President Gorran was having a stare-down in his office with his top general. General Dorrel was in danger of winning the stare-down. After several tense moments, Gorran cleared his throat and pretended to have papers of utmost importance that needed his immediate attention. Colonel Berut, who also happened to be in the room, shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other.
"I don't care how much you claim I am needed here to 'take over the world'. I have waited long enough to oversee the conduit project for myself. The assimilation of all the local governments into the Empire is going well, according to Major Xentan's latest report. Why shouldn’t I take a look at the project? Heaven forbid there are events taking place in your offices that would go awry should I leave for a short time," said Gorran.
"Of course not, my lord. I merely want everything to be complete with the takeover before you move on to something else. And besides, I'm sure Colonel Berut here wants everything to be ready before you see the device for the first time. First impressions are lasting ones after all."
"Yes, so they say. You have forgotten—a common fault of yours—that if the project were to be unsatisfactory to me if I waited until completion, much money and time would be wasted. I'll not be fooled by whatever ulterior motives you have in preventing my leaving. Now colonel, give me the latest update from your perspective as well as one good reason why I should not be given a tour of the Sol facilities at the earliest possible convenience."
Berut glanced at Dorrel before speaking. "Well, my lord, there are some severe flaws in the transportation process, at least as far as we have been able to tell. Of course, since our test subjects have no way of return, our data is somewhat limited, but we are performing all the necessary tests to solve the problem. I am aware that you need the Conduit Project operational as soon as possible."
The president of PSI smiled sardonically. "For your sake colonel, and yours as well general, I hope you are both aware of the urgency of this project. But of course I’m sure you both know better than to let me down. I have matters of state to attend to for the next few days, but a week from now I will begin my plans to pay a visit to the construction site. I trust I will not be disappointed."
"Sir, no sir!" barked Dorrel and Berut together.
"Dismissed!" Gorran ordered them. After they had left, he began making some notes in his personal journal. If all goes as planned, not only will the Emperor be pleased, I will be poised to overtake Mystica and rule everything! If only they could get those problems worked out. I would use the device myself, but not until the risks are somewhat reduced. Ha, I'll let some of the test subjects die in service to me first. Now, if only SIGS would do their duty…
"Ohh, I don't know why I thought adventuring would be fun," Faith moaned. "I wasn't even looking for adventure. I just wanted to make sure Duncaan would be okay. Look where a little compassion got me. Practically dead, miles away from home and my parents, and covered with a bunch of filthy, disgusting hay! Dacota, why do we have to listen to Codi again?"
"Because he saved our lives instead of turning us in for a pretty hefty bounty, that's why. Codi, how long is it to the port you said we should board at?"
"Oh, not more than 15 miles or so, mate. A ride that short won't hurt the lady much. Not compared to what she's already been though," Codi replied casually.
"I hate it when people talk about me when I'm right here! There can't be anything more annoying than that!" Faith complained.
Codi's voice bore a grin that could not be seen because of the hay that covered him. "Would you like to make a bet on that, Miss Faith? I know that's a specialty of yours."
"Oh, forget I said anything. Let's just get there already…" Faith mumbled, sensing defeat. No one else spoke until they had reached their destination.
"Tell me about your home Faith. I'd like to know some of the things that make you miss it so much," Dacota asked her.
Faith looked down sheepishly. "I… guess most of what I miss are the comforts of home. I don't have to eat dried up things, or sleep on the hard ground, though I have to admit I love the stars. I guess I miss my parents. I mean, I do love them, and if anything ever happened to them I wouldn’t know what to do, but I guess… I tend to take them for granted sometimes. They would do anything to make me happy and I just ignore them and spend more money on gambling. Maybe what I really miss about home is feeling safe. I know it's normal for parents to be protective, but mine were always more protective than the other girls' parents were. It's like they knew that I might be in danger like this someday and they wanted to hold me close for as long as they could before I had to find out the ways of the world the hard way. Hm. Maybe I miss them more than anything else…"
Dacota smiled knowingly and nodded. "Yeah, I know I took my parents for granted and then they all left me, one by one. My real parents and my foster ones, though of course, I know none of them would have if they had been given a choice. They were too committed to our family. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing how you live and meeting your family and friends. Hopefully, once we get to Los Juegos, I can get news about what happened to my crew as well. They are my family now and I hope that some of them made it…"
Suddenly, Codi burst into the room, breathless. "Sorry if I scared you any, mates, but I'm in a bit of a fix and need to skip town as soon as possible. I got us all passage on a boat whose captain owes me a few favors, so we should be safe enough on our trip. Still, I wouldn't hesitate to take a dagger to bed with me. Well, get your gear and let's get out of here. I don't like to leave a warm trail behind me. It's unprofessional, ya know? Can't let my reputation slip."
With a cocky grin, Codi hauled up their small bits of luggage and hurried out the door, gesturing to them to follow, and quickly. Faith looked at Dacota and shrugged, while he replied with a glance that seemed to say, "We don't even want to ask." They followed quickly after the bounty hunter.
That had been several hours ago and Faith and Dacota had long since retired to their quarters. Dacota leaned back in his bunk and reveled in the familiar motion of the ship's rocking beneath him. He lay there for a while, focusing completely on the sound of the waves lapping against the ship’s hull. Ahh, I was born to sail. I don't know what I'll do now that theSeabird's Flightis gone. I'm really starting to miss the old girl. She served me well though, I can't deny that. Maybe someday I'll be able to build her a sister. Dacota continued along that line of ideas for another hour or so until his mind had difficulty composing thoughts and he had to succumb to slumber at last.
The next morning, Codi began speaking to them a bit more, which worried Dacota. "I hope you both had a good rest last night, because I'd not advise you to sleep too long tonight. I've had a chat with some of the men aboard, and I've begun to feel that there might be another hunter sailing with us," Codi told them grimly.
Faith gasped audibly, but Codi continued on. "Now here's what I have in mind to keep us all in one piece and hands free until we get to Los Juegos. First of all, I know it's daylight now, but that only really matters up on deck. Try to stay in common areas if either of you must go out. I don't advise going out of your quarters too much if I was you though. The next thing I'd advise involves me and Dacota. I think we'd better all bed down in one cabin tonight, and rotate guard duty between us, Dacota. Faith, you'll just be getting your beauty sleep."
"Are you insinuating that I can't defend myself? I'm not totally helpless you know!" Faith retorted angrily.
Codi threw up his hands in mock defense. "I'm not meaning any offense miss, but no. From what I've seen, you can't defend yourself. In fact, if it wasn't for me and Dacota here, you'd be dead by now… or worse. So you'll go along with my plan for your own good, understand? There's nothing some of the boys here would like more than to get their hands on the pretty rich girl who cheated them out of their card money last night. Stay close to the cabin and you should be all right. Believe me, I know what bounty hunters are capable of." Codi gave her a stare that told her to shut up and not underestimate him. He was perfectly capable of carrying out his threats on her if she got on his bad side. He had just chosen not to for the time being.
Faith discreetly stepped a bit closer to Dacota who finally spoke up. "Really, Areol, I'm sure threats aren't necessary. Still, I agree with your plan. I've stuck by Faith for too long to let anything happen to her now that we're getting so close to Los Juegos. Tell me the details of tonight's guard duty. I need to know if I should try to get some sleep earlier on."
Codi had the second watch, which turned out to be even less eventful. It was boring to the point that Dacota had to wake Codi up instead of the other way around.
Though he was exhausted, Dacota dutifully assumed the third watch of the night and readied a chakram for battle. He spent a few minutes flicking the spikes in and out. Then, about an hour before dawn, he heard a shuffling noise outside. Dacota shifted and the bulkhead beneath him creaked. The shuffling ceased. After what seemed like forever, a quiet noise like something metallic sliding on a hard surface came from the direction of the door. Someone was attempting to pick the lock, and was doing an admirable job of keeping the noise to a minimum.
Dacota crept over to Codi's side and cautiously shook him awake. He was not concerned that the bounty hunter would cry out because he figured that silence would be an innate instinct by now. Codi understood the situation immediately and shook the sleep off. He silently rolled out of his bunk and inched towards the door. In the dim light given off by a small oil lamp he pointed at Faith, telling Dacota to wake her up so she wouldn't start awake and destroy the element of surprise.
Faith's eyes sprung open as soon as she felt Dacota's hand cover her mouth, but she said nothing. Besides breathing slightly more rapidly, she showed no signs of fear. Faith pulled a dagger from under her pillow and crouched back as far as she could into the corner of her bunk. Dacota blew out the lamp.
At last, the intruder succeeded in picking the lock and pushed the door open a crack. It was difficult to tell the man's appearance because of the silhouette he appeared to be, but he was of medium build with unkempt, shoulder-length hair, and carried a vicious looking scimitar. He flung the door open, and was immediately attacked from the side by Codi, who had been patiently lying in wait.
There was a brief struggle which drew blood from both combatants, but neither was seriously injured. Dacota ended the struggle by hurling his chakram, spikes retracted, at the backs of the intruder's knees. He collapsed, moaning in pain. Codi grabbed the scimitar before his opponent could use it to inflict further harm, and pressed the flat of his own dagger to the man's throat. "Just hold still and cooperate, mate, and we'll only have the captain throw you in the brig. I think I can leave it up to your imagination what'd happen if you don't behave," Codi growled.
"Blast you, Codi Areol, and the strumpet that spawned you! Fine, I'll cooperate. What do you want to know?"
"Let's start with your name, mate, then the particulars of your mission, and what other crimes you may have committed while aboard."
"I go by the name of Don Dairon, which you probably already know. As to my mission, you all have bounties on your heads, and with business being fairly slim as of late, and seeing as how you were all conveniently in one package, I couldn't resist myself. As for further crimes, you know that's none of your business. The hunters never ask that, and just because you’re the one with the dagger doesn’t give you the right to break with tradition!" Dairon spat angrily.
"Calm down now, Donny. You know I was only referring to major crimes like murder, kidnapping, and the like. I've got every right to ask about the well-being of my fellow man, now haven't I, mate?" Codi pressed.
"As if you ever cared about anyone but yourself!" Dairon glanced at Dacota and Faith and said, "You know he's just helping you because he thinks he can get something out of it. Regardless of what he says, Areol never works for free! Consider yourselves warned!"
"Same to you, Donny. You're talking to me, not them. Now answer the bloomin' question!"
"Very well, the only thing I've done that's worth mentioning is tying up a passenger and leaving her in my quarters. She is unharmed, so don't worry about that. She just neglected to follow through on providing me with services I had paid her for in advance." Codi raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Need I ask as to the nature of the service?"
"Whatever you're thinking, I swear to you it's not that. I was traveling through an arid region looking for work and saw a chance for transportation. The girl, Becky by name, was a camel saleswoman and renter, and I contracted her to drop off a camel for me the day after I paid. She never followed through with her part of the bargain. Turns out her business was in even more dire straits than mine and she skipped town with the money. So, I tracked her down and talked her into paying me back," Dairon finished.
"Using no force whatsoever, I suppose."
"Of course."
Codi rubbed his face with his free hand and glanced at Dacota. "Good enough for you, mate?"
The Mariner spoke at last. "I guess we should turn him over to the captain, free the girl, and hopefully finish the voyage in peace. I think the situation could have been much worse. Come on, Faith, let’s go get some rope."
