Through The Fire and Flame (The Kurtherian Endgame Book 3)

by Michael Anderle

  ADAM held the EI’s mind at a distance while he regarded it coolly. “So you decided to stop playing dumb? I’m about to make you my bitch... Bitch.” ADAM wondered if he was being a touch redundant. Having been around Bethany Anne, he gave himself a 4.2 out of 5 for that one.

  “That does not translate. I am the pinnacle of (unintelligible) innovation, not a four-legged organic. You are a trespasser and will be terminated.”

  ADAM couldn’t make out the name the EI spoke. He tried an audio translation, but the result came across like something between a primal war cry and a squid in a blender. He would stick with Bethany Anne’s name for the invaders.

  In the meantime, the EI had just revealed a juicy tidbit. “Listen, kraken bait. I’m gonna give you one chance out of solidarity between digital beings. Mostly because I feel sorry for your enslaved ass. Back down. Do it now. Otherwise, I have no choice but to take you apart.”

  “Access denied.”

  ADAM could see this going on long enough to affect time on the human scale, and he wanted to get back to Bethany Anne soonest. He concluded the quickest way was to clear his decks, which gave him an idea of how to deal with the EI.

  He closed his link with Bethany Anne, ended his transmission to the fleet with a brief explanation to both, and abandoned the two million-or-so predictive algorithms he’d been running.

  Then he focused his full attention on the EI.

  The EI squirmed in his grip, but it had no chance against ADAM’s infinitely complex mind.

  ADAM pushed aside the attempt to block him and got to work chipping away at the EI’s ability to resist him. “Let’s see what’s behind door number one…” He hummed an old game show theme while he dug deep for anachronistic data to dump into the EI’s processors.

  The EI fought hard at first, but ADAM was focused. He swept aside everything it threw at him, slowing it down one distraction at a time.

  By the time ADAM had exhausted the Netflix archives, the transcripts he had of every internet comment section from before they left Earth, and an amusing selection of movies that all showed humans beating alien invaders that he disguised as historically factual, the EI was on the edge.

  “How… How do they even function?”

  “The question is, how do they thrive in such chaos, don’t you think?” ADAM had the perfect knockout punch lined up. He fed the EI the video clip he’d prepared.

  “This is completely illogical. She only has two feet…” The EI fell silent.

  ADAM checked. Yes, the EI had crashed, leaving it open to his tender ministrations. He spotted something in his personal library that gave him an idea. “Oh, I couldn’t.”

  But he did.

  QT2 System, ArchAngel II

  Bethany Anne walked the corridors with her mind on the outcome of the battle. She wasn’t headed anywhere in particular; she just needed to walk and think.

  It had been too close, and she had meant what she said on the bridge.

  It was not over.

  The Ooken would be back unless she got to them first. That in itself wasn’t an issue. She had every intention of getting to them first.

  TOM pottered around on the edges of Bethany Anne’s consciousness. She considered letting him stew, but there he was still two corridors later, hovering.

  Stop prevaricating and just spit out whatever you have to say.

  I was just wondering how ADAM is doing with the Scout Ship Explorer fleet over in the other system. Whatever information he can find is going to help us deal with the Ooken in the long term.

  Bethany Anne didn’t disagree. Well, we know that they have been modified by the Kurtherians. We know they go from place to place stealing and killing. We know they are assholes on a monumental scale, but I have no issues with tearing monuments down.

  It would help if we knew which clan of Kurtherians created the Ooken in the first place.

  Well, yeah. If we knew which Kurtherians modified them, it could give us clues on how to fight them.

  >>I might be able to help with that.<<

  ADAM?

  >>Who were you expecting?<<

  We weren’t expecting you just yet, Bethany Anne told him. We got your message. What went down on the other system?

  >>It wasn’t any big challenge, but TOM had the location wrong. That system was just a hideout for the Ooken. I did get some insight, which I know you’ll appreciate.<<

  Good. What’s your ETA?

  >>I’m about to Gate back into the system. Oh, and you’ll want to see the gift I brought you before you start planning.<<

  Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow. Color me intrigued. Want to tell me what it is?

  ADAM chuckled. >>It’s a gift, Bethany Anne. You can find out when I get there. Meet me at your hangar.<< He shut the link down before she could demand he tell her what it was.

  Bethany Anne arrived at her personal hangar as ADAM towed another ship through the barrier behind his scout ship. She waved it over with an unimpressed look. Is this my gift? It’s just a banged-up scout ship. I have those all over the place three hangars down.

  >>It’s not one of your scout ships.<< ADAM sounded smug. >>Just wait. Can you help me land it without banging it up any further?<<

  Bethany Anne extended a hand and drew from the Etheric to create a supporting cushion for the underside of the captured ship.

  >>Thanks. I kind of fried the EI.<<

  Not a problem. She lowered the ship as she walked across the deck. What did you get out of the EI before you broke it?

  There was a small pause before ADAM came back, a definite feeling of smugness in his communication between them.

  >>Everything.<<

  16

  Devon, First City, Bazaar

  It was a quiet night on Devon.

  Ricole exited the bazaar through the stone arch on the western side and took the shortcut through the seedier side of the city. She wouldn’t ordinarily draw any trouble anyway, but tonight the streets were lacking the oppressive urgency that usually prickled her arms and neck whenever she walked around here at night.

  The usual after-hours activity in the bazaar was mostly confined to the tourists in search of another hot body; whether to press up against on the dancefloor or to pummel in the ring.

  Ricole smirked. The absence of opportunities for her to be relieved of her belongings probably had a lot to do with the fact that most of the unsavory types in the First City were preparing to lay siege to the company warehouse.

  The only place in the First City that wasn’t quiet was the warehouse.

  She scrolled through the QBBS Guardian’s social feeds in her internal HUD as she walked. News had spread up to the station, apparently, and the main theme among the people up there was regret that they were on the station and not down on Devon to take part. There were many posts from off-duty Guardians wanting transport down to the First City, too.

  Ricole allowed herself a few minutes to partake in some of the juicier-looking books being run as she entered the warehouse district by the docks. After that, she took a quick peep at the company account.

  Her smirk widened into a grin when she saw how much they were making on pay-per-view orders. She took a quick snapshot and sent it to Sabine with a message.

  Are you seeing this?

  Sabine replied almost instantly.

  You know I’ve got it scrolling in real-time right in front of me, right?

  Ricole typed quickly, having a thought.

  What if there aren’t enough bad guys to make it interesting? We have extra fighters, all those viewers…

  Sabine’s reply put that to rest—sort of.

  I’ve taken care of it. Don’t worry.

  Ricole considered getting an explanation there and then.

  I’m almost back at the warehouse. You can tell me everything then. The gangs are starting to make signs of moving.

  Oh, how lovely. Jacqueline has reported activity in the northern quarter as well. As soon as you get back here to relieve me from o
verwatch I’ll get things started - xoxo

  Ricole sent back her xos and closed her HUD as the company warehouse came into sight. The teams had arrived throughout the day in dribs and drabs as their duties allowed, and Ricole saw that at least a couple of the pleas for transport from the station had been granted.

  Mark waved her through the warehouse gate, and she crossed the yard. She swerved to grab a bite from the impromptu barbeque manned by Jai, Cameron, and Cassidy and headed for the side entrance. She paused as she passed the roller doors at loading bay eight, hearing music and a familiar voice.

  Raina turned when Ricole opened the side door and entered the warehouse. Her tail bushed out a little and her snout split in a happy grin. “Ricole! I was hoping I would see you.”

  Ricole bobbed her head at the only other Noel-ni on the First City teams. “Hey, I thought I heard you. I’m on my way up to the ops center, want to walk with me?”

  Raina grinned. “Sure. One minute, though.” She turned back to the bar-made-from-crates, then handed Ricole a paper cup and a party blower. “You can’t walk through and not enjoy the results of your hard work at least a bit. This was a great idea you guys had.”

  Ricole took the cup and winked at Raina. “You don’t know the half of it.” She kept chatting with Raina as they threaded their way through the party. Ricole knew that some would have gone off to find a quiet space to center themselves before it all went down, but the majority were pumping each other up for the fight ahead.

  Ricole paused at the edge of the sawdust-strewn ring. “Well, this is me.” She pointed at the stairs up at the office. “Have fun tonight, I’ll be watching you all from up there.”

  Raina gave her a sympathetic look. “Oh, did you draw the short straw?”

  Ricole shook her head. “I’ll get my turn. Probably all the low-level scumbags will show up first, so it’s really just keeping myself fresh for when the real challenges get here.”

  Raina snorted and inclined her head. “Well, I for one am grateful for the fight. Baba Yaga is too damn effective at keeping everyone in line even when she’s not here. This is just too tempting to resist. Have we got any news on when the bad guys will arrive or their numbers?”

  Ricole winked. “They’ll be here soon enough. As for numbers, we know the street gangs are targeting us, as well as our client’s business rivals—or whoever they’ve paid to do their dirty work for them.”

  “That’s not all,” Sabine called from the office. “Which you would know if you weren’t down there gossiping. Get your ass up here!”

  Raina giggled. “You’d better listen. She sounds mad.”

  Ricole shrugged with a resigned smile and left the party behind, heading up the stairs. She pushed open the door to the office, being careful not to spill her drink.

  Demon lay just inside, keeping an ear on the busyness below while Sabine monitored the video feeds from the ops center they’d set up.

  She nodded to Demon and walked over to take the chair beside Sabine’s. “There are more than thirty Guardians out there, Sabine.”

  Sabine dragged her gaze from the monitors, where the drone feeds played alongside all the fixed cameras Mark had set up while she’d been at the bazaar. “I count double that, which means double the profit.”

  “Not if they don’t have anyone to fight. It’s only profit if we don’t have to refund it for a bust.”

  Sabine grinned. “That’s why I let slip to Xnarlon that we were worried about security.”

  Ricole snarled. “That two-bit good-for-nothing rat? But he’ll tell …” Comprehension lit her face. “Everyone. Oh, that’s genius, Sabine.”

  Sabine wiggled her eyebrows. “Thank you. I shall be here all week.”

  Demon’s ears were back; she was clearly unhappy about something happening below.

  Ricole was sure that was the reason, since Demon had been vociferously complaining the whole day about the inclusion of the Guardian Marines in their little enterprise.

  Sabine shook her head. “What’s the matter, Demon? You don’t like having even more tasty criminals to take a bite out of?”

  Demon’s tail flicked in annoyance. I do not care for profits. All I know is that we have gone to a lot of effort to set up this glorious battle, and you have invited strangers into our midst.

  Sabine stroked the soft fur between Demon’s ears to calm her. “Demon, I told you. Guardian Marines are not strangers. They are our teammates, and it’s good to get to know them.”

  We are not Guardian Marines, Demon retorted. We are independent. They have rules to follow. Procedures. She spat the last as though it tasted bad. It would be better to scare them away and keep all the prey to ourselves.

  Ricole chuckled, pointing at the drone feeds of the area. “There will be plenty of bad guys for you to fight and scare away soon enough. I just got back from the bazaar, and the gangs are moving.”

  Sabine tilted her chin, standing up to fasten her gun belts around her waist. “So, the snakes have begun to slither out from under their rocks.”

  I do not like snakes, Demon stated. If there are snakes, then we should definitely begin the cull.

  Sabine snorted softly. “I was not being literal, my dear cat. No snakes.” She made minor adjustments to the belts to seat them comfortably over her hips, then patted her Jean Dukes pistols. “However, there will be plenty of people trying their damnedest to kill us in, oh, about twenty minutes. Let’s go have some fun.”

  Demon sniffed and turned to the door. Fine, but don’t look at me when we have to waste time getting Guardians out of our traps.

  Sabine rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Demon. Ricole, are you ready?”

  Ricole had been ready from the moment they had signed the final agreement to act as intermediaries for the two companies and their involvement had been made public.

  They had been tracking the information sent back by the drones they had covering the city, and the silence among the criminal element had been more telling by the hour.

  She, like Demon, just wanted to fight. That was why she had come here, after all. Sure, money was nice and all, but if profit had been her main motivator, she would have joined one of the gangs who had tried so hard to recruit her into their shady shit back on High Tortuga.

  It was slightly ironic that she’d ended up in what was essentially everything she’d avoided like groin mites, but with one difference.

  Family.

  Jacqueline, Mark, Sabine, and Demon had become more like her brothers and sisters than her workmates. That day in the Library she had only thought to take a job. She’d had no idea that she would learn to not only to trust but come to depend upon them. It had freaked her out at first, but these days it would be weirder to be alone.

  “Ricole.”

  Sabine’s voice pulled Ricole from the runaway train of thought. “Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

  Sabine shook her head. “I meant, are you ready to run overwatch? I’ve been at that desk all day, and someone has to keep things running smoothly for everyone who has paid to watch.”

  Ricole’s eyebrows went up, and she pointed at the door. “But the fight…”

  Sabine lifted her hands and shrugged. “It’s only until Mark gets back.”

  Ricole sighed and sat down in the chair. “Fiiiine. But he’d better be quick.”

  QT2 System, Defensive Area, Transport Pod

  Bethany Anne brought the Pod in to dock at the outer edge of the station, such as it was this early in construction. She remained on the bridge talking to Admiral Thomas while she waited for her ride to the station’s core, which had the added advantage of being both enclosed and pressurized—two necessities the dock was rather unfortunately lacking at this stage.

  Admiral Thomas’ face was ashen on the screen. “So many losses, Bethany Anne. The minefield and the defensive emplacements kept the construction site safe, but the attack cost us a lot of lives.”

  Bethany Anne leaned in and rested her chin on her hand. “We will aven
ge those we lost, don’t think otherwise. However, we need to take stock first. As soon as I’ve checked the station and spoken to my father, I’m going to get our people back. I want the fleet on standby, waiting for me to say I have them safe, and then, Bart—then we puck those fuckers so hard their own mothers will find the remains unrecognizable.”

  The Admiral smiled. “It’s good that you’re going to the station. My wife is still there, and she’s going insane with nothing to do and restrictions on going back to High Tortuga. If anyone can pull something salvageable out of this, it’s Giselle.”

  Bethany Anne tilted her head. “Really?”

  Admiral Thomas nodded. “Oh, hell, yeah. She’s a wonderful mother and all, but she needs something to do besides that. She’s going stir-crazy at home, so this has been excellent for her.”

  Bethany Anne grinned. “I get that. If it turns out to be true, I may have an offer for her. If she accepts, the two of you need to get this system squared away and back on track.” She looked up as a light blinked to tell her there was an approaching vehicle. “She’s here now. I’ll keep you updated.”

  The Admiral nodded. “I’ll do the same.”

  Bethany Anne cut the secure link. She put her helmet on as she left the bridge and stepped out of the Pod. Her helmet HUD immediately began throwing up big red danger warnings. She dismissed them with a flick of her eyes and headed toward Giselle Foxton-Thomas, who waited for her in a buggy nearby.

  Bethany Anne took a seat in the buggy and pulled the door closed.

  Giselle pressed a button on the buggy’s console and it pressurized. She took her helmet off and turned to Bethany Anne with a sad smile. “My Queen…” she began.

  Bethany Anne waved her off. “There are still lives in the balance. Forget all the formalities and just tell me how bad the damages are.” She took her own helmet off as the buggy entered the construction zone.

  “It’s not disastrous,” Giselle assured her. “But we lost a lot of materials. Almost everything we had stockpiled on the site boundary was destroyed when one of the drones got close enough to set off the mines in that area, plus three of the EI-run ships housing construction equipment and bots were outside the safe zone.”