship.”
“Exactly,” Randall said. “But trust me, we do not want to move around in there without the protection of a ship. That city is haunted. The stories I’ve heard about it are enough to make the hair I don’t even have stand on end.”
“What’s the next problem?” Luke asked.
“Marine Artifacts. The last Beacon took almost everything my crew and I had..”
“This one is ten per group again, but my crew and I do not have fifty artifacts,” Triss replied.
“It should be possible to find them inside the city, right? The place is much bigger than the Citadel,” Luke said.
“Marten confirmed there are artifacts in there,” Triss said. “So I can deal with that part. I’m guessing you also don’t have enough. On the way to this challenge, almost every artifact out there got picked clean.”
“We have eight,” Luke said.
At another time, he might have hidden the number. But now he needed to be honest.
“Looks like we all share that problem,” Triss said.
They planned together how they would handle it. Triss had twenty-three artifacts. She still needed twenty-seven more.
“The third problem,” Triss said, “is that we need to be willing to lose our ships.”
Then she explained why they would be taking two ships.
“Now it makes sense,” Luke said.
Once everyone entered the Beacon, the ships would be left outside, exposed. The odds of losing them were high, whether to thieves or to monsters.
“Marten agreed to enter the city,” Triss said, “but not with his own ship. He’ll switch over to ours once we get close to an entrance. That’s the deal. He gives us information, shows us what he knows about the city, and in exchange he gets a ride on our ship.”
“And keeps his own safe,” Eleanor said. “Good plan.”
“I’m willing to let you do the same,” Triss said. “I’ll give you passage on my ship. In return, I need help collecting artifacts inside the city... or you can take the information I’ve given you and go in on your own ship.”
But risking the ship they had was dangerous.
***
The ship had left the island behind and was now sailing toward the ghost city. Luke had called Stephen into his improvised lab in the captain’s cabin. They were not leaving their ship behind on the island. The group had decided to head for the city aboard their own vessel.
The reason was simple. They did not want to leave the ship exposed to theft, and beyond that, there would have been too many conflicting interests. Three separate groups trying to operate off a single ship was asking for trouble. They would have been at the mercy of majority decisions, and if the number of Beacons ended up reduced, the ship’s owner would obviously prioritize his own people. On top of that, they would have been forced to follow Triss’s route, and sooner or later disagreements over direction were bound to happen.
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“We’ll meet Marten’s ship near the city, Dad. You can head back to the island with him after that. That’s what his ship is doing,” Jack said.
Stephen agreed, and in the meantime helped Luke clear up a few doubts about potions.
“So you grow your own plants. Interesting,” Stephen said.
“And you didn’t?”
“I leaned more toward the chemical side of things, but sure, I had my own little crop of... mushrooms at home,” Stephen said.
“I never saw any kind of crop in your house,” Jack said.
“It was hidden, Jack. I wasn’t about to let my son get near drugs. I’m irresponsible, sure, but even I have limits.”
“For drugs to still affect your body at your rank, they had to be strong,” Luke said. “And the effects stayed in your system for a long time. How were you able to make something that potent?”
“See your friend there, Jack? You should be more like him. So young, and already curious about becoming a dealer.”
“I’m interested in how it behaves inside the body so I can improve my potions,” Luke said.
“In the end, the narcotic owns you either way,” Stephen replied.
Luke kept picking up tips from him.
“You don’t have many potion containers,” Stephen said.
“I bought a large order in Camlann, but the world ended before it arrived,” Luke answered.
Stephen touched a bucket of water, sank his hand into it, and pulled out a potion flask.
“How did you do that?” Luke asked, watching the man reach into the bucket and keep pulling out potion bottles. By the time he was done, the bucket was dry.
“I’m an alchemist, young dealer. I transmuted the water into glass and shaped it into flasks for you,” Stephen said, handing one over. “One hand washes the other. You’re going to help me germinate my special seeds.”
Just like that, Luke had a new batch of flasks.
“That is a profession skill I’d kill to have.”
“Alchemists need their own way of making flasks. We break too many in a day. Buying them all would bankrupt us,” Stephen said.
“Hey, Stephen, can you tell me your stories about prostitutes?” Artemis asked. “Also, how exactly does one marry one in Vegas?”
“That part’s easy, in Vegas...” Stephen started, then stopped when he glanced to the side and saw Jack staring at him with visible disapproval.
“I’m sorry, Jack,” Stephen said.
“Thank you, Father. If you don’t care about your own dignity, at least respect my friend’s. He doesn’t want to hear about prostitutes and Vegas.”
“We absolutely do,” Artemis said.
“She doesn’t count,” Jack replied.
“I’ll help with your seeds, Mr. Harper,” Luke said. “In return, can you tell me what was supposed to happen to your character on the show? He just vanished, and then they replaced you in the story.”
“A mistake,” Stephen said.
“I agree,” Luke replied.
“We’ve got three hours before we get there. That’s enough time for you to learn something from me. Let’s make some proper liquor together. We’ve got more than enough ingredients.”
“You said you were in rehab the last time we saw each other, Dad,” Jack said.
“Jack, gasoline is fuel for cars. Alcohol is fuel for actors,” Stephen said.
Luke started gathering empty potion bottles.
***
A thin veil of mist hung over the water when they reached the other ship. Triss’s vessel drew alongside.
“It’s Marten,” Doug called over to Luke’s ship.
Marten boarded Triss’s ship. Luke and Eleanor did the same, leaving the rest of their group behind on their own vessel.
“I almost had my archer put an arrow through the two of you. You came in with another ship, Triss,” Marten said.
“I ran into an acquaintance. Like us, he wants to get into that cursed place,” she replied.
Marten extended a hand toward Luke and Eleanor.
“Marten Sheridan, at your service,” he said to Eleanor, putting on the manner of a knight about to kiss a lady’s hand.
Eleanor pulled her hand back.
“Eleanor,” she said flatly.
“I was only trying to be polite,” he said, then turned to Triss. “Now then, let’s discuss what fools we are for walking into a place where most people vanish and die.”
The meeting had begun. The man wore simple dark clothes, but a red rose was pinned to his shirt. At his waist hung a revolver.
“Gunslinger...” Luke said.
“Yeah. That I am,” Marten replied.
They started asking questions, pooling everything they knew.
“You really made it through one of the entrances?” Marten asked.
“Yes. It’s to the northwest. We know how to get there,” Eleanor said.
“The fog around that place makes those waters hell to navigate. Finding an entrance isn’t easy,” he said.
“How do you know so much about the city?” Luke asked.
“Because I’ve been there before,” Marten said. “And I made it back out. Not without losing a ship and some men.”