CHAPTER 85
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The wind blew cold. It made Werner feel old. Or maybe it just reminded him of how old he was. He felt frail as he stood at the top of the courtyard. The courtyard was not in the Vatican itself, it was at the headquarters of The Secret Order of Saint Jean Chastel. High buildings rose on all four sides, the only access was through a gated tunnel. The gated tunnel ran with a curve in it, so the courtyard was completely invisible from the street and to the public. This was good.
Pillared cloisters ran on three sides of the cobbled yard. Werner himself stood at the head of the space, on the wall opposite the tunneled entrance. On the two other sides, running at either side of him, were members of the order. Ten men, hard men in their previous lives, devout men in their new lives. They all wore their blacks shirts and white collars. They all bore weapons that ranged from submachine guns to rifles and shotguns. They waited with their usual discipline. Men of all races, veterans of some of the worst wars and worst atrocities in modern times.
They waited.
Werner knew they would not have to wait long. He glanced to his left. Ralph stood there, a mean looking shotgun held sedately in front of him. He wore a headset with a microphone. He looked back at Werner and said, ‘Not long now, Your Eminence. He's on the street outside.'
‘And he’s still coming straight towards us?’
Ralph put a hand to his earpiece and listened for a moment. He said, ‘Yes. He's turning into the tunnel now.'
Werner sighed and turned back to face the heavy iron gate. He sighed. ‘What is he thinking?’
Stryker appeared in the tunnel. Every aspect of his posture and movement revealed his intense emotions. He strode forward like a bull pawing at the earth. When he reached the gate, he hardly broke his pace. He simply raised a leg and kicked the gate, mid-stride. The gate exploded from its hinges and flew onto the courtyard. It crashed onto the stone surface and slid across it with a deafening screech. Even the hardened men of The Secret Order were visibly disturbed by this display of raw power.
Stryker walked into the open, looked left and right at the guns trained on him, and then fixed his attention on Werner. He didn’t shout, but the force of his angry voice easily carried across the space between them, ‘You’ve been keeping secrets from me, Werner.’
Werner spread his arms wide and said, ‘That’s what I do. That’s what I’m supposed to do.’
‘And lying? Breaking promises? That what you're supposed to do too?’
‘I don't think that's true.' Werner spoke calmly. He knew the power of the man opposite him. He had the measure. He also knew the men that guarded him. Even Stryker could not cover the space between him with that much firepower spaced so carefully around him. The bull-headed fool had effectively surrounded himself by marching in here.
Stryker said, ‘I think so. Know so. You promised… You always fucking promised you'd share anything you knew about me. Made me that promise a long time ago.'
Werner assumed an expression of suitable regret. He said, ‘And I have always fully intended to. The time has not been right.’
‘And I guess the time is right now? Is that it? You can pick and choose now, can't ya? Tell me what I already fucking know? That I was made in some weirdo fucking lab under Berlin. And if I'm not happy then you reckon you can just blow me away and be done with it? Why the fuck not? You got your money's worth out of me.'
‘It’s not what I want, Father Stryker.’
‘Course it's not. You'd like to keep your big gun if ya can. Well, that's fucking done. It's not going to go that way.'
Werner said, ‘Are you telling me I have to give the order to shoot? That there’s nothing to talk about?’
‘Oh, we’ve lots to fucking talk about. But you’re not gonna get me back in your old claws no more. You took me away from my Mama, my Hilda. You took me away from her, and him, and a good fucking life. You fucking used me. Now you’re gonna tell me everything. Then I’m gonna wring your skinny old neck.’
Werner took a couple of steps forward. He was a man accustomed to power and command. He felt power in his position at this moment and he intended to wield it. Even if he had to put Stryker down, which would be regrettable, he would mollify him first.
Werner said, ‘Why am I going to tell you, Stryker? You know you don't walk away from here. I always bent the rules with you. By our strictest guidelines, you should have been destroyed decades ago. You are a product of the Devil, but I always felt there was good in you.'
‘The Devil, yeah, or you know, science and that shit?’
‘The Devil works in many ways, Stryker. I can’t let you leave here if you are no longer one of us. Your oath to the Order is the one thing that has allowed me to keep you alive. Again, Stryker, I will beg you to come to your senses. If you can’t tell me you intend to come back to me, to kneel here and renew your oath, then sharing with you is the last thing I intend to do.’
‘I’m done with that Werner. Ain’t no chance, no how, no way.’
Werner was surprised at the genuine sadness that sprang to his chest at this. He could see the unmoving sincerity in Stryker's face. He said, ‘Then I have to tell them to shoot, don't I, Stryker?'
‘Maybe,’ Stryker said. Then he did something that really surprised Werner. He made a sign of the cross in the air.
Werner could not understand the gesture. He knew secretly that Stryker had not put stock in his faith for many decades. Why this then?
The explanation came in a small, understated puff of stone and dust. The hole appeared in the pillar to Werner's left. There was no ricochet, which told Werner that the bullet had been some form of hollow point.
Werner did not react to the shot. He brushed a little dust from his shoulder and said, ‘I see. Father O'Connor is with you.'
Werner scanned the buildings, those up close and those far away. He sensed that Ralph was doing the same behind him. It would do no good. Father O'Connor would not be seen if he chose not to be, and the man's skill with that terrible gun he'd christened "The Almighty" was such that he could be almost any distance away.
‘If I don't walk out alive, then neither do you,' Stryker said.
‘Fine then, walk.’
'Ah, ah. I'll fucking die here before I leave without answers. I mean it. And if I die, then you do too, ya old fart.'
For the first time, Werner was uneasy. It was not fear. He still had enough control over the situation that he did not need to fear. He could speak, satisfy Stryker, and leave alive. He believed this. What made him uneasy was the weakness he would have to show. The vulnerability. All things considered, though, his choices were limited. He couldn't bluff Stryker. That lunatic meant it when he said he would die if he needed to. Werner could not say the same for himself with any kind of sincerity, and Stryker knew it.
‘Alright then. What do you want to know?’
‘Where did I come from?’
‘As far as we know? The lab, the one under Berlin.’
‘Who made me?’ Stryker’s voice broke slightly with emotion as he spoke.
‘We don’t know.’
‘Then who the fuck do you think did it?’
Werner hesitated. Then he said, ‘I suppose we have to continue this conversation out here, like this?’
‘Well, I ain't going inside. You can send these boys away if you want to, but you know this ends extra-messy for you if you do that.'
Werner nodded slowly. He said, ‘We have some strong ideas about it. That’s the best I can say.’
‘Then share your fucking heart out.’
‘Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov.’
‘He made me? Illy van Petersburgh?’
‘Ivanovich Ivanov. No. He did not. Ivanov died in 1932. In the years before that, he attempted to make a new kind of human.’
‘Like me?’
Werner shook his head. He said, ‘He tried to combine humans and apes.’
‘I’m not asking about Prowler and the other things. I might get there, but right now I’m asking about me.’
‘And I'm telling you. The Nazi War Machine wanted Ivanov. He knew how to do things that are completely lost to history. They wanted that power and even the Soviets, at the time, were developing a growing distaste for his experiments.'
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‘And he died in ‘32. So what’s this got to do with shit?’
‘Someone brought his work to Berlin around the year 1930. Maybe before that, even. We're not sure.'
‘Who?’
‘I told you, we don’t know. We can’t account for anyone that went missing that could have had this knowledge and could have defected. We have one name, a name that has cropped up in old documents.’
The roar of helicopter blades cut the air and Stryker glanced up to see a small helicopter roar over their heads. It began a circling search of the buildings beyond them.
‘Looking for my boy?’ Stryker said.
‘And we’ll find him. When we do, this comes to a halt. Time to decide then, Stryker. Stay or die.’
Stryker eyed the helicopter again and returned his attention to Werner. He said, ‘Reckon I still got some time. What’s the name?’
Werner sighed. He said, ‘Troy.’
‘He made me?'
Werner shrugged. He said, ‘Whoever made you, we think also made other things.’
‘Like Prowler?’
Werner nodded.
‘Know where he is now?’
Werner shook his head.
‘Know anything about The Crucible.’
The look of rapt interest that sprang to Werner’s eyes answered the question.
‘Oh!’, Stryker said. ‘We have a winner. Spill it.’
‘There’s not much to say. It’s powerful. And it’s very old.’
‘How old?’
‘Old.’
‘Details, old man. You know I’m not fucking around here. I could get Con to take a shot at you and maybe I could make a dash back the other way. Fucking spill it.’
‘We think it's very old. We have reason to believe that The Crucible is an artifact mentioned in one of Dead Sea Scrolls.'
‘One of the ones that’s not supposed to exist?’
Werner nodded again. Then he said, ‘Stryker… Whatever happens next, after this. Whatever way you go… The Crucible needs to be brought here, or destroyed. Destroy it with fire. It can’t be left out there.’
There was another explosion of dust on the pillar to Werner’s left. Werner jumped a little this time.
Stryker said, ‘Dammit.’
Werner narrowed his eyes. He said, ‘Was that a signal?’
‘Yeah. Means your chopper’s getting close to him.’
‘So we’re done?’
Stryker sighed. ‘I meet you again, I kill you. Stay clear of me and I can’t see you being worth the fucking effort.’
‘Stryker?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Don’t count on living long enough for us to meet again.’
An evil smile spread on Stryker’s face. He turned to leave and said, ‘Ditto.’
CHAPTER 86
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Ardia switched on her earpiece at Razmik’s signal. She saw Abraham do the same. As soon as she activated the device, she heard Razmik’s voice.
He said, ‘They haven't seen us yet. We need to let them get close. We need to catch them in the open. Let them get very close, very exposed, then open up on them.'
Ardia whispered, ‘So the diplomatic route is a no go?’
Abraham’s voice came across the speakers, ‘I don’t think these people, things, are able for diplomatic options. We can’t give away our advantage. I’m counting at least twenty. This could be very bad for us. If we want to have a chance then we do what Raz says.’
Ardia peered cautiously around the boulder and watched the group approaching. They moved well. There was nothing robotic about their movements. Their heads swiveled as they moved in a loose group. Their weapons were held ready. They were in the open, moving up the slope towards the cave mouth. The distance had closed to within 200 yards.
‘When do we shoot?’ Ardia asked.
‘When Abe says,’ Razmik replied.
Abraham said, ‘We'll wait until they're about 50 yards out. There's no cover there, they'll have to fall back. It'll give us time to get extra shots off at them, while they're exposed. The rocks that will be behind them at that point should tempt them back and give us a little room to think.'
‘I don’t like this,’ Ardia said.
‘The odds?’ Abraham asked.
‘No… This doesn’t feel right. Someone has cut into their brains. It feels like we’re opening up on a bunch of mentally disabled people.’
The soldiers were only about 150 yards away now.
‘Time to be quiet,’ said Razmik.
Ardia watched the men approach. Behind them, and off to the side, she saw a bulky shadow glide from one boulder to another. She said, ‘Homer is closing on them, too. If he gets in among them, be careful with your shooting.’
‘He can take care of himself,’ Razmik said. ‘Now be quiet.’
Ardia felt a vibration as she watched the men approach their designated kill zone. Her first instinct was to brace herself, expecting a rockslide. Then she realized that the vibration was internal, not external. She was shaking. Her hands were trembling, there was a hollow rumbling noise growing in her ears. When she looked over at Abraham, she saw that he was experiencing something similar. Glancing back at the cave entrance, she saw a grim expression on Slayer's face.
Slayer’s voice came through the earpiece, ‘They’re affecting Metis. This is very bad.’
The soldiers were a hundred yards away, seconds from the designated kill zone.
A thought wafted through Ardia's mind. It was a surreal and alien experience. It came in words, in Razmik's voice. ‘If this goes wrong, it's my fault. I should know better than to put us in this position.' Then the thought and the voice was gone. Ardia glanced, startled at Abraham. He returned her expression with one of matching incredulity.
Slayer’s voice came again, ‘That was Metis. That’s only the start.’
Abraham’s voice came through the earpiece immediately after Slayer’s. He said, with restrained urgency, ‘Fire!’
Four automatic rifles leaped to life. Ardia, Slayer, Razmik and Abraham fired down the slope at the group of men. The soldiers were exposed, and they were easy targets. The roar of rifle fire echoed off the rocks and bodies tumbled to the dusty ground. The trembling and shaking that had suddenly begun to affect the foursome played a role in helping many of the soldiers to survive. The men scattered, and most of them instantly turned to run for the cover of the boulders behind them. Two of the men clearly decided it easier to try and close the distance between them and their attackers. These two dashed forward in a headlong charge.
Abraham bent from his cover and raked one of the charging men with gunfire, sending him hurtling to the ground. Ardia’s rifle clicked empty and she scrambled to reload. The second charging man’s chest shook twice as bullets from the cave entrance struck his armor, but he continued to charge.
As Ardia finished reloading, the second man dived on her. She could hear the beginnings of gunfire from down the slope as the surviving soldiers began to return fire. Her companions kept firing. They had seen the man tackle her, but they had no concern for her safety.
Ardia pushed the man off of her and pinned him to her boulder. She kept the boulder between herself and the gunfire from below.
With one arm, Ardia caught the soldier by the throat and pressed him against the stone. She looked into his eyes and saw nothing. There was no expression of panic or surprise. The scar on his forehead was healed. On an impulse, Ardia ripped the helmet from his head. She gasped. His scalp was a network of scars. The hair only grew on patches between the scars and stitches. She again looked into his eyes and understood that whoever this man had been, that man had died long before this moment. With one jerk of one hand, she broke his neck and tossed him aside. Then she returned to the firefight.
Another thought was ripped from a mind and passed into hers. This one was Slayer's. She couldn't say how she knew the thought was Slayer's, but she could detect it. This wasn't words, but images. All she could see for several heartbeats were the images, she was blinded to the battle before her, and this filled her with panic. The images showed the bloody face of a pretty red-haired girl, framed by the long grass in which she lay. The pictures flashed and morphed, to show the girl's body in a clearing in a massive forest. The girl's clothes were shredded, she was half naked, and blood covered her legs. The blood was darkest between her legs. Then she saw orange eyes, staring from the darkness of the trees.
Her sight came back. She found herself sitting, with her back propped against the boulder. She looked over to Abraham to see that he too, was recovering from the episode. Bullets impacted the dust all around her and she scrambled back into position. She leaned around the boulder and made a quick assessment.
There was a tangle of bodies in the kill zone. A quick count suggested around six or seven of the soldiers had died there. Adding that to the two men who had been killed in the charge meant that there were a dozen or more still alive. There should not have been so many survivors. Ardia brought her rifle up and fired several bursts at the men below. She understood why so many had escaped the kill zone. It was because of the trembling. They were here to help Metis, but Metis was sabotaging them.
‘Can we do something about this?’ Ardia screamed into her mic. ‘About Metis.’
Slayer’s voice roared back, ‘Short of killing her, there’s nothing.’
Razmik's voice flashed through their minds again. It was a private thought, but Metis's storm had torn it from him and passed it to them. ‘If we have to.' Ardia did not recoil from the thought.
Slayer said, ‘Fuck that, Razmik. We’re here to help her.’
Ardia fired and reloaded. Nausea gripped her as there was another wave in the psychic storm. She had to pause and grip the boulder in front of her before she could peek out from cover and fire again.
When next she looked down at the scene she saw two bodies thrown in the air like rag dolls. Homer was among the enemy. Despite the swimming thoughts in her head, she felt relief. Now that he had closed on the enemy, they could turn the tide. She felt a thought being ripped from her mind. It was just a sensation, one she had not even been fully aware of. Homer made her feel safe, she discovered, as the thought was pulled from her mind, that she depended on him in some unexplained way. She saw Abraham pause in his firing as the thought reached him. She saw him decipher it. Then he was firing again, and so was she.
Slayer’s voice came through their earpieces again, ‘They are doing this! Whatever was done to their brains. It’s fucking with Metis. We need to finish this fast because she won’t be able to hold on much longer.’
An image from Razmik’s mind blinded her again. She saw him, as a little boy, bringing a loaf of bread to a girl in rags. It only lasted a second, but it was terrifying to lose her sensory input for even that second with lead filling the air between the two groups.
‘This is her holding on?’ Ardia said weakly.
‘You have no idea,’ Slayer said.
Below them, Homer closed on another man and crushed him in his hands. Ardia could see that Homer's movements were neither as fluid nor as fast as they should be. He staggered and stumbled as he moved towards his next victim. Metis was affecting him.
Homer's next opponent turned to him and raised his weapon. Homer fell to one knee as he raced towards him. Ardia fired, with shaking hands and was amazed to see the soldier keel over before he could empty his weapon into Homer.
Homer stood up and she saw his head lock onto a cluster of soldiers a few yards away from him. They were not aware of him and Ardia felt a thrill. There were six or seven men in that group. That was the majority of the remaining men. If Homer could reach them, and there was almost no way that wasn’t going to happen, then he would take them apart. With that large group eliminated, the battle would be all but over.
Homer took one step towards them. Then a huge dark shape smashed into him, sending him sprawling through the dust. The figure was massive, incredibly huge. The newcomer dwarfed even Homer.
Ardia did not have time to react. Four more shapes joined the first one, each of these was smaller than the first, but still of the same dimensions as Homer.
‘What the…’ Ardia breathed.
The five newcomers were hybrid creatures, like Homer.