Collision: Book Four in the Secret World Chronicle - eARC

by Mercedes Lackey

  The world faded out from around him, and he saw it. Saw Untermensch dash out, whether before Moji had issued his orders or after, he couldn’t tell. Saw Georgi take out all three of the Thulians, and then they were running, running through the streets of the city with Vickie trying in vain to find a bolt-hole for them. He watched as all of them were cut down, himself and Sera last. And then watched in accelerated time as the Thulians boiled out of their city, watched Bella try in vain to ready the world for an onslaught more terrible than anything they had seen yet. And saw it all end, as Sera had said, with the world in ruins, the survivors in slave camps, and the Kriegers triumphant—

  John was snapped out of the vision by Molotok’s voice. “They are moving out.” John shook his head, then focused on the image from the HUD; the three troopers were going back the way they had come, apparently joking with each other judging by the way the shoulders on their armor was heaving.

  “Sure as shit hope that the gizmo can open up that portal from the inside, otherwise we’re here for the duration.” John took stock of their situation. They had walked into way more than they had intended to. They didn’t have the supplies or the support to stay much longer; Vickie could only keep her technomagical eyes going for so long before she ran out of juice, the eyes did, or both. The longer they stayed and the deeper they went into the city, the higher their chances of being detected were. If they were found out, it would completely negate the entire purpose of their mission…and if the vision was true, a whole lot worse than that.

  “Look, I can take the eyes up just under the ‘ceiling’ of that force field and get a general gander. Collect as much data as I can in a single sweep. I think the force field itself will mask the presence of the eyes.”

  “Do it. The more time we spend on site, the higher our chances of discovery are.” John looked to Molotok for confirmation.

  “Da. We will wait, in position, until witch’s toys complete their sweep. Then we shall exfiltrate.”

  “Poke around in that building and see if you can learn anything? Johnny, if you see something that needs to be scanned or recorded, you’ve got some stuff onboard. Just say ‘Overwatch: Command: Full Scan on Visual Target.’”

  John started moving around the empty room. It was largely featureless save for a couple of protrusions in opposite corners. One looked like a water hook-up, with a sort of temperature control panel above it. It didn’t actually have any sort of controls that John could fathom, however. On the other side, however, was an alien looking power outlet; a flat metal plate that he confirmed was magnetized after accidentally pressing his rifle against it, with three different orange lights circling it. He spoke the command Vickie had told him, and recorded everything he could about the feature; it might come in handy, at some point.

  “Lichten aus?” Unter said tentatively. And suddenly they were plunged into complete darkness.

  John immediately switched his HUD over to night vision, swinging around with the rifle. Everyone was looking at Unter, who was holding his hands up placatingly and grinning.

  “Izvineniya. Apologies. Since I could not see controls, I wondered if the lights answered to voice. Lichten auf.” The lights came back up. Gradually, so they weren’t blinded.

  “Next time you are having bright idea, dedushka…don’t. Being patrol partner with Old Man Bear is rubbing off on you.” Molotok shook his head. “Witch-girl, how much longer?”

  “Not much. There’s only so much equipment Verd could pack in those balls.” There was strain in her voice. She sounded tired. “Basic fly-by is the best I can do. Ten minutes more, I think.”

  It was one of the longest ten minutes of John’s life.

  * * *

  When the four “eyes” had returned, it was with bad news.

  “Comrades, we’ve got a problem. Someone’s camping the gate. He came from inside the city, so if you whack him, he’ll be missed.”

  “Camping the gate?” Moji said, perplexed.

  The video feed from one of the technomagical eyes appeared in the team’s HUDs. A single lone Thulian, unarmored, was waiting by the section of barrier holding the gate that they had entered the city through. He was looking around furtively, his eyes darting around the streets and buildings. One moment, he was there; then his eyes grew wide, and he was running as if the Devil himself were chasing the Krieger. Seconds later, everyone saw why; another patrol of troopers, five this time, came up to the barrier. After a few barked orders the troopers took up positions around the exact spot that the team needed to get through.

  “Der’mo…Day continues to improve, does it not?” Unter spat on the ground to punctuate his remark.

  “Victrix, we will be needing to find alternate means of leaving city. Can you find us an alternate route?”

  “Let’s settle for getting you out first. I need to look at that gate dingus in more depth. Try not to attract attention while I do.”

  John retrieved the Thulian device from the dump pouch on his belt. “Got the gizmo ready. Whatcha need me to do?”

  “Don’t turn it on, for godssake. I don’t want to take the chance it sends out some sort of tell-tale. Just hold it bare-handed, I might be able to get a good read on it through you.”

  “A-ffirmative.” John tucked the device under his arm while he stripped off his gloves with his teeth. Sera already had her hand out for them, and brushed the back of one of his hands with a gentle finger when she took them. Calm seemed to come to him through the touch; he grinned, reciprocating the emotions as much as he could. He held it gingerly, and had the oddest sensation that Vickie was doing more than just “looking” through the camera magically integrated with his eyes. She was employing some other means of examining the device that felt like a feather tickling the back of his mind.

  “It’s not set to open a particular gate, it’s a General Purpose gate-opener. So we just follow the same protocol around the rim of this joint, and if you find another one of those back doors, you can open it. But of course, that means turning it on, which means someone might notice.”

  “Unavoidable, if we wish to ever leave this decadent monstrosity. Murdock, lead us out; we will be on cover for you.” With a curt nod, Molotok turned to converse with Unter in rapid-fire Russian. John noticed Unter’s demeanor change ever so slightly; whereas before he had looked ready to kill every Krieger he could see, now he was back to his usual stony-faced self. There’ll be time enough for blood later, old man. That seemed to be the jist of what Molotok had told their comrade, at any rate. Within moments, the team had their weapons ready and the rest of their gear squared away.

  “Vix,” Murdock said from the front of the team, “let me know when I’ve got a window of opportunity.”

  “I know, waiting’s the worst part. On the other hand, since these bricks don’t have windows no one can see in, either.” The wait seemed interminable. “Remember, people, the first bullet that flies means you’re made. And if you’re made, well, remember what Sera said. It’s all over.”

  “Don’t worry; with you on Overwatch an’ me leadin’ the way, they’ll never have a chance t’see us. You an’ I’ve had some practice at this,” John said with a slight chuckle.

  “Stack up. I’m gonna give you a countdown to move out.” The team was already in formation, ready and waiting, an easy tension that came from training and experience. “And…five. Four. Three. Two. One. Move out and move fast. Follow the HUD.”

  With one fluid motion, John swept the door open just enough to allow the team to squeeze out through it. He kept low, almost in a half-crouch, and moved at a very brisk pace. His senses were working overtime as he took the team to the right, following the path outlined on his HUD by Vickie. He double checked every corner and street before taking the team out into the open at crossings. From what Vickie said on Overwatch, it seemed as if the outskirts of the city were largely deserted; as far as he could tell, all of the buildings they passed were as empty as the one they had hidden in. All of this was very fortunate
; John did not want to see the vision he and Sera had shared come to pass, not one fraction of it. In ten minutes time of sneaking and running around the outer edge of the city, there hadn’t been a single blip on the Thulian gizmo. Then the gauges redlined all at once, and the device started to vibrate in pulses again.

  “Looks like we’re at another backdoor.” This part of the city wasn’t composed of buildings, but rather, of a series of arches and stele. There was writing carved into them, but it was nothing John could read. It all looked somber though—-in a uniquely unsettling and Thulian way, at least—-and he got the impression that it all served some symbolic purpose rather than a practical one.

  He pointed the gizmo at the end of the avenue of stele, and the door irised open in front of them. It was dark on the other side, too dark to see what was there, but it didn’t matter. If Vix was right, just using the gizmo was giving the Thulians a signal, and something to track, and they needed to be gone. Unter was the first one through, with a final scornful look back at the city.

  “You’ve attracted attention. You’ve got about five minutes, max.”

  “Hurry, we must not be in area on other side!” Molotok allowed Sera to jump through first, then followed closely behind her. John was the last man through, just in case the gizmo were to click off suddenly. He stepped through, and felt the breeze part his hair as all of Vickie’s “eyes” rushed over the top of his head through the portal like a miniature swarm of bees. He immediately keyed the Thulian device, and the portal closed behind them.

  If the city-side of the portal had been spooky, this side pegged the gauge. They were in a narrow, steep-sided valley, probably more accurately termed a defile, that had been scoured clean of vegetation. From where they were, it was clear that niches had been carved into the sides of the valley. Orange letters glowed above each one, but it was too dark and too far away to see what was in them.

  “Patrol behind you just missed seeing the door close.”

  “Too damned close. We need to didi the hell outta this place, ’fore someone gets the bright idea to open up the portal behind us.” John replaced the Thulian device in his dump pouch, bringing his rifle up.

  “Ravine makes a twist ahead, that’ll get you out of immediate line of sight. Uh, do you want to know where you are?”

  “I am having feeling you will tell us, whether we are wanting to hear or not.” Molotok sighed. “How far from where we should be?”

  “Too damn far to make the pickup. You’ll have to follow this thing for about five miles until you get to a place you can, maybe, climb out. And it’s all the wrong way. Oh, and you’re in what I think is an alien cemetary. Boo.”

  John moved a few steps closer to the niches had been cleanly carved into the rock. The glowing orange letters were definitely Thulian; some of the inscriptions, however, had prominent swastikas at the end of them. Creepy as all hell.

  “Let’s get moving. We can find alternate route on way. Move out, tovarischi.” The team set off at a steady jog; right now getting distance from the back door into the city was more important than stealth. With Vickie’s eyes in the sky and John on point, they had decent chances of being able to avoid any potential entanglements, besides. The team covered the five miles in good time, though all of them were winded by the elevation and the exertion. The path, if you could call the barely-there goat trail they had been running along a path, terminated suddenly at a sheer rock face. Everyone stopped, circling up to catch their breath and drink some of the water they had brought with them while keeping a 360 degree watch.

  “This is the end of the line, Vic. I think we’re outta the immediate danger zone, but we need to get clear of this entire valley. And we’re outta road.” John gulped greedily from his canteen, then passed it to Sera; she finished off the other half of it. Empty canteens don’t have their contents slosh around, after all.

  “The only way out is up.”

  Molotok and Unter both slung their rifles. “We will have to be scaling the wall, then. We have ropes, climbing harnesses…is long climb, though.” Molotok stroked his chin as he sized up the rock face in front of them.

  John and Sera shared a look. Positioning herself behind and a little distance away from the oblivious CCCP team leader, Sera spread her wings, and made a run at Molotok, catching him just under both armpits and launching herself—and him—into the sky. “Flying is faster,” she said, her voice fading as they arced up into the distance. John could hear Molotok protesting, and did his best to suppress his laughter, with only moderate success.

  Unter glanced at Murdock, then his shoulders slumped. “Da, da. Time for svinya-back ride.” He threw his arms over John’s shoulders from behind.

  “Hold on tight, and kick your feet up after we’re off the ground. Don’t want to toast your boots.” Concentrating—though not nearly as much as he had to previously—John lifted off the ground on a plume of flame, rocketing straight up with Untermensch on his back. Fortunately, like the missile he resembled, the beginning of the ride was relatively slow, and acceleration was gradual, or Unter might well have lost his grip. He cut the “thrust” a dozen feet from the edge of the rock face; their momentum carried them up and past the edge; Unter instinctively released his grip, and both of them landed easily on their feet as they came down from the apex of their arc.

  Molotok didn’t look quite shaken, but he wasn’t very happy, either. “Never again, without my permission. Or excoriation all around.” He fumed for a moment, then clicked his tongue at them. “Victrix, where to now? And nowhere that is needing flying to. Enough for one day.”

  * * *

  Two hours later the team had arrived at their new destination. Vickie had been silent for most of their trek; she said that she had a lot of things to prepare in order to get them the hell out of Dodge. But when she got them over what she said was the last of the hills and on another goat-path into a valley…all they could see was the valley.

  “Borzhe moi,” Molotok said, wearily, as the last light of the sunset painted the mountains red. Ahead of them was a valley filled with a thin mist. No sign of life. “I thought you said we were almost there, witch! Are we trekking up mountain faces now?”

  “Do you really think I would do that to you? Just wait a moment, and let them turn the lights on.”

  It was like something out of a movie that John vaguely remembered. Lost Horizon? There was a shimmering effect on the mist, and then…it was there. Perched like a flock of birds on the cliff on their side of the valley was a series of beautiful buildings, with the swooping, red and gold roofs and pristine white walls of what could only be a Buddhist monastery of some sort. It looked like a movie set. John let out a low whistle. “They sure picked a nice spot. Welcome mat rolled out for us?”

  “If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t see it. Full speed ahead, comrades. Davay davay. They don’t like leaving the lights on for very long.”

  John saw the path before them; you had to look for it, but it was there, and led to a small rope and wooden slat bridge. The bridge looked ancient, but after a few test steps, seemed sturdy enough. John and Sera were the first across, with the two Russians close behind. Everyone slung their weapons, though the two Russians continued to be alert and wary.

  When they reached the end of the bridge, John spotted a small group of red-and-saffron-robed monks waiting for them. It didn’t seem possible that they weren’t freezing to death in what amounted to a couple of sheets wrapped around them, but they seemed perfectly comfortable.…

  …until they spotted Sera and JM emerging from the mist.

  Their eyes went wide, and they seemed startled and even a bit confused for a moment. Then as one, they bowed to Sera, deeply—turned a little, and bowed to John, only a little less deeply.

  “Um, Vickie…what’s this ’bout?” The two Russians shared a look, both just as confused as the one plastered on John’s face.

  Vickie didn’t answer. Sera, however, murmured something to the monks, who bowed again, then held out
their hands in what was clearly a welcoming gesture. She took their hands, smiling slightly, made a tender little gesture, bowed over their hands and murmured something else. Then she looked back over her shoulder. “It’s all right, beloved. I explained.” Without another word, the monks led her up a set of steps and into the monastery; John could feel the warmth and smell incense coming from the open doors.

  “Right.” He turned to Untermensch and Molotok, shrugged, and followed Sera inside. The Russians did the same. Their guides took them past a large group of more monks deep in some kind of meditation that also involved a droning chant, then out the other side of the first building, across another little wooden bridge, and into a second building, much smaller than the first. All the monks but one left them.

  “OK folks, I know you are hungry and thirsty, but trust me, you don’t want to eat right now.” Vickie said as the monk waited patiently, as if he knew, somehow, that she was talking to them. “Hold hands, and try to clear your minds. You ought to have an easy time of that, Murdock.”

  “Har har, Teen Witch.” The group clasped their hands together, forming a circle. The Russians looked uncertain and very uncomfortable.

  “Victrix, what is meaning of this?”

  Before she could answer, the monk patted John on the shoulder and said something, then walked out, and closed the door.

  Since Sera seemed to have understood the monks before, John looked to her. “Love?”

  “He offered us his blessing,” she said, serenely. “And told us he would pray for our souls.”

  “Wait, pray for our souls? What the hell—”

  The room vanished, or rather, it felt and looked as if they were in the heart of an explosion. Every sense was pummeled, and it seemed that for an eternity they were in free-fall.