“I don’t know,” she responded absentmindedly.
“I know it hurts to be betrayed, and…”
She gave her head a frustrated shake and then rested her head back on her knees, saying nothing, looking blankly at the grass.
David realized that the sting from a simple betrayal was not her primary concern. His mind began to race through a litany of explanations. Was she pregnant? It was possible although right now he could not remember exactly how old she was. An Angel could not get pregnant until she reached Supernaphim. He was pretty sure she was not that old yet. Had she killed Collin in anger? He knew she had her mother’s temper with no tolerance for deception. And considering the female scorn of a powerful SAS warrior like Colonel Doulmahel at being humiliated in such a way…
An image of Collin’s twisted body lying in a pool of his own blood in her office filled David’s mind. He found the image amusing and must have snickered.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’m sorry Josie. It’s just that my mind is going crazy over here wondering what happened, and I just had an image of Collin dead on your floor.”
“Murder Collin or lose my job? An interesting choice,” she muttered to the grass.
He heard her clearly, but the content of her words did not make any sense.
David had already been wearing five stars for two and a half billion years when Josephine was born into this Creation. Although she was now a full colonel in the Valkyrie, he could not help but see her as that same sweet child he had fallen so deeply in love with so long ago.
“Tell me,” he said quietly.
She shook her head in resignation. It was clear that fate had brought her the perfect person for her confession. “He didn’t know who I was.”
“What do you mean, he didn’t…”
“He didn’t know I was the Eden Theatre commander. I never wear a uniform outside the Valkyrie section of Oceania. He only saw me in civvies. We spent all our time together on his side of the island. He didn’t know I was his commanding officer. His security clearance wasn’t high enough for many of the meetings on Panoptia. He thought Ithuriel was still in charge. He didn’t even know I was military. Everyone just assumed…”
A sinking feeling came over David, and she saw the predicted expression play across his face. She knew David instantly understood the consequences.
‘Oh well, Jos. You really messed up this time, didn’t you? Throw away your career for a piece of ass. If you haven’t done so already, call up Kahmael right now and turn in your resignation.’
But he did not say those words. She watched with curiosity as his expression changed. She could not quite tell what his mind was calculating.
“Who else knows this?” he asked.
Chapter 29
Mistakes
Know where you are. Know whom you worship. Play by their rules. Suffer the consequences of your mistakes.
—Nazz Colonel Haig Knobknoster
Outpost Okinawa: Mansion World II Celestial Sphere
Two tall chain-link fences with plenty of razor wire divided the center of Outpost Okinawa — one side Valkyrie, one side Nazz. Between the two fences, a wide no-man’s-land created the optimal kill-zone, should the enemy become ambitious.
The only safe area between the two fences was where the gates were located. There was enough space for several individuals to wait in the middle until one gate was securely closed and the other opened — more ritual than practical. After all, this was an emergency contact point between the Nazz and Valkyrie with no real strategic value. No militarily useful assault would ever take place on Outpost Okinawa.
A guard shack stood on each side for the purpose of checking identifications and visas. It afforded a 360-degree view, and depending on traffic between the two sides, housed five to fifty guards at any one time.
As Kuko approached the landing strip, a Nazz guard waved the small green flag indicating the runway was clear. Pegasus felt Kuko stiffen when the flag was nonchalantly tossed to the ground.
First Lieutenant Julius Schreck, the guard who just dropped the flag, begrudgingly pushed the landing ramp up to Kuko’s side, while Schreck’s counterpart did the same for Pegasus.
Kuko removed her helmet. About the time ‘Nazz Madame General Kuko Kiena’ registered with Schreck, a rock-hard open palm slapped him off the landing ramp and down three meters to the rocky ground below.
Kuko looked around searching for Schreck’s compatriots but none appeared. She stormed down the stairs. Her plan to quickly drop Pegasus off and depart had been compromised by an ineffective team of Nazz guards.
Pegasus stood at the tail of The Lance as Kuko stalked past. She looked like a feline on the prowl, completely connected to the earth with each step, perfectly comfortable in her body, deadly, ready to pounce. Pegasus had seen that casual walk before — sizing up an enemy before exploding.
Pegasus thought about the first time she had met Castor Mayhew and Kuko Kiena. After centuries of bloody wars between the Valkyrie and Nazz, the Valkyrie had finally won Planet Panoptia. Although General David Pesagniya’s final battle plans resulted in wiping all life except for vegetation from its surface, Ellanora was now Panoptia’s undisputed Planetary Princess.
In celebration of that victory, representatives from the Overlord families were present on Panoptia’s Celestial Mansion World I to witness the historical final negotiations and signing of treaties. Lord Indra sent Castor Mayhew and Kuko Kiena as his representatives. Kahmael Shiva sent Pegasus to be their pilot.
As would be expected after such a long and brutal war, tensions were high. Castor Mayhew had suggested that a friendly martial arts competition between the Nazz and Valkyrie might be a good way to blow off some steam.
After experiencing Kuko and Castor’s fighting skills first hand, Pegasus knew the troops inside the guard shack were already dead; they just did not know it yet.
Through the guard shack window, Kuko saw trash on the floor and moldy plates with leftover food on top of mounds of paper strewn on the desks. Chairs were turned over. The windows were so filthy she could barely see through them. It was obvious Schreck’s apathetic tossing aside of the flag followed by his rudeness was not a fluke.
All the guards were asleep, some sprawled out on the floor while others leaned back in their chairs, feet propped up. Several had obviously passed out — their liquor bottles still grasped in their hands. To Kuko, this was enough for a death sentence.
At the opposite side of the wire fence, she noticed a group of Valkyrie who were quickly gathering to watch the show. Butler Metcalf. How appropriate, Kuko thought as a satisfied grin spread across his light tan face. She knew Metcalf and his lads were probably tired of living so close to such wasted piles of yellow flesh.
To most, this small, remote outpost looked like no more than a hunk of Celestial dirt floating on the waters of the Rakta. But to Kuko, this hunk of dirt was a Nazz and Valkyrie shrine.
At that moment, simultaneously, Kuko and Metcalf recalled what happened, 702 years ago on Outpost Okinawa, an event that started a glorious non-battle between the Valkyrie and Nazz.
Back then, Kuko and Metcalf were the military leaders for the Nazz and Valkyrie — she a Warrior Queen and he a five-star Navy Admiral. For hours, they would pace back and forth along the fence line, screaming accusations and obscenities at each other, but never brandishing a weapon, as that would have signaled a declaration of war.
Finally, Metcalf conjured the perfect verbiage to crack the stalemate. “Oooo. What’s za matta Kooki? Ya avin uu perid?”
In one motion, Kuko grabbed a rock and threw it directly between his eyes. The rock split after passing through his skull, exploding into fragments, and taking the entire back of his head off, instantly dropping him dead. Immediately, all negotiations on Eden’s Material island nation of Rishikesh came to an abrupt and somewhat unexpected halt.
On Rishikesh, the perpetual head of Eden’s Association of Peaceful United Countries (the E
APUC), Representative Devarat was attempting to mediate between Vazkri, the undisputed Queen of the Dek Islands and President Abram of the country of Azakaman. It was only five hours after Metcalf’s somewhat surprised face hit the dirt when Devarat received the splendid news and took it as a sign.
A key leader for The Children of Luminosity delegation — a non-descript little man by the name of Nonki — smuggled a small machine gun past several levels of security — quite a feat considering the guards were not allowed to carry any weapons, even a knife — and quite out of character for the peaceful Nonki — which was exactly why the scheme worked. Nonki jumped up with his compact machine gun and mowed down the entire Azakamani delegation.
Abram was murdered and the former Azakamani Vice President became the new President. Nonki believed he was furthering the peace process. Instead, in that one act of violence, the ‘Dove’ Azakamani administration of Abram became the ‘Hawk’ administration of Retired Army General David Pieska who unleashed a nuclear holocaust on Rishikesh.
That series of events could be traced back to Kuko throwing a rock through Metcalf’s brain. Because of that, Outpost Okinawa was historically important to all educated Nazz and Valkyrie who wanted to understand how thousands of years of animosity between the Azakamani and Dek had been suddenly resolved within a single generation. Vazkri and Pieska — known as Akriel and David Pesagniya in the Celestial realm — still occasionally got together over a Celestial tea ceremony to privately reminisce old wars and debate potential new ones.
Kuko gave Metcalf a little head nod. They walked away from their guard shacks, along their respective sides of the fence toward the ocean where it lapped along the shore, until they were out of hearing range.
“Hello Butler. Nice to see you again,” Kuko said with a reserved smile.
“ello Kuko. Nice ta see ya too,” he said in his thick Ing accent. He had brought the Ing accent and many of his cultural preferences with him from a previous Creation, the same Creation that Janene’s family created and ruled.
“So what’s the story?” Kuko asked as she gestured toward the Nazz guard shack. “How long has this mess been going on?”
“Kan’t really say. Me and da lads ‘ave only been ‘ere off and on fer ‘bout tree months local. Was like tis when we arrived. It be one of Aniel’s groups ‘ere before. Didn’d say nothin’ only dat they were a bunch of pignuts who stay drunk most time. Nazz officer like ya self twill say they be ‘ineffective’. But if ya like, I can ask Aniel and get ye a message if ya need to track down da source of dis shat.”
“Thanks, yeah. That would be nice.”
A long silence passed between the two.
Kuko broke the silence. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how are you doing?”
“Don’t mind a ’tall. Good bit better des days. Tanks for askin’.”
Kuko said nothing. It was she, after all, who had killed his last Celestial body. By Dek custom, it was considered polite to listen to whatever your victim had to say about their resurrection.
“Ya know. Memory still spotty. Yur beautiful pissed-off silver face and dat rock sailin’ toward me ‘ead is really me last clear memory.”
Kuko smiled and nodded. Metcalf continued. “Dey took me Personality to Salvington and grew me a nice Seraphic body round it. And I like da name Butler better ‘an Butatar. Aye. Fine name on Ing but sounds a bit odd in dese parts, doetin-it? Still. Rough goin’ ta start wit. Intense. Goin’ along wit yur trainin’ and suddenly feel like ya someone else. Disorientin’. Like some new part of me keeps wakin’ up and den wonderin’ what happened to da likes of me of just a few hours ago. But now I’m pretty gud.” He gave one arm and then the other squeezes with their opposite hands, feeling the hardness of his muscles. “Never got ta tank ye for ‘elpin me get rid of dat old bunch of rags I be wearin’ for da past few billion.”
“And Glimarije. Any news on her?” Kuko interjected.
Metcalf just shook his head. “No. Notin’ really. Me clearest memory, other din’ da rock…” He touched his right index finger to the spot of impact, “… is me daughter and Aniel standin’ together when dey took der vows. We still lookin’ fer ‘er. But other din dat...”
Kuko knew how negatively Glimarije’s decision to go into deep undercover had affected Metcalf and Aniel. She worried that with the SAS continuously digging around all over Eden looking for Glimarije, they might uncover secrets between the Overlords that needed to remain secret.
“I have an idea. How about you and some of your lads come over and help me beat these idiots to death with our bare fists?”
A huge grin spread across Metcalf’s face.
“Ang on der, Kookie. I dink I got a better idea.”
BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.
“Hey. Ya pieces of yellow shat. Wake da fuck up.”
The sudden pounding on the guard shack door startled Colonel Haig Knobknoster out of his deep sleep, giving him an instant headache.
Knobknoster threw open the door with the other guards right behind him. The sight made him freeze.
Standing in front of him was a green-skinned female Panis in a black sports-bra, black Nazz trousers, and black boots. Next to her was a lean looking guy with neutral tan skin, no shirt, dark blue trousers, and black boots. Around the green-skinned female and the tan-skinned male was a semi-circle of about twenty individuals of various skin colors. All were shirtless except for the two in black sports-bras.
Knobknoster felt the urgency press behind him as his fellow guards pushed their way out the door.
“You offend me.” A fierce green hand slapped him across his fat chops. It was Castor’s favorite thing to say when initiating corrective behavior. Knobknoster reflexively swung but Kuko slid backward well out of his reach.
“It’s Kiena,” one of the Nazz guards shrieked. Knobknoster’s head jerked from side to side as he looked for her but found nothing. He turned face-forward just in time for knuckles to smash his nose flat against his face. It took a few seconds for the tears to clear enough for him to realize that, indeed, the slender green female standing in front of him was the arrogant bitch he detested above all others. Now, finally it was his chance to avenge his pride.
“Who do you think you are?” Knobknoster roared as he charged her, drawing his blade with his left hand, pulling his arm back, readying it for a clean kill.
At first, it felt like he had bumped his elbow against something hard. Reflexively, he jerked his head to see what it was, only to find the fierce glare of… Major Butler Metcalf of the Valkyrie. The name bombarded his mind just as a fist obliterated his elbow. Pain ripped through his arm as he saw bone fragments sticking out. The knife fell from his paralyzed hand.
“Kuko Kiena. She tinks she’s Nazz Madame General Kuko Kiena. And tat’s who she be,” Metcalf said matter-of-factly.
About the time Knobknoster comprehended, Kuko’s foot came down hard on his right knee, throwing a ball of furious chi into the center of his joint. His knee exploded from the inside. His portly body crumbled to the ground.
“Don’t just stand there. Get ‘em,” Knobknoster screamed through his agony.
Kuko and Metcalf exchanged vicious smiles. Intense anger altered Kuko’s skin from a pleasant green to a fiery silver; Metcalf’s skin lost its neutral tan and was now glowing bright orange. The Nazz guards readied for an attack. At the same time, the Valkyrie guards encircled the backs of the Nazz guards — just to make sure they could not run away.
Kuko flowed effortlessly to her enemy like mercury, fluid as water, hard as steel. Before they could reach for their weapons, she appeared. Weapons or not, there was nothing that could have stopped the fury that had exploded in their midst.
Major Metcalf took the role of Kuko’s bodyguard, after all this was more a matter of Nazz correction techniques and not really his concern. Occasionally, Kuko would give Metcalf a sweet little gift — intentionally, she would turn her back to a Nazz guard, while they tried to attack her. Metcalf would appear from
nowhere to crush the attacker, while the other Valkyrie would prevent escape.
Kuko’s technique changed instant by instant — not tied to a specific form — not reacting, but acting against some of the offenders as swift and silent as a viper — muscles as tight as a laced bullwhip — kicking, slashing, punching. With some of her victims, she gently guided them, allowing the hapless guards to assault each other — all the while taking away their knives, shuriken, and darts and using them against their owners.
Though it was true she could have killed them in mere seconds, Pegasus could tell that Kuko was calmly talking to her opponents, explaining to them, like a considerate parent why they were being punished so cruelly as their flesh was torn and bones were crushed.
Kuko glanced at Pegasus. She saw the affection on Pegasus’ face, affection that moved her heart. Suddenly, alarm spread across Pegasus’ face as a guard lifted a knife, aimed directly at Kuko.
Kuko gently flowed sideways as the guard lunged at her with the knife. She decided she liked the looks of the knife, so she took it, stuck her boot in front of his ankle, slid her left hand onto his back, and then pushed gently using his momentum to smash him to the ground.
Using her newly acquired weapon, she slashed here and there according to her passions at the moment. As Castor Mayhew had always said, “Why load yourself down with weapons when your enemy has been so polite to provide you with all you need?”
Kuko glanced back to Pegasus and winked. A spasm of passion uncoiled deep inside Pegasus. With so much time, how is it that Kuko still has feelings for me?
Within the ring of Valkyrie, the one-sided battle finally ended. Throughout the conflict, Kuko, when she decided she had punished a guard enough, would casually toss him or her off to the side where their broken bodies fell to the ground like limp sacks of flour.
Cheering, clapping, and whoops erupted from the Valkyrie standing around as well as those still on the other side of the fence. Metcalf took Kuko’s hand, placed it on his elbow, and led her to the pile of bodies. They walked across the fallen guards like they were spongy cobblestones.
Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1) Page 19
