A Subtle Agency

by Graeme Rodaughan

  ‘They know that there are two or three Order here - they would aim for two to one odds; they will show up with four to six vampires. Not a big force.’

  ‘How many is a big force?’

  ‘More than six.’

  ‘What if they know that Francis Mirovar is coming?’

  Gang frowned, ‘then we have far bigger problems. It will be sunset soon, I don’t think that the vampires will wait. This battle will be decided within an hour. Now I’m not going to give you some big speech to bolster your courage like,’ and Gang flourished one hand dramatically, orating in deep tones, ‘“Once more unto the breach, dear friends ...”’ And then continued, ‘as I would rather that you simply survive and keep your freedom. I won’t gloss over the very real danger of fighting vampires. I want the two of you to stick together, look after each other and don’t play the hero.’

  Gang grasped both of their shoulders and said, ‘just remember, tonight is all about surviving to fight another day.’

  Li nodded.

  Anton said seriously, ‘All of us, or none of us.’

  Gang nodded, ‘yes - we all make it out.’

  ‘Shall we check what they are doing?’ Li said.

  ‘Yes, let’s use the access walkways - just don’t get shot.’

  Anton smiled wryly, ‘great advice.’

  ‘I’ll check the river,’ Li offered, immediately ramping away.

  Anton looked at Gang, and glanced toward the west, they both ramped at the same time, blurring away to the front of the warehouse.

  A handful of seconds later, Anton and Gang were inching their way to a position that overlooked the carpark. They watched the new Nightfalcon as it dropped off its troops and immediately took to the air, with an operative remaining in the cabin, manning the waist minigun. Anton heard it join the other helicopter as both began circling the warehouse at a distance.

  He stepped back and turned to Gang, ‘how long can they keep circling like that?’

  ‘Long enough. We need to get to our positions. They are now simply waiting for the vampires to arrive.’

  Anton followed Gang back into the midst of the warehouse and found his place on the right side, facing the front, armed with the automatic shotgun, the MP7 submachine gun holstered on his right hip and the Blue Dragon in its scabbard over his shoulder.

  His eyes narrowed, he was surprised to discover that he felt calm.

  Now we wait for the storm.

  * * *

  Louise carried the military lock box away as the Indigo-6 Nightfalcon roared into the air.

  The box was stamped with her name in bold letters on the lid. Her thumbprint unlocked the box, she flipped open the lid, smiling grimly as she peered inside it. In moments, she pulled off her boots and started to strip off her combat fatigues.

  Noticing the appreciative glances of the other operatives, she shouted, ‘eyes front.’

  They immediately turned away, and she completed the removal of her outer clothes.

  Louise pulled a matt black carbon nanotube jumpsuit from the box and put it on, it covered her sleek form from ankle to wrist, and to the top of her neck. She followed it with a matt black combat vest. The combination provided an excellent capability to stop penetrating wounds and disperse impact shock. She completed the transformation by adding additional, elbow, hip, thigh, knee, and shin guards, and a pair of gauntlets. She used the box as a stool to put her combat boots back on. Picking up her tactical helmet, she pushed her fine brown hair back from her forehead and put it on. A Heads-Up-Display automatically activated as her visor guard came down, covering the top half of her face.

  A moment later the helmet reached out, connecting with the Shadowstone tactical networks and her command links to the remaining squad leaders came online.

  ‘Squad leaders report in.’

  ‘Green-4 Alpha in position, Ma’am.’

  ‘Blue-5 Alpha in position, Ma’am.’

  The three Indigo-6 squads all reported in, followed by the fourth squad manning the RHIB on the river, as did the two Nightfalcon pilots circling the warehouse at a radius of a thousand yards.

  Red-1 wiped out, Green-4 and Blue-5 cut to ribbons, what a debacle.

  Louise felt that her earlier reservations had been vindicated by events. However, she took no pleasure in being proven right. She had spent the last six months working very hard with these men, and while a cold-blooded killer when the job demanded it, she was also naturally loyal to the team. She felt the losses of her men like a knife in the guts, a knot of quiet anger burned within her. She only had one question, who was more responsible, the Wus and Anton Smith for killing them, or James Haley for leading them into an obvious trap.

  Flicking her visor up, she added her P90 submachine gun, Glock 9mm and four hand grenades to the holsters and webbing on her armor.

  She jammed the last grenade into position.

  Maybe it’s time to frag the boss.

  She sighed, her anger loosening its grip as she restored her professional demeanor. She turned, walking over to where James Haley stood watch on the warehouse.

  ‘Sir, we have fourteen Hellfire III missiles on our Nightfalcons. We could simultaneously fire the missiles into the interior of the warehouse from both ends and flatten it. There would be no chance of survival for the targets inside.’

  James snorted, stared down at her and said derisively, ‘an admirable plan Wesson, except for one small detail - that’s not our mission.’

  It wasn’t our mission two hours ago either - and that didn’t stop you.

  ‘... Sir, we -’

  ‘Enough!’ James growled. ‘We hold the cordon until the General arrives. Then it’s her problem.’

  He stepped toward Louise, leaned in toward her face and snarled, ‘Is that clear?’

  ‘Yes, Sir,’ Louise said without blinking.

  ‘I’m sure you’ve got something to do, the General will be here in thirty minutes.’

  ‘I’ll check the men.’

  ‘Good,’ James said, turning back to stare at the warehouse.

  Louise turned away and began to inspect the men in the cordon.

  I’m really beginning to dislike that guy.

  * * *

  Chloe scanned the report.

  The Red-1 team had twelve dead and four wounded, Green-4 had twelve dead, Blue-5 had eleven dead and three wounded, and two Nightfalcons had been destroyed with their crews.

  Two order of Thoth and a rookie did all this. The Wus may have been living quietly for twenty years, but they obviously haven’t been idle.

  She read further, the Indigo-6 team were on site with their Nightfalcon and a Special Forces RHIB. The Green-4 Nightfalcon was also available. Counting James Haley, and Louise Wesson, there were seventeen operatives on the ground and another four on the river. An active police cordon had been in place for most of the day and had held the public back a mile from the site.

  Chloe smiled.

  Crane will be furious. This is precisely the sort of defeat that will deflect his attention, ensuring that he keeps me here in North America.

  Her Nightfalcon swooped in to land on Bedford Street at the entrance to the car park. The street lights had come on with the onset of twilight and they gleamed off the helicopter’s black skin.

  The cabin door opened, the six praetorians stepped down from the machine, making two lines to the left and right. Chloe was the last to emerge, walking between the praetorians as they waited for her.

  James Haley and Louise Wesson stood twenty yards in front of her, beyond them, the men of the cordon stood watch over the warehouse while the two Nightfalcons circled slowly a thousand yards above the site.

  Chloe turned, addressing her praetorians in quiet tones.

  ‘When you assault the warehouse, flush the Order to the dock where I will be waiting. She tapped a tall redhead and a lithe African-American on their chests, Hendricks and Smithson, your target is Gang Wu - kill him. Li Wu and Anton Slayne must be run out onto the dock wher
e I will complete the engagement. Be aware that the Francis Mirovar cell of the Order is in the vicinity, we expect to draw them out with this battle. They will not be able to resist saving their own.’

  I must risk Anton Slaynes life, if he falls here, he would never have defeated Crane and I must plan anew, else I will continue with this scheme.

  Chloe turned from the praetorians, striding to where James Haley stood, she ignored Louise Wesson and took a position a yard in front of James.

  She stared hard into his face and declared, ‘you disobeyed my orders!’

  ‘We were fired upon, our standing orders -’

  ‘Are preempted by my orders.’

  James stood straighter and said, ‘yes, Ma’am.’

  ‘My orders were explicit, you stated that they were, “Crystal clear,” - did you not say that this morning.’

  ‘... Yes, Ma’am, I did say that.’

  ‘Did you understand my orders?’

  James frowned, ‘yes, Ma’am.’

  ‘Then please explain to me which part of, “The mission is to identify them, track them, and if they go to ground, put a cordon around the site and stop them escaping again.”, implies a frontal assault on a well-defended position?’

  James’ face paled in the street lights, ‘when they attacked it could have been a prelude to escape.’

  ‘Did they try to escape at any time today?’

  ‘... No, Ma’am’

  ‘Correct, they did not try to escape, and you had no justification to lead your men to be slaughtered.’

  ‘Ma’am, no one could have known that they would have been so effective against us.’

  Chloe stepped forward, leaning in close, ‘you saw the Triad attack on the Noodle House, did you not learn anything from that?’

  ‘Ma’am? ... Yes, Ma’am.’

  Chloe stepped back, staring at James for a long moment, everyone within earshot stood still and waited for her words.

  ‘You underestimated your opponents. You set the cordon too close to the warehouse within the range of man-portable weapons. That resulted in the loss of two Nightfalcons and eight of your men. You then compounded that error by launching an ill-considered attack versus a prepared defensive position that has decimated three spectrum teams.’

  Chloe stared at James with her hands on her hips and said flatly, ‘given your choices and your lack of effective preparation that result was predictable.’

  ‘Yes, Ma’am.’

  ‘What you should have done after the destruction of the Nightfalcons, was pull back and reset your cordon out of range of their weapons.’

  ‘Yes, Ma’am.’

  Chloe looked past James at the warehouse beyond, ‘you are most fortunate that tonight’s mission is not yet concluded, and I still need you and your men.’

  ‘Ma’am?’

  ‘I’m a forgiving soul,’ Chloe continued with a sardonic smile. ‘I will forgo punishing you for your errors of judgment today, pending your discretion and diligence to your duty tonight.’

  Chloe tilted her head slightly, ‘your redemption is still possible - make sure that you do everything necessary.’

  ‘Yes, Ma’am. I will.’

  Chloe smiled icily, ‘of that I am sure.’

  Now he is motivated, time to move forward with the main plan for tonight.

  * * *

  James watched as General Chloe Armitage turned and strode back to her waiting Special Forces.

  They made a huddle, she gave quick sharp orders beyond his power to hear. She gave a final command and they split past her like a wave going around a lighthouse. They passed James in a quick walk, exuding confidence, purpose, and power, he turned, watching as they took up a position in a loose line a hundred yards before the front of the warehouse.

  Why carry swords, and why are they all armed with light machine guns? What are they going to do - hose the place down with lead?

  He felt his skin crawl over his back, he turned suddenly, Chloe stood before him again.

  ‘I have fresh orders for you and your men.’

  James stood to attention and barked, ‘yes, Ma’am.’

  ‘Assemble all the remaining operatives on land. When my Special Forces move, follow them immediately into the warehouse, do not hesitate, the Order will fall before them or run. We will flush the game to the docks and I will kill them there.’

  Did she just say that she would kill them?

  ‘Ma’am, we have the RHIB and now three Nightfalcons to guard the -’

  ‘Unnecessary - I will be there.’

  James felt adrift and said candidly, ‘they just killed twenty six of my men, how will you kill them? It’s not possi-’

  A shining blade appeared an inch before his nose, gleaming in the streetlights.

  For the first time in his life, James felt his guts freeze in a moment of existential terror as the hairs rose up on the back of his thick neck.

  Who is she? She’s faster than the eye can follow.

  Chloe moved the Red Dragon a hands width aside, leaning in toward James, she said quietly with supreme confidence, ‘I will be there.’

  She raised an eyebrow quizzically and continued, ‘do you understand your orders this time?’

  James answered, ‘yes, Ma’am. Understood.’

  ‘And one final word - at the end of this, there must be no witnesses.’

  James frowned, pausing for a moment before nodding, ‘yes Ma’am. I will see it done.’

  Chloe turned back to her Nightfalcon, which was already spooling up, quickly stepping into the cabin bay. In moments, its engines reached full power, launching the helicopter into the night sky. Beneath her soaring Nightfalcon, James tapped his comms link and called his men in to form a loose rank behind the General’s Special Forces. The General’s men stood with a preternatural stillness, staring at the warehouse like waiting lions with their eyes locked on a herd of nervous antelopes - just waiting for one to move before attacking with deadly effect.

  As James marshaled his troops, he watched as Chloe’s Nightfalcon hovered momentarily over the river end of the warehouse, its skin now reflecting flood lights that had come on over the dock.

  They have battery power?

  He saw her black armored form leap with superhuman power and grace from the cabin of the helicopter and disappear from view.

  That’s a forty yard drop to the dock or twenty five to the crane - who can do that?

  James shook his head, whispering in sudden bewilderment, ‘what on Earth am I looking at here?’

  Vampires? No - of course not.

  James felt a creeping sensation of dread slithering up his back as he led his men after the advancing Special Forces.

  What the hell happens next?

  Chapter Six

  Progress Report - The Day Guard Program Phase V

  Report#: 134

  Date: June 11th

  Summary begins:

  The development of the Day Guard serum has now entered its final stage. The success rate is now more than 50% (50.4%), with enhanced effects proving persistent beyond thirty days without degradation. We conclude that administration of the serum will produce permanent enhancements without side effects within 12 hours in one of every two healthy, adult subjects.

  Current averaged measured results across the twelve successful test subjects are as follows,

  ● Strength increases by 304%

  ● Motor speed increases by 315%

  ● Agility increases by 294%

  ● Endurance increases by 515%

  ● Reflex speed increases by 324%

  ● Pain tolerance increases by 212%

  ● Healing rate increases by 524%

  ● Motor skill increases by 338%

  These results represent a doubling in activation of the System Zero epigenetic factors when compared with the Phase IV subjects, yet still fall about 50% short of the theoretical maximums.

  The symptoms of serum failure continue to manifest as berserk rage, followed by
progeria, and catatonic depression with onset 24 to 48 hours after the administration of the serum with inevitably fatal results within two days of the onset of the symptoms.

  All test subjects have been terminated using the TEF-4 Neurotoxin. Final wrap up of this program has commenced and can be expected to be completed within two weeks. All technical details for the design and production of the Day Guard serum, the TEF-4 Neurotoxin, and their associated delivery systems have been committed to secured data vaults on the Panopticon cloud.

  The primary active ingredient of the Day Guard serum is derived from the Ophiocordyceps diabolicus fungus. A substantial quantity of the fungus has been harvested from the Amazonas region of Brazil - sufficient to compose five hundred doses of the Day Guard serum.

  The fungus has been sent by secure courier to Shadowstone Research Facility #19, Fort Dix, New Jersey.

  Summary ends:

  - Quantum encrypted email from Shadowstone Research Facility #34, Brazil.

  * * *

  Boston

  June 11th

  20:26

  Anton sat back on his heels, resting on the maze wall on the right of the warehouse.

  Twenty yards to his left, Gang held a similar position. They faced the front of the warehouse a hundred yards away. Above and ten yards behind them, Li rested on the maintenance walkway with her .50 caliber sniper rifle facing forward, and the white-daubed MGL holding the thermobaric grenades beside her.

  Gang suddenly fidgeted, a moment later he was reading a message on his smartphone.

  Gang glanced at Anton and Li, and said quickly, ‘Francis is nearby - he says make for the dock.’

  Anton glanced at Li and saw her eyes widen as she immediately ramped, swiveling the sniper rifle after a target. The rifle was already barking as Anton launched himself to the right. A stream of bullets and dull reddish tracers appeared where he had been standing, immediately following his movement like a stream of water from a fire hose. Before he had moved three yards a second stream of fire reached out from the front of the warehouse, cutting through the air barely three feet in front of him - he was running straight into it.