Three Cheddar Maple bagels, plus a quarter of Gina's veggie eggwhite on flatbread and a mug of coffee later and I felt better. I was polishing off her sandwich when the white-haired gent and his assistant walked in and headed right for us. Smiling as he approached, his gait was energetic but he had a slight limp in his left leg. His assistant followed smoothly behind him, her movements all controlled power.

  “Mr. Gordon and Mrs. Velasquez!, “ the spry oldster greeted us, white teeth gleaming.

  He grabbed first Gina's hand and then mine, shaking with a firm grip. The were assistant said nothing.

  Up close I realized she had a strong measure of Native American blood in her, and something of her dark looks spoke of Alaska or the far North. Her scent was musky, strong, but not unpleasant.

  “But where are my manners? I'm Nathan Stewart and this is Adine Benally,” he said.

  He pulled up two chairs and they both sat down. Our guide who was sitting a table away, nursing a cup of coffee, spotted Stewart and jumped to his feet. He came right over, nervously adjusting his uniform.

  “Director Stewart! Can I get you something, coffee or a donut?” he blurted, clearly impressed.

  Stewart waved a hand, but I saw a flash of want dash across Adine's features as she glanced at the last crumbs of breakfast sandwiches on our plates.

  “Ms. Benally would probably like an egg and bacon sandwich,” I said, handing him a twenty dollar bill. Surprise flashed across both the Director's and Adine's faces. The young Marine officer, whose name was Beck, I think, shot right over to the line and ordered the sandwich before anyone could object.

  Director Stewart looked from me to Adine and then looked chagrined. “I'm sorry my dear, I never even thought to ask,” he said to her, before looking back at me. “Thank you Mr. Gordon, that was most thoughtful.” His clear blue eyes held an inquisitive gleam as he processed my action. Gina knew something had gone on, but was unsure what and Ms. Benally was looking a little closed off…er…more closed off.

  “What are you Director of?” Gina asked.

  “You know, I've been looking forward to meeting the two of you for quite some time, imagining how it would go in my head you see, and I'm afraid it's going nothing like I expected,” he said with a self deprecating chuckle.

  “My dear Mrs. Velasquez, I have the honor of heading up a small group of unique individuals who help this great nation in ways that no one else can! My group is not well known and we like it that way!” he said. “But we enjoy the support of the President as we have with all of his predecessors. In fact, it was his thought I might be interested in meeting you, Mr. Gordon.”

  “Chris...you can call me Chris,” I said, charmed despite myself.

  Lieutenant Beck brought the sandwich over and placed it in front of Adine, while handing me my twenty back uncashed. “I took care of it'” he said with a blush, then moved back to his table. Adine for her part looked at the sandwich like she was mad at it, but Stewart spoke up. “Oh go ahead, Adine. Chris was quite right that you're hungry, so you might as well enjoy it,” he said.

  “How did you know she was hungry?” Gina asked me, looking puzzled.

  “She's a were, they're always hungry, just like me,” I said quietly with a grin.

  Adine only just managed not to spit her food out and Stewart looked at me with surprised respect.

  “Oh bravo, young man!” he said, “Nicely done!”

  Gina reevaluated the young woman carefully, but not in a disrespectful way, just surprised, like someone had told her Adine was Elvis's second cousin.

  “See Adine! This is exactly why I wanted to meet this young man!” he said.

  “Can I ask you a question?” he asked me.

  “If I can ask one of you in return?” I said.

  “Oh by all means, ask away!” he said.

  “What kind of were is Ms. Benally?” I asked.

  “You don't know?” he asked with a delighted grin. “Care to guess?”

  I took my time looking her over, her eyes meeting mine directly as she ate the rest of the sandwich. I flipped over to my Sight, then almost jumped at the amount of green in her aura. Weres are always mixed green and blue. Blue is standard human and animals are all green. Most weres auras are like sixty percent blue and forty or so percent green. Adine’s was the other way around, with the green dominant. Then I glanced at the Director who was all blue, except for a slight smattering of green on his left leg, the one with the limp.

  That was surprising as well. I’ve never seen that in a human except a newly bitten one. This wound was old though, I could tell.

  I switched back to normal vision and again looked her over. My ability to tell vampires ages and weres breeds at a glance is odd and tied, somehow, I believe to my drawing ability and visions.

  Looking at a were, I instantly know they’re lycanthropes and usually some features or characteristics pull me in the right direction of their breed.

  Adine was now licking some butter and melted cheese off her fingers and I got a flash of brown fur and a broad muzzle in my mind’s eye.

  “She’s not wolf, bear, or cat. I don’t believe she’s weasel either. Something else, badger or fisher…..” a sudden insight hit me. “She’s a wolverine!” I said, my voice rising just slightly on the word wolverine, enough that heads turned. I lowered my voice.

  “I’m right aren’t I? You’re a were wolverine!”

  Stewart grinned, pleased, and turned to look at Adine, who nodded once. “We prefer wereverine…it’s easier to say,” she said, evenly. Her voice was much softer and higher pitched than I would have guessed.

  I looked at them again with my Sight, noticing how bright her shade of green was and how the tiny amount in his leg was the exact same color.

  “Director Stewart, you had a question for me?

  “I do. I know from reports I’ve read and from what I heard today that most of your kills were with your hands. Yet I’ve never heard that you had claws….or even fangs? You also don’t transform into something else, so how do you do it?” he asked.

  I paused for a moment, not really ready for his direct manner. “So the President threw me under the bus?”

  “As I said, my relationship with the Oval office goes back a long time. The President copies me on most of Mrs. Velaquiz’s reports.”

  Gina looked as surprised as I felt. After considering things for a bit longer I finally decided to answer his question, at least in part.

  “It’s true that I don’t transform or anything, but other than claws or fangs, vampires don’t either. I’m very strong and fast and I have weapons…just not visible ones,” I said, not wanting to tell him anymore.

  He nodded, his look fascinated, but when I didn’t keep going he sighed. “I understand your reluctance to tell me more, but you’re just so interesting.”

  I wanted to ask about the LV virus in his leg, but the thought occurred to me that maybe Adine had attacked him at one point. Her posture where he was concerned was protective, almost like a bodyguard. If I brought up the question, it was possible I might strike a nerve and she might come at me. I was pretty sure that a wereverine would be formidable and the food court of the Pentagon wasn’t a good place to have a sparring match with a were of any kind.

  Over at his lone table, Lt. Beck suddenly pulled his cell phone from his pocket and answered a call. “Yes, sir! Right away,Sir!”

  I spoke to Director Stewart. “I think our time is up. If I’m not mistaken, I think we’re about to be called back to class by teacher Creek.”

  Lt. Beck appeared next to our table, an anxious look on his face. I waved him off. “We’re coming, Lieutenant.”

  “Nice to meet you Director, Ms. Benally,” I said. Gina echoed my words.

  “Oh, wait! I have something for you, Chris. Think of it as a gift,” Stewart said, fumbling in his suit pocket. After a moment of panicked looking, he pulled out a flash drive with a victorious smile. “Here you are, my group was able to track this file down. You should find that information most interesting!”

  He handed me the flash drive, along with a plain business card that listed just his name and a cell number, and then popped up, quite spry despite the leg and walked away with Adine. The wereverine glanced back at us once, her expression unreadable.

  ***

  We found Creek knee deep in a swarm of military and DHS personnel in some kind of planning center. The four big shot generals had left with their staffs, but there were plenty of other people surrounding a table top computer modeling system. As large as a really big kitchen island, the whole surface of the table was constructed of an advanced touchscreen computer. The general and his planners just moved their hands in the open space above the monitor and were able to manipulate the display accordingly.

  Creek turned to us as we entered. “Alright, we’ve got more information on the Loki’s position. They’re hold up in a copper mine, near Cananea, Mexico. We’ve gotten ahold of some of the mines layout but not everything we need…yet,” he said. As he spoke, an aide brought up a three dimensional hologram that hovered over the tabletop, showing a pair of low slung mountains with a outlined pit near the base of them. At one corner of the pit, glowing white dots marked moving Spawn, but those that moved toward the pit wall immediately disappeared. “We’ve got a pair of Reapers in orbit over the area, but our thermal imagery doesn’t get us very deep into the mountain. Based on the human assets who observed the motorcycle convoy, there were about fifty weres involved. We believe there to be anywhere from seventy-five to over two hundred weres inside the mine.”

  Before I could get a good look at the layout, an Airforce Captain came up to us and interrupted.

  “Sir,” he said, addressing Creek, “we’ve have a phone call for an ‘Operative Grim’? It’s on a Pentagon secure line and it’s from a Chet Aikens. We don’t know how he got the number and we can’t determine where the call is originating from.”

  “The answer to how he got the number is all in his name…Aikens! I’d love to throw him in jail on the grounds of national security, then hire him myself, but

  your people probably wouldn’t let us near him!” Creek said, looking at me when he mentioned people.

  “Yeah, they’re pretty fond of his skills already,” I said, unable to control my grin. Creek didn’t return it but he did tell the Captain to take me to a phone. Gina followed me over to the console where I picked up a corded handset and said, “Hello? Chet?”

  “Dude, who’s the man? Calling into the Pentagon and shit! I’m telling you, between my know how and the tech I have to fool with…I am the Shit!”

  “Yeah, you’re the bomb alright!” I said, then waved hurriedly at the startled look on a passing Marine’s face at the word bomb. Ooops, forgot the lack of humor in the Pentagon.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “We’re on our way,” he said.

  “What? Who’s on their way?” I asked, looking at Gina who had heard everything because I had held the receiver closer to her ear than mine.

  “Ah, well pretty much a full crew! T and Lyd, Ark, and a ton of his boys of both flavors, as well as some additional that Grandma brought with her from Europe,” he said.

  “Grandma? Grandma came home?” I asked, speaking of Senka, one of the two remaining Elders and Tanya’s vampire grandmother.

  “Yeah, she and Momma are holding the fort, but she sent some heavy hitters along with your girl. We’re in flight now, scheduled for landing in Reagan in….twenty-two minutes,” he said.

  “What? What the hell is going on?” I asked. Gina’s eyes had widened at the mention of the plane and she spoke up before Chet could answer my question.

  “Chet, Gina here, what kind and flight number is your plane?”

  “Corporate 747 for Rowan Industries, flight number 1729,” he responded.

  Gina darted away to Creek’s side, leaning over to whisper in his ear. The room was noisy but I could hear her comments.

  “ – General, a private 747 will be landing at Reagan National in about twenty minutes. Flight is 1729, Rowan Industries. It has an enormously important cargo on board and nobody, but nobody should be interfering with it!” she said. When he looked at her, curious, she filled him in on who was on board and he started issuing orders for the proper handling of the plane when it landed.

  “Chet, what’s going on?” I repeated.

  “What do you think, dude? The Cov…company is going to war! We know about the village in Arizona, both from DoD web intercepts and the company’s own personnel in that part of the world. The folks who assaulted your girlfriend are apparently working with the folks who carried out the village hit. Who you will no doubt be visiting in short order. You aren’t going alone by the way!”

  I had guessed that if she could see than Tanya would insist on going with me. My days of solo hunting were probably over.

  “How’re her eyes?”

  “Ah, well, they’re back to their normal amazing color. Her vision is perfect, but there has been a slight change. You’ll have to see it yourself.”

  “Scarring?” I guessed.

  “Ah, noooo, none. Dude, I can’t really explain it, you’ll just have to wait for the right circumstances and you’ll see for yourself. Next time she loses her temper you’ll understand,” he said cryptically.

  Gina came back over and held her hand out for the phone.

  “Chet, listen, her are the landing instructions and callsigns your flight should use with Reagan. It’s all set up, you’ll be shunted to a secure area and no one will attempt to board. Refueling will also be taken care of in that protected area. If anything, ANYTHING is out of whack, YOU call me on my cell, got it?” she asked. I heard his affirmative, then she began to give him instructions.

  Chapter 28

  The General held off a planning session until Tanya’s plane landed and was secured at Reagan Airport. He had arraigned for a secure hanger, big enough to house the 747 out of sight and out of the sun. Some of the vampires on the plane could handle sunlight, but not all and most had to struggle to stay awake. A secure connection was established between the grounded plane and the Pentagon to hold a joint strategy session. There was no way the Coven would be allowed in the Pentagon and vice versa any of Creek’s people being allowed on the Coven plane. I stayed with the General and Gina, but I would be headed to the plane as soon as we were done.

  The briefing room was now cleared of everyone but Creek’s staff, a total of about eleven people present. Chet, Tanya, Arkady and Deckert were visible on the wall monitor. I also heard a very tired sounding Lydia off screen making the occasional comment, but my sight was glued to Tanya’s open, healed, exquisite blue eyes. She held my own gaze till we were forced to acknowledge the others around us.

  “Okay, here’s what we know,” Creek started off, first clearing his voice to get our attention. The planning table hologram lit up with first an overhead of the site then zoomed down as the General continued to talk. “Just Southeast of Cananea, Mexico is the Cananea Copper mine, which is one of the largest copper mines in the world. It’s been shut down since 2007 when miners went on strike because of the unsafe conditions. Currently it’s an open pit mine, large enough to be easily visible from space. Originally, it was owned and started by an American, a Col. W.C. Greene, in the early nineteen-hundreds. The Colonel’s original mine was a standard shored up dug tunnel type of operation and parts of that still exist. This is where the Spawn have gone to ground.”

  The open pit mine was carved into the lower portions of a small mountain. The three dimensional, green-lined image now moved up the slope of the pit and zoomed in on an opening.

  “We have not been able to find any historical tunnel maps to go by. We’re attempting to use ground penetrating radar to get a better idea, but the geology is wreaking havoc with our results.”

  “General?” Chet said on the monitor, “We may be able to help with that. One of our analysts found a sketched map online.”

  “What?” General Creek asked, incredulous.

  “Yeah, it turns out people like to explore old mines. Lots of groups on the West Coast. My girl..er…analyst found a Mexican group with the same hobby. They’ve apparently been in the old mine. I’m sending it your way now,” Chet said.

  I was pretty sure Telzey was the unnamed analyst, mostly by the possessive way Chet had spoken. Might be a little crush going on there.

  A second later another image popped up, this an obviously hand drawn map with hyperlinks that opened photos of the mine.

  “Hmm, this is….really pretty good,” the General said.

  The map had spacing marked, in meters, detailing the distance between all major features, which was a real help and the photos gave a good idea of conditions in the mine, which appeared to be quite wet.

 

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