Demon Days

by Jan Stryvant

  Roxy shook her head. "I don't think it would go over very well with General Baker if Sean was to start killing members of his team."

  "Yeah, mundanes are funny that way," Peg said with a grin, causing Roxy to just roll her eyes.

  "So what do you want me to do?"

  Roxy shrugged. "Whatever you want. Just as long as it stops him from pissing off Sean or making the lieutenant's life any harder than it already is."

  "Whatever I want?" Peg asked slowly. "Seriously?"

  Roxy nodded. "Yup. Have fun, and make it interesting. I'm sure he's earned it. See you both at dinner! And I mean it Sheila, both. We don't get to see enough of you!"

  "So do we kill him before or after dinner?" Sheila asked.

  Peg sighed and looked over at Sheila. "If Rox just wanted him dead, she would have gone to Cali. No, she wants to see him suffer, obviously."

  Sheila nodded. "True, very true." Then suddenly she smiled. "She told us to have fun, didn't she?"

  Peg grinned. "And to make it interesting. What do you say we go ask around a bit about this Captain Mueller and see just what we can learn?"

  "Where do you want to start?"

  "Where you always start, at the beginning. I'll call his mom. Why don't you go talk to the other two girls on the general's staff, see if you can't draw them out a bit? Guy like that, I'm sure they've got more than a few gripes about him."

  Sheila nodded. "Sounds good, but how are you going to get his mom's phone number?"

  "I'll just 'borrow' his cellphone," Peg said with a wink.

  #

  Sean opened his eyes and looked at his watch, then remembered that he'd left it back in the bedroom. He was just too worried about it getting destroyed. It was the only thing he had from both Sampson and his dad.

  Looking around, there were still guys standing watch, so sitting up, he fumbled with the radio to turn it back on, the feeling of pins and needles in his left hand making him stop and look at it as he remembered his last fight. After it'd gotten cut off, he'd still managed to kill the biskop he'd been fighting, but then withdrew to the recovery area. He'd sat down to conserve his energy and wait for his regeneration to take effect, as he'd been dangerously low on mana at that point. Obviously he'd fallen asleep.

  Listening a moment to the radio, he could only hear routine calls.

  "Sean here, who's got command?"

  "Max here, glad to see you're awake. We got them under control and forced them back through the gate about two hours ago. Chad's down taking a nap as well."

  "What's the mission clock at?"

  "We're approaching nine hours in. Chad was pretty sure that if they didn't pop out by nine, there wouldn't be any more this time."

  "Why's that?"

  "Because it took their order of battle almost three hours to get through the gate, and we still pushed it back."

  Standing up slowly, Sean looked around. There were a lot of his people sleeping on the ground. Not the most comfortable thing to do, but after a four-hour fight, they had to be heavily fatigued.

  It didn't take him long to find Chad, so walking over to where he was, he nudged his foot and took a step back as Chad sprang to his feet quickly.

  "Stand down, Chad," Sean told him. "We're almost at nine hours, and no sign of 'em."

  "Then why the hell are you waking me up?"

  "'Cause I have questions, and I'm sure you have answers. These guys were a hell of a lot tougher and better organized than the last bunch. There were also a hell of a lot more of them. So what's your analysis?"

  "Different groups. I got Stacy, one of my wolves, taking pictures up close of all their outfits to see if we can figure out any kind of heraldry. I think the gates wander around on their side as much as they do on our side." Chad paused a moment. "Well, maybe not as much, some groups seem to come through pretty quickly, while others don't. So some of these guys are waiting for the gate and are able to mobilize quickly. Others aren't.

  "How's the fight in South America going?"

  'They're sending out small guerilla groups to feel us out and get the lay of the land. Like they normally do.' the First told him. Sean repeated that to Chad.

  "If the topography on the other side relates to what's here at all, then it's a far-off country from the one we're dealing with. I guess someone on the other side up here decided to get organized when they saw just how big their 'larder' had grown."

  Sean nodded. "Well, we got that from the seers when we learned that they were planning on making the gate permanent."

  "So there you have it. And it definitely seems like the gates in this area have a higher level of demon coming out of them. If the main gate breaks out anywhere around here, we'll definitely be in for it."

  "I think we'll be in for it no matter where it breaks out," Sean said. "If they've put together a big enough force, I don't think they're going to have any problems violating borders back in their home world to be able to get here."

  "I'd love to get some intel on said home world." Chad sighed. "Then we could take one of those temporary gates after the main one opens, and launch a surprise attack on the other side of it and hold it ourselves."

  "You still want to take that thing, don't you?" Sean said with a sigh.

  "Course I do! I don't just want to be the best in this world; I want to be the best in all the worlds!" Chad grinned and laughed.

  "It's nice to see you've got goals. I think we should get everybody up and get them ready in case they decide for a last-minute attack just to mess with us."

  Chad nodded and, turning on his radio, he gave the order to wake everyone back up as he and Sean headed over to where the lookouts who were watching the gateway were stationed.

  "I'm surprised they didn't take a second shot," Max said.

  "Eh, they've lost too many people and too many times. They're starting to learn patience," Chad said.

  "But I thought they reincarnated back home after they were killed?"

  "Not if Sean kills them; then they're dead dead. Right Sean?"

  Sean nodded. "I don't really understand it, it's one of those mystical shit things I get to do as a god."

  "So," Chad continued, "with Sean attacking their leaders, and those leaders not coming back, they're learning caution. At least that's my opinion."

  "Sounds good to me," Max said with a nod.

  Three hours later when the gate collapsed, they found that Chad was right again, and the process of hauling everyone back to their respective bases began.

  "Six down, six to go," Chad said to Sean as they watched the first group withdraw.

  "More like six hundred."

  "Eh, I look at this like a training exercise. We only get a gate every three days, and it's a small one. Then for three months they throw in a bigger gate every so often to mess with us. I think by the time we get the really big gates coming, we'll be in pretty good shape."

  "Do you still think Reno's gonna become a ruin?"

  Chad nodded. "I'll be surprised if they haven't managed to get a foothold in here by the end of phase three, and I know they'll definitely get one in phase four. Especially after we deny them a permanent bridge and the pressure's off for us to perform. We'll be war weary by that point, and they're gonna be hella pissed.

  "Ask the First how many decades it took to kill off all the demons that were still here when the gates collapsed during that last big one?"

  'Almost two centuries.' the First supplied immediately. Obviously he was interested in this conversation too.

  "About two hundred years," Sean sighed.

  Chad nodded. "With any luck, and our better technology, we should be able to do better than that. But things are going to be a mess for at least a decade after this is done, probably longer."

  "And then there'll be the countries that want to take care of the ones that are weak after fighting the demons."

  "Of course!" Chad grinned. "Humans are such a contentious lot, after all."

  "Says the man who used to be one," Sean gru
mbled.

  "And that's how I know what they'll do! Well, see you at the after-action meeting tomorrow," Chad said as one of his helicopters came in for a landing. "Come on, Max, that's our ride!"

  Sean gave him a slap on the back as he ran off, then looked around for Lieutenant Kennedy, and found him chatting up a rather cute female cougar.

  "Lieutenant, everything under control?"

  "Yes, Sean. I got the information the general wanted today and already sent it back to him. So as long as I don't run into a certain somebody, I've earned some down time."

  Sean nodded and mulled it over for a moment.

  "You know what? Don't shift back." Sean clicked his microphone. "Listen up, everyone. If that Mueller idiot comes looking for the lieutenant, you just saw him a minute ago heading off to the first place that comes to mind that's a good walk from wherever you are. Let's see if we can't lead him on a wild goose chase, got it?"

  Sean smiled as all of his people raised their hands and waved an acknowledgment.

  "Thanks, Sean."

  "Who said I'm doing it for you?" Sean said with a wink. "Christi there has earned a nice reward. Right Christi?"

  Christi winked back at Sean, then looked at Lieutenant Kennedy and purred, "Oh, definitely. If he behaves, I might even keep him!"

  Sean smiled, gathered everyone up, and headed over to where their helicopters were landing. He didn't doubt that Mueller would be looking to cause problems. He just hoped Roxy would figure out a way to get a handle on him sooner rather than later.

  Sean had to laugh; sure enough, Mueller was running all over the place looking for the lieutenant. None of the staff had discovered that the lieutenant was a lycan, so of course Mueller didn't know it either. Mueller had even asked the lieutenant himself at one point if he'd seen Kennedy.

  Sean had finished showering and was on his way across the compound back to the kitchen to get some food—regenerating a hand had left him starving—when he was accosted by Mueller in front of everyone.

  "Where are you hiding him!" Mueller yelled; he was almost foaming at the mouth now and was panting heavily. The good captain was apparently in rather poor shape.

  "Do you always take that tone of voice with your superiors?" Sean said and couldn't help snickering. "If I wasn't in a rush to eat, I'd be bitch slapping you into next week right about now."

  "You wouldn't dare!"

  "Don't be so sure about that. Now mind your manners and remember to remove your clothes before going into the recovery room!" Sean added a wink after he said that.

  "Why I'll..."

  Sean took a step back in surprise as Mueller's eyes rolled up and he collapsed.

  "Someone get one of the medics or Gloria!" Sean yelled.

  "Can't you heal him?" one of the wolves asked.

  "I wouldn't waste my magic on him even if I wasn't tapped out," Sean said with a growl as several others ran off.

  Shaking his head, Sean turned and continued on to the kitchen. "Tell Gloria to call me when she knows what's wrong. I need to eat before I end up on the ground as well!"

  Sean had been eating for about ten minutes when Gloria came in, followed by Major Harper.

  "What's up?" Sean asked between forkfuls.

  "Why are you so hungry?" Gloria asked.

  "Lost my left hand." Sean grimaced for a moment. "Then I had to cast a bunch of magic. So I got hit hard by the regeneration."

  Major Harper looked at Sean. "You lost a hand?" he asked.

  "I almost lost the entire forearm. That demon was pretty nasty. So what's up, Doc?" Sean asked with a grin.

  "Captain Mueller appears to have ingested some sort of magical potion," Gloria said, looking a little worried. "I need your permission to search his rooms to see if there's any evidence there."

  "Sure, go right ahead. I don't know why you even bothered to ask."

  "Because we don't work for you," Major Harper said. "So we have to get the 'landlord's' permission to enter an officer's room. Even in a medical emergency."

  Sean nodded. "Keep me informed!"

  Ten minutes later, Roxy showed up with Roberta and Major Vanderberg.

  "Something wrong?" Sean asked, looking at them and setting his fork down.

  "We've got a problem. We need you to come to Captain Mueller's room. General Baker is already there."

  "Aw, shit," Sean swore and, getting to his feet, he followed the girls out to the barracks the officers had taken over.

  When they got to the room, Sean saw that the general and the major were looking through a pile of something.

  "Hey, are those panties?" Major Vanderberg blurted out.

  Roxy nodded. "Gloria and Major Harper found them while going through Captain Mueller's things."

  "So he was into women's clothing; that may be kinky, but it's not a crime," Sean said with a shrug.

  "They're not his," Roxy said with a hint of a growl. "He's been stealing them from the laundry apparently." Roxy paused a moment, then added, "Before they were washed."

  "It gets worse," Harper said and pointed to a drawer full of tiny bottles.

  Bending over, Sean saw that each one had the name of one of the female lycans that lived here on it, along with their lycan race. Picking one up, he looked at it. There was a single hair inside.

  "How'd he get their hair?"

  "It's from their underwear," Roxy growled.

  Sean snorted and tried not to laugh.

  Roxy slapped him on the side. "It's not funny, Sean."

  Sean couldn't help snickering. "For a guy who seemed terrified of naked women, it's hilarious! What a weird little man."

  "I have to agree with your wife, Sean. This is no laughing matter for a US officer," General Baker said. "Do we know why he collapsed? The nurse who came and got me said he'd consumed some kind of magical potion?"

  Gloria nodded. "That's why we're here; we came looking for the bottle or glass he drank it from. Whatever it is, it's not working right."

  "Found it!" Harper held up a large glass bottle that was half-full of liquid, and they could all clearly see that there was a hair floating in it.

  Sean shook his head. "I don't know anything about potions, sorry."

  "I do," Roberta said taking it. "That's why Rox called me."

  Sean nodded, then suddenly froze and stopped smiling.

  "What's wrong?" Gloria asked.

  "I'm going to step out of the room. If that hair turns out to belong to any of my wives, or Sheila or Deidre, you better get Captain Mueller out of here as fast as possible, because I will kill him the instant I find out."

  Sean looked around the room, "Understand?"

  Everyone nodded, and Sean quickly left.

  "Who are Deidre and Sheila?" Major Vanderberg asked.

  "His mistresses," Roberta told her.

  "Wait, he's got six wives and two mistresses?" Major Harper said, looking surprised.

  "He's a very busy lion," Roxy said with a wink and a grin.

  "Damn, I'm surprised he's got the energy left to fight demons!" General Baker said with a smile. "I knew I liked that boy." Turning serious, he looked at Roberta. "Let me know what that potion is and how soon we can ship Captain Mueller's ass out of here. As for the name of the poor woman whose hair is in that bottle, I'd like to ask that it be kept secret so as not to embarrass her."

  Gloria and Roberta both nodded. "Of course, General," Gloria said.

  "Randy, Joyce, gather up Hart and Musalino and meet me in my office. I have a few questions for Jack about his friend. We may be sending two back to be cashiered before the day is out."

  They all watched the officers troop out of the room and close the door behind them.

  "Wow," Roberta said looking over at Roxy, "Peg sure is vicious."

  "What?" Gloria asked.

  "Oh, nothing. The potion is a binding potion. You drink some and then give some to your victim and it binds them to you. Romantically. Unfortunately, it only works on humans, not lycans. He'll be sick for a while, but I don
't think it'll kill him."

  "Oh? I've heard of these; never seen one though. Where do you think he got it?"

  Roberta just shrugged and smiled.

  #

  "They can't do this to me! I'm innocent! I didn't do anything! Those vials aren't mine! I never took that...those...those filthy panties!" Mueller yelled at the others who were all sitting behind a table, while Lieutenant Kennedy restrained him from behind with the help of a couple of sergeants that General Baker had asked Colonel Tibbets to loan him.

  "Then how do you explain your fingerprints being on the vials?" Major Vanderberg asked him.

  "That's impossible!"

  "Captain, you've done nothing but insult Mr. Valens, and over what? Someone who isn't your responsibility?"

  "I outrank him! And Valens is just some civilian! He's not important!"

  "Captain," General Baker spoke up, "Sean Valens is an important leader of a large ethnic minority who have historically been abused and denied their rights. We need those people now because of the war we're being forced into. That alone makes him an important figure deserving of your respect.

  "But that is not why you are here. You were found in possession of stolen goods, personal stolen goods, of a sexual nature. We have also discovered that you fully intended to make at least one of those women into some sort of sex slave through the use of magic that's proscribed, in an act that the military can only view as attempted rape.

  "I have sent the details of this back to the Pentagon, and they have all been entered into your personal record. I have recommended that you be court-martialed and given a dishonorable discharge. I'd do it myself, but I have neither the time nor inclination to give you anything even approaching a fair trial. You are being sent home on the next available flight before you can cause any more difficulties."

  "But I'm innocent!" Mueller screamed.

  "Take him away," General Baker said with a dismissive motion.

  "Yes, Sir!" Lieutenant Kennedy said, and seizing Captain Mueller, they dragged him out of the room.

  General Baker leaned forward and looked down the table as Mueller left the room.

  "Captain Musalino, do you think you could enlighten us as to your friend's behavior?"