by Siegel, Alex
"Yes," she said.
He grabbed her around the waist and kissed her softly. "I missed you."
"Me, too." She kissed him back. "Let's go."
* * *
Aaron drove his car into a huge parking lot in Melrose Park, which wasn't far from Chicago. The lot had once served a department store that had gone out of business. Now Wiley's Wild and Wacky Carnival of Fun temporarily occupied the great expanse of cracked asphalt. Almost all the parking spots were full, so Aaron had to drive around to find an empty one.
He and Marina stepped out of the warm car and into chilly air. The afternoon sun provided only the suggestion of warmth. Aaron hoped that the clear sky meant tomorrow would be more comfortable. October wasn't supposed to be this cold. He zipped up his leather jacket all the way.
Several cars in the parking lot had blue Chicago Cubs flags sticking out the windows or attached to the radio antenna.
"Is something special going on with the Cubs?" Aaron said.
Marina shrugged. "Why are you asking me? Do I care about baseball? Where is Ethel?"
She wore a furry black parka and black pants. The only exposed skin was her hands and face. A heavy coat made it easy to hide weapons, but it also made it hard to reach them in an emergency.
"Look for a medium sized, white delivery truck."
She pointed. "Over there."
They walked over to a truck somewhat larger than a van. He estimated the cargo area was about ten feet long and six feet wide, big enough to hold plenty of gear. Apparently, Ethel was getting serious about this mission. The words "Best Day Ever Catering" were painted on the side of the truck in tall, red letters.
Smythe stood at the rear of the truck. He wore a long, fleece coat and a ski hat. When he saw Aaron approach, Smythe knocked on the back of the truck.
The sliding rear door rolled up. Ethel stood inside, wearing a yellow shirt and black pants. She seemed underdressed for the cool weather, and Aaron wondered if her hyperactive muscles provided extra heat.
"Get in," she said.
The whole team climbed into the truck and Aaron closed the door. A single bulb provided light.
"Here are your orders," Ethel said. "When we get into the carnival, we'll split into two teams. Smythe will come with me. We're here to perform reconnaissance. Do not engage. Do not interfere. Remember, we still don't know if they are the enemy. Lethal force is not authorized."
"But what about..." Smythe said.
She gave him a look that shut him up.
"However," she said, "we also can't forget they're assassins who specialize in poisons. Take precautions. Do not eat or drink anything. Avoid touching. Stay out of enclosed spaces."
"What if we get sick with PRooFS, ma'am?" Aaron said.
"We must accept that risk. Choose your weapons. We'll be lightly armed today."
Shelves lined the walls inside the truck, and Ethel had stocked them with everything the team might need. The selection included a variety of surveillance gear. The range of weapons ran the gamut all the way up to a .50 caliber sniper rifle. Aaron wasn't sure what to take. He wanted as much firepower as Ethel would let him have, but the phrase "lightly armed" was ambiguous. He reached for a ST Kinetics Compact Personal Weapon, which was really a machine gun disguised as a bulky pistol. She shook her head.
"Why did you bring it if I can't use it?" he asked.
"Because you never know," she said. "Take this instead." She handed him a Russian made OTs-33 Pernach.
The Pernach was also fully automatic, but it was small and relatively easy to conceal. It looked a lot like a classic Colt handgun. He loaded the magazine with 18 rounds of 9mm ammunition and screwed on a suppressor.
Marina went for the knives. Her obsession with cutting was such a fetish even Aaron found it disturbing. On the other hand he couldn't argue with her skills. In her hands a knife would dance like a living thing.
When everybody was ready, they left the truck and headed for the carnival. Melrose Park was close enough to Chicago to have a semi-urban feel. An even mix of white, black, and Hispanic patrons streamed in and out through the front gate.
The carnival had several rides, including a circular rollercoaster, a carousel, a giant slide, a drop tower, and a scrambler. All were small enough to be easily disassembled and shipped. Even from a distance the construction looked rickety. Aaron already knew he would ride none of them.
The aroma of hot dogs made his stomach grumble. Picking up Marina had taken so long that he had missed lunch, and dinner time was approaching. He expected he wouldn't have a chance to satisfy his hunger for several more hours. He tried to ignore the emptiness in his belly and focus on the mission.
Marina and Aaron came to a midway in the center of the carnival. There was the usual assortment of unwinnable games involving rings, bowling pins, and air guns. He was more interested in the "carnies" who worked in the stalls. All were young men with short haircuts and strong bodies. Instead of appearing bored with their mindless jobs, they studied the crowd intensely.
"The Eternals are definitely here," Marina said. "The sunset symbol is everywhere."
Aaron looked around and saw it too. Above every stall, the lights were arranged to form a half-circle with radiating lines. The same pattern was repeated in red on the ticket booths. There was a giant Wiley clown face with spiky hair and a horizontal stripe across the nose. A Ferris wheel was painted half black and half yellow, creating a rotating sunset.
"The workers are all soldiers," Marina said.
Aaron nodded. "I noticed. Young and athletic. Excellent posture."
"And there are a lot of them. A whole army. This could get interesting."
He sighed. For her, "interesting" meant knee deep in blood and guts.
They passed a food vendor, and Aaron's empty stomach demanded his attention. The food looked a hundred times better than the usual crap served at carnivals. Plump, flame grilled hot dogs steamed under heat lamps. There were oversized apples covered in creamy caramel. The pizza was so thick with cheese and fresh toppings that one slice was a meal. Steak sandwiches contained impressive slabs of real steak. Meanwhile, the shockingly low prices meant the carnival had to lose money on every sale. They were practically giving away the food. There was a long line of eager customers, and four workers filled orders as fast as they could.
"I know how the Eternals are spreading PRooFS," Aaron said.
"It's obvious," Marina said.
He watched the people gobbling down the food. He suspected they were killing themselves with every bite and desperately wanted to intervene, but Ethel's orders were very clear. He had to stand by and allow the tragedy to unfold.
"This is a really shitty situation," he said.
"Yeah," Marina said. "I wish we could do something. We will do something when the time is right. Come on."
They continued walking.
Off to the side a man was performing in front of a crowd. He was throwing knives at a wooden board with various targets glued to it. He hit the spade on an ace of spades playing card. Then he cut a string holding a helium balloon, and Aaron watched the balloon float into the sky.
"Nice," he said.
"I could do that," Marina muttered.
"Really?"
"I'm a world class knife thrower."
"I've seen you practice," he said, "and you're good, but calling yourself 'world class' is a stretch. You specialize in close-in work."
She sniffed and turned away.
They continued wandering for another hour, then headed back to the white truck. Ethel and Smythe met them inside.
"It's the food!" Smythe said. His eyes were wide with eagerness.
"Yes," Aaron said. "We saw."
"We need samples. I'll use the lab in headquarters to perform an analysis. If I find anything, it would be a huge breakthrough. This is exciting!"
"We will get your samples," Ethel said, "but finding a cure for PRooFS is not the main reason we're here. First, we need evidence of supernat
ural interference."
"How are we supposed to get that, ma'am?" Smythe said with a sneer.
"I suggest you change your tone."
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Finally, he said, "Yes, ma'am."
"We will continue our reconnaissance. Smythe and I will create an observation post across the street. Aaron and Marina will go back into the carnival. Our immediate goal is to determine where the Eternals perform their rituals."
"I apologize for my ignorance," Smythe said, "but why?"
She glared at him. "Don't you remember? The appearance of a supernatural entity causes a burst of a special kind of radiation. Kamal can determine in his lab whether an object was exposed to that radiation. So, we want to collect things that were probably nearby when an entity appeared. Ceremonial knives, crystals, candlesticks, and so on."
"Oh."
"Before we go back," Aaron said, "can we take a break for dinner? I'm starving. I saw a burger place down the street."
"Sure," Ethel said. "Eat. It could be a very long night."
* * *
Aaron kept his hands in his pockets to warm them up. His coat was thick enough but he hadn't brought gloves or a hat. The chilly, night air made his nose drip. He stood tall and tried not to show his discomfort in front of Marina.
"This has got to be the coldest October ever," he said.
"I hope it warms up before Halloween," she said, "or the kids will be miserable when they go trick or treating."
The comment startled him. "You're thinking about kids?"
"There are a lot of families here."
Even though the sun had set, there were plenty of kids still at the carnival. They lined up at the rides with big smiles while their parents watched. The younger children rode in strollers, some already asleep.
Aaron and Marina were forbidden to have children of their own because a family would distract them from their duties. The topic almost never came up in conversation, and he didn't really know how she felt about it. She guarded her true feelings the way a miser guarded gold.
"Does not having kids bother you?"
"A little," she said. "I am a woman, which means I have certain feelings whether I want them or not. It's fine. I'd be a terrible mother. I'm too manipulative, impatient, and violent. It would take a special kind of kid to put up with me. What about you?"
"I don't know. The older I get, the more I wonder what my life would've been like if I had made different choices. Would I be happy?"
"You'd be bored out of your mind. God made you for one purpose, to fight His battles."
"I know." He nodded. "Right now I have everything I want in life, including you."
She smiled at him.
He checked his watch. It was around eight o'clock, and according to the sign in front, the carnival closed at nine. Hours of wandering and careful observation hadn't produced any new revelations. Aside from the incredibly good food, the carnival seemed perfectly ordinary. The Eternals were doing a great job of disguising their true intentions.
"We need to change our approach," Aaron said. "Let's go around to the back and see what's happening behind the scenes."
"Risky," Marina said. "We don't look anything like the carnies. They'll know right away we don't belong."
"We'll just have to be sneaky."
"If we get caught, act drunk and stupid."
He nodded. "Got it."
The carnival was divided into two sections, public and private, with the public section in front. A temporary fence marked the division and the openings were guarded, so the direct route wasn't an option. Aaron and Marina left through the front entrance and began the long walk around the block.
The night sky had an orange tint. He looked east and saw Chicago glowing in the distance.
His phone rang. He opened it and said, "Hello?"
"What are you doing?" Ethel said.
He looked across the busy street. Ethel and Smythe had set up an observation post on the roof of a grocery store. They were sitting on lawn chairs and watching through binoculars. They were dressed in black, and Aaron couldn't see them in the darkness, but he knew their approximate location.
"Going around to the back side, ma'am," he said.
"Be careful," Ethel said.
"Always. Have you seen anything worth reporting?"
"No."
"How is Smythe doing?"
"Very quiet," she said, "which is good. I've had enough of his whining."
"The carnival is closing pretty soon. You might let him collect some food samples now."
"I'll consider it. Bye."
"Bye." He put his phone in his pocket. He turned to Marina and said, "Ethel didn't sound happy."
"She doesn't like new recruits in general," Marina said, "and Smythe is a particular pain in the ass. I'm starting to like him though. He's a pain in the ass for the right reasons. It would be a shame to lose him."
"He'll shape up. I'm sure of it. He's smart enough to figure out which lines he can't cross."
They now had a good view of the back side of the carnival. Semi trucks and motor homes were packed tightly together to form long, neat rows. Thick cables ran to large electrical generators, and Aaron heard them chugging even from a few hundred yards away. Bright floodlights illuminated the parking lot on all sides. Sentries were posted everywhere, as if the carnival were a military encampment. It seemed there was no way to approach unseen.
"This is a problem," he said.
"As usual," Marina said.
"We should've expected heavy security. They're professional assassins, after all."
"I'm actually happy to see some security. If there are guards, then they must be guarding something important."
"So, how do we get in?"
"I don't know." She frowned. "It's a shame we can't just kill them. There is a sniper rifle in the truck, and you're a great marksman. Ethel doesn't need to know."
"Be serious," he said.
"Fine. We don't have to make this complicated. It will take us about thirty seconds to run through the lights and hide, so we just need to distract the sentries for that long."
"I'll call Ethel. She can arrange a distraction for us."
* * *
Smythe watched Ethel as she finished her conversation and closed her phone. Even this small motion was executed with uncanny precision. She never seemed to relax.
She looked at him, and as usual, the darkness in her eyes troubled him. It wasn't natural. The Eternals worshipped the night but she was made of it. Shadows seemed to cling to her skin like sticky webs.
"Aaron and Marina are having a little trouble," she said. "They need a distraction. Go create one."
"How big a distraction?" he said.
"Big. There are incendiaries in the truck, but don't kill anybody."
"Yes, ma'am."
"While you're down there," she said, "you may also collect your precious food samples."
He smiled slightly. "Yes, ma'am."
Smythe stood up and his knee joints popped. He had been sitting on a lawn chair in the cold for hours. His whole body felt stiff as a board.
He and Ethel were on the roof of a grocery store. The location was high enough for them to observe the entire carnival, and nobody could see them from the street. It was a great lookout post.
He had a strange sensation in his body, which made him pause.
"Something wrong?"
"Maybe," he said. "I'm feeling a little warm. I hope I'm not getting sick."
"You have a tingling in your guts? A burning in your veins? Everything looks brighter and sharper than usual?"
"Yes, ma'am." He stared at her. "You know what it is?"
She smiled. "You wouldn't believe me. It's a good sign though, so don't worry. You're fine. Get moving."
He walked over to a rope ladder attached to a grappling hook. He climbed down the ladder and dropped softly onto the parking lot behind the store.
He jogged across the street, dodging traffic along the way. It f
elt good to get his blood moving. He felt good in general, not sick at all despite the extra warmth in his body.
The white truck was locked and he had the key, but if he just tried to open the door, the truck would explode. An effective distraction, he thought, but not the one I want. He reached under the rear bumper and felt around until he found a key pad. The keys were different shapes, and working by touch alone, he pressed the right sequence. Then he unlocked the rear door. No boom. Good.
He went into the back of the truck. There was enough equipment on hand for an entire commando unit, and Smythe approved of the level of preparation. It was impossible to bring too many guns to a fight.
He decided to keep the distraction simple. He grabbed a small block of C4, a detonator, and a timer. Choosing how he would collect the food samples required more thought. He couldn't just stroll through the carnival with an evidence kit. He settled on a plastic garbage bag and a pair of latex gloves, which he stuffed into his coat pocket.
He went outside and looked around. What should I blow up? Destroying a car in the parking lot could spray burning gasoline all over. He needed an isolated target. His gaze settled on a dumpster overflowing with garbage bags. Perfect.
He jogged over. Quickly, he assembled the bomb and set the timer for three minutes. He pushed the bundle down deep into the pile of garbage. He walked away at a quick pace.
Without looking back, he went into the carnival and sought out the nearest food vender. He snapped on the latex gloves.
The bomb exploded with a thud that rattled his body. Trash flew high in the air, creating a volcano of burning debris. All eyes turned in that direction.
Smythe used the distraction to swipe some food. He stole a hotdog from a boy's hand and a slice of pizza from a little girl. They yelled, but he didn't care. He also stole a couple of baskets of food from a picnic table. All of it went into the garbage bag that he was holding.
The crowd was moving away from the fire. He allowed himself to be swept along until he finally broke free from the press of people.
He headed back towards the truck. He stopped when he saw a man holding a cell phone, and an idea occurred to him. He could make an anonymous call to his old colleagues in the Army. He could tell them about the Eternals and this carnival. Innocent people were dying of PRooFS every day. As a doctor and a human being, Smythe was obligated to do everything he could to stop the massacre, even if that meant betraying the Society's trust. Besides, he had never really promised to obey their nonsensical rules.