“Come on, Gabriel!” Alexis pushed ahead to get to the top of the next rise.
Gabriel decided it was safer to remain a few paces behind his sister until her temper passed. “I don’t see why Dad thought it would be a fun game without Phyrro to help.”
Alexis snorted. “Who said it wasn’t fun?”
“This isn’t like any game I’ve played before.” Gabriel spread his hands out to indicate the surrounding jungle. “It’s got no purpose. What are we supposed to do, just walk through the jungle endlessly?”
Alexis stopped in her tracks. “You’re right, I think we missed something.” She clenched her fists and stamped her feet. “It’s too late to go back now.”
They climbed to the top of the rise and stopped to choose their route through the valley below.
“Look.” Gabriel pointed at a clearing at the bottom of the valley, where a mixed group of dinosaurs was drinking from a long pool. “They look like plant-eaters.”
“Herbivores,” Alexis supplied.
“Walking thesaurus,” Gabriel shot back. He began working his way down the scree-covered slope, using the trees to keep his speed down. “Come on, I want to get a closer look.”
Alexis gave him a doubtful look but followed just the same.
John turned his head to Michael. “Are they herbivores?”
Michael nodded. “Those ones are, yes.”
Darryl, Scott, and Eric exchanged glances.
John kept watching with his arms folded, assessing the whole time. “They’re gonna be in the shit if they keep that up,” he remarked.
The twins crashed through the foliage at the edge of the pool, startling the smaller dinosaurs into scampering away.
Gabriel dashed over to a long and moderately large dinosaur with a line of bony plates along its spine. “Alexis, it’s a dragon!”
Alexis remained by the tree line. “If it is a dragon, then where are its wings?”
“Oh, yeah.” Gabriel looked downcast for a moment but brightened when he put a hand on the dinosaur’s side and it didn’t immediately move away. “Shall we ride them? Maybe we shouldn’t. Mom wasn’t messing around when she told Dad we weren’t to go near any dinosaurs.”
“Well, technically they’re not real dinosaurs, so we wouldn’t be breaking Mom’s rules.” Alexis still hesitated. “I don’t know…”
Gabriel was already scrambling up the dinosaur’s side. Alexis sighed and threw up her hands. “I suppose we’ll get to the mountain a lot faster if we’re not walking. Now, how do you steer a dinosaur?”
“I don’t know, ask it?” Gabriel shinnied along the neck until he came eye to eye with the dinosaur, who had just noticed the tiny human for the first time.
Its eye flew wide in alarm, and it shook its head to remove Gabriel from its neck. Gabriel clung tightly and whooped. The other dinosaurs lifted their heads, spooked by the noise. They stopped drinking and began a stampede to get away from the pool.
Alexis danced and dodged around to avoid being crushed by the fleeing feet. “Gabriel, get down from there!”
Out of nowhere, Gabriel’s steed was tumbled to the ground by another dinosaur, a raptor-looking predator that was a little larger than the peaceful plant eater. Gabriel dived from its head and landed in a roll to avoid being crushed.
Alexis screamed when the raptor tore the throat out of the herbivore and splashed her with blood. She shook her hands rapidly to get it off. “Ugh, Gabriel! It’s slimy! And hot!”
Gabriel grabbed her hand and pulled her under a large bush. “Yeah, well, we’re going to be dead if we don’t get out of here. Look, there are more.”
Alexis followed his finger and saw the rest of the raptor pack coming at them. “Follow the herd, quick! Run!”
They pelted hand-in-hand into the undergrowth, dashing between the legs of the larger dinosaurs to put some distance—and some prey—between themselves and the predators.
It was carnage. The meat-eating pack tore into the herd with abandon. However, the larger herbivores were no easy meal. They fought back, churning up the ground beneath them as they stamped and reared to shake their attackers off.
Alexis had never run so fast in her life. She felt her brother’s hand grip hers tightly, matching her pace as the dinosaurs warred around them. They ducked a long tail that swooped low across their path and dodged the snapping jaws of one of the raptors when it got a little too close. Gabriel pulled her out of the path of a falling dinosaur and dragged her onward before any of the raptors who were piling onto the wounded beast noticed the two bite-sized humans.
They were both breathing hard, but they didn’t let the burn in their chests stop them from fleeing.
I’m so tired! Alexis panted even in their minds. How are we feeling this?
Gabriel grunted, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder. Not the time, sis. Just run!
John raised an eyebrow at Michael. “Now?”
Michael nodded. “Just lie down in the Vid-doc, and I’ll pipe you in.”
“No funny business, okay?” He got in and eyed Michael before he pulled the door closed. “Okay, I’m done reading through the objectives. Send me in.”
Michael smirked when Eve came into the room just as he input the commands to insert John into the game. Eve walked over to the console and looked up at the screen, where John had just appeared a little ways from the children.
A matching smirk appeared on her face.
John sprinted through the stampede until he reached the twins. He scooped one child under each arm and worked his way out of the crush. When a few raptors saw them separate and moved to circle them, John’s eyes flashed red. He snarled and pushed a thick wave of fear.
The raptors halted and tilted their heads at John. He held Alexis and Gabriel close and glared at the dinosaurs. One put a clawed foot forward, testing. John snarled at them again, a deep and rumbling promise of death to any raptor that took a step closer.
The raptors were bright enough to understand the threat. They blinked in the realization that they were not the apex predators in this situation and backed off to refocus their efforts on more timid prey.
“What was that?” Gabriel asked John. His voice trembled a bit, but the interest component was stronger. “They were scared. Can I do that?”
John shrugged. “I don’t know, can you?”
He put the children down now that the danger had passed. They clung to his legs, still a little shaken by the sudden excitement.
Alexis was first to recover. “Uncle John, we got distracted and missed the instructions.”
John smiled and took a knee on the ground between them. He wrapped an arm around each child. “I don’t have long before your dad pulls me out again, so listen up while I give you both some pointers…”
Eve turned to Michael, the less-than-altruistic grin still on her face. “So you’re giving them their first taste?”
Scott, Darryl, and Eric had been watching the events on the screen unfold with something between awe and horror.
“You did this?” Scott asked incredulously.
Eve gave him a flat look. “Of course. Who else knows this technology like I do? It was my specialty back on Earth, even with the horrible electronics I had to deal with. This is my best work ever.”
Darryl frowned. “What’s that mean?”
She looked up at the screen again. “It means they’d best hope they don’t get bitten.”
Chapter Fourteen
High Tortuga, Space Fleet Base, Security Pit
An alarm went off in the quiet of the graveyard shift, startling Jennifer and Charles almost out of their skins.
“It’s an unidentified…something,” Charles shouted over the klaxon.
“What do you mean, ‘something?’” Jennifer looked at Charles and then down at her monitor. “CEREBRO, shut that damn alarm off. Then identify whatever set the damn thing off.”
“That’s a lot of damns,” Charles teased.
The klaxon cut out and a momen
t later a fuzzy image came up on Jennifer’s screen. “Resolve.”
The image sharpened, revealing…nothing.
“What the hell?”
“We are receiving a communication,” CEREBRO told them.
“Put it onscreen, please.”
The screen went black, then came back to life with the face of Addix, the Ixtali spymistress. “Good evening. Would you please ask CEREBRO to cease pointing the planetary defense system at me? Lady does not appreciate the gesture, either.” Her mandibles indicated that she was merely teasing and wasn’t actually offended.
Jennifer was still mortified. “Of course, Spymistress. We weren’t expecting you. I’m so sorry.”
Addix waved her off. “Just contact Michael and inform him of my arrival.”
Above High Tortuga, The Lady Princess
Addix left her personal quarters and made her way back to the bridge. It was a lot simpler to walk the narrow passages of the ship without the bulky robes she used to wear snagging on every protrusion she passed.
Of course, she would still wear the robes in public. This new confidence in herself was for her and those who had helped her to gain it alone. To everyone else she was just another Ixtali, one of many. Her role was not to stand out from the crowd, since notoriety would be an endless complication—and that was definitely not how Addix worked.
She preferred the freedom of anonymity. If she were instantly recognizable wherever she went, it would cut her off from many of the tricks of her trade, making her a much less effective spy.
Lady spoke through the speaker as Addix entered the bridge. “You have a call.”
Addix’s mandibles twitched. “No snark today?”
Lady sighed. “I cannot believe they were going to fry me. I would rather not discuss it. Your call is ready.”
Eve came up on the screen. It was fairly easy to read human moods, but Eve gave nothing away. Addix found the smooth lines of the android’s face more than a little disconcerting. She also had her suspicions about Eve’s status as an EI. She’d noticed more than a few snippets of what sounded like opinion from her over the last three years. However, she’d also learned about Eve’s close guard over her privacy, and also her propensity for pulling wicked pranks when she felt slighted.
“I was expecting Michael.”
Eve tilted her head. “He’s busy with the children’s training.”
Addix’s mandibles twitched in excitement. “Has it begun?”
Eve nodded. “It has. I can take a message if it’s urgent.”
Addix shook her head. It was strange how one picked up these human gestures over the years. “It will wait. I’d rather tell him in person.”
Yollin Sector, QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Bethany Anne’s Personal Quarters
“Brunette or redhead?” Tabitha held the wigs up one at a time, grinning wickedly at the horrified expression on Jean’s face.
Gabrielle selected a few items of Torcellan clothing from the rack and grabbed the elaborate wig Tabitha offered. “Do we have the right makeup?”
Bethany Anne pointed to an industrial-looking case on wheels. “One reverse spray tan coming right up.”
Gabrielle sat still for Bethany Anne to apply the makeup.
Jean shook her head, threw a voluminous hooded robe over what she was already wearing, and picked up a prop breathing mask to cover the lower part of her face. “I’m thinking I’d rather go completely incognito than go through all of that.” She pointed at the elaborate Torcellan hairpiece Gabrielle was planning to wear with disgust. “Especially that. Fuck, no.” She rummaged in one of the boxes of disguise elements scattered around the anteroom and came up with a pair of wobbly gel somethings. “What the hell are these for?”
Bethany Anne looked over from doing Gabrielle’s makeup and made a face at them. “Beats the fuck out of me.” She shrugged and scooped another blob of the thick alabaster foundation from the palette she was holding.
Gabrielle winced as Bethany Anne applied the cold sponge to her face. “It will be something or other designed to enhance your body.”
Tabitha looked up from the box she was searching and grinned. “They’re helping hands for the less bootylicious.” She laughed at the blank looks she was getting and patted her ass before she returned to digging through the box. “Can’t all be as gifted in the rear aspect as I am.”
“Ew.” Jean dropped the gel pads back in the box with a grimace. “Yeah, I’ll give those a pass.”
Gabrielle rolled her eyes and walked over to the clothes rack to get what she needed to complete her transformation. “What are you doing?”
Bethany Anne snickered. “I think I’ll skip all of that.” She concentrated and her face changed into something just different enough, even as her skin became more golden in hue and her eyes changed to a deep, warm brown. “Well, what do I look like?”
Tabitha turned to look and did a double take. “Oh, now that’s just weird.”
Bethany Anne frowned. “What?”
“You look like my older, hotter sister.” Tabitha scowled. “No fair. Now I’ve got to do something spectacular.” She hastily swapped out the disguise she’d chosen, secured her double-armload of items, and swept out of the room.
Bethany Anne’s mouth fell open. “Older?”
Jean sighed and rolled her eyes. “So dramatic.”
Tabitha breezed back in shortly afterward, completely unrecognizable with the blue makeup she’d applied to every visible inch of her skin.
Gabrielle returned soon after that wearing her Torcellan getup. “I can see why they’re so vain about their hair.” She ran a hand over the heavy wig. “The real thing would take a lot of upkeep.”
Tabitha snickered, then looked longingly at Gracie’s case. “I’ll be back,” she whispered to the gun.
“Do you and the rifle need a little time alone?” Bethany Anne asked. “We can leave you two alone and hit the stores without you.”
Tabitha grinned. “Nope, all good, thanks. Now, are we going to get some retail therapy, or what?”
Lance entered Bethany Anne’s quarters. “Meredith, have I missed them?”
“You have,” Meredith replied.
Lance sighed. “Dammit, I wanted to catch them before they left. I hope they stay under the radar. I’d hate to require Bethany Anne to wipe someone.”
“I can help watch over them,” Meredith offered.
Lance nodded. “I think that would be best.”
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Level 00, Open Court
“So, a human, a Torcellan, a…” she waved a hand in Tabitha’s direction, “and a whatever the fuck Jean is pretending to be—”
“Hey!” Jean objected.
“A whatever the fuck Jean is pretending to be,” Bethany Anne repeated, “Walk into a bar… Dammit!” She shrugged and pushed open the door of the boutique. “I lost the punchline.”
Bethany Anne inhaled the smell of new shoe leather as she looked around the little slice of heaven. “Oh, for the sweet love of all that is…” She headed straight for the lit display cases at the back of the store where the exclusive lines were kept.
The sales clerk, a cute young human with bouncy curls and a bouncier step, came straight over. “Hi, can I help you ladies find what you’re looking for?”
Bethany Anne smiled and pointed at the display. “I’ll try those, those, and…those too.”
The sales clerk bent to pull the relevant boxes from the drawers under the display unit. “A woman with taste, I like it. what size do you take?”
Bethany Anne smirked. “A seven.”
The clerk grinned. “Really? You wear the same size as the Empress. You’re so lucky!”
Bethany Anne took the box the clerk held out. “Oh? Why does that make me lucky?”
The clerk stood with the other three boxes. “Because it’s considered the perfect size. Also, her shoe obsession is pretty famous. One visit from Bethany Anne could make the year for a small business like this. All the shoe stores make
sure to stock her size in case she ever comes to shop.”
Bethany Anne smiled and glanced over the display again. “Well, let’s see if we can make this into one of those days for you.”
Jean laughed in Bethany Anne’s mind.
Bethany Anne fixed her with a stare. I don’t know why you’re laughing. You’re going to build me somewhere to keep all of these. I don’t want my little splurge getting back to Michael.
“A little splurge, you said.” Jean’s tone was pure disbelief as she watched the line of antigrav pallets head off to the storage cube they’d brought with them. “You’re definitely going to need an extension to your secret lair.”
They wandered along the concourse, taking their time to browse the stores. Tabitha stopped here and there to sample the food from the vendors they passed. She nibbled on her corndog, making little noises as she ate. “Mmm, real Earth food.”
Gabrielle wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think street vendors are the way to go. You couldn’t hold out until we found a place for lunch?”
Tabitha stuck her tongue out at Gabrielle. “You’re not still sore about those tacos on Devon, are you?”
Gabrielle rolled her eyes and hurried to catch up with Bethany Anne. “It’s changed a lot here.”
Bethany Anne nodded. “You’re not wrong. But look around us.” She nodded toward the busy concourse and continued mentally, More peoples are able to exist in harmony since I stepped down and my dad took over. He’s done a great job of growing the Federation. It doesn’t need me.
Gabrielle laid a hand on her arm. Stepping down was the best decision—for you, as well as for the Federation.
Bethany Anne shrugged. There’s only so much political bullshit one woman can take. Besides, you know they did me a favor. How else was I supposed to get out of here? Running an empire was only ever going to get in the way of what we left Earth to do.
Tabitha chimed in, Killing the fucking Kurtherians?
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