Nomad Mortis

by Craig Martelle

  Wasn’t that what he was fighting for—people’s freedom to choose?

  Char caught up to him. “Whole pack, minus Ted and Gladys,” Char told him as they set an easy pace. It would be a few minutes before the others made it.

  “We need Joseph,” Char said.

  “We need Joseph to explain is what we need,” Terry grumbled. He expected that Joseph had no idea, but no one knew that building better than him. He’d lived there for decades.

  They ran into the barracks and downstairs to the dark recesses that the Forsaken called home. He met them in the doorway.

  “You rang?” he asked.

  He was dressed as usual in his black leather garb. “Do you ever take that crap off?” Terry replied.

  “I sleep in the buff, TH,” Joseph countered. Terry winced. “You asked.”

  “And tell that fucking new guy he’s got one minute to get to the pod. There’s a Forsaken signal in Chicago, and it’s coming from your old home,” Terry explained.

  “Isn’t that interesting? Yes. We must go there now and find out how that is happening. I didn’t know that power had been restored to any parts of the downtown.” Joseph adjusted his hat and walked into the corridor. “Come, Andrew. We have work to do.”

  The other Forsaken appeared from the darkness, startling Terry.

  “Fucking new guy!” Terry exclaimed with a toss of his head before heading outside.

  “What’s with him?” Andrew asked softly.

  “Calling you names means he likes you,” Joseph replied.

  Chicago

  The pod descended into an open courtyard beside the old Willis Tower, the tallest building in the city. Char had her eyes closed as she searched the etheric. There were no Forsaken anywhere near.

  “I’ll circle,” Terry offered and tapped the commands on the touch screen. The pod made a loop around the building, then extended its search radius an additional mile, making a larger loop around a greater section of the downtown.

  “Nothing,” Char replied. The others concurred. No one had sensed anything. Terry activated the ship’s comm device.

  “Akio-sama. We are here and we aren’t sensing any Forsaken. Has the signal stopped?” Terry wondered.

  “It did, but then it started again. It seems to be active thirty seconds out of every three minutes. There it is. It is active right now. Do you see anything?” Akio asked.

  “Nothing, my friend. We’ll go into the tower and see what we can find.” Terry signed off and tapped a couple points on the screen.

  “We’re going in. Joseph leads the way. He’ll know if something is out of place. A signal broadcasting from the tallest building? We shouldn’t be surprised. Someone needs to climb to the top and take a look, but we have to take the stairs. Who’s with me?” Terry stood and shifted his equipment as he flexed and got himself ready to go.

  Gene was sound asleep. The Weretigers were envious, their eyes drooping after the initial excitement had passed.

  The Werewolves looked away. Kim, Kae, and Marcie watched the colonel carefully. Marcie and Ramses were the only ones who raised their hands. Terry looked at them.

  “No,” Terry said in a friendly way. “Only the fastest of us are heading up. Me, Char, Gene, Aaron, Yanmei, and fucking new guy.”

  Andrew looked at Terry with one eyebrow raised.

  “You better keep up,” Terry shot back, and Andrew quickly turned away.

  Every day that Andrew lived was a new day and these people were giving him a chance to have a fruitful life outside of the precepts of the Forsaken. Being gracious was the least he could do for those who were trying to help him and the rest of humanity.

  Joseph chuckled under the wide brim of his hat.

  “FNG. Fucking new guy,” Joseph mumbled, before turning serious. “I’ll go down a few levels to the old equipment rooms. See if anything is there.”

  Terry nodded. “Shonna, and Merrit, you go with him. The rest of you stay in the lobby and be ready. We don’t know if the Forsaken have found a way to shield themselves within the etheric or what. We just might flush something out. No one goes anywhere alone! Do you understand me?” Terry growled as the pod touched down.

  The ramp descended. They ran off as one group and split into three after entering the main lobby of the old Willis Tower. Kim directed the members of her group into defensive positions, while Joseph and his team headed down the stairs.

  Terry and his group hit the steps and headed upward with Char and Gene close behind. Gene would have preferred to be in Werebear form, but he would have gotten wedged in the doorways and blocked the steps.

  The colonel’s legs pumped hard as he climbed, taking three steps at a time for the first thirty floors, then dropped to two. He continued vaulting steps and heading upward as Gene started to lag behind, which held the others back. Char stayed close on Terry’s heels as they ran upward past the hundredth floor and to the top.

  Terry expected to find Forsaken that Char couldn’t see. Those would be the real boogeymen and significantly change the rules of the game.

  On the one hundred and third floor, there was a sign for the sky deck, but Terry didn’t exit. This wasn’t a sightseeing climb. They continued to the one hundred and eighth floor, where Terry had to wait for Gene to rip the fire door out of the jamb.

  They went through the opening that Gene had created and into a janitorial services area, where the window-cleaning machinery was located along with a garage door that hung askew. Terry leaned down and looked outside. He could see the roof, tracks for the machinery to move to the side of the building, and cabling strewn haphazardly across the flat surface.

  “Lights,” Terry called. He and Char carried the wind-up flashlights. They pulled them out, cranked them up, and turned them on.

  Dirt and debris on the floor had been disturbed. There were footprints and signs that something had been dragged through the area.

  “Gene. That garage door is in our way.” Terry stepped aside and pulled his sword. The Werebear bent at his knees, gripped the bottom edge of the roller door, and stood, pulling it back onto its track. The door easily lifted the rest of the way.

  Terry hesitated. He could feel the building gently swaying beneath his feet. “Don’t get too close to the edge. If you go over, you won’t survive,” Terry whispered.

  ***

  Joseph walked with the ease of familiarity. He sensed nothing amiss and saw nothing that would indicate someone had been there.

  Each room was locked or opened as he’d last left them.

  Shonna and Merrit lagged behind as she inspected the machinery more closely. She found much of it had been grounded with Faraday cages, which told her that it should have survived the electro-magnetic pulse, the EMP that blasted broad swaths of the Earth’s surface.

  She made a mental inventory, liking what she saw. Even after fifty years, much of what was encased in the cages and behind heavy panels was both serviceable and useful.

  Joseph stuck his head in the room where Shonna had spent too much time.

  “Come on!” he whispered harshly and disappeared back into the corridor.

  Merrit followed and waved angrily at Shonna. “Forsaken?” he said as a reminder more than a question.

  When they caught up, they found Joseph at the end of the hallway.

  “I don’t see anything. No one has been down here in years,” he declared in the darkness that he found so comforting. He removed his hat and tussled his hair.

  “Let’s split up to cover the final three floors below, but I don’t feel anything, and I don’t see anything, either,” Joseph said, putting his hat back on and straightening it.

  They retraced their steps and Joseph designated a floor for each, taking the deepest floor for himself. They continued downward into the thick of the pitch black.

  Japan

  “Osaka?” Akio asked as he looked at the screen. There was a signal that was far too close for Akio’s comfort. He ran for his pod and raced away. He sat by himself
with his eyes closed as the pod quickly made the journey.

  It descended as Eve directed it, delivering Akio close to where the signal originated: the Abeno Harukas, the tallest building in all of Japan.

  “Land on the roof, please,” Akio directed as he turned to the screen to look at the external view of the tower. The pod circled the top of the building and then hovered, dropping the ramp for Akio to run off and jump to the building.

  He landed catlike and looked around.

  He saw nothing. It was late afternoon and Akio couldn’t believe a Forsaken of any type would be on the roof of a three-hundred-meter-tall building in broad daylight. He reached out and couldn’t sense any enhanced beings.

  Terry had told Akio that they hadn’t sensed anything in Chicago. He removed his communication device from his cargo pocket. “Eve, tell me when the signal is active. Use the pod’s sensors to help locate the signal.”

  “Stand by, please,” Eve stated. It was a minute later before Eve reported. “The signal is active and less than twenty meters from your current location on the same level, Akio-san!”

  Akio put the device in his pocket and pulled his katana. He stalked within the enclosed roof of the skyscraper. He wasn’t sure what was normal or not for the roof. He ignored the largest of the equipment and cable junctions, looking for something small.

  The solar panels were what drew his attention. They were affixed to the metalwork at the sides of the roof and almost looked like they belonged there. A small cable trailed to box-like device tucked behind and underneath a cable run. Akio used the tip of his katana to slide the box out.

  It was a self-contained unit—solar power and the signaling device. He’d give it to Eve to analyze, but not at their compound, in case it contained a geo-locating beacon.

  Akio removed his communication device and called Terry Henry Walton.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Chicago

  The roof was empty. They’d checked it twice. Gene took a seat near the garage door and closed his eyes, trying to go back to sleep.

  Terry’s comm device buzzed. “Akio-sama,” he answered.

  “Look for a pair of small solar panels attached to a box,” Akio told him. Terry waved to Char. She raised her flashlight, continuing to wind it to keep the light brightest as she walked around the small rooftop.

  “I have it!” she called triumphantly.

  “Dammit!” Terry cursed as he realized he sent both of his engineers into the basement and none of his team carried any tools. “Cut it from its power source.”

  Char pulled her knife and hacked through the wiring until the box was free. She carried it by the wire.

  “It’s heavy,” she reported.

  Terry nodded. “At least going down will be easier than coming up was. Nobody twist an ankle because I’m not going to carry you,” Terry warned them, both disappointed and relieved by the turn of events.

  Gene was first to the stairs and headed down at breakneck speed. The Weretigers followed easily, looking like they weren’t even touching the steps as they moved.

  Andrew, Terry, and Char were more careful as they hurried to keep pace.

  ***

  “How long have they been gone?” Cordelia whispered loudly. Ramses shrugged. Cory remained on edge.

  They could hear Gene well before he reached the bottom floor. “Is he running from something?” she wondered, starting to feel anxious.

  Ramses shrugged a second time, but when Cory glared at him, he thought it time to speak up. “Uncle Gene doesn’t run from anything. He’ll run to chow. He’ll run to Fu. And that’s pretty much it.”

  Cory snickered. “I’m sure you’re right. It creeps me out to sit here in the dark and wait.” Cory’s night vision was ruined by the constant blue glow of her eyes. She used to be able to see fine at night, but then Akio’s nanocytes mixed with hers. With the blue glow, she felt like it was looking through a flashlight’s beam to see what was on the other side.

  She accepted it, but knew that she wasn’t a good fit for any night operations, because other people could see her from a long ways away while she couldn’t see them. It didn’t make for a good combination.

  Cory narrowed her eyes to limit the glow and waited in silence.

  Kimber watched the front door and Marcie stood near the steps. Kae was opposite Ramses and Cory while Butch and Skippy stayed in the middle, reclining as if waiting for the bar to open.

  ***

  Gene burst through the door, almost running into Marcie.

  “What the hell, Gene?” she exclaimed, dancing out of the way. Even though her nanocytes were active and would heal her if she got hurt, she didn’t want to go through the pain of getting run over by the Werebear.

  “Just repeater signal box on roof. We go now,” he said as he continued across the first floor and out the front door. Aaron and Yanmei walked from the steps casually, holding hands as if on a Sunday stroll. Marcie jumped when they appeared at her side.

  “What the hell?” Marcie repeated. Too loud to too quiet. She wondered if the Weres were going to be the death of her.

  “Looks like something is going on worldwide. I think the Forsaken are fighting back, but in their own unique way,” Aaron offered.

  Andrew exited the stairway followed by Terry and Char.

  The five who went below weren’t far behind. “Nothing,” Timmons said as they entered the building’s main lobby.

  Terry tossed the box toward Timmons, but Shonna caught it and turned it over in her hands. “I’m going to love tearing this baby apart,” she said.

  “We left the solar panel on the roof. If you’d like that, take a crescent wrench and we’ll wait in the pod for you,” Terry offered. She scowled at him.

  “We’ve got plenty of power back home,” she replied and walked out the front door, carrying the box past Timmons even though he had his hand out for it. Sue smiled at her mate and grabbed his hand, leading him from the building.

  Kimber approached the colonel. “That it?”

  “This war has just become a game of chess. The Forsaken have made their move and I don’t know what it means. I need to see what data Akio has, and then I need to think about it.”

  North Chicago

  Shonna and Merrit didn’t bother going back to bed. They took the box and headed for the power plant where they had a workbench established for detailed electronics work.

  On the short flight back, Akio informed them that he was on his way to North Chicago with the second device and the solar panels intact.

  Terry knew that Akio didn’t want the device transmitting from his secret compound, a place Terry had not been before though now had the coordinates to.

  The Forsaken knew where North Chicago was, but without pods, they wouldn’t be able to infiltrate like they had last time. The logical conclusion was that the boxes were safer in the engineers’ hands, secured by an FDG company.

  Terry hoped that Eve would come. The EI knew a great deal and could probably teach Merrit and Shonna a thing or two. Then again, they might teach the EI something. It would be mutually beneficial.

  But when Akio arrived, he was alone.

  “I am not sure, Terry-san,” Akio replied as they walked across the LZ without Terry having to ask the question. “Let us deliver this to your engineers and then we will look at the data.” Terry walked one way and Akio went the other. Terry stopped and turned, finding that Akio was headed back to the pod.

  Terry joined him. They took off with the ramp half-open and twenty seconds later, the pod landed in the power plant’s parking lot near the Mini Cooper.

  Terry led Akio inside the facility, up a stairway, down a catwalk, and into a room filled with benches and electronics. The lights were brightest where Shonna and Merrit were hunched over and examining the internals of the device.

  “Ahem,” Terry said, announcing himself. Neither Werewolf turned around. “We have the device from Osaka.”

  Shonna waved a hand over her head. Merrit
was first to look up.

  “Hey, Akio,” he said when he saw that Terry wasn’t alone. Then his eyes locked on the gear in Akio’s hands. “Come to papa!”

  Merrit carefully took the equipment and laid it on the bench next to the one already disassembled. Terry did a few mental calculations to figure out how long they’d been at it.

  Fifteen minutes?

  “You really should take a lesson from Akio, TH,” Merrit started as he turned the solar panel one way and then the other. “I don’t know why you felt obligated to cut the cable. It would have been best to have the entire fixture.”

  “Because the nearest wrench was one hundred and eight floors away. I wasn’t about to climb those steps a second time,” Terry replied dismissively. “Care for a tour, Akio-sama?”

  “When will I be able to collect those who will undergo the procedure?” Akio answered softly.

  Terry breathed deeply and sighed. “They are probably ready now. I doubt they’re back asleep. Cory will want to come along…” Terry started, but he couldn’t complete his thought.

  “The procedure will take months for each person. Whoever comes with me will be there for one to two years, Terry-san. I want them to see it from start to finish. Their bone structure will be extensively modified, and I will set the change for as moderate as possible to cause the least amount of shock to their systems. While they are waiting their turn, we will train and they will be sharp. Once they are done, we will train, and they will be even sharper. I will take care of your children, you have my word, Terry-san.” Akio stood as he always did. He spoke softly and evenly.

  Terry hadn’t contemplated the full impact. He was losing his recon platoon’s leadership team for a significant length of time.

  “Let’s go get them, and we’ll send them on their way. It’ll take however long it takes, and I pray that they all come through it. By the way, Cory may be able to help if there is a problem,” Terry suggested.

  “My thoughts exactly, Terry-san.” The two left the engineers to their studies by telling them to call Eve with anything they discovered.