Full Moon Rising - 02 (7 page)

Natashia practically beamed with pleasure upon meeting Matt.  Some thought she was almost  glowing.  If Jack didn’t know her better, he might think she was flirty, but it was just Natashia’s style to ooze pure femininity everywhere she went.  When she stepped forward to shake the colonel’s hand, she moved with such fluidity that she almost seemed made of satin, her curves accentuating the sundress she wore.  She couldn’t have looked more radiant if she wore an evening gown and was bedazzled with jewels. 

“Colonel, so good to finally meet you.” She purred as she took his hand.  Jack swore he heard one of the squad members say something along the lines of, ‘does that make her a WILF?’

Matt hated to admit that he enjoyed the way she said ‘colonel’, accentuating each letter, not saying it like the Americans do, like a kernel of corn. Very European of her.  “Nice to meet you as well, ma’am.”

“Please, you may call me Tasha.” She purred.

Tasha?
Jack thought.  That’s a little weird.  “Sir, I didn’t tell them where we are.” Jack began.

“He didn’t have to, colonel.” Nadia tried to explain.  “I could sense he was in danger.  Our bond directed me to him.”

“Ma’am, Jack’s job always puts him in the path of danger, I don’t see why…”

“No, this is larger than that.  Something dark and large looms.” She interrupted.  “This is extremely dangerous.”

Mitchell sighed and shook his head.  “Considering the time of the month, there are possible threats all over our sectors, there’s simply no way we can tell which one is this ‘large’ threat.”

“This isn’t tied to the moon or its pull, colonel.  This is…larger.  This is…’Apocalypto’!”

“Apocalypse?” he asked.

“Yes.  Very much so.  Or very like.”  She grunted in frustr
ation.  “The correct words escape me.  I have no way to put into it what I am seeing.  What I feel is grander than the words I can find.”

“Understood.” Matt studied her for a moment then motioned to Apollo.  “Let’s get them down below, secure the hangar and double the guards outside.” 

“Yes, sir.”

Next he turned to Laura.  “Notify the base commander that there may be an exterior threat, increase the guards at all the gates and let’s get security at unopened gates.  Activate canine units and set perimeter patrols, just in case.  We’ll want to go to the next threatcon.  If he asks, the code word is Lazarus.”

“I’m on it, Colonel.”

Mitchell next addressed Jack.  “Are all the teams geared up and ready for action?”

“Affirmative, Skipper.”

“Very well.  Come with me.  You can help fill in some gaps.” And the two men headed for the stairwell.  It was time to make arrangements for two more wolves for at least one night and see just how much information he could glean from this wolf with premonitions.  If a large threat was looming, especia
lly one of Apocalyptic proportions, then he damn sure wanted to milk every drop of intel that he could from this girl.  As they exited the stairwell, Matt motioned for one of his young captains.  “Get Dr. Evans.  Have him meet us in the interrogation room.”

“Yes, sir.”  The guard turned to leave when Matt yelled a warning.

“Be careful when you wake him.  He can be a little grumpy without his beauty rest.”

“Roger that, sir.” The captain said.

“Now, about your…’wife’.  How do these premonitions of hers work?” Matt asked Thompson.

“Honestly, Skipper, this is the first I’ve ever heard of them.”  Jack answered.  “I was as shocked as anybody else when she came running up the hangar deck.”

So much for that idea.  Matt hated going in cold, with nothing to work with.  His head started to throb and his gut twisted a bit.  The wolf juice that Evan brewed up for him wasn’t lasting as long as he’d hoped, even with the concentrated version he had been slugging back.  He pulled the flask from his pocket and took a hit from it.  It still tasted like a turd filtered through dirty socks, but the relief was almost immediate.

“Scotch?” Jack inquired.

“I wish.  Some concoction that the doc cooked up for me to help take the edge off the full moon.”

Jack hiked an eyebrow.  “Does it work?”

“For very short periods at a time, yes.  It stinks to high heaven, tastes even worse, but the relief it gives me makes it worth it.”  Mitchell sighed and slipped the flask back in his pocket.  “Anything I need to know about these two before we go in?”

“I pretty much covered the high points in my debrief, Skip.  Natashia was the one who pulled my fat out of the fire and N
adia’s her daughter.  They’re natural born wolves and can shift at will.  The rest…well, pretty much doesn’t apply.  I’m not sure what they can tell us that we don’t already know.”

“I may need your help to read their body language in there.  You know them a lot better than I do.”

Jack turned to Mitchell.  “Skipper, we wouldn’t have anything if she hadn’t risked it all to bring it to us.”

“And you don’t find that just a little bit too convenient?  Just show up out of the blue with this dire warning?”

“She wouldn’t set us up, sir.”  Jack started to get mad.

“Her mother was at the ambush that your squad was slaug
htered at…”

“And she
saved
my ass!” he interjected.  “I trust them with my life!”

Matt was silent for a moment and let Jack calm down then he stated simply, “Good.  Because if I decide to trust them, I’ll be trusting them with
everybody’s
lives.”

*****

Rufus Thorn paced his study, worry creasing his long face.  “Why have they not called?  Surely they have made it to the military base by now?”

Georgio followed in mirror to his steps.  “I do not know S
eñor.  She should have called by now, I am sure of it.”

Scenarios played out in their minds, none of them good.  Rufus hated worrying about his people.  He had contacted ev
eryone he could think of, but none had access to the base, and to be honest, none lived anywhere near where they were going.  All of Thorn’s people were in the Gulf area.  Vampire and wolf alike, they were willing to do whatever he wanted but none could answer his questions.

Moments later, a young maid entered the study.  “Monsieur, you have a call.” For a wolf, she was timid and her face reflected concern.

“Is it Natashia?” he asked.

“Non.  It is a man.  He would not give his name.” she squeaked.

Rufus went to his desk and pulled out the phone.  He hit the lit key and answered.  “This is Thorn.”

“Ah, Rufus.  You sound good after all these years.” 

If Rufus’ blood could run any colder, it would have chilled to ice.  He recognized the tinny voice immediately.  It sounded as though Foster was on a train, but he could still detect the superior tone and his odd inflections.

“Paul.  What can I do to you?” he asked, purposely chan
ging the greeting.

Foster laughed lightly.  “Ah, Rufus.  Surely you aren’t still upset at how we left things all those long years ago, are you?”

“Meet with me, Foster, and I’ll show you how forgiving I can be.” He replied coldly.

“Yeah, I don’t think so.  At least, not until we can agree to a truce.”

“That will never happen.  When next we meet, I will hold your cold undead heart in my hands and will rip your throat out with my teeth.”  He hissed.

“Such violent tendencies, Rufus.  You should really talk to someone.  Perhaps counseling?”

“We are done, Foster.”  Rufus was about to hang up when Foster interjected.

“The Lamia Humanus!  Thorn!  They are planning som
ething!”  He paused to see if Thorn would hear him out.  When he didn’t hear a dial tone and saw that the line was still connected, he continued, “I am proposing a truce so that we may form an alliance in order to deal with the Lamia Humanus.”

This time it was Thorn’s turn to laugh.  “I could never trust you again, Foster.  You are…”

“A Blood Alliance.” He interrupted.  “Blood honor, for the duration of the alliance.”  Thorn was silent.  “The Humanus intend to begin the Apocalypto, starting with the human hunters.”

“I am aware of this.”  Rufus responded flatly.  “I am taking precautions as we speak.”

“Really?  How?  Organizing your goat suckers into an army?” he laughed.  “I already
have
an army!  An army of
real
vampires to deal with them!”

“Then what do you want with me?” Thorn asked, already knowing the answer.

Foster sighed, long and heavy.  “Because it is not enough.” He admitted.  “They are too many.  They are recruiting from coast to coast, every vampire from familia to gangs to misfits.  One big overwhelming wave to take out all the hunters at once.  I will need more than just my organization to do this.”

“Your organization?” Thorn asked.

Foster laughed again.  “Yes, my organization.  You see, Rufus, while you were content to sit on your island and
rot
in your self-pity, I was building a global organization.  I spread my progeny far and wide.  People of power, money and influence.  And with those people come more underlings than I can count.  Each and every one of them answer to me.”

“Then why would you want my little group of Beastia stuck on our little island?” Thorn inquired.

“Because the same wolf that gave me your contact information and told me about your little island also told me that you act as the head of
all
the Lamia Beastia.”  Foster paused.  “Something tells me that your New-Age blood suckers are a lot higher in number than even I dare to suspect.”

“You dare suspect correctly.”  Thorn responded.  “We
are
substantial.”

“Well, there ya go.”  Foster was back to his smart-assed self.  “So what do you say, my friend?”

“I say, I am
not
your friend.”  Thorn considered the proposition.  If Foster was correct and his people were truly global and great in numbers, they could make a valued ally in the war.  “But I will give your proposition consideration.”

“Fantastic.  When can we meet?”

“Leave your number with my secretary.  I’ll get back to you after my people get back to me.”

“Why do you need your people’s input?”

“I do not need my people’s input.  I am in negotiations to enter an alliance with the human hunters.  If I am to enter an alliance with you as well, they will need to know that you will be part of the alliance.”

“
What?!
”  Foster screamed into the phone.  “We don’t need the hunters fighting our battles.  The familia will have enough trouble honoring a victory with the aid of goat suckers, but if there are humans involved too, it will never…”

“It is
my
way or none at all, Foster.”  Thorn interjected.  “Perhaps you need to consider, a victory is a victory, no matter how it is won.  And a victory with the aid of those who are being targeted, is just that much more demeaning to the attacker.” 

Foster was quiet but still breathing hard on his end of the phone.

“Besides…the hunters?  They are not human.  They are wolf.  And when I go into battle, I bring my attack dogs with me.  Consider them an extension of me.”

Foster was floored.  He had no idea that the human hunters weren’t human at all.  The very thought of it had been foreign to him, but now that Thorn had dropped this bombshell on him, it did make sense.  It explained the stories he had heard of their unusual strength and stamina.  Their keen senses and ability to fight.

“Very well, Thorn.  Bring your hunters into the fight.  What the hell do I care?  Just as long as we win.”

“One more thing, Foster.”  He added.

“What would that be, Rufus?”

“When it comes down to the battle itself? 
I
call the shots.”

Foster was silent for a very long time.  The idea of handing the reins of power to his own people over to another vampire did not sit well with him.  Especially a vampire as old and powerful as Thorn.  He considered the possibilities then remembered the Blood Alliance.  As long as they made it clear in the alliance that Rufus was to turn his people back to him once the alliance was over, then he could not take control of them and either turn them against him or strip him of his own people.  He mulled it over every way he could think of before he answered, “Agreed.”

*****

In an abandoned Roman cathedral, a lone dark figure sat and admired the marble artwork.  It still amazed him after all these centuries that mere mortals had created such beautiful works of art with their own hands.  How they could find a block of stone and somehow
see
something within it, and then release these things for the entire world to see and touch and feel…it filled him with awe.  He had seen many things come and go in his life and there were few things that filled him with awe like statues of the ancient Greeks and Romans.  Oh, how he hated the Romans and their vicious ways.  How they could turn brother against brother, mother against child, all in the precious name of Rome.  He was never so happy as when the cursed empire fell.  But for all of the evil that they inflicted upon those that they conquered, their art…was breathtaking.