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

by Thomas Wright

  “What are you doing? Are you sure you want to do this, whatever this is?”

  “Please step out of the shuttle and come with us.”

  Even if I remembered their names, I couldn’t tell who was who. I stepped down and the nine-armed little guys shuffled nervously. “I was in the middle of threatening two empires with the deaths of millions of their people. I’ve got to tell you I’m not happy with you boys right now.”

  “We are aware. We have been quietly waiting and monitoring everything possible. You must appreciate that now was the perfect time for us to act.”

  “I don’t have to appreciate shit.”

  “I am not sure what that means but you understand why now was the most opportune time to meet you and discuss the grave situation our people are in.”

  “Look, I don’t want to hurt you guys, really. Let me finish what I’m working on and I promise to listen to your problem and help if we can.”

  “I am sorry but there is little time. The Ancient One is approaching our worlds. We have no time to give you.” Two Akelorians edged around me and went into the shuttle. They returned with Deireadh’s container and the rest of my gear. The container they sat next to me, but they kept my pistol and belt. A blue force field appeared around me a little over an arm’s length away in circumference.

  One of the others began speaking. “We hoped you might be more cooperative. We are sorry to resort to these measures. If you try to use your weapon, the energy will be directed back at you. We have studied the design of your weapons over these weeks and feel the shielding will contain the projectile. There is every possibility that you will perish by the projectile as it traverses from side to side in the shielding.”

  I walked over and touched the shield and Deireadh’s nans began to fall off. I jerked my hand back before it spread past my fingers. “We are aware of your armor’s capabilities and would tell you if you want to keep it to put it in the container.”

  My shuttle lifted off the deck and floated upward, then forward toward the hold doors. They didn’t bother to shut the door on it. It passed through a force field and was left sitting in space. I watched as it grew smaller and smaller, then a large laser shot out and I knew the shuttle was history.

  “We know you, Benjamin Jamison, and knew that our attempt at peaceful negotiations with you had a high probability of failure, but we could not at least try. You are now our prisoner, but it doesn’t mean it has to be an unpleasant stay for you and your companion. Cooperate and help us and we will give you our word that if we survive we will return you.”

  “Sounds like a lot of ifs to me. Let’s say I agree. We do things my way. I say it’s a high probability that if you had your shit together you wouldn’t need me. But you do, so again, I say we do things my way.”

  “Of course. It is why you are here.”

  Deireadh, go to your container. There is nothing you can do against that thing around us. Although, you got to sample it so while you are in there work on overcoming it.

  Your will be done, Benjamin. He rolled off in waves, leaving me in my thermal and socks. I closed the lid and locked it. The rifle wouldn’t do me any good either; the little bastards did have it all figured out. I laid my rifle on the floor and held up my hands. The three leaders were smiling and the others looked like they wanted to cheer. Zuri pushed against my leg.

  “I don’t know, girl. Maybe a change of scenery will do us good.” The dome of energy began to shrink around us when I thought it would just disappear. Then, in a rush, it hit us and I landed, bouncing my head off the metal decking. Zuri lay in front of me, unmoving, as black spots in my vision danced around her.

  The spots were mine. I was numb but that didn’t help the internal reactions to the fall. My knife wounds flared up, sending a few shooting pains through my body. I tried to reach out and touch her to see if she was breathing, but I couldn’t move. No surprise there, I guess. I had the same type of thing on the Claymore. Knocked out a few people with it, including Taz. I saw small bodies move in front of me. I guess they must feel pretty smug right about now.

  “He is still conscious,” one of them said.

  “It doesn’t matter. He won’t be for long. Take them both and put them in stasis.”

  I was loaded on something and was moving through the ship. I could tell when we stopped and could hear them talking. One of them cut the top of my thermal off and attached electrodes to my chest and head, then I was lowered into a tight-fitting pod. They injected me in the stomach. The lid closed and gasses started swirling around, more visible as the temperature changed and became colder. The soft glow of the lights above was the last thing I saw before my world went black.

  Epilogue

  Two days later . . .

  The Khalnalax battleship, along with all the Privateer fleet including Aisling O’Shaughnessy’s Warhammer and Kimit’s Black Scythe, were scattered across a small section of space. They sent the Cjittan fleet and anything space-worthy of the Khalnalax fleet on to Xanlos. The Cjittan forces on the planet Idaline set up a detention area at the Khalnalax base camp. It housed the remaining Khalnalax ground forces and surviving naval personnel that weren’t essential for the trip to Xanlos.

  “I’ve triple-checked the samples we’ve taken, and I can’t find a trace of the materials that made up his or Zuri’s armor,” Genius said. “And you fucking well know it’s even worse than finding a needle in a haystack. So nobody say it.” No one said anything about his outburst. They were all lost in their own thoughts.

  “It’s like Snake’s DNA, missing some shit,” Shawna said, but never turned away from studying her screen to see if anyone even smiled. Her eyes were bloodshot; tear streaks ran down her cheeks and snot was wet or dried, depending on age, on the front of her shirt. She wouldn’t leave her screen even to find something to wipe her nose and no one cared. They all looked just as bad.

  Tazleaha was on the big screen watching them. They knew about where the shuttle was last located and there was evidence of it, but nothing else.

  Natalia sat quietly with her chin resting on her chest with her eyes closed. When they opened, they were as red as everyone’s, but her demeanor was far different. She was angry and ready to rip someone’s head off. “So, they took him and Zuri and we need to go after them. Then when we catch them we tear the ship apart till we find them.”

  “I don’t wish to start another war when this one isn’t even over yet,” Tazleaha answered.

  “You wouldn’t be starting shit, I already told you. Just as long as they are in Cjittan space you can stop them and board them for inspection and check for smuggling activity, etc. If they don’t stop then you can fire on them legally. You keep fucking around and they’ll be beyond our reach.”

  “It is not that easy—”

  “Nothing with you is ever easy, Queen Tazleaha,” Natalia said, spitting the queen’s name. “Lorelei, let’s go. We’ve wasted too much time as it is. She is doing this on purpose. We don’t have to listen to her or do anything she says. This is my ship now and I’m ordering you to get us moving in the direction those bastards went right now.” The look she gave Lorelei promised pain; there would be no discussion.

  “Queen Tazleaha, we are leaving,” Natalia said. “We will be expecting your payment within thirty days as per the agreement you had with my father. After that, I expect we will not be seeing you again. Binda, get every ship moving. Shawna, cut the damn feed. I’m tired of looking at her.”

  Three months later . . .

  “Natalia, we have searched all the Akelorian systems. Look at the destruction in every system. They’ve been beat bad. It will take generations for them to build back up, if ever. We love you and we love him, but he is gone. Not one Akelorian survivor knew what we were talking about. They only could say for certain that their enemy came, destroyed them and left.

  “I know, Lorelei, but it’s only been three months. We have credits and fuel and I want to keep looking as long as we have resources. When we get lo
w on either, we will take what we need from the Akelorians, Cjittan or Khalnalax. It’s their fault this happened to us.”

  Six months later . . .

  “Aisling and Kimit have departed and are heading back,” Lorelei said. “They lasted longer than the Privateers, so don’t be hateful with them. They both wanted to say goodbye to you.”

  “I know. I’m not being hateful. I just didn’t want to talk about it.”

  “You can’t blame them. It’s months of travel to get back, and they need to find some work. Their crews have been borderline mutinous for months.”

  “Did you read the message from the queen?” Natalia asked.

  “I did. She wants us to come and work for her on Xanlos. She has positions for us all.”

  “I don’t want to quit, Lorelei. He wouldn’t give up on us if the situation were reversed.”

  “Natalia, please, think of the others. They—we—are all depressed and tired of chasing a ghost. Even if we don’t accept her offer, we need to go back and find something to do. I don’t care which side of the law we operate on.”

  “Just a little longer, Lorelei. There are a few colonies they told us about at the last stop, remember.”

  “Ok, but after these we are heading back if I have tie you up and lock you in your room.”

  “You can try, old lady,” Natalia said, smiling at the person who had been in her life longer than anyone.

  Six months two weeks seven hours and 29 minutes later . . .

  “There is nothing out here but death,” Lorelei said, looking over the landscape. There had once been a town with a small spaceport but now it was empty buildings and dust.

  Natalia sighed. At least the other planets had some inhabitants who gave them information on a possible place to stop. This was the end of line. They were farther out then any race they knew traveled. The others hadn’t got off the ship on the last three planets. “Let’s all get together for a meal before we lift off and discuss Taz’s proposition on the premise that the offer is still good. Then make a plan B and C. Dad would never start something without at least three plans.”

  Later, the Claymore departed, heading for familiar space.

  Thirteen months after leaving Idaline space, the Claymore sat down on Xanlos. The small group of weary travelers wasn’t treated to any fanfare or parade. An escort took them a roundabout way to the quarters that had been prepared. They would clean up and join the queen for dinner to discuss their new roles in the revamped Cjittan government. This would mark the first time in the empire’s history that any non-Cjittan would hold positions of authority and power within the empire. They were ordered to wear their new uniforms and present to the queen first.

  The shiny silver and gold armor sat on a stand made for it. Natalia had showered then sat in a chair staring at it.

  “Why aren’t you dressed yet?” Lorelei asked, coming in her bedroom.

  “It’s too shiny. An enemy could shoot me from space.”

  “Just put it on and wear it. Later you can talk to the queen about something different.”

  A few minutes later she stood in front of a mirror. The armorer had done a great job of getting the fit with Natalia not even being there. It made her wonder. “Well?” she heard Lorelei ask.

  “Something is missing,” Natalia answered then went to her closet. She took out the black belt with the holster and put it on. She secured the strap around her leg and drew the pistol. Looking over the scratched and scarred rail pistol, she smiled then slowly slid it back into place. “Ok. I’m good to go.”

  The End

  The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison

  Call Sign Reaper

  Reaper Inc.

  No More Lies

  Empires at War Part One

  Empires at War Part Two

  I, Alone. Fall 2018

  Paranormal Fantasy

  Saving Grindrod

  Welcome to Willow Grove Spring 2018

  Epic Fantasy

  Fall of the Southlands Summer 2018