by Henry Vogel
As we approached the bridge, the guard I’d sent to the forward airlock returned.
“The woman and her husband left the ship no more than a minute before I reached the airlock,” he reported. “The guards say the woman appeared reluctant but left voluntarily.”
Nodding to the guard, I strode onto the bridge. “Give me a video sweep of the docking bay. Stop and zoom in if you see Heidi out there.”
Seconds later, Heidi and her husband filled our view screen. The pair stood less than a hundred yards from our ship. A gang of grinning pirates had them surrounded and one of their number laughed and talked with Heidi’s husband. Heidi pressed close beside her husband, fear written on her face. Her husband, fear building on his face, argued vehemently with the pirate.
“The man may be working with the pirates, but they sure don’t seem to like him much,” I said. “I’ve got to get out there and defuse this situation!”
“I’ll come with you!” Rupor said.
“You’re our military commander, Rupor. You need to stay here with your command,” Callan said. “Megan, do you mind going with David? You can be his translator.”
“Why would she speak gal base and not the ship’s second in command?” I asked.
“Captain Bane taught me,” Megan answered. “He would want his woman to speak his language, wouldn’t he?”
“It sounds reasonable to me,” I said. “Let’s go!”
A moment later, Megan and I approached the outer edge of the pirates gathered around Heidi and her husband.
“I’m getting tired of arguing with you, Chapman,” the pirate said. “If you won’t share your woman with us, there’s only one thing I can do. Erwin Chapman, I challenge you to a duel. If you win, you get my rights within the Brotherhood. If I win, I get your woman!”
As if our situation weren’t complicated enough, Heidi’s husband had managed to find a way to make things more precarious. If Chapman was the only one involved, I’d have left him to his own devices. But I couldn’t just stand by and let Heidi suffer through this.
I turned an expectant look on Megan and tilted my head toward Heidi and her husband. Catching on, Megan gave a Mordanian translation of what had just transpired.
Over the excited talk from the pirates, I called out in Mordanian, “Megan, tell them Heidi is a member of our crew and not a prize to be fought over.”
The chatter around the two men died down at the sound of my voice. Curious, the pirates turned their attention our way. Megan took advantage of the lull in conversation and spoke in exaggeratedly careful gal base. “Commander Rice says you can do what you want with the spy but the woman is ours!”
“Um, Megan, that’s not exactly what I said.”
“I know, David, but if I repeat what you say exactly won’t that make it easier for the machines to translate our language?”
She made a very good point. “That’s a very smart move, but that means you’re in charge of these negotiations. I’ll try to offer advice if it’s needed, but that’s the best I can do.”
“Words and reading crowds are my business, David. You have to trust me.”
“I do. Carry on as you see fit. If the situation really goes downhill, we can always switch to you directly translating my words.”
By now the pirate arguing with Chapman had gotten over his surprise. “How did an elsie woman learn gal base?”
“I speak five languages native to my planet. Learning your soulless language didn’t pose much of a challenge,” Megan replied. “Now, Heidi is coming with us.”
The pirate suddenly remembered the original discussion. “Wait just a minute. What do you mean the woman is yours?”
Maintaining the act, I said to Megan, “Just nod your head as if I guessed the gist of the pirate’s question.”
Megan nodded, then I muttered a bunch of unassociated Mordanian strung together.
Megan turned back to the pirates and switched to gal base. “Heidi is a full member of our crew. Our captain is a member of this Brotherhood. That means you can challenge her to a duel but you cannot win her in a duel — especially not a duel with a hostage who’s wormed his way into Quint’s good graces by spying on his fellow hostages!”
The pirates exchanged glances. “What are you talking about? Who said he’s a spy for the captains?”
Megan looked my way and switched to Mordanian. “Blah blah blather pretend to translate.”
I suppressed the urge to laugh. “Don’t do that! It would ruin the scene if I started laughing in the middle of the negotiation.”
Megan turned back to the pirate. “All of the men other than Chapman were terrified when Quint ordered them away. Chapman just smirked. It wasn’t hard to figure out the rest.”
“Erwin, that’s not true, is it?” Heidi asked, her eyes wide and pleading.
“It’s...complicated,” Chapman said.
The pirate laughed. “Yeah, it’s complicated. But I’m going to uncomplicate it for you, honey. Chapman, the challenge still stands, only now I’m going to kill you just for the fun of it!”
Chapman paled at the pirate’s words. “B-but I’m useful to you! Captain Quint said so!”
“You were useful, Chapman,” his challenger said, “but we got those other men toeing the line right nice like. Your tech skills aren’t real good. And your other skills are — what was the word the captain used, boys? Oh yeah — redundant.”
Another pirate got into Chapman’s face. “Do you know what that means? It means we can live without you, Chapman.”
As raucous laughter rose from the other pirates, Heidi turned an imploring look on me. I sighed and nodded to her. Relief spread across her face.
Megan eyed me with an appraising look. “You’re going to save Chapman’s sorry hide, aren’t you?”
“I’m doing it for Heidi, not Chapman. But yes, unless we can find a way out of this duel, I’m going to try to save his sorry hide. See if you can find an angle that will let us buy these guys off or something.”
Megan raised her voice and switched back to gal base. “You can’t kill Chapman!”
“Yeah I can, lady. And you can watch me!” the challenger called back.
“Chapman is married to a member of our crew. That means he belongs to her. You may only challenge him if she grants him permission to duel.”
Hope flared in Chapman’s face.
“Nice try, woman, but Chapman is just married to her.” The pirate jerked a thumb at Heidi. “That don’t mean he belongs to her!”
“Tell that to my ex-wife!” one of the other pirates quipped, drawing more laughter from the pirates.
As the light of hope faded from Chapman’s eyes, the challenger continued, “I’ll grant you had a point about the woman, but not about her husband. Chapman is ours.”
“It was a valiant try, Megan,” I said, “but these pirates want blood. It’s time to get me involved in the duel.”
“You know Callan won’t approve of this,” she replied in Mordanian. Switching back to gal base, she said, “Commander Rice says he is disappointed in his fellows in the Brotherhood.”
The challenger turned mocking, wide eyes my way. “Gosh, I don’t want to disappoint Commander Rice none! Please tell me how we disappointed him so we can fix it right up!”
“He and I are both displeased to learn what cowards you lot are.”
The mocking expression vanished, replaced by a hot glare. “Who you calling a coward, lady?”
“You, obviously. Who but a coward would challenge a man wholly incapable of defending himself?” Megan’s voice dripped with disdain. “Your cowardice disgusts him so much that Commander Rice issues challenge to you. Should you defeat our commander in a fair fight, Chapman is yours to do with as you wish. Should you lose, well, you won’t care about anything ever again, will you?”
One of the other pirates spoke quietly to the challenger. A grin spread across the challenger’s face as he listened.
“Well now, this is more like it! We got us a
new challenge, boys!” he called. Putting a hand on the other pirate’s shoulder, the challenger said, “Simmons and me are going to meet Chapman and Rice together. A two-on-two challenge to the death!”
A cheer rose from the pirates, Chapman’s face went white, and Heidi buried her face in her hands.
Megan hung her head. “I’m sorry, David. All I’ve done is make things worse.”
“Don’t blame yourself. You did a lot better than I could have, Megan. Like I said, the pirates want blood.”
A gruff voice cut through the commotion. “What be the meanin’ o’ all this, then?”
Martin and the other pirate captains were already back. The negotiations must have gone smoothly. Seeing the captains, hope returned to Chapman’s face.
“Captain Quint! These men challenged me to a duel!” he cried. “Me! Your inside man.”
“An’ why should that matter to me?” Quint asked.
The response shook Chapman, but he tried another appeal to Quint. “But what if I’ve learned something important?”
“I s’pose there be a first time fer everything,” Quint spat.
Chapman tried one more time. “But Captain Quint-”
Quint spun around, a blaster materializing in his hand. “Shut up, Chapman, or I’ll kill you m’self.”
Chapman backpedaled, his hands held out in supplication.
Turning away and holstering his blaster, Quint added, “Have a good time killin’ him, boys!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Martin stayed behind as Quint and the other five captains walked away. Taking in the scene around me, he spoke to me in Mordanian. “You’re involved in this fight, aren’t you David?”
“He’s doing it for Heidi. After all she went through to get back to her husband, David couldn’t just let the pirates kill her man in front of her. It’s all quite gallant on David’s part.” Megan turned a level stare on me. “I prefer heroic songs with happy endings, so don’t get yourself killed.”
“At long last, I have a good reason to survive a fight!” I grinned just in case Megan didn’t figure out I was kidding.
Megan grinned in return. “I’ll make sure to tell Callan of your good fortune.”
“Bane!” Quint and his pirate chorus stopped about fifty feet away. “Come on. We got us a treasure to find.”
“I’d love to join you, Quint,” Martin replied, switching back to gal base. “Unfortunately, your men dragged my pilot into this fight. We’ll have to wait until the duel is finished.”
“I gots plenty o’ pilots. I’ll have one git out here,” Quint said.
“I am not getting into a pinnace outnumbered seven to one,” Bane said.
“We be headin’ out for the treasure now. If’n my pilot ain’t ta yer likin’ you can get another one o’ yours. You do got another pilot, don’t you?”
“Of course I have another pilot, Quint.” Martin looked at me and shrugged. “I’ll go get him.”
“Are you taking Nist?” I asked in Mordanian
“No, I’ll take Milo.” Martin switched back to Mordanian. “His size and age won’t alarm them and, as much as I like Nist, Milo will be more useful if it comes to a fight.” Turning toward the pirate captains, he added, “Try not to get yourself killed, David.”
As he walked away, I turned to Megan. “Find out the details of this challenge. What weapons we can use, where we fight, who can watch, that sort of thing.”
Moments later, we were back on our ship as the pirates made preparations for the duel. Laura and some of the other women consoled Heidi. Chapman sat alone, ostracized and avoided. Rupor watched Chapman with unconcealed disgust.
“How could a woman as courageous and intelligent as Heidi marry a cur such as him?” Rupor hissed in a low voice.
“In normal circumstances, he may be a fine, upstanding man,” I said.
“You’re excusing him?” Rupor asked.
“No, I was answering your question, Rupor. Adversity doesn’t always bring out the best in a man, but the man only finds that out when adversity strikes.” I eyed Chapman. “I suspect life on a colony would have broken Chapman, but it would have taken longer.”
Callan slid in beside me. “Everyone’s here, David.”
I switched to gal base so everyone could understand me. “You all know that Chapman and I are fighting a couple of pirates. The duel is held in a zero gravity room surrounded by viewing platforms. Most of the other pirates will be there to watch, so that’s when you and your men,” I pointed to Laura’s husband, “will disable all of the defense lasers in the docking bay. We’ll draw the fight out as long as we can, but don’t waste any time. Come back to the ship as soon as you’re done. We’ll leave once Chapman and I get back. Questions?”
There were none.
“Keep your composure, do your job, and we’ll be safe on a naval base this time tomorrow.” I turned to Chapman. “Let’s get this over with.”
Chapman and I stepped out of the ship and then red lights began flashing all around the docking bay. The pirates took note of the flashing lights but simply returned to their tasks. Was this some kind of test or a minor warning? I wanted to stop one of the nearby pirates and ask what was going on, but I wasn’t supposed to understand gal base. I couldn’t ask Chapman for the same reason.
Looking back to the airlock, I called, “Could someone please send Megan out here?”
As the marine guard in the airlock headed into the ship, I turned back to the docking bay. Chapman was thirty feet away, running for the hatch out of the docking bay and into the main base! Cursing, I took off after him. If Chapman got into the base proper, he might be as good as gone.
The pirates watched him dash past, laughing. One or two tried to trip him, but most just settled in to watch the fun.
“Twenty credits says the elsie catches him,” one pirate called.
“Done!” called another. “But the bet is off if someone trips Chapman!”
More bets were called and accepted and, within seconds, all attention in the docking bay focused on Chapman and me.
Behind me, I heard Megan call, “David, what are you doing?”
“Chapman’s running away!”
Megan used language quite fitting for a pirate base and, based on the catcalls from the pirates, joined the chase.
“Go back to the ship, Megan!” I yelled without turning.
“I won’t,” she yelled back. “You can’t run around the base without having a translator!”
There were good reasons behind the decision to pretend ignorance of gal base, but I really regretted that decision now! If I caught Chapman before he got out of the airlock, though, it wouldn’t matter. And that looked to be the likely result before Megan cried out behind me.
“Get your hands off me!”
One of the pirates cried out in pain and more harsh laughter erupted from the other pirates.
“That ain’t no way for a pretty plaything to act!” a pirate said.
“Let me go!” Megan shouted.
I risked a look over my shoulder. A handful of pirates clutched at Megan, trying to pull her into a rough embrace. I found myself torn between my desire to help Megan and the absolute necessity of catching Chapman.
“Unhand that woman, you miserable pirates!” demanded a strong voice.
The pirates didn’t understand the command as it was in Mordanian — or Tartegian, from the speaker’s point of view — but the meaning was clear. The pirates backed away as Rupor charged across the bay, two squads of marines backing him up.
Relieved of a difficult decision, I turned back to the chase — just in time to see a cargo boom swinging toward my head! I dropped and slid under the boom, losing precious time as a result. As I rolled to my feet, Chapman ducked through the hatch and disappeared into the main base!
CHAPTER FORTY
I rushed to the hatch out of the docking bay. The docking bay wasn’t in vacuum nor was there any imminent threat of decompression, so I should have just been a
ble to yank the hatch open and move on. Instead, the hatch held firm. Two blinking lights caught my eye — a green light showing the airlock was cycling and a red one showing someone had manually switched the airlock to operate under vacuum conditions. Chapman had plenty of time to get lost in the base while I waited for the airlock to recycle.
I looked back toward Megan. Rupor and the marines had safely removed her from the clutching pirates. Rupor’s face contorted in righteous rage while Megan’s displayed offended anger. The pirates muttered among themselves and eyed the marines arrayed between them and Megan. The situation looked volatile, to say the least, but it would become explosive if Chapman found anyone to listen to him.
That’s why, when the airlock finished recycling, I switched off the vacuum conditions override and left Rupor and Megan to handle the situation. With a last glance back to the docking bay, I saw Callan descending from our ship. Perhaps she would ensure cooler heads prevailed.
Beyond the airlock, I found corridors leading left, right, and straight ahead. I didn’t see Chapman anywhere. A couple of pirates lounged against the wall, grinning at me.
“I bet you wish you could speak civilized, elsie,” one said.
I looked at him and shrugged then peered down the corridor straight ahead as if looking for something.
“Chapman didn’t go that way, moron,” the other pirate said.
I whipped my head back to the pirate. Maybe I could get them to tell where he went. Speaking slowly, I said, “Chapman?”
“Send him the wrong way!” the first pirate said.
The other pirate pointed down the corridor to my right. Could he be telling the truth? It wasn’t likely.
Swinging my head to the left, I pretended to spot something and yelled, “Chapman!” Then I dashed down the corridor to my left.