Reaper Inc. (3 page)

Ben walked out
of the barn to find Andrea approaching him. He was right in his assessment. It
was an armored military hover that would carry at least a dozen men. It had to
have huge drives to lift the armored body and was a lot louder than the
civilian version. It pulled up and parked out on the road. A large door lowered
and armed soldiers came running out. Ben laughed. "Go inside and arm
everyone. I'll go talk to them." Andrea looked at him and nodded. There
was nothing to say that he would listen to. Ben walked out into the front yard.
His katana in his hand, but sheathed.

"Drop your
weapon!” a soldier yelled, as Ben walked up. General Grey walked down the ramp
last, with Emily in tow. It didn’t make any difference to Ben who walked out of
the hover. The general walked over and stood by a Major; more than likely
Andrea's replacement, who stood next to a master sergeant with a cocky grin.
Ben ignored the soldier who yelled and kept walking towards the general. The
soldier ran up to intercept him and found himself on his back. Ben stepped over
him and kept walking.

"Stand
down!” the general yelled at his men. Ben kept walking. He heard the doors to
the house open and close and the whine of the rifle version of a rail gun as
well as laser pistols. He saw the soldiers reacting to what they saw. He was
sure there were three attractive women all decked out in weapons. He was
surprised to see later that there were four. About that time, Ben noticed the
master sergeant had an identical pistol to his in the house.

"Nice
pistol. Where did you get it?” Ben asked. The general looked and winced at what
he saw.

"Some
chump Gunny Sergeant got himself locked up in the brig and he isn't going to be
needing it where he is going." Ben looked at the general.

"So, is
that how you’re treating your people? What about the rest of the team? Are they
all locked up?”

"Those
losers are where they belong,” the master sergeant spat out before the general
could answer.

Ben had been
inching closer to the general. Emily situated herself to get between them,
hoping she could stop him. In the end, it wasn’t the general who needed to
worry. Ben’s fist hit the master sergeant, who hadn't expected one man to start
trouble with a dozen armed soldiers. He was wrong. Ben looked at the general
and hit him again. He heard the rattle of a number of weapons but didn’t care.
The grinning asshole went down in a heap and didn’t move. Why do so many people
feel so secure in numbers? The general had told them all to stand down so they
were ready to shoot anyone immediately. Everyone who currently lived and
trained with him knew to hit the opponent first and as hard as you can. Then
hit them again. If they are busy talking then they aren’t ready for you.

"That
chump happens to be a friend of mine and a damn good soldier." He knelt
and pulled the pistol from the holster then quickly pointed at the closet soldier
and hilt of his katana towards the general's throat. He was just making a point
using the hilt.

The major on
the other side of the general was unsure of just what to do.

"Emily,
stand behind me please,” Ben asked. Emily did as she was asked which was
surprising to Ben after the conversation they had earlier. Ben walked two steps
and confronted the Major.

"You get
two men and get that piece of shit out of my yard now or I'll get four men to
move them both when you join him.”

"Ben, the
general just came here to talk,” Emily said. Ben turned slightly to look at
Emily.

"Really?
Then he shouldn’t have let a bunch of dumb asses do his talking for him. I bet
the two of you tried to get the rest of the team to incriminate us, didn’t
you?" he said not taking his eyes off the major, and they wouldn’t.
"That would be what military intelligence would do. You put good soldiers
in the brig, for what?"

The Major must
have found his balls because he got up in Ben's face and started reaching for
his sidearm. Ben dropped his katana and stepped on it so no one could pick it
up. He grabbed the major's wrist, pulling his arm away from his weapon. The
major must have thought it was a test of wills and pulled down with all his
strength. That is exactly what Ben wanted the dumb ass to think. As he let go,
the major jerked his hand down and Ben landed an upper cut, knocking the major
back against the hover transport. He still had the pistol pointed at some poor
private.

"Where do
you get these idiots, General? At least the next group you decide to screw over
will deserve it for being so stupid." Ben growled, turning to the general.

Ben heard
footsteps behind him. "Ben, honey, you need to stop breaking the general’s
toy soldiers," Andrea said putting her hand on his shoulder.

The general
looked at his former officer. He had spent so much time grooming her. It was
her team in the brig, his hands were tied. The new director of intelligence
wanted payback for what happened to the former director. That same person
convinced a review board that Andrea's team had gone rogue and the dead
officers were trying to stop them. He needed to diffuse the current situation.
There was no way these soldiers could stop them if they decided to take action,
or more action as it were.

Andrea had been
studying the general's face. She noted the pain and change in his overall
demeanor. She held up her pistol and started talking. Inside, she was seething,
overhearing that her team was in the brig. She knew she couldn’t afford to get
to angry.

"So, how
many of this group do you want left standing when your visit here is over? I
would have thought you would have learned something about him and us by
now." She motioned with her head to Ben.

Ben looked up
on the porch to see E'Aria, Alona and Natalia holding some form of weapon. The
Prime Minister of Trillond, Alona Aok, looked at the group with a stern
expression of anger and disappointment. Her presence hadn’t escaped the
general's notice, as well as her being armed.

Another hover
vehicle pulled up and parked near the barn. Senator Thurman Sims exited,
dressed in casual clothes instead of the 3000 credit suit he was sporting just
a couple of days ago. He took in the scene that must have looked like a Mexican
standoff. His aide unloaded their luggage and hadn’t really noticed yet how
serious things were. He started walking towards the house.

Smart man,
Ben
thought as he watched the senator walk towards the porch. He stopped and spoke
softly with Alona.

Ben looked at
Emily. "What are you planning on doing? I will work with you but I am
running out of patience. I love you like a sister but I won't let you endanger,
or in any way undermine, what we are about to do."

"And what
exactly are you about to do, Benjamin?"

"Emily,
dear, we are going to save all your sorry asses whether you deserve it or
not," Ben answered staring her in the eyes.

"General,
were you or were you not attacked by the Cjittan on the Morningstar?" the
senator asked, walking up warily.

General Grey
looked like he wanted to tell the senator the truth. "Senator, the
incident involving the Morningstar is out of my hands and I am ordered to offer
no response to any inquiry about the same. You will have to put forth a formal
inquiry to the board handling the incident."

"General,
why would they strip the complete operating system out of the Morningstar and
currently be en route to do the same to the Warhammer?"

"Senator,
you will have to request that information from the board of inquiry," the
general repeated.

Ben decided to
end the senator’s questioning with one of his own. "General, does Aisling
know? Have you told her they are coming to tear her ship apart?" The
senator looked like he would like to hear the answer to that himself.

General Grey's
head dropped and when he looked back up it, was to give the order to load up.
He turned his back on Ben, Emily and Senator Sims walked into the hover craft.

"That’s
just great. Walk away!" Ben yelled. The next time you come around at least
bring someone who doesn’t have a jaw like a woman!"

Ben turned to
find himself facing the most beautiful blue eyes. "Damn." He mouthed,
as he looked at five women, four of them armed, staring at him.
"Um…sorry."

The senator was
making his way towards the farmhouse laughing and not trying to hide it.

Andrea had the
expression on her face of someone waiting to hear a good explanation. Ben knew
the expression on his face said ‘I got nothing.’

"We may
not be as tough as you buddy, but we are not the one sleeping on the couch
tonight or maybe forever." She turned to Emily. "Come on, before he
tries to make you feel sorry for him." They walked away together.

"You
really going to make him sleep on the couch?" Emily asked.

"Maybe the
day is young and he still has plenty of opportunities to screw it up some
more."

"I'll be along in a minute.
I need to talk to the couch jockey," Emily said.

Emily stood and
watched the hover transport depart, leaving her behind. The general must have
thought that she would want to stay or maybe, if he just left her, Ben would
work something out with her. She wasn't sure of anything anymore.

She wasn’t
finished with Ben yet. She knew when he said things like ‘get behind me’ it was
a good idea but it didn’t mean all was forgiven.

Ben walked
towards Emily. He was already in the shit with the whole household now and
feeling like a heel. He thought he would try to have a civilized conversation
with her.

Emily led off
with; "Who do you think you are anyway?"

It seemed
civilized was not on the table right now. "Most of the time, I’m nobody
important but right now, I am the guy with the ship and the big green reptile
friends. But, that is not the problem, is it Emily?"

"No, Yes,
there are a lot of problems."

"Well, if
there are that many, then I didn’t create them, you people did. I keep things simple.
My actions and responses are not complicated." His pot was boiling over.
"You people have taken everything from me. My family, my career, all for
no reason, and you tell me there are problems. Keep pushing and I will show you
problems like you have never seen before."

Emily was
beginning to wish she had got on that hover with the general. He had so much
anger inside. He had never ever been angry or raised his voice to her, but it
was happening more and more.

Ben took a deep
breath. "Sorry, all I want to know is if you want to go to the summit, can
you be ready by the end of the day? I am limiting the number of people, so if
you need an assistant, you can take one, but that’s it." Ben exhaled,
trying to calm himself. Andrea had heard him from inside and walked out. She
walked up and put her hand on his arm.

"Let's see
if we can work this out without you threatening your best friend, honey."

"Really."
. . .Ben decided not say what he was thinking.

Emily was hurt
that he would include her in what happened to his family. Andrea could see it
written all over her face.

"Benjamin,
Emily was a child like you when your parents and sister were killed. Including
her in your suspicions of who might be behind it is wrong and you need to get
that worked out on your own. You don’t get to lay all your anger and pain at
her feet." Andrea's tone was firm and implied there would be no argument.

Emily looked at
Andrea in a new light. Ben dropped his head and walked away. Again, she was
right, but Emily would have to choose someday. He was going to rip the heavens
down around the people responsible for killing his family and if they were her
leaders, she really would have to pick a side.

Everyone on the
porch watched, not knowing what to do. Doing nothing proved to be the best
idea. Ben heard it coming before he saw it. This was one of few planets where
you could fly a starship of the Corvette/Frigate configuration and not have to
leave it in orbit if it was designed for atmospheric travel. There were going
to be some huge divots in the ground because it would sink due to the weight
but not enough to cause complications. Lorelei sat it down in the empty field
behind the barn and Jen sat the gunboat down next to it.

                                   
****

They had been
loading the ship all afternoon. They picked out quarters and stowed their
belongings. Andrea and Ben shared a cabin, or at least he hoped they were.
E'Aria and Natalia, Jen and Lorelei, Grubb and Buddy. Adam had one reserved,
but he had not arrived yet.

"Who is Adam?"
Ben asked picking up on their conversation 10 feet away.

"You'll
see," was all Andrea said.

"Ok,
sounds good." He would wait and find out. "It seems everything is
under control so I'll be back in the hold." He walked back to the hold
that, in the recent past, had been occupied by prisoners and refugees. The long
narrow bench that passes for seating was his destination and with no one else
back, there he lay down, hoping something would happen to improve his day.

The time passed
as Ben napped. The lowering of the ramp woke him. He had slept in places a lot
worse than the steel bench he now lay on but it surprised him he didn’t wake up
sooner. He was staring at the metal cross members above him when everyone began
to walk through.

Andrea said,
"You’re awake! I was beginning to think something was wrong, except we
could hear you snoring all the way up front."

"I think
all the nagging and female hormones just tire me out." Ben replied trying
not to smirk. He wasn’t expecting her to sit on him and she didn’t do it
gently. He laughed as he tried to catch his breath. Everyone had walked on by
not paying any attention to them, except Alona.

Andrea said,
"We received a message from the Warhammer. There is a small attack group
on its way and will be arriving soon. It seems there are those who don’t like
that you were picked by the Allond and given the ship, which we know. They also
don’t like being told they can't attend the summit, and we knew that too.
Aisling has been ordered to stay in orbit until their arrival. If we don’t
leave before they get here, we may have to fight our way out of Anubis
space."

"They are
going to try and stop us from going, there is no doubt. We should have packed
and left right after that damn meeting. If the Senator and Prime Minister
attend the summit when they return, the news will be broadcast and the truth
will be out. Someone is trying to undermine the President and our government
and has enough power to use our own military against itself." Ben summed up
the news, as Alona joined them.

Alona said,
"They evidently do not care about the Alliance or the agreements made
between the Colonial Government and the Trillond Empire." She was watching
Ben and Andrea's horseplay.

Ben looked at
Alona then Andrea got suddenly serious again. "I want to be gone tomorrow
as planned, no changing anything now. We will be sleeping on the ship tonight.
We can depart early in the morning if we work through the night getting
everything loaded. E’Aria and Lorelei are exempt from helping. I need them
rested and sharp. Tell the Senator, as of right now, there is a communication
black out. No one transmits anything until told that they can do so."

"My people
are ready to go," Alona said. "We will move to the ship as soon as
you are ready for us."

"Go ahead
and get them set up with quarters," he said looking at Andrea. Ben yelled,
"E’Aria! Do we have all our uniforms? Military style and all black?"

E’Aria answered
him but not out loud.
"Why do you insist on yelling? Andrea says you
just like to hear the sound of your own voice."
He was used to her
thoughts just jumping into his head. She says they are linked and she knows
where he is at for at least a mile in any direction.

"I don’t
need a reason, I just like to yell!" echoed down the hallway to the
bridge. He didn’t hear any response, unless you count exasperated sighs. "
Yes,
we have our uniforms, yours are in your cabin."

"Thanks."

He knew the
Senator was not going to be happy about the blackout. He would deal with him
when the time comes.

Ben walked over
to the doorway and yelled for Natalia. He did it mostly to be irritating. She
walked into the hallway with her hands on her hips.

"What?"
she yelled back, but not budging in his direction.

"Come,"
Ben yelled. He turned away quickly so she couldn’t see the smile on his face.
He knew what they all were thinking on the bridge. Natalia looked over her
shoulder at Andrea who had just sat down.

"You
better go dear, see what he wants."

Natalia walked
up looking at first like she had something very womanly to say, then she saw
him holding the pistol out to her and she started to squeal like a teenager.

Ben tried to
look stern putting a finger to his lips for her to be quiet. He was going to
talk to her in his best authoritative voice but the huge smile floating on her
face over the pistol put an abrupt end to that. He had a holster lying next to
him on the bench.

"Come
here." He said softly. She stepped closer to him.

"Hold
still." He wrapped the belt around her waist and snugged it up. Then he
adjusted the leg strap around her thigh. "Drop your arm down to your
side." When she did, her hand came to rest on the butt of the pistol. It
was a perfect fit. On the other hip, he clipped the long strap that connected
to the sheath of a combat knife. It had a strap the wrapped around her other
thigh keeping it in place. Both arms hanging naturally at her side put her
hands right on her weapons.

"Ok, now
go up front and get in front of E'Aria and salute while saying ‘Ensign Natalia
Jamison reporting for duty, Captain'." Ben ran down the ramp, not wanting
to be too close when they saw her armed. He had been teaching her marksmanship
and safety in addition to self-defense. She took it very seriously and it went
a long way to making her feel like part of the team, like a grown up.

It was about
time to get all the supplies loaded and then the shuttle and gun boat. He saw
Lorelei and Jen talking near the barn. "Hey, Lorelei!" She looked
over at him. "I need you to run and pickup Cook where ever he is at."

"How am I
supposed to find him?" She countered. Ben started walking towards her at a
brisk pace. She laughed and took off running for the hover car. "I'll
figure it out." She waved jumping in the car.

Ben had put the
jamming device in the barn and turned it on. It would not only stop
transmissions but record them. He smiled to himself. We will see who is who
soon enough.

                                   
****

It was still
early and with the passengers all cooperating, the loading had proceeded faster
than he expected. Ben walked into the house to talk to Pa and Ma again about
what to do if they had uninvited guests or worse. Nick was going to take the
freighter and park it where they had stored the Claymore. If they received news
of an invasion, there was a group of people who would be meeting at the farm
and be leaving on it. They would travel to Athena if it was safe and pickup his
grandparents and Emily’s mother.

Ben hoped it
would never come to his family and friends having to leave their homes. The
Cjittan were not his only concern and he feared the group responsible for
executing this cover up attempt would try and use them. He sat on the sofa with
his arms wrapped around Ma Vander Hoyt. This was the second time he had left
them but this time they knew what he was doing was very important.

Andrea had run
everyone off so Ben could have a few minutes with the Vander Hoyts. They
believed everything he told them and wouldn’t hesitate to do as he asked if trouble
came knocking. Natalia was pacing, waiting for Andrea to say it was ok to go
into the house. Ben walked out onto the deck and was almost run over. He smiled
and knowing how much Natalia loved the Vander Hoyts. She wanted to say her
goodbyes. She also wanted to show them her new weapons.

He heard the
hover car returning. Lorelei sat it down and got out along with Cook. He
retrieved a duffle bag from the rear seat and walked towards the Claymore. She
also had Grubb and Buddy with her.

Cook had a real
genuine smile on his face as he walked up to Ben and the small crowd still
working on organizing the hold.

"Are you
ready?" Ben asked

"Oh
yes!" Cook replied.

"Well,
let's get you settled in and show you your kitchen." Grubb and Buddy just
followed along.

Prior to hiding
the Claymore, Ben had work performed on a number of areas and systems they
deemed critical. The bridge and engineering had a new raised flooring system to
bring the consoles and chairs to a human working height. The panels were
removable for maintenance. The dining area and kitchen got the same treatment.

There wasn’t
enough time to have showers installed in each cabin so a semi-permanent system
was put in with a recycler. It was a self-contained room with separate male and
female sides. Six stalls on each side. They had ordered it and it came
self-contained ready to use; just needed to add water.

E’Aria had
spent two weeks making Trillond to English instruction cards for each control
station. Ben had plans to talk to the Prime Minister to see if the Trillond
military would loan them some crew members. One way or another, they would have
each station eventually manned. He hadn’t heard from E'Aria or the Prime
Minister if it would be possible.

Cook stood
staring, not sure what to make of things. There were a stack of cards with
pictures and instructions lying on a metal counter top. He picked them up and
thumbed through.

Ben explained
to Cook, "Everyone, except for a few, have these same challenges. You will
have time to experiment and figure out the equipment. You need to learn how you
will make coffee before you do anything else and that’s an order."

Cook looked
everything over and smiled. He didn’t know yet what everything was but it was
beautiful. "I will get right on it."

"I'll
leave you to it. Andrea will be by to show you to your quarters. They have
something already set aside for you." Ben left, checking off things in his
head: Finished and unfinished. They would be ready to leave soon. He may not
wait for morning. Ben gathered the group together for a short meeting. They
were all veterans of space travel in one capacity or another and didn’t need
any long explanations;. just a brief description of what was expected of them.
Most would wear at least two hats until they could take on additional crew. He
paused and looked at Alona.

"I am
working on it," she said, a little flustered at being singled out.