“You’re the only stupid thing I’ve ever done, and it seems like that will never end.”
I buckled the belt and felt a tug as she pulled the battle axe off my back. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I don’t want you close enough to have to use that. You have my pistol—a couple of rounds with that and they’ll stay far away from you.”
“Leave her alone, Dad. She’ll be fine,” Natalia said from somewhere behind me.
“He never helped me like that with my armor,” Adeen added.
“Natalia, what are you doing here? You stay on the shuttle and guard Shawna.” I was getting angry; I should have been paying attention instead of playing squire to the queen.
“Boss, you said for everyone with armor to report,” Genius said.
“That’s what I heard,” Snake added.
“Me too, Benjamin,” Ronnie said, “So get over it and get ready to help some people.”
Snake handed me my rifle. “Glad I grabbed this on my way, ‘cause all you got left is that pig sticker.”
I held it, formulating a temporary plan of attack and voicing it out loud. “Adeen, Genius, you’re with Ronnie. Snake, Natalia, you stay with Taz.” I put my hand on Natalia’s shoulder and raised my visor. “If it gets bad, push Snake out in the open and run for the shuttle.” She could see the crinkles around my eyes and knew I was smiling.
“That was my plan,” Taz said.
“Ours too,” Adeen added while everyone else nodded.
“You guys are all comedians,” Snake said.
“Boss, we got big problems,” Shawna yelled. I handed my rifle to Taz and moved in behind her.
“There’s gotta be a hundred of them, and we have about two minutes before they’re overrun.”
“Benjamin, what is it?” Taz asked.
“Allith. About a hundred, and we got no time.”
“Snake, you and Adeen—on me now!” I grabbed my rifle, took three long steps and opened the ramp. “We have to slow them down.” I sat cross-legged on the edge with my long-time teammates lying prone on either side of me. “You two know what to do. Shawna, force field.” I heard a slight crackle as it went up behind us. “Let’s teach these reptile fucks a lesson!”
The scene below was a small war zone. What the pirates couldn’t steal, they had blown up or damaged beyond repair. A shuttle similar to ours was the Alamo for the surviving Cjittan naval personnel. It was on its side, and the rubble of buildings provided cover for the Allith, who, from our vantage point, were about fifty meters at the farthest and circling. The Cjittan would be surrounded in minutes.
“Shawna, fly over and past them about fifty meters,” I said. At roughly one hundred meters our weapons would have no problem.
“Got it, boss. I see what’s happening,” she answered.
We opened up on the Allith’s front lines and for a second the whole damn area just stopped, frozen and looking up at us. They were confused and had no idea who or what was raining death down on them. They turned and pushed back against their comrades, trying to put some space between us and them. They soon learned that bunching up was a bad idea; every time I pulled the trigger I was able to get three or four with one shot until they scattered. Not all were kills, but at that range there was enough damage to result in death.
“Shawna, back us up next to that shuttle and set us down,” I ordered. “We have a little breathing room now.”
She didn’t acknowledge; the shuttle moving in reverse was all the answer I needed. We continued to fire at the fleeing reptiles. This was by no means over; they would be back shortly as soon as the warlord, captain, or whatever was leading them got them fired up again. We hit the ground and were greeted with weapons pointed at us by the idiots we were there to save.
“Who’s in charge here?” I yelled.
A Cjittan officer answered. I walked toward him. He didn’t lower his weapon, so I lowered him. I batted his arm down and punched him in the gut, then pushed him down. “Lower your weapons, you idiots,” I called out to the rest. “We are here to help. Are you blind?”
“Benjamin!”
“Dad!” Natalia and Taz were both on me in short order.
“What?! Do any of you people have an ounce of common sense?”
Taz took off her helmet and everyone hit the ground on their knees.
“Get the hell up and get on that shuttle,” I yelled at them, frustrated. “How many wounded do you have?”
“We have no wounded,” the leader answered from the ground. “We had to abandon them when we retreated here. We left them weapons, hoping they would use them on themselves. The screams ended some time ago. Not all could do it.”
“I thought I told you people to get up. Don’t make me tell you again.”
“Benjamin, stop yelling at them!” Taz yelled at me.
“Then get them up and on that shuttle,” I replied, gesturing at the small sea of prostrate soldiers. “They can worship your ass later on the Claymore; we don’t have time for this now.” I bent over to pick the officer off the ground and pushed him toward the ramp.
“Shawna,” I called at my crew, “get these idiots to the Claymore and tell Imelda to get on the shuttle. Drop her off behind the Allith and get back over here. Natalia, go with them and make sure they unload faster than they are loading.”
Natalia grumbled but followed my orders.
They were finally moving, but it had taken about three minutes of our precious time. I would have thought that knowing the others in their group had been eaten alive would have put some kind of fire to their ass, but it sure didn’t seem that way. I walked over to Taz, who was talking to them as they loaded. “Next time, keep your fucking helmet on and your mouth shut, got me?” I hissed.
“Benjamin, while you get your ladies under control, Snake and I are going to establish forward positions,” Adeen said, ignoring my anger, and with a wave of her hand, she and Snake took off, rapidly moving through the rubble.
“Genius, you and Ronnie check out that shuttle,” I ordered. “If we righted it, would it be space-worthy?”
“On it, boss.” Genius looked more than happy to get away from me.
“What about you?” I asked Taz. “Are you ready to be a marine and kick some reptile ass?”
“Yes, and when this is over we have things to discuss,” she replied, eyebrows raised.
“Really? Again with the talks and discussion? Fine, but for right now you listen to me. You have my six. That means you’re behind me; I want you so close that when I reach back I can touch you. If I move, you move with me. You don’t leave my back, am I clear?”
“Yes, Benjamin, very clear.”
“That axe is your last resort, just like my katana. We will run till we can’t run, and then we use them.”
“Are we not leaving when the shuttle returns?”
“We are, but it only takes seconds for our luck to change and things go south.”
“Benjamin,” Taz said, her voice suddenly quiet.
“What?”
“I love you.”
“Damn.” It was all I could get out before I heard weapons firing. Why did she have to say that now? I was already running, looking for cover in between Snake and Adeen.
“Keep firing and funnel them up the middle,” I told them. “If they bunch up, we’ll get our money’s worth from each round we fire.”
“Copy. That was the plan,” Adeen said. “Is that the queen? Why is she behind you?”
“Shut the fuck up, Adeen, or I swear I’ll rip your metal arm off and beat you with it.” I was beginning to regret my decision to go easy on everyone, knowing they weren’t newbies or green. I didn’t need Taz questioning why she was behind me. What I had told her was true; she was watching my back, and I was keeping myself between her and seventy vicious reptiles.
I reached back to see if she was where I told her to be and she grabbed my hand, holding it tightly for a second then letting go. I couldn’t let anything happen to her. Not a scratch wo
uld break her ivory skin.
A stunner hit me and I staggered into Taz. Great job, Jamison, I thought. Get your head in the game, dumbass. I raised my rifle and opened up on the approaching enemy. Later Taz told me I was yelling curses at the Allith, as well as taunting them to come at me. As the bodies piled higher, my yelling continued as if they were fuel for the fire. I wasn’t sure how many were killed or wounded, but it had to have been about half. They pulled back to regroup but came again without delay, more cautiously this time. My blood hadn’t had a chance to cool and neither had my weapon. I began walking forward, pulling the trigger even when it wasn’t ready to fire. A short time later it stopped working completely.
I spared a glance at it before throwing it aside. Turning, I grabbed my axe out of Taz’s hand. I took a long step backward, reaching out and pointing it. “Stay this far from me,” I said to her and ran toward the last of the Allith. The axe made two revolutions clockwise, winding up as I ran forward and buried it under the chin of the first attacker, splitting his lower jaw and lodging in his head. Pulling it free, I kicked the Allith in the chest to give myself some room and swung a slashing cut across the neck of another one on my left, opening a gash to its spine. I pivoted, using my momentum and swinging with both hands. The axe head was buried deep in the first Allith’s chest. The creature fell and I jerked hard, pulling my weapon free. Blood sprayed my armor like slinging paint onto canvas. In the distance, I saw Imelda wading into the Allith. Their bodies flew through the air while some staggered and fell over headless.
I heard Taz yell and turned to find her on the ground. An Allith stood on her arm. How it got past me I didn’t know, but it had its back to me. It raised its head like it was about to strike. One step and I jumped, axe held high with both hands. I brought it down on its head, cleaving its skull in half, and it collapsed on top of her. I heard a snort and before I could pull my axe free another was on me. I pulled my katana with my right hand and threw my left up in its face. I knew it would bite—they always bite—and with my arm in its teeth, I began furiously hacking at its neck with the katana. It jerked me around like a dog playing tug-of-war but there was enough of a gash now in its thick skin that I could shove the katana into its throat. It jerked me around even as I worked my blade tip into the wound, digging back and forth, until it finally opened up its throat. Like in tug-of-war, it opened its mouth to renew its grip and I pulled my arm free.
Swing with both arms, I chopped at the gash in its neck. The shooting pain from my shoulder to my hand had to wait its turn for my attention. One more swing then I pulled the katana in a slicing motion across its throat. When it collapsed, I fell to my knees and crawled over to Taz, who was pushing the three-hundred-pound beast off of her. I looked around and saw Allith survivors running for their ship.
“Shawna,” I yelled over my shoulder, “ask Nedra if she can get a lock on the Allith ship. The engines will be heating up in a minute. Meet us by the wrecked shuttle.” I looked around, spotting more of my crew. “Snake, Adeen, do you copy? Fall back to the shuttle now! Things are going to get hot.”
“Copy, copy, falling back,” they replied in unison.
“Come on, beautiful, nap time is over. I can’t believe you’re lying around on the job,” I teased as I patted Taz’s leg, pulling the beast the rest of the way off her.
Snake and Adeen showed up a few seconds later. “Snake, grab my rifle,” I told him. “I think it overheated, but maybe I can fix it.” He complied without a word.
Imelda, grab what you got and come on, I thought. She didn’t respond but she began putting her presents onto her back.
“Benjamin, I’m not sure if I can walk,” Taz said, holding up an arm to me. I motioned for both and pulled her up then bent her over my right shoulder. I adjusted her weight and started out at a brisk walk, gradually picking up speed. I had carried more than my share of wounded off the battlefield this way. Snake and Adeen jogged beside me, rotating themselves in all directions in case there were any stragglers. We saw our shuttle land up ahead. Ronnie and Genius lowered the ramp, deposited their medical pack and tool bag and came out to help.
Genius grabbed my rifle from Snake while Ronnie was looking them over as they jogged. I ran up the ramp and laid Taz down.
Imelda, squeeze inside the damaged shuttle. It may be a little rocky in a minute, but it should protect you.
“Go, Shawna, anywhere, as long as it’s away from here.” I slapped the button to raise the ramp.
“Benjamin, Nedra has a lock. Are you clear?” Lorelei asked through the com on the shuttle.
“Clear enough. Light them up!” We felt the shock wave a few seconds later and the shuttle went a little sideways, but Shawna corrected and had us quickly under control.
“Shawna, circle around slowly,” I said. “It’s still going to be hot, so let’s clean up any stragglers if there are any. Ronnie, check Taz out. She said she couldn’t walk.”
We all stood around as Ronnie unbuckled and removed Taz’s helmet. She lay there with her eyes closed, breathing heavily. I knelt down beside her and removed my glove, putting my hand to her face. She felt hot, but that was normal under the circumstances. Ronnie had begun to unzip her armor when she raised her arm and grabbed Ronnie by the wrist. Her eyes opened and she looked at me.
“Are you ok? Tell Ronnie where it hurts,” I told her knowing concern was written all over my face.
“Benjamin,” she said softly, reaching up to touch my face. I looked at Ronnie, who shrugged, then back to Taz.
“Thanks for the lift back, sucker!” she said gleefully with a big smile, then sat up easily. I fell back on my butt when she suddenly sat up. Everybody started laughing and Ronnie helped her stand, but no one offered me a hand. I just lay there surrounded by people who had just fought man-eating reptiles and still loved practical jokes. At least at my expense.
“Damn, Boss, you’re a softie.” Genius chuckled. “Can I ride on your shoulders next? I promise to shower first. . .” I ignored him.
Before he could continue, Shawna interrupted with a report, shifting everyone’s attention from my embarrassment. “We are back at the shuttle site. The blast put it right on its runners,” she told everyone.
I climbed to my feet and opened the ramp. Looking out, I saw ash in the air and pieces of smoldering debris spread out around a blast crater, crispy critters scattered smoking here and there. Imelda was already out of the other shuttle, moving toward us. A little singed but no worse for wear.
“Shawna, did Natalia stay on the Claymore?” I asked after looking around for a few seconds. “I expected her to come down with Imelda.”
“Your daughter is safe,” Taz said before Shawna could say anything. “She sent a message with Imelda. She says she will talk to you later and that you don’t deserve me. Also, she said I should make things hard for you and not easy. How did I do?”
“You did fine, Taz,” I said with a small smile. “We’re almost done here, are you all through messing around? We still have the commander to rescue.”
“Natalia told me that when I say I love you, you’re supposed to say it back—and instead you said ‘damn.’”
Everyone looked at me like I was dog shit at that, and I could tell Taz was loving every minute of making me pay. “Why are you bringing that up now? That’s not exactly how that happened, and you said we would talk later, so I thought we would straighten it then,” I said defensively.
“Well you can say it now and we can forget about what happened earlier.” I didn’t say anything. The shuttle was slowing as Shawna readied to set it down.
Imelda, come over here and get me. We can go hunt. There might be some still alive. The shuttle was just about even with the spider’s back when I walked forward and jumped, leaving them all staring as I rode away. I heard the shuttle land behind us as Imelda began picking through the bodies, pushing them around as we walked.
Are we far enough away, Benjamin?
Yes, this is fine, Imelda.
&n
bsp; I know you are no coward. Why do you not just crush them into submission? Tazleaha most of all. They are your servants, are they not?
No, Imelda, they are not my servants. I am their leader and they recognize that. We are what is called a team. We are individuals working together to achieve a common goal. Tazleaha is not part of that team and so she would not give in to my leadership fully. She does not see us as equals; she is above us in her view.
What is this love she spoke of before you ran, and why do you still think about it?
You would have to understand human emotions, Imelda. There are different kinds of love, depending on the relationship.
Did you put Tazleaha behind you during the battle to protect her because you love her?
You seem to already know about love if you figured that out.
I lie in my web, observe and learn. I know the sounds you make that you call words and understand them more and more as time passes. You would have put your child Natalia behind you because of love, and you protected them. I must have much love in me, because I protected hundreds of my children from predators and their fathers who would have eaten them, had I not been there to eat their fathers first.
Yes, Imelda, you have an abundance of love inside you. You would protect my Natalia from harm, which shows you love both her and me. This is only a small part of it. When we are safe aboard the ship, I will bring books and try to explain more to you.
She changed the subject. I sense there are no living creatures left anywhere nearby, Benjamin.
I didn’t expect any, I just needed to get away and think. I am going back to the Claymore and will send others down to help Genius work on the other shuttle. Will you stay and keep a watch over your team?
I am part of the team? She sounded pleased.
Of course you are.
Then I will stay and watch over our team.
Good. Now take me back, I need to face the music.
I hear nothing.
Never mind, it’s an expression. I guess we should talk about those too.
Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison 4: Empires at War (Part One) Page 12