Under My Heel Read online

  Frank asked, “How is Ben doing?”

  The men made it to the meeting room, rapped on the door and stepped in. They were the first to arrive. They both took a seat. “Pretty well. It isn’t like he didn’t have a clue before. He had tried to track down more information so it was pretty fortuitous that he didn’t find out too much before he came on board.”

  Frank made himself comfortable and setup his laptop. “Huh, he must be pretty good because he didn’t trigger any of my alarms.”

  “He is good. I’ll give him that credit. He isn’t that smart in the relationship area. He did try a date with Bethany Anne but he admitted that he could hardly keep up a conversation with her. When he saw her again something in his croc-brain went ape-shit, and it took all of his focus not to run, he said. I’ve talked to Bethany Anne and she said he just seemed zoned out.”

  “I’m surprised she didn’t listen to his heart rate, that should have told her what was going on.”

  Nathan shrugged, “I talked with John. He thinks she was trying to have a ‘normal’ time that night. Leave all of the specialness behind and just be a woman for an hour or two.”

  “So, she tries to be a ‘normal Nellie’ and she gets William the wax paper cut-out for a date? Figures.”

  Frank had everything back up on his laptop, so he started trying to find out more about the Turkish flare up. “You would think if she wanted a date, that Stephen or Michael would be good…”

  “Watch your mouth!” Nathan exclaimed.

  Frank looked up, astonished to hear Nathan’s bold retort. “What? I know that Stephen is her vassal or something…” Nathan stuck a hand up.

  “Not my worry there. I’m more concerned about something between Bethany Anne and Michael.”

  “Why?”

  Nathan leaned towards Frank. “Because right now, the only person in the world who keeps Michael in check is Bethany Anne.”

  “Yeah, so? She would keep him in check regardless.”

  “Who keeps Bethany Anne in check?”

  “Well, I suppose …” Frank got quiet. “None of us really keep her in check, do we? It isn’t like she has done anything that we actively oppose.”

  Nathan shook his head. “Not really what I was trying to say. Maybe this is just my decades of experience freaking out, but having two of the strongest vampires in existence as a couple seems like a monumentally bad idea.”

  “I don’t think you are giving either one enough credit.”

  Nathan put his hands to his face, “Yeah. That’s the same thing that Ecaterina tells me. I do try and realize that the Michael I met a few weeks ago isn’t the same guy I had to work with P.B.A.”

  Frank searched his mental archives and drew a blank, “P.B.A.?”

  “Pre Bethany Anne. When I first met her, I thought she was either ignorant of Michael or psychotic when she would talk about slapping his head off or any of the dozens of other things she was going to do when she finally saw him again. Now, I’m not sure that she isn’t the more powerful of the two and if she went bonkers, there isn’t anything anyone can do. So, can you imagine if she is in a relationship with Michael and he pissed her off? Even the best of us can say something to upset our better-half.”

  “Spoken like a man who has recently encountered this situation.”

  Nathan opened his mouth, then shut it without saying a word. He had to admit that he was starting to sound like an alarmist. Maybe Ecaterina was right and his vampire racism was rearing its ugly head.

  Frank tried to see it from Nathan’s point of view for a second. He then tried, to get Nathan to see it from another angle, “If not Michael or Stephen, then who? Are you saying that she is better off alone? Do you trust a human not on our team?”

  “Hell no.”

  “How about a Were that isn’t in our group?”

  “Hell, I don’t trust a Were that is IN our group. Maybe Pete, but I think that he is too young for her.”

  “Ok, out of the humans in our group, did you have one in mind? If she ‘gets pissed off’ at a human, are you ready for what would happen if she forgets, even for a micro-second, and hits them harder than she should?”

  He shook his head.

  “Not even John?”

  Nathan shrugged, “Talked to him already. He said he would die for her, just didn’t want to die in bed because of her.”

  “So, no humans, no Weres… that leaves vampires. Stephen is out because I know he doesn’t think that he is the appropriate relationship for his Queen, to be in.” Frank let his words drift off.

  Nathan sighed, “Are you being nice and pointing out that I am being an ass?”

  “Are you?”

  Their conversation was interrupted when Dan knocked on the door and joined them at the table.

  Frank typed a couple of quick sentences into a secured notebook he had open for instances just like this. Little reminders for scenes in his book.

  Dan got the meeting started, “Gentleman, we have a new war footing designation it seems. Bethany Anne has officially, somehow, created a ‘release the dogs of war’ designation. So, I’m asking you too to find me where the terrorists, that we need to visit, are.” He looked up with a sardonic smile on his face. “I can’t just release the dogs anywhere, can I?”

  After their meeting, Nathan went to go talk with Ben while Frank told Dan about the unfolding situation in Turkey.

  Key Biscayne, Fl - USA

  TOM, we need to get you hooked up. We are going to need those new attack ships sooner, not later.

  I’ve been testing the computer connectivity through the etheric to my ship. My ship easily has all of the capabilities to use the connections to the Internet from the Ad Aeternitatem or the Polarus. It can even grab connections whenever there is a jet or cell phone tower within range. Not that there is a cell phone tower within range right now.

  Yeah, I guess no one can call you in the middle of the Atlantic.

  I think they are in the Mediterranean right now.

  Wherever. Can you get on the Internet?

  Yes.

  Wait, how is it that you can connect to our Internet, but we aren’t supposed to be able to connect to your computers?

  Because I’ve been studying your communications for many decades and the ship’s capabilities are significantly ahead of what this world has right now. It is pretty laughable.

  Yeah, well just because it hasn’t happened don’t be stupid. Humans are known to be good at figuring shit out.

  TOM considered how easily Bethany Anne had started working with the Etheric and took her advice to heart. I’ll put in place some measures to … uh… defend against intruders.

  I think Nathan calls them firewalls.

  But fire doesn’t exist in digital signals.

  Tell that to a guy when his wife finds out he has a girlfriend.

  TOM chalked this up to something he wasn’t going to get across to Bethany Anne. He made a mental note to call his defensive efforts ‘firewalls’ and dropped it.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The Queen Bitch’s Ship Ad Aeternitatem in the Mediterranean

  Bobcat stepped through the door into the ‘garage’ and noticed Marcus unwrapping a box. “What’cha got?”

  Marcus looked up as he tore off a flap. “Laptop that I can use to talk to TOM.”

  Bobcat stopped a few feet away from the table. The complete lack of care Marcus was displaying while he ripped open the box told Bobcat one thing. This laptop couldn’t be returned. Hopefully it would work and they wouldn’t be stuck with it. Fortunately, when Marcus got into the main part of the wrapping he slowed down and they didn’t have to pick up foam pieces. Bobcat heard the door open behind him so he looked over his shoulder and nodded to William. He turned back around to see Marcus plugging the laptop into an outlet. “Do you have any idea how to reach out to him?”

  Marcus looked back up confused for a second as he parsed Bobcat’s question. “To TOM?”

  William sidled up next to Bobcat, “
What’s going on?”

  Bobcat nodded at their team member, “Rocket scientist is about to wet his pants in anticipation of talking with Bethany Anne’s alien friend. But, he didn’t think about getting a phone number.”

  “Reminds me of a girl one time…”

  “Stop!” Bobcat looked up at his old-friend. “This is a girlfriend free discussion zone. Shelly took all of my cash before I met Bethany Anne and I’ve been going non-stop since then. Now, I have the cash and not the time.” He turned to face Marcus who was watching the two men talk. “Of course, if I had the time, considering where we are. It’s not like there are a lot of bars, to go and try to meet someone, in the middle of the ocean.”

  Marcus got a glint in his eyes, “Men, these craft we are building will allow us to get to the nicest and hottest cities in the world in the space of time it takes to drive from Miami to Orlando. You could meet girls in Rome on Friday night, Oslo on Saturday and Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. There won’t be a beach you can’t hit and still be back in time for the next shift. But first, I need to talk with an alien. Do you have any ideas?”

  “Why the hell didn’t you say that before?” Bobcat and William came up beside Marcus and started figuring out what was on the laptop to see if there were any clues to what needed to be done.

  There was a knock on the door. Bobcat looked up from the laptop, “Who is it?”

  “Nathan.”

  “Come on in.” He returned to looking at the laptop screen.

  “What’s going on?”

  Bobcat almost jumped out of his pants, “Damn Nathan! Don’t sneak up on a guy like that.” He returned his focus to the laptop.

  Nathan was confused. First, he hadn’t snuck up on anyone. Second, all of the guys were staring at a normal laptop screen. “What are you searching for?”

  Marcus grumped, “The way to talk with TOM.”

  Nathan considered letting them search around the vanilla Windows install for a while. He then considered what Bethany Anne might do, to him, if she needed them online sooner rather than later. “Guys, it isn’t on the laptop yet. I’ve got the chat program with me.”

  Nathan took a step back when all three men turned as one and started eyeing him like he was the Thanksgiving turkey.

  Marcus’ voice was quiet, yet oozed impatience. “I need that program, young man.” He was acting like a druggie.

  Nathan reached into his pocket and pulled out a USB drive, “Got it right here. Give me some room…” All three men jumped back, Marcus holding the chair for him. Marcus was impatiently pointing from Nathan to the chair.

  “Get with it, man! I’m not getting any younger.”

  Nathan noticed Bobcat, behind Marcus, mouthing ‘aliens’.

  Ok, Nathan could understand Marcus being impatient because he wanted to speak with TOM. What about these other two clowns? Nathan sat down and plugged the USB drive into the laptop. With a couple of simple commands, he started the installation process. He needed to load a set of usernames and passwords, all with the appropriate credentials. “So, what has you and William so anxious Bobcat?”

  William grunted, “Women.”

  “Bars”, added Bobcat.

  Nathan turned to look over his shoulder, “What? The chat program is locked into a unique communication protocol. You aren’t going to find women on this laptop.”

  Bobcat barked a laugh, “Although funny, what he meant is that, once we have these ships running, Marcus tells us we can hit any of the hottest beaches in the world for dates, within three hours.”

  Nathan turned back around, “So, saving the world from alien invaders isn’t enough? But, getting to a beach in Brazil to pick up a super-hottie in three hours is enough to get your drive up… err … peak performance… No, that isn’t right…”

  “Hell-to-the-yes.” That was William, ever to the point.

  Marcus took up the conversation. “I wanted help. I figured that I needed to find a motivational force. Something that would provide an ever present, and useful, encouragement for younger men. Something that would bring about a renewed vigor for completing the task more quickly.”

  Nathan pulled the USB drive, out of the laptop. “Well, that’s it for the laptop. Let’s not let this laptop outside of this room and for sure not off this boat. Not that it probably matters, it isn’t like there is any proprietary data on this laptop.” He stood up. “Don’t put any other programs on here. If something happens, just turn off the laptop. If that happens, you will then require a new password which I will have to give you. So, if you disconnect it from the wall and it runs out of juice you will need to find me, understood?”

  The men all agreed they understood, so Nathan said his goodbye’s and left them. Before he had met Ecaterina, Nathan had been chased by enough women that he considered dating a chore. Since he had met Ecaterina he had no desire to be chasing women. So, he logically understood Bobcat’s and William’s interest, but that was all.

  Speaking of Ecaterina, he had an hour to spare before his meeting with Ben. He headed off, whistling, to hitch a ride back to the Polarus.

  Back in the garage, Marcus was sitting in the chair in front of the laptop. He had the chat window open, staring at it.

  Behind him, Bobcat looked over at William who shrugged his shoulders. Bobcat looked down at the scientist, “What’s the problem, doc?”

  “What do I say?”

  William piped in, “You’re not dating him, say hello and let’s get this rocket stuff moving.”

  Marcus typed into the laptop’s chat window

  >Hello?

  The chat window was immediately filled with a response.

  >>Hello, this is TOM. Who am I addressing?

  >This is Dr. Marcus Cambridge.

  >>Hello, Dr. Cambridge. Or would you prefer ‘Marcus’?

  >Marcus is fine, thank you.

  >>No need to be so polite, Marcus.

  >I’m sorry, it has just been a passion of mine to meet an alien and now I’m actually communicating with one.

  Marcus jerked around and looked up at both men. Both looked down, confused. He spoke to them, “You guys aren’t ‘punking’ me, are you?”

  “No. Although that would be funny as hell.” Bobcat replied while William chuckled.

  Mollified, Marcus turned back to the chat window which had a response waiting for him.

  >>Marcus, not to put this to bluntly, but you’re not my first. My first human contact was over a thousand years ago. So, I’m not a virgin.

  Bobcat burst out laughing, behind him, while William chuckled.

  Marcus smiled. He recognized an effort to put him at ease. Shrugging his shoulders, he wrapped his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. “Let’s get to work, gentleman. We have some serious hot rods to build!”