Part 25 (1/2)

”The city is surrounded?”

”No, lord. All their efforts are on the south of the city, at the fortification ditch. People can still flee through the Scaean Gate or the Dardanian Gate. Everyone is leaving,” he said. ”But that was six days ago. The situation changes daily. The Boreas Boreas has had no word since then.” has had no word since then.”

Oniacus stepped forward. ”Agamemnon has left his s.h.i.+ps vulnerable at the Bay of Herakles, Golden One,” he said. ”Our fire hurlers can destroy his s.h.i.+ps in one night, as we did at Imbros.”

Helikaon frowned. ”Perhaps later. But at the moment, sadly, I do not have that choice. The city is awaiting our cargo of tin, is it not, Asios?”

The young man nodded. ”The city's forges are dark,” he said. ”Troy desperately needs weapons and armor.”

Suddenly he glanced toward the coast, startled, and they all turned. In the distance at the tip of Trojan lands, the Cape of Tides, a light had appeared. It was a beacon, blazing brightly.

Helikaon gazed at it and frowned. ”A beacon, but telling what to whom? Asios, is the Cape of Tides in Trojan or Mykene hands?”

”I know not, lord. Trojan when I last heard.” He shrugged.

”It tells us nothing, then,” Helikaon said briskly, his decision made. ”Oniacus, we will sail on to the h.e.l.lespont and the Bay of Troy, then make our way up the Simoeis. We will berth there and, if Athene favors us, smuggle our tin into the city from the north.”

”But Menados' fleet holds the h.e.l.lespont,” the young captain repeated. ”Even the Xanthos Xanthos cannot defeat his fifty s.h.i.+ps!” cannot defeat his fifty s.h.i.+ps!”

”But,” Helikaon said thoughtfully, ”maybe together the Xanthos Xanthos and the and the Boreas Boreas can.” can.”

The Mykene admiral Menados looked up from the high deck of his patrol s.h.i.+p and saw a beacon blazing on the topmost cliff of the Cape of Tides.

”What does it mean, Admiral?” asked his aide, his sister's son, a bright enough boy but with no initiative.

”I do not know,” the admiral told him. ”The Trojans are signaling someone, but we cannot tell who or what the signal means. Much good may it do them,” he grunted. ”They are all dead men, anyway.”

Like his crews, Menados was bored and frustrated after long days of sailing the h.e.l.lespont. Of his fleet of fifty-seven, he had ordered thirty s.h.i.+ps to patrol the length of the Trojan coast from the tip of the Thrakian sh.o.r.e to the Bay of Herakles. Seven s.h.i.+ps, including this own, the new bireme Alektruon, Alektruon, held station against the current in the h.e.l.lespont. The remaining twenty s.h.i.+ps were beached on the coast of Thraki, their men relieved to sleep and eat. The s.h.i.+ps' duties were rotated regularly, but it was no work for fighting men, he thought, traveling back and forth, first under oars and then under sail, over and over again, wearing out the oarsmen and blunting the skills of their captains. Menados privately thought the duty was Agamemnon's punishment of him for the mercy Helikaon had shown him at Dardanos. held station against the current in the h.e.l.lespont. The remaining twenty s.h.i.+ps were beached on the coast of Thraki, their men relieved to sleep and eat. The s.h.i.+ps' duties were rotated regularly, but it was no work for fighting men, he thought, traveling back and forth, first under oars and then under sail, over and over again, wearing out the oarsmen and blunting the skills of their captains. Menados privately thought the duty was Agamemnon's punishment of him for the mercy Helikaon had shown him at Dardanos.

Word of the blockade had traveled swiftly through the lands bordering the h.e.l.lespont, and no s.h.i.+p so far had tried to break it and sail out of the straits. They had sunk one Dardanian s.h.i.+p trying to break in under cover of darkness, and two Hitt.i.te merchants had tried to run the blockade and get home, angry at Agamemnon's high-handed action in closing the straits to the s.h.i.+ps of all lands.

As the doomed Hitt.i.te seamen had struggled in the cold, treacherous waters, Menados had been asked if the Mykene s.h.i.+ps should pick them up. Let them die, had been his order. Personally, it would have been his choice to rescue them; he had respect for seamen of all lands, and it would have been easy enough to drop them on the Thrakian coast to make their way home on foot. But word could not get back to the Hitt.i.te emperor that his s.h.i.+ps were being sunk by the Mykene. The few strong swimmers who seemed likely to make it to the sh.o.r.e were stalked by the s.h.i.+ps, then picked off by archers when they failed to drown.

”s.h.i.+p to the north!”

The admiral turned and shaded his eyes. Members of the Alektruon Alektruon's crew jumped up to look, eager for action. The distant s.h.i.+p was under sail, speeding toward them, pushed by the stiff northerly. Menados could not see its markings in the failing light but hoped it was Dardanian or Trojan.

Most of the Trojan fleet was bottled up in the Bay of Troy. It could not get out, but equally, the Mykene fleet could not get in. Priam never had acquired the strength of s.h.i.+pping justified by such a great city, relying instead on the huge Dardanian fleet built up by his kinsmen Anchises and Helikaon for his trading and defense. There were a mere eighteen Trojan s.h.i.+ps trapped in the bay, but many were said to be equipped with fire hurlers, which balanced Menados' numerical advantage. It was a stalemate.

With more s.h.i.+ps at his disposal, Menados knew he could take the bay easily. But Agamemnon needed every available foot soldier to capture the city, for they were dying in the thousands.

Menados sighed. The crewmen confined to his s.h.i.+ps should be content to stay aboard. Daily they saw in the sky above Troy the evidence of the funeral pyres, pillars of smoke by day and a fiery glow by night.

”It's a Dardanian s.h.i.+p, lord!” his aide cried. ”Your orders?”

Now Menados could see for himself the black horse sail. Not the Xanthos, Xanthos, though, he thought. Too small. A pity. though, he thought. Too small. A pity.

”Five s.h.i.+ps,” he ordered. ”Board her. They may have useful information for Agamemnon. The other s.h.i.+ps close on her but stand off. There might be fire hurlers.”

His orders were given by the display of brightly colored banners fas.h.i.+oned from linen, a system Menados had invented for conveying information at sea. Five s.h.i.+ps, four Mykene and one Athenian, set off toward the oncoming vessel, intending to slow her by destroying her sail, then ram and board her. The other Mykene s.h.i.+ps all turned to the north, too. The Dardanian s.h.i.+p came on, not changing her course, apparently determined to break through the vessels approaching her.

As they closed, flaming arrows shot from the Athenian s.h.i.+p, targeted on the black horse. Two fell in the sea, but five hit their mark, and the sail began to burn. As it disintegrated in flame, the s.h.i.+p lost its way, but it still came on. Flaming debris fell to the deck, there was a mighty whoosh, whoosh, and instantly the whole s.h.i.+p was alight. and instantly the whole s.h.i.+p was alight.

At the last moment Menados saw three figures hurl themselves from the deck of the s.h.i.+p into the water.

”Fire s.h.i.+p!” he shouted. ”Come about! Keep clear!”

But the blazing s.h.i.+p came on, and the Athenian s.h.i.+p could not get clear in time. The fire s.h.i.+p rammed into her hull as she was still turning and slid along the wooden planking. The force of the collision caused the Dardanian s.h.i.+p's mast to collapse, and it fell flaming onto the deck of the Athenian s.h.i.+p. Pieces of burning sail hurled by the high wind struck the sail of one of the Mykene s.h.i.+ps, and it, too, started to blaze.

”Fools!” Menados shouted, watching two of his s.h.i.+ps blazing, the crews throwing themselves into the water. The other s.h.i.+ps were moving clear.

And fools aboard the fire s.h.i.+p, he thought. Why sacrifice a s.h.i.+p in such a way?

He spun around. Behind them, powering at full speed through the gathering darkness, he could see the Xanthos Xanthos making its way through the gap between the Mykene s.h.i.+ps and the Cape of Tides. It was a rough and windy night, and the bireme's rowers were hard-pressed by the wind from the north and the strong current at the cape. making its way through the gap between the Mykene s.h.i.+ps and the Cape of Tides. It was a rough and windy night, and the bireme's rowers were hard-pressed by the wind from the north and the strong current at the cape.

”The Xanthos Xanthos!” Menados shouted. ”Come about, you idiots! Quickly!”

His steersman leaned on the steering oar with all his strength, and Menados added his own weight. But by the time they turned the s.h.i.+p to chase the great vessel, it was fully dark, and the Xanthos Xanthos sped away from the light of the three blazing s.h.i.+ps and disappeared into the darkness of the h.e.l.lespont. sped away from the light of the three blazing s.h.i.+ps and disappeared into the darkness of the h.e.l.lespont.

The Xanthos Xanthos moved ahead slowly through the night, making her way east along the Simoeis. The sky was clear and starlit overhead, but a light mist lay over the river. The only sounds were the soft plas.h.i.+ng of oars and the harsh braying of donkeys in the distance. It was so quiet that Andromache could hear scuffling noises in the reeds as small creatures fled the pa.s.sing of the great s.h.i.+p. moved ahead slowly through the night, making her way east along the Simoeis. The sky was clear and starlit overhead, but a light mist lay over the river. The only sounds were the soft plas.h.i.+ng of oars and the harsh braying of donkeys in the distance. It was so quiet that Andromache could hear scuffling noises in the reeds as small creatures fled the pa.s.sing of the great s.h.i.+p.

The Xanthos Xanthos had entered the straits at a dangerous speed in the darkness, overloaded as she was with the crew of the had entered the straits at a dangerous speed in the darkness, overloaded as she was with the crew of the Boreas. Boreas. Only a seaman as experienced as Helikaon would have risked it, for he knew the strong currents and perilous rocks of the Cape of Tides better than any man. But once within the Bay of Troy, the rowers had slowed. Then more vessels had loomed around them in the dark: the Trojan s.h.i.+ps trapped in the bay. Andromache would have expected cheering as the Golden s.h.i.+p glided past, but there was an eerie silence as sailors lined the decks to watch the Only a seaman as experienced as Helikaon would have risked it, for he knew the strong currents and perilous rocks of the Cape of Tides better than any man. But once within the Bay of Troy, the rowers had slowed. Then more vessels had loomed around them in the dark: the Trojan s.h.i.+ps trapped in the bay. Andromache would have expected cheering as the Golden s.h.i.+p glided past, but there was an eerie silence as sailors lined the decks to watch the Xanthos Xanthos as it headed through the bay toward Troy's northern river. as it headed through the bay toward Troy's northern river.

”Why so quiet?” she asked Oniacus, who was standing on the foredeck with a sounding pole, peering into the mist ahead. ”We are still far from Troy and the enemy camps.”

Keeping his gaze fixed on the river, the sailor replied, ”At night sound travels over very great distances. We cannot be too careful.”

”They all look so grim,” she said.

He nodded. ”Aye. It seems much has changed here since we left.”

The Simoeis was shallow and marshy even in the spring, and Helikaon steered the Xanthos Xanthos in the center of the river. Andromache could see little in the misty night, and time crawled by slowly. Finally she felt the s.h.i.+p slow to a complete stop. The silence around them was heavy and oppressive. in the center of the river. Andromache could see little in the misty night, and time crawled by slowly. Finally she felt the s.h.i.+p slow to a complete stop. The silence around them was heavy and oppressive.

”This is about as far as we can go,” Oniacus said quietly. ”We will moor here and unload the tin. We can only hope our enemies are not expecting us.”

Andromache felt a s.h.i.+ver of fear run through her. Trapped in this shallow, narrow river, the Xanthos Xanthos would be vulnerable if the forces of the Mykene found her. Had the admiral Menados been able to send word to Agamemnon of the s.h.i.+p's arrival? Had he had the time? would be vulnerable if the forces of the Mykene found her. Had the admiral Menados been able to send word to Agamemnon of the s.h.i.+p's arrival? Had he had the time?

The rowers s.h.i.+pped their oars, and the sluggish pull of the river floated the vessel gently into the side. Andromache strained her eyes to see into the mist on the riverbank.

Suddenly a torch flared. A voice called softly, ”Ho, Xanthos Xanthos!” A dark figure, hooded and cloaked, appeared out of the gloom. In the light of a single torch he looked ma.s.sive.

Helikaon left the steering oar and strode down the aisle to the center deck. With a long dagger in one hand he vaulted over the side of the s.h.i.+p and landed lightly on the soft ground beneath.

Andromache heard a familiar voice say, ”There is no need for daggers between us, Golden One.” Then Hektor pushed his hood back, stepped forward, and threw his arms around Helikaon in a bear hug.

She heard him ask, ”Is Andromache safe?” and she stepped to the side of the s.h.i.+p where she could be seen. Hektor looked up, and in the torchlight she could see that his face was tired and strained. But he smiled when he saw her.

A crewman dropped a ladder from the deck to the riverbank, and she climbed swiftly down. She hesitated before her husband, her emotions in turmoil, then stepped into his embrace. She looked up at him. ”Astyanax?” she asked.

He nodded rea.s.suringly. ”He is well,” he said.