Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux (8 page)

The guards quickly did what he asked.

 

Myles picked them up and pocketed them.
That makes five.
“Good. Now take off that armor.”

 

The guards blinked.
“Now! Or I will shoot him, then you,” Myles said with a deadly
look in his eyes.

The guards began to take off their armor. Myles set the Pontiff
down and pointed the gun at the guards as he walked towards them.
Then he looked at one guard and said, “Use the restraints you have to
bind your feet and then your hands behind your back." He looked at the
other guard and said, "You do the same."

The guard did as he asked and then gave him a questioning
look. Myles walked over to each guard striking him in the head with the
butt of the pistol knocking both of them out.

Myles took off his jacket and shirt.
There isn’t much time I have
to hurry.
He took a good look at the deep gash in his arm.
I’m going to
need to tend to that before I move forward.

Myles reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a needle
and thread. When he was done sewing up the wound he thought it was
sufficient though he was not impressed with how sloppy the sewing
was. Then he checked his arms and legs. The other gashes he had
received from the Knife Guard were not deep and they could at least
wait. For a moment a wave of fatigue swept over Myles.
I need to keep
moving before exhaustion catches up to me.

Myles looked over at the Pontiff and thought for a moment
. I
need to get them to focus on something other than me.
Myles put his
coat on the Pontiff, it was a comical scene.
Now I see why they called me
a fat monkey.
The coat was so large on the Pontiff it hung almost like on
a hanger when on him. Then Myles took the coat with the man in it and
slipped it on. He tightened the coat belt around the waste securing the
Pontiff to Myles' back.
The man weighs next to nothing.

“Now to get out of this place,” he said to himself as he looked
around. Myles had noticed that on every tall building, the shuttles that
transported tubes were on the third floor. He took the elevator to the
third floor and activated his invisibility device which would also cloak
the Pontiff under his long coat.

He passed many people as he walked to the track, but none saw
him. There were foot placements for each person getting on and it
looked like the cab filled every trip. Myles couldn’t get in without being
noticed, so he climbed it and tied himself to the metal framing at the
top with some rope he had kept in his coat since leaving earth and even
used in Musterion to climb down and save Sebastian. The memory
caught Myles in the moment. But Myles' reminiscence was broken
when the vehicle took off and Myles was sure he was going to die. It
rocketed forward so fast that it took his breath away.

Myles waited until they neared the docks before taking the
Pontiff off his back and tying him to the top of the transportation tube.
That ought to keep them busy long enough for me to get out of here.
He
got off at the docks right before the tube took off again.

He spied some motorized boats that looked like they belonged
to Gauntmen. They were very technological and advanced, but there
was also one sail boat that was docked at the pier. Myles snuck forward
to see a Gabad with a red bandana and a missing eye on the sailboat. By
his stance and the way the others deferred to him, he looked to be the
captain of the ship. His crew was made up of Akana, Gabad, and even an
oriental looking Yaarma.

Myles blinked. These were different than the species on
Soterion, though. They all had wings and flew from one post to another
looking like they were getting ready to set sail. The captain barked
orders at them, “Abaft! Get your dungbie back there and untie us from
the deck you idiots. We going to take the whole lot with us?! Its east we
go to the cursed lands of Tanniyn’erets!”

Myles nodded with a smile.
How convenient! This will do.
He
jumped on deck, found a set of stairs and went below deck finding a
cluster of ale barrels to hide behind.

Fatigue had set in. Almost miraculously, he had been able to
escape the Gauntmen and the island while starved and weak with
exhaustion. Myles had never been imprisoned before this but he had
known plenty of other cons who had. He was very lucky that fatigue had
not set in and that he was able to ride his adrenaline out for the extent
of the whole charade of escaping. Most prisoners would have buckled in
the first fight having been stuck in such a small space for so long without
movement. Myles wasn’t sure if it was luck, adrenaline, or miracle but
he was thankful to be away. He now felt the full pain of all the wounds
he had taken.

It would be nice if the Doc was here to patch me up or even
Kasey was here to tell me how stupid I was for trying to tangle with
Haylale.
But Myles was in a position he had become quite accustomed
to over the years. He was alone and on his own.

Myles was tired and wiped out and as he sat there trying to
figure out his next move he passed out from hunger and deep fatigue.

As Myles woke he could feel the hard wood deck push against
his face as if he had been sleeping there for hours. Rough waves crashed
against the ship and the wind blew the smell of salty ocean water past
his nose. Gulls squawked above his head and Myles cracked his eyes
open to see them flying above the ship. He realized he had been tied
and brought above deck while he was passed out. He immediately shut
his eyes again hoping his captor hadn't noticed he was awake yet.

He squinted a few times to see the contents of his many
pockets emptied onto the deck into a large pile a good fifteen feet away
from him. They had even emptied the compartments in his boots. Myles
felt naked stripped of all his tricks.
I must know if I can mold the world
around me now that I am away from that forsaken island. Nothing
obvious. Something small.
He imagined one of his knives back in his
pockets and suddenly felt it there.
Yes! I'm back!

Myles immediately imagined the same food he had eaten on
Musterion, the food of the water dwelling race of the Am Mayim. He
imagined the first bite in his mouth already.
I hope this works to heal me
like it did on Musterion.
Almost immediately Myles felt rejuvenated and
full of life. The string that he had sewn his shoulder up with fell away
within his shirt. He smiled slightly with his eyes still closed.

Feeling self-confident and revitalized, Myles sat up and looked
around. His breath was taken by the sight. He had been too hurried to
study all of the intricate details of the boat when jumping aboard, but
now he took it all in. The ship was ornate and beautiful obviously made
by a master woodcraftsman. It was majestic! From what he could see, it
was massive, about 70 yards long and 20 yards wide.

As he looked around he could see only one man watching him.
He was being guarded by a lithe Akana who had a long ponytail of black
hair that went down past his waist. He had a scar across his face that
tore diagonal from one cheek over his lips to the side of his chin as if
someone had tried to carve part of his face off. The man bent over and
gave Myles a beady stare. He blew his foul breath on him from between
a few yellow teeth that remained in his mouth. “Capn’, the
Hornswaggler. He be awake,” yelled the man.

The captain was an old man in his 60s but he did not look like
the kind of man you wanted to tangle with. There was gray hair
underneath his red bandana that was long enough to flow right into his
gray beard. His eyes were brown, which was odd for a Gabad. He
walked toward Myles and stood over him for a moment before he
reached into his coat and pulled out a 9mm glock.

Myles’ eyes widened.

 

The captain smiled, “Then you know what this is.” He turned to
the Akana. “Check his forearm, Rembly.”

The crew member who had been guarding him pulled up the
sleeve of Myles coat to reveal the tattoo on his arm. The captain raised
an eyebrow. “You are from earth, what century?”

Myles tried to think.
Should I tell him? How does he know?

“Yer a dead man already so ya might as well talk. I am Captain
Samuel Burgess and this 'ere is
my
ship. You have stowed away carrying
goods stolen from the Gauntmen and others, it would seem. You are a
thief and a liar by the look of ya. And so ye have not much time to live. If
you cooperate I might let ye die quickly by the gun or blade. If you do
not, well… a much worse fate awaits ye.” His expression was hard as
stone.

Myles remained silent.
I can get out of this, best to gamble with
a poker face and call his bluff.

The captain sighed. “Have it yer way. I'll still give ye a choice.”
He pointed to a noose hung from the mizzenmast waiting for him. “Ye
can dance the Hempen Jig…” Then he pointed to piece of wood hung
over the starboard side of the ship. “…or ye can
walk tha plank
.” His
crew let out a rowdy cheer eager to have some entertainment.

Myles took in a deep breath. “I will take the plank.”

 

They cut the ropes and Myles shed his jacket and hat. Then he
walked quickly toward plank and waited.

 

The captain cleared his throat, “Any last words?”

 

Myles nodded his head then gave the captain a sharp look, “You
are going to regret this.”

The captain let out a bellowing laugh as some of his crew had
gathered around him and laughed, too. Now able to see the full crew,
Myles noticed that the crew was actually made up of mostly Am Mayim.
He looked down to see that someone had dangled some meat
overboard dripping blood into the water. There were sharks swimming
about below. Myles walked to the end of the plank amid the crew's
jeers and stepped off without hesitating. He fell into the water with a
splash feet first... It was freezing cold and took Myles off guard causing
the air to be knocked out of him.

He surfaced, gasping for breath. Myles looked up and saw the
crew leaning over to watch the carnage they expected with anticipation.
The water around me is warm.
He thought it and it was. Myles took a
look back at the ship. The figurehead at the front of the boat was a
bearded man holding a trident. His hair was painted black under a
golden crown with billowing stained wood robes. He stood on the head
of another man blowing a conch shell. Intricately carved mermaids
decorated each side painted with beautiful golden designs down their
scaled bodies.

The sharks circled in closely around Myles.
My skin is as hard as
steel.
One of the sharks tried to bite him but its teeth shattered on
Myles’ arm.
I am flame.
The water around him began to boil as his body
became living fire. The crew broke into a confused clamor with cursing
and expressions of shock. As the water around Myles reached boiling
heat the sharks swam away. Myles laughed and looked up at the crew
with a smile.

Myles didn't want to give anyone more time to realize what was
going on. It was time to finish this.
I am on deck behind the captain with
all of my things in my pockets, hat and coat on, with my stick in hand.
As
he disappeared everyone gasped in shock. He held out his stick, finger
on the hidden trigger while the end began to glow red. “Now I'm going
to give
you all
a choice. You can let me have passage on board, or…we
can fight with you on the other end of my boom-stick.”

The captain and his crew turned around wide eyed. But the
captain drew his sword. “No man, be he sorcerer or saint, gives me
orders upon
my ship
!”

The ship glowed and began to float out of the water, angling
upward. The crew seemed ready and used to this and they gained
holding quickly. Myles looked around him in shock. He teleported
behind the captain and pulled the trigger but the captain vanished. Fire
exploded from the length of Myles' walking stick and the spread from
the Magi-made buckshot with gunpowder hit the side of the boat and
several pirates cursed in anger at the holes in their beautiful ship. He
imagined a strap on the walking stick and as it appeared he slung it
around his back. With a sliver of fear he realized he was fighting a man
who had the same knowledge that he did. As Myles teleported again he
saw the captain thrusting his sword through the open space where he
had been only a second ago.
How does he know?

Then the captain multiplied. There were 12 of him all
surrounding Myles teleporting in and out to swipe at him with swords.
I
am like vapor.
The swords went straight through him. The captains all
stopped, dropping their weapons to their sides. Eleven dissipated like
smoke leaving one standing in front of the incorporeal Myles. He looked
Myles in the eyes and laughed. “It seems we will get nowhere with this.
Shall we parley?”

Myles nodded, not amused. He became solid again but he was
still wary.
He knows this place is but a dream, and he is stronger here
than I am.

The ship leveled out in the sky sailing between fluffy
cloudbanks. The crew of the ship acted as if this were normal. Myles
looked around as the ship captured the wind and began to move swiftly
through the clouds.

The captain slapped him on the back. “Come with me, we need
to be private to talk about all of this. Half these men, if they knew what
you and I know about this place… they would wreak havoc on this 'ere
world.”

Myles nodded as he followed the captain below the deck to his
quarters. As they entered Myles could see walls lined with bookshelves
full of old tomes and rolled up maps. There was a gold chandelier
hanging from the center of the ceiling and a crimson red rug with blue
embroidery directly below it. Arched windows gave a view of the
horizon from the front of the ship and a small bed was positioned to
take advantage of that view. Myles' attention, though, drifted to several
small open chests of gold and precious gems stored underneath. He
forced himself to look away before the captain noticed his gaze. At the
head of the bed sat an ornately carved desk with parchment and quill
laid out neatly next to a large bottle of whiskey. Secured to the left side
was a globe of Soterion with both continents. Myles sat in the chair in
front of the desk as the captain sat in a red cushioned chair behind it.