The Magnificent Showboats Read Free Page B

boat moving full-speed up the river.”
    Santelmus gave his head a doleful shake, as if the scope of human iniquity were a never-ending source of wonder. “The news is simple but startling. You know of King Waldemar and the realm Soyvanesse beyond the Bottomless Lake?”
    Zamp made a noncommittal gesture. “We are hardly personal friends.”
    “King Waldemar is new on the throne but already famous for splendid impulses. His latest concept is a Grand Festival at Mornune, and he has ordained a competition between the entertainment troupes of all the Dalkenberg, from north, east, south and west of Bottomless Lake. The news which pertains to us is this: at Lanteen, one week from today, an adjudicator will select a showboat to represent the Lower Vissel at the festival.”
    “Indeed! And the grand prize?”
    “The leader of the victorious troupe will receive a patent of nobility, a palace at Mornune, and a treasure of metal: enough to excite even a tired old charlatan like myself!”
    “Do not belittle your very real talents! But was it not a naïve act to entrust my notification to Garth Ashgale?”
    “So it now would appear,” said Santelmus, pulling at his chin. “At the time there was much expansive talk; some said this and some said that. Garth Ashgale remarked: ‘Imagine the excitement of our colleague Apollon Zamp when he learns of this rich competition! Why not allow me to surprise him with the news?’ Everyone agreed to the suggestion, and Garth Ashgale departed, presumably to seek you out.”
    “He will find me at Lanteen,” said Zamp.
    Santelmus heaved a sigh. “So now it is definite. You have decided to compete for the great prize at Mornune.”
    Zamp held up his hand in a gesture of disclaimer. “Not so fast! Mornune lies at the far edge of a wilderness; why tempt the certain attention of the Tinsitala robbers?”
    Santelmus gave an unctuous chuckle. “And you are anxious that Garth Ashgale be spared these same dangers?”
    Zamp drained his cup and set it deliberately down upon the table. “All of us have played a prank or two in our time; nonetheless, I absolutely deplore the self-serving turpitude which Garth Ashgale has so vividly demonstrated. I intend to refute it.”
    “In principle, I also deplore turpitude,” said Santelmus. He lifted the jug. “I see no reason why we should not take another drop or two to certify this proposition.”
    “Nor I.”

Chapter III
    From Gotpang the Vissel swung back and forth in lazy loops across the Sarklentine Swamp. Purple and lavender fern-trees hung over the water with clusters of spore pods pendent from the frond-tips. Channels and sloughs slanted away to invisibility behind islands of green and black reeds; everywhere flew flocks of blackbirds*; coots and loons fluttered along the surface of the water.
* No avians are indigenous to Big Planet. Birds and fowl are all immigrants from Earth, as are many varieties of vegetation. Most undergo a swift evolutionary transition to new types.
    The wind, while fitful, never failed completely, to Zamp’s relief, for the swamp allowed no tow-paths and Ship’s Engineer Elias Quaner had not yet repaired the linkage between drive-capstans and the propeller shaft.
    Quietly up the river floated Miraldra’s Enchantment , leaving a barely perceptible wake, no more than a turbulence of brown water. Zamp worked in his cabin adapting a complicated old musical farce to the talents of his company. At dusk the boat tied up to the rotting wharf of a long-deserted hamlet. Three young acrobats went exploring the pallid ghost-huts and came upon a rare swamp-oel* which ran clicking after them along the dock. Zamp attempted to capture the valuable creature with a cargo net, but it emitted a horrid stench and fled through the reeds.
* Oel: a creature indigenous to Big Planet and found in many varieties. Typically the creature stands seven feet tall on two short legs, with a narrow four-horned head of twisted cartilage. Its black