Etheric Adventures Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by S. R. Russell

“Only ‘cause my mother filled them out when I entered school,” Stevie mumbled.

  Just then the door to the principal’s private office opened. The man stuck his head out and looked around the room. “Ahh, Miss Kasyanov and Miss Jayden,” he called, then paused as he noticed the girls’ proximity to each other. “Have you met already?”

  “Yes sir. We bumped into each other in the hall, literally,” Anne proclaimed.

  “Well, good, then. Is there anything else I can do for you?” the principal queried.

  “No sir, we’re good, I’m going to invite Stevie to my place and we can talk there.” Anne smiled at the young woman she hoped was brilliant enough to help her with her research.

  The principal looked at Peter and the three adults with him. “Guardian Silvers, do you need my assistance in some way?”

  Peter shook his head. “No, thank you. I was just here to find Anne. As you can see,” he waved a hand at the young lady in question, “I have succeeded.”

  “Very well, very well. If everything is settled here, I have some other business to take care of,” the principal said. He re-entered his office to grab a tablet from his desk, and as he exited he nodded to everyone and walked briskly into the school’s main hallway.

  Anne looked at Stevie. “You okay coming to my place for a few so we can talk?”

  Stevie pulled her tablet from her shoulder pack. “Sounds good,” she acknowledged as she typed. “Anne Jayden, right?”

  “You know how the school won’t stop calling you Stephanie? Well, they won’t stop calling me ‘Miss Jayden.’ It’s just Anne,” she explained.

  Stevie froze and took a reflexive sniff of the air.

  Anne laughed. “We don’t need to drink blood anymore, so we don’t stink the way vamps used to. You should know that by now.”

  “I know.” Stevie looked sheepish. “It’s a reflex.”

  “No problem. Let’s head out.” Anne and Jinx started down the hall toward the school’s exit.

  When they headed out, the man with Peter started walking a few steps ahead of the group. Peter stayed with the girls, and the women followed two steps behind. Without thinking about it, Anne took the turn she and Jinx normally used for their walk home. She’d only taken one step when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “You don’t dart off without your security,” Peter informed her, pointedly looking at the man who had been walking in front of them.

  Anne looked at Peter, shock morphing to indignation. She held up a finger. “One, Jinx and I gave up taking the tram, so this is our regular route home. Two, no one has mentioned I have security, let alone what to do with them.”

  Peter looked at the young woman he had helped train and felt proud of what he and his team had shaped. Anne wasn’t angry, nor was she afraid to stand up to him. She didn’t feel responsible for any breach of behavior, and wasn’t going to let him make her feel guilty about it. “Bethany Anne told you she was going to assign you a security team, correct?”

  Anne scowled but nodded in agreement.

  Peter’s hand swept out to include the three people now arrayed around them. “Meet your sec—”

  “Ett!”

  Peter was shocked when Anne raised a hand and cut him off.

  “Yes, Friday Bethany Anne said I needed a security detail. This is Monday, and this is the first I’ve heard on the topic since then. You can introduce them all you want, but I’m not taking blame or feeling guilty about taking my normal route home. I’m sure if you check with Meredith she can verify this.”

  >> I can tell them.<<

  I know you could, Seshat, but as far as I’m concerned it’s up to them to know or find out before they start complaining.

  “Well, I was going to wait until we reached your place.”

  Anne stopped Peter again when he took a breath to continue. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Chapter Nine

  With Anne giving the occasional instruction, the group made their way to her and Jinx’ apartment.

  “I have Cokes, water, and what passes for sweet tea here in Yollin space,” Anne announced from the entrance to the kitchen. She almost laughed when she looked back into the common room area. She wasn’t set up to entertain five humans at a time. The men were trying to defer to Stevie, who was having none of it.

  Anne grabbed two chairs from her dinette set and dropped them at the doorway to the common room. “Here’s some more seating. It’s normally just Jinx and me, so we’ve never had a reason to acquire more furniture.”

  Since no one had voiced a preference for a beverage, Anne hunted around until she found the six-pack carrier the Coke bottles had come in and filled it with six cold bottles from her refrigerator.

  Watching this group is more fun than watching the Three Stooges. Jinx laughed in her mind as Anne rejoined the small crowd in her common room, her spare hand dragging one more chair from the dinette. Anne understood what Jinx meant when she saw her five visitors still milling around. Stevie was standing by one of the dinette chairs, but didn’t look comfortable enough to claim it. The men were looking like they were afraid Anne’s comfy couch would bite them.

  “Jeez, guys, it’s just furniture. It’s not booby-trapped, I promise.” Anne set the six-pack of Cokes on the coffee table, extracted two bottles from it, and offered one to Stevie. She pointed at the chair Stevie was hovering by and said, “You take that one.” She arranged the chair she had just brought beside it and sat down.

  “Peter, you take the other chair. That leaves you three,” she motioned at the two women and the gentleman still standing, “to share the couch.”

  Jinx waited as people got settled in the seats Anne had specified, then walked over and sat by her person. She looked at Peter and chuffed, “I know why Stevie is here. Why don’t you tell us why you’re here?”

  Peter looked at Jinx, and then at Anne. “You are both aware that BA has decided you require a security detail.” He waited until he got an affirmative reply from them. “We’ve decided, at least for now, to start you off with a Guardian Marine team.” He pointed to the middle-aged man. “This is your Were, Arthur Connors. Your Marines are cousins, and I’m going to let them introduce themselves,” Peter informed her as he pointed to the women. “They were Israeli Defense Force on Earth, so they really know their business.”

  Anne leaned forward and offered her hand to the Were. Arthur reached over and shook her hand from where he sat.

  “You barbarian,” one of the women exclaimed. “Being able to turn furry is no excuse for bad manners.”

  “What?” The Were, Arthur, looked completely confused.

  “You stand when you’re introduced to a lady,” the other woman chimed in.

  Arthur looking at the two women, whose expressions were like disapproving school matrons’. “Oh,” he said, and stood. He looked somewhat sheepish as he shook Anne’s hand. “My mother taught me better, I promise. I just wasn’t thinking,” he confessed as he released Anne’s hand.

  Once Arthur had reclaimed his seat, the woman next to Anne offered her hand. “I’m Abigail Himmel, but you can call me Abby if you’d prefer.”

  “I’m her older and wiser cousin E Brenner.” The second woman stood and offered her hand above Abigail’s head.

  Anne stood to shake the proffered hand.

  Before Anne could ask, Jinx looked at the first woman. “‘E?’ I have problems with human language sometimes, but I thought I was getting better. I’ve never heard the name ‘E’ before.”

  The second woman sat back down at the end of the couch and sighed. “I’m named after my great-grandmother Ethel.” E took a breath and blew it out in disgust. “‘Ethel’ is just so old-fashioned, and I used to get teased about it in school. Once I finished school and applied to the IDF, I started telling people to call me ‘E.’”

  “Okay, Arthur, Abby, and E.” Anne nodded at each in turn. “For those of you who don’t know, this is Stephanie Kasyanov, though she prefers to be called ‘Stevie.’” The young w
oman blushed. “She’s here for a job interview. Time will tell if she becomes part of the team.”

  Peter cleared his throat to gain everyone’s attention. “I’ll try to keep this short and make it sweet,” he said, looking at Anne. “You will have one of these three,” he motioned to the Guardian and the Marines, “on-duty and near or with you at all times when you are in the interior spaces of the MR. This includes school, mess, and any other interior areas you are visiting or working in. If or when you go to the outer edges where aliens have access, you will take at least two of your team with you. And before you make a fuss,” Peter pointed his finger at Anne, “these are Bethany Anne’s rules, not mine.”

  “Okay, let me see if I’ve got this straight.” Anne held up one hand and started ticking off fingers with the index finger of her other hand. “If I’m in the human spaces of the station, I only need one guard. If I go into places that aliens have access to, then I need at least two.”

  “Correct,” Peter confirmed, smiling at her. “We’re not going to have any issues, are we?”

  Anne shook her head. “I hope having security with me will mean I don’t have to kill anyone else because they’ve done something stupid.”

  Anne could feel Stevie’s eyes on her as Peter asked, “How are you holding up?”

  “Jinx has suggested that I probably need counseling,” Anne admitted. “I’ve been having some terrible nightmares.”

  “I guess the million-dollar question is, do you agree with Jinx?” Peter asked, observing Anne.

  “Yeah, I do. Look at the mess my mother turned into because of her untreated issues. I really don’t want to go there,” Anne said with a slight shudder.

  “We have a couple people who are trained to handle PTSD. Anyone on your team,” Peter once again indicated the guards, “can tell you how to get an appointment when you’re ready.”

  Anne nodded as she replied, “Thanks, it won’t be very long. I don’t imagine it’ll stop the nightmares, but if it helps me get a handle on them I’m more than willing to talk to someone.”

  “Right now I really need to talk to Stevie, so she can get home before she gets into trouble.” Anne looked at the Were who had been introduced as ‘Arthur Connors.’ “Tell me what I need to know about how the security detail is going to work.”

  “While you are home,” he answered, “there should always be one of us outside your door.” He pointed to the door in question.

  Jinx chuffed in amusement. “I’m glad you clarified that.”

  “Doh, I guess that was a little overboard,” Arthur admitted. “On school days, one of us will accompany you to and from campus. We’ll be stationed in the office while you’re in class so we can monitor the school’s security cameras. When you need to go into the more public areas, please inform us at least sixty minutes in advance.”

  “Well, that’s going to put a kink in my binge retail therapy.” Anne pouted.

  “Gott Verdammt,” Arthur muttered. “I’m not carrying your bags,” he stated emphatically.

  Jinx chuffed, then actually howled with amusement.

  Arthur looked at Peter, then Jinx, and finally a now-giggling Anne. “What?”

  “Men!” Stevie said derisively.

  “What?” Arthur repeated, now looking at the female Were.

  She pointed to the couch and coffee table. “She had to drag extra chairs in from the kitchen. What is there about this space that suggests she some sort of shopaholic?”

  “Oh, um…” Arthur looked uncomfortable as he held his hands up and shrugged.

  Peter stood, and motioned Anne’s new security team toward the door. “Why don’t we get you people set up while the ladies take care of their business,” he said as he followed them. “Talk to you later, Anne. Call me if you have any issues.”

  “You got it.” Anne smiled and waved to the backs of Peter and her Guardian Marine team as they headed into the corridor.

  Anne waited until the door closed, then moved to Peter’s chair and turned it to face Stevie. “Anything I can get you before we start our discussion?”

  Stevie looked somewhat embarrassed as she answered, “I could really use a trip to the bathroom.”

  “Sure thing. Down the hall, first on the left.” Anne pointed her in the right direction. “Can I get you anything while you’re taking care of business?” she asked as Stevie stepped past her.

  “No, I’m good,” Stevie said, shaking her head. “I just hadn’t expected to be here this long.”

  “That makes two of us,” Anne admitted.

  “Three,” Jinx chuffed.

  Stevie washed her hands and checked herself in the mirror. She hadn’t really needed to use the facilities, but it gave her a few minutes’ privacy to get her thoughts in order. Finding out that a prospective employer had been assigned her own security team by the Empress herself had been a shock. Hearing that she had recently killed someone required a few private minutes to digest. While Stevie was somewhat of an anomaly in that she tried to avoid conflict, Weres as a race were a violent people. She had, of course, heard stories as she grew up about Were-on-Were and Were-on-human violence, but none of her acquaintances had done more than get into a few scrapes. Exiting the bathroom, Stevie squared her shoulders and headed for the common room to find out what her future might bring.

  “Everything all right?” Anne asked when the Were returned.

  “Yep, everything’s good,” Stevie replied as she resumed her seat. “So, what do you have for me?”

  “Unfortunately there’s not a whole bunch I can tell you right now. I’m not trying to be difficult, but I’m doing some top-secret work for Bethany Anne.” Anne wore a slightly embarrassed look as she admitted this.

  “As in an ‘if I tell you I’ll have to kill you’ secret?” Stevie teased.

  “Pretty much,” Anne said, now looking very serious. “At the least, it’s the type of top-secret that requires you to have a pre-employment interview with Ranger One.”

  Stevie had always been proud of her self-control, but she couldn’t stop her eyes from widening at the mention of Barnabas, Bethany Anne’s first Ranger. “You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”

  “Nope. Orders came straight from Bethany Anne herself,” Jinx inserted.

  “Well, crap. What can you tell me?” Despite any apprehension about an interview with Barnabas, Stevie found herself becoming interested, even intrigued.

  Anne took a sip of her Coke and idly twisted some of her hair around a finger. “Sorry, but this has to be vague. I was doing some testing and ended up with a totally unexpected result. Now I have the task of attempting to make something workable out of my mistake. The trouble is, I don’t have a clue how or where to start. I talked to Jean Dukes, but she is too busy to help me. However, she suggested I talk to the Empress about doing my own R&D, so now I need to find some crazy smart people. I just don’t know if crazy is more important than smart in this instance.”

  Stevie raised a finger in the air as if she were in school and wanting to ask a question.

  Anne nodded to her.

  “I feel I’m fairly smart and I admit to being a nutcase, but why me?” Stevie gave voice to the question that had been banging around in her head for the last few seconds.

  “It was W.” Jinx chuffed in amusement. She was proud of her play on words, which originated from a movie she had seen that had some guy called “Q.”

  “W?” The confusion was evident in Stevie’s voice.

  Behave yourself! We don’t want to give the girl so much of a hard time that we scare her off, Anne warned Jinx. “She’s being a smartass,” Anne informed Stevie. “She means William from Team BMW. You know those old James Bond movies with the guy called ‘Q?’”

  “He was the guy who invented all of Double-Oh-Seven’s goodies, correct?” Stevie confirmed.

  “Yep, that’s the guy.” Jinx nodded her head in an imitation of human behavior, as she answered. “And, hey, don’t blame me for using it. I wasn’t the one who
came up with ‘Team BMW.’”

  Stevie looked at the German Shepherd. She had heard all the stories about how intelligent the dogs were, but this was the first time she’d personally experienced it. She glanced at Anne. “She’s right.” She nodded at the dog. “I can see how it fits.”

  Anne groaned and put her face in her hands. “Oh God, don’t encourage her,” she muttered through her fingers, then lifted her head and looked at Stevie. “So that’s it, basically. Jean was too busy, and someone suggested that William, or ‘W,’” she pointed her finger at Jinx, “might have heard of or know someone who would be able to help us. Bethany Anne had no idea who we’d find. She just insisted that any potential new team members be verified by Barnabas.”

  Anne watched Stevie’s face start to turn red with offended outrage. Anne held up her hand to stop the Were before Stevie even got started. “I’m here today because Bethany Anne rescued me from a booby-trapped bed. My own father was blackmailed to leak secrets from his work.” Anne’s voice went flat as she delivered the last sentence. “You can see why the Empress might insist that anyone allowed access to sensitive information doesn’t have any conflicting loyalties.”

  Stevie sat quietly for a moment, absorbing the information Anne had just given her. “Barnabas?”

  “It’s either him or Bethany Anne, and Barnabas is easier to get time with,” Anne explained.

  “It’s just kind of creepy, having him read my mind,” Stevie said with a small shudder.

  “I don’t think you have to worry about him going through your fantasies or anything like that.” Anne noticed an interesting blush on Stevie’s face. “I imagine he’ll just ask you one or two questions that will allow him to pinpoint your loyalties.”

  Stevie looked relieved. “That makes a certain amount of sense,” she admitted. “When do you think I’ll be able to see him?”

  “Seshat, is Barnabas currently on the station?” Anne asked her EI.

  “Meredith says he is in his quarters,” Seshat informed her.

  “Would you please ask him when he would be available to do a security scan?” Anne requested.