The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: Call Sign Reaper

by Thomas Wright

  Ensign Aok arrived at the med bay and went straight to Natalia’s room. The staff all recognized her after seeing her in and out for the past couple days and didn’t bother trying to stop her. Natalia was awake, in good spirits and hungry again.

  “I want to get up and do something, anything,” she said.

  “We will have to get you some clothes,” E’Aria said to her. “I will work on that, and we will go get something to eat.” She went out to find Nurse Tanaka.

  “Nurse, I was wondering if you had some clothing that Natalia could wear. She is awake and hungry and wants to get out of bed. I was thinking about taking her to the mess to get something to eat.”

  “Would you mind some additional company? I haven’t had a break yet,” Nurse Tanaka said.

  “That would be fine,” E’Aria answered.

  They made their way to the officers’ mess. Natalia had on some of Nurse Tanaka’s clothes. The clothes were a little big, but not much. It took longer than normal to get to the mess because of Natalia stopping to look at everything along the way. She was fascinated by the lights, sounds and people.

  She kept asking where Reaper was, and when she would see him again.

  “He will be seeing you later I’m sure,” E’Aria said. They got to the mess and the smell of the food had Natalia bouncing around, smiling from ear to ear. They walked through the line, filling Natalia’s plate with anything she thought would like to try. The cook saw the malnourished little slip of a girl and felt a pang in his heart.

  She ate like it was her last meal, taking a bite of everything and eating all of whatever she thought tasted great. The sergeant brought some fresh-baked rolls with butter and a piece of chocolate cake out to Natalia. The two women on either side of her looked at him and smiled. Natalia ate the cake and took her cloth napkin and wrapped the rolls up to take with her. She was so full she couldn’t eat one more bite.

  Ben was in the gym. He was stretching, trying to get a feel for how much his back and shoulders would take. He decided some good old-fashioned pushups would be a good way to check. He had done about 100 when he sensed someone walking up to him. He saw two pairs of feet in his peripheral vision.

  “Hello sergeants,” he said. Ben had never turned his head or looked at them.

  “How did you know it was us?” Gunny asked.

  “I smelled you,” Ben said, staring at the floor and smiling. He continued his pushups.

  “No shit! You didn’t,” Gunny said in disbelief.

  “I did! You smell like a medicine cabinet and the sergeant major just smells like moth balls.”

  Ben could feel the air move as the sergeant major decided to jump on him. He rolled away, but not completely. He managed to push the sergeant major away and jumped up. The sergeant rolled the opposite way and stood up. They were facing each other, both ready to go.

  “Come on, old man, over to the mat. Let’s see what you got.” Gunny started laughing his good-natured laugh.

  “I’m going to get a good seat for this,” he said as he walked over by the wall.

  Gunny sent a message to the major that the sergeant major and Reaper were in the gym about to go at it. He didn’t wait for a reply as he laid his com down.

  Ensign Aok and Nurse Tanaka were giving Natalia a tour of the ship. They were headed for the gym now. They both thought it would be good for Natalia to exercise and build up some strength. They saw the major and captain coming down the corridor as they were turning to walk into the gym.

  Ben knew sparring with Matt would be tougher than anyone he had fought in the past week. Matt was of oriental descent and a marine, so he assumed he would be skilled in some form of the martial arts. Ben knew he didn’t want to hurt the sergeant major, so he would use Aikido as his form of defense to start and see what happened. He took a few cleansing breaths to calm and relax his body. E’Aria, Win, and Natalia saw the two men out on the mat. They were beginning to maneuver for positions, looking at each other’s style. Natalia saw Ben and began to feel some anxiety. They made their way to Gunny and sat down.

  “This should be interesting,” he told the ensign.

  “Yes it should. He’ll hold back and let the sergeant major win the match,” she told Gunny.

  “Well, he picked the fight,” Gunny said.

  “I’m sure he did, but just so he could test his wounds and spar with someone who knows what they are doing.”

  Matt came fast, a combination of strikes and kicks at Ben’s legs. Ben blocked every move. It was all textbook. They danced like that for a little over a minute.

  The major and captain walked in the gym and saw Matt on an offensive attack and Ben blocking and moving. They saw the small group sitting together and walked over and sat next to everyone.

  “What’s this about?” the major said to Gunny.

  “Reaper called the sergeant major an old man and invited him to dance.”

  “Oh! Not exactly what I took away from your message, but this is better,” Andrea laughed. Just then, Matt struck at Ben’s neck with a chopping swing. Ben caught the hand, twisted and used Matt’s momentum to throw him. Matt landed on his back. Ben let go of his wrist, choosing not to try and use a arm lock on him. Matt rolled quickly and came up on the attack. Ben stepped into his attack and executed the same hip throw. Matt found himself on his back again.

  The major got up and went to change. She thought she might jump in with the boys and help out the sergeant major. The captain saw her get up and go and thought that it was going to get interesting. She slid over next to Gunny and asked who he thought would win.

  “I don’t know,” Gunny said. “Reaper is holding back. The ensign thinks in the end he will let the sergeant major win.”

  “It’s about to be two against one, so what do you think will happen now?”

  Gunny smiled. “I hope we have someone in command when it’s all over.”

  The sergeant major didn’t exactly look happy with the major walking out on the mat.

  “I don’t recall calling for reinforcements.” he said still moving looking for a opening to strike at Ben.

  “I just want to see what he can do with two opponents at once,” she replied. Ben stepped forward quickly while she was distracted and punched her right in the diaphragm. The air whooshed out of her and she bent over, gasping. He then pushed the top of her head hard, knocking her on her butt.

  “Now, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?” Reaper asked. Matt was laughing, and the look on the major’s face was priceless.

  “We should probably be seeking shelter from the shit storm you just unleashed,” Matt joked. With each second Andrea grew madder. Matt attacked again. Ben blocked the punches and kept his body positioned so he could keep a defensive stance. They could go until they got tired and call it a draw, but the major was not going to let things just end nicely. She was on her feet now, breathing steadily and pacing like a tiger in a cage.

  Ben kept his body in a position where he could see them both at the same time. Ben knew they were not fighting as a team in sync. They were both just coming at him. Andrea launched a high kick to Ben’s chest. He caught her leg while stepping back so the kick didn’t have any effect. Holding her leg, he now stepped forward into a punch from Matt aimed at his chest and used her leg to block it. He pushed her by the leg, throwing her back down on the mat. Matt came back at Ben, who dropped to his knees and threw a punch right to his stomach, doubling him over. Andrea came from behind, hoping to score while Ben was on his knees. She threw a punch at the back of his head. He knew it was coming and leaned to his left, grabbing her arm as it came past and flipping her over his shoulder, landing on top of Matt.

  Ben stood up and walked off the mat. This needed to end before someone got hurt. He sat down next to the captain and smiled at everyone. The major rolled off the sergeant and they both stood up slowly. They saw Ben sitting over with the captain and their friends.

  Andrea was still pissed. She walked over and stood in front of
Ben.

  “Get out on the mat,” she said. Ben ignored her. Matt walked up, and Ben said, “thank you, Sergeant Major, for the match. I would like to continue some other time, just the two of us if you like.”

  “That is acceptable,” Matt said and sat down next to E’Aria. Andrea didn’t like being ignored.

  “Get out on the mat,” she said again.

  Ben looked up at her and said, “Major, we are done for the day.”

  Andrea slapped him across the face. “We are done when I say we are done.”

  The whole gym was silent. Ben leaped up faster than anyone would have imagined and stared down at her for a second. She had fire in her blue eyes. He turned and walked out of the gym. The sergeants looked at the major, both with disappointment, and got up and left after Ben.

  “Nurse Tanaka, would you take Natalia back to the bay? I will be along shortly,” E’Aria said. Andrea sat down and stared at the floor.

  “Captain, do you mind if I have a few minutes alone with the major?” E’Aria asked. The captain studied her for a second and nodded. She got up and left, following the procession. E’Aria looked at the major.

  “What do you want from him?” she said, growling at her. “You have his respect, his loyalty, and most of all his love. Why do you feel like you need to break him? You will drive him away, and then what? Those two men were bonding, working things out the way that only males can do and you had to insert yourself into the ritual. Why? You are his commander and he is good with that. You are his best friend and lover. You know he won’t fight you like he would someone else and you shouldn’t push him to do it. He is better than you and he could beat you hands down, but he wouldn’t do that to you in front of everyone.” E’Aria watched the major, looking for a response, and got none.

  “Major,” she continued. “Did you look at the people sitting here watching? A starship captain, a nurse, and a young girl. The first wants him. The second has a strong infatuation which could grow stronger and the third sees a reaper in black who didn’t come to take her soul but saved her from evil, her hero. You are very low on their list of favorite people. Even your own team who would do anything for you can’t understand you.” E’Aria stood up and walked away, leaving the major sitting in shock.

  Aisling got back to her quarters. She had been thinking during the whole walk back about Andrea’s erratic behavior. She was a by-the-book officer and a marine to the core. Lately, though, she had been someone else. She thought she might have a talk with her. She touched her com and asked Andrea to join her for a drink.

  Andrea really didn’t want to have a drink. She wanted to go talk to Ben and tell him how sorry she was. But she thought a drink might be good before she went to see him.

  The captain had changed into something comfortable and poured herself an Irish whiskey. The door chimed and she let Andrea in. She walked over to her bar and poured two fingers of Irish whiskey in a glass. She walked over to where Andrea had sat down and handed her the glass. Andrea took a pretty good pull off the glass and swallowed slowly, letting it burn all the way down. Aisling decided to sip hers and watch her friend.

  Andrea couldn’t take the quiet anymore. “Is there something you wanted to talk about?”

  “I’m just concerned about you is all,” Aisling said. “You don’t seem yourself. Everything seems to center around your new team member.”

  “It’s nothing I can’t handle.” Andrea stared at the table top.

  “Oh, like you handled it in the gym — is that how you plan on doing it?” Aisling said. “Well, you just keep right on doing it that way and we will see how it works out.”

  “You would love that, wouldn’t you!” Andrea blurted out.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You’ve been throwing yourself at him like a cheap whore ever since he got on this tub.”

  Aisling’s hand connected with the side of Andrea’s face with a crack.

  Andrea sat stunned and the side of her face burned. Aisling’s slap had a good effect, as Andrea seemed to get a grip on her emotions.

  “I’m sorry, Aisling, I really am. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “Andrea, I know you’re in love with him. The whole ship probably knows you’re in love with him. You can’t take your eyes off him, and then there is your behavior. Erratic, jealous, and possessive. I have flirted with him and thrown myself at him but he has never taken the bait. I really like him, Andrea, and if you fuck things up then I plan on stepping in. I guarantee I will treat him right. You are my friend, and all I’ve done is test him. If he had given in, then I would have known he didn’t love you. But he didn’t give in, so I think he does love you.”

  The captain took a long drink. “I am going to be his friend regardless, so you better understand that now,” she said. Andrea nodded that she did.

  “Good,” the captain said. “Finish your drink, give me a hug and go have a talk with him.” Andrea turned up the glass and finished the drink. She stood up and walked over to Aisling, who stood facing her. She looked at the beautiful redhead with the emerald green eyes and a body that could start a galactic war. She hugged her tight and told her she was sorry again. She kissed her cheek and headed for the door.

  She went to Ben’s room and tried the door. It wouldn’t let her in. She flashed her badge so it would announce her, but the door still didn’t open. She took out her com and pinged him, but he didn’t answer. She was about to walk away when the door slid open. She stepped into the dark and the door closed behind her.

  “What do you want, Major?” Ben said very formally.

  “I need to talk to you, can I sit down?”

  “No. You can stand and talk from right there,” Ben said. He was being a dick and he knew it, but right now she had it coming. It was quiet. Neither spoke.

  He broke the silence. “I’m going to sleep. Wake me up when you have something to say.” She was standing in the dark wringing her hands. She didn’t want to fight or argue with him. She walked to his bunk and knelt down. Her hand touched the side of his face as she ran her fingers through his hair. She started kissing his face in random places. She kissed his eyes and forehead, his cheeks and finally his lips.

  “I’m sorry,” she said softly.“I don’t know what it is wrong with me.” Ben scooted back on the bed and Andrea lay down. He kissed her and held her tight.

  “The rest of the team will be here tomorrow and Gunny will be back to 100 percent soon,” Ben said. “We have things to talk about but they can wait until tomorrow.” She stood back up and undressed. Ben held the blankets up and she slid into the warmth of the sheets and his body.

  Chapter 12: Hyson

  The Warhammer met with the Falchion mid-morning the next day. Ben hadn’t seen his ex-teammates in over a year. He wondered what they would think about his arrangement with the Colonial Military.

  Andrea had left his quarters earlier to get ready to meet the rest of the team. Ben showered and put on his thermal suit. He decided to wear his armor and see what kind of effect it had on his friends. He dressed with his armor, boots, helmet, katana, laser pistol and combat knife. His door chimed just as he was on his way out. Andrea and E’Aria were both standing in the corridor.

  “Strange choice of uniform for meeting old friends,” Andrea said.

  “First impression is everything, Major, and this group is hard to impress,” Ben replied.

  “You should wear the broadsword and the mini rail gun if that is the case,” E’Aria added.

  “Good idea.” Ben said. He stepped back into his quarters, took off his katana and slung the broadsword over his back. He grabbed the mini rail gun and put the sling across his shoulder, letting it hang just below his chest where his hand could rest comfortably on the pistol grip.

  “How’s this?” he asked. The major rolled her eyes and smiled. E’Aria looked serious and nodded her approval.

  “How is Natalia?” Ben asked as they walked down the corridor.

  “She is d
oing really well,” E’Aria said. “You should stop and see her when we pass the bay.”

  “I don’t want to scare her,” he said, gesturing to his suit.

  “I doubt you could do that. She thinks of the Reaper as her savior.”

  Ben slowed down as they walked past Med Bay and saw Natalia talking with Nurse Tanaka. She looked happy. Then she saw Ben and ran over to him. She started firing off a million questions.

  “Where are you going? When will you be back? Will you go to the gym with me?”

  “Whoa! One at time,” Ben said, smiling at her energy. “First off, I’m going to meet some old friends who are coming in on a shuttle soon. Secondly, we are not going anywhere for a few days, and yes, we can go to the gym later.”

  “Can I go with you to meet your friends?” Natalia asked.

  “I don’t care as long as the major doesn’t care.”

  “It’s fine, you can come, Natalia,” the major said, “but you have to stay with Reaper or Ensign Aok.” Natalia smiled happily. She walked around to Ben’s free hand and took it, and they continued on down to the cargo hold shuttle hanger. Their group got plenty of looks as they walked.

  The stealth shuttle was just landing in the shuttle bay when they arrived. Natalia was fascinated by all the activity. Ben watched the stealth shuttle land. It was sleek and angular and black. It looked like a attack craft. It had turrets with lasers and small missiles under the wings. He assumed those would be for planet-side defense or offense.

  The sergeant major and Gunny picked that time to join them. Ben could see the cargo deck on the rear opening but couldn’t hear anything. He darkened his visor so no one could see his face. He wanted to watch the initial interaction with the major and his old teammates.

  Four marines and a corpsman walked down the ramp. They were carrying the hard shell crates that housed their weapons and others that had their gear and belongings. The tall marine was giving orders to the rest. Ben sent a thought to E’Aria. Watch yourself and tell the major to tell them when they ask that I will be along shortly. I want to see how they react to her.