She continued forward with a short jump, twist, and drove a right-cross into the man’s temple. He went down, and his crossbow fell from numbed fingers. She crushed his throat with a second punch.
“Note to self, next time stop being cute.” Char buttoned her shirt as she reached out with her senses, looking for the next guard. He was coming her way and quickly.
The crossbow lay on the ground, bolt still nocked. She picked it up and crouched as she watched the second guard approach.
The man scanned the area, looking for his fellow guard. He stopped when he saw the shapes on the ground. Char fired, sending the bolt feathers-deep into the man’s chest. He grunted and gagged as he tried to sound the alarm.
Char was off like a shot, catching him as he fell. She held her hand over his mouth to stifle his cries. Convulsing and helpless, he looked at her through pain-filled eyes, confused that his death had come so suddenly.
“There’s no other way,” Char whispered, waiting until the man’s last breath to let go.
With her sector clear, she checked on her husband’s progress. It was clear that he needed help because of the number of humans in his area. She jumped up and ran across the middle of the compound.
***
Aaron padded from the ship and waited as it lifted off and faded into the night sky. He looked at it both curiously and indifferently.
He wondered about their mission, unsure of why the Chinese couldn’t rule, why it had to be Akio’s way with Terry Henry Walton as the tip of the spear.
They’d treated him as an equal, not as a freak, unlike the other. He finally left China, because he was too tall and scared the children.
Too tall? How about too much of a Were? But no one besides the others who lived in the unknown world knew his secret.
He felt every bit the freak that they made him out to be. For years he struggled, alone in the world, moving from one place to the next unaware that when a tiger, he remembered his human side. The fear of not remembering as a human, causing him so many problems.
Finally, he met Terry Henry Walton and Charumati, and then everything changed. They had welcomed him into their family, made him feel at home. They understood that he didn’t want to fight. They kept Ted out of it and they let Aaron stay away, too, except for now.
It was time to let the Chinese know that he’d returned.
He saw two men conversing up ahead. He loped soundlessly toward them, unsure of whether he was going to kill them or not.
They made the decision for him, by throwing their hands in the air before dropping to their knees and bowing, foreheads touching the ground.
Minions. It appears I have minions, he thought as he moved closer and sniffed them. Their fear of him was real and palpable.
It smelled like urine.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Terry snuck up behind the next guard in line and stabbed him in the side of the neck, ripping forward to keep the man from crying out. He gurgled in death as he toppled to the ground.
Terry didn’t hesitate. He pushed forward into the semi-darkness. The false dawn was coming and the sky was beginning to lighten. Soon, he’d be exposed.
The perimeter was longer than he thought and he picked up his pace, foregoing stealth for speed.
There were times when extreme violence was the only course of action.
He ran into the next guard, surprising them both, but only Terry Henry was ready to act. He slashed with his sword, chopping into the crossbow and destroying it. The man fumbled and started to fall backwards. Terry followed the man as he fell. Two more quick strikes and the guard was silenced, neutralized as Terry preferred to think.
The colonel jumped over him and ran.
The next man he came to was already dead with Char standing over him.
“The guard camp?” she asked.
“There’s a bunch of them. You start at the far end and we’ll meet in the middle?” Terry asked.
“Sounds good, lover,” Char said. She turned and ran away, at an angle to get around the far end of the shallow trench in which the men were sleeping.
Terry retraced his path, trying to step lightly, but not slowing down as he pushed for more speed.
He didn’t know when Char would hit the other end so he slowed and stopped, facing the closest of the men. He put his sword back in its scabbard, and then prepared to use his free hand to cup the sleeping man’s mouth in preparation for flicking the knife blade across the exposed throat.
Terry couldn’t do it. Killing a guard on post was one thing, but killing a sleeping man was something completely different. He’d already killed one sleeper after assuming that the man was sleeping on duty.
He took the man’s weapon and quickly went down the line, taking weapons and tossing them out of the trench. When he reached the other end of the line, he met Char, who stopped, put her hands on her hips, raised her eyebrows at him, and smiled.
He held a finger over his lips and strode boldly along the line of sleeping men. Eight of them remained asleep.
Terry shrugged the thoughts of the other sleeping man away. At least these eight would get a reprieve.
He sheathed his knife, drew his sword, and kicked the feet of the guard second from the end. The man woke with a start and yelped in surprise as the large stranger loomed over him. He started to yell, something the colonel had counted on. The other men woke up and disoriented for an instant before looking for their weapons.
They found themselves at a distinct disadvantage.
Terry grabbed the second man, pulled him up with one hand and bodily threw him onto the guard at the end. He pointed to the next newly risen and then to the two trying to disentangle themselves.
The man was too slow and Terry felt obliged to help him, grabbing him with one hand to propel him into the pile. The feisty man pulled a knife from somewhere and stabbed at Terry. He twisted, trapped the man’s arm between his sword-arm and his side, and drove forward, jamming his forearm against the guard’s throat.
Terry pushed and the man struggled to breath. Two other bodies slammed into him and he staggered.
The colonel exploded in fury.
Terry’s enhanced strength took over. His leg muscles uncoiled like tightly packed springs, slamming his shoulder into one of the two brawlers. He cleared his sword-arm and slashed, ripping across one man’s raised arms. Terry followed with a return strike into the man’s legs, and he fell forward.
Terry leapt over the body, swinging wide at the guard still pressed against the trench wall, catching him unaware. His faith in his friends to save him had been misplaced. Blood spurted from his severed carotid artery as his head teetered on his slashed neck.
The colonel didn’t look back. When he hit the ground, the final attacker crouched, ready to fight. Terry swung his sword overhead and down, cleaving the man’s skull.
Terry Henry turned back, ready to face the next, assuming the entire line was engaged, but they sat there, hands up as Char aimed her pistols at their faces.
“All secure,” she reported. “All three of us.”
Terry wiped his sword and looked at it. He kept it out as he pulled the communicator.
“All secure, Akio-sama. Please bring the platoon in. We have prisoners.” Terry clicked off before he could second guess himself on allowing the men to live.
“Aaron has two prisoners as well,” Char told him.
Terry looked at the men, roughly grabbing the closest and forcefully putting the guard’s hands on his head. Terry pointed at the other four. They followed suit and he kicked them out of the trench. Terry, Char, and the five prisoners walked toward the landing area.
As dawn’s first light cast shadows across the compound, three pods descended and landed. The warriors, Weres, bear, and Clyde ran off. The first thing they did was set up a perimeter while Terry intercepted Mark.
“Setup a detail to secure the prisoners. The compound is walled. Setup weapons emplacements and random patrols. This group was armed with crossb
ows. Check the range and make appropriate adjustments in defenses. Make it happen,” Terry directed the lieutenant.
He saluted and Terry stopped him. “No saluting in the field,” he ordered. Saluting made identifying high value targets easy for snipers.
“Let me grab Aaron’s clothes and then relieve him of his prisoners,” Char said before running off.
Mark spent twenty seconds briefing the squad leaders, pointing to punctuate his orders. They ran off to brief their squads, one fire team at a time, then the full deployment began.
A fire team from Charlie’s squad had taken the prisoners from Terry and Char immediately after the pods had landed, and they received the inauspicious task of continuing guard duty.
The disappointment was clear on their faces.
Terry stopped by on his way to the mine entrance to thank them, let them know the importance of their job, and remind them that these prisoners were incentivized to escape.
Turning one’s back could be a costly mistake.
Char arrived with two prisoners and a handful of clothes. Aaron remained as a Weretiger. The two prisoners were cowed when they joined the other five. All of the prisoners bowed to the tiger as Aaron passed.
Terry and the Weres ignored it and they gathered at the mine entrance where Akio waited. The bodies in this area were headless. During the compound clearing, neither Terry nor Char had heard anything from this area.
Akio had taken care of business, silent as death itself.
Five Werewolves, a Werebear, a Weretiger, a real bear, a dog, and Terry Henry Walton greeted Akio. Clyde sniffed the Vampire and growled. Sue shushed him, but Clyde remained wary.
Akio smiled serenely.
The smell of blood permeated the air, making the grizzly cub anxious. Gene stood upright, stretching his muscles and preparing himself to fight. Bogdan stood on his back legs, mirroring the actions of his big friend.
Akio raised a hand to get everyone’s attention.
“Take nothing for granted in the underground. This Forsaken has dug in, expanded his influence, and built his circle of followers. Expect to find other Forsaken, Weres, fanatical humans. None of them can be saved. I will go first, but we will have to spread out. Stay in pairs. The only way they can win this fight is to divide and conquer. Do not let them cut you off and get between us. Anjin-san, you have the greatest handicap. Please stay close to Charumati-san.”
Akio bowed his head, turned, and opened the door.
“Now that’s an order I can follow,” Terry quipped, reaching down to pinch Char’s backside.
She gave him the stink-eye, and he returned a hurt expression. They both shook their heads. “Down we go, into the pit of despair,” Terry added before pulling his bullwhip and his silvered knife.
Clyde whimpered and Bogdan took the opportunity to sit down the moment they started moving forward.
Terry and Char followed Akio through the door. They stayed close, side by side as they moved.
Timmons and Sue followed Terry and Char through the door. Sue looked back and waved Clyde to her, smiling at the dog. He wagged his tail as he ran to her side.
Aaron went next, with Shonna and Merrit close behind him.
Gene growled at Bogdan and the grizzly cub worked his way to his feet and lumbered after his big friend. Gene left bear hairs on the doorframe as he squeezed through.
Bogdan was last inside, even though it was never the intent that he go. The cub had changed the plan through his willingness to go inside, same with Aaron and the fact that there were Weretigers within.
The door to the mine remained open.
Eldie watched them disappear into the underground. He looked furtively to see if anyone was watching, then slipped inside and shut the door behind himself.
***
North Chicago
“There was a Were on board,” Adams told Billy in a low voice, after sensing that no one was nearby. “They took off when we got close. I don’t think they’re a threat, but they are definitely checking us out.”
“Who is they?” Billy wondered.
“That’s the ten-thousand-dollar question, Billy,” Adams replied.
The mayor stood and went to the door to his office, then to the door out of the building and stopped. He looked at the area that used to be the parade deck, but the residents of North Chicago had started calling it the mayor’s park.
Children played. Off to the side, Chief Foxtail sat on an old bench and watched. The older man turned to look at Billy Spires, staring as if looking into the mayor’s soul.
Billy shivered at the exchange, never sure what the chief saw in him.
Felicity walked like a zombie as the four children played. They’d found Kaeden and Kimber to be a great help with the little ones. Cory staggered away, picking up speed as she learned to run. She’d only been walking for a few days, but she rapidly climbed the learning curve as her body grew at an unnatural rate.
Cordelia’s joy at being alive was infectious. She made those around her happier. No one knew if it was from a special ability or simply from her own happiness. It didn’t matter for those she influenced. Everyone could use a little boost. Billy looked back to the chief and saw him nod.
Adams joined Billy in the doorway. “I think we need some silver to touch up a few weapons,” the Werewolf offered, shifting uncomfortably at the thought of being around silver. “Just in case.”
“Tell Ivan and Blevin to make it so,” Billy ordered, still watching the children play. A ball had materialized and the two older ones were directing it toward the toddlers who weren’t able to kick yet, so they pushed it with their bodies.
Adams looked at the people in the field. He could sense their serenity. They didn’t know what was out there. Terry Henry Walton and Charumati had done their jobs well in keeping the people safe.
And it was Adams’ turn to man the invisible wall, keep the bad guys out. He stayed behind while the others flew away to find the danger where it would never affect those in North Chicago, because it was the right thing to do. Terry and his FDG, exporting justice to all parts of the known world.
For the good of all mankind, Adams thought. “I’ll take care of it, Billy. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
The alpha has directed it, and I won’t let her down.
***
China
The entrance to the mine was wide, constricted at the top by a movable wall built across the entrance with the single door. Inside, cart tracks, like those for a mini-railroad, led down the middle of the tunnel. Three carts were parked near the top—one was motorized to pull or push the other two. The wide tunnel led in a straight line as far as they could see.
Akio headed down with a purpose.
Char reached into the etheric. “They must be deep. I can’t sense anything,” she whispered.
Terry could see well enough in the near pitch-blackness. He could make out lights on the rock ceiling and mounted on the walls and wondered why they didn’t light them up.
“Can we turn on the lights?” he asked Char, unsure of what Akio would allow. He cursed himself for not asking.
He felt her shrug more than saw it.
“Fuck it. Darkness helps them, not us.” Terry found a switch on the wall and flipped it up. The lights came on, nearly blinding them as night turned into day.
The walls were smooth and covered in concrete, with extra support beams for the ceiling standing tall every ten feet. The mine had been built for the long-term.
Only the world’s worst day ever, the WWDE, took it out of service, not because they couldn’t mine it but because the market for their ore evaporated.
Terry wondered what equipment may have survived the devastating EMP. Being underground would have protected the electronics.
“We need to take any kind of circuit boards we find, chips, computers, that stuff,” Terry whispered.
Char shushed him, feeling exposed in the light and with the extra sounds that carried away into the tunnels. Terry sulke
d, but only for a moment. He didn’t know why he was so readily distracted by the mundane.
I’m the weak sister, he thought. Of everyone here, I’m the most vulnerable and I’ve already surrendered the battlefield to the others. They will fight and I’ll be digging around trying to find circuit boards. That chaps my ass!
Terry conceded that he was in a supporting role, but not so far removed that he wouldn’t see the enemy. He would fight, because Char was there. He would die for her. Get your head out of your ass, he warned himself.
They walked a quarter of a mile before they encountered the first side tunnels and had the first impressions that others were there.
Akio waited for them, squatting on his knees, looking like he was meditating. He stood upon their arrival. He signaled for Shonna and Merrit to go one way and Sue and Timmons to go another. He waved for the rest to follow him.
Clyde sniffed the intersection and marked one corner. Terry watched the dog, who had calmed when the lights came on. Clyde was unperturbed at the presence of a Weretiger, a Werebear, and a grizzly cub, especially since he was with Sue.
Terry felt bad that he hadn’t trained the dog as Sue had, but Clyde was a better dog because of her. She snapped her fingers, which echoed loudly. She cringed, but Clyde trotted after her and Timmons as they continued into the tunnel and disappeared around a bend.
In the other direction, Shonna and Merrit crouched before running ahead.
Char leaned close. “A small group of humans in that direction.” She pointed at the tunnel that Sue and Timmons had taken. “Two Weretigers that way. At least two.”
Terry pointed to Gene and motioned for him to follow Shonna and Merrit. Akio nodded and the great Werebear lumbered after them with Bogdan bouncing along behind.
Aaron stood serenely, sniffing the air.
Nomad Omnibus 02: A Kurtherian Gambit Series (A Terry Henry Walton Chronicles Omnibus) Page 55