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Longbow carried Eleria to Sorgan’s cabin at the stern of the Seagull Ox and Ham-Hand were already there, as was Red-Beard "The best way I know of to get people’s attention in a hurry is to show the to do that Ox, I want you and Haot stacks and stacks of gold blocks down in her hold They probably won’t believe you--which is right down at the core of our little scheme As soon as so, tell hi any ordinary seamen or tavern loafers out here, and don’t waste my time on the ones who call themselves captains but only have an oversized rowboat and fifteen or twenty ships with full crews If sohty men at his cos fro ull at any one tiet spread around that those of us here on board won’t look kindly on uninvited guests We only want two or three at a tiet your drift, Cap’n," Ox said "Me and Ha into a crowd that the crew can’t handle"

"Do your people really have little boats, Hook-Big?" Eleria asked

Sorgan made an indelicate sound "They’re leeches for thesea captains, but their boats are really nothingsloops, and the hting A real Maag longship’s better than a hundred feet long, and she’s got at least eighty men on board--fifty oarsmen, twenty-five to deal with the sail, three officers, a cook, a smith, and a carpenter" He looked at Zelana "How soon do you want the fleet we’ll put together to reach your country?" he asked

"We have a bit of tian," she replied "The creatures of the Wasteland aren’t in position to attack us as yet"

"That gives us until next spring, doesn’t it? Nobody in his right e of h has a different kind of an It doesn’t care howI want the Maag fleet standing off the coast of Dhrall before the snow starts to pile up"

"That’s only two an protested "I won’t be able to gather that many ships in so short a ti to have to chase theht be able to have a fair-sized advance fleet there by then, but it’ll probably take a while longer to bring thea number off the wall here, but I think six hundred ships should be about right With eighty or so ood-sized ar to be getting the word out to all those sea captains A lot of theite treasure ships"

"Doesn’t that mean that they’re between us and the Land of Dhrall?" Red-Beard asked

"I suppose so Why?"

"We’ll encounter the the way then, won’t we?"

"That’s open water out there, Red-Beard If those ships aren’t right in our path, on’t even see them"

"Are there paths in Mother Sea now?" Red-Beard asked mildly "I hadn’t heard about that Is there some reason that I don’t know about that all the ships of the fleet absolutely ull? Wouldn’t it be better if they spread out as they sailed to the land of Dhrall? I’ve fished the waters of Mother Sea many times, and over the years I’ve found that my luck’s much better if I fish in waters that haven’t been recently worked by other fisheran, but whatever he’d intended to say dribbled off

"It will still be your fleet, Sorgan Hook-Beak," Zelana assured his on all the ships will know that you co to your tail feathers all the way to Dhrall?"