PLATO WYNGARD AND THE VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS by MARC LINDSAY

Author:MARC LINDSAY [Lindsay, Marc]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-07-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

It was early in the morning when Captain Schmidt roused his passengers from their slumber. The combination of exhaustion, full stomachs and sleep had made them all groggy and sluggish, this was rectified by strong hot coffee that Luther would later swear made the spoons in their cups sit straight up.

‘I realise that there’s a reason why you have woken us so early, as we’re still hours from reaching our destination,’ Plato said.

‘We’re drifting through a troublesome patch of the river,’ Captain Schmidt advised.

‘Troublesome, how?’ Luther asked.

‘For the next ten kilometres, this stretch of river is used by the Red Scorpions, pirates that call the dog-leg river home,’ Captain Schmidt said.

‘You told us that you frequently travel along here. Why is this now a matter of concern?’ Plato said.

‘Normally this wouldn’t be trouble, except for one thing,’

‘And what’s that?’ Bian asked.

‘Well, um. You,’ Captain Schmidt said awkwardly.

‘Us,’ they replied in unison. Captain Schmidt produced a piece of paper from his pocket. Opening it carefully he laid it down for all to see. It was a notice of bounty: twenty thousand Vietnamese dong for any information that leads to the capture of two men, Luther Macbeth and Plato Wyngard. Below their names two rough pictures that had been taken from a distance.

‘Well they got that right,’ Luther said.

‘What’s that?’ Plato replied.

‘My name’s first on the bounty. They obviously know who the more dangerous of the two is,’ Luther said with a smirk.

‘Second banana, more likely,’ Plato muttered.

‘So why are you telling us now about the pirates, and why didn’t you tell us about the bounty?’ Bian fumed.

‘It’s really not what you think. This bounty has been sent out everywhere. I merely kept a copy on the off chance that this passage became compromised and that you proved to be unsavoury characters who might threaten my crew and ship. And as for the Red Scorpions - well no one can guess how they will react to your presence. But I assure you that I mean you no ill intent. My first priority is to my men, any passage that I undertake can became… complicated,’ Captain Schmidt said diplomatically.

‘I believe you,’ Plato remarked.

‘I am curious, though. That’s a lot of money and you hold no allegiance to us,’ Luther noted.

‘As tempting as the bounty sounds and despite my foreign birthright, I am well aware of the evil that is General Tun. You have paid for passage and my duty is seeing you there in the same condition in with which we departed,’ Captain Schmidt said.

‘I appreciate that,’ Plato said.

‘Captain!’ a voice called out from the front deck. Captain Schmidt peered out from the window and sighed.

‘Well, I guess we’re about to find out,’ Captain Schmidt muttered as he watched several smaller vessels approaching. Luther pulled out a magnum revolver from his holster, cocking the hammer noisily back.

‘I wouldn’t bother. They have at least a dozen high calibre guns pointed at us by now,’ the Captain said.

Plato and Luther resisted every natural urge

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