BLACK JAGUAR
Chapter One
Kahuel of Yalta
hated boats. He leaned downwind over the bow of the three-mast
Galleon, as it dropped down a deep trough then cut into a
white-capped swell as high as a hillock. The spray drenched his
face. The sails flapped, and the gusty wind swallowed the shouts of
sailors on deck. His breakfast of fish eggs in lard with a mug of
morning kawa welled up his gullet and emptied into the foamy soup
below, leaving a sour taste in his mouth. Blast the Council of
Kassouk for refusing to lend their precious flying machines.
A squeeze on his
shoulder made Kahuel jump and turn.
"Haven’t found
your sea legs, little brother?" The tan, cheery face of Basilk
radiated health, even under such leaden skies. "Not very dignified
for a prince of Yalta."
"I’m big enough to
kick your ass, brother or not. And call me Black Jaguar. You know I
hate pompous titles." Kahuel wiped his mouth with the maroon sleeve
of his coat. "If you came to mock me, I’m not in the mood."
Basilk laughed
good-heartedly, and the wind whipped a strand of dark hair across
his face from under his blue captain’s hat. "Princess Esperana wants
to see us in my cabin, at once."
"Now?" Kahuel
straightened his baldric and sword over his wool coat. "Do I look
presentable?"
"Pale as the main
sail, but still handsome enough to get you in trouble with the
ladies." Basilk chuckled.
Kahuel grunted at
the mention of the very affliction that had sent him sailing to the
other end of the world. "I can’t help it if they flock to me for
favors."
"But apparently
their husbands do mind."
"I changed my
ways. I’m here now."
"I know. And I
admire you for it." Basilk slapped Kahuel’s back. "Better not keep
the high and mighty waiting."
How could Kahuel
stay mad at his big brother? In an effort to regain his good mood,
he made a parody of saluting. "Aye, aye, Captain."
Basilk grinned.
"At ease, sailor."
Kahuel was no
sailor but he relaxed his stance. "Blasted Mutants. You and I have
as much Goddian blood in our veins. Just because they have six
fingers they think they can summon us anytime."
Staggering and
lurching, Kahuel clung to the pin rail as he followed his brother on
a path strewn with coiled ropes, wooden buckets and barrels of
various sizes, sliding in rhythm with the waves. On their way toward
the stern, his brother barked orders to the crew trimming the sails
high in the shrouds. How could they hang on in this wind?
Kahuel stumbled
into a goat that bleated and bolted out of the way. Chickens cackled
and flapped their wings as they cowered in the collar casing at the
base of the main mast. Kahuel wished the roll and pitch would ease,
just long enough for him to recover. No such luck.
"May the Great
Engineer blast all jealous husbands!" he muttered under his breath.
But Kahuel also wanted to prove to his royal family that he was a
reliable, responsible man. At twenty-five, he could handle
anything... except this miserable ocean crossing.
They finally
reached the stern and climbed the ladder to the aftcastle. Basilk
held the door open against the wind while Kahuel entered the crowded
captain’s cabin. With so many inside, it seemed much smaller than
usual. So high in the stern, the movement of the boat made him
lurch. He barely kept his balance in front of the mighty princess,
her guards, and his brother’s officers. How pathetic.
Princess Esperana,
blond flaxen hair falling on each side of her face, sat very stiff
at the round table. Even seated, her height and white silk robes
marked her as a Mutant. She looked thirty or so, but she was well
over a century old.
Kahuel nodded in
greeting. Behind the handsome princess, a half dozen taciturn Mutant
guards in gray armor, Grays for short, stood at attention, six
inches taller than him, and as motionless and austere as the sparse
furniture bolted to the floor.
Princess Esperana
nodded politely. "Captain, Black Jaguar, please sit."
The mention of his
warrior name prompted him to straighten his spine and look as
dignified as he possibly could.
Kahuel and his
brother dropped into swivel chairs around the dark wood table, while
Basilk’s four officers remained standing. Kahuel immediately
regretted sitting down. At least he wouldn’t fall, but his stomach
welled and plunged with each motion of the boat.
After taking a
deep breath, the princess exhaled slowly and her hazel eyes scanned
the eager faces of the Human crew. "I have bad news from Kassouk."
"Tell us."
Basilk’s eyes narrowed.
Kahuel didn’t
trust the Mutants either.
"This unexpected
storm is not just a bout of bad weather." The princess touched the
azure crystal hanging from a duranium chain around her neck, the
transmitter all Mutants carried. A device forbidden to Humans. And
the princes of Yalta were considered Human. Esperana sighed. "It’s a
typhoon. And in a few hours the brunt of it will be upon us."
"Blast the luck!"
Kahuel blurted. "It’s about to get worse?"
Basilk slammed the
table with his fist and rose. Never had Kahuel seen his brother so
red in the face. His steely blue eyes glared at the princess. "When
my family accepted this mission as a favor to your father, you said
the ocean would remain calm for the season. I built this vessel for
Yalta lake. It’s not designed to withstand raging seas, much less a
typhoon."
Princess Esperana
sighed. "This atypical storm took us all by surprise, Captain. My
brothers in Kassouk detected it only an hour ago."
"Freak quakes and
tidal waves, now a typhoon out of season?" Kahuel was no scholar,
but he could see a pattern. "What’s happening?"
Princess Esperana
pursed her lips. "We are gradually warming the planet, to make more
land habitable, but it’s changing the weather in unpredictable
ways."
"Taming the
weather is the Mutants’ job." Red crept up Basilk’s face. "You
promised to keep us safe during this voyage!
Kahuel couldn’t
let the lazy bastards escape their responsibilities. "We have a
hundred warriors onboard, twenty sailors, fifty horses and fifty
felines. And my brother and I vowed to our father, King Terek, to
bring them back to Yalta alive."
"You Yaltans are
not that noble." The princess pressed her lips into a thin line.
"You also hope to bring back medicinal plants, new fruit and spices,
and new animals to breed."
"How dare you!"
Kahuel had about enough of the lofty princess. "We are merely hoping
to cover the exorbitant cost of your little expedition."
Basilk spat on the
floor, in Zerker fashion, and for once, Kahuel approved. "And what
do you expect to find on that continent, Princess?"
"I cannot talk
about it." The princess shifted her gaze.
"Of course not!"
Basilk spat again.
Again, Kahuel
wondered about the secrecy. "That better be important, because a lot
of people might die for it."
"It’s important
enough to take me away from a reclusive monastery life." Princess
Esperana sounded distressed at the loss.
"Humans always end
up suffering for Mutant mistakes," Basilk shouted. He paced three
steps and back in the crammed cabin, impervious to the lurch of the
Galleon.
"My fifty Grays
and I are on this crude vessel with you, and in the same danger,
aren’t we?" The princess spoke calmly in the face of Basilk’s rage.
"The only good news is that the typhoon is heading straight for the
foreign shores and will bring us to our destination faster than we
thought."
"You call that
good news?" Kahuel couldn’t believe such a nonchalant attitude in
the face of impending disaster.
Basilk tore off
his blue felt hat and threw it on the table. "By the time we reach
the shore my ship might be in pieces and we may all have drowned."
"Can’t the Mutants
of Kassouk rescue us?" To Kahuel it seemed logical. Mutants didn’t
let other Mutants die, and maybe, by the same token, they could save
the crew and his warriors.
Princess Esperana
stared down at the table for a few seconds, drumming the polished
wood with her six-fingered hand, then she met Kahuel’s gaze. "By the
time their flyers reach us, it will be too perilous for them as
well. The Council voted against it!"
"Blasted Council!"
Kahuel’s chest clenched as if caught in a brace. "If they had
allowed us to fly in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this
predicament."
"I agree, Black
Jaguar."
"You do?" Kahuel
never thought he’d ever hear those words from a haughty Mutant.
"But this delicate
mission is not sanctioned by the Council." Princess Esperana rose.
"I will retire to meditate and ask the Great Engineer to protect us
all."
The six Grays of
her personal guard stepped forward to surround the princess.
Basilk barred her
way. "By all the deities, you are some piece of work. We face a
typhoon, and you meditate?"
Glancing at the
phasers resting in the Grays’ six-fingered hands, Kahuel feared for
his brother’s life.
The princess
steadied the Grays with one shake of the head then offered a sad
smile. "That’s all I can think of, Captain. I do my part and you do
yours. Our lives are in your capable hands." She glanced up beyond
the swaying oil lamp hanging from the ceiling. "And in the hands of
the Great Engineer."
To Kahuel’s
relief, Basilk stepped back to let Princess Esperana and her Grays
walk out in perfect order, without struggling for balance. Did these
Mutants float instead of walk?
Basilk turned to
his officers. "To the rigging. Furl those sheets. Secure the cargo
and supplies. Get the passengers down below." He sighed. "The Great
Engineer be damned, we have a typhoon to whip."
The officers
saluted and scrambled out of the cabin.
Although Kahuel
worshiped the Great Engineer, he refrained from pointing out his
brother's blasphemy. "What can I do to help?"
"Just stay out of
our way." Basilk shook his head in apology. "I’m sorry, little
brother." He squeezed Kahuel’s shoulder. "Just make sure the
passengers remain below deck... including the animals."
Kahuel nodded
gravely. "I’ll do my best. And it’s Black Jaguar to you," he called
to his brother’s retreating back.
Basilk shrugged as
he walked out the door.
* * * * *
Sitting in the hold, alongside other warriors
huddling with their feline companions, Kahuel scratched the jaguar’s
heavy black head laid on his thigh. "Rest easy, Diablo."
The floor rose and fell, throwing men and cats
upon each other, each sway more nauseating than the last. After an
entire day of this monstrous storm, Kahuel had no food left in his
innards. A tiger roared, answered by a frightened lioness.
Beastmasters shushed their felines in soft cooing voices barely
audible over the raging tempest. Some animals, picking up on their
masters’ fears, refused to calm down and kept lamenting.
Other Humans and cats lay despondent on the
wet planking, as if resigned to die. Deafening thunder punctuated
the downpour battering the deck. The smell of fear and urine covered
that of the dangling oil lamps that swayed wildly, providing a sick,
flickering glow and threatening to spill with each toss.
Between the miserable chaos below deck, the
tempest outside, and the moans of straining masts and rigging, the
Galleon shuddered in agony. Water splashed through the locked
shutters and cascaded down the steps each time the gale blew the
deck hatch open. The hull creaked, and Kahuel was certain it would
soon shatter. But he had no prayers left in him. If the Great
Engineer wanted to spare their lives, he would.
Diablo mewed pitifully.
"I know." Kahuel scratched his wet coat.
"Drowned like a rat in a box is no way for a warrior to die."
Diablo grunted in agreement.
Resigned to his unescapable fate, Kahuel
patted his feline, the largest jaguar in the hold. "Shall we go on
deck, and stare death in the face?"
Diablo scoffed, the typical short roar of his
species, and lurched sprightly on all fours. Kahuel turned to his
warriors and waved. "I’ll go check with the crew."
Listless moans answered.
He staggered across the wet, slippery planking
toward the stairs then gripped the railing on both sides for
balance. As he reached the top, the gale flung open the hatch. A
cold blast of downpour drenched him to the skin.
Kahuel paused in the hatchway. It looked so
dark outside, was it night? Sheets of downpour blurred the view. A
furious wind whipped the rain, and giant waves engulfed the boat and
cascaded across the deck, sweeping everything that wasn’t bolted
down. The few sailors he could see through the watery veil clung
desperately to the rigging.
In a blinding flash of lightning, Kahuel
glimpsed his brother, up on the aftcastle, alone at the rudder. Like
a mad man, he fought the elements with a grin on his streaming face,
shouting his defiance to the whipping wind. Basilk looked
magnificent, larger than life as he battled the very deities he
worshiped. Although secretly proud of his irreverent older brother,
Kahuel wondered what kind of king he would make when his turn came
to reign.
A sudden jolt shoved Kahuel out through the
open hatch and onto the deck. He fell, face down, and three-hundred
pounds of feline muscle landed on his back. The main mast cracked
and snapped overhead. Lookin up, Kahuel rolled aside in Diablo’s
embrace, barely avoiding the sharp claws. The top part of the mast
came crashing down slowly, like in a nightmare. Sails and rigging
tangled with the foremast and the giant trunk hit the deck in front
of the doorway, smashing deck and hatch it in a roar of booming
thunder.
Yards of heavy wet sheets unfurled upon
struggling sailors, pinning them to the deck. Lightning flashes
illuminated the ghastly scene. Screams of pain and cries of fear
pierced the space between thunderclaps. The boat shuddered, and the
lugubrious sound of something solid ripping through the hull made
Kahuel shiver with dread.
The Galleon shook so hard, Kahuel
wondered what they had hit. He grabbed hold of a slippery rail while
Diablo dug his claws into the deck. Shouts and roars of panic surged
from below. Whinnies filled a brief lull in the deafening noise.
Frantic felines and beastmasters appeared in the broken hatchway,
but the rolling white caps and the squall hurled the vessel upon
jagged rocks with renewed violence. A leopard squeezed out onto the
deck and leapt into the broken shroud, to be slung overboard by the
wind. Beastmasters pulled themselves out of the hold, only to slide
and fall overboard.
The ship listed dangerously to port, treading
heavy water. It would sink for sure. Gripping the main stay with
both hands, Kahuel held on with all his strength... anything to
prevent sliding off the boat. Diablo, spreadeagle on the deck, hung
on by his powerful claws. Amidst the violent typhoon, the boat
stopped rolling and pitching, and it felt strange, after so many
days, not to feel the constant motion under him.
"Land!" a weathered sailor shouted in a raspy
voice into the battering sheets of rain. "We are on land!"
Land! A vague sense of gratitude filled
Kahuel as he thanked the Great Engineer. A flash of lightning showed
the water rising to swallow the hull, and a promontory of rocks
breaking through the dark surface. Land. His hand slowly
released the rigid tarred rope he had been holding and he let
himself slide off the deck.
He slunk into shallow waters. But as he tried
to command his numb body to stand on the slippery rock, the raging
storm around him receded, and he drifted into nothingness.
