by T. C. Edge
“You have a way with him,” remarked Chloe. “He likes you.”
“And I love him,” said Nadia, staring affectionately. “Little guy’s cute as a button.”
“Shhhh,” joked Chloe, placing an index finger to her lips. “He thinks he’s all tough. Doesn’t like being called cute.”
“Ah, right. Handsome then,” grinned Nadia. “That’s what I meant. You’re as handsome as Ragan is, Remus.”
Remus strutted across Chloe’s palm, drawing laughter from the two young women. And through the exchange, Chloe had barely noticed that the jet had risen several dozen metres into the air, and was all set and ready to go.
The engines grew louder, the interior began to vibrate, and then, without further warning, Chloe was slammed to the back of her chair, the falcon shooting off across the skies towards the northeast at a blistering pace. It lasted a few long moments, before she grew used to the sudden change in velocity. Then, gradually, the conditions within the jet changed, and Chloe’s frame relaxed.
“You see,” said Nadia. “Told you this bird could move.”
The flight didn’t last long.
With an outrageous top speed, hundreds of miles could be covered in little time at all. As soon as the jet’s course was set, the two men came back from the cockpit, leaving the falcon on autopilot, and all four gathered at the command centre in the rear, set to go over the mission once more before arrival.
On the table before them, an interactive map was drawn up, with all the same pop-up windows as they’d seen in the briefing room back at base. Ragan quickly went through some of the key figures among the Marauders that he was aware of, paying particular attention to a man nicknamed ‘The Pirate’, who was known to be their leader.
“He gets his name from the patch he wears over his left eye,” explained Ragan when the question was posed by Nadia. “Apparently he lost the eye in a knife fight. He won, obviously, and took command of the gang thereafter. But, anyway, he’s known to be ruthless, as all gang leaders are. They’ll be well supplied with weapons, and will know the town’s layout well on account of the business they do there. It’s important we all try to memorise the street pattern as quickly as we can. We’ll have some time for that before we land.”
“Right, and how many members in the gang?” asked Chloe.
“Intel suggests at least a hundred.”
“A hundred!”
“Yeah, but they won’t all be at the meet. If we’re right about this, it should just be an exchange with Mikel, so no need to send such a large party. Their members are well trained, mostly ex soldiers, but rarely nano-augmented. I wouldn’t imagine they’ll bring much more than a dozen. Twenty at most.”
“A walk in the park then,” said Tanner arrogantly. “Regular soldiers and mercs are no match for us.”
“Except Mikel,” added Ragan swiftly with a piercing look around the group. “We know his capabilities, and will need to focus our attention on him. If we’re smart and careful, no one will see us coming. If we can, we’ll take Mikel down before the meet even begins. We’ll have to start by checking if his car is still on the northeastern edge of town where the surveillance drone spotted him.”
“And if he’s not,” came Tanner’s voice. “Then what?”
“I’d say we wait for the meet to begin,” said Ragan, “assess, and strike. Chloe can direct Remus in there to scout and feed back the intel. That sound about right to you, Cliff?”
Tanner considered it, the temporary frost between the men now forgotten among such wider concerns.
“We could try to flush Mikel out beforehand,” he said, thinking. “But that might be risky. He’d be just as likely to catch wind of us before we do him, and he’ll be off like a hound at the races. I’d say you’re right, Ragan. Wait for the meet, and for Mikel to show himself, then strike.”
“Strike who, though?” queried Nadia. “We either take out Mikel before he makes the handover, or we wait for him to pass on the data, and then go after the Marauders. Might be easier to deal with them than Mikel, if the vamp’s as deadly as you say.”
She looked at Ragan, whose countenance darkened, as it tended to do when Mikel was under discussion.
“Depends on how many mercs we’re dealing with. We won’t know until we set down and get into position. There’s a central square in the middle of town where the Marauders tend to conduct their business. They’ll likely set snipers in position in the buildings around the perimeter. We’ll have to take them out first, take their positions. Tanner, Nadia, I want you two doing that. I’ll stay on the ground and strike from there.”
“And me?” asked Chloe.
All eyes swung to the baby of the group. Age-wise, by a little. Experience, by a lot.
“You’ll stay back,” said Ragan. “Provide cover and backup, and use Remus to scout and direct us.” Ragan pointed to the map of the small town, set within the dusty plains. “There’s a portion of higher ground to the west, with views through the buildings and into the main square. That’s where I want you, Chloe. We’ll move there first as a team, then strike out when the situation calls for it. First, we’ll need to assess when we hit the ground, and check if Mikel’s jet-car is still there. Hopefully with him in it. If so, the rest is mute.”
“Right,” nodded Tanner, ever keen to add his voice and co-command. “Chloe, can Remus perform that function?” he asked.
“What? Check to see if the car is there?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure. He’s got cloaking tech, so can do so without being seen.”
“Clever little guy,” smiled Tanner.
“Yeah,” nodded Chloe. “He is.”
It was a nice moment between the two, Tanner seeking to make amends for any offence, however unintentional, he might have caused before. Ragan was quite aware of it, and let it play out before continuing. After a few seconds of silence, he drew everyone’s attention back to the map.
“Right, we’ll be coming up on our landing position soon enough. It’s a few miles from Devil’s Pike, far enough to let us descend without Mikel catching wind. We’ll cover the rest on foot, and will need to be careful. Intel, and the gang’s MO, suggests the meet won’t occur until sundown, so we’ll have to get into position before then and gets things set up. Let’s all study up.”
For the next ten or so minutes, the group stood in silence, studying the town of Devil’s Pike. They took in the street layout, the buildings, their entry and exit points, each of them quite capable of memorising it all. It was, for Chloe, something she was used to. She never went anywhere new without knowing how to get in, out, and around. Within only a few minutes, she had the map logged in her head. And so did the others.
They returned to their seats shortly thereafter, the afternoon passing by at a frightening pace which, by some irony, was just fine by Chloe. She had little time to think about what was about to happen, though if she did she’d probably purr with anticipation, rather than quiver with fear.
After all, when she’d caught eyes with Mikel as he flew skyward from the roof of the CID, her body had filled with a burning passion to hunt him down, stand face to face with him again. She was, perhaps, about to get that chance, and though the creature was about as dangerous as anyone she’d ever encountered, she still wished for it. With Tanner, Nadia, and particularly Ragan alongside her, she felt quite certain that Mikel would stand no chance.
And however she felt about seeking out the nano-vamp, and ending his miserable existence, she imagined that Ragan’s feelings on the subject could only have been vastly compounded. He had history with Mikel, real history. At the very least, the nano-vamp had stuck a knife right into his chest, and twisted him open by the looks of that scar.
But more than that, Chloe imagined that Mikel had taken someone Ragan once cared about. A fellow soldier with the Panthers, perhaps, or maybe a partner from the CID? Whatever it was, Ragan’s hatred for the vamp went beyond the cut of his knife. He’d cut him much deeper than that, somewhere
beyond his physical flesh.
They all strapped back in, the girls in the back and the men up front, and Tanner retook command of the controls, diving the jet down through the murky skies. There was a blanket of cloud that was taking hold, the sun now hidden mostly from view even as the jet descended towards the earth. Chloe glanced through one of the few small windows on the side of the plane, and saw the parched world below come into view, a far cry from the verdant forests and misty, snow-capped mountains that created such a beautiful setting for the old military base they’d left behind.
The lower they went, the more the lands grew in clarity, open and wide and wild, dominated by gangs and mercenary groups. The large highways that once crisscrossed these sprawling lands now lay largely empty and forgotten. So many towns and even larger cities were skeletons of what they once more. It was a cursed world, filled with cursed people.
Chloe looked down on the lands, on a nation once so prosperous, and knew that the place was godless now. The devil had taken domain. And the town they were headed to, Devil’s Pike…
Well, that was an appropriate name indeed.
40
“OK, helmets on, whispers from here on out.”
The strike team of four donned their black helmets on Ragan’s command, looking altogether like a team of super-soldiers should. Chloe looked at her companions, and could barely conceive of herself looking the same. With a little mental command, she ordered for Remus to slip from her pocket and get a good look at her. She shut her eyes and saw herself from his viewpoint.
“Jesus, I look…like a hunter,” she whispered to herself.
“Hell yeah you do, gorgeous,” came Tanner’s voice in her ear, communicated through the helmet.
She opened her eyes and saw him looking at her, just about recognisable through the dark visor covering his eyes.
“You look great, Chloe,” he said. “How does it feel being on the other side?”
“Ask me later,” said Chloe. “I’m not sure yet…but good so far.”
“Guys, quiet now,” came Ragan’s voice suddenly. “No comms unless necessary, OK?”
Chloe noted the roll of Tanner’s eyes. She sniggered, forgetting that even the most minor noise would be picked up by all the soldiers and their earpieces.
“Chloe…” said Ragan, flashing her a teacherly, rebuking glare.
“Sorry…it’s Tanner. He just makes me laugh.”
“Hey! I didn’t say anything,” complained Tanner.
“You didn’t have to,” smiled Chloe. “It’s just you two…and your bickering. I kinda like it.”
“Well, plenty of time for bickering and laughing when we get back,” said Ragan sternly. “Let’s complete the job first. Full focus now, guys.”
This time, Chloe refused to look through Tanner’s visor for fear of what she might see.
Setting off from the jet, they began moving silently across the open lands, the slowly darkening sky helping to conceal them. Their suits, while unable to hide from infrared and X-ray as Ragan’s CID mesh bodysuit could, still had some manner of cloaking function, helping to reflect the light around them so they blended partially into their surroundings.
“OK, Chloe, send Remus off ahead,” Ragan ordered down comms.
Chloe passed on the command, and Remus whizzed off, high and far in front of them, scanning the way forward to ensure they didn’t stumble upon anyone without prior warning.
Ragan, still with his special-issue scanning lenses from the CID, did the same, briefly opening his visor and tapping his left contact lens three times to activate the function. Between him and Remus, they were well covered.
The journey was careful, and cautious, yet the ground was covered fast. With the sun starting to journey south, making a beeline for the horizon, they quickened their step until the town of Devil’s Pike came into view down in the valleys.
The squad stopped at the summit of a hillock, dropping to the ground at Ragan’s command and lying prone in the grit. They spread their eyes ahead, searching through the deserted settlement, the map they’d all studied now brought to life before them.
It was small, structured in a basic grid formation. The main street cut through its centre, reaching an intersection where a larger square formed. Old shop signs hung lazily from above derelict stores. Apartment blocks reached no more than a few storeys high, windows cracked and broken. Rusted husks of cars, broken down and abandoned, sat down quiet alleys or in little parking lots, home now only to nesting creatures.
It was a sad old remnant of what was once a place of life and vitality. One of many hundreds, thousands of such places that now littered the vast landmass.
As the group of four lay there, looking out over Devil’s Pike, Ragan continued to scan ahead for lifeforms using his lens. He came up short, no signature registering as strong enough to be owned by someone like Mikel.
“Nothing registering,” he whispered to the group. He looked to Chloe. “How’s Remus getting on?”
Chloe, eyes shut, was now seeing the world from Remus’ viewpoint, hovering high over the town and taking it in from a bird’s eye view. Cloaked from sight, he was scanning as Ragan was from his lofty vantage, searching for heat signatures and forms of life. Nothing was forthcoming.
“No sign of life beyond small critters,” said Chloe.
“OK, head for the location where Mikel’s jet-car was spotted. It’s to the rear of the town, far side to the northeast.”
Chloe did as directed, mentally commanding Remus to continue to Mikel’s last known position. The car, as shown on the map, had been just outside of the town, parked off in a lay-by. Through the haze of the setting sun, Remus searched forward as he flew silently across the town, a blurred form just starting to come into view in the distance beyond.
He slowed as he neared, maintaining a high vantage to remain hidden and out of sight. Chloe’s heart began to pace a little harder as the shape formed into that of the jet-car in question, the very one she’d seen Mikel escape in from the roof of the CID.
“Car’s there,” she whispered, the rest hearing it through their helmets. “I’m sending Remus lower for a closer look.”
The other three bodies beside her stiffened, fingers gripping tighter to their weapons. They waited anxiously as Chloe directed Remus down through the dusty air, now lit in a stark shade of orange as the sun drifted closer towards the horizon.
He dropped slowly, carefully, silent as a ghost. The car began to grow in clarity to his sensors, transferring the image straight to Chloe from many hundreds of metres away. Eyes shut tight, she watched with bated breath, fearful of sending Remus too close should Mikel be there, lying in wait.
Slowly but surely, the interior of the car came into view. A harsh light glinted off the windows, momentarily obscuring Remus’ sight. His scanners worked to pick up any lifeforms, but found nothing within. No heat signature. No movement. Nothing at all.
“He’s not there,” whispered Chloe. “There’s no one in the car.”
Beside her, Ragan’s teeth were briefly exposed in a snarl.
“OK, scan nearby, he might be hiding in the town.”
Remus did so, moving back towards the buildings and streets, quickly scanning as much of it as possible in the hopes that they’d spot Mikel before the Marauders arrived. He was granted several minutes, the group growing increasingly anxious. Still, Mikel didn’t appear.
He was nowhere to be seen.
“Nothing, Ragan,” said Chloe. “Remus isn’t picking up anything. He doesn’t appear to be here. I’m bringing him back.”
“No, wait,” said Ragan. His ears pricked up, and off to the south, the sound of rumbling engines filtered through the darkening air. “Sounds like the Marauders are coming. Send Remus over the square to keep watch from above.”
Chloe passed on the mental order, and Remus took position.
“OK, so that’s plan A out of the window,” whispered Tanner. “No chance of taking Mikel before they arrive. We’ll hav
e to wait for him to come out of hiding, wherever he is. Then make the choice - take him out before the handover, or play with the Marauders instead.”
“Sounds like several vehicles,” added Nadia. All eyes were now towards the south, watching the dust rise from the distance as the cars grew near. “And large ones too. Chloe, what can Remus see?”
“There are two cars,” she said, seeing the convoy grind down the dusty road. “And one larger truck. Looks like a makeshift APC.”
The cars and truck continued to rumble on, soon appearing to the direct sight of the team upon the western hillside. They watched as it came to a stop at the southern edge of the town, men pouring out from the vehicles. A quick count suggested there were twenty in total, a dozen coming out of the APC, another four each to the two smaller cars.
All were well armed, carrying a range of automatic weapons. All except one.
“It’s the Pirate,” said Ragan, seeing the man with the eyepatch step forward. Unlike the others, he appeared to be unarmed, though clearly had holsters beneath his strangely smart jacket. He looked quite sartorial, dressed in a suit as the rest donned military gear, speaking to them with a short bark and stepping towards the central square with the confidence of a man with twenty soldiers at his back.
Atop the hill, the rest watched on, and above the square, Remus did the same. All were quickly computing their best course of action as the Marauders took position around the square, setting up a perimeter for the transaction to take place.
“Seems a lot for just Mikel,” said Chloe.
The rest were in agreement. Something wasn’t adding up.
A new sound began to rumble. This time it came from the north, the opposite end of town. All eyes turned to the source, and took in the sight of dust clouding upon the skyline, thicker than the haze around it.
“More cars,” whispered Nadia. “Another convoy…”
From the other direction, a new grouping of vehicles began to appear. Chloe directed Remus’ gaze there, lifting him higher for a better view. There were four cars this time, grinding over the old roads heading for Devil’s Pike. They stopped, as the Marauders did, and stepped out, a force of fifteen counted.
