Darryl shook his head. “You want to try that on her?”
“Fuck no.”
“What do you think is our next step?”
“Eric, then John and then Gabrielle.”
Scott hadn’t really asked Darryl if he wanted to go this route. These guys had been human the whole time. John wasn’t, not really. No one was exactly sure what he was, but if he was still human he had to be damn near a perfect specimen.
But they had all been saved in one way or another by Bethany Anne. Now, Scott wanted to make sure he had the ability to truly be the asset she needed when the chips were down.
His brother from another mother didn’t need to voice his agreement. He already had.
It was time the Queen’s Guards upped their game.
2
The Queen Bitch’s Ship Ad Aeternitatem En Route to the Mediterranean
Three men were sitting at a table in the compartment the boat’s crew was kind enough to call “Team BMW’s Garage.” Until the team was able to produce a working craft, they were going to suffer from the kidding. Bobcat took it in stride and Marcus was bemused by the whole experience. While Marcus was familiar with getting the short stick from other scientists, he considered the fun loving antics just that, fun loving.
William didn’t have the same opinion. Perhaps due to the gravestone he had been presented with. The crew had created it after their initial effort plummeted through the first barge. The rocket sank so fast into the depths of the ocean that it took the bubbles at least half a minute to make it to the surface. Or maybe it was because he had been accustomed to being the ‘supreme mechanic’ no matter what the military had him work on.
Bethany Anne threw a damn spaceship at William, and then told his boss and a rocket scientist to make her a personal attack craft.
So he would. First, he would do it because winning the battle with machines is what he did. The second reason was because he wanted to know he had been a part of the team that built the first ship out of alien technology.
The third, and perhaps the most important reason, was that he wouldn’t let Bethany Anne down again. He had screwed up back in Miami and he would do whatever it took to make sure he didn’t let her down again.
Including not drinking alcohol until they were successful.
That prohibition wasn’t something his boss and his teammate ascribed to. There was a bucket of mental lubrication medicine between them. Bobcat and Marcus had just popped the tops off of their second longnecks, when the world’s deadliest woman sauntered in with her big as hell white German Shepherd. Gabrielle followed Bethany Anne into the room. She wore tactical clothing and made it look like she was walking on a fashion runway.
Damn vampires could make anything look sexy. William lifted his Coke in their direction, he could drink to that.
So he did.
“William! How is my favorite mechanic this evening?” Bethany Anne pulled a chair out and turned it around, straddling it and looking at them. Gabrielle took up a position a few feet behind her and Ashur laid down right behind Bethany Anne’s chair.
William noticed that both Bobcat and Marcus had lowered their bottles, neither one knowing why their boss had arrived unannounced. He smiled. “Doing fine, thank you very much. We are unsuccessfully trying to figure out how to handle a couple of these problems with the new engine.” He scratched at his chin; he had a little stubble going again. “The…” He stopped when she put up her hand.
“You are about to start speaking the language of numbers, forces, metals or stresses. None of which I speak.”
I DO
No shit, Sherlock. That’s why we’re here.
Oh? Do tell.
Well then listen the fuck in, why don’t you? Stop interrupting and we can all learn at the same time.
Bully for you.
I swear to God, if the kitchen team is listening to something you’re picking up, I will make them swim behind the Polarus for a few miles while I chum the water.
Tom was silent. That pretty much sealed the guilty verdict right there. She continued her conversation with the guys.
“I know someone who DOES speak those things and has a clue…” Marcus interrupted her.
“You’re going to let us talk with Thales aren’t you!”
Bethany Anne stared at the man until he corrected himself. “Fine, TOM it is. I still don’t understand why you have this thing with calling him by his full name.”
She could imagine Marcus kicking an imaginary rock as he said this.
“Consider it my prerogative to keep his name short. I refuse to walk around calling him ‘Thales of Miletus’ or even ‘Thales.’ TOM he started and TOM he will be.”
She leaned over to the bucket and grabbed a beer. Bobcat reached into his pocket to pull out his knife so she could use the bottle top tool. As he reached, she put her thumb under the top, flicked it off and took a swig. Bobcat put the knife back in his pocket. He considered her ability to just pop a bottle top off like that had to be useful as hell.
She made a face and put the bottle back on the table. “Oh hell, that is horrible!” She turned the bottle around and looked over at Bobcat. “Believe it or not, I think vampire taste buds don’t like this.”
Bobcat shook his head. “Sorry, then count me out if it ever comes time to offer me a chance at changing. If I can’t enjoy nature’s brew, life just isn’t worth living.” He punctuated that comment by draining his beer.
She shoved the bottle away. “Marcus, you asked a few weeks ago to talk with TOM. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to accomplish that and we might have a solution.” Marcus had moved his bottle aside and picked up his pen and paper. “You know how this stuff,” she waved around the room at the engines and different pieces of technology they had strewn about, “works through the Etheric dimension?” He nodded his agreement. “Well, we should be able to move communications through the Etheric to a computer that’s secure. When I see your questions, I’ll be able to type the responses.”
“So, kind of like a chat channel?”
“Yes. You’ll have to wait for responses depending on how busy I am, but it will be better than waiting until I get a chance to drop by here.”
Why don’t we just connect the computer I have right here through the Etheric directly to a laptop like we did for Frank?
Because the last time we talked about that, you said it would require another trip to the pod-doc.
Well, yes. But it would be a very small surgery to facilitate your ability to connect.
I’m not plugging a wire into my head.
It won’t be a wire. It will be a micro… really, really micro… analog and digital transceiver.
So, I can be fried or hacked by an external group? No thanks.
Please, like there would be any ability to hack an alien computer system. This isn’t Hollywood, you know.
Bethany Anne had watched Independence Day with TOM. She had to stop the movie when the two heroes plugged their computer straight into the spaceship’s computer system and sent a worm into the alien’s computer. TOM wouldn’t shut the hell up explaining all the myriad different reasons why that wouldn’t work.
Marcus sat back in his chair, obviously less enthused over the solution than he might have been. Of course, Marcus wanted to speak directly to TOM if he could but Bethany Anne wasn’t willing to open that can of worms.
They got busy figuring out how to set up two laptops to work through the Etheric. With TOM’s help, they had it covered in fifteen minutes.
Bethany Anne stood up and turned the chair back around. “Get with either Ecaterina or Patricia to order the laptops. Have them delivered to the Florida house and I’ll bring them with me next time.”
They said their goodbyes and stepped back out of the room, closing the door behind them.
William spoke to no one in particular. “Don’t say anything. You’ve had a little beer and they can still hear you. We know they are attractive and God forbid you say something
you will regret in the morning.”
Bobcat just tipped his bottle in appreciation. He knew the warning wasn’t for him. It was Marcus that couldn’t hold his booze for shit.
Marcus just closed his mouth, not so far gone he couldn’t recognize sage advice.
Ad Aeternitatem
Todd Jenkins was having trouble controlling his anger. The three Marines sitting with him at the table were having the same problem.
Todd, Chet Nichols, Kevin Russel and Paul Stephens were watching the aftermath of a terrorist attack in France.
It was pissing them off.
When you’re in the military, you have to follow the commands of those above you. They follow the commands of those above them until, eventually, you end up at the top person who is usually an elected commander in chief. Sometimes the person holding the position is respected, sometimes they are not. Hopefully, the position is respected or you end up with societies that can change at the whim of those who have the most charisma and the biggest guns.
That doesn’t mean that the people in the trenches and those who support them don’t wish they could be released to cause mayhem and screw the ‘political realities.’
The four Marines were barely restraining their anger as they watched the videos of the massacres that were running on the newscast again.
The news had made it around the Ad Aeternitatem pretty quickly. A few of the Marines had casually commented that ‘France is on the way to the Mediterranean, right?’ Wishful thinking, they knew. They had their task and it was to get Stephen, the new owner of the two ships, back near his country so that they could continue their efforts to take care of the Forsaken and prepare to move to low earth orbit.
Pete and the Guardians walked into the mess, coming off of one of their training sessions. Every Were could easily smell the pheromones rife around the ship. Pete broke off from his team to go to Todd’s table. They would be working out with Todd’s team in a couple of hours. Since the boarding action a few weeks back, Todd and Pete had become close friends and both teams worked and trained hard together.
The Marines leaned towards using their guns and the Guardians leaned towards fast and ferocious close quarters killing.
Together, the two teams were taking their skills up another notch or five.
Todd turned his head, acknowledging Pete.
Pete asked, “What’s going on? The whole ship smells angry, but it’s really thick in here with you guys.”
Chet answered the question without taking his eyes off of the T.V. on the wall. “Fucking terrorists went walking around the city, killing indiscriminately. One group went into a packed concert and started blasting away before they had a police standoff and two of them detonated suicide vests. Probably over a hundred killed and many hundreds wounded. Cocksucking pricks won’t stand up and fight like fucking men, they have to send kids to go kill themselves. Mind-fuckers just twist the words of their religion to get the young to do what they want.”
Pete raised an eyebrow at Todd, who shrugged. Pete looked over at Chet. “Damn Chet, why don’t you tell me what you really think?”
Todd jumped in. “Nothing that any of the rest of us aren’t thinking, we want a chance at these assholes so bad we can taste it.”
Pete shrugged. “So? Why don’t we ask if it can be done?”
A voice asked from right beside Pete, “If what can be done?”
Pete, who had supernatural hearing, damn near jumped out of his skin. Stephen had come up beside him and spoken close enough that Pete could feel his breath in the air. He twisted around looking at the older, much older, vampire. “Dammit, Stephen! God, you’re going to give me a fucking heart attack!”
Stephen smiled at the young Were. “Pete, there isn’t a chance I could scare you so badly that you couldn’t regenerate the damage. I’m just using you for practice.”
Todd was happy those two were talking for a minute. It gave him a moment to get his own heart under control. Todd had Pete in his vision, so he knew for a fact that Stephen had just appeared out of nothing or as close to it that he couldn’t tell the difference. Chet and Kevin hadn’t even flinched. He wasn’t sure if they were even aware of the conversation going on around them. Paul was trying to pretend he hadn’t just jumped a foot out of his own chair.
Pete grumped back, “Can’t you choose someone like Gabrielle or Bethany Anne for that?”
Stephen waved away his question. “Bethany Anne always knows where I am and Gabrielle learned my tricks a couple of centuries ago.”
Sensing a chance to earn some money, Pete asked Stephen, “Really? How many centuries ago?” There was a very hush-hush bounty on Gabrielle’s age. Rumor had it that the amount was now ten grand and a few people were whispering that it was Bethany Anne herself who was willing to pay the bounty. No questions asked.
Stephen turned to look at Pete’s guileless face, a perfect mask of innocence. “Peter, you will have to do much, much better than that to find out Gabrielle’s age.” Stephen detected just the barest flinch in Pete’s eyes.
Pete said, “No, just curious how long it took her to learn your tricks.”
Stephen turned to look at the table, everyone sitting there was now riveted on his conversation with Pete. “So, what is it that you wish to know could be done?”
Pete threw answering over to Todd. The two of them were getting good enough that they didn’t need to talk, just that telepathic abilities friends acquired whenever they were around each other long enough.
Todd mentally answered a ‘you dick’ at Pete, who smiled his acknowledgment of the barb.
Todd pointed his thumb back over his shoulder at the T.V. on the wall. “These cocksuckers… Er, sorry.” Unlike Bethany Anne, Stephen wasn’t so loose with the cursing when he spoke. “The terrorists over in France. We were wishing that we could get a chance to pin their asses to the wall. Any chance your contacts could dig up an M249 for us?”
“Oooh oooh, How about a jeep with a Gau-17/A?” Kevin asked with his hand up, bouncing in his seat.
Chet bopped him on the head. “You ass.”
Stephen looked up at the television and watched it for a few seconds. In his centuries of living, he had witnessed atrocities that made this seem minor by comparison. Then again, all that evil needed to prosper was for good men and women to do nothing. Or, he considered, not be allowed to do something. His face turned thoughtful and Todd risked a glance over at Pete who shrugged.
Now, all of Pete’s team had joined Todd’s group. Stephen looked around and noticed he had some of the ship’s crew watching him as well. He measured the emotions on all of their faces.
“I take it, this,” he waved his hand at the television, “is something that angers you, turns your sense of justice into a desire for revenge?”
Todd answered, “Not revenge, retribution.”
Stephen turned back to look down at his Marine lead. “They have been judged as deserving of punishment for their actions and you would like to know if that is something that is within our operational parameters?”
Todd wasn’t sure how to answer that. He knew Stephen would never go against Bethany Anne’s wishes. No hope but to admit what he wanted and see how the dice rolled. “Pretty much, yeah.”
There were grunts of agreement from around Stephen. Oh yes, these people were angry at the atrocities they watched unfold on the television.
Stephen looked back at the T.V. while everyone in the dining room looked at him. He smiled, a malicious smile, causing a few to want to take a step back. Most had thought Stephen a fun-loving vampire who rarely raised his voice.
The face of the vampire in front of them right then would have caused nightmares for most, had they been younger. “My Queen has appointed, to me, the responsibility of cleaning up Europe. I believe her intent is to make Europe a safe haven in anticipation of the upheaval that will happen when we move to our next stage. I believe that ridding Europe of this pestilence would be within my understanding of her instructions.”<
br />
He looked at the two commanders. “Let’s call a meeting with Dan and the captains of the ships. If it is agreed that an operation is practical and it is something we want a chance at…” Stephen pointed to the T.V., “Then these… cocksuckers?” Stephen raised an eyebrow at Todd who nodded. “Then these cocksuckers will learn what it means to find themselves as the focus of the Queen Bitch’s Navy.”
Stephen walked out of the dining room to the cheering of a group of men and women who saw a chance for retribution come within their reach.
Somewhere in Germany
It took David three days to locate the appropriate available contact in the U.S. military. Those damn Americans could be an ethical pain-in-the-ass. Finally, one of his contacts in the German military was able to provide a contact that was at least malleable in their efforts to protect the U.S.. Further, they were high enough up to be able to execute the orders he wanted given.
Then it was only five minutes to assure the contact that a problem in Syria was going to occur, and that he would be provided an outside force to deal with it. He just needed to make sure that the outside force wasn’t given air support after they arrived.
The two agreed on a price and hung up.
David smiled. Too bad the outside force wouldn’t be called until AFTER the contact sacrificed a few of his own men first.
David crushed the phone over the trashcan, and wiped his hands together to get rid of the small pieces. Now, if this Bethany Anne worked like Michael, they would come to the rescue if a large Nosferatu outbreak happened.
David stood up and grabbed his coat; it was time he took a trip to Syria. It had been a while since he had drunk enough blood to turn young again. That was one benefit of creating a large Nosferatu group, you had a lot of blood to drink in the process and one always looked really good after the effort.
3
The Queen Bitch’s Ship Ad Aeternitatem
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) Page 108