“Copy that.”
Lauder duly brought their driver to the ridge, flanking the man—weapon ready. The driver, some forty years old with greying hair and more than a few missing teeth, trotted over to Teller who pointed below them.
“These guys with you?” Teller said, hoping that more pointing might help the language barrier.
“Saibaidee!” yelled their driver.
Startled, the two men below looked up then waved with big grins.
“Jesus man, not so loud,” Lauder said through gnashed teeth, his eagle eyes searching the surrounding forest.
Teller holstered his gun and with their driver, Tony, and a few of Tony’s crew, worked his way over the ridge to the two Laotian men below.
Neither of the men appeared apprehensive. They sucked on their cigarettes and exhaled the smoke in big lazy clouds. The Laotian men spoke amongst themselves, chattering away, pointing back the way the caravan had come and off into the distance where the silhouettes were. Teller figured they had probably seen their fair share of war, soldiers, and even Huahuqui. But, the real question was: had they seen his sons?
Teller held up his phone again, with the picture of KJ and Nikolaj. He tapped on it, hopefully.
The Laotian men chattered again, nodding and pointing up to the structures at the top of the rice terrace.
“Great, they’re up there. I just hope they are okay,” Teller said rubbing the back of his neck.
“Let’s just take a little looksee, shall we?” Tony said, slipping his rucksack off.
“Whatcha got there?” Teller asked.
“A little toy we use in Syria a lot,” Tony replied and pulled several small mechanical insects from individual cases.
“Drones?” Teller inquired.
“Griffinfly Personal Reconnaissance Systems. Five-mile range at speeds of up to 20 mph and able to fly for up to an hour on a single charge.” He held one up on the palm of his hand. The dragon-fly looking drone was around six inches long.
“Good, that’s good.” Teller said, fiddling with his wedding ring.
“Each one of these little suckers can take HD photos and provide live video feeds. Data is sent to this,” Tony said, holding up a small remote control with a large screen, divided into six feeds. “Fully encrypted. Autopilot for the most part, but you can take control of individuals.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” Teller said. “Fuck sake, send them out, Tony.”
Franco looked up, his expression saying more than words ever could.
Teller took a deep breath and held it a few seconds before exhaling. “Sorry, Tony. I’m just worried. Just send them out.”
“I know, boss. We’ll find them.”
Tony pressed a button on the drones. The flexible transparent wings slowly began to flap then kicked into high gear such that they were barely visible. All six hovered an inch or so from the ground and then zipped off into the air. Tony stared intently at the monitor, watching the tree tops whizz by in a blur of green.
“Let me know when you get a visual,” Teller said, then patted his long-time friend on the shoulder.
“Ah, Jon boy? You may wanna get up here,” Lauder said over the radio.
“What now?” Teller replied into the mic.
“We have a situation.”
Teller turned to Tony. “You tell me as soon as you get something.”
Tony nodded, fixated on the display from his drones.
A quick scramble up the rise and Teller crested the ridge, coming face to face with the entirety of the Stratum that had come with him, now having formed regimented lines like infantry soldiers. They stared out toward the silhouettes in the distance, an azure pall encapsulating them.
“Ah shit, they’re doing their thing again,” Teller said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Yep,” Lauder agreed, “but that’s not what I called you up here for. Look behind them.”
Teller peered past the growing blue glow, beyond the Stratum. There, gathering in greater numbers were more and more Theung men and women, melee weapons in hand.
“What the hell?” Jonathan said, trying to count just how many were pouring in. “Why are they here?”
“Damned if I know,” Lauder replied. “But if their arsenal is anything to go by, we just acquired an army.”
Teller’s mind immediately went to project Erawan. A makeshift Laotian army about to fight on the side of the Americans. His gut knotted. “We don’t even know if we need an army.”
The radio in Teller’s hand crackled to life.
“Boss, you will not believe what I’m seeing here. We need to get our ass in gear, shit’s going down.”
Teller’s heart leaped into his throat. He was already over the ridge and sliding down to the trucks before Tony had finished his transmission. He grabbed the remote and glared at the screen. In feed four was Nikolaj and a few other Stratum, pinned down on the side of a huge temple—a rain of ammunition pummelling the stone. They seemed to be heading for the summit and some sort of equipment at the top.
“Where’s KJ?” Teller asked.
“On top of another pyramid.”
Teller took control of Griffinfly one and steered it down the streets, twisting and turning. The blurry images it sent back, though HD, moved almost too quickly to comprehend. The Griffinfly buzzed past a group of soldiers wearing combat gear, advancing down an alley. Each carried considerable firepower. The drone flitted and skipped from stone corner to stone corner, through a courtyard teeming with a legion of soldiers and Huahuqui. The sand-colored brick work zipped by in a blur as the metallic insect soared up the pyramid, until finally KJ appeared on screen. He was with K’awin at the summit, locked in battle with a young woman who was naked and painted blue. And then, Teller saw her. Victoria McKenzie—her face contorted in anger. The fly zipped past her head, but as Teller steered it away Victoria lashed out and disintegrated it with a single strike. Feed one crashed into static.
“Jesus,” Jonathan said. “Victoria. The Huahuqui. It’s the damn Nine Veils. We found the fuckers!”
“Seriously?” Tony said.
“Well, my sons found them. Son of a bitch. Tony, get on the horn to HQ. The president has to know.”
“Of course, but, your boys. They’re in two different locales,” Tony said, giving Teller a knowing look. “Which means we need to be, too.”
Jonathan’s limbs began to tingle. He couldn’t lead both teams.
“Boss?”
Teller swallowed and looked at the remote screen again. In feed four, Nikolaj and his team hadn’t moved from their trapped position. He keyed up the radio. “Lauder, we’re on. I’m heading to the Northern temple to get KJ. You take the southern block. Nikolaj is pinned down. Tony will take the courtyard.”
“What about the Stratum and locals here?” Lauder asked.
“Bring them,” Teller said, checking the chamber to his Glock. “Bring them all.”
Location: Eldorado, Antarctica
Koa’s limp body was dragged away by one of the security contingent, leaving behind a streak of blood on the stonework. Freya focused on his lifeless expression until the shadows swallowed his features and he was gone. Another traitor. Another mole inside the deepest circles of the governments and organizations sworn to serve and protect humanity. How was she so blind to such things? First Tom Radley, working with the Shan Chu to track them through South America, and now Koa Brown. Tom’s betrayal cost Kelly’s life. Koa’s could have cost them everything.
“She needs to go to the surface too,” Melissa said, nodding at Allison who still lay in her arms.
Her mind foggy, Freya turned to the xenobiologist. “I’m sorry?”
“Allison,” Melissa said. “I’ve patched up the wound, but she’ll need medical care back at Alpha Base.”
“Sure, sure,” Freya agreed.
Allison was hauled to her feet by the last remaining soldier who beckoned help from a nearby technician. Allison, her good arm around the soldier
and held at the waist by the new guy, turned back to Freya and gave a curt nod. Freya offered a weak smile in return. Then the three figures disappeared from the harsh yellow spotlight and headed out.
A light touch on Freya’s shaking limbs brought her gaze to Melissa.
“How’d you do it?” Melissa asked.
“Do what?” Freya replied, her nose wrinkled.
“Help the Huahuqui fight back against Koa?”
Freya wrung her hands together. “I don’t know really. I just focused on something important, I guess. Why we’re all doing this.”
Dacey warbled and rubbed up against Freya’s wheelchair.
Melissa nodded. “They’re going to need you, you know.”
“Who, the Stratum?” Freya balked. “They don’t need me. Without Koa they’ll be able to use the orb and reach out to the others in the Nine Veils.”
Melissa shook her head. “You see, it doesn’t quite work like that.”
“Come again?”
“Look,” Melissa said in her ever-calm tone. “The Stratum are strong, and usually as a group act like a hive mind. They can make complex decisions in a fraction of the time you or I could. And without the orb, they are somewhat protected in their bubble. But the orb is like a gateway for true communication. Think of it like a computer network, lots of brains connected by a node. What we just saw is what happens when a virus is introduced.”
Freya glanced up at the orb in the crucible and then to the Stratum milling around the courtyard. “I still don’t see why they need me. In my state? My brain is dying, I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday.”
Melissa shook her head. “You just showed how strong you are. If the Stratum do make contact with the Nine Veils, they will be just as open to a viral attack on the other end. They’re not trained to deal with something like that. But if the Nine Veils are ...”
“Then the Stratum will need someone to help focus their hive mind,” Freya finished.
“Right.”
Freya sighed. “So, what am I supposed to do? It was hard enough to fight back Koa.”
The biologist pointed up to the orb.
“No way. I’ve seen people go mad touching one of those things.”
“Not everyone does ...”
She didn’t have to say it, Freya knew Melissa was referring to Kelly. He’d been bonded to K’in by an orb when he was captured by the Green and Red Society and held in a submarine. It hadn’t driven him mad, it had strengthened his bond with K’in. But, Freya wasn’t Kelly. Her bond with Dacey was weak at best, because Freya had kept it that way.
“You might be their only hope,” Melissa pressed.
“If you haven’t noticed, I can’t climb ladders,” Freya snapped.
Melissa’s face hardened, and she lifted one pant leg to reveal a prosthetic leg. “Not such a good experience with a crocodile some years back. There’s no such thing as can’t. You just told us that we may all be wiped out by an asteroid unless we make contact with the Nine Veils and figure out how to stop it.”
Freya stared at the usually demure woman. She had a fire in her eyes that Freya used to recognize in herself.
“Rumor has it, you moved a band of Huahuqui and children from Siberia, across Africa, to Antarctica,” Melissa said, admiration in her eyes. “Some might say that was impossible.”
Freya exhaled slowly, pushing away a fresh involuntary spasm that threatened to ripple through her body. “If I do this, I might be able to find KJ too right?”
Melissa bobbed her head. “It’s entirely possible.”
“Mrs. Teller! Ma’am!” called someone from the dark. The soldier who had been hauling Allison back to the surface ran up holding a satellite phone.
Freya took it from him. “Jonathan?”
“It’s Tony.”
“Tony? Where’s Jonathan? Did you find the boys?”
“We found them alright. Your boys are something else. They found the Nine Veils.”
“What?”
“We’re in China. A complex. South West China. The Nine Veils are here. Teller says you might be able to reach the Huahuqui—the crazy ones. Whatever you’re gonna do, do it!” Static squealed from the phone. “Boss... yo... move ...”
The line cut off.
“Tony? Tony!” Freya screamed. “Shit.”
“What is it?” Melissa asked.
Freya wheeled over to the column. “Get me up there, now.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Location: Tocayōtla, Southwest Rice Terraces, China
A blue foot came at KJ, and again he deflected it away. There was something inherently wrong about fighting Svetlana. Naked Svetlana. KJ felt an awkward chivalry and looked away from body parts that became exposed with each strike. That did not help him. Svetlana felt no such shame. Trance like, her onslaught came; elbow, knee, foot, fist. Only KJ’s training with the monks saved his face from being bashed in. But she gave him no quarter to strike back. He could only defend.
“Svetlana!” he shouted, parrying away another spin kick. “It’s KJ. It’s me. You have to remember.”
She ignored him and caught him in the stomach with a knee.
KJ toppled backward, clutching is midriff. “Shit. C’mon, Svetlana, try! Don’t let this witch win.”
Svetlana came again, forcing KJ back toward the edge until there was nowhere for him to go. Over Svetlana’s shoulder he could see K’awin equally struggling with a maddened Ribka. His momentary lapse in concentration cost him the battle. Svetlana grabbed him by the throat and pushed such that only her grip prevented him from falling backward down the stone steps to a neck-breaking death. He choked, spittle running down his chin, but fighting too hard would mean his demise.
Below the rattle of gunfire echoed in the courtyard, while far away at the other end of the temple the pop, pop, pop of controlled gunfire signalled Nikolaj had met resistance to his climb for the field generator.
Victoria ambled toward him, exuding confidence. The orb shone in one skeletal hand, while in the other she brandished the blade KJ had dropped. “Time to join your father, Kelly Graham Junior,” she said, the words sliding from her mouth as if spoken by a snake.
“His father is here,” came a voice from the other side of the square summit.
KJ squirmed to see past Victoria and Svetlana.
There, holding a Glock trained on Victoria, was Jonathan Teller. His face weary and smeared in grime, but determined and gritty. A stone formed in KJ’s already crushed throat, forcing a tear down his cheek. Jonathan had come.
“Ah, Jonathan Teller,” Victoria rasped. “The gang’s all here. Oh wait? Where’s your crippled wife?”
Teller jerked the weapon. “Shut it and back off.”
“Or what? You’ll shoot me?” She goaded. “It doesn’t matter, you’re too late.”
Teller fired off two shots in rapid succession. The first tore through Svetlana’s thigh. She yelped and crumpled to the floor. KJ used her dead weight to ensure he didn’t topple backward to his doom. The second stole two of Victoria’s fingers. She screamed, dropping the blade which clattered on the stone work.
Though bleeding out, Svetlana struggled against KJ as he pinned her down. He glanced up to see Teller launch forward to tackle Victoria, only to be shoved into the alter by Ribka. K’awin leapt to Jonathan’s defense. But, the attack had served its purpose. Victoria had fled.
“Shit, we have to go after her!” Teller yelled.
“I know!” KJ shouted back, still wrestling his friend. “But, I can’t leave Svetlana,” he said, flicking his panicked stare at the naked woman under him.
The young man who was unconscious before the fracas began to rise. Teller stormed past him and without breaking stride, pistol whipped him back into oblivion.
“Who is she?” Teller demanded, kneeling to KJ.
“It’s Svetlana,” KJ said through gnashed teeth.
“From Siberia? And that’s Ribka?” Teller asked, nodding to the scrapping Huahuqui
behind them.
“Yes!” KJ said. “She was the shooter, in Washington. I followed her here. She’s not herself. She’s been brainwashed or something.”
Svetlana snarled and snapped her teeth as if hoping to take a chunk of KJ’s face.
Teller scanned the horizon from high up on the temple. The rattling of gunfire called out, the screams of soldiers, Phalanx and Stratum filling the whole complex. He glanced back at Svetlana who was growing weak through loss of blood. “We don’t have time for this shit,” he said, then delivered a strike with the butt of his Glock to Svetlana’s head. She slumped back, out cold.
“K’awin!” Teller called out. “Put him down.”
KJ’s Huahuqui pushed down on Ribka who seemed dazed from Svetlana’s unconscious state. KJ watched in astonishment as K’awin gave a headbutt that rendered Ribka limp. K’awin climbed off her assailant, shaking the pain and dizziness from her skull.
“Shit, girl,” KJ said, rubbing at his own head.
“KJ, do you know what’s going on here?” Teller pressed.
“Yep.” KJ nodded.” Crazy British bitch who killed my... killed Kelly Graham... now wants to kill us all. Big asteroid. Blow up nuclear power stations. Generally, world-endingly bad.”
Teller nodded and slid a new clip into his Glock. “That sums it up. We need to stop it. She or whoever she’s working for must know how. Intel says there’s a trigger. They have to manually set it off.”
“The Doyen,” KJ said. “But, he doesn’t seem to be around.”
Teller pulled back the slide and locked a round into the chamber. “Then, we follow Victoria.”
“Okay, but we can’t leave Svetlana like this.”
Teller shook his head. “She’ll slow us down.”
“She’ll get killed in a cross fire. I can reach her I know it.”
“KJ, you have to listen to me. Leave her up here. We have to move. If we are fast enough, we can end this shit and there won’t be anything to get caught in. We have to weigh her life against everyone else’s.”
KJ’s stomach roiled and his limbs felt weak. He’d made it all this way. To save Svetlana. He’d endangered Nikolaj and his friends to save one person. But now the stakes were higher. The end of the world. Be a leader, KJ, he thought to himself. “Okay,” he said finally.
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