James chuckled. “Good to know your priorities are always the same.”
The next morning, James settled in at the conference table at Camp Brownstone. He didn’t typically bother going to meetings anymore, but since Trey was in town, he thought it was a good time to check in with everyone. Especially since they’d had a few new hires in the last several months.
Trey sat next to James, while Maria and Staff Sergeant Royce sat on the other side of the table.
Maria nodded at James. “I know how much you hate meetings, so I’ll get right to the point. Things are going well. Really damned well. I’ve got very few complaints, and you know me. I like to bitch about stuff.”
Trey laughed. “That’s one way to put it.”
Maria smiled. “How else am I going to describe it? We’ve got steady and consistent captures in LA, and the Vegas teams have been cleaning up, too. We’re steam-rolling the bastards out there.”
Royce nodded. “None of the new recruits have washed out, and I’ve stepped up training. We’ve got a good team of men and women, with more experience than Trey and his guys had when they came in. I’m surprised by how well they’ve adapted to how we do things here.”
“Why is that?” James asked with a frown. “I figure guys with more experience would have less trouble than gang members.”
“The agency culture is…particular. Some people might not want to work next to ex-gang members or, for Vegas rotations, take orders from them. Even though we’ve started adding more of a formal chain of command, at the end of the day, Trey and Maria are the people calling the shots for field operations, and it’s important that everyone respect that.” Royce shrugged. “But it hasn’t been an issue, and no one’s had a problem with me coordinating training. It’s like we’re a bounty-hunting machine.”
James nodded, satisfied. These reports were consistent with everything he’d been hearing and reading, but it was good to sit down and look people in the eye as they related what was going on. It helped ensure that no one was holding back because they were afraid the Granite Ghost would attempt his own brand of “training.”
Maria frowned slightly. “We’ve had to expand outside of LA and Orange County at times, just to make sure we have enough revenue, given the number of bounty hunters we have, but that hasn’t been a big problem. Plenty of scum in SoCal.”
Trey grinned. “You can always send the overflow to Las Vegas. It might not be LA, but they’re punching above their weight in terms of freaks. I’ve got the Mafia nice and tamed for now, but that don’t mean it’s a safe town, and it’ll be a long time before it is.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” James replied. “And if it gets too safe, then we just spread out more. If we need to travel for bounties, we can do that, but I don’t want to grow the agency too much.” He grunted. “No shit where we have branch offices all over or whatever, but I don’t mind grabbing assholes in other cities. It’s good to hear all this from you guys, though. It makes what I have to say next easier.”
Trey’s grin turned to a frown. “I don’t like the sound of that shit, big man.”
James shook his head. “It’s nothing bad. I’ve been talking a lot with Shay and Alison, and I think that after the wedding I’m gonna dial shit down even more than I have.”
“Meaning what?” Maria asked with a curious look on her face.
Royce didn’t say anything as he watched the conversation unfold. The ex-Marine was always ready to follow orders and react to the situation with professionalism.
“Meaning I’m semi-retiring,” James replied. “Not fully retiring, but like I said, semi-retiring. I want to begin planning to open a barbeque restaurant.”
Trey whistled. “Damn, big man. I kind of knew this day was coming, but James Brownstone deciding he’s done is a big-ass deal. It’s the fucking end of an era.”
“Not really.” James nodded at Trey. “You’ve been bagging level fours by yourself lately, and a lot of the teams have done well, too. The agency doesn’t need me. You’ve got shit completely handled. I’m overkill at this point.”
“Not that I disagree, but I do have concerns.” Maria sighed. “I’m ex-AET, so I know all too well what non-magicals need to take down enhanced threats. I’m willing to say that our top teams here could do a great job against any level four, but level fives? I don’t think it’s a smart play. There’s too much of a risk.”
James grunted. “Like I said, semi-retired, not fully retired. I figure for level fives, if they’re dumbshits enough to come to LA or Vegas, that means they want an appointment with me. In those cases, you all just concentrate on finding them, and I’ll lead the final team to take them down. No reason to go looking for too much trouble. If some level-five fucker wants to jack up Denver or some shit, we can let someone else handle it.”
Maria nodded, relief coming to her face. “We could still use a few more magicals, especially on the LA side of things.”
“May Wu still might join, but I’m not gonna press her on it. She knows the offer is there.” James shrugged. His phone buzzed with an alarm. “Is that pretty much it? If so, I’ve got some shit I want to talk to Trey about.”
Maria stood. “I’m good. I think we’re all on the same page, and nothing anyone said is surprising.”
Royce stood as well, a mischievous grin on his face. “I’ve got a fitness run I want to lead for a few of the guys who are letting themselves go.”
Trey rested his elbow on the table and waited.
Maria and Royce departed.
“What’s up, big man? Trey asked.
“Yesterday, I asked the Professor to be my best man,” James explained.
Trey laughed. “Shit, motherfucker! You’re gonna need a whole fucking lake of beer at that wedding if Smite-Williams is showing up.”
James chuckled. “Probably, but he’s helped me out for my entire career, and in a way, he’s my oldest real friend. You aren’t offended or shit like that, are you?”
“Nah, but that old drunk being your oldest real friend is kind of sad in a way. Don’t matter much. You’re marrying a fine-ass babe, so who the fuck needs friends, you know what I’m saying?” Trey winked.
“Yeah.” James nodded to the other man. “I still need groomsmen, though. I already asked Mack, and he agreed. Now I’m asking you. You’re not gonna have to do all the usher shit. There’ll be too many people, so Shay’s gonna hire professional ushers, and she told me to get five groomsmen to match the number of bridesmaids she’s going to have.” He started ticking off fingers. “Maria, Kara, Janelle, Bella, and Alison. We’re still deciding on if we’re gonna have a flower girl and a ringbearer and shit. I want Thomas to bring the rings, but Shay disagrees.”
Trey laughed. “Seriously, big man?”
“He’s a smart dog.” James shrugged.
“Your wedding.”
James lifted his other hand to tick off more fingers. “The Professor, you, Mack, and Tyler. Maria’s gonna ask him for me. Still trying to decide on the fifth groomsman.”
Trey eyed James like he’d lost his mind. “You want Tyler to be one of your groomsmen?”
“Yeah. It’ll make him feel special and shit. He can be annoying at times, but he’s fed me a lot of good information over the years, and it’s obvious Maria wants to marry him, so I might as well feed him a bone. It’s good for the agency.”
“Sure, okay.” Trey looked down a for a moment, his brow furrowed. “Look, big man, this is gonna sound weird, but I think you should only have four groomsmen.”
“Why?”
Trey lifted his head. “Because I want to leave a spot in memory of Shorty. Kind of a way to honor him. I know I ain’t have the right to ask you that, given that it’s supposed to be the happiest day of your life and shit…”
James shook his head. “It’s fine. You’re right. Leaving a spot for Shorty’s not a bad idea, and if he were still alive, he’d probably be the fifth man anyway.”
Trey’s expression brightened. “Thanks. I d
on’t think you know how much this means to me.”
“You’d be surprised. I won’t ever forget him.”
“You don’t ever forget anything.”
James snorted. “All the more reason. Thanks for the suggestion. That’s all I had to ask about.”
Trey stood and fluffed his lapels. “You sure? I’m heading back to Vegas tonight, so if there’s anything else you need while I’m in town, let me know.”
“Nah. I’m good.” James shrugged. “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
Trey headed toward the door with a smile on his face.
Looks like I can finally just go ahead with my life, James thought. No crazy-ass aliens or CIA hunters after me. It might still be a few months until the wedding, but it’ll be good to get everyone used to shit before then.
Nothing on Earth can fuck this shit up now.
Chapter Seven
Sentry 8224 sighed as he reviewed the holographic display of the grainy video clip on his ocular implant and leaned back in the comfortable chair. If anyone was recording or watching him, they would see nothing but a human man seemingly distracted at a desk in his home office.
I can’t believe I’m reduced to this. I knew Johnston was hiding something, but this?
All the advanced technology of the Nine Systems Alliance, and the Shepherd still found himself almost completely thwarted by the strange combination of primitive Earth computer systems and the much more concerning magic, but he hadn’t failed totally. A small nanoprobe had managed to infiltrate the meeting with the Oriceran ambassador.
The probe hadn’t been able to collect any audio and had mysteriously failed after a few minutes, but the Shepherd had gotten what he needed: evidence of the arrival of another Vax. It was as he feared and expected. He had hoped it might take years instead of months, but in a disturbing way, he wasn’t surprised.
Aiyn was right in her own way. Now it’s up to us to make sure her sacrifice wasn’t pointless.
The Shepherd tapped his silver AllBand on his wrist a few times and waited. The device buzzed.
“Report,” ordered a harsh voice through one of his auditory implants: Fleet Commander Laralan.
The officer currently commanded a four-ship fleet hidden in the outer fringes of the Solar System. The Shepherd knew that some had challenged his request for the fleet. They thought it was a waste of resources, but now, he had all the proof he needed. He only wished he had even more ships available.
“Sentry 8224 reporting verification of a Vax on Oriceran,” the Shepherd responded. “I’ll be transmitting the recording, but from what I can tell, it’s Purifier or Destroyer class.”
The commander sighed. “Even though we knew this was coming, that doesn’t make it any less concerning. Oriceran, though? It is my understanding that the humans have insisted you deal with the Oricerans through them. That will make things more complicated.”
“That’s true, sir. In order to maintain good relationships with the relevant human governments, I’ve agreed to that situation for the moment.” The Shepherd transmitted the image data from his probe. “But that doesn’t change the fact that the intelligence I’ve collected clearly shows a Vax destroying an Oriceran town.”
“I see,” the commander replied. “That might explain why we’ve never been able to find a point of origin. Maybe we’ve been wrong, and the Vax aren’t in this galaxy. From what you’ve told me, Oriceran might not be in this galaxy.”
“Neither the humans nor the Oricerans are completely certain of that point, sir, to be honest. They often refer to Oriceran being in a different dimension, but they haven’t firmly ruled out that it might simply be far away in conventional space-time. The fact that the Vax can portal to the planet suggests that might be the case.”
“Damn,” Fleet Commander Laralan replied. “I’m watching the recording now. If they understood properly what they had been dealing with, they might have had some small chance, but from what I see, all they did was make the Purifier stronger. What sort of countermeasures do you think will come next?”
“I’m unsure, sir, but I do know the Oricerans are reluctant to use magic equivalent to strategic-scale weapons because of their history. I’m having some issues acquiring real-time intelligence on this matter. Unfortunately, the humans don’t trust the Alliance implicitly.”
“I don’t understand much about magic, but what little I do understand suggests we have little chance of getting our ships to Oriceran.”
The Shepherd didn’t respond immediately. He looked up at the ceiling, trying to think of the best course of action, but the same idea kept returning.
“Even if the Oricerans were willing and able to generate a portal of the necessary size, I doubt they would agree to allow the Alliance to orbit four warships above their planet, sir,” the Shepherd explained. “But I’m at least going to ask. They’ve already seen what a Vax can do, and it might make them more inclined to take such an offer.”
Commander Laralan growled in frustration. “The monster gets to lay waste to a world, and there’s nothing we can do about it if they don’t let us go there.”
“I don’t believe that’s the case, sir.”
“You don’t?”
The Shepherd stood and walked over to his window, staring out into the densely packed buildings of the city. “Yes, sir. If this had been about Brownstone summoning the Vax, they would have appeared on Earth directly, not on Oriceran. That’s an important distinction.”
Commander Laralan snorted. “What good does it do us now? It doesn’t matter if Brownstone called the Purifier. It’s there. I don’t know why they didn’t follow their standard attack patterns, but now it’s only important that we respond.”
“That’s just it, sir.” The Shepherd allowed himself a triumphant smile even if he was the only one there to know about it. “My investigations, combined with what little Brownstone and Senator Johnston have passed along, suggest that Brownstone might not have originally arrived on Earth. I believe he was originally on Oriceran, and somehow portaled to Earth as a young child. I also would estimate the unusual Vax behavior is because this is some kind of recovery mission.”
“And what do you base that on?”
“There was a similar incident about twenty years ago,” the Shepherd explained. “It was on a small border planet. The Vax Forerunner there initiated some conflicts and summoned the Vanguard, but there was a successful psionic attack against the Forerunner. The locals didn’t dare use it until they were desperate, but it worked. The Vax started acting erratically, and it wasn’t long after that a Purifier arrived to destroy the local Vax and continue razing the planet with Destroyers. The locals attempted the same attack again, but it failed. The Purifier had already assimilated the symbionts of the slain Vax.”
Commander Laralan let out a small grunt of approval. “You think it’s looking for Brownstone, then?”
“Yes. If this was about conquering Oriceran, it would have already summoned the Destroyers or the Vanguard. I’m sure they’ll come to Oriceran eventually, but I think it’s a secondary priority.”
Commander Laralan blew out a breath. “If it’s seeking Brownstone, that means it’ll eventually come to Earth.”
“Yes, sir, and, if that’s the case, we have a chance, even without the Oricerans agreeing to anything. I would recommend that we no longer worry about concealing the fleet. You’ll need to be in position when the creature comes over.”
“Duly noted. Very well, I’ll leave it to you to smooth over the diplomatic issues. Contact me immediately if you become aware of any new intelligence.”
The AllBand buzzed with the termination of the link.
The Shepherd folded his hands behind his back. He didn’t need magic or Alliance technology to guess where the Vax would arrive. If it was looking for Brownstone, it would come to Los Angeles soon enough.
Yona folded her hands in her lap and peered through the scrying window. Some dangers couldn’t be allowed to exist. If they couldn’
t beat the Vax Purifier without strategic-level magic, then there was one major option remaining.
The elf watched as a portal opened. A group of elves emerged and spread out in a half-circle. They had positioned themselves a few hundred yards away from the Purifier. An illusionary wall of trees concealed their position. It would all be over soon enough.
The Purifier continued advancing on its previous course. Currently, the monster was striding through the woods, ignoring the few animals nearby. Only fortune had spared additional victims other than the guardsmen and the second team. The Vax had come close to another city, but not turned toward it. If he traveled long enough in a straight line, he would hit another city, but he would have to cross a sea first.
Everything the US government had passed along about the Vax suggested they were a conquering and destructive species. The Purifier had already proven the latter, but his refusal to lay waste to any additional towns suggested there was some other goal in mind.
Where is he going? Is there something we’re missing?
Ambassador Yona shook her head. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t hurt anyone on Oriceran trapped in the World in Between, and he would be delivered there in moments.
Lines of light surrounded the elves, and complex glyphs appeared in the air in front of them as they murmured their incantations. The Purifier stopped moving and turned in their direction.
He can sense them?
Yona’s heart sped up, and her lips parted. They couldn’t restrain the Vax. The current plan had to work.
The Purifier marched straight toward the illusionary trees, his movement slow, steady, and indefatigable. There was no sense of urgency in his steps, nor did he raise his arms. The deadly shoulder appendages in his armor twitched but didn’t fire.
This can work. He’s not reacting quickly enough.
The elves continued their ritual. Swirling energy flowed in front of them, still hidden by the illusion. The spell was working.
Yona let out a sigh of relief. They had worried so much over nothing. The loss of life at Alazi was a tragedy, but the most important thing was to protect Oriceran without risking the disruption of the status quo or the Great Treaty. The Vax monster was threatening to do just that, threatening them in a way that no one since Rhazdon had done, and he would be delivered to a terrible fate.
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