by Reiter
“How it was done is nowhere near as important as you returning the favor with the Baronial Council,” Nulaki warned. “The name of the ship is the Xara-Mansura, and it will be asking for passage into The Territories.
“Take a moment from panting all over the woman and listen to me!” Nulaki said in a voice and volume that was out of character for him.
“Watch your tone, thief,” Isaiah Gundryss said as he stepped forward. His official title was Lieutenant Governor, but he was little more than an assistant and recipient of tongue-lashings whenever Condell Perth was not able to get what he wanted. “Remember this is Black Gate, and he who holds the power is the lord of the manor. You hold favor and little else with all the enemies you’re racking up.”
“Easy there, Gundryss m’lad,” Condell said as he stepped away from the device, putting his eyes on Nulaki. “The Black Scarab has brought us quite a’ treasure, wrenchin’ it from the hands of a most troublesome rival. Gods know why, but he has now taken ta raisin’ his voice ta me, and I’d like ta know why.”
“The Captain who masters this ship is not one to be crossed, Lord Governor,” Nulaki reported, giving a slight bow toward the man that was the Master of Black Gate.
“Aye, bug, I am yer Gov’nor!” Condell agreed, giving a sharp nod of his head. “Best you remember that whilst well-placed memory can keep yer head atop y’shoulders there.
“But I’d like ta think of m’self as an honorable man as well. And this be no mere gift,” Condell considered as he walked around in a large circle. “I’m sure ye know the position Madam Gassio had me in when ye set y’self upon this adventure. Ye give me something I’m wantin’ a muckle amount if not more, n’ at the same time ye relieve me of a fate I’d just as soon dodge.” Condell turned to look back at the young woman, his nostrils flared as his brow furrowed.
“What the hell was that?!” Nulaki thought, seeing the face of the Governor change to something far less human and much more animalistic.
Lieutenant Governor Gundryss had seen it too, and advanced toward Condell Perth. “Are you all right, Gov–”
“Nothin’ ye need fret yer head about, black spasm,” Condell shot back, putting his hands on his hips. “The Xara-Mansura,” he repeated, looking down at the ground. “And how long ‘til this Captain comes b’fore the Council?”
“It’s been moved up to eight days from today, Governor,” Gundryss advised. “But it is also still in pending status. Shall I lock it down for the next–”
“Lock it down for a week from the morn,” Condell directed. “That should give me time to trade words with the Council gents and lasses.
“That’s eight days, Lord Governor,” Nulaki stated.
“Would ye prefer two weeks from the morn, bug?”
“Nae,” Nulaki replied, giving another bow.
“And be leaving your bug mouth off’n all that is left of the Scots, if ye please,” Condell urged. “Ye haven’t th’ tongue or th’ taste for such things!” With a wave of his hands, the guards collected the holding device and allowed it to fall so it could be carried like a coffin. It did not reach the ground but rather floated on a cushion of anti-gravity, and they pushed it like a gurney. Governor Perth walked beside the chamber, looking inside with cold and hungry eyes.
“Easy there, m’bairn,” he whispered to the woman. “We have time to get reacquainted.”
“I will do what I can to see if the Governor’s recourse can be accelerated,” Gundryss said before taking his leave.
“Why would you do that?” Nulaki asked.
“As you said, the people who aided you in… acquiring the young lady from Madam Gassio do not strike me as the sort to be pressed,” Isaiah admitted as he sighed, watching the Governor walking with his prize. “They have not been here long and already they are the subject of a growing number of conversations. Such people should be treated as allies, for they seldom bow to the likes of Governor Perth.”
“And the real power remains behind the throne,” Nulaki said as he turned to make his departure. “I’m not going to say I have anything against the Governor, personally. But I’ll cross him well before I cross the Captain of the Xara-Mansura.” Without waiting for a response, Nulaki jumped off the edge of the roof. Isaiah watched long enough to see the thief make his first catch on a passing transport, flip and fly over the next rooftop, falling into the darkness. He then heard the scream of a guard coming from where the Governor had gone. The outcry was followed by weapons fire. Isaiah turned quickly as his guards drew closer to his position. He heard more screams and saw the flashing lights of gunfire.
“Your orders, sir?” one of his men requested.
“We move in,” Isaiah said as he drew his gun and blade. The way he moved proved it was not the first time he had taken to fighting, and his men waited for him to take the lead. “… but carefully and cautiously. Gravity field on the container… damn old trick!” Isaiah moved, but not so quickly as to rush blindly into a firefight. When he came to the edge of the park lot roof, he looked on a scene of torrid death and recently passed mayhem. There were laser-fire burn marks in all directions, but there were only two people standing that did not belong in the park lot at this time of the evening. They stood fairly close together and were surrounded by the full complement of twenty-four men that made up the bulk of the Governor’s guard; each one of the armoured individuals was either dead or quickly dying from blade, laser burst or impact damage. The two guards who wore shoulder-mounted weapons looked as if their heads had been crushed. Isaiah could not see any weapon that could have worked such results on hard body armour, and none of his indicators had signaled the presence of MannA or ThoughtWill.
In the middle of the field of death stood a slender woman with a scabbard that shimmered with a soft blue light held tightly in her left hand. Her right held a bloody single-edged blade that looked incredibly sharp even at the thirty meters of distance which was between them.
“We’re pretty hard to kill in a straight up fight,” she warned. “When we get the drop on people, we can be a fucking calamity!” Isaiah looked into the sky blue eyes of the woman as he slowly approached. It felt more like he was looking into the eye of a spatial storm. He holstered his gun and sheathed his blade; each of his five men following suit. “You should have seen the look on his face when his little helpless victim turned into a six foot, eight inch mammoth with a mind. That one was a classic!
“I think that might just take the lead in the bug’s book, what about you?” Jocasta stated to Dungias before adjusting her grip on her sword.
“Tell me you didn’t know,” Jocasta said, lifting her bloody blade to point at the recently removed head of the Governor held by the large, blue-skinned man who stood at her side. Condell was dead and his mouth was open. Isaiah’s eyes flared at the sight of pronounced fangs in the man’s mouth. “I’ll take that as a no,” she said, walking over and using the Governor’s red hair to clean her blade. “Fair enough. That means we can talk.”
“Talk?!” Isaiah thought. “It’s all I can do to keep down my dinner! But you don’t have time for that sort of thing, Gundryss. You’ve got a lot of work to do and it all needs to be initiated before the morning! Might as well start with these two.
“Inside his cloak on the front, left-hand side,” Gundryss said calmly as he dismissed his men. Dropping the head, Dungias squatted down to inspect the Governor’s body. He found a pocket where the Lieutenant Governor had directed them to search. Inside that pocket there was an electronic card packet and Dungias took it out to show it to Jocasta. “The chromatic one is the Governor’s personal pass card,” Isaiah stated. “… and I will see to it that the codes on that card remain active… provided.”
“Think you’re in a place to work a deal?” Jocasta asked.
“We both do,” Gundryss replied. “Or else you would have attacked the moment I walked up on the scene.”
“Tall, dark, handsome… and smart,” Jocasta smiled.
“Don’t let the
dark brown skin fool you,” Isaiah warned. “I won’t melt in your mouth!”
Jocasta chuckled as she took the card from Dungias. “Provided?”
“Word has it that you’re a pirate with no care save her own,” Isaiah said as he dared to walk closer. “I don’t think that story is altogether accurate.”
“Oh really,” she smiled. “…and how’s that?”
“Why give a damn about the girl if you’re that kind of person?” he postulated. “My proviso is simple: you owe me a favor for this. You give me your hand and your word and I’ll see to it that the codes on that card are made permanent, accessing the automated systems that can open the doors to The Territories. I’ll give you my word that when I exercise my favor, it will not be an insult to your standing or station.”
Jocasta looked the man over and her eyes squinted. There was something to the way he moved, the manner in which he spoke. “You’re a Maggot!” she declared.
“Former magistrate,” he quickly corrected. “When I get to know you better, perhaps I can tell you why I left their ranks.”
“Only to come to work for an Upyri,” Jocasta said sharply.
“I didn’t know he was a blood-feeder,” Isaiah quickly attested. “… but now that I know he was one, I know where he nested and where I’ll find more of them. They’ll be dealt with before morning.”
“Damn, Mr. Man,” Jocasta said as she shrugged her shoulders. “You just gave me chills! Here’s my hand,” she said, extending her hand toward him. “You have the word of JoJo Starblazer. You’ll find me under a few different names, but that’s the one that walks from this point onward.” A soft glint of hope and pride flared across Dungias’ eyes.
“Good to meet you, JoJo,” the man said as he smiled, shaking her hand.
“No it isn’t,” she said after her hand was released. “But it might just get there. Consider it a work in progress.
“And if you will excuse me,” Jocasta said as she started to turn away from the man. “… I’ve got some… housekeeping issues to address before taking our leave of your fine station.”
“Travel well, JoJo Starblazer. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
“Seems like that’s my trek, Mags,” Jocasta smiled as she walked. “Let me apologize beforehand for the next visit.” Isaiah chuckled as he watched the woman head toward the Governor’s extended air-car. He did not say anything. Condell was not going to need it in the immediate future… or any future for that matter. He was impressed with the speed with which her man unlocked the vehicle and made it ready for use. Isaiah waved as the car pulled off, heading for the streets below.
“The way she said housekeeping,” he thought. “I wonder if I should keep an eye on the medical facilities, just in case she gets sloppy… or merciful.” Isaiah chuckled, thinking to himself that he could not decide which of the two would happen more quickly… if either would happen at all.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
The appropriated air-car parked in front of the estate and Silnee laughed as she came away from the window.
“Captain’s made it back,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “… and it looks like her and Z field-claimed us another ride!”
“Damn,” Siekor said, shaking his head. “… Captain’s on a serious rip! She keeps coming back with stuff; crew, ships, slaves… if we don’t get out of Black Gate soon, it will be standing room only on board!” There was a bit of laughter as Annsura walked by, lightly slapping Siekor’s arm. She opened the front door just in time for a fast-walking Jocasta to enter.
“Nulaki?” she said as she walked inside, stopping only to look around.
“He’s in the Rec Room playing cards with Dugger and Kryltane,” Annsura answered, only to see Jocasta walk quickly in the direction of the given room. Annsura looked back at Dungias who was slowly closing the door. Everyone else tore off after the Captain and followed her up to the doors of the room. Jocasta opened them and walked inside.
“Well it’s about time you showed,” Nulaki said as he placed his bet. “I was about to gather up the troops and come out after y–” Jocasta dropped her cane and planted a round kick to the side of Nulaki’s head. He fell over with the chair and rolled when he hit the ground.
“An act of deliverance?!” Jocasta yelled as she walked up on Nulaki. He stood up quickly, slightly stunned and swinging blind. Jocasta ducked under the punch, landing a left hook to his sternum. It was followed by a right hook to the chin. Nulaki rolled over the top of the billiard table to the floor. “I do believe that was the term you used: deliverance. He was a fucking Upyri, Conadier! You had us working for a god-damned blood-feeder!”
Ephaliun’s fists were tightly clenched, but he did not move to assist Nulaki and decided to just look at the floor instead.
“What did she say?” Marlene asked.
“I’m not too sure, but it sounded like she said we were working for an Upyri,” Agatha replied, trying to get a vantage point on the fight.
“What the hell is that?” Marlene pressed.
“It’s what you get when you cross an InvokeR with a vampire,” Annsura explained. “They supposedly receive all kinds of power by drinking the blood of their victims. But they don’t choose just any kind of victim; they only feed on the best that they can find.”
“Well aside from killer eyes, what made that skinny thing so damn special?” Marlene asked.
“She has DerFae blood in her,” Dungias answered as he entered the room.
“Did he just say what I thought he said?” Marlene asked softly. “Did he say that the woman we stole from the fat madam was one of the Faerie Folk?!”
“That’s what the man said, Mayhem,” Annsura answered. “And the Captain has reason to think that Nulaki knew something about it but failed to tell her.”
“If Nulaki didn’t say anything, it wasn’t a failure of any kind,” Pristacia inserted.
“You sound like you know the man, Princess,” Siekor stated.
“I know him as well as I’d like to,” she replied coldly. “He told me himself he knew the Captain didn’t trust him and that she was right not to. I hope she beats the ever-loving shit out of him; trading that woman for profits and favors!”
“I’m sorry, I thought we were pirates!” Siekor argued. “Are we saying that we draw the line at tits because the Captain’s got a pair of them?!”
“Keep it down, everyone!” Annsura snapped before she looked at Siekor. Her eyes shifted to Llaz and then she looked at the floor. “You’ve got a good point, Siekor, but at the end of the day, the Captain says where the line is drawn. Nulaki’s crossed it, and this is the fallout. It’s not our place to weigh in like there’s a vote to any of this. The only vote we get is whether we stay on the ship. If that vote is ‘yes’, we follow the Captain, end of story!” As Annsura turned to look back at the fight, Siekor looked to see what had made her change her trek in mid-discussion. He saw Llaz standing off to the side, watching the Captain fight.
“Scheiβkerl!” Nulaki thought as his head pounded from the blow he had received. The mood of the moment had changed, drastically, and he needed to focus on moving. “She tried to take my damn head off!
“I had you working the angle!” Nulaki yelled, landing a mule-kick to Jocasta’s face. She was lifted from the floor and landed on the billiard table. He got up slow, trying to shake the cobwebs loose. Instinct caused him to turn around quickly, catching a hurled billiard ball in his right hand. The second hurled ball hit him in the face. He staggered back to the wall as Jocasta came away from the billiard table.
With the ball still in hand, Nulaki swung his fist for her face. Jocasta ducked, landing a fierce jabbing strike to the inside of his arm just above the elbow. Nulaki dropped the ball and stepped to the right, blocking a punch meant for his face with his left hand.
“Work this angle!” Jocasta huffed, sending a barrage of hooks for his body. Nulaki took one step back to avoid the first. His hands and forearms blocked the other five. Jocasta then k
icked high for his head but Nulaki ducked, rolling under her leg and by her body.
Nulaki stood up delivering a back kick that Jocasta caught. She moved to strike the leg but Nulaki jumped, spun, and landed an inside crescent kick across her face. He landed as Jocasta dropped to her knee. Nulaki yelled, jumping up again to deliver an axe kick to her shoulder. Jocasta sprang up screaming, catching Nulaki’s body as it was still rising and he was immediately thrown off balance. They both came down and Jocasta slammed him down on the billiard table. Nulaki’s back arched in pain from the various balls that felt as if they were now lodged next to his spine. Jocasta yelled as she brought one hand around after the other, hammering the first to his sternum and the second to his crotch.
Everyone watching the fight from the corridor reacted one way or another. All of the men winced in sympathetic pain and Mel put his hands over his crotch.
“Ouch,” Silnee said softly. “I think this fight’s over.”
“Yeah, but only the fighting,” Marlene added.
Nulaki’s eyes were shut tight as he tried to contend with the pain and the difficulty he had in breathing. He was brought up from the table and he suddenly remembered how well the woman had manipulated the manhole cover. He was in trouble, and there was nothing he could do about it!
“You still want to work angles?! Here’s another angle!” Jocasta took hold of Nulaki’s head and brought it down into a knee lift. His head snapped back and he fell to the floor, struggling to remain conscious. Jocasta looked down on the man and then she turned toward the main door of the room. “Cane!” she cried and it came up from the floor. Halfway across the room, Dungias’ hand kept it from reaching Jocasta’s grasp.
“I believe you have made your point, Captain,” he said softly.