A Pirate's Tale: The Only Solution Is Retribution (34 page)

Barney stood up, “If all of you will follow me, please.”

Leo looked at Embree, “I need to speak with you.”

Embree walked over and Leo said, “Effective immediately, you are promoted to Second-in-Command.”

Embree’s eyes narrowed, “But, Captain…”

“This is not optional, Em.  You know you are the best one for the position and I’m not going to waste time trying to convince you.  I’ll announce it in the morning.”

“But…Carl…”

“Carl would not want it and would fight tooth and nail to avoid it.  I tried to promote him numerous times in the past and he insists he is too grouchy to command himself much less anyone else.  Just tell him you took the position to prevent me from offering it to him.”

“And you think he’ll accept that.”

“Go and tell him now and see how he reacts?”

Embree glanced across the meeting room at Carl.  He took a deep breath and walked toward him.  Leo watched them and after a moment, he saw Carl actually grab Embree and hug him.  Embree’s eyes were wide open as he looked across the room at Leo.  Leo smiled and tipped his hat.

D
esiree and Victoria were sitting in a tavern and it was clear they were not happy.  Victoria looked at Desiree and sighed, “I just can’t make myself get into a party mood.  I’m worried about Leo and his crew being on Tortuga.”

Desiree nodded, “I feel the same.  I really hate that we are both vying for his affection and that makes me want to avoid having to resolve that issue.” 

Desiree put her drink down and stared at Victoria.  “What?” Victoria asked.

“Victoria, I’ve given this situation a lot of thought and I see that you would be the better choice for Leo.  I’m going to step out of the competition.”

“Just how did you arrive at that conclusion?!”

Desiree gave a heavy sigh and lowered her eyes, “You are incredibly rich, Victoria, and I’ve learned while working with you that you are a wonderful person.  I sincerely believe he would be happier with you than me.  I’m little more than a simple warrior.”

Victoria smiled and took a sip of her wine, “You are far from being a simple anything and once you receive your bonus at the end of this mission, you will be rich as well.”

Desiree shook her head, “No, I will have enough credits to be comfortable but I am not in the same universe as what you have.”  Victoria sighed and Desiree’s eyebrows came together, “What’s bothering you?”

“Desiree, I’ve had a lot of time to think about this as well…and…”

Victoria stopped talking and Desiree asked, “And what?”

“I don’t believe I really love him.”

“WHAT?!  How can you not?  He’s handsome, brave, intelligent, kind…”

“I know!  It’s just…what I feel for him isn’t really love.”  Desiree sat back in her chair and stared at her as she continued, “What I feel is tremendous respect and admiration.  I know it’s not love.”

“What are you saying?”

“He and I wouldn’t make it, Desiree.”  Desiree stared at her in silence and Victoria sighed, “Leonidas has the heart of a warrior.  Once this is over, he will start carrying that Purple Card again and go out into the universe making a difference.  I don’t know if that is how I envision my life shaping up.”

“Do you intend to continue on the party train?”

“NO!  I’m more tired of this than you know.  Desiree, I just…just…”

“Love someone else.”  Victoria’s eyes came up and stared at Desiree.  Desiree’s eyes softened before saying, “I didn’t believe it at first because it was just not believable.   But I started seeing that the only time you looked half-alive was when you went to Gem’s lab.  I also thought it was crazy that an Insectoid could possibly love a human but I’ve seen that he genuinely loved the first Victoria.  It’s not so far out there that she didn’t love him as well.  If she did, it’s also not out of the realm that you could too.”

“I’m acting insane, aren’t I?”

Desiree shrugged, “Love is something that makes us do some pretty crazy things.  Are you going to tell him?”

“I honestly don’t know but I pray that this mission never ends.  When it does, I’m going to lose him.”

“I’m so sorry, Victoria.”

“Don’t be.  I’ll treasure this moment in time for the rest of my life.”

Desiree’s communicator vibrated and she lifted it, “What’s up, Jack.”

“I’ve received a message from the Thermopylae, Leonidas has called for us to come to Tortuga.”

Desiree’s eyes went wide open and she jumped up, “Notify all the crewmen on the planet to get to the shuttles now!  Get the ship ready to boost when we arrive on board!”   Desiree looked at Victoria, “Leonidas has called for us to go to Tortuga!”  Victoria jumped up and ran out of the tavern behind Desiree.

They arrived on the bridge and Desiree looked at Jack, “What’s going on!?”

“I don’t know, Captain.  The message said we should go to Tortuga and move to the planet without stirring up suspicions.”

Desiree lifted her communicator, “We are boosting to full speed in ten seconds.  Brace yourselves and go to battle stations.”  Most of the crew was already at their consoles as the arriving shore party sprinted to their positions.  The Play Toy boosted away from the planet at high speed and entered the filament.  Tortuga was three hours away and Victoria looked at Desiree and saw her fear, “He’s going to be ok, Desiree.  If this was an extreme emergency, he wouldn’t have told us to move in slowly.”  Desiree nodded and prayed she was right.  There were at least sixteen thousand reasons to be frightened and those warships were going to be waiting at Tortuga when they arrived.  Gem arrived on the bridge and went and stood behind Victoria’s chair.  He put a hand on Victoria’s shoulder and Desiree saw Victoria relax.  It just wasn’t fair that their feelings would have to go unspoken.  Desiree blew out a hard breath and stared at the tactical monitor.

• • •

The Play Toy went through the intersection and headed toward Tortuga at maximum speed.  They were two hours out from the planet when they heard over the loud speaker, “This is Tortuga Traffic Control.”

“Sir, we have ten warships moving our way on the filament.”

“Answer them, Jack!”

“This is the Play Toy and we are headed to Tortuga.”

They immediately heard over the loud speaker, “Attention all defense ships, this ship is a registered vessel.  Go back to your designated parking coordinates.”  Everyone on the bridge looked at each other as the Traffic Controller said, “You will reduce your speed two thirds and I’m sending you parking coordinates above the planet.  Please park there and welcome to Tortuga, Play Toy.”

Victoria looked at Desiree, “What’s going on?”

“I have no idea.  Billy, contact Leonidas.”

Desiree waited and a few moments later, Leo appeared on the display, “What is going on!!” Desiree demanded in a loud voice.

Leo smiled, “A lot has happened since my arrival here and I’ve registered the Play Toy as one of my ships.  If you’re questioned when you arrive, tell whoever asks that you are a ship in the Spartan Fleet.”

“Spartan Fleet?”

Leonidas shrugged, “We had to name it something.  I am now commanding eight pirate ships including the Play Toy and Thermopylae.  I’ll explain everything when you arrive.  I want you here to attend a meeting I’m having in three hours.  I’m sending you coordinates to take a shuttle down to the planet and I want you to bring Gem with you when you come.”

“Leo…”

“Desiree, it will have to wait.  Get here as quickly as you can.”

The display went dark and Gem said, “Something has him bothered but it does not appear he is in any danger.”

Jack snickered and Desiree looked at him, “What’s so funny?”

Jack shook his head, “Leonidas can fall into a giant pile of Elephant dung and come out smelling like a rose.”

Desiree stared at him and after a moment smiled, “You’re right.  That’s why we all thought he was our good-luck charm.”

Desiree looked at her console and saw the ship’s speed.  She turned to Jack with a raised eyebrow, “Sir, I’m boosting the ship on the edge of the limit set by Traffic Control.  We can’t move faster without violating the statutes.”

Victoria stood up, “I’m going to get out of this party dress and change into a less formal attire.”  She looked at Desiree and Desiree sighed, “Jack, you have the ship.”  Gem sat down in one of the command chairs and Jack asked him, “What do you think is going on?”

“I really don’t know.  I guess this calls for patience.”

• • •

The Play Toy arrived in orbit and was escorted to their parking position by two Tortugan Vessels.  The process consumed a lot of time and by the time the shuttle left the landing bay, they knew Leonidas’ meeting had started.  The shuttle circled down to the planet and Victoria said, “This is really a beautiful city.”

Gem clacked, “What were you expecting?”

“I don’t know.  I guess I expected things to be dirty or ugly in appearance.  I did not expect this beautiful well maintained city.”

They moved toward the surface and the shuttle landed in a clear space outside three tall buildings located on a river that flowed through the center of the city.  Barney was waiting for them and said, “The meeting has started and Leonidas asked me to take you directly there.”

Desiree, Gem, Victoria and the rest of the bridge crew followed Barney into the building.  “What is this place, Barney?”

“This is our quarters on Tortuga, My Lady.”

Victoria looked around and said, “Nice digs.”

“We also rent the two buildings adjacent to this one.”

Jack smiled, “I told you…smelling like a rose.”

They entered the room and saw Leonidas sitting at a table.  They moved quickly to the front of the room and Victoria stopped in her tracks when she saw John Blakely stand up with Leonidas to greet them, “WHAT IS HE DOING HERE!?!”

Leonidas’ eyes narrowed and he said, “Because I invited him and you will show him the respect one of my guests deserves!”  He pointed to some chairs next to his and said, “Take a seat and behave!!”

Desiree put her hand on Victoria’s arm and shook her head.  Victoria went to a chair and sat down glaring at the tall pirate sitting across from her.

• • •

Desiree looked at Leonidas and said, “What is this all about?”

Leonidas looked at her and turned to Blakely, “Before I get into what we’ve been discussing, I want all of you to know that Captain Blakely is the leader of the Government here and is due the respect that a Head-of-State should be given.  Captain Blakely, will you please tell them about your attack on the Starliner Victoria and I were on when we first saw you.”

Blakely turned and looked at the recent arrivals, “I received a communication from Romania offering me a contract to attack a particular unarmed Starliner.  I wasn’t really interested in taking my ships that far to attack a single ship but the offer was for six million credits to take possession of what the ship was transporting.”

Leo nodded, “Go on.”

“I accepted the contract but when I received it, I saw that there were several other requirements for me to perform to receive my payment.”  Blakely paused and said, “I honestly thought I was being contracted by Romanov Industries.”

Desiree tilted her head, “What made you think that?”

“The communication originated from Romania and we pinpointed its general location as coming from the capital of the planet.  That’s where Romanov Industries’ Headquarters is located.  I was unable to determine just who was making the contact and whoever it was went to great pains to insure I wouldn’t find out.  The payment was sent to a bank on Tortuga and I verified the funds were in an account there before I left to make the attack.”

Jack looked at Blakely, “What additional things were added to the contract?”

“I was directed to kill four passengers on the Starliner.  I was told to do it under the guise of forcing Serge Romanov to reveal the code to the Starliner’s safe.  I was further directed to take the contents of the safe unopened and deliver them to a vessel waiting at the intersection to Romania.  That ship was described as bearing the Romanov Crescent and would be waiting for my arrival.”

Victoria asked, “Who were you directed to kill?”

“That’s why I really thought I was being hired by Romanov Industries.  I was told to not harm Serge Romanov but to kill his wife, two daughters, and a baby belonging to one of the daughters.”

“Why didn’t you do it?” Victoria asked with some venom in her voice.

“I never anticipated that Serge would kill himself.  I mean it made no sense that he would hire me to remove his family while being ordered to make sure he wasn’t harmed.  Once he killed himself, I failed completing the conditions of the contract and lost what I was to be paid.”  Blakely stared at Victoria, “Contrary to what you may think, I do not enjoy or like killing anyone.  Once the conditions of the contract were violated, I chose not to kill Romanov’s family.  There was no reason to do it and I was thankful that I was spared having to kill an infant.”

“But you would have done it!”

Blakely shrugged, “I do a lot of unsavory things to fulfill contracts.  I suspect the ones in this room have killed many times fulfilling their contracts as mercenaries.  However, my contract was void and I chose to avoid unnecessary killing.”

Desiree looked at Blakely, “What happened then?”

“I left the Starliner and received another communication from Romania.  I was offered ten million credits to attack the Round Table Convoy that was going to meet the Starliner on Kellinger and stop delivery of the safe’s contents.”

“Did they offer for you to keep the contents,” Embree asked.

Blakely looked at him and smiled, “Actually, they didn’t.”

Victoria’s eyes went wide, “What?”

“They said I would be paid if I could stop the convoy’s delivery.  I asked about trying to take the safe’s contents and they said fine if I could pull it off but it would be easier to just destroy it with the convoy.  I was forced to agree with them.  However, I still took the contents assuming it was well worth the risk.  However, the only thing in the box was the dead body of who I thought was Serge Romanov.”