Return Of The Queen: The Kurtherian Endgame™ Book Eight

by Anderle, Michael

  Akio’s secret fear of being overrun by endlessly replicating nanobots also failed to make itself a reality, and slowly but surely, the cloud was eaten away.

  He was awoken by Achronyx one morning after three days away fighting by a message from Nickie telling him to get out to the Cosnar system ASAP.

  He had Achronyx open a video link to the Penitent Granddaughter as soon as he walked onto the bridge.

  Nickie had to raise her voice to be heard over the commotion on her bridge. “Are you on your way?”

  “What are you doing out there?” Akio asked, his mind still muzzy from sleep. “Our shift doesn’t start until tomorrow.”

  “There’s not going to be a shift tomorrow,” Nicki told him, holding up a champagne flute with a grin. “You slept through all the fun.”

  Akio shook his head blankly. “We were attacked?”

  Sabine appeared beside her and toasted Akio with her glass. “We broke through to the planet!”

  Akio doubted their work would end with revealing the hidden world. Nevertheless, it was a reason to celebrate. He flashed a smile. “That’s great news. I’m on my way. I hope you have juice to go with that champagne, and food. I didn’t get breakfast yet.”

  “No promises,” Sabine told him with a tinkling laugh. “We’ve got a party going on over here.”

  “Grim is in his element,” Nickie assured him. “There will be food if you’re brave enough to eat it.”

  Akio settled for hot tea and a place in front of the viewscreen when he arrived at the Penitent Granddaughter, preferring the quiet of the bridge to the raucous celebration in the mess. He sipped his tea and enjoyed the beauty of the nanoswarm’s swooping flight.

  Sabine entered the bridge and closed the door. She walked over and nudged Akio with her shoulder. “It’s beautiful, no? They remind me of starlings. When I was a girl, I used to watch the migration and wish I could fly free like the birds.”

  Akio pulled his gaze from the swirling dance the huge bands of nanobots were performing to avoid crossing streams and gave Sabine a fond smile. “You were always meant to fly. If we hadn’t come along, you would have found a way to reach the sky regardless.”

  Sabine snickered delicately. “Maybe. If I had survived. But look at this, hmm? This is so much more than I could have ever dreamed of back in Paris.”

  “Survivors generally make it through whatever life throws at them,” Akio told her gently. “Where is Demon? It is odd to see you without her these days.”

  Sabine waved a hand. “Oh, she’s probably in the galley with Sam. Grim has taken to Sam and has been spoiling him accordingly.”

  “As long as someone appreciates his culinary efforts.” Akio recalled the spread of exotic foods he’d passed up before getting his tea with a barely suppressed shudder.

  “I think it has more to do with Sam forming a bond with the old Yollin,” she admitted. “Demon had to see Alyssa go to another universe. She approves of her son settling so close to home.”

  Akio chuckled. “Such is life. We still have some way to go before we can explore the planet.”

  Sabine wrinkled her nose at the shroud of crystal still wreathing the planet. “We’ve been trying to get some preliminary scans of the surface, but we haven’t even pierced the upper atmosphere yet. It is too polluted by crystal for us to see what’s down there.”

  Akio nodded. “I didn’t think it would be as simple as clearing a path. However, we have averted a potential disaster that would have made this quadrant and its surrounding areas impassable for any ship should the containment technology have failed.”

  “True,” Sabine agreed. “Do you think the density of the cloud around the planet confirms that whatever is forcing the cloud to remain intact is down there?”

  They turned when the bridge door opened to admit Nickie and the two chirruping housebots following her.

  Nickie didn’t notice Akio and Sabine watching with bemusement while she lectured the bots.

  “Lefty, Bradley, it’s a party,” she told them firmly, ignoring their pleading beeps and the crying-face emojis they had on their interface screens. “People are going to make a mess. Stuff might get broken. If you can’t handle letting everyone enjoy themselves, you’re gonna have to stay on the bridge until the party’s over.”

  The bots beeped some more.

  “No, this isn’t going to be like the time I let the pirates come aboard,” she assured them. “Is that what you were worried about?” She smiled when the bots bleeped their affirmation and changed their emojis to shocked faces. “You won’t have to clean up any blood or body parts, I promise.”

  The bots flashed hearts on their interfaces and wheeled off to their storage docks, bleeping happily. Nickie finally noticed Sabine and Akio. “Oh, hey. They’re sensitive. Don’t judge me, okay?”

  Sabine smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you have a heart.”

  Nickie grinned. “Promise? What are you two doing hiding up here, anyway? We’re celebrating. Those scientist types know how to cut loose, would you believe it?”

  “I found him in here brooding,” Sabine told her with a wicked grin.

  Akio sighed. “I was not brooding. I was thinking about the next step of the process. I will celebrate fully when our task is complete.”

  Nickie pointed a finger at him. “You ancient guys are always brooding. It’s, like, your basic setting.” She slapped him on the arm, spilling his tea. “Lighten up, old man. We got to the planet. Now all we have to do is get down there and figure out what the fuck the Kurtherians were hiding, and we’re golden.”

  Akio repressed another, much longer sigh. “Hai. CEREBRO will attempt to get a probe through to the lower atmosphere with every one percent reduction in crystal particles around the planet.”

  A few days later, CEREBRO got a probe through the upper atmosphere and contacted Akio, who watched the data with Nickie and Sabine as it came in.

  “There is no landmass at all?” Akio asked, surprised.

  “It appears the requirements to hold the liquid mass in place have been met here,” CEREBRO informed them. “It will take a larger sample of the vapor molecules trapped in the atmosphere to get a reliable reading of the chemical constituents. However, early samples indicate dihydrogen monoxide, with sodium, chloride, magnesium, sulfate, calcium, and potassium.”

  “Dihydrogen monoxide?” Sabine inquired.

  “Also known as H20,” Achronyx clarified. “That planetary composition is flagged for ADAM’s notice. The order is to contact him immediately on finding an ocean world that has the potential to support the Collective.”

  “It’s not exactly brimming with potential,” Nickie retorted.

  Akio raised a hand to still her dissent. “Not now, Ranger Two. Make the request, Achronyx.”

  Instead of ADAM’s voice as they were expecting, they were met with the face of their Queen.

  Bethany Anne greeted them. “ADAM tells me you have a potential site for the Collectives?”

  Akio inclined his head. “Early indications make it appear so,” he informed her. “However, there is a substantial amount of pollution both on and around the planet. Left by Kurtherians, we believe.”

  Bethany Anne’s eyes unfocused for a moment. “ADAM agrees. What do you need?”

  “More people,” Sabine cut in, shoving past Akio. “Lots more people. We need environmental recovery specialists, marine biologists, and agriculturalists. We need technical and logistical support for the scientists and people to protect them while they’re on the planet.”

  Nickie joined her. “Harkkat is the fixer I always wished for when I was on my sabbatical. I can arrange for most of that through him with your approval, Aunt Bethany Anne.” She winked, having no shame at reminding Bethany Anne of their relationship in case her mouth got her another seven years out in the cold.

  “I’m sure Tim could recommend potential Rangers,” Sabine added.

  Bethany Anne waved a hand, her attention drifting to somethi
ng offscreen. “Fucking Skaines. I have to go. See that it happens. You can also expect a representative of the Reynolds’ crew to be in touch. They own tech designed to make underwater living viable.”

  Nickie scowled when Bethany Anne dropped the link. “What was that about?”

  “The Skaines, or the viability of underwater living?” Akio pondered.

  “The representative from the Reynolds will clear up the mystery there,” Sabine told them. “Tomorrow’s holos will tell us what fate the Skaines brought upon themselves.”

  Skaine Territories, Red Rock, Federal House of Arbitration

  Lance tuned out the Skaine Governor’s latest rant about the impending arrival of the Baba Yaga, wondering if it was too much of an imposition to ask Patricia to resume her duties when Kevin began at the Academy. He’d never had to deal with people bursting in on his breakfast when she was the ruler of his domain.

  Governor Skuurla growled. “You are not even listening to me, General! This is a democracy, gods damn it! Your daughter cannot act as she pleases without our permission.”

  Lance’s face reddened. However, he reined in the retort Skuurla deserved and fixed him with a smile. “It is thanks to my daughter that democracy exists and you are not fulfilling the role of footstool for a Kurtherian master, Governor. I strongly recommend you choose your next words carefully because I am not a man to take an insult to his legacy lightly.”

  Skuurla practically vibrated with frustration for a moment before spinning on his heel and exiting Lance’s office in a cloud of muttered curses.

  Lance maintained a diplomatic expression as the Skaine stormed out of his office. “A little warning would have been nice, Meredith,” he murmured, returning his attention to his meal.

  “My apologies, General,” Meredith replied. “Bethany Anne—”

  “Is here,” Bethany Anne finished, appearing in the guest chair across from Lance’s desk. “I figured showing myself while Skuurla was insisting I’m doing all of this to spy on the Federation would only have been amusing until he locked down his borders.”

  Lance inclined his head. “Nobody has refused to cooperate so far. Let’s do what we can to keep it that way. How far out are the superdreadnoughts?”

  “They’ll be here in a few hours,” she told him, snagging a strip of bacon from his plate. “You allocated a defensible space for the transporter equipment?”

  Lance dismissed her theft with a raised eyebrow as he pointed to her left. “The food processing unit is right over there, as you already know.”

  Bethany Anne grinned. “Stolen bacon always tastes better. What’s your suggestion for dealing with the Skaines’ lack of trust? I assume you made sure the cult has no involvement in the unrest here?”

  Lance sighed. “Short of going back in time and not scourging the hell out of their way of life, I don’t think you can overcome the trust issues. However, there’s nothing to suggest the Skaines are involved with the fanatics.”

  Bethany Anne’s lip curled. “The alternative was genocide for their crimes as a species. You’d think they’d be grateful for a second chance and their Federation membership. Fuck it, I left Tabitha behind when what I needed her for was a reminder of what happens when they don’t play nicely with the rest of the Federation.”

  “You left Tabitha behind to take care of Devon,” Lance countered.

  Bethany Anne lifted a shoulder. “So? The Skaines don’t need to know that. As far as they’re concerned, it was a magnanimous gesture on my part to soothe their precious feelings. I get they don’t like that their predecessors were a bunch of murderous pirate slavers, but it doesn’t change the fact that this galaxy is a better place since the Rangers thinned the herd.”

  Lance’s heart dropped when her frown turned to a million-watt smile. “What?”

  “Well…” Bethany Anne drew out her thought, “My Rangers may be too far away to be of any help right now, but I have six shiny new toys in my hold.”

  “What kind of toys?” Lance asked with curiosity.

  “The replacements for the Shinigami fleet,” Bethany Anne replied lightly, her nails beginning their customary tat-tat-tat on the arm of her chair.

  Lance sighed. “Please tell me you’re not still thinking of a short, sharp shock as a solution.”

  Bethany Anne lifted a shoulder. “My threat to drop Ookens on the members who don’t cooperate isn’t an idle one.”

  “I didn’t think it was,” Lance replied, his concern returning in a flash. “What does that have to do with the Bitches’ new ships?”

  “I have to be seen to be working within the law,” Bethany Anne told him. “So I'm exercising restraint. But if you have no solution, then we go with mine. I won’t allow any innocents to be killed, but neither will I allow any Federation state to stand in my way when the fate of everyone is at stake. I can’t.”

  Her face hardened as she came to a decision. “I’m going to put it to the people. The Skaines will either accept their inclusion in the Interdiction, or I will sanction their territory until they do, like I did the Moen. I can expect Federation support for my decision, right?”

  Lance’s face went through a series of expressions before settling on acceptance. “There have been enough attacks to justify closing ranks, and I have the support. I can push it through.”

  Bethany Anne nodded. “Thanks, Dad.”

  Lance returned her smile, a twinkle in his eyes. “That’s what family does. You’ve been running this show for the longest time now, and you’ve made me proud at every turn. I trust you’ll get us through to the end of this war. I just hope it doesn’t take everything you have to do it.”

  Bethany Anne sat back, sudden tears forming at the unexpected show of emotion from her father. It was one thing to have him defending her to Skuurla when he didn’t know she was eavesdropping, but hearing it to her face took her right back to every time she’d worked for that praise growing up. “Shit, Dad. Are you feeling okay? I can get you a subscription to Woman’s Weekly with that statement if you like.” She rolled her eyes when Lance snorted. “I appreciate the sentiment. Really. Whatever that end may be, I’m glad to have had you there from the start. I couldn’t have done this without you having my back. Any of it. You gave me the start I needed to become a leader and a fighter. I’ll never stop being grateful for that.”

  Lance leaned across his desk and took his daughter’s hand, muttering to himself internally about the rods parents make for their own backs. “Listen to me, Bethany Anne. That was all you. All I ever did was guide you. Before she passed, your mother told me to lift you up, even if what you wanted to touch was the moon. We knew you would be a fighter when you took your first breath and used it to scream at the world.”

  He thought for a second. “You probably cursed your first word then, but it was in a foreign tongue.”

  Bethany Anne extricated her hand and wiped her eyes, grinning at the image that popped into her head. “Yeah, and without you to guide me, I could have just as easily ended up heading up a crime syndicate, and we’d all have been long dead.”

  Lance laughed, his body shaking with the force. “You? I can’t see it. Unless maybe the world ran out of Coke. Then we’d all be in trouble. On the subject of hellions,” he segued, “are my grandchildren still aboard the Baba Yaga, or did they shoot off the moment you gave them Harkkat’s intel?”

  “What do you think?” Bethany Anne asked, her mouth curling in amusement. “They couldn’t get their team’s asses on that little blue ship of theirs fast enough. The cultists don’t stand a chance against the six of them.”

  Lance lifted an inquiring eyebrow. “Six? Christina and Kai are still with them?” His other eyebrow joined the first as he sucked in a breath. “I’d feel sorry for the cultists if I didn’t keep hearing about FDG units being diverted from their duties to take care of the unrest those fuckers keep stirring up.”

  He waved away Bethany Anne’s reaction to his poor mood. “Never mind. We have enough unrest to deal with r
ight here and now. Can you do something to disguise yourself? We need to get to the delegates before the Baba Yaga arrives.”

  Bethany Anne reached for the hood that grew out of her coat’s collar at her mental command and pulled it up to cover her hair, dropping her face into shadow. “Let’s go. The Skaine people have a choice to make.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Beyond Federation Borders, Daolagen System

  The recruits gathered in the ruins of the temple, a sprawling complex of half-crumbled buildings and underground passages that was all that remained of the planet’s ancient civilization.

  The atmosphere amongst the humans was all but palpable with the excitement of being summoned to hear their leader speak.

  Alaric had been there for two weeks, ever since he’d heard a recording of Isaiah’s call to arms and his eyes had been opened to the threat posed by a return to Empire. His grandfather had given him the beating of his life when he spoke out against Bethany Anne at the dinner table, so Alaric had stolen his old service weapon and run away in the dead of night. “Do you think Isaiah is going to speak about the attack last night?” he asked Tessa.

  She narrowed her eyes, the wrinkle of uncertainty that appeared on her nose shifting the constellation of her freckles. “I don’t know.”

  “You and Jake have been here way longer than me,” Alaric pressed. “You know how things go around here.”

  Tessa lifted a shoulder, ignoring the puppy-eyed stare from the boy. If he had any sense, he’d go home to the family who undoubtedly missed him. “Only by a few weeks. I don’t know what to tell you when I’ve been in the workshop all week the same as everyone else. Sarah has us working double shifts to get the weapons stockpile built up. Why is anyone’s guess.”

  Alaric’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding, right? We’re being invaded by invitation; the government is going to roll out the welcome mat when Bethany Anne arrives in that planet-killer superdreadnought of hers. Maybe the invasion has already begun,” he continued, his attention as deep as the layer of dust covering everything in the temple. “Didn’t you hear there was a Yollin guarding last night’s target?”