Diane rolled her eyes but answered Bethany Anne’s question with a question, “For how long of a trip?”
TOM?
We can get them back in less than ten minutes. My ship has the path we took to get here. It can calculate the fastest path back now by just retracing everything and smoothing it out. Say, ten minutes?
Bethany Anne shrugged. “Say ten minutes?”
Diane looked at Bethany Anne, disbelief on her face. “No fucking way!”
Dorene snorted beside her sister, still looking at the pods. “I’m sorry, she’s been around me all her life, no filter.”
Bethany Anne smiled. “So, can we get them all out of here? The Nosferatu are lining up to come at us again and if we can’t, then we need a plan ‘b’ real fucking fast.”
Diane started towards the cave. “Hell yes! If I have to cram them in, these kids are getting to safety!”
Bethany Anne turned. “Gabrielle?”
Gabrielle said, “On it.” She called out, “John, Eric, Scott with me, Darryl prep for loading.”
Dorene noticed the big guard walking over to the pod. “I think I’ll help tall, dark and handsome!” Then busted out laughing at Darryl’s look of shock.
Darryl asked, “Aren’t you a nun?”
Dorene popped Darryl on his butt. “No, I just wanted to visit Turkey again and my sister and I got to go for free if we helped chaperone some children with the ministry.”
Darryl stepped a little more quickly towards the pod. “Don’t make me call HR on you for sexual harassment!” He was chuckling.
Dorene followed Darryl. “Honey, you haven’t begun to feel sexual harassment!”
Bethany Anne rolled her eyes at the antics. Then she eyed the area above, where Dan, Scottie and Lucas had settled in. She took one step and ended up a few feet above the ledge. Landing easily, she noticed that only Dan didn’t jump at her sudden arrival.
Seems like Dan might be getting his situational awareness back pretty quickly, she thought.
Lucas looked back into his scope muttering quietly, “Dammit, now my pants need a cleanup.”
Bethany Anne ignored the muttering sniper. They would settle down once the shooting started.
Dan looked up at her. “What’s up?”
She looked down the valley. “Trying to get an idea how much time we might have to get the children out of here. There sure seems to be more… where the hell did David get so many?”
Dan shrugged, “Couldn’t tell you. Not unless he figured out some way to get Nosferatu to…” Dan stopped talking.
She looked down. “Dan?”
He answered, looking down the valley through his scope. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t have Nosferatu creating Nosferatu.”
“Isn’t that what the serum was for?”
“You might ask Stephen. Michael’s children could, theoretically, create vampires which could be controlled enough to force them to create vampires…”
She looked up. “So these higher level vampires are probably down there, too?”
“Probably, but once they release them, Nosferatu search out food.”
“Why don’t they go after whoever shot at us with that missile?”
“I’d guess that either we’re closer, or it has something to do with the commands issued so far.”
Bethany Anne looked down and saw the children coming out of the cave. She paid attention so that TOM could see what was going on and take care of the loading as effectively as possible. The two ladies, plus one man that had to be helped out of the cave, were loaded into the last pod by Gabrielle. Then they were gone.
Dan watched the pods for the few seconds he could see them. “Sure hope they don’t have another missile.”
“Agreed. I hope not. You would think that they would have tried again, but you never know.” She looked at the three men. “Good hunting.”
“Aye, it will be that, me lassie.” Scottie affected a heavy brogue. Lucas snorted and Dan grinned. Bethany Anne shook her head, stepped off the cliff and translocated onto the ground below.
Stephen walked up to her. She glanced over at him and then returned her attention towards the area of the valley that the Forsaken were holding at.
He asked, “How many?”
She shrugged. “Can’t get a good head count, but call it three hundred?”
Stephen followed her focus. “I’m only good for maybe the first hundred or two. How about you?” The humor in his voice was infectious.
Bethany Anne paused and considered his comment. She smiled. “Well, I suppose I could just sit back and let you handle all of them until you tag out, and then I’ll step in.”
Stephen chuckled at her response.
Bethany Anne asked quietly, “How are Ecaterina and Chris? What happened to Paul and where is Chet?” She had figured out who she hadn’t seen yet. All of the teams looked dirty, dusty, bloody and a little tired.
“Paul took down a Nosferatu who had made it past Tim and was heading towards the door where Ecaterina was. By the time the Nosferatu was killed, it had already torn Paul’s throat out. Ecaterina took his place and only a few minutes later three more came around the flank. Todd got two and Ecaterina shot the third, but she couldn’t stop it before it got its teeth into her and tore out a chunk of her neck. I was able to heal her enough to stop the blood loss, but to finish the job required a lot more. Chris is asleep, but OK, same as Chet. There wasn’t room in the pods to send either back.”
“So, you told someone how to make a Were, then?”
Stephen looked over at Bethany Anne. “You don’t seem so surprised.”
“What’s to be surprised about? Same stupid alien species with similar technologies. Just because I didn’t take the time to consider it, doesn’t make it any less obvious once I do. Hell, even Alexi told me how he was changed from human to Wechselbalg.”
“Nathan can change into a hybrid now, too.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, he took a look at what he must have thought was Ecaterina’s dead body and… it was a surprise.”
Bethany Anne looked over at Stephen. “Was that a bad surprise or a good surprise?” She detected a note of annoyance in Stephen’s voice.
Stephen answered, “It helped, but as the leader, a heads up from my Queen would be appreciated next time.”
Bethany Anne considered her response. “Taken under advisement, and for what it’s worth, I should have told you. I wasn’t sure it would work and didn’t want to get the group’s hopes up. Nathan can be so calm under pressure I really didn’t know if he could do it.”
Mollified, he said, “He makes an impressive werewolf. I’ve never seen one bigger.”
Bethany Anne’s face showed shock. “You’ve known other werewolves that could stay in that form?”
Stephen exhaled. “I’ve known a few. I’m over nine hundred years old, Bethany Anne. Some very good friends of mine were werewolves that could change into both forms. I had to kill two of them when they went too far and couldn’t handle the power. It is a drug at times, this changing for them is a curse.”
Somewhere in Austria
David was waiting for news. He had confirmation that the helicopter that was used to enter the valley had been successfully destroyed before the communications stopped.
David smiled. Maybe they would make a movie, “Blackhawk Down 2—More Useless Americans Die.” He couldn’t stand that country. He didn’t like them before, when Michael had left Europe to stay over there. But when they liberated Europe as World War II ended, his distaste became a deep-seated loathing. They had been a pivotal force that finished the Third Reich.
And, all of his plans.
He played with the liquor in his glass, swirling it around letting the firelight shine through the amber liquid. It was a pity that Michael was back in play. There was no one to blame that on but himself. He had waited for Michael to finally understand and accept the reality of what must occur. Only to have his opportunity to kill Michael slip through his
fingers.
Then Michael had been helped by his new daughter. David’s face distorted in disgust as he threw the glass into the fireplace, flames erupting as the alcohol burned.
He stared at the glass shards on the floor reflecting the firelight. Someone would need to come pick up the broken glass when he was finished with his contemplations.
One of his throwaway phones rang. He picked it up. “Yes?”
The voice was deep, clipped and precise. “Michael is in Argentina. He has taken over Anton’s home.”
“How long?”
“Weeks.”
David considered this. “Very good, keep watch and report, use a different number next time. I want to know if he leaves South America.”
“Understood.”
There was a click and the phone went dead. David stood, his shoes cracked a few glass shards as he crushed the phone before tossing the pieces into the flames.
So, it was Michael who killed Anton, not this daughter as he had originally thought. David considered this news. Michael must be stuck in South America trying to hold together Anton’s children and making sure it didn’t become a bloodbath.
Good.
That meant his trap had a better chance of succeeding. Without Michael, it wasn’t very likely that Stephen or Bethany Anne would have enough skill to take out everything he had set up.
He smiled and reached for his coat.
It also meant that he could visit his home.
TQB Enterprises Company Jet, En Route to Colorado
Lance was working on his laptop. There were a lot of changes required to turn the base he was accustomed to running into one where they could consolidate all of the research and development from companies presently located all over the world.
Patricia had her own laptop open, but wasn’t looking at it. Rather, she was looking at the man across from her.
She spoke up, “How can you be so calm?”
Lance looked up from his spreadsheets and charts. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked, how can you be so calm with what’s going on in Turkey?” She wanted to sit next to him, but the seats on this jet weren’t set up that way.
“Learned in the service. You train your people. You set up the operation based on the best intel you have. After that, if you aren’t an active part of the operation, you focus on what you can do to move the strategy forward. We can’t sit on our hands and worry, it’s not productive and it causes ulcers. I have to trust that she has trained her teams well. And that they will take care of her and things will be ok.”
Patricia thought about what he said and decided he was right. Sitting on her hands when they had stuff to do wasn’t helping the bigger picture.
Firing up her laptop, she started asking him about what would be needed across the base. Everything from modifications to living quarters, to upgrading security in certain areas. Further, they needed to refurbish old buildings and build out new services for civilians that would be on the base soon.
At the end of the planning session, she looked at the bottom line. “Lance, that’s a hell of a budget. That’s enough to run a small country.”
Lance answered, “It is. The Federated States of Micronesia’s GDP is somewhere around three hundred thirty-nine million and they aren’t even the smallest. So yes, it is a hell of a budget.”
“How are we going to pay for it all?”
He smiled, affecting a British accent. “Commerce, my dear Patricia, commerce!” He sobered. “Truthfully, we’re going to be releasing new technologies. The licensing and manufacturing of those new technologies will bring in billions. That’s why I’m spending so much on upgrading the base. We’ll have three layers of security. One for getting onto the base and operating with a large contingent of the people. Then the secured areas, and finally the black secured areas. I’ve thrown in a couple of red herring locations as honeypot traps to capture anyone looking for the inside areas. Not sure they’re needed but I felt it was important. Hell, just those traps alone are five million.”
Patricia pursed her lips. “Billions you say?”
Lance nodded and looked back down at his laptop.
“Budget?” she said as she went back to her spreadsheet. “We don’t need no stinking budget!”
23
Turkey, thirty miles from the Syrian border
Gabrielle went into the cave and then brought out and handed Bethany Anne her katanas. Both her original and the one that Stephen had gifted her.
Bethany Anne regarded her new katana, watching the moonlight gleam across its sharpened blade as she turned it over and back again. “Shall we dance by the pale, pale moonlight?” she asked in a whisper.
Stephen and Gabrielle looked at their Queen, wondering what she was up to. With her eyes closed Bethany Anne bent her neck to the left, then slowly bent it over to the right, hearing her bones crack. Finally, she moved her neck in a circle and when she opened her eyes they were aflame, her fangs descending. Stephen and Gabrielle stepped back, realizing they were too close for her to use her swords effectively.
She turned around, those that were with her stared, their eyes drawn to her face. “I have had enough of David’s bullshit, I have had enough of these fucking Nosferatu, we end this now, we end this here. He thinks he has enough out there to overrun us?” Her voice got louder, “He thinks a few hundred Nosferatu is enough to swamp the Queen BITCH, Her GUARDS and Her GUARDIANS?” Her eyes became blood red, glowing in the night. “We do not yield, we do not give up, and we do NOT cower for anyone or anything!”
The roars of her team swept down the valley. Not far away, the PKK unit David had conscripted to work the missiles and equipment to keep the team stuck without air support or communications heard them. They heard the savageness and animal growls and looked at each other in confusion. They had seen the monsters in the night that attacked those by the cave and were shaken to their core. Now, the defenders had additional support. The night became deadly, like the violence was waiting on a string to break.
Bethany Anne, resplendent, the moonlight glinting off the butts of her twin pistols and katana turned around, eyeing the lane that she could hear the Nosferatu running down.
“FUCK THIS SHIT!” She took off towards the Nosferatu.
Gabrielle followed her queen, Eric yelling behind her, “Here we go again!”
John replied, “Not this time. This time I’m getting a piece of my OWN!”
Stephen smiled, running to catch up to his daughter. God he loved his Queen!
Gunfire from Dan, Scottie and Lucas could be heard above the growls, and screams, of the Nosferatu. Even louder than the yelling of those behind him, Stephen could hear Bethany Anne’s voice from ahead, “LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE YOU COCK-EATING SHEEP FUCKERS!” Then there was the unique sound of swords cutting through flesh.
Stephen was around the corner, with Gabrielle right beside him and was shocked to see the bodies had already started piling up around his queen. She looked to be covered in blood, but it was damned hard to see with the speed at which she was moving.
That was the last opportunity he had to watch her, as he slammed into his own horde.
Back at the cave, Pete was pissed. He had to hold a few of his squad back to help cover the door and protect those inside. Todd’s squad was with him, as well as Art, the surviving American soldier.
Bobcat was pitching a fit at not already being involved in shooting something.
So far, none of the Nosferatu had made it past the front line, wherever the hell that was.
Pete turned when he heard the door behind him unlatch and Nathan walked through. He was bloody. Most of it, Pete could see, was Nathan’s own blood.
Nathan had always been known for his fighting abilities, and his lethality. Pete could understand the reality of it, when he had seen the devastation that Nathan had wrought.
When Nathan looked over at Pete, Pete was surprised to see a glacially cold pair of eyes regard him. Nathan walked calmly to the
men and said, “I take it that Bethany Anne couldn’t wait for them to come to her?”
Multiple heads shook back and forth
“She always seemed a little headstrong to me. Guess that comes with being one of the baddest-ass people on the planet.”
Bobcat grumped, “I think she had the attitude from before, you know?”
The chuckles relieved some of the tension.
Dan called from above, “Looks like a group of maybe fifty are detouring around the group up front, heads up!”
Nathan took command and strode forward. “Rifleman in the back, Weres up front.”
Pete jogged to catch up to Nathan. “Hey? How are you going to change?”
Nathan looked over at Pete, a grim smile on his face. “I’m just going to think about my mate back in that cave, and about the fucking Nosferatu who put her there coming to finish…” Nathan’s voice grated as his body changed into the massive werewolf, standing a foot and a half taller than Pete now. “The job.”
The PKK men all shivered when a wolf’s howl tore through the night.
There hadn’t been any wolves in this area for a long, long time.
Pete considered Nathan’s answer, thinking about his sister back in the cave.
Seconds after the first howl, a second echoed through the valley, confusing the PKK men even more.
There was a crescendo of rifle cracks as the men on the ground behind the Wechselbalg and up top continued firing as well. Only one time did a Were, Matthew, cry out, “Fucking shit! Watch where you’re shooting before I shove that rifle up your ass!”
Ashur barked his agreement. He was busy grabbing a leg and pulling a Nosferatu out of the horde. When the Nosferatu’s head would explode from one or two shots, Ashur would jump back towards the front line and do it again.
His white coat was a mess, drenched with blood.
Kevin Russel yelled back to Matthew, “My bad!”
Ten minutes into the fighting, the Nosferatu pulled back and retreated down the lanes they had come up.
The three vampires lowered their weapons, confusion on their faces.
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 126