by Saxon Andrew
“He had a blaster pointed at you and wasn’t calling for you to surrender!”
Desiree looked at Jimmy, “Did you record this?”
“I did.”
“Did you get that man pointing a blaster at us?”
“I did.”
“Excellent!”
It took about thirty minutes before all of the bounty hunters were able to sit in a chair and Deloam was told to sit still until all of his men were conscious. He said nothing and was still wobbling from the punch he took. Finally, everyone was sitting at a table with a drink in front of them and Victoria looked at Jimmy, “Bring your recording over here.” Jimmy walked over and Victoria said, “Show Mr.…Uhhh…”
“Deloam,” the man said groggily.
“Show Mr. Deloam why one of his men was killed.” Jimmy held his communicator in front of Deloam’s eyes and he saw the man raise a blaster and point it at Desiree. “He would still be alive but for your stupidity in bringing armed agents in here. His death is on your hands,” Victoria sneered at him.
Desiree looked at Billy standing at the door, “Billy, find me the name of a bounty hunter business that is regarded as the most dangerous.”
Billy began pressing buttons on his communicator and said, “The Devon Devils are reputed to be the most blood thirsty. They are carnivores that usually eat the ones they are contracted to capture.”
Desiree walked over in front of Deloam and knelt down in front of him, “Now pay close attention! Tell the owner of your firm that if he bothers us again, we will be taking a contract out with the, what’s their name, Billy?”
“Devon Devils.”
“With the Devon Devils to bring him directly to us to discuss his apparent stupidity at interrupting our party,” Desiree said one inch from Deloam’s face. “Do you understand?” Deloam looked around the room and nodded.
Victoria lowered her eyes, “You should be ashamed of yourselves for attacking two defenseless women! None of you are gentlemen!”
Deloam could only shake his head at her and the tavern owner started laughing. Soon the crew of the Play Toy joined him. Desiree looked at Deloam, “We’ve ordered all of you a drink and if you’re hungry, we’ll also pay for a dinner.”
Deloam wobbled slightly as he tried to stand up and Desiree gripped his shoulder and prevented him from falling out of the chair. Deloam’s head went back slightly as he said, “I’m not going anywhere for a while.”
Desiree looked at the owner, “Take their orders and serve my crew while you’re at it. We’ll pay for any damages.”
“The only thing you damaged was them,” the owner shouted from the bar.
Desiree looked around and saw the tables and chairs had been pushed away from the heavy fighting. “I guess you’re right. Boys, straighten the room up and get that body out of sight.”
Deloam looked at Desiree and knew he and his men were fortunate to be alive. He would have a discussion with his boss about sending him into this mess. After an hour, Deloam looked at Victoria and Desiree, “We aren’t as bad as you made us appear.”
“I believe that. However, you didn’t know what you were stepping into. Everyone on my ship has served in the military and are highly trained as well.”
“I’ve fought many others that served in the military and none of them were close to being able to do what you did tonight. Do you mind telling me how you managed to beat all of us?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Deloam. But that is something we’ll keep to ourselves.”
When Deloam was finally able to stand, his walk had lost its swagger. He left with his men and Victoria shook her head, “I hate we had to crush his ego.”
“Don’t let it bother you, it’ll probably save his life in the future.” Victoria looked at Desiree with a raised eyebrow. “He’ll check things out before he rushes into an unknown situation again. The best lessons come hard and are not forgotten.”
“I guess you’re right,” Victoria said with a sigh. “But you have to admit, he was nice to look at.”
Desiree smiled and said, “Many troglodytes are.”
Victoria laughed and lifted her glass. Desiree toasted it, “Here’s to Gem’s training.”
“Amen to that!”
• • •
They arrived back on the Play Toy and Desiree saw Victoria head toward the stern of the ship, “Going to Gem’s lab?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been spending a lot of time in there lately.”
“Desiree, he knows so much that I don’t. I find him fascinating and I’ve learned so much just listening to him. I want to tell him what we did tonight. I’m sure he’ll be pleased.”
Desiree nodded, “And a big thanks from me for all the things he’s done to prepare us for what happened tonight.”
Victoria smiled, “I’ll tell him.” She disappeared down the corridor and Desiree’s eyes narrowed. What was going on here? She shook her head and headed toward the bridge to move the ship to another planet close to the Tortuga intersection.
Chapter Seventeen
The Thermopylae arrived in orbit above Tortuga and Leonidas and the ten crewmen flew the shuttle down to the front of the First Bank of Tortuga. The bank official was there along with a hundred armed security guards. A crowd had gathered outside the cordoned off area wondering what was going on. When the crew began moving boxes out of the shuttle into the bank, they knew something big was taking place. It didn’t take long for the crowd to grow in numbers. Leonidas looked at the crowd and turned to the official, “Do you think you have enough guards?”
The Official kept licking his face as boxes were moved out of the shuttle, “No one will interfere with what’s happening. The guards are only here to keep them away. If anyone of them tries anything, it will be their death warrant.”
“You seem pretty certain about that?”
“You have been listed in the Registry as a Triple A resident of my bank. You will, of course, have the protection of being on that list. You will not be attacked by anyone without the approval of the Pirate’s Governing Council.”
“What will happen if we are?”
“All of their assets will be confiscated from all of our financial institutions and they will be banished from Tortuga. You have a free insurance policy for choosing to do business with me.”
Leonidas smiled, “I thank you for your help. I do intend to transfer another ten million here a month from now.”
Leo thought the Tortugan was going to knock himself out with his tongue, “That is highly satisfactory, Captain.”
Leonidas smiled as the crowd around the bank continued to grow. The last box was finally taken out of the shuttle and Leonidas went inside to wait for the Tortugans to count it. In less than fifteen minutes he was handed a card giving him access to the account, “Captain, your accuracy is commendable. It was exactly fifteen million credits.”
“I do like accuracy. Thank you again.”
“Please, contact me if you need any assistance.”
“I will.” Leo left the bank and saw all the Tortugans were licking their faces. What an odd species. He went to the shuttle and heard a member of the crowd yell, “WHAT SHIP?”
Leo stopped and shouted, “THE THERMOPYLAE!”
He boarded the shuttle and an alien among the crowd heard several around him ask, “Isn’t that the ship that killed your former Captain?”
The alien looked around, “Indeed it is.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I don’t really know…yet!”
• • •
Leo pulled the sword out of its scabbard and immediately returned it. He had a clear coating of plastic over the blade to prevent cutting off his shoulder if he messed up and he was thankful Gem had provided it when he took possession of the sword. He would have probably killed himself without it when he first started practicing with it. Now it was becoming second nature and he no longer missed putting it back in the scabbard. Gem had sent him the recording of
the man on Jester pulling his sword and putting it back in the scabbard and he knew he was nowhere close to his ability…but he wasn’t bad. He used every free minute to practice with it. His hand-to-hand combat skills Gem had trained him in made him extremely dangerous but this sword took him to an entirely different level. He was more dangerous with a sword in one hand than with a blaster in both hands. He had one of the large rooms in their quarters on Tortuga set up for training and he was working hard to keep his skills honed to a fine edge.
Embree entered the training room and pulled up a chair, “Sir, there are some things in the rules and regulations governing our residency here that I feel I should cover you with.”
Leo continued drawing and scabbarding the sword, “Go ahead.”
“The law that carries the highest penalty is one that prohibits any pirate from leaving the city limits of Fellowship.”
Leo stopped pulling the sword, “Fellowship?”
Embree blew out a breath, “I know it sounds ridiculous but that is the name of this city we’re currently living in.”
“No kidding?”
“I don’t have the story behind why it was named Fellowship but I’m sure we’ll find out once we get out.” Embree looked at his note pad, “If any pirate leaves the designated city limits of Fellowship, they will pay one million credits in penalty fees and a second violation will result in expulsion from the planet.”
Leo stopped practicing with the sword and pulled up a chair, “Have you been able to find out why that law exists?”
“I have. The Bank Official contacted the ship asking for the person responsible for going over the laws with the crew and he was sent to my console. By the way, he seems to really like you a lot. You have the mind of an accountant.” Leo chuckled and Embree smiled, “I think that is the greatest compliment a banker can give to anyone. Anyway, when the planet originally agreed to set up a sanctuary for pirates to come and decompress, they made it clear that they would be restricted to the land set up for them to live on. They built a modern city with all the modern conveniences surrounded by beautiful parks, mountains, a seashore, and three rivers that the pirates could visit to their hearts content. However, they made it absolutely clear that the local population would not be exposed to or have any contact with the city’s inhabitants. They would live their lives like they always have and not be bothered by those in the safe haven. The pirate ships that come here are all vectored in above the city and there is a modern spaceport just inside the city limits next to the ocean if they need to come to the planet’s surface for servicing or repairs. That spaceport rivals the best in the Unity and their construction and repair facilities are second to none. The planet’s spaceport is located on the opposite side of the planet from Fellowship and Traffic Control exerts firm control over the exit routes from both spaceports so that planetary vessels will not come into contact with pirate ships.”
“What if a pirate ship attacks a Tortugan Commercial Vessel?”
“Part of the founding agreement was that all the other pirate ships that use this planet will find the guilty parties and destroy them,” Embree said with a shrug.
“I imagine that pretty much insures Tortugan Ships are avoided like radioactive pancakes.”
“That agreement covers more than just the pirates here, Captain. If a Tortugan Vessel is attacked by any pirate, even those that have nothing to do with the planet, the pirates here will be held responsible for finding the guilty ship and destroying it.”
Leo sat back in his chair and tilted his head, “I’ve often wondered why Tortuga set up this safe haven for pirates but I can see the real benefits to the Tortugans in doing it.” Embree nodded. “Em, they don’t have to build a fleet of warships to defend them. They don’t have to service and supply a navy and they make a huge profit servicing and selling supplies to the pirates. All it cost them was some land and the expense of building a city. The cost of building and maintaining a fleet of warships would far exceed what they paid to set this up. I imagine they’ve recouped their costs several times over since this agreement was made.”
“Pretty much anything you want is available in Fellowship for the right price. I will say the Tortugans are a profit driven society.”
“Is there anything else I should be aware of?”
“The city is governed by a council that is elected by the inhabitants. Each ship gets one vote so those pirates with fleets have a huge advantage in getting one of their crews on the council. Every new resident is required by law to go before the Council at the Council’s next scheduled meeting after they arrive and present themselves to be told the rules governing behavior inside the city. The next meeting is scheduled tomorrow at sundown. You and our crew, all of your crew, are required to be there.”
“I’m not comfortable with not having anyone on board the ship.”
“The penalty for violating a ship’s integrity is death. Traffic Control keeps every ship in orbit under close scrutiny and will not allow anyone but the crew to go near them.”
“I guess that covers my concern. The Tortugan Scanners are also some of the best in the galaxy.”
“They are, Captain.”
“What are the rules governing disagreements between ships?”
“A ship’s captain is allowed to petition the Council for recovery of damages, whether it be physical or psychological. In a society filled with blood thirsty pirates, an insult can cause fighting to break out as quickly as causing physical damages. The Charter prohibits any attacks by anyone here. The law says take any issues to the Council and failure to do so could lead to the guilty parties being executed for endangering the peace of the city.”
“What about handling them away from the planet?”
“The rules still apply. Tortugan Pirates give up their rights to attack any other resident of Fellowship when they opt to live here.”
“That should solve the issue with those pirates we had a run in with a few months back,” Leo said absently while he focused on what Embree was telling him.
“I’m not sure how the Council would view that issue. We weren’t residents at the time so we were open to be attacked. The rules that govern the behavior of ship commanders is supposed to be presented to you at our first council meeting. Everyone here has certain rights and benefits but the Captains of the Pirate Ships are treated almost like Gods.”
“What do you think about that, Embree?”
“It makes for a high level of jealousy between the Captains and their crews. Uneasy sits the head on the throne, Captain. Every crewman longs to have the status and benefits bestowed on their Captains. Without the discipline of a military ranking system, the ships serving under a captain demand results and profits or could easily mutiny against him.”
“Are there any rules governing that?”
“Strangely enough, there aren’t. The hierarchy inside a ship is left alone by the Council. Crews can fight to the death on board their own vessels but will be executed if they take it outside the walls of their ships to the planet’s surface.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
“John Blakely is the current leader of the Council.” Leo stared at Embree and he shrugged, “Blakely has the largest number of pirate ships under his command. It appears, according to some of the crew that have spoken with some of the locals that respect on Tortuga is gained from profit. Everyone pretty much agrees that Blakely is the richest pirate on the planet and that gives him an incredible amount of admiration. He has at least forty warships under his command and he treats his crews well. That’s not to say he runs a loose ship, he doesn’t, and his crews do fear angering him. But for the most part, they are paid a fair percentage of what they take and his crews stand by him.”
“Embree, you sound like you admire him?”
“I’ve studied everything in the Unity Database on him and he’s not what I thought.”
Leo nodded, “Go on.”
“He does not believe in unnecessary killing. His ships a
re crewed by numerous alien species and they all appear to get along well together.” Embree paused and said, “As I understand it, you and the CO interrupted his ships from attacking a Unity Ship; is that right?”
Leo nodded, “It is.”
“He was prevented from taking that ship and you also destroyed a couple of his vessels. Sir, if you were in his place, what would you have done about it?”
“What are you saying?”
“Well, if Blakely had just let you go on your way without reprisal, his crews would have felt he didn’t have their backs. He was pretty much forced to take action against the ship that interrupted his attack. He killed the CO because Mark chose to intervene in the attack. You’ve told us many times that with every choice comes consequences and you should be prepared for them before you make the decision. Mark paid the consequences of a bad decision.”
“He killed two members of Victoria’s family.”
“Sir, I’ve heard you discuss what happened and I think it’s pretty clear he was ordered to kill them by whoever hired him to attack that Starliner. I think it’s clear that once the possibility of opening that safe was gone, he didn’t continue killing the others in Victoria’s family when he was probably paid to do so. The one to blame for those killings is the one that hired him to do them.” Embree paused and then said, “Sir, it’s just like when we were hired as mercenaries to fight for those that hired us. We killed a lot of beings but the ones responsible for those deaths were the ones that hired us to do it. I think Blakely showed remarkable restraint and, though I know he killed the CO, I just can’t muster up enough anger toward him knowing the facts of what happened.”
Leo stared at Embree and said, “What does the crew think about this mission?”
“Sir, they respect you more than you’ll ever know and they will walk through the gates of hell following you. They respect your judgement and if you’ve decided that Blakely deserves it, then they will support you in making it happen.” Embree looked him in the eyes and smiled, “Just as I will, Sir.”