Reaper Inc. (29 page)

"I have
spoken with your new captain and she informs me you cannot pay the cost. She
estimates after your trip to see justice done for Harry, supplies and fuel to
Anubis will use every credit you have available. I believe I will have to
impound the Claymore until you can pay your debt. We could talk to Xamand to
get an impartial ruling and if he believes what I ask is unfair, I will accept
his ruling."

"Let's go,
dammit. You know this is bullshit after I bought you dresses and helped get
your damn ship back for you and this is how you repay me. You try and take my
ship. You’re a damn pirate! That’s what you are, Pirate Queen Tazleaha. Xamand
will tell you. Let's go."

Ben stormed
back into the peace conference with Tazleaha strolling casually along behind
him. He stood arms crossed next to Xamand who was seated at the head of the
table. The scowl on his face and tense posture told Emily something had just
taken a turn for the worst.

Tazleaha said,
"Emperor Xamand, would you wear the mantle of impartial judge in a
financial matter in need of resolution? The Cjittan submits it will acknowledge
your ruling as final. Do you, Benjamin Jamison?

"Yes, I
can't trust you, that is for sure."

Xamand's eyes
got a little wide and he knew Ben was in trouble. "Which of you will be
the first to begin?" he asked.

"You go
ahead, you pirate. Tell him all this nonsense and hopefully I won't even have
to present my side."

Tazleaha went
through the list of charges and the damages and explained that the Claymore's
captain could not pay her. She believes she has no choice but to take his ship
until payment can be made.

"Do you
believe this crap? I am instrumental in her getting her ship back after a
hundred years and now she wants to steal my ship!" Ben yelled. He never
noticed every eye in the grand hall was on their little scene.

"Ben, did
you ask to be compensated for your part in retrieving her ship?" Xamand
asked.

"No, why
would I? I just wanted my freedom and freedom for everyone else."

"So at no
time prior to the present, did you ask for anything from Queen Tazleaha or the
Cjittan Empire."

"No, I
didn’t, but that has nothing to do with this."

"It has
everything to do with this, "Xamand said. "She owes you nothing so
you cannot trade on your debts to each other and the only thing you have of
value is the Claymore."

"I'm
leaving. I don’t care what goes on, peace, no peace you're not getting my
ship," Ben yelled.

Emily stood and
said, "Do not listen to him, he is distraught and angry."

"Damn
straight I am." Ben turned to walk away.

Xamand raised his
voice but not in anger. "Ben, if you try to leave, I will have to have you
arrested. You came to me, and I have to perform the duty you have tasked me
with." He motioned to the guards and Ben stopped, turned and walked back.

Emily said,
"We need this Ben. I know you are angry but we have to have this peace
treaty in place."

Ben stood
silently smoldering. Xamand looked at him his eyes seemed sad. Ben was right to
have Emily take over and he was about to learn a hard lesson.

Xamand asked,
"Ben, did you shoot the tanks, damaging them and kill the clones that had
occupied the tanks."

"Yes."

"Yes, you
did. I was present when you did it. I do not believe I can even absolve you of
the cost of Imelda's care. Imelda's children were her last and she expressed a
desire to be free of the horde. She was hoping you would take her someplace or
let her travel the stars with you and your crew. Tazleaha gave her the freedom
she desired."

"Well, no
one spoke with me about it, I wasn’t asked to be a part of that decision. You
can have your spider. I don’t want it, didn’t ask for it."

"If you do
not take her she will be destroyed. She cannot stay on Allond and she is not of
the Cjittan any longer." Xamand studied him, he was a trapped animal. He
paced in a circle rubbing his temples.

Prime Minister Aok watched Ben
pace and watched Tazleaha smile. She thought she might try something. She
approached him and put her hands on his shoulders. "I can make
arrangements for all of us to get home and you can spend some time on Trillond
and work things out with E'Aria. I believe she will listen to reason."
Alona noticed Tazleaha wasn’t smiling at that moment. Xamand noticed the same
thing.

Tazleaha was
thinking. Now she would have to back off taking his ship from him, maybe she
could work another angle. Ben wasn’t sure he could take anymore. He knew she
was trouble but he didn’t think something like this would ever happen. He still
had the freighter and possibly the shuttle. E'Aria was part owner and it wasn’t
part of his ship, it was Trillond design.

"Xamand,"
Tazleaha said. "I would be willing to let him keep the ship for a part
ownership in Reaper Inc."

"Define
part ownership," Ben said.

Tazleaha
answered, "Fifty percent."

Ben laughed,
"Keep the ship, pirate. I don’t have fifty percent to give you. My partner
Nick owns fifty one. I divided my share with Natalia and E'Aria is part owner
of the shuttle and I was going to give her more since the gunboat was
destroyed."

Alona asked,
"How much of it do you own Ben?"

"About
twenty percent is all I took for myself."

Xamand asked,
"Tazleaha, would you settle for twenty percent of Reaper Inc. and put your
seal it?"

Tazleaha stood,
thinking that it might be enough. Once he got over his anger, he would come to
her. He would work for nothing before he would lose his ship, yes he would come
to her and he would be hers.

"I will
take the twenty percent and the option of first refusal on any shares sold by
anyone at a later date."

Xamand asked,
"Ben, do you accept the offer."

"Yes,
evidently she needs it more than I do." Ben turned and walked away and
this time no one tried to stop him. He suited up in his armor and weapons and
gathered his friends. Lorelei shuttled them to the Claymore and within the hour
had clearance to depart for Harry's home planet.

Xamand said,
"Tazleaha, you are as shrewd as you are beautiful but you had no need to
do that. I have never known you to be so petty. It may backfire on you.

"I offer
him an Empire and he would rather see a insignificant bit of tribal treachery
avenged on a planet where they live in huts and trees. I could give him an
armada of ships and an army that would follow him to the death, but I know it
is not what he wants."

Emily asked,
"Why would you take his company share when it is nothing to you? Like you
said, you have an armada and an army and more wealth than our whole alliance
many times over but you take less than a hundred thousand credits. It seems
pretty ruthless."

"Yes I do look
the part of a pirate queen but it is not as sinister as it looks. One reason,
it is his and I want a part of him, another is I will be able to keep track of
him through the company and I will match his share and provide an allowance. I
will not leave him with no means at all."

"That is
like an uber control stalker move if there ever was one," Emily said
looking from the queen to the emperor.

"Emily,
you have much to learn. It is what we do." She motioned to Xamand and
herself. "We were born, taught, trained to control and manipulate an
empire. To manipulate a single individual is usually not worth the thought and
we both know he can be easy to manipulate, do we not Emily?"

Alona
interrupted, "Would it be possible to return to the business at hand? You
have done what you set out to do Tazleaha, and as Xamand said, it may not turn
out the way you hope."

"Emily,
Alona, be at ease. The decision for peace between the Alliance and the Cjittan
was decided before you ever arrived. What you need to do now is put a plan
together using the ideas Ben has put forth and get a majority of the governors
to sign their agreement. Then I will sign as well. My scientists are at your
disposal. I have had them working on a plan since before Ben was taken. I read
the ideas in his mind and put my scientist to work on them. I would suggest the
input of the Allond and Trillond as well to help them fill in the blanks."

Emily was angry
and also relieved. Knowing there was going to be peace, a great weight lifted;
the rest was just research and hard work which she was very good at. Dealing
with empire-sized egos was a huge pain and causing her to seriously rethink her
career.

Tazleaha said,
"I do not think I am needed here for the immediate future. Emily, I will
contact you in a few days to check your progress. Xamand, Alona, peace be with
you."

Xamand
answered, "And you, Tazleaha." Alona said nothing and just watched
her walk away.

Emily said,
"Do you think she is going after him?"

Alona answered.
"Do you have to ask?"

"True, and
she is right, she isn’t needed here. If the games are over, we should be able
to get something accomplished."

                                   
****

"Gormazan,
is our ship prepared to depart?"

"Yes my
queen, and we have a strong signal from the tracker on the Claymore."

"Do you
think they will find it?"

"They
shouldn’t. I believe he was too angry at you to even check for any tracking
devices."

"Have we
learned anything from the captain who smuggled the senator and his aide off of
Allond?"

"No my
queen, only what he told us initially, our people have him in a secure place.
The body of the senator's aid is also secure. As you have said, there is likely
something in his mind he doesn’t know, or recognize as information that would
be helpful."

"He is a
smuggler so there will be something worth retrieving I am sure. How many days
travel will we be from Ben."

"Only one
at full power. They are traveling at two thirds, conserving fuel. If we travel
at full power the entire time and we do not spend much with the prisoner then
we could arrive just minutes behind him."

"That
would be perfect Gormazan. The minute my shuttle is aboard we leave."

"Understood,
my queen."

                                   
****

"Harry,
how long have you been away from your home?" Ben asked as they sat on the
bridge. Lorelei configured the helm to accept commands for three of the
stations on the bridge. Binda had communications and environmental. They had no
engineer but they had Grubb on light duty. He wasn’t injured or sick, he just
had to sit and watch the console readings in engineering. If any lights came on
he was to notify the bridge. Buddy and Adam told him it was a stupid joke and
to quit repeating it or they would ask the captain to put him on shit duty and
see where that got him.

For the
circumstances, everyone was in a good mood except Ben and they were used to him
being unhappy regardless of the reason. He wouldn’t tell them what had
happened. He just wanted them to concentrate on the ship and their new duties.

"I think
it has been a year but I am not exactly sure. It may have only been a
month."

Ben knew that
was the truth. Waking Harry every two hours with the stun sticks or a stun gun.
The terrible conditions and terrible food and water. The stench of death
filling your nostrils till it was hard to breath. It was easy to lose track of
time. "What can we expect when we arrive? Is there a space port, will we
need to be ready for an attack immediately, what do you think the reaction will
be?"

"We have
an area we keep cleared for the traders to land their ships. We trade herbs,
berries, and fruits for material for clothing, household items, and medicine.
They do not come often and they cannot tell us when because we use no
technology, but we track the time and can usually guess within a couple weeks
of their arrival."

"How many
do you think we will face? do you have peace keepers, a watch? I have your back
but it would be nice to know what we are up against."

"You don’t
understand. We are a peaceful race. The chieftain always settles disputes alone
through negotiation and trade. Sometimes a father will not want to give as much
as promised to the family his daughter is marrying into. It is settled by the
agreed amount being eventually given or the family will reject the daughter. A
mark is placed against father and his family and they may have to move to a
different village to get others to trade with them."

"So you
should be able to confront the new chieftain one on one and settle things. Do
we want to try and locate your family, find out what happened to them or where
they are?"

"No. If I
do not survive the confrontation, I would rather they not have to see it. Word
will spread and they will know later what happened."

Lorelei
announced that they had arrived and would be landing in ten minutes. Harry
would never have been able to tell them where anything was located but the
Cjittan had scans of the planet and the location of all of the villages. They
had spent hours the day before going over the scans with Harry looking for
landmarks, something that would identify his village till they finally found
it."

Binda said,
"It looks like it is on the dark side of the planet now."

Lorelei said,
"There is another ship already in the clearing."

Ben and Harry
looked at each other then Ben said, "The dark will be good. Set us down
nearest the forest at the tree line and open the ramp. Shut down all the
internal and external lighting in the rear.

"Imelda,
we have arrived. We may need your help but I want you to stay hidden. Later you
may go off and hunt."

"I will
stay close, do not fear."

"Lorelei,
tell Buddy as soon as Imelda is off the ship to close the ramp. After Harry and
I leave, lock it up tight and turn on the security measures until I say
otherwise. If that ship does anything aggressive, use your best judgment."

"I
understand. Make sure your com is working. I just unlocked the side door."

Ben said,
"Let's go Harry." They exited the ship and followed a path towards
the village.

                                   
****

Gormazan tapped
the com in front of him. "My queen, they have landed and they are not
alone. There is another ship already on the ground."

"Is it one
of ours?" Tazleaha asked.

"No, I
have the computers searching for the maker. They are not broadcasting a
transponder code."

"Inform me
when you have further information."

"Yes, my
queen. May I ask why we follow him? So far he has shown himself to be
truthful."

"Because I
am curious and inquisitive. I can get first hand information this way, and I am
your queen."

"And
infatuated." Gormazan didn’t mean to say it out loud.

"You get
more bold with age dear Gormazan. Your uncle was given too much freedom and you
know what happened. I think I should rein you in. Maybe a year in the mines
would be long enough for you to get your perspective back, curb your
tongue."

"I am
sorry, my queen. At the risk of an unwanted  change in status, I would say
the human is a far better choice than even your own species. If he brought you
happiness then he would have my loyalty as well."

Tazleaha began
changing into her armor. The silver and gold was the only armor she had
brought; it was fully functional but not stealthy. She had not visited the
Laulaumunda since she was a child. Something was amiss. The ship did not look
like the freighters that usually came to trade. She thought pirates or slavers.

Gormazan knew
the warriors were hungry. The longer they went without eating, the louder they
were. If they were too long on a ship, it would arrive short in numbers but
usually with enough. They had a formula based on the time in space with no
stops. Tazleaha took a seat on the bridge. Gormazan turned on a large viewer.
He had found the maker of the ship and had its various models on the screen.

"It is interesting
to find the ship of an enemy here so deep in our empire. They are no friend of
the Allond either. It would be a stretch to think they entered our space from
that direction. It is small and fast and well armed. The Claymore could handle
it. What is its compliment?"

"It has a
maximum of thirty but could have as few as five. Ben and Harry went alone to
the village but he has Imelda in the forest watching according to the
transmissions I intercepted."

"Take us
down cloaked and hold us in a good position to watch."

                                   
****

"Harry, I
don’t have a good feeling about this. With my pistol, I can even up the odds
but it is very dangerous and I can't fire it if there are dwellings in my line
of site." Ben grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him against the side of the
first hut on the edge of their village. In the middle of their village, a
platform had been built and torches lit up the night all around it.

Ben could see
three of Harry's people who stood out unlike the rest. They stood at one end of
the platform and two of the three carried a large club. On the other end of the
platform were four aliens Ben had never seen before. Humanoid with features
like a canine and yet some looked like a pig with canine teeth. They were all
dressed differently but that didn’t matter. There were other aliens standing in
front of the platform bidding on one of Harry's people. Ben started to see red.

Harry was not
as fast on the uptake as Ben. It took him a number of seconds to process what
he was seeing. It was totally foreign to him. Following Ben, he reached out and
placed a hand on his shoulder stopping him. Ben turned to see what Harry wanted
and saw an elderly female standing in the shadows of her doorway looking at them.
She recognized Harry and was suspicious of Ben but did not sound an alarm.

Harry noticed
her next and stepped into the hut. Ben followed. He learned a few seconds later
she was the wife of the previous chieftain Harry was supposed to replace. She
was surprised when Ben spoke to her as he could speak their language and
understand it. In a matter of a minute they found out how long Harry had been
gone and what had happened to his family. He walked to the back of the hut and
wept.