INCURSION: Knightmare (Knight's Bane Trilogy Book 1)

by Bryan Donihue

  The trio of agents moved further around to see the rest of the level. Ghost, Heavy, and Doc entered what appeared to be a fully functional portable genetics laboratory. Centrifuges and Gene-tracing equipment sat on the counters, with racks of test tubes and computers set between them. At the far back wall, was a man who matched the file photo of Doctor Bishop Kaine. The scientist's white lab coat was absolutely pristine, and he was holding a couple of vials of an unknown liquid material. The tall, lanky scientist was graying around the temples and wore his long dark hair in a ponytail. A pair of glasses was perched on his head.

  From his viewpoint, Ghost surveyed the back corner of the lab where three large chairs with straps for the hands and feet of the subjects were arranged. In one of the chairs, partially human remains were still strapped into the chair. Only half of the remains looked human; the other half looked like some form of a nightmare straight out of Hollywood.

  In the only other occupied chair sat a vampire that was obviously straining to break the bonds that held its wrists and feet to the chair. As soon as the vampire saw the blade in the hunter's hands, it recoiled in fear. When Doc entered the room, her vestments glowed bright, and the vampire began to panic in its attempt to free itself.

  Ghost watched one of the thick synthetic wrist straps stretch and then break, the incredibly dense materials no match for the panicked strength of a vampire. The hunter quickly stepped forward and rammed the blade straight through the creature's eye socket. The vampire's snarling and growling were cut off abruptly as the blade passed into the creature's brain. The smell of burning, rotting flesh filled the room. A quick yank and the blade came free enough for the hunter to swing and decapitate the fiend. All three agents turned to the human scientist as they heard Six's report of finding the victim.

  "Six, this is Ghost. This side is clear. We have Kaine."

  Ghost, flicked the blade to clean any remaining offal off the blade and sheathed his sword. The glow had left both the sword and Doc's vestments by the time the rest of the team arrived. Heavy remained where he was by the door and pointed his shotgun at the unmoving Doctor.

  Ghost noticed Kaine smile when the other part of the team appeared with a survivor in tow. He had just begun to wonder about that satisfied grin when the little girl shrank back and tried to hide behind Boomer.

  Later, Six would piece together that several things happened simultaneously. It was when Doc began walking toward the child to check her over for injury that Doc's vestments once again lit with a brilliant blue glow. The child let out a loud hiss and climbed his explosives expert's back, swiping its now-clawed hand at the back of Boomer's neck.

  Boomer immediately bucked hard. The movement broke the child's grip and sent it flying toward the wall. The girl nimbly shifted in the air and gracefully landed on her feet about ten feet away as she hissed and spat. Six noticed that the girl now had extended claws for hands and a mouthful of sharp fangs that were not present before. Rapidly filing that information away for later, he raised his rifle but did not shoot because he was afraid of hitting the equipment behind the creature.

  Loud chanting in Latin filled the room, and a power thrummed through the team. Doc's vestments were so bright that it was hard to look at her. She had raised her large wooden cross in front of her and was walking steadily toward the vampire.

  The creature hissed and spat, occasionally taking an ineffectual swipe at the priest, but it could not move any further. The vampire was pinned to the spot where it stood by the will and power of God as called by the priest. The closer she got to the creature, the more it shrank toward the ground, almost crouching into a position to grovel.

  As she stood over the creature, Doc noticed that the girl was wearing some sort of camp uniform. She wore a shirt and shorts embellished with the emblem of some place called Blue Mountain Camp. The vampire looked up with defiance in her eyes. The priest carefully knelt over the creature and forced it all the way down to the ground. A quick turn of the wrist, and the silver end of Doc's cross plunged into the young girl's chest and pinned her to the ground as she screamed in agony and with hatred.

  Heavy stepped forward and drew his khukuri blades. The edges glowed green as he stepped up and chopped off the vampire's head. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he sheathed his blades. Doc noticed that the girl's body did not disappear into the ether like a normal vampire's body would. She supposed that this was a different type of vampire, and she made a mental note to record as much information as she could about this new breed.

  The rest of the team turned to a still smiling Bishop Kaine.

  "Doctor Kaine. You will be coming with us now," Six said as he stepped toward Kaine.

  The scientist gave a slight chuckle. "I don't think so. In fact, if you don't stop killing my people and drop your weapons right now, you will face a nightmare that you never dreamed possible."

  The DHS agent looked around at his team. Doc was applying bandages to Boomer's neck, a lot of bandages from the look of it. Heavy had stepped back and was now guarding the door to the command level with his shotgun raised and pointed out the door. The rest of the team stood in a loose semi-circle around the mad scientist.

  Six looked back at Kaine and said, "From where I stand, you don't have any bargaining chips. It looks like we've won."

  Kaine shook his head. The scientist's voice was smarmy as he laid his cards on the table.

  "Commander. In my hands I hold two vials of my latest creation," he began. "In fact, you've just experienced the results of the first direct field tests. You see, I've weaponized the vampire virus.

  "Not only that, but I've given our new master race back the daylight. This virus infects one in every five humans by turning them into vampires. For those who it turns, they retain their old face and demeanor, unless hunting. They also are able to ignore the effects of sunlight and UV light. In short, they become the master predator that they were destined to be."

  "Why do that, Doctor?" began Doc, "Why work with the monsters to enslave the human race? What's in it for you?"

  Kaine smiled as he answered, his voice smooth and light. "Money, of course. Power. Wealth. Control. Zachariah has assured me that I will have a place in his dominion over the Earth. I'm going to give him the power to walk in the sun. I'm going to give him an army to control. And I will be well rewarded.

  "Unfortunately, I'm quite immune to the virus. One of the unlucky. However, Zachariah guaranteed my safety and position of power. So I have to settle for 'favorite pet.' I don't mind. At least I'm not going to be left outside to be hunted."

  Doc continued her questioning, "How does the virus work? Airborne or fluid contact? Is it a typical pathogen, or is it something else?"

  The scientist looked puzzled. "How would a priest know all that to ask the questions? What are you?"

  Doc smiled and said, "I'm a board-certified physician. How did you get blood-sucker and human genes to mix?"

  Kaine laughed. "Vampires start out human and are changed by the original virus. All I did was deconstruct that virus and made a few, select changes. Zachariah offered plenty of test subjects, and I certainly didn't have to get 'FDA approval.'"

  Kaine smiled and continued. "To answer your question, priest. The initial virus is airborne; however, every one of my new, improved vampires passes on the virus to those they bite or scratch. Your unfortunate team member over there will have to wait a couple of days to find out if she's infected."

  The scientist looked at the rest of the team and raised his hands, showing off the vials filled with liquid. "Now put your weapons down and surrender, or I'm going to drop these vials and see how many of you are turned." The scientist smiled and raised the vials. "What will it be? Do you want to chance becoming a vampire here? Or do you want to live another day?"

  Six looked at the rest of the team, and then back to Kaine.

  "What do you want, Kaine?" asked Six.

  "It's simple," said Kaine. "I'm going to walk out of here. When I'm clear of the bunker,
you can do whatever you want. Until then, you don't get to do anything. If you follow me, I'll drop one of these vials in here. If you follow me outside, I'll drop one outside, and we'll see what happens."

  The scientist took a step forward, and the team made a small path. As he cautiously walked amongst the team, Kaine looked at Boomer and shook his head. "I really hope you turn, darling. You could be a fun little vampire for Zachariah."

  Boomer's eyes filled with hatred, and she shook with rage. God had to lay a restraining hand on Do-Right's shoulder. He could sense that the deputy wanted to intervene.

  Keeping the agents in his sight, Kaine slowly walked backwards and away from the team. His smile grew broader as he crossed the room. As he approached the doorway, he nodded his head at Six and said, "I'll be seeing you, commander..."

  The scientist abruptly stopped. His smile turned to a puzzled look and then to anguish. Kaine opened his mouth as if to speak and blood poured out. He half-turned to look behind him and collapsed to the floor.

  As the scientist fell, Heavy released his big Ka-Bar knife and reached out to scoop up the delicate vials of the virus. Once he was sure that he had the vials securely in his massive hands, he nodded at his team leader.

  "Sorry, boss. I couldn't let that guy leave with this virus," Heavy said. "Where do we want to put them?"

  Heavy walked toward the lab area as Six and Ghost scoured the area for a safe vial storage and transportation case. Once they found a suitable case, Heavy retrieved his knife. Yanking it free, he calmly wiped the blade off on the corpse's clothing.

  "Next time you want to take over the world, watch your back, Moron," he muttered.

  Before he stood, Heavy noticed a small card that had partially fallen out of the scientist's lab coat. He grabbed the card and realized it was the electronic access card for the large blast doors. The big man handed the card to Six.

  Six nodded his thanks and looked at Spooky. Six waved the electronics specialist over. "Spooky, secure these electronics and download whatever data you can from them."

  He continued, "Ghost, help Spooky collect as much of the data and experimental equipment as possible.

  "God. Do-Right. You guys cover the doorway. We still have to clear that silo—and we haven't run into Zachariah yet."

  The commander walked over to the chair where Boomer was sitting. He looked at Doc, but she answered his unasked question with a slight shrug.

  Six leaned over his explosives expert. "How are you feeling, Boomer?" he asked.

  The demolitions specialist shook her head. "Those damn claws hurt. Even the fairly shallow cuts that I have were bleeding like crazy," she explained. "What's going to happen, boss? What if I change?"

  Doc laid her hand on Boomer's shoulder while Six pondered that very question. The team leader looked right into the scared young woman's eyes.

  "I don't honestly know, Boomer. If you turn, we'll probably have to put you down. Unfortunately, we can't worry about that right now. We need to take down this silo, and we'll need you to do it. Are you up for the task?"

  Boomer nodded her head slowly, wincing as the bandages pulled at her wounds. "I can do it, boss."

  Six smiled and stood back up. "Alright, people. We have a silo to clean out, and some electronics to salvage. God. Do-Right. You stay here and guard the virus and Spooky while he does his thing. The rest of you: it's time to kill more monsters."

  26

  SILO

  TWENTY-SIX

  SILO

  DECOMMISSIONED ATLAS MISSILE SILO, DIVIDE, COLORADO.

  Spooky quickly inventoried all of the computer and electronic equipment in the lab. As he sat down in front of the computer, he clicked the mouse to wake it up from hibernation. The computer sprang to life with no requests for a password or verification of any kind. Smart enough to create a vampire virus, but dumb enough to leave his computer without a password, Spooky thought to himself. Spooky shook his head and went to work digging through the system.

  God and Do-Right took up positions at the doorway while Spooky mined for data. They watched as the rest of the team filed out the doorway and down the short set of stairs to the final landing. At the bottom of the landing was another blast door, and this one was closed and sealed.

  Six swiped the card in the access lock. The electronic readout above the keypad blinked to life and then said, "Enter Code."

  "Spooky, Six. What is the access code for the blast doors?" he called over the radio to his busy electronics specialist.

  Spooky thought for a brief second and then replied, "If I remember right, it was '4-9-4-3-6.'"

  The team leader punched in that code and the door hissed open.

  "Thanks, Spooky," he said. "Spot on."

  Ghost was the first to step through the open door. Having sheathed the cane-sword, he once again held his rifle, muzzle up, ready to shoot monsters. The hallway beyond the door was about six feet wide and almost ten feet tall with the same maze of conduits and cables running along the roof. The access tunnel itself was about thirty feet long and ended in another closed blast door at the far end. Other than that, it was empty.

  Ghost waved everyone through and walked toward the other end of the hallway. When he finally reached the end, he approached the closed blast door with Six. The team leader looked at the rest of his team and asked if everyone was ready.

  "We have no idea what's in the silo area, said Six. "It could be empty for storage, or it could be Kaine's failed experiments. Make sure you have a full magazine. Watch your cross fire.

  "Remember from the blueprints that there is a giant fifteen-foot gap in the middle of each floor. It's the elevator access. If the platform isn't there, it's a long way down to the bottom. The Department of Defense should have cleared out most of the heavy equipment, but there's no telling what Kaine moved in. Everyone ready?"

  Ghost said he was ready while Heavy and Boomer gave a thumbs up gesture. Doc just nodded as she mentally prepared herself for more monsters.

  Six radioed the others. "God, Six. We're opening the other blast door. If anything comes out of that tunnel that isn't us, kill it."

  "Copy," said God.

  The DHS commander reached up and swiped the access card and then keyed in the passcode. The door hissed and began to swing open. Six gripped his rifle a little higher and thought, Once more into the breach. Literally.

  SPOOKY SAT at the scientist's computer as he tried to understand the filing system that Dr. Kaine had used. All of the folders and documents had labels that contained a series of numbers and letters and were in no order that the electronics specialist could discern. Giving up momentarily, the DHS agent inserted a specially built USB key in the slot on the front of the desktop unit. Wires ran from the USB key back to a small box that contained a power supply, a solid-state hard drive, and a couple of circuit boards. When the USB device was plugged in, a series of small lights flashed down the side of the device. When all of the lights were solid green, Spooky pushed the button on top of the device to initiate a process that would automatically copy every hard drive and storage device attached to the computer.

  With the copy process underway, the specialist randomly opened files and folders to see what was available. What little he understood made Spooky realize that this computer likely contained all the data necessary to replicate the process and all of the methodology behind it. He idly wondered what new gadgets Norbert could come up with if he got his hands on the data.

  One document caught his eye. Labeled "Bu68dk3-668DH," the file was a memo from a youth camp. The document explained their camp dates and fees and that the good doctor would be welcome to send his son to the camp during the session designed for middle-school-age children that summer.

  Kaine's son? He doesn't have any kids, Spooky thought to himself.

  The realization that he had seen the camp logo somewhere before suddenly struck him, but he could not quite remember where.

  Spooky looked around the lab. His eyes fell on the body of the yo
ung vampire, the one created by Kaine's virus. The blue of her shirt and shorts matched the blue of the camp logo. Was that it? The agent stood and walked over to the corpse. He nudged her and rolled her onto her back. As he looked down at her body, he realized that the same camp logo as was on the letter was on her shirt. Spooky softly swore.

  The specialist drew looks from the other two agents as he ran back over to the desk and rummaged through the paperwork scattered over its surface. He found what he was looking for only after a few seconds. Raising the document in the air, he turned to the other two agents.

  "Uh, guys, I think I know where Kaine tested the virus," said Spooky. "This guy was pure evil."

  THE DHS TEAM leader heard the squelch as his radio activated.

  "Six, this is Spooky. I think I figured out where Kaine tested his virus."

  Six was about to reply when Ghost keyed in the numbers on the keypad for the second blast door. Designed as an airlock at this end of the tunnel, both the outer door between the command bunker and the silo and the inner door leading into the silo itself were locked and sealed. But the team leader was a fraction of a second too late, and the door hissed its release and began to open.

  Havoc.

  Two distended hands with razor-sharp claws wrapped around the door frame and yanked it open. The vampire standing in the doorway disintegrated under the withering hail of vampire-killing rounds from two rifles and two shotguns. The body was already beginning to disappear into smoke before it hit the floor.

  Six and Ghost immediately stepped through the doorway and stopped at the edge of the landing. A short span of steel grating led across the two-foot gap to the platform. An octagonal platform about thirty feet across hung over the open space and was supported by massive steel springs attached at points around the inside of the silo. In the center of this platform was a square hole, about fifteen feet across and surrounded by a waist-high railing. According to the plans, this was supposed to be the second level in this structure.