by Ridley, Dale
The info from Data Support reported that the place was supposed to house, raise, and breed thoroughbred racehorses. It was confirmed by the sharp smell of horse dung and sweat that hung in the air like a fixture of the environment. The reading she was picking up from her visor told her that the houses took up only one of the barns and she picked over what this place was actually used for, then she dismissed the thought.
She had seen cleverly designed compounds doubling for training facilities before. The sect had many.
“Wolf hunter, awaiting your signal,” the voice of her captain stated through their wireless transmitter and receiver.
“Copy that, be on guard until we know exactly what we’re dealing with. I’m not trying to be on the wrong end of any surprises.”
“Roger that. All is in place on this side.”
Sam took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. Darkness finally descended completely. “Weapons locked boys,” she said while lifting her own weapon.
“Trendsetter, you sure everything is in place?”
“From this part, I’m detecting multiple heat signals of hostiles,” replied her captain.
“Looks like they’re asleep then. On signal, we’re going hot.”
The sounds of weapons clicking around her sped up her pulse.
*****
Kimiko stopped to study the dingy looking warehouse in front of her and frown to herself. Her team had landed in Seattle, Washington almost two hours ago by helicopters. She wiped the rain from her eyes and shook her head. She could see why this was one of the wettest states in America, as a steady drizzle had fallen since the moment their feet touch the ground. There couldn’t be that much water trapped in the clouds, but evidently there was.
The warehouse gave her a bad feeling when she laid eyes on the grimy four section building that looked like it should’ve been boarded up and abandon. The sides were wet by the rains like a dirty surface that was finally washed clean and the windows were chip and cloudy. Etched on the side in blue letters gave a name to the building.
Seattle Transport, Inc.
She had wasted enough time. She turned to use her knuckles to rap on the back of the truck behind her. The noise of the door being rolled up echoed around the nearby buildings. Men stood ready with assault weapons dressed in the dark black helmets and suits of the Guards of Gabriel. There were ten men, each looking ominous as five lined each side of the truck. All of them had one hand gripping a rope that hung from the truck’s walls to keep their balance once the truck began to move.
Upon the opening of the door, the first two on front trained their weapons on the opening. Now they lowered their weapons and reached out glove hands to help her back up into the truck, and she gave the signal that they had all been waiting for. It was time. One of the men at the back slapped the metal sheet divider that separated them from the driver twice. The engine coughed, turned over, and roared to life as the door to the back of the truck was shut once more, placing everyone in complete darkness.
In seconds, they felt a slight lurch as the truck’s brakes were released and the truck moved. Kimiko took out her RES and held them both in one hand as he waited. There would be no comforting words of encouragement to the men with her. Words were unnecessary. They knew their jobs and what role they would play in the assault. If not, death would be their repercussion.
A price they would try to avoid. She felt herself sway as the truck slowed then applied brakes as it stopped. The warning beeps sounded loudly before coming to a stop. She knew that the truck’s back door now pointed at the front of the warehouse’s main gate. The driver’s door opened in the front and slammed with the driver coughing briefly before complaining about the weather.
Kimiko took out a device with her free hand that was no bigger than a cellphone and switched it on by placing a thumb on the screen. Data Support was locked on to a NSA satellite that fed a clear image into the monitor. The myth that spy satellites couldn’t see through cloud cover was just that, a myth. Technology found a way around such problems, always would.
The driver took up the screen as he approached the small guard house that sat on the other side of the gate. His movements became animated as he started to talk to the guard inside. No sound came from the monitor, there was no need. The conversation wouldn’t last long. The small guardhouse was still before a sharp bright light started bobbing and a guard stepped out into the rain scowling. Kimiko held up a hand with RES in the glow of the light and the message was passed back amongst the men.
Get ready to move.
The driver was dressed in a light tan uniform and cap with the warehouse’s lettering etched across his hat and the right side of his shirt. In his hand, he held a computer tablet that had replaced the outdated clipboard and gestured at it with annoyance. The information on the tablet had matched with what the guard had in his own records, as Data Support had hacked into the company’s scheduling records for this delivery and the warehouse blueprints.
The guard shook his head, hating being in the rain, disappeared, and seconds later, the gates started to roll back. Once the guard returned, Kimiko wasted no time rolling up the truck’s back door. The guard’s eyes went wide with fear as he watched black figures with guns jumping down to the ground. The warning he wanted to scream out was locked in his throat as a short needle-like dart stuck out the side of his neck from the driver’s gun.
He took one step backwards, clutching his neck before his legs gave way as the sedative rush through his system. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell to the wet asphalt. Without words, the men spread out and disappeared into the shadowy sections of the warehouse until only two men, Kimiko, and the driver remained. She nodded to the driver as she stepped over the guard’s body and the other two men followed her.
The driver would bring the truck inside the gate and secure it again, in case someone unexpectly showed up. Kimiko touched the left side of her ear and the device there activated her infrared contact lens, causing the deep shadows to jump into focus almost immediately. She had dropped the now useless satellite feed in the back of the truck as she had exited.
Only instincts and her eyes would guide her now. Taking one RES in each hand, she hit the release buttons with slight pressure of her thumbs. The razor sharp blades shined, even though the misting rain as they extended their long reach. Everything stayed quiet as nothing moved around them. She led the two men to the wide doors of the main warehouse as the property was separated into two smaller warehouses.
“Trailblazer to all units, confirm your positions,” she spoke, eyeing the doors for any signs of movement. None could be allowed to escape.
The words were barely out her mouth when a blurring shadow passed close to her right and vanished quickly. She had just been able to catch it on the edge of her vision. Signaling the two men behind her, she continued to search for what she had saw. The men raised their weapons, guarding every exposed area. Their jet black helmets gave off tiny dots of light that reflected off the raindrops on their helmets.
“Do any of your visors pick up any movement?” she asked, watching the night.
She was having a feeling in her gut that something was wrong. A thought came to her suddenly. Her scouting units did not report.
“No, team leader, our sensors are quiet. It may have been a bird of some sort,” replied the man on her left.
Before she had a chance to voice her concerns, the night behind her lit up in silenced gunfire. The faint popping sounds echoed unnaturally into the night. Kimiko turned in time to see one of her men fly through the air. Half of his face was torn to shreds. The remaining man was firing his weapon in a continuing burst, only the lightweight silencer attachment hid the sound.
A figure was coming out the pitch black night slowly, like a phantom. The explosions as the bullets hit it didn’t seem to stop it as it howled and shook them off. A second one appeared behind the man and gripped him by the back of the neck and lifted him up into the air. Kimiko brought her
RES down in an arc, cutting the massive arm off at the elbow.
The gun was quiet now but the scream of rage was more than effective in replacing the sound. The man himself fell to the wet ground, the half severed arm still attached to the back of his neck. Kimiko’s next swing took the beast’s head from its shoulders. She turned and prepared herself for the second one. It came like a blur, roaring its fury.
She stepped back and cut it across the chest, opening up a deep wound. Bending down, she cut the legs out from under the beast. The man put his foot on its neck and emptied the rest of the clip into its head. He sat down on the ground and realized that the arm was still on his neck. He slung it away with a curse. Puzzled, Kimiko bend down and pressed her hand to the Pallida Mors chest. It would start to turn human soon. Its body temperature was ice cold.
It was the reason their infrared had not detected any body heat. It also sent a chill down her spine. They knew that they were here and hid their movements by somehow switching their body temperatures.
“All units report!”
Curses and screams started to fade in and out in her ear link as the night seemed to come alive.
“Switch your sensors to purely motion detection, weapon on needle dart mode,” she advised anyone that could hear her and braced herself for what she knew was coming.
It didn’t take long. Two more shapes emerged from the side of the warehouse running sideways on the wall, as if it was normal. The man beside her must’ve recovered because he started to erupt a steady spray of needle darts. The Pallida Mors in the lead was pin cushioned in darts, one sticking squarely from one eye. Its steps slowed as the drugs quickly took effect, it stumbled, tripping to the ground rolling as it did so to land in a puddle of rainwater.
The second one, now aware of the effective weapon, dodged the projectiles by hopping from wall to wall, not staying in the same spot. It was a disregard for gravity. Kimiko saw its razor sharp teeth bare momentarily before stepping forward to meet the raging Pallida Mors. It leaped like a stalking leopard into the air as a stream of darts started to embed themselves in the wall behind it.
It roared in fury as its claws swung, searching for blood. Kimiko jumped up to meet it, putting one of her blades through its neck. She hit the ground and clicked a button on her RES. The blade she had left went all the way through and felt to her hand. Magnetic bracers. Twisting the blade in her hand, she threw it, cutting through the rest of the skin of the beast’s neck. Calling the blade back, she then went over and cut off the head of the first one that had fallen. A howl sounded somewhere in the night. It was answered by, perhaps, a dozen more.
“This is mission team leader, all squad member units that can hear me, move back to the extraction point. The mission is a trap. You have forty-five seconds before the extraction is complete.”
She knew they had to retreat now. If they stayed here, Pallida Mors would eventuality pick them off until they were all dead. If most of them were not already. The trap had probably caught most unaware, especially with this new trick of dropping their body heat.
“Data Support, this mission team leader Hatoyama. I need you to advise first strike team that the target are traps.”
She and the last guard retraced their steps back the way they came.
“Data Support, did you copy that last transmission?”
“Yes, mission leader Hatoyama, I’m trying to raise the first team now. Their signals are transmitting but I’m receiving no contact. I have alerted a response team to their area.”
Kimiko was calm on the outside as they made it back to the truck, signaling the driver to start the engine, but on the inside, she had a nervous feeling in her gut. She knew what had happened to the first strike team. They met the same greeting that her team had encountered moments ago. Each team member was linked to Data support, so if it couldn’t raise them…
“Data Support, please inform the possession leader that the entire first strike team has been killed or captured. This whole mission was a setup.”
The rain started to fall a little harder with her words.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Cold water jarred Sam awake as the coldness leached the little warmth from her body that had been left to her. Her eyes blinked rapidly against the lone source of light in the room. It took her a minute to see that it was a light bulb with an old-fashioned pull chain that hung from the ceiling. Her head followed her wrist above her and she realized that she too hung from a wooden beam that cut across the top of the room.
Her wrists were wrapped in a thick steel chain that was looped around the beam. She shivered as her whole body was covered in goosebumps. Directing her attention downwards, she ignored the water thrower as she saw that she was completely nude. Thick manacles secured each of her ankles with a thinner chain that ran down to latch themselves into twin rings embedded into the floor.
Where was she?
She shook her head, trying to remember what had happened as they had stormed the horse farm. Her memory was a bit fuzzy, but she could remember the shapes raising out of nowhere like deadly wraiths seeking the blood of the living. Her memory improved a little and she recalled the screams of her men as Pallida Mors tore through them.
Their infrared technology had not detected them until they were right on top of them. She knew that it had been her time to die as Pallida Mors overwhelmed them from all angles. She was lucky that she had taken down three before a blow to her head made unconsciousness reach out to seize her in its grip.
Fighting it, she almost stayed on her feet. Two things happened at once. Her weapon clicked on empty and another massive blow knocked her backwards, sending her speeding to blackness. That was the last thing she remembered. She understood now why she awoke in restraints. She was a prisoner of war.
The coldness that revived her was starting to make her have chills, and she jerked her head up to finally stare defiantly into the pretty face of a woman that rested herself on the edge of a dark wooden scared table, the bucket still in her hands as she studied her. Sam felt her cheeks redden as she thought of her nakedness and the woman’s open scrutiny, but she refused to break eye contact.
The door somewhere behind her opened suddenly, causing her to forget the woman in front of her as she tried to look behind her. She flinched inwards as a hard grim face came into view on her left side and stared down at her body.
“I see she is finally back with us,” he stated as he came to stand in front of her.
She wished her legs were free to kick that perverted grin off his face. She settled, instead, to spat in his face.
“Fuckin’ shadow scum! I won’t tell you anything, no matter what you decide to do to me!”
The man threw back his head in a laugh that was almost offensive. “She’s got spunk!” he said, turning his head to the woman sitting on the table.
“Well Nalaysia, it’s been years since I met a woman that could match your spirit. Bound in chains and naked in front of her enemy, and she spits in our eye in defiance!”
Turning his attention back to her, he smiled. The spit dripped down the side of his face. He ignored its presence.
“Miss Samantha Cook, head Commander of the Guards of Gabriel. Yes, we know what an honor it is that you are here with us,” he said as her eyes widened.
“Someone is real interested in talking with you, that is, after we have our fun.”
“If you lay one finger on me pervert, I’ll find you hell or high water and feed you your own cock and balls!”
The man shook his head in disappointment. “Such vulgar language is really unbecoming of a young lady.” He gripped her jaws suddenly in his right hand, mushing them together. “Let’s be careful that you don’t lose your tongue and have to write down the answers to our questions.”
She snatched her head away.
“We are wasting time sir,” the woman urged behind him.
“Eager to have your fun Nalaysia? Very well,” he said, stepping away from her.
“I can ha
rdly deny a wish when you express so few of them. She’s all yours. But I think I will watch.”
Nalaysia now sat the empty bucket on the table and rose to walk over to her. They stared into each other eyes, challenging the other’s spirit. The woman started to trace the curve of her neck, down pass her collar bone and across her breasts, to play with Sam’s nipple in lazy circles.
Sam cursed herself and the woman touching her. Despite her best efforts, she found her nipples growing hard under the woman’s caress. “See Alan. All you need is a woman’s touch to get the desired results. Even from one that wants to kill you.”
“If you don’t get your filthy hands off me tramp, it’s going to be me and you when I get out of these chains. And know that I will kill you.”
It was the woman’s turn to laugh with a husky quality. Her hand reached out to caress and tease the other nipple before dropping lower. “Why do you insist on useless threats when you are helpless Commander?” Her hand was at her abdomen now.
“All your men are dead. There is no one coming for you and all your clothes and gear have been destroyed. So, tell me please, how do you even hope to make good on your promises of death? Bluffing only works in poker and that’s only when you have the upper hand.”
The woman’s hand had reached her pubic hairs and Sam tried to twist her body away from the woman’s violating touch. “Be still,” she whispered as she leaned close to her ear. “You may find yourself enjoying it.”
Sam felt a finger brush her womanhood. She gritted her teeth in fury. Someone would die for this, she vowed silently to herself. Through her rage, she felt a presence that compressed her body in the room. The woman in front of her was yanked off her feet backwards. She flew across the room to crash into the wooden table, breaking it into pieces. The man who stood slightly to the side went on instant alert, reaching for the weapon in his shoulder holster.