Shi-tan watched as everyone stepped back.
Shi-tan had shrugged. How well could an Empress fight, anyway?
Looking at his face in the mirror now, he had to figure the answer was “too damned well.”
He stepped back out of his little medical closet and turned toward the table that held the folder. He opened it, pulled out a document, and smiled. The agreement, he had signed, was inside.
He was a member of the Bad Company now, and he had given his Loyalty to Empress Bethany Anne. Fighting, he had been told, was expected.
No more bounty hunting for him.
It was time this Shrillexian kicked ass for someone who was hands-down the baddest leader out there. He looked at the clock and frowned.
He had three hours to patch himself up and leave. The Powerdrive had a ship to catch.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Military Meeting Room
Bethany Anne dropped into the head chair as she looked at her father, Admiral Thomas, Dan, Frank, Pete, and Todd.
“We have four months to go, gentleman.” She put up a hand. “I’ve heard you guys tell me eight different times,” she looked at Todd, “actually nine if you include the sneaky way you badgered me during the Guardian Marine challenges last weekend.”
Todd just smiled and shrugged.
“The answer,” she looked around the table, her gaze going hard, “is still HELL NO! I will be on that world, and I will be fighting, not stuck in some sort of box where nothing can hurt me. Am I painfully clear?”
“Yes, Empress.” Lance made a face before looking up. “Meredith, please bring up a map of Karillian.”
A large world came into the hologram over their table. “We expect all the initial fighting to happen on the main land mass.” The world showed a planet with about eighty percent water, one land mass that represented another sixteen percent, and then more than a thousand islands that made up the last four percent.
“ADAM and his team have reviewed the previous data they were provided. We will be speaking with their representatives when they get back in two weeks. By then, we will have the communication protocols set up. The attackers have always arrived on the same date, but we will be setting up the first defensive arrays in two months. That leaves us less than eight weeks to dig in.”
“Chance they come early?” Bethany Anne asked.
“Negligible,” Frank supplied. “I’ve gone through all the data, and it seems this group is very prompt. I’ve spoken with TOM about this. He believes the Phraim-‘Eh clan is behind it.”
“That means what?” Bethany Anne’s eyes went distant for a fraction of a second. “Ok, TOM says they would be like our conception of the Germans at one point in our history: VERY organized, very punctual, very much a pain in the ass as an opponent.”
“The Germans were conversant with trickery,” Frank pointed out.
“Maybe I should say it is a close metaphor for those of us who need an anchor to ground the conversation.” Bethany Anne paused a moment. “Ok, that gives us eight weeks to dig in. Jump gate issues?”
Admiral Thomas spoke up. “ArchAngel is going to be damned busy,” he said. “We have one new super-dreadnought just about ready to load, but her crew won’t be battle-ready soon enough to be part of the fight.”
Bethany Anne turned to her admiral. “Plans for her?”
“I’ve spoken with Defense Minister E’kolorn. He would be happy to have her stay here while you are out of the system.”
“Uh huh,” Bethany Anne nodded. “Who is supposed to know I’m out of town?”
“Only the closest,” Lance answered. “But you have to believe damned near everyone with two brain cells is going to know you aren’t here.”
“Why?” Bethany Anne looked to her father. “If we aren’t announcing it, who’s breaking operational security?”
This time it was John Grimes, speaking from behind her. “Really, boss?”
Bethany Anne turned around to see John raising one eyebrow at her. She shook her head as she returned to the conversation. “Ok, I wasn’t seeing the obvious. They know me, they know the Bitches, they know if those guys are gone, so am I.”
“Well,” Frank shrugged, “sure. However, the other part is these people know you aren’t going to take this shit lying down.”
Bethany Anne eyed one of her Intelligence guys. “I blame your books for that, Frank.”
“Maybe, but I think the books keep you real. Otherwise, the tall tales about you would just get bigger and bigger, and nothing would be true anymore.”
“Is that such a problem?” she asked him.
“It would be for those who are trying to kill you, Bethany Anne,” Dan admitted. “If the stories get too big, eventually someone is going to find a way to kill the fake Bethany Anne in those stories, and that kind of power and/or technology would be able to take the real you out.”
John spoke up from behind her. “Well, that would make for a bad day at work.”
Bethany Anne grinned. “They can try!”
“And they will, Bethany Anne,” Dan continued. “If someone stops someone else from being a complete megalomaniacal douche bag, that person or race will retaliate against the ones stopping them.”
“Not to put too fine a point on it,” Lance pointed to the world. “Like we are about to do for the Karillians.”
—
Bethany Anne was in her working office near her quarters.
“Empress,” Meredith began.
Bethany Anne closed the paper book she was writing in. Not only was it impossible to steal data out of it without physically stealing the book itself, but she was writing in a forgotten language from a culture TOM had visited from over two thousand years ago.
On a world most considered a mudball.
It was the best she could do to keep her notes secret even from her closest friends and guards. She knew they would do their best to keep her safe.
Just as they knew she would do her damnedest to be in the middle of the fight.
Their latest meeting, just that morning, had them just four weeks from first deployment. That meant there was a month to go before they started shipping assets to a brand-new system in preparation for defending a group of aliens most considered thieves and malcontents. Sometimes, if you knew someone’s true history, it changed your opinion of them in seconds.
Something only the truth can do.
“Yes, Meredith?” she answered.
“Ixtali Legate Addix is requesting permission to arrive in four weeks.”
Bethany Anne’s mouth thinned in annoyance. Was this happenstance, or a plan on the part of her people to keep Bethany Anne out of Karillian space?
“Tell her to get her ass here in three-and-a-half weeks, no later.” Bethany Anne replied.
“Exactly like that?” Meredith asked, her voice going up an octave.
Bethany Anne smiled. Apparently, ADAM had been working with Meredith so that her inflections carried more reality.
“No, work out something generous, but be emphatic that it must be no longer than three-and-a-half weeks, and that they shouldn’t expect more than two days with me. If they want more, they will need to arrive sooner, or push the meeting back another quarter.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Meredith closed the connection.
>>You do realize the twins are scheduled to be released from the Pod-doc during that timeframe, right?<<
Bethany Anne made a face. Yes. No. Shit!
What happens if you miss the first deployment? TOM asked.
I have to wait two weeks until they’re back. Her shoulders slumped. ADAM, tell Meredith we have four weeks, no problem. Gott Verdammt Mother Nature!
She wasn’t about to ask if the boys could be pulled out earlier, and no fucking way she was going to request that they stay another two weeks in the Pod-doc.
She blew out a frustrated breath.
Eric needed to be here.
Prometheus Major
Nathan dodged t
he kick and rolled out of the way. Knowing the follow-up attack was coming, he pushed up with his legs and jumped horizontally over Shi-tan’s head.
He kicked the green head on his way down. This time it was Shi-tan’s turn to roll out of the attack and come back up, dodging just in case Nathan had been able to chase him.
He hadn’t.
The two combatants, who were smiling at each other, heard R’yhek tell them to break. Each bowed to the other before they bumped fists.
“That was a good bout,” Shi-tan exclaimed. “I thought I might lose my skull there at the end.”
“Pulled my kick,” Nathan admitted. “Can’t have you in the Pod-doc if we have to go on an operation.”
“Something coming up?” R’yhek asked, tossing both men a towel. Today was Shi-tan’s weekly-scheduled full-contact bout.
Christina had affectionately named it, ‘Shi-tan’s weekly ass-kicking.’ Shi-tan was kind enough to refer to her matches with him as her ass-kicked sessions in return. It gave her additional encouragement to beat the green-skinned alien, but so far he was keeping ahead of her easily as he learned how to fight more effectively from Nathan.
R’yhek was no pushover either, especially since he had gone through multiple Pod-doc updates and was now at the same physical level as someone half his age with many fewer years of the damage the mercenary work had caused.
Torcellan Passenger Ship (translated) Luxurious
“This is the Captain speaking.”
Tabitha held up a hand to stop the workout and cocked her head toward the speaker. They had turned it down as low as it could go, which, by damn, was pretty low.
Ryu nodded his understanding and dropped his arms. He was quite happy and relaxed at the moment. He turned and winked at Dio, who had been watching the bout.
Dio got to his feet and jogged over to Tabitha, who started petting him as she waited for more information.
Ryu glanced at Hirotoshi, who was practicing with Kouki and Katsu. Hirotoshi glided in between two kicks and delivered a backhand to Katsu’s face while grabbing Kouki’s ankle and twisting it.
The pop could easily be heard back where Ryu was standing. The team had paid extra to take over a shipping area on the passenger liner, and they had set it up as a practice gym to keep in shape.
Most people on the ship didn’t even think about the strange group of humans, because almost none of them ever saw the five of them. The team had decided they would practice their stealth skills during the voyage. They wouldn’t rely on Achronyx, who was tagging along with Tabitha on a special tablet while the ship that was his mobile body was being upgraded.
Presently, though, the team would rely on Katsu’s computer skills.
“We are going to suffer through some general antigravity issues as we slow down for a few hours. There is a distress call coming from this sector of the System, and we are required to check it out and report the message. Captain out.”
Tabitha looked at Ryu and Hirotoshi. “We could not really get this fucking lucky, could we?”
Hirotoshi started toward her. Ryu joined him as they met up with Tabitha, who had gone over to the nearest wall. She bent down, unzipped a pocket on her bag, and pulled out a tablet. “Achronyx?”
It took a second before she got an answer. “I’m here.”
Tabitha considered asking Katsu to do this, but time might be a factor. She looked at the blood all over Katsu’s face before returning to the tablet. “Hey, I want you to jump into this ship’s systems and see if there is a legit distress call, or if it’s pirate or slaver action.”
“The Skaine aren’t known to be in this system,” Ryu commented.
Tabitha looked at him. “Doesn’t have to be Skaine,” She shrugged. “If someone came looking for trouble,” her eyes flashed red, “it looks like they found it.”
It took a couple of minutes, the team mulling over potential solutions as Kouki and Katsu took time to heal and clean up, before Achronyx came back from eavesdropping.
“Ranger Tabitha, there are two very faint sensor readings I suspect are located near the distress signal.”
“Does the captain see them?” she asked.
“Doubtful. I’m using advanced algorithms on the raw sensor data.”
Tabitha thought about it a moment. “Can you enhance their data and feed them the readings for the two suspected ships?”
“Yes, but if we are wrong, then we have potentially interfered with a legitimate distress call.”
“Dammit!” Tabitha hissed. “Ok, take over their sensors and provide the real data as best you can.” She ripped open her second bag. “Suit up, Tontos!” She started pulling out weapons and clothes. She laid out her black leather-like suit, then reached into the bottom of the compartment and unzipped a special pouch. She pulled out a necklace and put it around her neck.
She looked at Dio. “I know you weren’t happy being left out of the last takedown, and you can’t come with us on this one either.” Dio gave her a look. “I’m sorry! I promise I’ll get with Jean to have her make you armor. You could die on these operations, and…” Tabitha stopped talking a moment.
Dio came up and nudged his partner. It’s ok. I understand. I got your back, Tabitha.
Tabitha reached over, pulled Dio’s head closer, and kissed him between his furry ears. Thank you. I’ve been able to cope better because of you, but I’ve been completely selfish. My fear for your safety has kept you from being able to grow into the partner you could be. She grabbed Dio’s head to look him in the eyes. I’ll change that now. I’ll send a message to Jean so she has something for us when we get back.
Dio barked once, and all of the Tontos congratulated him.
Twenty-five seconds later, five humans left the workout area, heading for the bridge of the ship.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
QBBS Meredith Reynolds
"Where the fuck is the black cat?" Bobcat asked, looking around the team’s development and manufacturing area. The cat, which was the second generation of a cat which had snuck aboard with their beer supplies run, had been hanging around for a while, getting into stuff it wasn't supposed to.
The team couldn't figure out what to name it. Bobcat wanted “Beer” so he could run around yelling, "Where the hell is my Beer?"
William’s answer to that had been an emphatic NO. They would never know if it was the cat or his beer that Bobcat was asking about. William had suggested “Master,” since the damn thing seemed to treat the three of them as slaves.
Marcus wanted to call it “Dog Food” because it had ripped his papers up one time when he was ignoring the cat to get some work done. He’d left for dinner, and when he got back...
It had been worse than if someone had used a paper shredder.
"Haven't seen it since," Marcus thought about it, "about two days ago."
"Uh," Bobcat scratched his chin, "wasn't that when we crated up the new weapons the Bitches were taking to the Karillians?”
William was the first to acknowledge what they were all thinking.
"Oops?"
Marcus shrugged. “I sure hope the Karillians don't like cat." He thought about his comment for a moment. "On second thought, I hope they LOVE cat."
“You know Christina would kick you in the shin if she heard you say that, right?” William asked his friend.
“What Christina doesn’t know won’t hurt me,” Marcus replied. “And if either one of you tell Christina, I’ll be sure to make up something suitably horrible to tell her about you.”
“You would lie about us like that?” Bobcat asked, his face showing shock.
“When you are talking about a young woman who has the ability to create a hand that can rip you apart,” Marcus shaped a clawed hand and ripped through the air, “and doesn’t quite have the ability to control her emotions?” He looked at the two men. “Absolutely.”
William turned to Bobcat. “You know,” he said as he pointed to Marcus, “I can’t really fault his logic.”
&n
bsp; Bobcat made a face. “That’s because he is a scientist and they are full of logic. Anything they spout is sure to be logical.” He pointed at Marcus. “He could recite a grocery list and it would sound logical.”
“Doesn’t mean it would be right,” Marcus argued. “Just ask my first wife.”
“All wives,” William replied.
“And how would you know?” Bobcat asked.
“Sounds like you and Yelena are having problems, perhaps?” William replied. “Is there a problem or two in beermaking heaven?”
“Not something I care to discuss,” Bobcat admitted. “But for what it is worth, everything is fine.”
“You screw up the last batch?” Marcus walked over to his friend. “It was the yeast, wasn’t it?”
Bobcat blew out a big breath and looked at Marcus like ‘which part of not something I care to discuss didn’t you understand’? Finally, he answered, “It was supposed to be a surprise birthday present, and I got a little excited. I didn’t realize we hadn’t done a full sterilization of the equipment that last time we’d used it, and damned if some bad yeast or some other bacteria didn’t get into the batch.”
There was a moment of silence among the men. William broke it. “She tried it first because she trusted you, didn’t she?”
Bobcat nodded. “Yeah, she tried it first.”
“God,” Marcus whispered, “you are so fucked, and not in a good way. You will never live this down.”
Planet Karillian
“What the hell?” John Grimes looked around the small landing zones, then grabbed the box and started over to Dan Bosse’s location. A minute later, the door was opened for him by a private, and he walked inside. Dan’s large operations tent was open in the middle, with the monitors on tables around the sides. While everyone’s helmets had HUDs capable of displaying most anything, the team preferred to share a set of monitors for larger operations and use their HUDs for personal views.
John set the box down on a table. No one had really noticed his arrival, but when he set the box down, it meowed.
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