Deadly Weakness (Gray Spear Society) (9 page)

"Then it sounds like we can't permit head trauma. Also, no neck or spinal injuries."

"And no dismemberment," she said. "I can't regenerate limbs."

"Fair enough. Is that it? Anything else goes?"

She shrugged. "I think so. You'll have to fix a lot of broken bones and torn tendons tomorrow. Compound fractures, too. They'll look like car crash victims."

"That's my bread and butter. Your job will be to keep the fighters alive while I put their parts back together. And deal with hemorrhaging and contusions." He smiled. "Do you mind if I try an experiment? Do that glowing thing again, please."

Her skin brightened. She looked like a fluorescent light bulb shaped like a beautiful woman.

He took her hands in his. Carefully, he pushed his fingers into hers so their flesh mingled. It became impossible to tell where one set of hands ended and the other set began.

The glow spread into his body. It travelled up his arms and into his chest. He heard the thumping of his own heart. He was sharing her vibrant power, and it was the most magnificent sensation of his life. It was the power of creation. The life energy of the whole universe flowed through her.

But it was too much. That God given power wasn't meant for him. Reluctantly, he withdrew his hands and the glow faded.

For a long moment they just looked into each other's eyes.

Then they fell into each other's arms and kissed.

* * *

Xavier stared at the frozen lake beside Camp Zonta. Even though the night was bitterly cold, he had to admit the lake was a sight to behold. A full moon lit the dusting of snow that covered the ice. It was a vast field of soft white perfection. If there were heating elements underneath, he saw no evidence of them, but he believed Aaron had told the truth.

Aaron had provided a winter coat for Xavier as promised. It was a gray nylon parka with a fur lined hood that he could tighten around his face. Xavier was still cold, but at least he wasn't miserable.

The lake is the way out,
Xavier thought. All evening he had contemplated how he would escape this place if it became necessary. He didn't like the idea of wandering through woods full of booby traps. He had good eyes, and he would probably spot many of the traps, but that wasn't sufficient. Missing just one would kill him.

In the case of the lake, at least he knew what he was up against. According to Aaron, the ice was dangerously thin in spots. That was a well defined problem, which meant it could be solved. If Xavier were clever enough, he could even use the thin ice to his advantage. Anybody pursuing him would have to cross it also.

He hung a small hands-free headset over his ear. It would be invisible from a distance, particularly at night. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the slim black phone that he used for special calls. Working by touch alone, he dialed a number.

"Hanley here."

"What is my color?" Xavier said with a minimum of lip movement.

"Gray."

"What is my weapon?"

"A spear," Hanley said in a tone of annoyance.

"Who am I?"

"The commander of Houston. It's 1:30 in the morning, Xavier! Why didn't you call earlier?"

"I had to be sure everybody was asleep," Xavier said.

"I wish I were asleep! Where the hell are you?"

"Eastern Wisconsin. Camp Zonta. It's a summer camp."

"Hold on," Hanley said. "Let me look that up. I need to see a map."

Xavier waited impatiently. He checked the cabins around him. All the lights were off and there was no movement.

"Got it," Hanley said. "It's a nice, isolated location. Very few civilians in the area. We can use the woods as cover for our approach. This assault should be straightforward."

"Those woods are full of traps."

"Then we'll go slow. Thanks for the heads up."

Xavier sighed. "Listen, this isn't a good idea."

"What isn't?" Hanley said.

"The attack."

"Why? You're at the convention, right? Everybody is there?"

"Yes,
everybody
is here," Xavier said. "That's exactly the problem. It's a fucking freak show, even worse than I expected."

"How many people are we talking about?"

"Around forty-five or fifty."

"That's all?" Hanley said. "I'm planning to send a combined force of two hundred men. All special forces or highly trained FBI agents. That's a four to one advantage. We'll hit the Society so hard and fast they won't even have time to find their guns."

"They already have their guns, lots of guns, and every other kind of weapon. They sleep with them. And don't even think you can sneak in here and surprise everybody. There is security all around the camp. Your men will never even reach the camp alive. They'll get slaughtered in the woods."

"My guys will be fully equipped for intense combat."

"It doesn't matter," Xavier said in a hostile tone. "How many times do I have to explain? You won't be fighting humans. There are real monsters here. They live in shadows and only come out when..."

"Stop!" Hanley said. "I've warned you before. I won't listen to your paranoid garbage about dark creatures with special powers. You lose a lot of credibility every time you talk that way."

"Then how do you explain what happened in San Francisco?"

"We won that fight in the end."

"But how many men did you lose?" Xavier said.

"We were attacking a fortified underground bunker. We expected casualties. They were just worse than anticipated. This Camp Zonta is a much softer target. I'm looking at a satellite photo right now, and I already have a plan of attack in mind. There is a road to the east..."

Xavier rubbed his eyes. He was tired after a long day of travel and stress. In retrospect, he should've slept instead of making this call.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear your idiotic plan. Whatever it is, it won't work. Your men will get butchered, you'll die, and I'll have to find another ally. That would be very inconvenient for me."

"I refuse to walk away from this opportunity," Hanley said. "The entire Special Missions Unit is already in Chicago. They're chomping at the bit to move out."

"Then let's compromise. Don't do anything yet. Leave your men in Chicago where they won't attract the wrong kind of attention. In the morning I'll call and give you a plan that might actually work. I just need some time to think about it. I'll also try to get more information about the security here. The convention goes until Monday morning, so there's no rush. Let's do this right."

"Since when do you call the shots?"

Xavier squeezed his phone in frustration. "My intelligence has always been good. Hasn't it? I was the one who got the ball rolling on this whole thing. This is as much my operation as yours. I'm just asking for a few hours of patience."

Hanley grunted. "I suppose so."

"Now get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day."

Xavier ended the call and put the headset in his pocket.

He stared at the lake again. After that call, it was now ten times more urgent that he come up with an escape plan. Clearly, Hanley wasn't going to back down. One way or another, it was going to be a weekend filled with mayhem. Xavier didn't want to find himself caught in the middle of a battle on the losing team.

He took out the paper map that Aaron had provided. Camp Zonta had a large central building about two hundred feet from the edge of the lake. The main dining hall, the kitchen, and other facilities were there. About forty much smaller buildings were scattered around in clusters. Some were heated and contained real bedrooms, like miniature motels. They were meant for the professional staff of the camp, and the attendees at the convention were staying in those rooms. Other buildings just had wooden walls and screened windows. Kids would stay there in the summer.

Thick forest completely surrounded the camp except for the side with the lake. The leaves had fallen off the trees, but the forest was dense enough to provide good cover anyway. Many trees were growing within the camp itself. Uneven terrain created even more avenues for a force to approach unseen.

Xavier noticed one of the buildings on the map was marked "mech. shed."
I might find something useful in there,
he thought. He walked silently through the camp site. The night was so quiet it was eerie. In Houston, there was always some kind of noise, either city traffic or buzzing insects.

He arrived at the shed and found a padlock on the door. Fortunately, he always carried lock picks. It took him less than a minute to open the cheap lock.

He went into the shed and turned on a light. It was crowded with tools and recreational equipment. Several canoes hung from the ceiling, but they wouldn't do him much good on ice. An industrial grade weed whacker caught his eye. It might make an interesting weapon.

He spotted a four-wheeled ATV in the corner. It looked like it had a good sized engine. The very wide tires were suitable for crossing mud.
Or thin ice,
he thought.
I'll have to drive very fast though.
He went over to inspect the vehicle more closely. A gentle shake confirmed there was gasoline in the tank. The ignition was just a button without a key. It looked like an older model but there wasn't much rust. It seemed it had been properly maintained over the years. He couldn't test the engine because that would make too much noise.

He turned out the light, left the shed, and locked the door. He needed to go to sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day for everybody.

* * *

Norbert watched the giant monitors above Bethany's workstation. The screens showed live video feeds from the camp where the convention was taking place. The entire site and the woods around it were blanketed with surveillance. Norbert could look into any room or behind any tree with just a keystroke. At the moment the screens were divided among thirty feeds, and the selection cycled every ten seconds.

One entire monitor showed a detailed map of the site. Small labeled crosses marked the names and locations of all the people. The twins had set up a system that combined motion tracking and real time face recognition. This information was supplemented with the tracking signal emitted by every Spears phone. Aaron had wanted the ability to immediately locate any guest at any time with great precision. Norbert could see them moving around in bed as they slept.

He now felt less regret about not attending the convention in person. He had observed the entire proceedings through the surveillance system in vivid detail. Hidden microphones in the dining room had let him eavesdrop on some of the conversations. In a way the experience was better than actually being there. Norbert could be as nosy as he wanted without being rude.

There was a camera in the chapel, of course. He had witnessed the surprising romantic interlude between Smythe and Odelia. When the scene had started to look like a porn movie, Norbert had turned off that feed.

Thinking about sex made him look over at the twins. They were sleeping on a mattress on the floor, their slim bodies pressed together. It was sometimes easy to forget they were two separate people. They never strayed far apart. Just being in separate rooms made them uneasy.

Norbert turned back to the monitors. While the twins slept, he was the lone watchman on duty. It was a staggering responsibility. Many important people were depending on him for their safety. If there was an attack, it was Norbert's job to sound the alarm. He was standing to make sure he didn't accidently fall asleep.

Aaron's orders were to "watch for trouble and report any suspicious behavior." Norbert had just seen behavior that bordered on suspicious. Xavier, the commander of Houston, had come out of his room and had looked at the lake for a while. Then, he had visited a storage shed.

These actions could be explained by insomnia, paranoia, and curiosity. Members of the Society, especially senior members, tended to possess all three traits. Xavier hadn't made any threatening moves. He had stayed away from other people.

Norbert considered notifying Aaron anyway. Norbert could see Aaron and Marina sleeping in a cabin on one of the feeds. Aaron's phone was right beside his head.

No,
Norbert thought.
I'll let him sleep. It isn't that important.

He walked around to check the monitors on Leanna's workstation. These also showed surveillance feeds, but they were coming from a different summer camp. The second camp was similar to the first in size and geography, but it was completely uninhabited. Lights on timers created the illusion that people were in the buildings. Cardboard cutouts cast human silhouettes on the curtains.

Norbert still didn't understand why Aaron had insisted on two separate sites for the convention. Everybody was at the first, and it didn't seem like the second would get used at all. Norbert's only theory was that Aaron had wanted a backup site in case the primary one had to be abandoned for some reason.
But why did the twins hack the phones?
Norbert thought.
And why make it look like people are staying there?