The Seraphim Sequence: The Fifth Column 2 (30 page)

Jay hugged the wall and worked his way to the center of the platform. He wiped his hands on his jeans and reached for his MP7 again. Keeping each step as quiet as possible, his finger wavered over the trigger. He negotiated the empty takeout boxes and decades-old newspaper pages and reached a flight of stairs barricaded by iron gates. Naked light bulbs hissed to ward him away. He reached out with his free hand to open the gate.

Something struck his shoulder, blunt and painful. His hand involuntarily released the MP7. He twisted to face his attacker—or lack thereof. An oval-shaped rock lay at his feet. It had punched so hard into his shoulder that it had crushed bone and made his fingers numb. He crouched quickly to collect his MP7 with his good arm while at the same time searching the platform for the hidden attacker.

He didn’t have to wait long. He sensed movement on his left, around the cage. A dark, angular sword came slicing for his throat. He ducked. The sword clanged against the cage. The sound rang in his ears and echoed down the tunnels. Jay moved under the arm and smashed the butt of his MP7 across the hand. The sword clattered to the ground, taking the MP7 with it. The sword was four foot long and fashioned from hardwood. Its edges seemed to be embedded with fragments of dark volcanic glass—obsidian. It looked more like an ancient chainsaw than a broadsword.

Jay barely had time to follow through with his attack. Someone moved behind him. Another obsidian sword swept in low, intent on dismembering him at his legs. He jumped, tucking his knees to his chest and leaned backward. His jump delivered him back and over the attacker’s arm. He landed behind the attacker—another of the hooded men. Only this man wasn’t hooded. He wore an ornamental headband with white and blue feathers. His hoodie was unzipped to reveal a tactical vest, possibly kevlar, possibly blade-resistant.

Jaguar knights. Armed with what Jay now recognized to be maquahuitl swords.

The second maquahuitl returned for another sweep across his chest. He leaped back to avoid the strike. The obsidian fragments glinted under the fluorescent lighting. The knight before him moved lightly, always balanced. He wasn’t dealing with street kids here, they knew how to fight. A third slice came in, this time diagonally cutting down his chest to his intestines. He shifted to one side. The obsidian slipped through his puffy jacket like cotton candy. The jacket spewed stuffing to the floor.

The edge of the maquahuitl was beyond razor sharp, it was scalpel sharp. For a plank of wood, it was starting to seem more deadly than DC’s tachi blade—a weapon Jay was starting to wish he had right now. He ducked another strike and moved around a concrete column. The maquahuitl struck the corner of the concrete, sending bits of obsidian across the subway platform. Jay covered his eyes. When he opened them, two more knights had emerged from behind the stairs and were circling around. He needed to move quickly to avoid them boxing him in.

Jay pulled his knife from his pocket and moved across the dusty platform. One of the knights closed in behind him. The maquahuitl sliced in his direction. He weaved to one side as both maquahuitls slashed into him. They struck together, their jagged super-sharp obsidian digging into each other’s hardwood. Jay drove a foot into the rear knight’s stomach, knocking him clear. At the same time, he slipped a punch under the ribs of the front knight. Their swords buckled, dangled before him.

Fuck it, he thought. He dropped the knife and—with his only functioning hand—grabbed the loose maquahuitl by the hilt and tore it free. Instead of freeing it from the other sword, the movement threw the knight onto his back. Now Jay was holding two maquahuitls, one attached to the other midway down the blade. He glanced down and noticed blood pouring from his hand. An obsidian fragment had cut deep.

He swung his double-maquahuitl around to a third knight, the hilt of the attached sword smashing against the knight’s head and stunning him. The attached maquahuitl came free. Jay considered grabbing it, but the knights closed on him fast. He bent down to scoop up his knife, sticking to just that and the one maquahuitl for now.

One of the knights got to his feet and retrieved the other fallen maquahuitl. Jay sidestepped as two of the young men advanced as a pair. He took the outer left one, using his maquahuitl to negotiate the strikes. Wood and obsidian smashed together. He wasn’t used to the weight distribution of the maquahuitl and his wielding was clumsy and slower than their practiced, well-oiled movements.

Another knight moved around him. He didn’t want anyone behind him, so he dragged the encounter sideways, across the edge of the platform. He felt his rear leg hit another concrete column. He moved around it, exchanging blows while doing so. Another knight cut him off and went for a quick slice. Jay ducked under it and came up with his own strike. The guy deflected it with ease. Jay brought his maquahuitl to his front again, just in time to stop the foremost knight from taking advantage of the distraction.

The other two moved in blurs around the stairs again, encircling him for a better opportunity.

‘
Mátalo. Nadie puede saber que estamos aqu
í
,’ one of them hissed.
Kill him, no one can know we’re here.

Jay turned in time to see the knight before him blink. A butterfly sword rested on his shoulder, the blade facing his neck.

‘Drop your sword,’ a woman said. ‘Now.’

Jay recognized the voice. Grace shimmered into view behind the knight, her cloak powering down.

‘Can you stop doing that?’ Jay said.

‘Saving your life, you mean?’ she said.

‘
Tiren sus armas
,’ the knight said to the others. ‘
Dé un paso atrás
.’

They did as he said, lowering their maquahuitls to the platform and stepping away.

‘And your daggers,’ Grace said. ‘
All
weapons.’

Begrudgingly, they removed small ten-inch daggers, the blades also made from obsidian, and placed them on the ground. One of the knights dropped a sling used to hurl stones—the same one that had disabled Jay’s arm.

‘Good,’ Grace said, withdrawing her butterfly sword just halfway and brandishing her Vector. ‘Now I’m going to ask you a few questions and you’re going to answer them.’

‘You took someone from that plane crash!’ Jay yelled, his maquahuitl poised at the knight’s neck. ‘Where is he?’

Grace sighed. ‘Jay, this isn’t good cop bad cop. Let me do the talking.’

The knight shook his head. ‘What crash? We didn’t take anyone.’

‘I saw them take Damien!’ Jay said to Grace.

It wasn’t entirely true, the pilot had seen men dressed like them take Damien.

‘Your base of operations,’ Grace said to the knight. ‘Where is it?’

‘There are many of us.’ The knight curled his lips at the thought of saying nothing, then dropped his chin to his chest. ‘Others among us might have your friend.’

‘Where’s Damien?’ Jay said.

‘I don’t know!’ the knight snapped back.

Grace indicated with her butterfly sword. ‘You know exactly where. Lead the way, gentlemen.’

The knights, unarmed after caching their maquahuitl swords at the subway platform, their daggers loaned out to Grace and Jay, led them south through the tunnel. They ducked behind a low wall as another train barreled through. Once they reached a certain distance, they halted and said they needed to get the timing right if they were going to make it through the next section. Immediately after another train shot past, the knights began to run, gesturing for both Grace and Jay to follow.

Jay shrugged and ran. He heard Grace’s footsteps fall into line behind him. At least the knights carried torches. Soon, they reached a long, narrow tunnel. Jay followed hesitantly, realizing that there were no archways or alcoves to duck into here if a train approached. The knights stuck to the left, running on smooth concrete. They switched their torches off; the tunnel already shimmered with evenly spaced tungsten and blue lights.

And then Jay heard it. An approaching train.

He looked over his shoulder. Grace was five paces behind, her breathing measured and slow. She didn’t look all that pleased. She shoved him to run faster. He increased his speed, forcing the knights to pick up their pace. Ahead, he could see a platform along a bend in the tunnel. The first knight climbed the ladder, followed by the second. Light splashed the tunnel behind Jay.

‘Shit, not again,’ he muttered.

‘Move!’ Grace yelled.

The third knight was slower than the others. The fourth one pushed him up so he could get himself onto the ladder. He was on the platform a moment later. Jay leaped forward. His foot found the second rung. He gripped the ladder, planted a foot on the next rung and hurled himself onto the platform. The knights had pressed themselves flat against the wall so they wouldn’t be seen by the train driver. Right now that was the least of Jay’s concerns. He turned around and locked wrists with Grace. The train was almost on her. He felt her fingers tighten across his forearm. He pulled and she jumped up, her foot reaching the edge of the platform. The train was only a few feet from hitting her. He fell back and Grace came crashing down on top of him. The train rattled past.

Grace, still on top of him, pointed her butterfly sword at the knights, who were still pinned to the wall. ‘Keep moving,’ she said, and pulled herself off Jay.

Jay smiled. There was a joke there somewhere but with Grace carrying her butterfly sword he thought better of it.

The curved platform was lit by naked bulbs hanging in prongs of four. The ceiling was arched and tiled with intricate patterns. For a moment he thought he’d stumbled upon some sort of medieval underground palace. Stained glass skylights formed the centerpiece, colored sky blue and backlit. He almost mistook it for natural sunlight.

He held his MP7 in both hands as the knights led them up a flight of stairs. Music rattled the metal door ahead. The knights opened the door and stepped through in single file, leaving Jay and Grace to follow. Jay lowered his MP7 quickly when he realized they’d just stepped into a nightclub. Grace was behind him, Vector still raised. He reached around and lowered her weapon before anyone noticed.

The club was crowded, the dance floor before them rippling with people. Dancers on balconies snapped and jerked to the staccato rhythm, their luminous costumes shaking over black, white and brown skin. Hands waved up from the dance floor, oscillating from side to side. The knights continued in single file, weaving amongst the patrons. Someone grabbed Jay’s ass. He turned to smile, then realized it was a man. He felt Grace prod him in the lower back with her Vector barrel. She didn’t care about anyone seeing the weapon, she just wanted to get out of here.

Jay shoved his way through the crowd and caught up with the knights. They steered him and Grace into a corridor past the restrooms and up two flights of stairs. A wider hallway this time, and then another flight of stairs. There were no patrons here so Jay didn’t try to hide his MP7. He reached the top of the stairs and checked his corners as best he could. The knights hadn’t fanned out to ambush him, they were heading into a room ahead.

Jay held his MP7 firmly as he readied himself to make new friends.

The room looked like some kind of storage area. There was a woman facing him, pistol drawn. She looked like a rock star with her vivid red hair and array of piercings. She wasn’t quite what Jay was expecting. He was relieved to see Damien tied to a chair and in reasonably good condition. There was one other armed man in the room, but he had an AR-15 carbine rather than a pistol. Jay turned slightly to one side to get Grace in his peripheral. She wasn’t holding her butterfly sword any more; she had her Vector SMG covering the armed man.

‘This party is invitation only,’ the red-haired woman said. She was younger than everyone else, although it was clear she was in command.

Jay winked. ‘Consider us invited.’

She kept her pistol on him. ‘You’re outnumbered. I’m no expert in tactics, but I’d suggest you lower your weapons.’

Jay felt the knights close around him. His injured arm was only just getting some feeling back; he didn’t feel like dancing with them again.

‘We came for our friend,’ he said.

She raised an eyebrow. ‘You know each other. That’s interesting, isn’t it, Calvin?’

The man with the carbine grunted.

‘You guys don’t get out much, do you?’ Jay said.

She didn’t like that. ‘I’ve been playing a little game with your friend here.’

She used her free hand to drive a thumbnail deep into Damien’s bandaged, blood-soaked thigh. Damien clenched his teeth, but didn’t make a sound.

The woman looked at his thigh, confused. She pressed harder.

‘Sorry,’ Damien said. ‘I wasn’t focused. Let’s go again. Roll cameras.’

She pulled away the bandage to inspect the wound, and was visibly surprised when she found just a scab. She ripped it off. This time Damien did flinch. Underneath, the skin was pink and fresh.

‘Well,’ she said. ‘That’s even more interesting.’

‘Who are you?’ Grace said, moving wide around Jay.

‘Who I am is not important,’ the woman said. ‘What I need
is
.’

‘And what would that be?’ Jay asked.

Her expression hardened, along with her pistol grip. ‘Your friend here crash-landed with a rather large supply of rations. We need those rations.’

Jay was confused. ‘Why didn’t you just take them?’

She shook her head. ‘We didn’t exactly have a truck on hand. Police taped off the area pretty quick.’

‘Not our problem,’ Jay said. ‘Step aside.’

The woman smiled and waved her knights away from him. She aimed her pistol higher, at Jay’s head. ‘Let me guess, you’re Jay and you’re Sophia. I’ve heard stories about you two, and Damien here. From before the hurricane.’

In the corner of his vision, Jay noticed Grace roll her eyes. She kept the armed man pinned with her Vector.

Jay sighed loudly. ‘I think you have us confused with someone else.’

‘Sophia and Jay aren’t real,’ Calvin said. His voice was pitched higher than Jay expected.

‘I’m real,’ Jay said. ‘I mean—’

‘Nice one,’ Grace said. ‘I’m not Sophia by the way.’

‘We just want Damien and that’s all,’ Jay said. ‘We don’t have time for this shit.’

The woman cocked her head. ‘And what do you have time for? The Fifth Column? Are they even … is that even real?’

‘No,’ Jay said flatly. ‘Are you going to give us Damien or not?’

The platform shuddered as another train rattled past.

‘Maybe we can come to an arrangement,’ she said. ‘You help us, we help you.’

‘We don’t need your help,’ Grace said.

‘I have an underground army. You have three people.’ She smiled. ‘Two.’

Damien almost choked. ‘Actually, maybe … maybe we can use them.’

‘I’m not bargaining with her,’ Grace said.

‘Then we have nothing more to discuss,’ the woman said.

‘What do you want from us?’ Jay said through gritted teeth.

‘The rations were recovered and stored elsewhere. We’d like to recoup them. A man of your,’ she looked him up and down, ‘supposed talents—two of you—is just what we need.’

‘What talents do you think we have?’ Grace said.

‘You’re like, Tier 1 operators or something, right?’ she said.

Grace, Vector still aimed, shook her head. ‘Jesus Christ.’

‘Been playing a little too much
Call of Duty
, huh?’ Jay said.

‘You know what I mean,’ the woman said.

‘And you don’t. Tiers refer to funding levels, not how special we are,’ Jay said. ‘And there’s no such thing as an
operator
. That was used by Delta Force years back to avoid being confused with CIA operatives. Now every man and his dog’s a goddamn operator.’

‘So what are you then?’ the woman said. ‘An
operative
?’

‘I’m nobody,’ he said.

‘So you’re a deniable operative then.’ She nodded to herself. ‘That’s what they called you.’

‘Not so much any more,’ Jay said. ‘And you’re certainly not Akhana. So why do you need rations? Are you all hiding underground like rats?’

‘The Akhana were cleaned out long ago,’ she said. ‘Some of us are remnants. The rest of us are—’

‘Angry citizens,’ Calvin said. ‘Hurricane survivors, whatever. We see what’s coming down the pipeline and it ain’t pretty.’

‘Half our people have served this country at one time or another,’ the woman said. ‘We have the numbers but what we don’t have is your … interesting skill set.’ She lowered her pistol and instructed Calvin to do the same. ‘I’m Aviary. And this is Calvin.’

Jay and Calvin exchanged a suspicious glare. Begrudgingly, Jay lowered his MP7. His watch read 1000 hours. It was daylight topside.

‘As much as we’d love to stay and chat, Damien and I are crashing a party tonight,’ he said.

‘Where?’ Aviary said.

‘That doesn’t concern you. But if we help you then … you help us.’

‘I’m listening,’ she said.

‘If you can offer a distraction … with your supposed army—’

‘We don’t have an army, we have people.’

‘You just said you had—fine, whatever. Offer us a distraction with your people, then we have a deal,’ Jay said. ‘But I want Damien released now.’

‘That’s not an option,’ Aviary said.

‘It’s your only option.’ Jay raised his MP7 again.

‘We need more than just your word that you’ll help us,’ Aviary said. ‘We need insurance. Damien here will do just fine.’

‘I need him to get your rations,’ Jay said.

‘Don’t see how an injured man will help much.’

‘Not injured any more,’ Damien said. ‘You saw for yourself.’

‘Why should I trust you?’ she said.

‘Keep our radio, keep our phone,’ Jay said, lowering his MP7. ‘We need them. We have to come back.’

‘I’m not stupid,’ Aviary said. ‘You have the number written down. If you need to make contact with anyone, you can do it without this equipment.’

‘And if we wanted to kill you and leave, we would’ve done so by now,’ Grace said.

Something in Aviary’s eyes glittered. ‘Then why don’t you?’

‘I’m considering it,’ Grace said, still aiming her Vector.

Aviary smiled. ‘Why did you come for Damien?’

‘Because he’s—’ Jay began, but she cut him off.

‘Not you.’ She pointed to Grace. ‘Why did
you
come?’

Jay looked over at Grace. ‘This should be good.’

Grace’s jaws were clenched. ‘He’s my friend.’

‘Oh,’ Aviary said, ‘but he’s more than your friend. Any idiot can see that.’

‘I couldn’t,’ Jay said.

‘I couldn’t either,’ Damien croaked.

‘That’s not surprising,’ Aviary said. ‘One of you,’ she pointed to Grace and Damien, ‘has to stay. I don’t care who.’

‘Well, I’m already tied to the—’ Damien began.

‘I’ll stay,’ Grace said.

Jay wasn’t expecting that. ‘You’ll what?’

‘I’ll stay with them.’ She leveled her Vector at Aviary. ‘But if you even think about restraining me I will hurt you.’

Aviary’s smile faded slightly. ‘You’re my only bargaining chip,’ she said. ‘I can’t have you … wandering off.’

‘No,’ Jay said. ‘If you want your rations, you release Damien and all three of us will bring back the goods. Deal or no deal.’

Aviary pointed her pistol at Damien’s head. ‘No deal.’

Jay snapped his MP7 up, sights on Aviary. ‘You know if you shoot him I will kill you,’ he said.

He could sense the jaguar knights closing around him.

‘You’re telling me that you’ll take the time to recover our rations
and
deliver them to us?’ Aviary said. ‘You said yourself you’re on a tight schedule, you have somewhere to be tonight. You don’t need this. If I was in your position, as soon as I walked out of here with both of my friends I wouldn’t come back. And I don’t blame you. But I need this. We need this.’

Jay shook his head. ‘You have the worst timing.’

Grace finally lowered her Vector. ‘Just get it over with.’

‘We’ll need to use our satphone now,’ Jay said. ‘To make contact. Tell our friends we’re OK.’

Aviary handed him Damien’s satphone, then pointed to the domed stained-glass ceiling. ‘We’re underground. That’ll have to wait until we’re topside.’

‘Fine. Where are the rations being stored?’ Jay asked.

‘UN headquarters,’ Aviary said. ‘We don’t know which building though.’

Damien’s head slumped to his chest. ‘No way,’ he said. ‘I’m not going back there.’

Aviary looked confused. ‘Why’s that?’

‘Because we had such fun last time,’ Jay said without smiling.

‘Do you have a map of the property?’ Grace asked.

Aviary nodded and Calvin produced a folded map from his trouser pocket. He handed it carefully to Jay.

‘Can someone … untie me now?’ Damien said.

Aviary did the honors while Jay inspected the map.

‘Give that to me,’ Grace said, snatching it.

‘Looks doable,’ Jay said.

‘Really?’ Aviary said.

‘How do you plan on getting in there, Einstein?’ Grace said.

Jay grinned. ‘We get caught.’

Aviary blinked. ‘Excuse me?’