by Toby Tate
Although there was no mind reading between the Lilitu and their slaves, humans could be controlled by way of a parasitic creature excreted from Lilitu bodies through sweat, blood, or saliva. But their favorite way was to do it following a sexual encounter, when the victim was most relaxed and off-guard. The parasite worked like a one-way radio, sending thought transmissions to the victim, forcing them to do whatever the controller wished. It was perfect mind control. That is, unless a specific event or the performance of a task that was morally abhorrent to the subject triggered a strong memory. Complete recall could cause a violent shift in consciousness, like suddenly awaking from a nightmare, forcing the parasite to flee and then, having no human host from which to feed, die outside of the body.
That seemed to be what had happened here. Olivia couldn’t read Gabe’s thoughts, but she could sense that her psychic connection was broken, that she had regained her conscious will and destroyed the parasite. Olivia had informed David, and since there were no phones or radios allowed, in order to maintain their isolation, convinced him to send her to the compound. She actually hated the desert. It was hot, dry, desolate, and just a miserable place to be. But she did relish the thought of capturing the little CIA girl. Oh, what she would do to her. It made her tremble just thinking about it. That’s providing their hired help, Ethan, didn’t get to her first. If that was the case, she would have to settle for leftovers.
But Olivia sensed that Gabe was not an ordinary human. There was something…different…about her. She was more resourceful, more cunning than most. It was quite possible that Ethan would not survive the encounter. Then, it would be up to Olivia. That’s when the fun would really begin.
She stepped over Liam Anderson’s stiff carcass, trying to piece together what had happened. From the tracks she had seen outside, Liam had met Gabrielle at the outhouse and followed her inside. The outhouse had probably been where the creature had left her body, otherwise, he would have known about it. It was obvious he didn’t know, because now he was dead. They had come inside and Gabrielle somehow got hold of her knife without the big man seeing it, and then she took him out. Olivia had to admit to just a hint of admiration for a woman with that kind of prowess.
How very efficient.
As she scanned the back room, where the laptop and file area had been set up, she saw that the flash drive was gone and a number of files taken. That would put a crimp in their plans, but it wouldn’t do any permanent damage. Of course, if she were to get back to civilization…
Olivia took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and exhaled. She needed to think clearly and focus her mind on the task at hand. Find Gabrielle, bring her back if possible, kill her if necessary, and retrieve the files.
She grabbed the keys to the Land Rover and stepped outside into the rapidly approaching twilight. Darkness would be coming soon, and that would give her the advantage. Olivia and her kind could see in the dark like cats, and she also had a few more surprises in her repertoire. She would have Gabrielle confused and shaken to her core, and then she would close in for the kill. But it wasn’t a game of cat and mouse so much as a game of…cat and cat. Olivia smiled.
Time to clean my claws.
* * *
Ethan had been jogging for two hours straight. He was in exceptional shape—always had been. He could easily bench a hundred kilos without breaking a sweat, and had participated in the grueling Ironman Australia events for the past couple of years, which included a four-kilometer swim, a one-hundred-eighty-kilometer bicycle ride and a forty-two-kilometer run, all to be completed in less than seventeen hours. He could sure as hell handle this.
The sun was going down quickly. Soon it would be time to break out the night-vision goggles, which he was pretty sure Gabe didn’t have. If he was extremely lucky, he would be able to catch her sleeping, and then it would be all over but the dying.
Suddenly, up ahead in the distance, he saw something that could have been human, but he wasn’t sure. He stopped and took a moment to slow his breathing, then un-shouldered his backpack and weapon. He held up the carbine and peered through the high-powered scope. About a hundred meters away, next to a rocky outcropping, was someone in a pink t-shirt that looked to be hunched over, but he could only see them from the back. He could just make out some kind of hat, like a ball cap on top. With the sun nearly down, it was hard to see clearly.
Could this be some kind of ruse?
He lowered the gun and glanced around the desert. There was nothing but scrub and small bushes. Nowhere to hide, nowhere for an ambush. He looked down at the tracks. They seemed to lead straight to where the lone figure was sitting. He held up the gun and looked again. It had to be her. She seemed to be resting her head on her knees, probably thinking that any pursuers would still be far behind. Next to her on the ground was a backpack, the one she had taken from the compound. That would come in handy for his trip back, he thought. This was his lucky day.
He quietly knelt on the ground. There was still just enough light to see through the scope on his carbine. He lay on his back and rolled onto his stomach with the gun in place, like a sniper ready to take aim. He would shoot her in the shoulder and wound her just enough to keep her occupied with the pain and unable to defend herself while he did his business. His mouth began to salivate at the thought as he focused the woman in his sights and slowly eased his finger onto the trigger. He exhaled his breath slowly, taking into account the slight breeze and the distance from his target before beginning to squeeze the trigger.
But as Ethan stared through the scope, he thought that something about the target didn’t look right. Then he realized what it was.
There was a small, green leaf protruding from one side of the hat.
That was when he heard a voice say, “Surprise mate.”
He rolled over onto his back just in time to see a half-naked woman bring a rock down on his skull. Then, blackness.
Chapter twelve
Gabrielle, covered with dirt and wearing only a bra and panties, stood up straight, gazing down at her would-be assassin. She had hit upon the idea of a decoy after spotting the bush, realizing that it was her own approximate size. She had taken off her shirt and pants and partially stuffed them with desert grass, then used the bush to hold the shirt upright and placed the pants underneath with the ass on the ground. With her hat on top and slightly forward, it would look to someone far away as if she was resting on her knees with her back to them. To complete the scene, she put the backpack on the ground next to the dummy. She knew she had to act quickly, because there would still be enough light to see the ruse if they happened to look too closely, which this man had obviously done, since he had hesitated to shoot.
Once she had set up the decoy, she walked well out into the desert before coming in a hundred meters further back, which was where she figured her pursuer would probably stop, since the dummy was hidden by the rocky outcropping until that point. She used her knife and began to dig until she had created a shallow hole, then crawled in and covered herself with sand, dirt and scrub. She prayed that the hole didn’t end up being her grave.
Enduring crawling bugs and ants, she was fortunately forced to wait no more than half an hour before the mercenary made his appearance.
A lot could have gone wrong. If he would have decided to go a few meters north, he would have noticed the tracks circling back, and would have probably seen her lying camouflaged on the ground, as well. But fate had been on her side.
She crouched down and grabbed the man’s backpack, began to rummage through it.
I see you came prepared, mate.
There was much she could use. A flare gun, a few packs of freeze dried MREs, or meals ready to eat, more water, a first-aid kit, some protein bars, ammo for the guns, a flashlight—she would probably combine the best from this pack and her pack together.
She reached over and grabbed the AICW, looked through the scope.
Nice. This will definitely come in handy.
She knew t
hat this man wouldn’t be the last to come after her. They would send one of their own. And those people, if you could call them people, didn’t play by the rules of combat, or by the laws of physics, for that matter. They were smart, dangerous, and ruthless.
She pulled off the mercenary’s camo shirt, took his sidearm and holster, picked up the carbine and threw the backpack over her shoulder, and then headed back to the outcropping to get her rope.
* * *
Gabe sat in the dirt, smacking the man’s face until he eventually came to. He blinked his eyes through a stream of blood that ran down from his injured forehead and groaned as he sat up and leaned back against the rocks. She had bound his arms behind his back and bound his legs, then took his boots to prevent him from getting any ideas about trying to run. He glanced up at her and she saw no fear in his eyes, only contempt.
“What’s your name?” she asked him.
“Puddin’ Tame,” he spat.
“Right. You’re tough and mean and whatever else. But just remember, a woman did this to you. Do you really want that getting out?”
“How the hell did you—?” he began.
She cut him off. “Easy. I buried myself in the ground and waited.” She reached down and pulled the war sword from her hip, thumbed the blade as she stared down at it. “So now, Puddin’ Tame, I just need you to give me a reason to let you live.”
Gabe could feel his eyes on her, knew that he was thinking it over. She was sure he was picturing his friend back at the compound and imagining the same fate for himself. She glanced up at him, flipping the knife in her hand, handle over blade.
“Ethan,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“That’s my name. Ethan.”
All bravado was gone from his voice. Apparently Ethan was now ready to talk.
“So tell me, what was I doing here in the bush with you blokes? Just tell me it wasn’t something perverted.”
The prisoner smiled dolefully as he eyed her up and down. “No, but it would have been fun. Especially for you.”
Fast as lightning, Gabe jabbed the blade into the prisoner’s pectoral muscle, just enough to break the skin. He winced in pain. “Look,” she said, “I want to get through this without cutting your heart out, I really do. But I need to know what the fuck I’ve been doing here in this godforsaken desert for four months.”
“Alright, just keep that damn knife away from me.”
She backed the blade away and the big man sighed and shook his head. “Look, all I know is we were supposed to make sure you stayed compliant and kept workin’ on that computer. We were supposed to let them know if you started looking sick, or leaking any white shit out of your pores. They didn’t tell us why and I didn’t ask. They were payin’ big money.”
“So you’re just a whore, then.”
A flash of anger flickered through his eyes. “You don’t know who you’re dealin’ with. These people have some kind of weird power—I could see it in their eyes. They ain’t human. These aren’t the kind of people you want to piss off or say ‘no’ to.”
“So that’s all you know? They just hired you to make sure I stayed out here at my post?”
“That’s about it.”
“Where did you meet them?”
“In Sydney.”
“Was it the World Tower?”
He nodded.
“What did they tell you?”
“They said they had a job for me, no questions asked. When they told me how much they were payin’, I took it. I can’t get that kind of money as a contractor. It was too good to pass up.”
Gabe stood up, stuck the blade back in its sheath. “Almost makes me feel sorry for you.”
“What are you gonna do, just leave me here?”
“Yeah. And if I catch you following me, I’ll cut your balls off.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes at her, but said nothing.
“I don’t think your friends are going to be as understanding as I am,” she continued, shouldering the backpack and the rifle. “So if I were you, I’d get those ropes off, find my boots and my backpack and blow out of here.”
“Hey, who the hell are you, anyway?” he asked.
“Just a woman who wants to be left alone,” she said as she walked off into the desert.
Chapter thirteen
The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” blared out of the Rover’s stereo as Olivia drove off-road through the desert. The sun was down and darkness crept over the outback like a black tide. She drove with her headlights off—she could see everything and there was no need to announce her approach. She had found tracks left by Gabrielle and Ethan outside the compound and saw that they were traveling east toward the coast. Every few minutes she stopped and made sure the tracks were still there. She figured by the state of the corpse back at the compound that she was no more than a few hours behind Gabrielle, and was quickly making up for lost time, although she was getting jostled from driving on the rough terrain. A few more kilometers and she would have to leave the Rover behind and travel by foot to maintain her stealth.
As she drove, she spotted something off to her left—a pack of dingoes. They were clawing and ripping pieces off of a lump on the ground. Probably a dead rabbit, but she had to be sure. She stopped the vehicle and stepped out. The dingoes, no more than a few meters away, eyed her warily. Normally, they would run off, but they weren’t easily frightened when they had a fresh kill. Olivia glared back at them, a low rumbling growl rising in her chest.
One by one, the dogs turned and slinked off into the darkness.
Olivia moved in to get a closer look. It wasn’t an animal—it was a pack of MREs. She glanced over at a nearby rocky outcropping. There were fresh footprints in the dirt all around. She walked closer and saw what looked like blood in the dirt. Someone had been lying here, bleeding.
Instantly, she knew what had happened. Ethan had been ambushed and interrogated. Then, she had let him go. The dingoes had been sniffing around, so he tossed the MREs to keep them occupied and off his trail.
So, she let her prisoner go. Seems she had a heart, after all.
How disappointing.
She was right to let him go—Olivia would have gutted him. She had probably taken Ethan’s guns and ammo, as well. So, now the CIA girl was armed and dangerous. Well, that made the odds a little more even, at least, although weapons would do nothing to stop Olivia. Maybe it would serve to give Gabrielle a little comfort.
She glanced toward the east and saw nothing but more desert scrub. One big advantage that Olivia had, besides the fact she could see in the dark, was that she needed very little food, water, or sleep. She would continue on through the night until she caught up to her quarry. Gabrielle had been trekking for hours, and would have to sleep sometime soon. That would be her undoing.
Olivia walked back to the vehicle, took the keys out and locked it. From here on out she would be on foot.
* * *
A quarter moon rose over the horizon, its dim light making the landscape barely visible. Gabe had been hauling ass across the desert for nearly ten hours now, and might have covered twenty or thirty klicks. Not bad, but not great, either. At some point, she would have to stop, whether she wanted to or not. It would do her no good to exhaust herself, especially if she ended up in combat again. She needed to find a place to sleep, something she could defend. A few meters ahead she spotted another rocky outcropping. There were always plenty of rocks in the outback, especially near the hills. They needed to be approached with caution, however, because they were the favorite hangouts of kangaroos and dingoes.
Gabe was reluctant to use her flashlight, in case she was being followed. The fewer things she did to give away her position, the better. She knew that the mercenary had probably been an expert tracker, but their employers weren’t. What they did have was an uncanny ability to see in the dark. If they were able to find a source of radiation, such as enriched uranium, and come into direct contact with it, they could do things e
ven more frightening, like see through solid objects.
Thoughts of Lilith and all that had transpired aboard the navy ship just a few short months ago materialized in her mind like the memories of a bad dream. Lilith had descended into the bowels of the ship and somehow touched the solid nuclear fuel that powered the carrier. Instead of dying from radiation poisoning, as a human would have done, she was transformed over the course of a few days into a beast more cunning and ferocious than any predator on earth. She also became pregnant.
Gabe shivered just thinking about it. Now, one of those things would be after her, and even though it would still be in human form, it would be more formidable and dangerous than any mercenary.
She tried to remember, think back to before she was brought to the compound. There was a man named David, and several others that had come into the room just before she kneed one of the bastards in the nuts and broke his nose. Then, that blonde woman had kissed her.
Probably the biggest thrill of her life.
That was the last thing Gabe remembered. The next thing she knew, she was in an outhouse in the middle of the desert with one of those parasites coming out of her body.
She stopped at the rocks and looked them over. There was an indentation like a small cave, big enough for her to crawl into. She slid off the backpack and grabbed the AICW. She slid the M9 bayonet out of its ankle sheath and fixed it to the end of the carbine, then stuck the end slowly into the opening and poked around. When nothing jumped out, she figured it was safe. Hopefully, there were no spiders in there. Snakes she could deal with, but she friggin’ hated spiders, and Australia had some of the most deadly.