A Long Quest

Chapter 10: Silver and Gold

Draz 5000 walked around the ship hanger at Tikrez Castle. In the one room, the Zinkez 7546 enterprise sat there. Panels of metal were badly bent. The propeller was broken. It needed a new engine, a new landing gear, new boosters, and a new energy core. The tore open hull also had to be resealed.

All of a sudden, he saw one of his team about to work on the ship. "Dobaz 2348!" he shouted. "Not yet! This is a 4 million zemp job! We need to tell them first!"

Dobaz 2348 ignored him and began working, unscrewing various bolts with a machine screwdriver.

Draz 5000 shook his fist at him. "No! You can't!"

Five more of his crew members approached him, looking determined.

"Really?" one of them said. "We were all told that it was okay."

Draz 5000's face reddened. "I didn't give any such orders! All of you! Back to your posts!"

A sixth crew member wearing a hood came out of nowhere, and pointed at Draz 5000. The other five nodded. All of their hands began glowing red until flames emerged from them.

"Old guy!" he shouted, his hands beginning to glow red. "Help them work on the ship or we're going to burn you alive!

Draz 5000's face became pale and he shook his head in disbelief. "Who are you?"

The hooded crew member removed his hood, revealing wildly styled hair. A long strand of hair flowed to the left in a lavender color while another strand flowed to the right in a yellow color. Alternating strands of crimson and silver flowed down the middle. Both sides of his long hair were styled to resemble propeller blades. He wore a silver tunic with whirling patterns of lavender, yellow, and crimson around it.

All of the other crew members flashed, removing their disguises. They all wore tunics that matched their leader.

"I am Agzin 107868," he smirked. "The leader of the Silver Cell and your worst nightmare."

His henchmen all moved their flaming hands closer to Draz 5000, but Agzin 107868 shook his head.

"Not yet." He told them. "Let's see if the old man will build our ship or not."

Draz 5000 growled. "Your ship? It doesn't belong to you!"

Agzin 107868 shook his head. "That's where you're wrong. Everything that the Silver Cell claims belongs to the Silver Cell. Now, I'm going to give you a little deal. Give us 50,000,000 zemps and the ship is yours."

"But the ship doesn't belong—"

"Ah ah ah..." Agzin 107868 shook his head. "That's not the answer that I wanted to hear. The ship is ours until you buy it back from us. Since you're not willing to buy, help us repair the ship, or we're going to burn you to a crisp."

Draz 5000 picked up the radio. He was about to contact Pix 200 but Agzin 107868 blasted it with a powerful flame, melting the radio to a blob on the floor. He shook his fist at them. "Where's my crew?"

"Oh, they're safe." Agzin 107868 told him. "But we can't guarantee their safety. Help us and we'll consider sparing your crew."

Draz 5000 looked at the ship and sighed. "Go on! Let's fix it! You all are going to pay!"

Agzin 107868's hand reverted back to normal. "You're going to pay. 50,000,000 zemps or we're keeping the ship. That's Silver Cell rules. Got it?"

Draz 5000 reluctantly directed the henchmen around the ship, giving assignments on each area that needed repairs. Agzin 107868 carefully watched, guarding his ransom opportunity like it was his life.