“So paranoid, Kat,” he murmured.
I gave no answer but took the envelope and opened it. Inside was a bearer bond for one million United States dollars. I checked it carefully, but it wasn’t a forgery, and there were no poisons or tracking devices or other nasty little tricks.
“Given that you’re planning to overthrow the government,” I said, tucking the envelope away in my coat, “I don’t know what good this is. Maybe this isn’t sufficient restitution.”
“Oh, it is,” said Nicholas, “given that Lorenz failed abjectly in his objective of kidnapping your brother.” He grinned at Russell, who kept that blank look on his face. “Run back to Lord Morvilind if you want, Kat, and he’ll tell you the same thing that I just did. Between Lorenz’s death and the payment, sufficient restitution has been made to preserve the deal. I trust you understand?”
I did. And he was right, unfortunately. Still, there was one last trick I could try.
“Fine,” I said. “But I don’t suppose you’ve thought about where Lorenz got his money? All those orcish mercenaries I killed couldn’t have come cheap. Gosh, who would have the ability to channel that much money to Lorenz?” I made a show of tapping my forefinger against my lips. “Who is in charge of the Rebels’ money? If only I could remember. Some loser with an ugly face who couldn’t even get elected the governor of Minnesota…”
Hailey smirked, and the Russian guy chuckled.
“That is a ridiculous lie,” snarled Corbisher. “I had no knowledge of Lorenz’s plans or intentions. He told me that he needed to purchase additional armaments, and…”
“Sure,” I said. “You had no idea whatsoever. Just like you had no idea about the Rocky Mountain Mile or those anthrophages in Washington DC or…”
“I will not sit here and be denigrated by the likes of you,” said Corbisher.
“I think that’s quite enough from both of you,” said Nicholas. He smiled that cold smile at me. “And I think that Miss Moran will want to be on her best behavior this time. Why, we know about her family now, and it would be unfortunate…”
I summoned magical power and cast a spell, throwing a telekinetic push into one of the unoccupied tables. The table flipped over with a thunderous crash, silverware clanging and plates shattering. Nicholas stepped back, his hand snarling with purple-black fire. Corbisher leaped to his feet and started a similar spell, as did Hailey (I just had time to notice that she managed to keep her balance in four-inch heels). Swathe and the Russian guy stood and pointed guns at me.
Morelli kept eating calmly. It would have been funny under different circumstances. But he likely knew what I was doing.
Both Murdo and Russell had their guns out and pointed at the Rebels.
“Going to break Lord Morvilind’s deal, Kat?” said Nicholas, his voice soft. “It…”
“Shut the hell up and listen,” I said, making no effort to hide my anger. “I want you to get one thing through your skull, Nicky, and the dumbasses who work for you had better listen up. You know that fight we’re going to have? If you try to get at me through another person – my brother, my friends, some random person you grab off the street – then I am going after you. I’ve been playing nice with you assholes so far, but if you try to get at me through someone else, no more sweetness and light.”
“If you do that,” said Nicholas, “you will break Lord Morvilind’s deal with the Forerunner, and your brother will die of frostfever.”
“And if you try to attack me through someone else, then to hell with the deal,” I said. “To hell with the Forerunner, to hell with Morvilind, to hell with you. I will kill every single one of you I can catch, and I’ll tell the Inquisition every damned thing I know about you. Do I make myself clear, Nicky?” An inspiration came to me. “Lorenz and Vastarion tried to get at me through someone. You know what happened? Lorenz got shot to death. I blew off the top of Vastarion’s head, including that stupid hat of his. All those orcs and anthrophages? I mowed them down, and I’ll do the same to you. Hope you’re smart enough to learn from Lorenz’s example.”
The silence stretched on and on. Corbisher and Hailey and Swathe looked furious, though Hailey seemed a little frightened. She had seen into my mind, so she knew what I was really like. The big Russian man seemed amused. Nicholas’s expression was unreadable.
“Well, Murdo?” said Nicholas. “I think it’s clear you’ve chosen a side. What do you think?”
“Think it wouldn’t hurt for you to be polite and play fair,” said Murdo.
Morelli snorted. “That is what I have said. Many times.”
“Very well,” said Nicholas. He gestured, and the dark fire winked out around his hand. The tension drained out of the room. The others seated themselves, though Corbisher and Swathe and Hailey did not look happy. The Russian guy chuckled a little as he sat down, and I had the impression I knew him from somewhere, but I couldn’t place it. “Perhaps Murdo and Morelli are right. It does cost nothing to keep a civil air.”
I glanced at Murdo and Russell, and they put their guns away.
“Will you do the introductions, Miss Moran?” said Nicholas.
“Why bother?” I said. “You already know all three of us.”
His smile sharpened. “Is Mr. Moran incapable of speaking for himself? Or must his big sister fight all his battles for him?”
I glanced at Russell, worried that he would respond to the barb, but Russell only yawned and looked up at the ceiling. Nicholas’s lips thinned a little, but he turned back to me.
“I suppose you’ve told your brother all about us?” Nicholas said, sitting back down.
“Sure,” I said. I pointed at them. “Wannabe dictator, his psycho girlfriend, the failed wannabe governor of Minnesota, a guy who got kicked out of Homeland Security, and an assassin who was too ruthless for the mafia.”
“The proper title is the Men of Honor,” said Morelli. “The term ‘mafia’ is a vulgarization.”
“Right, those guys,” I said. “I don’t know your new Russian friend.”
“You don’t?” said Nicholas. “This is Leonid Rogomil.”
The recognition caught up with my brain. Sergei Rogomil had been one of Nicholas’s lieutenants, and he had launched the terrorist attack on Madison and helped facilitate the Archon attack on Milwaukee. I had foiled the first and stolen the Cruciform Eye that the Archons were using to power their rift ways to Earth.
In the process, I had also shot Sergei Rogomil to death.
Nicholas had never figured out that I was the one who had killed Sergei. But now that Nicholas knew I was from Milwaukee and that I was Morvilind’s shadow agent…he might be able to put two and two together.
Great.
“How about that,” I said. I walked to the other end of the table, Russell and Murdo following me. “Sergei had a brother. Surprised the two of you didn’t kill each other.”
Leonid smiled at me. His teeth were bright and white in his rough, craggy face. It made for an unsettling contrast with his shark-like black eyes. “Sergei was always too enthusiastic.” He spoke English with a thick Russian accent. “Always preferred the flash and bang. Me, I am a simple man.” He pointed a finger at me and mimed shooting a gun. “Better to shoot someone silently from a long distance. Much more efficient.”
I sat at the end of the table, Murdo sitting at my left, Russell at my right. That let me watch the Rebels, and it also let Murdo and Russell keep an eye on the main door and the door to the kitchens.
“And what skill set does Mr. Rogomil bring to your party?” I said.
“I am a financial analyst,” said Leonid.
Corbisher rolled his eyes.
“Really,” I said.
Leonid grinned, the dead eyes getting colder. “I am very good at liquidating things.”
Yeah. Financial analyst.
“The team needed someone to fill that role,” said Nicholas. “I had intended Mr. Murdo to play that part, but, well…he’s not really proven himself trustworthy.” He smil
ed at me. “You batted your eyes at him, Miss Moran, and he ran after you.”
I felt a twinge of fear. Not for myself, but for Murdo and his girlfriend. Murdo hadn’t told me all the details, but somehow Nicholas had a woman in his power that Murdo cared about. I don’t think Nicholas had figured it out yet, but when he did…
“As fun as it is to trade insults and threats all day,” I said, “maybe it’s time to get down to business.”
“I thought that myself,” said Morelli. “Ten minutes ago.”
“Very well,” said Nicholas. He leaned back in his chair and made a little steeple out of his fingers. When Corbisher did that, it made him look pompous. Or more pompous than usual, anyway. When Nicholas did that, he looked thoughtful. “Nadia Moran, under the terms of the Forerunner’s deal with Lord Kaethran Morvilind, I formally request you to steal the third item permitted in the agreement.”
I took a deep breath. “Fine. What do you want me to steal?”
Nicholas smiled. “The Sky Hammer.”
I didn’t say anything. Russell and Murdo shared a brief glance. I saw Hailey take note of it. Leonid smiled a little.
I remembered standing in that street outside the warehouse, looking at the surprise and alarm on Lorenz’s and Vastarion’s faces as their pet undead started talking about the Sky Hammer.
“All right,” I said. “The Sky Hammer. What the hell is the Sky Hammer?”
“You haven’t figured it out yet?” said Nicholas. “You’ve been very busy since last August. I thought you might have dug out the truth by now.”
“Busy?” I said. “I’ve been sitting on the couch in my sweatpants, eating potato chips and watching soap operas. I haven’t done an ounce of work since the Royal Bank.” I shrugged. “I know you love talking, Nicholas. Why don’t you tell me what the Sky Hammer is and where to find it?”
“How much have you learned about Jeremy Shane?” said Nicholas.
I shrugged. “Only what I’ve picked up from you over the last year. He was the last Secretary of Defense. After the High Queen wiped out the federal government on Conquest Day, Shane escaped and led a guerilla war against her for a couple of years. His own people assassinated him and tried to attack the High Queen. She responded with the Reaping and destroyed Chicago, St. Louis, and Baltimore, and history forgot all about him until you started trying to dig him up.”
“Mostly correct,” said Nicholas, his eyes growing distant. “Shane was a…genius, a tactician, a strategist. The United States fought several wars in some of the lands that make up the modern Caliphate, wars that were mostly unsuccessful. Shane was directly responsible for several of the successes the American forces enjoyed during those wars. Had he not been assassinated…history would have been very different, and you and I would not be having this conversation.”
“What’s that got to do with this Sky Hammer thing?” I said.
“Very little,” said Nicholas. “I’m digressing, I’m afraid. A danger of history. But to the point. In 2012, the last year before the Conquest, the United States had a presidential election. Both traditional parties ran candidates for office, but the federal government at the time was massively corrupt, and in the final six weeks before the election, information surfaced that crippled both candidates. At the last minute, a software billionaire named Walter Kerrigan announced his candidacy, and he squeaked out a victory.”
“That was the name of the President the High Queen executed in that video,” I said. “Kerrigan.”
Nicholas nodded. “Kerrigan planned drastic reforms of the United States’ government, and one of his first acts was to appoint Jeremy Shane as Secretary of Defense. As is so often the case, Shane’s successes had caused the military leadership to distrust him, and he was on the verge of resigning when Kerrigan made him the Secretary of Defense. That meant Shane could access all of the government’s military secrets, and what he learned shocked him.”
“Go on,” I said.
“The government had numerous secret weapons projects,” said Nicholas. “All of them funded off the books, and all of them illegal under both the laws of the United States and various international treaties. Many of them involved testing on live human subjects. Though as I’ve said, the government of the time was not concerned about legality, only about getting caught. Most of the government’s secret weapon projects were stored at a place called Last Judge Mountain. Operation Sky Hammer was one of those projects. Shane was horrified by what he discovered and planned to shut down the facility and expose it to the public. President Kerrigan supported him, figuring the scandal would be useful against his political enemies in Congress, many of whom had firsthand knowledge of those projects.”
“And then the Conquest happened,” I said.
“Yes,” said Nicholas. “Or it started, anyway. By good fortune, Shane was outside of Washington DC when the High Queen took the city, so he escaped her purge of the government. He organized the initial resistance against the Elves, and was preparing to use the Sky Hammer weapon against the High Queen when he was assassinated.”
“So what happened to Last Judge Mountain?” I said.
Nicholas smiled. “It was forgotten. You see, Kat, the High Queen was too ruthless for her own good. She killed everyone in Washington DC with knowledge of its location, and the records of its existence were destroyed in the fighting. Shane knew about it, but he was assassinated, and he had not shared its location with his organization. Or maybe he had, but the High Queen destroyed them before they could use the Sky Hammer. The High Queen made a point of placing every single nuclear bomb and weapon of mass destruction under her direct control, but she never found Last Judge Mountain. How could she, since she never even knew it existed and everyone who knew its location had been killed?”
I didn’t like this at all. Nicholas had found a storehouse of superweapons left over from before the Conquest? The Rebels’ destructiveness had been limited by the fact that they hadn’t been able to get their hands on any nuclear bombs. If Nicholas had possessed a nuke when I had first met him, not only would he have blown up that stadium, he would have turned Los Angeles to radioactive cinders.
“Let me guess,” I said. “Last Judge Mountain is somewhere in Nevada. You found its location on that flash drive we stole from the Royal Bank.”
“Correct,” said Nicholas.
“So,” I said. “Just what the hell is the Sky Hammer?”
“A weapon system stored inside Last Judge Mountain,” said Nicholas. “And you’re going to get it for me.”
I opened my mouth to make a smart remark, and then my brain started chewing over what he had just said.
Nicholas knew where to find Last Judge Mountain. He had admitted that it was in Nevada. So if he knew where the mountain was, and if he knew that the Sky Hammer was inside of it…then what the hell did he need me for?
Because involving me was a big risk to his plans. I mean, I was an excellent thief and a powerful wizard, but the minute I had fulfilled the terms of the deal, I was going to turn my abilities against Nicholas and the Rebels.
So why force me to help him? The same reason he had called to gloat that Lorenz had given him my true identity?
No, Nicholas wasn’t that stupid. He wasn’t infallible, as that phone call proved, but even the smartest men make mistakes. Once Nicholas knew where Last Judge Mountain was, the most logical next step was to simply take the Sky Hammer weapon himself. He didn’t even have to involve me. In fact, that was the best course of action available to him. Take the Sky Hammer and leave me in limbo, waiting for his phone call. Then continue with his plans and get around to killing me when a convenient opportunity presented itself.
Another thought occurred to me. We had robbed the Royal Bank on April 8th. That meant Nicholas had known the mountain’s location for nearly three months. Why hadn’t he claimed the Sky Hammer in that time?
Unless…
“Oh,” I said. “Oh, shit.”
Nicholas offered a thin smile.
&nbs
p; “What is it?” said Murdo.
“The reason Nicholas wants me to get the Sky Hammer for him,” I said, “is because he’s already tried, and he hasn’t been able to take it. Last Judge Mountain is defended, isn’t it?”
“In point of fact,” said Nicholas, “we have sent two teams into Last Judge Mountain. There were no survivors either time.”
I scowled. “I thought you said no one else knows about this place. Who’s defending it, then?”
“No one,” said Nicholas.
“No one?”
“The mountain’s automated defensive systems killed our teams,” said Nicholas.
“Automated?” I said. “That’s not possible. Last Judge was built three hundred years ago. More than three hundred years ago. Any machines would have stopped working. Or run out of gas or battery charge or whatever.”
“As I mentioned,” said Nicholas, “the Last Judge base was the US government’s secret weapons development facility. This included highly advanced technology that was never released to the general public. Technology, in fact, that is more advanced than what we have today. Some of it was capable of running without maintenance for centuries.”
“Great,” I said. “All right. I’m not just walking into Last Judge, though. I want maps. I want to know how your people died. And I’ll want to have a look at the place firsthand.”
“A sensible approach,” said Nicholas. “As it happens, it’s quite unnecessary.”
“And why is that?” I said.
“Because,” said Nicholas, “I know how to disarm the outer defenses.”
“That so?” I said. I noted that he had said the outer defenses. That, by definition, meant there would be inner defenses. Layers of them, probably.
“The outer defenses can be disarmed and access to the Last Judge facility gained by the use of a crystalline optoelectronic data rod,” said Nicholas.
I blinked. “Now you’re just making words up.”
“I am not,” said Nicholas. “This is one of the secret technologies that was used in the construction of the Last Judge facility. Optoelectronics are simply electronic devices that use and control light. Modern LEDs, for example, are a kind of optoelectronic device.”
Cloak Games: Last Judge Page 5