“Fuck that.” Benjamin said heading straight for the cell. Tazleaha watched him punch in the codes and open the cell door. She wished she hadn’t stayed to watch.
****
The captain jumped up to defend himself. I smiled. He wasn’t shackled, so he had freedom to give it his best shot. He landed a solid punch to my face. I gave him that one.
Deireadh, how are your power levels?
Seventy-three-point-four percent.
Time to max out. We have important work to do later and I need you at full capacity.
As you wish.
I blocked his roundhouse and pushed him back. He swung for the fence and I slapped the sloppy punch away and pushed him back again. He was getting pissed and came at me with both hands reaching for my throat. Just when he thought I was in his grasp, I stepped back and he stumbled off balance, his hands landing on my chest. I thrust my left arm between his and punched him in the throat. He gasped for air. I decided he wasn’t getting any and struck him in the chest. He wasn’t in bad shape for a guy who sat around telling his crew what to do all day. I was still trying to decide what to do with him when kicked me in my side. My brain registered it was coming but didn’t seem to be concerned. An A for effort for a guy with such a red face having trouble breathing.
I grunted to be polite, but saw no need to extend things any further. Before he even sensed my movement, I grabbed him by the throat this time and held him two feet above my head. It was only for a second, then I twisted my body at the hip, holding him with my left arm. Dropping my right shoulder and pivoting on my right foot, I slammed his body into the steel decking, never letting go. I was on one knee next to him gripping his throat when I put my free right hand over his heart and pushed.
Feed, Deireadh. It was all I had to think. A swirling mass of black danced around my hand. I imagined seeing them up close like microscopic, gloss-black piranhas in a feeding frenzy. The captain couldn’t decide what hand to try to pull on. Not that it mattered; he couldn’t move either one. He found some air somewhere because he screamed like the devil was dragging him to hell. I felt his skin dissolve, then the bone. It took a little time to eat through, but not around his ribs. The nans ate through the muscle between them first. He convulsed and thrashed, kicking his legs, trying anything to break my grip. Then the resistance was gone. My open hand and fingers wrapped around his heart. I released his throat and he sucked in a breath. His last. I stood up with his heart in my hand. Nothing dripped as Deireadh consumed it and turned it into energy. I smelled shit, piss and fear.
“Comm officer, do you have any information to provide the Cjittan Empire so you can go to your maker with a clean conscience?” I had continued to close my hand around the heart until it made a fist. I looked at the young man and flicked my fingers at him, opening my hand palm facing him. It was clean and shiny. He fainted.
“That sucks,” I said. Deireadh, how are your levels?
Ninety-six point seven.
“What sucks, that he fainted?” Taz asked.
“No. He shit himself and it stinks in here.” I knelt and laid my hand on the captain’s face. Finish, Deireadh.
“Benjamin, what are you doing?” Taz asked, her hand covering her mouth.
“Getting another three-point-three percent out of this guy. Angel, Mira, come in here,” I yelled. I noticed the admiral standing against the wall. He had followed me in and now didn’t look well, not well at all. I should have warned him. Angel and Mira came in and moved around Taz to the cell door.
Deireadh, are you done?
Yes.
“One of you get the admiral out of here and get him a drink. Something good, not cheap swill. Check my room or Taz’s. There should be something.” I pulled my hand away, leaving a shiny white skull. Eyes, nose, lips, skin, muscle, it was all gone.
“What about that?” Angel asked, turning her head and pointing.
“Have Snake throw it out with the trash. The other is still alive and, as you can smell, in need of shower. Clean him up them make him clean both cells. If he gives you any lip, you can beat the hell out of him. Then make him clean it all up anyway.”
“He was a decorated officer,” Cushda said softly.
“He was a traitor and would have sat back and watched you and those loyal to the Cjittan Empire and the queen die. Now go have yourself a drink and relax. Mira, take him. Angel, take Taz and join them. Or maybe she might want to go to the bridge.”
“Benjamin, what are you going to do? You’re not staying here alone with Zora.”
“I promise you nothing will happen to her. You can watch from the bridge.” I opened Zora’s cell and stepped in, shutting it behind me. “Go on, love. I give you my word.” I moved a step toward Zora and she leaned back a little on the bunk. I dropped to the floor and leaned against the bars, resting my head. My helmet retreated on command and I scratched my scruffy head of hair. Angel took Taz by the arm and eased her out the door.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I sat and enjoyed the silence, giving the others a chance to get away before Zora and I started our conversation. Well, Zora started the conversation.
“I’m not going to tell you anything, Benjamin, so now that she is gone you can kill me.”
“Do you love him?”
She was caught off guard for a second. “I think I do.”
“And I think he loves you. Truth be told, I think he loves you enough you could have probably drawn him in and he would have helped you.”
“You’re wrong. I couldn’t do that. I would have to tell him my reasons and he wouldn’t have gone along with it.”
“Why do you say that? He is a smart guy, far more than smart. He would have figured it out with his head first, then his heart. He loves you, so you would just have to convince one of them: his head or his heart.”
“It’s because of you, Benjamin. You. Tazleaha loves you with her head and her heart, but she isn’t really listening to you. You’ve been making remarks about being king, keeping them humorous and light. I can tell you aren’t totally sold on the idea, but it wouldn’t take anything more than Tazleaha acknowledging it and it would consume you.”
“Is it that bad? Do you hate me so much you wouldn’t want to see us happy together? I know Taz wants us to be together and has for a long time. She gave me the nans reserved for the king back when I escaped and brought down the rogue Generations ship.”
“I know. She shouldn’t have; it was wrong. Back then, we—myself and others within the court—thought you were a fling. A new toy for her and then she would break you and toss you aside. Then she walked onto your ship and left with you and your crew. She left her personal guard behind and our only hope was that you and your people had a drop of honor between you.”
“We both know the history between Taz and me. No need to bring it up. But Genius was a long time finding someone he could be with. He wanted it to be special. A while back, he had a thing for Shawna. By the time he got around to it, well, Shawna being who she is had a one-night stand with Snake. Genius wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole after that. Plus, he heard it all from Snake, who is oblivious and embellished the whole thing to sound like a night of crazy sex when it was over with a grunt and some snoring. Shawna shrugged it off and wouldn’t do Snake again for all the credits in your treasury after that. I had been thinking of convincing Genius to try again with her.”
“You had better not. Listen to me, Benjamin, if you and Taz are life-mated and you push being recognized as king, there will be civil war. We might survive the Khalnalax invasion only to tear the empire apart over an alien sitting on the throne. I do not wish to take the throne from Tazleaha, but I cannot let the empire be torn apart, not by the Khalnalax, and not by you.”
I guess I am an alien. “So, if I left Genius on Xanlos with you as queen you wouldn’t be tempted to make him your king and do the same thing you’re trying right now to prevent?”
“No. I would love him and no other, but he would never hold a title that coul
d lead to the throne.”
“Politics aside for a moment. What are you going to tell him? I’m sure he knows it was you who choked his ass and drugged him, or do you think he might be fuzzy on that part?”
“I don’t know what I will tell him. Will I get a chance to tell him anything?” I guess she thought I was about to end her.
“You will have a chance to talk to him, but it will depend on what he wants.”
“I understand. To be truthful, I don’t know how I was going to get Tazleaha off the throne or what I’d do if I really did have to serve Emperor Khalnalax. I only entered the game two days ago. I was doing my duty searching for the spies and overheard the captain and comm officer talking about Renji. I heard them say the emperor was going to get rid of her and put someone else on the throne. I let it be known that I was unhappy with Tazleaha and Renji in some loose conversation in the officers’ mess and within a day had the support of the emperor.”
“Khalnalax would have been easier than Taz to get over on, but it doesn’t matter. You got caught. Do you really believe there will be civil war?”
“The factions that want the return of a true king wouldn’t accept you even if you do have the nans and the true king’s armor. Speaking of which, you owe me an explanation on how you found it. Bottom line, Benjamin, none of the major parties would back you because you are not Cjittan. Period. Plus, you and your people have walked on our laws like they were your lawn. They haven’t forgotten. Tazleaha’s favored status declined a lot because of that.”
“She has never told me any of this.”
Zora chuckled. “She doesn’t think you would care one way or another what anyone thinks of you or her.”
“That’s not true. I will rip their fucking tongues out if they are talking shit about her. The pansy-assed—”
“That would be another reason she doesn’t tell you anything. Don’t get me wrong, she gets off on you wanting to destroy her enemies. She would let the empire fall into civil war because she knows you would destroy anyone who defies her. Then eventually everything would be whole again, but changed—for better or worse. Not to mention all the lives lost.”
I exhaled slow and long. “Mira, everything ok with the admiral?”
“Yes. Your woman and the old man are talking quietly in her quarters.”
“Bring Genius’s comm pad to the brig and keep this on the down-low.”
“You are the only person I answer to. No one will know.”
“Your woman and the old man?” Zora asked.
“I think Mira is going through something. I don’t know yet if its good or bad for us.”
“Do you love Mira? Her appearance is so close to your former lover and you keep her around when you could just put her in the recycler. It’s something I have wondered about from time to time.” A question from left field. Just what I needed.
“To me, she is a person who has had an unfortunate life ever since the beginning. I know the Cjittan view clones like the insect soldiers you’ve created: as expendable projects. I see a living, breathing being who is a shadow of someone I once loved. Sometimes I think its Andrea’s spirit that won’t let Mira kill me. Maybe most of all, she is part of our family, who are also my friends and crew. I love them all.”
“He does love me. He won’t admit it to you or me. And he hates me too,” Mira said, walking in handing me the comm pad. I didn’t hear her come back in and that bothered me more than her statement.
“I’m not very good at this stuff.” I was lucky his pad was still logged in. I found the file and opened it. Anywhere it said Minister Zora I changed it to read Regent Renji. Where it said Regent Renji, I changed it to read Queen Tazleaha. It read that Regent Renji was ready to replace Tazleaha and there was no mention of Minister Zora. “How does this look?”
I handed the comm pad to Zora. I watched her give it a quick read, then look over the top of it at me. “Why?”
“Because I believe you. I think if you had you been planning this coup longer than a couple days I might have figured it out. I think I know you by now, Zora. I want you to lie to Genius so he doesn’t think you’re the one who got to him. Then I want you to promise me right now you will make him happy. Blame the lieutenant that held Dela’maah captive.”
“Benjamin, I can’t—”
“You will and you’ll promise to do it right now in front of me and Mira. If you don’t or you go back on your word, Mira is going to pay you a visit.”
“You can threaten me, but it does not change the reason for my actions.”
“No, but if I make some sacrifices, then you should too and there will be no civil war and you won’t need to do anything stupid.”
I watched her eyes grow big, looking up at me, then her head dropped and she looked sad. “Let’s go, Mira. I know what I needed to know. She isn’t a prisoner anymore. Get her a room. Zora, you heard what I just said. You are free, but you are confined to a room until we have more time to talk to some of the other parties in the know. Maybe after that you will see things my way.”
I left and walked to the bridge to have a few minutes to talk to my bridge crew without a queen or admiral lurking in the background.
“Hey, Boss, here are the two mines you asked for,” Snake said. “This one has a ten-second and the other has a twenty-second timer. Do you need me to explain how to use them?”
“Put them down and get the hell out of here.”
“Guess that’s a no.”
“You have all your gear ready to go?”
“Ready to kick some ass, your worshipfulness.”
“Dumbass, get off the bridge,” I said. Zuri growled, lifting her head off the floor. Must have been my tone or that it was Snake. Probably the latter.
“Shut up, mutt,” Snake said, looking down. Zuri started to stand, prompting a fast retreat by my old friend. I smiled as the bridge door closed and turned back to the screen. Zuri snorted and laid her head back down.
The Claymore approached the Khalnalax battleship as slow as it could without arousing suspicion. Lorelei was an ex-pirate. She knew how to approach a ship that was watching her every move. The battleship was something to see up close. An ultimate predator. It was born at the top of the food chain. There was no mistaking its purpose. Binda and Kimit confirmed there was nothing like it in the Allond or Trillond navy. The Cjittan Generations ships were bigger, but size meant nothing. It was like a dairy cow versus a tiger. I turned my attention to the two officers standing behind me.
“Kimit, how many did you bring aboard?”
“Thirty-six counting myself.”
“Lieutenant Jared?”
“Eleven,” he answered sharply, his face neutral, his eyes boring into my chest.
“Jared, we aren’t going to have problems, are we?”
“No, sir. The captain ordered us to follow your orders but not take any unnecessary risks. She said you would be the one to do that and not to get in your way.”
“Aisling is as smart as she is beautiful, isn’t she?”
Jared frowned, then caught himself and put his stoic face back on. No one spoke, but I was sure they were all listening. “It’s not my place to comment on the captain’s appearance or capabilities.”
“Of course, I understand. You know, it’s ok to love her, Jared. I do. Just not in the same way you do. This will most likely be the last time you and I have a chance to talk. I envy you. There are times I wish I was still just Sergeant Benjamin Jamison. Life was so much simpler then. Aisling told me the Warhammer is leaving when we are finished here, so if you live through this, you need to forget about the hate you have for me and concentrate on what’s important. Do you feel me, Marine?”
“Yes, sir, I think so.”
“Good. Stop calling me sir.”
“We have approval to dock inside, Boss. Captain, switch to maneuvering thrusters,” Shawna said. Lorelei made the adjustments.
“Nedra, every weapon is cold, right?”
“They are all cold. Shield
s are warm.”
“It’s pretty clear where they want us to sit down,” Lorelei said before any of the rest of us could comment. There were at least three hundred armed personnel in formation between where we would land and the main body of the ship.
“Looks like our reception party is armed with the usual rifles and pistols. Anyone see anything bigger?” I asked. “How about inside the hold, what do they have? All I see is unmanned laser cannons.” The Claymore moved easily inside the battleships hold toward the reception party.
“Nothing that will do any major damage to the Claymore. Wouldn’t make sense to put weapons inside large enough to blow holes in your own ship,” Lorelei said.
“I concur,” Kimit added, studying the large screen.
“Now they are asking to see Queen Tazleaha before they give the ok to set foot on the ship.” Taz looked over at me. I guess I was running the show.
“Tell them it will be a short wait for the queen to walk to the bridge. Admiral, Dela’maah, stand on either side of her. Shawna, zoom in so they can’t see the rest of crew. Kimit, you and Jared get over here with me.”
“Are we ready?” Taz asked, not really wanting to wait.
“Let’s make them wait. You’re the queen. You don’t hurry for anyone.”
“You love to antagonize people, don’t you?”
“It’s a hobby.”
“Shawna, we are ready. Put them on the screen, please.” Taz ordered politely. Zuri chose that moment to drag her ass off the floor and ease in next to Taz. She had made herself quite at home on the bridge and everywhere else I left her.
“I am Zentos, Minister of the Navy. Where is Queen Tazleaha?” I could hear confusion in his voice.
“I am Queen Tazleaha. It is a pleasure to meet you, Minister Zentos.”
“While I doubt it is a pleasure, I thank you for your courtesy. My apologies also, I was not expecting you to be wearing armor.”
“We are at war, Minister, are we not?”
“So we are. Who are your subordinates?”
“Cushda, Admiral of the Fleet, and my secretary Commander Dela’maah.”
The Chronicles of Benjamin Jaminson: Empires At War (Book 5 Part Two) Page 38
