Reaper Inc. (22 page)

"Go!"
Ben yelled at Harry. It didn’t have to be told twice. It leapt and grabbed the
top of the wall and pulled up and over. Ben walked over and patted the spider
on the leg.
"Don’t take all day. There is more to eat out there."
He ran over to get some more cloth and maybe dose his sword one more time. He
worked as fast as he could. He heard the spider approach. No time for venom. He
wrapped the sword and took the rest of the cloth he had ripped up.

"Bend
down. Let me stop the bleeding."

"Do you
wish to leave? If so, I will take you."

"Hell
yes, let’s go. We have friends to avenge."

The spider
lowered its head to the ground and extended its two front legs. Ben laid the sword
across the back of its neck and grabbed a handful of hair. It was surprisingly
soft. It wasn’t easy to get aboard and he was thankful he didn’t piss her off
being so clumsy. She walked to the wall and climbed up and out. There was panic
at the exits as trampled bodies lay strewn about. Ben looked for the master and
Blue Eyes but they were gone.
"I don’t have any friends here so eat
whatever is running away. If it’s in a cage, we should leave it be and free
them later."

"They
killed all my children when they took us. I will not only kill to feed, I will
kill to avenge. You have shown the Cjittan that you are a honorable enemy and
now a honorable friend. I will follow you until death wraps me in his warm
embrace."

"That’s
the spirit, but don’t go making your queen angry ok? I need better weapons.
Let’s find some guards."
The spider moved quietly. Ben stuffed wads of
cloth in the wounds the mantis made, freeing her of the collar. It was time now
for Tawniz, the mantis and Andrea to be avenged.

                                   
****

Tawniz could
hear panic, screaming, and running filled the corridors. Something must be very
wrong. The guard outside her door screamed and fired his weapon. She looked out
the small opening in the door and saw him, staring at the sword through the
guards stomach in disbelief. She saw the giant body and took a step back, then
saw Ben stop right outside her door.

"Ben!"
she yelled. She saw his face looking through the small viewing window. He
smiled and she knew somehow how the panic started.

Ben took the
keys from the dead guard along with his weapons and unlocked the door. Tawniz
jumped up and threw her arms around him. She forgot she was naked under the
blanket. Being seven foot plus, her chest was at Ben’s face. He slipped his
arms around her waist and pulled her tight. She was lost in the moment but only
for a moment.

"Um Ben,
you can let go now."

"Do I have
to? I am just happy to see you and your breasts are alive and well."

"I'm fine
and I need some clothing."

"You know,
I was avenging your death and it all felt right and proper but now you’re alive
and killing these sick bastards. . . still feels right and proper. Take the
guard’s clothes and let’s go."

"Who is
your new friend?"

"She isn’t
new. I've known her for a little while. They killed her children, so she is
going to do for them what I was going to do for you."

Tawniz said.
"We should free the champions and the slaves."

"Here are his keys. You go
do that then follow the sound of the screams." Ben gave her the stun pistol,
deciding he could get another.

4 hours. . .

The ship was
huge. Ben was trying to determine which way to go. On one hand, he knew there
were ships leaving like rats on a sinking ship; he could get Tawniz and some others
hopefully to safety. He had killed three guards so far and none would tell him
anything. He had weapons and the spider could give him a body count of
approaching guards before he would ever see them and put an image in his head
of the exact location. He knew exactly where to shoot. He had to stop and wait
from time to time while she fed. She had to stay in the main corridor while Ben
checked doors.

Tawniz unlocked
most of the cages before three guards showed up to stop her. They got off a few
shots before they were mobbed.

"You have
a number of choices. You can stay in your cage, go and find a ship or stay and
fight. I have someone to find then we will do our best to take this ship from
them." Tawniz didn’t feel there was a lot of time for talk. She looked at
the faces in the crowd, turned and began running in the direction she had last
saw Ben and the spider.

                                   
****

"Captain
to the bridge," Ensign Ellison announced. Aisling had decided to take a
nap during the second orbit around the planet. She looked at the time. It
seemed XO let her sleep longer than she had intended. She pressed her com.

"On my
way."

"Lieutenant
Benson, if any of those ships approach us without hailing or with even a hint
of power to a weapon, you fire a warning shot and be ready to follow it
up."

"Aye sir,
I have marked all targets as hostile."

The door slid
open and Aisling looked immediately at the screen. "Keep your seat XO. I
want to stand right now," she said.

XO Holmes said,
"Captain, something has happened as you can guess. They are fleeing like
that ship has the plague. We have targeted all ships fleeing in our direction
and I gave the Lieutenant orders hail and if there is no answer, to fire a
warning shot first and if there are any active weapons, he doesn’t need to
ask."

                                   
****

"Attention
all ships, this is Emperor Xamand. We are picking up a number of small craft
that seem to have appeared out of nowhere. We believe they are departing from
the ship we seek. It is unknown at the moment why, but we believe an increase
to full power would be appropriate at this time.

                                   
****

Ben stood in a
doorway firing at a half dozen guards. He guessed he was getting close to
something; he hoped it was the bridge. His space shuttle-sized arachnid
companion was fifty yards behind at an intersecting hallway enjoying another
snack. He had three pistols pushed into his pants, one in his hand, a laser
rifle slung over his good shoulder and the poison sword currently leaning
against the wall.

"The
female you released and a number of others are approaching."

"They
were captives like you so try not to eat any of them."

"My
hunger is sated, I am collecting food for the future and will retrieve it
before I depart this ship."

"How
many does she bring with her?"

"There
are many."

"How
about a number?"

"More
than a few."

"You
don’t use numbers?"

"No."
An image appeared in Ben’s head like the others. He could see about thirty
of the prisoners following Tawniz. They came to a stop staring, trying to
decide what to do.

"They
are scared of you. Can you move to the other side of the hall?"

"They
are wise to be cautious."

Ben picked up
his sword and ran back to the intersecting hallway. He had dodged most of the
incoming shots till the end; when he was turning the corner, a stunner hit him
and his leg gave out dropping him to the floor. He rolled till he was out of
the direct line of fire. Tawniz ran to him and the others followed. He couldn’t
get his mouth to work right so he handed Tawniz his pistol and pointed. She
handed it to someone and he took up a position at the corner and immediately
began firing.

Tawniz took the
other pistols from him and rolled him over taking the rifle which she kept for
herself. Ben closed his eyes. The throbbing in his leg and shoulder stopped
which was good but if things went south, he would have to be carried, not good.
Tawniz looked at her followers. Ben could hear her but it wasn’t her language
she spoke so it didn’t translate for him.

The stunner hit
his left side and although it spread through his nervous system, his right side
had some mobility. He touched Tawniz on the leg and pointed to his mouth. He
tried to say water but it came out as gibberish. She said something and four of
prisoners left. Three took up positions and began firing down the hall. Ben
closed his eyes again and did his best to concentrate on breathing, just
breathing.

                                   
****

The master was
on a throne in the room he had made to rule his kingdom. He adorned it with
everything you would expect from a sadistic creator of monsters. Some of his
creations were chained to the wall and others stood like statues around his
throne. Blue Eyes was the latest addition and by far the most intelligent. She
stood at a console monitoring everything and everyone. He had no interest in
sitting on the bridge of his ship; that was not the duty of a king. His bridge
crew had been especially chosen and would not fail him.

"Master, a
large party of prisoners is advancing on the bridge. Shall I send
reinforcements?"

"No. Let
them advance till they feel victory is within their grasp then release the
guardians."

"He is
still alive and the Allond officer leads the party of prisoners."

"He and
the rest will not be a problem shortly. Are the creation rooms safe?"

"Yes,
master. There is no activity on those levels."

"Good,
then let them come. Our guards have never been challenged and I see that they are
lacking. We will need to replenish when this is over."

"Master,
the bridge has urgent news and wishes to speak to you."

"Very
well, let us hear this urgent news." Blue Eyes had punched a series of
buttons and the monitor displayed the captain’s face.

"My
master, there are five ships approaching at half acceleration. Four are of
Allond build and one is Cjittan. Shall I input coordinates for departure?"

"Captain,
why would you do that? I am beginning to think I need to replace every guard
and crewmember on this ship. Captain, this ship has the fire power of ten
ships. Arm your weapons and prepare. Our first target will be the Alliance ship
you have been following all these weeks. Destroy it!"

"Yes, my
master."

"Captain,
do not make this day your last." The conversation was over with a wave of
his hand. Blue Eyes cut the connection. The captain sat in his chair staring
off into space. He was not a tactician nor did he have any experience in
planning a battle. He was a freighter captain before the pirates took his ship
and his crew and sold them. He had worked for his older brother who told him to
run at the slightest hint of danger, it had almost always worked. The cargo and
delivery were more important than anything except the reputation of the
company. His brother should have told him about accepting drinks from strangers
buying rounds for a whole crew.

When he was
purchased, it was because of his experience as a captain. He told the truth
when questioned and up until now, he only had to ensure that the ship made the
trip from point A to point B and arrived according to the master’s plans.

"Weapon’s
officer, power up your weapons and prepare the ship for battle."

                                   
****

"Captain!
They are headed right for us. Weapons powered and uncloaked."

"Lieutenant
Benson, fire as soon as they are in range. Torpedo tubes one and three. Ensign
Ellison, sound red alert. Lieutenant St James, evasive maneuver omega six
alpha."

"Captain,
it is huge. It will be no problem to hit but I believe the only place that
won’t be a waste of torpedoes is if we fire on the drive cluster. Stop them
from leaving or at least slow them down."

"Lieutenant
Benson, lock tubes two and four on its bridge. Let’s see what their captain is
made of."

"Lieutenant
St. James, bring us around and make a head on run at the bridge of that ship.
Full power to the forward shields. We are going to carry the torpedoes as close
as we can. Lieutenant Benson, fire on my command."

The Warhammer's
shields held out well against the weapons fire from the mammoth starship. Two
torpedoes were on course for its main drives and Aisling would drop two more in
their lap if their shields held out.

"Lieutenant
St James, on my command, divert shields to our belly and run us the length of
this thing, then set a course for the far side of the planet full power until
we have the planet between us."

"Ensign
Ellison, damage report?"

"We have a
few scrapes captain but no hull breaches reported."

"Shields
fifty percent, captain!"

"Its
ginormous, I bet the generator just to run the cloak is as big as the
Warhammer," Benson said.

"Head in
the game, Lieutenant Benson."

"Forty
five percent, captain! They are hitting us with forty to fifty laser cannons.
"

"Damage,
Ensign Ellison?"

"No
captain, not to the ship. I think I lost a couple of fillings and bit my
tongue!"

"Forty
percent, captain," Lieutenant St. James chimed.

"Distance?"

"Three
thousand miles and closing."

"Fire two
and four, lieutenant, two seconds apart! Then fire lasers at any target of convenience
as we depart."

"Captain,
we have a hull breach but it’s in the shuttle bay, they are sealing it up. The
blast missed a waste tank but destroyed the line in. Damage control says
everyone starboard needs to hold it for at least two hours or use only the
portside heads when they are able."

It was over in
about ninety seconds and it was a test. Yes, it was big but its weapons were
underpowered, at least against Alliance technology. It must have relied on its
cloaking system to get it safely where it wanted to go. She could eventually
cause enough damage to possibly board and take control but it would cost her
every munition she had on board and with five better equipped starships, in
less than an hour out at full speed, they would make short work of it. The
pursuing ship had decreased its speed and didn’t give chase to the Warhammer.

"Captain,
scans indicate minor damage to our target’s bridge. First torpedo detonated on
their shields but caused enough interference to let the second get past. It is
odd the shields and lasers are so weak."

"Status of
our weapons, Lieutenant Benson?"

"Torpedo
tubes are loaded and ready, lasers will be fully charged in five,
captain."

"Lieutenant
St. James, all stop. Inform damage control. I'm giving them thirty minutes EVA
time to perform any repairs then we need to get underway."

                                   
****

Tawniz said,
"Hold still and drink slowly."

Ben nodded and
let the liquid slide down his throat. "Thank you."

"It is
from the bucket in your cell. It is the cleanest they could find." Ben sat
up slowly. He must have passed out, hours of hand to hand combat and his
injuries had taken its toll. It seemed nothing had changed as he looked around;
they had gained no ground. "We need to find a way around them and if there
isn’t one, then we need to rush them."

"I sent
five to find another way, if one exists."

"This ship
would not just have one corridor up the middle." He took another pull from
his cup of water. Then he noticed the giant spider was missing. "How long
has the spider been gone?"

"Shortly
after you passed out."

"Did she
leave in the same direction as the party you sent out?"

"Yes, do
you think there is a problem?

Ben closed his
eyes and lay his head back. "I guess we will find out. Have you seen a nine
foot tall, hairy, four-armed sasquatch running around."

"Yes
maybe, something that fits the description but I am unsure what a sasquatch
is."

"Ok, good
to know he is out there. Don’t worry about the rest, help me stand up and let’s
get this party started."

"Are you
able? It seems too soon."

"I don’t
feel numb anymore just the tremors and tingling in the nerves and I can move. I
am not going to lead a charge but I can follow."

"You must
not have received the full blast of the stun."

"Yeah,
it’s my lucky day." One of the armed prisoners hurried over to them. He
was smiling. He spoke to Tawniz and she seemed to be giving instructions then
returned to his post.

"It must
be your lucky day. The guards began firing in another direct and then
ran."

"From what
I have seen, they are only armed with stun weapons. Let’s get moving shall we.
I need to work the stiffness out."

The four armed
prisoners had moved on ahead and the rest of the group followed with Ben in the
middle of the crowd. They arrived at the intersections the guards had just
abandoned. The five prisoners Tawniz had sent were standing watching the spider
face off with a number of the champions. They immediately joined the crowd. The
champions were taunting the spider with weapons they had acquired, most had
come from the arena and a few stunners from guards they had overpowered.

Ben pushed his
way through the crowd and walked towards the spider. She touched his mind and
he knew she was angry. He saw the champions watching him as he approached. He
enjoyed their facial expressions as he walked under her and stopped next to her
head.