Reaper Inc.

by Thomas Wright

  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."

  "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.

  Chapter 27

  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 survivo
rs 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.

  "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.