Chapter Twenty-Five

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Cassie and Demitri were waiting for us to arrive in the war room back at the base in Corpus Christi, Texas. General Pierce was not a happy camper and asked for O'Hara and me to step into his office before the debriefing.

“Andre called me not five minutes ago asking for another plane for transport. I thought there was only supposed to be three hundred werewolves moving through?”

“That was the estimate I had gotten right before I left. We didn't know their solstice would scare so many into taking their families into an unknown world in order to keep the babies alive.” Though, as a mother, there wasn't anything I wouldn't face if it saved my child.

Andre had called after Ashton's spy had gotten back from Cadia, with the news that even more were prepared to flee than even Ashton had guessed at. It put a snag in our refugee movement. The rulers of Kla' din, though, were ecstatic at the thought of having so many ground force fighters added to their world that could keep pace in a fight with a vampyre. They had a huge male population, but only a small percentage could wield magick on any level. Those who could, were elevated to the status of a Je' and taught how to flex the power of their world into inhuman speed. Then, they were taught how to wield blades and fight hand to hand.

Their female population was only fifteen percent of the world’s population, though a higher percentage of those could wield power. However, the females were kept out of any form of danger, because they were what little future the Kla' dins had in repopulating their world. The females were taught how to bury their powers, so they wouldn't be so easily located by the Draugralls and taken by force. It was truly hellish for a female with very strong gifts, to constantly have to keep them buried down within herself. Young female children, with any power were never left alone, until they could withhold their gifts without having to think about it. Until that day, she was in the constant care of an adult who could dampen her powers, until she learned how to suppress them on her own. I could empathize for those young girls. I had to bury mine, so my mother wouldn't have me exorcized. Still, it’s a hell having to hide abilities all the time, no matter what the reason was. Until we could find a way to keep the Draugralls out of Kla' din, it was the only way to keep the girls safe.

“I sent two more planes, just in case. But, do you have any idea how hard it is going to be for me to not only get those people, those werewolves, through airport security, not only in Louisiana, but through Okinawa? And how hard it’s going to be to get them through the towns to where the portal is? The logistics is just begging for an incident, and what we're doing here could come to the attention that we can't shut up.” Oh, he was not happy.

O'Hara stepped in, trying to calm the waters. “My friend in Okinawa could help with transporting them to the portal under the radar, if I can call him, Sir?”

General Pierce rounded on him. “And won't he be asking questions of dropping off all those people and they disappear, not to be seen again?” He then turned his suppressed wrath back at me. “Because of the spell weaving your Kla' din husbands sends, it's been hard enough keeping up with the women who show up in Japan. And, those women are never seen again after their passports and visas run out. The Japanese Consulate is asking why we haven't lodged any complaints over the number of missing women having disappeared into Japan recently. That has been hell sidestepping why we aren't concerned. And now, we aren't the only country missing women on supposed Japan vacations. And their governments are lodging complaints. It makes us look bad when we don't do the same thing.”

“Having a bad day, General?” I asked, flippantly.

O'Hara rolled his eyes.

Before the General could take me to task for it, I said, “Listen, the Shaballum's mating season is almost over. The callings will go down drastically, since only the strongest Je's will be able to send a spell out through the portal after that time. It's why the Ja's have allowed so many of the weakest Sorcerers there to call first, rather than the strongest. It was also the only way not to have Sorcerers traipsing all over our world searching for their mates. Even low leveled Sorcerers could cause a lot of havoc here. This, in the long run, will save you many headaches. After the heat is over for the mares, the strongest Je's will call and the toll of missing women will go down.”

“That will still add up at the end of the quarter and how to we explain our lack of concern?”

“I have an idea, but it is a tad illegal?”

“Anything, please.”

“Some of our people are very good with computers; I can send a family to Japan and set them up to take note of the women being drawn to the portal. Once we have their names, we can clean out their existence here, but we'll have to hack into other countries computers, as well. It has risks, but smaller in comparison to the missing women toll going on now, I would assume.”

He looked at me, incredulous. “You call that a tad illegal?”

“Well, yes; we aren't killing anyone.” I was confused.

His smile started small, and then the laughing started. “Cat, there are some days that I just don't know what to do with you.”

“A raise would be nice.”

That only made him laugh harder. O'Hara soon joined in. I don't know what their problem was; I was being serious. Replacing leather jackets and boots as well, as the silver blades I would lose on missions, was expensive.

“No raise?”

He just shook his head at me. Oh well, I tried.

“Fine, but if I save the world, I want a nice bonus.”

“Cat, please. Seriously now, get those people over there after they talk to Wizard. He'll have codes we aren't supposed to have that will keep the risk down to a minimum.”

I was being serious.

His own expression turned taciturn again. “Now do you mind filling me in on how you got your brother there so quickly”

“I bent time and space for a minute.”

O'Hara interjected, “But, I thought you couldn't do anything larger than fifty pounds.”

“For one, Translocating and opening an astral doorway are two different things. Translocating is instantaneous. You have to have been at the place before and your aim better be dead on, balls accurate.” I have been wanting to use the term for a while now and smiled. “Opening astral doorways is another way of getting others from one place to another if they have never been there before. However, opening a doorway and holding it takes a lot of energy. Also, there are other downsides to an astral doorway. If I bring people to me or send them through the door, I wouldn't be able to follow safely.”

“Why couldn't you follow after everyone has passed through?” General Pierce asked next.

“Because, the power needed to hold it open would drain me too badly for me to also safely cross. I would barely have enough left to safely and properly close the doorway again.”

General Pierce sat back into his chair. “What happens if it's not closed right?”

“A rip in space and time can happen, causing a rift. That would be bad.”

O'Hara looked at the General, who nodded his head at him. “When we were at the Priestess' house, there was talk of a Black Gate and the Bermuda Triangle?”

The General's eyes widened, but he waited for me to reply. “There are twelve natural dimensional gates on Earth. The Bermuda Triangle is just the most active and famous one you would recognize, right off the bat.” There were thirteen actually, but the thirteenth gate wasn't a problem and something they didn't need to know about. “The Black Gate is more commonly known as the Mediterranean Triangle covering both land and sea of the top part of Africa and the Aegean Sea. The Sententials are strong voodoo practitioners who pass on the knowledge of this gate to each successive generation. Their mandate, which they've kept for millennia, is to keep that gate closed by building positive energy and sending it into the small cracks of the Black Gate keeping The Shadow Lords at bay. It’s called, 'Blowing the sweet through the crack'. Whenever you hear a voodoo practitioner speak that sentence, they are talking about the Black Gate.”

“So, what was she talking about when she said, 'soon the Gate will be open and the shadows come'?” O'Hara asked.

“Bokors like her are waiting for the shift to open that gate and let the Shadow Lords out to rule once more.”

“Cat,” the General interrupted, “What’s a Bokor?”

“A Bokor, is a voodoo practitioner that worships the left-hand path; General Robertson's equivalent.”

“Wonderful, so now we have another host of people and a gate to worry about?”

“Yes and no. That's the Sententials job, not ours, but we must back them up, if they call. The Shadow Lords aren't really the warm and fuzzy type. It would be a real good idea to lend a hand if the Sententials ever call for it.”

“And the skull called Max she wanted you to steal for her?”

Damn, O'Hara would have to remember that part.

I sighed, “The Skulls are part of the prophecy. There are thirteen ancient crystal skulls, the most famous and also the biggest, weighing eighteen pounds, is called Max and he is right here in Texas.”

The General reached for his notebook and was taking notes. “You talk like it's alive.”

“It and the others are alive, in a way.”

O'Hara continued to dig for more information, “So what do they have to do with the prophecy?”

“The thirteen crystal skulls will come together to aid the Ancient Gods and Goddesses back into our world. So the legends go.”

“Why isn't Max with you then? Who is this person who has him?”

“The Skulls aren't our mandate and Max, as the others, are with their proper keepers, except one.”

The General rubbed his eyes. “I know I am going to regret this, but where is the one who isn't with its proper keeper as you say?”

“In a government installation locked away in a steel box and put with a great many things the government has neither knowledge nor any right to have. They are messing with fire and it will burn their asses some day.” And that day was coming sooner than they realized.

“Why did they lock it away?”

“It wouldn't stop moving.”

“Excuse me?” the General asked.

“It was in a museum, but it didn't like it there. It wanted to be with its proper keeper, so it kept moving. It freaked the curator so much, he called in the specialist and they were freaked and locked it away. What they still fail to understand to this day is that when the time comes it will move where it ultimately needs to be, locked steel box or not. They ALL will move when the time comes. It just wants to be elsewhere at the present time, is its problem.”

Stupid mundane mortals thinking they could play God or control something made by the Gods, I snorted to myself.

“So, it moves-by itself?” O'Hara wanted this completely clarified.

“Frequently; it's not happy.”

“Where does it want to be, then?”

“I have no clue. I am not a keeper.”

“Is this a problem for us?” The General was probably afraid I'd ask to break into a federal building to steal it.

I smiled at him. ”I haven't been told it’s my problem; so no, I would say not.”

He blew a sigh of relief. “Good, but these werewolves are a problem.”

“Not really. They'll be on Kla' din when if I think it’s best to move them out of harm’s way. They'll be Kla' dins problem or an asset actually, since they will be much safer fighting vampyres and won't have to worry about voodoo priestesses, lab experiments or dark adepts. Compared to all that, vampyres will be a cake walk.”

They both just looked at me for a long moment.

O'Hara shook his head at me. “There is something so wrong in what you just said, but I haven't figured out exactly what it is, yet.”

“What? Vampyres are an outside threat, right?”

“Right.”

“Werewolves always need something to fight, it's in their blood. Ashton can say until he is blue in the face, that all they want is peace, and that may be true, but sooner or later, some of those alphas instincts are going to kick in and it won’t be peaceful. Being in Kla' din, they'll have an outside source to fight that will keep the pack cohesive until it’s been solidified. Trust me, Ashton may be a good leader, but on some things, he is still wet behind the ears. His alphas would have challenged him sooner or later and then he would have had major guilt in taking out one or two of his men to make his point.”

O'Hara's face cleared. “Ah, I see-dominance games. I keep forgetting they're not just people.”

I answered both of O'Hara's points. “Not games really, just instinct until enough blood has been spilled. And it's easy to forget they're not humans, when you don't see them on four legs all the time.”

“And now your seventeen year old son is the pack leader,” the General reminded me.

“I know. Why do you think I am happy to give the Cadians an outside force to fight and bleed over until the pack becomes banded in spirit and blood?” I knew what I was doing when I suggested Kla' din. It filled so many needs, but mostly it kept my son from having to spill the blood of his own pack. That would have ripped him apart. Ashton would survive and eventually be all right about it, since he had grown up with dominance battles all of his life. But Craven hasn't, and it would have permanently damaged something inside of him, making him vulnerable and eventually some alpha would go in for the kill. It was the best thing I could think of to keep something like that from happening to him. He already had enough on him that could break him so easily, with his big heart.

“Well, the werewolves are going to be dealt with, the Black Gate is not a Nightwolves problem, and the skulls are not a problem; but this is, Catrina. This concerns us very much.” General Pierce slid over a news article dated two days ago.

The caption read, “23 young women kidnapped from two Churches, Parents and Church officials are frantic.”

I snorted, “I know why the Church is frantic. They're afraid of getting busted. Again.”

“Is this that Maggie problem we talked about?” O'Hara took the article to read it.

“Catrina, this is nothing to make light of,” Pierce rebuked me.

“I don't see why not.”

“Why didn't you inform me of this mission?”

“It was a civilian problem, not a military one.”

He looked upset again. “What isn't in that article, O'Hara, is one of the priest's was castrated. What's amazing is the wound looked weeks old, but the priest swore he had just woken up with his genitals removed, Catrina. Would you mind explaining this?”

“He must have been caught doing something very bad.”

“This borders on vigilantism, and you know it.”

“I don't know anything. If you recall, I have been here the whole time. None of your people were involved, so it shouldn't be a problem.” I had been voted out of going, since no one in the Coven trusted me to keep my cool and not kill anyone on our way out. The whole mission was done with our second string family defenders. They needed the experience anyway in doing civilian OPs before taking on a military one. Personally, I thought they had done a bang up job. Gerard was quite happy, too.

“Where are the girls now?”

“Safe, until we know that the girls won't be turned right back over to the church. If so, I am sure they'll have other options available to them. The ones whose parents can be trusted to keep their daughter safe from the church will have a happy reunion.”

Our family counselor was working overtime helping each girl deal with the aftermath. Hells, we needed more help for the psychological aid these girls needed. Everything else, we had covered.

“Some of those girls are pregnant, Catrina.” Again the General used my whole name. He must be pissed as hell.

“And they'll also be taken care of. All has been taken care of. We could use one or two more shrinks though, if you have them?” I asked hopefully.

“You can't mutilate people like this and not expect some kind of blow back, Catrina.”

Then, O'Hara dropped his bomb. “This is why I think she ought to be taken out of rotation for this next mission, Sir.”

“What?” I was now the one getting pissed.

“You're a liability for this mission. It’s obvious from the Intel that this is a ploy to get their hands on you again. Plus, we are going into a government installation, where it is alleged that they are doing illegal scientific metaphysical experimentation. You're unstable in your emotions when dealing with anything to do with children or science on metaphysical beings. Your judgment becomes impaired. Finally, it is inadvisable to walk into a trap that is so obviously meant for you. We can’t take the chance of placing you in extreme danger and giving them what they want. So, I recommend you sit on the bench for this round.”

“Catrina?”

Oh joy, the General was going to let us two leaders hash it out.

I took a picture out my pocket and showed it to O'Hara. “Look at him.”

He did, but his resolute face didn't change.

“That's an innocent, three year old little boy. Yeah, he may turn furry every now and again, but he is still just a child, a baby.”

“But, he's not yours.”

“No, he's not. He is an innocent who needs help, and the faster we get out there, the better his chances will be.”

“They know you're coming. They want you to come. It would be stupid to give them what they want.”

“Yeah, they know I am coming. I know that they know I am coming, but they're idiots if they think I am coming in the front door. That's your job.” I smiled evilly at him.

“I can't trust you not to kill anyone once you get there. This isn't Pakistan, Brazil or even Saudi. This is an American OP on American soil. It has to be a clean snatch and grab; I can't trust you to do that.”

O'Hara had never tried to stop me before. He never got in my way with a situation that was clearly more of a paranormal situation than a military one. He was out to cockblock me on this mission and he was pissing me off.

“If you can promise me I can bring every single paranormal out of there and send them home. We get their files and burn their computers; then I can promise not to kill any humans unless my life, or an innocent's life is in imminent danger and I have no other choice.”

With what I will be walking into, I was guaranteed death and mayhem which was why I could promise this so easily. The General and his men would give me every opportunity to have my revenge.

“No killing? No mutilating?”

Why was I getting the blame for somebody else's work?

“Unless absolutely necessary.”

“All right. How to you plan on getting past the General's men, so they can’t grab you?”

“I'll think of something,” I said, smiling up at him.

“That's what I'm afraid of.” O’Hara gritted out.

“Enough, you two. I won't authorize you on this mission, Cat, unless you can show me how you going to keep your exposure down to an acceptable level.”

“Fine, let's head off to the war room then and I'll see what we've got to work with.”

Neither looked happy, but they agreed reluctantly and we set off to meet up with the rest of the teams going in.

Wizard had gotten the blueprints of the plant and some history of how and why it was built. I scanned the information letting ideas come and go in and out of my brain. It had always been weird how my brain worked the way it did. I just let it go, doing what it did best while Wizard filled us in on his report. “Plum Island was built back in World War II and is still headed by a German Scientist that worked under one of the most evil Nazi Death Camps that used Jewish prisoners to experiment on, then kill them when they were done with their bodies, providing they lived through the experimentation. Our people got a hold of this particular German scientist, because of his knowledge of viruses and biological warfare. His genetics knowledge held him in good stead in splicing together cells our own scientist hadn't even conceived of. So, our government made him a deal; work for us or die. He's been there ever since leading the labs in making viruses and genetic splicing of cells for various mutations.”

I interjected, “It's been rumored Plum Island is responsible for allowing the West Nile virus out along with Lyme disease.”

“Lyme disease is definitely at their doorstep. The department investigating the West Nile virus; still hasn't gotten concrete proof yet.” Wizard affirmed.

I snorted, most likely because they'd gotten pressure put on them from someone higher up in the food chain. Or paid off really well, to slow the investigation.

General Pierce added his report. “There have been two bodies of unknown origins wash up on the East Coast, not far from Plum Island.”

He showed me pictures taken of these grotesquely malformed bodies, which looked like a cross between something vaguely human and many parts of an animal. What kind of animal, was anyone's guess, but the end result was really awful.

“How did they wind up on shore?”

Wizard was answering that one, “We don't know exactly, but since this place was built so long ago, security and safety measures are sadly and dangerously behind the times for the kind of experiments they are working on.”

Which explained how two dangerous viruses, never known to man before, are now loose on our planet. Good job, dumb asses, I thought to myself.

“But, these creatures are extremely larger than a virus. How could they have gotten loose?”

The General said quietly, “Autopsies show they may have had extra abilities that nothing on Earth has.”

Meaning that these creatures had been spliced from supernatural beings with possible abilities of shapeshifting, blending or even cloaking. Son of a bitches must pay. But I held the anger off of my face and just took the information as outwardly calm as I could.

O'Hara looked at me with a hard gaze in his eyes, “So, how do you suppose to get on this island surrounded by water?”

“Recon and half the Special Forces can come in from each side. It should pull all of those men out to the outside to defend, right?”

“Yeah.”

“At night, they should have no more than twenty people on the island during a normal situation, but since General Robertson will be there, we should count on another forty to fifty highly trained soldiers.”

“Right.”

“Since we are doing a snatch and grab, with as low of a body count as possible, we'll need tranqs dosed for normal human body weight and rifles for them.”

“So far, so good. But, the exposure to you, personally, will be too high if you come in on any of the sections.”

“Not if I come in by air.”

O’Hara blinked, “What?”

My assassin teacher would be killing people right now; he once knocked me upside the head to get the point across. I didn’t wake up for over an hour. Then he said to me, 'No one ever looks up. That's how you die, stupid.'

“If they're scattered outside in every direction, I drop in the middle, right on the roof. From there, I can enter either through one of these doors or preferably, through this completely antiquated ventilation system. Shit, look at this, a six year old could get through this,” as I pointed out several easy entrances in from vents.

Captain Holland snorted, trying to hold his laughter in. He thought I'd just made a rookie move.

“Those vents can hold any number of viruses and disease which aren't probably guarded on the island to begin with. You want to die?”

I smiled, “I am a vampire, sucker. No stinkin' virus is going to harm me.”

Captain Holland lost his smirk.

“Ok, but you can still carry contaminates from the island on your extraction.”

“Not with magick to 'clear the air'. We can easily remove anything off of us before going outside of the building, even cells as small as a virus. Anything not normal to us, we'll fry with magick.”

O’Hara was gritting his teeth. I couldn't understand why he didn't want me on this mission.

“You'll have to show me how before we go,” was all he said. I knew I had won.

“Umm, Cat?” Wizard got my attention

“Yes.”

“How do you plan on getting onto the roof?”

“From a plane or a helicopter.”

O'Hara's eyebrow went up. “Do you understand the winds in that area?”

“Yes, I understand that on a choppy night it, can be damned dangerous.”

He nodded. “Wind currents being erratic to begin with and manning a drop on such a small area would be a tad suicidal.”

“Not with the right pilot.”

He shook his head, “We don't have anyone among us that skilled.”

“I know of someone.”

The General was looking rather peaked again. These two really didn't want me going. My feelings were starting to be hurt over their lack of confidence in me.

O'Hara gritted out, “Who would be skilled enough... no let me rephrase that... who would be crazy enough and good enough, to make that drop?”

“Lieutenant Juan Rico.”

O'Hara stared laughing. “The pilot that crashed and was in a coma? That one?”

I nodded, “The pilot who saved everyone else on that ride, landing a malfunctioned piece of shit helicopter. The pilot who has flown eleven missions, dropping off or picking up Special Forces teams just like yours, under heavy gunfire and brought you out. The pilot who has more flight time in combat than anyone else on this base. Yeah, that one.”

If that wasn't crazy enough or skilled enough, I'd become a nun.

We went through the rest of the to-do list, while we were there. Mark 5 SOC boats that had minimal radar signatures made them damn hard to pick up if they were scanning, and with the outdated equipment they had on that island, I was secure with the Mark 5's. We also requisitioned several Zodiacs, small inflatable rubber rafts, which had a small engine that can get us back out to sea, to the Mark 5's waiting for extraction. And one Stealth Black Hawk helicopter.

“Sure you trust him to get you up there in one piece?” O'Hara asked me.

“Absolutely.”

“Fine. Get him here and prepared for this,” General Pierce ordered.

Oh, he was not the happy camper at all.