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Stories from the Verse
A Dozen Verses
Chapter 9: Cooper 75
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Slade 253
Facing a sharp gladius aimed at his chest, the pale green alien dove to the left, and flew across the tubular room. Catching himself on the far bracket to avoid ping ponging back, the alien yelled ‘Counter attacker!’ even as Cooper came to a smooth-ish halt in the doorway cut into his spaceship.
Pushing forward as fast as he could while maintaining non-collision speed, Cooper flew down the clear tunnel that connected his spaceship and the pirate’s ship. The stars flashed in the dark of space, and he yearned to study them. Instead, he crashed hilt first into the face of a three foot tall crimson manling. It flew out of the way and slowed Cooper so that he entered the pirate’s spaceship at a mere five miles per hour.
The first thing he noticed was the stench. The other ship, come to think of it, had strong smells of alien body odors, and of rust, and iron, and oil, and a frizzing tang, but this was an eye-watering stink. The large front room was similar to the one he had just left in shape, but twice the size in length and width.
Scratched symbols covered the walls: names, dates, death threats, crude cartoons of chopping off heads or giant swords dripping blood. Bits of trash, unidentified gunk, and a patch on one wall that was pretty clearly due to there having been a hole in the side there at one point encouraged him to fly across the room. He made it to the next hatch even as another pirate tried to force it closed against him. A simple stab, and the pirate went into stupor, and he was through.
Suddenly he wished to be elsewhere. Two dozen pirates were geared up, clearly waiting. Why hadn’t they joined the first group? Being a curious guy, he decided to get information even as he played for time.
“Why are you not joining in with the rest?”
A tall, purple skinned alien spoke with a very deep voice.
“Those be the Triple Treasure Takers who are so greedy they risk their life, and the ones on the Captain’s Punishment List, and First Timers. Don’t have enough space really to get everyone into the mix. Soon they break back, and we go in and finish your crew off.”
“Triple--they get three shares of treasure?” Cooper asked.
“Yes. Now were you seeking to volunteer to be a pirate, or are you just holding that sword for looks?”
They laughed, and Cooper laughed too which disconcerted them a bit even as they drew their weapons. Fire, Cooper thought, and his sword lit on fire, as it was supposed to, and then quickly spots of fire began to appear in the air, here, there, and there, and these spots began to spread, and increase in number. It was as if he had ripped a hole in space with a dozen claws, and the fire of Heaven was leaking through. The temperature shot up, and the pirates stared in dumbfounded amazement for half a second. Then they ran. Some went for the hatch, and others hid under boxes and metal chairs fixed to the wall, and there was screaming and terror, and cries of ‘fire’, yes, but other cries as well.
“The Eyes!”
“No, no, I’m not guilty.”
Terminally curious, Cooper looked about and saw in one of the larger splotches of fire a single eye. It rotated along a wheel out of sight, and another eye looked through the hole in space. Struck with wonder, even as sweat ran down over his whole body, and the Sword continued to flame, he waved. The eye blinked at him.
The angelic wheel of eyes spoke to Cooper. “Ordinarily I’d say, ‘Fear not’, but you’re not afraid. Put up the Sword, Man, before you totally rip open a permanent gate between Heaven and this Earth.” He quickly shoved his flaming sword back into its sheath hoping that would not lead to him having a barbecued leg. It did not, and the many microgates began to fade, Cooper began to think of questions to ask the angel when it spoke again.
“Move, Son of Adam. The wicked men will only remember my wrath for a time before their innate evil brings them back to their quest to murder you.”
Regretfully Cooper shoved off the nearest wall and flew to the far hatch. Entering it, he saw a half dozen of the earlier pirates, and a full dozen more strewn drifting around what he identified as a Bridge. He considered making the pirate ship move off, but there were too many variables in play for him to be sure that was a good idea. Besides, it would mean the other ship would have a very large open doorway to space. He did not know what the locals did in regards to emergency depressurization. He went past the bridge controls regretfully even as the Captain, a thin, yellow skinned being, stirred and flew down a corridor to a hatch at the end.
He was still following the sense of his items, his ‘verser’ sense, and so he entered the hatch despite the warning signs in bright red on the surface.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with eleven other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #524: Twisting Worlds. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
