A glance behind him showed Boris that Alecta had a large pack forming up around her, supplemented by squads of allied soldiers. Moving forward in a control advance, the group was exploiting the hole he and Gyada were tearing through the line. With Alecta’s soldiers taking positions behind fallen bodies, rocks, or anything that offered some protection against enemy fire, the Sacred Clanners would be prevented from closing the gap behind him. This would protect his rear and also keep the Sacred Clanners from stealing anything they tore from the Pods.
When Boris entered the hangar, he was surprised to find the defenders still holding. They'd taken some casualties and were forced back into the rear half of the building, taking cover behind equipment boxes and the like. The defense was still organized and effective. Boris could see why immediately since the weretiger was not attacking. It had climbed on top of one of the Pods, crouching there and looking around.
A man stood at the base of the Pod, waiting with a strange object in his hands. It appeared from the unusual shape to be some form of alien tech. Boris roared, and the man glanced over his shoulder. He shouted, "Take it, cousin," and threw the object to the weretiger on top of the pod. Spinning back to face Boris, he raised his rifle and fired several bursts. The bullets ricocheted off the werebear’s armor and nicked his arms, but caused no significant injury.
"It's too late, Ghost Bear. We shall take what you have made from objects that belong to the Clan. When we return with them, it shall be you and your Bitch Queen that tremble."
Boris charged the man taunting him. Moving faster than the enemy could react, the werebear jumped. He grabbed the rifle and bent the muzzle so it would be only as useful as a club. Boris dragged the taunting enemy out from cover by the strap that trapped his arm. "Nottt todaay, you won'tt," Boris growled as he pulled the man farther from the Pod.
"Cousin, now!" the man screamed as Boris steadily pulled his struggling body away from the craft.
There was a sudden flash of light and an explosion of force. For an instant, Boris found himself falling backward. Without more than an eyeblink of time, he was sucked forward when returning air filled the vacuum where the Pod had been. The Pod was gone, but the transport device had also taken the Clan soldiers and weretiger with it. Boris smelled burnt flesh and hair. The hair was his own, but the severed and burned hand and leg from the man that he had been dragging explained the other odors.
The limbs had been cut by whatever had taken the rest.
Whatever that device had done, if Boris had been a foot or so closer, he would have found himself severed in half. Even for a Were, such a severe injury would have led to certain death.
Bethany Anne might be annoyed by the loss of the pod, but that was a problem for later. Right now, Boris had an attack force to smash. Heading for the hanger door, he said, "Gyada, cleaar thhee Hanngger."
Ignoring the bullets that the remaining Clanner soldiers inside the building were firing at him, Boris turned and raced toward the forces that were still fighting outside the doors. He needed to take some of his anger and frustration out on someone, and crushing the remaining attackers would provide a good target.
Battle Debrief, Cave Technology Room
For the debrief, Lilith had requested that she have access to all the video records. A strange-looking device had already been brought out from the Tech room and set up. It turned out to be a holographic projector, and Lilith was running battle recordings through it for all to see.
There was tension in the air. Bethany Anne had come down for the debrief which was unexpected, considering all the other problems occurring. She sat to one side, listening intently and with incipient thunder in her expression.
"Final casualty count?" Boris asked.
Janna answered, "Somewhere around sixteen hundred dead on their side. Fanatics don't let themselves be taken prisoner. We have maybe fifty prisoners from NVG that were involved in the attack on the town.”
There was a grim look on her face. "Most of the captured NVG will be handed over to the government. They don't know enough to be a danger to us, so there is very little risk to letting the government take them. Also, it is a good political move.”
Janna paused a moment, “The assistance that the Czarina provided has meant that the railguns are coming online. We have the first operational and more are active each day. If government forces move against us again, we can take out three times as many as attacked us this time, especially considering we have Weres, and they don't."
She continued in a grimmer tone, "There is one NVG prisoner I want to deal with personally. Ex-Sergeant Brogonovich betrayed my Intel team and is directly responsible for the death of at least five good men under my previous command. I want to execute him myself."
Boris nodded acknowledgment, and a small smile showed his agreement with her solution. He felt that if someone betrayed you, it was best to deal with them personally. It could only add to the team’s reputation under the somewhat ruthless code established in the area. It would also be seen as justice by his own people. Which meant her solution had no downside.
"Final casualties on our side?" Boris asked.
"We have forty severely wounded still waiting for their time on the treatment table," Lilith stated. She had taken over the role as senior medic due to her control of said treatment table. "I have complied with your request to make no modifications to critically wounded who couldn't be told what the potential changes would be. I am in negotiations with the remaining wounded. Several of them want to become Weres and will be talking to you about that shortly, Boris. At least one was disappointed by the ruling that there be no more Pricolici. I'm not sure I understand your reasoning behind this, but I will accept it for now."
Boris sighed, "What is there to understand? The vast majority of people who achieve that form end up dangerously unstable. They inevitably have to be put down for the safety of the population around them. That I have found a way to avoid the problem is an anomaly. I don't want to put more people at risk, not until we find a more permanent solution than my methods of controlling that form, capisce? Any new Pricolici from our injured will result in you being in the Faraday cage for some time."
"Continuing on," Lilith said, somewhat chastened, if a little defiantly, "Seventy-two people were too injured to save. All of them had died at least half an hour before they reached my care. There are still fourteen missing in action. That makes a total of seventy-two KIA, fourteen MIA, three hundred and seventy-three with various states of injury."
"All of that is important and I grieve for your losses. Unfortunately, my time is very tight and I don’t wish to seem disrespectful for the dead. However, one of the Pods provided is missing and I need answers. So, what do you know?"
Bethany Anne was upset by their losses. She hadn't known the people personally, but they had been serving her indirectly. Considering the force that had been arrayed against them and the government restrictions on the support that Boris had been pushed to accept, the losses were actually very low. By complying with the Government’s request, it allowed them to maintain a presence in Russia more easily.
A hologram of the hemispherical hole in the hangar floor appeared on the projector. "It appears that the device took a spherical volume of space, and transported whatever was in it," Janna stated, "The residual heat on the remaining pieces of the Pod meant they could not be handled for nearly a day afterward. Although the Clan managed to take most of the fuselage including the Etheric generator, they cut through the railguns on the roof of the pod. ADAM predicted a ninety-seven percent chance that any remaining railgun equipment on the Pod will be damaged beyond the point that it would be useful for reverse engineering.
"However, the Etheric tracker was in the nose of the pod, as were the control systems. So we have no means of finding where they transported it to if it is deep enough underground. Considering TOM's lack of success in pinpointing it, we have no choice but to assume that it is somewhere underground in China. Those were definitely Sacred Cl
an that attacked us. We can only assume that the NVG became involved in the meeting between the corrupt agent, Bohai, and Brogonovich. We were incredibly fortunate that our agents lucked into overhearing that meeting."
Continuing, Janna said, "The Russian government is currently pushing back at the Chinese over what seems to them to be a sanctioned attack by Chinese forces on Russian soil. The Chinese have made it clear that they have no interest in poking the Russian bear at this time. They even moved troops back from the Russian border to emphasize that they want no trouble."
Janna finished her section of the report, "We have no idea if the extreme heat similarly affected both organic and metallic components at the edge of the transportation sphere. The cauterized, but the otherwise intact, arm and leg that fell outside the sphere’s radius would indicate not. How much heat did the transport inflict on the people transported? We simply have no way of knowing."
"I have run simulations of potential methods for achieving this effect. It is beyond any technology I have dealt with before," Lilith added. "ADAM? TOM?"
TOM spoke for both of them, "The event that caused ripples in the Etheric extended all the way to the South China Sea. There are two possibilities as to what occurred to the objects inside the transportation sphere. The first is that the effect only took place at the edge of the device's control. In this case, the organic matter transported by the device will have survived relatively unharmed. The Weretiger will probably have burnt paws, but the large surface of the Pod will have reduced the amount of heat, acting as a heat sink.
“The second postulates that the heat is an encompassing effect. In that scenario, the only useful technology they will be able to retrieve will be the Etheric generator housed in the pod itself, due to extreme heat damage.
“Any organic matter in the radius will have been incinerated in this scenario. Every simulation we have run makes it clear that they did not truly understand the technology they were using. It is recovered technology, not something they created themselves. Nor is it something they, or we, can likely recreate. The amount of energy it used is beyond what I have records of the Kurtherians being capable of producing in such a small device. It almost certainly has to have been a single use tool."
"It should serve as a warning to all of us, there are some things out there that we simply cannot predict. Technology beyond anything we've encountered. While it is unlikely there is another similar device on Earth, it is possible that others may have this technology elsewhere. You need to be wary of this Boris," TOM finished
Boris agreed and added, "And you all need to be wary of this, also. In conclusion, there was no sign that something like this existed. That it didn't come into the cave system can only be considered a boon. If it had..." Boris‘ face took on a grim cast.
His people were frantically working on reinforcing the unstable sections of the caves. It went hand in hand with expanding the emergency bunker areas. It was a work in progress, still far from complete even now. The combination of loss of structure and the vacuum effect could have been disastrous down there.
Bethany Anne glanced around, seeing the chastened expressions on the faces around her. With TOM and ADAM’s guidance, they had thought they knew everything and had been wrong. It was a lesson for her as well. If they could be surprised by something like this on Earth, she could be surprised out there in the vastness of space.
As she rose, Gyada glanced at Boris, who slowly nodded. "If I may, my Queen, I would like to discuss something with you?"
Bethany Anne was somewhat surprised. She had an idea of what Gyada was going to ask, though she had been sure that the Were would want to stay and protect what had been her home for centuries after the battle.
Still, with the education and knowledge that Lilith had imparted to her, Bethany Anne couldn't be happier with the idea of Gyada joining her space force.
Epilogue
It was now nine months since Bethany Anne had left through the Gate and nearly two years since Gyada had joined the space borne section of the mission to protect Earth. Gyada considered how the bickering between the governments for scraps of added knowledge had escalated. She was perfectly happy to be working and training on the ship with Bethany Anne’s forces while Boris remained in New Romanovka.
The Russian government tried once, and failed spectacularly, to gain custody of the site which Boris defended. There were still over fifty wrecked tanks on the edge of the area known now as the New Romanovka Autonomous Zone. That battle had actually stripped a large chunk of the Archangelsk Oblast into the Autonomous Zone Boris controlled. The Puck defense shield worked well against armored vehicles, and the railgun turrets had decimated the infantry involved in the attack. With the new algorithms Lilith had provided, the railguns automatically shot down any incoming projectiles as well, neutralizing all attempts to attack the town with missiles or artillery. Boris was still worried about a possible nuclear strike against the town, but it seemed unlikely.
The town's population was slowly growing, both through vetted people joining the community and through new additions to families. But things were starting to fall apart. Boris had seen this before, and they were preparing. He was stockpiling as many preserved foods and raw materials as he could.
Lilith had designed and helped fabricate a tunneling device so they could create some caverns for secure farm space using similar concepts to the early space borne farming containers. They had also started a school system for children and another for people to learn how to maintain and care for equipment and weapons systems. Those who showed potential for invention and innovation were given tutelage by Lilith. They knew it could be a very long time before any outside help would be coming.
Whatever happened, Boris wanted a firm base to support Michael on his return.
Lilith had also developed what they were now calling 'Black Wheat,' a grain that provided all the non-protein based energy and nutrients a human needed. It was also a more efficient crop since it used more of the light spectrum. It had two forms of chlorophyll which combined to make a more effective use of available light.
Since Weres needed more protein than a standard human, hunting provided the community with some of its meat, farming on the surface provided the rest. The group was also experimenting with other sources of meat protein using some of the information already learned from the scientists on the Meredith Reynolds. Developing new methods of producing protein, along with growing different modified plants underground had Lilith content, at least for the time being.
Janna walked up to Boris and looked around, "Things are going well aren't they, love?" He only looked up and grunted. His plans were somewhat nebulous for what to do when the war finally hit, the one he felt in his bones was coming. New Romanovka was too tempting of a target. He kept pushing forward with supply and defense plans, recycling and the like. Whatever happened, he would try to be prepared.
Janna got closer to him and tightly embraced his bulky form. "Take the day off, love. We have something to celebrate, after all."
Boris brought his head around and looked at her more closely. She had a soft glow to her complexion that he hadn't seen before. Breathing in deeply, he noticed subtle changes in how she smelled, also. His eyes widened as a thought occurred to him "You mean..."
She smiled, "Yes, love, we'll be parents soon." A multitude of worries flashed through his mind, but he pushed them firmly aside. Joy blossomed across his face, and he gently picked Janna up and swung her around him in a circle.
Janna smiled as he did. Her smile grew when she heard his whisper of, "Finally, a full family of my own." Suddenly, all his worries seemed petty, compared to the happiness and completion he felt.
Author's Notes – Paul C. Middleton
January 3rd, 2016
Well, this was an interesting book to write. I hope you found it just as interesting to read.
The major premise is based on an actual myth relating to Archangelsk and is partly responsible for the city's name. It's easy
to find on the Interweb.
As I sit here writing this, the book has finally been reviewed by Michael, Re-reviewed by me, and is in the hands of our tender Editor Kat, who is taking time off from her duties as an avatar of Loviatar. Apparently, she wasn't causing enough pain and torment there. So she took up an editing side gig. The Goddess of Pain and Torture is considering becoming the patron of editors as we speak. She hadn't realized how much suffering they can cause.
In all seriousness, I enjoyed basing an entire Kurtherian Gambit book on a myth. It made me feel right at home - Twisting legends is what I do.
Seriously. It's at the core of all my other works, and I love doing it.
But I also love the characters I've been able to create in the Kurtherian Universe. I think they're a fun, if sometimes confusing, group. Kinda like most people I know.
You, the fans, should thank my long suffering Idea Wall... I mean partner. She motivates me immensely. She'll also blush bright red when she reads this. She also suffers through patiently as I throw plot ideas at her. I know which ones are good, because they cause a change in her expression from pained patience to... well anything else, I guess. If readers have to suffer a wait, an author's significant other often has to suffer through ridiculous plot ideas.
Revelations (The Boris Chronicles Book 3) Page 16
