Pirate Assassin

Page 21

"Is this it?" Zack asked with cutting cynicism. They had just reached a forest clearing on the outskirts of town and Zack was less than impressed as Yohkin dismissed the skepticism of Zack and the taxi driver both with the wave of his hand. Only when the driver left did Yohkin speak up, "C'mon man, lighten up," and his grin widened with a gleam in his eye, "you should already know. The thing about us, is that nothing is as it seems," With one final surreptitious look around, he shouted, "Ahoy the Olympus!" and Zack almost fainted in shock. Right there, in the clearing, that was all but deserted to Zack, suddenly exploded with activity as a ship appeared out of nowhere. It wasn't the spaceships that Zack had always dreamed of but something that even to such a revenge-driven person that Zack had become, laughter of pure wonder came bursting from him. It was literally a SHIP, a corsair to be exact: with sails, cannons, people swabbing the deck; the only difference being that behind the ship were rocket thrusters, the sails were almost glowing and the entire ship was made of metal. Zack pointed at the six huge spikes the ship seemed to be balancing on, tips touching the ground, which were fixed onto the rounded bottom of the ship, "Wh....how is that keeping the ship up?" "Anti-grav spikes. It creates a small field at each point," Tetrad said curtly, "but enough chit chat," though that was the only sentence Zack had spoken, "get onboard, Zack Ying, and begin your service to the United Galactic Government," He motioned at the ladder that had just eased out of the side of the ship with a hiss. Zack began climbing up when he noticed that the ladder retracted after every step he took. He considerably picked up the pace.

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"Loose the sails!" Tetrad bellowed. Zack looked up in wonder as sailors at the top of a mast cut the ropes and jumped down, unfurling huge, golden and shining sails. "Engines ready! Begin uplift!" and Zack wobbled as the ship began to rise. He looked over the side to see the spikes being brought up and the huge spray of leaves as the small thrusters at the keel kept it hovering above the ground. "Full power to forward boosters! Olympus, full speed ahead!" and the ship shot forward and upwards, like an aeroplane taking off and Zack would have flown off the ship if he hadn't crashed into Yohkin who held him as the ship flew. "How are you doing that?" Zack asked in bewilderment. Yohkin laughed heartily, "When you've been sailing for years, it sorta comes to you. Oh! I almost forgot," and he dug into the pocket of his white overcoat. He passed Zack something that looked like two halves of medieval armour used to encase the arm, except it was white and felt like plastic. He glanced at Yohkin and he motioned for Zack to put it on. It was easy; the armguard was obviously meant for what it seemed to be, sloping upwards and outwardd from the wrist all the way to a little below the elbow. He clicked the top and bottom halves and stared at it. There was a colourless circle near the wrist and Zack jumped when it lit up with a green flash. Virtual screens popped up along the length of the armguard along with a number pad. "This here is a ACT. Full name: Adaptable Communications Transmitter. It's basically self explanatory. It adapts to whatever communications system you're in, hence, the number pad, since we're in earth. So, any last words you wanna say to anyone before you die in the academy? You better do it fast before we get out of range..." he asked with a grin. Zack quickly punched numbers.

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Mikaella was doing homework when her phone hummed right next to her. It better not be Tammy again to complain about how bored she is, Mikaella thought. She looked in surprise as the caller ID simply stated 'unknown'. Normally, Mikaella wouldn't have picked up such calls but things hadn't been normal lately and she picked it up, "Hello?" "Mikaella? Hey Mikaella, can you hear me?" she heard Zack shout. It sounded like he was on speakerphone para-diving, with rushing wind whooshing about. For a moment, Mikaella feared the worst. "Oh. My.... Zack, did you break out of prison?!?!?" she almost screamed. "What? No, I.... Yohkin how do you use this damn thing?" she heard him say. She then heard someone murmur a reply she couldn't make out with Zack making 'Uhuh's and 'Oh's. Then, it was silent, as if someone switched the wind off. There were some more sounds like someone was picking up the phone, then "Hello?" Mikaella began fearfully, "Did you.... Oh gosh, did you..." Zack laughed, something she hadn't heard in a while, "No, no Miks," Mikaella started at the nickname, "I've actually been acquited. Ok this sounds crazy but....." and he began to relate everything that had happened. When he finished, she was silent, not sure whether to believe him. She believed him when he said he didn't murder Theo but space cops? Intergalactic criminals? Mikaella didn't know what to believe anymore. "Miks, I know its hard to believe but that's not why I called you. I mean, this is the last time I'll ever step on Earth again and well, you're the only person who cares so....yeah. I guess this is goodbye," he said sadly. "Last time? Can't you like..... I don't know... visit or something?" "I"m sorry," and she suspected he was shaking his head, "but Tetrad said it might be impossible since Earth isn't 'under UGG jurisdiction' or something like that," Mikaella felt tears in her eyes, "Seriously? Not even a call or something?" "They say I have to be in Earth vicinity but I'll try. I mean, you're the only friend I have, Miks and well, I don't want it to end this way," "You'd better not!" she sniffed, "Or else I'll never forgive you for leaving so suddenly!" He chuckled, and Mikaella realised how different he was from that guffawing, immature boy she had known him to be before all the events started to happen. "I'll miss you, Zack. And I like the nickname," she added jokingly. "Awesome, cos I just thought of it," and he hung up. Mikaella began to cry.

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"Shields up!" Zack saw a shimmer erupt over the entire ship from the tip of the main mast and stop at the sides of the exposed poop deck like a ghostly blanket but Zack wasn't really paying attention to it. For the first time since seeing his dead friend on the floor, Zack began to doubt his decision. Was it worth going through all this just to capture one man? He was heading into a large and unknown universe; no friends, no family, a brand new life. He could've just left it to Yohkin and Tetrad, couldn't he? He stopped. No, he thought, and the rage came again and overwhelmed him. He wanted to see Tucker Wicky suffer too. He had not only killed Theo, he had ruined every single dream they both had, smashing them to bits before they had the chance to start. He had a responsibility to see this through. The bright and curious Zack abruptly settled back into his place in some corner of his mind and the cold logical one took his place. "Atmosphere breakers!" and a metallic clang resounded across the ship amidst the shouts and furious rushing about of the sailors. Zack would learn later that it was caused by metal parts moving to form a wedge at the bow of the ship, but as the ship soared up into the atmosphere and into space, Zack didn't care. It was time to begin his training.