Kingdom of the Seven (27 page)
Read Kingdom of the Seven Online
Authors: Jon Land
“Who, Blainey?” Wareagle asked, crawling next to him.
“No clue, Indian,” McCracken returned. “But I think I’ll lend them a hand … .”
He had just slid away from Karen, ready to rise to his feet, when a grenade blast near one of the opposition’s heaviest concentrations sent him diving back to the asphalt.
Two more explosions sounded in rapid succession, keeping Frye’s troops pinned down, which left Blaine and the others absurdly safe in the field of fire’s center.
Two more explosions sounded in rapid succession, keeping Frye’s troops pinned down, which left Blaine and the others absurdly safe in the field of fire’s center.
“The chopper!” Blaine screamed. “Get to the chopper!”
Johnny led the way in a fast crawl toward it beneath the sporadic, random spray of bullets fired desperately their way by Frye’s gunmen. McCracken hovered over Karen and Wayne Denbo, urging them on. Wareagle had almost reached the Chinook when a pair of dark figures emerged from the narrow slot between a pair of buildings diagonally across from the chopper. The two figures ran side by side, black mirror images spinning off one another as they fired nonstop barrages at any of the enemy gunmen who dared showed themselves. Blaine noted the latest M24 sniper rifle dangling from the shoulder of one of them. Black head masks left only the darkened flesh of their faces exposed.
Johnny Wareagle led Wayne Denbo up the Chinook’s troop ramp, while McCracken did likewise for Karen Raymond. The black figures had just reached the chopper, swinging to face the ravaged battle zone. One hurled another grenade skyward while the second turned and rushed into the passenger hold with the grace of a cat.
“Go!” the other screamed. “Go!”
McCracken hurried through the rear hold into the cockpit. The pilots had been the initial targets of the snipers and lay sprawled in their seats as a result, neat holes punched in their foreheads and the glass of the windshield spiderwebbed before them. Blaine yanked their restraining safety harnesses off and pulled them from their seats. He caught a glimpse of Johnny Wareagle offering return fire from the ramp with a rifle he must have gotten from one of their rescuers. One of the figures in black entered the cockpit. The other one, sniper rifle dangling behind, moved out of Johnny’s shadow and hurried after the first. Wareagle followed last and dragged the ramp back in after him. The rear door thumped closed. The first figure to enter the cockpit
opened the passenger door long enough to shove the bodies of the pilot and copilot out.
opened the passenger door long enough to shove the bodies of the pilot and copilot out.
McCracken had squeezed himself into the pilot’s seat and begun to work the controls.
“Get us out of here!” screamed one of the masked figures.
A cascade of bullets shattered the top of the windshield, and one of the black-suited figures twisted to return the fire through the still open passenger door. The other took the copilot’s seat and yanked off its head mask.
Neat hair tumbled down past her shoulders, and the figure shook it back.
It was a woman! No,
a girl,
who looked to be in her late teens.
a girl,
who looked to be in her late teens.
“Hurry!” the other masked figure ordered, a boy’s voice.
Blaine pulled back on the throttle, working the pedals, and the Chinook fluttered into an uneasy rise. He steadied the chopper and drove it forward over Beaver Falls. Muzzle flashes from ground level continued to track it, but the fire, thankfully, was errant. Blaine felt his hand relax.
“Who the hell are you?” McCracken demanded of the strangers sharing the cockpit with him.
The second figure had just shed his head mask as well.
The hair beneath it was shorter than the girl’s, but the face was virtually indistinguishable.
The hair beneath it was shorter than the girl’s, but the face was virtually indistinguishable.
“You’re
twins
!” Blaine realized, and then he remembered. “The children of Preston Turgewell, no doubt.”
twins
!” Blaine realized, and then he remembered. “The children of Preston Turgewell, no doubt.”
“Very good,” said the girl.
“We’re impressed,” added the boy.
“Jacob and Rachel,” Blaine recalled from Sal Belamo’s research. Johnny Wareagle and Karen Raymond stood together and peered in through the doorway leading from the hold.
“And you’re Blaine McCracken.” The boy was ogling him as a Little Leaguer would his major league idol.
“I’m equally impressed. Now tell me where the two of you fit into all this. Where does your dead father fit in?”
“He’s not dead,” said Rachel.
“He only needed to appear dead to fool them,” picked up Jacob. “It worked. For a while.”
“And just who exactly is ‘them’?”
“The Seven. When they tried to kill him after he dropped out, he let them think they were successful.”
“Wait a minute, what’s ‘the Seven’?”
The twins looked at each other.
“You know about Harlan Frye,” Rachel interjected.
“You learned of him through your discovery of the Key Society in the papers Ratansky obtained,” said Jacob.
McCracken felt his hand tighten on the joystick control. “He was going to deliver them to you!”
“To our father,” Rachel confirmed. “He planted Ratansky where he’d be able to get the list, in return for his freedom.”
Jacob was nodding. “The list included all of Frye’s most generous and powerful supporters. Eliminate them and the damage done to his plan would be catastrophic.”
“You mean
kill
them?
All
of them?”
kill
them?
All
of them?”
“We had no choice.”
“What about targeting Harlan Frye himself?”
“He has become virtually unreachable,” Rachel explained.
“And even if we were successful, there were others prepared to step forward and replace him.”
“And even if we were successful, there were others prepared to step forward and replace him.”
McCracken held the Chinook steady. “Don’t tell me, kids, the other members of the Seven …”
“The name comes from Frye’s obsession with the Book of Revelation,” Jacob explained. “The number seven appears constantly through it. The seven signs of the apocalypse, the seven trumpets, the seven angels, the seven woes. When Frye determined that he couldn’t save civilization, he decided his destiny was to destroy it so it could be reborn.”
“And to help him in that task,” added Rachel, “he gathered six other powerful religious leaders who he thought were equally committed to changing the world.”
“But your father, for one, changed his mind, right, kid?”
Jacob nodded. “Because Frye was willing to destroy society if that’s what it took to save it.”
“But he wasn’t planning to destroy
all
of society, was he?” challenged Karen Raymond, speaking for the first time.
all
of society, was he?” challenged Karen Raymond, speaking for the first time.
“No,” Rachel replied. “The Seven was founded to devise and follow through with a plan that would allow them to destroy civilization, while at the same time saving those they judged deserving to help them establish a new order.”
“And thus the Key Society,” Blaine interjected.
“Ratansky stole the list from another member of the Seven who walked away and became a rogue, as our father had,” explained Rachel. “The list had been that former member’s insurance, keeping Frye from dispatching his soldiers to dispense with her.”
“Her?” Karen Raymond raised.
“Another?”
followed McCracken immediately. “Then the Seven is now short
two
of its original number.”
followed McCracken immediately. “Then the Seven is now short
two
of its original number.”
“So far as we know.”
“They why didn’t they join forces?”
Jacob looked at Rachel. “Because the means our father chose to pursue were considerably different from those the woman opted for.”
“Meaning more violent, of course.”
Rachel’s expression tightened. “What was at stake called for it. Frye took our father into his confidence very early on, early enough for him to realize Frye had every intention of destroying the world as it is known today.”
“And, don’t tell me, Frye made your father one of the original number because of his control over the Fifth Generation.”
Jacob nodded. “They were to become the Seven’s centurions, riding herd over the weak and undeserving lot who manage to escape Frye’s wrath. Common killers, in other words.”
“The size of an army.”
“Yes.”
“And with all these soldiers at his command, your father couldn’t even save Ratansky. With all these soldiers, it’s the two of you he sent to do this job?”
“We volunteered!” insisted Jacob.
“We are the last ones left,” said Rachel.
“What happened?”
Rachel looked at her twin brother before replying. “Our father’s control over the Fifth Generation was not as strong as he thought. Various factions became apparent after his departure from the Seven. Groups splintered off, some sticking with our father, others moving to Frye. Still more embraced neither and went off on their own. By the time he faked his death, only a select few he could trust remained, and now even these …” A shrug completed her thought.
“Where does—er, did—Arthur Deek fit in?”
“He renounced my father and desperately wanted to become part of the Key Society. But Frye wanted no part of him.”
Blaine was nodding. “So when your father decided to spring Ratansky, he made the late Arthur Deek think the request had come from Frye. The dearly departed son of a bitch thought he was getting himself into the Reverend’s good graces by helping.”
“Exactly!” from Rachel.
“How did you know?” asked Jacob.
“It’s the way I would have done it, that’s all.”
Jacob looked suddenly proud. “I know that. I’ve studied you, everything my father could obtain.”
“Starting when?”
“New York. Ratansky’s death brought us there. We had no idea of your involvement until we secured the police report,” Jacob explained, and gazed at his twin.
“We’ve been tracking you ever since. Always a step behind. New York, Illinois, and then the Flash Pot.”
“But you finally caught up. What changed?”
“Jack Woodrow,” said Jacob. “He was kind enough to talk.”
McCracken didn’t like the confident sneer that had spread across the boy’s face, making him look younger instead of older. “He have coaxing?”
“Some.”
Blaine looked in the boy’s eyes and knew. “You killed him, didn’t you?”
“He knew where we were going. He knew where
you
were going.”
you
were going.”
“But he wouldn’t have talked. Jesus, he
couldn’t.
Then
they’d
have killed him.”
couldn’t.
Then
they’d
have killed him.”
Jacob looked at him emotionlessly. “We couldn’t take that chance. Besides, he was one of them. I was merely following through with the intended plan. We’d have done the same if Ratansky had succeeded in delivering the list to our father.”
“But since he didn’t, how did you know to come to Atlanta and Jack Woodrow’s Flash Pot?”
“Woodrow was publicly known to be his largest donor by far. When we learned you were en route to Atlanta, the connection was unavoidable. We knew you must have had the list in your possession and had chosen to start at the top.”
“But you would have killed all the people on it right
down to the bottom. So why not take Woodrow out before?”
down to the bottom. So why not take Woodrow out before?”
“We were afraid of alerting the rest before their identities were even known to us,” answered Rachel.
“This is a war,” her brother added. “You must see that; you, of all people.”
McCracken looked away from the controls long enough for the Chinook to waver in the dark air. “What I see is a boy who thinks he’s doing a man’s work. Well, let me tell you something, kid, killing’s got nothing to do with being a man.”
“Was it all right when it helped us save
your
lives tonight?”
your
lives tonight?”
“That was different.”
“Why?”
“Because they were trying to kill us
and
you. They had guns. Jack Woodrow didn’t.”
and
you. They had guns. Jack Woodrow didn’t.”
“But his money helped pay for what we’re facing here, for the Judgment Day Harlan Frye is soon to enact. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“It might have if Woodrow had been a willing and knowing participant.”
“How were we supposed to know whether he was or not?”
“You find out. You make damn sure you find out before you kill a man.” Blaine lowered his voice. “Listen to me, kid, I’ve got a pretty good notion of what kind of person you fancy yourself as, so I’m going to give you some advice—call it partial payback for saving my life. Everybody thinks their side is right—the bad guys and the good guys. And the only thing separating them, the only real determining factor, is how they feel about people, how they feel about life. You don’t kill anyone you don’t have to and you never kill anyone who isn’t about to do the same to you.”
Jacob stayed crouched between Blaine and his sister, looking suddenly like a scared and lonely seventeen-year-old boy.
“Otherwise, it gets to you. You become like what it is you’re fighting, and once there’s no difference, well, there’s no reason. Got it?”
It was Rachel who spoke. “We could not become what we’re fighting here.”
Blaine looked at her briefly before he spoke. “Nobody ever thinks they can, young lady.”
Chastened, Rachel gave a conciliatory nod. “We need you,” she said to McCracken. “We need your help and we need your skills.”
“We also need your contacts,” Jacob added, glad for the change in subject.
“Contacts usually mean Washington, and we can forget about that in this case,” Blaine told them. “I misbehaved out there yesterday afternoon and then again in San Diego at Van Dyne Pharmaceuticals last night.”
The twins looked at each other.
“What brought you to Van Dyne?” Rachel asked.
“An AIDS vaccine they had discovered,” Karen responded before Blaine had a chance to speak. “Van Dyne was testing it on part of Beaver Falls’ population. But something went wrong, and whatever it was forced the need for a replacement. My treatment was the only alternative.”
“But what could an AIDS vaccine have to do with Frye’s Judgment Day?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t know,” sighed Karen.
“Neither of us does,” McCracken added. “But we do know the entire town was evacuated on Monday morning.”
“Then who captured the four of you tonight?” asked Jacob.
“Replacements,” Blaine explained.
Jacob shook his head, unconvinced. “How long could Frye have hoped such a strategy to work?”
“Long enough for him to bring on Judgment Day.”
“If only we knew how,” Rachel sighed.
“Where would do just fine,” said Blaine, “as in where Frye can be found.”
“If we knew that …”
“We don’t,” Rachel picked up from her brother. “But we know someone who might.”
They flew on through the desert night.
“There’s an airfield two hundred miles northwest,” said Jacob. “A jet is waiting for us.”
“To take us where?” Blaine raised. “No, don’t tell me: to that other former member of the Seven.”
“The woman,” added Karen.
Rachel smiled briefly at Karen. “Her name is Sister Barbara.”
“The jet will take us to Knoxville, a few hours’ drive from her home in Asheville, North Carolina,” added Jacob.
“Sister Barbara can fill in the holes we have been unable to. She stayed with Frye for several years after our father fled, until just over two years ago.”
“The Reverend is building a kingdom for himself and his legion,” Jacob expanded, “but our father left the Seven before construction had started. He never learned of its location. Sister Barbara did, though. She can tell us where it is.”
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