Through The Fire and Flame (The Kurtherian Endgame Book 3) Read online

  Thank the stars for his wife, and for Qui’nan. The pragmatic solutions the Yollin architect offered to whatever problem he threw at her made the Admiral wonder if there was some deity he should also be thanking for the blessing of such competent females in his life.

  It was Qui’nan who had suggested they begin the first phase of their shipbuilding efforts as soon as the skeleton of the shipyard was finished. As a consequence, he was in a position to surprise Michael with the news that the first consignment of superdreadnoughts would be ready much sooner than expected.

  Qui’nan turned to add a note to one of the lists and finally noticed him. She swept the holoprojections to the side. “Greetings, Admiral. What can I do for you?” Straight to the point as always. Qui’nan had no time to waste chatting about frivolities.

  Admiral Thomas entered the office. “Michael is on his way.”

  Qui’nan inclined her head. “Yes, I know. It’s on the schedule. So?”

  “So your progress reports on the fleet would be useful.”

  She nodded again. “I’ll submit my reports at the end of the working day, same as always.”

  Admiral Thomas shook his head. “Not today. I want the latest on everything. I’m going to need you to keep me updated on the priority projects while Michael is here.”

  Qui’nan looked up from where she’d been eyeing the work the Admiral had disturbed. Her mandibles clicked together, “Are you trying to keep him distracted?”

  Admiral Thomas nodded. “Hell, yes. Of course. I’m going to be tap dancing the whole time he’s here with my fingers crossed behind my back that he doesn’t order anything else.” He sighed and wiped his tired eyes with a hand. “Although, I suppose it could be worse.”

  “Oh? How?” Qui’nan was clearly humoring him at this point, but she didn’t know what he did.

  “It could be Bethany Anne doing the inspection,” the Admiral told her. “Then we could guarantee we’d have even more commissions to contend with by the time she left.”

  Qui’nan snickered. “A few more ships wouldn’t break us. You have to admire a woman who knows what she wants.”

  Admiral Thomas shook his head sagely. “And if what our Queen wanted was for us to double the number of ships being built?” Before she answered, his smirk was downright devilish. “And halved the amount of time you had to build them?”

  Qui’nan’s eyes widened. “Fuck, no. I concede. I am also pleased our Queen’s mate is coming in her place.”

  25

  Immersive Training and Recreation Scenario: Beach

  Tabitha sat on a blanket on the sand watching Alexis and Gabriel play in the surf. She reached over to grab a bottle of water from the picnic basket. “This isn’t so bad.”

  “I still think it’s weird, Tabbie.” Peter looked around for the umpteenth time. “We don’t really need to eat in here. Or sleep.”

  “Bethany Anne's orders. Normality as much as possible.” Tabitha laughed and shoved sand at him playfully. “You’ll get used to it. I like it here. I can eat as much as I like, and you know those cravings have gone nowhere.” She pointed her bottle at him. “Did I ever tell you I used to wish I could upload my consciousness? I wanted to dig around on the internet back on Earth and be a secret avenger.”

  Peter chuckled. “Um, no? But I can just see you hacking the mafia’s bank accounts or something.”

  Tabitha almost sprayed her water through her nose, wiping her face she looked at her mate. “I was going to rob the mafia,” she told him. “How did you guess?”

  Peter put his arm around Tabitha’s shoulder and drew her in close. “I didn’t need to guess. You would totally do that for kicks.”

  “I would.” Tabitha snuggled into the crook of his arm and sighed her contentment. “But I meant that it’s not so bad because we have more time to get used to the idea of being parents.”

  Peter made a noise of agreement. “Yeah. These last couple of days have shown me that it’s one thing teaching. It’s another completely to be responsible for a child’s development.” He nodded at Alexis and Gabriel. “Our son or daughter—”

  Tabitha cut in, remembering what Alexis had told her. “Alexis says we’re having a boy.”

  Peter shrugged. “That’s good enough for me. She’s rarely wrong. Our son is going to be powerful. Not as powerful as the twins, but even so, we’re going to have to teach him how to use his power responsibly. I don’t want to make the same mistakes my dad did with me.” He studied his hands for a moment. “If it wasn’t for Bethany Anne and the guys, I’d have turned out to be a monumental asshole—if I had survived. I want to be the same kind of role model to our kid, boy or girl.”

  “Maybe we’re having twins or triplets…” Tabitha couldn’t keep a straight face when Peter’s face became shocked, then worried, and he finally realized he needed to hide his fear. “I’m joking.” She chuckled. “I went for an early scan to confirm I was really pregnant, and there’s just the one baby.” She dropped the clowning. “I get where you’re coming from. Discipline is good, but I don’t want to be too restrictive, either. But I have to recognize that I wasn’t the best role model for Nickie.”

  Peter held her closer. “Has she been on your mind again?”

  Tabitha sighed. “She’s always on my mind.”

  Peter stepped very carefully. “Maybe when we get out of here and the baby is born we can look at starting the process of bringing her home.” He held still, waiting for the fireworks that usually went off whenever anyone mentioned Lilian’s daughter.

  Tabitha snorted softly. “And how do you expect to do that? The last I heard she was on some mall world blowing a near fortune that she definitely didn’t leave here with.”

  Peter thought hard. “She needs a guide, someone who will steer her right. Someone we can trust.” Everyone he thought of would either refuse or be refused when they got to Nickie.

  “Yeah, but who?” Tabitha asked, throwing her hands up in despair. “Not someone from the Federation, then. Or from here.”

  “Maybe…” Peter raised a finger, then dropped it again. “This is hard.”

  Tabitha nodded and got to her feet. She looked back at Peter as she set off to corral the twins for the picnic. “We should ask ADAM for some help finding the right person.”

  High Tortuga, Space Fleet Base, Vid-doc Suite

  Bethany Anne climbed into the Vid-doc and selected the option to join the ongoing base scenario. Michael had left to Gate over to the QT2 base, and she was ready to get some quality time with her babies.

  The scenario did not engage.

  She pushed the Vid-doc open and sat up. Eve was still at the console, her attention on the side monitor. “Eve, the scenario didn’t load.””

  Eve indicated the monitor. “You have a call. I halted it.”

  Bethany Anne growled with frustration. “Can't it wait?”

  Eve shrugged. “It's Michael and Admiral Thomas.”

  Bethany Anne got out of the Vid-doc. “This had better be important.”

  Eve stood back to give Bethany Anne access to the console. “I would not have disturbed you for anything minor.”

  By the looks of her husband and the Admiral, it was not good news. Her first thought was that there had been another attack. “Did the Ooken come back?”

  Both men shook their heads.

  Bethany Anne frowned. “Is there a problem with the shipyard?”

  Michael leaned in and held up a hand to reassure her. “No, that's ahead of schedule.”

  Bethany Anne noted that Admiral Thomas winced ever so slightly. “Don't worry, I've got enough new ships,” she told him.

  He relaxed.

  “For now,” Bethany Anne finished. “We don't know how long this war will last, so you should be prepared to keep building a while.”

  Admiral Thomas nodded. “I wouldn't expect anything else.”

  Bethany Anne waited for a second, then waved her finger impatiently. “If everything is going well out there, tell me why
you are calling?”

  Michael's face grew dark. “We've received word from the scout ships through the drop system. They have located a second splinter world. Loralei sacrificed herself to give the rest of the fleet ships with her time to escape.”

  Bethany Anne absorbed the information, conversing with ADAM before responding. “That’s about right. She will have included her backup in the data. She’s an old hand at this by now, unfortunately. What other information did we receive in the drop?”

  “Coordinates,” Admiral Thomas replied. “Which is a massive improvement to this supersized game of battleships we've been playing so far. Our methods of poking around in the dark in hopes that we hit something have been less than efficient.”

  Bethany Anne ran through possible outcomes based on the information. Another splinter world meant there were likely even more out there. She made a judgment. “Recall the fleet,” she ordered. “Bring our defenses in while we prepare to take the fight to them. We will clear this scourge from the galaxy one planet at a time until we find out where they all came from and then… Then we will ensure they don’t pull any of this shit ever again.”

  Michael frowned in concern. “That’s the opposite of what you said earlier about avoiding genocide. What’s changed?”

  Bethany Anne pulled over a chair and sat down, leaning with her hands laced on the console while she sought the words. The men waited patiently for her to refine her thoughts.

  . She straightened a moment later. “What changed my mind was finding out that there are more of them.”

  Michael pushed for further clarification. “You weren’t happy about the outcome at the first colony.”

  Bethany Anne nodded her agreement. “I was feeling bad about razing the first colony to the ground, but my first thought when you told me there were more of them was, how many innocent people would die today because of them?”

  Admiral Thomas understood completely. “You want to get in the first blow.”

  Bethany Anne shook her head. “No. I want to get in the first, last, and only blow. This isn’t something I take lightly. I want to make sure this species can’t cause any more destruction.”

  Michael nodded resolutely. “This might take some time. Who knows how deeply embedded they are in this part of the galaxy?”

  Bethany Anne lifted her hands and shrugged. “Then settle in. This is the only lead we’ve had in what, five years? We’re going to dig them out. If the Kurtherians are the ones at the top, then happy days.”

  Admiral Thomas cut in. “What if they aren’t? Being run by Kurtherians, that is.”

  “They got that Kurtherian technology from somewhere,” she reasoned. “We find out where, and we move on until we discover what rock the slimy fuck-knuckles are hiding under.”

  The Admiral was confused again. “So we’re switching our focus to fighting the Ooken?”

  Bethany Anne nodded, sitting back in the chair as she got into planning mode. “Uh-huh. We’ll start with this second splinter world, but my goal is the homeworld. They’re going to answer for the crimes of their people, and we’re going to determine what their link to the Kurtherians is once and for all.”

  Admiral Thomas picked up a tablet from offscreen and began to type. “That’s going to mean changes to the production schedule, as well as issuing new orders fleetwide.”

  “Make sure everywhere that’s ours is covered,” Bethany Anne told him. “I had ADAM send copies of my instructions to Giselle and Qui’nan already.”

  The Admiral narrowed his eyes at her. “You do remember that I ran your empire’s Navy for a hell of a long time before either Giselle or Qui’nan were around to micromanage everything.”

  Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow. “You are going to include them in the planning?”

  Admiral Thomas grinned. “I was about to excuse myself to do just that. I know when I’m outclassed.”

  Bethany Anne smirked. “You’re so much more organized these days.”

  Admiral Thomas backed away with his hand on his chest. “You wound me, Bethany Anne.” He said his goodbyes, leaving her alone with Michael.

  Michael indicated the Vid-docs behind Bethany Anne. “You are anxious to be with the children. I won’t keep you.”

  Bethany Anne didn’t waste time arguing. “Yeah, I should get in there before a year passes and they forget my face.”

  Michael shook his head, chuckling. “The time dilation is slow at first. They have only been in there a few hours longer than we have experienced.”

  Bethany Anne looked at the Vid-docs. “Then I should get there just in time to tuck them in for the night.”

  “Take your time,” Michael assured her. “We can remain in communication, and I can handle everything out here for a few days.”

  Bethany Anne had never been so tempted by anything in her life. “I don’t know…”

  “Think of it as a well-earned vacation,” he coaxed.

  Bethany Anne snorted. “Vacation? What the hell is that?” She looked around as if she was seeing what was going on with High Tortuga, New Devon, and now the space stations. “I quit empressing, but I’m just as busy as ever.”

  Michael spread his hands wide. “All the more reason to let me handle things for a few days while you enjoy some time with Alexis and Gabriel. Hell, you could even take some time for yourself. It’s been a while since you had that movie night.”

  Bethany Anne grinned. “That was a good night. Maybe you’re speaking sense.”

  “There’s no maybe about it,” Michael assured her. “I’ll be home in a week or so. Once I’m satisfied Bart has this place in order, I’m going to Devon to source some materials through your father.”

  Bethany Anne made a face. “I was saving that for when we prepare to leave High Tortuga. I don’t want anyone knowing the location of the planet we’re raising our children on.”

  Michael shook a finger at her. “They won’t know anything. Deliveries will be made to a dead drop, then brought to High Tortuga through the interdiction. That’s enough caution to ensure we retain our privacy.”

  Bethany Anne still would prefer if nobody got anywhere near any of her bolt holes. “What about the asteroid mines? Are they producing enough to make what we need?”

  “They’re producing enough raw materials, but in terms of cost and time, it makes more sense to trade ores and such for finished components.”

  Bethany Anne could get behind keeping a lid on costs when it was warranted. “Makes sense. Give the older kids my love when you get to Devon.”

  Michael nodded. “Of course. And you give mine to Gabriel and Alexis and tell them I’ll be with you all soon.”

  They weren’t a couple who did long and painful goodbyes. A quick exchange of love-yous and take-cares and Bethany Anne was free to spend some time with her children.

  At last.

  There was a knock at the door just as she was about to pull the lid of the Vid-doc closed for the second time. Whoever was there should count themselves lucky that Bethany Anne had nothing on hand to throw.

  She would have to deal with whatever they wanted instead.

  “Who is it?” she ground out between clenched teeth.

  “It is Addix,” came the reply from the other side of the door. “I came as soon as I heard about Alexis and Gabriel. May I come in?”

  Bethany Anne sighed in resignation and sat up again. “Yes.”

  Addix entered the Vid-doc suite and headed straight for the console to read through the data. “What happened to the children?”

  Bethany Anne bit back a sob when the lump reappeared in her throat. “They’re really sick, Addix. Alexis managed to hack into the Etheric, but since she had no training to control it, she and Gabriel got hurt. Now their nanocytes are out of control and the only safe option is we age them.”

  Addix’s mandibles rippled with sadness. “Just tell me how I can help.”

  “You can continue to love my children as much as you do,” Bethany Anne told her. “You too, Eve.
I need you to make some changes to the game.”

  Eve was about to protest, but Bethany Anne held up a finger. “We can talk about it when you’re ready. Right now my focus is on Alexis and Gabriel. It doesn’t matter how resilient they are, coming out of the game is going to be difficult for them.”

  “In what way?” Addix inquired.

  Bethany Anne gave them a quick rundown. “The human brain is designed to seek reward. The game provides that reward in the form of achievable goals. I want all of that removed for the base scenario because real life doesn't work like that. The aim here is to provide them with something as close to our home environment as possible for the duration of their time in there.”

  Addix looked disappointed. “Does this mean their training is on hold?”

  Bethany Anne shook her head. “By all means, carry on the way you are. They’re obviously flourishing under your tuition, or we wouldn’t be in this situation. However,” she added sternly, “they are not to be left to run wild within the game construct. You have my permission to overrule Tabitha if she oversteps, at your discretion.”

  “Do you think she will disregard your rules?” Addix asked.

  “Are you serious?” Eve snorted. “This is Tabitha we’re talking about. She lives for rule-breaking.”

  Addix shook her head. “I believe you might be proven wrong there. Impending motherhood often brings with it a time of reflection.”

  Bethany Anne had the final word. “Tabitha is more sensitive than anyone gives her credit for. She is, however, extremely likely to permit my children to play a scenario where the object is to paraglide over an active volcano or some other life-threatening activity equally unlikely to be useful educationally.”

  Eve snickered as Bethany Anne pulled the Vid-doc lid closed over her.

  Immersive Recreation and Training Scenario: High Tortuga, Space Fleet Base, Bethany Anne's Personal Residence (three weeks in game time later)

  The twins were all tucked in and Bethany Anne and Michael were making a quick round of the living quarters, with the intention of sitting outside in the night air.