Trying Times (The Valens Legacy Book 14)

by Jan Stryvant

  "So what's our next step?" Steve asked. "Do we stake out the house and wait for them to drive by and do an upload?"

  "Wouldn't hurt," John said, "but it's not going to be easy. There's a store parking lot nearby, so we'd have to compare pictures of the streets and that parking lot during the downloads, every day, until one stood out."

  "Assuming they're using the same car every time they come by," Roxy added.

  "Yup," John agreed.

  "So that's out," Steve said.

  "Okay then." Sean looked at John. "How about you amaze us once again with that wondrous technical ability of yours and all of those very expensive toys I've paid for?"

  "I'll just hack the machine they use to download everything while it's connected to the machine in the room and put a virus in it. I'll leave its WiFi on, with a special tag, so we can easily track it. Then when they plug it into their home network, I'll hack that, too, while infecting the hell out of it."

  "That sounds good," Steve said with a smile.

  "See? You're getting what you paid for," Cenna told Sean with a smile.

  "When do we have to go back out there so you can do all this?" Roxy asked.

  "We don't," John said, grinning. "I hacked one of the neighbor's WiFi connections, and I've already backdoored into their internet. So I'm just using their WiFi to connect to the one in the house. I'm actually in there right now looking at everything to see what I can find. I've even downloaded copies of the files, and I gotta tell you, those girls are very talented."

  "I thought that wasn't supposed to be possible," Steve said.

  "What? Hacking somebody's WiFi?"

  "No, going from one WiFi box to another?"

  "You just gotta know what you're doing," John said with a smile.

  "And of course, you do."

  "Of course!"

  Sean held up his hand. "Just to be sure I understand this right, somebody needs to be there tomorrow to be able to track the car of whoever shows up? The one whose laptop you'll comprise?"

  "Yeah, I'll whip up a couple of trackers they can use to follow the car. But unless I miss my guess, they're going to be heading to one of the embassies in the area. So we could just as easily have someone wait at each of those and see where the laptop turns up."

  "Let's do both," Sean said. "Now, let's go get some dinner while John toils the night away. Anybody up for pizza? I'm buying."

  "You're always buying!" Steve laughed. "I always put it on my expense report!"

  "Watch out I don't sic Deidre on you," Sean warned.

  §

  "What's up, Son?" the First asked as Sean dropped down next to him in his hybrid form.

  "I've got problems," Sean said with a heavy sigh, and dropping down onto his butt, he leaned back against the First.

  "So Tisha tells me. Want to talk about it?"

  Sean nodded and told him about Elliana and everything they'd learned so far.

  "John's right. It's another country. The total disregard for people on the one hand, but the budget consciousness when it comes to the equipment on the other, makes it obvious. Only countries think like that."

  "Oh? Why is that?"

  "Because money is limited, but they can always make more people." The First shook his head. "We were the same way back when we ruled the world. It's why we played our little games of war and pride. We could always breed more soldiers, more followers, more people. But armor? Weapons? Castles, keeps, or other defenses? That stuff cost time and resources. Money, if you like. We weren't all that interested in building things up. Well, nothing other than ourselves, that is."

  "Still, how does anyone do something like that to somebody? Especially to a child? To wipe out everything they are or will be?"

  "Well," the First said, looking back at Sean, "the first step is to believe you're a god, or at least a god among men. Once you've decided no one else matters, especially some lowly little human, it's easy."

  "Sorry," Sean said, looking embarrassed.

  "Don't be," the First said. "I did it more than once, obviously. I'm still not sure those times were a mistake, either. But then, I grew up in a world where the only thing that mattered was you, your mate, and your offspring. These folks probably know better, but like your friend John said, they think they're all doing it for the greater good. Even if the greater good is only themselves."

  Sean looked at him. "I thought you weren't in my head anymore?"

  The First grinned at him. "I'm not. But when you're all upset and telling me these things, your mind is reaching out to me. We're still very much in tune with each other, Son. I'm sure it'll fade over time, but the fact that you're touching me makes it pretty easy."

  "Oh. So, what should I do?"

  "About what?"

  "All of this?"

  "What do you want to do?"

  Sean shrugged. "That's just it! I don't know what I want to do! Obviously another country is involved. So, do I attack them? Blow up their embassy? Kill their leaders? What the hell do I do, Dad?"

  "Mostly, nothing."

  "What?" Sean blinked at him.

  "We don't want to get involved in what the countries are doing to each other. It's not really our business, and we don't have the resources for it. Or even the temperament," the First added with a snort. "Besides, it's not like they're targeting us; we're not even sure if this is really the way they got their information."

  "But what about those women?"

  "What about them?"

  "I can't just leave them there!"

  "Why not?"

  Sean turned and looked at the First, who was staring back at him.

  "What are they to you, Sean? They're nothing, they're nobody. They're tools, nearly mindless tools that are being used by someone to accomplish their goals. They're not lycans, they're humans. So why do you care?"

  "I can't believe you're asking me this!" Sean said, shocked.

  "Someone has to ask it!" the First growled. "Now, answer the question."

  "Okay, you're right, they're nothing to me. None of them are. I don't know them, I don't owe them, I have absolutely no duty to them at all. But..."

  "But?" the First prompted.

  "But I just can't sit back and do nothing. It's just too cruel, and they're too innocent. The look the others gave me, that whole..." Sean shook his head. "They wanted me to do something!" he growled.

  "Better. Much better. So you want to do something because you're offended, and because your people appealed to you to do something."

  "It's not that simple."

  "Actually," the First whacked him in the head with his tail and grinned at him, "it is that simple! You're a god, Son. At least to our people, you are. If something offends you, there's nothing that says you can't do something about it, especially if your people are actually looking to you to fix the problem."

  "So I should blow up the embassy?"

  "No, I already told you we don't want to start any more wars. But you should grab the girls."

  "I think Steve was planning on using them to spread false information."

  "Then he needs to work with what he's got before you take it away, doesn't he?" the First said with a chuckle. "Now, as to the people behind this? If you can identify who is providing the demons with information, deal with them. If not, maybe you should let your friends over at the Secret Service know what's going on and let them deal with it."

  "You think so?"

  "Of course. Let the government fight the governments. Your job is to fight the demons. Don't lose track of that, Son."

  Sean nodded. "Thanks, Dad."

  "And don't lose track of yourself, either. If you don't save the people who need saving, you'll end up a self-centered, uncaring bastard like me."

  "Oh, you're not uncaring," Sean said with a wink.

  "Enough, you. Go visit Sampson for a while. I think he's been feeling a bit left out lately."

  Nodding, Sean got up and went off and did just that.

  §

  "You do
n't look very happy this morning," Roxy told him as they showered.

  "Yeah, I know. I talked to Dad last night."

  "Dad?"

  "The First."

  "Oh!"

  "I told him about what we did, what we learned, and well, I think we bit off more than we can chew."

  Roxy put her arms around him and laid her head against his chest as she sighed. "Yeah, I've been getting that feeling, too. So what do we do?"

  "Well," he said looking down into her eyes, "I think we'll find out where this goes, tell Carl over at the Secret Service, probably tell the president too, then go back home."

  "What about the girls?"

  Sean smiled. "The First said to take 'em."

  "He did?"

  Sean nodded. "He just didn't tell me what to do with them."

  "Why'd he tell you to take them? I have to admit I'm a little curious about that, he doesn't strike me as the kind to care. They're not lycans, after all."

  "Because it offended me and my followers. And of course because I'm a god, and I have to answer the prayers of my followers," Sean said with a wink and a smile.

  "Oh, he did not!" Roxy said and smacked him loudly on the ass.

  "Actually, the first part was true; the second part was kind of implied. But I think it also has something to do with me. I know he doesn't care; he told me as much. What mattered to him was that I care. And because I care, he wants me to do something about it."

  "So what do we do with them then?"

  "Well, we can't leave them here with Steve; if their old owners see them, they'll probably have them killed. So we have to take them home. But I don't know that we can deal with it either; we've still got a war to fight."

  "Turn them over Jo, she's pretty good with mind magic. Maybe she can figure something out."

  Sean nodded. "I was thinking of sending them to Sapientia or Eruditio, but you're right, I'll let Jo deal with it."

  "Well, let's go get dressed; I think I hear the others."

  "Did you know Estrella likes showers just as much as I do?"

  "I take it that means you're not going to be getting out of the shower anytime soon?" Roxy asked with a chuckle.

  "Well, we have to wait for John's little exercise to play out, don't we? So what's the rush?"

  "What's the rush indeed..." Roxy purred.

  "So, what have we learned?" Sean asked coming into the office.

  "They went to the German Embassy," Steve told him.

  "Where's John?" Roberta asked, looking around.

  "He's in hacker heaven. Apparently the Germans aren't up to date on their virus protection or something. He's having all sorts of fun with their files, from what I gather."

  "Why the hell are the Germans spying on us?" Sean asked, frowning. "And by us, I mean the US."

  Steve shrugged. "I'm sure we spy on them, too. According to John, everybody spies on everybody else."

  "I can't believe they'd do that to those girls," Terri grumbled.

  "John figures it's some Stasi holdover."

  "Stasi?" Roberta asked.

  "They were the East German secret police. After the wall came down, they were supposed to have been disbanded, but John figures their government probably held on to some of their people and their programs."

  "Which explains the old gear," Sean said, shaking his head.

  "So, do we invade the German Embassy?" Steve asked.

  Sean shook his head. "If it had turned out to be some country hostile to ours? Yeah, I think I just might have. But this? Anything we do will end up biting us on the ass." Sean sighed.

  "I just had a very nasty thought," Roxy growled.

  "What?"

  "Where did all those guns come from?"

  "East Germ... ah, shit," Sean swore. "That tears it, Steve, call the Whitehouse, we're going over there now."

  "Sean! We can't just walk in there!"

  "Watch me. Call Carl, tell him to bring his boss. Oh, and somebody go find Stewart. Tell him to grab a few guys and pick up those girls tonight. I think we're done here," Sean said, turning and heading out of the room.

  "Where are you going?"

  "To have a few words with John. Chop-chop!" Sean said and clapped his hands together. "I want to be there before lunch."

  "Wow, you look pissed," John said as Sean came into the room.

  "That's 'cause I am pissed. How far into their systems are you?"

  "Pretty far, though they have a lot of the nasty stuff fire-walled. What I could really use would be a couple of super computers and another twenty hackers."

  Sean smiled. "How about we turn it all over to the NSA and the CIA?"

  "Yeah, that'd put the screws to them, alright. So what brought this on?"

  "All those guns? The ones they attacked us with?"

  "Came from East Germany. Duh. Didn't even think about that! So, we paying them back for Alex, then?"

  "Alex, Josh, Gary, and Fran," Sean said with a growl.

  "Give me a minute, and I'll be ready to go."

  "Meet me outside with the others; don't be late."

  Sean gathered up the girls, who, when they heard they were going to see the president, spent the next twenty minutes getting ready.

  "I wish I'd brought some nicer clothes," Roberta grumbled from her seat in the limousine.

  "Who is this 'president' anyway?" Estrella asked.

  "He's the elected leader of the country," Roberta told her.

  "Elected?"

  "He's like a king, but he's only in office for four to eight years," Roxy said. "Think of him like the First, only without the god bits."

  "Oh! Okay!" Estrella said with a nod.

  Sean looked around the limo. They'd taken the biggest one they had, and it was packed. Roxy, Roberta, Estrella, and Cali were there, as well as Steve, Terri, and Tisha. Also John and Cenna.

  "I told Stewart to get the girls," Steve told him as they pulled out. Sean was surprised to see the protesters were still there, but then remembered Steve's little stunt when he recognized more than half of them.

  "I thought I said to do it after they got home?"

  Steve shrugged. "If they just disappear, their handler will think the government got wise to them and took them out. Besides, do you want any of our intelligence agencies to get their hands on them?"

  Sean sighed. "No. Thanks, you're right, as usual."

  "Just watching out for you, bud, as always."

  Sean nodded and, sitting back in his seat, he closed his eyes and relaxed, dozing off for a while. He didn't wake up until they turned off the highway.

  "We're in a new window now; any word from Oak on if a new gateway has opened, Rox?" he asked, stretching.

  "Not yet."

  "Steve, while I'm thinking about it, you need to move your parents out of Reno. Send them to Vegas or something. Same for you, Terri. Chad thinks Reno is gonna get pasted at some point."

  "It ain't gonna be easy, Sean. That shop is his life."

  "Well, maybe it's time he started a new one? Ask him why he's sitting on his ass when he could be growing the empire."

  Steve laughed. "You know, you might have a point."

  "We're here," said Wally, the driver.

  Steve rolled down the window as the guard at the gate came over.

  "Mister Bryson, nice to see you again! I'm afraid you're not on the visitor's list."

  "This is a bit of an unexpected development," Steve told him.

  "Well, I'm sorry, Sir, but I can't let you in without authorization."

  Leaning over Steve, Sean looked up at the agent and smelled wolf. He shifted into his hybrid form, noticing how the agent suddenly stiffened as his eyes got wide.

  "Listen," Sean said in a low voice with a hint of a growl, "I would greatly appreciate it if you could call up to the president's office, or even the president himself, and tell them I am here, and I need to talk to the head of Homeland, if not the president, at the very least. And please do it in a way that won't compromise your job. We both kn
ow I could force you to let us in, but I promised your boss not to ever do that, so I won't."

  "I'll call right now, Sir!"

  "Damn, how many wolves are there on the detail now?" Roxy asked.

  "Fifty something, I think," Steve told her. "At least there was last week. Could be more now."

  The guard came back in less than a minute.

  "Sir, if you could pull through the gate, park over there on the side by that wall, and wait for a security detail, I would be very, very happy."

  "Security?" Steve asked.

  "Unexpected visitors must be swept and checked. Protocol."

  "That's fine," Sean spoke up, "I don't want anyone to get in trouble."

  "Do as the man says, Wally," Steve said.

  "Thank you for not getting me in trouble, Sir," the guard said with a sigh.

  "Thank you for calling," Sean said as they pulled forward, then shifted back to his human form.

  The moment they stopped, someone came out and asked them to turn off the engine and get out of the car. They were then carefully searched, as another team searched the limousine.

  "If I may, Sir?" the agent who came over to search Sean asked, looking very nervous. Sean realized he was another wolf.

  "Of course."

  Sean found it interesting that both Estrella and Tisha got the same level of deference, the agents searching them looking both nervous and guilty. In fact the only one they didn't seem at all worried about was John, who was the only normal human in the group.

  For some reason that realization struck Sean as funny.

  "What are you smirking at?" John asked, looking at him as they were led inside to a waiting room.

  "You're the only regular human in the group. Sure you don't want me to get someone to bite you?"

  "Eh, I'm used to being special; I'm a Paiute, after all."

  "How long do you think they'll make us wait, Steve?" Roxy asked.

  "I'm surprised we even got in the front door," Steve said with a worried look.

  Fifteen minutes later a woman staffer came into the waiting room.