by M. Lorrox
“But what?”
“The more he heals without his hands, the harder it will be to reattach them. If we recover them.”
Charlie shakes his head. “You mean, WHEN. And it’ll be fine.”
Gabriel sighs. “Hecate and Balena, until you both can walk—and fight—you must rest. Meanwhile, we must also set up defenses. They could send drones again at any time.”
Charlie sighs. “On that I agree. You two need to rest, then we need to attack. I’ll start working on a plan… Owen?”
He doesn’t look up. “Yeah?”
Charlie scowls. “Focus on the tasks at hand. Keep working on your electro-jammer doohickey.”
He nods.
“Ghost?”
She still stands resolute. “Yes?”
Charlie steps forward and places his hands on her shoulders. “Send Naga and Ricochet on their journey. If you’d like help digging graves, just holler. I don’t want you too tired tomorrow.”
She lifts the corner of her lip for a split second, but her eyes remain sad. “I could use a hand collecting wood. I plan to cremate them both.”
“Okay, I’ll go with you.” Charlie turns to Gabriel. “Are you good to stay on guard for a while longer?”
“I will ask to be relieved when necessary.”
“Okay, good.” Charlie takes a step forward, then he stops and turns to look at his son. “If Leo wakes up, will someone holler for me?”
They all nod, imagining the terror the boy will feel.
Charlie turns again and takes another step toward the back of the boat, but then he pauses again and turns back. “Oh, and Owen?”
He takes a breath and forces himself to stand up straight. “Yes, sir?”
“Before you work on your device, try and fix this hatch. We’re vulnerable.”
He nods but frowns. “Yes sir. I’ll do my best.”
-Clonk, clonk- Balena raps her knuckles on the floor, and everyone looks at her. “Owen, I’ve got a door-breaching torch with my gear in case you need it.”
He nods. “Okay… I’ll see what can be done.”
Mary wakes up, and this time she finds that someone shares her room; another bed now lies across from her own. She shakes her remnant drowsiness, feels the IV in her left arm, unconsciously reaches to tear the IV out, and once again realizes she has lost her right arm. Goddamn it. She hops out of her bed beside the IV stand, then grabs it and pulls it with her.
The floor is hard and cold. The lights in the large room are out, but deep blue soaks in from the wall of windows to her left. Mary hears a guard say something in the hall, and she glances toward the thick security door on the other side of the room, far to her right.
She reaches the other bed and stands beside it, looking down at July. She’s unconscious and covered up to her neck with a blanket. This is that girl... She’s Eddy’s friend... Mary reaches out and rubs July’s face. “Oh, my dear…June, yes? Look what they did to you... I’m so sorry.”
Mary frowns, then she looks for the chair that used to be beside her own bed. It’s not there anymore, so she walks to the stack of chairs near the mini-fridge and a residential-looking door. Beyond the door lies a bathroom, and after she uses it, she stares at herself in the mirror. This old body of mine, will forever be different…
She casts her eyes away from her amputated arm, then leaves the bathroom.
Mary lifts a chair from the stack with only her fingertips, then carries it and shoves her IV stand over to July’s bed. She sets the chair down and sits there, leaning over the girl. You must be very special, otherwise you wouldn’t be here... I’ll take care of you, June. Whatever happens, I’ll take care of you. She gently pats the young girl’s shaved head while she focuses her thoughts.
She places her hand on July’s shoulder, closes her eyes, and hums an ancient, gentle song.
At midnight in New Zealand, the sun is rising on the east coast of the United States. The High Council and many vampire elders are holding meetings at a three-star hotel in Northern Virginia, guarded around the clock by the Council Guard.
Many of the vampires have upgraded their accommodations and only travel to the hotel for meetings, but Sadie stays in one of the hotel’s simple, queen bed rooms with Minnie and Rusty.
Sadie spoons Minnie, who spoons her stuffed unicorn, Valentine. Rusty lays at the foot of the bed, his heartrate and breathing still abnormally slow. The sun peeks over the horizon and gently tells the world that a new day has started. Sadie’s notification is significantly less peaceful.
-Riiiinnngg! Riiiinnngg! Riiiinnngg!-
She fumbles for the room’s phone on the bedside table. I didn’t ask for a wakeup call... “What?”
“Prime Minister?”
Elian? Sadie sits up, yawns, and rubs her eyes. “Yes. What is it, Schermer?”
“There’s an emergency. The High Council must meet immediately.”
Sadie looks at the time, takes a moment to process, then shakes her head. “Who’s calling this meeting?”
“I just did, but if it makes you feel any better, you can, but I’ll still phone everyone and have them meet you in the meeting room in ten minutes.”
“What the hell is going on?”
“The Væir group has made a public statement, about vampires. I’ll meet you down there to present the information.”
Sadie stares for a moment.
“Mrs. Costanza?”
“Yeah, get everyone down there now.” She throws the phone toward the receiver and, in a flash, is putting her clothes on. “Minnie! Wake up!”
Minnie blasts awake, clutching Valentine. “Are they inside? Oh Mommy, you scared me…”
Sadie is rushing to the bathroom. “Pick up the phone, hit zero, and tell the front desk to connect you to room 315. You have to go to Mr. Skip’s room right now.”
“Can I have breakfast first?”
Sadie is in the bathroom, but she leaves the door open and yells out, “Now young lady!”
Minnie scoots across the bed and does as she’s told.
Nine minutes later, Sadie busts into the small banquets area the hotel has kept reserved for the High Council—to the hotel, the extremely well-financed, International Friendship Association. Waiting for her are High Councilors Vincent de Villablino, Eliza Leroux, James Cartwright, Penelope Peeters, and Raúl Lucas. None of them look pleased.
Bruce Tittensor rushes in. He’s in his seat when Philip Simonsen strolls in with a steaming latte.
Every other vampire in the room considers the ramifications of murdering Philip and stealing his coffee. When he notices the mental death-threats rocketing in his direction, he frowns. “I was already in line...”
Eliza clears her throat. “Lieutenant Colonel Schermer said there was an emergency, but she wouldn’t elaborate. What’s going on, Sadie?”
She nods, stalling, because she herself is almost as uninformed as the rest. Where the hell is Schermer? “It’s come to my attention that the Væir group—the entity we still know almost nothing about—has made a public announcement.”
The sour faces around her grow concerned.
“Schermer will present—” Sadie hears shuffling in the hall and the door opening. “I believe she has arrived.”
All eyes turn to the door and meet a brown-eyed boy of eighteen pushing a vacuum cleaner. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought—” Schermer steps around him and shoves him back into the hallway, then she slams the door behind her. “I’m sorry I’m late, I was just getting reamed out by my contacts at the CIA.” She carries a laptop and rushes to the table.
Sadie motions to the councilors at the table opposite Schermer. “Come around, you’ll want to see this.”
The vampires position themselves around the laptop. As Schermer types in “YouTube,” everyone dies a little. Penelope sighs.
Sc
hermer shakes her head while the hotel’s slow internet churns away. “They posted it on every major video streaming site in the world, and they’re seeding a torrent of the video from fifty different servers across the globe. There’s no way to shut it down.”
When the site finally loads, Schermer doesn’t have to type anything further; the video she’s looking for is presented at the very top of the homepage. It was posted an hour ago and already has ten million views. She clicks to play it, then full-screens the video.
Everyone holds their breath as the video playback buffer loads.
When the video starts playing, the image starts out black, then the word “VÆIR,” in bold, white letters appears in the center. The image fades to the black and featureless silhouette of a man standing in front of a blood-red background. “Hello, world. We are the Væir, the nation of vampires. We’ve lived alongside you for thousands of years, in peace, but you’ve proved yourselves too violent and too destructive.” Behind the silhouette, images from the past fifty years of wars, genocides, tyrants, and terrorism show. Hitler and the well-known Nazi atrocities get a few seconds of airtime, then others show in quick procession: men in biohazard suits spraying chemicals on children, burned bodies in mass graves, children warriors with giant machine guns, inmates being tortured, riots, terrorist bombings, executions, missiles, explosions, death, and destruction.
“We hereby declare war on all of humanity. Vampires in the following cities are urged to flee immediately, as our first strikes in this war will fall in less than two days—at midnight, between the thirty-first and the first, Coordinated Universal Time.”
The video fades to a black background with a list written in blood-red text. The High Council reads it; it lists twenty major cities that are spread across the globe. The man’s voice comes on again. “We expect this war to last six months, during which the entire non-vampire population will be exterminated. There will be no follow up to this message. No negotiation, no delays, and no alternatives. Goodbye.”
The video ends. Schermer clicks back to the screen showing the targeted cities and pauses the playback.
Sadie looks around to the faces of the other high councilors. They all stare. “What do we do?”
Philip motions to the list. “These are population epicenters… These cities are all in different countries—no country is listed twice. New York City for the U.S.”
Bruce clears his throat. “London. Paris, Madrid, Prague, Beijing, Cairo, Tokyo, Moscow... Most are the capital cities.”
Eliza scowls. “They already crippled DC. Now this? Across the globe?”
Vincent rubs his face. In the motion, he pushes his bushy white eyebrows, and they shoot out from his face like a grove of bamboo ghosts. “If Colonel Costanza and the team succeed, then perhaps this will not come to pass. Then, it will be viewed as a hoax.”
While everyone in the room is reassured by that, Sadie isn’t. “The colonel—my husband—will do everything he can to stop them, but... What if he and his team fails?”
Vincent squares his face to hers. “I can activate all our knights, but without knowing what to stop exactly, I’m afraid it won’t do much good. I fear the world will go to war.”
Eliza -slaps- her hand on the table. “But WE speak for the vampire nation. WE aren’t declaring war!”
Sadie raises her hand. “Maybe we should. Publicly, against Væir.”
At Munich Airport, Jambavan returns with snacks for Qilin and a hidden Madeline. “Any changes?”
Qilin nods. “I got our tickets, but Lorenzo’s not here.”
Madeline pokes her head out from behind a magazine. “Steve sent a message. He said Lorenzo hopped a flight to Venice, and that he’ll be waiting for them in Rome.”
Jambavan finds his tomato and mozzarella panini and begins to unwrap it. “So, we keep on the trail?” He takes a big bite.
Qilin sighs. “The flight to Rome only had one seat on the buyout list, and the next fastest option is a few hours later.”
Madeline extends her hand out. “Food, please.”
Jambavan hands a tuna wrap to her. “Who’s sticking tight on the trail and who comes later?”
Madeline dips the magazine and waits for Qilin’s answer.
She sighs. “Seeing how you two can pass as a couple...”
Madeline groans and lifts the magazine again.
Qilin laughs. “Just kidding. But really though, I should be there in case Lorenzo shows himself.”
Jambavan raises an eyebrow. If his mouth wasn’t full, he would have asked her to elaborate.
“I’ve been a knight a while, and even if I’m not a frickin’ ninja like you are, I’ve got a lot more experience in the field. Also, my public identity is a law enforcement agent. Finally, I’m technically in charge of the mission, so by default, I kinda have to stay on it... Also, there’s much less a chance I’ll be spotted as a tail—I don’t think I’ve ever crossed paths with that Li Chen punk... Certainly not with Lorenzo, I’d remember that.”
Jambavan nods. “Alright. How will we meet up in Rome?”
Qilin grabs her sandwich. “It turns out, a friend of mine can meet you when you land. We’ll figure out relinking after.”
“Who’s your friend?”
She licks her lips before attacking the roast beef sandwich in her hands. “Mustang Jones.”
Madeline crunches the magazine as she drops it from her face. “Ugh! This is ridiculous.”
Qilin took a huge bite, and her mouth is so full she can barely keep her lips closed. “Whuuut?”
Jambavan glances around to make sure Li Chen or anyone else that might recognize Madeline isn’t around, then he scowls at her. “What’s your problem?”
She glares at him, then at Qilin. “This whole thing has gotten out of hand. At what point do we call this mission, or operation or whatever, failed and go home?”
Qilin swallows—early—and grimaces. “We don’t.”
“Come on, be real.”
Qilin leans across the table toward her. “What’s the problem? You don’t like all-expense-paid adventures to romantic European cities?”
She swallows. “It’s not that, I mean...” Her eyes fall to the table. “I’ve got people that are going to be really worried about me. And they’re not well, and—” She brings her eyes up to meet Qilin’s. “This started out as a sting in a parking lot, then a race to the airport, then we’re flying to Florence, but really we need to go to Rome, but there’s only one seat and you’re taking it, and we’re taking a later plane to Rome, to meet some freakin’ wacko named Mustang Jones?”
Qilin shakes her head. “No, you’re still going to Florence, just from there you fly to Rome and meet up with Mustang.” She takes another large bite from her sandwich.
Madeline sits back in her seat. “What if I just want to go home?”
Qilin shrugs. “Just go.”
Madeline frowns. “What about Steve?”
Jambavan clears his throat. “We can work with him without you, if you really need to go.”
She groans. He’s getting better, but Steve can be a real idiot sometimes. If he’s trying to help them, I should help him... “Listen, this magic credit card you’ve been using, would it be okay if it made another little purchase?”
Qilin squints. “Maybe. What do you need?”
Madeline squirms. “Well, it’s not for me, really, but umm...” She sighs, then speaks faster than normal, “Look, I help out my neighbor by getting her groceries for her, and I can’t afford them myself, or I’d just send some food or something, but she’s ill and can’t leave her apartment, and I’m supposed to help her today.” Madeline drops her eyes away. “This job with Li Chen was supposed to be my out, and I was going to set her up, but, umm…”
Qilin wipes a bit of dressing from her lips with a napkin. “Mad, as thanks for your help, I’m sure we
can buy your neighbors groceries and send some money your way too. If you make a list and give me the address, I’ll have the order delivered.”
Madeline smiles. “Yeah?”
Qilin nods and raises one finger. “Now, because it’s not your money, nor my money, but the Order’s, I highly suggest that you splurge and say you need the same order every week for a year.” She smiles.
Madeline scrunches her lips and furrows her brow; her eyes suddenly feeling tear-filled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to make the list.” Qilin smiles at her. “You’ve got a bit of a layover in Florence…”
The sky above The Plant grows lighter, and July wakes. I’m in a bed. I shouldn’t be in a bed... She looks around the large and mostly empty room without moving her body. Why do I have a funny taste in my mouth? She hears someone breathing behind her. Okay, stay calm. Something must have happened to me, or to the team, but...I feel alright... The person behind me…is familiar. A woman... She’s asleep.
July twists her body under the blanket, moving without making much sound. Now she can see the rest of the room; an empty hospital bed is across from hers, and sitting beside her bed is a sleeping woman with a blanket over her shoulders. Behind the woman, the wall is mostly glass and overlooks a valley. There’s an IV stand. July snaps to check if she has one in her own arm, but she doesn’t. She looks to see if her movement woke the woman, but she remains motionless. July studies her face. I know you... I must have met you at the hotel... But you seem so familiar.
A tone sounds from the monitoring machine on the IV stand, and Mary wakes and yawns. When she sees that July is also awake, she smiles at the girl, removes her silver-rimmed glasses, and rubs her eyes with her hand. The IV tubes bounce against the pole with a little -tick, tick- “Good morning. You’re Eddy’s friend, right?”
