by Justin Sloan
"They feed me, Prime Enforcer," he told her, holding out his arms as if expecting an embrace from her. "You must understand true power, if you hope to survive in this universe. You must come to see the light."
In a flash of metal and a brilliant blast of light he was in front of her, hands to her head. Again she was pulled out of herself, Demus’s pulses of electricity messing with her mind, only his power was amplified by those connected to him.
The brightness cleared, and she was once again surrounded by purple fog. The dragon appeared, only this time she knew what to expect. This time she resisted, bringing it instead to her location of choice. She focused her mind on what could ground her, what could tell this sonofabitch that he had no dominion inside her head.
And then the fog and dragon were gone.
The sun shone warmly on her face. A breeze carried with it the scent of a cool spring day in Old Paris, where she’d been raised. She first saw the sparkling of the sunlight on the river, then her mother and father kneeling on a blanket and motioning for her to join them.
Nothing else. No sign of Demus…yet.
She approached, heart thudding and the corners of her eyes starting to glisten as she saw the faces of the parents she had nearly forgotten. They stared at her with such love that she felt the world couldn’t contain it. This vision certainly couldn’t.
So it was that when she turned to see Demus standing there, she wasn’t worried. There was nothing he could do that could take this moment away from her. Even if they were long gone, the memory would be there forever. Their love always held her, reminded her of the woman she needed to be.
Demus took a step toward her, faceplate clear and eyes wide with confusion. Sorrow.
"Do not show me this place," he said, voice cracking. "You have no right!"
"This is what people like you destroy every day. I have every right."
He glared, breathing deeply as his ferocity took over. The faceplate clouded and he stepped forward—only he hesitated.
Valerie smiled, then looked to her side to see her friend Sandra standing there with her hand in Diego’s. Two of her closest friends—the two she’d traveled with, arrived in America with. To her other side were the werewolf Cammie and her vampire lover Royland. A glance back showed more friends there with her, some putting their hands on her shoulders while others took up attack positions. Every friend she could remember from Earth and her journey to reclaim honor—they were all there.
Of course, she knew they weren’t. In the back of her mind she was aware that this was simply her way of overcoming any sort of power this Demus fuckhead thought he could assert over her.
But not today. At that moment, she knew it wasn’t only her body that was strong; her mind was too. Her mind, that had never been upgraded, never been changed by becoming a vampire or by slipping into a Pod-doc.
No, this was all her.
With a shout of victory, she led the charge. Sandra and the others at her side met Demus and his followers in a maelstrom of punches and kicks. Nothing he could throw at them did any damage, and every strike her side landed pushed him back or threw him down, until—
With a jolt, Valerie was back on Tol. Demus’s hands were on her and his eyes were visible through his faceplate. He was staring at her in terror.
She grabbed his arms and kicked his torso harder than she’d ever kicked anything in her life. The first strike tore off one arm, and she clutched the other as she stomped on his leg and twisted. She pulled the other arm clean off, surprised to see that even his bones were metal, or were encased in it.
He turned to her, not to plead for his life or in fright. In pure anger he shouted, "I will destroy everything you love. I will—
His words were interrupted as she clubbed his head with his left arm. Her strikes came in hard, repeatedly, until his helmet cracked and fell apart. When he turned back, blood on his temple, she struck again until he appeared to not move.
"Not a single one of you will be alive after I—" he muttered, barely moving. She came at him in a barrage of strikes, using his arms like kali fighting sticks to rain blow after blow on him. His soldiers converged, robots and Norrul generals alike, but she wasn’t stopping. Whack, whack…she took out two of his fighters, then got another couple whacks in on him before the next wave of jackasses required her attention.
Some landed blows on her, but she kept taking them down. She realized her armor couldn’t take much more. Pieces shattered and others fell off, until soon she was left in her black uniform with its red stripes. She didn’t care—it was easier to move this way; easier to dodge and strike.
It went on like this—whack whack for him, whack whack for them, and then soon she saw Robin and the others fighting toward her. Robin’s expression changed from surprise to amusement when she saw what Valerie had done. Only then did Valerie realize there was a circle of defeated opponents around her, and a twitching Demus lay battered and bloody at her feet. His helmet had been destroyed; now he looked like any other defeated Norrul.
She dropped his arms and knelt beside him. "Nobody threatens those I care about. And you? You’ll never hurt anyone ever again."
She grabbed the metallic horns that stuck out from his cheeks, bending them until they ripped out of his skin. He growled in pain and his eyes rolled up to meet hers, still filled with defiance and hatred.
There was only one way of stopping anyone like him, she knew, so she raised those metal horns and brought them down hard into his eyes, plunging them in as far as they’d go. She still wasn’t sure it was done, so she stood and brought her foot down hard. The metal cut through his skull and lodged against the stone floor, and he no longer moved or breathed.
His side didn’t have many survivors, but all within sight suddenly knelt in surrender. Robots collapsed to the ground, no longer connected.
Valerie and Robin turned each other. They stumbled toward each other, then collapsed into each other’s arms. They simply held each other, glad it was finally over.
EPILOGUE
Planet Tol
Kalan woke with a start and his hand immediately went to his side, searching for his pistol.
He couldn’t believe it; he’d passed out. They were in the middle of a battle, and Valerie needed him.
Instead of his pistol, his hand found a bandage and a soft sheet. He was in a bed. A hospital bed, it appeared.
Valerie stood next to the bed, arms crossed and a smile on her face. Bob and Jilla were there too. Mej and Lien stood on the other side of the bed, their tall orange forms bending down to look at him with concern on their faces.
"It would appear I missed a thing or two," he said hoarsely.
"Yeah, you did," Valerie confirmed. "We won. I had to kick Demus’s ass without you."
Relief washed over him. "Is everyone okay?"
"Everyone but you," Bob answered.
Jilla glared at him. "Shut up, Bob!"
"I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… His eye."
Kalan blinked, trying to understand. He suddenly realized that things looked different. Clearer, somehow.
"That Norrul spear caught you in the eye," Valerie explained. "The doctors had to take it out. Thankfully, Wearl got you to them in time."
Kalan’s hand went to his eye socket. "I don’t understand. I can see out of my right eye just fine. Better than before, actually."
Jilla chuckled. "Cybernetic eye. Wearl even helped them program it."
"Wow." Kalan wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He was a cyborg, even if in a very minor way; he didn’t know how he felt about that quite yet. For now, he’d try not to think about it. Instead, he turned to Mej and Lien. "How about your fleet? Did they come through okay?"
Mej nodded. "A few of their ships got through, as you undoubtedly noticed, but the ones who were dumb enough to stay and fight us learned what the Lavkin Fleet is all about."
"Now that they’re taken care of, it’s time for us to get on with what’s next," Lien added. "Reuni
ting the rest of our fleet under Lolack. Finding the rest of the Bandians. Resuming our alliance."
Kalan chuckled. "If there are any other Bandians out there."
Mej smiled. "We believe there are, and we’d like you to help us find them."
"That… It would be amazing." Kalan turned to look at Valerie. "But I don’t want to abandon the team."
Valerie smiled. "I think you should do it. Jilla and Bob already said they’re in if you are. You’re all part of the Lavkin family now, after all. And we know Wearl would be up for it."
"Thank you. This means everything to me." He thought for a moment. "What about SEDE? With Tuttle gone, who’s going to be in charge?"
Valerie chuckled. "Sslake put your buddy Nostro in charge, for now. Maybe permanently, if he can prove himself."
Kalan raised an eyebrow. "Nostro will be a good leader and captain, but is he qualified for that job?"
"Not even remotely. But he caught Sslake in a good mood after we saved his life again."
Now Kalan laughed. Knowing a fair leader was in charge of SEDE put his mind at ease. It meant things would get better for his mother, and that left Kalan free to pursue his destiny with the formerly Lost Fleet.
The Found Fleet. The one what would hopefully help him find the rest of his people.
He turned to Valerie. "There’s something I want to say."
Valerie frowned. "You’re not going to get all sappy on me, are you?"
"Incredibly sappy. You changed my life. Without you, I never would have met the Lavkins. I never would have learned that I’m a Bandian. I never would have found out the truth about myself."
She shrugged. "You would have figured it out."
"I don’t think I would have. Besides, you taught me something else. Something even more valuable. You taught me what it means to fight for true justice. And I promise, no matter what happens, I’ll never forget that lesson."
"I’ll hold you to that," she said with a smile. "And I expect you to introduce me to the rest of your family once you find them."
"That I can do."
A noise in the doorway made him look up, and he saw a strange woman enter.
She was tall, almost Kalan’s height, and her skin was a beautiful silver. Her hair was silver too, and it flowed with her every movement. Her eyes had no irises or pupils; they were orbs of silver that perfectly matched her skin and her hair.
Her steps were light as she moved across the room; she seemed to glide.
To Kalan, she was beautiful.
He’d never seen this female before, but something about her felt familiar.
Then the realization hit him. The cybernetic eye—the one Wearl had helped program.
"Hello, Kalan," she said. "You’re looking hot, as usual."
He smiled. "Hello, Wearl. You’re looking pretty good yourself."
***
Valerie felt horrible about Kalan’s eye, but she knew she couldn’t always protect everyone. She was still processing the fact that they had won; that Demus and all the enemy fleets that Aranaught had summoned before being altered were now either wiped out or had surrendered.
Losses had been monumental on both sides, but it was over.
Ironically, the peace and order that Demus had supposedly been fighting for might have been finally won by his demise.
"It’s going to take a lot of work to clean all this up," Sslake said after thanking everyone for their help in this fight. Now Tol had the defensive system in place, so that if more attackers came they’d be safe. They also had enough parts to build three new fleets, and many of them were surrendered enemy ships that could fix themselves. Add to that the fact that Lolack and Sslake had formed an official alliance, and that was a pretty good recipe for safety and security going forward.
A true ally for the Etheric Federation. One that would do its part to continue to keep this part of the universe safe.
"We’re here to help," Valerie said.
"You have your own fight to get back to," Sslake replied.
"And yet, our ship was destroyed. It’ll take some time to rebuild, but when it’s ready—and maybe upgraded a bit—we’ll contact our chain of command and see what they have in store for us."
"You’re sure?" he asked.
Valerie glanced at Robin, who smiled and nodded.
"We could use a break from the chaos," Valerie admitted.
"Some down time," Robin added. "And then we’ll go off to help save the rest of the universe."
"Exactly."
Sslake nodded, apparently not catching on to their tones or the smiles they were giving each other. He told one of his followers to show them to a house they could call their own while staying there, and soon they were checked in. Garcia and the others insisted they would get food and drink so the party could commence. After all, a victory like this demanded a celebration. Sleep, too, but that could wait.
"It’s chaos out there," Valerie said from the balcony of the main room, looking out at the destruction. Smoke still rose from many of the fallen craft.
"Did you see the smiles on the Skulla’s faces?" Robin said, approaching and leaning against that same rail. "They know they’ve won. That they have nothing to worry about for the foreseeable future."
"And you?" Valerie asked, turning and placing a hand on Robin’s. "Are you sure you’re okay with this?"
"As you said, we need the ship fixed up, and we need to recuperate so that when we get back out there, we’re more badass than ever before."
"No, I meant…" She took the woman’s hand in both of hers and kissed it. "With this."
Robin bit a lip and nodded. "I knew what you meant."
She moved her hand to the side of Valerie’s face and through her hair, and then pulled her in for a kiss. Their lips met and Valerie melted into the moment, never wanting it to end.
Whatever came next, she was ready for it. Everything that was happening at that moment would just make her stronger. Make the two of them more powerful in their bond.
Ready to take on anything the universe threw their way.
Author Notes - Justin Sloan
Written April 3, 2018
I can't believe this makes sixteen books in the Kurtherian Gambit world for me! It's amazing that this series took me to the point where I was able to switch over to fulltime writing, leaving various other careers in the past.
Did you know that I had been a Marine, Presidential Management Fellow, Trade Specialist, Asia Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank, Video Game Writer at Telltale Games, and Editor at Military.com? All of that fed into who I am and got me to this point. What a ride it's been!
And now I had the chance to bring you a snippet of Valerie's life. What do you think? I'd love to hear privately or in reviews. We first met her on her journey from France to America, and now she's up in space saving galaxies! With some help, of course. How'd you feel about Kalan? That was PT's baby, and I think it would be cool to see a Kalan spinoff. Thoughts?
And then there's the issue of Valerie's love life. I KNOW some readers aren't going to like how that ended. But you know what? It's the characters--we write them, and they take over. If I'd tried to force it some other direction, it would have felt unnatural. Vampires, by the way, have often kind of transcended human ideas of love and relationships, so maybe if you didn't like it, just shrug it off as a vampire thing. Lol. If you liked it, or loved it—great!
What's next for me? Outside of the KGU, I recently published my Biotech Wars trilogy. It's complete, but guess what? It set up my next series--the Ascension Gate series. This is the massive, just me (solo) series that I've been outlining with my wife for a year. It's going to be huge. A sort of “Stargate meets Dragon Riders of Pern.” And the main bad guy... When you meet him, you'll see why I can say he puts Thanos to shame. Pssh.
So I hope you'll check out those series! If you love Space Marines, crazy battles, and dragons, you'll be a great fit.
Before I go, I need to say a humongous thank you to everyone wh
o has helped along the way! Lynne has done an amazing job editing most of these books, and I’ve also worked with Candy, Calee, and Stephen on earlier books. All of you readers have been amazing, especially those of you who have joined me on my Facebook group, THE SLOAN ZONE and continue to read my other books. That’s an amazing feeling! All of you have been such an inspiration for me. Of course, a big thanks to Michael Anderle for taking me into this world, Craig Martelle for kicking butt with the Age of Expansion, and for CM Raymond and LE Barbant for their help in the Age of Magic.
I don’t know if I’ve told you all how I actually got involved in this in the first place, did I? It was funny, actually – Michael Scott Earle gave me the idea, and then I reached out to Michael Anderle and he was super cool about it. I say funny, because then the Earle book that he was preparing at the same time ended up going off to be his Star Justice series. Crazy how these things can change along the way, and what a role friendships can play in our careers.
All that said, who knows where these crazy writing lives will take us next. I hope you stick with me for the journey.
Thank you again for coming on this wild ride with us!
Justin
Author Notes - PT Hylton
Written April 3, 2018
It was almost exactly a year ago today—on my thirty-ninth birthday—that I got a text from Michael asking if I’d be interested in writing in the KGU. I thought about it for all of twelve seconds before responding.
Shortly after that I started talking with CM Raymond and LE Barbant, planning my Age of Magic series. And about six months later Justin asked me if I’d be interested in helping him take Valerie into space.
The world of writing is a weird, wonderful, and truly strange place.