Sturgeon rolled her eyes. “Fine, but can you at least come here and try something for me?”
Sturgeon asked Sandra to try to push her hand through the stone. “There must be some power in the stone to stop specters from getting in or out, considering the guy was buried in it for almost half a millennium.”
Sandra touched the stone and immediately pulled her hand back with a cry of shock.
“What is it?” Tanya exclaimed, going to Sandra’s side and nursing her hand. The usual white pallor of her spectral skin had darkened.
“That… It hurt,” Sandra replied, her brows knitting together. “I couldn’t push through. If anything, it pushed me back.”
“What kind of curse did the witch put on this guy?” Jack mused. “We should find Jennie and let her know what we found.” He moved to the tomb and tried to lift it.
“What are you doing?” Ruby asked.
“Seeing if we can bring it back with us.” Jack grunted from the effort. “Damn, that must’ve taken some manpower to bring all the way in here. I wonder why no one’s guarding it.”
Ruby smirked. “Because no one can lift it, idiot.”
“Then how did it get down here?” Jack retorted.
“Enough,” Sturgeon exclaimed. “It’s like dealing with children. You’re worse than Sandra. No, I take that back. Sandra’s actually reasonable.”
Sandra grinned.
Ashton had been busy ignoring the petty dispute. He neared the mouth of one of the other tunnels. “There’s something down there,” he informed them. “In the distance. This tunnel is straighter than any others, and there’s a light flickering down there.”
Sturgeon hushed the others and joined Ashton. “A light?” She narrowed her eyes and confirmed Ashton’s observation. “Where there’s a light, there are likely people.”
“You mean, like here?” Jack replied.
Sturgeon stared daggers his way. She motioned them toward her and tiptoed down the tunnel toward the light.
* * *
Carolyn and Feng Mian strode side by side toward the mass of people.
Roman had been right, there were dozens of men and women gathered in one of the largest chambers they’d yet encountered. There were a number of small wooden tables and benches, and the people milling around the room could not have looked like they belonged in the torch-lit tunnels any less.
Many of them wore suits. They were dust-coated, and the white shirts had stained brown collars and cuffs. Many of them had guns at their side, and a few of those roaming between the aisles of the crowd wore black jackets with the golden emblem of the dragon on them.
But that wasn’t where Carolyn’s and Feng Mian’s eyes were drawn.
At the very back of the hall, they spied a pair of specters. These looked as though they had become spectral after at least a hundred years of rotting in the grave. While most specters’ bodies kept their mortal appearance and still looked mostly human, these gazed over the crowd with furrowed brows, their skin flaky and lumpy. Their spectral auras were sepia rather than the usual bluish-white.
Carolyn and Feng Mian ducked to the side and out of sight of the specters. “What are they?” Carolyn asked. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Me either,” Feng Mian replied. “I don’t like the look of that.”
“What do we do?” Carolyn asked, counting the heads in the room. She easily reached one hundred before she stopped counting.
“We find another way,” Feng Mian whispered. “If we start an attack in here, the only possible outcome is our mortals get obliterated.” He looked at the ceiling. “We also know how fragile these tunnels are. We have to approach with caution. I’m not sure how useful guns will be.”
Carolyn sighed. “Why is it never easy?”
“Because easy doesn’t make heroes,” Feng Mian replied.
* * *
Jennie watched the group for a moment longer before she knew that action had to be taken.
They slunk back far enough down the tunnel that they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. She tapped her earpiece and tried to reach the others. “Update report, check in.”
There was no reply. She hadn’t expected one this far underground, with thick earth walls blocking the signals.
“What’s the plan?” Baxter asked. “Jump down there and cut them off at the source?”
Jennie shook her head. “Not this time, Bax. We need all hands on deck for this one. We don’t know what the Dreadnought is capable of, and judging by his display of power there, we’ll need to bolster our numbers to take him down.” Her mind went once more to the nausea she’d felt when attaching to the corrupt and couldn’t imagine what it would feel like latching onto the primary source of that discomfort. “We need to go back and see what the others have found. With any luck, they haven’t found themselves in too much trouble.”
As they turned to leave, the tunnel echoed with a fit of the Dreadnought’s rage. His voice shook the earth around them as he roared, “You will bow down to your new emperor and empress, or you and your followers will die!”
Chunks of dirt fell around them. Somewhere down a distant tunnel, the sounds of a cave-in came. Jennie listened until the dust settled, an idea coming to her. It would be risky, but dammit, it just might work.
Chapter Seventy
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Agents from all sides waited patiently in the first chamber as Jennie and her team made their way back. A short while after arriving, they heard footsteps from one of the other tunnels, and Roman and his team emerged.
“Where’s Sturgeon?” Jennie asked.
No one had seen her return. “Damn, we need her to come back,” Jennie complained. She looked longingly down the tunnel they had disappeared into. “Don’t tell me we’ll have to arrange a rescue mission for them?”
“They’ll be fine,” Baxter replied. “Surely if they were in any trouble, we’d know.”
Jennie understood his logic, but she still had her doubts. While they waited a little longer for them to return, she asked Roman what his group had discovered.
Jennie’s eyebrows lifted as they described the mass of men and women at the end of their tunnel. Armed and dangerous, their force outnumbered Jennie’s by the sounds of it. She allowed her mind to process their situation, even as Carolyn informed her of the spectral anomalies they had come across in the back of the chamber.
Jennie’s face grew hard. “Ghouls?”
The word sent a wave of apprehension around the room. “What exactly are ghouls?” someone in the crowd of agents asked.
“Corrupt specters, risen from the dead.” Jennie sighed. “It’s been years since I’ve had to deal with those bastards. I haven’t come across them since the great Zombie Revolt of 1902.”
Baxter stared at her inquisitively. “Zombie revolt?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” Jennie commented, providing no further explanation.
“But I thought that specters came out of their bodies immediately after death and had a choice between life as a specter or an end in the abyss,” Carolyn asked. “That’s the choice that was presented with me.”
“And that’s often the case,” Jennie replied. “Although you of all people should know by now that it’s not always that simple. Ghouls are specters who delayed their choice by remaining inside their bodies for tens, sometimes hundreds, of years. They think that they haven’t made a choice, but really, they have. Some people can’t face not following the way that they believed they would die and think that remaining inside their corpse while it rots away will be a proper end, little realizing that the degradation process affects the specter, too.”
“Thus rise ghouls,” Jennie stated. “Specters with corrupted energy that makes it more difficult for me to affect them, and for them to die. I’ve only ever exorcized a handful of ghouls in my lifetime, and even then, it was at a great cost.”
Ula shook her head. “If there are more ghouls in there, that means th
ey’re under the Dreadnought’s power. More than that, Sturgeon and the others might be in real danger alone in the tunnels.”
“I thought you said the Dreadnought was an Akh?” Baxter questioned.
Jennie furrowed her brow and touched her chin. “He may be, but those who he has returned from the grave, they’re something else entirely. To be fair, the Dreadnought may not be, either. I just don’t know at this point.”
Ula looked to Jennie. “Hello? Are we going in there after them or not?”
Jennie grew resolute. “Rescue party time. Bax, you’re with me.”
Baxter nodded.
“The rest of you, I’ve got a plan, and it’s going to be a risky one. I need all of you to listen closely and obey to the letter. We’ve only got one chance to get this right. Otherwise, a lot of lives are going to be lost.”
The agents listened closely as Jennie detailed the specifics of the plan. A few of them looked downcast but remained silent nonetheless. When Jennie was finished, she summoned Rogers to her side.
“There’s an extra job I need you to do for me,” Jennie whispered, making sure no one else could hear as the agents started filing out of the tunnels.
Rogers grinned. “Feels weird taking orders from you,” he stated.
“Weird-bad?” Jennie asked.
“Actually, no,” Rogers replied. “Weird-good.”
Jennie grinned. “That’s good news. Maybe when this is all over, we can discuss a closer partnership. Until then, here’s what I need, and it’s in relation to the remaining members of the Seven, who I’m ninety percent sure are in these tunnels with us.”
Rogers nodded as Jennie spoke. When she was finished, he raised a hand in salute. “Consider it done, Rogue.”
“Oh, come on,” Jennie moaned. “After all this, you still can’t call me Jennie?”
Rogers smirked. “Get this mess sorted out, and I’ll call you whatever you want.”
Jennie winked. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”
They separated and headed in different directions.
* * *
Sturgeon’s eyes narrowed at the light down the tunnel. They had moved painfully slowly closer as the sounds of their enemies grew louder, and when she reached the lip of the shelf that looked over the inner room, her skin had broken out in gooseflesh.
There were dozens of specters, the likes of which she had never seen before. They stood in place, swaying like seaweed caught by a gentle current. Their skin was moldering and rotted as though they had recently risen from the grave.
Which, by all accounts, was a possibility she wouldn’t discount.
Fuck, she thought, leaning as far as she dared to look below. She counted at least thirty of them but could make out more bodies disappearing in a tunnel off the main room.
I wonder if Jennie knows anything about this yet.
She controlled her breath, ensuring she remained quiet. She heard movement from Jack and Ruby behind her. Jack came up beside her and shot a glance at the strange specters.
He didn't try to hide his dismay. “What are they?” he mouthed, the color draining from his face.
Sturgeon shook her head.
Ruby, keen to get a look as well, stepped up to the lip and held back a gasp. She shrank away, worried that even the tiny exhalation might be enough to draw their attention when the cave magnified their noise.
Sturgeon waved for the others to back out of sight. One of the specters slowly turned their head toward the ledge.
Sturgeon’s heart stopped when Jack’s foot kicked a pebble, which rolled off the edge of the ledge and landed below with a gentle click.
The specters grumbled, aware of the disturbance.
Sturgeon commanded her team to remain still, painfully afraid they’d make more noise in hurrying their escape.
She wasn’t sure how long they remained still, but after a beat, she braved a peek over the edge once more.
Two of the specters were gone.
Dammit. Sturgeon crept back and waved the others with her. They had to be as quiet as possible while working their way the hell out of there.
* * *
Jennie’s heart thumped as she stalked the tunnels once more. There was trepidation in her step, knowing what at least two of them contained but not knowing what was down the third.
She and Baxter roamed in relative silence, following the trailing darkness until they came to a small pocket chamber with a stone tomb in the center.
Jennie sighed. “Well, this screws up my plan somewhat.”
“Just what is your plan?” Baxter asked. “Speaking as someone who’s boldly following you into the dark without question.”
“Without question?” Jennie retorted. “You’re asking a question right now.”
Baxter stared at her.
Jennie chuckled. “We need to draw the enemy out. If we attack in the tunnels, we’ve got no hope of winning. These tunnels are unlike the ones in Alexandria, and there’s not enough space to attack. More than that, they’re spread out in separate places along the way. We have no clue what we’re getting into, and any direct attack will likely cause the walls to collapse. If we can flush them out of the tunnels, we can battle them on our own terms.”
Baxter nodded. “Okay, good plan. What about the tomb?”
Jennie sighed. “We need that out there with us. We don’t know if the tomb will be the only way to trap the Dreadnought again. We can’t bury it in here, or we’ll be screwed.”
Baxter narrowed his eyes and thought. The tomb was a weighty piece of stone, and it would take a number of people to shift it. He skirted its edge and tapped his chin. “We can use physics to our advantage, but we will need more bodies.” He chewed his lip. “The only way we’ll be able to do this is to bring some of our strongest backs and make a quick escape.”
Jennie grinned at him.
“I thought that was coming,” Baxter resigned. “Good luck finding them, Jennie. You can count on me to sort this out for you.”
“Bring Roman,” Jennie instructed. “He’s as strong as three. Anyone else with an ounce of muscle can come back. The good news is that we know this route is empty.” A sudden thought came to her. “But why? If this thing is so important, why would he abandon it without a guard?”
Baxter shrugged. “No idea, but if I move quickly, I can have people carrying this out in a jiffy.”
Jennie cocked an eyebrow. “A jiffy?”
“That’s a British term, right?” Baxter laughed. “I’m sure I’ve heard it somewhere.”
Jennie grinned. “Chop-chop, Bax. We haven’t got all bloody day.”
Baxter smiled and dashed back the way they had come.
Jennie eyed the remaining tunnels, realizing that her choices to go or seek her missing comrades had annoyingly multiplied.
“How do moles live like this?” she mused. “Do they remember all their tunnels?” She closed her eyes, and a slight bubble of nausea found its way to her, its dry sickness sticking to her throat.
“They’re nearby,” she muttered, sensing the tunnel where the signal was strongest. “Knowing my luck, they’re down there.”
Jennie chose a tunnel and left the sarcophagus behind, her focus fixed on bringing her comrades back to the outside world.
* * *
Sturgeon crept along the passages, flinching at every scuffle that came from their feet. It was impossible to remain silent, but it was possible to remain quiet. Still, the more they hurried, the more they failed at both.
The way back was more confusing than the way forward, and the urgency that filled her also cost her her bearings. Every tunnel looked the same. More routes opened around her, and down those tunnels were more tunnels. Sturgeon continued in the direction she believed she should be heading, but it seemed as though they were taking a lot longer to get out than they had getting in. Since they were moving faster to get out, that shouldn’t have been the case.
Sturgeon paused at a crossroads and studied each direction. All t
he tunnels were dark, only the faint light from the previous chamber providing any luminosity. Jack drew up beside her. “It’s left.”
Sturgeon shook her head. “That doesn’t seem right.”
Ruby scratched her head. “Right?”
Ashton pointed straight ahead. “That way.”
Sturgeon felt a flush of frustration. As the leader of the expedition, it was on her to ensure the others were safe. She didn’t need their input, she just needed quiet.
She waved her hands and shushed them. After a second, she took Ashton’s suggestion. Out of all of them, Ashton seemed to have a better sense of direction. She hoped that he was right.
A few minutes later, they came to another crossroads. There was light leaking around the bend of one of the tunnels, and Sturgeon could see someone coming toward them. Backlit by the torchlight, it was hard to make out, but the figure looked familiar.
She took a few steps forward, then slumped her shoulders when a second figure appeared, then a third, all of them limping clumsily toward the group.
Sturgeon sighed. Aw, shit.
Chapter Seventy-One
Richmond, Virginia, USA
The sound of a scuffle hit Jennie’s ears. She slowed her pace and kept to the wall, able to pick out figures ahead of her. That nauseated feeling in the pit of her stomach increased, and she nearly doubled over as a wave attacked her.
Maybe this is the ghost of all of my hangovers hitting me at once. I told Hendrick his formula wouldn’t last forever.
She knew the truth, of course. The limping figures told her enough that this was no mere hangover. She crept forward, drawing on the spectral power cells to reduce her noise and provide her with some cover as she closed the gap on the ghouls ahead.
After a minute, the ghouls paused and tensed. Jennie could make out something else down the tunnel. Four figures who had also frozen and were staring at the ghouls.
Agents, Agreements and Aggravations: In Her Paranormal Majesty’s Secret Service™ Book Three Page 53