Tondo’s Argument

Meanwhile, Barca put in an order for the tools needed to begin the settlement: spades and hoes for tilling fields; whetstones for sharpening knives; wooden vats for kneading dough; weaving looms, weights and spindles; sheep pelts and cattle hides, and so on. He sent the Lieutenant out to the Sage to retrieve several pieces of silver from the treasury as payment. A sailor ferried the Lieutenant and the captain out to the ship, and all three men climbed aboard. The watchman met them on deck.

“I don’t recognize you,” the captain said. “Who ordered you on watch?”

 “I’m…uh…stepping in,” the watchman replied.

“And why is that?”

“The regular watchmen were, uh, taken ill.”

The captain grunted his displeasure and started toward the hold, but the watchman blocked his path. “There’s…uh…unstable cargo below, sir. You should wait until it can be properly secured.”

“I’ll check it myself. Step aside.”

“I can’t let you do that,” the watchman insisted.

“How dare you deny me access to my ship? Step aside!”

Just then, they heard footsteps from below deck. The Lieutenant adjusted the dagger in his waistband and gave the ferryman a warning glance. From the dimly lit hold, Tondo appeared with two of his men carrying fists full of gold coins and jewelry.

“What’s this?” the captain demanded. He drew his dagger and leveled it at the thieves. The watchman took a step back and waved his knife, revealing himself to be one of Tondo’s pirates.

“Engage!” Tondo shouted.

The thieves dropped the booty with a clatter. Pearls and gemstones scattered across the deck as the men brandished their weapons. It was four against three, but Tondo and his scowling crew were no match for the Lieutenant, who wanted keenly to rid the Queen of this pesky nuisance. After a brief struggle, they managed to subdue the thieves. The captain hurried below and, finding his true sailors bound and gagged, released them and ordered them to shore, saying, “Bring Admiral Bitias immediately. Otherwise, tell no one what has happened here.”

A short time later, Admiral Bitias and Queen Elishat arrived on the Sage. Tondo was all the more irate for having been kept waiting in the midday sun.

“Here they are!” he shouted. “Greater thieves than I! Guilty of stealing treasure from the Temple of Melqart! Wait until your brother hears about this!”

“Oh, I’m quite sure he’s figured it out by now,” Elishat said.

“You admit it then!”

“Tondo, do you really think you’re the first man I have ever locked horns with? I spent my entire life in the shadow of a brother far more dangerous than you.”

“Yes, and as a result, you are a coward who refuses to engage in a war of honor.”

“What war? You’re dreaming, Tondo! Wake up! There is no winning against Tyre. Her defensive walls repel any army!”

“But you admit to stealing the temple treasure!”

“Call it what you will. My husband, now dead by my brother’s hand, made me keeper of the treasure.”

“Your husband—my father!”

“So you say.”

“What would Acerbas say? He would call you thief! Coward! Worse than Pumayyaton! Come on, Elishat! Don’t you see? Here is a moment of great potential! Together we have five ships and enough wealth to raise an army to free the city from a tyrant! Many people in Tyre would gladly join our ranks. We even have an admiral in Bitias and a general in Barca!”

“Tondo, accept that yours is a hopeless cause. The people you would recruit for your army have already escaped Tyre. They are here—with me! They are not cowards; neither are they an army. They are a community, daring to found a new settlement. Join us if you will, but cease your assault on us or you will suffer the consequences.”

 “You have no right to the temple treasure!” Tondo insisted, straining at the sailors’ grip. “Return it to the people of Tyre!”

“Is that what you were planning to do with it?” she replied. She pointed to the gold chains and gemstones scattered on the deck. “The temple treasure is not my revenge; it is my deliverance. Would these trinkets advance your mission? Go on, take them.”

“I will, gladly, even though they are not yours to give.”

“Remember this, Tondo: No matter how high and mighty either of us may wish to appear, we both live by the will of the gods. In the end, their justice will be served. Lieutenant, let them go.”

The Lieutenant hesitated. “Queen, with respect, there’s nothing more dangerous than a dog that retreats with his tail between his legs. Next time you encounter him, he’ll attack you for sure. Let me do away with him once and for all!”

“Admiral Bitias,” Elishat asked plainly, “can Tondo and his men overcome our ships?”

Bitias scoffed.

“Then, Lieutenant, let them go.”

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