Ruth Longknife's First Christmas: A Kris Longknife Christmas Read online

  Was this what it was to be Nelly?

  Somewhere another window went down, or maybe the door up to the roof gave way. Suddenly, a wave of attackers hit them from the stairwell.

  Kris peeled as many nanos as she could from the defense perimeter around those she loved and sent them hurtling out to give battle to this new onslaught. She pulled nanos back from Al’s office to reinforce her defenses, then sent more nanos to fight in the space between the central desk and the elevator and stairwell.

  The fight went long and hard. Nelly’s nanos were far superior to these, but the saturation attack took its toll. Kris finally had to order all her remaining nanos back to the defense perimeter. There were just not enough left for a defense in depth.

  Now they were surrounded by attacking nanos and micro bots. Held back from the humans, the nanos and bots changed their attack mode. Some began picking away at the ceiling tiles above them and brought them crashing down. The tiles were made of foam and fiber and weighed nothing so they did no real harm to the humans.

  However, some of boards trapped defending nanos under them. Nelly became more careful and now usually pulled her forces back before a tile fell.

  The enemy was taking out more of its own nanos and micro bots with tiles than any of Nelly’s.

  Still, Kris had only so many nanos and the attacker seemed to never run out.

  Then an elevator dinged and its door opened. Inside was a bit of art. An ugly statue of something. Kris wasn’t at all sure what. What mattered to her was that it was made of dumb metal.

  Dumb metal was very much like Smart MetalTM with one key exception. It could only be reworked twice. After that, it just disintegrated into a puddle of shiny goo. That particular exception had once almost killed Kris.

  Now Kris was very grateful for the stuff.

  Nelly took control of the programmable matter and gave it the last shape it could ever take. Nanos streamed off the piece of art and began attacking the nanos and bots from the rear.

  Now, some of Nelly’s nanos merged to form micro bots of her own. They slipped past the line of attack nanos flowing into the line and followed them to their source.

  Four minutes later, Nelly had a picture of several trucks parked three blocks from the entrance to the Al Longknife business complex.

  Jack had ordered a platoon of their Marines out of Nuu House the moment it became clear they were under attack. They were two minutes out, and were only too happy to be retasked with hitting that launch site.

  While Kris and Nelly continued the battle around their loved ones, now going much better thanks to the dumb metal reinforcements, Jack and Sal took over the counter attack.

  The Marines and their gun trucks raced through the streets, looking for all the world like they would charge down the street into the Longknife office park. The attackers’ base was totally unprepared when the Marine trucks slammed on the brakes, skidded into a turn and gunned down their street. Half from one direction. Half from the other.

  The assault team had their hands up before the Marines dismounted. Jack had nanos searching the launch site. He knew exactly what machines needed destroying. The first Marines into each truck emptied a clip into a shiny gray box with lots of dials.

  Around Kris, the attacking nanos and bots lost all control. They flew in straight lines and crashed into walls. They flew in circles and Kris’s nanos clipped their wings. They lost all interest in doing anyone any damage.

  “The attack is falling apart,” Kris said aloud.

  “We have all the culprits in our control,” Jack reported. “Two of them are babbling like mad men about who paid them to do this. Al, I think one of your competitors may be going to jail.”

  “He almost killed me! Killed my son, my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren. My entire family,” Al said, his eyes wide, seeing nothing. Then he collapsed.

  “We need a doctor here,” Kris ordered on the security net as he grabbed for Al. “Al Longknife is in medical distress.”

  Five minutes later, a major medical reaction team raced out of the elevator. They had Al on a diagnostic bed in half a minute, and had a diagnosis of shock and a possible series of mini-strokes. They were already treating him as they rushed him toward the elevator.

  Most of Al’s people milled around, if not in shock, certainly bereft of direction.

  Kris gave no orders. She’d used up her order book for at least a week.

  “Well,” Billy said, looking around. “I wonder if that Christmas goose is still warm? Anyone here know where the dining room is?”

  The secretary did indeed know where his boss ate his formal meals. He led the rest of the Longknifes down a wide flight of stairs into the living quarters. There was indeed a cook prepared to feed them. Despite his boss being absent, he was most willing to serve them.

  The secretary excused himself and returned a few minutes later with all the presents for the Longknife children. Honovi’s kids squealed with glee.

  Ruth just wanted a breast to nibble on. She was getting breast milk less and less, but just then, Kris needed it as much as Ruthie. She found a chair that rocked and settled into it. She dropped her top and began nursing her infant.

  The other three kids quickly opened their presents, to find some very expensive toys that they weren’t all that excited about. What seven-year-old wants a train set? How many seven-year-olds even know what a steam locomotive was?

  Honovi’s youngest, who was more interested in the ripping into packaging than what was inside it, was only too happy to open all Ruthie’s presents. They included a silver spoon, a golden rattle and a silver brush with the softest of bristles to brush a baby’s hair.

  All were engraved with Ruth’s full name, including Longknife-Montoya. On some of them, it took several lines to get the whole name down.

  As dinner finished, Nelly announced, “Grampa Al is sedated and doing fine in the clinic on the 149th floor. He’s asleep so we probably shouldn’t visit.”

  So, Ruthie’s very first Christmas visit with her Grampa Al proved to be very survivable, as was also her second assassination attempt.

  Kris could only shake her head. Now she was having to survive assassination attempts on other Longknife lives. It didn’t seem possible that living here, at home, nowhere near a warship or space station that she would still have to be ever on alert, ready to dodge incoming fire every moment of the day or night.

  “Poor Ruthie. You were born a Longknife. May you ever be fast on your feet and quick with a counter attack. Merry Christmas, little one. May you have many, many more. All of them survivable.”

  Coming Attractions

  In 2016 I amicably ended my twenty-year publishing relationship with Ace, part of Penguin Random House. In 2017 I will begin publishing through my own independent press, KL & MM Books.

  I have high hopes of bringing a lot of fun stories to you in 2017, and then again in 2018 and 2019.

  We will kick off the year with Kris Longknife’s Replacement. It will be published as an e-book January 5, 2017 at Amazon, B&N, D2D, Kobo and, I hope, ibooks. Audible has agreed to produce an audio book. The exact date is to be announced. Later in the summer, I hope to produce a trade paperback.

  Kris Longknife’s Replacement tells the story of Grand Admiral Sandy Santiago as she discovers whether a mere mortal can fill a Longknife’s shoes. Especially Kris Longknife’s shoes. Sandy has problems galore: birds, cats, vicious alien raiders. Oh, and she’s got Rita Longknife as well!

  Rita Longknife - Enemy Unknown is the first book of the long awaited Iteeche War series. It will be out in e-book March 5, 2017 from your favorite source. Audible and trade paperback to follow.

  Rita has had enough of Ray Longknife gallivanting around the universe. No sooner is little Al born, than ships start disappearing. Is it pirates, or something more sinister? Rita gets herself command of a heavy cruiser, some nannies and heads out see what there is to see.

  Kris Longknife - Emissary begins an entirely new story arch for K
ris. It will be out in e-book May 5, 2017 from all your favorite sources.

  Here is the story of what it takes to get Kris out from behind a desk. And for those of you betting in the pool, you’ll get your answer. More I cannot say.

  July 5, 2017 will see another book set in Alwa as Sandy Longknife continues to battle aliens of various persuasions and not a few humans.

  September 5, 2017, Rita Longknife - Enemy in Sight will resolve the unknowns left by Enemy Unknown as humanity slips backwards into a war it does not want and may not be able to win.

  November 5, 2017, Kris Longknife - Admiral will see Kris up to her ears in warships, enemy and friendlies maybe not so friendly as battlecruisers square off against battlecruisers. A fight where both sides are equal is a bloody fight that often no one wins. In Admiral, that is exactly what Kris faces.

  Each month that a book isn’t published, a short story or something from the cutting room floor, a scene that had to be cut from an overly long book will be published. Some will be for free, like Ruthie’s wonderful story.

  I have secured the services of Scott Grimando who did the wonderful Kris Longknife covers for Ace to provide the new covers for all the books going forward. It truly will be art to enjoy.

  Stay in touch to follow developments by following Mike Moscoe or Kris Longknife on Facebook or checking in at my website www.mikeshepherd.org.

  I hope to soon have a mailing list you can sign up for, but it’s not there yet.