Chapter 13

As it turned out Tagus had been on Game World for many years and he had many stories to tell me. First however we needed to fish all the men out of the water and get them back onto the beach. Fortunately the water wasn't that deep along most of the jetty and where it was, the men who'd fallen in knew how to swim or at least to float. That kept us from losing anyone. Afterwards, Tagus invited us onboard his vessel and offered us warm sweet tea, which I had to admit was better than the wine I had drunk earlier that night. Over the tea we talked.

First we talked about ourselves. Tagus told me that he had ended up on Game World almost forty years ago as a young cabin boy on this very vessel. The craft had belonged to his uncle and it had been his maiden voyage. As Tagus told me the vessel had been plying waters far to the south when a flash of lightning had enveloped the vessel and it had been carried here. Over the years he'd worked his way upward aboard the vessel as others of his world had died off or were killed by those who despised the strangeness of his race. Now he was the last of his people and his crew was now populated by men. Unfortunately hiring men had become a problem as that night had shown us. While some are thankful for a berth, others resented the fact that an alien commanded man and they often made their feelings known when wine had passed their lips. I just nodded sympathetically at that.

When it became my turn to chat I decided I'd be truthful to Tagus and tell him everything or at least most of everything. I kept the whole death thing to myself. I did explain about parallel universes and travel in between them and my mission on Game World. It took Tagus back for a few minutes and he couldn't say anything. Fortunately we'd been speaking in his language and it kept the gist of our conversation private, especially when he got his voice back and started to curse. Have you ever heard a lizard-man curse; it can get scary and wet. I had to reassure Zahra in Arabic that everything was okay while Tagus vented whatever constituted his spleen.

Eventually Tagus calmed down and we got around to talking about why I wanted to see him. I explained that I wanted to cross the sea and that I wanted to hire his vessel to carry me. The Silurian vessel was not typical of the designs that plied these waters. It was at least twice the length of the second largest boat tied up at the jetty and at least a third wider in the beam. As well it didn't rely on oars to move it about. The craft had two masts that were fitted with lateen sails. Even better the craft could carry livestock which was perfect for our needs.

We talked business for a bit longer and ironed out a few details before we called it quits for the night. Tagus was waiting for a cargo that was due to arrive tomorrow and then he would be sailing the next morning. We made plans to load our stock the next day and then bid him farewell. On our trip back to our campsite, I briefed Zahra about what had been said. She smiled when I told her that Tagus had been pissed when I'd told him about Game World and what really went on here.

"You know Charles," Zahra chuckled softly in response, "you might want to reconsider what you tell people when you first meet them, especially when you're the only one who knows their language. Just think how Rory or Caitlin would have reacted when he started hissing and spitting in his language. They'd have gone for their knives and swords and then you would have been embarrassed."

I didn't give Zahra a reply to that. Instead I just sighed and nodded my head in silent agreement and then led us back to our campsite and our respective mates. Nimue was on sentry duty and we alerted her of our approach well before we got home. She was curious about our evening, but both Zahra and I were tired and we both would be rising early so that we could take a turn on guard. We promised her we'd tell her everything in the morning over breakfast. I found Kola and Caitlin cuddled together and slid in behind Kola as quietly as possible and I was asleep a few minutes later.

Morning and breakfast came sooner than I'd have wanted but I didn't complain. Compared to the others my body recuperated a lot faster than them and I was reasonably rested when Caitlin woke me four hours later to stand my watch. I kissed the girl and then set myself to work watching over my sleeping friends. By the time everyone was up, I had a fire going and breakfast cooking. We ate and chatted and I explained to everyone the plan for the day.

Our first job was to offload as much as possible to the locals. While Tagus's ship was large, it wasn't large enough to carry everything that we had with us. Essentially he had pens for six of our horses and that was it. The rest we had to sell or set free. As well we would have to buy feed for our horses and food for ourselves. It meant that we needed to split up to accomplish everything we needed to do before afternoon and the time Tagus had set aside for loading our mounts. I decided that Rory and I would take care of the animals that we were getting rid of and Kola, Caitlin, and Nimue would handle our provisions. That would leave Zahra and Felicity to look after our campsite until we got back. With that worked out we headed back to the village.

Rory and I went to the north part of the village and visited the stables. It ended up that we were in luck. A couple of caravans had arrived that morning and one was preparing to leave. When I told people that I had horses that I wanted to sell and a cow and a calf, I got some immediate interest. An hour after entering the village, I was back out at our campsite with some potential buyers to check over the animals. An hour after that we'd sold our three packhorses, the eight Mongol horses that we'd captured and the cow and her calf and while I let them go at bargain basement prices we still made more than enough to pay our passage on Tagus's ship and buy the feed for the horses that we were taking with us.

The first hint of trouble came our way as we walked through the market area of the village, just north of the waterfront and south of the stables and where the caravans gathered. There was a buzz in the air and the hairs on the back of my neck started prickling as Rory and I pushed our way through the crowds. That was our second indication of something happening that shouldn't be happening. While the village had a few hundred people living in it, that wasn't enough to fill the streets on a normal day. Obviously something was up and as we pushed on both Rory and I became anxious for Kola, Caitlin, and Nimue. Thankfully my height came in handy in finding out what the problem was well before we stumbled upon it.

Over the top of the crowd I spotted a small group of men who had penned my mates and Nimue into a corner between two huts. The men were dressed like locals in linen tunics and scarves about their heads. Each man was armed with a long club and they were shouting obscenities at the women. Nimue was holding them off with her sword and my mates had drawn their knives. On seeing the problem I started pushing people out of the way. In seconds I was through the crowd and upon the man closest to me. I grabbed his club from behind and yanked it from his hands. As he cried out in surprise and turned to see who was interrupting his fun, I laid him out with a left hook. That left hook connected with his jaw and he went flying. That stirred up the pot. While I was dealing with the first guy, Rory went for his partner. Within seconds two of the attackers were on the ground and the odds had turned against the remainder. That's when things got worse. Something slammed into my back and sent me sprawling to my hands and knees.

I grunted in pain and surprise and I heard the screams of my mates and my friends and I knew that something bad was going on. Instinct and a hell of a lot of past life experiences kicked in and made me move. That turned out to be a smart idea. A second after rolling to my left a fucking big axe came down where I'd been kneeling. Instantly I knew that I'd been ambushed. Again instincts kicked in and as I landed on my back I scooped up a bunch of soil and pebbles into my right hand and flung it in the direction of the axe welder. As I did, I kicked myself to my feet and got myself off of the ground.

My spray of dirt and pebbles had done the trick. The guy with the axe had jumped back to avoid the debris that I'd thrown at him and he had instinctively shielded his face to keep from getting anything in his eyes. That gave me time and I made use of it. I charged the man. The man was at least six feet tall and he probably weighed in at about one-hundred and ninety pounds. That was still a lot less than I was weighing and even though he looked muscular and fit, he certainly wasn't in my league. As I smashed into him, I grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the axe and the forearm of his other arm. He tried to resist but I had momentum on my side and he chose to be a wall standing in front of an oncoming tank and paid the price. My knee came up as we struggled and a second later he was down on the ground groaning and moaning. As he fell he released his grip on axe and I scooped it up as he dropped to the ground. With the weapon in my hand I turned to face the other attackers and the crowd.

Thankfully there were no other attackers. Rory had quickly dealt with another one, dropping him with a club that he'd taken from the first guy that he'd jumped and Nimue had run off the last man with a nip of her sword point. I smiled with relief on seeing that my friends and loved ones were safe. At seeing that, I quickly turned my attention to the gathered onlookers and demanded to know if anyone else wanted to bother my women and my friends. Quickly the crowd dispersed without uttering a word. As they did, I got swarmed my Kola and Caitlin.

"Are you all right, my mate?" Kola gasped with a very worried voice.

"I'm fine my sweet," I replied tenderly, pulling her into my side. "I'm just a little sore."

"But..." Caitlin started to say before I cut her off by pulling her into me and kissing her on the lips. The girl didn't resist.

"I'm fine," I reply again as I let both her and Kola go, "but what about you two and Nimue? Are you okay?"

"Yes my mate," Kola replied stoically, gazing up at me with eyes brimming with tears and concern, "we are also fine. Nimue protected us from the attackers until you came to our rescue."

"And you my friend," I asked Nimue, glancing over to the elf-girl who was still holding her sword at the ready. "Are you okay as well?"

"Yes Charles," Nimue replied with a nod and a lowering of her eyes, her pale cheeks reddening in response.

"Good," I stated with a hint of relief in my voice, "then we can see to these thugs and learn what is going on here."

By now the four men on the ground were stirring, although only one of them concerned me. That man was the guy who attacked me from behind with the axe. I quickly grabbed a scarf from one of the other men and then used it to quickly bind the hands of the big man. I left Rory and Nimue to watch over the other three. By the time I was done trussing up the big guy two of the club welders were up and looking frightened. The third man wasn't moving and since he had been the one that I'd clocked with my left hook, I had the feeling he wasn't going to get up any time soon if ever. I took a quick look at him and proved myself correct. My blow had shattered his jaw and snapped his neck. He was dead.

"Well," I said loudly as I let the body drop to the ground once more, "there's one less that I get to torture for answers, so I guess I'll have to take my time with you two and make it last."

As I said this I pulled my dirk out of my boot and pointed it at one of the men. He immediately pissed himself, leaving a puddle forming about where he was sitting. A second later both he and his friend started talking. Naturally it was the big man's fault. He'd hired them to harass my women in order to draw my attention away from his ambush. It was enough for me. I let Rory cut them loose and we stood back and watched them run away. Then we turned our attention to the big man.

"Do you have a name?" I asked the man coldly.

"Antonio," the man spat back, "Antonio the Berserker."

"I've heard of you," I told him a second later, as the intelligence provided by Victoria's people flowed up into my consciousness, "although I thought you were living somewhere else. Italy wasn't it."

"It was," the man grunted in reply, "but the man who wanted you dead moved me here."

"That must have impressed you," I stated bluntly, looking a little surprised by the information. It suggested that the bastards running the planet were getting worried that I wasn't going to just die like most of the poor people that they'd dropped into Game World before me.

"It did," Antonio muttered with a nod, "as did his offer to me. The man said you were a danger to this world and if I killed you, he would send me home to my world. It has been ten years since I ended up here. I took his offer. Now you must kill me and be done with it. You have no choice."

"I don't," I acknowledge solemnly, "although I'd rather not do it. The truth is that I am a great threat to this world but not in the way this man implied it. If I succeed, others will never be dragged to this world ever again unwillingly. No one will ever have to live the life that you and others have lived ever again. Unfortunately for you, as I told you, I've heard about you and while you go by the nickname the 'Berserker' the truth is that you are more a bushwhacker than a berserker. When faced with men who can fight back, you prefer to attack them from behind. I'd like to let you live Antonio but the reality is that I can't trust you."

"Then free me and let me die honourably with a weapon in my hand," Antonio pleaded loudly.

"No," I said coldly, stepping forward and thrusting my dirk into the man's upturned throat as I spoke, "I can't risk you getting lucky or even possibly hurting someone close to me, so Antonio ... rest in peace."

Antonio's eyes went wide the instant my blade entered his throat and blood started spewing from his lips. Reflexively he started to cough and gag making a horrendous sound as he started to die. Then I pulled the blade to the side, slicing his jugular as I pulled it out of his neck. He dropped to the ground a second later. While he bled out, I wiped my dirk clean on the tunic of the other dead man and then gathered up my party. We had things that still needed doing, including sneaking Felicity's grav bike onto the boat and time was ticking. Thankfully no one got into our face for the rest of the day. None of us were in the mood for it.