by Michael Todd
“I need all the metal you can spare. I also need any RPG-type weapons you guys have. If it slows down production, I’ll personally apologize to the company or the government.” She held onto the arm of the chair tightly.
Korbin was writing it down. “Okay. What effect are you looking for?”
Katie breathed in through of her nose and out her mouth. She shut the window shade. Right now she preferred the dark. “I need something that will explode.”
“Is this for a portal or for a building?”
“A portal. More like in the portal.”
Korbin paused, thinking about the strange structure of portals. “Maybe we can have something made that would create a lot of pressure.”
Katie liked the idea. “Yes. I’ll be there soon, and we can get on it. Just go ahead and talk to Joshua.”
“I got you.”
Korbin hung the phone up stared at it. He’d never heard that tone in Katie’s voice before. He got up quickly and jogged out of the main building and across the courtyard to the armory. He winced at the noise and grabbed a pair of headphones off the wall to muffle it. They were attached to a microphone that allowed Joshua to communicate with everyone without constantly shouting.
Korbin clicked on the microphone and switched it to Joshua’s channel. “Hey, man, where are you? I got a call from Katie, and I need us to do some brainstorming before she gets here.”
Joshua waved from a workstation at the back of the building. “Over here, dude. In the left corner at the desk.”
Korbin spotted him and walked over. “Sorry, not used to the new layout.”
“Yeah, I have to admit it took me a minute, too. But having assembly upstairs and admin above that really keeps things on point. So, Katie’s coming? What’s she looking for?”
Korbin nodded toward the soundproof meeting room. “We should go in there for a bit more privacy.”
Joshua lifted an eyebrow, not knowing exactly what that meant. “Okay.”
They walked into the room and clicked off their headsets, hanging them on hooks on the walls. They both took a seat at the long table. Joshua folded his hands together in front of him. “What’s going on?”
Korbin shook his head. “I’m not exactly sure, but from the sound of Katie’s voice, she means business.”
Joshua chuckled. “When does she not mean business?”
Korbin sighed. “True, but this time it’s different, I can tell. Something’s happened, and I feel like she’s on the warpath. She wants as much metal as we can spare. Ammo as well as RPGs. She said if it messes up production, she’ll personally apologize to the clients. She also wants something that’ll explode, or so she explained. I suggested something that has a lot of pressure. I think she wants to vaporize something very big.”
Joshua ventures, “Does this have anything to do with the lava drop in Europe?”
Korbin pursed his lips. “I assume it does. I know enough to guess where her mind is at the moment. They want to drop lava on us? Well, we’re building a bomb that’s going to obliterate a portion of hell. They might think we’re the real demons after all this.”
Joshua took a few notes and looked around the room. “Things sure have changed from the beginning. Just think, it wasn’t long ago that we even made our first bullet. Now, I’m creating weapons of mass destruction.”
Korbin stood up. “The demons are playing dirty. To me, that tears up all rules of engagement.”
Katie was leaning her head against the window, looking out at fat gray clouds. On the other side of the aisle, Juntto admired his new face in his own window. He kind of liked that fellow. He had a good jawline. Angie was curled up against his arm in the seat next to him. Her eyes were shut and she was fast asleep, making him wonder how much sleep she’d gotten while he was away.
Juntto looked at Katie, alone and huddled against her window. He reached across the aisle and tugged her elbow. “Hey, you doing okay?”
Katie sighed and shrugged. “I’m stuck in an airplane when I have a thousand things to do. How are you feeling?”
Juntto half-smiled. “Good as new. Angie said you went across the world looking for the right energy. How did you know energy was the key?”
“I got a little help from Gabriel,” Katie admitted.
Juntto nodded his head. “I see. I’m surprised he helped you. He and I had a run-in several centuries ago. Or more? A long time ago, anyway. It was one of those moments when we weren’t looking for each other and didn’t have time to battle it out…well, not fully. He left me with a pretty good scar across my lower back, and I got him right in the side. I hear he’s the only angel with a scar.”
Katie was surprised to hear it. “Didn’t think they got scars.”
Juntto smiled. “God made them, but He didn’t make any creature indestructible.”
“No, I suppose not.”
Juntto eyes shifted down. “I hope we can find the team.”
Katie looked at the ceiling, the grief striking deep in her chest. “I’m trying not to be sad until I know for sure they’re gone. Until that’s beyond proven, I won’t give up on my team. Like I did with you, you know? I didn’t give up on you. You were brash and angry, but you were coming around. We’d brought you onto the team, and we weren’t going to change our minds about that. There was hope from the moment they froze you, and I made sure everyone thought you were dead until I could find an answer. Even Angie was kept in the dark until after the funeral.”
Juntto looked at Angie and whispered to Katie, “Poor girl. She looks like she’s been through the wringer. I’m glad we didn’t get together sooner. I was an asshole, and I would surely have hurt her.”
Katie pointed a finger at him. “I’m still not above removing your balls. Just remember that if you try to slide right back into your old ways.”
Juntto put up his hands, chuckling. “Not going back there. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. My body is different now.”
Katie leaned her cheek against the headrest. “I wish I could change the way I felt just by taking a long, cold nap. Might make this all easier to take.”
Juntto’s face went serious. “I only worked those couple of times with Brock and the others, but they were good guys. He was brave and didn’t give two shits about being liked or sugarcoating anything. He said what was on his mind and stuck with it. I respected him for that. I respected all of them, but I know you were close with Brock.”
Katie shook her head. “I am close with Brock, present tense. I’ve lost too many people in my life, so I’m not going to give up on them before I know it’s true. Brock and the guys are seriously resourceful motherfuckers. They could easily have gotten themselves to a safe place. Maybe they can’t check in because their equipment is damaged. I haven’t given up yet.”
Juntto smiled. “Is that why we’re making the mad dash to the base and creating weapons?”
“Yes and no. Whether or not Brock and the others are alive, these demons need to know I’m not fucking around. They will not change the rules without us responding in kind. If they want to come here and drop lava on innocent people, I can make sure they have an even bigger problem in hell. They need to know we’re not backing down.”
Juntto chuckled. “You would think that by now they would know not to fuck with you or Pandora. They just don’t seem to be learning their lesson. It’s wild to me that Moloch showed up after he killed all those people. You would’ve thought he would wait for your response.”
Katie wrinkled her nose, not having thought about that. “That’s a good point. At the same time, though, he’s been trying to catch me off-guard. He might have figured that was the perfect time to come rolling in. Strike again before I had a chance to reevaluate the situation. I don’t know why he didn’t throw it in my face, though. He seems like the kind of douchebag who likes to fucking brag.”
“He definitely is that, but who knows?”
Katie picked up the mug of tea in front of her and took a sip. “Right now, I have to do my part for this
war. Then, when that’s taken care of, I’ll go look for Brock. No matter how long that takes, I need to see it for myself. His absence is not proof. I need evidence, proof I can see with my own eyes that he’s gone. As far as I’m concerned, he’s out there somewhere waiting for me.”
18
The plane touched down on the base, and Katie looked out the window. The base was crawling with soldiers working on what she assumed was damage from their recent fight. Everything looked decent enough, though, and the armory building was still in one piece. Juntto took a deep, nervous breath. Katie noticed he was looking out the window at the quickly-approaching Korbin. She patted him on the shoulder. “He’s just a man.”
Juntto chuckled. “Yeah, a man who’s survived the demon war longer than any human alive today. And he was your teacher when you were first infected. Even Leviathans pay attention to the legendary warriors.”
“You need to tell him that. He’ll get a kick out of it.”
Pandora woke from her nap. Are we here? Where are my assholes? I’ve missed them.
Katie grabbed her bag and climbed out of the plane, immediately giving Korbin a tight hug. He held her longer than usual, sensing something was wrong. When they pulled apart, Korbin lifted his eyes to Juntto, who still looked like Channing Tatum. Katie made the introductions. “Oh, sorry. Korbin, this is Juntto, the Leviathan.”
“Frost giant. Leviathan is my title.”
“Right. Juntto, this is Korbin.”
Juntto bowed and stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet a fellow warrior.”
Korbin looked at him strangely but shook the offered hand. “Good to see you aren’t frozen anymore.”
Juntto glanced toward Angie. “I’ve got some good friends.”
Korbin‘s eyes twinkled. “Yeah, I think I know what you mean. Okay. Let’s head on over to the armory. I know you want to get straight to the nitty-gritty. Joshua started working on your new bomb as soon as we got off the phone. If anyone can help you with this, it’ll be him. You know how he is with this stuff.”
Katie followed him to the armory. “That I don’t doubt. I just want to make sure we are giving those bastards what they deserve.”
When they were apart from the others, Korbin pulled Katie to the side. “I know there was an incident with lava, but I can tell there’s more. What’s going on?”
Katie looked down. “My team, Brock and his guys, were on that mission. They haven’t reported back in. The military is considering them KIA.”
Korbin tilted his head back. “Oh, man. Oh, man, that’s fucking brutal. Katie, I’m so sorry. He’s a good kid, and one hell of a fighter.”
Katie smiled slightly. “One hell of a person, too. I’ll let those demons know just how bad they’ve fucked up.”
Walking in single file, their feet moved over the threshold into the boisterous room. Juntto and Angie took headphones from the wall and sat in a couple of armchairs in a makeshift waiting room. Korbin led Katie to the glass soundproof room at the back of the armory. Inside, Joshua had all kinds of parts laid out and was working on them wearing goggles and long, thick gloves. When they entered, he was maneuvering a few parts with a clamp and forceps. He bit his bottom lip and pressed until a small metal piece clicked into place. He had made a small gun attached to some sort of lever.
Katie reached out to touch it, but Joshua quickly dropped his tool and firmly grasped her wrist. “I haven’t made it merc-friendly yet. I wouldn’t touch it.”
Katie’s hand flew to her chest. “Right. Sorry. How’s it coming along?”
Joshua pulled his goggles down. “Well, I’m kind of rolling through ideas, creating as I go. I want to do something more intense than an explosion. You want it to be long-lasting. I think just an explosion or implosion will make little impact.”
Katie agreed. “So how long until you’re done?”
Joshua’s eyes fell to the table. He prodded a few parts. “About two days.”
Katie’s mouth dropped open. “Two days? I thought this was something that could be done quickly. God, they could flood ten more cities with lava in those two days.”
Korbin cleared his throat, taking over the conversation. Katie was pale-faced and ready to implode. She was clenching her fists so tightly that he could see her knuckles turn white. “Katie, Moloch could do that whether or not you bomb him.”
She glared at him and crossed her arms on her chest. Korbin glanced at Joshua briefly, then eyed Katie. “You don’t want to rush revenge. You know very well it’s a dish best served ice-cold, with a lot of violence and more importantly, results. An explosion will be like fireworks for them. It’s not going to be intimidating. Jumping off too quickly reduces results in the military.”
Katie’s face began to relax slightly. She wrinkled her forehead, putting up her finger.
Korbin slowly lowered her hand down, shaking his head. “Military planning is not an oxymoron, no matter how much you want to think it is.”
Katie stuck her hands in her pockets and blew the air from her lungs. Heat flashed across her neck as she looked at Joshua, who was hastily moving through the parts. “I’m sorry, Joshua. I didn’t mean to snap at you. Take whatever time you need to make sure we’re doing it right.”
Joshua’s mouth curved up on one side and he tapped his head with his wrench. “I’ll do the best I can.”
Katie’s eyes met Korbin’s as she opened the door and headed to the front. She flipped her head toward the main door, and Juntto and Angie quickly followed her outside. Korbin was a few steps behind them, shutting the huge metal door and silencing cacophony of the armory.
Angie rubbed her hands together, feeling the calluses from the weapons she’d used recently. “What’s the plan?”
Katie pulled out her phone. “I’m going to call and let the base know it will be a few days. Then I’m going to spend that time in Europe looking for Brock and the team.”
Angie’s eyes flashed toward Juntto. “We’ll go with you.”
Pandora cleared her throat. She should stay behind. Three is a crowd. We don’t know what we’re walking into or what to expect. Besides, no need to take the plane. I’ll take you through a shortcut.
How?
We’re going down.
Down?
Down, baby.
Katie squeezed Angie’s small shoulder. “Sit this one out, okay? We’re going to be going through hell to get there…literally.”
A rush of scalding air cut through the dense forest as a portal cracked open. The Leviathan put one foot on the leaves, his breath fogging in the afternoon sun. He reached back and Katie took his hand, stepping out behind him. Pandora let out the breath she had been holding, and the portal slammed shut.
Katie gripped the piece of paper in her hands, furiously waving it in the air. The paper was red and smoking, a line of red flame moving quickly across the ink-blotted map. Pandora growled. Don’t shake it! Don’t you know things burn faster in fucking air?
Katie clamped her fingers around the edges of the paper, but it was too late—the last burnt bits turned to ash. The wind blew them from her fingertips in a cold breeze. I’m not the genius who thought bringing a map through hell was a good idea. Now we have to figure out how close we are to the city.
Pandora yawned. I would estimate about three miles, give or take. I think. Probably.
And how the hell do you know that?
Pandora snapped, Because I’m a demon who travels from place to place all the time. And I haven’t been here in…I don’t know, three of your lifetimes? It’s a ballpark guess. Besides, I know how little you remember after a good humping. Don’t give me shit.
Katie gritted her teeth. You’re fucking impossible. You think you know every damn thing, yet here we are lost in the fucking Carpathian Forest. And guess what, know-it-all? I know that because of all the trees around us.
Pandora laughed. Or the fact that I said it before we walked through hell.
Katie crossed her arms. Let’s ask Juntto. Maybe he can
help us. “Juntto, would you please tell this mouthy bitch…”
Katie turned in a circle, peering at the woods surrounding her. Frost glistened over everything, and the trees were spaced so perfectly it looked like they had been planted that way. It was like a maze of trees. There was no sign of Juntto anywhere.
Katie threw her hands in the air. “Great, now we’ve lost the Leviathan.”
Juntto jumped from the trees above her, landing with a thud in front of Katie. She gasped and stepped back, her feet tangling on a fallen tree limb. Juntto grabbed her arm, pulling her back upright. His cheeks dimpled as he chuckled, little pieces of bark falling to the ground. “We’re ten miles away.”
She shook her head at him. “Okay, then. That answers that question.”
Juntto crossed one foot over the other and leaned against one of the trees, taking in the foliage. “I’ve never actually taken the time to look around the woods when I’m in them. They’re quite calming.”
Katie rubbed the bridge of her nose, frustrated. “Yeah, great, Jacques Cousteau. I’m definitely not going to walk ten miles. Stand back. I have a shortcut.”
Juntto pressed himself against the tree. Katie rolled both shoulders and shut her eyes, letting a puff of air come from her lips. Her long feathered wings sprouted from her back, the m-shaped curve slowly unraveling. The feathers blew gently in the breeze as her wings spread.
Juntto’s eyes grew wide, and he hastily stepped forward. “Please tell me you’re going to give me a lift.”
Katie pursed her lips. “If you shrink to…maybe Peter Dinklage size.”
Juntto tilted his head to the side. “Do I know Peter?”
She rolled her eyes. “Tyrion. Tyrion Lannister.”
Juntto laughed. “Oh. Why didn’t you just say that?”
Juntto shrunk to a smaller size, yet he still looked like Channing Tatum. “That is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure a miniature Channing Tatum dancing on a chair will forever be burned into my mind. Come on, no time to waste.”
