by Michael Todd
Joshua nodded. “We are currently working on grenades made from the metal, and possibly teargas grenades, depending on what the military wants. This teargas mixture could be pertinent in many different scenarios, including when there is a demon causing mass panic. If you use it there, you are going to find demons on the ground unable to move. Of course, we haven’t yet tested the harm the metal dust will do to a normal human, but the military doesn’t seem to be too concerned.”
“Shoot first, ask questions later.” The soldier chuckled. “As long as it takes down the enemy they are willing to figure out the rest later. In this situation, I don’t much blame them: you either die from the demon or take your chances with the tear gas. I’d choose the teargas any time.”
“Most people who have seen one of these things in action would.”
They put the rounds back and took off the gloves as they made their way to the front. Things in the manufactory were working like a well-oiled machine. The soldier shook his head, still computing everything he had been briefed on when he had been assigned to work there. He looked at Joshua, thinking about how meek and fragile he appeared on the outside. It was obvious he had the heart of a warrior.
The liaison nodded to the machines. “Let me ask you something… How did you get into this business?”
Joshua smiled. “It’s a family thing.”
6
General Brushwood had received notification that a huge shipment of ammo would be sent out the next day. Things were quiet on the home front, and though that normally would be considered a good thing, it made him nervous. The sonsabitches were planning something; he could feel it in his bones.
He had been serving long enough to have developed that kind of intuition, just like when he had been in the war. This was the calm before the storm, and it made him a little more than anxious.
A voice came over the intercom. “General, Colonel Jehovivich is here to see you, sir.”
“Send her in,” he replied.
The door to his office opened and the colonel came in and stood at attention. The general waved her in and she approached the desk. She set a file on his desk and handed him a flash drive.
“It’s the after-action report. We thought you would like to take it in here instead of the comm room. The file has everything you have already seen, and the thumb drive is the video footage from the chest cameras and those mounted on the helicopters.”
“Not that I am chomping at the bit to see this battle, but something about it has been gnawing at my gut since I was given the briefs.”
The general pushed back from his desk and turned his monitor so the colonel could watch with him, then put the thumb drive into his computer and clicked on the file. They had compiled the footage for him, one camera fading into another to show the situation from different angles. The beginning showed the soldiers crouched in the greenery. The video progressed, pausing as the first body came into view.
Jehovivich pointed at the screen. “That was one of the demons Katie killed.”
“Jesus.” The general leaned forward to get a closer view. “They are barely adults.”
“With all due respect, sir, I don’t think the demons have a moral code…and we send out men just as young.”
“True.” The general waved his finger at the colonel. “Good way of keeping it in perspective.”
The colonel pressed the forward button. “So this is where Katie and Damian walk into the hotel.”
The general squinted at Katie’s back. She looked different somehow; taller and curvier than he had remembered. He just figured it was the footage and his aging eyes.
“So this is where Katie and Damian are fighting demons inside. You will see a couple attempted escapes, but it doesn’t escalate until...here.”
The colonel pressed Play again to resume normal speed and they watched the last gruesome scene of the fight. The general sighed, shaking his head and leaning back in his chair.
“Just as they described it. I’ve seen men die in war, but it never gets easier to watch, even on a television screen.”
“Wait,” the colonel exclaimed, narrowing her eyes. “Rewind that... Stop! Press play.”
The video on the screen was from one of the choppers, which was swooping around the scene after the portal had closed. The helicopter moved along the front of the hotel, getting ready to land. Jehovivich pressed the Enter key.
“Stop. There...in the window. Is that Katie?”
The general lifted his glasses and moved closer to the screen, squinting at the face in the window. It definitely wasn’t Katie, and she looked pissed.
Jehovivich spoke again. “That’s not Katie, and whoever it is, they are annoyed at the people below.”
“Or annoyed they got away,” the general added.
“But her eyes—they are glowing, so she is obviously a demon.”
The general nodded, pressing Play again and watching until the woman moved out of sight. It was strange—she looked similar enough to be mistaken for Katie, but it definitely wasn’t her.
Jehovivich picked up the phone and started to dial. “I’ll put out an APB on this character.”
“Wait.” The general grabbed her hand and she looked at him in confusion, then slowly lowered the handset.
“I need to get more intel on this. Fire up my chopper.”
“But sir, there could be a risk!”
“My helicopter, please,” the general repeated.
Jehovivich stopped arguing and left the room to prepare for the general’s departure. Brushwood returned to his computer and played the video clip over and over in a bid to figure out the identity of the woman in the window.
Whoever she was, he had a feeling the mercenaries weren’t in the dark.
Korbin walked into his office with a smile on his face, just having finished lunch with Stephanie. She had put together some egg salad sandwiches and they had attempted to eat outside, but the wind was heavy that day and all he got to eat were mouthfuls of sand.
They ended up eating in the conference room for a bit of privacy. He couldn’t believe that amongst all the turmoil and trials he had found the woman he loved—and that this relationship was actually working, for once.
He turned to his computer and pulled up a whole new set of emails. He sighed and began to click through them, responding when appropriate. He wasn’t used to things being so calm. Office work felt like drudgery. He was almost bored enough to wish for a call, but since the hotel situation there had been none.
While Korbin was straightening the papers on his desk the phone rang, and a tingle of adrenaline hit him in the chest. He knew that the phone didn’t ring for social calls anymore. He picked it up eagerly.
“This is Korbin.”
“Hey, this is Sergeant Alvis from the Las Vegas PD. We have a terrorist situation in progress, and I was told to call you and ask for assistance.”
“What kind of situation?” Korbin’s heart started to beat faster.
“We have multiple hostages, and what you might call ‘abnormal perpetrators.’”
“Location?”
Korbin wrote it down, along with the limited details they had. It had been a while since they had gotten a hometown call, but that was what the team needed—to keep going and not get too lost in the downtime.
“We’ll be there as soon as possible,” Korbin told him, then hung up.
He pushed back from his desk and looked around the quiet room for a moment, gathering his thoughts. There was something in the air; he could feel it. He didn’t think it was this call, although he couldn’t be sure. Finally! He slapped the button on his desk to send off the alert.
It’s go time!
Katie put her hands on her knees and breathed heavily as she tried to control her laughter. Calvin groaned and rolled over on the mat, pushing up on his big arms to lift himself to his feet. He shook his head, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the bottom of his shirt.
“You’re getting back to your old self ag
ain.” Katie smirked. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to be back at full strength after that hit in the cemetery.”
“Hey, I’m just tired, that’s all. I’m back, and better than ever.”
“Sometimes when we start to age... Well, no one’s blaming you, dude.”
Calvin snickered and lowered himself into a defensive stance. “All right, you got jokes. Come at me, then. I’ll show you how this old man rocks and rolls.”
Katie chuckled. “More like creaks and rattles.”
Calvin shook his head and lunged at her, swiping his hand at her face. She swayed just out of his reach, nodding as she bounced on her toes. “Oh-ho! Getting wily, are we? Better slow down, old man. You might break a hip.”
Calvin ran forward and grabbed Katie around the waist, then lifted her into the air. She laughed and shrugged at Eric’s catcall from the sidelines, then wrapped her legs around Calvin’s waist and put her hands on his shoulders.
All right, give me a boost.
I don’t know. I kind of like this.
Pandora!
Fine.
Pandora juiced Katie and she jumped upward, balancing on his shoulders for a moment before jumping to the floor behind him. Before he could turn around she swung a low leg at his ankles, knocking him to the ground. He laid there face-down, breathing heavily and laughing.
“I swear, one of these days you are gonna break one of us, Pandora. And don’t act surprised. I know Katie doesn’t have that kind of agility.”
Eric laughed. “Cheater.”
“You only think that way when you are on the losing team,” Katie told him, shaking her head. “Otherwise you are all about playing dirty.”
I’m always about playing dirty. Pandora sighed. But alas, no lovers to be found.
Shhh.
Katie offered Calvin a hand up and they stood together for a moment, panting and still chuckling. Eric tossed them bottles of water and towels, then leaned back against the edge of the matted area and shook his head.
“One of these days you are gonna wear yourselves out like that, then—”
Just then the alarm went off overhead, startling Eric. His mouth dropped open and he pointed up at the speaker.
“It’s like it can read my damned mind.”
Katie chuckled and headed to the bench to pull on her boots. Korbin’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker.
“Calvin, Eric, Katie, and Stephanie, please come to the conference room. We have a call.”
Calvin grabbed his bag out of the locker. “I feel like the Ghostbusters.”
“We just need the firemen’s pole.” Eric smirked.
“I don’t trust Pandora around a shiny silver pole to save my life.” Katie grimaced.
Calvin spoke up. “I kind of like the sound of that.”
Katie swatted Calvin with her towel as the three headed out of the training area, meeting up with Stephanie in the hallway. She looked at their sweaty bodies and smiled.
“Katie call you old again?”
Katie laughed. “You mean, did I tell him the cold, hard truth?”
She massaged Calvin’s shoulders as they entered the conference room in high spirits. However, as soon as they hit the door and saw the look on Korbin’s face they settled down. Katie hadn’t seen him that serious in a long time, which either meant this call was big or something big was coming.
Either way, it was setting up to be a hell of a day.
Katie took a seat next to Stephanie and folded her hands in front of her. She looked across the table at Calvin and Eric who had their eyes locked on Korbin. Korbin shuffled his papers on his desk and sighed.
“We have a call from the Las Vegas Police Department. There are limited details, but we know there are hostages and a large group of what they are calling terrorists and ‘abnormal perpetrators.’ They believe something odd is happening, so they found it best to call us. I think we are looking at a decent-sized incursion.”
“Okay.” Calvin put his hands down to stand up.
Korbin put up a hand. “Hold on. I have a gut feeling there is more going on—maybe not with this, but somewhere else. I want you to stay alert and ready, just in case you have to bounce from one incursion to another.”
Calvin gave him a salute, Eric nodded in understanding, and Stephanie reached out to grip his arm with a kind smile. Katie could see the energy they shared; Stephanie had really become a calming influence in Korbin’s life.
Katie liked that, and Korbin deserved it, especially after all the sacrifices he had made for the team and the cause. A little bit of happiness in the between-times; everyone needed that.
She nodded. “Sounds good, boss.”
She could tell he was on edge, but she needed to focus on the job at hand. They got up and left the room, heading toward the training center to retrieve their weapons. Katie grabbed two pistols and put them in their holsters on her waist, then looked around at the other weapons. She wasn’t sure she would need anything else. If it was that bad she could release Pandora, and if not she would just kick their asses like normal. She hated being weighed down by gear.
Take your staff, Pandora ordered.
Are you sure?
You’re ready.
Katie shrugged and pulled her staff out of the cabinet, sliding it carefully into her back strap. She had practiced with it quite a bit, and if Pandora thought she was ready she wouldn’t let her fail.
Katie walked back out to the lockers and pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail while she waited for the others to finish zipping their bags.
“Hey, bitches. Looky what I got?” Stephanie sang out, dangling a key. “I’ll be your pilot this evening. Please keep your tray tables in their locked and upright position.”
“Uh...” Calvin lifted an eyebrow.
“I’ve been learning how to fly the beast while you slackers were out eating donuts. Come on, let’s hit the road.”
She left the room and Katie shook her head, then put her bag over her shoulder and patted Eric and Calvin on their backs. As they all walked behind them toward the elevator she reminded them, “Hey, there are worse ways to die, especially in this profession.”
Calvin scoffed. “That’s definitely true but it doesn’t make me feel any better about jumping into the chopper with Rambette.”
Eric put his arm around Calvin. “Think of it this way: you’ll die at the hand of a beautiful woman. And besides, Pandora has got this. She’ll save your tender little body.”
Damn right, big man, Pandora shouted. Then we’ll really see what you’re made of.
Calvin looked at Katie, who was grimacing. “She said something, didn’t she?”
Katie winked at him. “Doesn’t she always?”
The team smiled as they left the elevator and headed to the helo pad, covering their eyes from the blowing sand. They climbed into the chopper and put on their headsets, then peered at Stephanie—who was just sitting there staring at the controls. Calvin looked at Eric and back at their pilot.
“Everything all right, Stephanie?”
“Yeah, I just can’t remember how to turn the thing on.”
Eric buckled his belt. “We’re all gonna die.”
“Ha! Just fuckin’ with ya. Sit back and enjoy the ride, pussies. I swear, men are all He-Man—until they’re not.”
“Preach it, sister,” Pandora barked from Katie’s throat.
Eric and Calvin looked up and Katie just shrugged, giving Stephanie a wink. It was nice heading to these things with family. It took the edge off to know that if they were in trouble one of them would be there.
7
Brock stood in the band room at the back of the bar.
He was amused that the owner wanted to announce him as a surprise. He looked at the original poster for that night’s entertainment and chuckled. The band did covers of his music. His band was called “The Straights” and the cover band was called “The Curves.”
Interesting that they already had kids riding th
eir coattails.
At least the audience would know the music, and hopefully the house band would too. Otherwise it would be a shitty show. Still, it was probably the biggest thing the small town had seen since the seventies. There was a knock on the door and a huge bald bouncer stuck his head in.
“Ready in five.”
Brock studied the guy’s face; there was something familiar about him. “Hey, didn’t we go to school together?”
The bouncer smiled and stuck out his hand. “Yeah, high school.”
“Good to see you, man.”
“You too,” the bouncer replied, looking curiously at Brock’s eyes as a flash of red moved across them. “Cool contacts, dude.”
Brock glanced in the mirror, then realized what he was talking about and blinked wildly. “Thanks. You know, gotta bring something special.”
“I hear ya.” He laughed and shut the door.
Come on, stop putting on a show, Brock growled.
That guy was beefcake. A little too big for my taste, but hey, I’m in a drought.
“Shut up,” Brock yelled out loud just as the door opened.
“Practicing for tonight?” the manager asked, raising an eyebrow.
Brock patted his neck. “Oh, yeah, you know, warming up the vocal cords.”
“Good, ‘cause it’s time. We’ll go up on the stage, you stand in the shadow, and I’ll get you introduced.”
“Sounds good.” Brock got up from his chair.
He grabbed his guitar and followed her onto the stage, where he stood out of the lights while he plugged his guitar into the amp.
A bright spotlight hit the stage, showing the manager to the crowd. The bar was medium-sized and packed with people wearing a mixture of his band’s shirt and the other band’s gear. She cleared her throat and tapped the mic to make sure it was on.
“Everybody having a good time?” The crowd cheered. “Good, cause it’s about to get a hell of a lot better. The Curves were unable to show up tonight for personal reasons, but...”
The crowd booed. She shook her head and put her hand in the air.