Reaper Inc. (23 page)

Ben saw Harry
approaching the group from the rear. They were too engrossed to notice until he
began shoving them out of the way. He used all four arms to push the hippo man
and only managed to move him a foot or two. He continued until he stood next to
Ben. Tawniz was the next to arrive. Ben looked at her.

"Tell them
they can join us if they take orders from you, otherwise they are on their
own." Ben grabbed a handful of hair behind the spiders head and she
lowered herself so he could climb on. Everyone including Harry and Tawniz
watched with various expressions from amazed to amused. He had to hang on as
she turned, partially climbing the wall, maneuvering and shifting until she was
facing the other direction. It was fluid movement made easy through natural
design. Tawniz put prisoners with weapons in the front and rear then those with
edged or blunt weapons next with the unarmed in the middle.

Ben asked
his mount. "I have wondered how it is I can communicate with you and the
others? Is there something special about me?"

"No,
you have no power that I can detect. It is because of your companion. She has
nurtured your mind in the time you have known her. She has made this possible,
she touches your mind and speaks to it much the same as we do."
 It
made sense, from the beginning E'Aria had been training him to receive her
thoughts and her natural born gifts had years to develop and be perfected.

                                   
****

Blue Eyes said,
"Master, two of the groups have joined and continue towards the bridge.
The guards have fallen back but they will not hold against so many."

"I believe
it is time to release the guardians. Transfer control of the bridge to your
station. Do not worry about the guards or the crew. They are replaceable. Are
we in pursuit of the Alliance starship?"

"Yes,
master. It has gone behind the planet and our course follows theirs albeit
cautiously."

The master
said, "Alter the course and center us on the planet. They will eventually
come out from hiding. There is no need to chase them.

                                   
****

"Captain,
all the controls have been transferred to the master’s throne room." The
captain sat smiling at the news. His crew did not know he didn’t report the
increase in speed to max acceleration of the approaching ships to the master.

"I believe
we are done here. You should all leave and gather your things. There are ships
still departing and we have shuttles. Go now. You do not want to be here
later." His crew looked at him, not understanding. "Go! he screamed.

The crew hurriedly made their
way off the bridge. He sat and waited for what he knew was coming. The smile
returned to his face. He hoped the crew would make it off the ship; he could do
no more to help them.

25 minutes. . .

"Master,
the five ships are approaching at maximum speed. They are much closer than they
should be per our last report from the captain." The master was quiet. He
began to understand the captain that now they were not going to have time to
destroy the Alliance ship and leave the system.

"Have a
guardian go to the bridge and kill everyone there. They will pay for their
deception. Lock the doors till it gets there."

                                   
****

Ben saw the
androids coming towards them. He turned and could see more approaching from the
rear. "Tawniz, climb up here with the laser rifle. I don’t think the
stunners will do any good on them."

She walked
cautiously towards the spider, looking up at Ben then at the spider’s face.

"Would
you allow her to take my place? She has the most effective weapon and needs to
be above everyone to be more effective."

"She is
a warrior. She may mount, although I do not have a love for her people."

Ben moved lower
and slid off faster than he had planned. It jarred his shoulder and leg. He
closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He felt a squeeze to his shoulder.
Tawniz stood in front of him with a worried look on her face.

"I will be
ok. Could you hand me my sword? They have a power cell in their abdomen about
here." He pointed to the area where he remembered the sword stopped.
"I think there or in the head would be your best options. When the power
runs out on the rifle, just stay up there."

Tawniz looked
at him amused. "Your concern for my well-being is commendable but I am
stronger and in better condition
than most here, including you."

The androids
were identical to the one he fought in the arena. They carried no weapons,
relying on brute strength which they had in spades. Ben heard the laser rifle
firing and the screams of prisoners as they were being thrown around, bodies
being broken. There were a few exceptions; the larger champions and Harry were
holding their own. Eight androids against forty prisoners, most with no
weapons. Ben had an idea and it couldn’t be any worse than the brawl he was
watching going on around him.

Only two of the
eight androids were out of commission after fifteen minutes and at least half of
his people were on the ground. Not many were dead but they were out of
commission. Ben picked up a stunner off the floor and picked five prisoners to
follow him. He pointed at an android who had a prisoner in its grasp and was
breaking the prisoner’s arm. Harry grabbed it from behind by the arms and two
others tackled the legs. Ben walked up quickly and placed the muzzle of the
stunner against the lower abdomen and pulled the trigger. It opened its hands
and the prisoner fell free to the ground. He put the muzzle up under its chin
and pulled the trigger. Again its body jerking almost violently.

Ben grabbed the
two men who held the legs; they got the hint and let go. Harry slammed it
against the wall and it fell in a heap on the floor. Ben pointed at another of
the androids and this time, all five of the prisoners jumped in and grabbed a
hold, it thrashed. He stepped forward to repeat the process when he was slammed
against the wall. A steel grip squeezed his throat as he stared at the
featureless face. A red streak blinded him then liquid sprayed from its head as
it fell over taking Ben with it.

Picking up
Ben’s stunner, one of the prisoners finished what Ben had started while Ben lay
on the floor prying fingers from his throat. Another laser blast hit the remaining
android in the head and it collapsed on the floor. Ben was able to breathe and
he just lay on the floor listening to the wounded moan and cry out.

                                   
****

2 minutes. . .

The Ark began
firing as soon as the Warhammer was at the limit of its range. Its
effectiveness was almost nil. If not for the small percent the shields had
dropped, it wasn’t more than a light show.

"Lieutenant
Benson, mark your target. If you miss, you’re fired," Aisling joked.
"Send all four two-by-two with a two second interval."

"Captain,
Captain Aok is on the com and our target just cloaked."

"Put her
on the screen, ensign." E'Aria along with her bridge crew were all looking
at the screen when it activated.

"Aisling,
we will be arriving in one minute. It seems our target just cloaked."

"We were
about to put four torpedoes into it. It was just sitting there."

"Yes, we
have been monitoring it. The emperor would like you to patrol and watch for any
more fleeing ships and apprehend them. Lieutenant Benson will still get
something to shoot at but it might be a little harder to hit."

"We can do
that! Can you tell me what the plan is?"

"There are
three Trillond warships that will be arriving within a few minutes also. We are
going to try and take the ship with minimal structural damage. You will see
laser fire but its main purpose is to keep the Ark visible on the scanners. The
Cjittan will launch a boarding party and then the rest of us will follow."

"Would you
like the use of our marines? Lieutenant Jared would be happy to be of
assistance."

"I will
need to ask the queen for permission. Let me get back to you on that."

Aisling asked,
"Do you think he is still alive?"

"We think
that the exodus of ships might be a sign he was alive at least when that started.
We have no proof but it's our hope."

"That is
one impressive group of starships you are traveling with. I would hate to have
them chasing us around the galaxy."

"Aisling,
it's about to start. Keep the Warhammer back away from here. The queen should
have her warriors on a tight leash but let’s not take any chances."

"When this
is over, let’s get together. Bring your crew onboard and stay for a day or more
as our guests."

"Thank you
Aisling, we will do that. Claymore out."

The com cut.
Lorelei looked at her captain. "It will be good to see them all."

E'Aria said,
"Yes, it will. If he is alive he may need to spend some time in the tank
on the Warhammer."

"That’s a
bet I won't take," Lorelei answered.

                                   
****

Queen Tazleaha wore
her battle armor ready to leave and take control of the ship stolen by her
mother’s murderer. "Emperor Xamand, I am launching my warriors. If you
could, have your ships target the weapons arrays. I will be following them as
soon as they have breached the airlock."

"We will
follow on your signal to provide support to your warriors. Please notify us
immediately if you locate my beloved sister and Benjamin."

"It will be done Xamand.
Have your warriors ready." A minute later, fifteen small attack craft departed
the Cjittan ship. They were provided cover fire by the Allond battle cruisers
who were destroying the weapons of the Ark with precision accuracy. The small
craft attached themselves to the hull and began cutting. They would be inside
in less than five minutes.

"Master,
the files have all been copied. Our escape ship is ready for departure as soon
as we can board."

"Arm
yourself and follow me." The master input a code on the data pad at his
throne and a door slid open. "This will lead us straight to the ship. With
the data, I can setup and rebuild and in a short time. It will be better than
it is now."

The master went
through and she followed, not bothering to close the secret door. Her master
was too distracted to notice. It would be a long walk to the ship if it was in
any of the shuttle bays.

Ben, Tawniz,
and ten of their men arrived at the bridge to find the entry door open. There
was a crew member lying on the floor, his body twisted. Ben guessed it was a
android. Tawniz looked over all the consoles, tapping screens and pressing
buttons.

She looked at
Ben. "The bridge has been locked out and transferred."

"Any
chance of getting access?"

"I do not
have the skill to do that. The screens are actively displaying but we have
nothing we can do. It seems right now we are surrounded by three Allond battle
cruisers and your Claymore along with another ship. There are four other ships
forming an outer perimeter; three Trillond and one I do not recognize."

Ben's voice was
hoarse and his neck was bruised and purple black. A small moan interrupted the
silence as they contemplated what they say.

Tawniz walk
over to the body on the floor and gently turned it over on its back. She
lowered her head next to his mouth and held it there for a few seconds until a
sigh escaped from his lips that would be his last.

"He said
master, controls, throne, not far."

"Ok, let’s
go find it and find out when the cavalry arrives."

Tawniz decided
not to ask what a cavalry was. She walked out into the corridor and looked left
and right. Left looked like a regular corridor but about half of the right side
was decorated. They hurried, easily finding the throne room and again the
controls were locked out. They saw the open door. Ben did not hesitate he began
to hobble as fast as he could his whole body aching.

There was just
enough light to see four steps in front them. He didn’t get too far before he
began tire and stumble. He felt himself lifted by four arms. Harry carried him
moving into position behind Tawniz. Ben felt the spider touching his thoughts.
A picture of her moving back the way they had come, down the main corridor
parallel to them popped into his head.

Ben croaked,
"Tawniz take this but be careful; it has poison coating the length of the
blade." He let her take the hilt from his hand and they continued at a
run. They came to the end of the corridor and Harry put Ben down. Ben opened
the door and saw the master and Blue Eyes walking towards a ship with boxes in
their arms. He threw the door open and ran towards them. He could hear the
others behind him. He was going to tackle the master when Blue Eyes dropped her
box and pulled a rail pistol.

The master
said, "You should have let us leave. You then would have your lives for a
while longer till I came for you later. But fortune has smiled on me again and
I can fulfill the contract on you, Benjamin Jamison. Two hundred years of
prosperity and you come along and destroy it." He pulled his hood back and
Ben saw him for the first time. It was an older version of the queen’s body
guard.

Ben answered.
"If you hang around, I believe there is someone recently arrived who would
like to talk to you."

"Yes, I
bet she would love to kill me. There would not be much talking. It was a good
thought to get me talking in hopes someone would arrive but we have no time.
Kill him!"

Blue Eyes
pointed the rail pistol at Ben and pulled the trigger. The round ripped through
his side just under his ribs. He fell to the floor crying out, holding his side
with blood running through his fingers. A moment later, a number of large
insects came through the door and stopped.

The master
turned to Blue Eyes and yelled, "I told you to kill him." She pointed
the rail gun at his face and pulled the trigger. The master’s body hit the
floor as the round of super heated tungsten ripped through his head. Blue Eyes
looked down at Ben and winked, then turned and shut the door. Harry picked him
up and they all moved back away from the ship. She eased it out of the shuttle
bay through the force field and in an instant, it was gone.

The insects
surrounded the small group but made no hostile advanced. The spider entered the
bay through a different door and walking towards where Ben lay on the floor.
Tawniz was pressing her hand against his side to slow the blood loss. When two
of the insects blocking the spider’s way would not move, she batted them out of
the way and stood over Ben and Tawniz. Harry seemed ok with it but the others
were nervous as hell. Harry pushed down on their shoulders and made them sit
and be still.

Ben could hear
voices as a large group entered the shuttle bay and walked towards them. The
spider began to lift her legs one at a time standing in place.

"Show
me who has arrived."
The picture showed Queen Tazleaha and her
bodyguard leading the group with Emperor Xamand and E'Aria following right
behind her. There were others in the background, Captain Dakkon and a number of
other Allond. Grubb and Buddy were armed and a few steps behind E'Aria.

"Does
she make you nervous?"

"She is
the Queen of Queens. I am a queen to my line and the others you see all have a
Queen but she rules over all. She is demanding that I move away from you but
she walks with our enemy and I do not want to move."

"Do you
mean the Allond emperor?"

"Yes,
they have been our enemy for a thousand years."

"They
are a friend to me and mine. If we can make peace then they will no longer be
your enemy. I will stand and talk to them."

Ben began
moving to stand and Tawniz tried to keep him down. "Help me up and stay
close."

E'Aria moved up
to stand right behind the queen. She was watching Ben closely. He was hurt bad
and bleeding but he had that look in his eyes. Harry moved to stand on the
other side of him.

Ben looked at
the bodyguard. "One of your people is lying over there. I hope you weren’t
too close; you can see right through his head. Served the asshole right, he
deserved a lot worse." The crowd moved over to get a better view. The
queen motioned and her bodyguard walked over and looked at the body.

Ben looked the
queen right in the eyes and spoke as loud as his hoarse voice would allow.
"Do not be hard on your queen behind me. She and I have an unspoken bond.
I have fed her and her children who are now all dead. I have freed her from
slavery aboard this ship and in return, she protected me when she could as well
as the others, including the emperor’s sister Colonel Dakkon. She accepted
Colonel Dakkon as a warrior but recognizes the Allond here as enemies so was
hesitant to move and leave me and the others unprotected."

Ben looked at
the queen and could tell she was preparing to say something.  "
I
know you hear my thoughts. You really shouldn’t say whatever it is you’re about
to say. I'm telling you to leave her the hell alone. She has lost everything
and doesn’t need you bitching at her."

The Queen and
E'Aria's mouth dropped open and the spider danced a little more. "I need
to tell you, Queen Tazleaha, of the courage of your ministers who fought
bravely by our sides and sacrificed themselves so that we could escape. They
used their bodies to destroy the force field that kept us in an arena fighting
for our lives. I trust you will honor their memory as their last words were
that they lived to serve."

Emperor Xamand
knew Ben had done something telepathically between his verbal statements. He
did understand the giant spider feared him and slowly approached Ben and his
sister Tawniz.

"You both
need to go to my ship right now and receive medical attention. Do you mind if I
talk to your friend?"

"Sure, but
if you see her rear back, duck and roll because she is about to bite your head
off. It’s kind of her signature move."

The emperor
stepped up and bowed, then began to speak softly. He explained that they were
pursing peace with the Cjittan and that Benjamin was a friend of his empire
also. The spider had calmed now that the queen was not addressing her and
emperor was doing his best to explain things. Ben turned to find himself
face-to-face with the queen.

"I would
be honored if you let me provide medical attention to your wounds, Benjamin
Jamison. You have honored my people and treated them fairly when others would
only think to kill them. Would you do me this honor?"

Ben looked at
E'Aria and she nodded. She must have thought the offer was sincere. He turned
to Tawniz. "I am going to get stitched up. Would you tell them about the
ship that just left?"

She answered.
"Yes, should I tell them all of it?"

"It’s not
like it’s my fault, so go ahead. You need to make sure they get to all the
wounded we left in the corridor or do you want me to tell them?"

She gave him a
look. "No. I’ll do it. What part of making peace do you not
understand?"

Ben looked at
her and smiled. "All of it."

"That I
believe."

The queen said,
"Come Benjamin, before you bleed out."

"I am
feeling about a quart low. Hey Grubb, come with us in case I need a hand."
Grubb looked to E'Aria who nodded. The queen nodded. Ben thought it was good
everyone could agree.

E'Aria's com
sounded and she answered. Lorelei was calling to ask if they found Ben and the
colonel. "We did find them and he looks bad but I believe he will live.
The colonel seems ok, a bit banged up maybe."

"Aisling
wants to know if he needs medical attention, their med lab healing tank is
free. They have no major injured right now."

"No, I
believe he is about to get all the attention he needs."

"I’ll let
her know; but I'm not telling her that if it means what I think it does."

"It does,
but he is also getting medical attention."

"Is it the
queen he was slobbering on when he was drunk?"

"Yes, one and
the same. He took Grubb with him, just so you know."

"Ok. See
you when you get back."

Ben got as far
as the main corridor when he had to stop. He leaned against the wall. Grubb
started to help but the queen stepped forward and pulled him close to her. "Lean
on me. It’s not far to my shuttle."

Grubb thought
that she was only about an inch shorter than him and there was nothing man-like
about her. She was all woman, probably a lean one eighty but at six four, she
was perfect. Ben had a real bad month. Grubb had never seen him look like this.
It wasn’t just the wounds, he was dead tired and his eyes had dark rings around
them. He looked sick, like he’d been poisoned.

The queen left
Ben with Grubb and came back a minute later with a roll of bandage material.
She wrapped his side then removed the bandage on his leg and wrapped it. The
leg looked bad to Grubb; red and inflamed with infection. The queen saw it too
but didn’t seem too concerned.

They arrived at
her ship and there were two males who looked similar to her with platinum hair
and black eyes but were shorter they were waiting with a hover stretcher. Ben
lay down and it dropped but quickly recovered, adjusting to his weight then
leveled off about four feet off the floor. They took him to a spotless medical
center and transferred him to a flat table with no padding and removed his
clothing, cutting it off and discarding it down the waste shoot. Grubb stood at
an observation window and watched as they put him to sleep and went to work.

The doctor
moved a full body scanner next to him and set it up. It scanned from head to
toe sending the images to a data pad the doctor held in his hands. The queen
stood on the opposite side of the table. Grubb could tell she was looking at
the old scars. The doctor touched something on the table and it became
transparent, the scanner flipped over and scanned his back side before coming
to rest at the top of his head.

The scan was
completed and the doctor moved the table into a chamber and shut the door. He
tapped and slid his finger over the data pad then made a final tap. A liquid
filled the chamber and the table dropped down to rest on the bottom leaving Ben
suspended in the viscous soup. Grubb was concerned because there was no mask
and Ben’s lungs were filling up. The doctor held the data pad out to the queen
and she tapped it.

Four flexible
snake-like arms came down from the top of the tank and held Ben by the wrists
and ankles while a fifth arm with an injection gun delivered treatments to his
shoulder, leg and side. Whatever it was caused his body to spasm; he jerked his
arms and kicked his legs. Grubb understood why the restraints had some flex.
The injection gun gave him another shot as the tank drained. Ben began heaving
the contents of his stomach. The tank emptied and a spray began to rinse him
off as the table came up under him.

A second piece
of equipment with hoses and a mask arrived and the doctor put the mask over
Ben's face. He tapped his data pad and two small hoses snaked down Ben’s
throat. His eyes fluttered open a few seconds later. He looked around
disoriented, his hands grasping the sides of the table. The queen put her hand
on his chest and leaned over him so he could see her face and nothing else
around him. She put her other hand over his hand and rubbed it. Ben relaxed his
death grip on the table.

Queen Tazleaha
spoke softly. "You should be able to understand me quite clearly."
Ben looked at her and nodded. "I have had you injected with translator
nanites that should allow you to understand all of the many species in our
universe. They will copy the data from your nanites along with all of their
programming then your old nanites will die and be evacuated from your body.
There will be species you will understand but may not be able to communicate
with because your human vocal design would not be able to reproduce the proper
sounds and pronunciations."