The Challenge
By Joseph W. Joiner
"Take us in closer. Are their weapons charged?" Josidynn Prosidius regarded the massive structure that floated among the stars. Aside from its enormity it was also the strangest looking vessel she had ever seen. It was made from what looked to be several different ships fused together. An old Dysori cruiser, a Muero destroyer, even a few ancient and scarred freighters of unknown design, so she guessed them to be Terran.
"Yes, Captain. Scans show they have targeted the Artimus and are locked on. No answer to our hails. Should I raise the shields?"
Josidynn looked at her subordinate as if she had lost her mind. "Do so and they'll kill us. Take weapons off-line. I can't imagine the firepower that thing has, but it has to be more than our shields and armor can withstand. Keep hailing them."
She sat down slowly and crossed her legs, trying to appear totally at ease. They would respond eventually, once they were certain the Artimus was no threat. If her ship made the slightest hostile move, every cannon on that ship would fire and ruin her day. She and her crew had searched for too long and too patiently to act with haste now. If the Corsairs vanished it could take months to track them down again.
Micrauts passed with agonizing slowness. Just as she was about to give up, the main screen flickered and a man's stern face appeared. "Enough already," he said. "Stop hailing us. What do you want?"
Josidynn stood slowly and approached the screen. "What took you so long to respond?"
He sneered. "Well, let's think about that a moment. A heavily armored Dysori battleship drops out of the Firestorm into our remote little part of the universe, and you expect us to welcome you with open arms? We tend to be a little suspicious of visitors. Now leave while you are still able."
"I will not," she said testily. "I've searched for too long to find you. I'm not going to just leave. My name is Josidynn Prosidius, and I've come to join you."
The name obviously caught him by surprise. "I'll be damned. A former Prefect of the Dysori fleet. You are the last woman I ever expected to meet. Fallen on hard times, Prefect?"
"Save your jesting for those who find you humorous. Now who are you?"
He paused for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to answer her. Then he shrugged. "They call me Ulysses of Thebes. You might say I'm in charge."
Josidynn frowned. "You're Dysori!" she said at last.
He smiled again. "True enough. Born on Arcadius Prime twenty years before that Myrianis fool took the throne. Stowed away on a merchant ship when I was fifteen and eventually found my way to the Corsairs. It's a hard life, but a more fulfilling one than I would have lived otherwise."
Josidynn shook her head. "May I come aboard? I'd like to talk face to face."
"What the hell," he said. "A pretty face is rare around here."
Josidynn bristled. "Ten macrauts," she said through gritted teeth.
When the airlock door slid open Josidynn repressed the urge to storm onto the Corsair ship. Instead she straightened her back and walked with as much dignity as she could muster. Ulysses was waiting in a large reception area. He spread his arms and gave a slight bow. "Welcome to the Cerebus, Prefect Prosidius."
She was surprised at her first real look at the man. By Dysori standards he was quite tall, standing at least six feet in height. His shoulders were broad and his body thicker than any Dysori male she had ever seen. Behind him stood more than twenty other Corsairs of various races. She saw Terrans and Dysori, a single Muero, and to her surprise, two Soven. He must have seen the look on her face because he smirked. "Not what you were expecting? Sometimes it's a mystery whom the gods choose to favor."
She approached him cautiously. Standing almost toe to toe, she glared into his gray eyes. "Just tell me one thing," she said. When he nodded she asked, "Are you the leader of the Corsairs?"
He gave a slight nod, and that was when Josidynn struck him with all her strength. The sound of her fist impacting his jaw echoed throughout the room. Ulysses stumbled back into the Muero soldier as the Corsairs drew their weapons and aimed them at her. Josidynn stepped back and rubbed her knuckles. The lone Muero helped Ulysses stand. "Does she die?" he growled.
"No, Ebraax." He rubbed the spreading bruise on his cheek and grimaced. "You've got courage, girl. I'll grant you that much. Care to tell me why I deserved that?"
Josidynn clenched her fists. "As is written in the Code of Nephalis, I challenge you for leadership of the Corsairs. Do you accept, or yield?"
"Now where did you find a copy of the Code? Let's chalk it up to ignorance." He spat out a tooth and some blood. "If I yield I forfeit my life to them," he said, motioning to those behind him. "I accept your challenge."
It was an unusual setting for a fight. On the main hangar deck of the Cerebus the crew had hastily removed floor plates. Beneath was a concave depression about thirty feet wide built into the hull of the ship. The metal of the basin was quite smooth and had been joined so expertly that the seams were hard to see. "We call it the pit," Ulysses said, standing beside Josidynn as they watched the work. He looked up and gestured at the crew. The air was thick with anticipation. "It's been five years since it was last used. That's when I made my challenge. I guess I can't blame them for being excited."
"Weapons?" Josidynn asked.
"Brokka staffs," he replied. He pointed to where two crewmen were unpacking the weapons from a storage crate. "Heard of those?"
She nodded. "A Muero training weapon." She walked over and picked up one of the staffs. It felt deadly in her hands.
The shaft was slightly more than five feet long, with a three-pronged trident on one end. On the other end hung a short length of chain to which was attached a heavy leather bag full of sand that the Muero called the bluunt. There was a single button on the shaft. When pressed it would deliver an electrical charge to the trident. It could be used only once. Overall, they were crude but effective weapons. "How elegant," she mused.
"You can back out now if you'd like," he said. "You wouldn't be the first, and you'd be able to leave with your life and bones intact."
She ignored his words. "What happens to you after I win?"
He shook his head in disbelief. "I really doubt that will happen, but if I win, you surrender your ship to the Corsairs. You and your crew will be left on the next inhabitable planet we find. If you win, you can order my death, kill me yourself, or allow me to stay. The crew will do whatever you tell them to."
The crew had been gathering for some time, surrounding the edges of the pit, nudging and crowding each other for the best possible view. The normal sounds of a working ship were replaced by an eerie silence as they waited for the combat to begin. Ulysses grabbed a brokka staff and walked without hesitation into the pit. Josidynn hefted her weapon a few times to get a better feel for it, then made her own descent.
They faced each other across the bowl.
Ulysses charged down the slight incline. Josidynn braced herself for the impact, and was surprised when he stopped short and brought the end of his staff up. The chain wrapped around her staff and he yanked viciously. Only her warrior's reflexes kept her from being pulled off-balance. Instead she used the power of his pull to add momentum to her own movement and jumped, throwing a kick and planting her feet in the center of his chest.
Ulysses flew back, the brokka staff clattering to the sloped floor. Josidynn landed lightly on her feet and swung the bluunt with all her strength at his exposed head. He barely evaded the blow and rolled away, reaching for his own staff. He yelped as Josidynn predicted his move and stabbed his arm with the trident. Blood flowed and a murmur went up from the watching assemblage of Corsairs. She wanted to try and strike again, but he was wary of her now, scrambling away and diving for the dropped staff. He scooped it up and rolled to his feet, taking a Soven fighting stance she recognized, the thlan-tu. She would have to be careful.
He charged, and in a surprise move grasped the chain of his staff and swung the staff. The sharp edges of the trident left a bloody cut across her stomach and she staggered back, gasping for breath from the pain. The wound burned, and she knew then that the tridents had been coated with some type of poison. This would have to end quickly, one way or the other. The odds had been against her all along. He was far stronger and well versed in personal combat. This had suddenly become a battle of the minds.
He came at her again, this time stabbing and thrusting with the staff. She dodged or parried almost every blow, but the poison was beginning to work, and she could feel herself weakening. She took several more cuts. Her heart was pounding and sweat beaded her forehead. She stopped and lowered the staff, lacking the strength to hold it up. Slowly she sank to her knees, gripping the staff until her knuckles were white.
Ulysses regarded her for a moment and then smiled. He lifted a hand to the Soven member of his crew. "Bring the antidote, quickly." He dropped to one knee. "Nicely fought, Admiral. Few others have done as well."
She raised her head. Sweat covered her face and her lips trembled. "And none other was as smart as me," she said. With the last of her strength, and before Ulysses could realize what she was doing, she used the last vestige of her strength to lift the staff and thrust the trident into his stomach as she pushed the button.
Ulysses' eyes widened and he grunted. He grasped the shaft of her staff and tried to pull it out, but his arms were useless from the electrical charge. Using her staff for support, Josidynn slowly regained her feet as Ulysses crumpled over onto his side. "Match," she said, barely able to whisper the word.
Nausea swept through her. Before she could fall, one of the Soven was there. Supporting her with two of his arms, he tilted her head back with a third and poured a bitter potion into her mouth with the fourth. "Very good," he said. "I think you will do well as our leader, Josidynn Prosidius."
She glanced at the prone form, feeling her strength returning as the antidote took affect. "Can he be saved? A good warrior is hard to find, and we can use him."
"Ulysses will live, I assure you. I am pleased you grant him mercy. I am Xyth'arl."
Josidynn managed to stand on her own and stepped away from the Soven. She looked up at the other Corsairs watching from the edges of the pit. The chant began softly, then became louder as more took it up. "Prosidius... Prosidius... Prosidius."
A wry smile touched her mouth, but did nothing to soften the edges of her stern countenance. One more obstacle overcome, she thought. I am coming for you, Helena. Hell will be unleashed against your reign.
The new leader of the Corsairs vowed it would be so.