Coalition of the Damned - 03 (11 page)

“What?” Again, Maxwell was taken off guard. “Oh, yes. Well, you do have a point there.” He nodded.

“Tell me more of why you are no longer Claudius Veranus,” she urged.

Maxwell nodded. “As I said, many wolves saw me as…well, something I wasn’t. And, to be honest, I was simply sick of all the politics and the backbiting and the fighting and…” He shook his head. “I needed a break from it all. I wanted
peace
. So I turned to what I knew was truth.

“Tell me something, pup.” He stood and walked to his wi
ndow, pointing out to the church beyond. “Do you know the difference between faith and knowledge?”

“Of course.”

“Truly?”

“Faith is based on trust. Knowledge is based on truth.”

Maxwell smiled. “The benefits of a classical education. Perhaps your father was not as foolish as I thought.”

Her face hardened at his comment.

“Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist, pup. Your answer is correct,” Maxwell said. “And I turned to what I knew was
truth
. I turned to Him.” He pointed upward.

“You turned to the church?” she asked.

“No! Not the church, to God!” he said. “The church is run by men and men are corruptible. God is pure.”

She appeared puzzled, still unsure of what he was getting at.

“Pup, I could sit here all day and discuss different theological dogmas, but that doesn’t mean that any one of them are more correct than the other. Each man must interpret the word as it reveals itself to him.”

“You gave up on your people and devoted yourself to stud
ying the word of God?”

“Not just the word, but the works, the cre
ation…everything!”

Nadia shook her head. “Your people needed you more at this time than any other and you turned your back on them,” she whispered.

“Viktor was supposed to lead them. His mother was supposed to hand over leadership to him when he was ready.”

“She sold him into slavery,” Nadia said. “Because she didn’t want to give up the power that you left to her. And because he would not rise up against his own mother, my father abided by her banishment order,” she spat. “He lives in dishonor amongst the other pack members because his mother is a power hungry bitch.”

“Easily remedied,” he replied with a sly grin.

“And what of Claudius Veranus? Will he return with us to face the Sicarii? Or will Maxwell Verissimo continue to sit in his Vicker’s house and study the works of God?” she asked bitterly.

Maxwell turned to her. “The Sicarii?” he turned and stared daggers at Natashia who was still laying prostrate on the floor. No wonder she was not acting herself. No…she couldn’t have known their past history. Perhaps Nadia’s pregnancy was affecting her mother? The hormones were somehow affecting Tasha? Perhaps Tasha had simply lost her mind?

“Yes, the vampire who is raising an army to destroy the world calls himself the Sicarii. Does that name have meaning to you?”

Maxwell nodded. “Oh, I am very well aware of who and what the Sicarii is.” A deep grumbling growl escaped his throat. “I’m the one who cut him down from the tree.”

“So you will return with us? As Claudius Veranus?” she asked hopefully.

Maxwell stood and took her hand, helping her to her feet. He walked through his house and to the far side of the structure. He pushed a large, heavy wooden bookshelf aside and slid a portion of the wall back, revealing a small hidden room behind it. Nadia peered inside and saw what lay hidden in the darkness. Her grandfather’s breastplate, helmet, shield and spear…the Spear of Destiny.

He withdrew the items and placed them on his bed. They were covered with centuries of dust. “I haven’t worn these in so long. I swore I never would again.”

“Why?”

He looked at her wondering eyes. He knew that she was trained to lust for battle as all Lycans were. She was taught from a young age that to die in battle was a glorious thing, just as he had been when he was young. But he had once had his eyes opened, standing upon a hill over two thousand years ago when he pierced the side of a young Jewish carpenter who had been sentenced to death on the cross. Right after he pierced his side, the earth shook and the mountain itself split like an overripe melon. The clouds that darkened the sky and the winds that blew that day left no doubt in his mind that this Jewish carpenter was no ordinary man. People had spread rumors that He was the Son of God, and after that day, Claudius KNEW, those rumors were true.

It’s a strange thing to not have faith, but knowledge. People around the world held their faith as a very dear and treasured thing, but Claudius never had that luxury. To him, he only had knowledge. Knowledge and the damnation of the Father who touched him for defiling the body of the Son with his Roman spear while He hung lifeless on the cross.

But after centuries of torment, Claudius turned to the very religions that he had despised. He studied them all and he learned something…you cannot have evil without a good to ba
lance it. You must have a Yin for Yang. For Satan to exist there must be a Christ. In order for there to be a Hell, you must have a Heaven. There must be a polar opposite…there must be
balance
. Therefore, in order for there to be a Judas, there had to be a Claudius. The Sicarii needed a Sentinel. And Maxwell Verissimo chose his last name well, for it meant ‘He who affirms the truth’.

So when Maxwell stared into the wondering eyes of his granddaughter who asked him why he swore to never wear the armor and shield of Rome again, he could not lie to her. “B
ecause Rome was an evil empire that raped, plundered and pillaged its way across a continent…and I swore to never be a part of that again.”

Nadia nodded and reached out to hold his hand. “You do not wear your armor and bear your shield in honor of Rome, gran
dfather. You do so in honor of yourself and Lycans throughout the world.” She squeezed his hand and brought it to bear on his spear. “This is
your
weapon, not Rome’s. It is he who wields the weapon, not they who forged it that shall be remembered once the dust is settled on the battlefield.”

Maxwell smiled at his granddaughter and it spread all the way to his eyes. “How is it that a pup as young as yourself could be so wise?”

“Father says I have an old soul,” she replied quietly.

Maxwell pulled her into an embrace. “I think you simply have a very smart father.” And Nadia felt a warming run through her heart that she’d not felt in a very long time.

*****

“Mitchell, I’ve seen everything I need to see. You run one hell of an operation,” General McAfee said.

“So you plan to release Groom Lake to us?” Matt asked hopefully.

“I’ll make the call when I get back to D.C.”

Matt breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, General. Your actions may well be what saves mankind,” he said somberly.

“Don’t paint me as a saint, Mitchell. I said I’d do it. I didn’t say I’d like it,” McAfee told him. “The base commander out there is a Colonel Anderson. He’s an up and comer. Academy man. Looking to get his star quick.”

Matt nodded, understanding exactly what the general was telling him.

“Don’t misunderstand me, Mitchell. Anderson’s straight as an arrow, but he’s still a good man. Try not to bruise his ego too much.”

“As I said in D.C., General, I’m not looking to try to take over for good, I just need to borrow the area for a bit. If he can secure any kind of classified operations—”

“Classified operations?” the general interrupted. “Mitchell, the entire
base
is classified! They’ll be lucky if they can shove enough classified projects into secure hangars so that you and your people will have usable space!”

Mitchell nodded. “Well, sir, anything we can do to assist, we will most certainly do it.”

McAfee nodded. “I’ll have him call you. But, you might prepare yourself. I doubt seriously that he’s going to be happy about any of this.”

“I’m sure he won’t.”

Matt escorted the general to a waiting Humvee and had Spalding drive him to Will Rogers International Airport so that he could fly in comfort back to D.C. Matt grabbed his two-way radio and keyed it for Laura Youngblood. “XO, come in.”

It took Laura a bit to answer her radio and she sounded a bit breathless when she responded. “Go ahead, Colonel.”

Matt stared at the radio a second before he responded. “We’re a ‘go’ for Groom Lake. We need to start making plans for packing up and bugging out. What’s your twenty?”

“I’m uh...in my office. I’m going over a few weapons d
esigns with Dr. Peters and…I can meet you somewhere?”

Matt smiled to himself then chuckled. “My office in twenty minutes.” He thought about it a moment then came back on the radio. “Make it thirty minutes. Over.”

“Your office. Thirty minutes. Copy, sir.”
Your welcome, Ms. Youngblood,
Matt thought as he put his radio away.

*****

First Squad walked with the Greater Elves through the massive forest with Horith and Kalen alternating being the lead. Jack had tried to drum up conversation a couple of times to no use with Kalen who seemed to be more interested in the Sprite flitting around Tufo. Finally Jack asked Horith, “Is he always so chatty?”

Horith shook his head. “Kalen doesn’t use words much. He prefers the bow.” Horith laughed, showing perfect teeth.

Jack simply nodded and trudged on. He felt they must be getting close to the ridge where the Greater Elves lived. He tried not to stare at their ears, the only real physical indicator that they weren’t actually human. However, he did notice that a few of the others were still actively camouflaging themselves as they walked through the woods.

Jack nodded toward two smaller elves who were camo
uflaged and told Horith, “I’d love to be able to do that.” Horith glanced at the two young hunters and nodded.

“They are practicing. They have only recently been allowed out to hunt with us and they practice the melding as often as they can.”

“The melding?”

Horith thought a moment, trying to find the correct words. “When we hunt, we allow ourselves to become one with our su
rroundings. The forest then hides us from prying eyes.” He pointed to the two younger elves. “They practice this often so that it becomes easier.”

Jack nodded. “Do the animals you hunt not see you as well either?”

“Some. Others, not so much,”  Horith replied. “It depends on what is in the woods.”

As they approached the ridge, Jack noticed a stand of even larger trees, the base of which was thick with brush and large rocks. As they approached the stand, rather than begin around the rocks, Horith and Kalen walked up to the largest of the rocks and swung the face open like a door and ushered the squad i
nside. Jack had to duck slightly to step in, but once he stepped through, it was as if he stepped into another dimension. Stepping out on the other side of the rock was like stepping into an enchanted garden. The sunlight felt thicker and more golden, the water in a nearby brook was more clear and tinted as blue as the sky. The green of the trees was vivid and alive. He could smell honeysuckle in the air and sweet dogwood and pine and other scents that made his senses wild with the desire to run and…frolic.

He heard children laughing and people talking and activities going on around him that wasn’t there just a moment ago outside the rock. It was like stepping through a doorway into another place in time. His first thought was this couldn’t be happening. His second thought was that it couldn’t be real. But then he r
eminded himself that they hunted vampires, that he had been infected with a virus from a werewolf, and was being escorted by an elf. One of his teammates had a woodland sprite with a crush on him, so…why couldn’t this be real?

“Follow me,” Horith said as he stepped past Jack and led them down a path toward a stand of large trees with heavy rope ladders and pulley systems attached to them.

Jack looked up into the branches and saw that many of the trees had houses built into them and not the tree houses that kids have in their backyard, but actual
homes
, some with multiple levels with decks and windows. Elves of all ages were stepping out onto their decks to observe the visitors and some were waving at them. Jack waved back and smiled at a few of the smaller children who laughed and squealed with delight that someone new had come to their small village.

The squad and the hunting party eventually worked their way over an arching footbridge and to the base of the largest tree where a door was cut into the trunk. Horith stopped and knocked on the door and waited silently for the occupant to open it. Jack assumed this tree must belong to one of the village elders and was not prepared for the beautiful young woman who stepped out of the trunk’s darkness. She was dressed in a flowing tran
slucent white gossamer gown, her hair pulled back and braided into an intricate and ornate braid with beadwork throughout and her eyes were the deepest shade of blue that Jack had ever seen. When she stepped from the tree and into the golden sunlight, Jack caught himself staring at her and felt an instant twinge of shame for his attraction to her. He was mated to Nadia and shouldn’t be looking at this woman with the thoughts that he held.