“Grenades are not friends,” Scott commented.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Darryl replied.
“Of course I have a couple,” Scott answered, and his armor opened along his thigh to allow him to grab two small silver balls before it closed again. “They aren’t the other guy’s friends, but I happen to know that John doesn’t share so I always carry a couple just in case.”
Darryl chuckled as he grabbed the door handle. “Three, two, one!” He pulled it open. Scott peeked in quickly, then stepped in and shrugged. He waited until the footsteps got closer, then tossed the two round spheres against the far wall. They banked off it and start bouncing down the next flight of stairs.
Scott stepped out of the stairwell and started jogging back to the group. Darryl had just caught up when the first whump occurred, and after a second louder WHUMP the door behind them flew off its hinges and bounced down the hallway to land just five feet behind them.
—
The scene inside the room was tense. The four Ixtali were waiting for the red sword to finish opening the wall when all hell broke loose.
An armored human appeared in the air and crashed into their barricade. He came to rest on top of the two at the end.
Crushing bones in the process.
Before the two who were still standing could turn their guns in his direction, their heads exploded.
“Dammit, Bethany Anne!” John groused as he tried to get off the two Ixtalis, who were yelling in pain. He holstered his pistol.
“You broke my bones!” one yelled at John.
“Probably,” John answered as he stood. The guy was trying to get up, so John stepped on his lower leg. The snap of bone was audible in the quiet of the room. “Nope, definitely,” John said above a fresh bout of screaming. “I’d say ‘My bad,’ but your other option is dying.”
The other Ixtali was unconscious.
Private Residence Outside Ixtali’s Capital
Two black Pods screamed through the air, using the clouds to stay out of sight to the best of their ability.
While authorized, the travelers preferred to remain anonymous.
After maneuvering behind a large homestead, the first Pod descended the last few feet, then snuggled under one of the tree-type plants.
The Pod opened, and Bethany Anne and Ashur jumped out. The second Pod landed next to her and John stepped out.
When she strode up to the back of the house the door opened, and Addix stood there with a smile on her face. “Good evening,” she said, stepping back to let her guests in.
“May I enter?” Ashur asked, his voice coming from a small collar around his neck.
“Certainly,” Addix answered, her mandibles signaling her pleasure. “I am not affected by your fur.”
Ashur followed Bethany Anne through the door while John wiped his boots on the mat, nodded, and entered last.
The door snicked shut behind them.
Bethany Anne was wearing a flowing red top and deep-purple slacks, and John had on the latest version of their suit armor.
Casual, yet protective.
Bethany Anne turned to Addix and bowed her head slightly. “I wanted to come by and thank you personally, and ask if you had any requests for me.”
Addix laughed. Her hoarse breathing sounded labored, but it was a byproduct of her speech. “Requests of you, Empress? Hardly.” She waved to the furniture, and Bethany Anne walked over and leaned against something that seemed sort of comfortable. Bethany Anne wasn’t sure how an Ixtali would use the furniture, and frankly had no desire to find out.
“If I were a few years younger, perhaps,” she replied. “Well, actually, I have a question.”
Bethany Anne waited, raising her eyebrows to signify she was listening.
“How did you do this?” Addix asked, making an intricate wave in front of her face.
“What?” Bethany Anne asked. “I’m not sure what you are asking.”
“Make me younger. Make me live to the ripe old age that I have?”
Bethany Anne chewed the inside of her cheek before answering, “We have technology to make this happen. To help rejuvenate bodies.”
“Is this why your people are so plentiful?” Addix asked. “You never die?”
“Oh, no,” John answered, the two ladies turning to him. “We just go at it like bunny rabbits, trying to figure out how to increase the… Increase…” He looked at them. “I’m going to shut up now.”
Addix’s hoarse laughter caused Bethany Anne to smile. “You,” Addix pointed to John, “can’t keep your mouth shut, can you?”
“Oh?” Bethany Anne’s eyes narrowed as she looked at John before glancing back to Addix. “When was the last time this occurred?”
“When I met with your General,” Addix replied. “I will tell you the story the next time we meet.”
Bethany Anne suppressed her desire to look at Addix in confusion. Instead she asked her internal secretary, ADAM, do I have a scheduled time to meet Addix again?
>> You do not.<<
Well then… Ohhhh, she’s a crafty one! Bethany Anne thought about her options for the fleetest of moments.
Bethany Anne let the statement drop and instead asked, “Addix, what are you going to do now?”
“I have no idea,” the Ixtali answered. She moved to one of the pieces of furniture, and reached behind her, lifting the back of her robe and then moving up the side. Bethany Anne could only imagine that her spider-like legs were climbing up the furniture under the robes. “I feel young in mind, but even your vaunted technology can’t stop age forever.” She settled her head on one of her hands. “If I had the time I would pay you back five times over for what you have done for my people, so your asking me if I want a favor is simply ludicrous to me.”
Bethany Anne glanced at John, but it didn’t seem like he was going to interject anything this time.
She pursed her lips. “Would you consider leaving Ixtali?”
“For?” Addix asked, leaning forward a bit.
“I’m thinking that I have a planet that could use your particular skills—the Ixtali ability to handle secrets and uncover the unknown. The position requires someone I trust to operate independently and wield quite a bit of authority.”
“Empress, I’m honored,” Addix replied, “but at best I’ve got a couple of years left. Maybe five, if I push it.”
“That is for me to worry about,” Bethany Anne answered. “If you are willing to take the job, I doubt you will be back. And if you do come back, it wouldn’t be in a way that anyone would know who you are.”
“I would be changed?” Addix asked.
“You would be a ghost. No one would believe it was you.”
“What the hell,” Addix answered. “I’ve done all I can on this world, and I’ve buried all the family who knows who I am. If I quit visiting the others, I become just a rumor for family gatherings.” She paused a moment in thought before returning her gaze to Bethany Anne. “What shall I do for you, Empress?”
Bethany Anne shrugged. “You will help by learning to ferret out those who would do evil, to hide the biggest secret in existence, and to make sure those who need help find you.” She put up a finger. “Oh, and you will have to drop your last name.”
“For?” Addix asked once more.
Bethany Anne smiled. “How do you say ‘Nacht’ in Ixtali?”
QBBS Meredith Reynolds
Lance had barely sat down at his desk when the voice of his daughter interrupted his thoughts.
“How the hell are we going to hide our people?”
Lance calmly looked up. Bethany Anne was staring down at him. “Don’t you knock anymore?” he asked, pointedly glancing toward his door.
She looked at it too. “I didn’t come in the door. What do you want me to do, walk to the door and knock on it from this side?”
“Or wear a bell,” Lance agreed.
“Hell no.” Bethany Anne leaned in and kissed her dad on the top of his head. “How ar
e you, old man?”
“Wondering what the hell you got me into,” he huffed, then locked his hands and put them behind his head, leaning back. “I heard you got back from Ixtali last night. I didn’t think I’d see you so quickly. I assume your question refers to all of the personnel from the military drawdown?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
He shrugged. “Well, some will wish to leave the military. That will take care of forty percent right there.” Lance looked up at the ceiling. “We are going to give you another twenty to thirty percent.” He glanced at Bethany Anne, who had sat down in the chair in front of his desk. “Right?”
She nodded again. “Yes, take or give a few percent. We can operate on as few as ten percent, but if we got into a battle that could seriously hamstring us.”
He leaned forward, placing his hands on the desk. “I think plenty of people in the military want to find out what you are going to do next. Plus, going to Earth? Many will want to go on that trip anyway. It’s being billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Her eyes unfocused, but she agreed. “It’s being billed like that because that’s what it will be.”
Lance broke her out of her thoughts. “The hard part is, we are going to have to hurt some people.”
“What? Why?” she answered. “Who are we going to have to hurt?”
“A few people who can’t know the future. Can’t know our plans, because those damned Noel-nis will be tracking them—I guarantee it. Some of our top people will be pissed when they are let go.” He left the rest unsaid for a moment.
“Because,” she picked up the thread, “if we tell them early, they won’t act naturally or be pissed off enough.” She slumped back in her seat. “Dad, I don’t know about that.”
“What if I told you we had to battle thirty thousand Leath, and we expected to lose five thousand at a minimum?” he asked.
She eyed him. “You did,” she said. “That was the battle at Leer’s Gate 404 over in Section…uh…”
>>Forty-two.<<
“Forty-two,” she finished.
He shook his head and pointed a finger at her. “You had help.”
She held up two fingers close together. “Only a smidge. I couldn’t remember if it was forty-two or fifty-two, but ADAM clarified.”
He put his hands flat on the desk. “With this plan there are going to be less than a thousand at risk, but it will save millions and allow us to hide what is really going on. The challenge will be telling them later. We will lose some, but I don’t know how to make the black ops work without doing it this way.” He shook his head. “Perhaps other, wiser heads need to give me ideas.” He thought about ADAM helping Bethany Anne a moment before. “Wow, needing ADAM to help you along with your memory!” He tisked. “Getting old.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not getting old, I’m in vacation mode.”
He tapped his desk. “You haven’t abdicated yet, or stepped down, or whatever the hell they are calling it.” Lance shook his head. “How can you be in vacation mode?”
“I have less and less responsibility on my shoulders,” she clarified, “so it feels like a vacation.”
“You know about vacations, right?” Lance asked. He continued when she raised an eyebrow. “You do twice the work leading up to it, four times the work coming out of it, and you are blamed for anything that goes wrong while you are gone. If everything goes right, the person who covered for you accepts all the credit.”
“That would be you,” Bethany Anne pointed out.
“Oh, I expect to blame you for decades.” Lance smiled.
“Wonderful,” she said as she stood up. “I’ll see myself out.”
Lance eyed her. “You saw yourself in. I don’t know why this would be any different.”
“Wait until you don’t know I’m around.” She grinned as she reached the door. “Then wham!” She winked. “I’ll scare the shit out of you when I appear!”
“You better not, or I’ll give my job back to you,” Lance groused.
“Oh, hell no!” She shook her head vigorously. “I’ll be good,” she declared as she stepped through the door. “I promise!”
The door clicked closed behind her.
“I doubt it,” Lance replied to an empty office.
Outside in the hallway, Bethany Anne considered her next meeting. ADAM?
>> Yes?<<
Please ask Stephen to meet me in my suite. I have something for him to do.
CHAPTER FIVE
QBBS Asteroid R2D2, R&D
The design of the working space for the team could be traced back decades. Whether they were here on R2D2, back on the Meredith Reynolds, or on the base in Colorado, they shared common DNA. A table for the team surrounded by whiteboards or their digital equivalents, and a fridge nearby, allowing for Bobcat to call the meetings to order.
Bobcat stepped away from the table, heading for the little bar they had built.
“Where are you going?” Tina asked.
“This calls for a beer,” Bobcat said over his shoulder.
“This is an important discussion!” she snapped.
“Then three beers!” his voice floated back, body hidden behind some of the whiteboards.
“William?” Bobcat called.
“Two!”
“Two?” Bobcat’s voice shot right back, confusion evident.
Tina stared at him. William smiled as he said, “I’ve got to watch my figure!”
“Oh, true dat!” Bobcat replied. “Marcus?”
“One,” Marcus answered.
Tina looked at the two men sitting with her at the table. “Is there no question so important you guys won’t drink during the discussion?”
“A minor amount of alcohol is not going to affect the clarity of my thought,” Marcus answered.
“Yes,” Tina agreed. “You are only drinking one.”
Marcus nodded to William. “Remember, alcohol absorption and body weight.”
William nodded, patting his belly. “That’s why I’m cutting a third of my intake.”
Bobcat walked past the whiteboards holding a homemade six-bottle container and pulled out one for himself before setting it on the table. He took a seat, and Tina looked at him. “And Mr. Three here?”
Marcus reached over to grab his beer. “We have scientifically proven Bobcat isn’t affected until…” he started to answer, then turned the beer around to read the label. “Wow, lower alcohol content.” He turned to his wife. “Approximately twelve of these.”
“Twelve?” She stared, astonished once again at the man across from her. “I’ve been around you for long enough that I’m not even sure why I have this issue anymore.”
Bobcat shrugged. “Probably from stuff you saw back on the Meredith Reynolds,” he answered. “Stupid teenage boys doing stupid things due to alcohol. Few rise to our level.”
“And what level is that?” Tina asked.
“Godhood,” he replied and took a sip.
Tina leaned forward, and snatched a bottle out of the six-pack, opened it, and took a sip.
“Hey!” Bobcat complained. “That was my beer!”
“You never asked me if I wanted one,” Tina said. “I presumed you could mind-read.”
His eyes narrowed as she smiled at him. Bobcat pushed himself back from the table. “Ok, before we get started, I’ve got to make another beer run.”
“One!” Marcus called.
“I’m good,” William offered.
Tina looked at her bottle. “One!” she called, then turned to Marcus. “How do they get the berry flavor in this?” she asked before taking another sip. “This is phenomenal!”
“It’s Mountain Tiger brand, and to answer your question we don’t have a clue,” Marcus admitted. “Keldara bastards took top honors last year at the annual Yollin Beer Festival.”
William shook his head. “Bunch of mercenaries,” he said. When Tina looked at him he continued, “No, really. They are a bunch of mercenaries called the ‘Keldara�
� who have a base in the mountains. They grow this one fruit—”
“Berry,” Marcus corrected.
“Whatever.” William continued, “They grow this berry that is astringent as hell if you try to use it.”
“You tried to use it?” Tina asked.
“Of course,” Bobcat replied, slipping another four bottles into the container before he sat down. “We’ve tried to use every human-ingestible ingredient on Yoll. Even my wife can’t figure out what they are doing. It chapped her hide to be beaten last year by Mother Lenka.”
“Are they human?”
“Some,” Bobcat answered. “Mostly human, lots of Yollins, and a couple of Shrillexians, of course.”
“Where there are fights,” William said, “you find Shrillexians.”
“Like bees and honey,” Marcus stated.
Tina ignored them. “So that’s the tiger part?”
Bobcat took a sip and shrugged. “I think so. There aren’t any tigers on Yoll, so maybe they hope to import a few genetically enhanced ones, or hell, someday bring some from Earth.”
“Will Bethany Anne allow that?” she asked.
“Possibly,” Marcus confirmed. “They are in the final stages of construction of a huge ark to facilitate bringing back vast amounts of diverse terrestrial genetic material. Some will never be introduced anywhere, just frozen for the future in case they need to reseed Earth.”
“That’s…ambitious,” Tina said.
“That is the story of our life,” Bobcat agreed. “And the latest chapter is titled, How Not to Blow Up Family and Piss Off the Friendlies.”
William added “Subtitled, With Seven Hundred and Seventy Megajoules of Focused Laser Beams.”
Tina nodded. “That would leave a mark.”
Marcus shook his head. “No mark. Complete atomic destruction into so many constituent parts you couldn’t find enough pieces to put them together and say ‘Look, here’s a mark!’”
“It would completely ruin your day,” Bobcat agreed.
“Plus,” William added, “it is way more than enough that even something like the ArchAngel II would be dead in an extra couple blinks of an eye.”
“Bethany Anne would be a bit peeved to be killed by her own BYPS system.”
“So how do we make sure that doesn’t happen?” Marcus nodded. “That is the question.”
Life Goes On Page 4