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Da 'Ole Of Death Chapta 3 | |
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Chapta 3 |
Sophie sat at the table opposite Drazzok and watched him devouring the bowl of soup. When there was no longer enough left in the bowl for him to be able to use the spoon, Drazzok lifted the bowl itself to his face and drank directly from it. Before he finally put the bowl down on the table he stuck his tongue out and licked the final drops of soup from the bowl. For a few moments Drazzok and Sophie just stared at each other, Sophie smiled nervously. Drazzok leaned to one side and there was the sound of escaping bodily gas. Now Drazzok also smiled. “Dat wos actually good soup,” he said, “I’m startin’ to see why Hazug keeps ya.” “Thank you,” Sophie said, but Drazzok just frowned at this. Orks rarely used the phrase, though Drazzok was much larger than Sophie so Drazzok considered it acceptable. “So tell me,” Drazzok began, looking around the room, “why is dare little bits of paper stuck all around da place?” and he held up a small square of paper that had been attached to the table. On it there was written the word ‘TABLE’ in Gothic, the common language of humans. The letters meant nothing to Drazzok who did not understand the language whether written or spoken, but he knew structured writing when he saw it. “I’m teaching Hazug to read my language, the labels have the names of the objects they are attached to on them.” “Why are ya gits always writin’ anyway? Everythin’ dat ‘appens ya write it down, all dem bits of paper just take up room if ya ask me,” nobody had asked Drazzok of course, but he had never waited for anyone to do so before now, so saw no problem in just stating his opinion anyway. Before Sophie could respond there was the sound of a poorly tuned engine from outside in the street, followed by a squeal of brakes. Then there was a squelch as something soft hit some thing hard. Then Ratish’s voice could be heard. “It’s alright master, da wall stopped Ratish from flyin’ too far.” Both Drazzok and Sophie got to their feet and dashed to the balcony overlooking the street. By the time they got there, Hazug was nowhere to be seen but Ratish was visible struggling to unload several crates from the back of a truck parked below. “’Ow long ‘as Hazug ‘ad a trukk?” Drazzok asked. “I didn’t know he had one,” Sophie told him. There was the sound of heavy footfalls from the hallway before the door opened and Hazug entered the room. “Wot’re ya doin’ ‘ere Drazzok?” he asked. Drazzok returned to his seat at the table, and Hazug joined him. “Get us a drink,” he said to Sophie. “Did ya see da kroozer blow up last night?” Drazzok asked. “Yeah, we wos on da roof watchin’ ‘em all comin’ back.” “And d’ya know why it blew up?” “Nah, not the first time one of dem things ‘as gone wrong and taken a bunch of lads with it.” “Well us weirdboys wos getting’ messages from another of us on da kroozer. Da meks ‘ad fixed a looted tau detector thingy to da ship on da way home and dey saw somethin’ with it, and da ship boss wanted to take a closer look at it.” “Da green light?” Hazug asked, leaning closer to Drazzok as he did. “Dat wos later. Dare wos somethin’ dat only da tau detector could see, da meks thought it looked like some sort of machine and da boss though dat it might be worth lootin’. But when dey got closer and started usin’ dare other machines to take a look wotever it wos shot at ‘em.” At this point Sophie placed a pair large drinks on the table for the two orks, along with a smaller one for herself and she sat down with them. “So wot ‘as Boss Kromag ‘ad to say about it den?” Hazug asked and he took a gulp of his drink. “’E aint interested,” Drazzok replied, “it ‘appened in da desert land so ‘e ses dat if dare’s anythin’ wrong its da problem of da boss over dare. But us weirdboys is all getting a bad feelin’ about it, somethin’ over dare took out a kroozer with one blast and we think someone should take a closer look.” “Why not leave it to da boss over dare like wot Kromag said?” “Because dare’s only a few settlements over dare compared to ‘ere, and dey aint got the same shooty stuff wot we ‘ave. Dat’s why dare boss does wot Kromag tells ‘im to. But Kromag aint interested in ‘aving ‘im do anythin’ either. Dat means dat if dare’s trouble startin’ over dare dey aint goin’ to be ready for it. We think dat you can find out wot’s goin’ on.” “Why Hazug?” Sophie interrupted. “Because dare aint no other Blood Axes left on da planet,” Hazug said, “and other orks aint no good at sneakin’ about unnoticed.” “Exactly,” replied Drazzok before he downed the rest of his drink, “so dat’s why each of us weirdboys pulled a tooth to pay ya,” and with that comment Drazzok tossed a pouch of teeth onto the table, the blood around the root of one that rolled out indicated that it had been deliberately removed rather than fallen out naturally, “dare’s twenty three in total, we recon dat’s enough.” Hazug took hold of the money and stood up. As he turned around he saw Ratish appear at the still open door, dragging a pair of crates behind him. “Load up da trukk grot,” Hazug said, “we is goin’ on a trip.” “Yes master,” Ratish gasped and he began dragging the crates back down to the truck. “And ya better ‘elp as well,” Hazug told Sophie before he began to gather up the belongings he was going to take with him. “One more thing,” Drazzok said to Hazug as he was pulling a large automatic weapon from beneath his bed, “I is comin’ with ya too, someone ‘as to tell wot’s ‘appenin’ if we can’t get back and do it in person.” Hazug’s new truck was designed to carry an ork squad of a dozen plus a driver and gunner, though whatever weapon it had carried had been removed at some point, so with only Hazug and three passengers there was plenty of room left for supplies. Even after all of the weapons food and fungus beer Hazug owned had been loaded it was still less than half full. The lack of armament didn’t bother Hazug as he had the heavy automatic gun that he could fit if he ever found someone suitable to act as a gunner. Knowing that having a weirdboy in an unearthed vehicle was inviting an uncontrolled release of psychic energy Hazug had the foresight to get Ratish to tie a length of chain to the chassis so that it dragged along the ground and dissipated it before the build up got too powerful for Drazzok to contain. “So where did ya get dis ‘ere vehicle,” Drazzok asked from the seat beside Hazug as he drove towards the weirdhuts where Drazzok lived to collect some of his belongings. “Mek Batrug.” “Is ya mad?” Drazok yelled, “Dat wazzok can’t build ‘is way of a sack of snotlings, and ya is trustin’ ‘im to build ya a trukk?” “’E didn’t build it, ‘e just got ‘old of it after da last owner got rid of it.” “Oh dat’s alright den,” said Drazzok, now much happier about being in the vehicle, “so wot’s dat stain on ya chair behind ya ‘ead?” After a sack containing the few items that Drazzok wanted to bring had been thrown onto the truck Hazug’s next destination was the riverside docks to the west of the city. From there he knew that he could buy passage on a boat heading down the river and across the ocean to the desert lands. The docks featured some of the few human structures that the orks had retained for their own use after the invasion of this world over thirty years earlier, the heavy equipment that had been used by the humans to load ore barges was too useful to scrap. This machinery was still for the most part operated by humans, though they did this under the supervision of ork mekboys who rarely complained if any of the multitude of gretchin workers who still made up the vast majority of the dock workforce were ‘accidentally’ flattened by the occasional dropped pallet. There were several vessels in harbour at that time, and Hazug drove along the dockside until Drazzok suggested he stop. “Dat one looks like its loadin’ up,” the weirdboy said, pointing at a large vessel that appeared to have been built by humans prior to the invasion then commandeered and crudely maintained by the planets new ork rulers. Slowing the truck down Hazug saw that cargo was indeed being loaded onto the ship, indicating that its captain would soon be giving the order to depart, and since ships of this type went nowhere other than the desert lands it would be going where they wanted to go. Hazug swerved the truck towards the ship, scattering gretchin and a handful of orks out of the way. “Oi grot!” he yelled at the nearest gretchin who was clambering out of the crate into which he had jumped to avoid the truck, “Who’s da boss of dis boat?” “Its Barlot Squigbeard,” the gretchin replied, “e’s aboard now.” “Well go and get ‘im, we need to take a trip.” “’E don’t allow gits,” the gretchin said indicating Sophie. “’E better ‘ad dis time,” Drazzok interrupted as he climber down from the truck and planted his staff on the ground, making sure that all of the greenskins in the area got a good look at him. “Weirdo!” The warning cry spread around the dock and greenskins scattered once more rather than chance their heads exploding from psychic feedback. The commotion attracted the attention of those aboard the ship also, and it was not long before Captain Squigbeard was standing before Hazug and Drazzok. It was clear how the captain had earned his name; the nob had attached numerous hair squigs to his chin to give the impression that he had a thick, black beard which he stroked his fingers through as he spoke. “It’s a simple rule,” he stated, “no gits on my boat, and I aint too ‘appy about havin’ any git lovin’ Blood Axes on board either.” “Well,” said Drazzok, “dey is both with me. I needs to get to da desert and you is goin’ dare anyway. So ya can either take us or I can do somethin’ nasty to dis ‘ere rustin’ ‘ulk.” “Wot d’ya need ‘em for?” the captain asked. “Da git is my slave, it brings me stuff and lets me stay away from other lads dat may make me ‘ead burst. Da Blood Axe speaks git so I always know wot it’s sayin’ about me.” “Okay den, but it’ll cost ya extra. Five teeth for da git.” Hazug pointed at a sign next to the boarding plank. “Dat says one tooth per grot, and two teeth per ork,” he said, “our human is only da size of a grot so ya can ‘ave one tooth for takin’ her.” “Or I can leave it behind,” Drazzok added, “and go wanderin’ about ya ship near ya lads.” Captain Squigbeard gulped. His ship was large enough to dissipate a lot of energy through its hull under normal circumstances, but if the weirdboy was near to too many excited orks then he could still explode. “Fair enough eight teeth for ya all plus ya stuff,” the captain said, “but da git stays with one of ya at all times,” and he beckoned for gretchin to get cargo straps to load the truck aboard his ship. Captain Squigbeard made sure that the group was assigned a cabin as far from the ship’s other occupants as possible. The cabin was to the front of the ship next to the hold into which the truck had been loaded, which made it easier for Ratish and Sophie to move all of the supplies they were bringing into the cabin where they would be safer from being stolen. Hazug doubted that any of the ork crew would steal anything since none of them appeared to be Death Skulls who operated on the principle of ‘takers keepers’, but there were a lot of gretchin aboard also who would definitely take anything they though they could get away with. “Dat wos clever thinkin’ to get Sophie onboard,” Hazug said to Drazzok while the supplies were being unpacked. “Well ya git can cook,” Drazzok replied, “and it won’t make me ‘ead burst just by bein’ near me, so it may come useful,” then he looked around to make sure that Sophie was not in earshot, “but don’t let it know I said dat will ya?” “Ya secret is safe Drazzok.” By the time that the truck had been fully unloaded and the supplies moved to the cabin the ship was well underway and heading downriver towards the ocean. It was at this point that Drazzok that reclaimed his sack and removed a hollow tube from it, and then from within the tube he produced a map that showed the continent that was their destination. He rolled the map out on the floor and weighted its corners to prevent it rolling up again as the other gathered around him. “Dis is where we will land,” he said pointing to a square marked on the coastline, “its da biggest city dare is over dare, mainly because its da only one.” “Weren’t there any other human cities there before the first orks came here?” Sophie asked. Being well into his thirties Drazzok was, unlike Hazug or most of the orks on the planet, old enough to have been part of the ork force invasion force that had taken part in the conquest more than twenty years ago. “Nah, dare wos dis one plus some farms and forts with soldiers in ‘em, but not much else. Ya gits didn’t seem to be much interested in wot wos ‘ere, and neither wos Kromag.” “Wot’s dis?” Hazug asked, pointing to a cross that had been drawn on the map some distance inland from the city. “Da weirdboy on da kroozer let da rest of us see where da thing dey ‘ad seen was located, and dis is where it wos.” “But if it’s dat close to da city why ‘aven’t da orks dare seen it master?” Ratish asked, holding up his hands spaced apart roughly equal to the distance on the map between the city and the cross. Drazzok swung out his hand and struck Ratish, who ducked back behind Hazug. “It’s not life size ya stupid grot,” Drazzok snapped as Sophie suppressed a giggle. “Well I reckon two days on da boat,” Hazug said, “and another two to get from da city to wotever dat is if we wos goin’ straight dare.” “Where else would we go?” Sophie asked, “There’s nothing big enough to be on the map.” “Da git ‘as a point,” Drazzok added. “I want to take a look at where da kroozer came down. None of da lads will ‘ave survived but dare may still be some clues about wot ‘appened.” “It blew up, dat’s wot ‘appened,” Drazzok said, “ya told me ya saw it.” “Yeah but I want to see if dare’s enough left to show if it blew up because da shot wot did it powerful enough to smash it completely or if it wos just a lucky shot dat started a chain reaction.” “Ya is spending too much time near Batrug,” Drazzok said, “ya is startin’ to talk like a bloody mekboy.”
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