The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: Call Sign Reaper (33 page)

This was the most the major had ever heard Lorelei say. “You know of the Allond, Lorelei?”

“Yes, I know a little of them and enough to know to turn a ship in the other direction if they are around. I would never cross into their empire, even by accident.”

“They may make contact with us soon. Is it your belief he shouldn’t be locked up when they call?”

“You can do what you want,” Lorelei said. “But if he is here I want to take Natalia and be far away. If the rumor I heard is true, the captain of the ship fought side-by-side with Reaper and they are leaving a gift for him in the name of their God King. Major, what do you think? You don’t have to believe anything I’m telling you. Just examine the facts you know.”

Lorelei walked away and into her cell. She sat down to read. The major watched the pair in the cell sleep. She was lost in her own thoughts and didn’t see the captain walk in.

The captain stopped at Lorelei’s cell and asked about Natalia. She nodded her head toward Reaper’s cell. The captain stopped and stood next to the major. She saw Natalia in his arms asleep.

“Well, she’s probably in the safest place on the ship,” O’Shaughnessy said. “I didn’t expect him to give in so easily. Sometimes I can’t figure him out.”

“Join the club,” Andrea said.” He is the smartest, deadliest soldier I know, and he makes everyone love him in some way or another. The pirate over there just gave me a piece of her mind. She would probably try to kill us all if he told her to. Just a few weeks ago he was cutting her fingers off for information. Yet she says he is just and a great leader. I bet that child would kill us in our sleep if he told her to. Then there are those misfit marines of his. They don’t know he is in here. Even my two sergeants are pissed, but will keep it under wraps if they can.”

“Andrea, the whole ship knows where he is at,” the captain told her. “How many people saw us take him out in chains? Your lieutenant sent a message to her home world to have them pressure the military to release their hero.”

“Lorelei says that if the Allond find out we have him locked up they may blow us to tiny space debris.”

“I believe it, Major. I saw two 8-foot-tall intelligent beings look at him in awe. They invited him to dinner, not the rest of us. Just imagine if he went by himself; they would probably be giving him the battle cruisers he asked for. He and that captain would have had a blast. Commander Holmes told me he saved his favorite lieutenant by sticking his arm in the attacking lizard’s mouth. I bet he did that on purpose to test it out. Who do you know that would do that? The Allond saw that too and saw he wasn’t hurt. That armor he designed is something special. I am thinking about having the chief make some for every member of my crew. Fuck the expense.”

“Listen to you, you rebel,” the major said. “You’ve been around him too long. I bet you love him, don’t you Aisling? Everybody else does.”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. I’ve already told you I won’t interfere. You are my friend and have been for a long time.”

“Maybe if we get through this mission we can salvage what we have,” Andrea said. “I don’t know.”

“He loves you, Andrea. It doesn’t matter to him how many other people love him, it’s your love he wants. You can’t deal with who he is. It’s clear to everyone that he isn’t going to take any shit from anyone. This should be no news to you. You saw his contract. He isn’t going to put up with asshole admirals, generals, captains or majors. He gets the job done without us. He probably made huge progress in relations with an empire a thousand times bigger than us and the admiral is jealous.”

“You are right about all of it, Aisling,” the major sighed, “but he is so disrespectful to our leaders. Now he is in the brig.”

“So what?” the captain replied. “He doesn’t care where he sleeps. It’s just as comfortable as his bunk. He is holding someone he loves and who loves him back without all the bullshit. The kind of love he deserves from you.”

“Lorelei, stop listening to us and come here,” she added. Lorelei walked up with a smirk on her face.

“I couldn’t help but hear, Captain.”

“Get them breakfast in the morning and bring Natalia to my quarters to shower and change. If she wants to come back here after she is done, that is fine. Come with me.” The captain walked into Lorelei’s cell. She spoke softly to her.

“I feel my friend in the cell will be leaving us soon,” she said. “Whatever day that is, make sure you are on his ship and take Natalia with you. I will make arrangements for people to be looking the other way.”

“What about the black-haired beauty, will she be coming along?”

“I doubt it. Do not concern yourself with anything or anyone else. Just you and Natalia. I don’t want to know about anyone else. It could put me in a position to have them locked up here. I am still an officer in the Colonial Military and have a oath to uphold.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Lorelei hugged her and held her hands in hers. The captain looked down at the hand with the missing fingers.

“No worries, Captain,” Lorelei said. “I’m a new person and this is my reminder of that.”

The captain walked out, glancing at the major on her way. She was still standing watching him and the girl sleep.

They were all there waiting for the brass to show up on the screen. There was not a lot of talking. Lieutenant Aok just sat still with her hands in her lap. The major had not talked to her since the mess when Reaper was taken. Emily sat just as quietly as the lieutenant.

The vid came alive and the two officers were sitting at a table, just like in the past. The difference was that there was a third person — a man in an expensive-looking business suit. He smiled at everyone. The admiral didn’t look happy at all. The general looked like he wanted to smile but was holding back.

“Ladies,” the general started off. “This is Marcus Antonio. He has been hired by the Trillond Government to represent Reaper in a lawsuit against the Colonial Military for unlawful imprisonment. He is petitioning for his release and an undisclosed amount of credits. It seems the Trillond government heard of his situation and have taken it upon themselves to aid someone they consider a hero of the people. They have bestowed this honor on him and Lieutenant Aok, but due to our situation cannot hold a proper ceremony.”

“General, may I give you some additional information that we received from a source late last evening?” Captain O’Shaughnessy stood as she addressed him.

“Go ahead, Captain,” he replied.

“It seems that Reaper has made a much larger friend than just the Trillond. You heard the conversation between Reaper and the prime minister and his captain yesterday. You know they are leaving him a gift in the name of their God King. As I understand it, this is another great honor. My source told me that if by chance they were to com and find out he has been incarcerated that they would take this as a huge sign of disrespect for Reaper and their empire. Enough of one that they would blast us to space dust without a second thought. Maybe Mr. Antonio could query the Trillond government on the validity of this information. They may have information about Reaper’s new friends.”

Marcus Antonio had been typing on his com very quickly. He stopped and returned his attention to the group.

“Lieutenant Aok,” the general said, “until we get this situation straightened out I would like you to fill in as the major’s second. You have proven yourself a very capable officer.”

“Thank you, General,” E’Aria replied. “I hope we have this straightened out before the end of the day so it won’t be necessary to change anything.”

“That may be optimistic, Lieutenant.”

“I hope not,” she replied. “If you listened to the Allond, Captain, give Reaper the warning of what might be coming. I will tell you this is no matter to debate. My people have lived in this Galaxy for many millennia. The Cjittan will destroy everything in their path. If you remember your Earth, you might remember there is a insect that live in colonies. You call them ants. There are a few ferocious kinds of ants that would rise out of the ground and clean giant mammals to the bone in a matter of minutes. Do you remember those army ants, General? The Cjittan are the same, only the insects are all sizes and hungers. We have to destroy them on their ships in space. If they board a ship or land on a planet, they will devastate it. If you do not believe me or the Allond, Captain, my government can tell you, and they need to be notified of the pending threat anyway.”

Mr. Antonio had been typing fast and furious as the lieutenant spoke. The Trillond government now knew of threat.

“Captain, we will be there tomorrow,” Grey said. “If we are agreed, let’s gather intelligence from as many sources as we can find and sit down tomorrow on the Warhammer and come up with a plan.”

“Are we going to head for Hyson, General?” the captain asked. “It’s not far from Allond space and may give us a good vantage point to warn the colonies and the Trillond.”

“That sounds like a good idea. We will discuss the Cjittan on the way. Mr. Antonio will be with us tomorrow. He needs to spend some time with his client.”

“Major,” the general added, “do you have anything you wish to discuss?”

“No sir, not with her or her in the room.” Andrea motioned to the admiral and Emily. “They are not a part of my chain of command and are not in turn going to be a part of any discussion I wish to have.”

“Captain, you have anything?”

“I’m with her,” the captain replied. “There is a witch hunt in progress and we will not be a part of it. It’s just counter-productive bullshit.”

“Captain, Major,” the admiral said, “may I remind you I am an admiral and can order you to answer any questions I may have.”

“Yeah, whatever, just try it.” The captain cut off the vid.

The major looked at her and smiled. “He is really rubbing off on you.”

“She is an egotistical bitch and not really that good at what she is supposed to be doing,” the captain snapped. Emily sat and stared at the table top.

“You can tell her I said that, Emily, if you feel you need to. You can also tell her if she starts any shit on my ship I will lock her ass up with Reaper in the same cell.” Emily said nothing.

The day went by with few disruptions. They got the message from the Allond ship with the frequency to the beacon; it also contained a message that a few Cjittan scout ships had been tracked on the outer edges of the Allond space. They were headed towards Hyson.

Different crew members had been down to visit Reaper. They brought him food, drink and things to read. Natalia made pictures for him to hang in his cell.

The Trillond government sent the general information on both the Allond and the Cjittan.

Reaper just sat in his cell. The whole team came to visit as a group. The lieutenant was leading them. They were behaving, surprisingly enough. He called Lorelei over. They all remembered her.

They sat down and made their own plan for what would happen if they went into battle. The lieutenant gave Lorelei the codes for the shuttle. Snake, Hillbilly and Genius were to get Lorelei, Natalia and this lawyer that she found on the shuttle and make sure it detached from the Warhammer. Lorelei said she could pilot it without any problem. She had orders to head for Anubis. Reaper wrote down a list of contact names for her. He would be along behind her in the gunship, depending on how things went.

The lieutenant showed him her letter of resignation that she would give the captain on her way out the door. There wasn’t much they could do to her, as long as she did things by the book. Plus, she wasn’t a Colonial. Her government wasn’t going to do anything to a hero who didn’t want to serve with a military who put heroes in jail. The captain was a high enough rank to sign it and make it official, and as long as that happened she was free and clear. She was going to pilot the gunship with Reaper. Everyone else was stuck unless they wanted to be a deserter. Ben wasn’t going to ask anyone to do anything like that. He gave everyone the contact list on Anubis if they needed a job later.

The major came down to see him and found most of her team there. Matt and Gunny were absent, but the lieutenant and misfits were all there. The lieutenant got up and walked over to the major.

“I brought them down to see him and to make sure that there are no problems for the sergeant and his crew here at the brig. You remember last time.” The major relaxed some and nodded. “I will take them to eat.”

Andrea stood outside Ben’s cell looking in at him. He was writing out something on paper. He knew she was there but he didn’t say anything. A couple more minutes went by.

“Are you waiting for an invitation, or for me to get naked?” he finally said, looking up.

“Both.” She smiled for the first time in a couple days.

“Would you come in, Major.” He started unbuttoning his shirt.

“If you think we are going to do anything here in this cell you’re crazy,” she said.

“I’ve been wearing these clothes for two days and I am going to remove them before they get too ripe,” he said, eyebrows raised. “You can sit wherever you like.”

“The general and the admiral, along with your lawyer, will be here tomorrow. We are heading for Hyson to get the intel and do some recon,” she said. “Your lawyer wants to come and talk to you. I guess you are suing them for wrongful imprisonment and asking for a monetary settlement on top of it.”

“Interesting, someone is looking out for me. That is nice.”

“It’s probably your Lieutenant Aok.”

“Well good,” he said. “I suppose you like seeing me here, so you wouldn’t do anything like that for me.”

He might as well have just slapped her. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“No matter,” he continued, “whether I am right or wrong you will always take the side of the military. You think I deserve to be in here, so you wouldn’t help me. The admiral has overstepped her authority, but it’s okay with you because she’s an officer. You could have argued for my release.”

“This is all very hard for me, Benjamin,” the major said quietly.

“I know it is. You are one hell of an officer, Andrea, and I’m grateful for you,” he said. “I am here because of you and you only. I just wanted to be with you. I don’t care about the rest of it. Although, I will admit to taking advantage of situations where I can benefit in the future.”

“You have. I can’t believe the things you have gotten away with.” Some of the stress drained from her face as they changed the subject.

“All of them legal though!” He wanted to lighten the mood a little. “You know we have had these talks before. I have caused you a lot of distress and stress in the past month that you are not used to having.”

“Ever since you made the contract, I’ve felt I have had my hands tied,” she told him. “The general thinks you walk on water and you have done some things that seem to back up his faith in you. He would never admit it, but I don’t think he cares when you tell off a senior officer.”

He laughed. “He does have a particular attachment to me, and I swear I don’t know why. He has a lot of faith that I will do the right thing.” He paused. “I have a couple things on my mind we need to talk about.”

She tensed up a little, wondering if it was what she had been thinking about. “Go ahead,” she said.

“I think there is a spy in the general’s office. The admiral should have no reason to be so directly involved in our activities. I insulted her to shut down whatever she had planned for our meeting. It made her mad enough to go over the top on getting back at me. Try to get the general alone for a meeting and tell him my thoughts about a mole in his organization. You don’t have to stick your neck out for me, just pass it on.” He looked at her, took a deep breath and continued.

“Secondly, when this mission is over I am going to leave. I’m going to go back to Anubis and work on my company. I think I had this fantasy that we would be this great couple with a team of good guys cleaning up our galaxy. We have done some good things as far as missions go, but we are far from a great couple.”

She tried to be strong but she couldn’t. She didn’t say anything, just let the tears roll.

“Don’t you think that would be better for you, Andrea?” he said softly. “I will talk to the team, smooth things over, and you can get back to the way things were before I came along. I would like to be gone after we arrive at Hyson. You guys get your intel and I will get my present and we can all go our separate ways.”

“You would leave before we know what we are up against? We will need you here,” she said.

“I have things I need to do back on Anubis.”

“Yes, your company. I forgot you are a entrepreneur now.”

There was the ice that she was known for. He was watching her, half-expecting the tears on her face to freeze.

“There is the major that everyone knows,” he said. “The ice princess.”

She launched herself at him, fists pounding. He covered his head and hoped she would burn herself out in a minute or two. She did and just sat on the edge of his bed. He sat up behind her and pulled her into his chest. He put his face next to hers and kissed her cheek

“What kind of planet is Anubis, Andrea?”

“It’s an Ag planet.”

“Right, and if you had a army of insect soldiers you had to feed, would you play around dead planets and an asteroid belt on the edge of a galaxy or head for the inner systems? Hyson will be a refueling stop for the scouts. Even with the Trillond gone, there is still a lot on that planet that they could feed on.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

“The Trillond will probably not send a ship there to defend a planet they now have no people on. If the Cjittan are organized and tactical they will set up command stations on Hyson to work from.”

“That makes sense, if they smarter than the Allith,” she said. “They may be just like them in larger numbers.”

“My gut tells me they are more intelligent than that.”

“Your lieutenant compared them to the army ants of Africa, only on a larger scale.”

“That would mean they are large in numbers and organized. Those ants have a chain of command that usually goes all the way to a queen. There are workers and warriors and they pass information all the way to her.”

“I think your lieutenant is more than she seems,” Andrea said, turning to look at him. “She had someone flying at max speed to catch the general’s ship and did so in about 12 hours. That is not the kind of clout a first-year lieutenant usually has at their disposal.”