People started laughing, and Eric, smiling wide put his hand up to quiet them down, “John says, ‘Well, what do I spend the points on for cussing creatively if not to buy a quick feel?’ and Bethany Anne replies, I’m not kidding, ‘John, I have a headache.'”
This time, there was no keeping Eric’s table quiet as they saw Bethany Anne place her head in her hands as if she was trying to hide.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Schwabenland, Antarctica
“Is this the right choice, Maria?” Horst asked her.
Maria was sitting at the large table, listening to those who would decide where the group would go. While Maria’s decision was accepted as the core desire, the decision related to where all of them should go was something that those at the top of the group needed to agree upon. It was larger than just a location, it concerned what would happen with their legacy as well.
Schwabenland would be no more.
Maria looked around the table, to the other eight people present. She smiled at them all and gave the tiniest of shrugs. “I cannot be sure, but I can tell you that the decision allows me to sleep at night.”
“We left one war, to join another,” Horst told her. “Ironic, that.”
“Were we ever not at war, Horst?” she asked him. Maria could tell that those with concerns had voted Horst the spokesperson. “We made a deal with the devil to be here. I’m sure he thought once he took care of the world, he would have time to deal with us.”
“Then the Americans came,” Horst reminded her.
“Yes, they did. And you and the guards of freedom fought for our own version of independence. Choosing never to accept a world leader over us, again.”
“And now, what is changing your mind?” Horst asked.
Maria looked towards those around the table, “Relations…and time.” She turned back to Horst, “Would you want to fight, continue to fight, against those here on Earth? We have been attacked already, and the Etheric Empire is leaving.” She pointed up, towards space, “They are leaving to take the fight for Earth’s freedom away from here. It makes sense,” She pulled her arm down, “We have a choice. Never again will we have freedom due to obscurity. No, we have the opportunity to be welcomed in any country. Not for our bodies,” there were a few chuckles around the table, “but for our minds and more importantly, for our technology. Once they have that? Well, we would be irrelevant once again.”
“And the Etheric Empire, what do they want us for?” Horst asked. Not in a disrespectful manner, but a firm request nonetheless.
“Actually, nothing.” Maria answered, “Our technologies are not as powerful as what they have already mastered. Their people, some of their people, are so advanced due to genetic and nanocyte manipulation they will live to be hundreds of years old.”
“I thought Barnabas was already centuries old?” Horst asked.
“He is, Horst. He has lived over ten centuries. If you want to know the measure of evil, he will tell you that he has lived it. At one time, he feels he was the living embodiment of evil.”
“And we would follow such as this?” Cheryl, a woman wearing a faded green dress asked from her left. Her hair, long and gray, fell past her shoulders. “Can evil redeem itself?”
“That is the existential question, isn’t it Cheryl?” Maria answered, “It is not the actions that need to change. Those are imprinted in history, and one can only atone for the actions. No, the question is can one’s soul change.”
“So, what is the answer?” Horst demanded.
Maria blew out a breath, “I’ve come to understand that to answer the question, we need to ask that of ourselves.”
“What! How so?” Horst asked, surprised.
“Because, I’ve been in contact with the alien TOM. It seems that those who provided myself and my sisters with help are not generally considered wise, caring and as wonderful as perhaps we thought them.” She shrugged, “So, from that perspective, if it is true, we have implemented evil. It was only due to something happening on the Aldebaran’s side, what I don’t know, that we didn’t finish the effort necessary to have them arrive here.”
“How were we supposed to know?” Cheryl interrupted.
“Is result, or intent the deciding factor, here?” Maria asked. “Because, I understand our intent was correct. However, the result might have been the subjugation of Earth had we been successful.”
“Why do you believe this alien, TOM?” Horst asked.
“Because I have a soft spot for aliens?” She answered, with a smile and chuckle which others joined in. “No, I asked him to allow me to speak with the Yollin Captain, Kael-ven as well. Between the two, they convinced me it is more likely than not.”
“How does this tie into Barnabas?” Cheryl said.
“When he was ‘in his evil mind,' others had killed his spouse. He does not remember that time. It was after this event he went and lived as a monk, seeking peace and wisdom away from humanity as much as possible. Asking questions incessantly.”
“That hasn’t changed,” Horst muttered.
“No,” Maria answered to the humor of the group. “He still asks a lot of questions, that is true. But, he was wise enough to find out if Bethany Anne could contain the beast he fears is still within himself, should it become uncaged.”
“What happened?” Cheryl asked.
“I understand she knocked him out multiple times before he realized he should stop asking questions that pissed her off,” Maria answered dryly.
“Wow, wish that was possible for me,” Horst admitted as he stared at Maria.
“Bully,” she replied.
“Oh, sure, the whole weak woman card,” Horst grinned, “This century seems much more about gender equality, Maria.”
“Well, I’ll inform Bethany Anne or one of the other women in her group you wish to work out with them, ok?”
“Let’s not be getting hasty here, those are young women, and I’d hate to have an unfortunate lesson learned.”
“Ageist,” Maria retorted.
“I have allergies against black and blue marks,” Horst responded, “They don’t heal very quickly anymore.”
“Hmmph,” Cheryl told him, “So, you believe that a human can do evil, but without intent, it isn’t the same?”
Maria nodded, “In this case, yes. But, I want to caution that I feel for those here on Earth and I would try to help our nation, at some level, with our technology.”
“What does TQB say about it?” Horst asked.
“They believe it could lead to destabilization between the world powers. However, while TQB is trying to find those that attacked us, they have not at this point. I would provide the technology transfer with some qualifications that should keep the advance down, to a degree anyhow. If the group that attacked us is not found, then our country can catch up to the technology advancement I should hope. Should an alien group, of which we unaware of at this time, attack us, then I presume those in Germany would share the technology so the world could quickly respond.”
Maria shrugged, “Those that wish to remain, may stay. Those that wish to go with me to another star system, may go with me. Who is voting go?”
Maria looked around the table and nodded in relief.
Every hand was raised.
A dark field outside Brussels, Belgium
“If you think I am going to go to the trees with you, Abd, you’ve been bitten too many times by a camel,” Paula told the man who was trying to coerce her to go for a walk.
Just a little one.
“Abd, stand back,” Abdullah ordered as he joined the two of them. Abd made excuses and went over to the group of twenty men waiting and smoking some ten paces away.
“If you were wearing proper clothing, this would not happen,” Abdullah told her.
“You and I both know that is a lousy excuse. I should be able to walk naked like I was brought into this world through here, unmolested.”
“Perhaps that is how it should be, but it is not how it
is,” Abdullah explained. “When one is stronger, the temptations can be quite difficult to subdue.”
“Then, perhaps it is a good thing I have a pistol to help me with negotiations, right?” Paula asked.
Abdullah looked down and noticed as she pressed the gun hard enough into her jacket for him to see, “Yes, the cat has claws I see,” he said.
“No, the cat has nine rounds,” Paula told him, “and multiple mags if necessary to continue the discussion.”
Abdullah looked up into the night sky, “When is this magical carpet ride going to get here?”
“He’s already up there,” Paula said, “He’s just waiting for me to let him know to land.”
Abdullah looked over at her, “Why didn’t you tell him to land already?”
Paula took a couple of steps forward and spoke over her shoulder, “Because it would have been easier for him to shoot all of the guys out here if someone was going to be stupid with me.”
Paula told the men to move back, or be flattened. Moments later, one of the larger Majestic-12 ships landed silently just meters from the men. Landing on four legs, the ramp lowered from underneath the ship. Two men, with weapons, came down the craft.
Tyler went to speak with Abdullah, Antony came over to her. “Trouble?”
She shrugged, “Nothing I couldn’t handle. This isn’t my first rodeo, but it would have been more trouble to find another twenty willing participants quickly.”
“Understood,” he told her and leaned a little closer, “Just to be clear, they know everyone is getting off and shooting across in space, right? We aren’t landing anywhere inside.”
Paula turned towards the twenty men and nodded, whispering, “Everyone understands this will put them in the history books as the first suicide bombers in space, for the glory of God.”
Antony straightened up, “Well, they will be that much closer to heaven when they explode. They don’t have bombs on them now, right?”
Paula chuckled, “No, I explained their stuff wasn’t going to work well in outer space.”
She turned back to Antony and said, “I told you our bombs are much better.”
New Mexico - USA
One week, which was how long it took Barnabas to track Abesimmons to D.C. then others in the group to follow him back to a location in New Mexico before they lost him when he flew into an area and disappeared underground.
It made sense, actually. Barnabas and others had figured out that the most likely location for the group they were searching for, was underground. That said, the site also needed to be in a relatively unpopulated area. However, when you have dozens, if not hundreds of ways to leave from over two thousand square miles? It boggled the mind pinpointing where they were really located.
So, Team BMW came up with a solution using a mix of existing technology for drones out of Japan and adding additional technologies, including self-destructing abilities that would go into effect if the system ever was out of contact with it’s primary for more than thirty seconds.
It was time.
The Dropship Pod, unseen above the clouds dropped three small, dark gray parent orbs into the night.
They fell the three miles before slowing their mad rush to finally hover just inches above the ground. Alone in the forest night, no humans saw the first orb open a hole and disgorged twelve flying insects.
Made of metal.
Receiving instructions, the insects fluttered away, each to a location that allowed them entrance into the underground caves system below.
The second and third orbs moved silently in the night. The first stopping five miles south of the first location releasing twelve of its own drones.
The third was three miles to the west, doing the same thing.
Each insect drone flew into the cave and then continued on, mapping the insides with 3d laser technology and uploading the information directly to their parent.
The controlling drone then sent the information to the dropship pod which sent the information Etherically to ArchAngel.
Before too long, thirty-six little drones were mapping the caverns in the Dulce Lakes area. Occasionally, one would have to stop and backtrack back out. Five times, the little drones had to leave the cavern they were searching and seek another surface entrance to go back into the underground areas and continue their effort.
The cavern system, ArchAngel figured out, was huge.
Every fifteen hours, the little drones would return to the main pod for a recharge. Then, go back into the system again. Occasionally, they would have different orders depending on what ArchAngel was piecing together.
ADAM was watching the results with interest. If ever an A.I. could be said to feel emotion, then it was happening now.
ADAM was feeling pleasure.
Boston, Ma - USA
Charles nodded to the security officer, then drove past the gate into the large country estate. He didn’t recognize this security person, but then again he didn’t pay too much attention to the security guards, anyway.
The only reason he noticed this time, he figured, was the guard looked Japanese. A strange occurrence, to be sure, but not out of the realm of possibility.
Charles pulled into his front spot marked with a large, Cyrillic ‘C’ on the ground for him. The next two spots were labeled with the letters ‘F’ and ‘D’ respectively.
Charles got out of his Range Rover and grabbed his briefcase. The effort in the Senate to pass electrical power legislation was doing well so far and should help their oil efforts. The United Nations was moving forward, as well. Closing his door, he walked towards the entrance of the mansion and pressed his hand against the security panel. The door lock clicked, and he stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
Their security people were responsible for areas outside of these walls. The whole purpose of this mansion was to keep secrets. Secrets he, David and Fred spoke about openly within the walls of this building. They had cleaners come in, and then security swept the house for anything the cleaners might have left behind.
Since the three of them weren’t living here, this happened once a month.
He walked through the entryway into the bar, set his briefcase down and quickly made himself a rum and Coke. Hanging his coat on the rack, he grabbed his drink and case and continued down the carpeted hallway into the main library and meeting room.
He stopped at the chessboard and raised an eyebrow. Fred had moved, but it was a strange move. Charles’s eyebrows drew together as he studied the board with more focus, trying to fathom the reason for the move. If he didn’t know better, he would swear Fred paid a ringer to play for him.
Charles put down his briefcase and took a sip of his drink, thinking through all of the different moves and countermoves. He must have stood there five minutes before he realized the trap.
He might be in trouble.
Charles frowned. This was too subtle for Fred. He either did pay someone to help him with this move, or he got lucky and had no idea that twelve steps in the future, Charles would be in trouble. He took another sip and moved his Queen to Bishop’s three before bending down and picking up his briefcase and walked further into the room. He had almost made it to his chair when he stopped.
Drink halfway up to his mouth, he stared at the dusky-skinned beauty sitting in David’s chair. It happened to be facing away from the chess board, the back too high for him to see that someone was occupying it.
Someone that shouldn’t be here.
“Who are you?” he asked her.
“Tabitha. Why don’t you sit down Charles? Fred and David have just arrived and will be joining us, shortly.”
Charles didn’t move but pointed at Tabitha using the hand with the drink, anger coloring his voice, “You are not supposed to be here, this is private property.” He looked around the room, to see if anyone else might be hiding.
“When did rules mean anything to you, Charles?” Tabitha asked, standing gracefully, her hand trailing along the back of the leather
chair as she walked around it. She was dressed in a black pantsuit, sleeves slit down the length of the fabric, her tanned arms peeking in and out of view.
Charles could hear his two partners coming down, talking to each other when David abruptly changed tone and spoke, his voice louder, “Guard, you are not supposed to be inside this house! I will call and inform your company they will be docked for failure to…Good God, stop pointing that pistol at me!”
Don't Cross This Line (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 14) Page 13