by M. Lorrox
Katlyn nods her head quickly, and her blonde curls bounce at her neck. “I completely understand.”
Sadie swallows. “I’ll also be posting a guard to your room. Let them know if you need anything, and Skip, feel free to text or call. Okay?”
He continues staring at the wall and nods loosely before realizing he should say something. “Okay. Thanks.”
Sadie pries Minnie off her leg, and when she resists, Katlyn rushes over, drops to one knee beside Minnie, and takes the small girl.
Sadie sighs. “It’s going to be okay, Minnie, you’re safe.” She purses her lips at Katlyn, then she leaves. In the hall, she finds Tatsu walking toward a guard station with some papers in his hand. “I could use your assistance again, Tatsu.”
He immediately stops and steps into attention stance.
“First, find a guard and assign them to my daughter and her caretakers, in room 1378. Then, meet me in room 1437.”
Tatsu furrows his brow. “The prisoners’ room, ma’am?”
She nods. “Bring your swords.”
The 747 taxis for what seems like hours, then it takes off. In the back of the plane, the huge turboprop engines fill the cabin with their roar, and as the nose tips up during takeoff, Eddy shifts. The bowie attached to his leather satchel smashes against the wall of the huge plane’s tiny bathroom, making a sound too loud for comfort. He clenches his teeth and draws his lips back, listening—afraid someone heard the noise.
He doesn’t hear anything over the engines, then, his door opens, and he jolts with surprise. “I—”
July’s hand covers his mouth. She whispers, “What are you doing? ONLY WHISPER.”
He shakes his head, then he whispers back, “I thought I was caught. What are you doing walking around out there?” He glances down at her. She no longer wears the hospital gown, but instead wears a too-large Army Combat Uniform.
The plane shifts again, and she steadies herself against the back wall. “There wasn’t anybody nearby, and no one was walking toward the back of the plane, so I scooted over.”
Eddy swallows. “Where’d you find that?”
She rolls her eyes. “We only carried them onto the plane, dumdum. I nabbed one before takeoff.”
“Oh.” It’s too big on her. She could button it up more… “Umm, okay. So…uh, why’d you come over here?”
She chuckles, then continues their hushed conversation. “Don’t get any funny ideas. You and I haven’t really had a chance to chat since last night.”
“You’re not afraid of getting caught? Do we have to keep whispering?”
July closes her eyes and focuses her senses. “You can talk quietly now. They’re all up closer to the front, and there’s bathrooms up there, so we should be okay back here.”
Eddy relaxes, and when he inhales, he smells a bit of July’s typical body odor. It soothes him more.
July smiles and leans back against the door, putting an extra few inches between them in the cramped bathroom.
“So… You’re going by July now?”
“That’s right, Leo.” They all thought the old me was dead, and he saw me that way, dead. He said he carried me out of the lab... “I’m glad you’re coming with me.” She feels the urge to move closer to him, but she subdues it.
Eddy feels awkward and is about to look away, but then he notices a silver necklace on July’s neck. “Hey, is that new?”
She lifts a long, thin, silver chain from her ACU top. Tied onto it with a piece of white ribbon is a scratched but still shiny, red stone bead. “The chain was my, uh, mom’s. Dad always carried it in his pocket, ‘to remember her strength,’ he says… He said that someday I could have it, so I told him I wanted it before we left.”
“He doesn’t know you left left, does he?”
She shakes her head. He’ll be so mad, but there was no other way.
Eddy motions to the bead hanging off the necklace. “And the bead?”
“It’s from a necklace my grandfather gave me, a long time ago.”
“I know that necklace, but why’d you only bring one bead from it?”
She sets the necklace back into her top. “I figured that’s all I needed.”
A few rows in front of the bathroom Eddy and July hide in is all the team’s gear. Among the crates and boxes, Charlie’s swords—the Ketsueki Seishin katana and the Patton saber—are strapped in like delicate passengers alongside the other knights’ precious weapons.
Dozens of rows ahead, Hecate shows Major Stephanie Dubois and Second Lieutenant Owen Metcalf the device she collected from the metro tunnel.
Owen raises his hand like a grade-school student, and Hecate pauses her story. “Uh, what’s up?”
“I’m sorry, I just have a quick question. So, you’re a vampire…”
Hecate glances at Stephanie, who is glaring at Owen. Stephanie leans over to him. “I was with you when you were briefed about them being vampires.”
He nods. “Yeah, but—” He looks at Hecate. “—I’m really sorry if this is rude or something, but...” He leans in toward her and whispers, “You don’t have fangs. Did you lose them or something?”
Hecate smiles. “I had fangs one time, but I didn’t like them. I kept stabbing holes in my tongue, so I ripped them out with a pair of pliers and regrew regular ol’ teeth.”
Owen swallows. “Oh... Okay.”
Hecate raises an eyebrow. “May I continue?”
“But…don’t you need them?”
She rolls her eyes and sighs.
In the upper deck lounge, Charlie finds—and downs—a mini bottle of whiskey. There’s a cabinet full of various mini liquor bottles, but Charlie knows he’d have to drink all of them to get tipsy. And that’s not in the cards. Tastes good though. He sets the tiny empty bottle in a full-sized cup holder, then turns to Balena, who is stretching on the open floor nearby. “How long have you been a SEAL?”
She switches which leg she’s working on, glancing up only for a moment. “Ten years. Been on Red Squadron of DEVGRU for three.”
“You’re on DEVGRU? How did I not know that?” Ricochet takes a seat on the floor near her.
“’Sup Rick.”
“Hey.”
Charlie leans forward. “What’s a dev-grew?”
Ricochet laughs. “Oh, that’s the Navy’s component of the Joint Special Operations—the Navy’s Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU.”
Balena finishes her stretch and pops up. “Also known as SEAL Team Six.”
Charlie nods. “Ooohh, I’ve heard of that.” Thought it was the title of a novel, though.
She smiles. “We kick ass. How about you? I actually don’t know your history, sir.”
Charlie sighs. “Well, I trained in China, did my first missions in Japan...where I met Tatsu when he was a squire. You know him?”
“Of course.”
“Then I was posted in Crete as a mediator, then I fought in The Great Turkish War, then the Great Northern War, then the Seven Years War... That one was wild.”
Balena’s eyes have started to grow wider as the rest of the knights in the lounge have grown quieter.
“Then, I worked Catherine’s Ascension.” He clears his throat and raises his eyebrows. “That one was rough. I took some easy, sentry assignments after that.”
Balena’s mouth drops open. Holy shit. You’re Arashi... Fuck.
“Then the Napoleonic Wars, and finally, I fought in the American Civil War.” He sighs. “If you haven’t heard of me for anything else, I was the guy who exposed the War and Defense Cabinet for their deceit during that war, and I’ve been on a reprieve almost ever since.” He shakes his head and chuckles. “Tuesday was my first day back, and today’s Saturday, so I guess that means I’m still in my first week.”
Balena shakes her awe away and falls into an attention stance.
Charlie, who is sprawled out in a cushy loveseat, tilts his head up to her. “Huh?”
“Sir, I didn’t realize who you were, sir. It’s an honor to fight alongside you, sir.”
Ricochet raises both his eyebrows. The guy’s old and experienced, but what’s the big deal?
Charlie smacks his lips. Could use some water. “Please drop the formalities. I’m glad to have you.”
“Thank you, sir. I was wondering. Would you prefer that we call you by your knight’s name?”
Annnd there it is. Hmm. On second thought, where’s that liquor?
“Sir?” Balena waits.
Charlie stands. Other knights in the lounge—Naga, Ghost, and Gabriel—also stand. Ricochet, seeing everyone else stand, joins them and looks at Charlie.
When there is stillness, Charlie nods to Balena. “I believe that would be acceptable. If you wish, you can call me by my knight’s name…” He pauses, realizing that he hasn’t spoken the name aloud in over a hundred years. “Arashi-Ōdachi.”
And then, it hits Ricochet like a flaming boot to the face. No fucking wonder we’re standing! “Mr. Odatchi?”
Charlie shakes his head. “No, it’s Arashi-Ōdachi, or just Colonel. And what?”
“How are you not dead?”
Charlie slow blinks at him.
Balena rolls her eyes at Ricochet, and he notices. “What? Don’t tell me you’re not wondering that too. You’ve heard the stories...”
Naga steps forward. “Stories or not, the colonel is a great warrior who demands the deepest of respect from—”
-burp- Charlie pats his chest. “Excuse me... Agita. Look, I’ve just been real lucky. Now relax everyone, we’ve got a hard mission ahead of us.” They’re still looking at me... Oh. “At ease.” He sits back down as the others loosen up.
After a few minutes, Gabriel goes downstairs and walks back to where the weapons are stored. Charlie’s katana isn’t hiding; its red-and-black saya and cord-wrapped handle juts above a headrest. Gabriel doesn’t dare approach nor touch it, but instead closes both eyes and mouths a prayer in complete silence.
Kazumi sits at her computer workstation and sips tea. Playing from a pair of small speakers, piano sonatas by Mozart float on the purposefully dehydrated air like butterflies in a summer breeze. She picks up her notebook and flips it over. Its pages are covered with a chicken-scratched melee of numbers and sketches.
She enters data into the computer, then clicks RENDER.
On her screen, a 3D model of something that looks like an egg-shaped cookie cutter slowly spins. The outside of the shape is mostly smooth with recesses spaced around it. A ring whose walls are parallel to the outside shape floats in the center of the object, and both the inner side of the cookie-cutter shape and portions of the central ring are jagged with prongs extending inward and upward.
She clicks on another button, and an additional layer is displayed. A few dozen red X marks and green circles fade in, each with a line passing through it and a number beside it. Finally, she clicks one more button, and the inside of the larger shape fills in. Only the hole in the center of the inner ring remains.
“That should be perfect... Damn I’m good.” She clicks save, then closes the file. She switches over to a chat window and types a message.
@AnneFoundry, coupling bracket render complete. Fabricate and have ready in the morning.
She watches as three dots spin and trace the boundaries of a triangle—telling her that someone is typing a response.
@AnneKazumi, we’ll begin immediately.
She stands, turns off the monitor, and closes her notebook. She yawns, then hears the soft melody of the music again. “It’s no fun playing for an empty room...but do it anyway.” She takes one last sip of her tea and walks out. “Time for me to go to bed.”
Tatsu arrives at room 1437, and Sadie is waiting for him in the hall. He wears his set of swords: a katana with a twenty-eight-inch blade, a wakizashi with a twenty-two-inch blade, and a tanto with a ten-inch-blade. The weapons all have matching designs, with gold sayas, iron blade furniture, and handles wrapped in brown leather.
She leans off the wall as he approaches and steps up to him, whispering in his ear, “I need to interrogate the kids. Follow my lead, and look angry.”
He nods.
“Can I borrow your wakizashi?”
He slips it out of his waistband and extends it to her.
Sadie takes it and turns to the knight who guards the room, speaking loudly. “Fenix, I need some time alone with the prisoners. Take a hike.”
“Yes, Madam Prime Minister.” He winks, steps a few feet to the side, and folds his arms across his chest.
Sadie and Tatsu storm into the room where Steve and Madeline are recuperating. She snarls over her shoulder to Tatsu, “Take the door, nobody in or out.”
He nods and growls back, “Hai.” He takes a diagonal step backward and stands sideways to the door. He grips the handle of his katana and withdraws an inch of blade.
Sadie stands between the beds and looks at the prisoners.
Steve and Madeline are awake, and they glue their eyes on Sadie. Their heartrate spikes, and a cold sweat starts to bead on their faces.
Sadie rubs her thumb along the golden-lacquered scabbard of the wakizashi in her hand. “I don’t have time to play games. I’m the prime minister now. You stole my trunk, and you stole the ring my son had. I need those items back, and I don’t care who I have to kill to get them.” She curls her lip. “But I will get them.”
Steve swallows. His head is capped in bandages that wrap down one side of his face. One arm has an IV in it, while the other arm—where June bit a piece off—is wrapped in gauze. Five wounds on his belly have been stitched closed, while his ab muscles are bruised underneath.
“I know that you both, and Li Chen, were hired by Lorenzo Bernardi.” Sadie raises the sheathed sword and points it at Madeline, then at Steve. “You will tell me everything you know right now!”
Madeline clears her throat. “Li Chen is a bastard. I didn’t want to hurt anyone—”
Sadie grits her teeth and, in a flash, rips the sword from its scabbard. “A squire and a young girl were both severely wounded, and it’s because of you!”
Steve yells, “Hey! It’s not her fault. It’s mine and Li Chen’s. I’m sorry for stabbing that guy. I was just following Li Chen’s lead.”
In another flash of impressive speed, Sadie spins and pokes the tip of the blade against the side of his stomach. “That makes it okay? That someone else gave you the order?”
“Look. What do you want, lady?” Madeline struggles to sit up. The wound in her side from Li Chen’s dagger is still healing, and it throbs with her movements.
Sadie doesn’t look away from Steve but answers through gritted teeth, “I TOLD YOU. I NEED THAT TRUNK BACK AND THAT RING.”
Steve summons his courage and looks Sadie straight in the eye. “Hear what I have to say...”
Sadie withdraws the sword from his side, but only a few inches. She holds the tip of it up, right in his line of sight.
“Mad and I both have had it with Li Chen, and we want out from the Red Fangs. I hope the people we hurt are okay... You want Lorenzo. He was paying us to get the ring. He’s got the trunk too, and Li Chen was going to deliver the pictures to him.”
Sadie frowns harder and dips her forehead toward him. “Where is Lorenzo?”
“I don’t know, but Li Chen would, and he still trusts me...”
Sadie scowls, waiting.
Madeline relives the moment that she saw the flash of malevolence in Li Chen’s eyes. She knew what he was going to do, and as he lunged with the dagger toward Eddy, she didn’t even think—she just jumped in front of the blade. She shakes her head.
Steve raises a hand up and reaches toward Sadie. “I can help you.” He s
teals a glance toward Madeline. “Mad? Are you in?”
She turns away. “I don’t want anything to do with that son of a bitch...” She remembers she had put the ring in the pocket of her scrub’s pants, and she reaches for it. “Mrs. Prime Minister, here’s the ring, or what’s left of it. Li Chen has the pictures of the markings.” She holds out the old, reddish colored gold ring.
Sadie takes it and slips it into a pocket. She takes a moment to study both the teens, considering what her next move should be. They must know the secret information has value. If they stole the trunk, they certainly searched through it first and found the armlets. They might have seen the markings on those too... She sheaths the sword. “I believe both of you, and you must now believe what I’m about to tell you.” She turns to Tatsu, and with a hand motion, she tells him to cancel the charade.
He slides his sword back into the saya, and the tsuba -clicks- closed against it. He relaxes his muscles and stands straight.
Sadie turns back to the kids. “Lorenzo wants the information much more than the actual objects. The information—that he now has access to—is incredibly dangerous... It’s a sort of weapon. He must be found before he... He must be found, and my trunk must be recovered. It’s my duty to keep some items in there safe.”
Steve recalls how when he showed Lorenzo what he found in the trunk, the man changed his tune. “He wanted those armlets.”
Sadie sighs and nods. “I need your help... We need to work together. If you can catch up to Li Chen, he can lead us to Lorenzo.”
Madeline sighs loudly, and both Steve and Sadie turn to her. “Then will you let us go? If we help you?”
“You saved my son from being stabbed, and you didn’t hurt anyone. You’d be square in my book.” Sadie turns to Steve. “You, on the other hand, assaulted a Squire of the Order. When this is over, you’ll have to answer to him. His name is Enrique, and he’s looking forward to seeing you.”
Steve swallows, remembering how cold Enrique’s eyes were when he held the knife over him. “That’s fair. If you give me my phone, I can text Li Chen. What should I say?”