Reaper Inc. (19 page)

"If the
master wishes it then it will happen. Until then, it is yours, get
inside." Silk pushed him in and closed the cage door.

"Tell me
about the blue-eyed one who sat on the other side of your master."

"You will
find out in time. Ssshe is like me. We were both sssomeone, sssomething else
before, now we unique."

"Where am
I, what is this place? I get the arena but it feels like it’s in a
starship."

She hesitated
for a few seconds. "I do not know its origins but it now belongs to my
master. The master offers certain services to those who can pay. It also offers
entertainment for others who can pay."

"So, it is
a starship," Ben said. "I believe your master is in the business of
death."

"And
creation."

"When will
I fight in the arena again?"

"Sssoon,
you will be challenged and each victory will bring a more difficult challenge
until you are defeated. It isss a test."

Ben could hear
the machinery that moves the cages whining. He watched Tawniz's cage making its
way back to its resting place.

"How many
prisoners are on this tub? I would bet a lot of them are not here because
someone paid your master."

"There are
four ssseparate sssectionsss, each hasss a door into the arena. Three are
mostly humanoid and the fourth is the beastssss. The master plans each contest
so the betting does not start until after the doors open and they enter the
arena. No one knows in advance what doors will open or what will come
out."

"It seems
it is like a small city inside a very large starship."

"No more
questions. You know what you need to know and if you do not agree to help me,
you will die."

She was like a
cobra, seemingly calm, watching waiting then agitated, striking out. Ben looked
at her through the bars. "I have already told you I know I am going to
die. You do not intimidate me. And if you hurt or kill the colonel, that will
be on you."

The cage settled down in place.
There were fewer occupants; the colonel was among the survivors. She was
bleeding from a few wounds but nothing too serious. She saw Ben alone in the
otherwise empty cage and gave a quizzical look. He shrugged not wanting to tell
her anything. He thought maybe to barter her freedom for the training. He would
bring it up tomorrow. He watched Silk walk away. He had questions and felt he
knew the answers but wanted to hear it.

The champions
waited till Silk was out of sight and then started yelling at him. He knew none
of the species and there were no translation nanites to help but he didn’t need
them to tell him what they were upset about. He sat and drank, his body desperately
needing the water, then removed his shirt and washed the sweat and grim off his
face and neck. He had half a bucket left and would ration it. The champions
having run out of things to yell began to throw shit literally from their
latrine buckets towards his cage. Most of it fell short but Ben took his clean
water bucket and leaned his pallet over it just in case to keep flying objects
out. Tiring of that, they just took the whole bucket and tried to throw the
contents his way, most of it falling short.

Not a well
thought-out plan of intimidation; the guards didn’t like mess accumulating
where they had to walk and after checking with the powers that be, they stunned
everyone in the cage. The slaves they used for cleaning brought water that
smelled almost as bad as what was already on the floor and began cleaning and
rinsing it all into the grate in the floor. Every fifteen minutes give or take,
a guard would walk by and anyone who was moving got stunned again.

They would
blame him and hate him even more once they recovered from having their dumb
asses stunned. That was the way something like that usually worked. Soon he
would have to start killing. They all would be like Allith to him; a kill on
sight standing order.

                                   
****

The Warhammer
had been cruising through Trillond space for two weeks looking at different
prospects for a home base. They had two more star systems they wanted to
investigate; the farthest possibly being the best for a permanent home. Captain
O'Shaughnessy thought they could make some credits hauling freight from one
system to another. She could man the Warhammer with a rotation that would give
maybe a third of the crew some down time and hopefully keep them content and
happy. A couple of days ago, she received a message from E'Aria.

Aisling,

Arrived
Allond without further incident if you don’t count Ben almost killing the
governor of a small Allond system where we stopped. The governor deserved
whatever he got but it just seems to follow Ben. Oddly, he didn’t want to help
with the situation and we coerced him into it so again, not all his fault.

Aunt Alona
says to tell you that MI is putting pressure on the Alliance central government
to take action against Trillond. They have petitioned the king to reverse his
order to not allow any Alliance warships across our border but he is supporting
her as he should. They have tried to disguise multiple ships as freighters but
were caught and turned away.

When this is
over, we will contact you about a rendezvous. Life is never dull with him
around.

Safe Travels

E'Aria

Aisling smiled
but it was a sad smile. Maybe he would heal in time and. . . Now was not the
right time for her to get hopeful about anything.

                                   
****

She came to his
cell in what would be considered the middle of the night. Ben lay on his pallet
sleeping. Tawniz was awake and watching.

Tawniz asked,
"Why do you come and stare at him. Are you trying to torment him?"

"Be
silent, slave. I do not wish to wake him." She walked to the cage. Tawniz
stood at the bars facing Ben's cage and she stood facing Tawniz. "Be
silent or you will be the first out and will stay out till you die."

"Are you
sure that is wise?" She turned to find Ben standing at the bars of his
cage staring at her. She took a step in his direction and stopped.

"She needs
to do as she is told."

"Or what?
You will kill her? She is Allond and a noble warrior. You do not scare her with
your threats." She took another step in his direction. "You shouldn’t
come too close to me. I don’t think it would be wise."

"I am not
afraid of you, human."

"Call me
Ben, it’s more intimate if you’re going to be killing me." She took
another step and was within reach.

Ben’s arm shot
out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her hard into the bars. She pushed back with
her other arm but had no leverage. Ben reached for her face and she tried to
pull away but couldn’t. He ran his fingers down the side of her face. The feel
of her skin was cool and the texture was off; it didn’t feel bad just not the
same. She stared at him as he ran his hand slowly back up, then he let her go.
He walked to his pallet and lay down. She stood and stared at him for a couple
of minutes before walking off.

"It is not
her, Benjamin." Tawniz said softly.

"I know. I
knew it all along but there was a small hope in me that maybe she was in there
somewhere."

"They call
him the master. He travels to battle sites and collects genetic material and
makes creatures like her for himself and others who pay. Some are warriors and
some are for pleasure but they all are abominations, mixed species grown in a
tank. Silk, as you call her, is bred to be an assassin. The serpent people that
she shares genes with are some of the best assassins in the empire."

"Great, I
guess we will see how good she is."

"We missed
the ball and I didn’t get to wear my new clothes." She said no sadness in
her voice.

"You don’t
strike me as the type to worry about missing it. I had to push you into just
looking at new clothing."

"That
clothing store is one of the best and most expensive in the area. It would have
been nice to see everyone wearing what you bought. I am sure it was at least
ten to twelve thousand credits you spent."

"What! You
have to be kidding. No wonder she was so nice to me."

"I am sure
the queen was disappointed you were not there. I believe that she likes
you." Tawniz was teasing now. "You know how the royal types are. She
probably found someone new already."

"Would
they have any way of finding us colonel?"

"If the peace
summit were not in progress, I would say our chances would have been slim to
none but I believe we have a few things working in our favor."

"Let me
tell you about this ship. It is very old, at least a millennia if not more. It
was stolen and has managed to stay far away from the empire it belonged too. My
government has known of its existence for many years but it never stays still
long enough to catch it. Taking you and I may have been their undoing. If the
governments can agree, the rightful owners could possibly help in locating it.
If I were taken captive with anyone else, I believe the odds would be low but I
was taken captive with you Benjamin Jamison and a certain queen we know will
not sit by idly if she can retrieve a lost ship and the object of her
affections."

"This is a
Cjittan ship." Ben said putting it together.

"Yes,
there was a time unknown millennia ago when they traveled to the system they
now call home. There were not so many of the insect warriors and drones then.
The Cjittan people were more numerous. As time went on, the Cjittan began to
produce less offspring and many died and their numbers were not replaced. The
Cjittan rulers began to create more and more of the warrior insects to protect
their empire out of fear they would be conquered. Unfortunately, feeding an
army like that required more than their world could provide and sustain."

Ben cut her off
mid story. "So tell me how you think they will go about finding us."

"If the
other governments would allow it, the Cjittan and Allond will search star
systems they have not searched before because of threat of war. The Cjittan
would never be allowed to on their own. My brother and I believe the Princess
Aok will put together a plan and that the Cjittan will be able to track and
find the ship because they can get closer to it."

"You are
giving a bunch of diplomats and politicians a lot of credit. I believe those
you mentioned to be all good people but will they cooperate with each other? I
also noted you never mention my own government as participating in our rescue.
Do you think they will?"

"To be
honest, I do not know your Senator Sims but I have heard my brothers speak of
him and they are not impressed. They are reserving judgment on his character,
as representative of the Alliance which is in its infancy as a government. He
may not be the best one to judge the Alliance by."

"Yeah, you
are right. I just wanted to hear your take on my government’s part. I think you
nailed it"

"Ben, I
don’t think they trust him but they didn’t say that."

"You know
Tawniz, I was wondering how the master found me, how he knew I we were even in
that store. When we get free, I am going to find out, someone close to me is
spying and responsible for this."

"That is
very plausible as I think back on everything. You mentioned the master. If you
ever see it, you will recognize it as the purple and black bodyguard of the
queen. I believe it is the former bodyguard to the previous queen. She was
found murdered and the bodyguard and ship were both missing. It is unknown
where that race of beings originated. We believe the Cjittan brought
them."

"Good night. I think I am
going to try and sleep a little more."

Aisling,

A number of
things have happened since my last message to you. Most importantly, Ben and a
colonel from the Allond military have gone missing. We believe foul play and
that they were taken from the planet. It is possible the ship that they are
held captive on is in the outer rim of the Trillond system or in Allith space.
If any of your bridge crew notice an odd disturbance on the scans, it is
possible it is the ship. It has a cloaking technology that I believe will show
up as a shadowy disturbance.

We are
forming a multi-government search group and will be in Trillond space in a
matter of days. If you do pick it up, please notate the coordinates and the
heading and message me as soon as possible. Do not engage the target or do
anything to give away or acknowledge that you have detected it.

The Alliance
is not involved in this operation and your messages will not be shared with any
Alliance personnel. What did I say? It’s never boring where he is concerned.
Hope to see you soon.

E'Aria

Aisling read it
twice. She remembered when they had picked up readings on the scans just exactly
the way E'Aria had described them and more than once. She was beginning to
think that maybe the ship they were looking for was following the Warhammer,
reporting her position. She needed to call a meeting with the senior staff and
possibly be on an alert status. So much for R & R for the crew.

Aisling knew
they had picked that ship up numerous times. "Lieutenant St. James, how
many times have you recorded the odd shadow on your scans?"

"I'm sorry
captain, they are all documented but I have not kept a running total in front
of me. I thought we were going under the assumption it was a malfunctioning
scanner and have been waiting on engineering to verify that."

Ensign Ellison
spoke up. "Fourteen, captain! By my unofficial count." She looked at
the lieutenant and mouthed, "Sorry."

"You don’t
have to be sorry, ensign," Aisling said. "If there is some blame then
it is on me."

"Damn
you’re good, captain."

"Thank
you, ensign. Everyone listen up. The shadow is a ship and I believe it has been
keeping tabs on us. The good news is there are some other ships coming to take
care of it but we need to help them by providing whatever information we can.
Heading, coordinates, any odd movements and we have to do this without them
knowing we know they are there."

"Lieutenant
St. James, you will begin monitoring right now. Just keep it passive and if you
need a break, get the Ensign Ellison here to spell you. Keep the ship on course
even if they drop off, if they are following us, they will turn up."

"Ensign,
message my senior staff and General Gray, have them meet me in the conference
room in ten minutes. Lieutenant Bagwell you have the con." Aisling tapped
a quick code.

"Aye
captain, I have the con." Lieutenant Bagwell took the captain’s seat after
she got up and entered his code. Aisling headed to her quarters. She didn’t
know why she felt upset and couldn’t let anyone see her. What had Ben done to
deserve so much heartache? Why had so many people made it their mission to try
and ruin him? Losing his family should have been enough for the fates. But it
wasn't; they had to have his career, the woman he loved and now maybe his life
and it made no sense to her. She would miss Andrea, the Andrea she knew before
Ben showed up and sent her reeling. She washed her face with cold water and
left for the meeting.

Aisling
surveyed the room. Everyone was in attendance. "This is a special meeting
and I am not looking for any reports. I received a message from Captain Aok,
E'Aria who informs me that the shadows on our scans are indeed a ship."
Everyone processed that information in a different manner except Dr. Mathews.
"I am in receipt of no other information concerning the ship so its
capabilities are unknown."

"Captain,
that is one huge ship if your report is true."

"Yes it
is, Chief Miller. I want you to put someone on your scanner console watching it
and the bridge is going to be doing the exact same thing."

"What do
you want us looking for, captain? My people are not trained for the same things
as your bridge crew."

"Chief,
just watch the scanner. Keep a log of its coordinates and heading and watch for
anything unusual. I want to compare both logs at third shift before I retire.
Do not do anything at all to give that ship the idea that we know it’s
there."

"Lieutenant
Jared, unless we are attacked you and your marines carry on with your duties.
Dr. Mathews, the same applies to you. XO, we are going to stay right on course
and follow our plan. Sergeant Major, I want you to make sure that no one on
this ship is unready to act at a moment’s notice. I am asking you to initiate a
red alert throughout the ship via word of mouth. I have no idea of the
capabilities of a ship that can cloak itself but I am guessing they are
substantial. If they take an aggressive stance, then we will ring for a red
alert. Any questions so far?"

"No? Then
I will move on. The next part of the message is that Benjamin Jamison in on
that cloaked ship along with an officer of the Allond military. They were taken
hostage on Allond and it is believed brought to that ship. There is a joint
task force from Allond, Trillond, and the Cjittan coming to disable it and take
control. Also, I believe that it has been following us and reporting our
location to someone. It has shown up at least fourteen times which is fourteen
too many to be a coincidence."

"It is our
job to provide coordinates to the task force so we need to make this work. The
task force should be in our area in two days."

"Two days
of cat and mouse, captain. It should be fun," General Gray added.

"Do you
have any suggestions general, on how to play?"

"Let’s
wait till we have the information on the task force then we can put a plan
together to make sure our friend lurking out there stays with us."

                                   
****

"Captain Aok,
we have a message from the expedition leader."

"Is that
what they called themselves?"

"Yeah, I
think they believe is sounds grand or royal or something."

"What did
the expedition leader say, Binda?"

"All have
reported in but us. Are we ready to depart?"

"Tell them
we are and to forward the departure plan."

Binda was on
the com console replacing Natalia who was back at the palace. Emily, Alona and
Senator Sims all stayed behind. There was nothing they could do and was no need
to place them in any danger.

Onak, Menah,
and Lorelei were going to rotate the helm and tactical while Binda and E'Aria
would share the com duties. Elanac and Shan were handling engineering and Grubb
and Buddy had maintenance and anything else the captain told them to do. Adam
was in his galley, prepping and getting some things made in advance. E'Aria had
received a message back from Aisling which prompted their expedient departure.

E'Aria,

We have had
many ghost sightings of a large shape just at the edge of our scanners
capabilities. We had believed one of our scanners had sustained some damage
during our departure from Anubis. Now it seems your information is a better
explanation and leads me to think it has been following us. I am including a
group of coordinates for our destination, current projected heading, last known
coordinates of our friend and last known projected heading, which is slightly a
few degrees different from ours.

I am hoping
you are successful and we can all meet before you have to leave again.

Aisling O'Shaughnessy,
Captain CNS Warhammer

****

Lorelei's voice
brought E'Aria out of her thoughts. "Captain, we have taken up our
position in the formation and the course and speed are set."

"Thank
you, Lorelei. As Ben would say, sit back and enjoy the ride."

                                   
****

"Ben, wake
up they are coming!" Tawniz tried to say loud enough to wake him but not
yell.

"Sure. I
think I’ll hit the snooze for another ten minutes, ok?"

"I
wouldn’t advise it or you will find a boot waking you instead of me."

"Why are
they here so early? Who the hell is up wanting to bet on fights at this
time?"

"Just wait
and see what they want. It may not be you they are here for but it’s better to
be awake when they arrive."

Tawniz was
correct; they were not there for Ben. They took her and two others from her
cage, then two of the champions and five more from the other cages; a total of
ten. Silk was in charge of the collection. When she motioned Tawniz to follow,
she looked at Ben the whole time as if to say I told you so.

"She
better be brought back in one piece," he growled.

"I warned
you. My master is not afraid of the Allond Empire or its retribution."

"Tell your
Master Queen Tazleaha sends her regards and looks forward to seeing him again.
She is a friend of mine and the colonels."

"Who is
this queen and why would my master care?"

"He may
not care but you should tell him anyway, she is my betrothed." That was a
big fat one but maybe would start the master to thinking. Good or bad, he was
in a little deeper now.

"I will
tell him but I do not believe you."

"I don’t
care what you believe. I was also thinking that if you let the colonel go
unharmed and with proof she is safely returned, I will train you."

"It may be
too late. The master has plans for her today."

"Benjamin,
you do not need to barter for me. Please do not agree to train her."

"Tawniz,
we will talk later when you return," Ben said.

Silk led the
train of slaves, warriors, and guards in the direction of the arena. Ben
watched them till they were out of sight. The huge being he first met watched
them also then looked at Ben but said nothing.

"What's
wrong with you? You got a crush on her or something?" Ben said. "She
is a lot of female, isn’t she, big guy?"

Ben didn’t
think he would understand a word of it. He didn’t get an answer but he did get
a nod which made him think.

                                   
****

Silk and Tawniz
were in a staring match. They had been arguing for a couple minutes and Silk
was about ready to stun her.

"Get out of
your clothes now or I will have my guards come in and remove them from your
unconscious body and if they have any needs they need to satisfy, I will let
them use you till they are sated." She smiled at Tawniz, enjoying the
thought.

"Get me
something to cover up with, a blanket maybe, would that be too much to ask? To
let me maintain a little dignity."

"I will
think about it. You’re wearing my patience thin."

Tawniz removed
her clothing slowly, never taking her eyes off Silk. She threw her top at her
then slowly removed her pants. A guard walked in with a blanket. Tawniz didn’t
see Silk call to have one brought so somewhere they were monitoring the
conversation. Silk threw it at her just as she had done with her clothes. This
will be your cell for a while. If you cooperate, you may find yourself alive
and free later."

"What
about Ben, will he find the same thing?"

"Colonel,
you are smarter than that. Ben will never leave here alive. He will live as
long as the master wills it. You don’t come to this ship just to be released
later. There is no prize other than to win the day to live to the next."

Silk walked out with Tawniz's
clothing. Locking the cell, she headed straight for the beast keepers.