Of course. What’s going on?
Bethany Anne’s lip curled. Short version is that these new aliens showed up for a fight and snatched our people when they ran off to lick their wounds. Peter and Jian were among those taken.
So you want my help to find out where Peter and the others were taken?
You hit the nail on the head. Michael needs some help interrogating them to find out which rock they crawled out from under.
TOM’s disgust filtered through. I’m happy to help however I am able. Interrogation is a very strong word, though.
Bethany Anne rolled her eyes. Okay then. He needs help to tutor these ignorant beings in what happens when you fuck with the wrong species. Can you contemplate that?
There were a few moments of silence while TOM digested her words. I believe I can. Education is the cornerstone of enlightenment, after all.
Nice to see you’re coming around to my way of thinking. Bethany Anne linked TOM to Michael, who briefly explained the plan.
TOM spoke to Bethany Anne and Michael at the same time. What should I look for?
Bethany Anne tapped her fingers on the table as she considered. Whatever you can find that tells us who they are and where they came from. Anything that helps us work out where they are now. She crossed her legs and sat back. Dig deep, and tell me what their weaknesses are.
Michael got up and walked over to the holding cell door. Just be ready when I need you. He slipped through the door to the cell, and it closed behind him with a loud click.
The Ooken came at him, all tentacles and grasping hands.
Michael grabbed the nearest alien and pushed fear ahead of himself to clear some space. The Ooken fell back, wary of the pure power he wielded.
The alien in his hands was a different matter.
At the moment where the choice was fight or flight and the option of flight was restricted by the iron grip Michael had on it, the Ooken fought for its life.
Michael reacted instinctively when the nest of tentacles spread wide, revealing a sharp-beaked mouth that was perfectly designed for cutting off chunks of meat.
One of its tentacles found its mark on Michael’s face, but Michael gave the Ooken no opportunity to pull his head toward its mouth. He grabbed the tentacles on either side of the Ooken’s maw and pulled.
The Ooken came apart in his hands as easily as a freshly-baked bread roll.
Michael dropped the two halves of its head and turned to the rest, activating his gauntlets with a squeeze. Etheric energy sparked around him, triggering the fight response in the rest of the Ooken.
He felt Bethany Anne chuckling at the back of his mind.
You are amused?
I’m impressed. But try not to kill them all before you’ve got what we need, honey. Not that I don’t appreciate this side of you, but you should save your energy for the ones behind all this. Bethany Anne’s voice was light, but there was concern behind her teasing.
I have more restraint than that, my love. Michael dropped the dripping corpse and looked at the snarling mob. TOM, are you ready?
I am, TOM confirmed.
Michael grabbed an Ooken mid-leap and tore into its mind.
The alien stopped attacking Michael and screeched at him before falling into a catatonic state once he’d taken control.
Michael snarled and grabbed another Ooken. He handed control of its mind to TOM, then dropped it and turned to Myst as several other aliens converged on his position.
The group collided with each other and fell in a tangled heap. Michael ripped into their minds and fed the connection from each Ooken to TOM before moving on to the next group.
Bethany Anne just sat and watched as Michael flowed around the room, solid one second, Myst the next. Wherever he appeared, an Ooken dropped twitching to the floor while TOM ransacked its brain for information.
I have everything I need from them, TOM announced after the last one collapsed clutching its head. I require a few moments, though. It’s a lot of information.
The first thing I want to know is if they’re under Kurtherian control.
Michael emerged from the holding cell, wiping his hands. Did you get what you needed?
We did. Bethany Anne got up to pace, too impatient to remain still for the moment. TOM was just about to tell me if they have anything to do with the Kurtherians.
The answer is no. Or to be accurate, their original modifications were made by one of the clans some centuries past, but their species split. Our group headed out on their own and continued their efforts at “improvement” in the misguided belief that conquering everyone would help them ascend. They’re also not averse to killing to obtain new technology.
Like the drones?
Yes.
Bethany Anne pursed her lips. So there’s no Kurtherian boss waiting for us when we get to wherever they’re holding our people?
It is not likely, TOM replied. Not that it matters. These aliens are smart, and they took to the whole “let the best alien win” creed like kids to sugar. They have no empathy at all for the people they have killed in their thirst to be the strongest.
Bethany Anne’s hands clenched into fists. They can’t be too smart if they came here thinking that we would just roll over for them.
They don’t care, TOM reiterated. They believe themselves to be above everyone except the Kurtherians who elevated them in the first place.
Michael turned back to the cell. Then they are past saving. The Ooken lay on the floor in messy heaps of sporadically twitching tentacles, incapacitated by the forced mental link.
Are you done with them?
I have a location. Do we need anything else?
Bethany Anne shook her head. No.
Michael cut TOM’s end of the link, then sent a burst of Etheric energy the other way. It burned out the Ooken’s brains, killing them instantly.
He shook his head in disgust at the corpses. There is no justification for allowing anyone to continue waging a war of extinction.
Bethany Anne set her mouth in a hard line. I couldn’t agree more. She stalked toward the door, her heels clicking loudly in the silence.
What are you going to do?
I’m going to find somewhere I can update the Admiral. Bethany Anne paused holding the door handle. She turned back to Michael, her red eyes betraying the rage the cold mask of her face hid. Tell the fleet there are new rules.
We give no quarter.
SD Atalanta, Captain’s Meeting Room
Bethany Anne tapped her fingers on the desk, thinking about Peter and Tabitha and the larger issue of the weakness in their defenses.
Her old friend Admiral Bartholomew Thomas made a sympathetic face on the video screen while he tried to console Bethany Anne.
Bethany Anne waved away his platitudes. “Regardless of revenge for the two people we lost, that ship Gated in with no warning and took thirty-seven more.” She scrunched her hand into a fist. “We need to get them back and make sure it doesn’t ever happen again.”
Admiral Thomas frowned. “It’s not like we can put up a solid border.”
“No, and I wouldn’t want to. However, it’s only prudent to know when we have strangers at our door.” Bethany Anne sat back and ignored the look of disbelief on Admiral Thomas face.
“You want another exclusion zone?”
Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow. “No. I want us to be protected from all sides. I want our borders with unknowns to be secure… Dammit.” She shrugged. “Okay, fine. I want another exclusion zone.”
Admiral Thomas nodded in acquiescence. “I can make that happen. What do you need?”
“We need to make everything here one-way.” Bethany Anne pressed her lips together. “I need to make sure nothing comes into this space without us knowing about it. Until we have defeated this enemy, I don’t want anyone who turns up to be able to leave without us checking on their intent.”
Admiral Thomas rubbed his chin. “There’s only one way I can think of to do all of that.”
Bethany Anne nodded. “We have to build a base.”
13
High Tortuga, Space Fleet Base, Admiral of the Fleet’s Office
“First Bethany Anne has put in the interdiction at Devon, which has been complicated as all fuck. Then she tells me to quarantine an entire system.” Admiral Thomas paused in front of the holoprojection with his arms folded and his chin on his hand. “Now she wants me to magic up a base out in the ass-end of nowhere. An exclusion zone, CEREBRO. Our Queen is right about the need for it, but she never tells me where I’m supposed to find the resources for these things.”
“You have plenty of resources to draw from. The recovery period for those who fought at QTC-12-T is drawing to an end.” The EI group’s harmony of voices replied from the speaker embedded in the desk. “All you need is a recruiter they can’t say no to.”
The Admiral was well used to working with multiple EIs at once, so he allowed the whole group access to their conversation. It was still quieter than dinner time at home with two children under two years old and a beautiful young bride.
He smiled. “Giselle could be just who I need for this.” Her time as a socialite had left his whirlwind-romance-turned-wife with the HR skills of a demon. She knew everyone. She also knew who they’d seen, where they’d been, where they were going, what they were wearing, when they were traveling next, and how they could have done all of it more efficiently.
“You mentioned that she was looking for something to fill the time.”
Admiral Thomas wagged a finger. “True, although frankly, I don’t know where she gets the energy with Simone and Martina. Little tykes are always awake, it seems. Anyway. Construction workers can be recruited from here, and Devon, too, if necessary. There’s a waiting list of people on Devon who are happy to work in return for passage to somewhere new.”
“Infrastructure mostly takes care of itself once you provide breathable atmosphere and a place for people to put down roots.” He returned the hand to his chin and kept walking around the interactive 3-D model of the system. “What did Bethany Anne name the system?”
“I believe she referred to it as ‘the place dumbasses go to die,’” CEREBRO supplied.
Admiral Thomas chuckled when the name appeared at the bottom of the holographic model. “While that’s entirely accurate, I think we’ll give it a more appropriate designation.” He began to type the new name into the model. “How many Gate jumps is it from the QT system?”
“Two,” CEREBRO replied.
“QTC-12-T2 it is, then. QT2 for short.” He pointed at a spot on the model. “We’ll put the base here, string the satellite network out from there to cover the rest of the system, and have it all run by the base EI.”
“That is a great deal of space between satellites,” CEREBRO pointed out.
The Admiral nodded. “This will be a lot looser than the net we have over High Tortuga, but while I like the simplicity of putting up a solid border, it’s just not practical.”
“There are only two other places in the system that are suitable for anything as large as the superdreadnoughts to Gate in through.”
Admiral Thomas made a face. “Again, true. If we leave all our guns over one mousehole, then we can be sure as damned that they’ll choose one of the others.” He stepped back, rubbing his chin as a smile appeared. “How would some of you like a change of scenery?”
“We would be happy to split ourselves.” CEREBRO made a sound of approval. “We will be able to monitor the whole system from there without any impediment. If you do not mind us saying, Admiral, you came up with all this rather quickly.”
Admiral Thomas snorted softly. “This is not my first square dance, CEREBRO. And it’s not entirely unexpected. As much as our Queen likes to say she’s staying on the sidelines, she hasn’t got it in her to stand aside while a bunch of rotten assholes come along and shit on the peace she’s worked so damned hard to create.”
“We know,” CEREBRO answered. “Some of us were around during the long war.”
The Admiral frowned quizzically at the speaker. “Weren’t a lot of you created during the Leath War? I know I hear a few familiar voices in there today.”
The speaker buzzed, as it did whenever CEREBRO’s EIs all talked at once. Admiral Thomas held up a hand. “We can talk about that another time. We should concentrate on the war at hand.”
“What are your instructions?” CEREBRO inquired.
“Find me somewhere that can supply what we need. Metals, plastics, electronics. I need to get with Jean on defenses, Sofia on requisitioning equipment, and… Who is responsible for the Guardian Marines in Peter’s place?”
“That would be Tim and Rickie, Admiral.”
Admiral Thomas sighed. “Oh, joy.”
“By all accounts, they are doing well,” CEREBRO informed him cheerfully.
Admiral Thomas shook his head. “I don’t doubt it. However, I wish I didn’t have to deal with Rickie running his mouth constantly. The man gives me a headache.” He sighed again. “I miss Maxim. He never made a joke in his life. Such a pity he stayed with the Federation.”
“We can always make it so that you only have to deal with Tim on this project,” CEREBRO offered.
Admiral Thomas considered it for a full minute. “No, I can’t avoid Rickie just because he rubs me the wrong way. You arrange for the two of them to come see me about getting the base staffed. I’ll put my big-boy pants on and deal with the headache afterward.”
QT2 System, ArchAngel II, Bridge
Bethany Anne paced in front of Kael-ven again and noticed his minute flinch. “I’m just as anxious to act as you are.”
“I would be less anxious if you would pace somewhere else.” Kael-ven sighed when Bethany Anne’s eyebrow went up. “I’m sorry. This is getting to me. Two noncombatants…two innocent people were killed minutes after leaving my ship. I want to make amends to their families, and the only way I know to do that is to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Bethany Anne stopped pacing and placed a hand on Kael-ven’s shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault, Kael-ven. You did everything you could afterward, and I made sure their families know that you and Kiel risked your own lives to retrieve their bodies.”
Kael-ven hung his head. “It was the least we could do.”
Bethany Anne’s face hardened, but her heart did not. “The scouts are going to find wherever in that system the Ooken are hiding.” Kael winced as the grip on his shoulder suddenly grew tighter. “We’ll get back every single person they’ve taken, and then we’re going to drop on them like a bunch of people with a fucking grudge to settle.”
There was a flash of light on the screen.
The scout ships were beginning to meet resistance at last.
Kael-ven turned up the audio and all three turned their attention back to the screen.
“Group Two contact. This is Daisy. It’s some kind of…what the actual fuck? They look like gen II SSE ships! Bastards stole our ships and copied them! Ohhh, and now they think they can outfly me? ME! HA! I’d find it sweet if it weren’t so fucking hilarious.”
“I know, right? I’ve got them here, too. One minute… Hey, asshole! Your momma was a fucking snowblower! See you later, not!”
“Whoooo, bitches! We’re getting hotter!”
“We’re already pretty hot, Serena. I mean, have you seen my guns?” The pulse of a plasma canon punctuated Mirabelle’s raucous laughs. “Did you see that? Anyone? I got that fucker right in the kisser! It was all BOOM, POW! Who’s next? Come and get a taste, you sorry excuses for digital intelligence!”
“You give them hell, Mirabelle. I have a tail of my own. Hang on…” There was an explosion in the background. “Scratch that. I had a tail. Buuuut….that’s what happens when knockoffs come up against the real thing.”
“There’s no competition, really…”
Bethany Anne dipped in and out of the audio feeds from the Scout Ship Explorer fleet courtesy of ADAM, while the third-generatio
n scout ships battled it out against wave after wave of Ooken seeker ships on the viewscreen.
“Shit! I’m hit! Mirabelle down! Oh, wait… No, I’m good, but my primary thruster drives are damaged. I still have my secondaries.”
Bethany Anne hissed softly. Mirabelle was the third scout ship that had gone down in the last minute. The fleet had doubled in size, but still, she didn’t want to keep losing ships like this. “Can you make it back, Mirabelle?”
“What do you think, my Queen? I’m already limping back to the ArchAngel for a quick body change, and then I’m gonna haul my ass straight back out here.”
“Body change…” Bethany Anne murmured.
>>There are spare ships, and more under construction in the SSE hangar. Jean caught a transport out here and took over as soon as word got to her that Peter had been taken. She’s been working around the clock since.<<
I might have forgotten about the hangar bay, but I’m not surprised to hear that’s why I haven’t seen Jean at all. I didn’t even know she’d arrived.
“These bastards aren’t going to get one over on us,” Mirabelle continued. “They’re gonna be sorry they ever thought to fuck with us when…”
Bethany Anne tuned out the audio feeds for a moment. Are they all this chatty?
ADAM chuckled. >>Um, yeah. It’s their thing.<<
Mirabelle continued, “And if the Ooken have anything to say about that, I’ll chase those hairy-tentacled sonsabitches down and insert my entire loadout wherever it will be the most painful for them.”
Bethany Anne snorted. “I would love to see that happen, Mirabelle, but get yourself fixed up first.” She walked off the bridge, heading in the general direction of the hangars.
The way before Bethany Anne cleared as she walked, her heels loud against the metal floor even in the bustle. We’re getting close. The scout ships wouldn’t be getting such a warm welcome otherwise.
>>What about your idea?<< ADAM asked. >>Because if it was for me to take one of the ships out and back the fleet up, then you’re thinking exactly what I’m thinking.<<
Bethany Anne’s mouth twitched in amusement. Almost. I have to be cautious this time.
Through The Fire and Flame (The Kurtherian Endgame Book 3) Page 14