Pirate Assassin

Page 23

Zack watched as the moon faded from beyond his sight. That marked the end of his life as he knew it and the beginning of the new journey he was going to make. There wasn't any regret but one, and it floated about in his mind like a leaf blowing about in the wind. He was focused on one thing and one thing only: find Tucker Wicky and kill him. No, it wouldn't be enough, Zack thought, it would be like what he had said to him a lifetime ago. Zack would destroy him and he could not wait to see him be the one to beg for mercy while he would laugh it off in his face.

One thing was for certain, Yohkin's efforts at making Zack a 'battle-hardened' veteran cadet belied his apathetic appearance. He would duel Zack right after he woke up and before he went to sleep to prepare him to 'be able to generate a fighting amount of power at your weakest moment', or so he claimed and they were harsh. No punches or kicks were held back....even dirty ones. Zack learned it the hard way when Yohkin kicked him in the balls. The crew present on the deck raised a collective 'oohs' and painful winces as Zack sank onto the ground in numbing pain. That was the only time Yohkin ended training early. On the positive side, that would also be the last time Zack would fall for that trick.

When he wasn't fighting with Yohkin, he'd be firing practice rounds at dummys. Everyday, without fail, there'd be a boy on deck, usually at night, shooting bolt after bolt of plasma into a poor, innocent dummy. Sometimes, a passing sailor might offer tidbits of advice, other times he'd be a lone figure under the starlit 'sky', if outer space could be labelled as that. In a fit of existentialism one night, he realised that perhaps he was much like a plaslock himself: once he was aimed at something, he would speed to it with the exclusion of all else till his objective was achieved. At that point he stopped and thought to himself, what would happen to him once he hit his target? The saddest thing was that, he didn't have anything else to commit himself to. After a brief moment of sobering thoughts, he steeled himself. He would deal with the problem when the time came. That was always how he did things.

"Alright cadet," Tetrad announced to him one early morning, which was impossible to tell from streaks of light all around as they were speeding to another galaxy like a star wars movie if he wasn't shaken up from sleep, "as befitting your station, you will be responsible for various menial tasks. These tasks say a lot about a person and teaches you discipline, humility and integrity. After all, they always say if you can't be trusted in small things, you can't be trusted with important things either. Am I understood?" Zack nodded sharply, "Yes Commodore!" Tetrad motioned towards the deck, "Well, let's get to it then," and walked off. Zack let out a breath and went to find the quartermaster.