Don't Cross This Line (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 14)

by Michael Anderle

  “We passed, right boss?” William interrupted and gently kicked the back of Marcus’s ankle.

  “Yes, you passed” she agreed.

  “Bethany Anne?” John called out.

  She turned and raised an eyebrow. He wiggled her phone, “Call from the President.” She made a disgusted face before he explained again, “Sorry, ex-President, not the PITA.”

  “Oh, then ok, toss it here.” John flicked the phone to her, and she snagged it out of the air and put it up to her ear, “Hey, ready to leave Illinois?” she asked with a smile.

  The voice chuckled on the other side of the line, “PITA?”

  “Yeah, our not-so-hidden acronym for you know who,” Bethany Anne replied, “One second.” She turned around to see the rest of the team in the Arti-Sun Engineering area high-fiving each other and passing around small glasses of alcohol.

  Good thing E.I.’s didn’t drink.

  ADAM, confirm Merideth is running Arti-Sun for the next few hours.

  >>She is in full-time control now. Marcus set that up previously. It requires an override from him, with your permission in advance, to change that.<<

  Ok, at least he was thinking ahead. She noticed Dr. Brown-Williams had sidled up to Marcus now and seemed to be initiating the conversation. Marcus was oblivious that his little sun stunt had appeared to attract the food scientist in maybe a romantic way.

  Who knew?

  She turned back to her phone, “Ok, I’m back. What do you want me to do, and who put you up to this?” she asked the ex-President.

  “That obvious, or am I bugged here?” he chuckled.

  She tapped her lips, “No, not bugged. But, if I lied about that, it would be funny as hell to hear about your security detail scrambling all over your house trying to find how we knew.”

  His frown came through clearly over the call, “No, I don’t think so. My wife would not appreciate having our walls ripped apart and destroyed as they tried to find your technology. They would evict us under eminent domain or some shit, and we’d never see the inside of my house again.”

  “Oh, yeah, guess that might suck for a joke after all,” she told him.

  “Well, the request is for you to come to an event in Europe, among a select few power players in government and business, to try and bury the…ok, poor choice of words. To see if we can negotiate any sort of agreement for the technology when there aren’t a bunch of cameras and egos involved. Well, ego’s on parade, anyway.”

  “So, no lights, cameras, and recordings?” she asked.

  “Can’t promise anything, but I was told it was supposed to be a pleasant meeting of walking around and chatting. No one is going to say anything, admit anything, use anything in the meeting as political ammunition, etc. etc.. Believe as much of that as you want,” he finished.

  “And you?”

  “For my sins of being able to call you and you taking my call, I’ve been asked to attend with you.”

  Bethany Anne snorted, “You done gone and fucked up, haven’t you?”

  “Apparently.”

  “What’s the wife think about this?” she asked him.

  “She’s coming around to flipping everyone the hell off and kicking the arrogant asses to the curb. To think she spoke up for them for the past three years is starting to grate on her nerves.”

  “Told you so,” Bethany Anne said.

  “Wow, and I thought Queens were above that.”

  “Not this one, I’ve decided to be Regal is so passé,” she admitted. Then she turned around to see Marcus waving his hands in the air as he explained what he was thinking when Merideth was involved in handling the Etheric energy pulses.

  “And boring,” he added.

  “Especially boring. How those Kings and Queens in the past did it, I’ve no idea,” she agreed as she turned back to his conversation.

  “So, will you do it?” he got back on the reason for the call.

  She shrugged, “I don’t expect it to accomplish anything, but I’ll give the dead horse one more chance before we put it six feet under.”

  “Have your people call my people?” He asked.

  “How about we have Gabrielle call you back?”

  “Yeah, or that works, too,” he admitted before asking, “She’s still with Eric, right?”

  “One second,” Bethany Anne barely covered up the Mic on her phone and yelled over to Eric, “Hey, Potato head,” she waited for Eric to turn towards her, “You and Gabrielle are still tight, right?”

  “Who’s asking?” Eric replied, confusion on his face.

  She held up the phone, her other hand still covering the microphone, “The only President we like.”

  Eric grinned, “Oh, then tell his wife that yes, Gabrielle is still very taken.”

  Bethany Anne put the phone back to her ear, “Did your wife hear that?”

  “Yes, she is nodding that she did. She came into the room a few seconds ago to let me know dinner was ready.”

  “Ok, so Gabrielle will call you, and it will get setup. You guys go eat, catch up with you later.”

  The said their final goodbyes and hung up.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Inside Schwabenland Base, Antarctica

  Maria Orsitsch didn’t know whether she should be fuming, or allow her curiosity to over come her anger at Barnabas for exhibiting capabilities he hadn’t divulged before.

  Or both.

  She expected the man to disappear after whatever he had come here to do, and was surprised when was still at the table and sipping coffee from a mug someone must have brought him.

  She told Horst to stay out and entered the room, closing the door behind her. “That was an interesting display of talent I hadn’t expected you to perform, Barnabas.”

  He dipped his head in acknowledgment and continued sipping his coffee.

  She pulled out her chair and sat down, placing her elbows on the table, “Are there additional surprises I might expect?”

  He put the coffee on the table, “Why would I tell you this, Maria?”

  She stabbed the table with a finger, “I was under the impression your Queen was one of the legations who was working to acquire our allegiance? How about we start with that concept?”

  “Then, I think you have mistaken something, Maria.” Barnabas picked the mug up and took another sip. “What you have at this base is impressive, and your skills and weapons are commendable, yes.” He put his coffee cup down a second time and wrapped it with both hands, “But if you want to be frank, and talk like two adults, you have promises of abilities to come, nothing here,” he nodded his head towards the door, “is of value to the Etheric Empire.”

  “Then why all of this help?” Maria asked, annoyed, “Your people have aided to help keep Schwabenland a free country. For what purpose are you doing this. Further,” she asked, annoyance creeping into her voice, “You commanded me to sneeze!” She sat back and pointed a finger at him, “You could be manipulating me right now.”

  Barnabas raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

  “Well, answer the question,” she spoke, annoyance coloring her voice.

  “Maria, there was no question. You are irritated because you feel out of control. The fact you have felt in control was due to a misperception on your part. You, and your people, are protected as both a courtesy and a requirement to keep you safe from a fight you can’t win.”

  “A fight with who?” Maria waved her arm towards the door, “Those unknown flying saucers? Their technology is better than some of ours, but not enough to allow an easy win over us. I doubt they can make it too far into this fortress,” she finished.

  “Not them, although we suspect they would be worse than you suspect. No, with Bethany Anne.”

  “Why would she be a problem?” Maria asked, now totally confused. “She’s never been belligerent to us. Nor have we done anything to TQB.”

  “Let’s play a game called suppositions, Maria.” Barnabas offered, “Let’s pretend that the following happen
ed. Schwabenland, for whatever reason, was clearly overcome by a foreign power. Any of the majors. China for instance.” Maria’s sudden grimace was all Barnabas needed to know she could see the results of that path. “Or America with their present President and attitude of World First?”

  “Bethany Anne is responsible for that,” Maria fired back, ‘Not us.”

  “No, Bethany Anne is responsible for saying ‘no’, nothing else, and sticking to her guns on the subject. Apparently, her consistent position on this request has infuriated those who believe since they have joined into larger and larger groups of adult children with nation-sized temper tantrums, she should change her mind.”

  Maria sat quietly for a moment before commenting, “This was our path, you’re telling me?” He nodded. “So, without her taking the heat, and flying overwatch up there above us to make sure no large nation attacked us, we would presently be speaking United Nationish?”

  Barnabas chuckled, “Yes, that is the scenario we saw happening. Those who run the psycho-analysis on Bethany Anne came up with trying to take over Schwabenland by force which would push Bethany Anne to act. If they had, she would retaliate at that point. But, with small groups, like the airplane you shot down, you were on your own.”

  This time, Maria thought for a few minutes on his words.

  She looked into his eyes, her blue iris’s beauty telling in the artificial light, “You don’t want us?”

  Barnabas shrugged, “I’ve not had personal discussions with the Queen on the subject. As far as I can guess, she would be happy if you joined, or ok if you stayed. She suspects that if someone in the world possesses your technology and doesn’t share, it will be the final match that lights the gunpowder of World War III.”

  “And where will she be?”

  “Across the line in the stars, Maria,” Barnabas’s voice softened, “We haven’t hidden any of that from you.”

  “You are leaving this mess as it is?”

  “Maria,” Barnabas paused, then sighed. “Maria, we are less than five hundred thousand souls out there, and we are going to fight a race that are the boogeyman for the entire Milky Way. I don’t think you need to try and add Parent the Earth to our list of things to accomplish.”

  “If you don’t, who will?” she replied, her voice resigned.

  “How about Earth itself?” Barnabas asked, “It isn’t outside the realm of possibility they will figure this out themselves. Bethany Anne’s taken on the responsibility to make sure Earth has the option to stay free. What they do with that freedom, is up to them. If we were to take the option away, then we are the subjugating Empire and it will be brother against brother, sister against sister at that point, is this what you are asking us to do?”

  Maria looked down at her lap, her fingers fidgeting, “That is what it will be for us, except in our case it will be us against our grand children and their children’s children.” She spoke softly then looked up to Barnabas, “Most of my people aren’t thinking this way, but I know it.” She patted her heart before she looked off to her left, as if she could look through the solid mountain and see Germany itself, “We do not have the strength to stay outside of a world that would beg us for help.”

  She sighed, the feeling of resignation and sadness closing in, “We are a people out of time, Barnabas. From a world where those who live in it have no idea what world war was really like and frankly,” she turned back to Barnabas, “Don’t know they are in the beginning again.”

  She shook her head, “No, I was pulled into a war and was forced to help a group of people I had no desire to support. Schwabenland was the negotiated price for our help. I will not go through that again…”

  She looked at Barnabas, “This is what I would ask of your Queen, Barnabas.”

  New York City, NY - USA

  Tabitha came out of her room in the suite she and the Tanto’s were staying in while in New York. There was a knock at the door, she raised an eyebrow when Hirotoshi walked over and opened it and spoke with Kouki outside for a second.

  Closing the door, he turned to Tabitha, “Kimosabe, why is the New York Police department coming up here?”

  Tabitha acted innocent and shook here head. “No idea. Anyone we know?”

  “Yes, it is Inspector Clouseau,” Hirotoshi’s heavily accented answer made a mashup of the detective’s name.

  She pointed at him, “You know that isn’t how his name is pronounced,” she walked past Hirotoshi who eyed her like a father watching his teenage daughter who might have gotten away with something and he wasn’t quite sure what, yet.

  There was a knock at the door, and Tabitha practiced her smile before opening the door and greeting the man on the other side.

  “Why, Detective Cleusah, what a surprise seeing you again!”

  “Is it?” he asked her. Detectivie Cleusah was five foot ten inches, dark haired and was probably fifteen pounds paste his prime weight but still had his muscle from his twenties. “I happen to be …”

  “Hold that thought one second,” Tabitha told the detective and shut the door on the rest of his sentence. She turned around to find Hirotoshi ten feet behind her, his arms crossed over his chest. “I’ll just take this outside,” she told him.

  She turned back around to the door and stepped out, causing the Detective to rapidly step out of her way. Kouki smirked when Tabitha looked at him. She rolled her eyes, grabbed the detective by his suit jacket and started towards the elevator.

  “Where are we going?” he asked the head strong woman.

  “ix nay alking tay, k?” she muttured as they walked up to the elevator on the second to the top floor. It dinged and she practically grabbed the detective and pulled him him as her finger was stabbing the door shut button over and over again.

  It finally closed for her.

  “Tabitha, what the hell is wrong with you?” He asked, exasperated. Since meeting her two years before when a lot of justice came calling in New York, by a woman vigilante no less, Detective Theodore ‘Ted’ Jameson had both looked forward to seeing Tabitha, and dreading it at the same time.

  He could never pin the situations over the last two years on her, but it seemed like every time she came to town, unexplained stuff happened to less savory individuals. The one time he had been able to absolutely pin her to a location, she had so many eye witnesses that it was a clear case of self protection.

  “I can’t just want a moment of your time, Ted?” She asked him in a breathy voice.

  “No!” He put put up a hand, “Been there…well, sort of, and no thanks. Sorry but the concept is a lady on the street, a freak in bed. Not a freak on the street and God knows what in bed.”

  Tabitha chewed on her lip, “Damn, I hadn’t considered that a problem. I thought freak in bed forgave all sins.”

  “I have plenty of freak in my normal existence, I don’t need more at home.” Ted answered as the elevator dinged.

  The doors opened and Tabitha looked to her right and winked at Ryu who had lobby guard duty at the moment. This was going to piss him off because he wouldn’t be able to follow her this evening.

  “Why can’t we stay in this warm hotel?” Ted asked as she dragged him by the hand outside into the chilly night.

  “Because the hotel has a lot of ears,” she told him as she took a left. She let go of his hand and put hers into her pockets. “Ok, since you aren’t here to ask me on a date, what can I help you with?”

  Ted grimaced. With her accent Tabitha could make just about anything indecipherable to a normal English speaking person. Then, when she ratcheted up her sexy kitten accent, no normal English speaking male understood her much anyway.

  Except Ted.

  He had worked hard to nail her for a long, long time and therefore had dealt with her sexual attraction defense a lot. He, mostly, wasn’t bothered by it anymore. “I have a pack of guys found not too far away from here inside of a trash dumpster. “

  “Strange place to go for food, isn’t that where you Americans throw i
t away?” Tabitha asked him.

  “Tabitha, you know America as well as Jenny from the Block, so don’t play ignorant South American for me.”

  “I don’t know these pack of guys, so how do I know if they understand where to go to eat? Plus,” Tabitha continued. She enjoyed these talks with Ted, “you New Yorkers do everything different here in the big city. It is a miracle anything normal is done at all.”

  Ted dodged some trash as they walked, “Perhaps we might bend the law of normalcy upon occasion. But five guys in a dumpster, all beat up is a little rare. Especially since a hobo saw a woman matching your description run into the alley, yelling at the five guys. Then, he claims he hears a bumch of fighting and the woman comes walking back out a minute later and heads in this direction.”