Rikki walked toward them. “Plato sent me out here, all right.”
“I thought so.” Napoleon grinned.
“After you,” Rikki stated flatly.
Napoleon moved further into the clearing. “After us?” he pretended to be surprised. “Why? Did he think we couldn’t handle it by ourselves?”
Rikki stopped ten feet from Gamma Triad. “You know the reason I am here,” he said quietly.
“I do?”
“I will not play word games with you, Napoleon,” Rikki declared. “I will give you one chance, and one chance only, to recant and renounce your scheme to take over the Family.”
Napoleon, forsaking all subterfuge, smiled sardonically. “How damn decent of you.”
“I do it for Plato,” Rikki clarified.
“Does the old bastard think offering clemency will change anything?”
Napoleon angrily asked.
“He does,” Rikki nodded, then added, “but he doesn’t know how sick you are.”
“And if I tell yon to kiss my ass?” Napoleon snapped.
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi grinned. “Then I will kiss your ass.”
“You will?”
Rikki slowly drew the katana, the blade gleaming in the afternoon sun, and dropped the scabbard. “With this.”
“You’re forgetting one thing, bright boy,” Napoleon mocked him.
“What is that?”
Napoleon beamed confidently. “There’s three of us, and only one of you.”
“Uhhhhhh…” Spartacus interjected, glancing at Napoleon.
“What is it?” Napoleon prompted him.
“I have some news I don’t think you’re going to like,” Spartacus informed them.
“Like what?” Napoleon queried, keeping his eyes on Rikki. What other weapons did Rikki usually incorporate in his personal arsenal? Would any of them stand a chance against a shotgun?
Spartacus took a deep breath, girding his nerves. “There’s only two of you,” he corrected the count, “and one of him.”
Napoleon whirled on Spartacus, his face reddening. “What?” he bellowed, enraged.
“You heard me. Count me out,” Spartacus stated firmly. “I want no part of this.” He looked at Rikki. “I won’t help them, but I won’t help you either.
I owe them that much. We’ve been together too long. You understand, don’t you?”
“Perfectly,” Rikki responded.
Napoleon’s lips curled into a snarl. “Why, you yellow bastard!” He began to level the shotgun at Spartacus.
The broadsword was a blur as Spartacus whipped it from its scabbard.
He took four quick steps and pressed the tip of the blade against Napoleon’s jugular. “Don’t even twitch,” he threatened the Gamma leader, “or I’ll take your head off!”
Napoleon’s features were distorted by his unbridled fury. His mouth moved, but nothing came out.
“Lower the shotgun to the ground,” Spartacus directed. “Slowly! One false move, if you so much as blink, I’ll ram this through your neck!”
Napoleon complied, easing to a squatting position and setting the Browning on the grass.
“Now back off,” Spartacus ordered.
Napoleon rose and backed away about three feet.
“Far enough,” Spartacus told him. “And don’t touch that revolver!” He looked at Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. “That’s as even as I can make it.”
“I thank you,” Rikki said. “This is… unexpected.”
“You wouldn’t be so surprised if you knew I was the one who informed Plato about Napoleon’s plans,” Spartacus revealed.
“You? Plato said one of the Family overheard a conversation concerning the rebellion,” Rikki remarked.
“He made that up,” Spartacus explained. “I told him I didn’t want anyone to know it was me, under any circumstances.” He sighed and stared at Napoleon. “I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
“You traitor!” Napoleon roared, taking a menacing step toward Spartacus. “You lousy, stinking traitor! I thought I could trust you! After all the years we’ve spent as a team!”
“You’ve got your nerve, jackass!” Spartacus angrily retorted. “You’re the traitor here, not me! As usual, you’ve got everything butt backward.” The broadsword made small circles in the air as Spartacus glared at Napoleon.
“Did you really believe I would betray the Family, that I’d go against everything I was ever taught, against everyone who cares for me, my own family and friends, to feed your insane ambition? Did you really think I bought your stupid scheme? And Jenny! What kind of man do you think I am? I would never take a woman against her will. What good is a relationship without love? Didn’t you learn anything from your parents or in school?” Spartacus paused, sadly shaking his head. “Why bother! Everything I say goes in one ear and out the other.”
“You traitor!” Napoleon growled.
“See what I mean!” Spartacus said. “You made mistakes, Napoleon. You assumed I was as dissatisfied with the system at the Home as you are, and I’m not. I don’t have any beef with Plato. He’s a good Leader. I’m not an airhead, Napoleon, despite what you might believe.”
Rikki was viewing the proceedings with intent fascination. They seemed to have momentarily forgotten his presence. Napoleon’s face was an infuriated marble mask. Seiko, strangely enough, was calmly standing to one side, his arms folded across his chest. What was going through his mind? Rikki wondered.
Napoleon looked at Seiko. “Why are you just standing there? Don’t tell me you’re turning against me too?”
Seiko grinned. “Turning against you? Not exactly. But I will confess I wasn’t very keen on your takeover idea. I was going along with you for one reason, and one reason only. I never hid that fact from you. It really doesn’t interest me one way or the other as to who is in charge of the Family. There is only one thing I want out of this.” He deliberately stared at the katana in Rikki’s hands.
Rikki raised the sword to waist level. “Is this really that important to you?” he asked quietly.
“Let me ask you,” Seiko rejoined. “How would you have felt if you lost our match and I was awarded the katana? How would you have dealt with such a tremendous loss of face?”
To carry such a burden all this time! Rikki selected his words judiciously. “Can there be a loss of face between friends, between brothers, between fellow Warriors?”
Seiko’s brow furrowed thoughtfully.
“You know the Family has a huge firearms collection,” Rikki went on, “but our supply of certain other weapons is limited. We only own the one katana. You and I both wanted it. The Elders did what they thought wisest. If your loss bothered you, why didn’t you come to me afterward and tell me? I thought we were close when we were younger.”
Seiko gazed into the distance, frowning. “We were close,” he said in a husky voice.
“Then why allow Napoleon’s poison to taint you?” Rikki inquired.
Seiko raised his right hand and rubbed his palm against his forehead.
Rikki gestured with the katana toward Seiko. “If it means so much to you, my former and future friend, you may have this.”
Seiko’s astonishment at the offer was plainly visible. “You mean that?”
“I do,” Rikki affirmed. “If it will repair the rift between us, and bring you fully back into the fold, then I will relinquish the katana to you.”
“But I know how much the katana means to you,” Seiko objected. “It means as much to me.”
“Can a mere sword mean as much as a living, breathing brother in the Spirit?”
Seiko bowed his head. His voice was barely audible when he finally spoke. “I am shamed to my core, and I have brought dishonor to my name and my family.”
“Will you lighten up?” Spartacus interjected. “We all make dumb mistakes. Don’t make such a big deal out of it!”
Seiko looked at Rikki, his eyes mirroring his self-torment. “There is no apology adequate to equal the injustice I have done you. I will return to the Home and submit to whatever discipline the Elders decree.” So saying, he wheeled and departed, his head hanging low.