Enga mellom fjella

Whaleships? The Bard wants to know too, Dr. Akula.

Dr. Akula

Whaleships

Dr. Akula saw trouble coming. Half-deaf with a limp but his eyes missed nothing. Mrs. W.W.Walker strut with gears dangling from her ears, her bosom a half step in front of the rest of her. Hoan looked enticing in her bamboo bodice and layers of hand-painted silk, but the snakes in the nest of her hair looked too real. Dr. Akula softly hissed. Double trouble.

"I'm Mrs. W.W.Walker, Dr Akula. I want to know about whaleships."

A bit blunt even for a bloody Brit, he thought. "What about them. They're good when the seas are rough and can carry a heavy load."

"Of what." Hoan look through him as if he weren't there. He stifled the urge to turn around. He was perfectly safe, surrounded by guards.

Dr. Akula smiled. "We merchants do not divulge all our secrets. No one cares as much about tea or rice as Li-Chen does. Yes, I know you visited the mountains."

Mrs. W.W.Walker looked startled, for a minute.

"But you don't carry rice or tea."

Dr. Akula just smiled and said nothing.

"No, he doesn't carry rice or tea. Not valuable enough to trade or steal like a pirate."

Dr. Akula wasn't smiling.

"You shouldn't look so worried." Hoan chirped.

"Unless they're hiding arms meant for the Russians." Mrs. W.W.Walker whispered.

Dr. Akula circled around them. His name in Russian meant 'shark'. "Stop! I don't have time for nonsense."

"And neither do we."

If Mrs. W.W.Walker was intimidating Hoan was terrifying. At times in the past it was as if she could read his thoughts. No one was safe if he knew that they suspected the truth.

"I don't care about your plots. Mere games for the weak. Why are your ships going north?" Hoan stepped around him, took Mrs. W.W.Walker by the arm. She didn't wait for an answer. She had her answer by the shadow of fear that crossed in his face.

"I feel hungry. Lets go get a bowl of steaming-pig-guts."

Dr. Akula stood stunned.

© Copyright 2021 Kåre Enga [178.143] (14.juni.2021)

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