by T. G. Ayer
Raj shifted in his seat, hovering his pen over his notepad. “If you can give me specifics on the ammo, we can cross check our store to confirm what exactly we need. I know we’ve supplied much of your stock, but we also have a few products in R&D that we could re-evaluate for use—it would be more experimental in this instance, but firepower is firepower.”
Ushara nodded and glanced over at Ruvani who picked her phone up off the table and began swiping and tapping. Seconds later she said, “I’ve emailed it to you, Devi.” She spoke to Vee’s mom, deliberately ignoring Raj who scowled at her rudeness.
Devi’s lips lifted in one corner as she studied Ruvani’s tight features for a moment. Then she looked up at Kesha. “Can you forward that email on to Raj please, he’ll check on the stock in the stores and armory for us and tell us what R&D can supply.”
Vee leaned forward. “I have one item I can offer.”
All eyes turned to Vee.
Chapter 86
“After my run-in with pey brain, I’ve been working on a formulation that’s virus based. It’s based on the use of a natural born virus within the brain of the pey demon. I’ve formulated a clone virus with a tiny change in molecular structure that will present similar to encephalitis or meningitis. It’s not fatal, and I’ve prepared an antidote, but it’s sufficient to incapacitate a pey demon within seconds.”
“Are you ready for mass production?”
Vee shifted her gaze to Raj who was already scribbling in his notepad as fast as he was physically capable. “I haven’t tested on live subjects yet.”
“Perhaps you need to go hunting?” Keiron smiled, her eyes sparkling.
Vee shrugged. “I don’t believe I need to, but it will be handy to test the speed of symptom onset. It would help to fine-tune the impact.” The thought of testing the virus out on a living breathing species felt a little distasteful to Vee, and it must have shown on her face because Ruvani gave a soft laugh.
“Squeamish, are we?”
Vee frowned. “No. Not squeamish. I’m happy to defend people against a demon attack, whatever the species, but I don’t relish the thought of inflicting harm on some random pey we pick up off the streets. In addition, I’m not keen on alerting the pey leadership that we have a possible weapons solution. And it’s bio warfare which I’m not even sure is ethical.”
Ushara cleared her throat. “I understand your concern but if it’s contained, and a temporary measure…. Are there lasting or physically damaging side-effects of the use of your virus?”
Vee shook her head. “Nothing lasting. Swelling on the brain that will subside, fevers and chills that the body itself will manage. Symptoms will be resolved after three days and the demon will go back to being healthy.”
“I don’t see the point. Why don’t we make it lethal and get rid of them once and for all? Aren’t you the deadliest demon-killer this side of the millennia?” Ruvani asked, her tone dripping sarcasm. But her words hit a nerve for Vee.
“I’m not used to warfare at this scale, and my experience thus far is enough to prove it. Yes, I kill demons, but I’m not randomly attacking villages filled with innocent demons. I track demons who are causing havoc and harm, and if I can, I arrest them. Elimination is a last resort.”
“But the Demon Horde is spilling into our world. The whole point is to eliminate them.”
“Then it’s clear you’ve missed the point.” Vee got to her feet, noticing for the first time that her skin bore a faint shimmering glow. Not sure what it was, she dismissed it and began to pace along the length of the table, forcing Ruvani to twist around to look at her as Vee passed. “The Demon Horde was banished to Naraka millennia ago, at the end of the previous Yuga, for the safety of humanity and the other non-demonic races. Whatever their crimes were, even we do not know. But it’s our responsibility to control the influx of the demon element into this plane. It’s not our responsibility to terminate every single demon we cross paths with. Not all of them are evil, in case you didn’t realize that.”
“This is amusing,” Ruvani said, smirking as she turned her back to Vee and folded her arms. She leaned back and sighed. “Here we thought you were a great warrior, but instead you’re afraid of the demons.”
The tension around the table intensified as Ushara and Kerion both glared at the woman. But Vee ignored them and said, “I’m far from amused. You speak as though you are ignorant, and bigoted. We live in this plane with the humans, but they could just as easily turn against us because of our species. How would you like to be on the wrong end of an ethnic cleansing?”
Ushara shook her head. “I admit that I hadn’t considered this situation from that angle. But I understand where you are coming from. In the past, all we’ve done is react, kill the demons who cause terror, and that’s expanded to searching them out and killing them before they kill. And I suspect we have crossed the line many times already. What you’re suggesting is we work smarter, especially to ensure we don’t destroy all chances of coming to a common understanding with the Demon Horde—if that should ever come to pass.”
“Now you want to treat with them? Are you people insane?” Ruvani’s eyes were wide, her cheeks blotchy with anger.
Vee’s eyes narrowed as she studied the woman. Her aural patterns were mayhem, twisting lines of blues and greens that made little sense to Vee.
“That woman has never changed,” said Radhima at Vee’s shoulder. “Just calm down and move along with the meeting.”
Radhima was right though. “We’re wasting time trying to deal with your dissent, Mother Ruvani. Let’s address your objections at a different time.” Vee looked over at her dad. “Let’s get moving on production of the virus. I’m confident enough that we don’t need a field test. I’m not going to hunt down some innocent to perform the test, and we can’t afford to wait for another pey attack.”
Raj nodded and scribbled some more before motioning to Kesha and getting to his feet. “I’d better set things in motion. Do you need me for the rest?” he asked Devi and then looked at Vee.
Both women shook their heads, and he left the room with Kesha hurrying after him.
Chapter 87
Vee wasn’t as amped as she’d expected to be.
They’d made a decision to keep Rossi out of the loop for now. If that came back to bite her in the ass, then she’d deal with that when it happened. Worst case scenario, she’d lose her badge, but something told her Rossi wouldn’t arbitrarily set her loose. She’d become too valuable to him. Still, she was well aware that he would be supremely pissed off.
Vee and Raj had spent the last few hours with R&D, going over the virus she’d grown and pushing them through the process to transform it into ammunition that consisted of hair thin, needle-like glass chambers. These vessels would be filled with the virus, which would in turn be filled inside the weapons they’d selected.
Raj had agreed with Vee that the adapted, short-barreled shotgun would be perfect for effectively dispersing the needles. They’d redesigned the barrels to enable the dispersal to cover a wider trajectory, the ammunition exploding from the barrel in a wide pattern that covered a one-yard circumference.
Vee would have preferred a wider, horizontal trajectory but they had far too little time to work on the adjustment. Syama and Akil were performing recon, keeping an eye on the nest to ensure nothing changed in terms of the location or the security.
Even though Akil had assured Vee that pey demons would never move their nurseries as it posed too much of a risk to the embryos as they matured, Vee insisted they keep a close eye on the place.
They’d agreed to hit the nursery the next night. While Vee had toiled at her Dad’s side, napping for ten minutes at a time when exhaustion hit her hard, Vee had considered where Lucy was being kept and if she was still alive. It didn’t bear thinking about. And the thought that Monroe would be upset should they not find the mother and child, also twisted deep within Vee’s gut. If anything, she wanted to find the mother and child for Monroe�
�s sake.
Guilt too filtered through Vee as she worked. A strangely moved part of her wanted to bring the detective in on their mission, but her gut told her that would be a supremely bad idea.
The next evening, they were using the boardroom as a prep room, the redwood table covered in a leather sheet, was weighed down by weaponry. Syama had dropped off Vee’s go-bag, filled with all of Vee’s weaponry including the conch. Vee tucked it deeper into her bag and concentrated on the weapons.
She was selecting her ammo and filling the specially modified magazines when the door to the boardroom opened and Devi walked in, half a dozen women in tow.
They were dressed in all black, skin tight Lycra, hugging every curve without so much as a single wrinkle. Empty holsters hung from their waists and were strapped to their thighs and shoulders. Each woman wore a tactical helmet, visors black but shimmering with a red overlay that Vee knew would be showing them IR details.
She raised an eyebrow but said nothing as she grabbed her hair and began to wind it into a low bun.
Then women removed their helmets in one smooth move as Devi turned to Vee. “This is Alpha Team. They will be under your command.”
Vee nodded, despite the urge to ask who they were and where they’d come from. As their superior, she didn’t want to weaken her position of authority by appearing ignorant of their assignment to her. The look on Devi’s face told her she’d taken the right stance.
Vee faced the women and nodded. “Who is Team Leader?” she asked scanning the faces, a redhead, a brunette, a Korean, and three women on Indian stock. Vee approved of the mix and hoped the team would work well with her.
Not that they had much choice.
The shortest of the women stepped forward. Her hair was long, black, and sleek, hanging to just below her waist. Her eyes were dark and she had eyelashes to die for. She nodded at Vee, her expression enigmatic. “Team Leader Shivani Virat, Mother Apsara.”
Vee nodded and withheld her smile. She knew she had to be neutral and professional. “Where is Bravo Team based, and who are they reporting to?” she asked, glancing over at her mom.
“Bravo Team reports to your personal security team, Mother,” Shivani answered, her neck stiff. “Team Leader Ashnee Pavan is reporting to Syama and they’re dispatching out of the basement. Comms will be online in ten.”
Vee nodded again. She was saved from a response when her father walked into the boardroom, his brow furrowed, a pair of glasses riding low on his nose. He carried a bright red file, on top of which sat a fat black suitcase.
As he hurried inside, weaving between tactical team members and chairs, it hit Vee hard that her father was a nerd. A scientist, and a bioweapons engineer. Vee hadn’t fallen very far when considering the apple and the tree.
He shoved aside a small stack of guns and opened a space for the box. “Here. You’ll want this.” He waved a hand at the box, then leaned forward to open it with a flourish.
Inside the black interior were two dozen gleaming golden balls.
“Did someone rob a quidditch match?” Vee asked, eyebrow raised.
Two of the tac team members snorted and two choked on their laughter. When Vee glanced over, she could have sworn Shivani had been one of the culprits.
Sense of humor? Check.
Raj turned to look at Vee. “What?”
Vee lifted a hand. “Quidditch Dad. Harry potter? The Snitch?” Her dad stared blankly. “Never mind.” She’d been tempted to respond with her usual retort of where he’d been in the last ten years, but had thought the better of it. He was in a professional standing here, as owner of Shankar Industries no less.
His lip quirked and he replied, “Yeah, I know. What rock have I been living under for the last decade, huh?” Vee’s eyes widened at him, and she gave a small shake of her head, glancing quickly at the now-perplexed team. “Oh, never mind them. They know my weird sense of humor.”
Huh?
Vee glanced at Shivani, who shook her head and smiled at Raj before schooling her features.
Vee cleared her throat. “Okay, boy who lives under rock, please do enlighten us what your bagful of snitches can do?” Vee had totally given up trying to look professional. Her words earned her a roll of the eyes from her mother who raised her hands in the air and looked up at the ceiling, her signature move when asking the gods why she’d been blessed with such a clueless kid.
Her dad on the other hand smiled widely. “They’re grenades. Bombs filled with fire. Once the timer goes off the fire mixes with mercury, bursts into flame and doesn’t die off until it’s consumed all biological elements around it.”
“Fire and mercury?”
He nodded. “Plus, a little something to give it wings,” he said, grinning.
Vee did a double take, wondering if he’d meant what she thought with his reference to wings. Beside her she caught Shivani looking at him too.
“So you set the timer, and skedaddle. You can’t be nearby as the post detonation pressure will push through the tunnels. I’ve run some sims using Syama’s specs of the tunnel layout and I think you will need to jump out of there immediately. You can’t run fast enough to avoid the pressure radius of the blast.”
“Here,” said Vee to Shivani, handing her two grenades. “Keep these two just in case we need a backup kablooey or three.”
Shivani took them and glanced up at Vee, her brow furrowed. “There’s only two…”
“What?” asked Vee, her mind already onto considering their next step.
Shivani slid the two bombs into the satchel wound around her torso. Its bulk confirmed the presence of a number of weapons for which Vee was glad. You never knew when they’d come in handy.
“We have blast resistant tactical gear,” Shivani offered, her eyes questioning.
Raj shook his head. “Sorry Shivs, you’re going to have to get totally gone. Unless you want to be flattened. The mercury doesn’t mix well with the fire and if something goes wrong, I’d prefer you all get out alive at least. I don’t want to deal with your father if you’re incinerated by my weapons.”
Shivani grinned. “Yes, sir.”
“It’s her mother who’s going to be harder to deal with you know,” said Devi as she began distributing sheets of paper to each of the women. “Grab you weapons and gear, suit up and be ready to move out in ten.”
Chapter 88
After readying her team, Syama left them with Akil and jumped to Vee’s side.
“Are you ready?” she asked softly, nodding at the team as they strapped on the last of their weapons.
“Locked and loaded,” Vee murmured, her mind going over the plan.
Syama held out a hand to Vee and one to Shivani. She shimmered away, her form disappearing, followed quickly by the room fading away like an image burned to dust. They arrived inside the tunnel that overlooked the nursery of pey eggs and Syama left Vee and the tac team leader there as she made three more trips to ferry the remainder of the team to Vee’s side.
“B Team?” asked Vee softly.
Syama pointed at another tunnel which opened a few yards higher on the opposite wall.
Below them, movement drew their attention to the shadows that flitted between the eggs. A small group of demons, clipboards in arms, walked among the eggs ticking items off their lists. One was taking photographs, the other using a strange device that appeared to be a sonogram of sorts. He drew a long narrow wand over the widest portion of the sac and stared at a screen that rested on his arm. From Vee’s vantage point, it appeared to reveal the images of a person within the sac, the shape and feel of the image resembling that of an unborn baby.
Vee suppressed a shudder.
Both teams maintained position until the demon baby doctor completed a circuit of random testing before leaving through a tunnel to the far left of the hall.
With their departure, the lights dimmed and Vee squatted. Shivani taped Vee’s helmet and mouthed, “Infrared.” Vee nodded and flicked the button to turn the IR sen
sor on. Immediately an overlay of the room shimmered in patterns of red and purple, not unlike Vee’s own aural vision.
Vee glanced at Shivani and nodded. The Team leader made a circling motion with her hand in the air above her head, giving both teams the go ahead. Akil and Syama took turns to jump everyone down to ground level where the team members weaved between the hanging sacs, positioning the bombs and setting the times to give them a ten-minute window.
As Vee set the charge on one bomb, she got to her feet and studied the sacs around her. One of the eggs undulated as though the embryo within was moving or turning over. The pale skin of the sac shifted and a face pressed against it, perfectly outlined and almost visible through the thin, near transparent sac.
Vee swallowed a shriek and waved at Syama for a ride out of there. The moment she’d seen the face, she realized that all those eggs contained a living breathing demon. Were they about to commit mass murder?
As she watched from the tunnel above, she softened her breathing and studied the aural patterns from below. As soon as she opened her senses, her mind was flooded with the sound of heartbeats, thrumming loud around her as if they echoed within her head.
But she didn’t have a choice anymore. This was a nest of demons who were hell bent on the destruction of humanity. From what she knew, one of the main dangers of the demonic horde was the individual’s ability to transfer their spirits from body to body.
Below them were hundreds of eggs that were more than likely going to be hosts for demonic spirits just waiting in line for a flesh-suit.
Vee had to stop thinking of them as if they were mortal. Destroying this nursery would eliminate this wave of demons from finding a way to physical existence but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t wait their turn for the next body they could create.
All Vee and her team were doing was hampering their progress.