Full Moon Rising - 02 (5 page)

Foster nodded.  “You’re right.  The name means nothing to me.”  He walked slowly around the punk and watched him shi
ver.  He ran a nail along his jawline then flicked it up, cutting the gag loose from his mouth.  “There.  Is that better?”

The punk spat out the rubber ball that had been caught b
ehind his fangs and immediately withdrew them in a sign of submission.  “Thank you m’lord.” And he lowered his eyes.

“See, Damien?  He has some manners after all.” Paul said with a flourish.  “Now then.  Let’s see if he can be forthcoming with a bit of information?”  Foster leaned down and placed the nail under the punk’s chin, drawing blood as he raised his face to his.  “I need to know what you know.” He said, his eyes dead, but his smile spreading.

“A-anything!” the punk sputtered.

“Good.”  Foster snapped his fingers and one of the women pulled a highbacked chair for him to sit in.  The punk remained on his knees.  Paul studied him a moment then asked, “Tell me of the upcoming attack on the human hunters.”

The punk looked confused for a moment.  How could anybody know of the attack?  But obviously, this vampire knew, and he wanted to know more.  “What do you want to know?” he answered, lowering his eyes.

“Look at me when you speak.” Paul commanded without raising his voice.  The punk raised his eyes and his face went blank.  “I want to know everything.”

The punk drew breath, but when he spoke, he was monotone, as if under Paul’s spell.  “Our gang was contacted by another sister gang from out of state.  Everybody knows whispers and rumors of the hunters and everyone fears them.   We were told that somebody is organizing the vampires, building up an army in order to overwhelm them.  Over run the hunters and decimate them in one fail swoop.  Leave no survivors, nobody to turn after the fact.”

“And when is this attack supposed to occur?”

“We don’t know when exactly, but soon.  Right now they are trying to get everybody on board.  It’s all voluntary but from what I’m told, everybody is for it.  They all want a piece of this action.  We get to pull a surprise attack like those bastards have done to us.”

“Who is behind organizing this little war party?”

“I don’t know who started it, but it was our sister gang who contacted us.  They said it was a biker gang that contacted them and a rival biker vamp gang that got in touch with them.  It’s all word of mouth.”

Paul contemplated his words and growled.  He really didn’t like being kept out of the loop on something this monumentally stupid.  Not only would something like this throw off the status quo, it would alert all humans to the existence of vampires and they would have egotistical Van Helsing wanna-be's running through the streets trying to stake every newborn baby vamp they could find.

He remembered the days when villages would rise up against vampires and send them packing to the next county or the next country.  Those were not pleasant times.  It was usually because some idiot would pick the daughter of a village elder or the wife of a governor or something else monumentally stupid and make a midnight snack of her.  Men get so possessive of their women.  He really couldn’t see why.  There were
so many
of them.  And really, one tasted just as good as the next. 

Paul sighed.  “Whoever these dumbasses are should realize that by doing this, they will alert the entire world to our pre
sence.” He said more to Damien than anybody.  “Once that happens, we will be hunted like we once were.”

“That is their hope.” The punk said.  Paul was shocked and felt his anger instantly rise.  “Except they want to move into p
ositions of power as soon as people realize we exist.  They intend to make humans into livestock and farm them.” His monotone voice stated.

Paul sat back, shocked.  He had heard rumors of this va
mpire lunacy before, but…for someone to actually attempt to implement it?  Absolute craziness!  It could never happen.

He jumped up from his chair and when he did, the punk seemed to snap out of it and was gently shaking his head as if waking from a dream.  “This is
insane
! Can’t they see what this will actually bring?!”

Damien stepped forward, “Master, if this happens, and we are brought to light, it will be much more than just the hunters to deal with, won’t it?”

“See?!  He’s an idiot and even
he
can see the bigger picture.”  Foster stated.  “I have to find out who is behind this and either convince them to stop it or destroy them before it begins.”

“You’re crazy, man.”  The punk said.  “This is way bigger than even you!  This is like worldwide, man!” he began to laugh.  Before he could take a breath to build up his first round of laug
hter, Paul staked him and watched the blood erupt from his throat.  Damien stepped back just as the punk splattered face first on the stone floor.

“Get that thing out of here.” Paul ordered and the enforcers stepped forward to cart out what was left of him. 

“What do we do?” Damien asked.

“Find the other punk.  Perhaps he knows more.”

Damien paused.  “Master, I will do whatever you say, you know that.  But I doubt seriously that the other punk will know any more than this one.”

Paul turned slowly to Damien, his brows raised.   Damien raised his hands in defense.  “Remember, master, the punk said that their sister gang told them about this attack, and they were told by a biker gang who was told by a rival biker gang, etc.  It’s all word of mouth, yes?”

“Go on…”

“They know nothing.  Just that somebody wants to know if they would be interested.  Somebody is testing the waters to see if they can raise enough interest in the attack.”  Damien’s gears were going, trying to think like his dad would.  “Obviously there is interest.  Vampires across the world want payback.  But it’s not just here in the states, but worldwide.  My father had told me that
all
of the Monster Squads were hit last month and they all lost some men.  Some only had one team and they are completely out of the game until they retrain replacements.”

“And your point is?”

“Whoever is behind this may have been behind those attacks as well.”

Foster debated a moment on the next step.  “Did your father have any idea who these vampires were?”

“No, but there are always rumors…”

“Tell me what you know, Damien.  This is not the time to trifle with me.” Paul growled.

“That’s just it, master.  I don’t
know
, it is just rumors.” He defended himself.  “But as I was saying, there is one rumor that one of the hunters survived the attack here.  The Beastia had an infiltrator with the Humanus and…the infiltrator carted off one of the hunters.”

“Where?!” Paul demanded.

“We don’t know.”  Damien admitted.  “But it is a start, yes?  If we watch the hunters, perhaps they will…”

“No.”  Foster said.  “We have nobody who could effectively do that. But perhaps we can find the Beastia.”  Paul’s eyes na
rrowed.  “As much as it pains me to even consider the thought, perhaps an… alliance with the goat suckers would be in the best interest of all vampires… if we work together to stop the anarchists.”

4

Mitchell approached Evan Peters’ lab station apprehensiv
ely.  His mind was racing and he felt like his heart was beating through his chest.  After more than a decade of shifting with every full moon, the shifts were becoming harder and fighting the aggression of the wolf was becoming more and more difficult.  He saw Evan’s station was empty.  Where could he have gone?  The computers were shut down and his notebooks were put away.  Although Evan rarely slept, that must be where he was.  Matt knew from experience that waking Evan was like waking the dead.  Literally.  But this felt like an emergency.  A personal emergency, true, but an emergency nonetheless. 

He went to the elevator and punched in the lower level bu
tton and slid his key card for access.  Very few could access the level where Evan had set up his room, as stark as it was.  Matt waited for the doors to open then took the hallway right until he reached what used to be a supply closet.  He knocked loudly on the door, hoping to wake him.  The door opened and Evan gave a rather surprised look at the colonel.  “I’m still up, Colonel.  Is something wrong?”

“I really hate to bother you Evan, but could you brew me up another batch of that secret sauce of yours?  The stuff you gave me before?”

Evan nodded.  “Helped, did it?”

“Took the edge off quite a bit, but my nerves…feels like it burns through whatever calming effect it has pretty quick.”

“Let me grab my lab coat and some shoes.”  Evan turned away from the door, but didn’t shut it.  Matt looked inside the room, curiosity and the cat, he supposed.  Still as stark as before, but Evan had added a small table desk and chair with a reading lamp by his single cot.

“I like what you’ve done with the place.” He said, not really meaning it.

“Oh, thank you.  I thought of bringing a flowering plant, but since there’s no light, I really…oh.”  Evan caught the sarcasm, finally.  “Yeah.  Well, it serves its purpose.  I do spend most of my time in the lab, anyway.”  He slipped his shoes on and stood.  “After you, sir.”

As they reached the elevators, Matt asked, “Would the e
ffects of that cocktail last any longer if there was more, or maybe if you made it stronger?” Hoping to extend the relief to his system.

“Perhaps I could extract more of the effective phenols from the plants and herbs if I used steam and an extractor rather than simply brewing it.  If the concentration were stronger, then it is likely the effects would last longer.”  Evan tapped his chin as he thought.  “I’m not so sure that
quantity
would be more effective, but rather, quality would be the key to extending the effective…”

“Whatever you think, doc.” Matt winced as the doors opened.

“Are you feeling okay?” Evan asked, turning him around.  He clicked on his penlight and checked his eyes.  “Matt?”

“I’m okay, it’s just…my guts feel like they’re twisting.” 

“Considering the effects of the moon, I doubt seriously you’ve contracted an intestinal bug…”

“If I have, it would be the first one in over ten years.” He joked.

“Oh, yeah.  Good point.”  He checked his pulse.  “Good heavens, Matt.  Your heart rate is through the roof.  I can barely keep track of it.”

“Sounds about right.  Feels like its beating out of my chest.  I can barely breathe.”

“Okay.  Let’s see if we can get you calmed a little with some of Doc Peters Canine & Wolf Juice.” Evan quipped.

“Cute.”  Matt muttered as they exited the elevator.  He all but staggered toward Evan’s lab.  Evan began mixing dried flowers and herbs and something that looked like…well…it looked like a finger dried into jerky until he tossed it into a co
ffee grinder and pulverized it.  When he was finished, he tossed all the dry ingredients into a filter bag and placed it into a beaker over a Bunsen burner. 

“Sorry, Colonel.  No coffee maker here.” He smiled shee
pishly.

“No complaints from me on how you make it, doc, as long as it works.”

“I added more bane to this mix and a bit more acetyl L-carnitine to help convert choline into acetylcholine in your brain.”  He saw Matt’s face go slack.  “Umm, think of it as a natural form of the ADD medicine Ritalin.  Right now, your brain is fighting your body’s systems because of the wolf’s hormones shooting throughout it.  You’re going to shift tonight and your body is preparing it by flooding it with hormones and…’stuff’, okay?”  Matt simply nodded.  “Your brain isn’t prepared to deal with it all and it is going into hyperdrive, and you simply aren’t used to it.  You need something to ‘calm yourself’ like a child who takes Ritalin.  This is a mixture of bane, to calm the hormones and a natural form of Ritalin to calm your brain, by stimulating it.”

“You calm the brain by stimulating it?”

“I know, right?”  Evan chuckled.  “But it works.  I promise.”

He pulled the beaker off the burner and swished it around.  The infusion was very dark this time and much thicker.  He wafted the steam toward his nose and pulled the beaker back.  “Oh, yeah.  Nice and stout, this time.”  He smiled at Mitchell.  “Let’s hope I didn’t over do it.”

Matt frowned at him.  “If you did?  Then what?”

“Well…I’m not rightly sure.  You’ll either sleep until you shift or bounce off the walls like a ferret on a triple espresso.”  He poured the concoction into a coffee mug and handed it to Matt.  “Bottoms up!” he smiled.

Matt smelled the mix and pulled back with a grimace.  “Eww.  It smells like boiled assholes.”

“Probably tastes like it, too, but it beats having your heart explode, so, up and att’em, big boy.  I could put a spoonful of molasses in it for you if you think it will improve the taste?”

“Smells like it has plenty of mole asses in it.” He muttered as he swallowed it.  Almost instantly the hot liquid calmed his stomach and he could feel his body literally sucking the nutrients and phytochemicals out of the mixture.  For just a moment, he had a slight feeling of nausea, then it passed, and his head cleared.  “Wow, doc.  That’s some good stuff.”

Evan sat back, surprised it worked as quickly as it did.  “You know, Colonel, as quickly as your body assimilated that, it stands to reason that you’ll burn through it quickly, too.”

“Makes sense.  Feel up to making some to go?  Maybe I can keep some of that sewer water around and just take a hit now and then as I need it?”

Evan looked at his watch.  The colonel had a point.  There were still many hours until sundown.  “I’ll get on it, sir.”

“Thanks, doc.  I really appreciate it.”  Matt got up to leave Evan to his chore, then paused.  “Doc?  Do you think the boys upstairs are going to have the same problems I’m having?  I mean, as they get older and…you know.  The longer this thing is in them?”

“I don’t think so, Colonel.  This all deals with your shifting and the progression of the wolf and its aggression and…well.  They don’t shift.  We’ve seen to that.  They shouldn’t have to deal with it at all.”

Matt thought about Jack.  If he were to tell the squad about the gene therapy…if any of them decided to stop taking the bane.  If any of them, like Apollo and Sanchez ever had a kid?  Matt shook his head.  He’d cross that bridge when he came to it.  “Thanks again, doc.  Give me a heads up when you get that cooked up, would ya?”

“Absolutely, sir.”

*****

Apollo and Jack stood over the table topside and went over the short files of the squads.  Apollo was hesitant about breaking them into three five-man squads.  They had trained as seven man teams for so long, but he knew, they were professionals and they’d adjust.  It’s just difficult to play with a shorter hand than you’re used to being dealt.

“Look, buddy, I’m sure this won’t be forever.  Skipper feels that this full moon might be a little rough and he’d rather have a third team standing by is all.”

“I feel ya.  I do.  I’m sure they’ll adjust.” He said.  He glanced back at the faces.  He hated to break them all up again just as they were getting used to being on the teams they were on.  “Okay, I think this will work out to the best advantage like this.” he said as he arranged the photos into three groups.

Jack laughed.  “You do realize you just made one group of SEALs, another group of almost all Army and another group of mutts, right?”

Apollo looked at the groupings.  Damned if Jack wasn’t right.  He hadn’t intended for it to come out that way, but it had.  He put a qualified sniper in each group and each group had an effective entry and sweep team that was experienced together.  It just happened to work out that way.

“Well, it might look that way, but looky here.  I got a SEAL with me and my Army boys, so…”

“So…what?  I can’t call you a bigot?” Jack laughed.  The large black man punched him, probably harder than he meant to, but Jack took it in stride.  “It’s okay brother.  You gave me an Army guy to even it out.  Wanna trade, so I’ll have an all SEAL team and you can have an all Army team?”

Apollo actually thought about it a minute before he realized Jack was teasing him again.  “No, seriously, we might should, but not because he was a SEAL.  I was going by their ability, but I wasn’t thinking about their experience levels, man.”  He pointed to Third Squad, led by Darren Spalding, affectionately known as Spanky.  “See, he has two of the new squad members, and three veterans.”  Then he pointed to his own group, Second Squad.  “I only have one of the new guys and the rest are all of my old squad mates.”  Then he pointed to Jack’s team.  “But you?  Oh, hell…I done stuck you with all the newbies.  You are the only veteran in the group, Jack.  Man, I wasn’t thinking.”

Jack brushed him off.  “Look, if they were good enough to drop a troll like you said…”

“Man, ninety percent of that was the Padre.  Gutted that mutha like a fish.  You should’ve seen it.  Landed his damned chute on top of his head, leapt onto his chest and speared him with that damned Japanese sword of his and rode it down like he was unzipping his fly.”  Apollo snickered when he thought about it again.  “All we did was light up the cut with rifle fire and wait for the thing to trip on its own guts.  One of the new guys opened fire on its eyeball, shoved his hand all the way up to the shoulder and shoved a damned frag grenade into its cranial cavity and >BOOM< it was all over but the clean up.”

“If the new guys are that creative, I’ll take ‘em.” Jack said.  “Look man, don’t worry about it.  They’re SEALs.  They know how to handle themselves in a firefight.  They’re team players.”

Apollo took a deep breath and let it out.  “Yeah, you’re right.  They've been through the training, they’re cleared.  I just would feel better if you had another vet on your squad is all.”

“We’ll be fine.” He said.  “Look, I’m going to go and round up…” he picked up their files and went through them.  “Ronald Lamb, Ing Jacobs, Gus Tracy and…hell, here I’ll trade Spanky this guy for Donnie.  That gives me two veterans and I’m still SEAL heavy.  How’s that?”

“Yeah.  Okay.  I feel better now.” Apollo smiled.

“Sweet.  Okay.  I’ll go round up my team and we’ll separate our gear.”

“Gotcha brother.  If I don’t see ya later, be safe out there.”

Apollo made a list for Spanky.  He was getting Hank Michaels, Maria Sanchez, Dave Marshall and Jimmy ‘Tango Down’ Wallace for his team.  That left Apollo with Robert Mueller, Dom De Giacomo, Pedro PoPo Gonzales and Neils the Hammer Erikson. “Enough for a poker party.” He smirked. 

He looked over the teams one more time.  Over all, not bad choices if you had to whittle down seven man teams into three five man teams.  Yeah, not bad at all. 

Now, to go inform the other Squad Leader so that they could have their teams gear up and get battle ready.

*****

Nadia was staring out the window of the plane when the captain informed them that they could not get clearance to land at the larger Will Rodgers World Airport and that they were b
eing redirected to Wiley Post.  He informed his passengers that their car and driver would be informed and waiting for them at the smaller airport.  She worried if this would take them much longer to get to Jack and went forward to the cockpit.  She asked the pilot if he knew how much further it would put them away from the Air Force base.

“Ma’am, it may be a couple miles further, but with traffic the way it is around there, you’ll probably get to Tinker a little bit earlier.” He drawled with a Texas twang.  “Traffic out of OKC terminals can be hairy if they’ve got any heavies that have landed recently.  It’s not that they get a whole lot of heavies, ya see, it’s that the roads in and out of the airport are mostly two lanes.”

Nadia breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him.  She saw how spread out the city was and was surprised that they had cattle and oil equipment so close to where people lived.  Although she lived off the coast of Texas, she only rarely traveled to the coast, and even then, she was heavily protected and went only where necessary and then back to the safety of the island. 

While she tried to sit and be patient for the plane to land, her mother prepared her for tonight.  “If we can find nothing else, we will rent a storage building and use it for the shift.  That is what your father does when he cannot be home during the change.”  But Nadia was not listening.  She was staring out the window and trying to shake the feeling that Jack was in imm
inent danger.