Reaper Inc. (20 page)

"Gormazan!
Are we still at full power?" The black and purple being who Ben classified
as a demonoid turned to his queen. His voice and the way he spoke was not what
you would think but then again, he wasn’t really from hell. It was a tenor with
a sing song type of speech pattern. His planet was beautiful and his coloring
was a camouflage against the predators of his world.

"No, my
queen. We are at three quarters keeping equidistance with the Allond starships.
Would you like me to message the emperor and ask him to increase his
speed?"

"No, that
will not be necessary. He has his reasons and I am just impatient. I want what
was stolen from me."

"Yes, the
ark has been gone for way too long. We should have come and taken it or
destroyed it long ago."

The queen
looked at Gormazan but didn’t say anything. She stood and paced the bridge of
her ship. It was a beautiful starship with sweeping lines that flowed into what
looked like swept back wings but were not. There were living quarters and
storage. Weapons were mounted above and below all major areas of the hull.
There was no direction to approach it that it couldn't follow the progress of
the attacker and fire from multiple guns.

"My queen,
it is the ark you are referring to, correct?"

"Of
course, Gormazan. What else is there?"

"Nothing,
my queen. Forgive my ignorance." He smiled; he had been guarding his queen
since she was a infant. She rarely lied to him but he knew she was at this
moment. She had been hearing about the human for months and had images from her
warriors passed to her from their memories. The hive mind was always on but she
was only connected when she chose. The breeders collected all the information
and stored it. The queen and her advisors would sift through it, gathering what
information they needed.

Gormazan said,
"Do you think the human and the Allond colonel still live? My uncle has
never been one to be long suffering and that human will push him for every
ounce of patience he possesses."

"I am sure
he will, especially if he feels he has nothing to lose. I do not think that
given a chance, he will be easily sent on to the next life, dear
Gormazan."

"He is an
idiot, my queen, talking to our mounts instead of immediately paying you and
the emperor the proper respects."

"He is no
idiot only uneducated in our ways. He has had some experience with our warriors
and his assumption, although wrong, was not meant as an insult. He is not
royalty or a member of government diplomacy. He is just a human male, a
man."

"Just a
man who has the affections of my queen, I believe."

"Gormazan,
have I threatened to space you, throw you out the airlock lately? Remind me to
very soon." They both laughed.

"We will
be in Trillond space in twelve hours and the hunt will begin, my queen."

"Good. I will
go check on our warriors and have them prepare their ships. Everything that is
mine will be returned to me soon or will be nothing more than pieces of space
debris."

                                   
****

"Captain
Aok, when this is over will we be returning immediately to Allond?"

"No Binda,
we will spend a short time with the crew of the Warhammer. They are old
friends."

"If it’s
possible, do you think we could do some trading with any of the Trillond
warships? Just trading small items with the crew. I am hoping to find some
sweets from home."

"I am more
than fine with that Binda as long as you get me some. I will give you some
trade items to sweeten the deals."

Lorelei looked
at E'Aria. "It will be good to see everyone. I miss them, and you know what,
they can’t arrest me. They are fugitives now! Has Aisling said anything about
Andrea or Ben?"

"Not
really Lorelei and we need to leave it alone unless she brings it up."

Binda
interrupted. "Captain, we have a message. The three Trillond warships that
have been patrolling the border have departed to meet us en route.

"Very
good, Binda. It will be eight against one very large starship."

"Captain,
when the peace summit resumes and then comes to an end, where is the Claymore
going to go next? Do we have to go back to the Trillond Navy?" Menah
asked.

"Menah,
you and the rest are only on loan so yes, you have to return. I believe we will
make a number of stops before returning to Anubis. One will be to return you to
your ships. I am very unsure about the future of our fledgling company at this
point and would hesitate to ask anyone to make any life changes. Let us wait
and see what the immediate future holds. When your enlistment ends, if you feel
like you want to work for us, then we will arrange it."

E'Aria said,
"Binda, send a message to Queen Tazleaha and ask her if she would share
any tactical data on the ship. It may start out eight against one but the
unknown could quickly even up the odds. It is a massive ship and could have as
many weapons as all of our ships combined."

"Message
sent, Captain," Benda replied.

                                   
****

11 hours 20
minutes. . .

Silk took
Tawniz's clothing and poured fresh blood on it. After a few moments, she had it
put in a cage with the small beasts used for disposal in the arena. Fifteen
minutes later, she had the beast keeper let them go in the arena and she
retrieved the dirty, shredded remains and put them in a bag. She smiled to
herself, anticipating the torment and anger it would cause him. They were going
to play on that mostly because he would perform better in the arena with his
anger unchecked. The spectators will spend plenty in the betting pools but also
the master loved to torment and play with the minds of the chosen ones soon to
die.

Ben lay on his
back, eyes closed, listening, trying to hear a cheering crowd but heard nothing
but the sounds of the ship and its prisoners. It had been an hour since they
took away Tawniz and the others. Maybe they were on a work detail. That could
be a possibility on a ship this large.

Footsteps
echoed on the metal deck. Ben followed the sound all the way to his cage door.
He heard the click of the lock and the squeak of the hinges as it opened.

"Get
up!" The guard yelled. "It is time for you to appear before the master
again."

Ben said,
"Can’t wait!" as he slowly sat up and pulled on his boots. He walked
extra slow so they pushed him all the way to the arena.

"You drag
your feet like a coward!" the guard behind him said. Ben took two more
steps as if ignoring the comment. The smile still on the guards face was erased
as Ben twisted his body, and his elbow connected with the guard’s head. The
guard staggered, blood running from his mouth. The remaining guards grabbed at
his arms. One ended up the recipient of a well placed head butt, while the
other took a boot to the gut and an elbow to the back of the head as he doubled
over.

The first guard
jumped back swinging a baton and Ben used his chain between his wrists to
catch, wrap up and twist it from his grip. Ben punted the guard like a football
right between the legs. He had no idea if there was anything there he could
damage, but it was still a good location for taking someone out quick. Seemed
it was a tender spot. The head butt victim charged with arms outstretched
looking to choke Ben with his bare hands. Ben wrapped the chains around one of
his outstretched arms and tugged him in to knee him in the groin.

He lowered the
moaning guard to the floor and walked on towards the arena. He could have ran,
tried to hide or escape but he wasn’t leaving without knowing the colonel’s
fate. The two guards at the door looked at the unescorted prisoner with
confusion.

"Where are
your guards?" the one on the right asked.

"They were
tired and decided to stop and rest. I told them I could find my way." They
put him in a waiting cell and removed his shackles. Ben walked to the cage door
on the opposite side to see what was going on in the arena. There was no match
in progress. He heard the guards returning; grumblings and moaning filled the
air as the two helped their comrades to a seat against the wall.

"We will
come for you, human."

"Heard
that before. You come on, but you might want to take some time and heal first. Your
master will not be happy if you are broken so bad you can’t work."

Ben turned back
towards the arena. He watched as two of the doors opened and three of the
aliens who shared Tawniz's cage were pushed out. He heard the growls of two
beasts. They looked like mutant kangaroos. The hind legs were larger and more
muscular with four inch curved claws and a thick round tail that looked strong.
Taking a hit from the tail would break bones. The upper torso had shorter arms
with wickedly curved claws and a head with a beak that was made for crushing
bone. It was covered in a dirty, matted fur, he doubted it would look that way
in the wild.

The beasts knew
the drill. The prisoners began looking for weapons amongst the dead. Ben
thought that by leaving the dead to rot and be eaten, it would psych out a lot
of the prisoners. It was all a part of the game. Ben could see the intelligence
in the beasts’ eyes as they stalked, slowly moving towards their prey. Two of
the three found something to fight with but the third was too slow.

Ben studied the
arena, looking for weapons so when they put him in, he would hopefully have his
hands on something immediately. The unarmed prisoner finally saw something to
fight with and made a run for it. Both of the beasts caught him in three long
hops. The crowd reacted knowing the first kill of the day was at hand. The
screaming started. Ben watched knowing there was nothing he could do. The other
prisoners could have, should have, attacked but they waited. They were not
warriors and this would not last long.

It’s always a
huge shock for those who have never fought to have to listen to others being
eaten alive or lying injured unattended and in terrible pain. Ben had
experienced both many times fighting the Allith, pirates and on a few occasions,
rebels. The beasts didn’t have teeth. They would rend the flesh with their
claws and tear it away with the beak, swallowing the pieces whole.

The screaming
and moaning all but stopped. The handlers entered the arena dressed in armor
with weapons in hand and something like a cattle prod. They had let the beasts
eat their fill and herded them back to their pen.

Ben watched a
guard unlock his cage door and throw it open. "We are going to all enjoy
watching the beasts gorge themselves on you, human trash. It will happen
hopefully sooner than later, but it will happen. You are to fight until you
die. There will be no reprieves."

Ben replied,
"Nice speech, so let me tell you how it will really go down. I will fight
and kill a lot of my opponents. The crowd will be betting a lot and your master
will see there is money to be made keeping me alive. Then I will walk from the
arena and beat you till you wish death and throw your body in the arena for the
beasts to eat while you are still alive."

Ben faced the arena and walked
out into the blood and death that lay all around.

10 hours 30
minutes. . .

He saw the trio
sitting in their box seats. Silk sat holding a bag in her hand. She motioned
for Ben to approach. He searched the field looking at the potential weapons,
picking some up as he walked. He found the old nicked up sword he had used on
his last visit to the arena. He searched the ground for a stone and found a
flat one with a rough surface. He continued his journey, dragging the stone down
the edge of the sword as he walked.

It would still
be full of nicks but it might have an edge. There was no time for sawing back
and forth on a throat or an arm with a dull blade. It had to bite deep and be
pulled through without snagging. He decided not to stop sharpening until he had
to attack or defend. He hoped maybe it might be a little unnerving to his
opponent. He looked around at the mangled bodies for any piece of armor that
might be serviceable.

The man door
opened and a guard began yelling at him to hurry up. He ignored it and
continued his search. The guard did not venture in to tell him face to face. If
it irritated his captors, then he would certainly not move any faster, no
matter how much some chicken shit guard yelled. He found a body with shoulder
guards made of some metal. He knelt and began removing them, trying not to
vomit. They were ornate with scrollwork and were probably quite nice when
cleaned and polished. The rest of the armor didn’t match, straps were cut and
some work would need to be done to get some of the pieces to fit him.

Pushing the
point of the sword in the ground until it stood on its own, hilt within 6
inches of his hand, he dropped the rock next to his foot and put the shoulder
guards on. That accomplished, he picked up the rock, pulled the sword free and
began walking, continuing to scan for something useful and sharpening the
sword. The sound of a cage door clanging open and the pounding of heavy feet
put him on full alert. He saw a thousand pounds of matted fur burned short in
some places. Two angry, tormented eyes had locked on him as its target for
destruction.

Ben was sure it
wasn’t a predator. The squared off teeth, its elongated block-like head and
overall body shape reminded him of something bovine. It didn’t seem to have any
defensive or offensive body parts other than its size and attitude. He stood
motionless, its speed increasing, bearing down on him like a mag train. There
was no use in running. He just hoped it had no agility moving at that speed.
This was all about timing. If he moved to soon, it might adjust enough for a
hit, too late and it would hit him, more than likely breaking most of the bones
in his body.

The beast must
have thought he was frozen in fear and pushed itself to its limit. Ben spun his
body, feeling the air whoosh past him. He brought the flat of the sword down on
its rear haunch eliciting a loud snort in response. It must have had a slight
effect because it kept running all the way to the wall and following it around,
gradually slowing down to a stop and facing him about fifty yards away. Ben
began walking towards it, closing the distance. He needed it to be moving
slower if he was going to get a killing stroke and it had to be the neck.

It saw him
moving towards it and began to charge. Ben ran at a steady pace and at five
feet away, he jumped. Swinging the sword in a high arc, he brought it down into
the neck till it hit bone. The sword was ripped out of his hand as he bounced
off the beast’s side. Hitting the ground hard, he rolled, coming to a stop on
his back. He heard it running away, its pace slowing till it came to a walk.
Ben turned his head and watched as blood shoot out of the wound, the pressure
from the beast’s heart pumping its life away. He sat up and watched as it knelt
till it rested on its stomach, and its legs folded underneath its body.

Ben approached
the beast cautiously. Even in its current condition, it might have the strength
to strike out with a kick which could break his leg. There was a pool of blood
on the ground and a stream running out of the wound. It must be getting close
to bleeding out. He pulled the sword free and continued his walk towards the
master and his two freaks. He stopped fifteen feet from the wall and waited.

Silk sat
watching him with her unsettling stare. He expected her to speak when the other
one pulled her hood back and stared at him with her stolen blue eyes.

"The
master thanks you for killing the Boonstang so cleanly. It is a delicacy and
will bring a premium price from those who dine on it tonight."

Ben didn’t feel
like any response was necessary and stood staring at her. Silk felt it was time
for her little reveal and threw the bag she held at Ben. He caught it
one-handed and held it, gauging its contents. It had weight but was not heavy
so he ruled out it being someone's head. Could be a hand wrapped in material.
He stuck his sword in the ground and opened the bag, pulling out the material
inside. He recognized Tawniz's clothing immediately. They were bloody and had
been ripped and torn, not cut. They had let the beasts get to her. He dropped
his head and closed his eyes.

The spectators
in the arena did not know what was going on but could see his response clear
enough. Those who attended often knew of the games and deceptions that were
used to get more emotion out of the prisoners. Anger almost always guaranteed
some excitement.

Ben threw the
clothing on ground and turned to walk away. Silk stood up behind him and
yelled. "I told you what would happen if you didn’t cooperate. I told you
she would die."

Ben spun and
threw the sword as hard as he could. Silk's eyes got big, for a split second
forgetting the force field. The sword hit and sparks flew as it ricocheted off
and landed on the ground. She started to jump into the arena when a hand grabbed
her arm. She sat down immediately, her master speaking to her, she dropped her
head staring at the ground and listened.

It took a
couple of minutes of slow walking to get back to his cell. The guards just
smiled, not moving to open the door.

"You aren’t
finished yet. Today you will fight until the master says you are through or you
die."

Ben heard cage
doors this time. Two different doors opened and one of the champions walked
through one and something new walked out of the other. It was humanoid with
gray skin, two eyes but no mouth, nose or ears. It also had no hair. The
champion knew what it was and didn’t want to have any part of it. He turned and
grabbed the cage door and began pulling and yelling. Ben ignored him and began
walking back the way he just came.

10 Hours. .
.

The champion
worked his way along the wall of the arena in the direction of the sword. Ben
cursed under his breath for getting angry. He knew better. Now he faced an
unknown weaponless. Anything with only a pair of eyes was not good, had to be a
robot or android or someone's idea of a synthetic life form. It moved fluidly
towards him, ignoring the other for now.

Ben reached
down and picked up a femur from something big that had been dead for a while.
It was stripped clean and heavy. It would take two hands to do anything
effective with it. He walked towards his new adversary ready to dance.

                                   
****

The queen sat
in her state room, eyes closed, thinking of possible futures. Revenge on her
mother’s killer, and a mate of her own. The human was ignorant of many things
and one of them would be that being her mate was voluntary. She hoped he would
not let emotions cloud his judgment and would go with her back to her world. He
had no hate for her warriors and drones and she had seen his ideas to help feed
and provide for them and establish a peace between the other races and the
Cjittan.

She knew he had
found her attractive although he had stimulated himself with drink beyond his
body's limit. What of the other females, one of whom was of royal blood in the
Trillond Empire? She could not just kill them, she would pay them to leave or
they could come and be servants except for the young one. She could accept her
as family, give her a title and position. Her children would have an older
sister, something she never had.

Would love be
too much to hope for? Her empire has not had a ruling couple who loved each
other in a thousand years. Everything was planned, plotted, arranged and
sometimes forced. He had better be alive when they get there or there will be
no mercy; she would not restrain her soldiers.

                                   
****

E'Aria sat
thinking about what they would do once the battle was over and they could board
the ship. Her plan was that she would go over and leave Lorelei in charge. In
the event she or Benjamin did not return, Lorelei would return to Anubis and
leave Natalia with the Vander Hoyts. She and Nick could work out the details of
the company. Ben and Andrea's shares passed to Natalia on her eighteenth
birthday if both were deceased. She wrote everything she had been thinking into
a sealed file and imprinted her signature.

"Binda,
can you have Grubb and Buddy report to the bridge please?" E'Aria asked.

"On their
way, captain."

Three minutes
later, the door opened. "You wanted to see us, capt'n?"

"Yes, I
want you and Buddy to accompany me when the time comes to retrieve Benjamin
from that ship. Do you have armor and weapons?"

"Yes,
capt'n I believe there are two sets that will fit us in the armory."

"We will
not be alone. I am sure there will be a number of boarding parties. Once he is
located, we will need to get to him as soon as possible with a medical
kit."

"You think
he is going to be hurt or wounded?" Buddy asked.

Lorelei turned and
said. "Guys, this is Ben we are taking about. What do you think?"

                                   
****

Ben hit the
android as hard as he could. It rocked its head but it was not organic and
didn’t get disoriented because of the punch. He dove to retrieve the femur bone
he had knocked out of his hands just a minute earlier. He came up swinging,
connecting with the android’s chest, knocking it back a few inches. Ben had
decided earlier it wasn’t a robot. He had dealt with a number of unknowns
lately and decided to think of them as what he felt they were closely related
to.

The asshole
with his sword hung back, waiting for a moment of weakness out of either of
them before he would strike. Ben was not going to get killed by a sword he had
just spent his time sharpening. He ran at the so-called champion and swung. His
adversary parried the swing and brought an overhand swing at Ben’s head. He was
hoping for it as he held the bone with both hands; the sword biting deep, he
twisted and ripped the sword right from his opponent’s hand. A quick kick to
the chest backed him up while Ben stepped away.

The android was
almost on Ben when he swung the sword with the bone still attached and the
android grabbed both ends of the bone. Ben jerked the sword free and stepped
back. The champion ran seeing both his opponents now armed. The android gave
chase while Ben stood and watched catching a breather. The crunch sound was the
loudest Ben had ever heard as the android hit the running champion in the back
of the head with the bone. The bone splintered and broke where the sword had
been embedded and the back of the champion’s head exploded. Ben paused to
think, he had been hit by the android and it hadn’t broken anything in his
chest, yet it just pulverized that guy. Did it have orders from someone to do
that or was it that it just didn’t like the coward? It looked at the body for
fifteen seconds and moved in Ben's direction.

The bone was
shorter now so it would have to get in closer to use it effectively. Ben felt
it was time to see exactly what it knew about hand-to-hand combat. He knew it
was many times stronger than him and very fast. He couldn’t stand still for any
period of time so he charged, turning sideways and bent at the knee's to
present the smallest, lowest target possible. He swung for its leg one-handed
while dodging a downward swing at his head. Brown liquid that looked like motor
oil ran down its leg after he pulled the sword free.

When Ben dodged
the swing, he didn’t retreat. He moved just enough to swing a second time at
the other leg, connecting just at the knee joint. He didn’t move fast enough to
dodge the back swing and caught it in the back adding some additional momentum
to his steps. He heard the android move behind him and he reversed the grip on
his sword and swung rear-ward at an upward angle. He felt it bite as he pushed
back, driving it inside the android. The bone came down hard on his shoulder
guard driving him to his knees and breaking his collar bone. He pulled on the
sword and dove forward, trying not to black out as he rolled away from android.
Like the Boonstang beast, the android was losing valuable fluids and although
it was still on its feet, it was not moving very fast. But neither was he. He
saw the android looming over him with the bone poised to bash his skull. He
took his sword and thrust it between the android’s legs. It penetrated the
outer skin and traveled half the length of the blade before hitting something
hard. That something sent an electrical shock through the sword and into Ben
and that was the last thing he remembered.

He woke with a
splitting headache and an enormous pain in his shoulder. Silk shook him none to
gently as the blue-eyed imposter stood behind her and watched.

"Stop
shaking me, you idiot! Let me go." Ben yelled. She did and down in the
dirt he fell.

"Just go
away but bite me first so I can die, you crazy freak."

"Ssstupid
hu'man. You are not done entertaining my master," Silk hissed. "He
would not be happy with me if I did asss you assked."