by Tom Keller
"Weapons?"
"Can't hurt," I replied, unzipping the duffel bag. We slid our swords onto our backs and then I pulled out the M-700. Fitting a suppressor on the barrel, I handed it to her. "I've got the bag, you can cover me. Anything else you need?"
"This will do," she said, setting it down as she checked several pouches on her vest. Satisfied, she picked up the rifle and nodded. "After you."
I swung the duffel over my shoulders like an oversized backpack and started walking. As we skirted the base of the mountain, I was reminded again how much like the Vegas of the late '70s this place was. Only a couple small housing developments had been built up this far. The rest of the area was dotted with custom homes and ranches. We passed Bonanza Road below us and I realized how lonely it looked without the Mormon temple that had been built out here back home. Walking about another tenth of a mile, I dropped my pack behind a small rise, grabbed a couple pairs of binoculars and laid down to look the area over. Livia joined me a moment later. I handed her a pair and raised my own to my eyes. There were only three houses on this side of Los Feliz. Although it was a block over from where it would have been in my world, the one in the middle looked about right. Sitting on a couple acres, the house itself was bordered by a block fence. The rest of the desert looked quiet.
"The yellow house in the middle," I said, pointing to it. "Let's move further south. I want to get a better view." I placed the binoculars back in the bag and then looked up, scanning the sky for threats.
"How can you be sure?" Livia asked, still looking through the binoculars with her revealers on. "I see no signs of magic."
"Best guess based on available intel," I replied, gathering up the duffle and slipping it over my shoulders. "Even if I'm wrong, we'll still be in a better position to view the area a little further down the way."
She clipped the binoculars to a loop on her vest, picked up her rifle, and followed me along the foothills. We moved farther along the hill another quarter mile or so before I put the duffel down again. I grabbed the binoculars and laid back down to see what it looked like. Livia plopped down next to me and did the same.
"Check out the houses on this side of the last road for anything out of the ordinary and tell me what you think," I said, looking through the lenses with the revealers on. "While you do that, I'm gonna see if I can figure out how much surveillance we're dealing with."
There was only one four-door sedan close to the house. That one was parked on Stewart just west of Los Feliz. As best I could tell, at least three others were staged along the intersections on Hollywood. Along the same route we'd driven just a while ago. My guess was that they were covering all the roads that accessed her house. Which meant it was a good thing I hadn’t tried to get any closer.
"Not good," I said after a minute. "I see at least four vehicles that fit, but I'll wager there's a few more I'm missing. Anything on your end?"
"The houses are quiet," she replied. "But I believe you are correct. There is the occasional sparkle of light at the yellow house. They must be using strong magic to hide themselves. While the glasses cannot pierce the veil, still something bleeds through. The desert that surrounds it is calm. I see no vehicles or people, and there are no other signs of magic."
"Okay," I said, sliding the revealers up to my forehead and scanning the desert with just the binoculars. I was looking for any type of shack or building. Something that mimicked where the Knight had been in my world. I found what I was searching for a few minutes later. It wasn't a building. It looked more like someone had dumped a load of construction trash in a large pile out in the desert. I dropped the revealers back down, Son of a bitch! Gaea was making it easy for a change.
"Take a look behind the house. At the top of what looks like a wash that runs down the mountain just to the south of us. About 50 yards behind the house. What do you see?"
"It looks like debris."
"Keep looking."
She scanned the area for a minute more, then looked up at me. "I see nothing else."
"Try it with the revealers on."
"I still see nothing," she said, putting down the binoculars and rubbing her eyes. "Perhaps it would be best if you told me what I am looking for."
"Start at the trash heap," I said, pointing as I lifted the binoculars. "Then move to the bottom. Go right to where the drop off to the wash begins. See that other pile there? It's not trash. That's a ghillie suit. With the revealers on it looks slightly darker. From there you would have a perfect view of the garage and front entrance. I'm thinking that's our girl."
"I see nothing different," she said, looking both with and without the glasses on. "Even so, I was under the impression this type of magic does not work on their kind. How can you see her with the revealers?"
"That's not exactly correct," I said, turning back to the cars on the streets. "You're right, they can’t be sensed by magic, and they don’t project an aura. But the opposite is true too, and there's just enough magic in the moonlight to make the difference. I've seen this before. It's like a shadow where the moonlight doesn’t reflect as bright. Trust me, that's their sniper, Belina. But here's the problem. She's too close to the house. Even if we tried to take her out from here, which would not be my first choice, as soon as we make a move on her, our cover is gonna be blown. Rael's no fool, there's no way we'd be able to do this quietly enough to avoid being discovered."
"You want to take her alive without being seen?"
"If possible."
"Would it not be best just to kill her?" Livia asked. "Found dead, the negotiations would still continue."
"You're probably right," I agreed. "But it would confirm that the Knights were involved, as well as let them know that someone took care of the problem for them. It would be best if they never knew anyone had been here. That would avoid a lot of complications down the road. But you may have something there. Stopping this threat might be all we need to get their attention. Which gives me an idea."
"…and that is?"
"I think we need to stir the hornet's nest," I said, putting down the binoculars. "We create enough havoc to make them think something is happening, then they lock themselves down tight while we remove the Knight from the equation. That should stop anyone else from trying the same thing, at least for now. To do that we need a diversion. What do you know about the cloud grenades? I've never used them before but I brought several. Can we use them like a smoke screen?"
"We can," she acknowledged. "But it will give away our position. There is a rush of wind when the spell is released and the clouds will radiate away in the direction they are thrown. There will be no doubt as to where they came from. Even if you throw it straight toward the ground, the mist will simply roll outward in all directions. Either way, they will see it coming down the mountain and know that it was launched from up here."
"So much for making things easy," I muttered, looking up. "Thanks, Gaea."
"Did you just invoke the name of the Greco-Roman mother of life?" Livia asked, a curious look on her face.
"Yes I did," I replied, reminding myself to be more careful. "But it was that or invoke someone that I knew would offend you." I sat up and looked over the valley below us. "Okay. Let's take a minute. How much visibility would there be if we did use one?"
"One granata?" she asked, getting up from the ground and taking a seat beside me. "There would be mist and fog, as if a cloud descended upon us. One can still see up close, but the further away they are, the less so. As in natural fog. If you wanted to restrict visibility further, we would have to use more than one."
"How long will it last?"
"The fog? Thirty minutes, maybe more before it starts to dissipate," she replied, reaching down to touch the desert sand. "The ground here is cool. Without the sun or ambient heat to burn it away, it should last at least that long."
I reached down into my vest and checked my pouches. "I have four of the white cloud grenades. What if we used all of them at the same time?"
"Thick as pea soup," she said, chuckling. "But remember, this is strong magic. Even the glasses will not reveal what is within. It will affect us just as well as our adversaries, and we will still have the problem of the direction it comes from."
"All right," I replied, scratching my head. "Let's say we can overcome that. Can you get to the Knight and take her down with the fog that thick? I mean without killing her unless you have to? I'd still rather have a prisoner than a corpse."
"From this distance?" she asked, picking up the binoculars again. "That is close to 300 meters. No, the mist moves too fast. It billows out quickly when the spell is released. It will reach her position long before I can get there. I will admit that I am well trained in combat, but she will be as well. No. Without the element of surprise, I do not believe that it is possible."
"And if you were closer?" I asked, pointing to the area where the Null was set up. "It's not far to the top of that wash from here. You could take it straight down until you’re right on top of her."
"Then perhaps," she replied. "Assuming that she is alone and has not moved before I can reach her."
"I'm pretty sure she'll be just as confused by the fog. If there is anyone else out there, they won’t be able to see anything either. You can take advantage of that."
"Let me make sure I understand what you are proposing," she said, setting the binoculars down at her feet. "You wish me to sneak along a dry riverbed for 300 meters and wait until you release the granate. Then, when the clouds roll over my position, so thick that I cannot see my own hand in front of my face, I am to subdue a warrior Knight and carry her over a kilometer through the desert. Again, with a fog so dense that I will not be able to see the ground in front of me. This is your plan?"
"Pretty much," I replied. "Oh, you should probably throw one of the smoke grenades right before you snag her. That will distract everyone even further."
"Thereby reducing visibility all the more," she said, rolling her eyes. "There is still the problem of the direction the clouds will be rolling in from. May I ask how you plan to overcome that?"
"The direction won't be an issue," I replied, pointing to the neighborhood between the yellow house and Hollywood Boulevard. It was a sparsely built area of custom homes and ranches, with a few paved roads and desert between. "While you're moving down the wash, I'm gonna haul my ass down the hill and toss my three grenades in that neighborhood. When the fog reaches you, that's your signal. You should be close enough by then to disable her. You set off yours when that happens. By then, the direction won’t matter."
"And why is that?" she asked.
"Because by then they'll be so busy looking for me that they won’t think to look for you. Setting off the grenades will stir the area up enough to generate some calls to the PD. I'll drop a dime on Mal. He can have my guys close to the area before the shit hits the fan. They'd get the call anyway so it won’t be unusual when they show up. They can run interference for us and I'll turn the Knight over to him when we're done." I opened the duffel and placed my binoculars inside. "Once I've tossed the grenades, I'll backtrack and meet up with you. Then we get her to the Jeep and we're home free."
"That is the most insane idea I have ever heard," she exclaimed, shaking her head. "You are mad!"
"It is a tad unconventional, I'll admit," I replied with a grin. "But they'll never see it coming, and it will accomplish what we need. So can you do it?"
She gave a low guttural growl, then picked up the binoculars and scanned the area again. "Your people, do you trust them?"
"You've met Mal," I replied, nodding my head. "He's the only one else that needs to know about the Knight, and yeah, I trust him with my life."
"It will not be easy," she said, looking through the binoculars again. "And I cannot guarantee the Knight will survive the encounter."
"I understand," I replied. "But will you do it?"
"Of course," she said, setting the binoculars down again. "Since I do not see any other way."
"Okay then," I said, grabbing a few things from the bag before taking off my vest. I pulled the hood over my face so that only my eyes were showing. "Take only what you need. I'll grab the duffel and leave it where we first stopped. I'll look for you there. If you can’t make it that far, hunker down and wait for me. I'll come back and find you."
She nodded as she removed her vest and slung the rifle over her shoulder. Then she removed a few items from the bag before stuffing them in pockets and covering her face.
"Good luck," I said, sliding the duffel over my back. "I'll see you soon."
I began retracing our steps along the hill while she moved carefully toward the top of the wash. When I reached our last position, I dropped the bag and pulled out my radio. "You there Mal?" I asked, whispering into the mic. Since we were using the encrypted command channel, a channel reserved for my team's supervisors, there was no reason for formality.
"I'm here," he said a moment later. "What do you need?"
"Nothing just yet," I replied. "But that's going to change soon. Figured I'd give you a heads up like you asked."
"Hold on for a minute," he radioed back. "I want to write this down."
"Then you better write fast," I countered. "I'm kind of busy."
"I should have known," he replied. "What's happening"
"EAB has a little operation going on up here on Sunrise Mountain that they screwed the pooch on," I began. "They haven’t figured it out yet and I'm gonna need to stir things up a bit to fix it? I need you and Roberto's team to run some interference for me. I'll be off the air, but expect a few calls for service to roll in. That'll be your invitation to crash the party. I should have a package for you when I'm done. I'll contact you later for a pick-up."
"Can't wait," he replied. "What kind of interference do you need?"
"Just keep them looking anywhere but up the mountain. You'll know what I mean when you get here."
"We can do that," he said. "Do we need to bring any party favors?"
"Just some fog lamps, " I replied, smiling as I double clicked the mic before turning the pac-set off. I tossed it into the duffle and zipped it up. Then I found a nice bush to stash it behind and started my way back down toward the roadway.
I kept to the middle of the desert, figuring that would give me the best chance to remain hidden. Although I didn’t expect the Feds to have anything powerful enough to see me, it paid to not take chances. I was also heading into a Demon neighborhood, and who knew what kind of magic or creatures those beings kept around the house. I gradually made my way to Los Feliz Street and then went further down the hill into the neighborhood where I planned to throw the grenades. I slowed down, carefully making my way across a dirt road that paralleled Los Feliz. There were only a few houses on the street, but by the lights and sounds, I could tell they were occupied. I decided to go a little further west, crossing between two yards as I made my way down toward the next street. This one was paved and looked as good a spot as any to execute my plan.
Starting at where the road curved behind me, I threw the first grenade in a high arc across the street and between the two houses I'd just passed through. There was a screaming rush of wind, much louder than I'd expected, and the clouds began billowing out behind me as I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. I stopped about 200 yards later and tossed another grenade. This one almost straight up before pushing onward. After running approximately the same distance I tossed my third grenade and then veered right into a desert lot to figure out how to get back up to the mountain. At least that's what I hoped to do. By now the clouds and mist were all around me and I couldn't see anything clearly. Maybe this hadn’t been such a bright idea after all.
I bent over with my hands on my knees and tried to catch my breath. Shit, I'd only run about 400 yards or so. Sure, it had been an all-out sprint, but it was also a reminder that it sucked being human again. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay here, so I sucked it in and started moving back to the roadway. I had underestimated the problem with
using the clouds as cover. While I was effectively invisible, so was everything else. I'd forgotten just how much a pain in the ass real fog was. The mists rolled over and around me, their twisting and turning vapors creating shapes and figures that made it hard to navigate. They seemed to be creating false obstacles in every direction I turned. I finally settled on crawling until I found the street. There I was able to use the curb as a guide. Turning left, I jogged along the roadway by feel. Three potholes and a slight detour caused by what I think was a large dog later, I was back at the approximate location where I'd thrown the first grenade. That's when I ran smack dab into the rear door of a car.
Nothing's ever easy, I thought, as what was obviously the driver side door flew open and someone got out. I didn’t need to see his face to know what he was, the gun in my chest made for a satisfactory introduction. Fortunately, I knew he wasn't one of mine as I was only now hearing the PD sirens in the distance. Besides, my guys would never act so foolishly. Having no time for subtlety, I twisted and pivoted my arm, locking the gun between it and my body, and then thrust my head forward. I heard a satisfactory crunch as my forehead connected with his nose. At the same time, I struck upward with my knee, hearing an "oomph" as I connected with him once again. Almost simultaneously, his hand released the weapon and he fell to the ground at my feet. Someone needed better training, I thought, and then turned and ran past the trunk of the car. Stumbling on the curb, I kept moving forward, hopefully between the same two houses that I'd passed before. I suddenly realized I was still holding the Government issued semi-automatic he'd been unable to retain clutched at my side. Not wanting to touch it, they did still have fingerprinting in this world, I bent over and let it drop as I reached the dirt road. They could find it when the mists cleared. I stopped and took a moment to get my bearings.
With the sound of confused voices and sirens both to my right and behind me, I hurried across the unpaved road until I reached the desert, then continued uphill until I felt the sand turn to pavement once again. I put on a burst of speed and crossed what I hoped was Los Feliz Street. Once I was safely across and back in the desert, I felt the ground slope upwards even more. Slowing down to cross the uneven terrain, I figured I was home free. Unfortunately, someone else had other ideas.
