Full Moon Rising - 02 (20 page)

“Of course.  Take your time.” Matt said, not entirely unde
rstanding, but taking Thorn’s word on it based entirely upon Jack’s trust in the man…er,
vampire
.

Rufus hurriedly excused himself and stepped out of the room.  Matt turned to Jack.  “Any idea what the fuck that’s about?” he whispered.

“No clue, sir.”  Jack turned to Nadia.  “Do you?”

“No.  But I live here, so I can find out.” She smiled. 

“Oh, no.  If this is a common enemy, I don’t want anything to happen that might tip a hand.” Jack said.  “Rufus wants us to stay put, and we’re going to stay put.”

“He wants ‘you and your men’ to stay put, Jack.” She co
rrected him.  “I live here.  Besides, you can’t stop me.” She stood up and started for the door before Jack could grab her.

“Let her go, Chief.”  Matt whispered.  “It’s not worth ma
king a scene over.  Besides, she’s right.  This is her home.  She belongs here, right?”

Jack gritted his teeth.  He had to admit…they were both right.

*****

Rufus hurried down the hall toward his study.  Viktor was waiting just outside the hall for him with his jacket.  When he saw Rufus he went down the hall and met him and helped him into his evening jacket.  “He only arrived a short time ago.  He’s an emissary from Rome.  An emissary of the Sicarii.” Viktor stated.

“The Sicarii?”  Rufus asked. “Are you sure?  I thought perhaps she had gotten the name wrong…the Sicarii is supposedly just a myth.” He whispered.  Rufus felt his own hands trembling as he buttoned his jacket.  “How do we know he’s not an imposter?”

“He held the seal upon a parchment.  It looked quite acc
urate to me.  He said that you would know.” Viktor’s eyes betrayed him.  Rufus knew that Viktor recognized it from his own studies in the Vatican vaults.

“How do I look?” he asked, knowing that it wouldn’t ma
tter.

“Elegant, sir.” Viktor stated, brushing non-existent lint from his shoulders. 

“Very well.  Let us do this.”  He stepped toward his study and Viktor opened the door for him.  As he entered, he felt somewhat violated to find the emissary rifling through his belongings on his shelves.

“Monsieur Rufus Thorn.” Viktor announced clearly.  Rufus entered the study and stood at attention.

“Ah, Monsieur Thorn, it is nice to finally meet you in person.  You are a very difficult person to track down.” The emissary stated, turning from Rufus’ personal items.  Rufus eyed the vampire.  He reminded him of Napoleon.  Short, slightly balding, pudgy in the middle, not much to look at, a self-important air about him based entirely on his perceived station in life. 

“What can I do for you, Monsieur…”

“Cable.  Stanton Cable. Of the Bedford Cables.  Perhaps you’ve heard of us?” he said in his self absorbed tone.

“Non.  But that is entirely my own fault, Monsieur Cable.  I prefer the isolation of my island and do not get away much.  I’m not one for keeping up with who is who, I’m afraid.” Thorn smiled.

“Hmph.  Well, you should get out more.” He said obstinately.  “How are you supposed to know who you are dealing with, anyway?”

“Yes, that could be problematic.”  Thorn tried to be dipl
omatic, but it was very difficult with someone who was more concerned with their previous standing in life than with their current position in death.  “Again, Monsieur, what can I do for you?”

Stanton paused and studied Rufus.  “In a bit of a hurry, Mr. Thorn?  Have another engagement perhaps?”

“Actually, we do, Monsieur.  So, if you please?” Rufus smiled as pleasantly as he could muster.

“What could possibly be so important as to interrupt an e
missary of the Sicarii?” he asked, looking down his nose…rather,
up
his nose toward Rufus.

“The Sicarii?”  Rufus repeated.  “Well, Monsieur, you see Viktor here?” Rufus indicated the tall dark gentleman who e
ntered with him.  “He is my second and he has just returned after a
very
long extended overseas engagement.  We are in the midst of throwing a welcome home feast for him and his family.  And since the Sicarii is a myth handed down from vampiri to vampiri for centuries…”

“A
myth
?!”  Cable exclaimed.  “A myth? A myth you say?”  He smirked as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a papyrus scroll with a wax seal.  The seal held the mark of the Sicarii upon it.  Crossed daggers with a sand scarab emblazoned across the front.  “Does this look like a myth to you?” he asked as he tossed it upon Rufus’ desk.

“Non.  It does not.”  Rufus said as he reached to pick it up.  The emissary pulled a dagger and attempted to stab at Rufus’ hand but before he could Rufus knocked the dagger away and pinned the emissary against the wall of his study.  In the blink of an eye, Viktor had pulled a sword, as if from the very air itself and held it to the emissary’s throat.  The little vampire hissed and kicked his feet in protest.

“You come into
my
home and disrespect me in front of my
own
people, and then you attempt to pull a blade on me?” Rufus asked his canines descended into attack position.  “What kind of fool are you?”

“I am an emissary of the Sicarii.  I am untouchable!” the li
ttle vampire hissed.

Rufus continued to hold him against the wall while he struggled and hissed and fought against him.  He laughed in the little vampire’s face while Viktor chuckled, the tip of the sword never wavering.  “You truly
are
a fool.” He hissed into his ear.  “
I
am the only master of this castle.  Even an emissary of the Sicarii does not come into another vampire’s castle and make threats in his master’s name.”

“He does when his master has willed him into his service!” he hissed.

“I have not been willed into his service until the seal is broken!” Rufus informed him of his error.  At once the emissary realized his mistake and his eyes bulged.  He could be tortured and killed and it would be completely legal by vampire law.  His own ego had got the better of him.

Rufus set him down and Viktor put his sword away.  Rufus was seething with anger.  “You had better leave now before I decide to feed you to my dogs.” He said.  He turned and picked up the scroll.  He used his sharpened nail to cut along the edge of the wax seal in order to open the scroll without breaking the seal itself.  A technicality, but it allowed him to read the order wit
hout being bound to it.  With his back turned to the emissary, the emissary could only see that he held the scroll up and was reading it.

“You are bound now,
Monsieur
.  Be glad that I don’t rip your head off and feed IT to your dogs.” He spat as he quickly headed out of the study and back out the way he came.

“Has he left?” Rufus asked quietly.

Viktor listened intently.  “Yes.  He is in the front courtyard and making his way to the boats.”

“That was too close.” Rufus sighed.  “Entirely too close.”

18

“Are we wasting our time here?” Matt asked, obviously frustrated.

Jack sat next to him, trying not to fidget.  The rest of the squad members had snacked and were bored.  They had stared at the walls and although they wanted to keep the noise to a minimum, playing rock, paper, scissors could only take them so far before thoughts of throwing grapes and chunks or cheese at other became a temptation.

“I don’t think so.  Skipper, Rufus isn’t the type of person to blow you off unless something seriously important came up.” Jack whispered.  “He says somebody shows up here una
nnounced that is a common threat then my guess is that probably somebody from the bad guy vampire group may have gotten wind of our meeting somehow and they came to find out if we were really going to show up.”

“I don’t see how.  We just decided this afternoon to even come here.” Matt said disgustedly.  “That would infer that we had a rat in our midst and I don’t buy that for a second.”

Jack sat back in his chair with a sigh.  “Me neither.  But someone in Rufus’ group gave me that satellite phone and there’s a possibility that it had a tracker embedded in it.  Maybe somebody here notified them we were coming after we called?”

Matt shook his head.  “Not enough time for them to arrange anything, Phoenix.  I just don’t see it.”  But he had to admit, anything was possible.  “But, I suppose we’ll find out when we gets back.”  Matt glanced at his watch.  “
If
he comes back.”

Nadia came through the side door and slipped over close to Jack.  “I have word.” She said as she took her seat. 

“That wasn’t cool.” Jack said, staring her down.

She ignored his glare and continued.  “Do either of you know what a Sicarii is?” she asked.

“No, I’ve never heard of it.” Mitchell said, listening intently.  The rest of the squad had taken note and was listening as well, but none seemed to recognize the name either.

“Doesn’t ring a bell with me either.” Jack said, still not ha
ppy with her giving him the slip.

“The vampire who came here to see Rufus claims to have been an emissary of the Sicarii.” She said.  “I don’t know exac
tly what that is, but it seems to have Rufus quite shaken and even my father is upset.”

“I’m not following you.” Mitchell said.  “What is a Sicarii?”

“I don’t know, but my father is not easily shaken.  He is a Lycan of the First Order.  A warrior wolf.  He does not get shaken.” She stated.  “He strikes fear into the hearts of our enemies.”

Mitchell and Thompson exchanged glances.  This was a good time to pick up this information…

Rufus entered the main doors with Viktor in tow.  “Please, forgive my absence.” He said, his face solemn.  He approached Colonel Mitchell and said simply, “A word, Colonel, if you don’t mind.  Your men are free to begin the feast if they like, or they may wander the grounds and wait until we are done.”

Mitchell looked at Jack who simply shrugged.  “What about Jack?”

“He may attend if you like.  Is he your second?”

Mitchell pondered his question a moment.  “Not technically, but considering our circumstances, he is more of an emissary to you, wouldn’t you say?  He is the one that brought the two of us together.  I thought that perhaps you might feel more comfort
able having him with us during our meeting.”

“It would seem that the initial subject of our meeting is a r
ather moot point now, Colonel.”  Rufus stated.  “A much larger and much more dangerous threat has arisen that will require both our attention and our immediate action if we are to survive it.”

Mitchell rose with a suspicious glare.  “What are you sa
ying, Thorn?”

“I’m saying that the visitor I just had…delivered a message that not only involves me and my people, but will have nothing but a negative impact on you and your people.”  He stared Mitchell in the eye.  “And bring certain death to the rest of the world if we do not act as one.”

*****

Second Squad had already made landfall in central Ohio and was approaching the target area.  “OpCom, Team Leader, we are on approach.  One click to target.” Apollo whispered into his lip mic.

He held his team on the outskirts of the small rural town.  The triangulation indicated that the cell call had come from Tufo’s home or immediately nearby. Apollo scanned the area and found that the highest structure in the area was the water tower.  He turned to Mueller and ordered, “Sierra-Two, take overwatch.  Water tower, double-time.”

“Roger that.” He responded and took off, low and fast.  He stayed to the covered areas but moved quickly and was soon at the base of the tower.  Apollo observed him cover the distance and noted that the ladder ascending the tower was a solid twelve feet from the ground, but Robert took a running jump to grab the lower rungs and pulled himself up easily.  Once he was set up at the walkway around the tower, he came back over the radio.  “Eyes on the target area.  We have one on the roof with a rifle and scope…not paying attention.  No movement at the wi
ndows.”  There was a slight pause before he came back.  Switching to pulsed microwave.  “We have four bodies upright with weapons inside and a fifth sitting in a chair.  Appears to be our man.  Hands appear to be tied behind his back.”

“Copy that.  Go silent and take out the eyes on the roof.”

Apollo watched through the field glasses along the roofline.  He couldn’t see the shooter on the roof, but he saw a pink mist appear near a dormer that had hidden the sniper.  “Good shot.  Maintain overwatch.  Let us know if anything heads our way.”

“Copy that.” Robert responded.

The team made good time closing in on the house, always keeping an eye on the windows and anybody who might be inside.  As they were coming in, Apollo radioed Laura, “OpCom, any chance we have a layout of the interior of Mark’s house?”

“Negative, Team Leader.  You’re going in blind.”

“You heard the lady.  Anything standing is fair game.  But we want to keep at least one of them alive so we can figure out what the hell is going on here, got it?” he barked.

He got a round of affirmations before they approached the house.  Using hand signals, Apollo sent Dom and Pedro to the south side of the property while he and Hammer took the front and north side.  Taking quick peeks through the windows they could get an idea of where everybody was, and Hammer repor
ted seeing Tufo tied up, his forehead bloody in the dining room.  Apollo verified with Mueller that nobody was upstairs.  On his mark, each man was to take a kill shot, Apollo was to wound his, charge in and subdue the man for questioning. 

He began his countdown when a commotion inside broke out and he aborted the count.  He could hear the voices rising and his man was yelling into a radio.  He turned to the others, ‘If that son of a bitch fell asleep on the roof, I’ll kill him’ and then the man turned for the door.  Apollo turned his back to the wall and prepared to nab him as he came out the door.  “On my mark, take em down.” He whispered into his lip mic.”

The door flew open and the man stepped onto the porch.  “Jennings, you son of a…” 

“Go.” Apollo whispered and a trio of shots whispered out through suppressed weapons as Apollo pulled the man into him and held a very large knife to his throat, his other hand pulling the short barreled assault rifle from his hands.  He slid his back along the wall and took the man back into the house.  “Converge on me.” He stated simply into his lip mic and the team fell into the house.

The man who had stepped onto the porch knew instantly who had him, but they weren’t expected yet.  He was shaking and sweat began to pop out on his forehead.  He glanced out the window and an evil grin slid across his features.  “What you grinnin’ at pendejo?” Gonzales asked him.

“Your imminent death.” He smiled back at them.

“Sierra-Four, untie Tufo.” Apollo ordered to Popo.  “Make sure he’s okay.”  He turned the abductor around and pushed him against the wall, the point of his blade against his throat.  “Why are you here?”

“To bring you out to play, of course.” The man grinned at him like a fool.

“Well, lucky you, asshole.”  Apollo said.  “We’re here.  How about we play, ‘Pin the Asshole to the Wall’?”

“Go ahead.  Have your fun.  Very soon it shall be
you
who are crucified.” The man said.  Apollo pushed the blade a little harder against his throat, drawing just a drop of blood as Tufo stepped out of the dining room rubbing his wrists. 

“Stop!” he yelled, quickly stepping up to Apollo and reac
hing for the blade.  “They have my wife and daughter.” He explained his eyes desperate. 

Apollo pulled the blade back enough that the man against the wall exhaled, not realizing he had been holding his breath.  “Where are they?”  Apollo asked through gritted teeth.

The man smirked.  “I bet you’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” he spat.

Mueller cut across the ear bud.  “Fast movers, Apollo.  Headed your way.”

“Which direction, Sierra-Two?”  he asked.

“From the railway.  You only have a few minutes at best.” He said.  “I might can get one or two, but there’s at least a half dozen and they’re quick.”

“Stop what you can, Two.  We’re tied up at the moment.”  Apollo turned back to the man who was now smiling like the cat who swallowed the canary.  “Think it’s funny, asshole?  ‘Cuz I don’t fucking
play
!” 

Apollo pulled his sidearm and blew a hole through the man’s knee cap.  The man howled in pain and tried to drop to the floor, but Apollo held him pressed to the wall.  “Hurts like a
bitch
, don’t it?  You got any idea how many more joints I can fuck up ‘til your blood sucking buddies get here?”  He stared the gasping man in the eyes.  “A
lot
fucker, now where’s his family?”  He placed the barrel against the man’s other knee and the man spit at him. 

“I’m going to enjoy watching them rip your goddamn heads off!” he yelled.

“Oh, yeah?  You fucking think so?”  Apollo moved the barrel from his kneecap to his balls and pressed tightly.  “Maybe I ought to squeeze the trigger now?” he asked.

“No!” the man begged.  “No…they…they’re three houses down.” He gasped, pointing south of their location.

“Two, three houses south.  Check for two females, a woman and a girl.”

“Copy that, wait one, Team Leader.”  After a short pause.  “Bingo, Team Leader.  Nobody’s watching them.  They appear to be alone and tied back to back at the rear of the building.”

“Roger that.” Apollo turned to Dom.  “Take Mark and get his family the fuck out of here.”  He turned to Tufo.  “You got a car?”

“There’s a Jeep behind the house.”  He said.

“Go get it and meet Sierra-Three at the house three doors down.”  Mark turned to head out the back when Apollo called him back.  He tossed him the assault rifle he took from the abductor.  “You remember how to use this, Marine?”  Tufo glanced down at the Sig 552. 

He pulled the magazine, checked the chamber and replaced the magazine, setting the safety.  “Once a Marine, always a M
arine.” He smirked.

“Semper Fi, buddy.” Apollo said, throwing him a salute.  “Get your family and head to Wright-Patterson.  Laura will have shit set up for you there.”

“Roger that.” Tufo said and returned the salute before heading out the back for his Jeep.

“OpCom, we have fast runners inbound.  We could sure use some air support.  Any chance we could get the Predator out here sometime soon?” Apollo asked.

“Predator is inbound, Team Leader.  My bad on that one, Apollo.  As soon as Over watch reported inbound, I dispatched it from the C-130, but it should have already been in the sky.  I’m sorry.”

“No worries, ma’am.  We’ll hold 'em off as long as we have to until the birdie can chop ‘em up.” He answered back. 

“
If
the birdie can chop them up.” Mueller came back.  “I’ve never seen anything move this fast Team Leader.  They’ll be there any second.  Prepare for breach.” Apollo could hear the hiss report of Bob’s rifle through his mic.

“You heard the man, prepare for breach.” Apollo ordered as the first vampire burst through the door and was lit up in a rapid hail of silver shrapnel.  “Blowing smoke!” Apollo barked, as he set off a smoke grenade and rolled it onto the porch.

The smoke grenade also emitted silver nitrate which was poisonous to the vampires.

“Grenade!” Popo yelled as he lobbed a UV phosphorus gr
enade out the window and a shriek was heard immediately after.  Broken glass was heard upstairs and the team knew one had jumped to the roof and came through an upstairs window.

“Two, give me a count.” Apollo came over the coms.

“Too many too fast.  Best guess is at least a dozen.  Maybe more.” He reported.   “I dropped four on their way in.”

“When these fuckers set a trap, they set a trap.” Hammer muttered as he cut a vampire in half with his P90.  “Changing mag!”

“Covering!” Popo yelled as he turned to cover Hammer and dropped another vampire who tried to reach Hammer through a window he had been firing from.  “Fuck, they’re
everywhere
!”