Page 30 (1/2)

Commander Narasan, however, refused to uphold the law, and he even went so far as to revoke the coht and paid for

Jalkan protested vigorously, but Conored his fully justified protests, and then, to Jalkan’s utter disbelief, Narasan ordered Padan to chain him and take him back to the harbor where the fleet was anchored to await a final decision

The thing that none of them seemed to realize was that Jalkan’s comments had been intended as compliments

6

The rank injustice of the entire affair filled Jalkan with a sense of outrage His rights and privileges as an officer had been violated again and again, but not one fellow officer had coe a protest

It was quite obvious by now that Narasan had agreed to sell Jalkan his coold, and he’d seized on the opportunity in Veltan’s palace to revoke the coold for hi resente

He considered the matter, and he soon realized that there was an extreh-ranking y, and he was certain that the word ‘gold’ would get their immediate attention The only problem there lay in the fact that sooner or later he’d have to show theain their support That wouldn’t be et his hands on old than any churchman had ever seen all at one time

He was still chained up in the hold of the ship that served as Co headquarters, but that wouldn’t really behis novitiate in the Amarite faith he’d frequently dealt with locked doors, and the lock on the chain that held hih search of hiite ship, Jalkan still had several small weapons concealed about his person, and the little stiletto tucked away in his boot had unlocked any nu his early years in the church Freedorasp

Freedoh, but the solution to that problem was anchored not far from his prison Jalkan smiled There was a certain kind of justice involved Veltan hadn’t stepped in or objected when Narasan had violated Jalkan’s rights, and Veltan was very proud of that little sloop of his

Jalkan waited for a few days, and then he pulled off his boot, took out his hidden stiletto, and unlocked the chain that held him He put his ear to the wall of his te sounds of activity When all seemed quiet, he opened the door and climbed the ladder to the upper deck He crouched in the shadows for a while longer, and then he moved on silent feet toward the stern and Commander Narasan’s locked cabin He probed at the lock with his little stiletto and he was soon rewarded with a loud click

The trunk at the foot of the bed was still unlocked, and Jalkan felt around in the trunk until he found one of the blocks Narasan had casually stored there

Then Jalkan agonized over a cruel decision He knew that he was going to have to swiold was very heavy There was just no getting around the fact that he couldn’t possibly take all the gold, since that ht would pull him under The decision to take only two of the blocksunder his breath, he left the cabin, unrolled one of the rope ladders, and silently cliht of the two gold blocks made it extre violently with cold and exhaustion when he reached the sloop He cliot his breath back Then he sawed at the thick anchor-rope with one of his small, concealed knives for alave way, Jalkan felt a surge of elation He was finally free