Reaper Inc. (21 page)

"You have disabled
one of the guardians. They usually sustain damage but no one has disabled a
guardian before," Blue eyes said softly. The crowd was quiet watching and
trying to hear what was being said.

"Do I get
anything for breaking one of your toys? Some water and a better weapon would be
nice."

Blue Eyes
answered. "Unfortunately, no. You will get an opponent that is harder to
kill."

"I think I
am done entertaining you and the others. The guard already told me you were
going to keep me in the arena until something kills me. It seems he was telling
the truth. I am not fighting anymore. Let’s get this over with."

"You will
fight or I will beat you until you do as I command."

Ben offered his
left hand to her. "Help me up. You are right; I should probably go out
fighting." Silk smiled and grabbed his hand and arm with both hands
pulling him up. The right cross that came from way back connected with her head
and she could do nothing about. Ben had grabbed her wrist and didn’t let go.
Her knees were buckling when he pulled her up and hit her again, this time
releasing her. Ben looked at the box seats to see the master standing but not
moving.

He looked at the clone of the
women he had loved. "You tell her when she wakes up, she has a lot to
learn." It had been painful knocking her out with the broken collar bone
but it was worth it. He picked up his sword and walked away looking for the
stone he had used to sharpen it.

8 Hours and
10 minutes. . .

Ben had a
forty-five minute breather. He ripped and cut strips of cloth and wrapped them
over his shoulder and under his arm, snugging it down and tied it. It wasn’t
right but he needed both arms and couldn’t fight with one arm in a sling. He
folded up some material and put it on top of his shoulder then strapped the
shoulder guard down.

It hurt to
rotate his arm but he expected that. The cage door behind him opened and out
walked another tortured soul; this one on two legs with four arms and its whole
body covered in hair. It was a bigfoot or sasquatch out of Earth legend,
slightly mutated and nine foot tall. It had the same burns the Boonstang had on
its arms and legs. It wore a leather shirt and loincloth and didn’t seem to be
in any hurry at all. If he had to guess from body language it seemed to be
afraid, looking in all directions for a possible way out.

Ben decided to
approach it and test it. He focused his attention on its face, staring it in
the eyes as he approached and swung the sword in a crisscross motion then
pointing it at the alien yelling obscenities. He was close enough now to see
its face. It was terrified and then it ran like hell in the direction of the
master and his homemade girls. The crowd screamed and began to throw food and
some took pot shots with stunners. His opponent kept moving. Ben walked towards
his keeper with a growing hatred.

"So what
is this? First you have me kill your dinner. Are you planning on eating this
one too?"

Blue eyes
looked at him. "You only need to kill it, not worry over what happens
after that."

"I'm not
chasing the damn thing around this arena."

"We will
give you ten of your earth minutes to make the kill. After that, we will let
the beasts in and they will kill both of you."

Ben stared at
her for a minute then looked at Silk. "How's the head, sweetheart? Mouth
overloaded your ass with all that big talk. Don’t take it too hard; blame your
daddy there for not making you tougher. Too bad it looks like there won't be a
next time but if by chance there is. . . I'll kill you."

Before her
master could stop her, she launched herself at Ben. He had hoped to goad her
into something like that; it was too easy. She was committed now in the air
with nowhere to go, her arms outstretched. He dropped down on one knee and
shoved the sword up skewering her through the stomach. He let go of the sword
and she landed on the hilt driving it in farther. The arena was silent. He did
not approach her; better to err on the side of caution with this one.

Ben had
forgotten about his nine foot tall friend and when he sensed it, actually
smelled it, it was too late. The club connected just below his shoulder blades
knocking the wind out of him. He went down then rolled coming up to his feet.
His shoulder shot pain through his upper body. He breathed and winced in an
alternating pattern, spots danced before his eyes. The attack he thought would
follow never came. Instead, it picked Silk up by the ankle with its upper left
arm and clubbed her with its lower right, beating her body. When it tired of
beating Silk’s body, it swung it in a high arch, blood spray following and
slammed her into the ground, cracking bones. It did it again but this time
there was more of a squishing sound. Ben made an educated guess as to who had
been its torturer.

He walked
closer and yelled, "Enough already!"

It turned on him,
bloodshot eyes glaring, ready to continue getting revenge on anyone now that it
had a taste.

"Calm
down. They are going to let the dogs out on us in a minute."

Ben tried to
make placating signs with his hands, his sword still in Silk’s belly. He
stepped closer, looking up two and a half feet talking softer almost
soothingly, he grabbed the hilt and pulled it out. He moved back several feet
as his opponent twisted its body and with a mighty swing, released Silk’s body
letting it fly. Blood sprayed across Ben's chest as the body took flight,
bounced and came to rest twenty feet away.

"I don’t
know that talking to you does any good but just so you know, we are deep in
shit now." Ben motioned with his free hand at his opponent then himself.
"You and I can work together or split up. I am going to put my back
against a wall, its one less direction I have to watch." Ben knew which
cage door the scavengers would come through so he set himself up straight
across from it. Silk’s death had taken the wind out of the crowd for a few
minutes but then they started yelling. Silk’s body was only ten feet away, a
twisted mess. After a couple seconds, an idea came to him. He walked over and
grabbed her ankle, dragging her and leaving her next to where he would make a
stand. The back of her head was a mess but her face was mostly intact. He took
his sword and pried open her mouth, using the edge and forcing her fangs down
against it. He put pressure on the roof of her mouth behind her teeth with his
finger. Finally, he saw what he wanted as the poison began to flow onto the
blade. Working, massaging, he had two small streams.

He removed the
sword and held it so the poison ran the length guiding it to the tip. Pushing
the body against the wall, Ben took a position in front of it. If this worked
then he would need more and he wasn’t going to give her body up to the
scavengers. He looked around the arena and saw his opponent watching him. It
seemed it understood what he had just finished doing. Ben pointed to the area
next to him and motioned for it come over. Maybe there could be a truce. He
didn’t go for that 'enemy of my enemy' bullshit, he believed that instead of
one, he had two enemies to kill, more than likely one right after the other. He
would have to read the big hairy guy closely and watch its body language. The
poison was an equalizer if it didn’t catch him between applications.

                                   
****

7 hours 30
minutes. . .

"Captain,
we are in orbit. I will start the scans."

"Thank
you, Lieutenant St. James. I know we are just going through the motions but
keep an eye on the scans anyway, just in case. According to records, that
planet is supposed to be uninhabited.

"Sergeant
Major Kim, how is the crew?"

"Good as
can be expected, captain. They would like something to happen but we all know
it will be better if nothing happens, at least until the task force gets
here."

"Do you
remember when Ben and E'Aria brought in the two ships with the survivors and he
had them playing some kid’s game. On the surface, it was totally unorthodox
according to any military protocol but they were not experiencing any undue
stress and actually enjoying themselves."

"Do you
want me to have the crew play a game, captain?"

"No, but
if there is a way to ease the tension that won’t take away from their duties,
anything anyone can think of, let me know. Um and nothing sexual, I am sure
that ninety eight percent of the male responses will go there."

"Sorry
captain, I already went there." Ensign Shawna Ellison didn’t look away
from her console.

"Me
too," Lieutenant Melanie St. James added.

"You two
ladies are not setting a good example and I use the term 'ladies' very
loosely."

Ensign Ellison
said, "Captain, we are officers not ladies and Lieutenant St. James is far
looser than I am." The bridge erupted in laughter; the Sergeant Major
decided to retreat to a safer place. Lieutenant St. James had a very pretty
color of crimson in her face.

"Captain,
permission to strike a fellow officer."

"Permission
denied, lieutenant. Permission granted to come up with a witty response to
embarrass Ensign Ellison in the future granted without repercussions."

"Lieutenant
Benson, you have anything to say to your crewmates?"

"No Ma'am,
keeping my mouth shut is my plan, captain."

"Excellent
idea, lieutenant, excellent idea."

"Captain,
we are about to lose contact with the target and it will be sixty five minutes
in this orbit before we will establish contact again. Scans of the planet show
it is habitable but there is nothing that would confirm any species of dominate
life form. No cities, roads, or communication transmissions of any kind."

Shawna would
get along good with Benjamin. Cocky and quick-witted, ready to take on anything
head on,"
Aisling thought.
"Then again he has plenty of
female friends; he doesn’t need any more.

                                   
****

6 hours 10
minutes. . .

They have been
battling the scavengers for what seemed like a day when it more like an hour
and a half. Bodies of creatures from the size of a raccoon to a Bengal tiger
lay dead or dying. Neither of them had escaped without their share of damage
from bites and claws. Ben had a gash on his leg from one of the larger
predators. He killed it, but not before it ripped his leg open.

Silk's clothing
was the cleanest thing in the arena. He tore strips that seemed to be free of
blood and dirt. He tied a long strip around his thigh and walked over to his
uneasy partner. The blood lust still flowing through its veins, it growled as
Ben approached. He wadded up the material and threw it, leaving his opponent to
figure it out. Ben was tired and thirsty. He sat down and leaned back against
the wall next to Silk’s body. He wondered when he would run out of the poison.

"Hey! You
got a name?" Ben yelled. It was something to do while they waited. To his
astonishment, it answered and of course he had no idea what the hell it said.

"Oh
really? Look, you could kill your parents for naming you that and no one would
blame you. Cruel and unusual if you ask me."

"My name is
Benjamin. In your language, it probably sounds like your hocking up a hairball
but in mine, it’s pretty simple."

"You are a
strange human, Ben." Ben looked around for the owner of the voice. It was
feminine and not from the giant fur ball. He tilted his head back and saw blue
eyes looking down at him from the top of the wall.

"I have
been called a lot worse. What do you want?"

"The body
you are resting against."

"No!"

"You will
be dead soon regardless. Why prolong your destiny?"

"Because I
can. I would more than likely be dead by now if it wasn’t for her. She stays
with me till the end."

"The end
is coming soon. You have already met your doom, they know you and you
them."

Ben grabbed
Silk’s head and worked on milking more venom out of her. The double cage doors
opened for the first time and a trio of praying mantis walked through followed
by a giant spider. Three Allith followed them. All wore some type of collar
with flashing lights. He looked up; she was still looking down at him. He
understood what she meant about knowing them.

"Take the
collars off and make it a fair fight for them. Otherwise, there will be some
very large bodies littering your sand box."

"The
collars stay."

"Ok wish
me luck, so I can kill you when I'm done with them." Ben stood and walked
away. If they took the body, it probably didn’t matter at this point. He heard
footsteps behind him, he turned to find Harry.
Yeah best he could do on
short notice
he thought, following him. Ben turned and backed up watching
until he saw that Harry had taken up guarding Silk’s body. Blue eyes wasn’t
smiling after his last comment.

Ben went
straight for the Allith. The others didn’t move to stop him. Three against one
was something he would never have tried without a rail gun not to mention his
wounds. In this case, he only wanted to score with a cut here and there. When
the venom took hold they would slow down and he would strike with the coup de
grace.

The Allith saw
him coming and spread out to surround him. Ben waited for one to get close
enough. When it happened, it all happened fast. A cut on the leg then a cut
across the chest of another. The third caught on and hung back. Ben back away
to keep an eye on all three. Patience was the key to surviving; let the venom
do its work.

He didn’t have
to wait long for the neurotoxins to begin to work. The two Allith staggered
like they were drunk.

"Leave
the Allith you have not poisoned for us. We have not eaten in days."
 The
lead mantis said.

"Do
they have control of you with the collars?"
Ben asked.

"Less
than they think, but the collars have an explosive and if we do not do as
instructed, they will detonate."

"Do you
three think you can get her collar off before they can detonate it and would it
be enough to take down the force field around the arena?"

"We would
sacrifice ourselves to free you and her if you promise to avenge us and tell
our queen we lived to serve."

"There
is going to be a lot of avenging. The Reaper will collect his due from them
all. If I am still breathing the next time I see her, I will tell her."

"Attack
the two Allith and we will free our companion."

Ben rushed
forward and shoved his sword into the chest of one of the Allith and pulled it
out quickly, swinging backhanded and catching the other in the throat. He
pulled it through slowly as blood bubbled and sprayed from the severed
arteries.

The three
mantis leapt on the spider and dug into the exoskeleton under the collar. They
forced their angular mandibles between the links of the collar and pulled.

The collar
broke and fell to the ground as the spider moved away from it. The mantis flew
towards the force field. One exploded twenty feet away. Ben grabbed the pieces
of the spider's collar and began throwing them at the mantis as they neared the
force field. A second mantis exploded and set off a piece of the collar Ben
threw. The third flew right through; the force field was down and it crashed
into the crowd just as it exploded killing spectators. Ben looked back and the
spider had the third Allith by the leg. Its head was missing and the spider
shook it till the collar fell off then walked away with its meal.