by Ricky Sides
Thanatos ran carefully down the steps with the girl in front of him. “Move it girl. You are about to be freed unless you make me late. In that case, I will kill you,” he said irritably.
Once they reached the ground floor, he cut the ropes from the girl’s wrists. “We are going to a car. I will get in the car and start the engine. Then I will hand you the baby and you will run to the big peacekeeper ship with the child. Do you understand me?” he asked the girl and she solemnly nodded. He’d toyed with the notion of keeping the hostages or at least the baby, but during his flight down the stairs, it had occurred to him that the hostages would make the peacekeepers more cautious, especially the fragile baby. He didn’t think they’d do anything until they’d secured the hostages, and by then he could be blocks away. Conversely, the moment that they realized he did not intend to let the hostages go the peacekeepers would be all over him.
He pushed the girl out the door and stepped out behind her. “Faster girl,” he said as they walked toward the car. She obediently walked faster and soon he opened the door and slid inside the automobile. The peacekeepers had even left the engine running and it had half a tank of gas. He transferred the baby to his left arm and dropped the car into gear. “Take the brat,” he said and waited until the girl had the baby. He hissed at her and she turned to run to the peacekeeper ship. Laughing at the peacekeepers, he slammed his door and peeled away.
Looking in his rearview mirror, he saw the peacekeepers running back toward the hospital entrance. His cult members were about to be exterminated, but that wasn’t important. The important thing was that he would survive. He’d link up with Clarissa and they would stay in hiding for a few weeks until things settled down, and then they would relocate to another state where the peacekeepers didn’t have a strong presence. He still had the peacekeeper radio that could always be used to monitor their conversations. Thanatos laughed as he began the twenty-mile drive to Clarissa’s lair.
***
Inside the Constitution, Annie delivered the baby to the doctor and his nurse. Her sister Ginny greeted her with tear-dimmed eyes and told her that their parents were dead. The captain asked if there was anywhere they wanted to be taken or other relatives that they wanted contacted, but the girls informed him that they had no other relatives. For the time being, they would share Holly’s cabin.
Outside the cargo bay door one of the guards shouted that the Peacekeeper had landed and a party of men were heading for the ship. The guard also reported that the Alabama was landing on the other side of their vessel, and the fighters were lifting off to fly cover.
Bill stepped outside to greet Pete and Jim. He saw drones enter the fifth floor windows and he heard the sounds of battle commence once more inside the hospital. The Peacekeeper lifted into the sky and flew toward the fifth floor spinning on its axis at the last moment and stopping with the lowered cargo bay door in position for the strike force team to enter the hospital. They jumped the two feet down to the floor. “That must have been Tim flying the ship,” Bill said grinning as Pete and Jim joined him.
“Yeah, he is in a foul mood. One of the children strayed away after the rescue and was recaptured, along with Namid. Tim holds himself responsible,” Jim explained. “We recovered them, and both are well,” Jim explained as he noted the concerned expression on Bill’s face.
“Well if he ever works out a way to keep little ones from straying he should patent the procedure. Parents have been dealing with that issue for untold generations,” Pete said. “It’s the nature of children.”
“Thanatos took the bait?” Jim asked.
“Hook, line, and sinker,” Bill replied grinning.
“Then you got both hostages?” Pete asked.
“Yes but I was afraid he’d try to keep one or both,” Bill said.
“That would have gotten him killed immediately. I think he probably realized that,” Pete stated.
They all turned to face the hospital as the fighting escalated to an almost non-stop fusillade of automatic weapons fire. Ten minutes later the fighting ended and the mop up procedure began.
“Congratulations on a job well done, Captains,” Jim said addressing Bill and Braden. “Your teams performed well and your leadership was excellent. I hope that you noted the performance of your men and will suitably advance those who deserve the honor.”
“I advanced my pilot from corporal to sergeant but wanted to speak to you about advancing Sergeant Carter to lieutenant,” Bill stated. The council had final say over people making rank above sergeant.
“I’d say he deserves it for talking the cult out of a hostage.” Jim stated and Pete nodded. A quick consultation with Tim via the radio confirmed that the council was unanimous in their support for Maxwell Carter’s promotion.
“I think I’ll also promote Private Evan Jones to corporal,” Bill explained.
“Jones? Wasn’t he the man who grabbed the hot minigun assembly during the battle with the cartel and dragged it out on its sled so it would cool faster for reloading?” Pete asked. “And he received first and second degree burns as a result but wanted to keep fighting?”
“That’s the man,” Bill stated.
“I’d skip corporal and take him to sergeant, Bill,” Jim stated. “We’ve been meaning to talk to you about that man. Such crewmembers are a credit to their ships. By their examples they inspire greater performance on the part of their fellow crewmen.”
Pete nodded and said, “Namid tells me your cook prepared food for the fighter pilots prior to the raids. He is currently a sergeant isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is a good man. Runs a clean kitchen and it seems as if he always anticipates just when the crew needs a little something extra such as coffee for the duty watch or sandwiches for men coming in from hours long ground duty,” Bill explained.
“After Namid told us about that incident, we got to talking about others we’d heard about and we decided to recommend to you that you consider him for lieutenant, provided there are no disciplinary reasons that would prevent the man’s advancement,” Jim stated. “The cook is critical to the morale aboard ship. A good cook is also thoughtful, trustworthy and a good manager. He needs the rank for dealing with the supply sergeant.”
Bill smiled and said, “He’ll appreciate that, and his record is exemplary.”
“What about you Braden?” asked Pete.
“No I don’t have anyone ready for advancement yet, but there is a corporal I’d like to add to my crew. He was wounded in the battle today, but he refused extraction. Later he carried a child up several flights of stairs despite his wound. He was one of the men brought aboard for this mission. His name is Richard Varny.”
“Crew members are strictly the prerogative of the captain,” Jim said grinning. “Just try not to overextend your accommodations.”
“Captain, Thanatos has stopped moving. He’s been at that same location for the past ten minutes,” Patricia reported through the hat communications system.
Jim replied, “He won’t be able to use the radio to intercept our messages will he?”
“No, sir. For that mission Holly set up the radio for a frequency we never use. The tracer bug inside the radio is working flawlessly. I think he just arrived at his location,” she explained.
“And that is?” Jim asked.
“Twenty miles west and a bit north, sir,” Patricia replied.
“Recall the team, Lieutenant, and have Tim land. We’ll be there in just a few minutes,” Jim said. Turning to Bill and Braden he said, “Captains we will leave the intelligence gathering to your teams. Meet us at the next location after you have dropped off the children at the Birmingham police headquarters.”
The captains promised to try to speed things along and left to communicate with their teams.
Chapter 18
Thanatos closed the garage door so that no one would be able to see the car the peacekeepers had supplied for his use. He stood in the yard and stared at the house for a moment to be sure that no light
from the interior would be seen from the roadway. Grunting in satisfaction, he approached the front door to the ten thousand square foot mansion.
The place had belonged to one of the cult member’s mother and father. When society had broken down after the quakes, the cult decided to enter the communal living arrangements. The parents of that member had become a problem when they’d hired men to find their son. The men had been captured and were persuaded to name the people who’d hired them to infiltrate the nests. One night not long after that the cult had visited the mansion and exacted their revenge. Their son had drunk his share of their blood.
It was a pity he was dead now. Thanatos had considered him a good man but no doubt the man had died on the fifth floor after his departure. But at least he had survived, and he could always rebuild the cult. There were always misfits who couldn’t cope with society and longed to belong to a mystic group that promised to enlighten them. This time he might go werewolf and explore cannibalism. No, he thought he’d stick with the vampirism angle. That had a heavy sexual undertone and he was all for that. He smiled as he remembered how quickly the female doctor had been to respond to the sexual analogy. She wasn’t alone. He had carefully nurtured a small but dedicated harem of females in his nest who had reveled in the psychological and sexual associations of vampirism. Thanatos frowned and sighed. They too would be dead by now. He hated the peacekeepers and he vowed he’d make them pay for what they had cost him.
Thanatos paused at the door and slipped into the role that he was forced to play with Clarissa. The woman was insane. She actually believed that she was a real vampire. She took it to such extremes that she would abide no religious items or silver in her presence. And she never went out into the light of day at all, though the cult taught their followers that sunlight didn’t really kill vampires. It just made them weak. Well insane or not, he needed her now. She had access to a large food stockpile and she had made this mansion her lair. No one knew that except him and he had liked it that way. One never knew when one might need a well-stocked retreat in the event of an emergency. He had gladly kept her secret.
Nevertheless, Clarissa took the vampire cult much more seriously than he ever had. To him the cult was a way to bilk the people of money. Later when society had crashed, it had been a means to provide a comfortable existence for himself. And of course there was always the sex. Smiling to himself he thought, “You haven’t had sex until you’ve had sex with a true believer who was reveling in blood.”
Clarissa was a fanatic who’d lost her grip on sanity long ago and had come to believe that she was a real vampire. Her mental state was such that she was extremely dangerous. If she thought for one moment that he was less than genuine about his belief in the creation of a vampire nation, she would kill him and he knew that. Therefore, where she was concerned he walked a fine line. He role played the vampire lord and afforded her the respects of the vampire queen. She delighted in the attention and he loved the sex when she was really into the blood ecstasy.
Knocking on the door, he pulled the collar of his cloak up against the chill night air of early autumn. He waited a few moments and then he knocked again. Soon after that attempt, the door opened easily and he stepped into the darkened foyer in the front section of the house. Light spilled into the foyer from the next room, but she had not turned on a light in the foyer. It wasn’t wise to have visible light emanating from a house that was supposedly empty.
Clarissa hissed sibilantly in his ear as she took his cloak and hung it up on the coat rack. Playing the role Thanatos hissed in return and said, “Long I have longed for your company, sister of the night.”
“And I yours, prince of the nation,” she responded. “It pleases me that you escaped the clutches of our enemies. Please tell me, brother of the night, how did you manage that feat?”
“The foolish human in charge of the ship that attacked my nest was willing to release me in exchange for a baby and a girl,” he explained.
“You were not followed here were you, Thanatos?” she asked smiling.
“Of course not, Clarissa,” he responded. “I was diligent and cautious. I would not lead the enemies of our nation to the last sanctuary of our princess,” Thanatos said sounding wounded that she would even ask.
“I have a surprise for you, Thanatos,” Clarissa said smiling as she stroked his face with the fingertips of her hand.
Thanatos caught her wrist and kissed her hand as he always did when she caressed his face. He didn’t like her razor tipped finger being anywhere near his throat or neck. “What is your surprise Clarissa?” he asked.
“We are not as defenseless as you may think. I sent the elite twenty here before the fall of my primary nest,” Clarissa said smiling in anticipation of his reaction.
“You are truly blessed with wisdom to have foreseen their need and preserved those warriors. Surely you are beloved of the nation,” Thanatos said and bowed. “Of all the people to survive, it had to be those fanatics,” he thought to himself.
The elite twenty was a group of homicidal maniacs that Clarissa had recruited. She’d disappeared for two months and returned with them. They were fiercely devoted to her and only to her.
“Thank you. They are preparing to defend us with their very lives if necessary,” Clarissa replied.
For a brief moment, Thanatos wondered if it was too late for him to leave her and strike out on his own. He didn’t know where she had located the people she called the elite twenty. That was something she refused to discuss. But he had his suspicions that she had liberated them from an insane asylum. All seemed to have had military experience and were highly skilled fighters. They shared her fanatical abhorrence to daylight. He had not once seen Clarissa or any of the twenty that she had recruited outside in the light of day.
“Come, Thanatos. I will show you the improvements that we have made to this haven,” Clarissa said.
Thanatos followed her through the house. The once immaculate home was now covered in a layer of dust. Every room that they entered was dimly lit. Most had only a single heavily shaded lamp turned on. Frequently, in a darkened corner he spotted one of the elite twenty standing watch with their weapons. They usually wore gray or black cloaks, but the insides were lined with military poncho liners. When in a woodland environment they reversed the cloaks so as to blend in with their surroundings.
Clarissa stopped when she saw the leader of the elite twenty near the staircase that led down into the basement. The man was huge. He was six foot five inches tall and broad shouldered. He weighed around two hundred sixty pounds and every ounce of that was muscle. His dark eyes had a dead look to them. His long black hair was worn in a ponytail. He preferred the long black cloak worn over black pants and shirt. Speaking to the man Clarissa said, “Flavious, put half of the twenty in their outside guard stations. The peacekeepers may seek us. The men are not to draw attention to us in any way unless someone enters the grounds, but they are to kill any man that sets foot inside the grounds. Make it quiet kills. No firearms should be used, unless the enemy fires first. I don’t want the authorities coming to investigate shooting if that can be avoided,” she said.
Thanatos had seen two members of the elite twenty battle police once, when a team of six police officers had located and entered Clarissa’s nest searching for a missing family. He had been there partaking of the blood of those victims and the orgy which always followed. When the police entered the chamber with their weapons drawn, the two men had attacked the officers wielding swords and daggers that they threw at the policemen. The police officers had died in seconds. The elite twenty was just that deadly. They were even more deadly when they utilized their firearms.
Clarissa led Thanatos down the stairs into the full basement. He noted that a hole had been cut through one wall and a tunnel had been dug. One of the elite twenty stood guard at the tunnel entrance. They entered the tunnel as Thanatos asked, “Where does the tunnel lead?”
“To a special chamber and from there it le
ads to the surface in a concealed location. One must always be mindful of an escape route,” Clarissa said smiling. “Follow me to the special chamber, Thanatos,” she said and moved smoothly across the earthen floor of the tunnel.
He followed her along the corridor of the earthen tunnel to what she called the special chamber. Inside that large chamber, he saw a heavy steel cage easily capable of holding at least a dozen prisoners. Clarissa outlined her plan then, explaining that the elite twenty would secure victims for them and bring them to the lair where they would be imprisoned until they were needed for a ceremony or they felt the need to feed.
“You will feel the need much more often once I have turned you, Thanatos,” Clarissa explained and smiled at the man.
“I am not yet ready to complete the transition,” Thanatos said hastily. He noticed that two of Clarissa’s men had just entered the chamber.
“Oh but, Thanatos, you must. Only when you have completed the transition will you be able to enjoy the full benefits of being a vampire. What you have experienced to this point is but a taste of what awaits.”
Thanatos was beginning to experience real fear now. He knew what the turning process entailed, and he knew that it would kill him. Clarissa would drain him of almost all of his blood and then she would cut herself and let him drink of her blood. In her insanity, she believed that she was a full vampire and that she could now turn him.
“No, Clarissa,” he said firmly. He noticed the two guards turn to stare at him with absolutely no expression on their faces.
“You resist because you fear leaving the mortal shell behind. You fear the unknown and that is only natural for mortals. I myself felt that fear when Flavious turned me, but he was adamant, as I must be with you now, Thanatos. The time has come for your turning,” Clarissa said firmly and gestured to the two guards.
Thanatos soon found his arms in the cold grips of the two guards who forced him to his knees. Thanatos now realized that Flavious had driven Clarissa over the edge into insanity. Prior to that mysterious disappearance for two months, she hadn’t believed herself to be a vampire, but she did yearn for that transition.