“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.”
Bethany Anne shrugged. “I only pointed out they weren’t out in public, which was true. The fact that they have been off Meredith Reynolds for a while now in a secret laboratory only helps their image.” She pointed to the screen, where William was smiling, signing, and slowly being guided through the crowd.
“That was the only reason?” Gabrielle asked Bethany Anne.
Tina’s eyes narrowed, and she looked at Bethany Anne as well.
“Perhaps,” Bethany Anne temporized. “I wanted to make sure this person William is interested in realizes he isn’t just a shy, fun-loving guy who can’t talk about his job. He is actually,” she nodded to the screen. “a Gott Verdammt superstar!” She wiped another tear. “It was the least I could do for him.”
Kathy opened her tablet and checked her face once more, using its selfie camera, then turned it off. Her date was supposed to be here in two minutes, but she wasn’t sure she would care if he was a couple minutes late.
She had already been treated like a princess.
She was wearing a dark red dress with a white half-jacket and dark-red shoes and carrying a red clutch, and she looked amazing. Now she felt like she was the VIP of the evening.
When she mentioned her name at the door, Bronson the bouncer had told her to “Wait one minute, ma’am,” and then whistled to catch the attention of Derek who, in a tailcoat, walked over to them. “Please take Ms. Williams to VIP.”
His eyebrows had lifted. “Which booth?”
“Empress’ booth,” Bronson had answered.
“Are you sure?” Derek asked. He turned to Kathy. “My apologies. I didn’t know you knew her.”
Kathy’s eyes narrowed. “Knew who?”
Bronson nodded and slipped a card to Derek, who confirmed it had the Empress’ script on the outside. “Right.” He turned back to Kathy. “This way, ma’am.”
The club and restaurant were in separate areas, restaurant on the left and bar area to the right. They were heading toward the elite section in the back, above the main floor.
“The Empress, ma’am,” Derek answered.
“I don’t,” she replied.
As they made their way toward the back, others started watching her and Derek. One person at the bar tapped a friend and pointed to her when the two of them reached the roped-off area.
“Well, someone does,” Derek informed her as he plugged in the code to drop the security field around the VIP section. “Sorry,” he continued. “Too many people try to get into her section when we aren’t looking, so the Empress just had someone install a security field for us.”
Kathy stopped, mortified. “This isn’t just a name?”
Derek turned around. “Name of what?”
She pointed to the other three VIP areas. “You know, names of special VIP areas?”
Derek nodded to her left. “Well, in a way. You’ve got Team BMW, who are amazing in their own right, but they own this bar as well. Their VIP is that first one on the left. Then the Guardians’ VIP here, next to the Empress’.” He turned to point to the other side. “That is the Bitchs’ suite. Only the Empress and her select guests are ever allowed in her area. You can’t get in here without her permission.”
“Billy, who the hell are you?” she said aloud.
“Who?” Derek asked.
“Billy, the man I’m meeting tonight.”
“First date?” Derek asked, and gently took her elbow to help her cross the divide and slide into the huge booth. “We can take out the table, but for just you it would look weird. I’m sure Billy will be here soon.”
Kathy nodded absently as she slid into the seat. She had never been to All Guns Blazing. As a chemist she was very aware of the molecular changes necessary to create alcohol, but the idea of tasting it had never appealed to her.
Now she wondered who her date really was.
On the virtual dating site, he had explained he was a research scientist who focused on transportation. He was a handsome black man whose eyes she had lost herself in on more than one occasion. His photos had been poorly shot, and she was concerned he had faked them.
He had assured her that they weren’t fake; his buddy was crap with a tablet camera.
Kathy had arrived two hours early via the ArchAngel II’s special limo service, and had spent thirty minutes getting into the Meredith Reynolds.
She’d spent most of the rest of her time looking through Team BMW’s History Retrospective in the main courtyard.
“Wait,” she asked Derek before he turned around. “Did you say Team BMW owns this place?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Derek replied.
“Them, or their children?” Kathy asked absently. She knew from the information outside that the members of Team BMW were old.
Seriously old.
Faces-should-be-lined-with-wrinkle
s-if-they-weren’t-already-sleeping-forever-somewhere-old.
“Them?” Derek answered. “You might see them from time to time, but they haven’t been around for a while. They work with the Empress, and they left to deal with new projects.”
“Wow.” Kathy couldn’t quite wrap her head around it. “They are still putting in time after all these years?” She shook her head. “That’s amazing.”
“They are pretty cool, yes!” Derek agreed. He lifted his tablet. “What can I get you to drink?”
“Water?” she asked. He nodded and stepped away.
As she looked around, she saw a group of excited youth congregating around the front. Many had small notebooks and pens in their hands.
“Are we going to go down there?” Gabrielle asked.
“Hmmm?” Bethany Anne looked at her friend. “What’s that?”
“You know,” Gabrielle pointed to the screen, “crash their date?”
“Don’t you dare!” Tina protested, leaning forward and tweaking the back of Gabrielle’s ear.
She gasped in shock when Gabrielle just moved. Before Tina knew it, Gabrielle had her hand in a vice-like grip, and her face expressed annoyance.
Gabrielle released Tina’s hand. “Sorry!” She tried to smile it off. “I’ve had a lot of practice sessions with Ms. Warbucks, and you never know when she is going to tweak you.”
Tina nodded and asked, “‘Warbucks?’”
Bethany Anne popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth. “She’s talking about me. I have been getting her fighting game back up to snuff, and now we’re kicking it up a notch so she can take on Eric again.”
“Eric?” Gabrielle grumped. “You made me take on Eric and Darryl yesterday.”
“So?” Bethany Anne shrugged and leaned over to offer the container to Tina. “Popcorn?”
“Ooooh, look.” Tina accepted the popcorn and pointed to the screen. “Here they come!”
8
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, All Guns Blazing
Kathy’s eyes opened wide when she figured out who everyone was getting excited about.
It was Darryl! “Holy crap!” She pinched herself. “It’s an Empress’ Bitch!” There was a shorter man behind him she didn’t know, but she recognized the last person. “Oh my God, John Grimes!” she whispered. She turned her tablet on and hit the camera’s video button. “They aren’t going to believe this back in the lab!”
She zoomed in and caught John holding the crowd back from the person he was guarding. A hand got in the way of her video, so she switched to Darryl. She was filming him when he moved aside, and she saw who was signing autographs.
She almost dropped her tablet. It was William from Team BMW, but it couldn’t be! He had to be so damned old he was… She zoomed in closer. It was William!
That was when her jaw dropped and her world went upside down.
Everyone down there had turned to stare at her.
“Date at eleven o’clock!” Darryl called to John.
John glanced over. “Bethany Anne’s table?”
Darryl replied, “Yup.”
John whistled. “Damn, how the hell did William get that class act to show up for his pouchy ass?”
“I think he baffled her with bullshit.” Darryl chuckled. “Either way, she’s taking video, so look sharp!”
An armored hand directed William to turn left. “Sorry!” John’s voice boomed. “We have to get him to his date.”
The fans looked in the direction they were going and stared at the striking black lady in the Empress’ booth.
“There it is!” Bethany Anne whooped. “She just figured out who he really is!”
“What?” Tina asked, popcorn falling out of her mouth. “Sorry! What? Didn’t she know already?”
“No.” Bethany Anne shook her head. “He was hiding who he was on the dating service.”
“Wait a minute!” Gabrielle turned to look at Bethany Anne, who was busy watching the video. “How do you know this?”
“I know everything,” Bethany Anne replied smugly. “Awww, that’s so cute! She’s trying to hide in that big-assed VIP suite and she can’t.”
“Actually,” ADAM supplied, “I told her.”
Bethany Anne pointed up. “What he said,” she admitted. “Look, look!” She pointed urgently. “He’s about to say ‘Hi.’”
“He’d better not fuck this up!” Tina griped. “If he trips, I swear I’ll go over there and kick his clumsy ass!”
Darryl stepped aside but remained on guard, allowing her date to slide into the VIP area. “Kathy?” he asked, extending his hand.
She nodded and took it.
“I’m Billy.”
“No.” She shook her head. “You are William of Team BMW!” she accused him, then politely let go of his hand.
“Um, about that,” he started to say, but she cut him off. “Do you really know the Empress?” she pointed to the table, “or can you get into this VIP area because you own this restaurant?”
Well, damn. This wasn’t going how he’d wanted it to.
“Oh damn!” Bethany Anne whispered. “C’mon, William, you got this.”
“Actually,” William sat down and put his arms on the table, “I can’t. This is a special area that only Bethany Anne can use. I didn’t know we were sitting here until John pointed you out.”
“John?” she asked. “You mean John Grimes?” She looked up when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. John had leaned forward, and was waving at her and smiling.
“Yeah.” William turned to nod in response to John’s wave—not realizing he had meant it for Kathy—and turned back. “Why?”
“And Darryl?” she asked.
She wasn’t surprised when Darryl turned around. “Good friend.”
She leaned forward. “General Lance Reynolds?”
“What about him?” William asked. He wasn’t sure where this was heading, but it was clear he was in a minefield.
This was the part that sucked about relationships. Women were too damned sneaky by half. He wasn’t sure what he was in trouble for yet.
“You mentioned Bethany Anne. What would you call her to her face?”
“‘BA?’” He shrugged. “‘Empress,’ if we are in an important meeting with others. Occasionally I’ve said worse, but she gives a mean ear tweak.” He unconsciously rubbed his ear. “Usually I just call her ‘Bethany Anne.’”
Kathy sat back in her chair. “I’m on a date with ‘W!’”
“I’m not George Bush,” William clarified.
“William,” Darryl had turned around and got his attention, “she means the ‘W’ of Team BMW.”
He shrugged as he looked at Kathy. “Yeah, so?”
Kathy leaned backward as Derek arrived with her water. “Do you have something a bit harder? I’m having a bit of trouble catching up.”
Derek and William exchanged fist-bumps. “Things going ok with Terry?” William asked the waiter.
“She’s good. Fourth year in the Etheric Academy. Thanks for putting in a good word.”
“She’s a smart cookie. I’m not sure how she missed the filters, but older or not, she’s aced the classes.”
“Thanks, William, we appreciate it. Wait!” He pointed at William, but looked at Kathy. “This is Billy?”
William blushed.
“Yes!” Kathy’s head bobbed up and down. “See?” She pointed to Darryl and John. “This man didn’t tell me he was royalty!”
“I’m not royalty,” William argued.
“Yes, you are!” Bethany Anne spat. “Don’t make me come down there and prove it!”
“Yes, you are!” Kathy shot back. She pointed outside. “Did you see all that information about you and your team?”
“Yes,” William admitted, scratching his chin.
“You helped build the Meredith Reynolds. You helped create the energy system that runs it. You helped get humanity off Earth!”
“It was a team effort,” William argued. “I’m just a
guy who was good at working on helicopters and had a friend who helped him get a job.”
“Then your friend saw greatness!” She eyed him. “Was that Bobcat?”
William nodded.
“Was it he who made all this happen?” She gestured to the table.
“Oh, hell no.” William shook his head. “This was BA.”
“You ratfink!” Bethany Anne stared agape at the screen. She pointed to the video, but looked at Gabrielle and Tina. “He ratted me out!”
“The Empress did this to you?” She sounded dubious. “Why?”
John leaned toward them again and answered, “Because she likes to play Cupid, and William is a personal friend.”
“Why do I feel like I’ve fallen through the looking glass?” Kathy asked.
“It’s what happens around Bethany Anne,” William answered. “I’m sorry, I can see my position and such is bothering you. I apologize.”
“No, no!” Kathy put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, Billy, it’s just taking me a minute to realize that the wonderful man I’ve been talking to is someone who has helped make the Etheric Empire what it is.” She leaned toward him. “I’m turned on by smarts, and there’s a whole display about your smarts right outside!”
“OOOOHHHHH!” Gabrielle snickered. “You pulled that one out of the dumpster, you lucky dog!”
“Not lucky.” Bethany Anne sniffed. “Just good.”
“Not a dog, either,” Ashur grumbled from where he lay. He was trying not to drool, hoping Tina would throw some popcorn his way.
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 146