A Pirate's Tale: The Only Solution Is Retribution (32 page)

Leo nodded, “I can see that we hit it to the left side.  I think we disabled it.”

“Don’t get close enough to find out,” Barney quickly said.

Leo nodded and lifted his communicator.  He pressed a button and the pirate commanding the Braxel appeared, “I didn’t destroy your vessel but I was unable to avoid the destruction of your second ship.”

The Pirate stared at him and his rage was clear.  Leonidas shrugged, “I think you’re going to need another Fleet Captain.”

• • •

The monitors went dark and Leonidas said, “I could have destroyed that damaged ship but chose not to do it.  All I did was defend myself against two attacking ships and the thanks I get for not killing the second ship is to have the Ship Commander deliberately lie about what happened.  Ask them to bring their recording of the event and see for yourselves that I’ve been falsely accused.”

The five Councilors were staring at the Argyans and the entire building was deathly silent.  Blakely stared at the Beligeese who made the accusation and finally said, “I wish to see your recording of what happened.”

The Beligeese looked at the other crewmembers and said, “I’m sorry, Lead Councilor, I can’t provide the recording?”

“Why not!?” Blakely demanded.

“I was ordered by my captain to turn it over to him.”

Blakely looked at the Argyans and said, “Bring me the recording.”  No one moved and Blakely lowered his eyes, “I really don’t need it do I?  It would only confirm what Captain Alexander has shown us, right?”

The Beligeese said, “Yes, Lead Councilor, it would.”

Blakely’s anger was clear, “Then why did you deliberately lie about the confrontation?”

“I was ordered by my Fleet Commander to tell it like I reported, Lead Councilor.”

“Well I’m ordering you to tell the truth!!”

“What you saw on the monitor is what happened.”

The Argyans standing around the Beligeese moved away from him and their hatred was evident.  The Beligeese looked at them and said, “I told you it was foolish to do this.”

Suddenly the room heard an Argyan shout, “I demand a Possession Duel!!”

Blakely sneered at the Argyans, “You’re in no position to call for a duel!!”

The Argyan Fleet Commander stepped forward, “It has already been paid for and the Tortugan Authority has sanctioned it!”

Blakely jerked his head to the left and the Tortugan Official raised both hands and said, “The Argyans paid the fee earlier today, Lead Councilor.  It is within their rights to do so.  If we knew about this in advance, we would have not accepted it.”

“Then refund their payment!!”

The Tortugan was obviously distressed, “I’m sorry, Lead Councilor, but the Original Charter prohibits us from doing so.”

The five Councilors were livid.  They had been deliberately lied to and now the Argyans were deliberately adding insult to injury.  Leo looked up at Blakely, “What is a Possession Duel.  I saw nothing about it in the laws and regulations governing behavior on Tortuga.”

Blakely tore his eyes away from the Argyans, “It only involves Captains of ships, Captain Alexander.  Any Captain may pay a fee of two million credits to challenge any other captain to a duel for possession of their property.  It appears the Argyans have paid for the duel and you have limited options.”

“What are they?”

“If you refuse to participate in the duel, you will lose your ship, all the deposits you made and your crew will be executed.  However, you will not lose your life.  If you accept the duel, the winner will take possession of everything owned by the loser.”  Blakely looked at the Argyans, “And who is chosen to be your champion?”

A strange looking creature stepped out from the middle of the Argyan crews and Embree whispered in Leonidas’ ear, “That’s a Dacon, Captain.  You cut off a piece of it and it grows right back.  Even a blaster won’t stop it.”  Leo stared at the creature twitching in front of him and Embree leaned back in and whispered, “Did I mention they are reputed to be incredibly fast and their hides are as tough as steel?”

Leo shook his head, “No, you didn’t?”

“Well, they are.”

Leo stared at the smiling monster and shook his head and thought,
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

T
he Councilor sitting to Blakely’s right stood up and yelled, “The Dacon does not meet the requirements!!  It is not a Captain!”

The Beligeese replied, “I was demoted before this meeting and the Dacon was given command of my ship.”

“What reason were you given for being demoted!?” the Councilor demanded.

The Beligeese looked at the Argyan Fleet Commander and said, “It was felt I was offering bad advice, Councilor.  I advised against doing this.”

Blakely looked at the Fleet Commander and said, “You might win this duel but afterwards you will punished for lying to the Council…”

The Argyan Fleet Commander interrupted, “I’m sorry, Lead Councilor, but the punishment for lying to the Council is banishment from Fellowship.  You do not have the authority to use any other punishment according to the Charter.”

Leonidas turned to Blakely, “Are you telling me that every captain in this building can challenge me to a possession duel to take my ship and wealth?”

Blakely shook his head, “No, a Captain may only be challenged once.  Quite honestly, I suspect there are many others that planned to do exactly what the Argyans are doing.  You were blatantly obvious in depositing your wealth.  However, the Council’s issue with them is their deliberate attempt to deceive us.”

The Argyan Fleet Commander laughed, “We will take his ship and credits and go out and buy a new place to live.”

The crews standing around the Fleet Commander had their heads lowered in shame.  They could see the entire gathering glaring at them but they had no choice but to follow the Commander’s orders.

Blakely stared at the Fleet Commander and said, “You better buy a place that I can’t find.  Once you’re out of the Fellowship, you will not be immune from the consequences of your actions.  I will find you and extract vengeance for this fine crew and Captain you’ve wronged today.”

Leonidas stared at Blakely shaking his head and Blakely turned to him, “I promise you, Captain, I will make them pay for this.”  Blakely shook his head and formally said, “Captain Alexander, do you choose to participate in the Possession Duel?”

“It really appears I have no choice but to agree.  If my crew dies, I will die with them.  I will participate.”

“Since you are the one being challenged, you have the choice of weapons.”

Leonidas glanced at the Dacon and saw it smiling.  “I chose to use a sword.”

Blakely immediately started shaking his head and the entire assembly groaned at what was said.  The Fleet Commander yelled, “He’s made the choice; he can’t change it now!!”

Blakely looked at the Commander of the Argyans, “I am going to enjoy cutting you into tiny pieces.”  He turned to Leonidas and shook head, “The Dacon’s skin is too tough for a sword to damage.  I was thinking you would select a blaster.”

Leo looked at Blakely and smiled, “What would be fun in that?”  Blakely’s eyes went wide open as Leo asked, “Where do we do this?”

The Councilor at the left end of the table stood up and moved off the dais to stand between the two crews.  He said, “There is a red circle on the floor.  The duel will take place inside the circle.”  He looked up and shouted, “Guards, take the crews outside the circle and cover them with blasters.”  The Councilor looked at Leo, “Your crew deserves to be able to see you fight for them.”

Gold stepped forward and said, “Captain, perhaps it would be better if I took your place.”

The Dacon saw the Insectoid step out from the crew and it immediately stopped twitching.  It did not want to fight an Insectoid.   Blakely asked, “Does the insectoid command one of your ships?”

Leo slowly shook his head, “No, he does not.”

“Then he is not eligible to participate in the duel.”  Blakely announced over the loudspeakers, “Clear the dueling area.  The duel will start when the tone is sounded.”

Leo studied the Dacon and took inventory of what he was up against.  The creature was shaped very much like a legendary centaur.  Like a centaur, the torso rose out of the front of the main body but that’s where the similarity ended.  Its dark mahogany hide looked like a reptile’s with a grainy pebbled surface.  It had four short thick legs under its body that lifted it about eighteen inches off the floor.  It had a thick tail about seven feet long that appeared to be used to help balance the body.  A torso emerged from the front of the thick body that had a two heavily muscled limbs that ended in what looked very much like scorpion claws.  The head was a foot or so above the arms and it had a pointed snout with two rows of jagged teeth in its mouth.  The creature’s eyes were red with black pupils located in the center of the face above the snout.  It started moving from side-to-side and its tail whipped around when it turned.  It would slam its claws together each time it turned causing a loud noise like the crack of a whip that filled the arena.  “Do you think that puny breast covering is going to help you!?  I’m going to crush it with you inside it!” the Dacon sneered.

Leo continued to focus on the creature and got a feel for its speed.  It was fast, no doubt about that, but it couldn’t change direction quickly.  The tail was the main danger he had to avoid when it turned.  The torso was not directly above the creature’s body but extended forward at an angle.  The tail was needed to keep it balanced.  Leonidas quickly asked, “What happens if my opponent leaves the red circle?”

Blakely removed his hand from the button that would sound the tone and said, “The fight will stop until it returns inside it.  It will restart when another tone is sounded.”

The Dacon shouted loudly, “Don’t even think I’ll give you an opportunity to escape the circle!  This is where you die!”

Leo’s focus was better than any time since his body was changed by Gem.  He knew that Blakely was an honorable man and though he had killed numerous times in the past, so had he in fighting on planets that meant nothing to him.  His vow to make the Aryans pay for their sins made an impact on him and he didn’t really care if his life ended today.  He fought to save his crew, not himself.  The fear he initially felt had evaporated.  When you don’t fear dying, there is no place for fear to dwell.  He walked into the middle of the floor and crossed his arms.  The Dacon watched him and roared just as the tone sounded.

The Dacon rushed across the circle at an incredible speed and extended its two clawed arms wide to crush Leo between them.  Leo waited with crossed arms and just before it slammed into him, he moved to the left at a speed that was impossible, pulled the sword out faster than could be seen, and slammed it down on the Dacon’s tail as it flashed past him.   The Dacon managed to barley stop next to the edge of the red circle and was flailing its arms to avoid leaving the circle.  It was front heavy from the loss of its tail and it struggled to keep its balance.  Leo walked up behind it, put his foot on the stump that was quickly growing and shoved the Dacon forward.  The monster fell forward and its arms and head slammed into the hard wooden floor.

Leo walked over to the still twitching tail he had cut off and stuck his sword into it.  He calmly walked over to the edge of the circle away from the Dacon and tossed the tail out of the circle.  In an instant, his sword was back in the scabbard and Leo walked to the center of the circle and crossed his arms.

Gold watched the fight and didn’t know who was shocked the most; the Dacon or all the thousands of pirates watching.  The giant building was absolutely silent.  The silence was broken when Blakely yelled, “Why didn’t you finish him?”

Leo shrugged, “What’s the fun in that?”

The Dacon stood outside the circle waiting for its tail to regrow and Blakely said, “Reenter the circle or forfeit the duel!”

Leo was surprised by how quickly the tail was growing.  The Dacon moved to its feet and it was five feet long as it entered the circle.  It was back to its full length by the time Blakely sounded the tone again.  It moved forward cautiously and didn’t rush headlong at Leo.  Leo watched it moving toward him and he saw the left arm move slightly.  However, he could see the muscles under the skin in the right arm tensing.  The Dacon moved from side-to-side with its arms spread wide preventing Leonidas from moving around it.  Then it moved in and moved the left arm slightly as it whipped its right arm with the huge claw at Leo’s head.  Leo ducked under the arm and lifted the sword out of the scabbard and held it over his head.  The arm flashed over him and was severed at the shoulder joint as it hit the sword’s blade.  Leo came up out of his crouch and cut off the two front legs as he stepped behind the advancing adversary.  The Dacon was now rear heavy and it fell backward on its tail. 

The Dacon tried to get its body down as Leo arrived behind the Dacon and cut off its tail again but this time took a huge slice of its body with it.  The Dacon’s torso slammed down to the floor.   Leo walked across the floor and sat down with his legs crossed close to the struggling Dacon.  No one saw him put the sword back in the scabbard but it was there with the handle showing just over his left shoulder.

The Dacon couldn’t move.  It now knew it was up against some sort of demon and that the human could have killed it twice if it chose.  It looked up at Leo and heard him quietly say, “I really don’t want to kill you.  Are you willing to call this off?”

The Dacon closed its eyes and shook its head, “I can’t for the same reason you have to fight.  I’m fighting for the lives of my fellow crews and have no other choice.”  They spoke quietly and the gathered thousands could not hear what was being said.  The Dacon was regenerating fast and Leo thought about what was going to happen.  He knew the Argyan Crews were ashamed of what was happening and this creature was put into a situation  that it had no idea of what it was going to face nor did he did not want to be there.  Once his parts regenerated, the Dacon charged again and this time it hit the floor with all four legs, both arms, and its tail left lying on the floor.