Gravedigger 01 - Sea Of Ghosts by Alan Campbell

think was going to happen when we got here?’
    Creedy shrugged. ‘I dunno,’ he said. ‘Maybe whaleskins. Hell, what was I supposed to say? I thought you’d figure something out. You always figure something out.’
    Davy laughed. ‘Whaleskins? You’ll be dead in a day.’
    Granger turned to him. ‘Show me.’
    He led them through the butchering hall and through a set of hangar doors into a cold room. Here, lying among blocks of ice, was an enormous green dragon. It was twice the size of the reds. Its mouth had been propped open with a head-spade, revealing the pink tunnel of its throat. One of its eyes stared glassily at the ceiling, the other had been mangled into red pulp. On the floor beside it lay two bulky brass diving suits. They looked perilously old and rotten.
    ‘You were lucky,’ Davy said. ‘We’ve not seen a monster like this in months.’ He rested a hand on the dragon’s snout. ‘She sank two ships, dragged them straight to the bottom, before the third put a harpoon through her eye.’
    Banks blew through his teeth. ‘That is one phenomenally ugly bitch,’ he said. ‘She reminds me of someone.’ He looked over at Creedy. ‘Can’t think who, though.’
    Creedy gave him a grim smile.
    ‘You aren’t gonna survive in there without a suit,’ Davy said. ‘Not all the way to Ethugra, anyways. These greens have guts like acid. Burn a man alive.’
    ‘Can you get more suits?’ Granger said.
    Davy snorted. ‘Tonight?’ He stared at the dragon for a long moment. ‘Maybe for sixteen thousand, I can get one.’
    ‘I don’t have that sort of money.’
    ‘Then you’re screwed, aren’t you? Ship sails at dawn.’
    Banks stepped up to Granger. ‘You and Creedy go,’ he said. ‘We’ll follow when we can.’
    Granger shook his head.
    ‘Creedy knows Ethugra,’ Banks said. ‘You’ll need him once you get there.’
    ‘Makes sense to me,’ Creedy said.
    ‘No,’ Granger insisted. ‘I’m not leaving anyone behind. Banks and Swan can use the diving suits. The rest of us will have to wrap up in whaleskins. Once the carcass is aboard, we’ll climb out and look for another place to hide.’
    Creedy grunted. ‘It’s a goddamn prison ship. Where you going to hide?’
    ‘We’ll deal with that problem when we have to,’ Granger said.
    ‘The sergeant’s right for once,’ Swan said. ‘We wouldn’t stand a chance on a ship like that, not outside that big green bastard. You and Creedy take the suits.’ He sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. ‘To be honest, I never much liked the idea of Ethugra anyway.’
    ‘Absolute shit-hole,’ Tummel agreed. ‘Too many jailers and not enough publicans.’
    ‘Gambling’s illegal in Ethugra,’ Swan muttered.
    ‘Everything’s illegal in Ethugra,’ Tummel said.
    Banks nodded. ‘We’ll take our chances here.’
    Creedy had already chosen the better of the two diving suits and began to pull it on.
    Granger wouldn’t have ordered them to obey him if he still had the power to do so. They were his men – the last and best of his men – but more than that, they were their own men. He couldn’t order them, but he didn’t have to abandon them either. ‘I’m staying here,’ he said. ‘One of you can have that suit.’
    ‘I don’t think you understand, sir,’ Banks said. ‘If you don’t go, the suit stays empty.’ He glanced over at Swan and Tummel, and then the three of them turned around and walked away.
    Banks looked back once over his shoulder. ‘Tell Creedy we’re going to find the trover’s stash.’
    The sergeant had lifted the heavy brass helmet onto his shoulders, but hadn’t yet clamped it down. ‘Son of a bitch,’ he muttered, his voice muffled by the cumbersome headpiece. ‘Just our luck if the bastard finds it.’
    ‘The suit filters will take worst of the brine out of the air,’ Davy said, ‘and there’s a jerry can of water already in there. Don’t take off your helmets except when you need to drink. And for