Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14) (32 page)

"They're pretty badly chewed up. A lot of them require medical treatment. I don't think there will be any more fighting tonight."

She gritted her teeth in frustration. She was so close to victory, she could almost touch it.

"Then just you and I will go. Our soldiers will catch up to us when they can. Come on! We have to hurry!"

Iris moved towards the door. Laurence followed her out with his laptop in hand. He took the driver's seat in a black Mercedes Benz McLaren, and she sat beside him.

"Which way?" he said.

"South on the highway."

She settled back and relaxed. It was time to take another look through the eyes of the Chinese woman.

* * *

Jia looked out at the Pacific Ocean. At night, the waters were black, but the waves had an eerie blue glow. She knew the light was a consequence of bioluminescent plankton, but the effect was still spooky. There was no moon out tonight, and mist blocked the stars. The sky seemed covered in black ink.

Olivia snuggled against Jia's side. "I'm tired," the girl said.

"I know. We're almost there." Jia petted Olivia's blonde hair. "Then we can all sleep."

A few minutes later, Imelda turned off the highway and drove towards the ocean. She went down a one-lane road with plenty of cracks. The jostling woke everybody up, and Olivia blinked slowly.

Imelda parked the car in front of an old house built on a cliff overlooking the water. The walls were made of blocks of real stone painted white. Slate covered the steeply angled roof. A four-story tower had a glass-enclosed room on top.

"What is this place?" Corrie said.

"We call it the old lighthouse," Imelda said, "but it's not a real lighthouse anymore. The San Francisco team has been using it as a safe house for at least a hundred years. Come on. You'll love the guy who lives here."

Everybody climbed out of the black van. The adults grabbed the luggage out of the back. They went to a big front door made of redwood planks, and Imelda knocked loudly.

After a minute, the door creaked open, and an old man looked out. He had a bristly gray mustache, tufts of gray hair on his head, and hair coming out of his ears. A pipe in his mouth shocked Jia. She didn't know people still used those things, but he was puffing away happily.

"Can I help you?" he said.

"We're with the travelling circus. We need a place to stay."

His eyes widened. "Oh! Come in. Come in."

The old man ushered everybody into a big room full of odd items. There was an antique iron stove with a coffee pot on top. A fishing net hung from the ceiling. Dozens of bottles held beautifully constructed miniature ships. A tall bookshelf was stuffed with books, and when Jia took a closer look, she saw titles like
Madame Bovary
,
Lady Chatterley's Lover
, and
Nunnery Tales
. She wasn't familiar with them.

"You look tired," the old man said. "Come this way."

Corrie whispered behind his back. "Travelling circus?"

"It's a code phrase," Imelda replied.

The old man led the group through the house to a door made of steel plate. It had a modern keypad on the side. Min Ho typed in 2-3-5-7-1-1 which Jia recognized as the first five prime numbers. There was a loud, metallic thunk, and he pushed open the door.

"That's all we need from you," Imelda said to the old man. "Thank you."

He nodded and wandered off, leaving a cloud of pipe smoke in his wake.

Jia held Olivia's hand as they entered the room. It was the size of a large bedroom, and there was just one king-size bed. Sleeping arrangements would be a problem. Weapons on hooks covered one wall, and the arsenal spanned the range from .22 caliber pistols to assault rifles. A shelf held bundles of cash, some gold bars, and a machine for printing fake identification.

There was a computer, an obsolete model but still functional. Min Ho and Jia raced to it, but he got there first. She sighed with disappointment. She dearly missed her wonderful computers back at headquarters.

Imelda closed the door with a heavy clang. She walked over to a surveillance console and turned it on. Four monitors lit up, and they showed views of the exterior of the lighthouse. All possible approaches were covered.

"We'll do four-hour security shifts," Imelda said. "I'll take the first shift. You guys can sleep."

Jia looked at the limited accommodations and frowned. "Who gets the bed? Olivia and one other person."

"She'll feel safest with you."

Jia was thinking the same thing, but she didn't want to say it out loud and appear selfish.

Corrie had a pained expression. "I get the floor?"

"Be glad you're still alive," Imelda said.

"Oh!" Jia said. "That reminds me. I'd better call the boss."

She took out her phone and dialed Marina.

"Are you OK?" Marina answered.

"Yes, ma'am," Jia said. "We escaped with no injuries. We're staying at the old lighthouse tonight."

"Thank God! Now I can finally sleep. Just stay where you are. We should be able to rescue you tomorrow night. And tell everybody I'm very proud of them. You did a great job under difficult conditions. Good night."

The call ended, and Jia put away her phone.

"She's very proud of us," she announced, "and the team will be home tomorrow night. We'll hang out here until then."

Min Ho, Imelda, and Corrie smiled.

"Time to go to bed," Imelda said.

Chapter Seventeen

"Slow down," Iris said. "We're almost there."

She was looking at the Pacific Ocean at night. The beach was familiar because she had seen the same view through the eyes of the Chinese woman just a few minutes ago.

"Is that it?" Laurence pointed.

"Yes! Pull over. Don't get too close. They have surveillance."

He stopped the car on the shoulder of the highway. Iris could barely see the white building in the darkness, but the silhouette was familiar. It was an old lighthouse which had been converted into a home. Seeing it again created a sense of déjà vu even though she had used another pair of eyes the previous time. She heard the pounding of the ocean surf.

"What kind of defenses do they have, ma'am?" Laurence said.

"I didn't see much," Iris said, "but they're in a fortified room, and there are cameras on the exterior. They may have some hidden surprises though."

"Are we still trying to take prisoners?"

"No. The girl is definitely in there. We can simply destroy the place."

He nodded. "Finally. I'll assemble a team for a dawn assault. We'll hit the building with rockets and grenades until it's a pile of rubble. Do you think the Society will stay put until then?"

"Yes. They're going to sleep." She smiled. "At dawn, I'll watch Olivia die through the eyes of the enemy, and then I'll get my reward. I can hardly wait. Let's find a hotel."

He looked around. Then he made a U-turn on the highway and drove off.

* * *

A banging noise woke Marina. She growled and turned over while keeping her eyes stubbornly closed.
I'm destined to become the most powerful woman in the universe,
she thought,
and they won't let me sleep. How disrespectful.

She was tired. She hadn't been able to relax until her friends in San Francisco had told her they were safe. Even then, sleep had come slowly. Her bed was just a lumpy pillow and a blanket spread on the hard, cold floor. She had slept in her body armor as a precaution and because it provided a little extra padding.

She heard a thump and a loud curse.

"Damn it," she muttered.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The reassembly of the aperture had begun.
Legionnaires
were carrying and opening crates as fast as they could. Bethany, Leanna, and the fifteen scientists who were assisting them were plugging cables into sockets. Discarded packing materials were being tossed into growing piles of debris. The whole group was busy including the legates. Marina realized she had overslept and needed to make herself useful.

But first,
she thought,
I need a bathroom.

She looked around and saw a line in front of a plywood structure. It had the size and shape of an outhouse, and she guessed that was its purpose. She headed over there.

The people who were waiting insisted Marina go straight to the head of the line. She tried to defer politely, but they demanded she cut in front of them. She shrugged and did so.
Now I'm getting respect,
she thought.

After a minute, it was her turn to use the outhouse which contained a single toilet and a sink. All the plumbing was exposed, but it looked functional. It appeared the toilet connected to the sewer, and the odor wasn't bad.

After she finished, she went back out and looked around for something productive to do.

Hanley, Ipo, Katie, and Yang were waiting for her.

"Any word from San Francisco, ma'am?" Yang said eagerly. "Is everybody OK?"

"As far as I know," Marina said. "They reached the old lighthouse last night."

Her team looked immensely relieved. Yang and Hanley gave each other high-fives.

"The others have been asking about you, ma'am," Hanley said.

"Oh?" Marina raised her eyebrows.

"They want to know what kind of leader you are."

"And what did you tell them?"

"The truth," he said.

She paused. "Oh."

"Now they're scared."

She grunted. "That's fine. It seems being feared is my fate."

"Is that the kind of leader you intend to be?" Hanley said. "You want to inspire fear?"

Marina took a moment to think about her answer. She had no illusions about herself. She wasn't a nice person, and that would never change even if she wanted it to. The most she could do was direct her cruel nature so it was constructive instead of destructive.

"The aperture will give you incredible powers," she said. "Aaron and I are responsible for making sure you use them to fight God's enemies. If you don't fear us, you'll fear nothing at all, and eventually, that will become a problem. Fear keeps us focused on what's important."

Wesley walked over and beckoned for Marina to speak with him privately. The Voice of Truth was wearing a white suit which was so clean, it almost glowed. He had a black tie and polished black shoes. He looked ready to attend a wedding.

Marina went to him. "You look nice."

"Thanks." He smiled. "This is an extremely special day. How are you feeling?"

"Good. Tired, but good. Olivia is safe."

An expression of doubt crossed his face.

"You disagree?" Marina said.

"Well..."

Her eyes widened. "I'd better call them." She took out her phone.

He grabbed her wrist with a surprisingly firm grip. "Don't. They'll be OK... this time. Wait for them to call you."

Wesley had destroyed Marina's good mood. She wondered what kind of horrors her friends in San Francisco were about to face. The old lighthouse was an extremely secure place to hide, and it had served the Society as a refuge for decades. The inner room was built like a bank safe. It seemed impossible for the enemy to find them there.

"Are you having any second thoughts?" Wesley said.

She focused on him. "I have to admit I'm a little apprehensive. Aaron and I will have a ridiculous amount of responsibility, maybe too much."

"You don't have to do it. You two can choose to live a quiet life as an ordinary, married couple."

"But you need us."

"Not if you don't want the job," he said. "God can find replacements, even at this late hour."

Marina looked at the crowd of legates, commanders, and
legionnaires
in the room. They were the best the Society had to offer, and she expected many were qualified for the role. The legates certainly had a wealth of leadership experience and had already proven themselves worthy.

"No," she said. "An ordinary life would be a slow, miserable death for Aaron and me."

Wesley nodded. "Yes."

"Will everybody else go through?"

"Not everybody." He looked across the room. "I think Smythe and Odelia have other plans."

Marina followed his gaze. Smythe and Odelia were working in their formal gray robes. He was cutting open boxes while she cleared away packing materials. They kept glancing at each other like teenagers on a first date. Odelia's red eyes and pink face had a dreamy expression. It was very cute.

"Oh," Marina said. "What plans?"

"They're talking about having kids."

"Really? What a waste of talent. Any idiot can do that."

Wesley snorted. "I would expect the Lady of the Society to say that."

"I'll take that as a compliment." She looked at the frantic activity around the aperture. "I should be doing something useful."

"Go help. The deadline is tonight, and we'll be cutting it close."

"How close?"

His glittering blue eyes stared at Marina. "
Very
."

* * *

A thump woke Jia abruptly.

"We're under attack!" Corrie yelled. "They're shooting rockets at us!"

Somebody turned on a light. Jia blinked and took a moment to remember where she was. The assistants of San Francisco were hiding in the old lighthouse. Corrie was on security duty, while Min Ho and Imelda were sleeping on the floor. Jia and Olivia had the bed.

More loud thuds startled Jia. She could feel the impacts as much as hear them. The armor-plated room could withstand some punishment, but eventually the lighthouse would collapse.

Jia got out of bed and ran over to the surveillance monitors. Dawn was breaking, and the early morning light shone on a line of soldiers. Some were firing shoulder-launched RPG's, and they had a plentiful supply. Others were hurling grenades as hard as they could. One team was firing shells out of a mortar tube, and that scared Jia most of all.

More explosions vibrated the walls. She heard the ominous sound of stone crumbling.

"What are we going to do?" Corrie yelled.

"Don't worry!" Imelda yelled. "We have a back door. Move the bed."

Everybody worked together to shove the wooden bed across the room. A steel trapdoor underneath was revealed. She yanked on the latch.