Baltic Gambit: A Novel of the Vampire Earth (29 page)

At least Valentine had made no more mention of getting her out of the fight.

“I guess we’re alone in the fight. If there is going to be fighting.”

“Southern Command will get back in it, if I have anything to do with it,” Sime said. “I didn’t realize until this neutrality proposal how weak they must be. Nobody makes an offer like that if they think they have a chance at winning. It’s a bluff, and I intend that we should call it.”

They said farewell to Sime at the Evansville airport. A little two-engine scout reconnaissance plane was waiting for him to speed him back to Texarkana. Ahn-Kha shook his hand, his hairy face grave.

“We might have done better to negotiate,” Sime said. “Without the Lifeweavers—”

“Without the Lifeweavers we have a few more years of Bears, Cats, and Wolves,” Valentine said. “They’ll dwindle and die.”

“We’ve attempted to breed them,” Sime said. “That generation is at least a decade away from beginning to be useful.”

“Ordinary people are going to win this,” Valentine said. “Ordinary people in the Kurian Zone. Watch for it.”

“I hope you’re right, Valentine,” Sime said. “Well, good luck.”

He shook Duvalier’s hand—she still thought his touch a trifle reptilian, and he still reminded her of a Kansas Quisling, through and through. He boarded his plane.

“Well, the dice are thrown,” Colonel Lambert said.

They had a minute while the plane taxied and everyone moved out of the way.

Alessa Duvalier chuckled. “Valentine, you used to play chess. I sort of remember you got into it in Omaha with some bigwig there. What was it called when you move a few pieces at the opening to tempt your opponent into doing something stupid?”

“A gambit,” Valentine said. “You sacrifice a pawn or two in order to get your opponent to open up his defenses.”

“But whose gambit was it?” Ahn-Kha asked. “Ours or theirs?”

“Maybe we only took a pawn in Kokkola,” Duvalier said. “And now we’re alone in the fight. We have to live with that.”

“See that you do,” Valentine said. “But it always was our fight.”

B
EARS
—The toughest of the Hunter classes, Bears are famously ferocious and the shock troops of Southern Command, working themselves up into a berserk rage that allows them to take on even the Reapers at night. Also famous for surviving dreadful wounds that would kill an ordinary man, though how completely they heal varies slightly according to injury and individual.

C
ATS
—The spies and saboteurs of the Hunter group, Cats are stealthy individuals with keen eyesight and superb reflexes. Women tend to predominate in this class, though whether this is due to their bodies’ adapting better to the Lifeweaver changes, or to the fact that Cat activities require the ability to blend in and choose a time for acting rather than more aggressive action is a matter of opinion.

G
OLDEN
O
NES
—A species of humanoid Grog related to the Gray Ones. Golden Ones are tall bipeds (though they will still sometimes go down on all fours in a sprint) mostly covered with short, butternut-colored fur that grows longer about the head-mane. Expressive batlike ears, a strong snout, and wide-set, calm eyes give them a somewhat ursine appearance, though the mouth is broader. They are considered by most to have a higher culture than their Gray relations. Their civilization is organized along
more recognizable groups, with a loose caste system rather than the strictly tribal organizations of the Gray Ones.

G
RAY
O
NES
—A species of humanoid Grog related to the Golden Ones. Their hair is shorter than that of their relatives, save for longer tufts that grow to warm the forearms and calves/ankles. Their bodies are covered in thick gray hide, which grows into armorlike slabs on some males. They are bipeds in the fashion of gorillas, with much heavier and more powerful forearms than their formidable Golden One relations, wide where their cousins are tall. Unless organized by humans otherwise, they tend to group into tribes of extended families, though in a few places (like St. Louis) there are multitribe
paramountcies controlling other tribes in a feudal manner.

G
ROGS
—An unspecific word for any kind of life-form imported or created by the Kurians, unknown to Earth pre-2022. Some say it’s a version of “grok,” since so many of the strange, and sometimes horrific, life-forms cooperate; others maintain that the term arises from the “graaaaawg!” cry of the Gray Ones when wounded or calling for assistance in a fight. In most cases among the military of Southern Command, when the word “Grog” is used it is commonly understood to be a Gray One, as they will use other terms for different life-forms.

H
EARTROOT
—A Golden One staple, it is a fungoid like a very thick mushroom. Rich in proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, it is ground into animal feed. It is difficult to eat raw, but baked and coated in honey, it is reasonably tasty. It may also be braised or roasted
and added to stews to provide more protein content when meat is short.

H
UNTERS
—A common term for those humans modified by the Lifeweavers for enhanced abilities of one sort or another. Up until 2070, the Hunters worked closely under the direction of the Lifeweavers in Southern Command, but after so many of them fled or were killed during Consul Solon’s incursion, the Hunter castes were directly managed by Southern Command.

K
URIANS
—A faction of the Lifeweavers from the planet Kur who learned how to extend their life span through the harvesting of vital aura. They invaded Earth once before in our prehistory and formed the basis for many legends of vampires. Although physically weak compared to their Reaper avatars, Kurians are masters of disguise, subterfuge, and manipulation. They tend to dwell in high, well-defended towers so as to better maintain mental links with their Reaper avatars. Face-to-face contact with one is rare except for their most trusted Quislings. Some have compared the Kurian need for vital aura with an addict’s need for a drug, especially since the consumption of vital aura sometimes leaves the Kurian in a state of reduced sensibility. Most Kurians live life on simple terms—concerned with whether they are safe, do they have enough sources of vital aura, and how can they gather a large supply and keep it against their hungry and rapacious relatives.

K
URIAN
A
GENTS
—The Kurian answer to the Hunter class, Kurian agents are very trusted humans, often trained from early
childhood to utilize psychic powers similar to those of their Kurian masters. There are reports of Kurian agents able to assume the appearance of other races and genders, confuse the minds of their opponents, and even read minds to uncover traitors.

L
EGWORMS
—Long, centipede-like creatures introduced to Earth in 2022 that reach lengths of more than forty feet and heights of eight feet or more. They are a useful but stupid creature, able to bear heavy loads, but can be urged to move at a pace above a walk only by a skilled rider and constant prodding. Their chewy flesh from around the hundreds of clawlike legs is high in protein and edible, barely, and the skin from their eggs makes a tough, breathable form of leather that is a valuable trade good if harvested before the newly hatched legworms consume it. They lay eggs in fall and become sluggish and torpid in winter, when they gather together in masses to shelter their eggs.

L
IFESIGN
—An invisible signature given off by all living organisms, in proportion to their vital aura. Reapers can detect it, especially at night, and are able to home in on humans from miles away. It is possible for a human to train him- or herself to reduce lifesign through mental exercises or meditation, and it is possible to camouflage lifesign by hiding in densely wooded areas or among large groups of livestock. Earth and metals do tend to block it. There are some who maintain that a sufficient quantity of simple aluminum foil can conceal lifesign, especially if one keeps one’s head properly wrapped, but empirical evidence is lacking, since individuals who try to sneak past Reapers by relying on layers of foil rarely return.

L
IFEWEAVERS
—A race thought to have populated some nine worlds, modifying or creating an unknown number of life-forms. They appear to be some form of octopus crossed with a bat, equally at home in the water or gliding between treetops. A faction of Lifeweaver scientists on a planet called Kur created a schism when they began to use the vital aura from other living creatures to extend their own life span. Soon open warfare broke out. The Lifeweavers were successful in keeping the Kurians confined to Kur for millennia, but the Kurians managed to break out and invaded Earth and an unknown number of other Lifeweaver-populated worlds in 2022, our time.

L
OGISTICS
C
OMMANDOS
—A branch of Southern Command that concerns itself with acquiring difficult-to-obtain supplies, mostly medicines and technology. They do this by purchase, trade, and outright theft. It is common for veteran Hunters to go into the Logistics Commandos as a form of retirement from fighting.

M
OONDAGGERS
—A religious military order that fights for the Kurians. They were created and closely directed by a branch of the New Universal Church that is more patriarchal and theocratic than the typical churchmen. Famous for their brutality, they were key in putting down the revolts in the Great Plains Gulag in 2072. They were nearly destroyed, however, when they resorted to similar tactics against the legworm ranchers in Kentucky in 2075–76.

N
EW
U
NIVERSAL
C
HURCH
—A religious order of trusted Quislings who help manage the spiritual and intellectual needs of the
human subject populations in the Kurian Zone. Much of their time is spent rationalizing the deaths of those taken by the Reapers and keeping the human breeding stock quiescent. Higher-level churchmen are often trained by the Kurians in similar psychic skills as those used by Kurian Agents. The New Universal Church might justly be compared to the older Anglican one in that there is a “High Church” of important intellectuals and decision makers who provide executive-level direction to the Church’s activities. They gather intelligence and carry out their operations through their agents and small but deadly Special Forces units. Then there is a “Low Church” of foot soldiers, so to speak, who provide day-to-day service to the human population in the form of hospitals, entertainment centers, and organizations such as the Youth Vanguard and the Women’s Army Auxiliaries. The Low Church organs also act as one of the filters for selecting candidates for the Reapers, especially among the sick, unemployable, and troublesome. The New Universal Church, for all its talk of “redeeming mankind, and reclaiming our promise,” is resolutely unforgiving of physical weakness and social misfits.

Q
UICKWOOD
—An olive tree–like plant that acts as a catalyst in a Reaper’s bloodstream, freezing it in place and killing it quickly. The only drawback to Quickwood is its rarity, as the small supply that Southern Command managed to acquire was virtually destroyed by Solon’s forces, though some seeds were saved and a few plants now thrive in both the wild and in controlled and defended environments. The Kurians are working on modifying their Reapers to be immune to Quickwood, but for now the
Reapers deal with a Quickwood wound by a fast self-amputation, if practicable.

Q
UISLINGS
—Humans who work for the Kurian Order. There is a great deal of dispute as to what exactly constitutes a Quisling, but usually someone at the bottom rung of the social ladder who follows orders is not considered to be actively supporting the Kurians, even if he or she happens to drive a collection van for the Reapers. Quislings are more commonly held to be those actively working for their master Kurians in pursuit of immunity for themselves and their families. Quislings who do great service in the name of their Kurian lords are sometimes awarded a “brass ring” granting immunity from the Reapers to themselves and their immediate families.

R
EAPERS
—The avatars of the Kurian Order, Reapers are very powerful humanoids that form the basis of most of our vampire legends. With only a vestigial reproductive system and a simplified digestive process based on the consumption of blood and a small amount of flesh, Reapers are fast, strong, and deadly, particularly at night when the connection with their Kurian master is strongest. They are strong enough to tear through metal doors and hatches, can jump to second- or sometimes third-story windows, and can run as fast as most cars can move on all but the best-maintained roads. Hunters find Reapers most vulnerable during daylight hours, when the Kurian connection is weaker, especially directly after a feeding, when the Reaper is sleepy from the blood intake and the Kurian is distracted by the absorption of aura.

T
WISTED
C
ROSS
—A military faction of the Kurian Order, the members of the Twisted Cross use trained humans to operate fighting Reapers in a manner similar to a Kurian lord’s. The Twisted Cross activities in North America were stillborn when the Golden Ones revolted and destroyed their base in 2067. There are reports of more-successful Twisted Cross military formations operating around the Black Sea and in Southeastern Europe and Asia Minor, the Asian subcontinent, and Japan.

V
ITAL
A
URA
—The energy created by all living things, but enriched and refined in sentient, emotionally developed creatures. Thus a human will have much more vital aura than, say, a much heavier cow or pig. This energy is what sustains Kurians over their extended, and seemingly limitless, life span.

W
OLVES
—The great guerilla fighters of the Hunter class, Wolves are famous for their endurance, senses of smell and hearing, and ability to operate without logistical support. They are the most numerous of the Hunter classes, trained by the Lifeweavers to be a match for the fearsome organs of the Kurian Order. They can cover long stretches of ground in their all-day runs, often evading even mechanized opponents. They often act as the eyes and ears of larger operations, or provide a communications link for Cats operating alone in the Kurian Zone and Bear teams needing support and guidance on their way to hit a key target.