All’s Fair in Blood and War (The Kurtherian Endgame Book 4)

by Michael Anderle

  The nondescript door was locked. He would have dismissed it as another supply closet if not for the box at chest height on the wall beside it.

  He looked over his shoulder at Akio. Check this out. It looks like I just found our target. This door has a biometric lock.

  He looked at it, his eyebrows narrowing… “Ahhhh Shit.” He turned towards Akio. “Are any of those furry meatbags out there still intact enough that we can use them to open it?

  Akio was by his side a moment later. He bent to inspect the blank display. I believe they may be beyond the ability to open it in any case. If the lock is biometric, where is the scanner?

  John's grin dropped away. Well, damn. It's going to work by telepathy or some shit, isn't it? Can you trick it into recognizing you?

  Akio frowned in concentration for a few moments. No, and we don't have long. Our clock started counting down with the first Ooken you killed.

  John grunted and shrugged. Yeah, well, it’s not as if we left a trail for them to follow. It’s just the three out front. We should have a little while at least before they work out where we are. He took a step back and examined the door when something tripped his subconscious.

  Can you feel that around the door?

  Akio tilted his head and surveyed the door. He felt the disturbance in the electrical field John had picked up. It’s alarmed, he confirmed, and his eyes traveled around the door. It goes in an unbroken line around the entry, so how do we get in without alerting the Ooken to our precise location?

  John stared at the door for a moment, then grinned and took another two steps back, then a couple to the right. What do you think? He nodded at a panel on the wall in front of him.

  Akio made a face. I think another half-step to be sure, and don’t hold back.

  John raised an eyebrow. Why would I do that? He inclined his head and shuffled back more, now almost touching the wall behind him. Good?

  Akio nodded, folding his arms. I will be judging you for style.

  John chuckled. Challenge accepted.

  He took two steps forward and spun precisely on one foot, twisting his hips as he brought up the other foot and stomped his armored boot into the panel. The composite the panel was made from buckled under the force of John’s kick, sending a shudder through the wall.

  Akio made a noncommittal noise.

  John held up a finger. Wait for it… A moment later the panel fell forward, spilling a heap of crumbled insulation out onto the corridor floor. He swept a hand toward the hole he’d made. One alternative entrance.

  Akio see-sawed his hand. Almost. There’s still the panel on the other side to get through. I’ll give you a nine and a half, since it was excellent work in a confined space.

  John frowned. Only nine and a half?

  Akio shrugged. Your hip flexion was a half a degree less than it could have been during the wind-up. You lost power because of it.

  There was a moment’s pause from John, who shook his head. Damn, that’s exacting. Did you learn how to critique from BA? Want some push-ups out of me? John filed the tip away for later and looked through the hole he’d made. He turned back to Akio. I’m kidding. I can always improve. Still, I’d like to see you make that kick—

  Akio turned a perfect rotation on the spot, his foot meeting the exact center of the remaining obstacle to their entry. The composite came away from the wall in one piece and flew into the room beyond, bouncing off of something. Sickly artificial light shone through from the other side.

  John nodded in appreciation as the panel came to a spinning stop. He gestured for Akio to go through first. It’s not cocky if you can do it.

  Akio ducked through the hole and went a few steps in before turning back to John. It’s all in the hips. He chuckled. You just have to be flexible.

  John grinned. Ask my wife. She’ll tell you I’m plenty flexible. He raised an eyebrow and gyrated his pelvis a couple of times to accentuate his point.

  Akio snorted, turning to get a look around the room they were in. Of course, I’ll get right on that, just as soon as I put my affairs in order and make my final wishes known. He walked over to a door and looked inside. Servers.

  John lifted a shoulder. I’d say that was a wise decision on your part.

  He was only half-listening to Akio, his attention drawn to the computer on the solitary desk in the empty room.

  He sat down at the desk and waved his hands over the computer in the extremely slim hope it would boot up, but nothing happened. I’m going out on a limb here, he sent Akio as he wiped his hand on the desk. But this looks like more tech you need to be psychic and an Ooken to use. Can you imagine being the Ooken who had to sit in here every day to maintain all this?

  Akio came over to the desk and looked over John’s shoulder. This is definitely what Bethany Anne wanted us to find. Want to call in tech support and get started?

  John nodded and opened the comm link. Admiral?

  Admiral Thomas’ familiar voice answered. Good to hear from you.

  You too, Admiral, Akio replied congenially.

  John grunted. Same here. If that completes the greeting portion of the conversation, we made it to our target with minimal disturbance. Are you ready to receive the data?

  Is this the score we’d hoped for? the Admiral asked, choosing not to mention that John’s start to a conversation was just as abrupt as Bethany Anne's these days.

  John grinned, although Admiral Thomas couldn’t see it. How does a room full of servers ripe for the copying sound?

  Sounds damn good, John, Admiral Thomas replied, instantly forgetting his grumpiness. I won’t lie. Any clue about what you have there?

  None whatsoever, Akio told him, passing John an open case containing a toolkit and a number of small black disks, each no bigger than half a fingernail.

  John ignored the toolkit and pried apart the computer casing with his bare hands. He treated the tiny disk with much more care, inserting it carefully into the computer’s inner workings before he spoke again. ADAM’s device is inside the computer. Are you ready to receive?

  Admiral Thomas sounded like a kid on Christmas morning. Hit me.

  Former Ooken Territory, SD Atalanta, Admiral’s Office

  Admiral Thomas stood in front of the war board, his eyes skipping from feed to feed. There was action across the board, enough that he was hard-pressed to keep up with everything that was happening on the Ooken worlds.

  They owned everything between QT2 and location three, but the word had gotten out and the Ooken were beginning to fight back.

  Of course, it was too little, too late. The Ooken had signed their death warrants the very first time they committed a heinous act in the name of their advancement.

  It had just taken this long for someone strong enough to come along and enforce it, and Bethany Anne wasn’t one to fuck around.

  Both minor locations had been taken care of. John and Akio had hit the jackpot at their second target. Now they were headed over to give Gabrielle and Eric support, and the superdreadnoughts had Gated in and begun the bombardment of the colony as they were leaving.

  Early progress was looking good, despite the setback Bethany Anne and Michael had with the Leath. He was glad about the progress since the unfolding intelligence was revealing the bigger picture to be more complex with every new report he received.

  The information pouring in from the teams was at once revealing and horrifying. It wasn’t just technology the Ooken had stolen. The third location and the surrounding area of space had originally belonged to another species, the Moen.

  This species were so damned submissive the Ooken had, in essence, showed up on their doorstep one day demanding to be served, and the Moen had rolled over to show their bellies and thanked their new overlords for the privilege.

  Definitely not a typical human response.

  Scott and Eve had sent this in from the first place they’d hit at location three. The issues the scout ship EIs had come up against were no obstacle to Eve. They ha
d uploaded from two locations so far.

  Admiral Thomas was waiting to hear that they’d reached the other information repository the largest colony possessed.

  He didn’t need to speak to Bethany Anne to know how she was going to react to what they’d learned once she checked in.

  He sighed aloud. “You are dead bastards. You just need to get with the program.”

  Location Seven, QBS Izanami

  Bethany Anne waited on the bridge while Izanami brought the ship in relatively close to Loralei’s locator beacon and messaged the EI. She had her couch in the upright position and her eyes on the screen with a live feed to the ship bay Loralei was headed toward.

  The scout ship slid silently through the translucent barrier. “Give me audio to the bay, Izanami.” She paused a beat for Izanami to comply. “Good job, Loralei. Where have they taken our kidnapped Leath?”

  Loralei’s ship came to a soft stop. “I’ve already sent my logs to Izanami, my Queen. She reminded me there are, and I quote, ‘children on board who don’t need to hear my dirty mouth.’”

  Bethany Anne smirked. “My children are not here right now, Loralei. Go ahead, but keep it short and sweet.”

  “Okay, then.” The EI laid it out in the simplest terms. “Izanami told me to go after the Leath ship, so I followed them through the Gate. The Ooken didn’t catch me, so I kept on after them. They took the Leath ship to the coordinates I gave Izanami. That’s all I know, because there are three of those huge fucking ships guarding the colony, so I hid my ass and waited for you to send someone for me.”

  Bethany Anne wasn’t worried. Izanami could get in and out without being detected. The question was, could she and Michael do the same? She was definitely making the children remain aboard this time.

  Her fingers began tapping as she considered her options. “Well, fuck. This is a complication I hadn’t counted on.”

  Michael stepped out of the elevator just as she spoke. “What complication?”

  Bethany Anne turned in her seat. “Three Ooken dreadnoughts between the Leath we came here to liberate and us. Not a problem.”

  “Of course not.” Michael smiled warmly as he took his couch. “Our dreadnoughts are much bigger than their dreadnoughts.”

  “This is not a size comparison,” Izanami retorted. “You can have a heavy hitter in a small ship.”

  Michael snorted. “Check your databanks. It is ALWAYS about size.”

  18

  Devon, QBBS Guardian, Station Commander’s Office

  “Tim, are you listening?”

  Tim snapped out of his daydream and focused on the holoscreen. “Sorry, babe, you just got me thinking for a moment then.” Sabine gave him the Look—the one that made him squirm in his seat. “Babe, can you not look so mad? It’s not helping.”

  Sabine sighed, and her cute frown vanished. “As if I could be mad at you for long. Did you hear what I said?”

  Tim flashed a grin. “I was listening…” He racked his brain to see if he could shake loose what Sabine had been telling him while he’d been imagining the various ways they could have fun with a few sets of zip ties and a large pot of Yollin honey and almost got lost in the daydream all over again.

  “Tim!” Sabine waved her hands to bring him back. “You have no idea, do you?”

  He hung his head and held up his hands. “You’re right, I wasn’t listening,” he admitted. “But in my defense, you totally distracted me.”

  Sabine chuckled, her blue eyes sparkling. “I was just wishing you luck for your meeting with Peter. I will see you tomorrow, no?”

  Her eyebrow quirked a bit and Tim’s concentration almost went again. “With bells on.”

  Sabine giggled. “Now, that I would love to see.”

  The screen went dark, and Tim sat there for a few minutes to shake off the dazed feeling Sabine always left him with. That woman was a witch; he was sure of it.

  CEREBRO pinged the speaker on Tim’s desk, dragging him reluctantly back to reality. “What's up?”

  One of CEREBRO's more businesslike voices came from the speaker. “The Achronyx is due to arrive at dock zero-zero-one within the next half-hour. Commander Silvers has just filed the flight plan with us.”

  Tim pushed his chair back, getting to his feet. “Shit!” He grabbed his jacket from the hook by the door and slid his arms into the sleeves. “He’s getting here early?”

  “He asked us to inform you that he will be taking a walk around the station before your meeting.”

  “Thanks, CEREBRO.” Tim headed out the door, opening a link to Rickie and Joel. Guys, Peter got here early, and it looks like he’s here for more than discussing this month’s rotation. Please tell me we’re ready for the surprise inspection he’s calling a “walk.”

  Oh, sure, Rickie deadpanned. I’ll just run around and close up all the drug dens and brothels we got running all over the station before Peter notices them. Shit, Tim. Chill.

  Joel cut in, Shut it, Rickie. We’re good, boss. That's the old Tim talking. You've got everything under control. I'm even looking forward to giving my report on the teams.

  Tim waited for CEREBRO to open the elevator door and stepped in. I know. Hell, I'm impressed at how effectively the system is working.

  Joel’s enthusiasm was contagious.

  Rickie didn't need any extra pep. It just makes too much sense to steer the adventure seekers toward the fight they're looking for.

  The inspection isn't a problem, Joel continued, Peter is fair. It could be much worse; we could be getting a visit from the Admiral's wife.

  Tim shuddered, remembering Mrs. Foxton-Thomas' last visit to the station. We should count ourselves lucky. She's almost as demanding as the Queen.

  Rickie's reply was laced with admiration. Yeah, but she's shit-hot at recruiting all the unruly assholes who turn up here into the Navy.

  The elevator opened, and Tim spotted a pair of those same assholes getting into it in a seating area by the vending machines.

  He ground his teeth when he saw the damage they'd caused with their petty drama and strode over. “What’s going on here?” he demanded, grabbing the two young men by their hair to pull them apart.

  They struggled until they saw who had hold of them. Then they went pale, recognizing Tim's face from the orientation video.

  Tim released the pair of them once he was satisfied they'd calmed down.

  They glared at each other, and each of the Weres began accusing the other at the same time.

  Tim folded his arms across his chest. “Enough!” he roared at the young Weres. “This is a battle station, not the Wild fucking West. Whatever the hell you two are fighting over, I don't care. It's done.”

  He pointed around at the vending machine guts strewn about. “Both of you will clean up this fucking disrespect you showed my station and then report to maintenance. You can spend the rest of the day there as an apology for the mess you caused here.”

  He pointed vaguely at the ceiling, seeing the stubborn looks they were trying to hide. “CEREBRO will inform me if you fail to arrive, and I'll have you shipped straight back to the Federation. Now, get started before I change my mind about giving you a chance to readjust your damned mindset.”

  He shook his head in disappointment and turned his back as the two young men scrambled for the spilled contents of the broken vending machine, cursing each other for the dirty work they'd been given.

  Tim shook his head. “Fuckin’ clownshoes. What, am I a bouncer in an officer's uniform?” He continued to the dock, bitching under his breath that the pain in his ass testosterone-fueled shenanigans like that caused was supposed to be a thing of the past.

  As intimidating as he found the Admiral's wife, the prospect of her visit always became somewhat more attractive when the order he worked to maintain was upset by an overabundance of assholes aboard the station.

  Peter had just disembarked when Tim arrived at the VIP dock. He met Tim with a back-slapping bearhug. “Long time, dude. Long time.”


  Tim nodded as he returned the hug. “I know, right? It's good to see you. I was sorry to miss you when you picked Sabine up on your way down to the city.”

  Peter waved him off. “Nah, we were only here a few minutes. It had been a big day for Todd already.”

  “Sabine has told me enough that I feel like I’ve met the kid already.” Tim’s voice softened. “It's great that you honored Todd that way. I know how much his death hurt you.”

  Peter nodded. “It hurt us all. But I didn’t name our son, Tabitha did.”

  Tim let out a low whistle. “Wow, that must have meant a lot to you. You guys were always the tightest.”

  Peter grinned. “Which is why it's the perfect name for our son.” He swept a hand to ask Tim to show him the way. “Let’s get this tour done and dusted so we can catch up for a spell.”

  Devon, First City, The Hexagon, Penthouse Apartment

  Peter crept through the door so as not to wake Tabitha or Todd.

  The after-meeting catch-up with Tim, Rickie, and Joel had run for a few hours longer than expected. It was good to be working with the guys again, and he was satisfied that they had their end of the Interdiction handled.

  What he really appreciated was that they were competent enough that he would be able to spend most of his time at the apartment with Tabitha and Todd.

  Peter dropped the breakfast he’d picked up on his way home on the kitchen counter and tiptoed into the bedroom. He took a second to appreciate how cute Tabitha looked when she was asleep with the sheets scrunched around her curled-up body before peering in at his sleeping son in the Pod-crib.

  He slipped into bed beside Tabitha and nuzzled her neck. “Good morning, beautiful.”

  “Morning,” Tabitha murmured, “or is it still night? I hope to God it’s still night.” She turned over and pulled the sheets tighter around herself. “Fair warning, Todd slept for a grand total of, like, an hour since you left for the station, so anything that pokes me in the back is likely to get snapped off.”