by J. C. Diem
Dejected, we trooped back upstairs to the main area. Kendricks radioed his men to check on their status and Mark headed up to the coms room. With little to do, Kala and I followed him. Zeus was outside on patrol, as were several of the O Squad members. They kept their distance from him and he returned the favor. Like Zeus, my werewolf wasn’t happy that our base was overrun with so many strangers. Kala wasn’t an alpha, but she wasn’t pleased about it either. All shifters were territorial and we didn’t like intruders.
We flanked our boss at the computer table and he began to search for information about hydras. He found several ancient texts, but no actual cases on record. If any PIA agents had encountered a hydra in the past, they hadn’t lived to tell the tale. After seeing one in action, I wasn’t surprised.
Mark read a lot faster than I did, but I managed to pick up a few pertinent details. Hydras were supposedly immortal. As I’d already discovered, the middle head was in charge. According to mythology, the only way to defeat them was to chop off the main head and imprison it somehow.
Mark sat back thoughtfully when he finished reading the file. It took me a bit longer to reach the end. Kala’s eyes had glazed over long ago. She’d disappeared long enough to make coffee and bring a plate of snacks for us. She trusted us to fill her in on what she needed to know. “What’s the verdict?” she asked.
“We need to find a way to detach the hydra’s middle head and then contain it in something that will be strong enough to hold it,” Mark said.
“Are you sure that’ll work?” she queried. “This hydra isn’t alive like the one from the legends. It’s going to be hard to chop off its head since it’s made of stone.”
“I have a question,” I said and they both looked at me. “The hydra is controlling Flynn, but who or what is controlling it?”
Mark’s expression was troubled. “I’ve been wondering the same thing.”
“Do you have any theories?”
“Only one.” He turned to the computer and ran another search. The subject made me blink in surprise.
“What the hell is a golem?” Kala asked when she read the information he’d typed in to the search function.
“They’re creatures that are constructed and controlled by someone with magical abilities,” Mark replied. “They can be made from several different substances, usually clay, stone or metal,” he lectured. “A specific type of skill is required to raise and control them.”
“What skill?” I queried.
“Elemental magic.” After that short statement, he brought up images of different types of golems. They were mostly humanoid rather than in the shape of a multi-headed snake. The metal ones were particularly ominous. They vaguely resembled crude robots but lacked the necessary electronic equipment that enabled them to function.
“Their creators usually crave power and domination over others,” he explained. “That fits in with EERI’s apparent goals.”
“What types of beings can wield elemental magic?” I asked.
“The list is too long to be able to narrow it down to a single culprit.”
“So,” Kala summed up, “EERI have an elemental magic wielder that uses a stone hydra to control snakes. It lured Flynn to the compound for reasons we aren’t sure of and it used the hydra to try to kill us.”
Mark nodded. “The magic user wasn’t in the facility when it blew. If they’d been killed, the hydra would have reverted back to inert stone.”
“Even if we manage to figure out a way to incapacitate the hydra, won’t the sorcerer just create a new one?” I asked.
“Not if we don’t destroy it completely,” Mark said with a sly smile. “The sorcerer uses their essence to create golems. If we hide the hydra somewhere safe, they won’t be able to take back the part that they used to create it. They’ll have to sacrifice more of their essence to make a new one.”
“You’re so smart you make me sick sometimes,” Kala said in unfeigned admiration.
“Will Flynn be freed from the hydra’s influence if we do manage to contain it?” I queried.
Mark’s gaze grew troubled. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of a golem being able to take control of minds before.”
“Great,” Kala muttered. “That’s just what we need. Something new and wonderful for us to try to figure out.”
I caught a fleeting wish from her that Reece was still part of our team. He wouldn’t have any idea how to deal with this either, but his presence would have been welcome.
With his research done, Mark shut down the computer and we descended to the ground floor.
Kendricks sat at the dining table drinking black coffee. He waited for us to take our usual seats before he spoke. “Did you learn anything useful?”
Mark nodded. “It appears the only way to defeat the hydra is to detach the middle head and lock it in a secure container.”
“You’re sure this thing is made of stone?” the agent asked. Mark inclined his head again. “Then we won’t be able to use guns to detach the head.” He gestured for one of his men to come forward. The agent hastened over and handed his backpack over.
Kendricks reached inside and drew out a small metal container. He lifted the lid to reveal a grenade. It was identical to the one Mark had used to blow up a bunch of ghouls. It was nestled inside thick foam to keep it stable. “Will this work?”
Mark calculated the odds of the explosive device being able to accomplish the task. “It might. The trick will be to sever the neck rather than to blow the head up. It will just re-form again and we’ll be right back at square one.”
“Leave that to us,” Kala said confidently. “Lexi and I will take care of that part. You guys just need to be ready to stuff the head into the box once the grenade blows it off.”
Kendricks seemed highly skeptical that we could pull this off, but he kept his reservations to himself. He’d seen that we weren’t ordinary agents. We were trained to deal with monsters, even if we hadn’t encountered something quite like this before. Four of his men were dead and we didn’t even have a scratch on us so far. That spoke volumes about our abilities.
“Fine,” he agreed reluctantly. “Do you have a container to put the head in?”
“I’m sure I can find something suitable,” Mark replied. He, Kendricks and two of the O Squad agents left to search the facility. I reached out to Zeus and he had nothing to report so far. He would alert me if anything breached our perimeter. After seeing how easily the EERI compound had been infiltrated, I felt far less secure about our bases now.
“We’re going to have to be very careful how we take this hydra down,” Kala warned me in a low voice. Several black clad agents were either sitting in the living room watching TV or were utilizing our gym equipment. “We can’t let the O Squad know what we are. They’re already suspicious enough.”
“I know,” I said just as softly. “I have an idea of how to pull this off, but it will take some fancy footwork.”
She smiled in anticipation. “Let’s hear it.” I outlined my plan and her teeth flashed in a grin. They looked very white against her tanned skin. “Who needs Reece to lead our team? It looks like you’re already stepping up to fill his shoes.”
My return smile was forced. She might be able to move on from his defection, but I never would. The pain of his absence would always be with me. “I just hope Flynn comes back to us once we’ve rendered the hydra harmless.”
Her expression grew haunted. “Can you sense his mind at all?”
I didn’t want to kill her hopes, but I also didn’t want to lie to her. “Not really. His mind is empty, but that doesn’t mean he’ll stay that way. He might recover his wits once the head has been taken far enough away.”
“I hope so,” she said despondently.
Several minutes later, Mark and the agents returned. It took four men to carry the five foot long, two feet wide container. They were sweating and the veins in their foreheads and necks were bulging under the strain.
“Do we even want t
o know what you usually keep in there?” Kala asked as they sat it down on the floor near the exit in the kitchen.
“No,” Mark replied.
“Is it classified?” I asked.
“Yes.” He smiled briefly at my resigned sigh. “The contents have been moved to another container. I’ve calculated that this should be strong enough to hold the hydra until it can be moved to a more secure location.”
“What now?” I asked. “How are we going to find it?”
“It’ll find us,” Kendricks said. “We just need to set some bait.” His smile was cold and not at all friendly.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Three
“What bait?” Kala asked suspiciously. If they planned to use Flynn, she was going to fight them and I’d back her up.
“Us,” Mark said. “The hydra didn’t like being challenged. It fixated on Kendricks because he was directing the attack against it. If we return to the campsite, it will most likely come after us again. We’ll try to hold its attention while you two plant the grenade on it.”
“Sounds like a solid plan,” Kala said. Kendricks’ eyes widened slightly at her unconcerned tone. He switched his gaze to me and I met his stare squarely. Whatever reactions he’d been expecting from us, he wasn’t receiving them and that made him puzzled. He still didn’t get that the TAK Squad regularly dealt with craziness that would send most people running for their lives.
The men sat around the table to discuss strategy and Kala quickly became bored. “Zeus must be feeling lonely out patrolling all by himself,” she said and nudged me in the side with her elbow.
Taking her hint, I stood. We left through the kitchen door to find my guardian waiting for us on the other side. I wasn’t surprised to see a stick clamped in his teeth. He’d sensed my intention to visit him and he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to play. He shoved the stick into my hand and looked at me expectantly. “Let’s head around to the back,” I suggested and threw the stick a short distance away.
Zeus looked at me reproachfully, well aware that I could throw it a lot further than that. I wouldn’t put it past Kendricks to spy on us, which meant we’d have to be very careful. He didn’t trust us and the feeling was mutual.
“I’m beginning to rethink Kendricks’ appeal,” Kala said as she ambled along beside me. Zeus chose her to throw the stick next when he rushed back to us. She tossed it further than I had, but not by much.
“Really?” I asked in surprise. “Why?”
“I guess good looks aren’t enough in this case. I’m not sure why. I’ve never had this problem before.”
“Maybe you find him physically attractive, but morally repulsive,” I suggested.
“I think you might be right.” She went silent as we made our way past the base to the back of the compound. I waited until we were hidden by the sparse trees before I threw the stick as hard as I could. Zeus barked in joy and took off after it.
We played for an hour or so before I felt eyes on my back. I nudged Kala just as she was about to throw the stick. “Someone is watching us.” As I said it, his scent wafted to us. One of Kendricks’ men was peering at us, probably through his binoculars.
Changing her aim, Kala tossed the stick as if she was just a normal girl. “Do you think he saw anything suspicious?”
“I don’t think so. If he had, he’d probably have opened fire on us by now.”
“Good point,” she said with a grimace. “We should wrap this up. The Crew should be finished with the bodies by now and the rest of the O Squad will be heading back soon.”
Pretending we weren’t aware that we were being watched, we made our way back to the base. We entered through the backdoor as the agent shadowed us from a distance. Zeus looked directly at him and growled before following us inside, letting the man know that he hadn’t gone as undetected as he’d believed.
Cortez and the rest of the squad arrived several minutes later. Mark was sitting at the table with Kendricks. His tablet beeped to notify him that the front gate had been opened. He took it out and glanced at the monitor before motioning for Kala to let the men in. He hadn’t scanned any of their prints into our system and they needed to be given entry by one of us.
Making a face at being delegated as the door girl, she dutifully trotted away. She returned a couple of minutes later and Kendricks’ men filed in behind her. Weary and dirty, they were dispirited by their losses.
“The Crew delivered a new SUV as you requested, Agent Steel,” Cortez reported to Mark and handed him the keys to the new vehicle.
“Thank you, Agent Cortez.” Mark pocketed the keys and took in their bedraggled states. “Your men are welcome to use the bedrooms upstairs to shower and change,” he said to Kendricks. “The first four rooms on the right are taken, but the rest are free.”
“I appreciate it,” Kendricks said and nodded his permission for his men to utilize our facilities.
Four of the agents carried shopping bags into the kitchen. Our fridge was large enough to accommodate the additional supplies.
Zeus still wasn’t used to having so many strangers in our compound. His upper lip was lifted in a silent, near constant growl. None of the agents were brave enough or stupid enough to approach him.
Kala and I took a seat on the couch and she turned on the TV. My mind switched off fairly quickly, but I paid attention when the news came on. The implosion out near the mountains wasn’t mentioned and no new deaths by snakebites were reported. No one in town had any idea that a war was raging just a short distance away.
Once everyone was clean and had changed into fresh tactical gear, the men took turns going out on patrol. Human eyes would never be as good as ours, or Zeus’. Mark slanted a look at me and then at my furry companion, silently asking for me to send him out again. He trusted the O Squad about as much as I did, which wasn’t much at all.
“Come on, big guy,” I said to Zeus and heaved myself off the couch. It was dinner time anyway. “You want some food?” The question sent him into a paroxysm of delight. Some of the agents smiled when he dashed to the kitchen. Snatching his dish up off the floor, he carried it over to me and shoved it into my hands. “I’ll take that for a yes,” I said dryly.
I filled his bowl and he barely waited for it to touch the ground before he gobbled the food down. I let him out then refreshed his outdoor water bowl. Hunkering down, I stroked his ears. Keep watch for snakes, I told him. Let me know if you sense, see, hear or smell anything dangerous.
With a woof of acknowledgement, he put his nose to the ground and went on patrol, giving the two agents who were making their rounds a wide berth. He was going to have a long night, but we both felt more secure with him on the job. His wound had healed enough that he was almost pain free now. I’d have to take him to a vet to have his stitches removed soon.
Unwilling to leave Mark alone while we had visitors that we didn’t trust, Kala and I stayed up until everyone either headed for one of the spare bedrooms or had bunked down on the floor. Cortez’s suspicious gaze followed me as I climbed the stairs. He’d staked a claim on one of the couches. He’d have a more comfortable night than most of his squad. I ignored his scrutiny and continued moving upwards.
As soon as I walked into my room, I knew someone had been inside. I stepped out into the hall to see Kala emerge from her room as well. She gave me a furious look then hurried over to me. Pushing me into my room, she shut the door and put her finger on her lips to warn me to be quiet.
She quickly searched my room, but didn’t find anything that didn’t belong there. I couldn’t see anything obvious missing. “Wait here,” she said and left. She came back with Mark in tow less than a minute later. “They were in his room as well,” she said.
Mark motioned for us to be quiet and took his tablet out. He was still dressed in his suit, which wasn’t surprising. He’d probably intended to be up for several more hours. He turned in a slow circle as the tablet presumably scanned the room. “They didn’t plant any bug
s,” he said at last and put the device away.
“What were they looking for?” I asked. I was furious that someone had been snooping through my things. One of my drawers was open slightly. I shuddered in distaste that a strange man had been fondling my underwear.
“Kendricks’ suspects that there is something different about you two. He must be looking for incriminating evidence.”
Kala’s arms were crossed tightly as she tried to contain her anger. “What do they think they’re going to find in our underwear drawers? A signed confession that we’re shape shifters?”
Mark sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. He was tired and worried about Flynn. Our outrage wasn’t helping the situation. “You’ll just have to be extra careful tomorrow and avoid giving them anymore reason to doubt you,” he advised.
“I can’t wait for this mission to be over so we can stop pretending to be normal,” Kala said in frustration.
“You can hang on for one more day,” Mark told her. “I need you to hold it together. There’s a chance that Flynn might not recover and I can’t lose you two as well.”
His voice almost cracked and Kala was instantly solicitous. She hugged him hard and reached out to pull me into her embrace as well. “He’ll be okay,” she said. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince us or herself of that.
Gathering his poise, Mark stepped back. “You should try to get some sleep,” he suggested. “You’ll have to be at the top of your game in the morning.”
“When am I ever not at the top of my game?” she said in mock protest, earning a smile of affection. She waited for him to step out into the hallway before turning to me. Her smile dropped away and her eyes became flat. It was the same look that a cat had just before it was about to pounce on a rat. “If anything goes wrong tomorrow, you know what we’ll have to do.”
It wasn’t a question, but I nodded in understanding and complete agreement. The Obliteration Squad was supposedly on our side, but Kendricks had already stated his willingness to destroy us if he suspected we were a threat. If he or his men realized that we weren’t normal then we’d have no choice but to fight them to the death. Their motto was to leave no witnesses, but we would turn that against them if we had to. Based on what I’d seen of the agents so far, the world wouldn’t be missing much if we were to wipe them all out.