Phaze

by S. C. Mitchell

  She two-handed the sword over Seneroski’s chest, point down.

  “Stop. No. Damn it, Susan you will re—” Seneroski’s panicked pleas were cut short when Amber drove the sword down into his body.

  “What the hell?” Joel tugged harder on his restraints. But Amber knew how much his strength had been augmented. He didn’t have any better chance of breaking his bonds than the Ghaim hierarchy had of freeing themselves of their ropes.

  The teleporter chuckled and tapped his index finger against Joel’s chest. “In her own twisted way, that crazy bitch loves you.”

  A chill slithered through Joel’s gut. “What?”

  With a flip of his lighter, the teleporter lit a cigarette, drew in, and puffed out. “Better you than me. Keep watching.”

  As Seneroski’s lifeblood seeped into his expensive suit jacket, wispy black tendrils extended from his chest, following the sword blade up toward Amber’s hands.

  Her gaze met his. “Do you see, Joel? I’m ending Ghaim. Doing your work for you. Isn’t this what you want?”

  She unshackled the body on the altar and kicked it to the floor, then sauntered over to the group of prisoners.

  She chose Boris Ulnov, Seneroski’s head bodyguard and enforcer. The man was a thug, assassin, and all-round bad apple. Amber hoisted up the bulky brute with one hand, dragging him back to the altar and tossing him on it like he weighed nothing.

  Again she pealed back the tape across his mouth. “Any last words, Boris?”

  “Go to hell, bitch.” Ulnov must have known he was finished.

  Her eyes lit as she positioned the sword point over his heart. “I’ll see you when I get there.”

  She drove the sword into him, and once again the black tendrils of energy climbed up the blade to dissipate around her hands as if sucked inside her.

  Joel’s gut churned. Even criminals this evil deserved a fair trial and sentence. “Amber, stop. Why are you doing this?”

  “Power, Joel.” She kicked Ulnov’s body from the alter. It rolled beside Seneroski’s. “There is power in death. Even more power in evil. With this sword I can harvest both.”

  “You could be part of it, Weisberg.” The teleporter’s words held an I-don’t-give-a-fuck tone. “Right now she’s taking down the most powerful criminal organization in the world. Join her voluntarily and you get a ringside seat for the next phase.”

  “We’re going to make the world better, Joel.” Amber skewered another of her captives. This time as the tendrils rose, the wispy essence traveled up her arms to her shoulders. A thin dark aura pulsed around her. “I’m destroying evil.”

  Joel pulled against his restraints with everything he had.

  Nothing.

  His intrusion program still hadn’t hacked into the local Wi-Fi. He wasn’t even sure where he was. Some kind of field in the chamber blocked his internal GPS unit, and he needed his utility belt to connect to the Satcom.

  He’d never felt so helpless.

  Well, yes he had. Before, in Amber’s clutches, he’d been trapped inside his mind. At least he still had use of his body this time. Not that that was doing him any good right now.

  “I’ve only restrained you, Joel, because I know you’d try and interfere.” Amber strutted toward the bound group of captives. “Once you understand, I know you’ll join me. I’ll release you. I know you still love me.”

  No. Never. He’d die first. He needed to break out, get away from her. Chill prickled up the back of his neck. Cold sweat broke out all over his body.

  Warning! Systems indicate biological unit showing increased signs of panic.

  He took a deep breath, struggling to find his center. He didn’t dare give in to his rising fears. Amber didn’t own him, didn’t control him. He needed to fight her at every turn.

  Dennis Fields, the head of Ghaim’s computer crimes division, was next on the altar. The criminal nerd had the gall to be wearing a Captain America T-shirt. His hacks, virus bot networks, and email letters from African princes netted Ghaim billions in illicit funds.

  Amber tore the duct tape from his mouth. “How you gonna hack your way out of this, Dennis?”

  She ran the blade of her sword around the shield insignia on his shirt, cutting cloth and flesh to draw blood.

  Fields turned his head, his eyes widening as his gaze swept toward Joel. “Nine six zero two seven, God damn it. Nine six zero two seven.”

  What the hell?

  The Wi-Fi pass code.

  Joel entered the digits as Amber drove the sword home in Fields’ chest. “Oh no you don’t.”

  Her gaze shifted to the teleporter. “Boris, you know what to do.”

  Boris?

  Dumph. The teleporter disappeared.

  As the connection opened Joel to the internet, he sent out a burst of activity. Emails to everyone at Xi Force. Twitter and Facebook posts. He used Google maps, initializing location services to try and figure out where the hell he was.

  He compiled the video he’d been shooting from his eyes, readying to send it to Kirk, but the connection went dead before he could attach it to the email.

  Had anything gotten out? I wish I understood this computer stuff better. Chris and Kirk were the experts. When it came to technology, Joel felt like he was still level five in World of Warcraft.

  Okay, he was still level five in World of Warcraft. Where the hell did people find the time to play games like that?

  Chapter 15

  Kayla slid behind one of the extra laptops in the command center and brought up the Cray terminal ap. From here she could access the supercomputer directly without having to bump Kirk from his workstation. Until she got her new phone, she’d be without so many of the conveniences she’d been used to.

  Aaron had reconfigured the room to his liking. And it worked. A large conference table dominated the center with additional computer stations situated around the periphery, still leaving plenty of area for mission organization. The perfect space to arrange and monitor each Xi Force mission all in one chamber.

  Feverishly working his keyboard and mouse, Kirk sat at the big nine-screen main terminal while Chris and Aaron paced. Other personnel scurried around, busy, energetic, yet restrained. The whole base was doing everything it could to locate Joel. So far, nothing.

  Logging in, Kayla brought up the personnel access display. “I’m texting Wylde to verify his status. Is his phone bugged as well?”

  Wylde left before the phone tampering had been uncovered.

  Aaron shook his head. “Wylde hates new technology. He didn’t update during the last cycle. Actually, the last three cycles. He’s still got a freakin’ flip-phone. I’m making him update this time anyway. With that old technology, there’s no telling if he’s been hacked or not.”

  Something beeped from beyond the doorway.

  “I’m already back.” Wylde strolled in, turned off his phone and added it to the pile of technology on the table. “Never liked those things anyway. It’s not like anyone ever calls me.”

  “You’re still getting one of the new ones, and you’ll be required to check in as usual, unless you want to move in here permanently.” Aaron huffed. “And what are they doing here?”

  A low growl issued from one of the two full grown wolves following on Wylde’s heals. It bared its teeth and advanced on Aaron.

  Wylde waved the wolf back. “You wanted me to move in here. I brought my stuff. You got a problem with that?”

  Aaron scrunched his face and drew in a deep breath. “Are they house trained?”

  “No. They are wild, free animals. But they wanted to come. They deserve their vengeance. And I have explained as many of your annoying human rules as they need to know. They will be accompanying me when we go after Ghaim.” Wylde scratched the head of one of the wolves
when it nuzzled his thigh.

  Kayla folded her arms and leveled her gaze at Wylde. “Surely you didn’t leave the pups behind on their own.”

  When had she developed feelings for a wolf pack?

  “Here you go, you little cutie.” Mary Cullen’s tone held more emotion than Kayla was used to from the usually dower scientist. She entered the room with a box of dog treats tucked under her arm and a swarm of eight wolf cubs scampering after her.

  Wylde caught Kayla’s eye. “Of course not. Miss Cullen has agreed to look after the pups in our absence.”

  Mary made sure each had a treat, then sat down on the floor amidst the five that stayed by her. The other three pups wondered away, sniffing and nosing around the room.

  “Um, Mr. Wylde?” Kirk gestured toward the floor when one of the pups took a death grip on his pant leg, growling and tugging.”

  “Clark.” Wylde’s soft admonishment held a steel edge. The pup let go and backed off with a whine.

  An insistent blipping drew Kirk’s attention back to his display screen and sent the computer expert once again into a flurry of keyboard activity.

  Kayla leaned over his shoulder to stare at the screen.

  Kirk pulled in a sharp breath. “It’s Joel.”

  A map of the world displayed on one of the monitors. On the map, a line extended from the location of the Xi Force Headquarters to various points, zigzagging across the map. “I’m tracing the signal back to its source.”

  The Mediterranean island off the coast of Tunisia where the line ended gave the origin of the traced signal. Kayla instantly recognized the location as Kuriat. Recently purchased from the Tunisians for an undisclosed sum of money, it was now recognized as a rogue nation and headquarters of the Ghaim criminal organization.

  “Crap.” It was the worst possible location for Joel to be. Kayla’s stomach chilled.

  Xi Force had been making plans to lead an assault on the heavily fortified island as soon as the international community could get its collective shit together. High walls and the latest in defensive weaponry rimmed the coastline and surrounded the fortress at the center of the island. All reconnaissance indicated it would take a powerful team and some intense planning to even acquire a beachhead on the island. Ghaim accumulated the most advanced armaments on the planet and commanded a sizable force of mercenaries in residence.

  At least the international community had been able to come together enough to set up a blockade around the island. Naval vessels from seven different countries patrolled the waters. Still, the blockading force was far too small to assault the island directly.

  “We’d need more time. Maybe the international coalition will finally gel.” Aaron shook his head as he paced the room.

  Chris’s eyes narrowed. He thumped the table with his fist. “Joel may not have that much time. I say we go now.”

  Aaron drew in a deep breath as he locked gazes with Chris. “Just us?”

  “If that’s all we have, then yes.” Chris was not backing down. Maybe he’d picked up some of Joel’s leadership skills after all.

  “Natasha, Wanda and I are ready to leave immediately.” Wylde’s tone held no compromise.

  Would wolves be of any use on such a mission? Did that mean they were now officially part of Xi Force? Certainly, if Wylde held some kind of control over them, it couldn’t hurt.

  “I’ll take care of the pups until you get back, John.” Mary, still seated on the floor, had a wave of pups washing over her. “I have a veterinarian friend I can call in to help out.”

  Folding his arms, Aaron confronted Wylde, shaking his head. “Do you know the red tape I’d have to cut through to allow you to take animals across international borders?”

  Wylde shrugged. “Nope. Don’t care. They’re coming. They’re in this story for a reason. And they deserve their measure of vengeance against Ghaim.”

  ~ ~ ~

  The internet connection disappeared completely. Joel scanned for any signal and came up empty. Boris must have pulled the plug on the wireless connection.

  Amber continued executing the Ghaim ruling council one after another. Ten blood-soaked bodies now lay round the altar.

  “Amber, you need to stop. This isn’t right. Let’s at least talk about what you’re doing. No one else needs to die here.” Was there any reasoning with her?

  Dense mist now shrouded her figure, but her eyes shown through like they were on fire. Each death added to the growing, pulsing dark aura around her. “No, Joel, I need more death. It needs more death.”

  Infrared scanning detected an energy field around that sword. The Muramasa sword.

  Joel brought up the document Kirk emailed to him on the weapon. It appeared the swords were real enough, though the curse was only a legend. For the most part the blades only acquired their bloodthirsty reputations based on the user, not because of anything inherent in the weapon itself.

  So what was it about this sword?

  “At least explain to me why you’re doing this.” If he got her talking, distracted, he could slow the slaughter and give himself time to come up with a plan to at least save some of them.

  “There is power, Joel. Power beyond the science that confines the thinking of this world. Didn’t you feel it when you died? Something beyond?”

  He had drifted after his death, as a spirit or ghost. He’d touched something beyond life before he’d been brought back. The glowing light had beckoned to him. Maybe he should have gone into it. Was all this his punishment for cheating death?

  “Death is simply a portal. The end of a good life opens a portal to the upper dimensions. But the death of someone like these, someone truly evil, opens the gateway to something much darker and ultimately more powerful.” She held up the blood-drenched sword. “This blade uses that dark power of a lost soul’s final struggle to open a portal. And it siphons the power of their life-force into me. By destroying evil I become more powerful. Power I will use to build a new world. You could be part of that, Joel. You can sit beside me as I rule. Join me, and together we will destroy evil.”

  A world built on murder? Ruled by Amber? There wasn’t much to consider.

  Pulsing with energy, Amber threw another of her captives onto the altar and drove the sword down into him. This time a piercing screech split the air. Not from the dying man, whose mouth was still taped shut, but from above in the chamber.

  A chill crept up his spine. There was another presence here. Something unseen. Something evil.

  Was this all his fault?

  Amber said she did this for him, because of some twisted feelings she had for him.

  Maybe he should have stayed dead, gone into that light when he’d had the chance. It had called to him. Amber could have never taken him over back then. Never touched him like she did and made him do all those . . . things. Never made him kill all those innocent people.

  No, that wasn’t right. Joel’s therapist hammered that point again and again. Amber controlled his body with the procedure Heather created. She would have had control and done all those things even if he hadn’t come back into his body. She hadn’t even known he was inside until the end.

  That wasn’t his fault, damn it, and he couldn’t have stopped that.

  But this? Could he do something, anything, to stop this?

  “Yes, it’s happening.” A wicked grin spread across Amber’s face as the misty aura shimmered and pulsed around her. “The portal has opened. Necromance is here.”

  Flinging her arms wide and her head back, she cried out in a deep, reverberating voice that shook the walls. The mist around her dissipated, as if sucked into her body. Then she doubled over, holding her stomach.

  Two great bat-like wings sprouted, exploding from her back, ripping the fabric of her blouse. Ivory talons capped the thick supporting veins
as inky, leathery skin stretched between the bone-like structure. Amber’s clothing morphed into a black, scaly unitard. Her hair darkened from auburn to ebony even as her skin lightened to chalky white.

  A low chuckle issued from her lips as she pulled herself erect once again. The great wings flapped and she lifted into the air. Her eyes glowed red.

  “Amber, what the hell?” Joel pulled at his bindings.

  Her gaze swept the room to lock onto Joel’s. Her voice reverberated as it filled the stone-walled chamber. “We are transformed, evolved. We are Necromance, the Death Blade.”

  Long, coiling black horns burst from her forehead. Her fingernails elongated into sharp talons. She hovered in the high-ceilinged chamber with dark energy pulsing around her form.

  Then, sword raised, she swooped toward her remaining captives. The blade rose and fell, death following in the wake of each swing. The coppery tang of fresh blood permeated the air as Amber . . . Necromance . . . slaughtered her prey.

  She strode boldly from the carnage, a blood-spattered apparition. As she approached Joel, Necromance’s wings folded and her horns receded. Her hair faded back to auburn. The familiar, reviled features returned and she was once again the Amber he hated with every stitch of his existence. “Do you see what I’ve done for us? The Ghaim organization is gone. You no longer need your little Xi Force. We can be together now as we were meant to be.”

  His stomach turned inside out as she ran the palm of her hand down his cheek. Her blood red lips puckered and closed on his.

  What was she expecting?

  He couldn’t move, trapped in his confinement, so he simply endured.

  When he didn’t kiss her back, she pulled away. “Oh, Joel. You can’t fight this. We were meant to be together. It can’t be that mousy little Kayla, can it? Surely you were only out with her because you couldn’t be with me. I don’t begrudge you a little action with that tramp. You couldn’t have known I was coming to save you. But now I’m here. We can be together once again.