A subtle agency omnibus, p.16
A Subtle Agency Omnibus, page 16
part #1 of The Metaframe War Series
Gang rubbed his face with both hands, then explained, “Anton, this is not your fault. You’ve been with us for what, five weeks, perhaps a little more than that, and I know that I’ve charged Li with beating you into shape, and she’s done a great job. But you are still very early in your training, there is much that you still have to learn. I have been remiss, there are things you must know before we go any further.”
Anton nodded; he was all ears this morning.
“I have been trying to contact your grandfather since the day after you arrived, but I have not heard from him. Which while accounted for in your grandfather’s plans, is unexpected. He may be in serious trouble.”
Li rubbed her temple as if she was getting a headache.
“Is there anything that we know for sure?” Anton asked.
“No. Just that he hasn’t responded. It’s possible he is simply in a location where he has no Internet access.”
Anton looked intently at Gang, a question burning within him. What kept my grandfather from protecting his family? He put the question aside and asked, “Can you tell me about him? I barely remember him.”
“Arthur Slayne was a prominent force leader and the obvious succession plan to George Madison, our previous head of the Order of Thoth. He -”
Anton held up his hands and asked, “I’m sorry Gang, ah, what’s a force leader?”
“I will try to explain terms as I go, you will have a new vocabulary by the end of the morning. A force leader commands a team of operatives, they have total authority over their teams, and how they operate. The Head of the Order typically comes from the ranks of the force leaders, many of your ancestors have been force leaders, and quite a few have been Head of the Order.”
“If a force leader has total authority over operations, what does the Head of the Order do?”
“Set policy, coordinate actions, settle internal disputes and guard the integrity and secrecy of the order. The Head cannot order a force leader to any action, but must rely on persuasion and soft methods of negotiation. The role of Head of the Order is intensely political.”
“What about the third rule, operational obedience?”
“Doesn’t apply to force leaders and the Head of the Order,” Gang frowned. “Which is why it suits the present incumbent so much - Ramin Kain – for now at least.”
“Who is he?” Anton asked.
“The man who succeeded George Madison as the Head of the Order, and a particularly slimy political animal. You’re familiar with the term ‘Cui Bono’?”
“Literally ‘to whose benefit?’.”
Gang nodded. “Ramin Kain was the principle person to benefit from the murder of George Madison and the subsequent conviction in absentia of Arthur Slayne for the crime - by replacing Madison as Head of the Order and removing his main rival.”
“What happened?”
“Officially, George Madison and Mary Creeley were killed in their sleep by Arthur Slayne. Not that I believe it. Arthur is no murderer; he had no motive and he was on good terms with Madison.”
“How was he convicted, what was the evidence?”
“There was no evidence, there were only lies.”
Anton pushed his hand back through his hair, perplexed. “How does that happen?”
“There was a coup d’état.”
“What the hell? The Order is at war with the Vampire Dominion, and there is a coup d’état? Factions versus factions? You would think that people might just focus on the main game - on killing vampires.”
“The Order is very high-minded, many of the core inventions within human history, such as agriculture, writing, mathematics, and science either originated from Order members or have been advanced by the Order. But there are always people who can hide the darkness within, blend in, and wear a mask in public that hides their own selfish interests. There is a cabal, centered on two men, Samuel Luther, and Ramin Kain. The Kain/Luther cabal is currently in power within the Order.”
“So, Samuel Luther and Ramin Kain framed my grandfather for murder?”
“Yes. I believe so, but I can’t prove it.”
“So, there is no legitimate authority within the Order?”
“Only the appearance of it. Anton, please do not underestimate these men, they’re in a powerful position. There are many in the Order who will follow their lead and who will defend their lives because of their own loyalty to the Order itself.”
Anton frowned. “So how goes the war against the vampires with this cabal in charge?”
Li snorted. “Quietly.”
“Li has it right. Since the rise of Ramin Kain, there have been no vampires of any significance killed by Order operations - especially within the northeast.”
“There have been many young vampires killed, freshly turned, less than a year old,” Li observed.
Gang nodded. “Ramin Kain has established a reputation for the finding of new vampires. He claims that he has a special intuitive capability, a power to ‘sniff out young vampires.’”
Li touched Anton’s hand and leaned toward him. “We think that the new vampires are being deliberately created and then thrown to the Order for killing.”
“Cui Bono,” Anton noted.
“Cui Bono indeed,” Gang agreed. “The current regimes in both the Order and the Vampire Dominion benefit - there is a secret detente.”
Li explained, “Strategically, Crane gets a quiet flank while he directs his efforts at the Red Empire. Kain gets to look like a hero of the Order, and secures his own position against challengers.”
“Hang on a moment, who are the Red Empire?”
Li shook her head once, and stated forcefully, “Zealots!”
“Another faction,” Gang stated matter-of-factly. “The Red Empire broke away from the Order more than two millennia ago.”
Li instructed, “They’re much larger than the Order and just as happy to kill Order members as vampires.”
Gang instructed, “The key difference is that the Red Empire has no problem killing the innocent in the pursuit of killing vampires.”
Anton asked, “There is no unity amongst those who can fight the vampires?”
“None whatsoever,” Gang answered.
“No wonder the vampires are so dominant,” Anton observed. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly. “So, while all this has been going on, what has my grandfather been doing?”
“Operating independently and fighting the good fight,” Gang affirmed. “He focuses his efforts directly on Cornelius Crane. Crane has multiple labs and research centers around the world. We don’t know what his aims are, but they’re surely not good for humanity. Arthur seeks to find out what the vampire king is doing, and thwart his plans.”
“What about now?”
“The last news I have is that he is operating in Brazil.”
“On the night my family was attacked by Armitage and Drake, she showed me photographs of my grandfather in Rio during the Carnival earlier this year.”
Gang pursed his lips. “It’s concerning that Armitage managed to have recent photographs of Arthur.”
“She used them to prove that he is still alive.”
Gang stroked his chin, leaning back in his chair. “This throws fresh light on something that has been troubling me. As I said earlier, I have attempted to contact your grandfather and he has not replied. Clearly Armitage also knows he is in Brazil and at least one of her operatives got close enough to take photos. I now fear that he may be captured or dead.”
“Dead?”
“With Arthur Slayne, I wouldn’t assume he was dead unless I had seen his cold corpse with my own eyes, but yes, it’s now a possibility that we must consider.”
Well, that would explain his absence - if he is dead. Anton mused to himself and then asked, “I remember that he was carrying a black case in the Rio photos, was that a sword?”
Gang nodded. “The Black Dragon, his personal weapon. There is a story behind that sword which must wait for another day.”
“What would happen if the Order were to catch up with my grandfather?”
“Probably a blood bath,” Li observed drily.
Gang glanced at his daughter, and then turned back to Anton and explained, “He has been convicted of a capital offense. There is no court of appeal. There is a standing kill order on him from Ramin Kain.”
“Is the Order actively looking for him?”
“No force leader that I know of is trying to catch him. If they happen to stumble across him - who knows? He has a powerful reputation, he’s not liked, or admired, but he is respected and, in some cases, feared.”
“Feared?” Anton asked. The thought that people would be afraid of his grandfather seemed odd to him.
“He is extraordinarily capable in combat,” Gang stated. “He was my master, and I would fear to fight him. He fought both Crane and Armitage at the same time, back in ‘78 in a secret vault beneath St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican - and he survived. I know no one else who could have done that.”
“That’s pushing forty years ago, how old is my grandfather?”
“Over seventy.”
“He’s ripped for his age. He doesn’t look seventy, more like a very fit forty to forty-five-year-old man. How does he do it?”
“A side effect of the Ramp, it slows the aging process, not like a vampire of course, but you stay fit and healthy for much longer than normal.”
Li noted drily, “First you have to survive if you are going to get a chance to live that long.”
“Speaking of survival, what about the Tiger Clan, you’re expecting them tonight aren’t you?” Anton asked.
“Yes. They’re sure to attack and in numbers. Their honor has been wounded. They will learn from this morning’s brawl that we’re tougher than they thought. However, they will not be deterred, they’re mean spirited, but not lacking in courage.” Gang smiled wickedly. “I have made some inquiries, there is a fellow that owes me a favor, who is no friend of the Hu Shizu. We will have some help, of a sort, later tonight.”
“Is there anything that I need to do?”
Gang frowned, and directed, “Pack your backpack. Be ready to travel on a moment’s notice, and get some rest.”
The tension within Gang that Anton had sensed earlier had returned.
“Tomorrow we must say goodbye to the Noodle House,” Gang declared. “It probably will not survive tonight.”
“Even with the helpers?”
“Even so,” Gang affirmed. He smiled wanly and sighed. “All things must pass, even this home.”
Li put her hand to her mouth, got up silently and walked away.
“This is the only home that she has known, it is worse for her,” Gang observed.
“Can I help?”
“Give her space. And tonight - be ready for anything.”
“Yes, Gang.”
Anton helped Gang clear the breakfast dishes and then returned to the garden where he laid down on a patch of sun-dappled grass, reflecting quietly on what Gang had told him. Perhaps my grandfather is dead, or got a raw deal, but still - where was he that was so important that he couldn’t protect his family?
* * *
General Chloe Armitage sat across from James Haley in a secured room at the surveillance site opposite the Noodle House.
She listened to the recording of the conversation that the Wus and Anton Slayne had in the backyard over breakfast. She accelerated the playback on the machine to five times faster than normal. The conversation streamed through her headphones and she accelerated her mind to match the machine. In three minutes, she’d memorized everything in the recorded conversation. It was quite the treasure trove. Chloe asked James, “Have these recordings been backed up yet?”
“They’re already on the Panopticon storage farm,” he replied.
“Set the security level to FGEO - Personal Stamp - CA.”
“Once I set security to ‘For General’s Eyes Only,’ I won’t be able to retrieve them again.”
“Precisely.”
James nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Who else knows of this?”
There was a noticeable rise in James’ heart rate directly after the question was asked, and he hesitated for a moment before responding, “Only myself, the rest were at breakfast, I didn’t mention it.”
Chloe smiled, “Excellent.”
“Orders, Ma’am?”
That was a good question. What orders should she give him now he’d been exposed to so much secret information? How much should she tell him? He wasn’t supposed to know any of this. He was a Shadowstone operative. He was part of an organization that had been built to protect a secret that it was never meant to understand. There would always be ‘situations’ where one or more operatives would find out more than they should know. They were typically culled from Shadowstone - permanently. On rare occasions, on the back of great merit, they would be promoted into the Vampire Dominion and disappeared to a far-flung region of the world until those who might recognize them had passed away from natural causes.
The answer was clear. Just enough to lead him to act as she required. Chloe stared at James for a long moment and ordered firmly, “Forget what you have heard today.”
James nodded. “Yes, Ma’am. It’s obviously nonsense - they believe in vampires.”
“Indeed, obvious nonsense,” Chloe agreed with a slight smile. “Be prepared to track the Wus when they depart tomorrow - do not lose contact with them - that is all.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” James replied. He rose and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Gang Wu suspected that Ramin Kain was in league with the Vampire Dominion. Chloe considered that he could well be right. However, there was only one vampire that could get away with such an arrangement - Cornelius Crane. Li Wu had made an error in thinking that such an arrangement was about allowing Crane to focus on the Red Empire. No, while that was a useful side effect, the main goal was to allow Crane to focus on the acquisition of the three Metaframe artifacts.
Her mind flashed through the important questions. Was Arthur Slayne, Brazil, and Crane’s super soldier program linked? She vowed to find out the facts. Chloe paused, reviewing her immediate plans. She needed to draw the Mirovar team into the open with the Wus and Anton as bait and take some heads. She needed to get Crane to focus resources back into the northeast and not send her back to Jerusalem. She would need a credible threat to make him do that - something she didn’t yet have.
The details of Chloe’s new plan had not yet jelled together. She felt a stab of annoyance at the promise that she’d made back in Jerusalem. A promise she was running out of time to keep. She sighed once, stood up and walked into the operations room. James and Louise Wesson were observing monitors, the other two, Johnson and Higgins were at their stations managing their equipment.
Chloe addressed the room, “Report.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Wesson replied. “We have something unusual.”
“Yes?” Chloe asked.
“Four vans have arrived,” she explained, “parking further down the street than they needed too. They’re all registered with a local pet food company. There were twelve men in them, no women, they’ve all gone into the Noodle House. There are no other patrons yet, so they either have a single booking or something else is about to happen.”
Chloe smiled briefly, making an instant intuitive assessment. Ms. Louise Wesson was smart and useful. She would keep an eye on her progress within Shadowstone. There were always opportunities for people with talent.
“Thank you, continue to observe and monitor the site. No matter what you see tonight, do not take any action without further orders from myself. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” James and Louise both answered.
Johnson and Higgins also gave their assent.
Chloe left the operations room, ascending to the roof. The sky was cloudless, the night cool, a full moon had cleared the horizon in the east. She stretched her arms up, arching her back, luxuriating in the experience of complete power and freedom that nightfall had brought.
The conditions were perfect for hunting. The roof of the building was flat, surrounded by a five-foot high parapet. Chloe leaped up on top of the parapet. Standing tall, her hands on her hips, she extended her senses to their maximum capabilities, and focused her attention on the building opposite. Sensing human heat signatures through the walls, she counted twelve and three. The new arrivals, Li and Gang Wu, and Anton Slayne. Anton covers the rear, the other two are positioned back from the kill zone before the main entrance. She listened carefully to the quiet murmur of conversations from the men in the Noodle House. Ms. Wesson is correct. No food has been ordered, these men are waiting, I can almost smell the anticipation from here. There will be a battle tonight.
With a predator’s patience, she settled in to wait and see what would happen.
* * *
Li held her katana sword within its scabbard at her left hip.
Her mother’s ancestor, Kanenaga Yoshindo, had crafted the Green Dragon in Japan during the winter of 1675. It was only distinguished from its four siblings by a marble sized emerald that graced the end of its handle.
The front door of the Noodle House swung open. The men of the Hu Shizu, the Tiger Clan, filed into the restaurant, immediately spreading out across the front wall. They were armed to the teeth with submachine guns, 9mm handguns, knives, short swords, hand axes, and baseball bats embossed with hard strips of gray metal. In their midst swaggered the large form of Mr. Wang. Apparently unarmed, he puffed on a thin cigar wedged between his thick lips.
“Out,” Mr. Wang shouted to the patrons at the tables.
Gang’s helpers rushed out the front door and into the street.
Li glanced at her father and thought, that’s convenient, after all, they’re not here for the fight.
Her father grinned, winking at her, then frowned and whispered, “MAC-10s, .45 or 9mm, very high rate of fire and a tendency to pull high.”
