Avalanche: Book Five in the Secret World Chronicle

by Lackey, Mercedes

  Penny’s confusion must have shown on her face, because the movie star mechanic chuckled and plucked a wrench from his toolbelt. They can’t fly something that won’t stay together, can they? He winked at her. And it can’t stay together if I’m field-stripping it in midair.

  Miz Vickie put one hand on Penny’s shoulder, and began tracing little patterns in the air with the other. Something inside one of the pockets on her belt started to glow, you could see it right through the leather! For a couple of minutes, nothing seemed to happen. Then Miz Bella bit off an exclamation just as the glow went out.

  “There’s a glowing ball of light…is that our spook?” Miz Bella asked.

  Miz Vickie nodded. “That’s the best I can do.” She looked sort of in the direction of the movie star. “Sorry, buddy, but I can’t do anything more than turn you into a nightlight. If you nod, the light will go up and down. Shake your head for ‘no’ and it’ll go side to side.”

  Corsair nodded slowly, and the light moved up and down along the length of his face. Better than nothing. I guess they’ll get the nickel tour of the place, courtesy of yours truly. He reached forward and lightly tapped the end of Penny’s nose with his wrench. The icy puff of air made her want to sneeze. Gonna take these fine people to the robot factory. Tell your friend thanks for the spark.

  “That’s you and me, I guess, Bull,” Miz Bella said, sounding resigned. “Vix, that leaves you and Mel to watch Penny. As soon as the shield comes down, I want you off this crate. Got that?”

  “Shield down, exfil Penny, roger,” Miz Vickie said and made a shooing motion. “Every minute you stand here is another minute they’re making monsters.”

  Miz Bella said something else bad, and she and the huge man opened the door and eased out into the hall, following Corsair.

  “Right.” Miz Vickie looked at Mel, and blew out her breath. “Have you got a good idea what’s coming next? I’ve got to leave you two. I’m going after Doppelgaenger. I’ve got a way to put her permanently in the dirt. And we absolutely cannot let her get away. With her powers, she can replace any of us seamlessly, and no one would know until it was way past too late.”

  Miz Vickie paused there, and gave Miz Mel a look.

  Miz Mel answered her with an eyebrow that would have made Mama proud. “What, you think I’m gonna tell you that it’s a bad idea, that it’s not something to worry about? And as for that whole being able to be somebody else, I’ve had quite enough of that.” She folded her arms across her chest and glanced at Penny. “And you’re right. Much as I want a piece of her, that’s just not my job right now, is it?”

  Penny wrapped her thin arms around her torso and chewed on her lip. Miz Vickie knew the name of the Devil, the man who had kept her and all of the other kids in that creepy hospital. Miz Vickie had been one of the people who had come to rescue them, but she knew more things about the Devil that made him even more dangerous. Although she didn’t want to go with Miz Vickie to find him, she didn’t feel right just letting her go without saying something.

  “You got a plan, Miz Vickie? ’Cause…” She took a deep breath, trying to make the words sound more grown-up. Like Miz Mel. “’Cause if you don’t, then you’ll turn into a ghost and I don’t know that light-up trick to make anybody else see you.”

  Next to her, Miz Mel snorted. “The kid’s fitting in just fine, huh? I agree with her, though. You gotta do what you gotta do, but you gotta know what you gotta do first. Okay?”

  “I don’t want you or Penny anywhere near that monster ever again,” Miz Vickie said, through clenched teeth. “You’ve got the spooks to scout for you and make sure nothing sneaks up on you. The second the shield comes down, Eight, Bella, or the Commissar will give you the all-clear to leave, and the ghosts can find you a safe way out.” She shrugged out of her backpack and handed it to Mel. “That’s an inflatable raft if you can’t get to the sub or the sub can’t get to you quick. I am getting this job done. I’m not leaving until it is.”

  Penny considered her words, and reached out to take Miz Vickie’s hand. “Promise?” she asked, and winced at how scared she sounded. She didn’t want to sound scared. She was here because they needed her, and they needed her to be brave, not some scared little kid that had to be looked after like a baby. But the Devil scared her, she couldn’t help it. The long months spent as his captive had almost broken her. What little sleep she’d found had been haunted by terrible nightmares about the Devil, and his claws, his laugh…

  Hearing Miz Vickie say she was going to stop him, for the first time in a very long while, Penny felt hope.

  Miz Vicky knelt down and took Penny’s hand.

  “Kiddo, I swear to you, no matter what, I’m putting an end to Doppelgaenger.” Miz Vickie didn’t smile as she said it, but that was okay. Sometimes when adults smiled at you, you could see they were lying, and just trying to make you feel better. Instead, Miz Vickie just looked…hard, like her expression could cut glass. “You hear me? I swear it. You don’t ever have to be afraid of the Devil again.” She looked at both of them. “But I can’t do that if I’m worrying about you two getting ideas about trying to help. Okay?”

  Miz Mel slipped on the backpack, adjusting the straps while she talked. “Only help we’re giving is following orders and staying out of your way. Everybody’s got their little bit of light, so we’ve got our order to exfil. Simple as that.”

  Miz Vickie let out her breath in a long sigh. “Then the very best thing you guys can do—all of you, ghosts included—is wish me luck and give me your blessing. I need all the help I can get.”

  At Miz Vickie’s words, Mistuh Stone brought both of his hands together and rubbed the palms together so fast that wisps of smoke curled off of them. Penny studied the motion, seeing the spindly threads of something silver-white leap toward Miz Vickie when he pushed the air between them. Was magic like smoke and spiderwebs, or was that luck? She wasn’t sure, but whatever it was surrounded her like the glow from the angel lady.

  Miz Mel couldn’t see it. She reached out and patted the smaller woman on the shoulder. “Give ’em hell, ma’am. I know those might not be the best words, but it’s the sentiment, right?”

  Penny thought for a second, then stepped forward to give Miz Vickie a quick kiss on the forehead. “You be careful an’ get him good. Real good.”

  Miz Vickie gave her a quick hug. She rose, looked at Miss Mel and fist-bumped her. “Eight,” she said aloud. “Mel and Penny are Protection Priority One. I authorize use of magic. Got that?”

  “Yes, Vickie.”

  And with that, she was gone.

  * * *

  Vickie stopped at the first junction away from the safe room, and waited. She didn’t need to wait long. Jack and Khanjar seemed to emerge from the shadows, and beckoned her forwards.

  “Took you long enough,” Jack muttered as she fell in step behind them.

  “Couldn’t leave, not with Bella watching my every move,” Vickie said. Her hand rested gently on the pommel of her sword. “Eight’s tip about the replication chambers couldn’t have come sooner. Talk about timing.” She gave Jack a knowing look.

  “Yeah, well,” Jack shrugged. “Our timing’s going to have be spot-on if we’re going to pull this off. You loaded up?”

  “Just about,” Vickie answered, and patted her sword again. “Point me to her chambers. I’ll only need a moment when we reach it.”

  “That’s a neat trick, if I heard you right,” Jack grunted. “Someday, you’re going to have to show me how you do it.”

  “I really don’t see that happening, Jack,” Vickie said. “Even now, I only trust you so much. The idea of you with a blade that can cleave through molecules, that’s got to be a recipe for chaos and disaster. And a lot of bank robberies.”

  “Assuming we live through this, I think it’s safe to say my merc days are behind me.” With a jerk of his head, Jack motioned them to the right. Khanjar dove into an open doorway, Vickie followed, and Jack darted in, closing the door behi
nd them. A few moments passed, the sound of footsteps grew louder, then faded away, and they moved back into the hallway, moving quietly through the ship. Jack looked back at Vickie. “You might say I’ve lost my taste for it.”

  “What are you saying, Jack?” Vickie smirked. “You looking for a place at ECHO?”

  Vickie felt an ironic laugh struggle to the surface as Jack visibly shuddered, and smothered it. “Hardly,” he said. “I’ve got other plans, remember? Something that will likely take up the rest of my days. Still, I can’t see it taking up all of my time. Once I get used to my new living conditions, who knows? Maybe I can be talked into helping you heroes out here and there. One thing I’ll say about working with you lot, you do have the best toys at your disposal.”

  “You seem to get by with what you’ve got,” Vickie noted.

  “That’d be you, mostly,” Jack replied. “I’m learning not to underestimate you, Victrix. Don’t know how you knew, but that last-minute magical hack was slick. They would have nicked us for sure. Like I said, not too many places to hide on this boat if they know you’re here.”

  “What hack? And how on earth did you get intel on the replication chambers seconds after leaving us in that room?”

  They stopped moving and looked at each other.

  “You didn’t send Eight intel on the replication chambers, did you?” Vickie said.

  “And you didn’t bypass the magic security on this boat,” Jack said.

  “They had magic security?” Vickie gasped. “Oh we are so screwed…”

  “You’re missing the point,” Jack grunted. “I didn’t help you, and you didn’t help me. So who did?”

  Vickie didn’t get a chance to answer. One moment she was standing in front of Jack, his look of confusion a mirror to her own, and the next she was flung to one side. She slammed into the wall, shook her head groggily, and turned to see a horde of nightmares descending upon them. Countless Thulians surged towards them, and their gray-green, sexless, smooth yet heavily muscled bodies were even more unsettling naked than they were clothed in uniforms. A smell of cinnamon and burning oranges assaulted her nose. At Khanjar’s feet a headless Thulian lay, twitching, his ochre blood still dripping from her sword.

  “Run!” Jack barked, and pointed further down the hallway. “They’re going to swarm us!”

  “Where did they come from?” Khanjar demanded. “Why are naked Thulians roaming this ship?”

  “They must be new replicants,” Vickie coughed, and fell in step next to Jack as they dashed away. “On their way to be fitted for battle. Oh God, there’s so many…”

  “We need somewhere defensive,” Jack muttered, and brought up his tablet. “There might be something around the next corner. Move!”

  “Unless it’s a safe room, we’re not going to be able to defend against that!” Vickie shouted.

  “It’s a vent shaft,” Jack growled. “Ladder access. If we can get to the next level, they’ll have to climb to get to us. It’ll buy time, at least.”

  They rounded the corner at a run, and came to a skidding halt as they saw another group of Thulians walking towards them. With a shout, the Thulians advanced, waving their arms menacingly as they closed the distance.

  “Here’s the shaft,” Jack shouted and slammed his boot into the wall. The panelling gave way with a crunch and fell, clanging loudly as it tumbled down into the darkness. Vickie saw the rungs of a ladder just inside, but her heart sank as she heard the pounding footsteps coming from either side of her. It was too late. They were seconds away from being swarmed under…

  Again, Vickie found herself pushed to the side. She fell back, surprised, as figures darted out of the shaft and took position next to Jack and Khanjar, who had stepped to either side of Vickie, placing themselves between her and the advancing hordes. With an easy motion, Jack unslung the Mk 48 mod 0 machine gun from his shoulder and immediately went to work, laying down heavy fire which cut down the front runners to the left. To the right, Khanjar had drawn a couple of Kriss Vectors, and was pelting the other group with short bursts from the chattering submachine guns. On both sides, the leading Thulians fell, slowing down their comrades behind them, who had to clamber over the bodies. Vickie watched as a familiar figure crouched next to Khanjar and proceeded to down their would-be assailants with perfectly placed headshots from her automatic pistols. That was impossible! Vickie gasped, noticing the actual make of the guns. They weren’t automatic pistols, they were Glock G17s, a semiautomatic model of the venerable design. Whoever this was, they were shooting fast enough to mimic a fully automatic burst, which meant…

  “Scope?” Vickie breathed. “Where did you come from?”

  Scope glanced back at Vickie, who felt a brief chill as their eyes met. There was nothing there. She had seen Scope in action before. On the rare occasion that Scope was allowed to cut loose, she had never really been able to mask a wild delight, whether it be a mad twinkle of the eye or a broad grin that seemed to split her face in two. Instead, Vickie watched something akin to a corpse turn away and continue her one-woman barrage of precision death shots.

  On her left, Jack continued to spray down Thulians, and the dead were piling up. Still, they kept coming, climbing over, leaping down only to collapse at the feet of their fallen brothers as they were riddled by a constant stream of jagged metal death. One almost made it past Jack’s blockade, even dodging the stocky man himself, and leapt for Victoria, his hands surging towards her throat…

  Vickie planted her feet, drew her dagger and braced herself for the attack. She watched as the Thulian was tackled to the ground, and grunted, unsurprised, as Harmony wrapped one claw around the Thulian’s throat and sucked his life-force dry. Harm glanced up at her, grinning.

  “Guess we’re even now,” Harmony chuckled. “I always feel better after paying my debts.”

  “Not even close,” Vickie growled. “Not even…”

  “Victrix!” Jack barked. “You’ve got to get out of here! You get to your objective, and we’ll get to ours! Just give her a good shiv for me!”

  “You can’t possibly take on…”

  “Yes, we can! We’ve got this!” Jack shouted. “Now get in that chute, find her, and take her out! Promise me!”

  “I promise!” Vickie responded instantly. That was the second time she had promised to kill Doppelgaenger in the last ten minutes. One more would make a geas, but what difference would that make now? Geas or not, doing the job was all that mattered. She dove for the vent chute and scuttled up the ladder, leaving the others, and the sound of combat, behind.

  “Eight. I need a route from here five minutes ago,” she subvocalized.

  Her HUD lit up. Now it was really time to move.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  * * *

  Stone in My Hand

  Mercedes Lackey, Dennis Lee, Cody Martin and Veronica Giguere

  So far, almost everything had gone according to plan. Which meant, I was sure, that it was about to fall completely apart.

  The door slid shut behind them. John and Sera found themselves in an utterly featureless metal chamber. There was no sign of a control panel or any other sort of instrumentation.

  “Dammit! Are we burned here, Sera?” John walked up to the wall, running his hand along it. Save for the door, there weren’t even any seams in the walls; it was as if the entire room had been formed from a single sheet of the weird metal the Thulians used. John felt a flush of heat on his skin, his frustration growing with each passing second. First that Nazi bastard in their way, and now this. They were running out of time. “Ubermensch said that the Masters knew that we were coming. Do y’think they could have pulled a switch on us, get us goin’ along a dead end? We’ve gotta get this done now. Folks are probably dyin’ out there…”

  “Beloved, we are in the right place. Be still, and listen with your mind.” Sera placed her hand over his, resting on the wall. John looked into her eyes, then nodded. She was right; he needed to take a moment, calm down, and get i
n control. Some operator you are, Murdock. Smooth and steady, now. He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, stilling himself. He fell into his connection with Sera, and then reached out with his telempathy. He could feel his wife next to him, and the room around them; she was an island of calm and light in a churning sea of…what? It was alien and confusing, like a thousand whispering voices all chattering at the same time. Occasionally, they would come together, express something in unison, and then go back to the mindless gibbering. It took him a moment, but he realized that there was a pattern, and the moments where all of the “voices” came together was like a pulse.

  “Darlin’, what is that?” John had never heard anything quite like this. When he first gained his telempathy, large crowds were like a cacophony of voices, emotion, and images; overwhelming to the point of being painful, until he learned how to better filter what he received from the ability. Whatever he was reading…it was everywhere, throughout the entire ship, woven into the depths of the structure. He didn’t understand what was coming from it, not in detail. The broad brush strokes were pain and despair…and death.

  “It is the ship,” Sera replied, a frown of concentration on her face. “Let me see if I can soothe it…” She placed both hands on the bulkhead, and murmured under her breath. Slowly, incrementally, the pain, the despair ebbed. It did not end, but it grew more bearable, and the chaos organized, concentrated, until at last they both heard—

  I not alone?

  “This is your friend, darlin’?”

  “This is the ship,” she confirmed. “It is alive, a living, thinking creature.”

  “So we’re inside of a living creature. I think we may have Jonah beat.” He looked around, shrugging. “Now what? Can we convince it to take down the shields? If we can’t…I’m at a loss. There’s no control surfaces or, hell, machinery that I can see. Nothin’ to shut down or destroy.”