Michael raised an eyebrow and pressed his lips together.
William held up a hand. “Okay, I’m not pushing it. But seriously, this fucker is fifty feet tall and nasty as hell. How do you expect to take him down?”
Michael waved him off, then looked at his hand as though it belonged to someone else. His wife, maybe? “Oh, that’s not an issue. I’ve thought of hundreds of ways to do it.”
“Name three.”
“I could use the Etheric in any number of ways to take him down.” His face hardened as he spoke. “I’ve just been playing these last few months; refining my approach.”
“Even with all of BA’s rules?”
Another stony look.
William cracked up at that. “Ohhh, that’s priceless. You never intended to abide by them, did you?” He wiped away a tear. “You’ll never get away with ignoring her.”
Michael made a slight dismissive sound. “I just nodded along. She didn’t set any constraints I wouldn’t have held myself to anyway. By her lights, it would be completely acceptable to simply Myst through the beast and leave a grenade in his heart. There’s no honor in that. Plus, it would spoil the meat.”
William blinked a couple of times before his eyebrows slanted together. “Why do you bring honor into just about everything?”
Michael put his hands behind his back. “To fight on equal terms is honorable, no matter the opponent. It will be a match of my wits against the raw aggression of nature. It has been too long since I experienced that.”
“You have a fair amount of raw aggression yourself,” William commented. “It’s not going to save you if the damn thing smooshes you under his foot.”
The corner of Michael's mouth lifted ever so slightly. “Then I will just have to be faster than the dinosaur.” He held up a hand coated in Etheric energy and flashed a wicked grin. “Besides, I don’t plan on him being able to stand long enough to ‘smoosh’ me.”
“So you’re going old-school?” William snickered and raised his glass when Michael nodded. “You know, you’re pretty badass for a white dude.”
The thousand-years-plus vampire looked at the behemoth on the screen, and his lip curled to reveal one gleaming fang. “I’m white?”
High Tortuga, Space Fleet Base, Prime Building, One Week Later
Bethany Anne took one more look at the angelic faces of her children. They slept soundly in their Pod-cribs, which were less like cribs and more like mini-bunks in their fourth iteration, since Eve kept coming up with improvements to their functionality.
She switched the nightlight on and left the nursery.
Her next stop was her closet. Not the one she shared with the family, the one that belonged exclusively to her. The space had been built by Jean, with all of Bethany Anne’s preferences in mind. Even Michael was not permitted to enter her haven, which had gone down with him as expected until she’d reminded him that a little mystery in a relationship was a good thing.
“You have shoes in there, don’t you?” had been his first question.
She hadn’t deigned to answer.
A wave of her hand opened the door, and she stepped into the anteroom with the same warm feeling she always had when she entered the combination sitting room and shrine to her Louboutin collection.
The shoe collection was all that remained of her not-so-secret hoard. In two hundred years of continually kicking someone’s ass, she’d gone through a lot of shoes.
When she’d gotten down to the last five hundred pairs or so, she’d had them all packed and stored to keep them in perfect condition.
They were the last Louboutins in existence, after all.
Jean had barely raised an eyebrow at her request, which Bethany Anne had appreciated. However, there was no way she was letting Michael in here. One look at the lighted display cases recessed into the walls, and she would never hear the end of it—which would be a very long time indeed. Especially since she’d spent the last three years riding his ass about his dinosaur obsession.
You okay? TOM asked as her hand touched a few pairs.
Sure. Memories, that’s all. She swept down the corridor to her dressing rooms, taking the right-hand door when she reached it.
The war room?
She took her swords down from the rack to her left as she entered and laid them on the table that was ten feet away in the center of the room. Yup.
I could swear you told Michael this was date night. I thought you were planning a pleasant evening out?
I am. She selected a few more blades and laid them alongside the swords, then the box with her Jean Dukes Specials. I’m planning a pleasant evening of ass-kicking. It’s been too long since we just cut loose, and ADAM found us the perfect place to do it.
Say no more.
She stacked her armor plates, pulled off her pants, and yanked her top over her head. Her chest plate went on easily, as did the ones for her torso, arms, and legs. Damn back plate. Why did I never get something made that could hold this fucking bit still while I get it on? She got it into place on the third attempt. Is that on? She arched her upper back, and the plate stayed where she’d placed it. Thank fuck for that.
What happened to cutting out the cursing? TOM’s voice held an edge of amusement.
I’m not cursing where my children can hear me. I never said a thing about keeping it clean in the privacy of my own mind.
TOM snickered and was gone. She grabbed her leathers from the hangers and dressed quickly, but hesitated when it came to choosing her footwear. Her combat boots were the obvious choice, given where they were going.
However, this was date night. Ass-kicking capabilities aside, she wanted something a little more…dressy. She reached for the over-the-knee boots she’d had made a year previously during a phase of cabin fever that had seen both her wardrobe and her personal armory expand.
The boots had been one of her more practical commissions.
The leather came from a creature native to High Tortuga. Its hide was all but impenetrable, but also as supple as suede—which made them perfect for looking the part while she was busy being a badass.
Procuring the hide to make the boots had distracted Michael from his barbecue fantasies for a good month and a half, and their ability to distract her husband hadn’t ended there.
She smirked and checked that the retractable blade in the heel was safe before she pulled them on. Next, she slid on her double back harness and fastened her holsters to her belt, then filled them with the weapons she’d laid out, saving her swords for last.
She slid them into the back harness, flicked her hair back, and left the closet in search of Michael, pausing only to grab a sword for him.
She found him at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, engrossed in watching something on a tablet. He was dressed in evening wear, and his shoes would definitely not withstand the night she had planned. A tinny roar from the speaker told her everything she needed to know.
Damn dinosaur.
She narrowed her eyes and tossed the extra sword she’d brought in his direction. “Catch!”
Michael looked up from his screen and plucked the sword out of the air. He placed it on the breakfast bar and looked down at the soft shirt and pressed trousers he was wearing with a slightly rueful expression. “Oh, it’s that kind of date night.”
He came over and wrapped his arms around her. “What happened to dinner?”
“We wouldn’t want to break tradition now, would we?” She leaned into her husband and inhaled his familiar scent. “Besides, you’re going to love what I have planned. One word.” She pressed her mouth to his ear and whispered, “Pirates.”
She felt his mouth quirk against her jaw.
“You’ve never disappointed me yet, my love. Give me a few minutes to change.” He kissed her cheek and headed out of the kitchen.
Bethany Anne took a moment to appreciate the view as Michael left. It was a shame about those pants. They fit him so nicely.
She considered following him, but her
fight gear had been enough of a PITA to get into the first time. She would just have to get him to help her out of it when they were done with the date.
ADAM, is the ship ready?
>>The ArchAngel II is ready to go. She’s just waiting for you to arrive.<<
Michael returned a couple of minutes later, his elegant evening wear replaced by something a bit tougher and certainly easier to clean the blood off of.
Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow. “No hat?”
Michael smirked and reached into the Etheric. His hand returned holding his black hat and duster.
Bethany Anne pursed her lips. “I approve.” She waved a finger towards the front. “Do you mind getting the door? Our sitter is here.”
The Bethany Anne’s words had barely left her mouth when Michael opened the door. His eyebrows narrowed as he looked John up and down. “Are you expecting an attack while we are away?” Michael asked.
John followed Michael’s gaze to his weapons. “What? No.” He waved into the suite. “I was told we should be ready for a fight?”
Jean pushed past Michael into the suite and made her way to the kitchen. “Damned thing’s heavy!” She put a bulky crate on the breakfast bar beside Bethany Anne, who eyed the crate, then the R&D specialist. “All ready to go! Or at least you will be if the men quit jacking their jaws and you three get out of here.”
Jean lifted the lid of the crate a little and took out a small box, handing it to Bethany Anne. “Just like we discussed.” She looked around, a question written on her face.
“Where are my niece and nephew?” she asked.
Bethany Anne pointed at the twins’ bedroom door. “Missed your chance. They’ll be asleep for the next few hours. If it’s a bust, we’ll be back before they wake up, but they’re expecting you to be here if we’re not.”
Jean grinned. “You just take your sweet time.” She patted the crate. “I’ve been looking forward to some quality aunt time with the children. Tabitha gets all the damn glory.”
Bethany Anne frowned and looked down. “What’s in the crate, Jean?”
Grinning, Jean tapped the side of her nose with a finger. “‘Secret aunt stuff.’” She shook her finger at Bethany Anne. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten how you pulled that crap with Lillian. And Nickie too, come to think about it.”
Bethany Anne rolled her eyes and sighed. “I suppose I earned this.”
“Oh, you know you earned it. Karma’s a bitch, BA.” She snickered and shooed Bethany Anne toward the door.
“Just remember, so am I. And this bitch has been feeling a little insecure since her babies found their way into the Etheric. So have fun—but do not take it too far.” Bethany Anne swiped Michael’s sword from the counter and made her way over to the door, where the men waited with barely-concealed impatience.
Jean nodded, dropping her eyes to hide the mischievous gleam. “I won’t have any fun if you stand there giving me instructions all damned night. Go have a blast, and give ‘em hell from me.”
Above High Tortuga, QBS ArchAngel II, Bridge
Bethany Anne paced the bridge impatiently, then looked up at a representation of her own face on the screen. “ArchAngel, are they here yet?” She had been waiting for an eternity. Or so it felt when the night’s activities called her.
Her hands clenched and unclenched, the energy coursing through her already annoying.
ArchAngel mirrored Bethany Anne’s movements. “Almost, Mother. The transport Pod will arrive shortly.”
She pressed her lips together. “Give me a feed to the Pod, please.”
ArchAngel’s screen split and showed the interior of the Pod. John, who had stayed behind to make sure the rest of the team caught up, and Darryl were asleep on their benches. Gabrielle and Tabitha were on the back bench with their heads together, talking quietly. Eric yawned and rolled first one shoulder, then the other to loosen them, while Scott snoozed on the bench across from him.
She cocked her head. “How can they be so relaxed?”
ArchAngel raised her eyebrows. “They have not been kept to the same level of confinement as you have been, Mother. Perhaps having a little time to stretch your legs will help you relax as well.”
“True.” She frowned at the screen, and then a smile touched the corner of her mouth. “Give me an audio feed into the Pod. Crank it up.”
“Of course.” ArchAngel matched Bethany Anne’s playful smile with one of her own just as Michael entered the bridge.
Michael looked at the twin expressions of his wife and her avatar and took a seat. “Whatever it is you two are planning…” His eyes flicked to the Pod feed. “Actually, no, never mind. Go ahead.”
Bethany Anne blew him a kiss. “I knew there was a reason I married you.”
Michael tilted his chin. “Besides my dashing looks, impeccable manners, nice ass, and rugged charm, you mean?” He moved to the seat next to hers. “So what nefarious prank do you have in mind, and what exactly did they do to deserve it?”
Bethany Anne encompassed the screen with a wave of her hand. “Look at them! I’m all fired up and ready to go, and they’re all lounging around like a bunch of senior citizens after a potluck.” She turned back to the screen. “HEY! This isn’t the Queen’s Senior Citizen Bitches on tour. WAKE THE FUCK UP!”
It had the desired effect. Mostly.
While everyone else almost jumped out of their skin at the sudden yell, John just opened one eye and glanced at the camera. “Hey, boss. I take it you’re ready to get off-planet, then?”
Bethany Anne nodded. “You know it. Three years is a hell of a long time to be in one place. Now, you guys shake a damned leg and get your asses up here so we can get this party started.”
Above Belv’th, QBS ArchAngel II
Tabitha looked down at the mudball and grimaced. “This place is a shithole. Three years on lockdown and you couldn’t have brought us somewhere nice for our first night out? Fuck. I might as well have stayed in.”
Scott murmured, “Yeah, there’s not much down there, BA. Did we really need to bother with the armor?” He stuffed a hand down his shirt to adjust the plate that was bugging him. “I hate these sticky pads.”
“Why is that?” Eric looked at his friend. “You get your chest hair caught again?”
“It’s not funny,” Scott grumped. He rubbed his chest.
“It could be worse,” Bethany Anne told him. “You could have the damn thing stuck directly to your nipples. You don’t even know pain until you take that shit off.”
“You got that right,” Tabitha agreed. She sat down and crossed her feet on the console. She used the wicked-looking blade she was holding to pare away the last piece of something that looked a little like an apple. “So, BA, are you gonna tell us why you brought us all the way out to the ass-end of nowhere? I don’t even know what planet this is. What’s this place called?” She popped the “apple” in her mouth and made a face when the tart juice hit her tongue.
“It hasn’t got a name at the moment, although some call it ‘Belv’th.’” Bethany Anne slapped Tabitha’s feet down as she passed the console on her way to her chair. “ADAM gave me what he found, but this place values its privacy, so there wasn’t much more than scan data to go off. What I do know is that it has a reputation in certain circles as being a place you can go to hide from the authorities.”
Tabitha put her feet back up and wiped her knife on her pant leg before sheathing it again, ignoring Michael’s raised eyebrow. “So it’s like, what…Pirate Central? ‘Cuz I never get tired of schooling those assholes.”
Bethany Anne shook her head. “No, but they do have a nasty infestation of the fuckers, and they cause the regular people no end of trouble. Most of the residents want to just be left alone to live their lives without interference.”
John raised an eyebrow. “You mean without paying taxes.”
She shrugged. “I can’t argue; that might be a motivation for some.” She waved at the planet on the screen. “Although you’d be su
rprised how many of them just want to be out from under government control. ArchAngel, open a map and highlight the main populated areas. Show topography, and use color to show population density in each sector.”
A map of the planet appeared on the screen. There were two large cities, identifiable by the bullseye display of Bethany Anne’s filters around each. The cities were splotches of midnight in the center, surrounded by rings of progressively paler blue. Bethany Anne pointed to the darkest spot on the map. “Okay, we have three main groups. The largest city is mostly the den of iniquity you’d expect to find at the center of the black market. It’s full of shifty individuals with half their attention on their profit, the other half on how to get a slice of their neighbor’s profit, and the last part trying to use said profit for drunken debauchery.”
“Sounds a lot like High Tortuga when we first arrived,” Darryl supplied. “What are we here for, then? To check it out?”
“Exactly.” Bethany Anne tapped the finger against her lips. “I want to know if this place is actually decent, or if it’s too out of control to meet our needs. Maybe we’ll just have a fun night out, or maybe we’re here to explore New Devon.”
Michael tilted his head. “You think this,” he pointed to the screen, “could be what we need for Phase Two?”
She tilted her hand left and right. “Like I said, maybe. It’s the most likely candidate we’ve found so far. ADAM tells me that it’s more like controlled anarchy than out-and-out lawlessness in the second city.”
Darryl shifted around in his chair to scrutinize the map. “They’re legit, then?”
Bethany Anne shrugged. “Kinda? Sort of.” She paused for a moment. “Probably not. I expect some kind of criminal organization is running the show there.”
Michael nodded toward the third highlighted area, which covered a wide, less-developed area that ran the length of an extensive lake system. It encompassed twice the area of the more densely populated cities. “What’s the story with this location?” He pointed out a couple of mid-blue smears which stood out against the surrounding area.
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