Char groaned.
Terry was pleased with his pun. Felicity panned him by yawning.
“You have to admit that was a good one!” Terry drawled.
“I do not,” Char said. Terry harrumphed and settled back to close his eyes for a short nap.
Tomorrow was going to be a big day.
Japan
The pod landed and Marcie exited. She bowed a full ninety degrees to Akio and Yuko. They returned her bow, not as deeply, but every bit as formally.
“When do we begin?” she asked, rolling her shoulders in expectation of sparring.
“As soon as we can calm your mind. You will meditate until I can set a leaf upon the waters of your thoughts and it will remain still. Only then will you be able to see what I want to show you.”
Marcie nodded tersely. She wanted to spar with the masters, learn from the best, and become a better combat version of herself. She could sense the fires burning within. The best outlet was aggression.
Terry had been able to stop himself when he fought the treasonous sergeants. She would not have been able to without him there.
Even though they worked for her at one time, when they aimed a rifle, raised clubs against her, they became her enemy. Enemies were to be destroyed and crushed into the earth where even their memories couldn’t exist.
But that wasn’t what Terry taught. The enemy was simply the opposing player on the chessboard of a battlefield. Hating an enemy would cause one to make mistakes. He couldn’t have that.
He re-learned that lesson in going after Mister Smith, but Char had kept him grounded, and he didn’t make mistakes common when one let their emotions guide their actions.
Marcie needed to get those under control.
Off the pod for twenty seconds and Akio had already taught her a most important lesson. She had ignored TH when he said it, but the premise seemed more profound coming from Akio.
She laughed. “Akio-sama.” And Marcie bowed deeply a second time.
San Francisco
Terry walked back and forth in front of the newest iteration of the Force de Guerre. Twenty-eight strong, six teams of four or five. Terry had also maintained thirty warriors on full duty to act as a training platoon against which the tac teams would exercise.
It wasn’t glorious duty, but if someone on the tac teams fell, their replacement would come from the training platoon. It was a coveted billet, desired by many who had been forced into reserve status.
Marcie was undergoing special training with Akio and Yuko. She’d join her team when declared fit for duty. Akio wasn’t in a rush. Eve had not identified an imminent threat. Of course, Terry wanted the tac teams and Marcie up to speed as quickly as possible.
Once Marcie returned, she’d lead Tac Team Alpha, which included Ted, Ramses, Cory, and a warrior named Destiny Chase, a woman who Terry thought could have been a ninja because of how gymnastically gifted she was. She could overcome any obstacle, in record time, and then race to the next challenge, leaving everyone else in her dust.
Cory formally joined the tac team because Terry asked her to. She was still the FDG’s healer, but when they needed her to fight, she could scrap with the best of them. She preferred not to, but as long as she was with Ramses, she resigned herself with her position.
Gene was picked to lead Tac Team Bravo. As a mayor and a father, he’d matured to the point where Terry trusted putting the lives of others in his care. Bogdan was on that team because Gene was the only one who could control the massive Werebear. Kaeden was on that team to balance the emotional charge the others carried. The lone unenhanced human was called Edwin. He had won all the hand-to-hand combat competitions and was the only undefeated member of the FDG. He won his bouts with Skippy and then Butch to cement his place in the annals of the FDG.
Terry hadn’t been pleased that Werewolves lost in a straight up fight with a human, but it was only Butch and Skippy. They were the least among them. Terry planned to deliver a lesson in humility to Edwin on this very day. People needed to know what they would be up against.
Aaron led Tac Team Charlie, with Yanmei, Kimber, Auburn, and an unenhanced human called Nick Rixon, who had a knack for understanding technical devices. Without an engineer on that team, they needed the extra edge. Auburn had been drafted into the FDG because logistics had become mundane.
And he had been enhanced. Time to pay the piper, Terry had told him. Auburn wasn’t sure who the piper was, but he wasn’t too keen on paying him. He didn’t fight it because he’d be with Kimber. He’d had her close by for too long to see her spend time away. He reassured himself that it was better for all of them if he took one for the team, as Kimber liked to say.
“Is it going to hurt?” he whispered toward Kim’s ear.
“A whole lot.” She smirked and nodded.
Auburn pursed his lips and whistled. “At least we have some Weathers Family beef for dinner.”
“Who says we get to eat dinner?” Kim taunted her husband, elbowing him to drive the point home. She might have been kidding, but she didn’t know for sure. Her father wasn’t afraid to push any of them to their limits and beyond.
Terry led Tac Team Delta personally. Char was on his team, along with Shonna, Merrit, and a young man named Tyson Kurtz. He was hard and wily. He could fight. He could think. He could move fast without being seen. He had a broad skill set that resonated with TH.
Tac Team Echo was the Werewolf team with Timmons leading Sue, Skippy, and Butch, along with a female unenhanced human called Samantha Matthews. She was like Kurtz, but not as polished. She was better with the high technology, like Nick. She would be a good understudy to the engineers on Tac Team Echo.
The last of the special Force was Tac Team Foxtrot. Joseph led Petricia, Andrew, and Sarah. Terry had pulled Andrew aside to watch over Terry’s granddaughter. He knew she would be fearless, running into the battle at breakneck speed. Terry wanted her to think out the problem before relying on her physical speed to overcome an enemy. No matter how good she was, there would always be someone better.
CHAPTER NINE
San Francisco
“It seems like we were doing this same thing yesterday, but that was a long, long time ago. We’ve lost a couple of our own, while gaining some. We’ve lost everyone from the original Force, as well as those who came after, and most of those who came after them. It always comes back to us, the protectors of humanity.”
Terry continued to walk back and forth. The tac teams weren’t in any kind of formation but those fresh from the ranks of the FDG were locked at the position of parade-rest, feet shoulder-width apart and hands locked together at the small of their backs.
“You’re going to take today and get to know each other. Once we get back from our run, find someplace comfortable where everyone can answer the questions on your sheets. Don’t lose those questions, Gene.” Terry looked at the Werebear.
“What bullshit?” Gene asked in his heavy Russian accent. Terry wasn’t sure if it was a question or not. Gene handed the paper to Kaeden. “You are not to be losing questions.”
“I’ll do my best, Uncle Gene,” Kae replied as he took the paper, folded it, and stuffed it into a pants pocket.
“What are questions?” Bogdan asked, sounding nearly identical to his father.
“They are questions about each of you. You answer them and the others learn. I’m coming by each of you and I’m not asking you what your answers are, but I’m asking him!” Terry pointed to one of the unenhanced. “He needs to know what your answers are. Everyone knows that your favorite dish is food, but do you know what theirs are?”
“Fu cook good food. It is favorite dish!” Gene exclaimed, holding his hand over his heart and nodding.
The other Weres chuckled. They had been with Gene a long time where he was crass and came across as a bumbling fool, which he was not. He was a nuclear weapons specialist, but had become a nuclear engineer under Ted’s tutelage. Now, Gene even had some culture, thanks to his wife, Fu. Bogdan
was much like the old Gene.
A chip off the old block and one who the good guys wanted on their side.
“Do you fuckers know what you’re up against?” Terry asked Edwin, Nick, Samantha, Tyson, and Destiny.
“Sir, yes, sir!” they shouted as one.
“Yeah, I really don’t fucking think so. Do you have any idea how fast these people are, and how far they can run? Try one hundred miles in a day, then get up tomorrow and do it again. You will be taxed like you’ve never been before. I expect you’ve always been the strongest—” He looked at Edwin. “Or the fastest—” He tipped a chin toward Destiny. “Or the smartest—” Terry looked at Tyson Kurtz.
“You are the slowest and the weakest here. Get that through your heads right now. You are all here because you are the smartest. I think you can keep up, barely. Don’t try to outdo these people. You will die before that happens. Just keep pace, keep your wits about you, and don’t give up. Any questions?”
“No, sir,” they replied with less exuberance than their earlier outburst.
“Join your teams. Run begins in one minute. ONE MINUTE!” They ran back to their teams.
“San Mateo and back before noon?” Terry asked as the groups got ready to run.
“What is San Mateo?” Gene asked. Bogdan shook his head and shrugged.
“You can follow us, bitches,” Timmons called.
Char gave Timmons the stink-eye. He had to look away. “Or you can follow us,” Char said in a low voice. Everyone nodded. Only Gene and Bogdan didn’t know where San Mateo was.
A short thirty-nine-mile round trip and five hours to do it. Terry wasn’t sure he’d break a sweat. It was cool outside. San Francisco cool, with a stiff breeze and plenty of sea air.
Terry breathed deeply through his nose and smiled. “Reminds me of home, without all the heat. I like it here!” he declared before looking toward the harbor and frowning. “What’s that?”
When the others turned, he took off running.
“Goddammit!” Sarah yelled, a two-time victim of Terry’s cheesy ploy.
The groups took off running. Soon, the Forsaken left the rest behind, not because of Joseph but Sarah driving them. Theirs was the only tac team without a normal human. Terry had done it on purpose, but wasn’t sure why.
No one questioned it. Terry suspected he didn’t want to tempt the Forsaken if they found themselves trapped somewhere and the only available food was the unenhanced human. He thought they would rather die than dine on a human, but the lingering doubt always remained. Terry chalked it up to his generalization that all Forsaken were bad by nature. He knew that Joseph and the others were well-disciplined. They’d been stressed before, but not to the point of breaking. Joseph had been horribly injured, but he had been surrounded by a Were pack.
And Akio had been close by, too.
Terry would never make his concerns public knowledge, and he was ashamed for thinking them. He suspected that Joseph knew his deepest secrets but had given up trying to convince Terry Henry that his fears were unfounded.
TH and Char watched Sarah lead the Forsaken away from the other five tac teams as they kept pace with each other. The unenhanced were breathing steadily and maintaining good form, but they were taxed to the extreme. None of them wanted to be the first to slow down. Until that time came, they gritted their teeth and powered forward.
The team leads looked at each other and with a tip of Terry’s chin, they slowed a little at a time until they found the right pace for all. Terry wanted a challenge, not a soul-crushing denigration.
Butch and Skippy looked at each other in relief. They were constantly out of shape and had been on the verge of the warriors showing them up. They sighed and tried to mimic the good running form the others displayed. “Can’t we just take a car?” Skippy whispered.
“I heard that!” Char yelled over her shoulder.
Cory put her hands on their shoulders as Auburn ran on the other side. “All draftees are in this together,” Cory said softly, her hair trailing behind, her wolf ears flapping slightly as they ran across the wind.
“You got that right, sister,” Butch agreed in her New York City accent.
“We won’t leave you behind, make no mistake about that,” Cory said soothingly to the five warriors. They nodded but didn’t waste the energy trying to speak.
Terry turned and ran backwards so he could look at the group.
“Stop showing off,” Char told him, smiling because it was a very Terry Henry Walton thing to do.
“How about some running music to pass the time? Here we go, people, after me!” Terry turned back toward the front and took a deep breath, before singing the song of his people, a Marine Corps jody call. “If I die in a combat zone, box me up and send me home…”
Chicago
“Weres have moved in to Chicago,” Terry said as the six teams huddled around him in the pod secreted in a grove west of the city. “Our job is to conduct a reconnaissance, figure out how many there are, and then find out what they are doing. You are not to actively engage. Observe and report only. Retrograde to avoid conflict.” Terry looked at the group.
The pack was both interested and bored. Joseph looked excited as he was heading to his old tower where he intended to show Petricia where he had spent a great number of years before running across Ted, Timmons, Gerry, and Kiwi.
Andrew had seen the tower before.
He felt more and more like the third wheel, but in the renamed Tac Team Forsaken, he had Sarah’s company. She was a good listener, something Andrew had never experienced in his short Vampire life, so he found his first real friend besides Joseph.
She wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, which helped keep things above board. Otherwise, her grandparents would have intervened. There was only an eighty-year-gap between the two.
Cory and Ramses watched carefully, as parents were wont to do, but they didn’t interfere.
“Hippies,” Terry whispered out of the blue. Char looked around at the group and back at TH.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Char whispered back.
Terry muttered something unintelligible in response.
“Tac Team Alpha. You have the northernmost sector. The farthest to travel but the least populated. You should be able to move quickly. Bravo. You are east and south of Alpha.” Terry continued pointing out the op areas for each team. Delta was to remain centered between the other teams in case they needed to respond. Terry had given himself the primary mission to reinforce the others.
Char would have it no other way, because it was her pack. Still. After all this time.
They waited until well past sundown to deploy. The Were remained in human form as they headed noiselessly through the wooded area where they had concealed the pod.
Each team with their own mission. More than training.
The Weres had returned from wherever they’d gone in the intervening century.
Tac Team Echo
Timmons crouched low, with his fist raised, bringing the others on his team to a halt. He could smell the Werewolves up ahead. Musky and rank, not unlike a wet dog. If they engaged, there would be a fight.
An alpha was in that pack.
Timmons signaled for Echo to retreat and find a better spot from which to observe.
Samantha Matthews was along for the ride. She could barely see the signals in the darkness. She had no idea what they sensed or why they stopped. She was held up in back. She stayed close to Butch and Skippy, since they seemed almost as lost as she was.
She could see Butch nod in the darkness then point back the way they’d come. Butch and Skippy grabbed her as they ran past and then the only thing she could think about was keeping pace in the mad rush through ruins and foliage.
Tac Team Charlie
Aaron and Yanmei wanted to change into Weretiger form, but Terry cautioned against that. Aaron had lost his inhibition about changing, although he still didn’t remember anything from his time as a Were. He trusted Yanmei impl
icitly. She kept him from running astray while telling him of their exploits afterwards.
He was enthralled by her tales, not always believing them but entertained nonetheless.
Kimber kept pace while Auburn and Nick were louder than the rest of them combined. They slowed to regroup.
“We’re going to change. You keep back and follow our lead,” Aaron cautioned.
“Stop,” Kimber hissed as the Weretigers started to disrobe. “You two will disappear in the darkness, and I’ll have no way to contact you.”
Aaron and Yanmei stopped, thought about it, then put their shirts back on. Nick watched closely, still unused to how the Weres would get naked at a moment’s notice.
And how beautiful and well-muscled they were. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to it, but he liked it, although he tried not to let them catch him staring.
He wasn’t able to look at normal women the same way after joining the tac team.
And none of that mattered. No matter where they went, the others sprinted at incredible speed. It took every ounce of Nick’s energy just to keep up, let alone think about what was happening, but he wouldn’t quit. He couldn’t. Any other unenhanced human who wanted a shot at joining a tactical team needed to know that it could be done, that it had been done.
The Unknown World wasn’t a place forbidden to the unenhanced. It was a place that was really hard to get to, but not impossible. As he sucked wind, he watched Kimber try to talk Aaron and Yanmei out of changing into Weretigers. In the end, she won and they remained in human form.
While they were stopped, the Weretigers reached out with their senses and found enclaves of Weres scattered throughout the city. Here and there, one, two, or small groups.
“Where did they come from?” Yanmei asked.
Aaron shook his head.
“We’ll scout the lone Were first, then the two different pairs and finally the small groups. Ready?” Aaron asked.
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