Bethany Anne had expected something along the lines of this from the Leath. “Okay. Then I will withdraw my financial support of Leath’s manufacturing industry, and you can go back to the representatives and tell them their most valued buyers have pulled out of their contracts because you decided to play god with millions of lives. How do you think the representatives will take that, you short-tusked, credit-grubbing, self-serving fuckwit?”
“I should imagine they will be unhappy to lose your business—until I tell them exactly who they have been dealing with.” Harkkat narrowed his eyes, and his smile grew as crooked as he was. “You have done enough damage to the Leath economy already, don’t you think?”
Bethany Anne sat forward and rested her chin on her laced fingers. “Slimeballing your way out of it won’t work. My records are meticulous, and I’m not at fault here, except maybe I should have known the representatives would get greedy.” She pinned Harkkat with a look that would have killed someone with a more nervous disposition. “After all, it was they who pursued me. I didn’t ask every two-bit startup on Leath to switch to making ship components in the name of getting a chunk of my money. Neither did I have any need to support the Leath by continuing to buy from them after I was in a position to produce said components myself.”
Lance cleared his throat to break the tension. “You aren’t holding any cards worth playing, Harkkat. In fact, your obstruction is grounds for me to have you removed as Secretary.”
“I could remove him from life,” Bethany Anne offered as she inspected her nails with a nonchalant smile. “It would be no trouble, and I’m pretty damn sure Leath as a whole would thank me. Knowing they have a self-serving slimeball like him representing them on the council has got to be a planetwide embarrassment.”
“I knew it!” Harkkat blustered. “I knew this was just an excuse to storm in here and spill blood.”
Bethany Anne shrugged, a hint of a smile playing about her lips. “I notice nobody here jumped to your defense. I’m going to guess they’re sick of your shit since I’ve only known you for five minutes, and I’m up to here with it.” She waved a hand at eye level to demonstrate.
Lance spoke up in Bethany Anne’s mind. I’ll make sure this is his last day as a council delegate. Just please don’t kill him. The paperwork alone…
Bethany Anne pretended not to hear. “Make the right vote for your people—for all of the people—or I’m going to remove you. Your choice.”
Harkkat looked around for support and found none. His gaze landed on Lance, and the uncertainty he saw there made him realize he’d gone beyond being able to talk his way out of the corner he’d painted himself into. He puffed his chest out and sighed. “Fine. This isn’t legal or in any way ethical—”
“Who the fuck are you to talk about ETHICS?” Bethany Anne exploded. “You’ve been lining your pockets at your people’s expense at every opportunity you’ve been given. The only reason I haven’t ripped your head off and spit down your neck is that I would have to resume responsibility for the Federation.”
She turned to Lance and pointed at Harkkat. “He belongs on a penal world. I can’t promise his continued safety if he’s not shipped out within the next twenty-four hours.”
Lance lifted his hands. “We follow the law for a reason. The investigation into Harkkat’s activities is underway.”
“Being rigged against me, you mean,” Harkkat grumbled.
Bethany Anne ignored him. “Expedite it,” she told Lance. “And get a Leath in here who understands the responsibility that comes with duty. Until then, Leath will be banned from the council vote on the grounds that they cannot be trusted to vote responsibly. The Federation is based on a shared ideal, and ideals only hold water as long as the entire group works toward that common goal.”
Harkkat’s blustering became incomprehensible, ending in two words everyone could make out. “You can’t.”
“Oh, I can,” Bethany Anne told him. She smiled, a cold thing intended to chill. “In fact, I have the perfect place for a bureaucrat who can’t keep his hands out of the kitty.” She looked at the other delegates. “This new spirit of cooperation will require more meetings than I’m prepared to take. I’m going to establish a consulate on my planet, Devon. Harkkat will be the Federation representative on my world where I can keep my eye on him. I expect him to be delivered there within the month.”
She got to her feet. “As for the rest of you, I leave the Federation in your trusted hands. It would be lying if I said it was a pleasure to be here today, nor will my future visits be any lighter on your hearts. However, I acknowledge and respect your dedication to maintaining the freedom of the people to live in blissful ignorance of the dangers beyond its borders.”
Bethany Anne meant every word. The last thing she heard as she took the Bitches with her into the Etheric was a murmur of relief from the delegates grateful to be alive and in full possession of their limbs and faculties.
Devon, The Hexagon
Tim and Rickie finished their bro hugs and followed Sabine and Nickie into the cafeteria.
“This was a great idea,” Rickie told Tim. “It’s been pretty busy out on the edge of the Interdiction. There’s a huge difference between being one of the guys and being in charge of them.”
Tim nodded his appreciation. “You finally understand what I’ve been explaining all this time?”
Rickie nodded. “Yeah. I don’t care how unmanly it is to admit it. I miss you, dude.”
Tim laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “You could always fuck up beyond reason and I’d have to come over to the Exuberant to fix your shit.”
Rickie flashed a carefree grin at his old friend. “No, I’m not fucking this up. I’ve worked too hard to get my station running just how I like it to come back here and put up with your crap again.”
Nickie glanced at the guys. “Hey, we here to eat or just listen to you guys’ reunion?”
Tim shook his head, jerking a thumb at Rickie. “I don’t know how you put up with that snark constantly.”
Nickie snorted. “Like I stick around anywhere long enough for anyone to get used to me.”
Sabine took a seat at the table by the window. She didn’t know what to make of Nickie, for a start. They all knew her story, or a version of it, at least.
“Don’t you speak?” Nickie asked.
Sabine lifted her shoulder a fraction and turned her glance to the stars. “When there’s something worth remarking upon, sure.”
Nickie narrowed her eyes, trying to work out where the insult she’d clearly heard was. “Hmm.” She decided to let the ice queen thaw and turned her grin on Rickie as he took the seat opposite hers. “So, what’s been going on around the Exuberant? I heard you got to strip that Leath outpost. Any cool finds?”
Rickie scrunched his nose. “Meh, not especially. Most of it was clearing out the Ooken corpses BA and Michael left behind. You want excitement, you should have been out on the Interdiction while the battle was going on. Those Kurtherian ships were something to behold—right up until we blew the shit out of them.”
Sabine smiled at Tim before turning to Nickie. “You weren’t here for the battle?”
Nickie grinned at the chance to show off. “I was here. I held Hexagon Plaza by myself the whole time, so I didn’t get to see any Kurtherians. My Aunt Tabitha got up close and personal with one, but there wasn’t enough of it left to fill a specimen jar afterward.”
“Sabine met the Bl’kheths at last,” Tim shared.
“What the fuck is a Bl’kheth when it’s at home?” Nickie asked.
Sabine winced at the language. “They are the third species we have identified as being part of the Ookens’ genetic make-up,” she explained. “Six of them were inadvertently brought back here after the factory raid instead of being sent to High Tortuga with the other rescued prisoners.”
Tim held his breath, hoping the two women would find common ground before their double date turned into a catfight.
Nickie tilted her head as she had Meredith bring up the video from the corridor on Eve’s sublevel. “Cute little fuckers, aren’t they?” She laughed aloud at their attack on the two Ookens. “What were the Ookens trying to get to?”
“Demon,” Sabine informed her. “She went into labor and had her kittens while Ashur, Sam, and I held those monsters off.”
Nickie bristled. “The cat had babies? I’m sorry I didn’t know you needed help. I have to be honest, I was pretty much just playing in the Plaza for the last hour or so after I figured out I could subvert the Ookens’ programming by flooding them with emotions.”
Sabine found herself warming to the foul-mouthed young woman despite her best effort to dislike her. She smiled, softer this time. “We did just fine. The kittens are healthy, and Demon is doing well.”
Nickie held her reply until the housebot had taken their orders. “I’m interested in these aliens.” She pointed to her head to make sure everyone understood she was speaking of her EI. “Meredith tells me they’re the answer to a lot of problems regarding travel in and out of the Etheric?” A look of annoyance flashed over her face. “Sorry, she’s a stick-up-the-ass when it comes to accuracy. They’re the key to moving metal around in there freely?”
Sabine shifted in her seat. “Yes. Michael can tell you more—”
“Like I’m going to ask him,” Nickie interjected. “I’ll just have my EI bug ADAM. What I’m wondering is how those tiny creatures can help with something that’s evaded my aunt for two centuries.”
Sabine became suddenly more animated. “This is what Eve explained to me. The Bl’kheths have the ability to walk the Etheric. They are also different from us on a cellular level, meaning that while we are carbon-based life forms, their building blocks, if you will, are made up of arsenic.”
Nickie frowned, her lips pursed. “The poison?”
Sabine shook a finger. “It’s only poisonous to us in certain amounts. We have it in our bodies naturally. In the case of the Bl’kheths, their planet’s biology differs in that all life there is built up from heavy metals. So, as we are different than, say, a tree, but still genetically very similar, the theory is that everything on their planet is metal-based. Arsenic is the most statistically likely, according to Eve.”
Nickie made a mental note to pay a visit to her distant cousin to find out what she knew. “So how does that help with Aunt BA getting metal into the Etheric?”
Tim suppressed a groan.
Sabine sighed. “It does not. The Kurtherians are committing horrors in their factories! They are grinding these beings into paste to extract the relevant genes to build the Ookens. We would never do anything so abhorrent. Unless we can meet with the Bl’kheths, then overcome the barriers to communication that would allow us to get their permission to scan them in a Pod-doc, then figure out how to apply those findings ethically.” She shrugged. “Well, we’re not getting Etheric-capable ships any time soon.”
“More important is protecting ourselves from attacks coming from inside the Etheric,” Tim added. “I don’t mind telling you I was shaken by how easily the Seven got past our defenses.”
The conversation paused again while the housebot brought their meals and laid them out on the table.
Rickie considered the massive destruction that had been wreaked across the Kurtherian fleet. “You think they can afford to replace all those ships so easily?” He paused with a ribbon of pasta dangling from his fork. “The Ookens, yeah. We know they’re made on a freaking production line. But ships aren’t cheap, especially ones with those capabilities.”
Nickie nodded her agreement while she finished chewing. “Mmhmm. My bet is that it’ll be a while before we have to worry about another attack like that. Meredith thinks the attack was a cover for getting back those crystals Aunt BA and Michael took from Qu’Baka.”
Rickie’s eyebrows went up. “Crystals? I didn’t hear about any crystals.”
Nickie tapped her nose with a finger. “Need to know, except I have insider information.” She grinned at Rickie’s put-out expression. “I might as well tell you now that they’re gone. There was one they managed to crack, or whatever. The rest were all locked down. The actual freaking boss Kurtherian broke onto the Baba Yaga and stole that shit right back.”
Both Tim and Rickie growled, unable to contain their instinctive protective reactions.
“Down, boys,” Nickie told them, waving her free hand to emphasize her words. “It’s done. Bethany Anne isn’t happy, but her outlook is that the kids weren’t in any danger, and she’ll take her feelings out on the wannabe big bad bitch when she gets her hands around her throat.”
From the vent above the cafeteria, a small blue face peered at the meal going on below.
The Bl’kheth turned his head this way and that, trying to pick out the language from the soup of smells and movements below. It was difficult to be sure, but it sounded like they had worked out that his people were the key to the safety of all.
These aliens were among the strongest he had encountered. They ate organic food and spoke with sound only, it appeared. Another incongruity was that they had not attempted to capture his group—not that they could when Bl’kheths were like gossamer on the wind.
Did they know that the goddess had used up her resources to make the attack? He tore a strip from the vent and nibbled on it absentmindedly while he thought it over.
His group didn’t think anyone understood that the lengths the goddess had gone to went far beyond sustainability. There would be a time of peace while she rebuilt, which was why his group had decided to scatter throughout the humans’ home to gather more information before coming to a decision about what to do when the goddess returned.
They owed the digital entity CEREBRO for the accidental murder of a part of their whole. Hunger and the unfamiliar surroundings had gotten the better of them.
His people had behaved dishonorably.
The question remained as to how they could assist when no being on the planet could understand them. Their group mind was not so dissimilar to that of the goddess’ soldiers that they couldn’t listen in. It was a curse that the Collective mind was so different. Otherwise, they might communicate through them.
These humans were not evil. Not bent on taking without regard for the consequences for the ones left behind. They were warriors, like the Bl’kheths, their goals set on giving life room to flourish, no matter its shape.
Honor was all that mattered.
But what was honor through human eyes?
19
Devon, The Hexagon, Residential Sublevel
William walked into his living area with a bowl of chips in one hand and a bottle of soda in the other. His plans to veg out in front of a movie were cut short when his wallscreen flashed with a call from R2D2.
He dropped onto the couch and put his feet up before answering. “Put ‘em onscreen, CEREBRO.”
Bobcat paused his argument with Marcus only long enough to drag William into it. “Tell this absentminded old fart that there’s no point in stopping at High Tortuga when we’re only a Gate away from Devon.”
Marcus pointed an accusatory finger at Bobcat. “Listen to me, you alcohol-sodden reprobate! We’ve been stuck aboard this rock since we got back from founding the Bakas’ city. I want to put my feet on solid ground and eat something that hasn’t been printed by a machine.”
William knew he shouldn’t laugh. It didn’t stop him. “Take it easy, guys. You should get here soonest. I’ve arranged with Tina to take you on a tour of the city when you arrive. Devon’s a hell of a lot more fun to be on than High Tortuga.”
Bobcat smirked at Marcus. “You don’t want to piss your wife off, right? We’re going straight to Devon.”
William grinned. “Then I guess I’d better haul my ass into some pants and come meet you guys.” He dropped the call and sent a message to inform Tina of her husband’s impending arrival.
Tina called back immediately.
William accepted aud
io only since he was still wearing only underwear.
“Let me guess,” Tina teased. “I’m interrupting ‘pants off at the door' night. What movie were you watching?”
William chuckled. “Didn’t even get so far as to choose one. The R2D2 reached High Tortuga.”
Tina could be heard clapping. “Finally! I thought they’d never get to the Interdiction.”
“Take it easy,” he told her amiably. “They have to make it through the Gate system first. I can’t see there being any delay once they get to this side of the Interdiction, but then we don’t know what’s going on up there in response to the attack.”
“I know,” Tina replied. “But anyone who doesn’t know the R2D2 has no business being in a security position. I’ll get hold of Tim and make sure they get through without any issues.”
“Sounds good to me.” William returned fully dressed to his couch. “If you’re going to go up there to meet them, I’m going to watch my movie. I need to de-stress.”
“Too much time working with Michael?” Tina sympathized.
“Don’t you just know it,” he replied with a chuckle. “My brain has been put through the wringer, and all for nothing since the crystals we were working on spontaneously combusted and burned down half the damn lab we were using.”
Tina sucked in a breath. “You can tell me how Eve took that later.”
“Sure thing,” he agreed. “Give me a call when you guys are ready, and I’ll meet you in the Plaza.”
Devon, The Interdiction, The R2D2
Bobcat gaped as the station exited the Gate outside the BYPS. “How did we miss the huge freaking battlestation last time we were here? Geez, BA didn’t spare any expense on protecting this place. Look at the size of that thing.”
Marcus followed Bobcat's gaze to the Guardian and shrugged. “Size isn’t everything. I happen to think building the shipyard around the station's center of gravity is efficient.”
Bobcat groaned with the effort of not taking the opportunity, thus avoiding reigniting the argument between them.
The Valkyrie Returns (The Kurtherian Endgame Book 7) Page 19