“Just in time for what?” Bethany Anne inquired, taking a seat at the breakfast bar next to Michael. She tucked herself under his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. “Well, pancakes, obviously.”
Michael chuckled, pressing a kiss to Bethany Anne’s hair. “Family meeting,” he answered. “None of us wants to see you agitated over missed deadlines.”
Gabriel dolloped whipped butter on the pancakes as Alexis served them and pushed one of the plates toward Bethany Anne, then another toward Michael. “Get a room, you two. Nobody needs to see their parents sucking face when they’re about to eat.”
“We don’t need a room since we have a whole ship,” Bethany Anne replied, eyeing the fruit bowl for a moment before selecting a nectarine. She pointed a finger and pared her fruit with an Etheric edge, then ate a segment before waving her finger at the twins. “Praise where it’s due. You handled the assignment well.”
“Not that well,” Alexis argued. “I missed the mole because I let my emotions rule me. Again.”
Bethany Anne grabbed another segment. “Don’t beat yourself up; you’re not infallible. None of us are, despite what your father thinks when he is feeling sure of himself.”
Alexis smiled. “Thanks, Mom, really. But I can’t let it be a weakness.”
“Your mother has made emotion her strength,” Michael told her. “I am the first to admit that a dispassionate approach can be useful. However, had your mother taken that same approach, there would be no Federation.”
“How do you figure?” Gabriel asked.
Alexis cut to the point, as usual. “Because everyone would have kept fighting without her to force them to pull them together. What are we going to do to get the tour back on track?”
Bethany Anne set her pancakes swimming in syrup before cutting off a piece of the topmost one with her fork. She ate the bite before giving her a considered answer. “Well, you can all stop worrying I’m going to lose my shit for a start. While I was waiting for Isaiah to wake up from his Pod-doc session, I got with ADAM and rescheduled the next few weeks. Check your itineraries. They should have updated already.”
Alexis frowned, opening her HUD. “I didn’t get a notification.” Her confusion turned to mild outrage when she saw the adjustments had them working to cover the scheduled stops between the tour’s current location and the resort planet that was the halfway point in half the previously allotted time. “What the hell, Mom? You do know people need sleep, right?”
“Most people, yes, but not anyone who will be supervising those to be upgraded around our technology,” Bethany Anne told her. “The technical teams have stayed on schedule since the Reynolds stayed on task while we took care of the Daolagen situation. Personnel upgrades are the only part of the operation running behind, and that’s easily solved by picking up from where we are and working on getting to Serenity ahead of schedule, extending our stay there.”
Michael nodded, his attention on his food. “Makes sense.”
Gabriel looked at his parents in disbelief. “How does extending our vacation get us back on track?”
“I’m not extending anyone’s vacation time. By setting Serenity as a rendezvous point for everyone who didn’t get the upgrade, we avoid having to turn around to cover the stops we missed by going straight to Daolagen.” Bethany Anne had weighed up the security headache against the logistical impossibility of completing the tour in time if they reversed course. “Yes, it will be a challenge, but I have faith that everyone will be more than capable of meeting it when they realize that the alternative is spending another eight weeks away from home.”
Michael put his fork down. “Restructuring the guard rotation shouldn’t be an issue. Christina and Kai have proven extremely helpful in managing the FDG troops we have aboard.”
“Decent guys,” Gabriel mentioned. “They’re mostly veterans Nathan allowed to reenlist. The stories they tell are incredible.”
Bethany Anne’s mouth crept up at the corner. “Speaking of Christina, I spoke with Ecaterina. She and Nathan will be joining us for our vacation.”
Alexis clapped in delight. “Really? I thought you would have to threaten eternal punishment to get him to leave Onyx.”
“No need,” Bethany Anne told her with a smile. “It just so happens that their anniversary is coming up, and Ecaterina was delighted with the brochure for the resort.”
“As was the ineffable Charumati, I assume?” Michael ventured with a chuckle when his wife and daughter turned almost identical sweet smiles on him. He shook his head. He had no chance. “I know what you two are planning. You just confirmed my suspicion as to who the intended celebrants are. How can I help with your scheme?”
Bethany Anne pressed her lips together in thought. “For the moment, keep Christina and Kai occupied. I might want your help beating some sense into Nathan at a later date.”
Michael smiled. “Of course, dear.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cosnar System, QBS Achronyx
The cleanup had revealed an ocean world of unparalleled beauty. Akio thought it would be even more beautiful when it was filled with life.
Marine biologists from the Federation had recovered samples of fossilized flora and fauna trapped in the crystal sediment on the ocean floor and were slowly but surely preparing to re-seed the planet, with the assistance of various other specialists the consul on Devon had arranged.
He admired the diligence the scientists and technicians showed but had no clue as to how they had achieved so much in such a short time, even with the operation running around the clock.
This chance discovery would soon be home to the Collectives, and he was more than honored to be part of making that happen.
He and Achronyx chatted idly while the ship entered a high orbit over the planet, Achronyx passing on tidbits of interest from the crews working on the sky base—the raft of ships lashed together and suspended a hundred feet above the cloud layer. They were discussing the ongoing construction of the underwater base when Achronyx received the message they’d been waiting for.
“It appears that the containment field generator has been found,” he informed Akio. “One of the bots in the trench went offline, and the team leader sent another with a camera and got a visual before they lost that bot, too. They’re asking if they should take it out.”
Akio examined the image. “Leave it in place until we are certain it is safe to release the field without also releasing a large amount of crystal into open space.”
The shuddering in the ship came suddenly and without warning from somewhere inside the Etheric, putting an end to Akio’s theory that an investigation would precede any engagement with the Kurtherians.
“Achronyx, report!” Akio commanded as the ship bucked under a double impact.
“Two missiles of unknown origin just came out of nowhere, and I’m pissed about the dents they left in my ass,” Achronyx snapped. “Minimal damage, but the inertia dampers will only absorb a few more hits like that before they overload. Diverting nonessential power to cloaking and shields and initiating offensive maneuvers.”
Akio raked the viewscreen with his gaze, seeing the Gate but no ships. “Who is attacking us?”
“Probably that Ooken destroyer,” Achronyx replied, unloading his railguns in the direction of the sleek, dark ship coming up on their stern.
Akio’s jaw clenched. “Ookens. I knew this day would come.”
“I’m guessing their overlords didn’t like us messing with their stuff,” Achronyx agreed. “I have requested backup from the base.”
The ship rocked again when the destroyer snuck a kinetic through while the shields were in phase, draining the available power Achronyx had to keep both cloaking and shields intact. Achronyx returned fire with a spread of Etheric-charged missiles while calculating the odds of being hit in the same place when he should have been invisible to the enemy ship. “Dammit, they have the encryption for my cloak.”
“Then stop wasting power on it,” Akio o
rdered. “Concentrate on keeping us together, and let’s hope that is the only ship they sent.”
“You had to go and say it, didn’t you?” Achronyx grumbled. “I’m reading three more Gate signatures near the first.”
Akio got to his feet as three more destroyers appeared in the void. “Put us between those ships and the sky base and ready everything we have. We must do what we can until the other Rangers get here.”
“They’re already arriving,” Achronyx informed him as he brought the ship around. “I don’t know what Jean Dukes put into the Penitent Granddaughter, but that rusty old hulk can haul ass when Meredith puts her mind to it. The Defiant and the Cambridge just Gated in on the other side of the planet.”
One by one the Ranger ships arrived, the Shinigami-class ships acting as overwatch to the Black Eagles and fighter Pods they disgorged from their holds. They ringed the Ooken destroyers.
“Give me comm to the fleet and send a message to the underwater crews to evacuate the area around the containment field generator,” Akio requested. “Rangers, once again, you are the line the enemy dares not cross. There can be no mercy for the soulless while lives hang in the balance. Ranger Two, the fleet is yours. Ranger Three, with me.”
Sabine gave her acknowledgment and peeled off from the fleet as Nickie’s orders rang out over the comm. “You heard the boss. Let’s give those motherfuckers a taste of Ranger justice!”
Akio got to work while the Rangers closed the noose around the destroyers, coordinating with the sky base to get the evacuation underway. He had Sabine open a Gate to Base One, and ships from the sky base began darting out of the atmosphere and through the Gate at his instruction.
He kept half his attention on the battle zone a few hundred kilometers away and the rest on the evacuation. The destroyers pushed the boundary created by the Rangers, attempting to play space chicken with the much smaller Black Eagles. However, their efforts were met by pushback in the form of heavy kinetic fire as the Rangers piloting the fighters unleashed wave after wave of explosive pucks.
“Get ready to take out the containment field generator,” Akio told Achronyx. The Penitent Granddaughter blocked his view for a minute. He was fighting to get a visual of the battle when the Skaine battleship was suddenly silhouetted by a halo of light. He abandoned his targeting interface. “Ranger Two, what’s happening over there?”
“Calm your tits,” Nickie told him as Meredith prepared to Gate them to the next firing position. “How’s the evacuation going?”
Akio sighed with relief when the Penitent Granddaughter was gone, and he saw that only three destroyers remained. “Almost done. I’m about to draw more attention to us. Can we take the heat?”
“You bet that stick up your ass we can,” Nickie told him as the Rangers took out another destroyer in a blaze of molten metal.
Akio ignored Nickie’s lapse into gutter talk as her nerves started showing, nodding to himself. “Then we fight this battle on our terms. I’m going to destroy the generator and let our enemy know for sure that we’re here. Prepare for further enemy contact.”
He instructed Achronyx to take the containment field generator out.
Twin missiles shrieked through the planet’s atmosphere, throwing up enormous plumes of steam and ocean spray when they breached the water’s surface. Akio had Achronyx pan the main screen out to give him the full view of the planet as they hit. The brief aureole of burning atmosphere that followed the explosion struck Akio as beautiful, as did the mitigation of their concerns about the tiny chance the field generator was what was holding the planet’s atmosphere in place.
The Rangers closed on the final destroyer, having taken out the third while Akio’s attention was on the planet, and hammered it with kinetic fire from all directions while Team Hex in the Shinigami-class ships strafed it with the wreckage of its downed compatriot ships, which they collected as they swooped around the battle zone providing cover for the other Rangers.
Thousands of pucks hitting continuously was too much for the Ooken ship’s shields to bear. Fire burned at the breaches in the destroyer’s hull, to be extinguished when it reached what was left of the shields.
“You want to finish this?” Nickie asked in Akio’s ear.
Akio smiled. “Achronyx, I believe we have a ship-buster remaining.”
“We do,” Achronyx answered.
Akio indicated the destroyer on the viewscreen with a wave of his finger. “Then use it, and let us be done with this battle.”
“Why do I get the feeling you don’t think this is over?” Nickie asked when the final destroyer disintegrated in a flash of Etheric energy, leaving the system Ooken-free for the moment. “It’s not like this was an active site for the Kurtherians. Those ships could have been sent as an automatic response for all we know.”
Akio watched the debris settle, calculating the next steps for the Rangers. “If there is one thing we can be sure of, it’s that it’s not over. Tyrannical dictators don’t generally take well to their authority being challenged. They will be back.”
“We’ll be ready,” Nickie told him. “Want me to wring extra support out of Harkkat?”
Akio nodded. “A few more ships wouldn’t be amiss.”
Nickie’s laughter pealed. “Good luck with that. Every ship that’s not already in use is being outfitted for the raid. I was talking to Grandma Jean about getting a couple more ships, and she told me she’s got the shipyards churning out as many new vessels as they can handle, and it’s still not enough to meet the demand Bethany Anne is creating with her tour.”
Akio appreciated the constraints of wartime, but it didn’t change the fact that the Rangers needed more big guns than they currently had. “I will speak to Bethany Anne. She may decide the protection of this planet for the Collectives merits extraordinary measures.”
“I hope you’re right.”
* * *
Bethany Anne listened to Akio’s report when he called her after giving CEREBRO strict guidelines about their actions should another attack come.
She tapped a finger on her lips as her eyes unfocused for a moment. “I’ve reviewed the video, and I agree that you need to be ready for a larger attack. ”
“We have sufficient numbers,” Akio told her. He paced the ops center with his hands folded at the base of his spine, occasionally pausing to look at his Queen on the viewscreen while he briefed her on the growth the Ranger group had undertaken since their last face-to-face. “It has been unsurprisingly easy to attract people with the personality traits that are best suited to the Ranger life since the need for Justice is strongly felt everywhere. Arming them is no issue. The shortage is of suitable ships for the endeavor.”
Bethany Anne considered the problem. “You have a bunch of engineers and other technical specialists out there, right?”
“Hai, my Queen.” He eyed her. “What are you thinking?”
Bethany Anne smiled. “Well, first, I’m going to send the only two ships I have not currently deployed. Second, I need you to get with your technical people, find out what they are missing in order to build a shipyard out at Ranger Base One, and get Harkkat earning his keep. You can pull resources from anywhere except the shipyards that are already in operation.”
“I’ll have Nickie coordinate that with Jean,” Akio promised. “I understand completely that the production schedule for the raid cannot be set back.” He paused. “Which ships are you sending?”
Bethany Anne’s smile grew into a bright grin. “The ArchAngel and the G’laxix Sphaea. You, Kael-ven, and Dan are all smart guys. I trust you’ll figure it out when the next attack comes.”
Federation Space, Serenity, Southern Continent
Bethany Anne ended her call with Akio and resumed her wait for Kai on the deck wrapping the ocean-view suite resort management had offered as a venue. She chose a seat at the wicker table, feeling a little nervous as well as impatient to find out his reaction to her meddling.
Because she was definitely meddling;
there was no question about that.
She relaxed when the Gemini’s roamer came into sight. It covered the couple of miles in a few minutes, and Alexis, Gabriel, and Kai climbed out at the base of the grassy dune, chatting amongst themselves. Kai looked at Bethany Anne in confusion before ascending the driftwood steps to the deck alone.
The young man greeted Bethany Anne with his open and honest smile, reminding her of a much younger Terry Henry, if somewhat less battered by life than the stoic Marine had been at around the same age. As with his grandfather—as with all of the Waltons—what you saw was what you got with Kailin.
“The twins said you wanted to see me?” Kai met Bethany Anne’s eyes as he spoke. “I have to admit, I’m a little worried about why.”
Bethany Anne chuckled. “Funnily enough, it’s me who’s concerned about your reaction.” She indicated the white stucco building behind them in answer to Kai’s inquisitive expression. “When I ask you how you like this for your wedding venue.”
“My what?” Kai spluttered, completely thrown by the announcement. “How do you know? I haven’t even asked...” Logic and reason resumed their places in his thinking as he regained his composure. “Alexis, right? She apologized for reading my mind. I didn’t realize she read it so deeply.”
Bethany Anne smiled. “We’ll call it a happy accident, hmm?”
Kai shook his head, his eyes wide with concern. “I can’t ask Christina to marry me. Not until I know it won’t drive a wedge between her and her father.”
Bethany Anne ruffled his hair, smiling. “You are a sweet, honorable young man. Nathan will come to terms with your relationship. Let me ask you something. Would you die for Christina?”
“In a heartbeat,” Kai declared with feeling.
Bethany Anne smiled. “That’s the easy part. Would you live for her?”
“How could I not?” Kai almost fell over the words in his rush to get them out. “She’s everything to me. My best friend, as well as my lover.”
Return Of The Queen: The Kurtherian Endgame™ Book Eight Page 25
