by Ben Hale
"You should know by now that I always have a plan," Alice said.
"I do not understand yours," Ducalik said. "When the Dark approaches the last of the free nations, why will you not have it continue to advance? It will devour the last of them without impediment."
"Which is why it cannot happen," Alice said. Her voice had taken on an edge. "The auren nations are fleeing to the Americas. Do I need to remind you that our goal is not to slaughter? We seek to force obedience. If we send in the Dark it will merely kill them. There will be no one left to obey."
Before he could protest, she continued. "We also cannot have the Dark enforce law as it does in the nations we control."
"Why?" Ducalik's eyes narrowed, indicating that was exactly what he was about to suggest.
"Because of the nature of man," Alice said. "Without surrendering they will resist, and a protracted resistance will ultimately decimate them anyway. The only way is to force them to submit by the shedding of blood. The aurens must witness their families die until they grow sick of bloodshed. Then—and only then—will they submit to my rule."
"You fear them closing the portal," Ducalik said with a sneer. "Soon it will not matter if they did. The Dark mind is almost strong enough that closing the portal will not kill it."
The look she gave him was laced with scorn. "If they closed the portal now, the entirety of the Dark and everything it controls would disintegrate. Everything we have done would be for naught. That is why the link that holds it open has been moved here. It will remain under my care."
Ducalik reluctantly fell silent, so Alice turned to Keidon. "How large has our army become?"
He threw Ducalik a glance. "Their numbers will soon surpass one trillion."
A vicious smile appeared on Varson's face. "Most have joined the Dark's edge, and will assault once it makes landfall in the Americas. In two weeks time it may begin."
"Then we are poised for the final battle," Alice said. "Ducalik will command the western flank, and will depart tonight. The Aspect is nearly ready, and will command the eastern. The war ender of old has power that rivals our own. It will not fail to compel obedience from the Twisted."
The last statement was directed at Ducalik, and she met his gaze as she said it. There was doubt in his eyes, but it had finally begun to fade. After everything Alice had shown him, he had finally begun to trust her. He gave a reluctant bow and did not argue, allowing her to turn to the last matter.
"How are the preparations for our defense?"
"Well," Varson replied. "But I do not understand why we need them. The scattered battlemages on Auroraq have proven that the Voidlings are invulnerable."
"They have probed our strengths," Alice responded. "They will soon exploit our weaknesses."
"You have none," Varson stated. "You are the Master."
"They have yet to accept that," Alice said, "and I would be a fool not to prepare for their impending attack. As long as we are ready we will crush them with little difficulty. After the battle we will put down the resistance for good. The execution of its leaders will finally end it . . ."
A stray sense struck her, causing her to pause. She cast about the room, searching for the tremor that she'd felt. Was she being watched? Or was it just her imagination? Her gaze fell on the door to the Gate. Since the one at Tryton's had been destroyed she had not entered it. On impulse she amped her luck magic, and used it to access fire. Then she scanned the room with her magesight.
She caught a flicker of heat. About the size of a hand, it lingered on her vision for a split second, but did not repeat. She frowned, but let it go. More than likely it was just an aftereffect of the fire sight.
"Master?" Keidon asked.
She rotated back to them and dismissed her concerns. She motioned for Varson to continue his report about the defenses . . .
***
Back in the refuge, Derek held his breath. He'd used the edge of the portal to guide him as he dived through, and he couldn't be sure if his hand had been spotted. Breathing hard from the sudden spike of adrenaline, he looked at his sister. After everything they had heard she would be furious.
"Iris? Are you alright?"
Iris cast him a searing look. "Our mother has joined the enemy. I'm fine." Then her voice grew quiet. "But she won't be."
"Can you seal the Gate again?" Derek asked.
Iris jerked into motion, and a film of static energy coated the mirror. Anyone stepping through would be brutally shocked. Hopefully they would continue to assume that the Tryton's Gate had been destroyed.
Rox appeared in front of him. "What happened?"
Derek's stomach tightened. "The Gate works, but we overheard Alice talking to Keidon, Ducalik, and Varson."
Her eyes widened. "What did they say?"
Iris cast him a warning look, so he skipped the part about their mother. "We know part of their plan." Derek said.
"What part?" Shorn asked.
Derek met his gaze and quickly briefed him on everything they had overheard. When he was finished Shorn's eyes had widened.
"So the Sword of Elseerian—"
"Is in the Spirus," Derek said. "And time is running out to destroy it."
Chapter 24: Truth of the Twisted
Wolf worked his way through the jammed passageways of the aircraft carrier. With every bunk filled weeks ago, temporary cots lined the passages of the ship. Military personnel moved around them on their way to meals or other assignments. An air of depression and despair hung thick among the evacuated soldiers, muting conversation.
Wolf chose a hatch that led upward, and a few minutes later reached his destination. An armed MP nodded to him and allowed him to enter the war room of the Dwight D. Eisenhower. Reserved for high ranking briefings or other official meetings, the room resembled a boardroom of an office building.
Four men sat at the table, indicating that Wolf was the last to arrive. All were higher rank than him, so he gave a sharp salute. "Captain Thompson, reporting as ordered, sir."
As acting CO of the Eisenhower, Captain Jackson flashed a smile. "At ease and have a seat. I take it you were unable to find a service uniform?"
"None that fit, sir," Wolf replied as he took the seat.
The others wore basic service uniforms, including Rear Admiral Stark, who still had numerous medals adorning his chest. Wolf had received the summons less than an hour ago, and had been lucky to find a clean pair of navy fatigues.
"I think we can forgive the lapse," Stark said. "Do you know why you have been asked to this briefing?"
"No, sir," Wolf replied.
Admiral Stark had expected the answer. "Your team has the most combat experience against the Dark's forces—by a wide margin. You and your men combine for more kills than any five other units, and you have survived more than double the engagements. Why do you think that is, Captain?"
"I had the misfortune of understanding the threat from the beginning," Wolf said. He didn't know where they were going with this, and tried to keep the confusion from his face.
Captain Jackson threw the Admiral a look, causing him to nod. Then he turned back to Wolf. "Captain, you are here in an advisory capacity. Our latest encounter with the Dark has proven that its army is larger than we anticipated. You are here for your assessment of the new threat." He motioned to the men around the table.
"This is Rear Admiral Stark, ranking officer of this fleet. General Ross, the highest army man we have present. I believe you already know Colonel Allen from the Air Force?"
Wolf's gaze flicked to him, but Allen did not appear pleased. Wolf couldn't blame him. Before the Dark had become a recognized threat, Wolf had practically ordered him to evacuate his base. If not for a timely intervention by his secretary, Linda, Wolf would have likely shot the man. Fleetingly he hoped he would see her again. Rarely had he seen a woman so attractive.
"I'll do my best, sir," Wolf said.
"Excellent," Admiral Stark said. "Now, I believe you saw these outside of Rome?"
/> He motioned to the MP at the back of the room and he turned on the projector. The screen filled with the grainy image of a swarm of monstrous bats. Evidently the shot had been taken by someone running, but it did not detract from the disturbing sight.
"I did, sir," Wolf replied. "One of my team guessed that they were once bats."
"Intelligence agrees with you," Stark said. "As I'm sure you know, bats use sound to navigate, but the transformation has brought the sound into the human auditory spectrum. I believe your own report coined the term shriekers."
Wolf suppressed a shudder as he recalled the sound. "They are large enough to take down a chopper, and there are enough of them to threaten a jet."
Ross was nodding. "Again on point, Captain. Of greater importance is how many species have been impacted?"
It took a moment for that to sink in. Then Wolf's eyes widened. "Species? How many others have been spotted?"
"That is above your clearance level," Colonel Allen said curtly, but Stark dismissed that with a wave of his hand.
"He would be briefed on them soon enough. Next image please."
The slide advanced to a creature very different from the bats. Hulking and equipped with a massive horn, the creature had obviously once been a rhino. Now the size of a pickup truck, the image had caught it halfway through shattering a building.
Colonel Allen spoke up, "This was spotted south of your position. It took out an entire team of British SAS. Its skin seems to have hardened to the point of body armor. Small arms fire failed to penetrate its hide."
The next image was an elephant that had grown to titanic proportions. A mane of black now grew across its shoulders, and tusks had sprouted on its flanks. The tilted image showed it squashing an upside down Humvee like it was a ripe banana.
Two more images followed, and each caused Wolf's stomach to knot further. The first displayed a massive, fanged gorilla charging into an Italian square. The second was of a lion built like a mack truck. The image clicked off and for a moment there was silence.
Wolf's mouth had gone dry. The Dark and the Twisted were bad enough. The idea that other creatures were being subverted sent a cold spike into his stomach. How could they possibly combat so many?
Stark spoke first. "Intelligence believes the Dark is expanding its efforts to stop our escape, and has Twisted certain types of mammals as well as humans. If that proves accurate we could be facing an army of Twisted that numbers in the hundreds of billions."
Colonel Allen shook his head. "But why not use them earlier? It's been six weeks since the cloud appeared at Mt. Elbrus."
"Because we weren't fleeing," Wolf spoke with sudden certainty. They looked to him, and Stark motioned for him to continue.
"In the beginning there were only pockets of people escaping," Wolf said. "Now Europe, Africa, and Asia are all retreating."
"But why does it matter?" Allen said with a grunt. "We can't fight the cloud, and when it reaches the Americas we will all be taken unless it is dispersed."
"That's assuming the Harbingers want to Twist everyone," Wolf said. The four men stared at him, so he continued, "Stage one begins with an invasion. Stage two is eliminating the chance for your enemy to regroup. Stage three you crush the resistance so your foes lose hope."
"That's absurd," Allen said. "You can't possibly know that."
General Ross was nodding his head. "But the leader of the Harbingers has made it clear she wants the world to submit. She doesn't want to just slaughter the nations of Earth. She wants to conquer them."
"Intel does not support that theory," Colonel Allen said acidly. "We should not be listening to a gun-toting soldier."
Captain Jackson was on his feet, his features clouding with anger. "Captain Thompson is a decorated SEAL. I will not have you disparage him in my presence."
"Enough," Admiral Stark said before Allen could retort. "Captain Thompson, what evidence do you have to support your theory?"
Wolf thought back to the battle at Rome. "The bats attacked the overwatch teams first, not the civilians. That made it possible for the Twisted to corral the refugees until the Dark could claim them." On impulse he motioned to the projector screen. "Every image you showed was of soldiers being killed."
"Then they have revealed their tactics," Colonel Allen scoffed. "The Twisted can't get to us on the water. Now that we know what they have, we can pull our teams out earlier."
"And doom more refugees to die?" Ross asked. "Don't forget that the more we leave behind, the more we will have to fight."
"Our next port is Barcelona," Captain Jackson said. "The cloud will be at our backs, so we will have less than a day to load everyone we can."
"Fortunately much of Spain has already been evacuated west," Admiral Stark said. "We don't have much room as it is, so we load fast and then sail for the Atlantic."
As they discussed what to do, Wolf's mind was drawn to Colonel Allen's comment. They can't get to us on the water. It had been said with utter confidence, but it left Wolf with a nagging worry. It seemed logical, and yet echoed false to his mind. Mammals didn't just live on the ground . . .
He cursed, and the four officers spun to face him. Colonel Allen's expression clouded with anger. "Captain Thompson, you—"
Wolf ignored him, and looked to Admiral Stark. "Sir, is this fleet armed?"
The Admiral shook his head. "We are combat ready, but not on alert. Why?"
"Because there are mammals that live in the water," Wolf said.
Captain Jackson leaned back. "Whales? But the Dark doesn't go underwater."
"But whales come to the surface for air," Wolf said. He stabbed a finger at the projector screen. "Everything Twisted by the dark has grown in size and weight. They also have been adapted almost specifically for combat. If even a single pod of whales became Twisted . . ."
Admiral Stark's expression had gone grim. "It could pose a serious threat to this fleet."
"You can't be entertaining this," Colonel Allen began, but a commotion outside the War room drew their attention.
To Wolf's surprise the water mage, Janson, burst into the room—and his expression brought Wolf to his feet.
"We have a problem," Janson said.
Before he could explain there was a loud gong that echoed throughout the ship—and the deck tilted sharply sideways. Wolf caught the table and gripped the wood with numb fingers. The Eisenhower was a nimitz class supercarrier that weighed over 100,000 tons. It required the force of a hurricane to tilt the deck like that. Amidst the calm seas of the Mediterranean the truth was evident. Something had bumped them.
And it was big.
Chapter 25: Leviathan
Wolf and the other COs burst onto the bridge in time to catch a glimpse of a massive shape finishing its pass. Fully a third the size of the aircraft carrier, it glided underwater just off the port bow. Abruptly it dived out of sight, the motion causing a swell to rock the neighboring destroyers.
"Sound the alarm," Captain Jackson said. "Get all non-crew inside and secured for combat. How many birds do we have in the air?"
"Four jets and a chopper," an ensign replied.
"Get them doing flybys," he said. "I want to get eyes on it. And get the Lancer wing up there."
The Admiral stepped in and ordered the comm to relay the same orders to all the vessels in the fleet. Then he ordered Ross and Allen to return to their commands. His eyes flicked to Wolf.
"Gear up, Captain," he said. "Get your men on the deck and engage the threat."
"Yes, sir." Wolf saluted and darted from the room.
He hustled to his team as the shipwide alarm began to sound. Sailors rushed to battle stations while nonessential personal were directed into secure areas. The sudden bump had sent a chord of panic throughout the ship. Shoving his way through the crowded passageways, Wolf found his team already gearing up in the weapons locker.
Duck tossed him a vest the moment he appeared in the hatch. "Sixty seconds to combat readiness," he reported. "Any idea what
we are up against?"
"It's bigger than anything we've faced," Wolf said as he strapped the vest on.
Instead of his MP7, he chose an M32 grenade launcher and caught up a belt of extra shells. Then he added several frag grenades to his vest. Peterson saw what he'd chosen and picked a larger weapon as well. Last Wolf grabbed a box of noise cancelling radios and tossed it onto the table. With the noise on the flight deck he would need the ability to communicate with his team.
"Just how big?" Willis asked.
"It's a third the size of the Eisenhower," Wolf said.
There was a round of curses, followed by the placing of smaller assault rifles and the collection of larger ones. Two minutes after Wolf had entered the room the SEALs were rushing out the door—and the ship was bumped again.
The carrier's starboard side lifted, tilting the deck under their feet to thirty degrees. Wolf grabbed a pipe running along the hallways for support and grimly held on. Shouts and screams echoed down the passageway as thousands of soldiers fought to keep their feet. As the ship righted itself Wolf stumbled into a run.
"Get to the flight deck," he barked, and mentally counted his team. Six weeks ago he'd entered this war with sixteen men. Now only nine remained to face this creature. How many more would die before this was over? He forced the answer aside before it could take root.
All of them.
Those in the hall jumped out of the way as the fully geared SEALs passed. Others shifted as they hurdled up a flight of stairs. Moments later they reached the hatch to the flight deck and burst into the afternoon light. An F18 Hornet roared past them and rose into the air, and already another was being rushed to follow.
Gunfire erupted from one of the carrier's Phalanx defense placements, its 20mm rounds streaking into the water. As a radar guided Gatling gun, the weapon was designed for defense against incoming missiles. Dozens of soldiers had beat the SEALs to the rail, and they began to fire as well. Wolf took two steps in their direction before the creature attacked.