The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: Call Sign Reaper (27 page)

The punch took him in the side of the head and lifted him off the floor. He fell like a sack of potatoes. Reaper bent down and took the pistol from his hand. He grabbed one arm and dragged him off the ship and into the hall. He told the two who were leaving the ship to carry the captain to his quarters and lay him down. E’Aria was walking back when she saw them lift the captain and head away with him. She walked into the cargo bay and looked around.

“Anyone dead?”

“No,” Ben answered with a small, proud smile.
You can ask them all — I went easy on the crew and captain.”

“What about those four?” She gestured to the ones he had knocked out.

“Just sleeping,” he said, turning. “Will some of you help carry the sleeping men off the ship and then bring back supplies? We are taking on two more passengers.”

“We are?” E’Aria asked.

“Yes, two of the medical staff are at the end of their enlistment. They want to go on with us instead of the Corvette. Would you like one of them on the gunboat with you, Lieutenant?”

“Yes,” she answered. “I would, just in case.”

“No problem.” The family he had saved went back to the gunboat. They had the orphan boy with them. The others were getting set up, and all the crew from the Corvette, except the chief, was off his ship. They put the colony survivors in the new cots, stacked the supplies against the wall and strapped them down.

“Chief,” Reaper said, “if you could get your com officer to send this message for us I would appreciate it. Address: CNS Warhammer. Attention: Captain Aisling O’Shaughnessy and Major Andrea Andersen. This is Reaper. The lieutenant is alive and we are working our way to colonial space in two ships with survivors from Hyson and the Trillond Mining Colony. We are going to be following the Asmoss asteroid belt. Please advise.

“I would advise you to do the same, Chief. Lock the captain up, put the first officer in charge and get the Corvette and its crew safely home.”

E’Aria got all her people aboard and then detached from the shuttle. Reaper locked up the shuttle and detached. She started up the slave program and lined the ships up and took off at half sub-light.

A’Ranna was on the bridge, reading the manuals and learning what she could. The old man who told the story had taken charge of the back of the ship. They had their bunk rotation down, as well as the meal schedule. They would creep along for a few days, then find a place to go FTL. E’Aria had given the chief their com codes, so if their message did get through the Warhammer could contact them.

Two days gone from the Corvette, they were able to cut through the asteroid belt and go FTL towards Colonial space. Three days in FTL, they got the message they wanted to see: rendezvous coordinates with the Warhammer.

Andrea sat in the captain’s state room. She was looking over some mission logs but couldn’t concentrate. They would be coming out of FTL and meeting Ben and E’Aria in about a hour.
How had he pulled this one off?
she thought.

The Trillond wanted to meet the team who had saved the Survivors of Hyson, as they were now called, and a Trillond mining colony. The whole team would be honored, but their names would not be given out. The general had to deflect the focus from Ben. They would all get accommodations.

After being absent a week, she really missed him. She couldn’t wait until the night, when she could have him all to herself. She hoped there would be no early meetings so they could sleep in.

The captain was at her desk, writing reports and answering requests.

“We got off easy on Hyson,” the captain said to Andrea as she sat daydreaming.

“What do you mean?” Andrea asked, emerging from her thoughts.

“That battle cruiser never really engaged us. They were holding back for some reason. The Allith have been raiding through the system, hitting easy targets. I think the owners of the battle cruiser are just using them to create diversions. We may see a real invasion in the future when the Allith have served their purpose,” the captain explained.

“Have any other battle cruisers been reported from anywhere besides Hyson?” Andrea asked.

“None that I have seen a report on, but not being seen doesn’t mean they aren’t hiding out there somewhere,” the captain said.
Andrea was asking a lot of questions to try and keep her mind off of Ben,
she thought.

Suddenly, the XO transferred an urgent com to the captain.

“Captain! We have a visual on two vessels about 5,000 kilometers out. A gunboat and a shuttle. All codes match. Would you like me to hail them?”

“Go ahead ,the major and I will be there in just a minute,” the captain responded.

“Well, Major, would you like to talk to your missing team mates?” the captain asked.

“Yes I would, Captain, thank you,” the major replied, trying to keep her calm.

They walked onto the bridge and the corporal at the door called the bridge to attention.

“At ease, everyone,” the captain said. The XO had the ships on the screen and the com officer was ready to hail them for the captain.

“XO, hail the ships,” the captain ordered.

Aok saw the incoming hail from the Warhammer and asked everyone to quiet down over the ship’s com.

“Reaper,” she said, “we have a hail from the Warhammer.”

“Put her on ship-wide com, Lieutenant,” Ben said.

“Keep playing,” he told everyone. “We need to have a champion before we dock.”

“Captain O’Shaughnessy, this is Lieutenant Aok.”

“Lieutenant Aok, will we need to have medical waiting when you dock?” the captain asked.

“No, Captain, I think we can get them there,” Aok replied.

“I was under the impression you had wounded, Lieutenant,” the captain asked, confused.

“Yes, Captain, but they are all on the mend and mobile. We picked up a couple of Trillond med techs on our travels and they have been tending the sick,” the lieutenant explained. Just then a cheer went up from her ship and someone yelled, “We have the lead, Lieutenant.”

“Okay,” she responded, “let’s get a couple more and put them in their place.”

“Sorry, Captain,” Aok said into the com, “we’ve been having a trivia competition between ships. It has become a big hit.” Aok laughed at the fun her people were having. “Captain, should we dock with the airlocks or come around and into the cargo bay?” she asked.

“Use the airlocks, Lieutenant, until security can vet everyone. We will bring them off in small groups, get their information and find somewhere to put them,” the XO said, answering her question.

“You won’t have to take everyone, XO,” Aok said. “These are both newer vessels and we can assign some of the survivors to these ships if it will help. The living quarters will accommodate 17 on the gunboat and about the same on the shuttle. They will want to take their meals on the Warhammer, I’m sure. I don’t think Reaper is a very good cook.”

“I heard that, Lieutenant,” she heard him yell along with a chorus of passengers agreeing with her. Another question was asked. They knew they were running out of time. The game would go until the locking clamps were secure on the airlock of the ship.

The major stood behind the captain on the bridge. She didn’t know what to think. She should be mad about the total lack of any military decorum, but how could she? Everyone sounded so happy. Was it disrespectful to put the captain on an open com while a game was being played? It must have been alright, because the captain was smiling and she didn’t cut the com. The bridge was caught up in the excitement of the survivors and they wanted to hear the end of the game.

Lieutenant Aok was docking the shuttle first, then she would dock the gunboat on the other side. It was making its approach to link up with the Warhammer. The question had been asked by the gunship team. The shuttle team was discussing their answer in frenzied conversation. The ship eased up to the airlock and stopped. They yelled out their answer right before the locking arm grabbed the shuttle. There was a argument over the answer.

“Lieutenant, could you rule on the answer please?” Reaper asked.

“The answer is correct,” she said. There was cheering and booing. After two days, the game had ended in a tie. The bridge crewmembers of the Warhammer were all smiling. They were unsure from reports what to expect when they met up with the two ships, but this wasn’t it. They cut the com and the captain and major along with a security team went to met Reaper and the survivors.

They heard Natalia coming down the corridor. The shuttle door opened and Reaper stepped into the airlock. It cycled and he stepped onto the Warhammer. He saw a 13-year-old ballistic missile coming straight for him. He let go of his helmet, knowing what was coming. The captain and major stepped back as Natalia sailed through the air between them. He caught her and held her as she hugged his neck and kissed him.

“You’re a hero!” Natalia said to him, smiling.

“Stop it! You’re making me blush,” Reaper said, teasing her.

“I missed you. Everybody has been so worried,” she said.

Word had spread of the shuttle’s arrival. The whole team walked down to see him get off the shuttle. Nurse Tanaka showed up, as well as the sergeant from the officers’ mess hall. They moved on into the cargo bay so others could start getting off the shuttle. There was no prying Natalia loose, so Ben made a half-hearted attempt of reporting to the captain and major. The captain just laughed and the major shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it, Reaper, there are at least five women on this ship that wanted to do just what Natalia did but who can’t get away with it.” the captain said, winking at him. The major, Nurse Tanaka and Ronnie all looked at her. The men standing in the group were laughing and shaking their heads. “We don’t stand a chance with him around,” one said.

“That’s no shit,” Snake said. “He’s like some hero in a kids’ book. Brave, handsome, kills the baddies and gets the girl. All the girls.” They all laughed.

The mess sergeant walked up to Reaper and asked if he could make him anything to eat. He liked Reaper and adored Natalia.

“Sarge, that would be great,” Reaper told him. “Also, it would mean a lot to me if you would start some hot meals for the people on the ships. They haven’t had a decent bite to eat in two weeks.”

“I will get right on it, sir,” the sergeant told him, walking away.

“Let’s go meet the lieutenant,” Reaper said, and started walking over to the other airlock. A second security team was already standing there, waiting. Reaper looked around but he didn’t see Emily anywhere. She would have no reason other than curiosity to be there anyway.

Lieutenant Aok came through the airlock door first, walked up to the major and reported in. She was followed by the mother, daughter, son and the orphan boy. They saw Ben holding Natalia as he walked up to them. He knelt down and let go of Natalia, and the sister and brother jumped in, hugging him. Then the orphan wormed his way in for a hug. Ben stood up and the mother gave him a hug too.

He noticed it was quiet and he turned to find about twenty people staring. He told the mother to talk to security so they could go get a nice dinner in the mess hall. He introduced Natalia to all the children. He asked her to stay with them and be their guide on the ship, then turned back to face all the people.

“Let’s get whatever needs doing done so I can eat and shower,” he said.

“You have a debriefing with the general, the major and Emily Brous,” the captain said.

“Alright, let’s go,” he said and started walking. “What time will the general be on the horn?”

“It should be any minute now. I sent him word before I left the bridge. Can you get Ms. Brous to meet us in the conference room please?” He put his helmet on and opened the door to the conference room but didn’t enter. He blocked the door and pretended to be looking around. He looked over the top of their heads and up and down the corridor. The captain and the major looked at him and finally the captain asked, “Reaper, who are you looking for?”

“Some ladies to go first, but there are none in sight!” he said and laughed, knowing something was going to happen.

They both pushed him at the same time and started hitting him. They were laughing as they tried to do something to him that would have an effect. Someone behind them cleared their throat.

“Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?” Emily stood in the doorway.

“No, come on Emily, the more the merrier,” The captain said. She jumped on his back. They were trying to twist his arm and knock him down. They weren’t doing well with any of it.

Someone else cleared their throat, and they all stopped to see the general on the wall vid. He had a admiral with him. She had an amused look on her face as she studied the scene. They all let go and stood at attention, straightening out their uniforms.

“At ease, and no more fighting,” the general said with a grin on his face. “I can assure you, Admiral, that these three are usually model officers. Two of them have exemplary records. Then they get around him, and what good sense they have goes right out the window.”

“What kind of man could turn years of training and discipline into a free-for-all like that?” the admiral asked to whoever wanted to answer.

“Admiral, give it a day and you will have your answer,” the general said. “He will give his report and then Commander Brous will have to go interview the survivors and make her report. That will only be a fraction of who he is, but it will help explain things.”

“I can’t wait, General Grey. Sit down, Reaper,” the admiral ordered.

Reaper sat down and waited. The admiral was thinking about her question. “How many Allith did you kill on Hyson?” she finally asked.

“More than ten and less than 75,” Reaper replied.

“You don’t know exactly?” she asked.

“No Ma’am,” he answered, “why would I count? Counting would be a distraction I can’t afford when fighting the lizards. My unofficial mission became getting the prisoners to safety. Killing the Allith raiders was going to be part of completing that objective no matter what. Had my mission been to kill Allith raiders and nothing more, I would have a more accurate count for you.” His tone was matter-of-fact but not disrespectful. “That’s kind of a psych question isn’t it, Admiral?”

A smile touched her mouth for a brief second. “Just curious,” she said

Yeah, right.
So this is how it will be with her when she asks questions,
he thought.

The questioning went on for about 20 minutes. He got the feeling the admiral was just trying to get a handle on who he was and why the general put so much faith in him. Emily sat taking notes and watching the admiral. He had a feeling she was watching her boss, which meant the admiral was Military Intelligence.

Ben had sat through the whole thing with his helmet on. He was ready for it to all be over so he could eat and shower.

“Reaper, would you remove your helmet? I want to take a look at you,” the admiral asked with a hint that it wasn’t a request.

The general frowned and looked at her. “I want to see his face,” she told him.

“Emily, can I ask you to leave the room please?” the general said.

“No,” the admiral interjected, “she can stay.” The general’s frown deepened. Reaper could tell he was not aware this was going to happen. He wasn’t sure it was such a good idea either. The general looked from the admiral to Reaper and nodded.

“General, I’m not so sure this is a good idea,” Reaper said.

“Just do it,” the general replied. “It may be better this way.”

Reaper sat, not moving or saying anything. They couldn’t see his face to get any idea of what he was thinking. He didn’t want to put any strain on his relationship with the major. She had a hard time as it was with the attention he got. Emily was a part of his life, a friend and his first love. He felt a storm coming and didn’t know why the admiral would want to start it.