Reaper Inc. (25 page)

Tazleaha
thought for a second. "So you believe I should wait before I chain him
naked to the floor in front of my throne?"

Win smiled at
the queen. "I didn’t say that! I do like the way you think, Queen
Tazleaha.

Ben looked to
Grubb for help, his eyes pleading. "Grubb, go get my ship and get me out
of here pronto."

"Sorry
boss, Tazleaha is taking good care of you and me and I see no reason to hurry back.
I am sure the floor won't be too cold if you lay in one place long
enough."

"What the
hell Grubb? You on a first name basis with her?"

"Yep."

"How many
of my friends are you planning on stealing away from me?"

"All of
them Benjamin. We will all be very good friends. Now I should see what the
doctors think. If you will excuse me, please."

A member of the crew arrived and
explained she was to see Ben to his new room. She brought some lightweight
clothing that was far too stylish for his tastes but decided to keep his mouth
shut just to get moving. Dressed, he said good bye to everyone except Grubb who
he ordered to come with him.

The quarters he
was provided were as nice as the huge apartment the Allond had given him, only
smaller. Grubb sat in a chair while Ben propped himself up on the bed.

"So what
have you heard? What is going on with the ship I was held captive on? What are
the other races doing now that all the excitement is over?

"There is
not a lot going on. There has been a round the clock workforce cleaning the
ark, that is what they call it. That is going to take weeks to months. The
controls and some of the rooms were locked out and a group of engineers from
all four races are trying to break the codes. They will be able to get underway
once they have access. There is a good sized group looking to come visit you
from our ship and the Alliance ship. The queen has the hots for you, and you
and I know there is a whole group in that category."

"Grubb, I
don’t want anyone to have the anything for me. I think it would be wrong and
most likely end bad with anyone I tried to have any relationship with. It's
just too soon."

Grubb laughed
then said, "She is different, but I will tell you she is trying to
understand our people, our sense of humor, how we live. Your Andrea was an
officer and used to being in charge, making decisions for her little group of
warriors. Tazleaha is in a league by herself, she probably rules hundreds of
star systems, no one tells her no and she is going to make you her bitch."

"Do you
have to laugh when you say shit like that?"

"Yes I do.
I think you would be a fool not to take her up on any offer she makes you.
Negotiate with her, tell her you need time. You can take your ship and crew and
build the business, find a war somewhere and jump in feet first. Take some time
to grieve and take care of your people. I think she will hold the spot open for
you."

"This is
even weirder than when I met Andrea."

"Yes for
you but for her, she has known of you since you fought her insect warriors on
the Morningstar. She has seen you through their eyes and while you slept, she
talked to your big damn spider. She told me about the arena and the fights
after that. She saw her three mantis give their lives so you and the spider
could gain your freedom."

"Yeah and
she read my mind at dinner that night. She ripped through my memories like a
hot knife through butter."

"Well, I
would say whatever you decided just don’t lie to her, she will know. She also
told me her spider doesn’t seem to be hers anymore and finds that very
interesting."

Ben said,
"I will have to work on that. She needs to return to her people. I just
don’t know what options are available. I need to find her a planet where she
can hunt and live until I come up with something better."

"You seem
to take in a lot of strays."

"You are
here, aren’t you!"

"Good
point, but I'm not going to eat you or try to screw you."

"Damn
straight you're not. Go visit with your new friend and keep your ears open. I
am going to go to sleep." Grubb left and walked back to the ship's medical
section. Everyone was gone so he asked a passing crewmember who directed him to
the dining area.

Ben lay in his
room, eyes closed thinking about everything that had happened lately and how
screwed up things really were in his life. He was angry with himself when he
thought he almost didn’t go looking for the governor's kid. He would never do
that again. If a child needed help he would do whatever he could to bring it to
safety. They were running from the Alliance military and that needed to stop.
Once they returned to Allond and worked things out, he would go to Athena and
start asking questions about the train wreck that killed his family and so many
others. He needed to invite General Gray over to the ship and have some
one-on-one time with him. He knew things even if he wasn’t involved. There
would be some unhappy people when he finished, maybe he would lose some of his
friends; it would test the bonds of friendship, that’s for sure.

Ben heard the door
to his room open but thought if he kept his eyes closed whoever it was would
think he was asleep. He heard the soft footsteps coming closer and decided to
try and frighten whoever it was, it would be funny. Ben didn’t move real fast
but it was unexpected to who approached him. Out of reflex, Ben batted the arm
away that was holding what looked like a gun.

                                   
****

Grubb found
everyone in the dining room. E'Aria had joined the group and was smiling at Dr.
Mathews and Nurse Tanaka. He could tell she missed them. Two crewmembers
brought multiple plates of food. The queen had ordered enough to start a small
buffet. Grubb picked up a of couple items off a plate that resembled finger
food to him. It was meat wrapped in a breading that had a sweet taste to it.

Grubb walked up
next to the queen. Some of her people tensed up to see the alien invade her
space so carelessly. To their amazement, nothing happened.

"Tazleaha,
do you mind if I take a plate of food to Ben? He still may be awake and would
probably enjoy a sampling from the table here." Grubb leaned back waiting
on her answer.

"That
sounds like a great idea. I think we should all take plate and go visit him. He
has guests he will probably want to see anyway." Grubb picked up another
plate and began filling it along with his own. He went on ahead to make sure
Ben was not blind-sided by everyone just walking in on him. He heard the queen
instruct everyone to fill a plate, grab a drink and follow her.

                                   
****

Ben held his
assailant's wrist keeping it pointed away from him. He pulled his legs using
his knee to pound away at its side. His room was still dark and Ben couldn’t
make out exactly who it was attacking him, but he knew what it was he was being
attacked with; an injector gun. His knee was having some effect judging by the
grunts he heard when it made contact.

The door opened
and light flooded in from outside. Ben heard Grubb saying "Wake up I
brought you some food and. . ." plates crashing to the floor. Grubb
tackled Ben's assailant to the floor. He had a hold of the wrist with the gun
with both hands until it pulled a knife from under its clothing. Ben recognized
the doctor's assistant but couldn’t figure out why he would attack him. He got up
off the bed going to help Grubb when two hands moved him out to the way from
behind. He heard more people at the door; the broken plates of food and noise
from the fight slowed their entry. There was a flash of blond hair, the queen
grabbed the assailant's head from behind with both hands and twisted. Ben knew
the sound of a neck being broken when he heard it, no lighting necessary.

E'Aria found
the lights, turning them on revealed Grubb on his back breathing heavily and a
dead Cjittan male lying on the floor with a knife in one hand and an injector
gun in the other.

"Grubb,
have you been wounded? Doctor, come here!" the queen ordered. The doctor
walked up cautiously, seeing his dead assistant on the floor. A group of
Cjittan soldiers were next to arrive. The one in charge stepped over the plates
of broken food and walked up to the queen.

"My queen,
what are your orders?"

"Remove
the body to storage and search his quarters. Check all transmissions in and out
on all equipment he has had access too. Inform me of your findings immediately.
Do you understand?"

"Yes, my
queen."

"Get
someone here immediately to clean this up and have more food and drink brought
here now!"

"Yes, my
queen."

"Where is
number one?"

"He rests.
I am on scheduled duty."

"Wake him
and send him to me here immediately. Do you understand, number two?"

"Yes, my
queen." Number two pointed at two of his men and they took the body with
them when they left. He had a number of things to do immediately. Ben hoped he
woke his boss up next, delegated the food to one of his men to take care of,
and turned the assistant's quarters upside down while searching through his
messages at the same time.

The cleanup
crew walked in his room after a few minutes. Ben had forgotten about that,
number two was on the ball. He would hate to have to work for her.

"Everyone
come in and sit. I am so sorry you had to witness that. I know that others may
have handled that in a different manner but I will not abide treachery. We have
come together for peace and none of mine will stand in its way."

E'Aria said,
"Normally I wouldn’t question anyone wanting to kill Benjamin but in this
case, Queen Tazleaha, I am curious. I don’t think he really had time to
irritate anyone on your ship enough to murder." Ben looked at E'Aria feeling
a little wounded. He leaned back on his bed and let them talk.

"I do not
believe we can blame Ben for this. I think in the end we will find the order
came from elsewhere in this ship. I will explain more later when the search
team returns with their findings and the picture becomes clearer."

Food came in
the door next. It smelled so good to Ben. Grubb began making two plates but the
queen took one from him saying something to him too soft to hear. He looked
around the room at everyone. The two Alliance officers were just sitting
picking at their food. His Cjittan doctor seemed a little subdued, not his
normal self. Ben wondered if the doctor thought the queen would think he was
involved. He didn’t know why the assistant tried to kill him but he didn’t think
the doctor had any knowledge of what was happening. Just a feeling.

Tazleaha sat on
the bed next to Ben and held the plate of food in her lap. "These are some
of my favorites. I would like you to try them and tell me which ones you
like." Ben reached for one of them and the queen slapped his hand away.
She picked it up and fed it to him. E'Aria watched and so did Win. Grubb
understood what was happening but the doctors paid no attention. The queen was
making a statement and it wasn’t subtle if you were a female in the room. To
E'Aria, Ben looked like her pet human; soon he would be doing tricks for her.

She mouthed
silently she was leaving to Win who nodded her desire to leave also.

"Queen
Tazleaha, thank you for your gracious hospitality. I need to get back to my
duties now. I will contact Ben later, with your permission of course. Dr.
Mathews, Nurse Tanaka, would you like a lift? I have my shuttle."

"Yes, that
would be great" Win said looking at Dr. Mathews who frowned then nodded seeing
the determination on the faces of the two women. Tazleaha ordered the guard
posted at the door to escort them to the shuttle. Grubb sat his plate down and
said he would be right back not slowing for an answer.

He caught up to
E'Aria and slipped his arm around her. She looked at him but said nothing.
"You know he loves you, right? Tazleaha is trying but it doesn’t mean she
will succeed at anything. He misses Andrea a lot. You know the dead guy who had
the ark cloned her? It was the clone who shot Ben then shot her maker in the
head. She could have just as easily shot Ben in the head but didn't. He knows
it wasn’t Andrea but still, it’s a little crazy for him as well as confusing.
You also know if he was on the Warhammer with the beautiful redhead, she would
be feeding him and pampering him right now. Just don’t go off half-cocked and
do something you'll regret like leave this shindig without me."

"I'll make
you no promises. If I leave, his ship will be here. It does belong to him. I
have a way home if I choose to go."

"Can you
tell Gus we are alive and hope to be occupying our favorite table soon?"

"No Grubb,
I said home meaning my home world."

"Oh I see.
. ."

They boarded the shuttle and
were gone thirty seconds later. Grubb walked back towards Ben's room. He hoped
E'Aria wouldn’t do anything rash.

Two days after
the attack Ben received a delivery from the Claymore. Lorelei brought his armor
and weapons to him and stayed about an hour. She was not herself as she rarely
looking Ben in the eyes as they sat and talked. When she decided to leave, she
hurried out of his room and was gone. It was strange behavior for her, that
much he did know.

The doctor came
and removed the bandages he had used to hold Ben's arm motionless while the
shoulder and collar bone healed. Ben was stiff but happy to have his arm back
again. He worked his arm slowly, rotating it in all directions until he could
feel pain. He made note of where his range stopped. Lifting straight up over
his head was not possible just yet but straight out he had almost complete
range from shoulder height down.

Lorelei had
packed him two clean thermals. Putting one on, he slipped into his armor. His
belt was fully stocked with extra power packs and ammunition. Katana, battle
axe, long knife, short knife and his rail pistol were all present, it felt like
Christmas. Ben heard a knock at his door.

"Come
in!" he yelled, never looking up from his inspection of his gear. Tazleaha
walked in carrying a bundle in her arms. It took him a second to figure out
what it was.

"I wasn’t
sure if you wanted this, if it would remind you of things you didn’t want to
remember." She unwrapped the dull, nicked up, poison-covered sword. They
had wrapped over the remnants from Silk’s clothes he had used with something
more protective, so as not to take any chances of getting the poison on their
skin.

"Thank
you, actually I do. I wouldn’t be here right now if I hadn’t had this and a few
friends."

"I am
going over to the ark to see how much progress Gormazan is making. I understand
he is about to break the code and gain control of the remaining systems. Would
you like to join me? I want to explain what happened the other night with the
member of my crew who attacked you on the ride over."

"Let me
guess. He was jealous. You used him and cast him aside for another lover blah,
blah. He thought he would just get rid of me before you took an interest."

"No! Do I
look like I would have such a weakling coward as a lover?"

"I don’t
know. You are pretty bossy. He would have been perfect for you to order around
and have lay at your feet, naked and chained to the floor."

"Ah I see,
so you remember that. If I wanted you chained at my feet, Benjamin, you would
already feel the chafe of the shackles on your wrists. Will you refrain from
talking and let me explain?"

"Sure! Go
right ahead, knock yourself out!"

"I do
believe you are feeling better. As queen without a mate, I have suitors. They
are not lovers. It is more political than that. There are not many of my
people. Our breeding and birthing has slowed and the death rate among my people
has climbed higher. The suitors come from the most powerful families."

"Our
history had a similar path but we changed it as the people tired of the
monarchies, kings and queens, such as yourself." She ignored his comment.

"The
doctor's assistant was the youngest son and brother of the suitor who is the
most popular with the people. Being the youngest, he had no title and had to
find his own way in our society. His family petitioned me to employ him and I
did, but after our search, it is now a fact that he was spying on me and
reporting to his brother. The last entries were about you and his suspicions,
then an order from the family for him to eliminate you."

"Great,
let me guess. Now that you killed him, his family wants revenge or justice or
some other archaic nonsense."

"I believe
you have the right of it."

Ben looked at
her. "I don’t want to fight anyone. I want to go to Allond and get Natalia
and Emily and go home. I have paid in blood and family already for a peace that
I still don’t know will happen. Really, I am done. I need to go home and
prepare to fight your warriors when they come."

"I see. I
believe we have many things to discuss to put your mind at ease. Let me just
say that Emperor Xamand and I have been drafting peace accords during our time
here waiting, and will share them with Prime Minister Aok on our return. She is
speaking for the whole Alliance currently."

"That is
good news. I hope it all works out for everyone."

"You have
a part to play. You do not get to hide behind the crowd."

"Tazleaha,
you know I have no experience in things like this. I don’t want the fate of my
race on my shoulders. Alona will do much better and I trust her."

"Yes, but
there are things that Alona does not know anything about and she will need
guidance."

"E'Aria
can help her."

"E'Aria
cannot help her and do not rely on her as she will not be present. She has left
for Trillond, most of the crew they loaned you has gone with her. One is
staying with Lorelei and the others from Anubis."

Ben stopped
walking and stood dumbfounded. It explained Lorelei's behavior but not why
E'Aria couldn’t tell him herself. Tazleaha stopped and waited, watching him.

"Ben, she
left yesterday."

Ben couldn’t
settle on one emotion, there were too many with sadness and anger fighting to
get control. "Let's go. We are keeping Gormazan waiting." Ben didn’t
talk for the rest of the trip to the Ark. Seeing it for the first time from the
outside, he could see how truly massive it was. Tazleaha didn’t ask him any
questions or give him any more information. He needed to process what he had
just learned.

The shuttle
landed and Gormazan met them; he had a crowd in tow. Tazleaha had invited the Allond
to join them as well as the Alliance officers; no species had ever set foot
inside a Cjittan Ark by invitation. Even the master had never let any outsider
in the laboratory or birthing areas of the ship. To Tazleaha, this was a show
of good faith towards peace.

Ben saw the
flowing locks of auburn hair and the emerald green eyes of Captain Aisling
O'Shaughnessy staring at him. She stood stone-faced as Emperor Xamand made
introductions. She had Dr. Mathews and Nurse Tanaka as well as Sergeant Major
Kim in her group. The whole group seemed standoffish; it was surely a day of
surprises when it came to his friends. He saw Harry standing away from everyone
looking cleaner and groomed. The hair around his face had been trimmed. Ben
could see he looked very human and not ape-like at all. Ben walked away, not
speaking to anyone. He stopped about two feet in front of Harry and looked up
into his eyes. The craziness seemed to be gone replaced by soft, sad, brown
eyes.

"Are you
and I ok? I know we had to do what we had to do and I have no hard feelings I
just need to know if you do."

"My issues
are not with you, little pale man. One day I will return to my home world and
those who took me in the night and sold me will pay dearly."

"Do you
know who did this to you?"

"Yes, they
made sure I knew who they were as they gloated and laughed. They took my young
and my mate. If they live I do not know, but I will avenge them."

"Hang
around, I have some unfinished things to do myself then maybe I can help you. I
have a ship and in return, you can come with me and return the favor."

The crowd began
moving like a group of tourists at a museum. They looked around and talked
amongst themselves. Ben and Harry walked silently, twenty feet behind them.
They could work their fingers to the bone cleaning but, like blood on your
hands, you can scrub and scrub and they will never come clean.

Tazleaha looked
back occasionally to make sure Ben and Harry were still following them. The
look wasn’t lost on most of the others. Ben watched, no one else looked back
for the whole walk. Everything was coming undone. He decided he would confront
them before they left the ark if something didn’t change. They came to a large
lift and were all herded in. They went down one level and exited. Harry and Ben
looked around; this level looked nothing like what they had experienced on
board the ark.

An android
approached from another intersecting hallway. Ben and Harry went on alert. It
stopped in front of Tazleaha, she spoke and it turned, leading them down the
corridor. The tension eased out of Ben. They must have reprogrammed them or he
sure as hell hoped so. The android stopped at a door, entered a code and moved
out of the way as the group entered the room. When Ben and Harry got to the
door, it stepped in front of them blocking their entry.

Ben stopped and
took a step back. The creepy, faceless android just stood. "What! You
remember me? If that’s the case, you better move or there won’t be enough of
you to put back together asshole." Ben was about to shove a knife under
its chin when Harry grabbed the android with all four arms and threw it against
the steel corridor wall behind them. There was a huge dent in the shiny metal.
Ben walked through the door smiling for the first time in weeks. They faced a
stunned crowd. Gormazan walked up to him, not feeling as good about what just
happened as Ben did.

"You
damage the queen's property!"

"Do you
want to be next? I don’t think you will sound the same when you hit the wall,
more like a splat!"

"Do you
threaten me?" Gormazan growled.

"Are you
standing in my way? What's wrong with all you freaks today? Your android was
not going to let us in the room. You need to check its programming." Ben
saw Tazleaha approaching, looking unhappy. "Your boss is here."

Tazleaha looked
at them both; her displeasure equally bestowed not saying a word for a few long
seconds. She turned her attention on Gormazan. "Get that cleaned up and
find out why it acted against its programming." She turned and walked
away, not saying anything to Ben. Harry was smiling when Ben looked up at him.

"What are
you smiling about?"

"You live
dangerously, my friend."

"You are
the one who smashed her toy into the wall. I got the blame. How does that
work?"

"You have
much to learn about females."

A number of startled
gasps and quick conversations got their attention. The group, all standing
around one of the clear tanks filled with green liquid, seemed very agitated.
They glanced back at Ben while they continued their hushed conversations. Ben
led Harry in their direction.

Tazleaha met
him, blocking his way. "Ben, you need to leave this room. I am sorry, I
didn’t know."

"Didn’t
know what? What don’t you want me to see? I was prisoner here remember, I saw
all kinds of things that were just wrong. This is the third time in five
minutes someone has stood in my way, now move!" Everyone tensed up as Ben
yelled. Tazleaha moved and stood by Harry. Ben walked towards the tank and the
crowd parted and moved back. Ben stopped and stared for a second then walked
forward to the glass-like tank.

She floated in
the solution, hoses connected to the mask covering her nose and mouth. Ben
recognized the setup from his experience on Tazleaha's ship. She wasn’t being
held by the mechanical arms her body, just floated, natural like. It made sense
to Ben. She had been born there and had never walked in the grass barefoot or
breathed the fresh air after a spring rain. The other Andrea he called Blue
Eyes was mixed DNA but this Andrea looked perfect.

The crowd was
silent behind him, all captivated by his reaction. Harry walked up and stood
closer to Ben than everybody else but sensed it best not to stand next to him.
Ben took out his combat knife and tapped on the tank with the pointed glass
breaker on the pommel. He tapped again and her eyes fluttered. Ben waited, then
tapped a third time.

The eyes were
just as beautiful as he could remember when they finally opened. He slid his
knife back in the sheath. She seemed a little panicked at first then Ben placed
his hand on the glass, fingers spread and waited. She kicked her legs and moved
next to the glass and put her open hand in the same spot as Ben’s fingers and
lined up. She studied him, cocking her head sideways like a dog might do. Ben
felt something warm inside him. Could he. . .

Ben never
finished the thought. The Andrea in the tank blinked and the blue eyes changed
to beautiful blue cat eyes. She blinked again and they changed back. The warm
feeling disappeared and he slowly moved his hand away moving around the
circular tank, his eyes no longer on the occupant but on all his surroundings.

Ben saw the
next tank and couldn’t believe its occupant. A copy of Senator Sims floated in
the same way as Andrea. Interesting. Everything else looked like things he had
never seen before so he paid them no attention. He walked back toward the
crowd. His face didn’t give away anything. He stopped and looked up at Harry.

"I have a
couple of things to do then I want to get out of here. We can go up. I would
like to see who is still around and find another friend."

Tawniz was
standing with her brothers in uniform looking much better than she did four
days ago. She watched Ben's every move like everyone else but the conversation
with Harry caught her attention. It was very calm, unlike the way he had acted
just a few minutes before trying to get into the lab.

Ben caught her
staring and made eye contact with her. He smiled at her while he pulled his
pistol, never taking his eyes off her till the last millisecond he turned and
fired. The tank exploded in a flood of green with red streaks. The clone
flopped out onto the floor, the top of its head missing. It twitched as the
nerves reacted to the lack of a brain sending them signals. The superheated
tungsten steel penetrator rod hit the next tank ripping the leg off the
senator's clone at the knee. Ben walked through the calf-deep solution toward
the clone, pushing the button on his belt to release his battle axe. Twenty
seconds later, he walked back looking for something to wipe his axe off with.