Pivotal (Visceral Book 3)

by Adam Thielen

  Matthias watched Taq’s arm move as if to end the call. “It’s vampire blood, isn’t it?”

  Taq stopped. “Is what vampire blood?”

  “I looked into it,” said Matthias. “Just what the fuck are you doing over there?”

  “I have an idea,” said Taq. “How about I mind my business, and you yours?”

  Matthias sighed. “You look like hell, brol. This can’t be good for you.”

  “Don’t brol me, Matthias,” Taq shot back. “Let it go, and leave me be.”

  “Are you just an addict?” asked Matthias.

  “Maybe.”

  “Then I’m cutting you off,” said Matthias. “I will make sure you don’t get any more. I was just talking to Wu the other day, and I still have a couple friends on the council.”

  Taq’s face grew as he leaned toward the camera in front of him. “Don’t you fucking dare. I’m not addicted.”

  “Then you can quit using it,” countered Matthias.

  Taq grunted. “What I’m doing is important. Haven—”

  “Haven is bullshit!” Matthias yelled at the projection. “You spooks have created an industry out of fear. You know, I lived through that shit once, and I cannot believe I’m seeing it again.”

  Taq’s face moved away from the screen. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Matt. But it’s not bullshit. They are out there. Read the intel.”

  “I do,” said Matthias, nodding enthusiastically. “You’ve found echoes of rumors of remnants. Not you personally. As far as I can tell, with all your scrying, you haven’t found shit.”

  “Matthias, please just leave me alone.”

  The vampire folded his arms. “I’m sorry, Taq. I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch. I’m sorry I quit. We had a good run, though, you have to admit.”

  Taq grinned. “We made a mark,” he said. “Not that any of the kids today will know it.”

  “I think they will,” said Matthias. “You might even live to see your name in a history book if you lay off this junk.”

  “Oh, I don’t care about that,” said Taq. “I’ll have more years than I want.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “I tell you the truth, you promise to keep it a secret and keep it coming?” Taq negotiated.

  Matthias pondered. “I can’t agree without knowing anything.”

  “Sure you can,” asserted Taq. “How about just for another year then?”

  Matthias looked at the floor and paced away from the projected image and back. “Deal,” he said. “Now what’s really going on?”

  Taq stroked his chin then put his hands at his waist. “It’s for Kate. Okay?”

  “What? That doesn’t answer anything.”

  “Her… condition,” Taq began. “For years it seemed under control. Then it wasn’t, and she started on meds. Then more meds. Then Drew began rerouting more of her synapses, started using software compensation. A year after you—after we disbanded, more pathways started to fail and her nervous system began to deteriorate.”

  Matthias’s tongue slid along his teeth before retreating. “Jesus, Taq. I’m sorry. How bad is it?”

  Taq pressed his lips together and squinted. “She’s going to die, Matt. There’s no other outcome.”

  The two men stared at each other. Matthias broke the silence. “She doesn’t know.”

  “She knows,” said Taq. “It’s not hard for her to plot a course. She knows that she’s not getting better.”

  “Then what’s the blood for?” asked Matthias.

  “A couple years ago,” began Taq, the volume of his voice lowering, “Drew noticed that the deterioration was speeding up. It had an acceleration curve. It always had, which is why every treatment only helped temporarily. He estimated that she had about four months until nervous system collapse. We put our heads together. He said he could use the neural hub to give me precise points of degeneration that I could mend, but I found it impossible. The machinations had to be precise. Nearly fried my brain once.”

  “Does Kate know about this?”

  “No,” said Taq. “I tell her it’s for scrying. She believes me, despite evidence to the contrary. Maybe she fears what you just did, that I’m a hapless junkie. And that’s how it has to stay. If she found out, I don’t know what she’d do, but it wouldn’t be good for either of us.”

  “I see,” said Matthias. “So you drink the blood and it lets you fix her.”

  “The disease, or corruption, whatever it is, keeps speeding up,” said Taq. “I can’t stop it, but I can slow it down. She has maybe another year or two even with my constant meddling.”

  “I’m sorry, Taq,” consoled Matthias. “Is there anything I can do? More blood than you already get? Money?”

  “No,” said Taq. “I’ve tried everything, and I would do anything if I thought it would help.”

  “Taq,” started Matthias, hesitating. “Maybe you should clean yourself up and try to make the most of the time she has left.”

  “I’m not ready to let her go. Maybe now that she’s suspended,” he considered. “Even then, I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

  “Make sure whatever you do, that it’s for her,” warned Matthias. “Or you will regret it.”

  “Yeah. So you know now,” said Taq. “I should be going.”

  “One other thing,” said Matthias. “Tsenka will be there soon. I want you to help her.”

  “I can’t go on a fool’s errand,” said Taq. “I’m barely cleared for climbing a set of stairs right now.”

  “I’m asking,” said Matthias. “If I have any favors to call in, this is all I want. She needs this.”

  “Someone who needs revenge, who needs to kill, is broken,” said Taq.

  Matthias shook his head. “That’s pretty judgmental coming from you. We’ve killed plenty.”

  “That’s—” Taq started, then bit his tongue. “Alright ,Matthias, I am not going to argue. If I can help her, I will. But right now, I just don’t see how.”

  “Alright, Taq. I’ll be in touch. Take care of yourself… and get some eye drops or something.”

  Taq grinned in response and disconnected the call. Matthias lowered his head. “Kate,” he whispered.

  * * *

  Taq, Kate, Drew, and Tsenka sat clockwise around the dinner table. A mage, or student as Taq preferred, took up the role of server. He spooned a helping of each dish onto their plates one at a time, along with bottles of fizz. He offered to put something on Drew’s plate, but the AI declined, opting to lower his head so as not to be a distraction while they ate. Tsenka complimented the cooking, though her taste buds had dulled due to the turning.

  They made small talk, and Tsenka spent a half hour prying details of early agency missions from Kate and Taq. She then turned to Drew and peppered him with questions about his origins and experiences. Cho was surprised to learn that he had been a hidden part of the team since the beginning.

  “Thank you for the dinner,” Tsenka told Kate, ready to move on to business.

  “Well, Drew did most of it,” said Kate. Drew managed a decent smile this time. The server collected the plates and utensils.

  “Then thank you, Drew,” Cho continued. “I’m just honored to know you all. What you accomplished is why I enlisted in the forces.”

  Taq offered a courtesy smile. “It’s a shame what happened at the agency. I plan to give them a piece of my mind.”

  “I appreciate that,” said Tsenka. “But first, I must settle things.”

  At this, Taq signaled the server to leave the room.

  “You said you had news, Kate?” queried Tsenka.

  Kate took a drink from her soda, set it down, and clasped her hands together and rested her elbows on the table. “I do,” she said excitedly. “First things first. I’ve gleaned the pattern of Roland’s check-ins. It’s almost always on the last two days of the month.”

  “That’s in just a few days,” followed Tsenka.

  “Correct,” said Kate. “
Now… I managed to intercept some chatter from an associate of his that in-di-dicates that his sister is being actively sought by Roland on behalf of Chantech.”

  Tsenka’s mouth went flat. “I see. Kate, I understand what you are getting at, but I don’t want his sister. I need a shot at him that he won’t see coming.”

  “I understand—”

  “Tsenka,” interrupted Taq. “I’m sure you understand how difficult it would be to track his movements outside corp territory, and how hard finding an opening on his own turf would be.”

  “Thanks to Taq we have Desre Somer’s location,” Kate revealed. “It gives you a path.”

  Cho felt angered, having expected more. Then she realized she was being childish and forced herself to sit quietly while re-evaluating her options. The other three waited on her.

  “You’re right,” Cho announced. “We get Desre first. Pretend it’s for a ransom. Pick neutral territory. It does make a lot of sense.”

  “All of it except the ‘we’ part,” said Taq, leaning back with his arms folded.

  “I am no fool,” said Tsenka. “I will need help. I recognize this isn’t your fight—”

  “Good,” said Taq.

  “Taq,” chided Kate. She turned back to Tsenka. “I don’t know about this.”

  “You don’t know?” asked Taq, incredulous.

  “Hear me out,” requested Cho. “This man is an important cog in Chantech’s machine. There’s an opportunity here to peek behind the curtain. Not to mention what his sister might know. We could both use a win here.”

  “She makes a good point,” said Kate, shrugging.

  “Besides,” said Cho. “Who else could I find? A couple of two-byte mercs?”

  “Oh no,” said Taq, baring his teeth. “I see what’s going on. You aren’t going on some crazy mission.”

  “We can both go,” said Kate. “I’ve got the mini-drones for protection. It might be fun.”

  “Stop it!” said Taq, slapping the table with his palm. He fumed, then stood. “We can’t go. Our work is too important.” He marched out of the room and down the hall toward their residence.

  “Taq. Taq... Taq!” Kate yelled after him, standing at the doorway of the room. She turned back to the table. “I d-don’t unders-stand.” She pushed the frog out of her throat. “I’m s-sorry,” she continued. “I don’t ev—en know him anym-more.” Kate wiped at the corners of her eyes.

  Drew stood and moved next to Kate and, to Tsenka’s surprise, gave her a comforting hug. Kate hugged him back, then stepped away.

  “It’s okay, Kate,” said Tsenka. “I misjudged things. I’ve asked too much. I can find a team. I just thought—You just seemed very understanding and you’ve already done more for me than I could have expected.” Tsenka stood and pushed her chair close to the table.

  As Tsenka made for the door, Kate turned to her. “I want to h-help,” she said. “There’s something wrong with him, but even the old Taq wouldn’t get it. Neither does Drew, and neither does Matthias. They will never understand, well-intentioned or not. No offense, Drew, you are a sweetheart.”

  “None taken, Ms. Jones.”

  “Drew will take you upstairs to one of our spare rooms,” said Kate. “I will talk things over with Taq, get a few hours sleep, and m-make preparations. I don’t know how he’ll react, but he’s g-got another thing coming if he thinks he can stop me.”

  Tsenka nodded. “Thank you, Kate.”

  “Night, Tsenka,” bade Kate.

  “Do you think I can’t handle myself now, with my condition?” asked Kate as she lay next to her husband of nearly two decades. Dim light emanated from under the edge of their king-size bed. The room was large, with multiple dressers lining the edge. The walls were e-painted with news clippings from their ops together.

  “Dear, be honest with yourself,” said Taq. “This part of our life is over. The way things are now… you could just as easily compromise her mission.”

  “I’m not that far gone,” she insisted. “Besides, the neural processors can k-keep me moving.”

  “They can’t compensate for everything. Please, don’t leave me. We don’t know how much time we have.”

  “Taq, this is difficult for me to say.” Kate rested her hand on Taq’s bicep. “But you’ve practically avoided me for the past year.”

  “I know,” he admitted. “And now I see that it was a mistake. I have so little to show for it. You don’t have to leave to prove a point.”

  “That’s not what this is about,” refuted Kate. “You are right, though. I don’t know how much time I have, but I have a chance right now to do something bold I believe in.”

  “This revenge stuff—”

  “Hon, Chantech is a menace, and if we had any stones, the New Republic would declare them hostile. We have to show them that we won’t tolerate murderous psychopaths doing their dirty work.”

  “I get it,” said Taq. “You’ve got to fight the patriarchy.”

  “Don’t be an asshole, hon.”

  “Ey, I respect it. I just think it’s too dangerous, and I still need you.”

  “You need rest and some fresh air,” Kate retorted. “Please get plenty of both while I’m gone.”

  “So that’s that then?”

  “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t made up my mind,” said Kate.

  “Do you love me?” asked Taq.

  “Yes, dear.”

  “Then stay.”

  “I love you, Taq, but I’m going to help Tsenka kill this scumbag.”

  Taq rolled away from Kate and sighed. Her hand fell from his bicep and hit the bed.

  “Don’t trust the psionic girl,” said Taq, his face pointed toward the wall.

  “What, why?”

  Taq sat up, his legs hanging over the side of the bed. “I’ve done my homework on them ever since they became a known entity. Their abilities tend to allow them to get what they want, to play with people’s minds. It teaches them a disrespect for the free will of others. Psych studies support this.”

  Kate pulled her legs in and sat up, too. “What else?”

  “Their magic, though I hate to call it that, starts at their brain and follows a straight path to the brain of another. It’s essentially a connection between auras that takes place in the Ethereal plane. No one knows why their powers have manifested fifty years after that of physical mages, and their full capabilities are still a little sketchy. Another reason to be wary.”

  “Good to know.”

  Taq stood. “For some reason, their abilities sap the heat from their brains.”

  “That’s interesting,” said Kate. “The complete opposite of your spells.”

  Taq rummaged through the bottom drawer of the dresser nearest his side of the bed, pulling out a metal pendant shaped like a lightning bolt attached to a leather cord. “Right,” he said. “And if polonium absorbs their energy, it turns cold as well.”

  Taq returned to bed and handed the pendant to Kate. “I’ve enchanted this pendant,” he explained. “Both psionics and physical magic will charge it. It can protect you.”

  Kate examined the pendant. “It’s very small. Can it absorb much?”

  “Like I said, it’s enchanted,” Taq repeated. “Just keep it on you, please.”

  Kate put the cord over her head. “Very well, but I don’t want you to worry if there’s nothing you can do, hon.”

  “I’m going to worry the entire time you are gone, but I’ll take your advice and try to get some rest,” he replied.

  “Thank you, Taq.”

  “Mhm. Don’t wake me up before you go. I don’t think I can take it. Love you.” Taq rolled over to Kate, pecked her on the lips, then relaxed onto his back.

  “Goodnight, dear.”

  At five AM, Kate knocked on Tsenka’s door to notify her that it was time to go. They sat at the table again, going over the flight plan, extraction points, and layout of the apartment and nearby buildings.

  Kate grabbed a large heavy duffel bag that
appeared to be stuffed with soccer balls, and a small travel suitcase. “We’ll have firearms waiting for us at the airfield,” she said. Tsenka offered to carry the heavy bag, and Kate accepted. When they reached the front door, Drew stood in their path.

  “Drew?” said Kate.

  “Ms. Jones, Ms. Cho,” he addressed. “I believe in what you are doing, but I think you will need all the help you can muster. Therefore, I am going with you.”

  “Drew, that’s nice of you to offer—” started Kate.

  “I insist,” said Drew, cutting her speech short. “My body is physically sturdy, my aim is steady, and I have done extensive research and extrapolation of Chinese computer systems.”

  “Extrapolation sounds a lot like speculation in this context,” charged Cho.

  “Speculation does not sound as impressive,” replied Drew.

  “A’ight, Drew, we already know you are talented,” said Kate. She turned her head to Cho. “This is your op, your call.”

  “He’s right,” said Tsenka. “We’ll need more help. If you vouch for him, then that’s good enough for me.”

  Kate nodded. “Next stop, Ulaanbaatar.”

  Drew slowly increased the upward curve of his mouth and separated the lips slightly. He was getting good at this.

  Episode 8: Chasing Desre

  Roland Somer dismounted the railing of the sleek black monocopter. His eyes darted from one face to another at the welcoming party that greeted him on the rooftop of the small apartment building. All of them scared, he thought. Two of his men disembarked with him, escorting him toward the group of Russian gangsters.

  While Roland wore a leather jacket with a hoodie attached and fitted cargo pants, his lieutenants wore business jackets and dress pants. One man had a turtleneck under the jacket, and the other wore a gray V-neck. The V-neck carried a heavily modified assault rifle that had a distinctive rectangle-shaped barrel with an upper and lower bore inside of it. It had a long scope and several other attachments. The turtleneck revealed no weaponry, which meant to the Russians that he was either a mage of such talent that he did not need to hide it, or he merely wanted the intimidation of such a ruse.