Blood of the Mantis

They passed along the coast a little way, and then Che noticed a river mouth where the trees had been hacked away a little, producing a narrow strip of the work of human hands against that vast ocean of green. Just there, the Esca was already descending in steep circles, and Che swung the Stormcry out over the Exalsee again, only to bring her back, coasting low, towards the village.

It was hardly a village, though: a trading post, she supposed, would be the closest description. It consisted of three wooden buildings that seemed to have fought their way momentarily clear of the hungry green of the jungle, and then some rabble of canvas huddled around them. A good dozen long piers extended out from the shore and, while some had boats moored to them, there were at least seven flying machines hitched there also, including the Esca.

Like the rest, the Stormcry was equipped for a water-landing, and Taki had explained earlier that as long as she did not come in nose-downwards Che should be fine. It was a rough experience all the same, as she bounced the fixed-wing from the waves a couple of times, then managed to bring the engines down to an idle as she virtually paddled the machine in. Taki was already waiting on the pier to help her tie up.

‘Welcome to the worst-kept secret on the Exalsee,’ the Fly announced, as Che alighted from the fixed-wing. ‘Welcome to Aleth.’

‘This place has a name?’

‘This is a city as far as the locals are concerned,’ Taki told her. ‘The Alethi are nomads, Ant-kinden, and they’re off in the jungles for months at a time, camping for a tenday and then moving on, always hunting and gathering. Their tribes all come here at some stage, though, and so do the traders from Solarno and Princep and Porta Mavralis. When there are natives in town, this is the busiest trading spot on the Exalsee, believe me.’

‘How?’ Che demanded. ‘How could you even accommodate any reasonable number of people here?’

Taki laughed. ‘The traders live on their boats, while the Alethi build their little tree-houses off in the jungle. Over there’s a joint called the Clipped Wing, where everyone goes to drink and deal, and that next to it there’s the big storehouse, where the goods get stowed until they’re picked up. You see, you don’t really need buildings – not when everyone knows what they’re doing.’

‘So what are we doing here?’ Che asked her. Whatever Taki might say about this place at its height, there were a few people about now, mostly green-tinted Ant-kinden who she supposed must be Alethi.

‘We’re going to visit the Clipped Wing,’ Taki replied. ‘I want you to meet some friends of mine.’

The taproom of the Clipped Wing was barely that: a big open space, shutters flung open along the riverside wall, and the window space screened off with cloth mesh to keep out the insects. At one end of the room a few planks had been nailed to the tops of some barrels to provide a makeshift bar. Behind the bar itself…

Che ran forward a few steps, feeling instantly absurd because it could not be him. Indeed, when she looked again, this man was older, darker of skin and longer of nose. Still, it had been quite a shock. She stopped in the middle of the taproom, feeling foolish and upset.

‘Why are you lookin’ at me like that?’ the barman growled. ‘I owe you moneys or something?’

‘No, it’s just…’ Che bit her lip. ‘I had a friend who was… one of your kinden.’

‘That right?’ The barman did not seem much interested, but amongst all those spikes and hooked thorns it was hard to judge his real expression. He was only the second Thorn Bug-kinden she had ever seen.

‘Two, please, Chudi,’ Taki told him, flipping a coin onto the counter. The barman gave her a leer.

‘Thought we’d be seeing you, once that bunch o’ reprobates made it. Was just thinkin’ to mesself, who could turn up that’d be more trouble than all o’ them put together?’

‘I love you too, Chudi,’ said the Fly, accepting two wooden mugs from him, and then heading off for one of the low tables that were shoved up against the walls. The mismatched band already sitting on the floor around it were currently the Clipped Wing’s only other clientele, and they had chosen the table with the best view of the water.

Taki simply dropped in amongst them, leaving Che hovering awkwardly until the Fly used her elbows to make some room for her larger companion. As Che sat down, she was aware that all eyes were on her, weighing her up, perhaps wondering what use she was.

‘This is Bella Cheerwell Maker,’ Taki told them. ‘She’s come a long way, from the other side of the Spiderlands, she says, and she’s heard we’ve got a Wasp problem here. Che, these ladies and gentlemen are some of the best pilots anywhere about the Exalsee. A little siblinghood, you might say.’