And the sharks.

My breath went as I hit the water. I tasted salty blood and the wet stink of predators. For a moment I was back in my dream, suffocating under a ma.s.s of horda. Then the freezing water slapped me to my senses. I clamped my mouth shut and struck out for the surface. I surfaced only a few arms' lengths from Royston. A black fin made metal by the moonlight cut through the waves between Royston and myself. The water was constantly being churned into a terrible froth by the thrashing bodies of the nearby giants.

The ship was nowhere in sight.

I swam towards Royston, hoping the movement of my body would go unnoticed by the sharks as they concentrated their feeding frenzy on the whale and the squid.

'Leela! Help!' Royston was thrashing in the water, gulping and spitting salt water in gobbets, trying to stay on the surface. 'I can't ruddy well swim!'

I came alongside Royston. 'Be still! Be Be calm! You are making more waves than those two together!' calm! You are making more waves than those two together!'

'But I can't -'

'I have watched these sharks - they hunt movement and blood.' I dragged a breath from the wet air. 'We are not bleeding so they cannot scent us. Be still or I will kill you myself. If they attack us we are dead!'

A huge wave smashed into us at that moment. I felt myself dragged under the surface. When I came up for air, Royston was gone. I dived again, found him splashing feebly a man's height beneath the surface. I grabbed him and towed him upward.

We broke surface among a whirlpool of fins.

I tried to think. This was dangerous. There was no way we could escape from the sharks now.

Even as I thought this, one shark nosed closer and b.u.t.ted against my side. I struck out instinctively, smashing my fist against the front of its face. It turned away but another took its place. And another. I stopped moving. Would the sharks be glutted enough not to bother with us? Or were they like horda in that they would eat whether they were hungry or not?

Their continued attention suggested they fed like horda - whenever and wherever they could.

I drew my dagger. It wasn't much but it would stop at least one of these beasts. When the next shark approached it did so much faster than the others, and from below. I caught a glimpse of belly and the mouth opening wide, then I let go of Royston, who promptly sank, held my breath, turned in the water and dived to meet the monster.

More by luck than judgement, I twisted aside as it bit down on the s.p.a.ce where I had been. I grabbed the fin as the animal surged by, held on tightly and repeatedly stabbed it as deeply as I could. Blood pumped out into the water.

I was running out of breath but I did not dare let go. Yet the animal did not seem to want to die. I could not reach the head. My chest burned with the need for air. I was close to unconsciousness. I thought I could see Cryuni, swimming patiently in the depths just beyond the limits of my vision, waiting. Waiting for me.

I was on the point of letting go and striking out for the surface when the shark jack-knifed, turning almost double to try to get at me. Acting almost without thought, I struck out at the head and was lucky enough to feel my knife plunge into the creature's unblinking eye.

The shark jerked immediately, thrashing, dying. I let go and struck out for the surface in a cloud of blood. Other sharks were arrowing downward, homing in on the wounded creature. I broke surface, looked around for Royston. I found him clinging feebly to the shattered remains of the deck rail. The rail was covered in a tangle of rope and life buoys, and the smashed remains of the hatch cover.

I regained my breath quickly. My skin was freezing, my eyes stinging from the salt and blood in the water. The moon had moved further across the sky. How much time had pa.s.sed? Where was the ship? Had anyone noticed we were missing?

Then I saw a sail black against the horizon, moving intermittently between the thrashing waves churned up by the whale and the squid.

Tweed was too far away to help us. We were on our own. was too far away to help us. We were on our own.

If we stayed in the water the sharks would make a meal of us. We needed some way of getting out of the water. But how? The deck rail was awash and would not support our combined weight. The life buoys were a help but only so far. The rope might be useful, if we had anything to tie ourselves to.

At that moment a wave larger than most hurled us through the air. A black wall rose nearby, cutting off my view of Tweed. Tweed. A breath of stinking water shot into the air with a wet scream. Blood-caked tentacles rose like a writhing forest against the moon, to fall, slapping toothed suckers against the black wall that was the whale's flank. A breath of stinking water shot into the air with a wet scream. Blood-caked tentacles rose like a writhing forest against the moon, to fall, slapping toothed suckers against the black wall that was the whale's flank.

I slapped Royston. I needed him awake.

'Leela - what -?'

'Shut up. Listen to me -' I spat out a mouthful of water -trying to speak in this sea was to risk drowning. 'We have to swim to the whale.

Can you do that?'

'I can't swim!'

'It's that or die. Now go!'

I pulled Royston away from the deck rail, looped a life buoy around his shoulders and pushed him towards the whale. Then I grabbed hold of two pieces of splintered wood - one of which still held a deck cleat - and as much rope as I could cut free from the wreckage, and swam after him I roped my salvage to Royston's life buoy then, leaving the man himself to survive as well as he could, I dived towards the head of the whale.

The head - and the squid.

If my plan was to work I would need to separate these giants. That meant that one of them would have to die. I needed the whale, so it was the squid that I planned to kill.

I fought my way through the churning currents, felt my heart pounding against my lungs, squeezing the air in them with every hammer blow. I grabbed a tentacle, pulled my way along it towards the head. The squid must have felt me pulling myself closer. The tentacles writhed, thrashing the water. I tried to move faster. If the animal accidentally squashed me against the side of the whale I would be dead and Cryuni would feast on my soul.

I found myself sc.r.a.ping against a sharp beak. I wrenched my arm aside just as the beak slammed shut with the power of a falling tree. But now I was as close to the head as I could be. I sought the eye - it wasn't hard to find. It was as big as my head. And black. Deepest black. Without thinking I pushed my knife repeatedly into the eye. My arm went in as well, up to the elbow, until I felt the blade sc.r.a.pe against something a little harder than flesh. The animal convulsed. Fresh jets of black fluid spurted from the animal, mingling with the blood. A tentacle caught me and I was wrenched away. I felt myself sinking then rising. I shot into the air. There was a moment's dizziness, then I landed on something hard which drove what little breath I had left from my lungs. A moment pa.s.sed and I sucked in air. I knew immediately what had happened. The squid had died and the whale had sounded briefly, then had risen to the surface, tossing the dead remains away into the sea. The tentacle that had hold of me had flopped over on to the whale's back. I was safe - until the whale sounded again - but what of Royston?

I saw him nearby, still lashed to the life buoys and the wreckage I had salvaged. Was he alive? I could not tell. But I could not see any sharks - they had followed the corpse of the squid as it glided slowly into the depths, trailing black ink and blood.

With the fight between the giants over the sea calmed considerably.

The whale was breathing - snorting air in huge fountains into the sky. Its breath stank, and burned my skin wherever it touched. But I could not escape from it. I did not know how long we had until the whale dived again, so I tried to stand. I could not get my footing on the slippery hide of the whale so, clutching the tall fin, I called out to Royston. 'Throw me the rope! I will pull you out!'

It took him five attempts. Even then I thought he would die first, slip exhausted beneath the water one final time. I looped the rope around the fin for safety and pulled him from the water. Then together we slumped against the whale's wet back and the three of us together drew breath - the whale in huge stinging clouds, myself and Royston in slightly smaller, pain-filled gasps - while the moon sailed across the sky and Tweed Tweed sailed ever further away from us across the black ocean. sailed ever further away from us across the black ocean.

12.

Three Tuns

It was some while before I even noticed Leela was missing. There was so much for James and myself to see to and I was so excited, trying to explain it to him as we stood there beside a mountain of boxes and crates upon the pier, supervising the men loading them into the hold of the Tweed. Tweed.

James and I had known each other for some years, in fact since fate had washed me up into his Harley Street waiting room with a bad case the vapours. James had worked out very quickly what the problem was and had recommended I see a friend of his, a psychologist, who would be able to help me with the terrible nightmares I had experienced in the aftermath of my ill-fated expedition to Rapa Nui. Over the years James and I had become fast friends. It had been a slow process, as much due to professional curiosity on his part as anything else. As he always said, I was carrying enough guilt to sink a man o' war. The casual drinking partnership blossomed when I realised what an amateur archaeologist James was. As I had explained to him on many occasions, the worst part of the tragic affair had been my expulsion from the Geographical Society, and the resulting scientific void I was abruptly plunged into. I subscribed to magazines and kept up with the journals for as long as the money lasted, but that only served to reinforce my sense of isolation, for, with my former peer group still ridiculing me for my honesty, I had no one with whom to discuss the matters most dear to my heart. For many years my life remained devoid of stimulation. James changed that with his naive but boundlessly enthusiastic view of the earth sciences.

Now James stared at the luggage we had brought with us and the extra materials I had acquired while here in Portsmouth, and modified his usual comment: 'Horace, there's enough stuff here to sink a man o' war.'

I regarded the cargo with a frown, wondering if I'd forgotten anything.

Sea voyages had a nasty habit of going wrong if you were not careful. The last voyage I had been on had been many years before, and it had most definitely gone horribly wrong. I was determined the same thing wasn't going to happen this time. With the Doctor's help, I prayed silently, it wouldn't.

I gestured to the crates and boxes as they were taken one by one across the gangplank and on to the clipper. 'The danger lies in the unforeseen,' I explained. 'Suppose we found a skeleton under water? Have we the right chemicals to preserve it? Have we the correct means of safely reaching inaccessible ledges or cliffs? What if bad weather marooned us on the island while the ship sought calmer waters? Would there be sufficient supplies? What if the cook burned a hole in the saucepan, the hull was damaged by coral, a sailor put his foot on a poisoned urchin? We must be prepared to meet all conceivable reverses, for, as the Captain has pointed out, we sail on the midnight tide.'

James frowned. 'All very sound and rea.s.suring thinking,' he uttered, stroking his short beard with a customary gesture of interest and concentration. 'But according to the manifest, we are loading two hundred pounds of fishhooks. Surely our diet will be more varied than that?'

I smiled. 'They are not for fishing. They are for trading with the natives. They can supply food in the form of vegetables, repair damaged clothing and so forth.'

'I see. And the three tons of dental plaster that has just been delivered?'

'For taking a cast of one of the statues.'

I felt a shudder run through me as I remembered how the (walking they were walking hunting the great (walking they were walking hunting the great moai moai were) were) statues had haunted my last hours on the island. Despite the great distance and many years, the images were sharp enough to cause great pain. I saw the cliffs, etched against the night sky, I heard Alexander's cry, I felt the sting of salt in the wet air and the crack of my fist against a native face. statues had haunted my last hours on the island. Despite the great distance and many years, the images were sharp enough to cause great pain. I saw the cliffs, etched against the night sky, I heard Alexander's cry, I felt the sting of salt in the wet air and the crack of my fist against a native face.

'Horace.' James's voice was a quiet whisper.

I blinked, realised I was standing quite still, my gaze fixed on the slow swell of the waves lapping against the jetty. 'James. Was I -?'

'Yes. Don't worry, it was just a short one. But it's probably not something you want to advertise.'

'I... suppose you are right.'

From time to time, more so in recent years than immediately prior to my earlier expedition, I had been plagued by momentary lapses, moments when for me the world simply ceased to exist. The spell never lasted longer than five minutes and had happened so rarely in the last few days that I had thought the problem all but cured. I shook my head as if waking from a restless sleep. 'It must be the excitement.'

James nodded. He took out a hip flask. 'Drop o' the hard stuff, Horace?'

I accepted thankfully. But as I drank I felt something nagging at the back of my mind. 'I wonder where Leela's got to.'

James affected little concern. 'Same place as her friend the Doctor, I shouldn't wonder. Why?'

I gulped another mouthful of whisky and capped the bottle. 'I just worry, that's all.'

My friend scowled. 'Horace, I sometimes feel you're altogether too trusting. If you ask me, Leela and her friend the Doctor are a rum pair.

They turn up, out of the blue, and next thing we know your house is being burgled, then the Doctor finances an expedition to a level I doubt even a magnet could sustain and then vanishes, closely followed by his companion - herself one of the most peculiar young women it has ever been my pleasure or fortune to meet. No. There's something dark about all this, Horace. You mark my words.'

I handed James back the flask, shouted a warning to be careful at two boys loading a crate containing my scientific apparatus, turned back to James and sighed. 'd.a.m.n, but I am a man of mixed feelings. On the one hand I cannot deny all you have said is true. And yet, on the other... I am drawn to this woman and her generous partner.'

'They're playing games with us, Horace. I warn you.'

'Games... well, that may be true enough, my friend. But with us? I don't know.'

James sighed. 'If this Doctor is so rich, where are his servants? His estate? Why have we never heard of him or his family? And how did he get to Portsmouth so fast? Captain Stuart tells me he bought - not booked, mark you, bought - bought - the the Tweed Tweed last evening, a matter of an hour or so after he left us!' last evening, a matter of an hour or so after he left us!'

'I do not know. Yet I have a feeling. A sense of... great benevolence about him. They say some wear their hearts on their sleeves. The Doctor is a man who wears his good intentions for all to see.'

And a very palpable air of mystery which he draws around him like a cloak!'

'James, my friend. I do not wish to argue. Not on the eve of what may be the most important months of my life.'

My friend frowned. As a man of medicine I cannot but agree that the ills caused by bad temper and ill disposition will bring you naught but harm.

Yet this situation must be addressed. And before we sail.'

I drew James aside from the sweating crew. 'Are you suggesting we leave our friends behind?'

He considered. 'I feel it may be prudent to consider this course of action, yes.'

'But why? Without them we would not even be going.'

It was James's turn to frown. I knew him well, sensed the dilemma within him. And I was puzzled too. Why was James so ardently set against my friends? I put the question to him.

'Rather, I would have you consider just how many good friends you have made over the last years, Horace.'

I felt myself blush, for I knew my friend was right. I made friends about as easily as a dog that has tasted blood. I was a dog, the blood I had tasted, the past. 'James, that was unnecessary.'

He sighed. 'It brought me no pleasure, Horace. Your family are dead. You have driven the few friends you had from your side long ago with your wild tales and guilt. You must listen to me. I am the voice of reason within you. I am the one chance you have to see the truth.'

I considered. He was right. I knew that. At least he had been... until tonight. Now things were different. I had seen myself through other eyes. Her eyes. Leela was honest, forthright, as wise as a mystic yet as unsophisticated as the basest serving wench. A woman of extremes. A violent woman. A woman who felt her emotions pa.s.sionately and expressed them with equal pa.s.sion. Someone who cared for others and saw through their screens, who read them like a book, even though I knew she had never read a book, indeed, couldn't read a word. She had seen me and, in seeing, had known me. But where others had condemned, she had believed. Or at least, kept an open mind. Yes. Leela was my friend. How could I make James see this? He had never experienced my isolation, my loneliness, except at second hand. He did not know, did not understand, what it was like to be me. Leela did. And now she was missing.

'My friend, I respect your counsel as always, but for the first time in my life, I have something other than my own self-obsessed, indeed selfish, concerns to worry about. The Doctor knows we are to sail in less than three hours. He has vanished. Leela went to look for him and now she has vanished. Something tells me there's foul play here. Perpetrated, perhaps, by the very person who paid Fennel to steal my research.'

James snorted with minor amus.e.m.e.nt. 'A mysterious nemesis out to bedevil you? My dear fellow, you hardly have a career to ruin. No. If there's an enemy here I'll wager it is the Doctor himself.'

I clenched my teeth. His words angered me. 'Why are you so set against my friends?'

'They are no friends. Leave them. Sail and resolve your pain by all means - but do it alone, while you are still able.'

'You do not understand. If I leave her now I will simply be repeating the mistakes of the past. I left Alexander to die and the knowledge shall dog the remainder of my life. I will not let it happen again.'

James threw up his hands in a tired gesture. 'Very well, I can see you are set on this foolhardy course. It being three hours until midnight, how much of the town do you think we can cover? And where will you look first?'