A Covenant with Death: The Peacock Trilogy - Book 3 (4 page)

Loomis had an unhealthy crush on her mother that everyone but her father clearly saw. Yet he was loyal and hands-off. Unfortunately, he died of natural causes three years earlier. Her mother was visibly upset, but Connor never broached the subject.

The Pendletons entered when Bruegman signaled them it was safe.

“Hello, Mum.” Connor called out and waved a welcoming hand.

“Hi, Darling. You look wonderful.”

“Fasten yourself into your seat, Mum. The coffee is superb.”

Her mother scooted into the window seat on the right side of the aisle, and her father slid in next to his wife.

“And a hello to you too, Pumpkin,” he grumped.

“Sorry about not greeting you. But Mum’s the one with memory problems, and you’re not a pleasant fellow most of the time.”

“Change your career path to Global Administration, and I’ll be jovial more often.”

“Sorry. None of your offspring want to ascend to your throne.”

“Next stop the Bering Strait.” A single horn blast followed.

The Supersonic’s door shut. Without a sound, the hover train departed the station at the speed limit of one hundred kilometers an hour and escalated as it flew through the Channel tunnel and on to mainland Europe. Once out of the tunnel, the Supersonic lifted two meters off the magnetized track and increased speed.

“Should be an uneventful trip, Pumpkin,” Pendleton said.

“I hope so.” She smirked. “Nothing involving you or Mum is uneventful.”

#

Laverna opened her notebook. Finding her daughter’s page, she reminded herself her daughter wasn’t fourteen anymore.
Married to a Nigerian?
She hadn’t remembered that. No children. Dedicated to her career as Director of Security for the Global Realm’s top-level personnel. Laverna warmed. Her daughter bested her, even when she was Peacock, both in IQ testing and field course. Her sons excelled in less physical skills. George was a gold level physicist trained for space flight, and Harry excelled in paleoecology presently studying ancient Biblical archives and ruins for the Global Archaeology Department.

“Let’s pray for a safe trip,” Connor said, as the train raced across the former German countryside.

When Connor led the prayer, Laverna absorbed the astounding beauty of the landscape. In the distance, the Berlin Complex rose skyward, a towering eighty-foot tall fortress housing 200,000 human beings. The gleam of the bejeweled walls glistened in the sun. Totally reconstructed from the recycled materials of old cities and solid, mountain rock, Berlin had celebrated its seventeenth year since completion. The European Ice Age transformed the complex into a snow castle with the rays of the sun glistening off its parapets.

The surrounding covered countryside thrived with wildlife and newly planted vegetation. Spruce and fir trees hid the dens of fox, the hiding places of wild boar, and many varieties of deer. But farther away to the east, the land grew treacherous. Little in the way of food could be found for man or beast.

Laverna lowered her head and petitioned the Lord to help her husband reach believers with the angel’s message. How hard could it be communicating with the Christian community?  Difficult if Arthur didn’t believe what she’d told him was the truth.

Amazed, yet honored, that an angel of God had communicated with her—the worst of sinners, Laverna determined to help her husband reach every Christian with the angel’s message. She’d personally met Pope Peter the II. He’d be her first call when this trip was over.

Chapter 4

A figure in white Arctic clothing trudged up a gradual slope to a hedge of snow-covered conifers overlooking the steppes of Central Russia. A Supersonic passed this location forty kilometers south of Norilsk every eight hours.

Under instructions from Ammad al-Sistani, he must stop the next vehicle regardless of the cost. The same Ammad who fulfilled Islamic prophecy when he interrupted his father’s funeral in the mountains. Ammad with the Sufi Imam, Atash Akbari, at his side stepped into the midst of the mourners.

“Move aside all who would speak.” Ammad had changed from the boy of days before. “Only the Chosen One shall preside at Grandayatollah al-Sistani’s funeral.”

All present felt Ammad’s power. All present understood that even in defeat came the brightest light—a gift of Allah—the hope of Islam.

The man on the plains on Russia possessed no weapon capable of penetrating the force-field surrounding the gigantic monster speeding toward him. He only had an electronic device smuggled out of the Shevchenko Complex and a hundred warriors hidden among the trees. Two small boxes that looked like transmitters had been planted twenty-three meters away on each side of the Supersonic’s path.  The technology escaped his understanding. But once the force-field shut off, his people could board the transport. They had many capable weapons to help them destroy their targets.

Once he saw the monster approach, he’d have no chance of stopping it. He had to anticipate its arrival based on the accurate timing of past runs. A Global timepiece, also smuggled out of Shevchenko Complex, kept precise time—all the time. One minute to arrival, he and his warriors bent in prayer.
Allah Akbar.
Then he pressed the switch.

#

Connor analyzed the computer readings from her satellite feed. She glanced over at her mother who slept soundly in her seat. Laverna’s face held the marks of many battles, yet her beauty clearly radiated through, a quality of innocence that caused wonderful memories of Connor’s childhood to grow within her. Her mum always told her the truth. She understood the pressure of being a girl in a male-dominated home. While her dad seemed preoccupied, her mum listened and showed her she was loved.

Connor’s eye caught a laser-like flash on the satellite screen. She unhooked her seatbelt, signaled Cher and Bruegman to join her in the back compartment. “I don’t like this reading.”

Cher nodded. “Something’s interfering with the magnetics at checkpoint Norilsk 8. Have Military Command magnify the area.”

Connor called in the order and reported the flash. The satellite zoomed down to a ground-level view. In an instant, the forms of warriors appeared among the trees.

“Camel jockeys with peashooters. Not a credible force,” Bruegman jested.

“Formidable if we’re stopped,” Connor snapped. “What caused the flash?”

A jolt threw her against the side of the car, as the Supersonic wobbled erratically. “What the hell’s going on?”

“Magnetic stabilizer malfunction,” the control room responded. “I’ve no choice but to stop for repairs.”

“Keep going as far as you can.”

“That would be less than a minute travel time.” He cut away.

“I want drones now at Norilsk 8.”

“Roger that,” answered a voice from Supreme Military Command. “Ten minutes tops.”

That might be too late. Connor screamed. “Call in the drones. Now!”

Her cargo, more precious than her life, depended on her making the right calls. The Supersonic’s brakes had been applied, and the vehicle slowed to a crawl, stabilizing as the speed decreased.

“Attention,” Connor called over the main cabin speakerphone. “This is not a drill. Arm yourselves. Set your weapons to kill mode and assume battle positions. Repeat. This is not a drill.”

Her mother was up and into the aisle checking everyone’s position and weapon. Amazing woman, Connor thought, always in attack mode.

The latest laser technology had three settings, a nerve setting, firing extreme lethal charges that destroy the spinal nerves, a blind setting, and a setting for intolerable sound waves. Connor held the latest model, which had an electrical pulse setting to incapacitate or kill the strongest opponent. “Highest nerve setting.”

“Prepare for a rough stop,” a voice from the control room shouted.

Connor ran from the back compartment and strapped her father into his protection shield developed for the First Citizen only. He smiled at her as she closed the doors.
The man’s unshakable.

The Supersonic glided to the ground after losing the speed necessary to maintain its altitude over the guide path. Connor took her position against the right side wall and strapped in. As the lock clicked, snow flew across the windows, and the Supersonic slammed to a stop sending anything not contained through the cabin toward the front of the transport.

Connor reacted to the flashing sensors. “The Supersonic’s control room doors have been breached. Shin, Klaus, stay with my father. The rest follow me.”

As she moved forward, the ground shuddered.

The drones have arrived.

“What’s the status?” she whispered into her headset, as explosions rattled the ground.

“No one outside is alive.” The voice was Cher’s, controlled but alarmed. “Inside, however, you have guests, maybe thirty.”

“Hold your attack. Wait for word from me.”

“Roger that.”

An explosion
inside
the transport knocked her and her companions off their feet. Another alarm sounded. The enemy had breached the door from the control room to the engineer’s room. “Cher, seal off the forward compartments.”

Cher hit the wall switch closing the second set of steel doors. Another blast occurred but no breach this time. Cher’s action saved them momentarily. Connor assessed the situation as her mother, now in Peacock mode, reached her side.

“Where are our friendlies?” Peacock asked.

“You and Cher are here. Klaus and Shin are with the First Citizen. I fear anyone in between the engineer’s room and the front compartment is dead.”

“Van Meer and Felicia are back with Arthur as well,” Peacock said, as another blast set off the alarm again indicating the enemy only had one door to breach to engage them. “Your father is in the shield. We need all hands available.”

“Hans,” Connor whispered into her cell. “Send my boys to me. You and Felicia use the emergency exit and surprise them at their rear.”

“It’s bloody cold outside, Busty girl. I’m not a spring chicken.”

“Cold or not, do it!”

“Yes your ladyship. I will your ladyship. Right away.”

His chuckle seemed out of place with her mood. Felicia said. “Connor’s right. Let’s move.”

“Oh bloody hell. All right.”

Connor switched her communications to Military Command. “I have two operatives heading outside. Leave them be. Fire at the front compartment now, then divert to area recon.”

Before she received an answer, an explosion outside the Supersonic threw metal against its sides. A partial drone wing ripped a gash in the ceiling. A final explosion blew out the door between her and her enemies. Klaus and Shin appeared at the doorway behind her, as debris flew.

Peacock met the first man through the door with a chop to the neck, snapping his windpipe.

As Connor rushed to help her mother, a voice yelled, “Grab the witch. I’ll hold off the others.”

Fat chance of that, Connor thought, as Peacock dashed forward out of her sight. For several minutes, her struggle for survival kept her from tracking Peacock’s movements. Cher and Klaus were occupied with combat. They couldn’t go after Peacock either.

Landing a killing blow to the nose of an attacker, she looked up to see their cabin free of enemy combatants and stumbled forward. Shin’s hand grabbed her shoulder. “Commander, regroup before racing to your death.”

#

Van Meer exited the back with Felicia a step behind. Not as spry as he used to be, he exercised caution in his approach. Leaning around the Supersonic, he saw several body parts strewn about in the snow. The result of the drone, he imagined. Before he and Felicia could move into the field, a flash of light and sound blasted the area and another drone crashed into the field and collided with the front of the Supersonic. Felicia pulled him back behind the train as pieces of metal blew past them.

“What the hell is that?” Van Meer whispered. “A blast of light and sound that brings down a high-tech drone?”

“It’s not ours,” she said.

He peered back around to see everything on that side of the train blackened and smoldering. “Come on. We’ve still got a job to do.”

The two headed down the side of the Supersonic toward the front where the breach occurred, when a flash of light caused them to drop to the ground. Another drone wobbled and crash to earth a quarter of a mile away. Hans raised his head. Men on jet skis, wearing white like the other group, flew into view out of nowhere. Felicia rose up firing her weapon and was hit with multiple rounds of return fire.

Van Meer grabbed her and kept low as the enemy entered through the breach in the supersonic and threw the bodies of the first attack group out of their way as they went.

A rival group. No. The first group is expendable.

Chapter 5

Mistake. I’ve gone too far.

Having dispatched three men during her charge forward, Peacock faced two more attackers. A man dressed in a white parka stood behind them. She flung herself, arms wide and head forward, between the first two, dropping them backwards to the floor. A light flashed as she stabbed the man to her left in the throat. Heat shot through her. She couldn’t reach the man on her right.

Still wide-awake, she couldn’t move—not a finger. Her breathing came in struggling gasps. The man in the parka grabbed her by the feet and dragged her out through the gaping hole in the Supersonic’s Command Center wall, as a new group raced in and killed those left from the first wave of combatants.

“Sorry,” the man in white said. “There’s not enough room to take you back. Better dead than captured.
Allah Akbar.
”

Flashes of light shot around her. She heard a number of thuds. As she was being loaded on to a vehicle, a voice in her head whispered. “Fear not. I will never leave you or forsake you.”

Seven of the enemy still breathed out of the two attack groups. The man in the white parka looked down and spit in her face. The other six followed suit. He bent close and whispered. “You will regret the day you murdered the Ayatollah al-Sistani. Peace be to his soul.”

#

“Drone down!” Connor yelled.

The Global Center Commander responded to his crew. “Get eyes on them. Now!”

“Recon satellite’s responding,” she heard a voice answer. “Wait a moment. The area around Supersonic’s location has a Level 9 glare. I can’t make out features on the ground over six-square miles.”

“Shit! How far away is the emergency rescue team?” Connor asked.

“Ten minutes.”

“Do you know what hit the drone?”

“Instruments say a shockwave.”

There’s more than treachery at work here.

“We can’t depend on help,” Connor whispered as she moved her team forward compartment by compartment. Bodies from both sides were strewn throughout the train, over twenty bodies in all. Peacock’s work could be clearly seen by the manner of each enemy’s death. The Supersonic’s five-person crew had put up a valiant fight, dying with honor in the defense of world freedom.

No sign of her mother so far. She pushed aside the mangled material that made up the command center and exited through the hole in the side. She covered her eyes. A light from some distance away blinded her.

“Pull on your face shields,” she screamed.

Cher reached her first, shield on and abled. “I’ve seen this technology before. Outsiders didn’t do this. We have traitors within the Realm.”

“Find my mother!”

A weak voice answered. “She’s gone. Three men took her.”

Connor’s head whipped left. Even impaired, she recognized the man speaking. Leaning against a part from the Drone, Hans Van Meer cradled the lifeless body of his wife Felicia in his arms. Her upper body wasn’t recognizable.

The enemy has these types of weapons?

Cher was right—traitors indeed.

“Hans, I’m . . .”

“She died instantly.” He wiped at the blood gushing from his wife’s neck unable to control the flood. “Only one of the original attackers took Peacock. Others came in riding on jet skis. They killed six of their own people, shot Felicia, and stunned me, as the second drone exploded. I couldn’t move, but I saw them enter and come out with your mother.”

“Was she harmed?”

“She was stunned,” Van Meer said, as the glare in the sky vanished. “`I’d say she’s in no worse shape than I am.”

Klaus Bruegman followed the ski tracks until he was a dot in the distance. When he returned, he said. “She’s gone. The glare dissipated, and I realized the ski tracks ended about thirty yards from my position. I believe a chopper picked them up.”

Connor slumped. “Release the First Citizen from his protective vault. We need to regroup.”

“A pair of Supersonics is a minute away,” Global Command said. “I’ve conversed with the First Citizen. He’s decided to continue on to the bridge dedication.”

“Understood.”

Gloom surrounded her. What would her mother want her to do? Follow orders—the only logical response. The populace must not know of Laverna Smythe-Pendleton’s abduction. Connor’s charge—protect her father. Her mother’s fate lay with Global Command forces, at least for now.

Bruegman approached her. His jaw set, stone-faced, he brushed snow mixed with frozen blood off his uniform. Putting his arms around Connor, he whispered. “Focus on your father and your duty, as will I. Know I’m hurting as you are, but be strong and of good courage, as the Bible says in the Book of Joshua.”

A whoosh announced the arrival of a different Supersonic. For a few seconds, Connor embraced her mother’s close friend, allowing herself a moment of vulnerability.

“Our transportation has arrived,” she said. “Once this trip ends, I want every resource of the Realm concentrated on the insurgents and on my mother’s rescue.”

#

Pendleton wiped away his tears, a useless act. Lips quivering with rage, he shouted orders into his cell. Three drones flew overhead. Over a hundred Global Realm warriors arrived by helicopter and spread out hunting through the area looking for signs leading to Peacock’s location.

“Where in the hell were you when we were attacked?” he screamed into his cell.

“Sir,” a fatigued voice answered. “We were surprised. We acted as quickly as we could.”

Pendleton threw his cell, bouncing it off a piece of the drone wreckage. “Dammit all to hell! Nothing breaks in this damned new world.”

“Get on the transport, Father.” Connor ran through the snow and shoved him forward. “You’re still a target here.”

“I’m personally leading the search for your mother.”

“Hardly!”

Fire erupted inside him. “The bloody hell I’m not.”

“I’ll keep you informed.” Connor reddened. “I’ll find the villains behind this treason, and you’ll punish
them
.”

Pendleton sighed, dipped his head down, and entered the second Supersonic. He didn’t respond to Connor. What was the point? He knew she was right. No words were necessary. She knew she was right as well. He watched as his daughter disappeared into the forward compartment her cell to her ear.

Just like her mother.

Van Meer swung into the seat next to Arthur and grasped his hand. Pendleton returned the squeeze.

“Felicia?” he asked.

Hans shook his head. “Better we don’t talk about this right now.”

“Yes. All right.”

Why God? Pendleton thought. Lovey is Your child. She’s a better Christian than I’ll ever be. Hasn’t she endured enough? The silence irritated him. He had to think on other things. Fighting with God wasn’t a winnable war. Leave her to Jesus and pray. He shivered. Was the time of the end here? The world had been radically transformed in the past twenty-five years by him, without any communication or counsel from the Almighty. Individual human beings inside the Global Realm had their needs met. Why should there be rebellion? Maybe peace only existed as a dream.

With eight hours left to travel, he threw away the thoughts of the rebellion and concentrated on memories of Lovey. Visions of her teaching Connor the art of self-defense warmed him. While he forged a unified world, Lovey raised three children and still managed to defend the Global High Command by attracting the brightest and the best into Global Security.

She prayed daily to God. She encouraged him as a lover and never refused him. Then the cancer struck her down, but she fought with a fury to beat the damn thing. Lovey energized and dominated every venture she undertook. George and Harry took their educational paths in   directions disqualifying them from succeeding him. He had objected, but Lovey defended them. If a Pendleton was to become First Citizen after him, Connor had the best chance. But she wasn’t ready yet.

The thought of losing his partner in life terrified him. She directed his every step until the cancer. How much more could she endure?

#

Thousands of citizens, mostly the builders of this monument to Global logistics, applauded as First Citizen Arthur Pendleton stepped up on to the platform at the North American end of the Third Bering Straits Bridge. Connor joined him on his right, and Van Meer took his position on the left. Global Security personnel collected videos of the crowd’s reaction, scouring faces for suspicious movements or reactions to Laverna Pendleton’s absence.

“What a glorious day.” Pendleton grinned, hiding his pain the best he could. “What a monumental achievement. Today, by completing this bridge, we’ve freed the seas from human pollution and fossil fuel waste from ocean freight transports.”

Some citizens chanted, “We love Arthur.” Many carried Global Realm flags of their own making. All wore the colors of their province, industry, and rank. The atmosphere of loyalty and dedication elated him.

“I appreciate your feelings. But, each of you shares in this accomplishment. Enjoy your achievement.”

With that, he grabbed a champagne bottle, strutted off the platform, and announced. “I christen this bridge, The Glory of the Realm.”

Pendleton swung the bottle, shattering it against a cornerstone beam, foam spewing several feet in the air as the crowd roared. He headed back to the Supersonic, a deep dread encompassed him. All this way for a swing of a bottle, he thought. My Lovey’s gone. What happens now?

He strapped himself into his seat, and Van Meer hooked in beside him. “Tzu Chui is holding for you.”

“Tzu Chui? I hope the curfew problem with the Muslims in his region hasn’t escalated.” Pendleton grabbed his cell. “Regional Governor Chui, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I know what happened.”

Pendleton sucked in air. “How?”

“Your son, George, spotted a barrage of light flashes over the area near Norilsk just before departing Space in Global Orbiter 5.” Chui paused.

“Yes. Go on.” Pendleton held his breath.

“First Citizen, the beam came from a satellite launched from the Basra Complex last year. This is supposed to be a global weather orbiter, not a light or laser weapon. I suspect treachery. I suspect Ammad al-Sistani is behind your wife’s abduction.”

Pendleton mulled Chui’s comment over. “How did you know my wife was taken?”

“The Space Exploration training facility at the Beijing Complex put eyes on the ground at your location. Using sunray filtration technology, they were able to view the kidnapping and flight. Unfortunately, Mrs. Pendleton and her abductors went underground fifty kilometers south of the crash site, and we lost track of them.”

“Underground?”

“Yes. I believe they had a tunnel concealed for such a purpose, and they emerged elsewhere out of our range.”

The realization of the enormous scope of the danger confronting the Realm shocked Pendleton. How could he have such a wide spread insurrection going on and not know? And how did Chui’s people think to use sunray filter technology and not Global Command? “Is there anything else?”

The long breathless silence sickened Pendleton. Finally, Chui whispered, “The signal activating the satellite came from the Grozny Complex. First Citizen, the satellite came from Basra and the signal from Grozny—major Muslim strongholds. Seize Ammad now, before you lose power and the Realm falls to radicals.”

“Let’s be frank. You are five years younger than I am. You wish to be First Citizen. Is this clouding your judgment?”

“No.” Chui’s voice showed no sign of deception. “When I become First Citizen, I will have earned the right. If Ammad or anyone else challenges me. I will eliminate him. But while you hold the office, I am at your service, and I am loyal.”

“Give me eight hours to seek other counsel as well. Then I will call a meeting, and you’ll be present.” Pendleton cleared his throat. “Chui, thank you. I rely on your talent and your loyalty.”

“You are most welcome, First Citizen. In the meantime, I will share my information with the Global Realm scientists. We will attempt to locate your wife.”