God Touched - 01 (21 page)

     Next to that space had to be Brian Takata's office/dojo.  Wrestling mats took up most of the floor space, along with a realistically molded punching dummy.  Martial arts weapons and blades of all types covered the walls and his only concession to standard office décor was a small computer workstation tucked in the corner. Brian wasn't in residence at the moment.

     On the left side, the first office looked relatively normal, with a desk, computer, bookshelves and several plaques on the walls.  Gina
Velasquez
was at the desk, typing away at her workstation. The next office also looked normal and by process of elimination was most likely Fran DeMarco's, although like Brian, she wasn't currently there.  Last on the left side was an office sized the same as the other two, but holding a copier and shelves of office supplies.  Three fireproof, heavy duty security filing cabinets lined up against the wall and opposite them was a folding table with a coffee pot, microwave and small standing fri
d
g
e
.   The far wall of the conference room was solid and opaque, with a single door in it and the name plate on the door read 'Inspector Roma' in large black letters.  The Inspector led me through this door into his inner sanctum, which was the largest office yet.  Decorated like a scholars den, it was furnished with a large cherry desk and matching bookshelves and credenza. Four comfortable arm chairs surrounded a circular glass coffee table.  One wall was the 'I love me' wall that many professional cops, firefighters, and military officers seem to feel is obligatory.  It was filled with framed citations and photos of Roma with various dignitaries, high-ranking cops, political figures and certificates of law enforcement training schools.  His desk was conspicuously neat, just a phone, pen, legal pad, and a small framed photograph that was turned toward his chair, its back to me. 

“Have a seat, Chris.” He indicated the sitting area.

I grabbed a chair that put my back to the door and farthest from his desk.  After noting my choice he took the seat across from me.

“Well, here we are.  I'll spare you the chit chat and get right down to the heart of the matter.  Any misgivings the team may have had about your trustworthiness were wiped away last night.  Once again, your actions saved lives at grave risk to your own.  Unfortunately, because of the unnatural nature of the perpetrators we can't give you official recognition.  The casualties are being blamed on the drugged Hancers that attacked us.  As none of them survived to dispute us and none of the Special Operations officers had a clue what they were really facing, this explanation will stand.” He said.

“And as for you, effective immediately, you have been reassigned to the Special Situations group.  Frankly, it's the only place for you now.  None of your fellow officers knows what you did, but they all know you did
something.
  And they all know that something saved lives.  Questions?”he asked.

“Er. Sir, how much does the brass know?”

“Chris, the knowledge that unnatural things live among us is a carefully guarded secret.  The Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, myself and the team are it for the NYPD.  Each time a Commissioner is appointed, he or she receives a special briefing from the Department of Homeland Security. ”

“The Feddies know, Sir?”

“Of course.  They have a department much like this one, but tasked with covering the whole country.  In addition, each of the major metropolitan cities has a department like this, although only LAPD's is similar in size and ability.  Or I should say, used to be similar in ability.  They don't have you, now do they?” He said.

“Ah, me? Sir?” I asked.

“Chris, I feel comfortable in saying that I don't believe there is anyone with your abilities, anywhere.  Also, it appears you are a defacto liais
on with the vampire and possibly
the were communities, which again is something that no other department including the Feds have.  We know the supernaturals exist, but they refuse to communicate with us.  I was hoping you might facilitate that.”

“Sir, I got the impression that you hate vampires.”

He frowned.  “Well, I won't kid you.  I have no use for them.  But they do seem to police themselves and we really aren't sure how we would go about it if we had to.  They're rather formidable as I believe you know.”

“Yes Sir
that would be an understatement.” I paused to think about what he was requesting. “Ah Sir, you should know that I've only been...involved...in their world for the better part of a week.  I'm not qualified to be your expert.”

“Granted, you’re new to the role, but you appear to be in favor with the Demidovas and as far as I know, they rule the New York roost.”

“Actually, Sir, Galina Demidova hates me.  My relationship has been with her daughter, Tatiana, and I'm not at all certain where that stands at the moment.  As far as the weres go, I am only slightly acquainted with the local Pack.  I don't know the other species
at all.”    I left out the were
weasel altercation.

“Other species?” he asked.

“Er. Yeah.  Weretigers, werebears, and all that.”

He looked at me blankly for a moment, then shook himself.

“Chris, our hope would be to expand your knowledge and contacts, because whatever little you have is way more than we've ever had before.”

“Well sir, seeing as your people already know, I guess I can help with that.  But you need to know, that I can't betray certain confidences, pretty much on pain of death, or if it would endanger certain of my...er...contacts.”

“Well, that seems reasonable.”   I was glad he didn't try to BS me with any crap about protecting me from the wrath of the supernatural world.  Because none of them, including t
he feds, would be able to stop w
eres or vamps from hunting me down if I betrayed their secrets.

“Great!  Now, I thought we would have you attend our afternoon briefing and then spend some time with each of the team members.  Tomorrow, we'll get started at nine AM and the whole team will be going as a group to the funeral of the officer who died last night, then we'll see what the afternoon brings us. How’s that?”

“Ah, Sir, I should tell you that I have a function to attend tomorrow night at Plasma.  It's a vampire type of event and my invitation was delivered face to face by someone who ranks over Galina, so I don't feel it would be a good idea for me to miss it.”

“By all means.  Any meeting or event of that nature that will help you liaise with that...world is now part of your job.”

That would actually make life a lot easier.  Not having to juggle the job with the vamps was a huge load off my plate.

     We headed back into the conference room and he quickly called the troops together.  Brian and Fran had come in while we were in Roma's office, so the gang was all present.

Roma took the head of the table and I found a seat between him and Gina. Everyone greeted me or nodded and then Roma opened it up. 

“Alright, Chet, it's your show.”

Aikens was sitting at the computer keyboard and he fired up the giant wall monitor as he began.

“Preliminary analysis indicates that lab was the source of all the Hance we have come across, so far.  Details of the molecule are the same as what we already knew.”

“Could you explain what we already know again?  Let’s bring Chris up to speed.”

Aikens nodded and the monitor displayed a complex molecule, the image rotating to show it three dimensionally.

“Chris, the molecule before you is the Hance protein.  It appears to be an incomplete copy of what we believe to be a naturally occurring protein.  However, we haven't figured out where it originates.  The protein travels the bloodstream, attaching itself to the red blood cells.  As it moves throughout the body it has wide ranging effects on the sensory nerve bundles, skeletal muscles, and the central nervous system.  It actually does speed up reflexes and improves eyesight, hearing, smell and tactile senses.”

“Can I get a copy of that image?  I may have a lead on its origin.”

They all looked at me in surprise.  Aikens glanced at Roma, who after a moment nodded his agreement. Chet typed a command, and a printer in his office whirred in response.

“Did you uncover anything in your archives about the ...'Damnedthing'?” Roma asked.

“A little.  There is mention of a subclass of elementals that carry that name.” Chet said.

“Excuse me, what's an Elemental?” Fran asked.

“Elementals are multidimensional entities that can phase between our plane of existence and others. They can take solid shape or an energetic state that allows them to travel wherever they wish.  They seem to range from fairly powerful to demigod class.  The Damnedthings are elementals, that have been twisted and warped by demonic influence and are held in bondage by a demon handler.”

Silence greeted that statement.  After a moment, Roma spoke.

“So, you’re telling me that we have a deranged demigod roaming the city?”

“I'm telling you that Gordon released some form of elemental from servitude and that it could still be around if it chose to.  And it appears to be an exceptionally powerful one. Maybe demigod class.”

“Gordon, any thoughts?” Roma asked.

“Well, I think it is most dangerous to the demons, Sir.  It really seems to hate them.  Other than that, I don't think it'll hang around.”  I didn't think they needed to know about my 'conversations' with Okwari.

“Okay, thanks, Chris.  Chet, good job.  Anyone have anything to add?” he asked.

“Inspector, my regular set of sources indicates that a rather large buildup of vampires has been occurring over the past few days.  They're in quite a tizzy over it.  Oddly, though none of the ghosts are around right now,” Fran said.

I cleared my throat. “That would be my fault.  The missing ghosts that is.”

Again they all looked at me in amazement.

“Ghosts don't like me.  They all disappear whenever I'm around.  Peter's group won't let me near any of their haunting locations, because the spirits will vacate and not come back for weeks.”

I shrugged.

“So you’re saying that if I'm anywhere near you, all the ghosts will stay away?” Fran asked.

“Yeah, pretty much.  Sorry,” I said.

“Sorry?  Are you kidding me?  Inspector, can Chris have the office next to mine?  Hell, he can share mine if it'll give me a moment of peace from all the spooks that are constantly hounding me.  Chris, can you move into my apartment?  No rent, no utilities, free groceries.  Whatta ya say?”

We all laughed, although I was pretty certain she was half serious.  Of course, she couldn't know what my average grocery bill was or she wouldn't have offered.

“Fran's solitude aside, any thoughts about the traffic in vampires?”

I took my time answering him, thinking through what I could and couldn't say.

“Yes Sir.  Basically, it's my fault,” I said.  Roma raised his eyebrows.

“I intervened on Tatiana Demidova's behalf last Friday, and I sort of jolted her from a state of ...mental withdrawal.  The visitors are here to see her.”

“Chet, do you have those photos I asked you to get?” Roma asked.

“Yes sir, the feds finally ponied them up but I had to really jump through hoops to get them.” Chet said.

A picture of Galina appeared on the monitor.  It was a surveillance photo taken at dusk as she exited her limo. Sommers wolf whistled in appreciation.

Roma explained.  “For those of you who don't know who we speak of, this is the elusive Galina Demidova, real estate
tycoon
and business wonder.  She has only been photographed once recently, this being the photo.  Prior to this her last photo was from a decade ago.”

A second, older and much poorer quality photo of Galina appeared next to the newer one.  Despite the difference in quality, it was obvious that she hadn't changed a bit from one photo to the other.

“Galina is the head of the New York Coven, and seems to carry some weight with the other covens as well.  She refuses to meet with myself or any of the feds and her army of attorneys has been effective in blocking all attempts to get at her.  Surveillance is almost impossible, as they always seem to able to anticipate us.”

A certain blonde mind reader might have someth
ing to do with that.  But that
information seemed to come under the sensitive category, so I kept it to myself.

“Chet, next photo, please,” Roma said.

“This one is probably worth a cool million, million and a half to the media,” Chet said as he typed a command.

Tatiana suddenly filled the screen, and my heart stopped beating.  I hadn't seen her in a few days and I'd never seen a photograph of her.  I wasn't prepared for the shock and it took me a couple of moments to handle the flood of emotions that swarmed through me.  Others had their own reactions.

“Holy mother of god!” Sommers said.  Takata just sort of let out a grunt, like someone had hit him in the stomach.  Gina was wide
-
eyed as she turned from the picture to look my way. Fran's mouth was hanging open and Roma looked shocked.  It wasn't even her best look.  Taken outside of Plasma, at night, the picture showed what I believed was a 'preawakened'  Tatiana, with Lydia following her out of the club's door.  Tatiana was dressed in designer jeans and a form fitted shirt, with calf high leather boots.  Lydia was dressed in a black denim skirt and an artfully tattered white Plasma shirt.