The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: No More Lies (Book 3) Page 16

  “Maybe if we split up and bring the shuttle in cloaked while the Claymore finds a moon or some asteroids for cover,” I suggested. “Then they can shut down most of the power and sit tight for a few days.”

  “What you told Princess E’Aria still applies, Benjamin. They can’t touch you without risking a war, and my people will not waste time with negotiation. If we are attacked or they attempt to board, they will feel the might of the Cjittan Navy.”

  “That would simplify matters,” I told her. “I would rather not split us up. I’m just concerned. I’m sure they know we are coming and when we will arrive.”

  “You see?” she said, sounding concerned. “I can help out if you just let me.”

  “Let’s go greet the others and pick their brains for a little while,” I answered. We headed towards the hold.

  We had a few days to pull a plan together. Taz stuck to me like glue during meetings and down time, our routine about the same as it had been. She was determined I would give her that.

  zzz

  I had thought it would take a lot longer for the ship to get clearance to land, but we had our codes in about fifteen minutes. Lorelei sat it down easily in the designated area.

  “I’ll go pay the port authority station master,” I volunteered. Lorelei handed me the credit chip and I said a silent prayer that there were sufficient funds. I wasn’t in the loop on everything yet, but I was working on it.

  I walked into the prefab building and was greeted by a standard admin robot. It was basically an interface with the computer system, but with a humanoid appearance. The eyes were cameras and the ears held microphones. It had millions of keywords built in alongside hundreds of sub-routines that would run as it translated your questions, while what the main computer had sent as code was read aloud to you.

  It now had video and audio of me to use as a search to match the name and information I gave it. Military and law enforcement were immediately notified if there was a match to any outstanding criminal activity. I knew all this, yet I stood right there in front of it waiting; it claimed to be waiting on the station master to come from his office. What I was hoping for happened within about ten minutes. I felt every nerve snap, almost as if they had straightened out inside me, like horses pulling me apart in some ancient death sentence.

  Chapter 20

  I woke with a throbbing in my head, my arms secured to a hook above it, stretching me to balance on the balls of my feet. My neck was stiff, and it was hard to see with the light shining in my eyes.

  "I’ve got to give it you, someone here loves the classics. Dark room with the light shining in my face … Some things just can’t be improved upon, can they?"

  One man stood in the back against the wall, but the other two paced back and forth just at the edge between the light and dark.

  "Mr. Jamison, you have caused us a lot of trouble, and for what? Can you explain? Revenge for some imaginary conspiracy, to avenge the deaths of your loved ones?"

  "I didn’t get your name,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant. “Not a big deal. I think I will call you dipshit number one."

  "You seriously think I would freely give you my name?" the voice scoffed.

  "Well then, what is his name? You can tell me that, it’s not yours, right?"

  "Very funny! A real comedian."

  His partner, dipshit number two, clearly had anger issues. "If you don’t start talking,” he told me, “we are going to kill your friends."

  "Which ones?"

  "What do you mean, which ones?"

  "Let me rephrase it for you. Which one are you going to kill first?"

  "What difference does it make?" dipshit number two asked.

  “Well, between me and you, there are a few that I don’t like. So it wouldn’t bother me if they went away, if you know what I mean."

  "You’re kidding me," dipshit number one said.

  "Nope,” I said. “Do you have the tall, blond, pleasure-bot stripper, the model with all the goods?"

  "No. . .We don’t have her," number one answered reluctantly.

  "Too bad,” I said. “Let’s get going. I know you two dipshits are nothing but peons, but I’m not so sure about the guy holding up the wall." A fist connected with my face, but I’d known girls, quite a few of them, that hit harder.

  "Didn’t see that coming, did you, asshole?" number two sneered.

  "Yeah, I kinda did. Even in this light it was slow and pathetic," I said, pushing buttons.

  He paced around with his buddy then stepped up to the plate for another swing. I waited ‘til he got wound up then turned my head just before he connected, making it a glancing blow. I could taste blood, but it was nothing bad. It was number one's turn. He had been paying attention and went for a body shot to my gut. I was ready, but it still hurt. I would let them go at it for a while; maybe they would talk a little too much.

  "Who are you guys anyway?” I asked them, trying to keep my voice even, as if I hadn’t felt the blows. “I'd been on planet for what, thirty minutes, and you got me already — that’s pretty good work."

  "That’s why they sent us and not someone else,” number one said. “We are the best."

  "That makes me feel good, to have the best handling me, and not some dipshits. Anybody know where Senator Sims is hiding out?" I asked.

  "It really doesn’t seem like you are aware of your situation." number two said.

  "I thought this was a friendly exchange of information. I have a list of names and you tell me where I can find them," I said. A fist connected with my gut again.

  "I think you were misinformed, Mr. Jamison. I have something that will speed up the process, though, and if it doesn’t work, we'll go get that sweet little kid of yours and you can watch us take turns with her." Number one opened a small case. In the dim light, I could see three micro-injectors and three vials inside.

  "Ah, I see you are interested in my little case,” he said. He took out the three vials and lined them up on the table. "This first one will make you feel really good, get you in the mood. The second will make you tell us everything we want to know. And the third is a toxin that will kill you, plain and simple."

  I was fuming inside. It wasn’t the vials — that shit didn’t scare me — but they had threatened Natalia. How they could even have known about her crossed my mind also.

  Luckily, these two were up for nominations for the stupidest agent award. My feet were free, and I had never moved them or drawn any attention to the fact they hadn’t tied them. The table was within kicking distance. Another stupid move, but not the stupidest. I had been pulling down on the hook that I hung from and had actually managed to move it. For a second my heels hit the floor, but I went up on the balls of my feet so I wouldn’t tip them off. I was holding the hook in my hand to keep myself up.

  I could jump and pull my arms free, turn the table over and do the best I could with the agents before the shooting would start. Silent agent number three against the wall was the wild card, though. Even these morons could kill me. I needed one to punch me again.

  "I like you guys, you don’t beat the shit out of a guy before going to the good stuff. At least I get to look good for my funeral, right?" Number two took the bait and walked back towards me. His hands were nowhere near a weapon.

  When he was about three steps away, I jumped and the restraints cleared the hook. I came down about a foot from him and swung both arms and fists into the sides of his head. He staggered sideways and fell over. A solid kick and the table slid, vials falling over and rolling off onto the floor. Number one was yelling for the guy against the wall to shoot as I grabbed number two, pulling him up against me to use as a shield.

  I didn’t think there was any way I would get him up in time, but the shot didn’t come until I was ready. I was holding a limp body, which was truly a dead weight. Number one had his pistol out and aimed at me when I heard the whine of a pistol and he went down.

  I smelled ozone and burnt flesh. The silent one who had be
en watching the whole time stepped forward, pistol in his hand. He took the keys out of the dead man’s pocket and unlocked me. He was a rough-looking fellow, sporting well past three day’s beard growth.

  "Can you believe these two were my bosses? What did you call him, a dipshit?" the man said, shaking his head.

  "Yeah, dipshit one and two," I said, remaining wary as he approached...

  "That is pretty accurate,” he said. “Don’t jump me, damn. . .”

  My fist connected with his face. He started to fire his laser but I knocked his arm down and punched him again. Then I took the weapon away from him.

  "You helped me out," I said. “I would like to know why, but it would look bad if you didn’t have any bruises or blood to show for my escape. Why are you helping me, is a better question? That’s pretty hardcore, killing your own like that."

  "They were idiots,” he said, wincing, “and now I'll get a promotion and no-one will be the wiser."

  "Sounds like an honest answer. I get the blame for their deaths, you get a fatter paycheck."

  "It is. I would have committed suicide if I had to work with them every day of my life. This is all I'm doing for you. You're on your own from here."

  "I’ll need this weapon,” I said. “I'm going to keep it. Good luck on your promotion." I smiled and stuck the laser in the waist of my pants. Then I hit him again, hard, not once but three times, until he was curled up on the floor.

  I knelt down next to him. “We aren’t exactly done here, don’t move," I said. I walked, looking around on the floor while talking to him.

  "Now it will look more believable,” I said. “If you’re smart you will just lie here. If you're real smart, you need to tell them you don’t know who I was. Your bosses didn’t tell you. That keeps us both out of hot water. That’s the deal that keeps me from finding you later and killing you. Just groan if you agree."

  He did. "Good. Look what I found, this is the good stuff I’ll give you first. If you answer my questions, we can skip the next two vials." I picked up the vial and knelt down next to him.

  I pressed the micro injector against his neck and it hissed softly. After about a minute, I could see him relaxing; his pain would be forgotten in a few more seconds.

  It took me at least twenty minutes to get everything out of him, but in the end he didn’t know shit. They weren’t government agents, they worked for a private security company. I got the name of the company, but getting anything out about who had hired them would never happen. I left him singing some song to himself, stoned out of his mind.

  I cracked the door and looked out. I didn’t see or hear anyone; everything was dark. It was a warehouse, but it hadn’t seen any use in a long time. I looked through a window and could see the space port a few miles away. I hadn’t been taken far away, so that was good. I decided to see if they had taken anyone else besides me. I was pretty sure they had been bluffing about going after Natalia. Besides, she could have taken both of them in a fair fight.

  I moved slowly back towards the room they had kept me in and went in the opposite direction this time. The whole place appeared to be empty, no sounds out of the ordinary, so I started walking towards the space port. The crew would still be looking for me in the vicinity of our hangar, I guessed, and there would be a few crew members still on the ship. I hoped they had the shuttle out scanning for me to save me the walk.

  It seemed someone was thinking the same thing as me. I saw our shuttle land about a hundred yards ahead of me within a couple of minutes. I picked up my pace. They didn’t lower the ramp or open a manway until I was right in front of the shuttle.

  Matt was armed and so was Harry. Binda was piloting, and that was it for my reception party. They both gave me a cursory inspection, looking at the bruise on my face and the marks on my wrists and knuckles.

  "Do you remember what happened?" Matt said.

  "Not really,” I answered. “I remember going to pay the station master and then I woke up standing, cuffed to a hook. Is everyone else safe?"

  "Yeah, we went looking for you when you didn’t come back. They must have had a dampening field wherever they held you."

  "How long was I gone?"

  "Around three hours."

  I noticed that it was taking us longer than I had expected to get back to the Claymore. I walked past my companions to the manway. Leaning on the door frame, I looked at the displays in front of Binda.

  "Where are we going?" I asked.

  "We moved the Claymore to a private landing zone when we figured out you were gone and not just off screwing around,” she answered.

  "Everyone has such faith in me," I said, acting hurt.

  "They knew we were gonna be here,” she told me. “The station master tipped them off."

  "Did you kill them?" Harry asked.

  "No, it was so odd,” I said. “Or maybe it isn’t so odd. There were three of them, and one killed the other two. He said he would get a promotion with them out of the way. He even gave me his pistol."

  "Binda, change course fast," Matt said suddenly, turning to me. “Gimme the pistol, hurry."

  Matt took the laser pistol from me as fast as I could pull it out and lowered the ramp. He stepped out and threw it. We were over a canal, so it hit the water and sank.

  "My friend,” he said, “you are a machine, but sometimes not always thinking."

  "You think it was rigged with something?” I asked.

  "Maybe,” he said. “No need to take chances, we have enough weapons."

  "So how much is the private hangar costing us? Did you overhear anything about it?" I asked.

  "Our new benefactor-owner paid for it. The Trillond government vouched for her while she has funds converted to the Trill, which they accept here on Athena,” he answered.

  "How do we know we will be any safer here, and that it isn’t just costing us more?"

  "Because I know the owner, I’ve served with him. He owns this and a private security company, he has lawyers on retainer, his people are prior military, and he has vetted them all himself. He has a reputation and a lot of customers who rely on his discretion,” Matt said.

  "The three that I just got to know worked for a private security company," I said.

  "Not this one," Matt replied. “You don’t have enough bruises and damage for them to be one of those, if you could even get away.”

  I thought about that for a minute. "Does he have access to specialty items? I may need some things, but don’t know exactly what yet."

  "I am sure he does."

  Binda interrupted. "I let them know you’re safe. Lorelei wants to setup security watch while we are on the ground. She also wants to know what we’re going to do about Imelda."

  "Does anyone outside of us know about her?" I asked.

  "I don’t think so."

  "She is the best security we could ever have,” I said. “Tell Lorelei to let her off the ship but not to leave the hangar. I'll talk to her when we get there."

  "Matt,” I added, “contact your friend and ask him to send someone over to us that I can give a list of items to.”

  I had a few things in mind that wouldn’t normally be part of my toy chest.

  Chapter 21

  We were walking into the hangar about five minutes later. The company had given us two transponders, one for the Claymore and the other for the shuttle. Each person had received a chip that allowed them access in and out of the property.

  Natalia launched herself at me as I came in the door. I hugged her tightly.

  "We’re going to have to be more careful. They were waiting on us to get here," Natalia said as she loosened her grasp.

  "I know, you don’t have to tell me."

  Taz walked up to us. Matt, who was standing next to me, moved off to talk to the others. She wrapped her arms around both Natalia and me, kissing me on the lips. "We were worried about you,” she said. “I was close to calling your president and threatening war on two occasions, but your daughter talked me into w
aiting."

  "Thank you for the thought," I said to Taz. "And thank you sweetie for giving her good advice." I squeezed Natalia. I watched her face light up as I praised her for making a good decision. No matter how it could have worked out for me, it was a good decision.

  I looked Taz in the eyes. "You know you’re supposed to be here furthering good will and all that shit, not making threats only hours after arriving. With these people play a diplomatic queen, not a warrior queen."

  "But I am a warrior, descended from a line a millennia old,” she protested. “I am docile compared to my ancestors — you should have seen them. They conquered all who stood in their way."

  "Great, you've learned our language quite well,” I said. “I doubt docile exists in the Cjittan vocabulary. Take Natalia with you when you go to the capital. She may be helpful if you run into a situation and find out docile was really just the word of the day."

  "What are you going to be doing? I know why you’re here, and it is not going to go unnoticed if you leave bodies lying in your path. I am here to further a peace process, and you killing people may hurt those prospects."

  "Stop complaining,” I said. “You’ve known all along the main reason I’m here. First off, I am going to see my grandparents. If you two have time you can come along. I may need you in the end if things go south. I am also trying to decide if I should bring everyone along. That would really give my grandfather a coronary!"

  "You’re not going to hurt your flesh and blood, are you?" Taz asked. Natalia stared at me like a loaded gun. If I answered wrong, she was going to rip me up; I could see it building under the surface. Natalia had transformed from a child in a teen’s body to a wise thirty-year-old in a teen’s body, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to be around for her next metamorphosis.

  I had been worried in the beginning that she would be like a child her whole life and I would be killing every boy, man or woman who tried to take advantage of her. Now I worried she would hurt anyone who disagreed with her, but at the same time she did show more restraint than me, so that was a good sign.