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Alpha Class: A Kurtherian Universe Series (The Etheric Academy Book 1) Read online




  CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Legal

  Series List

  Social Links

  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

  Author Notes - TS Paul

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Chef Van Norman's Borscht Recipe

  The Queen Is Back

  DEDICATION

  From Michael

  To Family, Friends and

  Those Who Love

  To Read.

  May We All Enjoy Grace

  To Live The Life We Are

  Called.

  From Scott Paul

  To my wife, Heather Paul

  Alpha Class - The Etheric Academy Book 01

  Team Includes

  Beta Readers

  Dorene Johnson (US Navy (Ret) & DD)

  Diane Velasquez (Chinchilla Lady & DD)

  Editors

  Kat Lind

  Stephen Russell

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

  Sherry Foster

  Maria Stanley

  Keith Kell

  Wayne Johnson

  David Williamson

  Aidan Shanahan

  Michael Pendergrass

  Mark Katz

  Philip R. Slocum

  Brent Bakkan

  Lori Harris Smith

  John Raisor

  Scott McDougall

  Brent Smith

  Brian Douglas Fennell

  Lynn F. Ten Eyck

  Ebhdoc Ebhdoc

  Christine Stewart

  Dean Agnew

  If I missed anyone, please let us know!

  Alpha Class (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.

  The Kurtherian Gambit (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds)

  are Copyright (c) 2016 by Michael T. Anderle

  This Complete Book is Copyright (c) 2016 by Michael T. Anderle / TS Paul

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Michael T. Anderle.

  Version 1.0

  TS Paul

  The Athena Lee Chronicles

  Book 0 - The Lost Pilot

  Book 1 – Forgotten Engineer

  Book 2 – Engineering Murder

  Book 3 - Ghost Ships of Terra

  Book 4 - Revolutionary

  Book 5 – Insurrection

  Book 6 – Imperial Subversion

  Book 7 - The Martian Inheritance

  Book 8 - Infiltration

  Book 9 - Prelude to War

  Book 9.5 - Uncommon Life

  Book 10 - War to the Knife

  Ghosts of Noodlemass Past

  Athena Lee Universe

  Shades of Learning

  Space Cadets (1st Quarter 2017)

  Short Story Collections

  Wilson’s War

  A Colony of CATT’s

  The Federal Witch Series

  Book 0 – Born a Witch - Drafted by the FBI

  Book 1 – Magical Probi

  Book 2 - Conjuring Quantico

  Book 3 - Special Agent in Charge (1st Quarter 2017)

  Book 4 - Witness Enchantment (2nd Quarter 2017)

  Night of the Unicorn (TBD)

  Cat’s Night Out and Other Tales (Jan 2017)

  The Etheric Academy

  Book 1 – Alpha Team 01 - Team BMW

  Book 2 – Alpha Team 02 - Jeo & Peter (2017)

  Book 3 - Alpha Team 03 (2017)

  Box Sets and Other

  Chronicles of Athena Lee Books 01-03

  Chronicles of Athena Lee Books 04-06

  Chronicles of Athena Lee Books 07-09

  The Federal Witch Book 01 Books 00-02

  Michael Anderle

  Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include:

  First Arc

  Death Becomes Her (01) - Queen Bitch (02) - Love Lost (03) - Bite This (04)

  Never Forsaken (05) - Under My Heel (06) Kneel Or Die (07)

  Second Arc

  We Will Build (08) - It’s Hell To Choose (09) - Release The Dogs of War (10)

  Sued For Peace (11) - We Have Contact (12) - My Ride is a Bitch (13)

  Don’t Cross This Line (14)

  Third Arc (Due 2017)

  Never Submit (15) - Never Surrender (16) - Forever Defend (17)

  Might Makes Right (18) - Ahead Full (19) - Capture Death (20)

  Life Goes On (21)

  **New Series**

  The Second Dark Ages

  The Dark Messiah (01)

  (Michael’s Return)

  12.25.2016

  The Boris Chronicles

  * With Paul C. Middleton *

  Evacuation

  Retaliation

  Revelation Dec / Jan 2017

  Restitution 2017

  Reclaiming Honor

  * With JUSTIN SLOAN *

  Justice Is Calling (01)

  Claimed By Honor (02)

  Jan 2017

  The Etheric Academy

  * With TS PAUL *

  ALPHA CLASS (01) Dec 2016

  ALPHA CLASS (02) Feb/Mar 2017

  ALPHA CLASS (03) May/June 2017

  Terry Henry “TH” Walton Chronicles

  * With CRAIG MARTELLE *

  Nomad Found (01)

  Nomad Redeemed (02)

  Jan 2017

  SHORT STORIES

  Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 01 (7.5)

  You Don’t Mess with John’s Cousin

  Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 02 (9.5)

  Bitch’s Night Out

  Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 02 (13.25)

  With Natalie Grey

  Bellatrix

  Anthologies

  Glimpse

  Honor in Death

  (Michael’s First Few Days)

  Beyond the Stars: At Galaxy's Edge

  Tabitha’s Vacation

  TS Paul Social

  Website:

  https://tspaul.blogspot.com

  GoodReads and BookBub

  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/t-s-paul

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15054219.T_S_Paul

  Facebook Here:

  https://www.facebook.com/ForgottenEngineer/

  Michael Anderle Social

  Website:

  http://kurtherianbooks.com/

  Email List:

  http://kurtherianbooks.com/email-list/

  Facebook Here:

  https://www.facebook.com/TheKurtherianGambitBooks/

  CHAPTER ONE

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds

  Bethany Anne was eating in the common cafeteria. Her area was a little offset from most, allowing a few feet of extra space for her guards to react. Marcus wasn’t frisked before he approached her table. “My Q
ueen, I mean Bethany Anne, may I have a moment?” Marcus Cambridge was a bit frantic, which got her attention right away.

  She raised an eyebrow and set her tablet aside, “Marcus, what’s wrong?” She tried to avoid reading the minds of her oldest friends.

  “What is this memo I just received about teaching a class?” He was holding out his tablet, shaking it, “I asked Bobcat but he was laughing too hard to tell me. Since it came from your office, I was hoping that you might be able to provide some answers.”

  Smiling, she decided to break it to him ever so gently. “That is a reminder about the Etheric Academy. You are slated as one of the primary instructors.”

  Marcus stood up straighter and looked from her to the tablet and then to her. “Academy? As in students? When did I sign up for that?” He looked back at the document, his eyes searching the words again for another clue.

  Bethany Anne put her elbow on the table and laid her chin in her cupped hand, “If you remember, it was actually your idea, to begin with. We were laying out the basic outline for the Meredith Reynolds, and you said it would be great if we had some sort of science academy to train up our people. I took your basic concept and implemented it.”

  She opened her arms wide, with a smile gracing her face and a gleam in her eye. “Surprise!”

  Marcus’s face scrunched up. “I don’t remember saying anything like that.” He stood there a moment, “Damn Bobcat and his drinking parties!” He turned to her, a look of resignation on his face, “So, I have to lecture or something?”

  Bethany Anne couldn’t hold in her humor any longer. She shook her head and laughed just a little. “Not quite. ADAM pull up the academy layout for Marcus, please.”

  The wall behind Bethany Anne lit up with a full-color graphic design layout of the academy, built inside the Asteroid base, Meredith Reynolds. “We tested all of the children, both Wechselbalg and human alike. The tests were hard since TOM and ADAM came up with some of the questions. Only the best of the best were good enough for this first trial. They needed to already be excelling in regular school and have a desire to advance themselves for the greater good.”

  She reached for her fork, “We had thirty students pass the first time.”

  Marcus’s eyes opened wide. “Thirty? I have to teach thirty?” Marcus was starting to panic.

  She put up a hand, “We have broken them up into groups of five. We mixed personalities and skills to make each group a possible working team. Using a block schedule, they will each spend six weeks on a topic or skill. What you will teach them is ultimately up to you. You will get them all eventually. But only five at any one time.”

  “Oh. I guess there was a memo or something that I missed?” Marcus blushed a little bit.

  “There was. Do I need to assign assistants down in the lab for you? Do not use the kids for that. I want them to learn stuff, not play ‘fetch the left handed wrench’ because it's funny.”

  He nodded his head, his eyes getting his now infamous thinking look. “I think we can come up with some things to do.” He returned his focus to Bethany Anne, “What else are they learning?”

  Bethany Anne shrugged and started counting on a hand, “Orbital mechanics, navigation, engineering, weapons and tactics, flight controls,” she closed the hand and started counting off again. “Logistics, space walking, computers and programming to begin with. We plan to add a few other skill sets as we go including genetics, negotiation, and survival.” She looked at him, “These children are our future. Remember, we will be leaving Earth behind. They need to learn these skills.”

  He put up a hand, “Oh, I agree!” He looked to be concentrating on something. “This was really my idea?”

  “It was. You wanted Tina to have a place to learn that didn’t involve Earth and NASA.”

  Marcus started backing up, “Good ... I think ... OK, then. Thank you, my Queen, I can make this work.” He turned around and bumped into a chair, never seeming to notice.

  Bethany Anne waited until the scientist was out the door before breaking out in laughter. She turned to her guard, “Did he really not know?”

  John Grimes had a look of disbelief on his face. “I think Bobcat may have neglected to tell him due to some sort of bet.”

  Bethany Anne cocked her head to one side, then slowly nodded her head. “Yes, that is what ADAM says as well.”

  “That I can believe.” John turned around to stare at the academy layout. “Is everything ready to go, down there, for this?”

  “They keep saying it is. Your niece was accepted, you know.” She stabbed at some green beans with her fork, “I have an obligation to make sure she gets whatever she needs to succeed.”

  The large man nodded his head. “I remember. Too bad Todd didn’t qualify. He hasn’t completely come around to our way of thinking yet.”

  “He’ll get there. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum tell me he is obsessed with aircraft and spaceships right now. Maybe you can give him a nudge in the right direction.” She put a forkful of food in her mouth as ADAM and TOM bitched in her mind about her using Tabitha’s nicknames for Hirotoshi and Ryu.

  “Maybe I can.” The big man stared off into space for a moment.

  —

  Checking the list carefully Tina placed each item in the bag.

  She really didn’t need to check. When her mom told her about her acceptance into the Etheric Academy, she studied the information completely. The Etheric Academy was the brainchild of Queen Bethany Anne, Marcus, and two sisters that were rescued by the Guard several years ago.

  Her mom had introduced her to them at one of the casual dinners those inside the inner circle occasionally had. They had worked to overcome Michael’s mental suggestions to forget the battle they had been a part of, which was pretty miraculous for regular non-upgraded humans.

  “Tina, I don’t want you to go,” her brother admitted, playing with a pencil she had on her desk.

  “You’ll get an invite too, Todd. We took the same tests together.” Tina’s brother was only now starting to come around to the fact that this was it.

  Their future was in space.

  He looked up to her, “I’ll miss you.”

  Smiling at her brother, Tina gave him a gentle shove. “I’m just going to the other side of the Meredith Reynolds you know. It’s not like I’m going back to Earth or something!”

  “I know that! It’s just…” He sat on her bed and hung his head.

  Tina gave her brother another shove. “Cheer up, you get the whole room to yourself now.” The two of them shared a small room about half the size of a shipping container. Cheryl Lynn actually got one of the first apartments on the Meredith Reynolds to be built. She helped set the standard size limits.

  Todd looked around the small room seeing the possibilities. He might be able to fit one of the new pod simulators in here. He would have to ask Mom first, though.

  He spoke as his mind reviewed the possibilities in the new space, “Be careful over there. Some of those Russian kids are big.”

  She shook her head, “I’ll be fine. They are trying really hard to fit in. You just have to give them a chance. I know you like Yurgi. I’ve seen you two discussing aircraft profiles and flight navigation mathematics.”

  Todd turned his focus back to Tina, “That is different. Yurgi is just a little guy. He’s not like some of those really big guys!”

  Tina shook her head at her brother. She wondered if his attitude might be what was holding him back. “Those big guys are Wechselbalg kids, so they are supposed to be a bit larger. You need to figure out what you really want Todd. Do you want to work for a living or lead? When you figure it out, that will be when the Academy admits you. Wait and see.”

  She put the last item in the carryall bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Come on. Mom said something about a special dinner.”

  The two siblings opened the connecting hatch door and resealed it behind them. The asteroid base was reasonably secure but safety procedures needed to be learn
ed. Better to learn them now, rather than when lives were on the line.

  Sniffing the air Tina smiled. “Pizza!”

  Coming into the kitchen area, Cheryl Lynn smiled at her two teenage children, “There you two are! Tina, I have your favorite for you.” Two steaming pizzas sat in the center of the small table in the dining area.

  Cheese pizza done right was an exquisite experience. It was the purest form of pizza or at least that is what Tina believed. The two pizzas had a familiar odor, and she looked at her mom in shock then back to the Giuseppe’s boxes. Where the smell had come from … too many miles away to figure out, now. “How?”