Forever Defend (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 17) Read online

  Then again, he had his own troubles, he wasn’t sure who the hell they had aboard. Since they were attacking an Etheric Empire ship, he guessed it was that damned Ranger group.

  Wig swallowed.

  “Captain?” He turned, catching the Captain’s attention between orders. “I think we have Ranger Two on board.”

  Wig had to give Captain Brell the credit he deserved. The captain just nodded his head and calmly continued issuing orders.

  As if the Skaine equivalent to a boogeyman weren’t on their ship at this very moment.

  City of Bouk, Planet Straiphus, Straiphus System

  Christina watched the Yollin realize who her parents were. She had wondered what he would do and had placed a small wager with ADAM—which she had now lost.

  Looking resigned wasn’t one of her choices. She surreptitiously removed her hand from the region of her hidden weapon and placed it on the bar.

  Etheric Empire Ship ArchAngel II

  Barnabas looked at the message and he pressed his lips together, then leaned back in his chair and considered his options.

  The only sound in his office was his fingers tapping. It wasn’t a coincidence he was here when Tabitha’s team was working this operation. He had four offices in total. Two on the Meredith Reynolds, one here, and one on a new ship that hadn’t been commissioned.

  Yet.

  “That woman…” he mouthed as he continued tapping. He leaned over and punched a button. “ArchAngel, I need to speak with the Empress, and I believe you need to be in on this conversation.”

  Within moments, Bethany Anne dropped into the conversation. “What’s up, B?”

  Barnabas grimaced. He wasn’t sure if he was pleased or annoyed. He decided to opt for pleased, reserving the option to switch to annoyed. “My Empress—” he started.

  “Uh Oh,” Bethany Anne murmured, then her voice came back in a monotone. “This is Empress Bethany Anne. I’m out at the moment dealing with some annoying Ixtalis. Please—”

  Barnabas ignored her and cut in, “I need to request that ArchAngel II take me to an obscure sector near Gorn Station 2215.”

  “For?” she replied immediately.

  “Seems Tabitha is a little stuck,” Barnabas temporized.

  “Barnabas, you always allow her to get her shit unstuck. She has a good team, if you’re asking to go, then this isn’t a small situation. Level with me.”

  Barnabas paused just a moment. “The Skaine have sandbagged us somehow, and have a battleship heading toward a Ranger effort in an unaligned area of space. Their people are attacking the Yollin ship K’leen II.”

  “Stop right there!” Bethany Anne’s voice dropped an octave. “To be clear, I don’t give a shit where one of our ships is. If someone attacks them, they better understand they’ll get an unannounced visit from my people.”

  ArchAngel spoke up. “So I can go?”

  “No, I didn’t say that, exactly,” Bethany Anne told the two of them.

  “This is what I want to happen…”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Yollin System

  Ixtali Legate Addix was actually Senior Principal Trade Legate Addix. But, for some reason, the High Council had decided to send her with a more humble title.

  As if that would make everything all right between her people and the Etheric Empire.

  For what felt like forever, the Ixtalis had been able to use the same playbook with all races it had encountered, and it had worked out well. Until the Etheric Empire.

  The first group they sent had, in her opinion, done an admirable job. They had to deal with what was an unimaginable challenge at the time. A new group of aliens, who not only didn’t need their services but had their own. The response to their mission? The Etheric Empress had tossed their first Legate out on her ass, dared them to challenge her, and for a finale, had blown up a Yollin super-dreadnought to prove her point.

  Hiring a mercenary force had proved to be too damned expensive after that little episode. Even their clips of the beam that had destroyed the fleet were not that valuable. Too many other ships had been nearby and provided excellent coverage, so their vids were, at best, of slightly higher quality.

  But not by much.

  Their second effort had been beyond a catastrophe. They’d sent in that pompous hothead X’tellek, and he hadn’t even made it inside their base before they threatened to blast his useless ass out of space. That episode required her people to convene the High Council to vote on attacking the Etheric Empire.

  The Council had fifteen heads. Twelve had voted to leave the Etheric Empire alone, and three to attack at once.

  Then there had been twelve votes to toss the three dissenters out on their asses. So, in order to preserve an odd number of votes on the High Council, Addix had been selected to join as “most likely to keep her wits about her.” She had immediately been loaded onto a ship and gated over to speak with the human Empress.

  Who was looking particularly pissed at the moment. Legate Addix leaned over to X’Bock on her left and whispered, “When was the last time her face glowed red in public like this?”

  Without missing a beat, X’Bock replied in a soft voice, “Well over three years ago, in this room at least. We have rumors of two other occasions involving Yollins that our bugs picked up. However, those were not verified.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because,” X’Bock turned to look at her, “we can’t seem to locate suitable leverage to induce the Yollins to speak about the subject.” His voice fell flat. “Apparently they love her too much.” He sniffed in irritation.

  Addix looked at the Empress as her face dimmed. “X’Bock.”

  He continued staring at her. “Yes, Legate?”

  Addix, her voice displeased, continued, “Do not make one more derogatory comment about the Empress. Or, I will personally … ”

  Bethany Anne was mouthing words, but nothing was coming out of her mouth. Instead, she was listening to the Ixtalis’ conversation; the Legate was ripping the male next to her a new asshole.

  “…I will personally eject you into space if she tosses us out of here because you said something impolite.”

  Bethany Anne barely kept her face composed. She wanted to snort, but wasn’t sure if Ixtalis could understand human expressions, both facial and auditory, well enough.

  Well, except for her glowing red face denoting anger. That was kind of a gimme, she mused.

  “Allow the Ixtali Legate,” she turned to look at John, “and ONLY the Legate, to approach please.” John nodded and spoke into the microphone on his collar. They had agreed to keep the communication capabilities inside their heads secret when in public.

  So far, the fact that all of Bethany Anne’s personal people were wired was still a secret. At least, they hoped so.

  A moment later, two Etheric Empire Guardians, both of whom towered over the Ixtalis, walked up to the Legate. One of them directed her toward the massive dark red carpet that radiated some twenty-five feet out from Bethany Anne’s throne. If you set foot on that carpet without permission, your life became incredibly painful in less time than it took to move three steps.

  Not only were the Empress’ Guardians on the outside and the Queen’s Bitches on the inside, but military EI Reynolds continuously watched and had multiple types of weapons inside the throne room to take out attackers.

  Surreptitiously placed, of course.

  Addix nodded. Bethany Anne could hear her four feet clicking on the rock floor as she approached the carpet. While Bethany Anne had never personally seen an Ixtali without the robes they wore, she understood they had four legs, rather like a cross between spider legs and crab legs, underneath those robes.

  That visual rather grossed her out.

  —

  Legate Addix nodded her understanding to the Queen’s Guardians that she would approach alone. X’Bock had taken a breath to make some comment that would have caused her to have to kill his useless ass right here in front
of everyone.

  And the humans would know that she had killed him. When the first trade mission had come back, their people had obviously been very upset about the kill switches that had been installed in each of them. Those damned humans had been a pain in their ass since the beginning.

  Then the humans did something that confused the High Council even more.

  They told no one.

  As far as the Ixtalis could figure, the humans hadn’t announced it to any of their people, or any other alien group. That had allowed the High Council to be lenient with the three and broker a deal with the trade mission which wouldn’t include immediate implementation of the suicide solution.

  The three would be pulled from legation duties and their kill switches deactivated. Should it ever come out that any of the three had spoken about it, they would be hunted down and killed for divulging state secrets.

  Now Addix was walking into the den of the monster. She hoped she would make it out alive.

  —

  Tell me we have a fix for their kill switches. Bethany Anne spoke to the two platonic friends she slept with every night.

  >> We do. Why? <<<br />
  You believe someone here is setting her up?

  What do you think? Bethany Anne asked, watching the Legate approach and start across the carpet. Sure enough, Bethany Anne could tell when the revelation hit the Legate. She noticed how the Ixtali’s eyes seem to dart every which way.

  The cone of silence, as the guys liked to call it, always screwed with those who approached her.

  >> Command?<<<br />
  If you can, shut the kill command down and knock her out if someone pushes her button. It would be all I needed to have the most recent Ixtali Legate killed right in front of me. Stupid fuckers.

  >> I understand. <<<br />
  John?

  Yes.

  Make sure if the Legate falls, we capture whoever tries to kill her.

  Not you?

  I’m wearing some of Jean’s finest. No one is fucking with me today.

  What makes you so sure? John asked, risking a quick glance at his friend.

  Because I look too damned good to blow up today. Bethany Anne moved in her seat, and John had to give props to Jean.

  She made the best armor.

  —

  As Addix stepped onto the red carpet, two sensations hit her at once. The first was expected. The carpet was luxurious; she felt like she was walking on the soft land of her birth planet. The second was unexpected.

  She could hear nothing except for those inside the throne area.

  Addix wanted desperately to stop and look around, and possibly stick her head back outside the noise attenuation field. She’d really like to see how this group had implemented the field. While the capability to reduce sound wasn’t unknown, these aliens had taken it to a new level.

  The Ixtalis should know. They had been able to insert two spies with minor equipment, stuff that wouldn’t get them in trouble if discovered, and they had not been able to overhear any audience with the Empress unless she spoke to everyone in the whole room.

  The Council had presumed it was a sound barrier, of course. However, perhaps not one so effective as what she was experiencing. Then again, these humans had annoyed them too many times to worry about it at the moment.

  —

  A tall blue male delegate watched the Ixtali Legate, face impassive. Keeping his thoughts to himself, Cannock looked around the large room, considered his current conversation, and decided to toss it.

  This Empress was beautiful. Estarians, by and large, were only attracted to their own kind. Other aliens rarely captured their attention.

  Cannock had to admit, however, this one had something that wasn’t physical. He lifted his arm and rested his chin on his hand, narrowing his eyes.

  What was it about her that was intriguing him?

  __

  “Hello, Legate Addix.” Bethany Anne nodded to the Ixtali. She appeared relaxed, arms on the throne’s armrests, legs crossed. “I don’t hold much to protocol, so let’s figure out what the hell has brought your people back to talk. And this time, try to avoid shoving your importance down our throats?”

  Legate Addix bowed slightly in Bethany Anne’s direction. She had stopped where the carpet ended and the stone dais with its twelve steps began. It seemed prudent not to get closer to the two men staring at her from the Empress’ sides.

  The Legate lifted her arms as she tried to explain. “I cannot apologize for we Ixtalis being ourselves,” she admitted. She was working hard to speak the Yollin language properly, as the human tongue had been too difficult to learn. “However, there are times when the Universe finds an imbalance, and it will act to rectify the issue, one way or another.”

  Bethany Anne pursed her lips. “Are you suggesting that the Ixtalis’ ongoing hubris has run unchecked for too long? Because if you are, I’m going to find this to be an interesting conversation. Maybe more interesting than I had originally thought.”

  Addix rocked her hands in the fashion Ixtali intelligence had determined was a human gesture for indicating a qualified false and true at the same time.

  “Our efforts are intended to protect the Ixtalis as a people, which, from what I understand, is not something that would upset your…ethics,” Addix admitted. “However, there are those in positions of power who believe that domination over others is the path we should take. At this time, we have a group that wishes to continue striving to increase the feeling of self-importance within our own peoples in order to become more confrontational with others.”

  “We call that heightened nationalism,” Bethany Anne replied. “Sometimes it is very useful, but when it runs amok, it can cause many problems.” Bethany Anne stood up and casually paced down the stairs. Addix looked to the left and right, then slowly backed up as the Empress came closer.

  Bethany Anne stopped two steps from the bottom and cocked her head. “Why move back, Legate?”

  Addix stopped and her four major mandibles closed. Her top and bottom minor mandibles were indicating agitation. She pressed her hands against her teal and gold robes. “Empress, you must know you are a puzzle to my people. You speak, and have previously spoken, very aggressively. Your people do not seem very interested in negotiation at times. You, yourself, upon rare occasions, display glowing embers for eyes,” Addix waved her odd hands across her face, “and fiery lines of power radiate across your face.”

  John snorted from behind Bethany Ann. “Rare?”

  Bethany Anne looked up, then up further, since John was not only taller than her but had stopped two steps above her. “Et tu, Mr. Grimes?”

  “What?” John answered, “Just because it isn’t in public…”

  Addix filed the language away for future clarification. One of the tools inside each intelligence asset unit was a memory of what was seen and heard. She would clarify their communication later.

  Bethany Anne turned back to the Legate and returned to speaking Yollin. “Well, that makes it easy to know when I am upset, right?”

  Addix agreed by separating her major mandibles, then touching the top two together. The Empress seemed perplexed for just a moment, then realization dawned on her face. “So, since I am not radiating anger at the moment,” Bethany Anne continued, “perhaps you don’t need to step back?”

  Legate Addix touched her two top mandibles together once again. This time, there was no hesitation in the Empress’ understanding of her mannerism.

  —

  Cannock heard a phrase he was not expecting, and in his own tongue.

  “Greetings of the day to you, Senior Delegate Cannock.”

  Cannock turned and looked down. Staring up at him was a human female, and she was causing a similar feeling to Bethany Anne’s. He was starting to worry.

  Who were these humans that they were causing him strange feelings?

  “My name is Gabrielle, and I’ve been asked to speak with you separately. If you would be so kind as to come with me?” />
  Cannock turned to look at the Empress as the lady spoke again. “Delegate Cannock, I promise you a meeting with the Empress, but we can get some of what you wish to accomplish done before our final meeting, which will be held in private.

  Cannock was surprised when the Empress put a hand up to halt the Ixtali, then looked him in the eyes and nodded before returning to the conversation.

  Seemed like he would be going with this new human. Cannock nodded to the under-minister, who turned to follow them out of the throne room.

  —

  X’bock watched with some humor as the Senior Legate stepped back when the alien stood and started down the stairs to approach her.

  While he couldn’t hear anything, Addix’s retreat proved she wasn’t worthy of the Council seat she held.

  That was especially true since three of his own had been ejected from the Council for their forward thinking and unwillingness to bow before aliens such as these.

  Three patriots for the Ixtali people had been stripped of their honor, when in fact they had been the only ones thinking of what would be best for their people.

  Their own future.

  Their own accomplishments.

  The humans had slowed the Ixtalis’ rise significantly. Too many other races were now asking why the humans didn’t need to trade with the Ixtalis for their gems or for the Ixtalis’ information. In short, if the humans didn’t need a relationship with the Ixtalis…

  Maybe they didn’t either.

  It was time to regain their former respect and power, and X’bock had been provided the key to start the effort.

  He was just waiting for the perfect moment.

  Commercial Transport K’leen II

  Captain M’rin watched as the pirates boarded his ship. He was relieved when he saw the fragmented images of the Ranger Two’s men racing through his ship.

  By the time the pirates approached the bridge, the pair of Yollin guards had been removed and in their places stood a single human.

  Captain M’rin could tell that this human was the one named Hirotoshi, the leader of what the Ranger had called the Tontos.