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Chapter 23 Maliki General Hospital, Maliki Island Dan paced back and forth, the lingering antiseptic scent of the cleaning fluids clung to his nose and stung at his eyes. He was used to the open fresh air of the sea; these claustrophobic halls and rooms of artificial light was like someone raking their fingernails on a chalkboard. A ding sounded and the yellow light above the elevator lit up. He’d been pacing in front of them for three hours. Dan glanced at the elevator as the doors opened and Captain Sal, Gunther, and Mrs. Hansson stepped out. Captain Sal put his hand out and Dan shook it. “Any word yet?” asked Sal. “He’s still in surgery, we’re waiting in Miss Lara’s room,” replied Dan. He shook Gunther’s hand, and accepted a hug from Mrs. Hansson. “Is she okay?” asked Mrs. Hansson. “She’s dehydrated and malnourished, and there’s a minor infection from lack of hygiene,” said Dan. “The Doctor has her on a cocktail of antibiotics, vitamins and fluids, and said he wants her to stay for a few days.” “She’s going to need to talk with a counselor,” said Mrs. Hansson. Dan nodded. “The Hospital’s Minister has already come by to offer her spiritual comfort, and there’s a therapist scheduled for an initial assessment tomorrow morning.” “How’s Jon doing?” asked Sal. “He’s coping well,” replied Dan. “Once he was sure Miss Lara was okay, he got bored and went to explore the hospital.” The elevator dinged again and the doors opened. Jon stepped out holding a teddy bear and a vase of flowers. “Excellent timing,” said Dan. “Everyone just arrived.” “I was in the gift shop and saw them walk past, but I was in the checkout line and they didn’t see me waving,” said Jon. “Do you think Miss Lara will like these?” Jon held up the flowers and teddy bear. “She will love them, dear,” said Mrs. Hansson. Dan motioned down the long hall next to the elevators. “Come on, Miss Lara is in room 416.” “I’ll show you the way,” said Jon. The group followed Jon down the hall. They passed nurses typing on computers at work stations outside the rooms, patients pulling I.V. stands and stretching their legs, and a food cart delivering dinner to the patients in their rooms. Mrs. Hansson went straight to Miss Lara. “Oh, you poor dear, you must have been terrified.” “Hello, Gertrude, thank you for coming,” said Miss Lara. Mrs. Hansson checked the I.V. feed. “They’re pushing the feed a little fast.” “Don’t get yourself in trouble, leave it be,” said Gunther, coming up next to his wife. “Where’s Chief Woods?” asked Sal. “He went to find me another bucket of chipped ice,” replied Lara. Jon went around to the other side of the bed. “I got these for you.” “Oh, they’re beautiful, and the Teddy Bear is so cute, thank you,” said Miss Lara. “The Teddy Bear is to keep you from being lonely while I’m gone,” said Jon. Miss Lara gave Jon a confused look. “Where are you going?” Jon looked up at everyone. “I really hope Tath is going to be okay, but I have to get to North Beach, the Captains of Nine is still playing.” “Jon, they’re only a day away from North Beach, there is no way you can catch up with them,” said Captain Sal. “Yes I can. I have a secret,” said Jon “Jon, you can’t fly by plane, or use a motorboat or tug,” said Sal. “You’d be disqualified.” “I’ll be going under sail, and I’ll be on North Beach in seven hours,” said Jon. “That’s impossible,” said Gunther. “There’s no sailboat that fast.” “Yes there is, Mara built it,” said Jon. Sal looked at Captain Dan. “This is the first I’ve heard of this,” Dan replied to the unspoken question. Sal tightened his lips into a frown. “I don’t think it would be a good idea, Jon, you need to stay here with Miss Lara.” “That’s not your call, Sal,” said a deep voice from the door. Sal recognized the voice and turned around. A man a little older than himself with a deeply lined face from years at sea stood in the doorway. “Hello, Juno,” said Sal. “I hope your man pulls through, Sal. I thank you for what your people have done for us,” said Captain Juno. “And you should be proud of your boy, it was wise of Bae to turn down the crown. The Baestars hold too much power to be permitted to rule as House Lord.” “Juno, there’s been enough bloodshed, Jon is safe now, don’t throw him back into the melee for the crown,” said Sal. “Good day, Sir,” said Juno. “Come on, Jon, the boat is ready.” Jon gave Miss Lara a hug, then followed Captain Juno out the door. “Blast it,” cursed Sal after they had left. “Juno is normally a level-headed man.” “The crown is up for grabs, everyone has lost their minds,” said Dan. “Gentlemen, this is not the place for this conversation,” scolded Mrs. Hansson. “It’s okay, Mrs. Hansson, they probably think we’re being ungrateful,” said Miss Lara. “ Sal smiled. “Not at all. Jon will only get one chance in a lifetime to compete for the crown, it’s too big a temptation for him to resist. But…on second thought, I don’t think this was Captain Juno’s idea. This sounds more like Lord Tares’ doing. Jon is a docile boy and not a serious contender for the crown. If he were aboard the Broken King, he’d be hiding with Bali and Ceri to stay out of Kale and Kai’s way. But at least being on the King’s Ship, he was in the game and Lord Tares was satisfied. By taking him out of the game to rescue Miss Lara, Lord Tares probably called Juno and told him to put Jon back in the game.” Dan let out an angry breath. “Damn, we took him from a safe hiding position and thrust him into the forefront for the crown.” Chief Woods came through the door. “Found the ice,” said Chief. “Who’s that Jon is going with?” “That’s Captain Juno, Jon’s guardian,” said Sal. “Jon is re-entering the game.” Chief laid the bucket of ice chips on the table next to Miss Lara. “Seems like a futile gesture,” said Chief. “He can’t catch up with them now.” “I think it could be possible,” said Sal. “Mara was building a wing sail racing yacht, but those boats aren’t meant for open seas, and they’re fragile to begin with, it’s a long shot.” “When it rains, it pours,” said Chief. “I haven’t told you the worst of the news yet.” Sal lowered himself into the only open chair in the room. “We’re going to have to let Mara go.” “What!” Dan and Chief said in unison. “Bae turned down the crown, so that put the crown back on Cecil’s head and made him Lord Tares again,” said Sal. Dan’s face flushed with anger. “Lord Tares pardoned him, didn’t he?” “It takes a unanimous vote of all nine councils to over-ride a pardon, and we didn’t come even close,” explained Sal. “Mara is too profitable, there’s a lot of people that don’t want to see their gravy train hung from a tree.” “I knew that slime ball was going to slither out of this somehow,” said Chief. Miss Lara sat up and put a hand over her mouth. “Oh my gosh, if Jon gets to the beach first, Mara will kill him. Jon doesn’t have a Champion.” Chief’s eyes blazed. “Where’s the boat Jon’s taking?” “It should be at Pier 2,” replied Miss Lara. Chief headed for the door. “I promise you, Mara will not lay a finger on that boy. Text me when Tath gets out of surgery.” Chief left the room in a storm. Captain Sal waited until Chief was gone, then pulled a phone from his pocket and dialed a number. “Juno, it’s Sal, Jon’s Champion is on the way, good luck.” Captain Sal put the phone back in his pocket. Dan’s jaw dropped open. Mrs. Hansson put her hands over her mouth and giggled. “You and Juno were playing us!” said Dan. “Chief Woods is stubborn, but a good man,” said Sal. “If I would have asked him to do it, he would have claimed IPS neutrality; so it had to be his idea.” “But, what about Bae?” asked Dan. Captain Sal stood and went to the window. He could see the tall masts of all the yachts at the harbor – their pennants snapping in the light wind coming off the ocean. He turned back to the group watching him. “I was just a boy aboard Governor Baestar’s tug when Master Cecil and Master Kenneth were fighting for the crown. The fires from Tares Island could be seen hundreds of miles away. We arrived at the Tares Harbor and found horrific destruction. The town was burning, the Tares fleet was sunk, and survivors were fleeing to sea on anything that would float. Governor Baestar went to the bow and stood looking out over the burning island, and… and I can’t explain it, I can barely describe it. The ocean came alive, broiling with anger. There were glowing lights beneath the waves. Governor Baestar raised his arms and it began to rain, then the sea rose up and Master Cecil’s and Master Kenneth’s ships were tossed to shore like toys, while ours lie as still as a breezeless summer day. Governor Baestar spoke, and it was as if thunder was rolling across the sky. I can’t remember what Governor Baestar said, but I remember only wanting that voice to stop speaking. Whatever Being, or Entity, or… I don’t know what, but whatever protects the Baestars is very real, and very powerful. Master Cecil stood his ground against the onslaught of the ocean Governor Baestar had caused to rise up against them, but Master Kenneth surrendered at the display of raw power before him, and so the Civil War was ended and Master Cecil became the Lord Tares.” “I’ve never heard that story before,” said Dan. “There are those that say my perceptions of what happened that night were colored by my young age. Everyone that was there that night claims to not remember what happened. I suppose some things are too far beyond our minds to comprehend.” “It must have been terrifying,” said Dan, choosing to not question the validity of an event remembered by a frightened boy thirty-five years ago. Captain Sal sighed, knowing his story had once again been cast aside as the faulty memory of a child. “Rin is my first choice for the crown,” he continued. “We need a fresh infusion of blood and ideas if our country is to flourish and grow. But Rin hasn’t been seen since the day before the start of the game. I’ve insisted that search planes be sent out further to sea to look for him. Jon or Bali make a good second choice. Jon is docile and likeable, and Bali is fearless, but easy natured. We’ll have peace for the next thirty years, and maybe time to understand what the power is that lies hidden beneath the Tares Seas. Something is building, I can feel it, and it will be our Bae that has to face it. He doesn’t need to be distracted by the demands of ruling a nation.” “What about Laki, or Ceri?” asked Dan, “Oh heavens no, Laki was made from the same mold as his father, he’d declare war on someone within the day. And Ceri is…not a very brave boy, he’d fall apart the first time someone raised their voice at him,” said Sal. A doctor entered the room and everyone stopped speaking. “Are one of you related to Agent Tath?” The edges of Mrs. Hansson’s mouth tightened. “I’m his mother,” said Mrs. Hansson. Captain Dan didn’t react, everyone on the island knew, but it was one of those secrets that nobody spoke of. Dan watched Mrs. Hansson from the corner of his eye. The woman tried to keep a neutral expression, but he saw the tinges of regret on her face. Dan’s eyes shifted to Gunther and saw the same regret. Twenty-five years ago when Gunther had discovered his wife was having an affair, he had started drinking, and the drinking had fueled the anger. After Tath was born, Gunther had fallen into a cycle of drinking, anger, and violence. It had become almost routine for the police to drag Gunther out of the house to spend a weekend in jail for domestic violence. Mostly he had hit Mrs. Hansson, but on bad nights it would spill over onto the boy that wasn’t his. Mrs. Hansson had had an affair with Lord Tares, and Gunther had grown mean from the betrayal and hurt. The violence continued for years with everyone turning a blind eye. Tath had finally run away to his real father and told him what had been happening. Everyone knew what had happened next, because everyone had been there. He had been in the crowd also, watching. It had been raining that night and the ocean a boiling rage as if to match the anger of so much injustice. Lord Tares had come to Altain in a rage over what Tath had told him. The two big men had fought; Gunther for what Lord Tares had done, and Lord Tares for Gunther taking his anger out on his wife and the boy. Lord Tares had won the fight, ending with him standing over Gunther lying in the mud. “If you hit her again, I’ll kill you,” Lord Tares had warned Gunther. “I’m taking the boy with me, you will never have to look at his face again.” Gunther’s depression and drinking had worsened after that, but he never raised his fist to his wife again. None of the trawler captains would hire him after that night and he worked odd jobs in the fields. It had been Governor Baestar that had finally begged Captain Sal to hire Gunther. Tath also had his own demons to fight, ending in the accidental killing of a man in the boxing ring. The night Bae was born was the night Gunther and Mrs. Hansson made the first real step to recovery. Bae had been put into Captain Sal’s arms, and Gunther saw the love on Captain Sal’s face for a child that wasn’t his. Gunther broke in that moment and sobbed into his wife’s arms at his missed opportunity to have been a father to Tath. It wasn’t until Bae was twelve that Tath had returned to Altain Island to see his mother. Captain Sal had then hired Tath to be Bae’s bodyguard until Massi was old enough, and though the scars were deep, Gunther and Tath reached an understanding, and perhaps even forgiveness. *** Maliki Island, Harbor Chief walked along the crowded docks towards Pier 2. The sounds of urgent shouting added to the frenzied activities around him as people loaded their boats to flee the island. The word that Mara had been arrested was spreading, and the fear of retribution by islands he’d attacked was a palpable tension that hung in the air. A fist fight broke out ahead of him and had grown to several participants. He didn’t really have time to deal with it, but he couldn’t leave to chance it wouldn’t grow into a riot. He held his badge up in the air and shouted. “IPS, break it up! Go on, move along.” The crowd hadn’t quite devolved into mob mentality yet, and some semblance of sanity returned, at least momentarily. The men fighting separated and continued to wherever they had been going. Chief was just passing Pier 4 when his phone buzzed. He looked at the screen, it was a text message. From: Captain Sal. To: Gunther. Tath is out of surgery. The bullet passed through a lung and exited between two ribs. The Surgeon says he is expected to be back on his feet in eight weeks. Chief typed out a reply. From: Chief Woods. To: Captain Sal. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll send a message to IPS Command. Another fight at the end of Pier 3 drew Chief’s attention. He would be breaking up fights all day if he kept getting involved. He walked around the combatants and continued to Pier 2, not even looking up at the angry men fighting as he typed out a message to IPS Command. A fence blocked off Pier 2. There was a man guarding the gate. Chief held up his badge to the guard. “I’m Chief Woods, IPS, open the gate.” “I don’t care who you are,” said the guard. “I was told not to let anyone in.” Chief flipped the latch up on the gate. “You’ll lose an arm doing…” Chief lifted a leg and kicked out at the gate before the guard could finish his sentence. The gate struck the man and knocked him to the ground. Chief stepped over the man. “When an IPS agent gives you an order in the future, I suggest you obey, and don’t try to threaten them,” Chief chided the man. There was only one boat docked along Pier 2. Captain Juno and Jon were standing next to the boat while a crew finished preparations.” “About time you get here, try not to be late again,” scolded Captain Juno. Chief raised a brow. “You knew I was coming?” “Of course I did,” said Juno. “Jon’s a primary-contract, you weren’t going to let him wander off without protection.” “Why the guard?” asked Chief. Juno winked at Chief with a grin. “I needed to see how good you are.” “Don’t do that again,” warned Chief. “Feisty fella, aren’t you?” said Juno. Chief narrowed his eyes, he was in a bad mood. “Where’s Jon’s primary IPS bodyguard?” “Mara ordered him back to Taliki when Jon came here to wait out the flu.” Chief lifted his phone and started tapping. Juno sighed. “Sern is a young fella, only eleven, like Jon. Are you really going to ruin his career because he didn’t have the experience to deal with Mara?” “Where’s his trainer?” asked Chief. “Died of the influenza, along with a quarter of the Taliki population. I sent a request for a replacement, but he hasn’t arrived yet.” “Where’s the boy at now?” asked Chief, deleting the message and putting his phone away. Captain Juno nodded towards the boat. “Right there, helping get the boat ready.” “Agent Sern, get over here,” Chief called out to the boy. The boy looked up, then dropped what he was doing and ran across the gangplank to stand at attention in front of Chief. Chief looked down at the boy, he was barefoot. “Why are you out of uniform?” “We don’t wear shoes on the yacht because bare skin gives you better traction against the wet surfaces,” replied Sern. “Fair enough, but if you ever let your primary get away from you again, I’ll terminate you from the IPS training program.” “Yes, Sir.” “Go back to what you were doing,” said Chief. The boy turned around and ran back onto the yacht. Chief’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out to view the message. To: All IPS agents on Maliki and Altain Island. From: IPS Command. Evacuate all primaries from Maliki and Altain Island. Resumption of hostilities is imminent. See attached video. Chief clicked on the video. The video was only thirty seconds, but he clicked it off at twelve seconds, he didn’t need to see any more to know what was going to happen next. He turned and looked out across the piers, people were gathering together and looking at their phones. He dialed a number. “Dan, evacuate the island immediately,” said Chief. “Mara’s dead. He was shot as they were escorting him to the Court House. I figure you got maybe fifteen minutes to get to Bae’s yacht before all hell breaks loose. Take any Altains you find along the way with you.” Chief looked up at Captain Juno. “Does this change what you want to do?” “No, Lord Tares has lost control, we need to get either Jon or Bali on the throne. It’ll be the only hope to prevent all-out Civil War. If Mara would have stood trial, his crimes would have come to light and the Maliki would have accepted the verdict, but now they’ll never hear the evil Mara caused. Now all they’ll know is that the Altains murdered Mara in cold blood.” “Alright, let’s get moving.” Chief looked up at the odd sail on the boat. “So, what the heck is this thing?” “That is a wing sail, and those arms on the side don’t even have a name yet. Mara was experimenting with a new design.” Chief walked onto the boat from the gangplank. “How fast is this thing?” “We’ve clocked it at 65 knots so far.” Chief stopped and turned around. “That’s impossible, it would be faster than a Cutter, or a Frigate. Heck, that’s faster than a Battleship.” Juno smiled. “That’s right.” “I’m thinking Mara didn’t want a boat like this for racing,” said Chief. Captain Juno side-stepped past Chief and knelt. He pushed at a panel on one of the catamarans hulls and a secret door popped open. Chief frowned. “That’s a smugglers hold.” “Yes it is,” said Juno, closing the door again, then pointed at an empty seat next to the helm. “Jon is a working member of the crew, but you need to stay out of everyone’s way.” Chief settled into the seat, it was low to the waterline and he could barely see over the bow. It felt like he was strapping himself into a race car seat. He looked up at the odd looking sail; it looked like an airplane wing standing vertical instead of horizontal. The crew cast the lines off and the boat drifted away from the dock. By the time they passed the end of the seawall, they were already going faster than Bae’s yacht could go. Captain Juno was at the wheel while the crew moved back and forth from port to starboard doing tasks Chief could only guess at. “This thing is fast,” shouted Chief. “We’re still in first gear, hang on,” Juno shouted back. Chief saw the strange wing arms lower into the water, and then the entire yacht lifted out of the water and the boat surged forward at a dizzying speed. “We’re doing 30 knots,” shouted Juno. “Think of this as second gear.” The wing sail above twisted at an odd angle and the yacht surged forward again. Chief gripped the hand-hold in front of him as the yacht came up to an impossible speed for any type of sea vessel. “40 knots,” shouted Juno. “That’s third gear, 42…43…44…45…and fourth gear. We’ll hold here, any faster and the risk of capsizing becomes disproportionate to any speed advantage.” Chief did the math in his head, they were doing fifty mph and would over-take the Broken King in four hours, and make Altain Island three hours after that.