Blackjack Wayward

Chapter Five

The ship was taken and we were victorious as made evident by the wave of jubilation that swept across the interlocked vessels. But the killing persisted.

My boys rolled past me, putting the remaining Vershani warriors to quick deaths. The Vershani crew fought back to the last man, some even making brave stands. But the bloodlust that overcame us made our blades sharper, faster, and after long, bathed in crimson, while theirs clattered to the floor or lay in limp, lifeless hands.

All the while, I kissed that woman, ignoring the cries of death surrounding me, the spilling guts that made the deck slick with blood and gristle. Intoxicated by the moment, I drew her into me, her arms draping around me and her body pressing hard into mine.

“Blackjack,” I heard beside me. I separated from the woman to see Drovani threatening me with his weapons. He was serious, teeth bared and hands clenched around the hilts of his swords.

“Release her or die,” he said.

I smiled at the little guy, then looked back at the woman and saw worry and anger in her face. She stepped away, unable to face me, and Drovani angled into the gap that grew between us.

“You will not touch her again,” he said. Satisfied, Drovani stepped back, sheathed his weapons, and took off his cloak, wrapping it around the woman and leading her away.

Brutalis pounded the back of my shoulder and broke into laughter.

“The little man made you afraid,” Morlocki said, having some trouble removing his axe from the skull of one of the Vershani. Finally, he ripped the weapon out and wiped the gore and blood from the jagged blade.

Behind us, Skeetrix rushed down, his wound bound, his sword still held high as he led a score of our men.

The fight was over, though, and he bared a jagged row of teeth in what passed for a smile.

“Good work,” he said.

I nodded, watching Drovani take the V.I.P. away, hoping more than anything else that I’d see her again.

In the hours that passed, we swept the enemy ship, finding small pockets of resistance that were quashed with impunity. We also found a treasure room filled with riches that, according to Brutalis, would make each of us wealthy beyond avarice.

My clothes were destroyed and spattered with blood, so I ripped everything off save for a loincloth. I found a pair of silver bracers of a shiny material Morloki called Threnemyte, the strongest metal he knew of. They were engraved with detailed carvings of twin dragons spinning among each other as if in an endless winding battle. I slid them onto my arms, enjoying how the cold metal felt on my skin.

I left the men inventorying the contents of the vault and went above decks, noticing that most of the crew had fast gone from a bunch of killers, back to their former duties, which now included setting new sail to stabilize the falling vessels, repairing the Lady’s Nightmare, and cutting it apart from the Vershani vessel. The quartermaster, Mr. Picklett, was in charge of the taken ship, and he belted commands for his men to cut away the delicate sails of the Vershani ship, using axes to chop off masts, rope, and sail. Men shimmied up the rigging and along the masts and spars like monkeys on a tree, and just a few minutes after the battle, the two vessels were separated.

The goddess was already aboard the pirate ship, but I avoided going back over. Instead, I watched the crew hard at work. When the final rigging came free, Picklett ordered it brought alongside the damaged Vershani craft. Once beside us, men threw fresh grapples across, tying the ships properly, and setting a boarding plank for easier transfer of men. On the pirate ship several men were hard at work transforming the main mast to a crane, in order to transfer stolen cargo directly into our holds.

No one made any effort to repair the Vershani ship, despite the fact that it was much larger and apparently had greater armament. Her upper decks were razed of fallen rigging and masts, which were swept over the side. The crushing damage to the rear was ignored, and men were more concerned with taking everything of value.

Captain Nicatrix only once acknowledged me, lowering her head slightly in an almost imperceptible nod as she watched the work from the Lady’s Nightmare’s quarterdeck. The rest of the crew followed her lead, keeping busy and out of my way. They didn’t even accept my help when I tried to aid the rope crews stabilizing the nets of cargo as they swung it across with the makeshift crane. Only Zann bothered with me, and only by handing me a bottle of the same stuff Drovani had offered me prior, Artenanka. I drank the red fluid straight from the bottle and crossed back to our ship, intent on finding the woman and getting my well-deserved reward, except as I dropped on our deck, I noticed a row of white sails in the distance.

“Captain,” I said, crossing the deck and pointing at the approaching ships. I wasn’t comfortable enough to yell, “Sail Ho!” nor could I be sure that they were using the same nomenclature of the age of sail from Earth’s history.

Nicatrix came to the gunwale beside me, stretching out a spyglass. She smiled when she identified the newcomer.

“Just in time,” she said.

Noting how perplexed I was, she handed me the spyglass. After a moment to track them, I noticed it was not just one, but several Vershani ships. Two like the one we had just taken, big feathery-looking bastards, each with their own different sail configuration. They were accompanied by four smaller ships. Focusing further, I noticed another ship at the farthest edges of my vision. This final vessel was so big it had to be larger even than the massive dreadnought craft that had carried the Mist Army to battle against us. The other ships were just escorts for this monster.

“Oh, f*ck,” I said.

“Not to worry, Blackjack. It is according to plan.”

I just chuckled and returned the folded-down spyglass back to her.

“Yes,” she said, turning away. “Better to laugh and stay out of Vershani politics and civil wars. If you plan to live longer, that is.”

I didn’t find her, but I did locate a case of Artenanka that was two-thirds full. I took it to the forecastle and drank as the ships came closer. They came in formation; like the destroyed Vershani ship, they were mostly sail, with thousands of sheets of canvas stretched from every angle, in particular two ventral appendages that jutted out twice the length of the ship, giving each vessel the look of a large feathery bird rather than a ship of war.

They slowed and circled, with their smaller ships forming a perimeter around us, and the massive one standing off several miles to our rear. They launched a skiff, and as it neared it was apparent the small boat was almost as large as the Lady’s Nightmare.

“You trust them?” I asked a crewmember as he walked by carrying sacks of grain. He just shrugged, eyeing the bottles of Artenanka greedily. I gave him one, stuffing it into his waistband so he didn’t have to drop his burden. He shrugged again and strolled off.

The Vershani skiff was made of the same bone-white material, pale like alabaster. It was oblong and one-decked despite its size, and ringed with an angled gunwale that gave it a sleek look. Sail strakes jutted out from the rear and a small complement of thrusters powered it toward us. Aboard were a dozen warriors, standing in formation along the middle, each of them wearing golden armor that revealed only their midsections. Each wielded a long scythe with a blade made of pure white-blue energy that rippled and glowed. Their faces were obscured under a faceplate of the same color, and feather-like decorations, shrouded in the same swaying energy, shot out the backs of their helms.

Along with this honor guard were other Vershani wearing robes instead of armor, though the decorations were similar: swirling patterns on the fabric of their clothes, porcelain masks sprouting feathers, and glowing staves of the same material as their ship hulls. They were led by a short figure that bore the least decoration, just bare white robes and only a silver-blue amulet hanging from his neck.

Other Vershani were aboard, but they were tasked with manning the ship and sail. A small group of females, mostly nude, huddled near the rear of the ship, cringing in fear of an elderly female that wore a decorated robe and a heavy golden necklace. Once the skiff came close, the “worker” Vershani threw ropes across the gap to the Lady’s Nightmare that our men caught and tied to the gunwale. The Vershani procession off the ship was organized, and the first one off was the plain-garbed man, who was on closer inspection appeared ancient. He was bald, with a scribble of beard on his chin, and he leaned on a small Vershani child that was tasked with helping him.

Captain Nicatrix met him as he debarked, but his facial expression was clear even to me, almost a hundred feet away on the forecastle. He detested her presence despite her pleasantries and motioned her on, interrupting her welcoming speech. The captain handled his rudeness with a grace I almost envied; the only sign she gave of her displeasure was a slight sideways cock of her head. She led the Vershani group to the captain’s cabin in the aft castle, where I suspect Drovani had taken the woman. The other robed men followed and the soldiers soon after, though only the old man entered the cabin at first, leaving behind the others to stand guard.

I finished the final bottle of Artenanka, letting the effervescent fluid drain to the last drop, and tossed the flask overboard. A half case of the stuff and I only felt a slight bit of euphoria, equivalent of two shots of the Hankey Bannister Dr. Retcon’s daughter had shared with me. I don’t know why I thought of her, save that her death had changed my life. Instead of saving the planet by forming the shield of telluric energy, her murder by Zundergrub had set off a series of events that led to me being blamed for every awful thing that happened on Hashima Island. Her death had led to my banishment back to Shard World.

I had doubted that she was even human until that moment, wondering if Retcon had built himself a lifelike robotic daughter to fill whatever void his inability to have real children had left behind. But the old man had just made a clone, combining his and his dead wife’s genetic material and thumbing his nose at the curse his powers had brought. I laughed, struggling to remember her name.

Dr. Walsh, yeah, I knew that part, but not her first name, and for some reason it just eluded me. But not her face, still and blood-spattered, as she lay on the floor, dead from Sharpshooter’s bullet. Her face was as clear to me as that of her father, Dr. Retcon overcome with grief and horror at the unfolding of Zundergrub’s terrible plan and helpless to stop it. A madness had crossed his features as he grasped the lifeless body of his child, a madness I had felt only moments prior when Cool Hand had died in my arms.

In the trial against me, they had identified him as Walter Allan Victors, of Montclair, New Jersey, but he would forever be Cool to me. His life had seeped out in my hands, and the vengeance I had felt and wrought upon Zundergrub had been wasted. The old man lived, I knew it, and he was back on Earth, able to attack Apogee with impunity while I languished here in a world 30 million light-years away. For all I knew, she was already dead.

Someone walked up the stairs to the fore castle, shaking me from my thoughts, and I saw the contingent of Vershani leaving the Lady’s Nightmare, leading the goddess to the skiff. She wore a long, plain robe that concealed her unearthly form, and she walked like a robot with her head slightly bowed, ignoring her surroundings.

Beside me was Drovani, breathless from the run, smiling at the success of his mission.

“Blackjack,” he said, reaching me.

“You threatened me,” I said, clenching my fists. “You ready to back that up?”

He paused, taken aback. For a moment, seeing the surprise and shock in his face, I paused, realizing I was being a belligerent bully, a thoughtless bastard. But then again, what else did I have to loose?

I grabbed him and lifted him off the ground.

“You want to back that up?”

“No,” he said, struggling as a leather strap across his chest was cutting off his breathing.

“Aw, come on. You were all brave back then. What happened, missy give you orders to not hurt little old me?”

He choked and struggled, but in my arms he was like a small rag doll, helpless.

“Forgive me,” he said.

“I’d like to,” I said. “But you hurt my feelings.”

“I know, but–”

I laughed, “I took your ship, buddy. I did it, you understand?”

Drovani nodded, fighting for air.

“And if I want to kiss the girl, well, then, that’s my f*cking reward, you understand?”

I put him down, and he took a moment to compose himself, coughing a few times.

“You are a bastard,” he said, but in a tone that wasn’t threatening so I just laughed out loud.

“I am sorry, Blackjack,” Drovani said. “But she is a goddess in my world. She is not to be touched.”

“Like I knew that.”

He shrugged, “I feared you might take her then and there.”

“I kind of wanted to.”

Drovani laughed, “I could tell. She is young and inexperienced, my friend, so she didn’t know what to make of you. But she would like you to join her.”

I looked over and saw the skiff take off, headed toward the massive Vershani ship.

“So you guys in some civil war or something?”

Drovani sniffed the air, coming closer to me.

“Artenanka?”

“A little,” I shrugged, only then realizing how strong the alcohol was. The intoxication had seeped in like a secret, and my emotions were on fire, fomenting its effects. I had almost killed Drovani, who had only been protecting his liege. Artenanka seemed to have a narcotic quality that not only put your senses on edge but also heightened your awareness.

Then again, I was angry and I couldn’t tell why. I was looking for a fight, even though I had just ripped apart dozens of Vershani. I could feel the blood thumping through my temples, the breath straining between my clenched teeth. Perhaps it was a similarity between Hashima and what had just happened, that I had been the difference-maker and was rewarded with castigation and scorn.

“I took your f*cking ship,” I snapped making him fire his hands out defensively.

“We know this–”

“You wouldn’t have gotten a f*cking thing if not for me, you understand?”

“But that is what–”

“I took it!”

He paused, waiting to see if I was done, and put his hand gently on my shoulder, intending to calm me down.

“Everyone knows you won the day, Blackjack,” Drovani said, smiling. He softened his handsome features as much as a golden demon can, but I could sense how tense he was. He wasn’t scared, despite my innumerable feats of strength, but the Vershani was wary nonetheless.

I felt my anger wane, if only for the moment, and shook my head in frustration.

“I’m sorry, Drovani,” I said, and he smiled.

“Perhaps this is how you humans become friends. You fight, then drink, then are like brothers.”

I laughed, “Sometimes, yeah.”

“Very well,” he said, slapping my shoulder. “I think I shall enjoy being your brother. Now come, the goddess wishes your company. We shall take the next skiff to my ship.”

I looked at him, a bit impressed. “Your ship?”

He pointed to the big one. “It’s mine.”

“Nice,” I said, following him down the stairs to the main deck.

“We must find you worthy clothes,” Drovani laughed. “And you must bathe. You smell like a Vrekoshen. A good bath and a warm meal will clear you of the effects of Artenanka. It is strong stuff, my friend.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Oh, what’s her name?”

“The goddess?”

I nodded.

“She is First Khalifa of Eleisshan and her name is Aryani Ynis Mayawethriadnerulissë Arquelessiel.”

“All of that?”

Drovani smiled. “If she becomes fond of you, you will be allowed to call her Aryani.”

“Aryani,” I said, half-ignoring the warning in his tone.

The longboat struggled against the swirling eddies of Shard World, traveling at a hard angle into them and keeping us on course to the Vershani ship. Drovani didn’t speak the whole way, standing in front of me like Washington crossing the Delaware, beaming as if he had rescued the goddess all by himself. I was sure he’d take credit for it, reap the reward. The bastard was opportunistic if he was anything.

I just wanted a chance at the tall brunette.

As we came closer to the big ship, the Vershani crew noticed us and began lining the gunwales, climbing up the rigging when the sides of the ship were too crowded. A song began and all joined in, a song that was reminiscent of the national anthem of an eastern bloc nation.

Drovani stood straighter, waving at his people, catching the longline himself to drag us beside the big ship. He hopped off before the longboat bounced on the hard sides of the Vershani vessel, and the crew mobbed him like Sicilians welcoming Patton’s liberating army.

I came to my feet, stumbling once the longboat pilot slammed us alongside the Vershani dreadnought, but I caught myself and jumped after Drovani. Several Vershani warriors in splendid armor pointed spears at me, and one commander-looking fellow drew his sword and approached me. It was only when Drovani called them off that they reluctantly checked their weapons and let me pass.

Drovani came up to me, clasped my arm, and raised it in the air, yelling at the crew in his rapid-fire tongue. The crew then added me to their jubilation. I felt like Lawrence of Arabia at Aqaba as every Vershani warrior struggled through the throng to salute me by slapping my arms or shoulder, tussling my hair and face. Some even grabbed my biceps in wonderment, comparing my muscled arms to their smaller limbs. Surrounded by members of only one race, I was like a Gulliver in a sea of Lilliputians. On the Lady’s Nightmare there were plenty of folks bigger or taller than I, like Skeetrix, Gav, or Morlocki, but here I towered over even the biggest of the Vershani, who must not have been more than five feet tall.

I looked around the deck and also noticed something: there were no female Vershani. There were also a large number of tiny androgynous creatures, with skin like one of those gray, hairless cats, sporting long twisted ears that dangled downward as if dragging behind. These little things painted the decks and railings, cleaned sails and rigging, and did just about everything on the ship that needed doing. In fact, they were the only ones doing anything aboard, wretches keeping the vessel in working order while the Vershani enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

The jubilant Vershani swept me to the wheelhouse, with Drovani leading the way. He jumped up onto the railing overlooking the main deck and gave a rousing speech. I didn’t understand a word, still excluded from his language by his magic translation spell, but he referred to me several times to raucous cheering. Eventually, two of the female Vershani came above and Drovani motioned for me to follow them. They led me below decks and I noticed the vast difference between the pirate ship and this one. The pirate ship had been a cramped wooden crate, musty and dark, with low roofs and narrow passageways. Stairways were sharply angled and dangerous, basically ladders. The Vershani ship, on the other hand, felt vast and open, with huge chambers, sweeping staircases, and styling more like what you’d expect in a Roman palace. Mosaics decorated the floors and tapestries hung on the walls, and everything was well illuminated, a stark contrast to the Lady’s Nightmare.

The female Vershani were larger than the males, almost as tall as a human man and with a sturdier build than their male counterparts. The two who guided me had lighter skin as well, more like a bronze hue atop a pale base than the bright metallic sheen of the males, giving them a look more akin to a well-tanned human woman. Their hair was long and black, pulled back into twin tails with long threads of silver silk. They wore cropped tops with sheer sleeves and a silver bodice, with matching red velvet pants that made them look like something out of Arabian Nights. They wore nothing on their faces, and only minimal jewelry save some gold bangle bracelets.

They led me to a large chamber dominated by a decorated pond, replete with colorful fish that reminded me of Retcon’s idyllic koi pond. Perched on a golden ring were several red and yellow birds with long plumage and even longer tail feathers. One of them spread its wings and shook them for a moment before returning to its feeding bowl. Plants rose from the pond and ringed the room, making it feel more like a hidden oasis than a chamber deep in the bowels of a ship.

One of the girls motioned for me to enter the pond down a set of steps, and when I hesitated, she went in first and beckoned me to follow. I shrugged and went in, figuring I could use a bath. The water was cold at first, and the small fish scattered when my body entered the pond. The first girl flashed a smile when I flinched from the cold water, revealing teeth more like mine, rather than Drovani’s sharp fangs. She motioned me to follow her to the deepest part of the pond, where the water reached her waist and halfway up my thigh. More girls came out of nowhere, surrounding me and gently making me come to my knees. They reached into the water, coming out with blue and red sponges with which they scrubbed my body clean. It felt like the sponges were covered in some sort of anesthetic, or perhaps it was the water itself, because I felt the tingling cold of the water fade and my senses dull. Then again, I had these attractive creatures rubbing my upper body, shoulders and head, and the feeling was intoxicating. The lead girl stayed in front of me, whispering something softly in her tongue, the seductive repetitiveness of her voice lending itself to the euphoria of the moment.

“What are you saying?” I asked her. She smiled, cupping her hands in the water and lifting them over my head to spill their contents all over my face.

“Seshine,” she said, so close I could feel her breath on my face.

With her hands she rubbed my cheeks and eyes, massaging tired muscles along my face and jaw, on my chin and lips. I couldn’t help myself, reaching out and feeling the smallness of her waist, pulling her closer to me.

“Alessine, Seshine,” she said, and when I opened my eyes, I saw her smiling and shaking her head playfully. Perhaps now wasn’t the time, but my, did I feel like it was! The others continued unabated, ignoring the two of us. I brought her closer to me, one hand around the curve of her back and the other reaching down her leg, then coming up to her small breasts.

“Alessine,” she said again, and I wasn’t sure if it was her name, or if she wanted me to stop. Her face told me to go on so I pressed my chest against hers to give her a kiss, but she brought her hand gently across my mouth, letting me know it wasn’t all right.

“Sorry,” I said, letting her go, but she didn’t recoil or retreat. She stayed right where she was, lowering her hand, her blue eyes flashing from my lips to my eyes. Only then did I notice the other girls had stopped their ministrations and were watching us with a growing sense of curiosity.

“I don’t understand,” I said.

She was tempted, coming closer, caught in the same feeling I was, pressing against my body. I reached down and held her buttocks, so tiny in my massive hands, lifting her toward me until we were but a few inches from each other. The girl had a hard time keeping her eyes open almost in a stupor, and I felt my whole body responding to hers.

Before we could kiss, though, one of the girls behind me made a coughing sound and I turned to see someone was approaching from the hallway we had used to enter the room. I put the girl down in time for Drovani to enter the chamber, wearing the same clothes as before but now sporting a long, regal cape, with a pair of adjutants in tow.

“My friend,” he said, either unaware of what was about to happen, or unconcerned.

“Hey,” I responded, looking back at the girl who had shaken the moment off and now just sat in the water with her head bowed low, subservient to Drovani like the other girls.

He snapped at them and they returned to cleaning me.

“They will clean you and prepare you for the goddess,” he said.

I nodded, realizing I had completely forgotten about her in the bliss that had overtaken me.

Drovani came up to the edge of the pond and crouched so we would be closer to eye level, giving the girls instructions.

“Your women are beautiful,” I said, still feeling the girl’s warmth on my chest and face.

“They have their uses,” he said. “These girls, take them if you wish. Do what you want with them. They are your rewards, if you like.”

“And the goddess?”

He laughed.

“You must save your energy, I suppose. These two men,” he motioned to the two armed Vershani soldiers that flanked him, “Hroneth and Elgar. They are your bodyguards. They will die before you are harmed. I have taught them the basics of your tongue, so anything you need, they will ensure you have, including food, drink and ... well, anything else within reason.”

“Thank you,” I said.

He stood.

“No, thank you, my friend. Because of you, our world will have life and not death. Because of you, my people have a future instead of a certain doom. I could spend a lifetime thanking you, rewarding you, and it would prove unworthy of the thanks my people owe you.” He bowed curtly. “I do not wish to trouble you with affairs of state, or talk of politics. Instead, you must eat, rest, and bathe. In the name of the goddess, I could smell you from above decks. Later on we will speak more, and you will have an audience with the goddess herself.”

“Aryani,” I said, and noticed how everyone bristled at the mention of her name.

Drovani smiled, “Yes. But please refer to her as ‘Goddess’ for your own sake.”

I nodded, looking back at the girl, who had barely moved.

“What does Seshine mean?” I asked.

He looked over at the girl, his expression suddenly stern, almost murderous.

“That one used the term?”

Drovani was tense, his fingers clenched. He was quick to anger, that one. This was the third time he had gone from friendly and fun-loving to dangerous in the blink of an eye.

I moved over to her reflexively, “Easy,” I told him.

He sneered a threat to her and the girl began to cry, but he took a step back when he saw me interceding between them.

“It means ‘consort,’ Blackjack,” he said, becoming calm and composed as fast as it had taken him to turn baneful. “In the feast of celebration, the goddess will proclaim you and grant you both title and property. You will become as wealthy as the richest of our people, with thousands of...” Drovani struggled for the right word a moment before finding it, “...workers. A large estate in our home world, and one hundred Harkul Champions, like Elgar and Hroneth here, who answer only to you.”

I must have had my mouth open in wonder, because he laughed.

“Yes, my friend. You will be richer than I with one wave of the goddess’ hand, and you will be her first Seshine.”

“I...I don’t,” I stumbled, looking around at the girls and the two warriors. “I don’t know if I’m worthy of–”

Drovani raised his hand, in pause.

“It is done,” he said. “Or it will be, but do not count your Versupen before they fall into your pouch, Blackjack. We must still fight to reclaim our home world. A long war lies ahead of us before you can bathe in a Chelen pond of gold and silver.”

“I see,” I said, understanding at once.

“Do not worry, my friend. We shall lead an army that will blacken the lands, like a thousand Kotoron beetles at a kill. As you become Seshine, I have been named High Champion of the Castle and will decree you my First Paladin, so together we will lead our army from victory to victory. Not even the Wardens of the Old Gods will be able to stop us.”

I rubbed my nose, feeling a sudden headache settling in my sinuses and migrating through my face and head.

“So we have to fight a war.”

Drovani laughed, “It will be a slaughter! For who can beat an army led by the mighty Blackjack?”