“Good, let’s go. They’ll be here soon, and I want to have the whole island scoped out before that.”
Soon, Ryan and Talon had explored the island. The sunset painted the sky in brilliant red streaks, the clouds floating like hot coals in a darkening blue sky. Axler and Grind were dry and geared up. Dhin was jacked into the helo’s console, remote-rigging the two drones that had come with the team. One was an Aerodesign Systems Condor II that floated in the air high above the island and gave Dhin an array of tools for surveillance. The other drone was a Commonwealth Aerospace Wandjina—one of the most effective combat drones made.
Talon had been paying particular attention to patrolling the island’s astral space and studying the arcane defenses. “It’s going to take an army to get onto this island,” Talon said. “Besides the veil around the island, Harlequin’s got spirits patrolling everywhere. I don’t see anyone getting through.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Aztechnology did send an army,” Ryan said.
“Great.”
“Bossman,” came Dhin’s voice over the tacticom, “we got company. Motorboat coming fast from the city.”
“It’s Cluster and his team,” said Jane-in-the-box, also
over the ’com.
“We'll meet them at the dock.”
The team consisted of six runners, and Ryan assensed them as they approached. The rigger—a black dwarf like Grind—nestled the GMC Riverine up against the dock opposite Harlequin’s yacht. There were two physical adepts like Ryan, a white elf in ninja silks and a Latino woman wearing light combat armor. There was also a mage and a heavily cybered street samurai.
The team leader disembarked first—a huge troll-like individual with white skin and wearing a tuxedo over body armor. “Greetings,” he said. “I am called Cluster. We are here to secure the island.”
“Thank you for coming on such short notice.” Ryan had never seen a minotaur before. Cluster was about the same size as a typical troll, but his head was shaped more like a bull. He had a snout instead of a nose and his horns jutted from either side of his head and curved up to a sharp point. Despite his appearance, Cluster spoke in elegant, German-accented English.
“I’m Quicksilver,” Ryan said.
“It’s an honor to finally meet the infamous Quicksilver,”
Cluster said.
Ryan silently acknowledged the compliment. He gestured to his own team. “This is Axler, my lieutenant. And this is Talon. I believe you’ve already met Grind.”
“Yes, Grind and I did a Desert War tour together.”
The Latino physad stepped up next to Cluster, giving Ryan a challenging look. “Quicksilver, maybe you and I can go hand-to-hand sometime? Just to see who’s the—”
Cluster cut her off. “Starfish, cut the drek!”
Ryan laughed. “Perhaps so,” he said. “But now, we’re in a bit of rush. Your job is to guard the island perimeter. My rigger, Dhin, has two drones in the air. He and Grind will assist you. The others and I will be indisposed inside the chateau.”
“Very well,” Cluster said. “Let’s go.”
Ryan and Cluster made a full walk around the perimeter wall, discussing the positioning of Cluster’s team. The man’s tactical skill reassured Ryan that Jane had chosen well. He learned the names of each of the other runners as they set up the defense. The dwarf rigger was called Bingo. Raven was the samurai; Slider was the elf ninja, and the mage was called Radar.
Ryan wanted to touch base with everyone, examine their auras, and generally keep his mind off the upcoming ritual. Ryan had never been to the metaplanes, and he was sure the trek would not be easy. He had heard stories about the difficulties of traveling there—passing the dweller on the threshold, meeting strange and powerful spirits. Many of his mage friends had spoken of their quests as though they had gone on an inner journey, had delved more into their own spirits than traveled abroad.
I
have nothing to fear.
Ryan shook his head, and focused his attention on the details of setting up an impenetrable defense. He asked Dhin if Bingo, the dwarf rigger, could jack into the chopper’s hitcher port. Bingo wanted to use the surveillance drone to scan the area.
Starfish, the hothead physical adept who wanted to spar with Ryan, was assigned to the point of the island farthest from the chateau. Then Cluster set up the rest of his team to monitor the island with overlapping fields of fire.
As they were finishing, the last red light of the dying sun waned in the west. Harlequin and Foster emerged from the chateau, walking hand in hand as they approached. They advanced slowly toward where Ryan stood on the sea wall, their faces serious. Determined.
Ryan turned to Grind and Cluster. “You got it under control?”
They both nodded.
“Good.” Ryan then turned to meet Harlequin and Foster,
who were making their way up the short stairs to the walkway that ran along the top of the wall.
“Ryan,” Harlequin said. “It’s time.”
Ryan nodded. He subvocalized into this tacticom mike.
“Axler, Talon,” he said. “Meet us at the entrance to the chateau. You’re coming inside with me.”
When they had all gathered at the main entrance, Harlequin turned and led them inside. “Let’s get this over with,” he said. “The ritual chamber awaits.”
Strapped to a table, Lethe looked around at the abandoned restaurant. The astral background smelled old and musty here, almost stagnant. Chairs and tables lay like discarded toys, scattered pell-mell. A giant aquarium built into a wall a hundred years earlier was host only to thick dust and grime-smeared glass.
The auras of several metahumans stood around Lethe, different from those who had transported him in the jet from Panama. Here, two guards flanked each of the two entrances. Four total, and at least two of them were magically adept.
A human technician stood above Lethe, above the cyborg body that held Lethe’s spirit. He was beginning to consider Billy’s body his own. The boy’s spirit was growing more and more enmeshed with Lethe as they spent time together. They were growing interdependent.
“He’s coming around,” said the technician, referring to Billy. “Alert Meyer. He’s out by the Locus.”
“Sí, Señor. ”
One of the guards left the room.
Lethe could feel Billy’s spirit awaken as the effects of the drug wore off. His systems clicked on one by one. First Lethe felt sensory data come in through Billy’s cybereyes, ears, and nose. Billy blinked as the smell of mold and dust hit him.
The feeling in his head and shoulders came on with a click. Next were his chest, arms, and hands. Billy opened his eyes and tried to sit up. The straps held him in place and he relaxed.
Spirit
,
are you with me?
“I am here, Billy.” Lethe could hear his own thoughts channeled through Billy’s Invoked Memory Stimulator and become words in the cyberzombie’s mind. It was an odd sensation.
Where are we?
“I think we have been brought to a place called San Marcos, to see a man named Oscuro or Darke.”
I know this place.
I
have been here before, long ago, it seems. A different lifetime. But I remember it,
I
remember walking outside, seeing the lake, the stone underneath. Feeling the power.
“I have felt it,” Lethe said through the IMS. And he could still sense it even through the walls of the old restaurant—an immense subliminal power. “It is the magic that draws all those people outside.”
People?
Billy flexed his hands, checking his cybernetic systems with internal diagnostics. Most everything was on-line—his cyberspurs, his telescoping fingers, his wrist gyromount, and magnetic palms. And internally, his headgear seemed to be functioning normally as well. His GPS showed their exact location, his homing signal had been repaired, his eyes and ears checked out perfectly with all their augmentation intact.
“Yes, all around this place, thousands of people have gathered. They have been drawn by the Locus—the stone that you see in your memory.”
Feeling clicked on in his legs and feet, and Billy continued his diagnostic cycle. His internal air tank was operating, as was his move-by-wire system and his power supply. Everything was as good as new—heel spikes and hydraulic jack—except his articulated arm, which didn’t show up.
“They replaced your third arm and the gun,” Lethe said. “I saw them do it.”
Must be locked out. Maybe you can access it, Lethe.
“I’ll try, but I doubt I’ll have any success.” Lethe exerted his will over Billy’s articulated arm, seeing if he could nudge it.
Nothing.
Lethe could see where Billy’s access to it had been cut, but the operation of the arm was tied into the cybernetic part of Billy’s brain. Maybe they could get past it by merging the metal with spirit. That might be impossible, but Lethe didn’t know.
“Sorry, Billy.”
Don’t fret it. We can get out of here without it.
“I’m ready when you are,” Lethe said.
The technician standing above them spoke. Lethe could see him physically now, a dark-haired human with brown eyes and bronze skin. He wore a jumpsuit with a Jaguar Guard flash patch on his shoulder. “How do you feel, Burnout?”
Billy smiled up at him. “Never better. I’m good as new.”
“Good,” said the tech. “Now, please relax. I’m going to be running a series of—”
He never got to finish his sentence. Billy’s cyberspurs snapped out of his forearm with a barely audible
snick,
their brand new monoblades slicing cleanly through the restraints. One of them caught the technician’s wrist as he was reaching down to touch the access panel in Billy’s torso.
“Ahh!” screamed the tech as Billy cut away the rest of the restraints.
Lethe drew mana around them, using his power to make them nearly invisible.
“¡Qué
!” yelled one of the guards, bringing a machine gun to bear.
Another guard followed suit.
Billy leaped up to his feet, tossing the bleeding body of the technician to the side like a rag doll.
The rattle of automatic gunfire exploded into the room as two guards unloaded weapons into the body of the technician. Billy had disappeared. Lethe’s masking was working.
Billy closed the distance to the guards in a flash. He was even faster now, with all his equipment repaired. His monoblades retracted and he leveled a blow into one guard’s skull, just over the cerebellum.
The other turned just as Billy snatched the weapon from the guard crumbling to the ground. His eyes widened for a second as they managed to focus on Billy. Too late. Billy’s extendible fingers shot out and coiled around the guard’s throat, and with a jerk he snapped the man’s neck.
The two guards near the opposite wall scanned the room rapidly, one trying to see Billy with his astral sight. To no avail. Lethe had masked that as well, making them very difficult to pinpoint. The guards sprayed the room with gunfire, erratic and desperate.
Billy picked one off with a burst from the SMG. The other broke and ran, sounding the alarm.
“Now let’s find a ride out of here,” Billy said aloud.
Lethe gave his silent consent, and they stepped out into the heat and light.
In an instant, Billy scanned the area, looking for transportation. The glass door led to a cement plaza of sorts, bounded on one side by the restaurant and a parking lot crowded with people, and on the other side by the edge of what must have been the lake. Before it had been drained.
Now the cement led up to a five-meter drop onto a rocky lake bed covered sporadically with brown reeds and river plants. Across the lake bed stood the
teocalli,
a step-pyramid replica of an ancient Aztec temple. And behind that, more people, and an
ollamaliztli
stadium in the distance.
The smell of rotting plants filled the air, causing Billy to
squint as he scanned toward the parking lot. While he was cataloguing the various vehicles, Lethe felt the immense pull of the Locus, sitting at the bottom of the dry lake bed.
Lethe focused his attention on the faceted stone, ignoring the gathering of people around and on top of it. Its awesome power enticed him, like a candle flame draws a moth. It was beautiful, magnificent.
Abruptly, a sick sensation slicked through Lethe, dread on a massive scale, and he knew that something was wrong here. Something was terribly wrong.
Billy hadn’t moved from his position at the door of the restaurant. He, too, was drawn by the Locus.
Lethe began to notice the mages and guards on and around the stone. He saw the blood sacrifices, and he focused on the ring of mages linked by their life energy to become one perverted creature in astral space. He saw how the stone’s power was being used.
Two people lay on the hard surface of the stone. Their bodies were there, but their spirits had left to travel to the metaplanes.
Lethe called on the Locus to hone his vision. He was stuck inside this machine-man, but he could still manipulate mana, and perhaps he could tap into the stone’s reservoir of power.