Starblazer- Through the Black Gate

by Reiter

  “I really didn’t help my sense of reality just now, did I?”

  “Nonsense,” Dungias said as his body started to lift from the floor. “You define reality in three forms: that which you have done, that which you have yet to do, and that which has yet to catch your attention. I am meant to record the first, prepare you for the second, and master the third to the best of my ability.

  “Please excuse me, Captain,” Dungias whispered as both he and his Osamu took on a slight glow. “Alpha needs a moment.”

  “And the worst part of that right there,” Jocasta said, gesturing toward her floating First Mate before turning to make herself a morning beverage. “… is I’m not wigged out. What kind of a world am I in where that crap’s normal?” She walked to the door of the general room and headed out.

  “Good morning, Captain,” Olkin said as he came to attention.

  “Cupid,” Jocasta replied, slightly surprised to see a crewman posted outside her door. “They have you on guard duty?”

  “Oh, it’s just my turn, Captain,” he quickly answered. “Mel suggested that since you guys were able to raid that guy’s pocket treasure trove, he might be sending some ‘get even’ our way.”

  “And your job is to die a loud and ugly death so that we have an early warning system?”

  “Hell no!” Olkin said. “That’s not the plan at all!”

  “Good answer,” Jocasta smiled. “Let’s get everyone out of their rooms and downstairs.”

  “You got it, Captain.”

  Jocasta kept her smile as she made her way downstairs. She could hear the moans and smell the remains of the evening’s event; the spilled food and various alcoholic concoctions, and of course... “Aaah, the yellow stain of irresponsibility,” she whispered as she stepped over two unconscious patrons. Given how they were interlocked, she wondered if they had been fighting or were just too drunk to care who they were kissing. Looking out over the floor, she saw Nulaki seated at one of the more cleared tables. She took as direct a line as possible and sat down across from him. “Hey, Sailor. You come here often?”

  “Often enough,” Nulaki replied. “I’m glad we have an opportunity to talk, Captain.”

  “Is that why you palmed the knife?” she asked, keeping her smile. She looked at the mug that had been left at the table and looked inside to see what it held. She put it down, making a face as if she had taken a whiff of something foul. “I hate when they spill food in the beer.

  “And is it me, or is Borheem kinda dead?” she asked, looking out of the window. “I find myself thinking back to our day of great fortune… you know, the day we met, and I seem to recall a fairly hot fire I pulled your ass out of. Without going over specific details–”

  “Thank the gods!” Nulaki said.

  “–it just seems that your personal problems would be housed in a more… sophisticated dwelling. So what gives, Conadier, are we going to talk or are you going to dose me?”

  “That depends,” Nulaki said. “… on whether I can appeal to your more reasonable side.”

  Jocasta sat back in her chair and looked out of the window again. She looked as if she was actually thinking about what Nulaki had said. After a moment, she smiled and shook her head. “I don’t know, Conadier. I guess you can say I’m just a simple coin. Heads, I’m up in the clouds; tails, I’m up someone’s ass. The thin side is where you’ll find me at someone else’s definition of reasonable.”

  Nulaki’s head dropped as he sighed. “Why are you making this hard?”

  “Hey, I’m not even rubbing up against it,” Jocasta said, holding up her hands. “It’s gotten hard all on its own. Maybe it’s thinking too much like a little boy. You know, just like in school. You’re sitting in class… and for no reason at all, BAM, it’s hard. That’s when you get called up to the front, right? Talk about embarrassing!” Dungias put his hand on Nulaki’s shoulder and gave a slight pat. “Very embarrassing, actually.”

  “You activated your brace-com,” Nulaki sighed, putting his head on the table and his knives back in the scabbards in his boots.

  “Sure did,” Jocasta confirmed. “And now you have to contend with my speed and the one man who can keep up if you decide to go running through walls. Are we done with this pissing contest? Can we actually talk now?”

  “I don’t want to bring anyone else in on my baggage, Captain!” Nulaki strained in a soft voice.

  “Done,” Jocasta said without blinking. The waitress walked out to their table and Jocasta feigned excitement. “Oh, you do exist! Good!”

  “Can I get you anything?” the waitress asked, forcing a smile.

  “We’ll start with a clean table and some coffee, thanks. Fellas?”

  “Make that two coffees,” Nulaki added.

  “Tea, if you please, and fair morning to you,” Dungias said with a nod.

  “Good morning,” the waitress replied as her smile turned genuine. “I’ll be right back with your order.” The young woman quickly turned and started for the kitchen. “I need to get a table bussed down!”

  “Let me get this straight,” Nulaki started.

  “We’re here for two reasons: uncut gemstones and your personal business.” Jocasta interjected. “We don’t need you for the former, since we’ll be at the mines, and you apparently don’t want us around for the latter. Everything comes out handy-schmandy.”

  “You’re going to rob the mines in broad daylight?”

  “Can you tell me where I can find narrow daylight? Cuz that’s what we’d prefer!”

  Nulaki took a good, long look into her crystal blue eyes and he knew there was no point in arguing; the coin was not going to land on the skinny side this morning. Plus he had things to tend to, very important matters. There had been a point of amusement, running around with JoJo and Z, even some adventure worth marking in memory. But Nulaki too had been meditating. He could feel them, the shadowy figures who had been bold enough to dispatch assassins to find and attack him. Their eyes had been upon him the moment he had come out of the mines and they were on him now. Their lack of action would prove to be a wise action. They had underestimated Nulaki and they had an even poorer approximation of the people with whom he traveled. No, they would wait for Nulaki to come to them, which is exactly what he intended to do.

  “No, Captain, I wish I knew where you would find narrow daylight,” he answered. “I could use some of that myself right about now.”

  “Don’t see why,” Jocasta returned, leaning back in her chair. “You said it yourself; your biggest issue is not knowing which path to take. There’s no choice this time around, Thief. So fight the good fight, and if there is any flight involved, make sure it’s on the way to and from the jugular.”

  “That sounds like as good a cue as any,” Nulaki said, sighing and getting up from his chair,

  scratching his shoulder.

  “What about your coffee?” Jocasta asked as the bus boy yawned and started cleaning the table.

  “Give it to Dugger,” Nulaki suggested. “I get the feeling he’s going to need it.”

  “Yeah, I kinda get that feeling too,” Jocasta said as she watched Nulaki walk to the door of the establishment and out into the street. She looked up at the bus boy and thanked him for being so quick and efficient, despite the fact that he was neither. She then turned to look at Dungias. “You tagged him?”

  “I certainly made the attempt,” Dungias said as he sat down. “I felt that was best.”

  “And he spotted it?”

  “He was meant to,” Dungias answered. “I did not use much in the way of technique in placing it on his person.” Looking at his brace-com, Dungias gave a slight nod. “I believe he just deposited it in the water trough.”

  “So we can’t track him,” Jocasta sighed.

  “Not with that device, no.” Dungias nodded as the waitress brought a single cup of tea and placed it on the table.

  “Would you like milk and sugar with that?”

  “Thank you for asking, but I w
ould not want to trouble you.”

  “It’s no trouble at all, I’ll be right back. And I had the kitchen put on a fresh pot of coffee for you.”

  “Mmmm, I can smell it already. Thanks.” Jocasta smiled as she watched the woman walk away. “She does know I’m armed, right? Just up and lie straight to my face like that.”

  “You lied to her.”

  “When in Rome, Z!” Jocasta replied. “Where do you think he’s going?”

  “Underground,” Dungias concluded, blowing into his tea. “The looks of this township would not support a dojo with the skills Nulaki has demonstrated, nor is there any sign of someone calling themselves the Sultan. After our ride along the river, it is clear to me that this desert is nothing of the kind. It is simply rock covered with sand. I doubt there are any floating cities in the region, which leaves only one explanation… underground.”

  “Take Dugger with you,” she ordered. “… he’ll be more motivated to tag along. Plus, the last thing I need is him pining away after his precious bug while we’re dealing with the mines.”

  “You make a good point,” Dungias agreed. “Might I also then take two of the new hopefuls?”

  “You smell a rat, Z?”

  Dungias snorted and sipped his tea. “They will be more likely to follow orders if they are… divided and kept to task.” Dungias swallowed and looked at his cup. He had forgotten that they were not aboard the Xara-Mansura, and that he had neither grown nor prepared the plant that had been brewed for this drink. He sighed, put the cup down, and stood up from the table.

  “Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to make my First Mate uneasy,” Jocasta giggled. “Fine, take any two outside of the Tandem. I want to see them in action for myself.”

  “That much was expected, Captain,” Dungias said as he started from the table. “Do remember that they are probably better when in a fighter of some sort.”

  “Sez you,” Jocasta replied as she sat back in her chair.

  Ephaliun was already walking downstairs ahead of the rest of the crew. Dungias told him to wait for him outside before continuing upstairs to roust Siekor and the one called Soft Bone from their beds. He was sure they had hangovers, which would only make things more interesting.

  “Over here, people,” Jocasta called, waving her trained crew over to her. “Did we all get some good shut-eye?”

  “If we say no, will it wipe that smile off your face?” Silnee asked.

  “Not at all!”

  “Then we slept just fine, Captain,” Mel replied. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

  “We’re going to take a little stroll back to the river,” Jocasta said. “Grab some grub to go and wake the others. We can be halfway done with our recon by sunrise if we get a move on.”

  “What was that saying about the best laid plans?” Jocasta said as she sat down on a large stone. The others soon caught up to her position, though they sounded more winded than she did. The hopefuls, save for Tiebault, sounded the worst.

  “Just what the hell are those things?!” Agatha asked as she dropped to her knees, panting. She did not want to believe what her eyes were telling her.

  “You want to make a bit more noise?” Jocasta asked sarcastically. “The people on the other side of the planet didn’t hear you!”

  “Sorry, Captain,” Agatha said softly, looking around.

  “From the looks of things down there, they didn’t hear us,” Annsura reported as she ducked down from her viewpoint. “… but those are some of the most paranoid floating torsos I’ve ever seen.”

  “Yeah, think of the other ones you’ve seen that we could’ve snuck a shuttle by,” Jocasta quipped.

  Annsura chuckled. “I was just emphasizing how they’re checking every direction all the time!

  “Why does it feel like I’ve seen that before?” Annsura thought. “Red-skinned torsos, floating on red columns of smoke. There’s something about their jewels, their head wrappings… even the markings on their skin… it all seems so familiar.”

  “Maybe this was a little shortsighted of me,” Jocasta reflected. “You have to assume word about a whole mess of people coming out of the river has made it to the owner or owners of the mines by now. One might expect them to have upped the security at their mines as a general precaution. But three freakin’ Djinn?!”

  “I don’t think that’s what happened, Captain,” Mel whispered. “When we came up out of the river, I had my goggles on scanner mode. The same signal I saw coming from inside the mines is exactly what I’m getting from those things right now. I was going to ask Z and Nulaki about it, but I never got the chance.”

  “And you, sir, may consider yourself on report until further notice,” Jocasta snapped. “Until I say otherwise, when I stir my soup clockwise, you MUST stir counter-clockwise. That’ll teach ya!”

  “She’s crazy!” Marlene remarked quietly. “I’m not talking about having a screw loose… that construct’s comin’ apart!”

  “No, it’s not,” Agatha smiled. “She’s getting her ire up; she’s about to make a run!”

  “How can you tell?” Tiebault asked.

  “Our Captain is a pilot,” Agatha chuckled. “I’d know that look anywhere.”

  “Now that you’ve said it, I see it too,” Marlene agreed. “And that’s all well and good, but we’re not fixed to take on floating MajiK men!”

  “Well, somebody needs to notice that the Captain did not get the memo!”

  “We can’t afford to dally here, people,” Jocasta said. “I have the strangest suspicion that Mr. Z and Mr. Conadier are going to be needing back-up before too long.”

  “What makes you say that?” Llaz asked.

  “Not a clue,” Jocasta stated. “… but if we get it in our heads that they do, maybe we won’t!”

  “Sounds like a good way to look at things, Captain,” Annsura smiled. “Do you want Cupid and Tolip to find perches?” Jocasta looked at her Second Mate and her eyes squinted.

  “You mind if I make a suggestion?” Pristacia asked.

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  Following Nulaki without technology would have posed more than a few problems for even the best tracker. However, having nearly every piece of the man’s equipment rigged with some sort of tracking device made matters simple for Dungias and he trekked the Fazbred Terran through the center of the township. They walked by the town square, where there was a large, stone staircase leading down, but it was attended by a man who was putting forth incredible effort to appear intimidating.

  Their timing had indeed been fortunate as a merchant approached the man who quickly demanded a fare for passage. The man produced some sort of badge and the attendant stepped out of the way, opening the door. Dungias put his hand to Alpha and read the light coming from below. The stairway turned slightly, but the Malgovi Traveler was still provided a glimpse of what was beneath the township.

  “Indeed!” he said softly.

  “What is it?” Ephaliun quickly asked.

  “A confirmation,” Dungias replied. “There is an underground development. It appears to be at least twenty times larger than the township, but that is a rough estimate for the brief glimpse I was afforded.”

  “Wow!” Ephaliun exclaimed.

  “You got a look?” Siekor asked, looking back at the stairway. “I know you’re tall, but I couldn’t even see the door!”

  “We all have our ways and means, Mr. Siekor. Just as with my back to you, I should not be able to see you gesturing to Soft Bone regarding the young red-headed woman with whom you would appreciate a moment of intimacy… should I?” Siekor looked at Soft Bone who quickly shrugged his shoulders. Ephaliun looked around and smiled when he saw a very comely red-headed woman who had stepped under a downspout to let water run over her hair. “Suffice to say, I believe I know where Nulaki is going.”

  “And where is that, sir?” Hunro asked, with a not too pleasant tone to his voice when he said ‘sir’. Dungias knew he had many options, but his time observing h
umans quickly cut into that number, if he wanted to be an effective leader of these new crewmen. They were all older than the present crew; by at least ten years in Hunro’s case. Though life expectancy for the human race had reached two hundred years, the age of immaturity had grown with it, albeit disproportionately. Dungias stopped and quickly turned. Siekor reached for his low-hanging pistol while Hunro lunged forward, reaching for Dungias’ neck.

  Stepping forward and at an angle, Hunro’s large body became a body shield for Dungias as he turned his shoulder toward Hunro and took hold of the man’s shirt. He lifted him from the ground and threw him into Siekor. As both men rolled, Dungias slowly advanced, placing his boot on Siekor’s gun hand and slowly increasing the pressure.

  “You blue-skinned maggot!” Hunro hissed as he got up and attacked again. He was not looking to tackle this time. He swung wide and wild. Dungias quickly leaned forward and dropped his head so that Hunro struck the top of his skull instead of his face. Ephaliun winced at the sound of the man’s hand breaking. Dungias took hold of the man’s shirt once more and brought him in for another head butt… this one broke his nose. Hunro fell to the ground, stunned and bleeding profusely across the face.

  “It would seem that both of you have broken hands,” Dungias said, pressing sharply down with his foot until he heard a bone snap. Siekor wailed in anguish. “Should I continue my analysis?”

  “Not necessary, sir,” Siekor cried. Dungias lifted his foot and turned his attention to the larger man.

  “I’m afraid I did not hear your response, Soft Bone.”

  “I’m mokay suh,” the man stammered as he rolled on the ground. With one hand, and unspeakable ease, Dungias grabbed Hunro’s belt and lifted him from the ground. He stood the man up and locked his gold eyes directly on Hunro’s brown; the later pair began to blink rapidly as he bent at the knees and slowly became shorter.