‘I’ll take care of that,’ Ceri said.
There was, indeed, a single man at the reception desk with his back to them. Ceri reached out to his mind as they approached, feeding what she wanted him to see into his perceptions and letting his own brain do the work. ‘Just keep walking,’ she said under her breath. Then, louder, ‘Goodnight, Sergeant.’
The soldier turned and nodded to them. ‘Goodnight, Major.’ Turning back to his desk, he started reading a newspaper again, and they walked out through the doors without him batting an eyelid.
Black Fields was not a typical army base, it seemed. At the end of the car park there was a single, unpaved road leading off into the distance over a long stretch of lawn. The only buildings they could see where the ones they had just walked out of; two storeys of offices. No one was in sight and they started walking down the road past a sign which stated that the grass was mined. A mile down the road was a guard post and gate, but the guards suddenly developed a nasty case of sleeping on the job before they spotted the three women in orange jumpsuits. Outside a huge, chain-link fence the land had been returned to nature, it seemed, with thick trees on all sides. A road, little more than a track, led through the trees into the distance.
‘Through the forest?’ Lily suggested.
Ceri nodded. ‘It’ll offer more cover.’ She looked up at the sky, but there was cloud and no way to judge direction. ‘We’ll stay close to the road until we find some sort of civilisation.’
It was even darker under the trees, but the trunks were far enough apart and there was not too much brush. They walked in silence, keeping the slightly brighter area which was the road on their left and just visible. They had gone a few hundred yards when Nita stopped suddenly, turning on the spot with her gun raised.
‘We’re not alone,’ she said, her voice low. There was a blur of movement and suddenly Nita’s gun was pointed upward. There was a click as the safety was engaged. And Nita was struggling in the arms of grey werewolf, his hand clamped over her mouth, while a second wolf slowly, but forcefully, removed the weapon.
Eight more wolves stepped out of the darkness, encircling them. Ceri’s eyes turned to just one, a black-fur. He would be the leader. As she watched he shifted, his human and wolf bodies occupying the same space for a fraction of a second before he was a tall, handsome, muscular man with long, black hair, and the skin and features of a Native American. ‘If your friend would like to calm down, we’re here to help,’ he said.
Ceri stepped forward a pace, looking him in the eye. ‘I’m Ceridwyn Brent, Guard of the Battersea pack in London.’
The man nodded. ‘I know who you are. I’m Kangee, Black Crow pack’s Guard Captain. I was sent to take you to Katarina, if you got out of there. Now, we don’t have much time. Take your clothes off and follow me.’
‘We’ve only just met,’ Ceri said, but she started unzipping her jumpsuit.
‘Are you crazy?’ Nita hissed. ‘It’s not much above freezing.’
‘It’s not far to the van,’ Kangee said. ‘They put tracking devices in the clothes. If you keep them on they’ll be all over us.’ Looking reluctant, Nita began to undress.
‘Who is Katarina?’ Ceri asked as she pulled off her shoes and wished she had her collar.
Kangee raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t heard of her. She’s Alexandra, your Alpha’s sister. Come on, we need to get moving.’
Her eyes wide, Ceri followed the man deeper into the trees.
Part Four: Black Crows
Black Crow Camp nr Sioux Falls, Tribal Territories, February 17th
It had taken almost twenty four hours to drive from Black Fields across what seemed like half of America. After two hours in the back of a van with no windows, Ceri had finally given up and asked if Nita knew how to cast sleep spells.
Gentle shaking pulled Ceri out of a dream where she was being chased across a wide, open plain by old, nineteen-thirties pick-up trucks with gnashing teeth for front grills. ‘We’re here, love,’ Lily’s voice said and Ceri opened her eyes to find a tired looking half-succubus looking down at her. ‘Blanket,’ Lily added, holding one up. ‘It’s not even vaguely warm.’
Pulling the blanket around her shoulders, Ceri shuffled to the open van doors and climbed out. ‘Where are we?’ They did seem to have come to a stop in the middle of nowhere, but instead of grassy plains they were surrounded by snow-covered grassland. Turning around slowly she spotted lights from what looked like a city to the north, and then the camp. ‘Oh wow,’ she said. ‘Real tepees. I mean… wow.’
‘This is Katarina’s camp,’ Kangee said as he rounded the van. He waved toward the lights in the north. ‘That’s Sioux Falls, but I don’t suppose that means much to you.’
Ceri smiled slightly. ‘Not a lot. American geography isn’t a major topic in British schools.’
‘We’re about ten miles over the border with US territory. How about that?’
There had been a world map at school with the boundary line on it. It ran almost due south from Lake Winnipeg to the southern edge of what had been South Dakota, then it bulged out a little to follow the old state boundaries. Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana still belonged to the States, everything to the west was tribal land. ‘It helps a little.’
‘Come on,’ Kangee said, ‘Katarina wants to see you. We’ve put your friend in a tepee for now. You can join her later.’ He turned without waiting for an answer and started through the conical, hide tents toward the middle of the camp where a large fire was blazing. There were various people gathered around it, some in wolf form, others human. Ceri was almost disappointed to see that they were all wearing modern clothing, where they were wearing anything. They did not stop there, however; walking to one of the nearby tents, Kangee pulled the flap aside and waved Ceri and Lily in.
Katarina could have been Alexandra’s twin. She had the same long, silver hair and the same features; youthful beauty holding its own against advancing age, but with the added hint of dignity that aging well brought. Alexandra, however, was usually seen in a long dress, and seeing Katarina in patched, blue jeans and a heavy, plaid shirt was a little incongruous. She had the same knowing smile though. ‘Welcome, Ceridwyn Brent and Lily Carpenter. I’ve been expecting you. Come, sit down.’
The centre of the floor was a fire pit, the smoke rising to vent through the top of the tepee. Ceri and Lily settled onto blankets placed around the edge of it. The warmth felt good as it began to seep into Ceri’s body. ‘Thank you,’ Ceri said. ‘Does Luperca whisper things in your ear too?’
Katarina nodded to Kangee as he settled down a little way back from the fire. ‘Some people tell me I can be a little annoying at times. When you went missing from your home and it was suspected by some that you had been brought here Alexandra asked the Goddess to request my help. There was only one place they could have been holding you so I dispatched Kangee and some of his Guards to watch for you. Luperca seemed to think you would find some way to get out.’
‘There was no way we could get into that place,’ Kangee said. ‘It’s too well defended and we had no way of knowing exactly where you were.’
Ceri nodded. ‘We’re grateful for the help. Can you get word to Alexandra that we’re safe?’
‘I’ll see to that shortly and we’ll arrange some clothes for the three of you in the morning.’ Katarina frowned slightly. ‘Who’s your friend? I was told there would be two.’
‘Nita,’ Ceri said. ‘We need to keep an eye on her. She’s CIA.’ Out of the corner of her eye, Ceri saw Kangee stiffen. ‘She was originally sent to try to get in with me and Lily, gather information. However… I think she’s been hung out to dry and I think she knows it. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to deal with her. We’ll see where her loyalties are now and go from there.’
Katarina nodded. ‘You must be tired. Kangee will take you to your tepee and we’ll talk in the morning. There’s a lot to discuss.’
Ceri was not tired, and that stateme
nt was not at all ominous, but Lily was looking paler than usual. ‘That would be good,’ she said, rising to her feet.
Lily leaned toward her as they walked to one of the tents on the outskirts of the camp. ‘I need to feed,’ she said, keeping her voice low.
‘I figured you might. I’ve just slept for a day, you can feed all you like.’ She giggled. ‘Besides, I’m getting kind of twitchy myself now the pressure’s off.’
‘Maybe we should gag you,’ Lily said thoughtfully. ‘There are probably people sleeping.’
‘I don’t…’ Then again, it felt like a week since she had last had sex, never mind what Lily was going to do to her. She was so going to scream. ‘Yeah, maybe you’re right.’
February 18th
‘It’s ironic,’ Katarina said, ‘that I left Europe to come here so that I could lead a more… traditional life and here I’ve become a major advocate for change in the tribal societies.’
‘Alexandra always seems to have been keen on relaxing traditions,’ Ceri said.
‘She has. It was our main bone of contention.’ The old woman smiled. ‘That was almost a century ago. The tribes are becoming… insular, their thinking holds to tradition like a crutch. The packs are no better. We are losing too many of our younger people to the “bright lights” across the border.’ Her grey eyes fell upon Nita who was sat a little further from the fire than Ceri and Lily. Kangee was sitting behind her, at her left shoulder. She looked nervous.
‘I’m half-breed,’ Nita said. ‘It didn’t help. That I inherited my grandmother’s ability with spirits didn’t help either. My family name is Greycloud, I changed it when I left.’
‘That’s the kind of prejudice I can do little about,’ Katrina said. ‘Most werewolves don’t worry too much about your parentage.’
‘You don’t have many browns?’ Ceri asked.
‘The packs over here kept extensively to the wilder areas before the Shattering. We’ve been a little inbred rather than mixing in more human blood. Once again, tradition has kept us from changing that.’ She smiled slightly. ‘On the bright side, there are fifty wolves in this camp and fifteen of them are black-furs.’
‘The Brecon pack has about half that,’ Lily said, ‘and they’ve the most I’ve ever seen.’
Katarina nodded. ‘It works both ways, of course. Hereditary diseases are beginning to have an effect on the population. The tribes are not much better, and they’ve become complacent. They’ve ignored the technology and magical developments in the east, believing they have superiority in magic and protection through their ancestral spirits. They believe their control of the Texas oil fields and other resources makes them invulnerable, rather than a target.’
‘So you believe Levy will start by attacking the tribal lands?’ Nita asked.
‘They’ll try to take the oil fields,’ Katarina replied. ‘You can’t run a war when you’re dependent on another nation for your fuel. We’ve heard they have weapons capable of taking on even ancient spirits. I believe that if they attack now, they’ll win. Even with the warnings we’ve been sending the tribes will be slow to move. It would take a major congregation of the tribes to do anything about it. Even an emergency one takes two weeks to get organised and the next scheduled one is in April.’
‘You’re asking for our help,’ Ceri said. ‘You need us to… discredit Levy, stop his plot.’
‘I realise it’s a lot to ask, but you come highly recommended.’ Katarina smiled broadly. ‘By a goddess, no less.’
Ceri sighed. ‘Oh great, no pressure… again.’
~~~
‘It’s… crazy, insane,’ Nita said. ‘Levy could never pull something like that off…’ She trailed off. She had not sounded very sure of herself when she had started.
Ceri looked at her from across their tent. ‘If it was just Levy I might agree, but he’s got… significant help.’
‘He’s always been very popular with the religious right,’ Nita said, frowning. ‘That’s why Wilson ran with him. He’s got a strong political base in the south, but the higher population density in the north, and the technology base there, means he has a big hurdle to get over to push an aggressive policy through.’
‘He’s dealing with Brazil,’ Ceri said, ‘and what he said about me being an abomination? He said his wife, Angelica, had told him. What he was referring to… there aren’t many people who know about it, and one of them is an angel named Gadriel who calls Brazil his home base at the moment.’
‘An angel? You’ve met… an angel.’
‘Several,’ Lily replied. ‘Most of them weren’t psychopaths and rapists.’
‘Gadriel was the angel who persuaded Eve that sin was the preferable option,’ Ceri said. ‘Some say he fell, fathered a bunch of monstrous children, taught Men the arts of war. He says he’s following God’s will. Either way, he helped a murderer kill witches just before Christmas. We were involved in bringing his accomplice to book, but he probably got away. He can take a lot of punishment.’
‘And Angelica Levy knows this Gadriel?’ Nita asked.
‘I thought there was something odd about her,’ Ceri said. ‘She’s solid too much to be an angel, but…’ She shook her head. ‘I’m not sure what she is, but I’m willing to bet she’s not human.’
‘And you think you can go up against that?’
‘We’ve done things just as stupid before,’ Lily said, ‘and we’re still here to do something stupid again.’
Nita looked down, her eyes flicking from side to side. She looked up again. ‘How can I help?’
Ceri sighed. ‘Much as I’d love to have a field-trained CIA operative on the team…’
‘CIA? What are you…’ Nita stopped, watching Ceri’s flat expression. She frowned. ‘How long’ve you known?’
‘For sure? Since we got you home.’ Ceri glanced at Lily. ‘We thought something was wrong when you came on to me at the Dragon.’
‘I can’t believe you don’t get propositioned enough to think it’s common,’ Nita said. ‘My briefing was that… well, it was a pretty sure thing I’d end up in exactly the situation I did.’
‘That’s because your intelligence sucks,’ Lily stated.
‘It was probably based a lot on what Levy and his allies got from Gadriel,’ Ceri said, ‘likely with some liberally applied lies. I don’t usually pick up strangers and invite them to the Saturday night threesome. I don’t usually pick up strangers, full stop. Hell, even Lily doesn’t do that anymore and she’s half succubus.’
‘So, basically, you’re saying you took me home to get information from me when I was supposed to be getting information about you.’ Ceri nodded. ‘Shit, I need to go back to the academy.’
‘You’re not equipped to go up against people who can read your desires and your thoughts,’ Ceri replied.
‘Well, I want to help. This isn’t what I signed up to. They conned me, told me they wanted to bring you in on the assassination charge. They thought you didn’t know about me and I could still get the information they wanted. I thought it was going wrong when that guy actually used that thing on me. They said it’d get your sympathy…’
‘It did,’ Ceri told her. ‘On the other hand I wasn’t sure you were really being tortured. I figured they wouldn’t be sick enough to do that to one of their own.’
‘Yeah, well I’m not one of their own, am I? After your confession they didn’t need to keep up the pretence. I heard Levy’s plan. He turned the cameras off so it wouldn’t be recorded. There’d have to be no witnesses.’ Her eyes dropped again.
Ceri looked at Lily, who gave her a short nod. ‘All right, let’s say I believe you. What’s the next move, Miss Intelligence Agent?’
‘Intelligence,’ Nita replied. ‘We need more of it. We need to know what the media is saying about the assassination. If Katarina has sources in the States then we need to know what they know.’
‘Research,’ Lily said. ‘That should get your vote, love.’
Ceri nodded. ‘Resear
ch it is.’
Sioux Falls
Somehow, the first city they went into in tribal territory was a little disappointing. There seemed to be very few Native Americans on Native American land. Most of the population looked white with a sprinkling of darker skins.
‘Most of the tribes live outside the cities,’ Kangee explained, ‘and there are plenty of non-tribesmen around to fill in the gaps.’ He turned the battered Ford sedan they had driven into town in into a parking lot and pulled up. ‘On the plus side, since most tribesmen and wolves don’t have Internet access, there’s a market for Internet cafés.’
The café was comfortable looking and the coffee smelled good. Ceri paused in the doorway and drew in a long breath through her nostrils. She turned to Kangee, smiling her sweetest smile. ‘Could I get a coffee?’
The big man chuckled, reached into his pocket, and handed her several bills. ‘Get what you like, but don’t forget to buy some time on one of the computers. I have to go make some phone calls.’ Turning, he headed back the way he had come leaving the girls to deal with their end of the research.
The computers which lined the walls were not exactly state of the art, but they functioned well enough for the job. Ceri left the keyboard to Nita; she was the local and knew what she was looking for. But after forty minutes of hunting through newspaper and TV sites, and even conspiracy sites, they had found absolutely nothing.
‘I can’t believe there isn’t anything,’ Nita said.
‘Maybe they’re waiting,’ Lily said. ‘If they gave their “evidence” to the President yesterday or the day before, they could still be planning how to handle it.’
Nita shook her head. ‘Wilson’s a decision maker. He wants all the facts he can get, but once he’s convinced he makes a choice and holds to it.’
‘So if he’s not convinced…’ Ceri mused.
‘It’s possible he thinks there’s something fishy about what they presented him with,’ Nita agreed. ‘If they clipped your confession out as a recording it sounds too trite. I think he’s bright enough to ask how they got it. He’s not the sort of man who’s into torture.’
Thaumatology 07 - Eagle's Shadow Page 13