"All right Mister Fisher, here is Mary, don't do anything irrevocable." She sounded like she was doing her best to calm me down. Good, I had her convinced I was a hothead who placed his emotions above his logic. Let's run with that.
The next sound I heard was Mary's voice. "John, there's five Vamps, not four!" followed by the sound of a slap and a muffled "Punta". Then there followed Marina's voice again. "Well Mister Fisher, you have heard her, she is alive, and no more than a little bruised by us at this time. Do you know where the Tolt River starts, below the dam?"
Of course I knew where it was, I patrol that area. "I'm sure I can find it on a map, finding it at night may take me a while," I growled. I was playing for time, but she didn't know that.
"You have two hours Mister Fisher. Meet me there in two hours time. If you bring anyone with you, I will kill Mary Two Elks and fade away."
Click.
Before I was even off the phone, the team was in action. The tracers had put the phone location as within a half mile of Gold Bar. That meant that she wasn't already on site. We could get our chopper in before she got her people in. I of course would have to drive, and Lars would be coming with me, though I didn't expect anyone to notice that. (The gods willing)
She might have one or two people on site, but unless they were the Civatateo I would place money on our people any time. I knew from a couple of previous operations how this would go down. She had un- intentionally given us a great deal.
There's a small peninsula on the south side of the lake, about a mile away from the dam. The lake itself was in a valley between high hills. Anywhere else, they would be called mountains, but we're talking about the edge of the Cascade Range here, if it don't have snow on it 300 days a year, it ain't a mountain. Yeah, and it's all heavily forested and what isn't forest is water or swamp. Three forest roads in, actually not much more than dirt tracks, and nothing else except water, air, or magic as a way out. Oh, and no bystanders in the way. Cool, I thought, we had the advantage in terrain.
While magic is of limited utility in the technical arenas, one place it was used was quieting. As I may have mentioned, our chopper has a stealth spell rigged to it that allows it to be completely silent for a half an hour at a time. There should be no problem bringing the bird in behind that point, and dropping off Pete with assault gear. Pete would then go in underwater with a battery powered swimmers friend until he got close. Pete and I had done this sort of job a hundred times in the Teams, so doing it with Mexican punks instead of hostile troops shouldn't be a problem. If Soviet designed radars and LP's manned by Soviet 'advisors' couldn't detect us, these twits were in a world of shit.
When Pete was done sweeping the area, (maybe with Bob as cover) they would bring the Bird back in with the rest of the team. In the meantime, it would be behind a ridge line, not burning 'no see me, no hear me' spell time. The goal would be to isolate any observers for Marina without taking them out. We didn't know if Marina was in contact with any observers in the dam area or not, but we couldn't take the chance that she would check in before coming up. We anticipate in this sort of job that the watches are checking in periodically, and a failure to check in will result in a blown drop. Followed, in all probability, by a blown up hostage. Of course this was all a guess on my part, as I wouldn't get to play on this one, but that's the basics out of our 'play book'.
*****
As for me, I had to go get in my gear. But first I had to get bitched out by the Lieutenant. What we said to each other wasn't important, but the gist of it was that she "understood that I was angry, but my emotions were getting in the way of this mission". I did point out to her that HER orders were shoot on sight, shoot to kill, so questionings were irrelevant. After that I went up to my room to get dressed for the occasion.
This wasn't to be your ordinary FSRT team dress-up for me. I had been sent out after magical beasties once or twice in the Navy, but usually with something that will just blow them to kingdom come. This job required a little more finesse. Good thing it's winter, there's lots of stuff I couldn't wear in high summer without attracting way too much suspicion. The first thing I put on was a set of BDUs, then over that I put on a shark cloth jerkin. Shark cloth is the really good chain mail that is used for diving with sharks in the area. . I had this set of shark cloth for an entirely different reason though, I think I mentioned that I'm a historical re-enactor. I usually wear this stuff as part of my armor if I'm fighting, or as a costume (we call it garb) if I'm not. The jerkin has a hood that goes with it, and I put that on as well. I figure if it'll stop a bite by a Great White, it'll stop a bite by these Aztec Vamps. All of this stuff can be worn even if I change to half form, and if I change to full cat I can back out of it. I actually checked this one time, on a whim. Over this I put a steel gorget (a piece of armor to protect the neck). I didn't know if this would help or not, I can't be turned to Vampirism, but it might turn a blow that would sever my head. After that came the weaponry. I put on a sword belt from the SCA, and hung my axe and sword from it.
In SCA combat we fight with simulated weapons, usually made from rattan (a solid cored version of bamboo). I don't know many heavy fighters though that don't have a live steel version of what they fight on the field with. Usually these are just for show, but most of them are working edged weapons. I like to fight two-handed, a sword in one hand, and an axe in the other. I'm not going to bore you with the reasons for the choice, but they work for me. The live steel axe I chose is a large fighting hatchet that I was given in the Teams. Made by Cold Steel, this thing will chop through a car door, then sharpen stakes with four swipes. It doesn't look medieval, but it holds an edge better than the one I wear at events, so it's the one that went on my belt. My sword is one that I wear at events. It was made for me by an old timer named Jesse that has been a fixture in An Tir from before they invented dirt. Jesse is a character, 82 years old, and the only man I know who has a wife, a mistress and a girlfriend, all of whom he keeps happy. He also has taught virtually every sword maker on the West Coast how to do it. His stuff isn't fancy, but it's bullet proof. The one he made for me is thirty-six inches of double edged steel, with a thrusting point and a fuller. (called a blood groove by the clueless, a fuller is actually a way to make a blade with a thick cross section lighter, so that it moves faster and doesn't tire the wielder.) My sword has been used for everything from honor guard at weddings, and cutting watermelons, to chopping down trees. It doesn't have a razor edge, those break. What it does have is a thirty degree bevel, like an axe, and a handle wrapped in rough out leather that will grab in rain or when soaked in blood.
After I got the steel on, I put on my holster from my FSRT set. It's a Safariland tactical drop holster, and goes on my left thigh below where the axe rides. I put the axe and sword on cross draw, so the sword wasn't in the way of the pistol. Then I put my backup holster in the small of my back, put the guns in them, and pulled my boots on.
The boots are special designed for Team Twelve by Danner, they provide all the support of normal Danner jump boots, but have a seam that rips out if you change forms. This is the fifth set of these I've owned, because if you have to change forms so fast you don't have time to take your boots off, you usually don't have time to go back and find them. Finally I put a Gore-Tex duster over the whole thing. It might not really conceal all the weaponry, but at night, it should hide the fact that I was armed to the teeth until I got up close and personal. I didn't bother with a set of knives tonight, if it got to knife distance, I was going to claws anyway. The tactical radio in the pocket, with ear bug and a boonie hat, and I was ready to go. I know it seems like a lot of weaponry, but I had no idea how hard these Civatateo would be to kill. I hoped that my boys would take care of most of the bad guys for me, but I wasn't going to bet Mary's life on it.
When I got down stairs, Pam was just finishing getting her gear on, and Lars was nowhere to be seen. Pam informed me that the chopper had lifted off about three minutes ago, and that she would keep me inf
ormed on the scrambled tac channel in my rig. She was rigged out as if she had just stepped off the cover of Special Weapons and Tactics monthly, complete to an MP5 slung on a patrol sling. She looked at my edged gear and quirked an ever so elegant eyebrow.
I looked at her and nodded, then said, "I'm told that decapitation or fire is the only way to be sure of killing the Civatateo, and I don't have a flamethrower handy. Silver and holy water don't get it. So if you're going to shoot them, hit them in the neck multiple times. That or shoot them in the neck with a twelve gauge. Pam, be careful. This isn't exactly what they trained you for at Quantico."
"Be careful yourself, cowboy." Pam said. "I don't feel like training another stupid squid on how to be a cop instead of a bloodthirsty killer."
"Oh, damn. That hurt," I smirked, on the way out to the rig. Once inside I glanced at the passenger seat. Lars was slumped low in the seat with what looked for all the world like a German greatcoat on. As I started the rig, I muttered "Uncle, this isn't what you signed on for. If you're captured too, that may give them enough power to do the spell."
"Boy, they won't capture me. I decided that several wars ago."
With that cheery thought, I backed out of the drive to head for the rendezvous. We realistically had about an hour of driving ahead of us, most of it on dirt roads. I wanted to take my time, and let the Lieutenant and the rest of the back up team get in place before we showed up.
Once we were out of the drive, I pulled over to let the team pass, then started heading east. Now that we were out of sight of the rest of the unit, Lars sat up. I looked at him and said, "OK, who's in charge, you or me? As you just pointed out, you have a war or two on me."
"Oh, no you don't," said Lars with a grin. "I'm just along as backup and technical advisor."
"OK, then, I have to know, what do you bring to the game?"
He pushed his greatcoat aside, and I could see he was in full chain mail armor. At his side was a large broadsword. He motioned into the back seat, I glanced back and saw a six-foot spear back there. Then he grinned and said "I also may be of some magical assistance, though I'm not sure how much until I get the lay of the land. Oh, and there's this." From between the door and his seat he pulled out an honest-to-God Thompson submachine gun. This thing was beautiful, and at a bet, he had been the original owner. Cool. We spent the rest of the drive in silence, interrupted by a couple of radio calls telling us that there wasn't anyone at the exchange point. Boy, I love it when the enemy is sloppy.
*****
We pulled up to the dam about twenty minutes early, and the radio informed me that the team was all in place, and there had been no sightings of the bad guys. All right, sloppy is one thing, but this is too much. I got out of the rig and started to look and sniff around. I was positive that if Pete and the boys said there was no one there, the place was empty, but what the fuck is going on? I shined a light around the dam to see if there were any notes. It was possible that Marina had seen one too many movies, and decided to be cute. Nope, no notes. Well now, this was starting to get downright annoying. When the bad guys don't follow the script, I get nervous. Fifteen minutes passed while I stood there in front of the Durango, waiting for something, with Lars back in the shadows, and the rest of my teammates somewhere around me in the dark. Suddenly I caught the smell I would never forget, one part cinnamon, one part chocolate, and two parts carrion. Marina was here.
On the other end of the dam, I saw Marina and Mary appear out of thin air. There was a brilliant flash, (which buggered my night vision a bit) and there they were. I heard Sid, (the FBI sniper) say "I have the shot" in my earphone and then Pam say "Take the shot". I saw a flash to my right from the tree line, and the 'sprang' of a ricochet off concrete, then I heard the sound of the sniper rifle going off. I could see the spalling of the dam, it looked from where I was standing as if the bullet had passed right through Marina. But that's not possible, she wasn't hurt. Mary ran forward several feet and hit the deck, Sid and Jim took several more shots.
Marina laughed out loud, and shouted, "Mister Fisher, how stupid do you think I am? I'm not really here," she continued in an exasperated sort of voice, the sort of voice you would use to explain something to the really slow. "Now if all of your stupid cop tricks are done, walk out to the middle of the bridge, lay down my son's gold, and receive your oh so courageous squaw."
Well, what the hell was I supposed to do at this point? I started walking up to the middle of the bridge. I could hear Lars creeping behind me, and I saw a quick glint in the water that told me where Pete probably was. As I got to the center of the dam, I set the gold down, and motioned Mary to me. I figured that as soon as Mary got close enough I would shoulder her into the water, where Pete could protect her, and grab back the gold. It almost worked. When Mary got within about five foot of me, I cocked my head towards the water, and she nodded slightly, she came up to me, I hit her with my shoulder, and there was a brilliant flash of light.
I felt something grab my shoulder on the other side, and saw Pete lunge out of the water and grab Mary's ankle. Then I felt like I was sliding down a long dark water slide. There were twists and turns that you didn't feel until you were in them, and sudden drops, all in complete darkness. Then I was standing on a featureless plane. Mary was on my left facing the other way, Lars was holding on to my right shoulder, Pete was prone grabbing Mary's ankle. I drew my pistol so fast I think I broke the holster. Pete's M-4 was up and searching, so was Lars' Tommy chopper. I drew my backup pistol with my right hand and gave it to Mary. Hel of a time to realize I never asked her if she knew how to shoot.
The place where we were standing was almost totally featureless. A dry cracked landscape with a pyramid in the distance was to my left. At the edge of vision we could see mountains ringing the area. All was twilight, with no stars. Walking at us from the pyramid were six figures, unrecognizable in the distance. I looked down and saw that the gold had come with us to wherever here was. When I looked back up the figures had closed by better than half the distance, and were about twenty-five yards away. Now that alone should have rang warning bells, no way a man could close that fast on earth. I didn't think about it then, I just brought up my pistol in a classic firing range stance and pulled it off.
CLICK.
Pete whirled around, and Lars brought his Thompson to bear, and we heard: CLICK, CLICK. Shit. By that time I had performed a tap rack drill and tried again with the same result. Marina smiled.
I re-holstered my pistol, and out came the sword and axe. Lars dropped his Thompson, and I saw that he was carrying his spear in his hands. Funny I never noticed it. He single handed the spear and drew his sword. Pete stood and pulled a machete out from a strap-on sheath down his back. Mary said something, and was suddenly holding a longbow, with a quiver of arrows on her back. Four on six, well, this sucks, but I've seen worse.
Marina laughed again, (Ya' know, I'm really starting to hate that laugh) and said, "John, do you really think I'm going to bring you to a place that guns work? It was guns that allowed that Madre-cone Cortez to beat us. That and the foolishness of my people. We have learned better. No, John, nothing not powered by magic or hand will operate on this plane. Now be a good little 'Thrope and bare your throat. I promise that I will make this fast, but I must have my son back."
Oh shit. Well, nothing to lose at this point by letting her know how well I shift. I changed to half cat in less time than it takes to say, and cast off my slicker. Beside me, Pete had done the same, and Lars had cast off his greatcoat. (I got a look at it in that moment, it was a Waffen SS coat, probably his original issue.) Mary went in between us like we had drilled this, and shot off an arrow at one of the Civatateo on Marina's left. It hit, and stuck out of where her heart should be. The Vamp let out a sickening giggle, and yanked it out. I felt the rage come on me, and welcomed it. Lars said something in old Norse, and I could smell something unidentifiable. I saw a disturbance as from a great wind strike the Civatateo around Marina, but they just leaned
into it and giggled. Marina said something, the only part I could understand was Cihuacoatl, and there was a LARGE woman, maybe ten feet tall standing behind her. Then Marina said something else, and the ground between us and her seemed to erupt in scorpions. Now I had had enough. "TYR" I shouted, "Hear ME, Give me justice."'
Time stopped.
I felt someone behind me, I looked and saw Tyr frowning on the scene laid out before him. I heard him say something but I couldn't make it out. The large woman behind Marina replied, and again I couldn't make it out. This went one for some immeasurable time between the clicks of a clock. Finally I heard something I could understand come out of Tyr's mouth, "What justice would you have, Nephew?"
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