Duel Nature (22 page)

It was fresh from our farm and therefore
tasted completely different from store bought milk. He seemed to
relish it. Gramps refilled his glass from the pitcher on the table
and Stewart nodded his thanks before continuing.

“If I were telling this story to a different
audience I would explain the difficulties in hunting a creature
with the senses of a wolverine and the intelligence of a man. But
you people are world class experts in hunting and destroying weres,
something I will never forget again,” he said. Then he noticed the
rapt expressions on Eric and Barb’s faces. “This story is not to be
repeated,” he admonished them with a finger wave.

“I will say that I had questioned my
beautiful guide at great length regarding the stories of this
particular beast. I was shocked to find that she had an intellect
that was every bit my equal. Despite my skepticism at the validity
of this story, I was captivated by her attention to detail,
flavored with the rich culture of her people. She was fresh from
the University of Seattle, where she had earned a degree in
government studies, a feat uncommon for most women in that day, let
alone one who was a Native American from a poor fishing village in
Alaska.”

He took another sip of milk, then went
on.

“I was already well on my
way to being smitten, by the time we arrived at her village. The
stories had described a man who could turn into a beast during the
full moon and slaughter any human who was unlucky enough to
encounter him. Classic werewolf story. My guide was adamant though
that it wasn’t a wolf, but
Naltsiis
, the Dene term for
wolverine.

We met her father, the shaman for her village
and several others. He warned us that the creature would consider
the village his personal territory and would take our presence as a
hostile invasion. I thanked him, then promptly ignored his words as
I had absolute faith in my personal theories, backed by the weapons
of my soldiers. Plus it was a good four days till the next full
moon, so we had plenty of time…or so I thought. Sergeant Price set
up camp efficiently and posted a rotating guard. Turns out it’s not
hard to find wereverines at all. All you need do is trespass on
their territory with armed men and you’ll bring them right in. I
also learned that weres are not bound by the full moon.

The wereverine attacked the first night,
slaughtered the guards and half the men before we were aware he was
among us. It wasn’t even late or very dark, this being Alaska in
the summer, when the days are exceedingly long. Adine and I were at
my tent, discussing the absence of this kind of creature from their
legends. Our first clue that something was wrong was when Private
Scott’s head landed on my map table, followed two shotgun
blasts.

An astounding number of events came together
to allow the two of us to survive. The first was Sergeant Price. He
was a veteran of World War I and a firm believer in modern
firepower. Subsequently, we were well armed with two Browning
Automatic Rifles, three Thompson submachine guns, a bunch of
Springfield rifles and several pump shotguns. Price had posted two
guards on four hour shifts. The beast killed both guards and three
soldiers in one of the tents before anyone got off a shot. Corporal
Izzo was coming back from the latrine, saw the monster tear apart
poor Scott and shot it twice with the shotgun that Sergeant Price
insisted that everyone take with them to the jakes. It was his
standing order in bear country.

Those two blasts of double ought buckshot
saved us. Didn’t save Izzo, who was disemboweled almost instantly.
But the buckshot wounded the were and slowed it enough for Price
and Private Nelson to open up with Thompsons. Even wounded it was
still fast enough to avoid most of the rounds, run through my tent,
wound Adine and I, and kill one more soldier. I don’t recall his
name,” he said, brow furrowed as he tried to remember.

“O’Connor…Private O’Connor was his name,
Nathan,” Adine said in a soft voice, not looking up from the
table.

“Yes, my dear, you are correct. It was
O’Connor who died last. Sergeant Price grabbed his BAR, which was
his pride and joy. A custom job, shortened and lightened. He killed
the wereverine, emptied a full magazine into its skull and chest,”
he said.

“That would do it,” my grandfather
agreed.

“Yes, Mr. Gordon, a most impressive weapon
the BAR,” Stewart said. “One day on site and the expedition was a
shambles. Seven dead soldiers and two wounded. My leg had taken a
bite,” he said, patting his left calf. “But Adine was really badly
wounded, with bites and claw wounds everywhere. The gunfire was
heard in the village and Adine’s father arrived with some of the
village men. They helped Price and Nelson bury the dead and burn
the wereverine. I had, of course taken tissue samples, not
realizing that Adine and I were carrying the virus in our bodies.
Adine’s father knew though, what with him being a shaman and all.
He helped treat our wounds, applying certain herbs that in my case
stopped the virus from spreading and changing me. He couldn’t do
anything to slow the LV in his daughter though.”

Stewart paused and gazed into Adine’s eyes
fondly.

“A truly remarkable man Mr.
Benally was. By all rights he should have murdered us. The chances
of Adine retaining her sanity were exceedingly slim, you see.
Wereverines are exceptionally rare, almost all of them are born to
the species. Bitten wereverines are left on their own and almost
without exception go crazy at their first change. Wolverines are
not pack animals like wolves, they don’t hang around to help the
newly Changed. But Adine’s father used his skills to link us, so
that
I
could help
Adine through her first Change. It worked and here we
are.”

He looked around at the silent audience, all
of us fascinated by his story. Sipping his milk, he turned back to
me.

“I’ve haven’t told that story in thirty or
forty years. But after my monumental error in judgment, I can at
least give you some idea of what we’re about. Since that trip,
Adine and I have traveled the world seeking out knowledge and
individuals of the supernatural world. We have used that knowledge
to help every President since that day. The unique and truly gifted
group of people we’ve been able to recruit have done as much for
this country as Seal Team Six, but with even less fanfare.”

“So you’re here to recruit us?” I asked.

“Oh, Chris, I would dearly love to recruit
you and your lovely bride, but I realize you have conflicts,
especially given her apparent position in the society of vampires
as I understand it,” he said. “It’s those very conflicts that bring
me here.”

“Conflicts with what?” I asked.

“Ms. Demidova is, from what we understand,
highly ranked in the hierarchy of the Coven. Which is odd, seeing
as she has a birth certificate proving she is, actually only
twenty-five. But perhaps it has to do with her being born into the
species and all? But I digress.

You have what has been described as an
‘incredibly intense’ relationship with a high ranking member of
what we understand is a worldwide society of vampires. A nation as
it were. And your loyalty to the nation of your birth is very much
in question,” he said.

“Excuse me? When have I shown myself to be
disloyal to the United States. I pretty much removed a threat to
the country by myself,” I said.

“Yes, you eradicated the Loki Spawn problem,
a fact that I should have thought more about earlier today,” he
said, looking thoughtful, then shaking his head ruefully. “What I’m
referring to is your video conference with the President, the one
where you threatened the nation and his life.”

“That’s odd Director, I have
a pretty good memory of the event you’re talking about and I don’t
recall either you being there or me threatening the President.
I
do
recall the
President threatening me with two Reaper drones and an AC-130
gunship, plus about thirty specialforces, Delta types.”

“I’ve seen video of the situation room under
the White House. That Elder god you unleashed on the President
seemed pretty threatening to me,” he said starkly.

“Elder god, as in
independent and under his own control. I had no responsibility for
his actions,
which
were a response to threats against myself,” I said, now
beginning to get really angry.

He started to respond, but I
held up my hand. “Let’s layout my side of the equation for just a
second. I’ve spent my entire life from the time I was twelve
exorcising demons that no one else could. You
might
consider that a service to the
country. Then a couple of years ago I meet a girl, who changed my
life. From that point on,
my country
started hounding me, threatening everyone and
anyone in my life, right up to the point of using military assets
against me inside the borders of my own country, of which I remind
you I am a natural born citizen. I got past that and then removed a
terrorist threat that
my
government was ill equipped to deal with. If a
friend of mine, who happened to be a powerful entity intervened on
my behalf without consulting me, that’s no reflection on my loyalty
which is fast becoming more strained by the minute.”

I was angry enough by this point that the God
Tear necklace flared hot causing me to touch it. Stewart’s sharp
eyes noticed the movement, absorbing that motion along with every
other detail of our meeting.

“I notice that you used the past tense when
referring to the being I believe you call Okwari,” he said. “I told
the President that every understanding I’ve garnered over seventy
years of occult and supernatural investigation leads me to believe
that Elder gods are not allowed to roam our world at will. I told
him that your Okwari had most likely been forced to leave our realm
by powers higher than himself,” he said, watching closely.

Awasos chose that moment to cross the room,
weaving his giant grizzly bulk through the chairs and people to
arrive and slump down at my feet like a portable, furry
loveseat.

I kept my face expression blank, my arms
still crossed over my chest.

“Mr. Stewart, excuse
me,
Director
Stewart,” Tanya said suddenly. “Christian’s relationship to
the Darkkin Coven is a result of his becoming my Chosen. However,
you and your President should be aware that his involvement and
importance to our
vampire nation
is considered a matter of what could be termed
our
national security
. His value in the eyes of our leaders is almost impossible to
measure. However, our leaders recognize his ties and loyalties to
the country of his natural birth, which is also the country
of
my birth.
I too
am a citizen of this nation,” she said waving her hands around, her
Russian accent thick. “Don’t be fooled by my accent. I spent many
years in Russia, my mother’s homeland, but I am an American at
heart
and
Darkkin
to my marrow. Much as your
assistant
is both an American and Athabascan. Dual
citizenship is not a rare occurrence. So I think what you are
really discussing is humans versus vampires, no?”

She paused to study his reaction. I’m not
sure what she saw, but the tightening around his eyes led me to
believe she had struck a mark.

“You’re a game player,
Director. That’s obvious from your actions. Deliberately triggering
Christian with an implied threat to Toni. A dangerous gamble; in
fact, I don’t think you know how dangerous it was. Then this
whole
them
versus
us
thing. Personally, I favor chess, but I think you’re more of a
poker man, always trying to get a read on your opponent. Good skill
to have, but it only works if you can see all the players. I
promise you, Director, you haven’t even met all the players
in
this
game. Think
very, very carefully before you go all in.”

Stewart looked at for a moment, his mustache
twitching slightly, then he broke into a grin.

“You are very astute, Ms.
Demidova. I do, in fact, enjoy the game of poker
and
I’m guilty of playing
on Chris’s hot buttons, as it were. But the question of human
versus vampire or were or any supernatural is very real. In certain
very high, very powerful circles, it is the single most important
concern. A concern that came fully to light
because
of Chris’s involvement. I can
tell you that the Loki Spawn operation in Mexico and the expanded
knowledge of were-kind has kicked up a hornet’s nest. You simply
can’t reveal a threat of that nature to the military and not expect
them to seek defenses. The President has been under enormous
pressure to reveal his ‘asset’ in that operation. An ‘asset’ that
is viewed with fear and distrust.”

“We are well aware of the
flurry of intelligence activity that was the result of expanded
knowledge of supernaturals. We know all about Taskforce 17 and its
charter to learn
everything
about our world,” Tanya said, visibly surprising
Stewart.

I was surprised too, I didn’t know anything
about any special Taskforce. My grandfather saved me from having to
ask.

“Taskforce 17?” he asked.

“The multi-agency intelligence group set up
by the President two years ago after Chris’s confrontation with
him. It’s separate from the Department of Anomalous Activity; being
less action oriented and more intelligence gathering. Gina, you
were deliberately left out of it as you are deemed to be of
compromised loyalty,” Tanya said.