Free Fire Sea by Margaret Weis Page B

face, mild eyes now wide with fear. His body was long and gangly and appeared to have been put together from leftover parts of other bodies. Hands that were too large, feet that were too large, neck too long, head too small. It was his feet that had betrayed the man, entangling him in a coil of rope, undoubtedly the cause of the crash.
    “You,” Haplo said in disgust. “Sartan.”
    The man looked up from the barking dog, which he had been attempting unsuccessfully to bribe with a sausage— part of Haplo's food supply. Seeing the Patryn standing before him, the man gave a faint, self-deprecating smile, and fainted.
    “Alfred!” Haplo drew in a seething breath and took a step forward. “How the hell did you—”
    The ship slammed headlong into Death's Gate.
    1 A word used by both Sartan and Patryns to refer to the “lesser” races: humans, elves, dwarves.

CHAPTER8
DEATH'S GATE
    T HE VIOLENCE OF THE IMPACT KNOCKED HAPLO OVER BACKWARD and sent the dog scrabbling to maintain its balance. The comatose body of Alfred slid gently across the canting deck. Haplo crashed up against the side of the hold, fighting desperately against tremendous unseen forces pressing on him, holding him plastered to the wood. At last the ship righted itself somewhat and he was able to lurch forward. Grabbing hold of the limp shoulder of the man lying at his feet, Haplo shook him viciously.
    “Alfred! Damn it, Sartan! Wake up!”
    Alfred's eyelids fluttered, the eyes beneath them rolled. He groaned mildly, blinked, and—seeing Haplo's dark and scowling face above him—appeared somewhat alarmed. The Sartan attempted to sit up, the ship listed, and he instinctively grabbed at Haplo's arm to support himself. The Patryn shoved the hand aside roughly.
    “What are you doing here? On my ship? Answer me, or by the Labyrinth, I'll—”
    Haplo stopped, staring. The ship's bulkheads were closing in around him, the wooden sides drawing nearer and nearer, the deck rushing up to meet the overhead. They were going to be crushed, squeezed flat except, at the same instant, the ship's bulkheads were flying apart, expanding into empty space, the deck was falling out from beneath him, the entire universe was rushing away from him, leaving him alone and small and helpless.
    The dog whimpered and crawled toward Haplo, buried its cold nose in his hand. He clasped the animal thankfully. Itwas warm and solid and real. The ship was his and stable once more.
    “Where are we?” Alfred asked in awe. Apparently, from the terror-stricken expression in the wide, watery eyes, he had just undergone a similar experience.
    “Entering Death's Gate,” Haplo answered grimly.
    Neither spoke for a moment, but looked around, watching, listening with inheld breath.
    “Ah.” Alfred sighed, nodded. “That would explain it.”
    “Explain what, Sartan?”
    “How I arrived … er … here,” Alfred said, lifting his eyes for an instant to meet Haplo's, immediately lowering them again. “I didn't mean to. You must understand that. I— I was looking for Bane, you see. The little boy you took from Arianus. The child's mother is frantic with worry—”
    “Over a kid she gave away eleven years ago. Yeah, I'm in tears. Go on.”
    Alfred's wan cheeks flushed slightly. “Her circumstances at the time— She had no choice— It was her husband—”
    “How did you get on my ship?” Haplo repeated.
    “I… I managed to locate Death's Gate in Arianus. The Gegs put me in one of the dig-claws—You remember those contraptions?—and lowered me down into the storm, right into Death's Gate itself. I had just entered it when I experienced a sensation as … as if I were being pulled apart and then I was jerked violently backward … forward … I don't know. I blacked out. When I came to myself, I was lying here.” Alfred spread his hands helplessly to indicate the hold.
    “That must have been the crash I heard.” Haplo gazed at Alfred speculatively. “You're not lying. From what