"She will be missed, Captain," Alona Aok said. It was seconded and other comments about missing Andrea were added. It hit her about the same time everyone heard the screaming. The anguish and pain ripped through her mind almost driving her to her knees. She looked at her aunt and said, "He is awake and remembers." The room went quiet as E'Aria ran to medical.
Emily was trying to calm Ben when E'Aria entered the room. He would scream Andrea's name and then look at Emily and tell her to get her hands off him. She hurried to his side and nudged Emily out of the way. E'Aria put both hands one on either side of his face. He continued to yell, but was making constant eye contact with E'Aria.
"Ben, please calm down."
"E'Aria, she's gone!" he screamed, squirming and pulling on the restraints.
"I know, I loved her too but you have to calm down before you hurt yourself more. Your body has taken a lot of punishment."
"I don’t care," he yelled, then his tone changed. "I'm gonna kill them, I'm gonna kill them all."
"I killed them for you. We destroyed every one of the ships. They were pockets of dust when we left." Ben seemed to calm down. There were a number of people crowded just inside the door.
"No E'Aria, I said, I'm gonna kill them all. It may take me years but they will be extinct long before I'm dead." He laid his head back and closed his eyes. E'Aria heard a sniffle. Looking in that direction, she saw Emily sitting with her arm around Natalia who had been watching almost all of the exchange. Her heart broke again. She sat down on the bed next to Natalia, who wrapped her arms around E'Aria and cried.
****
Days later and hundreds of thousands of miles away in Trillond space, a captain opened an ‘eyes only’ message. She wept for her friend and then for her friends. She thought of Benjamin and the pain he must be feeling. Natalia would be a basket case. She wished she were with them. Composed, face washed, she called the crewmembers that had made up Andrea's former team. She took out glasses and two bottles of whiskey, then called the XO and asked not to be disturbed unless they were attacked. She waited for them to arrive and hoped she could hold herself together.
Chapter 14
It was quiet for next two days. Emily and Natalia were back in their quarters. E'Aria and Natalia shared quarters so she was able to keep an eye on her and when she couldn’t, Emily would come and sit with her. She told her stories about her childhood with Ben. Ben stayed in Medical. He ate and drank very little; mostly he just lay there with his eyes closed. He had visitors everyday but engaged very little in any lengthy conversations. If enough people were there at the same time, he just listened as they had conversations around him. By day three, only the people who were the closest to him were stopping by.
Many had walked in to a strange sight; E'Aria pacing and making motions with her arms and hands, frowning and nodding all in total silence. At times, there were arguments and others pleading or begging. Once or twice they saw her sitting with her head resting on his chest crying. They would not enter, just close the door softly and walk away. They had taken the restraints off early on day two so he could relieve himself on his own or leave and go to his quarters.
On the third day, Ben put his bare feet on the cold steel floor and stood up. He wrapped the sheet around him and walked out, heading in the direction of the shower station he had installed. Grubb was in the hold and watched him walk in and drop the sheet at the entrance and grab a towel out of the locker. He messaged E'Aria that he was up and in the shower and she arrived about ninety seconds later. Grub motioned with his head and went back to work. E'Aria walked in to find him leaning forward legs spread both palms against the wall. Head hanging, he let the water run over him, plastering his long hair to the sides of his face.
"I want new quarters and someone to move all my things. Leave everything that isn’t mine where it’s at." Ben didn’t move or even look up to see who he was talking to. "If it isn’t clear that it’s mine, leave it and I will work it out later."
E'Aria didn’t answer mentally or verbally. She walked out, motioned for Grubb to follow her and they took care of it. She sent Grubb back to tell him which new quarters were his and that it was ready. Grubb passed on the information and walked out. He didn’t have anything to say. What could he say to him? Plus Ben wasn’t really listening to anyone anyway.
He found his new quarters, dropped the towel on the floor and lay face down on the bed. He closed his eyes and hoped he wouldn’t dream, but he did. He sat in the dark, arms and legs strapped to a chair, a light shining in his face. He could see nothing in the beyond. The light ended, blackness began. He sensed something, someone out in the black.
"You let them all die. You were supposed to protect them but you failed. . .again" It was a chorus of voices all in unison. Then a single voice that sounded like Emily's mother.
"She loved you and you went away. You never even sent her a message. Now you killed her, you could have protected her but you went away again."
"No! No I didn’t. I couldn’t"
"But you did and now I have no one."
In the dream, Ben began to fight the restraints. He tossed and turned in his bed pulling and yanking on the bedding. Next, a pair of voices spoke. It was the Vander Hoyts speaking in unison.
"You never came back for us. Do you know what they did? They ate us and everyone who didn’t get on a ship. We got no warning till it was too late"
"I left a ship for you. Why didn’t you leave? We had a plan you should have NO!"
"You left us to die."
He thrashed and kicked his legs. He was wrapping himself up in the bedding as he rolled around in it making it worse. His family began speaking to him.
"Why didn’t you die with us Benjamin? Why did you get to live? It's your fault we are dead."
"NO! NO! NO! I was only four. It’s not my fault a four year old could not stop a bomb or a train"
Ben cried out in his sleep for it to stop. He saw a silhouette at the edge of the light.
"I'm dead, Benjamin. How could you let this happen? We were supposed to grow old together. You let them kill me like you let them kill everyone else. You are no hero." Andrea's voice echoed in the gloom. He tried to stand and go to her but couldn’t. His fist punched wall next to his bed. Each time he tried to stand in his dream, he punched the wall. Blood covered his fist as small streams ran down the wall. The door to his quarters opened. E'Aria and Binda ran to him. Binda had the injection unit all ready to go with a sleep aid and pain killer. E'Aria caught his arm and tried to pin him to the bed. Binda pulled the bedding down and gave it to him in the thigh.
"Andrea! Andrea! I'm sorry please, don’t leave me!" Ben yelled. As he drifted off, his breathing began to soften and steady. E'Aria stroked his forehead while Binda sat and watched for any kind of reaction to the sleeping cocktail.
"It’s going to be bad later?" she asked as she cleaned his bloody hand and applied medication to it.
E'Aria thought for a moment. "We can only hope we get to Allond before he takes a disliking to someone. Once we are there, I will talk to the Prime Minister and arrange for him to be able to work out his pain. They are not as fragile as we are." Binda just nodded, thinking about giving him a cocktail every day till they got there.
"No, you won’t!" E'Aria said a little forcefully. Binda patted her on the leg.
"It was just a thought, Captain, literally." She gave her a smile. "You may change your mind before the trip is over." Binda was well aware of who her Captain was and her capabilities. She picked up her medical supplies and left.
Ben woke up eight hours later to find Natalia sitting in a chair with her feet propped up on his bed. She was sleeping, chin on her chest breathing softly. He shook her feet and she woke up, focusing on his face. It was still bruised but not as bad. Some of it was fading. She crawled in next to him and he held her kissing the side of her head. She cried softly and fell back asleep. He lay for another hour then detached himself from her sleeping form. He made his way to the shower
and repeated what he did last time. He didn’t need a shower but it provided some subconscious effect, just standing letting the water run over him.
He walked back to his quarters. Natalia was awake.
"Are you hungry? Do you want to come with me and east some breakfast?" she asked, hoping he would.
Ben said, "Sure. I know I'm hungry, not sure when the last time I ate anything substantial was." He didn’t smile at her like he normally did.
Natalia said, "It has been a while. I've been keeping track. You will feel better." Ben noticed she didn’t call him dad or any of the familiar names she had been using. They walked to the mess and Adam put a couple of plates together with juice and coffee. He had figured out his high tech kitchen and didn’t use hardly any of it. Wrong species, wrong food, but he imagined for the builders of the ship, it was perfect.
Ben ate slow, thoughts going through his head overrode the hunger and the usual method of scarfing his food down. But he did eat and got most of it down.
****
"Captain E'Aria, we have a ship approaching. It looks to be a Allond cruiser. They are on an intercept course," Onak reported.
"They may be here to escort us. Let me know when they message their intentions."
"Aye, Captain," Onak replied. He was picking up on the lingo from Lorelei and the rest of the human crewmembers. E'Aria had thought about what Ben called cross training now that Andrea was gone and she had to put a new rotation in place. Natalia had been absent from the com officer position for a couple of days as well so everyone except Grubb, Buddy, and Adam were rotating. The Trillond crew were a little hesitant at first but E'Aria could tell after a day that doing something new appealed to them. It helped with the boredom of a long shift.
They all were happy with the proposition of being able to work with their Captain up close. She was also their princess and heir. What they wanted the most was to hear the story of the rescue of their people from the Allith on Hyson and then the mining colony. They were all so proud of her. The current situation had made them hesitant to ask about Ben, but they didn’t need to. E'Aria really couldn’t tell the story without telling them about him. He had saved her first before anything else had ever happened. The Trillond were not known for their storytelling when it came to heroics, battles, and war. They were scholars and scientists. E'Aria had somehow been cut from a different cloth. She had found her inner warrior while working with Ben and the team. When she told the story, she was animated, yelling and jumping up out of her chair.
She told them stories they hadn’t heard about the pirates and finding Natalia. Lorelei said nothing because E'Aria didn’t name her, nor did the new crew know of her pirate affiliation of the past.
By the end of the stories, their eyes were wide and they were jumpy and when E'Aria said she was through and sat down, they made all sorts of sounds that showed how excited they were. Lorelei just laughed. She guessed they didn't know how to clap. They settled back to their duties and training till a message arrived.
"Captain, I do not think this message is what we had thought it might be. There are two demands. To identify ourselves and surrender our ship."
"Menah, send a reply identifying who we are and our mission and then tell them we are not surrendering our ship unless there is an order from their Emperor or Prime Minister."
"Aye Captain, message is sent." Menah had entered it as the Captain spoke.
"Captain, they are powering up their weapons," Onak said nervously.
"Onak, shields, and you and Menah switch. This isn’t training. I need her on tactical."
"Onak, I need you to send a message on all Allond systems. Address it to Emperor Xamand III, Prime Minister Jinwasys, and Captain Dakkon
"This is Princess E'Aria Aok, Captain of the Allond Warship Claymore gifted to Reaper, Benjamin Jamison. We have identified ourselves to an unknown Allond cruiser at these coordinates who have demanded we surrender our ship and have powered weapons against two diplomatic parties. The outcome of this is yet to be known and we are asking assistance before one of your captains makes a grave mistake."
E'Aria stepped behind Onak and sent it. Her fingerprint signed the message as authentic.
"Lorelei, make a run for it. Menah, keep all the power on the shields facing whoever that asshole is." Menah raised her eyebrows not understanding ‘asshole’ but she understood the rest.
"Onak, continue to send our coordinates projected every two hundred thousand miles. I will teach that asshole to screw with Reaper Inc."
"Not very princess-like of you, your highness, to be swearing like a pirate," Lorelei teased.
"The Vander Hoyts told me it was a side effect of the company I keep and I know that to be true the longer I am around you human pirates and mercenaries."
"Aye Captain, the Vander Hoyts would not be lying," she agreed, with respect to the old couple.
****
Ben felt the slight change in vibration as the Claymore continued to increase speed. Adam knew it too, as his pans began sing.
"Adam, yell at the bridge and see what is going on. Don’t tell them I am here," Ben asked. A second later, E'Aria made a ship wide announcement for everyone to suit up immediately and there would be someone coming around to check.
"Forget it, get suited up and then check on Buddy and Grubb."
Natalia got up looked at him and said, "Let’s go right now." Her hands were on her hips and her tone was spot on. Ben knew where it came from. So many damn reminders. They met Emily in the corridor. She was totally suited up. Natalia went with her. Ben was in his armor in sixty seconds and totally ready in seventy five. He walked up the corridor to the bridge.
****
On the bridge, the viewer held the image of an Allond officer sitting back in his chair like he owned the galaxy.
"Captain Aok, we may not be able to catch you, but our torpedoes can. I wanted to offer you another chance to surrender your ship before we fired."
"You must have seen the message we transmitted. I don’t think you will live long enough to gloat when the Emperor finds out you fired on us, let alone harm or kill us."
"That is just a ruse to delay us. They will not come to your aid or worry about what your pitiful alliances threaten to do."
E'Aria said, "If you are willing to bet your life on that then do what you have to do." The door opened and Ben walked on the bridge. He stepped in front of E'Aria so that the view from the Allond cruiser was just his face and chest. He raised the visor on his helmet.
"My name is Benjamin Jamison. Captain, that is what my friends call me. You may call me Reaper. Tell me what is it you plan on doing to my ship?"
"You have been ordered to surrender. . ."Ben cut him off.
"Ok, shut up. I figured it was something stupid like that. How about you and I get together and settle things the old-fashioned way, you know man, that’s me, to whatever the hell you are, lizard or some shit." Ben knew he didn’t understand half of what he said but he got the whole disrespectful part. It looked like the Captain was at a loss for words.
"You do know what I am talking about, right? You and me, we fight it out. Winner gets the ship or, in our case, we go on our way to the meeting and you put your tail or stub or the ugly one's head next to you between your legs and go back to the hole you crawled out of. So, what's it going to be? You want to come here so your crew doesn’t see you get your ass beat?"
"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.
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