"Fine," replied Basuli looking at Darak and others angrily. "Apart from that there is something else that I want your opinion on. Geraldino agreed to house us, but for a price. We will need to work for him till that is fulfilled. I hope that this price could be paid by all of us equally," said Basuli.
"How is that possible? That Geraldino is a slave driver. It would be years before manage to get the amount smuggling things for him," said Moreno. "You have all your valuables stored here. You surely have enough to procure his services."
"I do, but I am responsible for only my men. I will only pay for those who serve under me. I won't waste the hard-earned money of my crew for everybody. Even the suggestion would cause my crew to revolt. Only, a pea brain like you would think of it," said Basuli without giving Moreno any quarter.
It was then that Moreno truly understood how Basuli managed to get Arkhan to agree to his conditions. Being one of the men under Basuli had never had such value to any of the pirates before. He brought his most trusted lieutenants to the cabin but, he wouldn't be surprised if any of the others lieutenants would also support Basuli once they heard that he would pay for them. Working to clear the debt of Geraldino while Basuli and his men got free would put them in a very precarious position.
Even after they clear the debt, Basuli and his crew would have recuperated and been pirating for a couple of years. They would probably even have more men and then, they would only have the option of pledging allegiance to them or dying under their swords. He doubted that Basuli would spare his men.
Moreno's eyes flashed with anger as he had a strong urge to attack and kill Basuli that very instant. If not for the fact that he was outnumbered and he didn't know the stance of Darak and his men, he would have surely attacked Basuli.
"That is hardly fair. You surely wouldn't be much effective as a pirate group without our help," said Morena. "You wouldn't diminish the strength of the Nirbaadh just for a few coins would you? You can surely help out your fellow brothers."
"Brothers?" laughed Basuli in a loud crispy voice. "Aren't you being too chummy? Since, when were we so close Moreno? Aren't you being too shameless?" asked Basuli.
"I'm shameless? You are the one who is being shameless. How could you value your coins more than the lives and health of your brothers?" shouted Moreno in reply. He took the moral high ground and tried to get Basuli to help him out. He was sure that Darak would support him after he had shown so much initiative.
"Don't talk nonsense Moreno. We are pirates. Does that even mean anything to you?" asked Basuli. "Asking a pirate to put their coins before something else. Now I understand why they call you braindead."
"Mind your words," shouted Moreno as he pulled out his sword and started to move aggressively towards Basuli. Their corresponding lieutenants also released their swords.
"Hold it there, both of your," said Darak as he and his peers finally made a move. "We don't need to be uncivilized. Let us talk it out."
Basuli looked angrily at Moreno and Darak and put his sword back into his sheath while signalling his lieutenants to do the same. Moreno still had a dark look on his face. He had always been treated as a brute and was called the same by even his men behind his back. He hated being known as such. He knew that he was emotional and doesn't scheme as much as the other commanders and preferred to settle disputes with his fist, but he never considered him any less intelligent than the others. As such, he didn't even withdraw his blade. He was still angry over the remarks made by Basuli.
"Basuli, you are being unnecessarily rude, here. Don't forget that we all have our pride too. If you don't control your tongue, I would also have to persuade you to do so," said Darak fiercely. It was clear to everyone that Darak didn't mean any offence by it, but it was a way to calm down Moreno.
"Hmph. You can say all you want Darak, but if you or he thinks that you can get me to spare my coins without offering anything in return, you are dreaming," said Basuli without taking any step back.
"Fine. We can discuss and come to an arrangement. It isn't like we can't provide you something in return for your help," said Darak. "Once, we are back on our feet, we can always set aside a certain amount of our loot to pay you back."
"Yes, we are quite willing to do so. It isn't like we would ask you to pay for us without any thing in return. We could definitely pay him back the amount with interest," said Moreno adding upon Darak's statement. Darak had finally made a statement that would allow him to get through the situation.
"Willing to pay back with interest, are you? Fine, a hundred percent interest compounded per annum," said Basuli with a sneer.
The large amount of interest again led to a round of curses and swear words followed by discussions. It took them another 10 minutes for them to finally come to a consensus and leave the commander's cabin.
Moreno walked out angrily after agreeing to a proposal from Basuli. He had to agree to have his crew and himself provide them with 50% of their loot at every plunder till they managed to give Basuli back his coin at an interest of 50% per annum. It would definitely make them bleed but Moreno had to resign to that offer because of Daruk.
"That Darak definitely has other plans. Else, there is no way for him to have accepted this plan. He will surely act when we are at Geraldino's. We need to keep an eye out for him and his crew," said Moreno as he went back to inform the details of the meeting to his crew. He was in an extremely bad mood.
Dave and Darak along with his followers went out of the cabin after Moreno leaving Arkhan and Basuli along with their lieutenants there. It used to be the commander Basuli's cabin to begin with and he continued to stay in the cabin.
As Darak went out with the others, Arkhan immediately came out with his concerns. "Captain Basuli, Darak agreeing for this looks very suspicious. We need to be careful of him. He was never one to take an offence lying down," warned Arkhan.
Arkhan's eyes almost bulged out when he heard Darak agreeing to his proposal. Even he would never have taken that offer, but Darak took it a time that would be extremely helpful to Basuli. He even made an enemy out of Moreno with this decision. If Darak actually attempts to follow through this decision, he would make an enemy out of Moreno and even his followers. Basuli was already against Darak. So, he was sure that Darak had some other plans and would definitely have some other plans.
"I am aware," said Basuli agreeing to Arkhan's concerns. "I have always considered him to be my strongest opponent in the attempt to become a captain. He had been alongside Rana Pratap for a long time. He has surely has more contacts and friends than me," said Basuli with a grave look on his face.
Arkhan realized that Basuli was just putting on a brave front throughout the meeting and all the small tussles with Moreno were just to sound out Darak. Clearly, Basuli had failed to get any decent response from Darak and this frightened Arkhan as he currently was in the same group as Basuli.
"He is the main reason I recruited you. The more people that could observe his men, the better," said Basuli. "Moreno isn't foolish and he would also keep a look out for any movements or communications made by Darak's men. That is the reason, I took initiative to send my men for any and every resource required for us to patch the vessel and move to Geraldino's."
"But Moreno is extremely stubborn. I doubt he would share any of the information he learned to us," said Arkhan. He had seen both Moreno and Basuli quarrel in the cabin for some time now. He was sure that Moreno wouldn't really support him.
"You don't understand Moreno. He hates to be under someone's leadership. He was the same even with old captain. The only reason he kept it down was because of the captain's uncle. He didn't want to go against that old man," said Basuli. "Darak could be considered the strongest among us, after the old man. If he has a plan, it will cause us both to bend the knee and Moreno would prefer to be under my leadership than Darak as no one knows anything about him. He would definitely come to cooperate with us, if he manages to realize Darak's plans."
"You sure about that?" asked Arkhan. He couldn't leave anything to chance and wanted to make sure of it. He had already made plans to have a few of his men to observe Moreno's movements too.
"Positive," said Basuli in a tone which exudes confidence. "I have been fighting against him for a long time. I understand him quite well."
"You best go and recuperate yourself. Contact one of my lieutenants if you need anything. It is best if you recover to certain extent before we reach our destination," said Basuli looking at Arkhan concernedly.
Arkhan bid his farewell and went out of the cabin back to his resting place. There are lot of things to be done to the vessel and it even needs to be thoroughly searched. The cabin would be extremely noisy and wouldn't be the best place for him to rest. So, he went off to the quarters provided to him Basuli. Basuli had already taken care of him and his lieutenants when he offered Arkhan, the chance to be his second-in-command.
A couple of minutes after Arkhan and his men left the cabin, Basuli told one of his lieutenants to take care of the vessel and went out informing that he better convince his crew of the decision they made. He went out and made his way not to the quarters of his crew mates but to the armory of the vessel.
Darak was waiting for him there at a corner in the dark unlit room. "You are finally here. How was the result?" asked Darak.
"They are behaving as we expected, uncle," said Basuli. "Moreno would have most of his focus on you. The same applies to Arkhan. I suspect he might have his men observe Moreno too. He might be trouble."
"Good. Then, we proceed as planned when we get close to Geraldino's. Kill Arkhan. He is a pest and will never completely be under our command. He looks docile but is just more cautious than the others. He is far more ambitious than Moreno," said Darak.
"But it would be hard to pin it on Moreno, if Arkhan has his men trailing Moreno," said Basuli. Their plan wasn't going exactly the way he hoped. He had given Arkhan way less credit that he deserved, but he realized his mistake when Arkhan raised his doubts about Moreno.
"You are far too limited in your view, Basuli. Moreno's men will soon learn of the things that happened in your cabin. I know that there are a couple of lieutenants who would rather serve you than split their loot. After all, they would crave for coins the most after the fight and would probably contact you. Make use of them to distract Arkhan's men and then make your move," said Darak as he handed him a dagger.
"It belongs to one of Moreno's lieutenants that joined us in the meet. Use it well," said Darak. "The others would soon be looking for me."
"All right. I will take care of every thing. I just have one doubt," said Basuli.
"Geraldino or Dharma?" asked Darak as he already expected Basuli's thoughts.
"Actually both, but I am most concerned with Dharma," said Basuli.
"First. Geraldino is an old friend. I have something that he wants and I am the only one who can give it to him. I have already talked it out with him and he is willing to accommodate us in return for my help. This is something personal and it is best that you don't ask much about it," said Darak.
"You are playing it quite close, but I know you can handle it. It is Dharma who concerns me most. I am not sure that your peers would support you if he ever comes back. I heard they were quite loyal to the Asuraganas in the past," said Basuli.
"You don't need to worry about them. I know how to keep them in control. Dharma would be escaping in a stealth shuttle in the middle of our journey. It is best that we let him off. We don't know who our pursuers are but I am sure that they wanted the captain for intel against the knights. Dharma could be used as leverage against him and they would only follow us for him," said Darak.
"That is the reason for my concern, Darak. He is the best way to get to the knights. We can surely use their help at this time," said Basuli.
"Aah! If it were any one other than my sister's son, I would have killed him for infuriating me. All right, I will tell you this as you are going to be my second in command and successor. But beware. Make sure that no one would think you know of this," said Darak.
Basuli also wanted to hear the reason why his uncle had adamantly wanted to avoid the knights at any cost. It was very confusing to him why he wouldn't accept the patronage of well known group of terrorists who wanted to help them.
"The captain was never in collaboration with the knights. They have a hostage, Asaragana ShouryaPrasad," said Darak.
"Huh, but the man was in good health and was quite free to move around. What are you talking about?" asked Basuli with a confused expression on his face.
"When someone joins the ranks of the knights, he is no longer considered the man he was in the past. I don't know what is done to them, but they become puppets of someone else. The only reason the captain was agreeing to that man was because, he was threatened. Threatened by his uncle that his brother would also be made to join them," said Darak.
"You are kidding," said Basuli unable to believe his uncle's words. It sounded ridiculous to the extreme that a person could be controlled to that extent.
"He had always kept this a secret from everybody. Of course, I learned a couple of things on the sly," said Darak. "He let the Nirbaadh pirates be in the clutches of the knights for the sake of his brother. I couldn't even convince others of this situation and held it in for a long time. If anyone knew that I was aware of it, I would have been beheaded."
"It cannot be. You are saying that all this time, we have just been pawns for both the captain and the knights?" asked Basuli.
"Yes. The captain had always had a soft spot for his family. He wanted to get his uncle back from their clutches too. He had stopped caring about his crew for a long time. You have no idea how adamantly he tried to keep his brother from executing the mission of killing that Blyth kid," said Darak.
"To be frank, this attack is a boon to our group of pirates. We can finally be free from the knights. A new chapter finally dawns upon us," said Darak with a smile as he patted his nephew on the back and left the armory.