Demon Accords 6: Forced Ascent

by John Conroe

  Grim could sense military units on the perimeter of the five hundred yard mark, ready but unmoving.

  She got closer, slowing a bit at the sight of us. Stacia sat on the corner of the sign base, then me, then Tanya, and finally Lydia, who hadn’t spoken since Trenton had died. Arkady stood in guard position, halfway between the body of his fallen comrade and his queen, ready to protect either or both as needed. Awasos lay by my feet, sharing pemmican bars that Arkady had retrieved from the cars. A mound of wrappers were piled between me and Stacia.

  “I’m here to talk about next steps,” she said, only her darting eyes betraying any real sign of nervousness.

  “Next steps, Alexis?” I asked, trying to keep the volcano of rage and anger inside me from erupting. Both Tanya and Stacia touched me, almost simultaneously, which at any other time would have made me smile in disbelief.

  “Yes. We need to talk about how to handle the aftermath of all of this,” Alexis Bishop said, waving her hands around. “How do we proceed and resolve what has happened?”

  Tanya jumped up, which made Alexis jerk in fear. Reaching a hand to Lydia, my vampire looked first at me, then Stacia. “I’m going into the church. I think Lydia and I need to talk with Barbiel. You,” she directed at Stacia, “stay with him, right?”

  “Right,” Stacia agreed.

  They left and when Arkady looked from me to them, I put him out of his indecision. “Go with them. ‘Sos will watch over Trenton,” I said, patting the furry wolf at my feet. I, myself, had spent some time with Barbiel after the battle and knew just how calming a talk with him could be, although my time had been more instructional in nature.

  Arkady nodded, looked balefully at Alexis, then followed the other two vampires.

  Alexis watched them, a trace amount of wonder showing through her poker face at the sight of three vampires entering a church.

  “Maybe you would like to go with them?” she said, turning to Stacia.

  “Maybe me sitting here is the only thing that will keep him from going ballistic when you push him over the edge with your words? Maybe it would be in the best interests of this city and country if I sat my ass right here and prevented Apocalypse C?” Stacia replied.

  That made the President’s Fixer pause, eyes widening slightly before she looked back at me as if trying to visually measure my fuse. I just watched her and after trying to hold my stare for a moment, she looked back at the werewolf girl by my side.

  “Yeah, maybe that would be best,” she said with a nervous nod.

  “So, now that you’ve killed my friend and brother in arms, just how do we proceed?” I asked, thinking that my voice sounded reasonable. Stacia’s immediate grasp of my forearm and Alexis’s gulp and small step back indicated not.

  “I didn’t kill your friend. The President didn’t kill your friend. It was a mistake by a frightened agent, who as I understand it is now blind.”

  I shifted slightly at the implication I should feel bad about one man’s vision problems while Trenton lay dead. The hand on my forearm squeezed slightly.

  “Lady, I understand that you’re some kind of high-powered negotiator or something, but right now, you’re doing a piss poor job with word selection,” Stacia said.

  “Look, all I meant was that you’ve exacted some punishment on the killer of your friend. Yes, he still lives, but at the end of the day, he was just a man doing his job in a situation that none of his experience or training could prepare him for. No one ordered your friend killed.”

  I pointed to the blackened furrow cut through the grass across the street in the square.

  “And I suppose your little Death Star in the sky just happened to misfire, too?” I asked.

  “We’re looking into that,” she said, paling noticeably.

  “Wait, you don’t know who fired that thing?” Stacia asked, starting to stand up. I grabbed her hand as it left my arm, restraining her for a change.

  “You have to understand that it’s a huge government with thousands of moving parts. There are over three thousand agencies, departments, and private companies all working on defense and homeland security. It isn’t as clear cut as you might think.”

  “You’re implying that there is another Agents-in-Rebus-like organization? With control of space-based weapons?” I said.

  “We have locked down control on all assets. Since the Tomahawk misfired, we’ve initiated much more stringent command and control procedures. Within the last hour, the President has ordered centralized weapons control to just himself. He had nothing to do with those attacks on you or your people,” Alexis said. “We are actively investigating who actually ordered those attacks.”

  “Either I believe you, in which case I’m left disgusted at the sheer ineffectiveness of this government, or I call you a liar and decide to go to war.”

  She studied me for a moment, calculating.

  “You can hear my heartbeat? See if my skin flushes?”

  “Yes, we can. Plus we can literally smell if you lie,” Stacia said.

  “And?”

  “You haven’t lied yet. But then, I haven’t spoken to the President directly either, to get a read on him,” I said.

  “Would you? Talk to the President? Could you? Without killing anyone?” she asked.

  Grim started to react but I squashed him on my own. Instead, I got chilly inside, focused, my attention fully on her and all her reactions.

  “You don’t know if he will, do you? You’re just testing the waters, looking for a hook. You already know the level of control I’ve kept… I’ve been… gentle. Would I? Yeah, sure. I don’t think he will though… too scared.”

  She nodded at the truth of my words. “You might be surprised. Okay, what else? How do we get you out of here?” she asked, waving her hands around us at the destruction.

  “We’ve called for a ride,” Tanya said, walking back out of the church. Lydia must have stayed inside as well as Arkady. “We have a helicopter waiting.”

  Alexis was terrified of Tanya; her erratic heartbeat and the little gulping motion in her neck told that plain as day. But she struggled to contain it, pulling her eyes away from Tanya to glance at me. “What are you waiting for?” she asked.

  “You—or someone like you,” I answered. She stayed looking at me but I could almost see the battle not to look back at the vampire princess gliding through the wreckage on the lawn. She gulped again.

  “Why? Why not just leave?” she asked, her professional curiosity peeking through her fear.

  “Because we need to explain some things,” Tanya said, suddenly right next to her, the wind from her sudden blur of motion pushing Alexis’s brown hair back from her face.

  Alexis froze completely while Tanya started a slow stroll around the professional politician.

  “First, that we’re done here—with all this,” Tanya said, leaning close to Alexis’s ear from behind. “That we’re done offering our help,” she almost whispered.

  “Halloween is just begun,” I said. “Daylight will be here soon, but then tonight will fall and even though this demon and his helpers are gone, don’t think for a second that it’s over. This is the day of the year that the barriers between planes of existence are thinnest. This country is going to have some issues, come nightfall, as will the whole of the planet. You should do some planning while the daylight lasts.”

  She looked at me for a second, then twitched her eyes sideways at Tanya, who was coming around to her left side.

  “It’s not over? And you’re just leaving us?” she asked, looking around at us and the first responders some distance away. Her head tilted up and her view took in the tops of the buildings… and the television crews on them.

  “You’re leaving your people to just die? Your country?,” she said louder.

  “No, Alexis, we’re going to a funeral,” I said.

  Her expression was all focused concentration and thought. “Can’t that wait? Why can’t you postpone your arrangements till this is past? Till the
country is safe?”

  “Because, as you told me the last time we met, Alexis, the leaders of this country cannot abide me roaming free, because you want to hold my eight-year-old goddaughter hostage for control of my God-given abilities, because you’ve frozen our assets, hunted us like rats, launched missiles at us, sent assassins, and now when we step out of hiding to protect you, you kill us!” I said, voice rising to match hers.

  “You have been grievously wronged. I was wrong, as were the others in that meeting. But we… the President and myself did not order that missile launched or set that trap in Baltimore or fire the Stellar Overwatch weapon at you. Would you let innocent people die—families hacked to death by demonic killers?”

  “Actually, I don’t believe we said we were going to do nothing… I think we said we weren’t going to help you or him. We don’t trust you, you can’t even control your own forces, and we won’t work with you. What we will do is stop hiding. We’ll do as much as we can on our own, but be warned: If you shoot at us, we’ll more than shoot back. If you launch missiles, I send them right back, and if another motherfucking satellite looks at me cross-eyed, I pull the whole fucking sky down on your heads. Stay out of our way, keep your agents and assassins away, keep your fucking weapons holstered or by God, the Hell holes and demons will be the least of your problems. And stay the fuck away from Toni!” I said, my voice rising along with my body.

  Alexis was backing away, almost falling over, scared out of her mind, and I had two sets of hands on my arms.

  “Arkady, call that chopper, would you? If we stay any longer, somebody’s gonna lose his temper and bankrupt some insurance companies. Probably a few of our own,” Lydia said, coming out of the church.

  “Can’t you deny claim for Acts of God… or his agents?” Stacia asked.

  “Damned good point wolf girl,” Lydia agreed. Arkady was on a cell phone, calling the helicopter.

  “I suggest you tell them to let it through,” Stacia said to a visibly shaky Alexis. She nodded and pulled her own cell phone.

  “You should advise your people tonight to carry an emblem of their faith with them. Crosses, Stars of David, the Star and Crescent for Muslims, whatever they follow. Also, electronics and electric lights are uncertain around the demonic host. Chemical light sticks are a must have for back-up. You might draw on the US Armed Forces Chaplain Corps. I think they’re spread around the country at various bases. Include a chaplain, priest, minister, rabbi or imam with each group of responders. I don’t know what you can do about the gates,” I said to Alexis when my anger had cooled a bit.

  “We have been working on some technology to try and close the gates. Oracle’s work,” she said, cautiously.

  “Nathan’s people are good. I hope they work.”

  The whopping of rotors filled the air and thirty seconds later, a sleek commercial Sikorsky S-92 floated down out of the lightening night sky. Arkady picked up Trenton’s body and we loaded it carefully onto the chopper, then climbed in ourselves. Looking out the specially darkened window as we took off, I locked eyes with Alexis Bishop, who looked less like the powerful agent of the President and more like a scared human. Turning the nose of his aircraft to the west, the pilot took us away from the rising sun of the new day.

  Chapter 26

  We didn’t go all that far, just to Dulles International Airport. It was too late in the game to return to New York, so in the hour we had spent waiting for Alexis to show up, Tanya had been busy marshaling our forces. Coded texts, emails, and even direct phone calls had resulted in a call-up of our people from hiding.

  A private jet was waiting at the airport and we wasted no time moving aboard it, the sky already brightening with a new day’s light. Arkady and Lydia staggered to shrouded bunks on the specially equipped plane while Tanya and I organized the arrival of another jet from New York. Stacia, Awasos, and I fed from the well-equipped galley while we worked and after, behind the doors of the master bedroom, I fed Tanya. Then we slept, trusting in the human staff and Grim’s alert senses.

  Four hours later, I woke to find our jet had been invaded by Mr. Deckert and a crew of his security specialists.

  “Gordon,” he greeted me, glancing up from the laptop he was working on in one of the ultra-comfortable passenger seats.

  “Deckert,” I replied. “Flight down okay?”

  “Hunky dory. Pilot said he’s never been cleared to land so fast in his life. The other Darkkin are on board the other jet, deep in sun coma. But Que… Miss Demidova’s instructions are all being carried out or are already done.”

  “Good. Tonight’s going to be a cluster fuck.”

  “Roger that. But you should check out the news, especially before going outside,” he said, nodding up front where a flatscreen was mounted on the bulkhead.

  I hadn’t paid it any attention coming into the passenger and work area of the big plane, but now I realized it was on one of the big networks and it was live footage… of two parked planes at an airport… with massive crowds on the other side of the airport fence. The feed was coming from a stationary camera from a higher level and when I raised the shade on a window, I could see camera crews atop the airport buildings.

  “What the…” I trailed off.

  “Seems most of the world watched the Battle for Washington as it’s being called. Live. We sure did,” Deckert said, waving at the other security and administrative people around us.

  “Oh. Yeah. I was kind of busy, but I did notice the new choppers. What’s the reaction?”

  “Fear—outrage—total cessation of normal life. That crowd out there is hoping you’ll save us all,” he said. “The whole world’s been waiting for you to wake up.”

  “Looking for words of wisdom from God’s Hammer,” one of the other regular guys, Benson, piped in.

  “God’s Hammer?” I asked.

  “That’s what that cute little Indian reporter called you. It stuck,” Stevens said from another seat across the aisle. “She’s gotten popular—getting a ton of airtime. The only reporter to have interviewed you and Miss D, and all that. Is she single?”

  “Not sure, Stevens, but I’m thinking she might be more than your match,” I said, looking back out the window. “So what’s the gist of all this coverage?”

  “People are scared. The talking heads have brought in all kinds of demonologists and religious people, churches and synagogues have been inundated with calls, and apparently jewelry stores are selling out of crosses and other religious symbols. Oh, and all the idiots in Congress are up in closed session, trying to figure out how to save their asses and maybe a few of their constituents. Religious leaders around the country are having a field day, giving advice. Some okay, others just total crap,” Deckert said.

  “Oh,” was all the reply I had. In truth, I was totally shocked, although hindsight being sharp-eyed and all that, I should have expected it. But I had spent all my energy on fighting or preparing for the next fight. Everybody awake in the plane was staring at me. “What?” I asked.

  “What are you going to do?” Benson asked, his voice a deep rumble.

  “What do you mean? I’m gonna fight like I always do,” I said.

  “No, about them—about all that outside and on the television?” Benson asked.

  “Them? That’s what the President is for, the Congressmen, you know, their leaders,” I said.

  “The President isn’t super popular right now. Plus, he’s been addressing the nation from a bunker somewhere, so people don’t have a lot of faith in him. And as for Congress—well, nobody’s been paying them much attention. So they’re looking to you and Miss Tanya.”

  I didn’t have a clue. But thinking about what Tanya might do some ideas popped up.

  “Well, I guess the first thing to do is watch some of the coverage and get a handle on what they’re most concerned about. After breakfast, of course. Then go talk to them.”

  “By yourself? Should you maybe bring Tanya or Lydia with you?” Hedges asked from his sea
t next to Stevens.

  “Those two won’t be up for hours. These people need to get on with their lives before nightfall. What, you think I’ll screw it up?”

  “Never seen you give any speeches is all. You mostly just beat the utter crap outta things; not much public talking, ya see,” Hedges said after a glance at the other guys.

  “I’ll go with him,” Stacia said from the doorway to the sleeping area. “Keep him on track.”

  The guys all straightened up a bit, looking from her to me and nodding. “Oh, that’ll be good,” Hedges said, looking back at her. She was wearing a Yankees t-shirt and little sleep shorts, leaving a lot of long, tan leg on display. The boys were getting an eyeful, but they looked a little apprehensive. I thought about that for a moment and realized that most of them had never seen her in werewolf form before and now the whole world had. They all knew she was a werewolf, but seeing a beautiful girl who you’ve been told is a werewolf is one thing. Seeing her in beast form is something entirely different.