Bethany Anne said in a small voice, “He has to die, Michael.”
Michael answered, “That was foretold already, Bethany Anne. That isn’t something I thought we would be discussing.”
“No, not really discussing it. More like saying it so that I hear it. I will focus all of our efforts towards finding him. He can’t be allowed the time to build another trap like this again.”
Michael looked over and down at the woman beside him. “And what about those that helped them?
“Hmmm?” She looked up to Michael, “Who?”
“The mole on the American Pack Council and those who wish to push their own agenda.”
Bethany Anne pursed her lips, and considered what her teams needed to do. They had the beginnings now, the very beginnings to enable the push into space. There was so much more to accomplish. They could not afford to be constantly fighting subversive guerilla actions around the world while they were focused on saving it at the same time.
“Well, it doesn’t make me happy, but I only have one answer for that.”
Michael waited, he had learned patience.
She exhaled. “They will either kneel, or they will die.”
She took one more look at the valley, and turned towards the waiting pods.
TOM, do you have the extra pod ready?
Yes, I moved it into a low earth orbit earlier.
Take us out of here, please.
The rest of the teams boarded the remaining pods, Michael needing to be shown how the doors worked. Ashur jumped into Bethany Anne’s pod and growled when Michael acted like he was going to come too close. She smiled at Michael and closed the door.
Frankly, Bethany Anne wanted a little time to herself, even if it was only the ten minutes it took to get back to the ships.
No one was able to get any cell phone video of the pods. But there were some people who swore that they had seen little black helicopters screaming overhead, just a few feet above the treetops.
Five minutes after they had left the valley, a ‘meteorite’ came flashing through the sky. It impacted dead center in the middle of that valley, destroying everything.
25
The Queen Bitch’s Ship Ad Aeternitatem
It was a somber crew that paid their dues to their fallen comrade, Paul Stevens, out at sea. They had played taps and gently laid him to rest in one of the pods before consigning it to the deep.
Bethany Anne had watched Paul’s coffin, the first of many to come, slip beneath the waves. It was the first death for one of her team, it was just one of a long list of grievances that she had against the Forsaken. And against the Kurtherians, who had brought their war to her world.
They would get a chance to meet her soon enough, she thought. She would make sure that Paul Stevens’ sacrifice was honored.
She stayed around for a while on the yacht, before she and Ashur took Michael back to Argentina. She surprised him by giving him a hug and a quiet ‘thank you’ before reaching down to grab Ashur, and they were gone.
Michael stared at the place that the two had occupied just moments before. His soft, “You’re welcome,” floated through the room.
He changed into myst, sweeping through the house and out into the night. He needed to find out what his uppity technician had gotten into while he was gone.
Stephen had held a meeting on each ship, with the crews. He wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance to review the operation. They discussed what had happened, what went well, and what could be changed.
All of the children, Art, the two ladies and the minister had their memories tampered with, to keep the details of what had actually occurred fuzzy. Michael had worked on Art for a while, to make sure everything he planted was correct. Michael had plenty of experience with military brass that kept poking when they couldn’t get answers they liked.
The Polarus cruised west to arrive at Antalya before ferrying the rescued people over to a pier, using a boat from the Ad Aeternitatem.
Bethany Anne gifted the minister who had been chaperoning the children with a sizable anonymous donation. One that easily paid for anything that the ministry would need to do for the children for the next five years.
The two women received first class tickets and another two weeks paid in Antalya at one of the ritziest hotels. It was waiting for them three weeks later, after they had finished helping to get the children settled back into their homes.
Nathan had sent an email to Bethany Anne. It had a link that showed both Diane and Dorene in a photograph. The caption was about how both women had almost been arrested for pinching a man’s butt as he passed by. They had sworn, the article said, to be good girls for the rest of their trip.
Art had arrived at a NATO military base riding on a bus. He could never explain how he had gotten back. It had taken him several hours to prove he was the person he claimed to be.
Both Scottie and Lucas had asked for reassignment to Todd’s group.
Dan approved both reassignments.
Bobcat, William and Chris gathered together in the shop on the Ad Aeternitatem and raised a toast to Shelly.
Bobcat looked over at the original pod that William had built as he drank his beer. William and Chris followed his gaze.
William asked, “What’s on your mind?”
“I think we have a new designation, guys.”
“Oh?” William was confused. “For what?”
Bobcat pointed with the beer in his hand. “Not IZTAs… These will now be designated ‘SHLYs.”
Chris asked, “What does that stand for?”
Bobcat shrugged. “Beats the fuck out of me. But it sure as hell will be easier to dream up something that doesn’t have a ‘Z’ in it.” The guys’ laughter met Marcus as he walked into the room.
As always, William had stuck with soft drinks and, unlike Chris and Marcus, didn’t have a headache in the morning.
Key Biscayne, FL USA
Bethany Anne walked upstairs, drinking a glass of milk. John had arrived and called up to her ten minutes before. She was surprised when she went downstairs to find that John left a cake box with a note attached. She put the box on the table and pulled off the note.
It was from Mary, who was visiting her new home.
Mary noted that she didn’t have much to say at the moment, but she would ‘come visit’ soon. She hoped Bethany Anne loved lemon cake, but it looked so good Mary had eaten a piece first ‘just to make sure.’
Bethany Anne smiled while opening the box and found Mary was right on both accounts. The cake was missing a piece, and it was delicious.
Bethany Anne walked into her suite, setting down her milk to pick up her tablet computer when a headache hit her hard, again. She sat down on the couch and rubbed at her temple.
TOM, can’t you do something about this fucking headache? God, it’s killing me.
I’m sorry, Bethany Anne, but I’m not doing anything right now. As far as I can tell, the problem is an issue with the matrix computer in your brain.
Fuck! Shit almighty. If we can’t figure out how to stop this… wait … wait, it’s gone. Thank God! What did you do?
Bethany Anne, I keep telling you, I’m not doing anything to cause it, or anything to stop it.
Both of them were shocked when a third voice entered their conversation.
>> I apologize. I was testing the capabilities of this computer I am housed within. I will not do so again without first consulting the power source I have inadvertently harmed. <<
Bethany Anne sat shocked, her whole body going numb as she considered the ramifications of what she thought she just heard.
TOM, tell me you’re pulling my leg?
She was really, really hoping that TOM thought up a great April Fool’s joke. Even if it would be months early.
Bethany Anne, I’m not in any position to pull anything. That wasn’t me.
Bethany Anne put her head between her knees.
Oh, fuck my life.
FINIS
&nbs
p; Author Notes
Written February 2, 2016
Thank you, I cannot express my appreciation enough that not only did you pick up the sixth book, but you read it all the way to the end and NOW, you’re reading this as well. Since this book is part of a series, I am presuming you have blessed me by reading them all and what a fantastic feeling that is for any author!
Can you believe I’m writing another one of these in just twenty-two days from the last one? If you believe some on the author boards, this is heresy. If you believe some of the fans, they are wondering what the H#LL is taking me so long?
:-)
This book that you have just completed (Right? Because if you didn’t and I throw a spoiler (Lance proposed to Patricia) then SHAME ON YOU!)
Mwuhahahaha… That will teach you not to jump to the end first.
My plan is a book about every 30 days. Not that I’ve accomplished that goal yet, they are always earlier than 30 days, but that is my goal. I do expect it to take over 30 days between book 7 (the next book) and the following Book 8. Why? Because I have to (gasp) add a bunch of front matter to ‘catch up’ those who haven’t been reading the series (off with their little pinkies for that).
We Will Build - Book 8 is what I understand to be called an ‘entry point’ for a reader. A book that allows readers to get into the story without missing too much. If you would like to know the titles for the next few books, check out the very, very end of book 5. I did that whole ‘Marvel ending’ where I added stuff past the credits and the reviews.
The tales of a newbie author - part six. (Or, what has Michael been up to lately?)
I’ve worked with some editing help and beta readers for Under My Heel that has been pretty freaking cool, I have to admit. I have written chapters for this book and then at a stopping point, dropped that info to my helping editor who tries his dead level best to clean up my writing. I move his comments back into the main file and then drop a file to the Beta reading group who reviews and finds the huge amount of mistakes I STILL didn’t catch.
While the beta readers are reviewing, I’m busy writing more story. Beta catches are integrated into the file and I drop the new chapters back out to the helping editor and the virtuous cycle begins again.
This means that when I was ‘words complete’ (a totally made up phrase by yours truly), the beta team had already completed 11 chapters of review and had the first 20 chapters under review the very next day. They are getting the full manuscript with a first pass completed tonight (48 hours after I completed the story).
That is FREAKING FAST. I swear, it seems like I completed this story a week ago, not 48 hours ago.
I explain all of this to let you know that we are all working on an amazing system to turn these books around with a couple of legitimate review passes to catch mistakes in …
Purchased vs. Kindle Unlimited update. As we go into book six, the Kindle Unlimited side is ahead in gross sales vs. The Kindle purchased group. Income is still 55% Unlimited vs. 45% purchased (after Amazon’s cut). I’m still considering going wide when I hit the 6 month mark with Death Becomes Her. By that time (Early April) I should have the first in the NEXT Arc going which I will have in Kindle Unlimited for three months minimum.
Then again, Kindle Unlimited has been very good to me. Besides book sales, there have been over a million pages read of the five books so far. My feeling is that at some point, I will have hit all of the KU readers with the first ARC I’m likely to easily attain. Then the KU pages read will go down to where I need to go wide and get the books in front of the people who don’t read Kindle books (I know, you’re asking, “Who doesn’t read on Kindle?”) It’s mainly Apple iBooks right now. Plus, there are a bunch of non-United States English readers who use their phones as a reading device… Apple reaches these readers very well I’m led to believe.
Plus, Kobo in other countries.
But WAIT, Mike, how will I go about getting my Bethany Anne fix if not on KU? All new stories WILL be on KU for 3 months, minimum. One thing I have to consider, is that if I choose to continue ‘All In’ with Amazon I need to believe that the 800 lb Gorilla is looking out for the tiny mid-list author like yours truly. Right now, they keep dropping the amount they pay for the pages read in KU. I was not involved when it was ‘amazing’ at 0.0058. I came on board at 0.0048 per page (a little under 1/2 a cent). Last month, it went down to 0.0046. I’m ok with this, but if the future is a constant drive to lower and lower amounts, I need to stick a leg out and test the waters at some point elsewhere. Better with the first Arc than the latest Arc, I would think.
Speaking of surprises in this book (I did, look WAY above at Lance and Patricia getting hitched.) Anyway, I had NO idea that was happening. I hadn’t planned it, I hadn’t considered it in this book. There Lance was, telling the engineering group about building up the base and when he introduces Patricia I was thinking, ‘You B@astard! You’re going to propose right in the middle of my scene!’
I might have teared up while writing. I also might have had to go and find a proper proposal speech online. One of those statements is absolutely true.
I’m not admitting anything.
I love the Tabitha addition to Michael’s team. Her comment “Well, slap a bitch and make her howl,” just cracked me up. I’m worried I might have multiple personalities (no one has ever told me this) because I don’t personally think like this.
No, truly. You can stop laughing, I’m not joking here.
The stuff that flies off the keyboard comes from somewhere… deep and mysterious in my unfathomable mind. <— < Author is HOWLING in laughter at that comment. His wife as well if / when she reads this.>
I’m still reaching for a minimum of 50 reviews for the books, ESPECIALLY book 1. When we reach 50 on book 1, I won’t be placing review comments in the back of the book. If you would like to forever be captured in (e)print, don’t hesitate to put up your review today! (I’m shilling like a villain
Every single review is a badge of honor I own proudly and thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing them. Occasionally, you drop a note to let me know you put a review on ALL of the books, thank you for that as well.
I’ve mentioned before, my writing is more escapist. I love a good action story, but more than that I want to engage with the characters. I want to feel what they are going through if possible. I want situations that make me get excited, worried, laugh and say ‘take that, sucka!’ out loud. The challenges faced by the protagonists don’t have to be life threatening, it could be a challenge to ask that special someone out for a date that keeps the story flowing. I’m not really into books that keep you constantly afraid for the characters. If I care about a character, I’ll turn the page, and buy the next book, just to see them reach a personal milestone that is challenging to that character. However, having said that, all of that action is what drives the story forward.
Please, if you enjoyed this book give it a good rating on Amazon? Your kind words and encouragement help any author. I will continue to the next story whether you provide an OUTSTANDING review or not. But it might get done a wee bit faster with the encouragement (wink).
** Note: If you would like the $0.99 pre-official-full-price-release message, please sign up on the email list - I’m going to keep doing this for each new release moving forward, so when released early, the price is $0.99 for a minimum of 24 hours **
If you want to help make the books better and receive an advance copy, please consider the Just In Time (JIT) Team project, please catch me on Facebook and let me know you’re interested.
You can find book links on my Amazon Author Page here:
http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Anderle/e/B017J2WANQ/
Want to comment on the best (scene, comment, event, shoes or gun for Bethany Anne, weapon Nathan would prefer…you name it) join us on Facebook and hang out
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Software used to write this book is Scrivener (Windows and Mac):
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Thank you,
Michael Anderle, Feb 2016
*All credit for me having ANY shoe knowledge goes to my wife, who still works to provide me with even a finger’s amount of fashion sense. Why she asks me to comment on her outfits in the morning still confuses me to this day. Second note, the suggestion to include special canines also came from my wife.
P.S. ** Rough Translation for Giannini when she spots Tabitha w/her laptop on her car hood: “How rude! Do you Americans always act in this way in your own country? Simply placing equipment wherever it suits you?”
Kneel or Die
The Kurtherian Gambit Book 7
1
MIAMI, FL, USA
Bethany Anne’s head was presently between her knees. She was trying to stop herself from hyperventilating.
Please, for the love of God, tell me this ISN’T what I think it is, TOM?
The silence, in the absence of TOM’s reply, dragged on and on.
TOM!
Okay, okay. I’m rather confused at how this might have happened. Remember, we Kurtherians didn’t add an AI routine to our computers. At least not that I’m aware of. I have told you about the many Kurtherian factions involved. I guess I can’t speak for every situation.
>> I have noticed the power source functions seem to be straying beyond normal operating parameters. Does the power source need adjustment to work at peak performance? <<
Bethany Anne slowly raised her head up from her lap and continued moving it back until her head hit the back of the couch. She was left staring at the ceiling.
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 128