 |
|
 |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
The doors slid open and the Captain stepped into the private chambers of the Ambassador. In the Acroydian culture, the term Ambassador has a very different connotation. In the Terran language, the term connotes to someone of a peaceful nature that acts as a liaison from one country to another. The Ambassador of the Great Acroydian Empire knew little in the art of negotiation and diplomacy. His duties usually consisted of being sent ahead to an alien world to herald the news of upcoming destruction from the hands of his people. He would inform the aliens to arrange a formal surrender lest the mighty Acroydian Fleet turn everything to dust. Fortunately for Terra, the Acroydians were bound by strict wartime regulations which required that this world had to be dealt in a more indirect and tactful way. The approach was simple: Appeal to the Terran’s sense of greed and materialism. “You requested to speak with me, Ambassador?” the Captain addressed. “Yes, Captain,” the Ambassador peered over the many rows of data banks that he was scanning. “I am very pleased that you have arranged a little of your time to meet with me. I know that you are very busy with your duties, but this interruption will be worth your time as I will now give you more information as to the true nature and exact plans of our mission.” “Thank you. That imformation would be most appreciated.” He peered over behind the banks in order to see the Ambassador face to face. The Ambassador was a short, sneaky, bastard of a being, who had no personal life of his own. His only thrill and pleasure in life was to please his beloved Arch-Graf. It was easy to devote all his time and energy to his sovereign as he had no family or personal relationships to occupy his time. Although the Captain had the utmost respect for the Ambassador’s professional abilities, he didn’t care much for the diplomat personally. He was a vile, loathsome, miserable excuse of an Acroydian. The Captain was wise to keep his personal opinions to himself, and always spoke to the Ambassador with respect when in his presence. The Captain maintained this practice only because the Ambassador had manipulated his favor to the Arch-Graf and he always seemed to get his way. This wasn’t to say that the Captain would patronize the Ambassador, but he never pretended to be his friend or ally either. He only approached and associated with the Ambassador on an as-needed basis… and unfortunately, the present was one of those times. He always tried to keep such meetings to a minimum whenever possible… and always sticking to the business at hand rather than allowing the conversation to stray into personal matters and opinions that the Ambassador might use against him later. His duties as commander of this vessel had kept him occupied enough to stay out of the Ambassador’s hair. The Captain had his job, and the Ambassador had his. If they both performed their duties without interference from the other, everything would be fine. This attitude and philosophy didn’t put the Captain on the Ambassador’s good side because he preferred others to kowtow to him; on the other hand, it didn’t put the Captain into disfavor either. “Is there something that I should see, Ambassador?” “Over here, Captain,” the Ambassador pointed his crooked finger to a terminal. “I did some research on the championship belt. Take a look at this report.” The Captain scanned the report and was astonished. The stone in question that was located on the belt was, indeed, the one that they were seeking. “If this report is true, our enemies won’t stand a chance once we win the belt. We’ve finally located the key to victory. You were right all along, Ambassador.” The Captain’s old spark of battle glory briefly ignited. The old barbaric, warrior instincts that he had kept buried deep inside were starting to resurface. He now found this plot to be fascinatingly delicious even if his logical and reserved side hated to admit it. “This sport of boxing is geared toward the instinctive violent nature that almost all Terrans seem to have. It brings back the memories of the arena-brawls when I was young… before the war. I particularly remember a favorite brawler of mine… one in the junior weight class… Fighter X the Ultimate. No one could defeat him… considered one of the greatest fighters in all Acroydian history. He won all two hundred and twelve of his contests and stopped two hundred and eight of his opponents. I remember how he once ripped an ear off an opponent’s head and…” The Captain stopped when he realized that he was getting too involved in the past. He scanned the report again because he needed something to keep the conversation going so that the Ambassador would lose track of when he recently went off on a tangent. “Ha! Look here. These so-called ‘combatants’ wear padded gloves instead of just taping their fists. Where’s the sport in that?” “Actually, the Terrans wear them to protect their own hands from injury rather than to prevent injury from the opponent.” The Ambassador smiled to himself as he, once again, knew something that the Captain didn’t. “You see, when a fighter is not concerned with hurting his own hands, he will hit even harder. It makes the fist even larger and amplifies the force of the blow… more so than with an ungloved fist. If we had bothered to use gloves on our own arena-brawlers, there wouldn’t be so many head injuries, permanent brain damage, or fatalities.” “Perhaps you are right, Ambassador… non-lethal combat may be a very wise decision on the Terran’s part; however, some of these rules are so similar to our own. They don’t allow hitting below the belt; no blows to the back of the head; no kicking; no biting; no wrestling; no hitting the opponent while he’s down. This Marquis of Queensbury was obviously a man of honor.” “Unfortunately, most Terran fighters only do it for the money. What need do they of money when the knowledge, honor, and glory of being the best in the world in your weight class more than enough?” “I disagree, Ambassador. I believe that they do it for both, although there are some that would forgo some fortune just for the right to be called champion.” “That’s the way that all Acroydians would have it, Captain.” The Captain looked at the report once more. “Interesting… just like in the arena-brawls, boxers are matched up by gender and weight class… but ours never went as low as 106 Terran pounds. It doesn’t always take the largest and strongest to be successful in this sport. I’m certain that the Terrans will give us a good run before succumbing to defeat. I’m sure that this ‘mysterious’ warrior that you have in suspended animation status will not disappoint us.” “Acroydian might never fails,” the Ambassador said proudly. “What of the Terrans? Do you think they can find a worthy champion to meet our own and make the match somewhat competitive and entertaining?” “Indeed , they have, Captain.” The Ambassador then found the correct image and data file. “Ha-ho… there he is… the current Unified Boxing Association World Welterweight Champion. He is a marvel even by Acroydian standards. It’s incredible how some of these Terrans can excel if they put their hearts, minds, and souls into it. Fortuantely for us, very few Terrans follow his example.” The Captain studied the image intently. “Look at that fiery determination in his eyes. It’s obvious that defeat is something that he rarely experiences.” “That, Captain, is the undefeated and untied, pound for pound, best fighter that Terra has to offer… perhaps even in the entire history of the sport. If only he knew that his impeding defeat with be the key to our victory.” “It’s almost a shame that we have to use him as a pawn.” “It will be an interesting and competitive contest… at first. Then our champion will slowly pick this Terran champion apart. Don’t shed any tears for him, Captain. The Terran will be well compensated for his trouble. He can dry his tears of defeat on the wealth that we will bestow upon him.” “I hope that our champion doesn’t injure him too severely. I’d hate to see a warrior of his caliber and valorous past suffer needlessly or even die.” “We will perform honorably,” the Ambassador said confidently. “But he will fall as everyone else does when face against Acroydian superiority.” The Captain rubbed his chin. “Yes… this one could make this contest competive. I’d like to learn more about this Terran champion.” “We have obtained visual recordings of his pervious fights. You may view them at your convenience.” “I’ll do that. I’ll notify my junior officers and my crew as to the plan. Now, if you’ll excuse me… I must get back to my duties.” As the Captain left, he had a terrible feeling that this might not go as smoothly as the Ambassador believed. It would be so much easier to storm the planet and take what was needed; however, he was still a soldier and the Constitution of War still had to be obeyed. How did you like this text? You have to be logged on to be able to rate and comment. Logon or Register , it won't take up more than 10 seconds of your time. Rating  Current rating is: 5 2 readers have rated this text Author's description An exerpt from my upcoming novel... In this chapter... The Captain meets with the Ambassador and discovers that the diplomat does not share the traditional sense of Acroydian honor or fair play. Comments Vasudha Pande, 1 October 2007: Cool! 5 stars. I wonder what happens next... Ghost Writer, 13 September 2007: "The Ambassador was a short, sneaky, bastard of a being, who had no personal life of his own." Sounds like the Ambassador Martin J. Silverstein. LOL. Nice job on this chapter. |
|
|||||||
|
Contacts Synchronizer Buy and Sell Domains HantverkarGuiden TraineeGuiden.se Gratis saker hos GratisListan.se | ||||||||
