Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14) (28 page)

He shuddered. "So much death," he murmured. "So much fear."

"I'm not afraid."

"That's not what I meant."

Sight closed his third eye and turned away. His whole body sagged a little.

Marina frowned. She turned to the last legate, a woman named Elysia. She had pure white hair even though she didn't seem very old. It was long and wild. Her stern face had an odd yellowish tint which made her look jaundiced.

Marina shook Elysia's hand, and a spark jumped between them.

"Sorry," Elysia said. "I'm a little unsettled, and my control isn't what it should be."

"What do you mean?"

Elysia pointed her finger at the ceiling. Blue lightning flashed up and burned a hole. The bang made everybody jump.

"I'm electric," she said.

Marina thought about mentioning her own gift, but then she decided against it. Venomous fingernails weren't very impressive in comparison.

Wesley came over and said, "We need to get going. We're on a schedule."

The legates looked at the kid with obviously mixed emotions. By putting Aaron and Marina on top, Wesley had effectively demoted the legates. They no longer reported directly to God.

Marina stepped back and raised her voice. "Everybody, make a circle around me. Make sure you can hear me."

Some of the
legionnaires
translated the command into other languages. She nodded with appreciation.

She continued, "What I'm about to tell you is for your ears only. Do not share this information with anybody outside this room. Our primary objective is to move the twins to a safe location. Then we'll be their bodyguards while they finish the project."

"What project?" Petri said.

"They're going to change the universe..."

"No!" Wesley yelled. "Not yet. I'll tell everybody the truth when we reach our destination."

Marina furrowed her brow. She thought she was in charge.

"Very well. The first thing we'll do is help the twins finish packing for the trip," she said loudly to her group. "Then we'll go out and capture some trucks and equipment from the Army. We need the trucks for transportation. We'll convoy across Chicago to a secret place that should suit our needs. We'll help the twins unpack, and finally, we'll guard them until they're done. Is that clear?"

It took a minute for the translators to repeat the orders in other languages.

Petri raised his hand. "I have a question, ma'am." He glanced at Wesley.

"Yes?" Marina said.

"What are Aaron and Leonardo doing? They have much larger groups."

"Leonardo will lead the offense. He'll disrupt and slow down the Army. Aaron will defend this hotel."

"Why?" Petri said. "With the twins gone, it seems there is nothing here worth protecting."

"True, but the enemy doesn't know that. By the time they figure out the hotel is just a decoy, the twins should be done with the project. At least, that's the plan."

"If the twins are attacked, the bulk of our resources will be in the wrong location. The plan seems very dangerous."

Marina gave him a stern look. "Aaron wants to play it this way, and it's his decision to make. Enough discussion. We have to decide who is going to help me capture the trucks. I don't need everybody. About fifty of you should be enough. Don't feel obligated to volunteer. If you're tired after your long trip to Chicago, stay here and rest. It's going to be a busy night."

She sorted out who would come. Almost everybody wanted to, and she had to make some arbitrary decisions about who to take. Again, she was struck by the freaky appearances of the members of her group. One man had mechanical hands made of a silvery metal, but they moved as fluidly as real hands.

Marina took Wesley aside. "How did you choose who would come with me?" she said softly.

"The wisest and strongest members of the Society are here," the boy said. "The elite warriors. The natural leaders. Guarding the twins is the most important job."

"And that's the only reason?"

"The aperture...." He closed his mouth and walked away abruptly.

The little sneak is still keeping secrets,
Marina thought.

* * *

"Are you done yet?" Iris said impatiently.

"Almost, ma'am," Laurence said.

He was working on a laptop in her hotel suite. The laptop was on a polished wooden dining table along with the remains of a quick dinner. It promised to be a busy night, and Iris had wanted food before the action started.

"The building is owned by a company called Perpetual Energy Technology," Laurence said. "It's a startup that's trying to design better batteries. A year ago, they were almost bankrupt, but a fresh round of venture capital kept them afloat. The company has been quiet since then. Just the usual filings and a few press releases." He tapped on the keyboard of his laptop. "They pay their taxes. I don't see anything that would raise an eyebrow."

"Of course not. It's in Pacifica? Show me a satellite photo."

She walked around to view the screen on the laptop. He brought up an image centered on the Perpetual Energy Technology building.

Pacifica was a small town nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It occupied a valley with tall hills on three sides and the Pacific Ocean on the fourth. The building was as far back as one could get without climbing into the forested hills. A private driveway provided the only vehicular access. Nobody would stumble upon the place by accident.

The building was big and square. The details in the photo were a little fuzzy, but it appeared the walls were made of solid concrete. A giant, white tent was behind the building.

"The girl might be in there," Iris said, "or she might not. We can't make any assumptions. Tell our men to fight their way inside and take prisoners for interrogation."

"But if it's a Society stronghold, the attack could easily fail."

"That's why we have a lot of expendable men. Tell them to form a perimeter and gradually close the noose. We don't want anybody to escape."

"May I suggest another idea," Laurence said. "You could use your ability to lock onto the eyes of one the people in that building. Then you'd have a spy on the inside."

"It's not a bad thought, but I'd have to get uncomfortably close and wait for somebody to wander outside. That's very risky for me. On the other hand, if we could drive them out...." She smiled as the solution occurred to her.

"What are you thinking?"

"We'll still order an attack, but we'll leave the enemy with a clear escape route. I'll be waiting and watching somewhere along the way. If the attack fails, the enemy will flee past me, and I'll lock onto the eyes of the driver."

He nodded. "Excellent. Even if we lose, we win."

"Make the arrangements." Iris nodded firmly.

"Yes, ma'am."

She took another look at the satellite photo.
I'm coming for you,
she thought.

Chapter Fifteen

Marina was hiding in the woods. Even though it was very cold, the setting was lovely for a battle. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County was a strip of native forest to the west of Chicago. It was an island of nature in the midst of urban sprawl. Tall trees reached for the night sky. Animal tracks marked the deep snow and made her wonder where the animals were hiding.

A bus was parked across a road, blocking it completely. It looked like it had slid on the ice. The tailpipe emitted white smoke, and the headlights illuminated falling snow.

Marina was warm despite the frigid weather. Advanced body armor over a sweat suit covered everything but her face. The Lord's anger was a furnace in her gut.

Fifty members of her group were waiting in the shadows by the road. She had picked the true monsters of the Society, the elite of the elite. She wondered if a more fearsome team of fighters had ever been assembled. She expected the battle to be very quick and very lopsided.

A line of giant, green trucks rumbled down the road. They had eight wheels each and could carry very heavy loads. Big diesel engines roared like lions. Piles of crates were stacked high in the beds.
The supplies we need,
Marina thought. The Society was desperately short of weapons.

Ten trucks were travelling together without any other vehicles as protection. The trucks squealed to a stop when they reached the bus blocking the road. Soldiers in heavy, green coats climbed out, and green ski masks covered their faces.

The
legionnaires
attacked as one, and the fight was over even faster than Marina expected. Only a few soldiers had time to cry out in terror and pain before they died, but nobody fought back. It was like a wave of death had swallowed them up.

Marina inspected the aftermath to make sure none of her own people were hurt. She saw a soldier who had been chopped to pieces, body armor and all. Another had burst open like a piñata. A third had black, boney spikes driven through his eye sockets.

Marina called Aaron.

"How did the fight go?" he said.

"It's over. No casualties. We're coming in."

"We're ready for you. Hurry."

She climbed into the bus and sat near the front. A
legionnaire
took the driver's seat, but she would make sure he didn't get lost. She had lived in Chicago for many years and could still find her way even in the dark. The warm air inside the bus felt toasty after the freezing night.

Lightning flashed, and she heard a crack of thunder. A storm was brewing nearby. She wondered if God had something special in mind for this very important night.

All the members of Marina's large team sat in either the bus or the trucks. When everybody was set, she gave the order, and the bus drove off at a safe speed, followed by the Army trucks. The roads were very icy tonight.

Her phone rang. The caller ID showed the code for her headquarters in San Francisco.
Probably just checking up on me,
she thought.

Marina answered, "Yes?"

"We're in trouble, ma'am!" Jia said in a terrified voice.

Marina straightened. "Calm down. What's going on?"

"The security system is lighting up like a Christmas tree. It's identifying possible threats all over the place. There are soldiers in the hills, on the roads, and everywhere. We're surrounded!"

Marina's heart was in her throat. She was two thousand miles away and completely unable to help.

"How did they find you?"

"We think the van had a tracking device on it," Jia said. "The system picked up a faint signal, but when I went to look for the source, it was gone."

"On the van?"

Marina stared out the window at the snowstorm. She couldn't imagine how the enemy had found the van at the airport, but it didn't matter now. The damage was done.

"The security system will hold them off for a little while," she said, "but eventually, you'll have to evacuate headquarters. It's compromised anyway."

"But our stuff..."

"Fuck it! Figure out a way to get past the soldiers and head for the nearest safe house. Don't leave anybody behind. Put the security system in final defense mode before you go. Kill as many of the enemy as you can. This is a clear self-defense situation." She took a deep breath. "I know you're not trained for this kind of thing, but the four of you are very smart and creative. You can do this. Make sure Olivia doesn't freak out. The poor kid has been through a lot. I wish there was some way I could help you, but all I can offer is advice. Never forget that you're members of the Gray Spear Society. You don't fear the enemy.
They fear you.
Bye."

Marina put away her phone. She was shaking from anxiety.

"Ma'am? Is there a problem?"

She looked up at Hanley. He wasn't really an elite warrior, but she had brought him along just to have a familiar face in the crowd. He was wearing the same black and gray armor as her. The thick, coarse material fit his body like a second skin, and ceramic plates made his chest seem bigger.

Marina summarized the situation back at headquarters.

He grimaced. "Oh."

"I don't understand how it happened."

"The enemy must've followed us back from the Golden Gate Bridge. They put the tracking device on the van after we flew off. And I know why. Olivia."

Marina had a cold feeling. The business with the angels suddenly made a lot of sense. It had been a ploy to draw her team to a specific location. Aaron had fallen for the same trick with the cannibals.

Marina lowered her head. "I feel so stupid. Olivia was the target from the beginning."

"We were all fooled," Hanley said, "but now I'm curious. Does the enemy know about the Society? This trap was clearly intended for us specifically. That's what Katie was saying before, and I didn't believe her, but now I think she has a point."

"Maybe our secrets aren't as secret as we thought. If we ever get home, we'll catch the bastards and wring the truth out of them. I'll talk to Aaron when we get back to the hotel. Maybe he can arrange some kind of rescue."

He shook his head. "I think Aaron has enough on his plate, ma'am. So do we. The fate of the universe depends on the success of the mission here. Our friends in San Francisco will have to fend for themselves for tonight at least. If they get to a safe house, they should be OK."

Marina drove her sharp fingernails into the vinyl seat she was sitting on. She was so frustrated and angry, she wanted to scream. She noticed people looking at her and kept quiet. The Lady of the Society wasn't allowed to throw a fit in front of the troops.

"You're right," she said, "even though I don't like it. We'll stick with the plan."

"Yes, ma'am." Hanley went back to his seat and sat down.

* * *

Jia looked up at her teammates. All four assistants were huddled together in the small security booth, and only Olivia was excluded from the meeting.

"You heard the boss," Jia said. "We have to evacuate."

"But we'll get shot to pieces!" Corrie said.

She pointed to the screens on the security system. Long range cameras showed soldiers moving across the hills above headquarters. A combination of light amplification and infrared sensors allowed the cameras to see the men despite the darkness. They were carrying assault rifles, pistols, and grenades.