Never Surrender (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 16) Read online

  The shock of the berry hit his system, energizing the ends of his pleasure nodes for almost half a minute as he closed his eyes and accepted the joy of success and the pleasure the chemicals brought him.

  Opening his eyes, he smiled. “I’m so sorry, you were my greatest achievement, but now you are yesterday’s news.” He patted the empty planter that only had sands and some chemicals. He would have to figure out the right chemicals to grow the plant, the right solar mixture, and the liquid quantities. It was a puzzle he would enjoy figuring out.

  Rih-benn grimaced and turned to his desk. Walking behind, he sat down in his chair and rubbed his mandibles together.

  “How the hell,” he asked himself aloud, “am I going to get another shot at those seeds?”

  —

  Over a hundred miles away, sitting in their own ship, Nathan and Ecaterina watched the feedback from the micro-bots that had infected the Yollin drug and crime boss.

  “That was an interesting peek in his physiology,” Nathan murmured. He was tapping the information coming from inside the host’s system as the Yollin ate from the plant.

  Ecaterina walked to the front of the ship. For this trip, Nathan had used a baby G’laxix Sphaea that had been cut down in size to half the original. With a full EI component and a direct link to ADAM, Nathan and Ecaterina just had to do whatever the ship told them needed to be done by someone with two arms and two legs.

  Everything else was run by the onboard EI.

  “Christina is asleep,” she told her mate. Sliding a hand on his shoulder, she looked at what he was doing, “Is this the guy that was going to set you up?”

  Nathan nodded, “Yes.”

  He didn’t see Ecaterina’s eyes flash yellow, “Those are his physiological and biometric readouts?”

  “Yes,” Nathan agreed, still paying attention to the feedback coming back from the crook.

  “So, when the nanocytes finally kill him, we will receive the medical information?” She continued.

  This time, Nathan nodded.

  “Good,” Ecaterina patted her mate on his shoulder as she turned to drop into the chair next to him, “No reason to waste this opportunity to understand the physiology of a Yollin.”

  Nathan finally caught on that his mate was not pleased. He turned to look over his shoulder. His eyes opened as Ecaterina’s eyes flared yellow, her mouth opened in a snarl as she thought about the crime boss trying to kill her mate.

  She looked back at him, “This asshole was going to die, one way or another.”

  Yollin Capital - Yoll

  Kiel, dressed in the normal clothes of a Mont-level project planner, entered the fifth bar he had worked so far this week.

  During his frequent updates to Dan Bosse, he mentioned drinking so much due to the job that it was beginning to cause him problems during workouts to get rid of the excess weight.

  Dan informed him he was aware how little the Yollin alcohol truly affected a Yollin’s weight, and that he appreciated the hellacious amount of sacrifice that going out drinking was causing the Yollin Mercenary.

  Kiel smiled, shrugged and just muttered, “I tried…” Now, after a month of working the bars, it was indeed becoming a sacrifice.

  It was just so damned boring.

  He was sitting, nursing his second beer when his implanted audio activated. “…That’s what I’m telling you,” a Yollin, speaking with an upper caste accent hissed, his voice low compared to the ambient sound. “Some of us in the Straiphus system need a few good contacts. Further…”

  Kiel lost the connection, too much noise was interfering. He put the mug up to his mouth to cover it, “ADAM?”

  “Yes, Kiel?”

  “Can you clean up the audio that is piping in? This is legit.”

  “… When we have the ships necessary, we will make our run here and force this alien to surrender. Then, we will hang her head up in the King’s Palace as the first of a new Monarchy.”

  Kiel grimaced. “ADAM, clean up, translate and route to Dan. Where is this coming from?”

  “A drinking establishment named Mont’s The Best, two streets over and one towards the stadium, on Chk’klock.”

  Kiel tossed two coins down on his table and stood up. He stopped and braced himself a moment before looking the wrong way for the door. Turning his head, he located the exit and nodded to himself. Putting his head down, he walked like a Yollin with a mission, making sure he could finish the job of getting out of the bar without falling down.

  Once outside, he turned left and kept up his act. Crossing the street, he changed his stride from half falling forward to a determined gait as soon as he was outside of the bar’s video cameras.

  “…we have a strategy to move the aliens where we want them, and have them fight us on our terms.”

  Kiel turned the corner.

  “Wrong direction,” ADAM told him.

  Kiel turned around, “Sorry, thinking about how to yank this asshole’s spine out of his mouth.”

  “Dan says not to detain him, we have a photo, we just need you to … Release your tags - Kiel, he is heading out the other side of the building.”

  Kiel cursed in Yollin and reached into his pocket to pull out a cylinder. He moved closer to a building and cracked it open. Inside, four small spheres, each the size of a small rock floated out and zoomed over his shoulder.

  He faked drinking from the cylinder and then put it back together. He stood up and looked around, “What do we know?”

  “One moment,” ADAM answered.

  Kiel started walking slowly down the sidewalk and it was a few moments before he received an answer.

  “We know he got away,” ADAM finally replied.

  Kiel looked both ways down the street and turned to his left. In a few paces, he was able to duck into a small alley and wait for the tags to come back. The four black orbs returned, and Kiel grabbed each and stuck them in the cylinder. “Shame these are too expensive to leave around.”

  ADAM replied, “Sorry, it isn’t just their cost, but if they are found, it could become a PR problem according to Cheryl Lynn.”

  Kiel grabbed his tablet and opened a small messaging app, and requested to see Kael-ven and see him as soon as possible.

  Seconds later, he was pinged with a time and place.

  QBBS Merideth Reynolds

  Hirotoshi, Ryu, Katsu and Shin followed the female in front of them. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail, her long black synthetic leather coat flowing out behind her.

  Typically, the Tontos would be in some form of casual dress, but now they were on a mission.

  The five of them walked down the hallway behind All Guns Blazing. Tabitha walked up to the non-descript door and knocked.

  The lock clicked for her, and she pushed it open.

  Tabitha raised an eyebrow as she and her team flowed into the room. Tabitha bowed, “My Empress.”

  Barnabas snorted from next to Bethany Anne. She punched him and said, “Oh, for fuck’s sake, stand back up you twerp.” Bethany Anne grinned as Tabitha walked down the length of the table to hug her friend. Bethany Anne rolled her eyes and called out, “You Tontos as well.”

  The four Japanese vampires stopped bowing, but Bethany Anne took care to look them all in the eye and nod her head. They owed their life to her people, and they took their vows very seriously.

  While Tabitha was only partially respectful, there was nothing but respect coming from her team.

  Protect your lead, she sent them.

  Hirotoshi and Ryu subtly nodded their heads. They got the message.

  “How are they hanging, Number One?” Tabitha cracked a smile as Barnabas frowned. He caught the play on words she gave him.

  “I see that the young teenager Anne, hasn’t taught you anything yet,” he said to her.

  Tabitha’s face gave her away before she could lie.

  She chose to drop the discussion rather than answer his question. “What are we doing?” She looked between Barnabas and Bethan
y Anne, then back to her boss.

  “We have information that says the Eubos system is barely above anarchy,” Barnabas started the information dump. “Well, that’s not true. They have plenty of structure, what they lack is an implementation of law.”

  “They didn’t get the memo?” Tabitha asked.

  “What memo would that be?” she asked.

  Tabitha turned to Katsu, “Didn’t you send an all Yollin dispatch that shared the new rules from Empress Bethany Anne?”

  “God, let me go back to just being ‘Queen,'” Bethany Anne grumped.

  Tabitha turned and winked at Bethany Anne before Katsu spoke. “Yes,” he agreed, “I sent the memo you directed. We have confirmation receipts from over a month ago.”

  Tabitha turned back to her bosses, “Ok, see, we sent the memo.”

  Bethany Anne turned her head to look at Barnabas, who was staring at his number two Ranger. “Oh, do tell Barnabas.”

  Barnabas turned to Bethany Anne, “As much as it pains me to say this, she implemented a tactically sound plan.”

  Tabitha shrugged, “Hey, ignorance of the law doesn’t excuse you. Plus, we warned them there would be a day we would come calling, and God help them if they didn’t read the memo.”

  Bethany Anne wanted to either smile or put her head in her hands and wonder what her Ranger had just done. “Oh shit,” she muttered, “I bet you just started a meme in this solar system.”

  “Didn’t you get the Empress’s Memo?” Barnabas asked.

  “That is what I plan to ask right before I plant my size eight boots up their ass.” Tabitha agreed.

  Bethany Anne nodded, “Ok, Ranger Tabitha,” she said, “you are commissioned to go to the Eubos system and locate the slave trade … ” Bethany Anne’s humor dropped, “ … and stop it with all speed.” She pointed down on the table and stabbed it with her finger. “I will not have slaves in my Empire. Slavers get one chance to listen, otherwise, let them explain their reasoning to their personal gods.” Her eyes started glowing, “Those that have used their slaves sexually, or victimized them? They don’t even get that chance.”

  Tabitha swallowed. This was the Queen Bitch speaking. Tabitha nodded her understanding.

  She was going to need a lot of ammo.

  Bethany Anne stood up, “Barnabas has the files for you and your team, I want to present you and your team with something.”

  Bethany Anne walked around the table, heading out the door Tabitha and her team had just come in. This time, when the door opened, Tabitha noticed Darryl was standing there.

  Where the hell was he when she showed up?

  When Tabitha walked past her guys, she whispered, “We are going to need a lot of ammo.”

  Ryu nodded his head in understanding.

  Tabitha walked out the door and followed Bethany Anne and Darryl. She turned back in time to see Barnabas talking with Hirotoshi for a moment before Barnabas went the other direction and Hirotoshi started following them. Moments later, the party had Darryl in the lead, Bethany Anne and Tabitha next and the four Tontos following behind.

  As they headed down the halls, a sliding door opened, and the seven of them swept through, the wall sliding closed behind them. Seconds later, they left the hallway that headed back towards All Guns Blazing and Darryl took them across the bottom of the large shopping and eating area.

  Bethany Anne seemed to be ignoring the looks and whispers, and not a few pointing fingers as she and the group walked across the floor.

  “Hai!” Ryu hissed behind her.

  Tabitha looked ahead and noticed two aliens. They would be Ixtali, based on the images Tabitha had studied. She thought they looked like standing spiders. The couple were a male and a female. They seemed to head in their direction, thinking they would be able to interrupt Bethany Anne’s pathway.

  That was when the fear hit.

  Darryl had a hand out, pushing in the direction of the two Ixtali and spoke in their language. “Not now, thank you for your interest.” He kept to his fast pace as Bethany Anne nodded to them and the team swept through the lower level, and on to the entrance to the special docks beyond.

  Tabitha noticed the look of shock on more than one alien, at least if she was reading their body language correctly.

  And perhaps a new level of respect for their Empress from a few of her fellow humans who hadn’t been around Bethany Anne for a while.

  —

  Darryl stepped aside as Bethany Anne caught up and passed him in the hallway once they were through the commercial areas. She nodded to the guards each time they passed through.

  Bethany Anne had told Merideth she was tired of going through checkpoints. That the EI needed to warn each station she was on her way.

  Apparently, age hadn’t provided any extra doses of patience to Bethany Anne, at least quite yet.

  At the last station, however, she slowed down. She had personally told these guards that everyone, including herself, was to be checked before entering this work area.

  “Gentlemen,” she nodded to both black-clad guards, helmets in place. They should be confirming with both Merideth and Reynolds who the people were in front of them. If there were any doubt, they had additional tools and protocols to follow.

  While Earth had thousands of stories of body snatchers, TOM said it was unlikely anything would truly be able to fake being a human.

  Bethany Anne had breathed a sigh of relief.

  They would be unable to fake being a human, soon - TOM had finally finished.

  She sucked back in the air she had just released. You are lucky I can’t strangle your scrawny neck, she told him.

  She could feel his humor. She still didn’t know if he was joking that it could happen, or just that he was pleased his timing on delivering the warning was so effective.

  If she hadn’t planned on finding out how to provide TOM his own body again, she was now. Just so she could beat the shit out of him just once, for old times’ sake.

  The guards had finally confirmed everyone’s identity and the doors unlocked. Darryl moved in first to verify it was safe for Bethany Anne. “Clear.”

  “One of these times,” Bethany Anne grumped, “I’m going to have a practical joke waiting on the other side of one of these doors.” She walked into the hanger and turned to watch Ranger Tabitha and her team come in.

  Tabitha walked through the door, and her mouth dropped open. “Ohhh, my,” she whispered as she walked past Bethany Anne.

  Bethany Anne watched her reactions, the Empress’s head turning to appreciate Tabitha’s reaction.

  Tabitha completely ignored her.

  Bethany Anne looked over at Darryl who was grinning. “I’m not giving you the pleasure.” Darryl chuckled at Bethany Anne’s words as he walked towards the other side of the ship.

  Hirotoshi stopped next to Bethany Anne, “That is a Ranger’s ship?”

  “Well,” Bethany Anne said, turning to take in the beautiful black ship. “It is this Ranger’s ship. Specially made to handle her, and her team of six Tontos plus three passengers. Six, if those passengers are really close,” she admitted. The completely black human version of the G’laxix Sphaea class ship was highlighted under bright lights that set off the ship in the hanger.

  Tabitha called out over her shoulder as she ran a hand along the side of the ship, “What’s its name?”

  “What would you expect?” A somewhat electronic voice came from underneath the ship.

  Tabitha pulled her hand down as if stung, “Oh God!”

  Bethany Anne and Hirotoshi walked over to the Ranger. “Welcome to the Achronyx, Tabitha.”

  Tabitha lowered her head into her right hand, her middle finger somehow the only one raised up the side of her face aimed in Bethany Anne’s direction. “OWWW!” Tabitha screamed, she yanked her hand down, flinging it back and forth to deal with the pain. She looked at it, a thin line of blood showing where something sharp had cut it.

  She looked at Bethany Anne who raised her eyebrow
s back at her.

  “I deserved that,” Tabitha admitted. “I’ve been around a teenager too much.”

  There was a commotion from the doors through which they had entered, and the three of them turned to see Barnabas walking in, with the other two Tontos following him. Between them, they had additional boxes labeled ammunition.

  Barnabas walked up to Bethany Anne and pursed his lips, staring at Tabitha’s hand.