The Peregrine Omnibus, Volume Two (95 page)

“That makes no sense.”

“I mean that I was created on something called Un-Earth. I was designed to be an Aryan superman for propaganda purposes. When I was sent into the future, I was actually sent from Un-Earth to this world… but something went wrong and I ended up getting here earlier than intended. I time traveled but not the way they wanted me to! After giving it some thought, I’ve come to suspect that my arrival here actually led to my creation. When I vanished in 1938, someone involved with the Un-Earth program made sure I was included in the new history for that false world. When I was sent ‘forward in time’ on Un-Earth, I ended up in 1932 on this world. It’s a causal loop.”

Shani pushed herself up with her arms. She watched him intently. “Beloved, I don’t understand all that you’re saying… but I know that it changes nothing. You are here now and there are things you must do.”

Sun Koh nodded, knowing she was right. Whatever his origins, he was dedicated to the survival and success of the Aryan race. He turned to face her, hands on hips. Despite his nudity, he managed to maintain a regal air. “What do you suggest?”

“Go to your private sanctum and get one of your super-weapons. Use it to destroy the Allies. No matter what the Fuehrer’s faults—and they are many—we cannot allow ourselves to lose this war. If the Allies are victorious, Germany will be neutered and the rise of the Aryans might become a lost goal.”

Sun Koh’s private sanctum was hidden away in the Arctic and was protected by a unique emerald dome that rendered it invisible from the air and impervious to radar detection. The only ones who knew of its existence was Sun Koh’s aides and a small Inuit tribe that had been so cowed by Sun Koh that they would never speak of the place. The Prince of Atlantis had journeyed to the sanctum whenever he needed solitude and it was there that his most dangerous weapons—ones that were far too dangerous to share with the 20th century world—were kept.

“If I were to do that,” Sun Koh said, “then I would want to be the one using the devices. I won’t turn them over to Germany. Not yet.”

“And you shouldn’t! It is your destiny to be our savior and no one else’s!”

Sun Koh made his decision and began dressing. “We should depart at once. I have no fear of Hitler’s assassins but if he learns that you haven’t carried out his orders, he might be able to detain us.”

Shani remained where she was, though she looked away from her lover.

“What is wrong?” Sun Koh asked, sensing her troubled nature.

“I am not going with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I plan to die in the morning.”

Sun Koh approached the bed and sat down beside her. “Explain yourself.”

“Tomorrow an attaché from the United States is having a meeting with British and French officials. They’re having the meeting here. I plan to detonate enough explosives to kill everyone in the building.”

“You don’t have to be here to do that. Set a detonator.”

“This is how I have chosen to end my life. I have served Kali well and she has rewarded me with so much. But now it is time. You know that I am far older than I appear. I am tired and I am crippled. Give me the respect I deserve and allow me to choose the place and means of my death.”

A normal man would have argued this point, proclaiming his love and desire for his partner. But Sun Koh was not a normal man. He saw the wisdom in Shani’s eyes and had far too much regard for her to try and dissuade her. Though the course she had chosen would sadden and pain him, it was her decision to make. “I will miss you,” he said at last and this admission meant more to her than if he’d out his love at the top of his lungs.

They embraced, kissing with all the passion they could bear. He pulled away from her at last and finished getting dressed. He then left her room without another word. Anything more would cheapen their last moments and neither wanted that.

Still, at the very last moment, Sun Koh turned while standing in the doorway. He exchanged a final glance with Ashanti Garuda and then he was gone, the door shutting on a very important chapter in his life.

CHAPTER V

From the Heavens They Fall

The Peregrine’s airplane banked low over Atlantis and Max craned his neck, trying to catch sight of a suitable place for a landing. There was a rocky shoreline and The Peregrine was not surprised to spot a boat resting on the beach. He assumed that this was Sun Koh’s, though he couldn’t be certain. It was a foggy morning and even though the sun was shining bright, the clouds hung heavy around the island, making visibility difficult.

Not satisfied with any of the landing sites he could see, The Peregrine flipped a switch and activated several devices mounted on the bottom of the plane. These converted the airship into something suitable for use in the water and the new landing gear was set in place by the time he lowered the plane until it skimming the ocean’s surface. The Peregrine stopped the engine and dropped anchor just offshore.

Max waded ashore with no supplies. He planned to return to the plane if he needed to but if pressed, he would have admitted that he didn’t expect to be on the island very long. He would either run into Sun Koh soon and the two would sort things out or he’d find out that the Atlantean was already gone and the boat belonged to someone else. In that case, The Peregrine would be gone in pursuit of Sun Koh as quickly as possible.

The Peregrine paused, reconsidering those plans. He saw three sets of footprints coming from the boat and vanishing up into the jungle. From the depressions that hadn’t yet been washed away by the surf, he guessed that all three sets belonged to women. Even more curious were dozens of prints coming to and from the water itself. These prints were webbed and sank deeper into the wet sand than the women’s did. The Peregrine knelt and examined one of them, coming to the obvious conclusion that something inhuman—had come onto this island recently and then left again.

The Peregrine straightened up, drawing one of his pistols. He could easily spot which direction the women had gone in, for they had hacked a clean path up the incline, apparently heading towards the volcano.

Max set off after them, thinking that even if they didn’t lead him to Sun Koh, they might at least have some answers… or, possibly, be in need of rescuing. For the next twenty minutes, he moved through the jungle, glad that he’d left his heavy coat back in the plane. It didn’t take long for his shirt to become dripping wet with sweat and it clung to his athletic physique like a second skin. He finally came to a halt when he entered a clearing, surrounded by a number of crumbling buildings. A well lay in the center of the clearing but The Peregrine virtually ignored it and all the structures. He was instead interested in the strange corpses that littered the ground. At least one of them appeared to be human, though the flesh had been so torn away that it was difficult to judge. The rest of the bodies, though, were obviously what had made the web-footed prints down on the beach. The strange frog-like creatures weren’t dissimilar to things he’d encountered before. These so-called Deep Ones had underwater colonies all around the world and typically made raids on land to find food or to satisfy the peculiar lusts that afflicted them.

The Peregrine was examining one of them when he felt something nudge against the back of his skull and the all-too familiar sound of a gun being cocked.

“Stay where you are, masked man,” a female voice said in English, though Max thought he detected a slight Italian lilt to the words.

The Peregrine turned his head slightly and saw two more women standing nearby. Each wore slightly sexualized versions of standard military attire: one wore German, the other Japanese. It stood to rights that the Italian behind him was dressed in the same manner. “Did you ladies do this?” he asked, gesturing with his hands towards the corpses of the Deep Ones.

“Yes,” Akemi said, stepping close enough for him to see the length of her blade. “And we should do the same to you.”

“I agree with that,” Imelda said with a laugh. “This American bastard’s done more to damage the OFP than anyone else. We’re laughingstocks before he keeps defeating our best agents.”

“He hasn’t beaten the best yet,” Käthe pointed out. “He’s never faced us.”

The Peregrine smiled at that. He had a suspicion that he’d heard of these women—The Furies they were called. A group of highly trained female agents, representing the various facets of the Axis powers. Supposedly, they were able to best any man on the planet.

The Room spun about with incredible speed, knocking Imelda’s hand aside. The Italian pulled the trigger but the bullet shot straight into the ground. Before she could recover, The Peregrine had driven a punch into her midsection, causing her to double over. He then grabbed hold of her gun hand, pointed it up Akemi and, placing his fingers over Imelda’s and squeezing, fired it twice at the Asian beauty. Akemi dove out of the way but one of the bullets grazed her shoulder, leaving a line of trickling blood.

Imelda yanked her hand free, muttering a string of curses in Italian. Her anger only increased when The Peregrine delivered a blow to her chin, striking her with an upwards thrust of his palm.

The Peregrine suddenly felt something wrap around his neck with painful strength. He saw that Käthe had caught him up with her whip and she gave him a yank, tightening the grip on his neck. He could barely breathe but he tried to stay focused on what needed to be done. His hand fumbled with the hilt of his dagger, sheathed against his waist. Unfortunately, Akemi was back on her feet and had spotted his intention. She moved forward quickly, stabbing with her katana. She slid the blade into his midsection, expertly avoiding anything that would prove fatal. Max cried out in shock, feeling his belly growing warm and wet as his blood spilled from the wound.

Imelda then finished him off by slamming the butt of her pistol against the back of his head. He fell face first to the ground, wondering if he’d ever see his wife and son again.

Käthe was on him quickly, freeing his neck from her whip’s embrace. She rolled him onto his back and examined his wound, giving Akemi a smile. “That’s amazing how you do that.”

Akemi shrugged, pulling out a small white cloth from one of her pockets. She wiped her blade clean. “All it takes is a thorough knowledge of human anatomy… and the confidence that you’re not about to make a mistake.”

“The only mistake being made here is to not kill him,” Imelda said. “I know what the standing orders are: that if anyone captures The Peregrine, they’re to transport him to one of the Axis powers’ capitals… but all three of us know how dangerous he is. We’ve heard the stories. Let’s kill him and just agree to tell everyone there was no way to bring him in alive.”

“I have to admit, I agree with her,” Akemi said. She was rubbing her wounded shoulder.

Imelda seemed surprised but pleased by Akemi’s statement. She turned a hopeful face towards Käthe, thinking that with two votes on her side she might be able to sway the team’s leader.

The lovely German, however, shook her head. “No. We need to find out some information first. What is he doing here? Does he know that Sun Koh has returned? Has he told anyone else, if he has?” She saw the flash of anger that passed through Imelda’s eyes and smiled in a placating manner. “After we question him, we can kill him.”

That brought a grin back to Imelda’s face. “I’ll truss him up.”

Käthe stepped away and took out her long-range radio communicator. She sent a signal to Captain Mueller, whose zeppelin was hiding in the clouds several miles off the island. Given the storms that seemed to cling to the rocky expanse of land, the decision had been made to keep the airship as far from it as their communications would allow.

“Yes?” Mueller sounded relieved to hear from her.

“Is something wrong, Captain?”

“An unidentified craft passed us not long ago. It didn’t seem to spot us so we remained in hiding… but I was concerned that they were looking for the island.”

“They were. We’ve captured them and would like to return to the zeppelin with him in tow. I believe that he might have information that might prove useful to us.”

“Is he a soldier?”

“It’s The Peregrine,” Käthe said, looking back at the unconscious vigilante. He was more handsome than she had expected. Most of the stories she’d been told painted him as a horrible degenerate but as she stared at his wavy hair and olive-tinged complexion, she thought he had a Mediterranean look to him and it was very appealing.

“Fraulein?” Mueller asked.

“Sorry, Captain. My mind was wandering. Could you repeat what you said?”

“I was telling you to be careful. This could mean a promotion for me and increased respect for your group.”

Käthe knew she shouldn’t be amazed but she was. Here they had a man in their possession who had single-handedly become a major thorn in the collectives backsides of the Axis and all Mueller was concerned about was his promotion. “Of course, Captain,” she said, keeping her tone cold and impersonal. “When will you be ready to receive us?”

“We’re on our way to pick you up now. Good work. You’ve done something that many men have failed to do. Heil Hitler!”

“Heil Hitler,” Käthe repeated emotionlessly. She turned off her communicator and pursed her lips thoughtfully. Akemi was now kneeling at The Peregrine’s side, rummaging through his pockets. When she attempted to free his dagger from its sheath, she jerked her hand away as if she’d touched a hot stove.

“What happened?” Imelda asked, bending down to look at Akemi’s fingertips. They were bright red and obviously painful.

“I don’t know. That knife of his… it’s not natural.”

“It’s the Knife of Elohim,” Käthe muttered, unable to hid her disdain for the fact that the other two Furies didn’t take research as seriously as she did. “It was bathed in the blood of Christ and now it deals more harm to evil creatures than is normal.”

Imelda laughed aloud. “Hear that, Akemi? You’re evil.”

“I think it’s just based off the Judeo-Christian mindset,” Käthe said. “So non-Christians would be ‘evil.’”

“You’re no fun,” Imelda said, with a roll of her eyes. She finished tying The Peregrine’s hands and feet, testing the strength of the bonds. “He’s not getting out of this.”