Shi-tan chuckled. “Doubt that.”
“No,” Kraaz stepped forward on the balls of his feet, “I think—” he jumped at Shi-tan, smashing his right fist into flesh. Pain exploded in his fist, and his knees buckled. He could hear the bones in his hand crack.
Shi-tan had caught Kraaz’ hand and was squeezing it. Kraaz looked up just in time to see Shi-tan’s fist slam down.
Kraaz hit the ground, blood pouring from a cut on his cheek. His bony spikes started to emerge from his face, and he had to concentrate to pull them back in. It was considered beyond cheating to use them in a friendly fight.
Or a friendly ass-kicking, especially if it was you who was on the receiving end.
Kraaz rolled sideways and pushed himself off the ground.
“Are you ready?” Shi-tan asked, and Kraaz grinned. It was one thing to fight, but it was an honor to fight someone so much better than you that they used it as a training exercise.
“Only if you think—” Kraaz had started to answer as his opponent attacked, his right elbow aiming for the mercenary. Kraaz moved his own arm to block it, but Shi-tan had already pivoted clockwise on his forward foot, raising his right arm as his body gained speed. His elbow slammed against Kraaz’ skull, sending him staggering to his left.
Kraaz tried to set himself into a defensive position, but Shi-tan was already inside his guard. “My boss calls this a gimme,” Shi-tan said conversationally as he slapped Kraaz’ left block out of the way and smashed his knuckles into Kraaz’ nose, breaking it.
Kraaz tried to back up, but this just allowed Shi-tan to set one leg and lash out with the other, kicking Kraaz in the chest. The impact jetted him ten feet backward, where he crashed to the ground with the air knocked out of him.
“The problem…” his opponent said as Kraaz tried to remember which side Shi-tan was coming from so he could roll the opposite way. Too late—Shi-tan grabbed Kraaz by the throat. “…is that sometimes a lack of scars just means that your opponent has truly incredible medical care.”
Kraaz felt his feet leave the ground as Shi-tan lifted him into the air. He ritually popped Shi-tan’s forearm twice and was let go to land on his feet.
Shi-tan helped him stand while he got his breath back. “I think,” Kraaz coughed, trying to encourage his neck to heal as he stood there, “I’ll go eat my ass-kicked sandwich.”
Shi-tan laughed a moment. “That would be good—the food will help you heal. But you will need to wipe off the blood before you get back to your ship.”
Kraaz shook his head. “No, let them know I got my own ass kicked. It will help some of them realize there is always someone out there who can hand your ass back with change, if they want.” He looked at Shi-tan. “I misjudged you. My mistake.”
Shi-tan shrugged. “It happens.” He clapped Kraaz on the shoulder as he walked past him. “I’ve got to get back to my family, so take care of yourself.”
Kraaz turned to watch his fellow Shrillexian stride away. “Any words of wisdom?” he called. It was customary, if a fellow beat you soundly, to ask for advice to help you improve your fighting.
Shi-tan turned and eyed Kraaz a moment, considering his words before speaking.
“Anyone can bring death, but if you want to know true death? Well, she dresses in armor, and her eyes glow red. When Death comes for you, ask forgiveness.” He pursed his lips. “She just might have pity.”
He finished speaking, turned sideways, and slipped back through the fence.
QBBS Asteroid R2D2
“I can’t believe you got Bethany Anne’s approval to call this R2D2.” Tina glanced outside the Executive Pod as they headed toward four large asteroids. These had been pulled from the orbit of the sixth planet in the Yollin system, a planet named Yellek that was a particularly ghastly shade of green.
It had taken the team four months to stabilize the four asteroids in a decent orbit in the Quarantined Zone.
So far, no ships had entered the areas the QBS ArchAngel II and the QBS Reynolds would gate into. It wasn’t entirely due to the fact that they could gate right in on anything in that system (which was true), but also because the broadcast warning was “We shoot trespassers.”
Which was to say that as they entered the system, all ships were shown the areas that were “no go-no way-no how” as the documents and videos explained it.
Basically, they were given a map of the system and images of ships being blown apart as they crossed the lines into the restricted areas. There had been plenty of jokes about the rather blunt message, but so far there hadn’t been any incidents due to miscommunication.
You cross the line, we kill you dead.
The little Executive Pod slid into the virtually roped-off space and approached the asteroids.
“Easy enough,” Marcus answered. “I told her I wanted to name them Right One and Two and Designate One and Two. I can’t help it if she didn’t think about what would happen if we shortened the names to just their initials.”
“Or,” Tina turned to look at Marcus, “she knew exactly what you were doing and didn’t care, because George Lucas isn’t going to sue her out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“Well, technically—” Marcus started before Tina interrupted.
“Yes, we are in the Yollin system, but I don’t think that Earth trademark laws apply this many light years away.”
Bobcat snorted. “I’d love to see the look on Bethany Anne’s face if a lawyer tried to serve her.”
William chuckled. “Hello, my name is… OH MY GOD, YOUR FACE IS ON FIRE! YOU’RE A DEMON, AREN’T YOU?” He pushed both arms out. “Right before she pushed him into the Etheric.”
“Wow, you don’t like lawyers much, do you?” Tina asked.
“It’s been much easier since ADAM, Meredith and Bethany Anne started handling this sort of thing rather than lawyers,” Bobcat told her.
“Does anything get to Bethany Anne?” Tina asked, forgetting to watch as the Executive Pod slowed down and an area in the deep shadow of the asteroid opened.
“Nothing, anymore,” William answered her question. “Last time she got pissed off at an inane question, she read their thoughts and both were sent to prison asteroids.”
“For pissing her off?” Tina asked. “That seems a bit harsh.”
“Not really,” Marcus answered. “One was trying to steal the intellectual property of the other. And the second one was guilty of something back on Earth that pissed her off so badly she contemplated killing him.”
“But she didn’t?” Tina asked. “I mean, obviously not right then, but she usually doesn’t withhold the stick, so to speak.”
“I think he had been punished before,” Bobcat looked up, trying to remember, “back on Earth, but she found out he wasn’t penitent or something. She made sure he wouldn’t have the opportunity to do it again.”
“Anyway,” William took back the conversation, “no one wants the Empress digging around in their mind for old shit, so they allow the courts to deal with it.”
The shadow caught Tina’s attention as they ducked under the overhang and slid into the bay inside the asteroid. Behind them, the stars shone brightly.
Tina was the first to exit the Pod, followed by Bobcat, William, and then Marcus, who made sure the Pod was locked.
“Why do you do that?” Tina asked. “Who is going to steal one of our Pods out here?”
“Probably no one,” Marcus admitted, walking around her to exit the bay, “but I like to practice safe Podding.”
There was a groan from William and an “I’m working on it!” from Marcus ahead of her. Tina just shook her head and started walking as the guys went through the exit. The door slid closed behind them all.
It was her first visit to the new Research and Development Asteroid for Team BMW, and she’d be damned if she’d get lost.
She went through the door and lost it. There were four hallways that went every which way, and she couldn’t see the guys at all. “Fuck!” she hissed, her frustra
tion plain on her face.
“Tina!” She whirled to see Marcus down a hallway, his head sticking out from a second hallway. “This way.” He ducked back.
She double-timed it to the hallway and jogged just a bit to catch up with him.
“R2!” William called as Tina entered the room and stopped short. The roof was at least ten meters high, and the room was a large domed circle. In the middle were four tables, each with a computer and tablet, and she could see table-based holographic units for personal work and a central unit she imagined would be used for group efforts.
There were also old-school whiteboards on casters around the tables.
“Yes, William?” A voice sounded from the room’s speakers. The closer Tina walked to the middle tables, the better she could hear the EI’s voice. She also noticed that the voice started with a little chirp, slightly reminiscent of the chirp from that old science fiction movie.
“That affectation,” Bobcat said as he sat at his table to turn on his computer, “is going to drive me to drink.”
“You don’t need a reason to drink,” Marcus pointed out, “and you can tell R2 to stop it anytime.”
“I’m just preparing you for the future,” Bobcat commented, his computer booting as he got up and walked to William’s table. “What do you have for us?”
“This,” he said, and threw his fist out. His hologram sprang to life.
Marcus looked up as Tina walked toward the two guys and glanced at William’s display before putting his head back down.
Seconds later, Marcus’ head jerked back up. “That’s not possible.”
“That’s what I said,” William told him as he pointed to the hologram. “R2, highlight and enlarge section three, three.” A large component of the electronics of the ESD Beam technology appeared in the hologram.
Tina stood back and watched.
Marcus got up. “The…” he started, then got lost in thought again.
Bobcat rubbed his chin. “Where did you get this?”
“Random bullshit from our computers in the monkey’s paw offices.”
“R2,” Marcus requested, “let me speak with Reynolds, please.”
“Space station or ship?”
“Oh, yeah,” William muttered. “Whoever thought allowing Reynolds to keep his name when he was chosen to also helm the next superdreadnought was an—”
“It was Bethany Anne,” Bobcat told him.
“Goddamned genius,” William finished. “Obviously thinking ahead… If an attack was launched, the two EI’s could work closely together to protect the battlestation and the superdreadnought. It was a fucking epiphany.”
“Nice save,” Tina told him.
“Why, thank you,” William answered as he launched some design programs they had used to build the original Eat-Shit-and-Die Beam. “What caused me to think it might happen is the—’
A deep, gruff voice spoke from the speakers. “This is Reynolds.”
“Hey, dawg,” William said. “Take a look at what we got here, would you?”
Tina looked around, wondering where Reynolds’ cameras were. Or was he just reading William’s computer and hologram directly? She thought about it and realized it would logically be both.
“The plans for the ESD Beam,” Reynolds told them. “This is section QQV2272, used for changing the Etheric energy into—”
Suddenly there was silence.
“What happened?” Tina asked.
“Give him a second,” Bobcat answered. “Reynolds is tracking something down. He doesn’t like to pontificate on what-ifs. If he knows we’ve seen something, he would rather go down a few thousand rabbit holes while we have our virtual thumbs up our asses than provide an incomplete answer.”
“I think,” Reynolds came back on, “there is potential here, William. My first pass at the calculations suggests the change is feasible.”
“How many?” Tina asked, looking at Marcus. Reynolds answered.
“Two million, six hundred and seventy-two thousand, four hundred and twelve permutations,” Reynolds said.
“And that was?” Tina asked, annoyed.
“The number of different ways I could see to accomplish miniaturization of the components in the ESD beam that William has highlighted. Further, it includes all the downstream modifications we have installed since actually firing the beam.”
Tina grabbed a chair from Bobcat’s table and pulled it closer to him and William. “I feel like I’m behind.”
“As well you should be!” Marcus answered running a hand through his hair. “The ESD Beam was one of our most secret projects. We never got a chance to fire it until the fickle finger of fate forced Bethany Anne’s hand during the Yollin insurgency. We’ve been number crunching on those—” He stopped and looked at William. “Oh, shit. That’s some of the data we used to seed the monkey’s paw trap.”
William grinned and snapped his fingers, then pointed to Marcus. “I tell Bobcat all the time that you occasionally hold up your end of the job.”
Marcus flipped William off while directing his attention to Tina. “That’s how this stroke of genius occurred. Now we need to see if we can actually miniaturize the most powerful beam we have ever produced.”
There was a loud pop, and the three of them turned to see Bobcat holding a bottle, quickly trying to suck off the foam that was spewing out the top. A moment later he got it under control and turned to the rest of them, smiling as he lifted the bottle in their direction with a question on his face.
“Another round of research?” he asked.
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Empress Bethany Anne’s Meeting Room
“Are you shitting me?” Bethany Anne looked at Cheryl Lynn, who shook her head. “Those bastards want to talk peace?” she confirmed as she sat down at the meeting table and rubbed Ashur’s head. Cheryl Lynn took the chair next to her.
This time Cheryl Lynn nodded in agreement. Her face was studiously blank, giving away nothing as Bethany Anne stared, her eyes narrowing as she absorbed what Cheryl Lynn had just related to her.
Bethany Anne stopped petting Ashur as she considered the ramifications. A moment later her attention was drawn back to Ashur as he bumped her hand a couple of times. “You know, Ashur,” Bethany Anne told him, “you really do focus on what’s most important to yourself.”
“Are you sure he isn’t trying to keep you from going ballistic over this request?” Cheryl Lynn asked.
Ashur chuffed at her, and Cheryl Lynn replied. “No, I’m not trying to give away any secrets. However, you generally try to get Bethany Anne to pet you whenever she’s upset.
Ashur chuffed again.
Bethany Anne chuckled. “Well, yeah. I suppose for you it is always a good time to get a head scratch, you old goat.” She reached down and scratched Ashur’s ribs. “Ok, lie down while I figure out how the Leath are trying to screw us.”
Ashur chuffed, and when Bethany Anne sat back in the chair, walked toward the door and laid down next to it.
“We were just in the Noel-ni system two weeks ago.” Bethany Anne blew out a breath and looked at Cheryl Lynn. “You aren’t saying anything to me here.”
“That’s because I don’t know if you want my professional take, or need me to listen to you bitch for a while.”
Bethany Anne glared at her. “I went to a bunch of planets to prove I didn’t eat babies, and look where that got me.”
“It proved you didn’t eat babies,” Cheryl Lynn pointed out. “We got some good PR from your support of the Yollin teenager.”
“And I was accused of practically eating the Noel-ni kid,” Bethany Anne shot back. “He wasn’t thick enough to have made a good sandwich.”
Cheryl Lynn stared at Bethany Anne, then put a hand across her mouth.
“That’s not going to work.” Bethany Anne looked at her. “I see the laughter in your eyes!”
Cheryl Lynn mumbled between her fingers, “That’s because it’s so wrong it’s funny!” She shook her head, hand still clamped o
ver her mouth. “But so, so wrong!”
Ashur chuffed, and Bethany Anne looked at him. “I know, right? I could have fricasseed—”
“Oh my God, stop!” Cheryl Lynn took her hand off her mouth, but instead of a smile there was a horrified gape. “Do you know what would happen if you ever joked like that around a microphone?”
“Of course.” Bethany Anne smiled and leaned forward. “I’m ego-maniacal, not stupid.”
Cheryl Lynn blinked a couple times. “Oh.”
For a few seconds neither of the women spoke, but finally Cheryl Lynn broke the silence. “Your feelings are hurt.”
“Hell yes, they’re hurt!” Bethany Anne replied, a flash of red in her eyes. “Do you have any idea what it feels like to have billions of aliens wonder if you’re an evil lunatic?” Bethany Anne leaned back in her chair. “I can’t go to a planet without them shrinking from me or wanting to test me or trying to trip me up.”
She pushed her hair out of her eyes. “I’m in a goddamned gilded cage surrounded by weapons of mass destruction, and half the fucking galaxy worries I may come after their world to spread catastrophe, carnage, and chaos.”
Cheryl Lynn shook her head. “Nice alliteration.”
“Thank you, I rather liked the whole catastrophe, carnage and chaos thing.” Bethany Anne glanced at her friend. “However nice it was, it’s still true,” She finished, daring Cheryl Lynn to argue the point.
Cheryl Lynn’s eyes narrowed as she thought about it. “Boss, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“Those fuckers actually want peace,” Bethany Anne answered without hesitation.
“Wait.” Cheryl Lynn shook her head as if to dislodge something in her ear. “What? Say that again.”
“Huh?” Bethany Anne frowned. “Don’t you get it? I’ll never agree to peace with the Leath. They are ruled by a Kurtherian group we are going to take down. Period fucking dot.” She shook her head slowly. “No way, no how, never are we going to have peace.”
“Uh,” Cheryl Lynn frowned, “ok. So what do you want to do about this peace accord request?”
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set Three: Books 15-21, Never Submit, Never Surrender, Forever Defend, Might Makes Right, Ahead Full, Capture Death, Life Goes On (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets Book 3) Page 84