Reaper Inc. (15 page)

Ben laughed.
"It’s the same everywhere you go."

"What is
that, the bragging and war stories?" the emperor asked.

"Yeah, we
have a saying where I come from about those who brag loudest and longest
usually have the littlest cocks." He held his fingers about an inch apart
to emphasize his statement. The emperor burst out laughing and Nedra managed a
smile. Captain Dakkon nodded his agreement and the general shot up out of his
chair pissed.

The general
yelled. "You mock me and embarrass me in front of my emperor."

"You did
that to yourself with your wacked out stories trying to impress the alien
girls. You should have been trying to impress Nedra. She is an attractive
member of your race."

"She is a
number of stations below my own. I have no interest in a mate that far down in
our social standings."

"Damn, you
are cold-blooded talking about her like that and you with small male parts
thinking you are all that" Ben should have let it go but he was having fun
for the first time in weeks. The emperor started to intervene and tried to calm
the seven foot six, three hundred twenty five pound general, but the ass chewing
he had got a little earlier courtesy of Ben must have still been hurting. The
general bolted towards Ben.

The queen moved
faster. Ben saw a blur as she flipped off the table, catching the general in
the chest, knocking him on his ass. Ben didn’t know if anyone saw the demonoid
move but it was just there on top of the general, holding him in place with his
teeth in the general’s neck. To its credit, it hadn’t broke the skin yet.

"Captain
Dakkon, would you get a couple of guards and put the general to bed?"

"Yes, your
highness."

"Thank
you, captain."

The queen sat
in the empty seat next to Ben instead of sitting across from him. Things began
to resume and take a normal course of conversation. Some stood up and excused
themselves and headed to their rooms for the evening. Ben felt a hand on his
leg.

"What
would you have done if I hadn’t been here?"

"My plan
was to get under the table calling him more names and trying to kick him in the
knees."

"You would
have cowered and antagonized him from under the table like a coward while you
sit amongst the most powerful leaders you have ever known?" The queen
sounded shocked.

"Wow, you
sure know how to ruin a buzz. He would have beaten me like a dirty rug.
Besides, I was having fun at his expense. There are a number to things that are
universal no matter what galaxy, universe or bar you’re sitting in."

"What are
these words of wisdom, did a wise man pass them on to you?"

"Yes, my
training instructor in boot camp. He said don’t insult a man’s mother or his
man parts. I don’t know the general’s mother so I left her out of it."

"He may
not forget or forgive you when tomorrow comes."

"Yeah,
probably not. Tomorrow I am not going to feel so good so if he wants to take a
shot, he can. Besides, he shouldn’t have insulted Nedra like that. Talking
about her like she is less important than him."

"You have
many things to learn if you live in this part of the universe."

"And you
need to learn what it means when your hand is placed where it’s at." Ben
smiled a hundred and eighty proof smile; it was definitely going to hurt
tomorrow.

The emperor had been talking to
the others who were left still nursing their drinks. He had one ear and eye on
Ben and the queen.
"Maybe there will be peace if the queen is
successful. Ben will do what is right in the end even if it comes to a war. He
doesn’t know the Cjittan on Hyson would follow him instead of the queen. Maybe
others would too."

"Oh
damn!" Ben held his head with both hands. He was in his bunk on the
Claymore. He still had his armor on and he had to hit the head something
fierce. He stood and fell back down as the mallet pounded both sides of his
head. At least it felt that way. The door to his quarters opened and someone entered
but he didn’t feel like looking to see who.

"Whoever
you are, would you please just shoot me. Then tell General Dick that I'm
dead."

"Who is
General Dick?" a voice he didn’t quite recognize asked.

"Aw shit,
who are you?"

"I am
Colonel Dakkon. We have met already."

"What are
you doing in my quarters, colonel. What am I doing in my quarters?"

"What do
you remember last?"

"The third
grade."

"I don’t
understand. What is that?"

"Forget
it, are you taking me to jail?"

"Oh no, I
have been assigned to escort you and watch over you. Hold still your Captain
Aok gave me this for you." She pressed the injector gun to Ben’s neck and
pulled the trigger. The sound of compressed gas, a small pinch and ten seconds
later, his head was only humming. Ben sat up and started unbuckling his armor.
He took off his boots and stepped out of it leaving it on the floor. He looked
around for his weapons and found them lying across a chair.

"I need to
shower and eat, then you can tell me how much trouble I am in."

Colonel Dakkon
nodded and followed Ben in his boxers to the shower. He dropped those at the
door and put them in the clothing refresher. She heard the water start and Ben
making noises.

"Are you
ok?"

"Yes, do I
sound that bad?"

"You were
making odd noises."

"I was just
working out some aches and pains. Did I get my ass beat last night? I'm
sore."

"You
assaulted the Queen of the Cjittan!"

"Oh, is
that all? I take it I didn’t do so well against her."

"No, not
so well. It was a very poor example for someone of your reputation."

"You sure
it wasn’t her demonoid body guard? He seems pretty bad ass."

"Oh no, it
was the Queen."

"Did any
of my crew try to help me?"

"Does
laughing uncontrollably and encouraging the Queen to "Beat your ass,"
I quote, help you?"

"That was
Lorelei?"

"Yes, I
believe so and the one called Emily."

"Traitorous
biotches!" Ben said then laughed. "I guess I deserved it."

"Yes, it
seemed you did. Your actions were not appropriate, although in my opinion had
you been somewhere more private, you may have had a better outcome."

"Ok,
spill, what did I do?" Ben shut the water off and grabbed a towel from the
locker.

"After you
insulted the general, the queen intervened. You were talking to the queen, she
was inquiring about your behavior with the general. You spoke back and forth
then you said something like "Come here baby," I quote again, and
pulled her face to yours. Your crew explained it was called a kiss which is a
sign of affection. The emperor stood and moved around to sit with your crew and
watch. The queen pushed you away when you said "What the hell." It
was your tone that got you in trouble you; sounded angry. I don’t think she
knew what you were saying. Your crew filled me in."

"Oh, I did
all that?"

"There is
more."

"Great,
let’s hear it."

"You started
to move back in towards her and she punched you in the chest, knocking you over
in your chair. You lay there trying to speak and used the word
"bitch" again with the same tone and she drove her fist into your mid
section and all the air gushed out of you."

Ben looked down
at the bruises on his abs and chest. "You can leave, colonel. I believe I
am going to lock myself in the ship until this is all over. Pass on an apology
to the emperor and the queen and even to that dick General Raza."

"You
humans are a strange species. Your Captain Aok approached the queen and
apologized for you. She stated that you are, no matter how angry, almost always
respectful to any female. She had never witnessed you like that and felt it
must have been that you consumed too much of the drink and it had caused the
obvious side effects everyone was witnessing. She bowed to the queen asking her
to accept the apology on the behavior of you and the crew."

"Great,
now she will hold that over me till I die."

"You,
however, did not seem to grasp what was going on and continued using what your
crew described as a poetic string of foul words. Captain Aok then kicked you
and told you to "Shut the hell up," I quote. You slowly stood up and
gave the captain an angry stare, turned and walked away from everyone. The
emperor assigned me to follow you and get you safely to your apartment but you
didn’t go in that direction. You asked one of the guards how to get out of the
"damn place" and walked in the direction he pointed. I intercepted
you and tried to bring you back but you threatened to kill me if I didn’t take
you to your ship. I messaged your request and was told to comply and brought
you here. You seemed to calm down once you were onboard and I helped take off
your weapons. I laid them down and heard the sound of you hitting your bunk.
That was about ten of your earth hours ago."

Ben wore his
towel to the mess, surprised to find Adam and Lorelei there making some food.

"What do
we have to eat around this place?" Ben asked.

"I will
make you a hangover shake, I am sure you got the hangover hypo already or you
wouldn’t be walking," Adam said then laughed. Ben unlatched one of the
chairs from the floor and sat down. The Colonel did the same and sat down.

"Can I get
you anything, Colonel Dakkon?" Adam asked.

"Make me a
similar drink. It smells good."

Adam made both
drinks but Ben’s had two shots of vodka, the colonels didn’t. Ben heard people
walking through the ship. It sounded like they had stopped at someone's quarters
then resumed their journey. He sat in a towel with wet hair; now was not the
time that he wanted to see anyone.

Ben asked,
"Colonel, would you go see who that is and if they want me, send them
away."

"I don’t
work for you. I am escorting you in order to keep any further incidents from
happening." It was too late to avoid whoever was in the corridor so Ben
just sat and drank his breakfast. There were two sets of footsteps, one
slightly heavier than the other. He watched the colonel out of the corner of
his eye for her reaction. He saw her brows arch then come back down. He was
shirtless, shoeless and in a bad mood. He hoped it was just some of the crew.

"May we
join you?" E'Aria asked.

"Yes."
Colonel Dakkon answered.

"No!"
Bens answer immediately followed hers. The colonel sat on his left, E'Aria
stood at his right and an eye-popping display of colors appeared directly in
front of him. Long platinum hair cascaded down to her waist. Last night, she
looked like a Valkyrie or Norse Goddess in her gold and silver armor and but
today, she looked like an elf maybe, but not some thin wistful solemn creature
as they were often portrayed. It didn’t matter, he was supposed to be mad at
those two. The queen had a multilayered, multicolored fabric wrapping around her
body starting just under her arms. It was tight enough to accentuate the
positives all the way down to the floor. She wore a separate piece over and off
her shoulders.

"We are
here to apologize," E'Aria said looking at Ben. "The queen feels she
may have been out of line although I have told her a number of times she was
not. I agreed to apologize as well and feel you also need to, Benjamin."

"How about
we don't and say we did, if anyone asks."

"How about
we do, so we don’t have to lie if anyone asks," E'Aria said getting angry.

"How about
you and her go play diplomat and work out some peace shit between all of you
and leave me alone."

Colonel Dakkon
said. "Maybe this is not a good time, how about we let him rest some more
and broach the subject later."

"We need
to discuss some things before the ball tonight, regardless of apologies,"
E'Aria said. "Ben, you need some new clothes for the ball tonight. The
colonel will accompany you to some clothing shops where you will get fitted and
purchase something appropriate to wear. Just tell the clothier what it’s for
and they will know."

Ben said,
"No! I am going to my quarters."

E'Aria said,
"Fine! Go, coward."

Adam approached
the table with Lorelei in tow. Ben stood and left yelling over his shoulder for
the colonel to stay away also. Lorelei sat in his chair looking at E'Aria.

Adam asked,
"Can I get your highnesses anything to eat or drink while I have the
kitchen up and running.” E'Aria picked up Ben’s glass, it had two inches left
in the bottom. She took a sip.

"I will
take one of these."

"With or
without the vodka?"

"With."

"Can I
taste it?" the Queen asked.

"I will
take one too with the vodka, whatever that may be."

"It is an
alcohol but not like what we were drinking last night. I can’t believe he drank
three drinks," Adam said. "I didn’t even finish my first."

"So his
behavior was caused by the drink and nothing more?"

"No, there
are more reasons your highness," Adam said. "He is still mourning and
blaming himself for Andrea's death. He is angry, sad, selfish, self destructive
and he knows it. He doesn’t want to be around people because he doesn’t want to
hurt anyone else. In our species, alcohol effects can be depressing or overly
exciting. We call it a buzz where one loses their inhibitions. He just let go last
night. He picked a fight, kissed a girl, got his ass kicked. In a different
crowd, different place, that is every Friday night for some guys."

"He means
that is a very common occurrence in certain social environments," Lorelei
said. "We have never seen him act like that ever. He needs to do it again
but maybe with a different crowd. Work some shit out, so to speak."

"No he
doesn’t."

"No use us
arguing about any of it. Let’s go Lorelei and do some shopping. We will see you
all later," Adam said. Lorelei grabbed his arm as they went out the
door."

                                   
****

Ben lay on the
bunk in his quarters thinking he should slip out and buy himself a few things. He
may not go to the ball but he may want to venture out and sightsee. He could
buy Natalia some gifts. He didn’t want a baby sitter. Maybe he could slip out
while she was in the mess. He dressed quickly, a tee cargo pants and his boots.

                                   
****

"Colonel
Dakkon. I have some preprogrammed translator nanites that will add to your
current translators and help you understand Ben speak. I don’t know how long
the emperor will have you assigned to him but even for a short period of time,
they may help you. They will also be just as useful in communicating with the
other humans in my crew."

"That
would be fine, Captain Aok. Can we do that now before I go check on him?"

"Sure.
Your highness, maybe you would benefit from the nanites also?"

"It seems
it may be prudent."

They walked to
medical where E'Aria loaded up a hypo injector with the nanites suspended in a
solution to help prevent irritation at the injection site. Once the shots were
administered, she had them sit for a few minutes to monitor for any immediate
reaction. E'Aria examined them both and they left to find Benjamin.

Colonel Dakkon,
E'Aria and the queen saw Ben exit the ship and head for the crowd leaving the
space port. It was the private portion of the port so it wasn’t a large crowd
and Ben did his best to stay amongst the taller Allond pedestrians.

"Queen
Tazleaha, Princess Aok I will see you this evening. Enjoy your day."
Colonel Tawniz Dakkon started at a normal pace then her strides grew longer as
she worked on shrinking the distance between Ben and herself.

                                   
****

"Do you
think she will catch him?" Queen Tazleaha asked.

"Yes, I
believe she will. She will not want to have to explain to the emperor anything
other than she followed his orders and everything is fine."

"Princess,
can you explain the physical act of touching lips and mouths together. Kissing
is what I believe I heard it called. Is it pleasant, desirable, part of a
mating ritual? I am curious and I may want to try it again."

"Do you
have someone in mind, Your Highness?"

"I believe
you know the answer to that. I saw it in his memories so when he tried, it was
only a momentary surprise but he was not acting like the images I saw in his
mind. They were kind and loving and his mates wanted to kiss equally as much as
he did."

"Do you
believe you are compatible with a human male? The kissing usually leads to sex,
mating, whatever you wish to call it."

"I believe
we would be able to consummate the act but I am unsure if offspring would be
viable. Tests would have to be completed."

"Have you
spoken to him about any of this, did you bring it up last night?"

"No I have
not, not yet."

"What if
he rejects you? Humans don’t always mate to produce offspring. They are
particular about their partners and will not mate with another just to do
it."

"I saw
that in his mind as well. He could have had you, and the captain with the
beautiful red hair, and the blond pirate, his friend Emily, but he did not. His
thoughts stayed with the black-haired Andrea and he still visits her in his
mind and dreams."

"I am glad
then that you saw all that now that you tell me some of your thoughts."