Child of Crete

[custo'-benitez]

Custo found himself in a large food court. Other people were bustling around him, occasionally throwing him curious glances. The place had a buzzing atmosphere with conversation flowing back and forward like the tide. The majority of the tables were full but a few around the edges were empty, or only had a few occupants. There was also the smell of food wafting from one of the halls distant corners, with a crowd thronging around it, he guessed it was the serving area. He worked his way over through the increasingly think crowds towards the ever strong smells that were wafting towards him. He broke through to find a long queue spiralling back into the crowd. Custo sighed and fought his way back into the masses to find the end.

Half and hour later Custo had a steaming bowl of Soup in his hands, tomato? Proberly not. The real thing was expensive and hard to find. Proberly a imitation produced by the corrupt companies of the houses, or a bio-engineered fruit of the Zoner bio-domes. Either way he was goning eat it. He was too hungry to be picky. He sighted a table and made for it. As he sat down a shadow fell on him. It was Joez. He looked tired and out of breath.

Hermano Custo! I thought I told you to stay in your room! The Don Carlos wishes to meet you. He looked deploringly at Custo who shrugged.

I was hungry and went to find some food. There was nothing to eat in the room so I went to find this place. He picked up his spoon and tried the soup. It actually wasnt too bad. Tasted tomatoey, even had herbs mixed in Posh! Sorry if I caused you any trouble

Joez shook his head and seated himself at the table, sitting opposite Custo. Hermano, in future please dont wonder off without telling anyone. Its a nightmare tracking down anyone around here. Dont do it again, ok? Custo nodded shamefaced. Joez smiled reassuringly. Ah well, I guess you were hungry. Finish it off and Ill take you to the Don.

The pair had battled their way out of the food hall, and were now making their way down a warren of corridors and passages. Joez felt it necessary to inform Custo about Don Carlos and make him even more nervous.

Don Carlos owns this whole estate you know. He brought it with his ascent to his rightful post as Don of the Benitez familia and imperator of the Council of Elders. He holds huge amounts of political power and has the last word on any argument in the Familia. I myself have only seen him three times in the six years I have acted as a guard on the Benitez estates. As much physical power he holds on the battlefield he has thrice that on the shadowy battlefields of diplomacy and negotiation. He is a very busy man and it is a true honour to meet him.

Custo was nervous to the point he was on the verge of throwing up. He was going to meet the leader of his family, a vastly powerful man. He was little but a newly initiated child! What had he done to deserve a visit to the Don? Maybe it was something to do with the parents he had never known, or the way he conducted himself on his challenge? The crash landing had been pretty spectacular, but that was luck not skill that had allowed him to survive, so it wasnt that either. He didnt know, but he was sure he was going to find out soon enough.

Custo found himself following Joez up a steep corridor, heading for the surface again. He burst out into orangey natural light again instead of the harsher artificial light given out by the glow strips that lined the ceilings. He was in another plaza like the one he had run into after his arrival at the Benitez estates. It was a lot like the previous plaza, but decorated with a fountain with mosaic tiling around it. It seemed strange, like a picture from a postcard of a Mediterranean resort back in Sol. Before the Coalitionary wars anyway. There was another building, even more immense than anything Custo had seen before it. Joez caught the look of awe on Custo face and explained.

The complex you have just been wandering around in was the public area of the Benitez estates. The place where pilots from far abroad can come and rest which is open to the public. This, he said gesturing at the palace in front of them, is Don Carlos private residence. It dwarfs the public complex, and even that was huge. He pointed to a pair of huge blast hardened oak doors. The oak tree had grown on Earth and was known for its strength. It must have taken a huge sum of money to acquire the precious wood, after all it was only bio-engineered on certain Bretonian planets - namely Cambridge. They are where we are heading, come on lets go. He set off for the doors with Custo trotting along behind.

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[center]The blood of the Hispania runs in my veins, the blood of my enemies shall wet my hands.
Life story: From birth 'till death I serve the Corsair Empire

Flight log: Each day, the fight continues

Forum accounts: Jammi (main account), Fanatic (Xeno) and last but not least Custo' Benitez (Corsair)[/center]