by Jack J. Lee
Aidan responded to Andi’s question, “It doesn’t look good, my dear. That’s why you have to leave.”
Ben stood up abruptly, his chair crashing into the wall. He shouted, “This is bullshit! You’re telling me the freaks that killed my parents are coming and I have to run? FUCK THAT! I’m staying here to take them out.”
It’d been decades since I last cared what another person thought. Until now, I hadn’t bothered to consider how I would react if I had been told to run from the things that had killed my parents. I put a hand over my mouth to hide my grin. When I was Ben’s age, I wasn’t nearly as mellow as I am now.
Aidan shook his head. “Ben, you have no idea how much time and training is required before you can fight minions. You’ll be a liability. If you stay, we’ll have to expend time and energy protecting you that would be better spent on other things. Please, you have to listen to reason.”
Andi stood up, hands on her hips. “If Ben’s staying, so am I!”
Mina looked at me for the first time since Aidan had started his explanations. I saw tears shimmering in her sky blue eyes. I couldn’t believe how easily I was distracted by her looks. “Vic, you haven’t said a word. What do you think? Should we leave?”
Shit! Now I had to deal with a crying woman. I tried to take the easy way out, “Aidan has a lot more experience than me when it comes to trolls. I’ve been on the job for just a few days. He’s been in the business for your entire life and beyond. You should listen to him.”
Mina wiped angrily at the tears now running down her cheeks and swore, “Victor, you didn’t answer my goddamned question!” Her Viking heritage became clear. She wasn’t crying out of fear; she was enraged. “My parents were MURDERED and the things that killed them, those—creatures, trolls, or whatever the hell they are, need to DIE! Do you understand that? I’m asking you again: what do you think?”
I had to fight to hide my smile. Mina crying because she was afraid was a turn-off. Mina the avenging fury from hell was intriguing. I watched Ben and Andi try to help. Ben went to one side and began to pat her awkwardly on the shoulder while Andi stood on her other side, soothingly rubbing her arm. I didn’t want the responsibility of making life and death decisions about Mina and her family. But I’d been asked a direct question and she deserved the truth. Besides, the more the leprechaun talked, the more I realized I disagreed with his plans. Aidan Cahill didn’t think like a fighter. He was letting the enemy control his actions. He was reacting to the Jotunn instead of anticipating them. “Aidan, other than me, are any of the other paladins or Oath Brothers armed with guns?”
Aidan shook his head. I could tell he didn’t know where I was going. “No.”
I locked gazes with the woman I was fated to love. This time I didn’t bother hiding my smile. She was starting to grow on me. “If you stay, there’s a good chance you’ll die along with me and Aidan. But if you stay, I don’t think you’ll be useless. It takes years of training to be any use with the weapons Aidan is used to—sword and shield. It takes, at most, a few hours to learn how to use a shotgun or rifle. I’ve killed a troll. They’re tough but not invincible. With the right weapons, I’m sure you can kill one.”
“The upside of going to Boise is that life for you will be fairly normal—school, job, marriage, and family like every other Joe Schmoe. If you stay with me, regardless of whether you live or die, things are going to change, and not for the better. Die on the job fighting the trolls, you’ll go to heaven. Forget what you think you know about heaven; it sucks. If you live—Aidan, correct me if I’m wrong—you’ll eventually become members of the Oath Brotherhood. This means you have to follow orders for the rest of your lives. A lot of those orders will be bullshit.”
Mina shrugged dismissively, “It’s a simple choice; my parent’s killers need to die. The rest is just details.”
Now Aidan sounded angry, “Victor, this is unacceptable!”
“Aidan, you’ve known the Swensons all their lives. I’ve only known them for a couple of days, but it sounds like I have more respect for them than you do. At the very least, Mina and Ben deserve to be treated like adults.” My expression didn’t change when Andi flipped me off. “Trying to scare them isn’t going to work. They deserve a real choice—go to Boise and live free, normal, and independent lives, or fight back and choose to take orders forever.” I walked up to Mina and took both her hands in mine, “Listen Mina, if my parents were murdered, I’d want payback. But revenge has a steep price. Stay and there’s a good chance you’ll die. Even if you live, it’s still going to suck.”
Mina slowly nodded up at me. She squeezed my hands to tell me she got what I was saying without understanding all the details. Her decision was made. Her voice was low as she said, “I appreciate you telling me the truth.” I picked up the signal that had we been alone she’d do more than squeeze my hands. It was a tempting thought.
Ben no longer looked like he was about to explode. His expression was thoughtful, but I could see beads of sweat forming on his brow. He was starting to grasp the shit that was coming his way. He righted his chair then slowly sat down. Andi looked confused, and did the same.
Ben had cooled down, but now Aidan was furious. “Victor, we don’t have time to debate this. The children have to leave today. I promised their parents I’d keep them safe.”
I let go of Mina and faced Aidan, “Ben and Mina are no longer children. Even Andi is old enough to have a say in one of the most important decisions of her life. You don’t have the right to protect them from their own decisions. Their parents didn’t have the right to ask you to do that for them. Also, I think you’re wrong about the Jotunn attacking tonight. I’ll bet you it’ll be weeks to months before they attack us.”
“What are you talking about? Of course they’ll attack us!”
“Aidan, you’ve been saying all day that these minions aren’t acting normally. It’s clear that in the last year they’ve changed their MO. In the past, the trolls would have stayed in one city attacking the paladin until they killed him or he killed them. That’s all changed. They’re now striking at random, moving from city to city, and they don’t fight to the last man. Tell me if I’m wrong, but until this year did minions ever attack Brothers?”
You can tell a lot about a person by the way he reacts when he’s furious. I wondered if Aidan, as an Oath Brother, had the same compulsion to tell the truth. In the last few days, he’d impressed me as being levelheaded, but I’d never seen him tested. When you’re pissed, it’s natural to reject everything. I waited for a lie or a misleading truth. I saw him start to answer and reconsider a couple of times. Reluctantly, he said, “Except in cases where the local paladin is dead and the Brothers are standing guard, it’s unheard of for minions to attack Oath Brothers. You’re right, the Jotunn haven’t been acting like they should.”
I was surprised at how relieved I was when Aidan told the unvarnished truth. I guess I really wanted to like him, maybe even trust him. Mina had asked me for my opinion, but my armorer was the one I wanted to convince. I needed his willing, unconditional support. “They’re not going to attack us because we’ll be prepared and waiting. They’re going to attack another city, hundreds of miles from here, where the local paladin and brotherhood have gotten complacent. I’ve heard you talking to Brothers from four different cities today. None of those cities got hit twice. The trolls are no longer going for the quick kill. They’re slowly bleeding their victims to death.
“You said it yourself; as long as a city is under threat the local paladin and Oath Brotherhood can’t send help to other cities. If multiple paladins and hundreds of Brothers banded together, the Jotunn would have a fair fight. The leader of the Jotunn is smart enough to realize fair fights are for losers.
“You brought up the possibility the Jotunn were breaking through thresholds by going berserk. Berserkers can’t think clearly enough to retreat. Up in Boise, three of the Jotunn died, but the rest retreated. To predict what the Jotunn will do we should
be looking at what they’ve been doing over the last year, and in the last year they’ve always attacked without warning.”
Stubbornly, Aidan shook his head. “I promised Paul, I’d protect his family. You made some good points Victor, but what happens if you’re wrong and the trolls attack tonight? There’s too much risk.”
Mina lifter her chin at the leprechaun, “So, if I refuse to go to Boise, are you going to force me up there against my will?”
It looked like Aidan had a million things he wanted to say to her. I could see him consider all those things, and decide against saying any of them as he met her stare. Finally, he spread his hands in defeat, and in an exhausted voice said, “No, lass, I’ll not.”
“Aidan, what if Mina and Ben stay here and Andi goes to Boise? Will that work?”
The leprechaun was about to answer when Andi broke in heatedly, “No way Victor! If Mina and Ben are staying, so am I.” She faced her brother and sister as they turned to her. “No way, forget about it, we can’t be separated.”
From the expressions on Mina’s and Ben’s face, they weren’t so sure. I didn’t have time to listen to them argue about Andi. “Sorry guys, but I need to ask Aidan a couple of questions now.” The Swensons turned on me like a pack of dogs on a strange mutt. Their wills merged and became one message, ‘Who the fuck are you to interrupt?’
My answer was as silent as their question, ‘The biggest, baddest alpha dog you’ll ever meet. You do not want to piss me off.’ I could tell they received my unspoken answer. They weren’t afraid or intimidated, but they became wary as they looked at each other in disbelief, wondering if they could trust what had just happened. As I turned away, I thought I saw Mina grin. “Aidan, is there any chance of us getting more AA-12 shotguns by tonight?”
He shook his head. “I modified Sanguinis by inputting specific dimensions into a spell. I could make an AA-12 by hand but it would take two weeks for each one.”
“How much ammo do we have?”
“The Thorgrins promised three thousand buckshot rounds by noon today, the rest will come over the next two days.”
“Good. I’m going to pick up some shotguns. I’ll let you guys figure out who’s going to stay or leave. Everyone who is staying in town needs to learn how to shoot, so meet me at the store at 1 PM. Aidan, that includes you and Tim.”
I walked out of the house before someone could ask me a question or offer to come along. I had had enough socializing.
Chapter 15: Run Away
I immediately drove to the closest Wal-Mart and used cash to buy a pre-paid cell phone. B said that I couldn’t ‘tell’ a lie but he also said the heavenly bureaucracy was filled with incompetents. It’s a rare bureaucrat that fixes a problem that isn’t in his face. I bet the paladin compulsions had been set before literacy was common—maybe before writing was invented. From what I had been able to gather, most paladins were tight-assed Dudley Do-Rights who would never dream of committing a crime or using a fake identity. I used one of my disposable identities, Max Luger, on the application for the phone. I didn’t vomit or even feel nauseated when I wrote his name. It looked like everything that wasn’t forbidden was permitted.
After I got back in my truck, while still in the parking lot, I dialed 1-777-451-7895 using the pre-paid cell.
“Yeah.”
I recognized Drew’s voice. I said, “Chris?”
“You got the wrong number.”
“Is your number 1-777-451-7995?”
“No, I’m at 7895.”
“Okay.”
I hung up the pre-paid cell phone and then used my phone to make a new email account at 451Chris7995@gmailcom. The password was Sirhc7995; Chris spelled backwards with the last four digits of the wrong phone number I had given Drew. After I created the account, I saved a draft copy of an email message that had the GPS coordinates of my house and the words, “Nineteen, need FA 50.” The Federal Government can read, filter, and analyze every email that goes through a US based server. Draft emails that aren’t sent can’t be intercepted.
Next, I used my phone to look up the numbers of every gun shop in the area. I had to call six stores before I found the two that carried the shotgun I wanted. The first store had three Mossberg 930 SPX Home Defense auto-loading shotguns in stock and the second had two. I could have waited to buy the guns until it was clear how many of the Swensons stayed. I thought the chances of any of the Swensons leaving were slim to none.
I got funny looks from the gun shop clerks when I bought all the Mossberg 930s they had, but they didn’t have a reason to refuse the sales. I also bought one thousand 12 gauge three-inch buckshot shells, a bunch of paper targets, six ear muffs and safety glasses, and five padded canvas bags to carry the shotguns. The ammo came in five cardboard cartons, and the clerk let me borrow a dolly to get it all out to my truck.
I had a half hour for lunch and was looking for a fast food place when I saw a sign for Chuck-A-Rama, an all-you-can-eat buffet. The name made me laugh, so I pulled into the parking lot. The food was exactly what you’d expect from the name. There are times when you just want the basics—a heap of meat, potatoes, and a few overcooked vegetables on the side. As usual since I’d become a paladin, I was starving. I wolfed down four plates of barbecued spareribs, Polish dogs in sauerkraut, and chuck wagon beans in twenty minutes, and then pulled out my phone and logged into the Gmail account I had created earlier. My draft email had been deleted and replaced with another, ‘1 1800.’ Drew was planning on arriving tomorrow at 6 PM.
I was putting my phone away when, from the corner of my eye, I saw a figure sitting across from me. Anyone good enough to sneak up on me was dangerous. My muscles tensed, ready for a fight until I realized it was B.
He guffawed, “A bit high-strung, Vic? For a second there, I thought you were going to piss your pants.”
A solid wood restaurant table, if used correctly, can be a deadly weapon. B was sitting across from me. I visualized flipping the table on its side and then using the full weight of my body to smash it into B’s head and upper chest. The trick is to knock your target flat on his back and then repetitively slam the edge of the table onto him until he’s unconscious or dead. I was sitting at a table built to sit two. It probably weighed forty pounds. I imagined the table smashing into his nose and his two small cheek bones. I could see the small, thin bones of his nose and cheeks implode. I imagined pulling the table back up again then aiming for his jaw; it would probably shatter into pieces. A couple of his perfect ivory teeth would embed themselves into the table edge. Finally, I’d slam the table onto his neck and crush his throat. The thought of standing over him watching him slowly suffocate made me smile.
B’s body language changed; he didn’t appear as relaxed but he still seemed amused. “Thinking about good times, Vic?”
Imagining what I wanted to do to him put me in a better mood, “Yeah, I am. So B, what brings you here?”
He lost his happy face and looked serious, “I just found out that a whole passel of shit is headed your way. If you don’t play it right, I’m headed back to the Eastern Front.”
I dropped my grin. This didn’t sound good. “How’s that bad for me?”
“I head back into combat when you’re dead.”
I met his eyes. “So, what’s up?”
“Heavenly politics—there’s a faction in the bureaucracy that wants Jehovah to stop playing defense. Bureaucracies are like septic tanks; the biggest globs always float to the top. There’s a war faction led by Samael, one of the biggest chunks in the Hosts of Heaven. He thinks it’s ridiculous that Jehovah isn’t taking over other dimensions. He wants to set up a hot war with another pantheon. Guess which?”
I sighed, “The Norse.”
“You got it. According to Samael, the Nordic Gods are a perfect target. They control eight dimensions, they don’t have that many troops, and they’re not united. Samael thinks Earth is getting overcrowded, so he wants to start a human breeding program in these other dimensions.”<
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B looked contemptuous. “The Jotunn didn’t get smart on their own. They were manipulated into forming a warband and they’re being fed intel. The trolls here are simple Mythic Heroes. They’re meant to be pawns and don’t know the rules of engagement. An argument could be made that by banding together as a group and taking on paladins with overwhelming force they’ve already broken the treaty between the Nordic Gods and Jehovah. In the last year, two paladins and hundreds of Oath Brothers have been killed in the Mountain West. If a few more paladins go down, things are going to get uglier, real fast.”
“Samael’s an archangel, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So are you. Can’t you intervene?”
B shook his head. He was a mirror image of me a minute ago. I could see him imagining something pleasant. “Back in the day before things got complicated, I could have bitch slapped him until he wised up. Angelic duels are now forbidden. You have to understand—pretty much every single believer in Jehovah, Yaweh, and Allah becomes an angel. One on one, I can take the prissy little girly-girl, but Samael has millions of angels that follow his orders.”
B’s feral grin turned pensive, almost nostalgic, “A couple thousand years ago I had more troops than he did. Now I have none. They’re all dead.” He shook his head almost as if he was shaking off his thoughts like a dog shakes off water, and resumed his customary amused expression, “I tried to set up a meeting with the son-of-a-bitch. His administrative assistant gave me an appointment ten years from now.”
“So what does this mean for me?”
“What this means is the Jotunn warband knows you ain’t got jackshit; they’re going to attack tonight. You stay with your current plan, you’re dead meat.”
Fuck! “And how do you know this?”
B put his hands up apologetically, “I got my sources.”