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  Bethany Anne didn’t care to hear any reply Da’Mahin made; she had more important things on her mind than some ignorant asshole’s butthurt. She stepped into the Etheric and took a shortcut to her private hangar.

  The lights came on automatically when Bethany Anne’s foot touched the floor of the transfer area. However, the illumination did nothing in her eyes to lend life to the uninhabited ship in the center of the hangar.

  Bethany Anne walked over to the Izanami and lifted a hand to brush the strut. “You overly sentimental ass,” she murmured, not caring that Izanami could no longer hear her. “I should have you reconstructed just so I can beat some sense into you.”

  The cold metal felt dead to her touch, compounding her sense of loss. She let her hand fall to her side and turned away from the empty husk, thinking about the events leading up to Izanami’s suicide. “They keep giving me more reasons to lose my shit.”

  TOM spoke up as she walked out of hangar one and made the turn for Hangar Three. You are stronger than that.

  Fucking right I am, she retorted. Throwing a galaxy-sized tantrum isn’t going to do anything except hand the Seven exactly what they want on a plate. I’m on to them, TOM. Whichever clan it is, wherever they’re fuckin hiding, I’ll track them down and exterminate them just like I did the Phraim-‘Eh. They can’t take anyone else from me if I kill them first.

  I don’t doubt you will, TOM told her gently. One step at a time, yes?

  Bethany Anne nodded as she entered the hangar. Step one: wipe my hands of Moen permanently. She walked with purpose, missing the delicate click of the heels she loved so much, and reached out to touch the minds of her Guards as she passed their ships on the way to the QBS Sayomi.

  Saddle up, Bitches. Saint Payback is ready to ride.

  Devon, QBS Sayomi, Bridge

  John began his pre-flight checklist, grinning at Bethany Anne’s proclamation. We’re happy to preach that shit all day long, BA. Get your righteous ass on the damn ship so we can get started.

  Bethany Anne materialized behind John’s chair and leaned over to stick her face into his HUD display, distorting the hologram. “You haven’t even started the ship yet.”

  John flinched. “Jesus, Bethany Anne, you scared the shit out of me.” He held up a finger when she burst out laughing. “It’s bad enough Sayomi spends most of her time using your face to cut years off my life.”

  Bethany Anne snickered. “Jean told me all about her plan to make sure you miss her. I couldn’t resist.”

  John frowned as he disengaged from the HUD. “Is that what this is about? Jean wants me thinking about her?” He sighed. “She should know I do already. Most wives would send a gift. Why does mine feel the need to terrify me into coming home?”

  Bethany Anne took the co-pilot’s seat. “You tell me? You’re the one who’s been married to her for so long. Did you do something to piss her off before we left?”

  John shrugged. “Fuck if I know. I’ll find out when I get back to her, that’s a certainty.” He raised his chair to its upright position. “We good to go?”

  Bethany Anne laced her hands behind her head. “We’re still in the hangar?”

  22

  Moen, Elset, QBS Sayomi

  Silent, deadly, and invisible, five Shinigami-class ships cut through the atmosphere, their passing causing the clouds to swirl around silently as they passed. They came in to hover high above the underground complex where Bethany Anne had found the Alders on her previous trip.

  Bethany Anne deactivated her chair’s HUD and got to her feet. Is everyone clear on their objectives?

  Simple, Scott replied. Protect the civilians. Kill as many of those slippery motherfuckers as we can see. Don’t die before you get done with the rest. That about cover it?

  Bethany Anne looked at John and shrugged. Pretty much.

  What do we do if the Moen decide to take a hostile attitude toward us? Darryl asked.

  Bethany Anne had already considered that. The Moen have been made aware this is happening, so any you find fighting are there of their own free will.

  Gabrielle sniffed. I still cannot believe they lied about being captives for so long.

  I can, John disagreed. They’ll do whatever they’re told to do.

  That has more to do with their leadership, Bethany Anne told them, glancing at the cooler between her chair and John’s. Shouldn’t be a problem after the next thirty minutes or so. You all have your targets, and the last one to reach theirs has to give Jean some bad news.

  John’s eyes widened as the others dropped off the link and peeled off on trajectories that would take them to the other major population areas around the planet. “You can’t be serious? I’m already living in the outer space equivalent of a house of horrors. Do you want her to murder me for real?”

  Bethany Anne winked at him. “We’re above our target. I’m not waking up on the first day aboard my new ship to have it turn on me because I pissed Jean off.”

  John shrugged. “Fair enough. What’s your plan?”

  “We have a delivery to make and five cities to clear.” Bethany Anne picked up the cooler. “I’ll tell you one thing. The Alders had better be damned fucking grateful I’m not sticking their cure where the sun doesn’t shine.”

  John snorted as he held her wrist for a moment. “I mean, you could.”

  Bethany Anne sighed. “I really could.” She took them into the Etheric and pulled John to the exit point that brought them out in the underground complex.

  Bethany Anne hadn’t been in this part of the complex on her last visit. She felt around in the mental space, finding the tacky-feeling minds she was looking for a short distance along the passage from where she and John stood. Over here.

  They made their way along the corridor, pausing when they heard voices arguing nearby.

  That them? John asked, bringing up his JD Special when the anger in the Moen voices spiked.

  Unfortunately, yes, Bethany Anne confirmed, one ear on the Alders’ heated debate over her sanctions. She picked out Meon as the most vocal proponent for screwing her over and held up a hand to stall John. Wait a minute. This looks to have been going on for a while. I want to listen in.

  John grimaced. Do they remind you of seagulls? They have that squawky tone to their speech.

  Like nails on a chalkboard, Bethany Anne agreed. Fucking dumbasses. They couldn’t get around me even if they had more than three brain cells to share between them. Her lip curled as Meon’s faction continued their attempt to persuade the others into an early demise at Bethany Anne’s hands. Let me tell you, none of this is making me feel any less inclined to apply the cure rectally.

  John tensed, suppressing his urge to shut the Alders’ mouths permanently. Why are you helping this bunch of snakes?

  Because I’m not an asshole Kurtherian, Bethany Anne replied. Who would leave an entire species to go extinct slowly over generations?

  John didn’t find the excuse to be valid. I can understand the fucking reasoning behind the way they’ve chosen to be, but it’s still wrong.

  Bethany Anne shrugged. I’m past caring. I have an obligation to myself, which I’m about to fulfill, but I don’t give a shit about these people. In fact… She passed John the cooler as Mahi’Takar’s words came back to her. This is the perfect opportunity to remind everyone why it’s a bad idea to piss off Baba Yaga. She deactivated her helmet and stepped into the Etheric.

  John chose the more conventional route into the room, opening the door with his size-fourteen skeleton key. He evaluated the situation as he strode over the remains of the door, counting twelve Moen around the long table in the center of the room.

  Well, eleven.

  Bethany Anne stood on the table with her back to him, bathed in a red glow, one hand raised. Across from her, a female Moen hung suspended in the air, looking like she was finding it difficult to draw sufficient breath to make her excuses.

  “The cooler.” Bethany Anne pointed at the table without turning around.
She tightened her hold on Meon’s throat when John placed it beside her. “A little faith would have gotten you a lot farther with me,” she stated. “I was clear about what would happen if you crossed me.” She clenched her hand, cutting off Meon’s air supply for good.

  She turned on the remaining Alders with a snarl as the body fell to the floor. “My sanctions will remain in place until such time as I decide they are no longer necessary to contain your fucking idiocy. Then I will turn over the task of babysitting you to the Federation. Does anyone else have a problem with that?”

  The Alders cowered, heads bowed.

  “Speak up,” Bethany Anne demanded. “Give me a reason not to end you all now and replace you, because I’m not getting that you understand.”

  The Alder who had argued with Meon at their last meeting somehow managed to find his balls and stood up. “You make us prisoners on our own planet, Baba Yaga.”

  Bethany Anne laughed. “Prisoners? You’re fucking kidding, right? I offered you a way off this planet, and you fucksucking morons threw it back in my face. You can fucking rot here for all I care. I’ve got people in really bad situations to help.”

  The Alders burst into argument.

  She turned her back on them and hopped down from the table. “Shut your whining mouths and accept it. You made yourselves slaves, and I’d say it’s an upturn. Take your cure and grow the fuck up. If I have to come back here, I’ll be leaving this planet in ashes.”

  Bethany Anne placed a hand on John’s shoulder and took them back into the Etheric. I have not missed dealing with petty politics one minute since I stepped down.

  John grunted, bracing himself for the drain being in the Etheric in his armor put on his energy. I dunno. You have that ability to really connect with people. It was kind of like you never left.

  Bethany Anne’s jaw twitched. You think? I haven’t got time to be distracted. They can sort their own shit out. Doesn’t mean it frustrates me any less.

  John bumped her with his shoulder. If only we could find a horde of mindless killing machines for you to take that frustration out on.

  Bethany Anne chuckled, waving her free hand to open a path back to the city. Ask and you will receive. She pulled John out onto one of the lower terraces. Welcome to Ooken Central.

  John grinned, his free hand dipping to his other Jean Dukes Special. Are we starting the party or crashing it?

  Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow. We’re the law, coming in to bust this shit up. She centered her connection to the Etheric and reached for the hive mind. I have the majority. You take care of the ones that slip away.

  John frowned. What are you planning?

  Bethany Anne walked onto the terrace. This.

  John’s jaw dropped when every Ooken on the terrace suddenly ceased whatever they were doing and stiffened briefly before collapsing on the spot. What the fuck?

  Keep watching, and tell the others to be ready. I’m not done. Bethany Anne rose into the air as she worked her way out from the terrace, tearing into the hive mind to connect with every Ooken in Elset.

  The Ooken fought Bethany Anne’s control as awareness of her attack rippled outward through the hive mind. She was aware of the comm chatter between John and the others, but she didn’t need to hear it when she trusted them to take care of their parts while she did hers. ADAM, how long is this going to take?

  >>No longer than a few minutes for each city,<< he informed her. >>The Ooken are concentrated around them, but I get the feeling that cleanup afterward isn’t your concern here.<<<br />
  The Moen can clean it up themselves. Do I look like a fucking maid service? Bethany Anne gritted her teeth and pushed harder.

  Orbiting Moen, QBS G’laxix Sphaea, Bridge

  Kiel turned in his chair without tearing his eyes from the screen, almost falling in his haste to get Kael-ven’s attention. “Are you seeing this?”

  Kael-ven waved him off, engrossed in what was happening on the terraces of Elset. “It’s Bethany Anne; she’s finally lost it with the situation. About damn time, too.”

  Kiel panned out as the circle of death around Bethany Anne seeped out of the city and across the dunes toward the nearest city. “But there are half a billion Ooken down there.”

  Kael-ven chuckled. “And that makes a difference why?”

  Kiel shook his head. “I don’t think she’s been this angry since the end of the Leath war,” he murmured, mostly to himself.

  Kael-ven said what they were both thinking. “At least she found an appropriate outlet for it this time. Chasing her across galaxies was nobody’s idea of a fun time.”

  Elset

  Bethany Anne heard another voice in the mindspace. It was weak and faint, but it was definitely not Ooken. She focused, isolating the single sweet note in the grinding cacophony. There’s a Collective here. TOM, can you and ADAM hold the connection to the hive mind while I free it?

  No, was TOM’s simple answer. However, I can sense its proximity.

  Fuckdammit, Bethany Anne cursed. The voice was too far gone for her to speak to them. It might not be too late if someone could get there.

  Maybe? TOM hedged.

  Good enough. Bethany Anne cut in on the Bitches’ bitching. There’s a Collective somewhere under the city. It’s near death, and I’m stuck here.

  On it, John told her. Any idea where, exactly?

  Bethany Anne searched to refine the location of the Collective’s voice. It was coming from below the dune to the southeast of the city. I don’t see a way in for you. Let me fix that.

  She flicked a spark of Etheric energy toward the rolling expanse, feeding it more energy as it hurtled toward its target. The sand imploded in a spray of molten glass on impact, leaving behind a glowing tunnel into the side of the dune. There you go.

  Eric chuckled. Should be cool by the time we get there. You know we’ll do what we can to save them.

  I just called for the Polaris, Gabrielle informed the team. They’ll be here as soon as they can make it from QT2.

  Wrap up what you’re doing and get your asses over to Elset, John told them. BA has her own battle to fight.

  Bethany Anne returned her focus to resuming her attack on the Ooken. The mindspace was empty for kilometers around her. She reached out, cutting through the paltry resistance they had thrown up while she was distracted.

  The challenge was the sheer numbers. Even together, they were no match for her will. The weight of their consciousness, however, was crushing in its volume.

  Bethany Anne blocked it out, insulating herself with the sound of the Etheric. Its heartsong strengthened her, just as Michael had earlier when she had spilled her grief. She became pure rage, sharpened to a keen edge by the loss of Izanami, immune to the grating screech of the Ooken attempting to shred her mind. She increased the pressure on the hive mind, forcing her way into hundreds and then thousands of minds at a time.

  The song shifted as the energy cascading from Bethany Anne’s body consumed more and more of the hive mind. She felt it strain to do her will, restricted only by her refusal to give up control. This is getting to be too much to handle, she told TOM. What happens when I run out of Ooken on this planet? Will it try to find more?

  Bethany Anne, I can’t say.

  Bethany Anne pressed her lips together. Why not? I want to know what will happen if I release this energy. Will it stop at the Ooken?

  TOM considered the question for a moment before replying. Really, I can’t say. What you are accomplishing with the Etheric is so far beyond even the most tenable theories I have studied that all I have been able to do recently is try to figure out what you did after you do it.

  Hmmm… Bethany Anne hadn’t realized she’d finally surpassed the sum of TOM’s knowledge on his own religion. Then you’d better get started on “The Book of Thales of Miletus.” We’ll figure it out together—you, me, and ADAM. I’m going to let some of the energy go and see what it does.

  She isolated a section of the hive mind and allowed a small amount
of the energy she was holding to run free. It was difficult not to pull it back immediately as she let go, her muscle memory demanded she hold tight to it. The song became exultant as the energy pulsed and burned through the nanocytes in the Ooken’s brains, frying them simultaneously as it exploded outward from her.

  The energy dissipated at the boundary Bethany Anne had created, rejoining the whole to be given fresh purpose.

  You have your answer, TOM murmured, staggered by what he was witnessing.

  Then let’s blow this popsicle stand.

  Bethany Anne released the energy and the Etheric erupted from her in a torrential rush that shook her to the core. The force flung her head and arms back, bowing her spine as her hair flew wildly around her body.

  Lightning flashed overhead in the cloudless sky, pounding the terrace around her.

  Bethany Anne felt no pain, just the knowledge that wherever the song was heard, Ooken died.

  It was only now as she became one with the energy that she understood the siren song was no more than a plea for connection, for her to be part of the whole.

  She had always operated on the assumption that the Etheric was something to be manipulated and controlled, and resisted at all costs. TOM’s teachings had failed over and over to disabuse her of the notion, but her eyes were open now.

  The glimpses she’d had of universal knowledge were a candle to the sun of her epiphany. There was something beyond Ascension.

  Something more.

  The Kurtherians had it all wrong. Ascension was weakness, an inability to hold onto individuality. It was not the goal, but the final tempting barrier between the initiate and true knowledge.

  She did not have to ascend unless she chose to.

  Not now…

  Not ever.

  23

  Moen, Elset, Southeast Side

  John looked over the barrel of his Jean Dukes Special, treading carefully on the still-malleable glass as he walked down the tunnel.