Another yip, this time from Dio, “They are in charge of the Etheric Academy,” Yelena answered before turning to the two ladies, “I’m sorry, I’m not sure exactly what all you do?”
“Do they understand us?” Dorene asked.
“Oh yes,” Yelena confirmed, “they are exploring more of the base at the moment, so they have dozens of questions.”
“Well,” Dorene answered, “We are in charge of a learning environment that helps those who are done with core school, rotate through different sections to see where they might desire to work in their future.”
Another yip and both ladies looked to Yelena, “She isn’t sure what learning environment means.”
Diane took this question, “Where you learn more, like what you are doing now, asking questions of different people. It is an effort to impart information to individuals who need it.”
Yelena caught on where this was going, “Devi!” the little dog turned towards her, “you don’t know if these two ladies have time for a new responsibility. You are not very up front with why you are asking questions.” Another yip, “No, they don’t know what is going on. No one knows what is going on right now.
“What are you talking about?” Dorene asked, looking between Yelena and the little female puppy.
“Uh, the puppies, collectively, decided that they wanted to find their bonded partner. Like the Queen and Ashur, or Bellatrix and myself. So, for whatever reason, they keep interviewing people. Since most don’t know why the puppies keep asking questions, they are happy to answer. I’m getting the impression that Devi is asking you because she is narrowing down her selection. Since I don’t think this is fair, I’m interrupting the process. You ladies already have a whole school of kids.”
“Well," Diane looked to her sister, “just what we need, another kid to look after.” Yelena watched them stare at each other like their minds were melding or something.
Dorene and Diane both spoke at the same time, “Best place to learn is in a safe environment.”
Dorene spoke next, “Four foot or two, easy to invite them to explore.”
Yelena, Dio, and Devi watched the two ladies start talking back and forth.
“Could be the first-born citizens in the Empire,” Diane replied.
“Could learn about classes, audit people.”
“We could let them set their own course of learning.”
“It would be more fur up your nose at night. Remember that old white and black cat that would sneak into bed and lay on your face?”
“Yeah, but we’ve been fixed in the Pod-doc … no allergies.”
“There is that.” Dorene agreed.
“What about the cookies the Rotty would cry for?” Diane asked before they both turned to view the little puppy looking up at them.
Together, they announced, “Sure, we’d love a little fur-ball partner!”
With a YIP, Devi agreed and sealed the deal. Dio wagged his tail, happy for his sister to have found her match.
CHAPTER TWELVE
New York City, NY - USA
Franklyn W. Sahvt had been a mercenary for eight years. At six-foot-four-inches tall and packing two hundred and twenty-five pounds of muscle on that frame, he was hard to throw around when he was wearing nothing but his skivvies.
Now, suited up in the battle-rattle with his Remington 870, armor, and ammunition, he easily topped two-seventy.
He was the lead of his four-man team. Although they preferred to operate at night, especially in a city like New York, a crappy day like today, when most people stayed inside, was a mediocre second choice. He would prefer lots of lightning and loud thunder.
When you needed deep, dark, and deniable (especially inside the United States), his team got the nod. Their goal was straightforward.
Grab the girl, try to keep breakage down. If they could grab the girl without killing the male, that was to be preferred. New York City needed their cops after all.
Even nosey cops who shouldn’t be searching for proof about certain situations without permission. Still, if he got killed during the operation, that would suck.
But, breakage is breakage. At least his woman would eventually go free. She’d been captured, drugged and right now didn’t have a clue what was going on.
Franklyn nodded to his three compatriots. For this operation, they were simply Alpha’s one through four. No other names asked, no other names provided. The vehicle picked them up at the compound near Heckscher State Park close to Bay Shore, NY. The rest of the team was up there waiting for the main bait to arrive.
Their job, however, was changed when information was received that the lure was acting strangely. His team was sent to be stationed near the lure’s apartment in case they needed to flush the target.
Now, it seems they were here to grab the target.
Franklyn looked down at his tablet, then up at his team members, “Time to lock and load.”
—
The black van pulled up to the front of the narrow apartment building. The old brick facade was wearing down from the accumulation of years, although the fresh coat of paint helped.
The door slid open on oiled tracks. Alpha 2 jumped out, holding his FN SCAR 16s down beside him and quickly stepped across the sidewalk to the front door. Alpha 3 was right behind him, making sure to cover his back. Two dropped his rifle and allowed his quick sling to stop it from falling as he pulled out his tool kit.
Two was able to pick the lock on the front door in twelve seconds. Which seems like an eternity when you are standing on the front porch holding an assault rifle by your side.
When Two opened the door, Three swept around him as Franklyn and Four stepped in quickly.
Alpha Two had barely started closing the door behind him, the van idling with their driver looking down the street when all hell broke loose behind him in the building.
—
Ted stepped into his front room as Tabitha walked out of his apartment. He grabbed her suitcase and moved out, closing the door behind him and looked over the side, but Tabitha was already out of sight. Ted hot-footed it over to the door allowing owners access to the roof and opened the door to get up top. As the door shut behind him, he heard a commotion down stairs and gun-fire.
He pitied the people below. He had seen Tabitha take care of a person trying to knife her when she had no protection on at that time.
He wasn’t sure what this Tabitha would do to those who brought guns.
—
Well fuck, Tabitha wondered, what should I do here?
She had descended the stairs and was waiting at the landing on the second level, almost twenty feet from the front door ten feet from the bottom of the stairs.
Then, her time to question her tactics was over when the door opened, and three men came sweeping in, all armed.
“Oh,” she murmured, “It’s that game. Righty-o, tally-ho and time to fuck you up!” Tabitha took two steps and launched herself down the stairs.
—
Franklyn swept around Alpha Two as he opened the door. Alpha Four, then Alpha Three would be behind him, and Alpha Two would close the, “Look Out!” he yelled, trying to move his gun up, finger squeezing the trigger.
Franklyn barely had time to register the large black body, knee outstretched, aimed at his head when the knee connected to his skull, crushing it.
His firing stopped.
Tabitha grabbed the next rifle behind the first guy and yanked. Slamming her palm into the man’s nose, shoving cartilage back into his skull, ending his life.
The third guy was able to aim, point blank at the figure and shoot a burst of three rounds into her stomach. His mouth dropped open in surprise when the bullets ricocheted off his target, one hitting him in his chest armor before his gun was ripped out from his grasp.
—
“That tickles, ass-hat!” Tabitha growled when the bullets hit her abdomen. She yanked the gun away and slammed her right hand, knuckles first, into the side of his head. He collapsed
.
She wasn’t sure if he would ever get up. She palmed her Dukes’ special.
—
Alpha Two was turning around hearing the carnage behind him when his eyes focused on the barrel of the pistol pressed against the center of his forehead; his head slammed back against the door.
“Snake-eyes, asshole,” a female spoke. Alpha Two could see his team members, all laying on the floor. Alpha One’s head was bleeding so much that he had to be dead.
Alpha Two licked his lips. He was willing to take it for the team, but right now he HAD no team. “What do you want?”
“This is how it can go down,” she told him, voice gruff, “I kill you, walk outside and if that van is still there, kill them too. You assholes mean nothing to me. Do you understand my first statement?” He nodded his head. “Option two, I taser your ass, taser whoever is outside after you tell me how many are protecting the woman. Lie?” She pressed harder on the pistol, “I don’t worry about you. I’ll sleep just fine. You assholes took it out of legal and into military, so sucks to be you. You got three seconds to decide your future.”
He licked his lips, “Forty-five to fifty, sixty tops.”
“All like you?” She nodded to his armament.
“Yeah.”
He watched as she pulled a second pistol and placed it under his armpit where the armor wasn’t protecting him. “If you ever agree to go against TQB again? You better pray it’s a Ranger that you fight, we give second chances.”
She pulled the trigger, and Alpha Two spasmed before closing his eyes and dropping to the ground. She turned the doorknob and stepped out.
—
On the roof, Ted turned towards the front of the building and ran over. He leaned over quickly, then back out of sight. He saw the black van sitting below and wondered what to do. He decided to chance looking over again when the front door opened and Tabitha stepped out. She had the door open to the van in a blink. She shot something that caused a bright white light and then turned, closing the van door and headed back into the apartment complex.
Ted turned around to run back to the doorway and then stopped. There was a floating Pod above his building where seconds before, it didn’t exist! He walked as calmly as possible towards it.
He felt sure this wasn’t alien. Unless you counted something from Tabitha's team as alien.
The door to the roof opened, and Tabitha stepped onto the roof. She walked over to Ted, grabbing the suitcase, “Thank you, let’s go.”
Heckscher State Park area, NY - USA
“We’ve lost all of Strike Team Alpha, sir!” Mission Specialist McGowen called over to Vic Kingston.
Vic switched the toothpick he was chewing on, usually never far when running an operation, to the other side of his mouth.
“Bring in the reserves. We will have attention here soon. Move the package to the lowest level,” Vic commanded. One man got on the radio to call in the backup which was a mile away.
Another went to handle the movement of the package.
—-
“SIXTY!” Ted yelled in the small Pod, his fascination with the technology lost at the moment. “We have sixty guys facing us to get Monica back?”
“Probably more, now,” Tabitha admitted.
“And it is just you and me?” He asked, his voice calming down. He looked out the window, “Well, if I’m going to go out fighting, at least it will be said I wasn’t afraid of overwhelming odds.”
“Yeah, they should bring a few more in,” Tabitha agreed when notes on new troop counts flashed on the Pod’s window, “Annnnddd, they did.”
“They did what?” Ted asked, turning his attention back to the information on the Pod window.
“They brought in another group of fighters,” Tabitha admitted, “Shit, this is outside my capabilities.”
“Why,” Ted asked, having a hard time keeping the sarcasm out of his voice, “Was it the fifty, the sixty or the twice that?”
“The moving your girlfriend to a lower level part. They want to play keep-away. Make me go through all of them to get to her.”
Ted dropped his head, his hands reaching up to rub his face as his voice softened, “She is going to die, isn’t she?”
Tabitha bit her lip, trying to figure out a way to save the woman and was drawing a blank. She was good, but she wasn’t this good. “If it is just you and me? Yeah, she’s going to die.”
Ted sat there in silence.
“But, it is never just me,” Tabitha told him and settled her head back in her seat.
My Queen?
Ah, Yup? Bethany Anne replied.
I’ve got ahh, call it a challenge, and I need some advice.
Shoot!
Ok, here is what I got…
No, not you Tabitha. I meant to tell that to John, one second.
There was a split second as Bethany Anne broke the connection, and then was back. Ok, the little bastards got sneaky. John took care of it.
Care of what? Tabitha asked, Aren’t you on the Meredith Reynolds?
There was a slight pause, Ahhhhh No?
Where are you?
‘Where’ is a metaphysical question I don't have time for at the moment. What did you need, Ranger Two?
Tabitha was sure if she had the time, she could figure out what Bethany Anne was up to, and Tabitha was sure her Queen was up to her shoulders doing something she probably shouldn’t.
Then again, so was Barnabas.
I’ve got a hostage situation here in New York to deal with. Someone is trying to capture me, using her for bait.
So, to accomplish what? Use you as bait to catch me?
Yes, that seems likely.
Bethany Anne disconnected for a moment, it was a little longer before she came back on this time, Ok, John and I will be there shortly. But, we need a Pod.
We can drop ourselves off and let the Pod get you. It’s only a couple of minutes max round trip if you don’t deal with challenges.
Do it. ADAM will take control of the Pod and send ours in that direction to catch up. Wait, I’m told we have another Pod in the area. So, …
There was a second before Bethany Anne continued talking.
We are in New York now. A pod will be here in a few seconds. ADAM is giving us an update from Achronyx, huh, one hundred and fifty plus waiting at the building? Seems like a hell of a reception party. They really want your ass.
Everybody wants a piece of this badonkadonk! They can get in line, Tabitha quipped back.
Bethany Anne sent the feeling of a smirk back through the connection, but inwardly she felt Tabitha’s pain. Tabitha was lonely, hellishly lonely. Tabitha might hide it outwardly, but inside? She needed someone she could confide in.
Bethany Anne had no solution for her, either. Tabitha had Michael as a mentor and surrogate father figure. Since young women would often judge potential dates and marriage material by their father, that was going to be a pretty high mark to get over for most guys.
Ok, I’ve got to talk with the building security for a second, You two be safe for a minute or two. Then, the connection with Bethany Anne was gone.
“Where did you go?” Ted asked, worry in his voice.
Tabitha reviewed the information on the Pod glass, “Well, you remember our conversation in the coffee shop?”
“Yeah,” his eyes narrowed, “You said there were the Bitches, friends of yours, that didn’t give a shit about the law.”
“Yeah, them.”
“You called them here?”
Tabitha chuckled, “Well, yes in a way.”
“What way? C’mon Tabitha, if there is a slight chance we can save Monica, I’m game. However, if my handsome ass won’t get shot to shit, then I’m going to be super pleased as well.”
“It won’t, Ted.” Tabitha turned to look him in the eyes, “I promise not one of their bullets will so much as get within ten feet of you.”
Ted looked at the staring woman and nodded. He hadn’t seen her eyes since the apartment, an
d it was a little off-putting.
She turned back towards the front as the Pod started descending from the clouds to a wooded area, the Atlantic taking up half of the windshield.
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