Chapter 7: Brraadtt
"You pay five duckettes." the dock master commanded. The thing was short and wide with eyes that sat on stalks several inches above its head. Jack and Anamaria were staring at it unabashedly. Amelia and Closton had piloted the boat into the port passing many other boats and ships. They had been forced to pay a harbor fee to enter Cerberus and once along side the key they had been very helpfully tied off by this creature only to be confronted by its demand for more money.
"Five?" Closton growled. You wouldn't think a bird could growl but he did it quite well. "I ain't gonna..."
"Mr. Closton." Amelia stepped lithely onto the gritty surface of the dock and up to the dock master. "What do we get for the five duckettes?"
"No one comes aboard your boat without you say so or a pass from you."
"Naturally you will be very studious in administration of that agreement." Amelia's tone was dry. She didn't believe this wretched creature for a moment. "Very well. You'll have your five duckettes and one more if you can give me directions to The Bastard OOck."
The directions had led Cpt. Amelia and First Mate Sparrow to a tavern in a side alley ten minutes walk from the dock yard. During that walk Jack came to understand that Amelia had not been exaggerating. Work gangs of slaves were used to haul loads to and from the docks. They had passed street corner slave markets. There were grog shops and harlots dens. And they had witnessed no fewer than five fights to the death.
"Well, what do you think, Mr. Sparrow?" Amelia had asked.
"It'll linger." Was his understated reply.
Inside The Bastard OOck was dimly lit. Jack sat with his back to a wall as he always did in a strange place and this was definitely strange. He had learned that one sound regularly repeated which was like nothing so much as hot metal being dipped in cold water and followed immediately by either a scream or an explosion was actually gun fire. He'd heard Amelia's pistol before but that had been out in the open and at a time when he had had more things to occupy his mind. Like whether he was about to be the main course or not. Around him seemed to be all the devils of Hell and a few that had not yet found their way in. Also at the table sat Amelia. She in her pirate persona with the brim of her black hat drawn down to shade her eyes. They'd left Anamaria and Closton to guard the boat while Amelia sought out her contact in Port Cerberus. And so here they had sat drinking something that tasted a lot like whale oil and looked like leather die. Jack had to admit he'd been in worse taverns but never when he was sober.
"Tell me again what this fella' looks like." Jack said leaning across the table.
"He would come up to your shoulder. His skin is a pale green, almost yellow. He has two protruding eyes and a set of large teeth on the outside of his mouth." Amelia had told this all to Jack on their way from the docks and wasn't sure why Jack needed to ask again.
"So he looks like half the buggers in here." Jack lifted his mug to his lips and sipped. Yes, it was still awful.
"I understand what you mean." Amelia had been pretending to drink her own whatever this was but instead had dripped it a little at a time on the floor. She suspected that the floor might corrode through any moment. "The first time I saw someone of another race I thought they were hideous. I found out later their sentiments had been the same about my people."
"Oh their no' so bad here. I've met worse." Jack's mind wandered back to home and how he'd gotten the Pearl. The Pearl. The fastest ship in the Caribbean and he'd lost her. Damn Barbossa! He was letting this trip distract him but then again he was going to make enough money that it would be worth the delay. A hard, cold metal something pressed into the side of Jack's neck brought him suddenly from his thoughts.
"Don' move, you." The voice was impressive for all the wrong reasons. It sounded like the south end of a donkey that had eaten too many yams. The words were barely intelligible. Jack froze. He was silently cursing himself for turning to face Amelia. This cretin had most likely been waiting for him to do something like this. Amelia turned her head slightly. Her eyes level.
"Who you? Why you look for Brraadtt?" the thing behind Jack asked. Amelia had told the barman that she was looking for Brraadtt, her contact. Obviously word had gotten out. Jack slipped his left hand to the hilt of his sword and with a quick motion levered it down which drove the point end of the scabbard up. It made a solid sound when it hit whatever the thing was. The thing screamed or something like it and its weapon fell away from Jack. Instantly Sparrow was on his feet and rounded on the alien.
"Jack!" Amelia warned. "Not here! Get him outside."
In the very narrow alley they stood over the clearly disabled creature sprawled on the decking. People passed at either end of the alley and though some looked in none interfered.
"At least you didn't kill him," Amelia grumbled. "Brraadtt, can you hear me?"
"Brraadtt, hear," burbled the green thing.
"Why were you so damn foolish?" Amelia asked icily. "You knew I would have a companion the next time I came to find you.
"You no look like you. He no fight fair." Brraadtt's logic on that point escaped Jack. The words fight fair and tavern brawl were never used in the same sentence unless it was something like: If you fight fair in a tavern brawl you will lose.
"You are an idiot." Amelia was disgusted. "Can you get up? I don't like talking to people at ankle level."
"No want to," Brraadtt groaned.
"Very well. What have you learned?"
"Don' put gun in his neck?" Apparently bright and Brraadtt were not words that could be used in the same sentence either.
"A valuable lesson I'm sure but not the answer I was looking for." Amelia crouched next to the alien. "Have you learned anything new about my husband?"
"I just find out what we heard last time true. I hear that he still alive." Brraadtt's voice was stronger now coming in even burbles and expulsions. "I heard more pirates joining the Mhinm. Lots more. Everyone think something up. The Bosses worried. They talking about council meeting. Captain, take me to ship so can die quiet please."
"Is he really going to die?" Jack wondered aloud.
"No." Amelia stood up frowning down at the poor creature. "You did manage to hit him in just about the only spot that is vulnerable on a Clevari. Hit them in the head with a hammer and you might get their attention."
"This then is your agent?" There was a dubious note in Jack's voice.
"Mr. Brraadtt served under my command years ago. Clevari aren't the brightest people but they are very loyal in general and most people aren't careful of what they talk about in front of them."
"Why's that?"
"Because, Mr Sparrow, they are Clevari. Makes them very useful for gathering intelligence." Amelia stepped back. "Help him up. Let's get him back to the boat."
Jack's raised eyebrow was ignored and after a hesitation Jack bent to help the gasping green thing to what passed for feet. Being ordered around like this was going to take some getting used to. The trip back to the dock would have been made easier, if not more pleasant, had Mr. Brraadtt been a little taller and not bent over clutching his injured part. Between Closton and Jack they managed to get him over the gunwale and onto a seat near the cabin. With a mug of something purple that smelled sweet in his hand Brraadtt told of his efforts to gather the intelligence Amelia wanted.
"So all you were able to do was confirm that Delbert is still alive," Amelia said without reproach. She knew that Brraadtt had been limited in his avenues of approach and she was glad for the news he had been able to gather.
"They say more scientists with him, ma'am." Brraadtt's voice now lacked the note of pain. He seemed to believe he would live. "They kept on base somewhere but no know where. I listen for that. No hear from anybody."
"You've done well, Mr. Brraadtt." Amelia patted the sailor on the shoulder. "I wish that I had a better reward for you than to ask you to continue to risk your life."
"My life is your life, Captain." Brraadtt gave what Jack guessed to be a smile. "You save Brraadtt more than one time. I your man."
"Thank you, Mr. Brraadtt. Closton," Amelia turned to the bosun. "Is the launch ready to sail?"
"It is, ma'am." Closton was by the tiller.
"Then set the course. Mr. Sparrow, Anamaria, cast off the lines. Brraadtt, hoist the sail." Amelia's orders were followed promptly enough as she was giving them. "Make way, Mr. Closton. I want to see if the rest of the crew has joined the company."
The launch cleared the little dock and soared out among the larger vessels. Its sail glimmered in the ether and caught the solar wind. Closton engaged the drive and soon the launch was cutting through the everlasting sky toward its destination.
