Walker

by Michael Langlois

  In the center of the room stood a large, ornate glass case, its gold base rising out of the black marble floor for a full two feet before giving way to a man’s height of glass.

  Inside the case was a desiccated briar patch of thorny black vines, obviously the same kind of plant that had donated the material for the fence. Perched on the top of the coiled mass was a single dried flower, a nearly a foot in diameter, with thick yellow-white petals. Each petal drooped outward under its own weight, and tapered to a long black thorn at the tip. The center of the flower erupted in a thicket of angular six-inch long black spikes that still had bits of rust-colored pollen at their bases. If it had a smell, it was contained within the glass walls of the display case.

  “This is the Arrat Ilahi. It’s very slow growing, and this facility houses the only living specimen,” said Viental, addressing Daniel and Sika. “It’s carnivorous, paralyzing its prey in order to feed upon it. The process can take weeks or months due to the plant’s incredibly slow metabolism, so to prevent its prey from decaying and wasting the food, it secretes compounds that keep its victims alive for as long as necessary.”

  Viental touched the glass lightly with his fingertips and gazed at the withered specimen within. “One of nature’s more horrible miracles.”

  “So, what do you do with it?” asked Daniel, looking at the dead plant in the display case as if it might suddenly throw itself against the glass.

  “Once refined and processed, the compounds that keep the Ilahi’s victims alive become Scinte, able to cure disease, heal wounds, and even extend life. However, the plant produces very few of the life giving compounds that we seek, so even the small amount of Scinte that will be delivered to the Guild today took a full year to produce. Sadly, the much more plentiful toxin is also priceless to the right parties, your Guild chief among them.”

  Viental turned away and led them down a corridor towards the center of the building, their echoing footsteps too loud in the otherwise quiet building.

  They descended two floors on a plain wooden staircase at the center of the building. At each floor, the door between the staircase and the hallway was guarded by a pair of uniformed men.

  They finally entered the Vault waiting room, and Viental closed the door behind them. The room had a completely different character than the rest of the Piellette, with sumptuous rugs underfoot and plush chairs and couches arranged along the walls.

  With a glance at the closed door that led to the Vault on the other side of the room, Viental drew close to Saul. “A moment, please.”

  “Of course.”

  “I should warn you. Gray has many men with him, and he was very interested in your whereabouts when he arrived. Are you in trouble, Saul? It is within my power to get you out of the building now, before we reveal your presence.”

  Saul shook his head. “Thanks, Viental, you’re a good friend. But that’s not necessary. I don’t want you getting on Gray’s bad side on my account. We both know how much is at stake for you.”

  “Perhaps it is time for me to get on his bad side anyway. I’ve let them force me into running this disgusting operation for too long, I won’t let them push me into betraying my friends as well.”

  Iyah put one hand on Viental’s arm. “Don’t cross them, Vien. They’ll kill you, and your family. Just take your men and evacuate the building in case things get bad.”

  “She’s right,” said Saul. “If anyone asks, we told you to leave. That way if there’s trouble, nobody will suspect you.”

  Viental frowned. “I will stand with you if you need me, you know that.”

  “I know, but there’s nothing you can do. We don’t even know if there’s going to be any trouble. The best thing you can do is go. Keep your name clear and your family safe.”

  Viental clasped Saul’s hands, bowed to Iyah, and slipped out of the room without another word.

  Alone now, the four looked at each other. The world shrank to this place, this moment. An unspoken agreement passed between them. Grey wasn’t leaving here with the Scinte.

  Saul led them to the door.

  21

  They stepped into the room and stood shoulder-to-shoulder inside the door. Eight men stared at them, one of them Mr. Gray. A table sat in the center of the long and rectangular room, dividing it into a far half with Gray and five men, and a near half with two more. All the men looked cut from the same cloth as Sika, as if common training had scoured away all softness, inside and out. If Sika recognized any of them, he gave no indication of it.

  They wore identical black leather uniforms that were obviously issued by the Guild, but unlike what Daniel was wearing, their uniforms were completely unadorned and had every bit of metal blacked out. They were also bulkier, as if heavily reinforced, with thick boots to match. To top it off, each man carried a short-barreled machine pistol on one hip, and an Urum blade in an exposed wrist sheath.

  The room itself gave the impression of being more of a presentation hall than a vault, with rows of black glass cylinders displayed behind bright silver bars that ran the entire length of the room, from floor to ceiling, on both sides.

  The broad table in the center was elegant and finely made, as was the jet-black wooden box that sat alone on the polished expanse of its top. The doors at each end of the room stood open, unguarded.

  Gray addressed Saul with a curt nod. “Not quite punctual, as I expected. At least you’ve managed not to get Daniel killed while you’ve been here, so that’s something at least.”

  He paused, hoping for a bite, but Saul gave no reply. “I’m here to inform you that there has been a change of plans. I’m taking the Scinte and Daniel back to the council meeting. The rest of you are to return to Olympus immediately.”

  Saul counted silently to three before speaking. “That’s a pretty big change. You know that only the First Tracker and his team are allowed to be present for this delivery. The whole idea is to keep the existence of the Scinte a secret, not to bring everybody you could find down here to gawk at it.”

  Gray’s face tightened up into its familiar scowl. “You’ll want to start watching your mouth, Mr. Erinbaum, it’s not your place to question your superiors. But to give you an answer you don’t deserve, I’m here because your incompetence makes you a poor choice to safeguard the Guild’s property. This is too important to allow you to continue to be a part of it, and I’ve brought these men with me to ensure that there is an orderly transfer of responsibility.” Gray’s eyes flicked to Daniel. “Come, Daniel. It’s time to go.”

  Daniel’s patience ran out. The Guild had manipulated him from day one, and frankly, he was getting tired of being jerked around.

  “You know what, Gray? You’re a goddamn jackass. Not only am I not going anywhere with you, but I’m not letting you make a grab for the Scinte, either.”

  Gray didn’t bother to respond. Once it was clear that cooperation wasn’t imminent, Daniel and his group became non-persons, unworthy of his attention. Instead, he spoke to his men and turned towards the Scinte in the box on the table. “Grab him and let’s go.”

  The two men closest to Daniel began to step forward, hands reaching for machine pistols and Daniel at the same time.

  Then everything happened at once.

  Saul drew and fired in a blur, but not at the guards reaching for Daniel. Instead he aimed at the caged toxin lining the walls. Specifically, the section that ran next to Grey and his men on the far side of the room.

  Saul fired three times. The glass cylinders detonated, ejecting a horrifying plume of glass shards and neurotoxin. Two men dropped to the ground instantly without ever making a sound.

  The man standing next to Gray reached out and slapped one hand onto Gray’s shoulder and they both vanished. That left two men standing on the far side of the room, and two on the near side who were now single-mindedly turning away from the spectacle and back towards Daniel.

  The two men on the far side of the room had the presence of mind to grab the Scinte box and run
out of the far door, carefully skirting around the widening pool on the floor. The two closer men began bringing their guns to bear.

  Daniel and his friends ran like hell out of the door behind them. Sika spun and waited on the left side of the door, while Iyah took up station on the right. Neither one needed to consult the other, they were operating in perfect synchronicity of training and experience. The two men inside, perhaps excited by the chase, ran right out of the door into the impromptu ambush.

  Iyah swept one hand up into her target’s gun and in the same motion powered the hand and gun into his face, pulping his nose with a loud slapping noise. The impact threw him back into the room, unconscious.

  Sika simply slammed his knife into the chest of the second man, hitting him so hard that the man’s feet flew out from under him. The sound of his sternum cracking was clearly audible. Iyah gave Sika a disapproving look.

  “You didn’t have to kill him,” she hissed.

  Sika shrugged and pulled his knife out. “He didn’t have to point a gun at me. Everybody makes choices for which there are consequences.” Daniel silently agreed.

  Saul grabbed Daniel’s arm. “The two with the Scinte got away. Find them. If they make it out of the building, or get to a Walker accomplice, we’re screwed.”

  Daniel pushed his senses through the veneer of the physical world and examined the currents and eddies of the Veil as easily and sure-handed as if he had been born to it.

  The men were headed away from them, behind the vault. They burned brightly, powerful men drawing all the power they could. Without a word, Daniel took off after them, carefully picking his way across the floor of the Vault and out the other side.

  As he led the others down a long marble corridor, he opened himself up to the Veil, feeling the vibrant energy of it giving him strength and speed and exulting in it. At the end of the hallway Daniel swung right, heading towards an open stairwell leading down.

  If it weren’t for his ability to see the men through the floor, they would have all died there. Their quarry was crouched on the stairs just under the line of sight from the hallway. Daniel spun around and threw himself headlong into his friends, arms wide.

  He caught Iyah and Sika around their waists and all of them plowed into Saul just as the men, hearing their pounding footsteps, stood up and opened fire.

  The submachine gun bursts passed over their heads. From her position on her back Iyah threw her knife. It was poorly aimed, but skillfully thrown. It missed its intended target, but sank into the marble behind him with a sound like a rifle shot. Any other metal would have shattered on impact, but the Urum blade simply sat there quivering, embedded halfway into the wall. The men flinched at the sound, and then fled down the stairs as Saul began to return fire, dashing away in a shower of marble fragments.

  Daniel watched them descend until they entered a hazy fog of Veil currents. It was as if the entire floor beneath them was drawing power in a vast swirling cloud.

  Seconds later they were gone from Daniel’s sight.

  22

  “I can’t see them anymore. The whole area down there is awash in Veil currents, like a fog,” said Daniel. They were all standing at the head of the stairs, listening to the fading echo of the fleeing men’s footsteps.

  Iyah yanked her knife out of the wall, which came free with a piercing shriek. “Then we had better not lose them,” she said, as she began bounding down the steps. Everyone fell in behind her.

  At the bottom of the stairs Iyah paused, flat against the wall. The stairwell opened up onto a wide landing. She crouched low and dipped her head around the corner and back.

  “Dammit! They’re gone,” she said as she stepped out onto the landing, making sure to keep well back from the edge and out of any line of sight the shooters might have from the ground. “Are you absolutely sure you can’t see them? There has to be some difference between their signatures and the background.”

  “Lemme see what I can do.” Daniel sat down with his back against the rear wall and closed his eyes. He stared down past his feet, into the heart of the hazy glare, and tried to figure out how to “squint” into it.

  “Hey, Sika. Come look at this,” came Iyah’s hushed voice.

  “Why? So I can get my head blown off like you?” came the equally hushed reply.

  “Don’t be such a coward. Come see.”

  Daniel tried closing himself off from the Veil, pushing away little by little. His perception of Veil space began to dim, and he began to be able to pick out several brighter spots in the darkening cloud. He focused harder and drew back a little more. The spots became more apparent. He heard a scuffling noise.

  “Better a live coward than a headless moron.”

  “Just do it.”

  More scuffling. A sharp intake of breath. “That is … foul.”

  The scintillant pea soup below was now nearly undetectable. Of the two dozen or so hot spots now revealed to Daniel, two were much brighter, and more importantly, moving.

  He opened his eyes. Sika and Iyah were peering over the edge of the landing’s railing. Saul was duck-walking over to them to see what they were looking at.

  “I found them,” said Daniel. “They’re on the wall under us, probably going down some stairs, so you can stand up, they can’t see us from here.” He walked over to the edge to have a look for himself. He figured that everyone else’s comments were sufficient preparation for whatever he might see.

  After staring speechlessly for long moments, he realized that he should have asked himself what could possibly shock his deadly, pragmatic companions, and then stayed the hell away from the railing.

  Below him, a sea of oily black coils seethed under a sky of yellow sodium lights. The vast chamber was the size of a football field and completely filled with a single Arrat Ilahi plant, the massive white flowers at its center glowing a sickly yellowish-brown in the dim light. Large hooded vents hung from the ceiling every few feet, their suction creating a draft that Daniel could feel even at this distance. Even with the ventilation, the smell of the plants was thick, an unpleasant mixture of licorice and turpentine.

  Wide stone paths cut into the patch on all sides and penetrated the thicket thirty feet inwards, only stopping where the center bulk of the plant began to rise into a flowered mound twenty-feet high.

  Each stone path was free of the vines, protected by a waist-high mesh that kept the growth at bay. Between the paths was a solid carpet of the black, thorny tendrils.

  Every ten feet along this dense growth, there was an iron arch.

  Each arch sported a flat metal shelf welded across its center.

  And on each shelf lay a naked human being, bulging with thin black filaments that erupted out of ears and eyes, fingertips and groin. Each victim’s mouth was stretched unnaturally wide to accommodate a wrist’s thickness of bristly, thorny vines that pushed out from between teeth and lips. Some of the victims were bloated, like overstuffed sausage casings, but the stretched skin was ribbed instead of smooth, being stuffed with coils of hard, woody vines.

  Daniel recoiled from the balcony and looked at the floor. “Oh, fuck! You think they’re still alive? You think they can feel any of that? I mean, I know they’re paralyzed, but we don’t know if they’re numb. It’s growing out of their eyes, for God’s sake! Right out of their eyes! And they’re just lying there, with all that stuff bunched up inside them and they can’t even scream or—”

  Iyah stopped him in mid-sentence by putting her hand over his mouth. As she pulled him close into a fierce hug, he realized that his eyes were wet.

  “Just take a deep breath. Slow down. Be still.” Her voice was a whisper. He could smell the clean floral scent of her hair through the cloying licorice smell of the Ilahi. He forced the stiffness out of his posture and swallowed. His composure began to return to him and he relaxed, letting her warmth and her closeness overwhelm his burgeoning hysteria.

  After too few seconds she let him go and held him at arms length, peering into
his face. “You okay?”

  Daniel nodded.

  “You sure?

  “I’m sure. Thanks.”

  “Hey, what are friends for?” she said with a wan little smile.

  Daniel cleared his throat. “Who are all those people down there?”

  “They don’t process the plants to get Scinte,” said Sika. “They process the bodies. Not just any bodies, either. To make Scinte the victims have to be Veil potent. Regular people don’t seem to be able to concentrate the chemical in the same way.”

  He gestured back towards the railing. “It takes thirty people a year to get the amount of Scinte that the council requires. Just nine vials the size of your little finger. They say it used to take less than five victims to make that much. In a few years? Who knows how many they will need. As the plant ages, it becomes less and less potent.”

  “That’s really fucked up.”

  “Yes, it is.” Sika looked around, eyes touching on the victims, his expression bleak. “This is what happens to the people we catch who run from the Guild. And if we don’t catch enough, then people simply vanish until the quota is met.”

  Daniel turned away, bile welling up at the back of his throat. “We’d better head down there if we want to catch those guys before they get away.”

  As he started walking towards the ladder, Saul wordlessly squeezed his shoulder, his face sympathetic. It was a small gesture, but it helped.

  Daniel searched the ground as he climbed down the ladder, seeking the fleeing Protectors, but they weren’t in sight. Feeling exposed, he began cat-footing downward as quietly as he could.

  “Can you locate them down there?” whispered Sika from above.

  “Not unless you want to wait another five minutes for me to look.”

  “Then let’s get moving before they realize that they have a clear shot.” Daniel picked up his speed and tried hard to keep the metal structure from thrumming under his feet, lest he alert the gunmen below.

  By the time he reached the concrete floor at the bottom of the stairs, the tension had become almost unbearable.