The Darkest Night (The Second Dark Ages Book 2)

by Michael Anderle

  “Who?”

  “Michael,” Yuko told him. “Think Akio, but even more deadly. There isn’t any danger he can’t get out of.”

  —

  Michael looking around the whiteness that was the Etheric Dimension. “We aren’t fucking getting out of here.”

  Akio turned in all directions. “I have been here only a few times with Bethany Anne.”

  Michael grunted and ran a hand over his bald head. “Yes, she makes my travel through the Etheric look like I’m using a tricycle while she drives a Ferrari.”

  Akio looked over to Michael. “I’m thinking the right term is ‘flies a spaceship’.”

  Michael blinked. “I think Jacqueline would say, ‘Ouch!’, Akio.”

  Akio shrugged. “Ok, what do you really want to do, and how soon can we get out of here?”

  “I’m not fooling you?” Michael asked.

  Akio shook his head.

  “Hmm.” Michael shrugged noncommittally. “If I remember correctly, we walk some distance and then we try to get out.”

  “How well did you do this last time?” Akio asked as Michael turned and started walking, Akio following quickly.

  “Get out?” Michael asked over his shoulder.

  “Figure out the distance,” Akio corrected. “It is obvious you got out.”

  “Well,” Michael told him and stopped walking, “I figured out the horizontal distance very well, thank you.” He waited until Akio was close enough that he could grab his arm. “It was the vertical that was the challenge.”

  The two men disappeared once more.

  Japan

  The Container sat down in a darkened area near the Inspector’s apartment building, and Yuko opened the door. The Inspector walked through and she followed him out.

  “What happens now?” he asked her.

  She looked up to the stars, “We are moving into our next stage, now that Michael has returned.

  “Next stage?”

  “Yes.” She returned her gaze to him. “We have been in our first phase up until now.”

  “Where was he?”

  “Dead,” she answered.

  He missed the slight grin on her face. “Dead?” he asked.

  She winked. “Not really, just in another location.”

  “Oh,” he murmured, not really wanting to travel too far down a path with a vampire at the end. “May I know what the first phase was?”

  Yuko thought about it. “Ok.” She waved across the valley and up towards the lights on the mountain. “We were charged by Bethany Anne ...”

  “Who?” he interrupted. “Sorry,” he replied when she looked at him.

  “She is my Queen, and responsible for Japan being in it’s current position. So much more advanced than the rest of the world.”

  “Why did she do it?”

  “For Michael,” Yuko replied. “I did it for her, Akio and Eve both did it for her. Now that we have him, we will be using the preparations we have made here in Japan and elsewhere to finish our job.”

  “May I ask ...” he started.

  Only to have Yuko finish for him. “What that job is?”

  He nodded.

  “We have to make sure the two of them reunite.”

  “Where is she?”

  Yuko held a hand up to the stars, but then pulled it back down a moment later and looked where she had been indicating. “Actually, over there,” she said, pointing to another area of the sky.

  “She’s part of the group that left?” he asked, amazed, and then looked down at her. “You are part of that group?”

  “Yes,” Yuko admitted. “That is why we have the technology that helped keep Japan safe through these dark ages.”

  “And now what are you going to do?” he asked. “Stage two?”

  Yuko smiled. “Well, if you care to keep a secret for now?”

  He shrugged. “So long as it doesn’t include breaking the law.”

  “No laws, Inspector.” She pointed back up. “Now that we have Michael back, we need to build a spaceship so we can all leave Earth.”

  A few moments later, the Inspector told the amazing woman goodbye, not sure if he would see her again, or even remember.

  Once the black craft was gone from his sight, he turned and hurried into his building and up to his apartment. Once inside, he grabbed the diary of musings he had written over the years and started describing this evening’s events.

  ---

  The two men stepped out of the Etheric and immediately began to drop. Michael pressed his lips together in annoyance and changed to Myst again as they fell past the top of a ten-story building. He leveled them out and started to head out of the city, then remembered it wouldn’t matter. He relocated them to a nearby building that had a solid rooftop. Landing, the two of the rematerialized.

  Akio looked around and turned his head slightly. “Eve?” He waited a moment. “Yes, I need the Pod, thank you.”

  Michael walked over to the edge, his arms behind his back. Akio joined him a moment later. “I wonder how Sabine is doing?” Akio asked aloud.

  Michael glanced sideways. “How about we check on her in a few days? We can drop in and read her thoughts, and if she isn’t super happy we can have a conversation with her.”

  Akio nodded his head once sharply in agreement. “I understand,” he told Michael, “about the vertical comment now.”

  Michael shrugged. “We didn’t drown.” He turned to the black Pod as it came out of the sky. “And now I have a serious case of wanting to kill him even more.”

  “Isn’t that what Bethany Anne was trying to help you overcome?” Akio asked as the canopy came up and the Pod hovered above the rooftop.

  “Hmm,” Michael answered as they took off their weapons and laid them in the ship. “Not exactly the killing part, more the constant ‘kill them all’ stick up my ass. I think she did a poor job; her lessons about killing them all didn’t stick.”

  Akio shook his head. “Passing the blame to her is not going to get you points when you two get back together.”

  Michael jumped into the back seat. “I’ll work on my inner peace in the meantime. I figure it is like someone striving to become a vegetarian. There is always the desire to eat meat, if for no other reason than because protein is required.”

  Akio turned behind him to look at Michael. “Have you ever tried to become a vegetarian?”

  “Every night from when I go to sleep to when I wake up,” Michael replied. “I fall off the wagon usually twice a day. But one day I’ll be successful. Then, my goal will be two days in a row.”

  “So,” Akio commented as the canopy started to close and the Pod rose, “just plan on trying to be a calm, cool, collected Michael who doesn’t kill when he is annoyed every time you go to sleep.”

  “It’s a start, Akio. Don’t push it,” Michael told him as the canopy locked and the Pod, rising into the sky, turned east.

  A pair of eyes watched as the Pod ascended into the sky.

  Two weeks later

  The man displayed a crooked, one-sided smile. “So theoretically if I had, say, a mist, how would I tear apart the atoms of said mist?”

  The scientist looked at the aristocratic-looking businessman. “Well, given the energy constraints we have now it might be difficult, at least using any of the more exotic methods we would have employed in the past.”

  The man tilted his head. “Oh? Why’s that?”

  The scientist shrugged. “Well, particle physics has relied, for the last couple of centuries at least, on smashing atoms apart and then studying what happened. But in order to accelerate atoms to a high enough velocity to smash them, you need a shit-ton of power. And a certain set of conditions.”

  The man’s brow furrowed at the useless vernacular. “What kind of conditions?”

  “Well, a vacuum, for a start,” he explained. “Or else all the air molecules get in the way of the atom you’re trying to fire at a target to smash.”

  The man rubbed his chin thoughtf
ully. “A vacuum, you say?”

  The scientist nodded.

  He asked another question. “And in order to have a vacuum, you need a sealed chamber?”

  The scientist looked at him blankly. “Well, of course.”

  “So, if air can’t get in, then a mist certainly wouldn’t be able to get out?”

  “That is correct.”

  The businessman wandered over to the window, deep in thought. “Tell me,” he said, barely turning his head in the scientist’s direction. “Do you have any idea where we might find such a chamber?”

  The scientist breathed in. “Well, there were many of them around, once upon a time. The trouble is, most of our research facilities were either destroyed or have since been torn up for parts.” The scientist slumped down in the chair, dropping his head into a hand.

  The Duke turned to look at him. He could sense a but coming.

  The scientist looked up. “I suspect there is still a section of pipe in Geneva that might be uncompromised. There was a battle there and half of it was destroyed, but a segment remains. I had been hoping to get back there at some point and see if there was anything there worth experimenting with for fuel cells.”

  The businessman’s eyes glinted. “So, with a vacuum, we could trap a mist for…how long?”

  “A mist?” The scientist thought for a moment. “Potentially indefinitely. But it wouldn’t be in a vacuum by the time we got it into the tube. Creating a vacuum would take a lot of energy.”

  “Right, so then tearing apart the mist, once it’s trapped? How might that work?”

  The scientist’s eyes lit and the pace of his speech quickened. “Any number of ways. I mean, if we had power that is. We could blast it with x-ray radiation, or bombard it with gamma rays. There is, well, was, lots of equipment there that would allow us to do that. And if the mist were already sealed in a section of tube, that would make things easier and we could do it rather quickly.”

  The Duke paid close attention to the methods the scientist was reeling off.

  “And what if time weren’t an issue? Imagine we had decades to wait, or to build…” He led the scientist to continue thinking aloud.

  “Oh, well in that case, if rebuilding the accelerator were a possibility…” The scientist’s voice trailed off. He paused.

  “Hang on. What kind of mist are we talking about?” he asked the businessman, scratching his head with a pencil. “Because there are any number of ways to tear molecules apart, especially with time and energy.”

  Duke smiled. “Well, that is good to know,” he said. “You’re hired.”

  The scientist looked confused. “For what, Mr. Renaud? I didn’t apply for anything.”

  Mr. Renaud’s smile disappeared. “You didn’t. But you are. Do we have a problem?” His eyes glared red.

  The scientist gulped and shook his head.

  William Renaud’s eyes returned to normal and his face relaxed to its normal resting position. “Good. You start tomorrow. Put your affairs in order. I’ll meet you back here. We’ll be leaving for Geneva.”

  He started to leave the man’s office before turning back. “You may call me Duke Renaud or, of course, your Grace.”

  FINIS

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Written May 24th, 2017

  First, let me say THANK YOU that not only did you read this book all the way through, but that you are ALSO reading these notes, as well!

  This book, The Darkest Night, is WAY overdue. It should have been released about three weeks ago (I was doing about a five-week release schedule before all of the extra series came in) and now, I’m just about at 8 weeks. So, I dropped three weeks behinder-er.

  On Facebook, I have been HEARING (ok, reading) the grief.

  However, considering how hard, and the stress it caused, to get this book out this time, I’m not allowing myself a break as I move into FOREVER DEFEND (TKG 17). I already have over 2k words written (which is a record, I think. I’m not sure I have had ANY words for the next book written when the last book wasn’t even out, yet.) So, I’m writing these author notes, then I’m going to write some more on that book and see where I get.

  A HUGE THANK YOU goes to one of my collaborators, Ell Leigh Clarke (with an ‘E’) who constantly refers to me as a shriveled up green guy with lots of folds for skin. Now, she deserves lots of kudos (calling me Yoda is not one of them) but specifically I want to say Thank You for the last scene of this book.

  I was struggling with coming up with scientific ways to … uhhh … truly kill Michael and I learned something. I learned you never ask a physicist (yes, she is one) just how to kill something at the atomic level. It’s pretty damned scary when they understand the atoms, the molecular bonds and just how you would go about doing it.

  Why Hollywood doesn’t talk with more Physicists and make them scary bad guys, I don’t understand.

  She was kind enough to work me through the multiple creative ways to kill Michael, how it could be done in a Post-Apocalyptic world, and the necessary requirements for making it happen. Then, she was kind enough to just write up the explanation with the physicist and the Duke and put in all of that science-y stuff.

  So, thank you Ellie!

  Speaking of Author Ell Leigh Clarke, her new Space Opera set in the Kurtherian Gambit Universe is selling very well. THANK YOU ALL who have read it!

  Her first book link is at the end of these notes.

  BUSINESS STUFF UPDATE

  For those who are following the business aspects of these books, let me give a small update. For the last 6 months, the ratio of Kindle Unlimited income vs. Book sale income is 60/40 (+/- maybe 1-2% max). Which, since generally I make more from a purchased book, means that my Kindle Unlimited has more books read than purchased books. Since Amazon really doesn’t give us a breakout, the best I can do is guestimate on some of these items.

  Either way, THANK YOU for either reading through Kindle Unlimited, or purchasing the books! Every one of you make this wonderful profession a reality for me and I can’t be more blessed.

  AUDIBLE

  We should have the first month where our outgoing cost(s) to produce Audio is just about in-line with our income from the Audio. To date, we have done 18 audiobooks (3 are waiting for ACX Approval, including book #6 for Bethany Anne.) For the foreseeable future, we will be net-negative with audiobook investment vs. income. I hope that we will turn the corner by fourth quarter this year. The reason we won’t before then, is because our book releases are increasing and therefore we are increasing our quantity of talent we are finding / hiring to produce the audio and so the expenses are ramping up much quicker than the income. The main moneymaker from Audible is The Kurtherian Gambit series (not a big surprise). So, with one main income producer that is the one that pays for the rest to be done. The other series look like they will take about 18 months for most of them to turn profitable.

  Which, frankly kind of bites, but that’s audio for you.

  It’s way more money to produce, and not nearly the payback you get with ebooks. The only thing more expensive and less income producing (from what I’ve heard) is trying to produce and sell translations.

  Yeah, I’m not going to go there. However, I am going to go to Frankfurt Book Fair in October (http://www.buchmesse.de/en/fbf/) to try and speak with both Traditional Publishers (get into bookstores, there is still money to be made there) and to find potential licensing options for foreign markets (outside of English).

  KINDLE / KOBO and the Military

  So, I have provided a bunch of Kindles to the Military (Center for the Intrepid, Fort Sam Houston) and I’m excited about the next option I’m working with KOBO. They have a new device which is waterproof and seems like it would be a fantastic potential tool for our Military Readers. Further, I know the KOBO representative well enough to know that he will “hook us up” with additional ways for the Military contacts to download books as well. I’m new to the opportunity, (I’m expecting to speak with him today o
r tomorrow) and see what we can do.

  I’m not against Kindle’s, but if we can get an awesome Reader they can dunk in water…I think that’s pretty cool!

  We will see what happens.

  THE REST (just a little sappy)

  I just want to thank all of the Kurtherian Fans from whatever method you first picked up one of these books. The change in my life, my family’s life, and those that have been helped due to your support has been nothing short of amazing.

  From our first efforts chatting with each other on Amazon’s forums and Facebook, to all of the ways we communicate now I wish I could just ‘tell’ every struggling author to get them up to speed.

  As some of you know, I’m now considered a ‘special unicorn’ (short hand for “don’t you expect to be able to do what Michael has”) in the community. For those who are happy believing that statement because it relieves them of believing in themselves, so be it.

  For the rest, may they aspire to accomplish the EXACT same thing that Kurtherian Fans, readers, and our authors have accomplished. Because (in my opinion) it transcends just authors and readers, it’s a group that lives and thrives as a tribe that accomplishes so much more than any of us accomplish alone.

  BECAUSE OF YOU, there is a 20Booksto50k group for Indie Authors that has changed lives that is over 9,000 strong. There is also a 20Booksto50k conference (very cheap, no profit involved) to bring Indie Authors together in Vegas this year, and London next.

  Craig Martelle is the man behind that, not me.

  Eventually, I’d love to make it to a fan conference, and just get to meet the amazing people behind the force known as The Pitchforks and Matches crowd.