by Natalie Grey
“Of course, of course. A regrettable necessity.” The administrator bobbed his head again. “And will the scientists be able to return to the facility to collect their things after you’ve…well...?” His voice trailed off, and he looked at Jennifer hopefully.
Never had she wanted so badly to punch someone in the face.
“Of course,” Jennifer managed, with a smile. “You might have to wait for some time for the gas to clear, but this should be handled immediately.
She waited as the man gave the order, and then scientists and guards began to stream out of the buildings. All of them nodded politely to the party at the gates, and a few could be overheard speaking about the inconvenience of wasting their time on a dead-end project.
Jennifer struggled to keep her face flat. It wasn’t lying that was the hard part of pulling a con, she realized. It was trying not to let your emotions get the better of you. She wanted to terrify every one of these people, make them beg for their lives—and make very sure they knew that they had no right to ask forgiveness.
She stayed composed until the building was confirmed empty by ADAM, and then she strode across the icy ground to free her brethren, while Stephen lingered behind with the doomed staff.
Naryn, Kyrgyzstan
“Are you sure our information was good?” Ruslan peered out from behind the trees at the gate of the facility.
For months, they had tried to find a way into this place with no luck. The guards did not ever go to the bars in town or frequent the prostitutes, and the facility was owned by a set of shell corporations that were layered too deep to find the true owners.
But they didn’t need to know things like that to know what went on inside. The evening breeze often carried screams, and personnel in white lab coats could be seen on the grounds.
There was just no way to get in.
“Do we have any choice?” Aibek muttered back. “We have to do what we can now.”
Last night, they had been contacted—through a liaison—by a woman named Sidonie. She had transformed to show her powers, then in halting English, explained that the facilities were being closed down. How she knew this, she did not say.
But she knew, also, that the facilities were waiting for personnel to come—and that if the Aibek’s pack conned their way in now, they would be able to get their family out early.
“What do we do with the scientists?” Aibek had asked her.
She smiled coldly. “Whatever you wish.”
“And what do you want in return for this information?” Ruslan had asked her.
He was always the sensible one, Ruslan. Always the cold one. A good second in command, though Aibek couldn’t care less what the woman wanted. Anything he had was hers. He would give anything to have his family back.
Sidonie, however, did not seem offended by the question.
“Your help. This is not the only facility, and there are many, all across Europe, who have aided these torturers. My alpha, Emeric Carre, would like your help to defeat them.”
Aibek had looked at Ruslan, who had nodded without hesitation.
Wherever there were people doing things like this, they would do their utmost to free the captives and destroy the captors.
“Deal,” Aibek agreed.
“Good. Get your family out of the facility, then contact me, and I will tell you where to go.”
So here they were, slinking over the ground in borrowed suits.
Tell them we are the team to shut down the facility. Aibek went over the plan in his head. Tell them that they are to leave the building immediately and wait outside. Whatever they ask, about payment or anything else, promise them what they want. When the pack is free…kill them.
Could he pull it off?
He had to.
They stood in front of the gates and pressed the buzzer.
“Yes?” The voice that came from the box was distorted, but clearly bored.
“We have been sent to close down this facility,” Aibek announced. “Please open the gates.”
“What are your names?”
“Administrators Beshimov and Nogoyev.” Aibek’s heart was pounding in his chest.
“And how do we check your credentials?”
Aibek froze.
“However you wish,” Ruslan snapped rudely. “Are you asking me how to do your job?”
Aibek looked at him sharply, and Ruslan shrugged. Just trying something, his gaze said.
“I…of course not.” The voice seemed flustered. “One moment, please.”
Ruslan and Aibek waited, arms crossed, trying not to pace.
However, a moment later, the gates swung open. Both men walked tentatively into the open space of the courtyard, trying not to look around. The ground was barely thawing now, but there were no shoots of green grass underfoot.
What was this place? Aibek was afraid of what he would find.
At the door, a guard held the door open for them. He ushered them into the warmth of the building and led them to a small room with two chairs and a table.
“You are to wait here,” he informed them. His tone was deferential, even embarrassed. “We would offer you tea, but we have not received supplies in days. Our apologies. We will send the rest of the team to join you when they arrive.”
He left before either Aibek or Ruslan could say anything.
But as soon as he was gone, Aibek looked at Ruslan, his heart sinking.
“The rest of the team?”
Khachmaz, Azerbaijan
Stephen had just stepped away from the bodies of the scientists when ADAM’s voice sounded in his earpiece.
“Two individuals are trying to gain access to the facility at Naryn.”
Stephen froze. How could anyone from Emeric’s team have gotten there so quickly?
“Do you know anything about them?”
“No. The facility is requesting authorization from Hugo, checking that they are the correct people to let in. It appears that they do not have badges or any other gear.”
Stephen considered this. It appeared that Emeric had decided to take matters entirely into his own hands. They would need to evacuate Naryn and Naftalan immediately after Khachmaz.
“What did you tell the facility?” he asked finally.
“That I was researching their credentials.”
“Good thinking. Tell them that the two are authorized, but that they should wait for the rest of the team.”
No gear, no badges, and no backup. It was likely that these infiltrators had no experience in this and would be easily unbalanced by the first sign of trouble.
“Would I be correct in thinking that you wish to join them there?”
“That’s exactly what I’m planning, yes,” Stephen told the AI.
He jerked his head to Arisha and Stoyan to follow him back up the hill, where a Pod descended to wait for them.
“ADAM, patch me through to Jennifer for a moment?”
“You’re live.”
“Jennifer, I need to go to the Naryn facility. I think two of Emeric’s men are there, but they seem to be alone. I’m taking Arisha and Stoyan.”
“Okay.” Jennifer’s voice filtered back. “We’ll finish up here and…meet you there?”
“No, go straight to Naftalan. Emeric is trying to head us off. We can’t let him, or this whole thing is going to blow up,” Stephen said grimly. “I don’t trust that man’s sense of revenge.”
“Right.” She was quiet for a moment. “Be safe.”
“You as well.”
He cut the connection and stepped into the Pod.
The journey to Naryn was short, hardly a few long breaths of time before the door slid open again on a new tableau.
It didn’t feel as if the Pod had moved, and Stephen experienced a sense of dislocation. It was still odd to him to travel so fast.
Naryn, Kyrgyzstan
He strode through the trees to the gates and was met by a guard who smiled at him.
“Come with me,” the guard
told him, sounding relieved that everything was falling into place. “The administrators are waiting.”
“Thank you,” Stephen replied calmly.
They followed the guard through the corridors until they stopped at a closed door. The guard opened it and waited as Stephen ducked inside.
“You may go for now,” Stephen said. “We will need to speak to your administrator, but we will come to the office when we are finished discussing closedown procedure with our colleagues.”
“Of course, sir.” The guard half-bowed and withdrew.
Stephen turned to the two men who were staring at him in anger and fear.
“So,” he asked calmly, “who are you?”
12
Khachmaz, Azerbaijan
Jennifer emerged into the weak afternoon sunlight.
A group of three scientists trailed her nervously. They had been found trying to disable the poison mechanisms, and one had thrown himself in front of the other two, trying to sacrifice himself so that they could finish their sabotage and save the Wechselbalg.
Jennifer had been impressed despite herself. The scientists at the other facilities worked alone if they even rebelled, but these three had been brave enough to seek each other out and make a plan. Apparently, they had even told the captive Wechselbalg that they would get them out as soon as the evacuation started.
When Jennifer explained who she was and why she was there—along with the truth of the message from “Hugo”—they had broken down in tears. Like Hsu, they seemed to believe that they could never make up for what they had done while in the facility.
But, as with Hsu, she wasn’t willing to give up on them yet.
She nodded to Hsu, and her companion led the scientists to a Pod for just the four of them. It ascended, disappearing into the sky, and Jennifer looked around to locate Irina.
The woman was moving confidently and quickly, as she always did these days. She ushered groups of Wechselbalg into the Pods as they traveled back and forth from the ArchAngel. There were only a few more trips to go, and Jennifer settled down on a nearby bench to watch.
Irina had a natural air of command about her now, but Jennifer knew it was not the type of command to clash with an Alpha. Irina would never stand against Nathan, for instance. It was simply that, right now, she knew what had to be done and she did it without any hesitation.
She also knew that type of authority was one of the best things for people who were shell-shocked. What the Wechselbalg here needed, after months of pain and uncertainty, was someone to assure them that all would be well and that they would get the care they needed. Once their wounds had been treated and the initial surge of adrenaline had worn off, they would feel much better.
“ADAM, is everything okay with space on the ArchAngel?”
“Yes,” ADAM responded at once. “The evacuees from Velingrad have been able to return to their homes, by and large, with Sergio as our emissary to the local pack leaders. They will contact us if Emeric tries to turn them to his cause. And the captives from Spain have been transferred to one of our buildings in the U.S. We will return them shortly, but the entire town is in chaos now that Hugo is dead, and Lance decided it was better to keep them out of that. We now have room for new evacuees.”
“Excellent,” Jennifer told him.
She had a suspicion that Sergio might soon be an Alpha in one of the packs near Velingrad. The man’s resilience was incredible, and his kindness when dealing with the evacuees had been noteworthy. They had left him behind on the ArchAngel, because although he made a powerful fighter, he provided much comfort to the other Wechselbalg.
Jennifer hoped he would consider joining Bethany Anne’s team, but she knew that, like many in the Unknown World, he might choose to stay on the planet he knew.
She couldn’t blame him for that.
She heard her name and saw Irina waving at her.
“The last of them are off to the ArchAngel,” Irina reported. “And you said we’re to go to Naftalan after this?”
“Yes. If Hsu can come back with a Pod, we’ll go with her. It’s too bad we don’t have a bigger team, but we also don’t have time to wait.”
It was clear that Emeric did not have the first idea what he was up against.
Well, that was his problem.
They waited while Hsu came back and stepped into the Pod together. This would be a very short journey.
Hsu turned to Jennifer, “The scientists have offered to testify.”
Jennifer snorted. She had little faith that the whole network of minor officials and bureaucrats would ever be brought to justice. Hugo had not created the corruption or lack of honor in the world, he had merely exploited it.
Hsu looked sad at her response, so Jennifer caught her eye again and smiled.
“It’s good of them to offer. I’m sure they’ll be able to help us somehow.”
Hsu smiled eagerly at that. “They want to,” she assured Jennifer. “And they had a good plan. I think they could have pulled it off.” Her face fell. “I didn’t have the heart to tell them what happened to the others.”
Jennifer looked away.
It was hard for people from the human world to understand the justice of the Unknown World. They weren’t used to being judged by both their actions and the content of their character. For Hsu and the scientists who had just been rescued, their colleagues’ execution likely felt abrupt—and like something they had only narrowly escaped.
Jennifer tried not to shake her head. Humans were odd, that was all there was to it. Maybe Ecaterina could shine some light on the subject when next they met.
In the meantime, they had work to do. The Pod door slid open, and Jennifer flashed Irina and Hsu a smile.
“Let’s go finish this.”
Naryn, Kyrgyzstan
“Who are we?” Aibek raised an eyebrow. “Who are you?”
“No. You first.” Stephen pulled out one of the chairs and sat, unbuttoning his jacket. He looked the two of them up and down. Neither responded.
The one who had spoken first was likely the ranking member of the pack, but the second would be the one who thought all of this was a mistake, who was likely far more cautious than his pack leader. He was the one who watched the pack leader’s back and provided protection.
Not the weaker link, then.
Stephen returned his attention to the first speaker, “Some weeks ago, my organization became aware of a number of facilities across Europe. Since that time, we have destroyed all but two of them, released the Wechselbalg who were held captive and offered them medical treatment, and we have taken down the man at the center of all of this. Our…programmers…are the reason that this facility’s request for authorization came to us, rather than someone who might have ordered you both killed outright.”
“Programmers?”
“I don’t have the time to explain to you right now,” Stephen subvocalized. “Maybe later.”
Both men looked uncomfortable, but neither of them had spoken.
Stephen locked onto the first man’s eyes. “And then, a couple of days ago, one of the facilities was freed by a man named Emeric Carre.”
Both of them twitched at the sound of that name.
Gott Verdammt.
“Mr. Carre has ideas that he will get revenge for what happened at these facilities,” Stephen told them. “Doubtless it is a seductive thought, but it is also foolish because Mr. Carre does not want to stop his revenge at those who were in the facilities and any others who knew. He wants to take revenge on all of human society.”
The two Wechselbalg looked uncertain now.
“Your pack has been taken from you,” Stephen told them. “I will not lie to you, the truth of what has been done to them is terrible. And I will help you free them, and make sure that they are well. But you and I both know that exposing the Unknown World to humanity at large is no kind of solution.”
The men looked at one another.
“So, I will ask one last time. Who are you
, and why are you here?”
There was a pause, and the first man bowed his head in defeat. He took the seat across from Stephen. “Aibek Beshimov. This is Ruslan Nogoyev. As you say, we were contacted by Emeric Carre. He told us that the facilities were waiting to be closed down and that if we pretended to be the ones sent to do it, we could likely get our families out before reinforcements arrived. And...” He swallowed. “He said we could do whatever we wanted to the staff here.”
“Doubtless that was a seductive thought,” Stephen replied. He could admit that much. “Did you not think, however, that a man who—”
“No.” Aibek interrupted him with a shake of his head.
Stoyan growled, deep in his throat. You speak out of turn.
“I didn’t think. I didn’t care.” Aibek was shaking. “I had been trying to get to them for months, and I was desperate. I would have sold my soul to the devil to get them back, do you understand me? I didn’t know you were coming. I was offered a way in, and I took it.”
Stephen paused.
“I can understand that,” he agreed finally. He bowed his head for a moment. “And now?”
“Now, I...” Aibek squeezed his eyes shut. “I still want to hurt them,” he confessed. “And all I can think of is my family upstairs. What did they do to them here?”
“They wanted an obedient army of Wechselbalg,” Stephen explained simply. “They tried to force a shift, and to give orders to the wolves. Sometimes, though rarely, they were successful.”
Aibek and Ruslan looked at one another, worriedly.
“The rest, they will tell you themselves if they wish.” Stephen spoke quietly but adamantly. “I can promise you that those who participated willingly in this—those who did nothing to stop it—will see no clemency.”
The two shifters considered.
“Will you join us?” Stephen asked.
There was no hesitation in either man. They nodded.
“We need your help,” Aibek admitted.
“And we do not want to be allied with a madman,” Ruslan added.
Ruslan would not have admitted as much to Aibek, but he was relieved. He had not liked the subtle suggestion of debt that Sidonie had made—that their pack would always be indebted to Emeric Carre. It was true, but to remind them of it suggested that they would be asked to go above and beyond any reasonable call of loyalty.
