Read Blackjack Wayward (The Blackjack Series) for Free Online

people suffer. And I am left wishing that you had not come,” Drovani said softly. Then he turned and walked down the stairs and across the main deck.
    “He’s full of piss and wind,” Zann spat, coming closer, apparently having heard much of the conversation.
    “He is a Yellow Sun prince and our client, Zann,” the Captain retorted. “We must therefore treat him with the respect that should be accorded one of his station. Besides, he is paying for our latest foray.”
    “I don’t know what all that meant,” he said, adjusting his crotch.
    “Yellow Sun is what we call them because of the color of their skin, but they self-identify as the Vershani. In any case, they are the power among the drift, now that the Mist Army is gone. It means we play nice,” she said, giving me a wink. “I am Contessa Nicatrix, by the way, and my ship is called the Lady’s Nightmare. I introduced myself prior to Drovani incanting his magic, so I doubt you understood.”
    “How long will it last?”
    She shrugged, taking a few steps toward the tiller and giving the pilot a minor course correction.
    “Let’s hope it lasts,” I said. “I don’t want to ask that guy for anything.”
    “It is he that is asking us for something, Blackjack. We are presently in his employ.”
    I leaned back against the railing that overlooked the main deck, gazing aft, watching the billowing wake left as the ship’s bow disturbed the swirling skies.
    “It places you in a strange predicament,” she continued.
    “I bet it does.”
    “We saved you from being marooned and a not-so-pleasant end.”
    Zann chuckled.
    “And I guess now I’m in your debt.”
    “You could say that, but more than that, I have a proposition for you. Help my crew with our upcoming mission and I will make you a rich man. If you wish to part ways at that time, then we shall drop you off in Mangalore, Stardock, or wherever you wish, safe and sound with your pouches full of coin.”
    I didn’t know what these places were, though I could imagine them being Earth’s equivalent of 17 th Century Nassau colony and Port Royal in Shard World. A pair of raucous places full of drinking and whoring.
    “The other option...,” Zann began, making a falling motion with his hands, ending over the railing.
    I didn’t want to go into the logistical difficulties the crew would experience trying to throw me overboard, but I understood the basic idea: join the crew, or it will get ugly. Then again, I had to push it; I wanted to see how easily they would turn against me.
    “I beat you once, Zann,” I said, softening the menace with a smile.
    He smiled too.
    “It wouldn’t make me happy to do it,” he started, “and I don’t think it would be easy to lug your ugly arse over. But I’d get me and a couple of the boys, and yeah, we’d throw you over.”
    “I guess that settles it, then. Count me in.”

    Zann took me below deck and I joined the crew, and I can’t say I remembered a single one of their names as they welcomed me to their ranks. There was a guy with pinkish skin, like a naked bear with seething pustules around his ears, and a massive fellow that was mostly thick blue fur, a wide mouth, and eyes where a normal man’s chest would be, but he had no arms or head.
    I also met an overly friendly anthropomorphic fox who had an additional second pair of limbs protruding from his face, and a creature with bold, black eyes that was tall and thin-skinned enough for me to see his muscles and inner organs. There was a stern orc, as if straight from Tolkien, except female, and just as tough as any of the others; and a wormy creature that appeared like viscous crimson fluid flowing in a watery solution, able to jet and move around with impressive agility. Another one was some sort of cheetah man, and I say that because of his pattern, because he was definitely a lion among lambs, tall and powerful. As impressive as Zann was, I was surprised they didn’t throw the cheetah guy at me. He