"No my queen, only what he told us initially, our people have him in a secure place. The body of the senator's aid is also secure. As you have said, there is likely something in his mind he doesn’t know, or recognize as information that would be helpful."
"He is a smuggler so there will be something worth retrieving I am sure. How many days travel will we be from Ben."
"Only one at full power. They are traveling at two thirds, conserving fuel. If we travel at full power the entire time and we do not spend much with the prisoner then we could arrive just minutes behind him."
"That would be perfect Gormazan. The minute my shuttle is aboard we leave."
"Understood, my queen."
****
"Harry, how long have you been away from your home?" Ben asked as they sat on the bridge. Lorelei configured the helm to accept commands for three of the stations on the bridge. Binda had communications and environmental. They had no engineer but they had Grubb on light duty. He wasn’t injured or sick, he just had to sit and watch the console readings in engineering. If any lights came on he was to notify the bridge. Buddy and Adam told him it was a stupid joke and to quit repeating it or they would ask the captain to put him on shit duty and see where that got him.
For the circumstances, everyone was in a good mood except Ben and they were used to him being unhappy regardless of the reason. He wouldn’t tell them what had happened. He just wanted them to concentrate on the ship and their new duties.
"I think it has been a year but I am not exactly sure. It may have only been a month."
Ben knew that was the truth. Waking Harry every two hours with the stun sticks or a stun gun. The terrible conditions and terrible food and water. The stench of death filling your nostrils till it was hard to breath. It was easy to lose track of time. "What can we expect when we arrive? Is there a space port, will we need to be ready for an attack immediately, what do you think the reaction will be?"
"We have an area we keep cleared for the traders to land their ships. We trade herbs, berries, and fruits for material for clothing, household items, and medicine. They do not come often and they cannot tell us when because we use no technology, but we track the time and can usually guess within a couple weeks of their arrival."
"How many do you think we will face? do you have peace keepers, a watch? I have your back but it would be nice to know what we are up against."
"You don’t understand. We are a peaceful race. The chieftain always settles disputes alone through negotiation and trade. Sometimes a father will not want to give as much as promised to the family his daughter is marrying into. It is settled by the agreed amount being eventually given or the family will reject the daughter. A mark is placed against father and his family and they may have to move to a different village to get others to trade with them."
"So you should be able to confront the new chieftain one on one and settle things. Do we want to try and locate your family, find out what happened to them or where they are?"
"No. If I do not survive the confrontation, I would rather they not have to see it. Word will spread and they will know later what happened."
Lorelei announced that they had arrived and would be landing in ten minutes. Harry would never have been able to tell them where anything was located but the Cjittan had scans of the planet and the location of all of the villages. They had spent hours the day before going over the scans with Harry looking for landmarks, something that would identify his village till they finally found it."
Binda said, "It looks like it is on the dark side of the planet now."
Lorelei said, "There is another ship already in the clearing."
Ben and Harry looked at each other then Ben said, "The dark will be good. Set us down nearest the forest at the tree line and open the ramp. Shut down all the internal and external lighting in the rear.
"Imelda, we have arrived. We may need your help but I want you to stay hidden. Later you may go off and hunt."
"I will stay close, do not fear."
"Lorelei, tell Buddy as soon as Imelda is off the ship to close the ramp. After Harry and I leave, lock it up tight and turn on the security measures until I say otherwise. If that ship does anything aggressive, use your best judgment."
"I understand. Make sure your com is working. I just unlocked the side door."
Ben said, "Let's go Harry." They exited the ship and followed a path towards the village.
****
Gormazan tapped the com in front of him. "My queen, they have landed and they are not alone. There is another ship already on the ground."
"Is it one of ours?" Tazleaha asked.
"No, I have the computers searching for the maker. They are not broadcasting a transponder code."
"Inform me when you have further information."
"Yes, my queen. May I ask why we follow him? So far he has shown himself to be truthful."
"Because I am curious and inquisitive. I can get first hand information this way, and I am your queen."
"And infatuated." Gormazan didn’t mean to say it out loud.
"You get more bold with age dear Gormazan. Your uncle was given too much freedom and you know what happened. I think I should rein you in. Maybe a year in the mines would be long enough for you to get your perspective back, curb your tongue."
"I am sorry, my queen. At the risk of an unwanted change in status, I would say the human is a far better choice than even your own species. If he brought you happiness then he would have my loyalty as well."
Tazleaha began changing into her armor. The silver and gold was the only armor she had brought; it was fully functional but not stealthy. She had not visited the Laulaumunda since she was a child. Something was amiss. The ship did not look like the freighters that usually came to trade. She thought pirates or slavers.
Gormazan knew the warriors were hungry. The longer they went without eating, the louder they were. If they were too long on a ship, it would arrive short in numbers but usually with enough. They had a formula based on the time in space with no stops. Tazleaha took a seat on the bridge. Gormazan turned on a large viewer. He had found the maker of the ship and had its various models on the screen.
"It is interesting to find the ship of an enemy here so deep in our empire. They are no friend of the Allond either. It would be a stretch to think they entered our space from that direction. It is small and fast and well armed. The Claymore could handle it. What is its compliment?"
"It has a maximum of thirty but could have as few as five. Ben and Harry went alone to the village but he has Imelda in the forest watching according to the transmissions I intercepted."
"Take us down cloaked and hold us in a good position to watch."
****
"Harry, I don’t have a good feeling about this. With my pistol, I can even up the odds but it is very dangerous and I can't fire it if there are dwellings in my line of site." Ben grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him against the side of the first hut on the edge of their village. In the middle of their village, a platform had been built and torches lit up the night all around it.
Ben could see three of Harry's people who stood out unlike the rest. They stood at one end of the platform and two of the three carried a large club. On the other end of the platform were four aliens Ben had never seen before. Humanoid with features like a canine and yet some looked like a pig with canine teeth. They were all dressed differently but that didn’t matter. There were other aliens standing in front of the platform bidding on one of Harry's people. Ben started to see red.
Harry was not as fast on the uptake as Ben. It took him a number of seconds to process what he was seeing. It was totally foreign to him. Following Ben, he reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder stopping him. Ben turned to see what Harry wanted and saw an elderly female standing in the shadows of her doorway looking at them. She recognized Harry and was suspicious of Ben but did not sound an alarm.
Harry noticed her next and stepped into the hut. Ben followed. H
e learned a few seconds later she was the wife of the previous chieftain Harry was supposed to replace. She was surprised when Ben spoke to her as he could speak their language and understand it. In a matter of a minute they found out how long Harry had been gone and what had happened to his family. He walked to the back of the hut and wept.
They had gotten Harry out of the picture, he was the first sold from their village, then they murdered the elder chieftain who had been sick. Harry's wife and child would not cooperate. They were going to ship them to another village and they fought back. They beat them to death in front of everyone in the village. Right where the buyers were standing bidding their blood ran into the dirt. They left them lying in the dirt and when they slept, the villagers took the bodies and buried them in unmarked graves
The killers didn’t care what they had done with them and they started building the platform next. It had become something hated and feared. It was six months ago. Ben removed his helmet so the elderly female could see his face. He grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it affectionately. She could see the determination and anger in the set of his jaw and his stance. Ben heard Harry take a few deep cleansing breaths and he joined him again. Ben told Harry to wait. He was going to integrate into the group of bidders. He told him his plan, when to come out and where to go. Ben eased into the shadows of the villagers' homes making his way to a place he felt he would have the best chance of joining the bidders undetected. He waited watching the two factions who seemed bored and then he saw his chance.
There were more alien species mixed in with the bidders he took a second to check out, then not seeing anything he deemed too dangerous, he tapped the power button on his rail pistol. It played his favorite tune while he drew and aimed. The sound stopped and he pulled the trigger. The auctioneer on the platform looked down at the hole in his chest. The second shot to the forehead had more of the desired effect.
"Imelda, mark the ones running to the ship. They are all yours. Kill as many as you want."
"Ben, there are many armed warriors coming your way from the ship."
"Understood. Do not get yourself shot, some coming your way may have a weapon."
"Harry, we have more bad guys coming. Let's get going."
Ben had given Harry his battle axe, it would be the most effective against the club. They rushed at the three Laulaumunda. Ben holstered his pistol and pulled his Katana and long knife. He would stay low, hamstring them then finish them off. Always sounds easy to his inner ear. Diving, rolling stabbing, slashing they hobbled around, but none fell. Ben rolled away and stood up to survey his handiwork. A laser skimmed off his armor and he looked for cover as more laser fire streaked in their direction.
Harry buried the battle axe in the chest of his club wielder. He was trying to pull it out when another one stepped up club raised above his head to end Harry. Ben slashed his armpit, swinging upward then dragging the blade out. The arm dropped to its side and the club fell to the ground. The second arm elbowed Ben in the chest knocking him to the ground. Harry picked the club up off the ground and swung with all he had, powering through the damaged arm it tried to block the swing with, hitting his adversary in the head. Crunch! And the big body dropped in the dirt. Two down one to go.
The remaining Laulaumunda, the one they wanted the most, had been moved away by the chieftain during the fight and now stood with the ugly slavers. Ben yelled at the prisoners to get off the platform and get down behind it. In another second, he showed Harry how to pull the axe free of a body; using his foot to hold the body, he jerked hard. He could tell Harry was a little freaked out killing one of his own kind.
Their enemy was angry. They came towards Ben and Harry growling, whining and yipping but not firing their laser pistols. Ben began to think they wanted to capture him and Harry; two fighters might bring a lot more credits. Two against twenty one wasn’t good but Ben was going to work out something, he wasn’t going to ever wear any chains again. He yelled for all the villagers to lie on the floor of their huts and for Harry to use the platform for cover. He repeated it a second time, then powered up his pistol. They stood in a group, not the brightest bunch. He could kill a number of them with one shot, but that would probably be the only chance he had. Scattering them would slow things down, to reduce the number, he would have to fight them all at one time.
He decided not to shoot the chieftain unless he had to. Ben heard a buzzing noise. Looking up into the night sky he couldn’t see anything but knew the sound wasn’t too far away. He looked around, everyone heard it.
"She is here" He had an idea who she was. "Harry, the cavalry is here. Get those prisoners and get them inside. I don’t think it will be good to be out here in about a minute." Harry could hear the buzzing like the night just got very big. These were not the small sounds he used to fall asleep to. He grabbed the first prisoner by the chains and pulled, they all had no choice but to follow or he would drag them.
The giant moth landed on the other end of the village. Ben saw her slide off; she was wearing the silver and gold armor. A second later, the first warrior just appeared and hit one of the slavers pinning it to the ground. The slavers responded, firing repeatedly till the warrior fell over. It was a short-lived victory, five more hit and then eight. There was an explosion in the landing area, but there was no interruption to the death that came out of the night sky. Harry ran out of the hut he had just put the prisoners in and ran straight at the chieftain who was swinging his club wildly at a mantis. Ben ran over to make sure the mantis didn’t get a two for one.
Harry and the chieftain grappled on the ground. Eight arms flailing looking like a giant octopus having a fit. The chieftain threw dirt in Harry's face but it didn't slow him down; he was on top and going to stay there. Harry reached for a handful of dirt to return the favor and was rewarded with rock. His second arm began to beat the rock against the chieftain's ribs and arms.
Ben stood between the mantis and the two combatants. This one had not tried to communicate with him and stood cocking its head from side to side studying him. Imelda walked along behind Tazleaha. Ben just decided to stand still and wait on them, his hand on the butt of his pistol.
"Imelda, if you are through hunting, direct some of the others to the woods, make sure they do not harm the Laulaumunda who might be hiding out there."
"I will supervise them."
"Great, now for the big pain in the ass."
Tazleaha said, "You looked like you could use some help."
"Thanks. I have had enough of your help, but it was good timing for Harry's people.
"It seems it was. It looks like Harry has prevailed."
"Yes, I've been listening." Ben heard a crunch then Harry was standing next to him, club in his hand, fresh blood on the end, and a rock in his other hand, equally bloody. Ben walked to stand by the platform, moving away from the feeding that was going on five feet behind him. Harry watched as his nemesis was quickly ripped apart and eaten by two of the warriors.
Ben said, "Harry, I say we burn this platform. It may help lift the spirit of your people a little seeing it burning to ashes. Tazleaha, can you get the warriors out of the village now? They can take their prizes with them. This has to be almost as bad as the slavers, watching these warriors eat another being."
Harry answered, "I think that is a good idea. I will go and let them know they can come out as soon as the queen's army has left."
"Why are you here? I missed the part where you said the reason you are standing here right now. It certainly isn’t to check on this race of citizens. They have been sold off as slaves for the past six months." Ben struck a nerve. Even in the dark he could tell she was angry.
"I cannot be everywhere and do not, cannot police the entirety of my empire."
"I think that it is probably good you can't. Your citizens may be better off. Now that you are here, see anything you want to steal, maybe the last little bit of food off their table?"
"Do not push too far. You are angry because I am
right and my case was based on truth. You cannot deny any of your actions."
"Tazleaha, why were you in my bed? Why did you show me the clones on the ark? You are beautiful and you played me the whole time. Then when you know I am going to leave, you trap me. I am more angry with myself but it doesn’t mean you are off the hook."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I don’t care who you are. We are not in a room with over a hundred of your type of people staring at me. You push me and I'll knock you on your ass and scratch up your shiny armor."
A wall of hair invaded Ben's space as two hands grabbed his arms and two rested on his shoulders. Two large sad brown eyes looked him in the eye. "I cannot let you attack the queen. Later you would feel even more unhappy because you are good and it would pain you to hurt her. We should leave soon. I do not want to be here when they start the process of picking the next chieftain." Ben felt his anger receding.
"Thank you Harry, you are right. It has been a real bad month."
Harry answered, "I cannot express how terrible. I am going to visit my wife and child before we leave then I am with you and the crew till the end." Harry leaned down and spoke softer. "It is clear she has chosen you. You have fought for her and there are witnesses. You may not have understood your actions but every witness present that evening knows tradition. I will meet you at the ship." Harry met the elderly female and they walked off towards the woods, others joined them along the way, there were more graves than just two.
The villagers had the auction platform blazing and stood together watching it burn. Ben and the queen were in a bubble, none of the villagers would stand too close to either of them. Ben looked at her and the fire dancing on her armor but it was her eyes, deep pools of inky black with yellow and orange flames dancing in them that seemed to call to him.
"I miss her. It was hard at first between Andrea and I but it got better. I know I wasn’t the ideal man and am probably worse now. She knew what to say and seemed to show up in time to stop me from doing something stupid. She was my best friend, lover, a wife of sorts though we never actually married. The last four weeks are like a trail of one bad decision after another. You are used to getting what you want even if you don’t know what that is. I have obviously made other mistakes I was not aware of at the time, but I am sure you know what they are." Ben didn’t raise his voice an octave. He just spoke to her. "I don’t care about your empire, wealth, position. When the time comes and I can deal, I will only care about you. You will need to take the crown off and just be Tazleaha when we are together."
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