Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14) (15 page)

"Is everybody OK?" Hanley said.

"I'll have some ugly bruises," Katie said, "but nothing is broken. The armor worked."

Ipo and Yang made similar comments.

"Good," Hanley said. "I'll get the last one."

"OK," Ipo said, "but take him alive. The rest are dead or gone. We need somebody to talk to."

"No problem."

He took a smoke grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and tossed it through a window. He waited until smoke filled the small building and blinded the man inside. Hanley took a deep breath and silently opened the door.

He still had the chirper on his belt. The ultrasonic echoes painted a picture of his surroundings even though his eyes were useless. The room contained beds and a table.

The enemy was gasping and choking on the smoke. Hanley didn't even need his palms to find him. Hanley took down the man with a powerful kick to the jaw. While he was still stunned, Hanley dragged him outside.

Hanley took a deep breath of fresh air while his friends stripped the enemy and tied him with ropes.

"Well done," Ipo said.

Hanley nodded. "Thanks."

There was a crackling noise, and a deep male voice came from a portable radio on the Warrior's belt.

"Report!" the voice said. "What's going on down there? I lost sight of you."

Hanley took the radio. It was a standard military unit with limited range, much like the tactical radios he had used as a Navy Seal. He looked at the hills around the encampment.
The enemy is up there,
he thought.

He pressed the send button and said, "Who are you?"

* * *

The question stunned Walfred. He replied through his radio, "I should ask you the same question."

"Is this Walfred?"

He gaped in shock. He was still on top of a ridge with a clear view of his encampment. He could just see the four intruders through his binoculars. The night vision feature made them look like green ghosts.

"You're well informed. I guess you defeated my men."

"They fought bravely," the male intruder replied through the radio.

"Not bravely enough."

"You're next on our list. If you give up now, life will be a lot less painful for you. You can tell us about the Goddess."

Walfred snorted. "I would allow dogs to chew off my testicles before I betrayed the Goddess."

"If that's what it takes. Good thing we captured one of your men. He'll tell us what we need to know."

"Not likely," Walfred said proudly. "The ambushers were meant to be sacrificed so the rest could escape. They know nothing about my plans."

"Smart move."

"The Goddess foretold your attack."

"She did?" the intruder said in a tone of surprise.

"Maybe you should give up instead. I have to go join my men. If we meet again, the outcome will be different. Good bye."

Walfred turned off his radio and clipped it to his belt. He headed down the back side of the ridge. He had parked his personal car at a safe distance, and now he was very glad he had been so cautious.

* * *

Marina was pacing back and forth in her headquarters. She kept reaching for her phone but not quite making a call. She wanted a status report from her team. They were out there, possibly fighting for their lives, and she was stuck like an old woman in a retirement home. She had to be patient though. Her
legionnaires
didn't need to be pestered, especially if they were in a fight.

She looked over at Min Ho and Jia. The hackers were busy at their computers as usual. They were researching the Warriors of Dagda and their leader who was using the name Walfred. They had turned out to be an interesting group of thugs. They moved around frequently and had been sighted all over the continent. Fragmentary reports even had them visiting South America. They were remarkably well equipped for a blood-thirsty pagan cult with no obvious source of income. The Warriors were clearly receiving support and direction from somebody powerful, but so far, the hackers hadn't been able to determine who that might be.

Marina's phone rang, and the caller ID showed Ipo's code number.

She answered the call immediately, "Report!"

"Yes, ma'am," Ipo said.

He described the peculiar engagement at the encampment in the mountains. The Warriors had prepared an escape plan in case of trouble, and it had worked well. The Society was left with only one prisoner who probably didn't know much.

Marina was troubled. She had fought many enemies, and they usually needed to be crushed a few times before they understood what they were up against. It was far too early in the game for the Warriors to be making such wise and informed choices.

"Interrogate the one prisoner," Marina said. "Search the encampment for any evidence, but be careful of traps. There's a very good chance the Warriors left surprises behind. That's what we would've done. Be especially careful of doors."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Bye." She put away her phone.

Frowning, she walked over to Min Ho. The hacker was wearing an outfit made of shiny blue nylon with green stripes. It looked like a warm-up suit for an athlete with a flair for fashion. She wondered where he bought his clothes, certainly not off the rack.

"Anything new?" Marina said.

"No, ma'am," Min Ho said. "Ten years ago, the Warriors were just an obscure group who lived in the woods of New Hampshire. They hunted together and performed pagan blood rituals on animals. At some point for no obvious reason, they became much better organized and equipped."

"That's probably when the so-called 'Goddess' took control."

"We're trying to find out who that is, but it's hard."

"Follow the money," she said.

"Yes, ma'am."

Marina walked off feeling frustrated.

* * *

Iris was eating dinner in her hotel room. It was a quiet meal with just her and Laurence at the table. Her dish was roast duck with plum sauce and a side of sweet potato soufflé. He was eating the same thing he always did: plain hot dogs, white rice, and boiled carrots. His diet never varied in the slightest.

Her phone rang, and the display showed Walfred was trying to reach her with his "magic mirror." It was actually a very sophisticated communications device, but he didn't know that.

She accepted the connection. "What is it?"

"The enemy came just as you foretold, Goddess," he replied.

Iris already knew exactly what had happened. She had watched the whole episode through his eyes. She had seen the Gray Spear Society in action, and they had been as impressive as she had expected. The effortless way they had killed made her jealous.

"Yes," she said, "I saw. I also know most of the Warriors escaped. Well done. The night went exactly as I had hoped."

"Thank you, Goddess."

"You talked to somebody on the radio. Who?"

Iris could see through another person's eyes, but unfortunately, she couldn't listen through his ears. It was an annoying limitation.

"The enemy," Walfred said. "It was just a brief conversation."

Her eyes widened in alarm. "You didn't tell them anything, did you?"

"Of course not, Goddess."

She was still uneasy. It wouldn't take much of a slip to give the Society a vital clue. The plan depended on them not suspecting the truth until it was too late.

"Good," Iris said. "I knew I could depend on you. And you have all the equipment you need for tomorrow?"

"I believe so. The laser power supply is repaired."

She smiled. Tomorrow promised to be an extremely interesting day.

"I want you to ditch the green trucks. They've become a liability. Safer transportation has already been arranged. I have also prepared the costumes and vehicles you will need for the final performance."

"But, Goddess," Walfred said, "you told us to use the green trucks."

"Yes, and they served their purpose."

"Which was what? Is that how the enemy found my encampment? You set us up?"

"Don't question my wisdom," Iris said. "There is a warehouse in Oakland..." She gave him detailed instructions.

"Yes, Goddess."

"And you can stay in nice hotels tonight. It's the last night of the operation. You deserve clean beds, hot showers, and soft towels."

"Thank you," Walfred said.

Iris ended the connection.

Laurence looked at her. "We just need the Warriors to survive until noon tomorrow."

She nodded. "I'm confident they will."

Chapter Nine

Marina and Corrie were standing outside headquarters. It was a cool, breezy night, and Marina wished she had thought to grab a jacket. Still, it was a lot nicer than Chicago. She kept seeing horror stories on the news about the ongoing nightmare in her hometown. Between the cannibals and the hellish snowstorm, the city was under siege.

"I'm a little jealous," Marina said.

"You are, ma'am?" Corrie said.

"You got to have a grand tour of North America. How many teams did you visit?"

"Eleven."

"I've only seen Chicago and San Francisco," Marina said. "I hope you appreciate how unique an opportunity that was. Normally, only the legate gets to travel between cells."

"You and Aaron visit each other, ma'am."

"That's a special case, and technically, against the rules."

Corrie nodded.

Marina heard an animal in the brush. Tall hills surrounded headquarters on three sides, and at night, they were intimidating dark masses. The land was a kind of national park, so nothing had been built on it. Native plants covered the landscape. Rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, and deer often wandered down to headquarters and sniffed around. Even larger predators such as pumas were sometimes detected by the security system.

"Do you think everything will return to normal after the project in Chicago is done?" Corrie said.

Marina shrugged. "Hard to say. I just hope it works after all the trouble it's causing."

"I still don't believe it."

"Don't believe what?"

"That the twins are going to change the universe," Corrie said.

"After everything you've seen, and after the miracles you've witnessed, you still doubt?"

"Those are localized aberrations. We're talking about all of fucking reality here. Billions of galaxies, quadrillions of worlds. I don't care how smart the twins are. They can't make a fundamental change to physics."

"Everybody else," Marina said, "including God Himself, seems to think they have a shot at it."

Corrie shook her head.

Marina furrowed her brow. "How do I compare to the other commanders?"

"Ma'am?"

"You spent time with eleven other commanders. That's a pretty good sample size. How would you rank me?"

Corrie was silent.

"Come on," Marina said. "I never get angry when people are honest with me. I won't punish you for telling the truth. Go ahead and criticize."

Corrie swallowed. "Every commander was impressive in his or her own way. Some were incredibly intelligent, some were intuitive, some were driven, and some were just great leaders. It's hard to say one was better than another."

"You're evading the question."

"You're different, ma'am. You're scarier than the others. It's like God took a bunch of death and molded it into the shape of a woman. Even after a year, being with you still feels a little like a nightmare."

Marina thought about that statement. She wasn't displeased by the assessment even though it probably wasn't meant to be flattering. She had spent most of her life honing her mind and body to become a perfect killing machine. She had sacrificed so much for that goal, but had she given up too much?
Aaron loves me,
she thought.
His opinion is the only one that matters.

A dark blue van came up the driveway. Marina knew it was her team, but she still put a hand on the butt of her gun. Until she saw their faces, she would take precautions.

The van parked in the grass with its rear doors facing the front of headquarters. Ipo, Hanley, Katie, and Yang got out. They were still wearing their advanced body armor. The black and gray fabric fit their bodies like a second skin, and even though it could stop a bullet, it was flexible enough to not restrict movement.

"That armor makes them look like superheroes," Corrie said.

Marina agreed.

Ipo opened the back doors of the van. "We found some evidence in the encampment. The bad guys left it behind, so it probably isn't worth much, but it still looks interesting."

"Did the captive tell you anything?" Marina said.

"Not much new, ma'am. For the last several years, the Warriors of Dagda have been operating under the orders of a mysterious woman known as the Goddess. She speaks to Walfred directly using some kind of mirror device. She also sends 'sacred couriers' with money, supplies, and instructions."

"Strange behavior for a deity."

"Indeed," Ipo said. "They've never seen her in person. I don't think there is any chance they can lead us to her. What's interesting is the captive absolutely believed the Goddess could see every move the Warriors made. She must be using bugs or spies to watch her own people."

Marina nodded.

She walked over to the van to inspect the evidence, and at first glance, it looked like junk. There were damaged weapons parts, computer components, torn clothing, mechanical bits, and other odds and ends. It was clear why the Warriors hadn't bothered to pack any of it.

Corrie also took a look, and her expression showed more interest.

She picked up a red metal tube with an opening at one end. "This is a laser module."

"Will it tell us anything?" Marina said.

"It might help me figure out the technology they used to generate the angels." Corrie picked up a bulbous canister. "And I bet this held the gas they sprayed. Some might be left inside. I could use mass spectrometry to determine the chemical."

"Sounds like you're going to have a busy night. I'll stay up for a few hours and examine the other evidence. As for the rest of you—" Marina faced her
legionnaires
. "—get this stuff inside, and then go home. Be back here at dawn tomorrow."