Free Jalia Prevails (Book 5) by John Booth Page B

was particularly glad he would not be able to hear the beat of the drum from the bridge. Jerin was not so lucky in the engine room and would be able to hear both the drum and the sounds that always accompanied its slow beat.
    “I’m sorry to disturb you,” Daniel replied, “I need to speak to the Captain urgently and I was wondering if you could tell me where I can find him.”
    “The Captain and the rest of the crew are holding a meeting. It’s on Dragon business and private. I’ll tell him you are looking for him when he finishes if you give me your name and cabin number.”
    “My name is Daniel al’Degar and I want to see him about the meeting he is holding, as I suspect it is about Nin.”
    Hal sniffed. “There’s nothing you can do for the boy. He broke the cardinal rule of protecting the boat and there is only one punishment for that. I’d like to help but…”
    Hal stopped talking as Daniel grabbed him, pushing his right arm up high against his back and pinning him against the wheel. The Steam Dragon began to turn and head towards the north bank of the river.
    “Let me go!” Hal shouted as he struggled desperately and futilely against Daniel’s grip. “We’re going to crash.”
    “Then tell me where I can find Nin. You aren’t breaking the code if you save the boat by telling me.”
    “They are in Hold Number Two. It’s where they keep the barrel and the drum. But you’d better hurry if you want to get there in time to help the boy.”
    Daniel let go of Hal, who desperately spun the wheel to steer the Dragon away from the bank. Hal fought the boat and called down the speaking tube for more power from the engines. By the time he was able to look around the bridge for Daniel, he had gone.
     
    “I think we should hurry,” Daniel told Jalia and Hala. “We need to find Hold Number Two. I think it must be beyond the hold we put the swords in.”
    They ran down the corridor to the stairs. Hala fell on the second flight down and Daniel swept her up into his arms, carrying her down into the bowels of the ship. They ran through a door labeled ‘Crew Only’ and found themselves in a succession of narrow corridors lit only by the occasional lantern. There were no signs to help them, as the crew knew their way. After ten minutes of running, they were exhausted and completely lost.
    Daniel rested against a bulkhead and then let his body slide down the wall until he was sitting on the floor.
    “I think we need to rethink this,” he told his companions.
    Jalia nodded. “This boat’s corridors make the caves of Brinan look simple by comparison.”
    “At least we are not in the dark being chased by monsters.”
    “Can you hear that?” Hala asked and everybody tried to control their breathing so they could listen. After a few seconds, they heard what she had been talking about. Somewhere in the distance, a drum was beating slowly.
    “The man on the bridge said something about a drum and a barrel,” Daniel said.
    “It’s coming from that direction,” Jalia said pointing down the corridor the way they had just come.
    “Well, what are we waiting for?” Daniel said as he staggered to his feet. “Let’s follow the drum and hope it leads to Nin.”
     
    A few minutes later, Jalia cautiously opened a metal door. The beat of the drum sounded close and was followed almost immediately by a high pitched scream. The companions stepped silently through the door into Hold Number Two.
    The hold was large and two stories high. Lanterns hung around its walls at ten-foot intervals bathing the room in gloomy yellow light.
    The Steam Dragon’s crew stood in a circle near the center of the hold staring at something. It took Jalia, Daniel and Hala a few seconds in the gloom to identify what they were looking at.
    In the center of the hold was a large wooden barrel fastened down on its side by carved blocks of wood. Held naked and spreadeagled over its curving surface was Nin. His hands and feet were tied by ropes,