She spoke slowly, clearly, so no one would misunderstand, “There is no other rule but my rule. There are no other options but mine. We will either win the fight, or we will die trying, Ad Aeternitatem!” She called out, “Forever! Fight with me, beside me, before me and support me, or choose to go back to Earth. I will not buckle, I will not bow, and I will not give up or give in ... EVER!”
Now, a few people had started to take a knee out in the crowd.
“We will move forward, we will cross that line,” she pointed to the area of the Annex Gate. “We will win our battles, and we will be peaceful to those aliens who would be peaceful towards us. Or we will do what is necessary to those who wish for war.”
More and more people took a knee, the action was never requested or required. It had happened at the first allegiance event and every one since.
Bethany Anne moderated her voice, “I will seek to be fair, to be just, to be a good Queen for you. We as a people will seek to be a good ally to those who would ally with us.”
This time, a little of her emotions leaked. Her sheer determination emboldened those in the front nearest her as she finished her speech.
“But we will always be a strong people, people who are willing to talk peace, but always back it up with strength. We are the Etheric Empire, and we will never, EVER, run.”
Now, every person in the cavern was on one knee.
“What say you? Are you with me?”
The guys all adjusted their ear implants to reduce the roaring from the crowd as Bethany Anne stood and accepted their allegiance.
The Etheric Empire grew another three thousand souls that day.
CHAPTER EIGHT
New York City, NY - USA
With the Tontos checking out the house, Tabitha walked around the large mansion, wondering what it must have been like when Michael was here.
She knew he had an area that was underground. Bethany Anne had chosen to not visit there, and frankly, no one was sure if it was possible to get into or if it was safe.
A large metal door had been installed to cover the access. Bethany Anne had told them she wanted it solid, but not airtight. If Michael should ever need to get past the door, there needed to be a way in.
Tabitha walked down the stairs that would lead to the suite of rooms or whatever Michael had built for himself under the house and sat down on the last two steps staring at the metal door for an hour, wondering what her Father had in there. Wondering what he was like before he knew Bethany Anne before he had started to soften some, being around so many women in his life and she grinned.
Michael was challenged, for sure, by both her and Bethany Anne. She figured out his temperament and fought back so much he had secretly asked to have her replaced. Bethany Anne had stopped that effort. Tabitha had almost wet her panties from laughing when she found out that Bethany Anne had told Michael the only replacement available was a gay man. End result, Michael had retained her and for that alone Tabitha would be forever grateful.
If there was one thing that Michael gave her, it was a man she could believe in. A man, who she knew from the bottom of her heart and her head, would have supported her for the rest of what had become a very long life. He taught her to believe in herself because that was the only way she could do what he demanded.
And when she produced miracles, he made her feel good from what she accomplished. He told her, many times, that his ability to help clean up the mess in South America would not have been as successful without her efforts.
She smiled, there was never any smoke blown by Michael. If he said you did well? Then you absolutely had done well. Not just by the measure of today, but by the measure of people working with him over centuries.
It was a hell of a team to be a part of, and she felt special that she was. The most recent member of Michael’s technical team, perhaps, and for sure not the last.
Bethany Anne promised they would have him back.
—
“You know,” Hirotoshi spoke softly from the top of the stairs behind Tabitha, “We always have a bolt hole, there is likely another way in.”
Tabitha shrugged. This time, she had heard him at the top, “Probably? I’ve no idea if anyone but Michael would be able to use it, though. And, it seems a little voyeuristic to me to look inside his bedroom.”
Tabitha turned to look up the stairs and put up her fingers in a small pinch movement, keeping them an inch apart, “Even if part of me desperately wants to have something personal of his, you know?”
Hirotoshi came down the stairs and stopped, dropping down to sit a couple of steps above her, “Yes, I understand, Tabitha.”
“We going to find them, Honcho Tonto?” She asked.
“Them which?” he replied.
“The bastards that blocked me so many times already.”
“Yes, we are close. Who knows, maybe your effort to track them to New York is right, and they are here within only a few miles of us right now.”
Tabitha laughed, “Damn, you do know how to turn me on, HT,” she made wringing motions with her hands, “Just let me have a few minutes with each of their necks, you know?”
“Get in line behind the Queen, ok?”
“Yeah,” her shoulders fell, “Like I would have a lot left over after she was done.”
“It isn’t your station to replace her justice, should she choose to implement it.”
“I know, but she does this kick them into the Etheric, and they disappear shit. I want them penalized.”
“How so?”
Tabitha thought about that a few moments, “Give me a minute…or ten. I’ll come up with something suitable, I’m sure.”
“Well,” Hirotoshi added as he stood up, “you might wait until you find out who they are before you select a punishment.” He started back up the stairs, his feet barely making a whisper, “I’m checking on the group, Kimosabe.”
Tabitha stood up and started following him, working on her foot placement to minimize the sound. “I’m with you, and learning, Number One.”
—
“It was hidden,” Katsu commented as he, Tabitha and Hirotoshi looked at the laptop sitting on the large wooden desk, “False bottom in one of the drawers,” he pointed to the lower left bottom drawer
“Well, scoot your butt over, and let momma give this a try.” Katsu stood up, and Tabitha slipped into the chair. It was an old IBM Touchpad. Katsu already had the power supply plugged in, and she hit the power button. The old floppy disk drive made its chucking noise as it checked for a boot disc, then the fan could be heard as it started to spin.
“Damn, the old IBM’s last forever,” she murmured as they waited for the memory count and then the first screen came up.
“Windows WHAT?” Tabitha choked out. “Wow, who the fuck was old enough to use this antique OS?”
“Michael,” Hirotoshi suggested.
Tabitha looked down at the chair, then around the small library-looking office they were in and considered where he would have come up from his rooms and breathed out, “Holy shit.” She rubbed her hands on the leather armrests and looked up at Hirotoshi, “I’m sitting where Michael would sit?”
Hirotoshi nodded, “Most likely.”
She pointed to the laptop, “This is coming with me.”
The final boot screen and password came up, and she held out her hand, “Katsu?” He placed a USB device in it, and she looked on both sides of the laptop and found the USB input. She pulled out her tablet and set it on the table and went through her own security to bring it up, “Achronyx?”
“I’m here and listening, Tabitha.” the tablet replied.
Tabitha looked up to both men, a question on her face as she spoke so softly even the Vampires could barely hear her, “Who changed his programming to be nice?” she asked them and they both shrugged.
“Do you want something, or are you just wasting my time?” the tablet spoke again.
“Oh, neverfuckingmind.” She told the two guys, voice normal aga
in.
“Glad to have the normal Achronyx back,” she said to the tablet. “I’ve got a small task for you. Old IBM laptop, running Windows software and I need you to hack in past the password. Be careful, the OS is old, but the guy that was running the security at that time was top notch.”
“I’m always careful,” Achronyx replied.
“My ass you are,” she retorted, “Remember Budapest?”
“That was a miscalculation about the ability of the original owner of the server,” the E.I. answered.
“Whatever floats your digital boat, you’ve been warned,” she told it.
Tabitha leaned back in the large leather chair, turning her head this way and that and realized she could still smell the tiniest amount of Michael on the leather, “This chair needs to go back with us.” She looked up to Hirotoshi, “It’ll be a present.”
He nodded his understanding.
“Security is bypassed,” Achronyx interrupted at the same time the OS continued past the login screen to finish boot up.
“Lord of the fantastically crappy GUI,” she muttered as she looked around at the old, large icons, “no wonder those old dudes can’t see shit.” Then, she whistled and pointed to the screen, “This has a Bethany Anne folder on it.”
“I think the Queen needs to be made aware of this,” Hirotoshi suggested.
“I…just…but…,” finally, her shoulders slumped, “Ok.”
She leaned back in her chair and sought the connection she had with Bethany Anne.
Bethany Anne?
Yes?
Busy?
One second... Nope, good now Tabitha, what’s up?
I’m at Michael’s house.
Ok.
We found something.
OOoooookay.
I’m pretty sure that we have Michael’s old laptop, and it has a folder about you on it.
What’s it say?
I’ve not opened it, she replied, who do you take me for?
A hacker that doesn’t know when to stop looking. Is Hirotoshi or Ryu behind you?
Yes, she admitted, Hirotoshi.
Ok, that explains the failure of Tabitha to be Tabitha. So, he suggests I know that there is something about me, right?
Got it in one.
Do you need to go into that file? Other than itchy fingers that all hackers have, to know shit they shouldn’t know about? Bethany Anne asked, humor coloring her question.
Dammit, you make it sound like a disease, Tabitha replied.
It is, a mental disease to be sure. But, we all have mental conditions, and yours works for you. It’s why you make a good Ranger.
Tabitha didn’t know how to respond to that statement, she hadn’t considered her insatiable curiosity an asset with her Ranger role.
No, I don’t.
Ok, then stay focused on your efforts. From what I remember, Carl and probably Michael had some hellacious backdoors all over the…
YES! Tabitha’s mental mind link practically screamed back.
Ouch Tabitha! Bethany Anne replied, what the hell?
Tabitha leaned forward, her hand moving the little red nub on the keyboard to move the cursor around the screen.
I bet those assholes don’t know all the backdoors Carl had!
You think there are some Frank or ADAM can’t find?
Those guys are fucking geniuses, but Michael and his hackers had decades to setup shit. There could be databases that don’t hit the web itself.
Ok, not that you probably waited, but permission granted to review. Just be careful you don’t wipe the machine before you clone the hard drive, ok?
Oh…fuck. Yeah, good point. Tabitha replied, a little more contritely as she realized her mistake.
Yeah, good luck!
Thanks and bye, boss.
Barnabas is your boss.
Yeah, but I don’t like calling him boss when so many other nicknames present themselves.
Whatever, Tabitha. That’s between you two. Ciao’.
Ciao’.
“Achronyx, order me the following computer parts and get them delivered as quickly as possible. Pay whatever is necessary, I want them first thing in the morning.”
Katsu whispered, “This is New York, there has to be a computer store open this time of the night, right?”
“Probably,” Hirotoshi admitted, “take a list from Tabitha and find the required hardware.”
Tabitha looked up at Hirotoshi, “Why not me?”
“Because, Kimosabe,” he replied, “You can’t go get ice cream without running into someone that you find a need to beat up and toss into a dumpster. I don’t want the New York Police Department arriving on our front door ... again.”
“Well,” she frowned and then crossed her arms and laid back in the chair. “Shit. Someone hurry and bring me the backup stuff,” she grumped.
Molenbeeck area, Brussels - Belgium
Paula kept her head covered in this area. While it might be difficult, perhaps, to kill her, a shot to the face was still a shot to the face. Her special clothing only protected so much.
She entered a run down establishment, and proceeded to the back, unmolested. Rarely did anyone go to the back who didn’t know who they would find, there.
There was a tall man, probably somewhat recently returned from fighting in Syria or Iraq. She provided the password, and he knocked three times on the door. A muttered word and the guard replied. The deadbolts were heard as they grated on the metal. The door opened enough for her to slide into the room.
Inside, she pulled off her head covering and allowed her blond hair to cascade down her shoulders. She hated tying it up.
She nodded to the three men in the room. No names mentioned. It was appropriate should any listening devices somehow be active near them.
She slowly reached inside the multiple layers of her outfit and pulled out some rolled up papers, handing them to the man in the middle. He was wearing a Manchester United t-shirt.
He slipped the rubber bands off the document and opened them up to review. He took the papers and folded them the other way to roll them up and then released, trying to get them to lay flat as he put the five papers on the table.
Paper one was the job information. Including date, time and offer to help get twenty of his men into position to attack TQB if, in turn, they promised to hit the following location in Europe with eighty of their men. Her people would supply the money for the weapons and help them all arrive in the city from wherever in the world they needed to be picked up.
The man pointed to the agreement to take twenty of their fighters to space, “You can do this?”
She nodded agreement.
“And the money?”
Again, another nod.
He looked up to both men who had been looking over his shoulder at the documents. “Do you both agree we do this?”
The one over his right shoulder shrugged, “If the intelligence is correct with what they are saying here, she will be at the event. So, most of our people will be there.” He looked up to Paula, “You expect these twenty to be a feint?”
She nodded.
“Do you believe they will survive,”
She shook her head, her mouth pressed in a line.
“I wouldn’t either,” the main man agreed. “They will go to Allah knowing they have helped us pay back the devil herself and take her people down.”
The man looked over the documents one last time before pushing them together, “Allah has decreed it.”
Paula nodded her head and grabbed the headdress, pulling her hair back up to tuck it in. In a couple of minutes, she took a left out of the rundown building and twenty minutes later, outside of the Molenbeeck area, she pulled out her own special phone. Typing in the commands, she put it up to her ear, “Patrick? Paula. They have agreed. You still able to get the twenty up to the Base Station? No, they don’t expect them to survive. Yeah, I didn’t expect you to have one of your pilots stick around, either.”
Paula took a
right at the next intersection and then grabbed her head covering and took it off, stuffing it in the nearest trash can.
“We only agreed to a one-way trip,” she grunted her response to a question from Patrick, hung up, then tucked the phone back in her clothing.
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