“I do not recall ordering any ships into your territory,” Khalnalax said. “Is it possible they are Cjittan ships or pirates?”
“If you say they aren’t yours, then I thank you and will reach out to them again,” Xamand replied. The fool should not have lied.
“What will you say to the interlopers, Xamand?” Khalnalax asked.
“Say? I will say nothing. Destruction translates well in any language.”
Xamand cut the feed. The young emperor should not have taken the situation so lightly. He looked at his Prime Minister and brother, Jinwasys, who had been listening to his com out of sight. “Message Captain Dakkon immediately. Destroy the invaders.”
****
Tazleaha longed for word from Kanlost. Soon she would take a small fleet of ships against the larger fleet of Khalnalax at Idaline. She knew an argument would ensue as soon as Zora arrived and Dela’maah told her the plan. She needed the Allond ships she purchased, but they were not ready yet and too far away if she was to act swiftly. If the Claymore were to change course and travel at full speed, it might make it in time to make a difference in the outcome. The Khalnalax would never catch the Claymore. Its presence would be worth two or three of her ships.
She should have kept him by her side. Kanlost was lost, its people effectively removed and the process of laying waste and making it a barren planet was well underway. It was already too late when she mentally beat him into going. He was another one who held to a code of honor. He had committed to go to Kanlost and kept that promise even after she told him they were through. Maybe it wasn’t honor, it was something else. Her console beeped. She had a message. Zora had probably arrived and the captain was informing her.
She saw it was a vid file, looking back at the originator she saw it was from the pirate ship belonging to Captain Sashet. Benjamin must have sent her a vid. She smiled at the thought of seeing him even though she knew it might be an angry, unpleasant message. The image was of a World Eater. It became smaller as the ship moved quickly away from it. There was a flash of light and the image bounced around then was gone. An image of a different location remained briefly in focus; she could see destruction rolling in an invisible wave across the surface of the planet.
The vid stopped then returned but in a different time and place. This recording was slower as the ship passed over a crater in the surface of the planet. The World Eater was totally destroyed. Some fragments were visible in and around the crater. The vid jumped to a new scene. A body lay on a table in a small medical bay. The thermal suit had been cut away, revealing the damage. Bone protruded from a leg bent at the wrong angle; the other leg was purple and black and most likely broken as well. Hips, chest and neck were all shades of dark colors, yet somehow the face remained untouched.
She cried even though she knew he would survive it. The note at the end was sharp. It sounded like something he would say, but she knew he didn’t write it. I’ve paid for my crime with blood and bone and here is the proof. There are five more of these on Kanlost and we want five hundred thousand per or we leave.
She typed a short reply, careful not to ask about Benjamin’s condition or any details. Natalia, send me proof of destruction for each World Eater and I will make payment arrangements accordingly. Tazleaha
She needed to freshen up before Zora arrived. It wouldn’t do to be seen with bloodshot eyes and a tear-streaked face. She looked over at the door to her quarters. Her silent, vigilant Allond bodyguard looked straight ahead. “Do you have a mate waiting for you to return home?” she asked him.
“No, Your Highness,” he answered. “Duty has made it impossible but I hope to someday.”
“Do your people mate because of love?”
“I do not know how mates are arranged,”
“Ah, well then, pray you never find out. It is a double-edged sword.”
“Queen Tazleaha, Minister Zora has arrived. Commander Dela’maah escorts her to your quarters.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Now it begins.
Chapter 24
Natalia sat with her father. Three weeks had passed since the World Eater had been destroyed. He lay unmoving. Tubes pumped nutrients into his stomach and tubes carried away the waste. The nanites that Tazleaha had ordered to be given to Benjamin to keep him alive after his stay as a prisoner on the Generation ship were constantly working now, harvesting dead tissue and stimulating growth of new tissue. As a result, the bruising had gone away and any breaks in his skin were only pink scars. Covered in a thermal blanket from sitting up all night, she watched and waited, hoping for just a twitch of a finger, while the others gathered around them talked.
“His mind has detached from his body and until they come together he will lay here in this state,” Harnock explained. Natalia didn’t look up. No shit.
“He is in a coma,” Ronnie added for the team, in case they didn’t get the doctor’s explanation.
“I want to move him to the Claymore or the Warhammer and put him in a regen tank. His scans look good, his broken bones are almost fully healed and they’re straight. Crazy old man did a good job,” Natalia said and continued rubbing Benjamin’s fingers. “I think the added healing power would help him, speed his recovery even more.” No one agreed or disagreed with the tired girl who had sat up all night.
Both ships, the Claymore and the Warhammer, had arrived over a week ago. The remaining Khalnalax ship that had been hiding on the fringe left the system right after that. The Admiral had meetings daily and the main topic wasn’t the war but the Generation ship and the rest of the team stranded there. Second was what to do with the pirate families who couldn’t serve on a ship. Every time they had an option to offload them, it went to hell. Adeen had reported that everyone was still healthy and maybe they should consider the possibility that the threat wasn’t viable any longer. That might be a possibility if they could find out what the threat was. Genius had been digging through data for weeks.
Aisling had come to visit Benjamin every day since her arrival. She held his hand and talked to him, taking a shift so the others could sleep or tend to their duties. Natalia saw how she looked at him lying on the table. Natalia knew Aisling saw the damage to his body but that really wasn’t what she was looking at. There was a longing in her eyes and it wasn’t new. There was the same look from the very beginning, ever since her father brought her aboard Aisling’s ship the Warhammer and she lived in Aisling’s quarters with her. Aisling had wanted him from the first time she laid eyes on him but wouldn’t admit that to anyone. Insulting someone within the first five minutes usually was not the way to win a heart, but the big dummy managed do it anyway, even with Andrea attached at his hip.
“Ow…damn it hurts,” he said. The whole room fell silent like a stone.
“Father, it’s Natalia. Where does it hurt?”
“Every…where. Where am I?”
“On Sashet’s ship, but I want to move you to the Claymore or the Warhammer.”
He hadn’t opened his eyes. He held them shut tightly, his hand holding his head.
“War…hammer, Aisling…is…here?”
“I’m here, Benjamin, and so is Binda.”
“Taz…is she—”
“She isn’t; she is fighting a war.”
“The war…the World Eater?”
“Blown to pieces,” Sashet said. “There is a volcano forming where the crater it made used to be. The explosion made a crack deep in the earth. With the World Eater already boring so deep, they would have had to stop and relocate.”
“The spaceport is also gone. The blast took it out,” Natalia said.
“Kids from the World Eater, Doon and Joon?”
“Eating. I sent them a message you were awake. Probably be here any time.”
“Benjamin, enough for now. It has to be hard on your brain trying to think, just relax. I mean harder; I’m pretty sure thinking is hard on your brain when you not are blowing yourself up,” Binda joked.
“Stop, you, green devil. Who p
ut you in charge anyway?”
“You did.”
“Admiral, can I take him to the Warhammer and put him in the tank for a few days? He should come out right as rain. Well, he was never that right to begin with.” Aisling brushed his arm with her finger tips and kissed his forehead.
“How long have I been away?”
“About three weeks,” Natalia said, giving Binda the eye for teasing him. “Now let’s get you all healed up. Binda is starting to have meetings about having meetings. I would much rather be shooting something or someone. I might if I have to go to another meeting.”
“Are you sure you want to have him on your ship?” Binda asked Aisling, only half joking this time.
“Yes, I still have a doctor with my crew, and while this gentleman did a fine job,” Aisling acknowledged Harnock, “I think Benjamin would benefit from Doctor Matthews’ expertise.”
“Let’s get him moved.”
****
“He has been in the regen tank for two days, Doc. How’s he doing? What’s he been doing?” Aisling inquired. “He is conscious. In the past, he wouldn’t have stayed in there more than a few hours a day.”
“All I can tell you, Captain, is he is thinking. His heart rate is normal and brain waves are consistent with unemotional rational thinking, but sometimes the numbers drop to a point you might think he was dead if you weren’t looking at all the readings. His body just floats limp, totally relaxed. I think he is meditating during those times.”
“Ok, I have to say calm is good. Let’s not disturb the sleeping giant.”
“Captain, I’m aware of what he did on the planet below and the things he did last year and the year before. I still have a copy of his service jacket from his time on Andrea’s team. To be blunt, he is a bomb with a short fuse. I would say he is a walking death wish. Then if we take him out of the equation and just examine the results of his actions, he has killed thousands. Every living being on that World Eater died. Along with any within the blast radius.”
“It’s war, Doctor. I don’t think Benjamin started this one or any others. Although, he usually finishes what he gets involved in, at no small cost to himself. There are always casualties on both sides and there will be more, and not all by his hand.”
“Captain, I understand that. It’s my job to inform you, caution you when the lives of every man and woman aboard the ship could be put in danger by a crewmember or, in this case, your friend.”
“All my life I’ve never needed anyone. I put my career first and made solid decisions that came to fruition when I was given the Warhammer to captain. Then one day I found I had been deceived by a person I had known all my career and that person would have had me killed. Benjamin came for me. When I really needed someone, he was there. He was there for his daughter, Natalia, and has his team trust him unconditionally. He just rescued two Cjittan teens from certain death. I know there are others he gave a second chance at life to.”
“I’m sorry, Captain.”
“Don’t be. You’re doing the job the best you can. You think he’s dangerous to be around. I think it’s more dangerous not to have him around. When he decides to climb out of that tank, he is going to go after the Khalnalax, not us. One more thing, Doc. The crew voted to come here. I gave you all the choice and the vote was almost unanimous to join the privateers. There was no big sales pitch or pressure, so I would say almost all of us are a little bit crazy.”
Aisling walked over and rapped on the tank. “Hurry up and get your ass out of there. We have work to do and you’re needed again. And don’t wear anything tight like those shorts or Shawna won’t be able to concentrate.” And neither will I.
****
Two hours after Aisling rapped on my tank and woke me up, I sat in the shower. I was hungry for some real food and needed to exercise. The doc said I couldn’t do any sparring or bag work for another month. Light duty he called it. Right. Well he could be right but I didn’t want to lie around while a leg healed up.
“Hey, you almost done in there? You have a lot of people waiting on you,” Doc Matthews said.
“Tell them to hold their horses.”
“I’ve left you something temporary to wear until you can get to your own clothing.”
“Thanks, Doc.” I unfolded a paper suit that was two sizes too large for me. Then I examined the bald spots on my head where they had shaved it to attach some damn electrodes or something. Win Tanaka, I’m so sorry. Where did that come from? I knew where. She was my nurse last time I was here and in a tank. Those assholes killed her.
“Doc! You have any shears and a razor?”
“Yeah be right there.”
The bald spots were on the sides, so I set the shears and cut down to match then went across the top, leaving about a finger’s width and a half in length. I set the shears and trimmed my beard down to a respectable three-day shadow. It had been a while since I was sporting high and tight. I stepped back into the shower just to rinse off the hair then toweled and zipped up my paper suit. Paint a few numbers across my back and prisoner Jamison would be ready for lockup.
“What the hell did you do?” Natalia asked. “Your hair!”
“How long have you been waiting out here for me, Daughter? And you, Aisling?”
“I think he looks fine,” Aisling said. “Such a handsome face with the fuzz all gone.”
“Not long. We were about to come in after you,” Natalia said.
“I wasn’t,” Aisling denied.
“Traitor! It was your idea. Let’s go, Dad. Binda is waiting. We are going to take out the rest of the World Eaters so we can get the hell out of here.”
We walked to the briefing room of the Warhammer. Binda had all the captains and a few select personnel gathered around the table. All eyes were on me when we walked in and there were three empty seats near the head. I couldn’t help it; I had to walk down to the far end and look. There in the table was about a five-centimeter slot, stained around the edges. I reached around the doc, who happened to be sitting there, and touched it.
“Benjamin, you need to take some of your earnings and buy me a new conference table,” Aisling said.
“No,” I answered. “This one has more character than a new one would. I can, for no extra charge, make the same hole in the other end so it matches.”
“I think we are fresh out of Generals, thanks to you.”
“No worries, Aisling. Admirals and Captains will work just as well.”
“Come and sit down, Dad, so we can get this over with,” Natalia said.
I sat down and my mind wandered. General Gray took so many of us for a ride. I wasn’t sorry I stabbed him in the hand. Or that I cut off his ear then killed him a short while later, along with quite a few others who were equally deserving.
Benjamin, Benjamin. I thought I heard my name. Aisling put an elbow in my ribs.
“Hey, Binda is talking to you.”
“Sorry, I was thinking about General Gray and how good it felt to fucking kill him.”
It was quiet now. I stared at the table. I liked quiet. Most people talked too much, always wanting to hear their own voice, never shutting up. That little T-Rex bastard liked to talk. He shouldn’t have hurt Aisling. Oh, Imelda ate him slowly. That was one time I could stomach listening to him when he screamed. I looked up. Aisling was right next to me studying my face. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you again,” I told her. Her cheeks turned red and she wanted to smile but she didn’t.
“Benjamin, why don’t you come with me and lie down. We can talk to you later about the World Eaters.”
“The World Eaters are nothing, Aisling. I blew one up all by myself.”
“You were very brave, but I think you need to rest some more and then we will talk about them.”
“The lower shuttle bay and dock. If you were to go in the back wall, the control room is about five levels up. Blow that up and the whole thing will go. Isn’t that right, Natalia?”
“Doc, can you do something?” Aisl
ing asked.
“Already have something coming. It should be here any second.”
“Benjamin, is that all that you did? Natalia said there were mines on the outside also,” Binda said.
“There were, but they didn’t do anything but shake it for a moment. It got their attention, instead of blowing the legs away from the body and having the big bastard fall over. I hadn’t planned on it self-destructing, Binda. They were trying to shut it down, then I was going to blow the controls so it couldn’t be used again. But I blew them before the shutdown was finished and then there was nothing to keep the core from overloading.”
“Thank you, Benjamin, we can work on it from here. Why don’t you go relax? You’ve had a hard month.”
“Come on, tiger, I’ll get you in a nice warm bed. The doc has something that will help you sleep.”
I remembered Aisling leading me out of the conference room. She took me to her quarters and I lay across her bed. Doc gave me a hypo cocktail of something good and before I drifted off I had a feeling that I wasn’t right. Something in my mind was severed and the flashbacks had too much of a hold on me.
I woke up later with an arm across me and a head on my shoulder. Long red curly hair fell around my neck and chest and a leg lay across my legs. For the longest time that hair had been platinum white. Then I remembered. The white-haired one didn’t want me anymore. I was too damaged and caused too much damage. Her and her damn list. I didn’t know why Aisling was lying here, but it was her bed. We were both fully clothed, so no harm no foul on that account. People move around in their sleep; I could hardly hold that against her. No need to wake her. I went back to sleep.
Benjamin, why have you broken your promise? Kanlost dies under the yoke of the Khalnalax. Why are they not destroyed? You promised. The Cjittan, my people, are turning to dust and my empire crumbles. Benjamin. . .
“I didn’t promise, I didn’t promise, I didn’t promise.”
“Benjamin, wake up, wake up.”
Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison 4: Empires at War (Part One) Page 36
