The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: Call Sign Reaper (35 page)

The major and prime minister made their way down to the brig. The sergeant saw her coming and opened the door.

They walked in and the prime minister noticed Lorelei’s cell.

“Long story, Prime Minister, but she is a model prisoner and is just about to get released if I guess correctly,” Andrea explained. They got to Reaper’s cell. The lights were down low.

“It’s about time,” Ben said, then paused. “Why is the lieutenant with you?”

“This is not the lieutenant, knucklehead. Turn the lights up.”

“Damn,” he chuckled, doing as she asked. “Just when I thought it was about to get interesting.”

“You need to shut up right now,” she snapped. “This is the prime minister of Trillond.”

“Aww shit.” He sat with his head down.

“Get up and introduce yourself. She has a favor to ask, so listen up.”

“I apologize,” Ben said, standing. “The major and I, we joke around and I would have never guessed someone of your station would be down here visiting.” He took her hand and shook it.

“Major, can I speak with him alone for a few minutes please?” the prime minister asked. The major walked over to see if Lorelei was in.

The prime minister was still holding his hand, which Reaper thought was a little long past the letting go time. She stepped in and hugged him tight.

“Thank you for watching over my niece. You have saved her life on many occasions and she has turned into a force to be reckoned with under your leadership. You also saved some of our people at great risk to yourself, and for that we thank you.” She stepped back, still holding both of his hands in hers.

“It has been an eventful evening,” she continued. “Your protégé threatened to cut out the admiral’s tongue and leave her to the Cjittan to be eaten all at sword point. No one stood to defend the admiral, which I thought was interesting. Your major got her to put her sword away. She also suggested I ask you if I can book passage on your ship for myself and Mr. Antonio when you leave. You just need to take me to my ship, which can rendezvous with yours on its course to Anubis.”

“Can you cook?” Ben asked.

“Yes, I am a good cook when time allows. Why do you ask?”

“You can come along for free if you do the cooking until we meet up with your ship,” Ben said. “Get a list of supplies together and I’ll get you everything I can.”

“So we are bartering for my passage on your ship.”

“Yeah, you can say that,” he said, “or you can say it’s a friendly exchange of good will between Alliance members.”

“I like the sound of that,” she smiled. “Also, you are free to go. The admiral is dropping her charges.”

“Great,” he said, “let’s get out of here. I will come back for my things tomorrow.”

The major walked over. “Do you want to go back to the conference room, Prime Minister, and have a drink?” she asked.

“Yes, I think I will now. How about you?” the prime minister asked Ben.

“No, I think I’m going to turn in. I have a lot to do tomorrow. I don’t think I can stay awake much longer,” he said.

Andrea gave him a glare and he just smiled as he walked into his quarters, probably for the last time. He didn’t bother to look around much; he could tell E’Aria had been there and cleaned about everything out. He undressed and lay in bed.

Andrea came in 15 minutes later. He could smell the whiskey on her breath. He didn’t care; he would keep her awake for a while, he thought. He watched her as she stood next to his bunk, undressing. She was deliberately doing it slowly, and he was getting very aroused and impatient. She climbed on top of him, thinking she would tease him some more. He had other ideas.

He grabbed both her wrists and pulled her down against him, grabbing her head with one hand and kissing her. They were hungry kisses as his fingers held her hair. He kissed her neck and bit her shoulders. He pulled her up farther and kissed her breasts. It was not like him to be this demanding. He always had passion, but this was different. He slapped her ass hard enough that it stung, and never let up on the kissing.

She started talking dirty to him. She had never done that before. She told him what she wanted and how. She was on her hands and knees. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.

“You are mine and will always be mine, is that clear?” When she didn’t answer immediately, he slapped her ass again.

“Yes Ben,” she said, “I will always be yours.” She believed every word she told him. She felt him enter her and her world exploded in pleasure. She didn’t know how many times he took her to that place where her body convulsed and twisted. Hours later, when they finally stopped, he was still inside her and she was wrapped around him. It was much more tender at this point. They were both crying and holding each other. They fell asleep, exhausted emotionally and physically. Neither of them knew when they were be together again, if ever.

They woke up to the smell of coffee clearing the fog of sleep from their brains. They were both naked on top of the blankets. There was a tray with a carafe of coffee and some rolls sitting on the table. E’Aria was sitting at the table staring at them. “You two need to get up and get moving,” she said. “They are tracking the beacon and we will be there within the hour.”

“We’ll be there in fifteen,” Ben said. Then he saw Andrea’s face. “Thirty,” he corrected himself.

She slipped her arm through his as they walked to the bridge. She still had her arm there when they walked in and everyone looked at them, then turned back to their work. A shuttle was picking up the pod. They watched it load and return.

The shuttle landed and the rear hatch lowered to the floor. Chavez walked down the ramp behind a hover cart carrying the pod.

Reaper studied the door to the pod storage area for a minute. They hadn’t told anyone how to open it. He gripped the handle and a holo-vid projected from the top. It was an Allond he had never seen before. He was dressed in flowing robes and seated on a throne. He heard some gasps behind him.

The Allond made no introduction. “I hope this information will help your people survive the plague that is headed your way,” he said. “I have heard much about you, Reaper, and look forward to meeting you someday. I hope you find my gift to be useful in near future.” The vid ended.

Ben looked around at the crowd. There were lots of wide eyes, but everyone was quiet. He turned the handle and the door popped open.
Simple enough,
he thought. He took out a stack of data chips and handed them to the captain. There was a small box inside with a note attached. He took it out and turned it around in his hand, examining it from all sides. “I have no idea what this says,” he said, handing it to E’Aria.

“Push button one, it says,” she replied.

He showed her the remote and she pointed to the correct button, a symbol he didn’t recognize.

She pushed it for him. A holo-vid started playing from the end of the remote.

It was the prime minister of Allond. “My friend, you just activated another beacon that will lead you to your gift. We have left you a sword to fight your enemies with. If what we believe is coming indeed comes, you will need it.  Hopefully it will serve you well and keep you safe. I trust you know who the other vid was from. He wanted to send his own personal message to you. Once you locate the beacon, push the second button to gain access to the inside. I have left you another message and we changed the language to Trillond. This will make it easier for the princess to operate.”

“Inside? Inside what?” he heard the admiral say.

He turned at the sound of her voice and glared at her, then said out loud, “What princess? Who is he talking about?”

He looked at the prime minister of Trillond. She just smiled at him. The recording was still going.

“Yes, we knew who you traveled with once you were aboard our ship. This only confirmed what we believed about you, Reaper. During the fight with the Allith, she fought well against her attackers, almost killing one. That was quite an achievement for a Trillond — no offense, Princess. When you stepped in to protect her, killing her attacker, you protected royal blood. It affirmed all we believed about you.”

The XO called, informing the captain he had another beacon coming from a large asteroid not 5,000 meters away. “Ease us over there, XO, we will be at the bridge in a few minutes,” she replied.

“This guy sure is long winded,” the major said to the crowd. “Let’s go see what’s behind door number two. You can listen to your hero worship later.”

Ben was staring at E’Aria as they walked back to the bridge. Her head was down. “E’Aria, walk with me,” he said aloud, and stopped, letting everyone continue ahead.

“We will meet you in a few minutes on the bridge,” he told everyone. He stood over her, looking down.

You should have told me,
he thought.

Why, so you could protect me at every turn? Make sure I never get put in harm’s way? Work everything around who I am?
Her thoughts were scornful.
No. I would have not joined your team if that was going to happen. I could have just stayed safe as Ensign Aok in engineering.

But you could have been killed, and it would have been my fault.

But I didn’t get killed,
she replied,
and I have learned so much from the situations you put me in and when I needed you, you were always there. I would have never learned to be strong without your help.

Crew members were walking by, looking at them staring at each other and not speaking. They knew better than to say anything.

We have more to discuss,
he said,
but it can wait. Let’s go see what new toy my friends have given me. We are drawing too much attention just standing here.

He put his arm around her shoulders and walked into the bridge.

“Are you tired? Do you need me to support you?” she asked out loud.

“No, this is something friends do on my world as a sign of affection.”

She smiled at him. “I like it,” she said.

Everyone turned to look at them as they walked in. He was looking at all the faces and not the large vid screen on the wall. E’Aria elbowed him.

“Look at the vid,” she said

There was a starship. It was around the frigate class in size but smaller than the Warhammer. It was sleek and loaded with weapons.

“Holy shit! That is a sword.” He was busting at the seams with excitement all of a sudden. “E’Aria, can you fly that?” he asked.

“The prime minister said he changed the language to Trillond, so I am sure I can.”

“He never listens,” the major added.

“Captain, can Lieutenant Chavez drop us off?” Reaper asked.

“That depends on whether you are taking me over there with you,” the captain said.

“Yes, you can come,” he said. “Can we go now?”

“XO,” she said over her shoulder, “the ship is yours. I’ll be back in a little while.”

The group of people wishing to check out the new ship got larger as each minute went by. There was a lot of excitement, but then the admiral decided to burst the bubble.

“I’m sorry,” the admiral said, “but the Colonial Military is impounding that ship. There is too much new tech and firepower there for this man just to leave here with.”

“Admiral, are you mad?” the general cut in. “I have let you play your games and verbally abuse my team for no reason, mostly because you weren’t doing much harm. But this I will not stand for.”

“General,” the admiral said coldly, “you have no choice or say in the matter. Military Intelligence division can confiscate any technology or weapon it deems a threat.”

Everyone was watching the general and admiral go at it and didn’t notice E’Aria easing around to stand within two feet of the admiral. The punch came so quick it took a second for everyone to adjust their thoughts, as the admiral went down to the floor. She was not knocked out, but there was a dazed look in her eyes. E’Aria stood over her and grabbed her collar.

“You must have thought I was joking yesterday,” she said. “When you wake up you can file a complaint with the prime minister and my home world.” The second punch put the admiral’s lights out.

Reaper walked over, picked E’Aria up under the arms and moved her away from the admiral. “Come on, slugger,” he said, “let’s go look at our new ship.”

The marines at the entrances to the bridge didn’t know what to do. Nobody had tried to stop the lieutenant. They were looking across the room at each other.

“Marines! Take the admiral to the brig and have the sergeant lock her up for her own safety,” O’Shaughnessy said.

“Aye aye, Captain!” they voiced in unison.

“And be gentle with her,” she added, “she has had a rough morning, tripping and falling like that. The lieutenant tried to catch her but couldn’t get to her in time.”

“Yes ma’am, that’s what we saw too.”

“Tell the sergeant that she is not to be released unless he receives an order from me or General Grey.”

The larger of the two marines scooped the admiral up in his arms and carried her while the other marine opened the doors and cleared people out of the way.