by Siegel, Alex
"I understand. You're not evil or stupid. In fact you're one of the more promising recruits I've had. You're just very stubborn. I asked you to trust me. Why didn't you? I told you the illness will be dealt with at the proper time, and that's still absolutely true. I never forgot about those innocent people."
His sighed. "Are you going to kill me, ma'am?"
"I don't know." She looked up at the ceiling. "As you sit in this cell, God is teaching you a lesson and maybe I should let that lesson continue. On the other hand, a strong commander doesn't flinch when an unpleasant task must be done. I gave you plenty of warnings. I need to think about this."
"For how long?"
"Not very." She looked straight at him. "This could be our last conversation. It was nice knowing you Dr. Smythe. I'll always value the brief time we spent together, and if I do kill you, I won't enjoy it."
She walked off.
* * *
A few hours later, Smythe was lying on his concrete bed, staring at the concrete ceiling. He had tried to sleep but it was only seven o'clock at night. He wasn't tired enough to fall asleep this early, especially when there was so much on his mind. However, the soldier in him kept ordering him to rest while he had the chance.
Two police officers came to the door of his cell. They were young men, and their blue uniforms had nice, crisp creases.
"Get up," one of the cops said. "You're being transferred."
Smythe stood. His opportunity to sleep was gone.
The cops entered the cell and cuffed his hands behind his back. They briskly escorted him through the busy police station. Smythe was forced to go out the front door into the cold without a coat. Fortunately, an idling police car was parked at the curb. He was helped into the back seat, and the warm air was a relief.
As the young officers took their place in front, Smythe noticed something odd. Both had very thick hair, which was groomed a little too perfectly. He realized they were wearing wigs. Suddenly, he had a very bad feeling.
He looked around for a way to escape even though his hands were still cuffed. There were no door handles in the back, and a steel grill prevented him from getting to the front. The windows looked bulletproof. He was locked in a cage.
Detective Bourke came running out of the station. "Hey!" he yelled. "What are you doing? That's my prisoner!"
One of the fake cops rolled down a window. "We have orders to transfer him."
"From who? Show me the paperwork!"
"Take a look."
Bourke leaned down, putting his head close to the window.
"Get back!" Smythe yelled.
Bourke gave him a funny look.
The cop reached into his shirt pocket and took out a short, wooden tube. He blew through the tube, spraying black dust onto Bourke's face. The detective staggered backwards, coughing violently and clawing at his eyes. The police car immediately shot forward into city traffic.
The windows were rolled up before Smythe could yell again. The cops also turned on the flashing lights to encourage other cars to move out of the way, but they didn't use the siren.
"Let me guess," Smythe said. "The Order of Eternal Night."
"Correct," the driver said. "We have questions for you."
"I don't know anything."
"A few hours ago you told the police we're assassins and use poison."
"How do you know that?"
"We have friends," the driver said.
"Dirty cops on your payroll?" Smythe said.
"Isn't that a Chicago tradition?"
"What kind of poison did you use on the detective? Is it toxic?"
"He's already dead," the driver said. "He knew too much. Maybe you should've kept your mouth shut."
That comment hit Smythe hard. The truth in it was inescapable.
He looked through the window at the sky. Did you choose this for me, God? I never asked for it. I want to save lives, not end them.
"Where are we going?" Smythe asked.
"The Farm," one of the Eternals replied. "You're a very lucky man. After your interrogation, you'll get to participate in one of our most secret ceremonies. You'll witness things that very few others have seen."
"Participate?"
"Actually, you'll be the guest of honor. The ritual requires a lot of fresh human blood and you have plenty."
* * *
Two hours later, the car pulled into the Farm. Smythe had expected the name to be symbolic, but it really was a working farm. Black and white cows stood in the cold darkness. There were barns, silos, and a very large, rustic house. Empty fields contained stubble from a recent harvest. The odor of fresh manure made him wrinkle his nose.
The fake cops parked in front of a huge, metal shed. Two other men in black robes came out to meet them. All four Eternals had combat knives in hand when they finally let Smythe out of the car. The blades were painted black and wickedly serrated. He decided not to give his captors any trouble, especially since he was still in handcuffs.
Both his arms were held tightly as he was escorted into the shed. As soon as he stepped inside, the stench hit him. The shed was filled with pigs wallowing in brown filth, and the stink was unlike anything he had ever experienced. His eyes watered.
The men stripped off all of Smythe's clothes, leaving him only his briefs. The air inside the shed was cool but much warmer than outside, so hypothermia wasn't a danger. They removed his handcuffs but maintained a firm grip on his arms. One man kept the point of his knife pressed against Smythe's back.
One of the pig pens had a rusty iron cage in the middle, partially submerged in the muck. Smythe was shoved into the cage, which was just big enough for a large dog. He couldn't stand up or stretch out, so he was forced to kneel in the sticky filth with his head bowed. The men locked the cage with loops of heavy chain and two padlocks. Escape was clearly impossible.
"The master will speak with you in the morning," one of the men said. "Until then enjoy our hospitality. Good night."
The four of them left.
Smythe looked around to see if he was truly alone. He spotted two security cameras, both aimed directly at him.
I was fucked before, he thought. This is worse.
Chapter Twenty-one
Aaron sat in the cab of a fuel truck. Nine thousand gallons of low grade diesel sloshed in the steel tank behind him. The truck was running and warm air blew on his face, but soon he would have to go back out into the cold.
The truck was parked at the very edge of the quarry. He looked out at the giant excavation, which seemed like a bottomless pit in the night. The carnival was a floating island of light in the center of the darkness.
His watch showed 12:30 AM. It's time, he thought.
He climbed out of the truck without turning it off. He wore full camouflage over body armor and heavy clothes, but the cold still made him shiver.
He took his favorite gun, a Barrett M98B sniper rifle, from behind the driver's seat. He had shot many thousands of rounds through its twenty-seven inch, fluted barrel. He had practiced with it so much some of the parts had needed to be replaced. Marina and Ethel preferred close combat, but he was a natural marksman. Those skills would be tested tonight.
He turned on the thermal scope and sighted through it. The darkness of the quarry became sparkling, electric green. He could easily spot the individual carnival workers from their body heat, and they looked like glowing embers. The scope's clarity was amazing.
He located Marina at the far side of the quarry. Her slender, glowing form was crouched behind some rubble. An infrared strobe on her head flashed every two seconds. The light was invisible to human eyes, but it was an unmistakable beacon when viewed through the thermal scope. No matter where she went in the quarry, he would be able to find her.
Aaron called her on his phone. "I see you. Are you ready?"
"Yes," she said. "Go for it."
"In and out, as quick as you can. No screwing around."
"Stop fussing."
"I love you
," he said.
"I love you, too. Now blow up the damn truck. Bye."
He put away his phone.
He grabbed a satchel full of ammunition, spare weapons, and other supplies from the truck. Then he shoved the stick shift into first gear. The truck rolled off the edge of the cliff, plummeted a hundred feet, and crashed onto the rocks. He was hoping it would explode on its own, but that kind of thing only happened in the movies.
He pressed a button on a radio trigger on his belt. The explosion was so forceful he felt it through his feet. A huge fireball rose up, and the intense heat forced him to back away. For a moment the entire quarry glowed with orange light.
He ran a hundred yards along the edge of the cliff until he came to a thick clump of bushes. He lay under the foliage so only the top of his camouflaged head was exposed, making him effectively invisible. He extended the legs under his rifle and chambered a round. He took a deep breath to calm himself. As his body relaxed, his heart rate slowed. He looked through the scope. His aim was as steady as a rock.
The burning fuel was creating a thick, heavy cloud of smoke, which was spreading outward across the ground, but his thermal scope saw right through it. He watched the carnival workers run around as they tried to get organized.
Aaron spotted Marina dashing across the floor of the quarry with her head down. The strobe made it easy to pick her out. He adjusted the magnification on the scope.
She approached the carnival but had to stop at the edge of the light. The smoke provided some cover but not enough to guarantee safe passage across open ground. He aimed at the flood light that was causing the problem. The target was about the size of a human head. The bore of the rifle was cold, which affected his aim slightly, but the wind was minimal. He held his breath and gently pulled the trigger. The gun kicked his shoulder. A ten inch suppressor kept the muzzle flash and noise to a minimum. An instant later the light went dark.
Marina took off immediately. She ran between the trucks and trailers of the carnival, staying low and moving fast. He briefly lost sight of her a few times, but she always reappeared somewhere else. She left a couple of dead bodies behind as signs of her passage. She liked to hold a knife in both hands in situations like this. She was an ambidextrous killer.
She headed towards the "flying saucer" ride. She managed to run most of the way before two men forced her to stop.
Aaron was preparing to take his shot when Marina abruptly engaged both enemies at once. She spun and slashed like a living food processor.
"Fuck!" he muttered. "You couldn't wait another two seconds?"
He was reduced to the role of spectator. With the combatants so close together and moving so quickly, he couldn't shoot without risking a hit on Marina.
She killed one man quickly. Then she sliced the Achilles tendons of the other and stood over her fallen opponent. Instead of finishing him off right away, she appeared to be speaking to him.
"Damn it, Marina," Aaron said. "Stop gloating. This isn't a movie."
She liked to amuse herself by toying with her enemies at the end. It was a very bad habit, and he had chastised her several times. Apparently, he had wasted his breath.
He couldn't allow this stupidity to continue. It wasn't the safest shot, but he aimed at the face of the man on the ground and pulled the trigger. The resulting splatter was visible even in the night scope.
Marina started moving again and quickly reached the target. The ride was mounted on the back of a trailer truck. The plan was to drive the entire truck out of the quarry, but first she had to get inside. He watched her struggle to open the door, which was obviously locked. She went around to the back of the cab, where the trailer partially concealed her. Aaron lost sight of her, but he expected she was breaking through a rear window. He prayed she didn't get cut by any broken glass.
A nearby man headed in her direction. Maybe he had heard something. Aaron put a bullet through his brain. Hurry up, Marina, Aaron thought. This is taking too long.
Marina needed to hotwire the truck, a skill she rarely practiced. Stealing cars was his specialty, not hers.
There were five bodies on the ground, too many to go unnoticed, so it was no surprise to Aaron when the Eternals began to scramble. Some of them ran for the nearest cover while others formed search teams. He wanted to draw their attention away from Marina's location, so he sighted on one man who was barking orders to the rest. Aaron took him out with another perfect headshot. Now the Eternals really scrambled. They knew there was a skilled sniper somewhere in the darkness, a prospect that could terrify even the most hardened soldier.
Marina! Get the truck moving now! Aaron thought.
He took out a few more floodlights. The Eternals probably had some night vision gear but not enough for everybody. The darkness and smoke was their enemy. Right now they were likely wishing it were daytime.
He heard an engine roar to life. The truck with the flying saucer ride rolled forward and turned. Now came the most dangerous part of the operation. The only way out of the quarry was a long, narrow, dirt ramp.
The overloaded vehicle rocked on its suspension as she turned hard towards the exit. Once she had it straightened out, she gunned the engine. Men chased after her. Aaron couldn't make precise shots on moving targets at this range, so he just fired into the crowd. When he emptied one clip, he grabbed another from his satchel. He had plenty of bullets and no reason to save them.
The foot pursuit dissipated by the time she was half-way up the ramp. There was a trail of casualties behind her, thanks to Aaron's quick shooting. This mission was turning into a bloodbath despite Ethel's orders to the contrary, but that fact didn't bother him much. The Eternals celebrated death after all. He was giving them an early Christmas gift.
Two fast cars took over the chase. Aaron fired at the driver of the lead car, but he needed several shots before he finally scored a hit. The car veered off the ramp and crashed onto the rock floor of the quarry. The second car reached the top of the ramp and escaped before he could stop it.
He called Marina on the phone.
"Report," she said in a breathless voice.
"There is one car in pursuit," he said.
"I see it."
"Stay on the planned route. Don't slow down. I'll catch up to you."
"Hurry!" she said. "This truck handles like a pig. I'm afraid I'm going to crash into a tree."
Aaron left his rifle behind because of its awkward bulk, but he took the satchel and walked directly away from the quarry. There was just enough moonlight for him to pick his way through the bushes. He came to a dirt bike that he had placed earlier in the day. He hooked the satchel onto the back, put on a helmet, and started the engine. The single headlight illuminated a dirt path before him.
It only took a couple of minutes for him to reach the road. Once he was on solid pavement, he picked up the pace. The thought of Marina in trouble made him drive at dangerous speeds.
He spotted the truck up ahead. A black sports car was right on her tail, but she kept it from passing her by swerving from side to side. A man with a handgun was leaning out the passenger window. I guess the Eternals decided guns are useful, Aaron thought. Even a zealot can learn.
The open window gave him an idea. He groped around in his satchel until he found a grenade. He cranked the throttle and the bike shot forward. When he reached the car, he pulled the pin with his teeth and tossed the grenade into the window. He hit the brakes to drop back.
A few seconds later an explosion blew out all the windows. The car veered off the road and crashed into a ditch.
Marina stopped swerving the truck. Aaron drove up and nodded to her. She blew a tender kiss to him.
They proceeded three more miles down the road until they came to a small town. Marina parked the truck behind a grocery store, and Aaron got off his bike. He was sweating despite the cold.
A gray van was waiting there. Ethel got out and came over to join them. She wore a heavy, sheepskin coat that went down to her knees.
"It looks like the mission was a success," she said.
"Pretty much, ma'am," Aaron said.
"What does that mean?"
"It got a little messy towards the end. The body count went kind of high."
"But he did a great job of protecting me," Marina said. "It was like God was watching over me." She kissed him on the lips.
Ethel furrowed her brow. "I ordered you to avoid excess bloodshed."
"Tell the Eternals that, ma'am," Aaron said. "They insist on fighting to the death."
"Hmm. Let's get to work."
They examined the flying saucer ride. There was supposed to be a secret compartment in the base, but finding it would be tough. The thing was made of riveted steel plates and weighed many tons. There were no obvious seams or structural weaknesses.
"Aaron," Marina said, "how much saliva do you have?"
He shook his head. "Probably not enough. I can see why the Eternals hid their valuables in this beast. It's built like a fortress."
"We have to work quickly," Ethel said. "We can't still be here when the grocery store opens in the morning. I'm sure the Eternals are searching the area for us, too."
"Then let's drive the truck back to headquarters."
"Too risky. By now the Eternals probably reported it as stolen. We know they have cops on their payroll, so the report will get attention. Every trooper in the county will be looking for a flying saucer on wheels."
"Which reminds me, what's happening with Smythe, ma'am?" Aaron said.
"He's still in jail."
"Are you going to kill him?"
"I haven't decided," Ethel said. "I'll think about him later."
Aaron felt sorry for Smythe. The guy had refused to accept Ethel's leadership and now would pay a very high price. Aaron was surprised a professional soldier could be so insubordinate, but it would explain his checkered military career. The whole situation was tragic.
Aaron turned his attention back to the problem of finding the secret compartment. He knocked on the side of the ride, and it sounded solid.