A Pirate's Tale: The Only Solution Is Retribution (12 page)

“How long before…”

“It’s too early to say.  However, I don’t think it will take eight days.”

“Please keep me informed on how they’re doing.”

“I will.  They’re sleeping now and you should go and get some rest; you’re pushing yourself too hard.”

Leo sighed and nodded.  He turned and headed toward his quarters.  Gem turned and went back inside his ship.  He glanced at the two vessels being worked on as he entered the port and saw a lot of progress had been made.  He went back to the cylinders and continued to monitor them.

• • •

Victoria opened her eyes and immediately closed them.  The overhead lights were too bright for her to tolerate.  She tried to turn her head but the pain in her neck was also too much.  “Just lie still and don’t move for a few minutes,” she heard Gem say.  She heard a loud groan and knew that Desiree was also awake and struggling.  “I want both of you to start at your feet and move them slowly.  Once they stop hurting, start moving your hands.  Then I want you to start contracting your leg muscles slowly followed by your arms.  I’ll come back in an hour to check on you.”

Victoria followed his instructions and said loudly, “Are you ok, Desiree?”

“I wish someone had gotten the number of the transport that ran over me.”

Victoria smiled and winced before saying, “Why is that?”

“Because I’d blast it into fragments if I could move!  I thought he was going to keep us asleep until the pain passed.”

“Evidently, this is part of the process.  OW!  Sorry, that was my ankle.”

“You mean you can feel yours?  Mine is just a pain center sending out demons into my leg.”

“It’s the same, I just know it’s close to my foot.”

Victoria kept her eyes closed and heard Desiree repeating, “Focus, focus, focus!”  She began saying it as well and slowly started moving her legs and arms.

What felt like a century later, they heard Gem say, “Now I want you to start taking shallow breaths and gradually take deeper breaths as you adjust to the discomfort.”

Desiree said, “By discomfort you mean burning, raw, extreme pain, don’t you?”

Gem clacked and said, “Yes, something like that.”

Victoria finally asked, “Why does this hurt so much, Gem?”

“Your new nerves are finding connections with your body.  Once those connections are made, the pain will stop.  Moving will speed up the process and won’t increase the pain.”

“Easy for you to say.” Desiree replied.

“Yes, it is but the worst part is over.  Just stick with it a little longer.”

Thirty minutes passed and Desiree said, “Gem!”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you.  How do you know our language so well?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time recording human conversations during my travels.”

“Why would you single out humans?” Victoria asked.

“I was following Victoria and observing her.  I found her very interesting.”

“Why is that?”

“Because she loved her life and shared that feeling with everyone she encountered.  I never knew her to show any sadness or anger toward anyone.”

Victoria slowly blew out a breath and said, “I’m not like her.  I’ve experienced a lot of sorrow.”

“You’re more like her than you know; now keep taking deeper breaths and start opening your eyes.”

• • •

Two hours later, Gem assisted them out of their modules and held on to their upper arms as they stumbled across the room.  He led them toward the exit port and Desiree said, “I need to sit down!”

“No, you don’t.  Keep your legs moving, we’re going for a little walk.”  Both women moaned as he continued to carry them out of his ship and down to the road leading out of the shipyard.  After fifteen minutes, Victoria and Desiree were able to take steps without being supported.  Within another thirty minutes they were walking without the excruciating pain.  They walked a mile out of the shipyard and Gem said, “Desiree, I want you to look to our right and Victoria, you take the left.”

“What am I looking for?” Victoria asked.

“I want you to just follow the pattern of the land around us and tell me if you see anything out of the ordinary.”

“It all looks like some kind of desert,” Desiree replied.”

“Just look at it and tell me if you notice anything,” Gem answered.

Four hundred yards later, Desiree stopped and pointed out into the dried out landscape, “Gem, that mound of soil looks out of place.”

“I’ve got one on my side as well,” Victoria quickly added.

Gem smiled, “Tell me what made them look out of place?”

Desiree shook her head slightly, “I don’t really know.  It’s just…just…they don’t fit the pattern of the ground around them.”  She turned to Gem, “What is that mound?”  Gem pulled a hand weapon off his belt and aimed it to the right of the mound.  He pulled the trigger and a large blast of dust shot up into the dry air beside the mound.  A huge creature that looked like a cross between a scorpion and tarantula came out of the mound and moved away almost too fast to follow.  “WHAT IS THAT THING!?” Desiree said loudly.

“It’s one of our local predators that preys on other animals out here.”

“Is that another one on my side of the road?” Victoria asked.

“It is.  It’s probably the mate of the one I scared off.  I want both of you to look at the other mound, focus on it, and tell me what you see.”

Both women squinted at the mound and Victoria said, “I see some kind of pale white stick or something sticking barely out of the ground above it.”

“Do you see it as well, Desiree?”

“I do.”

“That is the breathing tube that creature uses while it’s hiding underground.”

“Gem, that mound is more than five hundred yards away.  How am I able to see that small tube from here?” Victoria asked.

Gem turned around and started walking back toward the shipyard; the two women turned and walked beside him.  “Your bodies have been transformed from what they were before you started the processes.  Your eyesight has been greatly enhanced but you have to focus on using the enhancement.”  Desiree opened her mouth but Gem held up his arm, “Hold your questions until I finish.”  Desiree closed her mouth and nodded.  “If you want to see a distant object, you have to deliberately focus on it.  Pretty much all of your new talents will have to be deliberately used and won’t just appear at random.”

“What do you mean?” Victoria asked.

“Well, for example, your strength is greatly increased over that of a normal human but when you shake someone’s hand you won’t crush it.  You’ll have to deliberately squeeze harder for that to happen.  The same is true with how fast you can run, jump, or hit something.  You don’t have to worry about doing something extraordinary unless you make a willing decision to do so.”

Victoria and Desiree looked at each other and Desiree said, “What exactly do you mean by how fast we are?”

“That is the next part of your training and most of that is going to take place on Victoria’s ship when we leave here.  For now, we are going to take four or five walks a day until your new nerves completely connect to your brains.”

“What about this seeing something abnormal?”

“Victoria, your brain now see’s patterns in the images it receives from your eyes.  The new nerves transmit much faster and more information than before and your brain is able to decipher those images faster as well.  You will see things that you would ordinarily miss and that is not something you will have to focus on to use.”

“That’s why Leonidas saw the black vehicle with the man standing outside it?”

Gem smiled, “Exactly right.”

“Gem, do these changes increase our intelligence?”

“No, Desiree, but it will appear you’re a lot smarter.”

“Why is that?”

“Because you’re going to see patterns that others miss and that skill alone will make you seem much smarter.  Truth be told, most IQ tests humans use to measure intelligence are based on questions like, which one doesn’t belong in this group, or what is the next shape in this series.  They measure your ability to see patterns and relationships.  In that regard, you will be highly improved but your basic intelligence has not been changed.  You are the same persons coming out of the changes that you were going in.”

“Gem, I saw Leonidas knock two large crewmen on their butts on our Starliner faster than I could follow…”

“Victoria, both of you will have that ability when you complete your training.”

“Will we be able to go into a tavern and immediately see anyone that might represent a danger to us?” Desiree asked.

“You’ll be able to see anyone that’s focusing on you but that might be due to both of you being very beautiful females and nothing else.”

“Could we tell the difference between the two?”

“Over time, you will, Victoria.  But that comes with experience and you’ll only get better as time goes by.”

“Gem, I have some questions about you and the first Victoria.”

“I will not answer them.”

Victoria stopped walking and stared at him, “Why not?”

“Because that lies between her and me and I’ll not minimize it by sharing it.”

Victoria continued to stare at him and then relented as she turned and started walking toward the shipyard, “I think I understand.”

“Good.”

• • •

They were almost back at the entrance to the shipyard when they heard pop, pop, pop sounds off to the left, “What’s that?”

“That’s the two crews working on learning their small arms.”

“Shouldn’t we join them?”

Gem looked toward the mound and then turned back to them, “How do you feel.”

The two women looked at each other and Victoria said, “I’m tired but I’m not fatigued.  I can handle some more physical activity.  I really want to learn how to use our small arms”

“I do as well, Gem,” Desiree quickly said.

Gem twisted his head to the left and said, “I doubt either of you will ever need them but if you’re up to it, I’ll take you over.  Just don’t wear yourselves out.”  They entered the gate and turned toward the firing range.  Victoria and Desiree had to be assisted back to their quarters at the end of the day.  But…their accuracy with the new weapons astounded the rest of the crews.

• • •

“WHERE IS SHE?!” Serge screamed.

“Sir, she has dropped out of the universe.  She may have left this galaxy for another one in the distant known universe.”

“SHE WOULDN’T DO THAT!!”

“Why not, Sir?” the Chief asked.

“Because she would lose the value of the wealth she stole from me.  She won’t do that and if she attempts to convert it into precious metals or stones, I’ll immediately be informed if she does.  So far, that hasn’t happened in this galaxy.”

“She could convert it into currency used by the other galaxies that trade here.”

“The Unity allows only a few commercial trading companies to do business in this galaxy and they tightly control the flow of foreign currency.  I’m certain she will not go through the Unity to convert it.”

“Then we really only have one clue on where she, or the man she was with, might be going.”

“Oh?”

“She told her sister that she was going to see about using the man to make John Blakely pay for killing your double and Lyla.  Tortuga is where they will go if they’re going to make that happen.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to hire some pirates to keep an eye out for them and to contact us if they show up.”

“You don’t think you’re stretching here?  They have more wealth than they could ever use, why would they go after a pirate?” Serge asked.

“Emotions always trump wealth, Sir.  They’ll do something to make him pay for his actions.  They may pay someone else to do it but we’ll track whoever goes after Blakely back to them.”

Serge nodded and his Security Chief left his office.

L
eonidas stood with Gem and stared at his newly modified warship.  He turned to Gem, “That looks like it just came off an assembly line.”

“There’s no help for that.  The metal used to make the twin hulls is brilliant when it’s molded into place.  Your two ships have actually been given a double hull because of the possibility of my being on either ship.”  Leo started to speak but Gem interrupted him, “We are going to paint both hulls with a special paint that is made of normal high strength alloy material.  The paint we use on your ship will make it look old again.”

“Why are you going to use special alloy paint?”

“Because your ships are going to be scanned and you don’t want the scanner to know that you have hulls made of the material we use on our warships.”

Leo nodded, “You’re right about that.  What happens if we’re attacked and some of the paint is blasted off the hull?”

“There will be a supply of it in storage and you can repaint it.  I’m going to assume that if you’re attacked that you will dispose of the attacker and not allow information about your inner hulls to get out.”

“How much can the hulls take?”

“A single hull can handle ten Unity Warship Blasters.  Your double hull should handle at least twice that number.  However, it is not indestructible!  If you’re attacked by a large fleet, run.”

“It would be nice if someone would develop a force field.”

Gem shook his triangular shaped head, “Force fields are not possible.  However, your hulls are the most advanced in our galaxy.  Your speed will also be much higher than a normal warship so don’t hesitate to use it if needed.”

“When do we start training on the weapon systems?”

“That will start in two days.”

Leo looked at Gem, “You finished faster than planned?”

“Forty-five days was still a long time.  My mother called in two more engineering teams and that is what sped up the process.  Your ship has caused my ship designers to start building a new model of twin hulled warships to match up with these two.  They’ve learned a lot from the process and are stronger for the effort.  Mother has conceded that this was worth doing with the additional power we’ll have in our new ships.”

“Victoria’s ship doesn’t have a blaster on its hull.” Leo said while comparing the two ships.”