She had read almost every story on Merry’s bedside bookshelf, giving in each time to her pleas for “Just one more!” Tabitha had kept reading even after Merry had dozed off with a sleepy smile on her face.
Tabitha didn’t consider herself mother material, but this child had stolen her heart when she came into the world and used her first breath to rage about it. Tabitha would have read her a thousand bedtime stories just to see that smile. “Don’t tell anyone, but that kid is my favorite kid ever. I’d have stayed behind even if it had been a trip to Larkatia on offer. Besides, the guys are enough to help Abbot Scroat around their contemplation. They didn’t need me for this visit.”
“The abbot will have been sorry you did not visit this time. I know he looks forward to the rare opportunities the two of you have to spend time together.”
Tabitha tilted her head and pointed at Barnabas. “Are you reading my mind?”
The corner of Barnabas’ mouth quirked slightly. “No, just my communications from the abbot.”
Tabitha wondered when that had started happening.
“We’ve been in contact for the last thirty years or so—since his father passed away and he was voted in by the rest of the order.” He grinned when she narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay, that time I was reading your mind.”
“I knew it.” Tabitha sat back and folded her hands behind her head. “I can go to Zaphod next time. Lillian needs support more than I need a vacation.”
Barnabas nodded. “That young woman has been through so much these last few years. It’s so sad how resilient she has had to become.”
“How do you know?” Tabitha demanded. “Did you read her mind?”
Barnabas reddened slightly. “Only out of a desire to make sure she was okay.”
“Do you know who Merry’s dad is?” Tabitha chuckled when Barnabas reddened further. “Of course, you do. I don’t even know half of what she’s been through. She doesn’t talk about it to anyone.”
Barnabas sighed. “Maybe one day she will, but it’s not our place to open old wounds before she is ready to deal with them.”
Tabitha didn’t have to like what Barnabas was saying to know it was the truth. “I know. All I can do is be there for her and Merry. So, what business do we have?”
Barnabas brightened. “Your wish is my command. I have a mission for you.”
Tabitha grinned. “Achronyx will be pleased.”
Barnabas tilted his head and did that annoying thing where he put his hands together wisely. “He’s still not talking to you?”
Tabitha shrugged. “He’ll be fine once I get us off-station. He’s bored.”
“He won’t be bored for long.”
She leaned in and paid attention. “Where are you sending us?”
Barnabas’s demeanor became serious. “There’s a colony group in the Arista system in need of Ranger assistance.”
Tabitha searched her memory for the name. “That place way out past the Torcellan quadrant?”
Barnabas nodded. “This is going to be a tough one, Tabitha. They’ve been taken over by a gang of criminals. The despicable bastards have hooked their children on some kind of drug and are using the children’s addiction to coerce their parents into working for them.”
Tabitha couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “For real?”
Barnabas nodded sadly. “Unfortunately, yes. The information I received was a little bit vague, but that’s the gist of it. You get your whole team for this since the problem has spread across four planets in the system.”
Tabitha sneered in disgust. “Just point me at the hijos de folladores de cerdo. It won’t take me but a minute to shoot some sense into them.”
The corner of Barnabas’ mouth twitched. “I don’t doubt it for a second. However, the people you are going to assist are already more than capable of ‘shooting sense’ into the gang. Your mission is to discover and eliminate the gang leadership, then bring our people and their children back to the Meredith Reynolds for rehabilitation and counseling.”
Tabitha almost knocked her chair over in her rush to get going. “Send me the details. I’ll round up the Tontos as soon as they get here. They’ve had enough R&R.”
Barnabas stayed her with a hand. “You leave in two days. Rushing in unprepared puts the children’s lives at risk.”
Tabitha stopped, sighed, and sat down again. “Oh. Yeah. Definitely don’t want that.” She thought for a moment, her eyes drifting up to the ceiling as she got her thoughts in order. “I’ll get with Jean tonight when I go to babysit Merry. She told me she had some new toys, so they might be helpful.”
Barnabas pursed his lips. “Good idea.” He noticed she still hadn’t placed her feet on his desk.
He might need to give her busywork next time—something that would drop her down to Yoll for a couple of days. Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and Tabitha the closest of all.
He finished, “I want you to do your research before you jump in feet-first. This situation is volatile. Nobody is more unpredictable than a parent whose child is in danger, except maybe the people who were heartless enough to get their children addicted to drugs in the first place.”
Tabitha nodded. “I’m pretty sure people like that are completely predictable. They’ll want to stay in control no matter what.” She stood to leave. “It’s gonna suck to be them when I get hold of them.”
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Grimes Family Quarters, Later that Night
Tabitha sat on the couch with her feet curled under her, watching John and Merry wrestle on the rug while she talked Jean through her upcoming mission.
She sipped the tea Jean had made to help her calm down, keeping her voice low so little Merry couldn’t hear the conversation.
“So the a-s-s-h-o-l-e-s have taken over and are using the kids to force the parents into working for them. It’s like, the worst situation. I can’t just blast my way in because I don’t know where their headquarters are.”
Jean scrolled through her inventory list. “You have someone to meet you on the ground?”
Tabitha shook her head. “No, the situation is too precarious. I’m going to have to stay dark if I can. Should we go into another room? It can’t be good for Merry to hear this.”
Jean waved her off. “Oh, it’s fine. I asked Meredith to filter us out. She can’t overhear us.”
Tabitha raised an eyebrow. “Huh, I never considered that you could use Meredith that way.”
Jean grinned. “Oh, hell yeah. Meredith is there to protect Merry, whatever that means at the moment. Right now it’s making sure her innocent mind isn’t disturbed by the details of your mission. Sometimes it’s making sure she doesn’t hear the nighttime activities from mine and John’s room.” She winked at Tabitha and got up to pick up some of Merry’s discarded toys. “So you need all the best cloaking tech. The Achronyx is fine, but your transport Pods need to have some installed. I’ll get someone over there.”
“That would be great.” Tabitha looked at her niece, who was hanging on to John’s neck gamely while he gave her a bumpy horsey-ride around the living room. “I just don’t get how anyone could use a child in that way. The parents—I understand why they’ve done whatever the kidnappers wanted. I won’t even bring charges against them. I mean, what if it were Merry on drugs? What wouldn’t you do to get her back?”
Jean’s face hardened. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do.” She looked at her granddaughter, her lips pressing together. “That girl is my life.”
“Exactly.” Tabitha made a face. “I could do with some advantages, Jean. I won’t lie, this isn’t going to be an easy mission. This gang has resources, and they have four planets locked down.”
“Sure, just tell me what else you need. We can go through my inventory tomorrow morning while my people are refitting your Pods.”
“I’m thinking I’ll get Achronyx to help me get in, posing as a buyer to get the lay of the place, then when I find whoever is running it all, I introduce them to t
he hot end of my JDs.”
“Well, if it ain’t broken…” Jean snickered. “I love that I’m part of every bit of Justice you and the others bring. It gives me immense satisfaction to know that every day people sleep safely in their beds because of the work you do.”
Tabitha grinned. “We couldn’t do it without you. Are you sure it will only take a day to refit the Pods?”
Jean gave her an incredulous look. “Who do you think you’re talking to? I already have a team on their way to the Achronyx.”
Tabitha cracked up at that. “Jean, my friend, you are a total legend.”
Jean wagged a finger. “No, I work for an Empress who would have expected this done yesterday.” She shrugged. “It’s just the way I work.”
Tabitha wouldn’t accept that. “Nope. You are the best, and that is decided. No arguments. Now…” She was about to get back to finding out what goodies Jean had when she received a ping from Maxim asking her to come down to the Guardians’ rec room. “Oh, this is important.” She looked up. “I’ve gotta run,” she apologized.
Jean waved her apology away. “Come see me in the morning, and bring the Tontos. I’ll make sure you’re all loaded for scumbag before you leave.”
Tabitha grinned. “You’re fabulous.” She untucked her legs and shook her feet to get the feeling back into them before getting up to say goodbye to Merry.
Merry looked up from where she was busily destroying one army with another outside her toy castle. “You’re going?”
Tabitha smiled and ruffled her curls. “Duty calls, precious. I’ll see you again tomorrow, and I’ll be back as soon as I can. I wouldn’t want to miss your special day, would I?”
Merry’s perfect face was marred momentarily by her frown of concentration. “It’s twenty-nine sleeps until my birthday, Aunt Tabbie. Will you be gone that long?”
Tabitha held out her hands, and Merry jumped up to wrap her arms around her aunt’s legs. “I might be. Some children need my help. But if I don’t make it back in time for your birthday, then I promise that you and I will have a special day all our own, okay?”
Merry looked up with a fierce expression. “Okay. You get the bad guys, Aunt Tabbie! Make them sorry, and then come home for my day!”
Tabitha grinned and leaned down to kiss Merry’s forehead. “Of course I will. I love you, Merry.”
Merry squeezed tight. “I love you too, Aunt Tabbie!”
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Guardians’ Rec Room
Tabitha made her way through the lounge area and the changing room to the workout area in back where Maxim was running Tiera through a simple kata.
She spotted Sebastian and Maxim’s granddaughter, Elena, who were engrossed in their homework on one of the benches over by the far wall. Tabitha went across to visit with them while the adults trained and looked over their shoulders, not sure what they had in front of them. “Hey, kids. What are we studying?”
The teens looked up at her and Elena grinned.
“Hi, Tabitha!”
“We’re looking at the history of micro- and nano-fabrication,” Sebastian told her, “with a view to understanding how applications have changed over the centuries.” He blushed, embarrassed by his enthusiasm for the subject.
Tabitha nodded. She knew a little about this inasmuch as it had pertained to her previous life as a hacker, before she’d taken on the mantle of the person whose name made hardened criminals run crying to their mommies. “Sounds fascinating.”
Not really.
Elena held up her Academy tablet to show Tabitha. “It’s really very interesting. We have been learning about the manufacturing techniques available back in the twenty-first century and how they affected the composition and shape of the mechanisms we have developed since leaving Earth.”
Tabitha took Elena’s tablet and skimmed through the reading material. “This is interesting!” Perhaps she had judged a bit too quickly. “Maybe I wouldn’t have turned to hacking if I’d had a stimulating curriculum like this when I was at school.”
Sebastian blushed again. “But then we wouldn’t have the galaxy’s best hacker, would we?”
Tabitha chuckled. “I think that title goes to ADAM, with Achronyx a close second. I’ll admit to best organic hacker.”
What, acknowledgment? Achronyx snarked in the back of her mind.
Tabitha was so happy to hear from him she almost squealed out loud. Achronyx! Where have you been?
I have a life as well, you know. I’ve been working on something with Meredith to pass the time.
It’s good to have you back. We’re heading out on a mission tomorrow.
I know. That’s why I’m here.
Tabitha handed Elena’s tablet back with a smile and a wink. “Keep up the hard work.”
She left them to their homework, sitting down on the next bench to wait for Tiera to complete her kata.
Maxim sent her to hydrate and walked over to Tabitha. “You made it. Good. I wanted you to see that Tiera is advancing. She’s not so bad at this now that she’s feeling more confident in herself.”
“My mom’s a total badass,” Sebastian chipped in, glancing at his mom to make sure she hadn’t heard him cursing. “There was no way she wouldn’t improve if she set her mind to it.”
Maxim grinned. “That she is, Kiddo. But if I hear that kind of language out of you again, I’m going to give you push-ups.”
Sebastian frowned. “For cursing?”
Elena snickered. “For unoriginal cursing. It’s a Guardian thing.”
Tabitha raised a finger. “Actually, it’s an Empress Bethany Anne thing.”
Maxim shrugged. “We’re her Guardians, and it doesn’t matter who is standing on your back when you’re doing them.”
Tabitha knew better. “You’d feel differently if your drill instructor was wearing six-inch stilettos instead of combat boots.”
He started shaking his head. “Can’t see Peter rocking the high-heeled look,” Maxim teased.
Tabitha snickered. “Not with those calf muscles.”
Tiera joined them. “What’s that about stilettos?”
“Tabitha was just telling us how the Empress punishes—”
“Corrects,” Tabitha modified.
Maxim inclined his head. “My apologies, Ranger. Corrects poor cursing with the help of her more-than-impressive shoe collection.”
Tiera tilted her head. “What do you know about shoes?”
Maxim shook his head. “Too much. More than almost any man wants to.”
Elena giggled. “Nannie doesn’t really give you a choice, dedushka.”
Tiera grinned. “It’s too easy to get caught up in the design. I should know.”
Tabitha smirked. Finally, an idea worth two additional seconds of consideration. Or a month. “It was great to see you’re doing so much better, Tiera. I’m away on Ranger business for the next couple of weeks, but when I get back, I have something I’d like to discuss.”
She stood up, tossing them all a smile and a wave of her hand as she left the group without another word.
Chapter Eleven
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Grimes Family Quarters, Living Room
The four women and one tiny child sat around the coffee table while Merry solemnly poured the imaginary tea from her teapot into Lillian’s cup. “Careful, Mommy. It’s still hot.”
Lillian blew on the toy cup before taking a careful sip. “Mmmm. Yummy! Thank you, Twinkle.”
Merry’s tinkling laugh filled the room. “You next, Grandma!” She leaned over and did the same for Jean, then for Tabitha and Gabrielle, chattering the whole time. When she was satisfied that every person, doll, and stuffed toy around the table had a cup of tea, she sat down and picked up her own teacup.
Tabitha made the appropriate slurping noises. “Tea parties are the best.”
Lillian nodded. “They are.” She smiled at Merry, who was rubbing her sleepy eyes. “And so is being home for bedtime. Come along, Twinkle Star, time for your bath.”
<
br /> Merry squirmed in her chair and pouted. “But I don’t wanna bath! I’m not sleepy, Mommy!”
Jean tsked disapprovingly. “You mind your mother now, Merry.”
Merry scowled at her grandma’s stern tone. “Won’t, Grandma!” Her cheeks got redder by the second and her chubby hands clenched in frustration as she tried to stay in control of the tears forming in her eyes.
Tabitha and Gabrielle stayed out of it, knowing full well that they did not want to be the ones who set off Mount Meredith Nicole.
Lillian scowled at Jean. “I’ve got this, Mom.” She smiled at Merry and held up her hands in a show of unconcern. “We could skip bedtime if you like. No big deal. But then you’ll miss out on stories…and your surprise.”
“Surprise?” Merry brightened instantly. “What surprise?”
Lillian winked. “To find out, you need to say goodnight to Grandma and your aunts and get ready for bed.”
Merry scrambled out of her seat and flew around the room to give everyone a quick hug. “G’night, Grandma, night, Aunt Tabbie, night, Aunt Gabby.” She ran to Lillian and tugged her hand. “C’mon, Mommy. Let’s go already!”
Impending eruption diverted, Lillian allowed Merry to pull her from the room.
Gabrielle let go of the breath she’d been holding. “Nice save. I wonder what gadget Lillian built for Merry this time?”
“I think she built her a projector.” Jean got up to put the toys away. “Lillian’s really good at diverting the Grimes temper. I didn’t master that until Lillian left home, and she was nowhere near as much like John as Merry is. My daughter has her hands full.” She shoved the toy box into the corner cupboard and headed to the kitchen.
Tabitha got up to give Jean a hand. “Let’s be honest, she’s never going to have it easy. Raising children is hard enough when it’s a regular child. Raising a full-on Grimes by herself? It’s a good thing she has us all to lean on.”
Jean made a noise of agreement as she rummaged in the kitchen cupboards for plates and glasses. “Even better is that she’s realized it’s not a weakness to lean on us when she needs to.”
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