by Henry Vogel
A cheer rose from the pirates as our two opponents pushed off from their side of the room, each heading for a different sphere within the arena. Grabbing Chapman’s collar, I pushed off toward a different sphere, one closer to the pirate on my right.
“What are you doing?” wailed Chapman.
“They’re planning to come at us from two sides, probably so one can keep me busy while the other deals with you. If we’re in position and closer to one than the other, I’ll have an easier time disrupting their plan. All you have to do is stay with me and cover my back if one of the pirates gets close. I’ll handle the rest!”
I brought us to a stop against my chosen sphere. Seconds later, the pirates worked their way around their spheres to face us. The pirate farther away prepared to push off from his sphere toward us, but held his position. I turned back to the other pirate and crouched, ready to take the attack to him if he moved first. He suddenly grinned and shoved off hard toward the door Chapman and I had come through. Looking back, I realized why the man was so happy.
Chapman had panicked and fled back the way we had come. He floated slowly toward the door, a sitting duck for the grinning pirate. The pirate, obviously experienced in zero G, flew as straight as a well-aimed crossbow bolt toward Chapman. Their paths would cross in a few seconds and I held no illusions as to the end result. I could already picture crimson spheres of Chapman’s blood floating around the arena. Would Chapman’s body become some sort of macabre version of the beach ball sports crowds bat around for fun?
Shaking off that gruesome image, I glanced at the other pirate. The look dashed my hope that he would launch himself at me or Chapman. The man hung onto his sphere, watching me like a hawk. Once I committed myself, he’d be free to choose the best counter to my move. I fought a strong temptation to leave Chapman to his fate, but I also believed Rupor was right. If Chapman died in this duel, Heidi might spend her life wondering what she could have done to save her husband. Painful as it would be for her, she needed to see him for the low-life he was and then make a break from him on her own terms and of her own accord.
Without another thought, I launched myself toward the grinning pirate. I pushed off hard from the sphere, planning to overtake the pirate before he reached the panic-stricken Chapman. The other pirate shouted a warning to his friend. A quick glance backward showed the second pirate following me. He moved more slowly than me, though, having put less muscle into his launch. Was that because he felt a twinge of cowardice or simply a tinge of caution? Whatever the reason, it meant I’d have a few seconds to deal with the grinning pirate before his partner reached us.
Warned by the shout, the grinning pirate spun around to face me. Then he opened himself into a knife-fighter’s stance. In full gravity, it would have been a good move. In zero gravity, not so much. The grinning pirate held his knife low, ready for a thrust to my gut, with his other arm held high to block my knife. Holding my arrow-straight posture, I raised my knife above my head as if preparing for an overhand slash. The pirate’s grin widened as he waited for my unprotected chest to get within knife range.
At the last second, I tucked and spun one hundred and eighty degrees. Then I kicked out at the pirate with my feet. The pirate’s knife slashed the bottom of my boot just before my kick connected with his chest. The pirate’s knife spun away and the man tumbled backward toward the seats. I, on the other hand, now flew straight back toward the second pirate.
Caught unprepared, the trailing pirate did the same thing his fellow had done. Had no one ever bothered to teach zero gravity martial arts to these pirates? Everything I’d done so far had been covered in the first few weeks of basic training at the academy. I went for a backward spin this time, planting my feet in the pirate’s groin and shoving hard away from him. The pirate howled in pain as I shot away from him and toward Chapman.
Catching Chapman, I spun us about and prepared to use the bars in front of the crowd to propel us back toward the center of the arena. With howls of glee, the watching pirates reached through the bars and grabbed our feet.
“We got ‘em, boys!” a voice called from the crowd. “Now git over here and kill ‘em!”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Before the pirates grabbed our feet, I thought Chapman was as panicked as a man could possibly be. It turns out I was wrong about that. His breath coming in short gasps and pants, Chapman gyrated and flailed and kicked, struggling to free himself. The only thing he accomplished was to make the pirates laugh all the harder.
Straining to break myself free, I only looked Chapman’s way when his left arm smacked me on the side of my head. I saw his right hand, knuckles white as they gripped the knife, swinging my way. Training and instinct took over. I blocked his swing with my right arm, grabbed his wrist with my left hand, and twisted the knife free. Being disarmed by his ‘partner’ so surprised Chapman that he went still.
Around us, the pirates went still, too. Arms still reached through the bars to hold onto us, but they directed all of their attention toward the center of the arena. Looking over my shoulder, I saw our two opponents twenty feet away and gliding slowly toward us. Both of them played up to the crowd, making flashy slashes and jabs to show how they planned to deal with us.
Through the comparative silence, Quint’s voice rang out. “Looks like yer boy be done fer, Bane!”
“Ten thousand credits says my second-in-command gets away safely and takes Chapman with him!”
Quint barked a laugh. “Done!”
Well, that settled it. I couldn’t let Martin lose a small fortune betting on me! Bending over, a knife gripped in each hand, I slashed hard and fast at the arms stretching through the bars to grasp Chapman and me. Cries of pain and anger broke out from the pirates below me. They snatched their arms back from my blades and backed away from the bars.
With our feet free, I wrapped an arm around Chapman and launched us away from the bars and just out of reach of the two pirates floating toward us. By the time the two pirates finished their slow drift to the side of the arena, I had the two of us safely hanging onto one of the spheres in the middle of the arena.
The crowd of pirates went deadly quiet. They’d gotten the bloodshed they wanted, but the wrong bodies had shed the blood.
“My oh my,” Martin said. “It seems my ‘boy’ left quite a mess in his wake. And, I might add, you owe me ten thousand credits, Quint.”
“Yer boy were clever, Bane, I’ll grant ya that,” Quint growled. “But them what’s watchin’ ain’t part of the duel.”
“The second those men reached through the bars, they made themselves part of the duel. But I think your real worry is the money you just lost. I’m feeling rather generous at the moment, Quint, so how about another bet? Double or nothing.”
“Name it.”
“I bet my lad can stay alive in the arena for another five minutes without killing his opponents.”
“And he’s gotta keep Chapman alive fer the same five minutes.”
“I’ll agree to that, Quint.”
“Then the bet be on, Bane!”
If everything was going according to plan, the docking bay lasers would be disabled in five more minutes. Bane’s bet gave me free reign to lead the two pirates on a merry chase without drawing suspicion from the captains. It was a good idea, but we’d barely been in the arena for a minute and it was nothing short of a miracle Chapman was still alive.
Of course, Chapman heard everything Bane and Quint said. His reaction was entirely predictable. Chapman panicked. Eyes wide with terror, Chapman flung himself toward Quint and the other pirate captains!
I lunged for Chapman, trying to catch his feet and keep him with me. My hands hit the bottom of his boots but had nothing to grab onto. My near miss sent Chapman tumbling, but he was still heading straight for the captains’ box. Meanwhile, I lost contact with the sphere and drifted just out of reach of it. I found myself stranded in midair and an easy target for the pirates!
Our two opponents grinned at o
ur predicament while the watching pirates roared in laughter. The two pirates exchanged a glance and then they both launched themselves at me. I’d have done the same thing in their situation. Unarmed and panicking, Chapman posed no threat. They could kill him at their leisure once they didn’t have to worry about me. And here I was, just hanging around and inviting them to attack me.
Spinning back toward the sphere, I tried swimming in its direction. Given time, I could stop my slow drift away from the sphere and begin drifting toward it. But that was time I didn’t have! The pirates arrowed in on me, each with one arm in front to block any attacks and one arm ready to slash or stab with the knife. My strokes grew more frantic as I tried to get back to the safety of a solid surface.
At least, that’s what I hoped it looked like! I had very little going for me. The illusion of panic might yield a split second of advantage just as the pirates reached me. I also prepared for the one thing I hadn’t expected would be of any use to me in this duel — Boost. Working and fighting in zero gravity is all about finesse and control. Boost is just the opposite, being all about strength and speed. In almost every zero G situation, Boost hinders far more than it helps. With a bit of luck, I could create that rare situation where it helped far more than it hurt.
With the pirates almost upon me, I stopped thrashing and pulled my knees up. Just before they were close enough for me to reach, I kicked at them. The two pirates laughed aloud at what they took to be mistimed kicks. Reaching out with their free hand, each pirate grabbed onto one of my legs. I flung my legs wide as if trying to throw them off. In response, each pirate wrapped his arm tightly around the leg he held. And that was what I’d been waiting for.
Boost!
Adrenaline flooded my bloodstream and time slowed. I had just enough time to see the pirates’ grins begin to fade as I brought my legs back together with all of my Boosted strength.
Crack! The pirates’ heads slammed together. Stunned, the two men lost their grips on my legs and one of them lost his grip on his knife. I pulled my knees up and kicked them again. This time they tumbled away toward the far wall and I floated back to my sphere.
Dropping Boost, I looked for Chapman. He was still tumbling, but had begun shouting something as he neared the captains’ box. The crowd noise remained too loud for anyone to hear what he was saying, but I could read his lips.
He was shouting, “Captain Quint! They’re not pirates! It’s a trap!”
I wanted to grab the knife floating close by — it would have given me three of the four in the arena — but shutting Chapman up was far more important. Tensing my legs beneath me, I shoved off hard toward Chapman. I was tired of dealing with this loathsome excuse for a man and his cowardly attempts to ingratiate himself with the pirates.
With anger written on my face and a knife clutched in each hand, I must have looked like death incarnate falling toward Chapman. His voice rose to such a shrill tone that it pierced the roar of the crowd. But he no longer cried his warning to Quint. Instead, he squealed, “He’s going to kill me! Help!”
The pirate captains heard his cries, as did most of the pirates watching. To a man, they all roared with laughter at this unexpected addition to the drama of the arena.
I glanced at the others in the captains’ box. Megan, remembering our script, was shouting in Mordanian about Martin’s most recent bet. Callan stepped to the back wall of the box, out of the way if a fight broke out, and pulled Megan along with her. Hand lightly resting on his sword hilt, Martin moved close to Quint. Rupor met my gaze and slowly shook his head; tacit agreement that Chapman could not be saved from himself. Then Rupor stepped as far from Martin as the box would allow.
Turning my attention back to Chapman, I was surprised to see he’d managed to stop tumbling and was now mere feet from the captains’ box. He still screeched in a higher pitch than a man his size should ever be able to reach, but he had changed his tune yet again.
“Captain Quint! They’re not pirates! They’re Scouts! It’s a trap!”
This time, Chapman was too close and his voice was too piercing to be ignored. As the words got through to Quint, his laughter faded. Concentration sharpened his features and Quint’s eyes shot about the box, noting everyone’s position. The other captains were just starting to take notice of Chapman’s words when I caught up with the coward.
Putting a knife-wielding hand on the back of Chapman’s head, I smashed it hard into one of the bars in front of the captains’ box. Chapman went limp as his head bounced off the bar.
I swung my arms up and caught a cross bar with bent wrists. Tucking, I swung around the cross bar and between the two side bars. Gravity returned as I landed inside the captains’ box.
Knives held ready, I straightened before the startled captains. The watching pirates fell silent at yet another unexpected development in their entertainment. When I spoke, my voice carried throughout the arena.
“I am David Rice, Scout First Class of the Terran Exploration Corps. Surrender or die!”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
From Chapman’s warning, Quint already knew something was amiss and the other captains were starting to figure it out. Once we attacked the captains, the pirates around the arena would come to the same conclusion. So, my ultimatum gave away nothing the pirates weren’t going to discover in the next second or two. It did achieve the effect I hoped for — it gave the captains pause. It lasted only a second, but when you’re outnumbered every little bit helps!
Steel rasped against leather as Martin and Rupor drew their swords. At the same time, Quint broke for the zero gravity arena. With a bound, he dove between the bars, kicking off from them to launch himself toward one of the spheres.
Once he was clear of us, Quint bellowed, “Take ‘em afore they git away, lads!”
That broke the spell. With a roar, pirates surged through the bars and into the arena. In the box with us, the pirate captains went for their swords.
With a flick of my wrist, one of my knives flew across the box and buried itself in the throat of a pirate captain. Gurgling, blood fountaining from his neck, the man stumbled into another pirate. Off balance, that pirate made an easy target for Rupor’s flashing blade.
I wish the remaining three pirate captains got unnerved by the sudden violence and the rapidly shifting situation, but it didn’t happen. Violence and chaos are part and parcel of the life of a pirate. Drawing their swords, the pirates advanced to meet us. The box rang as steel met steel.
No one rose to the position of pirate captain without being skilled with a blade. These men were no exceptions. They knew hundreds of pirates were swarming their way. If they fought defensively, they could hold us off until their men arrived and overwhelmed us.
Martin and Rupor pushed their pirates’ defenses to the limit, but I only had a knife. Fighting at such a disadvantage, there was no chance I could finish off my opponent quickly without Boosting. I hated the idea of using Boost so early in what could become a running fight, but I saw no other option. Then I saw six inches of bloody steel push out of my opponent’s chest!
The pirate fell forward, revealing Callan holding my blood-coated sword.
“The pirates don’t allow lasers within the base, darling, only blades,” she said, reversing the sword and handing it to me. “So I brought yours!”
“Remind me to kiss you when we have the time,” I said, slashing the back of the pirate fighting Martin.
As Martin thrust his sword through the wounded pirate, I spun and ran my blade through the pirate facing Rupor. The prince sketched a salute with his sword.
Megan opened the door out of the captains’ box and ran through. The rest of us followed. The first pirate had just reached the bars of the captains’ box as I slipped through the door. In the corridor, Mordanian and Tartegian marines fought shoulder to shoulder against more pirates. Our escape route was blocked.
“Martin, find us a way out of here!” I called, spinning to guard the door I’d just stepped through.
“Already on it,” Martin replied over the clash of weapons.
“Marines, withdraw from your position slowly until the door Captain Rice is guarding is in front of you,” Rupor ordered. “We’ll be surrounded, otherwise.”
Sword at the ready, Rupor joined me at the door into the captains’ box. He lunged as the door swung open and was rewarded by a cry of pain from inside.
“Takes you back to when we stormed the pirate spaceship a few months ago, eh what?” he grinned.
I slashed an extending sword arm and the blade dropped to the floor. “What, being heavily outnumbered and too close to the dark edge of death?”
“Exactly, my friend!” Rupor enthused, parrying a hastily jabbed pirate sword. “A man is never more alive than when he’s defying death. It makes the blood sing!”
“Last time my blood sang, it also leaked in large quantities. And I recall that you were captured.” I lunged at a face inside the door. The face disappeared as the pirate jumped back and tripped over someone behind him.
“True, but we have your friend Captain Bane with us this time,” Rupor said, pulling his sword from the belly of a pirate.
As if on cue, Martin called, “I’ve found something! Keep up the fighting withdrawal while I get the ladies into the air duct.”
Air ducts? Not bad, and they might even get us quickly and safely behind our own lines — assuming we didn’t get hopelessly lost in them, instead. But I could see one problem with that escape route.
“How are we all going to get into the ducts without leaving some marines behind to die?”
The sergeant leading the marines replied, “That’s our job, sir, and we’re damned good at it! The pirates will pay heavily before they get past us.”
The marines’ fighting withdrawal reached Rupor and me. I fell in beside a young private who couldn’t be more than a couple of years older than Milo!
