Shadowplay: Book One of the Starcrown Chronicles

by Jon Gerrard

  * * *

  The ship landed less than an hour later and we were quickly off loaded. Wherever we were it was hot and muggy. Walking down the access ramp from the ship’s belly was like stepping into a steam sauna. We had touched down at what appeared to be a small, private port. The neocrete landing-pad was a little over one hundred and fifty meters wide, just large enough to accommodate the pirate’s ship. Surrounding us on all sides was a lush, tropical forest. To our left, a line of low buildings stretched across one side of the field and in front of us a solitary road ran off into the forest.

  We were marched out from underneath the pirate ship into the scorching midday sun where the pirates prodded us into a series of lines as a hover-limo appeared from the forest road followed by several ground transports. The trucks stopped at the edge of the landing pad while the limo pulled into the shade of the ship and settled to the ground.

  Cross made a grand display of greeting the man who climbed out. Fernando Rabine was an unimposing man with a slight build, an olive complexion and the beginnings of a pot belly. He was dressed in expensive clothing but not in the same garish style as the pirate captain. In his lizard skin loafers and silk shirt Rabine did not present an intimidating presence—until you looked into his eyes. They were cruel eyes, eyes without any trace of compassion.

  He glanced at us prisoners briefly then spoke to Cross who turned and gave an order to his men. Moments later the crew began leading dozens of horses down the boarding ramp from the ship. They were beautiful animals, young and healthy. I wondered where the pirates had stolen them from.

  Rabine smiled as he inspected them, but it was not a kind smile. He walked slowly around each horse in turn, his eyes studying them covetously. He ran his hands along their flanks and patted their noses, something an experienced horse person wouldn’t do to a new animal. That was a good way to get a finger broken. A few times he even walked directly behind one of the horses, not realizing how dangerous that was either. Some horses were skittish and the strangest little thing could spook them. If he startled the wrong horse it could kick out and leave him crippled or dead.

  Rabine spent some time admiring the animals. Finally he motioned to his driver who approached with a briefcase. The driver opened the case and held it for Cross to inspect. The pirate grinned as he fingered several thick stacks of bills before taking it. Bowing to Rabine, Cross gestured to where we were waiting in the sun and they slowly walked over to us. Rabine began walking down the lines of prisoners, looking us over, inspecting us like pieces of meat. He prodded each prisoner briefly, testing muscle tone, and looked at each person’s teeth.

  “It’s like buying any animal,” Rabine was saying conversationally as they moved along the line. He paused and roughly pulled open another prisoner’s mouth. “The condition of the gums and teeth in particular can tell you a lot about the general health of a slave.” A few of the prisoners did not measure up to his standards and at a gesture they were taken out of line. Cross bit his lip each time that happened. Soon he came to Doc Jacobs who was standing next to me. Rabine glanced at him and without even examining him gestured for Doc to be removed from the line. Before he could be moved Cross interrupted.

  “Excuse me, but you may want to reconsider this one.”

  “He’s too old.”

  “True,” Cross said quickly, “he is not as young as some of the others, but this one is a medical doctor. Such skills could have any number of uses. And at only ... double the regular price, he’s a real bargain.”

  Rabine looked at Doc again. He prodded him and pulled open his mouth. “He seems to be in reasonably good health. I’ll take him, but at half price.”

  Cross started to object but Rabine ignored him and turned to me. “Open your mouth,” he instructed. I stared at him, revulsion in every fiber of my body. “Open ... your ... mouth.” I clenched my jaw and locked eyes with him.

  He moved quickly.

  I saw his hand flash toward me and knew that I could block it if I wanted to, but I stood there and let him strike me. The back of his hand caught me right in the mouth and snapped my head back. I tasted the saltiness of blood and could feel a line of it running from the corner of my lips. I ignored it and simply stared back into those unfeeling, black eyes. Cross reached for the remote on his belt but Rabine covered his hand.

  “Breaking you might be amusing,” Rabine said to me, “but I don’t have the time for such diversions right now.” He gestured me out of line. Cross shot daggers at me from his eyes as one of his men grabbed me by the arm and dragged me toward the line with the other rejected prisoners.

  “NO!”

  I recognized Alex’s voice. Looking back I saw her break out of line. One of the pirates was only a few steps away and moved to intercept her. But as quickly as he moved she moved faster. In one fluid motion she evaded his grasp, knocked him to the ground and hurdled him. Three more pirates raced toward her. At any moment I expected then to use their collar remotes to stun her but they didn’t. Maybe they figured she was only a woman and they could handle her easily. If so, they were wrong. As they drew near, Alex dropped the first one with a quick chop to the throat. Spinning right she sank her foot into the stomach of the second, causing him to double over. The third managed to grab her by the arm—his mistake. Grabbing his hand, she spun back the other way and sent him cart-wheeling through the air.

  She sprinted forward as six other pirates closed on her. The one facing her drew a metal baton he was carrying on his belt. Pointing it at her he activated the wand causing electricity to crackle and arc around its tip. With barely a hesitation she faked right and veered left. Blocking the prod below its electrified tip, she grabbed the wand and twisted as she drove her toes into his groin. He went down like a pile of wet laundry as the wand came free in her hand. Now she had a weapon. Brandishing the prod like a sword she slashed in all directions, parrying blows and striking out at the pirates whenever they got close. Then one of the pirates threw himself at her knees and she went down. It took five of them to hold her.

  Cross took a step forward and started to draw his collar remote, but once again Rabine stayed his hand. He strolled over to her as the pirates dragged her to her feet. She was bruised and had a cut on one cheek but defiance radiated at him from her eyes. Again Rabine smiled that unfeeling smile of his. He reached up and grabbed a handful of her hair, forcing her head back.

  “I enjoy a woman with spirit,” he said, staring into her eyes. Then he crushed his mouth against hers. A moment later he snapped his head back. Alex glared at him as he dabbed at his lip. He smiled and licked the blood away with the tip of his tongue. Reaching up he caressed her injured cheek.

  “I admire your spirit. But I will teach you to respect me.” He pressed his thumb into the cut on her face, forcing her to wince. At his gesture the pirates dragged her away.

  The rest of the sale went quickly, but I wasn’t paying any attention. My stomach was knotted with conflicting emotions. I hadn’t seen Alex since she had been taken away. I knew that I should be worried about her but all I could feel was emptiness. The entire situation was unreal, like a bad dream. I didn’t care about anything. Even the prospect of Ahmed Kahn’s mines didn’t bother me.

  Suddenly, the group of prisoners I was standing with scattered. I looked up and saw a horse bearing down on me in full gallop, reins flying behind it. Everything seemed to shift into slow motion. Without thinking I walked directly toward the horse, waving my arms above my head. Horses run panicked when they get spooked. If I could make myself seem tall enough I might make it wary of me. As I continued toward it however, the thought came to me that if this didn’t work I would very likely get trampled.

  I strode calmly toward the charging animal nonetheless. Seeing that I wasn’t backing down, the horse slowed and came to a stop a meter or so away from me. He reared and kicked out with his front legs, braying a challenge.
I waited until he brought his feet down and dashed forward to grab his halter. Once more he reared, this time with me holding tightly to his halter. The powerful animal lifted me into the air with him, but I was ready for it. I clung tightly to the halter, letting my weight pull down on his neck. He couldn’t rear for as long this time and he came down hard. Making sure that my feet didn’t get crushed, I hushed the frightened animal and stroked his neck. He beat the ground with his front hooves and tried to pull his head away from my grip but did not try to rear again. After a few moments he began to calm down. I hushed him again as I continued to stroke his neck. I could feel his breath blowing hot against my shoulder but he slowly settled down.

  Eventually I was able to step back a little, although I kept a firm hold on his halter. I reached up cautiously and started slipping the bridle off his head with one hand.

  “What do you think you’re doing!”

  The man rushing up to me wasn’t dressed in a prison uniform but wore an obedience collar around his neck. Ignoring him I finished removing the bridle and slipped the bit out of the horse’s mouth, leaving only the halter on his head. The man snatched the bridle out of my hands.

  “You have no right to touch this! That horse belongs to Mr. Rabine!” He started fumbling with the bridle but only succeeded in getting it tangled.

  “I suppose you’re the one who lost control of the horse,” I said. The man’s presence was agitating the stallion so I started stroking his neck again to keep him calm.

  “The animal is untrained, but I’ll have it conditioned soon.”

  “Uh huh. Well, while you’re at it you might want to—”

  “I know what I’m doing!”

  He continued to fumble with the leather straps for a while until he finally managed to untangle the bridle. When he moved to put it back on the horse, the animal jerked its head away.

  “That’s why he ran away from you before,” I said, pointing at the bridle. He stopped and looked at me. “You’ve got the bit attached the wrong way,” I said tapping to the metal pieces he had been trying to force into the horse’s mouth. “That’s a curb bit. With the way it must have been twisted in his mouth you were hurting him whenever you pulled on the reins. Just clip a lead line to his halter and he’ll go where you want him to.”

  He glared at me briefly then moved to put the bridle back on the horse anyway.

  “Christian! Go fetch a lead line.”

  Christian jumped like he’d been shocked, but he lowered the bridle and moved away. I looked into the eyes of Fernando Rabine who had just ordered his slave away.

  “Tell me about this ‘curb bit’,” Rabine demanded.

  He might be buying horses but he obviously didn’t know much about them.

  “You use a curb bit to manage a difficult horse,” I said, holding his gaze. “The extra pressure on his mouth makes him listen to your signals better because it’s uncomfortable if he fights against the reins. Some riders use them to control a difficult horse, but if you train your animal correctly you shouldn’t need it.”

  Rabine considered me for several moments. “You know something about horses.”

  “I know a lot about horses.” I had originally spoken only to show how much more I knew about horses that he did. But as I was speaking I realized that it was true.

  Christian returned with a lead line just then. He fumbled around for a moment trying to figure out where to attach the clip. I finally took the line from him and hooked it to the metal ring under the horse’s chin. Giving me a nasty look he snatched back the rope and led the horse away.

  Rabine turned to Captain Cross who was just returning after seeing that all of the prisoners had been rounded up again. “I will take this one after all.” Then he turned back to me and raised his hand. I saw that he was holding a collar remote. “But you and I are going to have to come to an understanding about what you place is.”

  I watched his thumb jab down on a control and fire erupted in my head. I felt myself falling and heard screaming nearby. As blackness closed in around me I realized it was me I heard screaming.