Rufus sat at a round table with delegates from the Beastia Conventio. Many had taken great risk to slip from their territories and attend this meeting. Their weariness showed in their collective faces. Many were more than nervous, and some appeared quite shaken at the numerous empty seats at the once full table. Murmurings of the missing and rumors of how they had fallen to the many human hunters and their military teams across the world were hard to miss.
Rufus allowed them to hold their casual conversations and delayed calling the meeting to order while the attendees gossiped among themselves. Let them stew in their fear. It will only make selling Mr. Thompson to them easier once they’re worked up a bit more.
Natashia appeared through a doorway and Rufus gave her a slight nod. She slipped back and went to Jack’s room where Nadia and he were speaking of the coming moon and their plan to test his theory. Natashia knocked lightly at the door and stepped inside. “Jack? Rufus requests a favor of you, if you can spare a few moments of your time, please,” she said softly.
Jack smiled at his new mother-in-law, “Sure, mom.” He once enjoyed grating her with the unaffectionate term, but now, it seemed to grow on her. She looked barely old enough to be Nadia’s older sister, yet… “What does Rufus need?”
She withdrew his uniform and tactical vest from a wicker basket. It had been cleaned and pressed. She held it out to him. “He has delegates from the other families here. Soon he will be telling them about you and your agreement to go back to your people,” she explained. “He feels that if you make your presence known, it will drive the importance of what you do home to them. It will make it more…‘real’ to them.”
“He needs their permission?” Jack asked.
“No.” Natashia smiled. “Not at all. But many are planning on taking matters into their own hands. They are wanting to take the fight to your people on their own terms, and Rufus is hoping to stay their hand a little longer. By making your presence known, they will see that what he says is real and perhaps save many lives in the process. Both human and vampire.”
Jack realized then the true importance of what Rufus had requested. If the vampire families came together and staged an attack against the Monster Squad on their home turf, a lot of innocent civilians and military personnel at Tinker would be put at risk as they slaughtered their way onto the base to get to them. The squads could lock down underground and wait them out until dawn, but those trapped above…it would be a bloodbath.
“Yes, of course,” he said and removed his robe and began dressing. Natashia took his robe and Nadia folded it and laid it aside. Natashia then held open his underwear for him to step into and Jack paused. It took him a moment to gather himself. Nudity among the wolves was natural and it was taking him time to get used to it. Especially around the natural beauty of their women, but he hesitated only a moment before stepping into his boxers, and then his BDU pants. Nadia pulled his undershirt over his head, then he sat and Natashia helped him into his socks. “I’m not used to having help to get dressed,” he told them, blushing slightly.
“We don’t mind.” Nadia smiled at him, giving him a wink.
Natashia handed him his boots and stood. “I shall go to the chamber and wait for Rufus to signal for us. When he does, I shall open the side door and you may enter there. Please, go to the front of the room and simply stand there until you are addressed.” She said. “Please, Jack…try to ignore the comments that any of them make, or any threats that are said so long as they are seated, okay?”
Jack’s face twisted in confusion. “Okay? But why?”
“One of their rules is that they may say anything while seated. But if they stand, that is considered taking action. Then, and only then, can the others re-act. Do you understand?”
“So they can say anything…call me names, threaten my family, et cetera, and it doesn’t count unless one of them stands and does it? Then all bets are off and I can beat his ass?”
“Again, no. Rufus is the host. He will handle all indiscretions,” she warned. “Agreed?”
“I’m not sure I can do that, mom,” Jack said with a soft smile.
“You must, my son.” She smiled back. “Do it for Nadia.”
He turned and gazed at her for a moment and his heart melted all over again. “Damn, but you drive a hard bargain,” he muttered. “Okay. Deal. I’m the puppet. Don’t speak unless spoken to.”
“Thank you, my dear.” She planted a less than chaste kiss on him and then walked from the room.
Jack followed her out with his eyes, wondering if her intentions toward him were motherly or not, then tossed the idea. It was ludicrous, right? She was Nadia’s mother…
“Let’s finish preparing you, Jack,” Nadia said, holding out his BDU blouse. He stepped over and she helped him slip it on, buttoning it up for him and then kissing him when she reached the top.
“Hey, what’s the deal with your mom?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you not see the way she kissed me just then?”
“Yes, so?” Nadia replied. “I think she likes you, Jack. You showed real heroism when you stood your ground against her Halfling form.”
“So?”
“My mother also likes your sense of humor.”
“But the kiss…” Jack pleaded.
“Was just a kiss.”
“Well, it felt like more.”
“Only because you find her attractive, Jack,” Nadia stated.
“What? I do not. I love you!” Jack tried to defend himself.
“There is no harm in finding my mother attractive, Jack. She is a very attractive woman. I take after her in many ways. In fact, many have said that I get my form from her.” She ran her hands down her sides as if to indicate so. “Besides, my love, Mother is mated. You and I are mated. There is no harm.” She smiled.
Jack was befuddled. “No harm? She practically ran her tongue down my throat.” Nadia gave him a smirk. “Well, it wasn’t exactly a friendly kiss.”
“Jack, you were holding her by the breasts only a short time ago. Was it a caress?” Nadia smiled at him.
“It was in self-defense!” Jack sputtered. Nadia laughed.
“You read too much into small things, Jack.” Then to aggravate him more she added, “Wait until she really gives you a kiss. You may well forget all about you and I being mated. My mother can be quite persuasive when she wants to be.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and Jack paled. “I am teasing you, Jack!” She slapped at his chest. “Now relax and finish dressing! Rufus is waiting for you!”
Jack pushed his foot the rest of the way into his tactical boots and began lacing them. He pulled his BDU pants down over the tops of the boots and cinched them over the lace knots. Nadia handed him his vest and he began checking his pouches and satchels. All of his gear was still inside.
He thought surely that Rufus would have disarmed him…she handed him his duty belt with holster. His pistol was still in the holster. He pulled it and checked the magazine. It was still loaded. He slammed the magazine home and checked the chamber.
“Be careful in there, Jack. Those are silver bullets. The representatives will all be allergic to silver,” she said, still adjusting his uniform for hm.
Jack simply nodded and replaced the weapon in its holster. He patted his BDU pants pockets where his P90 magazines would have been. Empty. He looked around and Nadia had her back to him. She turned and presented the basket. At the bottom sat his P90 carbine and the spare magazines. He took the P90 and attached it to the short sling on his vest, then stored the magazines in the mag pouch that was sewn into the side of his pants. He did a quick check of everything. Nadia handed him his sunglasses. He glanced outside and shook his head.
“Take them. They won’t be able to see where you are looking,” she said. Jack slipped them on. His eyes quickly adjusted to the extra tint. She then placed the boonie cap on his head with a satisfying tug. “There. You look absolutely terrifying,” she said with a giggle.
“Yeah, that laugh really sells it, sweetheart.” He leaned down and kissed her again.
“Come, I’ll show you where mother wants you.”
“Ooh, mother wants me,” he teased.
She punched him in the arm. “Be careful or I’ll let her have you, mister.” He smiled down at her as she led him down to the great room where Rufus had convened the meeting. She found her mother listening to the representatives argue on the other side of the door.
Her mother held a finger up to her lips as they approached. Nadia held Jack back in the shadows and they waited. Natashia listened intently as Rufus spoke with the attendees.
“We have been too idle for too long and I know that many of you wish to combine your peoples and take the war to the humans. From what we have gathered, the Lamia Humanus have already done so and are laying the bread crumbs to make it look as if it were we who attacked their hunters.” A murmur rose from the group and Rufus allowed them to make their assumptions. “However, we had infiltrators in the Humanus group closest to us. It took us a long time, and unfortunately, it cost us the lives of too many wolves to accomplish this, but eventually, we were able to infiltrate their ranks.”
Rufus stepped away from his seat and slowly walked around the table, “During their attack of the American hunters, one of my wolves was able to capture a live hunter.” Gasps and more murmurs came from the assemblage. Rufus raised his hand to silence them and garner their attention once more. “He was badly injured during the attack, but we provided him with aid and succor.”
“Why?!” an attendee yelled. “The hunters would have gladly removed your head from your shoulders given the chance!”
“Or staked you in the sand and let the sun do their dirty work!” another yelled.
Jack started to enter, but Natashia held him back with her hand. She shook her head. “Not yet…wait for Rufus.” She whispered.
Rufus held his hands up again, “Please. Please. Hear me,” he said. The attendees calmed slowly and he continued. “The man was injured and needed our help.” He said softly. “And he needed to be informed of the truth.”
“The truth does not matter to a hunter!” a voice called out.
“Ah, but it does!” Rufus answered. “When the hunters are in fact, wolves themselves!”
The room exploded with arguments and exclamations and disagreements and vampires hissing in disbelief. Rufus allowed a moment for the noise to die down then continued. “They are, in fact, werewolves, however, they do not know it.” He turned to the doorway and motioned. Natashia waved at Jack who snapped to attention and marched into the room. He heard the vampires roar to life and for a moment, his desire to open fire was almost overwhelming, but he continued on and followed Natashia’s instructions. He marched to the front of the room and stood at attention.
Rufus nodded a thanks to Jack then turned to the crowd. He waved them down then continued once more. “As you’ll notice, the American hunter did not enter with guns blazing. He did not toss in a phosphorus grenade and let us all burn in the sun’s light. He did not make any effort to attack.” Rufus paused to allow his words to sink in. He stood in front of his chair and placed his palms on the table and leaned in to his attendees speaking softly. “He now knows what he is. He now knows the truth. He now knows of the war between us and the Lamia Humanus and above all other things…he has agreed to assist us in taking the truth of our plight to his people.” Rufus allowed his words to reach his people, but some would have none of it.
“His people will never suffer a single vampire to live!” one shouted. “We’re all monsters to them!”
“If we are all just monsters, then why would they purposely inject their own warriors with the very same virus of the wolf?” Rufus asked.
“Only a means to an end!” another shouted. “There is no way that they can compete otherwise!”
“Untrue,” Rufus countered. “Our kind have been hunted for centuries by these mere humans, and many have come close to making us nearly extinct.” Rufus stood to his full height. “Non. If they truly believed that all of us were merely monsters, they would never have created their warriors with the very same curse that created the werewolf.”
“It is too risky, Thorn! Once they know where we are, they will surely—”
“They will never know where you are. They will only know where I am. Of that, you have my word,” he said. “And I will tell them all that I know of the Lamia Humanus. If we are to direct them to the true enemy, then we must try.”
“Why would this human help us?” another asked.
Rufus turned to Jack and nodded. Jack assumed a formal ‘at ease’ position. “To answer your question, sir,” Jack began, “Rufus already explained, I’m not human. I’m wolf. I just didn’t know it until they tested my blood.”
“But why would you help us?” he asked again.
“For one, I owe Rufus for saving my life,” Jack said. “Two, he is allowing my mate to come or go with me, as we see fit. And thirdly…” Jack looked at Rufus and smiled, “he’s my friend. And that’s what friends do for each other.”
Jack turned back to the group of vampires and gave them a good hard stare. He began a slow walk toward the table. “I don’t blame you for not exactly trusting me. And to be honest, I don’t know you, so I don’t trust you. But I trust Rufus. If he trusts you enough to allow you into his home, then I’ll just have to accept that. But the fact of the matter is, I gave Rufus my word that I would do my absolute best to convince my people of the war within the vampire families. How the Lamia Beastia have sworn off feeding on humans and only feed on livestock. How the Lamia Humanus have gone about redirecting the Monster Squad into attacking you and setting you up to be their fall-guys.” Jack stopped when he reached Rufus’ side. “I can’t promise that I can make a difference, but I swore on my life that I would give it everything I had. And my life means a lot more than it used to now, because it’s tied to my mate as well.
“If you insist on going through with your attack on the squads, I can guarantee you two things, a lot of your people will die in the attack, and a lot of innocent human lives will die in the attack, but you will never reach the Monster Squad. They are buried under ground so deep, you couldn’t reach them with a nuclear bomb. All they’d have to do is wait ‘til sunrise then come out guns blazing. Those who didn’t run with the sunrise and tried to find a dark place to hide would be sniffed out and staked or…well, it wouldn’t be pretty.
“The point is…this plan of his? It’s the easiest and least bloody way to save the most lives. You can either get on board or you can get out of the way. But an all-out assault? It’s suicide. I can guarantee that.”
Most of the vampires were silent during Jack’s impromptu speech, and very few said anything now. One, very large and very old looking vampire at the end of the table stood and Jack almost went for his weapon. “It would seem, Monsieur Thorn, that you have chosen your emissary well.” He turned and walked away from the table. Jack looked at Rufus and then stepped back out the way he came.
Natashia greeted him in the hallway again. “I hope I didn’t overstep,” Jack said.
“I think you performed splendidly,” she said.
Nadia hugged him and led him back toward their room
Rufus milled about to answer questions and discuss secondary options, and the whole time, he hoped and he prayed that Mr. Thompson was up to the task at hand. Without him, the civil war would soon be over and the Lamia Beastia would be forever extinct. The Lamia Humanus would execute their plan to use humans as livestock and rule the world. Rufus sighed and then continued the terrible task at hand…politics.
Franklin searched like a madman. Of all of his memories, he could not recall any of Mitchell and his group of idiots actually finding his USB drive. They discovered a virus in their computers, but they didn’t actually search his person. He dug through his carry-on luggage. Finally, he found the suit pants he had worn that day. Please be there, please be there, please be there…Aha!! Franklin’s hand felt the familiar shape of the USB drive and slowly withdrew his shining jewel from his trouser pocket.
“You’re going to go down in a ball of flame, Mitchell. You and that half-blood bitch you have working for you,” Franklin growled.
He marched to his closet and got dressed. His head still ached, but nothing at all like it had before he crawled into the tub. He glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was barely 10:30AM. If he hurried, he could get it in the afternoon express back to the hacker. Franklin quickly dressed and found a small manila envelope to fit the USB into. He slipped the envelope into his breast pocket, and after taking two more headache formula and swallowing the rest of the cold coffee, he left to overnight the package.
As soon as he was on the road, he called the hacker and told him the package would be en route. Be prepared for it. Use the email address he finds on it and the data on there and make it public ASAP. Send it to every news agency, every internet blog, every tabloid, anybody who might possibly take it ‘to the people’ as quickly as possible. The hacker laughed and assured him, for what he was paid, he’d hack the president’s email and send it to him if he wanted.
“Just get it to the press. The president will get wind of it soon enough.” He smiled.
Franklin ran into the nearest express shipping office, scribbled the PO Box address on it, kissed the manila envelope good bye and paid for overnighting it. He walked outside and headed for a coffee shop and one of those gourmet coffees all of the interns are so wild about.
This was going to be a good day. He could feel it in his bones.