A Dragon for a Pocketwatch

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 58510

Astra could not understand what the men were saying, for they were speaking in a foreign language. Though she thought that she had heard one of the voices before, she could not place it. One voice was a that of a younger man. The other was a softer, reedy voice, that of an old man.

From the tone of the Captain's voice, Astra could detect that the other two men were offering him something that he wanted, and was trying to make the sale. Astra thought to herself, "They may do part of the work for me in allowing me to escape. If I am sold, then they will want to take me off the ship, and the key has to be in the possession of the two men. I can find a way to take it later."

She suddenly had a headache. The old man's voice was in her head. She could not understand what he was saying, but she had a picture in her mind, of her escaping from a cage as a dragon only to be ambushed by a tiger. This was the same man that had given her the vision of the city that was like Ilsachine. [50193].

"You have spoken to me before!" she tried to tell him, silently. There was no spoken answer, but another thought flashed through her mind. She saw a something that looked like a large room in a palace somewhere. And she saw neatly stacked, blank silver rounds. That got her attention.

The door opened. The captain led two men into the brig. One an old man with a white beard and a cane. He leaned on the second man, who was about thirty years old, dressed in a dark blue uniform. The man in the uniform smiled at her, as he appreciated her beauty. Astra had grown used to this. The old man simply stared beyond her, as if she was not there. She had not grown used to that. The old man spoke, and the younger man translated.

"Astra Dragon, his name is Esau, and I am Sudikus. He is a councillor for the archeron of the Biscuit Creek colony, and I am a lieutenant on one of the colony's warships."

Astra said, "Is there something wrong? Esau seems to be offended."

Sudikus replied, "Not at all. He is coming here at great personal cost. Esau's health is not as good as it once was. He has been blind for some years now, and tends to get weary. But he has powers that few of us have. Underestimate him at your own risk."

Astra was chastened. This man may not have understood her words, but he understood that she was thinking of escape, and he effectively conveyed to her that this would be a foolish course. But what would happen? Would he conjure up a literal tiger? And did Biscuit Creek have a mint, or a storehouse for coins? Astra thought that a mint would be a nice, comfortable place to stay for a while.

Esau spoke, and the Sudikus translated, "Esau says - 'The captain is agreeable to a trade. The item is not valuable for its gold or silver, so do not think of trying to steal it. It is something called a clock, a clock that keeps very good time.'"

"'In a similar way, you are troublesome to him, but possibly very valuable to me. Not for anything that you can do for me. I want nothing from you but your goodwill and your ear. But I do want to keep you out of the hands of another man. Has anyone else tried to speak to you silently?"

"Yes. There was a man in this city who said that he would return, at a time of his own choosing."

There was more translation, and Esau spoke. Sudukis said, "Listen, Astra! That man is very rich. I want to tell you that now. He will give you the appearance of a good deal, far more wealth than we could give. But do not take it. You would not only lose your soul through what he would have you do, but he will try to enslave you. It is important that you leave this place now, and come with us to Biscuit Creek. Once we are out of danger, I will tell you more."

Astra responded, "Where will you take me? I thought that I saw a large room with stacks of blank silver rounds."

More translation. The old man smiled, and said something to Sudukis. Sudukis said, "The archeron thought that you might like it. I am sure that you would keep our silversmiths honest. Do we have your word that you will come with us to Biscuit Creek, and not try to hurt us, or flee? We need that assurance before we buy you."

"You said that you were not interested in having me work any magic for you. Will you let me go after I get to Biscuit Creek?

Sudukis translated again. Esau spoke, and said, "If you decide that is what you need to do, we will accept that, subject to easy conditions. Our concern is that you do not ally with our enemies, and that you consider us as a friend."

Astra agreed. She was not sure that these men were just telling her what she wanted to hear, but she judged her chances of going free to be much better if she went with these two men. And the room with the silver rounds looked like a nice place to spend a night. Sudukis reached into a fold in his uniform jacket and pulled out something that looked like a giant scallop shell, but there were no grooves like a scallop, and it looked perfectly round. The gadget was a dull brown, but it was a metal. The captain smiled, and the three men left the room. Within a few minutes, the old man and the uniformed sailor came back into the room equipped with the key and a couple of seamen. The transfer to Astra to the ship of Sudukis had begun.

Sudukis's ship was

  1. a small galley.
  2. a larger, two-masted ship.
  3. bigger than any ship Astra had ever seen in her life.

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5/6/2006 8:00:52 AM

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