A subtle agency omnibus, p.56
A Subtle Agency Omnibus, page 56
part #1 of The Metaframe War Series
The men nodded. A few smiled grimly.
Chloe indicated James with a wave of her hand and instructed, “My aide will introduce your target.”
James moved amongst the men with an open laptop, Ramin Kain’s face displayed on the screen. Each man took a close look at the rotating pictures, memorizing his features.
Chloe indicated Marcus with a glance. “Marcus Drake will lead you in your approach.”
The assassins variously nodded and gave their assent.
“Is it clear? Any questions?”
The leader of the Red Empire troop stepped forward and tapped his chest. “I am Nasr al Dam, the Blood Eagle, we of the Red Empire will do our duty against the weaklings of the Order.”
Chloe nodded once and ordered, “Marcus Drake will lead the assault. I command you to obey your oaths and follow him.”
Nasr al Dam nodded once. Chloe stepped in close and addressed him directly, “Take your best men to capture Kain. Use the rest to cover your actions and keep the rest of the Order away from your target. Marcus Drake will back you up.”
Nasr al Dam grinned, indicating four men to his left. “These are the ‘Fist,’ the best of my troop. We will not fail in our mission.”
Chloe studied him for a second. “Excellent.”
She stepped back, nodding at Marcus.
Marcus moved forward. “We leave now,” he commanded. “We have three miles to cover to reach the target.”
The thirteen men turned away as a group, blurring from the airport.
James approached, standing patiently at Chloe’s side.
In the distance, three lights resolved in the night sky. The attack helicopters were arriving from Fort Dix.
She turned to him. “You will fly in one of the blackwidows. Create a perimeter and watch my lead. The Order will fight back, take care and expect losses. Guard my exfiltration with Kain and allow the Order to escape.”
“Ma’am?”
Chloe smiled briefly. “There is a larger purpose in play tonight beyond the elimination of a handful of Order operatives.” She looked off into the distance. “… It’s a shame the Head of the Order of Thoth is about to be caught up in the destruction of an Order Safe House by Shadowstone.” She clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Who could’ve predicted such an unfortunate turn of events. Crane will be most displeased when he hears of this latest reversal.”
Glowing with an ebullient mood, she turned back to James. “It’s such a great time to be alive. So much is happening. Tonight, is a pivotal moment where we begin to seize the initiative from Crane and Kain.”
James nodded, his eyes narrowing.
Chloe dismissed him with a look. No one could possibly understand the future she saw for the world. Not until it was realized. It was too much for them to grasp.
The attack helicopters circled the airport, swinging into land around the black nightfalcon.
A familiar pre-battle excitement began to build within her. She looked toward the safe house farm. Soon she would have Kain. The Mirovar force team would be forced to follow after him to a battlefield of her choosing.
A battlefield where Li Wu would die and Anton Slayne would be pushed toward his inevitable confrontation with Crane.
She shivered with excitement. Everything was at risk. As it must be at times if great things were to be achieved.
If Anton or Li died tonight, it would be disappointing, but she had time to plan anew.
Oceans of time.
The ultimate realization of her vision was inevitable.
* * *
The briefing room had been turned into a room of inquiry.
The main table had been moved to the side to clear a space in the middle of the room. Li sat there in a simple wooden chair, her wrists still shackled, with a second, thick chain looping around the metal braces and hobbling her ankles.
She was calm, a side-effect of the drug coursing through her system. She knew she would tell the truth. She wanted to tell the truth. Her inhibitions and sense of self-control had disappeared on the ‘Truther’ tide.
The world was bright and shiny. She tried ramping and failed miserably. The drug affected her capacity to be silent. Her internal voice was chattering incessantly; she was losing all her filters. It left her feeling naked, vulnerable and somehow - clumsy.
She looked around the room, everyone was there. She ached with sadness. What would her father think of her now, chained and alone in an Order inquisition? The lights dimmed, the gloom settling in like a clinging shroud around her. Where was the light? How could everything be so dark?
Why did people have halos?
She could see auras. This was new, she thought to herself.
Nausea worked slowly through her system. People had colors, who knew? Was this another side effect of the drug or was something else going on?
Kain, Luther and the four members of Kain’s personal security stood in a group. A dark cloud shot with swirls of murky greens and reds moving through them. Francis and Juliette were wrapped in brilliant golden cords; Jay and Yvette were covered with the same. Lamar was wrapped in turbulent yellow and black mists. Chiara, Anton, and Peter stood against the wall. Chiara limed in a hot, red glow, while bright blue and green lightning played and sparked furiously around Anton and Peter.
Justin stood alone, a purple cloud around his head, his eyes boring into her soul. He lifted his hand and golden rays speared forth.
Someone spoke. The words ringing through the room like the voice of an angel. Li’s head whipped around to face the speaker.
“- inquisition is called to order.”
Kain declared, “The judges acknowledge loremaster Juliette Mirovar - keeper of our law.”
“Three are met, force leaders true,” Juliette declared. All eyes in the room were on her. “May the great Thoth guide their judgment with wisdom and fealty to the law.”
A bell tolled three times. Incense was lit, filling the room with its aroma.
Juliette’s voice rang out in the chamber. “The guardians of the law are in place; may justice be swift and sure. The Inquisition of the Order of Thoth is commenced. May no man stand against it, rebuke its judgment or stand forsworn before the great Thoth.”
Juliette stepped to the side. Her eyes dark with hidden emotions.
Kain nodded toward Lamar and declared, “The inquisitor shall stand and begin their inquiry.”
Stepping forward, Lamar stood a yard in front of Li. He focused fully upon her, his eyes staring into her face.
“What is your name?”
“Li Wu.”
“Who is your father?”
“Gang Wu.”
“Is he alive or dead?”
“Dead.”
“Are you a woman?”
“Yes.”
“How old are you?”
“Nineteen.”
“Are you a novice of the Order of Thoth?”
“Yes.”
“Are you a liar?”
“No.”
Lamar stepped back and announced to the panel of judges sitting behind the table, “The ‘Truther’ is at full effect.”
“Commence the inquisition,” Kain declared matter-of-factly.
Lamar turned back toward Li, a slight smile curling his lips. Mustard and charcoal clouds stormed around his head. His eyes were filled with red sparks crawling like ants over smoldering embers.
Li stared at him. She loathed him and yet desperately wanted to tell him anything, as long as it was the truth.
Lamar stared back at her. He reached inside his jacket and pulled forth the envelope in which her father’s letter had been delivered. His eyes were lit with an intense light as he regarded Li for a long moment.
He started to circle around her, his voice asking questions about the providence of the letter.
* * *
The blackwidows zoomed off toward the safe house.
Chloe Armitage’s nightfalcon flew twenty seconds behind them. She sat in the pilot’s seat and flicked a switch to provide a heads-up display of her combat team. Ghostly images played across the windscreen. Metadata streamed next to GPS locations for each of her men. Her command links were open, the soft voices of her team whispering with perfect clarity in her ears.
“The safe house sensor arrays have been disarmed,” Marcus reported. “We’re in position.”
“Hold your position. Our ETA is two minutes,” Chloe responded.
She expanded the view from a helmet cam strapped to Marcus’s head. He was facing a curtained window at the front of the house. The infra-red filter showed a room full of people. The arrangement of the glowing forms hinting at an ancient memory.
Chloe’s mind raced.
Kain had arrived with a personal security unit. He was here on official business. Three people were behind a table. One sat in front of them while a fifth person slowly circled the seated person.
Was it a court? Yes. An inquisition.
“Marcus, Kain is the middle man of the three behind the table.”
Marcus broadcast the details to the Red Empire assassins.
“Our ETA is ninety seconds. We’ll cut the house in two. Time your move with our attack.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Good hunting Marcus,” Chloe whispered to herself.
The three blackwidows broke formation and began to circle the safe house in decreasing circles. Two were circling clockwise, the third, with James Haley on the gun controls, circled in the opposite direction.
Chloe brought her nightfalcon to a spot a little above the blackwidows and eight-hundred meters off to the side. All she had to do now was wait and hope that the Raven had managed to bug Ramin Kain’s phone with a tracker.
If the bug failed, she would need a plan B for leaving a believable trail for the Mirovar force team to follow.
* * *
It was a peculiarity of an Order Inquisition that there was no requirement for the judges to be made aware of the specifics of the evidence before the event. Only the charge would be known. In this way, the judges could be expected to be free of prejudice when the evidence was first presented.
A peculiarity Ramin vowed to get rid of once he was declared the absolute ruler of the Order of Thoth.
Deon Lamar pulled Gang Wu’s letter, and the data stick from the envelope. He laid the pages down on the table with a flourish and declared, “Here is the evidence of the lie. A seditious lie designed to tear the Order apart. A lie propagated by traitors claiming Ramin Kain is in league with the Vampire Dominion.”
Ramin stared at the pages and data stick in front of him. His heart froze with fear. His mind clouded with a storm of doubts. What the fuck is this?
“That’s outrageous,” Sam shouted, his eyes flashing with indignation.
Juliette called out, “There shall be order in the court Mr. Luther, or must you be removed?”
Luther’s head rocked backward as if he’d been physically slapped and he took a step back.
Lamar waved his hand theatrically around the room, declaring loudly, “I have examined the data stick carefully. It is a series of maps where the traitor Gang Wu -”
Anton Slayne hissed, “Bastard.”
“Order Mr. Slayne,” Juliette declared. She captured his gaze with a hard stare, and his face paled.
Lamar studied the audience for a long moment and then continued, “- outlined Ramin Kain’s sterling work discovering covens of young vampires.”
There was a long silence.
Francis leaned forward slightly and asked, “And?”
Lamar turned to Francis and stated incredulously, “He deduced that Ramin’s one hundred percent success rate on searches could only be the result of collusion with Cornelius Crane.”
Ramin’s armpits and the small of his back became wet with fear. His face flushed as decades of self-taught training deserted him. He whispered hoarsely, “You idiot.”
A look of puzzlement flitted across Lamar’s face. A low murmur spread through the room.
Justin Blake’s hand appeared around Ramin’s left wrist.
Ramin looked at it with shocked incomprehension, and then shouted, “Guards!”
His personal bodyguards drew their katanas free as one, moving to stand opposite Blake.
Their leader leveled his blade at the massive force leader, and commanded, “Let him go.”
“Make me,” Blake growled. A dreadful smile curling his lips while his eyes were as dark and flat as river stones on a moonless night.
The room fell into absolute silence.
The Wu girl, her face filled with sudden intent, called out, “Quiet, someone’s here.”
“What on Earth are you talking about?” Ramin snapped.
A look of recognition seized her face. “Helicopters. Stealth shielded.”
“What?” Francis asked.
Straining at her chains, she shouted, “We’re sitting ducks.”
The low rumble of dampened turbines filtered into the room.
“Oh, fuck,” Ramin whispered.
Chapter Fifteen
“For those who die with honor, the touch of death is simply the unlocking of a door between this life and the next.”
- Quote from The Way of the Faithful, a book of Red Empire lore.
* * *
White Hill, Maine, August 21st, 20:27
Peter dragged the gray blanket away from the cache of weapons.
Anton snatched up the green and blue dragons. A pair of double-bladed axes appeared, like a magician’s trick, in Peter’s hands. Anton blurred forward to stand next to Li, the twin dragon blades crossed in front of him, his face filled with frightful intent.
“This stops now,” Anton declared to the room, his eyes scanning the boundaries of the chamber.
Peter moved to the other side of Li where he grinned at everyone in front of him while circling his razor-sharp axes back and forth.
Luther screeched. “How dare you come armed -”
“See! See!” Kain shouted, leaping to his feet. His left wrist, still immobilized in Justin’s iron grip, left him half tilted to the side. He pointed at Anton with his free hand. “Slayne is the traitor. He -”
The front door burst in. Windows shattered. The back door crashed open. Tan and black-clad forms blurred into the chamber. Each wielded a pair of gleaming curved blades. The night beyond the windows erupted into a thunderous firestorm as the blackwidows opened up on the safe house and the surrounding buildings. Twenty-millimeter cannon fire tore through the side of the house, evaporating everything it touched.
Chaos overwhelmed the room.
* * *
The room went to hell.
Justin dropped Kain’s wrist. The side of his wooden chair shattered into a cloud of splinters as he blurred toward the one door out of the briefing room.
There was a swish to his right, a hidden katana appeared in Francis’ hands, its blade mirroring the golden lamps and flickering candles in the room. Francis, his face a white mask, blurred right, interposing himself between two Red Empire assassins who were rolling to their feet and Juliette. Man-made lightning flashed beyond the shattered window behind the assassins as cannons thundered overhead.
The four men guarding Kain, their blades already drawn, swiveled around to face the threats rushing in from all sides. Their faces stilled as they descended into silence. Kain stood behind them, his mouth agape.
Justin picked up the remains of his chair with his right hand, swinging it through a tight arc at a knot of Red Empire assassins heading directly toward Kain. In the crowded space, the closest assassin could not escape being hit by the chair, taking one leg across his chest and the other across his face. He flew across the room in a cloud of splinters, crashing into the far wall.
Justin surged through the opening and the doorway beyond.
Behind him, the wave of Red Empire assassins who had come through the front door, hit the four Order operatives guarding Kain, blades clanging and crashing in desperate combat.
Weapons.
Justin blurred into the front yard where his Harley-Davidson stood.
Above him, blackwidow helicopter gunships wheeled through the night sky, streams of fire lancing toward any available target. Their hammering cannons and whirring miniguns cutting across the low rumble of their muffled turbines.
Justin only had moments before he would be seen by their crews and their devastating weapons would be turned against him.
He tore open the saddlebag on the back of his motorcycle. He reached inside. Grinning tightly, his dark eyes flashing, he drew forth his weapon of choice.
A line of 7.62mm rounds from a minigun speared into the ground, racing toward him.
Justin dove into silence, blurring to the side.
The blackwidow shuddered, wheeling toward him, hunting him with its cannons and miniguns.
Thunder and fire bloomed around him.
Fuck!
Was there no escape?
* * *
Shattered glass littered the floor.
A pair of Red Empire assassins leaped to their feet, swords slashing toward Jay and Yvette.
Stillness reigned in Jay’s mind. He blurred forward at maximum ramp, stepping inside the arc of the first blade. His right shoulder slamming into the assassin’s chest as his hands slapped together around the hilt of the second blade. The assassin had just enough time for his eyes to register surprise as Jay spun a hundred and eighty degrees, wrenching the blade free of his grasp.
Jay used his grip on the unbalanced assassin’s right hand to lean him forward with his own momentum. Jay’s left foot lashed out, crushing the man’s right knee. He pivoted back the other way, plunging the stolen sword through the assassin’s skull, painting the nearest wall with a thin ribbon of blood.
The man fell limply to the floor, his other sword sliding across the polished hardwood.
