“To put the projects in perspective, the atomic bomb, which, as you are well aware, was the final choice of which avenue to pursue, began at an estimated number four and ended up as a number five. Anything over that was considered unreasonably dangerous. Of the supernatural options that were explored at Los Alamos, the plan to bomb Germany with a zombie virus was a steady number eight. Zombifying Japan was only a seven, but that’s because it was an island and zombies can’t swim for shit. Anything dealing with the Old Ones was considered too dangerous to contemplate unleashing without significant backlash, and got an automatic ten.”
“Get to the point,” Earl said.
“As new projects were introduced or more was learned about their potential, the projects were moved up or down on the sliding scale. This particular project began as a lowly number two, but after one single field trial was moved to a thirteen. We’re talking about the judgment of men who thought enslaving demons was simply another way to expand the scientific frontier, yet something about this particular project scared them shitless. Luckily, this was not one of the projects that got loose during Decision Week. They destroyed the records and the evidence was buried, until now.”
“Why didn’t they just kill it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they didn’t have the technology. Who knows? If I find out, I’ll let you in on the secret. In the meantime, as for your request to let the innocent bystanders out, I have to deny that request. The phenomenon has some incorporeal nature, otherwise it wouldn’t have been able to follow Hugo Schneider back to Las Vegas. For all we know, it’s inside one of you.”
The Hunters all shared an uneasy glance. It was certainly possible, but who? “You know anything else?”
“I know you’re probably fucked, but you’ll go down fighting. That should buy my organization time to learn more. My superiors have granted me some leeway. If you can’t provide me a permanent solution by this time tomorrow morning, we’ll raze the casino to the ground and salt the earth. If we think it might escape, that timeline will speed up rather dramatically. My number-one mission parameter is to maintain secrecy at all costs. My secondary parameter is to protect the city and as much of the population as possible. They go hand in hand. The higher the body count, the harder it’ll be for Agent Stark and his remarkable PR department to make this all neatly go away. Let’s make the best of our brief time together. Anything else?”
“I’ve got manpower but we don’t have much in the way of equipment. How about you send your robot back over with a trailer of ammunition and medical supplies.”
“Harbinger, Harbinger, Harbinger . . .” Stricken’s laugh was cold. “Come on, buddy. I’m going to give the order to burn you out of there tomorrow morning. I know how you people think. The last thing I want to do is arm you better! Put yourself in my shoes. I’m under no delusions that you’re going to find a way to beat this thing when the best minds of the greatest generation couldn’t. But we’re in Vegas, so I’m in a gambling mood. I’ll put a little on my long shot, i.e., you, but I’ve got to hedge my bets. If that’s all, I’ve got work to do.”
“And Heather’s team? Did they really disappear, or were you using her to motivate me to do your dirty work?”
Stricken stroked his chin thoughtfully with his eerily long fingers. “I told the truth that time. There’s still no sign of them. She’s MIA.”
Earl hung his head for a very long time. The Hunters were so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. “Stricken?”
“Yes, Harbinger?”
“This isn’t over between me and you.”
“I would expect nothing less. I’ll be in touch.” The screen went black.
CHAPTER 14
One of the first keys to survival in a bad situation is organization, or as Earl liked to say, “Keep your shit together and you’re less likely to choke.”
Milo had completed his inventory of all our available equipment. It wasn’t nearly as good as I’d hoped. Sure, all of the Hunters had been armed, but very few had been loaded for bear. My team was the only one that had come in directly from a mission with a full load-out. Our Hunters who had road-tripped in had quite a bit of gear, but the ones who had flown in were minimally armed, though after the lesson of the Christmas party, you’d be hard pressed to find an MHI member who travelled anywhere without at least two guns and their armor. The Hunters from other countries were worse off, with most of them having been dissuaded by all of the bureaucratic hoop-jumping, though many of them had found some crafty way to arm themselves locally immediately after Stricken’s challenge. A few had even been able to do it legally.
We had no heavy weapons. We had almost nothing left as far as explosives. The ammunition supply would be sufficient for maybe one decent engagement, and we were sorely regretting all the silver .308 we’d wasted on a nearly empty gas station. Cooper had been given the assignment of improvising some explosives, so he had drafted a few other Hunters, some of the staff, and even one of the strippers Holly had invited, and was teaching them how to make IEDs. Hotel security had one arms locker that they were very proud of, but which was relatively lame by our standards. Mitch had claimed its contents for his staff who were guarding the casino’s vault.
Trip and I had gone back out on patrol. There weren’t nearly as many of us wandering around now. Rumors were spreading like wildfire amongst the trapped guests, and it had started getting really heated. One tourist had lost his temper and taken a swing at one of the Brazilian Hunters, who had promptly choked the fellow unconscious. It is never smart to get into a wrestling match with a Brazilian. That had gotten a few more people riled up, and so now all of our more diplomatic Hunters were occupied babysitting.
This whole situation was really bugging me, but there was one thing in particular that was eating away at my calm. We took the elevator up to the roof to check on my wife’s team. Team was a real overstatement, since basically Julie had grabbed anyone who had brought a rifle with a high-magnification scope and stuck them where they could get the best view. I knew she had collected four people, two who didn’t speak any English, and an orc that wouldn’t leave his helicopter.
We’d procured a key card from Mitch that let us access the areas that were normally restricted. It was windy and surprisingly cold on the roof. The morning sun was a pale globe over the desert. Las Vegas was a different animal in the early sunlight; a big, lethargic, sleepy, decrepit, sleazy animal that had stayed up too late drinking the night before and woke up grumpy. Since the Last Dragon was one of the tallest buildings in the city, Julie had a commanding view of the strip from here.
I spotted my wife at the far corner of the roof. She had her back to us, and was braced against the railing, watching something far below through her scope. I wanted to talk to her alone. “Do me a favor and check on Skippy,” I told Trip. “See if there’s a phone up here and he knows to answer it if it rings.”
“Does Skippy even know how to use a phone? Guess I’ll find out.”
Julie heard my approach and quickly turned to see who or what was coming towards her. Relief flooded her face. She was just as jumpy as the rest of us. “Hey. Glad you’re here.”
“You should keep somebody close by to watch your back,” I chided her. “Remember what happened to Hugo.”
“I’m not stupid,” she answered as she slung her M-14, her manner suddenly defensive. That usually only happened when I was right, which wasn’t very often. “I’ve been doing this longer than you have.”
“You pulling rank on me, dear?”
Julie frowned. That had been a cheap shot, though as MHI’s business manager she did outrank MHI’s accountant. “I’ve only got four people and a really big area to watch.”
“Then I’ll go ask for some more,” I answered gently.
“Fine.” Julie relented. “Sorry, I’m touchy is all.”
“Me too.” I took a spot next to her at the railing. Looking over the side made me dizzy, but it didn’t seem to bother her any. Her dark hair was loos
e and blowing in the wind. There was something I was worried about, but I wasn’t ready to broach the topic yet. “Anything new and exciting?”
“There are snipers on the casino’s other rooftops. They’re watching us right now.” I looked around but couldn’t see anything. “Don’t bother. They’re pretty well hidden. Down here,” Julie pointed to the right, “is the pool and the gardens. You might want to have the staff lock those doors, because people are still wandering out there looking for a way out, but I’m not seeing any of our patrols, so I don’t think we knew that part was still open. Oh, and I know where Presumptuous Trout went.”
“Huh?” It took me a moment to realize that Julie had decided to jump on the bandwagon and start making fun of Paranormal Tactical too. “Those jackasses? Where?”
She nodded at the barricades on the street. “Stricken has hired some contractors to work security.”
“Son of a bitch.” I didn’t have the scope, so would have to take her word for it. “What douchebags.”
“The word that came to mind for me was whores. Other than that, from here I can see in the windows to the conference center and walkway over the concourse. I saw Earl walk through there a minute ago, looking madder than usual.” Somebody had already given her a brief summary, but I told her all the details from the grim conversation with Stricken. “So do you think the science experiment in that containment unit was the thing that’s supposed to end the world that your dad has been trying to tell us about?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t feel like it.” Sure, the symbol had been there and all, but it had felt new, whereas the occupant of the unit had been there for decades. It was more like the symbol had been used to wake it up. “Here’s hoping it’s not. We’re not ready. But honestly, it’s the instigator, but I don’t think Hugo’s Nachtmar is it.”
“Good. I’ve got plans. I’m getting my hair done next week.”
“Thanks for not yelling at me for procrastinating murdering my dad to prevent Armageddon.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. We don’t know what’s going on yet, and besides, your dad’s probably delusional.” Julie quickly changed the subject because we both knew he probably wasn’t. “It’s been pretty quiet up here. The only things I’ve seen through the windows down there are people angry about being stuck in quarantine.”
“How can you tell?”
“On twenty power I can’t exactly read lips, but I can certainly read body language. The situation’s getting rowdy in there, which is why I didn’t ask for any more help up here. I figured we needed all the Hunters we could get inside.”
“Speaking of being needed inside . . .”
“I knew you’d get around to asking that eventually.” Julie knew me far too well. “You want to know why I volunteered to be out here, on lookout duty that anybody else could do, instead of being my usual diplomatic, take-charge self, herding cats downstairs?”
“Pretty much.”
My wife leaned on the railing and watched the barricades. She took a long time answering. “Because I lost my temper and hit that stupid Hunter.”
“Personally, I thought that was awesome.”
“Yeah, you would, Mr. Solves All Problems with Bludgeoning.”
“That’s actually my Indian name. I’m one sixty-fourth Cherokee.”
“You don’t get it. I’m supposed to be the rational one. I’m supposed to be the calm one that makes good decisions. If you lost it on that guy, nobody would’ve been surprised. I’m supposed to be good with people.”
“You do have a bit of a reputation. Julie’s the brains. I’m the one that’s good at lifting heavy things and reaching items on the top shelf.”
“When he accused me of being like my dad . . . I don’t know. I just . . . Well, that wasn’t me.”
“Your dad was tricked into doing some awful things. Of course you got mad. You’re only human. One cheap shot deserved another. Dumbass got what he deserved.”
She reached up and rubbed her neck absently. Her voice was so low I could barely hear her over the wind. “Maybe.”
I reached out gently and caught her wrist. “Cut that out.”
She realized what she’d been doing and slowly put her hand back on the railing. “Stupid things . . . I guess I’m just extra sensitive about doing things out of character. I’m afraid they might, I don’t know, change me. They’re not inert. They’ve saved my life, but they’ve never talked to me before.”
“Talked?” That was alarming.
She shrugged. “No words or anything like that, but the marks woke me up. They warned me about the monster’s presence this morning. I could tell they wanted me to be ready.”
I didn’t know what to say. “Julie . . .”
“Look at the timeline. I had to have woken us up the instant the Nachtmar appeared. It was like . . . I don’t know, like it was aware. Like it wanted me to go fight. They’re telling me things now. Are they progressing? Changing?” So far there had only been benefits to the Guardian’s magic, but in this business we had plenty of examples of how gifts from the other side worked out, and they seldom ended well. “I don’t know. What does it mean?”
I could sense her distress. I put my arm over her shoulder, pulled her close, and rested my lips on her forehead. “It means we’re lucky to have you.”
“Thanks.”
“Everything would’ve been a whole lot worse if we’d been caught with our pants down. Even then, only half of us actually had pants. Except for Milo’s footy jammies. I still don’t know what the hell to think of those.”
That finally made Julie smile a tiny bit. She put her arm around my waist and the two of us spent the next minute in silence watching the army below that would be killing us in twenty-three hours. “I’m just scared is all.”
“That’s normal.”
Now she did laugh, but it was a bitter one. “Now being scared about being quarantined with a monster would be normal. That doesn’t bug me in the slightest. All these people in danger, and I’m scared about being cursed. Go figure. Maybe I’m selfish.”
“Says the woman who risks her life daily protecting the clueless. Look, I’m okay with selfish. Selfish keeps you alive longer, and I want you around for a long time.”
“I suck at being selfish.” Julie sighed. “Have them send somebody up to replace me. I’ll go herd cats.”
“Thanks, hon. Just promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Keep me in the loop about this stuff. If anything else weird happens, I want to know right away,” and as I made that request, Julie stiffened against me. “What? I just want to help.”
“Nothing.” Julie slowly relaxed. “Anything else happens, I’ll tell you, I promise.”
* * *
Trip held up one fist, the signal to halt. I froze in place. “You hear that?”
The two of us were on the empty shopping concourse. The only sound I was picking up was the burbling noise of a nearby fountain. “What?”
“A phone,” Trip exclaimed as he took off running. Everybody could hear better than me. I followed along, and a second later I could hear it as well. The ringing was coming from inside an information kiosk. Trip didn’t bother trying the door, and instead vaulted over the desk, knocking over a display of postcards and brochures of local attractions in the process.
“They’re going to charge us for those too.” I took up a defensive position next to the counter and scanned for threats while Trip looked for the phone.
“Bingo.” Trip came back up with a red headset. “Hello?”
If this was the security room warning us about something they’d seen on their video cameras, I couldn’t see it from here. As far as I knew, we were the only two in the entire shopping concourse, and this place was as big as a good-sized mall, only fancier. The palm trees’ leaves were swaying a bit from the air circulation. An ornate clock was ticking above. The ceiling was decorated with enough murals that it made the Sistine Chapel look dumpy. This was
the section where the filthy rich came to buy absurdly bejeweled watches and designer shoes that cost more than normal houses. Come to think of it, I was actually in that sort of income bracket now, but mentally I would always be too much of an accountant to shop in a place like this.
“Yeah . . . Uh-huh . . . Okay. Got it.” Trip looked at me. “Mitch says we’ve got suspicious activity ahead to the right.”
That was back in the still ridiculously expensive but not completely unreasonable section. “Define suspicious.”
“One of the security alarms went off.”
“Tell Mitch that if he sees us start shooting to send backup.”
Trip did so then hung up the red phone. “Come on.”
Sound echoed for quite some distance in the huge space. As we ran toward the disturbance there was a sudden crash and the sound of breaking glass just ahead. It really made me wish for my radio. Stupid jamming. I reached the corner and signaled for Trip to hold position while I risked a peek. With Abomination at my shoulder, I snaked my way forward until I could peer between the leaves of a potted plant at the source of the noise.
One of the shops—an art gallery—had a broken window. The easels immediately inside had been knocked over. Glass was scattered across the tile. I couldn’t see what had caused the disturbance. It could be our monster, or it could be one of the guests had decided to do some looting. If it was the former, this could get nasty, if it was the later, it really wasn’t a problem.
I looked back at Trip and signaled for him to leapfrog forward. I pointed Abomination at the shop as Trip ran past and slid behind a concrete planter. I waited for him to get his KRISS pointed at the shop, then I moved up and past him to crouch behind a bench, ready to blast whatever scaly horror showed its hideous face.
A tense minute passed. If this was our mysterious entity, would it work the same way as it had in 1613? Was it spreading while we hesitated? Should we rush it? But the decision was made for me. There was a clank of metal on metal, and a black shape moved inside the shop. “Hold your fire,” Trip shouted. There was a gleam of reflected light as something glinted off of mirrored goggles. “Ed? Is that you?”
Monster Hunter Legion Page 21