“Probably tastes like it, too, but it beats having your heart explode, so, up and att’em, big boy. I could put a spoonful of molasses in it for you if you think it will improve the taste?”
“Smells like it has plenty of mole asses in it.” He muttered as he swallowed it. Almost instantly the hot liquid calmed his stomach and he could feel his body literally sucking the nutrients and phytochemicals out of the mixture. For just a moment, he had a slight feeling of nausea, then it passed, and his head cleared. “Wow, doc. That’s some good stuff.”
Evan sat back, surprised it worked as quickly as it did. “You know, Colonel, as quickly as your body assimilated that, it stands to reason that you’ll burn through it quickly, too.”
“Makes sense. Feel up to making some to go? Maybe I can keep some of that sewer water around and just take a hit now and then as I need it?”
Evan looked at his watch. The colonel had a point. There were still many hours until sundown. “I’ll get on it, sir.”
“Thanks, doc. I really appreciate it.” Matt got up to leave Evan to his chore, then paused. “Doc? Do you think the boys upstairs are going to have the same problems I’m having? I mean, as they get older and…you know. The longer this thing is in them?”
“I don’t think so, Colonel. This all deals with your shifting and the progression of the wolf and its aggression and…well. They don’t shift. We’ve seen to that. They shouldn’t have to deal with it at all.”
Matt thought about Jack. If he were to tell the squad about the gene therapy…if any of them decided to stop taking the bane. If any of them, like Apollo and Sanchez ever had a kid? Matt shook his head. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it. “Thanks again, doc. Give me a heads up when you get that cooked up, would ya?”
“Absolutely, sir.”
*****
Apollo and Jack stood over the table topside and went over the short files of the squads. Apollo was hesitant about breaking them into three five-man squads. They had trained as seven man teams for so long, but he knew, they were professionals and they’d adjust. It’s just difficult to play with a shorter hand than you’re used to being dealt.
“Look, buddy, I’m sure this won’t be forever. Skipper feels that this full moon might be a little rough and he’d rather have a third team standing by is all.”
“I feel ya. I do. I’m sure they’ll adjust.” He said. He glanced back at the faces. He hated to break them all up again just as they were getting used to being on the teams they were on. “Okay, I think this will work out to the best advantage like this.” he said as he arranged the photos into three groups.
Jack laughed. “You do realize you just made one group of SEALs, another group of almost all Army and another group of mutts, right?”
Apollo looked at the groupings. Damned if Jack wasn’t right. He hadn’t intended for it to come out that way, but it had. He put a qualified sniper in each group and each group had an effective entry and sweep team that was experienced together. It just happened to work out that way.
“Well, it might look that way, but looky here. I got a SEAL with me and my Army boys, so…”
“So…what? I can’t call you a bigot?” Jack laughed. The large black man punched him, probably harder than he meant to, but Jack took it in stride. “It’s okay brother. You gave me an Army guy to even it out. Wanna trade, so I’ll have an all SEAL team and you can have an all Army team?”
Apollo actually thought about it a minute before he realized Jack was teasing him again. “No, seriously, we might should, but not because he was a SEAL. I was going by their ability, but I wasn’t thinking about their experience levels, man.” He pointed to Third Squad, led by Darren Spalding, affectionately known as Spanky. “See, he has two of the new squad members, and three veterans.” Then he pointed to his own group, Second Squad. “I only have one of the new guys and the rest are all of my old squad mates.” Then he pointed to Jack’s team. “But you? Oh, hell…I done stuck you with all the newbies. You are the only veteran in the group, Jack. Man, I wasn’t thinking.”
Jack brushed him off. “Look, if they were good enough to drop a troll like you said…”
“Man, ninety percent of that was the Padre. Gutted that mutha like a fish. You should’ve seen it. Landed his damned chute on top of his head, leapt onto his chest and speared him with that damned Japanese sword of his and rode it down like he was unzipping his fly.” Apollo snickered when he thought about it again. “All we did was light up the cut with rifle fire and wait for the thing to trip on its own guts. One of the new guys opened fire on its eyeball, shoved his hand all the way up to the shoulder and shoved a damned frag grenade into its cranial cavity and >BOOM< it was all over but the clean up.”
“If the new guys are that creative, I’ll take ‘em.” Jack said. “Look man, don’t worry about it. They’re SEALs. They know how to handle themselves in a firefight. They’re team players.”
Apollo took a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah, you’re right. They've been through the training, they’re cleared. I just would feel better if you had another vet on your squad is all.”
“We’ll be fine.” He said. “Look, I’m going to go and round up…” he picked up their files and went through them. “Ronald Lamb, Ing Jacobs, Gus Tracy and…hell, here I’ll trade Spanky this guy for Donnie. That gives me two veterans and I’m still SEAL heavy. How’s that?”
“Yeah. Okay. I feel better now.” Apollo smiled.
“Sweet. Okay. I’ll go round up my team and we’ll separate our gear.”
“Gotcha brother. If I don’t see ya later, be safe out there.”
Apollo made a list for Spanky. He was getting Hank Michaels, Maria Sanchez, Dave Marshall and Jimmy ‘Tango Down’ Wallace for his team. That left Apollo with Robert Mueller, Dom De Giacomo, Pedro PoPo Gonzales and Neils the Hammer Erikson. “Enough for a poker party.” He smirked.
He looked over the teams one more time. Over all, not bad choices if you had to whittle down seven man teams into three five man teams. Yeah, not bad at all.
Now, to go inform the other Squad Leader so that they could have their teams gear up and get battle ready.
*****
Nadia was staring out the window of the plane when the captain informed them that they could not get clearance to land at the larger Will Rodgers World Airport and that they were being redirected to Wiley Post. He informed his passengers that their car and driver would be informed and waiting for them at the smaller airport. She worried if this would take them much longer to get to Jack and went forward to the cockpit. She asked the pilot if he knew how much further it would put them away from the Air Force base.
“Ma’am, it may be a couple miles further, but with traffic the way it is around there, you’ll probably get to Tinker a little bit earlier.” He drawled with a Texas twang. “Traffic out of OKC terminals can be hairy if they’ve got any heavies that have landed recently. It’s not that they get a whole lot of heavies, ya see, it’s that the roads in and out of the airport are mostly two lanes.”
Nadia breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him. She saw how spread out the city was and was surprised that they had cattle and oil equipment so close to where people lived. Although she lived off the coast of Texas, she only rarely traveled to the coast, and even then, she was heavily protected and went only where necessary and then back to the safety of the island.
While she tried to sit and be patient for the plane to land, her mother prepared her for tonight. “If we can find nothing else, we will rent a storage building and use it for the shift. That is what your father does when he cannot be home during the change.” But Nadia was not listening. She was staring out the window and trying to shake the feeling that Jack was in imminent danger.
The pilot came over the speaker and asked that they buckle their seat belts as they prepared to land. Nadia fumbled with the clasps and realized just how badly her hands were shaking. She wasn’t sure if it was fear of the unknown, rage that her mate was in trou
ble from an unseen force or because of the pull of the full moon, but her hands refused to cooperate. Natashia leaned across and clasped the buckle for her, then held her hands in her own. “Calm yourself. We will be there soon enough.”
Moments later they heard the planes wheels screech against the runway and felt a slight shaking, then the pull against their seats as the plane quickly slowed and turned. The pilot taxied them to a nearby area and stepped from the front of the plane. He wished them well as he opened the hatch and dropped the steps for them to disembark.
As promised, a car was waiting for them. The women grabbed their bags and rushed to the waiting van. “Tinker Air Base. Quickly!” The driver simply nodded and pulled away from the arrivals area.
Natashia studied the pictures from her phone. She had pulled up a website that had satellite photos of the Air Force Base and the sheer size of it was enough to dampen her spirits. “I do not know how we will get in, but if we do…how will we find him? The base is very large. We do not know where he will be.”
“I can feel him, mother. I will smell him once we are near.” Nadia said.
During the drive across the metro, the driver confirmed that without military ID’s, they would not be allowed on base. They decided to circle the perimeter of the base until they could find a quiet enough area for the women to cross. The driver, wanting no part of breaking into federal property simply shook his head. His job was only to deliver them, he didn’t care where.
They approached Midwest City and the driver veered to the south, working his way closer to the border of the base. Once he was along the outside border, he began following the perimeter until they were nearly across town and to the southern edge of the base’s property line. The chain link fence was tall that surrounded it, and the razor wire along the top would be impossible for a human to cross. But a Halfling could easily jump it and not lose a hair on its tail end. They traveled on, slowly approaching another gate. The driver stopped just outside the south entrance to the base. The gate was closed and no guards present. Natashia looked and could see no video cameras or other surveillance near it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. They tipped the driver and exited the van.
Nadia walked to the gate crossing and could see that the only way through would be through the guard shack. They could kick in the door and simply walk through, or shift and jump the fence. Kicking the door through would be less likely to attract attention, so that’s what they opted for.
Once inside, they could see a video camera inside the guard shack pointing out to where cars would pull up. They couldn’t tell if the camera was on or reporting anything to another area, but rather than wait to find out, they quickly unlocked the other door and left. Once inside the base proper, they were faced with what appeared to be miles and miles of deserted land, paved roads leading in all directions. Which way to go? Nadia could feel a pull in a northeastern direction, but she couldn’t tell what it was. She tried sniffing the air, but her nose wasn’t as sharp in human form. She could catch whiffs of auto exhaust, foods of different kinds and lots of people, but…she couldn’t discern her mate. She turned to her mother and pointed in the direction of the pull. “That way. I think.”
“It’s better than milling about.” And they took off at a good jog.
*****
“Colonel, we have another single confirmation. This one is in northern Mexico.” A young first lieutenant said, bringing him the report.
“Great.” Matt muttered. “That makes three singles. “What’s this one?” he asked.
“Evidence appears to be vamps, sir.” He reported grimly. “Small coven of baby vamps, going by the intel.”
“Nasty little bastards. Always messy.” Matt turned to Laura, “Make sure Spanky is on this one. I don’t want the Padre anywhere near the one in California just in case it turns out to be an off-shoot from the same group that got his village.”
“Roger that, sir.” She agreed. “Do you think there are some still out there?”
“It’s been years, Laura. Hank knew what he saw and knew how many there were. We know how many bodies we ashed. Too many got away, and they had to go somewhere. Any place that’s within walking distance for a vamp, to me…it’s off-limits for Hank.”
“He is a professional, sir.” She rebutted.
“True. But he’s also human. And the kids that he lost in the orphanage? That would break a lesser man.” He turned to her. “I couldn’t stand to see the Padre broken, could you?”
“No more than he already is, no sir.”
“Agreed. Then let’s see if maybe the zombie sighting in central Mexico pans out. We can send him there. If not, I have a feeling this goblin shit will hit the fan in lower Canada. Little fudge packers really get antsy around a full moon.”
“Roger that, sir.”
Matt gave a heavy sigh and handed her the reports. “Let’s get ‘em on the reports boards. Talk to Spanky and make sure he’s onboard with us about Hank.”
“Yes, sir.” Laura studied him a moment. “You seem to be feeling a lot better, Matt…”
“Doc whipped me up a werewolf home-brew. Really takes the edge off.” He informed her. “Smells like somebody took a dump in turnip greens, but it works.” He gave her a sly grin. “And as long as it works, I don’t care if it’s made of dragon piss.”
Laura laughed. “Ah, dragon piss!”
They both said, “Better than Viagra!” with an Irish accent, emulating the dastardly leprechaun of Ireland via New York.
“Christ on a cracker, don’t get me started on him again.” Matt chuckled.
“Negative, sir. I’ll get these posted and talk with Spalding. Anything else?”
“Just be ready, XO. Make sure the chopper crews and all support staff are ready to go at a moment’s notice. Have at least one more qualified officer standing by to run ops with you. Either Gregory or Jackson, whoever is next in rotation…and if we get hit with three and end up with all three teams out…” his face fell, already wishing he could be there and knowing he couldn’t. The thing he hated most about the curse was that it pulled him away from his duties when he was needed most.
“Already done, sir.”
“Good man…er…well.” He smirked.
Laura smiled. “Understood, sir.” Then turned and left for the leaderboards. Matt watched her go and wondered about what she had asked him during Jack’s interview. She thought that killing the wolf that infected you broke the curse.
Matt thought she was dead, too, until she started breathing again. And he shot her in the heart with his 1911 A1. A .45 caliber slug right to the heart. A few hours later, she was breathing again, her chest healed up, the bullet lying between her breasts. For a while, he feared she couldn’t be killed. It wasn’t until after they had slowed her heart rate with drugs, literally put her on ice, taken all kinds of tissue and blood samples, and then froze her in a solid block of ice that he realized his mistake. He didn’t use silver. A silver bullet would have corrected everything, all at once. He could have gone back to his old life, except, without his wife and daughter, he had no life. Hunting monsters had become his life now.
Matt punched some keys on his computer and a screen popped up. He entered his authorization code and a video feed showed the same girl, still frozen in the same block of ice. Every now and then, water would mist over the block to replace the ice that evaporated off of it. But she could still be seen. The water so pure, she appeared encased behind a slightly foggy piece of glass.
The instruments recorded no respiration, no heartbeat. Why wasn’t she dead? He looked at the brainwave readout. There were lines, but they slowly rose and lowered over so much time you’d have to look over period of hours to notice it. If this is movement, it’s slow movement. He watched her again. In his mind, he could still see her eyes. Her beautiful eyes. He could see her shift and those eyes…those enchanting beautiful eyes shifted with her into a wolf. Perhaps the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. But…this…thing, this
monster had killed his wife. She had transformed his life into a living hell. It had to be put down. He pulled his sidearm in that darkened alley and he shot it. Right in the face. Right between those beautiful, enchanting eyes.
And he felt a pang of regret. Every time he thought about it, he felt it. And to this day he didn’t know what disturbed him more…the regret he felt for shooting her or the increase in pain he felt every time he relived it.
So he did what he always did. He tried to stop thinking about it. Mitchell clicked off the video feed and closed the lid on the laptop. There was enough pain in his life. He didn’t need to be adding more.
5
Damien stepped quickly toward Paul’s chamber. The guards made no move to stop him this time. However, rather than barge in, he requested permission to enter. The smaller guard simply nodded and pushed the door open for him. Much simpler. He thought to himself. Perhaps now they realize that I have some pull around here.
He stepped within the inner chamber and lowered his eyes. Paul was seated at his high back chair, reminding Damien of a king sitting on his throne. He had a brandy snifter of blood in one hand, and an old book in another, a fire going in his faux fireplace. “Master, I come bearing news of the Beastia.”
“Come, spread the good news.” Paul said, rising from his chair. He set the book at a side table and placed the goblet of blood beside it. “Tell me what you’ve learned.”
He rose quickly and approached him, almost giddy that they finally found something that could lead them to them. “We found a wolf, here in D.C. who used to work security for a family off the coast of Texas.”
Paul waited for Damien to go on, but apparently he didn’t catch on. “And?”
“Oh! And he said that the wolves who work there are actually ‘gifted’ wolves, meaning that they’re…”
“I know what they are. Please, get to the point.” Foster said, becoming agitated.
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