The second through the door was a mountain of a man. White, dressed in a black suit with black sunglasses, he had to be damn near six and a half feet tall.
He paused in the doorway, then continued in when he was comfortable with the situation.
Then, she came in. She wasn’t what they expected at all. She carried herself regally, but she held a sword in her hands. One that looked to be generations old and she carried it like it was a normal part of her life.
Her hands had used it.
The fear the men felt only escalated as she drew near them. She stood beside Barnabas and looked the three men over. “Well, my Rangers, it seems the longest open case you’ve had is now going to close, well done. Here sit the instigators that paid to have a little girl tied to a bomb in Las Vegas.”
Fred started to talk, but she looked at him and pinched her fingers in his direction. An overwhelming fear raced through his body, and it was all he could do to try and breathe. “Judged!” she said, her eyes flashing.
“What are you doing to my brother!” David yelled with fear in his voice as he watched his brother’s hands pounding on his chair, clenched in pain.
Bethany Anne turned and looked David up and down. “Here, I’ll show you.” She pushed a hand towards him, and his body screamed at him to run, to leave, but he couldn’t move. His heart started racing faster and faster, and he couldn’t get enough air. “Judged,” she said before turning to Charles.
Charles tried to stand up, tried to run, but a hand grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back into his chair. Charles looked up to see the big guard standing behind him, his dark sunglasses showing Charles only his own reflection.
Charles turned to see the two brothers struggle in their chairs, their faces turning blue. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked, his voice breaking as he watched his partners.
“Allowing them to die, together,” Bethany Anne replied. “I’ve spoken with Barnabas, all three of you are guilty of things that killed other human beings. You willfully used your power without regard for others, never caring what those in your employ did to accomplish your whims. You have all earned this judgment for many past sins.” Charles paled as he watched the twitching of his friends get feebler, the brothers asphyxiating slowly, painfully. He only looked back at her when he realized she was watching him.
And her eyes were glowing red.
Her voice, deeper than a moment ago spoke, and he heard it both in his ears and inside his mind. “Charles, you paid those who endangered a little girl in Las Vegas, that was the decision which brought you to this end. You deserved this years ago.”
The fear he was feeling became but a small memory to the desire to leave, to escape, but he couldn’t. His body locked up in indecision, his mind screamed in fear, chemicals released in his body at a level that should never occur.
Charles struggled, never noticing that Fred and David had already stopped moving.
Two minutes later, Charles was still, and Bethany Anne stopped pushing fear into the man’s body.
“You bastards,” Bethany Anne spat when she was done. “You fucking camel sucking jackasses had to try to have it all. This was a peaceful fucking end considering how you should have gone down.” She started walking out. “Rangers, you did superbly. Clean up as needed, and I’ll expect a final report in two days, Barnabas. I’ve got the President’s thing to go to this week.”
Barnabas started walking out the door himself as he spoke back over his shoulder, “Tabitha?”
“Yes?” she called after him.
“I’ll expect that report by tomorrow morning,” he said and then left the room behind Bethany Anne.
She watched him walk out, her mouth open. “Well, Gott Verdammt!” she complained as she put the briefcases next to the three men. “Jun, tell the other Tontos to clean up and put the security people back where we found them. Barnabas’s mental commands are going to drop within,” she looked at her watch, “twenty minutes.”
Jun followed her out. “Yes Kimosabe, what else do we need to do?”
“Take only what we need and then find a place to hole up for the night back in New York, I’ve got fucking reports to write,” she huffed.
New Mexico, USA
The system easily spotted the small flying insect. It allowed it to pass the first checkpoint. But five minutes later when the little bug didn’t veer off course, the secondary security system shot it out of the air.
It dropped like a rock, landing in a crevice beside a boulder.
The security system confirmed there was no movement in the air and went back to passive mode.
The little drone did not move, but it did send a message to the parent orb that was quickly relayed to the sky, then to outer space.
Drone 012 attacked, a laser emitting on non-customary wavelength. Instructions?
ArchAngel passed the information to the highest general in the Etheric Empire for review.
General Lance Reynolds received the message and smiled.
They found the bastards.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Private residence, outside Chicago, Illinois, USA
The time was ten thirty in the morning, an hour behind the person he was waiting to call. A few years ago, he would have been sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office making this call.
Looking out his back window, he appreciated the fall colors and leaves lying on the ground. Winter was running late this year. You could almost go outside with short sleeves.
Low sixties, who would have thought that?
His phone rang so he turned his chair around and leaned forward to pick it up. “Hello.”
“Hello, sorry about the time, I’ve got this damned meeting with the Senate leaders in twenty minutes. Their whining is about to drive me nuts.”
“Yes, now you understand how my hair went gray so fast.”
“Well, it’s not a problem on my side, my hair was grey already.”
“A small benefit in the larger scheme of things, I’m sure.” he replied.
“Yes,” the President agreed. “I just wanted to touch base with you on the TQB meeting in Belgium, everything is a go for her to be there?”
“You know, her has a name,” he replied, annoyance creeping into his voice.
“Maybe for others, but that’s the nicest name I have for her at the moment. Instead of moving ahead with tax reforms and building up this country, half of my time is dealing with outer space immigration and alien scares. If I could, I’d slap that bitch into jail.”
The ex-President pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it, the vitriolic hatred practically oozing from the speaker.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that they could knock us out,” the current President continued, “I’d already have slapped them in jail and used the law to confiscate their technology. I have no idea why they believe they can do a better job protecting the world than those who are already doing it.”
Biting his tongue, he let the President continue talking until, finally, a question was asked he could answer. “So, are you set to go to Belgium as well?”
Placing the phone back to his ear, he replied, “Yes. I’m taking David, of course.”
“Good, I’ll have one of the commercial planes pulled from Andrews for you and whoever else needs to go, since I’m asking this of you. Are you going alone?”
“Yes, my wife is staying,” he answered.
“Good, you never know what can go wrong around that woman. She’s caused so much trouble in the last three years I can’t begin to tell you.”
No wonder Bethany Anne thinks this President is a PITA, he thought as the bitching continued.
Finally, the phone call wound down.
“Yes,” the ex-President said, “I understand. We’ll be on time. Tell Greg hi for me. Right, okay, I’ll tell her as well. Goodbye.”
Hanging up the phone, he realized he really didn’t miss the office as so many thought he did. He laid his phone back on the desk and turned towar
ds the window. His sense of peace destroyed, he was hoping a few minutes of viewing the scenic picture in his backyard would be enough to calm him back down.
He frowned, there was one relevant point in that whole discussion. Bethany Anne did have a way of being around trouble. He should perhaps prepare a little more than usual.
He reached back and grabbed the phone one more time. At least he knew who to call for this favor.
QBBS Meredith Reynolds
Bethany Anne looked at the map of New Mexico with a dark overlay of caverns. “That’s a lot of holes in the ground, Dad.”
Lance pursed his lips. “You could say that. You could also say it looks a lot like Swiss cheese,” he said. “We’re dropping some of the more quiet Guardians down to start checking out the caves that seem plausible for their ships to use.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Why what, check out caves?” She nodded. “Because we need spaces large enough for our cavalry to go in. After our first drone got shot down, we’ve been a little more careful. We don’t know everything they have available so we’re putting an armored unit in.”
“Her Majesty’s First Battalion Wechselbalg Armored Units?” Bethany Anne chuckled.
“Weeeellll,” Lance drew out. “We only have six working Wechselbalg units at the moment.” He scratched his chin. “So, I went to go talk to another crew.”
“What other crew?” she asked, looking at her father. “The only crew that has… OH MY GOD!” she exclaimed. “You asked the Yollins?”
“They’re bored. Kind of like a certain ruler I know. If you’re willing to drop a year off their service up front, then Kiel and his team would love to suit up.”
“I don’t know, Dad. What did Kael-ven say?”
“He thought it was a splendid idea. The option for the military personnel to do something besides spar with our people to stay in shape? Plus, get a chance to get in there and mix it up? Yeah, they’re chomping at the bit to do it.”
Lance stayed quiet, letting Bethany Anne think through the options.
Finally, she said, “What’s the catch?”
“Other than dropping a year off of their indentures?” Lance asked, earning him a dark look from his daughter. He chuckled. “Kael-ven wants to go down, as well.”
“He does?” Bethany Anne asked. “I thought captains of the ship always stayed…well, with the ship.”
“In this case, the Yollins are creating a Yollin Mercenary Group, and Kael-Ven is their leader. So, he feels he should at least be down there,” he said as he nodded towards the map.
“First Yollin Mercenary Group attached to the Etheric Empire?” Bethany Anne said. Then, a wicked smile broke across her face. “I fucking love it!” She pointed to the map. “Imagine the faces on those jackholes when they have mechanized forces going after them. Yeah, and some of them are obviously not human.”
“Don’t kick off the party early, I’ll be done with my meetings in Belgium in a few hours, I’m sure. If they don’t spit on me. If they do that, I’ll be out of there even sooner.”
“I don’t think they’ll spit on you,” Lance told her.
“Eh,” she pointed to her head. “I’ll probably feel the desire.”
Lance moved next to her. “You okay?” he asked. While they were alone in his office, the moment still felt too personal to just blurt out.
She nodded, then sighed. “It would be easier if those in power back on Earth weren’t such a group of… of…” she waved her hand. “Names escape me.”
Lance looked at his daughter. “You aren’t feeling okay. You can’t come up with a suitable name?”
Bethany Anne gave her father that look. The one daughters have given fathers for generations when they ask something particularly perceptive. “Yes, I could. I just don’t want to spend the mental energy to call them the words that matter.”
She waved at the New Mexico map hanging in the air between them. “This looks good. Let’s try not to piss off the U.S. when we do this.”
‘Right, their President already wants to string us up.”
“I told them the last time they harassed my people I’d start harassing theirs.”
Lance smiled. “I don’t think they appreciated you grabbing their expensive satellites and moving them to useless orbits.”
“They claim imminent domain over our property down there? I’ll just grab their shit up here. When they gave it back, they got their satellites back.” She shrugged. “It worked.”
“It does frustrate the President.”
“Who can kiss my ass,” Bethany Anne spat, her eyes blazing. “That inbred skanky tea-bagging titless jizz-dripping fucktard ranting spunk experiment can…” She noticed her dad trying to hold his laughter in. “You jackass!” the CRACK of her hand slapping his arm reverberated off his office walls.
Lance was smiling as he rubbed his arm. “Damn, the sacrifices I make to cheer you up.”
Bethany Anne stepped towards him and gave him a hug. “Thanks Dad.” She leaned back. “Your arm okay?”
“Hell no,” he said. “You slap rather hard. My frail old body…”
“You ass!” She smiled. “TOM gave me an brief on your Pod-doc updates, he says you probably don’t even feel anything by now.”
“Well,” Lance admitted, dropping his hand. “It might be psychosomatic.”
“Psychosomatic issues are usually from stress,” she retorted. “Not my slapping you.”
“What are you doing, reading the damn medical dictionary?” he asked. “You need to get out more often.”
Bethany Anne turned towards the door, “I am. I’m going to go meet with world leaders.”
She opened the door and was about to step through when Lance said, “Don’t kill any of them.”
“No promises!” she replied and shut the door.
Akio knocked on the door of Yuko’s temporary quarters. “Are you ready to go?”
Yuko complained from inside her room, “Akio, this is a goodbye party, how am I supposed to be ready for that?”
“I would imagine by making sure you’re dressed, as a start,” he said. “We have spoken about this a dozen times, you do not have to make this decision. It’s your life, Yuko.”
“I’ll be out soon, promise,” she told him.
Inside her room, Yuko was dressed. But she was lying down on her bed, her eyes closed.
ADAM, this sucks!
The parting is, I understand, the hardest thing amongst friends.
Yuko sighed. But, you have been there for me ever since the beginning. You remember when you let us join your revolution?
Yes, that meant a lot to me.
Why?
You did not know who, or what I was. You joined because you believed in doing what was right and you have thrown everything you have into helping Bethany Anne.
She’s my… Dammit ADAM, I’m going to miss you guys so much. She willed herself not to cry. She had already put on her eye makeup.
Yuko, join the party. Bethany Anne needs to leave quickly and she is waiting to say goodbye.
WHAT? Yuko bolted out of her bed, grabbed her jacket and jumped towards her door, flinging it open and almost running into Akio. “C’mon!” she told him, grabbing his hand. “The Queen is waiting on me!”
The Kurtherian Gambit Omnibus 05 - The Fans Version: My Ride is a Bitch - Don't Cross This Line - Never Submit Page 41