The master spy or Puss in the boot adventures

^Book 2^, (The gladiator ), Barbarossa, Part 20

Тhey say the morning is wiser than the evening. I don't know why I woke up with a terrible headache. The captain had treated us with  rum and now we were paying the price.I was terribly stiff and tried to stir. To my surprise I could not move.

Shadow cat, I cried, horrified to the bottom of my soul.

Only now did I realize that my paws were bound with thin, metal strings. I tried to tear them, but they dug into my paws and I yelped in pain.

Shadow-cat, help, I cried.

Now I spotted her . Her body was stretched by several ropes , tied to the rafters. Shadow-cat was unconscious.

Unexpectedly the door opened and in stepped Blackbeard.

The sleepwalkers have woken up...he laughed evilly when he saw me awake.

What have you drugged her with, you bastard?" roared I. Are you mad?

You might, grinned the captain. One second, I have to do something.

He walked up to the lifeless She-Cat with his saber and cut off her beautiful tail in one swing. You cut off my beard, I took the tail. Now we're quits.

You freak! Why did you do this to her? Why disfigure her?

I could slit her throat...but I have something much better...There was a knock on the door and a pirate came in.

Captain, the Algerian pirates have arrived.

Great.

A short man with a large tripe that stuck out in front of his leather armor, wearing wide trousers, and a turban on his head. Most remarkable were his small lively eyes and the huge bush-like beard that had grown over his whole face and was red in appearance.

"I gasped as I descended those narrow stairs ,"he groaned and sat down in a chair. He took his turban off his face and wiped his sweat.

|"I hope you didn't waste my time for nothing"... he growled.

"What have we here"...

If he didn't have personal orders from Solaris , the Master of the Mechanisms and the Lord of the 3 Realms, he wouldn't be wasting his time with these miserable English pirates. In the Mediterranean he plundered the ships of the Christian countries, be they Spanish or Anglian, and they were all shrieking at him. When they saw Barbarossa's pirate fleet , the sailors knew their final moment had come. if they survived the battle they would be taken to Algiers and sold as slaves in the slave market. A little later in his career Barbarossa would defeat the Spanish army in front of Algiers and become a bey, but at that moment he was a pirate.

Greedy for gold. Greedy for power. Greedy for...life. How could he the almighty pirate die? That was why he did Solaris's bidding. For he would give ,neither gold , nor power could buy. He had personally seen before his eyes how the elderly peasant had been transformed into a young boy by Solis's touch, and it amazed him. From that day he became his nah-trusted admirer and worshipper. 

 The terror of the Mediterranean... thought with envy Тhe Blackbeard.

"Where are my slaves," said the captain, frowning. "And don't think I'm paying you... These are skin and bones! "

Suddenly I felt a sack on my head and everything sank into darkness. When I came to, I saw I was chained to a thick galley chain. When I saw the slaves, I cried out in pain, for I realized that we were on a slave galley... I looked around and a few yards away from me I saw a shadowy cat... It was alive...

I blinked in disbelief as I recognized Shadow-cat, her eyes wide with fear yet fierce. The sight of her alive brought a surge of hope, even amidst the despair of our circumstances. She was shackled like the rest of us, but her spirit remained undiminished.

"Mer-mer!" she hissed urgently, glancing around to ensure no one overheard. "We must find a way to escape!"

The ship groaned beneath us, its hull creaking ominously as the oars moved rhythmically through the water. Glancing about, I saw other cats—slaves like us—chained to their seats, their eyes hollow and defeated. It was a grim reminder of our situation; we were at the mercy of pirates who thrived on misery.

"We're in trouble," I said urgently, glancing around the dimly lit galley filled with other captives—cats of all shapes and sizes, their expressions a mixture of despair and determination.

 "Blackbeard has sold us to the Algerian pirates. We're slaves now."

Her eyes widened as she assessed our surroundings. "We need to escape."

"Yes, but how?" I exclaimed, my mind racing. The clinking of chains and murmurs of despair echoed around us. The galley was low and cramped, with barely enough room to breathe, let alone plot an escape.

"First," Shadow-cat said quietly, "we must gather...our strength and plan carefully. We can't act rashly; the guards will be watching us closely."

I nodded, my heart racing. "But we don't have much time. Blackbeard is likely already in league with the Corsairs; they could decide to move us at any moment."

Shadow-cat's gaze sharpened with determination. "You're right. We need to bide our time while finding out more about our surroundings. If we can locate anything useful—a weapon, a means of escape—we can turn this situation to our advantage."

As we settled into a strategy of careful observation, I noticed a few other cats nearby, their ears strained to catch any hints of our conversation. Among them was a scruffy tomcat with a scar running across his nose, who whispered, "You two plan on escaping? You'll need more than just yourselves."

"Do you know how many guards there are?" I asked, glancing at Shadow-cat.The tomcat nodded grimly. "Three  aт wheel, 2 on either side of the gangways where the deck exits are...Where are you from..

Long story, I said. my name is Mer-Mer, and this is Shadowcat. and what's your name?

I...there was a flame in the cat's eyes, I am Spartacus. i am a prince from the province of the Thracians...the Romans...

Wait... I didn't realize... what Romans... the Roman Empire is long gone...

Spartacus looked at me pityingly...

What world do you live in? The Roman Empire spanned three continents...

What year is it now... Something stabbed me in the chest...

Summer 83  B.C.E. said Spartacus... 

And what is the plan...

Suddenly we had gone back over 1000 years in time...Or am I crazy...