I Owe You A Love Song
10 – The Pirate
Clu watches Prince Edward trace the footwork around the clearing, including the glowing prints on the giant boulders and the massive impression on the ground.
"Someone has beaten a giant and is going to Bostrum," the prince declares as he goes to Clu and crouched down next to him. In a lower voice he adds, "Are you absolutely sure nobody else knows?"
"Zuse may be a chatterbox but he's as selfish as they come. The…reward was irresistible. He wouldn't risk this mission," Clu says. "And if he did…"
Prince Edward slowly nods. He looks at the tracer on Clu's forearm for a second longer, then rises to his feet and turns to the waiting Black Guards.
"Bostrum will pay if my brother dies."
Dread Pirates. Rogue Users and Basics on the high seas, raiding Recognizers and Solar Sailers, leaving none alive, obeying no laws but their own. That's what everyone believes and the Dread Pirates like it that way.
They should be grateful that Zuse keeps his lips sealed. He knows the identities of many of them but they are – or were - very good for his business. He used to scoff at wanted alerts put up by the Grid, Bostrum, and other countries because the rewards were a pittance compared to his dealings with the Dread Pirates. Unfortunately many have left the business and the next generation wants nothing to do with his kind, forcing Zuse to deal with unsavory people to stay afloat. Of the newest rogues on the Sea Dread Pirate Mercury prefers to keep dealing with that blasted Spooler – and Zuse plans to oust him after this particular mission – and Dread Pirate Rinzler is impossible to track down.
Because Rinzler is so hard to trace having him show up on your radar means very bad things.
"Now it's too soon for the Grid to know you've gone missing, so how does he know?" Zuse muses as he tightens the blindfold. "What does a Dread Pirate want with you?"
Prince Edward's half-brother curls his lip but says nothing.
It's just Zuse's luck that Gem is nowhere to be found. That girl, Zuse thinks sourly as he scans the sky. Not seeing his Recognizer he sighs and presses his cane to Sam's back, forcing him on his knees.
Rinzler slows from a run to a cautious walk, glossy helmet tilted towards Sam.
"So," Zuse says, with a quick glance skyward, "it's down to you and me."
He shudders at the broken whirring purr as Rinzler steps forward, helmeted head still facing the prince's half-brother. Zuse prods Sam's neck with his cane. "By all means keep moving forward, if you want him dead."
Rinzler freezes in his tracks and Zuse frowns. So the Dread Pirate wants Sam alive. How strange – it's too soon for ransom alerts to go up, especially when half the Grid doesn't even know Prince Edward has a brother, plus Dread Pirates don't do ransoms and captives are not their modus operandi. Living people ruin their reputation.
Zuse prizes himself on his brains but this is a puzzle he's having trouble putting together.
When Rinzler moves again he presses the cane harder against the User's neck. "Just because you're a pirate doesn't mean you can take what Irightfully stole. And there isn't going to be a deal, just two options – you leave or he dies. Either way, I win."
It's a shame this isn't taking place at his bar, where he can challenge Rinzler to a battle of wits with a deck of cards or a poisoned cocktail. Someone who studied enough to best his swordfighter would make for an entertaining, if doomed, opponent.
"I've known Pirates too weak or stupid to function, but you, you beat my swordfighter and my Monitor. That alone deserves a medal. A recognition. An award." Zuse says. "Tell you what, if you just…step aside and let me finish this I'll give you something even better than this User. I'm in the black market business, after all. You may have heard of me?" Gem, you blasted girl. What's taking you so long-
Zuse prides himself on knowing absolutely everything that's going on. He's particularly good at analyzing a situation quickly and adapting himself to it in order to survive. It's how he keeps his head - literally. Given the nature of his work he can't afford to make mistakes.
Taking his eyes off Sam for too long is a mistake. So is standing within striking distance of his feet.
When Zuse reboots he's lying flat on his back at the bottom of the steep hill, clothes soiled, head and the side of his left knee pounding. His cane is nowhere to be seen, and even from down here he can tell that Sam and the Dread Pirate are gone.
And Gem is still nowhere to be seen.
Dumont finds the queen in the Records room, staring out the window.
"Your Majesty." He sets the data pad of today's logs on his desk. "Are you well?"
"What do you think?" Queen Jordan doesn't turn around. "Two days and no news from either Ed or those kidnappers."
"The prince will find them and deal with them accordingly."
She glances over her shoulder at him. Her eyes are wet. "I never regretted it. Never regretted Kevin, or having Sam. I'm not terrible, am I? Sending my own son away like that…I hoped I was doing the right thing."
"He would have never survived here," Dumont says. "Especially with Clu as war minister."
She nods and stares out the window.
"We should tell him everything, when he comes back."
Dumont nods, grateful she said "when". He goes to the shelves behind his desk and looks for a particular records book.
"As you wish, Your Majesty."