The Mage raised her hand. “You’re both going back out,” she said flatly. “I’ve already ordered Thirteen’s chopper prepped to fly out again with both Nine and Thirteen’s equipment. You don’t have a chopper or a pilot with Akono in critical, but David does—and I’m afraid that between you, you only have a team’s worth of people.”
“What happened to Akono?” David demanded of his former Commander.
“Bastards had Stingers at our site,” the werewolf said flatly. “Shot down the Pendragon as he came in for a sweep.” He turned to Warner. “He’s in ICU, and the rest of my team is exhausted and beaten up. You can’t be serious.”
“Thirteen’s in worse shape,” David said slowly, less willing than Michael to challenge Warner directly. “We’re down almost half our people—two of them dead.”
Major Warner stood in a single motion, and somehow, her lack of height didn’t rob it of any power to intimidate.
“Both of you shut up,” she said harshly, “and listen to me.
“I am fully aware of the state of both of your teams,” she continued, “but I am also aware, as you are not, of the state of the rest of my teams. The average casualty rate on this goddamn operation was seventy percent—most of our teams and OSPI’s teams lost over two thirds of their people, wounded or killed. Thirteen and Nine are my most intact teams, and combined, they make the best strike force I have without recalling teams from the Middle East—and we don’t have time for that.”
David was struck dumb by the number. That meant hundreds of people wounded or dead—well over a thousand.
“It could have been worse,” the Major continued, “if not for that hacker’s warning. We’re not sure how the hell she got into our systems,” she said softly, and David felt a chill run down his spine, “but her warning and our attempted abort probably saved us from losing the entire Sun Net task force.”
“That bad?” Michael asked, his voice hoarse.
“We are surprisingly low on fatalities so far,” Warner told him grimly, “but that may change as hospital reports roll in. We got walked into a perfectly synchronized series of meat grinders, and we never saw it coming.”
“Charles talked to Majestic, the hacker, and got the rundown as how she knew it was a trap,” ONSET’s executive officer told the two team leaders. “There’s no way OSPI missed it by accident, so we were forced to consider the theory that OSPI had been compromised. We tested it by using an override access on OPSI HQ’s computers.”
“And?” David asked, horrified at the thought.
“So far as we can tell, the OSPI Headquarters building has been compromised since before this Operation began being planned,” she said flatly. “It may have been compromised as early as forty-eight hours after Ekhmez was delivered to the site.”
“He’s the source?” Michael demanded. “I told them to kill the bastard!”
“We now have evidence that suggests that Black Sun had elements within OSPI to begin with who encouraged the line of thought that Ekhmez should be captured alive,” Warner told him, her voice tired. “We are certain, in any case, that Ekhmez has now secured full mental domination of all the mundanes in the building.”
“What about supernaturals?” the senior of the two agents asked. “We’re generally resistant to that sort of thing.”
“Any supernatural Inspector they could justify moving was sent on a mission outside the building within seventy-two hours of Ekhmez arriving,” Warner replied. “No one even considered it, as there were other supernaturals in the building.”
“Like Stutter,” David observed with a sick feeling in his stomach.
The Major nodded. “So far as we can tell, every supernatural that wasn’t removed from the building is dead,” she told them, her voice very quiet and grim. “We are completely certain that SSTTR, especially, has been exterminated. They attempted to get a message out three days ago advising of the situation and their intent to launch a counteroffensive within the building. We only found the message an hour or so ago when we started looking into this—we’ve only received communication about Stutter from OSPI, no one had spoken to them directly since just after Ekhmez’s capture. We have confirmed by scrying that they are all dead.”
David winced. Casey was the only SSTTR man he’d known at all, but the others had seemed like good people. Now they were all dead. Wiped from the face of the world, and no one had even known for three days.
“What’s the plan?” he asked, his objections to his team going back out forgotten in the realization of what had happened.
“Colonel Ardent activated OSPI HQ’s Judas Protocol”—Warner checked her watch—“forty-one minutes ago. The building has gone into a complete lockdown that cannot be overridden from within the structure. We are coordinating with the NYPD to evacuate the surrounding area and are moving in Anti-Paranormal Companies.”
“You think he’s going to open a hole,” David said softly, remembering his flash of vision before. “Create an Incursion, like in Montana.”
“We can’t fight a full supernatural war in downtown Manhattan,” Warner said quietly.
“Watch me,” Michael replied, and his voice carried a level of cold, ruthless menace David had never heard the other man use before.
“The plan is to avoid needing to, Michael,” Warner said firmly, still looking down at the two sitting Commanders.
“Your people are meeting with medical teams right now,” the Major continued, “who are patching up their wounds and issuing them stimulants. You’ll have an hour or two aboard the Pendragon to sleep if you can, and I suggest you use it.”
“Plan?” Michael asked. “Kick in the door and go in shooting?”
“We hope to land you on the roof,” Warner told him, “but it may come down to that. But remember”—she surveyed the two men—“the people in there are ours—your mission is to kill Ekhmez, which will release them from his control. Don’t kill the poor bastards he’s taken over.”
“If Ekhmez is that strong, it will take more than one Class One Supernatural to take him down,” Michael warned, “even me.”
“You’ll have me,” David said quietly, and inside himself, he dared that fear of becoming inhuman to stop him. Thousands—millions—of lives could be at stake. Service demanded sacrifice.
Warner and Michael both looked at him.
“Are you sure?” the Major asked.
“I’m sure,” David replied firmly. “I can do it.”
“We’ll need you,” Michael told him. “If you and I can go in together, we have a fighting chance against the bastard.”
“Good luck,” Major Traci Warner told her two team leaders quietly. “I’m afraid you’re going to need it.”
The pair stood and saluted, and Michael swept out of the room immediately. David hesitated at the open door and then looked outside, glancing at the bodyguards.
“Ma’am, this hacker,” he said quietly. “She contacted me before—tried to blackmail me. I reported it.”
“I didn’t see any report,” Traci answered, looking at him.
“The OSPI team swept the computers and didn’t find anything,” he told her. “I think they thought I was crazy or lying.”
“I see,” the Major said coldly. “That’s water under the bridge now, I’m afraid. It seems she found another way into our systems without blackmailing you…and honestly, I can’t say I’m objecting right now. Without her, it could have been worse. Much worse.”
David nodded, looking at the Base Commander for a long moment.
“What happens if we fail, ma’am?” he finally asked.
“We now know what’s going down and are evacuating the city,” Warner said unflinchingly. “A B-2 bomber is being prepared as we speak. If you fail, it will be used to deliver an air-to-surface cruise missile carrying a variable-yield nuclear warhead.”
“You’ll nuke Manhattan?!”
“Given the choice between that and an Incursion, yes,” she said flatly. “Now go make it unnecessary,
Commander!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Chapter 44
When David returned to ONSET Thirteen’s dormitory, he found a full medical team had taken over the common room and was running it as an impromptu first aid station. Walsh and Hellet had both acquired numerous scrapes and bruises while being shot at, but neither had actually been shot. Pell had three nurses swarming over him, checking his blood pressure and probably making sure the pilot was safe to shoot up with amphetamines.
When the acting team Commander walked in, the medical team ignored him for a moment, but then Pell cleared his throat loudly and pointed at David. The team’s leader, a dark-haired and -bearded man perhaps ten years older than David in a white smock, stepped over to him and gave a snappy salute.
“Commander White, I’m Dr. Varric Corb,” he said softly. “Your team is fit, but they’re tired as hell. Whose cockamamie idea was this?”
“Not mine,” David replied. “Unfortunately, I understand and agree with the decision. My understanding is you’ve been authorized to issue stimulants?” he asked.
The doctor nodded and removed two small plastic prescription bottles from his smock. “These,” he said, holding up the first bottle, “are aetherically tailored short-term sedatives. They will take effect in ten minutes and last for exactly ninety minutes. You’ll give them to your people—and take one yourself,” he added firmly, meeting David’s gaze, “upon boarding the Pendragon.”
“Understood,” David responded, taking the bottle. “Will they help?”
“It won’t be the equivalent of a full night’s sleep,” the doctor admitted, and proffered the second bottle. “Hence these. They’re not a powerful stimulant, but they should be enough to wake you all up completely.”
“What about Pell?” David asked, looking over at his pilot, who was submitting to the nurses’ ministrations with ill grace and a gaze locked on David.
“We will be giving him a time-release amphetamine injection,” Dr. Corb answered. “He will be fully functional for eight hours after the injection.”
“And after eight hours?”
“Make damned sure he’s out of the helicopter and sitting down, as he will collapse,” Corb answered. “He’s had the lecture himself, but I’m relying on you to make sure, understand?”
“Yes, sir,” David replied. “Are you done otherwise?”
“Yes,” the doctor confirmed.
David gave the man a nod and stepped past him, gesturing for his people to join him. Pell was held back by his nurses for a moment as one of them finished swabbing down his arm and injected him. The pilot was rubbing his arm as he came over, but he gave David a firm nod.
“Folks, we’re heading out again in a few minutes,” he told them bluntly. “We’ll rendezvous with ONSET Nine at the pad, where Pell will be piloting the Pendragon. We will be under Commander O’Brien’s command.”
“Heading out again?” Hellet demanded, looking around at the other team members. “David, none of us—not even you—are up to that! This is insane.”
“Kate,” David said softly, blinking at the thought of another Mage named Kate. “The situation right now is extraordinarily dire. We are, as of this moment, one of only two teams on the Campus at over fifty percent strength.”
The former kindergarten teacher gasped and looked at him in horror.
“Operation Sun Net was a trap,” he told his people quietly. “The entire operation was organized from inside OSPI as a trap to wipe out as much of Omicron’s field-deployment capability as possible.”
None of the team said anything, the three agents simply looking at him in mounting realization of just how accurate “extraordinarily dire” was as a description.
“OSPI HQ has been compromised,” he continued into the silence. “We now know that the demon Ekhmez has taken over the minds of everyone left in the building and killed anyone who managed to resist his control. Among others, the entire Special Supernatural Tactics, Technology and Reconnaissance team has been killed.”
David paused and met each of his people’s gazes in turn. “We have activated the Judas Protocol on OSPI Headquarters, which is an externally activated complete lockdown. Unfortunately, we don’t expect the Protocol to hold for long. The decision was made at the highest levels to move now.
“I’m sorry,” he finished softly, “but we need to do this. The fate of the entire country may hinge upon Ekhmez being destroyed tonight.” He saw no need to mention the backup plan if they failed. The silence in the room told him his people had enough pressure on them.
That silence reigned unchecked for a long moment, and then Hellet rose to her feet.
“What are we sitting around for, sir?”
#
ONSET Strike Teams Nine and Thirteen arrived at the helipad at the same time. In full combat gear, they were hard to tell apart. Black body armor and helmets obscured identity, with only size and auras to mark people as different.
Even through the armor, David felt Kate Mason’s hug after she spotted him, and he returned the younger Mage’s surprise affection with interest. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed being able to talk to Kate until just now.
When Kate released him, David turned to Michael and saluted the werewolf in command of the combined team. He glanced at the members of ONSET Nine, who should have been missing only Akono, and realized there were only three of his old team’s five members.
“Where’s Ix?” he asked as he exchanged nods and handshakes with his old team members.
“Here,” a voice replied from behind him, and he turned to spot the red-skinned and many-horned demon standing by the edge of the helipad. The demon was dressed in civvies.
“He’s not coming?” David asked Michael, but the werewolf simply gestured the younger team Commander toward the demon.
Ix took David’s hand in both of his and bowed over it.
“I am not coming with you and the others tonight,” he confirmed. “I cannot fight Ekhmez—he is a higher-court demon than I am. Indeed, were I in his presence, it is possible he could command me to fight you. I would be a greater liability than an asset, I am afraid.”
“I…understand,” David said softly. He wasn’t entirely sure he did, but he knew that Ix had not been able to fight the demon before.
“David, Michael,” Ix continued, gesturing the werewolf Commander over. “It will fall to you two to fight him; you know this,” he said softly. “Kate and the other Mages can get you to him, but he is a high court demon and human magic is not strong enough to challenge him yet.”
“When you face him, he will be waiting for you,” the demon continued. “You cannot surprise him. Most likely, he will have taken over the security center, as he will like having all the information at his fingertips.
“It will take both of your strengths to fight him, but remember this: only your mageblades can hurt him,” Ix told them. “He is too powerful to be bothered by mere silver—it will bounce off of him. Your mageblades can hurt him. Remove his head and his body should fail. Then destroy the head by whatever means you can.”
Michael nodded firmly. “Last time, we used a nuke,” he said quietly. “It took four class one supernaturals to do it too. Two of my best friends died that day.”
“If you’re careful, if you’re lucky, and if you aim for the head, no one has to die today but him,” Ix told them, and reached out to take both their hands. “As the world endures and stars turn, let those who walk in Light guide your way.”
David didn’t recognize the blessing, but he bobbed his head in thanks and walked back to his people, his hand on the little bottle of sedatives that they would need for the flight to New York.
#
The sedatives worked exactly as advertised. David and Michael made sure everyone on the team took the little blue pills, and then popped their own. Ten minutes later, Pell was the only one awake in the helicopter as it shot across the country.
Ninety minutes later, David awoke, refreshed if still slig
htly tired, and made his way past the slowly awakening team to the cockpit of the Pendragon, dropping himself into the copilot’s seat.
“How’re you holding up?” he asked Pell.
“These are wonderful drugs,” the pilot replied dryly. “Just wonderful. Next time someone suggests I take these, please shoot them.”
“That bad?” David asked, worried.
“No. The opposite,” Pell answered. “I’ve been running for almost twenty-four hours straight now, and I feel like I could keep going forever. I feel wonderful. I’m scared of addiction, to be honest,” the younger man admitted.
“From what they told me, coming off it is going to hurt,” David told his team member.
“If it sucks wet dogshit, I might be able to avoid the temptation to talk someone into letting me take this shit again,” the machine animist said bluntly. “It’s quite the high.”
“How much longer?” David asked, forcing himself to put aside his concerns about the time-release amphetamine until the mission was done.
“We’re back into highly populated areas,” Pell replied slowly, staying focused on his map and GPS transponders in front of him. “When we were flying over sheep and cows, a sonic boom or two wasn’t a problem. Now I’ve had to take us back subsonic.”
“So, how long?” David asked. He wasn’t afraid to admit he knew almost nothing about aircraft.
“We’re about ten minutes out of New York City,” the pilot told him. “I’ll then make a low approach and try and get an eyeball on the roof before I bring us in to land. We should be in range to bring up the Apes on the ground.”
Footsteps behind them in the cockpit announced the arrival of Michael, who stepped up behind David and looked over at Pell.
“Do it,” he ordered. “We need to know what’s going on down there.”
A moment later, a voice crackled across the radio.
“Captain Narita, AP Six,” it said calmly. “ONSET Strike, what is your status?”
ONSET: To Serve and Protect Page 35
