Outlander Ch. 01

He gaped in confusion as he stared around the room. It seemed to be a tavern but it was unlike any tavern he had ever seen. The wood-planked floor was covered in straw, and a haze of smoke hung in the air from the fire that burned in a rock fireplace halfway down the wall to Jack's left. There was a dais in the back of the room and two men stood on it playing the music that filled the air using instruments Jack had never seen before.

One of the musicians played something similar to a guitar except it only had three strings and the back was rounded like a gourd. Another played a horn like instrument but it split in the middle and had two flared mouths instead of one, and it had holes along the top that the musician covered with his fingers as he played.

The patrons themselves were a rustic looking bunch, wearing rough-looking clothes of wool in hues of browns, grays, and greens. Many of them smoked a variety of pipes as they went about their eating and drinking, adding to the smoky haze that drifted above their heads.

The man playing the guitar-like instrument saw Jack standing there and stopped playing. His partner on the horn trailed off as well, looked at his companion, and then followed his line of sight to Jack. The other patrons looked up from their food and drink and stared curiously at the musicians.

Jack jerked, startled, when the door behind him swung shut with a loud thud. Every eye in the room turned to him. Silence filled the air as they stared at Jack and he stared back. 'What the fuck,' he thought as several of the men's hands darted to the hilts of the swords that hung at their sides. Until then, Jack had failed to notice the assortment of knives and swords that the patrons wore at their hips.

'What the hell is going on here,' he thought. He realized that some of the strange tavern patrons were staring at him with looks of fear on their faces while others looked almost joyous. The unnatural silence seemed to stretch on until, finally a man stood, his chair screeching loudly in the silence as he pushed it back from the table where he sat.

Jack studied the man as he approached. He appeared to be in his late forties or maybe early fifties with long black hair streaked with gray. He wore a smile, but it looked out of place on his weathered face. He was a few inches taller than Jack and wore a tunic of brown wool laced in the front half way down his chest with leather thongs. He was thin but had an air of strength about him. He held his hands in front of him soothingly as though approaching a skittish animal, keeping them well away from the sword that hung at his side.

"Forgive us," he said. "It has been a long time since an outlander has come through that door." His voice had an accent that Jack didn't recognize. It had a lilting almost lyrical sound to it as though the man were singing the words rather than speaking them.

"What is going on here?" Jack asked. He felt a hell of a lot more sober than he had a few minutes ago. "Who are you?"

"I am sorry," the man said, "I am being rude. My name is Garek. Will you please join me at my table for a drink?" Garek gestured back at the table he had just come from.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Jack said glancing around nervously.

"You are among friends here, outlander," Garek said reassuringly. "I promise no harm will befall you."

"I can't stay," Jack said, "I have to get home to my..." Jack trailed off. What did he have to get home to? A cheating wife? A house full of lies and deception? A life of pain?

Garek looked at him with concern. "Outlander, you look like a man that could use a drink," he said.

"Jack; My name is Jack Forester," Jack said woodenly.

"Very well, Jack Forester. I would be honored if you would join me."

'Fuck it,' Jack thought. 'I have nowhere else to be.' He nodded his head and walked to Garek's table. He didn't see Garek nod at the two men standing near the fireplace, didn't notice the men silently move to block the door through which Jack had come.

As if released from a spell, the other patrons of the tavern returned to their drinking when Jack sat at Garek's table. The musicians began playing again and except for an occasional glance Jack's way the tavern's patrons seemed to return to normal. If there was a feeling of nervousness around the room, the alcohol in Jack's blood stream kept him from noticing it.

As Jack sat down he saw another man sitting at the table. He was of an age with Garek, but where Garek's hair was dark his was fair, and he had a scar that ran from his forehead under a black eye patch and down his cheek. The scar pulled up the corner of his mouth in a rictus of a half smile. His piercing blue eyes regarded Jack coldly. 'This is a dangerous man,' Jack thought.

Garek sat in the chair across from Jack, next to the dangerous-looking man. "Jack, this is Ithos. Ithos is my first mate," he said.

Ithos nodded to Jack. "Outlander," he said in a gruff, raspy voice.

"You will find that Ithos is a man of few words, but there is no one better to have at your back in a fight," Garek said, casting a fond look at his grizzled companion.

Ithos harrumphed. "Twenty years ago, maybe," he said casting a baleful look at Garek.

Garek broke into a hearty laugh, and Ithos turned to his drink looking affronted.

Jack was seriously beginning to doubt his sanity and wondered if he hadn't hit his head when he fell in the alley. The thought occurred to him that maybe he was still laying in the garbage unconscious, and was having a vivid dream. He dismissed the thought almost immediately, this felt entirely too real to be a dream. It was surreal, but definitely real. Still, he needed answers. "Garek," he began and then stopped, alarmed, when Ithos head snapped up.

"That's Captain Liaman to you," he barked.

Garek laid a hand on Ithos's arm. "Easy, old friend," he said. "He doesn't know."

"I meant no offence," Jack said casting a wary glance at Ithos. "I was just wondering, what is this place and who are you people? Is this some kind of historical group? I mean, the swords, the clothes, what are you people doing here?"

Garek leaned back and steepled his hands in front of him. He studied Jack as he formulated his response. The outlander seemed to be a man deeply troubled. Something in his eyes spoke of pain and loss. He looked soft and chubby to Garek, weak. Would this man have the strength to face what lay ahead? Could this man really be the one to stop the Karokai from enslaving them all?

'What do I say to him?' he thought. 'I can't tell him the truth, not yet.'

Jack felt the urge to fidget as he waited for Garek to speak. He felt like he was being weighed and measured under Garek's intense gaze. He was grateful when the young serving woman arrived at their table with a drink for him. Her hands were shaking as she sat the clay cup full of dark amber liquid in front of him. He glanced up at her and she squeaked fearfully and scampered back toward the bar.

"What do you have to go back to?" Garek asked, drawing Jack's attention away from the strange behavior of the serving girl.

"What?" Jack asked, surprised at the question.

"You said you needed to get back to something," he said, "What is it?"

It seemed like such a simple question, but the answer was anything but. He took a drink from the cup the serving girl had placed in front of him to give himself a moment to think. The amber liquid warmed him as it made its way to his stomach. It was some kind of beer that he had never tasted before but the flavor was complex and rich. 'Probably an import,' he thought. The infusion of fresh alcohol seemed to remind his brain that he was drunk, and a wave of dizziness hit him, causing the room to slowly spin. He struggled to come up with an answer to Garek's question.

Suddenly an image of Barbara sucking the cum from Roger's spewing cock flashed in Jack's mind, and the pain of her betrayal slammed into him. His face momentarily twisted in agony before he mastered himself, but Garek saw his brief loss of control.

"Nothing," Jack croaked, cleared his throat, and then said more clearly, "I have nothing to go back to." He raised the cup to his lips again and drank deeply.

This was the moment, and Garek knew that what he said next and the outlander's response would determine whether Jack Forester came with him willingly or unwillingly, but one way or the other there would be no going back for the outlander. All their hopes hinged upon him and when Garek and his crew sailed away the outlander would be on board. Too much was at stake to entertain any other possibility.

"It sounds to me that you are a man in need of a new beginning. How would you like to join my crew?" he asked casually, as though it didn't matter to him one way or the other.

"Your crew?" Jack asked, surprised. "Your friend said you were a captain. Do you have a boat?"

"I am the captain of the merchant vessel Arabella. She's a modest ship but sails as true as any ship on the seas," Garek said, and even through his drunken haze, Jack could see the pride Garek had in his ship.

The offer stunned Jack. Could he accept? He imagined having to explain to his friends and coworkers why he would be getting a divorce. He imagined the humiliation he would have to endure, the whispers behind his back and the looks of pity he would receive. Anything would be better than that. "Are you serious?" he asked.

"Of course," Garek replied.

"What would I do? I have no experience working on boats, though I have worked shipping and receiving. I'm good with inventory."

"That's perfect," Garek said, "I have need of a cargo officer. We are a merchant vessel after all."

Jack was tempted to accept. He may not have consciously realized that he had been searching for an escape from the hopelessness that had engulfed his life, but that was exactly what Garek was offering him. His offer was an escape from the platitudes his friends would offer, an escape from the divorce attorneys, an escape from having to face Barbara again, but most of all it was an escape from who he had been, a dupe, a laughingstock, a fool.

"I accept," Jack said and relief washed over him. Barbara could have it all. None of their possessions meant anything to him anymore.

A broad smile split Garek's face. "Splendid," he said and shook Jack's hand. "Barmaid, more drinks!"

They drank deep into the night, and Jack lost himself in the celebratory mood that the tavern seemed to take on as the evening progressed. Tables were cleared and men and women took to the floor, dancing and spinning as the musicians played one lively tune after another. Jack even had a dance with the barmaid who had earlier seemed afraid of him.

The revelry continued, and at one point Jack found himself standing on the dais with Ithos singing a duet, though they seemed to be singing two completely different songs at the same time, neither of which had anything to do with the music that was being played. Jack was giving his best rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's famous ballad "Free Bird" and Ithos was singing something about a goodwife that was caught stealing a pig. Garek got so confused trying to keep time to the song that he lost his balance and fell to the straw covered floor, laughing the whole way down.

Eventually the musicians grew weary and stopped playing for the night. The tavern's customers staggered home one by one, leaving Jack, Garek, Ithos, and a few others nursing their drinks as they sat quietly before the fire that burned weakly in the fireplace. Jack's head slowly lowered until his forehead rested on the table. A moment later, he began to snore.

Garek and Ithos instantly dropped their drunken demeanor and exchanged relieved looks. "Damn, I thought he was never going to pass out. Kairn give us a hand," Garek said to one of the men that he had earlier sent to guard the door through which Jack had come. "Grelik, you get back to the Arabella and tell the crew we are coming, and trouble might be coming with us." The men, Kairn and Grelik, had stayed near the door all night in case the outlander tried to leave.

"Aye Captain," Grelik said before slipping out of the tavern's main door on the opposite end of the room from where Jack had entered. Kairn and Ithos hoisted the unconscious Jack between them while Garek moved to the tavern door.

"Listen up," he said to Ithos and Kairn, "Word of the outlander has probably spread like wildfire through the village by now. Stay sharp and if anyone approaches drop the outlander and draw your swords. Defend him at all costs. Understood?"

He waited until they nodded before turning to the barkeep. "Master Ulfes, please send a bird to the king, tell him that the seer's vision has been realized. Tell him an outlander has come through the portal, and I am bringing him as fast as I can."

He turned back to Ithos and Kairn. "Now, let's get to the ship," he said before he opened the door. With his hand on his sword hilt, he led the way as they plunged into the night.