Authors: Thomas Wright
"How do I
know there will be not treachery on your part?"
"Well, my
crew is seventy five percent Trillond females. If you don’t think you can
handle them, you shouldn’t be messin’ with me, you pansy ass." Ben was
certain the translators were having a great time trying to understand the slang
and swearing.
"It only
proves what I believe. The Emperor would not have given a ship to someone who
aligns with Trillond females."
"Believe
what you want. Are you coming or are you scared? Stop your ship and come in a
shuttle. We will stop and wait. If your ship moves, then so does ours."
Ben turned and
told Onak to cut the feed. E'Aria slammed into his back, staggering him.
"I am
going to kill you before he gets here. You never learn, do you? Always charging
in with one way to handle things." She pulled her side arm. Lorelei was
watching with amusement till that point.
"E'Aria!"
she yelled, getting her attention. "Put that away, you don’t want to be
firing that on the bridge and he has his damn armor on. It isn’t going to do
anything but bounce off and hurt someone else." E'Aria put her side arm
away then smiled and pulled her knife.
"Ben!"
Lorelei yelled at him this time. "Get off the bridge before she hurts one
of us trying to kill you."
"When they
stop their ship Lorelei, you stop the Claymore and open the hold doors.
"You would
be smart to run and jump when I open them. He is going to kill you when he gets
here. You are tough but you aren’t a hundred percent and you need to be a
hundred and fifty at least to beat an Allond hand to hand."
"Love you
too, just do what you’re told." He turned his back on a pissed off
princess with a knife and some crewmembers who didn’t really grasp what just
happened. Lorelei just laughed at his comment and watched to see what the
Allond would do.
****
The Senator had
been quiet for most of the trip. He would continue to be quiet and not attract
any attention to himself. He wrote a message and then entered a coded that
scrambled it. The only way to read it was to have the identical com device on
the receiving end.
The cloaked
ship was parked eight hundred thousand miles away from the Allond cruiser.
Sitting on the bridge was an identical device next to a leathery, four fingered
hand. The being picked it up and let it descramble the message. Its reply was a
lot shorter than the original message.
"One
will be available for show only twenty one of your cycles. It will do as it is
told but will have none if its skills developed. It will be enough to start the
destruction of his mind. Sixty cycles, both warrior and seductress assassins
will be ready."
A leathery
finger tapped a button, it scrambled and transmitted.
****
Ben stood in
the hold looking out into the black. He knew he may not survive and it was ok.
He knew losing to a formidable opponent would make the losing much easier and
he planned accordingly. He would give it everything he had, knowing it would
never be enough.
On the bridge,
E'Aria and Lorelei were arguing.
"We need
to run now while they are stopped and their Captain is in a shuttle.
"No,
listen E'Aria, for us it is a win-win. For Ben, not so much but he has done
some crazy things against crazy odds and come out on top. He needs to get this
out of his system now. If he doesn’t, when he gets to Allond, he will pick a
fight with the biggest, meanest bastard he can find and start a whole bunch of
trouble for the delegation and probably get killed. Leave Onak here to watch
the screens and if need be, get us out of here. The rest of us girls and boys
should all be armed to the teeth and down there in the hold. I don’t think you
Trillond girls should let that Allond dog talk about you that way."
E'Aria nodded
and said, "The shuttle will be here soon. Let's go greet them." Ben
was standing, waiting, not speaking to anyone. Grubb and Buddy were watching
him, not knowing what was about to happen. After some arguing, Natalia stayed
to guard the Prime Minister while Emily armed herself and joined the other
women. Ben never turned around as they filed in behind him but Buddy and Grubb
were impressed.
Lorelei
motioned for them. "We have company coming who have a piss poor attitude
when it comes to these ladies. Grab your weapons and join us."
"Aye
Ma'am," both chimed and quickly walked out.
The shuttle
landed smoothly and three Allond exited. Two males and a female, none of them
as tall as Captain Dakkon, but still an impressive seven to seven and a half
foot tall. E'Aria walked up and stood next to Ben. Her twin short swords across
her back and her rail pistol replacing the less lethal laser model. Making a
small hole in the hull was a small price to pay to keep her ship.
The three
advanced then stopped about six feet away. Ben thought that was a smart move;
just out of striking distance. They made a slow purposeful sweep of their eyes
taking in the armed crew who were doing their best to look angry. The captain
snorted as if to dismiss them and focused on Ben and E'Aria who decided to
speak first.
"Captain,
you obviously know who we are."
"I saw the
message you sent," he smirked. "You are an insignificant princess
from an insignificant empire. They will not arrive in time to prevent what is
about to happen."
"Ben
asked, "What is it you think is about to happen?"
"I am not
going to soil my hands with your blood so I brought my second officer and she
will kill you. I thought it fitting considering your crew, but she is not so
weak and pathetic as them. She is also a cousin to Captain Dakkon so this
should be amusing as the game continues."
"I think I
understand," Ben said. "You are playing politics. The emperor gave us
a ship and you want to take it away. You make the captain’s cousin fight me and
possibly kill me another slap in the face of the current monarchy."
"You show
some intelligence."
"And you
don’t." Ben interrupted him and shifted his weight. The second officer
reached for her side arm.
"Hold up,
don’t get excited," Ben growled at her. "I needed to shift my weight
to my good side. Why don’t we get on with this before I stiffen up and can’t
move?"
"That is a
excellent idea. What are the rules?" Ben pushed E'Aria hard back towards
the crew and continued the motion, kicking the captain with his good leg
pivoting on the injured. It was solid kick, unexpected and right in the knee
joint. His motion stopped. He planted both feet and jumped up, swinging a left
hook at the slit he thought was a ear. It connected with hard bone and
cartilage under the skin. The third Allond who hadn’t been introduced attacked
and Ben straight armed him with a surprise.
The crew
standing around watching were caught off guard and distracted by E'Aria who
pushed down on her ass right in front of them. Looking up they saw one, two and
then the third Allond fly back against the hull. The second officer still had
her hand resting on her sidearm but made no attempt to draw. She was a little
mesmerized about what was going on around her. She caught a movement outside
the ship and saw a second shuttle approaching.
Ben should have
never glanced at the female Allond, taking his eyes off the Captain. He took
the full force of the kick to his chest that set him five feet back on his ass.
He heard the whine of a number of weapons being powered up. Ben opted to stay
down and scored another kick to the same knee causing some pain this time. The
second Allond who had attacked had not got up off the deck.
E'Aria saw the
second shuttle maneuver into position and the door open. For a second, nothing
happened then three Allond jumped one after the other from their ship to the
open door of the Claymore, running inside. They wore no suits. A slight frost
that had formed on their skin melted a second later. The leader was the biggest
Allond she had seen, even taller than Captain Dakkon. His two companions had
their weapons out. Instead of pointing them at her crew, they took up position
by the first group and pointed their weapons at them.
From the floor,
Ben saw the giant and figured he was done. Then it got real, but not for him.
Looking at the captain, he could see fear and self preservation take over. He
started to step over Ben and run for his shuttle but Ben sat up and grabbed
onto a leg and hung on. Then he felt himself jerked in the other direction.
"Let
go," a deep voice rumbled. Ben obeyed and leaned back, getting a prime
seat and view. The Allond standing spitting distance away had to be eight foot
five or six. His fist struck the captain on the other side of his head and Ben
heard a crunch. It didn’t stop there. Two more followed the first then he threw
the captain to the deck next to the one Ben had knocked out. Blood dripped off
his fist and it wasn’t his. The second officer stepped in front of him, bent
down, and pulled him to his feet with little to no effort.
"Thank
you," Ben said and she just nodded and stepped back. "This one is
dead," Ben heard a soldier report to the giant in charge. Ben walked over
to the gym area, grabbed a towel and handed to the giant to clean off his
hands. It hurt to walk and he thought he had new bruises on top of his old
ones.
"You are
the one they call Reaper."
"Yes, but
I feel like Rubber would be a better name."
"As you
wish, Rubber. I am General Raza. Prime Minister Jinwasys sent us to assist you
and escort you part of the way, then Captain Dakkon will join you."
Ben was
smiling. This guy missed out on humor when they were handing it out.
"General, I apologize at my attempt at humor. Please call me Reaper or
Ben." The General maintained a straight face for a second then smiled,
sort of.
"It seemed
appropriate, the way you were bouncing off the deck."
"I bet it
did." Ben decided he would like this giant that punched his fist through
bone.
"You are a
brave but stupid human to take on three of our kind. Even these three are much
more powerful than you. Yet you managed to kill one and inflict some damage on
another. If the young female would have joined them, you would have lost your
life."
"Very
true, I am thankful she didn’t. I didn’t want to hurt the cousin of Captain
Dakkon. General, how well do you understand females?"
"About as
much as any military man. Why?"
"Do you
see the Trillond female with the twin swords on her back? Does she look angry
to you?"
"I would
say yes, her skin is much darker and her eyes redder than the other Trillond
females."
"She is
the Princess E'Aria Aok and Captain of this ship. Maybe I could introduce you
and slip away."
"I had
heard you were brave."
"Did they
also mention intelligent, smart? Pick your battles General. You should know
that."
"Agreed.
Let me address the second officer first." He turned to the female who had
watched and listened quietly to them.
"Second
Officer Dakkon, you are now acting Captain. Return to your ship and bring it
into formation. The first officer has been removed to my ship and will face
charges on our return. The Emperor will make your appointment permanent and you
will receive a new posting. Your father is very proud of you." She bowed
to the General who motioned to one of his soldiers to go with her. Thirty
seconds later, they were gone."
"Who is
her father?" Ben asked. The General smiled.
"You will
find out if they want you to know. Now take me to your Captain." E'Aria
was a step ahead of Ben.
"Captain
E'Aria Aok meet General Raza."
"General."
E'Aria bowed. The General bowed in return.
"Captain."
His voice a low rumble.
"You take
your helmet off and look at me," E'Aria ordered and the crew began to
gather around him. Ben unbuckled and removed it, his long hair hanging a little
wild. "Now the armor." Four sets of hands started removing his armor
as he just looked at them. The General stood watching, amused. They stripped
him down to his thermals.
"You are
confined to quarters for the duration until we reach Allond."
"But
E'Aria wait…" Someone pulled down his thermals and he felt a pinch.
"Shit! What did you do?" He saw Binda walking away smiling, holding
the medical injection gun.
"Go to
your quarters!" E'Aria ordered. "Grubb, you and Buddy help him and
lock him in." Ben walked away, bare feet on the cold metal deck. He could
feel the drugs beginning to work. He also felt himself getting angry, he just
couldn’t decide whose fault it was. They arrived at his new quarters and the
door slid open. Grubb gripped his arm, not letting go.
"The next
time ya feel like you wanna kill yourself, jest let me know. I’ll open the hold
and you can take a stroll right out the back. I like the Captain and her crew.
They are good people and you endangering all of us like that is wrong."
"You finished? Yes, you are
finished. Get your hands off me," Ben said, feeling very unfriendly.
E'Aria, Prime
Minister Aok, and Senator Sims entertained General Raza for a couple of hours
and all the ships were brought into formation around the Claymore. They spoke
of the upcoming summit. The two attendees wanted to know more about the other
races who would be in attendance. The general would not be a general if he knew
nothing of politics. He sidestepped as many questions as he could. The only
time he seemed to be interested was when they told him of what happened on
Hyson days before and Andrea's death.
They toured the
ship, meeting everyone at their stations and Onak asked the General an
interesting question.
"General
Raza, do the Allond have any ships with the ability to cloak or hide
itself?"
The General
asked, "Tell me what you have seen." E'Aria looked at Onak and
nodded.
"On a few
occasions, I have seen a disturbance, usually at the very edge of our scanner
range. The first time it seemed it could be anything and it was quite some
distance away. I hadn’t seen it again until we stopped. I was here watching the
scanners the whole time because we feared the Allond captain was trying to
deceive us. I saw it again briefly, then it disappeared." The General got
a faraway look in his eyes.
"I have
heard rumors about a large, cloaked ship. It has managed to elude our best
captains, always staying far enough away to escape long before a ship can reach
it. I will pass the information on to all the captains and Captain
Dakkon."
E'Aria could
tell he wasn’t telling everything he knew but she would not push the issue. She
did not feel they were in any danger in the middle of an escort of warships.
Ben woke up
nine hours after he was escorted to his quarters. The ship was quiet. He made
his way to the mess and found it empty, so he decided to go to his makeshift
gym and stretch. He wanted to exercise and work out some soreness. Binda and
Elanac were exercising and talking. He didn’t pay attention to them. Binda had
given him that damn shot and part of him knew it was for his own good for a
number of reasons. It didn’t stop him from giving her a dirty look; his
thoughts written all over his face.
He closed his
eyes so he wouldn’t have to look at her and started stretching. Sitting on his
butt, legs stretched out in a V, he began reaching for his toes. Fifteen
minutes later, he changed position. This went on for a hour then he went back
to his quarters. He felt a fraction better until he opened the door.
"What part
of confined to quarters do you not understand?" E'Aria asked.
"All I did
was some stretching. I didn’t have any contact with anyone. I came straight
back. Did someone tell you different?"
"No,
surprisingly. You need to stay in your quarters. You need to grieve, but not
feel sorry for yourself. Natalia needs you, I need you. You may think we are
safe but we are not."
"What are
you talking about? We are in the middle of four warships and I think they are
our friends."
"Don’t be
so short sighted. This second, we are or should be safe but we will reach the
heart of the empire in a short time. Then we need to watch our backs."
"I am sure
we will be fine."
"Sit down
and listen to me. First, the captain that General Raza killed knew a lot more
than he was telling. Second, we are really nothing more to them than a
curiosity, I don’t think friend applies, but I believe that there is a bond of
respect between you and Captain Dakkon. Third, your species is young; while
your ancestors were striking stones together to make fire, the Allond were
already ancient. There are factions within factions and spies everywhere. Those
who oppose the Emperor wouldn’t hesitate to have us killed and blame it on
someone else to make the Emperor and his people look bad. This maybe a peace
summit but it is also a huge opportunity for the Emperor’s enemies."
"So what
you are saying is stay on my toes, shoot first and ask questions later."
"No! Are
you out of your mind?" she said exasperated.
"Yes,
E'Aria. I am. Now get out of my quarters." E'Aria sighed.
"I
sometimes wonder what we saw in you." She knew she was being harsh and
knew how much she cared for him.
"Don’t know,
don’t care. If I can't leave my quarters, then have someone bring me some
food." Ben knew he was being an ass and didn’t care.
"We are
approaching a small system of planets and stopping to pick up the governor.
General Raza informed me we could be here for a couple of days or we could go
on our own. We are ahead of schedule so I think we will stop and give everyone
a chance to get off the ship."
"Ok, why
are you telling me? I am confined to quarters."
"Because I
thought you might want a change of scenery. No armor, no weapons, just take in
a culture you are not at war with"
"I will
think about it."
"Either
way, I am assigning a guard for you. I think it would make that person happy if
you went along with us."
"Who would
that be?"
"Me! More
than likely."
"I’ll let
you know." He smiled, giving the impression he would drag out that
decision till the last second.
"I am
requesting permission to take the Claymore planet side. The general is going to
join us with a small group of his officers. We will stay at a small villa owned
by the governor. It should be nice." E'Aria tried for a lighter tone. Ben
said nothing. She hoped he would come around. It was still only just a few days
since they lost Andrea but they weren’t the enemy.
****
Aisling sat in
her state room reviewing star charts, looking for a place they could hole up
where the crew could get a little R and R. She thought about the three hours
she spent with Andrea's team telling and retelling stories that got taller as
her whiskey supply grew smaller. She would have to research to see if the
Trillond had any spirits she could replace hers with. Her officers were due to
arrive any moment.
Aisling heard
the door chime and all five of her chiefs came in at once. Four officers and
one enlisted. XO Holmes, Chief Medical Mathews, Chief Engineer Miller,
Lieutenant Jared marine detachment, and Sergeant Major Kim in his new role as
Chief of the Ship. It was probably her best decision she ever made under the
influence of Irish Whiskey.
****
Aisling's
first decision was to integrate Andrea's team in with the rest. Gunny went to
the Marine detachment along with Ronnie and Genius. He put Snake with the
Master at Arms and his crew at the brig. Told him she wanted to keep him close
to home. Snake would handle any issues with the marine detachment.
"It has
been a week since we left our home system. These are the locations I have found
to provide us with the basics we need. My plan is not to stay at any one place
too long. I am sure our pursuers will find a place to enter Trillond space and
come looking for us if they haven’t already. Once we have explored these
locations, I say we move deeper into the empire. There will come a time when we
need supplies and fuel. It is my thought to provide an escort service to ships
or convoys in exchange for the things we need. We could also check for bounties
on pirates which we could collect and then confiscate anything we can use from
them."
Dr. Mathews
asked, "This is only a temporary measure till we can return to our home
system."
"Yes,"
Aisling replied. "Unless it becomes permanent."
"What does
that mean?" Dr. Mathews asked.
"Don’t be
dense Doctor. The circumstances we find ourselves in may take some time to be
corrected. It has occurred to me that there would be some who wished they had
got off back at Anubis. I am hoping all of you stay but I won’t force anyone. I
also am not going back so any departure will be to a Trillond planet of my
choosing. Most likely whatever is closest to us at the time. That will be
the last time I will make the offer."
"It sounds
like a start, Captain," XO Holmes commented. "Do we have a long-term
objective in our new mercenary bounty hunter role?"
"I am
hoping to do some exploring, possibly Allond space if negotiations work out at
the summit as well as more of the Trillond Empire. Both are truly massive
compared to our little alliance. XO we need to inventory everything as if we
had to stay on the Warhammer for months. Research armament and arms, medical
supplies, food, water and fuel. I plan on evading not engaging unless we are
hunting, but. . .shit happens."
XO Holmes said,
"I will have an inventory to you at shift change tomorrow with
alternatives attached to use for replenishment."
"Any
questions, gentlemen?"
****
The Claymore
landed in the private section of the space port reserved for dignitaries.
Everyone had packed and was ready to go. They really hadn’t been in space that long
but it was clear everyone was a little on edge. All of the new crew were
uncomfortable around Ben regardless of how calm they tried to act. Binda was
the most comfortable but she was career Trillond military and the oldest of the
crew on loan.
General Raza
was irritated the Governor was not on hand at the space port to greet them.
E'Aria got the feeling he would address it with the governor at some point. It
was a reflection on the Emperor when one of his governors failed in their
diplomatic duties. A Princess and Prime Minister of a friendly neighboring
empire as well as the Senator from the Colonial Alliance and he himself were
pretty damn important.
Ben opted to
stay on the Claymore. He convinced E'Aria to go and promised not to cause any
trouble. If he decided to leave the ship he would contact her.
They arrived at
the villa which was a third or fourth home belonging to the governor. The
governor himself was short for an Allond and chubby is the word E'Aria thought
applied after seeing him. Governor Emzez Choz had chosen Lotham as his capital
planet. It seemed to be a good choice. The climate was not oppressive, nor was
it over populated. It was settled by the Allond but other races had come to
call it home.
The governor’s
oldest son greeted everyone when they arrived. He was somewhat nervous but
E'Aria thought he handled everything well, except for the General, who was
determined to get to the heart of the matter.
"My
apologies, General Raza. My father meant no insult. There is a child missing
and he is concentrating his energy and focus on its safe return."
"Is your
father out searching for the child?"
"No sir,
he is in his council room."
"Then your
excuse has no validity. He could have performed his duties instead of sitting
on his fat ass. I know your father, young one, and I am sure one of his
mistresses has misplaced their bastard child and she is pressuring him to make
every effort to locate it.
The governor’s
son hung his head and the General knew he hit the nail on the head. "Don’t
blame yourself. You have done nothing wrong. See to the comfort of your guests
and I will have words with the governor."
Two hours
later, it was time for dinner and they had not seen or heard from the governor
or the general. His son was handling it all like a trooper and mood was light.
He ran the household as it was but never had his father acted this way. They
had all heard what was said earlier and did their best to help him.
The General
joined them about ten minutes after the start of dinner.
"He is
stubborn and embarrassed so I doubt he will be joining us for dinner or the
continuing to Allond with us. I believe he will be relieved of his post
shortly."
The governor’s
son stared at the table fearing he would have to look at his guests. So many
thoughts and dreams circling the drain in his head. When he did look up, he was
angry. He asked to be excused and walked out of the dining room.
"Princess,
do you think your grieving friend would want to leave the ship and assist in
the search for the child?"
"General,
there was a time when I could tell you to count on it but now I am not
sure."
Natalia said,
"I will speak to him if you would make arrangements for a ride to the ship
and have them wait for us."
Alona looked at
Natalia. "That is a very sound idea Natalia."
Natalia
replied. "Thank you, Madame Prime Minister." She stood and bowed from
the waist. "I have been studying," a big smile on her face.
Alona said,
"The Princess could not have done it any better," taking a poke at
E'Aria for fun.
The General
tapped his com and a soldier arrived a minute later.
"Take Natalia to the
Claymore and wait. She should be returning with Benjamin. If it turns into
anything else, call us before you do anything.