Shedding the Demon (21 page)

Murderous thoughts roamed unchecked through his mind,
causing his new HUD to flicker uncertainly through different combat modes. He
formulated a plan to force his way through the cordon and snatch Joann from
under their noses. However, as more aircraft and soldiers arrived, he realized
the futility of such a move and felt threatened by all the firepower on
display.

He couldn’t crack the encryption on their radio
communication, but he sent a sample to the local Pryke undercover house for
analysis. As he watched, he realized they were definitely
not
SecForce.

No,
he decided
, these guys must be personal
security from one of the Dynasties. One of the
big
Dynasties,
he
amended mentally.

His HUD beeped with a message from the Pryke house. Slightly
surprised, he opened it and cursed out loud as he read it.

“It’s a Trueblood code. We can’t break it, but we’re 100%
positive it’s Trueblood.”

Trueblood.
Reave turned the name over in his mind.
His eyes narrowed as he watched the activity around the apartment building.
Pompous,
cocky, hypocritical, conceited bastards! Spouting their pseudo-religion to the
weak-minded rabble.
He marveled at the size of the operation and how
quickly it appeared from nothing only a few minutes ago.
Why do they always
have the biggest and the best? How did they get to her before me? How can they
possibly have a code we can’t crack?

His skin grew hot as he mulled over questions he couldn’t
answer. Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer and his body demanded a
release for his anger.

He strode to the nearest bystander and promptly beat him to
death with no warning and without speaking a word. He simply rained blow upon blow
upon the innocent, defenseless man until he broke his jaw, cracked his skull,
and finally snapped his neck.

Shocked onlookers scattered, and Reave knew the SecForce
would be on their way. For a moment he thought about picking a fight with them—
now
that would be satisfying
—but it would delay him further and he had a lot of
time to make up.

Walking toward the target building, he formulated a plan
that just might salvage this mission.
Why do the Truebloods want her so
badly? They must need her, like we do, to counter the Demon. But they already
have Avelina - don’t they?
He mulled over the possible meaning behind all
of the activity in front of him.
Or,
he postulated,
she’s every bit
as capable as Avelina herself. They wouldn’t expend this amount of energy on a
second-rate Tech.

Slowly, an idea formed in his head that might just fix
everything. He placed a secure call directly to the office of Alexander,
bypassing altogether the local house.
This is going to take a little
finesse,
he thought,
and a whole lot of luck!

He knew that the Pryke intelligence division kept a few very
secret, very deep planted identities in all of the major Dynasties, and he
hoped that they had one in the Truebloods. Even if they did, he wasn’t entirely
sure that Alexander would give it up, but he felt confident this would be a
good time to use it.

The argument with Alexander had been short but dangerous,
and Reave had had to endure more than one threat to his life and manhood.
Finally, Alexander had given in to his obstinate conviction that he could make
this crazy scheme work. Reave knew one thing for certain: if his plan failed,
he had better find a really good place to hide!

Eventually, Reave got what he wanted and the secure
identification of a fictitious Trueblood family member was downloading into his
system, supplanting and eradicating all traces of the real Reave Nachman.

While the program was performing its high-tech magic, Reave
kept watching the Trueblood agents and soldiers working at the apartment
building. He was searching for the right time and place to make his move.

They’re good,
he conceded again,
but they can’t
possibly cover the whole perimeter.
He kept an eye on his passive sensors
to see if they were using any scanners nearby, but detected nothing.

By the time the program had completed the transformation of
his identification, he found the pattern of the patrols, and located the area
giving him the best chance for success.

Reave worked himself quietly into the perfect position before
observing the patrols for a few more long minutes, just to be sure. Finally, he
burst from cover and moved as quickly as possible toward a group of large vehicles
that looked like the mobile command at the center of activity.

A group of soldiers exited the circle of vehicles, walking
with purpose and trailing an entourage of support staff and two guards.

They’re the ones in charge,
he affirmed to himself as
he started after them.
It’s showtime!

The group stopped outside the building, conferring in heated
discussion with a grizzled-looking veteran who had just emerged from inside.
The veteran reacted calmly to the escalating vehemence facing him. Reave was
able to get within hearing distance before being challenged by one of the
guards. What he heard surprised him and caused a moment of panic regarding his
plans.

“How could she possibly slip by you?” The speaker was one of
the men Reave had been following.

“Not sure, of course, but I think she left the building
altogether. We’re bringing in the WERA scanners now to make sure she isn’t hiding
somewhere inside,” the veteran replied. He ignored the ensuing defamation of
his character.

A second speaker from the command group took over from the
first. “What are you doing to stop her escape? It should be easy to detect and
track her now.”

“Not as easy as you’d think,” the man replied. “She’s sure
to have changed her appearance sufficiently to fool facial recognition, and
she’s already proven to have formidable software at her disposal.”

At this point, one of the guards finally noticed Reave’s approach
and he interrupted further discourse with a quiet signal to the others.

“Stop right there sir,” the guard addressed Reave directly, “This
is a restricted operation, please identify yourself.”

Reave stopped in his tracks, realizing that this was the
make-or-break moment in the entire insertion operation. Silently, he hoped the
identification software had done its job properly, and that the new fake
records would back up his story.

“I think I can help you gentlemen,” he said simply, ignoring
the guard’s demand for identification. The group fell silent in confusion over
the strange situation. No one should be able to approach the command group so
easily, especially in civilian clothes. Both guards shifted their autorifles,
clearly ready to fire though not being overly aggressive.

Reave found it difficult not to kill these Truebloods on the
spot.

“And who, in Kyndra’s name, are you?”

The speaker hadn’t said a word until now, and Reave’s HUD
popped up that he was the “Strategic Site Director,” in charge of the entire
group. All of the men, except the guards, made a ritual motion at the sound of
Kyndra’s name, but Reave didn’t move. His heart jumped in his chest when he
realized his mistake, but no one seemed to react, so he forced himself to calm
down.

“I’m Lieutenant Reave Nachman.”

Reave could hear his own pulse beating in his ears as he
watched the SSD scan over something in his HUD.

Reave tried to appear bored. He knew that his new
identification would tell the Director that he was on a special assignment, and
not directly attached to this particular mission. In order to validate the
misinformation, he wanted his body language to suggest he was more than just a
low-ranking officer.

The SSD focused on him again with furrowed brow.

“I see. Mr. Nachman. It seems we have more to discuss, but
in private.”

“You’d better believe it,” he said casually and turned to
walk back to the command center vehicles, leaving the ranking officers behind
in puzzlement. He smiled to himself, thinking he might just pull this off.

The SSD sat behind a small desk inside one of the vehicles,
leaving Reave to stand across from him. “So, why are you here, exactly?” The SSD
asked as soon as he settled in the chair. He maintained a straight-back posture
befitting a proper military man.

Reave remained loose, purposefully putting on a non-military
stance. He leaned against the wall of the mobile office and crossed his arms. “I’m
after the same target that you are.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. This is strictly a
training exercise.”

“You’re a poor liar, Director.” Reave paused and then sighed
as if making a difficult decision. “I see your rank and clearance are
sufficient,”—the SSD raised an eyebrow in surprise—”so I’ll get to the point.
I’m after Dr. Joann Tashus, last known to be living in this apartment building.”

The Director lost a bit of his composure when he heard the
name, his eyes widening slightly as he reappraised Reave. He didn’t say
anything for a long moment, but Reave did not offer to fill the silence.

“Well,” the Director finally said, “I’m not sure your
records are complete in their description.” Reave stiffened involuntarily,
wondering if his cover was insufficient, but the Director continued without
noticing. “You are one of what is now three people in this entire operation who
know that name. You are apparently working over your allowed clearance level,
or your clearance is mis-stated.”

This could be tricky,
Reave thought
Is he setting
a trap?
His mind raced through the possibilities, but he did not have the information
to figure out the correct answer. He decided to keep moving ahead.

“I inserted myself into your command outside of normal
channels, so some of the details may not stand up to scrutiny.” Reave knew that
half-truths would be most convincing. “I thought your operation would be
helpful to me.”

The SSD snorted derisively, “You were wrong. As you may have
gathered, we lost her. Somehow a single civilian, a
Kyndra-kissed
post-doctorate Biolectrical Engineer no less, was able to outmaneuver a hundred
trained soldiers!” His voice had risen through the last sentence, and Reave had
to smile at his frustration, especially the way he spat out her academic title.

“As I said before, I think I can help.”

“Tell me how.”

“Take all of your men out and let me have a look. By myself,
without interruption.”

The Director leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk
with one fist cupped in the other hand. “Why alone?” he asked quietly, speaking
slowly. “I have some very good forensic people and equipment ready to go. Wouldn’t
they be of help to you?”

Reave realized he couldn’t really answer that, so he paused
while trying to find a plausible response. His delay felt long inside his head,
and he considered killing the Director right here and now. His HUD began
scrolling attack and escape options along the side of his vision in response to
his mental command.

“Thirty minutes alone, that’s all I ask. I have sensors
specially attuned to her, but with your people trampling all of the useful
evidence . . .” he trailed off, hoping he hadn’t pushed too hard.

The Director rested his chin on his hands and looked at the
desktop. After a moment’s thought he looked Reave directly in the eye and said,
“You’ll report back to me whatever you find.” He sat up, ramrod straight, and
wagged his finger at Reave, “
Whatever
you find. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!” Reave said as he left the vehicle.

He saw soldiers and
technicians already streaming out of the exits and moving away from the
building. Before he even entered the building, loaded aircraft began departing.
He paused before entering and watched the precise withdrawal of forces.
They’re
efficient, I’ll give 'em that!
he thought as he went inside and began
hunting his prey.

The Truebloods had correctly identified which apartment was
hers, which narrowed his search considerably. Even so, it took him most of the
allotted half hour to find the escape route. He grudgingly admitted that it was
expertly done, and he was forced to reevaluate the skills of Dr. Tashus.

He followed the path down the utility chase, hoping to find
a hint of where she might be headed. His senses were attuned to her DNA—he’d
told the Director the truth in that case—and he found traces of her blood and
other evidence. Once in the basement, piecing together the disappearance was
easy. Unfortunately he found nothing to aid in his pursuit, so he decided to
report back to the SSD as promised.

Once back in the command office, he shared some of his
knowledge of the subject in trade for the Trueblood intelligence. His
contribution to the search effort earned the trust of the SSD, and he asked
Reave to remain attached to the Special Investigation team. Reave accepted,
although he secured the freedom to act independently if the need arose. The Director
seemed slightly suspicious, but agreed nonetheless.

When they were finished, Reave headed out on his own,
confident that he could track Joann, although he wanted to locate some more of
her friends first.

 

**** ****

 

Avelina Baksa swung her legs over
the side of her bunk and reluctantly stood up. She stretched her back as best
she could in the cramped quarters, and decided it was time to take a shower.
The ship’s supply of food and water was running low, but she needed a shower,
and she had already resolved to make her decision today.
Eleven weeks is too
long to be self-indulgent with self-pity,
she scolded herself yet again.