Games of Fate
30.03.3003
Galaxy: Aduro1
Planet: Crepesculum2
Palikary3 found it almost impossible to reject Mily4. In the past one hour she had pleaded, threatened and tried to reason with him, attempted to lock the door and all that just to convince him to let her tag along. She argued that since she had saved his life once, she had the right to accompany him everywhere. And on top of that, Lucky also supported her! The man looked at the wolf that stood next to him in the small underwater vessel that was taking them to a deserted pier.
‘We could have taken her with us. After all, we are only going to meet a client. It won’t be dangerous,’ Lucky said.
Palikary snored and looked intently at the monitors. They had almost reached their destination and he was looking for a hideout for their vessel.
A few minutes later the two were making their way through the small, dirty and not very safe streets of the slums. The walks through this part of town have never been pleasant, the wolf thought. By the time they reached the hotel, his sensitive nose had started aching from the horrible smell all around them. The building where they were meeting the client was not any better than its surroundings. It was dark and looked dilapidated. They took the stairs to the second floor and knocked on the door furthest from the exit. A tall, elegant and graceful blond opened and gestured them inside. She looked very much out of place in the dark and rundown room.
For some time the two parties studied one another without saying a thing. The wolf knew that women were always smitten by Pal’s appearance. He was tall and slim, but well-built. He had unruly brownish hair and cold gray eyes. He was an attractive male.
‘The task that I want to hire you for is extremely dangerous. The target is a very powerful and wealthy person. Are you sure that you can handle it?’ The woman did not seem to be impressed by either of them.
‘I believe this is a rhetoric question,’ Palikary said. ‘I doubt you contacted us before you did your research.’
‘I was just kind enough to give you a last chance to change your mind,’ the woman replied. She gestured towards the bed where an envelope laid. ‘This is all the information that I have.’
The man turned his head slightly as if he had heard a noise. His instincts took control before his mind could assess the situation. He pulled the blond to the floor behind the bed as the windows shattered and a wave of bullets hit the place where they were standing a moment ago. The shooting stopped just for a second and then continued again. The woman signalled the two to follow her and crawled to the bathroom.
There she said, ‘I think it’s best that you leave.’
‘What are you saying?’ Lucky protested. ‘We will never leave a damsel in distress!’
‘I can take care of myself,’ the woman looked proudly. ‘Unlike you, I know what Berrisalv5 is planning. It would be best that you return to your ship now, before it is too late.’
Her words triggered a feeling of concern in Palikary.
‘What do you mean?’
‘There is no time for explanations! You have to leave now! If you take too long you will miss the only chance you’ve got to stop him,’ the woman argued.
Palikary felt confused. He did not dare ask anything else so he nodded and carefully took his leave. He crawled to the bed, grabbed the envelope and proceeded to the front door. Lucky was right behind him. In the corridor, they got back to their feet and rushed towards the window furthest from the room. Once they left the hotel and entered the labyrinth of streets, they knew they were safe.
* * *
Mila was in the bedchamber and was busy talking to herself. She had stuffed a pile of pillows beneath the covers of Pal’s bed and acted as if he was in the room and they were having a conversation.
Why did she have to stay behind? There was no need to look after the ship. The super-computer in charge was completely capable to handle any type of situation, making her presence completely unnecessary.
Suddenly she heard a strange noise. Her first thought was that the two were back and she jumped towards the door to meet them. But before she could reach it, the door crackled and opened on its own. Six men, dressed in dark suits, entered the chamber. A handsome man in his mid-thirties stepped forward and said:
‘A wonderful day to you, dear. Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Berrisalv and I am here to talk on official business with Mr. Palikary. Would you be so kind to fetch him for me?’
She looked at the beds as if there laid her salvation. However, nothing happened and so she turned forward and replied:
‘You do not have the right to barge in here without permission! And what is more, Palikary is not available at the moment. Be so kind as to leave the ship, now!’ The girl spoke in a calm and composed manner stressing every word. At the same time, she reached for the weapon tucked in her belt.
‘I apologise for the intrusion but I urgently need to speak with Mr. Palikary. I even came in person to meet him.’
‘I told you that at present it is impossible to talk with him,’ the girl said slowly.
‘Is he not here?’ the intruder asked with maddening politeness.
‘I did not say...’
Mila did not have the time to finish her sentence. The other men jumped at her. The girl pulled out the gun and managed to shoot one between the eyes and wound another one before the remaining three got to her. The weapon was pulled from her hand and someone twisted her arms behind her back. She tried to struggle put it was to no avail. And then she heard Berrislav say:
‘Dear, it seems that Mr. Palikary is not here, indeed!’
Suddenly his polite front fell apart. His face twisted in cruel madness. His words sounded cold and sharp:
‘Take her away!’
* * *
Palikary and Lucky knew something had happened the moment they got on board. The wolf noticed the smell of blood and death. They moved quickly. As they reached the bedchamber, the door opened on its own and revealed the disarray in the room – pillows and blankets were thrown to the floor, things were scattered everywhere.
‘The smell of blood and violence comes from here,’ Lucky said.
He pointed the stains on the floor. Palikary found Mily’s gun under one of the beds. He turned and left the room. First, he needed to check if the intruders were still on board. He was dying to know how someone had managed to get on his ship.
* * *
Berrislav dragged the struggling girl to the bridge. Her arms were tied behind her back but that did not stop her from tossing around like a fish out of water and screaming at the top of her voice. When the man grew tired of it, he growled, ‘Shut up! Can’t you see that I am about to defeat the infamous Palikary.’
‘And for that aim you’ve brought a small army along with you,’ Mila retorted. ‘Did your parents not teach you to play fair?’
‘Shut up!’ the man shouted at her. ‘I would hate to hurt you, since I came all the way here especially to get you!’
‘What would you want with me?’
‘You are my key to victory.’ The girl saw the insanity in his eyes and felt fear getting a hold of her. A worrisome thought struck her and she held her breath.
Berrislav was inserting different commands and codes in the computer when the door between the inner parts of the ship with the command centre opened. Pal and Lucky stepped inside.
‘Do not worry about the guard. We hurt them only a little bit,’ the wolf said.
Berrislav looked at them, gritted his teeth and suddenly shoved the girl so hard that she flew a couple of metres in the air, fell hard on the ground and slighted trough one of the side doors.
The moment Mila disappeared from sight Berrislav jumped at Pal.
‘I always wanted to take my chances against you!’
While Palikary was busy fighting his opponent, Lucky rushed towards the computer. It was obvious that something was awfully wrong.
The two men exchanged a few blows before they realised that their skills and strength were on the same level. Thus, they changed their strategy and started trying to catch the other off-guard. Palikary was looking for an opportunity to pin down his opponent when something heavy struck him from behind. The world swung for a brief moment. The next thing he knew, he was lying face down on the ground. Lucky was standing in front of him and growling. He raised his eyes and saw Berrislav towering before them with a gun in one hand. The man was smiling in a way that shouted insanity and danger. He took a few steps back and went through the same side door, behind which Mily had disappeared. One of his subordinates walked passed them and followed him.
‘Mily,’ Palikary moaned.
‘I am afraid we cannot afford to worry about that know,’ the wolf said. ‘That guy messed up the computer and the ship will destroy in minutes. We have to get off now!’
Pal scrambled to his feet and the two of them ran for the life-boat.
* * *
After they emerged from the dark and polluted waters of the river, flowing through the town, Palikary and Lucky started down the narrow shore. The man was furious, shouting insults in countless languages and describing in detail all the horrible things he planned to do to the bastard that had dared to kidnap Mily, destroy his ship and the small underwater vessel he used as a life-boat. As a result, he was forced to swim to shore in the disgusting and filthy water.
All of a sudden the wolf stopped and started sniffing the air around them. He went to the bushes that grew alongside the shore.
‘Tell me that you have caught the smell of the bastard,’ Pal said.
‘I am sorry to disappoint you,’ Lucky retorted.
In the bushes they found a woman lying on one side. Lucky could smell death on her. The woman had red hair and green eyes, but despite the changes Pal could easily recognise that she was his client from earlier. The woman tried to get up, but pain and weakness hindered her movement. Pal kneed next to her.
‘I thought you could take care of yourself,’ he tried to joke.
‘I think we both underestimated him,’ she moaned. ‘You did not get to your ship in time, did you? Berrislav always gets what he wants.’ She tried to smile but her face only twisted in agony.
‘Not entirely. I am still alive,’ Pal replied.
‘His aim was not you. He wanted the girl...’
‘What do you mean? What does he want with Mily?’ the wolf interrupted them.
‘He always bragged how he would defeat you one day, however the girl was what he dreamed about,’ the woman looked at Palikary. And then she realised it and laughed. The sound was grotesque, a croaking non-human laughter. ‘You do not know! That girl out-witted you,’ she took a pained breath. ‘I will not be able to pay for your services, Mr. Palikary, so let me tell you one story in return. There is a very old legend that once every millennium a child is born. This child bares the sign of fate on its body. It brings fortune, luck and success. It can give you all that you want. In the past men waged wars in order to posses that child. And now, one has been born again. It was a girl and it brought its parents riches. However, not long after a cruel and powerful man murdered the parents and took the child of fate for himself. Soon after the adopted the girl, he too was murdered. The child was passed from one sordid owner to the next until a year ago it disappeared. It just vanished without a trace. That is until Berrislav managed to connect your Mily with that child.’ The woman made a pause because it was getting harder for her to speak. ‘I always thought that you had her close by as some sort of protection...’
‘I think it is about time that I get a new name and we start calling the wench Lucky,’ the wolf smiled grimly. The man glanced at him in annoyance.
‘This is only a silly legend! Why would one of the wealthiest and most powerful men on this planet believe in it?’ Palikary shook his head.
‘He wants to believe that the girl will make him invincible and all-powerful. And we humans always want more... It is never enough...’ the woman said. The light of life had started to slowly fade away from her eyes.
‘What is your name?’ Palikary asked.
‘Veronika6,’ she whispered before all life left her.
‘Veronika, I will avenge you.’
* * *
That same night Berrislav was holding a reception for the cream of society. He made a grand entrance accompanied by a pretty girl. She had brownish hair and bright eyes and was dressed in a tight green dress that generously revealed her bosom. And there one could see a peculiar birthmark that spread across her chest – the sign of fate. Berrislav wanted to show his latest conquest to all his opponents.
Palikary and the wolf stood in the shadows and followed the movement of the couple, while at the same time keeping an eye on the guests. Berrislav went by greeting his acquaintances. At first, he dragged the girl along, but as the night progressed, she receded. She stood in one corner and watched the people around her with empty eyes. There were always a few men from Berrislav’s guard around to make sure that she did not escape and in the same time to keep the highly esteemed guests away.
Palikary and Lucky waited for the party to move on to its more entertaining and less legal pastimes. The lightning was reduced and the two used this to move unnoticed among the guests. Suddenly a man ran into Palikary and fell heavily to the ground. As he was getting up and dusting himself, he said in a displeased voice, ‘Watch were you are going, you moron! Who do you think...’
However, Palikary did not wait for things to escalate. He wrapped his arm around the man’s throat and soon the man slid to the ground.
‘My friend had a few drinks too much,’ he told the people around them watching the scene in amusement. However, no one reacted in any way. Palikary lifted the man on his shoulder. ‘He won’t be able to drink any more tonight so I better take him to his room.’
When they finally managed to emerge from the crowd, Berrislav and Mily had left.
‘I guess he had enough showing off for one night and retired,’ the wolf said.
Palikary quickly headed towards the exit that led to the wing with the bedrooms. Once there, he found someone from the staff and asked whether he had seen Mr. Berrislav.
‘Yes, he went back to his room. And he was not alone,’ the man looked at them curiously.
‘Thank you.’ Palikary said and then he nodded in the direction of the unconscious man. ‘This fellow had a bit too much to drink. Would you be so kind as to take him to his room?’
‘Yes, of course.’
A moment later Palikary took down the door of Berrislav’s bedroom and rushed inside. The man jumped in his bed and looked surprised at the intruders. Palikary moved like a predator and grabbed his opponent for the throat before he had the time to react. Pal felt his nerves unwind for the first time this evening – the naked girl in Berrislav’s bed was not Mily.
‘What do you want?’ the man groaned.
‘The girl! Where is she?’ Pal said in a cold voice.
‘You are here for her,’ for a brief moment madness filled Berrislav’s eyes, but then he smiled wickedly. ‘In her room, of course! But she is mine! You cannot have her!’
‘I beg to disagree,’ Palikary took off the disguise he had put on earlier this night and once the long blond hair and the beard were gone Berrislav finally recognised him. ‘She is ours.’
Using his opponent’s confusion Pal struck with all his power and knocked him down. And then left the room.
* * *
Mily was drowning in self-pity sitting in the darkness of her room. What was she trying to achieve? No one can escape from Destiny. And her fate was to live locked in a golden cage, to be the charm and property of some spoiled rich ass. Whenever she thought about Pal and Lucky, who most likely had lost their lives because of her, the darkest desperation embraced her. She no longer had tears to cry.
All of a sudden she heard excited voices next door. Somebody was arguing and then there was a loud “thud” as if a person had fallen to the ground. This time fate had quickly taken its toll from her owner. Berrislav had had only one night to enjoy his glory and fortune. What a development!
Next the door to her room came falling down and she rushed to hide in the darkest corner. However, in the door’s frame stood Pal and Lucky. Relief was all Mily felt. Tears were flowing down her cheeks and she was laughing at the same time.
When Palikary saw the girl a stone fell from his heart and he could breathe freely once again. He came to stand next to her. First, he was worried, but then he saw her smile.
‘Lucky, why are you in the form of a girl?’ Mily asked.
‘It’s horrible, right?’ the wolf complained. ‘He made me! We had to wear disguises and since it was a social gathering, we had to go as a couple – not to look suspicious. I should tell you that he would say anything just to get me in a skirt. Do you know how hard it is to run around in high heels?’
‘Stop whining! You sound like an old spinster,’ Pal interrupted.
‘Mily, he is bullying me,’ Lucky complained.
‘Don’t you dare join forces against me! I could never understand how you two always manage to be on the same side and how you are always against anything I say,’ the man argued. ‘Come on, we need to leave now...’
As he said that Berrislav rushed into the room, holding a gun in his hand.
‘It seems the guards are useless. It does not matter, because I can take care of the two of you alone.’ He shifted his weapon from Pal to Lucky. – I do not need anyone’s help. Fate is on my side and all it can offer belongs to me! Right, dear? All the happiness, treasures and wealth, power and might. MINE! I am invincible and nobody can stop me!’ Berrislav could no longer keep his madness concealed.
Mily moved in front of Pal and Lucky who were trying to shield her with their bodies and spoke calmly. ‘It does not work like that! How do you expect me to give you something I don’t have? You cause me only pain and grief and you expect me to give you luck, happiness and success in return. I can give happiness only to the person who makes me happy in return.
‘Noooo!’ the man shouted and started shooting without even bothering to aim.
Palikary grabbed the girl and rushed towards the window. Lucky followed them, slowed a bit by the dress.
‘What you sow is what you will reap,’ Palikary told the driven into madness Berrislav just before they disappeared into the night.
* * *
The next day the world was shaken by the news that the multi-billionaire Berrislav had lost everything in a single night. His business ventures had failed, his wealth and money were gone and nobody could say how and why. There was only a never-ending stream of rumours. And the man himself had gone insane in that same night and had killed himself jumping from a window.
1. Aduro means light
2. Crepesculum means twilight
3. Palikary means hero
4. Mila means kind, good
5. Berrislav means one who conquers glory
6. Veronika means a true person