The Seal of Solomon
Page 25
He swallowed and looked at her. She was irate. Her nostrils were flaring and her eyes wide. “You're right. I have to let it go. I think somewhere deep down I still have issues with what happened. I'm sorry. Let's go as soon as we do some research and try to get an idea of what we're up against,” he told her.
She calmed a bit at that. “Say that again,” she said.
“Umm...okay. Let's go as soon as we do some research and try to get an idea of what we're up against,” he told repeated.
She laughed at him. “Not that. The part about me being right.”
He smiled at her. “You're right. You're always right. Let's go to Hawaii.”
“Pack an extra bag because after we finish this hunt we're spending some time on the beach,” she said with a smile.
“So why do they call you Crusader?” asked Chelsea.
“I'll save that story for another time,” he replied.
#
The two of them sat in a data room with Bethany. She was helping them speed up the research.
“We've narrowed it down to an incubus or succubus,” Bethany said.
“They drain life energy, not bodily fluids,” Sebastian replied.
“Not always. Some of the old lore describes them as almost vampiric. The lore on many fey is anything but complete. The Warden records don't start until the Dark Ages and that was after the Seal. Most pre-Seal lore is from sparsely written references, most of which can never be verified. We really can't say for sure what some fey can do with their magic intact,” Bethany told them.
“That's true. We'll have to play this one by ear. Whatever it is, it either looks human or can hide well. This isn't an isolated area, this is a busy transport depot, so we'll have to be very careful,” Chelsea replied.
“Let's take Trish and Xavier. They're both good and we might need the backup,” Sebastian told them.
“What about Ra or Merlin?” Chelsea asked.
“Impossible. Wardens are cleared for GloCom base access under limited circumstances, but the Masters are not officially Wardens. For that matter, they're not even documentable citizens of UniGov. There's no way GloCom will let them on a base even with us as an escort,” Sebastian told them.
“We need to modernize those two,” Chelsea replied. “Let's do it then. I'll let Trish and Xavier know.”
“Let's do it,” he said.
#
The shuttle touched down on one of the landing pads at the Maui relief station.
A person wearing the rank of a Major General escorted by another officer and armed infantry approached the Wardens as they disembarked.
“Major General, thank you for seeing us on short notice. I'm Sir Sebastian. This is Lady Chelsea, Lady Trish, and Sir Xavier. We hear you have a possible fey issue,” Coordinator Sebastian said.
“We didn't ask for your help but since you're here, might as well have a look at what's going on. I'll have an escort assigned to you,” the commander told them.
“I would like to request Lt. Bobby Mavis as our escort if that's okay of course,” Coordinator Sebastian said.
“Mavis is a logistics officer. Why would you want him?” Lt Jones, the Major's second, asked.
“I know him. I would prefer a familiar face,” the Coordinator replied.
“It's a bit irregular but I see no harm in it. Lt. Jones take the escort and go find Lt. Mavis and have him report to my office,” the Major General told his second.
“Sir, the escort should remain with you,” the woman replied.
“I think I'm safe with Wardens. Do I need to repeat myself?” her CO asked.
“No, sir. Right away sir,” Lt. Jones replied and left with the rest of the troops.
“Now that they're gone, how the Hell have you been, Brother Crusader?” the Commander asked as the two shook hands vigorously.
“It's been an interesting few years, Brother Mason. It's good to see a friendly face,” Sebastian replied.
“Let's talk more in my office,” the Commander said and led them into the base.
#
Major General Willis was regaling the group with stories of the Elite Corps while they waited for Lt. Stone.
“And then Brother Gun grabbed that heavy plasma cannon and charged into the factory. He should have been killed on the spot, but I think the ALF was caught so much off guard they didn't know how to react seeing a man his size charge at them with a heavy plasma cannon most men couldn't even lift,” Brother Mason told them.
“I still remember him yelling out his body count as he ran through and punched a hole for the rest of us,” Sebastian said with a laugh.
“That man was certifiable,” said a man as he entered the office.
“Brother Stone, good of you to finally join us. What's it been? Five, six years and you still haven't managed to be on time for something,” Sebastian said.
“Hey! It's not my fault I'm a busy guy,” the man replied.
Sebastian introduced his group to the man. He was a little below average height with light ebony skin. He wasn't as broad as some men but was toned and in good shape. His long hair was held in a single braid that stretched almost to his waist.
“Looks like they finally made you an officer. Took them long enough,” Sebastian said.
“Brother Mason had a moment of weakness when he recommended me for the promotion. I'm sure he'll knock me back down to non-com soon enough,” Bobby said with a laugh.
“I've never had a moment of weakness in my life. The day I die it will take an army of reapers to take me. The Monks are anything but weak,” the CO replied.
“I have a question,” Chelsea said. “How did you get the names Brothers Mason, Stone and Crusader? I asked him, but he just deflected it,” she said motioning to Sebastian.
“That's not important,” Sebastian said.
“The Hell it isn't. You were part of the Elite Corps. Be proud of it, son. We all earned our names. They call me Mason because when these little shits came to me they were unworked marble. I was the sculptor that carved them into the works of art they became. They wanted to call me the artist or some bullshit like that but I'm a working man, not some dainty artiste. Bobby got his name because of how he fights. He doesn't have the size or bulk of a lot of men, but he hits twice as hard and can take a mule kick to the face and not go down. He's like punching a slab of granite and has fists made of concrete. Don't even get near his feet if he starts that dancing kung fu shit he is so fond of. Crusader here? He was always about saving people and fighting for what's right. You don't know how many times we had to listen to his monologues on how we fought for the people and not for ourselves. By the time we were decommissioned, he had more medals than the rest of the unit combined, including me. It was no surprise when he went into the officers' academy,” Mason told her.
“That certainly sounds like the Sebastian we know,” laughed Trish and Sebastian blushed.
A comm panel on Mason's desk beeped and the man walked over and looked at it. “I hate to break up this reunion, but I don't have a lot of time. I have a busy base to run. I'll make access to everything we have on the deaths made available and whatever else you need. I would already have contacted the Wardens, but some decisions are made above me and it rolls down. GloCom likes its bureaucracy,” Mason told them.
“They also like to cover up things,” Chelsea said looking at Sebastian.
Mason and Sebastian looked at her with a cold stare but said nothing.
“Did the temperature just drop?” Xavier asked breaking the uncomfortable silence.
“Let's get to work,” Sebastian told them.
The group spent the next couple of hours going over the available evidence on the attacks. It wasn't much. An eighth body had been found, the same as the others. Each body was completely desiccated. The bodies were found in random locations, always in isolated places like storage rooms. The time of death was always placed at night. There was no pattern to the bodies other than the cause of death being near total desiccation.<
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“Whatever is doing it has knowledge of the base. They're avoiding high traffic areas, cameras are not catching anything and they're doing a good job of staying hidden,” remarked Trish.
“We still can't even be sure it's a fey. This really could be an unknown pathogen but not likely. Their reports show no sign of a contagion of any kind and there is no evidence of infection, bacteria or other cause at any of the scenes,” Xavier said.
“So, we have a killer with no predictable pattern of kills. The only thing that is consistent is every three days which puts its next kill tomorrow night. That points more to a succubus or incubus. Life feeders would need frequent kills,” Xavier said.
“The kill method is still not consistent with their pattern. They don't need to kill their victims and they often drain them during sex. They seem to prefer the energy they get from heightened states of arousal. We have reports of one living off a village for years without killing anyone by taking small amounts. There are even reports of symbiotic relationships in days long past where the creature protected the village in return for the locals providing small amounts of energy from each of them. This doesn't fit the pattern of an incubus,” Chelsea said.
Sebastian was quiet. He was watching surveillance recordings from all the cameras in the areas of the kills. They were looping on the monitor in front of him.
“What about some kind of vampire? They drain blood, maybe there is some type that drains other body fluids,” Trish said.
“No bite marks,” Xavier replied. “No wounds of any kind. Even the blood is still there, at least the solid parts of it.”
“So, the only thing we know is that we have something that drains a body and completely desiccates it once every three days. I think we have this wrapped up,” Trish said trying to inject some humor into an otherwise humorless room.
“There,” Sebastian said.
“Excuse me?” asked Xavier.
“There. The security camera caught something,” Sebastian replied as he played a few seconds of a recording over and over.
“I don't see anything. That's just an empty hallway,” Trish replied.
“I think you've been staring at that screen too long,” Xavier said.
Chelsea looked at the screen. She stared at it with Sebastian.
“I see it. It's almost imperceptible,” she said.
“See what?” asked Bobby.
“Watch here,” Sebastian said as he pointed at a stack of crates on the video.
“I still don't see it,” Trish said.
Sebastian zoomed in the image and slowed it down.
“Watch. Right here on the corner of the crate. There is a light shadow passing over it and then the crate moves slightly,” he said.
“I still don't see anything.... wait...I see it!” Trish said.
“Is it something invisible?” asked Xavier.
“Either that, it can otherwise not show up on a camera or altered video. Whatever passed through that hallway bumped that crate. Bobby, do you have people here capable of gathering and testing genetic samples? Maybe we can get lucky and some skin cells were left if the crates are still there,” asked Sebastian.
“I don't know. I'll have to ask. Give me a few minutes,” Bobby said as he took out his comm.
The group continued to go over the film and with an enhancement to the image, they found small, minor traces showing the recording had been digitally altered to remove someone but whoever doctored it missed the small fragment of shadow and bumping of the crate. They had two seconds of film with almost nothing on it, but it was all they had.
Bobby spoke to someone at length then came back to the group. “We don't have anyone on site but they're bringing in a specialist team. It will take a few hours for them to prep their equipment and get here and more time to investigate. In the meantime, there is nothing you can do but wait.”
“We're booked at a hotel in Maui. Can you let us know the moment you get anything and if you have time, come by? We should catch up when you're off duty,” Sebastian told him. “Bring Pat if you can. I'd love to catch up.”
“I'll try. It's busy here with the relief efforts ongoing and they have Pat's unit flying shuttles out of Heathrow with relief drops. Most of us work double shifts trying to keep this place moving. A lot of people need help right now,” Bobby replied.
“I know, Brother Stone. We're doing our best to find whoever was behind this and keep the worst of it at bay. There are things out there you can't imagine since the Cataclysm,” Sebastian told him.
“I'll make the time to come and see you. I've earned a few hours of downtime. I'm sure Mason will be okay with it,” Bobby told him.
“Say when and where, Brother Stone and I'll be there,” Sebastian told him, and the group left.
#
The Wardens checked into their hotel. They had adjoining suites with a common area between them.
“We have some time to burn, what do you want to do?” Xavier asked the group.
“Do you even have to ask that? We're going to hit the beach!” Trish said excitedly.
“We?” Xavier asked.
“We,” she told Xavier.
“You two want to join us?” she asked Sebastian and Chelsea.
“I'm going to pass. I want to relax. I think I want to just sit out on the balcony and watch the waves,” Sebastian replied.
“That does sound like a good idea. We've been on the go so much lately a little bit of just sitting around sounds like the best thing in the world,” Chelsea replied.
“Okay you two, see you later,” Trish said as she said then turned to Xavier. “You. Room. Naked. You have ten seconds.” Trish smacked him on the ass he started through the door and the two of them entered their room.
“I didn't know they were a couple,” Sebastian said to Chelsea.
“They're not. They're just good friends who occasionally sleep together,” she said as she walked over to their door and put her ear to it then giggled.
Sebastian didn't need to listen at the door to know why Chelsea was giggling. Xavier and Trish were not quiet.
They walked back into their own suite.
“Let's check out that hot tub before we go outside,” she said and started to strip down.
He did the same then got into the hot tub while she was putting her hair up. She walked into the hot tub and stood over to him and slowly lowered herself down. She rode him slowly and gently as the two mad passionate love and let the relaxation of the hot water overtake them.
#
Later that evening, the four Wardens met with Bobby and another man in the hotel's restaurant.
“Pat, how have you been? I haven't seen you since you the Monks were disbanded,” Sebastian said to the other man and they hugged.
“Sebastian! How are the Wardens treating you? If they give you any problems, you let me know and I'll bring my dragonfly around and light up that tower,” Pat said with a laugh.
“Pat, this is Chelsea, Sebastian's fiancé and two of their fellow Wardens, Trish and Xavier. Everyone, this is my husband Patrick, but he goes by Pat. He's a dragonfly pilot stationed at the Heathrow flight base.”
“Any friend of Sebastian's is a friend of mine,” Chelsea said.
“She means a friend of ours,” Xavier said.
“Dragonfly pilot? That's intense. I applied to flight training when I was in GloCom but didn't like the G-forces,” Trish replied as the waiter seated them and gave them menus.
“You were in GloCom? Where at?” Bobby asked.
“I was a munitions specialist stationed mostly at Moscow,” she replied.
“Why did you leave? If you don't mind me asking of course,” Pat said.
“It was boring. With no wars in decades and most of the action against the ALF handled by either infantry or air, wasn't much for a sapper to do since the ALF doesn't generally have fixed bases. I joined the Wardens in their R&D division specializing in weapons research then moved to field work,” Trish replied.
“It's quite all right, mate. I'm just happy to be sitting with people from GloCom who aren't treating us like the enemy,” Xavier replied.
“We don't all hate the Wardens. We each have our roles to play in keeping the world safe. We do our part and you do yours and if a few people at the top don't like it, that's their problem,” Pat replied.
“I like you. You're not what I expected from military people. I expected you to sit down and deflect every subject with I'm sorry but that's classified like Sebastian does all the time,” Chelsea said with a laugh.
“I do not. There are some things I'm not able to discuss in public, but I have no secrets from you and you know that” he said. “Classified be damned I'm not keeping secrets from the most important person in the world.”
“Ah, isn't that sweet, Bobby?” Pat said laughing.
“Isn't it though. I think my blood sugar is rising just from looking at those two,” Bobby replied.
“Laugh it up. You both know lunar ops is classified and leaving GloCom doesn't change my oath. We're only as good as our word and I gave mine to uphold that oath,” Sebastian replied.
“See, Pat. I told you. He's still the Crusader,” Bobby said to Pat.
“He always will be. We can't change who we are,” Pat said.