Then somebody smartened up and quit sending the grunts into the line of fire.
During the breaks I snuck peeks at the action through the windows.
Vayl and Cole had separated. Cole’s job, which would’ve been mine, was to anesthetize the team members whose affiliation we couldn’t place and pull a blood sample. It would be a quick, simple procedure. Two plugs up the nose that released fast-acting sleepy gas. Then set the head of a device that resembled a staple gun against a major vein, hold it for three seconds while it lifted the vein to the top of the skin, and pull the trigger. Instant suckage followed by wound closure so quick most victims never realized they’d been punctured. The blood would be automatically stored in a compartment in the handle and a new vial moved into place for the next sample. The only downfall? You’ve gotta keep good track of who you’re testing if you haven’t marked the vials. So Cole would be murmuring descriptions into his transmitter as he went. That way Bergman, who was preparing to run the tests back at base, would have no doubt whose results belonged to whom.
A small light came on in the room closest to the main door. Cole had opened the test-kit lid, which came with its own built-in beam. “Black-haired dude with goofy mustache and a unibrow,” he whispered. “I think it’s the software engineer, Johnson.”
“Got it,” Bergman replied from over half a mile away. Have I mentioned lately how much I love his gadgets?
A shadow crossing past the windows in the room nearest the front of the building let me know Vayl had set to work. I couldn’t see much through the gauzy white curtains. But thanks to Bergman, I could hear.
So I glanced around the playground to make sure the gnomes hadn’t made use of a different escape hatch, and listened close.
VAYL:“You will speak to me in a reasonable tone of voice. You will not scream or call out. Do you understand?”
GNOME-PUPPET(no doubt influenced by Vayl’s hypnotic suggestions): “Yes.” VAYL:“What is your name and title?”
GNOME-PUPPET: “My name is Dade Barnes. I’m the vice president of Odeam Security Software.” VAYL:“Do you understand what you carry within your blood?”
DADE: “Of course. It’s no big deal. Like an infection you get over once they administer the shot. And now I’ll be able to keep my house. My wife and kids.”
VAYL:“Dade, there is no shot. You have been duped.”
DADE: “Heh.”
VAYL:“Who else carries the larvae?”
DADE: “Just me. They call me the godpleaser. I’m like a saint to the gnomes.” I can almost hear him grinning. He loves the adulation. I sense that he regularly got his ass kicked in high school.
VAYL:“You have betrayed your country. You are about to cause millions of dollars of damage. You may be responsible for the deaths of thousands of human beings if—” DADE: “You think I give a shit? What’s my country ever done for me? What’s my fellow man ever done for me?”
VAYL:“Ah, so your status within your company, the house, wife, and children. Those would all have been attainable in any other country by a social misfit whose parents regularly demonstrate for the nation’s destruction?”
DADE: “How did you know about my—”
VAYL:“Answer the question.”
DADE: “Highly unlikely.”
VAYL:“And your fellow man? Are you saying you and yours have never benefited from advances in medicine such as antibiotics, cancer prevention and treatment, or even simple headache remedies? What about electricity? Clean water? Or perhaps we should discuss the woman who found your daughter wandering alone in Target and escorted her to the front, where her mother was waiting, before some monster could make off with her.”
DADE: “Are you some kind of psychic?”
VAYL:“No. I am Vampere. And I have come to kill you.”
DADE(his voice shaking now): “Y-you don’t have to do that. I won’t go into to the Space Complex tomorrow. Or ever.”
VAYL:“No, of course not. But you will die. The larvae erupting will cause you a most excruciating and bloody death. You will not be a hero, nor will your widow be rich. But you can redeem yourself today. If you do not know who else on your team has been turned, at least tell me who turned you.” DADE(sniffling): “It was the shaman.”
VAYL:“Where would a gnome shaman get such a large amount of money as you no doubt required?” DADE(sniffling harder): “I don’t know. I never even met her. After the first call it was all just Internet contacts and money wires.”
VAYL:“Her? The shaman is female?”
DADE: “Psh, yeah. Are you sure it’s going to hurt?”
VAYL:“Have you ever had a blister?”
DADE: “Yes.”
VAYL:“This is like being encased in blisters that explode from the bone outward. You will die screaming.”
DADE: “Aaaah, God.”
VAYL:“I believe your god respects his children’s choices. You made the choice, Dade. As a result your country has been forced to make another. Come with me.”
DADE(quick intake of breath as Vayl’s power lifted. I could feel it, even from outside, the icy-cold tendrils of a Wraith’s touch, freezing the traitor into lethargy even as the smooth undertone in his voice insisted on cooperation.)
Distraction, as gnomes began to emerge, not from their faked door, but from bolt-holes in the back corners of the lot. I picked them off. Two from one. Four from the other. Pause to switch clips. Bam, bam, bam. Another set of head shots that left Ufran with yet more dead to process.
Stop shooting, you foul wench! Brude screamed, striking me with such a headache I was momentarily blinded.
“Help me out, ladies,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut, hoping the tears that rose would clear them.
Teen Me launched herself at the chieftain, her first bitch released before she’d even screeched to a halt within millimeters of his rage-blotched face. What is your major malfunction? she demanded. All this yelling just makes you look like a big, fat bigot! Admit it! The real reason you’re half crazed is because Jaz won’t kneel down and kiss your feet!
Hogwash! She is to be my queen. How much higher can a man raise a woman?
Gimme a fucking break! You’re not going to let her make any decisions when New Hell opens its doors. She’s just supposed to keep her mouth shut and make you look good, right?
I already have a plan in place. I have no need for—
Yeah, I hear you. I also saw what you did the second she disagreed with you. Tried to hit her, didn’t you?
I may have raised my hand. Even a dog must know who is master.
You son of a bitch! Guys like you are why women across the world are afraid to go home at night!
Once I was sure she really had him hooked, I moved my full attention to the playground and let the roaring and screaming become background noise.
Nothing moved at any of the exits. But Vayl and Cole had finished. Now was the key time. I saw the bodies that had piled up at the main door pulled back into the tunnel. No one else appeared. I needed to concentrate. Not wonder why Brude wanted to save gnomes when more dead should mean more soldiers for his army. I’d have to figure that out later.
“I think Ufranites are waiting to jump you as soon as you clear the building,” I whispered.
“We are nearly ready,” said Vayl.
Somebody stepped out of the basement door. Or seemed to. I trained my scope on the guy. He wasn’t moving right. And his head tilted at a strange angle. Which was when I realized he’d been dangled from a sturdy metal coat rack by the back of his jacket.