Reprisal

by Charles Tillman

  “Gotcha!” she exclaimed as one of the drones hovered over the vehicle she had been searching for. It was parked behind a large two-story house. The area was an older, wealthy residential neighborhood that had once been the location of several foreign countries’ embassies and consulates. The house was surrounded by a high stone fence and had room for several vehicles to park in the rear.

  Eve summoned the other five drones to the area and surrounded the house, scanning for any sign of her missing friend. She set one of the drones to hover near a window on the first floor and activated the audio. At first, she couldn’t hear anything. An analysis of the window composition showed that it was exceptionally thick, a common practice used to dampen the noise of the busy city. She turned up the gain, and the first thing she heard was a woman screaming inside.

  Her eyes shot wide open, and she took direct control of the drone as she rapidly brought the Black Eagle down into an open space next to the van. She moved the drone back from the window and accelerated it toward the thick glass as she jumped out of her craft, the modified Jean Dukes-designed carbine gripped tight in her hands. The drone punched through the window like it was paper as Eve watched the video feed, scared of what she would see.

  To her relief and confusion, the video showed her a man and woman sitting in chairs just inside of the door leading out of the room into the house. The woman was in mid-scream when the drone smashed into the room, startling both.

  Eve directed the drone to hover above the confused pair, who were staring at the broken window, and activated an electrical burst to stun them. “I’ll sort that out later,” she murmured.

  She sent two of the remaining drones above her so she could maintain surveillance on the exterior of the house, and directed the remainder to join the one already inside. The drones split up and moved down the hallway, stopping to scan each door. When one of the drones stopped in front of a closed metal door, the scan showed a small form huddled against the far wall. Without hesitating, she directed the drone to punch through that door. The door reverberated with a deep metallic clang as the armored drone blew through it, leaving a hole a little smaller than a golf ball in its wake.

  Eve focused on the video feed as the drone zoomed to hover over the figure. “Found her!” she cried as she burst through the closed and locked back door, leaving an Eve-sized hole as she entered.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Riko’s Noodle House, Tokyo, Japan

  Sero looked out the window into the dining room to see what had Dieter so shaken. All he saw was an attractive young woman talking to Kaito near the entrance. He turned back to question what was wrong, and his mouth opened in shock as he found a white wolf in Dieter’s place. The beast was huge, almost two meters tall, and stood face-to-face with Sero.

  The drunken Yakuza boss screamed as the beast leapt at him. His bladder betrayed him as he stood frozen in place.

  The wolf hit Sero with a shoulder, knocking him onto the bloodstained couch in the same position as Muto had occupied earlier, then ran through the open office door with a vicious snarl.

  Sero tried to stand, but the combination of alcohol and absolute terror was too much. He slumped on the couch as his vision faded to black and unconsciousness took him.

  Akio stood in the open Pod door as it hovered above the rear of the shop. There was one person watching the rear, a man who was sitting with his back against the dirty brick wall on an overturned box. He held a small electronic pad with a video playing quietly. Akio stepped out of the Pod and dropped the short distance to land on slightly bent knees directly in front of his unwary target.

  The mobster shot to his feet while reaching for a pistol tucked at his waist. His pad clattered to the ground. Akio caught him by the throat and pulled him close, staring into his startled face. The mobster’s surprise quickly turned to terror as Akio’s eyes turned red and fangs protruded from his mouth.

  Akio plucked the pistol from his unresisting fingers as he compelled the terrified gangster to sleep. He propped the unconscious man against the wall and smirked as he retrieved the pad and placed it on his lap.

  He turned the handle on the door but froze when the latch bolt made an unexpected click as it disengaged. He smiled when he heard Yuko’s voice. She distracted the Yakuza soldiers and covered any noise he had made.

  He slipped silently down the dim hallway, his senses on alert as he detected the Were and a human in the office to his left and three humans in a room across from the office. He was moving toward the open office door when he heard a voice yell, ‘Vampire!’ and a huge wolf came tearing out seconds later.

  Akio rushed forward at preternatural speed when he saw the wolf leap across the dining room, bowling over several men as he rushed at Yuko.

  Yuko reacted to the wolf flying toward her. She slipped to the side, catching him by his scruff with both hands and using his momentum to spin and throw him back across the room.

  The Yakuza soldiers were momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of the snarling wolf in their midst. He landed on a table, crushing it beneath him and sending the two men sitting at it reeling. The crash seemed to snap the remaining mobsters out of their shock. The room erupted into bedlam as they turned over chairs and tables while grabbing their guns.

  Yuko reached out and lightly tapped the man who had intercepted her on the temple as he stared open-mouthed at the wolf. His unconscious body fell bonelessly to the floor as she pulled one of her Jean Dukes and leveled it at the room.

  “I suggest you drop your weapons,” Yuko commanded. Her face transformed from that of an innocent young woman to one of a demon with glowing red eyes and fangs protruding from her mouth.

  An older soldier with his arms completely covered in tattoos, screamed and turned to run, only to be brought up short as the snarling wolf surged to his feet between him and the safety he sought at the rear of the building.

  Akio had been watching the scene, one lip curled up in a half-smile at how effortlessly Yuko took control of the situation. When the angry wolf gained his feet, Akio stepped in front of him and blocked his way. Katana held ready to strike in a two-handed grip, he commanded, “Shift or die.”

  Dieter saw the vampire in a dark military-type uniform with a patch on one shoulder of a skull with hair streaming behind it blocking his way. The Dark One, he thought as he saw the glowing red eyes and deadly sword. Heinz had shown him a picture from years ago of him once, and compared to the other men in the calendar, he didn’t look very frightening.

  The picture had lied.

  He turned toward the front door and saw the woman who had so casually intercepted his attack blocking the exit, her eyes red as she held twin pistols in her hands.

  Dieter looked from one to the other, frantically searching for a way to escape when a searing pain shot through his rear leg, followed by the sound of a gunshot. He spun to see a young Yakuza soldier holding a pistol pointed at him. The burning pain drove him into a rage. He felt a primal need to rend and shred this lowly human who dared to injure him. With a deep-throated snarl, he lunged at the hapless man, his strong jaws and ivory fangs tearing his throat out in the blink of an eye.

  Gripped in bloodlust and pain-induced rage, Dieter spun on Akio and tensed his legs to spring.

  Akio watched him through hooded eyes and set his stance, ready to bring his sword into position when the wolf struck.

  Dieter surged forward, jaws open wide as he aimed for Akio. At the last instant, he darted left, attempting to go past Akio and flee out the rear.

  Akio caught him as he ran past, slinging his body across the bar where it landed in an explosion of glass and liquor when he crashed into the shelves behind it.

  Yasou aimed his pistol at Akio’s back with a shaking hand. Before he could pull the trigger, his body was slammed halfway through the office window, his torso shredded by the hypervelocity round from Yuko’s gun.

  “I said, drop your Gott verdammt guns!” Yuko roared as she took aim at the only other Yak
uza member who was actively pointing a gun.

  He looked at Yuko and then at the gun in his hand. His face held a look of surprise at seeing the gun held there. His eyes went round with fear as he flung the gun across the room and quickly went to his knees, his hands clenched tightly on top of his head.

  Dieter fought his way to his feet, shards of glass falling to the floor as he stood, and his vision went red as Akio again ordered him to shift back.

  Dieter bared his fangs and leapt for his tormenter, his only thought to maim and destroy the being who had dared to interfere with his father’s plans. He didn’t feel Akio’s blade as it powered through his neck. His body continued for three unsteady steps, then it joined his head on the floor.

  Akio turned to the Yakuza mobsters staring in shock at the grim man with the sword who had so easily dispatched the monster wolf. “The lady told you to drop your weapons.” He spoke softly, right before he projected the crippling sense of fear that was the trademark of a Queen’s Bitch. The sound of guns falling to the floor from numb fingers was quickly followed by bodies thumping to the floor as screams of terror filled the room.

  Akio raised his blade in salute to Yuko, then turned toward the office where he planned to ask Sero the question that was foremost in his mind.

  Yuko nodded to Akio and moved around the room, gathering weapons and shoving the dazed Yakuza into a group in the corner. She stood by the entrance, a pistol in one hand keeping the shell-shocked gangsters under control while Akio…talked to Sero.

  Akio’s face wrinkled in disgust as he stood in front of the unconscious man. The smell of whiskey, coupled with the acrid scent of urine, that came from him was so strong, it almost made his eyes water. He caught the mobster’s collar and pulled him to his feet.

  He held him there for a moment and then called, “Sero. Sero. Sero, wake up.” As he lightly slapped his face, keeping his anger in check so as not to break the man’s neck.

  The gangster stirred and mumbled incoherently. Akio shook him gently and called his name again.

  Sero slowly opened his eyes, shaking his head as he fought to regain consciousness. When his eyes focused, he tried to pull away from Akio in fear. “What? Why? Who? What are you doing?”

  “You ordered someone taken, a young woman. I want her back. Now!” Akio demanded, his eyes flashing red.

  Sero screamed in terror. His mind was close to the breaking point from all of the shocks he had received today. Muto’s death, Dieter turning into a monster wolf, and now this man with glowing eyes had all overloaded his brain.

  When Akio entered his mind, he discovered that his thoughts were incoherent and fractured. He pushed harder, pulling on memories of the past. A man begging for his life, a young woman in tears as she was forced into prostitution, an elderly shop owner on his knees with a look of devastation on his face as his store burned. There was no doubt that Sero was an evil man.

  Akio had no qualms about pushing strong compulsion into his addled brain. “Where is Koda Rii?”

  “I don’t know who that is,” Sero whimpered.

  “The young woman you ordered kidnapped,” Akio clarified. “Where is she?”

  Sero’s eyes rolled as his mind tried to fight the compulsion, certain that he would die if he told this creature what he wanted to know.

  Akio looked at him in disgust as he pulled this thought from his mind. “I won’t kill you,” he told him in a low, steady tone. “I can do much worse.”

  Sero’s eyes widened, showing white all around as Akio projected mind-numbing, gut-wrenching terror at him.

  Akio watched dispassionately as Sero’s body reacted to the sensation. His breath came in quick gasps, his face paled, and his body began to shake uncontrollably. He allowed the feeling to continue for a while, hearing the cries and moans of the mobsters outside the busted window grow louder as they too were subjected to the emotion.

  He allowed the fear to slowly subside. While Sero’s mind recovered, he was able to pull the information he wanted with no problem.

  Akio held the trembling man, and after a moment’s hesitation, he smiled. “You will turn yourself over to the police and confess all of the crimes you have committed. You will also give them any information you have about the crimes and illegal activities of others. You will not make any deals for leniency, and will gladly accept whatever punishment the courts deem appropriate.”

  Sero tried to resist, but the compulsion was too strong. His face went slack and his body went limp. “I understand.”

  Akio lowered him to his feet and pulled him out into the room where Yuko held the others. “I know where she is,” he informed her as he shoved Sero into the midst of the others.

  “Abel, please contact Inspector Yonai and advise him to send his people in to take custody of these men,” Akio called.

  Abel responded seconds later. “Message delivered.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Yakuza Brothel, Tokyo, Japan

  When Eve burst into the house, she saw a short man in an ill-fitting suit looking at the hole the drone had punched through the door into the house.

  He spun and drew a pistol, snapping a quickly-aimed shot toward her. The bullet impacted the top of her head and ricocheted into the ceiling. Eve fired her carbine from the hip while running. The recoil forced her to stumble and take two steps back as the mobster’s body exploded from the force of the impact when her round hit him in the chest.

  Eve caught her balance and continued to the metal door at a run. She slowed only enough to make the turn, slamming into the door and leaving it hanging from one hinge as her body went through.

  Koda jumped and hit her head on the bars of the cage. The movement sent pain radiating down her neck and back. Tears blurred her vision as she struggled to hold her body still to assuage the pain. She had been kneeling for hours, unable to move in the tight confines of the bars. Her body was wracked with pain from the cramps that had taken up residence in her back and both legs hours earlier. The slightest movement caused the stressed muscles to knot even more.

  Eve stopped and surveyed the cage for a second, then reached out and grabbed the padlock securing her friend inside. She wrenched the lock free and threw it across the room in disgust.

  “Koda, are you injured?” she called as she pulled open the door.

  “Wha…who? Eve!” she cried as her vision cleared and she saw her friend.

  Eve helped Koda out of the cage, speaking urgently as she summoned another drone to her location. “We need to get out of here. Can you walk?”

  When the young woman tried to stand her legs cramped viciously, causing her to fall to the floor in agony.

  With tear-filled eyes, she gasped, “My legs. Cramps. Aieeeee.”

  Eve growled as she saw her friend in pain. “Someone is going to pay for this. Who put you in that cage? Do you have a name?”

  “I… Oh, God, it hurts,” Koda mumbled through the pain. “I think… Aarrgggh! I think he was called Diago.”

  “Diago! Abel found that name on the mugshot of one of the men who took you. He is a dead man,” Eve stated in a voice that held an edge of pure menace.

  “Just get me home, Eve. I can’t stand another minute in this horrible place,” Koda cried as she slowly convinced her tortured legs to cooperate.

  Eve leaned down and gently caught her arm. “Let me help you. Lean on me and I’ll get you out of here.”

  “Eve,” Akio called, “I have obtained the location where they took Koda.”

  “I got it,” Eve told him. “I have her. Now we’re working on getting out of here.”

  Akio was quiet a moment. “We will discuss your failure to properly communicate with your team later. Do you need assistance?”

  “My apologies,” Eve replied as Koda climbed to her feet shakily. “I’m in the Black Eagle, so if you can spare your Pod for a few minutes that would be helpful.”

  “Yuko and I will be dealing with the Yakuza and the police for a little longer. We will not need the
Pod if that is all you require.”

  “I’ll go get Koda,” Yuko cut in. “You can handle this, Akio.”

  “Wait,” Akio commanded. “This is a matter for the Vicereine. Since there are multiple criminals, plus the ones we were forced to kill, your presence is needed here.”

  Yuko dropped her head in shame, knowing Akio was right and that she had once again acted impulsively.

  Akio continued, “Your concern for Koda is honorable, but Eve told us she doesn’t need our assistance. We must honor her wishes on this, as she must honor ours when we do the same. That is what being part of a team means. You trust and support each other, even if you do not always agree on the course.”

  Abel cut into the conversation by activating all their chips at the same time. “The craft from China is on the move. I have been tracking it since shortly after you returned. It has departed the China coast and headed here. I am uploading an earlier surveillance recording to you now.”

  “Why are you only now giving us this data?” Eve demanded.

  “It was not as relevant as locating Koda Rii at the time,” Abel replied. “Now that you have located and secured her, the information is more relevant.”

  “Remind me to take a look at your risk assessment code,” Eve huffed. “The parameters need to be adjusted.”

  “My risk assessment programming is working within acceptable parameters,” Abel responded. “As long as the craft was in China, ensuring the safety of Koda Rii was the primary concern.”

  “Abel,” Akio called, interrupting a potential argument. “What are the projected arrival point and ETA of the craft?”

  “ETA based on current speed is thirty-four minutes. Location is somewhere near Tokyo, based on intelligence received and current trajectory. I will continue to track it and provide more information as it becomes available.”