An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series) (6 page)

Chapter 6: The Place of Nightmares

“AHH
H!” I scream as I pull my 10mm auto from the holster behind my back and fire.

“Cole, are you feeling alright? That’s the third time you’ve discharged your weapon and we’ve been here for less than thirty minutes.” Natasha says.

“He’s terrified of Australia and is convinced everything is trying to kill him.” Cheza explains with a tone of tired disbelief; like the family member of someone who constantly claims they were abducted by aliens.

“Oh, right!” Natasha
exclaims while I’m in the process of replying to Cheza.

“Because everything
is
trying to kill me!” I exclaim; especially now that the sun has set and all the critters are out looking for food!

“Of course it is.” Cheza says like she’s talking to a child while rubbing my back.

“So why are we meeting this contact of yours in the middle of nowhere?” I ask Natasha once I’ve calmed down thanks to Cheza, as the wind picks up and whips dust around us.

After returning Alice to her home, I ported to Houston to pick up Cheza, and then I ported us to Arizona to
pick up Natasha. Natasha showed me a satellite image of the coordinates where we needed to be, so I ported the three of us here: to the fringe of the desert/ Outback part of Australia.

“Because all of the Australian United Supernatural Special Investigations and Enforcement… wow that is really a mouthful
… I’m just going to say AUSSIE; anyway, all of AUSSIE has retreated to a secret location.” Natasha replies.

“Why?” I inquire.

“It seems the vampires are trying to take over Australia, and I don’t mean just from the azeman.” Natasha answers.

“That’s insane! It will reveal the existence of the supernatural to humans!” which is something that would be beneficial for Loki. If you were trying to destroy a world, wouldn’t it be easiest to start a war and have the citizens of that world destroy each other before you come in to clean up whoever survives?

“They’re late.” Natasha comments.

“And I’m thirsty. Did you two bring anything to drink?”
I ask, feeling that it’s a bit hot to be wearing my armored jacket and jeans; I suppose it is summertime in Australia though. Both of the girls shake their heads in response.

“I know! I’ll just use Neptune’s power over water.” I say and
move the bandages on my left hand until I can see my silver palm.

My left hand turns black and I hold my palm up to my mouth. After invoking my control over water, I
not only blast about a liter of water into my mouth, but salt water at that. Cheza and Natasha laugh at me as I sputter the sea water back up; I really should have thought this through.

“
Here,” Cheza says, grabs my left hand, and holds it out with the palm up. About ten seconds later, three ice cubes form in my hand, the salt having been stripped from the water due to the freezing process.

“Thanks
, Cheza.” I reply with a smile and pop the ice cubes into my mouth as I see a red Jeep Wrangler approaching in the distance. The Jeep pulls to a stop in a cloud of dust as the driver’s window rolls down.

“Sorry I’m late
; getting the fourby here took a bit longer than expected.” A bulky blonde man in his thirties says with an Australian accent as he pats the exterior of the door through the open window.

“No problem. I’m Natasha
Holmstrom; this is Chezarei Vaele, top class operator; and this is Cole Vaele, consultant for The Agency and the Azeman Queen, as well as Chezarei’s husband.” Natasha introduces.

“Nice to meet you;
I’m Agent Simmons. We have quite the drive ahead of us.” Simmons says and we pile into the Jeep with me sitting shotgun.

After buckling in and noting that he is a few inches taller than me,
I scan Simmons and see an unfamiliar aura that looks like a pile of tan scales.

“So, Simmons… What are you?” I blatantly
inquire.

“What do you mean?” Simmons asks.

“I’m pretty sure you’re a Were of some sort; something to do with tan scales.” I reply.

“How do you know that?” Simmons questions.

“I can see things that most people can’t.” I tell him.

“I’m a werecroc. Saltwater croc if you want to get specific.” Simmons answers.

“Nice. So where are we headed?” I inquire as we pull onto a dirt road that is only slightly smoother terrain than before.

“A secure facility just outside of Adelaide.” Simmons replies.

“I’m not familiar with the geography of Australia.” I respond.

“Well, we’re right on the border of the state of New South Wales, where Sydney is. We’re about to cross into the state of Southern Australia, where Adelaide is.” Simmons says.

“I see.” I reply, even though I still have no conception of the distance.

“It’s about four hours once we reach Wentworth, which will be in
twenty minutes.” Simmons adds as we turn right onto a paved road.

“Okay, now I got it.”
I say.

“So you guys have probably been pretty busy with vampires and everything, huh?” I ask.

“AUSSIE has been flat out like a lizard drinking since the vamps showed up.” Simmons replies and I shut up because I have no fucking idea what he just said.

W
hat do drunk lizards have to do with this? Does this have anything to do with that insurance company’s mascot? Did that gecko get pulled over for speeding and get a DUI? With hookers and blow in the car? He seems like that kind of guy… I get lost in thought for a time while trying to decipher this Australian idiom based on his tone and context clues. About fifteen minutes later, I realize that he was confirming that they’ve been busy, but too much time has passed for me to say anything now.

I look into the back seat and find that both of the girls are resting against each other, out cold… funny, ‘cause they’re both snow elves… never mind.

“The two sheilas are a bit bushed, eh?” Simmons quietly says while glancing at the rearview mirror.

“Yeah, they just came from another assignment and this is Chezarei’s third assignment in a row; I’m not sure if she’s had much time for sleep.” I reply.

“What about you? You’re looking a bit knackered there, mate.” Simmons points out.

“Now that I think about it, I guess I haven’t slept in two days.” I admit.

“Feel free to get some rest; I can handle the drive.” Simmons says as we drive through a small town; must be Wentworth.

“I think I’ll give that a shot.” I reply, lean back in the seat, and close my eyes as I try to relax.

…

[December 21st]

I awaken as the Jeep pulls to a stop in a concrete parking garage.

“I take it we’ve arrived?” I groggily ask.

“Correct.” Natasha says as she opens up the rear passenger door and exits the Jeep before I follow suit. I notice that Cheza isn’t exiting the car so I go around to the driver’s side and open up her door.

“Cheza… Wake up
, Cheza; we’re here.” I softly say while gently shaking her, but she remains dead to the world.

I reach around her
, unbuckle the seatbelt, scoop her up, and carry her. Simmons walks toward the elevator as Natasha and I follow him.

“A room
has been prepared for you, but since we are short on space, the three of you will have to share a room. We can drop Operator Vaele off before I take you to meet the director.” Simmons comments as we step into the elevator and he presses a button marked G.

The elevator ascends one floor
and dings to the hot, moist, night air. We walk thirty feet to the entrance of the large, white, three story building; one of four on the compound that are connected via sky bridges. The compound is surrounded by a twenty foot tall fence made of large steel posts and steel cables that seems to be electrified, if the hum is anything to go by; the fence reminds me of something from
Jurassic Park
. We enter the industrial white lobby and head to a bank of elevators, where we head up one floor and walk across a sky bridge to get to what must be the residential building since it has slightly more color than the other building. Simmons walks down a hallway, stops in front of a door marked 35, swipes a cardkey through a black sensor to the right of the doorknob, and opens the door once a click signifies that it’s unlocked.

“Here we are. Sorry about there being only one bed.” Simmons says
to me as we walk into the room that is set up like a studio apartment with a single king-sized bed; I think what he really means is ‘sorry you’ll be sleeping on the floor.’

“Just like old times, eh Cole?
” Natasha asks with a sly grin as I set Cheza on the bed.

“Yeah.” I
halfheartedly reply as I think about how things between us might’ve been had I just kept my mouth shut at the wedding and pretended like I didn’t know anything. Would the last four years have played out any differently? Would we have stayed close friends like we were, or would we have drifted apart like we did?

(If it makes you feel any better, had you not addressed the situation and remained close to Natasha, she would have snapped and
sawed your head off while giggling psychotically to herself; followed by having sex with your body while cradling your decapitated head to her chest)

“Shit! Seriously
!?”

(No, not seriously
, but you were getting all moody so I had to say something)

“I can understand why you did it, but that is pretty fucking psychotic, Airi.”

(Thanks, Master!)

“Not a c
ompliment!”

“Shall we go?” I ask as I turn from the bed.

“Before I forget, here.” Simmons says and hands a card key to Natasha and another one to me.

“Thanks.” We reply.

Natasha and I follow Simmons out the door, down the hall, across a different sky bridge, and into another industrial white building. We take an elevator up to the third floor and walk over to a reception desk.

“
Director, Agent Simmons has returned. Shall I send them in?” the female werewolf receptionist asks into an intercom with a British accent and the door automatically opens.

“He will see you now.” The receptionist says with a pleasant smile and waves toward the door.

Natasha and I follow Simmons into the office of the AUSSIE director. Sitting behind the ornate maple desk is a short, blocky, man with cropped salt and pepper hair. The most surprising thing to me is the fact that he’s human.

“Director Gracie, this is Natasha Holmstrom and Agency consultant, Cole Vaele.” Simmons introduces.

“I was informed of a Chezarei Vaele, but not of a Cole Vaele.” Director Gracie says with an Australian accent as he eyes me suspiciously.

“
I’m a bit surprised that Carla didn’t anticipate that I would be coming too. Chezarei is my wife. She fell asleep on the drive here and wouldn’t wake up so we dropped her off in the room before coming here.” I explain.

“I see… so what kind of consulting do you do, Mr. Vaele?” Director Gracie asks.

“Well I’ve done some interrogation work, some undercover work, and some general operator type work for The Agency. I also consult for the Queen of the Azeman, but that is more of bodyguard work.” I reply.

“So are you here at the request of The Agency, or the Azeman Queen?” Director Gracie inquires.

“The Azeman Queen, but I wouldn’t have come if Chezarei hadn’t also been assigned here. Speaking of, what’s the situation?” I ask.

“The vampires have been running amok across the country. I’m told that they captured the azeman embassy in Adelaide a few hours ago, so they will most likely be coming here next.” Director Gracie replies.

“Damn… well, I may have made it too late to protect the embassy, but at least the AUSSIE headquarters won’t fall as long as Chezarei and I are here.” I confidently say.

“How can you be so sure?” Director Gracie asks.

“Chezarei is The Agency’s top operator and excels in execution tactics. There is no one at The Agency that is better suited for attacking an enemy.” Natasha says and a siren goes off.

“What about defense?” Director Gracie questions as he turns toward his computer monitor.

“Director! The vampires are attacking the base!” I hear a frantic male voice say from the monitor.

“Damn, I thought they would take at least a day to reg
roup. How many are there?” the director asks rather calmly.

“Before the sensors went offline, the number reported was in the low thousands. We are currently accessing the satellite images… okay, they’re up. What!? The vampires are attacking from all sides!
At the rates they’re traveling, they’ll be here in less than thirty minutes!” the frantic voice reports.

“Planning to siege us, eh? Mobilize the diggers
, turn the fences up to maximum power, and get the 50 caliber automated turrets online.” Director Gracie orders.