Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison 4: Empires at War (Part One)

by Thomas A. Wright

  “Onal, Onal, I have your ransom. I convinced the minister to send it to me so we could ensure the commander’s release. Bring her out so that I can see her and I’ll have it transferred to you.”

  He motioned to one of the pirates standing behind him, who left to retrieve the commander. I watched the Khalnalax Captain Farat during the minute following my announcement that I had killed the queen and I saw he couldn’t stop smiling. Captain Sashet, however, hadn’t taken the news quite as well and was visibly angry. Onal’s next question was a surprise.

  “Reaper, the small member of your team—is it full grown? And would you consider selling it?” Onal asked. As he asked the question, his eyes slid over Natalia, and I knew shit was about to hit the fan.

  I heard a weapon clearing its holster and saw the laser as it hit Onal in the face. That was all it took. Nedra and Snake both shot Captain Farat and his second in command charged, stepping over his body. Harry met him head on and was trying to get some leverage, but the rubbery arms and snapping beak-like mouth kept him from getting anything done quickly.

  I guess Captain Sashet had chosen me. It must have been because I was standing around doing nothing. She went for a long knife on her belt instead of her pistol, which surprised me. I yelled at Harry and tossed him the axe, but couldn’t wait to see if he had caught it. She was on me in seconds, slashing in long diagonal strokes. Although I didn’t need to, I stepped back, avoiding her attack. Onal’s second went after Natalia while Snake intercepted Sachet’s second. I had no fear of the knife doing any damage and was trying to watch Natalia. Nedra was right there keeping an eye on her, pistol in hand and glancing at the entryway.

  A groan caught my attention as Snake buried his knife in his opponent’s chest. Sashet stopped at the sound; all her attention now on Snake. I moved in quicker than she must have thought I could and punched her solidly in the gut.

  “Let go of the knife or I’ll break your arm,” I told her as I grabbed and twisted it. She reached for her sidearm and I punched her in the gut again, grabbing her other arm and twisting them both behind her.

  “Clear the bodies quickly before the other comes back with the commander!” I ordered, and they all jumped to it, except Harry. He had the spike on the top of his axe shoved into the mouth of his opponent and was trying to push it back to get the needed room to swing. A laser shot hit the squid’s knee joint and it leaned to that side, beginning to fall. There was a splat; Harry buried the axe in its face as it was falling to the floor. He looked over at Natalia and gave her a nod of thanks.

  “Snake, you grab the pirate, and Nedra, you grab the commander, when they come through,” I ordered. “Captain Sashet, if you make a sound I’ll slit your throat from ear to ear.” I yanked her into motion and out of sight. Seeing the blood on the floor, I thought it would be an issue, but the pirate was too engrossed in pushing and berating the commander that he didn’t even notice.

  I was watching from the side as the commander was pushed hard through the manway, which was perfect, really. She was at least three steps ahead of him. He was greeted with a metal-clad fist to the side of the head, followed by a combination of punches. Snake had him down with his arms behind his back and a knee between his shoulder blades. When Nedra grabbed the commander, I thought she was going to faint.

  “Nedra, bring her over here and sit her on the floor. Captain Sashet, you will sit next to her, and if either of you moves I’ll have you shot in the legs.” I pushed her down on the floor and let Nedra get them situated. “Natalia, come here now!” I yelled. Prisoners and teammates alike turned to look as my daughter walked toward me.

  “Take your helmet off.” She began doing as I asked and I did the same. Her face was solemn, not knowing what I was going to say or do. “Walk with me,” I said, and she complied as I turned away from the scene.

  I spared a glance at Nedra; she was giving the commander a quick look-over. “How do you feel, Daughter?” I asked softly.

  “I’m fine, Dad, why?”

  “You were a little quick on the draw, is all.”

  “He wanted to buy me and I gave him his answer. I’m not for sale.”

  “Listen,” I said, “things are going to get a little weird. If someone points a weapon at you, shoot them. But if they make a crude comment, try using a little restraint until we get things smoothed out. I will address matters and deal with them, ok?”

  “What’s going on, Dad? What are you doing?”

  “Just sit back and watch, my little pirate princess,” I said, seeing her eyes go wide as I kissed her forehead.

  Nedra called out to me. “Reaper, I need you to see this.”

  Natalia and I walked over. As I drew near I saw the commander’s tears and the burns on her body. Nedra held her shirt up, exposing the black and purple bruises and burnt flesh. I squatted down in front of them and felt Natalia touch my shoulder lightly, letting me know where she was.

  “You killed her?” Dela’maah yelled, distraught. “She told me you killed her!” Tears ran down her face.

  “Commander, Tazleaha is alive. I didn’t kill her.”

  “You’re covered in blood,” she said.

  “It’s Allith blood. We stopped at the outpost to retrieve the survivors and found a ship with about a hundred Allith that had landed and attacked them. We killed the Allith and destroyed their ship. Tazleaha fought them right along beside me; you would be proud of her.”

  “You lied?”

  “Yes, about a lot of things, and I’m sorry—but I had to sell it. Do you understand?”

  “Then I didn’t kill your family or women and children.”

  “No, Dela, you didn’t. Nedra is going to take you to my ship. I have a medical specialist waiting on the shuttle who will start working on those burns. Do you by chance remember who did that to you?”

  “The admiral and two of the crew.”

  “Look over there on the floor, and thank Natalia, the one standing behind me. She’s the one who shot him in the face. He wanted to know if I would sell her and she answered him.” I had to think Natalia was smiling at Dela, because Dela was trying to smile.

  “It seems that I will like Natalia, but it will take time to like you, Reaper, if I ever do,” she said, turning her attention back to me, her gaze steadier now. “You are the cause of this. They sought information I did not know and could not give.”

  “I’m sorry, I really am. We will get you fixed up and delivered to the ship coming to pick up the survivors, you and Tazleaha.”

  “You call her Tazleaha as if you know her well, but that doesn’t seem possible.”

  “Oh, he knows every inch of her,” Natalia said, slapping me on the back. “They are lovers. If he wasn’t such a scoundrel you would be looking at your next king.”

  Both Cjittan females looked at me in disbelief. “Dela, Captain Sashet, I would advise you both to keep that to yourselves,” I told them, ignoring my daughter. “You could drop a hint and let her tell you what she chooses. Our relationship is ever changing and volatile; you don’t want to get caught up in it. Are you ready to go home, Commander Dela’maah?”

  “I am. What will you do with her and the rest?”

  “We know how to handle pirates,” I said, taking my knife in my hand. “Their pirating days are now over. Harry, carry the commander to our shuttle.” I moved so Harry could scoop her up.

  “Nedra,” I added, “please go with her and stay with Lorelei. Send Adeen, Angel, Shawna, Adam and Harry back with lots of weapons.” I looked over at Snake and saw him still kneeling on the pirate.

  “Snake, what the hell are you doing over there—falling in love? Just stun his ass good and guard that manway.” Sashet and Natalia laughed behind me.

  “What do you want me to do, Dad?”

  “Go keep an eye on Snake and make sure he doesn’t get shot. Captain Sashet and I are going to have a long talk, if she is smart. If not, it’s going to be a very short talk.” I offered my hand to help Sashet up and she took it,
which was a start.

  “Is what you said true, that you and our queen are lovers?” she asked me as she stood.

  “Yes, she says I will be hers and it sounds definite. But there are obstacles that block us from living happily ever after.”

  “You are not Cjittan?”

  “Not sure how big of an obstacle that is,” I said, “but no. I killed a couple of her suitors. One was Dela’s brother and the other was the husband of the Cjittan ambassador to Allond. There’s more to it, though. They tried to kill member of my crew with poison, which is why I killed them.”

  “Seems a reasonable reaction.”

  “I thought so, but Taz wants me to turn myself in to the magistrate or whoever the hell it is.”

  “You call her Taz,” she queried.

  “Yes, and so does my crew. She traveled with us for a while. Enough small talk. We can swap stories later, but right now I need answers. Where is the crew for this ship?” he asked, looking around. “We’ve been here over half an hour and no one has come to check on the admiral or you. What are they doing?”

  “You killed half the crew and the other half is probably locked in the bridge.”

  “A ship this size and crewed by only eight people?”

  “We had casualties during the raid on the naval base.”

  I nodded and said, “Now, turn around and take me to the bridge. This knife will be in your back the whole time, so if you’re setting me up I’m going to shove it in your back and use you like a shield.”

  “But you have armor on.”

  “So? I don’t want it scratched or scorched. It is special to me.”

  “That is absurd.”

  “Tell me about it. Now walk faster.”

  True to her word, nothing happened on the walk and the bridge was locked. She managed to talk them into opening up and, so far, there had been no violence. I heard footsteps approaching from behind and found my daughter carrying our helmets.

  “Sash, sit in the captain’s seat and get the other two ships on the screen.” I finished attaching my helmet and saw I had messages waiting. Lorelei was informing me of an upset queen terrorizing her bridge. I messaged for her to hold on, telling her I would respond in a minute.

  “My name is Sashet!” my captive retorted, though she still took her seat as I had asked.

  “Not anymore, blondie. Your name is whatever he decides to call you!” Natalia had her pistol in her hand at her side. That was an improvement over earlier. “She reminds me of Lorelei and I don’t like it,” she said, looking at me.

  “Natalia, I can tell you she isn’t acting like Lorelei, but we’ve just met, so she will get to keep all her fingers till she screws up. It’s like I said—I need them, so holster the pistol.”

  I raised my visor and turned on my com. “Lorelei, target all three pirate ships. At this range, use lasers at full capacity.”

  “Copy, full capacity,” Nedra answered for her.

  Sash turned and looked at me, concern on her face. The bridge crew mirrored her concern but said nothing. I had a split screen with two additional bridge crews looking equally concerned. It was time for a little announcement.

  “Officers in charge of your ships, I need you to open your ship-wide so your crews can hear me.” I paused to let them do so. “As all of you know, each of your ships is targeted, and on my command you can either live or die in the next minute. Unfortunately, in a hostile takeover there just aren’t that many options open to you. My name is Reaper, and as of today the coalition is under new management. There is only one captain left and she is sitting right here.”

  “You are bluffing,” said one of them. “I am taking the Dragon’s Eye and leaving. It is mine by right of succession.”

  “It pains me to hear you say that,” I answered calmly. “Crew of the Dragon’s Eye, someone has decided you all should die. It’s a shame I didn’t get to know any of you. Good luck in the afterlife.”

  A laser blast shot across the bridge and the dissenting pirate dropped. “The crew of the Dragon’s Eye is listening, Reaper,” said another one, eyeing his dead comrade.

  “Excellent,” I said. “You are acting captain until we can discuss it further. Lock down your bridge just in case—I don’t want you replaced during our trip. Sash, am I going to have any problems with your ship?”

  “There will be no problems Reaper,” one of the crew answered before Sash could. She jerked her head back to the screen and stared at the speaker.

  I let the stare-down go for a few seconds then smacked her in the side of head. “It looks to me like you’re the problem, or is he lying?”

  “He is telling the truth.”

  I looked at the speaker sitting on the bridge of Sash’s ship. “You are acting captain, under same conditions as the other ship. We will discuss your promotion after we are all on the ground later. Sash, you are the senior captain and captain of this ship. You two will take your orders from me or her, understood?” I gestured to Natalia.

  I received two nods and a dirty look from Sash. It was a lot more than I had ever thought I would get. I really had thought they were all end up as little frozen pieces floating in space before it was over.

  “Dad, what the hell are you doing?” Natalia asked me, incredulous.

  “Natalia, welcome to Queen Tazleaha’s Space Dogs.”

  ****

  “What is he doing over there, Lorelei?” Taz asked.

  “I don’t know, but we have had weapons locked on for five minutes,” Lorelei answered, hoping to appease her.

  “Then fire on them and let’s end this,” Tazleaha ordered.

  “Harry,” Lorelei said without looking at Taz, “take the queen to unused quarters and do not let her leave.”

  Harry wrapped four arms around Taz and walked off the bridge. The profanities didn’t stop echoing until the door shut on the room he picked. Lorelei watched on her screen to see what room he had chosen, then locked the door.

  “Nedra, what’s he up to?” she asked, peering at the screen. “I’m only getting bits and pieces.”

  “I’m not sure, Captain, but you can bet a certain queen is not going to like it.”

  “Once we dump that crazy bitch we just locked up, we will get the whole story. Are the others on the shuttle and on the way over?”

  “Yes, they should be unloading and bringing Benjamin back. He and Genius will take the damaged shuttle back and then we are on our way. Did you hear if we got paid yet? Her mood doesn’t give me the feeling it will happen,” Nedra said.

  “I’ll look, hold on,” Lorelei answered, tapping into the account. “Looks like there was a deposit of fifty million credits and then forty-nine million were transferred to a locked account.”

  “Benjamin?” Nedra asked.

  “Benjamin,” Lorelei answered.

  “I think he is making sure they can’t take it back.”

  “If he does that, then we will all be criminals. You know how these governments work, the slimy shit bags.”

  “Then we will be criminals. He became one already for a member of this crew and he will take the heat for the credits too,” Nedra reminded Lorelei.

  “Hey, maybe we could go to Allond next. He hasn’t killed anyone there. We’re on the outs with the Alliance, Trillond and now Cjittan. If Emperor Xamand says no, though, then we’re off to uncharted space.”

  ****

  “Boss, it’s time to go to back and bring the other shuttle,” Genius said, pausing to check his com. “At a glance, I gather this ship is in pretty good shape. The crew should be commended.”

  “Let’s go and get this over with,” I told him. “Snake, please keep an eye on Natalia. We’ll be back shortly.”

  “She’s gonna take it really bad, Benjamin,” Snake said. He never called me Benjamin, so I knew it was heavy on his mind.

  “So am I, Snake, so am I.” This was the first time I remembered wanting a three-minute ride to take an hour, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

  *
***

  “Lorelei, I’m gonna stay in the hold and check both shuttles over before we head back,” Genius reported.

  “Good idea,” she said. “We don’t want Benjamin getting blamed for even more shit.”

  She turned to me. “Benjamin, Taz is in room six,” she said. “She looks pretty calm right now, but she was batshit crazy earlier. Just a heads up.” Lorelei, always looking out for me, I thought.

  “Thanks,” I said out loud. “Unlock the door for me, please, and then lock me in.” I walked toward Taz’s room.

  I opened the door and stepped in quickly. It shut behind me and locked immediately. She was sitting on the bed and didn’t even bother to look up. I released the chair from the desk and sat down. I unbuckled my helmet and pulled it off and sat it on the desk, waiting for her to respond to my arrival.

  Finally, she looked up at me, and I wished she hadn’t. It was a look I had never seen before. I knew all her faces—happy, sad, angry, lusty and mischievous—but this was like someone had died. This was the kind of sad that just pulls at the skin on a person’s face as they fall apart.

  “I want to be mad at you and hate you,” she said quietly, “but I can’t. I can’t and don’t know why. All I know is I don’t want to fight with you, Benjamin. It would accomplish nothing except to hurt me more inside. I will have to tell myself you are dead to me forever.”

  “Why?”

  “You are not stupid,” she snapped. “I have been telling you for days what has to be done.”

  “You have a naval outpost to rebuild,” I told her. “Why don’t you take an interest, personally oversee the construction and make some improvements? There is a war in our future, love, and you need to be ready for it. There aren’t that many prying eyes out here. Who knows, I might be in the area. You could chase me to some planet and keep me captive for a few days.”

  Maybe I said something right after a week of screwing up. There was a flicker behind her eyes as if the flame had ignited again.

  “There are some places I have been neglecting to visit,” she said slowly. “I could schedule a tour and visit with my governors. It would take a number of months just to see a third of them. It would be smart to make sure they are ready when war comes to my empire.”