The Mariner

“My name is Pryce, and on behalf of my people, I welcome you to our island.”

“It’s our island!” Having decided that this man was of no threat, Grace felt at ease offering the challenge.

Pryce nodded diplomatically. “Maybe it was young lady, and if so, it shall be again. Just as it is that after your future custodianship it will once more return to ours, and so on and so forth. Such is our doom. Such is our fate.”

“How long have you lived here?”

“I don’t know,” Pryce shrugged. “Some time. I’ve never heard of this ‘Sighisoara’ you speak of, does that help?”

“A little.”

“I am pleased to be bringing you so much understanding.” Pryce sighed contently and looked out across the waves, pleased with his contribution.

“Why aren’t you afraid?” The Mariner’s hostility broke the friendly atmosphere McConnell had nurtured. Pryce, his attention reluctantly drawn back from the ocean, looked at the Mariner with momentarily weary eyes.

“I am afraid. We all are. Who could live in a world this awful and not be? But with all the horrors of a world gone mad, should I really be afraid of a bullet in a gun? A man running from a wolf, is not going to jump at the sight of a spider, now is he?”

Grace piped up. “What if it was poisonous?”

“Then that would be a quick death, rather than the long hunt.” He walked slowly towards the Mariner, looking into his eyes, ignoring the Mauser completely. “The truth is, captain, that I am not afraid because we’ve met before.”

“I’ve never met you.”

“Oh yes you have,” Pryce made a smile that, although brimming with warmth and comfort, cooled the Mariner to his guts. “Countless times.” And, as if that settled the whole debate, Pryce turned and began walking up the beach towards to trees. “Come,” he called. “The Lady will wish to speak with you.”

The three were left standing in the sand behind, unsure whether to follow or not. Grace and McConnell looked to the Mariner for guidance, until he finally shrugged, holstered his weapon and began to follow. The devils too took this as a sign they could further explore and dashed ahead into the foliage.

Grinning, Grace once again exerted her motherly authority, “Percy! You behave, you hear?” But already they were gone, giddy with fresh scents and strange sounds, yapping and tumbling about in the leaves.

“What interesting creatures you bring. Any relation to the raccoon?” Pryce asked as they strolled.

The Mariner increased his pace until he was by the monk’s side. “They’re Tasmanian devils. The rest of the brood are back on the Neptune.” He thought carefully about what he wanted to share with Pryce; what exactly did he want this stranger to know? “They have made exceptional guards,” he finally chose to add.

“I don’t doubt it.”

“Grace said this was a zoo for animals. Do you not have any devils here?”

“I don’t know what this place used to be like, but when we arrived there was just…”

The Mariner waited for a moment for Pryce to finish, but the silence continued. “Just what?”

Pryce was staring off into space, not in a trance, but as if he was concentrating on solving an impossibly difficult mathematical equation. His eyes flicked back and forth and the faintest of whispered words graced his lips.

“Are you alright?”

As if in a fit, Pryce dropped to the floor and began to thrash.

“Waaaaaaaaaa! Wheeeeeee! Dagagaga!”

The Mariner threw himself away, tangling in a bush, trying to put some distance between him and the madman. The branches scraped at his skin. slowing his grasp for the Mauser.

“Mindless! He’s gone Mindless!”

McConnell’s face drained of colour and Grace screamed, but neither fled. There was something mesmerising about the strange display.

“Awwoooo! Awooooo! A—”

Just as suddenly as he’d started, Pryce stopped thrashing and screaming and sat up. Rather than the rage-filled face of a Mindless, his was racked with disappointment. “Bugger.”

Trembling with adrenaline filling his veins, the Mariner held out his hand. Pryce accepted it and rose to his feet.

“What just happened? I thought you’d turned Mindless. I was about to put a bullet in your head!”

Pryce looked sheepishly at his startled guests.

“My apologies for scaring you, but I had no choice. You see, I was trying to save the world.”

26. THE SHIFT SEEKERS

BEFORE HIS VERBAL AND PHYSICAL explosion, Pryce had been about to inform his guests that whatever variety of beasts that had once lived within the zoo, all that remained were birds that came and went as they pleased and a colony of monkeys. The small humanoids followed the three strangers as they were led through the trees and empty cages. Occasionally, one would scamper over, probably intending to beg the strangers for food, but the devils gave firm growls, keeping the primates at bay.