It moved toward the circular door, picking up speed once the wheels had retracted.
The circular door spiraled open and Admiral Thomas drew a deep breath, as he always did when the roamer shot down the rail into open space.
Or at least it appeared that way. In reality, the chameleon tech they'd gained in the battle with the grub-like aliens had been used to create tunnels for the rail lines that reflected empty space where the rails ran while appearing completely transparent from within.
Defensive weapons, the smallest of which were the size of two or three large humans, were mounted at both ends of the transfer rails, set to incapacitate anything that threatened the integrity of the rails.
That wasn't all the technology had been used for. The Admiral frowned, momentarily reminded of the new Shinigami-type ship Bethany Anne had sprung on him.
The majesty of the shipyard came into view a moment later, and the annoyance passed when he saw all the ships he now had in return for not kicking up too much of a stink about the Izanami. Qui’nan was a genius, and he didn’t care who he bored with the knowledge.
After Michael’s visit, the Yollin architect tweaked the design of the shipyard to allow for continuous production—just in case Bethany Anne ever did turn up and drop an impossible order on them.
Since that visit, they’d produced sixteen new ships of varying class, all valuable additions to the fleet and not a disappearing ship among them.
They were not truly superdreadnoughts except in size, and while they were all equipped with a version of the Ooken plasma weapons that used the Etheric instead of plasma, they varied in specification.
Admiral Thomas spotted the Ulysses and the Atlas, the Ballista-class world-killers at berth. The rear of the Grieving Widow was just visible around the curvature of the shipyard.
That wasn't all of them. The ancillary fleet had also been beefed up—upgraded weapons and shielding on the smaller battleships, and more EI-controlled guard ships to back them up.
He had a team who was close to working out how to miniaturize the gigantic plasma weapons they’d stolen from the Ooken—and improved on—by enough to mount them on every ship.
It was a good start.
The roamer reached the shipyard transfer station. Admiral Thomas waited for the roamer to pull to a stop and headed in the direction of Qui’nan’s library, where she could usually be found at this time of day.
He had a slight spring to his step as he walked. The Ooken might have the numbers, but he had the beginnings of the fleet of his dreams coming together.
When he was done, they wouldn’t have a tentacle to stand on.
Chapter Three
Devon, First City, The Hexagon
“Jacqueline! Jacqueline! Jacqueline!”
Ricole soaked in the chant of the crowd. She stood up with her hands on the console, leaning into her microphone as she looked down from the commentary box to the Hexagon below.
Sabine stood in the center of the ring with her whistle at the ready.
Ricole began her introductions. “A warm First City welcome to the challenger, Shastaaaa the Immovable!”
At Ricole’s announcement, the crowd went wild.
With boos.
Ricole chuckled. “Play nice, now,” she told the crowd, who ignored her and continued to chant for Jacqueline.
They do not like the rock alien, Demon observed from her perch on the seat beside Ricole’s. Is it because he is inedible?
The aforementioned rock-based alien mounted the steps to the ring, clutching his boulder-sized hands above his head in a premature victory pose.
“And in the other corner,” Ricole continued, “We have everybody’s favorite furry fury, the woman you’ve all bet on to win tonight, Jacqueline!”
The crowd went completely wild for Jacqueline. Her fans were out in force tonight, eager to earn a few credits on the outcome of the fight.
The Immovable challenger took one look at the young human female approaching the ring and folded his arms. “Oh, no. Nuh-uh. I'm not fighting her. I’m all for having the advantage, but this? This is going too far for the sake of entertainment.”
Jacqueline nodded to Sira as the young Noel-ni let her in through the cage door. “I know, right? ” she called out loudly. “It’s totally unfair. But I keep breaking fighters, so the public vote went toward finding me a more durable opponent.” She laced her knuckles and stretched her arms. “You seem pretty honorable, so I’ll go easy on you.”
I love this script, Ricole told Demon over the team link.
Demon purred. Only Mark could have gotten her to agree to the next part, which is too funny.
Shasta is kind of hamming it up, Mark grumbled, but I think it’s adding to the drama. Maybe we should plan to include this kind of performance for the next show.
Maybe, Ricole ventured. If the audience approves. I’m still not sold on this “acting” instead of having a straight-up fight. Isn’t the whole “a stranger comes to town and gets his ass kicked by a waif” routine a bit much to swallow?
“But you're so tiny and fragile!” Shasta’s booming voice proclaimed from inside the six-sided cage, one hand on his chest as he swept the other behind himself dramatically.
You’re wrong, Sabine interjected. Look, they love it!
The massive screens around the events arena showed a close-up of Shasta, who was milking every second of the crowd’s attention.
The hand on his chest moved to his head, palm out. “I could never do such a thing.”
The crowd, for their part, had changed their opinion of Shasta.
He said in his interview that he’d done some work as an actor, Mark told them. I think he was a good hire.
Ricole sent an update out to the others. We’re getting a flood of bets on him. Wow. I'd complain about how fickle they are, but Shasta really likes the attention, and I really like the profit that’s generating.
I bet he'd love a t-shirt line or something, Sabine remarked dryly. Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Let’s start looking into whether it’s worth getting into merchandise. She raised her hands and blew her whistle, signaling for the fight to begin.
Jacqueline suddenly gained three feet, serrated teeth, and a set of claws just perfect for digging through whatever was in her way. “Arrre you suuure about that?” she asked in a low growl.
“What is this I see before me?” Shasta threw up his hands in mock-horror, and the crowd broke into laughter.
Jacqueline began to circle Shasta slowly. “My, myyyy. What biiiig eyes yooou have.” Seriously, Mark. I hate you right now.
Mark’s deep chuckle rang out across the link. Sorry, babe. The opportunity was there, and just…too tempting. I couldn’t pass it up.
Yeah, well I don’t think Yollywood will be calling anytime soon. Jacqueline took her cue to launch into the first action sequence. And the thought of what you’re going to do in return for me playing along will get me through this just fine.
Mark was quiet after that.
Bad dialog aside, Jacqueline still found joy of a sort in the choreographed techniques.
There were much worse things to do than this. Like half-contact sparring, which she hated. She would get to let loose for the final round, and that was worth all this ridiculous acting.
Sabine blew the whistle to call the first round, which ended with both of them scoring pretty evenly, but with Shasta slightly ahead.
The crowd didn’t know how to react.
So they bayed incomprehensibly for the next round to begin.
The second round went mostly the same, but this time Jacqueline took the lead by a small margin.
Again, the crowd were on their feet by the time Sabine blew the whistle.
Ricole whooped into her microphone, whipping them up further. You did great with the choreography, Sabine.
I had some help, she replied modestly.
Send Lover-Were my regards, Jacqueline half-teased. Seriously, these techniques are decent.
&nbs
p; Sabine scoffed, feeling her cheeks warm. You would know them already if you trained with the Guardians a bit more.
Round three began, and Jacqueline had the smallest of smiles hidden at the corner of her mouth as she faced Shasta for real.
“You fight well,” Shasta praised Jacqueline at the top of his…lungs? “But you can’t beat me. I am—” he stretched up to his full height and pushed out his chest, “The Immovable!”
“Ass warrrrts,” Jacqueline blurted. “They’rrre immooovable, too.”
Laughter rippled through the crowd, growing in volume as the spectators’ translation software dealt with the way Jacqueline’s Pricolici mouth stretched the words.
Shasta frowned. “No ad-libbing!” he hissed out of the corner of his mouth.
Jacqueline shrugged and moved in to attack. “That's exactly what we do in this rrround.” She struck him in the side on which he'd landed a little awkwardly in an earlier maneuver. “It's tiiime to get rrreal.”
Shasta got his guard up a touch too late. He bent to absorb the impact, then stepped back and rolled his head from side-to-side.
Jacqueline made a face at the grinding coming from what she assumed was Shasta's neck. “Ewww.” She shuddered as the noise ran through her, amplified by her enhanced hearing.
Shasta saw his chance. He feinted and caught Jacqueline in the jaw with a wide swipe when she dodged the first strike.
She stumbled back a few steps, wiping the blood from her nose while her loose teeth were rooted back into her gums by her nanocytes. “Good trrry. Now it's myyy turrrn.”
Shasta took an involuntary step back as three hundred and ten pounds of snarling Pricolici bounded toward him.
Jacqueline howled her laughter and swerved around him at the last minute, deciding to wing it on a whim and make this the best show since they'd opened the Hexagon for business.
She launched herself at the cage, using it as a landing pad to reach the lighting rig above. She grabbed it and swung once to gain momentum before letting go with her feet pointed directly at Shasta’s chest.
It was a risky move, and Jacqueline gave it almost no odds of success.
However, Shasta’s species must be somewhat lacking in the fight-or-flight department. Either that or the sight of her descending was enough to circumvent the instinct completely, because he stood rooted to the spot with his stony mouth making a rough “o.”
Jacqueline’s feet found their target and Shasta went down like the ton of rock he was.
“Ohhh shiiiit!”
Jacqueline’s knees bent to absorb some of the massive shock, and she just managed to jump off his chest before he crashed into the side of the cage, unconscious.
The crowd went insane. Their screams and cheers shook the rafters as Sabine came forward and raised Jacqueline’s now-human hand. The medics came in to tend to Shasta, who had regained consciousness and was sitting in a daze with his back against the wire.
Ricole jumped around the commentary box with the mic in her hand. “We have our winner! By knockout, Jacqueliiiineeee!”
Sabine took one look at the crumpled cage wall. Can we get through one night, just one, without breaking anything?
High Tortuga Space Fleet Base, Meeting Room
John was last to arrive at the meeting room, just behind Gabrielle.
Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow at Gabrielle but allowed her to take her seat. “John. Nice of you to join us.”
Ah, shit. He leaned against the doorframe. “I have a perfectly good explanation for being late.”
“I’d love to hear it,” Bethany Anne told him, a hint of her amusement showing. Her fingers tapped slowly on the table. “But we have a meeting. Sit down already.”
Eric, Scott, and Darryl snickered quietly. John glared at them and counted his blessings as he made his way to his seat. He passed Bethany Anne, Michael, and Scott, taking the empty seat beside Tabitha’s at the far end of the table.
Tabitha stuck her tongue out at him while Bethany Anne was occupied with talking to Michael. “You would never have gotten away with that if she wasn’t so focused. Do you remember when she would have had you do push-ups on the table for the entire meeting?”
John grunted his agreement. “I kind of miss those days. You know, like you miss a giant pain in the ass when it’s not there anymore?” He chuckled softly. “How’s Todd doing? He started climbing the furniture yet?”
Tabitha shrugged. “Give him a minute.”
Bethany Anne cleared her throat to end the conversations around the table. “Okay, we’re all here. We have just one item on the agenda today, which is the fucking Ooken—and what we’re going to do to get a lead on the Kurtherians.”
A murmur of agreement went around the table.
Bethany Anne quieted them with a hand. “Largely thanks to the efforts of ADAM and the scout ship fleet, since our energy has been concentrated on upgrading the main fleet, we have more information than we did about those thieving murderers.”
John caught Bethany Anne's attention. “Is this everything we’ve found out since Loralei got us the coordinates for the second splinter colony?”
“Yes.” Bethany Anne waved a finger, and a holo-map appeared in the center of the table. She indicated the multiple markers that were widely spread out over a large portion of the map. “The green markers belong to me. The red markers are Ooken splinter worlds.”
Gabrielle sucked in a breath. “There are how many?”
“That we know about so far,” Bethany Anne modified. “However, we cannot assume these are all of the colonies, and we don’t have the location of the homeworld yet.”
John examined the map, tapping a finger on the table as his eyes roamed over it. “We’re placed well for defense.”
“That’s not an accident.” Bethany Anne got to her feet to pace while she worked through the explanation of her plans. “Phase Three is complete. That includes work on the Devon side of the Interdiction, as well as the garrison at QT2. I am headed over to the Helena in a few days to speak at the completion ceremony.” She paused and turned to face the table. “We are now in Phase Four.”
There was a slight scuffle as Gabrielle kicked her husband under the table. She shrugged when Bethany Anne paused and looked at her. “Eric would like to be reminded of what exactly is going to happen in this phase.”
Bethany Anne turned her glare on Eric. “Eric didn’t ask because he knows how I feel about repeating myself.” She sighed. “Fine. Phase Four. It’s time to allow trade to resume. Under my watchful eye, of course.”
Michael pursed his lips. “Isn’t that a risk?”
“It is,” she concurred, “But it’s a risk I have prepared for. It was always in the plan to open up High Tortuga again to a degree. We have the Interdiction as protection from outsiders looking to take the planet’s wealth for themselves, and Barnabas will remain here to keep a rein on things while we’re gone.”
Gabrielle tilted her head. “How well is Devon protected? I haven’t been there for a while.”
“They have the Guardian—which coincidentally is just full of Guardians. I figure that was a well-named ship—and all the ships and weapons they need to defend against assault from any direction. The station is linked to EI-run outposts, and they have the standard BYPS system, as well as a few other fun surprises for uninvited guests.”
“Devon is doing well,” Tabitha cut in. “Or at least, Sabine and the others are doing well on Devon, which is pretty much…” She paused for a moment, then smirked, “Actually, that’s not the same thing.” She yawned. “Shit, sorry. Long night. Peter’s been coordinating with both stations on Guardian Marines stuff, and he talks about how things are going. It’s all well, right?”
“Not exactly,” Bethany Anne countered. “Devon has expanded a lot faster than I anticipated, even with the measures I put in place. I’m meeting with Peter later in the week to talk about what he and Giselle are doing to cope with the high number of Wechselbalg drawn to the relatively relaxed rul
es there.”
“They want in on the fights,” Michael interjected. “Let’s not kid ourselves. Tabitha is right; the older children are making a name for themselves by creating a system that favors the fighters.”
“I like what they’ve done with the place,” Bethany Anne agreed. “The fights needed some sort of regulation. There were too many unscrupulous bastards making money on the fights and not paying it out to those doing the fighting.”
“Things are a bit less wild there these days,” Michael supplied. “It seems unlikely, but the small amount of order we’ve instituted is drawing people in.”
Tabitha snorted. “Maybe because none of those rules interfere with the right of the people to live their lives without being told how to do it.”
Bethany Anne waved her hands. “We’re getting distracted. I don’t want to leave until I’m completely sure I’m not leaving anyone’s ass hanging in the wind. High Tortuga will be protected, as will Devon, as will my outposts.”
Tabitha interrupted, her face wearing a carefully neutral expression. “Are we leaving for good?”
Bethany Anne shook her head. “We will come back here when we’re done with the Ooken. But—when we return, it will only be to rest and recuperate for a short time before we take care of our unfinished business with the Kurtherians.”
Gabrielle’s brow furrowed. “What then?”
Bethany Anne spread her hands wide, a smile playing on the edges of her lips. “Who the fuck knows? Let’s concentrate on getting through what’s coming next.” She chuckled as a thought occurred to her. “Maybe after that, Hell will freeze over, and the never-ending supply of assholes in need of correction that the universe seems intent on sending my way will finally dry up.”
John scratched his chin. “Can’t see it, Boss.”
“I’d better fucking see it,” Bethany Anne retorted. “Otherwise, what have I spent the last two hundred years working for?”
She banged her hand on the table. “There will be peace.”
High Tortuga, Space Fleet Base
Tabitha watched Peter playing with Todd on the rug. He lay on his stomach beside their son’s bouncer seat and dangled the shiny stuffed toy above his head. “You two are the cutest.”
The Kurtherian Endgame Boxed Set: Books 1 - 4 - Payback is a Bitch, Compelling Evidence, Through the Fire and Flame, All's Fair in Blood and War Page 75
