Ahead Full (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 19)

by Michael Anderle

  Kiel just chuckled. They will learn soon enough…

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  QBS Trojan Horse

  Captain Julianna Fregin twisted her advanced tactical Black Eagle in the middle of the large ship’s bay, tilting her ship so that the front was pointed toward the bay’s opening. She looked around and counted the other twelve fighters and their co-wings waiting for her ship to arrive.

  “We are a little crunched here with us and our co-wings, Captain,” Chita called over the comm. “What is going to be landing next to us, the ArchAngel?”

  There were chuckles over the comm.

  The QBS Trojan Horse was an outdated carrier that had been hastily doctored to conform to the outline and engine emissions of one of their latest Infinity Advanced-class carriers. The docks were sufficiently large, but they had been told to move their ships as far over to the side as they could in support of the last ship to arrive.

  “I’ve no idea, Chita,” Julianna admitted. “I but go where I’m told to go.” She started the saying as she checked the final items on her list before hitting the lockdown button.

  “Get there,” Chita continued as she finished her check list.

  “Locate the sonsabitches,” Vasco added.

  “And blow the shit out of them,” Kristin finished, pushing her own lockdown button.

  “WOOOT!” the whole group added, thus signifying that everyone was in place and ready to rock and roll.

  That was when the lights in the dock went out. Julianna turned in her fighter seat to look around. She could see a few glowing helmets from the nearby Pods, and had turned toward the front when the stars outside the bay started to disappear. Something was blocking them, and it got larger.

  “Uh, Captain?” Chita commed. “I want to take back my comment. I don’t really want to share this space with the ArchAngel.”

  A sleek black ship was arriving, and it was taking up a huge percentage of the opening as it slid silently into the bay.

  “Oh my God,” someone said.

  “She’s here,” Julianna heard Billy comment as the others watched in shock. “That’s the Shinigami!”

  “Fuck … me,” Kristin commented.

  “Did already,” Glen piped in.

  “Did not, you arrogant ass!” she huffed, humor in her voice.

  “Hey, what goes on in my dreams stays in my dreams,” Glen argued.

  “Just so long as you always admit that part,” Kristin finished.

  “Don’t worry, your lily-white reputation isn’t being sullied by me,” Glen added. “I wouldn’t do that to others.”

  “I know. I’m just busting your balls,” Kristin replied. “Besides, if my reputation is lily-white, I’m not doing something correctly.”

  The general comments slowed down as the black ship continued to slide inside forever, going slowly so it didn’t hit anything. Julianna’s eyes watched as the dark logo of the Empress passed her, her head pivoting as the minimal light reflected off the black ship with the vampire skull on the side.

  “I guess now we know who is going to make sure the shit hits the fan,” Billy remarked.

  —

  Captain Ni’ers J’onghe looked at his two bridge support personnel. “We have our final ship and our exit option.” He tapped the Captain’s Tablet to open communications. “We are ready to leave on your command, Admiral.”

  Admiral Thomas’ voice came back immediately. “Permission granted. Just make sure you arrive on time. And, the Empress has specifically forbidden anyone from dying on this trip. There will be a red mark in your folders for that.”

  The chuckles on the bridge continued as their captain replied, “Understood sir. As the captain who will log the shortest time-in-service on any carrier, we are ready to go.”

  Moments later the engines charged in anticipation of the command to gate from a side system into the lair of their enemy, ready to put an end to those who would try to bully other species.

  It was time for the Empire to put a hurt on some Kurtherians.

  —

  Thirteen video screens inside the hold of the QBS Trojan Horse lit up, and a black face with white hair stared at all of them. “It is time, my warriors,” she hissed, making each of the pilots feel like her red eyes were looking directly into their hearts, knowing their most intimate secrets and yet ready to lead them into battle.

  And they were ready to follow.

  “We are the vanguard, ready to close the trap. The Empress has commanded me to bring you all back safely, so don’t piss me off by dying. Am I clear?”

  Thirteen heads bobbed in unison.

  “Good, now, let us go and have some fuuunnnnnn!” She winked and cut the connection.

  “Oh my God,” Billy whispered to his teammates. “I think I just peed myself.”

  The laughter that ensued allowed the team to relax and focus on the job ahead.

  They felt the energy as the ship gated and a new star field appeared through the bay opening. “It’s time,” Julianna told everyone, slamming her fist on the controls that released her connectors from the deck. Her ship was the only one there without a co-wing.

  “It’s time we get Ricky Bobby back,” she told them as she commanded the ship forward.

  Twenty-five fighters silently slipped into the darkness of space, turning and heading toward their appointed tasks.

  —

  Ricky Bobby’s ship was cold, his power at minimum levels to extend his service here in the Leath system. Over three months ago he had been provided the coordinates of where he needed to be stationed, and when. This had given him the opportunity to use the gravity fluxes here in the system to assist his movement, conserve his energy, and stay hidden.

  He had arrived at his appointed location almost seventy-two hours before the specified time.

  He had been waiting for his next command when the intra-system comm fired up. He was surprised to hear a voice come over the Etheric frequency, something that shouldn’t work.

  “Ricky Bobby, this is your fucking lead, so you had better be ready for me,” Julianna sent over her in-system Etheric comm. “Or I will find you in this Gott Verdammt system and kick your ever-loving AI ass.”

  “Captain, my Captain?” Ricky Bobby responded. “You are here?”

  “Hell yeah, we are here!” she replied, joy in her voice. “Me and twelve other crazy motherfuckers are here to cause a ruckus and then skedaddle.” She hit a second button. “Commands coming over the line. Respond when you understand the plan.”

  “Wait, you called me an AI!” he commed back, surprised.

  “Damn right,” Julianna replied.

  It took three seconds for the AI to review the plan. “Ricky Bobby will be right there.”

  “You know,” Julianna said, relief in her voice. “We can change the call sign now.”

  “Not in the middle of an op,” Ricky Bobby responded, “and possibly not ever.”

  A prior-generation Black Eagle fired up its engines, piling on the speed second by second as he headed toward the location of his partner.

  Ricky Bobby kicked up his speed, turning a casual loop to slide into place beside Julianna.

  Julianna looked over, then hit her comm button. “All team members, my wing is complete.”

  There were shouts of elation before the comm quieted back down.

  QBS Shinigami

  “Captain, I’m ready to back out,” Bethany Anne sent to the carrier’s captain as Shinigami started sliding out of the larger ship’s bay. “I’ll try not to scratch the paint.”

  Captain Ni’ers J’onghe replied, “While I appreciate your sentiments, you should do it for your own paint. This ship will have worse problems than a few paint scratches shortly.”

  “You guys ready to pack up and join me?” she asked, checking the status of the fighters. “I don’t want us to scramble at the last minute to get you in here. Annndddd, we have confirmation of communications linkup to control the ship,” she finished.

  “I
think so, Captain Yaga,” he replied. “We have eight controllers slaving our efforts from the Trojan Horse to the Shinigami … now.”

  >>I have the systems.<< ADAM informed her.

  Bethany Anne confirmed all eight were on her screens as well. “We have connectivity, now get your asses to my ship.” Bethany Anne watched the status of the fighters. “The Empress wants you safe. If you die with me, I won’t have to listen to her complain about my mistakes.”

  The Yollin captain tapped his mandibles together in humor. “Understood. Ni’ers out.”

  Leath Defense Station A-QZZ

  “SIR!” System Defense Specialist J’erd looked at his system, then at the officer in charge. “We have bogeys in the system!”

  The officer in charge stood from his desk and walked over to J’erd’s console. “Is this a test?”

  “Negative sir, I’ve checked,” J’erd replied. “An Etheric carrier just arrived, and it looks like they are deploying small fighters in-system.

  “What do they hope to accomplish?” OIC Berhlt rubbed his upthrust tusk. “Order all defense satellites to go active, then notify both Prime Military Control and the Seven’s Liaison.”

  “Sir?” a female’s voice called.

  OIC Berhlt turned toward her. “Yes?”

  “Sir, I can’t raise the defense satellites,” she replied.

  This time Berhlt didn’t hesitate. He returned to his desk, flipped a switch under his video monitor, and started calling everyone he could raise.

  They were under attack, and something or someone had cut one of their main defenses.

  With the defense platforms currently offline, they were in trouble.

  —

  Leath Prime of the Navy had issued the command. All the Leath ships in the outer system started scrambling toward the home planet and the attackers’ location.

  Six battleships held stations near the planet, and four turned toward the attack and fired their engines within two minutes of notification.

  There were no poorly performing crews protecting their planet.

  —

  “Looks like we got company coming,” Pilot Yutaka Bounds called over her group’s internal comm. She had Orsina, Glen, and Sebastian with her, plus their co-wings. “Make sure we do this right. And you heard the command. None of us is supposed to die.”

  “Roger, piss them off and nobody dies,” Orsina commed. “I’ll be releasing my payload in three, two … released.”

  Two long pipes dropped from Orsina’s ship, as well as her co-wing’s. Glen, Sebastian, and finally Yutaka’s ships all dropped their payloads. They did an end-over, and all eight Black Eagles hit their highest engine output.

  They were trying to offset the delta-v of the rapidly closing battleships coming at them from the planet.

  “Folks,” Yutaka called. “Get your ships moving a bit faster. Those damned battleships are speeding up a bit more rapidly than we projected.”

  “I’m givin’ it all I got, Cap’m,” Glen mimicked an old Earth accent. “Unless ye want me to get out an’ push?”

  “You do that, and you will have the opportunity to enjoy feeling a Leath missile go up your ass, Glen,” Yutaka replied, “with no lube.” She breathed out. “We got this. Let’s skedaddle back to the Trojan Horse.”

  She glanced down at the projections for the closing battleships, the expected missile envelope, and her group's acceleration.

  Fuck, it was going to be close.

  —

  The Battleship YahmaKaz was the closest to eight Empire fighters when they suddenly flipped and started racing away from them.

  “What did they do?” Captain Mel’nij of the YahmaKaz leaned forward in his chair, staring at the plots. “You have done something, you infested little Empies.” He breathed out. “So, tell me, what was it?”

  “We have nothing on sensors, Captain,” his Sensor Prime called.

  The captain waved a hand. “You wouldn’t. The Empies are too sophisticated to do this for nothing. We just need to know what they did.” He sighed. “And stop it.”

  “We will be in firing range within twelve minutes, Captain.”

  Captain Mel’nij nodded his understanding and continued to stare at the screen, willing it to tell him what those damned black Empies had just done to his people so that he might be able to survive their attack.

  —

  The long graceful ship closed the ramp in its stern, and the air was pulled out of the bay once more.

  “Captain Ni’ers J’onghe to the bridge, please,” the raspy voice called. He was patted on the back a couple of times by his shipmates. He knew they were kidding, but…

  The Witch of the Empire was just fucking scary.

  He was provided instructions on how to find the bridge of the ship, and as he walked through it he couldn’t help but wonder what it had taken to build the vessel.

  The Empire had all sorts of designs. Some were sleek, like this ship. Some were beasts of war which radiated destruction when you saw them, all hard edges and guns pointing everywhere.

  This one was a bit of both.

  Inside, however, you might mistake it for a luxury ship for the elite. Had he not seen the outside with his own eyes, he would not have believed this ship had any weapons except for puny defensive measures for the occasional pirate.

  Now he wondered what was hidden under the beauty as he looked around. Based on the rumors about the captain of this ship, he didn’t doubt it hosted significantly more firepower than he could see.

  It took a little over a minute to make his way from the stern to the bow. He knocked on the bridge door, which opened for him.

  He was looking at what he would have sworn was a posh living room, or perhaps a VIP area in a club. He bent forward to look around the corner, and saw Baba Yaga lying in a special type of chair. It seemed to originate from the sofas that graced the room. He looked around and realized that the remaining sofa seats were as wide as hers, then had maybe a two hands-width cushion as a divider, then another the same width as Baba Yaga’s.

  “Take a seat beside me, Captain.” She spoke without looking away from the three monitors in front of her. “We are tracking our first fighter team and they are a bit late getting back to us.”

  She pointed to her left, and the Yollin captain sat down. He was surprised when his part of the couch started unfolding. He realized he was going to have a chair like hers.

  “You can help control the Trojan Horse from there, in case you need to adjust the plans, make the death seem more realistic,” she told him. As he figured out how to do it the chair was starting to encase him, and from underneath screens and controls started appearing. In the ceiling a portal opened, and a large helmet started to descend. “That will help you project as if you are still on the Horse.” She looked at him. “Let’s hope your acting skills are up to snuff.”

  He wasn’t sure what “snuff” was, but he nodded in her direction and turned to face forward as the helmet slid over his head.

  He grinned inside the helmet. It was a complete virtual reality image of the bridge of the Trojan Horse.

  Perhaps, he thought, he might have a job to do, after all.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Planet Leath, Tienemehn, the Seven’s Private Area

  Translated from the Book of the Phraim-’Eh, the Eighth Clan of the Kurtherians. One of the Seven who seek to Ascend those the Phraim-‘Eh would bless.

  Three hundred and sixty degrees is perfection. We, the Eight, shall rule together with one voice, one mind, one effort to take those who have the spark to new heights. To Ascend is the Blessing. The Pain that they must go through is the payment by those who come before to those who come later.

  It was the Will of the Eight that we chose the Leath.

  The table was in the middle of a large room, which was some two stories tall. Framed in light from the floor pointed toward the ceiling, the quiet in the room was a byproduct of engineering and acoustics.

  The table had eight p
oints, signifying the original Eight who had landed on this planet thousands of years before. The eighth spot was empty in honor of Gorllet, who had occupied the Eighth spot for two hundred cycles as the planet circled the sun.

  It was Gorllet who first tried to move his consciousness into a Leath follower. His effort to facilitate extending his life almost ended in calamity.

  He was well over seven hundred years of age when he tried, but the sacrifice had not been properly readied and fought Gorllet mentally. Teret had been supporting Gorllet, and at the last moment sacrificed her future by allowing Gorllet access to her own being.

  Now they were but Seven, and yet still complete. Teret and Gorllet became Terellet, the Seventh of the Seven, the masters of the Phraim-’Eh.

  It was for this reason the Phraim-‘Eh still considered themselves the Eight.

  And with the combined knowledge of Teret and Gorllet, the Phraim-’Eh mastered transferring their consciousnesses to the sacrifices.

  —

  Torik, Third of the Seven, nodded to Levelot, First of the Seven, as he made his way past Behome’t, Second of the Seven, to sit at his place at the table. He nodded to Zill to his left, then Chrio’set and Var’ence, the Sixth of the Seven and the one he most often spoke with.

  Then Terellet entered, her Leath face a study of peace and anger, rage and righteousness. It moved past the First to sit two seats down, skipping the Eighth and empty seat.

  Levelot opened the discussion. “We are being attacked here in our system by the Etheric Empire.” She summarized the situation and provided orders, then turned to Terellet. “Find the problem with our security and fix it.”

  Terellet stood and nodded, then quickly moved from the room, the soft snick of the door closing just barely audible to the others.

  She turned to Torik. “We have systems down. The defensive platforms are offline. Facilitate the fix.” Torik stood up, bowed to Levelot, and left the room.

  She turned to the rest. “We are being tested. Our ability to Ascend this race is in question, and I will not allow our millennia of effort to be wasted by this attack. We will use the Leath and spend them as necessary to prove the Phraim-‘Eh are the greatest of the Twelve.”