Firestarter

by Jan Stryvant

  "Combat troops do tend to be cocky, Son. That's why they're combat troops."

  "Yeah, I know, but let's be honest here, I can do the thousand-yard-stare with the best of them these days. I guess people see that I'm young, and they figure I'm also inexperienced."

  "Maybe you should stick to your hybrid form? Or even your lion form?"

  Sean rolled over on his back and stretched again while he considered that. "You're probably right," Sean said with a sigh, "but I get tired of having to duck every time I go through a doorway. I think I've hit the one coming out of the bedroom enough to have made a permanent dent in the shape of my forehead there."

  The First laughed at that. "How're the wives?"

  "They're well. I think Roxy misses you, just a little."

  "Oh?"

  "She liked matching wits with you."

  "She did?" the First said, looking surprised.

  "Well, yeah. Of course she did. She always won, didn't she?"

  Now it was the First's turn to snort.

  Sean smiled at him, then rolled back over. "So, what's going on in Germany?"

  "We sent Raban in."

  "Who's that?"

  "One of mine and Keairra's. He's spent a lot of time in Europe, so he knows the lay of the land there pretty well. There're definitely demons in the southern part of Germany, but he doesn't think it's a large party. They've only taken out a couple of farms. A lot of the remaining people have fled."

  "What's the government doing?"

  "Hiding it."

  "What!" Sean said, shocked.

  "They're hiding it. Raban talked to one of the chief inspectors in the area, and he told them they sent a higher-ranking person to shut down any talk about it and pretty much cover it up."

  "Well, that's not good. Do you think the German government has been taken over?"

  "That's what I suspect," the First said with a shake of his head. "All the governments in Europe, and even Asia, have the same spells and wards on their buildings as you saw here on your White House and Congress. At least the ones the leaders live or work in. But Germany's got destroyed in the war, and when they were finally rebuilt," the First shook his head again, "they didn't put them in. I guess they felt they had moved beyond all those old superstitions and other 'crazy' beliefs."

  Sean thought about that. "You know, that may be the real reason they focused on Germany. The gateway opening there may just be a happy coincidence for them."

  The First conceded the point with a nod.

  "So what are we going to do about Germany?"

  "You mean what am I going to do about Germany," the First said with a laugh.

  Sean laughed as well. "Yeah, I've been threatened with all sorts of violence and mayhem if I ever leave Reno again without a good reason. Have you seen the numbers on the lycans lately?"

  "Yes, we're about two and a half million now."

  "That's not all my people, is it?"

  "No, when word got out that your president had approved of your recruiting, other governments started looking into it as well. It's not going as fast for them, because we have to vet everybody. We haven't put in that high-speed process you've got going. The only big surprise has been the Swiss."

  "Why's that?"

  "They're going into it in a big way. Apparently, the idea of werewolves is really big in certain parts of Switzerland."

  "Really?"

  "Yup. Thankfully we have more lions living there right now, because of all the ones who left Germany. So they're getting a lot of help."

  "Didn't you once tell me the number of lions that can exist depends on how many lycans are alive?"

  The First nodded. "We could easily double our numbers right now. But then of course, I'd start to feel lonely here by myself," he said with a grin.

  "Maybe you should see about rejoining the world?"

  "This thing will be over before I'd be old enough to be a part of it."

  "You know I miss you, Dad. It'd be nice to have you around."

  "Maybe after we win the war, I'll consider it."

  "Speaking of the war, the last time they were serious about it, how bad did it get?"

  "Not as bad as it's going to be this time. We had a few lords come through, and we managed to kill most of them. We didn't get any princes, queens, or kings that time. The thing was, there were a lot fewer people then, so we really didn't have to watch all the gates, just the ones closest to the main population centers."

  "Weren't you worried about them setting up a permanent base?"

  "They never tried to. There wasn't enough food for them."

  Sean nodded. "You know, I think Chad's right. I think we're going to have to go there if we ever hope to put an end to this thing."

  "We've been discussing it. He may be right."

  "We?"

  "My advisors."

  "You have advisors?" Sean said, shocked.

  "Who do you think those lions are who are always sitting around talking to me when you show up?"

  Sean grinned at him. "Suck ups?"

  The First scowled at him, then swatted him on the nose with a paw.

  "Really now, Son." He sighed.

  "What? You've always claimed you ruled with an iron fist. 'My way, or else!' and all that kind of thing."

  "That's just to keep you young ones in line. Most of the older ones have had some decent ideas now and again. So we sit around and talk. Which reminds me. How is Chad's weapon research coming along?"

  "Which one?"

  "The one to find a working cartridge for the other side of the gateways."

  "Oh! Black powder works over there."

  "So just a change in ammunition?"

  "Wellllll, according to our firearms experts, you're not going to get very far with any kind of modern automatic rifle using black powder. It's pretty filthy and will clog the gas ports. So we're thinking lever action rifles with big ass cartridges. That or bolt action. Something simple."

  "I'll talk to Ceithir about it; she's well tied into to manufacturing in China."

  "Ceithir?"

  "My younger sister, the one you were making eyes at that time."

  "Well, in my defense, she is cute."

  The First laughed. "Don't be fooled by looks. She's almost as nasty and vicious as I am. Sometimes she even makes Keairra look reasonable. Besides, she's probably just a bit too old for you."

  "I'll be sure to tell her you said that!" Sean said and laughed. "Anything else I need to know?"

  "I think that's enough for tonight. Sleep well, Son."

  "Night, Dad."

  Rinse & Repeat

  Sean stretched and looked around the room. "Okay, so we got another small gateway yesterday. Anybody got anything new to discuss?"

  Gloria Channing, Roxy's mom and the newly appointed training head, spoke up, "I've got a training program running, and I'm projecting we'll have everyone grounded in the basics by this Sunday."

  "That quick?"

  Gloria gave a curt nod. "It's not like the basics are that big of a deal. Everyone who was born a lycan knows them, and even if you've been turned, once you've mastered them, it's not that hard to explain them to someone else."

  "Still, I'd have thought the manpower issue would have slowed you down."

  "Pfft! Not a problem. I'm the mother-in-law of the lion in charge. When I ask you to volunteer, you volunteer."

  "That's not exactly what's meant by 'volunteering', you know," Max pointed out.

  "Hey, if you don't move fast enough when I'm looking for help, that's volunteering in my book!"

  "Mom," Roxy said with a sigh, "you're a cheetah; nothing moves fast enough."

  Gloria gave a truly evil smile then, making Sean wonder who was the real power in the Channing household. "I know."

  "Well, at least I know where Rox gets it from," Sean whispered to Daelyn, and then tried not to flinch as Roxy kicked him under the table and Daelyn snickered.

  "Still," Sean said, speaking up, "that's good. How are we on
the ALS front? I know Steve is still having issues with them in DC, but has anyone seen any of them around Reno at all?"

  "Far as I can tell," Bill said, "they're staying well away from Reno. A lot of their people were killed in the attack here, and brave they are not. These aren't people who'll normally engage in any violence, unless there's almost no risk at all to themselves."

  "What about the DC attack?" Daelyn asked.

  "Sean and the others were on the way back from the Whitehouse. Weapons aren't allowed there, so they thought they'd have superiority. They didn't realize that there were magic users along, nor what they could do." Bill gave a small shrug. "I also suspect they either didn't know about the security teams that follow Sean, Steve, and the rest everywhere, or they were told they weren't there that day."

  "As I understand it," Colonel Jack Kennedy said, "they're mostly rich, bored kids and college grads who can't find a job and think it's everyone else's fault. They just jump from cause to cause to cause."

  "That's not really far from the truth," Bill agreed. "But they do have some smart and powerful people backing them who have money."

  "Like Germany," Sean grumbled.

  "Germany is just the latest in a long string of users and abusers, I'm sure." Bill sighed. "Some folks are just too easily fooled. Or enjoy using others too much for their own good."

  "Sounds like magic users all over again!" Peg said with a grin.

  "Well, they're Steve's problem right now, more than ours," Sean said. "So let's get back to the war. We've got," he looked over at the large schedule painted on the wall, "twenty-one more gateways until the main event. Statistically, five or six of them should be large gateways. I'll admit this is starting to get boring; we're fighting the same damn fight every few days, with no end in sight."

  "Yeah, the waiting is kind of getting to me, and the troops, too," Chad admitted. "There's only so much planning and practicing you can do. I've started cutting people loose on twenty-four hour passes after each gate closes. Told my commanders to make sure people get time off."

  "Well, the casinos in town will sure enjoy that!" Peg said.

  "So will the whorehouses!" Jolene added with a laugh.

  "I'm waiting for those four Stew brought back to open one." Sean sighed.

  "Why? Are you looking to try them out?" Cali asked.

  "If I wanted to, I already would have. I am seriously not interested in those girls. I mean, come on; seven is a lucky number, why would I ever want to go for eight?" Sean said, turning to smile at Cali.

  "How have things been going with the city?" Jack asked, looking over at Bill.

  "They haven't been going as well as I'd like. I've asked Sean to start coming to the meetings with me."

  "Oh?"

  Sean gave a nod. "I'm not looking forward to it, I've already got enough going on to keep me busy, but apparently they want 'the man in charge' or some such bull."

  "But," Bill added, "the mayor has been doing what she can to help us. It's just some of the other city council members and department heads who seem to be balking."

  "So hopefully I won't have to do more than show up a few times and everything will be fine," Sean said with a smile.

  "Have we heard anything about Germany?" Claudia asked.

  "Just that they've got djevels and the government is covering them up. But that's not our problem, just like South America isn't our problem. So let's not go on worrying about it."

  "Don't our troops returning from the Middle East have to go through there though?"

  "All the bases in Germany now have a high percentage of lycans," Jack said. "Same is true for our bases in England and other countries in that area."

  "I've looked at the numbers," Sean said. "We're getting large numbers of lycans recruited every day now. We're closing in on three million."

  "You know how many lycans there are?" Claudia asked, looking surprised.

  "Yup, to the exact number. It's a lion thing," he added and winked.

  "Well," Deidre said, getting everyone's attention, "if nothing else needs discussing, then I guess we need to go over financials."

  Just them the alert went off.

  "Saved by the bell!" Sean laughed as several of the monitors came to life, showing pictures of the latest gateway.

  It was one of the big ones.

  "Uh-oh," Chad said, getting up, "I need to get out there."

  "Yeah, I think I better go with you," Sean said, getting up as well. "Adam, you're with me. Let's go armor up."

  Sean left the room at a trot, with Adam on his heels. The conference room wasn't all that far from the armory, fortunately.

  "I'm starting to feel like I've been doing this forever." Adam sighed as they ran inside to where their armor and weapons were stored. "Must be worse for you; it's been what, eight months now?"

  "Damned if I can remember," Sean said, quickly stripping out of his clothes and pulling on his new set of fey armor. "Since sometime last August."

  "I can just imagine what we're going to be thinking three years from now, when this is finally over."

  Sean laughed. "I'm sure we'll either be bitching about missing the 'good old days', or we'll be complaining about only having a thousand years off until the next one!"

  "Yeah, that sounds a lot like last time," Adam agreed. Finishing up with his armor, he grabbed his weapons harness and ammo belt. "Least we're a lot better armed and supplied than last time."

  Sean nodded, grabbed his own stuff, and they ran out to the helicopter were the troops were loading. Once inside, they quickly took off and headed for the latest gateway.

  "Any word on this gateway, Trey?" Sean asked their pilot.

  "There's a lot of demons coming out of it already, and they're digging in. Chad can't use the artillery because we're all flying into the area, so he's ordered a few air strikes to try to keep them occupied as we get set up."

  "So basically it's business as usual."

  "Well, the air strikes are new!"

  Adam grumbled, "Yeah, but so is their digging in. Guess this is going to be one where we'll all be expected to earn our keep."

  "Wait! We're getting paid for this!" one of the wolves, Sean wasn't sure who, spoke up.

  "Dude, did you think all that kibble we were shoving down your throat was free?" Adam snapped back. "Now behave yourself, or we're putting you back on the store brand! No more 'Taste of the Wild' for you, my friend."

  "I don't know, I kinda prefer the Kirkland brand," someone else muttered.

  Sean chuckled. "I'm afraid to ask how you even know what that tastes like."

  "We all do stupid things when we're kids," Frank laughed, "but if you want bad, try that crap they sell in the grocery stores!"

  Shaking his head, Sean listened to them with half an ear as they compared brand names. The rest of his attention was looking out the window as they came in low to their landing zone.

  "Ten seconds!" Trey called out, and the doors slid open and everyone grabbed the releases on the buckles of their harnesses as Trey flared out over the ground, then they rolled out of the helicopter before it had even come to a full stop.

  By the time Sean had landed on his feet, Trey was already out of sight.

  "Let's get up to that ridgeline and see what we're dealing with," Sean said and ran up the side of the hill with the others following. Dropping to his hands and knees before his head cleared the top of the rise, he crawled the last few feet and peered over the top cautiously.

  "Doesn't look too bad," Hunter said from his left.

  "They're serious about digging in this time," Adam said.

  "Which means they're not watching us that much," Hunter agreed, then turned and looked to either side. "Well, this is as good a place as any, right, Boss?"

  Sean nodded. "Set 'em up."

  "Okay, everyone! You know the drill! Dig in. I want two weapons emplacements dug out after you finish the basic trench. We may not need them, but I'd rather not be digging them under fire if someone decides to move
some heavy gear in! Get to work!"

  "You know, that's one of the great things about being a lion," Adam said in a low voice. "No digging."

  "I can get you a shovel if you want one," Hunter teased.

  "And I can order you to put on a skirt and sing a luau," Adam teased back.

  "Not if I order you to do it first," Sean said with a snort. "Besides, if we called any of the boars around here a pig, they'd probably gut all three of us."

  Hunter laughed. "Yeah, they sure are tough sons of bitches. They just look slow."

  Sean got out his binoculars and started looking at what was going on down at the base of the gateway. They were digging in down there as fast as they could, alright.

  "Hunter, have our snipers start picking off people down there," Sean said as he continued to watch. He was looking for anyone who appeared to be casting spells or doing anything else magical.

  "What are you doing, Sean?" Chad's voice came over the radio.

  "Looking for magic users. I don't see any down there yet, but I might be wrong."

  "You think they're up to something?"

  "They're always up to something, you know that."

  "Good point. I'll order harassing fire from the others."

  "When can we expect artillery?"

  "Five minutes after the last helo clears the area. That's why I wanted folks to concentrate on digging in."

  "How long are you going to shell them for?"

  "An hour the first time around. Then we'll let up and see what happens next."

  "Sounds good."

  "You think they're up to something in particular, don't you?" Adam asked Sean as he finished talking to Chad.

  Sean nodded. "Yeah, I do. But let's just wait and see what happens, I wouldn't want to jinx it."

  "You mean you wouldn't want to be wrong!" Adam said with a snicker.

  "Well, yeah, I'm a lion now. Can't go being wrong, can I? What would the First say?"

  "That you're learning. Well, might as well break out a shovel and help the others."

  "Really?" Sean said surprised.

  "It's part of my charm," Adam said, grinning. "Besides, all the hard work's done already."