Center Worlds - Spark

  Chapter 8

  The Pirate Court - Pirate Ship Alkadia -7 BA

  Cycle after cycle Willem learned the Piracy trade. Then he learned something new, when the ship was summoned to Idolis so the Captain could answer a charge of Treason brought against him by another pirate crew.

  The Pirates' Court was something new, Willem and the rest of the crew sat in the stands as Captain Eislan stood in the center of the large chamber, facing his accuser. A slimy snake-like pirate who called himself Azgaro. He had claimed that on a raid some months past, the Alkadia had crippled his ship, allowing the United Suns to lay capture on it, then escaped with the spoils. Something that if proven true, would men the death of the entire crew and Captain. Pirate Honour was as strong as Clan honour, Willem realized. Just a different measure.

  Having known about the charges, Willem and the other flight officers had assisted the Captain by having the flight logs transferred and analyzed. They had integral timestamped logs that showed the entire incident. Showing the other ship flying into the path of the guns of the Alkadia, then deliberately diving right into the firing arc so it would get damaged. They also had the comm logs where the Captain even ordered the other crew to heave to so he could throw them a line and tow them out of range, and the other Captain's steadfast refusal.

  After Captain Azgaro played back his logs, which showed the Alkadia targeting, firing on specific points on the pirate ship, then towing them into a partial collision with the stricken liner so the United Suns could capture them, there were strong angry murmurs from the assorted pirates who had gathered to watch the trial and challenge.

  “What a load of crock!” Eislan said with a booming laugh after Azgaro finished his challenge.

  “You have a response, Captain?” Came the question from the court.

  “Of course I do. My man Hyens has pulled all of our logs, plus our navigational data to prove that what the other Captain has shown you is a total fabrication. I never attacked his rusty tub of a ship. He flew into my active weapons arc, then refused my offer to tow.”

  Eislan indicated for the Court to replay the logs, and as Willem had made sure, the logs showed the recordings from the Central Inertial Timing Buoys that were spread all through the region to ensure accurate timekeeping. The images were almost the same, but showed what had really transpired.

  The Court went into session to analyze both logs and came back with a report fairly quickly which fully exonerated the Alkadia. The other ship's logs were so badly falsified the timestamps didn't even make the remotest sense.

  As per the Idolan Code, The Alkadia was awarded 10% of the other ship's bounty over the past Cycle, which meant the crew had a weeks' worth of leave coming to them. Eislan was so happy he allowed Willem time above and beyond the remainder of the crew as it was his hard work that saved all of their collective asses.

  Willem enjoyed the extra time, but he really didn't have anything to do with it. He worked with his money, stuck on Idolis with no transport off, he had no choice but to wander around. He learned about investments, and put a portion of his funds into some investments to see what would happen.

  The next time they landed on Idolis, Willem checked his portfolio and saw that his ideas had paid off. His investment had grown dramatically and was now larger than his original balance. He plowed the funds back into his main account and then promptly ignored it. Money meant little to him without his Gya.