My Ride is a Bitch (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 13) (5 page)

“The gravity well,” Darryl answered, “We need to be prepared for Bethany Anne’s introduction in a couple of hours.”

Scott closed the door behind the group as Darryl made sure everyone was getting clipped in correctly. This container, modified for larger groups, had fifteen seats on each side of the long walls.

“Sorry sweetie,” Darryl said, his voice soft, “but we can’t let you sit on your Dad’s lap. It’s against regulations.”

Sheila watched as Anne stood up and sat between her parents, “Am I going to get to meet Ms. Anne?”

“Hmm?” Darryl asked as he carefully belted in the fragile looking little girl, “Ms. Anne? Oh, sorry, her full name is Bethany Anne.”

“Well then, what is her last name?” Anne asked, “I thought my first name was her last name, that is kind of embarrassing.”

Mason noticed the man was huge as he stood up, “No, you share parts of your first name,” Darryl told the child. “Trust me, your letter got to Bethany Anne just fine young lady, and I’m sure she will speak with you sometime soon. Unfortunately, she has meetings right now.”

“Who is she meeting with?” Anne asked as Darryl crossed to the other side and buckled in a seat apart from Scott who was talking with someone subvocally.

“The Japanese Leadership and Royalty,” Darryl answered.

QBS ArchAngel

Barnabas slipped behind the desk in his office as Tabitha sat the chair facing him, she asked, "Why aren't you outside with the Queen?”

Barnabas shook his head, “We don't want all of our faces on video cameras. So, we are only showing the minimum people necessary.”

"Is that why I haven't seen Stephen lately?" She asked.

Barnabas smiled, “No, you don’t see Stephen because he spends his off time with a particular lady. It seems he has lost a battle, due to those assets and fog of war you were speaking about earlier, and is enjoying life even more than he thought he could.”

"No shit?” She said sitting up in her chair, “El’ Stevo has a female? Who is it?”

Barnabas reached to the side of his desk and grabbed a folder, moving it in front of him he opened it up and set it down. “Let's not try to do research for ‘As The ArchAngel Turns' right now. We do have a case to discuss.”

She slumped back in her chair, “Wow, you have been catching up. How do you know about soap operas?”

Barnabas’ eyes glanced to the ceiling in his office as he murmured, “Please give me strength. Bethany Anne would be upset if any accidents happened to Tabitha.”

Tabitha smiled, “Uncle B, you know I'm just playing with you. There's no need to feel stressed out. I'm sure I can set up a nice relaxing Friday night date for you if you would like?"

He eyed his female Ranger, “No, let's not. Let's not and say we didn’t. In fact, let's not and never suggest it again. Now, let’s focus,” he told her, giving her such a frown that Tabitha understood she had pushed enough.
 

Fun time was over.

"What we have is a little bit of information, three names you can track down, and a requirement to find out who hired them,” Barnabas explained.

Tabitha chewed on the inside of her cheek, "If I find out who hired them, what am I supposed to do?" She asked, her head cocked to the right.
 

Barnabas looked at her, “You are a Queen’s Ranger, that decision is up to you.”

"Oh," the mantle of responsibility suddenly weighed heavily on her shoulders, "I kind of like it when I'm just told to kick their ass, not when I have to decide if the ass kicking is warranted."

Barnabas shrugged, "Get used to it."

Nara, Nara Prefecture - Japan

Bethany Anne stood, waiting for her team to leave the ship. The noise in the stadium was loud. Very, very loud.
 

>>Yuko has hugged her father. This is good, right?<<

Yes, Adam, that is an excellent sign
. She wondered why he was asking her to confirm something he certainly could look up himself. She added another mental mark in the 'becoming human' column.

There had been a significant amount of conversations related to what Bethany Anne should wear for this event. Once the women got involved, what they were thinking bordered on the ridiculous.
 

While the women knew that Bethany Anne would very rarely read minds, they failed to realize that Barnabas did it as a matter of course. Therefore, when Bethany Anne happened to have Barnabas join them during one of the talks, the ladies weren't guarding their minds, and he quickly discerned they were having fun at her expense.

Bethany Anne simply told the women that they would be required to wear whatever she did. Even if it was, perhaps, in an annoying canary yellow or cloying pink color.
 

Their suggestions suddenly became practical.

Bethany Anne put a stop to the ladies talks after a few more minutes, “I am a very reasonable person. I’m not going to go into meetings without weapons, even if they might be hidden. I prefer black or darker colors. If you try to dress me up in bright pastels, I’ll consider tying you upside down and using you for shark bait. If you want me in high heels, I better not have sore feet because of them.”

The team ended up choosing an outfit with a tailored jacket and pants instead of a dress. She might have pants with hems that ended above her ankles showing off her shoes, or some that almost hit the floor hiding the shoes. Today, her outfit was comprised of lighter fabrics, but she had similar outfits that had more leather.
 

All in all, she liked the general style. With her hair up as it was, the silver hair pins added a nice touch. Jean Dukes was working on some individual small rods she could use to spit out tungsten slugs, yet didn’t look like pistols.

Bethany Anne loved Jean's devious mind. The lady was truly a master of kinetic destruction. Her team, probably already working on their team name, came to work with a purpose every morning.

“Looks good, TW,” John vocalized. She pressed her lips together. That damned audio recording with Mason was all over the ship before she got back. John told her he considered it a penalty for leaving without her guards. She should take her punishment in grace.
 

Bethany Anne about tore another strip off of him until he reminded her to think about what he felt when he thought she had died in the blast.

She stopped her arguing, thought about it, kissed him on the cheek and told him, “I’m sorry for making you fret. You get seventy-two hours,” and that was the last of it. She wasn’t allowed to say anything about the jokes for three days.

Three. Long. Assed. Days. Bethany Anne was going to kill someone, maybe herself, if this kept up. The grapevine on the ship spread that it was open season on the boss for three days. She noticed a countdown clock in the forward cafeteria on the ship.

Fucking hell.

Oh yes, she was now a firm believer in praying to Saint Payback-is-a-Bitch.

She started walking out on the stadium floor, and the noise was moderately deafening.

She concentrated to reduce the impact, and the pain, from the audio overload until she could handle it better.

It took only a few seconds of walking before she was climbing the steps to the stage behind John and Eric, with Darryl and Scott trailing her. She could hear a few ladies call out the guy’s names from the audience.

Bethany Anne started shaking hands until she got to where Yuko was standing with her parents. Yuko bowed to her, followed immediately by her parents. Bethany Anne bowed back slightly. “
あなたには、美しくて知的な娘がいます。彼女は、私の個人のチームの大切なメンバーです。あなたは誇り高いはずです
.”

She left the family. Yuko’s father’s mouth was open, and a tear trickled down Yuko’s face. For the next few minutes, Bethany Anne was introduced to the local and national political representatives on stage. Then she was shown the microphone and asked to speak to the crowd.

ADAM, I want you to connect in with the stadium sound system. Translate my English into Japanese, let me know if you have any questions on the translation.
 

As Bethany Anne spoke, she would pause a moment and allow Adam to translate and interject the audio through the sound system. The first couple of times Bethany Anne did this, there was a murmur behind her on the stage as those VIPs realized she wasn't using an interpreter and they did not know whose voice was coming through the stadium speakers.

Bethany Anne smiled, "Hello, to those here in the stadium and those that are watching the television or video on the Internet. I am Her Royal Highness Queen Bethany Anne. I am also known as the CEO of TQB Enterprises, among other roles. As you can see," she gracefully waved to the ship in the middle of the stadium and then pointed up to the ArchAngel in the sky.
 

Bethany Anne continued, “We have advanced our technology to a point where even space is achievable. Many of our employees and my personal retinue love Japan’s people, love your culture, and admire your resilience in the challenging times our world faces right now, so it was decided to connect with your country and your people. We hope to be able to increase our official diplomatic relations with countries around the world, starting with Japan."
 

She had to pause as the audience in the stadium roared their approval.

She finished by speaking in Japanese, “
ご支援に感謝します、ユウコのような強い娘が、ニール州から、私たちの世界をより安全な場所を作り、助けることができる国であるためにあなたに感謝します。貴重なお時間をいただき、ありがとうございます
.”

She had to dampen her hearing another fifty percent. The noise was complete bedlam driven by the younger people in the crowd.

Bethany Anne turned away from the podium, noticing the tears streaming down Yuko’s parent's faces.

QBS ArchAngel

“Excuse me,” a good looking man spoke to Mason as he and his family were eating in the cafeteria on the ship. He was holding a food tray, “May I join you?”

To say Mason had been shocked when they had arrived on the ship would have been a complete understatement.

Once they landed, and Darryl and Scott had unclipped them, Mason found he was not prepared to answer Sheila’s question of ‘are we in space?'

The family turned the corner of the container once they stepped out and saw what looked like an opening leading into the darkness of space.

The only one who wasn’t afraid was Anne.

“It’s completely safe,” Scott said to the family, “ArchAngel only allows Pods through the gravitic curtain. Anything human would find themselves pushed back whenever they get within twenty feet of the opening.”

“Did you say gravitic curtain?” Mason asked, trying to catch up with what he was seeing and what he was being told.

“Well, that’s what we non-propellerheads call it. Marcus has finally decided it was close enough to stop bitching about our name. Oh,” Scott looked down, “I’m sorry, I should watch my words around the young adults.”

“It’s ok,” Anne looked up at him, “the kids at my school curse all of the time, and the boys are the worst. I’m just thankful no one is smoking in the bathroom, trying to act cool.”

Scott looked over to her parents, a quizzical look on this face.

“Wisdom of a wise woman,” Sheila answered his unasked question, “unfortunately it hits her at random times, never when I’m telling her what she needs to know.”

Scott just shook his head in recognition of something he accepted but didn’t necessarily understand.

He put up a finger and his eyes lost focus for a split second, “Ok, ArchAngel has provided me with the location of your suite. Let’s get you guys in place and then, after our conference in Japan, I’m sure you will have more conversations.

Mason and the family had enjoyed their large VIP suite, relaxing together and now eating dinner in the cafeteria. He nodded to the man, “Certainly. I’m Mason,” he nodded to his left, “this is my wife, Sheila and our daughter Anne.”

“Barnabas,” the man said in introduction. His food plate only had an apple and a ceramic mug with a lid on it. He laid the plate down and seated himself.

“So, are you doing ok here on the ArchAngel?” he started the conversation while using a knife to peel the apple.

“It’s cool!” Anne jumped into the conversation, “Do you know the Queen?”

Barnabas looked down at the little girl. At first, Mason was concerned that she had offended the gentleman, “Yes, young lady. I do know the Queen. In fact, she sent me to speak with you and your parents to help us understand a few things.”
 

The clip-clip-clip of nails on the hard floor caught their attention, and they turned to see a huge white German Shepherd come down the lane between the tables heading slowly in their direction.

Barnabas heard Sheila ask her husband, “Is he safe?” There was a note of fear in her voice.

“Yes, Ashur is completely safe to anyone who doesn’t attack the Queen,” Barnabas answered.

“Ashur is his name?” Anne asked, “may I pet him?”

“I can't answer for Ashur, why don’t you ask him?” Barnabas answered.
 

When his name had been spoken, the dog’s head had turned and honed in on the table talking about him. He had stopped three tables away as if he was waiting to make sure they felt safe around him.

“Um, why did he stop?” Anne asked.

“He is waiting to make sure he doesn’t scare you,” Barnabas answered.

Anne turned to look at Barnabas, “Are you fibbing me? He knows what is going on?”
 

“My Queen assures me, he is much smarter than any dog you have ever known.”

“Does she ever fib?” Anne asked.

“Well ...” Barnabas paused and scratched his chin. “If you mean would she fib for a joke? Yes, absolutely. Would she lie about something like this? No, she wouldn’t,” Barnabas finished.

Anne turned back around in her chair, “Ashur, can I pet you?” She raised her voice a little. He broke into a little jog…clipclipclipclip and in a second he was up next to Anne.

“Oh…my,” Sheila whispered. The dog’s head was as high as Anne’s shoulder sitting on the chair. He was huge.