Crow - The Awakening (71 page)

Something moved in the forest just outside the range of the goggles. His peripheral vision caught it. But when he turned to investigate it, whatever it was had disappeared. He had seen more than a few shadows and strange things in his dealings with Steven, and he remained attentive to his surroundings as he crept closer and closer to him. His senses were on high alert as he stepped quietly, stalking his prey like a predator. Even the slightest sound or movement seemed to draw his attention as if it were clanging cymbals and neon signs.

Even with that awareness, however, he was totally caught off guard when a catlike creature shot out of the underbrush shrieking like a wild animal with its teeth bared and headed straight for his neck. His adrenaline got an enormous jolt as the creature landed on him, digging its fingers in his flesh and planting its teeth in his neck. Its fur was apparent, and Laurence wondered if he was being attacked by a mountain lion. Shifting into survival mode, Laurence twisted under the creature to dislodge it from his neck as he rotated his arms up under it and applied his elbow to its head.

The creature was thrown off and slammed to the ground but bounced back at him instantly. Only then did he realize that the creature was a humanoid female. Her attack dislodged his night vision goggles but he could make her out in the moonlight. She was covered from head to toe in very short and soft fur and her eyes were flashing with unrestrained wild fury. Laurence knew then that he was face to face with one of the fabled aliens that his Order had attempted to track for nearly a millennium.

But he didn't have time to think. His body went on automatic as his decades of training kicked in. The animals of Kung Fu came alive at that moment as he stepped into her attack and rained a world of pain on her, totally deflecting her attack by turning her energy back on herself and sending her to the ground with a loud and agonizing thud. He didn't wait for her to recover but kept up the assault, intent on terminating their engagement as quickly and decisively as possible. Before she could get back up he drew his weapon and took aim at her. He would have preferred this specimen alive, but her presence put his collection of Steven in jeopardy, so his boss would have to deal with a dead specimen instead.

His shot missed, even at this point blank range, and she kept moving too fast toward him for him to draw a suitable bead on her. He holstered the weapon and proceeded with a hands on attack to soften her up some more, pummeling her with strikes that would have landed men in a throbbing pile of tears and vomit on the ground. She fell backwards and he continued forward, pushing the attack faster than she could respond.

She rolled from him and bolted into the forest. Laurence drew his gun again and fired a dart at her. He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn that a tree leaned to intercept the dart. Frustrated, he sprinted after her as he holstered his weapon again. She darted in the trees and he followed her, trying to close the gap. Quite suddenly it was day in the middle of a tropical jungle. While part of his mind stewed on that, he still pushed forward as fast as he could and elbowed her in the back of the head, spinning her around and forcing her to run several stumbling steps to keep from falling flat on her face.

They both emerged from the jungle at nearly the same time and he heard her screaming something in a language he had never heard before. He decided a quick take down would be prudent and he delivered a swift kick to the back of her knee just as she put weight on it, taking that leg out from under her. Before she hit the ground he had his baton out and swung toward her head for a final incapacitating blow. But she jerked out of the way at the last moment and he pulled back for another strike.

A shadow appeared from overhead, distracting him just as he was about to deliver the blow. He barely had time to acknowledge it when a much larger male creature dropped on him with great force. He absorbed the blow, spinning to deflect the energy, and used the energy to return the strike back to the new attacker. Without thought or hesitation he followed through, delivering focused blows on the creature that cracked bones as he continued hitting him over and over again, then delivering a palm strike to his chest to knock him back and a final powerful kick to slam him up into the rocks. With his attacker momentarily stunned, Laurence put a dart in him and watched him fall to the ground writhing in agony. If he ever made it back home he would have to remember to collect that specimen for dissection.

Looking up the rock cliff he saw that the female was rapidly climbing up toward a cave cut into the shear face
forty feet
up. Grinning, he started up the wall too. Rock climbing was one of his favorite past times and was something he had used many times to access allegedly inaccessible fortresses. She saw him coming and tried to knock him off by dislodging rocks, but he was able to avoid the rocks while still maintaining three points of contact on the cliff and he persisted in following her up to the cave.

Laurence reached the ledge of the cave shortly after she did and pulled his baton to continue his plan of incapacitating her. She ran into the cave and closed a heavy wooden door. Before she could latch it, however, Laurence put his shoulder into it with all of his might, slamming the door open and knocking her to the ground. As he walked in, she backpedaled away from him, looking for another way out in futility while looking at him in defeated terror.

Laurence crouched down as he checked his weapon to be sure he had more darts left. He had lost his spare magazine in the fray, but had several darts left in the pistol. He holstered the pistol and put his baton away. He looked at her and grinned, while reaching back and pulling out a handful of zip ties to secure his prey. "So. Are you familiar with the game Twenty Questions?" he asked amicably. It was his favorite question to ask when beginning an interrogation. He stood up and walked up to her. As she tried to resist him he grabbed her arm and twisted it until she was forced onto her stomach and he restrained her with a knee on her back.

He zipped her wrists together behind her, then grabbing the zip tie, Laurence lifted her up and dragged her over to a heavy iron support that reinforced the roof. She screamed in pain as her arms were jerked backwards but he ignored her cries of agony. He pulled her up and kicked a bench over to the post with his foot and sat her forcefully on it. Then he grabbed her jaw and slammed her head up against the iron support and put a zip tie around her neck and the iron support and zipped it tight enough that if she struggled she would not be able to breathe. Satisfied that she wasn't going to struggle, he put another zip tie around her ankles and secured them to the bench just to keep her uncomfortable.

With his new target secure, Laurence stood up and took stock of his situation. He was most definitely not on Earth anymore. He walked to the entrance and looked out. Before him he saw rolling hills covered by thick, tall jungles that may as well have been the deep Amazon. The sun was high above and its color was just different enough from his own sun as to make his eyes ache. Looking down he saw the dead creature he had just killed. He hoped that was the only one he would come across because he would run out of darts pretty quickly if there was a population of them out there somewhere. He needed to get back home. And now he had something to take back home with him.

She sat there struggling to breathe, her eyes wide with terror. Laurence grinned at her and pulled another bench in front of her and sat down, eyeballing her and giving her a big smile. She had the largest eyes he had ever seen on a person. Many women on Earth used makeup to make their eyes look as big but she was apparently not wearing any makeup. The finest fur covered her skin, and he saw a distinct bark-like pattern. Her fingers were much like his, but sharper and definitely stronger. He felt his side where she had grabbed. As she gasped for breath he saw her canines. They weren't overly long, but longer than any human he's seen, and very sharp. He had crusting blood on the back of his neck to testify to that. Her hair was short and unkempt. He saw a few flower petals in there. She smelled strongly like gardenias. "You smell good," Laurence observed, and she looked at him, not responding. "Where I come from, a woman that smells this good and puts frilly stuff in her hair is looking for a sexual rendezvous."

He wasn't sure how to judge reactions with these creatures or even if she understood him, but her pupils dilated a little when he mentioned that. "Just as I thought." He sat straight, stretching his back. He was sore and tired, but ecstatic. He was sitting on another planet with an alien in his custody, something that not one member of the Order had ever done in all of its long history.

"Let's see, I was about to collect young Steven and you waylaid me. If I were a betting man, I would guess your name is Asherah." Her gasp of surprise confirmed that assumption too. "Well, hello, Asherah. My name is Laurence, and I have a few questions for you." Laurence smiled, very pleased with himself. Steven had a little alien girlfriend and she was able to somehow travel to Earth. Which meant she could get him back. "We are going to have some fun."

The late summer night was still rather warm, but Jacob Bradly was still feeling pretty good. He sat back on the roof of Steven's building enjoying a cold beer, feeling very relaxed. Everything was going as planned, and he was quite happy with himself. He looked over at the Crows and Windsongs, who sat still in their chairs, not touching their beers.

"Hey, drink up. This is a happy day." He raised his beer to them and took a big sip. They just sat there looking down and tried to avoid looking straight at him. He didn't blame them of course, but enjoyed tormenting them nonetheless. He looked at his watch. His men had left the mansion some time ago, so it was just a matter of time before Steven arrived. He looked over at one of his agents, who looked at the scanner again then nodded. Yep, it was a good night.

"You know, I can't tell you how exhilarated I am to finally meet young Steven. He's quite famous with us." Jacob sat forward, chatting amicably with his captives. Shaking his head he laughed. "It's been a long time, I tell ya. He's been one hard cookie to crack." He sat back. "Don't you agree, Bob?" He looked over at one of the agents. Bob nodded curtly while maintaining a lookout.

"I have to apologize for my men," Jacob said as he looked at Bob. "They don't get out very often." He leaned forward. "I think we put too much starch in their underwear," he whispered conspiratorially. Sitting back, he snickered and took another drink.

Picking up Steven's phone, he turned it on. It was set to automatically connect to the Sadari network and by itself was a significant advance in the Order's abilities. No matter what happened tonight, it was still an astounding success. He wished his best agent was present to enjoy the success with him, rather than out there somewhere disobeying his orders. That's the only thing that put a damper on his mood. He was definitely going to have to have a talk with that man. No orders were given without a good reason, and he had the best reason. He was working smarter and not harder. That was something Laurence had yet to learn in all the years he'd been in his position, and he was going to burn out.

Shaking his head, he looked around the roof. "The kid did all of this, huh?"

Sarah nodded, biting her lip.

"Hey, contrary to popular belief, I appreciate a good garden. I have to give this one two thumbs up." He held up a thumb and the beer bottle. "I am so impressed at how this kid is able to manage all of this and still crack into the most secure systems in the world, even if they're not connected to any network. I'm absolutely floored," Jacob gushed, then took another drink and looked at Sally. "You must be so proud of him."

Sally averted her gaze, looking at her lap.

"You don't have to be modest. If he was my son I would be the proudest parent ever." Jacob wagged a finger at them. "I know you had something to do with his break through." Jacob crossed his legs and put his arm along the back of the bench, regarding them with an amused gaze. "I mean, the illustrious Jonah and Sally Crow. You guys are legend!" Jacob took another drink and looked up at the stars. "At least until you dropped out almost twenty years ago."

Jonah fidgeted, looking at Sally.

"Ah, don't worry. It's Steven we're interested in. Anything you have would be outdated by over a decade. But I see where he got it from. You guys were great in your prime," Jacob said. "What a waste."

He looked at his watch again and the agent with the scanner, then sighed. "You know, if he takes much longer this beer will be warm. Warm beer does not make for a good party in these parts." Jacob finished his beer off and tossed the empty bottle into one of the raised garden beds.

"I can't make you two out, however." Jacob looked over at Sarah and Charley. Charley sat there glowering. He glanced over at Jonah who looked restrained. They both had a fair share of bruises from their encounter with the intruders and Charley was shocked at how easily they were overpowered. The men came in and took control, and no matter what they did to protect their wives it was all an act of abject futility. They were shamefully incapacitated by these agents as if they were children and had to sit there and watch while their wives were brutally subdued and confined.

"I mean, an artist and a writer." Jacob shook his head. "What do you have in common with a genius like Steven?" He squinted at them, then looked at Sally thoughtfully, then back at Sarah. "No, don't tell me. I'll figure it out. You look a lot like Sally, you know that Sarah? If I were to guess, I'd say you were a surrogate for Sally."

Sarah looked at him briefly, then looked away. "I don't think you quite measure up, though," Jacob continued his analysis. "But Steven was homesick, wasn't he?" Jacob looked at both of them. "No? Well, I think it was sweet of you to take the boy in. Your younger brother recently died, didn't he?" Sarah closed her eyes, trying hard not to listen. "Perhaps it was a mutually beneficial relationship? You got a surrogate brother and he got a surrogate mommy?" Jacob snickered. "It's weird how that psychological thing works, right?" He really didn't expect an answer.