SUED FOR PEACE (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 11) (6 page)

Mark took a second to make sure they were all looking at him again before continuing. “Look, trust the process and know that I will not allow you to do anything that would make you look anything less than powerful. If I don’t like how things are developing, we’ll simply start again and take a new approach. If you don’t feel comfortable with any direction or requested action, you have the ability to stop and tell me. It’s integral to the process that you OWN the story and feel it. Our goal is to create an image that is
illustrative
, which means capturing believable situations or stories with honest emotions. Together we can make it happen. However, we will only be successful when you trust me. Don’t
try
to be or do anything ... rather be and do as you would if you were all by yourselves with no one watching.”

Mark paused for a moment and thought, “Ok, here is an example scenario. Just as you stepped out of your brownstone to pick up your paper early one morning, wearing only towel or boxer shorts and coffee cup in hand, your front door suddenly slams behind you and you don’t have your key.”

“That’s Eric,” John commented and received a punch on his shoulder from Eric.
 

Eric smiled, “Mark, I’d have to use the towel, beach size, of course, assets must be hidden, and beach size is the only size appropriate.”

“Stop lying,” Darryl shot back laughing, “I’ll get you a washcloth, which will be sufficient to hide anything. Hell, you don’t need a fig leaf, just pull a blade of grass, and you will be just fine.”

“I’m sorry, but there hasn’t been a piece of grass that can hide my anatomy since the Jurassic period,” Eric shot back.

Scott leaned forward to look past Darryl to ask John, “How the hell does Eric know the term Jurassic?”

John smiled, “He saw the movie.”

“Right, good point.” Scott leaned back, “I thought my view of reality was being called into question here.”

“Look, you ass!” Eric shot back.

Mark was watching the men fire comments back and forth, his head going from one to the other and then back again. He interrupted to try and get the conversation back on track, “Hey guys?” He felt almost a click of a laser sight as all four snapped their eyes back to him immediately, “May I continue?”

“Sure, sorry.” Eric said, “Just have to make sure I protest this obvious effort to spin a falsehood about my manhood here.”

Mark nodded, “I got it, beach sized towel. So, moving on. Once a storyline is established, we will then set it in motion… My words will focus you, much like a movie director’s, reminding you of the scene, and interjecting surprises. You just recalled you have a meeting in 30 minutes, or you suddenly see your girlfriend pulling up and she’s doesn’t know your mistress is inside or…”

“Hold!” John said, putting up a hand, “Can we skip the mistress idea? If you aren’t aware, the ladies we work with will take that shit pretty fucking seriously, and it would hurt like hell to heal from their anger.”

“Imagine if Cheryl Lynn,” Darryl started before Scott interrupted.

“Or Jean, huh John?" Scott laughed.

“Oh, hell no!” John grinned as he pretended to shake, “I can imagine waking up with a howitzer aimed at my privates. It would totally ruin my morning.”

Darryl whooped in laughter, “You would be hog tied and sweating!” He put his arms by his side and acted out being tied up, “Jean, we can talk about this. I’m not sure who that woman is, but I assure you…” Then, Darryl switched to a higher voice, “Oh, I’m sure there will be some assurance here, Mr. Grimes. Like, I assure you that I will cause untold pain if you ever mess around on me.”

“Love at the end of a one fifty-five…one fifty-five..” Eric started singing.

“That shit isn’t funny,” John said, grinning. “You might think you got it easier, Scott. But Eric here is going to be up shit creek if …”

“Ho, ho, ho, hold on!” Eric interrupted. “Let’s not get ahead of anyone here. I’ll admit John might have some plans for the delectable and delicate Ms. Dukes.”
 

“Delicate?” Darryl laughed, “Are we speaking about the same lady?”
 

“Hey, I’m trying not to scare John away before he makes a move on the woman!” Eric said.

John said slowly, “I don’t know, the idea of that one fifty-five howitzer staring at me when I wake up is a little concerning.”

“Shit, John,” Scott said, “You don’t worry about a howitzer. That thing is too big to fit in your bedroom.”
 

“That’s true.” John agreed.

 
“Nope,” Scott continued, “What you worry about is what new gravitic tool she would concoct to smash your balls twenty times before you got the first scream out of your mouth!” He started laughing so hard that he almost fell off of his chair.

At this, the other three guys and Mark started chuckling.

John just shook his head, “That was not the kind of support I need right now, Scott.”

Scott acted like he was wiping away tears from his laughter, “Don’t worry about it. The truth hurts, but Jean Dukes will elevate it to a new level of pain if there is a mistress involved.”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything about a mistress,” John said, then pointed to Mark, “He started this mess.”

Mark realized that joking with four tough guys maybe wasn’t the best way to get out of this unscathed.

Mark grinned and put a finger into his shirt’s collar, “Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?” He looked at John, “Wow, tough crowd. Let’s keep going shall we?” He rubbed his jaw, “Ok, this step is going to be tough to accomplish because your training is going to make this difficult.”

“Our training?” John asked.

“Yes, you see, I would normally do something or have someone off screen to distract you and try to get you to lose your awareness of the process so you are more comfortable and natural. Since you guys are trained not to be off-guard, I can’t do that. So, suggestions?”

“Not a one,” John admitted.

Mark considered the problem and shrugged his shoulders, “I’ll just have to improvise.”

Manufacturing Facility 01 - Asteroid Fields

Gott Verdammt, but she was beautiful.

Captain Paul Jameson was going around the ship, his ship, for the fifth time. It had taken him only twenty-four hours to send a message to Bethany Anne that he accepted the role of piloting this bad-ass motherfucker in front of him.

He went under the ship, noticing the massive guns under her belly, and on her wings. He surreptitiously wiped a tear away from his eye. “Aww damn, Justin, I wish you could see this son-of-a-bitch.” He spoke softly into the silence of his Pod. “I promise you, buddy, I’ll do my best to make you proud.”

Paul thought back to the last night before his friend died in a non-engagement, engagement. Rules stopping both his friend and himself from doing what they felt was right. Rules that ended up costing his friend his life. It had been years ago, and yet the pain was still as fresh as if it was last week.

“She’s the right one. She’s one I can follow and whether I die of old age, or I come see you soon, we are going into battle behind one bad-ass leader. I wish you could be here to enjoy this with me.” Now, tears were falling down Paul’s face.

He just let them flow ... it was past time he have this conversation.

“I’ve just been piloting Justin, I’ve just been waiting, I thought. But I was taught how to trust, how to serve, again. How to follow one more time unto the breach.” Paul flew the Pod around over the side and then the top to view the long guns running down the flanks, “And now, she has trusted her life, her future and the future of the world with me at the helm of the baddest, biggest, and meanest ship man has ever built. I’m going to be her pilot, the man who is going to point this beast wherever the fuck she tells me to aim it.”

He stopped the pod and looked down at the men and women still swarming on the ship’s outside, trying to finish the modifications to the gravitic sensors and armament changes that Bobcat and Marcus came up with after Paul started flying the ship.

Paul noticed three cargo containers floating into the section behind the biggest guns and grinned mirthlessly.

Paul spoke aloud, to his friend wherever he might be. “If Bethany Anne points towards Hell itself? Well, I’ll just see you sooner, my friend, because I’ll storm Hell itself for her.”

—

William walked into the commander's office, the one Bobcat was working out of for the time being until Bethany Anne and her team could arrive.

“I got the news from Dan via Samantha,” Bobcat told his friend before he could speak, “Take a seat. We need to talk.”

William sat at the large wooden table and placed his tablet in front of him and spoke before Bobcat could ask him a question, “A metric shitload.” he said.

“Enough to take out a country?” Bobcat asked, looking over at his friend, “Say one the size of China?”

“Enough to put the world into another Ice Age if we needed to. I know Bethany Anne isn’t going to do that, but we can pound the shit out of everything down there, and they can’t touch us.” William shrugged, “And that’s just with rocks.”

“Can this ship withstand a nuclear bomb attack?” Bobcat asked his friend.

“I’ve talked with Marcus and the other eggheads he has on board. By the way, did you know he brought that chick scientist up here?”
 

“Of course, I know, since it had to be approved, by me,” Bobcat replied.

“Oh. Just curious. I figured maybe he would still go after Gabrielle.”
 

“I think their date did a world of good for his ego. I didn’t realize how messed up he was after his two divorces. I understand Gabrielle told him a few things after she gave him
the
kiss.”

“So, we know for sure he got kissed?” William asked, smiling.

“Yes, I asked Gabrielle,” Bobcat replied.

“What, she will kiss and tell?”
 

“She said she is no gentleman, nor a lady. Something about giving up being a lady back in the 1700’s or something. Then, she grumbled something else about paying back Richard and Samuel again. Whatever the hell that means. So, long story short, she admitted she tried to make his short and curlies stand straight out.”

“Fucking lucky bastard…” William whispered.

“I know, and you know what?” Bobcat asked as William raised an eyebrow in response, “We only have ourselves to blame for his luck.”
 

The two men fist bumped each other and said in unison, “One for all, and all for one!” They chuckled together for a moment before William continued, “Yeah, we can take a nuke. The EMP bullshit won’t get through the gravitic shield. Apparently, this stuff doesn’t work on the same principle as our normal electronics which is good. Otherwise, we would throw nuclear devices at each other in battles out here in space to take down shields all the time.”

“Do they know nukes can’t get through shields back on earth?” Bobcat wondered aloud.

“Yes. I confirmed with Marcus that Lance has a shield going up and over the Australian base right now. Anyone tries that bullshit again like they did in Colorado and they are in for a surprise.”

“Probably right before Australia sends something up the attacker’s ass. The Aussies don’t mess the fuck around.”

“Messed up the accent, tho,” William commented.

“Not with the women. Sounds awesome with the women.”

“That’s because everything a woman says or wears is awesome. Put a man’s dress shirt on a woman and now it becomes a sexual tease.”

“Word.” Bobcat agreed.

“Do you think she will do it?” William asked.

“Which part?” Bobcat asked, “Bomb them back to the stone-age or … what?”

“I don’t know. Bethany Anne was kind of constrained with those that attacked in Colorado, and she has been relatively calm about taking out the Cabal members. I’m wondering if she is settling down.”

Bobcat looked into the distance, thinking of the many miles and galaxies they had in their future from his talks with Bethany Anne over the last few years.

“Not a fucking chance.” Bobcat told his friend, “China has no idea who they just upset.” He smiled at his friend. “I’d admit to feeling sorry for the poor bastards, but that would just be lying.”

“Now,” Bobcat started, pulling his tablet up and hitting a button on the screen, “Let’s talk about what is left before we can move this son-of-a-bitch.”

Clan Temple Near Shennongjia Peak, Hubei

The pain seemed like it lasted forever and yet had never been. Stephanie Lee’s eyes opened, and she took in the medical device she was laying in. She reached out to touch the small button that was inside the pod, and the top cracked open.

She looked around and noticed the robe she had been wearing was gone. It had been taken away while she was asleep.

How long was I out?
She wondered.

Fourteen days and three hours
, Yin told her.

Stephanie Lee considered the familiarity of the voice and remembered the pain, the mental fight to retain control.
You tried to take over my body!
She demanded, pissed.
You figured on pushing me out of control, why should I believe anything from you?

Yang replied
We do as we have been told. We were told that we would be able to command your body. However, we are in fact the controlled. We are stuck in here!
 

What?
Stephanie Lee asked.
She looked down at her body, no hair anywhere, she was completely without hair except on her head. She seemed slightly taller than she was before and a small birthmark on the left side of her stomach was no longer in evidence.
 

Yin answered
The process is supposed to allow us the opportunity to inhabit a body instead of being primarily connected in the Etheric. It is a rare situation. Our consciousnesses were tied to this spacecraft. Apparently, our connection to the spacecraft and the Etheric are severed. We are supposed to have been provided this vessel, your body, to make our next steps. Now, you are in control.

Yang spoke next,
Don’t believe we are without options. We can make your life continuously painful. I know how to block the pain from affecting you, I also know how to cause it. This can be a harmonious relationship.