Chapter 1

It was the middle of the night, and sleep had evaded me yet again. I leaned over the rail and stared out over the dark water. I was sailing aboard a ship, on Chaos. The torches on the ship cast a short distance, the problem is that it makes us a beacon on the water. It was not that much of a ship, but then the abilities of this planet hardly lent themselves to modern building methods. At least the air is cleaner smelling, this far away from the mainland.

The ship was the answer for avoiding the mountains on this part of the planet. It was more the passes through those mountains as that I was looking to avoid. Then, there is the risks here on the open sea.

I was working on the rescue of Sally Waters, a Damsel who taken by the same group that Hero Keith Van Gardner followed, when we had traveled together. Keith was a Staff Sergeant in the 75th Ranger Regiment, which was stationed in Afghanistan, on Earth.

I didn't know how that turned out after he had left me. I knew that someone had not allowed him to live, on Earth, when he had returned. I knew, because I received a small box, containing a letter from Keith. The letter was simple and to the point. He had requested that in the event of his death, the ring and the letter be sent to me.

In his letter, he told me that before he could rescue his Damsel, she had obviously died, as he was brought back to his Caretaker. I recalled how his plans were to break up this ring of kidnappers when he rescued her.

Since I had received the ring on Earth, I knew that he had died in Afghanistan, and not Chaos. It left me with the pain of losing a comrade in arms on Earth, a fellow Hero and a friend. The box and letter were locked away in my weapons safe, to be dealt with, another day.

Staring over the waters my mind slipped back, I had argued with Janice and while she wanted to impress on me more support to perform this rescue. I had a deeper sense of duty to Keith's memory. I set my mind to do this. There had been no budge in my position, and she had finally let me have my way.

Looking back at it now, as I passed over the dark and calm waters, I questioned my decision. Had I been right to do that, would it cost me the Damsel or even my life? Those were the core issues that kept me awake this night, and many others.

Of course, those were by no means the only thoughts preventing my sleep. It seemed life was returning to some form of normalcy on Earth, even if I had brought Mandy into it. Reflecting in my mind as I sat there looking at the calm waters.

JD had left. He'd been called back into the field with much consternation on his and Cal's part, because of the delaying the weekend in the woods. The desire burned for that pound of flesh, due me for the midnight express experience, kept my interests piqued. However, it had to be just more than Cal and I. There were so many of them, and JD was not one to be left out.

JD's parting words resonated within me about where I would find certain body parts, if he found himself out in the cold, on this.

The ship continued to sail on over the dark waters, as I contemplated the 'training exercise' in the woods. Years in the teams had left their sadistic streak well embedded when it came to training. The saying that 'pain was just weakness leaving the body', was more than just a cliché, it was a true way of life. A snide little grin passed over my lips at the thought.

Those cops deserved a lesson in humility, and I wasn't going to let that go, simply because they had pissed me off. Hey, so I am an SOB to be thinking about that still, but then: paybacks are hell.

I would have to wait for JD's return. That would keep the cops in a state of uneasy flux, never certain of when or what. It was clear that JD's new fieldwork was keeping him entertained, as there had been no contact from him. He would return at some point, to join us in extracting my pound of flesh. A deep chuckle passed within. Yes: hell to pay.

The night was calm and quiet as the ship sailed on towards the unknown. This was Chaos, there was no instant society here moving fast was relegated to Earth. It was slow and often delayed catching up with those who had Sally. I went back to my room, found my berth and settled in for the rest of the night.

I was awakened by pounding at my door. Then told to bring my weapons, and get up on deck. There were pirates chasing after us. Yes, it was Chaos.

The light was just beginning to crest above the water. Behind us, by about a mile, was a ship, and it was fast approaching. I looked over the men assembled on it. Even at that distance, I could see that the numbers of them made it obvious that we would be captured or killed if the pirates boarded us.

I walked up to the Captain and asked, "Can we outrun them?"

"No, they will come in behind us and take the wind from our sails. At that point, we will be unable to outrun them."

"So they will overtake us?"

"In less than an hour," he said staring at them and not looking at me.

"How can we stop that?"

"Not likely that we can, they have a faster ship. Look at all the sail they have."

I looked, and it was obvious, even to the untrained naked eye, that they indeed had more sail than we did. We needed to change that, if we were going to escape so my simple answer was to reduce the sails they had.

I left the Captain, and went looking for the boy who had awoken me, earlier. I needed him to find me some strips of cloth, and some oil and a brazier. I was going to see if I couldn't take the fight to them before they reached us.

That accomplished, I went back up to the Captain.

"Do you have a sea anchor?" I asked.

"Yes, but it does no-good for us to use it now."

"I want you to use it to slow us down."

"You want to die sooner, rather than later?"

"I want to bring them in closer, and for us to be able to put some distance quickly between us, when we cut the anchor free."

"Why?" He asked, now turning to look at me.

His face was worn and weathered for all the years at sea but his mind was keen. That I knew from our previous conversations.

"I will set their sails on fire. But, we need to have a burst of speed as soon as I do, so they can't board us."

Just then, the boy came forward with the strips of cloth, the oil, and the brazier of hot coals from the galley, as I had instructed him.

"I'll tie these on to the arrows and soak them in the oil. Then I'll set them on fire and shoot them at their sails," I said.

"They have to be awful close, for you to do that."

"A hundred yards, that is why we need to be able to release the anchor, turn to catch the wind again and sail away quickly." I had studied how the English longbow was built. I used that knowledge to construct it, when I had been delayed or stopped along the way, on this trip. Delays were always a part of Chaos and the rescue of a Damsel.

"You think you can hit their sails at one hundred yards?"

"Yes, but we have to turn away fast to stop them from boarding us. They will still have stolen our wind. We will need the burst of speed, or their momentum will carry them into us."

He looked me over for a minute and then looked back at the pirates. "We're dead if they board us, it is the only way."

"You just get us slowed down, and I will set them on fire," I said as I stirred the coals, finally getting a small flame.

He ordered his men to drop the sea anchor from the bow, to keep the line out of sight of the pirates. The anchor near stopped us in the water, and the other ship quickly closed the distance. The morning sun was now cresting the horizon, and I could make out the individuals that were the hoard of pirates on the deck.

When they came into the range of the bow I lit the first rag and fired the arrow in a high arch at the sails. We could hear them laugh as it went over their heads; but their Captain, who was standing forward, turned his head upward. He saw it land in the sails, and the fire erupt. He would have liked to turn from us then but his line was straight and the anchor had slowed us to a near crawl. They were still closing when the next arrow started another sail blazing

The third arrow was ready. I fired as I looked over to the Captain and nodded my head for him to cut the rope that tied us to the anchor. Our ship took off as if it was launched, when the anchor rope was severed. That quick burst of speed with the captain angling away from the pirate ship, was all we needed. The fire engulfed their sails now, and they were slowing. I continued to fire into the sails that were not burning until we were out of range.

The reality of what I had done became obvious. It was raining fire down on their deck as the rigging was starting to fall. There were no more boarders waiting at the rails as they fought to save their ship. I would have liked to stay around and kill all of them, but it wasn't meant to be, this time. The smoke would alert others to their plight, and bring more pirates.

We sailed away, leaving them to fight the fire, while we stayed alive to fight another day. It wasn't always about killing. Surviving was what mattered.

The memories of Earth kept me troubled. I needed to put them away, if I wanted to ensure that survival of Sally and I. Janice was right that I could not be distracted from the rescue. This was going to come down to a fight, and when that happened, I would be hell on wheels with any who stood in my way. The problem was the trail was cooling down. I was losing ground on trying to find Sally. Hell, if it was easy, everyone would be a Hero.

We sailed another week before we made port. The Captain had spent that week trying to recruit me to be his master of arms. He was persistent to the point of wanting to shanghai me, but I smelled them out the night before we were to make port. It was a quick fight, and I spent the rest of the night in his room. He spent the night stretched out, tied hand and foot, in front of the cabin door. He wasn't happy spending the night there. I made it off the ship, with him leading the way, at the tip of my sword.

Off the ship, and alone in the port, I released the Captain to return to his ship. I needed to get more information. I decided to pick some up at one of the taverns. I was aware that it would be easy to be shanghaied by any other number of people wanting to press me into service, but intel was the key, now. Finding an inn a short time later, I arranged for a room for the night. If it did not pan out here, I would stay a few more nights searching out the other taverns.

I was three nights visiting other inns and taverns and got nothing for my trouble. The ones I was after were disciplined enough to move out of the port town, before they stopped at a tavern. I went to a bank, and recovered my saddle. I also got the extra supplies from the vault, which had been locked away before the time on the ship. Then I headed over to the stables. Using the vault to lighten my load, when needed, was just a one of the things Janice had discussed when she finally agreed with me about the mission.

I had met Keith, inland from the port, and decided that he was on the right trail. I headed in that direction. It was akin to flying in the dark, but it was all I could think to do, now. They would have had to resupply, and someone had to have seen Sally. Her beauty was just too difficult to hide.

It was the third night out, after leaving the inn, and I was catnapping in the crux of a tree. That feeling of being watched for the past two days had taken me moving out of camp to listen. The night was quiet, too quiet.

Then I heard a twig snap. Someone was there; but the question was, how many someones? One man was always the easy target; but tonight, would it cost any who came after me their lives, or would it be mine? Those were the rules of Chaos: kill or be killed.

I watched as they crossed near me at various times. There were three of them, and they split up a short way outside the camp to come in from different points. They were nearly silent and working well together.

I wondered for a moment how their training was in battle, if they were this disciplined just stalking into the camp. Did I want to be in the tree or on the ground, when firing the arrows to kill the first one? The sound of the bow would give my position away but the angle was better from above. The small fire in the camp would show the silhouettes of them.

The one closest to me moved in first. Was he, the leader or the follower as he covered the ground into my camp? The sword was being raised. He cried out as the arrow was now deeply set in his back. I was out of the tree, and heading back away from the camp. It was two to one, and I needed to set another ambush. I did not know which direction their horses were hidden, nor if there were more than just the two of them, but we would now play this out in the woods.

We played cat and mouse until daybreak. It felt they were close, but they never got close enough for me to attack again. I lay in wait for a short time, hoping to attack one as he followed me. He didn't. I never stayed long in one place, either, as I thought they would want to work their way in, to attack me from two sides.

They faded away with the dawn, and I made it back to camp. There in the middle of it was a body. I had not missed, and the others did not make their way back to it. I took little time to quickly pack everything first and then looked the body over.

He was nothing remarkable, just another man from Chaos. But he had better discipline than any I had previously come up against. How was it that they were so well trained? Would I catch them unawares, again?

These were the questions that passed through my mind as I searched his body. He didn't have much more than his weapons. There was nothing that signaled him to be anything other than just another man of Chaos. I was certain that they worked, and trained, together I decided that they would likely not leave a fallen comrade in the field. I left a calling card for them when they returned, tied his body to a tree and took his head off with one quick blow.

It was an insult, and I counted on them searching for his head. This would be to my advantage, giving me some extra time to move farther away. It would also enrage them. However, when they are coming to kill you, whether they are enraged or not doesn't really matter.

What wouldn't I have given for a fragmentation grenade, to place behind his head when I left it in an outcropping of rocks? Returning from my little foray, I checked over the horse again, making sure everything was tight and secured. I did not want to be making any noise to give myself away, as I departed.

I worked my way through the woods for a few miles, paralleling the road, before making my way back to it. It was a day and a half before I came to the next town. They had not tried to find me that night, for some reason. Likely, the odds were not enough in their favor, at only two to one.

I spent a night at the inn to resupply and restock. Janice's words about going after Sally were in my head. Keith hadn't mentioned anything about earlier trouble, but I hadn't asked directly about it then, either. There was no tavern in this town, so I the spent night in the serving room. I listened to the discussions of those who drank, and got louder as they did.

I caught a break the next morning at the stable. The owner remembered Sally. She had made the impression that was common on Chaos for the women of Cassandra. They had been through over a week before: four men and her. They didn't say much and simply left heading away inland, as he remembered. After paying for the stable's services, I headed out.

As I was making my way, I questioned myself as to who were these three were who hunted me, if the four and Sally were more than a week ahead of me? Would and could I catch them? It had me questioning if I knew Chaos, or was this part of it simply more dangerous than other areas? Only time would tell.

I would add another horse at the next town. Changing over from one to the other would allow me to travel faster. The question would be: which way to go, when there was a fork in the road? For now, it was just woods and towns.

The feeling of being followed came back a day later. I would kill whoever it was that was following me, this night. It was a game of cat and mouse again, and I quickly tired of being the mouse.

They would be looking for me to be outside the camp, now, but would expect me to be within striking distance. I would go and search for their mounts, instead. My weapons would all be with me. I would trade all their mounts for my one. I would not need to get another horse, after all!

I set up my camp, and ate as much of the food as possible. I hated doing it, but I implanted some stones in the hooves of my horse. They could be taken out if my plan failed. The speed at which I traveled would be much slower; nevertheless, if my plan worked, I would be far down the road. They would be on foot, after the horse came up lame.

As soon as it was dark, I started out of the camp. There was no way to know if they were waiting for me. It took over an hour to go fewer than two thousand steps deeper into the woods, before turning. Then walking another four thousand steps before again turning and headed back towards the road. With my stride, I was just over two and a half miles from my camp.

I stopped and listened more. I needed a little help from their horses. If they were out here, one small sound that was out of place would be all that was needed. The night air was cool, but I was warm. Keeping your body tense while waiting to be attacked, using every sense you controlled to keep that from happening, was taxing. The side benefit was that it kept you warm.

Luck awaits those who train for it. I had spent years out in this type of situation. The sound a horse pissing, was golden. They were about one hundred yards ahead of me.

Whether the men who rode the horses were there, was another question. I knew where they had tied the horses, so now it was just moving slowly, and have a look, to see if they were there.

It took less than an hour to scout around and then get in a position to see the horses. There didn't seem to be any movement around them. But, there were four horses. Was there a guard left behind, or had all of them come after me, this time? Working my way around the horses, I decided the four of them had all gone after me. It didn't take much time to get the horses together and take them away. They were kind enough to have left them saddled.

I led them back and away from the camp. I tried to be quiet, but with the horses, it was just impossible. At the road, I mounted and rode back, away from the trail of Sally. Going forward was out of the question at this point, as they would have no doubt gotten to my camp and discovered me missing. As trained as they were, I would bet they would have two of them posted on the road when it became clear I had disappeared.