Dan chuckled. “Hey, you had my attention at ‘two bricks.’ Think about it, Bethany Anne. We need to hide the gate.”
“Riiiighht,” she agreed.
“Why do we need to hide it?” Tina asked, then put up a hand. “Never mind—we don’t want others finding Earth. I just need more caffeine.”
“It has been a long meeting,” Bethany Anne agreed, “but we will be here until we have a next step, and the trip taking five to ten years is NOT a viable next step.” She waved to Dan. ”Go on.”
Dan looked down the table at Lance and Admiral Thomas. “If we hide it well, is that the best security?”
“It’s the best first layer, sure,” Lance agreed. “You don’t look for something that isn’t obviously there.”
“So we blow it up,” Dan continued, “in front of God and everyone, especially the news agencies. We make a big spectacle of the awesome might of the Etheric Empire.”
“Fucking brilliant!” Bethany Anne whispered. “Except the part where we have to suck ass to make it work.”
Dan turned back to her. “Think of it as the ultimate flea flicker play in the history of the Etheric Empire. No one will believe we did it on purpose, because we have never failed to accomplish anything we wanted in our history.”
“Damn,” Lance agreed, “that is brilliant.”
Bethany Anne moved her finger in a circle. “So how do we do it?”
Dan leaned back and pointed to Team BMW and the others. “That’s why we have smart people in the room. I just come up with the brilliant ideas. Execution for blowing up irreplaceable gates goes on the shoulders of others.”
The chuckles around the room released some of the tension as everyone, including Dan, leaned forward to figure out how to move an Annex gate and blow it up in front of everyone, yet have it safe and sound lightyears away.
Six hours later the team broke up. There were tired smiles as they parted ways, hoping that sleep would help smooth out the rough patches.
No one wanted to be around Bethany Anne if this took another ten or fifteen years.
Bethany Anne had suggested they just freeze her and wake her back up if that were to happen.
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, General Reynolds’ Office
Lance rubbed his eyes. “I cannot believe I am going to do this,” he muttered. It had been a week since the meeting about the gate, and a chance talk with Bethany Anne two days ago had reminded them both of an opportunity on Earth.
The problem? He needed a specialist.
A Gott Verdammt space-archeologist specialist, so he needed to talk with Giles Kurns about joining the trip to Earth.
The man had been pestering him for too damned long to go there and dig around on the planet, but there had been no distinct need, and not having him on the trip had been a better choice than having him on the trip without a reason.
Lance considered taking a stiff drink before doing this, but what was done was done.
Giles was needed, and the aftermath of telling the man that his pipedreams would come true? Well, he hoped he didn’t regret this down the line.
A couple minutes later there was a knock on his office door.
“Come in, Giles,” Lance said in a normal voice. Giles already had several small upgrades, and hearing was one of them.
The dapper man cracked the door and nodded to Lance with a small smile on his face. Maybe it was because he never seemed to take anything seriously that he rubbed Lance the wrong way. He was kryptonite to any good military operation.
“Uncle Lance,” Giles replied, pushing up his glasses and taking a seat. “You wanted to speak to me?”
“Yes,” Lance agreed, leaning back. “I was talking to the Empress a couple days ago, and she reminded me of an opportunity that needs—”
“A space archaeologist?” He leaned forward in excitement, pushing his glasses up again.
Lance’s mouth quirked as if he were holding back the next utterance with all his willpower, but the word succeeded in gaining its freedom.
“Yes,” Lance admitted.
“WHOOOOOP!” Giles jumped up, fist pumping the air. His old-fashioned jacket fluttered behind him.
Giles’ face was animated. “What will I be searching for?”
Lance resigned himself to the inevitable. “Kurtherian tech.”
“WHOOOOP!” He jumped into the air a second time. “HOLY CRAP!” He drum-rolled on Lance’s desk.
Lance looked down. “Please stop that,” he said and Giles’ hands stopped. He gazed down at them. They were poised to continue drumming, but he slowly pulled them away and sat back down.
“Sorry.” He blushed. “Just excited!”
“I gathered,” Lance replied. “Two things, young man.” Lance put up a hand. “First, you are going to be working with professionals who will see this kind of thing,” he pointed a finger to where Giles had been drumming, “as the mark of an immature youth.”
Giles pushed himself back in his chair and composed his face.
“And second,” Lance continued, “you will be working on a project that probably still has Wechselbalg protecting what we want to find. Therefore, you,” Lance pointed at Giles, “are going to have to double up on your martial practice and weapons lessons.”
“I understand, Uncle Lance,” Giles agreed.
“Now, a new third,” Lance put up three fingers. “I’m ‘Lance’ or ‘General Reynolds,’ depending on the operation. See if you can cut the ‘Uncle’ part out when we are in meetings. It will tarnish your ability to say with a straight face that you are a space archaeologist.” Lance leaned forward and whispered, “Favoritism.”
Giles had leaned forward too, and started nodding his head. “They will think you made up a job for me.”
“Yup, you got it in one,” Lance agreed. Despite all the trouble Giles had created, he was a very smart person. It was generally his intelligence—coupled with a complete lack of planning—that got him into trouble. His quick wits, significant number of fast moves, and a galaxy-sized bag of luck got him back out.
All the people in the universe who had bad luck should demand Giles give the luck back.
“What do I need to do to prepare?” Giles asked, then quickly added, “other than the martial classes and weapons practice. I understand those.”
“Good.” Lance pulled up his tablet and sent a message. “You need to get with ADAM about the Sacred Clan—”
“WHOOOP!” Giles’ fist pumped the air again.
Lance looked up. At least he didn’t jump up this time, Lance thought. Small advances… Be happy for small advances.
Giles noticed the look and coughed, pulling his arm back down. He set his arms back on the chair.
“Oh,” Lance looked Giles in the eye, “and a fourth item, or your mother will crucify me.”
“Don’t get killed,” Giles replied.
“Exactly,” Lance confirmed. “You have your marching orders. Your part in this is hidden until I say so. Limited to you, your parents, obviously the Empress, and ADAM. No one else has need-to-know right now.”
Giles nodded, then stood up and walked toward the door.
“Um,” Lance leaned back in his chair, “Giles?”
Giles turned around, his hand on the doorknob.
“Ask ADAM about Michael. You need to know how to operate around the ArchAngel. He might kill you for being insolent, and ‘Insolent’ is your middle name.”
Giles nodded acknowledgement to Lance, and listened to the two quick sentences ADAM spoke into his ear. The blood drained out of his face.
He failed to say goodbye as he walked out of the office.
“ADAM?” Lance spoke aloud.
“Sir?”
“What did you tell Giles just now?”
“Nothing but the truth,” ADAM replied. “Michael has been known to kill people who failed to say, ‘Good morning’ properly.”
Lance chuckled. “That wasn’t the Michael we left on Earth.”
“And yet,” ADAM
replied, “it was true about Michael.”
Lance sighed. “Well, let’s hope this Michael isn’t still that Michael, or we may lose Giles the first time he meets him.”
“I calculated the chance that Giles will be killed by Michael if you would like to know the percentage.”
Lance thought about that. “No, I’d rather not. Better to plead ignorance. And remind me to speak to Bethany Anne about Giles and Michael.”
“I can have that conversation with her,” ADAM offered.
“Ok, please do,” Lance replied, and looked at his calendar. Damn, he had a meeting about the gate later. He’d better eat first.
CHAPTER SEVEN
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Arriving Research Pod 441
“Is she here, Meredith?” William asked, checking his collar for the fourth time.
“I’m only answering because you two have a date, and yes, she is. She is waiting in All Guns Blazing.”
“Oh, no!” William shook his head. “Who’s hitting on her?”
“You can calm down, William,” Meredith replied as the Pod slowly descended to the floor. “The Empress is aware you’re late and—”
“Oh, shit!” William grabbed his tablet. “Did I miss something for her?”
“No,” Meredith answered. The Pod’s door started to open, and William blinked at the two men just beyond it. “She left a welcoming team to make sure you were expedited to All Guns Blazing.”
“Darryl? John?” William asked. The two Empress’ Guards smiled at him.
“What the hell are you waiting for, man?” Darryl grabbed William’s hand and pulled, nearly yanking William out of his seat. John started walking and Darryl pushed William in front of him. “Bethany Anne said to get you to All Guns Blazing posthaste. Double-time it, soldier!”
William tried to keep up with John Grimes as they strode through the busy docks, took the secured entrance into the Arrivals area, and walked through the security detector.
The alarms started flashing almost immediately, but stopped a microsecond later.
“Ooops,” Meredith said through the speakers. Everyone turned to see William being led through the special area with John in front of him and Darryl behind him.
John and Darryl were armed, which explained the alarm.
But why hadn’t Meredith had it shut off before they got there? William wondered.
—
Bethany Anne took a couple of popcorn kernels and munched on them as she watched the three men go through the security.
“Oh. OH!” Gabrielle squeaked in humor. “Everyone is seeing him treated as he should be!”
Bethany Anne beamed radiantly as Gabrielle dipped her hand into the popcorn bucket. “This is good,” she murmured. “Real life romance, unscripted.”
Bethany Anne shrugged. “Well, I wouldn’t say it was totally unscripted.” She nodded toward the screen. “That part with the alarm was planned.”
“Oh, you are devious,” Gabrielle murmured.
“That was me,” TOM said over the screen’s speakers. “Unfortunately, William is going to have to forgive me for what comes next.”
Gabrielle leaned forward. “This is going to be good.” She reached out, and Bethany Anne put the bucket under her hand.
“Hold this,” Bethany Anne told her and walked to her suite’s door, then opened it and waited two seconds.
Scott’s voice called, “Tina’s here!”
“Let her in, you dummy!” Bethany Anne answered. “She’s missing the good stuff!”
Tina jumped over Ashur, who was lying outside the door, passed Bethany Anne, who was still in the doorway, and rushed into the suite.
“Holy crap!” Tina exclaimed. “I want to be an empress.”
Bethany Anne just shook her head. Most women who were invited into her suite loved it.
It was a perk of Empressing, that was for sure.
“So, furball, are you coming in?” Bethany Anne looked down at Ashur.
“No,” Ashur answered, putting his head back down. “It’s romance. I could get infected by accident.”
“Hurry, BA!” Gabrielle called. “They are almost through security.”
She could hear Gabrielle handing Tina the popcorn.
Bethany Anne shook her head and closed the door, then headed back to the couch to protect what was left of her popcorn.
Or at least secure another couple of handfuls.
—
John got a message to slow down. He wanted to shake his head, but it might have given William a hint that something was up.
After stopping to plug in a security code—which Meredith could have done for him—he pulled open the door. Darryl stepped ahead, taking the lead position as John switched to the rear.
The big man motioned for William to go ahead of him, then pulled the door shut behind him.
This, he thought, should prove interesting.
—
“Here they come!” Tina squealed as she clapped, watching her teammate exit security. “I can’t believe you did this for him!”
Bethany Anne looked at the young scientist. “Thanks for bringing it up.” She nodded to the screen. “William needs to know he is special, and this is a good way to tell him that.” Bethany Anne popped a kernel into her mouth. “That it will impress his date is just a nice happenstance.”
“And that we get to watch?” Gabrielle asked.
“An even nicer happenstance,” Bethany Anne agreed.
—
William followed Darryl through the middle of an exhibition in the main courtyard near All Guns Blazing, and when he saw a few of the large dioramas on display he almost stopped.
They were all about projects he had been involved in. The first he passed was a history of Pod research from back on Earth, and then the antigravity efforts with TOM and the shipping containers. There was a picture of him, Bobcat, and Marcus in front of Shelly back at the Colorado base, and another of the three of them celebrating the Moon Base.”
He slowed down, not realizing that Darryl had stopped to allow him to walk through the dioramas and relive the highlights of his past.
William knew some things were too secret to be put on display, but it was amazing just how much was here for others to learn about what Team BMW had accomplished.
The largest part of the exhibit was about the artificial sun, and how it had been created to bring energy, light, and life to the Meredith Reynolds.
And he was in every picture.
“I hate to rush you,” John whispered behind him, “but you shouldn’t let your date wait.”
“Oh shit!” The crowd around him started clapping when they figured out who he was. He blushed, waved, smiled, and hurried to catch up to Darryl.
—
Tina wiped her eyes. “Did you see him?” she asked, her voice catching. “He doesn’t realize just how much he has been involved in through the decades, and all the amazing things he’s helped create.”
“He doesn’t.” Bethany Anne took a moment to get a dust particle out of her own eye. “That man is the definition of ‘team.’”
—
Darryl asked over the team’s comm, “John, how is he doing back there?”
“I think he is pretty amazed, actually,” John replied. “Those people clapping for him pushed him out of his comfort zone.”
Darryl chuckled. “Well, then he is about to have an existential crisis.”
—
Gabrielle asked, “Who came up with that one if TOM came up with the first one?”
ADAM said from the speakers, “That one was mine. William doesn’t think much about the true length and breadth of what their team has accomplished. I thought the realization of just how much their team—and he as a part of it—have accomplished would help his sense of self-worth.”
“Anyone can have self-worth issues,” Bethany Anne added. “Even those who give everything, crawling to help just a little bit more as they bleed out on the battlefield. William has had issues in his past
with relationships, so we did this to help him out.”
“What is your surprise?” Tina asked, looking at Bethany Anne.
—
Darryl nodded to the bouncer, who waved back the line so the three men could enter.
William heard the people in line talking about Darryl and John as they passed. “That’s him, right? He’s taller in real life.”
He smiled, remembering those who had just clapped for him a moment ago.
It had felt good to be recognized.
Entering All Guns Blazing was good too. He hadn’t been here in a while. He wondered who would be in this evening, and if any of the regulars were around.
That was when he saw the group of fans ahead of them. He smiled, knowing that Darryl and John had to deal with this whenever they went out in their armor to do something official for the Empress.
Except Darryl stopped and stepped out of the way, turning to William and waving him forward.
The crowd rushed him, their eyes sparkling with delight at meeting one of the famed members of Team BMW, the group that had brought them the sun as well as the technologies they used every day.
William took the pen John stuck in his hand and started signing, asking questions of everyone. “Who would you like this signed for?” he asked. He smiled and moved to the next one as the guys slowly navigated him through the crowd.
—
“Is that real?” Tina asked, amazed. She turned to Bethany Anne. “I mean, you didn’t hire them?”
Bethany Anne shook her head. “That would have been fake, and it would have bitten me in the ass.” She pointed to the scene inside the club. “A couple of the university’s history classes have a section on the Etheric Empire’s technological wonders, and it just so happens that there was just a week-long unit on Team BMW and their contributions from Earth to here. Apparently they talked about how the group is very secretive and don’t come out too often.”
“That’s because they are usually on R2D2 focusing on their current projects,” Gabrielle shot back. “They were in All Guns Blazing all the time before that.”
“Not William,” Tina replied. “He was there some, but he liked to make his BBQ pits and stuff.”
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