Paul Kater - Bactine

“Yes. I want to know what you think of me. And, if you want, I will tell you what I think of you.”

They talked for a long time.

Huajo Dogom ko Tzuy stepped from the carriage that had taken him to the shipyard where Clelem’s new ship was being built. Together with a servant he walked up to the gate where he announced himself.

“Good day, Seigner,” the man there said, “Seigner Dandra ko Galem has not arrived yet, but please, come in. I was asked to see that you are welcomed.”

Huajo was not pleased, but shrugged it off.

Clelem came only a few minutes later. The man looked warm, he could have been running, Huajo thought.

“Dear friend,” said Clelem, “I hope you can forgive me, there were a few small things that I had to take care of prior to our meeting.”

“That is quite alright, dear friend,” Huajo answered. “The weather is good, and it has been too long ago that I was at a shipyard. I have looked around.”

“And rightly so, my friend. Allow me to start with the most important thing.” Clelem reached into a pocket and brought out a small silk pouch. “Here is your gem. Again, my profound apologies for this.”

Huajo smiled as he accepted the pouch. He also had no qualms with checking its contents. “I see you have taken good care of it, dear friend,” he said as he was satisfied. He handed the gem to the servant, who carefully tucked it away. Huajo had always been someone for caution and extra hands around.

“And now, since you agreed to it, I am more than curious about your new ship, dear friend,” Huajo said with a smile.

“Oh, most certainly you are welcome to look at it. Please, accompany me.” Clelem smiled and walked ahead of his guests, obviously proud. Or eager to show off.

Clelem was good in making it painfully clear that Huajo was not walking fast. He kept going just a bit too fast, and then wait while looking back. One time he even went so far that he apologised there were no carriages available on the yard. It did not make Huajo like the man any better.

Finally they arrived at the ship itself. Huajo was seriously impressed by the sheer size of it. The original Pricosine had been as large as the ships Huajo owned. This one was larger. And visibly larger. “This is amazing, dear friend.” He did not hide his amazement. “Your architects have done an outstanding job.”

“I guided them myself,” said Clelem, a stranger to modesty. “I assume it is easiest for you to enter through one of the lower hatches, my dear friend. I have arranged for a few people along the gangway, to assure your safe arrival. These planks are long. And high over the ground.”

Huajo frowned for a moment as he stepped onto the gangway to the middle cargo bay. It was true: he would never have made it up the main plank to reach the deck.

Huajo struggled to get to the cargo bay and needed a rest before he could go on. Clelem had anticipated that, as there were a few chairs waiting, and even a bottle of chilled wine.

Clelem talked a mile a minute about the new ship, its capabilities and the amount of cargo it would be able to transport. Just before the talk became boring, he ended his monologue and offered Huajo to continue the tour.

After a quick view of the immense cargo bay (“we will skip the others, they are the same”) Huajo was facing the climb to the deck. He seriously considered losing weight, or never to visit a ship again. He did make it to the top of the stairs, though.

“I need a little while to catch my breath, dear friend,” Huajo wheezed as they had emerged from the ship’s innards.

One of the men on deck turned to the ship owner. “You can take all the time you want, fat man. We have a nice big cage for you where you can rest, while you estimate how much your family will pay for your safe return.”

Huajo stared at the man. “How dare you strike such a tone to me?”

Huajo’s servant was knocked on the head by another worker.

The man who had uttered the threat grinned. “Allow me to introduce myself. Birkle Asciza, professional pirate. And no, I am not at your service. Consider yourself at mine.”

“Dear friend,” Huajo started to say, but the man who had knocked down the servant hit Huajo hard in the face.

“Shut up, fat man.” Birkle turned away from Huajo. “Put him up until we need him.”

Many rough, strong hands, belonging to pirates, grabbed Huajo and pushed him over the deck. The plan was not going the way it was supposed to.

“Do you know where Daniel is? Mr. Zacharias, I mean? Or the senator?” Rayko had asked every servant in the house, and they all told her the same thing: “The senator is away for urgent business, miss, and Mr. Zacharias left very early today. We do not know where he is.” So she continued worrying.

Huajo was pushed down the stairs, to the cabins below deck.

“Move faster, fat man,” one of the pirates yelled, “or we’ll use out boots to help you on!”

“Sounds like we have a change of plans on our hands,” Daniel whispered to his friends.

They were hiding in one of the most aft cabins since early morning. Daniel had guided them over the unprotected shipyard and the fence, long before the real work crew would arrive. The sound of shouting in the corridor meant that there had come an end to their waiting.

Stroro was at the door, listening intently. He raised a hand and with his fingers he counted down from four to one. On one he threw open the door and the men streamed out into the corridor, rapidly assessing the situation and knocking down the four pirates in a surprise strike.

The sticks with the sharp hooks they used as weapons worked well. The floor of the new ship was soon colouring red.

Daniel held his hand over the mouth of the for now free again ship owner. “Change of plan,” he whispered, and let Huajo go only after the man had nodded.

Tomlin, who was in the group, whispered that he and three men would go up to the bridge and secure that.

“Okay, the rest of us go out and try to take out as many pirates as we can. Be careful with that Birkle type, and his monkey if it is here. That’s a phenomenal beast.”

The crew nodded. They had seen the Bonto in action more than they cared for.

“Let’s do it,” Tomlin said, and the men charged up the stairs, spread out and started the fight.

At that point everything went crazy. Men were hacking away at each frantically, Tomlin and his men fought a fierce battle on the bridge and made sure that was in their hands to stay.

The odds against Daniel and his men proved to be going up. The number of pirates was staggering, they seemed to multiply instead of diminish.

For some reason, Huajo staggered up to the deck, screaming, and almost walked into the arms of Birkle who was keeping to the side and out of the real danger-zone in a very remarkable way.

The pirate captain pulled a kind of dagger from his belt. It was made of Polychlon, and sharp enough to hurt someone very badly. “Stop your screaming, fat man,” he yelled as he stuck the dagger against Huajo’s throat. “Stop, or I will stop you!”

“No! Let me go! There’s a monster!” Huajo tried to struggle himself free. He partly succeeded: his weight was enough to press Birkle against the wall under the bridge. The pirate was taken by surprise that way and his arm jolted, leaving a deep but over Huajo’s throat and shoulder.

A second later, the Bonto came running up the stairs. Something had made it very angry. It grabbed the first available person, which was a pirate, and broke the poor man’s back with one swing of an arm.

Daniel saw the animal come out of the opening in the deck and grabbed extra good hold of his stick. A pirate came at him before he could move towards Huajo though, and he was fighting again for dear life.