It got larger and larger until it was at least as large as her own head, and then it broke apart into three smaller globes that started orbiting her hand.
A second later they shot off to hit three people in the audience. Addix turned, hearing the commotion behind her, in time to see John Grimes run up the stairs to a Ixtali who was writhing on the chairs, unable to fall to the ground between them. She watched, fascinated when John’s left hand touched the male and the blue arcs of electricity that had been causing the Ixtali to spasm went up his arm and disappeared.
Then the Empress’ Guard reached into the coat of the attacked Ixtali and pulled out a laser pistol.
Those who were around him pulled back, fearing they would be associated with the threat to the Empress.
Addix turned to look at the other two Guards who were lifting their marks, retrieving their pistols, and bringing the comatose Ixtalis down to the council’s area.
Addix was surprised when Bethany Anne’s voice came through the speakers and she heard her just feet away as well.
“I have to apologize,” Bethany Anne continued, “for taking out the trash, but I refuse to allow the ignorant, the stupid, and the selfish to possibly hurt those here who wish for a stronger future.”
Bethany Anne smiled at the audience. “Now that we know who our enemies are, let us work on creating a stronger, more protected future for the Ixtali nation as the Etheric Empire hears the official request of the Ixtali council and accepts your application for membership.”
Three days later
Bethany Anne stepped from her shuttle, John and Scott beside her with their battle helmets under their arms. She waved to everyone as the three of them walked through the huge landing bay. As soon as she was out of the bay and they had turned a corner, Bethany Anne reached out and the three of them disappeared.
Reappearing a moment later in her outer suite, she pointed to the main door. “You guys go get into something comfortable. I need to change out of this stuff.”
John mumbled something and Scott went out. A couple minutes later he came back and relieved John, who left to go change.
As John came back into the suite, Bethany Anne came out of her rooms, her hair damp from a shower, wearing a black track suit.
John raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, a frown on his face.
Bethany Anne looked down at herself. “What is it?” she asked, looking back up at him in confusion. “No shoes? I do that all the time.”
“No.” He took a seat on one of the leather chairs. Scott had parked himself on the loveseat, leaving the couch for Bethany Anne. “I’m just wondering why you haven’t figured something out…” he waved his fingers near his head, “to dry your hair.”
Bethany Anne rolled her eyes and dropped onto the couch. “I did.”
There was a pause as the two guys looked at each other before turning back to Bethany Anne. “And?” Scott asked.
“You know how my hair does that floaty thing when I pull Etheric energy?”
“Yeah.” Scott nodded. “I figured it might dry your hair.”
Bethany Anne grabbed a pillow and stuck it in her lap. “It does. But imagine my hair, freshly dried, frizzy, and sticking out like I’d stuck my finger in a light socket.”
John snickered. “I’d pay good money.”
“No,” Bethany Anne said.
“Please?” Scott added. “I mean, c’mon. We,” he pointed to John and himself, “promise to take a bullet for you, and you won’t even share a little frizz between friends?”
Bethany Anne looked between the two of them. “Seriously? You guys want to see El Frizzo?”
“Well,” John’s face flushed a bit and he scratched his chin, “uh, yeah, actually. I think it would be funny as hell.”
“Well, don’t market the shit out of your request or anything,” she grumped.
“That’s Cheryl Lynn’s job,” Scott replied. “And if I brought back a story of you being human for once instead of perfect, it would help her immensely.”
Bethany Anne’s eyes narrowed. “Is she still having issues after all these years?”
Scott shrugged. “Not like you think, no. But there is a little bit of ‘she’s so damned perfect’ bugging her still.” He flipped his hands above his knees. “What do you want me to do? She’s a woman!”
Bethany Anne eyed him.
“You’re an anomaly, boss. Just live with it.”
Bethany Anne shook her head, looking from one to the other and rolling her eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake, call in the other two.”
“Whoop!” Scott jumped off the couch and jogged to the door, leaving it open to run over to the guys’ suite and call them in.
Bethany Anne looked at John. “How long did you guys work on your argument?”
“For what?”
She narrowed her eyes again. “To get me to share this.” She put her elbow on the pillow, cupped her hand, and placed her chin on it. “It seemed like such a good setup.”
“Oh,” John made a throwing-away gesture, “we have half a dozen good arguments cooked up. I can’t believe Scott used that one just so we could see this hair thing, but he’s right in a way.”
“Close the door!” Bethany Anne called. Darryl stopped, his teeth flashing in a huge smile as he closed the door behind him. Moments later Eric was next to Scott on the loveseat, and Darryl was standing behind them with his arms crossed and a twinkle in his eye.
Bethany Anne pointed at each of them. “You guys will go to your grave very quickly if this gets out beyond you and your spouses, got that?”
All four men nodded solemnly.
“Archangel, make sure there is no video of this event.”
“Yes, Empress,” the ship’s AI responded.
“Fine.” She shook her head twice, running her hands through her hair. “I feel like a little girl with all the guys trying to sneak a peek.”
“C’mon, this is cool shit,” Scott told her. “Hell, if I could, I’d dry off using the Etheric.”
Eric turned to look at him. “You try it?”
“Maybe,” Scott admitted. “And if I did, and it singed some curlies that smelled horrible, I’d never admit to it, so don’t ask.”
The guys turned to Bethany Anne when they felt her pull the energy in. Her eyes flashed red and the lines on her face became pronounced as her hair started to float. They all leaned forward as the larger strands dried, the hair levitating. In about ten seconds Bethany Anne put her hand out and created a scintillating white ball, draining herself of the energy in her body. She turned and flicked her hand, the white ball zooming to the corner of the room as a floating light.
When she turned back to the guys she saw all four of them staring at her, their mouths open in shock.
“That—” Scott started to say, but just stopped. Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow, but he shook his head.
She turned to John. “You?”
“I got nothing, boss,” he replied.
She turned to Darryl. “You?”
He shrugged. “There would be some women of my persuasion who would be jealous as hell. But on you? Yeah, that doesn’t work at all.”
She turned to Eric and raised her eyebrows in a question.
“I never thought,” he murmured, “I’d ever see a living example of someone sticking their fingers in a light socket.”
“That’s the best you have?” she asked all of them as she pointed to her hair, which was now frizzy and pointing straight out from her head. “I look like a Barbie doll on Halloween night.”
“Oh, good one,” Scott agreed. “That’s how I’ll tell it to Cheryl Lynn.”
“Words only, Shakespeare,” she told him. “If I ever find a picture of this bird’s nest,” she pointed to her hair, “I’ll concoct seriously painful repercussions for my personal embarrassment.”
“How long have you known this,” John pointed to her hair, “would happen?”
“Hell, I tried it back on Earth a couple times.”
“MOTHERFUCKINGSONOFABITCH!” he yelled, yanking his hand back after a sharp crack of electricity jumped from her hair to zap him.
“Oh yeah,” she nodded, “and it still has a charge.”
“It’s like Cousin Itt is sitting on top of your head.” John leaned forward with his hand out again. This time it didn’t shock him. “That’s pretty stiff.”
“It takes really hot water to get it to relax again,” she admitted.
“Huh.” John pressed the hair down, but it wanted to stick back out. “I wonder what Marcus would think about this?”
Bethany Anne’s eyes locked on John’s as he kept playing with her hair. “I will kick your gonads up into your throat if he so much as whispers he wants me to become a science experiment.”
“Don’t worry boss, I won’t say anything,” he agreed, “but you have to admit it’s kinda funny. However,” he turned and took a couple of steps before dropping back into his chair, “what if he could figure out how you could dry your hair without the negative side effects?”
Bethany Anne’s eyes narrowed as her mind raced in different directions.
“John Grimes,” she told him. “You can be such a bastard sometimes.”
John’s smile took over his face. “You’re going to ask him, aren’t you!”
“No,” she told him. John’s smile became a frown.
“Why not?” he demanded.
“Because I’m going to figure it out with ADAM and TOM,” she replied.
He cocked his head. “You think they’ll have better ideas?”
She shrugged. “Oh, I’ve no idea,” she admitted. “I just know that fewer stories will get around if only they work on it with me.”
“So,” she finished, looking around the group, “if I ever hear of anyone talking about this mess?” She pointed to her hair. “There will be hell to pay, gentleman!”
Karillian System, Shield Vessel Tormucht
“Sir!” Under-Captain Threan braced as the third set of asteroids slammed into their shields. “We can’t hold under this onslaught!”
“Those despicable humans are throwing rocks at us.” The captain of the Shield Vessel Tormucht gritted his teeth. “ROCKS!” he spat. He turned to the under-captain. “Give the signal that all unnecessary crew are to eject and aim for the ships behind us. Hopefully one of our other ships will grab them.”
Two seconds later their shield collapsed and the Shield Vessel Tormucht cracked when a multi-kiloton asteroid penetrated their shields and hit the ship just forward of center. The explosion of detritus and bodies was viewable for a moment before the concussion reverberated to the enhanced energy core, and the ship grew white, expanding into a ball of energy and taking all crew with it.
Leath Dreadnought Touk
The calm voice of the Strategy Oracle spoke through the speakers to those on the bridge. “Eighth shield ship down. We are fifty percent to target.”
Captain Therov of the Touk nodded his head and turned to his communications specialist. “Get me the D’leet.”
Moments later, an image of the captain of the D’leet popped up on his secondary screen and spoke without a preamble. “We ready to call it?”
“Yes,” Therov growled. “Those humans have been sneaky again. We have tested our strategy, and I am showing at best a twelve percent chance of success.”
“I doubt it is that high,” the other captain answered. His bridge lights dimmed a moment before coming back on. He looked around. “I don’t think we have seen all of their tricks in this system.”
“You may be right,” Therov agreed. “I’m with you on this. The gods commanded us to test our theory, and we have found guidance and knowledge.”
“Ok,” he turned his head and nodded to someone off-screen, “give the fallback codes. No, to the third location. Yes, send the command.”
Twelve hours later the Leath ships left the Karillian system.
Admiral Thomas reviewed the damages to the two respective navies. The Leath lost eight of their protective shield ships and one frigate, and three destroyers were damaged.
On their side, they had lost a close-in combat vessel and would have probably six ships which needed repairs. One would certainly have to go back to the shipyard.
However, none of that worried the admiral.
What did concern him was that the Leath had officially stopped following their own doctrine. That meant bigger problems trying to fight them in the future.
When would the Leath show up next time?
CHAPTER NINE
Leath System, Sanctified Ground, City of Truth
Torik, Third of the Seven, pulled his robes around him as he sat at the table, shrouding his whole face and body. A black mesh veil covered his face, which allowed him to see and speak while concealing his identity.
That was how the Kurtherians kept the Leath from wondering about their looks changing. When they needed another body, they took one from those in the service of the Seven.
He looked at the operative and nodded. “Prime Intelligence One, we appreciate your attendance.”
Prime Intelligence One bowed before the god. “My Lord,” he straightened, “I am at your service.”
“Tell me, what do you hear about our adversaries?” Torik asked.
One was an intelligent Leath; he didn’t believe the Seven were gods. That they asked this question was a stain on their omnipotence. However, the Seven did seem to have abilities so far above those of his race that he understood why some would think them gods.
“We know they are new to this area of space. They took over the Yollin people by besting their king in battle.”
“One on one?” Torik asked, familiar with the king of that system.
“Yes, your Lordship,” One answered. “I understand it was declared official. Once the king was replaced, the leadership of the Etheric Empire started removing the existing caste system from the people. This caused a lot of rancor with the upper classes. Due to the unrest, they had to focus on making sure their new Empire did not disintegrate from the inside.” He paused a moment before adding, “That took them some years.”
Torik waited. When One did not continue, he asked, “Why are they on our target planet?”
“I cannot express complete knowledge of this, my Lord,” One admitted.
“What is your plan for locating the necessary information?” Torik asked. “How are we, the Seven, going to help the next group of beings if we fail to teach the Leath the necessary strategies to implement in our absence?”
“My Lord?” One blinked a moment. “You will be leaving?”
“Of course,” Torik answered. He lifted his hand to capture One’s attention, then insinuated his mind into the spymaster’s, pressing to capture his full attention. Your questions on our godhood have been noted. You will believe we are the gods that we are. You need to realize that you Leath lack effective strategies and tactics. If we were to simply provide you the answers, you could not spread your wings and grow.
A little while later, the door to the meeting room clicked closed as the spymaster left. Seconds later, the door behind Torik opened and The Sixth of the Seven, Var’ence, stepped in closing the door behind her. She too was fully dressed in her official robes.
“Did it go well?” She asked.
“Yes and no,” he admitted. “He will search for more intelligence on our adversaries, but I had to go into his mind to adjust his beliefs. He felt that us not knowing the answers was an indication we were not gods.”
“A logical assertion,” she pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Yes,” Torik agreed. “Sometimes striving to uplift these peoples is so trying.” He looked at Var’ence. “Did you know that our adversaries have killed one of our people?”
“Our clan?” she asked, leaning toward him.
“No, Clan M’nassa. The Yollin king.”
; “That pompous ass?” Var’ence leaned back in her chair. “He was always so sure of his own superiority.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean a normal alien should have been able to kill him in one-on-one combat, regardless of his arrogance.”
For a moment both stayed quiet, then Var’ence asked, “You said combat?”
“Yes,” he nodded toward the door the spymaster had just left through, “that is what I’m told.”
Another moment of silence.
“M’nassa aren’t known for playing fair, so whoever beat him was either very good or very sneaky.”
“I would imagine both,” Torik mused.
Noel-ni Mother Planet Dorasei
D’leck looked around for her daughter. As a Yollin on a Noel-ni planet, she and her daughter were barely second-class citizens.
Noel-ni protected their own. They allowed others to enter their space to be seen as good galactic citizens, but in truth they were a very insular society.
Staying in their space meant you followed their rules, whether you liked them or not. D’leck had followed her husband W’ell to this side of space to get away from the changes that had happened in Yollin space ten years ago.
Her husband had feared the aliens.
She and her daughter had been trying to scrape by when W’ell allowed his own belief in Yollin self-importance to have free reign and had struck a Noel-ni. D’leck had heard about his deportation from a friend of hers at the apartments.
That was three days after his failure to come home.
She wished she felt regret, but truly their marriage had ended years ago. W’ell had figured wrongly when choosing the planet for their migration. If anything, the level of insularity the Noel-ni felt was strongest on this world, where other aliens made up more of society due to political importance.
D’leck and her daughter Sis’tael barely noticed W’ell’s absence. For D’leck it was a little harder, but there was certainly less stress.
With his departure, she had only two of them to worry about. As far as D’leck could tell, W’ell would never be seen again.
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