Both women entered their indicated spaces. Seconds later, excited squeals came from Koda’s open door.
“Oh, my God! It’s huge!” Koda squealed as she ran through the apartment. “All of this is for me?”
Eve chuckled at Koda’s excitement. “Every square meter of it.”
Asai stood in the entry, her eyes wide and her mouth open in shock. The main room was decorated in soft earth tones like her room at the base, but her entire room there would fit in the living area of the new apartment. A bar on one side separated the living space from the kitchen and attached dining area. The kitchen was fully equipped with new stainless steel appliances.
The opposite wall had an open door that led into a large bedroom. As she slowly walked into the room, she noticed that the bedroom was almost as large as the living room. Another door led into what she assumed was the bathroom. When she stepped through that door, she saw that it was identical to her bathroom at the base, only twice as big. The tub looked like she could swim in it, and the shower had many more nozzles coming out at all angles.
Her hand went to her chest as she took it all in. “Eve, this is amazing. I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
Eve smiled at her reaction, glad that she had made both of her friends happy. “Now that you see what you have to work with, what say we furnish these babies?”
Koda immediately started rattling off items that she had seen on the shopping sites Eve had gone over with her. Asai turned slowly around in each room, mentally placing the items that she needed. When both were satisfied that they had what they wanted firmly in mind, they exited the units and headed out for some serious retail therapy.
Chapter Twenty-Six
TQB Base, Tokyo, Japan
Eve was in the command center reviewing surveillance data from one of the many satellites that orbited the Earth when an alert flashed in the corner of her monitor. She expanded it and saw that one of her drone carriers was transmitting information.
“Got you!” she exclaimed as she activated her chip to contact Akio.
Seconds later, he walked into the small operations center. “What do you have, Eve? Is it the mystery craft from Kume?”
“Yes, and it now has four of my drones hitching a ride and a carrier trailing it close enough to boost their signals. We can track it wherever it goes.” She rubbed her hands together and mimicked cracking her knuckles. “Or we could blow them out of the sky so hard their ancestors won’t even be a memory.”
Akio looked askance at the android. “No blowing up just yet, please. I want to know where they are coming from and where they go. When we get some drones into their base of operations, maybe I’ll let you go at them with a Black Eagle.”
Eve shrugged. “Works for me. I’m still annoyed that they were able to give me the slip. It’s time for Saint Payback to make an appearance.”
Akio’s eyes widened at this revelation. “What do you know about Saint Payback?” he asked.
“Everything ADAM knows,” Eve told him. “From what I can see, Bethany Anne is a firm believer in Saint Payback. I owe whoever these people are for making me feel inadequate when they got away.”
“Eve, you’re far from inadequate,” he assured her. “Without you, we would have a much tougher time keeping track of everything. You are a valuable member of this team, and don’t you ever forget it.”
“Thank you, Akio. When we find their base, can I drop a puck on it?”
Akio snorted as he fought to control a smile. “If a puck is in order, I will defer to your master puck-handling skills.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Eve told him. “Now, let’s track them. I want to know what those evil meatsacks are planning before they catch us unprepared.”
Akio raised an eyebrow but refrained from commenting on Eve’s outburst.
They watched the information roll across the screen until the craft landed on the outskirts of Vladivostok, Russia. A large blond man climbed out.
Eve directed one of the drones to detach from the craft. She adjusted her controls, and a voice came through the speakers that matched the movement of the blond man’s lips.
“Try not to antagonize Father while I am away,” the blond giant called into the craft’s open door.
“Whatever,” another male voice called from within. “Don’t get your fuzzy ass killed in Japan. You’re a pain, but you’re still my brother.”
The giant made an obscene gesture at the open door. “You do the same. Seriously, quit pissing off Father.”
The craft lifted a few meters into the air and started back the way it had come. The drone hovering overhead floated down at Eve’s command and silently attached itself to the pack on the man’s back as he turned and walked in the opposite direction.
“I will keep the carrier close. It will act as a relay so we can keep an eye on this one.” Eve pointed to the monitor that showed a closeup of the material the man’s pack was made of. “I will track this one by satellite and get another relay in place as soon as we see where he goes.” She indicated the second monitor that showed a satellite map with a flashing red marker instead of a live feed since the craft had moved out of range of the relay.
Akio nodded. “Good work, Eve. I am going to prepare. As soon as we know where the craft came from, the sooner I can go there and see what they are doing.”
Eve tracked the craft as it crossed Russia and continued into China. It moved at a fast pace, but not as fast as it had when she lost it before. She also noted that it was flying close to the ground and avoiding populated areas, as though the pilot was trying to keep a low profile. She smiled as she watched the craft attempt to avoid detection, its pilot never suspecting that he was already being tracked.
As the craft approached the area where one of her carriers was positioned, she put it on an intercept and soon had a live feed. The mystery craft flew over the unpopulated mountain terrain erratically—swooping low into the valleys and shooting up and over the peaks before diving again. She tracked it doing this with no seeming purpose or direction for almost an hour before it landed on a mountainside overlooking an isolated valley.
Eve directed the carrier to launch a swarm of drones into the area in hopes of finding the hidden base. As the drones spread out, one of them approached a drab gray two-story building hidden deep in the valley. She directed the drone through a door that was not properly secured, and her eyes opened wide when she saw many Nosferatu locked in cells on both levels. She sent in more drones to get a count of the feral beasts.
“Akio, you need to see this,” she called tersely over her chip.
“I’ll be right there, Eve.”
When Akio entered, he saw what was on the monitors. His lips tightened in anger.
Eve directed a drone to show the positioning of the guards as she spoke. “This is a prison complex hidden in the mountains in northern China. I count one hundred and twelve Nosferatu locked in the cells. There are also three guards on each level.”
Their pale skin and the way they stood, unmoving except for their eyes, told Akio that they were Forsaken. “Can you tell if this is their base?”
Eve shook her head. “I can’t find anything but the prison here. There are bunk rooms and offices on one end, but nothing that indicates a research facility.”
Akio frowned. “Where is the aircraft?”
“It’s sitting on the side of a mountain overlooking the valley.” Eve switched one of the monitors to a shot of a boxy black craft a little larger than their smallest Pod. A blond giant of a man identical to the one they had seen earlier leaned against the craft and stared at the prison with a disgusted look. His lips started to move on the monitor.
Eve touched her screen and his voice came clearly over the speakers.
“I can’t believe Dieter doesn’t see the wrong in this,” the man intoned in a deep voice. “They are only humans, but no one should be turned into this type of unnatural beast. Vampires are bad enough, but to be turned into a mindless killing mac
hine is nothing I would wish on any being. That bastard Heinz destroys everything he touches. First, my father, when he resisted his using the pack for experiments and soldiers for Anton. Then he killed my mother when he was so cocky that he traveled in the daylight. I wish those soldiers had blown his damned truck up and sent his leech ass into the sun. I can’t believe my mother died protecting him.”
Akio didn’t need the speaker to transmit the man’s frustration.
He snarled. “I hope the Dark One kills him slowly, and I am able to watch as he breathes his last polluted breath. He doesn’t deserve a quick death after all of the suffering he has caused over the years.” He looked at the prison for a few more minutes before he spat disgustedly and got back into the craft.
“Are you tracking the craft?” Akio asked Eve when the audio cut out.
Eve nodded as the craft lifted slowly and continued through the mountains until it had traveled a few hundred kilometers. There the craft slowed and descended into a dark valley. When it reached the bottom, a door opened in the side of the mountain and the craft slipped silently inside.
Eve’s drones continued to show the location. She put another carrier on a vector for the area to act as a relay and send out more drones.
Akio silently watched until the live feed came up on a monitor. It showed the craft sitting in a manmade cavern carved into the stone, and a dark tunnel leading deeper into the mountain. He continued to watch as Eve maneuvered the drone down the shaft toward a light. The shaft opened into a brightly-lit room with multiple tables spaced evenly throughout. Several men dressed in black fatigues were scattered around the room.
“Welcome back, Horst. Did your mission go well?” one of them called.
The blond giant nodded. “Ja, there were no problems. Dieter is on his way and should be there in a few days.”
“Good, I’m ready for some fun. I look forward to getting out of this place and somewhere that there are willing women.”
Another of the men snorted loudly. “When has it ever mattered to you if they were willing or not, Gerhart?”
Gerhart sneered. “Huen, I find that they are all willing—with the proper motivation.”
Horst grunted as he moved through the room, his head down so Gerhart couldn’t see his disgust. The group consisted of the remains of his true father’s pack that Heinz had brought from Germany when Anton sent him to Japan near the close of the war, and some Asian Weres who had similar traits. They were the ones who served the vampire willingly; the cruel and twisted ones who did whatever Heinz asked because he regularly allowed them to play their sadistic games with humans. Gerhart was the worst of the bunch. He was a sadist and truly enjoyed terrorizing and killing humans. Horst had never been one for senseless killing or torture and was disgusted by them all.
When he entered the living quarters, Chang called to him, “Your father wants to see you.”
Horst ground his teeth together in frustration as he turned toward the laboratory down the hall. “You wanted to see me, Father?”
“You were gone longer than expected. Did you get Dieter to the ship?”
“Ja, he should be on his way now.”
“There were no problems, then?”
“No. I did as you said. Low and slow. There was no sign of any other craft, and yes, I steered away from populated areas.”
“Very good, Horst. Dismissed.” Heinz turned back to his work.
Horst stalked out of the lab and took the stairs up two levels to the surface facility.
When he stepped through a door into the afternoon sun, the drone attached to his boot sent out a signal to the other drones in the area. Soon, multiple small drones entered the structure and silently worked down through the levels. They took video and mapped out most of the facility in no time. The carrier dutifully relayed the information back to Eve in the command center.
Akio’s lips turned up in a half-smile when a face he knew appeared on the screen. “Well, hello, Heinz. It’s been a long time. I will see you soon, and this time you have no one to stop me from killing you for the things you have done,” he stated in an icy tone.
Eve looked up at him, startled by the coldness in his voice. Whatever history Akio had with this Forsaken, she had no doubt that it would end soon. Most probably with Akio’s sword meeting his neck.
“Please let Yuko know when she returns that I am taking a Pod to recon the prison. Those Nosferatu need to be dealt with first. Keep monitoring the drone feeds and see if you can determine what they are planning. I want to be sure that all of them are removed this time. Whatever they have planned must be stopped. They will not be allowed to cause more destruction and death like was done to the people of Kume.”
“Should I load out a Black Eagle with pucks?” Eve inquired.
“Hai. I believe you will get your chance to demonstrate your master puck-handling skills before this is done.”
Eve grinned as he told her this. “Saint Payback is going to have her day after all,” she mumbled.
Akio’s smile didn’t touch his eyes. “Hai, a day that should have happened to some long ago.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tokyo, Riko’s Noodle House
“Our gambling and protection numbers are up by twenty percent this month,” Sero read from the screen on his pad.
Muto waved his hand impatiently. “What’s the news from our men watching for the people our friends from China are interested in?”
“I was getting to that.”
“Well, don’t keep me waiting. I just received a communication from the captain of the Guro. He has one of their representatives on board. It took a few days for the message to get here, so he will be docking in Joetsu in about three days.”
“Did he say who it was?” Sero asked. “I don’t want to have to deal with Chang again. There’s something off with him. He makes me uneasy.”
“Yeah, it sounds like that German who was with him before. He’s a big rude bastard, but still, nothing like Chang,” Muto mumbled around the cigar he had stuck in his mouth.
“Well, now we have something to report. Kosha was able to sign on as a worker with the construction crew at that building where the woman was seen. He reports that there are two different companies working there. He is with the one doing the first level, but the other is what really intrigues me.” Sero paused long enough for Muto to roll his hand impatiently. “It seems that the other company is building living quarters on the second level.”
Muto’s eyes narrowed and his brow wrinkled as he took in this information. “Do we know if our targets are moving in?”
“Kosha doesn’t know who they are for, but the woman and that strange child have been there daily, along with the two young women.”
“Daily?” Muto confirmed.
“Hai,” Sero confirmed. “The work is ending soon. They’re putting on the finishing touches. He overheard the woman talking to the foreman for that job today and thinks that the apartments may be for the two girls. He said he only caught a few words, but he believes that is the case.”
“I assume we are still no closer to locating where they come from?” Muto grumbled.
Sero shook his head as he spoke. “No, that is the most puzzling thing about this whole affair. We see them leave the building, and they manage to disappear shortly after.”
“Keep working on it,” Muto ordered. “I hope to have this nailed down by the time our guest from China arrives. If nothing else, we have regular sightings at the construction site so we know where they will be.”
Muto paused. His eyes closed, and he stroked his jaw with the fingers of one hand. His eyes opened as his hand came down with a loud thunk on the desk. “Sero, I want you to take one of the women.”
Sero’s eyes widened. He had been dreading this since Muto had first mentioned it. Chang had told them to watch and report, but he had insisted that he would deal with the people once they were located. “I thought Chang said to watch and gather information, not take direct action.�
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Muto grinned. “That’s correct, but they did offer a significant amount for the location. I think that if we take one of the women, we can make her tell us where they come from.”
Sero knew that Muto acted without thinking at times and when he got an idea in his head, he didn’t always consider the possible ramifications. “Muto, that may not be the wisest action. There are rumors that the woman has some important connection with the government. We don’t want to bring the authorities down on our organization over this. Your brothers, not to mention Oyabun, would look unkindly upon anything that did this.”
Muto looked askance at Sero. He often had advice, but this sounded like open defiance. His lips tightened briefly, and when he spoke, his tone left no doubt that he was angry. “My brothers run their territories and I run mine. As for our leader, it is my place to worry about that, not yours, Sero. Do as I ordered and do not question me on this again.”
Sero felt a sense of dread when he heard this. Once Muto took that stance, there was no option but to do as he said.
“I’ll get a snatch team on it today,” Sero assured him. “We should have some answers by the time the ship docks.”
“See that it is done before the representative arrives. Now go, and send in that new girl on your way out. I need to have a meeting with her.” Muto wagged his eyebrows at Sero as he said this.
Sero nodded as he stepped out of the room, amazed as always by Muto’s mercurial mood swings. Menacing one minute and thinking of carnal delights the next. Sero hoped that his bad feeling about this latest decision was wrong, but he couldn’t shake it as he issued the orders for the snatch.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Northern China, Prison Complex
The black Pod silently drifted down through the night sky into a valley with sparse trees and light underbrush. Akio stepped out as the ramp lowered and sent his senses out searching for danger.
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