Capture Death (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 20) Read online

  Baba Yaga finished her kata, then stood up. “The last time you said that you dropped us on a planet that only served Pepsi.”

  >>You wanted, again, to prove that Pepsi wasn’t the only drink planets served, and didn’t allow me a chance to properly sensor-sweep the planet.<<<br />
  “It isn’t the only drink out there. I just happened to select a bad planet,” she said, popping her neck. “A no good, very bad, horrible planet.”

  TOM interrupted. I believe Nathan did too good a job.

  Baba Yaga nodded in agreement. “Yes, he did.” She thought about it for a moment. “I should constrain Coke now and flood the market with Pepsi.”

  ADAM offered over the speaker system, “I suggest marketing it through entertainment. Fund a group of characters who are loved but are outlaws, who have the people’s safety as their core purpose and fight against despotic governments who can’t get their shit right. They drink Coke and disdain Pepsi, because only those who truly support governments drink Pepsi.”

  “You just said a curse word,” TOM said through the speaker system as well.

  “Wait, we drink Coke in the Empire,” Shinigami said.

  ADAM explained. “It’s entertainment! It doesn’t have to be accurate, just fun.”

  “Wait a minute,” Baba Yaga said, tapping her lips. “Isn’t that our story?”

  “Yes,” ADAM confirmed, “but who would believe it?”

  “True,” TOM agreed. “He has a point.”

  She waved a hand. “Fine, what the hell, ADAM. You and TOM take a small portion of my funds and see if you can make it happen.”

  —

  >>TOM?<<<br />
  Yes?

  >>How are we going to write the scripts to make this entertainment idea work? I wasn’t expecting her to agree with me. I just wanted to point out our history, get her remembering some of her friends and maybe pull on her heartstrings.<<<br />
  I think you dazzled her with bullshit, TOM replied. And, it just might actually work.

  >>Which part?<<<br />
  Both. The entertainment to push Coke sales, and putting a little bit into her subconscious to remember all that TQB has accomplished.

  >>Okay, so how do I get some of these story ideas?<<<br />
  You go to the source.

  >>Baba Yaga? She doesn’t want to speak about it.<<<br />
  Not that source, the source.

  >>Who is that?<<<br />
  Frank Kurns, of course.

  —

  “So,” she exclaimed, unaware of the sidebar conversation, “Baba Yaga is the ever-patient avatar of Death. How much time will this take?”

  “Baba Yaga,” TOM retorted, “is full of shit.”

  The white-haired female with the mouthful of sharp teeth started laughing, her raspy throat not helping the image at all. “Yes. Yes, she is.”

  Spersoneck, Unaffiliated Worlds

  “Why here?” Eric asked John as the two of them walked through the afternoon sun—blue this time.

  “I’ve got a feeling,” John told him. The two of them were wearing their Shinigami armor.

  “You ‘had a feeling’ on the last three stops,” Eric chuckled. “What’s different about this one?”

  “I blame McClellan for the last three,” John replied. While they were talking, he was working on the HUD information screens inside his helmet. Eric had doffed his helmet and was holding it as they walked.

  “McClellan?” Eric thought back to the crew. “I don’t remember any McClellan.”

  “Dapper John.”

  Eric nodded. “Yeah, you both have the same name, so they gave him a nickname.”

  “When it still has ‘John’ in it, it isn’t much of a nickname,” John told his friend. One of his filters went orange, so inside his helmet he issued commands.

  He reached over and tapped Eric on the shoulder, and started to turn to his left. Eric lifted his helmet and slipped it on.

  The two men followed the audio source.

  —

  Y’elga was just under four feet tall and weighed almost enough not to get blown away by a large gust of wind.

  If she had been bathing in the mud puddles.

  She had red eyes, dark brown skin, and at the moment, both fists in the air. Her head was covered in sharp white needles.

  Her friend Tellah was behind her, trying to get her breath back.

  “Leave us alone!” she hissed, trying to make her high-pitched voice sound deep.

  Their four attackers were laughing at the two of them as they spread out.

  The park was empty. Everyone else had gone home already.

  J’ahm was holding the back of his head with one hand and gripping the tree limb she had used to beat him when he had kicked Tellah with the other.

  “Why?” Thy’Jet asked. As the leader of the group he was the biggest of the four, probably four times her weight, no mud needed, and easily towering over her. He didn’t have to try to make his voice sound deep.

  “Because Baba Yaga will take you out if you mess with us again!”

  J’ahm shook the limb. “You will feel this, I promise!”

  Thy’Jet looked at J’ahm. “What?” J’ahm asked, pointing to Y’elga. “She hit me with it first!”

  “Yes, and if you use it and break her bones, they will send you to detention camp all summer for using a weapon!” Thy’Jet told him. “Smart, not stupid, remember?”

  J’ahm looked at the branch and then at Y’elga, and finally threw it away angrily. “CatsHull!” he screamed in frustration.

  Thy’Jet turned back to Y’elga. “Tellah stole J’ahm’s pendent. Give it back to him so we don’t have to take it back.”

  “It isn’t his!” Tellah breathed out.

  “You took it from him,” Thy’Jet responded. “We all saw you do it. We can go under the truth detector and say we saw you take it. What are you going to do, then?”

  Tellah screamed, “YOU TOOK IT FROM ME FIRST!”

  Y’elga kept her eyes to the front but asked over her shoulder, “Is this true? Did you take it from J’ahm?”

  “YES!” J’ahm yelled in frustration.

  “Yes, but you stole it from me last summer!” she yelled back.

  “I didn’t steal anything! I found it,” J’ahm retorted.

  Y’elga started to understand the picture “So, what happened, Tellah?”

  “I was playing and set down my books and stuff, and when I came back it was missing.”

  “Found!” J’ahm countered. “It wasn’t in your backpack!”

  Y’elga’s eyes narrowed. “Tellah never said she had a backpack.”

  “She always carries a backpack,” J’ahm answered. “We’ve all seen it.”

  “She hasn’t used a backpack during this whole semester of school,” Y’elga responded, her red eyes narrowed. “So you stole it from her backpack, and now you want to claim she is stealing it back?”

  “I. Found. It!” J’ahm hissed.

  “I. Don’t. Care!” Y’elga stood her ground. “Baba Yaga doesn’t suffer thieves!”

  “Oh, for bistok shit!” Thy’Jet said. “You aren’t Baba Yaga. There is no Baba Yaga.” He put his fingers up, about four inches apart. “You are a little Huithek female who can barely fit on chairs at school. You are—” He was interrupted by a deep voice.

  “Someone who can call the Shinigami.”

  All six of the kids turned in surprise to see two black-armored humans. Both had their helmets on, a slightly purple tint glinting from them as the sun hit them.

  They had the fabled armor and the guns.

  “Oh, my ancestors,” Y’elga whispered.

  “Did you call them?” Tellah asked her friend. Y’elga shook her head no.

  “Yes, Y’elga of the Huithek, you did call Baba Yaga’s Shinigami.”

  “You… aren’t them, are you?” Thy’Jet asked, his bluster gone.

  One of the men turned toward him and reached up, pushing a button. His visor retracted and two eyes peered out at him.

&
nbsp; Everyone there saw the eyes start to glow red, and his voice was deep and malevolent. “Do you want to sacrifice some of your blood to me?”

  All of the children shook their heads no.

  “Then do not ask disrespectful questions again.” The Shinigami reached back up and touched the button again, closing his visor.

  John spoke to Eric over the suit communications. “I think you just made the one in back pee itself.”

  Eric looked and sure enough, there was a little liquid at its feet.

  John pointed to Thy’Jet. “You will come here, Thy’Jet. The rest of your group will leave, or my Spirit Brother will start eating.” He paused for about three seconds. “He is a bit hungry, now that you have mentioned it.”

  Thy’Jet heard his friends backpedal and then turn to run. He didn’t blame them.

  Hell, he would be with them if the Spirit hadn’t called him out. Now he couldn’t move, he was so scared.

  “NO!” Y’elga ran in front of Thy’Jet, placing one hand on his stomach, and stretching one out toward the Shinigami who had spoken. “I didn’t mean to call you! I don’t want you to eat him!”

  Thy’Jet reached in front of him and picked her up. “Stop wiggling!” he told her. “You need to get behind me.”

  “They…are going…to eat you!” she hissed.

  “Better me than you!” he hissed right back, “and I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” she asked, still trying to get out of his grip. “Let me down, you bistok!”

  He looked at her and dropped her. “I didn’t know J’ahm took it from Tellah last summer!” She looked at him, speechless. “So grow up and kick his ass for me in a few years. Then, when you get old enough, come drink by my grave, okay?”

  “NO!” She started to run around him, but he snatched her arm. “SHIT!” he screamed, releasing her when her head got too close to his unprotected skin. He grabbed her with his left and swung her behind him again. “DAMMIT, stay there!”

  She glared at him. “I’m not your pet!”

  “No shit!” Thy’Jet answered. “You are a spunky female I’d like to have dated in about five years when you settle down!”

  Y’elga stopped squirming, stupefied.

  Thy’Jet felt a hard metal hand grasp his shoulder. He closed his eyes and when he had silently turned around and opened them again he was face to face with one of the Shinigami, who had his visor open and was staring right at him.

  “One of these days,” the Spirit told him, “you will be a great warrior. Baba Yaga’s Shinigami salute you, Thy’Jet!”

  With that they stood straight and raised their hands to the tops of their helmets, then brought them back down.

  Thy’Jet’s mouth just stayed open as they gave him respect.

  The taller one continued, “Protect them all, just like you tried to bring justice for your friend.”

  The one who had shown his red eyes added, “Just pick better friends, like Y’elga.”

  The Shinigami walked away from the three children and five steps later they broke into a jog, then jumped, easily clearing the multistory building across the street, and were gone.

  The very next day, Thy’Jet kicked the crap out of J’ahm and made him apologize to Tellah.

  The six of them became fast friends, keeping the truth of the meeting with the Shinigami to themselves.

  Because…who would believe Baba Yaga’s spirits were real?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Planet Vel’aisle, Valley of the Damned

  The odd-looking ship crested the mountain and floated down toward the valley floor. Sharp rocks, brown and grey with slices of yellow through them, littered the slopes.

  It wasn’t a particularly large ship, oval in shape, and two levels of windows surrounded the silvery craft.

  Noiselessly it glided over the river that cut through the valley until it came upon a grassy area, then, slowing down, four supports unfolded like insect legs and sharp claws extended on the ends as it lowered itself.

  The legs found secure footing and the craft delicately settled, confirming the strength of the millennia-old ship as it finally supported its total weight.

  Most of the creatures had bolted off the grassy plains, the large craft scaring them.

  Two, however, went through the brush to the grassy area, their legs scrabbling on the ground as they made their way toward the craft.

  When they were halfway there, a ramp under the silver vehicle opened and lowered to the ground. One alien, a Leath in robes, slowly descended and moved away from the craft. She waited patiently as the two creatures came up to her.

  Greetings, Levelot, One of the Six sent to Behome’t, hosted in the larger creature in the front.

  Greetings, Levelot, Behome’t sent back.

  Where is Teret? Levelot asked. Did she make a transfer?

  The giant creature half-turned. We are not sure. She did not like these creatures, so she went farther into the valley to locate another option.

  Levelot nodded to both Behome’t and Chrio’set. Why do you believe these bodies will be sufficient?

  This time it was Chrio’set who answered. We will be attacking her with our minds.

  One of the Six studied the two creatures. I still do not understand your plan.

  It is because you lack the important details, Levelot. Behome’t started crab-walking backward. Once you understand the purpose, all will be made clear. The creature started to shake, then slowly burrowed under the ground. In only a short time, it had vanished.

  “Well, that is unique,” she admitted.

  Chrio’set walked forward and slid under the large ship as Behome’t sent, Chrio’set has walked past you and is under the ship. She is turning now, changing direction sharply, and now she is heading back to me, he said. This creature burrows under the ground, but can feel the vibrations above.

  Levelot nodded her understanding. What makes you believe she will not just bomb the place and leave your bodies to rot?

  She must confirm she has killed us. How will she do that without pulling us out of the ground and seeing our bodies for herself?

  She will suspect treachery.

  So do we. Behome’t laughed through his connection. However, we will deliver the ultimate in treachery.

  And what is that? Levelot asked.

  The truth, he replied.

  Chrio’set came back and stood in front of Levelot. What are the plans once we have taken out this Witch?

  “Those I cannot share, in case she is capable of taking out you three,” Levelot said. “K’galeth is in good shape. We need only review the engines for translocation dissonance and then we will have the minimal information necessary to create new plans.”

  It is good to see the ship again, Chrio’set offered.

  Levelot turned back to look up at the craft. “It is good to see it again. It feels right, as if it will be instrumental in our efforts to overcome this task. Our ascendance is the primary result it seeks.”

  A strange thought, Chrio’set acknowledged, but inside my own formulas, it is congruent as well.

  “Behome’t, are you ready for us to send the final instructions through the communications,” Levelot asked, “or do you first need to confirm Teret’s success?”

  There was a moment of silence; Behome’t was most likely calculating his results. “Provide us a way to contact you, and we will let you know when Teret is ready.”

  “Understood.” Levelot bid them success, then stepped back aboard the craft. It slowly lifted, the weight on the legs releasing a foot at a time, the creaking of the members perhaps suggesting a story of disaster which wasn’t going to happen.

  Both Behome’t and Chrio’set watched their ship as it rose into the air. As it worked its way higher the speed increased, and soon it was but a tiny dot and the two creatures could not see it any more.

  Three days later the K’galeth received the signal that it was time, and minutes after that data packets were sent in multiple directions.
r />   QBS Shinigami

  >>This time we aren’t wrong.<< ADAM argued.

  Baba Yaga was on the bridge trying to figure out where her damned Kurtherians had gone.

  “How can you suggest that, ADAM? The Avatar of Deathly Patience has now been to five, count them…ready? One, two, three, four, FIVE different prime targets.”

  “I suggest that because it is obvious they want us to find them,” he said from the bridge’s speakers. “They have provided instructions, locations, and a map.”

  Baba Yaga looked up from her video screens. “You know, as dangerous as that sounds, I think I’m ready to jump right into a complete setup just so we can end this charade.”

  “I suspect it is one big charade, but they are Kurtherians and we are not. Have they ever seen the best technology in known space?”

  “Their technology is good enough at the moment to stay hidden from us, so let’s not knock it.” She pulled up the information ADAM had supplied. “This is an unknown place in the middle of nowhere on the other side of forgotten,” she said aloud. “All it has is a bunch of communications infrastructure on the peaks.” She looked at the planet’s information. “How come the planet is so untouched? I barely see a few security locations for the communications and the bars and stuff around them.”

  “The planet has some very aggressive creatures,” Shinigami explained, “and right now there is a group fighting for the planet to stay clean of industry. Industry has tried to start projects, but the raw materials are rather scarce for what most civilizations require, especially when you add the risk of being overrun by destructive herd-based omnivores.”

  “Not a profitable decision matrix, so easy to ignore,” Baba Yaga agreed. “I wonder if the local omnivores have a taste for Leath?”

  “Probably,” ADAM answered her. “Or the Kurtherians have switched bodies again.”

  Baba Yaga’s eyes narrowed. “TOM? Is that probable?”

  That the Kurtherians switched bodies?

  “Yes.”

  If the creatures are intelligent and tool-using, maybe. Perhaps it is my bias showing, but I can’t imagine trying to join to a savage creature, myself.

  “Not my first choice.” She thought about it, and then discarded her next couple of ideas. “Shinigami, cloak us and run past the coordinates that have been provided. I want this area mapped very well before I accept their offer to stick my head out.”