It was my turn to answer with silence. I turned and walked away. She was right.
****
What have you done? Imelda asked. Her thoughts set the tone.
I don’t want to hear it from you or anyone else. You understand? I shot back.
She says I should go with you. She is right.
Imelda, stay here with her.
Speak no more. I am with you because I choose to be. I do as you ask because I choose to. I will go with you because I choose to. You have no say.
Captain Kimit will not let you on her ship.
We will see. I will talk to her when she arrives.
How do you know she can communicate with you?
I know many things. Your queen is but a child to me. Your child is like an egg waiting to be born, and you have much to learn.
Was that a long, drawn-out way of saying you’re old? If you plan on trying to teach me while I’m on this mission, then just keep your big furry ass on the ship. I got no time for it.
We shall see.
Get out of my head, and stay out until I invite you.
She was gone and I had things to do. They didn’t understand the odds of succeeding were better if I was alone. Imelda was so damn big I might as well stroll in driving a tank. I brought a small bottle of paint from my room with me when I left the Claymore. Staring at the grim reaper on the chest plate, I went to work on the eyes. They had faded; laser blasts, exploding ships and distractions had left them dim.
Leaving it to dry, I walked around the hold, looking at and in the crates littering the floor. I would need anything I could get my hands on to cause diversions. Mines would be great, but so would a railgun. In the future, I needed to be more conservative with my things. They couldn’t be easily replaced.
“Reaper, you’ve been invited to the battle cruiser. Captain Tawniz is there now for a meeting and you will leave from there. A shuttle will be here in ten to pick you up.”
“Thanks, Sash. Good luck.”
“Luck has not been needed so far. You have kept us out of all dangerous situations.”
“Still, there is nothing wrong with keeping my people safe. This offer of a free ride by the Allond is too good to pass up.”
“True.”
“Check your charts and find a place close to Kanlost to lay low. If Tawniz should leave me, I don’t want you to take weeks to get to me. I may not have weeks and I could be dead. If I’m dead, I’m going to haunt you and everyone else.”
“What does haunt mean?”
“It means my angry spirit will come after you and the others and rip you to pieces.”
“It’s a shame you are such an unhappy person. The shuttle is docking. Go be unhappy with the Khalnalax so we can get our lives back to normal.”
“Sash.”
“Yes, Reaper.”
“I love my daughter. Don’t let anything happen to her.”
“I can’t imagine anything hurting her more than you have today. I will watch over her. We may spar while you’re gone. I owe her a beating.”
“Good luck with that. Maybe you’ll bond over the ass-kicking she’s going to give you.”
I waited at the airlock for the indicator to change. A sword, knife, pistol and bag with spare clothes and ammo. My kind of trip.
Chapter 17
Genius opened his messages. It was just habit. So far from home there would no surprises. No personal messages. Most were internal, from Binda and from Ronnie, reminding him to read Binda’s messages. Shawna sent him colorful messages. She said it was to cheer him up. Maybe he needed cheering up, who knew. He hadn’t been the same since leaving Xanlos. He knew why, but he didn’t understand it. He reached the bottom of his list and the newest messages that weren’t follow-ups and found an odd one. He didn’t recognize the sender but the address indicated Xanlos.
I hope this message finds you in good health. The war is taking its toll on me and I fear I am dead on my feet. I had meant to write you sooner but the Empire is determined to suck the life out of me. The governors and aristocrats are overindulged idiots. If Benjamin were here, I might have him kill a few of them to bring them in line. That was a joke. Maybe.
Speaking of Benjamin, have you spoken with him lately? While Tazleaha loves him dearly, she made a questionable decision, rashly I believe, but a decision none the less to end her involvement with him. I tell you this only to make you aware that I am neutral on the subject. Her people wish for her to pick a suitor of Cjittan stock and be done with the madness, but the royals have always had their games. I’m sorry she has dragged you and your friends into the intrigue.
If I may be forward with you, I want to say that I am fond of you and hope we remain friends until this war is over and we can find each other once again. I have no list of suitors or any suitor, other than the Empire, the tyrannical taskmaster that makes my life hell. Is it not sad I refer to my position as a suitor? It is also my hope that we might stay in contact so that one day I can replace this cold, unfeeling lover who holds me hostage with a warm, intelligent one from a far-off world.
Please keep our correspondence private, as I know you will. Reply to this address only.
Your friend,
Zora
Damn, really? Closing the message, he stared at the screen, eyes unfocused. It sounded sincere, but she was the queen’s cousin and a minister privy to all the secrets of the Empire. She hadn’t asked him anything other than whether he had heard about the breakup. Transmission time alone from Xanlos to the Claymore would be over two weeks, unless she wasn’t on Xanlos. Could all that talk of friendship have been a smoke screen to find out what he knew? Get him to open up about their operations? He hoped not, because it was no big deal in the scheme of things. Benjamin would get over Taz; he was a survivor. Give him a couple months and he would stumble into some beautiful woman. This one probably red, some badass Khalnalax super spy with the same personality as him so they could fight all the time and make up. That would be something Zora would want to hear about.
He decided he would keep it all to himself. The others didn’t need to know about Benjamin’s problems and would find out whenever. He didn’t care, no fingers would point his way. He thought that he and Zora had connected on some level, but then rethought it after they left Xanlos. Did she really like him?
****
“Snake, is your team ready to go?” Adeen asked for the umpteenth time.
Damn woman is going to drive me nuts, Snake thought. Maybe something on that ship will bite her head off. I used to hope the whatever green officer we had to follow would listen to Reaper or get their ass shot. Dead. Didn’t want to have to carry them around. This one is no different. Maybe I could get Imelda to eat her.
“Are you going to answer me, space cadet?” he heard Adeen ask, interrupting his fantasy.
“We’re ready.” Shit for brains.
“The admiral has given the go-ahead. Everyone, load up. The Claymore will take out the com array on that behemoth and give us cover fire. Intel from Reaper’s captivity on one of these beauties says our entry point is a cargo hold large enough the Claymore and the Warhammer would fit inside with room to spare. Snake, you and Adam are going to take the walk and breach the airlock.”
Snake heard footsteps approaching. Genius walked into the hold with a small plastic gun in his hand. “The plasma cutter is ready and I brought you this. It’s a little something we obtained on Athena from that warehouse we rescued Aisling from.”
“So you gonna tell us what it is, or can I try it out on Adeen?” Snake asked.
“It would only work on her cybernetic arm. For the sake of this audience, let’s just say it’s a metal-eating acid in a gel form.” The plastic gun had two chambers tapering into one nozzle.
Genius turned the gun so everyone could see the lever and the buttons. “This side first, apply it to the area. You’ll see it working. Then turn the nozzle and flip the lever and it will release the neutralizer to stop the reaction. You want to do the least amount of
damage possible so we don’t have a lengthy repair.”
“Do we know anything at all about this ship? We’re just going in blind. Did they try to contact it?” Snake asked Genius.
“Snake, just follow orders. Yes, they tried. There was no response. The consensus is that they’re playing possum.”
Genius grabbed Snake’s arm and pulled him aside. “Just do what she says. You don’t have to like her, but she is damn good at her job. Binda won’t like hearing that you were a pain in the ass for the whole mission. Tuck this in your belt and don’t lose it.” Genius handed him the plastic gun.
Snake was tired of people telling him how to act. His eyes settled on the newest member of the team, not wanting to look at the others. The boy wore standard-issue armor they had stolen from somewhere. His thin Cjittan frame looked like it could barely support the weight. “Are you going to be able to move in that?” Snake asked. “There will be a lot of walking if we’re lucky, and if not, we’ll be running. Think you’ll be able to do it?”
The boy stared at him but gave no answer.
“What’s your name, anyway?” Snake asked, giving the boy a second to reply. “Well, come on out with it. I have to be able to call you something.”
“Willem,” he replied.
“Damn, finally, an alien with a name I can say. I don’t have to twist my tongue around my ear to get it out. Willem how would you like to be. . .Warlock?”
Willem looked at Snake and Genius in confusion.
“Snake, he doesn’t understand. Just use his name until we can go over everything later.”
“Warlock,” Willem said. “Warlock,” he repeated.
“You like that name? Yeah, I can tell you do. I’m Sam, but it’s been a long time since anyone called me that. I just go by Snake. This is Thad. We call him Genius. Same with him, our call signs just stuck. Warlock is strong—one day you’ll grow into it.”
“Ok, Warlock,” Genius said. “Let’s test your com first, or it won’t matter what name you use.”
Adeen raised her voice to get her team’s attention. “Ok, everyone, Shawna says our ride is ready to go. Let’s load up.”
The six-person team boarded the shuttle and stowed their gear. Snake could hear Lorelei and Binda giving Shawna her orders. Genius was probably right, he shouldn’t have worried about a green kid getting his call sign, but maybe it would give him a sense of belonging.
****
“Lorelei, com Genius. I need him on the bridge,” Binda ordered. The Cjittan ship had her stumped.
“He is on his way. Still nothing from the ship?”
“No, and I think it’s something other than just being unresponsive.”
The doors to the bridge slid open. Genius walked up behind Binda, who sat at Shawna’s com station.
“Admiral, how can I help?” Genius asked. His was face a little red from running from the hold to the bridge.
“I can’t get anything off that ship. No signal at all. Can you do anything with these sensors? All we know is that the drives are operating just enough to move it forward. There is no distress signal, no active weapons. The transponder is active, but that’s it.”
“Let me sit down, Admiral, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“I am going to notify the team,” Binda said.
“Won’t hurt,” Genius answered. “I just sent a burst and the drives are the only thing emitting any kind of waveform.” He continued entering more variables into the computer.
“Adeen, inform your team from all indications the ship is dead. Regardless of internal atmosphere readings, keep your helmets on and scrubbers going.”
“Copy that. It may be nasty in there.”
“Clear a path from your entry point to the bridge. Do not split up or lose eye contact. We’ll need to bring the bridge online and change course, then we can put some search teams together.”
“Understood. We’re ready. I’m sending Snake and Adam now,” Adeen reported. “Snake will have his video and com broadcasting, and the rest of us will just be on our com. He is the only one with the fancy armor. The new kid is Warlock, just in case you hear it. Snake had to give him a call sign.”
****
Snake put his com on private and queued Adam. “You ready for this? I know you helped out back when we lost Andrea, but this is going to be different.”
“I’m good. Benjamin has never pushed me into anything I couldn’t do. I don’t want to be on the front line but I will do my part when it’s needed.”
“Well, don’t go getting yourself hurt. You’re more important as our cook than as Adeen’s wingman. God knows what kind of crap we will have to eat if something happens to you.”
Adam just shook his head. “You’re all heart, Snake. It does seem like a compliment is in there somewhere.”
“There is. I’m serious.”
“I still know how to use these weapons and this plasma cutter, so just worry about yourself, old man.”
Adeen gave them the order to go. Snake went first, followed by Adam. It was just a push off from the shuttle. Shawna had them too close, in Snake’s opinion, but he kept his mouth shut. There wasn’t room to turn his body and come in feet first, so he just reached his hands in front and hoped his face didn’t bounce off. They were right on top of the hatch, which was good. He didn’t relish walking around in mag boots if he didn’t have to.
The hatch had external structure supports that provided good hand holds as well as giving his mag boot a place to attach. Snake used one hand to grab Adam, although there was no need. Adam made the jump like a pro, carrying more gear than Snake had brought.
“You haven’t lost your touch. What did you used to do in the military?” Snake asked.
“A little of this and a little of that,” Adam answered.
“Uh huh.”
“Let’s just get this done and not worry about my resume.”
The lever for the hatch looked in bad shape. Pitted and scarred, it had made Snake think it would break the minute they tried to use it. Adam opened the door covering the electronic controls with ease, so maybe there was hope. The panel looked dead and there were no indicator lights. Adam began pushing buttons.
Snake decided to work the handle. There was no need to stand around watching Adam work. The handle moved with light pressure and stopped. It seemed a little more force was in order. Adam caught the movement and waited to see if Snake would be successful before doing anything else with the panel. Snake groaned as he pushed and it moved again before stopping. He pulled it back down to the starting position and pushed up again, this time gaining more momentum. Adam grabbed the handle now that he could get some leverage and pulled, both men groaning as they tried to break it free.
The handle gave up the fight and rotated a hundred and eighty degrees. It was a sliding door, so it was Snake’s turn to pull and Adam pushed until it slid far enough they could turn sideways and enter. Adam removed the plasma pack from his back and handed it to Snake then turned on the lights on his helmet. Stepping inside, he made a quick survey then took the pack and put it back on. Snake was right behind him as they moved to the inner airlock door.
“We won’t close the outer door until we know if we can get in this one. I don’t want to somehow get trapped in here,” Snake said.
“This door is dead. If we’re lucky, it’s unlocked and we can open it manually.”
“Captain Adeen, come on over. The airlock is large enough for everyone and we could use a couple of you on the outer door.”
“Copy, Snake. On our way. Admiral, you and Genius might as well suit up. The outer doors are always the hardest and we are past that. We’re going in,” Adeen said.
Snake located the manual release lever for the inner door. “This looks straightforward.”
They heard a thump and swearing. It seemed the team leader had pushed off a little too hard from the shuttle. “Hey, Captain, you don’t need to be so gung ho,” Snake prodded.
“Shut up. It’s been a while sinc
e I’ve had to do that.”
“Snake, Warlock is frozen up over here. You want me to help him?” Angel asked. “I don’t think I’m as rusty as our team leader.”
“Be gentle with him, Angel. It’s his first time. The team leader says fuck you.”
“I did not!”
“She gave you the finger. Means the same thing.”
“I didn’t do that either.”
“Well, she was thinkin’ it.”
“Got me there,” Adeen said.
“It’s ok, Snake. She’s old and needs all help we can give her. Warlock, put your arm around my waist and step out, pushing off with your other leg. Easy, easy… oh shit!”
Snake was already on his way, anticipating the jump would go south. Warlock pushed too hard, but Angel got one leg up to cushion the impact. Snake grabbed the kid and his boots locked in place on the airlock floor.
“That wasn’t too bad, was it, Angel?” Snake asked. “Could have been a lot worse.”
“No, he did ok. I’d have let him go if he rocketed us across.”
“All right, let’s get the doors taken care of and find out what isn’t right with this ship,” Adeen said. Angel and Snake pushed the outer airlock door into place while Buddy and Adam worked on the inner with Adeen watching over their shoulder.
“It’s probably a shorter list than what isn’t right with her,” Snake said. Angel laughed in agreement.
Adeen stared through the view port on the door. “What do you two make of the mess in the corridor?” Adeen asked Adam and Buddy.
“Not good, Captain. My guess is blood, and it’s been there for a while,” Adam answered. “The black coloring is consistent as far as I can see down the hall. Snake, bring that acid gel over here. This thing is stuck.”
“Captain Adeen, I have never been on one of my people’s Generation ships, but I have heard stories,” Warlock said. “Sometimes a creation got loose and hunted the crew. Monsters were created by mixing species, and they couldn’t always control them. Those creations had no reservations about how many they hunted, killed, and ate until the there was nothing left. Then they ate each other. The ships traveled on silently through the black.”
Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison 4: Empires at War (Part One) Page 27
