As for the elusive shadow, Anton Slayne was not operating alone. Whether the younger Slayne understood the presence of another or not was a moot point. By the time the death cusp arrived, he would be reinforced by someone capable of being a threat to Cornelius’ life.
However, he would not enter the cusp alone, he would ensure his best weapon was at his side for the inevitable confrontation.
In the meantime, he’d evacuate his library, artworks, and Metaframe lore to a new safe location. Of the Metaframe artifacts, he now carried the Papyrus of Hakron the Scribe in a golden scroll tube sheathed in Kevlar at his waist, and the Key of Ahknaton rested above his heart, dangling from a polished titanium chain around his neck.
He rose from the divan, strode to his desk and punched a button on the console. “Ursula, find generals Maze and Armitage. I want them in the war room in thirty minutes.”
There was the briefest of pauses. “Yes, Sir.”
Cornelius placed his right hand over the Key of Ahknaton, its cold hardness pressing into his sternum beneath his shirt. The only way someone was going to acquire the Key was over his cold, still corpse. He smiled - with his now appropriately motivated enforcer at his side, that would be all but impossible to achieve.
* * *
“The Panopticon must be protected at all costs,” Crane ordered, stabbing a long finger at general Clayton Maze. “Spare nothing in its defense. That system is critical to our world-wide operations and we cannot allow an Order of Thoth force team to destroy it.”
Chloe looked on as Crane stared hard at Maze, the latter rubbing his chin slowly, his large dark eyes narrowing slightly. Crane didn’t need to mention that the Panopticon was an essential part of the force attempting to apprehend the rogue vampire of a ‘new type,’ forging his way across China to an unknown goal. That was a mystery she would love to penetrate, but opportunities to do so were not being offered and she had little spare time to forge them. She broke the silence hanging in the air between Crane and Maze. “If the location of the Panopticon has been revealed to the remnants of the Order of Thoth it’s only a matter of time before they attempt to assault it.”
Crane’s head whipped around to face her. “And what do you know about that?”
“Nothing more than anyone else here,” Chloe said. She arched an eyebrow. “You’re the one implying the Order are poised to strike it. Given there are only two force teams left, it would be either Mirovar or Blake.”
Crane studied her briefly, and then turned back to Maze. “In any event, I expect an attack on the Panopticon. I want you to take full onsite tactical command of the defense of the fortress. The remaining praetorians from my Citadel force will be seconded to your command. In addition, I will assign most of the Day Guard currently stationed at the Citadel to you, as well as the next tranche completing their training at Fort Dix. That will give you sixteen praetorians and forty-eight Day Guard troopers to bolster the forces stationed at the Panopticon site.
Maze said in measured tones, “Have the praetorians fed?”
“Within the last hour. Our local stock of humans in our feeding halls are almost depleted. They won’t need to feed for another two days, which will be more than enough time. The need to protect the Panopticon is urgent, an attack is imminent.”
Maze leaned forward slightly and inquired, “Are there any other instructions?”
Crane lips pressed into a thin determined line. He took a step back from the war room table, rising to his full height and forcefully stated, “I have given you the resources you need, and nearly two centuries of life after plucking you from that hell-hole in New Orleans. It’s time for you to repay your debts and do your duty. Protect the Panopticon or don’t bother to come back.”
The threat lay heavy in the air. No one took a breath until Maze replied quietly, “I’m ever your loyal servant. Past debts are not forgotten. I will do my duty. Have no fear my liege, the Panopticon will outlast any Order of Thoth scum that attempt to destroy it.”
Crane nodded once; his eyes fierce with passion. “You have your orders.”
“Yes, Sir,” Maze replied with calm confidence, pushing himself away from the table and standing up. He pulled the sleeves of his dark suit over his wrists, a grim smile caressing his full lips.
As he turned to leave, Crane called him back. “One last thing Clayton. I’m promoting Louise Wesson to head of the worldwide Shadowstone organization. She’ll report directly to me from now on. I don’t want your attention distracted by other responsibilities.”
Maze nodded impassively, and said firmly, “Yes, Sir.” Then turned on his heel and left the war room.
There was a long moment of silence as Crane watched Maze leave the room, the door closing behind him. Crane’s remaining forces in the north of the United States would be scrambled to defend the Panopticon. Chloe was fully aware of the site, its inherent defenses and the forces already in place. The addition of seventeen combat trained and war experienced vampires and nearly fifty day guards would make the site all but impregnable.
If the Mirovar force team tried to assault the Panopticon fortress, they would die in the attempt. The Panopticon was the most heavily defended site in the Vampire Dominion. However, the Mirovar force team was fresh off surviving the disastrous defeat of the Order at the conclave in Minneapolis. They, along with the Blake force team operating out of California, were the most dangerous surviving elements of the Order, and only a fool would underestimate their capabilities. The weakest members of the Order had been purged from their ranks and only the strongest remained in the fight.
Still, assaulting the Panopticon fortress was a suicide mission.
The more important and less obvious issue was that Crane was running out of praetorians. His strategy of ruthlessly limiting vampire numbers to less than one thousand had been a highly successful component of keeping his rule of the world secret, but it also exposed him to risk if he was ever put under sustained pressure and began to take serious losses. Total praetorian numbers were never more than a quarter of the vampire population and now they were dropping like flies, recent efforts to recruit special forces on operations in the Middle East notwithstanding.
His best praetorians, vampires of long and loyal service were dead - some of them at her own hand. There were another sixty seconded with generals Franz, Zhen, and Mosule hunting the elusive rogue vampire in the East. There were another forty in standing contingents throughout the world, but his numbers in the United States were wearing thin.
All this added pressure upon his regime. Soon, the stress would reach a peak that Chloe could co-opt to crash his rule. She blinked slowly, but first she’d have to rid herself of the damnable implant buried next to her brain stem. All was lost if she could not afford to see Cornelius Crane, king of the Vampire Dominion, her lord and master - dead - and dead he must be if she were ever to be free of Allemande’s curse and at liberty to wield the Key of Ahknaton to bring into reality her vision for a new world order.
Would Crane respond to his losses by creating more vampires? It was a good question and it remained to be seen what he would do. He had an aversion to creating vampires who could not be controlled, but what actions would desperation lead him to?
Her mind whirled with the possibilities but one truth remained above all others - Crane would be at his most dangerous at the end of the game.
Chloe’s eyes tightened, her mind racing. The news Hana Tanaka had gone missing, lost to the Panopticon was terrifying. Tanaka was her best and only hope of defeating Crane’s implant. Surely there was a back door, a secondary protocol built into the implant that could disarm it. It was her one hope in her secret war with Crane. She had to have an answer for the implant or else he’d already won. She would devote the rest of her life to defending his life and rule, or die at his side with a dose of silver shot into her brain. The purpose of her life would evaporate like a mirage before it was made manifest in a concrete reality of her choosing.
Rediscovering Hana Tana
ka was a priority, but with the sudden focus on the Panopticon, it was a task that would have to wait for a more opportune moment. Chloe would have to return to Japan in the near future, perhaps with James and the chameleons in tow, and confront whoever was protecting Tanaka. No one as intelligent as the young scientist would run unless they had someone they trusted they could run to.
It would be wise to make no assumptions about who might be protecting Tanaka. They could range from simple humans - little more than organized criminals or mercenaries, to rogue vampires, or Ramp masters. The Vampire Dominion had reach but was too thinly spread to shine light into every dark nook and cranny of the world. Anything could be hiding in the darkest shadows of the world. Things that could inspire madness and strike terror in the bravest souls could escape the most thorough searches.
An unbidden memory arrived with a cold shiver up her spine, transporting her back to the dying days of the second world war. To a dank dungeon beneath a dark fortress hidden within the grim forests of Southern Germany. Russian forces were approaching from the east and Allied forces from the west. They were inconsequential to the powers questing to be released that night. A young girl with a savant ability to access the Metaframe equal to the Key of Ahknaton had been captured by a cabal of Metaframe sorcerers. They’d used the Nazi movement as a cover to advance their own infernal plans to inflict unspeakable horror upon the world.
Oh, how the future of the world had teetered in the balance. She didn’t need a perfect memory to remember what she’d witnessed that night - the scars were still on her soul.
Crane’s voice impinged upon her reverie. “- of course, it is essential that we secure -” Crane’s palm slammed into the table in front of Chloe. “Pay attention!” His long pale forefinger cut through the air in front of her nose. He snapped, “Get your head into the game, Armitage, or don’t you think this is worthy of your notice?”
Chloe blinked. “My apologies, you were saying?”
Crane sighed. “Never mind. Just be prepared to fight, for today we go to war with the remnants of the Order of Thoth. By dawn tomorrow they will have ceased to exist.”
Chloe nodded and said dryly, “An excellent plan.”
“Don’t mock me,” Crane snarled. “Now get out of here before I decide you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
Chloe’s eyes dropped to half-lidded, and she stood up in a single lithe movement. “Of course, Sir. I’ll be ready.”
Crane grunted.
Chloe turned and left, foregoing any sign of deference. Crane had inserted a deadly implant beneath her skull. Unless he was about to die, she owed him nothing more than indifference.
The door closed behind her, the world was seething with possibilities, wondrous, terrifying, and horrific. As always, she’d chart her own course and navigate in accordance with her own personal star.
She would see her vision realized or die trying.
There were no other options worthy of her interest.
* * *
Armitage left the war room.
Cornelius slumped back into his chair, his hand brushing over his forehead and through his long dark hair. With a death cusp imminent, he’d keep her close at hand. As much to keep an eye on her, as use her supreme skill set to protect his own life. He shook his head. He hadn’t seen a convergence of threats to his life this bad since he’d sourced his previsionary power from the voodoo sorcerer and Metaframe adept, Jean Philippe Allemande back in the 1850s. His plans had been progressing perfectly as recently as six months ago, and now, everything had gone to hell. Well, he wouldn’t stand for it. He tapped the intercom and buzzed his executive secretary Ursula Zielinkski. A brief moment later, the war room door opened and Ursula walked into the room.
“Yes, Sir?” she asked in perfectly modulated tones.
“Ursula, please initiate the evacuation protocol for the Citadel, with the following variations. My collections are to be moved to my private yacht, the Odysseus. I’ve ordered it to be docked in New York harbor. There is a secured lockbox in my library that must be included with the other goods. It contains some private materials that need to be kept separate from the books and artworks, and are more precious to me than the rest of my collection combined.
Ursula nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ll take special care of the lockbox … what is the timeframe?”
“The task must be complete by the end of September. The command center will shift to a skeleton staff immediately. All praetorian forces and most of the local Day Guard have been seconded to a mission under the command of general Maze. I want the best of the CC operators to transfer to the new facility in the East Coast Hub, the rest can stay here to man operations until the evacuation is complete.
“Shall I decommission the citadel floors and wipe all evidence of our existence?”
Cornelius smiled grimly. “That may not be necessary, but be prepared to do so during October or November. The citadel must move, it’s only a matter of time before this place is destroyed by our enemies.”
Ursula’s light-blue eyes widened. “We’ve been compromised?”
Cornelius nodded. “Move all your personal effects out of Manhattan … on second thought, out of New England.”
“It’s that bad?”
Cornelius nodded again and frowned slightly. “We have time, but it is running out.”
“Anything else, Sir?”
“No. That is all.”
Ursula nodded and left the war room.
Cornelius hadn’t shared with her the notion that he could be dead within the next twenty-four hours. She didn’t need to know that, and anyway, he planned on surviving the cusp event and ensuring that Anton Slayne died instead. He smiled, that was a far better outcome. Cornelius glanced at a row of clocks on the wall, it was still at least four hours before sunset in Beijing. He’d have to wait until after sunrise in New York City for a progress report from general Haras Mosule on efforts to capture the Mekrarian ninja vampire.
Four hours were not to be wasted. He opened up the main screens to view the Panopticon feeds. It was time to review and organize the disposition of his forces, modify strategies and update tactics. Mastering the available information was his strength and he would use it to defeat his opponents as he had done for more than nine centuries.
If his enemies underestimated him, they did so at their mortal peril.
* * *
Louise Wesson’s smartphone rang, a loud and insistent alarm waking her from deep sleep.
Louise snapped to full awareness. It was four in the morning. She’d been sleeping on a low camp bed in her office at Shadowstone research facility number nineteen. Three levels above her office was Fort Dix. She’d been at the fort for the last three weeks, making use of the local gymnasium for bathing facilities, and eating at the officer’s mess.
She picked up her phone, the number was marked as untraceable - that shouldn’t be possible. There was only one person who could have such a number. She asked in a clear voice, “Sir, what can I do for you?”
There was the briefest of pauses, then a strong baritone voice spoke with a slight hint of a French accent, “Your anticipation confirms my judgment Ms. Wesson. I’m ringing you at this ungodly hour as events are approaching a critical convergence. I’m promoting you to the head of the worldwide Shadowstone organization. I’m placing the heads of the United Kingdom, Europe, the Far East, Africa, and South America under your immediate command. Of course, you’ll continue to personally direct North American operations. This role consolidates the purpose of Shadowstone to provide stability in a dangerous world. Do you accept this responsibility?”
Louise said what she must, “Yes, Sir. I accept.”
“You will have full discretionary authority, reporting to and answerable only to me. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Sir. Have the other heads been notified?”
“They will be within the hour, expect them to report back to you within the next two hours. If they don’t report in, contact me on my direc
t line. I will provide my phone address shortly.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
The unidentified voice clearly belonged to Cornelius Crane, the mysterious head of Shadowstone and as Louise strongly suspected, the head of the vampires. Crane continued. “Your recent efforts against the Order of Thoth have not gone unnoticed. Achieving a better than one for one kill ratio in a battle is unprecedented for Shadowstone. While some of the enemy escaped, they were helped by powers that were beyond any possibility to anticipate or interdict. In summary, your conduct of the operation was exemplary and that is why you have been rewarded with this new position.”
“Thank you, Sir. I’m honored.”
“Indeed, you are … please continue with this level of performance Ms. Wesson and your future career will be unlimited. Do you have any questions?”
“No, Sir.”
“Then get to work young lady - there is a war to win.”
The call disconnected.
Louise threw off her blankets and got up. There’d be no more sleep this night. The three and a half hours she’d just snatched would have to be enough.
Her strategy was working, she was reaching a position where she could influence the worldwide operations of Shadowstone, the Day Guard and the new Panopticon being established in the East Coast Hub. Before long, she’d be able to turn the weapons of the vampires against them, and bring her enemy to their utter destruction. In time, she’d restore the Republic of the United States, and from that singular beacon, a new human civilization would arise without the blight of rule by a class of parasitic predators.
The Crane War Page 4