“Browning and Jane stay on the Virginia side of the river. That’s the direction we’re planning on retreating.”
“John isn’t going to like that,” Lance pointed out. “He’s a brave man.”
“He’s also an old one. Faye, Hammer, and the French girl will be here”-he thumped the wall-“On the D.C. side.”
“No way!” Faye shouted.
“Uh, Jake… She is our most dangerous Active.”
“And until those Dymaxions are shut off, she’s only a teenage girl. If the OCI gets a call out for reinforcements, they’ll likely come from that direction. The Torch can set the bridge on fire and slow them down. Besides, we all know the second Faye thinks it’s clear, there ain’t nothing that’s going to stop her from popping over to the island and raising hell, regardless of what we tell her to do.”
Faye blushed. “Well… obviously.”
“That’s fine, Faye. Once the nullifiers are off, your orders are to just be yourself.”
“I can do that, Mr. Sullivan!”
“I figured you’d be okay with that.”
“What about me?” Lance asked.
“You and Ian are with Browning.”
Lance obviously didn’t like that much. “That’s an awful long way from the shooting.”
“We’ve got two Powers that can cause some harm, and I’m not going to waste them. Besides, Lance, if it all goes to hell, you know how to use the mortar.”
“Fine, but I’m stopping by the National Zoo on the way to borrow something worthwhile. Me and the kid can hang back.”
“No can do,” Ian interjected. “If I’m going to be bringing in a Summoned capable of fighting, I’ll need to be closer than that or I could lose control of it.”
The last thing they needed was another out-of-control demon on the rampage. “Fine. Me, you, and Dan are going in quiet from the north. There are plenty of boats around there that we can take. They’ll be watching the bridge, but we didn’t get any sign they were watching the forest. Wear your boots.”
Hammer raised her hand. “Why is it that all of the women are on the shore?”
“Blame it on me being old-fashioned if it makes you feel better,” Sullivan said.
“There’s not much for me to do over there, and you’re awfully thin on the island. I can shoot and I know how to handle myself in the woods. Better than the fat city boy, for sure.” Hammer gestured at Dan. “No offense.”
Jane bristled at the jab against her husband, but Dan just laughed it off. “None taken, though the fat part was unnecessary. Unless, of course, you just want to be on the island so you can warn your OCI buddies when we’ve arrived…”
“You tricky Mouth bastard!” Then Hammer shut up because she had no response to that particular accusation.
Sullivan had already thought about how to utilize her, but there wasn’t much use for a Justice in combat, and he didn’t want to get her killed. She wasn’t a knight and Sullivan already felt like getting her mixed up in this whole plot was his fault to begin with.
“She’s got a point, though, Jake. That’s me and you with no Powers and Ian who’s going to be busy concentrating, taking on at least twenty men. What are we supposed to do with only three of us?”
“Four.” Every head in the room turned toward the new voice. Toru stood in the doorway. He surveyed the group, glaring, daring anyone to disagree. “As I said I would, I thought upon your request.”
“Hell no!” Lance shouted as he stood up. “No way am I going with an Iron Guard.” Some other voices rose in agreement. “I’m not working with the likes of him.”
Sullivan had been afraid of this. Many had lost people to the Imperium, but Lance had lost his wife and child. Jane had been kidnapped by an Iron Guard. Faye’s grandfather had been gunned down by the same man. Ian was red-faced and shouting, so he was probably in the same club.
“ Silence! ” The Iron Guard’s bellow shook the farmhouse. Several hands moved to gun butts. “You have my most sincere apologies for the rudeness of my interruption. I have made a promise, and in order to fulfill that promise, I need this man”-he nodded toward Sullivan-“alive. If that means participating in your petty war in order to keep him alive, then I will do so. Whoever tries to stop me from fulfilling the promise I have made to my father,” he looked directly at Lance, “will be considered my enemy.”
Lance drew his revolver. “How about I send you to your father right now, you Imperium son of a bitch.”
“However,” Toru continued, voice completely even, “I have pledged my loyalty to Sullivan’s cause. Anyone who stands with him against the Pathfinder is my ally, and my ally’s fight becomes my fight.” Then Toru surprised everyone by bowing deeply. He held it for a long time before rising. “I will be in the barn. Wake me when it is time to begin the slaughter.” The Iron Guard turned and walked from the room.
“Well… shit…” Lance put his gun back in the holster. Dan Garrett had discreetly opened the Dymaxion box and had been ready to use the nullifier. “That your bright idea, Jake?”
“We’ve all fought the Imperium before. You know what they’re capable of. The OCI won’t know what hit them.”
“They’re evil,” Ian stated with steel in his voice. “Flat out evil. He’ll turn on us when he gets the chance.”
“I don’t think so,” Sullivan said. “I’m playing a hunch.”
Ian was furious. “Your hunch strong enough to keep us from getting stabbed in the back? Strong enough to keep him from carting off whoever he wants for the Chairman’s Cogs to murder?”
“Yeah.” Sullivan folded his arms. “It is.”
Hammer surprised him by jumping in on his side. “I agree with Sullivan. Toru’s a mean one, but my Power says he’s telling the truth about this.”
“A bunch of you are of the opinion that the OCI declared war on us. Well, in my experience, you want to win a war, you don’t hold back nothing. If that means using an Iron Guard, then that’s what it means.”
Lance sure wasn’t happy about that, but he threw up his hands in disgust. “Fine. You want to play with fire, I’ve got one condition-put that Iron Guard in front, because I sure as hell ain’t turning my back on him.”
Hammer sought Sullivan out afterwards. If she was going to do this, there was no halfway about it. Helping meant being where the action is, regardless of the danger. She figured it was because she was a woman, and this was Sullivan’s misguided attempt to keep her safe, like the rules that kept her from becoming a peace officer, even though she was born with a Power that would make her perfect for that kind of work. She resented being treated like a weakling.
Sullivan was alone in one of the back rooms of the farmhouse. The Heavy had disassembled his machine gun and was cleaning it. The parts were spread all over a card table.
“Got a minute?”
“Sure,” he answered as he inspected a spring carefully. Sullivan struck her as someone with single-minded attention to detail. “Thanks for backing me up on what the Iron Guard said.”
“He was telling the truth, though I don’t think your friends believed me.”
“Most don’t.” Apparently satisfied, Sullivan put the spring back. “We’re not the most trusting bunch. Come by it honestly.” Sullivan looked uncomfortable, like he didn’t know what to say. “But you already know that. Have a seat.”
She pulled up a stool. “I just wanted to-”
“Why do you want to help us?”
The question caught her off guard. “They’re going to kill your friend.”
“And?”
“He’s innocent!”
Sullivan nodded. “That don’t answer why you’re helping us.”
She stood up. “If you don’t want my help-”
“I didn’t say that. Sit… please.” The Heavy was embarrassed, so she returned to the stool. “Sorry. I meant no offense. I’m just curious.”
“Saving an innocent man isn’t enough for you?”
“In this world, innocent folks die every day. Why risk your neck to help somebody you don’t even know?”
“How’s that different than what the Grimnoir do?”
He shrugged. “You looking to join up?”
She’d never been one for causes. “Not really.”
He went back to his chore, picked up the bolt, and wiped it down with a rag while he waited for her to talk. Hammer had a feeling that if this conversation came down to a game of patience, Sullivan would win every time.