Atlas (The Atlas Series)

by Becca C. Smith

  “Definitely a power, and yes, he can jump in whenever he wants to. That’s how I ended up in New York,” Kala explained.

  “And you escaped this… Asmodeus?” Turner prodded.

  Kala realized she’d have to bring up the Malaks as well. “I escaped while he was distracted with a Malak.”

  “An Angel?” Turner asked curiously.

  “They call themselves Malaks,” Kala said, impressed at Turner’s knowledge. “But yeah, I guess they’re Angels.”

  “Yes, the word Malak means Angel in Arabic. This is old magic,” Turner said as if categorizing Kala’s particular situation in a filing bin in his head.

  “Magic?” Kala asked timidly.

  “Oh yes.” Turner appeared to be opening up at the excitement of all the day’s new revelations. “My wife Roberta is a student of all kinds of magic. She’s quite an expert. Vodun is her strongest suit, but she’s dabbled in old magic from the Greeks and the Arabs. She’ll be very interested to hear about all this.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about this too much. Wouldn’t General Clifton try and have us all executed or committed to a psychiatric ward?” Kala didn’t like the idea of Turner telling people, even if it was his wife, about her situation. She barely understood it herself and she figured in two days when she didn’t accomplish her mission Turner would have enough on his hands trying to save the world.

  “Let me handle Harry. I won’t be able to stop him from hunting you, but I will be able to help you hide. I’m developing a system now for tracking people and making people disappear. They go hand-in-hand as you might guess. As for this Demon fellow, how is he tracking you?” Turner was in business-mode and Kala felt a surge of hope that maybe good old-fashioned science might help her through this, rather than crazy-magic-DNA-transformation like Penny had done to her before.

  “Supposedly, once he knows who I am he can track me anywhere in the world. He said I have a distinct signature. Penny said it was my DNA and she was actually able to shift my DNA profile enough to hide me from him,” Kala explained as best she could. She still wasn’t quite sure how all this worked.

  Turner was genuinely flabbergasted. “Shifting DNA? Interesting. I’ll have to tell Fortski. He’ll definitely be interested in hearing about this.”

  Kala had no idea who Fortski was, but she assumed he was one of Turner’s main scientist-inventors for Turner to mention him by name.

  “Do you think anything you have will help hide me from Asmodeus?” Kala wanted to know if there was a chance at success here.

  “Possibly.” They arrived at a sealed metal door. “Through here.” Turner opened the secured door with a biometric scan of his eye and they entered the most insane room Kala had ever seen.

  The room itself was the size of a football field jammed packed with enough electronics to make Kala’s head spin. It was hard to focus on any one thing at a time. Almost every inch of space was taken by some kind of machine or computer, all with wires, blinking lights and robotic parts. She saw a few of those brain-machines that had been used on her sitting empty against the wall.

  After averting her eyes from all the flashing lights, Kala finally noticed a handful of scientists busy at work at various stations. None of them looked up at the two of them as Turner led her to the middle of the room.

  “Here we are.” Turner stopped in front of a small metal pedestal that came up to Kala’s waist. There was what looked like a type of tranquilizer gun resting on top, a row of tubes filled with red liquid next to it.

  “Is that blood?” Kala asked about the red tubes. She really didn’t want it to be blood, but the closer she examined it, the more she knew what Turner would say.

  “Every type, yes,” Turner confirmed her suspicions. “This is the prototype. You’d be one of the first human volunteers.”

  “Awesome,” Kala said, trying to hide the sarcasm from her tone. “What does it do?”

  “It uses nanotechnology. Inside the blood are the teeniest tiniest devices, not even the size of a single blood cell. The devices are GPS trackers, once injected into the bloodstream, we’d be able to find that person anywhere on the globe, but we found that the GPS trackers mutated in the specimens and it had the opposite effect. The nanos completely hid the injected volunteer from any tracking system available today.”

  “Why?” Kala was curious.

  “No idea. We’re still trying to figure it out.”

  Kala was skeptical, but tried to be hopeful. “So you think it might work on me?”

  “To be candid, I have no clue, but it’s worth a shot, right?” Turner was acting more like a concerned friend than Kala’s superior officer, but she found his attitude reassuring.

  Fighting magic with science. It was something Kala felt she could have faith in. Having to admit that Demons and Angels were real was a hard pill to swallow, but now, maybe with this room of craziness, she’d have a real shot at some kind of defense. Being a soldier with no way to protect herself was new to Kala. She hated feeling so helpless. Growing up, helpless was all she’d ever felt, and it bothered her that she was back in a situation that she couldn’t control. Enlisting in the Navy had been one of the ways that helped her achieve a sense of stability in her life. This whole Atlas-thing was beyond her imagination.

  Of course, the room she was standing in was beyond her imagination as well, but it still felt more real than what she had experienced in the last two days.

  “But will the Compound be able to track me with this?” Kala didn’t want General Clifton being able to pinpoint her exact location when he regained consciousness.

  “Not if you have the same reaction as the other volunteer.” Turner picked up the injection gun. “Shall we?” He smiled. He was enjoying this way too much.

  “Too late.”

  Kala cringed as she recognized Asmodeus’s voice behind her.

  Don’t touch me! Kala yelled in her head.

  Before turning around to see Asmodeus’s smug face, Kala leapt forward, jumping behind a particularly large machine. She had no idea what purpose it served, but right now, it served as a barrier between her and Teleport Boy.

  “Really?” Asmodeus seemed more amused than thwarted. “You don’t even want to kill the guy. I’m just going to take you to a place where you can’t for two days. Is that so bad?” Asmodeus acted as if he and Kala were the only two in the room.

  Kala peeked behind the large square of a machine to see that Turner was gone. He must have ducked and run when Kala had. She couldn’t worry about the General at the moment, though, since Asmodeus was ten feet away and staring straight at her.

  “After the world ends or whatever, what do you plan on doing with me then?” Kala already knew the answer, which was why she wasn’t going anywhere with the King of Demons.

  Asmodeus looked like he was weighing the pros and cons of what to say next, then he finally shrugged in resignation. “Okay, I’ll probably kill you. But not because I don’t find you irresistible.”

  “Comforting.” Kala wished she could punch him. And yet he truly seemed conflicted about his attraction to her. Even Demons always wanted what they couldn’t have.

  Kala decided to pull out the charm, from a distance of course, since Asmodeus hadn’t moved from where he had popped in. Kala smiled the smile that had gotten her free drinks since she was seventeen. “If I’m dead, you’ll never know if I would have chosen to be with you.”

  Mission accomplished. Asmodeus’s face looked stricken. It really did bother him that Kala wasn’t interested. Like, a lot.

  “I really can’t,” Asmodeus said this as if he was turning Kala down for something simple like a date rather than her death. “You have to die and you have to die by ritual,” he sighed like it was out of his hands. “It’s only because Atlas needs to grow a pair and show himself after 2,000 years of tricking you idiots into doing his job.” Asmodeus appeared to need to explain himself.

  Kala wasn’t expecting that tidbit of insight into her current em
ployment situation, but any information was good. “I’m not going with you.” Kala stared him straight in the eye.

  “You don’t really have a choice.” Asmodeus stared back.

  “Yes, she does.” Turner appeared from seemingly nowhere. He said a few words in a language that Kala didn’t recognize and injected Asmodeus’s neck with something from the tracker gun he held earlier. Kala could see from where she stood, that it wasn’t one of the blood vials, it looked like a vial of black ooze.

  To Kala’s surprise, Asmodeus screamed in anguish, clutching his neck like it was on fire.

  In the mayhem of Asmodeus thrashing wildly around the room, desperately trying to gain control of himself, Turner hurried to Kala’s side.

  “What was that?” Kala asked in shock.

  “Unfortunately for you I can’t explain in time. You have to get out of here. I called my wife and she told me what to do on the fly, but I’m not sure how long he’ll be in that state.”

  Asmodeus had resorted to his screeching cry that made the hairs on Kala’s arm stick up. It was much nicer when he was a frat-boy-douche-bag than a screeching Demon-lord.

  Turner grabbed Kala by the hand and guided her through a maze of machines toward the opposite end of the room. Kala noticed that the scientists had evacuated the lab. It made her marvel at how quickly employees of the Compound reacted to intrusions. Kala wondered how many times the Compound had been compromised. Until today, she would have said zero, but the way everyone responded made her re-think that.

  When the two of them arrived at the door, Turner pulled Kala in close so he could whisper. “Roberta says Demons have incredible hearing. Even in his current state, Asmodeus will be trying to listen to us. Here.” Kala finally noticed the small duffel Turner had slung over one shoulder. He pulled out the injection gun and loaded it with a vial of blood. “B positive. We have your medical records here.”

  Kala leaned her head down so Turner could inject her neck. As the gun deposited its contents into Kala’s bloodstream, Kala felt a small flush of warmth course through her.

  Then nothing. Back to normal.

  Turner shrugged with an encouraging smile, “Let’s hope it works.”

  Asmodeus’s screaming intensified and the sound of crashing equipment made Kala jump in spite of herself.

  Turner appeared very impressed with himself. “It’s lasting longer than I expected.” The General handed Kala the duffel. “I have two shots left of the stuff I injected our friend with. It’s some kind of concoction Roberta made and you have to say these three words as you inject it.” Turner gave Kala a piece of paper with three words she didn’t recognize on it. “I spelled them out phonetically.” There was also an address written on the paper. “Stay there tonight. If that anti-tracker works, you should be safe there. My wife will meet you in a few hours. She’ll teach you some tricks.”

  Kala took the duffel, feeling a little bit better about her situation than before. From the sound of Asmodeus’s screeching and flailing. Turner’s wife obviously knew some kind of magic defense measures.

  Opening the secured exit, Turner motioned for Kala to leave. “The platform is down the hall and two exits to your right. I’ve informed the guards on duty to expect you. You won’t be stopped.” Turner placed a hand on Kala’s shoulder and squeezed it supportively. “Good luck, Lieutenant Hicks.”

  Kala saluted General Turner. “Thank you, General.” She slung the duffel over her shoulder and ran down the hallway.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Kala arrived at the address scribbled on the piece of paper General Turner had given her with relative ease. She figured the anti-tracker must have worked since Asmodeus hadn’t reared his annoyingly attractive head since she’d left the Compound. Kala also figured that if Asmodeus did catch up with her he’d be extremely pissed. She had probably lost all leverage with the Demon. Somehow she doubted he wanted a girl who was partially responsible for causing him some serious pain. (Although, with Asmodeus, she never knew.)

  Leaving Derek and Jack behind was the hardest part of it all. Kala felt especially bad for Derek. He had been so confused by what had happened, it made Kala feel horribly guilty. At least Jack knew about Demons and Malaks and Atlas and Ugh, Kala didn’t want to think about it anymore.

  Kala held on to the duffel Turner had given her like it was a lifeline. To see Asmodeus debilitated like Turner had done made her filled with happiness. She didn’t want to be cruel, but he was the King of Demons and he did want to kill her for some ‘ritual’ or whatever.

  The address Turner gave her was a typical looking brownstone off of 10th street. The neighborhood wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. It was exactly the definition of ordinary.

  Hiding in plain sight, Kala figured as she walked up the cracked cement stairs to the wooden door leading inside.

  Kala turned the doorknob.

  Locked.

  Expecting this, Kala pulled out two paper clips that Turner had placed in the duffel. She had wondered why they were in there, and now her suspicions were confirmed. A part of Kala’s training involved picking locks and doing it on very little. Instead of leaving a key that could be traceable, Turner had left the paper clips, relying on Kala’s skills to get her in. After a few minutes of grumbling, Kala heard the click of the door unlocking.

  Inside was just as ordinary as the outside, simple leather furniture, hardwood floors, wood-framed non-descript paintings and a couple of fake houseplants. Overall, brown was the way Kala would describe it, lots and lots of brown. The couch sung out to Kala’s exhaustion like a siren calling her prey. She plopped down on the faded leather and nothing felt so plushy and soft as that couch did in that moment.

  Looking around for a clock, Kala finally spotted an old fashioned grandfather clock against the far wall adjacent to a brick fireplace. She was getting used to seeing time in terms of her mission. A countdown to an epic failure, but a countdown none-the-less.

  2d 07h 05m 13s: 10:53PM.

  Sometimes being a simple human wasn’t exactly ideal. Kala wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep, but she knew she needed to wait for Turner’s wife, Roberta. If she could teach Kala a trick or two, Kala would be a very happy girl.

  After a half hour of lying down on the couch trying desperately not to fall asleep, Kala heard the click of the front door opening. She was instantly on guard, peeling off the couch and plastering herself against the wall. She wanted the advantage if the visitor wasn’t Roberta.

  “You can come out in the open, I’m here to help,” a female voice came from the hallway.

  Kala stepped out to see a very beautiful older woman walking toward her. Though the woman was a little too botoxed for Kala’s preference, and maybe a little young in Kala’s opinion to have a face-lift, she still looked great. Long black hair fell to her shoulders in perfect waves, and her eyes were almost the same color, both in stark contrast to her pale skin. Kala imagined that Roberta Turner must have been quite a stunner in her younger years and figured that was why Roberta was going a little overboard trying to keep her youthful appearance. Any more surgeries, though, and she’d start to look like a cat. Her expression was sharp, but there was kindness behind it as well. Kala immediately liked her without explanation. There was just something in the way Roberta held herself, a kind of confidence that Kala respected. That and the fact that Kala knew this lady was responsible for causing frat-demon-boy pain. Definitely a power to be reckoned with.

  When Roberta arrived at Kala’s side she handed her a large leather satchel. “Put that on the table, we have a lot to talk about.”

  Kala did as she was told and placed the bag and its precious contents on the round wooden table situated between the couch and the kitchen. “I’m Kala by the way,” she said in a friendly tone.

  Roberta took a second before she responded, then she smiled and shook her head. “I apologize, I’m still reeling about what Geoffrey told me. I completely forgot my manners. I’m Roberta, General Turner’s wife.�
�� Roberta put her hand out in greeting.

  Kala took it and when her hand clasped Roberta’s she felt a warmth. From the look in Roberta’s eyes, she felt it as well. “We’re going to get along just fine,” Roberta said what Kala was thinking.

  Taking the duffel Turner had given her, Kala plopped it next to the leather satchel. “The General gave me the black ooze gun, along with what words to say. What is this stuff anyway?” Kala pulled out a vial and examined it.

  Roberta sat down and motioned for Kala to do the same. After they were both situated, Roberta started taking out smaller leather pouches from her bag. The pouches were tied shut, but Kala could smell odd odors coming from them. Roberta explained, “The ‘ooze’ is made up of these various herbs and other ingredients. I’ll give you a list for the future. Combined with the right spell, you can cause a lot of havoc to Demons and Angels.” Roberta looked at Kala thoughtfully. “Geoffrey only told me a little of what’s happening, so you’ll have to fill me in if you really want me to help you. And believe me, I’m one of the few people on this planet who can really help you.”

  At this point Kala felt like she had nothing to lose. She told Roberta everything. Everything except the fact that Kala’s mission was to kill her boyfriend, and the fact that she wasn’t going to complete it. But everything else she told Roberta, and after she finished Roberta’s eyes were alight with anticipation.

  “I’ve been telling Geoffrey for years that Demons and… ‘Malaks’ you call them?” Roberta continued when Kala nodded her head in confirmation. “I’ve been a practitioner of magic since I was a girl, but Geoffrey only paid it little mind until today. He’s lucky I look out for him and stock his lab or he wouldn’t have had the proper ingredients to banish that Demon.”

  “Asmodeus didn’t go anywhere though, he just screamed in pain and couldn’t seem to snap out of it.” Kala tried to paint Roberta a picture of what she had seen happen.

  “If I had been there, I could have banished him. Geoffrey barely believed it would work. I think it was only his faith in me that made the spell have any success. Magic is about belief, the stronger the belief, the stronger the practitioner,” Roberta explained.