Dom waited until the red dot on his PDA was right on the edge of the tree line. What he saw break through the scrub brush definitely took him back. “OPCOM, we have visual,” he whispered into his mic.
“Copy that, Team Leader. Use extreme caution. This is still an unknown hominid.”
“Are you certain of that, OPCOM? It looks more like a mutated salamander.”
“A troll is a troll, Sierra One.”
Dominic heard the tone being used and decided that regardless of how unorthodox the creature may be, it was still an unknown. It could breathe fire like a dragon for all he knew. “Copy that.”
He watched carefully as the creature stumbled out of the berry vines and scrub brush and into the clearing. The creature paused for a moment and stared up at the evening sky. It seemed to study the position of the moon for a moment, cocking its wide head first one way, then another before slightly adjusting its course and stumbling off again. Dom didn’t feel right just opening fire on it. Although it had a wide flat head with large bulging red eyes, its lack of size made him think that just possibly this troll might have more common sense than its larger cousins.
“Hold fire.” Dominic stepped out from his position and walked slowly toward the slick-skinned monster. He noted a short, thick tail behind thick, muscular legs. It walked upright, but had shorter, heavily muscled arms. As the doc noted, three wide fingers on each hand ended in sharp curved claws, much like a bird’s. He slowly approached the creature from the side and noted that the eye closest to him seem to shift slightly and focus on him, but only for a moment. It quickly went back to scanning the area around itself as it trudged along.
Dom positioned himself in front of the creature and stopped. The troll, if it truly was a troll, paused for a moment and seemed to assess him. It cocked its wide, flat head first one way, then another before stepping aside, attempting to go around him. Dom stepped in front of it again and held his hands out, his carbine extended in his hand. “I don’t want to hurt you, big guy, I just want to talk.”
The creature paused again and stared at him. Dom heard static across his earpiece as one of his men keyed their mics. “Boss? Are you sure about this?”
“Negative. But I’d rather find out for sure before we just shoot the damned thing.” He held his hands out and the creature sniffed the air around him. “That’s it, I’m not going to hurt you.”
As the troll leaned forward and sniffed again, Dom barely had time to register the multiple rows of razor sharp teeth inside the mouth that snapped down on his carbine. He could feel the warm drool of the mouth sliding down the stock of the weapon and coating his hand as the creature tried to bite through the offering.
Dom pulled as hard as he could, but the weapon was jammed tight, caught between the multiple rows of teeth. “Dammit, give me my gun back.” Had the creature not been grunting so loudly, he would have heard Hammer break into laughter and Marshall utter a string of swear words that would make any well-educated sailor blush. His men quickly converged on the two as they stood off in the middle of the clearing.
Dom pulled and the troll pulled back, trying its best to wrench the weapon from his grip. The troll finally lifted its head, taking Dom from his feet before opening its mouth and bellowing into the night air. The sound reminded Dom of something like a cross between an elephant and a fog horn. Only louder.
Dom found himself on the ground, staring up at the troll, its blank stare and bulging, blinking eyes making it obvious that the wheel was spinning but the hamster was dead. The creature bent down again and gripped the carbine in its powerful jaws once more.
Dom was lifted from the ground as the creature tried to shake him loose. During the shaking process, Dom fired three rounds, creating a unique and gently smoking blowhole in the top of the creature’s head. The troll paused and smacked its lips, dropping Dom and his weapon back on the ground. He quickly rolled away and noted that the creature seemed to quiver abruptly and blink rapidly a few times before a thick, smelly, white ooze began sweating from its skin. The creature fell to its knees then collapsed to the ground in front of them.
“I think I want to read that write up,” Hammer commented as he watched the troll convulse slightly on the ground.
Dom tried to wipe the thick, slimy saliva from his hand. “That was nasty.”
“Smells like rotten fish.” Ben held his nose.
“It didn’t before it started oozing that white stuff,” Dom noted.
“I was talking about you.” Ben pointed at Dom’s arm, covered in goo. “I think it threw up on you.”
“So much for taking it alive,” Mac chimed in over the radio.
Dom sighed and pulled his knife. “We still have to get samples. Somebody get me a pouch to seal up part of this.”
“I don’t get why the clean-up crews couldn’t—” Dave was interrupted by Dominic suddenly swearing and wiping his hand against the grassy ground.
“That white stuff is like acid. It fucking burns!” Dom held his hand out while Ben poured fresh water from his canteen over his palm. The reddened skin began to bubble and blister even as the cold water soothed the wounds.
“Great.” Hammer leaned down and inspected the creature. “It’s covered in that stuff. How are we supposed to…” he was cut off by a familiar howl in the night. It was soon echoed by another.
Dom looked to his men and shook his head. “This thing wasn’t alone.”
Mac’s voice came across the radio. “We got a lot of thermal activity in the woods, gentlemen. I suggest you take some kind of cover.”
*****
Thorn stood just inside the foyer and out of the lowering sun as the men carried the wood crate into the castle. It had been delivered by boat after an overnight flight from Europe and Rufus felt like a child about to open a new gift. He directed the men to place the crate inside his study where the package was opened and Rufus pulled the polished stainless steel device from inside. It resembled a rifle in many ways, but was much heavier. The men quickly gathered the remains of the crate and the packaging and removed it from the area.
Paul stood by, staring at the new device. “Is this the weapon you spoke of earlier?”
“Oui, it has just been finished.” Rufus ran a hand along the gleaming side of what could only be called the barrel. Radiation and biohazard emblems were engraved into the sides of the metal.
“How does it work?”
Rufus shook his head. “I assume you merely pull the trigger. It did not come with instructions.”
“Should we test it?” Paul’s excitement was nearly as heightened as his brothers.
“Non!” Rufus pulled the device away from Paul and held it protectively. “You do not understand. This is not merely a weapon.”
Paul gave him a questioning stare. “What do you mean?”
Rufus carried the weapon to the far wall of his study and set it on the table. He pulled back a book shelf and began working the tumblers on a large safe. “This…device. It has properties that could be most dire.” Rufus pulled the door open on the safe and placed the weapon inside. “My engineers tried to turn a Doomsday weapon into a…” he searched for the right words. “A precision instrument.”
“What do you mean ‘Doomsday’ weapon?” Paul’s concern was not easily masked.
“Just as I stated. The original plans intended this device to be a weapon to kill all natural born supernatural creatures.”
Paul’s mouth fell open. “How could you allow such a device to ever see the light of day?”
“It was not an easy decision.” Rufus shut the door of the safe and spun the tumblers. “But after seeing how easily the Sicarii rose to power, I knew that one day such a weapon could easily be needed.”
“At the risk of us all?” Paul’s voice was near hysterics.
“Non.” Rufus held a hand to try to keep his brother from becoming too loud and attracting the attention of others. “Not at all. That is why I had it redesigned to be a precision instrument. To be fire
d like a gun. Point and shoot.”
Paul was now pacing, his head shaking vigorously. “No, this isn’t right. Think about it, brother. In the wrong hands…that thing could take out an entire familia. Remove the head and all created vampires under him go with him.”
Rufus nodded. “If the lore is true, oui, But I believe that part of the lore to be false. It would only be the first generation of directly created vampires.”
“Like that would matter?” Paul pleaded with his brother. “You could still be talking about potentially hundreds if not thousands of other lives.”
“That is why it will only be used on Lilith.” Rufus’ gaze bore directly into his brother. “She will be the only one to taste the effects of this weapon.”
Paul continued to shake his head. “How could you ever dream up such a monstrosity?”
“It was not I who designed it. I only developed it.”
“Regardless, how could you allow it?”
“It was a necessary evil.”
17
Mark noted the thermal readings from Mac’s helmet cam. He quickly pushed his chair from the console he was manning and punched in the commands on a neighboring keyboard to send a drone as backup for the five man crew. What first seemed as a quick and easy operation may have just turned into a shit storm.
“Somebody order up air support. Those thermals are huge,” Matt barked from his command chair.
“Already on it.” Mark mashed the enter button, knowing that the crews topside would have the drone airborne in moments. The sick feeling in the pit of his stomach tightened into a knot as he realized that it was entirely their fault for not planning this op through. “Reaper being prepped.”
“ETA?”
“Unconfirmed yet.” He rolled back to his station and punched up the commands to put the drone feed onscreen. “They’re about to launch.”
“It’s going to take at least an hour for that thing to reach them.” Matt was speaking more to himself than to anybody in the OPCOM. He keyed the coms, “Team Leader, we have a Reaper headed your way. You’re gonna have to hold those things until they show.”
“Copy that, OPCOM.”
“Do you have a visual yet?” Matt still had McKenzie’s helmet feed on the main screen and it was set for thermal. Making out specifics was nearly impossible with the swaying tree branches and thick foliage.
“Negative, sir. Just a lot of movement in the trees.”
Matt turned to Tufo. “Mark, make a note in that running logbook of yours.”
“What’s that, Colonel?”
“Something I want to add to my Christmas wish list. A stealth helicopter.”
Mark pulled his notebook from his breast pocket and scribbled in it. “Copy that, sir.”
Matt continued watching the screen and felt the color drain from his own face. “Holy…” He quickly turned to the logistics officer, “Do we have anything available at Barksdale? Anything we can get in the air now?”
“Negative, sir.” The logistics officer was scrolling through the list of possible airbases nearby.
“Why did they have to shut down the Chennault base? This is right in their back yard. Literally.”
“Colonel, we have a Predator that we can commandeer.” The logistics officer was quickly punching commands into his computer. “It’s at a Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans. A Naval Air Station just outside—”
“I don’t care if it’s the fuckin’ Boy Scouts. If they have an armed drone we can borrow, do it!” Matt turned quickly and nodded to Mark who was already on the horn while the logistics officer began patching their codes through to NAS JRB New Orleans. “Split lickety, Lieutenant.”
“On it, sir.”
Matt turned back to the screen and manually changed the screen from thermal to night vision. The images that came through and onto the big screen over his head made his blood run cold.
*****
Jack had finished sending the email to the operators that had volunteered to assist him and requested their early arrival. He asked them to show up a day early so that they could spend an extra day training with his own people and going over the plans he had laid out. He didn’t know exactly how to explain to them that during the operation he would be in his Halfling form and unable to directly communicate with them, but he knew that once they arrived and he went over the plan, they’d appreciate the extra day to go over the nuances of the plan.
He had just closed his laptop and was about to leave his office when his phone rang. Reaching for it, he never got a chance to say hello. “Jack! Are you alright?” Nadia’s voice sounded beyond concerned.
“I’m fine, sweetheart. What’s wrong? Are you okay? Is the baby alright?” Jack rounded his desk and sat back down. He knew this wouldn’t be a short call.
“I’ve had another vision, Jack. You were in danger.” He could hear the panic in her voice and being unable to hold her and calm her, he knew that she would easily work herself into a tizzy.
“Whoa, calm down a moment. What kind of vision? What exactly did you see?”
“You and the others, Jack. You were in extreme danger. From your own people. I saw it.”
“Hey, now…calm yourself, Nadia. What do you mean, ‘my own people’?” Now his curiosity was piqued.
“I saw your own people shooting at you, Jack!” Her voice cracked and she stifled a sob.
“Hey, easy there. My people? You mean the Lycans or the squads?” He tried his best to soothe her with the sound of his voice.
“Yes, the squads were…oh, Jack. The look in their eyes. They were so angry and…”
“Okay, honey, easy now,” Jack soothed. “You know as well as I do that my own people would never try to hurt me.”
“I saw it, Jack. It was real!” Her insistence took most of his argument from him. “Please tell me that you have nothing planned with your people?”
Jack exhaled long and hard into the phone. “Well…”
“No, Jack! You mustn’t!” Her voice went up an octave. “They will try to hurt you.”
“No, Nadia, I can’t believe that. My own people would never do such a thing.” His mind raced, but he couldn’t imagine how to convince her he was right.
“Jack, I know what I saw.”
“And I know my squad mates. They’d never do that. Besides, Nadia, it’s only a small handful of them coming to help me and Rufus. I really need their help.”
“Please, Jack…no.” She fought back the tears as she pulled the phone from her mouth.
“Nadia, I trust these guys with my life.”
“But do you trust them with mine? And your unborn child? Because that is exactly what you are doing now. If they turn on you as I have seen…”
Jack shuddered at the thought and felt his blood turn cold. “I’d never allow anybody to harm you, Nadia.”
“I know this, my love. Please, send them back. Do not allow them close to you.”
Jack mulled over her words as he considered how many times her visions had been right. He could only think of one time she had been wrong. Was he willing to risk all of their lives on her being wrong a second time?
*****
“Who all is aware of this ‘weapon’ of yours, brother?” Paul stared hard at Rufus as he placed the device securely away.
“As of now, only you and I.” Rufus spun the dial on the lock then placed a tapestry back in front of the safe. “And the engineers who actually put it together, of course.”
“Of course.” Paul fell into the chair across from him and watched him carefully. “You do realize that you’re playing with fire, don’t you? Actually, you’re playing with nuclear weapons. As far as natural born vampires are concerned, it may as well be a nuclear bomb.”
Rufus nodded knowingly as he took his seat across the table from him. “I understand your concerns, but you must understand that this is a necessary evil in order to…”
“It is not necessary!” Paul was back to his feet and pacing. “This super weapon of yours, if
it falls into the wrong hands, we’re all doomed. Well, perhaps not you.”
Rufus gave him a hurtful and deadly stare. “That is not fair. I have no idea if the physician who turned me used natural born blood or not. I may well be a first generation offspring.”
“But I am most definitely a natural born.” Paul sat on the corner of the table and lowered his voice, his eyes furtively glancing about the study. “Is this just an elaborate ruse to be rid of me once and for ever?”
“Sacrebleu! Non!” Rufus quickly went to the door to check that none were within hearing range. “You of all people know that if I wanted you dead, I’d need no such device. As I have told you, this is for the creature, Lilith. That is all, nothing more, nothing less.”
“It would seem to me that we could find something more effective and less threatening to our own kind than a weapon of this nature.” Paul hung his head as images of scores of vampires falling to the polished steel weapon flashed through his mind. “I wish you would reconsider.”
“Oui, I would. But you should also consider that this weapon is viable against other natural born creatures as well. Not just vampires.”
Paul’s eyes slowly met his brothers and appeared to measure him. “How so?”
“This weapon is effective against ‘natural born’. Not just vampires.” Rufus smiled and patted his brother’s shoulder. “Wolves, elves, ogres, orcs...”
“All manner of natural born?” Paul asked expectantly.
“Within a small measure of reason, oui. There are some creatures that do not have the…whatever it is that makes the weapon effective.”
Paul continued to consider his brother’s words. “And how often do you have to recharge that thing?”
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