Never Submit (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 15) Read online

  “The King is going to use this to make an announcement, or pronouncement. With all of the news coverage we are receiving, he must get control back again, or risk additional challenges to his rule. You have created a schism in the Castes System.”

  “Good,” Bethany Anne commented, “If nothing else, that shit has to stop. There is no reason for artificial bifurcation of roles, or responsibilities based on some bullshit created a long time ago. It’s just used to help those at the top, stay on top.”

  “Even with the King dead, those at the top will not be pleased to lose prestige.”

  Bethany Anne smiled grimly, “Ask me if I give a fuck after I kill their King.” She looked him up and down, outfitted in his own Jean Dukes’ armor and pistols, “You ready?”

  Kael-ven shrugged, “Who should ever be ready to lead a Revolution?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Royal City of Khn’Chik, Planet Yoll

  “This planet makes even Los Angeles seem like a jungle,” Bethany Anne commented as they slowly floated over the large mega-city, “What do you use to build your cities with?” She asked Kael-ven

  “Crushed rock and adhesive which we are able to manufacture from two large seas to the north. Both seas are inhospitable to anything living in them. But, if you mix it with the rock in the right proportions, the chemicals will allow a semi-liquid pour. If you use enough pressure to eject it closer to hardening, you can wait and create some intricate shapes. However, most times they have forms set to pour the mixture into, which hardens within hours.”

  “Do they stick anything in the forms, to hold the hardened rock together?” Bethany Anne wondered aloud, “We do something with concrete on Earth, but I think they have to put rebar or something in the mixture to help the strength.”

  “No, I’ve never heard of anything placed in the rock unless it is for aesthetic reasons, which is often. Occasionally they will build a large hole through a wall so they don’t have to cut one later.”

  “Huh, the buildings are beautiful,” she watched as the open air stadium came into view, “big sucker.”

  “It is used for most of the major sporting games, and every time we have a coronation, of course.”

  “How appropriate.” She turned around to ask, “Do Yollins have a phrase like The King is Dead, Long Live the King?”

  Kael-ven’s mandibles opened and shut a few times before he asked, “Is that even logical?”

  “No,” she agreed, “but what it meant was that the old monarch was dead, but there was already a new monarch and it allowed people to know that continuity in leadership had occurred.”

  “So, in this case, King Yoll, which is both title and name you take when assuming leadership, the previous one is dead, the new one is in place.” He paused a moment, “It has a certain relevant illogic to it.” He shrugged, “For Yollins, we always assume there will be a King. We rarely see this King, only hear about him. So this,” he pointed out to the stadium starting to take up the view of the whole front, “will be possibly a once in a lifetime experience.”

  “Well, it will also be a last in a lifetime experience,” Bethany Anne commented.

  —

  Yoll exited his Royal Shuttle into the back entrance of the stadium. He would show himself in his full glory at the appropriate time.

  Perhaps this fight, he would take a new form.

  —

  Bethany Anne got up from the chair, “You got this ArchAngel?”

  “Yes, my Queen, I have this,” she replied.

  Bethany Anne nodded to Kael-ven, “Ok, Viva la revolucion, let’s get this done.” She, Kael-ven and her security walked together to the Pod bay, passing by a long line of well-wishers as Ashur waited for her. “Let’s do this Ashur,” she told him as she stepped into the armored Executive Pod.

  Moments later, it was exiting the ArchAngel’s bay and slowly dropping, surrounded by a contingent of twelve Black Eagles.

  —

  The King watched the spectacle of the alien arriving through the top of the stadium, their ships using a form of gravitics, so were silent.

  Maybe he needed to up his estimation on when some Kurtherians had upgraded this group. He was certain after reviewing the video, that these aliens had been upgraded, he just couldn’t tell when or by whom. Most of their technology seemed older.

  Who used an Asteroid for a base? It is almost like these aliens preferred to thumb their nose at beauty and balance.

  Obviously, they would be an easy species to subjugate once this Queen was taken care of and her head was on his wall.

  Provided she didn’t choose to exchange forms and put this body’s head on the wall. Either way, one of these two heads was going to be on his wall by tonight.

  —

  When Bethany Anne’s shuttle landed, Gabrielle commanded the doors be kept closed. There was no way Bethany Anne was allowed out of the ship until the King showed himself.

  It took five minutes, maybe six. Huge, cacophonous trumpets, of some sort started blaring notes and those in the stadium stands, easily a hundred and fifty-thousand Yollins, made all sorts of noise. But it was their pounding on the rock floors throughout the stadium which easily made the most noise, the vibrations could easily be felt in the Pod.

  “I think the King is the hometown favorite,” Bethany Anne chuckled.

  “They don’t know what you would do if they do not support you. They certainly fear what the King will do,” Kael-ven explained.

  Eight four-legged heralds, all holding poles, with black banners high, came up a ramp which had started from underground. The racket in the stadium went up a notch. Then, King Yoll slowly walked up himself. You saw his head first, then his two front legs rose out of the hole, grabbing the sides as he lifted his body up. The crowds settled down.

  Not in fear, but in awe. Their King really was a God of Yollins. He was massive as he emerged out of the hole, easily dwarfing the top of the poles that the heralds held high, announcing him. The King looked up and around the large stadium, then he nodded his acceptance of their accolades.

  He walked onto the field, “Doesn’t he seem a little bulkier than you would think?” Bethany Anne called over her shoulder to Kael-ven.

  “He should. He really is three times my size,” replied the awed Yollin.

  “More than that,” ADAM called over the speakers, “He has on armor.”

  Bethany Anne pointed at the monitor of the King, “That’s what I’m seeing!”

  John asked, “Is that why you have on your old exoskeleton suit?”

  “Maybe,” Bethany Anne replied.

  “When I stuffed her in the suit,” Gabrielle replied, “my God, you would have thought I was making her wear a pair of knock-off Louboutin’s, the way she grumped and bitched.”

  “Being in this is hot,” Bethany Anne retorted, “I don’t see you wearing the old set.”

  “I’m not fighting an eighteen-foot-tall half praying mantis, half alien centaur either,” Gabrielle retorted.

  “Jealous?” Bethany Anne asked as she grabbed the suit’s helmet and prepared to step out of the shuttle.

  Gabrielle looked back at the screens showing the large King, “No, no I think I’m good this time. If fighting that massive mountain is what it takes to get your sweet ass bed sheets? Hell, you can keep them. I’ll just sneak into your room and nap when you are somewhere doing something Queenly.”

  “Gee, thanks.” Bethany Anne smiled then turned around and looked at her friends, “Motherfuckers, every one of you, let’s go kick some ass.” Her voice dropped an octave, “I’ve still got some mad to get out and it’s just this poor constipated dickless dictator’s fault he gets to feel the wrath,” as she spoke, her eyes started glowing red, “of the woman Michael, the ArchAngel himself entrusted.”

  Her face started showing red lines of Etheric, like blood vessels glowing under her skin radiating out from her eyes, “Entrusted to keep our fucking Earth safe from all who would attack her.” Her voice, now causing
those in her presence to have goosebumps run up and down their arms, commanded. “All right, you know how I feel. I’m done playing.”

  —

  Yoll watched as the shuttle door opened and he wondered how many guards would be in front of the Queen before she would show herself. Personally, he would have at least six, but if she came out with four, he wasn’t going to provide more respect for the bravery doing so would display.

  The first figure off the vessel was an armored person who stopped and looked around. The figure turned to look over its left shoulder and stared at Yoll. It lifted its arm and raised a middle finger toward him before it spoke, “I’ll get to you in a minute, Yoll. So enjoy your last few moments before I bring the fucking pain.”

  Yoll’s mandibles snapped together when he realized this figure was the Queen. She waited while five figures walked out and surrounded her. On queue, they turned and proceeded to head towards him. Half-way, the security peeled off and turned, walking back towards the shuttle as those in the stands yelled and stomped.

  Yoll walked forward, past his heralds and stopped at his edge of the fighting circle. The alien stopped at the edge of the circle on her side.

  Yoll looked around, his voice amplified as he pointed across the circle at her. “What have we here? I thought you understood the Challenge was without Armor?”

  She pointed back at him, “I am merely following your lead. You never accepted my Challenge, and I see that you have armor on at this moment. So, Yoll, are we fighting a Challenge, or are you already trying to cheat?”

  Yoll grated his mandibles together. He reached behind himself and clicked two tabs. He lifted off the armor that was supposed to be invisible to the aliens as he spoke out, “Ceremonial.”

  The Queen nodded and reached up and unhooked her helmet and took it off, allowing her black hair to cascade behind her head. Two of her guards jogged back to her.

  —

  John reached Bethany Anne first, with Eric a step behind him. John caught two of the snaps and popped them off, “Got your armor, that was sneaky as shit boss. You never expected to fight with this on.”

  “God no,” Bethany Anne said as she stepped out of the boots. “The new stuff is so much better, this shit feels like something Jean dreamt up when she was wanting to punish us.”

  John noticed red armor under her present set, “You expect to get to use this?” He asked as Eric grabbed the set of her old armor.

  “No, I’ll have to strip again, I’m sure.” Eric chuckled, “Oh shut up, Eric. I know all of your girlfriends screwed the hell out of each of you before we did this, so don’t be thinking seeing me in my birthday suit is going to be embarrassing me.”

  John took the helmet, “Oh, it will embarrass you, BA.”

  Bethany Anne looked up at her friend and put up her thumb and index finger, close together, “Maybe a little.”

  The two guards took the armor pieces back to the shuttle.

  —

  Yoll looked at the woman, the red of her body and feet not matching the white of her face. “You have more armor on,” he accused.

  She pointed out to him, her voice just as easy to be heard even though he had tried to make it to where only his voice was heard to those in the stands. “You have never agreed that this is a King’s Challenge. When are you going to accept?”

  Yoll considered his next move. No doubt her armor was good, but should he fight her with it, and it not be a King’s Challenge, or should he call it a King’s Challenge and make her take it off?

  While he pondered, the crowd started talking. Yoll finally realized they weren’t talking about the two of them, but many in the stands were pointing to a new figure entering the field from her shuttle.

  It was another Yollin, encased in Red Armor like the Queen wore. His mandibles chomping. Here was the ex-Captain of the G’laxix Sphaea, the one time Acolyte of the Holy Text and the present pain in his efforts to subjugate this race.

  He would deal with him, next.

  “King’s Challenge,” Yoll ground out. “Accepted.”

  She nodded to the yells and stomping from the crowd as the Yollin on her side walked calmly towards the Alien Queen as she stripped off her red armor, watching Yoll the whole time. Finally, she had all of the red off, standing there, here skin the same color as her face.

  —

  Kael-ven walked up behind Bethany Anne, “So,” he whispered, “Why is it this red armor isn’t at all like the real red armor you normally wear?”

  Bethany Anne turned for a moment to hand it to Kael-ven, “Because I trust that asshole about as far as I can throw him. You ready?” She asked and he nodded.

  Kael-ven turned and walked back towards the shuttle.

  When he got there, Gabrielle accepted the red armor, “Guys,” she hissed, “this shit isn’t real.”

  “Tell us something we didn’t guess as soon as we figured out we weren’t staring at her real ass, but a photograph on a bodysuit!” John hissed back.

  She eyed Eric, who was busy looking at anything but his girlfriend at the moment. Gabrielle chuckled, “That damn bitch is just never going to stop surprising my ass.”

  Darryl hissed to the group, “If you ain’t cheating…”

  “You ain’t trying,” five humans and a Yollin hissed back.

  —

  “Challenge has been issued,” a voice from the speakers called out to those in the stadium, “and Challenge has been Accepted. This is now a sacred battle and will be fought behind the Sacred Curtain.”

  “Ok,” Bethany Anne muttered, “this wasn’t expected,” she looked around as the Yollin King moved into the large, hundred-yard diameter circle.

  “Well, fuckity fuck,” she murmured as she walked into the circle herself, head held high. She heard massive machines power up, then felt the energy they produced as a circular, white translucent shield erupted from the ground, arching over their heads to meet sixty feet above them. The walls started where the circle had been marked on the ground.

  “Well, that’s just spiffy,” she said aloud, looking at the new enclosure.

  “What,” the Yollin King chittered, “You didn’t know about the Sacred Curtain?”

  —

  “Uh oh,” Kael-ven whispered.

  Gabrielle turned to look at him, “What ‘uh oh’?”

  “I didn’t remember to tell Bethany Anne about the Sacred Curtain. I forgot.” He told her, “Well, actually it is only spoken of in passing, more rumor than information in the Holy Text.”

  Gabrielle turned back before commanding, “Everyone, drop your nanite spies, ADAM, send them to find the machines responsible for this occurrence.”

  “Don’t do anything yet, Gabrielle,” John cautioned, “This is just a hiccup, she’s got this.”

  —-

  Bethany Anne started walking to her right, “Nope, can’t say that I knew about the shield. I assume it is here so whatever you do to cheat inside this zone isn’t known outside to those watching?”

  “You have a very dim view of my Holiness.”

  “You are no more Holy than John’s day old socks. Trust me, I’ve heard Jean talk about them. Holy, they are not.”

  “I have no idea what John’s day old socks means, but I presume it is another way for you to disrespect me?”

  “I’d have to respect you first, before I could disrespect you. I’m merely talking to another power-hungry alien. Just the second or third of the many I’ve already met.”

  “Oh?” The King replied, starting to move to his own right, countering Bethany Anne’s walk. “And where would these aliens hail from? Perhaps they are Zebulones? Maybe Jukdahs?”

  Uh, Oh. TOM spoke up.

  Bethany Anne rolled her eyes, TOM, what the fuck are Zebulones or Jukdahs and why are you saying ‘uh oh’?.

  Bethany Anne, they are both names for Clans of the Seven.

  Bethany Anne, keeping her eyes on Yoll, spit off to the side, “Gott Verdammt Kurtherians!”

  “Why ye
s, you said you were hunting them. I suggest, not that you will be alive to use this wisdom, the next time you ask permission to pass through someone’s space, you don’t give away your knowledge of us.”

  Oh, shit. TOM said.

  Yeah, I don’t need a translation for this one. Bethany Anne remarked.

  “So, you are what, from one of those two yourself?” she asked the King.

  “Those two spineless Clans don’t have the strength to do what it takes.”