The captain was tired of chaperoning a bunch of fools through space. He stepped up next to Reaper.
“This is the Emperor’s flagship and I am its captain,” he said. “You have disgraced it with your presence for the last time.
Reaper looked up at the 8-foot-tall lizard man next to him. He nodded to him, and Ben faced the Allith again.
“Commander Holmes, Emily, fall back and guard the prime minister. Lieutenant, Sergeant Major, you’re with me. Captain its 14 against 4 are you ok with that.” Reaper looked at the leader of the Allith party.
“It’s time for you to either shut up and fight or put your tail between your legs and get the fuck out of here.”
The Allith leader wasn’t sure what he had said, but recognized that it was his turn to do something. He charged. The Allith spread out and came at the four. They didn’t draw a weapon. They must have felt they would do alright with teeth and claws. Three swords cleared their scabbards and a laser pistol fired multiple times before the Allith made three steps. Reaper had the broad sword in his right hand and his katana in his left. The captain looked at him and blinked. He looked impressed. He had no weapon. Reaper offered him the broad sword. The captain took it with a smile.
Reaper charged the leaped into the air. The katana took the arm off the leader of the Allith. He roared in pain and blood sprayed. He spun and swung catching his next victim in the mouth cutting his lower jaw off at the joint. It screamed in gurgling choking noises. He turned his attention back the to one armed leader. His sword stroke in a upward direction went through the soft under skin of the lower jaw and out the top of his head. The Allith didn’t have ears but they did have a ear hole which made a nice place to shove a combat knife as his third attacker found out.
The captain held the broad sword with both hands and swung it ferociously. He lifted heads from shoulders and ran it completely through a number of foes. Lieutenant Aok still had her first attacker. She was leaving cuts all over its body but couldn’t get a killing stroke. It was enraged and would make a mistake soon. The sergeant major was drilling attackers in the eyes and mouth. With his laser pistol dialed down, he had to make shots in places that would kill instantly because they otherwise wouldn’t slow an Allith down.
It was seven against four in a matter of minutes and the defenders weren’t even winded yet. The Allith were not mentally prepared for the beating they were getting. The seven remaining slowed down to take stock of the situation.
“You may want to reconsider your earlier decision,” Reaper said to the group. “I can’t speak for the captain, but we are willing to let you live if you stop now. I’ll give you the count of five to decide.” He held up a hand with fingers spread. He closed each one until it made a fist and they had not answered. He jumped and took the closest one through the middle. He knew that was where its heart was located. He pushed it away from him and pulled his katana out. The captain took an arm off another.
Reaper heard Emily yell. An Allith had succeeded in knocking the lieutenant down and was standing over her. She was on her back and her legs were holding the Allith away, but it had a hold of them and was about to push them out of the way. Reaper charged the Allith and tackled it, knocking it back but not down. He took a position between it and her. It charged, jaws open, and he stepped into it. He put his fore arm in its mouth and shoved the sword through its throat. It bit down on the new armor and it held. He worked the blade left and right, making a huge hole and mess of its throat. It fell over but didn’t release its jaws from his arm. Reaper went down with it.
The lieutenant was up and taking a position between Reaper and the remaining Allith. He had pulled his sword out of its neck and was trying to pry its jaws open. At the same time he told the rest of his group to take a few alive. He had questions for them. The one that had his arm finally died.
The captain watched the remaining three Allith. He called his captain of the guard to him. He told him to get the shackles, and that they were going to take some prisoners. The guard captain left and came back with 20 guards. They over powered the remaining Allith and shackled them. They took them out of the dining room to some cells they had waiting. They came back and began cleaning up the bodies. Those just went out an air lock.
“Thank you for dinner, Prime Minister, Captain,” Emily said, acknowledging them both. “Would you be willing to share whatever intel you get from the Allith? I know we are all curious about whatever alliance they have formed and with whom.”
“We will share whatever we information we obtain,” the prime minister replied. “It may not be anything. They are not easily broken, and may not know anything depending on their rank in the clan. I will inform you one way or another.”
They boarded the Allond shuttle and headed back to the Warhammer. The shuttle pilot announced that they were being pursued and to strap in. It seemed that the Allith were not happy with what had happened. They started firing; the blasts were stopped by the shields but it still rocked the shuttle. There was an explosion that rocked the shuttle again, but it was the closest Allith ship exploding. The other ship changed course and tried to run, but they saw it take a hit and explode.
The shuttle pilot announced that the immediate threat was over but the Allith had started making attack runs against the Allond battle cruiser. Four ships broke off to chase the shuttle. They were close enough now to have help from the Warhammer.
“Captain O’Shaughnessy, this is Reaper. Could you assist with the four hostiles that are coming in? I believe the uneasy alliance they had with our dinner host has now been dissolved.”
“Keep coming, Reaper, we are moving to intercept.”
“Pilot, stay on course. The Warhammer is going to intercept the incoming ships.” They saw the Warhammer pass by and they continued for another mile or so. The pilot turned the shuttle so the passengers could watch both battles that were taking place. They saw the gunship detach from the Warhammer and head their way.
“Reaper, have everyone get ready to board the gunship. We will escort the shuttle to the battle cruiser.” It was the major. Lieutenant Chavez and the Allond pilot managed to get the two ships into a position where they could deploy an airlock. As soon as the connection was made, they moved quickly into the gunship. Reaper went last. He thanked the pilot while he removed the broadsword from his back. The pilot watched him warily.
“Please give this to the captain with my thanks for his assistance as soon as you return,” Ben said. He laid it across the seat he had been occupying. The pilot looked relieved and nodded. He climbed into the gunship. The pilot shut and locked the door on his ship while they retracted the airlock.
The lieutenant was the first to notice his sword was gone. “Reaper, where is your broadsword?” she asked.
“I sent it with the shuttle pilot to the captain of the Allond ship as a gift. It seemed to fit him well during our fight.”
“What fight?” The major asked. “When were you fighting? I can’t send you anywhere without some kind of mayhem taking place. You were supposed to be having dinner and representing the Alliance as a diplomat with a new species. Somebody please tell me what happened.”
Reaper just stood silently. He would let someone else explain. He sat down and leaned his head back with his eyes closed.
They all started talking at once and were none too happy at being accused of starting trouble. The major looked at them and said, “I didn’t think any of you started anything. I was mainly talking about him.” She motioned with her head towards Reaper.
Emily spoke up. “Why do you think he is to blame?” She looked at the rest of the team. “Did he start anything or act in way that was demeaning of the Alliance?” she asked.
“Not at all,” Commander Holmes said.
“No, Major, Reaper handled the Allond with respect and identified and understood the test they put us through,”
Kim added. “If anything, we earned their respect and demonstrated a number of things to them.”
The
major looked back to Emily then at Lieutenant Aok. A voice entered her head. You are wrong to accuse him. Debrief everyone and make your determination after that.
Aok spoke. “Reaper represented the Alliance with honor, Major,” she said.
She looked back over to Reaper. He hadn’t moved or said anything.
“I am sorry, Reaper, for jumping to conclusions.” He didn’t reply or move. She stepped over and hit a button on his helmet and his visor moved up out of the way. Everyone heard snoring. There were snorts and laughter, but it stopped abruptly as the major turned and stared everyone down. She turned back and shut the visor.
She had Chavez notify the captain that everyone was aboard and that they would stick to the shuttle and rendezvous with the Warhammer in 10 minutes.
Emily sat on one side of Reaper with Lieutenant Aok on the other. Emily pushed the button on his helmet again. He was still sawing logs.
“Why did you do that?” the lieutenant asked.
“It makes me feel safe,” Emily said. “If this man can sleep while we fly into a space battle, he must not be worried at all.”
“Maybe he is too tired to care,” the lieutenant replied.
“No matter how tired he is, Lieutenant Aok, he will always care.”
“This is going to be a short battle,” Commander Holmes added. “None of the Allith ships have anything in the way of real fire power. I bet they will run once the Warhammer joins the Allond battle cruiser.”
“You’re right, commander,” the major walked back in. “They are already running and the Warhammer isn’t even there yet. There is quite a bit of wreckage floating out there. The battle cruiser is moving this way so the shuttle doesn’t have to navigate through it.”
“When is that battle group supposed to be here? We need to let them know not to come in hot.” Sgt. Major Kim directed his comment to the major.
“I agree,” she replied. “Did the Allond say when they were leaving the system?”
“No, but I think it will be very soon. They have no purpose here now that the Allith have turned on them,” Emily said.
“The shuttle has safely arrived at the battle cruiser, Major. I am heading for the Warhammer. We should be docked in about five minutes. Your team can stand down,” Chavez announced.
The lieutenant woke Reaper up when the gunship was docked and everyone was ready to go. He yawned and said he was going to finish what he started and no one had better wake him up. Everyone exited the ship and Reaper went last. He was hoping they had all walked on ahead.
He found nine people waiting on him. “Get your ass moving,” the major said, “we have things to do.
“I have to go to sleep at least for three hours, Major,” he told her. “Any of the team who wants to put in a report now can do so. Start with Emily and the commander. They both had good observer positions. The rest of us were a little bit busier.” He knew he could stay up for hours, but after everything he just wanted to lie down. She was ever the officer and he knew she had a job to do. They all made their way towards the conference room.
The major wanted to get a report to the general as soon as possible. She had the commander do a vid and then Emily. The sergeant major and the lieutenant were next. In the three hours they were gone they hadn’t seen much in the way of technology, but they had interacted well with the Allond. It was a good team. All were very smart and alert to what was going on around them.
The major transmitted the four reports she had to the general, along with a report from herself about the short skirmish with the Allith and the escort of the Allond shuttle. The captain took the commander to get her own debrief from him and Emily was waiting for a vid-com with the admiral. There was only one individual not participating and she was on her way to see him. She didn’t care about how much sleep he wanted. Everyone else was finished for now.
She stood at his door waiting for him to answer. She would give him a few more seconds then she was going in.
The captain walked out of her state room with the commander. She had finished her debrief. She saw the major down the corridor waiting at Reaper’s door and walked down to join her.
“He the only one left to give a report?” she asked.
“Yes,” the major answered, “and I am sure the general and probably the admiral will be looking to talk to us sometime soon.”
“Is he not answering the door?” the captain frowned.
“No, I think he is ignoring me.”
The captain punched her override code in and they walked in. They both could see he wasn’t in bed and they didn’t hear anything. The major was just about to suggest sending him a com when the door to the bathroom opened and he walked out. He was totally naked and had been in the shower. He had a towel draped over his head, drying his hair. His head was down and his eyes closed. He raised his head and shook it rapidly back and forth and when he stopped he opened his eyes.
No one said anything at first.
“Captain, Major, nice of you to drop in.” He started toweling off the rest of his body. He didn’t try to cover himself. “If you are here to arrest me, you can clearly see I have no weapons hidden anywhere.”
He threw the towel at the major. “Dry my back while you’re just standing there gawking.” She threw it back at him.
“Cover yourself up now!” she yelled.
“Andrea, dear, you are such a party pooper,” the captain said, turning to leave. “Nice seeing you, Reaper. I am never disappointed in our meetings.”
He had been getting clean clothes out and mostly ignoring both of them.
“I aim to please, Captain. Good to see you too.” She left and he turned to the major.
“Don’t you say a fucking word. I didn’t know you two had let yourselves in my quarters. I was cleaning up to come and see you to make my report. I knew you would be done with everyone else by now.”
“You know you could have made your report then gone to your quarters and this would have never happened,” she fired back.
“You know as well as I do it’s not about the report. You’re bent over the captain getting an eyeful and that is not my fault.”
“Just finish getting dressed and let’s get this over with.”
They made their way to the conference room. The major sat at the other end of the table while Reaper made his five-minute vid report. He knew the general would be asking him questions regardless of how much he recorded.
“That was quick,” the major said.
“I’m sure the others gave very detailed accounts of what happened,” he replied.
“You’re the team leader, and your report is the most important.”
“I think the team provided great intel already,” he said, beginning to get cross, “and I was busy part of the time trying to keep my people and myself alive. What part of that don’t you understand? I don’t think you understand that I don’t care what they think of me. Are we done here?”
“You can leave,” she said.
“Good! You can handle the general and admiral when the time comes without me, right?”
“I did before you came along and can now,” she yelled. “You think I can’t do this without you?”
“Nope, glad you can.”
He almost ran over the captain on his way out.
The captain knew they had been arguing again. “That was quick,” she said to Andrea.
“What was quick?” the major hissed, still ready to fight with someone.
“His debriefing and report. I saw you two walk in here about ten minutes ago.”
“His report is about five minutes long and he doesn’t give a fuck about anybody,” Andrea replied. “Does that sum it up for you, Captain? I’m sure you’re going to take his side, so let’s just end this conversation right now.”
“Whatever you say, Major. We have a vid-com in 15 minutes. You might want to get yourself together. Your team did a great job. Your whole team, Major — try looking at it that way for the next few minutes.”
&nb
sp; The captain left the conference room and headed for the bridge for the next 15 minutes.
Back in the conference room, a message came through that the prime minister and his captain were requesting a com with Reaper. O’Shaughnessy called him back up.
Reaper headed down the corridor past the conference room to the bridge. The major was leaving and saw him walk into the bridge. She decided to see what was going on. She walked in to see the prime minister on the vid-com.
Chapter 24: The Gift
“Reaper,” the prime minister said, “we are leaving this system and heading back to our capital. I have already made my report to His Highness and he agrees we should return. We should be through interrogating the prisoners by the time we pass near Hyson. We are going to be leaving a pod with a beacon for you with our findings in orbit around Hyson. We will transmit the frequency to your captain that it is broadcasting on. In addition to the information we obtain, there will be a gift for you in the pod. Our God King had intended for it to go to an individual who showed courage and strength above all others. He now knows that it is going to just such a person.”
“Thank you, Prime Minister,” Ben replied, “for your words of praise. Please convey my thanks to your God King for his gift. If you ever need me, you can reach me through Captain O’Shaughnessy. She will be able to track me down.”
“One last thing,” the prime minister added, “Captain Dakkon wishes to speak to you.” The face on the screen changed.
“Captain, good to see you again,” Reaper said
“I wanted to thank you,” the captain said. “It is good when two warriors can stand side by side and fight against a larger force and be victorious. No lasers or blasters, just our wits and a sharp blade. My brother the prime minister will be cross with me, but I wanted to warn you so you and your people could begin preparing immediately. We do not have confirmation yet but we feel the Allith have reached out to the Cjittan. They are an alliance of insectoids. They are the plague of every galaxy. They will go through devastating every planet they find with life on it. I wouldn’t pass this information to you if I didn’t feel strongly about it. There are not many powers beyond your galaxy that we are not aware of. The Cjittan would be the ones the Allith would contact. The fools have no idea that even they will not be safe when they come.”
The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: Call Sign Reaper Page 30
