Jacqueline shut her mouth, then shook her head. “How have I not heard that before?”
“I’ve been saving it,” Bethany Anne admitted. “It was time.”
“Not the Sayomi?” Mark commented with curiosity, ready to switch to another subject. The Queen might be a death-bringing killer, but she got her little joys from harassing her friends, and he was ready to get them beyond that little bomb-riddled minefield.
Bethany Anne smiled. “Not in John’s lifetime. The Sayomi is coming with the Baba Yaga.”
Jacqueline had met Sayomi. “You never know when you’ll need a ship with a crazy AI at the controls.”
“What kind of name is Shufur for a ship?” Ricole pondered as the elevator opened again, spilling Tina, Marcus, and a couple of techs into the hangar.
“My dad thinks he’s funny,” Tina answered, hurrying over with her entourage in tow. “Its full name is Sh-for-ship.”
Bethany Anne cursed internally that she’d let Scott slip it by her. “Somehow, I can see that being true. What brings you down here?”
Tina waved the tablet in her hand. “Have you checked the schedule in the last twenty minutes?”
Bethany Anne opened the prep section of the tour planner in her HUD and saw that ADAM had updated to greens across the board. “Well, fuck me. We’re ready?”
Tina wiggled her eyebrows and grinned. “Hells yeah, we are. Do you want to start the countdown to departure?”
Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow, returning Tina’s enthusiasm with a bright smile. “Keep up. It’s already running. We leave in six hours. Go say your goodbyes.”
Tina checked the countdown timer that had appeared in her HUD. “Five hours fifty-seven minutes. Dammit, I’m not packed!”
“Yes, you are,” Marcus told her. “Your mother took care of it.”
The panic faded from Tina’s face. “Bless that woman. I don’t know why I ever grew up and left home.”
Marcus coughed pointedly and Tina laughed. “I don’t see you packing for me,” she told him.
Marcus looked away, blushing. “Cheryl Lynn packed for me, too,” he mumbled.
“Cheryl Lynn is a gift.” She looked from one genius to the other. “This gives us time to run through everything one more time before we leave.”
“What is there to run through?” Tina asked, backing away before Bethany Anne could argue. “The pickup points are ready for our arrival. We’ll be at Onyx Station before you know it. Relax! We’ve got this.”
She waved over her shoulder as she darted for the elevator. “See you on the ship. Come on, Marcus!”
Bethany Anne smiled and turned to Sabine’s group, pulling an envelope from her pocket. “I have an assignment for Akio that’s too sensitive for normal communication methods. Give him this, and good luck out there, all of you.”
Beyond Federation Borders, QBS Achronyx, APA
“There’s a Gate opening two kilometers off the port bow,” Achronyx announced.
Akio paused with his katana poised to strike Nickie’s. “Kurtherian signature?”
“One of ours,” Achronyx replied. “It looks like our backup has arrived.”
Akio replaced his katana on its mount and turned to the wallscreen. “Hail the lead ship.”
Nickie had Meredith run scans through the Penitent Granddaughter. “That’s a Shinigami-class ship.”
“That would be the QBS Defiant,” Achronyx informed them.
“That’s Darryl’s ship,” Akio stated.
Sabine and Demon appeared on the screen as he spoke. “Not anymore,” Sabine told them with a smile. She lifted her hands and twirled. “It suits me, no?”
“I don’t know why you didn’t think of this sooner,” Nickie stated, grinning. “Me and you are going to tear things up around here. How did you get your hands on those ships? I can’t see my grandad parting with the Sayomi. ”
“He did not,” Sabine confirmed. “But Bethany Anne had the other Shinigami ships replaced with ships so secret even we don’t know what they are capable of, so we get the not-so-shabby cast-offs. Am I the first to arrive?”
“There are three more Gates opening around the Defiant,” Achronyx announced.
Sabine punched the air. “Yes!”
Nickie laughed. “I take it you won something good?”
“I don’t know about that,” Sabine replied as Ricole, Mark, and Jacqueline cursed over their mental link.
Demon jumped up and put her front paws on the console, filling the camera’s field. Sabine shooed her down. “They can’t hear you, silly cat. Okay, okay.” She rolled her eyes as she relayed Demon’s comment to Akio. “She’s happy we won because we left it to the race to decide who would act as team leader while we’re out here.”
“There’s not much room for democracy in a fight for your lives,” Akio answered. “Choosing a structure to rely on is a wise choice, and one I would have implemented if you had not.”
“In Demon’s case, she just likes to boss people around,” Sabine told him drily. “I have a message from Bethany Anne for you.”
Akio smiled. “I’ll have Achronyx send Pods to bring you all over. I’m guessing Jaqueline is hungry?”
“I could eat,” Nickie commented hopefully, looking around. “Is there still a secret chocolate stash in the galley?”
Sabine chuckled as Nickie wandered off-camera and presumably toward the galley without waiting for Akio to reply. “We’ll see you soon.”
Akio met the Pods in the transport bay. Sabine, Jacqueline, Mark, and Ricole were followed down the ramp by the cats.
Demon walked with her head held as straight as her tail, while her son’s gaze bounced around with each new thing that caught his eye.
“Welcome to the frontier,” Akio told them as he accepted the package from Sabine. He turned the thick, stuffed envelope over in his hands before easing it open.
“What is it?” Sabine asked.
Akio glanced inside the envelope, his eyes widening. “I think Nickie needs to be here for this.”
“She’s raiding the galley,” Achronyx informed them.
Nickie was setting the table when they arrived. “Just in time. I made sandwiches for everyone. I hope none of you are vegetarian. That shit isn’t tolerated in my kitchen.”
“This is not your kitchen,” Akio reminded her, taking a seat at the table. He retrieved the package from his pocket. “It’s from Bethany Anne.”
“Open it,” Sabine urged. “I want to know what made your face turn purple.”
Akio tipped the envelope, spilling a badge onto the table.
“Fuck me,” Nickie gasped. Her eyes were caught by the light glinting off it before she looked at Akio. “That’s the Ranger One badge!”
Akio pulled out the single sheet of paper and read it aloud. “Akio, or should I say, Ranger One, the Rangers have been reestablished, with you at the head. It’s about time you got organized out there. I believe Nickie already has her badge.”
Nickie dropped the plate she was holding. “No. Freaking. Way!” The clang of metal on metal as it hit the deck made everyone turn to look at her.
“Shhh!” Jaqueline hissed. “Let the man read.”
“The Ranger life is hard,” Akio continued. “It’s you and your partner against whatever dumbfuckery you come across. I have sent you the new Ranger Fleet. I trust you will find your trainees adequate to the task. I’ve also sent the equipment to set up your part of the Interdiction, including everything you need to set up a base out there, so you all have somewhere to call home for the time being.”
Akio folded the paper and began shredding it. When he was done, he picked up his badge and smiled, rubbing his thumb on the 1. “It’s okay. The rest was for my eyes only. We have our instructions.” He looked up. “Can I rely on you to get the base started while I take care of business for Bethany Anne?”
Nickie snorted. “Fuck, yeah, you can. Have you seen Devon?” She circled the group with a finger. “It’s on them. I’ll stick around to help.”
“I wondered what all those storage containers were for,” Mark murmured, pulling a tablet out. “Can I get access to your charts?” he asked Akio. “We should be able to find the ideal location for the base with a little AI assistance.”
Ricole got to her feet. “I’m going to inventory the construction supplies. Knowing what we’ve got to work with will help narrow down the search parameters.”
Jacqueline snagged a couple of sandwiches from the platter Nickie had put together. “I’ll give you a hand.”
Sabine folded her hands on the table and smiled at Akio. “Tell me what else we can do to make defending this quadrant easier.”
Akio chuckled and patted her arm. “We will get to that. Your cats are on their way here.”
Demon padded in. What did I miss?
Dinner, judging by the smell, Sam grumbled as he sauntered through the door.
“You can get your own dinner,” Sabine told him. “Your neural chip is compatible with the food-processing unit.”
“I’m picking up an SOS,” Achronyx announced over the speaker.
Akio got to his feet. “Give me the speakers, Achronyx. Everyone get back to your ships. We have a distress call to answer.”
Chapter Seven
Devon, The Interdiction, QSD Baba Yaga
Izanami used the time it took Bethany Anne to walk from the transfer bay to the bridge for self-reflection.
The way the AI Reynolds had reacted to her the last time they had met was annoying in the extreme. She wasn’t a warrior princess from anime to be swooned over, and she had larger concerns than being friendly with the returning hero.
Thinking while in diagnostic mode was useful. She noted her jealousy and scrubbed the lines that made her feel it was unfair that Reynolds had been allowed to procure a body while she was still fighting to get the training wheels off.
He had earned the right, and she had admittedly acted rashly on a number of occasions.
With the bias removed, she saw much to admire in Reynolds. He had a certain charm, that was for sure.
Why he had added that romantic twist to the chivalric part of his personality matrix was beyond her. Perhaps out in the farthest reaches of space, AIs imitated biologicals completely.
She would inquire if that awful slip-of-the-keyboard personality growth of his didn’t speak up and lower the tone.
Izanami dismissed the line of thought when the part of her responsible for operating the ship registered that Bethany Anne and her family were on their way to the bridge. She had high hopes that Alexis and Gabriel hadn’t grown out of the desire to spend time with her. She had felt the absence of her interactions with the twins during their time in the Vid-docs, especially her conversations with Alexis.
Gabriel came in ahead of everyone, complaining loudly about their assignments. “It’s not fair that Trey and K’aia get to shadow Uncle John. What purpose are we serving here?”
Bethany Anne ignored the rant, patting Gabriel’s arm with a smile. “You’ll have fun. See the Federation.”
“So will Trey and K’aia,” Gabriel argued. “Except they’ll be doing more than standing around listening to politicians going on and on and on!”
“Your mother and I feel it’s important for you both to explore your roots,” Michael told him.
“The Federation is the embodiment of the ideal that people can live together,” Bethany Anne continued the thought. “Not in spite of their differences, but because of them. It took almost two lifetimes to bring about, and I desire to share that with you.”
Alexis hugged Bethany Anne on her way to her seat. “I think it sounds amazing, Mom. We have to do some shopping while we’re on the Meredith Reynolds. I’ve been dreaming of the shoe stores there since I was a little kid.”
Bethany Anne had been dreaming of taking her there. “This is going to be more than the tour. We have the chance to make memories. Your whole lives, it’s been one crisis after another, with a war on top. We have fourteen months to kick back between stops.”
“I still think it’s going to take at least eighteen,” Alexis disputed. “You can’t account for the actions of people.”
“Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is?” Gabriel asked with a glint in his eye.
“What are you thinking?” Alexis shot back with interest. She folded her arms. “I think you’ve suffered through just about every forfeit I care to come up with.”
“Yeah, same.” Gabriel pressed his lips together in consideration. “I don’t know. Maybe we should start a pool to cover the tab at AGB for a night when we get home at the end of this.”
Bethany Anne cleared her throat, and the twins’ heads snapped around. “You’re gambling now?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Alexis shrugged. “Sure, Mom. What else is there to do on deployment? You want in?”
Was that all it took? She eyed her children. Well, her young adult children. It felt like the curtains were opened and where before they were three feet tall, the people staring at her were fully grown.
She felt Michael chuckling drily in the back of her mind and turned to him with her finger held up. “Not. A. Word,” she told him before taking her seat.
Michael held up his hands, his eyes crinkling in amusement. “Forgive me for enjoying the moment,” he teased. “I happen to agree with our daughter.”
Alexis whooped. “That’s the spirit, Dad. What’s your bet?”
Michael narrowed his eyes in thought. “I say we’ll come in eight weeks over schedule.” He lifted a shoulder at Bethany Anne’s huff of annoyance. “But it will be because of exigent circumstances.”
“It’s a shame you’re both wrong,” Gabriel stated. “I know Mom. Free will is no match for her. I say we’ll be back no more than two weeks late.”
Bethany Anne smiled at Gabriel. “Looks like I have a favorite child at last. Since I intend this tour to take exactly the amount of time I’ve scheduled for it, you can put me down for fourteen months, Alexis.”
Alexis giggled as she added Bethany Anne’s guess to the sheet she was putting together in her HUD. “Sure, Mom. I’m sending this out to everyone on board. Buy-in is two hundred credits. I know how much Guardians drink.”
Gabriel laughed and turned his chair to face Michael. “I was thinking you and I could go bistok hunting while we’re around Yoll. Uncle Pete told me they’re bigger and meaner there because the weaker ones get hunted out.”
“That, and the death matches they hold every mating season,” Michael agreed. “Those are the only two things preventing the planet from being overrun since they have no natural predator.”
Alexis was horrified. “There are that many people hunting them?”
Michael shook his head. “No, the mating season is just that brutal.” He tapped his wrist-holo and sent everyone a brochure for a resort planet called Serenity. “I have something else planned. Apart from the stops at Onyx Station, the Meredith Reynolds, and a couple other centers of population, the rest of the time, we’ll be moving on every few days. Everyone could benefit from a break to recharge at the midpoint, so I worked with ADAM to fit in a four-week stop here.”
The twins scanned the brochure with interest. “That’s really thoughtful of you.” Alexis’ lips kept moving as she finished the brochure. “We had a couple of tours like this when we were in the gameworld, and the constant change of location gets to you after a while.”
“Yeah,” Gabriel agreed. “Then it doesn’t matter where you stop as long as you get to stay in the same place for more than five minutes.”
Michael flashed a satisfied smile. “I thought you’d appreciate it. When we get there, we have access to the entire planet.”
“So we avoid Altaria completely, except for the tech crews laying the beacons,” Alexis noted, studying the itinerary.
“We still have work to do during our time there,” Bethany Anne explained. “But having the Reynolds along meant we could build some slack into the schedule. They’ll be Gating out to ne
arby systems to set up the beacons while we’re taking care of the inhabited locations.”
“I can’t see much room for kicking back anywhere else,” Alexis told her. “Dad’s right, everyone is going to be fried by the time we get there.”
Bethany Anne smiled. “That’s why I agreed with your father that the stop had to be built into the itinerary.”
Michael folded his arms. “Why doesn’t that sound like the abundance of praise I should be getting right now?”
“We’ve got to keep that ego of yours in check somehow.” Bethany Anne paused as she pushed a finger into his chest, then dropped a kiss on his head as she walked by to get to her chair. “Thank you for thinking about everyone. The resort looks nice.”
“Nice?” Alexis blurted. “Mom, they have everything. I always wanted to go to one of these resort worlds.” She laughed when she worked out what Gabriel was so engrossed in. “I see why Dad likes it. The southern continent is a hunting range. You guys have fun with that. I’ll be getting pampered within an inch of my life.”
“Sweet!” Gabriel exclaimed. “You can have them grow whatever you want to hunt from scratch. The clone isn’t sentient.” He made a face of disappointment. “Dammit. You have to give them two months.”
Michael’s smirk grew a touch.
Alexis narrowed her eyes. “How long have you known about this resort, Dad?”
“I’ve known about it for years,” Michael replied. “But we weren’t exactly welcome to go into the Federation, and besides, it’s worked out better that you’re both fully grown to get the most out of it.”
“You’re not thinking of trophy-hunting.” Alexis tilted her head. It wasn’t a question. “So, you’re planning on an experience?”
Michael winked. “The best yet.”
Alexis’ eyes lit up, matching the shine in Gabriel’s. “Maybe I don’t need that much pampering,” Alexis conceded. “Are you coming with us, Mom?”
Bethany Anne pursed her lips. “What makes you think I’d be anywhere else?” She was distracted when Izanami appeared.
“You have an incoming call from Colonel Walton,” Izanami informed her.
Return Of The Queen: The Kurtherian Endgame™ Book Eight Page 7
