The Lost Power: VanOps, Book 1

by Avanti Centrae

  That was the end of the speech. Years of training took hold. She took a deep breath, relaxed her body, took a neutral stance, and watched Black T-shirt Man for his first move. Her body and mind became laser-focused. Okay, Mr. Death, I see your face and I spit in your eye.

  The bell tolled again and, as Maddy had guessed he would, the man wasted no time in attacking her. She used her aikido skills to turn and let him flow by, like a bull chasing the red cape. He stopped himself, turned, grew pink in the face, and rushed her, arms outstretched to grab her. As she’d practiced a thousand times, she grabbed both his forearms and pushed him down as he sped toward her. His momentum forced him into a flip. He landed on his back with a hard thunk on the sand.

  He tried kicking out at her, but she backed away. He cursed, jacked into a crouch, and came at her again from down low, pulling a knife from his boot as he moved in.

  Surprised at his use of a weapon, she was too slow to move, and it cost her. The knife caught her right upper thigh. It sliced deep before she twirled out of the way.

  The pain was sudden and intense.

  Instinctively, she clapped her palm to the cut, and it came away bright with her blood. Adrenaline filled her. The pain in her leg said, This is no show.

  He faltered, dark eyes locked on her bloody hand. Then he steeled himself and sprinted forward. As he came at her again, she ignored the pain in her thigh, turned to the side, grabbed his blade arm, and twisted his wrist in a knife-disarming move she’d also practiced time and time again. He cried out in pain and dropped the weapon.

  She pulled his arm behind his back, twisted more, and he fell to his knees, back arched, helpless in the sand.

  Keeping one hand on his wrist in the hold, she leaned over and picked up the knife. Maddy weighed it in her hand to kill him, to end this, and move on. However, it felt wrong, heavy, like she’d grabbed a venomous snake. The blade had her blood on it and grains of sand. She wiped it on her thigh, below the cut, to clean the metal. The lamplight caught the edge for a moment, sparkling off the steel.

  With resolve, she tightened her grip on the handle and on him. A small whimper escaped his throat. He was as human as she was, probably scared, too.

  She had to kill him, or she and Will would be hunted forever. And the Russians would find the châsse, and get all that power. Was one life a fair trade to maintain world peace?

  She moved the edge of the knife to the side of his throat and a fine stripe of blood blossomed against the silver blade, red ink ready to cross out the thin line of a life.

  His pulse beat in time with hers. She could smell his fear. He was so alive. Time slowed.

  Doubt filled her. Was he really a terrorist? She pictured the look in his eyes when he saw her blood. Her gut ached with the wrongness of the situation and anger overtook her.

  “No!” Maddy yelled.

  She yanked the knife from his throat and threw it into the black wooden door, where the blade stuck, hilt vibrating like the tail of a rattlesnake. The loud thwang reverberated throughout the hushed silence, a single chord of a stringed instrument plucked in a hushed concert hall.

  Released, the man collapsed face-first, into the sand.

  Maddy put both hands on her hips and faced Samuel. “I won’t kill this man. Fail me if you must.”

  CHAPTER 40

  July 8, 9:15 a.m.:

  The next day, in the common dining room of the Testing Society, Bear sat across from Maddy and admired her. How she had managed to bring perfume with her on this trip he had no idea. She smelled divine and looked good, too, sitting there after breakfast, sipping her tea, watching the conversation next to them. Her long, black hair was tied back in her signature ponytail, her twin swords peeked out over her shoulders in a sexy, female-warrior look, and her gorgeous emerald eyes...they looked tranquil, the most relaxed he’d seen since they’d started this adventure back at the Fire Sign Café. She was probably glad the testing and duel were behind her, and maybe she’d grown a bit in the process.

  Bear, however, was still on guard and kept part of his attention on the door.

  He thought back to yesterday. The Guardians had shuffled them all out of the amphitheater after her dramatic refusal to kill her opponent, and they all worried that she hadn’t passed. In the light of failure, he’d considered going home.

  Then he wondered how an aborted mission would affect his prospects with VanOps, a clandestine group operating under the CIA’s Department of Extreme Threats (DET). The director of the group had arranged for him to come on this mission. He wished he could tell Maddy about VanOps, but he was sworn to secrecy that evening at Jakes, his favorite lakeside restaurant. Home, for him, wasn’t a good option.

  While Edith shot up Maddy’s wound with a local and dressed it with fifteen stitches, Will had argued with Maddy about what a stupid test it was. Eventually, Samuel had come in smiling and, together with Edith, told them Maddy had passed, that this was a test of compassion as much as martial arts skill. Bear’s shoulders had almost dropped to the floor with relief, although, he was still a bit angry at the ruse and could tell Maddy felt the same way. Nobody liked being played.

  He brought his attention back to the table and wished like hell they had sweet tea here. This Mediterranean mint tea wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. He scanned the room for threats. Nothing. Yet the hair on the back of his neck tingled like it had in the fight zone when something was about to go down. Why? Someone said something Maddy found funny. She laughed and then turned to look at him with a smile.

  Bear smiled, too. “I’m proud of you for making it through the testin’ and that duel. I’m especially proud you didn’t kill that guy. Seemed like a trumped-up and just-plain-wrong situation to me, so I’m glad you read it right.”

  “Thanks, Bear. That was kind of a jacked-up exam, testing compassion that way. What if I had made a different choice?”

  “Good question. I wonder if they tell you or just fail you.”

  “Probably fail you with blood on your hands. I’m still a little pissed off about it.”

  “Understandable. I would be, too. How are the stitches?”

  “Starting to itch.”

  She went back to her tea, and he drank off some of his own while looking around the room. His gaze fell on Will, who was sitting in the corner with Hana. They made a good-looking couple. Will’s dark curly hair and tan skin contrasted with Hana’s pale skin and blonde hair.

  Mulling over the entire week, he wasn’t surprised that Will hadn’t passed, but Bear had hoped to be wrong. His time in the marines had taught him to take fast stock of a man, and Will was an intellectual, not a man used to his body or his feelings. He figured Will could pick up the knife with some practice, but it wouldn’t be easy. Will had improved a bit this week but still had a long way to go.

  Maddy was ostensibly listening again to the conversation next to them, but Bear knew she was watching Juergen. What she saw in him, Bear had no idea. Sure, the guy was tall and handsome, but afraid of a little snake? Or heights?

  He scoffed to himself, recalling marine training exercises jumping out of airplanes.

  And Juergen hadn’t handled the embarrassment of his story well. Bear could sense the German was on edge, watching Will and Hana giggling in the corner. Will spun his flashlight around his finger as they talked. At least Juergen didn’t seem interested in Maddy. He seemed interested in the blonde, Hana, as did Will. Bear suspected Hana was a rebound honey to hide Will’s pain of losing Maria. The engineer wasn’t processing his grief, another problem with being an intellectual.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Bear spied five figures wearing black clothes and matching midnight balaclavas. They rushed through the doorway in a tight wedge formation, wielding knives, swords, and staffs. All hell broke loose--the vanguard figure wounded a student, blood spiked into the air, and the other four began attacking the remaining students.

  Bear swore. This was no test, or perhaps the ultimate test. Probably that evil “surpr
ise” the Guardians had mentioned when they first met.

  Moving fast, he upended the table so that Maddy was behind him, protected by the wood. “Get down!”

  He grabbed his staff. She unsheathed her swords. Stubborn woman.

  Then one of the figures was upon him, swinging a staff of his own. Wood met wood with a force that made Bear’s hands ache. He had a brief moment to be grateful for the week’s practice before he lost himself in the focus of the fight.

  They whirled and danced. The attacker thrust his staff up toward Bear’s chin. Bear tilted his head back and swung his jo like a baseball bat. It cracked into the attacker’s pole, knocking it from its trajectory. Bear followed up with a one-handed blow which landed on his foe’s left shoulder.

  The assailant grunted and thrust his own staff, which landed in Bear’s ribs, provoking a groan of pain. The attacker tried to follow up with a swing to the head, but Bear pulled some aikido out of his memory and twisted away and toward the man.

  As Bear fell forward, he was able to do a vital point strike to the enemy’s temple. Bear’s heart sank as the staff struck home and the black-swathed figure collapsed to the ground, lifeless. Bear knew it was self-defense but never liked to kill.

  With his man down, he looked around to see how he could help. Will threw a knife from behind his table, taking an attacker in the shoulder. Hana had smartly taken cover behind the same table. She darted out and threw her knife into the chest of the same man that Will had slowed. That finished him. One other assailant was lying on the floor in a pool of blood on the other side of the room. There were two left.

  Maddy jumped over their table and fought the last two intruders alone. Her ponytail flew as she wielded her swords, warding off the attack.

  Bear snarled and jumped to her aid. One man had a sword and the other, the one closest to Bear, had a knife. Wielding his staff like a lance, Bear lunged toward the knife-bearing opponent and caught him in the chest. The man had been focused on Maddy, so Bear caught him by surprise, but that advantage only lasted a second.

  The man caught Bear in a fury-filled gaze and attacked with a quick viciousness that made Bear call up every ounce of training he’d ever had. The antagonist darted in and out of Bear’s range with the speed of a hummingbird--he was faster and landed a surface cut on Bear’s arm before he could get the staff around.

  But once Bear realized his opponent’s style, he shifted gears, pursued a more defensive approach, and waited for an opening. Time and again Bear countered the aggressive stabbing with his quarterstaff. Each time, the man’s knife whizzed through the air with speed that left tracers across Bear’s sight.

  After half a minute of hard parrying that made his arms ache and left numerous blade scars on his staff, Bear saw his chance. The man’s eyes flitted toward another of Will’s knife throws. The missile flew by the assailant’s head and distracted him for just long enough that Bear was able to jab the quarterstaff at his neck. The strike landed solidly against the side of the tango’s vertebrae and he crumpled to the floor, either paralyzed or dead.

  Bear turned to see if Maddy needed additional support. She avoided a thrust from the last attacker by turning her body sideways at the last instant. Frustrated, the man came at her again, swinging for her head. Maddy blocked his sword and moved aside.

  As Bear waited for a way to help, a strange mixture of worry and pride filled his chest. She danced away three more times. Then the intruder swung at her midsection. Maddy tried to parry his swing, but he was too strong and both swords got knocked out of her hands. She had no weapon!

  Bear froze with fear. The attacker, sensing an advantage, rushed in with an overhead chop. As the sword came down, Maddy gripped the attacker’s arm and the dull side of his blade. They paused in that position for a second, then she reached up, grabbed him by the nape of his neck, and flung him forward. She pounced on him and pinned him to the floor.

  Bear rushed over and briskly struck the man’s temple. The assailant’s eyes closed in slow motion, like a curtain going down at the end of a theater production.

  Maddy’s eyes were wide and her voice high. “Did you kill him? You didn’t kill him, did you?”

  The fallen man’s chest moved.

  “No, the bastard lives,” Bear growled, annoyed at her intimation that he’d done something wrong when he was just trying to keep her safe.

  Maddy heaved a sigh of relief but her eyes remained wide. “Good.”

  “Your aikido honor code is gonna get you in trouble someday. Death happens.”

  Pissed at whoever set up the ambush, cross at his aching rib, angry at the bodies littered around the dining room, and furious that he had been forced to kill today, Bear turned and stalked away through the mess of overturned chairs, tables, and blood.

  CHAPTER 41

  4:25 p.m.:

  A knock sounded on the door of Maddy’s sandstone room. She was packing her meager possessions and waiting to be called for the final rite of passage at the Testing Society. Still appalled at the fiasco in the dining room, which had claimed the lives of several black-clad attackers, she almost didn’t answer the summons.

  She was distracted, too. The moment when her opponent had caused her to drop her swords played itself over and over again in her mind’s eye, causing her stomach to flip flop. I’m not fit to teach aikido. I barely got out of that alive. The knock came again.

  Anticipating that it was Edith, Maddy finally said, “Come in.”

  It was indeed Edith, who wore her usual white garb. “How are you, my dear? How are you? Come, come, it’s time for your final rite of passage.”

  Maddy’s tone was cold. “I’m not sure I’m up for much more excitement today, Edith. How was all that necessary?”

  “Yes, yes, it was quite essential,” Edith twittered.

  “Really? An attack without warning? Bear may have cracked a rib. Other students are wounded, and attackers are dead.”

  This final rite also meant their departure from Jerusalem, and she’d probably never see Juergen again. Not that he’d expressed any interest, but she had enjoyed their brief interaction and was sorry to say goodbye. She clenched her teeth.

  “Follow me. I’ll explain.”

  Maddy hesitated then painfully gimped down the hall after Edith and into a small side room. The deep ache in her thigh burned with every step. “I hope so. Will or I could have been killed.”

  A smell of charcoal and something that might have been burned flesh, hung in the air. Near two low-backed chairs, there was a small brazier glowing with red hot coals, and several branding irons were stacked nearby. She noticed one of the irons had a small signum regis at the tip. Longingly, she looked at the door and fought back tears. Please, not this, after everything else.

  Edith motioned to the chairs. “Sit down, sit down. Please.”

  Maddy sat.

  “As we communicated before you chose to stay, our founder had some strong opinions about what this society should test and how. Hundreds of years later, Isabella and Ferdinand agreed with Ramiro’s opinions. The power you seek is dangerous, and our job is to protect the world from those who would use it as a destructive force.”

  Maddy considered this statement, but said nothing.

  Edith looked at Maddy with intensity. “The goal has always been to allow only the best students to walk out the door as graduates. Best in this case means that you must be able to control your fear, have compassion, know right from wrong, be able to handle yourself in a life-or-death fight, and be able to handle pain.”

  “I see.”

  “Without these qualities, you would either fail farther along in your quest or be a menace to the world by having access to immense power without the necessary empathy to wield it well. All who enter know the risks.”

  Maddy understood, but part of her felt irate. “I still feel sick that those men died today. Everything we learn in aikido is about nonviolence, blending with the attack, turning others’ power and aggression against themselve
s to find a peaceful resolution.”

  “And what does your school teach you if you’re in a life-or-death struggle with someone? When killing is the only option for your survival and the greater good? There are people and situations in the world that would kill you.”

  “We have a variety of techniques at our disposal that remove the need to kill an enemy. Actually, aikido is about eliminating even the concept that there is an enemy.”

  “You did this today, right? You killed no one?”

  “I guess.” Maddy’s tone was surly as she remembered the attacker Bear had knocked out.

  “Yet, you still feel angry, guilty? What are you feeling?”

  Maddy took a deep breath. Good question. “I’m angry at you, at this school, at Ramiro for setting up that lethal test. And I feel guilty, too. I contributed to the fight.”

  Edith’s eyes held kindness. “I understand. Yet, there may come a day when aikido alone can’t help you. What good is aikido against a gun at twenty paces?”

  Maddy had no answer.

  “Ramiro’s world was violent, as is the world we live in today. Also, keep in mind that these men were convicted extremists. They jumped at the chance to be released from prison for one last chance to kill infidels, no matter the cost.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. And, finally, consider that sometimes the only way to a peaceful end is through death, as some won’t stop, or can’t be stopped, in any other way. So, in a way, they commit suicide.”

  “Well, that doesn’t align with our philosophy, but it’s one way to look at it.”

  Edith’s smile was as enigmatic as Mona Lisa’s. “Perception is all, dear child, perception is all. I suggest you try to find a way to look at it that feels better, as you can change your thoughts and perspectives far easier than you can change the past, or someone else’s actions.”