Chapter 16

The Falconer

Justin left the tavern in Ahikam very confused. He had arrived at the port only that afternoon, but the rumors about himself had not taken long to reach his ears. Two names were on everyone’s tongues. One was the Black Panthers, but the other was not one he would have guessed and he was still trying to figure out how he felt about it. He paused in his musing when Namid appeared at his side.

“I found one willing to talk, Captain,” Namid whispered.

Justin nodded and followed his guard down a back alley to where Maath stood with a cowering pirate. He raised an eyebrow at his first mate, who grinned and lifted his sword from the man’s neck to lay it on his shoulder.

“He’s quite willing to tell you anything now, Captain,” Maath said cheerfully.

Justin glanced at Namid, who shook his head, but didn’t say a word.

“Would that include the truth?” Justin asked.

“Aye, Black Panther. Anything you want to hear. I promise I’ll tell ya straight,” the man kneeling on the ground answered in a shaking voice.

“I hear there are rumors about me and I want to know them. Leave anything out, or lie, and I will let my crew member have some fun,” Justin replied coldly.

The man gulped and nodded his head quickly. “Sure, Black Panther, sure. There are rumors, just that though. They say the Black Panther got rich off all his steal’n from us. Decided he didn’t need to dirty his hands anymore. So he took off. But first he trained a novice. Trained him up right well too. Worse than him, real worse. Just to spit us legit pirates.”

“A novice?” Justin questioned. “And who would this novice be?”

The man swallowed hard and looked at the ground, but his answer was clear, “You.”

“Me? Are you telling me that the pirates are saying I am not the true Black Panther, but some unlearned student he picked up out of spite?” Justin’s voice was low and very angry.

The man started to shake much worse than before. “No, Black Panther, I mean.. er…”

“Yes?” Justin rumbled.

“Don’t kill me. I told ya the true ya asked for,” he quaked.

“You were going to say something else, what was it?” Namid spoke up, allowing Justin time to calm himself.

“His name. I was going to use his name, but I didn’t think he’d like it much.”

“My name? What is it the?” Justin waited for the name he had heard mentioned in the tavern.

“The Falconer, Captain. Peoples are calling you the Falconer. You use the Black Panther’s ship, but you swoop down like a Falcon with no warning and you hit more of us then he ever did. The Black Panther never hit as so many ships in so little time. You appetite for our blood is never settled,” the man was angry now and he spat as he spoke his last sentence.

“Oh, I’m after your blood now? Then I should kill you anyhow,” Justin responded shortly and turned to move back down the alley.

“What? No wait! You can’t!” He heard the man cry from behind him.

Namid was at his side in a second. “Justin, you can’t be serious. Maath is not going to kill him.”

“Why not? I gave an order, didn’t I?”

“And since when did you become God with the right to kill a person on a whim?”

“God?” Justin questioned, already angry and not any happier with God being brought into the subject. “He has nothing to do with this,” Justin finally growled.

“Doesn’t he? You have been fighting him for a long time now, Justin, and you are going to have to stop before He does something drastic to catch your attention. But regardless, you do not want to kill this man in a fit of anger.” Namid paused and gave him an amused look, “Especially for something that is good for you.”

“What?” Justin almost shouted, then quickly lowered his voice, “This is good how?”

“Do you want to discuss this now or can we stop that man from quaking?” Namid asked.

“Fine. Do whatever you want to him. I don’t care. But you and Maath come see me as soon as you set foot on The Guardian Star.” Justin ordered, before moving quickly out of the ally and towards his ship.

He was waiting in his cabin when Namid and Maath knocked and entered. He looked up from his place at his desk and stared at his two crewmembers. Both waited silently for him to speak, which was actually a nice change. Finally, Justin motioned them forward and they came to stand by the desk.

“All right,” Justin said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. “What is it that you two know that I don’t?”

The two men exchanged a glance. Namid was the one to speak first, “We know everything that you do, Captain.”

Justin was already shaking his head. “There is no way that is going to fly, Namid. You said that this was good for me. Explain.”

Maath rolled his eyes. “You wanted to build up your own name. Now you can.”

Justin looked at him silently. The sailor had called him The Falconer. It was too close to his real name for a coincidence. But nobody knew his name. How had they managed to pick a title so close to it? There was some type of information he was missing and he was getting very ticked off that no one seemed willing to give it to him.

“Justin, were you listening to what he said or just waiting to hear what you wanted too?” Namid asked.

Justin looked at him oddly. “What are you talking about?”

“As I thought. You weren’t really paying attention. He told you that you were worse than the Black Panther. That you attacked more ships than him.”

“Possibly. But that has only happened recently.”

“Still, the fact remains,” Namid stated.

“Anyways, isn’t that better then? Coming out of the shadows as his protégé? You don’t have to hid your face anymore if no one thinks of you as the Black Panther, but as the…” Maath was cut off.

“The Falconer. Yes, I suppose that is good. But what about that name?” He looked at his two friends. “The Falconer is too much like Justin Falcon for comfort.”

“I thought it was a good idea,” Maath shrugged.

Namid shot him a dirty look, but Justin caught both actions.

“Wait just one minute,” he exclaimed standing quickly. “You mean you two did this? It was the two of you that started that rumor! You changed my name!”

“Oops,” Maath muttered.

“Yeah, oops.” Namid glared at Maath.

Justin shook his head slowly, trying to take in the new information. He sat down then looked back up at them. “Why?”

Namid sighed. “You have been moping for months! You have hit ships consistently now, and lots of them. Using the merchants’ route to trap the pirates has been extremely profitable for us, but that’s not your only reasoning. You think you hid it from us, but we know your still searching. You have no new information about this Phantom Pirate who hounded us years ago and yet you are still obsessed with finding him.”

“That’s not quite true,” Justin muttered.

Maath raised an eyebrow at him. “When was the last time you thought you saw him in the fog around us?”

Justin glared at him, but didn’t answer.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought. You don’t talk about him anymore, but we are not as stupid as you think, Justin. You are still furious that this pirate attacked without any reason at all and you couldn’t do a thing. You have done quite well hiding your emotions about it, for a change, but you can’t fool us. You’re still looking for him and you still want to take him down.”

Justin still said nothing. It was true. The Phantom Pirate had attacked him over three years ago, but every time Justin thought of it, it still burned that anyone would dare attack his ship. What’s more, he was convinced he was still out there and following him, maybe even planning some large attack, though he had no proof. He had looked in every port for a clue as to who the captain of The Dandy was, but no one had heard of the ship, much less the captain. What captain left no trace? What captain would want to leave no trace? Justin still hadn’t figured it out, and every month that went by with no more news than the month before was like a boiled sore.

“And calling me the Falconer is helping this how?” Justin questioned finally bringing his thoughts back to the conversation.

Maath shrugged and Namid answered, “Perhaps this will draw him out. If he knows you are not really the Black Panther, but his protégé, just as greatly feared, of course, he might want to strike again.”

“You put out a rumor to change my name as bait for a pirate without consulting me at all!” Justin slammed his hands on his desk as he yelled at both of them in surprise and anger.

“Um, yeah, that’s about the gist of it,” Maath admitted with another shrug.

Namid didn’t bother to respond at all.

Justin got up and started pacing rapidly behind his desk. No one in the room spoke. He was the Black Panther. No, Tommy was the Black Panther. But Tommy had given the name to Justin. Had wanted Justin to have and use it. It was a badge of honor. Taking it away was like taking away Tommy’s approval. That thought caused a pause in his pacing. But was it? He stared pacing again. Tommy never said he had to use the name only that he was welcome too. At the time, Justin had no idea what else to do and the power and prestige that had come with it were an added incentive. If he took on his own name was he giving that up, or branching out to finally make his name more legendary than ever before? He glanced at Maath and Namid who were watching him with barely disguised amusement. They seemed to think so.

“You too are worse than…” He paused. Dabria, he thought, but finally shook his head, “Never mind.”

Maath laughed. “Dabria? I’m sure you’d like to think so at the moment.”

Justin glared at him. “You two are mutinous!”

“Then you should have us marooned,” Namid started calmly.

“Arh!” Justin exclaimed. “Who in Zerlinda is the captain of this ship?”

“You are, Captain Falcon. We have never questioned that. Pardon our rashness. We shall follow your orders and not our own,” Namid half apologized and half-excused themselves.

Justin glared at them. “What did I ever do to get the two of you?”

“You gained our trust and the Black Panther’s,” Namid answer.

“You’ve got a real funny way of showing it,” Justin muttered.

“So, Captain Falcon, what are your next orders?” Maath asked.

“Orders?” Justin looked at him confused.

“Yeah, after that take down I assume you have a whole barrel of them for us,” Maath said with a not so repentant grin.

Justin sighed and took his seat. “I don’t know,” he finally admitted.

He saw Namid and Maath exchange a glance and for the first time since they entered the room both took seats.

“What do you want to do next?” Namid asked.

Justin shook his head. “I do still want to find this guy, but not at the expense of everything else. We’ve been hitting ships hard and fast, sure, but is it enough? According to our sources in Ahikam, pirate activity has increased in the last year alone. Either the merchants are shipping more or the pirates are a little ticked at us for cutting them out so often. In either case, there are more ships to hit right now. And the crew deserves the chance for some fun.”

“Fun comes in the size of vacations too, you know,” Namid stated.

“Vacation? They get two every year! We never hit ships when we have the girls on board!” Justin exclaimed.

“Yes, but they are still traveling. Why not head to Raven for a bit?” Namid asked. “Give everyone a chance to relax spend some of the money they’ve earned. Justin, the girls’ disembarked months ago and we have not stopped since. We hit four ships in the last three weeks alone. Not all of the crew is constantly like you, needing to hit a ship every second. You don’t have to make up for the earlier years if that is what you are trying to do.”

“No, not really,” Justin replied, though he had to admit there was some truth in Namid’s words. “You really think they need a break?”

Both Namid and Maath nodded.

Justin shrugged. “All right, head to Raven. But I have no wish to go there.”

“Well, where do you want to go?” Maath asked surprised.

“I think I’d like to stop and talk to Tommy. I’d like to bounce things off of him.” Justin said thoughtfully. “But you can still work while you’re at Raven.”

“Justin!” Maath and Namid cried out together.

Justin held up a hand. “The two of you owe me. Besides, it’s not huge. Raven is the pirate capital of the world. I know we’ve been there before, but stick out feelers again and see if you can come up with any information on our Phantom. Soon or later this guy has got to show and I want him taken out when he does before he gets to me again.”

“Taken out?” Namid questioned.

But Justin shook his head and motioned to the door. “That’s all. Tell the crew, Maath. Namid set the heading for Triger. I’ll be out soon.”

The two friends exchanged glances, but rose from their seats. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

Math made it to the door before he turned around. “What should we call you, now, Captain?”

“I’m still the Black Panther until I change it,” Justin replied resolutely.

Maath nodded and followed Namid, closing the door behind them.

“Falconer. It doesn’t sound too bad actually,” Justin mused.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“Justin!” Kiliki cried when she opened the door. She smiled widely and gave him a hug. “What are you doing here? Come in!”

Justin entered the hallway and took off his hat. “The crew needed a break, so I sent them all to Raven. But some things have happened and I needed to talk to the Panther. Is he here?”

“He’s with Evyn at the other estate. The fruit supply is low, so the two are checking it out. Probably making it lower with all their eating too.”

Justin laughed. “Evyn loves that fruit.”

“Yes, and it seems to love him too,” she muttered, but it was with a smile. “Come on out to the garden. Aunt Jada is out there watching Tadi and Adem.”

“And what are they up too?”

“I don’t want to know,” Kiliki replied quickly.

Adem was still laughing when they reached the yard. Jada was sitting on her usual bench and watching as Adem tried to help the gardener dry off. An empty bucket was laying on the still wet ground. Tadi was nowhere in sight.

Kiliki gave her aunt a questioning look, but she was too busy laughing to reply. When she caught her breath, she stood up to give Justin a hug.

“How are you, Justin? It’s great to see you.”

“You too, Aunt Jada. Hi Adem!” Justin called to the boy, who immediately left the gardener.

“Hey Justin! Did you see lots of pirates?” Adem asked instantly.

Justin shrugged. “Oh a few. What happened here?”

Adem’s face lit up. “We were having a water war and I was winning and then Mr. Hamlis got in the way. And I thought he wanted to join and so I helped and then he said he didn’t want to join, so I was helping him dry off.”

“Hi Justin!” Tadi’s voice called from behind Justin.

He turned to see the boy bringing towels, which Tadi promptly gave to Mr. Hamlis. “Sorry again.”

The gardener sniffed and nodded. Jada laughed and said, “I think we are done for the day anyway, Hamlis. You weren’t doing a very good job with those tiger-lilies anyway.”

“I was doing just fine,” the older man muttered as he turned and stalked away towels in hand.

“That man needs to learn to have some fun. And he was not doing a good job with those tiger-lilies at all,” Jada commented.

“Yes, well you are particular about your flowers, Aunt Jada,” Kiliki said gently.

“I have good reason! He was trying to put them next to the roses. Roses! And his arrangement looked like a wounded puppy,” the woman protested.

“I didn’t know flowers could look like wounded puppies,” Kiliki laughed.

“Neither did I,” Jada’s voice was miffed.

“I bet Tadi and I could arrange them!” Adem volunteered.

Justin looked at Tadi to see the older boy’s eyes grow large with horror. Luckily for him, Kiliki must have noticed too.

“I have a better idea. Why don’t you and Tadi run over to Uncle Evyn’s and tell your Father that Justin has arrived to speak to him.”

“Oh, that’s all right, Kiliki. I can wait. If you don’t mind I was hoping I could stay awhile actually. Until the crew is finished with their time off,” Justin admitted.

“Of course! The longer the better!” Kiliki replied happily.

“Oh good! More people at the dinner table!” Jada said with a grin.

“Dinner?” Adem asked.

“Not yet. Go get your father,” Kiliki replied.

Adem glanced at Tadi. “Race you.”

“All the way to Brentllyn? You can race. I’m taking a horse.”

“Yeah! Can we, Mom?” Adem asked, his eyes shining in excitement.

Kiliki sighed. “I don’t know. By yourselves?”

“I’m seven!” Adem exclaimed.

“Yes, but you’re not ten.”

“Phooey,” was the boy’s reply.

“Adem!” Kiliki admonished.

“Sorry, Mom. But I really do want to ride,” Adem said hopefully.

Kiliki sighed. “If Laton goes with you,” she finally agreed, naming the young man who worked in the stables.

“Wahoo!” Adem cried and the two boys took off.

Kiliki shook her head, before turning to Justin. “Are you hungry?”

“Sure,” Justin replied.

“Come on then. Cookies always cure hunger.” Kiliki said leading the way back inside.

“Especially when they are made with extra chocolate!” Aunt Jada agreed as she and Justin followed.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

The three had just finished off the plate of cookies and Aunt Jada was getting ready to call for a second plate when Tommy walked in.

“Oh good, Tommy, you need a cookie!” Aunt Jada said promptly and Aradon hurried out of the room.

Tommy shook his head at his aunt and shook hands with Justin. “I hear you need to speak to me.”

Justin nodded, but Kiliki spoke up before he could. “Where are Adem and Tadi?”

“There was a pirate attack on the way back. The Black Panther is heading after them,” Tommy said with a smile.

Jada laughed. “He is so determined to follow you and he doesn’t even know it, Tommy.”

“Hmm. We’ll see.” He turned to Justin. “Something wrong?”

Justin shook his head. “I don’t know. Remember those rumors? I got confirmation about some of it and then…” Justin’s voice trailed off.

“Why don’t we head up to my library? We won’t be interrupted and you can tell me whatever you want,” Tommy suggested.

Justin nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“Us too. More cookies for us,” Jada huffed.

Tommy looked at his aunt amused. “We are not abandoning you.”

“Kiliki and I need to discuss some important matters anyway. And you can’t be here,” Jada turned her back on her nephew.

Tommy simply smiled at his wife and motioned for Justin to follow. The two headed up the steps and into a room filled with books. A desk sat in the middle of the room and two chairs sat comfortably in a corner with a small table between them. Tommy led Justin to the chairs and sat down.

“So what is happening?”

“You remember the rumor I told you about? Maath and Namid started it. Supposedly, I’m not only your protégé I’m worse then you were. Obviously I’m not the Black Panther, instead I’m being called the Falconer. It’s still only a rumor. I could accept or deny it at this point,” Justin said coming straight to the point.

Tommy looked thoughtful. “What do you want to do?”

Justin shook his head. “I don’t know!”

“You must have some opinion, Justin.”

Justin stood up and stared to pace the room. Tommy watched him silently. A full minute had gone by before Justin spoke again.

“You are the Black Panther. You always have been.”

“Yes,” Tommy agreed.

Justin stopped to look at him. “But you gave me that name too.”

Tommy nodded and waited again.

“I want to be the best out there. Being the Black Panther gave me an edge no one else had. It meant he still sailed the seas and for others to watch out. To say he doesn’t…that I am just an imposter…” Justin’s voice trailed off.

“I don’t believe anyone has said that, Justin,” Tommy replied calmly.

“But they have to be thinking it,” Justin muttered.

Tommy shook his head. “You care far too much what others think.”

Justin looked at him. “It’s important.”

“Is it? It is only important if you make it so. God’s opinion is the only one that truly matters,” Tommy’s voice was soothing.

Justin frowned though. “God? He doesn’t have anything to do with this!”

“Doesn’t he? Sahen used to always quote to me that man will plan his ways, but God directs his steps,” Tommy smiled at the memory.

“What is that suppose to mean?” Justin asked.

“Basically that whatever you plan for your life, God will work things out so that His will is still accomplished.”

“Then I can’t do anything that He isn’t involved in, with or without my approval! That’s not right,” Justin protested.

“Justin, many things that happen in life do not seem right, but that doesn’t mean that God has forgotten His plan or you.”

“What does that have to do with these rumors?” Justin asked frustrated with the conversation.

Tommy looked at him amused. “Only that you should stop worrying about what men think and start wondering what God thinks.”

“He’d care about what name I use?” Justin asked incredulously.

“He cares about every decision you make, whether you think it is big or small,” was Tommy’s steady answer.

“This isn’t supposed to be a conversation about God,” Justin finally said.

Tommy laughed. “Okay, but that doesn’t change the truth. Remember truth is truth whether you believe it or not. Now, about your current situation. Do you like the new name?”

Justin was silent for a minute. “Yes, I guess. It’s closer to my real name than the Black Panther was to yours. But I don’t really have to worry about my real identity being discovered like you did.”

“So, besides the fact that you lose the edge of being the Black Panther, you don’t really have a real reason for not wanting to change names, do you?” Tommy questioned.

“Well…”

“What did you leave out?” Tommy asked.

“That phantom pirate.”

“What about him?”

“Well, Maath and Namid figure that if I use a different name, it might make him cocky enough to take me on.”

“They’re right. You must have been thrilled with their little deceit.”

“Little? I wanted to ream them both.” Justin sighed. “I haven’t decided if it is good or not.”

“What are you waiting for?” Tommy asked in a voice that said he already knew the answer.

Justin gave him a questioning look. “To decide if it’s the best way I guess.”

“You already know that,” Tommy replied coolly. “You know he’ll resurface and you know that this way you can branch out on your own and still have the backing of the Black Panther.”

Tommy stood and come over to stand in front of Justin. He placed a hand on his shoulder and stated firmly, “You have always had my backing, Justin. If you didn’t I would never have given you my ship. If this change is good for you, than do it. I never required you to use the Black Panther’s name. And the Falconer seems to suit you. I’m sure Evyn will give you some great comments on it.”

Justin groaned, as Tommy stepped back. “Could we keep it a secret?”

“From Evyn?” Tommy questioned, with a raised eyebrow.

“Good point. Forget I mentioned it.” Justin looked confused for a minute. Then headed to the chairs and took a seat in one. Tommy watched his movements, but stayed quiet. Finally, Justin spoke again. “And this is okay? I mean, changing from being the Black Panther to the Falconer?”

Tommy simply nodded and slowly a grin spread across Justin’s face.

“I guess that’s it then.” Justin shook his head. “I think I just become the Falconer.”

Tommy laughed. “Congratulations, Falconer. How’s it feel?”

Justin thought for a moment. “Odd, Panther, odd.”

>~>~>~><~<~<~<