Life Goes On

by Michael Anderle

  Further, Bethany Anne didn’t do anything related to Coke and Pepsi without a devious motive. He set the note aside to review later, and to ask Frank if he had any ideas.

  There was a tap on his door. “Enter,” he called.

  Giles came in, closing the door after him. “You wanted to talk to me, Uncle Lance?”

  “Yes,” Lance nodded to a chair in front of his desk. “Take a seat.”

  “Is this family or professional?” Giles asked, sitting down.

  “It’s a bit of both,” Lance replied. “You are going to be berthed on the ArchAngel II on the way to Earth. I’m going to tell you not to fool around, ignore items told to you, and refrain from being a nuisance to the crew.” He put up a hand. “I know you won’t intentionally, but your inquisitive nature compels you to be a jackass sometimes—especially when you think you are right.”

  “I won’t be a jackass around Michael.” Giles crossed his heart. “I promise.”

  Lance nodded. He’d have to tell ADAM he appreciated his help later. “Good. I am aware of your efforts to hone your physical abilities, and the upgrades you’ve received should help.” He reached over and grabbed a tablet. “Now, this is biometrically coded to you, so don’t lose it.”

  Giles accepted it, and when he pressed his thumb in the right place he felt a tiny prick. “Ouch!”

  Lance suppressed a grin. “Biometric, not fingerprint.”

  “I see.” Giles looked down at his finger, but noticed nothing amiss.

  “You can read the content in that tablet, but there is no way to pull the information out. If anyone tries to mess with the device—”

  “It will melt,” Giles muttered, calling up the home screen.

  “No, it will simply erase itself, and you will have a useless tablet. The technology isn’t that far ahead of what Earth had when we left. So,” he glanced at Giles, who wasn’t paying attention, “if and when you lose it on Earth we won’t be screwing them over.”

  “Wait!” Giles looked up. “We will be treating Earth as an earlier civilization?”

  “Of course,” Lance agreed. “Don’t get me wrong, we will put some stuff in place, but we won’t be leaving anyone behind, and we won’t be arming anyone to be superior. The people on Earth get to play out this hand. We will be cloaking the world as best we can. We will emplace superior defenses around the planet to stop meteors and evil assholes from attacking, and we will be installing small bio plants to clear up the air and water contaminants. However, since we won’t be leaving anyone there?” Lance shrugged. “Not going to leave massive emplacements that those left on Earth will fight over.”

  “What do you suggest I take?” Giles asked.

  Lance pursed his lips before smiling. “I suggest a whip, a machete, a fedora, and a Mark VII shoulder bag.”

  “I’ve got a bag,” Giles replied. “It isn’t the same as Dr. Jones’, obviously,” he sniffed, “but I daresay it is more durable.”

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds

  Bethany Anne tapped on the door as John took up a position outside the suite.

  The door opened, and an older black man stood there.

  Bethany Anne smiled. “I checked on your basketball accomplishments.”

  “Come in, Empress.” He opened the door a little wider. “The rest of the family is away on the planet, I’m afraid. They would have loved a chance to talk,” he told her as she stepped into his home. “John?”

  “Nope, Mr. President,” John told him. “I’m good out here.”

  “Suit yourself,” he answered, and closed the door. “I’ve never known a security person to be lazy.”

  Bethany looked around. It had been at least eight years since she had run across the former President of the United States at an event. He enjoyed staying out of the limelight, and many who knew about his former job had passed away.

  Bethany Anne looked at the pictures on a wall. “How are all the grandchildren?”

  “And great and great-great now,” he replied, taking a seat on a well-padded recliner. “They are good. I get to spoil them and send them back to their parents.”

  They made small talk before Bethany Anne, having already sat down on the couch, asked, “Any regrets?”

  He shook his head. “No. Those assholes went and did it, and my responsibility after I left office was to keep my family safe. The writing was on the wall when they turned on you.” He paused, thinking back to those times. “I would have bet they would get their heads out of their asses, but apparently not.”

  “No, they did not,” she agreed. “You told me in an email you didn’t wish to go back.”

  “No.” He looked at her. “There are only four of us who remember Earth, and the girls only a little bit anymore. Our future is here, whether going into space or on a planet.”

  “I’m heading out. Leaving behind the Empress gig and taking a sabbatical,” she told him.

  “Seems like a smart thing to do.” He nodded. “It’s what I did. But,” he leaned forward a little, “maybe, just maybe, you should start thinking about a family.”

  Bethany Anne smiled as she stood up. “I’ll think about that, Mr. President. I’ll think about that.”

  She took a step and disappeared.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” he said to no one in particular.

  Then he took a nap.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds

  “I cannot believe I’m feeling anxious!” Bethany Anne muttered to Gabrielle and Cheryl Lynn. She tugged on her cuff, then looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced. “I’d rather have my armor on.”

  “Which could be a small part of your anxiety.” Cheryl Lynn swiped her hand across the back of Bethany Anne’s tailored and fitted dark royal blue suit. “You look great,” she told her. “And I’m completely jealous of those diamond cufflinks.”

  “Not to mention the Louboutins,” Gabrielle added. “Although walking in them is going to be a sonofabitch.”

  After picking a small piece of white lint off her cuff, Bethany Anne finally stopped playing with it. “TOM has dialed down the pain in my ankles. Louboutins are better seen than walked in,” Bethany Anne admitted.

  “‘Impractical but beautiful.’ That should have been their company’s motto,” Cheryl Lynn agreed. “I’m happy with my low heels.”

  Bethany Anne snorted. “Try wearing low heels around John, Darryl, and the rest. I feel like their little sister and hell, I’m tall for a woman!”

  “Ladies?” Meredith said overhead. “It is time.”

  “Shit.” Bethany Anne sighed. “I don’t want this fucking job, but it’s killing me to give it up.”

  “No it’s not.” Cheryl Lynn picked one more piece of lint off her shoulder. “You’re worried it’s all going to go to hell like Earth did, but it won’t.”

  “Why not?” Bethany Anne asked, wondering if Cheryl Lynn was right and she was applying the situation back on Earth to her leaving the Empire behind.

  “First, you cannot do everything,” Cheryl Lynn stated. “Second, this time Lance is here, and while that won’t guarantee success, it will help reduce the chance of a screw-up.”

  Gabrielle put up a hand. “You’ve also put a lot of safeguards all over the place to help the Federation stay out of the hands of idiots. Plus, you’re hiding assets so you can come back if you need to.”

  “Further,” Cheryl Lynn added, “the powers that be don’t want you to show up again, and although that isn’t the plan, they have to know it’s a possibility. We should have at least one or two decades of calm.”

  Bethany Anne nodded slowly. They were better prepared with the Federation than Earth had been. There were no guarantees in life except that life would always try to blow one out of the water, so one prepared, worked with excellent people, and performed to the best of one’s ability.

  The rest was just kicking ass and taking names.

  “Ok, I’ve got this.” Bethany Anne grabbed her friends’ ar
ms and the three disappeared.

  —

  “This is Franath D’Tzaa, your D’tereth vid-reporter, and I’m coming to you live from the throne room of Empress Bethany Anne in the heart of the Etheric Empire.” She looked over her shoulder to cue the cameraman to zoom in on the area that now held a podium instead of a throne.

  She turned back to the camera. “If you would like to know more about the elusive Empress and why the Federation members are demanding she step down, stay tuned for the universe-wide release of my new series, The Etheric Empress—the Story of Our Galaxy’s Most Powerful Alien.”

  Franath D’Tzaa was about to speak again when the lights started dimming. She whispered into her microphone, “I’ll be back after the speech to wrap up, so stay tuned!”

  —

  Bethany Anne left Gabrielle and Cheryl Lynn in the receiving room and returned to her suite. The tailored suit she was wearing for the ceremony was classic, elegant, and beautiful, but it frankly didn’t deliver the message she wanted the audience to take away.

  So she was changing the plan.

  Exactly forty-two seconds later, after a hypervelocity change of wardrobe and a quick sprint through back corridors to get close enough to walk through the Etheric, she finally arrived in the room that had been prepared for her.

  “Meredith, are the guys waiting on me?”

  “No,” the AI responded as Bethany Anne locked down the clasp on her hip armor that had come undone during her run. “They are aware you are almost ready. They have surrounded the throne area.”

  “Great,” Bethany Anne replied. “Douse the lights in three…two…” Bethany Anne disappeared.

  —

  The members of the press and others who had permission to attend were jammed into the large throne room. When the lights dimmed by about twenty percent, the audience stopped talking to see what kind of spectacle the Empress would put on as she formally stepped down.

  The Empress’ personal bodyguards walked out in their pristine armor, and the videographers took time to get great shots of them all.

  Then Barnabas came out to represent the Rangers, Peter the Guardians, and Gyada for the Guardian Marines, having taken Todd’s place as leader.

  Many of the reporters focused on her, but were able to give the audience only the barest hint of her background. The barest hint was all they had.

  Almost no one knew her, but it was obvious she commanded the respect of the other leaders.

  Then the lights dropped by ninety percent. The room was now slightly brighter than pitch-black, and power started to thrum through the bodies of those present.

  “Some say,” a voice whispered into the minds and ears of everyone present. “that I am a myth…”

  —

  Gabrielle and Cheryl Lynn put hands to their mouths and looked at each other.

  “She changed?” Cheryl-Lynn hissed.

  “That’s my guess,” Gabrielle whispered back.

  “Well, shit.” Cheryl Lynn rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I’ll tell Lance I tried.”

  Gabrielle prevented the chuckle from escaping her mouth.

  —

  Those in the throne room were mesmerized, and looked around for the source of the speech. Looked for the Empress.

  “Some say,” the voice continued, “that I am without restraint; that I have no ability to restrict my reactions or my thoughts…” Many in the audience placed their hands over their ears to confirm that the voice was in their minds as well.

  A pinprick of red light appeared some fifteen feet above the podium area. It slowly grew to the size of a hand, and the glow bathed everyone in red.

  “Some say,” she continued, “that I am a danger to peace because I won’t negotiate with races like the Skaines…”

  —

  Franath D’Tzaa was watching the drama, smiling as much to herself as to those who might be seeing her on screen.

  This was the Bethany Anne she had interviewed so many times, not the one everyone had expected to show up.

  —

  A blue ball joined the red one, making the area brighter. The red and the blue united to become purple, and the light glowed even brighter as the ball expanded to a foot in diameter.

  “I say…” the ball exploded into bright light, revealing an armored woman floating above the podium, “that I am the QUEEN BITCH!”

  The woman dropped out of the air, landing with a BOOM behind the podium and cracking the floor. Her dark-red armor shone under the spotlights Meredith had turned on.

  Her hair was floating, her eyes were bright, and her smile was genuine as she looked around at the people who belonged to the Etheric Empire. Their shouts of support threatened to deafen the rest in the throne room.

  She put up both hands and worked to calm the crowd. “For those who don’t know me, my name is Bethany Anne Nacht. I am Empress of the Etheric Empire, Leader of the Bitches, and Supreme Commander of the Guardians and the Guardian Marines.” Her eyes started to glow just a little. “I am also the Hunter of the Kurtherians, ‘Walking Death’ to those who hurt innocents, and as I said before…”

  She looked straight up, catching the drones’ cameras. “I AM THE BITCH WHO GIVES EVIL NIGHTMARES!”

  She spread her arms, and another red fireball grew in each hand. Her voice changed to a caress to the ears that fed the heart. She turned to her left to look longingly at that ball of destruction, then turned to look at the one in her other hand. Everyone in the crowd did the same, their eyes gazing from one hand of power to the other as she did.

  She looked up and intoned, “I, Bethany Anne Nacht, of my own power and authority, willingly and with respect step down as Empress of the Etheric Empire.” Her gaze swept the crowd. “Demonstrating vast restraint, I have held back my hand from those who wished to weaken my people in order to strengthen theirs. Instead, I and my people will leave the Empire to seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where none have gone before. We will find and destroy the Seven, and support those who would otherwise be unprotected.”

  She tossed the left ball into the air, and it changed from sparking harsh red to a soft white glow. She did the same with the right, and both headed to the ceiling to cast white light throughout the large throne room. “I have chosen to illuminate that which we don’t understand, and I will bring back knowledge and form relationships that can better us, help us, and educate us.”

  Her eyes weren’t glowing now.

  Bethany Anne, in her armor with a sword across her back and her pistols on her hips, pointed a finger toward the cameras. “But I have one message for those who plan to take advantage of others.” She looked around for a moment, her eyes flashing red once before she turned back to the cameras.

  “Be good to the Federation, because I will be watching!”

  She nodded to the audience. “Goodbye.”

  And then she disappeared.

  —

  The reporter stared into her camera. “I have no words to express the incredible impression Empress—former Empress—Bethany Anne has just made here with her stepping-down ceremony. As with everything she has done in the past, Bethany Anne relinquished her authority in her own unique way.”

  Franath D’Tzaa looked around the room and the videographer panned the many faces in the audience, revealing a who’s who of notables.

  She spoke again as the camera followed the crowd, who were talking and gesturing. “Pundits have suggested that she had been undermined and enfeebled, but I think she just made it clear that she is doing this willingly and for her own reasons to help the Federation. And of course, she gave a clear warning to those who might be thinking they have a shot at taking control.”

  The cameras focused back on Franath D’Tzaa as she shook her head. “It is quite probable that now that Bethany Anne has stepped down, she has more power than before. Why do I say this?”

  She smiled to the camera. “As Empress, she was constrained by the needs of her people when she had to work with othe
rs to achieve peace. That responsibility has been moved to the Federation now. I for one think we have all just been informed that instead of placing handcuffs on the Empress…”

  Franath D’Tzaa smiled. “The gloves just came off!”

  —

  Lance was smoking a cigar with a smile on his face. His military compatriots, who had watched the video of the ceremony with him in the amphitheater on the ArchAngel II, were laughing and cheering.

  His daughter had gone out with a bang.

  Instead of becoming a footnote in history—a previously important person—she had just ascended to the status of Living Myth.

  Bethany Anne wasn’t constrained to any location, but could now seek out new places, meet interesting aliens, and help them if she could.

  Or kill them if they needed it.

  His daughter was now the boogeyman; someone who lived in the dark—literally in this case—but could show up at any time. That was some leverage for him and the former Etheric Empire.

  That speech had probably saved him forty percent of potential future headaches, which was a much better gift than that damned suit.

  Admiral Thomas stepped over to Lance and sat down with a thump. “Damn, if everyone made speeches like hers,” he pointed to the one-story-tall video screen, “I’d watch them all damned day.” He was smiling when he turned to Lance. “That speech sure didn’t go as scripted.”

  Lance puffed on his cigar. “No,” he admitted, savoring the slightly woody and fruity flavor of the smoke. “It went better.” In his mind’s eye, Lance was creating new levels of black ops.

  Hell, he was going to have to create some sort of black-hole designation. Shit so dark that light couldn’t escape it.

  And he knew just the vampire he wanted to speak to.

  Ten minutes later, after shaking a lot of hands, Lance headed to his Executive Pod, notifying it he wanted a fast transfer to the Meredith Reynolds.

  Black ops indeed.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Empress’ Suite

  Bethany Anne lowered her head in silent prayer before raising it and smiling. Then, flinging her hands out to her sides, she fell backward onto her bed.