Mark exhaled long and slow as he mulled over the possibilities. Had they asked six months ago, he would have told them to simply tag it and bag it. Bring the cold body back for the techs to dissect. But after their experience with other sentient species, he wasn’t so quick to kill something just because it wasn’t comely to the eye. “Try to make some kind of contact with it. See if it’s intelligent. If it shows any hostility, drop it.”
“Affirmative, OPCOM.”
Mark turned to the countdown clock and noted the time in his log as Dr. Peters stepped into the OPCOM. “You summoned me, Colonel?”
Mitchell motioned to the screens above his head. “Ever see anything like this?”
Evan studied the creature and shook his head. “Not exactly.” He shuffled through the digital images and paused at the one that showed the clearest side view. “It has definite aquatic features. Too large to be Elven in nature, so that rules out a goblin.”
“Goblin?” Matt moved closer to look at what Evan was pointing at. “What do you mean goblin?”
“They’re a type of malicious elf. Loners, really. Judging by the anatomy of this creature, I’d say it is most probably an aquatic troll. Note the three fingers, three toes. Quite indicative of a troll. The broad head, wide set eyes.”
“An aquatic troll?” Matt pulled the photo up to the larger screen to enhance the details. “I’ve never heard of a water troll.”
“They’re rare, but they exist. I’d not heard of any outside of Scandinavia. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t be here though. They’ve been known to travel with aquatic bands of goblins.”
“Goblins again.” Matt ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “What’s the deal with the goblins?”
Evan reached for a keyboard and punched in his access code. Pulling up his personal files he accessed a fuzzy photo and placed it alongside the troll on the big screen. “Aquatic goblins are mean little bastards. Rumored to even ride sharks and are basically tiny little pirates. They like to sneak aboard water craft at night, rob them of valuables and food stuffs. Some lore even lean toward them eating those aboard and setting the ships adrift.”
“Could they be the cause of the ships in the Bermuda Triangle?” Mark asked.
Evan rubbed at his chin as he considered the question. “I suppose it’s possible, but there are a lot more plausible explanations for many of the lost ships in that area.”
“Back to the troll, Doctor.” Matt pointed to the screen. “Any chance there’s intelligence behind those bugged eyes?”
Evan shook his head. “No. They’re like any other troll. Basic instincts. Eat, shit, sex, destroy anything that gets in its way.”
Matt took a deep breath and gave Mark a knowing look. “Better give the boys the heads-up.”
“On it.”
*****
Paul held the blow torch in shaky hands while Rufus picked up the withered heart with the metal tongs. “Are we ready?”
Rufus nodded. “Go ahead.” He shifted his grip and held the heart in front of him. “But I think we are wasting our time.”
Foster adjusted the flame until no more smoke came from the end of the bottle then turned it toward the shriveled mass of muscle. “Here goes nothing.” He touched the flame to the brown mass held in the tongs and watched as it blackened, then slowly caught fire. Acrid smoke rose in the air as the desiccated muscle slowly burned, a popping noise occasionally snapping a small piece from the heart and sending it across the room.
Paul’s worried gaze turned to Rufus who had visibly paled. His hands shook as he held the torch to the muscle and watched as it slowly blackened completely and turned to ash. “We’re screwed.”
“Non.” Rufus placed the remains of the heart upon the ashes. “Just because it burns does not mean it cannot be reanimated.” He turned and motioned to the servant girl by the door. She quickly brought a pitcher of blood and Rufus slowly poured it over the ashen remains. “We simply wait to see if it—”
“You said it could not be destroyed.” Paul’s voice had risen an octave in his panic. “This can’t be her heart!”
“Calm yourself, brother.” Rufus continued to pour blood over the charred muscle. “Just give it a little time.”
Paul paced the small area and occasionally glanced at the ashy goop in the steel bowl. “It’s not doing anything.”
Rufus watched intently, praying that the heart would begin to regenerate. When it became evident that it would do nothing, Rufus lowered his head in defeat. “We were misinformed.”
“We were duped!” Paul turned for the door.
“Where do you go?”
“I’m leaving. There’s no way to stop her now. It would be death to try.”
Rufus stepped between him and the exit. “Non, you cannot go.”
“We can’t stop them, Rufus! We have no way of reining her in. If Damien is a revenant, there’s nothing I can do, especially if he’s under her spell.” He tried to push past Rufus only to be blocked again.
“We have to try, brother.” Rufus held up both hands and placed them gently on his brother’s shoulders. “Calm yourself and listen.”
Paul felt himself instantly calm, his attention turned to the sound of Rufus’ voice. “I’m listening.”
“We have faced much worse than Lilith. We faced the Sicarii, and where is he now? We must remove the edict from our heads, and this is the only way. You know this. You must accept this and come to terms with what we must do.” Rufus stared deeply into his brother’s eyes and watched as he slowly nodded his head.
“But how, brother?”
“There is more than one way to accomplish any goal. If we must, we can draw and quarter her again. If we cannot do that…I have a weapon that should work.”
Paul slowly looked up, his eyes wide. “Weapon?”
Rufus nodded. “I’ve been working on it in private. It will be ready and delivered shortly.”
Paul sighed audibly. “Why did you not say so?”
“Because it is a last resort. The ramifications of using it are…dire.”
“If it will stop Lilith, who cares?”
Rufus smiled sadly and patted his brother’s cheek. “Exactement.”
*****
Laura jostled awake as the small craft landed and began slowing on the ground. She lifted her head and winced at the crick in her neck. Her eyes squinted to see into the gloom of twilight, the outline of dense trees and perhaps even jungle or rainforest edging along the sides of the small airport.
She stretched slightly and sat upright in the small seat. “Where are we?”
“About halfway, stopping for fuel,” Jennifer replied as she tossed her headphones aside. “Are you hungry?”
“I could definitely swallow something, but I’m more thirsty than anything. My mouth feels like I was chewing cotton.” She pressed her tongue against her teeth and tried to force her mouth to water. “Please tell me I wasn’t snoring.”
Jennifer shook her head in reply. “We couldn’t have heard it if you were.” The engine slowed and sputtered to stillness. Mick quickly unhooked his restraints and exited the plane. “There’s a small terminal over there. If we’re lucky, the grill is still open.”
“You’ve been here before?” Laura waited until Jennifer stepped out then flipped her seat up so that she could exit.
“Once. A long time ago.”
Jennifer stretched and Laura slowly worked the kinks from her neck and shoulders. “Will he be joining us, or do you want to bring him back something?”
Jennifer glanced back at the brooding Aussie. “I don’t know if he’s in the mood.”
Laura glanced back at the man, his face stoic. “Something I said?”
“Something I said.” Jennifer motioned her toward the small terminal building and held the door for her. The smell of fried foods and stale beer hit them as soon as the door opened. “Any idea what sounds good?”
“Anything but guinea pig.”
“I don’t think cuy is on th
e menu. How about a burger?”
“And a drink, please.” Laura excused herself to tidy up while the food was ordered. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see the state of the kitchen or the staff. She definitely wasn’t ready to see the state that the plane ride and short nap had left her in. She splashed cold water across her face and ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to make herself appear more human. When she stepped back out, Jennifer was placing a tray on the table of a booth.
“Smells good.”
“Right now a fried shoe would smell good.” Laura took her seat and picked up the soda. The cold liquid coating her throat felt wonderful. “Thank you.”
Jennifer picked up her burger and poked through the stack. “So tell me more about this boss of yours.” She studied her burger, purposely avoiding Laura’s eyes. “Just so I have an idea of who it is I’m going to be meeting.”
Laura chewed a french fry, nodding. “Technically, I don’t think he’s still my boss. I technically quit about six months ago.”
“What happened?”
“It didn’t stick.” Laura smirked. “We were in the middle of something big and I…” she sighed and shook her head. “My heart just wasn’t in it anymore. I wanted out. We had my replacement ready and really I had no part to play in what was about to happen.”
“Your heart wasn’t in it? Somehow I think there’s more to the story than just your heart not being in it.”
Laura lowered her head, her mind going back over all of the things that had slowly worn her down. “It was a lot of things. We had lost people over the years. Well, one or two over a few years, anyway. But then in one fail swoop an entire team was wiped out. Then we had a run in with a politician and the things I did…” She lifted her face and Jennifer saw the haunted look in her eyes. “He committed suicide because of it.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah, holy shit is right.” Laura picked at her food, her appetite suddenly gone. “Then Matt, my boss, he starts really getting more and more aggressive. His wolf is having more of an effect on his everyday life. And he wants me to be his conscience.” She grunted a snort of derision. “Like I have nothing better to do than be Jiminy Cricket for him.”
“Is he still…?”
“No. He met somebody that helped him calm his inner wolf. At least, for a little while.” Laura pushed the food away and took another drink. “But I think the final straw was when we lost one of our operators on a mission. He was my responsibility.”
“You did something to get him hurt?”
“Well, no. But I was in charge and he was taken from us and tortured. I should have deployed…”
“Wait, so it really wasn’t your fault?”
Laura inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “It doesn’t matter. The buck stops with me. I was in charge.”
Jennifer patted her hand. “It sounds like you tend to hang a lot of unnecessary crap on your shoulders.”
“I guess.” Laura shrugged. “Maybe.”
Jennifer set her hamburger down and smiled at the taller woman. “And you still haven’t really told me much about your boss.”
“Yeah, look at me twisting everything around to make it about me, right?”
“Wrap it up ladies. The plane’s fueled.” Mick stood near the door wiping his hands on a rag.
Jennifer’s face fell then she stood and began wrapping her food. “We can take this to go.”
Laura placed a hand on her arm, stopping her. “Is everything okay?”
Jennifer gave a furtive glance at the closing door then nodded. “Yeah, just a little tense. It’s fine, really.” She picked up her food and motioned to the door. “Let’s not give him any more reason to be grumpy, eh?”
*****
Apollo observed the men he was supposed to lead into battle as they went about their tasks, preparing their equipment and weaponry, checking their gear and sharpening their blades. Sheridan approached and nodded to the team, “They may not look like much, but they’re supposed to be quite lethal.”
“There’s a flaw in your plan,” Apollo deadpanned, his eyes never leaving the men as they worked.
“Nonsense, we’ve calculated for every contingency. The teams will be disbursed doing what they do best, Jack will be off playing butt buddy to Thorn, both places will be left with a skeleton crew.”
Apollo considered attacking Thorn’s compound with Jack not being there and it ate at him. He wanted the man to suffer as much as he suffered. It was Jack, after all, who continually told him to relax. Maria wasn’t up to anything with the Padre. They were just friends. They were just student and teacher. They were just…lying to him. And Jack knew. Jack hid it from him to keep him on target until the end of the op. Jack played him. Now Jack had to pay.
“We got two squads of wolves, right?”
“Of course. They have the strength of ten men. We’ll need that strength to—”
“And you want to attack both places on the night of the full moon?” Apollo raised a questioning brow. “Can these wolves shoot a weapon? Can they throw grenades? Can they tell who is who in a battle if they’re surrounded by other wolves?”
Sheridan took a half step back and gave him a wide eyed stare, his smile slowly fading. “I can’t believe I didn’t consider…”
“Like I said, there’s a flaw in your plan.” Apollo turned and crossed his arms. “We either have to attack the night before or the night after.”
Sheridan’s mind raced as he considered the possibilities. “If we attack the night before, they’ll still be anxious from the coming full moon.”
“True dat, but a lot of them will be in transit, too. At least some of them will be on their way to help Jack. Others will still likely be in the field.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder to the men working in the warehouse. “And if we wait ‘til the day after, we have to figure out what to do with these guys when they shift and then they’ll be on the downhill slide afterward. Both sides being fatigued makes for sloppy shooters.” He turned back and stared at the men he knew little to nothing about. “I ain’t so sure I want to be in a shooting match under those circumstances.”
“Point taken.” Sheridan considered Apollo’s advice then nodded. “We attack the night before then.”
“Sounds like a perfect plan to me.” He turned back to Sheridan, “But I want two boats taking these guys out there. Not just one. I want to hit that island from two different sides at once. No chance of them taking all of us out with one shot.”
“Of course. Whatever you think is best.”
“Fast boats, too. None of that slow assed crap. We want them sport boats like the drug runners use.”
“Cigarette boats?”
“Cigarette, cigar, pipe, I don’t give a shit, as long as it’s fast.”
“Consider it done.” Sheridan gave the larger man a weak smile. “We’ll steal them if we have to.” He paused and glanced away. “You have considered that Jack will be there if you attack early, haven’t you?”
Apollo nodded knowingly. “I’m counting on it.”
*****
After disembarking the helicopter and forming up on high ground, Dom gathered his squad. “We have a signal on this thing and it’s moving slow. We got lucky that one of the spotters tagged it for us.”
“Let’s just hope we don’t have to chase this thing through the swamps.” Marshall swatted at a mosquito that had already decided he tasted good.
“Tag shows that it’s headed inland.” Dom transferred the data to their ruggedized PDAs and highlighted the terrain. “If it stays on its current heading, it will be emerging from that tree line. Just beyond that ridge.”
“Want us to set up pairs on either flank?” Hammer was already scoping the area for a good ambush area.
Dom nodded. “Chad, take overwatch. Try to get to a high enough area that you have a good view on this clearing. I don’t want it slipping past us. Dave, you and Hammer take the west side and put about twenty yards between each other. Make sure
you stay in visual contact, but maintain radio silence. Doc thinks this thing is some kind of troll, but we don’t know how tight its hearing is. Me and Ben will do the same on the east side. Everybody, make sure you stagger, and be aware of your field of fire if we have to open up on this thing.”
“Copy that.” Dave slapped Hammer on the shoulder and the two men broke off for the edge of the tree line.
Dom pulled Ben aside and pointed out a rock outcropping. “Stage behind there. I don’t think this thing will be much problem. If it is a troll, it’s a lot smaller than most that we’ve dealt with. Doc is estimating the height at about eight foot.”
“Tiny little buggar. Think it might be a juvenile?”
Dom checked his weapon once more. “Your guess is as good as mine. They want samples if we can’t take it alive.”
“Alive? They sent us out with rifles and hand grenades and they want it alive?” He snorted in derision. “If they wanted it alive, they should have given us a net.”
“Roger that.” Dom turned and broke away to set up his own location along the edge of the clearing. He could just make out Ben’s head between two of the larger boulders, the barrel of his SCAR hidden between the limbs of a bush. He keyed his radio, “Mac, you set up?”
“Wait one,” came the whispered reply. “Had to take to a tree, boss. Not much in the way of high ground with good visuals around here.”
“Copy that. Report when ready.” Dom peered across the clearing and could barely make out his men on the other side. He sent up a silent prayer that whatever this thing was didn’t have natural night vision.
“Overwatch is set.”
“Okay, boys, you know the drill. Radio silence until bingo.” Dom waited and listened. The waiting was always the hardest part. Let the monster come to you if you could. Out here in the woods, away from any form of civilization, this was the best option. Let it break into the clearing and drop it. He checked his PDA and saw that the creature hadn’t altered course. It was still headed straight for them. He watched as the red dot drew closer to the map overlay. Before the dot broke the edge of the artificial tree line, he could hear the creature stumbling in the woods. Twigs snapped and limbs broke as it made its way through the dense growth. Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be deterred from its path.
Homecoming Page 25
