Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14)

by Siegel, Alex

  "Let's get back to the angels. What is their purpose?"

  "Only the Goddess knows," Gavin said. "We are just her humble servants."

  Ipo frowned and turned to his teammates. "It sounds like we have to talk to Walfred."

  Hanley checked the angle of the sun. "It will be dark soon."

  "That should give us enough time to come up with a plan." Ipo turned his attention back to the prisoners. "How many are you? What kind of weapons do you have?"

  "We are thirteen times thirteen, and we have all the weapons we need to destroy you."

  "We'll see about that." Ipo used his great strength to twist their heads and snap their necks. "Let's go." He marched off.

  * * *

  Walfred walked into his private office, although most people wouldn't have recognized it as such. It looked more like a museum of weapons spanning history. At one end of the spectrum, his collection included a bronze shield, a Danish axe, a war hammer, and a Celtic spear. At the other end, he had a grenade launcher and an M249 machine gun. There was a desk and a chair, but he never used either.

  By far the most important item in the room was a mirror on a stand. The mirror had a silver frame embossed with hundreds of pagan symbols. It was an inch thick and weighed a hundred pounds. The glass had a smoky finish which caused reflections to appear fuzzy.

  Walfred knelt before the mirror, clasped his hands together, and bowed his head.

  "I beckon the Goddess," he murmured, "speak to me."

  The mirror darkened and became a field of stars. It looked like he was flying through space.

  The Goddess didn't appear at once. Sometimes, he had to wait several minutes, so he remained on his knees even though the hard floor wasn't comfortable. She always came eventually.

  A giant burning eyeball appeared in the magic mirror. It had a blue iris and was surrounded by blue flame.

  The pupil stared directly at him, and he heard a voice. "This is the second time today you disturbed me."

  The voice was feminine, but it resonated like a pipe organ. Walfred always found it impressive.

  He kept his head down. "We might have a problem. Two sentries disappeared. We discovered them missing when other men came to relieve them of duty. The area had been disturbed, but there was no blood. They were stout warriors and well concealed, but they never even called for help. I know you told me to flee at the first sign of trouble, but..."

  Walfred looked at the beautiful weapons in his office. His Warriors had never run from a fight, and the idea made his skin crawl.

  "That's right," the Goddess said. "Prepare to evacuate, but you don't have to do so this instant. Try to get a glimpse of the enemy on the way out so you can describe them to me. I imagine they'll attack at dark."

  "Why are you so sure we'll lose, Goddess? We've never lost before."

  "You've never fought these people. Just obey me."

  "Yes, Goddess," he said.

  The burning eyeball faded, and the mirror returned to its normal appearance.

  Walfred stood up. He had to begin the preparations for the evacuation.

  * * *

  Before joining the Society, Hanley hadn't really appreciated darkness. It had been an occasional advantage in battle, but just as often, an inconvenience. His love of the night had grown tremendously in the last year. Now it was a comforting, protective cloak which he wanted to wear all the time.

  He was making a big loop around the enemy encampment. His gift enabled him to locate all the sentries, and even though they were trying to be quiet, any noise at all sounded loud to his palms. It was dark, but he wasn't using his night vision goggles. An ultrasonic chirper on his belt sent out pulses which bounced off his surroundings. He could interpret the reflections like a bat and navigate around obstacles.

  He heard heartbeats up ahead. He knew they were friendly and approached them confidently. He met three black silhouettes.

  "There are twelve sentry posts," Hanley whispered, "but I found a gap in the perimeter. Follow me."

  He led his teammates through the brush. He knew they were using night vision goggles, but he still kept his goggles up. It was more fun to use his gift.

  The Spears crossed the top of a ridge and looked down at the encampment. Floodlights lit the ground inside and outside the fence. Regular patrols were walking along the fence, once per minute, but guards in towers were a bigger issue. The towers were about three stories tall and had clear views of the entire valley. There were two men in each, and they were looking out through slots in the concrete walls.

  Taking out the lights was the first major objective, but shooting bulbs one at a time would just alert the enemy. The Spears had to destroy the electrical generator to darken the entire compound at once. Hanley heard it humming, and it sounded like a big diesel. The tricky part would be reaching the generator without getting caught in a firefight along the way. They were outnumbered forty to one and couldn't risk a direct engagement.

  "Let's get started," Hanley whispered. "Get your rifles out."

  The four legionnaires readied their sniper rifles. After a long discussion, they had decided some killing was necessary for a successful operation. The plan would minimize casualties, but it would still be a night of bloodshed.

  "Ipo and Yang take out the tower on the left," Hanley murmured. "Katie and I will take the right. On my mark. Three... two... one... fire."

  Hanley pulled his trigger, and he heard three other shots go off simultaneously. Suppressors kept the noise and muzzle flash to a minimum, but the sound was still louder than he liked. The guards in the two closest towers went down from headshots.

  "Nice. Move out."

  He led the team down the steep slope. The danger of slipping on loose dirt or rocks forced him to maintain a cautious pace. The plan was to reach the generator before the dead guards were discovered, but they had to be quick.

  The Spears stopped at the edge of the brush. Going any further meant being exposed in the light. They waited.

  Hanley heard as well as saw a patrol go past. Two men in brown camouflage were walking at a casual pace just inside the fence. They appeared alert but a little bored. They had the body armor and assault rifles of soldiers, but the way they held their weapons wasn't professional. Hanley decided they were actually civilians without much real military training.

  As soon as the guards were at a safe distance, the Spears sprinted forward. They used wire cutters to make a hole in the fence, and they rushed through it. They continued forward towards a cluster of wooden buildings.

  They ducked into a shed. It contained hammers, saws, drills, and other woodworking tools. The team stepped over scraps of lumber and crouched in the darkness.

  They had left the door open a crack, and Hanley looked out at the fence. The next patrol would certainly see the gaping hole. His job was to make sure they didn't raise the alarm. He pressed his semi-automatic sniper rifle against his shoulder and sighted through the scope.

  Twenty seconds later, two men ran to the hole. Hanley pulled the trigger twice, and they dropped.

  He had bought his team another minute to reach the generator. They ran outside, and he led them between the wooden buildings at a quick trot. His gift let him locate the footsteps of nearby enemies. The soft sounds painted a map in his mind, allowing him to evade detection.

  It sounded like most people were inside the buildings. Hanley overheard conversations about guns, women, and killing, but unfortunately, there wasn't time to listen closely for nuggets of useful intelligence.

  The generator lay directly ahead, but his palms detected four men blocking the way. Hanley showed four fingers to his teammates and pointed. They nodded.

  The enemy warriors came around a corner. The legionnaires jumped them, and the furious fight lasted just a few seconds. When it was over, there were four corpses on the ground. They had died of knife wounds or broken necks. Hanley didn't see any sign of injury on his friends.

  They were near a small wooden building, and
he could hear the electrical generator inside. Diesel smoke was rising from a chimney.

  Hanley headed for the door, but he stopped as he was reaching for the handle. The generator was an obvious target for an attack, so it made sense to protect it with extra security. A smart adversary would booby-trap the door or at least have some kind of alarm. He had a better idea.

  He turned to Ipo and whispered, "Drop a grenade down the chimney."

  Ipo nodded. He performed a standing jump directly onto the low roof of the building. He could use his gift to make himself much lighter than normal, but it didn't change the strength in his powerful leg muscles.

  Hanley, Katie, and Yang backed away and crouched in a convenient shadow.

  Ipo took a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and dropped the grenade down the metal chimney. He ran off the roof and landed on the ground without breaking stride. He joined his teammates in the shadow.

  A siren began to wail. Hanley concluded the bodies by the fence had been discovered. A second later, he heard a thump as the grenade exploded. All the lights went out.

  * * *

  Walfred grunted in anger and lowered his binoculars. From the safety of a nearby ridge, he had observed four intruders penetrate his encampment with ridiculous ease. They had moved with a speed and grace that made him wonder if they were human. He had watched them kill four stout warriors in mere seconds. When the biggest of them had jumped onto a roof, Walfred had gaped in astonishment. Another one had avoided the bomb attached to the door of the generator room as if he had X-ray vision. In the name of the Goddess, Walfred thought, what are we fighting?

  Fortunately, his men had their evacuation orders. The Goddess had foreseen this night with divine clarity, and Walfred had prepared accordingly. The Warriors of Dagda would be fewer in number come morning, but most would escape, and the operation would continue.

  Walfred activated the night vision feature in his binoculars. He looked through them at the encampment. The enemy still had a surprise or two coming.

  * * *

  "What the hell?" Hanley said.

  He had expected cutting the lights would cause confusion and panic. The Spears had planned to wait until Walfred showed himself and then to abduct him. The chaos would've covered their departure.

  Nothing like that was happening. The Warriors of Dagda had broken out flashlights and were streaming towards the lime-green trucks. They were leaving in an efficient, organized manner and didn't seem interested in fighting at all.

  "What's wrong?" Ipo said.

  Hanley remembered his friends didn't have the benefit of his gift. They couldn't hear the enemy movements.

  "They're running away," Hanley said. "All of them."

  "Huh? Are you sure?"

  "Follow me."

  Hanley lowered his night vision goggles over his eyes and turned them on. Just using his palms was fun, but the situation was getting serious.

  He saw the world in shades of green. Ipo, Katie, and Yang were right behind him, and they were also using their goggles.

  Hanley led the team across the encampment. He could hear vehicles driving away. By the time the team came within sight of the trucks, half of them were already gone.

  "This is not how things are done," Ipo said. "The bad guys are supposed to run away after we thrash them, not before. Are they all cowards?"

  The rest of the Warriors were fleeing as quickly as they could get onto the trucks. Hanley realized nobody would be left soon.

  "Let's hijack the last one before it gets away," he said. "The people inside can tell us where the rest are headed."

  The other legionnaires murmured in agreement.

  The team moved into a better ambush position. The encampment had just one gate, and the trucks were leaving single-file. The Spears just had to attack at the right moment to isolate the last vehicle in line. Everybody readied their guns, and Hanley chose his automatic shotgun. The slugs could ruin a person's day even through body armor.

  "Shoot the tires first," Ipo said. "Then the driver. We'll try to capture the rest alive. On my count. Three... two..."

  Hanley heard movement in the darkness. The engine noise from the vehicles had covered it until now.

  "Behind us!" he said. "Ambush!"

  The legionnaires spun around, started shooting, and dove for cover, all at the same time. A storm of bullets came back at them. Hanley glimpsed men wearing body armor and night vision goggles, and he guessed there were ten adversaries. He felt like a fool for allowing himself to be caught from behind.

  God's breath flared up in Hanley's gut and shot through his veins. It was intensely painful, but he needed the jolt. The world slowed down. Instead of spraying bullets haphazardly, he was suddenly able to pick his targets. A bullet struck his ribs, but he didn't care. His body armor would protect him, and a little pain didn't matter.

  He put a slug through one man's skull causing a spectacular spray of blood and brains. Another slug practically took a man's arm off.

  Hanley saw somebody try to jump Yang from behind. Before Hanley had time to yell a warning, Yang had already drawn a short sword. He spun, and the tip of the blade laid open the man's throat down to the spine. Sweet, Hanley thought.

  The tide of the battle quickly turned, and the legionnaires became the attackers. They chased their adversaries through the encampment. Hanley used his gift to listen for heartbeats and footsteps until the last enemy was cornered in a building. The team assembled in front of the door.

  "Is everybody OK?" Hanley said.

  "I'll have some ugly bruises," Katie said, "but nothing is broken. The armor worked."

  Ipo and Yang made similar comments.

  "Good," Hanley said. "I'll get the last one."

  "OK," Ipo said, "but take him alive. The rest are dead or gone. We need somebody to talk to."

  "No problem."

  He took a smoke grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and tossed it through a window. He waited until smoke filled the small building and blinded the man inside. Hanley took a deep breath and silently opened the door.

  He still had the chirper on his belt. The ultrasonic echoes painted a picture of his surroundings even though his eyes were useless. The room contained beds and a table.

  The enemy was gasping and choking on the smoke. Hanley didn't even need his palms to find him. Hanley took down the man with a powerful kick to the jaw. While he was still stunned, Hanley dragged him outside.

  Hanley took a deep breath of fresh air while his friends stripped the enemy and tied him with ropes.

  "Well done," Ipo said.

  Hanley nodded. "Thanks."

  There was a crackling noise, and a deep male voice came from a portable radio on the Warrior's belt.

  "Report!" the voice said. "What's going on down there? I lost sight of you."

  Hanley took the radio. It was a standard military unit with limited range, much like the tactical radios he had used as a Navy Seal. He looked at the hills around the encampment. The enemy is up there, he thought.

  He pressed the send button and said, "Who are you?"

  * * *

  The question stunned Walfred. He replied through his radio, "I should ask you the same question."

  "Is this Walfred?"

  He gaped in shock. He was still on top of a ridge with a clear view of his encampment. He could just see the four intruders through his binoculars. The night vision feature made them look like green ghosts.

  "You're well informed. I guess you defeated my men."

  "They fought bravely," the male intruder replied through the radio.

  "Not bravely enough."

  "You're next on our list. If you give up now, life will be a lot less painful for you. You can tell us about the Goddess."

  Walfred snorted. "I would allow dogs to chew off my testicles before I betrayed the Goddess."

  "If that's what it takes. Good thing we captured one of your men. He'll tell us what we need to know."

  "Not likely," Walfred sai
d proudly. "The ambushers were meant to be sacrificed so the rest could escape. They know nothing about my plans."

  "Smart move."

  "The Goddess foretold your attack."

  "She did?" the intruder said in a tone of surprise.

  "Maybe you should give up instead. I have to go join my men. If we meet again, the outcome will be different. Good bye."

  Walfred turned off his radio and clipped it to his belt. He headed down the back side of the ridge. He had parked his personal car at a safe distance, and now he was very glad he had been so cautious.

  * * *

  Marina was pacing back and forth in her headquarters. She kept reaching for her phone but not quite making a call. She wanted a status report from her team. They were out there, possibly fighting for their lives, and she was stuck like an old woman in a retirement home. She had to be patient though. Her legionnaires didn't need to be pestered, especially if they were in a fight.

  She looked over at Min Ho and Jia. The hackers were busy at their computers as usual. They were researching the Warriors of Dagda and their leader who was using the name Walfred. They had turned out to be an interesting group of thugs. They moved around frequently and had been sighted all over the continent. Fragmentary reports even had them visiting South America. They were remarkably well equipped for a blood-thirsty pagan cult with no obvious source of income. The Warriors were clearly receiving support and direction from somebody powerful, but so far, the hackers hadn't been able to determine who that might be.

  Marina's phone rang, and the caller ID showed Ipo's code number.

  She answered the call immediately, "Report!"

  "Yes, ma'am," Ipo said.

  He described the peculiar engagement at the encampment in the mountains. The Warriors had prepared an escape plan in case of trouble, and it had worked well. The Society was left with only one prisoner who probably didn't know much.

  Marina was troubled. She had fought many enemies, and they usually needed to be crushed a few times before they understood what they were up against. It was far too early in the game for the Warriors to be making such wise and informed choices.

  "Interrogate the one prisoner," Marina said. "Search the encampment for any evidence, but be careful of traps. There's a very good chance the Warriors left surprises behind. That's what we would've done. Be especially careful of doors."