She didn’t want to watch Djinni. She couldn’t. After the shield had gone down, Red and the remaining members of his team had opted to remain in the city and fight. Not the wisest of decisions, given that Silent Knight had lost his armor and between the three of them they only had a handful of magazines of ammunition left. It hadn’t taken them long to go through them, and they had been forced to retreat to the city limits for evac. Of all the infiltrators, the survivors of Blue Team had the best chance of getting out of the blast zone, but that was a slender chance at best. And even if they got out of the immediate blast zone…the radiation, the fallout, the blast-wave…
There was a sound coming from her chest, a sound she hadn’t even been conscious of making until this moment. It was the dull moan of a dying animal. Because there wasn’t a chance. Not a chance in hell—no one was getting out of there alive. We failed. And the world is about to fall. In the novels that she wrote, the good guys won out in the end. Sure, there might be a long hard road before they reached the end, and there would be loss…but the main character always found her true love, conquered evil, and lived happily ever after. That’s the way things were supposed to work.
The Thulians did not care about any of that. Once they had finished killing here, the rest of the world would be next. They couldn’t leave this assault unanswered; it would be the Invasion all over again, but worse, so much more worse. The only thing that would stop them would be for Art of War to call in the nukes and turn this part of the Himalayas into glass. And that would still leave everyone dead. A literal Pyrrhic victory…if it even stayed a victory. Because if the Thulians had forces concealed elsewhere…there would be nothing left to counter them.
“Unidentified contacts coming in from the south. It’s…they’re huge!” Vickie’s heart went from stopped to racing. For no purpose, of course, what could she do about it? More Thulians…would just make Art of War call in the Glass Strike all the sooner. The staging area couldn’t take another hit. If this was a wave of reinforcements for the Thulians…
Reflexively, she focused on Red. He and the others were nearly to the edge of the city. Now that the Barrier was down, there was a clear exit ahead of them. She couldn’t tell him goodbye, couldn’t paralyze them by telling them what was coming. After everything they had gone through, all of it, she couldn’t even tell him goodbye.…
“Red,” she said, urgently. “Move like you’re on fire. Please! Don’t stop, don’t think, and don’t look behind you until you have a mountain between you and that city!”
He didn’t answer right away. From his mic she heard heavy breathing, the rushing of wind, he was running.
“I read you,” he said, finally. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
She couldn’t lie. Not to him. “It’s bad.”
“There really any point for us to keep running?”
“If you can get enough rock between you and what’s coming? Maybe.”
“We’ll see what we can find,” he panted. “But if this goes tits up, I need you to…”
“Shut up!” Vickie screamed. “Shut up and run! Whatever you’re going to say, tell me later! When you’re back, when you’re… back…”
“Victrix, listen to me. In case I don’t make it, in case I’m not there to remind you, I need to do it now. Remember what you promised me.”
“What I promised you?’
“Right, what you promised me,” Red said. “Tell me, right now, what you promised.”
“That…I won’t give up. I’ll keep fighting to the bitter end.…” She choked on a sob.
“That’s my girl. Give Herb a tickle and Grey a kick for me. With a little luck, I’ll see you soon. Red out.”
Vic. Heads up. Corbie needs an alternate route, Grey said in her head, and she dashed tears out of her eyes and yanked her attention back to Team Earth and the stream of wounded they were trying to get out of the blast zone.
“Bella…” she heard from Bulwark—and then silence as he switched to private mode. He knew this was the end. And now so did she. Vickie saw it in their readouts; the sudden hammering of the hearts…then the acceptance…then the monitors going dark as both of them closed their eyes. What were they saying to each other? What could they say?
She squeezed her own eyes shut, tears leaking out from both corners, painful sobs wracking her chest. It couldn’t be more than a few moments now.
The Kriegers made their push. Their numbers had reached critical mass; they had enough troopers, Robo-Eagles and Wolves, and Death Spheres to steamroll through the city. Many of them had been building up near Spearhead group. Even watching through the monitors, Vickie couldn’t help but jump at Spearhead’s response to the Thulian offensive; a titanic cloud of flame erupted from a pinpoint on the front lines for Spearhead group, racing toward the Thulian lines. Murdock’s arc-light routine. She’d seen it twice before now, and this was the third. Each time, it got.…bigger. She saw the reason; one of her eyes, keyed to Spearhead’s location, showed Sera and John standing together in front of the defensive positions. Sera stood behind him, a hand on either shoulder; she…glowed, glowed white-hot, her fires pulsing like a heartbeat, and that energy was passing into John with every pulse.
Even with all of that fire, the Kriegers moved forward. She watched as the light blinked out, and John and Sera both collapsed to the ground, the last of their energy spent. Much of what wasn’t on fire in that part of the city before had been ignited in a cone-shaped swath leading from the front of Spearhead group’s position. Everyone kept fighting, even as the Kriegers marched forward, and the unidentified readings on the radar reached the edge of the valley.
At first Vickie thought it was an explosion, some sort of impact with the edge of the mountains. Torrents of fire and cloud roiled there, menacing…but also as if the force that created the inferno was, inexplicably, holding back. Then the first edge of a craft pushed through the periphery of the clouds, fire and smoke streaking off it. That leading edge was followed by more, and more…ship. An immense craft, easily more than four times the size of the gigantic Death Sphere that Vickie had helped bury back in New Mexico. Four of the dragons like the one that Sera and John had ended could have stretched along its diameter, and still had room before they reached the edge. Vickie’s first reaction was that it was a new type of Death Sphere, a world-ender of some sort, come to wipe them all from existence. But…it wasn’t a sphere at all. As it pushed out through the clouds of smoke and fire at the edge of the valley, its shape became clearer.
It was a saucer. An enormous, silvery, featureless saucer. There was no sign of the orange glare that was the signature of the Thulian propulsion. This craft merely hung in the sky, brilliant against the black smoke, the fires of the city reflected, distorted, in the chrome of its underside.
An even dozen craft seemed to peel off of the ship; all of them were identical, smaller versions of the mothership, about the size of a normal Death Sphere. They streaked over the city, faster and with almost sickening acceleration; they literally went from stopped to full speed instantly. They kept formation, a perfect “flying v,” and were over Spearhead group in mere moments. Vickie spotted John and Sera, feebly stirring, Sera trying to get John to his feet; some of the CCCP were trying to fight their way to them, but enemy fire kept them pinned down. Trooper armor was closing in; they were almost upon the couple…
The lead saucer opened fire. A single concentrated lance of what looked like blue-white lightning erupted from the edge of the craft, and hit the trooper closest to John and Sera. The Krieger exploded as soon as the beam touched him, sending smoking pieces flying, and the arc of—electricity? plasma?—passed on to the next, who suffered a similar fate. A heartbeat later, all of the dozen saucers began firing; through the sensors on the eyes she could hear a continuous roll of thunder from the blasts, all of which targeted the Thulians. Then she recognized it: TDRs, “Tesla Death Rays,” only hundreds of times more powerful than the experimental models deployed at New Mexico. Armored troope
rs were completely destroyed, Robo-Wolves and Eagles left dead with smoking holes in their hides, and Death Spheres were sent flaming to the ground below. All from single, precise shots. The mothership started adding to the destruction, hundreds of blasts of deadly but focused lightning finding targets within the city, slowly marching from south to north ahead of the coalition forces.
And a frequency that Vickie had not heard from in weeks lit up on both Overwatch 1 and 2, in “broadcast all” mode.
“Steel Maiden and Mercurye to ECHO and allies. Are we too late for the party?”
Before Vickie could respond, Art of War had opened his comm. “Welcome, Steel Maiden and Mercurye. I think we saved you a few.”
And that, that was when Vickie knew she might have one last, little trick to pull out of the bag, one ally she hadn’t yet called on. It wouldn’t save everyone. It wouldn’t bring back the dead. But it would make a little difference.
Belladonna Blue: Forward Medical Base
It was like a miracle. It was a miracle. The huge Metisian mothership and the squadron of smaller vessels it had brought piggy-back, had materialized in the nick of time, before Art of War began the Glass Strike. It was like something out of a book.
And Bella had absolutely no time to revel in it. There were too many victims on the ground, and she was the only one of the metahuman healers with the ability and capacity to pull the worst of the worst back from the brink.
Bull understood that. “Go to work, Bella,” he said, as soon as they both realized they were saved. “Do your job.” Which was his way of saying “I love you, but they need you. I can wait.”
She wished, dearly, for Sera and her “angel juice,” or Thea and her line of volunteers, but she had what she had, and she was going to make it stretch as far, and for as long, as she could. And try not to despair at the numbers of those yet to be tended that she would not be able to help.
She had lost count of the men and women who had passed under her hands, and was on the verge of blacking out when…out of nowhere, a hand fell on her shoulder, and new strength flooded into her. Renewed, she finished knitting up the ruptured insides of a young medic, and turned, expecting to see Thea, only to look into the wise and wizened face of a Tibetan in a saffron robe.
She blinked, completely at a loss for words…and saw that the monk was only one of at least two dozen more, politely queued up behind him. Fortunately, she didn’t have to say anything, for the monk spoke first, in British-accented English.
“Your magician friend sent us,” he said, with a little smile that reminded her of the Dalai Lama. “We are not healers, but we have the means to give you the strength to heal. Carry on, my child.”
Tears of gratitude sprang into her eyes, and the monk wiped them from her cheeks with a gentle thumb and an understanding nod. Then he put his hand back on her shoulder…and Belladonna Blue went back to work, the work that she alone could do.
Belladonna Blue: Forward Medical Base
“Overwatch to Bells. Kali wants to pay her respects. And I think you two need some face-time palaver.”
Vickie’s voice was flat, but that wasn’t because she didn’t approve of Khanjar paying a little call, it was probably because she didn’t have the energy to do more than mumble right now. “I’m good with that,” Bella replied. “Give me a second, I’ll flit to somewhere that she can ghost into so we won’t be interrupted.”
Now where would that be…ah. Behind the ruins of the Coalition Command and Control building, that barn the allies took over. All the bodies had been cleared out, and there was still plenty of smoke and small fires burning. That should give Khanji plenty of cover.
Without looking as if she was in a hurry, but also walking purposefully, she made her way to the remains of the farm buildings. Vickie was tracking her, of course, and would be feeding her location to Khanji via the Kali rig.
“I have to apologize, Bells. I had too many balls in the air and I wasn’t watching for Kali. I should have been. That she got in under our radar is my fault.”
“Oh for god’s sake, Vix, who do you think you are?” Bella snapped. “Sauron’s all-seeing eye? I have it on good authority that he missed a couple of hobbits!”
“…okay.”
By this time she had reached what she considered to be a good spot, a niche in a tumbled-down wall where the view was restricted. She tested the stone to make sure it wasn’t going to collapse on her, and leaned against it, waiting. She didn’t have to wait long.
“Incoming,” Vickie warned her.
Khanjar seemed to materialize out of the smoke, appearing before Bella. She was still wearing her Blacksnake gear; it was covered in grime and burns. She looked almost imperious, haughty as she coldly appraised Bella.
But the empathic vibes she got off the Indian meta weren’t haughty at all. Just…controlled. Very controlled. Khanjar reminded her of Nat, actually. Both women were driven, both were extremely conscious that they needed to appear as well as be strong. Both were…unappreciated by those who should have given them more credit. One of these days…especially if she joins our side…I should introduce them. They’ll either love or hate each other. “Khanjar,” she said, with a nod. “Glad you requested this meet. I was going to ask, but you beat me to it.”
The operative merely nodded her head. “It seemed prudent that we talk, given the way things have…progressed.” She peered around momentarily. “You were not followed, I take it?”
“Well, as you know yourself, it’s hard to sneak up on an empath. Were you?” She raised an eyebrow, to show she meant it ironically.
This time Bella was surprised; Khanjar smiled, ever so slightly. “No, I do not believe I was. Also with your…friend, Victrix watching our every move, I doubt we shall we surprised by anyone. Correct?”
Bella nodded. “Let me cut to the chase for you. Maybe Verd is not paying your whereabouts any attention, but I think we need some plausible deniability for you. I’ve come up with some.”
“Dom—Verdigris, for all of his faults, is a man of many resources. If he was unaware of my departure, he’s surely aware of my presence here now.” Khanjar nodded, and relaxed against the other wall, mirroring Bella’s pose. Deliberate? Probably. Bella doubted that Khanjar ever did anything by accident.
“So…I have one idea. Have you any?” she asked.
Khanjar nodded once. “Indeed, I do. First, what is your idea?”
“You got wind of the operation and came for the looting. I’m going to arrange for some duplicate Thulian equipment to be left where you and yours can make off with it. I figure Verd would try to do this anyway, and this way I control what he gets. What’s yours?” Bella knew that there were plenty of people who would be appalled by this plan, but the way she saw it, Verdigris was going to get the tech one way or another. He had enough officials bribed in enough governments to ensure that. But once he had some shinies, he probably would concentrate on those, and not try for more. Vix flashed a green light in her HUD, showing she liked the plan.
“Simple. Dom is a man of singular purpose; when he wants something, he’s rarely dissuaded. I was going to tell him that, despite my earlier reservations, that I came here to capture the Deva—the one you call the Seraphym.”
Bella blinked. “Huh. That’s…interesting.” Surely, given what she’s said so far, she wasn’t really going to try for Sera…was she? “Could you have pulled that off?”
Khanjar was silent for a moment, thinking. “Could I, at the time that the…other agent was sent after her? Perhaps. The better question is; would I have tried, if Verdigris had asked me to in the first place? I believe your friend, the Seraphym, has the answer.” She turned her head to the side. “I believe that, together, both of these reasons will be sufficient to deflect Verdigris’ suspicions.”
“So, came for the—what did you call her?—the Deva, stayed for the looting.” Bella nodded. “I’ll make sure you get what looks choice. Small, portable, not obviously broken, melted, or otherwise crapped
up. It’ll be left in that graveyard area, I’ll have my people make a phony tomb if you don’t want it left in the open. And I’ll have in-situ snapshots of each piece so Verd can make a reasonable guess at what it’s for.” She inclined her head at Khanjar. “I’ll try and make it look as thorough as I know you are.”
“Her vitals spike every time she even talks about tackling Sera. No worries, Bells.” The little whisper from Vickie made her relax a bit more, as did the strong sense of not going there she got from the Blacksnake op.
“I appreciate your…candor, Ms. Parker. Continue doing what you must, and I shall do the same.”
“Oh, one more thing. What do you want me to do if we find any of your people hurt?” That was the last loose end. There were enough different uniforms in the coalition that Bella was pretty sure no one would think twice about seeing one of the Blacksnake ops, but Vickie had them all tagged at this point, and Bella was pretty sure she could spirit a wounded Snake out to where Khanjar could pick him up.
“All of my people are already accounted for. In one fashion or another.” Khanjar paused for a moment, turning to go…and then turning back. “I thank you for your concern. Blacksnake is not evil, not entirely. Nor are the men working for it. Many of them fought and died today, for the same ends that you seek.”
“You relieve me.” Bella was absolutely certain, given what she felt from Khanjar that “accounted for” did not mean “eliminated.” “Your men were heroes, today, Khanjar. So were you. I wish people could know that.”
Another smile, but this one was much sadder. “It does not matter that people know we are fighting for them, Ms. Parker. It only matters that we fight. We shall be in touch.”
Collision: Book Four in the Secret World Chronicle - eARC Page 60