Some people had wandered off, Win had taken Nedra and Harry to meet Dr. Matthews, but Taz was standing very still watching us. The marines were all still accounted for, I saw Lieutenant Jared watching us closely.
I grabbed Aisling and pulled her into a hug. She resisted for only a second and hugged me equally as hard in return. We stood for a minute without saying a word.
“Please don’t fight with me, Aisling — not about this, please,” I said.
“It seems a waste to go down this road of self-destruction, and to take the others with you.”
“I told you they would have a choice. They don’t have to go with me.”
“They will follow you to hell, Benjamin, and so would I if it was only my life I had to worry about. But I have people depending on me to make the right decisions. People who would follow me to hell and back.”
“Did you know E'Aria just left us without saying a word?”
“Yes,” Aisling answered, “I have talked to her recently. She said to tell you to leave her be and stay away from Trillond.”
“I keep hearing that, but I don’t know why,” I said. “Okay, you passed on the message. Where are my people, Aisling?”
“They are on duty. What did you think, they would be sitting around like freeloaders while everyone works? You don’t have to be in such a hurry to leave, do you?”
“Yes,” I answered. “I would like to get her delivered to Athena, and then after that’s done maybe come back out this way and beyond.”
“You know they are still patrolling the border of Alliance-Trillond space.”
“No I didn’t, but they have to catch me, and unless something has changed that isn’t going to happen,” I said. “Where is Ronnie? I’ll talk to her first then go find the others. Why don’t you give Taz a tour of the Warhammer?”
“Ronnie is in Med Bay helping out with nursing,” Aisling said. “Sam works in the brig and Thad is probably on the bridge right now, if not then in engineering.”
“How do Snake and Genius feel about you calling them by their first names?”
“How about I don’t give a shit what they think about it,” Aisling answered.
“Taz,” I asked, “would you like a tour of the Warhammer while I go locate what’s left of my team?”
“You do not wish me to accompany you?” she asked.
“No, not right now. I would like to talk to them alone with no distractions.”
“I am a distraction?” she smirked a little.
“No,” I said. “Well, yes, you are sometimes.”
“Let us go, Captain, show me your Warhammer,” Taz said. “I will deal with you later.” She patted my cheek.
I found Ronnie working with a patient who had been hurt at some point in the past and was in for examination. I stood and waited for her to finish. Her patient noticed me and was staring. She saw he was distracted and looked my way. She always had such a beautiful smile. It was nice to see it again, and for me. I hoped it would be a good omen.
“Hey you, has the Warhammer been taking good care of you?” I asked her.
“Oh yeah, the captain has treated us all like her own.”
“Good to hear,” I said, “but I knew she would. How long ‘til you're done? I need to talk to you, Snake and Genius.
“I could com them and have them report here.”
“That would be great. Is there somewhere we can talk?”
“Yes,” she replied, looking around. “Most of the exam rooms are empty, so as long as it doesn’t get loud we shouldn’t be overheard.”
“How much longer do you have with your patient?”
“About fifteen minutes.”
“Where is Genius at? I’ll go and find him while you finish and you can com Snake. I’ll stay away from the brig.”
“He’s on the bridge right now.”
“Okay, good,” I answered. “I know where that is. See you in fifteen.”
“I’ll let him know you're coming.”
Chapter 6
“Hey Ron. Yeah, okay, I’ll watch for him.”
“Who are you going to watch for? Is it Reaper? Is he coming onto the bridge?”
“No,” Genius said, “I should meet him at the door.”
“Can I come? I want to thank him for not ratting me out.”
“Yeah, just so you could rat yourself out. No, I'll tell him you want to talk to him, but no promises.”
Shawna Ellison looked around the bridge to see if anyone was listening to their conversation. “Make sure you tell him, it’s important.”
zzz
Genius met me at the door. We gave each other a manly kind of hug and hard slap on the back. “Let’s go see Ronnie,” I told him. “Snake should be there any minute.”
“Are we taking anyone else?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I need people I can trust, people I know can do what needs to be done.”
“Shawna was just telling me she wants to talk to you,” he told me. “She says it’s to thank you for doing her a solid last month when you stole the shuttle. That was hilarious, by the way, but I think she may want to go with us.”
“What do you think, is she ‘misfit’ material?” I asked.
“She’s solid, boss,” he said. “I'd let her cover my back.”
“Okay, we'll get back to her. I wanted to talk to you alone first, though,” I said. “Do you think you can hack into the system and lock out some doors? I need to have a word with someone and don’t want to be disturbed.”
“Sure, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll need to stay in the system and keep changing the codes, though. I assume you think you may have party crashers?” Genius said.
“It’s possible, depends on how long it takes. Take this com unit, they won’t know how to match the frequency,” I said. “It’s not Alliance tech. Genius, listen — where I'm going it’s going to get hot. Also, this thing with the doors may make it hot around here for you. You don’t have to do either just so you know.”
“Are we going to kill anyone?” Genius asked.
“Yes, more than one.”
“Will they deserve it?”
“I wouldn’t be doing it if they didn’t.”
“Sounds good so far,” he said.
“There will be some high-level hacking to be done,” I added.
“Now you’re talking,” Genius said, looking happy.
We walked into med bay. Snake was harassing Win, playing some grab-ass. Why did I put up with him? If I didn’t need him, I would have already knocked his ass out and broken his fingers.
He saw my face and my long stride put me within arms’ reach in about five seconds. I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. He was on his tip toes and I was still lifting when Win touched my arm.
“It’s okay, Ben,” she said. “We’re dating, he just can’t help himself.”
I let go and Snake took a step back. “You’re dating?” I said.
“Yes, she just couldn’t resist my charms.” Snake laughed at his own joke.
“You can be charming when you want to, or want something, but most of the time you’re an ass, honey.” Win said to him.
I looked at them both. They were my friends and at that moment I couldn’t decide if I would ask Snake to go along with me. We never put down any roots, and I knew his relationships usually lasted about two hours. If the two of them had something, I didn’t want to get in the middle of that.
“Sorry, didn’t see that coming,” I said. “I'm happy for both of you. Snake, I need to talk to you. We’ll be done in a few minutes, Win.”
We went into an exam room. Snake got up on the table and laid down. “So where are we going to, boss?”
“My first question to the three of you is: do you want to leave? You’ve started making a life here on the Warhammer. Ronnie, Genius, do you have someone you’re involved with?”
“No, no one,” Ronnie said.
“No, not really,” Genius said.
“You’re such a liar, Genius. Y
ou have that girl in engineering — Sally or Sammy,” Snake said.
“Snake, I think he means someone that we are in a real relationship with,” Genius said. “Sal and I are just friends . . . with benefits.”
“Snake, what about you and Win?” I asked. “She's great and I wouldn’t want to hurt her.”
“You ever felt like you were second best, boss?”
“Yeah, I have.”
“Well,” he said, “that’s how I feel. Like I'm not her first choice, but I'll do.”
“You’re stupid, Snake,” Ronnie said. “I've been working with her and she likes you. If she doesn’t want to go all in, it’s understandable. This is exactly the reason she wouldn’t. If you love her or just like her, get up and leave. In our line of work we don’t get a chance in a million for something real.”
The three of us watched Snake. He didn’t move or say a word.
“Okay,” I said finally, “two things. One — I'm going to talk to General Gray. That may not go well for him. Two, we are going to Athena. I hope to have something for us to go on before we get there, compliments of the general. Once we arrive we are going to have to hack, research and probably squeeze some people to get more information. When we have what we need, I'm going to kill the fuckers.”
“It’s not going to be that easy, is it?” Genius said.
“No, it never is. We are talking about a 22-year old crime that has been covered up. There will be layers like an onion and we will need to peel back each one. I need you three packed and ready to go,” I said. “And one more thing. It seems that Shawna may want to go with us. Genius thinks she's okay, but how about you two?”
Snake answered. “Genius spends hours sitting next to the pretty little thing, so of course he would vouch for her.”
“Ronnie, what do you think?” I asked. “If it comes up I need to know how to answer her.”
“She likes you, Benjamin. Not like Aisling or some of the others. More like hero worship. You kick ass, according to her.”
“Great so hopefully she will follow orders,” I said, “but you two still haven’t endorsed her.”
“She’s green, boss. We have seen our share of green lying dead. What will she do when we have to do what we do best?” Snake said, looking at each of us.
Ronnie added her two cents. “I think she is tough, smart and green, like Snake said. We could work with her and train her. Worst case, we drop her off somewhere and leave her. Then we can pick her up on our way out.”
“Really quick,” I said, “you three are on board and two of you wouldn’t object to having her on the team. Let’s get going, I’m in a hurry. Genius, let me know when you are ready, and use a terminal close to the shuttle.”
“Do we know any of the crew of your ship?” Genius asked.
“Lorelei is captain, and Natalia is communications. Binda works tactical and the helm and so does Lorelei. Buddy, Grubb and Adam from Anubis work the back half. Harry and Nedra you haven’t met, and if I'm not there when you meet them I’d watch your tone. Snake, just in case you develop some fantasy for a seven-foot-tall green lizard woman — don't, she’s with the nine-foot-tall, four-armed hairy guy who'll pull your arms off and beat you with them.”
“Come on,” Ronnie said, “let’s get packing so he can get to work.”
They left but I didn’t move. I needed to talk to my daughter.
I tapped my com. “Natalia.”
“Yeah, Dad?” she answered.
“Where are you?”
“Talking with Aisling and the Queen.”
“Get Lorelei and take Aisling and the Queen to the Claymore. Let her look through Andrea's things. If she sees a memento she wants, let her have it. Send Lorelei back with the shuttle while Aisling is busy. Keep that to yourself, sweetie.”
“Got it, do what you have to do,” she said.
I walked out and saw Win looking sad. She wouldn’t even look at me. I wanted to talk to her but I kept walking.
Where would that old fart be? I thought. The conference room was a good place to start.
I walked through the ship, and as I did, memories flooded back like a raging river. It wasn’t that long ago I had walked these corridors and risked my life for these people and others. Now the threat was under control, or at least I told myself that, seeing as how she slept in my bed.
“Genius, do you copy?”
“Yeah,” he answered. “Hey, this thing is pretty nice. Can I keep it?”
“Sure,” I said, “I'm going to give everyone a unit once we get underway. How long ‘til you can get on a terminal?”
“Three minutes. I'm about to put my things in the shuttle. I see Natalia, Lorelei, Aisling and a beautiful Valkyrie coming my way. That big hairy guy and his girl are waiting here also.”
“Just put your bags on board and get moving so you don’t have to answer too many questions. When you get to a terminal, see if the main conference room is occupied by my target.”
I must have just missed them; that was good. I walked to where my old quarters had been. Andrea's were next door and E'Aria’s were across the hall. I looked at the three doors, lost in thought. The door to my old room opened and the former Sergeant Major and Gunnery Sergeant stepped out with a large bag each.
We stared at each other for a few seconds until Matt said, “We are coming with you.”
“Oh really?” I replied. “I don’t remember inviting either of you.”
“No you didn’t,” he answered, “but if she were here we would be going. She would have your back, but she's not here so we are going to do it for her.”
I got in their personal space and looked them both in the eyes. Matt knew I was coming, so he had planned this, and I knew it would be really stupid on my part to turn down the help and experience they brought to the table. I think he knew that too.
“Natalia,” I said into my com, have you left yet?”
“No, they’re still loading some containers.”
“You have two more coming,” I told her. “They should be there in less than five. If they aren’t, leave their geriatric asses behind.”
“Stop it, we can wait on them. Is it Uncle Matt and Uncle Bill?” she asked.
“Yeah, they’re on their way,” I answered.
They laughed at me and grabbed their bags and containers. I was just ready to go to the conference room when the door of the bridge opened and Shawna came out.
“I want to talk to you, Reaper,” she said. “Do you have a minute?”
Chapter 7
My com went off. “Hey boss, the target is in the conference room and I am set up and ready.”
“Okay, stand by,” I said. “I want you to open the door on my mark.” I turned to Shawna.
“Shawna, how much time do you have?'
“I'm on my break,” she said. “Can we talk now?”
“We sure can. Come with me, but don’t talk until I tell you, okay? You got it?”
“Okay,” she said. “We aren’t gonna get kinky, are we? I do get a bit loud, but it’s like ‘Oh my god. Oh my god.’ “
“Too much information, at least right now.” I smiled at her and she laughed.
“Sorry I'm nervous all the sudden,” she said.
“Remember, no talking. Genius — now! Open it.”
General Gray sat at the end of the table and didn’t immediately look up when the door opened. Shawna walked in behind me, wide-eyed and wondering what the hell was going on.
“Shawna, sit down right here.” I pulled a chair out for her, walked on down and sat next to the General.
“Hey old man,” I said, “you and I have some things to discuss. They are a long time coming. If that fuck-shit Randolph had never said anything we wouldn’t be doing this, but he did, and then you did, so here I am.”
“You should leave, Ben,” he said, “and leave the ghosts in the past.”
“They may just be ghosts to you, old man, but to me they're demons, my demons, and you know who unleashed them on
me.”
“It’s all buried so deep, you'll never get to the bottom.”
“Stop making excuses and start talking,” I growled.
“I can't.”
“Wrong answer.” My arm was moving before the echo of my voice bounced off the wall. His head snapped back and he started falling out of his chair.
I grabbed his collar. “Oh no you don’t,” I said. “You’re not going to get off that easy. Who put the bomb on the train?”
Silence was not the answer I was looking for. I grabbed his hand and pulled out my knife. Holding his wrist in one hand and my knife in the other, he knew what was about to happen and started to get up. Knife in hand, I punched him in the face again. This time I had broken his nose.
I jerked his arm forward, stretching it out on the table so that it pulled him forward as well, making it hard for him to try and stand.
With the anger of twenty plus years, I stood and swung my arm, blade pointed down, right through the back of his hand and the table. Six inches of shaving sharp steel were buried to the guard. He was screaming now.
I reached behind me and pulled the other knife I had under my shirt.
“Are you getting the idea now that I am serious, or is more persuasion needed? My father was your friend, or so you said. My mother and sister, they were just innocent bystanders, collateral damage to some assholes somewhere, and I want to know who and where they are.”
Shawna was visibly shaken. She got up from her seat. I knew she wasn’t leaving the room but I was worried she would try and stop me. She walked towards the general on the other side of the table.
“General,” she said, “If you know the information he wants from you it would be a good idea to give it up. We may never get to go home, and for now you'll be safe from whoever they are. In a minute I'm going to try and protect you, and he will more than likely kill me in the process. Look in his eyes — we are going to die here.”
I stood and grabbed his head, my blade easily cutting through the cartilage of his ear. I threw it out on the table in front of him. He was crying, begging me to stop.
“Names, places, accounts, who, what, when, where!” I was yelling at him. I put paper and a pen in front of him. “Write it down now or it’s your other ear. If you don’t write, then I'm going for the eyes. Eventually I’ll cut your balls off and you know I will, right in front of her.”
The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: No More Lies (Book 3) Page 5