Harry and the Pirates, Chapter 72
To Sup With the Devil
Harry, Dudley, Ron and Ginny sat on the after deck of the Black Lagoon, watching as the PT boat sped over the blue, blue waters of the Indian Ocean. Beside them, Rock and Revy were sitting side-by-side, sipping rum. Revy had smiled rather sardonically to see that the English kids were confining themselves to soft drinks.
"So what's the matter?" she asked, her New York accent coming through more than usual. "Don't magical people like booze?" To Revy, not liking booze was clearly all but unthinkable.
Harry grinned at her. While the Chinese-American gunslinger was often hard to take, he did like her. He sensed that a lot of her attitude came from a really bad background, but he'd never felt free to ask just what had happened. Roanapur was like the Old West that way. While people were free to volunteer information about themselves, a polite person accepted what they were told, and did not pry. Even if Revy had been less dangerous and volatile, that rule would have held.
"We magical people like booze as much as you Muggles…" Revy raised an eyebrow, and Harry hastened to explain: "Muggles is a word we use for non-magical people. I'm told that in America, they're referred to as 'No-Maj.'" Revy relaxed, satisfied that she had not been insulted, as Harry went on: "Balalaika says we're not to drink anything alcoholic until we're of age, and able to handle it. That rule was in effect from the moment we joined Bougainvillea Traders." He winked. "We don't want to disappoint Balalaika!"
"I see." Revy swallowed convulsively, turning slightly pale. "Big Sis is not a person I'd cross lightly. Right, Rock?" She and Rock exchanged significant glances. Harry wondered what that was all about, but figured that if he had a need to know, one or the other would tell him. He had noticed that since their trip to Japan, Rock and Revy were dealing rather differently than they had before. Balalaika had only said that they had accompanied her to Japan the previous winter. Her expression had discouraged Harry from asking about how the trip went.
Sergeant Boris came up from the cabin. "Benny says that we're coming up on the island where our rendezvous is. Radar is picking up a ship nearby. That's probably the people we're to meet. Even so, get ready in case things go wrong."
Everybody nodded, going below and changing into flak vests and helmets. Revy checked her pistols, nodding as she put them back into their holsters. The Weasleys, Dudley and Harry all made sure their wands were where they could grab them.
"Uh, Mr. Rock…" Ginny asked. Rock looked down at her, smiling in a friendly way. "I don't mean to pry, but why aren't you carrying a gun?"
"That's not my job, Miss Weasley," Rock answered. "I do the negotiating; Revy takes care of people who need to be shot."
"Yeah," Revy answered, with a ferocious smile. "We're both real good at our jobs!"
The Black Lagoon eased up to a lush tropical island, where a freighter rode at anchor. "Well, here we are," rumbled Dutch. Like the rest of them, he was wearing a camouflaged flak jacket and helmet. On him, unlike Rock, it looked perfectly natural. He patted his .44 Magnum revolver, in its holster on his hip. "Let's see if HCLI is here."
"I see people on the beach, Rock," said Revy. "Get the binocs and see who they look like."
Rock peered at the beach through a pair of powerful binoculars. "There's a tall, white-haired woman, a kid with her, and a bunch of others. They all look to be armed."
Dutch took the binoculars and took a look for himself. "Yep, that's HCLI. I recognize their boss-lady. That's Koko Hekmatyar, for sure. Did a few deals with her before."
"What's she like? I've never met her," asked Rock.
"She's a pretty typical arms dealer, most ways," Dutch answered. "She has some sort of big project on, but she won't give details out to just anybody. I've tried asking her associates when I run across them, but every one of them keeps their lips zipped."
"Sounds sensible enough," Harry commented. "In our school House, we often have plans going, and don't necessarily want to share all the details." Dutch, Rock and Revy glanced at each other significantly, but none of them pressed Harry for more information. Seems they've learned to respect our magic! thought Harry.
When they landed, the HCLI contigent came up to meet them. Benny stayed aboard the Black Lagoon, ready to take off if things got hot. Sergeant Boris led the Roanapur delegation. "Miss Hekmatyar, I am glad to see you, ma'am," he said.
"I'm glad to see you too, Sergeant. I wish that your boss could have come herself, but it's always a pleasure to see you." While she spoke, Harry looked her over carefully. She was tall and slender, in her twenties if Harry was any judge, and one of the palest people he had ever seen other than the crazy assassin twins. Her hair was white-blonde, her eyes were light blue, and her skin was nearly creamy white, even in the tropics. She seemed friendly enough, always smiling, but she had a predatory look in her eyes that Harry didn't much trust. He made a Slytherin hand-sign to his schoolmates to be very cautious dealing with her. Dudley, Ron and Ginny all nodded almost imperceptibly, signalling that the warning was understood.
Meanwhile, Koko Hekmatyar was looking them over, visibly curious. "My, Dutchie, you do recruit the most interesting people! I thought I started 'em young, like Jonah here!" She indicated the boy who'd been standing beside her, watching the newcomers impassively. Like the rest of the HCLI team except for Koko herself, he was armed, carrying a H&K MP5 submachine gun like he knew just how to use it. Harry knew how easy that particular gun was to fire, having trained some with them while learning from Sergeant Boris and the other Vysotniki, so he didn't discount this "Jonah" just because of his age.
"The kids work for Balalaika. Meet Ginny Weasley, her brother Ron, Harry Potter and Dudley Dursley," Dutch answered. "And don't take them lightly. They have tricks up their sleeves that you've almost certainly never seen."
"Well, maybe once our deal's done, we can have them show us what they can do," Koko said. The way she looked at Harry reminded him of someone who was really hungry looking at a feast. Ginny noticed it too, and she moved closer to Harry, putting a possessive hand on his shoulder.
As Boris, Rock and Koko began their palaver, Ginny hissed in Harry's ear: "If that slapper tries anything with you, I'll turn her into something really nasty!" Harry made a shushing motion with one hand. He wasn't comfortable with Ms. Hekmatyar, but didn't want to screw up this negotiation. Hotel Moscow needed the arms that HCLI could supply; they had a buyer who was eager to buy but couldn't deal directly with HCLI for reasons that Harry wasn't too clear on.
Harry noticed, with considerable amusement, that Revy also clearly didn't like Ms. Hekmatyar. She'd moved closer to Rock…closer, in fact, than he'd ever seen her standing…and was whispering something in his ear. Rock was nodding and blushing. Harry figured that something had happened between those two since he'd last been in Roanapur. He'd heard about a trip to Japan that had gone spectacularly sideways in some important ways. Mentally, he shrugged his shoulders. He was happy enough with Ginny, he decided. Luna had clearly decided that she wanted Dudley, Revy was like a bottle of nitroglycerine with tits, and Koko Hekmatyar had a predatory gleam in her eyes that he didn't trust for one second. If Rock thought he could handle Revy, Harry wished him all the luck in the world.
Then it hit him. Somehow, over the last several years, Ginny had made a claim on him. He thought about it, and decided that he didn't mind the idea at all. He liked all the Weasleys, even the twins, and he thought Ginny could handle living in Roanapur. Between what she'd been through with him in school, and just dealing with the nuttiness that Ron had told him was everyday fare when living at the Weasleys' house, she was a cool hand, and her courage, particularly after the Chamber of Secrets incident, was not in question.
Sergeant Boris and Koko were talking together, a little way away from their followers, in low, urgent voices. Harry focussed on sizing up the HCLI people, as they were eyeing him and his friends up. He could see that the HCLI personnel were puzzled by him and his friends.
The boy who'd been standing with Koko finally broke the silence. "My name is Jonah. Which of you is which?" Harry looked into the boy's eyes, and what he saw reminded him a little of Snape, or Balalaika's men. Whoever this boy was, he'd "seen the elephant," as Dutch would say.
Harry took the lead in answering. "I'm Harry Potter. This is my cousin, Dudley Dursley. The redheads are Ronald and Ginevra Weasley." Jonah nodded, silently absorbing the information.
Ginny smiled at him. "Everybody calls me Ginny."
Jonah returned her smile, a little hesitantly. "I don't see your guns. Where are your guns?"
All the English kids grinned. "We don't need guns. Don't use them. We've got other ways of dealing with trouble." Jonah gave them an intensely skeptical look, but said nothing. He was outnumbered by them four-to-one, and Harry could tell that he was wary of them. Jonah had almost certainly never encountered magic before.
After a while, Sergeant Boris and Koko Hekmatyar broke off their conversation. "It's getting late, people," Ms. Hekmatyar said. "What do you say we have a picnic and barbeque here on the beach? It's perfectly safe!"
Harry was doubtful about this idea. He glanced at Sergeant Boris. The scar-faced Russian nodded agreement, so Harry put aside his misgivings. He trusted Sergeant Boris' judgement, and HCLI was a company with which Hotel Moscow had dealt with before.
As day wore on toward evening, the food came out and a fire was built on the beach. Harry and his friends circulated, learning more about their new acquaintances. One of them was an American black man, William Nelson, who turned out to be an explosives expert and veteran of the US Army. Harry expected Dutch to gravitate to him, but to his surprise, the captain of the Black Lagoon interacted with Nelson as little as possible. This puzzled Harry.
The rest of Ms. Hekmatyar's crew were a diverse lot, Harry had to admit. He found himself talking with a young woman wearing an eyepatch. To his interest, she said that she was Finnish. "I'm Sofia Velmer. After I lost this eye in a UN operation with the Finnish Army, I went to work for Ms. Hekmatyar."
"So what is Finland like?" Harry was curious about foreign countries. His shuttling between Thailand and Britain had whetted his appetite for travel. He thought that once he finished with Hogwarts, he might like to take a gap year and travel around. He would want Dudley with him, and whatever girlfriends they had, of course. He knew that Luna would enjoy it. In fact, since she'd already been to many parts of Europe with her father, Luna would come in very handy as a guide.
"It's very nice. Cold, of course. Our winters are as ferocious as anything in Russia." She gave Sergeant Boris an unreadable look, which the Russian either didn't notice or didn't choose to respond to. "The land is mostly flat, with many, many lakes and forests."
"Maybe we'll get there some day," Dudley said.
"Yeah," said Ron. "I've always wanted to see new places. That's why I like working for Harry and Dudley. They made it possible for my sister and me to come to Thailand."
"You all don't live here?" Sofia was clearly curious. "You aren't Russian?"
"No! We're all British," Dudley explained. "Harry and I were raised mostly in Roanapur. My mum, Harry's aunt, works for Miss Balalaika, and we do, too. But we go to school in Britain. We have a special sort of school we go to."
"Maybe we should send Jonah there," Sofia said, giving Jonah a teasing look. He scowled at her as she went on: "His schooling was kind of interrupted, and while we've been trying to get him up to speed on these things, he's pretty resistant."
"I don't think that would work out," Dudley said. "Basically, our school selects its pupils from a limited pool. If you aren't what they want, they won't take you."
"Really?" Sofia raised an eyebrow. "Not even for money?"
All of the English kids shook their heads emphatically. "Not even for money."
This clearly rocked Sofia back on her heels. She subsided, trying to wrap her mind around the concept of people who put anything ahead of money, and while she thought it over, Harry looked around to see what was happening.
Sergeant Boris was drinking with some of Ms. Hekmatyar's people, along with Rock and Revy. Ms. Hekmatyar herself was sitting nearby, with Jonah beside her. The way she was behaving made Harry's eyes go wide.
"Dudley, look at what Ms. Hekmatyar is doing," Harry said, in a low voice and in Russian. He knew that as a Finn, Sofia had a chance of understanding him…but there was always the chance that she wouldn't. And he knew darn well that she spoke English.
Ms. Hekmatyar was sitting very close to Jonah, holding him in a way that Harry would have thought was more appropriate for a woman holding her boyfriend. Dudley whistled soundlessly. Ron and Ginny didn't speak Russian, but they followed Harry's gaze and their eyes also went wide.
Sofia caught the byplay, even if she didn't speak Russian or hadn't been able to hear just what Harry had said. "Koko is very affectionate to Jonah. We've all noticed it. Jonah tolerates it."
Harry thought to himself that if a grown woman was acting that way toward any son of his, he'd have some concerns about just what the hell she wanted. But he mentally shrugged his shoulders. HCLI's internal affairs were no concern of his, any more than how Boss Chang or the other Roanapur bosses ran their organizations. If Jonah chose to put up with Koko Hekmatyar acting so flirtatious, that was their business. In Roanapur, meddling in others' private lives was a ticket to disaster.
The barbeque was a general success. The HCLI people had enough food along for everybody to eat their fill, and drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, to suit everybody's taste. Draining a bottle of Coke, Harry wondered what their hosts would think of his and Dudley's successes at selling the stuff to the sheltered wizards of Britain. When the food ran out, Sergeant Boris and Dutch came over to the Roanapur contigent.
"We'll finish our business tomorrow. We'll be sleeping aboard the Black Lagoon. Revy, do you mind taking the first watch?" Revy had taken aboard a good deal of rum, but she seemed clear-eyed and alert as she nodded.
Dudley spoke up: "I'll help out on first watch. Harry, you up for second watch?"
Dutch looked at them approvingly. "Excellent idea. Two sets of eyes are better than one. And you've got some things up your sleeve that Revy doesn't have."
As they reboarded the Black Lagoon, Revy elbowed Harry gently. "You know, ever since I saw you and your friends in action a couple of years ago, I've been wondering. Do you think you could teach me any of your tricks?"
Harry shook his head. "Doubtful, Revy. It's an inborn talent. You've got it or you don't. If you'd had it, I think the American magical authorities would have contacted you when you were eleven, and you would probably have gone to a magical school like mine."
"My parents weren't rich…" Revy muttered. "I couldn't have gone."
"Magic schools don't charge anything, Revy," Harry replied. "Dudley and I had to pay for our supplies and uniforms, but our school has a fund for students who're from poor families. The thing is, untrained magic is really dangerous, so the magical authorities…we've our own parallel government, under the Queen…want to make very sure that magical children are identified and trained."
"Oh. Wish there'd been someone like that for me, back when," Revy muttered. She was staring at something only she could see, and Harry knew she was reliving some bad memories.
"Don't feel bad, Revy. Magic isn't all there is. I've often wished I was as agile and as good a shot with a pistol as you are. I've thought that you could get a job performing for pay if you wanted to."
Revy smiled. "Thanks, Harry. You know, you're like Rock in a lot of ways. Ginny's a lucky girl." As Harry went below, he wondered what Revy knew about him and Ginny. He decided that she'd figured out that Ginny was sweet on him from watching them together. Revy Two-Hands was violent, but that did not make her stupid or unobservant. Rolling up in his bedroll next to Ron, Harry smiled to himself.
After an uneventful night, the Roanapur contigent went ashore to conclude their talks with HCLI. Sergeant Boris and Koko Hekmatyar bargained fiercely, while their subordinates kept watch for anything untoward. Finally, the Sergeant stuck out his hand, and Koko shook it, sealing the deal. "We'll deliver it in the usual way, Sergeant," Koko said, as she gathered up her subordinates and herded them back aboard her freighter. "Always a pleasure doing business with Hotel Moscow!"
Once they were back aboard the Black Lagoon, Sergeant Boris told Dutch: "We need to get out of here soon. Ms. Hekmatyar told me that there are pirates reported operating in these waters. I don't anticipate trouble, but better safe than sorry." Soon the old PT boat was under way, heading back toward Roanapur.
On the foredeck, Revy scanned the horizon, with Ron Weasley beside her. Occasionally, they saw fishing boats, but they all kept their distance. Other than that, the only things they saw were flying fish, and once, a pod of dolphins that paced the PT boat, leaping out of the sea in sheer exuberance.
"I wonder what it'd be like to be a dolphin Animagus?" Ron thought aloud.
"Animagus? What in the world is that?" Revy gave him a curious look. "One of your magical things?"
"Yes. Some wizards and witches can change forms, becoming a particular animal. It's not easy to do, and our Ministry of Magic insists that anybody who can do it register with them, since it'd otherwise be very easy to misuse. Imagine, for example, how easy it would be to spy on someone if you could look like just another stray cat!"
"Yeesh!" Revy looked around, although they were a long way from shore. "You're right! Do you know anybody who can do that?"
"Our Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, can turn into a cat," Ron answered, leaning back and soaking up the sun. "I wouldn't be surprised to find that she prowls the school that way, finding out what we're up to." He grinned. "We do still get away with a lot, though!" Then he scowled. "Harry's godfather, Mr. Black, can turn into a big black dog, and there was this other person who could turn into a rat that we met."
"I'll have to ask Mr. Black to show me that trick," Revy decided.
By the time they got to Roanapur, Ron and Revy had hit it off. Ron was telling her about his brother Charlie and his job at a dragon reserve in Romania.
"Why don't you let people know about those things?" Revy asked, wide-eyed. "I bet people would pay a lot of good money to see real live dragons!"
"I don't know, Revy. I agree, it'd be a good way to make some money," Ron answered. "Harry, Dudley, Ginny, and I've been making good money at school, selling Coke!"
"Selling coke?" Revy stared. "I didn't know you were into drugs! Better be careful who you tell about that around here!"
"He means Coca-Cola, not cocaine, Revy," Dudley explained. They walked down the gangplank. "A lot of British wizards have little to do with the non-magical world, and many of them have never tried Coca-Cola. We tried selling some, and had a hit on our hands." He smiled broadly. "I'm going to show Mum and Miss Balalaika our books, so they can see how much we've made!"
"Selling Coca-Cola? Well, it's a funny old world," Revy decided. They were walking along the docks, heading toward their vehicles, when all of a sudden, gunfire erupted. "Get down!" Revy yelled. Harry and Dudley had hit the dirt the second they heard the first shots, and snaked Ron and Ginny's feet out from under them.
A bunch of men Harry didn't recognize leaped out of concealment. "Give us the Sergeant and we'll let you go!" one of them yelled.
"Yob tvoyu'mat!" Dudley shouted. He aimed his wand. "Reducto!" The nearest enemy was blasted back, landing against a wall in a splat of red, unmoving and broken.
Revy unholstered her Cutlasses, shooting at the other side. Again and again, her pistols spat death, but the other side had taken cover. "Damn it! Come out and get killed!"
"Fuck you, bitch!" one of them yelled back. Harry took aim with his wand, Transfiguring the box the man was crouching behind into a swarm of wasps. Screaming and yelling, the enemy jumped to his feet, slapping frantically as the enraged insects stung and stung and stung him. He turned and ran, howling with fear. At this sight, Revy nearly lost it, howling with laughter.
Rock looked at Harry. "Remind me never to get on a wizard's bad side, Harry," the Japanese said softly.
"That's a real good idea, Rock," Harry answered.
The sight of their comrade's ignominious retreat broke the other side's will to continue. They turned and fled, heading for a boat moored nearby. "Run, you cowards! RUN!" yelled Revy. With battle-lust full on her, she jumped to her feet, giving chase with a yell.
"Oh, shit! We've got to back her!" shouted Harry. He and his friends jumped up, running after Revy. Behind them came Sergeant Boris, Dutch, Rock and Benny. "Revy! Calm down! Cool it, damn it!" Harry called, knowing that it would do no good. He'd seen Revy in berserk mode before, and knew that not much would stop her short of death.
The enemy jumped aboard a fishing boat, trying to cast off before Revy could catch up to them. Just as they shoved off, Revy leaped aboard, her Cutlasses spitting death right and left. "YEEHAH!" Revy screamed, her face twisted in an insane grin. "Die, you fuckers! Die!"
She shot the helmsman, and the boat went out of control. Revy lost her footing for a second, and one of the other side saw a chance. He ran forward, throwing a lasso around Revy and then shoving her over the side. She went into the harbor with a howl, and to Harry's horror, he saw that the other end of the rope was attached to a heavy anchor. The anchor followed Revy overboard.
"No! Revy!" screamed Rock. Harry sent a Reducto at the boat, smashing in its side. It listed over, sinking as water poured in, but Revy did not come to the surface.
"I'll help her!" Ron ran up to the quayside, diving over into the water in a single clean motion. Harry stared, horrified, as his best male pal (except for Dudley) disappeared in the clear blue water.
Author's note: I'm surprised that there aren't a lot of Jormungand/Black Lagoon crossovers. I figured that the two series were naturals for each other.
