Gateway To The Universe: In Bad Company Read online

  CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Legal

  Image

  Characters and Timeline

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Author Notes - Craig Martelle

  Author Notes - Justin Sloan

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Craig Series List

  Justin Sloan Book List

  Michael Series List

  Social Links

  They say behind every great man, is a great woman,

  but what if the woman is a Werewolf?

  DEDICATION

  We can’t write without those who support us

  On the home front, we thank you for being there for us

  We wouldn’t be able to do this for a living if it weren’t for our readers

  We thank you for reading our books

  Gateway To The Universe

  Team Includes

  JIT Beta Readers - From each of us, our deepest gratitude!

  Erick Cushman

  Erika Daly

  James Caplan

  John Findley

  John Raisor

  Joshua Ahles

  Keith Verret

  Kelly ODonnell

  Kimberly Boyer

  Larry Omans

  Micky Cocker

  Mike Pendergrass

  Peter Manis

  Maria Stanley

  Leo Roars

  Sherry Foster

  Thomas Ogden

  If we missed anyone, please let us know!

  Gateway To The Universe (this book) is a work of fiction.

  All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Copyright © 2017 Craig Martelle, Justin Sloan and Michael Anderle

  Cover by Andrew Dobell, www.creativeedgestudios.co.uk

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  LMBPN Publishing

  PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

  Las Vegas, NV 89109

  First US edition, October 2017

  Editing by Mia Darien, www.miadarien.com

  The Kurtherian Gambit (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are copyright © 2017 by Michael T. Anderle.

  Find the high-res version here:

  http://kurtherianbooks.com/timeline_jeff/

  CHARACTERS & TIMELINE

  Find the high-res version of the Kurtherian Timeline here:

  http://kurtherianbooks.com/timeline_jeff/

  World’s Worst Day Ever (WWDE)

  WWDE + 20 years, Terry Henry returns from self-imposed exile. The Terry Henry Walton Chronicles detail his adventures from that time to WWDE+150

  WWDE + 150 years – Michael returns to earth. BA returns to earth. TH & Char go to Space

  Key Players

  Terry Henry Walton (was 45 on the WWDE) – called TH by his friends, Enhanced with nanocytes by Bethany Anne herself (now Empress of the Federation), wears the rank of Colonel, leads the Force de Guerre (FDG), a military unit that he established on WWDE+20

  Charumati (was 65 on the WWDE) – A Werewolf, married to Terry, carries the rank of Major in the FDG

  Kimber (born WWDE+15, adopted approximately WWDE+25 by TH & Char, enhanced on WWDE+65) – Major in the FDG

  Her husband Auburn Weathers (enhanced on WWDE+82) – provides logistics support to the FDG

  Their son, Kailin (enhanced on WWDE+93)

  Kaeden (born WWDE+16, adopted approximately WWDE+24 by TH & Char, enhanced on WWDE+65) – Major in the FDG

  His wife Marcie Spires (born on WWDE+22, naturally enhanced) – Colonel in the FDG

  Their children Mary Ellen & William, born WWDE+60/61, did not get enhanced

  Cory (born WWDE+25, naturally enhanced, gifted with the power to heal)

  Her husband Ramses (born WWDE+23, enhanced on WWDE+65) – Major in the FDG

  Their children Sarah (born WWDE+126, naturally enhanced) and Sylvia (born WWDE+127, naturally enhanced)

  Vampires

  Valerie (born WWDE+108, transformed into a vampire at WWDE+140) – Transformed by the Duke, along with brother Donovan outside of Old Paris. She left to go to America and intercept/stop her brother’s invasion of the land in his attempt to spread the domain of him and his Foresaken. Became a daywalker after Michael himself gave her his blood.

  Robin (born WWDE+132, transformed into a vampire at WWDE+149) – Rescued by Valerie when she was in assassin training with a group called the Black Plague.

  Werewolves born before the WWDE:

  Sue & Timmons

  Shonna & Merrit

  Ted (with Felicity, an enhanced human)

  Weretigers born before the WWDE:

  Aaron & Yanmei

  Forsaken

  Joseph (born 300 years before the WWDE)

  Petricia (born WWDE+30)

  Unenhanced Humans

  Tyson Kurtz, Lieutenant in the Force de Guerre

  Garcia, Sergeant in the FDG

  Samantha Matthews, Private in the FDG

  Nick Rixon, Private in the FDG

  Edwin, Private in the FDG

  The War Axe

  Captain Micky San Marino

  Commander Suresha - Engines

  Commander MacEachthighearna (Mac) – Environmental

  Commander Blagun Lagunov – Structure

  Commander Oscar Wirth – Stores

  Lieutenant K’thrall, Yollin – Bridge Crew

  The AssPlesius

  P’tok – captain of the Yollin raiding ship, the Singlaxian Grandeur

  PROLOGUE

  If you have not read the Terry Henry Walton Chronicles, then this short bit will catch you up. If you have read those books, then continue to Chapter One.

  Gateway to the Universe is the first book that sets the stage for that which follows – four new and unique series set within the Age of Expansion, in the Kurtherian Gambit Universe.

  Craig Martelle will continue the adventures of Terry & Char (from the Terry Henry Walton Chronicles) in The Bad Company

  Justin Sloan will continue Valerie’s adventures (from the Reclaiming Honor series) in Valerie’s Elites

  Amy DuBoff will write a new series called the Uprise Saga featuring Kurtz, Edwin, Samantha, and Nick

  JN Chaney and Sarah Noffke are writing the Ghost Squadron, continuing adventures of the FDG twenty years after Terry brings his warriors to the Federation

  The first Vampire, Michael had bee
n converted by the futuristic alien technology in a crashed Kurtherian ship. Through the power of the Pod Doc, nanocytes were injected into his body, changing him as the Kurtherian programming deemed. Over a thousand years later, at the start of the 21st century Michael introduced Bethany Anne to the technology, and she became his mate, one of the greatest of them all. Together they brought justice to the people. But fate separated them, and when the universe called to keep humanity safe, Bethany Anne had to take the fight to the stars before they could be reunited.

  Bethany Anne left Earth before the World’s Worst Day Ever (WWDE). Some called it the fall. Some called it the coming of the second dark ages.

  While Bethany Anne became Empress of the Etheric Empire somewhere deep in Yol space, Earth was on its own. The WWDE had marked the beginning of a new era on Earth—the time of Terry Henry Walton and his struggle to drag humanity back to civilization.

  Terry Henry—TH to his friends—had been discovered by Bethany Anne in Antarctica, using his body to keep another alive. She recognized him for what he was, a warrior for peace, and she personally authorized his enhancement. He later established the Force de Guerre, or FDG.

  At the beginning, it was five men strong. Then, the Werewolf, Charumati, joined them.

  Werewolves, those with receptive DNA who had received Kurtherian nanocytes, were able to change form in an instant. They healed at an incredible rate. They could see into the Etheric dimension and draw power from it.

  They were special, just like TH. He had been enhanced with nanocytes, too, though he wasn’t a Were.

  Terry collected Werewolves, Weretigers, and even two Vampires as he built his FDG in an effort to rid the world of those who would oppress others, keep freedom out of their reach. Terry Henry and Char’s family grew. They adopted Kimber and Kaeden. They had a child of their own, the gifted Cordelia. Together with their spouses, they formed an inner circle and they fought as one against evil.

  Michael returned to Earth ahead of Bethany Anne. He found the Vampire Valerie and at his request, she did her part in bringing honor back to the world. With Robin, also a Vampire, they carved a path through the forces of evil.

  When Bethany Anne returned to Earth one hundred and fifty years after the WWDE, she sent the FDG to space to ensure that her empire remained strong. The Empire that had become a Federation because she didn’t believe in enslaving others. Neither did Terry Henry or his Werewolf wife.

  The Etheric Federation needed the FDG to help the member planets do the right thing, even if it wasn’t what they wanted to do. At Michael’s request, Valerie and Robin joined the FDG, to do their part for the Empress.

  Terry and Char would find new allies as they took their place in the universe, delivering humankind’s single greatest export.

  Justice.

  CHAPTER ONE

  A massive ship orbited planet Earth. Crewed by humans, aliens and a sentient artificial intelligence. The ArchAngel II. Larger than most asteroids, but with a singular purpose. To serve humanity.

  One human in particular. Bethany Anne, The Etheric Empress.

  The ambassadorial ship, little more than a luxury shuttle, departed the ArchAngel, followed by a squadron of fighters flying cover for the Empress as she and her mate Michael transferred to a Defender-series destroyer.

  They needed the heavy lift that the ship War Axe provided if they were to free the trapped Elites.

  As soon as the shuttle pod entered the landing bay, the destroyer pointed its nose toward the planet and headed into the upper atmosphere. It skipped and bounced as it became a fireball during its steep descent.

  The captain had discussed the best way to inform those below on the planet that there was a new power, and half the world saw the harbinger flaming through the sky.

  The War Axe left space and raced through Earth’s sky at a speed in excess of Mach 30.

  The ship slowed as it approached the island of Japan where Akio waited in a pod, hovering a half-mile above a collapsed building that he had protected for the past one hundred and fifty years. Eight stories deep, under a hundred thousand tons of rubble, six Elite warriors had been awakened from their deep sleep, slowing their aging. They had been buried inadvertently, back when chaos ruled.

  Even their magnificent skills couldn’t stop the madness. And Akio could not save them without risking their lives.

  So, he had waited. With infinite patience, Akio, Yuko, and Eve protected both their world, and their team. Vampires with a sense of duty and honor, because the Queen, now an Empress, had tasked them to hold the line.

  Keep the world from destroying itself.

  They almost failed.

  But Akio had found help. Former Marine Terry Henry Walton and his Werewolf partner joined forces with the Vampire to drag humanity back to civilization, a one hundred and fifty-year effort.

  That chapter was quickly coming to a close.

  The War Axe descended, slowing as the gravitic engines surged to control the bulk of the ship. Akio directed the ship to the building and then pulled his pod back. The Defender-series ship had the latest in traction beams. Using all the power available to it, the ship latched on to the building and picked it up en masse.

  The rubble of a destroyed building held together by the power of the energy beam. The ship slid sideways and dumped the building into a clear area beyond.

  Akio’s pod, a small and boxy ship to shuttle troops and equipment from planet-side to orbit, swooped above the hole in the ground, stopping mid-air and descending straight down. One hundred feet deep, the pod settled and the rear ramp dropped. Six Vampires stood there, waiting. Akio stepped out, bowing deeply to his fellows.

  “It has been too long,” he told them.

  “Hai!” one of them said with a big smile. They hurried anxiously onto the shuttle, as if a delay would condemn them to be buried anew. Akio instructed Eve, an Entity Intelligence within a body made of a seamless material not of Earth, to land aboard the War Axe.

  The Empress was waiting.

  San Francisco

  Terry Henry Walton, TH to his friends, stood tall and proud, his black Force de Guerre uniform crisp. The Werewolf, Charumati, watched him, her eyes sparkling purple in the morning sun. They were anxious, excited, and afraid. None of them knew what to expect, and they all had different ideas.

  A massive and fantastic vessel approached from the west, just like Akio had told him it would.

  Akio, a Queen’s Bitch, one of the chosen few to do the Empress’s bidding from the time when she was only a queen.

  TH caught Char’s wince out of the corner of his eye. He reached for her hand, to hold it, look adoringly into her sparkling purple eyes, as he often did, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “So many from the Unknown World feeding off the power of the etheric,” she replied, wrinkles appearing around her eyes as she fought against the pain.

  The etheric, an alternate dimension from which the Kurtherians drew power for the nanocytes they invented. The nanos that coursed through the blood of all the enhanced and modified--the Were, the boosted, and the Vampires. Especially the Vampires. They were the most different of the enhanced. They were also the first ones to come alive from the specific Kurtherian technology which supported Bethany Anne’s herself.

  Joseph and his wife Petricia stayed close to Terry as he’d asked them to. It was his turn to protect them, payback for all the times they had his back. Joseph and Petricia were known as Forsaken, the Vampires created that left Michael’s family, went on their own. For most, who didn’t know Michael’s strictures, you were by default Forsaken. The Elites, the special warriors, were unforgiving on the Forsaken, hunting them down and killing them, as Terry himself had often done. But Joseph and Petricia were different. They refused to drink human blood.

  But Terry Henry and these two Forsaken had fought, side by side. TH considered them his friends and would stand by them, no matter what judgment came. Joseph had joined Char’s pack well over a century earlier. As the Werewo
lf pack’s alpha, she would vouch for the Forsaken, as she’d vouch for the Weretigers in the pack.

  It wasn’t a normal Werewolf pack, but nothing about TH and Char’s life could have been considered normal.

  The nanocytes coursing through their blood and the blood of their children eliminated any chance of the mundane. The nanos granted long life, repaired injuries, increased speed, and enhanced strength. Made warriors like Terry Henry Walton into super warriors.

  But TH and Char made themselves into something far beyond anything the Kurtherians contemplated. Their joining made them stronger than the sum of their two parts. They made for a lethal combination.

  Bethany Anne and Michael. The universe’s premier beings--one had lived through death itself and the other, Bethany Anne, had cast off the Kurtherian yoke from their planet and others, freeing countless humans and aliens.

  Liberty for all.

  For Bethany Anne, it was simple: she hated bullies. The Kurtherians had been a race of bullies. When they collided with BA, the very stars eventually shuddered at the impact.

  The Kurtherians she encountered lost because humanity would not be denied and mankind’s champion refused to lose. The love of her life would be waiting for her, but she had to survive and return to Earth. And now she was back.

  She was back with Michael by her side, and the universe breathed a sigh of relief.

  The War Axe descended slowly, regally. They had cleared the transshipment area of the wharf for the ship to land, but had underestimated the vast proportions of such a vessel.

  “This ship is a gnat compared to the ArchAngel,” Terry said excitedly. Char clenched her jaw as she struggled with the energies ebbing and surging from those aboard the ship.