“No, Taz. I’m sorry, but if you feel the old version is a bad bargain I can think of three or four females that would take him off your hands in a minute,” Ronnie advised.
“I’ll take him!” Shawna yelled from up front.
“Me too,” Adeen added, but not as forcefully, since Taz was just a couple feet away.
“Then there is Aisling and Mira, and possibly E’Aria,” Ronnie said. “Should I go on, Your Highness?”
“Your point is well made, Ronnie, thank you.”
“Hey, I’m lying right here,” I called out. “You guys can stop talking about me and start doing.”
“In your dreams,” Taz answered. “Now you need to control yourself and lie still. I believe everyone has tired of your amorous attention.”
I didn’t know what she was talking about and why she was keeping me awake if I couldn’t propagate my species, so I closed my eyes to think about it. I could hear my name, but it seemed like whoever it was was very far away, so it didn’t matter. I heard it again, maybe a little closer, and then the pain brought me back to reality. My face stung and my eyes fluttered open.
“I told you not to go to sleep,” Taz said.
“Supreme Commander!” Shawna called. “The Claymore is fifty-eight minutes out and they have three ships in pursuit.”
“How much time do we have for the pickup?”
“Please make it quick,” Snake said. “I don’t think I can stand to listen to much more of him. It just isn’t right. I like the surly bastard a lot better.”
“I can hear you, buddy. When’s the last time I knocked you out? I think you’re about due,” I said. I didn’t think I sounded very threatening.
“Leave Snake alone,” Taz said. “I have something I want to talk to you about.” I turned to her.
“When we dock with my ship I would like my shuttle returned to me, Benjamin. It was my mother’s and I want it back,” she said.
“Sorry, but no can do.”
“What do you mean, no can do?”
“Simple English,” I said. “No . . . can . . . do. Better?”
“I understood your stupid language,” she snapped. “I want to know why you would keep it from me.”
“Remember the night Mira and her pirate crew tried to take the Claymore and we killed them? Good times. Anyway, I immediately filed an abandoned salvage claim and by now it should be the property of Benjamin Jamison, just like the Claymore, not Reaper Inc. You own that, remember?”
“It was my mother’s!” she growled.
“Now it’s mine, and if she were alive she would probably give it to me for putting up with you!” I fired back. “I would say we are even. You took something of mine you obviously have no need for whatsoever, and I took something of yours that I really do need. It will be a great asset to my new company, Jamison Enterprises.”
She squinted her eyes and growled at me. “You are impossible,” she yelled as she walked back up front.
I closed my eyes again. The hour passed too fast for me. Everything was wearing off and there was a dull ache throughout my body. I was wondering if the nanites were removing the painkiller from my body.
Ronnie was turning my head gently from left to right, feeling my skull and checking my eyes. She pushed on my chest until I grunted, then pushed in a different spot. She made little noises that signified she was making a note of something in her head.
“Did you really do all that, file the claim and start a new company?” Ronnie asked softly.
I held my finger to my lips and smiled. I gave her the hand signal for yes and then one for no.
“This is not a very good way to start a relationship with someone, Benjamin,” she admonished.
“She isn’t just someone, and we come from totally opposite ends of the universe. Plus, she’s like two hundred years old, on top of everything else.”
“Have you done any research on her species and her culture? What do you know about her?”
“I know some things,” I said defensively.
“Yeah, her measurements don’t count. You can’t think of everything in human terms,” Ronnie told me. “She is most likely regarded as being about our age in her culture. She acts how she has been taught from birth to act like royalty. Now that she knows you better, I don’t think she would have made that play and taken Reaper Inc. as payment for the damage you did to her ship.”
“In your mind, the damage you caused is secondary to everything else and basically tough shit. That’s what you were taught in your training,” she continued. “You reacted the way you always have in battle and just walked away. Do you think you can take being with her? It could be a full-time job, and you would be challenged by more than just her suitors.”
“When did you become so long-winded?” I asked. “I think you made your point, or would have if I had been listening.”
“I love you too,” Ronnie said. “Think about what I said. I know you heard it all.”
“Hey Supreme Whatever, how long until they catch up to us?” I called out to Taz, then turned back to Ronnie. “I’m not calling her Supreme Commander, and I’m kicking Shawna’s ass when I get up and around.”
“Does your arm hurt here?” Ronnie asked, touching my bicep.
“No, it might be the only place that doesn’t,” I answered.
Her fist hit solidly with a smack. “It’s a joke,” she told me, “and you’ll leave Shawna alone. Now you hurt all over. Get serious. We are about to get in the middle of it with three Alliance warships.”
“You know what? Screw it, stop the shuttle. Tell Lorelei we aren’t running from these pricks and get her ass over here so we can get aboard,” I said.
“I think the drugs wore off,” Snake said.
“I would seem so,” Adeen agreed.
Chapter 37
“You will fight the three warships?” Taz asked.
“You got something better to be doing right now?” I replied.
“Genius, send the signal I gave you with our coordinates once we have stopped,” Taz called out.
“Yes ma’am,” Genius answered,
“Shawna, keep us cloaked until we are aboard one ship or the other.”
I was getting up off the floor slowly and hoping my head could stay clear. I locked eyes with Taz, long hair stuck to my face. “Did you call for your ship?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“It can cloak like the one I was held captive on?”
“Yes.”
“What would you do in this situation?” I asked her. She looked surprised.
“You would like my opinion on how to fight this battle?”
“Yes,” I said. “I would assume that in being raised to be queen, you were trained in warfare.”
“I see,” she said slowly. “In that case, I would not fight this battle. It serves no purpose. Send the Claymore on to the safety of Trillond and we will meet my ship, then follow cloaked behind them to rendezvous in safety.”
“Good idea; make it happen.” I eased into a seat right behind the command center and next to where Taz was standing. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. “And you can keep your mother’s shuttle once we’re aboard your ship.”
“You would give up your prize?” she asked, amazed. “Why did you want to fight this battle just to give in? We would have followed your order.”
“Easy come, easy go. Let’s leave it at that, shall we?”
“But why?”
I ignored her and kept my eyes closed. I hadn’t been thinking rationally a moment ago when I wanted to kick the shit out of the Alliance ships. Mira still needed medical attention as soon as possible, and my actions would have jeopardized her life and everyone else. Taz had not been upset about the shuttle just because it was one of her toys that I had taken. She was upset because it was her mother’s, who had been murdered, and her flagship stolen. It had a special meaning to her, and I couldn’t have been a bigger ass to do that to her. I had just asked so many people, including her, to ba
ck me up while I took care of a matter regarding my family.
I had lived this long without a shuttle that would cloak and infiltrate any location. It was best to give it up now and not get attached.
We were purposely crawling along on thruster power. It seemed that Taz’s plan had been happily accepted over mine by the crew of the Claymore. Taz advised Lorelei to set course for Trillond Prime and not to look back. My guess was that the Alliance ships would give up the chase; Captain Mahajan would know exactly where the Claymore was going, and could do nothing about it but sit at the border and squawk.
Taz and I didn’t talk for the next two hours. Ronnie sat with Mira and kept an eye on her. She rubbed a healing salve on the burns left by the defibrillator they had stolen, reprogrammed by Genius. You could say they ignored the warning tags and didn’t use it as intended; just add that to our criminal charges. Taz’s miracle doctor would fix her up and probably complain about what we had done.
I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees, staring at my hands. Ronnie had cleaned them earlier, but my fingernails were black with graveyard dirt. I hated long, slow trips through space. There was too much time to think or second guess. I wielded Imelda with no consciousness. If I decided someone should die, they were dead. It was easy, and I didn’t have to provide the fatal blow. Maybe I needed to hook myself up to the modified defibrillator for thinking this way. Then again, what good was it having a giant spider? I had no wagon or cart to pull, and besides, she would eat all my livestock. No, this was the perfect job for her. I guessed my hands would always be dirty.
“Taz, can we accelerate now and get this damn ride over with?” I grumbled.
“We already have, Benjamin. Try and relax. I think many things have converged on your mind all at once and the fall did enough damage to disorient you. Are you really giving me the shuttle back, or is this some trick to get back at me?”
“It’s no trick,” I answered. “I won’t take it. I wanted to hurt you for what you did to me, and I’m sorry.”
“Ronnie, are you sure he didn’t crack his egg?” Snake said. “I just heard him apologize.”
Harry, who had been quiet for hours, slapped Snake on the forehead, bouncing his head off the padded wall. “Snake man should be quiet and not speak,” he said.
“Thank you Harry,” Ronnie said.
Adeen just looked at Harry in awe. She had felt the whoosh of his arm above her head, but he had hardly moved his body. I smiled, thinking Snake would never catch a break from anyone. Taz touched my arm and I looked up at her. She slid her other arm around me and leaned in.
“Benjamin, I need to talk to you about Natalia,” Taz said.
I just looked at her, thinking the worst. “What’s happened?” I asked.
“She went with Imelda without permission and was gone for twelve hours. She has also been disrespectful to the other females on the bridge,” Taz explained. “I was told she threatened Lorelei as well, citing their past together on the pirate ship. Lorelei did not send the report; Aisling sent it. She wanted you to know before you arrived. If the animosity continues, she feels Lorelei may resign her position as captain and leave the Claymore.”
“It will all work out,” I said.
“You will do nothing? Just let fate decide your daughter’s actions?”
“Sounds like a plan, Your Highness. Thank you for suggesting it,” I said. I could feel my old self returning.
“Those were questions, not statements, and you know it! She is very protective of you and how people treat you.”
“A little while ago Ronnie asked me how much I knew about you, and by the time she finished talking to me I realized I don’t know much about you at all,” I said. “So let me ask you, what do you know about Natalia? What do you think I should do?”
“Talk you her, of course. You are the only one she will listen to.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll talk to her. But what if I agree with her? Do you still want me to talk to her?”
“You mustn’t agree with her,” Taz said. “You need to guide her and help her make the right decisions.”
I laughed out loud. “I don’t know that I am the one to do that either. I think you should be the one to talk to her. I think she will listen to you.”
“Why do you think she would listen to me?”
“I’m not totally sure she would, really, but out of everyone, you are an unknown. I think she would second-guess what the rest will tell her before they do and end up dismissing them. I don’t think she would have any idea what you might tell her.”
“And why won’t you talk to her? I’m still at a loss on that reason.”
“Because I would let her shoot Lorelei right between the eyes, and I think Lorelei knows it. Do you wonder why Aisling sent the message and not Lorelei?”
“Benjamin, it is one thing that we followed you to seek your enemy and exact your vengeance, but you can’t let that happen to Natalia.”
“I hoped that it would never come to that,” I said. “I wanted Natalia to grow up spending time with Andrea and E’Aria and girls her own age. I decided to teach her self-defense, which was like a spark on dry grass. Things were going well, even with her living in the same house as Lorelei. Now that dream is over, shattered and broken like the little girl who was locked in the floor. Lorelei was her jailer, a jailer who took pity on her, but who never raised a finger to help her and left her to die. Taz, she hasn’t forgotten any of that, and now she is able and prepared to do something about it.”
“I could give her a position in my court with steady work to keep her busy,” Taz offered. “I have attendants who could teach her the protocols for court, as well as fashion and management.”
“There! You see, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. Get her away from Lorelei and the others. I don’t know that it will stop her entirely, but it may buy us time so that she grows and matures and has time to rethink her decisions.”
“Maybe you should kill Lorelei. That might ease her mind.”
“Or make her angry at me for taking that away from her. I like Lorelei, I gave her a chance and options, and as far as I know, she has lived up to our bargain,” I said. “I liked Matt and Bill until I found out they were double-crossing us. I like Adeen, but found her and 53 mixed up with Gray. Can I trust her? Do I continue to let her stay with us? I don’t have all the answers, and I’m not going to kill Lorelei, Taz.”
“We can deal with this situation later and just hope nothing happens between now and then,” Taz said. I nodded, hoping she was right.
“We have two incoming messages,” Genius called out. “one from Trillond and the other the Claymore,”
Taz moved to the doorway. “Play them. The Trillond message first.” He pressed a button and the message began.
“By order of the Regent of Trillond Princess E’Aria Aok, the ship known as the Claymore is to surrender to the Trillond Military and be escorted to Trillond Prime.”
The person making the announcement was Prime Minister Alona Aok.
“Benjamin, what’s the plan?” Lorelei asked.
“Taz, get Lorelei on live,” I ordered. “Genius, did you get the transponder disconnect installed and operational?”
“Yeah, boss, it’s all done. Grubb knows how to access it,” Genius said.
“Did you tell Lorelei or anyone else on the bridge about it?”
“Nope, I buttoned it up just as we had to leave.”
“Shawna, go ahead and change course. Input the coordinates for the refueling station we stopped at earlier,” I ordered. “Taz could you inform the Nas Et Nass of the change in plan please?”
“I have Lorelei for you, Ben,” Genius said. He put it on the monitor.
“What is she doing, Benjamin?” Lorelei asked, looking worried. “Why would E’Aria send ships after us? We saved her ass just over a week ago from getting bombed out, her palace leveled from space.”
“Well, hello to you too,” I answered. “Okay, let’s get ri
ght to it, then. I don’t know! She may be under some pressure, or just going through the motions to keep the peace with the Alliance. Call Grubb to the bridge and tell him to disconnect the transponder. He’ll know what I mean, then head for the refueling station at max speed.”
“Should we wait for you?”
“I would say no, don’t wait. I have some injuries and Mira is going into the tank, so depending on what action our pursuers take, we can meet just across the border in Allond space. I don’t think the Trillond or the Alliance will risk angering Xamand.”
“Benjamin, I know of a place where we can wait for you,” Nedra said from the background.
“Good, Nedra. Once you are underway, notify Captain Dakkon that you will be in the area and the Cjittan flagship Nas Et Nass will be joining you. I would rather not have any incidents with Allond patrol ships.”
“We need to talk,” Lorelei said.
“Go ahead,” I answered. I knew what was coming, and hoped I was prepared to deal with it.
“You need to talk to Natalia. She’s out of control.”
“You need to grow a pair and talk to her yourself,” I said.
“She hates me, Benjamin,” Lorelei said. “She might even kill me.”
“It’s possible. Do you think she has a reason?”
“I was hoping that she had forgiven me, and at first it looked that way, but now she has no problem telling me or anyone else what’s on her mind,” Lorelei said. “It’s a little scary.”
“As I recall, some of you have treated me that way lately,” I said, eyebrows raised. “I’ll talk to her, but again, it’s really you that needs to have a heart-to-heart with her.”
“What about me, and getting me to the Warhammer?” Aisling said.
“Have you sent them any messages?”
“No. I think secrecy is still the best policy right now.”
“Good,” I said. “Don’t talk to E’Aria about it, either. I would like to impose on Taz a little longer and ask if we can take her ship when we go visit the Warhammer. I think going in cloaked in the middle of their night would be wise.”
The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: No More Lies (Book 3) Page 30
