She made her decision. “Hold off. I need to speak to the Colonel. Call Keeg Station, Enora. I want to see my grandparents.”
“Activating the IICS,” Enora confirmed.
There was a short wait while the call was rerouted to the All Guns Blazing Terry Henry had the franchise for.
He answered from his office. “Wildflower! What a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you until the end of the month.” He twisted his head to check the calendar on the wall behind him. “No, I’m not losing track of time.”
Sarah Jennifer laughed, immediately put at ease by his theatrics. “I know you didn’t lose track of time. It’s good to see you’re getting some time to spend in your bar.”
Terry Henry grinned. “That’s what retirement is for. But you didn’t call to chat, I’m guessing?”
Sarah Jennifer shook her head. “No. We’re about to release the fix for the Madness.”
“About time!” Char’s voice came from off-camera. She ducked into view, her smile a welcome sight as she leaned over the back of TH’s chair and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
Sarah Jennifer’s tension melted at the sight of the two of them together. “It’s taken a long time and an incredible effort. My team—”
“She means me,” Esme cut in. “I’m the team.”
Sarah Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Okay, Esme has come up with a modification to the BYPS that will disperse replacement nanocytes across the Earth. The Madness is going to be eradicated within six months, but we’re going to be cut off for some of that time. I guess I wanted to see your faces before that happened and make sure you weren’t worried when I didn’t check in.”
“Does your sister know about this?” Char asked.
Sarah Jennifer nodded. “I’ve had Etheric comms made for everyone with family off-world since Ted isn’t available to send additional units. It fell to me—you know, the responsible one.”
Char nodded slowly. “Thanks to you, at least we know she’s alive. Ted! He hasn’t changed in hundreds of years. Only our understanding of him has.”
Terry Henry leaned into the camera. “Eat your vegetables!”
Sarah Jennifer laughed. “Grandpa!”
TH wagged his finger at her. “Granddaughter, daughters, and their mothers. I’d never get a word in edgewise on these all-too-brief calls. I’m outnumbered, even with Dokken on my side.”
“It was always that way, and you have nothing to complain about,” Sarah Jennifer chastised fondly. “How’s retirement treating you two?”
“Same,” TH replied, a devilish look appearing on his face just before Char jumped when his hand went somewhere it shouldn’t have. “Busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.”
Sarah Jennifer shook her head. “A life well-lived. I want to be you when I grow up.”
“You already are,” Char told her. “We’re proud of you, dear. Cory is away again. We need to make sure she has a comm unit with her. You should talk to your mother more.”
“Grandma!” They went through the motions of this every month, and Sarah Jennifer didn’t mind one bit. Family was what kept her grounded during the harsh times. “I love you both. I want you to know that, whatever happens.”
TH narrowed his eyes. “What haven’t you told us?”
Sarah Jennifer had hoped she wouldn’t have to get into this. She gave them a quick rundown of the events at New Romanov. “We’ve got it handled, and I’ve reported to Bethany Anne. No Kurtherian will get their greedy hands on Earth while I’m around to stop it from happening, I swear it.”
Char turned to Terry Henry with her best shocked face before looking into the camera with a beatific smile. “I’d say I feel sorry for the Kurtherian, but we’ve had our own dealings with Laughter and the Skrima. Kick her ass, honey. We’ll be cheering you on from here.”
Sarah Jennifer smiled. “Give my best to my mom, and hopefully, we’ll get to see her soon.”
They signed off, but Sarah Jennifer didn’t look away from the darkened screen until Enora switched it back to the inert BYPS interface.
“You feel better?” Esme asked.
Feeling reassured, Sarah Jennifer took a deep breath. “Yes. Here we go. All or nothing. Enora, connect me to the BYPS.”
The BYPS’ EI asked for her authorization.
Sarah Jennifer gave the code, then waited for the system to give Enora access. “Take us out of range and initiate the modified output parameters, Enora.”
Chapter Seventeen
The laser grid blazed into existence, washing out the viewscreen with red light. An alarm went off, quickly subdued by Enora.
“I’m sorry,” the AI explained. “I had to wait for the activation to discern what changes to my shielding frequency were necessary.”
“Are we good?” Sarah Jennifer asked.
“All systems are optimal,” Enora confirmed. “We may begin the dispersal procedure when you are ready.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear,” Esme announced, getting up from her seat. “If you need me, you don’t. I’ll be in the drop bay making sure nothing goes wrong. We don’t have time to waste.”
Sarah Jennifer nodded. “Call when we’re good to go.” She pulled up the route data for the dispersal as Esme made herself scarce. She planned to take care of New Romanov and the surrounding area first.
“Enora, take us to Siberia and patch me into Theor’s radio. I want to hear what’s going on down there.”
She had to trust that the nanocytes would take effect and quell the Mad before the situation there became untenable for the warriors, leaving the rift unguarded.
The next few hours were spent circumnavigating the globe while releasing billions of nanocytes into the atmosphere. The procedure almost mirrored the one undertaken by Bethany Anne’s people in WWDE+150. The main difference was the precision with which they released the precious load, due to their limited resources.
She listened in on the effort to steer the Mad away from the living as the airship sliced through the troposphere. Her heart sank as the reports coming to Theor became steadily worse.
The number of deaths ratcheted up as the battle got underway, the weight of every loss settling on her conscience. Her imagination needed no assistance to build a mental picture of their overwhelming failure to hold the Mad back.
Still, she didn’t deviate from her duty, repeating to herself that they would recover those lost to the Madness once the patches went out until it became a mantra whose words had no meaning.
The only mercy was that the rift remained inactive.
Arkhangelsk, Rift Valley
The Urai had been joined by companies of warriors from many other towns and villages, as well as the Defense Force troops coming in from America. Theor and Olaf had sent out the order for the united forces to herd the Mad into the valley, where the magic users had raised a rock-and-earth maze designed to contain them once inside the two-kilometer-wide dip in the land.
Over thirty thousand men and women were spread across the plain, arrayed in phalanxes ten deep. They were split so there were five ranks standing back to back in each, forming gauntlets into the valley for the Defense Force to drive the Mad along.
The entire valley reverberated with the screams of the trapped Mad, angry, echoing, melancholy hunger in their voices. The desperate wails rose above the beating of swords on shields from the warriors standing strong.
The rift glittered darkly overhead, the oppressive energy it spilled over the assembled warriors stealing their optimism. They worked with their mouths stretched in grim, silent lines beneath their leather masks, the usual banter that passed between them abandoned as they fought to contain the surging hordes.
Kain was unaffected by the cheerless demeanor of his fellow fighters, buoyed by his discovery that the pack had been there this whole time. Not just the pack, but a whole layer to the UnknownWorld he’d had no clue existed.
The existence of so many Weres had come as a welcome shock to K
ain. He had believed his kind was doomed to die out, forced to choose between forms. Their presence and the knowledge that there were many more Weres spread around the world had given him hope for the future.
He loped through the forest, feeling whole for the first time in a long time. Caitlin and Mary-Anne were his family by choice, but nothing could ever replace the bond Weres had with each other. Thousands of miles from the place he had been born and raised, the scent of pack filled his nose, and he felt like he’d come home.
While the majority of the Weres roaming the forest were in their wolf form, he appeared to be the only one with the ability to shift to the ultimate form. Assured by Olaf that he was no longer in danger of getting stuck in Were form, he’d unleashed his Pricolici nature, exulting in the freedom as he tore through the trees with Mary-Anne, the two of them working with the Defense Force to drive the Mad toward the warriors staged on the plain between the forest’s edge and the valley’s mouth.
The comm buds they’d been given constantly fed them information about incoming groups of Mad. The Mad bore down on the rift valley from the east and west, swarming the forest around its mouth.
Olaf’s voice rang in his ear. “Two hundred-plus approaching from Sector Six. Team Canada, respond.”
“On it,” Kain replied, switching direction to head for the already-trampled undergrowth the Mad were coming out of. “We need a better callsign than Team-freaking-Canada.”
“Less talking, more scaring the shit out of the Mad.” Mary-Anne blurred ahead, leaving him in her wake.
Kain howled as he pounded through the frozen undergrowth, adrenaline coursing through his body. He had never been in a fight like this. Hell, he hadn’t seen this many people, Mad or not, in decades.
A chorus of wolf howls answered his call.
The Mad were driven into a frenzy by the sounds, their primal instincts telling them to avoid the apex predators at all costs.
On the shield wall, Caitlin was used to the disparity in their abilities and was more than making up for it with her expertise and natural leadership. She had ascertained which direction Kain and Mary-Anne were driving the Mad from and directed the warriors assembled along her section where to form the gauntlet.
Her eyes narrowed as she tracked the disturbance in the forest. “Incoming! Weapons up!” She pointed at the place the Mad were going to break through the tree line and the warriors under her command moved as one, their shields locked and their swords, spears, pikes, and halberds poised and ready to repel the Mad.
Caitlin gripped her borrowed shield, her muscles straining with the denied urge to fight. She felt the same urge from the warriors to her left and right. “HOLD!”
The trees shook as the Mad closed in, driven into a fearful frenzy by Kain and Mary-Anne. The warriors stood fast despite their instinct to flee as the waves of fear emitted by Mary-Anne and Kain announced their imminent arrival.
Every man and woman there had faced their share of Mad over the years and were somewhat desensitized to the horror they brought. Compared to a vampire in full battle-mode, honest-to-Matriarch werewolves, and the scary-as-shit Pricolici, the Mad seemed no more dangerous than rabid animals.
The Mad charged out of the tree line and tore across the open space, instinct drawing them toward the prospect of fresh flesh.
Caitlin let rip, her war cry rising with the other warriors’ as they closed in.
Mary-Anne’s voice came over the comm. “There are a fuck-ton more than two hundred, Olaf! The Mad we passed over on the way are here. Get ready for them. We’re coming in!”
Hundreds of wolves streamed out of the forest, overwhelmed by the sheer number of Mad pursuing them.
Somewhere to Caitlin’s right, a guttural scream cut above the battle cries.
Her heart pounded when she realized that someone on the wall had gone Mad.
Olaf and Theor paced their vantage point on the ridge. The high ground gave them a view of the battle. It also prevented them from acting immediately when the Madness rippled out through the shield wall.
“What do we do?” Olaf moaned.
Theor had his radio jammed to his ear. “All Weres, we have an outbreak in the sixth phalanx. Isolate the Mad and protect the uninfected.” He turned to Olaf. “We have to hope the nanocytes act soon.”
The Enora had passed over a while ago, trailing what looked like green smoke behind her. The mist hovering over the plain and the valley floor had taken on a tint of green, signifying the beginning of the waiting game.
It wasn’t enough for Olaf. “I have to get down there. I’m immune to the Madness; the warriors are not. Mika! I could not bear it if she was lost.”
“Go, save your woman,” Theor told him, understanding that the call to the werebear’s heart overrode everything else. “I will remain here.”
Olaf clasped Theor’s arm. “Don’t let her hear you call her my woman. She has other ideas. Still, I must go to her.”
He bounded down the mountainside, shedding his clothes as he ran. He shifted in the next instant, thundering toward the chaos on four paws.
Mika swore bitterly as the shield wall disintegrated around her. The Madness rippled through her people, turning men and women she’d known her whole life into mindless, meat-hungry killers.
The no-kill order meant nothing in the face of the ravening beasts that had replaced her kin. She screamed her rage as she hacked and sliced her way to those who had not turned, ordering them into a tight defensive circle. Back to back, they fought as one, grief and anger driving them to survive no matter the cost. She used her shield as a weapon, the sharpened edge as good as a blade when she rammed it into the faces of her attackers.
She stepped to the left and swung her sword as the Mad bearing her childhood friend Yani’s face lunged at her. Davina, Karl, Marius, Frederika, Van Dyk, Janus, Leif—they all fell to her blade.
It wasn’t enough.
Her circle grew increasingly smaller as the living fell or turned, leaving Mika alone in the center of a sea of Mad. She discarded her shield and hefted her sword two-handed, prepared to meet her end on her feet like a true warrior. “Come on, then!” she screamed. “I’ll see you at the gates of Hell!”
They took her invitation, swarming her. Mika lost her sword, and she felt their teeth all over her leather-and-mail-clad body. She kicked and punched, determined to fight to her last breath.
Somehow, she broke free. She grabbed two discarded swords as she rolled to her feet and resumed the fight, cleaving the head from one Mad and the arm from another.
A chilling roar cut through the growls of those attacking her. Mika didn’t pause as Olaf came barreling through, knocking the Mad aside with swipes of his mighty paws.
He slid to a stop just long enough for Mika to haul herself onto his back.
She sheathed one of her swords and clung to his fur with her free hand as he leapt over the crush, stabbing any Mad who got close enough to them with the sword she’d kept.
Olaf made like a juggernaut, his determination to get Mika to safety his only concern. The battle was lost; there was no way the majority were getting out of there. Their only hope was for the nanocytes blanketing the valley to take effect.
Mika spotted a group of warriors penned in by the rockface. “Olaf, over there! We have to help them!”
He ignored her and kept running for a few paces. Mika released her grip on his fur and slapped him upside the head. “Hey, asshole, I’m not important! Move, or I go by myself!”
Resigned to her determination to get them both killed, Olaf altered the trajectory of his run to take them to the warriors in need.
Mika slipped off his back as they arrived, drawing her second sword in the same fluid movement. Her blades spun in deadly arcs as she cut her way through to the warriors while Olaf tossed Mad aside like rag dolls.
The warriors renewed their fight, heartened by the unexpected intervention.
“This way!” Mika yelled, waving her right blade to indicate a gap in t
he horde. The reason for the gap became apparent when they saw Mary-Anne, Caitlin, Kain, and a few dozen Weres fighting their way through.
Olaf roared, calling Kain and Mary-Anne to him.
The Mad parted, flowing to the sides to avoid the vampire. Behind her came the ragged remains of the fighting forces, surrounded by Weres, with Kain protecting their rear.
Mary-Anne’s eyes blazed red, her fangs fully extended and her nails lengthened into bloody claws. “Need some help?”
“Not a minute too soon,” Mika told her. “Think you can clear our way to the mountain?”
Mary-Anne grinned. “My pleasure.” She turned to Olaf. “Keep my human safe, will you?”
Caitlin bumped her with a shoulder as she moved past her to stand by Mika. “You are my vampire, and don’t forget it.”
“Nooo talkinnngg!” Kain bitched, his speech altered in Pricolici form. “Rrrrunnn!”
The warriors fought bravely, knowing they could go Mad at any moment, while the UnknownWorlders did everything they could to force a path through the carnage.
The Mad kept up the pressure, contracting and expanding around them as they pushed toward the mountain, gathering the survivors as they went. There was no way of discerning whose blood they were wading through. Many of the people they came across refused to join them, telling the group they had been bitten.
They had no choice but to keep moving.
Soon, they ceased to find anyone still fighting. All that remained were Mad blocking their way. They swarmed the remainder of the warriors with hunger in their dull red eyes.
Olaf ground to a halt as the others took their stand.
Caitlin bared her teeth. “We were so close! This isn’t fair!”
She wasn’t wrong. They were only a few hundred feet from the safety of the mountainside, where the magic users could protect them.
“Here we go again,” Mika growled. She wrapped an arm around Olaf’s neck. “If you weren’t so damned furry right now, I’d kiss you goodbye. It’s been a good run. You aren’t the asshole I thought you were, Bear Man.”
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