Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison 4: Empires at War (Part One)

by Thomas A. Wright

“You going up to check on the others who were pursuing the kids?” I asked. It made sense to me that by now they might be wondering about the other men and beasts.

  “We were sent to find them and the two slaves.”

  “You let me inside and I’ll let you go. Does that work for you?”

  “It does.”

  “Hands up, go down one level.” He complied. I had a hand on his shoulder and the knife in his back. He stepped around his dead companions. “Does the door have a biometric scanner?’

  “Yes, along with a code.”

  “What’s on this level?” There was silence. He was going to test me. I changed my grip on the knife. Blade down, I punched him in the back. “What’s on this level? You don’t answer me, you’ll get the blade next.”

  “The bridge and mining command center.”

  “Open the door, now, then drag that crate over,” I said. This time my pistol pointed at his head. He placed his right hand on the reader and punched a code with his left. The door slid open. “Put the crate right here. Hurry!” He put the crate in the path of the door. I felt pretty certain it wouldn’t crush it.

  I holstered my pistol, grabbed him by his suit and manhandled him to the rail. I lifted him off the decking, forcing him over. He struggled and kicked, which was better for me to grab his leg and throw him over the rest of the way. He disappeared into the darkness. “Told you I would let you go.” Two quick steps and one over the crate and I was inside. The crate must have tripped a sensor to hold the door open. Once removed, it slid shut.

  New plan. One. Bridge and control center had to have higher ranking people, good targets to eliminate. Two. Plant charges directly on the controls. Damaged controls could overload all sorts of things that cause big problems and explosions. Good times.

  ****

  “Captain Sashet, we are on the ground in the landing zone. The warehouse you want is the last one on the right at the end of the row. Just go straight when I lower the ramp.”

  “Aye, thanks. Any odd activity at the World Eater?”

  “Not that I can tell.”

  Natalia eased the shuttle out and was on the ground seconds later in front of the warehouse. They opened the side door instead of lowering the ramp on the shuttle and went inside. Natalia turned her helmet lights on and looked around.

  “Captain, I say we proceed quietly just in case the kids are not alone.”

  “Good idea. You two go with Natalia.” Natalia’s two favorite people fell in behind her. Jewels and Broken. Not where she wanted them, but she would find out if the agreement and their word was worth spit.

  Natalia and her crewmates came to a row of doors. She listened at each one before opening the door and looking around. The last door revealed a stack of crates and the three of them entered to check them out. Natalia walked behind the stack and found two bodies huddled together sleeping under a thermal blanket. She motioned to her crewmen to stop moving and wait.

  Dimming the helmet lights, she bent down and shook the Cjittan male then the female. They both woke with a start and tried to stand. Natalia stood, slowly putting her hands in front of her. “Easy there, were not going to hurt you. We’re here to help you.”

  The female looked Natalia over. “You’re not Reaper.”

  “He is my father, I’m Natalia.” She slowly unbuckled her helmet and took it off. Her long brown hair fell around her shoulders. I sorta met you when you were with Captain Kimit.

  “I remember. I am Joon and this is my brother Doon. He doesn’t speak.”

  “How was my father when you saw him? Is there anything you can tell me?”

  “Terrifying and kind. He appeared out of the dark and we saw them all die. He killed four guards and two Etash that were going to kill us! He swung his arm and pieces of their bodies fell and then he pointed, lights flashed and they exploded. It only took a few short breaths and their bodies, what was left, lay all around. He put us on the shuttle with the Allond warrior captain and she brought us here. That is all I can tell you.” She was smiling as she finished her story. Her brother nodded.

  “Young one, why do you smile?” Sashet asked from the doorway behind them.

  “Joon, that is Captain Sashet. She is captain of the ship you will be living on at least temporarily,” Natalia explained.

  “Captain, I prayed for my people and my planet. I asked the gods to save Kanlost and they sent a savior.” Joon continued smiling and Natalia felt herself doing the same.

  “There are no gods or saviors,” the pirate next to the captain blurted out.

  Natalia and Joon both gave the man a death stare. Natalia knew what Joon must have felt. She remembered the box in the floor where she was kept and the man with black armor ripping the door open. It was frightening until he picked her up and held her close. He told her it would be ok, she was safe, and he held her under warm water, rinsing away the filth she was forced to lay in day after day. She knew she loved him more than anything. She faced Joon and hugged her, putting her mouth next to her ear. “We will save Kanlost and he—your savior and mine—will lead us, then you will know you were right.” Natalia stepped back. A thought occurred to her and she smiled at Joon. “One small thing. We might have to rescue him first.”

  “You two can hero worship later. Let’s get these crates loaded and see if we can locate your father,” Sashet said. Everyone grabbed one; Doon and Joon carried one together. Two trips and they were all loaded up. All the pirates except Sashet and Natalia were aboard. They started to board when an explosion gave the storm competition for their attention. Flames erupted in a circle around the World Eater’s legs. Steel groaned as it moved from its resting place then suddenly stopped. Sashet and Natalia shared a look. No words required. It had started; they needed to get there.

  ****

  No one checked the door because the proper I.D and code were used for entry. I had hoped that would be the case. A guard stood in the hallway by an entry door. That had to be the one of the two targets I was looking for. There was no way to get to him in the well-lit hall. I needed a diversion that would get me to the door before an alarm could be sounded.

  I went twenty paces away from the corner, looking for a panel, and found nothing so I walked back and waited till the guard faced the other way then ran across and searched the other direction. I found it right before giving up. I opened the panel door and an alarm went off. Not knowing what to do, I ignored it. Blue tubes with pulsating light wrapped around something and flowed along with green tubes that looked like they had liquid in them. I didn’t know what the hell to do with any of it. I was hoping I just had to cut a blue wire or something. I called on the wisdom of the ages and shot the fucker with my railgun. The alarm stopped then changed to a different alarm due to the fire burning in the wall.

  The good thing about the wisdom of the ages is the lights went off when the power went out just as I had hoped. Genius would laugh at me, but I bet he wouldn’t have figured that shit out. There was a glow from the fire but otherwise it was very dark in the direction I was headed. I knew there was a live body ahead somewhere; I just needed to wait till I was closer to turn on my light. As it happened, I didn’t need my light. The guard had his weapon out and it lit him up. I shot him then went and placed a mine on the door. Setting the timer, I ran back then around the corner and picked up the crate.

  The explosion and the terrible shriek of metal tearing told me I was go. When I got to the door, the occupants were wild eyed and in various states of damage. The door had decapitated the operator of a console directly in line with it and had wedged itself into the front wall of the room. I didn’t enter right away, only poked my head in to check the damage. I knew there would be guards soon and wanted to give them a reason to be cautious. Another quick glance in the room told of people helping others who had pieces of shrapnel in them. Some were beyond help. Finally, I heard running feet. I eased my new toy off my back and slung it where it hung under my arm.

  I watched both the hall and the
room while my rifle warmed up. I was trying to remember what I had it loaded with. I should have color-coded the magazines. Fuck it. I just pulled the trigger and let it tell me what it was spittin’. Hmmm, shit. Explosive rounds. “Are there any Cjittan slaves present in this room? If so, please step over to the door.” No one replied or moved. “A sweet little girl named Joon said she prayed to the gods for help. Help has arrived, so if you want to live I need to see you in about three breaths.” A male and a female dressed in dull dirty, thread-worn jumpsuits emerged out of the dark.

  “You are here to help us?” the male asked.

  “Yes. Now I need you to be calm and help get me to a shuttle. Tell as many of your friends as you can that they need to be ready to leave right now.”

  “How can we tell them in so little time?”

  “Is there a way to talk to them all without running them all down? A ship-wide com? If so then tell them, tell them all to get out, get on a shuttle, or just run.” I tossed a mine in the command center with the balance of the Khalnalax still not quite understanding what was going on. Both ends of the hallway burned with small fires. I fired a burst of explosive rounds down the hall just to keep them guessing.

  Alarms were going off everywhere, and not just one. Fire, warning, intruder. Workers were throwing caution to the wind and running in all directions. Khalnalax and Cjittan mixed together moving with just one purpose.

  “There will be no shuttles by the time we arrive,” the female warned. “We should take protective suits and chance the storm.”

  “Go on. If you make your way to the space port, I will have a ship there soon. There should be two Cjittan, a brother and sister, already there. Find them and stay put. Take as many with you as you can find.”

  “You aren’t coming?” the male asked.

  “Not yet. I want to make sure they can’t use this thing again. Go on, get out of here.”

  “If they feel the threat is too great, they will depart before they let the World Eater be destroyed.”

  “That’s what they think. I will see to it that they don’t or they will take me with them and that will be a huge mistake. There is nowhere to run in space if your shuttles are gone.” Laser blasts ended our goodbyes. I gave them cover fire while they ran toward the hall with the burnt-out panel.

  “Did you miss me?” I asked the control center operators when I stepped back into the room. One of them held the mine I had tossed in earlier, trying to figure it out. Another greeted me with his side arm. The man holding the mine had a nicer uniform than the one shooting at me so I shot the shooter and watched as the man put the mine down on the floor. Straightening himself out, he got that look on his face, the one where he felt the need to speak.

  “Don’t open your mouth until I tell you to answer me, understand? I will assume you do. Can you shut this thing down from here?” There were others sitting at consoles still doing their jobs. A few turned to watch him answer. “Hurry up, there isn’t time for you to think about how you want to lie me.”

  “You will never survive this. Soon all of the guards and Etash warriors will descend on this floor,” he answered, his tone radiating superiority. “The Khalnalax do not surrender.”

  “Good answer to another question I had. Back to the original, can you shut this monster down?”

  “No!” I looked at the operators who watched him, their expressions visible enough in the glow of emergency lighting. One looked a little shocked, his eyes wide and eyebrows raised. The others seemed confused.

  “Anybody else care to answer my question? I don’t think I’m getting the level of cooperation I seek.”

  “You will say nothing!” the officer yelled at the room. I didn’t want to leave my position at the door. I knew the info on the guards was true. It was a truth told in spite. They would be in force soon. The wall behind the officer was clear of equipment and controls, so I shot him. It was messy and I would have to spend more time calming them down to get information, but it needed to be done.

  The guards arrived at both ends of the corridor at the same time. There was no cover other than the bodies lying about. “All of you heard my question. It would be easy to just kill everyone in here and at the same time blow up the controls. You have a few more breaths to consider doing what I ask, then my generosity meter will hit zero.”

  The guards opened fire on the doorway where I stood. Laser fire from both directions scorched and burned the walls, ceiling and floor, forcing me back into the room. I knew it was cover fire and should expect guests any second now. Pistol in one hand and rifle in the other, I crossed my arms and fired in both directions. Not bothering to aim, just sending my answer in both directions.

  “I’ll do it,” someone yelled behind me.

  “Hurry up!” I yelled back over the sound of explosions and screaming.

  “It’s going to take some time.” It was the operator with the eyebrows.

  “How much time before it would go critical if the structure is damaged?”

  “I initiated emergency shutdown. There is danger involved in just doing that, but it’s much less compared to destroying the controls.”

  “Is there a way out of here besides the two doors?” I asked, then sent another volley of fire in each direction. The door along the wall at the other end of the room I could use, just to mix things up, firing from a new location.

  “Not that I am aware of,” he answered.

  “Maybe,” another voice rang out. I looked for the speaker and noticed the front wall becoming clear and overlooking what must have been the lower shuttle bay. “There are ladders for maintenance and walkways above and below these viewing panes. But the viewing panes aren’t designed to open.”

  “Of course not. That would be too easy.” I noticed tentacles on the floor at the end of the corridor, its body still hidden behind the wall. “Looks like they are getting ready to use the Etash for another run at this door. Everyone get your heads down.” They complied. I shot the clear panel in front of the decapitated guy with the door wedged into it. It was clearly some form of shatter-resistant material. I tested it under new conditions and it didn’t hold up, blowing out into the shuttle bay. The door fell, creating a ramp up on the frame, the body lying under it.

  I looked out in both directions, and things got hot. I guess they were waiting to see if I was still there and alive. Whatever their thoughts, they opened fire and two Etash came from each end. “You better leave if you’re going. The charity ends at the opening in the wall. Run far from here and leave Kanlost. Soon it won’t be under your control.” I squeezed the trigger, firing on the Etash while I gave them their farewell speech. Four Etash bodies joined the Khalnalax littering the corridor. They twitched; the nerves and muscles hadn’t got the memo that they were done. This new rifle was addictive. The Khalnalax crewmen took my advice and were exiting via the missing viewing pane into the shuttle bay.

  I took out the transmitter the mines outside were linked to. Judging from the mines I had used inside, I knew there was a problem with my plan: I hadn’t used near enough. A voice called down the hall and I stopped my contemplation. “You might as well give yourself over to us. I offer you a swift death if you do. If you decline, then I promise you unending pain.”

  “Nice opener. What else you got? That didn’t really do anything for me.” I knew the type. This one would be worse than the officer I shot earlier. “On second thought, can I have a moment to think about it?” I hurried across the room and looked out at the shuttle bay. A few bodies were running around like chickens with no heads, but there was no large group of guards. I grabbed the crate of mines, armed them one by one, then threw them over, on and around the control stations.

  “You have no more time.”

  “Hey, yeah, no I don’t think that will work for me but you keep practicing those lines and I’m sure one day everyone will stop laughing at you.”

  “Kill him!” Someone screamed. I pushed the button on the transmitter. The outside mines were set to
go off simultaneously. The floor shifted under my feet as I ran for the opening in the front wall. I dove head first out the opening and overshot the walkway; it was narrower than those outside. I managed to get a hand on the rail, my other on the edge of the walkway. I was still higher than I wanted to fall. I needed to be able to walk and most likely run my ass off out there. I hung by my arms, fingers gripping a raised lip on the edge. Stretching, reaching, straining my fingers and forearms, moving a meter at a time. I remembered Birdman used to do this shit for fun. Hanging off a cliff by his arms, feet dangling, nothing below them as he climbed to reach the top of some mountain. Sometimes it was a cliff next to the ocean and once he reached the top he would jump off into the water below then climb it again. I wondered what his widow was doing now. Concentrate, dumbass.

  “Stop where you are!” A head popped out of the opening. Guards were squeezing around the speaker rifles aimed to get a shot.

  “Fuck off and die.”

  “I am the Overseer and you will fuck off and die.”

  “You’re the Overseer. Well, isn’t that just special.” I hung on with one arm so I could take the transmitter from my belt. “Joon and Doon send their regards, asshole.” I pushed the button and ten mines detonated where one would have done the trick. I remembered the concussion that ripped me from the walkway, my body twisting and turning end over end out of control. I was moving so fast, then came to a sudden, bone-breaking halt. My senses screamed overloaded from the pain of hitting something solid at accelerated speed. Darkness, sweet darkness.

  ****

  “Captain, do you know anything about these machines of mass destruction?” Natalia asked. The shuttle sped toward the World Eater. The explosion sounded like thunder in the distance. They watched the flames extinguish after only a few breaths. Whatever her father had done, it wasn’t enough to damage it.

  “First, they are ships and, while they have defenses, they’re light. They aren’t meant for battle. Although, the hull plating is on par with a battleship or heavy cruiser.” As they approached, a huge flame shot out near the bottom, lighting up the darkness.