Etheric Recruit: A Kurtherian Gambit Series

by S. R. Russell

  Well, I can see why the kid's a brat, Anne thought to herself.

  “Are you this girl’s mother?” The woman asked. “She attacked my son!”

  “Nope, not her mother. I’m Ranger Tabitha, and I’m Anne’s roommate and role model.”

  “What kind of role model teaches a girl to attack a child?” The woman hissed at Tabitha.

  “Anne, what’s going on?” Tabitha asked, her voice sounding a little tinny coming from the tablet’s speakers.

  “This woman asked if her son could pet Jinx, but instead of petting, he started pulling Jinx’ ears. He was pulling on them hard enough that I could almost feel her pain. The mother wasn’t doing anything about his behavior, and instead of letting Jinx bite him, I reached out and gave him a tug on the ear so he could understand how it felt. I didn’t tug that hard, but he started to cry, so his mother got mad at me and demanded to talk to my mother. Instead of trying to explain my home situation, I called you,” Anne explained to Tabitha.

  “Just a minute.” Tabitha told them, then asked the station’s EI, “Meredith, you have video on all the trams, right?” They couldn’t hear Meredith’s reply, but then they heard Tabitha again. “Can you show me the last five minutes of video from the tram Anne is on?” Three minutes later she said, “That’s enough, Meredith, thanks. Okay, lady, even on the video I can tell that Anne didn’t really do anything strong enough to hurt your kid. He’s just pissed that someone expected him to behave. Now, as a Queen’s Ranger I can investigate this further if you want, but if I do that and find that your son is at fault …”

  “That won’t be necessary,” the woman cut Tabitha off. She grabbed her son’s hand and started towards the opposite end of the tram.

  “Hey, my tablet!” Anne called to the woman’s back.

  The very upset lady spun and threw the tablet at Anne, who managed to catch it before it hit the floor.

  “I wonder if Bethany Anne could enact a law to require people to get a license to have kids?” Anne heard Tabitha mumble as the connection was closed.

  Jinx stayed pressed against Anne’s leg as they exited the tram for the short walk to the school.

  ---

  “What do you think you’re doing, Miss Jayden?” Asked the teacher who was monitoring the main entrance to the school.

  “Umm, coming to school?” Anne replied, somewhat confused.

  The teacher pointed at Jinx. “And why do you think you can bring a dog to school?”

  ---

  Tabitha had been in the middle of a really nice dream. Sun, sand and beefcake guys everywhere, when Anne had called about her problem with the lady and her bratty kid. Hoping to continue her dream, she tried to get back to sleep after she terminated the call. She’d finally gotten into a comfortable position and was just drifting off when her tablet rang again. “Hijo de puta, does Achronyx have a camera somewhere to let you know I’m still in bed?” she grumped as she answered the call.

  “I don’t know about any bugs he might have access to, but he’s not asking me to call you. I’m at school, and they won’t let Jinx into class with me,” Anne stated.

  “So?” Tabitha asked when Anne didn’t continue.

  “You mentioned you would talk with Bethany Anne about permission …”

  “Joder! Mierda!” Tabitha’s outburst cut off Anne’s explanation. This one was on her. She had said she’d talk with Bethany Anne, and she had totally forgotten to do it. “Hang tight, Anne. Sorry, my bad.”

  Bethany Anne?

  In a meeting. It’ll take about three minutes to wrap it up, Bethany Anne replied.

  Deciding more sleep was not in her future this morning, Tabitha got out of bed and headed for her kitchen to make some coffee. She was just taking her first cautious sip of the hot black elixir when Bethany Anne got back to her.

  Okay, what’s up? You sounded quite formal. Are you sick or something?

  No, but I goofed and now Anne is left holding the bag, so to speak. Jinx decided that she should go to classes with Anne, and I told them that I’d clear it with you so the school would be all right with it, Tabitha confessed.

  You’re doing that now, what’s the issue? Bethany Anne wanted to know.

  Anne and Jinx are being refused entry to the school because I didn’t have this conversation with you a couple of days ago. Bethany Anne could hear the whine in Tabitha’s mental voice.

  Should I ask how you managed that? Bethany Anne replied.

  Tabitha cringed slightly. Truth is, Anne’s a good kid, we had lots of fun shopping, and I simply forgot.

  Easy enough to fix. I’ll have Cheryl Lynn contact the school and take care of it. Anything else?

  Thanks, boss, and nope, that’s it for now, Tabitha informed her Queen. Tabitha managed to imbibe her first sip of coffee, now cool enough it didn’t burn her mouth, and headed for the shower to get her day started.

  ---

  Anne had moved away from the door and set her backpack on the ground, and proceeded to use it as a seat as she propped her back against the wall of the school. Anne threw one arm across Jinx’ shoulders as the puppy leaned against her. She felt Jinx tense slightly as a pair of shoes and legs appeared in front of her. Tilting her head back, Anne looked up to see the school’s principal and quickly scrambled to her feet. “Sir?” She asked.

  “What’s with you and the dog, Miss Jayden?” The principal asked.

  Jinx, who had stood when Anne did, growled.

  The principal, who had the latest Etheric Empire implant heard, “Maybe someone should ask the dog!” He looked down, face showing his shock. “Excuse me, young lady, young GSD, why don’t we move this conversation to my office?” The principal stepped into the doorway, creating a break in the stream of students that were arriving for class. Anne and Jinx slid into that empty space and followed the principal through the doors and into the hallways. Once everyone was settled in the office, the principal looked at the human and canine females sitting in front of him and asked, “Okay, who wants to start this conversation?”

  “Me,” Jinx replied promptly. “Once I had chosen Anne as my partner, I became involved in a lot more human conversations, and people were using numerous words I didn’t understand. It made sense to me that instead of sitting at home all day I should come to school with Anne so that I would learn more words and information, so I told Ranger Tabitha that I’d like to take classes with Anne. She said it was a good idea, and she’d talk to my dad’s person about it. This has been the first school day since Anne and I bonded. Here we are.”

  The principal looked back and forth between the girl and the dog. “Well that would explain the call from the Empress’ personal assistant,” the principal murmured.

  This started a long conversation where the logistics and rules of Jinx being in school with Anne were discussed. Jinx was to stick to Anne like glue except during PE class, when she would sit or lie in front of the bleachers where both Anne and Jinx could always have each other in sight. Once all the details had been worked out, the principal sent all the teachers and Anne an email acknowledging the presence of Jinx and the expected behavior of the two students.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Tabitha looked confused. “What do you mean?”

  “I learned it in school this week. Dogs have two hundred million more scent receptors than humans. Even compared to the vampires’ and Weres’ improved senses, dogs can smell things humans just can’t.”

  “Oookkaaayy.” Tabitha dragged the word out while she thought about what she’d just heard. “What does that have to do with this?”

  “Because I’ve been around all those other young humans for the past few days, I’ve been able to determine the common smells. All humans have a smell that says ‘human.’ All Yollins have a smell that says ‘Yollin.’ The other aliens that I have scented on the base all have unique smells that identify them by race, too. And then, each individual has their own scent.

  “If you were to give me a shirt and ask me who wore it, I wo
uld smell it and tell you the wearer was human, then sniff it again for other odors and narrow it down to Tabitha. I’ve smelled hundreds of young people this week, and they all smell human and then have individual scents.”

  “My person has an extra scent that I don’t smell on any of the others, and it’s yucky. I remembered a conversation that Mom’s person had one time about therapy dogs—dogs that were trained to know the smell of bad things happening to their people. Anne has an extra smell like that, and I think it means she’s sick. That would explain why she’s tired all the time. What do we do?” Jinx’ ears drooped at this question. “I don’t want to lose my person!”

  “How sure of this are you?” Tabitha asked, concerned at Jinx’ attitude.

  “Of the smell? One hundred percent,” Jinx assured Tabitha. “Of what it means? No idea. I’m just guessing, based on the smell itself. Like I said, it’s yucky. I was willing to put up with it to be with my person, but now I’m sure it’s not normal. Something is wrong!”

  Tabitha held up her hands to calm Jinx. “I believe you, just give me a moment to think about this,” she told the distressed dog.

  Boss Lady?

  What do you need, Tabitha? Bethany Anne responded right away.

  Sorry to bother you. I’m having a conversation with Jinx, and she feels pretty sure that there is something wrong with Anne. Jinx says that Anne has an odor to her that the other humans at the school don’t have, and she thinks it might be a disease. Poor Jinx seems pretty stressed out by it. I was wondering if we could stick Anne in the Pod-doc for a diagnosis, just to see what’s going on with her.

  We don’t have anyone in it right now, so I don’t see why not, Bethany Anne sent. Bring her by TOM’s ship tomorrow and we’ll stuff her in and see what it says.

  Great! Thanks, Bethany Anne, I’ll tell Jinx. Hopefully that will make her feel better. What time tomorrow? Tabitha remembered to ask before ending the conversation.

  ADAM says I have ten hundred free.

  Oh, praise God, Tabitha sent to Bethany Anne, a civilized time of the day. See you then, and thank you.

  Ten tomorrow, see you then, Bethany Anne replied before the quiet in her head told Tabitha that Bethany Anne was no longer in contact.

  She squatted and gave Jinx a hug. “Don’t worry. I talked with Bethany Anne, and she is going to put Anne in the original Kurtherian Pod-doc on TOM’s ship. It’s the most advanced medical tool we have, and if there is something wrong with Anne, the Pod-doc will find out what it is. Chances are excellent it will be able to treat it. You just need to help me get Anne up and moving tomorrow, because we need to meet Bethany Anne at ten in the morning.”

  “I still have trouble understanding human time. Just come tell me when you want her, and I’ll make sure she gets up even if I have to lick her feet to do it.”

  Tabitha laughed at Jinx’ wrinkled nose. “Better you than me.”

  The next morning Tabitha stuck her head in Anne’s bedroom, and couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Anne was curled up on her side, and Jinx was curled nose to tail against the small of Anne’s back. At the sound of the door, Jinx stood and stretched, then shook herself and looked at Tabitha. “It’s that time,” said Tabitha. Jinx nodded that she understood, so Tabitha closed the door and headed for the kitchen to make coffee.

  Jinx took a moment to decide the best way to accomplish the goal of getting Anne up and ready for the day. She decided her first attack would be the covers. She pawed at the sheet by Anne’s shoulder until there was enough wrinkle to grab it with her mouth, then started tugging it toward the foot of the bed, taking the blanket with it. At the bottom of the bed Jinx had to let go and jump to the floor. From there she grabbed the bedding again and pulled it all the way off.

  “Stop it,” Anne mumbled, her hand feeling for covers that were no longer there.

  Jinx jumped back on the bed and gave Anne’s nose a quick lick. “You need to get up!” She told the drowsy girl. “We’re going to go visit my dad and Bethany Anne.”

  “What?” Anne sat up and rubbed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “After you fell asleep yesterday, Tabitha was talking with Bethany Anne, and we’re all going to get together this morning,” Jinx told her, intentionally leaving out the reason for the meeting.

  “Oh. Okay,” Anne stretched and sat up on the edge of the bed. “What time?”

  “We are meeting them at ten.”

  Anne looked at her tablet and saw it was eight-thirty. “Great,” she said, “I’ve got time for a shower.”

  Thirty minutes later, Anne had showered and dressed. She wandered into the kitchen and smiled when she saw that Tabitha had put on a kettle so Anne could make a cup of tea. Lately she was finding that tea was easier on her stomach than coffee. She fed Jinx while her tea was steeping, and five minutes later sat at the table with a cup of tea and a toaster waffle. “So, what’s the deal?” She asked Tabitha.

  Tabitha was a Queen’s Ranger for a reason, and she immediately deduced that Jinx had kept Anne ignorant of the details related to the outing. “I was talking with Bethany Anne yesterday about how much better a dog’s sense of smell is compared to a human’s, and we’re going to get together and see if that information would be of any benefit to the Etheric Empire.” Tabitha made up the best excuse she could on short notice.

  “Oh? What were you thinking?” Anne asked, between bites of her waffle.

  “Jinx mentioned that certain therapy dogs could smell stuff that humans had no way of knowing was a problem, so we’re wondering just how much this sort of talent could be useful,” Tabitha replied, trying to keep the conversation truthful without divulging the real reason for the meeting. She checked the time and was very relieved to find out that they needed to be leaving if they were to meet Bethany Anne on time. “Let’s head out,” she said to Anne. “Unfortunately, the Queen has a lot of shit to do during her days, and she only has an hour to meet with us.”

  “I wonder if she realized how much of her personal life she was going to lose before she decided to try to save the world from aliens?” Anne commented as she followed Tabitha out of their apartment.

  Tabitha looked over her shoulder at the younger woman. “Honestly? I doubt it. I don’t think anyone could have comprehended the scope of the job back then. Hell, even though Bethany Anne knew that the goal was to fight aliens, we were so busy just trying to rid Earth of the Forsaken that I doubt she had any idea at all where she’d end up.

  “Wow!” Anne exclaimed. “How long have you been with Bethany Anne?”

  Tabitha looked embarrassed as she answered, “I had been forced to work for the bad guys, and BA took two of us captive on the second op after she’d been changed.”

  “Wait!” Anne said. “Was that the Miami op? We learned about that in school. Holy shit, you’re old enough to be history!”

  Tabitha looked at the young woman walking with her. “And you, smartass, are part of the infamous trophy wife operation. Who do you think will get more exposure as time goes by?”

  “You will,” Anne replied to the older woman, “but more because you’re Ranger Two than because of the Miami situation.”

  “Well, you’re one of seven people in the Etheric Empire to have a dog choose you, so I think the jury is still out on which of us might become the more famous.” Tabitha stuck her tongue out at Anne at the end of her sentence.

  Anne was trying very hard not to laugh, but a giggle escaped. “Way to be the adult in this conversation, Tabs.”

  “Tabitha, not Tabs! Ranger Tabitha sounds official. Not necessarily badass, but official. Ranger Tabs sounds like something from a kids’ TV show,” Tabitha grumped.

  Anne smiled at Tabitha, then rushed forward when she saw Bethany Anne and Ashur waiting at a doorway. “Ashur!” She shouted as she dropped to her knees and slid forward to greet the big male. She then reached over to hug Jinx, who had come up to her sire to bump noses. “I don’t love you any less,” she whispered to Jinx, “but
I’ll always have a soft spot for Ashur.”

  Jinx turned and slurped her tongue across Anne’s cheek to indicate that she didn’t hold any grudge against Anne for liking Ashur as much as she did.

  “What’s up with Anne?” Bethany Anne asked the others.

  “Huh?” Anne looked around, confusion evident by her expression.

  “She doesn’t smell right,” Jinx declared. Jinx turned to Ashur, “It’s faint, but if you pay attention to the odors, you’ll catch a scent that isn’t found on other humans.”

  Ashur stood up and meticulously sniffed Anne. He trotted down the hallway to get to a busier corridor and stood there as several humans walked by. He carefully checked their scents, then returned to Anne and sniffed her one more time. “I smell it,” he told Jinx. “I never realized it was different before.”

  Jinx looked at her dad and then at Anne as she answered, “I noticed it right away, but I didn’t understand it wasn’t normal until I started going to school with Anne and had all the other young humans to compare her to. When I heard someone talking about how therapy dogs could be taught to smell the different conditions of their humans, I began to wonder if I wasn’t scenting something wrong with Anne. I didn’t want Anne to get sick, so I talked with Tabitha.”

  “You saying I stink?” Anne was biting her lip to keep from crying, and she tried to push Jinx away from her.

  Ashur sat down and pushed in tight against Anne’s side, and Jinx melded to her other side. “I’m saying you have an odor as part of your individual scent that is not normal. It’s a smell missing from all the other students at your school, and I’m worried it might mean you’re sick. Admit it—you’re tired all the time, and the smallest bump leaves you with unnaturally colored skin.

  “Wait!” Bethany Anne held up her hand. “Meredith, for security purposes, confirm my identity with TOM and ADAM.”

  It only took a second before Meredith’s voice came from the speaker of the security panel at the door where they had all stopped. “Identity confirmed, Bethany Anne.”