“Do you get rain on this planet?” he asked to nobody in particular. “It looks like a lot of cloud cover coming over head. It would be great if we did.”
“We do,” the mother answered. “It varies in intensity, but the rainy season is about to start, and it may be the kind of storm you want.”
“It’s blocking out the stars, which will make it darker. Let’s go,” Ben said.
They put out the fire and picked up their belongings. They small group made their way along the path he had been using for the past couple of days. At the camp, there were only a few guards walking about. They weren’t taking any Allith ships, so there was no need to go near any of them. There was a military gunboat they were going to take, and a large private shuttle. The owner had outfitted it with some weapons. Both ships were in great condition. E’Aria was almost positive she could slave them together.
Ben stayed with the family at the edge of the forest while E’Aria made her way to the gunboat. If the military hadn’t added any custom door codes, she would be able to crack it in about three minutes.
Ben saw the two Allith patrols heading in E’Aria’s direction. You have about thirty seconds to get to cover before you have company, he thought hoping she would pick up his thought. She did; she dropped and rolled to the edge of the ship. With the armor on, she all but vanished into the shadows.
He heard the drops hitting the leaves, soft at first but getting harder. The patrol did an about face and headed quickly back towards where most of their ships sat. They’re gone, all clear, he thought. She rolled out and went right back to work on the door. About a minute later the door opened and she went inside. He waited for her to give the okay before he brought them out of hiding. He didn’t have to wait long. This will work great, she thought to Ben. It’s fully stocked and full of fuel. Bring them now.
“She’s ready,” he said to the family. They looked at him and wondered how he knew that, but nobody asked.
“Let’s go,” Ben said. “We might as well make a run for it. Head for that open door. Go!”
We’re on our way, he thought. The rain was steady but not a nasty storm. Lizards didn’t like rain, and he was betting they didn’t expect a hijacking of two ships tonight. They would sit inside until it cleared up.
The family was inside the ship. E’Aria met him at the door and closed it. They ran over to the shuttle. Ben found a place to watch while she went at the lockpad on the shuttle door. She tried variations of the factory codes first then started on random variations based off some algorithms she knew for finding codes.
Then she had a thought. It was a pretty new shuttle. She had to find the manufacturer’s tag on the hull. She started looking and finally found it inside one of the doors of the landing gear. She turned a light on for a split second and saw what she needed. The very first code ever entered was always the manufacture date. It was just for the engineers as they worked on the ship. Later new codes would be added before it left the ship yard.
She punched it in and up the door went. She went inside. Ben stayed on watch. She set the computer and fired up the engines. She came out of the shuttle at a run. I’m going to the gunboat and will need two minutes. Then we will be on our way.
He took a look around and there was nothing in sight. I’m heading for a roof top. Let’s get this done. Ben watched her enter the gunboat and shut the door. He took off at a sprint to get to a building that gave him full view of the area. He came to the road where the shuttle would eventually land and looked down at the group of prisoners. There were a number of Allith getting them into a group to move them inside. That wasn’t going to work. He headed straight for them. He flipped the switch on the rail gun and ducked around a corner. He could hear the lizards yelling at the prisoners. They were trying to stay out in the rain, and the lizards couldn’t figure out why.
“E’Aria, I’m going in,” he said. “They’re trying to take them inside.” They couldn’t hear the whine of the rail gun because of the rain, but when one of the guards’ heads exploded, they got the idea.
“Get down!” he yelled, and the prisoners hit the deck. He opened up on anything that was ugly and green and still standing after that point. They returned fire, but he kept moving and was hard to see with little or no light. He moved after every shot because of the light from the gun. If they hid behind something he just fired at it until he shot through it.
About the time they started firing from the windows of the building, the gunboat made a run and tore the building to pieces. It wasn’t designed to withstand any kind of attack. E’Aria fired missiles back towards the area where the Allith ships sat, destroying them. The cargo door was coming down on the shuttle, so Ben started motioning with his arms for them to go. They started moving immediately. He motioned for them to stay near the buildings and out of the street.
“Keep moving!” he yelled. The leaders of the group were already going up the ramp, the rest right on their heels. Ben was last, firing at any movement he could detect.
The prime minister watched from the window of a adjacent building. He wouldn’t share the same space as the Allith warlords. He and the captain were happy to have them off their ship. A com from the ship came in.
“Prime Minister, we are tracking two ships taking off and circling to make a approach on your position. What action would you like us to take?” It was the captain, his brother, asking.
“There is a warrior in black armor moving towards the command area of our allies,” the prime minister replied, making sure it was a private com line first. “He has started killing the guards surrounding the Trillond prisoners. I believe the two ships will be the means of escape. Let’s see how this plays out, shall we? The information we obtain from this incident may proof useful to our future plans. Lock weapons on the ships, but do not fire unless I tell you. I don’t believe they know I’m here.”
“We have a lock on the ships. How does the warrior fare in his attempt?” the captain asked.
“He is doing quite well. He fires his weapon with precision. I believe him to be the one who killed the two Allith officers they found two cycles ago. He carries bladed weapons on his back.”
“He would have to have some skill to kill two of our cousins in combat,” the captain said.
“Indeed, for all they lack they are formidable warriors and the two officers were not hatchlings,” the prime minister replied. “They were seasoned fighters. I will have to ask more questions of our cousins about our enemy. I think they have understated the capability of the humans.”
“I believe our cousins usually prey on the easy targets, brother — civilians, farmers, women and children. How did they describe them? Soft, tender cowards who often die of fright and who could be killed by a hatchling,” the captain said, laughing.
“He’s killed most of the guards. What of the ships?”
“You should be seeing them right about now. The gunboat has weapons powered. Do you still want us to take no action?” the captain asked.
“Just be patient. I think I know their target,” the prime minister said. “Yes, they just passed through and fired on the command center. The building is destroyed. The pilot continued to fire much longer than needed. I would say there was some genuine dislike for our cousins,” he added, amused. “The prisoners are making their way to the shuttle. The warrior is moving them along quite quickly.”
“Should I destroy them after they clear the area?” the captain asked.
“No, brother, let them go. He fought with honor and our cousins are just sitting around gorging themselves. Without food they will be ready to move on now, after they pick some new leaders, which I will help them with. Send a troop down here and let me begin the process.”
“As you command, brother,” the captain replied.
Chapter 17: Escape
E’Aria shut the door they were on. Ben heard the whine as the door started up. He jumped on and kept firing. A gunboat was approaching fast straight at them. He was at the top of the
ramp. He raised his rail gun and waited a few seconds, then started firing shot after shot at the view shield of the gunboat. The ramp was closing. He saw it veer off and crash just before it closed. The prisoners were all silent and staring at him. He opened his visor so they could see his eyes. That seemed to help some.
“Okay, everyone, sit down and hold on to something,” he yelled. They immediately did what he said. He ran to the bridge to see if there was anything else headed their way on the screens. He armed the weapons on the shuttle. That’s all that needed to be done with E’Aria doing all the flying. He would be the weapons officer.
A male prisoner walked to the bridge and waited quietly. Ben turned around and looked at him.
“She says that we should go FTL now,” the prisoner said. “There is a mining colony in an asteroid belt not far from here where we can hide. I have asked everyone on this ship and they want to leave.”
Ben spun the chair around. “Let’s go, E’Aria,” he said. He felt the ships accelerate hard and climb. He saw the coordinates on the nav screen and the star charts. She was pushing the engines to the max. They broke atmosphere and leveled off. He felt the FTL drives kicking in. They were gone from Hyson a couple of seconds later. That part was too easy, he thought.
Ben got up and motioned for the man to follow him. He went through the ship checking each room. They would have to bunch up and rotate sleeping in a bunk, but there was everything they needed to get clean and rest. They walked back to the cargo bay. All eyes were on the large man in black with a death god on his breast plate; at least that’s what they thought it was, he found out later.
A Trillond female volunteered to help after he had explained the sleeping situation to the group. She was very attractive. The dirt didn’t do anything to detract from that.
He motioned and they went through the main door and followed the hall. Everyone was gone, and he was left with the woman and a young boy who remained sitting after everyone had left.
Ben walked over and sat down. The boy looked fearful. “It’s okay, you’re safe now,” Ben said softly. He took his helmet off and sat it down.
“My family is gone,” the boy said. “My mother and brother got out with the shuttles before the lizard men came, but I was off playing and stayed out too long. My father stayed to look for me and when I got home no one was there. I searched for him and they caught me and brought me to the place where they kept everyone. My father was there already. They took him inside the building yesterday and he never came out. I know he’s dead and it’s my fault. If I had come home at the right time, we would have all went away.” He started sobbing.
“I lost my parents when I was about your age,” Ben told the boy. The train they were traveling on exploded.”
The boy looked up at him but said nothing. “It’s not your fault any more than it’s her fault,” Ben said, pointing to the woman. “It is the Allith who are at fault, and believe me, they are going to wish they never came to this area of space.”
“Come on,” Ben said. “You can help us with the food and get everyone fed. Then I want you to eat, get a shower and get some sleep. That goes for you too, Ms.”
“And what about you?” she said. “Going to take your own advice?”
“Maybe,” he said.
They had all different kinds of food out; mostly things they had plenty of. Ben went back to the bridge. He was in the kitchen, but this made some of them nervous about how much food to take, so he left his female helper in charge. He told her to leave out whatever they didn’t eat so they could help themselves later.
Ben went to the bridge and shut the door. He sat his helmet and his gloves down. He took off his boots and set them aside, unbuckled and unzipped his armor and hung it in on the bulkhead in the back of the bridge. He moved the pilots seat all the way back and reclined it. He was asleep in a matter of seconds.
Ben woke once later to find his female helper asleep in the co-pilot’s seat and the boy in the navigator’s seat reclined with a blanket. He closed his eyes again and drifted off.
Someone was shaking him when he woke up this time. He cracked his eyes open a little. The woman looked at him and said, “Someone is calling for Reaper.”
He heard E’Aria’s voice. “Wake up and answer me,” she said over the com.
“Go ahead, I’m awake now,” Reaper said
“We are going to be dropping out of FTL soon. I want to be a reasonable distance from the asteroid belt when we do,” E’Aria said.
“Makes sense,” Reaper said. “Have you sent any messages to the colony?”
“I have, but no response yet,” she said.
“Does that gunboat have long range scanners?” Ben replied. “If so, you may want to have them on. You should also have some coordinates preprogrammed in the nav in case we have to leave immediately. Some of that armada went on past Hyson without stopping. They could be anywhere out here.”
“Why don’t we just keep going on to somewhere else closer to Trillond Prime?” the female said.
“Because,” Ben said. “Best case scenario, everything is good and we can land and get some more food and put some of the people on the gunboat. There is unused space and food over there, which means it will be less crowded here. Also, the colony could have been attacked and may need some assistance. I’m not sure how much we can give, but we can try. Worse case, though, they’re all dead and the place is destroyed. Then we will need to let the authorities know what happened there.”
“Just seems like a risk we don’t need to take,” she said.
“We could have left without all of you and left you to your fates. You know what that fate was, I believe,” Ben said. She looked at him. Understanding dawned on her. She hadn’t thought that they could have just left instead of risking their lives to save her and the rest.
“Who is your friend there, Reaper?” E’Aria said in a teasing voice.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “You know, I am terrible about getting names. I think it’s from years of not wanting to know the names of the people who crossed my path during missions. “
“I am A’Ranna,” she said. “The boy will not tell me his name.”
“He doesn’t have to. We will keep him busy to take his mind off of things. He will tell when he is ready. A’Ranna, can I trust you to his care until his mother and brother can be found?”
A’Ranna paused for a moment. She looked over at the boy, then at Reaper. “I will take care of him and help him find what he has lost,” she said finally.
“Thank you. I’m sure he will also thank you one day himself.”
“Reaper,” E’Aria interrupted, “I am going to bring us out of FTL. Prepare your people, just in case.”
The two ships dropped into normal space and were on course at half sub-light speed.
“Long range isn’t picking up any ships, but there are a lot of blotchy readings.”
“Just leave it on,” Reaper said. “It will clear up as we get closer.” He already knew what it was. He was hoping there were some survivors.
“Reaper, it’s gone. The colony dome is in pieces and there are bodies everywhere.”
“A’Ranna,” Ben said, “go tell everyone to stay in their rooms until I say otherwise. Take the boy with you and leave him with someone.”
She grabbed the boy by the hand and took him.
“I am scanning,” E’Aria told him. “There are five weak life signs in the piece of walkway tube. The doors sealed on both ends when it broke away.”
“Can we dock a ship on each end and get them off, as well as get our numbers evened out?”
“We should be able to,” she answered. “They are airlocks.”
“Put my ship on one end,” Ben told her, “and when yours is docked I will go in. If all is well, we will open your ship, divide up the people and get out of here.”
E’Aria had the shuttle lined up with the tube. The survivors were able to operate the grappling arms and help link up with the ship. She lined
her ship up next on the other end and got it attached. Reaper knew there was atmo in the tube, or they wouldn’t be alive. He opened the shuttle door.
The smell hit him first. There were two dead on the floor and five who were holding on. They looked terrified of him. He had put his armor back on. “Come this way, and hurry,” he said. They started in his direction but were moving slowly.
A’Ranna appeared in the doorway next to him, and they relaxed and moved faster. Reaper stepped out of the way and let her lead them to the cargo bay. Reaper walked into the tube and put blankets over the dead bodies so the children didn’t have to see them.
A’Ranna passed out blankets and water. She told them to strip out of their clothes and wrap up. She had found some flight suits in the cargo bay lockers.
The 15 volunteers were ready to go. They walked up to the airlock door and waited.
“E’Aria,” Ben said, “there are 15 ready to come your way. Start a vent of atmo when you open the door, because it reeks something awful. We don’t have anyone with medical training, so I will do my best with these five.” The 15 were making faces. “Take a deep breath, hold your nose and run,” Ben told them, “and don’t touch those blankets.”
“E’Aria,” he continued. “Once you are loaded, I’ll unlock you. I’ll shut my airlock and lock it. You will have to shoot the tube and break it loose from my ship.”
The survivors were feeling well enough to run through the tube and into the gunboat. Reaper followed and disconnected the tube from E’Aria’s ship. He walked back into his ship and locked it down. He went to the bridge and watched her swing around and line up for the shot. A red beam shot out from the gunboat and started cutting through the arms on the tube. She fired the thrusters to the side so when it cut through the ship would be pushing away. It was done in a matter of seconds.
E’Aria linked the two ships and they started moving slowly through the asteroid belt. She had some of the people on various tasks around her ship. She was going to head for the closest message relay and send out a series of messages to the Colonial Military and to Trillond Prime. She knew the colony had a relay they used and it couldn’t be too far away. The transmitters on the gunboat didn’t have the power or range in open space like the Warhammer did, so the ship needed to get closer to the relay.
The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: Call Sign Reaper Page 24