— Captain John J. Pershing, Army Observation Report on the taking of Vladivostok, 1905
Fairfax County, Virginia
Dan Garrett was sweating bullets. Sullivan didn’t even look nervous, but then again, he was the tough guy with the Power that was useful for slugging it out inside a house full of Imperium. If Dan had known that one of the Iron Guards was a Reader, he would never have gone through with this. It was damn near impossible to Influence a Reader. So much for sticking the idea in someone’s head and then talking their way out. He was regretting having come up with this idea in the first place.
Though it did seem to be working.
The ambassador placed his hands flat on the table, as if to steady himself. “Tokugawa had long warned us of the coming of this menace. At first, many did not believe his talk of this predator from another world. In the years before he became the Chairman, before the emperor realized the greatness and wisdom of-”
“Before he took over Japan?” Sullivan asked.
It was obvious that the ambassador didn’t like the Heavy’s version of diplomacy. “He did not take over. The emperor came to embrace his counsel.”
“Whatever.”
“Long before he came to the Imperial Court, when the Chairman was merely a lone swordsman wandering the land, was when the first Pathfinder found us. Tokugawa battled it alone. He defeated the creature, but only after an epic struggle. Knowing that, in time, more scouts would come, he began to gather those that also understood the Power to his side. He was the first Active, but he found others nearly as powerful, those who, like him, were bound with the Power when magic was newly arrived to our world. Then he recruited soldiers. He taught us, hardened us, bound us to kanji, because only the strongest would be able to withstand the corrupting magic of the Enemy. A group such as ours was illegal by the Emperor’s decree, so we trained in secret. We were few at first, and because Okubo Tokugawa had been outcast because of his magic, he was only able to recruit from the basest elements-peasants, former samurai who wished to return to ways that the Emperor had outlawed, and even yakuza. ”
“What’s a yakuza?” Dan asked. He’d been practicing phrases in Japanese to use as magical weapons when fighting Imperium troops, but actually learning the complicated language had so far eluded him.
The ambassador pulled back one sleeve to reveal now-faded, once-colorful tattoos that began at the wrist and completely covered his arm. “I read your American newspapers and the talk of your criminals… Your mob. Let us say that I could have taught this Al Capone a thing or two.” He covered the markings. “It is a shameful past to bear, but Okubo Tokugawa did not care about his soldiers’ history, he cared only about our ability. You must understand, this was a very unorthodox idea at the time. We chose new names and swore fealty to him, allowing Lord Tokugawa to mold us as he saw fit.”
“So the Chairman started a secret society,” Dan mused. “Looks like we got more in common than I thought.” Sullivan glanced over at him. The Heavy didn’t seem to like that idea.
“We were called Genyosha. The Dark Ocean.”
“Dark Ocean is the key…” Sullivan muttered under his breath.
“Another scout came. Dark Ocean lost many warriors, but we defeated the creature. This one had been even stronger than the last. Okubo Tokugawa knew that we had to be more prepared, and that Dark Ocean alone would not be enough. Eventually the Enemy would break through and consume the world. He did not need just one united organization, he needed a united nation, then an empire, and eventually a world. That was his vision. Only through that level of strength and purification could we hope to defeat the Enemy.”
“You believe that?”
“Of course.” The ambassador seemed honestly surprised at the question. “He was invincible and wise. I pledged my life to him. Most of us did. Dark Ocean became a tool of political manipulation. Many unfortunate things befell our enemies. In a short time, he controlled the Edo Court, and thus became the Chairman. The mission to purify the world began. We started at home, eliminating the weak and raising the strong. Next we took Korea, then China, where we built the schools and began the experiments. Millions have died so far, and millions more surely will follow, but in the end, the world will be strong.”
Dan was astounded. “All of the evil things you’ve done-”
“Are nothing compared to what would happen if the Enemy wins. Do you not understand that yet, Grimnoir? Have you never looked into the eyes of a Summoned?”
Dan shook his head in the negative. The things had always made him a little uncomfortable, even the tame ones that Francis had owned. Sullivan leaned forward, intrigued.
“Those broken spirits, those damaged creatures, they are all that remain of the intelligences from the last world the Power inhabited before it fled to ours. They are refugees, dragged along with the Power. That will be the fate of man if the Enemy wins. The Chairman showed us a vision of the last world. It had been magnificent, far beyond our understanding, with cities made of coral, grown as tall as the clouds. But it was all ruined when the Power left them behind to be consumed by the Enemy. I would do anything the Chairman asked to spare us that fate.”
Sullivan leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “How’s Dark Ocean the key?”
“I do not know. Dark Ocean is no more. When Okubo Tokugawa became the Chairman, there was no longer a need for us to hide. Dark Ocean was disbanded. We were placed in positions of trust and authority to continue to work on his behalf. It is no more. Our warriors became the first of the Iron Guard, our assassins the first Shadow Guard, those who could read minds or spin words became the diplomats. Few of us remain, and those who live are feeble old men serving as teachers, bureaucrats, or such as I.”
“What about the other ones that were nearly as strong as the Chairman? He said they could help us.”
“I will not speak of them… I have told you enough, Grimnoir. Your message has been delivered. I will communicate it to my superiors and action will be taken. Since you came under a flag of truce, the two of you will be allowed to leave.”
“Do your superiors know the Chairman’s dead, or does the hoax go all the way to the top?” Sullivan asked.
The ambassador’s face turned red. “You try my patience, fool. Pray to your false god that the Chairman still lives, because without him to lead us against the Enemy, we are all doomed.”
Iron Guard Toru waited patiently before the mirror. The Power required to keep the link open was draining, but he would hold it as long as necessary. The Chairman had to be consulted. Toru owed the Chairman his life in more ways than one. It had been the Chairman’s mercy that had spared him after his dishonorable actions in China. It had been the Chairman’s wisdom that had dispatched Toru to America to learn at the side of the wise and noble Ambassador Hatori.
Most of all, it had been the Chairman who had given him life, for Toru was one of the thousand sons of Okubo Tokugawa. It was prestigious, but much was expected from a warrior who had the very blood of the Chairman pulsing in his heart.
It was a shock when the Chairman himself appeared in all his majesty in the mirror. The greatest warrior of all time! Toru nearly choked. It was only the third time he’d ever had the honor of speaking to his father in person. His forehead hit the floor.
“What is this?” the Chairman demanded.
Toru did not dare to lift his eyes as he stammered out his story.
“They said I was dead, did they? You are certain the Grimnoir spoke of Dark Ocean?”
“Yes, but I was not familiar with what they spoke of.”
“Then you left them alone with Hatori?”
The Iron Guard died inside. He had displeased his father. “As Hatori commanded.”
The Chairman was seething. “Listen carefully, Iron Guard Toru.. Go immediately and kill the Grimnoir. Do not question them or capture them. Kill them.”
“Yes, Chairman.” He started to rise.
“Wait.”
Toru finally d
ared lift his head a tiny bit. The Chairman was watching him with eyes of fire. Toru quickly looked back down. A small brown mouse was scurrying along the bedroom wall, surely sensing the Chairman’s fury and trying to escape. Toru felt as low and pathetic as the rodent. The Chairman did not speak for some time, as if he was pondering a great riddle.
“If I have failed you I will-”
“ Seppuku? You have a habit of making poor decisions, Iron Guard Toru, but no.” Toru was filled with shame at the rebuke. “I have need of you still. Your actions are not what is troubling me. It is this matter before us, but I have made my decision. Your next task will be more difficult. We must assume that Hatori has been influenced by Grimnoir cunning. After you have disposed of them, Hatori must die.”
Toru could not believe his ears. He must have heard wrong. “Chairman?”
“Ambassador Hatori is surely influenced by their magic and must be destroyed. Allow him to speak to none of the men. He is not to be trusted. Do you understand, Iron Guard?”
His stomach was sour. Hatori was his mentor. Killing him was unthinkable. “Yes, Chairman. I will do as you command.”
“See to it. Summon some of your men.”
Toru leapt to his feet. He flung the door open and called out. Within a moment he was joined by two marines. When they saw whom he was speaking to, they dropped to their knees and bowed as deeply as possible.
“You are witnesses to my will. Ambassador Hatori is relieved from command immediately. You will answer only to Iron Guard Toru.”
Flustered by the honor of being spoken to directly by the Chairman, the men barely managed to sputter their confirmations.
“Report when it is finished.”
The mirror flashed white and the spell was broken.
He had just been asked to kill his closest friend. It was madness. Hatori was a loyal warrior of the Imperium; he would never go over to the Grimnoir. Toru was consumed with doubt, just as he had been when he had last failed the Imperium. An Iron Guard does not doubt. An Iron Guard acts. There was no time for thought, no time for hesitation, not when the Chairman had personally given him an order. There was a rack by the door filled with weapons. He picked up his favorite, a steel tetsubo. Toru spun the spiked club through the air. “For the Imperium!”
It took a lot of practice to get the hang of steering a field mouse. The mouse-eye view of the world was radically different and hard to adapt to. Colors faded to a greyish-green; details were fuzzy while the smallest movements or lights became incredible beacons. The faintest smells were incredibly distracting, and his sensitive paws could feel the tiniest of vibrations or variations in the surface, but mostly it was hard to drive a mouse because everything was huge. The giant skyscrapers he was running between were small indoor trees. The jungle was a fern. It was hard for a human being to make the shift. It was a good thing that Lance Talon had a lot of practice.
He had picked up the mouse at the Bonus Army camp. Once it was under his control, which was a snap with an animal that had such an itty-bitty brain, he’d stuck the mouse in Dan’s pocket. It had taken an amount of Power way out of proportion to the animal’s size to keep control, but that was because of the distance involved more than anything.
Controlling an animal was sort of like driving an automobile. You didn’t become the car, but you sat in the driver’s seat and told it what to do. In Lance’s case, he was a much-better-than-average Beastie, and could actually feel through all of the animal’s senses. He’d followed his friends into the dragon’s den with the goal of keeping an eye on things. When the one Iron Guard had been ordered out, Lance had decided to tail him, and it was a good thing that he had. It was also a good thing that the ambassador didn’t own a cat.
The little animal’s heart beat at an insane rate as Lance forced the little legs to keep moving. He could feel the rapid drumming as if it was his own.
Lance’s conscious mind was in two places, and while the part that was in the mouse ran to warn Dan and Jake about the Iron Guard coming to club them to death, the rest of him was pulling the canvas cover off the new 5-inch Stokes mortar that had been bolted down in the bed of his truck.
“Maybe we should be going now…” Dan Garrett whispered to his friend.
But Sullivan still had questions. He was a man who collected questions like kids collected baseball cards. “I want to know more about how this Pathfinder creature works.” It was obvious that the Heavy didn’t trust the Imperium to take care of business.
“Do not trouble yourself with things beyond your comprehension.” The ambassador was a crafty one. He’d told them much, but wasn’t about to give up anything that would make the Grimnoir more capable foes. “I am done with you. I must return to dine with your countrymen who are more than willing to assist the Imperium’s goals as long as there is gold involved. Your country rots from the inside out. Perhaps I have been a diplomat for too long and forgotten the ways of the Iron Guard, but because you came under a flag of truce, though it pains me, protocol demands that I must allow you to leave in peace.”
Dan breathed a huge sigh of relief. It looked like he wasn’t going to have to try to Talk their way out after all.
“That was a most difficult decision. When we meet again, I will not be merciful. In fact, now that I know that any of you somehow survived the Tokugawa means that you will be inevitably hunted down and exterminated.” The ambassador stood. Though he was withered and aged, the old warrior still carried himself with pride. He clapped once. The doors opened and the soldiers filed back in. “See them out. Keep them away from the guests.”
Dan was hauled roughly to his feet by the guards. It was degrading, but he was glad to be leaving. Avenging Heinrich could wait until they weren’t outnumbered ten to one. When Sullivan didn’t get up fast enough for them, one of the guards grabbed Sullivan’s arm, but the Heavy just shrugged the man off. Subguns were leveled his way and bolts were retracted. Dan could appreciate his companion’s stubbornness, but sure wished that he was better at knowing when to pick his fights.
Sullivan took his time standing up. “Make sure your superiors listen, ambassador. I’d hate to have to come back here.”
“An Imperium man does not have fear… except for this Enemy. It will be done.” The ambassador walked for the exit. The guards formed a protective line between him and the Grimnoir. “Farewell.” He paused and looked down at his foot as something tiny and brown leapt across his shoe. “What’s this?”
“Incoming!” the mouse shouted with a surprisingly loud voice.
Grabbing his Power, Dan opened his mouth to shout one of the Japanese phrases he’d been practicing, but before he could get the words out, Sullivan thrust one hand out and caught him by the wrist. Suddenly gravity bent. The table and chairs tumbled away and the room’s occupants were airborne.
He had never been on the receiving end of one of Sullivan’s gravity manipulating tricks before. Dan found himself dangling by one arm, only kept from being flung across the room by Sullivan’s grasp. Down was wrong. Instead of being on the ground where it always was, it was somewhere behind him, where the Imperium marines were crashing through the silk screens. It was disorienting, like the most effective carnival fun house ever, only there wasn’t anything funny about gravity being violated. It was frankly terrifying.
Sullivan released his Power and down returned to being down. Dan hit the floor at Sullivan’s feet with a grunt. He’d done better than the Imperium men, who had been spread across the room. The Heavy wasted no time yanking him up. “Run for it.”
Lance’s mouse had an easier time disentangling himself than the humans. The little thing stopped in the doorway ahead of them. “Iron Guard headed your way. The Chairman ordered him to pop you. I’ve got-”
A polished dress shoe squished the mouse flat.
“You again,” Sullivan said.
Dan looked up to see Toru standing in the doorway blocking their escape. The Iron Guard was holding a gigantic four-foot-long metal club in one
hand. He surveyed the damage, said something in Japanese to the guards that had landed on the ambassador, then pointed his club at Sullivan’s chest and shouted another order. He stepped forward, swinging, but Sullivan used his Power and the Iron Guard was hurled back. The club tore a big chunk out of the wall as Toru tried to catch himself, but then he spun through and disappeared from sight. Sullivan charged right after him.
“Jake!” The guards were getting up. Dan spied one of the weird Jap subguns and snatched it off the floor. He kicked the closest Imperium man in the face for good measure. “Shit!” Dan ran after the Heavy as a guard started firing pistol bullets right over his head.
Somebody had just stomped him and all his guts had exploded out his side. The pain was astounding, but it only lasted for a split second.
The real Lance Talon came back to consciousness lying on the cold bed of his truck, a mortar round still clutched in his hands. The sensation had overpowered both parts of him and put him flat on his back. There were certainly some disadvantages to being able to use all of the animal’s senses. Luckily the feeling went away as soon as the link did, because it was something you never got used to.
Lance found his pocket watch and opened it. He’d inscribed the spell on the glass earlier. This wasn’t taking too much Power because it was only to one other person, and she was nice and close. The glass showed nothing but black. “Jane! You there?”
She must have adjusted her mirror, because a pretty face swung into view. “I’m here.”
“Your husband will be needing a ride right quick.”
Jane started her car. “I’m on the way.”
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