Miller was shocked to watch the bullets spark and ricochet off the front windshield of the modified bread truck. He was not expecting armor or bullet-proof glass, and he was beginning to get a bad feeling about this attack.
Just as Miller motioned for Bill to go around the other side of the truck, both rear doors sprang open, and the ZT leader watched them swing wide to provide cover. He was trying to figure out what he would do when he heard a rattling roar of a full-auto shotgun. Bill disappeared in a spray of flesh and blood. Staring in horror, the shaken leader of Zero Tolerance almost missed the figure leaping over the truck.
The man tried to raise his rifle as a figure hurled straight up and over the tall DHS truck. He was too slow as the figure landed on the short angle of the hood and then leapt straight at him. He registered the wild flying hair and the diminutive stature as the creature slammed into his chest, driving him to the ground. He never recognized the small fist that hit him in the nose, breaking his nose and driving his head back into the driveway with a solid thump.
WHEN THE EXPLOSIONS had gone off outside the compound, the Queen and her guards had tensed and begun to look around her throne room. The Queen's Knight had quickly walked to the double doors of the receiving hall and had stood in front of them. The Queen's pixie Handmaidens had started flying in a much more randomized pattern, maintaining a menacing bubble about six feet around their Queen.
Ghost nodded to himself when he received the message from Heavy. He turned to the Seelie Queen and bowed, "Your Majesty, my team has informed me that intruders have entered your house. May we defend Your Majesty?"
Her smile seemed sincere, "Jonas Vanhof, we do not need human defense. We would request that your group stays to the side and let our Knight and our Handmaidens do what they will."
The federal agent shrugged and ushered the team over to the side of the room as the rattle of gunfire erupted outside the doors. The hail of gunfire died down, then two individual reports rang out. The handle of the door rattled, then both doors were pushed open.
The doors flew open mere inches from the Knight's nose, but he was already lunging forward with his sword drawn. The man who opened the doors took the blade through the chest as if he was a human kabob.
The Knight's lunge was a classic pose, and the elf held it for a few long seconds while his victim figured out that his life was draining away very quickly. The human on the end of the blade crumpled as the elf withdrew it. Two shots rang out, and the elven warrior stumbled and fell.
The human who shot the Knight rushed into the room and pointed his rifle at the Queen. A cruel smile played over his lips as his finger twitched.
Ghost was not sure what happened next. It would take some time to sort out exactly what he witnessed, and even then he was never really sure. He saw two light trails as the sprites in front of the Queen dove at the intruder. In the span of a thought, several small and large cuts appeared on the intruder's hands, neck and face, and the four fingers and the thumb holding the pistol grip of the rifle were suddenly falling to the ground.
The other four winged creatures blurred toward the intruder, and the attack was suddenly finished. Six light trails whirred briefly around the upper torso of the attacker known as Smitty, and hundreds of cuts opened up all over his face, neck, scalp, arms, and hands. One moment the attacker was pointing his rifle at the queen, and the next moment saw the rifle falling from fingerless hands and an amazing amount of blood flowing from the upper torso of the man called Smitty.
The lifeless body fell to the ground and the pixies once again took up their station around their Queen. The Seelie monarch was concerned with the blood spreading from her Knight, and she ignored the lifeless heap in front of her as she stepped to his side.
Doc quickly stepped out, "I'm a doctor, can I approach to help him, Your Majesty?" The queen nodded.
Realizing the sprites were still on edge, the priest carefully, deliberately went to look at the Knight. As she knelt, she saw the bullet wounds in the right arm and right shoulder of the tall elf. Both wounds were bleeding, and the Tó Coferal was becoming pale.
She quickly donned gloves and then broke out other parts of the first aid kit she was handed. She applied bandages to the elf's shoulder wound first. She placed pressure over the entrance wound and then lifted him slightly. The priest looked and felt for an exit wound. She found it. The bullet had passed clean through the elf's shoulder, and she could patch the holes.
Once the shoulder was bandaged, Doc looked at the arm wound. There was no exit wound that she could find. She realized that the bullet must have struck the bone, and likely broke or fractured the arm. This also absorbed the bullet's energy, not allowing the round to exit from the body. As she watched, the wound started smoking.
She gasped, "The bullet's still in there. His arm feels broken, and the wound is smoking. They must be using steel or iron bullets. You might want to warn the rest of your people, Your Majesty."
She pulled a small scalpel out of her kit and said, "I need several water bottles. If we don't get this soon, he will die."
The Queen pointed to one of the other elves in the room, and they went to fulfill the request. She then motioned for a sprite to approach and spoke to it in a low murmur. It flew off, a blur of light leading out of the door.
The elf attendant soon returned with a case of bottled water and set it down near Doc. Kneeling, the attendant opened the case, opened a bottle of water, and handed it to the priest. She smiled and thanked him. Doc poured the water over the wound to clean it. Finding the small hole, she opened it a bit wider, and stuck two gloved fingers into the small wound. After digging around in the wound for a few long seconds, she found the bullet, and pulled it out, dropping it on the ground beside her.
She dumped more water into the wound to clean it and then looked for any major bleeding. Finding none, she bound the wound, and finished by closing up the elf's arm with some rudimentary stitches. She then bowed her head and muttered a few words in Latin, made the signs of the cross over the wounded elf, and gave a quiet, "Amen." Doc sat up and stretched, sighing as her back and bones creaked. It had only been ten minutes, but it had been a stressful ten minutes.
She stood and turned to the Queen of the Seelie Court, "It is done, Your Majesty. I pulled out the bullet, and it appears to be steel. Your Knight should recover."
The Queen nodded, "Thank you, Doctor Sorenson, for saving my Knight."
"I hate to interrupt, Your Majesty." Ghost cleared his throat. "I need to contact my team outside, and our command center to let them know what is happening. By your leave?" The Queen nodded.
The federal agent slowly reached into his coat and pulled out his SSP. He dialed Heavy's phone first, and the big agent answered on the first ring, "Yea, boss?"
"Sitrep." Ghost heard gunfire in the background.
"Two tangos out here. One DOA, and the other is out cold and in custody. That one's Miller. Tar Katel is mopping up the idiots at the end of the driveway. That minotaur and his guys can sure as hell shoot. None of our guys are hurt, but a couple of the Seelie are down. What's your situation?"
"Much the same. Two tangos DOA. No casualties on our team. A couple Seelie down, and Tó Coferal has been wounded, but Doc patched him up." The DHS team leader began to think about the cleanup. "When the firefight is over, get the Wunder Buggy down to the end of the driveway and intercept any law enforcement. I'll call it in. I'll have the Queen let her people know what you are doing. Call me when the locals have arrived and are blocking off the area."
"Copy that, boss. Talk to you in a few." Heavy hung up.
Ghost looked to the Queen and raised his eyebrow in a silent question. She nodded, summoned another sprite, gave it some instructions, and sent it on its way. The sprite was blurring by him as he dialed Gretchen in the MCC.
Gretchen heard a brief summary and connected to Agent Smith in Langley, bringing him into the call. Ghost filled them in with as much as he knew and received a few instructions abou
t the desired disposition of Mr. Nate Miller. The former monster hunter knew that Boomer would not be happy.
Five minutes later, a worn and dirty Tar Katel knocked and entered the receiving room, his large rifle slung over his shoulder. The big creature was frowning, and its scowl deepened when it saw the Knight propped up in a chair, with bandages around his shoulder and arm.
Following close behind the large creature was another pair of minotaur, dragging a man along between them. The minotaurs were dirty from the fighting and carried rifles slung over their backs. The man hung limp between them. His face was crusted with dried blood, and his eyes were already turning black and blue from bruising.
Boomer and Dancer brought up the rear of the procession. Boomer had no visible weapons on her, but her BDUs were filthy. Dancer had her submachine gun slung over her shoulder and both women had a grim, almost angry, look clouding their faces, and Boomer kept staring at the man being drug into the chambers.
Tar Katel bowed before his Queen. "My Liege. Our forces have defended the compound. The human Signatories helped us greatly and acquitted themselves well in battle. All the perpetrators have been found, and have been eliminated, except for this one we bring before you. He was the leader of this contemptible lot, and we bring him before you so that he may answer for this assault."
The Queen nodded and looked at the two women behind him. "Thank you, Tar Katel. Today you have brought honor among you and yours. And who are the guests behind you?"
Boomer stepped forward, with Dancer just half a step behind her. "Special Agent Rebekah Callahan, Your Majesty, and this is my protégé Special Agent Hannah Sedano. We work for Special Agent Vanhof, Your Majesty."
The Queen looked at Boomer closely. There was something that was just a little... off about the young agent. She opened herself up to the power of the earth, and she realized what she was sensing. Her eyes widened in shock, and she let out a small gasp.
The Queen turned to Ghost, "Special Agent Jonas Vanhof, you did not tell me that you had a member of your team who was infected and turned. How extraordinary. I am surprised that she is still on your team. You continue to amaze me, Special Agent Vanhof."
Ghost stepped forward, "We certainly did not mean to deceive you, Your Majesty. The subject was never raised, and we have had more pressing issues to work out."
"I agree, Agent Vanhof. And no offense was taken. It is unusual for humans to shock me, and the novelty is all I was commenting about.
"And what do we do with this person who dared to attack our Court?" The Queen wondered aloud. “Wake him up to see if he will answer."
One of the minotaur guards reached over and grabbed one of the full water bottles that Doc had been using to clean wounds. He ripped off the cap and emptied the whole bottle over the prisoner's head. The prisoner sputtered and looked around groggily.
The Queen straightened in her chair, looking more beautiful and regal than ever. "I am Lishe ta Merunaré, Queen of the Seelie Court, Ruler of the Light Fae, and Heiress to the Throne of Light on Álfheimer. You have attacked our sovereignty. How do you plead?"
Miller looked around at those standing around him. He looked at the assembled fae around him. He glared at the federal agents standing to his right. He then straightened and responded to the Queen, "I am Nate Miller. I am a citizen of the United States of America, and do not recognize your court, or your authority to exist in this country. And I denounce the cowardice of the federal government whose agents stand idly by while their citizens are killed by unnatural creatures."
The Queen's shifted. Cold as ice and hard as diamonds, she proclaimed, "As humanity is a recognized Signatory of the E'Tuatha Accords, the Accords provide for the full legality for our existence. They also provide for the legality for our method of handling attacks on our sovereignty. Therefore, with no defense given, I pronounce guilty. You will be summarily be executed for making war on the Seelie Court."
Doc gasped, and Boomer shouted, "No!"
The Queen looked at the demolitions expert, and she hastily amended her response. "Your Majesty, I do not disagree with your legality or verdict, but I have prior blood claim on this piece of trash. He tortured my protégé and I. He personally directed his goons to do so, and I swore an oath to repay the violence."
Boomer's thoughts raced as she continued, "Your Majesty, I request two favors. First, I would like to be able to question the prisoner. He has knowledge about traitors in our own organization, and we would like to get that information from him. Second, I would like the honor of personally carrying out his sentence."
The Queen gave a small cold smile. She nodded and spoke, "As you have served our Court honorably in bringing this being before us, I will grant you this boon. You will be able to question the prisoner for the information he possesses. You will then personally carry out his sentence as you see fit, immediately."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." The vampire turned to Miller, who was staring at her in horror. "So Mister Miller, let's find out what you know."
The man's face blanched as Boomer grinned a mouthful of fangs.
III
TRIALS
21
ACCUSATIONS
GERALD R. FORD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Nine o'clock in the morning came early to team Knightmare. The team could not leave the Seelie Court until four o'clock that morning. Ghost and SAC Lewis had argued with the locals for two hours before Ghost had called Agent Smith. Agent Smith had then called the Chief of Police and the County Sheriff directly and had explained that DHS would investigate the events that transpired. Everything about that incident had been classified Top Secret, and the respective departments would receive appropriately redacted reports for their files.
Once the jurisdiction question had been settled, SAC Lewis had demanded that Ghost explain why there was a major operation in the city that involved explosions and gunfire, and why neither he nor his men could interview any of the witnesses.
"Do you remember the conversation that Gretchen had with you on the plane?" Ghost had asked.
"Of course. But how does that apply to a major terror incident here?"
"You don't have the clearance to even ask the right questions, let alone be told the truth." Ghost had paused. "Listen, you know the classifications for closing DHS cases, right? 'Case Closed: No Charges Recommended' and the others?"
Lewis had nodded his head, wondering where the conversation had been headed.
The federal monster hunter had continued, "We tend to focus on Top Secret cases that usually end with 'Case Closed: Suspect Detained, Guantanamo' or 'Case Closed: Suspect Deceased'."
The Detroit-based SAC had paused at that. Shaking his head, he had grunted an acknowledgment, "Fine. I'm really starting to feel like a mushroom on this one. What do you want my team to do?"
Ghost had directed the SAC to deploy his men to the perimeters and collect any evidence they stumbled across. He had also asked the SAC to coordinate with the locals to recover the bombers' vehicles and evidence. That had been around eight o'clock the prior evening.
By the time the team had been finished with the initial scene cleanup and sorting, it had been 4am. The team had wearily ridden back to the MCC to sleep for a few hours. Gretchen had awakened them just before nine and told them of a debrief conference call with Agent Smith at ten o'clock.
The timing gave the team an opportunity to clean themselves up and get ready for the new day. As he was dressing, Ghost looked at his SSP and realized that he had a text from the Queen's Knight. Tó Coferal said the council meeting was scheduled for 1pm that afternoon and then gave the address.
The team leader grunted and finished dressing. He arrived in the conference room in enough time to snag a couple of the provided donuts and a large mug of coffee. He looked around and noticed that only Spooky was missing. "Did anyone wake up Spooky?"
Gretchen shook her head, "I forgot. I'll go wake him up." She made as if to rise.
Heavy held out his hand, "Forget it, Gretch
en. It will be my pleasure to wake him up." The mischievous grin on his face showed his intentions.
Heavy stood up and walked out of the conference room. He popped his head back in, "Hey, Boomer. Does that thing have a car alarm on it?" After receiving a shake of her head, he grinned and said, "Good."
The big heavy weapons specialist went to the extensive weapon locker on the MCC and opened it. He reached in and selected a specialty grenade that Norbert had designed for him to use in the field. This would be a perfect time to use it.
Heavy walked down the ramp and waved 'hello' to the DHS guards watching the perimeter then raised a finger to his lips, urging them to be quiet. He casually strolled up to the passenger door of the Wunder Buggy and keyed the door locks on the fob. The big man carefully, silently opened the door and leaned in. At his console, Spooky was leaned back in his chair, noise-canceling headphones on, and snoring loudly. Suppressing a giggle, Heavy pushed aside a cover and mashed a button on the top of the grenade. He set the grenade down gently at Spooky's feet and closed the door.
Stepping back, he waited the long seven seconds for the internal timer to countdown. A loud boom was muffled by the steel in the truck's armor and the interior started to fill with a white acrid smoke. Muffled cursing came from inside the truck, and Heavy started to laugh. The door was flung open, and a bedraggled, stunned, and coughing Spooky stumbled down. The tears of laughter streaming down Heavy's face matched the tears flowing from Spooky from the CS gas now billowing out of the open door. Heavy was doubled over with laughter, holding his stomach.
Spooky sputtered and cursed, his creative use of foul adjectives interrupted by hacking coughs. He looked up through tear-streaked eyes and saw the big gunner almost on his knees, laughing. Hearing more laughter, the electronics specialist looked at the surrounding tarmac. Both DHS guards were trying not to laugh, and both were failing. At the top of the stairs into the MCC stood the rest of Knightmare. Every one of his teammates were laughing, and even Gretchen was trying hard not to laugh.
INCURSION: Faeblade (Knight's Bane Trilogy Book 2) Page 17