Doomsday Exam [BUREAU 13 Book Two]

by Nick Pollotta

  Parking on the corner, I spotted a group of young adults singing in the backyard of a neighboring house. At midnight? They didn't sound drunk.

  Rabbinical students from Hebrew Union College, sent Jessica.

  Great. The innocent bystanders were also highly trained observers and just over the fence of a possible major battle. On the other hand, we might be able to use the seminary students to aid us against LaRue and his unholy slaves. Blood drinking vampires were the absolute archenemy of the Orthodox Jews.

  The yard directly behind LaRue's home was empty, just grass and the house on the right had an above ground swimming pool full of water. An inflatable raft and a purple unicorn floated serenely in the calm chlorine. Mentally, I logged the position of the pool. It also could come in handy.

  "Suggestions?” I asked.

  "Blow the place to tinder with the Amsterdam missiles in the launching pod of the van,” Ken offered eagerly.

  George grinned approval. He would.

  "We go in silent,” I stated, because Katrina was drained. “Raul, how's the magic?"

  Bending an ear, the mage listened to his staff, obviously not pleased with the answer. “One, maybe two, major spells then I'm kaput."

  "Dome of Silence?” Donaher asked hopefully.

  I nodded.

  "Done,” Raul said gesturing, his staff leaving sparkle trails in the air. Tongue between lips, Katrina hastily scribbled notes into her mostly blank book of spells.

  Totally silent to any outside observer, we exited the RV and dashed across the street, pausing only to slap a criminal evidence sticker on the car, before scampering up the front walk and kicking down the front door to the house. Almost instantly, our weapons, hell, everything metal on us began to grow warm, hot, hotter, scalding!

  "Huey, Dewey and Louie!” George shouted, triggering the M60.

  Already on the floor, I grabbed a puzzled Sanders by the arm and yanked him down with the rest of us who had ducked.

  Steadily firing, George rotated in a neat circle, the .30 rifle bullets chewing a path of destruction along both walls. Then he flipped the flame-spiting muzzle upwards and executed a vertical loop getting a wall, the ceiling, wall and the floor. In a searing spray of sparks, something under the floorboards shorted and our weapons cooled with astonishing speed.

  "How did you know?” Father Donaher asked, rising and dusting off his pants.

  "Induction fields have only a short range,” George calmly stated, unwrapping a fresh beef stick expertly with one hand. “Didn't know where it was, but it had to be close."

  Just then the chandelier released from the ceiling and crashed onto the spot we had vacated. Sanders frowned and then chuckled. Geez, was it that an old trick?

  "Suggestions?” I asked, watching the closet. That should be the next origin of danger.

  Even as I spoke, the door began to silently swing open. In a smooth move, Mindy drew her sword and plunged it into the door and whatever was on the other side. There came a soft whispery gasp of pain and the door closed.

  "LaRue has been here,” Jessica reported succinctly, releasing her forehead. “But he is gone now."

  Raul and Katrina agreed.

  Damn, missed him by minutes. “Okay, but what did he do while he was here? Grab a book? Make a call? Get supplies?"

  "Leave,” she replied succinctly

  So much for that.

  "But what about these traps?” Sanders asked, gesturing with his weapon.

  Mindy gave a half-smile. “These aren't traps. This is where LaRue lives. What we've encountered are simply his home defenses."

  Softly in the living room, a telephone began to dial 9-1-1 entirely by itself. Before the police could be contacted, I pumped a .44 slug into the jingling Ameche blowing it to pieces.

  "Great stuff for burglars, but laughable against us,” I said, glancing at my watch, 11:29. In sixteen minutes the world would be his to play with and the game would not be fun for anybody else. Blink. Now 15 minutes.

  Priestly robes billowing about his legs, Father Donaher started to pace. “Okay, LaRue didn't stay here because he knew we could do the same thing again to him."

  Currying thoughts, I rubbed a fist on my chin. “Then he must have gone someplace where we can't confiscate his property. Ideally, it would be a location where we have no authority."

  "With no psychological data about him, we lack any way to postulate his possible modus operandi."

  "He use disguise,” Katrina contributed, tugging on a lock of her hair.

  "True,” I noted. “But he also exhibits extreme intelligence and thus is unlikely to repeat a gimmick."

  "Anything to go on from the robbery across the country?"

  "Nope. Straight smash-and-garb runs. No finesse."

  "That's not like him."

  "Exactly,” I explained. “This time we area dealing with highly motivated, intelligent enemy, who has at his resource magic and technology equal to our own."

  Cradling the M60, George tapped my shoulder. “Ed, did I ever make that request for transfer to Clerical?"

  "Sorry, it was refused. Not enough people in Clerical to process the form."

  Fourteen minutes.

  On a hunch, I went to the kitchen telephone and hit the button for automatic redial. With any luck, it would be a friend, or maybe even his lover.

  "Pizza-Pizza!” sang out a happy voice. “Today's special is a medium double pepperoni with extra anchovies for $10.99. What is your order, please?"

  Sounded good, but this was no time for a snack so I hung up. “Jess, any other phones in the house?"

  "No."

  "Car?"

  "No."

  Double damn! LaRue knew we were hot on his trail and how we had last beaten him. Was there any place he had legal access to where we couldn't pull the same trick twice? What did he have, that we didn't? Son of a stage magician. Hmm, a union hall? Carnival? Nyah. Bookstore owner, National Book convention? Librarian for the ... what service was that?

  "Navy!” I cried aloud.

  George and Sanders understood at once. “He's a member of the Naval reserves!” George cried out, smacking himself in the head. “And federal agents have no authority on a military base unless they are in the direct pursuit of a known felon, or they get authorization from the base CO!"

  "Technical and vague,” Raul muttered, rubbing his jaw. “But maybe good enough for magic. Just maybe."

  "We play the card we're dealt,” I said. If I was wrong, it meant the end of civilization, but I tried not to think about that possibility.

  "Jessica, where was he stationed in the Navy?” I asked. “That should be the only location he has actual legal access to. Any other base the Reservist would have to be assigned to and register with the commanding officer."

  "Fort Hamilton,” she replied instantly. “But his discharge papers placed him on the USS: Intrepid."

  "George?” I snapped.

  He shrugged. “Beats me. I'm Army."

  "The USS: Intrepid is a World War II air craft carrier permanently docked in the Hudson River of Manhattan,” Father Donaher rattled off. “Moored near 42nd Street. The vessel has been converted into a Naval museum. Perfect place to find a librarian."

  "How the hell do you know about the ship?” Mindy demanded.

  Clearly amused, the big priest grinned. “I'm originally from Brooklyn. Faith n’ begorra, what New Yorker doesn't know about the Intrepid? Sweet Mary, the ship is bigger than the GWB!"

  Whatever that was. “Raul?"

  "I'm on emergency reserves,” the mage said wearily. “Only one medium spell remaining."

  Medium, eh? Darn. “Okay,” I decided. “Then forget the van and take us back to Chicago."

  Standing to his full towering height, Ken was scandalized. “Sir, we retreat?"

  "Hell no,” I said, hefting my nearly empty assault rifle. “We attack!"

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  "But not naked,” I amended ster
nly. Faces brightened as understanding came.

  While George did the legal mumbo-jumbo with his FBI badge sealing the place as a crime scene, Raul drew a circle about us chanting constantly. When George was done, Raul gestured and we were back in our Chicago living room. Nine minutes to go.

  "Katrina with me!” Raul cried stumbling towards his magic laboratory.

  "I'll get the Healing potions,” Jessica said, going for our small medical theatre.

  "Armory,” I cried and we stumbled off towards the kitchen. Not even George stopped to get a snack. There are priorities.

  * * * *

  Two minutes later, everybody gathered in the living room, re-armed to the max and the broken pieces of our armor hastily replaced. We had a spare set of liquid nitrogen tanks for Katrina, and another for Raul. Mindy was dressed in her ninja outfit of solid black and I had a four-barrel HAFLA bazooka, plus my combo backpack. There was a spare liquid delivery system for Jess, filled with MSG/DMSO, but as a fillip we had hastily added every deadly poison we had in stock: arsenic, curare, potassium cyanide, strychnine, manticore venom and pure quill heroin. We had wisely omitted a dose of LSD as this guy was crazy enough to begin with. No sense priming the pump when the well was already overflowing.

  Plus, each of us was carrying two satchel charges of high explosive C4 plastique, augmented with a minor flying spell to ease the weight. Our apartment wasn't Bureau HQ with miniature nuclear bombs, laser pistols or molecular disrupter wands available, but it was the very best we had on hand and we were going for a kill.

  Marching into view, George and Sanders had replaced their dinky machine guns and now sported bulky backpacks which cushioned shoulder hooks, a chest harness and hip supports to distribute its awesome weight. From the top of the ammo pack then came a flexible, enclosed feed link that connected to the top of a squat, bulky rifle with a gaping pitted maw.

  The weapon was a Masterson Assault Cannon. Designed by some mad genius at the Pentagon, the ammo packs of the dire weapons held 18,000 caseless rounds of 20mm, armor-piercing, high explosive shells. Almost too destructive to control, the Bureau had absolutely prohibited their use outside of an officially declared war.

  "And where the hell did you get those?” I demanded.

  "Got a friend in Ordinance,” George replied proudly, adjusting the waist strap. “You pissed?"

  "Hell no! I wish you had four more of them!"

  "What about regulations?"

  "Screw ‘em. They can fire us later."

  My wife was waiting for us with jugs of Healing potion. In scandalous waste we poured the magic elixir over us. Exhaustion disappeared, wounds closed, burns healed, hair was replaced.

  The potion was beyond price. Money could not buy any of the elixir, you had to make it painstakingly, drop by drop, from blood, sweat and tears. Just like in the song. This little impromtive show was totally exhausting our ten-year accumulation of emergency reserves. If we lived through tonight, we would be without magical healing for months, maybe years! If we lived. But that was a big if. Between the Healing potion and the Strength elixir, in the morning we were going to be hospitalized for weeks.

  But then, that was what an emergency reserve was for, and if this wasn't an emergency then Webster had changed the definition. Heck, I guess maybe it was war so George was safe.

  Striding confidently from the lab, Katrina's eyes were rimmed with fatigue shadows, but her wood wand was rigid again, full of power. A moment later Raul walked into view, with a meager foot-and-a-half long stainless steel wand in his clenched hand.

  "This is twice I've been reduced a level for a fast recharge,” he snarled, grabbing a jug and pouring the contents over his head, the burns and bleeding wounds washing away like common dirt. “The Bureau owes me big for this."

  I acknowledged the debt. “Horace Gordon himself will put a gold paper star on your permanent record card."

  "Oh, golly gee, really? Swell. Give me the damn travel book!” Raul snapped. Then for a moment, he seemed pained and Katrina went faint. George gave them each a candy bar. Poor kids must be near exhaustion from all the magic they were casting.

  Without looking, Jessica opened the N volume to the correct page and handed it to him. Flipping through New York, the mage stared hard at the tiny photograph of the warship. Whatdayaknow, the Naval museum was a tourist attraction!

  "Remarkable clarity,” he murmured in approval, choosing a picture.

  As he started to cast the teleport spell, I had a brief worry wondering if the shot was taken on the shore, or from a flying helicopter.

  * * * *

  Congealing from thin air, we stepped into the dark shadows of the elevated Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan. Before us loomed the mighty majestic outline of the Intrepid. Behind my team stretched the endless neon vista of 42nd Street.

  Longer than two city blocks and tall as a skyscraper, the Navy war ship dwarfed the nearby office buildings and hotels into insignificance. Viewed edgewise, the massive vessel resembled an inverted metal mountain, with a small building set on top—the control island, i.e. bridge to us common folk.

  Truly awe inspiring, the seemingly endless expanse of the ship was highlighted by a thousand lights strung along its colossal sides, spotlighting the control island, and bristling on the shore parking lot. A hundred assorted planes filled the flight deck of the floating city, yet the parking lot was empty. Thank god for small favors.

  "What kind of armament does that thing carry?” George asked eagerly, his face a mixture of fear and respect.

  "The Intrepid was an Essex class carrier,” Ken said, his eyes nearly closed. “She has four sets of twin five-inch cannon mounted two on the forecastle, two aftcastle. There are twenty-four 40mm rapid fire mini-cannon set in tandem all over the vessel and some hundred quadruple .50 machine gun nests."

  I whistled. No wonder we had won the war against Hitler.

  He continued. “Modern aircraft carriers also have Phalanx anti-missile cannon, nuclear missiles, Tomahawk anti-fort missiles, Amsterdam Mark IV all purpose missiles, anti-satellite missiles, anti-submarine missiles, anti-torpedo missiles, anti-missiles-missiles, and anti-anti-missile-missiles."

  He drew in a breath. “Normally the Intrepid would carry some 100 planes of assorted design; bombers, fighters, reconnaissance, rescue helicopters. However, in museum format, it also has an additional forty planes, of varying age and condition on display. Corsairs, Hellcats, Delta Daggers, Bell&Howell gunships, Ashanti attack helicopters, AWAKS, Harriers jumpjets and so on."

  "Armor?” Father Donaher asked in a small hopeful voice.

  "The landing top deck is made of 12 inch thick layered teak wood, coated with a special non-slid, fire retardant chemical composition, but it can still be ignited with sufficient thermite or napalm."

  "Yes!” Mindy cried raising a fist.

  "Under the flight deck is the hangar deck with a 18 inch thick steel alloy flooring. The hull itself is 36 inch layers of multiple types of military armor, backed by decompartmentilized U-style frames and multiple ton H-formation brackets."

  I raised both eyebrows. “Was that three feet of solid armor?"

  He gave a nod. “Yes. She's an old ship."

  Hoo boy.

  "How many levels are there?” Jess asked gazing at the titanic vessel as if trying to hazard a guess.

  "Fifteen,” Ken replied. “Eight below the flight deck and seven on the command island; from Crash Control to the crows’ nest beneath the radar antennas. Eight hundred and twenty feet long it can carry a crew of 3,500 sailors."

  "Worthy of the Russian fleet!” Katrina beamed, with a touch of patriotism creeping into her voice. Expelled for being a mage or not, home was in the heart, not under your feet.

  "And how do you know all this?” I asked. “Ex-Navy?"

  Lt. Colonel Sanders pointed a muscular finger towards the distant blackness. “There's a small sign giving the pertinent details over there by the ticket booth."

  I tried not to show my astonis
hment. He could read a sign in the dark at over two hundred feet away?

  "However,” Jessica added slowly. “There are only thirty guards on duty tonight."

  "Are they alive?” George asked.

  "I'm not sure,” my wife hedged. “I sense life, but not exactly in any form I am familiar with."

  "Cocooned? Metamorphosing? Possessed?” Father Donaher asked in concern. “Zombies? Protestants?"

  "Yes. No. I don't know!” Jess seemed uneasy, shuffling her shoes. “I can only say that the guard are conscious and hostile."

  Checking the safety, I worked the bolt on the M16. “Then we have to count the sailors as dead men controlled by LaRue and kill them on sight."

  This stratagem sat well with nobody. Reality rarely did. As I scanned the foredeck of the gigantic vessel, I noticed one of the jetfighters bend a wing to scratch its prow. Aw, shit.

  "It is the exhibits that you sense, Jess,” I explained. “The planes are animate. Especially the jet fighters."

  "Annoying,” George said confidently. “But as this is a museum, none of them have any ammo for their guns."

  With a sweeping motion, I grandly gestured. “Then you go first."

  He took a single step, and then smiled. “Ah, perhaps tomorrow?"

  Five minutes to go. How could we get on without being noticed? The carpeted gangplank was extended, the sixty feet of roped off ramp well enough lit to read a book of regulations by. Ha. It made me laugh. Ah, we could just shrink down to mice size and run on board!

  No, the gangplank and anchor chains had rat-proof baffles and sensors, sent Jessica. Ditto the mooring lines and power cables. Good security. Too damn good. Phooey on the Navy.

  "Jess, can't you get a reading on LaRue?” I urged hopefully.

  She shook her head. “Impossible. His mind is so jumbled between the alchemical potions, his new magic, the mixed personalities and the influence of the book, that he is nothing but telepathic hash. His thoughts blend into the background murmur of the city."

  Boy, this guy was tough to find. Hmm, we could turn invisible and fly in past the planes. Wasteful of magic and extremely dangerous, between the sensors of the Intrepid and all those warplanes, we would almost certainly be caught. Make a magic door in the hull? No, too thick. Use a Meld? No, too many people. This was infuriating! Bureau 13 headquarters was situated somewhere in New York City. But if I used my wristwatch, the Tanner part of LaRue would know instantly. Briefly, I weighed surprise against a direct mass attack. We couldn't summon help once he started the spell, all lines of magical communications went down. What the hell, let's go for the gold. It would be nice to watch a battle from the sidelines for a change.