Revenge's Web (Kieran Grey Psionic Hunter)

by R. B. Fivecoat

  The little girl looked up at me, disbelief filled her eyes. She was suddenly on the verge of flooding with tears. “Y-y-you, you are really my, Sister?” Her little voice was choked as she fought to control her emotions.

  I knelt in front of her. Then I took her hands in mine. Looking into those eyes, I felt like agreeing to anything. “Yes, I am your Sister. My name is Kieran, Kieran Grey.”

  She started crying, just a little, then looked at me expectantly. “Do you know my name?” My heart broke.

  “Yes, yes I do. Your name is Cassie. Cassie is short for Cassandra. Cassie Grey.”

  The tears flowed freely now. She was crying openly. “Big Sister!” She threw herself into my arms. I couldn’t help but hug her tightly to me. Then I began to cry. I felt something deep inside me, something good and warm. Again, I felt . . .

  home.

  * * *

  I introduced Cassie to everyone once we both stopped crying. She was surprised to find out Emmy was her sister as well, but because I’d named her, she would answer to me first. We moved out to the shooting range at Yuric’s instance. Cassie kept hold of my left arm. She hugged it like she was afraid that if she let go I would disappear. I didn’t mind.

  “Now my dear, are you pleased with your gifts?”

  “Yes Yuric,” I looked down at Cassie, at her angelic face. “I am very pleased.”

  “Then it is time to amaze you once more.” He asked me for my regular gun. After he asked me how many rounds it had, he held it out to Cassie. “Full clip, heart and head my Child,” he said moving her to the target.

  The target was a standard silhouette outline ten meters away. I hated seeing her with a gun in her hands. It seemed so wrong for such an innocent looking child to hold a weapon. She stepped up to the block, and had to stand on a footstool to be able to aim over the safety wall. It only took her two seconds to fire all seven rounds. I had to close my mouth from astonishment when she finished.

  “Was that good enough?” Cassie asked like she was worried she hadn’t passed some important test.

  The target had four holes over the heart and three holes in the very center of the head. They were grouped so close together that each group would’ve fit inside a quarter. It was good shooting. Excellent shooting by my standards. When I told her so, she lit up. She was so proud that she had made me happy. I couldn’t help but be proud of her myself.

  “Very good, young one,” Yuric said. “You have continued to please me with your accomplishments. Now I must leave you with your Sister. Please watch over her as you have watched over me.”

  “Thank you Master Yuric. Thank you for finding me my Big Sister.” She bowed her head to him.

  Yuric turned to me. “She has been given the same weapons as you, with the exception of the sword. She will follow your every order. Do take care of her.”

  “I will. And tell the Council that I will find a way to stop Jacob.”

  “We are counting on it.”

  “Oh! Yuric, one more thing. We still have Douglas Adams, the rapist vampire locked up downtown. Naturally he refuses to answer any questions. I think he may be able to lead us to Jacob. Any idea on how to make him talk?”

  Yuric was quiet for a few seconds. “Keep him locked away for the next two nights. Make sure he is not allowed to feed. On the third night arrange to have him brought to the Dark Towers. I will be there then, and I will get the answers from him you require.”

  “Thank you Yuric. I’ll see you again in three nights then.”

  I’m sure it shouldn’t be a problem to arrange. He is my prisoner after all. I mean, I did literally jump out of a skyscraper in order to catch him.

  * * *

  Cassie’s suitcase held her assortment of weapons. She had only one other change of clothes in her backpack. We all agreed that she needed more clothes. Emmy volunteered to take her to the Tailor. I decided to go with them.

  I’m sure I’ll meet this Tailor sooner or later. Might as well get it over with. He can’t be any worse than anything in the Halls of Horrors, right?

  I decided to take some of the blades with me, just for fun. I opted not to take the sword or the bigger knives. We weren’t going to war after all.

  Well, not yet anyway.

  I did take the throwing knives. They fit in a thigh sheath under my skirt. The skirt hid the knives perfectly. It was easy to reach up just beyond the hem and slide one out, but it felt funny to walk. The sheath rode high on the thigh, so high it rubbed against my panties -- and other things -- just like the small pistol in the garter on the other thigh. It wasn’t unpleasant, not at all, but I didn’t need any extra embarrassment while in public. I embarrassed myself easily enough as it was.

  When putting on the knives I’d accidentally knocked one of the large straight blades off the table. It imbedded itself into the marble floor with a resonating THUD! A good four inches of the blade had penetrated the smooth rock. That was from the weight of the blade alone. Everyone stared at the blade. None of us had ever seen a knife that could cut through rock like that.

  Well, none of us except Cassie.

  She walked up and pulled the blade smoothly from the floor. In her hands the large knife looked like a sword. I was reminded of the story of the Sword in the Stone.

  Gently she wiped the dust from the blade. Then the child spun the blade around in her hand like it was a baton. She did tricks with the extremely sharp blade that I was afraid to do even with a padded stick.

  Her smile lit the room as we all stared at her amazed. “I have a pair of these too. They’re quite good. Can I show you how sharp they are?”

  I didn’t know what to think about that question. Marsala told her that the podium was being replaced soon, so she could use it. He’d said it like he knew what would happen. Cassie walked to the aging steel and stone podium, the black metal framed poured marble. She took two swipes at it. One straight down, the other across the middle. The movement left her in a crouch with the blade extending from her hand like an extension of herself.

  Standing up she pointed at the podium. “See.” She seemed so proud of herself.

  We all gathered around the podium. None of us could see any difference. I was going to ask her just what we were looking for, but then Tanaka touched the center of the podium. It was a light touch, just a brushing of skin across the surface. Suddenly the podium split into four chunks falling to the floor with a great CRASH!

  The knife had cut clear through it.

  Cassie twirled the blade around her hand then tossed it in the air. She spun around catching it in mid-fall. It was a move done by any gymnastic baton twirler. Although, knowing how sharp that blade was made the trick that much more impressive.

  “Careful,” I hissed as I cringed, with visions of severed fingers clattering to the floor dancing in my head.

  She looked at me and her smile faded. “Don’t worry Big Sister. I’ve trained with blades like these for months now. Besides, I would heal. I heal really fast, honest.”

  “I know Sweetie.” Wait!? Sweetie?! Where the hell did that come from? I met her less than an hour ago, and now she’s Sweetie? “But there is no sense in getting hurt if you can avoid it, okay? I am very impressed though, at you, as well as the blades.”

  She smiled again. It was always a great smile. I would’ve done almost anything for that smile. Crawling naked across broken glass in the salt flats at 120° and stuff like that.

  “Are all the knives that sharp?” I asked with honest curiosity.

  “Yeah, even the small ones.” Cassie put the large blade back on the table. She grabbed one of the smaller four inch folding knives. Then she held it out to me. “This is a good one too. It’s small enough to carry, but still as sharp as the bigger ones. It makes a good everyday knife.”

  I hadn’t planned on taking any more weapons with me. However, since Cassie was suggesting it, I felt like I should take it. “Thanks, but where am I supposed to put it?”

  “I know where,” Emmy said taking
the knife from Cassie.

  She stood me up then had me unbutton the next button of my blouse, fully revealing my bra with my back to the men in the room. “Use the clip on the knife. Clip it to your under-wire. It’ll remain hidden there, but you’ll still be able to get to it easily,” Emmy explained. I took the knife. After clipping it to the center of my bra I closed the blouse again. The hidden knife added a slight weight to the bra. It fit more comfortably than I’d thought it would.

  “That is a neat idea Emmy,” I said.

  “As a woman you must learn to adapt, and still look good while doing it.”

  How true, but all of my male thoughts are screaming, “Cool! Swords! Let’s cut stuff up!”

  Chapter 6

  Marsala and Tanaka left us in the conference room. Emmy told them that we needed some, “girl time”.

  Whatever that means?

  She had me double check that the jamming cube I’d got from Nikolai was on, while she checked the doors. Once satisfied that we were really alone, she pulled out a black box from one of the chairs under the table.

  “While you were busy talking with Yuric, Jamison told me about this box. He said that inside is a secret gift for the three of us from Yuric. And, to only open it when we were all alone.”

  More gifts? Boy, he sure was generous today.

  “Okay, let’s see what’s inside then.”

  The three of us sat on the floor with the box between us. It felt like a secret club meeting. Cassie held on to my left hand, she was so happy with any little contact I would give her. Emmy sighed at us a few times then reached down and took off the lid of the box, ready for anything.

  Knowing Yuric, I’d expected the box to hold more weapons. Man was I wrong.

  Inside were three heart-shaped gold lockets. Each one had pictures inside of the other two of us. Where did they get the pictures? These damn vampires can get their hands on anything. I’d bet they could even get me tickets to any sold out concert of my choice. Backstage passes even.

  They were neat lockets. We each picked up the one without our own picture in it. They were incredibly light. The gold glittered in the lights. Cassie took her hand away from me, holding her locket in both of her hands.

  “Master Yuric gave me this on my birthday! Then he took it back. He said he was getting it fixed, but nothing was wrong with it . . . now your pictures are inside it.” She closed the locket and twisted the heart in her hand. A small heart shaped blade extended out from the point of the pendant. Cassie drew the blade across the corner of one of the chunks of what used to be the podium. She cut a chunk out of the metal like you’d cut out a chunk of bad potato. “Master Yuric said I should keep this a secret so I could use it whenever I needed to get out of a jam.”

  I watched her place the heart shaped blade back with another twist of the locket between her fingers.

  That is one useful piece of jewelry. Wait, did she say it was a birthday present?! When was her birthday? How old is she? Why am I suddenly worried about it?

  “I’m sorry I missed your birthday Cassie.”

  “That’s okay. It was in October. I turned seven this year! Besides, Master Yuric finally found you for me. That’s an even better present.”

  I hugged her. I just couldn’t stop myself.

  Damn Yuric! He messed with my mind, making me like this kid. Hell, I even trust her! He’s got some serious explaining to do!

  “Well, we get to have Christmas together now don’t we? I guess we’ll just have to have an extra big party to make up for all the ones we missed,” I said smiling at her.

  I felt Emmy place her hand on my knee. She was smiling at me, with just a hint of tears glistening in her eyes. “Yes we will all be together for the holidays this year,” she said, and gave my knee a light squeeze.

  “We all have matching lockets now. That seems like a sisterly thing. How did you open the blade on yours again?” I asked Cassie with genuine interest.

  Cassie showed me how to twist the heart. Just like hers, a small blade expanded from mine. Emmy copied us. Cute little lockets, with a hidden blade that cuts through steel like butter. That’s one fashion accessory I can use. We each put on the lockets.

  “I have one more thing for . . . well, I suppose both of you actually,” Emmy said.

  She got up and retrieved her metal briefcase from over by the doors where she’d left it. She sat back down and opened the case. Inside were three high-tech futuristic looking pistols and holsters. One pistol was slightly smaller than the others.

  “These are prototypes. Eight full size and one compact, each with two clips apiece. I had the other six of them sent to your place. I didn’t know Cassie would be joining us, but I think the compact one will be a good fit for her. It was originally for a concealed carry for you Kieran.”

  I picked up one of the full size guns. It was light, and about the same size as the Walther pistols. The clip ejected easily into my hands. There were no bullets, it was solid!

  What the hell is this thing?

  “What type of guns are these?” I asked.

  “Ionized plasma pulse guns,” Emmy answered me as if I should’ve known what that meant.

  “I don’t understand.” Cassie was whispering as she hesitated then picked up the compact version. It fit her smaller hands well.

  “They are like Taser guns,” Emmy explained. “Each one fires a pulse of ionized plasma. When it hits the body the electric charge is released causing paralysis and loss of consciousness. It even works through clothes and armor. One shot will bring down an average sized human for about three hours, with little side effects. Generally they’ll wake up with one world of a bad headache is all. Larger animals, vampires and lycanthropes all need a higher dose to bring them down. Usually three shots will drop anything. It only takes four shots to bring down a full grown elephant. When in doubt of whether or not the subject is human, shoot them again. The charge carried cannot kill regardless of how many times shot, it only keeps them out longer. The impact, however, will cause some tissue damage.

  “Each shot hits with the same impact as a .22 caliber but dissipates without breaking the skin. That also means that these guns can kill if abused. The blunt trauma from the impact from close range on certain vital spots on the body could cause permanent damage, or death, so aim for center mass only.

  “As for ammo, there is none. Each clip holds a self-recharging plasma core. Each time you fire it takes power away from the core. The core will allow you to fire fifty times with the regular guns, and thirty with the compact one. When you’ve fired all of your shots, you will need to change clips, or wait. The core will recharge itself over time. It takes about ten-seconds to replace each shot fired. But, in the middle of a firefight ten-seconds is an eternity. There is an indicator on the back of the gun that shows how many shots you have left. They do not work at all underwater though. Remember that. Don’t even try using them in the rain either. Firing one of these in the water is bad. Really bad.”

  “Where’d you get these?” I asked.

  “I have a private research team separate from the Archives. They created the guns as an alternative for local law enforcement. This way police could shoot without worrying as much about killing the suspect. The Government is always looking for new less-lethal forms of law enforcement. These guns could solve that problem with a little more development.”

  “Okay, why give them all to me then?”

  “It gives you another choice when in the field. Plus” -- she stopped with a deep sigh -- “a number of different research projects have gone missing from the Archives lately. It’s possible someone is stealing them for an opposing faction. Honestly, we just don’t know what’s happening. Any projects I have an interest in, I’ve had transferred to my private research team away from the Archives. That way no one can steal them from me. I want you to have the guns, both to use and to protect.”

  “I get to keep this?” Cassie asked, cradling the gun in her arms like any other child would a f
avorite toy.

  “Yes dear, you do. Oh, and Jamison asked me to give this to you. He finished it up when you were busy earlier. I’ve got to admit, he’s quite the craftsman.”

  Emmy handed Cassie a wallet like mine. Cassie left the gun in her lap to use both hands to accept the wallet. She opened it slowly. Her eyes grew so wide I was afraid they would burst. She was staring at the badge. The silver GCP badge sparkled in the lights. Then she started to cry.

  “My name. It has my name,” she was whispering to herself through her tears.

  She placed her hand over the I.D. like she was caressing an heirloom of a beloved relative long since passed.

  Never in my life have I ever known a single name to be that important.

  “That proves that you’re our sister, and that you are my partner. Take care not to lose it, okay?”

  “I’ll never let it out of my sight,” she was still whispering.

  Can she get anymore adorable?

  Emmy took off her lab coat. Then she put on one of the pulse guns in a shoulder holster. I raised an eyebrow at her.

  “You said it yourself. We have a traitor among us. I am fully licensed to carry a concealed handgun you know. No harm in being prepared.”

  “Agreed. Come to think of it, can we get Vicki and Mary gun licenses? They’re in as much danger as the rest of us, just from being around me all the time.”

  “While you were unconscious we trained Mary how to use a gun, and we gave her a low level of security clearance as well. She’s no expert, but I believe she could handle herself. Unfortunately, she’s still only seventeen. A normal license would require that she be twenty-one first. I can’t even get a special license for her until she turns eighteen, since she’s not a GCP officer. I’ll make sure she has one of the pulse guns with her while she is at home though. Home defense is a different story. She just can’t have the guns with her outside. She does have OC spray though, for what good it will do her. As for Vicki, she knows how to shoot, and it shouldn’t be a problem to license her. I can finish the paperwork on her while Cassie is with the Tailor. Ren could use some help though.”