The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One (85 page)

“And that was?”

Nathaniel smiled at his friend. “Sorry, mate. I sometimes forget you don’t see these things with me… Like I told you before, I saw images of another world… and a girl, trapped. I wanted to know where those things were—and I know now. Fancy taking a trip with me?”

“Will I be home in time for the evening news on the telly?”

“Not even a concern. And I’ll buy you a pint for coming along.”

“You’re a good man, Nathaniel. The very best!”

CHAPTER IV

The Devil in the Details

Sherrilyn McLemore returned to her flat, anger seething within her. She’d known that Neville was growing weak, acting more and more cowardly as they all moved towards the ultimate goal… but to commit suicide? To bring the sodding police straight to Bane’s doorstep? “Bloody little wanker,” she whispered, speaking like a gutter tramp. She normally put on airs around her associates, but the truth was that she was common as they came and had risen to her position through tenacity, a few wellplaced seductions and a talent for recognizing weakness in others.

But that latter attribute had failed her in this case. She should have seen what was coming and acted appropriately… instead, Neville might very well have brought everything crashing down around their collective heads.

Sherrilyn glanced out into the early morning light. She had never been a morning person, instead preferring to stay up late into the night. She was usually still asleep at this hour, rarely going into the office until after lunch. As she moved into the living room, where a number of papers and books were strewn on the various chairs and tables, she skidded to a stop. Seated in front of the door leading to her bedroom was a man dressed in a flowing red cloak. His face was mostly hidden beneath a hood, but the lower half of his face—a sneering smile and a strong chin—was visible.

“Who the hell are you?” Sherrilyn asked, wishing she had kept her coat on upon entering the apartment. She’d tossed it aside immediately, leaving her unable to reach the small handgun she always kept in the liner pocket.

“My name is Satan. Doctor Satan.” The crimson figure gestured for her to have a seat. “Please come in and join me. I think we have a lot to talk about.”

“You broke into my home. I don’t have anything to say to you.”

Doctor Satan laughed, his voice echoing loudly. In the blink of an eye, he had gone from sitting in the chair to standing directly in front of her. She’d never seen him move.

Satan gripped her arms so tightly that she cried out in pain. “Ah, but you do! I want to know about the Un-Earth… I’ve heard so many wonderful stories. I simply have to know the truth!”

Sherrilyn blinked in surprise. “I don’t know what you…”

Satan threw her across the room. She fell across the table, causing her knee to crack on impact. She rolled to the floor, moaning.

Doctor Satan knelt over her back, gripping her hair in his gloved hands and bending her backwards so hard she thought her spine would snap in two. “Open and say ah, Miss McLemore.”

Sherrilyn felt Satan shoving something wet and slimy into her mouth. She tried to spit it out but whatever it was moved like a living thing, slithering down her throat before she could remove it. She retched but the disgusting object remained in her throat.

Satan released her, still chuckling. “You should feel honored. Not many people get to play host to a Teeklos.”

Sherrilyn clutched at her throat, feeling the creature moving wetly in her throat. She continued to feel vomit rising for a moment but then the sensation faded as the Teeklos took a static position within her. “What did you do to me?”

“Gave you a little pet, that’s all.” Satan rubbed his gloved hands together and Sherrilyn was suddenly reminded of the cinema villains. She could easily see him tying a young woman to a set of railroad tracks, cackling all the while. “The Teeklos is a octopoid-like creature. It wraps itself around the soft tissues in your throat and lays eggs. While it’s waiting for the little babies to incubate, it secretes a fluid that makes the victim remarkably pliable to commands.”

Sherrilyn felt her skin grow cold. “Eggs… what happens… when they hatch?”

Satan’s eyes seemed to flash with dark humor. “You really don’t want to know.” He swept his cloak dramatically around him, seating himself once more. “Let’s not waste time, shall we? The incubation period is actually quite short. Where is Lamar Bane?”

Sherrilyn hesitated, as if trying to resist the question… but something made her feel lightheaded and unable to mount a contrary response. “He… isn’t… on this Earth.”

Satan leaned forward, his voice lowering. “This Earth… so the Un-Earth is another world? Another one just like ours?”

“No… not just like ours.” Sherrilyn began to speak, unrolling a story the likes of which not even Doctor Satan had ever heard. As she came to the conclusion of her narrative, her voice became hoarse and somewhat wet sounding. She began to struggle to breathe, her eyes bulging and her tongue beginning to protrude from her lips. She stared at Satan in confusion, a silent plea for help in her face. She managed to squeak out a few more words, telling him where the Un-Earth could be found, before her voice was lost forever in a wetly slobbering din.

“What you’re feeling now is the Teeklos eggs beginning to hatch. It’s very uncomfortable, I would imagine… and it’s only going to get worse, since they have to eat their way to freedom.” Satan stood up, moving to leave. “Thank you for the information, Miss McLemore. I imagine it will prove quite useful.”

Left alone, Sherrilyn McLemore suddenly prayed for a quick death. It was not a prayer that would be answered.

* * *

Doctor Satan stood alone some twenty minutes later, not more than a few hundred yards away from the Houses of Parliament. The things he’d learned seemed far-fetched but of all the men and women on Earth, he knew better than any other that there were times when the most bizarre things imaginable were actually the only ones with any truth to them.

Unfortunately, there would be no assistance for the evil Doctor on this one. He had sought to contact Bostiff and Girse but his scrying had revealed that they were now in police custody… and that Bostiff had been branded by the Peregrine.

Though Ascott Keane would always be his primary nemesis, Doctor Satan had begun to strongly dislike the Peregrine. There was something in the man’s manner that rubbed him the wrong way, a sort of confidence that seemed to imply that it was only a matter of time before Doctor Satan fell into the Peregrine’s grasp.

Satan looked up into the overcast gray skies of England and began to laugh, the mocking sounds carrying far and wide. Those who were unlucky enough to hear the cold laughter felt chilled to the bone.

“It’s going to end between us, Peregrine. One way or another, only one of us is going back to the United States.”

CHAPTER V

The Un-Earth

“I don’t like the looks of this, Nat… think we should call for some back-up?”

Nathaniel glanced over at his partner, who was staring at the dockyard warehouse with something akin to fear. There was definitely a foreboding air all about the place, making one feel as if they were alone in a graveyard after dark. “Don’t go losing the plot, Charlie—things are moving fine so far.” He tried the door, not being surprised when he’d found it locked. Casting a look about, he noticed that there were no cars parked nearby. From all appearances, no one had come here for quite a long time. “But Neville was here, weren’t you, old boy?” he said to himself.

Charlie watched Nathaniel raise both hands in the air, making some kind of arcane symbol with his fingers. “What are you doing now?”

“Opening the door.”

Green-tinted energy swirled about Nathaniel’s fingers, forcing open the lock. It burst apart, sending tiny metal shards flying.

“Is there nothing you can’t do?” Charlie asked. “You should be hanging out with Kaslov or the Peregrine!”

“Bollocks… Those aren’t real heroes, Charlie. They just like to play dress up and get their faces on the News of the World.”

“Right-o,” his friend said, knowing full well that his friend didn’t care much for the public’s heroes.

Together, they stepped into the warehouse—and Charlie gasped under his breath, while Nathaniel felt a strange sort of disconnection from reality. It was here… the strange images he’d seen in Neville’s mind, all arranged before him.

There was a globe, hanging near the high ceiling… it was a miniature version of Earth, spinning slowly. There was a strange bit of shading surrounding most of Europe and parts of Asia—
It’s some sort of barrier surrounding all the Axis nations,
Nathaniel realized.
It’s a copy of the Earth… but not quite exact, is it? Neville knew that—and it terrified him.

Below the Un-Earth was a corridor of pure psionic energy. It crackled and writhed like a living thing, forming an ever-shifting chain from the false Earth to the woman who lay below, strapped in some sort of embryonic tank. Her naked form was jerking about in the tank, pressing against the thin layer that held her fast. Nathaniel could make out little about her features, but he thought he saw flashes of smooth Caucasian skin and fiery red hair. Her body was lithe but not overly slim… it was padded nicely in all the right areas.

“We need to get someone out here, Nat… This is way beyond us.”

“We can’t leave her in there… She’s in pain. Can’t you feel it?”

Charlie didn’t answer, but he knew it was true. There was an almost palpable sense of
agony
here. It was that pain that had caused the sense of unease they’d felt outside… but here it was so much stronger. The psychic anguish was so powerful that Charlie felt himself begin to break down. “Help her, then. But make it quick!”

Nathaniel stepped forward… and he released the energy building within him. It was answering the woman’s, responding to a call that only he could hear. It was primal and pure and sexual and full of need. He felt his clothes burn away, to reveal the dark green bodysuit that appeared whenever his powers were at their fullest. He hated it, didn’t understand why it was even there—but he knew somehow that it had a purpose, as all things did. Magical energy cascaded from Nathaniel Caine’s body, altering and changing all things around him.

Charlie felt its touch and was glad, for he felt warm and protected.

The Un-Earth rippled and spun faster, its masters—so far away—feeling and knowing all that occurred.

And the girl felt the releasing of tension, leaving her bereft of agony for the first time in far too long.

The energy corridor shattered apart, leaving the Un-Earth floating without a tether to the real world. The tank holding the red-haired woman split open at the same time, letting her tumble forth into Nathaniel’s waiting arms. He held her tightly, acutely aware of her scent and the softness of her damp skin. Since Claire’s death, he’d avoided women, as if afraid that loving another would make him forget her. This contact however, was electric…

All around the two interlocking forms, energy began to swirl out of control. Charlie yelled something but Nathaniel couldn’t hear him over the sudden onslaught of sound that now surrounded them. Nat was too intent on staring into the eyes of the woman he held, as she gazed back at him. She seemed confused and somewhat lost, but there was an intensity to her gaze that made him realize that she was no fair maiden, waiting to be rescued. This was a warrior…

“My name’s Rachel,” she said, but her mouth never moved. “Winters…”

“You’re absolutely gorgeous,” he replied, in the same manner. “No matter what your name is.”

Their minds then opened to one another, in a kiss that was deeply personal.

They never noticed that the world around them had begun to shift and alter, as they were pulled from one Earth to another…

* * *

Rachel cried out as Nathaniel plunged into her, repeatedly causing her to shake with pleasure. The only sound in the room was the mixture of their grunts and the sound of flesh pounding against flesh. She reached out with her arms, pulling him against her, into her, sinking her teeth softly into his neck. He felt himself beginning to climax, feeling the gentle motions of her orgasm beneath him…

It was exactly fifteen minutes after they’d first met, swept up in a tidal wave of psychic energy and pent-up sexual tension.

Nathaniel rolled over onto his back, both of them panting as their worlds began to slow down. They had been so wrapped up in the sudden onslaught of passion that neither had been completely aware of their surroundings… but their world had shifted, subtly, from one realm to another.

“We’re on Un-Earth,” Rachel whispered, glancing at him with a mixture of embarrassment and fear. “You were incredible.”

“Thanks, luv,” he replied, feeling a bit sheepish himself. He reached for his clothes, which had been discarded in a messy heap at his side, but found that his trousers and shirt were gone… replaced by the green cloak and bodysuit that had appeared sporadically since the Cosmic Rays had altered him forever. “Damn it all. My clothes…”

“My uniform’s here, too. Convenient.” Rachel rose, telekinetically lifting her own colorful attire and allowing it to drift onto her lithe form. She wore a dark green bodysuit that at first appeared to be made of leather but upon closer inspection was composed of some material unknown to Nathaniel. The uniform came complete with boots and gloves. Nathaniel couldn’t help but notice that her attire seemed remarkably similar to his own. Rachel noticed him staring and assumed he was interested in more physical play. She smiled knowingly and winked. “Eyes up top, mate. We have more important things to worry about—Maybe you were distracted, but I told you we’re not on the real Earth anymore. We’re on the one built by Bane.”

“How in the hell could they create a whole world?” He gazed about himself, seeing that they were standing in a warehouse that basically mimicked the one in which he’d first entered… but there were differences, as well. The strange apparatus that had been draining energy from Rachel Winters was gone… and there was an odd poster hanging on the wall, showing Adolf Hitler. He was wearing a military uniform and looked a bit more handsome and fit than Nathaniel knew him to be. Beside him on the poster, the words “Your Fuehrer Loves You” were printed in English, with a smaller German translation beneath them.