“Precisely,” Jay said. “We need to withdraw and find another strategy.”
Anton slammed his right hand into his left palm. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been getting our butts kicked. The Order is all but destroyed. We don’t need to find another strategy. We need to destroy the Panopticon. We’ll never get another chance to seize the initiative away from the vampires. How many people had to die for us to get this opportunity? We know where it is now. How long before Crane works out we know about it and moves it?”
Chiara asked, “Could the Panopticon be moved?”
“I can’t rule it out,” Li said with a shrug, “but it doesn’t matter if it gets moved. Attacking the Panopticon fortress is suicidal.”
Anton couldn’t help but think of Samuel Luther decrying the reliability of loremasters and mind palaces back during the ill-fated mission to rescue Ramin Kain from Armitage’s manor house. As much as he hated to admit it, he had to agree with Luther, loremasters could make mistakes, especially someone like Li who was new to the discipline. He faced Peter, lifted his hands and implored, “Come on. How can we turn this down? We’ll never get another chance like this!”
Peter frowned, wavering.
Li grabbed Peter’s right forearm; her eyes wide. “Peter,” she glanced over her shoulder at Chiara sitting on the corner of the table. “Chiara,” Li shook her head. Her long dark hair hanging in a loose curtain over her shoulders. “You’ll both die in the nemesis tower. It gets destroyed with you in it.”
Chiara pressed her lips together, stared at Li, and said, “Cassandra wasn’t believed either.”
Anton snapped incredulously, “Greek myth? We’re relying on Greek myth now?” He shook his head, his eyes wide. “I’m on my own here.” He turned to his force leader. “Francis?”
Francis drew his left hand down across the day’s stubble on his chin and stated, “I’m not sending anyone into a vampire fortress unless we have a clear plan of how it can be done.”
Anton sighed heavily, putting his hands flat on the table. “Yeah, sure. Have a plan. We need a plan. Yeah, agreed, but we need to get one quick before we’re discovered skulking around this site.” His lips curled into a derisive grin. “We’re playing for more than our lives here.” He looked around the table. “Can you honestly say were doing the best we can right now? That we’re seizing the opportunity? That we’re worthy of the abilities we have? For fuck’s sake - what the hell are we standing for if we can’t focus a hundred and ten percent,” his left hand flashed out, pointing in the direction of the fortress, “on destroying that fucking vampire fortress while we still have a chance to do it!”
Francis glanced back over his left shoulder into the body of the building. The roadhouse’s proprietor seemed to be ignoring them, and the fry cook was off in the kitchen and out of earshot. “Anton,” he admonished. “Maintain cover at all times. Keep your discipline.”
Anton stared at Francis, while his breath hitched in his chest. Suddenly he was desperately alone. Did none of them understand what needed to be done? They had to find a way to take down this fortress and destroy the Panopticon. Without their mass surveillance system to warn them, Crane and Armitage would be vulnerable. He could find them without them realizing it. He could confront them, and he could kill them. It was what they deserved.
Justice demanded nothing less than their deaths. Could no one else see what needed to be done? Was he the only one who wanted to act?
Anton shook his head, utterly perplexed by everyone’s defeatist attitude.
* * *
The roadhouse stood alone; a silent sentinel lit by the bright light of dawn.
Arthur Slayne pulled his one-ton pickup truck into a parking bay in front of the roadhouse. The proprietor had sent him a text that the ‘team,’ had arrived. He leaped from the truck, his scuffed and faded work boots raising a puff of dust as he landed on the graveled parking lot outside the roadhouse entrance. The proprietor’s text had alerted him to the presence of the Mirovar force team an hour earlier. He’d told the fellow who to look for yesterday and he’d obliged Arthur’s request with a message.
He’d spent the early morning sending the last of his tracked ground drones into the cave complex on the eastern side of the valley. He’d been expecting the text after being fully informed of recent events by Jon Thunder-Axe the day before. The Mirovar force team had arrived to destroy the Panopticon, but now they hesitated after discovering how formidable its defenses were.
A hesitation that was all too predictable.
They had no idea of how to get into the fortress, let alone what to do once they were in there. Exfiltration was another obstacle for the team. How on earth would they escape the fortress and break contact with any pursuit? It was certain they still didn’t know that Crane had a precognitive power. They were operating blind, and without his help they would all be dead before the day was out.
His smartphone pinged. He read the message, ‘Responding to your information, re vampire coven in Las Vegas. Will stage there late afternoon with full team and investigate reports. J.’
Justin Blake and his full force team would be in Las Vegas later today. He’d assisted Justin with a weapons cache in Las Vegas in the previous year. It was all part of a greater plan.
He picked up a roll of paper from the passenger seat and walked to the roadhouse entrance, pushed the doors open and strode into the main dining room.
He was filled with confidence. The whispering voices had been particularly quiet this morning. The voices knew far too much. He would stop his ears with his fingers to shut them out but that never worked because the voices were inside his head. They murmured away in a darkness of his own making and it was essential that he never heard what they had to say.
At least not until the right moment.
* * *
The roadhouse entrance doors creaked open.
Anton’s head flicked left to see who was coming in. His eyes widened and he did a double take.
Li gasped.
Chiara blurted, “Gee Anton, it’s your -”
“Fuck it,” Jay muttered, his face flushing red.
“Cat meet pigeons,” Peter remarked dryly, staring past Jay’s shoulder from the opposite side of the table.
Francis sighed, closed his eyes for a moment, palmed his forehead, then looked up and said, “Hello, Arthur.”
Anton’s grandfather, his dark, gray-shot hair compressed beneath a worn ‘Caterpillar,’ brand cap, dressed in faded jeans permeated with gray rock dust, scuffed work boots, a checkered flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up over tanned, muscular forearms, and carrying a long spool of paper wrapped with a black ribbon approached the table with a broad grin on his face.
His dark blue eyes fixed on Jay, his face falling. “Two of the best people I ever met died the night Kain murdered your mother. Don’t believe his lies.”
Jay drew breath to retort, then sighed. He fell into silence, a deep and troubled frown creasing his brow.
Anton’s chair scraped across the floor as he pushed back from the table.
Arthur turned to Francis, clapping him on a shoulder like an old comrade. “Let bygones be bygones old friend. The moment for victory is upon us!”
Francis looked up at him and said, “How did you know we were here?”
Arthur shrugged. “Jon Thunder-Axe told me about what happened at the conclave. I was expecting you, and I asked the proprietor to keep an eye out for you. All very simple stuff, Francis.” He swept past Francis who was momentarily perplexed, and grinned wildly at Anton.
“Anton, my boy -”
Anton leaped to his feet, his face pale, his right fist lashing out, catching Arthur hard on the jaw. Arthur flew backward past Francis and Jay, crashing into the nearest tables and chairs, sending them sliding across the polished floor.
Anton stepped forward, his forefinger pointed hard at his grandfather, and shouted, “Where the fucking hell were you when Mom was being murdered by Armitage,” h
e paused, his chest heaving, “and Dad was dragged away to be turned into a vampire?”
Arthur picked himself up, rubbing his jaw, his eyes hard. “They did that did they? Imprisoned Billy in silver? I never knew for sure.”
Anton’s head reared back like an unruly stallion. He took another step toward his grandfather, his voice shaking with barely contained fury “Where were you? We fucking needed you!”
Arthur rubbed his face, his eyes filled with something beyond definition. “Anton. If I’d known, I would’ve -”
“Done what?”
“- been there.”
“Anton,” Li offered, “Your grandfather couldn’t have predicted that Armitage and Drake would come to your home.”
Anton flicked his gaze like a whip over his right shoulder. “Stay out of this Li. This is between me,” Anton tapped his chest with his thumb, and then pointed at Arthur, “and him!”
Arthur scooped up his roll of paper from the floor and stepped up close to Anton, his voice level with ironclad discipline. “You forget, I lost a son that night, and Anna was the daughter I never had.”
“All the more reason why you should’ve -”
“Been there!” An incredulous look swept across Arthur’s face. “Don’t think for a second that I wouldn’t’ve been there in a heartbeat if I’d known.”
Anton stared into Arthur’s eyes. There was a tightly held fury hidden behind them. It was like looking into a mirror that provided a glimpse of his own future. Beneath the rage, a jarring agonized regret welled forth, reaching icy fingers through the space between them. Arthur’s deeply-held pain hit Anton like a cold, hard slap. He took a step backward, the anger at his grandfather ebbing from his heart like an outgoing tide.
Arthur sighed, his eyes hardened over his pain and looked past Anton. “Every day, I wish I’d been there,” his gaze flicked back like a knife into Anton’s heart and he snapped, “but I’m not a miracle worker.”
Something hollow and tight seized Anton’s chest. His lips thinned and he blanched. If Arthur wasn’t to blame then who was? He stepped back, pushing the question away. The anger for his grandfather replaced with a flood of dark guilt.
Anton looked down at his boots, anywhere but at Arthur.
His grandfather’s left hand appeared on his shoulder and gave him a shake. He leaned in and whispered, “We need to talk.”
Anton nodded. Arthur’s simple words struck like an electric shock. His grandfather grinned with a smile that never reached his eyes, indicated the table with the roll of paper and stated, “I have something here you’re going to want to see.”
Anton frowned, a residual spark of suspicion flaring within him, but he took another step backward to give Arthur space as curiosity sallied forth.
Jay and Francis pushed their chairs back and stood up. A moment later the nearside of the table was cleared.
Arthur stepped forward, untied the black ribbon and spread the paper out on the table. He picked up a pair of coffee mugs and used them to pin the nearside corners down to the wooden surface.
Peter, his eyes alight with avid interest, helped pin down the far side of the paper with a pair of salt and pepper shakers. “Schematics? How did you get them? I presume they’re real.”
Anton moved up, standing to Arthur’s left, staring at the detailed drawings of the vampire fortress. His heart leaped, his mouth fell open, his gaze consuming the densely packed images like a starving man offered a feast. Here was the game changer that would allow a successful attack on the Panopticon. He glanced back at Arthur who winked at him.
He was no longer alone in his quest to destroy the vampire fortress.
Arthur said, “The initial contracts for the construction of the fortress came out nearly twenty years ago. I have a number of companies I own through a network of proxies. They successfully bid for the work. In total, my companies built well over half the fortress, including most of the IT and security systems.”
Peter gave a low whistle.
Li’s eyes flattened. “So, you think you can get into the fortress? What about getting us out again?”
Anton explained. “Li had a vision, it wasn’t good. We’ve been arguing about what to do.”
“Leaving was our first option,” Jay added.
“Oh,” Arthur offered, incredulously. “You don’t want to leave.”
Francis frowned, and said with quiet finality, “This is not your team.”
“Of course, of course,” Arthur added, resting his right hand on Francis’ shoulder. “You’re in charge Francis. No argument.” Arthur grinned, glancing around the team. “I’m just a consultant.”
Francis’ eyes narrowed, then flicked back down to the schematics on the table top. “So, what do you really have?”
“I can get us in and … out.”
“You’ve had these plans for what? Ten years? Twenty years?” Francis inquired. “Why wait until now to do something? You could’ve sabotaged this site years ago.”
“Who says that hasn’t already happened. How do you think the loremaster tech can work against the Panopticon? I had people build a backdoor into the Panopticon’s network routines to allow us to haze it. The feature had to be limited so that Crane wouldn’t get too suspicious.”
Francis’ jaw dropped. He gathered himself, his face flushing. “And now you tell us?”
“Operational security. The Order is corrupt. If Kain had found out, the information would’ve leaked back to Crane.”
“You couldn’t trust me after Juliette did the work to hide your family?”
“It’s not about trust,” Arthur asserted.
Francis’ eyes flashed. “It’s always about trust. You didn’t trust me enough to bring me into your plans. You withhold information, you use people - and they never know what your real goals are. I’ll never forget about how you put Juliette at risk.”
“She volunteered.”
“You used her as bait!” Francis snapped.
“She survived.”
“Not good enough,” Francis stated. He thrust a finger at Arthur. “We have to know what this is really about.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what the real goal is here,” Arthur offered, his gaze roving around the team. “We go in. We kill the power, and force the Panopticon to go into ‘evacuation,’ mode - and then - we steal it!”
“Steal it?” Anton asked.
“Sure. There’s no reason why the vampires should be the only group with this technology. If we also have it, their advantage is gone. We’ll be able to track them too.”
Anton grinned; he liked the sound of this plan.
“Wait a second,” Jay said, scowling. “You said your companies built the IT, why didn’t you just build a second Panopticon?”
Arthur frowned for a moment. “I said, most of the IT. The quantum processors and AI core came from elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere?” Francis asked skeptically. “There’s something you don’t know?”
Arthur’s eyes tightened and he shrugged his shoulders. “Of course, I don’t know everything, but I know enough to get us in and get us out again.”
Francis breathed out through clenched teeth, then asked, “How do you get us in?”
“There is a complex of caves to the east of the base, they provide a way in via the same underground river that supplies the pumping and power stations.”
Jay studied Arthur. “How do you know all this?”
“One of my companies completed the geophysical surveys for the site,” Arthur said with a shrug, a slight smile curling his lips. “Of course, we didn’t tell them everything we found out.”
Peter and Chiara glanced at Anton, quiet hope on their faces.
Li cautioned into the tense silence. “Say we get in and get out with the Panopticon. Where would you keep it? You’d need an array of quantum processors to run it and truly massive storage. I’m sure the vampires are tracking the manufacture of quantum tech. They’ll know. You’ll never be able to start it up without them f
inding out where it is.”
Jay added. “Not to mention that you haven’t outlined how we get out of the fortress. I’m sure Crane and the rest are not going to let us just waltz out of there with the Panopticon tucked under our arm.”
“And just how is that done anyway?” Li asked, in incredulous tones. “We’re talking about a major AI system and all its data. How do you keep it from degrading?”
Arthur smiled confidently, like he’d expected these questions. “There is a suitcase sized evacuation system filled with ultra-dense storage and quantum memory chips. It’s designed to hold and transport the Panopticon if the fortress and the power plants fail. We’ll use it - we just have to trigger the Panopticon to download into it.” He glanced across at Jay. “I have the exfil path planned. We’ll be able to escape. With the Panopticon out of business - the vampires will not be able to track us.”
“And how do you take out the power plants?” Francis asked.
Peter glanced hard at Anton, and shook his head once.
Not with a Commander tank, Anton thought.
Arthur stated confidently, “I have a way to take out the power plants.”
“A way? … So, definitive,” Francis said, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
Arthur’s lips curled into a knowing grin. He reached past Francis and stabbed the blueprints with a finger. “We start at the pumping station, we use the maintenance tunnels on the level below to send two teams to the power stations,” his finger touched on two structures to the north and south of the base, “here and here.” He stepped back, his eyes flashing. He swept his hand through a flat arc. “We shut them down and disable the diesel backups. That’ll cause a base wide power outage and initiate the Panopticon’s evacuation mode.”
“That’s all very well,” Jay said, looking hard at Arthur. “But you still haven’t said how we get out.”
“We fly out.”
Jay laughed harshly. “And, how the hell do we do that?”
Arthur nodded. “A third team destroys the specter and nemesis towers so they can’t shoot us down. We capture a nightfalcon from the hangers, and fly the hell out of there.”
The Crane War Page 8