by Jan Stryvant
When he finished, he looked around the room. All the lycans who were conscious now were staring at him with a look he had previously only seen reserved for people like his mother or the First.
"Thank you all, again. I have to see who else needs my help," Adam said and left the tent. Grabbing one of the healers, he stopped them.
"I'm busy!" they said, looking at him.
"So am I. I need someone to take me to each of the lycans who are dying, and I need a radio."
"Why?"
"Don't ask, do!" Adam growled nastily.
The healer paled and flagged someone over. "Jay, take this lion to each of the tents with lycans in it. I'll go find someone with a radio."
"What do you need the radio for?" Ryla asked as Jay led them to another tent.
"To order the other lions to do what I'm doing."
"You don't think they are?"
"This is something we haven't been able to do for a very long time. So, no."
With that, Adam was led into another tent and he started all over again. He had no idea how many there were here, but he wasn't going anywhere until he was done.
"About time you got here," Chad said when Adam came into the command tent. "I heard you were back on your feet hours ago."
"Yeah, well, I had something more important to deal with."
Chad nodded. "Yeah, I heard. But once you got the others working on it, you didn't need to be there. You're a leader now, Adam, you have to delegate."
"Maybe I don't want to delegate!" Adam growled.
Chad shook his head. "Look, I had this discussion with Sean, and once was enough. Yeah, not being there for every little thing sucks. But you're only one person, and you can't be everywhere at once. When Sean's not here, this," Chad motioned to the displays on the tent around him, "is your job.
"Now, let's gather up Maitland and Roloff and inspect our defenses. I need to see how bad things are down south where you stopped that breach."
Adam sighed and nodded.
"How're you doing, Ryla?" Chad said, turning to smile at her. "I think Max is gonna be jealous when she sees you."
"Really?" Ryla said, looking surprised.
"Of course she will, she's only four months pregnant, while you're almost to term. Sit down, take a load off. Are you going to wait here?"
"Umm…"
"If you can find someone to take her back to our base at the airport, I'd appreciate it," Adam said, looking at Ryla and smiling.
"Not a problem. Ryan!" Chad said looking over towards his second.
"I'll get right on it, Chad," Ryan said.
"Great! Come on, Adam, let's go find the others."
"You didn't get a chance to look at things before heading back here, did you?" Chad said as soon as they got out of the tent.
"No, why?"
"The pictures I got didn't look good. We had another breach up north by Baring Boulevard. Wasn't as bad as the one you dealt with, but Maitland said he doesn't think it'll hold up when they hit us again."
"We need a wall, a real wall," Adam said with a shake of his head.
"No point in wishing for what we don't have."
"I know, I know. If the eastern part of our defenses isn't going to hold, should we really be wasting effort on fixing the western part?"
"My thinking exactly," Chad agreed. "Which is why I want to get Maitland and Roloff together. After we've looked the McCarran defensive line over, I want to see how things are doing on the I-80 line. We might be pulling back to there sooner than we had hoped."
"Guess I'm going to be meeting with the city council and the mayor tonight," Adam grumbled. "If we're pulling back to I-80, then it's time to evacuate anyone who isn't fighting."
"Especially if they're human."
"Yeah, especially if they're human," Adam agreed.
"Have you heard anything from Sean and the others?" Chad asked him as they got in the back of one of the command vehicles and the driver took off to wherever Maitland was working.
Adam gave a brief nod. "The second team has really been riling them up on the other side of the gateway. Sean and the others ran into a prince, and I think they may have messed him up a bit. I'll know more when I have a little while to take a break and go get a briefing."
"How does that work exactly?" Chad asked curious.
"We have a world, like the demons have a world. Just ours is nice, friendly, and you don't have to go around killing things to stay alive. That's where we go when we die and wait to be reincarnated. We can also go there when we sleep or meditate."
"Wait, if you're waiting to be reincarnated, what's everyone doing back now?"
"Sean was able to open a gate," Adam said with a shrug. "You see, the amount of power lions have is based on the number of lycans, roughly speaking."
"So with so many lycans around now, there was enough power for Sean to do that, where before there wasn't, right?" Chad asked.
Adam nodded. "Exactly. And you're not allowed to talk to anyone other than me or Sean about this, ever. Got it?"
Chad sighed as he felt the compulsion kick in.
"You know, I hate when you or Sean does that."
"I only told you because I felt, as our general, it's probably not wise to withhold information. But we have to keep certain things secret, because we don't want our children—that includes people like you—" Adam said with a wink, "being used against us. Oh, there's a lot more to it than what I just said, and I don't know the half of it. The First and my mom might be the only two who know everything, though Sean is pretty damn good at figuring things out as well. Mom laughs about it and says he drives the First crazy sometimes with all the stuff he's learning."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"Because the First, and the First pride, rule. The last thing you ever want to do is piss any of them off."
"Why? Because they're powerful?"
"Oh, hell no! It's because you'll get a lecture that'll go on for years! I once had mom sit my ass down and lecture me on my behavior for a year and a half! A year and a half! Non-stop! And she never repeated herself! Not once!"
Chad started laughing. "Damn! I thought my mom was bad when it came to guilt trips and lectures!"
"Yeah, when you're a couple hundred thousand years old, it's safe to say you've mastered the art to godlike proportions. And I think all mothers have a sadistic streak in them that they only get to use on their wayward children. Dad's not as old, so the worst I ever got from him was only about ninety days long."
"Well, here's Maitland. I see Roloff's with him, too. Let's take a look at the defenses here, then we'll check out the spot down by the Uni."
"Sounds good. I'm gonna ask a lot of stupid questions so I have answers for the mayor and the council later tonight."
"I could go with you, if you'd like," Chad offered.
Adam snorted and shook his head. "I think I lose IQ points every time I'm there. I don't think we can afford for you to go through that. Besides, you and Maitland should probably give Bill a briefing so he can keep the governor informed."
"Good point."
Alex looked around the garage one last time. He'd already packed up his and Demon's room up on the top floor of the building. He'd made them box up all the gear and ship it down to Vegas a couple of weeks ago. With everything going on, cleaning cars was the last thing on anyone's mind in Reno. They'd just restart the business down south.
Steve's parents had finally pulled the last of their people out of the auto shop two nights ago. By then, all the mechanics who were left had been lycans from Sean's building. At this point there were only three left at the shop, and they were only there to help anyone who needed their cars fixed so they could evacuate, and they'd only be there a few more days. Demon had told everyone that when the defenders fell back to the I-80 line, no one was allowed to stay.
He'd then confided in Alex that Chad had told him that would probably happen in the next battle. Alex and Demon had been using the brownstone as a barracks for the local de
fenders, and it would continue on in that roll up until the last minute, but any 'non-essential' personal were required to pull out and head to the Minden-Tahoe airport base.
Alex and Demon had had a nice little fight over that. Alex was more than capable of defending himself these days, but Demon had been immune to all of Alex's arguments, pleas, and threats. Apparently the damn wolf really did love him.
"Alex?"
Turning around, Alex blinked in surprise. "Zack? Where in the world have you been? Hell, what are you doing here? Never mind that! Come here and give me a hug!"
"I ummm, I joined the Navy," Zack said, looking a little embarrassed as he came over and gave Alex a 'bro-hug'. He was wearing a set of camos that had his name sewn on one side and 'Navy' sewn on the other. "I never told anyone, and Chad canceled the gaming sessions about two weeks before I shipped out, so I never got the chance to tell any of you."
"Wow. So what're you doing back here now?"
"I finished tech school, and put in for emergency leave to come here and make sure my parents and my sisters all got moved out."
"Oh! I hope everyone's okay?"
"Yeah, turns out Chad got some of his pack to do it. I…" Zack gave Alex a look. "Is he really a werewolf?"
Alex snickered. "Sean had someone bite him. Not that Chad didn't ask for it, mind you."
Zack blinked. "So the stories about Sean are true, too?"
Alex shrugged. "I don't know, depends on which ones you heard. So what brings you round here?"
"Well, I went by Chad's old place first, but of course he's no longer there. Steve's house is outside the wall, so I couldn't go there, so I figured I'd stop by the shop, and they sent me over here."
"Good thing you got here early; I'm about to head down to Minden. So your family got moved out?"
"Yeah, I only found out about it when I got to the house and there was a note on the kitchen table for me. They're heading to Vegas."
"Hop in; I'll give you a lift."
"Can we stop by my house? I left my bag there."
"Sure. I'll catch you up on the trip. How are you getting around?"
Zack blushed. "Ummm, I told someone I was a friend of Chad and Sean's, and after that I found people were more than willing to help me out."
"Yeah, they are the two top dogs around here now."
"So what the hell happened, anyway? Last I recall before I shipped out was Sean got himself a girlfriend?"
Alex grinned widely. "Oh, have I got a story to tell you!"
Other Places
"So what happens now?" Karl asked Raban. It had been several weeks since Berlin had been destroyed by the French, and in the last week, the refugees had abruptly all but stopped.
"We're still discussing that," Raban said, looking across the dinner table.
"You mean you haven't reached a decision and told everyone else what to do," Otto grumbled.
Karl noticed everyone else at the table either nodded or smiled. While most of them knew better than to criticize a lion to his face, they weren't exactly afraid of him. Then again, only about a third of the people from the Kitesh Korps were lycans.
"I've noticed we've had quite the influx of lions of late," Bilkie observed. "Seems every few days another group wanders into town."
"Ah, you noticed that, did you?" Raban said and went back to his dinner.
"We all noticed it," Karl said. "Really now, Raban. Why aren't we moving to take back everything to the north of here? Or at least some of it? All those demons in Berlin are dead! Didn't you say that was most of them?"
Raban looked up a moment from his plate. "Most, but by no means all." He stuck a piece of meat into his muzzle.
"And?" Karl prompted.
Raban took a moment to chew and then swallow. "Why are you in such a rush to go back there?"
"Because it's my home! Why do you think?" Karl said, exasperated. "Now quit dodging and tell me what's going on."
Karl noticed that several of the people at the table tensed up and started to studiously study the food on their plates. Karl was the only one at the table who wasn't afraid of Raban, and who wasn't afraid to argue with him. Then again, he was a police officer, and he was now living with the Kitesh Korps. He figured they all thought he'd gone insane after everything that had happened to him and his home anyway.
Sometimes he thought they just might be right.
"What's going on is, we have a wandering gate in northern and western Germany that's dumping demons all over the place every three days. Now that they're not traveling to Berlin, they're going all over. We don't have enough of a force here to hold Munich and try to take them on. So until we do, we're going to sit tight, hold on to what we've got, and deal with only the threats that come close enough to us that we can take them on without risking what we've got."
"What about all those lions we've got coming in? I've seen them coming through your office; those guys and gals are armed for war."
"Ow many of them are we a gettin'?" Bilkie asked before Raban could respond to Karl.
"Several thousand," Raban said, glancing over at Bilkie, who just grinned. Then he turned back to Karl. "You have to remember, this gate is going to be opening for years. This isn't going to be over anytime soon. What happened with Berlin gave us all some breathing room. Now we're going to build up our forces before we do anything."
"And once we do have enough forces?"
"That's none of your business."
"Why not?" Karl said and leaned forward, pointing his fork at Raban. "You've come in here and all but taken over everything! My country, our cities, you've even taken over my life. Well, dammit, I'm entitled to some answers. This is my home we're talking about!"
"You're not entitled to anything, Karl," Raban growled. "Now stop threatening me with your fork and making a scene. I get enough of that crap dealing with the city council."
"I'm surprised he hasn't killed them yet!" Gloria, one of the locals who managed the Kitesh Korps business in Munich, said with a giggle. She was a magic user of some sort; Karl didn't really know and wasn't interested enough to ask. He was still having enough trouble getting used to lycans, goblins, and demons, to take the time to figure out magic.
"What has been goin' on there with you there and that chief o' police?" Bilkie asked turning to look at Karl.
Karl sighed and set down his fork. "He wants me to work for him."
"So why don't you?"
"Because maybe I'm tired of being a policeman? Because all my friends now are crooks or," Karl looked at Raban, "tyrants?"
"Oh, I'm a tyrant now, am I?" Raban said with a bit of a smirk.
"At least he thinks you're his friend!" Gloria said with a smile.
"If he wasn't, I wouldn't be putting up with his guff," Raban grumbled.
"I'm 'urt I tell ya', down right 'urt that you'd call me, ya' friend, a no-good lousy crook!" Bilkie said dramatically.
"If you were lousy at it, I would have arrested you already," Karl shot back. "You're all better than anything I've ever had to deal with. I bet I couldn't catch you if you picked my pocket while I was watching you!
"But honestly," Karl said and shook his head, "I don't know where I belong anymore. My town is gone; everyone I knew is either dead or fled to the four corners of the Earth. You're the only people who've been nice to me since this whole thing started. Well, maybe not Raban there, the jury is still out on him."
"I'm wounded!" Raban said with a mock growl and grabbed his chest.
"More like pepper-sprayed," Otto said with a snicker.
"My point is," Karl said rolling his eyes at Raban's interruption. " that I don't know what my place is in all of this anymore. I was a small-town policeman, I liked my job, and I liked my life. Now? Now I'm reduced to the clothes on my back and the kindness of strangers."
"We're not strangers, are we, darling?" Chloe, a werewolf Karl was rather taken with, asked as she put her hand on his thigh.
Karl blushed. "Well, no, you're not, and neither are the
people in here tonight. But that's part of my problem! You're all criminals in a big criminal empire, and I'm supposed to be against that! But now that I don't have a home anymore?" Karl sighed and put his hand over Chloe's. "You're some of the nicest and best people I've ever met. You sure take a lot better care of each other than the police service or the government ever did for me."
"Ya' wasted in ya' current job," Bilkie said with a serious look on his face. "Ya gotta' face the facts, Karl. You ain't never going back to bein' a cop, and it'll be a lifetime, probably more, before ya' country can come back."
"If I don't do that, then what?" Karl said looking down at the table.
"Ye' can work for us!" Bilkie said with a smile. "Ya's a reliable sort, you don' panic easy, and besides, Chloe there likes ye', and I don't see her lettin' you out of her clutches anytime soon."
Karl smiled. "I appreciate the offer, but I don't know if I'm exactly cut out for a life of crime."
"Take the job," Raban said to Karl, motioning towards Bilkie. "You're probably going to be working for me half the time anyway, like you already are. Besides which, what Bilkie says there is true; it's going to be a long time before things are normal again. So it's not like they're going to be doing much crime, more like they're just going to be trying to survive, and they're going to need all the help they can get."
"And you do like helping people, don't you?" Chloe asked, moving a little closer to him.
"Anya don't have to worry none 'bout us gettin ya' into any criminal activity," Bilkie said with a laugh. "Cause ye' got way ta much honesty in ya'!"
Karl smiled. "Thanks, I'll think about it. I'll give you my answer in the morning."
"And Chloe will make sure it's the right one!" Gloria said with a grin as the others at the table laughed.
Karl thought about continuing to ask Raban, but obviously he didn't want to talk about it now, so he'd see about asking him later, in private. But what Bilkie had said about the future had hit the target. The world as he'd known it had changed, and it would never be the same again. Not in his lifetime. Maybe not ever.
"Deep thoughts?" Chloe whispered in his ear.
"I've been given a lot to think about," Karl whispered back.