Seven Deadly Sons

by C. E. Martin

  "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse us?" Kenslir said, looking at the EMTs. Both nodded and stepped away, going to help their coworkers gather pieces of the undead security guard.

  "They're with you?" Alvarro said, surprised.

  "We look after our own," Kenslir explained.

  "What about my partner?"

  "She's been airlifted to a local hospital and is in stable condition. You'll be able to join her there shortly."

  Kenslir waved a hand at Pam Keegan who was talking to local uniformed officers outside the crime scene tape that had been hastily put up around Mosley's home.

  Josie put down the oxygen mask, noting the look of concern from Jimmy when she did so. "I'm fine."

  She turned to the Colonel. "Sir, I don't think he was the killer."

  As Alvarro and Jimmy started to protest, Kenslir held up a hand. "I'm inclined to agree. Ms. Wallach?"

  Javi frowned at the detective—he clearly wasn't a member of the Colonel's team. But orders were orders. "There have been six other murders around the world before Mr. Katz. This security guard could not have committed them all."

  Alvarro let out a long sigh. "So this was for nothing? Our suspect is dead and we have no other leads? And what exactly was he, a vampire?"

  "I don't think so," Josie said. "A vampire, I mean. The sunlight didn't seem to affect him. And I did put a table leg through his heart."

  "Thanks for that, by the way," Alvarro said. He barely suppressed a shudder, remembering how Mosley had sent him hurling across the room, breaking his ribs. The next instant, the vampire was on him, ready to sink his elongated canine teeth into the detective's neck. Until Josie had put a broken table leg into Mosley's back.

  Javi kept watching the Colonel out of the corner of her eye, unsure how much she should say.

  "We do have one more lead," Kenslir said. "Another potential target, here in Miami."

  "Where?" Pam Keegan asked, walking up to the group.

  "Pam, you and Jimmy will go pick up Mr. Greenberg and escort him back to the Tower. We'll place him under guard for tonight. Address will be in your TTVs."

  Kenslir glanced down at Jimmy's bare feet. "You've got a change of clothes in the van," he said and handed Jimmy a keyring.

  "Tonight?" Alvarro asked. "What's tonight?"

  "The attacks have all taken place in the dead of night," Javi said. She didn't trust any of the people present—no telling which of them was a parahuman and which wasn't.

  "We're going to set up some surveillance on the other target's home."

  "Count me in," Alvarro said, wincing as he finally got his shirt on.

  "You don't look like you're in any condition to do much," Javi commented.

  "I'll and avoid any heavy lifting," Alvarro said. "You need eyes, and mine still work."

  "So we do think there's more vampires out there?" Jimmy asked. He clenched and unclenched his fists, eager for a rematch.

  "I'm not so sure that's what we're dealing with," Kenslir said, looking to Josie.

  "I'm not sure I want to know what else is out there," Alvarro said, buttoning up his shirt. "Werewolves, vampires, people made of stone."

  "Stone?" Javi asked

  "Josie, I'd like you to accompany Detective Sierra to the hospital, check on Detective Harris and get yourself checked out."

  Josie bristled. "I'm fine, I just overexerted my-" She stopped talking when the Colonel gave her one of his parental stares.

  "Then what?" she asked.

  "I think it's time we had an expert examine Mr. Mosley's remains."

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  "So what is this place?" Javi asked once they'd walked through another large blast door. It was on another sub-level of the military's office building.

  Instead of a small, vault-like chamber like the one she'd awakened in earlier, this chamber was enormous. Three stories high and over a hundred feet across. All around the large chamber were desks, work stations, medical cabinets and the various pieces of equipment she would have expected to find in a hospital. All the more out of place given what was in the middle of the chamber.

  A large pool of water, at least fifty feet across dominated the chamber. It was crystal clear with a platform stretching across it like a bridge. On the platform were four medical stations, each with what looked like surgical tables.

  "Your superiors wanted full disclosure in exchange for your assistance—quid pro quo, you called it," Kenslir said. "Welcome to the Fountain of Youth."

  On the edge of the Fountain, near some work stations, three people were talking, two in long white labcoats, one in surgical scrubs. A wheel chair was at the ready. Javi also recognized several resuscitative pieces of equipment.

  "Colonel!" one of the subjects in a labcoat called out. He was an elderly man, nearly as tall as Kenslir, with gray, curly hair and a pair of glasses with the left lens tinted black.

  "Doctor King," Kenslir responded, walking over. "This is Ms. Wallach." The Colonel stopped a dozen feet from the edge of the wide pool.

  "Pleased to meet you," Doctor King said, taking Javi's hand excitedly and pumping it. "This is Doctor Guerrera and our assistant, Mr. Trumball."

  Doctor Guerrera smiled, shaking Javi's hand as well. She was a Latina, with long, dark hair and a pleasant smile, slightly shorter than average, and looked like she was in her thirties.

  Trumball seemed a bit sheepish—and very young. Javi guessed the six-foot, two-inch boy with blond hair to be in his mid-teens, maybe younger.

  "The Fountain of Youth?" Javi asked. Closer to the edge of the water now, she could see that the Fountain itself was carved from the bedrock beneath the building, a pool that extended down deeper than a swimming pool. Either the chamber and the nearby hallways had been built around the pool or the Americans had dug down through their foundation.

  "Exciting, isn't it?" Dr. King said. "Some wondrous things have happened in here."

  "Did you bring her?" Kenslir interrupted. Javi noticed the Colonel was trying not to look at Dr. Guerrera. She found that very odd. The large supersoldier hadn't seemed shy or nervous in the least bit in the few short hours she'd known him, but something about the woman doctor definitely unnerved him. The same weird green-black eyes he'd glared at Javi with were now avoiding all contact with Doctor Guerrera's.

  "Yes, right here," Dr. King said turning and retrieving a large plastic bag from the table behind him. It reminded Javi of a large freezer bag one would put leftovers in. A series of numbers and letters she couldn't make out were written on the bag by hand, and it appeared to be full of ashes.

  Javi looked from the ashes to Kenslir. "Is this a funeral?"

  Kenslir frowned. "I'm allowing you to see this not just as a show of good faith to your government, but to drive home the severity of the situation."

  Kenslir nodded to Dr. King, who carefully opened the bag and walked to the edge of the pool with it.

  "The woman you are about to meet," Kenslir continued, "Died in the line of duty. After over forty years of service to this country. I'm sure it will be your inclination not to trust her. That's my inclination as well. But she does have a certain expertise pertinent to the present situation."

  "That's a woman?" Javi asked, watching as Doctor King slowly began pouring the ashes into the Fountain. "And your Fountain of Youth is going to restore her." She couldn't help but roll her eyes.

  "Yes." Kenslir seemed deadly serious about the matter.

  The ashes poured down into the Fountain causing a faint series of ripples to break the surface of the still waters. The ashes quickly soaked up the water, sinking rapidly down.

  The clear water began to churn now—as though it were boiling in one spot. Javi would have expected the ash Dr. King had dumped into the water to have turned it a dingy gray. But instead of spreading out into the waters, the ash had just sunk down, out of sight, hidden by the edge of the pool.

  After a few quiet moments, a hand suddenly came up out of the roiling water, followed quickly by another hand. Awom
an's hands, they grabbed at the edge of the pool as the churning water finally began to settle.

  Red hair broke the surface next, clinging to the sides of a head and shoulders as the woman struggled to pull herself out of the water. Javi guessed her to be in her mid-twenties, her long red hair reaching down past her shoulders, almost to her exposed breasts.

  "I could use a hand, here," the redhead exclaimed, spitting out a mouthful of water.

  Colonel Kenslir stepped forward, reaching down and grabbing one wrist. A slight green glow appeared around his hand where he touched the woman.

  With little apparent effort, he lifted the naked redhead out of the water, setting her down lightly beside him. Dr. Guerrera turned Jason Trumball around by the shoulders, while Dr. King looked up at the ceiling, embarrassed.

  "Ow!" the redhead said, pulling her arm free. She rubbed at her shoulder with her free hand then brushed her long, wet hair out of her face. "Not so rough, babe."

  Colonel Kenslir seemed to blush, quickly glancing over to Dr. Guerrera, who offered the redhead a long towel.

  The redhead ignored the towel and stepped in close to Kenslir, wrapping her arms around him and trying to give him a kiss. Even straining on her tiptoes, she wasn't quite tall enough to reach, and the Colonel pulled her wet arms free and stepped back, away from her—again very clearly embarrassed.

  The redhead seemed surprised, then reached up suddenly to her mouth, feeling at her teeth. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed. "I'm cured!"

  Kenslir snatched the towel from Doctor Guerrera's hand and pushed it at the redhead. "Please cover yourself, Dr. Olson."

  "Oh, Mark, you've seen it all before," Olson said, taking the towel and using it to dry her hair.

  Dr. Guerrera turned and got a long bathrobe from the table and held it out. Dr. Olson ignored her, starting to dry her body off and looking around the chamber.

  "How long was I out?" she asked.

  "Welcome back, Laura," Dr. King said, still looking up, rather than at the resurrected redhead.

  "Hey, Bill," Laura said. She looked back and forth between Kenslir and Javi, still drying herself off without any attempt to cover up. "Who's the broad?"

  Javi just opened her mouth, unable to figure out what to say. She still wasn't sure she'd just seen what she'd just seen. A woman reconstituted from ash, like freeze-dried coffee.

  "Dr. Guerrera," the Latina doctor said, nodding. "And this is Javi Wallach, of the Mossad."

  Laura suddenly seemed surprised and possibly paled a bit, at last noticing Doctor Guerrera. Recognition showed on her face. She snatched the robe from Dr. Guerrera and hastily donned it, now avoiding looking at Colonel Kenslir. "We've met before, Doc."

  "You were dead," Javi said, finally managing to speak.

  "Undead, sweetie," Laura Olson said, tying the belt of the robe around her middle. "But I'm all better now."

  "Undead?" Javi asked, surprised.

  Dr. King finally lowered his eyes and stepped forward, shining a light in Laura Olson's eyes. Dr. Guerrera tapped the young boy beside her on the shoulder and he turned around.

  "Oh, look, it's my little buddy," Laura said, smiling at Jason. "Miss me?"

  Dr. King checked Laura's eyes, then grabbed at her wrist, checking her pulse. "Any headache? Any discomfort?"

  Dr. Guerrera stepped forward, putting a stethoscope on and holding the end up in front of the redhead. Laura blushed and partly opened her robe enough for Dr. Guerrera to listen to her heart.

  "Deep breaths, please," Dr. Guerrera directed.

  "I'm fine, really," Laura said. "Just a little cold. Somebody forget to pay the electric bill?" She shivered and lifted one wet foot off the cold concrete floor, then the other.

  Javi was looking back and forth between the redhead and Colonel Kenslir. "Wait a minute—did she say undead? As in, a vampire?" Wallach was seriously regretting not having a weapon on her right now.

  "Oh, relax, toots," Laura Olson said as the other two doctors stepped back. She stuffed her hands into her pockets. "I'm harmless."

  Jason Trumball laughed, then looked down when Laura gave him a quick, angry glare.

  "Doctor Olson, do you feel well enough to work?" Kenslir asked.

  "What? No Welcome back, Laura, we missed you? Geeze, Mark, that's harsh even for you."

  "We have a situation that requires your expertise, Laura," Dr. King said.

  Laura Olson frowned at Colonel Kenslir then looked to Dr. King. "How long was I out?"

  "Nearly two m-" Dr. King started to say.

  "We don't have time for this, Laura," Kenslir said, frowning again. "There's been an outbreak here in Miami."

  Doctor Olson seemed surprised. "Well maybe if someone hadn't let me stay dead for so long, that wouldn't have happened."

  She stepped closer to Javi, causing the Mossad agent to flinch, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "You die saving the world and you'd think they'd be a little more grateful."

  "Laura!" Kenslir said, nearly growling.

  "Okay, okay," the former vampire said, raising her hands in mock defeat. "But you can't expect me to go to work dressed like this."

  ***

  "Well, he's definitely a vampire," Laura Olson said, holding a frozen chunk of Eric Mosley up to the light with a pair of tongs. She rotated the piece so the light glinted off an exposed fang.

  Olson was now dressed in scrubs and a labcoat, with Jason Trumball beside her, handing her instruments when she requested. Dr. Guerrera stood across from her, on the other side of the table strewn with frozen chunks, along with Colonel Kenslir and Javi—the Mossad agent standing between them.

  "Was, you mean," Javi said.

  "Nope. Is. He's still kicking," Laura said, pointing to a larger piece of Mosley on the table.

  Javi jumped back when she saw the eye in the frozen chunk of the vampire's head blink at her.

  "Hello!" Laura waved to the eye. "This must really suck for you. Ha—suck! Get it?"

  "Dammit," Kenslir said, snatching up the piece. It promptly glowed green where the Colonel touched it. He plunged the portion of the head, and his hand, into a large, waist-high drum at the end of the table.

  A popping, hissing, cracking noise sounded and white vapor poured out. Kenslir then pulled his hand free and Javi saw that it was frozen and gray.

  Steam began to rise from his hand, then Kenslir opened it and put the piece of frozen head back on the table. "Laura! We cannot allow him to thaw out!" Kenslir snapped.

  As Javi watched, the gray stone of his hand faded, then turned flesh-colored again.

  "Oh, relax," Laura said, putting the fanged shard of ice down. She gestured toward Jason. "Between you and Bieber-fever I don't think we'd have anything to worry about."

  "You, Dr. Guerrera and Ms. Wallach are-"

  "Good grief," Laura said, looking across to Dr. Guerrera. "Is he always so grouchy?"

  Dr. Guerrera cocked an eyebrow, looking from Kenslir to Olson, unsure what to say.

  "How can he still be alive?" Javi asked. "I mean, he's in pieces!"

  "He's a vampire, silly," Laura said. "At least, I think he is."

  "Think?" Kenslir asked.

  "Well, Josie's report did say sunlight didn't harm him, and a makeshift stake through the heart didn't slow him down." Laura looked up at Dr. Guerrera. "Your granddaughter is some kid."

  "My grand-?" Dr. Guerra asked, bewildered.

  "My granddaughter," Kenslir said quickly. "Technically. It's complicated."

  "Granddaughter?" Javi asked, looking at Kenslir then Olson. "What?"

  Laura meanwhile was looking back and forth between Kenslir and Guerrera, a wicked smile spreading across her face. "You two-" she started to say.

  "Doctor Olson!" Kenslir barked. "A word. Now."

  Kenslir walked to the door of the refrigerated lab they were all in and opened it, gesturing forcefully for Laura to exit the room.

  "I'm in trouble now," Laura said, setting down the tongs she had been holding. "I wonder if he'll spank
me."

  Once she and Kenslir had exited the room, Javi looked back and forth between Jason and Dr. Guerrera. "What did she mean his granddaughter?"

  "I have no idea," Dr. Guerrera said. "This place is nothing like it was in my day."

  "Josie's dad was a clone of the Colonel," Jason offered. Both women looked over at him in surprise. "After you were petrified the second time, Dr. Guerrera."

  "Petrified?" Javi asked.

  Dr. Guerrera held up a hand. "Hold up—the second time?"

  ***

  "Oh, that's hilarious!" Dr. Olson remarked, trying to keep from laughing. She quickly put a hand up to her mouth, to hide her smile. "I mean, I'm so sorry, Mark."

  "Dr. King was adamant that we let her recover her memories at her own speed," Kenslir said, frowning more intensely than Laura had ever seen him frown before.

  "And she doesn't remember a thing?"

  "Her memories seem to end when she was first petrified in 1959—before I met her."

  "And got her re-petrified," Laura said, again laughing. "She forgot a whole year—including you."

  "Yes. Something to do with being petrified for so many years. Dr. King believes it is temporary."

  Laura reached out and ran a fingernail down Mark's chest. "I guess this means you're on the market again."

  Kenslir batted the hand away. "Dr. Olson-"

  "Ow!" Laura said, holding her hand. "I'm not super strong anymore, Mark. You need to be careful. You might break me." She batted her eyes at Kenslir and made a seductive face.

  Kenslir looked at his watch. "Doctor, the clock is ticking. We-"

  Laura held a finger up to Kenslir's lips, quieting him. "He's a vampire. Sort of."

  Kenslir stepped back, away from Laura. "Define sort of."

  "Well, at a glance, even in jigsaw puzzle form, he does have the physiology of a vampire. But the blood I analyzed before we went in there... it's not right. It doesn't react to ultraviolet light like it should, nor do the cells seem to need any outside lifeforce. They're fully energized."

  "Magic."

  "Yep," Laura agreed. "That's why he glows green every time you touch him. By the way, when you dipped his head in the nitrogen—was that you showing off for the little lady?"