Retribution

by Charles Tillman

  “Can you do that?”

  Akio shook his head. “No, that particular skill is hers.”

  Kenjii’s brow furrowed as he considered his next words, then shook his head, then nodded, decision made. “If I get these upgrades, will I have uncommon abilities?”

  “Your existing abilities will change. I can’t tell you how or how much since it’s different for everyone. You’ll heal faster. You’ll see a marked increase in strength and speed, and the sun won’t harm you. Other than those, I can’t guess.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “Again, that depends on the person. Some take less than an hour, and others take weeks. Eve can tell you more after an initial scan.”

  “I think I would like to know,” Kenjii admitted. “If I still feel this way in a week, can we do it then?”

  “I’ll arrange it whenever you wish.”

  “Thank you. I know you want this, and I appreciate your patience.”

  “I want it, but I won’t force you to do something you oppose. I care too much to make you do anything.”

  “And that’s why I Iove you. Now, slide down on the floor. This shorter hair you’re sporting appeals to me. I like the way it feels when my fingers run through it.” Kenjii smiled as he separated his feet to make space.

  “We agree, then. I like the way it feels when you do it.” Akio grinned as he moved to the requested position.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Command Center, TQB Base, Tokyo, Japan

  “What’s that?” Kenjii pointed at the monitor Akio was watching. It showed a rugged man wearing a faded military uniform as he hatchet-chopped his arm toward a compound surrounded by a roughhewn wall made of timbers. Beside him stood a beautiful woman with twin pistols in her hands. A group of armed men followed close behind, covering their approach with military precision.

  “That is Terry Henry Walton, Charumati, and the Force de Guerre. They’re fighting to bring civilization back to the area of North America that was formerly the United States.”

  The woman ran toward the log palisade while her pistols spat fire. Her legs bunched when she reached the gate, and with a powerful push, she leapt into the enclosure.

  The man shook his head and yelled something, then rushed toward the gate. Instead of stopping or jumping, he hit it with his shoulder and knocked one side off its hinges, leaving the other hanging by one hinge.

  “What are they? More enhanced vampires?” Kenjii watched them take down the half-dozen armed men inside.

  “Terry Henry is an enhanced human. Charumati is a werewolf and his mate.”

  “Enhanced human?” Kenjii tilted his head to one side.

  “Terry Henry almost froze to death saving others. He’d also proven his honor in the past, so Bethany Anne saved him. The results made him more than a normal human. He’s not as powerful as a vampire, but he’s a formidable warrior all the same.”

  They watched for a few moments until Akio called, “Thank you, Abel. Please show us the first objective for today.”

  The scene shifted to an aerial view of a green field. Thirty workers toiled between the straight rows of crops. A man lounged under a canopy made of a piece of cloth and four poles, watching them work.

  “This is the first Sacred Clan farm you are freeing today. It’s on Chaohu Lake near the ruins of a city called Hefei,” Abel announced. “Thirty humans are working at this location. There were thirty-two three days ago. A tiger killed two of them the day I located it. He shifted into a Pricolici form, which provided one hundred percent certainty that this is a Clan farm.”

  “How many Clan members are there?” Akio inquired.

  “Four. I have a drone on station.” The scene switched to an open structure. The tin roof showed signs of old damage, with rust-ringed holes visible along the length of it. The sides were open all around, providing no cover inside.

  “They keep the humans here at night, while the Clan members are here.” The picture zoomed out until a squat square building on the opposite side of the field was visible.

  “This building was a laboratory at some point. It is open on the first floor, but there are rooms one level down. The Clan members stay on the first floor since the rooms below have several inches of water in them.”

  Kenjii spoke up. “Have you seen more than one change into that two-legged form? What was it you called them? Piccolo or something?”

  “Pricolici. That was the only one to shift since I established surveillance.”

  “I always heard that two-legged Weres were a legend. How is it so many of these tigers can partially shift and turn into Pico…Pricolici, is it?

  “Hai. Before Bethany Anne left Earth, the Sacred Clan was involved in an attack on her. They come from a different group of Kurtherians, and when she located their empress, she also found Kurtherians there.

  “We believe the Clan tigers can do that because of those Kurtherians. They used selective breeding and their ability to alter nanocytes to make them more powerful.”

  Kenjii tapped a finger on his lips. “That makes sense. I want that Pricolici at the farm. I have worked with the new swords enough that I wish to test them on a serious opponent.”

  Akio gave him a narrow-eyed stare. “All opponents are serious.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I know not to underestimate those tigers. I only meant that I feel my skill level has advanced and wish to test myself.”

  Akio nodded while recalling the last Pricolici Kenjii had encountered. “If events favor you matching yourself against him, you will. However, we are there to free the humans. I will not risk them for you to test yourself.”

  “Understood, and I wouldn’t ask you to. Abel and Eve set up the equipment for me to practice against the simulation in the training room here. I can match that annoying little man blow for blow much longer now.”

  “Agreed. Abel has shown me some of it. Your speed and agility with the blades are impressive.”

  Kenjii looked surprised at first, then raised his head a little higher at the compliment. He knew Akio never gave those if they weren’t earned.

  “What about the second location?” Akio inquired as he watched Kenjii preen.

  “That one poses more challenges. There are eight clan members here.” The monitor went blank. A second later, an aerial view of a field that covered over one hundred acres came up. “There are three hundred and twenty-four humans here. It’s near Lu’an, and there seems to be a large Clan presence there.”

  “What leads you to that conclusion?”

  The screen changed again to show a street with two disparate groups walking past. The first group was clean and looked healthy. The second was thin and drawn, their clothes no better than rags. The latter group walked with their eyes downcast and shuffled away from the first group when they encountered them.

  “I recognize that swagger,” Kenjii stated. “That is how the Clan members I encountered acted—like they were lords.”

  Akio nodded. “Send more drones to Lu’an. We will deal with it when we have an accurate idea of what resistance is there.”

  “It will take a few hours to route a carrier there. Eve is still working on upgrading them, and it is a slow process. I will need to move them from other areas,” Abel advised.

  “That will have to do. Notify me when you have the information.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  “Go back to the farm.”

  The scene showed the farm a second later.

  “Magnify this area.” Akio tapped the screen on a large metal structure that appeared to have been used to store equipment.

  The image shifted as it zoomed in, showing a barbed wire fence surrounding the structure.

  “Do you have interior views?”

  The monitor flickered and showed an open space. The floor was littered with piles of cloth and leaves, obviously used for bedding.

  “This is where they house the humans,” Abel advised. The image moved to a door on one end of the open area. �
��The guards live here. It was an office at one time. There is an open area behind the door, with two smaller rooms on either side. There are always four on duty. During the day, they watch the workers in the field. At night, two are in the dorm, and two patrol the exterior.”

  The picture went back to the aerial view, and a highlight appeared on the end nearest the field. “The only clear way in is here. All other entrances are sealed, and the only opening in the perimeter fence is here as well.”

  “Thank you, Abel. Kenjii, we will need to take the outer guards silently if possible.”

  “That won’t be easy.”

  “No, it won’t, but we need to surprise the ones inside to save the humans.”

  “Is there any way we could get them to move the humans outside?” Kenjii mused.

  Akio tapped his nail on his teeth as he studied the building. “Abel, where do they store the harvested crops?”

  “There is another structure across the field. They process them there.”

  “Show me, please.”

  The screen blinked, and the next image showed a structure similar in size to the first. It had several neatly arranged rows of bags.

  “A fire here should get their attention. It is likely the guards would send the humans to fight it.”

  Kenjii nodded as he studied the image. “Is there a way to ensure the fire burns fast and hot enough that the humans won’t rush in? It wouldn’t do to kill them while trying to save them.”

  Akio’s mouth quirked in a half-smile. That Kenjii thought of the humans’ safety showed he was no longer thinking like a Forsaken. It warmed his heart that his friend was recovering so well.

  “Hai. Eve has some compounds that will cause a hot and smoky fire. We will need to deal with the guards fast, though. I don’t want them to use humans as shields when they realize what’s happening.”

  “Shoot them from the air with that cannon you carry. In the noise and confusion, you should be able to kill several before they notice anything amiss.” Kenjii laughed.

  Akio nodded as he considered the suggestion. “That is an excellent plan. If I can take out half of them, it will make the job easier.”

  “I’m all about easy. The sooner we do this, the sooner I can get you back here for a post-battle celebration,” Kenjii quipped as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  Akio snickered. “You’re incorrigible.”

  Kenjii took his hand, looking seriously into his eyes as he whispered, “We have decades of missed time to make up for.”

  “Agreed. Let’s prepare. Abel, I want a Black Eagle slaved to the Pod for this. If there’s a coordinated response from Lu’an, I want enough firepower to handle it.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Sacred Clan Farm, Hefei, China

  Darkness covered the area below the Pod. Akio activated the sensors, and the screen in the Pod showed the scene below like it was midday.

  “The humans are all inside for the night.”

  Akio touched the screen, and its focus shifted to the structure the guards used. His fingers danced across the screen, changing to heat sensors. Four figures appeared on the screen inside of the building.

  “Any way to determine which is the two-leg?” Kenjii cocked his head as he studied the layout of the building and the positions of the guards.

  “Make him mad enough to shift,” Akio deadpanned.

  “Not very helpful, but I can do that.”

  Akio brought the Pod to a hover in front of the building. “No better time than now.” He closed the visor on his helmet and stepped into the night.

  Kenjii followed, taking his twin swords from his back. “Here, kitty, kitty,” he whispered low enough that only Akio heard.

  Akio shook his head and snorted. In two steps he was at the door, then his armored boot lashed out and sent it flying into the open room with a crash.

  Shouts followed by ear-splitting roars came from the startled weretigers. Akio aimed his Jean Dukes special and stroked the trigger, and a meaty splat silenced one roar.

  Kenjii followed him through the gaping hole and assessed the scene. Two tigers darted toward Akio, a third stood eight feet tall on two legs, and the fourth lay in a heap to the side of the doorway.

  Akio wasted no time dispatching the two in tiger form. He fired twice, killing one immediately but only grazing the other as it dodged. His two follow-up shots bracketed the beast, leaving it nowhere to go before a round impacted its mouth. Blood and tissue sprayed when it exited the back of its skull, and the blood distorted the room in a red halo where it misted in the air.

  “All yours.” Akio stepped back as he gestured with his gun at the enraged Pricolici, who was glaring at him from across the room.

  Kenjii brandished his hooked swords, spinning them in an intricate pattern while he advanced to meet his foe.

  The tiger spread his arms to the sides, flexed the long claws that tipped each finger, and roared his defiance. When Kenjii was two meters from him, he rushed forward faster than the eye could follow. The tiger jinked to one side, Kenjii’s spinning blades missing him by a hair, and he lashed out with one paw as he passed.

  Kenjii grunted as he felt intense pain course through his torso. The wicked claws had breached his armor and left four shallow slashes along his ribs, He jumped into the air, barely dodging a follow-up slash to his back. When he landed, the monster cat was watching him from several meters away. It raised the claws that had scored him to its mouth and slowly licked his blood from them.

  “Yatsu,” Kenjii spat.

  The tiger surged toward him again. Kenjii twisted and brought the hooked end of one sword around in a fast arc, hooking the paw as it swung at his leg.

  The tiger twisted its arm to free it from the blade that cut to the bone. Kenjii jerked back hard, burying the hooked blade deeper. He brought the second sword down in a fast slash, severing the tiger's paw at the wrist.

  The beast snarled in pain as it retreated, holding the injured arm close to its side.

  Kenjii pressed the attack, slashing high with one blade and low with the other, keeping the cat off-balance as he drove it back one step at a time. Blood spurted from the severed limb, spraying across the floor with each heartbeat.

  Kenjii stayed on the side with the injury, taking advantage of the creature's inability to lash out with that arm. He pressed it harder, a smirk on his face, as it approached the back wall of the house. He spun his blades in a blur, and they whistled as they carved through the air.

  The cat snarled and tensed as it sensed the wall looming at its back. It feinted to the left and then changed direction and leapt through an open door, fleeing into the dark stairwell that led to the lower level.

  Kenjii was on it in the blink of an eye, burying one sharpened hook into its shoulder, the other slashing the back of the leg at the knee.

  The cat yowled in pain as Kenjii yanked back on the buried blade, spinning the enormous beast back into the open room.

  The tiger stumbled, weak from blood loss and trauma. Kenjii wasted no time. He kicked the already weakened leg, his heavy armored boot connecting solidly. The knee joint made a loud pop as it separated, causing the great cat to fall to the floor.

  Kenjii never took his eyes off the downed tiger, having learned his lesson the last time. He advanced on the fallen cat and two lightning-fast slashes ended the battle. The beast’s head rolled across the blood-covered floor.

  The warrior scanned the room to check that there were no more threats before he turned to Akio, who was leaning against the opening where the door had been. He flicked both blades to clear them of blood, then wiped them clean on the Pricolici’s ragged clothing before sliding them into the scabbards on his back.

  “Shall we go tell the humans they’re free?” he asked as he calmly walked past Akio and out the door.

  “Kenjii,” the older vampire called softly.

  Kenjii stopped, his back to Akio as he stepped out of the building to follow.

  Akio walked to his
side. “How’s your injury?”

  “Healing,” he answered curtly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Kenjii was silent for a moment before he sighed. “I underestimated the tiger. He shouldn’t have been able to do that. I was careless.”

  “It is not wise to make assumptions in any battle. I wouldn’t say it was so much carelessness as overconfidence in your abilities without knowing your opponent.”

  “Carelessness!” Kenjii spat.

  Akio caught him by the shoulder and turned him until they were facing one another. “No, you made a mistake and learned from it. Since the day Heinz turned you, Weres have been inferior. Heinz ingrained that into you from the outset. If that had been a simple weretiger, you would have readily defeated him. A Pricolici is far from regular. They are faster, stronger, and harder to kill. Horst was in Pricolici form when he ran Heinz down and ripped his head from his body. That you did it with only minor damage to yourself is something to be proud of.”

  “My armor.” Kenjii pointed to the four deep creases.

  “Protected you from serious injury.” Akio shrugged.

  “I wanted to make you proud of me.”

  “Kenjii, I am proud. You took down a formidable beast on your own. I stayed back, even though I wanted to jump in and gut him when he injured you. You did it, no help required. I couldn’t be prouder.”

  “Really?” he asked incredulously.

  “Hai. Now, let’s go free those people. We still have work tonight.”

  Kenjii walked through the darkness beside him, his head higher and his steps lighter. He was basking in the inner warmth Akio’s confidence gave him.

  Sacred Clan Farm, Near Lu’an, China

  “All I do is push here and toss these near what I want to burn?” Kenjii asked as he turned a small black cylinder over in his hand.

  “Hai, but be certain to stay clear of the blast. Three meters, at least. When you press the arming switch, you have five seconds before it detonates. The fireball will spread two meters from the device.”

  Kenjii placed the device with six others in an open slot in his armor. “Push the button, run like hell. Got it.”