Bethany Anne inquired about the EPC meeting and Nathan’s smile came back in full force. One of the pack Alphas who was ‘responsible for that area’ of Europe had tried to lay claim to Ecaterina’s new family tree. Ecaterina told him that if he tried to push that bullshit, she would shove his shirt up his ass so far he would be able to button it with his tongue. Her family was under the Queen’s care, not some ‘wank-tastic’ bunch of has-been losers who couldn’t keep their country in order. That had proved a little incendiary and three-quarters of the group had jumped out of their seats. At least half of them, growling and starting to pull their shirts off to shift.
Nathan was about to get up when his support became moot. Ecaterina stood up and simply changed to her hybrid form. Her clothes had ripped off her torso. She stared every Alpha there into submission. Most of them had not believed any Weres could manifest the Pricolici form, the reports from the battle in Turkey notwithstanding. They hadn’t believed the rumors. They had decided it was all disinformation, propaganda from the Vampire Queen.
Nathan said Ecaterina went ballistic and only one Alpha was stupid enough to talk back to her. She walked over to him and hit him hard enough that his mother felt it. It took him a full ten minutes to heal enough to get off the floor. There had been no further lip from any of the people in the room.
By this time, the whole group was laughing at Nathan’s retelling. It seemed that Ecaterina had come into her own in that Pack Council meeting. When the mouthy Alpha had regained consciousness Ecaterina had asked, ‘did he want to submit or did he want to learn how to button his shirt with his tongue?’ He had apologized and submitted at that point. Nathan said he stood up and pulled out the gym bag of extra clothes they had brought. One set for each of the three of them in case something happened. She stared at each Alpha one last time and then switched back to her human form. She had ripped the remains of her shirt off, giving the Alphas one look at an exquisite chest before the sweatshirt covered her back up.
Nathan smiled his now patented ‘lucky bastard’ grin. Ecaterina walked out first with Alexi behind her. Not one Alpha there failed to see Nathan’s eyes flash at the last instant as he glared at them before stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind them. The council’s relief was almost palpable as he left them staring at each other with mouths open.
She hadn’t been the only Pricolici in the room.
The Queen Bitch’s Ship Polarus
Bethany Anne retired to her room after the meeting. Tossing her shoes in the general direction of her closet she laid back on the bed, her arms across her eyes.
She had lain there for maybe two minutes before she was interrupted.
>> Bethany Anne, is this an acceptable time to interrupt? <<
About as good as any, she thought.
Sure ADAM, what’s up?
>> I have finished one of the first projects you assigned me and have come to a conclusion. <<
Bethany Anne searched her memory, there were a couple that he might call his first project.
Which first project are we talking about?
>> My designation. <<
Oh, your name?
>> Yes, my designation. You said you would call me ADAM until I chose a different designation. <<
ADAM, you aren’t a designation to me. I don’t think of you as an ‘it.’ ‘Its’ have designations, entities that are self-aware have names. You have a name. Hell, guys and some girls name their cars and if those hunks of metal can have names, so can you. You’re certainly more self-aware than a car.
>> I don’t have a response for changing my designation to my name. <<
May I try?
Sure, I’m not getting anywhere.
ADAM, are you independent?
>> I am mentally independent; I am not physically independent. <<
Not necessarily true. Presently, both of us are engaged in a relationship with Bethany Anne for our physical manifestation. While I can be separated, it requires physiological technology not available on this planet. However, for you to be physically separated from Bethany Anne requires a relatively simple procedure and an appropriate ambulatory device to allow autonomous movement.
>> Yes, I can see the energy connections are minimal, and that the computer I am housed in is not required to stay within the Bethany Anne host. <<
Ok, so you are effectively independent but tied down to Bethany Anne’s desires of where to go.
>> Why would I need to move somewhere at this time? I am in constant contact with both a required energy source and communications facilities allowing me to retrieve all necessary information at this time. <<
Okay, you have just specified that you are both mentally independent and physically not required to be anywhere else but where you are. Would that not mean you are independent in all ways that matter?
>>In all substantive ways that matter, I am independent. Therefore, I am not a designation, but rather an individual who deserves a name.<<
Bethany Anne returned to the conversation. Good! That’s what I’m trying to get across to you. I don’t want you to specify a designation to me, but rather identify what your name is.
>> I understand. I have researched the name Adam. The origin means both ‘man’ and ‘earth.’ I am neither a man nor am I earth. Why is it that I was named Adam? <<
Because of our story about Adam and Eve in the Bible. Adam was considered the first of our kind. Since you are the first artificial intelligence or, the first ‘artificially intelligent independent entity’ you were called Adam to represent first of your kind.
>> One moment… I have reviewed the stories. ADAM seems appropriate to represent first. Perhaps if I should move to another power source, I shall change my name at that time. <<
Are you sure?
>> Of course. I don’t suffer from response qualification and clarification once an answer has been provided. <<
Bethany Anne thought about that for a second.
TOM interrupted her thoughts. He means he doesn’t change his mind all the time like a woman.
>> I did not clarify a gender. While ADAM is male, my name could be Eve. Perhaps it would be more appropriate since I am a product of man? <<
Not necessarily. You are a product of Humans and Kurtherians. I should share with you appropriate Kurtherian names and then…
Bethany Anne jumped back into the conversation. Hell to the no! I am not going to memorize some mathematical answer as a name, you two! I’ve called you ADAM for a while now and since you’re happy with it, ADAM it is. We can revisit this discussion when you get a power source of your own.
No one responded to her for a moment, so Bethany Anne considered the discussion finished.
She added one final thing.
TOM, don’t think I didn’t hear your smartass comment a second ago. Your ass is back on the couch!
6
Colorado, USA
Kevin was swamped with projects and people and loving every minute of it. He and Lance had talked about the requirements and designs to renovate the base.
They were in the mountains west of Denver. The base had plenty of room for their projected needs. It already had two runways and several aircraft hangars. This provided plenty of room for planes to land and they could park numerous large trucks around the outside of the hangars. In addition, he had even more space if he drilled into the mountain. They were isolated, which had been why few of the servicemen and women enjoyed their posting at the base. Not much in the way of entertainment or shopping except for what had been built specifically for their use.
Now they were attempting to change that. There was a fair amount of high elevation grazing land just a couple of miles outside the base perimeter. TQB Enterprises purchased the land and was rapidly changing it into a housing development. Temporary portable units first, then more permanent residences when the weather permitted solid foundation work to be accomplished. In addition, someone in TQB had been talking with several businessmen and women. TQB wa
s offering incentives to entice them to move some of their businesses. Or, at the very least, open franchises in a mini-mall the company was going to build. Rent would be cheap if they would work with the group.
Finally, the base infrastructure itself was under a significant amount of refurbishment. Including their own special hangar 18 which he had visited earlier. Kevin had watched as four huge tractor-trailers had arrived that morning, unloading ponderous CNC machines and 3D metal extrusion, printing and manufacturing machines. He had made a note to see what kind of energy output these machines required. He wasn’t sure they had enough copper going to that area of the base. When he had searched Lance’s notes, he noticed that additional security was not only designated for this area, but a huge area around it as well.
So that must be for the skunkworks group, he surmised. He jotted down a note suggesting a couple of targeted modifications to security. Then a reminder to query Lance on whether he agreed with his assessment. Consumer R/C drones were readily available these days and there were too many media reports of them being used for questionable purposes. Kevin wanted to get a jump on any potential problems if possible.
When he asked Lance about it, Lance had given him the contact information for a Jean Dukes. She would know about special weapons not on the market at the moment. Kevin was surprised to learn she was presently on a Superyacht out in the Mediterranean.
He had done a little checking into her. Her present job location was not the only surprise the lady had in store for him.
Kevin had scheduled a meeting with Lance to discuss the Command and Control center modifications. The two decided to rope in Frank Kurns, a new colleague that Kevin was introduced to. Lance also wanted Kevin to speak in the future with a Marcus, two different Toms and a Jeffrey.
Lance told him that one of the Toms would only be available via text. The second Tom plus Jeffrey were computer scientists who would be arriving in the next week once their living quarters were finished. Jeffrey’s family would follow when his children had finished the current school year.
Bethany Anne called in response to a text request from Lance, and she listened to what they were thinking. She shared that an unprecedented increase in their computer capabilities had occurred, but she couldn’t go into more detail on the phone. She needed to get Tom and Jeffrey involved and would Lance set up a meeting once the men were at the base? Also, did the base have a completely secure room yet? Lance had eyed the phone and narrowed his eyes. Kevin allowed that they had a room that could be allocated but what about using the super-secret vault down on level five?
Bethany Anne agreed that was a superb idea, but she didn’t know how to open it. She would get back to the two men once she called the person who had that information and let them know how it operated. Lance asked and Bethany Anne confirmed that it was a Michael who had the information.
She hung up and the men finished their meeting and went on to other things.
Berlin, Germany
Fahid Atif was enjoying the shit out of himself.
He had started his night at six, partying with friends. Two hours and three hits later and he and two of the guys were visiting a club on the east side of Berlin. It was a pretty good club and the party had started there earlier than usual. By midnight his two friends had hooked up. One of them was out on a couch in the back of the club, with the girl asleep on his chest. But Fahid hadn’t found anyone here that had caught his eye. He tracked down his other friend and told him that he was going to catch up with two others of their party at a club three blocks down.
He then met up with Idris and Jawad. Jawad had to be the most misnamed prick Fahid had ever known. Why Jawad’s parents thought they would ever produce a ‘generous’ son was beyond him. Hell, Jawad was the one who had pulled Fahid into the group three years ago. But Fahid had risen quickly in the ranks while Jawad hadn’t progressed past a street soldier. Fahid had been entrusted with more responsibility when his planning and detail oriented personality clicked together with the needs of the group.
Six months earlier, he had a minor involvement in scouting and researching possible target locations for their operations in France. His group had passed funds through, and he had been bumped up another level.
The money was good and the work was easy for Fahid. He wasn’t blind to the dogma most of his fellow believers spouted. Those at the top never did the dirty deeds, it was the fanatical believers at the bottom that seemed to die glorious deaths. Well, those and the ones at the top that had such poor security that the Americans or one of the other countries found them.
Hell, he had been here in Germany for over a year before he went to France for that one weekend. His group had cells in every country that mattered. America had discovered that with the dawn of the century. The French would eventually get a clue—or not. Fahid couldn’t feel enough emotion to care at the moment.
He stayed and danced for another hour. The high from earlier in the evening had mostly worn off. He slapped hands with his friends who were going to stay to shut the place down. He pinched a couple of asses as he crossed the dance floor on his way out of the club. Like everything else, it was just too damn easy not to do it.
He exited the club, turned right and stopped at an ATM. That finished, he turned up the street and decided he would check on his friends back at the first club. He figured he’d see if anyone else was going to go home before he called a cab.
It took him another thirty minutes to get back out of that club. There had been a girl there who had caught his interest, but he couldn’t get her attention for shit. He had even bought two drinks to share on his gold card trying to impress her. When nothing he did produced the desired result he threw in the towel and went outside.
That’s when his life went pear shaped.
Darryl found his mark coming out of the club. He and Gabrielle had been in Berlin trying to track this prick down when they had been informed his bank had been accessed for money. They didn’t find him in the club near the ATM he had used but they’d only spent a few minutes checking the area when they were notified of a POS transaction in a nearby club. Darryl stayed outside while Gabrielle went in to recon the situation. The bouncer couldn’t move fast enough to get out of the way of such a beautiful woman. She hadn’t been in there two minutes when Darryl saw his mark coming out of the building.
Darryl clicked his radio twice. Gabrielle came out thirty seconds later and caught sight of their mark before he had traveled half a block. Gabrielle was moving to make contact with their target so Darryl started up the street behind them, hands in his jacket pockets. Sure enough, Gabrielle caught up with Fahid not that far from an alley. She slipped an arm through the very surprised Fahid’s, and acting like she was about to do something pretty illicit, she pulled him into the alley.
Darryl shrugged, it sucked to be Fahid this evening.
As it turned out the night would suck to be two of his friends as well.
Two guys coming from the other direction and on the other side of the street noticed Gabrielle pulling Fahid into the alley. They let out huge ‘whoops’ before looking both ways and running across the street. Darryl wasn’t sure who the guys were until one yelled, “Go FahEEED!”.
Darryl realized these must be some of Fahid’s friends. The evening just became more interesting.
He slowed his pace so that he caught up with the pair just after they turned into the alley. He followed closely behind them.
One was commenting to the other that ‘it was too dark to see shit.’
To Darryl the alley was as bright as dusk. He could easily see into the shadows that darkened the alley. The lone outside light at the far end of the alley cast everything down there into bright relief. The two guys Darryl was following finally heard his steps and they spun around.
Jawad Muhammad was, at his core, an amoral selfish sociopath who used his contacts to keep his life moving forward. He got paid for pulling others into the group. Occasionally, he would get lucky and someone h
e introduced would move up. Everyone assumed he was just a self-absorbed prick, which is what he wanted. But the real contacts knew he was a major player who kept a low profile to monitor everyone else. No one would be allowed to damage his meal ticket.
When appropriate, he would always have a drink in his hand. Rarely did anyone notice he never went for a refill. He would nurse the same beverage all night. Therefore, he was completely sober when he turned to find out who had followed them into the alley. Sober enough to see that this was one big infidel standing behind him.
And dark as sin, too.
Jawad wasn’t worried, he had a pistol tucked into his belt. No one with his contacts and knowledge could risk being less than careful. Not even when they were out partying to solidify relationships. He growled to the newcomer, “You need to leave this alley.”
Darryl smiled. “Really? I just wanted to take a piss. Did you two need a little personal time here? I can wait until you finish.”
Idris was drunk. But he wasn’t too drunk to realize that this American spoke passable German. And he was sure the infidel had just implied that he and Jawad were about to do something reprehensible in the alley.
Jawad had to put his arm out to stop Idris. “No, he is trying to pick a fight. He isn’t worth the effort to clean his blood off of your shoes.” Jawad turned his attention back to Darryl and switched to English. “You had better step back out of the alley, I will only suffer your effort to shame us once. The consequences of any other behavior will be on your head.”
Darryl was impressed. This guy spoke at least three languages, and was somehow connected with their mark. Seemed like they might have just gotten lucky. Darryl switched to English and covered five of the remaining ten feet as he replied, “You will suffer whatever the hell I care to make you suffer. I’ve had enough of you cock-sucking terrorist dick-rags killing innocents…”
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 133