Nice of you to inform us, Bethany Anne remarked testily.
Our distraction raised a lot of activity, Eve interjected. We were busy fighting our way out. We’re working our way to you, but at the moment we’re holed up in the colony administration building. We will leave as soon as I have finished helping myself to their data. It won’t take long.
Bethany Anne didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much she could do. Helpless people were depending on her, and Eve and Akio were anything but helpless. Just stay safe, okay?
We will, Akio returned. You will also make an effort not to die today.
You’ve got it in one, Bethany Anne teased. No dying today for anyone.
Unless they’ve got tentacles and they’re in our way, Michael modified.
Bethany Anne rolled her eyes as she drew her swords.
Yes, unless that.
Splinter World, Colony, Prison, Underground Level
The room Bethany Anne and Michael were in opened into a dim corridor. The lights above flickered, setting their shadows dancing.
Bethany Anne glanced at both ends of the corridor and turned to look at Michael. Where next?
Follow me. Michael moved decisively toward one of the larger doors along the right side of the long corridor. He broke the lock with a quick twist of his wrist, and they entered the downward staircase beyond.
Bethany Anne held her swords at the ready as they descended in a wide spiral. There were soft lights at regular intervals along the way.
We’re not far now, Michael told her. There are guards at the bottom. What’s our move?
Our move is to annihilate the guards and get our people out of here. Bethany Anne's was cold even in his mind.
As you wish.
Bethany Anne poked Michael with an accusing finger. I knew you’d seen it.
Michael winked. Seen what?
Fine, don’t admit you like the girly movie.
Michael held a hand to his chest. It’s not a girly movie. It has pirates and comedy.
Bethany Anne dealt with the next locked door in their way. And a love story.
Something for everyone, then, Michael countered. We’re really close now.
They heard the odd chirruping sound the Ooken made when communicating coming from up ahead.
Bethany Anne listened for a few seconds. Sounds like around thirty or so. We’ll split them.
Michael was taken aback. No contest?
No time, she told him. But if I happen to finish with my fifteen before you finish with yours…
Not going to happen, Michael assured her smoothly.
Bethany Anne shrugged and smiled. We’ll see.
They moved as one, and the death began as soon as they crossed the threshold of the guard room at the bottom of the stairs. The guards fell faster than they could comprehend.
There was a shriek from the upper levels.
Bethany Anne separated an Ooken’s ape parts from its squid parts with a well-aimed slice. Oops, guess we’ve killed enough at one time for them to notice we’re here.
Michael wiped his sword as the last guard fell. Then we’d better hurry before they all pile in here.
Finding Peter and the others was relatively easy after that. Bethany Anne and Michael went around freeing the hostages from their cramped cells.
Many were in a poor state. Bethany Anne's anger grew as she took in the injuries that hadn’t yet healed. “You’ve all been tortured. Extensively.”
Peter nodded. “I took the brunt of their mind-probing for as long as I could, but when it was clear I wouldn’t give them what they wanted, they moved on to Jian, then Shun. Then they took Robinson. His nanos couldn’t repair the damage they did to his mind, so they killed him. We heard him die, BA.” Peter ground his teeth together and then rubbed his jaw when the motion caused him pain. “That’s both cousins they’ve killed.”
My Queen, they should die for the insult to your honor. Izanami’s clipped voice spoke volumes. She was as pissed as the rest of them.
“I agree with the AI,” Michael supplied.
Bethany Anne also agreed with Izanami. She closed her eyes and counted slowly. When she opened them, she felt completely calm—and her desire to cleanse the galaxy of these parasites was still strong. Are you and ADAM done?
No, but he sent me to assist you, my Queen. There are a considerable number of enemy combatants on paths that will converge on this location.
We’re almost done here. Bethany Anne started moving the hostages into the Etheric one by one. I need you to be in position to pick us up when I call and have the ships blow all trace of this colony into dust.
Of course, my Queen, Izanami replied. I will be ready.
Bethany Anne and Michael shepherded the last few rescued Guardians into the safety of the Etheric, where Peter waited with them.
Bethany Anne waved the exhausted group ahead, opening the link to Eve as she walked beside them. Michael would do just fine leading them all away from danger. Eve?
Eve came back a moment later. What’s up?
Change of plan. We have Peter and most of the others. Have Izanami meet us at the mouth of the valley. You and Akio make for there as well.
Where are you now? Eve asked.
Walking the Etheric, Bethany Anne answered, having to focus on the energy drain she was feeling. We’ll be at the rendezvous in around half an hour.
Splinter World, Valley Mouth
Akio and Eve did not have far to go to reach the valley’s end. They’d waited patiently so far for the rest of the evacuees to get there, but the last few minutes before the expected ETA were dragging slower than snail chariots in molasses.
Akio scanned the sky. Where is Izanami?
Eve had more down-to-earth concerns. Where are Bethany Anne and Michael?
They got a partial answer a few minutes later when Michael showed up out of the Etheric with thirty-six others.
Izanami brought the ship in at the exact moment the Etheric opened, but there was no Bethany Anne in sight.
She came through separately, her face serious. “The Ooken have found us. I’ll hold them off while you all get aboard, but for fuck’s sake do it quickly.”
She turned and ran back into the valley, gone again in less than the blink of an eye. Michael and Peter got to work getting the injured Guardians aboard the Izanami.
Fifteen minutes earlier…
Bethany Anne waited for her leg to heal. “Those fucking suckers!”
Peter chuckled wearily between labored breaths. “Tell me about it.
She kicked the dead Ooken and checked around to make sure the remaining hostages were safe. “Follow us.”
Michael remained at the head of the group, leading them to a place where they could leave the Etheric reasonably safely.
They emerged, soot-blackened, into the early dawn at the base of the cliffs. Some were still bleeding, and others were now beginning the process of healing from their ordeal and needed sleep.
They made slow progress up the cliff face but they pushed hard, finding the energy from somewhere to keep going despite their crushing weariness. They helped each other out into the open where Izanami was waiting for them. She held the ship high above their heads and extended the ramp.
Bethany Anne brought up the rear. She had that itch on the back of her neck again. Izanami, what’s the status of the approaching Ooken?
They are getting close to your location, Izanami confirmed. Would you like me to take the larger groups out with a few well-placed pucks?
Bethany Anne shook her head. No, thanks, Izanami. Not just yet.
The first Ooken appeared at the mouth of the valley as Michael shepherded the last of the injured and the weary aboard the Izanami.
Okay, Izanami, it’s your time to shine. Level this place, she told the AI. Use whatever you have. Burn it all.
Michael snickered. “I knew the flamethrowers would be useful.”
Bethany Anne took one look at the sea of advancing tentacles. Let them f
ucking come. Izanami! The area around me is not on fire.
It will be in three…two...
Bethany Anne risked a glance behind. She could hear the science experiments gone wrong getting closer. I meant level it, Izanami. And do it NOW. The Ooken are on their way in serious numbers, so we need to get the fuck out of here. I don’t want any trace of this colony remaining when we leave.
One. Izanami complied, letting rip. She sent almost everything she had screaming into the mouth of the valley, making sure to target both the power plant and what was left of the munitions factories nearby. Then she sent six drones toward the volcano.
A series of shuddering explosions rocked the night as the drones detonated deep below the ground. The valley floor undulated beneath Bethany Anne's feet as she bent to scoop up Peter’s rifle, turning to fire it behind her as she walked through the edge of the fiery tornado Izanami had unleashed.
Izanami retracted the ramp as Bethany Anne jumped aboard and flung herself into the ship where Michael and Peter were waiting for her.
She handed the plasma rifle back to Peter somewhat reluctantly. “Next time Tabitha gifts you with a weapon, I don't want to hear that you bitched about it.”
Peter looked up at her with a dazed expression.
Bethany Anne stroked his forehead. “Get some rest and let your nanos do their thing.” She strode over to a clear space. “I'll see that you get some steak. Michael, would you meet me on the bridge?”
By the time Michael caught up with Bethany Anne, she already had Eve and Izanami working scans and video from yet more drones.
The scan data she dealt with on the main console, and all of the videos were up on the wraparound screens.
The colony burned brightly in the darkness. The planet’s rotation would bring this side of the planet under the artificial sun soon enough. It already bathed the horizon with a golden halo.
She was going to dismantle that, too.
Michael came over and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Don’t you ever rest?” he teased, knowing the answer.
She kissed her husband and whispered in his ear as the AI turned the ship’s nose spaceward and launched them out of reach of the eruption Izanami’s drones had caused. “You see what we bring. Why would you want our children to witness that?”
Michael turned to the destruction playing out on the screen. “To teach them what to do when mercy is not an option.”
Out in space, dozens of ships were accelerating toward the planet, ships’ weapons active and charging when the enemy ship on the planet simply…
Disappeared.
High Tortuga, Space Fleet Base, Hangar 001
Peter stood waiting for the ramp to descend. For the moment he would never be away from Tabitha again.
If Tabitha hadn’t dumped his ass, that was.
He’s slept and eaten, but he still wasn’t feeling a hundred percent. He suspected he needed faster help than his nanocytes could provide, like a tune-up in the Pod-doc.
“BABY!” Tabitha came running across the hangar and launched herself into Peter’s arms, his momentary wooziness dispelled by elation.
“Oof!” He grabbed her like a drowning man who’d just been thrown a lifeline, wobbling for a second when she hopped up and wrapped her legs around his waist so she could kiss him fiercely. He kissed her right back, oblivious to the catcalls of everyone else as they walked by.
Tabitha let go of the sides of Peter’s face and flung her arms around him, sobbing into his neck. “I thought you were dead! Then I was going to kill you if you weren’t dead for being captured in the first place.” She let go finally and slid down with a snarl touching her lips. “You let anything like that happen again, you’re gonna wish you were dead when I catch up with you!”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder. Peter inhaled her uniquely Tabitha scent and braced himself for what was coming. His head swam and he was weak with exhaustion, but he would take whatever Tabitha gave and hold her afterward. Same as always.
He shook his head when Bethany Anne moved to stand between them and everyone else.
Bethany Anne shrugged and shooed everyone away. She remained just far enough to give them the illusion of privacy, which Peter accepted.
Tabitha’s rage spilled down her cheeks in hot floods. “Don’t you,” an openhanded slap to his chest, “ever,” another, softer this time despite her clenched fists.
Peter wondered why this wasn’t hurting a lot more.
“EVER! Leave our child or me like that again.” Tabitha’s arms dropped to her sides, her anger spent. “I’m glad you’re home safe.”
Peter’s knees almost gave way when Tabitha looked up at him with those big dark eyes of hers. He had to check he wasn’t hearing things. “Really? You’re pregnant? With our child? We’re having a baby? Together?” His ability to emote was stolen by another wave of dizziness and a throb from the shoulder his captors had dislocated over and over to test his healing ability.
Tabitha nodded. “Uh-huh. Trust me, it was a surprise to me too.” She looked a touch green around the edges of that defiant look she got whenever she was unsure. “But yeah, we’re having a baby.”
Peter’s face split into a wide grin. “WOOHOO!” His exhaustion wasn’t gone, but it had lessened. “That’s…huge. Perfect, but huge.” He ignored her uncertainty and gathered her up in his arms, looking into her eyes. “So, um…will you finally make an honest man of me?”
Tabitha snorted laughter and slapped him again, playfully this time. “If you weren’t honest I wouldn’t love you so much, ass.”
Bethany Anne rolled her eyes. “I’m going to make a special family dinner for Alexis and Gabriel before they get home.”
Tabitha made a face. “I was on my way to take their last lesson for the day. I got a message from Addix asking me to give her another half an hour just before I got the message you were back, so I turned around and came straight here.”
Peter rolled his shoulder and winced. “This hasn’t set right. I need some time in a Pod-doc.”
Tabitha patted his sore shoulder. “You can get in one of the Vid-docs instead. Then you can help me tame the terrible two while you heal. We could both use some practice with kids before ours comes along.”
Peter chuckled. “Speak for yourself. I got experience to last a lifetime teaching at the Academy.”
Bethany Anne joined in their chuckles. “That was a long time ago, and our children tend to be ahead of the curve even compared to Academy kids.” She smiled.
“But come to dinner. We should mark the passing of those who didn’t make it, and celebrate Tabitha’s pregnancy and your safe return.” She looked Tabitha over. “Besides, you’re looking a touch pale. You’ll need a meal after Alexis is done with you.”
Tabitha’s eyes widened. “Don’t I know it. I spent ages preparing our first lesson because Addix forgot to mention that the twins lead their own learning.”
Bethany Anne grinned. “Did you get the full inquisition?”
Tabitha shook her head and blew out a breath. “The child grilled me for three solid hours on our first lesson. I needed a nap afterward.”
Peter looked from Bethany Anne to Tabitha. “I don’t know if I should be worried?”
Tabitha waved him off. “Nah, I’ve got it handled. I’m like expert level at distracting them into doing the lesson I planned.”
Bethany Anne winked and walked away, throwing up a hand to wave at them over her shoulder. “I’m going to check on the others we rescued before Michael and I start dinner. Enjoy teaching my children.”
22
Devon, QBBS Guardian, Immersive Training and Recreation Scenario: Preparation Room
Ricole threw her arms out to the sides. “This is so real!”
Jacqueline yelped. “OW!”
Ricole winced. “Oops. Sorry.” She didn’t look sorry for long. “Have you seen the choice of scenarios? It’s pretty extensive.”
Jacqueline rubbed her chest where she'd been the victim
of Ricole's enthusiasm. “I don’t remember getting hurt in any of these training simulations before.”
Mark grinned. “Suck it up. This is next-level badassery, and I’m not wasting a single second of it. I found a fantasy scenario. One of the reviews said there are dragons.”
Jacqueline’s eyes lit up. “Is that the one with magic? I thought that one looked like fun.”
“I know, right? Wanna go?”
Jacqueline nodded, and Mark grabbed her by the hand. They selected the scenario, and the next second they were gone.
Ricole tilted her head toward a group of Noel-nis in another part of the room who were all staring at her. “This might be trouble.”
Sabine narrowed her eyes at the group, who took a step back.
“Oh, they don’t want a fight.” Ricole’s surprise when she spotted the tablets they were holding was complete. When she relaxed, their hopeful looks returned.
Demon bristled. What do they want?
Sabine laid a hand on Demon’s back to calm her. “Easy. They just want to take a photo with Ricole.”
Demon looked up at Ricole. Do you know them?
Ricole glanced at the group of mostly adolescent females. “Nope.”
Then none of this situation makes sense, and I’m done with it. There has to be something to hunt around here. Demon stalked off with her tail in the air.
Sabine laughed and patted Ricole on the shoulder. “Enjoy your fans. I’ll be at the shooting range when you’re done.”
Ricole wasn’t sure what to do, but the young females took Sabine’s exit as permission to approach. They all began talking at once, which Ricole found comforting. She posed for photos and answered questions about how she became a fighter.
“I grew up on High Tortuga back when it was called…never mind what it was called. I grew up there, and I stayed out of the gangs by fighting for my freedom. Then I was lucky to find good people who took me in,” she told the wide-eyed listeners.
One of the females spoke up. “Would you teach us?”
Through The Fire and Flame (The Kurtherian Endgame Book 3) Page 23