Andrea came in 15 minutes later. He could smell the whiskey on her breath. He didn’t care; he would keep her awake for a while, he thought. He watched her as she stood next to his bunk, undressing. She was deliberately doing it slowly, and he was getting very aroused and impatient. She climbed on top of him, thinking she would tease him some more. He had other ideas.
He grabbed both her wrists and pulled her down against him, grabbing her head with one hand and kissing her. They were hungry kisses as his fingers held her hair. He kissed her neck and bit her shoulders. He pulled her up farther and kissed her breasts. It was not like him to be this demanding. He always had passion, but this was different. He slapped her ass hard enough that it stung, and never let up on the kissing.
She started talking dirty to him. She had never done that before. She told him what she wanted and how. She was on her hands and knees. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.
“You are mine and will always be mine, is that clear?” When she didn’t answer immediately, he slapped her ass again.
“Yes Ben,” she said, “I will always be yours.” She believed every word she told him. She felt him enter her and her world exploded in pleasure. She didn’t know how many times he took her to that place where her body convulsed and twisted. Hours later, when they finally stopped, he was still inside her and she was wrapped around him. It was much more tender at this point. They were both crying and holding each other. They fell asleep, exhausted emotionally and physically. Neither of them knew when they were be together again, if ever.
They woke up to the smell of coffee clearing the fog of sleep from their brains. They were both naked on top of the blankets. There was a tray with a carafe of coffee and some rolls sitting on the table. E’Aria was sitting at the table staring at them. “You two need to get up and get moving,” she said. “They are tracking the beacon and we will be there within the hour.”
“We’ll be there in fifteen,” Ben said. Then he saw Andrea’s face. “Thirty,” he corrected himself.
She slipped her arm through his as they walked to the bridge. She still had her arm there when they walked in and everyone looked at them, then turned back to their work. A shuttle was picking up the pod. They watched it load and return.
The shuttle landed and the rear hatch lowered to the floor. Chavez walked down the ramp behind a hover cart carrying the pod.
Reaper studied the door to the pod storage area for a minute. They hadn’t told anyone how to open it. He gripped the handle and a holo-vid projected from the top. It was an Allond he had never seen before. He was dressed in flowing robes and seated on a throne. He heard some gasps behind him.
The Allond made no introduction. “I hope this information will help your people survive the plague that is headed your way,” he said. “I have heard much about you, Reaper, and look forward to meeting you someday. I hope you find my gift to be useful in near future.” The vid ended.
Ben looked around at the crowd. There were lots of wide eyes, but everyone was quiet. He turned the handle and the door popped open. Simple enough, he thought. He took out a stack of data chips and handed them to the captain. There was a small box inside with a note attached. He took it out and turned it around in his hand, examining it from all sides. “I have no idea what this says,” he said, handing it to E’Aria.
“Push button one, it says,” she replied.
He showed her the remote and she pointed to the correct button, a symbol he didn’t recognize.
She pushed it for him. A holo-vid started playing from the end of the remote.
It was the prime minister of Allond. “My friend, you just activated another beacon that will lead you to your gift. We have left you a sword to fight your enemies with. If what we believe is coming indeed comes, you will need it. Hopefully it will serve you well and keep you safe. I trust you know who the other vid was from. He wanted to send his own personal message to you. Once you locate the beacon, push the second button to gain access to the inside. I have left you another message and we changed the language to Trillond. This will make it easier for the princess to operate.”
“Inside? Inside what?” he heard the admiral say.
He turned at the sound of her voice and glared at her, then said out loud, “What princess? Who is he talking about?”
He looked at the prime minister of Trillond. She just smiled at him. The recording was still going.
“Yes, we knew who you traveled with once you were aboard our ship. This only confirmed what we believed about you, Reaper. During the fight with the Allith, she fought well against her attackers, almost killing one. That was quite an achievement for a Trillond — no offense, Princess. When you stepped in to protect her, killing her attacker, you protected royal blood. It affirmed all we believed about you.”
The XO called, informing the captain he had another beacon coming from a large asteroid not 5,000 meters away. “Ease us over there, XO, we will be at the bridge in a few minutes,” she replied.
“This guy sure is long winded,” the major said to the crowd. “Let’s go see what’s behind door number two. You can listen to your hero worship later.”
Ben was staring at E’Aria as they walked back to the bridge. Her head was down. “E’Aria, walk with me,” he said aloud, and stopped, letting everyone continue ahead.
“We will meet you in a few minutes on the bridge,” he told everyone. He stood over her, looking down.
You should have told me, he thought.
Why, so you could protect me at every turn? Make sure I never get put in harm’s way? Work everything around who I am? Her thoughts were scornful. No. I would have not joined your team if that was going to happen. I could have just stayed safe as Ensign Aok in engineering.
But you could have been killed, and it would have been my fault.
But I didn’t get killed, she replied, and I have learned so much from the situations you put me in and when I needed you, you were always there. I would have never learned to be strong without your help.
Crew members were walking by, looking at them staring at each other and not speaking. They knew better than to say anything.
We have more to discuss, he said, but it can wait. Let’s go see what new toy my friends have given me. We are drawing too much attention just standing here.
He put his arm around her shoulders and walked into the bridge.
“Are you tired? Do you need me to support you?” she asked out loud.
“No, this is something friends do on my world as a sign of affection.”
She smiled at him. “I like it,” she said.
Everyone turned to look at them as they walked in. He was looking at all the faces and not the large vid screen on the wall. E’Aria elbowed him.
“Look at the vid,” she said
There was a starship. It was around the frigate class in size but smaller than the Warhammer. It was sleek and loaded with weapons.
“Holy shit! That is a sword.” He was busting at the seams with excitement all of a sudden. “E’Aria, can you fly that?” he asked.
“The prime minister said he changed the language to Trillond, so I am sure I can.”
“He never listens,” the major added.
“Captain, can Lieutenant Chavez drop us off?” Reaper asked.
“That depends on whether you are taking me over there with you,” the captain said.
“Yes, you can come,” he said. “Can we go now?”
“XO,” she said over her shoulder, “the ship is yours. I’ll be back in a little while.”
The group of people wishing to check out the new ship got larger as each minute went by. There was a lot of excitement, but then the admiral decided to burst the bubble.
“I’m sorry,” the admiral said, “but the Colonial Military is impounding that ship. There is too much new tech and firepower there for this man just to leave here with.”
“Admiral, are you mad?” the general cut in. “I have let you play your games and verbally ab
use my team for no reason, mostly because you weren’t doing much harm. But this I will not stand for.”
“General,” the admiral said coldly, “you have no choice or say in the matter. Military Intelligence division can confiscate any technology or weapon it deems a threat.”
Everyone was watching the general and admiral go at it and didn’t notice E’Aria easing around to stand within two feet of the admiral. The punch came so quick it took a second for everyone to adjust their thoughts, as the admiral went down to the floor. She was not knocked out, but there was a dazed look in her eyes. E’Aria stood over her and grabbed her collar.
“You must have thought I was joking yesterday,” she said. “When you wake up you can file a complaint with the prime minister and my home world.” The second punch put the admiral’s lights out.
Reaper walked over, picked E’Aria up under the arms and moved her away from the admiral. “Come on, slugger,” he said, “let’s go look at our new ship.”
The marines at the entrances to the bridge didn’t know what to do. Nobody had tried to stop the lieutenant. They were looking across the room at each other.
“Marines! Take the admiral to the brig and have the sergeant lock her up for her own safety,” O’Shaughnessy said.
“Aye aye, Captain!” they voiced in unison.
“And be gentle with her,” she added, “she has had a rough morning, tripping and falling like that. The lieutenant tried to catch her but couldn’t get to her in time.”
“Yes ma’am, that’s what we saw too.”
“Tell the sergeant that she is not to be released unless he receives an order from me or General Grey.”
The larger of the two marines scooped the admiral up in his arms and carried her while the other marine opened the doors and cleared people out of the way.
“Marine!” the general yelled. “Change of orders. Take the admiral to the med bay. Captain, get your doctor on the com.” She did so.
“This is Dr. Mathews, go ahead.”
“Doctor, this is General Grey. A marine will be bringing you the admiral. She fell down and is unconscious. I will be down to see you shortly to give you instructions on her care.” He cut the com.
“You people going over to the ship need to get moving so the people who are leaving us will be gone by the time she wakes up later,” he said.
“Chief Miller, report to the bridge. Chavez, report to shuttle one,” the captain announced ship-wide.
They all left and headed for the shuttle. The captain cornered the chief in the corridor.
“Go to the bridge. Take a look at the vid. Get a team to the bridge for some diagnostics. While that is going on, I want you to remove about a minute of the bridge log,” she said.
“Captain,” Miller said, surprised, “you know I can’t do that.”
“Chief, when you see it you will know why I am asking. It’s a long story, but right now you will be helping a friend of yours.”
“A friend of mine?”
“Yes, and when you’re done I will arrange for you to get a tour,” she said.
“A tour of what?”
“You will see. Just get going.”
The chief did as he was told.
They were all aboard the shuttle and sitting a hundred meters from the warship. Reaper held the remote box in his hand. He pushed button two. Two doors on the rear of the ship opened. The lieutenant piloted the shuttle inside and sat it down.
“Is there atmosphere and gravity, Lieutenant?” the captain asked.
“No, ma’am,” the lieutenant answered.
Reaper hit button 2 again and the doors started closing. Once they closed and sealed, the systems began to come on.
“We have oxygen and gravity all adjusting to levels we can work in,” he said. He unlocked and opened the shuttle doors.
Chapter 27: Leaving With a Princess
Back on the Warhammer, the chief was trying not to drool all over himself.
As they moved through the ship, the lights came on and stayed as long as someone was in an area. Once they moved on the lights dimmed. The prime minister and E’Aria translated as they went.
“This is the captain’s state room and living quarters.” She waved her hand in front of a sensor and the door slid open.
There was a large common area and kitchen and a large bedroom with a very big bed. There was no shower, but there was some kind of cleaning stall. There was also a large conference room with very ornate designs around the doors
“E’Aria, go sit in one of those chairs.” Reaper motioned to the ones at the table.
She pulled it out and climbed up into it. Her feet dangled a foot and a half off the floor.
“Looks like we will need to redecorate or cut everything down,” he said.
The major was looking the bedroom over and gave him a wicked smile. The captain caught the exchange. “Looks like there is room for three or four at least,” she said. “Think you can handle that, hero?”
Before he could answer, the major said, “He can handle it; he just better not try in my absence.”
“Let’s get out of here,” he said. “You two are worse than teenage boys.”
The bridge was beautiful. All of the metal was polished and the layout had a good flow to it. The chairs were just too tall, even at the lowest level. If they lowered the bridge seats the controls and displays would be too high. They would have to build a platform elevating the floor at a later date.
Standing, E’Aria could operate everything just fine. She went to each station, turning all the systems on.
“Reaper, there is a message waiting for you,” E’Aria reminded him.
“Save it, Captain. I will listen to it later.”
“Captain?” she asked, puzzled.
“I was talking to you, E’Aria.”
“But this is your starship.”
“Yes,” he said, “I own it and now I am demoting you from princess to Captain of this ship. If you don’t want the job, I am sure I can find someone else.”
“Shut up! You couldn’t find someone else,” E’Aria informed him in an official tone.
“Well, Captain, would you inform the Warhammer we are coming alongside to load up the other two ships and our passengers?” he said.
E’Aria moved her hand gently along the top of the console and the ship moved effortlessly across the short distance.
All of their belongings had been loaded on the gunship and both it and the shuttle were fully fueled, stocked and ready to go. E’Aria parked about 500 meters from the Warhammer. She was staying on board. Reaper and the rest were returning to the Warhammer.
Natalia and Lorelei were waiting by the gunship. Lorelei looked nervous. She was technically about to become a fugitive. Somehow it felt different than when she had been a pirate. She didn’t care then, but now she did.
The team was there. They, along with everyone else on the ship, were looking at the ship that was parked so close to the Warhammer. They had an excellent view through the force field of the cargo bay.
“How the hell does he do it?” Gunny was saying to no one in particular. “When we picked him up he had some clothes, a sword and a knife. Now he owns four ships, some custom armor and weapons, and has at least four women who want to have his babies. I hear now that our little lieutenant is a real princess.”
“No shit!” Snake said. “In three weeks she has turned into a badass.”
“He wants to talk to all of us when he gets here,” Sergeant Major Kim informed them. They all watched as the shuttle departed the warship and landed back on the Warhammer. The passengers departed, smiling and talking in different small groups.
“Where is Lieutenant Princess?” Snake asked Reaper as he walked up.
“The captain is getting herself familiar with her new starship,” Ben said, “She will be here to say goodbye in a little while. I want to extend an offer of employment to all of you once your term of enlistment is up. List Anubis or somewhere close to it as the wor
ld you want to be relocated to.”
“Why do you have to go now?” Ronnie asked she looked sad.
“It’s as good a time as any,” he replied. “There will always be something coming up to keep me here, and if I stay here I may end up in a lot of trouble. I still haven’t gotten over what they did to me. It comes to the surface every time someone in authority tries to tell me what to do.”
“Yeah, I hear from a friend on the general’s cruiser your old buddy is over there, Colonel Dipshit,” Ronnie said. “He has been bugging the XO ever since we moved to the asteroid to find your starship. They can all see it but no one will tell them anything.”
“It’s none of their fucking business!” he yelled, not meaning to but getting angry all the same. The groups of people all talking stopped to stare at him. They decided they would rather be somewhere else. The general, captain, major and prime minister walked over to see what was going on.
“What was that all about?” Andrea asked.
“I hear that Colonel Thomas is on your ship, General,” Ben said to Grey.
“Yes,” the general said. “I don’t know if you will understand this but it is better that I keep him close to keep tabs on him. I can’t have him out there on his own and I can’t get rid of him without a shit storm of trouble.”
Reaper believed every word of that. He cut the general some slack. “I do understand,” he said. “That makes sense. Andrea,” he said, turning to her, “this also goes along with what I wanted you to talk to the general about. Someone is feeding information to the admiral.”
“What are you talking about?” the general asked.
“I expressed to the major that I felt you had a mole or spy in your organization before I found out he was on your ship,” Ben said. “Now I feel even more strongly about it. I am trying to be objective, but it fits. I doubt he has any loyalty to you; you’re keeping him on a very tight leash and he can’t play his games. I think he found a new game to play.”
“He does have a reputation, sir,” the captain said, and the major nodded her head in agreement.
“He could be trying secretly to ruin you,” Andrea said. “There is no need for the head of Military Intelligence to be tagging along with you on your ops. Getting rid of you would get him off your leash.”
The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: Call Sign Reaper Page 34
