Chapter 21

I grabbed the body and quickly rolled it onto its back. The man was wearing typical Hollywood ninja gear. It was your standard set of hooded black pyjamas with a black scarf wrapped about the lower half of his face. I knelt down beside the man's body and pushed back the hood and slowly unwounded the scarf. A few seconds later we could see his face.

"It's one of the guards from earlier tonight," Kola noted before anyone else could speak.

We all recognized the man. He was the smart one of the pair who'd actually listened to me when I told him not to move. Seeing him made me sigh and shake my head and curse Miranda Scott. If I ever met her again I'd probably just kill her without saying boo. She'd obviously sent the guy back here to steal back the pistols. Unfortunately for him, I was an overly cautious man. They should have known I would be given the fact that the landlord had told me that Miranda had picked out the two rooms. Now the guy was dead and I needed to get rid of him.

"So what do we do now?" Felicity asked in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the dead body. In her hand she was still holding the pistol that she'd pulled out from under her pillow. The pistol was hanging loosely in her hands, dangling by her side.

"Hog food," I replied coldly.

"What?" gasped Felicity, going wide eyed in response to my retort.

"Well we don't have too many options here," I responded. "Unless the bastards from the other Earth get their act in gear and reclaim this guy, I'm going to have to get Rory to help me get rid of him. Maybe the landlord will know of a good hog farm outside the city walls. I'm sure that the hogs will appreciate a late night snack."

"Charles," Felicity started to whisper, shaking her head in disbelief, "you don't..."

That's all she got to say. Suddenly she was interrupted by a flash of light. When it dissipated, the dead man was gone.

"What just happened?" Caitlin piped up looking from her sister-wives to me.

"I just got the assholes on the other Earth to clean up for us," I chuckled in response. Then I walked across the room and stepped up to Felicity. She looked up into my eyes still baffled by what had just transpired.

"It's okay my love," I said to her in a reassuring voice, "and I'm sorry if I shocked you with what I was proposing to do. You weren't the one I wanted to shock. I just wanted the bastards on the other Earth to wake up and take responsibility for the mess that they helped create. That's all I wanted. Forgive me?"

Felicity forgave me. I leaned down and kissed her tenderly on her lips and then I pulled my other mates to me and kissed them as well. Finally I got it into my head to go and check on Rory and Zahra. Personally I didn't think anything had happened to them, but I needed to make sure. They were okay, but when Rory wanted to know why I was in armour and why I was covered in dry blood, I told him and he was pissed off that he missed the fun.

We rose late the next day and ate late. It had been a restless sleep after the fun and games with the intruder and none of us got back to sleep until close to dawn. Still there wasn't much we needed to do that day except ask a few questions about the town. We started with the landlord of the inn.

"Do you get many ships from Minos?" I asked the man after he'd supervised the clearing away of our morning meal from the table in our chambers.

"I get a few my lord," the man acknowledge with a bob of his head, "although most are traders and rich travellers such as you and your lovely companions. Their sailors never frequent my establishment."

"And what establishment do they frequent, my good man?" I asked him directly.

"The Blazing Bull is one, my lord," the man told me without hesitation, "and the Twin Mermaids is another. Both are off the southern quay by two or three blocks. Ask anyone in the harbour and they can point you there."

We went out after that. I paid the man a silver coin and told him we'd return later. I took Nimue and Rory with me and left the others to go and tell Tagus about last night's talk with Miranda Scott and what had occurred in the night. Hopefully he wouldn't have a similar tale to tell us.

Both inns were easy to find and both were dives and flop houses that catered to sailors who preferred drink to feathered beds and whores to three course meals. We started with the Blazing Bull and then went on to the Twin Mermaids. We got the same kind of response in both places. First there came curiosity about me and my mates. After that there came congenial banter, which was followed by rudeness, only to end in violence. Rory actually got to pound a few heads for once. Of course, he also got a bloody nose.

What we learned was interesting. I learned about the politics of the island kingdom. There was a king and five princes. The king ruled the capitol and the princes ruled the coastal cities and just below this level of nobility sat the traders who ruled everything else. The traders were the true power in the kingdom and they knew it. They controlled the ships sailing from Minos and the ships arriving and the people on those ships – sailors and passengers alike. To travel to Minos was a dangerous task unless you travelled for a trader. If you did not, the cost could be your life. Needless to say this news didn't make me happy. As for questions about Elves, all who we asked gave us the same answer. Talk to the king.

Tagus was able to fill us in on that. He'd bought a small cargo as discussed and in his negotiations he'd met a trader from Minos. The man had been awed by the sight of Tagus and when Tagus challenged him on his rudeness the man had apologized. In their ensuing conversation, Tagus learned that the king had a fetish for strange looking outworlders and that if Tagus were to go to Minos, the king would certainly offer him his royal hospitality. Only later when the trader had gone on his way, did a local merchant come forward and forewarn Tagus of the truth of the matter. According to the merchant, the king of Minos kept a menagerie of exotic creatures and people. Once in it, you never left.

That was ill news for my party, considering its make up and I decided I needed to think upon the risks involved in visiting Minos. In the meantime, I took Tagus aside and had a chat about the Windrunner and what we could do about adding some protection to the vessel. Given the fact that we'd been attacked by pirates and by pirate-hunters I felt that we needed to do something to beef up our defences; something more than just training our crew in the use of swords and bows. I wanted an offensive capability. With a piece of coal and a sheet of vellum I introduced Tagus to the concept of a ballistae weapon system. I pointed out that we could mount one forward in the bow on a fixed pintle mount that could be use to launch containers of flammable liquids at opposing vessels. We could also put one on the stern, just behind his small cabin. Tagus nodded his head in agreement and told me he would send his quartermaster out that afternoon to see the local armourers, to query them about what could be done. Satisfied that we were both on the same page on upgrading the Windrunner, I left Tagus to it and I headed back into town. I had other business to attend to before we sailed once more.

From the dockyard I went to the palace of Lord Omar of Izmir. Lord Omar was an outworlder like me. He'd seized control of Izmir over twenty years before with the assistance of Lord Barnabas. Barnabas had given me a letter of introduction to present to the palace secretary upon my arrival in Izmir. He'd felt that I should at least make my acquaintance with the man if nothing else. He also hoped that I would relate the changes that had occurred in Oak Hall over the last two weeks and give Lord Omar an account on the pirate situation on the inland sea. While technically not allied to each other, Izmir was a trading nation who profited by the fact that Oak Hall offered protection to merchants plying the waters between his city and Blue Harbour. It was late in the day when I got there.

The secretary saw me in an antechamber that served as his official office. The man was short, fat, and a local. He was however efficient in his duties and his dealings with me. He didn't keep me waiting too long and he was very courteous even before he had read my letter of introduction. He apologized for not having heard of my arrival and for the fact that Lord Omar was not in the city at present. He was in a nearby town taking in the hospitality of the local mayor. He did promise that the lord would return in the morning and that he would arrange a reception for me with Lord Omar sometime in the afternoon. He promised to send a runner to our inn when a time was agreed upon. In return for the man's courtesy, I thanked him kindly and told him I would be waiting for his reply. From the palace I returned to the inn and my mates.

To my delight Tagus joined us that evening at the inn. Over our meal on the veranda in the courtyard, Tagus reported to me that he'd spoken to a number of armourers in the city and as it turned out, they were familiar with the ballistae concept. Lord Omar employs several of them on the ramparts of the city and while none had been mounted upon a craft before, the local armourers didn't see a problem doing it, if we obtained the permission of Lord Omar. It seemed that his lordship controlled the production of all major weaponry within the port. I nodded my understanding of this and added it to my list of things to talk to the man about when I saw him the next day. I told Tagus to plan on staying a couple of more days at the very minimum. He nodded his acknowledgement and then went back to eating his meal.

The next day a runner came to the inn to inform me of my appointment with Lord Omar. I was invited to lunch. I thanked the runner and told him that I would be there. Naturally, my mates decided that I needed to look my best for this luncheon and they quickly took charge of me. Kola bathed me while Nimue cleaned and oiled both my weapons and my armour; not that the armour really needed oiling considering that the stuff was made from high tech materials. Still she did it. While she was at it, Caitlin and Felicity ran out and bought me a new under-tunic that was made of white linen and trimmed in green thread. They also came up with a surcoat for me in hunter green to wear over my armour instead of my woollen tunic. When they got back from their shopping spree Felicity was called upon to tidy up my hair.

That in itself was interesting. When Daphne had helped me design my new body, I'd nixed any facial hair except my eyebrows. The fact was that I personally didn't like moustaches and beards and I also didn't want to have to shave every day, especially under primitive conditions. As it turned out, that had been a simple issue for Daphne and her specialists. They'd just ensured that I carried a gene in my new DNA that inhibited the growth of facial hair. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought anything about the hair on my head and now three months later my once short hair was over my ears and touching my tunic collar. Thankfully Felicity had a keen eye and a steady hand and with the aid of a pair of surgical scissors and a straight razor that they'd found while out shopping, she trimmed my hair and tidied me up. When I left, I was wearing my cat skin cape and the necklace of teeth and claws. I certainly was an impressive sight.

Lord Omar was an older man. He wasn't as old as Lord Barnabas, but he was certainly in his late fifties. The man met me in his private garden and offered me a seat. His lordship was polite and courteous and interested in me and my relationship with Lord Barnabas. The man's eyes widened with disbelief when I related my tale to him, describing how I'd taken the Swordfish at sea and then going to Oak Hall to confront Lord Barnabas, only to end up saving his life. Lord Omar was greatly impressed. He was also horrified by the revelation that everything that he knew was part of an entertainment run for the pleasure of humans on an alternative Earth. He just couldn't accept the callousness of the whole idea. I did get around to discussing my upgrade needs for the Windrunner. I explained what I wanted to achieve and Lord Omar accepted my word that I wouldn't be using it for piracy. I had to laugh at that. Then to ease his questioning looks, I related what I'd been up to in the service of Lord Barnabas. Satisfied with my tale and reassurances, his lordship dispatched a message to his chief armourer to met with Tagus that day to arrange the modifications necessary to mounting a ballistae on the Windrunner. After that we dined and chatted and I encouraged his lordship to speak of his own successes. I figured a little intelligence wouldn't hurt.

The lunch and the conversation with Lord Omar lasted much of the afternoon. When it was over with, Lord Omar made me promise to return the next day with my mates and my friends. He'd never met a Silurian or an Elf before and he wanted to chat with them. Seeing that he had sent his armourer to expedite the arming of the Windrunner, I bowed to his wishes and accepted his offer. I left him and headed towards the dockyard to see how things were going on the Windrunner. What I found both pleased me and caused me to laugh. The ship was awash with workmen that I'd never seen before. They were running back and forth across the gangplank between the quay and the ship, carrying items that were clearly intended for use installing the ballistae that I had wanted. Currently the men were working on the bow mounting. I found Tagus' quartermaster supervising the work in the company of Lord Omar's chief armourer. When I asked where Tagus was, the quartermaster shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I don't know," the man told me solemnly, glancing about as he did. "The old lizard usually keeps to the ship, but he went off earlier to check on another possible cargo and I haven't seen him since. Unfortunately I'm too tied up with this to go look for him."

Well I wasn't and I told him so. I spotted Tobias and told him to arm himself. In minutes we were off the Windrunner and headed towards the port factors office to see if Tagus was there. He wasn't and from what I could learn he hadn't been seen all day. That got me worried and I decided to have a walk about the quay and see if he had stopped somewhere to chat with somebody. That also proved to be a futile endeavour. No one I spoke to had noticed the lizard-man and as they all told me, such a man would have been noticeable. At a loss as to what to do next and thinking that perhaps Tagus had decided to visit the inn to speak to me, I decided to head there. I didn't get far.

"Charles!"

A voice called out to me by name as I passed through the great portal that separated the main port from the inner city. It was filled with urgency and it boded ill. Spinning about I spotted Kola running towards me. Behind her trailed Caitlin and Nimue. All three were running with their swords in their hands.