Gyada pursed her lips. It had been centuries, but sometimes it felt like last week. She nodded her understanding, and the four of them started heading toward the exit.
Planet Yoll, R’Chkoklet
Drk-vaen pulled open his clothes drawer and picked out two shirts and a hat. He wasn’t sure what he should take, but he didn’t want to be out of fashion if he could help it.
He closed the drawer and turned toward the door as he heard footsteps coming down the hallway.
Then, a knock.
“Son?” the deep voice of his father called.
Drk-vaen walked toward the door and pulled it open. “Hello, Father.”
His father greeted him and Drk-vaen stepped back to allow him to enter the suite. The older male looked around and grunted to himself before turning to his son. “You have decided to join the Empire?”
There was a silence before Drk-vaen answered. “I owe it to him,” he finally replied. “He didn’t save me so I could sit on this planet doing nothing.”
Drk-Zehn tapped his mandibles in agreement. “You have come a long way since the human John Grimes spared your life. Taking the family’s power armor was foolish. The fact that he could understand told me all I needed to know about the Empress and the aliens who took over.” This time Drk-Zehn paused before asking, “Are you doing it for yourself, or because you feel you shamed us?”
Drk-vaen shook his head. “I accepted the shame and I walked my two years in it. If anyone doubts my honesty, they can come tell me personally. I am more than old enough to answer for myself.” He tossed his two shirts on the bed next to the other items he planned to take with him. “When the news told us the humans had accepted a new race into the Empire, I was intrigued. When they went to battle for them, I was impressed.”
Drk-vaen looked out his window, across the city to what planet or star system his father couldn’t tell. “But when they called for those who would fight for others?” Drk-vaen turned to look his dad in the eyes. “My heart burst. I cannot fail to take up the call. I will help. My shame is behind me, and helping others is my future, beyond what I have done so far.”
“Then you should know,” his father began, reaching into a pouch he had clasped around his waist, “that your mother and I are very proud of you. We would have you represent our family.” His father pulled his hand out and opened it, showing Drk-vaen the small gold family sigil that could either be worn on a sash or a shirt and told every Yollin that Drk-vaen’s clan supported him and claimed him no matter what he did.
Basically it was the clan’s crest of trust. With it, Drk-vaen could commit the most despicable crimes and the clan would never turn their back on him. It was rarely shared, and as a young Yollin Drk-vaen had made up stories for himself where he was given the family sigil in a grand ceremony where all would celebrate his awesomeness.
He had long since given up those childish dreams for the reality of his stupidity years before. That his parents hadn’t thrown him out on his ass was something he had finally come to understand as a blessing he hadn’t deserved.
However, he could tell how much he had hurt his father by taking the family’s armor and using it to try to fight the Empress’ edicts. Apparently his father had blamed himself for Drk-vaen’s rash actions.
And yet, Drk-vaen had never felt unloved or unwanted.
Drk-vaen reached out to touch the sigil in his father’s hand, a tear forming in his eye. “I am not worthy of this, Father.” He looked up to see him smiling, a look of pride in his eyes.
“Drk-vaen,” he nodded at the sigil, “no family member who has ever received the sigil has felt they were worthy. If you thought you were, it would be a sign that the person offering needed to pull it back for their own honor.”
“So, your father?” he asked, a question in his eyes.
“Told me the same thing before I myself left.” He nodded at the sigil. “In fact, just before giving me this very sigil.”
Drk-vaen looked down to see his father hold it out to him. Drk-vaen slowly took the sigil and pulled it closer to see the small cut in the bottom corner that hadn’t been visible when his father held it. Drk-vaen closed his hand before he took two steps and threw himself into his father’s embrace.
His father’s voice reverberated in his mind. “You will do us proud, Drk-vaen. Just know that we are already prouder of you than perhaps you ever knew.”
“I will never,” Drk-vaen released his father and stepped back, “fail the family.”
Drk-Zehn touched his son’s chest. “Never fail the Empress, and you will never fail the family.” His father clicked his mandibles together. “Now, come down and eat. The whole family has a surprise for you.”
Drk-vaen grabbed his clothes, tossed them into his bag and slung it over his shoulder, and followed his father out of his room. Together they went down the stairs, and Drk-vaen could hear chattering as he followed his father around the final few steps and looked up to see who was there to send him off.
His father was right. Every family member was present, with one additional guest.
The Guardians’ captain and Empress’ Bitch was waiting in his family’s home, smiling at him.
“I got a call from John Grimes, who is with the Empress,” the human told Drk-vaen in Yollin. “He asked if I would do him the favor of picking up a special package on Yoll. Said he’s been watching you since you guys met the first time.”
Drk-vaen’s mandibles froze. He looked at his mother, who nodded ever so slightly to him, and then at his father, who popped him on the back and smiled. “We have a video from John Grimes himself explaining he would be protecting the Empress and asking if it would be ok if his protégé paid it forward.”
“Protégé?” Drk-vaen finally sputtered.
Peter took a step forward. “Let’s just say you aren’t the first stupid teenager John has saved despite themselves. When we finish here I’ll treat you to a drink at All Guns Blazing and tell you about an idiot by the name of Pete who almost got himself killed. John Grimes saved him from death by youthful stupidity with a wicked punch to the jaw.”
Drk-vaen thought the going-away party was the best experience ever. Then, when the two of them left his father’s house the experience was made better when he came out of the house to find a massive ship sporting the Empress’ skull and fangs logo floating in the air.
Everyone now knew that Drk-vaen had joined the Empress’ Guards and John Grime’s protégé Peter, the captain of Empress’ Guardians, had picked him up.
The ship had been stationed over the house for an hour. There were news people taking video as the two came out of the clan’s gates.
That evening after the news reported Drk-vaen had joined the military, thousands of Yollins tried to shove their way into the recruiting stations to follow the young male’s lead.
A new generation of Yollins was going to war, following an alien Empress into the deep, frozen darkness of space to do the right thing for a species they had never met.
8
Ixtali, High Council Meeting Room
Bethany Anne arrived in the large auditorium and looked around. There had to be twenty thousand seats rising from a circular table in the middle. The chairs at the table faced each other, but there were monitors above that displayed those sitting or standing at the council table to those in the audience.
Bethany Anne had known the council had a public venue, but it was a bit larger than she had expected.
>> We have located four persons with energy weapons and six with obvious metal edged weapons.<<
John’s voice came over the channel. “Ignore the edged stuff for now. Show energy weapons on HUD.”
Three of the locations looked like they were plants, and another was way up in the balcony so that was most probably a personal protection weapon that had been allowed in somehow. That person was highlighted for the Ixtali guards.
“Ok, guys, we are going to take out the other three—”
Bethany Anne interrupted.
“You guys get close, I’ll fry them.”
“We kinda need them alive if possible, boss,” John replied as he sent Eric and Scott toward the two ADAM had tagged with his nanospies. Each looked like he was going to take up a spot where the floor stopped and the wall and the seats started going up.
John headed left.
Darryl stayed with Bethany Anne, who had slowed her descent of the stairs as the guys moved ahead. The auditorium’s buzz had increased in volume when Bethany Anne appeared and started coming down the VIP stairs to the floor to meet with the council.
“Ready,” Eric commed.
“Ready,” came Scott’s reply, quickly followed by John’s.
“Here goes nothing,” Bethany Anne exclaimed, lifting her hand as she continued walking.
Patch me into the auditorium’s speakers, ADAM.
>>Done.<<
“Ixtali People,” Bethany Anne’s voice, speaking Ixtali, surrounded everyone in the area.
Down below, one of the councilors leaned over and asked Addix, “Did you give her access?”
Addix just shook her head as her mandibles clicked in a “What do you want me to do?” pattern. Addix sat back to watch the show. She had seen the Guards in their formfitting armor suddenly start coming down the steps and surround the table. One of them had stayed with the Empress.
Addix knew the one named John Grimes was behind her, and even though she trusted them all, his presence was causing an itch in the middle of her back.
Bethany Anne’s hand went up and a blue energy glow appeared. The crowd started quieting down at her display.
It got larger and larger until it was at least as large as her own head, and then it broke apart into three smaller globes that started orbiting her hand.
A second later they shot off to hit three people in the audience. Addix turned, hearing the commotion behind her, in time to see John Grimes run up the stairs to an Ixtali who was writhing on the chairs, unable to fall to the ground between them. She watched, fascinated when John’s left hand touched the male and the blue arcs of electricity that had been causing the Ixtali to spasm went up his arm and disappeared.
Then the Empress’ Guard reached into the coat of the attacked Ixtali and pulled out a laser pistol.
Those who were around him pulled back, fearing they would be associated with the threat to the Empress.
Addix turned to look at the other two Guards who were lifting their marks, retrieving their pistols, and bringing the comatose Ixtalis down to the council’s area.
Addix was surprised when Bethany Anne’s voice came through the speakers and she heard her just feet away as well.
“I have to apologize,” Bethany Anne continued, “for taking out the trash, but I refuse to allow the ignorant, the stupid, and the selfish to possibly hurt those here who wish for a stronger future.”
Bethany Anne smiled at the audience. “Now that we know who our enemies are, let us work on creating a stronger, more protected future for the Ixtali nation as the Etheric Empire hears the official request of the Ixtali council and accepts your application for membership.”
Three days later
Bethany Anne stepped from her shuttle, John and Scott beside her with their battle helmets under their arms. She waved to everyone as the three of them walked through the huge landing bay. As soon as she was out of the bay and they had turned a corner, Bethany Anne reached out and the three of them disappeared.
Reappearing a moment later in her outer suite, she pointed to the main door. “You guys go get into something comfortable. I need to change out of this stuff.”
John mumbled something and Scott went out. A couple minutes later he came back and relieved John, who left to go change.
As John came back into the suite, Bethany Anne came out of her rooms, her hair damp from a shower, wearing a black track suit.
John raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, a frown on his face.
Bethany Anne looked down at herself. “What is it?” she asked, looking back up at him in confusion. “No shoes? I do that all the time.”
“No.” He took a seat on one of the leather chairs. Scott had parked himself on the loveseat, leaving the couch for Bethany Anne. “I’m just wondering why you haven’t figured something out…” he waved his fingers near his head, “to dry your hair.”
Bethany Anne rolled her eyes and dropped onto the couch. “I did.”
There was a pause as the two guys looked at each other before turning back to Bethany Anne. “And?” Scott asked.
“You know how my hair does that floaty thing when I pull Etheric energy?”
“Yeah.” Scott nodded. “I figured it might dry your hair.”
Bethany Anne grabbed a pillow and stuck it in her lap. “It does. But imagine my hair, freshly dried, frizzy, and sticking out like I’d stuck my finger in a light socket.”
John snickered. “I’d pay good money.”
“No,” Bethany Anne said.
“Please?” Scott added. “I mean, c’mon. We,” he pointed to John and himself, “promise to take a bullet for you, and you won’t even share a little frizz between friends?”
Bethany Anne looked between the two of them. “Seriously? You guys want to see El Frizzo?”
“Well,” John’s face flushed a bit and he scratched his chin, “uh, yeah, actually. I think it would be funny as hell.”
“Well, don’t market the shit out of your request or anything,” she grumped.
“That’s Cheryl Lynn’s job,” Scott replied. “And if I brought back a story of you being human for once instead of perfect, it would help her immensely.”
Bethany Anne’s eyes narrowed. “Is she still having issues after all these years?”
Scott shrugged. “Not like you think, no. But there is a little bit of ‘she’s so damned perfect’ bugging her still.” He flipped his hands above his knees. “What do you want me to do? She’s a woman!”
Bethany Anne eyed him.
“You’re an anomaly, boss. Just live with it.”
Bethany Anne shook her head, looking from one to the other and rolling her eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake, call in the other two.”
“Whoop!” Scott jumped off the couch and jogged to the door, leaving it open to run over to the guys’ suite and call them in.
Bethany Anne looked at John. “How long did you guys work on your argument?”
“For what?”
She narrowed her eyes again. “To get me to share this.” She put her elbow on the pillow, cupped her hand, and placed her chin on it. “It seemed like such a good setup.”
“Oh,” John made a throwing-away gesture, “we have half a dozen good arguments cooked up. I can’t believe Scott used that one just so we could see this hair thing, but he’s right in a way.”
“Close the door!” Bethany Anne called. Darryl stopped, his teeth flashing in a huge smile as he closed the door behind him. Moments later Eric was next to Scott on the loveseat, and Darryl was standing behind them with his arms crossed and a twinkle in his eye.
Bethany Anne pointed at each of them. “You guys will go to your grave very quickly if this gets out beyond you and your spouses, got that?”
All four men nodded solemnly.
“Archangel, make sure there is no video of this event.”
“Yes, Empress,” the ship’s AI responded.
“Fine.” She shook her head twice, running her hands through her hair. “I feel like a little girl with all the guys trying to sneak a peek.”
“C’mon, this is cool shit,” Scott told her. “Hell, if I could, I’d dry off using the Etheric.”
Eric turned to look at him. “You’d try it?”
“Maybe,” Scott admitted. “And if I did, and it singed some curlies that smelled horrible, I’d never admit to it, so don’t ask.”
The guys turned to Bethany Anne when they felt her pull the energy in. Her eyes flashed red and the lines on her face became pronounced as her hair started to float. They all leaned forward as the
larger strands dried, the hair levitating. In about ten seconds Bethany Anne put her hand out and created a scintillating white ball, draining herself of the energy in her body. She turned and flicked her hand, the white ball zooming to the corner of the room as a floating light.
When she turned back to the guys she saw all four of them staring at her, their mouths open in shock.
“That—” Scott started to say, but just stopped. Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow, but he shook his head.
She turned to John. “You?”
“I got nothing, boss,” he replied.
She turned to Darryl. “You?”
He shrugged. “There would be some women of my persuasion who would be jealous as hell. But on you? Yeah, that doesn’t work at all.”
She turned to Eric and raised her eyebrows in a question.
“I never thought,” he murmured, “I’d ever see a living example of someone sticking their fingers in a light socket.”
“That’s the best you have?” she asked all of them as she pointed to her hair, which was now frizzy and pointing straight out from her head. “I look like a Barbie doll on Halloween night.”
“Oh, good one,” Scott agreed. “That’s how I’ll tell it to Cheryl Lynn.”
“Words only, Shakespeare,” she told him. “If I ever find a picture of this bird’s nest,” she pointed to her hair, “I’ll concoct seriously painful repercussions for my personal embarrassment.”
“How long have you known this,” John pointed to her hair, “would happen?”
“Hell, I tried it back on Earth a couple times.”
John stood up and walked over to her. She eyed him dubiously as he put a hand out to touch the ends of her hair.
“MOTHERFUCKINGSONOFABITCH!” he yelled, yanking his hand back after a sharp crack of electricity jumped from her hair to zap him.
“Oh yeah,” she nodded, “and it still has a charge.”
“It’s like Cousin Itt is sitting on top of your head.” John leaned forward with his hand out again. This time it didn’t shock him. “That’s pretty stiff.”
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set Three: Books 15-21, Never Submit, Never Surrender, Forever Defend, Might Makes Right, Ahead Full, Capture Death, Life Goes On (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets Book 3) Page 77
