Tunnel Rat

Chapter 326: The High Cost of Fish Tacos

Climbing to the rooftops, Milo stayed as high as he could to get the best view of what was going on. After climbing to the top of the highest house near the docks, a large compound with a seven-story main tower, he got his first view of the entire sunlit end of the city.

And it was chaos incarnate.

The harbor was clogged with row after row of ships blocking access to the docks, and keeping the closest ships to shore locked in place. But it didn't look like anyone was planning to leave. Hanging bridges connected one ship with another and floating walkways bobbed up and down on the water. Some ships were joined at the hip, with chains and ropes holding them tight together. The first row of ships were mostly mechanical in nature. Steel hulled submersibles, paddle-wheelers, side-wheelers, and variations on the theme. All were powered by boilers with large smokestacks and festooned with deck-mounted cannon and ballistae. Many also sported winches and small cranes. These ships were still floating, and were at a distinct distance from their neighbors, with some open water between them and the large wooden sailing ships in the next rows. The wooden ships were of all sizes and make, from tall three-masters to rotten hulled sloops, packed into a solid mass, creating a floating slum.

Some of the ships were no longer seaworthy. Sunk to the bottom or floating on their sides. Crews were working to take them apart, salvaging anything worth keeping. With no need to unload cargo, the docks had become a solid mass of buildings that merged with the warehouses and bars of the city. They were built upward, like most buildings in Shadowport, but not well. Made from scavenged, rotting wood, some had already fallen and were being torn apart like the ships.

Where the mass of ships ended and open water started, a series of floating docks connected with the ships. Dozens of ships moored at these, all of them looking like traditional sailing ships and brazenly sporting the Jolly Roger or other symbols declaring them to be pirates. Far to the left side of the cavern where the docks ended and the sheer wall of the cavern curved wider, a road had been carved into the rock, following the waterline but out of reach of any waves. At the point where it was far passed where the ships blocked the bay, a set of temporary floating docks had been constructed. Two fishing vessels and a larger ship were moored there. Milo recognized the flag of Captain Pike, the ogre Monster Hunter. As if to say "Keep off the Grass", two brass cannons were on the cliffs, pointed down at the dock. Milo suspected the cannons and the ogre were the only reason that the dock wasn't taken over by the pirates as well. The docks, road, and pontoon system were unmistakably the work of the Deep Rock Engineers.

The drydock area where Leviathan was going to be reassembled was blocked from the harbor, and host to a shantytown of small shacks, tents, and sailors sitting around fires or sleeping. The entrance to the railway down was now enclosed by a stone and metal building with gates that would take explosives to open. The Engineers were keeping the way down shut, and for good reason. The area around the docks had enough traffic that Milo estimated that several thousand people had arrived and were living and drinking in the area. Watching them, he saw that all of them were female, but not entirely made up of dwarves. He saw humans, halflings, orcs, and even a couple of elves. That didn't mesh with what he'd been told about the Scavenger Clans. Just as the Deep Rock engineers were 99% dwarfs, so too were the Clans There was also some complex mechanic by which the two groups intermingled and married, the children going to each clan. No one had told Milo, and he had been too terrified to ask. Along with Boom-boom and Narwhale, he was aware of two other sets of newly married couples. None of which he saw in the mess at the dock, nor did he see any Engineers.

The other curious thing he noted was the large building where washing had been done and where he had released the bound spirits. He highly suspected based on the lights and sounds coming from it that it wasn't being used to wash clothes. There were a lot of people moving in and out of the building that was now enclosed on all sides. A hand-painted sign over the doors said 'Dragon's Luck' with a picture of a happy dragon sitting on a hoard of gold while ginning dwarves rolled dice and hauled away treasure in wheelbarrows. All around that area, where the fishing families had lived, buildings were converted with upper stories and shacks taking up all available space. Newly constructed buildings on the far wall looked like a miniature habitat. It was one huge, continuous building the size of three city blocks and six stories high. Cooking was being done on the rooftops. Where the building stopped, the road to the floating docks started.

A picture was forming in his mind, but he needed more information. He spent the next ten minutes calculating the best route through the city that included places where he should be able to buy food. It was always good to bring a snack along if you were going to talk to an ogre, just in case they were peckish. Captain Pike was someone who would have a good idea of what the hell was going on.

Two hours later, armed with a large bag of fried dough balls rolled in honey and nuts, Milo climbed down the ladder from the road to the floating dock. Captain Pick was lounging in a deck chair, holding a stein of beer in one hand and a fishing pole in the other. Nearby was a brazier with hot coals where a small fish on a stick was slowly cooking. The smell came to Milo, sour in his nostrils, and he looked again. It was a small eel that was cooking, only a foot long, but with the distinctive dragon head on the end of the long, slender body.

"Walk and talk softly, don't want to scare off the fishies. This job is boring enough without being hungry too." Then he sniffed and noticed the bag Milo was carrying. "Now I remember why I like you. Hand that over and take the rod. Don't worry, ain't nothing biting. This far along the curve of the bay, we're into deep waters. The little fishies hide from the eels deep down, and the eels hide from me. I've killed too damned many of them at this point. Doesn't matter what bait or boat I use, they keep clear of me."

Milo looked at the brazier, "Then?"

"Oh, that. Some idiot caught that on the docks and then panicked when it bit off two of her fingers. I pried it off of her and slammed it on the dock. Brought it along for a snack. Even the little ones are nasty to deal with. The big ones are trouble if you hook one, but they stay away from the shore. Too easy to get tangled in a net or anchor chain. Eels are smart as hell and twice as crafty. But you didn't come out to talk eel fishing. If you want to hire me, I'm booked for the next month guarding these docks."

"I just came to talk. I've been out of town, and things have changed. What's going on?"

The ogre sighed, "Just people being people, mostly. One group pushes another around to get what they want and then someone pushes back. Not civilized like my people. Not enough food? We eat half the tribe. Not enough room in town? We eat all the non-ogres and then half the tribe. No harsh words, just hearty dinners. The problem started with Leviathan coming to town. That was some fun times for me and you and some tasty boiled eel for weeks. That's what I need, not this little thing sitting on the coals."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

He took a handful of the fried dough amounting to half the bag and stuffed it into his mouth. "Ah, those are good. You should come talk more often. Anyway, that's what started it. Whale's crew were stranded but luckily there was a whole Guild of Engineers on hand to take their minds off their troubles and they had more loot than any scavenger should ever have. They drank and told tales, bragging about where they got it. No one had ever found the Queen, let alone looted it. And they told everyone they were headed back as soon as Leviathan was patched up. Word got out and spread from port to port. First in were the other Scavenger Clans. Word of the Queen and handsome Engineers spread fast. The Clans had the best ships and got here first. Some of them helped with the salvaging of Leviathan and sending it down that tunnel to wherever. Most sat, drank, and bragged about old battles and romantic conquests. That's when trouble started."

"See, land is tight around the docks, and so is dock space. The fishing families were getting squeezed out as more and more ships came in. The Scavengers had gold, they didn't. But the fishermen provide half the food the city needs. Arguments broke out and your Chief, Sledgemonkey, tried to fix things. He started expanding the docks, setting up rotations for ships coming in, and making it all efficient. Not that anyone listened. Telling drunken Scavengers to stick to a schedule is like telling your cat not to eat the sardines you left on the deck. You get ignored and they do as they like. So they built more docks and the fishermen shifted left, and started building some extra housing for the people pushed out. That worked until more of the Clans showed up. All nine are here now, and pushing to be part of the rebuilding of Leviathan and hoping for a piece of The Iron Queen. The ones who weren't allowed downstairs sit and drink. They built bars, got in fights, burned out parts of the town and no one could get them under control. Squint tried, but his method was sending the gangs after them. The Scavengers loved that. Full-scale war broke out on the rooftops. And then it got really bad. The pirates showed up."

Milo felt a small tug on his line. He had no idea what that meant, so he pulled back and the line grew taut. "Pirates? You mean the Scavengers?"

"No, real pirates. The Scavenger clans are all dwarves and they love machines the same way Engineers do. But male dwarves are, for the most part, organized and orderly. The females are wild party animals. When clans pair off they mellow on both ends and a passle of young ones get made. Then they break off again for a century. They have a lot in common. But the next wave of ships have been actual pirates. The Sisterhood is made up of exiled scavengers, along with a lot of humans, halflings, and other races that don't want to play by the rules. Criminals and cutthroats. You've got thousands of them in town now for a big party and dreaming of loot."

"Loot from where?"

"Well, from The Iron Queen to start. Leviathan brought back only a fraction of what she had on her and now everyone is talking about rebuilding The Queen. That could turn this port into the pirate capital of the seas. It looks good on paper, anyway: Engineers to build, mines for metal, deep copper pouring in from the Hollow, the Clans providing the muscle in the shipyard. Give it a decade and you might see a fleet of deadly submersibles sinking shipping all over and scooping up the goodies. At least, that's what all the idiots believe."

Milo felt another tug. Pike said, "Just start reeling it in, slow. The tides coming in and that always brings in some new mouths looking for food. They follow the fishing fleet. You can see them off that away. Be here in an hour and I'll get a break. I guard the docks until the ships come in and scowl at anyone trying to steal a barrel of fish or extort money from them. Bad enough they pay a fee to all twelve clans to leave them alone. It drives up the cost of food and a hard-working Ogre has to tighten his belt. You won't believe how much fish tacos are up to!"

Milo saw the ships coming in. He also saw two pirate ships heading out to meet them. "What about those pirates?"

Pike looked at the ships. "Damn, now that's a shame. They'll charge half the catch as 'import fees' and maybe sink a boat. My tacos will get more expensive."

"Could you do something about it? Drive them off with your ship."

"Nope. They don't have the money to make me risk my ship. They asked, but I turned them down. I'd be doing nothing but fighting pirates and sooner or later I'd be swimming with the eels. And they bite hard."

Milo found that out as his line went slack. He'd tried to stare down into the water to see the fish on his line and saw something swimming at him fast. The eel leaped from the water, going for his head. He dropped his fishing rod and leaped backward. This wasn't a little fishy. The head alone was as big as him and the flat body was a foot wide and twelve feet long. When it lunged again, bringing more of its body from the water, Pike stabbed his harpoon through it and into the docks. "There, now it can't get away."

Milo slashed at its neck, behind the heavily scaled head. His claws did tremendous damage to the soft body. The eel's flesh peeled away from his claws and he reminded himself that the damage bonus went both ways. It snapped at him twice more but pinned to the dock it was robbed of mobility. Four more slashes took off its head.

"Damn. Now we can eat! This will keep me fed all of tomorrow."

He rolled up the flattened body of the eel and moved it near the brazier. Then he looked down in the water. A dozen small, foot to two-foot-long eels were swarming near where Milo was standing on the docks. One by one they leaped from the water and his claws cut them in half. He was snarling and growling at them, and the heads kept staring at him with hatred even as they lay dying.

Pike looked in the water to where another three large eels were heading toward the dock. "Might be I've been using the wrong bait all this time. Say, how would you like to take a boat ride with me and my crew? We can visit with those pirates hassling the fishermen and then swing over to where the big eels play and bring back a proper supper."

Milo looked at the ship and crew. This is what Captain Pike did for a living. He'd be surrounded by skilled sailors, and the thought of killing eels felt good. Somewhere his common sense was screaming, but the rest of his brain had locked it in a closet. "Aye, aye, Captain. Let's go fishing."