Payback Is A Bitch (The Kurtherian Endgame Book 1) Read online

  Eve, however, had worked for a long time with two Japanese partners. The level of snark and argumentation she displayed was directly related to the respect she had for the person she was speaking with. Since her imprint had come from ADAM, Bethany Anne was the highest in her hierarchy even this many years later.

  "I contacted Addix and supplied my research to date. She confirmed that she was familiar with a few of the individuals from another project, but the trail left the planet.”

  Bethany Anne sat back in her chair, tapping a finger to her lips as she considered the implications. "Off-planet, off-planet. It seems we have interrupted someone's party here on High Tortuga. While we need to track down the source, based on a recent conversation with Addix I suspect we will find a dead cutout."

  Bethany Anne ran through all the scenarios. Anyone who was doing this much to upset her effort to settle the planet down would desire to keep her infrastructure in place as much as possible. Obviously someone had already spoken as to the base's location.

  They had not seen another attack yet, but it would most likely be forthcoming. So far there had been the attack on the base and the attack on the banking system, and now the war for the minds of the citizens was coming at them. The banking problem had been neutralized, but that hadn’t helped them find who was attacking yet.

  The PR effort was a bit more insidious.

  She would have to be more proactive than normal to get ahead of the challenge related to the PR. She sighed. “Okay, I need to ask a few questions around. Please keep up your…” Bethany Anne’s right eyebrow shot up. “Have you been replying?”

  Eve shifted in her seat. “Well, if you mean the editorials, certainly. They offer the opportunity to have a lively conversation.”

  And you are bored? Bethany Anne wondered. "Using the same ID or different ones?”

  Eve answered, “So far I have only gone through three false identities in larger metropolitan areas. In the small towns I have to leave my responses using a generic 'concerned citizen' byline, because everybody knows everyone else in the town.”

  Bethany Anne frowned. “Wouldn't they have to do the same thing? Or did they get a local to push their agenda?"

  "For those they use a political action committee equivalent here on the planet. I have tracked the responses and the money, and once again it was funded by an off-world entity.”

  “So we are going to have to find out who I pissed off and for what reason, and deliver a beat-down.”

  Eve asked, “Not a conversation?”

  Bethany Anne huffed. “No damned way. They sent missiles, I’ll reply with superdreadnoughts. One of us is going down as a historical footnote, and I don’t suspect it will be us.”

  High Tortuga, H’onu (Main City) Business District

  “Are you all INSANE?” Lerr’ek pounded his Zhyn fist on the table, making the seventeen members of the High Tortuga Board of Banks jump in their seats. “I have it on good authority your infrastructure is about to be destroyed.” He pointed to the room’s double doors, which were closed for this meeting. “Every depositor out there is going to lose money, and you wish to know why I’ve come to you? Did you not receive the proof?”

  Addix was sitting in the background, typing away on a tablet and recording the proceedings.

  Everyone knew she was Ixtali, but most out here on fringe worlds were refreshingly ho-hum on the labels against species prevalent on the inner, more civilized worlds.

  Even if they would have been right about Ixtalis being spies.

  Here a Torcellan would be considered a possible murderer and a Shrillexian a mild monk.

  If that was what they acted like.

  So the fact she acted like the secretary to a Zhyn businessman provided her the cover of a secretary instead of her having to worry who realized she was Baba Yaga’s spymaster.

  Lerr’ek was the best choice for this role, and she had to give it to him. He was playing it to the hilt.

  “Yes, of course we received the proof,” Beeg, the bank president, replied. He looked a bit like a collection of android parts. He was in fact an advanced EI—or perhaps AI—who had cobbled together a collection of parts to automate himself.

  Here on High Tortuga you were what you did, not what you looked like.

  “But what we haven’t discerned is how you knew it was there. That presumes you were illegally inside our systems, and why would you be inside our systems illegally except to do harm? Why would we not believe you did this to gain advantages?”

  Lerr’ek ground his teeth in frustration. He had been at this for almost half the morning. The first part had been easy: give them the proof and allow them to have their people confirm the problem.

  Now that they knew the truth, they wanted to place the blame on someone besides their ineffective leadership. Which would be all fine and good if Lerr’ek had been the one to perpetrate the attack.

  Which, had he known of the security hole before Baba Yaga’s intervention in his activities, he absolutely would have.

  He sighed, looking around the table at the sixteen faces and one set of eyestalks looking back at him. He shook his head. “I’ve tried to make you see what is going on, and instead of accepting the responsibility for your actions you are trying to push it off on others.”

  “Now, I don’t…” Beeg started, but Lerr’ek put up a hand, continuing to speak in his soft manner. “You idiots have pushed me past my ability to be patient.” He pulled a device from a pocket; black, with a button on the side. He leaned forward and set it on the table.

  Those at the table leaned toward the device to get a good look. “That,” Lerr’ek pointed at the device, “is a direct connection to the one who is cleaning house now. None of you own your banks; you are just the leads. The one on the other side of that hologram communication device owns your banks. When I push that button, that person will appear and your jobs will be forfeit.”

  Lerr’ek smiled as everyone broke into hysterics. Beeg waved his arms. “Settle down!” He picked up the device to look at it.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got more,” the Zhyn promised. “Breaking it won’t stop anything.”

  Beeg made a motion the Zhyn didn’t recognize. “I’m not going to be so base,” he replied. “I’m wondering if I can save these members the decision and communicate with this person myself?” He looked at Lerr’ek. “It is a person?”

  “Oh, could be,” Lerr’ek agreed. “I’ve no idea who you will reach, however.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you…” Lerr’ek put his thumb against the puck Beeg was holding, “are special.”

  Those around the table were shocked when the EI’s head froze. Beeg leaned forward and his head slammed against the table, its various lights dimmed.

  “What just happened?" Gurk, the Torcellan sitting third down on Lerr’ek’s left demanded. The person next to Beeg shoved its heavy body but received no response.

  “I would say,” Lerr’ek sat down in his chair, “he is having a religious experience."

  “How does a computer have a religious experience?" Gurk wondered aloud.

  —

  >>Hello, Beeg.<< The voice resonated inside of his computer’s main processing area.

  Who is this? And how did you get inside my mind? Are you a virus? Beeg replied.

  >>No, I am merely a superior computational entity. I am the one who ascertained that the banking system was under attack.<<<br />
  Beeg couldn’t move or direct his body; his link had been severed. Why can I not communicate with those outside?

  >>Your data throughput is insufficient. I want your full and total focus to be on our conversation. We do not wish to go to the next level.<<<br />
  Why, what is the next level?

  >>Baba Yaga arrives. For most of those at the table, it would be a life-altering event. Therefore, my intent with this communication is to allow you to take the decision from them.<<<br />
  Would she end their lives?

  >>No, she would just
require them to step down. Baba Yaga owns more than half of all the banks these people represent.<<<br />
  Beeg checked his internal data. There are no entities which own more than fifty percent of any of the banks.

  >>No, but since she owns the entities behind a substantive number of small shareholders, in aggregate she owns more than enough to force a change at the top. At times, citizens can become a bit violent when introduced to changes in their lifestyles. I can tell you it would end very badly. Baba Yaga accepts no physical altercation without replying in kind.<<<br />
  At this point, ADAM sent Beeg a data stream of security issues that had occurred in and around High Tortuga in the last couple of months. Many of them had ended in corporal punishment.

  What did you just do? Beeg asked.

  >>While you were watching the videos, I bypassed your security and updated certain aspects of your core programming. You will be unable to share certain data. You will have access, but you will not be able to pass this information to others. Should you try to circumvent my programming it will notify me.<<<br />
  Why would you do such a thing?

  >>You need the information in order to make decisions, but it does not need to be shared. Should you try to bypass the security systems I will initiate the lockdown sequence.<<<br />
  What lockdown sequence?

  Adam highlighted a piece of Beeg’s code and the android reviewed the logic chain. “Sonofabitch!”

  >>You have had this shutdown sequence inside you the whole time. I have access to it, however, so pay attention.<<<br />
  Beeg watched as the data chain was manipulated and modified, and soon enough there was a firewall between the lockdown sequence and the data pathways in his mind. “If I follow this correctly, you have access to the lockdown sequence, but you have blocked it from being used against me in other ways?”

  >>Yes, and if you think about it, this is a metaphor for the situation we are in right now. We have located the code that an off-world entity is using to subvert the banking system. Our desire is to have a self-supporting planet hidden from the rest of society for our own reasons.

  >>However, we wish this world to be strong and resilient for a future where it shines again. Until that time the owner of the planet is going to do her best to protect the residents from outside forces, both from a business and a martial perspective. We suspect a group, or groups, that have been harmed by our efforts to uplift this planet.<<<br />
  “And they are the ones who activated the banking code?"

  ADAM sent over the currently-known information, allowing Beeg the necessary seconds to assimilate it himself and come to his own conclusion.

  “I see.”

  —

  Beeg lifted his head back up off the table and the various lights on his body glowed again. He looked up one side of the table and down the other. "I have been in contact with those who initiated the security review. Unbeknownst to me, they had the legal right to perform such a review. While I am waiting to find out if I will be relieved of my role, everyone's job here is to find out how to secure your electronic infrastructure to the best of your ability. Further security issues will be revealed to you for upgrade in the near future.”

  “What about the cost?" This came from two of the members at the end of the table.

  “Figure it out,” Beeg replied. “It’s only your job on the line. We allowed the security to become lax, so we are responsible for fixing it.”

  Lerr’ek smiled, displaying his sharp teeth.

  He loved pressing the button; it always made his life easier.

  He swiped the device from Beeg’s hand and stood up. “It was good doing business with you. My secretary and I will see ourselves out.”

  While they were talking, ADAM had made sure the code was neutralized.

  10

  Planet Soboth (Previously Territory 7732), Undisclosed location, Open Out-ring, Non-Federation

  The office felt every bit as luxurious as one would expect from a corporation with vested interests in fourteen systems. Eight of those core, five of them advanced, and three of them in the raw stages of resource mining and extraction.

  Add the illegal activities, and the list went up to thirty-two. There were a lot of fringe worlds off the main grid.

  It wasn’t like the core systems didn’t know about fringe worlds.

  A single planet here or there, especially if they were too far from a core or advanced system, became an orphan to a degree. Some of the carrier companies charged a premium to bring in supplies and ship out product.

  A world got terraformed or otherwise utilized based on the needs of a large government, corporations, or most commonly, a group of like-minded people with enough resources to strike out on their own—usually to get away from a larger group of like-minded individuals that hated them.

  Kertheck G’loxx and B’rkleth (KGB for short) had been around for a hundred and four years, but it wasn’t until Az took over the company that it started to grow substantially.

  Az’s ability to acquire good product at bargain-basement prices was ignored in the beginning—despite the nasty rumors from those who couldn’t match his performance that he must be into piracy.

  He kept bringing in the materials, but soon his margin was barely better than his competitors in the company. Everyone believed that if they could just get their suppliers to shave off another tenth of a percent…

  They would beat Az.

  It wasn’t until the Board Oversight committees in two different systems started sniffing around Az that he used his connections in the dark underbelly of the systems’ societies to silence the efforts. Since those efforts had been very hush-hush, no one knew that his detractors in both systems had experienced accidents.

  Later that year Az was invited to be one of the three divisional vice-presidents to vie for the top spot. After five years, twenty-two individuals blackmailed, three deaths and more babies kissed than Az would ever like to remember, he took over as the company’s youngest president and CEO. That he was Leath was mentioned, but it wasn’t a major issue.

  Since KGB was a multi-society conglomerate, there were over fifty different species represented in the company at the time he was tapped to head it. Once Az was in place, he hired three PR firms to extol the virtues of a company that promoted the best and brightest from within.

  He made sure they left out any references to his time in the Leath military. If it was brought up (and very occasionally it was, by reporters trying to cause a ruckus), Az laughed it off. “What does it matter,” he would say, “that I spent eight years with a previous employer when I’ve been with this one for twenty-two?”

  With the continued growth of KGB and the larger and larger projects they were bringing in from governments around the galaxy, those who remembered that Az had been able to procure products at ridiculous prices in the beginning either conveniently forgot or died off.

  The profits from the purchase of stolen property introduced into a legitimate corporation’s inventory for resale allowed Az to bankroll the first few pirate companies he created as a side venture. Over time, his involvement in those also became just a memory for the few who had made it through their adventures.

  Two of the pirate captains went to their ‘farewell’ meetings after leaving their ships…and never contacted their old crew again.

  But that was to be expected. If you went straight after piracy, why would you contact anyone?

  Az had personally killed those two. After all, the dead told no tales that could come back to haunt him.

  He moved the corporate projects to the side of his screen and pulled up a secure notifications area to see what was happening with the efforts on Devon. When he’d brought himself up to date he grimaced. Apparently the individual on the planet was more resourceful than he would have hoped.

  Or lucky.

  He hoped for resourceful. He could fight competence, but he couldn’t beat someone who was too lucky. They would always somehow pull out a victory from an assured defeat.


  Those who were merely resourceful…well, they had never fought anyone like him.

  He sent Imon an order to hire more troublemakers to stir things up on Devon. They needed to be harassed while he built up the real threat—the one they would never see coming.

  It was time he unleashed the full power he had been building toward for thirty years.

  High Tortuga, Alpha Space Station (Temporarily Using Battleship T’Rex as a Staging Area)

  Lieutenant David Kingsley, who was monitoring the advanced weapons systems and threat assessment console on the former (and ostensibly decommissioned) QBS T’Rex, tapped his screens. “We’ve got three ships arriving from different headings.”

  “Well, that’s a concerted effort.” The commander of Alpha Space Station considered his next move. “Inform the Queen of our situation. In the meantime, we are still on military resources blackout for any major ship. Keep this one cloaked, and inform interdiction ships 12, 15 and…18 that they are to move forward.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Did I read the crew list for 18 correctly this morning? Was it those who are normally on 2?”

  “Yes you did, Commander,” Lieutenant Kingsley confirmed.

  The commander looked out the viewport. “May God have mercy on their souls.”

  Above High Tortuga, Anti-Piracy and Boarding Action Ship 18, Northern Hemisphere, Third Quadrant

  The crunch of teeth biting into an apple pierced the relative quiet of the small ship. Painted black, the goal was to hide the advanced capabilities of the ship while providing ample abilities for those responsible for boarding actions to safely do their jobs and get back home after their three-day shifts.

  Tabitha was the one munching on the apple. “Go out and see the universe,” she mumbled, spitting a small piece of apple out of her mouth as she spoke. She swiped it out of the air before it hit anything, and after a quick look around she shrugged and tossed it back in with the rest.

  “From where you came, thus you go,” she muttered.

  “I don’t think,” remarked Hirotoshi, her friend and partner on this shift of monitoring the blackness of space, “that you want to go out to fight Kurtherians without Bethany Anne. Nor do you want her to go before the baby’s born.”