The Chronicles of Benjamin Jaminson: Empires At War (Book 5 Part Two)

by Thomas Wright

  I picked the two mines off the floor. Deireadh, time to change my armor. I want these two mines held in place, one on each side of my chest. Form over them.

  “What is the beast sitting at your feet?”

  “Her name is Zuri. She is my faithful companion. She will not be a problem.”

  It was unnerving when Deireadh made the changes all at once. He had obviously prepared in advance because it was over in a matter of seconds. I was in a form-fitting suit made up of small scales roughly an inch in size. He smoothed and padded my crotch for obvious reasons.

  “Are there any others in your party Your Highness?” Zentos asked.

  “Just one.”

  I walked over and stood behind the admiral and Dela’maah. I had no mouth and just two slits on either side of an angular slope for a nose. My eyes were large and slanted just like Taz’s. My forearms were like cylinders with hands on the end.

  “What is that exactly?”

  I answered for Taz. “Minister Zentos, my apologies for being late. My master Queen Tazleaha had me researching information to aid in the development of the peace agreement. I am Benjamin. My birth number is 2340. I am an android, servant of the queen.”

  “What is an android? I’ve never heard of the species.”

  “We are not a species. We are created. The makers build us to order for our masters based on their requests. We are designed to replace biological slaves that need food, rest, clothing and shelter. We need none of those things. We can be guards, stewards, valets, cooks, tutors for children and some are even designed and programed for pleasure. Those require additional modification.”

  “Yes, very interesting,” Zentos said, his face turning a darker shade of red. “Bring no weapons. We will meet your party outside your ship.”

  “We assumed as much,” Taz said, giving me a side glance and motioning to Shawna to cut the feed. Then she led the way toward the door.

  “Hey, Taz, it doesn’t look like you ordered the model with the additional modifications,” Shawna called out before we could exit the bridge.

  Taz turned and faced her. “Looks are deceiving, young one. This one has all the right equipment and works tirelessly all night long to ensure my pleasure.”

  “Damn, she sure knows how to rub it in,” I heard Shawna say before the door closed all the way.

  “Thank you, Master. I aim to please.”

  “I would think you two could be more serious,” Dela’maah said, walking behind us. “This farce will likely get us all killed.”

  “You, Taz and the admiral are going to get back into the Claymore as soon as all hell breaks loose. Your pretty face is only for show, Dela’maah.”

  “I will not be going back to the Claymore,” Taz said and smiled.

  “Yes, you will.” I could see by the look on her face this argument was going to sound like two kids fighting over a toy. She had plans of her own.

  “Tazleaha,” Dela’maah said, her eyes begging her to listen.

  “Benjamin and I will find the emperor and kill him. You two, in the confusion, will go back to the Claymore.”

  “I’m coming with you, too,” Cushda said with authority.

  My plan of setting mines off at the exit so it would remain open for the strike team was going up in smoke. The whole area would go on lockdown and they would be stuck. The Claymore would take care of the hold and internal docking bays, but I needed the strike team inside the ship.

  “Dela’maah, talk some sense into these two for me.” I waited for her to say something, but she just stood there. “What happened to this farce will get us all killed? Now you got nothing to say?”

  Taz looked at me and smiled again and, as much as I liked to see her smile, it didn’t bode well for me.

  “All you were supposed to do was get us on this ship, remember.” I poked her in the chest with my finger pushing her back. “You did that, now you just have one more thing to do, then you’re safe and sound back on the ship.”

  “No.” Her smile was gone. She looked at my finger like she would bite it off.

  “What do you mean no? Dela’maah has no armor. You have no weapons. Is this another one of your great ideas?” She knew exactly what I meant, even though I wasn’t specific. She still struggled with her recent decisions. I couldn’t take it back, either. She swung and I stood still to take it.

  Her gloved hand connected, but it felt more like a glancing blow. Deireadh moved my head slightly right before her open hand connected. He felt the need to school me. You are the king and you need to take control of the situation. You also need to consider the wrongs done to your queen and understand her desires for revenge and retribution. She does not wish to wait and watch but to see it done. I know you more and more each passing second and you would and have felt the same. The Claymore’s log tells of a journey the queen took with you to exact revenge for your family.

  Look, asshole, I just want to keep her safe. If I had known you were such a chatty Cathy I would have left you and your advice locked in stasis.

  “Lorelei.”

  “Go ahead, Boss.”

  “Dela’maah needs some armor. Can you see if yours will fit her? And hurry. We have people waiting.”

  “On it. Anything else?”

  “Yeah, hold on. Kimit, Jared, change of plan. Sit tight. I’ll contact you once we reach our objective. Same goes for you, Lorelei. Tell Nedra when her console lights up and starts killing everything in sight to just sit back and watch.”

  “You’re going to run one of your protocols, I take it.”

  “Exactly.

  I didn’t have to tell Dela’maah anything. She heard my conversation, just as Taz and the admiral did.

  “I’m sorry, Benjamin, for striking you,” Taz said.

  “Me too. I shouldn’t have said that. It was wrong. We all make mistakes and in this business people die when we do. I’ve been living with it for most of my adult life. The problem I have is they weren’t my decisions. Someone else was always doing the deciding. Now I do it and I try to take more of the risk.”

  “I know, and it has affected you mentally and physically. You told Jared you wished for the past, to be just a marine again. I don’t think you would say that if all of this life weren’t such a burden on you.”

  “Enough about all that. Let’s throw together a quick and dirty plan and get on with this. My suggestion is let them lead us to the emperor, then kill everyone.”

  “It seems to me your plan is short on details,” Cushda said. “There has to be more to it than just killing everyone.”

  “No, I’m sure that is his plan in its entirety, Admiral.”

  “Admiral, Khalnalax spies infested your ship and possibly your whole fleet. How many spies do you have on this battleship? How many crew the bridge? How many escape routes between here and the bridge? How many will we have to fight through to get back to the Claymore? You don’t know shit, do you? We will probably have to barricade ourselves on the bridge and, for the record, I don’t want to kill all the bridge crew. I will need someone to operate my new flagship.”

  “Benjamin!” Taz exclaimed. “Anything you capture is property of the crown.”

  “I know, love. Mine. It’s good to be the king. Where the hell is Dela’maah?”

  “I’m right here. Do we have a plan?” Dela’maah said joining them.

  “Yes,” Cushda said. “Kill everyone . . . no, mostly everyone.”

  ****

  Benjamin pushed open the side door and lowered the steps. Tazleaha, Dela’maah and Admiral Cushda descended, heads turning, taking in row after row of armed soldiers. Tazleaha was still thinking on his brazen comment about keeping the battleship for his flagship. He knew their agreement and he was crazy if he thought she would just let him take it and go. She would have the rest of the fleet attack and immobilize it.

  There were other unanswered questions that she put aside for good reasons at the time. Obviously now was not the time to bring them up, either. She would keep t
hem to herself until the day was won and then she and her dark-souled lover were going to have a long talk. Kill everyone, ha.

  “Queen Tazleaha, the emperor is looking forward to meeting you,” Zentos said. “Would you please follow me?” The minister and his small group did a perfect military about face, but not before checking out each member of the group. He paid particular attention to Zuri. The columns of soldiers divided in half, forming a walkway straight to the exit. As they walked, Tazleaha noticed the way each squad went from a resting position to attention as they passed.

  “Someone is getting the full treatment,” she heard Benjamin say softly amid the sound of marching feet. She had been thinking about her conversation with the admiral after Benjamin’s display of . . . she didn’t know what to call it. He had always had a violent side and she didn’t always agree with her lover’s actions, but she understood and, to some degree, enjoyed his ruthlessness. In her heart she knew the captain would die the minute Benjamin opened the cell. She had no idea how until she saw it with her own eyes.

  He interrupted her thoughts again. “Admiral, do you see how they sway when they walk?” What was he doing? She couldn’t turn around and tell him to shut up, but she knew had to say something. They stopped to enter a large cargo lift.

  “Minister Zentos,” Tazleaha said. “What are your feelings on a peaceful departure and possible future trade? Are you in favor of an agreement such as that?”

  “I bet you are wishing you were fifty years younger.” Tazleaha saw Zentos’ eyebrows go up, but he didn’t look back. She knew if he heard it then the escorts probably did also. “I wish the makers would have given me a mouth and a way to taste all the wonderful food and drink you talk so much about. Instead I have this simulated voice.”

  “Yes, and it would be wise if you were silent until the queen gives you permission to speak.” Tazleaha mentally thanked Admiral Cushda and was happy for the silence that followed, though she didn’t know how long it would last. Nobody spoke again until he did.

  “Admiral, you know the queen did not purchase the pleasure programing or additional features, but I have done some reading and found with one or two of the appendages on my hand I could provide her with much satisfaction and she will have saved the additional expense.” He said it like he was proud of his discovery. He was going to die very soon. She would kill him herself.

  Dela’maah brushed against her arm and Tazleaha saw out the corner of her eye she was shaking her head in disbelief. She thought she heard a few muffled laughs from the guard marching behind them. She began plotting all the different ways she would murder him. They exited the lift in a smaller corridor. She needed to say something to address Benjamin’s outbursts.

  “Minister Zentos, when I heard about this technology, I hurried and obtained one of the prototypes. I believe I am going to have to send it back. It seems to have programming errors causing serious behavioral problems.”

  “I believe you are correct. Its language is quite colorful. I understand your discomfort. Do you think you can shut it down so it is not a distraction during the negotiations?”

  “The shutdown and startup time is a factor, but if it gets out of hand I would be willing to stun it if you could provide a small lift to get it back to my ship?”

  “That would not be a problem.”

  “I am sorry, Queen Tazleaha. Do not shut me down. I will wait at the back of the room and remain silent,” he said, and she wanted to club him. Servants didn’t speak so often or brazenly.

  “See that you do. If I hear your voice again I will be returning you in pieces.”

  “Admiral, I think it’s good you are old and worn out.” It was clearly supposed to be a whisper but was loud enough for everyone to hear. “You will not be treated so harshly by such an ungrateful master.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I turned my head from left to right, making little noises as if in wonder of what I saw, catching glimpses of smirks, smiles and frowns as our escorts hurried us along. I also marked everything since we left the ship. Every intersecting corridor and set of doors was recorded to a map to wherever we ended up. My outbursts gave the guards’ minds something to work on other than the monotonous march of prisoners. I’m sure the emperor had his plans already laid out. We were never going to be guests.

  The guards should have formed some opinion by now as to whether I would cause them any problem. We were weaponless and not very formidable, although Taz looked like she could give them a go in her armor and anger. The admiral was breathing heavier than I thought he should, but then again, he had said he hadn’t worn armor in a long time. Dela’maah had been around me long enough to be over my antics, her expression neutral.

  It was a hike to get to the lifts that would take us deeper into the belly of the beast. The hold and docking stations spanned the length of the ship. It was a guess, but I thought we could put the whole Privateer fleet except for the Generations ship, the Black Scythe, the Warhammer and at least the remaining corvettes of the Cjittan fleet inside it. I almost drooled in my tight-fitting armor over the possibilities it would bring. Staring at Taz’s back in front of me as we walked, I also had no doubt of the shitstorm that would follow in my wake. All is fair in love and war. I may never be the King of Cjittan and didn’t really care. I would be king of my own little piece of the black somewhere, and I think I knew where.

  There was the buffer zone between Cjittan and Khalnalax space. My former pirates had a home base somewhere there, a place where they went when their activities drew too much attention. We would clean house and set up shop. The Generations ship was three, even four, times more space than we needed for everyone. The battleship would almost double that and a base planet-side would provide plenty of opportunity for the future. We would have science and tech and the means to protect everything we currently had and were going to take in the future. On second thought, I didn’t want to be an emperor or a king. Warlord had a nice ring to it. Looks like we arrived at our destination. First things first, evict the current owner from my new ship.

  The guard on point punched put his hand to a security panel and within a few seconds the doors slid open. The bridge was bathed in a low light and the glow of each station console illuminated the operator. It was the captain’s discretion on most ships for the light to be dimmed. There was no reason for it other than a personal one. Sometimes the crew was just bored out of their minds and would take turns grabbing a nap. Usually you weren’t napping during a battle where you’re outnumbered and getting your ass kicked. I surmised the bastard was playing games and I liked it. The darker, the better.

  “Excuse me, excuse me,” I said moving against the flow to exit the parade and find a place against the wall by the door. The guards were alarmed at first then remembered the queen’s threats. A word from the group’s officer in charge and two guards took up positions on either side of me. Zuri stuck to Taz’s side as they moved in front of the dumbass throne and the idiot sitting in it.

  “Queen Tazleaha of the Empire of Cjittan. I have been wanting to meet you for a long, long, time. Welcome to my flagship. It is also the flagship of the entire Khalnalax fleet, in a class unto itself.”

  “There were better ways to arrange a meeting between our two empires,” Taz replied.

  “Benjamin, the Khalnalax are rolling out some of those laser cannons like they had down on Idaline,” Lorelei reported via com.

  Bring the shields up to max. Are the marines and Allond ready to go? I messaged back, remaining silent.

  “I am sure there were better ways, but none more exciting or enlightening than this,” Khalnalax replied. “Our struggles against one another made winning this battle so very delicious.”

  Delicious? What an idiot, I thought.

  “I was unaware you were winning this battle. Would you care to enlighten me? What has changed the situation to your favor?”

  “Show Queen Tazleaha what has changed.” Khalnalax motioned for them to look at the large screen. The
re was my Claymore, all dark and beautiful, surrounded by hundreds of soldiers and the laser cannons Lorelei reported.

  Taz glanced my way but I didn’t move or say a word. I had a couple things in my hip pocket. One I’d been saving since Kanlost. We would see who was better at this game. Lorelei bring up a command line and type in Andrea 7.7.

  It’s asking for a password.

  Type Buddy and Grubb then enter.

  “You just scared the shit out of Nedra. Every light on her console is on. Every weapon is powering up.”

  While the weapons power up, turn the ship toward the doors they escorted us through and send a torpedo. The Khalnalax will fire on you as soon as you start moving, but don’t worry about it. They are going to have their own problems. Drop the rear ramp as soon as the torpedo is off. I want our team of marines and Allond out the ramp and through the doors you’re about to open for them.

  “Isn’t that overkill? We could damage the Claymore and cause who knows what kind of damage to the hold. What are you thinking?”

  Bigger is better?

  “Idiot.”

  I’m standing between two guards and don’t have time to debate with you. You handle it. I’ll know when you do. Make sure Nedra tags our people so the Claymore doesn’t accidentally kill them before they’re out of the hold. When the weapons are charged and ready, have Nedra switch the one you are going to use to manual. Leave the rest for the program. It will ask you for a final command. Type Kiss of Death and sit back and enjoy the show.

  “What is it going to do, Benjamin?”

  Minus a hull breach, it should destroy everything around you. No more questions. I’ve got work to do.

  “Lorelei out.”

  Thoughts converted to messages and weapons. Armor that can change and adapt to a situation or just to my whim. What was the king it was made for like? What would he have done with it? He wouldn’t feel like a second-class citizen with something to prove. No, he would have wasted it and let it operate unchanged and silent instead of making it into his own.

  Deireadh, its time.