My Ride is a Bitch (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 13)

by Michael Anderle

  Now, they were line items in a budget that could hide the state of Wyoming.

  Living by their own rules, their own plays, their own goals. Their group only brought in government connections as they needed them. Always keeping the highest level security since they, until recently, held all of the technology cards.

  Which, in the end, was also their Achilles heel.

  Patrick sat at one end of the table, facing the head of the scientific side of the Majestic 12. His side, operations, and special tasks were more action based, Dr. Eva Hocks was on the opposing side of the table, and she represented all research.

  Since Patrick called this meeting, he opened. “I’m sorry to say we have a potential issue with knowledge of this group now outside of our control.”

  The other eleven individuals waited to hear what else Patrick had to say. Some were only counting the moments until they would be released to go back down to level six and seven. Their need for understanding and the dopamine it released in their system was the only high they could be counted on to drive their daily existence.

  Others, having lived down here for so many years, had lived through these problems before and never had it become a serious issue, so weren’t worried.

  “I have called a full lockdown for all members, except for Tanya who is still seeking a way to get to her target, to stay here in the base until such a time as we feel comfortable we have the situation under control. We have confirmed the three questionable members are no longer here on Earth, or at least not in any area our markers can be located,” Patrick amended.

  “How is that possible?” Dr. Hocks spoke up for the first time, “We have tested those to be locatable to within over 99% of all locations on the face of the Earth and even up to a quarter mile deep underground.”

  “My suspicion,” Patrick said, “Is because all of our equipment for this effort is pointing down from our satellites, not up into outer space.”

  “Well, we didn’t take them there, so …Oh,” she stopped talking.

  “Yes, oh.” Patrick agreed, “We have pretty strong proof that they are presently being held by TQB off planet.”

  “Why do they want them?” Dr. Abesemmins asked from down the table to Patrick’s left.

  Patrick turned to answer the doctor’s question. “We believe we have a group trying to acquire some of our technology. Somehow, they located one of our employees who was easily suborned due to family and was blackmailing them. TQB figured this out, how we don’t know, and carried out an operation to successfully extricate them. Fortunately, none of our data was lost.”

  “Told you we should have shut down the Family Project back in ’06,” Dr. Abesemmins commented.

  Patrick put up his hand, “Well, you can be assured the project is dead. As in, we have no members with family presently part of our group at this time.”

  “Good,” was the doctor’s reply.

  “However, we also don’t have those employees anymore, either. None of them had access to the lower levels nor, the higher clearance levels,” Patrick nodded to Dr. Abesemmins, “Due to concerns on their mixed allegiance.”

  “Ok,” Dr. Hocks interrupted, “Other than a lockdown, how does this affect us?”

  Patrick controlled the rolling of his eyes. As but one member of the twelve, he had power but not the ultimate authority to call for a strike using the advanced technology. “Tanya has reported that our intelligence efforts have acquired confirmation the U.S. Navy is underway for a second Operation Highjump.”

  Eva snorted, “Do they want another ass kicking like they got the last time? Hell, we don’t mess with the Thule ourselves, and I’m pretty sure we have overtaken them in technology.”

  “The government doesn’t believe the previous ass kicking happened, Eva. Remember, we have changed the history on so much stuff, no one believes what was printed in the past, anymore,” Patrick reminded the group.

  “There is an interesting change, however,” Patrick replied. The heads at the table would switch back and forth between the two talking. “The government has figured out that the Thule haven’t been answering with their ‘go away’ signal for a few years. No one is sure if the Thule are still alive, or not,” he finished.

  This time, everyone’s face stayed watching Patrick as Dr. Hocks leaned forward, putting her hands on the table, “Is that so?”

  Patrick smiled back, “Yes, it is.”

  --

  The ride back to the ArchAngel was quiet. Hirotoshi and Ryu let Tabitha go through all of the emotions of an unsuccessful operation as she stayed quiet.

  When the Pod arrived, she unbuckled and turned to her team, “Thank you all for your efforts. I have to apologize as I failed to realize they would erase their data and I didn’t think to take any precautions. I won’t make that mistake a second time.”

  She inhaled deeply and let it blow back out, “Hirotoshi, I’ll get with you and Ryu in a little while. I’m going to walk the halls. Guys, I won’t fuck up like this again.”

  As she spoke, the larger Pod doors were opened by those in the Pod Bay, and she turned and walked out, nodding to the two men as she strode towards the bay doors.

  —

  A half an hour later, Tabitha could hear some coarse language coming from ahead of her, and she looked up to see where she was.

  She was in the R&D area. The voice was a female, so probably Jean Dukes. For a moment or two, she allowed herself to just float along, listening to the tirade Jean was going through and realized something.

  Tabitha wasn’t allowing herself to vent too well.

  She put her hand to her mouth and tried to hold in her snicker. Jean was apparently really getting riled up. It was common knowledge Jean loved her team, and they loved her back, but she sure had a way of talking to them.

  She stopped outside the team’s door, which was closed, but Tabitha easily could hear the latest rant as Jean’s voice was clear as day. “Listen you goat fucking morons better unfuck this rat fuck of a situation right fucking now before I go back in time and make the best part of you dribble out your mom’s ass instead!”

  Tabitha quickly walked away, making it twenty feet before she busted out laughing. It took her a few turns to realize that she had accepted Jean’s comment as if it were directed to her as well.

  A huge smile lighting up her face, she started walking towards her team’s area, “Oh my God,” she whispered, “go back in time and make the best part…” she never finished the quote out loud because she started laughing again. She tried uselessly to stifle the snorting by putting her hand over her mouth, but all she did was muffle the sounds as tears streamed down her face.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Chapter 18

  QBS ArchAngel

  There was a sharp rap on Bethany Anne’s door, “Come in, John,” she called out. She continued petting Ashur’s head as the massive guard walked in.

  “Are you planning on going to the Yollin meeting in your sweats?”

  Bethany Anne glanced at the top of her tablet, “Dammit!” She bolted out of bed, tossing the tablet to John as she sped around him and entered her closet. John heard the rattle of hangers and some extremely fast cussing coming from her closet. Moments later, she walked out wearing blue jeans and a black shirt.

  "Not exactly going well-dressed today, hmmm?" John smiled as she waved him off as he followed her out of her suite.

  As Bethany Anne walked into the meeting room, she saw that Bobcat, William, Marcus, and Jeffrey were sitting down. Also the Yollins, Capt. Kael-ven, Kiel, and Royleen were there. Dan, Peter, Nathan, Patricia and her dad were in attendance as well. She had already passed Eric, and Scott in the hallway outside of the doors and John kept five feet back from her when she sat down at the head of the table.

  Bethany Anne opened the conversation, "I apologize, everyone, I got captivated with the reading on the status of our new ships in Admiral Thomas’s reports. For those that want to know, the new ships are going well, and he reports we shoul
d have the first two within the next six months.”

  Dan spoke up, "Adm. Thomas is doing pretty well then?”

  Bethany Anne nodded, "He certainly seems to be pretty happy with the results. If we can continue to get some of the parts manufactured on Earth and transferred to him, they can keep up this pace. However, should we suffer continued harassment of our manufacturing partners, the production tools we are receiving from Japan increase in importance."

  William spoke up, "Yuko is doing a good job there, and we have been able to purchase an additional twenty percent capacity over our original agreements. However, I know that there are many smaller machine shops which probably have tooling and machines they would get rid of in a heartbeat if they could find a cash buyer."

  Bethany Anne nodded, "That's a good point, why don't you and Patricia jump on that and prepare? I suspect from the noise we are receiving from the United Nations, this might get pretty nasty. I would prefer we had as much manufacturing capacity as we could possibly hold."

  Bobcat smirked at William who rolled his eyes. "No rest for the wicked," Bobcat told him. "If you have a good idea, make sure you're willing to see it through to fruition." He winked as William nodded to him in agreement.

  "How are you feeling?" She asked William.

  "Right as rain now, once the pod doc finished with me I'm as good as new. Plus, I've lost 10 pounds so the babes better be careful when the new William starts strutting his stuff!" He smiled to the chuckles from around the table.

  Patricia spoke up, "I will inform the newspapers."

  William smiled, "See that you do, also can you get a few good poses from my right side? It shows me off better," he turned striking a pose and received a snort from Patricia.

  “I’ll see about using some grainy old footage, perhaps we can hide a few wrinkles behind pixelation,” she replied.

  Bobcat laughed, and William smiled, rubbing his nose with his middle finger.

  “Okay, since we have the preliminaries out of the way, I'd like to discuss a few things, and I want everyone's input as I ask about Yollin culture." She nodded to the three in attendance. "Understanding that so far, the only aliens we have had in our solar system recently, that we are aware of, are the Yollins. I don't intend to allow them to be at our back ready to go back and attack the Earth. According to my previous conversations with Capt. Kael-ven, we can expect to be attacked as we make our way through Yollin space."

  Lance opened up the conversation, "Kael-ven, do the Yollins always attack other groups who traverse their territory? And is it only your main region, or your secondary or tertiary locations as well?"

  Kael-ven adjusted his forelegs on the couch and turned to the general, "the only time ships from Yoll would not attack is if there is an obvious military advantage to those crossing our territory. In that case, we would have to presume the other species is superior to us. Therefore our caste system would require all of us, even our king, to be subservient."

  Dan spoke up, "So there is no such thing as an equal to your king? I'm asking whether or not you have interactions with other species where you consider them friends or at least allies?"

  It took a moment for Kael-ven to answer this question, "There is a clarification I must provide. While we do have allies, we recognize their military strength is presently beyond our ability to overcome. Internally, however, our caste system is patiently waiting for a day that we can subjugate them. Should the allies continually stay ahead of us, then we will never attack. However, should there come a day when our efforts to expand our empire provides the opportunity, that is the day they will become subservient to us."

  "Kael-ven," Bethany Anne spoke. "Can you better explain the caste system for Yollins?”

  "Certainly," he turned toward Bethany Anne, "there are four major castes on Yoll. These have been in existence for well over a hundred generations. Some historians suspect the caste system is a derivative of a religious effort from before."

  Royleen chattered for a second to Kael-ven, his translation not occurring.

  Kael-ven turned back to the humans, "Royleen has clarified that within the science groups, it is well understood that the caste system was religiously based at one time. So please excuse my ignorance. Right now the four core castes are first level, Kolin, this is for the prime ruler, the king and those reporting to him on Yoll. Further, any of those who operate large political areas outside of the primary Yollin system must be in this group. The second caste is called Chloret, these are the secondary rulers and high-level leadership positions throughout the worlds including what you term the military brass. The third caste is called Mont. These are now the lower level leadership positions, all high-level skilled labor positions, and management for guilds and all middle military positions. For example, Kiel here is in Mont. The fourth cast is called Shuk. It is the unskilled labor and lowest of the skilled labor. For the military, these would be the privates. Finally, there is an un-cast group called Kiene, these are the undesirables. For your world, you might call them criminals, malcontents, those who have lost their ways. Often, they are transferred to land masses which have little to no civilization."

  “I thought Yoll was overpopulated?" Asked Marcus.

  Royleen spoke up, "Yes, and no. There are certain areas of the planet which are tough to live within. The landmass is not very usable to build upon, and the indigenous population, the animals, can be quite vicious. Therefore, they are considered a step up from prisons."

  "Yes, we have a country that did something similar in their history. More than one come to think of it," Marcus amended. “it all depended on how important the malcontent was."

  Bethany Anne asked, "So each of these cast levels have more to do with roles and responsibility, than anything to do with birth?"

  Kiel spoke up, "You are born into a caste level. However, you have the opportunity to make something of yourself and get enough acclaim to move up to the next level of caste."

  "Chloret is the highest caste level an individual can attain without the king recognizing you personally. That rarely happens." Added Kael-ven.

  "Because people rarely accomplish feats worth recognizing, or does the king fear competition?" asked Bobcat.

  Both Kiel and Royleen looked to Capt. Kael-ven who spoke. "As the highest caste member here and therefore the one who can answer this without others being penalized by me, please recognize that this is an answer which could cause an individual to be stricken of their place and become a member of the Kiene caste.”

  Bethany Anne nodded her head an acknowledgment of his concern. "We understand."

  He chittered a moment before continuing, "My personal judgment is that the caste system is a method for keeping Yollin society organized, structured, and a method whereby those at the highest levels maintain their positions. Further, while those of us in the first and second cast are usually recognizable by our additional set of legs," he said.

  Bethany Anne heard William murmur to Bobcat, "I was wondering how that extra pair came about."

  Kael-ven continued, “It is by no means a definitive way to tell if somebody is in the Kolin or Chloret caste. Usually, like myself, I am the son of a family who has been at my level for three generations."

  “Interesting," Marcus murmured.

  Dan turned to Bethany Anne, "Do you think that there is a way to use the caste system to change Yollin society?"

  Bethany Anne looked up at the ceiling, thinking, she did not fail to see the many heads at the table look to each other wondering if Dan had some insights. Finally, she turned her head down and looked at everyone and gave him a small smile, "yes, Dan has the right of it."

  She waved to the three Yollin's, "I have spoken with each of them before. Well, let me amend that to say I have talked with Capt. Kael-ven and scientist Royleen more. I was yelling at, and punching, Kiel most of the time.

  A couple chuckled as Kiel rubbed his chest absentmindedly.

  "One thing that strikes me about the Yollin society is that they
are very structured due to the many generations of being within this system. From what I understand, the King comes from the prime family and the rules state; ‘only those at the top level may challenge the king,' yet few do so. Since, if they fail, they lose their lives, and their whole family is tossed into Kiene. It tends to put a damper on upsetting the political structure. Those that are in lower castes are not considered smart enough and of good enough genetics to rule. The way I understand it," and she nodded to the Yollins, "and please correct me if I'm wrong, the general understanding is that each cast is just a little slower mentally, and a little bit less physically fit than the one above?"

  She received confirmation from the aliens.