Sunset (Pact Arcanum)

by Arshad Ahsanuddin

  The Huntmaster glared at the Magister Tervilant for a moment and then turned his ire on Lorcan. “Although biased by his personal animosity, his points are valid, Lorcan. The defenses of the Council Chamber were designed to be layered and overlapping, specifically to provide redundancy, in case some protections are compromised. The Triumvirate has no chance of attacking us here, in the seat of our power.”

  Lorcan nodded, acknowledging the point. “Imperator Luscian employed the same protections at Castle Night, my Lord, and his fortress fell before the might of the Triumvirate. That was seven years ago, and they have only grown in strength. Their AI network allows any single artificial intelligence to access the linked power of all of those created minds. That has forever changed the face of war, enabling them to join forces against nearly any magical construct. Should a Triumvirate agent bring one of Armistice Security’s AIs into proximity with our defenses for any length of time, the AI network will be able to reverse engineer a means to penetrate that defense.”

  Geoffrey Magister Daviroquir joined the Magister Tervilant at the Challenger’s lectern. “All of this is academic nonsense. There are only three entrances to the Council Chamber—all are heavily guarded, with artifacts designed to identify intelligent constructs. No one could bring an Artificial Intelligence device within the Chamber without being detected. At best, the Magister Diluthical is mistaken; at worst, he is deliberately misleading us. His information is of no value. Let his life be forfeit for his honorless alliance with our enemies.”

  Aleksei smiled grimly at Lorcan. “What say you, Magister Diluthical? Is your attempt to bargain for your mate’s life a pretense? A deception to buy time for the Triumvirate’s counterstrike?”

  “No, Huntmaster.” Lorcan leaned over the lectern intently, focusing on the leader of the Court. “For mine.”

  The White House, Washington, D.C.

  President Daniels stood from the conference table, where he had been meeting with the Cabinet, when the door opened and four Secret Service agents ushered Toby inside.

  “Mr. President, thank you for seeing me. I realize I gave you no notice,” Toby began.

  The President frowned. “Sentinel Jameson, if you have something so important to say that it possesses you to teleport into the front hallway of the White House and demand an emergency meeting, then let’s hear it.”

  Toby nodded, taking a deep breath. “Mr. President, it has come to our attention that your government has conspired with our enemies in an extensive espionage campaign against us for more than a year and a half, culminating in the development of a first-strike weapon of unknown destructive potential, based at the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, California.”

  President Daniels blinked. His gaze swung left, to the Director of National Intelligence, who returned his stare and shook his head slightly. “I assure you we have not, Sentinel. Your accusations are both baseless and insulting,”

  “The evidence we unearthed was conclusive,” Toby continued. “For that reason, Mr. President, we hope you will forgive us for the preemptive military attack that is currently underway to eliminate that weapon.”

  Daniels’ jaw dropped.

  “You attacked a U.S. Air Force base?” The Secretary of Defense leapt to his feet, his fists balled in fury.

  “Yes, sir, about thirty minutes ago.” Toby’s expression remained neutral as President Daniels regained his composure.

  “Are you saying the Triumvirate has declared war on the United States?”

  Toby shook his head. “No, Mr. President. You have declared war on the Triumvirate. We are simply acting to bring that conflict to an end with a minimum of bloodshed.”

  “This is outrageous!” said the Secretary of State, her face turning red.

  Toby snorted contemptuously, losing his cool. “I can’t believe I ever respected any of you. You idiots don’t seem to understand that the Court of Shadows plans to roll right over you if the Armistice falls. Their armies are just waiting for the signal to attack. You would have signed the death warrants for millions of people if we hadn’t found out what you were up to.”

  “Sentinel Jameson,” President Daniels said through clenched teeth, “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, pull the other one, Mr. President!” Toby said heatedly. “Do you really expect us to believe that this whole operation went on without your knowledge?”

  “There is no operation!” the President shouted. “You have attacked us for no reason. I will see to it that you all pay!”

  Opening his mouth to say something truly unpleasant, Toby was interrupted by a voice from the air next to him. “He doesn’t know, Toby.”

  Jeremy appeared beside him, turning off the artificial invisibility shroud he wore.

  “What?”

  “He doesn’t know,” Jeremy repeated, looking directly at President Daniels, who was staring at him in surprise. “There’s no hint of deception in any of their minds. None of them know.” He turned to face Toby. “We are all being played.”

  Director Mitchell narrowed his eyes, realizing the implications first. “By whom?” he asked.

  Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, California

  Without warning, their attack faltered. Water withdrew from the link, and Scott collapsed. Nick watched in disbelief as the Wind link shattered, leaving him alone in his head as Anaba and Take passed out around him. Taking advantage of his distraction, the defenders struck, wrapping Nick in a web of containment spells that suppressed his magic. He fought to move, but found himself held fast. The rogue Sentinels dropped their shrouds of invisibility and grinned triumphantly. They were all wearing gas masks.

  Ignoring the bodies of the fallen Winds, Andrew Kensington walked calmly past his Sentinel allies to stand before Nick. “Ambassador,” he said with a wry smile, “I have been quite looking forward to meeting you.”

  CHAPTER 42

  Court of Shadows Council Chamber Complex, Alexandria, Egypt

  Lorcan’s face split into a huge grin in response to Aleksei’s wide-eyed surprise. His AI had just informed him that, using the combined computational power of the entire AI network, all of the jumper blocks had finally been decoded. He immediately subvocalized a command to the AI implants Takeshi had ordered the Castle Night garrison to give him. “Now, Sunburst.”

  The Council Chamber vanished, washed away in the dazzling light of the teleport matrix. When the light cleared, the assembled Magisters spun around in shock. They were standing on a wide lawn in the center of an eight-pointed star, which was laid out in the grass in lines of pure blue light. Then they fell to the ground, convulsing; only Lorcan stood calm and unaffected in the center, his eyes closed in rapture as he listened to their screams. Finally, there was silence. He opened his eyes, taking in the heavy pall of dust that cloaked him on all sides.

  Gabrielle left the wide circle of Fire Sentinels and Daywalkers who were working to maintain the temporary teleport gateway. Calmly striding through the deep drifts of white dust, she stood before Lorcan, waiting patiently for his hysterical laughter to subside. “Are you content, Magister Diluthical?” she asked.

  “I once swore I would grind them into dust and curse their remains.” Hatred seeped from his voice. “Honor is satisfied.” He spat at the pile of dust that was once the Huntmaster of the Court of Shadows. From their position on the Champ de Mars, he gazed up at the Eiffel Tower overhead. “Welcome to Paris, my Lords.”

  Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, California

  “What did you do to them?” snarled Nick, his talons biting into his palms as he clenched his fists.

  Kensington shrugged. “When we first started recruiting Sentinels to join us, we began studying their physiology. We screened more than thirty thousand pharmaceutical compounds for a chemical agent that would incapacitate a Sentinel but have no effect on humans. Once we found one, it was a simple matter of weaponizing into an aerosol gas. As soon as your initial attack hit the building’s magi
cal defenses, I ordered it released throughout the lower level.”

  He stepped to the side and nudged Take’s shoulder with his boot, rolling the Sentinel onto his back. “Vampire physiology has been more resistant to our efforts to develop a neutralizing weapon, but we’ll get there eventually. You might have actually taken the building if you had brought more of them with you. Too bad. I suppose it’s too early in the day to bring in Nightwalkers, and you Daywalkers have that whole honor complex about not killing.” He looked thoughtfully at Nick. “Rather impractical, really. I prefer pragmatism.”

  Nick growled at him. “So now what are you going to do?”

  Kensington looked again at Take, out cold on the floor at his feet. “I’ll tell you what, Ambassador. If you surrender to me and swear on your honor to make no effort to escape, I will have them all restrained instead of killed.”

  Nick stopping struggling against the containment spells and glared at his enemy. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Sorry,” Kensington said with a smile, “I didn’t mean to be rude.” His smile was replaced by with a look of distaste. “My name is Andrew Kensington. I am an officer of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, and I have been coordinating our efforts against you since Los Angeles. It is fitting symmetry that you should be here at the end, Ambassador; after all, you set this in motion.

  He regarded Nick soberly. “I must admit to a certain curiosity about meeting you in person, after having studied you for so long from a distance. I think we should spend the endgame together. I would be most interested in watching your reaction to my final victory. So, once again, I ask you, would you care to surrender?” He drew an automatic pistol from the holster on his belt and chambered a round. Then he knelt and placed the muzzle of the weapon snugly against the head of the nearest comatose Sentinel. “If not, we can certainly start disposing of the bodies.”

  Nick’s fangs and claws retracted as his eyes fixed on the gun pressed to Scott’s unconscious head. “I surrender.”

  “Excellent,” Kensington said in a business-like tone. He turned to one of his own Sentinels. “Put them under heavy guard in one of the offices on level two, and vent those areas with the gas. Make sure you suppress their powers, just in case, so they’re not a threat.” He strode deeper into the partitioned area of the third level. “Bring the Ambassador.”

  Nick felt the containment spells drag him forward as the three unconscious Sentinels were carried away in the opposite direction. His limbs shackled by magic, he turned to watch them over his shoulder until he could no longer see. Then he shuffled silently after Kensington. He was led into the center of the basement, to an open space surrounded by computer workstations and a large screen displaying a digital map of the United States.

  “Move him over there and lock him down.” Kensington pointed at an empty space to one side.

  Nick was forced to stand in place as a Sentinel came forward, drew a short blade, and casually sliced it across his own wrist. A smooth stream of blood flowed from the Sentinel’s slashed forearm as he walked a circle around Nick, forming the symbols of a containment circle on the floor. When the circle was complete and began to glow, the spell holding Nick in place dissipated. He could move again, but only within the confines of the circle. The Sentinel healed his wrist and stepped back, and two more stepped forward, repeating the process one at a time. Nick glared out at Andrew over the three glowing blood circles. “I surrendered, Kensington. I gave you my word.”

  “Forgive me, Ambassador, if I don’t trust your word.” Kensington turned to look at the display screen in front of him. “As I said, I prefer pragmatism.”

  Nick’s gaze searched the room for vulnerabilities, finally coming to rest on a familiar pair of blue-green eyes that watched him with amusement.

  “You! What the hell are you doing here?”

  Medusa laughed. “I am bringing your world to an end, Ambassador.” She smirked. “Just as you brought mine to an end.”

  Nick’s eyes snapped back to Kensington. “This is how you’re defending your people? By making deals with psychopaths?”

  Andrew shrugged. “Pragmatism, Ambassador. Elizabeth has been one of our most effective resources on this project, even from prison. It took quite a bit of work to arrange her release into my custody.”

  Nick ground his teeth in frustration. “So where is this first-strike weapon you’ve developed?”

  Medusa snorted in contempt. “Is that why you attacked us here? We wondered. You’re a little behind the curve, Ambassador. The weapon was completed almost a week ago. We were just waiting to acquire an appropriate launch vehicle for deployment.”

  “All of my preparations have been complete for hours,” Kensington said. “I’m just waiting for the green light from the President and I’ll send the codes to fire.”

  “To fire what?” Nick folded his arms defiantly. “What do you think you can do to us?”

  “I suppose it does no harm to tell you, since there’s nothing you can do to stop it.” Kensington smiled smugly. “Even if your people destroy this entire base, the launch codes will be sent automatically from a remote transmitter unless I enter an abort sequence periodically. The weapon is a specially modified, submarine-launched ballistic missile armed with eight nuclear warheads. Totally illegal under our nuclear non-proliferation treaties, but we decided to make an exception—just to be sure. The total yield will be approximately four megatons.”

  “You’re wasting your time, Kensington. All of our major facilities have perimeter shielding specifically designed to withstand nuclear attack. Besides, most are located in the middle of major cities. Are you really prepared to kill millions of your own people for nothing?”

  “I have no intention of killing any of my fellow Americans, Ambassador. The missile is targeted at a relatively remote, unpopulated region.” Walking up to the map, Kensington tapped his fingers on a spot in the lower left. He smiled as recognition flashed over Nick’s face. “The center of the Grand Mesa in Colorado.”

  “Anchorpoint,” whispered Nick.

  Medusa gave him a vicious smile. “You have no idea how long it took us to get a precise location for the Armistice Capital. Now we are finally ready to wipe it off the map.”

  “A submarine-launched missile won’t even make it past the coastal defense barriers,” Nick said coldly. “And even if you manage to get it past the perimeter shields before the barriers go up, it won’t get anywhere near Anchorpoint. The Colorado Defense Grid is the most heavily fortified location on the planet. Nothing can get through unless we allow it. Nothing at all.”

  Kensington stepped closer, standing just outside the blood circles that ringed Nick. “That remains to be seen, Ambassador.”

  “Nicholas,” Rapier spoke into the silence. “I am receiving a priority video link request from Jeremy Harkness.”

  “Interesting. I thought we’d managed to block your communications channels.” Medusa sighed. “Live and learn, I suppose.”

  Kensington waved dismissively. “If your lover wants to chat in the middle of a military operation, by all means, talk to him. It makes no difference.”

  “Let’s see it, Rapier.”

  “Nicholas,” said Rapier, “the request is addressed to Andrew Kensington.”

  Kensington turned to stare at him in surprise. “Full-size display, Rapier,” Nick said. “Put him through.”

  A black virtual screen, six feet wide and six feet tall, appeared before them and revealed Jeremy standing next to Director Mitchell. They were in the office of the Director of the CIA and behind them, a security monitor showed a view of the basement room containing Kensington and Nick.

  “Mr. Kensington,” said Director Mitchell, “do you know who I am?”

  The agent straightened. “Yes, sir. May I ask why you would stoop to using an Armistice intermediate to contact me?”

  Director Mitchell crossed his arms. “Because I had no other method to reach you, Mr. Kensington. I didn’t know of your existe
nce until Sentinel Harkness pulled your name out of the mind of the DCIA.”

  Andrew blinked. “Sir, I don’t understand. Director Cochrane has been sending you my intelligence reports for more than a year.”

  Director Mitchell slowly shook his head. “No, Andrew. Your operation has been purely orchestrated by Derek Cochrane, cooperating with rogue elements of the military. Neither I nor the President have had any knowledge of your activities at any point—ever. Your actions have been completely black and off the books. Cochrane has been supporting you by diverting resources from other projects, civilian and military, as well as from my own intelligence taskforce.

  “Sentinels Harkness and Jameson have been teleporting me to the headquarters of each of the intelligence services for the last twenty minutes. I supervised as they telepathically interrogated each of the directors to determine who was involved with setting your program in motion. When confronted, Cochrane confessed. Seemed particularly proud of the way he had manipulated you into acting as a proxy for his treason, in fact.” He sighed. “We have all been used, Andrew. What you are about to do is completely illegal and directly contrary to the policies of the United States government. I am ordering you to stand down immediately.”

  Kensington swallowed. “No. This is some kind of trick,” he said desperately, glaring at Jeremy. “The telepath is influencing you somehow, sir. I don’t believe your words for a moment.”

  Director Mitchell looked to the side, at someone Nick couldn’t see, and nodded. Then he took a few steps backward, away from the screen.

  The President of the United States stepped into view, facing Andrew squarely. “Do you know who I am, Mr. Kensington?”

  “Yes, Mr. President,” Kensington whispered.

  “You have been lied to, Andrew. There is nothing noble in what you are doing, no higher purpose for which you have been called to serve. You are about to commit an atrocity—one that will stain our nation’s conscience for generations, just as it did the last time we used these weapons against civilians. Nothing is to be gained by this. You will only put our own people at the mercy of enemies we have no chance of defeating.” President Daniels drew himself to his full height and focused his attention on Kensington. “I am giving you a direct order to terminate this operation. Turn aside from this path, Andrew. Now, while there’s still time. Prove yourself an honorable man.”