“We are here to witness the marriage of Patricia Helena and Lance Reynolds. Patricia and Lance, I remind you that marriage is a precious gift. It’s a lifelong dedication to love and a daily challenge to love one another more fully and more freely through the many years you have left. May you consider what you have now and seek to carry it forward each and every day.”
The wedding was a beautiful event, with the two exchanging vows and rings and following the ceremony form Michael had known for hundreds of years.
Michael concluded, “By the power vested in me a very, very long time ago, I now pronounce you, Patricia and Lance Reynolds, husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride!”
When the two came up for air, Michael smiled at those in attendance. “Everyone please welcome for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Lance and Patricia Reynolds!”
The whole ship erupted in joy and celebration. Everyone was pretty giddy on the first major downtime the ships had enjoyed in a while. The party went well into the evening. Those who had night shift enjoyed the party with only one drink, switching out with those on duty who had the opportunity to sleep off too much alcohol.
Bethany Anne danced with anyone who approached her, but she tried to save her best for when Michael was around. It wasn’t like Michael’s dance card was empty, he was requested by the ladies on the ship a lot.
Bethany Anne was taking in everyone enjoying themselves when Stephen came up beside her. “Quite a night, isn’t it?”
Bethany Anne stepped closer to Stephen and rested her head on his shoulder. “Hello Stephen, my oldest vampire friend.” Stephen smiled and put an arm around her. “Cold?”
“Would that get me a sympathy card?”
“Well, considering you can’t really feel it, no.”
“Damn. Well, that still doesn’t get you out of being my favorite vampire.”
He smiled. “I’ll be happy to do that for centuries to come if God permits.”
“He’s pretty happy, isn’t he?” Bethany Anne was watching her dad take Patricia around the dance floor one more time.
“Your dad?”
“Yes.” Her eyes strayed over to Michael.
“I’d say he’s a man that has everything he has ever wanted. He has his daughter, he has a partner and he has a cause he believes in. Both of his loves are focused on the same cause.”
She sighed. “I hope he gets a little quiet on this trip.”
“He should, the crews have all been working on it.”
She pulled her head off of Stephen’s shoulder and looked at him. “What have you guys done?” Her eyes started to narrow.
Stephen put up his hands. “It’s all proper! The captains pooled their knowledge and found the most beautiful and secluded island possible. Nathan’s team put up an early-warning system on the island and we will have coverage over them the whole time. The teams have three Pods of supplies already there and they pre-built a short term abode including electricity from one of the small engines for the retreat. They won’t have anything to do but swim, eat and spend time with each other. If anything comes within thirty minutes of them, we will know about it. We have two Guardian teams on call ready to take off within ninety seconds if a call comes in. They will hopefully have seventy-two hours of uninterrupted bliss.”
Bethany Anne bent over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, Stephen. I thought maybe the guys were going to do something to embarrass him.”
She looked back out over the dance floor. “Not that my dad wouldn’t deserve it, God knows he has harassed most everyone here enough.”
“I’ve been asked to present a gift from the ship’s crews to you.”
She looked back. “To me? Why?”
Stephen shook his head. “Why is it when someone wants to treat you nice, you get defensive?”
“I don’t get defensive!” He looked at her and she replayed how she had just acted, “Much.”
“Come with me, please.” Stephen started walking towards the helicopter landing pad at the stern of the ship. She noticed the Ad Aeternitatem was pulling up beside them just fifty yards away. She felt she could jump to the other ship it was so close. She turned her attention to walking again and noticed a Pod was waiting for them. Both captains were resplendent in their uniforms. She smiled at the captains and all of the main crew that could fit there. She was tearing up by the time she hugged everyone.
She wiped a tear away. “Okay, give! What’s going on here?” All she got were smiles and everyone pointing to the Pod. Stephen went up and held out his hand. She took it and allowed herself to be seated to the right in the Pod. Not her usual position.
TOM, do you know what’s going on?
Yes.
You’re not going to tell me, are you?
No.
Traitorous alien symbiont.
I understand that is how all good friends act.
Prick.
I love you too, Bethany Anne.
And I you, TOM… and I you.
Stephen entered their Pod and closed the door. He didn’t bother with the controls because he knew TOM would take care of everything. The Pod lifted slowly above everyone’s heads. It moved to hover between the two Superyachts. Then the pod slowed and let the two ships pull ahead. Bethany Anne was enjoying the beauty of everything when suddenly bright lights lit up the sterns of both ships. There on the transoms were new designations. The left ship was now “QBS Polarus” and on the right was “QBS Ad Aeternitatem.”
She looked over at Stephen. “Queen Bitch’s Ship, right?” He nodded.
“After each of the terrorist strikes the news of each operation went around both ships. These men and women could not be prouder than being a part of the group that helped, if only a little, with the retribution they felt was long overdue to the terrorists. When the Guardians came back, the video from the Pods was shown all over both ships. It seems Team BMW made sure a lot of video was taken in order to confirm the effectiveness of the Pods, and their parting gift, of course.”
She echoed, “Of course.” Bethany Anne straightened up in her seat. “I’m damn proud of every person we have Stephen, every one of them.” She surreptitiously wiped a tear away. She noticed another pod coming to land a little off to the left on the QBS Polarus.
Stephen said, “It’s time to go back. It looks like Lance and Patricia are calling it a night.” The pod started moving back over to the QBS Polarus, a group of people moving aside to let them land.
Bethany Anne noticed a handwritten sign on the back of the Pod. It read, “Don’t lose the mood—get there fast while the feeling is still hot! Call Team BMW.” She laughed. She guessed the Pods were, in fact, the fastest way to get from here to there.
They landed and both of them exited, she thanked all of the ship’s personnel and then her dad and Patricia came up the stairs with all of her team. Everyone wished them well and Patricia hugged her hard, then whispered in her ear, “Don’t do anything I haven’t already done!” Then she kissed Bethany Anne on the cheek and the two newlyweds boarded their Pod. John Grimes helped lock it down from the outside and it slowly rose to about fifteen feet above them. Then, it simply disappeared up into the night.
Eric asked, to no one in particular, “I wonder if he’s going to start a two hundred mile high club?”
She laughed along with everyone else. She turned around and punched Stephen. “Hey, where’s Dan? I saw him earlier.”
Stephen looked at his wrist, which did not have a watch on it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “He should be in D.C. right now. I asked him and Killian to take on an operation.” She raised an eyebrow. “It seems that the military contact David was bribing happens to be an old friend of Dan’s.”
“I’m not sure I can allow wholesale assassination, Stephen.”
“They aren’t going to kill him, just maim him and put him into the hospital. Then, the plan is to make his financial records known to the military police. The beating is from Dan, the opportunity to go to jail
will be what he deserves.”
Bethany Anne considered what Stephen said. “Did we find out if he knew that his people would die?”
“He didn’t.” Bethany Anne turned to find Michael next to her. She could feel his body heat. “I found the information in some of those papers we… found.”
Gabrielle came up beside them and asked Michael, “Found where?”
Michael actually paled. If Bethany Anne wasn’t about to go down the hot flames of hell for taking chances with him, she would have found this funnier. She saved him the telling. “Michael and I found out that David was at his castle in Germany, so Michael asked me on a date to David’s castle.”
Gabrielle gaped at Bethany Anne. “You and Michael went on a date to David’s castle and what, killed him and everyone there?”
Michael looked around. “Pretty much, but Ashur was with us!”
Gabrielle glared at Michael. “I thought leaving her with you was safe! Oh. My. God! What am I going to do with you two?” Gabrielle looked like she was about to start in on them, right in front of everyone.
Bethany Anne reached over to Michael. “Give me a hand?” Michael responded to the glint in her eye and gave her his hand.
Gabrielle started again, “How could you two just go and attack David and everyone that was in that fucking castle all by yourselves? What is the point of even HAVING the Queen’s Guards if you two just…”
The two of them disappeared. Everyone whooped and Gabrielle stopped her diatribe. She looked around and asked in a calm voice, “Are they gone?” She got back a bunch of yeses. “Thank God! I’m getting frazzled just waiting on those two!” She was greeted with laughter. “Hey, I thought there was a party going on here? Let’s keep this party GOING!”
The cheering could easily be heard quite a distance across the waters.
Washington D.C., USA
Dan Bosse was sitting at a bar in southeast D.C. nursing a coke on ice. He didn’t really like alcohol that much anymore, not with some of the changes his body had been going through. However, at a bar not having anything, or worse drinking milk, would look strange.
He was waiting for Barrett, a dear old rotten friend who wasn’t anymore. Dan had been shocked when he was presented with the details that tracked Barrett as being the corrupt officer that had blocked any help and had been responsible for getting so many men killed in Turkey.
All for a lousy twenty-five thousand. Dan took a swig of his drink.
“Let me have a double, Terry.” A loud clank sounded three seats to Dan’s left. He turned to see Barrett Nickelson looking really damned old and ready for the pasture at least forty pounds ago.
Would that have been him, Dan wondered, if he hadn’t worked in the group focused on fighting Nosferatu? Damn, he hoped not. It didn’t matter anymore. He had personally been involved in more life threatening operations than anyone in the active forces right now. Then after that he had led good men and a few women through the hell of fighting Nosferatu for another fifteen years. At the end, he and his people’s future had almost gone pear shaped. It would have if a certain fiery woman hadn’t entered his life. He raised his glass in a silent toast to Bethany Anne. He wondered if she and Michael had gotten horizontal yet.
He had fifty bucks down that nothing would happen for another two weeks.
Poor Nathan had finally given in to the inevitable of the two of them getting together and took his ribbing like the stand-up wolf that he was.
Dan focused on the present. He wanted to go over there and break the damn fool’s neck. He was responsible for getting seven good men killed. He had considered going to Bethany Anne for permission to take him out. She would give it, he was sure. This prick had gotten men killed. Whether he had expected that outcome wasn’t relevant, he had taken his thirty pieces of silver.
Now Killian was going to give him a taste of hell before the fall.
It was time to get this shit going. Dan pulled an envelope out of his jacket and stood up. He tossed a ten on the bar to cover his drink and a tip.
He took a couple of steps and put the envelope with Barrett’s name on the bar in front of him. He placed three dimes down with the envelope. Barrett looked up at him, “What’s this? Do I know you?”
Dan smiled. “Unfortunately, in some alternate history we were friends, Barrett. I’ve been tasked with delivering a message from someone you never want to meet. You’ll want to check that information. There are two fire teams in Turkey that are waiting for you to join them.” With that Dan left the bar. He stepped out the front door and pulled on his gloves. That was the signal to Killian to indicate that the plan was to go forward. Dan turned to the left and started walking down the street.
Two minutes later, a very scared looking Barrett Nickelson came out of the bar and immediately headed to the right.
A few seconds later a cry was heard when a 208 grain A-Max bullet from Killian’s suppressed 300 Blackout blew his knee out. Barrett Nickelson would never walk correctly again. It took an ambulance five minutes to get to him.
Two days later, Barrett Nickelson was lying in his bed in a military hospital when two military police and a JAG officer walked into his room. Barrett Nickelson wouldn’t leave that bed a free man. The JAG officer wasn’t sure who had uncovered all of the evidence, but it had been corroborated and Barrett Nickelson was going to see hard time.
With or without the use of his leg.
New York City, NY, USA
Gerry looked over the assembled American Pack Council. He figured it would be best to have this pack meeting in the old warehouse his pack had used to settle disputes from way back. It was in this same place that Pete Silvers shot that prick Terry Manestes.
It seemed a fitting place to have this final APC meeting.
There had been two items on this evening’s schedule. The first was a motion to push a vote of ‘no confidence,’ against Gerry as the leader of the APC, by two of the Pacific Coast packs. Gerry had held off this vote as long as he could. Jonathan Silvers had argued his case long after Gerry had gotten tired of doing so himself.
Now, it had come down to this.
They had just passed the decision of no confidence by a two vote margin. Gerry kept his smile to himself. In the end, he was actually happy it would end up this way.
The future was changing and their past associations would need to change with it or they would become irrelevant. Kind of like tonight.
He looked at each Alpha there. Most met his glare, a couple didn’t want to. Gerry smiled at the assembly.
“It seems that this will be my final item to bring to you as the head of the American Pack Council. I could say that this agenda item needs no introduction…”
A rough voice called out, “That’s good, you didn’t provide one!” There were chuckles all around. It wasn’t strange for Gerry to leave off a title or two for agenda items. Since the call of no confidence was number one on the list, most didn’t believe number two could be a bigger deal.
Serves them right, he thought. “Well, then I think I’ll just leave the item…” The lights flickered, then returned to their normal brightness These old lights took a while to warm up but there was easily enough light for the Wechselbalg to continue.
That’s when the fear hit. Gerry knew that she was coming and he had been warned by Nathan, on a back channel, that she was going to make an entrance. But, nothing Nathan had told him could have prepared him for the sheer emotional terror that started creeping into the building and then continued to get stronger and stronger. A door opened and everyone turned in their chairs to see Peter Silvers step into the room at the far end. A big human came in with him and then a beautiful… vampire… as well. At least half of the group there knew who the Wechselbalg was. Jonathan turned to look at Gerry who nodded his head to let him know he was aware this was going to happen. Jonathan sat back and got comfortable, he was going to enjoy the show.
Gerry stepped out from behind the podium that had been set up and sat on the edge of
a table that had been five feet behind him. It was all he could do to act as normal as he could. He could tell at least five of the forty-three Alphas were shaking. He glanced around at them. Instead of five it might be better to make that count twelve.
The door on the other side of the room opened and everyone turned in their seats to look. Nathan Lowell and his mate Ecaterina entered through that door. Then a huge motherfucking ox of a man whose combat fatigues were adorned with the Guard’s patch came in with them.
The fear ratcheted up another notch when the human entered.
The door behind him burst open. Gerry decided he would rather watch the faces of everyone in the audience and he was glad he did. He could see two faces that were looking around for an exit. An exit that didn’t exist right now. It seemed that Alex Dupree and Jimmy Eljers were more interested in leaving than anyone else. Good to know.
Gerry heard three sets of footsteps enter the building. All sounded too heavy to be her. He turned in time to see Bethany Anne’s entrance and oh, by all that’s nice in the world, did she come in. She was fully vamped out and completely pissed off. Gerry jumped off the table to face her and was trying to figure out what he might have done to get her so angry.
Behind her came the other Wechselbalg and more humans. Fuck a zombie, Gerry thought, there was more muscle in here than was needed to fight the Vietnam War.
Bethany Ann was in her combat gear with pistols and a pair of swords. One long, one short, both of Japanese origin. Gerry watched as she turned to her people. “Guardians, switch with the door teams.” Two sets of Wechselbalg and humans went to each door, while Peter, Nathan and Ecaterina walked over to the front. That left a vampire on one door, and the ox at the other.
By now the Alphas started grumbling. There was only so much ‘cower in concern’ a pack Alpha can handle before their natural tendency to want to prove themselves arises. The fact that there were two vampires present certainly was helping most of them hold in their desire to be an ass.
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 149