Reaper Inc. (10 page)

Binda hurried
back to the hold. "Bring them straight to medical. I have two stations
waiting." Adam bent over and scooped up Natalia in his arms and carried
her to medical. He went to work removing her helmet, belt, boots and vac suit.
Ben had bought medical supplies and equipment for the Claymore. Grubb grabbed a
stretcher and he and Buddy lay Ben on it. They were on their way, with Emily
right on their heels. She was removing her helmet and belt as she walked.

As a steward to
the Supreme Commander, Binda had received medical training but it did not
include surgical skills. She was more or less qualified as a nurse in colonial
terms. E'Aria hurried to medical. She had been crying and her soft green skin
was blotchy. Lorelei was right next to her, bloodshot eyes, sniffling, holding
E'Aria's arm. It was contagious as the whole room broke down sobbing at that
point. Lorelei moved to help Adam with Natalia and E'Aria and Emily went to
work on removing Ben's armor.

The first thing
off was his helmet. The side of his face was black, blue, purple and red. He
moaned softly every time they moved his head. Lorelei pulled off his gloves and
E'Aria unbuckled his armor then started on the inner zipper.

"Ms.
E'Aria," Adam said softly, "He has a dislocated shoulder. His chest
and back around the shoulder will probably look like his face." E'Aria
took a deep breath and let it out slowly, anticipating the damage.

"Grubb,
would you and Buddy have Mr. Shan take you back to the gunship and take
everything salvageable out of it? Especially the weapons and ammo. Then put
everything away where it belongs."

"Aye,
Captain." Grubb looked a little sheepish. "Captain, would you want us
to take a look around to see if there is anything left of the cockpit."
Grubb didn’t know exactly how to ask.

E'Aria walked
over and took his arm leading him outside the room. "Once you have cleaned
out the gunship, have Mr. Shan take make a circuitous route with full scanners.
Once that is completed, get back to the ship."

"Aye Captain,
least wise, we can say we tried. I believe he would be very unhappy if we don’t
try."

E'Aria turned
away and walked back into medical. Binda had injected all three with pain
killers. Emily lay down on a small couch and went to sleep. Natalia had bruising
from the restraints, possible whiplash and seemed to be just knocked out. Adam
was doing the lifting while E'Aria pulled Ben’s armor off.

"Lorelei,
go back to the bridge with Menah. They are banged up but will be ok, I
think," E'Aria said firmly, knowing she might get an argument.

"Onak is
there with her. They don’t need me," Lorelei snapped back.

"That is
correct but you are my first officer and I need you to check on the crew and
passengers. I will be finished here in a short time and then we will explain to
everyone what we know and depart this wretched place." Lorelei gave her a
‘go to hell’ look, she turned and walked out. Two steps into her walk up the
corridor, three words formed in her head
"I heard that."

E'Aria had a
sheet ready to cover Ben, as Adam removed his thermals. She had seen him naked
but there were others who may just walk in and they didn’t need to. Binda just
looked at her. Adam walked around them to study Ben’s shoulder. The bulge on
top told the story as Binda studied the scan for any breaks or fractures. Adam
strapped his legs, waist, and chest down, as well and his good arm.

Binda said,
"You seem to know what you are doing."

"I have
some training and experience, nothing elegant but it gets the job done,"
Adam answered. He took a minute to go through the steps involved with setting
the arm back in the socket.

"Should we
administer some pain medication directly to the area?" Binda asked.

Adam thought
about for a second. "Yes and you might want to give him something to keep
him unconscious."

"I will be
back shortly," E'Aria said. "I have a message to send." She
walked to her quarters, sat down and wrote:

Aisling
O'Shaughnessy, Captain CNS Warhammer and Nick Vamos, Reaper Inc. Anubis.

My Friends,

Sadly and
with regret I inform you of the death of Andrea Andersen. There was an attack
on the gunship she was piloting during the search for survivors and
investigating two rescue beacons on the planet Hyson. Benjamin, Natalia and
Emily are alive and should be on their feet in a few days. We are continuing on
our mission to Allond with heavy hearts. I sense many hard and sad days to come
once Ben and Natalia regain consciousness.

E'Aria Aok,
Captain, Reaper Inc.

E'Aria pushed
send and returned to medical. Binda and Adam were talking softly about their
lives in the military. Her friends slept, she pushed a strand of hair off of
Natalia's face. She listened to their conversation learning a little about them
both. The com in her ear beeped.

Lorelei
reported. "Captain, we are underway. I will keep the weapons warm and
scanners on maximum till we arrive at our destination. Grubb reports that all
your requests are completed."

"Thank
you, I will be on the bridge in five." She looked at Binda and Adam.
"Contact me immediately when one of them wakes," she said looking at
Binda. "I need you in your galley, Adam. I am going to call a meeting of
crew and passengers. Can you have coffee and some things ready in thirty
minutes?"

"Aye
Captain, I will put a little spread together."

                       
            ****

The mammoth
cloaked ship eased in an hour after the Claymore. They sent a shuttle to the
gunship. It scanned it and departed.

"Great
One, there is no genetic material in the remains of the ship. The remains of
the female are mostly viable. It is a good find my lord, she is a warrior and
mate to the one we seek."

"Very
well, take the samples and store the rest just in case. You know our first
attempts do not always turn out the desired result."

                                   
****

Everyone but
Lorelei had assembled in the mess. Adam had setup a table with small
appetizers. E'Aria could tell everyone already knew what had happened. As
Captain, she felt she needed to say a few words to everyone anyway. Adam sat a
glass in front of each person and filled it with their favorite drink.

"As many
of you already know, we lost a crewmate today and I lost a dear friend as well.
There may be a ceremony at another time, I don’t know. There are two who were
closer to her than me who may make that decision. Until then, please raise your
glass to Major Andrea Andersen. She was respected by many and will be missed by
all." E'Aria looked around the somber room.

"This
undertaking was always thought to be dangerous. We let our guard down
momentarily and it cost us more than any of you know. I do not plan to let that
happen again. The Allith are a rabble and have no ship the Claymore cannot
destroy in a manner of minutes. But they are not the only race we might
possibly encounter and some of them are formidable opponents. It is my order
that we will not stop for anything until we are safe in Allond space. If there
are any other beacons, we will report their coordinates. We will not engage any
hostile ship without first trying to safely evade and outrun it."

"She will
be missed, Captain," Alona Aok said. It was seconded and other comments
about missing Andrea were added. It hit her about the same time everyone heard
the screaming. The anguish and pain ripped through her mind almost driving her
to her knees. She looked at her aunt and said, "He is awake and
remembers." The room went quiet as E'Aria ran to medical.

Emily was
trying to calm Ben when E'Aria entered the room. He would scream Andrea's name and
then look at Emily and tell her to get her hands off him. She hurried to his
side and nudged Emily out of the way. E'Aria put both hands one on either side
of his face. He continued to yell, but was making constant eye contact with
E'Aria.

"Ben,
please calm down."

"E'Aria,
she's gone!" he screamed, squirming and pulling on the restraints.

"I
know, I loved her too but you have to calm down before you hurt yourself more.
Your body has taken a lot of punishment."

"I don’t
care," he yelled, then his tone changed. "I'm gonna kill them, I'm
gonna kill them all."

"I
killed them for you. We destroyed every one of the ships. They were pockets of
dust when we left."
Ben seemed to calm down. There were a number of
people crowded just inside the door.

"No
E'Aria, I said, I'm gonna kill them all. It may take me years but they will be
extinct long before I'm dead." He laid his head back and closed his eyes.
E'Aria heard a sniffle. Looking in that direction, she saw Emily sitting with
her arm around Natalia who had been watching almost all of the exchange. Her
heart broke again. She sat down on the bed next to Natalia, who wrapped her
arms around E'Aria and cried.

                                   
****

Days later and hundreds of
thousands of miles away in Trillond space, a captain opened an ‘eyes only’
message. She wept for her friend and then for her friends. She thought of
Benjamin and the pain he must be feeling. Natalia would be a basket case. She
wished she were with them. Composed, face washed, she called the crewmembers
that had made up Andrea's former team. She took out glasses and two bottles of
whiskey, then called the XO and asked not to be disturbed unless they were
attacked. She waited for them to arrive and hoped she could hold herself
together.

It was quiet
for next two days. Emily and Natalia were back in their quarters. E'Aria and
Natalia shared quarters so she was able to keep an eye on her and when she
couldn’t, Emily would come and sit with her. She told her stories about her
childhood with Ben. Ben stayed in Medical. He ate and drank very little; mostly
he just lay there with his eyes closed. He had visitors everyday but engaged
very little in any lengthy conversations. If enough people were there at the
same time, he just listened as they had conversations around him. By day three,
only the people who were the closest to him were stopping by.

Many had walked
in to a strange sight; E'Aria pacing and making motions with her arms and
hands, frowning and nodding all in total silence. At times, there were
arguments and others pleading or begging. Once or twice they saw her sitting
with her head resting on his chest crying. They would not enter, just close the
door softly and walk away. They had taken the restraints off early on day two
so he could relieve himself on his own or leave and go to his quarters.

On the third
day, Ben put his bare feet on the cold steel floor and stood up. He wrapped the
sheet around him and walked out, heading in the direction of the shower station
he had installed. Grubb was in the hold and watched him walk in and drop the
sheet at the entrance and grab a towel out of the locker. He messaged E'Aria
that he was up and in the shower and she arrived about ninety seconds later.
Grub motioned with his head and went back to work. E'Aria walked in to find him
leaning forward legs spread both palms against the wall. Head hanging, he let
the water run over him, plastering his long hair to the sides of his face.

"I want
new quarters and someone to move all my things. Leave everything that isn’t
mine where it’s at." Ben didn’t move or even look up to see who he was
talking to. "If it isn’t clear that it’s mine, leave it and I will work it
out later."

E'Aria didn’t
answer mentally or verbally. She walked out, motioned for Grubb to follow her
and they took care of it. She sent Grubb back to tell him which new quarters
were his and that it was ready. Grubb passed on the information and walked out.
He didn’t have anything to say. What could he say to him? Plus Ben wasn’t
really listening to anyone anyway.

He found his
new quarters, dropped the towel on the floor and lay face down on the bed. He
closed his eyes and hoped he wouldn’t dream, but he did. He sat in the dark,
arms and legs strapped to a chair, a light shining in his face. He could see
nothing in the beyond. The light ended, blackness began. He sensed something,
someone out in the black.

"You
let them all die. You were supposed to protect them but you failed. .
.again"
It was a chorus of voices all in unison. Then a single voice
that sounded like Emily's mother.

"She
loved you and you went away. You never even sent her a message. Now you killed
her, you could have protected her but you went away again."

"No! No
I didn’t. I couldn’t"

"But
you did and now I have no one."

In the dream,
Ben began to fight the restraints. He tossed and turned in his bed pulling and
yanking on the bedding. Next, a pair of voices spoke. It was the Vander Hoyts
speaking in unison.

"You
never came back for us. Do you know what they did? They ate us and everyone who
didn’t get on a ship. We got no warning till it was too late"

"I left
a ship for you. Why didn’t you leave? We had a plan you should have NO!"

"You
left us to die."

He thrashed and
kicked his legs. He was wrapping himself up in the bedding as he rolled around
in it making it worse. His family began speaking to him.

"Why
didn’t you die with us Benjamin? Why did you get to live? It's your fault we
are dead."

"NO!
NO! NO! I was only four. It’s not my fault a four year old could not stop a bomb
or a train"

Ben cried out
in his sleep for it to stop. He saw a silhouette at the edge of the light.

"I'm
dead, Benjamin. How could you let this happen? We were supposed to grow old
together. You let them kill me like you let them kill everyone else. You are no
hero."
Andrea's voice echoed in the gloom. He tried to stand and go to
her but couldn’t. His fist punched wall next to his bed. Each time he tried to
stand in his dream, he punched the wall. Blood covered his fist as small
streams ran down the wall. The door to his quarters opened. E'Aria and Binda
ran to him. Binda had the injection unit all ready to go with a sleep aid and
pain killer. E'Aria caught his arm and tried to pin him to the bed. Binda
pulled the bedding down and gave it to him in the thigh.

"Andrea!
Andrea! I'm sorry please, don’t leave me!"
Ben yelled. As he drifted
off, his breathing began to soften and steady. E'Aria stroked his forehead
while Binda sat and watched for any kind of reaction to the sleeping cocktail.

"It’s
going to be bad later?" she asked as she cleaned his bloody hand and
applied medication to it.

E'Aria thought
for a moment. "We can only hope we get to Allond before he takes a
disliking to someone. Once we are there, I will talk to the Prime Minister and
arrange for him to be able to work out his pain. They are not as fragile as we
are." Binda just nodded, thinking about giving him a cocktail every day
till they got there.

"No, you
won’t!" E'Aria said a little forcefully. Binda patted her on the leg.

"It was
just a thought, Captain, literally." She gave her a smile. "You may
change your mind before the trip is over." Binda was well aware of who her
Captain was and her capabilities. She picked up her medical supplies and left.

Ben woke up
eight hours later to find Natalia sitting in a chair with her feet propped up
on his bed. She was sleeping, chin on her chest breathing softly. He shook her
feet and she woke up, focusing on his face. It was still bruised but not as
bad. Some of it was fading. She crawled in next to him and he held her kissing
the side of her head. She cried softly and fell back asleep. He lay for another
hour then detached himself from her sleeping form. He made his way to the
shower and repeated what he did last time. He didn’t need a shower but it provided
some subconscious effect, just standing letting the water run over him.

He walked back
to his quarters. Natalia was awake.

"Are you
hungry? Do you want to come with me and east some breakfast?" she asked,
hoping he would.

Ben said,
"Sure. I know I'm hungry, not sure when the last time I ate anything
substantial was." He didn’t smile at her like he normally did.

Natalia said,
"It has been a while. I've been keeping track. You will feel better."
Ben noticed she didn’t call him dad or any of the familiar names she had been
using. They walked to the mess and Adam put a couple of plates together with
juice and coffee. He had figured out his high tech kitchen and didn’t use
hardly any of it. Wrong species, wrong food, but he imagined for the builders
of the ship, it was perfect.

Ben ate slow,
thoughts going through his head overrode the hunger and the usual method of
scarfing his food down. But he did eat and got most of it down.

                                   
****

"Captain
E'Aria, we have a ship approaching. It looks to be a Allond cruiser. They are
on an intercept course," Onak reported.

"They may
be here to escort us. Let me know when they message their intentions."

"Aye,
Captain," Onak replied. He was picking up on the lingo from Lorelei and
the rest of the human crewmembers. E'Aria had thought about what Ben called
cross training now that Andrea was gone and she had to put a new rotation in
place. Natalia had been absent from the com officer position for a couple of
days as well so everyone except Grubb, Buddy, and Adam were rotating. The
Trillond crew were a little hesitant at first but E'Aria could tell after a day
that doing something new appealed to them. It helped with the boredom of a long
shift.

They all were
happy with the proposition of being able to work with their Captain up close.
She was also their princess and heir. What they wanted the most was to hear the
story of the rescue of their people from the Allith on Hyson and then the
mining colony. They were all so proud of her. The current situation had made
them hesitant to ask about Ben, but they didn’t need to. E'Aria really couldn’t
tell the story without telling them about him. He had saved her first before
anything else had ever happened. The Trillond were not known for their storytelling
when it came to heroics, battles, and war. They were scholars and scientists.
E'Aria had somehow been cut from a different cloth. She had found her inner
warrior while working with Ben and the team. When she told the story, she was
animated, yelling and jumping up out of her chair.

She told them
stories they hadn’t heard about the pirates and finding Natalia. Lorelei said
nothing because E'Aria didn’t name her, nor did the new crew know of her pirate
affiliation of the past.

By the end of
the stories, their eyes were wide and they were jumpy and when E'Aria said she
was through and sat down, they made all sorts of sounds that showed how excited
they were. Lorelei just laughed. She guessed they didn't know how to clap. They
settled back to their duties and training till a message arrived.

"Captain,
I do not think this message is what we had thought it might be. There are two
demands. To identify ourselves and surrender our ship."

"Menah,
send a reply identifying who we are and our mission and then tell them we are
not surrendering our ship unless there is an order from their Emperor or Prime
Minister."

"Aye
Captain, message is sent." Menah had entered it as the Captain spoke.

"Captain,
they are powering up their weapons," Onak said nervously.

"Onak,
shields, and you and Menah switch. This isn’t training. I need her on
tactical."

"Onak, I
need you to send a message on all Allond systems. Address it to Emperor Xamand
III, Prime Minister Jinwasys, and Captain Dakkon

"This is Princess
E'Aria Aok, Captain of the Allond Warship Claymore gifted to Reaper, Benjamin
Jamison. We have identified ourselves to an unknown Allond cruiser at these
coordinates who have demanded we surrender our ship and have powered weapons
against two diplomatic parties. The outcome of this is yet to be known and we
are asking assistance before one of your captains makes a grave mistake."

E'Aria stepped
behind Onak and sent it. Her fingerprint signed the message as authentic.

"Lorelei,
make a run for it. Menah, keep all the power on the shields facing whoever that
asshole is." Menah raised her eyebrows not understanding ‘asshole’ but she
understood the rest.

"Onak,
continue to send our coordinates projected every two hundred thousand miles. I
will teach that asshole to screw with Reaper Inc."

"Not very
princess-like of you, your highness, to be swearing like a pirate,"
Lorelei teased.

"The
Vander Hoyts told me it was a side effect of the company I keep and I know that
to be true the longer I am around you human pirates and mercenaries."

"Aye
Captain, the Vander Hoyts would not be lying," she agreed, with respect to
the old couple.

                                   
****

Ben felt the
slight change in vibration as the Claymore continued to increase speed. Adam
knew it too, as his pans began sing.

"Adam,
yell at the bridge and see what is going on. Don’t tell them I am here,"
Ben asked. A second later, E'Aria made a ship wide announcement for everyone to
suit up immediately and there would be someone coming around to check.

"Forget
it, get suited up and then check on Buddy and Grubb."

Natalia got up
looked at him and said, "Let’s go right now." Her hands were on her
hips and her tone was spot on. Ben knew where it came from. So many damn
reminders. They met Emily in the corridor. She was totally suited up. Natalia
went with her. Ben was in his armor in sixty seconds and totally ready in
seventy five. He walked up the corridor to the bridge.

                                   
****

On the bridge,
the viewer held the image of an Allond officer sitting back in his chair like
he owned the galaxy.

"Captain
Aok, we may not be able to catch you, but our torpedoes can. I wanted to offer
you another chance to surrender your ship before we fired."

"You must
have seen the message we transmitted. I don’t think you will live long enough
to gloat when the Emperor finds out you fired on us, let alone harm or kill
us."

"That is
just a ruse to delay us. They will not come to your aid or worry about what
your pitiful alliances threaten to do."

E'Aria said,
"If you are willing to bet your life on that then do what you have to
do." The door opened and Ben walked on the bridge. He stepped in front of
E'Aria so that the view from the Allond cruiser was just his face and chest. He
raised the visor on his helmet.

"My name
is Benjamin Jamison. Captain, that is what my friends call me. You may call me
Reaper. Tell me what is it you plan on doing to my ship?"

"You have
been ordered to surrender. . ."Ben cut him off.

"Ok, shut
up. I figured it was something stupid like that. How about you and I get
together and settle things the old-fashioned way, you know man, that’s me, to
whatever the hell you are, lizard or some shit." Ben knew he didn’t
understand half of what he said but he got the whole disrespectful part. It
looked like the Captain was at a loss for words.

"You do
know what I am talking about, right? You and me, we fight it out. Winner gets
the ship or, in our case, we go on our way to the meeting and you put your tail
or stub or the ugly one's head next to you between your legs and go back to the
hole you crawled out of. So, what's it going to be? You want to come here so
your crew doesn’t see you get your ass beat?"