Dark Bishop (Metatron's Army, Book 7)

By Elizabeth Maxim

It’s Time...

To Send a Message.

“I may be the Princess but I’m a soldier first.”

Recognizing the value of being underestimated, Heiress Christine Baker has remained in the background, readying Metatron’s Army to take on an enemy whose goal makes the Big Bang look like a Fourth of July celebration.

To Accept Reality.

Her lover was right. Some people only responded to violence and aggression.

The down side to being underestimated is being seen as weak. Tedious as it is, it’s clearly time to show those who think they are in power who truly is...

To Reveal the Truth.

“You call it core, I call it soul. No matter how you turn it, you’re talking about the same thing.”

Leading an army of Light Beings begins by showing them that not only are they all on the same side, they are all the same inside.

Everything necessary to defeat the bastard is in place.

It’s Time...

Let the offensive begin!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elizabeth Maxim
• Release date: Sep 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463385760

Elizabeth Maxim

If Elizabeth were to map her life’s journey, it would resemble the chaos of a Pac-Man game but out of this chaos came the foundation for her stories. She draws from knowledge, personal experience, and imagination in creating strong independent characters who steer their own destiny... often with a little help from love.Elizabeth studied alternative medicine with an MD for several years before earning a doctorate of philosophy in that field. She also holds a bachelor's degree in holistic childcare. Currently living in the Pacific Northwest, she is the author of multiple books, fiction and nonfiction, as well as two blog sites.You can follow Elizabeth at elizabethmaxim.com.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Dark Bishop: A bishop which moves on the dark squares.

2002

Catana, Vetria System

Illegal Apartment outside Perm

"Pending review of all the facts, you are grounded until further notice."

With a gusty sigh, Pilot Christine Baker stared at the brick wall in front of her and contemplated the irony of it all. There she was, graduated but grounded, yet knowing that the stunt that landed her in such a situation accomplished far more than shooting down enemies ever could. She would do it again.

Still, it rankled. There was so much to do and while she put the downtime to good use, she should be doing something, well, more tactical. More hands-on. Instead, she was standing in the living room of an illegally owned apartment, staring at a brick wall. Well, she was doing more than staring, she supposed. She was chewing on a mystery. Why had the Light Being who bought the place - an Energy Shifter meticulous about protecting those around him – purchased an apartment with such a serious security flaw?

Admiring the view?

Turning, she smiled at Dacan, the Light Being who used the apartment whenever he was on Catana. Actually, I was thinking about the fact that from the bedroom, the view is not of a brick wall, but another bedroom.

The apartment complex was shaped like a squared U and while the sliding glass door leading to the balcony off the living room faced a brick wall, the bedroom on the same side faced another bedroom.

It’s a pretty big vulnerability, she said calmly, gesturing at said vulnerability.

Dacan stared thoughtfully at the brick but didn’t offer an opinion.

Have you ever looked into who lives there? she asked, or who owns it? Those weren’t always the same.

No.

Chewing her lower lip, she considered. When she first visited the apartment on Catana, she’d been a cadet at Dynamic, an elite military Academy located on Eol. She’d wondered about the incongruity but hadn’t given it much thought outside of the Sesame Street maxim Which of these items doesn’t belong?

But now, graduated and with a few missions under her belt - a bit of perspective, if not wisdom - she considered it anew.

I think I can say with a fair amount of certainty that I knew Xavier, she expanded, referring to the Light Being who purchased the apartment. I know how his mind worked.

An Energy Shifter, Xavier had accompanied her to Earth when she was an infant, had been front and center in her life from the time her Earth father, a police officer, was killed, until his own death, years later. He’d not only been friend and mentor, he’d been a protector; thus, her knowledge of his approach to security.

I would agree, Dacan said quietly, allowing the Princess-turned-soldier to take the lead in the conversation. Keenly aware of her affection for the energy being who’d been with her during a turbulent time, of her heartbreak over his death, he only talked of him if she brought him up first.

It doesn’t make sense he’d expose you all to prying eyes or the possibility of a well-aimed projectile.

The apartment on Catana was used as a base of operations for the Inner Sphere, a small group of soldiers, of which she was a member, who opposed directives placed upon the Light Beings. Specifically, that high emotion – love – was forbidden. Imposed by the Council of Twelve – celestial overlords to the Light Beings - the directive was issued under the guise of keeping tensions at bay and thus, violence a nonissue. The members of the IS saw it differently.

"Deplorable."

"You must remember, Princess, we are not able to tolerate high emotion."

She was beginning to wonder if that was even true, or if it was a type of urban legend passed down through the generations, only to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Regardless, it was a valid danger to the energy beings as unchecked, it could cause a fatal energy spike, killing them as it had Xavier. Because she’d loved him.

Not wanting to think about one of the more painful experiences in her life – watching the man she’d come to love die – she turned to the matter at hand. When it came to security, there were no shortcuts.

He was a good soldier, Dacan said simply. In truth, he hadn’t known the Light Being who purchased the apartment except by reputation. By the time he was brought into the IS, the apartment had been taken over by Verix. That the two were one and the same was a relevant fact, albeit one the Princess was currently unaware of, so he kept his opinions to himself.

I bet he owns it, she said at last.

Dacan sucked in a breath. Could it be true? And if so, why hadn’t he ever thought to inquire -.? I hadn’t considered, he admitted sheepishly.

She smiled, patted his arm. Don’t feel too badly, Dacan. You didn’t know Xavier like I did.

And vice versa, he thought, but kept silent.

Christine let out a sigh. I have a feeling Alexander knows.

Dacan nodded thoughtfully. The Energy Seer was not only a member of the IS, he was one of Xavier’s closest friends. It made sense the Protector would have confided something of such magnitude to him. Owning property was against Council directives. Owning two? A transgression courting execution though a former Councilor and fellow insurgent, Alexander would have been able to hide the ownership.

I hadn’t thought to ask, he admitted then touched her arm. Might we talk about something less weighty? He gently tugged. Let’s sit down and talk.

More than happy to change gears – this was supposed to be a fun trip after all – she sat on the sofa, accepted a glass of water. So, she said, taking a sip and smiling, what shall we talk about?

Tell me about sex, he replied, his expression bland.

Lips parting in surprise, she set the water on a nearby table to buy herself a bit of time. Sex? Had she bitten off more than she could chew when she offered to help him build tolerance to emotion and – ultimately - emotion-inspired physical contact?

Like the other Light Beings, Dacan’s physiology was vulnerable to the energetic frequencies associated with love and lust. And, like his brethren, he was gorgeous. The crime of it all was that he wanted to partake of the pleasures of the flesh but couldn’t without risking his life. To that end, she’d come up with a theory - that tolerance could be built up - and had been working on that theory. But now was not the time. Now, she was supposed to be learning to move within the clandestine world of spies and mercenaries that were the financial lifeblood of Catana’s capital city, in order to plug into their information network.

"My graduation gift to you Princess is to show you the ropes at the warehouse bar, which includes learning how to gamble successfully."

Gambling was the primary activity in Perm, information its currency.

"Cheating?"

"I’ll teach you that as well. You never know when it might come in handy."

It was a valuable gift. The warehouse bar where the Auspex hung out when on Catana had a reputation for relative safety, its owner - a squat-nosed giant of a man by the name of Bale - one of integrity.

"He can be counted on in a firefight."

So long as that firefight didn’t involve Arcs. The lethal army of the Iconoclast, they kidnapped her from that bar years earlier, turned her over to the bastard who was fucking with the strands of time. She tried not to hold it against the owner.

That she had the time to be with Dacan at all was something of a fluke. She should have been up in a jet, preparing for an offensive against those Arcs and the bastard they worked for.

"Pending review of all the facts, you are grounded until further notice."

She understood the review board’s decision. She had broken protocol when she appropriated an Academy jet for her own purposes. But since it had served a purpose – enabled her to secure an alliance between the Solans and the Ivarans –the ends more than justified the means.

"I want to tell you why I did what I did."

Tactical Instructor Corus Argai delivered the decision in front of the other review board participants. That the two of them were lovers made it a dicey situation, though more so for him.

"If it was up to me, I would make you sit through my class on protocol and call it a day. But I wasn’t the only one on that panel. Senator Cushing is on my ass, as is the senior administration. Not to mention, your little stunt could have caused an interplanetary incident, though I don’t think it would have come to that. I also think it’s about time someone set those Solan royals in their place."

She’d told him repeatedly she understood he had to do his duty, but he hadn’t been satisfied.

"Please, let me explain. As I was sitting there, listening to them spout off about how important they are, and someone had better do something, it occurred to me I could come up with a solution that satisfied both sides."

She hadn’t been surprised. Corus was one of the best negotiators in the star systems and while her stunt wasn’t in line with those skills, she’d known he would understand why she’d done what she’d done. His solution was convenient, if not brilliant.

"You need time to put a few fire irons to work and the administrators need to think they handed down punishment."

He was right about her needing time and space to put a few things in motion. In addition to any post-graduate assignments, she was the heiress to the Ivaran throne and had a vested interest in securing alliances with the leaders of other planets of influence. She also had to set in motion any plans for bringing down the Iconoclast, the evil being that had been wreaking havoc in the systems for years, dragging innocents through time gates, and loosing his damned army on anyone who got in his way. Being grounded was almost the least of her worries.

"Now you’re free to go off and do what you have to do to, putting those fire irons in motion, and I can watch as the air goes out of administration sails when they realize they overreacted and potentially lost one of their best pilots."

She’d thought he was just trying to ease the sting by massaging her ego.

"That stunt of yours left a host of people – including yours truly - with mouths hanging open."

"Come on."

"I mean it, Christine. I’ve – I just assumed you were so pissed you went literally on autopilot. You blasted out of the atmosphere like you were in your sleep. There were a fair number of cadets flying in the upper atmosphere when you took off toward Sola. Trust me, they were impressed."

She hadn’t known what to make of his praise, even if it was honest.

"I wasn’t out to impress anyone, Corus."

"Well, you did, just the same. Including me. I have never seen anyone – well, that isn’t exactly true. I have pulled plenty of stunts like that though I never landed a fighter jet in the middle of the populated courtyard of a government palace."

"I knew they’d get out of the way."

So, she used the down time to accompany Dacan to Catana, intent on learning as much as she could about gleaning information from the spies and mercenaries who frequented the capital city.

"It’s the best place in Vetria to get information."

"Just Vetria?"

Dacan’s enigmatic smile had been all the answer she needed. With an economy that revolved around the trading of information, Perm’s reputation went much further than the star system it was located in.

Since a woman the Auspex was attracted to frequented the same warehouse bar, Christine decided to use the time to help him build up that tolerance so he could pursue a relationship with her. In light of his rather direct question, however, she was beginning to wonder at the wisdom of it.

Sex? She couldn’t help cringing as visions of being the hotline for Light Being birds and bees questions swam before her. Maybe I’ll write a report.

Yes, he replied, deadpan.

But this was no Vaudeville act. The powerful Light Being was in earnest. She cleared her throat. In for a penny, in for a pound. From what perspective? Sex means different things to different people.

He shrugged. I know the basics. I’ve seen films.

I’m almost afraid to ask but, what type of films?

Training films. It was part of a series on how other species reproduce. There is a focus on what to do if we ever had to assist with a birth.

That made sense. Not.

Light Being physiology had evolved in such a way they lost the ability to reproduce naturally, apparently in exchange for incredible powers. For their species, an energetic core – the soul – was placed into a body that was, for all intents and purposes, grown in a lab. At some point, likely because nothing came of it, they quit having sex. Any high emotion – love, affection - was jettisoned.

For millennia, this way of life allowed for peace and harmony among a race on the brink of self-annihilation. Over the decades, a different type of evolution began. An infinitesimal number of Light Beings developed the ability to tolerate a degree of high emotion. Considered flawed by the Council of Twelve - super beings who used them as their police force if not their puppets - they were relegated to menial tasks and assigned to locations at the fringes. Until now.

Dacan and a small group of Light Beings known collectively as the Inner Sphere – beings she called friends - wanted to embrace their emotions and all that that entailed. They wanted to love. They wanted, it would seem, to have sex.

So, you watched the physical. She kept picturing the silly film she’d seen in health class while living on Earth. Kind of useless, when it came down to it but she supposed some government busybody got to put a checkmark in a did my duty box because of it. As I said, sex means different things to different people. Some people use it as a tool of manipulation, or as punishment.

Punishment?

Withholding it because you’re mad at someone. I have no experience with any of that, but I am aware of it. Then there’s the reason people are doing it. Some do it only for procreation.

You are speaking of Dynamic.

It wasn’t just policy at the Academy. Eolightens - citizens of the technologically advanced planet on which Dynamic was located - by and large fell into that category.

Yes, she acknowledged, thinking maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. She could go at it dispassionately. As you know, sexual relations – heck, romantic relations of any kind – are frowned upon at Dynamic.

Though not enforced, the Academy rule was widely observed which was probably a good thing. The student population tilted male, though not by much, and that male population came in all shapes and sizes of good-looking. If innuendo ran rampant because of overt sexual attraction, it would have made getting through the training a hell of a lot more difficult. Especially given males and females not only shared dorms, they shared rooms. She’d had a male roommate and a good-looking one at that, though there hadn’t been any sexual chemistry between them, so it hadn’t been an issue. She and Chestin, like she and Dacan, were just good friends.

That didn’t mean she hadn’t had a problem with the unwritten code of conduct. For her, physical intimacy was like air. She needed it to live. Luckily, a solution had presented itself in the form of one Corus Argai, Tactical Instructor.

His being on the staff could have caused its own kind of trouble but when they made the decision to become lovers, they agreed there was no way he could be one of her instructors. That didn’t mean he didn’t oversee her flight training. He was the head of the department. But he put others in direct charge of her and kept to the background. For training, at least. For sex? He was very much front and center.

What is it to you? Dacan asked. I assume it’s pleasurable.

Christine took a sip of water and considered two things. One, she wished the water was brone, an alcoholic beverage similar to beer. Two, maybe this wouldn’t be as easy as she’d hoped. Dacan, I think it’s more important to think about what It means to you.

I haven’t had sex, so I can’t talk about that.

Oh, she so did not want to be talking about this. The gorgeous Light Being sitting across from of her was a virgin. Of course, she’d known it. She just never thought about it. Still didn’t want to think about it. She set the water down. I like it for a lot of reasons.

CHAPTER TWO

I understand the physical pleasure, Dacan said. At least, in concept. In reality, it would be terribly painful, making it difficult to even conceptualize.

That was why she’d been trying to help him build up tolerance to physical contact. Because of the inability to tolerate high emotion. It was so bad that whenever she hugged him - even touched him - he experienced a type of electrical zap that burned. Apparently, this happened to any Light Being experiencing physical pleasure. She wasn’t sure if her theory - that repeated exposure to small amounts of physical contact through hugs or touching a shoulder or arm - would help him eventually be able to hold another woman without being in pain or in danger of a fatal energy spike, but for lack of any other ideas, she was going with it. And he seemed game. In fact, of the members of the IS, he seemed the most eager to be free of the vulnerability casting a cloud over their chance for happiness. She knew why. Jaliss.

A mercenary from a star system under the authority of Councilor Balen, Jaliss could often be found at the warehouse bar Dacan used as a base when he was on Catana.

She’d seen the mercenary on a previous visit, when she and Dacan went to play games of chance. The hostility she picked up suggested the assassin liked the Auspex every bit as much as he liked her, and resented her presence.

Hopefully, she replied finally, we’ll be able to do something about that. You’ve been around me quite a bit lately. Does it hurt as much now as it did when we started down this path?

No, he replied, though I don’t know why. But he had a theory and was eager to test it. He didn’t think the Princess would be as eager, so he had to find a way to conduct his test without making a big deal of it. He needed to kiss her, thoroughly.

He knew the rudiments of kissing, had even seen her kiss before, so he didn’t think he’d have trouble with the physical aspects. It was gaining her cooperation that would be a problem. At least, the Protector wasn’t there.

A Light Being assigned to protect the Princess, Verix had accompanied her to Earth after two failed assassination attempts. The intent was to keep her hidden in the parallel universe until it was safe for her to return.

The Energy Shifter was surgically altered to look like her father's best friend Xavier Casteel prior to leaving the Vetria System. The subterfuge had been necessary. There were few species research scientist Ryal Kinkaid despised more than Light Beings.

"Your species shouldn’t exist. You didn’t evolve, you were created."

A graduate of Dynamic, Xavier was a talented soldier loyal to his friend and determined to keep his friend’s daughter safe. Under normal circumstances, he would have been an ideal candidate as a guardian.

What neither man understood was that the Princess was far too valuable to leave in the hands of a common soldier, as capable as those hands might be. Only a Light Being could be entrusted with such a responsibility. There’d been an additional advantage to sending Verix. Only Light Beings could travel between dimensions without suffering Time Distortion Error also referred to as Time Distortion Sickness. Had the real Xavier Casteel taken the Princess, he could never return. He would have been forced to remain on Earth, an alien in their midst.

So, surgery performed, Ryal handed his precious daughter to the Protector none the wiser. The truth was revealed when Ryal was reunited with his friend but by then the Princess was safely hidden away. They kept the research scientist up to date on his daughter’s progress, notified him of her return to the Vetria System. He’d been more than happy to keep his distance, given he could never openly claim her. That honor went to another.

Dacan studied the beautiful woman who was heiress to the Ivaran throne. Born Cirhce, she continued to use the name given to her by her adoptive Earth parents, Christine. She closely resembled her mother, with pale gold hair and a slim figure. From her father, she inherited piercing blue eyes and a feisty temperament. It would serve her in carrying the burden she’d been born to carry. She was taller than Dacan, standing just under six feet, her build slim yet muscular, thanks to her time at the Academy. And, thanks to the cooperative effort between the Light Beings and her brilliant father, she’d avoided any negative consequences from her travels.

Ryal developed the serum administered to the Princess shortly after birth. Containing Light Being DNA, it ensured she was able to return to her home system without any negative repercussions. But there was more to the story. Far more.

Verix. An Energy Shifter capable of