—
“What the hell do you mean, grab grenades?” Natalia subvocalized to Sphaea through her embedded connection. She turned from speed walking towards the transport room to backtracking twenty feet and turning right towards the armory.
“I need to grab what?” she asked again, palming her print before the E.I. would open the door. Sphaea could override the security protocols, but every time that happened, there would be a review and this way, ADAM would show the records to Bethany Anne who would approve. If it was a major blunder, then it might have to go to Bethany Anne’s father as well. Technically, Bethany Anne could force everyone to be quiet, but Natalia didn’t want to test what everyone would think about Bethany Anne doing that when they got caught.
And Natalia was almost sure Bethany Anne was going to get caught doing whatever it was she wanted to do.
—
There were three quick raps on the suite door, then two, then another three before Scott’s whisper could barely be heard, “Darryl?”
Darryl grabbed his coat and opened the door, Scott was looking both ways down the hallway. Darryl stuck his head out and looked.
“Where the hell is everyone?” Scott asked, “this is damned spooky.”
Darryl stepped out of the suite and heard it click and lock behind him. He popped Scott in the chest, and the two started hot-footing it to the Pod bay, “I got a probable answer to that, but we got to boogie.”
—
“Yes,” Natalia answered the Gunner’s Mate, “I need the Queen’s Locker and John’s Locker. We don’t mention this, it never happened.”
“But you signed in, Captain.” he nodded to the door.
“Ok, let me clarify. As far as telling anyone who isn’t cleared, it didn’t happen.” Natalie looked around before adding, “and I need a box of grenades.”
—
Nathan nodded to the woman holding open the Pod doors as Ecaterina slid into the first seat, He slid into the seat next to her and clicked the five-point harness. The doors were shut and locked, and before he could get out an ‘I wonder how long before …’ they were headed down to Earth.
Ecaterina spoke, “Sphaea, I need you to take us to Purchase, New York.”
The Pod changed directions and headed towards the U.S. Eastern seaboard.
“We are going to have to figure out how to get down in the sun,” Ecaterina commented.
“Not so much a problem, depending on if you are willing to skydive,” Nathan answered as he reached around behind him to look in the storage area.
“You are out of your pea-sized mind if you think I’m willing to jump out of a good Pod with nothing but a…” Ecaterina stopped talking when Nathan pulled two large rods with two straps and a chain out of storage. “What are those?”
“These little beauties,” Nathan told her, “are the latest in silent descent support now available in all Pods in the Etheric Empire.” He handed her one.
“Heavy,” she admitted.
“Yeah, they have gravitic technology inside.”
Ecaterina held onto the two foot long, three-inch diameter black rod. She slipped her two wrists through the straps. “Hard to get your hands out,” she commented as she played with the rod.
“That’s in case you lose consciousness, it won’t slip off, and you fall. Plus, we can use the chain to connect to either a vest harness for those who are completely out of it, or drop off supplies.”
“So, we put our hands through here, open the doors and jump?” she asked, leaning forward to see how far down the world was below.
“Well, we would drop much lower, but yes. Cloud cover is presently eight-thousand feet up, so we go into the clouds, open the door, and we slip out. The Pod stays up here, and we drop over the Arthur W Butler Memorial Sanctuary. We can’t drop in on Purchase because of the Westchester Country Airport is right next to it. Call a Taxi…”
“Why not Uber?” Ecaterina interrupted as she continued to play with her rod.
“They are banned in New York State. New York City has an exclusion, so they can operate there lawfully.”
“I hate American politics,” she grumped, “Uber works so much better than the Taxi app.”
Nathan looked out the window, “So, we get a Taxi off the 685 and ride in. Figure out how to get what we need and boom-dida-bam we jump on a Pod and go back up.” He smiled at her, pleased with his plan.
“No, we don’t.” Ecaterina said emphatically, “I didn’t get Christina a legitimate babysitter so we could only steal the Pepsi recipe.”
“No?” Nathan looked at his mate, confused. “What else are we doing?”
“You, sir, are taking me back to the first Pizza place we ever ate, one last time.” She winked at him, “Then we are going back to that reserve and …”
Nathan sure hoped he brought enough cash for everything. Female Weres that planned on that much physical activity could eat a lot of food.
—
ADAM?
>>Yes TOM?<<
Have you figured out the Coke recipe, yet?
>>Of course. <<
Have you confirmed the recipe?
>>Yes.<<
There was a small, but identifiable pause.
How?
>>I confirmed the ingredients, the different instructions for the manufacturing of the product and all of the power requirements, taking into account for the random fluctuations in poorly supported electrical equipment and degraded copper wiring and confirmed, within parameters, the information I acquired worked out for the equipment, and usage and wastage, of what happened in the production plant.<<
You didn’t tell anyone you already have the recipe, right?
>>And miss all of the fun? What do you take me for, an E.I.?<<
CHAPTER NINE
Team BMW took two of the pods down to Germany to meet a sales representative at their office.
Fortunately, Germany wasn’t as aggressive as some countries looking for TQB pods racing through their airspace, or at least it didn’t seem that way so far.
The trio was looking for the best container and vats they could buy that could be used to produce beer and would last for centuries. While they already had good equipment, you could ALWAYS use backups.
Because… Bobcat couldn’t imagine a lifetime as long as his without beer!
However, the team was also secretly planning on cornering the market in another area and was planning on using some of the supplies and pieces they were ordering for a different, more devious effort.
They were going to corner the market on Coca-Cola production. Thus, the team needed a lot of equipment and some knowledge about the production of soft drinks.
The rest could go and get the recipe, but without being able to produce the product, what good was that going to do?
Finally, they needed about a hundred small setups for production from a micro brewing industry. The team wanted to set up a way to get others into the business and sell beer through All Guns Blazing. If team BMW rented out the production equipment, they could make money on both sides.
Equality? Thy name was capitalism.
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur
Barnabas watched the delivery driver start walking back to the main security gate. He had told the man to walk towards it, and when he was about fifty meters away, to stop and then return to his truck.
Barnabas slid the white jacket on and grabbed the platter with three plates on it, plus the drinks with the saran wrap over the tops.
Didn’t want the orange juice to spill.
Walking up the path, Barnabas stopped outside the first metal gate and clicked the call button.
He heard the buzzer go off inside the home.
Moments later, the inside door lock clicked, and the residence’s door opened. A rather handsome Hispanic man, with black hair and a beard, stuck his head out and noticed Barnabas' clothes, “Come on in.” he waved to him.
Barnabas opened the metal gate, which squeaked slightly, walked past t
he water fountain and smiled at the man who further opened the door allowing Barnabas entry.
Turning to his right, Barnabas headed for the kitchen and dining area. Turning right once more, he laid down the large platter and removed the three plates.
If you are going to do something, do it right, he thought.
Barnabas smirked, he was having way too much fun with this at the moment.
Laying the three plates out, each one having a silver metal lid with a hole in its center, he grabbed each and lifted it for a second. “We have fresh fruit,” he grabbed the next top and set it to the side, “pancakes with bananas,” he lifted the third, “and a Pueblo Bonito hamburger, well cooked.”
“Excellent, she is ravenous and needs the protein,” Andre said, more to himself than to Barnabas.
Not that Barnabas needed the information, the three deep purple hickeys on Andre’s neck were enough proof for him.
“Thank you,” Barnabas returned the covers and opened the small portfolio with the bill, “I understand you work for Coca-Cola?” The man accepted the portfolio.
“Yes?”
“Secret recipe?” Barnabas asked, his voice changing slightly. The little question was more than enough to quickly bring the information he desired to the front of this man’s mind. It was so much easier than going mucking around in the man’s brain.
Even if the knowledge that the woman in the other room wasn’t his wife came along with the recipe.
Although tempted to tinker with this situation, Barnabas left it alone. From what little he could tell, the relationship Andre had with his wife was open for amorous encounters with others. His thoughts showed that Andre believed that his wife was currently out with one of her two lovers.
Barnabas raised an eyebrow; the French had nothing on these two.
Barnabas accepted the portfolio back and quickly looked at it.
The bastard hadn’t tipped. Barnabas frowned and handed the portfolio back to a confused Andre.
Barnabas’s tone changed a little more, “You will tip twice the cost of this meal, and every time you order room service, you will tip one-half the meal cost until you leave. You are blessed.” Barnabas paused, before looking at the man, his lips pressed together, “As my Queen would say, don’t be a dick.”
Barnabas accepted the portfolio from Andre once more and confirmed the right tip amount, “Have a good morning, and you will need plenty of energy yourself, so I suggest you eat the fruit.” He remarked as he stepped around Andre.
Barnabas walked out of the kitchen, took a left to reach the door and stepped out, closing the heavy door behind him. Walking past the fountain and then the gate, he took off the coat. He dropped both on the front seat of the little white vehicle before heading back to the end of the street.
It was light enough for anyone to see the Pod, but he shrugged. There was no way for anyone to interrupt him now. He started whistling.
Barnabas had the secret recipe for Mexican Coca-Cola.
Queen’s Rangers 01 - Everyone else 00.
---
Ecaterina eyed Nathan as he checked her grip on the rod, “What are you doing?” she asked, her accent becoming more pronounced during the conversation.
“Uh,” Nathan answered, his mind elsewhere, “Just checking your grip,” he said as he pulled on the rod before turning towards the Pod’s controls and touching the commands to open the two doors up front.
“Nathan, can I lift three-hundred pounds?” She practically purred the question in her heaviest Romanian accent.
“Of course, baby, easily,” he answered, checking outside the pod and the clouds swirling around them before he unbuckled his five-point harness and turned towards her.
For just a second, he thought he had noticed a flash of yellow in her eyes before her smile melted him.
Outside, it was all white. The clouds looked like a heavy fog, rolling in off the San Francisco bay. Ecaterina glanced down at his hands, now slipped through the lanyards and holding onto his bar. She moved her right hand out of the grips and reached up to lay it on his neck as she leaned forward.
Nathan smiled and leaned in for his kiss.
She whispered her next question. “Then why would you need to test my ability to grab a bar unless you think I weigh more than that?”
Nathan, his brain trying to scream WARNING realized that gentle hand behind his neck now had a sharp grip ... right before Ecaterina flung him out of the Pod.
“What the FUUUuuuu…” his voice was lost to the clouds.
“Men!” she grumbled as she unbuckled her harness, put her hand back on the bar and jumped out, the bar immediately slowing her fall.
Ecaterina was starting to worry when his legs appeared from behind her, gripping her around the waist from behind, his body crashing up against hers. “Honey, I’m back!” he called out, his voice rough when she felt his teeth grip her neck.
Her eyes opened. God, she thought, this was going to be a monumental mark!
Good thing it heals. She turned her head to give him access to where it felt the best.
—
“Take the rods with us or leave them here?” Ecaterina asked as the two landed lightly on the ground inside a large cove of trees.
“Just unhook, and I’ll tell Sphaea to take them back,” he answered, a grin on his face.
“Tell Sphaea to …” Ecaterina’s lips compressed as she worked it through. “No wonder you were able to sneak up on me!”
One of these damned days, she was going to fully, and completely, catch Nathan Lowell by surprise. She had even started to worry about his cocky ass after she tossed him out of the pod.
What a sucker she was!
Her eyes narrowed, “You are telling me that the E.I. controls these?” She asked as she lifted the bar in question and waved it at him like she was shaking a finger in his direction.
“Certainly, although if you know how you can do it yourself, there usually isn’t a good reason for that,” he shrugged and casually tossed his up in the air. Ecaterina watched the rod fly up about twenty feet, slow down like it was going to stop and let gravity pull it back to Earth when it suddenly shot up and out of sight.
Ecaterina rolled her eyes and flicked hers up as well, not even watching her bar stop and then take off up into the sky. She walked by Nathan and popped him on his chest, “It is good I love you, or I would be using that bar to beat you senseless right now.” she mentioned to him in passing.
Nathan winked at her and let her pass, raising an eyebrow. It took her another seven steps to realize she didn’t know where they were going. She turned back to see Nathan smirking at her.
She pointed to him, “Don’t say a word, just point out the right direction.” He indicated the direction to his left, which was not the one she had been taking. “Fine,” she waved him in the new direction. “You walk ahead, this time I’ll watch your ass the whole way.”
Nathan blinked a couple of times, his mouth open, “What?” she leered, “you don’t think I know it is my ass you are staring at all the times you are acting like a gentleman for me?”
He closed his mouth and started walking, not sure how to reply to that comment.
Nathan was letting part of his brain pick the best way to make it to the freeway, the other part of his brain was working feverishly on the new problem troubling his thoughts.
Should he be flexing his ass while he walked or not?
New York City - New York - USA
Tabitha arrived and jumped out of the pod in the same little alley where she had beat up the five toughs not that long ago. The hotel she used was just around the block. The Pod disappeared back into the dark and gloomy sky full of clouds and rain. Lightning flashed, and then heavy thunder rolled across the city.
No one would notice her Pod in this mess.
That was nice, although she was getting wet, quickly, it beat having to land farther out of town. She pulled a large round hat out of her coat, flicked it open and put it on. It helped keep
her hair dry and water out of her eyes.
She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and took it over to where a small roof sheltered a back door. Laying the black bag on the ground, she placed her hand on the outside and then punched in twelve numbers representing letters in her mind.
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