Full Moon Rising - 02 (22 page)

Matt fell back in his chair, his mouth agape.  “I wouldn’t have thought there were a hundred thousand vampires throug
hout the world, and you’re telling me you have three hundred thousand at your disposal?”

“Oui.  And the Sicarii?  He will have many more.”  Thorn stated flatly.  “He may well be so powerful that he can pull my vampire forces away from me in the heat of battle.”  Thorn went back behind his desk and pulled a flask and poured himself a very dark, thick drink that was no doubt blood.  “Please forgive me, I rarely drink in the presence of company, but this is a rare circumstance.”  He sat down behind his desk and drummed his thick nails along the fine wood.

“You spoke of this Sicarii like you know him, but you’ve never met him.” Matt stated.

“Oui.  The legends tell us many stories, but over the cent
uries, we were able to separate the wheat from the chafe.” He replied.  “You know him as Judas Iscariot.”

“No shit?” Matt exclaimed.

“Yes, shit.” Jack answered.  “And this turd must be a floater because he’s reappeared after God knows how many centuries just to pull this.”

Matt and Jack’s pagers went off at the same time.  Matt i
gnored his, but Jack glanced at his.  He punched a button and a text appeared.  “Oh, fuck.  Colonel, Dom was abducted by vamps while on mission.” Jack stated.

Matt paled as he stood, “Will you excuse me a moment?” 

“But, of course.  You may use my study if you wish for privacy.” Thorn offered.

“Thank you.”  Thorn left and Jack followed him towards the door.

“I’m gonna find the squad and fill them in.  You find out anything relevant, let me know?” Matt gave him a thumbs up as he dialed the base on his satellite phone.

*****

Laura sat at the Operations Control Center on the verge of tears.  If she had been thinking and got the Predator drone in the air sooner, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.  If they could have realized that it was a trap from the beginning rather than another fucking test, they could have prevented Dom’s abduction.  If she could have…her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the center’s phone.  She glanced at the caller ID and immediately grabbed the receiver.  “Colonel, we lost Dom.” She nearly choked on the words.

“I got your text, Laura.” He said calmly, even though he was madder than hell inside.  “What happened?”

“The boys thought it was another damned test then they got swarmed.  Dom was separated from the group getting Mark and his family out.  While he was separated from the group, they just…grabbed him.” She said.

“Are we sure they actually got him?” he asked, worried that he might be KIA.

“They called Apollo over the coms, sir.  They told him that they ‘got what they came for’ and that Mr. DeGiacomo would not be joining them for the rest of his life.” She felt a hot tear roll down her cheek as she thought of the large Italian man with the goofy, little boy’s humor.  She could only take pride in the fact that her voice didn’t crack while she spoke to him.

“Very well, XO.  Get the cleanup crews done and get our boys home.” He sighed.  “And Laura…”

“Yes, sir?”

“Don’t you
dare
beat yourself up about this.” He ordered.  “Those boys are the best there is.  If they didn’t smell this trap coming, nobody could have.  You were a thousand miles away watching over a damned TV screen.  You couldn’t have done anything about it even if you had been there.”  She could hear him breathing over the line.  “Copy that?”

“Copy that, sir.” But it didn’t erase the guilt she felt for not deploying the Predator sooner.  She placed the receiver back in the cradle and sat back in the chair.  She didn’t know why losing one operator hit her harder than losing all of First Squad had b
efore.  Maybe it was because Mitchell had been at the helm then?  Maybe because she felt like she had screwed up this time?  She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted to punch something, but she knew it would do nothing to bring Dom back.  She continued to monitor the cleanup crews and Second Squad as they provided perimeter watch.

Every once in a while, she would key in their coms and li
sten to them plot their vengeance against the vampires that did this.  She wanted so badly to join them in planning their revenge, but knew she couldn’t.  She had to be OpCom and remain the detached voice in their ears.

She heard a slight rap at the door and turned to find Evan leaning in the open doorway, a hot cup of coffee in his hand.  “Thought you might want a little something.” He offered.

“Thanks.” She said, swiping at her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” concern in his voice.

“Dom was taken.” She choked out then steadied herself.  She cleared her throat as she took the cup from him.  “They got Tufo’s family out and in the heat of battle…the vampires got him.”

“Is he dead?” Evan asked.

“I don’t think so.” She answered.  “It was if they were after him.  Or one of the operators specifically.” She shook her head.  “It doesn’t really make sense, to sacrifice so many of their own to capture one of ours.”

Evan studied her as she stared off into nothingness.  “Sure it does.” He said softly.  “Life means little to one who is already dead.  At least, not unless it’s their own life.” He offered a lo
psided grin.  “If their goal was to kidnap one of the Monster Squad, then they’d give up at nothing less.”

“But why?” she asked.  “To what end?”

“Well, let’s see.” He said, pulling up a stool next to hers.  “Someone slips Phoenix a satellite phone that may or may not have been reprogrammed to GPS his coordinates to here.” He held up one finger. “Someone sets up a couple of minor scrapes on a full moon to ‘test’ their readiness and evaluate their responses.” Two fingers.  “Now someone kidnaps an operator right under our noses.” Three fingers.  “I’m not sure what it all adds up to, but someone is dang sure interested in the Monster Squad.” He wiggles the three fingers to emphasize.

“Again, to what end?” she said, tears trying to escape.  “And you forgot about First Squad being torn to shreds last month.”

Evan visibly flinched.  “Sorry.  I was still in jail at the time.” He offered a lame smile.

She offered her own apologetic lame smile and leaned into his shoulder.  “What the hell is going on, Evan?”

“The world is coming to an end and we didn’t get the memo, I suppose.” He joked lamely.

“Probably.” She sighed.  “Maybe that Mayan calendar thing came early.  Or late.  I can’t remember when it’s supposed to happen.”

“I think it came a bit early for them.” His brows knitted in thought.  “They did disappear, did they not?”

“I really don’t care.”  She answered.  “I only care about ge
tting Dom back.  If we can.”

Evan’s mind raced through endless possibilities.  None of them ended with Dominic being alive and returned in one piece.

20

First Squad had worked their way around the castle, chec
king out the many opulent rooms and decorations and eventually followed their noses to the dining hall where the feast Thorn had promised them was set up.  Since Rufus had invited them to help themselves, they decided to do just that and were just starting to eat when Chief Thompson came in, his face a reflection of his mood.

Lamb looked up from a fork full of sliced ham.  “What’s up, Chief?  What was the big hush-hush about?”

“Quite a bit, actually.  But we just got word from Tinker.” He paused, unsure exactly how to begin.  “Dom was lost on a mission.” He stated.  Jack felt it was better to just throw it out and figure out how to smooth the wrinkles later.

Donovan muttered an expletive and tossed his napkin across his plate, his stomach instantly soured.  “Not again.  First we lost First Squad and now Dom.  What gives?” he asked.  The others all were in agreement.

“Look fellas, I don’t know the details.  I just know that we got a text while we were meeting with Rufus that Dom was captured by vampires while they were on a mission…” Jack began.

“Isn’t that sort of fucking convenient?” Tracy asks, inte
rrupting him.  “We’re here, having a meeting with a vampire, and then Dom gets snagged by vampires?” sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Jack’s anger seethed, but he tried not to let it show.  “Rufus didn’t have anything to do with this, Gus.  I’ll put my reputation on it.” Jack stared the man down.  “We came here to negotiate with Rufus on a matter that impacts both of our groups, and as it turns out, something bigger and much worse came up before we ever got a chance to discuss what we came here for.”

“Really?  Like what?” Gus shot back, obviously unhappy with Jack’s siding with the vampire.

“Like end-of-fucking-world serious, Gus.” Jack shot at him.  “Why don’t you pull that bigot-stick out of your ass for a m
oment and maybe I’ll explain it to you.” Jack gave him a sideways look that made Gus do a double take.

Gus took a deep breath and set his silverware down.  He nodded his head and thought for a moment.  “Okay.  If you’re convinced that us being here has nothing to do with one of our own being taken…so be it.  I’ll accept it.”  He said.  “I don’t have to like it, but I’ll accept it.” He turned and gave Jack a hard look.  “But I’d really like to know what the hell is going on.”

Jack sat at the head of the table and filled the boys in on what he and Matt had met with Rufus over.  He explained to them the history of the vampires as Rufus had told him when he was here at the  island prior to his return to the teams.  He also explained about the Vampire Armageddon and how this Sicarii vampire planned to take over the world.  He also explained that the teams were in a tentative agreement with Rufus to meet this threat and go to war to defend the human race from the vampire threat.  When he was done, the men sat there, obviously stunned.  Finally, Jacobs asked, “And we are supposed to trust that these ‘leaf-eater’ vampires aren’t going to turn on us at any given time?”

Jack shook his head.  “They’ll do their best.” He said ho
nestly.  “Look, they know it’s a crap shoot as much as we do.  They can only fight the control of this head dude so long.  Part of it has something to do with them not breaking the seal on that scroll order thing that he sent them.”  Jack shook his head.  “I’m not saying I understand it, I’m just telling it to you the way it was explained to me.  And I trust Rufus.”

“That’s putting an awful lot of faith into an awful lot of maybes, Chief.” Donnie said, rubbing his chin.

“Tell me about it.”  Jack grabbed a wine pitcher and poured a glass.  “The worst part is, if this Sicarii asshole figures out that some of his people are working against him?  We might have a real shit-storm on our side of the fence.” He sighed.

“Hold on a second…” Tracy interjected.  “How are we su
pposed to fight an enemy if we don’t even know who he is?  You said that Thorn never met him, right?”

Jack shook his head.  “No fucking clue.”

“And where?  They attacked
every
team on the same day last time.” Donovan added.  “That’s across the entire world, Chief.  That means that they have resources that we can’t even begin to imagine…”

Jack sat forward, the gears in his head obviously turning.  “We have to draw them out.  We have to make THEM come to US…”

“They already have.” Donnie said.  “It didn’t work out so well the first time. You were there, remember?” But Jack wasn’t listening.

“We need to make them think that it’s in their best interest to bring their forces together…or that we’ve brought
our
forces together.” He said.

“What are you getting at?” Jacobs asked.

“Look, as it sits right now, wherever these assholes are, they’re poised to attack all of the different squads at their different locations at the drop of a hat, right?”  He looked around and received nods of agreement.  “So we find a way to either bring all the different Monster Squads together or at least make
them
think that we have, and force their hand into coming together into one large force so we can deal with them on common ground.”

“Oh there ya go.” Tracy said sarcastically.  “Get a few tho
usand of them together.  We should be able to kick their asses in time for supper.” He gave Jack a sidelong stare.

Jack shook his head.  “Try
hundreds of thousands
, Gus.” Gus turned and stared at Jack. “Yeah, no joke.  Rufus has access to about three hundred thousand himself, so this Sicarii dude will have a whole lot more.”

“Holy shit…if Thorn can get his hands on three hundred thousand? 
Vampires!
” Jacobs said softly, “Then it’s actually possible that the ‘meat eaters’ could number in the …millions?”

“I suppose it’s possible.” Jack replied, his face stoic.

Donnie shook his head and buried his face in his hands.  When he lifted it he turned to Jack, “What could we possibly do against numbers like that, Chief?  Seriously?”

“Hope that Evan can come up with one of his super-duper-vampire-ass-kicker weapons, I suppose.”

“I have an idea.”  Mitchell said from the rear of the dining room.  He had been standing back there, listening to the men talk.  “If Phoenix is right, and he usually is, then it probably would be in our best interest to figure out a way to get them to pool their forces, like he said.”

“And then hope that Evan has some sort of weapon?” D
onovan asked the hope draining from him.

“Negative.” Mitchell smiled.  “Rufus said that the only thing that would hurt this fucker is probably going to be su
nlight, right?” he asked, looking at Jack.

“Yeah, but after a couple millennia, there is no way in hell we’re going to get him to go for a stroll in the afternoon, Ski
pper.”

“We don’t need to.” Mitchell was smiling.  “We have a sa
tellite, remember.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Ever hear of a parabolic mirror?” he asked.

“I’ve heard of it.  But I have no idea what it is.” Jack ho
nestly answered.

“Well we have a few of them floating around in space.  I’m sure you’ve heard of the Hubble space telescope, haven’t you?”  He asked.

“Yeah.  I’ve heard of that.  But, I’m not sure exactly what…”

“When it was first launched, it had to be tested.  Some of the things that Hubble can do is see in the near infrared, visible and near ultraviolet ranges.  They wanted to make sure that massive amounts of UV wouldn’t…damage it.  So large deployable pa
rabolics were sent up and bursts of UV were shot at it.”  He smiled.  “It passed.”

“So you’re saying we have a directional UV canon in space?” Jack asked, daring to let his excitement grow.

“If the deployable parabolics are still operational?  Yes.”

*****

Dominic stirred as his entire body was shaken.  His head pounded and his mouth tasted like someone had taken a huge dump in it.  He rolled to one side and a sharp pain in his ass made him jump, banging his head against the low metal roof above his head. His hands instinctively went for his head and he groped in the dark trying to figure out where he was.  His hands stretched out to the sides and felt the metallic sides of a small cargo container.  He sighed and felt up his thigh to the cheek of his ass where the stinging bite jolted him to full consciousness.  He could feel the dart still sticking out from his BDU pants.  He took a deep breath and grabbed the dart, knowing it would be barbed and yanked it free of his flesh.  As he expected, it felt as if he pulled half his butt muscle with it.  He had to really fight the urge not to rub the wound and in the end, lost out, rubbing vigorously.

Dom pulled himself to the end of the container and was able to get into a sitting position.  He stretched his neck as best he could and tried to clear his head.  The tranquilizer must have been a strong one as he was very sick to his stomach and his head was throbbing.  He felt around his body trying to assess what positive assets he may still have available to him.  Obv
iously his weapons had been removed.  He had been relieved of his ammunition.  His body armor and helmet were gone.  He fished into his BDU blouse pocket and found some gum, his sunglasses and some mints. 
Yay, maybe I can get this taste out of my mouth.
He thought to himself.  He popped a piece of gum into his mouth and continued patting himself down.  He discovered a pocket penlight and a paperclip at the bottom of his other blouse pocket.  His pants pockets had been emptied.  He pulled the penlight and twisted the end to activate the LED light and took a look around the container. 

It was standard air freight container with equalization holes in it.  At least it allowed him to breathe.  He used the penlight to sneak a peek out of one of the holes and noticed other air crates around him.  One said Roma Air. 
This must be a charter jet,
he thought.  The craft hit turbulence and he was bounced around again.  He felt something roll against his foot and he trained the light on it.  Picking it up, he saw that somebody had tossed in a bottle of water for him.  “Hmm.  How fucking kind to think of my needs.”

For a moment he wondered if they might have poisoned it, but then thought that if they wanted to kill him, they could have easily done it before putting him in the crate and air mailing him to Bumfuck, Egypt.  He opened the water and drew deeply from the pissy warm contents.  It went down good and he didn’t fall over immediately dead, so, he counted himself as lucky.

Dom checked the rest of the floor of the container to see if whoever was kind enough to toss in the water might have thrown in a ham and cheese sandwich, but he wasn’t that lucky.  No protein bars, no chips and salsa.  He made a mental note to write a strongly worded complaint letter to the airlines at his next opportunity.

He leaned back hard against the container and felt the wall give.  He leaned forward and tossed his weight back again, har
der this time and felt the wall give a little more.  Intrigued, he turned and trained the penlight on the edges of the container.  He could see a gap along the edge of the container and worked his fingers into it.  He tried to grip it and pull but there was no room.  He braced his feet against the opposite wall and his hands against the forward wall and extended as hard as he could and felt a slight give.  His head was throbbing and his mouth had gone dry.  He grabbed the water bottle and drained it putting as much fluids into his system as he could.  He knew that even with his head throbbing, he had little time.  The tranqs would have kept him out of the game for a while and wherever they were taking him, he couldn’t remain in the air forever.  He placed his hands and feet again and pushed for all he was worth and just before he was ready to pass out, he felt something in the container pop and a corner gave.

He let off, gasping, his head throbbing even harder.  He opened his eyes and saw spots.  It took a few moments for his vision to clear and he switched on the penlight again to see what, if any damage he may have done.  He had popped one hinge completely out of the aluminum body of the carrier.  The door was attached by one hinge at the top now.  Dom smiled inwardly and bunched his body up into a ball close to the door.  He squa
tted down in a football crouch and prepared to tackle the door with as much explosive power as he could muster.  He took a few deep breaths and cleared his mind then huffed twice rapidly and exploded off the floor of the container and rammed his shoulder as close to the upper hinge as he could, taking the door off and ramming it into the container strapped across from it.  Dom lay sprawled on the deck of the small aircraft breathing hard and staring at the low barely lit ceiling of the carrier jet.  He shook his head to try to clear the cobwebs then immediately rolled to his feet.  He looked around and saw the forward cabin door.  It was nearly blocked by containers strapped down by nylon straps and cargo webbing.  He began scrambling over them all and working his way forward.

When Dom finally climbed off the forward most containers, he was cramped with his huge frame stuck in the tiny space.  He was facing the tiny door that led forward into the flight cabin.  He glanced around looking for some kind of weapon.  He saw a fire extinguisher and a fold up jump seat.  To one side there was a small glass door with a tiny little fire axe.  Dom shrugged and tried to open it.  Of course, it was locked.  He leaned his elbow against it and made a fist, then smacked the end of his fist with his open hand until the glass cracked and then shattered.  He reached in and grabbed the small fire axe and then turned and faced the door.