I paused to look her in the eyes. “Did you ever think about not being a queen and letting Zora take the throne? Just walking up the ramp of the Claymore and leaving it all behind?”
“I know you want me to say yes, but no. I have a duty, and my place is on the throne.”
“Do you think that fighting the Allith and saving your people will help my case?”
“I have already asked Zora to work on that, but it will take time,” she said.
My com crackled on. “Benjamin, Genius is ready when you are.”
“Copy. Tell him I’ll be there shortly.”
Even through the com, I could tell Lorelai was smirking. “Is that shortly as in five minutes, or shortly as in you haven’t got her clothes off yet and you’ll be back sometime after that?”
I looked at Taz and she held up five fingers. “I’m being told five minutes,” I answered wryly. “Thank you very much, big mouth.”
I sat down at the desk and turned on the terminal. Once it was ready, I typed in a search of our historical literature for Queen Elizabeth and the Sea Dogs. “You will have some time to think during your travel homeward,” I told Taz. “Read this, and think about how Queen Tazleaha’s Space Dogs might sound.”
“What is this?” she asked.
“It’s a part of our human history,” I explained. “There was a country ruled by a very smart woman, a queen in a world of kings, and she ruled during a time of war. Read it. Com me before you get too far away and we can talk about it.”
“You say she had to contend with males and she kicked their asses?” Taz sounded intrigued.
“If you get right down to it, she employed intelligent men and women, and she had spies. They not only attacked but stole from the enemy to fund and supply. They took the ships for the navy. Even if it wasn’t a warship originally, it could be made into one.”
“I like the sound of this,” she said. “I will read it with an open mind and talk to you soon. Go now, before I decide I can’t let you leave me.”
“Lorelei,” I said into my com, “unlock the door, please. I think you can leave it unlocked; the queen has homework to do.”
“Homework?” came the reply. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“She will tell you shortly.”
Chapter 9
Joon and her twin brother Doon waited outside their home. It was market day. Papa would bring baskets of vegetables from the garden to trade, while Mama had jars of spices she had made from drying plants and vegetables. Joon looked at her brother and silently hoped that today would be the day for a special treat.
She didn’t understand how her brother had been born different, since Cjittan children almost never had handicaps, but it didn’t matter—she loved him with all her heart. He was always there to listen when she was upset or excited to go exploring with her in the woods. She had learned to read his expressions when they were babies, and right now she could tell he was happy. Like her, he loved the walk to market, seeing all the other villagers and sometimes their friends in town. Sometimes Doon would see a villager and start laughing out of the blue. He didn’t lack a sense of humor, but he had never spoken a single word in his life and it was hard to guess his thoughts.
“Doon, do you think there will be enough money for Papa to get us something?” Joon asked her brother. He smiled at her and shrugged.
“I agree, it’s been a hard year on everyone,” Joon said. “The governor told everyone we would be next to begin the program that will aid in feeding our army. Many of the other worlds have begun the process. If Papa gets selected to participate, our farm will grow and we will have more than enough money for new things.” This thought cheered her up.
Doon became interested in something, Joon could tell—he was cocking his head and listening. It was his gift, she thought; he could hear better than anyone in the village, maybe even anyone on the planet. He had stopped moving and was fixated on one direction, his head tilted back slightly and looking toward the sky. It was a beautiful day. Joon heard many creatures, but nothing she thought he would focus on like this.
In a manner of seconds, it all changed. The creatures Joon had heard all grew silent. In the distance, she heard the growl of some great beast, then other sounds she couldn’t identify. It whined and the pitch changed frequently as the noises became louder. She saw movement in the sky; streaks of light and explosions erupted on the ground in their wake. There were neighboring farms in that direction. The situation finally sinking in.
Doon grabbed Joon’s hand, pulling hard, and ran for the woods. Joon protested, not understanding, but ran along with Doon anyway. They entered the tree line just as the high-pitched whining grew loud enough that Doon had to cover his ears and Joon did the same. A bright light flashed and they closed their eyes. Doon pushed his sister down and covered her with his body as wood, stone and debris rained down on the field and forest. The whining sound continued; farther away there was an explosion.
“Papa and Mama—” Joon couldn’t finish the sentence. Doon held his sister, she cried, but there would be no time for grieving.
****
Doon heard new sounds; something was coming, moving on two feet, and there were many of them. He tried to get his sister to stand but she sat on the ground, lost in the pain. The sounds were getting closer; he could tell they were spread out across a great distance. He tried to again to get his sister to move but she sat like a stone.
“Doon, I don’t want to leave,” Joon said, getting angry. Doon did something he had never done in his life—he slapped his sister across the face. Her eyes flared with hurt then anger as she stood up to return the favor. This was what Doon had hoped for; he grabbed her wrist and pulled, pointing to the woods and his ear. Joon grasped what he was trying to tell her and they ran down a trail they had used for years. It would take them to the river. Doon altered their course, leaving the trail but keeping on an intercept course with the river. If it was safe, he would double back later. They had a hiding place they had discovered when they were younger. It would keep them safe, but unfortunately not dry; they had to access it from underwater.
****
Joon got over the slap, but it would take much longer to get over everything else that had happened to them in this brief time. She knew where her brother was taking her as she ran along behind him, but he was taking a roundabout way to get there. Doon abruptly changed direction again, seconds before she heard the popping of something burning behind them. There was a flash, this time in front of them, as her brother pulled harder on her arm. The forest thickened and Joon knew they were closer to the river now.
“We’re much farther upriver than we have ever been before. I don’t know what we are going to do once we get there,” Joon said, studying her brother’s face. He was wild-eyed and scared but seemed to have a plan. The river was just over the rise in front of them, and the pursuers had not given up. Doon pulled her to the top and stopped abruptly, catching his sister around the waist. There the ground dropped away abruptly, leaving them no choice but to jump into the river below.
****
Standing on the bridge, I watched the crew. It was too quiet for my liking. “Sash, how long will it take to get to Naloon, and how upset are the others that you agreed to take us there?” I asked, mostly just to hear someone talking.
“It will not take more than two full cycles,” she answered. “It’s not that it’s hard to find, just no one wants to go there. The planet is mostly barren and the temperature is too hot for colonization. Many years ago, the cave was discovered by the crew of a pirate ship that had made a crash landing. It has been used as a base ever since, under penalty of death to anyone who revealed it outside of the chosen. The mouth of the cave is large enough that we can navigate our ships inside, keeping them shielded from detection by naval ships or bounty hunters.”
“The people who live there now are families of the pirates?”
“Yes, some are, and some are slaves.”
�
�How many are slaves?” I asked, feeling anger rising inside me at the word.
“Hard to say, but about half would be a good estimate. I don’t keep track of who keeps slaves. A slave is a mouth to feed, and I would rather keep my rewards for other things.”
“So you don’t have any slaves,” I asked, intrigued.
“I didn’t say that, Reaper. I said they were mouths to feed. I have two slaves, if you must know. Captain Farat had the most by far, though I guess they are yours now by right of might, the admiral’s slaves as well.”
“Sash, do you know what a graveyard is?” I asked.
“I’m not familiar with the word.”
“It’s a place where people bury their dead in the ground.”
“We just drag them outside the cave in the night and a few days later they are mostly gone,” she said with a shrug. “By a week there is nothing left. The sand swallows them up in the end.”
“That will work, too,” I said. “I think many of the crew, possibly yourself included, will not live past the first day. I will share my plan with those who are left after the herd is culled.”
“What does that mean—culled?”
“There will be those who will not like the initial changes I will implement, and they will not live through the process. I don’t have time to rehabilitate all their years of lawlessness and I won’t be able to trust them if I let them live. In the end, I hope those who are left will be loyal to the cause.”
“What is this cause?”
“It is twofold. The first is Queen Tazleaha and the Cjittan Empire, and we are the other. We will grow prosperous and do the empire a service at the same time.”
“How do we accomplish this? We are pirates, hunted and killed on sight if they catch us.”
“There is a war coming, Sash, and we will not be raiding Cjittan ships or planets. The Khalnalax are going to invade Cjittan and maybe the other empires as well, and we will be a thorn in their side, even if just a small one. We will discuss it more later, if you are with us.”
“Reaper, the queen has been trying to reach you,” Genius said, walking onto the bridge.
“Give them the codes, Genius, and put it on this screen.” I waited till Taz finally appeared before me.
“Benjamin, are we not going to speak in private?” she asked, clearly irritated.
“We can, but I thought this would add some legitimacy to what I have said to Sash so far.” I watched Taz, waiting for her to say something, but she kept staring at Sash.
“You look familiar to me, Captain,” she said finally, “though I can’t place you just yet. The tattoos do a nice job of disguising your face, but I can see past them, and it will come to me. Benjamin,” she added, turning her gaze back to me. “keep an eye on her. I feel that when I remember who she is, it will not be good.”
“She is a pirate captain. Maybe you have pictures of her in reports.”
“No, this was a long time ago,” she answered. “The tattoos are very distinctive; our people almost never have them.”
“Well, if it works out, she is working for you. So if there is a problem we need to sort it out soon,” I said, not wanting a situation to arise in the middle of something important.
“Sash,” I added, turning to her, “transfer the com to the admiral’s old quarters. I’ll finish this conversation there.” I waited till the screen went blank before turning to the pirate captain. “Anything I need to know before I go talk to her?” I asked.
“I was her sister’s guardian,” Sash said. “She died mysteriously and the blame was laid on me, for lack of anyone else to blame. I fled and have lived out here ever since. That is enough for now. Go talk to your queen and we can discuss it more later.”
“She had a sister? She has never mentioned it.”
“It was before she was born,” Sash said shortly, clearly done with the conversation. “Now go, so you don’t anger her.”
“No worries, she believes I only exist to anger her and I do a pretty damn good job of it,” I said, proudly walking off the bridge.
In the admiral’s old quarters, I turned on the view screen. The love of my life was tapping her finger on the desk and scowling. There was nothing to do about it, except to just let her blow and move on.
“How do you do it, Benjamin? I let you out of my sight for a few hours and find you in the middle of a three-hundred-year-old mystery.”
“Sounds like you remembered something, but how about we forget about her for the time being and discuss my proposition?”
“It is interesting,” she admitted, “and I assume it is also the reason why all of the pirates I paid you to rid my empire of are still alive and breathing.”
“We took care of the top brass, except for Sash, and it’s my hope that, like Lorelei, she might come around to my way of thinking. Most are Cjittan, except a few, who are the same species as the admiral, and having one of their own still in authority may help me accomplish my goal.”
“Are you going to cut off her fingers?” she asked, a smirk just touching the corner of her mouth.
“If I have to, or maybe I’ll do worse, smartass. What do you care?”
“I most certainly don’t care,” she said. “So tell me, what are the terms of this venture?”
“We will keep seventy-five percent of the food, credits and valuables to include weapons—” I didn’t get far.
Taz couldn’t contain herself. “That is outrageous. The Crown should receive the larger share. It is for the benefit of the Empire that I even entertain this venture.”
I exhaled slowly, hoping it would help. She looked like she would start talking again, so I held up my hand. “Would you let me finish before you start yelling?” I asked. “You’re so fucking high maintenance sometimes, it’s unbelievable.” It got quiet. We entered a stare-down and I would be damned if I looked away first.
“Please continue, Benjamin,” she said finally, glancing down at her hands.
Reaper one, Queenie none. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes. Maybe,” she said shortly. “Continue please.”
“Seventy-five, twenty-five, and you get the ships we capture, unless we lose one or two. Then we will need to keep replacements. I will change the percentage in your favor when we have no means of keeping all of what we take. Say it’s a freighter full of supplies: you will get the ship and most of the haul if our store rooms are already full, but no matter our needs, the least you’ll receive is twenty-five percent. This is about helping in the war effort.”
She looked skeptical and I paused. I couldn’t forget she had been with us when I had procured things in the past. “I sense you have more to say.”
“Will your naval personnel have the ability to repair and man a Khalnalax ship? If not, I will need to know so we keep some of their crew as prisoners, the engineers and bridge minus the officers, unless it’s an engineering or medical officer. If you need a captain for intel, you’ll need to let me know to keep the pain in the ass around. I was thinking of outfitting one of our ships or obtaining another and filling it with some of your army. I believe they will obey me and Imelda, and then I won’t have to risk my people in all the boarding actions.”
“Benjamin, we have no idea when or if a war will start,” she said. “It may never. What will you do until then?”
Damn, I was hoping she wouldn’t go there, but she is a smart cookie. “I have a few ideas, but right now I need to establish my leadership and see how many lives I am directly responsible for,” I said calmly. “There are women, children and slaves, and I am going to be unpopular with the slave owners very soon.”
“You are going to free them? Why would you do that? They have no way to feed themselves and they will be treated worse by their previous owners than they are currently treated living under their thumb.”
“They will be taken care of, cleaned, fed and taught how to perform a function on a ship. When the time comes, they will earn their share, just like everyone else.”
�
�Ah ha! Now I know why you hid the payment I made,” she said. “You will need to feed your family.”
I snapped. “Yes, I will need to feed my new crew members and workers, and we earned that payment at the naval base fighting all those damn Allith.”
“They are the Empire’s credits.”
“And we did get the commander back. If in the future you don’t want your people rescued, I’ll be happy to sail on by and send you a picture postcard of their little white asses being eaten by green monsters.”
“That doesn’t even warrant a comment, and I didn’t want her back,” she said coolly. “Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
“You’re beautiful,” I added, sucking up.
“Nice try. Until you decide to tell me what I want to hear, I’ll take my time deciding to endorse your little enterprise.”
She wants me to tell her I love her, I thought. Or that I’ll turn myself in to the magistrate.
“I’m not sure what you want to hear,” I said ignoring my own thoughts. “This proposition will benefit everyone concerned. You need ships and we will provide them at every opportunity. I can’t specify everything. You get that, right? We can continue to hammer out the details but I need to know you are on board with this.”
Taz sat staring at me keeping her poker face locked down. It seemed like forever.
“This is for the Empire. Will you back this venture?” I asked prodding her.
“We have a deal.”
“Good. One more thing, and this is important.” I leaned toward the screen. “Talk to Xamand about buying or trading for some navy ships or hiring his navy. Get as much as he would feel safe selling or loaning to you.”
“I will contact Captain Dakkon on our voyage back and ask him to send my request to Xamand.”
“And what else will you do, my queen?” I arched one eyebrow giving her a hard look.
“I will apologize for being short with him.”
Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison 4: Empires at War (Part One) Page 15